The Duplicate Doctor and Donna ran back to the med bay and he ran a scan on Scarlett. "She's got two hearts! And—she's practically identical to a Gallifreyan!"
"But that's not right, is it? I mean, she's from the planet Teni."
"Let's assume for the moment that she already had two hearts, before all this happened. That she was already this way. If she forced herself into the metacrisis, she could have imprinted her biology on—" He stopped and turned slowly to Donna, swallowing hard. "Um—Donna, do you mind—" He grabbed the nearby stethoscope, placing it on his ears, then reached out slowly, placing it politely on the right side of her chest, as safely away from anything that might get him slapped. She watched him closely. His mouth opened slowly, then he finally spoke. "Oh."
"What is it!?" she shouted, before he placed a hand on her mouth and raised his eyebrows again. She growled quietly. "Okay, okay, quiet, I know." She whispered this time, "What is it?"
He nodded down towards her chest and handed her the stethoscope. She put it on and placed it back where he had it just a moment before. Her eyes grew large, her mouth opened wide. "I have—" she started to shout then stopped as he started to say something, so she whisper-shouted the rest, "—I have two hearts!"
"Now Donna, just breath—" He tried to calm her and guided her back towards the control room. "—we'll figure this out, but remember—need to save the universe first, right?"
When they arrived back in the main room, he headed over to the console.
"But why me?" Donna exclaimed.
The Duplicate Doctor smiled up at her. "'Cause you're special."
Donna shook her head, "Oh, I keep telling you, I'm not."
The Duplicate Doctor looked up, a slight frown on his face. "No but you are, you're—oh." He paused. "You really don't believe that, do you? I can see, Donna. What you're thinking. All that attitude, all that lip, 'cause all this time, you think you're not worth it." He grabbed her hands and squeezed them.
"Stop it," she said quietly, looking down, unwilling to look him in the eyes.
"Shouting at the world 'cause no one's listening. Well, why should they?"
She finally looked up at him. "Doctor, stop it." She was tired of him faffing about, continuing to try and make her feel like something she most certainly was not.
He continued, determined to make her see. He could see, feel, and remember things from both the Doctor and Donna. "But look at what you did. No, it's more than that, it's like—we were always heading for this." He paused, recalling her entrance into the TARDIS. "You came to the TARDIS." Then he recalled Adipose Industries. "Then you found me again. Then I met your granddad." Then he squeezed her hands again, "Your car! Donna, your car, you parked your car right where the TARDIS was gonna land. That's not coincidence! Ooh, we've been blind. Something's been drawing us together for such a long time."
"But you're talking like—destiny. But there's no such thing. Is there?" she whispered as she looked up, examining his face and eyes for answers.
"It's still not finished. It's like... the pattern's not complete. The strands are still drawing together. But heading for what?" He smiled down at her and she blushed. Suddenly, the TARDIS began shaking. The Duplicate Doctor looked down at the monitor where the planets were displayed. "It's the planets. The twenty-seven planets." All of the planets appeared to be alight with white fire.
Donna looked over at the Duplicate Doctor. "What was it? Doctor? What did it do?"
He frowned and shook his head, then began running around, grabbing bits and pieces, going down into the depths, under the grating. A while later, he walked out from beneath the grating. Odd bits of technology were strewn across the floor. Donna held some kind of contraption made out of bits and bobs from the TARDIS. The Duplicate Doctor took it from her and ran over to the console.
Donna questioned him, "So what is this thing?"
"It's our only hope, a zed neutrino biological inversion catalyzer," the Duplicate Doctor responded matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, may have two hearts, but still an Earth-girl mind, remember?"
He looked at her with a frown. "Davros said he'd built those Daleks out of himself, his genetic code runs through the entire race. If I can use this to lock the Crucible's transmission onto Davros himself..."
Donna nodded, beginning to catch on. "It destroys the Daleks?"
He grinned back at her. "Biggest backfire in history." He held up the catalyzer, shaking it. "Ready! Maximum power!" He pushed a lever on the bottom of the console with his foot, then pressed another lever on the console with his hand. The TARDIS tilted, and he fell onto the chair.
Inside the Vault, the Doctor stood, head down, dejected. The TARDIS was gone. Donna was gone. Scarlett was gone. The moment he saw the TARDIS fall into the ball of fire at the center of the Crucible, he felt his mental connection to Scarlett break. Then in between verbal sparring with Davros, all his former companions started showing up, each threatening violence to stop the Daleks. But they were each stopped in their tracks, beamed in next to the Doctor to watch the end of the universe. Davros was determined to rub in his face their willingness to go against all he tried to live by. And next to him was Rose, a constant reminder of his many mistakes.
Suddenly, he began to hear a familiar, hopeful sound. It was the sound of the TARDIS beginning to materialize. The Doctor, Davros and all the companions turned in shock. Captain Jack stood, smiling. Sarah Jane looked around in disbelief.
The Doctor gaped, "But that's—"
Davros finished the Doctor's sentence, "Impossible."
The TARDIS materialized fully. The Duplicate Doctor opened the door, holding the catalyzer in his hand, and the TARDIS behind him glowing bright white.
Moments later, the Duplicate Doctor was in a holding cell like the Doctor and his companions. Donna had been struck by Davros and was slumped against the central control panel, just out of the Doctor's sight.
He looked towards the central control panel in fear, "Donna! Donna, are you alright, Donna?!" he shouted, hoping for some response. Donna was here. The TARDIS was here. Where was Scarlett? He still couldn't feel her. Was she their loss? Had she died?
Davros had destroyed the weapon his Duplicate had come out of the TARDIS with.
Rose turned to the Duplicate. "How come there are two of you?"
He grinned. "Human biological metacrisis—" He paused, tilting his head back and forth. "—With a little extra twist."
"Never mind that, now we've got no way of stopping the reality bomb," the Doctor snapped.
Over the comms, from the bridge of the crucible, they heard, "Detonation in 20 rels. Nineteen."
Davros turned towards his prisoners. "Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, humans." He flicked a switch and a screen appeared, showing the planets on fire. "Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and, oh... the end of the universe has come."
Over the comms came, "Nine, eight, seven."
From behind the central control panel, Donna's eyes opened, glowing with golden light.
"Three, two, one—"
She jumped up during the final countdown and looked quickly at the control panel, flipping a switch.
There was a powering-down sound, and the screen disappeared. An alarm went off. The Doctor turned, startled. Everyone looked around in confusion. At the control panel, Donna stood over the controls, with a smug look on her face.
"Oooh, closing all zed neutrino relay loops using an internalized synchronous back feed reversal loop." She grinned and flicked a switch. "That button there!" She grinned again and all the Daleks turned.
"System in shutdown." One Dalek declared.
The Supreme Dalek shouted, "Detonation negative. Explain! Explain! Explain!"
The Doctor watched Donna, stunned. "Donna, you can't even change a plug."
Donna beamed at him. "D'you wanna bet, Time Boy?"
The bitterness dripped from Davros' words, "You'll suffer for this."
Donna tilted her head and pressed a lever. Just as Davros' shot electricity towards her it backfired up his arm, electrocuting him. He screamed and stared at his hand.
Donna shrugged. "Ooooh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrogressive L-conversion."
"Exterminate her!" Davros yelled as he turned to a Dalek beside him then pointed at Donna.
"Exterminate!" the Dalek shouted.
The Doctor glanced at the Dalek and then at Donna in alarm. She continued to tap away at the control panel. The Daleks advanced on her, all crying 'Exterminate'. Captain Jack turned. Donna continued to tap away at the silver levers. Then a powering-down sound could be heard and just as all of the Daleks' guns turned on her, nothing happened. She raised her eyebrows. All of the Daleks moved their guns and looked at them, all shouting together, "Weapons non-functional!"
Everyone stared at Donna, and she spoke back up, "What? Macro-transmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry and self-replicating a new blindfold matrix!"
The Doctor gasped, "How did you work that out? You're—"
"Time Lord. Part Time Lord," the Duplicate Doctor stated with a grin.
"And Part human?" She looked at the Duplicate questioningly and they both shrugged. "Oh yes. That was at least a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor, half Donna!"
The Doctor grinned. "The DoctorDonna. Just like the Ood said, remember. They saw it coming. The DoctorDonna."
She returned his smile. "Holding cells deactivated. And seal the Vault." She pressed some buttons. The holding cells containing the Doctor, Rose and the Duplicate Doctor were lifted. "Well, don't just stand there you skinny boys in suits. Get to work!" Both of the Doctors ran over to the controls.
A while later, they all ran back into the TARDIS, all filing around the console. A moment behind the rest of them (after trying to convince Davros to come) the Doctor joined them and pulled a lever down. "And, off we go!" He grabbed onto the console for support as it shook. Just as the TARDIS dematerialized, the whole Crucible was completely obliterated.
After they steadied out a bit, the Doctor ran over to Donna and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to the side. The Duplicate Doctor joined them. "Donna, where is Scarlett—" He paused, "—is she—dead?"
Donna's face brightened as she realized what the Doctor had been thinking. "Oh! No! No, she's alright. Well we're not sure. She forced herself into the middle of the meta-crisis. But she's in stasis. He and I," she said, and pointed in the duplicate's direction. "We moved her to the med bay and he put her in stasis."
The Doctor glanced over to Rose, seeing her distracted by Jack, then turned back and his face relaxed visibly and he smiled. "She's alright, she's alive!" He thought for a moment. "Let's get Earth back to it's place, then we're going to go run some scans on all of you and see what's going on. What you said out there is only part of the story, isn't it?" He eyed the duplicate, who nodded. They stepped back over to the rest of the group.
Sarah Jane spoke up, "And what about the Earth? It's stuck in the wrong part of space!"
"I'm on it." The Doctor turned to the monitor. "Torchwood Hub, this is The Doctor, are you receiving me?"
A while later, with the help of Torchwood, Luke, Mr. Smith, K9, and with all the former companions assisting in piloting, the Earth had been towed back home by the TARDIS.
After seeing that all the controls were set back the way he preferred them, the Doctor turned to Donna and the Duplicate. "Come, let's go get you both checked out and check on Scarlett." He looked back momentarily. "We'll be back to get the rest of you home in just a bit. Jack, could you assist me?" Jack nodded and started to follow. The Doctor stopped before they made it out of the control room when he realized Rose was following. "Rose, why don't you stay here and catch up with Sarah Jane? I'll be back before you know it." He gave his most genuine smile and after a moment's pause, she seemed convinced and turned back, walking over to Sarah Jane.
The Doctor led Donna, his Duplicate, and Jack out of the control room and the short distance down the hall towards the med bay. As they entered he caught sight of Scarlett laid out on her side on one of the beds. He turned after they had all entered and as the door slid shut, he tapped a button on the control panel at its side, locking the door.
"Doctor?" Jack questioned, "What's going on?
"First, we check on Scarlett, Donna, and him." He pointed to his Duplicate, unsure of what to call him. "Then I promise I'm going to answer your questions, Jack. You deserve to know—I need you to know—what's going to be happening soon." Jack nodded, satisfied with the Doctor's priorities.
"Jacob." All three turned to the Duplicate Doctor upon hearing him speak up.
"What?" Donna asked.
"I was thinking. He's John Smith," he stated and pointed to the Doctor. "I can be Jacob Smith." Donna smiled at him.
"Alright—Jacob—" the Doctor said, trying the name on his tongue for the first time."—first you two have a seat on the exam beds and tell me exactly what happened."
They did as they were told, then Donna spoke. "After Scarlett and I were trapped on the TARDIS, everything started exploding and fires were blowing up around us. She was burned on her leg, I remember seeing it happen but all I could do was focus on that heartbeat I heard in my head. I saw the hand in the jar, and I reached out to touch it." She paused and turned to look at Scarlett. "I think I remember now, her yelling at me to stop. But it was like I couldn't stop. I touched it and all the sudden I was shaking and there was golden energy… like when you started to regenerate. It was flowing all around me, then I felt her hand on my head, and she was touching the hand – the jar had broken open – then she and I both collapsed."
At this point, Jacob took over the explanation, "I materialized out of the hand. But here's where it got wizard—" The Doctor's eyebrow raised at Jacob's very Donna-like remark. "Scarlett was passed out on the floor when Donna and I first saw each other. She sat up straight, reached out and touched our foreheads and started mucking about in our minds. As near as I can tell now, I think she was blocking off memories. Donna and I both have your memories, but she must have blocked some things off."
The Doctor took a deep breath, turning his full attention to Scarlett.
"That's about it really. We had to hurry in here with her because we were trying to get things straight and get back to you all. We had just enough time to lay her down, put her in stasis, and keep running," Donna finished their story.
"Well, except for the one thing, Donna—" Jacob glanced down at her chest and then his. "—Doctor, if it had been a two-way biological meta crisis, as near as I can figure, Donna's biology would have been primary, and I should have ended up human.
"But?" the Doctor questioned, still staring at Scarlett, however. He reached down and tapped the controls on the side of the bed, releasing the stasis function so her body would begin functioning at its normal rate again.
"But Doctor…" Jacob leaned towards him. "I think you need to check us out for yourself."
The Doctor turned and frowned. "Lay down then." They both laid down on the beds and the scanners activated. He looked at the monitors by their beds. "What?" He looked back down at both of them. "What!? You both have—" he stuttered.
Jack approached, with an equally shocked expression on his face as he looked at the screens. "They both have two hearts!"
Donna sat back up and the monitor by her bed automatically deactivated. "Yeah, Doctor—"
She questioned, "Do the Teni have two hearts? Are they like you? Like Gallifreyans?"
The Doctor sighed and stepped back. "Well, technically, the Teni are descendants of Gallifrey."
"What?" Jacob spoke, the same inflection as the Doctor this time. "How come I don't know that? I have your memories—oh. That's what she's was doing, mucking about up there. Blimey, she moved fast."
"The explanation is too long a story for now. Donna, lay back down." He looked back at the monitors. "Suffice it to say, when she forced her way into the meta crisis, all that DNA was swirling about, hers took priority, rewriting your DNA, Donna. But—there's a difference between Teni and Gallifreyans because Rassilon ensured we had the capability of regeneration and time travel. The Teni don't have that." He examined Donna's results closer. "But you—you do, Donna. You got just enough of the DNA from my hand—from Jacob." He looked down at her, taking her hand and pulling her back up into a sitting position, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Donna, you're a Time Lady, now!" A big grin spread across his face—a moment later, she smiled back.
She gasped, "You mean, I'm an alien now?"
He nodded eagerly, then turned to Jacob and reviewed his screen. "And it appears, having the Teni and Gallifreyan DNA as the dominant one in the meta crisis allowed yours not to be taken over by human DNA. Yours remained stable from what was already in the hand. You have it too, the imprint. You're Time Lord." The Doctors eyes were wide in happy shock. He wasn't alone any more. And blimey, not just one, but two others.
Jacob sat up and reached out to place his hand on his brother's shoulder. He smiled at him, knowing where his thoughts were. He then pushed him beyond that, looking over at Scarlett. "But what about her? It must have done something to her too, with all that DNA mix-up."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes, you're right!" He turned, and just in time too, a wisp of golden energy suddenly flowed out of Scarlett's mouth. "What!?" Jacob and Donna quickly leapt up, moving her onto her back, then turned to the Doctor. Jack stood behind them as all four of them looked at the monitor above her bed.
"Well, look at that!" Jacob grinned.
"What?" Jack finally spoke up, his head spinning a bit at the events that were unfolding. "You all are going to have to explain it to me, as far as I can see, it looks just like yours?"
"Exactly, Jack!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Teni shouldn't have Time Lord—stuff—but there it is!" He pointed to the complex DNA strand spinning on the screen. "The DNA from my hand seeped into her, and now she's a Time Lady, too!" The Doctor thought he might just explode now from the overwhelming feelings and thoughts swirling in his own brain.
"Why is she still unconscious?" Jack asked.
A thought leapt into the Doctor's mind. "Donna, you said she was burned when the TARDIS was in the core of the Crucible." He moved down towards her legs, spotting charred fabric on her leg, he pulled it away to find completely fresh, clean skin. "That's it – the impact on her system was a bit different than Donna and Jacob. It's more like what typically is supposed to happen to Time Lords when they regenerate. A bit of a nap, of sorts, while the body finishes healing and adjusting to its newness. Look! She's healed. She's fine." He grinned wide. "She's brilliant, she is!" He turned to Donna, "And you, Donna!" He reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. "Brilliant, the both of you!" They rocked back and forth a moment before he released her.
"Okay, so Doctor—this is the part where I get to start asking questions." Jacks' hands went to his hips as he began questioning the Doctor. "Why did you bring me in here with you? Seems like you have everything under control."
"It wasn't because I need your assistance in here. It's because I'm going to need your assistance…" He nodded towards the door as he spoke, "out there."
Then the Doctor began explaining to Jack all the conclusions that he had come to about Rose and her arrival back in their universe. The damage it had done. He explained the plan that he, Scarlett, and Donna had come up with.
"That explains the looks and the vibes I was getting when Rose wasn't watching." Jack nodded. "So what are we going to do about it?"
"I'm taking her back to Pete's World with her mother. She belongs there, with her family, even if she doesn't see it." He sighed and continued, "Then—and this is where I'll need your help—we are going to ensure that all the technology they came up with for this monstrosity is destroyed." His voice grew bitter. "I think I can make it clear to Pete that they are never to attempt such a thing again. Why they ever let her get away with it in the first place is insane. We are going to have a very small time frame to drop her off, get to the Torchwood of that universe and destroy the technology, and get back out before the Rift closes up."
He turned towards Scarlett and his demeanor softened. "I was hoping to have Scarlett to help us. But there's no telling when she'll wake up. We'll have to go on without her. Hopefully we can manage it."
Donna took his hand and squeezed. "We'll manage it, Doctor. We'll set everything right, you'll see."
The Doctor's head had been bowed, his focus on Scarlett. He looked up and grinned at Donna. His best friend. She always knew when to find the positive and push him to see it.
Jack smiled as he watched the interaction. He was happy to see that his longtime friend finally was finding a sense of real family again. Jack's eyebrow raised when he noticed that Jacob was resting his hand on the small of Donna's back, as his other hand reached up to rest on the Doctor's shoulder, giving his own encouragement to the alien who once was the last Time Lord.
"All right then," Jack interrupted. "Time to move?"
The Doctor nodded, "Yeah." He steeled himself, preparing himself to go back into his act for just a little bit longer. Soon, the charade would be over, and when it was, he knew there was going to be a severe backlash. But he had to get Rose off the TARDIS and onto that beach first. The Doctor set the monitor at Scarlett's bed to transmit to his sonic if there were any complications, then the four of them left the med bay.
Sarah Jane was dropped off first, the Doctor giving her the fond goodbye she deserved. Then, it was Martha, and surprisingly Mickey too, who were next. Jack spoke a few words to the two of them outside the TARDIS, promising them jobs when he returned from one last adventure with the Doctor. Rose looked on curiously as he returned to the TARDIS. Donna noticed her curious expression and was fairly certain she was wondering when the rest of them were getting dumped off the TARDIS so she and the Doctor could be alone.
The Doctor was already setting the coordinates. He was firm in his resolve now.
"Just time for one last trip." He flicked some switches. "Dårlig Ulv Stranden." He glanced over at Jacob, "Better known as—"
"Bad Wolf Bay." Jacob finished and nodded.
The TARDIS materialized. Jackie stepped out first, followed by Rose, Jacob, the Doctor, and Donna. Jack stayed behind in the control room, just in case anything went wrong.
"Oh, fat lot of good this is. Back of beyond, bloody Norway." Jackie turned back to Rose, then froze when she saw the expression on the Doctor's face behind her. "Doctor, what is it?"
"This is the end of the line, I'm afraid." As the Doctor spoke, Jacob moved to stand so that he and Donna were both flanking either side of the Doctor. "Rose, it's time to say goodbye. For good this time."
Her face contorted suddenly. "What!? You must be joking! After everything I did to get back to you?!"
His face grew grim and his voice raised at her in disgust. "Precisely after everything you did! You ripped apart the universes, damaging who knows what. Do you even realize that it was probably you that allowed the Daleks to do what they did? Did it even occur to you that you were destroying time itself to do what you did? Rose, there is nothing worth that. Nothing."
"But you acted like—" she pleaded.
"What was I supposed to do? You were a maniac with a giant gun and a dimension jumper! I did what I had to do!" His face softened a bit. "Rose, I know you think you did what you had to do. Just like you always have done. But don't you see?" His voice grew stern again. "First you tear open my TARDIS and I end up dying to save you, regenerating. Then you get here and start building a device that rips through universes without a thought for the consequences. Then, once again, you destroyed my TARDIS—to get Donna to go back into another universe and KILL herself too. I cannot allow you to continue such a destructive course, for yourself, your family, or mine. I'm sorry Rose, but the decision is final."
"But—" she tried to interrupt again.
"I'll be ensuring the destruction of any technology created for or because of the creation of the dimension cannon. The Rift will close and there will be no reopening it. Ever. You are dead in my universe, Rose. And dead you will remain."
He then looked to Jackie. "I'll be calling Pete shortly to inform him of what will be taking place at Torchwood here. He won't need to go back for that, he should remain on course to pick you up." He glanced at Rose and back at Jackie. "Jackie, please get your daughter the help she needs. I believe the effects of the jumping dimensions may have caused more damage than you all initially thought."
Rose's mouth sat gaping open. Tears ran down Jackie's face. The Doctor turned, Jacob and Donna close behind him, and they stepped up into the TARDIS. At the last moment, Rose ran up just in time for the door to slam in her face. She began banging at the door, Jackie running up and trying to pull her away.
From inside, Jack watched the three who stood, staring at the door, and pulled the lever, dematerializing the TARDIS.
It wasn't till then that a faint beeping could be heard from the Doctor's pocket. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver as he quickly whipped around. Jack hadn't noticed anyone else in the room, but as the three others turned, they saw Scarlett standing there, just inside the control room. She must have just come from the med bay. He looked in the direction they were staring.
The Doctor took a few slow cautious steps forward. "Scarlett?"
She stared at him, straight into his eyes, her face revealing no emotion. Then, slowly, she took a step forward, then another, and a smile crept on to her face. "Doctor." She smiled, then slowly looked around the control room. "Is it done, then?"
He nodded vigorously. "Yes. It's done, we've just left her."
Her smile grew wider then and her body relaxed. Together they quickly raced across the distance between them and he picked her up into a bear hug. They laughed together as relief spread through both of them.
He stopped suddenly, then pulled away, still holding on to her arms. "Oh. Scarlett! I've got to tell you—the meta crisis, it—"
"I know." She nodded. "I read all the reports after I woke up." She looked over to Donna and Jacob who had come up beside them. "You too?"
Donna nodded and smiled. "Yeah, us too."
Jack cleared his throat from where he stood at the console. "I'd love to complain about how I feel very left out right now. But we have somewhere to be and some technology to destroy. Doctor, based on energy readings, I've been able to surmise the location of Torchwood here. I've pulled up the coordinates."
"Yes, right!" He ran back to the console and checked readings. "Argh! We don't have much time! The Rift is closing too fast."
"So, quick and dirty, then?" Jack questioned.
Jacob nodded. "Right, we blow up the building?"
"What!?" The Doctor turned to them both. "Are you both mad?"
"But Doctor, how else are we going to destroy the technology and get out before the Rift closes?" Jack defended them.
Scarlett interjected, "So. We compromise. Doctor, how many life signs are there in and around the premises of Torchwood?"
The Doctor looked over the screen quickly, "Looks like—only about 15 in the building—but another 100 or so who live in close proximity."
"Then call up Pete Tyler, have him call for an evacuation," Donna stated. "Surely with the technology in that building they have some sort of protocol for if things go bad, to evacuate the area surrounding the building. I'm sure they have some cover story of bomb threats or something."
"Yes, Donna, that's brilliant!" He tapped a few controls, pulling up the number he had acquired from Jackie Tyler's mobile phone while she wasn't watching earlier.
Minutes later, he had given a stern lecture to Pete Tyler and was given the all clear that the area had been evacuated safely. He confirmed no remaining life signs, and that the technology present wouldn't create a bigger issue if blown up. With that, they created a feedback in the power generator that powered the Torchwood facility and flew off as it blew up, fire pouring up into the sky.
