At a point in this chapter, things will get... depressing and it isn't for the weak of heart. But I promise a happy ending, so don't worry. Also, more reviews means more stuff for you to read!


He didn't shy away from the contact as she expected him to, but instead became exasperated and impatient like someone frustrated with a puzzle. "What does that mean?"

"It means..." she replied softly. "That the prophecy of Demon's Run isn't a prophecy. It's a legend."

She could see the gears in his head begin to turn furiously at her words. He recited the phrases under his breath, almost too quietly for her to hear. She watched nothing change in his face, so she recited everything once more, but emphasised certain words to give him as much of a clue as she dared. The Doctor's eyes suddenly widened.

And he ran.

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The Doctor couldn't spend time mulling over the legend that River had recited to him. Her implications seemed odd to him on the whole, but the part he focused the most on was the final part, "The battle is won, but the child is lost". He worried that he would ultimately not be able to return Melody to her parents. The baby, however, was home for now, and that's all that mattered. Until she got kidnapped again, that is. The rest of the legend was pure gibberish to him. He hoped that it wasn't bad, but felt that said hope was futile.

Not having the foresight to ask Adele about the building when he had the chance, the Doctor foraged in the TARDIS's data banks for the building's blueprints. Upon finding them, he studied them intently for several moments before feeling confident in his occasionally dubious memory. The most logical place for Donna to be was a room large enough to hold a few specific 51st century machines. That narrowed her possible location down considerably, as only four rooms fell into that category.

Upon further inspection of the blueprints, he realized that one of the four rooms was the console room that he had been brought to by Jeckeln. He immediately crossed that room off of his list and focused on the other three. All three were located in the south-eastern portion of the compound.

A thought suddenly occurred to him that the distance between the machines and their power source would need to be as short as possible for the highest efficiency, especially since he knew which energy source Madame Kovarian was using. He noted that only one of the three rooms was on the outer wall and chose that as the most likely location.

He set the TARDIS off into the Time Vortex. As much as he wanted to use the front door approach for Donna's rescue, she absolutely could not see the TARDIS under any circumstances. The fact that the guards and Kovarian would be calling him 'Doctor' was bad enough. It was advantageous, in this particular situation, that he no longer looked like a string bean in a necktie. He only hoped nothing happened that would cause her to remember. The process of extracting his memories alone could kill her, if the memories themselves didn't. He only hoped that he was quick enough.

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Donna groaned.

She couldn't remember a headache this bad; Nerys's New Years party hangover was a close second, as terrible as it had been. Looking around was the last thing she wanted to do, but several strange noises around her warranted it. Finding herself unable to move her arms or legs, she opened her eyes to dull light and unfamiliar people.

On both sides of the bed she was stuck to, machines were making unpleasant humming and beeping noises. The door several yards in front of her was guarded by two men in Nazi uniforms with rather large guns. It was then that she suddenly remembered the fight that had occurred at her mother's home. "What- Where am I? Where is my husband?"

From her left, a female figure with an unattractive eyepatch and a stern countenance stepped into view. "No need to fuss, Miss Noble. My name is Madame Kovarian. Don't worry, you're all taken care of."

Donna furrowed her eyebrows. "That's Mrs. Temple-Noble to you, Madame Pirate Patch!" She glanced down and saw her wrists and ankles shackled to the metal bed that she was perched on. "You kidnapped me! When I get my lawyers on you..." She struggled against the metal, but found that it only cut into her skin. However, that didn't keep her from speaking.

The plastic smile on Kovarian's face disappeared. "You are required, Donna Noble."

"Temple-Noble!" the ginger woman insisted harshly, half sitting up.

Madame Kovarian ignored her and began booting up the machine to her right. In precisely three minutes, it would have enough power built up to scan the human's entire brain and fish out any and all memories that they deemed useful for their war, providing the fuel was ready.

"Tell me, Mrs. Noble. What do you know of a man called the Doctor?"

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The TARDIS appeared in a room quite close to the location that he thought Donna was being kept in, but it was far enough away that guards being anywhere near it was unlikely. Simply walking out of the room into a hallway full of Nazi soldiers wasn't quite on the agenda today.

He frowned in thought as the TARDIS column came to a halt. He wasn't entirely sure how- Oh.

His face split into a grin fit for a kid in a candy store, then set the TARDIS off into the vortex again. This would be fun.

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On the eastern side of the compound, toward the southern exit, dozens of men, women and children were being lined up for the furnaces.

The fires were being stoked for the first extermination of the day. The dozen soldiers herded Jewish prisoners with guns and harsh words. The people had been brought here by carts for this specific purpose. Madame Kovarian required at least one hundred in quick succession, but her aim was unknown to the soldiers. They simply did as they were told.

Once the fire reached its proper intensity, the first group of people were split from the rest of the mass and escorted forward, but they didn't get very far.

Sitting directly in front of the furnace, completely covering the entrance, was a blue box around eight feet high. The soldiers balked and panicked, all twelve gathering in front of the obstruction, for they had been informed of this eventuality. What they hadn't been told of, however, was what happened next.

The man they had been trained to identify as the Doctor stepped out from the blue box carrying half a dozen huge picnic baskets.

"Hello everyone!" he called cheerily to the prisoners, waving as friendly as he could manage with three baskets on each arm. He quickly opened the first one and began handing out loaves of bread and large triangles of cheese, along with containers filled with the coolest water the TARDIS could produce at such short notice. A ripple of surprise and shock drifted down the line of dishevelled people. Who was this man?

The soldiers raised their guns at the alien once they realised what exactly he was doing and fired.

"Unfortunately for you," the Doctor said, unperturbed. "I've extended the TARDIS's shields. Nothing can get through that. Now." He reached into his jacket pocket with his free hand and pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver. Pointing it at the soldier's guns, he pressed the button and the familiar whirr filled the air. "Oh look," he said. "I've expanded your bullet casings; if you try to shoot, they'll only explode in your faces."

The skin of all twelve soldiers drained of color, making them white as a bedsheet. The Doctor's face suddenly turned so dark that the picnic baskets hanging off of his arms might as well have been ropes for the gallows. He marched slowly up to the group of men, who were crowding close together and looking to each other for a plan. "If I were you," he said softly. "I would do the smart thing. And run."

And they ran, dropping their guns as they went.

The men, women and children burst into the loudest cheers the Doctor had heard in a long time. He grinned, then finished passing out the food. It wouldn't be long before the soldiers returned with reinforcements, so they had to hurry. As soon as he was sure every person had something to eat, he clapped his hands to get their attention. They all crowded around him, listening attentively to this wonderful man who had just saved their lives.

"I need all of you to get into this blue box," he said without preamble, pointing at the TARDIS.

Several of the men and women looked at each other dubiously, blinking in confusion. Had they just been saved by a nutter? "How are we all supposed to fit in there?" a man with brown hair asked skeptically.

The Doctor noticed their glances and waved his arms about. "It's bigger on the inside, I promise! Look." He snapped his fingers and the TARDIS doors opened to reveal the expanse inside.

Several children had wormed their way to the front of the group and were able to see the inside of the spaceship. They gasped, then quickly recovered from their shock and rushed inside, ignoring the protestations of their parents. The Doctor assured the adults that all of the children were perfectly safe until he heard a loud crash come from beyond the blue doors. "Oi! What are you breaking in there?"

He quickly rushed into the TARDIS to assess the damage. "Don't touch anything!" he yelled, watching a boy reach for the wibbly lever. It took several minutes to coax every adult into the ship, but it was eventually achieved. They crowded the console room completely, leaving the children to sit on the laps of their mothers and fathers.

The Doctor looked around at all the grimy faces, absolutely giddy with joy at seeing them all alive. Now... to business.

He clapped his hands again to get their attention. It took a moment, but every person on the TARDIS was soon looking at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. "Hello everyone. I'm the Doctor and this-" he said, spinning about and gesturing to the machine they were all standing in- "is my... ship. I'm glad you're all safe, but I have a friend... who isn't." He paused, looking at the unchanging faces around him. Every person, including the smallest child, was silent. "They've kidnapped her and plan on... doing evil, mad things to her brain. I need to rescue her as soon as possible. But to do so, I need some help."

There was a subtle shift in the room. The women were frowning, but the men just nodded, as if this was the way to repay him for saving their lives. The Doctor continued. "I can't promise you'll all come out alive and I'm not having any women or children in there, so don't think about it." He raised a finger and pointed around the room at various mothers with their children.

"My friend..." he paused, then swallowed. "My best friend is in there and she's in danger. I do need help, but if you'll help me... I've got a plan."


Yeah, this chapter sort of wrote itself. The entire time, I kept flailing in my seat going, "The Doctor's so cool, he's so awesome!"

Also, picnic baskets. That is all.