The Subwave Network

"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" shouted the voice on the Main Computer in the Torchwood Hub. "Now stand to attention, sir!"

"What?" cried Jack Harkness in surprise. "Who is that?" He ran over to the Screen. When the signal clear up, a middle-aged woman appeared.

"Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister," she introduced herself.

"Yeah – I know who you are," Jack sighed, amused. Seriously, did this woman make a habit of this or something?

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road," continued Harriet. "Are you there?"

"Yeah – I'm here," Sarah Jane confirmed.

"Good!" cried Harriet, smiling in relief. "Hold on, let's make it so we can all talk to one another." With that, she began working the keyboard...

*DW*

Rose Tyler was monitoring the Subwave conference from the Noble residence in Chiswick. The Nobles didn't have a webcam, so she couldn't take part in the discussions to come – she could only watch as one by one, the participants appeared on the laptop. Harriet Jones, Sarah Jane and Captain Jack had already been connected, but the fourth portion of the screen stayed awash with static.

"Hold on," Harriet informed the others. "The fourth contact seems to be having trouble getting through."

"Harriet, it's me!" Rose cried. But when the fourth screen cleared, a young black woman appeared in the conference, with another woman who was undoubtedly her mother.

"Hello?" she called.

"Ha...Martha Jones!" cried Jack, his voice full of relief.

"Who's she?" Rose asked, puzzled. But before anyone could speak further, the screen – or at least, everyone's own portion of the screen in separate points across the globe – was overcome with static.

"A fifth contact!" exclaimed Harriet in shock. "I'm boosting the signal now!"

Moments later, a strawberry blonde woman appeared on the screen, along with a curly dark brown young adolescent boy. Both were clad in blazers, scarves and hats, but the boy was wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers, while the blonde woman was wearing a blouse and a skirt. Suddenly they both grinned, and everyone saw a look of shock on Sarah Jane's face.

"No...it can't be," she gasped. "It...can't be the Doctor!"

"What do ya mean, Miss Smith?" asked Jack curiously. "Of course that's not the Doctor. At least...last time I checked," he added.

The blonde woman on the screen chuckled. "No...he isn't the Doctor, though you're both rather close," she told them, smiling. "Right then – introductions, followed by preparations! My name is Romanadvoratrelundar."

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced himself with a roguish grin.

"Do you mind not flirting, thanks?" asked the boy in exasperation.

"I'm just saying 'hello!'" protested Jack, though this boy reminded him of the Doctor.

"Well, for you, saying 'hello' means flirting, apparently!" the boy returned. He then turned back to the woman called Romanadvoratrelundar. "And what the hell is wrong with him, anyway? I mean, all my senses tell me to run away...if I could run away from something so far away."

"What you're sensing, Jonathan, is that he's a fixed point in Time," she explained. "The Universe basically refuses to accept the possibility of him dying. It can be a very sickening experience for a fully-fledged Time Lord."

"Wait a minute!" Martha interrupted curiously. "Did you say Time Lord? You're a Time Lord?"

"Well..." the woman explained. "My son here only has some of the Time Lord abilities, as he wasn't taken into the Academy. But those abilities were something he got from me. I'm a Time Lady. You can call me Romana, by the way."

Martha's mother, Francine, was staring with a mixture of shock, awe and fear. "How do we know you're not dangerous?" she interjected suspiciously.

"Is there any reason I should be dangerous to anyone but the Daleks?" Romana replied coldly.

Martha spoke up to explain. "About a year ago," she began haltingly, "my family was imprisoned and tortured, for a Year That Never Was, by a Time Lord known as the Master."

"Then why can't I sense his parasitic mind in my head? Why is it I can only sense the Doctor's mind, however faint that is?" Romana demanded. She had noticed a deafening telepathic silence upon returning to N-Space, and the implications it brought were very provoking of her dread. But no-one answered.

*DW*

Rose was watching the conference with a mixture of suspicion and awe. One part of her was happy that the Doctor was no longer alone in the Universe, another part was wondering just how amazing this Romana was. But the final part of her had a strange inkling that this woman had a deeper connection to the Doctor than she could ever hope to have.

Sarah Jane took the chance to speak up. "The Doctor told us that the Time Lords died, Romana," she informed the Time Lady sadly, knowing that it was impossible to lie to this Time Lady. "They went to war with the Daleks...and they lost."

Tears glistened in Romana's eyes, but they did not fall. "By Omega," she gasped chokingly. "I can't believe it. My friends...my family...all gone."

Jonathan put his arms around his mother in consolation. "You've still got me, Mother," he told Romana soothingly. "And we'll find a way to get back to him – believe in that."

Romana nodded, before giving her full, undivided attention to the conference. "Thank you for telling me, Sarah Jane. And incidentally, I have something to tell you."

"What's that, then?" asked Sarah Jane, curiosity piqued.

"When I travelled with the Doctor, he often told me about his travels with you," Romana informed her. "From what I heard, you were the best of Humanity. And when Jonathan was born, I thought perhaps he might need an honorary guardian, should anything happen to me." She turned to her son. "Jonathan?"

"Ah, yes," her son continued. "Hello, Auntie Sarah!"

Sarah Jane stared in shock. "Really?" she asked, tears in her eyes at this news.

"Oh yes," Romana confirmed. "I couldn't think of anyone better." She really hadn't been able to, after the description the Doctor gave her. How ironic that now, in the darkest, most hopeless of moments, she had formed a new bond with one of the most compassionate Humans in all of History.

Sarah dried her eyes with a handkerchief. "He really didn't forget me, did he?" she mused. "Well – now it looks like Luke has a step-cousin!" She chuckled while her son looked shocked.

"Is Luke there?" called a voice from behind Romana.

"Maria?" Luke replied over the Network. "Is that you?"

Eventually, she joined in the conference on Romana's portion of the screen.

"Luke!" Maria cried in relief. "I was worried the Daleks had killed both you and Sarah Jane!"

"We're all fine at this end, Maria!" Sarah told her, assuaging her fears. She then turned her attention back to Romana. "But...Romana, I noticed that you've named your son Jonathan...it's similar to the Doctor's pseudonym – 'John Smith.' Does that mean...Jonathan, are you..."

He nodded, and the words he spoke next were the ones that gave everyone on the Subwave Network a shock. "He's my father."

*DW*

Rose was in blank shock. The news that this boy, Jonathan, was the Doctor's son, all but confirmed that she had no hope of getting back with him. Romana, of all the people the Doctor had previously travelled with, had evidently been the closest. Close enough to have a child with him...

But somehow, Rose couldn't bring herself to hate the Time Lady on the screen. Both Romana and her son were now the closest thing to a real family the Doctor had. If that could lift him out of his nightmare of loneliness, then maybe...just maybe, she could accept what was happening today.

Over the Network, Jack whistled. "Wow...I didn't know the Doctor had it in him," he laughed.

"In that case, Jonathan," interjected Martha, "promise us something."

"Yes, Martha Jones?" he registered.

"Don't do something stupid, like dying on your father," she told him sternly. "Apart from the TARDIS, you and Romana are the only ones he's got left from his home."

"Cross my hearts," Jonathan swore, giving a grin that reminded both Sarah Jane and Romana of their Doctor's toothy grin. "But we'll have Time for a cosy catch-up later – right now, we should be worrying about the pepperpots invading the planet." He then proceeded to question the others...