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Random wooden crates, metal sheets covered with holes like swiss cheese, and what looked like giant slinkies stretched out, littered the place. I coughed a bit in the smoky, dusty air, feeling a bit uncomfortable as I covered my lower face with a sleeve, looking a lot like a vampire-wannabe. We had landed in a junkyard somewhere inside a massive tunnel. I had a feeling that I had seen this somewhere before. What was the next episode after Poison Sky? Eyebrows furrowed deeply in thought, I wandered closer to the machine that was providing the main source of light in the dimly light tunnel.

My mind flashed back to my "shelf-room" and to the metal plate next to the racket, 'The Doctor's Daughter.' Images of fishmen, soldiers, and lovely blondes filled the empty blanks that I had been drawing, and I remembered. My right hand fell from my mouth, forming into a fist, and dropped into my upturned left hand, as I finally got my light bulb moment. This was the episode that had always annoyed me, because they never tie up the loose end Jenny left when she-

"Stay where you are!" A man barked, causing me to jump with a startled squeak. "Drop your weapons!"

"We're unarmed," the Doctor called, voice unalarmed and hands raised. "Look, no weapons, never have any, we're safe." His lax attitude was a bit unnerving to see in person. I knew that it was just a part of who he was, but couldn't he be a bit more…I didn't know what he could be a bit more of. It was just rather unsettling.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one to think this, with the cautious looks the soldiers sent our way and how their grips on their large guns tightened. Abruptly, a dark haired man's face registered shock. "Their hands, they're clean."

Unfalteringly, the man closest to us ordered, "Alright, process them, one at a time." The two other men set their weapons aside and began to approach us.

Fearfully, I retreated back towards the Doctor, but my movements were much to slow and I was swiftly apprehended. "N-No, please!" I cried out, struggling.

"Oi!" The Doctor protested. "Hands off of her!" Ignoring the warning of the still armed soldier, he grabbed a hold of the taller soldier and pulled him away. Immediately, they switched targets to the Doctor instead and restrained him. "What-What's wrong with clean hands?!" He asked incredulously as he was frog marched over to the glowing machine and I was ushered behind both Donna and Martha. He arm was forced into a device that was connected to the machine with a clunk. It made noises and a small clanks as it powered up, and the Doctor turned to look at the soldiers dryly. "If you just wanted my blood pressure, it's- Ah!" He interrupted himself with a yell of pain.

I whimpered and hid my face in Martha's back.

"What's it doing to him?" Donna demanded furiously, hands still raised and powerless to do anything.

The only soldier still holding his weapon answered dismissively, "He's getting processed, just like everyone else."

"It's taken a tissue sample," the Doctor noted out loud, brows furrowed in thought. Abruptly, the machine let out a high pitched whine. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" The Doctor yelped, hopping in place and pressing against the arm restraint, gritting his teeth. The whine finished and the Doctor continued to explain, gasping, "And extrapolated it! Is this some sort of accelerator, eh?"

He looked at the soldiers in askance as the machine released him with a clunk. The soldier, now all holding weapons, kept their guns loosely trained on him as he stumbled away, cradling his hand and scrutinizing it curiously. Martha and Donna rushed over next to him, also hurrying to examine his hand. I made to follow, but a chirping, electric sound stopped me. Transfixed, I stared at the glowing, blue machine capsule as steam began to ooze out from the cracks.

The moment it opened and I saw her face, it was like I had seen it before. Unconsciously, I glanced between the Doctor and Jenny, comparing them. While she had a few similarities in appearance to Georgia Moffett, she was unmistakably related to the Time Lord four feet to the right of me.

For one thing, she had his nose.

That was the first thing that stood out, but it suited her less rounded and narrower, more defined facial structure. Her hair was still blond but much thicker, there being more of it. A few soft freckles dusted her cheeks, not quite as noticeable as her fathers but still present. And then her eyes opened. I didn't even realize they were closed at first, but then it became so obvious, once I saw them, that I nor anyone else could doubt it.

She also had his eyes.

"Jenny," I breathed. "The Doctor's daughter." I felt his gaze and saw his stare out of the corner of my eye, but I refused to acknowledge the Doctor, too enthralled with the deviation from the TV show. I rather liked this version of Jenny. Her face did throw me off a bit, but it suited her quite well, I felt. Besides strongly and vaguely resembling the Doctor and Georgia, respectively, there was someone else she reminded me of. I couldn't quite place it, but I know that I had seen that face before elsewhere. The name and person remained elusive, and the more I tried to recall, the harder it was to focus on that resemblance.

My intense concentration on her was broke as she was handed a gun with the order to arm herself. She held it in her hands curiously, looking it over with a mild frown as she turned it over in hands. I wondered if there was going to be more divergence from the show, like with Jenny being a pacifist or not knowing how to handle a gun. Unfortunately, this idea was quickly dispatched when she began to take the gun apart with an efficiency that could only be muscle memory, an engrained action hardwired into her. I dimly heard the Doctor, Martha, and Donna's discussion, and Jenny seemed to sense my intrigued stare.

Although, I have to admit, it would pretty hard not to with how blatantly I was doing it.

Her eyes quickly flitted over me, taking complete stock of my appearance, before she smiled at me, holding an almost baffled air. "Hello, Dad," she greeted the Doctor with a grin when looked to him next. But when her gazed moved to Donna and Martha, her grin faded once more to a slightly baffled one. "The civilians next to you are not safe here," she continued. "Why are they here?"

'Civilians?' I thought confused. 'Who is she-oh, oh… She thinks we're civilians, which we are, but what made her immediately think that and not the Doctor?' As I mental compared us to the soldiers in the room, I realized that it was pretty obvious that we weren't battle material in the normal, stereotypical sense. For one thing, no weapons. Our clothes didn't have the wear and tear of people fighting in a war. Finally, just how the other soldiers were treating us hinted that we didn't exactly belong. And the Doctor because he was her dad, of course she'd think that he was a soldier too.

Briefly, so quickly that if I hadn't already been watching her I would've missed it, her eyes glanced between both Donna and me. I wondered if she thought that Donna and I were related like how she and the Doctor were related, and, since neither Donna or I had a mark on our hands, how that was possible. Did she learn about Sex Ed as well as the Way of the Warrior while in the machine? Did any of the people here learn about it?

It was a question that I would never dare ask anyone about but would always wonder.

"That is a question that we're saving for General Cobb to find out," the soldier that seemed to be in charge here told her as he gestured for her to follow him over to the barricade. "Are you primed to take orders, ready to fight?"

Cool as a cumber, she replied as they both passed me, "Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir. Generation 5,000 soldier primed and in peak physical health." She cocked her gun as she stood by the Swiss cheese metal plate. "Oh, am I ready." All four soldiers aimed their guns down the tunnel, guns aimed and ready for anything…ready for the fishmen.

I caught movement from the corner of my eye, and turned to see another soldier that I hadn't noticed before messing with a small, yellow machine on the wall. He pressed something, making it let out a brief and very annoying beep, before turning away. I wondered if it was an intruder alarm and he was resetting it because we had set it off earlier. I made to turn around and ask the Doctor what that was when I heard a crash down the tunnel.

"Something's coming!" Jenny warned and all the soldiers tensed, weapons raised a little higher. Footsteps could be heard rushing through the tunnel and shadows appeared, looking larger than life, on the wall. Several green flashes could be seen, shinning in the dark as the fishmen got closer and closer. Then they started to fire, the rata-tat-tat of guns sounding almost deafening in the tunnel as the noises were amplified. I covered my ears and closed them tightly, only to shriek when strong hands pulled me back.

Heart pounding, my eyes flew open to see the Doctor anxiously tugging me back to safety. He pulled me behind him towards Martha and Donna as he kept his gaze trained on the fight in front of him. Cool hands gripped me and pulled me close, and I heard her say loudly, "C'mon, we can't stay here. We'll get caught in the crossfire!" Ducking down, I followed her to the left, hiding behind some scrap metal. We could only sit there and watch helplessly as the gun fight went on.

One of the soldiers got shot and fell to the ground. He didn't get back up.

I curled up into a ball, trying to protect myself from all the violence happening around me to very little success. "I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to-" My mantra was cut off by a shriek from Martha and before I could react, a strong gloved hand grabbed my arm and hefted me to my feet too, while another wrapped around my mouth. I screeched and cried as I was dragged away.

The fishmen, I had forgotten about the fishmen. Were they good? Bad? Did they eat people? How did Martha escape from them? Was I going to die? My mind had gone blank from fear. I couldn't remember. I didn't know. I didn't know what was going to happen. I might die. I might actually die.

There was so much noise and screaming, couldn't make out a word. And there was Martha, just ahead of me with her fishman captor. What did they want? Were we hostages, like prisoners of war? Suddenly, there was a loud explosion of sound, so loud that it was the only thing I could hear. We went flying, the fishman and I. We were flying. And then we fell. The ground, it hurt, it hurt so bad. I throbbed, ears ringing as everything seemed to get dark for a moment. I might've pass out, I couldn't tell if time had passed.

I couldn't get up. The fishman was on top of me, he wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? Why was my back wet? Why was it so dark? I tried to cry out, to scream, but I couldn't say a word. Try as I might, not a sound was heard from me. I screamed, I cried, but all was silent, no sound of my voice. There was no sound, no noise, silence. I couldn't hear anything, even the ringing in my ears had stopped. I started to hyperventilate, breathing in the smoky and stale air. I was going to die. I had been buried alive along with the fishman who still hadn't moved, who hadn't said anything, who probably even de-

Light, suddenly, there's light, and I renew my efforts to cry for help, to scream, to do something. Stuff was moved out of the way faster and soon, there was Martha, relief evident on her face. Her lips moved, she had obviously said something, but I couldn't hear a word. In fact, I couldn't hear anything. My throat was sore. They had heard me. I was deaf.

Panic begins to set in, and unthinkingly, I touch my ear with one hand. It's wet. I bring my hand back to look and see blood. I scream, or, at least, I think I screamed. I'm frightened, really, truly, frightened. The explosion, it had been so loud, had it destroyed my ears? Martha looks scared and she helps me up. This makes me feel sick and nauseous, and when she assists me to a standing position, I feel dizzy. Not the just-got-off-a-tire-swing kind, but the I-just-went-on-the-tilt-a-whirl-ride-for-the-fifth-time-in-a-row-and-I-can't-tell-up-from-down kind. I have to sit down. Martha is checking my head for lumps and had tentatively pulled up the back of my suspicious damp shirt to check underneath.

I caught moment from the corner of my eye. It was the fishmen! I told Martha as much, I think I told her. She didn't seem worried though. Came in front of me some I could see her and made calming motions. She turned to the fishmen and gave a thumbs up which they returned. "They're okay. Okay. O…K…"She mouthed.

"Okay," I repeated, well, I think did. I'm sure did. Let's say I did.

Then she turns her head over to the fishmen and walks over to them. They found the fishman, brought him out. There's red everywhere. And should someone's neck hang at that angle? All that red, it was blood, he was bleeding. Why wasn't he moving? All that blood, someone help him! Hurry before-

There was a long metal beam sticking out of his back. He was dead.

The nausea returned full force and I lean over the side and emptied what little was in my stomach, gagging. His blood, I was covered in his blood. He was dead. Lord have mercy, he was dead. I heaved again, bracing myself with trembling arms. I want to go home. Things like this didn't happen at home. I want to go home.

A hand placed itself softly on my shoulder making me jump. It was another one of the fishmen. He gently patted my shoulder before gesturing for me to get up. "I can't," I tried to say. I hoped my words got across to him as he cocked his head a bit to the side. Then he turned around and presented me his back. I flinched, mind flipping back to the metal rod and all the red, red, red blood. "I can't," I repeated. "Can't."

Then he leaned backwards and used his hands to pull me on to his back. Gripping me tightly, he stood up and adjusted his grip so that I was supported more comfortably. My head spinned from the vertigo, and I was forced to rest my head on his neck, trying to fight back the nausea.

I couldn't think, my mind was blank.

I couldn't hear, my ears were ruined.

Eventually, we came into what I could only guess used to be a ballroom or a museum that had been converted into barracks for the fishmen. Marble columns stood sentry while sheer curtain flowed in between them along the walls. There was another one of those machine from before, only instead fishmen came out. Everything was dimly lit and sectioned off by glass dividers. It was actually quite pretty with all the blues and whites and golds.

No red, though, not one bit of red anywhere.

We were taken further into the room and the fishman leading us came to a stop. The fishman carrying me, gently set me down next to Martha, who I gripped onto for support. The main fishman, I was guessing he was the leader, waved his arm around and, I'm guessing, shouted, collecting the attention of all the other fishmen in the room. He turned to face us and I watched as the little capsule filled with green liquid burbled. I supposed this meant he was talking, but I couldn't be for sure.

Martha wrapped arm around me and pulled me close to her as the fishmen started to close in around us. All of their little tanks bubbling as if they were all saying something. "Martha," I tried to say, throat vibrating. Her hand gave my arm a comforting squeeze and didn't let go.

The fishmen stepped closer and Martha randomly waved with her other hand. I couldn't be for sure, but she might've even said, "Hello!" I let out a nervous giggle, she had picked up more from the Doctor than she thought. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to channel her 'inner-Doctor.' Clearly, he would've been a big help right now. The fishmen were so close to us, it was actually a bit awkward and uncomfortable, personal bubbles being utterly invaded. One of them reach out a hand, and I flinched, closing my eyes and expecting the worst.

Pat.

Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat.

Baffled, I opened my eyes, completely mystified as the fishmen petted us. It was bit strange, but I realized that it would probably something I would do if I found a friendly and cute looking creature. I wondered if we were like cute little critters in the fishmens' perspective. They were mostly touching our hair, which must be a novelty for them, since they had mostly scales. In a sense, Martha and I were like a pair of dogs or cats, and the fishmen were a bunch of curious children petting the soft fur. It was a bit humbling, in a way, but not demeaning. Actually, it was a bit nice too, but I'd never ever tell anyone that.

Once they had gotten their fill, some wandered back to what they had been doing beforehand, while others stood around nearby to observe. The leader of the group who had apparently introduced us, beckoned us forward over to what looked like R2-D2 without any legs or a head, just the cylinder body. Martha helped to support me as I staggered to where R2-D2's remains were. There, the fishman leader fiddled with the controls until a hologram fizzled into existence. Well, I think it fizzled, it looked pretty old-school, so I assume it fizzled instead of zapped or sputtered. I only really had visual clues to go on.

Faintly, I could see the outline of a grid, like you would see on graph paper, with the layout of what must be the base superimposed over it, like a kid had shaded it in. The fishman leader burbled at Martha for a while and had a very grave expression on his face. Well, I assumed it was grave, there appeared to be a somber mood in this setting. Martha nodded and told him something before hesitantly pointing at a place on the map. The leader followed to look where she was pointing only to turn to her in such a way that could only imply, 'Really, are you serious, right now?' The other fishmen shook their heads or melodramatically turned to look at the ceiling or away from us in disinterest. Obviously, whatever Martha had said was the wrong answer.

Disinterested, because I couldn't hear what was going on, I absently stuck my hand through the hologram. My hand tingled and I pulled it back out. I was faintly reminded of an overhead project that my science teacher always wheeled out when giving lectures and the flimsy, see-though, plastic pages he would place down for each slide. Curious now about the tingly feeling I had received, I stuck my hand through the hologram again, only to have a hand placed on my elbow. Martha smiled and shook her head before meaningfully glancing at the fishmen. Understanding that they probably wouldn't like me messing around with their futuristic overhead projector, I removed my hand once more.

Suddenly, the R2-D2 body I had been leaning against turned, and I stood up straight, watching as the hologram scaled down and glitched before revealing more shaded in parts, only these ones in a slightly different color, a paled yellowish-blue instead of just a slate-blue. Excited, Martha gestured at the fishmen, inviting them to come see the new slide on the holo-projector. They came over and looked between themselves, Martha and I, and the hologram. Maybe it had been broken and the two of us had accidently fixed it?

Soon, a whole crowd began to form around Martha and I, all trying to get a glimpse at the hologram. I saw all the little tank on their faces bubbling excitedly and assumed this to be a good thing. The leader who had been previously on the other side of the room, rejoined us and examined the hologram for himself and turned to his fellow fishmen. I think he was giving a motivating speech with all the fist-pumps and enthusiastic arm waving her was doing. Soon, the other fishmen were fist-pumping to and hefting their guns in the air in what must've been celebration. If this was them after we unfreezed their holo-projector, albeit accidently, I wondered how they would react if we fixed their wi-fi or something.

The fishman who had carried me earlier standing on the other side of Martha patted her shoulder. She turned to him and shook her slightly, shrugging. He just nodded and patted her on the shoulder once more, as the other fishmen walked by us and petted us on the head or shoulders in what must've been thanks. They bustled around, all looking terribly busy and distracted, gathering supplies and weapons. By this point, my dizziness has subsided and I can stand by myself. Hopefully, this meant that I was finally starting to get better.

The fishmen continued to make preparations, some had already started to leave. I watched them for a few minutes before deciding to sit on one of the beds. Surely, they wouldn't mind if I just rest my feet for a moment or two? All of them looked so busy and none of them so much as looked at the beds. They probably didn't notice, or if they did, they didn't care.

Satisfied that I wouldn't upset anyone, I scooted further on the bed and leaned back against the wall, relaxing. I contented myself to watching everything that was happening, my memory supplying the noises while my ears still failed to do anything but ring.

Wait, ring?

It was then that I actually processed the fact that my ears were ringing, and encouraged by this, I pawed at them. Blood, which had dried and become encrusted, came away from my skin and onto my hand. I grimaced in disgust, wishing for something to wipe away all the dry blood, when I remembered the gauze in my front overall pocket. Quickly, I brought it out, tore off a strip, and carefully cleaned my ears. Lots of gross looking crust came away and I gagged, remembering the sight of that fishman's limp form. Closing my eyes, I blindly cleaned up my ears as best as I could to get rid of any blockage. There was no improvement, but my ears continued to ring instead of just being silent which I took as a good sign.

I dropped my arms into my lap and released a shuddering breath. That fishman had saved my life. He probably didn't mean to, but he did, and I didn't even know his name.

"What doesn't make sense is this 'Breath of Life' story," the Doctor grumbled as he sat down of the bench.

"Or these numbers I keep seeing," Donna added. "Look over here, another set of 'em. It's all got to mean something." Indeed, there were more numbers, but they were hardly important at the moment in the Doctor's mind. In fact, they were close to the bottom of the list of priorities that he had.

"So, are you implying that you think it's not real?" Jenny asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean, it's just a myth, right, Doctor? Every place has got one," Donna answered as she took a seat next to the brooding Time Lord. 'Really,' she thought. 'He has got to have the worst case of Instant Father Shock that I've ever seen.'

"In every story, there's a grain of truth," the Doctor reluctantly admitted. "While I'm a bit skeptical of the 'Breath of Life' actually being the breath of some deity, the Source is likely an actual thing. Now, question is, what sort of thing it could be. Information, possibly a long-lived creature, a weapon…"

"So, you're saying that the Source could be a weapon, and we just gave a Google-map-accurate set of directions to General Wacko?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor groaned as he sat up straight, regarding Jenny in front of them who was staring back with an unreadable expression and crossed arms. "That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha and Penelope, and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath…" Jenny was still staring at him only this time more intensely. The Doctor found hard to concentrate with his own eyes, only so much younger, scrutinizing him so intensely. "What-What are you…What are you, what are you staring at?"

Donna looked at the Doctor in surprise, he had been stuttering just as bad as Penny! This surprised her, the normally so calm and collected Doctor was losing his cool in the face of fatherhood.

"All this time, you kept insisting that you weren't a soldier, that you were a pacifist, yet just look at you! Coming up with plans and strategies like a proper commander," Jenny exclaimed, smiling in disbelief. "Really, we're not much different."

"Oh, no," the Doctor immediately refuted. "No, no, no, no…I am trying to stop the fighting. We're not alike."

Jenny pretended to give some thought, pursing her lips in a particular way that was reminiscent to the only other alien in the cell. "Well, isn't very soldier?"

"Well, I s'pose, but that's…that's…technically…" The Doctor sputtered before abruptly changing the subject since this had become a conversation he knew he couldn't win without folding or compromising. And he was willing to do neither at the moment, instead, he'd much rather drop it entirely. "I haven't got time for this." Turning to his companion and completely dismissing Jenny, he stuck out his left hand while the other dug in his pocket. "Donna, give me your phone," he ordered. "Time for an upgrade."

Donna gave a silent laugh of disbelief. The Doctor was so blatantly obvious about his avoidance, that it was funny in a sort of pathetic way. Still, she supposed that she could enable this for a little while longer. It was too fun watching the Doctor struggle not to. She handed over her phone which the Doctor took from as he finally brought out his sonic.

"You even have a weapon!" Jenny cried.

"Not a weapon!" The Doctor sing-songed under his breath.

"Is too! You're using it to fight back!"

"Which makes it a tool!"

"Which you use to fight back!" She laughed, incredulous that they we still going on about it at this point. Why didn't he just accept it? Accept her? "Weapons can be considered tools too, a means to an end. Ooh, I'm going to learn so much from you. You are such a soldier."

The Doctor opened and closed his mouth, completely speechless before turning to the red head next to him pleadingly, "Donna, will you tell her?"

This time, Donna didn't bother being quiet about her amusement, laughing openly. "I have never she you speechless before, Doctor. Oh, I am loving this. You keep on, Jenny." Knowing that he wasn't going to be getting any help from his friend, the Doctor turned to the phone in his hand in complete frustration, feeling an unreasonable amount of stress and tension for what the situation called for. He had been, and was continuing to, take the news of his newfound parenthood rather poorly. The Doctor eyed Donna as the phone began to ring, calling Martha.

After the third ring, the phone was answered, "Doctor?"

"Martha!" The Doctor shouted, leaping to a standing position. "You're alright!" He grinned, "Martha Jones, nothing can keep you down."

"Doctor! Oh, you cannot believe how glad I am to hear your voice. Are you alright?"

"I'm with Donna, we're fine, how 'bout you?" The Doctor spoke so fast the words almost ran together as he listened intently for a response on the other end.

"And," Donna began, temporary catching the Doctor's attention by gently placing a hand on his arm and gesturing towards the blond. "And Jenny." Donna prompted, looking at the Doctor meaningfully. "She's here with us too."

"Yes, alright, and-and…Jenny…That's the-the woman from the progenation machine…the soldier…" Donna crossed her arms and continued to stare at him pointedly. The Doctor adverted his eyes and gave a sniff, mumbling, "My daughter-except she isn't! She's…She's…Er, anyway…Where are you?"

"Well, I'm in the Hath camp. They're actually nice blokes, and things could be worse, but…something's going on. They're preparing for something…The Hath are all marching off to some extra tunnel system that just appeared on this map…thing. Looked like a hologram of the whole base."

A dawning look of dismay and dread crossed the Doctor face. "Oh…That was me…Um, if both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath." He grimaced before frowning. "Martha, have you seen Penelope at the Hath camp with you? Is she…Is she alright? Are you both safe?"

"…" There was a heavy pause that turned his hearts cold. "Doctor, the thing with Penny…That explosion, she's dea-" Martha's voice was cut off by a dial tone, and the Doctor could only stare into space in unconcealed horror. Penny was dead.

"-deaf… Doctor? Doctor?!" Martha pulled the phone away, and groaned. "Oh, why did I have to forget to charge it last night? It's not exactly like there's going to be a power outlet and charger here!" She paused, frowning. "Is there?" She turned to the only Hath still around in the camp and quickly jogged over to him. "Hey, um, I need to charge this, it's really important. I need power for this… The Hath hardly paid her any mind, continuing to fiddle with the machine that was projecting the hologram. Martha wondered if the language barrier was interfering again or if he was even paying any attention to her at all. "Do you understand me?" She queried, feeling desperate at this point.

This time the Hath looked at her and burbled in his own language before the image on the hologram changed once again, scaling down and turning on its side, becoming three-dimensional. Martha's eyes widened and she laughing in surprised excitement. "Oh, you're a clever Hath, it's in 3D!"

He bubbled in thanks.

"So, this big silo is where everyone's marching off to?"

A burble and nod in confirmation.

"But with all those twists and turns…If we went up in a straight line on the surface, we'd get there first."

The Hath gurgled a negative, shaking his head.

"Well, why not?" Martha asked. "What's the environment up there like?"

The Hath burbled gravely, adjusting the machine in front of the two of them once more, a bar graph superimposing itself over the 3D diagram of the base and a small dinging alert going off.

"So…these are the readings for the surface?" Martha clarified, pointing at the red stats.

The Hath bubbled an affirmative, nodding his head.

"Well, it doesn't look too bad. Nitrogen and oxygen are at about eighty twenty. That's fine. The ozone levels are pretty high, and there's some big radiation spikes, but as long as we're not out there too long… Can't be much worse than that clone feed."

The Hath bubble urgently in protest to this.

"We have to, Penny and I. We need to find our friends." For moment, the two of them stood there, regarding each other before Martha turned on her heel and strided over to where Penny was sitting, gaining the younger girl's attention.

"M-My ears are-are starting to ring n-now," the red head informed her in a slightly too loud voice. "St-Still can't hear." Martha nodded with a smile, giving Penny a thumbs up. This was actually some good news. The ringing was a sign that her hearing was gradually returning, it wasn't permanent like Martha had feared. The older woman beckoned for Penny to stand up and follow her, for which she complied, taking Martha's proffered hand gratefully.

The Hath watched this with a distressed air, and when the duo made to leave, he called out to gain their attention. Only Martha turned around, as only she could hear him, and she gave him a smile. Gesturing with her head, she said, "Well, come on then, the more the merrier and who better knows the tunnels than you?" The Hath was quick to join Martha and Penny as they made their way through the tunnels.

Penny was continuously craning her head this way and that way, attempting to use her eyesight to make up for her lack of hearing, but that was also beginning to change. Through the ringing, Penny could have sworn that she was hearing a sort of distorted, rhythmic thumping noise. It took her several long moments to realize that, that was the sound of their footsteps echoing loudly through the tunnels. Indistinct and imprecise though it was, she was immensely relieved for any sign that she was regaining her sense of hearing. It was one good thing, at least.

The Hath lead them to a tunnel that different from the rest, the wall made of brick instead of uncut stone. He gestured for them to go in first as he remained in the back as a rear guard. The brick tunnel didn't go far before there was a doorway that opened to a set of stairs that splintered off from the main route. Without any hesitation, Martha started running up the steps with Penny close behind, and in no time at all they were at the top.

The Hath was still standing at the threshold of the bubbling something along the lines of 'I can't do it,' shaking his head and hands and refusal.

Channeling the confidence she had gained from her time with the Doctor and from her time at UNIT, Martha told him sternly, "You've spent your whole life in the darkness and shadows of these tunnels. Now that you have a chance to come with us and stand in the open air and feel the wind on your face, you're going to throw it all away because you have cold feet? You can stay here and live in fear of your own planet, or you can come with me and Penny to see it for the first time and stop a war. What's go to be? Make up your mind now, 'cause we can't wait, we got a war to stop and friends to find, and nothing is going to stop us." With that, Martha turned back around and ushered Penny upwards to the ladder. Together, they pressed against the hatch and lifted it slowly with a creaking groan, revealing the sound of an intense wind.

The Hath made a moaning noise and began to climb up the stairs himself as Martha and Penny stood on the planet's surface. It was bitterly cold and windy, but in its own way, it projected a sort of desolate beauty. Three moons nestled in the sky, softly lighting the night sky to reveal the extensive marsh around them with foliageless trees scattered randomly. Crags could be seen in the distance, spindly and tall, but one stuck out as thicker than the rest, rounder and much wider before coming to a straight and definitive point. That was the silo, their destination.

Penny shuffled uneasily with a shiver and was breathless but was otherwise impervious to the cold, used to temperatures that could reach well below zero with a biting wind similar to this to make it seem even colder in Minnesota winters. This, however, was not as harsh, probably around forty although the wind made it seem half that much, somewhere in the lower twenties. Martha, on the other hand, was not used to colder temperatures such as Penny, London and the United Kingdom in general never getting much below zero, made temperate by the ocean's proximity, and was quick to button up her jacket.

The Hath came to stand beside them, surprising looking to be completely unaffected by the cold and wind at all, instead opting to gaze around the open space and wonder. A man of few words, though he was, was rendered completely into silence, completely speechless at the sight before him. Well, until Martha teased him a bit.

"I knew you couldn't resist!"

He bubbled what could only have been a rude remark.

"Erm…Language, there is a child present." She paused. "And even though she can't hear anything right now, it's the principle."

The Hath gave her a look.

"Come on," she muttered, grasping Penny's hand and leading them forward. "The sooner we get out of this wind, the better!"

"Who are you people?" The girl, Jenny, asked, causing the Doctor to grit his teeth. Ever since the phone call, his whole demeanor to her had chilled to a level even colder than previously. Donna had asked what was wrong, but the Doctor said nothing, just mutely handing her back the phone and brooded as the soldiers had cheered in the distance for the war that they were going to start. It had woken him out of the grieving haze he had been in just enough to regain order and push on, planning to deal with the issue of Penny's death later.

"They're getting ready to move out," he informed Donna curtly. "We have to get past that guard."

"I can deal with him," Jenny volunteered, wanting to do something to gain her father's approval.

"No," the Doctor immediately refused with a snarl. "You can stay here with the rest of the soldiers, where you belong."

"Doctor!" Donna cried, stunned. "You can't say that! She belongs here with us, with you, she's your daughter."

"She's a soldier. She came from that machine," the Doctor denied vehemently.

"Yeah, I got that bit on the account of being there!" Donna snapped back, quickly becoming irritated with the Doctor's attitude. She stuck out her hand before demanding, "Still got that stethoscope? Give it." She impatiently wiggled her fingers. "Come on, hurry up." Reluctantly, already guessing what his companion was about to do, he handed it over.

"What's that? What're you doing?"

"Shh, it's alright," Donna soothed, voice gentle. "Just hold still, yeah?" After a moment, she beckoned the Doctor over. "Have a listen, Spaceman, and then you can look me in the eyes and tell me that she doesn't belong with you."

There were two hearts beating in a triplet-four pattern. Shakily, he pulled away, speaking hoarsely. "Two hearts."

"What…What's going on?" Jenny asked, starting to feel afraid.

"And so do you! Is that proof enough to get through your thick skull of yours that she's a…What do you call a female Time Lord? A Time Lady?"

"What's a Time Lord?" Jenny demanded, looking between the Doctor and Donna as she defensively crossed her arms.

"That's who I am, my species, my people, where I come from," the Doctor answered her reluctantly, moodily leaving against the wall.

"And I'm from you," Jenny murmured breathlessly.

Like a switch had been flicked, the Doctor stiffened. "You are nothing but an echo, a ghost," he spat her. "A Time Lord is so much more than just DNA. A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering." Once more the anger dimmed, now only simmering slowly beneath a guarded expression of pain. "Only it's gone now, all of it, gone forever."

"What happened?" Jenny asked, subdued.

"A war."

"You mean…like this one?" It was starting to make sense to her now, why the Doctor had been on edge the whole time around here.

He gave an empty laugh, his passing smile holding no warmth at all. "Bigger, so much bigger."

"And you fought, you killed?"

There was a long silence before the Doctor slowly closed his eyes, admitting, "Yes."

"Then how are we different?"

Her question haunted him, because he couldn't find an answer. Anything she had done, he had done far worse. He was just using Penelope's death as a piss-poor excuse, and he knew it. He didn't want to risk it, that part of him had died long ago, so he had thought. It was so much easier to keep her at both a figurative and literal arms-length, safer. He wasn't a father. Hadn't been for many, many years.

So he said, "I told you, I'm the Doctor, just the Doctor."

"The Doctor," she repeated flatly. "That's it?"

Donna sighed, "That's all he ever says. Honestly, you'd think he'd get tired of the question 'Doctor who?' after a while."

"So, you don't have a name either?" Jenny pried. "Are you an anomaly, too?"

"No." Came the blunt answer.

"Oh, get off your high horse, Spaceman," Donna scoffed. "You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met."

The Doctor didn't grace her with an answer, instead taking off a panel to reveal a manual switch. "Here we are."

"And Time Lords," the blond pressed. "What are they for, exactly?"

"For?" The Doctor grimaced. "They weren't…They weren't for anything, they just were."

"So what do you do?" Jenny prodded.

"I travel through time and space," he answered distantly, distracted and not seeing the satisfied smile beginning to cross Donna's face for the simple fact that the two of them were talking, holding an actual conversation.

"He saves planets," she elaborated. "Rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures, and runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved. It's got me in shape, though, so I guess I can't complain too much."

Suddenly, like something out of Scooby-Doo, a large section of wall moved to reveal a doorway to what appeared to be a service tunnel. "You were saying about running?" The Doctor commented dryly as the shouting of soldiers started to become audible. Together, the three of them ran inside and through the service tunnel before coming to a stop in front of a placement of lasers that looked like something from a James Bond movie.

"That's not mood lighting, is it? Something from the disco?" Donna asked dryily as the Doctor gave her a look, tossing the clockwork mouse that he used earlier for a distraction. It soared through the air and landed one of the beams, disintegrating into an explosion of sparks. "No, I didn't think so, no disco ball."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in mild exasperation. "Arming device, I can take it down, but it'll take time." Spotting a small blue box covered in switches and knobs, he approached it and started to work. Jenny coming to stand next to him and peer over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Donna turned around to spot another plaque, this one saying '6012713.'

"There's more of these!" Donna exclaimed, pointing at it while the Doctor began to sonic the blue control box. "Always eight numbers and always counting down the closer we get!" Hurriedly, she scribbled down the new set of numbers.

"That's nice, Donna," the Doctor said absently before managing to sonic open the stubborn control box. "Ah, there we are!"

"You'd better be quick, I think I hear someone," Donna warned him.

Jenny listened closely herself before recognizing the voice. "It's the General." Suddenly, she started running toward the sound and the Doctor immediately ran after her unthinkingly. Reaching out a hand to stop her and pull her around to face him.

"And where do you think you're going?" He demanded, studying her seriously.

"I can hold them up," Jenny told him earnestly. "Be a distraction."

"No, we don't need you killing any more people," he refused, setting his jaw.

"But it's them or us," she protested.

"It doesn't mean you have to kill people like before," he told her bitterly.

"I'm trying to save your life!" Jenny exclaimed. "And since when do you care, Dad? Before you were just itching to get rid of me, insisted that 'I should be with my own kind.'"

The Doctor hesitated, mind flashing back to the two hearts her had heard beating every so fragilely in her chest, all too vulnerable and liable to stop at the penetration of bullets. "Listen to me," he began. "The killing…after a while, it infects you like a virus, a disease, and once it does, you can never get rid of it, hounding your every step."

"But…we don't have a choice," Jenny told him weakly.

"We always have a choice," the Doctor expressed, hoping that she would agree, that she would listen, that she would stay with him and Donna, and that she wouldn't go off and-

"I'm sorry," she whispered regretfully, turning around and running off once more.

"Jenny-!" He called out, reaching once more to stop her but she slipped through his grasp, gone. For a moment, a vulnerable and terrified expression crossed his face before it morphed into a hard and detached one. Inclining his head, he watched her for a moment before turning around and going back to the blue control box.

"I told you," he said flatly. "Nothing but a soldier."

"She's trying to help," Donna protested. "If you just gave her a chance-"

"That's the problem. I already did."

To Be Continued...

Explanations:

* I have a picture of this new Jenny, but I haven't yet posted it on Tumblr. Might do it tomorrow of within the next week...

* The fishmen that Penny is referring to is the Hath.

* Don't worry, the deafness is only temporary. I based it off of the deafness Katniss went through in the Hunger Games. Only Penny wil get her hearing back in both ears, not to worry.

* The unknown Hath who died is going to be someone who's going to stick around in Penny's thoughts for a long while, unfortunately. It's got to be more than a little bit traumatic to have a dead person on your back. Penny's going to dislike dark red colors for a bit...

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TITLE: I'm A What Now?

AUTHOR: evilpinklollipop

ID: 10260014

SUMMARY: I'm lucky and, though not one hundred percent sure, I think I've just hit the jackpot. I don't know what the hell I did in my last life to deserve a second chance but here I was, alive and kicking. Now all I have to do is not die again.

OPINION: Okay, guys, I NEVER do this, but I'm going to advertise this again, because it's really super vital that you go review this story to encourage the author. I've PM'd her, and she isn't planning to drop the story but actually hoping to update later in January. I'm hoping that the more encouraging reviews she gets, the faster she might update, so please, please review and spam this story with attention! Please and thank you!

Thought Process:

Sorry for the short chapter. Just wanted to get this out for the New Year. :) I'll add more later, promise. Just had a super busy past few month. I was going to update on my birthday, but that didn't work out. I was going to update on Christmas, but I got too busy writing the cross over 'Living Fiction' with Emptyvoices. I actually made a trailer for it if you want to look:

/watch?v=VcDnF2_nISI

It's not professional or anything, only the second video I made in my life with editing software. Only this time instead of a class, I used a free website called 'Wevideo.' But I think I did okay, considering.

So, I added more, as promised! :D

Happy New Year,

FFA, the Fan Fictional Authoress.

Date Submitted: Wednesday, December 31, 2014.

Date Edited: Saturday, January 3, 2015.