Last time:

The Tenth Doctor learns that Donna is at the Chiswick Mercy Hospital; Donna has her baby, whom she names Jon, and asks her mother to call UNIT to help get him back; the Eleventh Doctor arrives at the hospital at the same time as his younger self and runs into a distraught nurse after his TARDIS refuses to leave; and the Thirteenth Doctor interferes with the Valeyard trying to insert in their time stream directly after the Seventh Doctor.


Chapter 3

In Which Donna Reads a Lanyard

Donna heard footsteps. Her mother was returning to her hospital room, lips in a strained smile. "I contacted UNIT. The Doctor won't answer the phone for them, but they themselves are coming to help. That's something. Are they any good?"

Her heart fell. "Yeah. They're okay. They should be enough to get Jon back, being government and all."

Sylvia peered at her. "What are you trying to hide now, Little Miss?"

"Nothing." Only her disappointment, but it was too late for that now. "It's just, I need to see him again. Make sure he's alright. That and… I don't know much about Jon's father. I don't know what species he is or how to take care of a half-alien baby. I might need someone more expert than UNIT."

"You mean the Doctor's not the father?" Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"No, Mum. We weren't like that. Besides, it's been years."

Sylvia nodded. "There's just no being sure with aliens. I mean, your pregnancy was hardly only nine months with what we knew, was it?" She sighed. "I almost wish he was the father."

Donna made a face. "No. Just yuck. I know what you mean though."

Her mother came and patted her arm. "We'll get Jon back. Then we are never coming back to this hospital!"

"Yeah." Donna made an effort to smile. "So when is UNIT coming?"

"They're on their way. I said I'd wait for them outside. Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah."

If she could get Jon back, she would be.

Her mother left the room, leaving Donna to rest after her delivery. She would see her son again, wouldn't she?

Only a few minutes later, Donna heard footsteps in the hallway again. These ones were slower and heavier than her mother's.

A sturdily-built man entered the room with a voice recorder and a clipboard. He wore a white lab coat over a black sweater and a lanyard around his neck. "Donna Noble?"

"Yeah?" Donna lifted her head to get a better look at the man. "How's Jon?"

She studied the name badge: Dr. Pierre Grover, Torchwood Outreach. Torchwood? Why did that name sound familiar?

Dr. Grover noticed where she was staring. "So you've heard of us. That was a risky move, having your son at a public hospital like that. The doctors here could have killed him by mistake, you know. They don't know how human medicine affects extraterrestrial species – or an extraterrestrial-mixed individual for that matter."

"I wanted to have him at home, but Mum wouldn't hear of it. She didn't know." Donna closed her eyes. Torchwood, Torchwood….

The Doctor studied the giant hole that seemed to sink down forever. "...Drilled by laser. Very Torchwood…."

That Torchwood? Donna's eyes shot open. She crossed her arms. "I don't have to answer to you. You lot nearly got me eaten by a bunch of giant spiders once!"

It was coming back now – she'd researched them while looking for the Doctor – Britain's extraterrestrial agency.

Dr. Grover scowled, checking something on his clipboard. "Oh, of course. You used to work at H. C. Clements, didn't you?"

Donna bit her tongue and glared at him.

"You found the second basement, so what? We have nothing to do with it if you broke in."

"I only broke in because I was poisoned by that stuff YOU manufactured under there. If I hadn't, I would have been summoned by that empress anyhow. If the Doctor hadn't rescued me, I'd be DEAD!"

Dr. Grover blinked a few times. "We wondered what happened to those Huon particles. You say the Doctor rescued you?"

"Well, you didn't do a blinkin' thing, did you?" She challenged him to look away.

"We did!" Dr. Grover threw his hand down for emphasis. "We didn't know anyone was being poisoned, but the ones who shot down the ship attacking London that day? That was us! That's what we do: we study aliens, and then we save the world from them. The Doctor? The Doctor was declared an enemy of the British people over a century ago. British citizens disappearing over the decades? The rift through Cardiff that brings in dangerous aliens and artifacts? Even Harriet Jones' sudden health problems! That was him! Why would he save you?"

Donna didn't know about Torchwood, but she thought Dr. Grover genuinely didn't know. She could see how the Doctor could be mistaken for the villain – or actually go too far, come to think of it – but she knew his heart was in the right place. "Because saving people is what he does. Didn't you know? I traveled with him. I saw what happened with ATMOS. He saved the human race from being poisoned by our own atmosphere."

Dr. Grover stared at her. "Right," he drawled. "About the child-"

"Where is he?"

"He's safe. He's being checked up on by doctors who know a little more about extraterrestrials than the norm. We can't have him sick." He leaned forward. "Of course, it would help if knew the father's species. Is Jon the Doctor's child?"

"No." Donna let her eyes water for Dr. Grover as she asked her next question. "When do I get to see my son?"

He shifted in his seat. Good. She needed him to squirm. "We're not sure he's safe yet. What can you tell us about his father?"

"I don't know much. There was this great big flying thing that rushed straight at me and I passed out. There was this alien doctor who had to come convince me I was pregnant. He told me the sex and assured me that my son would look human. He didn't stick around or leave any way for me to contact him with questions." She let her tears fall. "Can't I at least hold my baby?"

Dr. Grover shifted some more. "I- I'll see what I can do. We are a humane organization. Even the aliens we capture, we treat very well."

"Capture?" Donna tried to push herself up. "What exactly are you planning to do with my son?"

Ouch. Bad idea. Everything hurt.

Dr. Grover was at her side, helping her back down. "You need rest!"

"I need to know what's going to happen to my baby!"

He held his palms out placatingly. "I know I said capture, but these aren't the usual circumstances. Jon isn't exactly trying to invade the planet or wipe out life on Earth, is he? The point is we're not going to vivisect him or anything. You shouldn't worry."

She fixed him a hard look. "So when will I get to see him?"

He gulped, inching away. "Well, I'll see what I can do, but I'm sure they'll want to make sure he's not toxic to humans first or vice versa or-"

"If we were toxic to each other, wouldn't one of us have died before I gave birth?" Donna rolled her eyes at his idiocy. "Really. When will I get to see him?"

"I don't know. I'll try. I swear I'll try!" He picked his clipboard up off the nurse's station. "But really, the more information we have, the smoother this will be. Did Jon's father attack you?"

"Yeah," she mumbled.

He circled something on his clipboard. "Do you think others like him pose a danger to women?"

"It's possible, I suppose, but I'm sure they're not all like that."

It was obvious that Dr. Grover was trying to smile, but his lip kept twitching. "I'm sure Jon won't be. I'm confident that he'll be raised better than that."

She snorted. "Did you think I'd raise my child to be like his father?"

Dr. Grover circled something else on his clipboard in lieu of a reply. "If we sent someone with pictures of aliens, could you help us identify the species of your attacker?"

No, she wasn't answering any more questions until she got answers herself. "Tell me how long until I can see my child, dumbo. How long until I can take him home? Will you be keeping me updated?"

Dr. Grover backed toward the door, clutching his clipboard. "I've already answered those questions to the best of my ability."

"Not all of them!"

His legs picked up the pace. "I didn't sign up to take infants away from their mothers!"

He was out in the hall before Donna could shout anything else at him. She shouted threats and insults after him anyway. Oh, this was going to be harder now that Torchwood was involved. UNIT better be able to handle this. "-and I'll see you in the highest courts! And with all that publicity-"

Her shouting drew someone else to her room. Someone tall and familiar, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope over his usual pinstriped suit. "What's the problem, Miss?"

He was here. He was actually here! She stopped mid-sentence. "Doctor!"

Fear flashed through the Time Lord's eyes. He fixed a smile on his face. "Yes, that's right. Dr. Jon Smith, in fact. How can I help you?"

"Well, for one thing, you can drop the act: I know exactly who you are, Spaceman!" She smirked a bit at the way his face paled. "For another, you can get over here so I can slap you. I told you not to wipe my memories!"

He rushed forward. "Donna, you can't remember! You'll burn! Do you really think I can stand back and just watch that happen to you of all people?"

She slapped his hand away from her. "Bleep me if you have to, but you are not coming near my head again. I'm fine."

"Fine? Fine? You absorbed 900 plus years of Time Lord memories and consciousness and you're fine?"

She glared at him.

"Fine." He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it carefully around her head, with a bleep, bleep, bleep as it went. Slowly, his jaw dropped, his eyes lit up, and he broke out in a grin. "You are! You're fine. Oh, this is brilliant!"

He pocketed his screwdriver and pulled a seat up to Donna's bedside. "How can you remember?"

"Never mind that now. Torchwood has my baby."

His face went serious. "Torchwood? This whole thing is about Torchwood?"

"Because he's part alien."

Then, just as Donna swore to herself she'd do if the Doctor ever turned up, she told her best friend everything, never mind that she was too choked up to speak properly by the end. He sat by her, listening, patting her head.

When she was finished, there was a steely glint in the Doctor's eyes that she didn't like. His nostrils flared. "We'll get them. They won't get away with this."

She grabbed his hand. "No. I just want Jon back."

He turned his eyes toward her. She shivered. His brows were low and his teeth bared. A low growl was coming from his throat. "I promise I'll get Jon back too, but Torchwood is long overdue to be shut down. Did you think I could let something like them exist forever? They end today. All of Torchwood ends today."

This was not the alien she remembered. He had been, she could tell, but when had he ever been this vengeful? "You're scaring me." She tugged his hand toward her, afraid to let him go.

Slowly, his eyes softened. "I'm sorry. I've been in a bit of a rough time lately. Sometimes, just yesterday in fact…." His eyes dropped to the floor. "I'm going too far again. I don't think I like who I'm becoming."


The Doctor plopped down on her TARDIS floor for a moment, too drained to take a seat right away after the dash to get in from the morgue. She closed her eyes.

She only rested a moment; she didn't dare rest longer. Staggering to her feet, she set her sight on the same screen she'd been using. Any moment of weakness – any regeneration or any giving into their dark side, that the Valeyard could use.

The Doctor checked in with her sixth and seventh selves. She'd seen her eighth and ninth already, but she would go back if her tenth was disappearing.

Her TARDIS landed in a small room in which her big-eared tenth self was tied up, shouting at two human guards through the closing doors about how they had to destroy it – a Dalek. She remembered. This place, it was the first time she realized that any of the Daleks had survived the Time War.

The screen showed the Valeyard behind her past self, more than an outline now. He looked more like a faded hologram. There was no way she was going to shove him away and survive, but this Doctor was conscious.

If she stood at the doorway, she'd be alright. She hoped.

The Doctor reached for the invisibility switch and turned it off. She may as well clue her past self in that something was up before she fought her way over to the door.

It took nearly a minute for her to reach the frame. Weakly, she raised one hand and snapped her fingers. Her fingers were translucent. She stared at them instead of looking out at her younger self. She was running out of time, wasn't she?

"Are you me?" called her younger self. "You look like a ghost."

She looked up. The Valeyard was right behind her younger self, reaching his fingers toward his cheek. "Mercy! You've got to think about mercy, Doctor! No matter how dangerous they are, you cannot torture the Daleks. Think of something merciful, or kind, or compassionate."

He nodded, swallowing. "Rose." He said firmly. "Rose is all those things. We were once too. Or I 'ope we were."

The Valeyard pressed his fingers toward Big Ears, his face screwed in concentration, but his fingers were frozen an inch from their younger self's cheek. Big Ears' eyes drifted toward the fingers. "Wha's that?"

"The Valeyard." The Doctor's hand regained some solidity. She wrapped it around the door frame. "He wants you to regenerate into him. He's already erased my regeneration – the TARDIS is the only thing sustaining my paradox."

Big Ears' eyes widened. "No. I don't want to become the Valeyard."

"Then let Rose help you." The Doctor straightened up. "She can help us heal from the Time War."

Big Ears nodded, clenching his teeth. "I won't turn into that if I can help it. I just got our name back and our promise – never cruel or cowardly. I forgot for a moment today, but I meant to stick by that promise. Won't happen again. I'll deal with that Dalek as quickly and painlessly as possible. No more torture."

The Valeyard faded away, and Big Ear's eyes moved back across his face. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah. I should get going before he finds another opportunity to corrupt one of our sel-" The Doctor spaced out for a moment. When she returned, Big Ears was staring at her. "What?"

"You're not being erased – you're being rewritten! Just now, you were the Valeyard."

Pulling at her hair, the Doctor gazed at her younger self, wide-eyed. "He must have found somewhere to succeed. What now?"

"We keep breaking the first law of time. We inoculate our earlier selves and keep the inoculations current for the ones between me and you. Let me out and I can help."

The Doctor reached into her jacket to pull out her sonic screwdriver, but she blacked out again. When she came to, her hands were on her younger self's temples, and he was momentarily out. She checked for damage.

He wasn't corrupted. That was a relief. But the last few minutes were completely gone – not suppressed – gone from his memory.

She blacked out again. The next time she came to, the TARDIS was in flight, and its coordinates were locked.


The Doctor followed Mary toward the Infant Intensive Care Unit, his sonic in easy reach in his tweed jacket. She led them at a brisk pace. "There are Torchwood Outreach Agents here regularly. They could already have him."

"Why aren't we running then?"

"We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, do we? Besides, we're nearly there. We just take the lift and enter the first set of doors."

They entered the elevator and Mary pressed the button for the third floor. She took a quavering breath as the doors closed. "It's only my second month on the job. I didn't expect my nursing career to be so short. What am I going to do when this is all over?"

If the Doctor was reading the situation correctly, the hospital was a cover for Torchwood anyway. Since when did they have Outreach Agents? Perhaps it would be for the best if Mary no longer worked there. Still, he ought to do something for her if he got the chance. Perhaps…. How was she with aliens?

He held his tongue as they left the lift and Mary looked up the baby's room on the computer at the nurse's station. She looked back at him with wide eyes. "He never made it to the IICU."

Cracking his joints, the Doctor stepped forward to join her at the computer. "That's alright. Since we're dealing with Torchwood, I expected them to take him back to their headquarters straightaway. If we can track Torchwood down, we can go rescue the child." He placed his fingers on the keyboard and started hacking the system with inhuman speed.

Within seconds, an electrical schematic for the entire hospital was displayed. The hospital plans included an office for Torchwood, and there was an unusually high amount of power being routed toward one of its walls. "A transmat! Whatever's on the other side, that's where they've taken him."


Next time:

The Doctor and his temporary companion break into Torchwood, where they're in for a big surprise.

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