Last time: The Thirteenth Doctor is summoned to the Matrix and shot, the Sixth Doctor is mentally assaulted and ends up trying to strangle Peri, Donna is attacked by a big dark flying thing, and the Tenth Doctor is affected by the same thing as the Sixth Doctor and starts thinking like the Time Lord Victorious.


Chapter 1

In Which Donna Gets Candy

Donna slumped back into the waiting room's thinly-padded chair, the smell of antiseptics making her vaguely nauseous. A magazine dropped from her hand onto the shining white tiles.

She had bloody well get some answers today. Something easy, like a side-effect of stress maybe, not some medical drama like you'd see on the telly, the type where they had to keep calling her back again and again as she died of some rare incurable disease. Needing to have tests done at all was bad enough. There was a telly blathering in the room, not playing a medical drama, just the BBC news.

Neither Donna's magazine or the BBC was an adequate distraction for anything. Honestly, the metal-backed chair did better at taking her mind off things than the coverage of some dog that found its way back to its family after thirteen years. She wiggled, but she could not get comfortable. "Why do waiting rooms always make you sit on torture devices?"

There were other patients waiting their turn, but none bothered to respond. Donna wished Shaun had time off from his summer job so he could be there with her, or even that her mum was free that day, but as she put it, the mortgage wasn't going to pay itself. Couldn't she get some support here? It wasn't just the nausea. It was a whole long list of worrisome things: vomiting, sensitivity to smells, that one night when she hallucinated that big flying thing and passed out in the bedroom...

No way that was just menopause.

After what seemed like a week of waiting, Donna's name was finally called. She followed a nurse down a long, white hallway, talking at her. "Did they find anything? Good news? Bad news? Terrible news? I just want to know what's going on already."

The nurse kept looking over some notes on her clipboard. "Doctor Essex will have that information for you."

Donna groaned. "You must know something. No gossip about interesting illnesses? No paperwork for extra tests? No measurements they want you to pay extra attention to with me?"

The nurse ignored Donna as she adjusted a scale, barely speakingc through the rest of her checks. Donna swore she left her alone in a room as soon as she could.

She climbed onto the plastic blue bed. The doctor had better not be long if that daft martian knew what was good for him.

She shook her head, heart sinking into her stomach. What was she doing, thinking of some doctor as a martian? And why did she want to cry with just the word doctor? Oh, how she hated crying at the drop of a hat lately.

Come to think of it, should it worry her that her headaches were replaced by more severe mood swings? Had they been an early symptom of something nasty?

Several minutes passed until Doctor Essex, a chubby bald man, waddled in. Donna supposed if he were some sort of martian, he'd be a white blob of toddling fat. It almost seemed as if she'd heard of such a creature before. It started with an A didn't it?

The doctor's voice was much deeper than what Donna imagined for such a creature, but it did match his nearly-door-stooping height. "Mrs. Temple-Noble, we have a good-news, bad-news situation on our hands."

She crossed her arms. "Will there be any more tests?"

He laughed. "No, no. You're fine. We'll just be wanting to keep an eye on you."

Just be wanting to keep an eye on her? Just be wanting to keep an eye on her? Were mood swings something to just be wanting to keep an eye on? Was fainting? Were hallucinations? She snapped as much at the barmy physician.

Doctor Essex crossed his legs. "You're fine. The hallucinations and fainting were an isolated incident, most likely due to a lack of sleep. As for everything else..." he pulled out a pamphlet: Infant and You. "The blood and urine samples both confirmed it: you're about three months pregnant. At your age-"

Why was she paying for such incompetence? Donna scoffed and narrowed her eyes. "That's impossible. My husband's been abroad for seven months. I haven't been to visit, and I haven't been cheating on him."

The doctor nodded, a kind smile on his face. "I'd suggest cutting back on the alcohol if you intend to keep the baby. Strong substances aren't good for fetal development."

How wizard. Of course he couldn't just believe the patient! Donna was getting a second opinion if it meant getting into exactly the sort of medical drama she wanted to avoid. She shoved the pamphlet away and held up a finger. "Look, I'm not pregnant, okay? I haven't been black-out drunk anytime lately. Who do you think I am, the virgin Mary? You're no angel come to tell me I've found favor with God either."

"You can deny it, but the tests don't lie."

Donna left Doctor Essex's office and told the clinic's secretary not to bother booking any new appointments for her on the way out. She'd find another doctor.

She almost understood the cry her heart made on her way out, which said that there was only one doctor she needed.


Months passed. Shaun took time away from university to be with her as she sought a growing number of second opinions. She kept silent on what their faulty opinion was, not that he'd be unable to observe it for himself when she never entered labor anyway.

She was seeing yet another new doctor today. This new doctor wanted to take a look inside her stomach. At least he wasn't taking any bodily fluids like the rest of them, so she had hope that his method could find something different from any of the previous charlatans'. Something that accounted all her symptoms. Something that explained the false pregnancy results. Something they could treat.

A male nurse by the name of Williams led Donna to a small room with a bed and a TV. The TV wasn't for Donna's entertainment though – its power light was on, but its screen was blank.

Donna made a face. "The doctor's not going to show me my innards, is he?"

"Just trust him." Williams got her lying down, telling her to relax as he retrieved supplies from a cabinet just past a blue piece of furniture that Donna's eyes glazed right over. He smiled as he put down a jar and a metal instrument of some sort. "Doctor Smith will be right with you."

He disappeared back toward the medical cabinet. Donna looked at her swollen stomach instead of watching him leave the room. "At least he's not going to hand me a useless parenting pamphlet."

The moment Doctor Smith walked in, Donna got the feeling he was eccentric enough to enjoy showing people their innards. His white curls still bounced like a kindergartner, his electric blue eyes brimmed with energy that no one his age had any business having, and to top it off, he carried a bag of candy with him. She was just hoping he wouldn't show her anything too gross as he woke his screen up.

Doctor Smith pulled up Donna's navy blouse and rubbed the gel across her belly. It was chilly, but at least the gel seemed much closer to a normal doctor's visit than did Doctor Smith's words: "This will be one of the strangest things you'll remember seeing, but apparently I have to show you."

Donna took back all hopes that he might actually know better than the other doctors did. He had to be the biggest quack yet if he claimed to have a diagnosis without gathering any more information than what was on her intake form. "Oi! Have you ever been sued for malpractice? I want to see that medical degree of yours, Sunshine!"

Doctor Smith cracked a smile, just for a moment, and placed the metal instrument in the gel. On the screen, there was an image of Donna's womb, and inside, a little head with a chest and four forming limbs. "Say hello to Mystery Baby."

Donna's jaw dropped open. "This sick joke has gone way too far. I need serious medical attention, and you're showing me some other woman's ultrasound?"

Handing Donna the instrument, Doctor Smith asked, "Am I? Why don't you take a look yourself?"

To prove him wrong, Donna placed the end on her belly and moved it in as unpredictable a pattern as she could. The image followed. "But I haven't had sex with anyone but Shaun since we were married."

"And that's why the baby is a mystery."

Donna peered up at Doctor Smith. Did he actually believe her? Perhaps. She couldn't see how, but there was sobriety in his eyes and not a hint of a smile on his lips. "If I'm telling the truth, how could I possibly be pregnant?"

"Oh, lots of ways, but the mystery isn't really that much of a mystery."

Donna gripped the ultrasound's probe harder. "What do you mean?"

Doctor Smith held his hand out for his instrument back. "It's in your file, reported on that night you passed out. What you saw was no hallucination."

Her heart pounded. "But that creature looked like it was from another world."

"Not quite. It wasn't from a world at all." Doctor Smith was reaching for his candy bag. "But it wasn't from Earth if that's what you're asking. That's fine. The child is in fact, still a child. He's probably the only one you can carry too, this late into your life."

Donna stared at her stomach. "I'm carrying a half-alien."

"Actually – oh, you'll find out when you're feeling better about him. Jelly babies?" Doctor Smith offered her the candy bag. "They make a good comfort food."

She swatted the bag away.

"Alright, then. Would you like to take a more careful look?" Doctor Smith was already placing his scope on Donna's stomach and positioning it to show the fetus's two closed eyes and tiny nose. "He will grow into looking, as you'd say, human. Your species and his usually look alike on the outside."

What was this child? Some sort of extraterrestrial shape-shifter? His dad didn't look remotely human. Donna's eyes were glued to the screen. Below the infant's nose, the rest of its face was obscured by a fist that it appeared to be sucking.

At that, her heart melted. Her child was harmless, wasn't it? He. The doctor did say he, didn't he? Donna rested a hand gently on her gel-covered midriff. "He's mine?"

"Of course. Always. Forever. Even if you get separated, that's how long he will love you. He already does."

Her eyes watered. "Mine," she said. "But what about Shaun? What will he think? What do I tell him? And what about the father? He wants him, doesn't he? Someone must have told you about this kid. That's what you're doing on Earth, isn't it? You're not human either."

"No, I'm not." Doctor Smith – if that was his name – began wiping the gel off of Donna's stomach. "I can't tell you what lies in your future, but I can promise you, whatever happens, your little one will try his best to be worth it."

"He already is!" Donna pulled her shirt down, slowly pushing herself up. "How do I care for him?"

Doctor Smith beamed. "Oh, very well, I should think."

Although Donna couldn't help but smile back, she crossed her arms. "Doctor, how do I care for him?"

Was it just her imagination, or did Doctor Smith's eyes sparkle when she used his title? There was something nagging at the back of her mind like a discarded piece of childhood advice from her mother.

Doctor Smith looked Donna in the eyes. "Remember."

She blinked. "Remember? Remember what?"

Handing her the bag of jelly babies, Doctor Smith shook his head. "I wish I could bring it all back to you now, but too much too soon. You're free to leave." He climbed into a blue telephone box in the corner – how hadn't Donna noticed that earlier? It was a strange thing to have inside a doctor's office wasn't it? - and closed the door.

An image rushed through Donna's mind. She remembered: there was a man once – no, not a man. An alien of some sort. What was he? – there was a spaceman once, a tall skinny spaceman with brown hair, puppy dog eyes, and that blue pinstripe suit he loved. That spaceman had a blue box a lot like this one. What was his name again?

"Doctor!" She called after the so-called Doctor Smith. What else could she call him without knowing his real name? "Doctor!"

With a wheezing groaning sound, the telephone box faded in, out, and ultimately away. Donna was left there, staring at an empty corner. "I have so many questions if I ever see you again."

A nurse, not Williams, stuck her head in. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't be in here. This room is closed until the machinery in here is fixed. If you tell me which doctor you're here to see, I can escort you to where you're waiting."

Donna walked toward the door. "I was here to see a Doctor Smith, but I think he already left."

"A Doctor Who?"

Of course the alien didn't really even work here. "As I said, I think he already left." Donna hightailed it out of the hospital, rushing Shaun from the waiting room on her way.

"No good?" he asked as Donna strapped herself into their car.

Her tears started immediately. She blamed hormones, but she was having an alien child. She would do anything for her alien child, but what would she tell Shaun?

Without pulling out of the stall, Shaun put the car back in park. "Donna?"

She didn't know how he'd react to a baby alien, but he'd told stranger tales. He and everyone else who ever spoke of mass-scale extraterrestrial invasions. She could tell him. "The doctor thinks I was attacked by an alien, and it impregnated me. He showed me the baby."


The Doctor stumbled out of his TARDIS, eyes on his battered converses and the purple dirt under his feet rather than where he was going. He knew where he was anyway: Loncholy, home of the solitary and remorseful.

If he were to look up, he would probably see the narrow winding empty canyon trails that he remembered, maybe a hermit's hut on occasion. He knew he wasn't really alone on this planet, but anyone here would leave him be, and that was exactly what he wanted after Mars.

He barely looked up once in a while to check the neglected wooden sign posts. There was a river here he wanted to visit: the Whidff River, a deep cut of rushing white that glowed at the bottom of the canyon. It was slightly psychic and would show whatever memories its observers dwelt upon. He trod downward, deeper and deeper, fingers resting on the damp almost-metallic rock beside him as he perched one foot in front of the other. Not much further and he'd reach a ledge where he could sit and stare at the water.

He kept what he'd done replaying for hours: the zombies, the explosions, the flying dirt, and most of all the gunfire with which Captain Adelaide Brooke took her own life on Earth.

He'd once again reached the moment he lost his mind when a female voice beside him spoke. "You hate yourself for what you did, don't you?"

The Doctor peeked beside him. He didn't recognize the young woman who joined him: blonde and thin, wearing teal culottes and a light-colored coat. He hated meeting people out of order. "Are you a companion? Go back to your own version of me."

"I'm not a companion." The woman gazed down at the Whidff. "I think you should watch this, Doctor."

He pressed his lips together. "No. No spoilers. The last thing I need is to transgress any more laws of time."

The woman glanced up. "These aren't spoilers. They've already happened for you. Just watch."

The Doctor stared at the side of the blonde's head for a bit. Eventually, his eyes moved to the river.

The scene it was playing was a night in Chiswick, right in front of the Noble-Mott household. Donna stood there in her wedding dress, and he was there, saying something. He stopped with a smile and had the TARDIS manipulate the local part of Earth's atmosphere, falling snowflakes on the both of them.

The projection was silent, its background filled only with the rushing of the Whidff's rapids, but the blonde sitting next to the Doctor spoke: "She didn't want to travel in the TARDIS back then, but she did share her opinion that you need someone to stop you. She wasn't wrong."

He knew that. He wouldn't have turned back to rescue Adelaide and her crew if Donna were still traveling with him, but she couldn't. Not anymore. And after everyone he'd lost, it was too painful to take on another companion.

The Doctor glared at the blonde. "Who are you? Why are you showing me this? How are you showing me this? That's my memory."

The blonde held a finger up. "Earth, London, Chiswick – Donna's street, in fact – 24 May, 2018. She won't be there, but you'll find that someone, someone who means the universe to your much-younger self, someone needs help from this-" The blond poked the Doctor's nose, and a temporal shock ran down his spine. It was the shock of a person poking themself at a different point in their timestream. "-version of us."

The Doctor stared at the blonde. "You're me."

"Yes." His future self stood up, smiling. "Brilliant, isn't it?"

He didn't answer that. He knew it was possible, and he didn't have anything against women, but he'd never actually pictured himself as one until now. "A friend needs me? Who?"

"Oh, someone who's more than just a friend, but not like that. Stop moping and go. Chiswick Mercy." The blonde started along the trail, along which the Doctor could make out a TARDIS parked, standing horizontally on the canyon wall. The rapids must have covered the brakes – if his future self still left them on.

The future Doctor paused just before she reached the narrowest part of the trail. "You know, I really liked that face."

Now smiling, the Doctor stood up. "Give my love to the days to come!"

"And to all the days past!"

The Doctor stepped along after his future self until she dropped into her TARDIS. He stopped to watch it disappear, its familiar vworp finally joining the canyon's echoes, as though his future self had just put on the brakes. He was glad he seemed happy as her.

For now, there was someone who needed him. He retraced the trail with a spring in his step, sprinting when he got the chance. Running straight to his TARDIS console, he set the coordinates for Earth, London, Chiswick, 24 May, 2018. "Allonsy!" He took off.


Next time:

The Eleventh Doctor is down a bow tie.

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