The Doctor rushed into the Tardis, his mind already sinking gratefully into the welcoming presence of his ship as he asked her to make the calculations for their jump to where Donna was being held.

So focused was he on his connection with the Tardis that he didn't notice Jenny's reaction when she caught her first glimpse of the interior of the ship. She'd stumbled to a halt upon crossing the threshold as she saw the expansive room beyond the unassuming blue doors.

Jenny looked up towards the pulsing column in the center of the large space, her hands rising to her mouth when she felt the first tentative brush of a presence against her mind. If she hadn't first felt the weak attempts to connect with Alec's damaged ship, she would have been frightened by the sheer immensity of the mind that was trying to connect with her.

There was a sense of belonging and homecoming in the connection and Jenny closed her eyes briefly when she felt the sorrow from the ship that she hadn't known that Jenny had survived on Messaline and came back for her sooner.

"It's okay! We're together now and I was able to find you! I'm so happy to finally be able to meet you properly."

The Doctor turned around in surprise when he heard Jenny's words before he felt the warm breath of air that washed over his daughter, the Tardis instantly welcoming her into her bond and letting the young Time Lord know that she would do anything to protect her. He smiled and gently patted the control console, the feeling of his ship's welcome to his daughter helped him rise above the swirling pit of rage that he had quickly been losing the ability to control.

He'd been prepared to jump without even formulating a plan and letting the future unfold as it may no matter what the Tardis had said. He had to pause for a breath and regain control of himself, lest his own fury lead him down a dark path from which he wouldn't be able to return. He also knew that Donna would never want him to fall so spectacularly just to save her now that they had connected briefly. Her capacity for compassion no matter the circumstances had helped him to try to better himself as well and to try to always see the good in people.

"The Tardis' connection will grow easier with time, Jenny. She can be a bit overwhelming when she first meets someone that she welcomes into her bond but she knows that we need to focus on bringing Donna home safely first. There will be plenty of time for the two of you to get to know each other."

"Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up at the tired sound of Wilf's voice, his smile instantly transforming his face as he bounded across the space separating them and pulled a startled Wilf into his arms.

"Oh, you are brilliant, Wilf! How did you and Alec get his ship here? It was damaged almost beyond repair!"

The older human blushed at the Doctor's praise, his gaze taking in the blood that was streaking both the Doctor's and Jenny's form before he replied. "I don't know about that, Doctor. It was all Alec and his magical ship that managed to pull us through. I just tightened a few screws and helped replace some broken parts."

Wilf saw Jenny standing just behind her father and he pulled her into a tight embrace, the concern that he'd felt over the both of them after Alec had said they'd been captured was almost more than he could bear and he unashamedly held her for several long moments. "I'm glad you're both safe, Jenny. I was so worried about you."

Jenny was bombarded by the love and concern that Wilf was feeling as he hugged her and she wrapped her arms around the older man with a soft sigh of contentment. She was struggling with her emotions right now, and knew that her father was well aware of how much the sense of family meant to her. She'd been wandering the universe alone longer than even she knew, and to suddenly find herself part of a family again was going to take some getting used to. "Thank you, Gramps. Oh, I missed the both of you so much!"

The Doctor smiled when he saw the relief that filled the older man, his emotions were achingly loud and filled the room with warmth and welcome. It was hard to focus through the wash of Wilf's emotions and the Doctor struggled for a minute to control the tears that were burning behind his eyes when he thought that not everyone was safe.

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor looked behind Wilf to see the medical bay had been moved right next to the control room, the infant Tardis was standing in a corner of the room and Alec was lying unconscious on a diagnostic bed just inside the opening.

He pulled away from Wilf in order to make his way to his son's side, the presence of both Jenny and Alec served to calm some of the seething emotions within him and he knew that Donna wouldn't begrudge him the extra time that it would take to double check on Alec's condition.

"I doubt you did so little to help, Wilf, because Alec was in no condition to conduct the repairs himself, but that doesn't matter now." He noticed the empty cup of tea on a table beside Alec's bed and the plate with a half-eaten sandwich that Wilf had obviously set aside when he'd heard the Doctor's voice in the control room.

The Doctor looked to the diagnostic screen that was positioned over Alec's bed and sighed in relief when he saw the readings. Alec had fallen deep into a regenerative trance and now that he was resting peacefully and not being dragged slowly towards his death, the healing rate in his body was vastly improved.

"How long have you been here, Wilf?"

He felt the Tardis try to pipe in with her own answer, but he let the ship know that he wanted to hear it from Wilf. He could tell that the elderly human had been beside himself when Alec had immediately fallen into such a deep state and that the concern he'd felt had only been allayed when the Doctor had finally returned.

"We've only been here for about a day, Doctor, maybe less. I was worried that I couldn't wake Alec to even eat, but your barmy ship let me know that he was alright and it was best to let him sleep."

The Doctor's brow shot up when he heard Wilf's comment about the Tardis communicating with him and he felt the brief flutter from the ship that she'd simply put instructions up on the diagnostic display when he'd shown such concern over Alec's condition.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief that the ship hadn't used some of her more cantankerous methods of getting Wilf's attention and that she'd behaved herself where the old man was concerned.

A loud groan of dissatisfaction echoed through the corridors of the ship before he felt the blast of cold air that signified her disgust with his thoughts.

She knew very well that both Alec and Wilf had been through a traumatizing ordeal just trying to make their way back to her and she'd made sure to care for the both of them as they recovered.

He hid a smile as he reached up to bring the full scan of Alec's system on the screen for his perusal. The broken bone in his thigh had already started to mend and an initial callous would start to form over the next few days. His color was already much improved and the skin over his cheek bones was looking slightly less sunken. His energy systems were still completely off-balance but he knew that with a little time and more rest, Alec would finally rise out of his regeneration trance and his Time Lord senses would be in perfect sync.

The Doctor clapped Wilf on the shoulder, unable to stifle the burst of happiness at the realization that at least this crisis was over and his son and Donna's grandfather were tucked away in the ship safe from the insanity that had exploded on the planet beyond. He'd been worried that somehow their location would be discovered and that the infant Tardis wouldn't be strong enough to keep anyone out of the ship. It had been part of the terror that had filled him when he'd first regained consciousness inside that prison cell and had realized so much time had passed. He'd felt each of the threads of his life threatened and while he'd been trapped, there was nothing that he could do to save any of them when he couldn't even save himself and Jenny.

"He's just resting in a Time Lord regenerative state, Wilf but already he's showing great signs of improvement. I can't thank you enough for helping bring my son to safety, I don't know what I would've done if the both of you were still out there." The Doctor glanced down at Alec, surprised at how quickly he had come to accept Alec as his son.

Wilf shook his head with a rueful chuckle, looking fondly down at his great grandson's sleeping face before he replied, "I didn't do anything special, Doctor. I just pulled the pieces that Alec told me to and replaced them when he finished cleaning them. It was really Alec and his ship that did all the work, I was just their hands when they needed them."

The Doctor smiled, squeezing the older man's shoulder tight for a moment more before he felt the brief prodding from the Tardis that her calculations were complete.

"Now Doctor, where's my Donna?"

The Doctor was startled at Wilf's question right on the heels of the Tardis thought, his mouth tightening into a grimace as he fought to control the wave of panic that washed over him. "She's being held in another facility, Wilf, but we're about to go rescue her. The Tardis was able to finally overcome her time lock now that Jenny and Alec are together again, and she's just as eager as I am to make the trip."

Wilf's face fell at the Doctor's words, his hand rising to cover the gasp that bubbled from his lips before he whispered, "Is she safe, Doctor? Is she still alive?"

The Doctor had never felt happier to not have to lie in response to Wilf's question though he was hard pressed to keep the cold anger from his voice, "Yes, Wilf, I can safely say she's alive though I don't know much more than that. These people are somehow blocking my ability to communicate with her, though I did connect with her briefly before we got to the ship." He reached up to the diagnostic console and tapped a series of buttons in quick sequence, the commands caused an opaque dome to form over Alec's bed and it slowly shrank until it conformed to his body. The Doctor closed his eyes and let his mind sink deep into his connection with the Tardis when he felt her confirm that she would monitor his son's condition and that the zero enclosure would help him stay safely in his trance while also making sure he was held in place in case there was any rough flying ahead.

Jenny leaned forward abruptly, her hand reaching up to touch the strange dome that suddenly hid her brother's form. "Dad, what is this? Is Alec alright?"

The Doctor's eyes popped open when he heard Jenny's question, his gaze dropping to meet her concerned gaze with a nod. "Yes, Jenny he's fine. This is called a zero enclosure; I unfortunately lost my original zero room but I was able to build something similar from scavenged parts over the centuries. It'll hold him in place should there be any bumps on the trip ahead but it also removes all extraneous stimuli to help Alec stay in his regenerative trance for as long as he safely requires. Once his system is ready, he'll come out of the trance naturally and the enclosure will simply disappear to let him begin to reorient himself with the outside world again."

She sagged against the edge of his bed, the loss of the worry she'd been feeling for weeks was overwhelming and left her reeling with relief. She buried her face in her hands and took several shuddering breaths before she was able to whisper, "I've been so worried for so long, Dad, it's hard to believe that he's finally going to be okay!"

The Doctor and Wilf both hugged Jenny in a shared sense of relief, though Wilf couldn't know how frightened she'd been to lose her only tie to her family to the wasting sickness that had been pulling him further away from her. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall, her hands scrubbing the moisture from her eyes before she resolutely squared her shoulders and looked to the Doctor with a renewed sense of purpose. "Let's go get Donna back, Dad! I don't want these people to be holding her for a minute longer!"

Wilf cheered softly when he heard Jenny's words, his aged hands clenched tightly when he looked to the Doctor as well for instructions. "What are we going to do, Doctor? How are we going to get our Donna back?"

The Doctor looked from Jenny to Wilf, his hearts leaping in his chest when he felt their unwavering support no matter what he had to do. He was hard pressed to keep his expression neutral even though his mind was battering frantically at the wall that separated him from Donna. The emptiness within him seemed bigger than ever after having connected with Donna for a brief moment and he found that he was having trouble rising above the darker of his emotions now that he knew that Alec and Wilf were safe.

Donna was being held somewhere to the south in a facility that he knew was used for testing of some kind or another. Her mind had been filled with agony when she'd briefly connected with him and then she'd been ripped away once more. He was pretty certain that the brief failure of the neural inhibitor was related to the rebels laying siege to the building, something that would've likely caused a power fluctuation at just the right moment that would've allowed Donna to reach out to him. The fact that the barrier was restored within seconds made him think that they had backup generators to at least power their labs should there ever be a disruption of power so that their test subjects wouldn't be able to break free so easily.

He took a deep breath, using the soothing energy from the Tardis to try to still the chaos in his mind. "The Tardis has just completed her calculations and we're ready to make the jump to the facility where I believe Donna is being held. The Tardis was also able to briefly connect with her when she made contact with us and used that to narrow down her location. Hopefully, we'll land pretty close to where she's being held and be able to get to her with minimal effort."

Wilf cocked his head at the tone in the Doctor's voice, noting the nervousness that the man, alien though he was, was unable to conceal. "What's going on that you're not telling me, Doctor?"

The Doctor hurried away from the medical bay and made his way back into the control room, his steps rushed and nearly manic where he set to flipping switches and twirling dials on the control console in a seemingly random pattern.

Jenny followed behind her dad, her hands clenching and unclenching as she remembered Kedram's assurance that the rebels would be able to take the facility and free Donna. What sort of mess were they going to be walking into?

"There's just a minor planet-wide revolution going on right now that has marked this facility as its next target."

"Oh, is that all?" Wilf scoffed. His eyes widening when he saw the Doctor was deadly serious. "Doctor, we've got to hurry then! What's to keep them from hurting Donna when they find her?"

The Doctor shook his head, his hands reaching out to grip Wilf's shoulders tight before he met the older man's eyes. Wilf paused when he looked deep into the Doctor's eyes, the resolute focus in his gaze made Wilf suddenly feel that it was the rebels who would need to worry if the Doctor didn't get to Donna first.

"They've said that they're there to release prisoners and I have to trust that they will do just that should they find Donna before us, but we can't wait any longer in order to try to get to her." He looked up at the time rotor when he felt the Tardis signal that she was ready. "We'll find her, Wilf and we'll bring her back but in the meantime I need you to promise to stay in the Tardis no matter what you might hear outside those doors. Alec may still need you and you're the only line of defense that he will have should someone manage to breach the Tardis doors."

He didn't tell Wilf that it was completely impossible for anyone to get into the Tardis without a key or without the old girl's permission, but he felt that the older human needed some sense of purpose in order to feel like he wasn't just being left behind because he might slow them down or worse be harmed.

Those words were exactly what Wilf needed to hear and with a sharp nod of his head back towards the medical bay, he promised, "No one will get by me, Doctor!"

"That's it, Wilf! I knew I could count on you! Jenny and I are going to go get our Donna back!"

With a final look at his daughter that let her know just how concerned he was for Donna's safety, the Doctor reached up to take hold of the control lever in preparation to send the ship into the vortex for the short hop to the research facility. "Hold on tight everyone! I don't know how bumpy this ride is going to be!" I'm coming for you, Donna! Just a little bit longer! The Doctor shouted the last into the emptiness in his mind, hoping beyond hope that Donna would feel his assurance just as he threw the lever home.

The Tardis groaned with a deep strain of metal that echoed through the ship in a dire warning of the pressures that she was forced to overcome before the control room lurched sideways in a jarring motion that sent them all stumbling before she righted herself and managed the jump into the time stream.

The Doctor had his legs spread wide while he held onto the railing around the control console, his mind filled with the information from the Tardis as she struggled to latch back onto the proper time stream that would land them within the facility and close to Donna. He couldn't spare a thought for Jenny and Wilf as the two of them held on to each other for dear life, Jenny's arm was wrapped securely around Wilf while her other arm and leg were looped around the railing that surrounded the raised control console. They were holding tightly to each other and other than the initial lurch of the Tardis overcoming her temporal lock, the flight was surprisingly smooth and free from turbulence though he knew the worst was yet to come.

The Tardis was floundering in the vortex and the Doctor was once again amazed that Alec and his Tardis had been able to navigate the shifting eddies that surrounded Bir Tochter in order to land safely within his Old Girl in the proper time stream. Something had shattered reality around the planet and caused it to begin to phase between realities, the temporal disturbances on the planet were simply a symptom of the much larger problem.

The Doctor couldn't focus on the conundrum of the planet's fate though, he had to fly the ship through it's temporal wake and make sure that they landed in the proper time stream so that Donna wouldn't be held for a minute longer than absolutely necessary. He held tightly to the consciousness of the Tardis, his mind providing that calm counterpoint that she used to anchor herself to the proper time stream. His own temporal sense of the planet was the thread she used to pick the correct stream out of the chaos and send them careening back into phase with the planet below.

The materialization circuits fired and the ship slipped out of the time stream with surprisingly little fanfare before the cloister bell began to bong overhead.

The Doctor looked up at the sound, his gaze horrified as he felt the grim reality in the Tardis' thoughts. Things were even more dire than he'd feared.

"Did we make it? Are we there?"

The Doctor glanced over at Wilf as he carefully disentangled himself from Jenny's restraining hold, his eyes on the monitor that only showed an empty corridor on the outside of the ship. "We're there, Wilf, though I'm not exactly sure where in the facility we've landed. The Tardis says that the rebels have just breached the facility and are starting to make their way through the lower levels, we don't have much time to get to Donna first!"

He took Jenny's hand and dashed to the door, pausing when he heard Wilf call out, "You be careful too, Doctor! Remember you both are just as important as my Donna!"

Jenny smiled at Wilf, her head turning to look at her father before she replied, "We'll be careful, Gramps! Don't you worry, we'll bring her home safely!"

The Doctor merely grunted in acknowledgement of her words, the panic inside of him was blossoming into full blown terror when he heard the Tardis whisper, Hurry, my thief, there isn't much time left!

With that frightening thought uppermost in his mind, he opened the door of the Tardis and slipped out into the empty corridor beyond.