AN: Ok, since last chap was so short this one came quick- but you'll have to give me time for the next ok? I'm not behind..yet but i want it to stay that way. Thankyou all of you for still reading in spite of me trying to break your hearts- there is a reason! You just won't see it, yet.. Anyway
This chap's quote:
Don't say you love me unless you really mean it, because I might do something crazy like believe it. ~
Right, so last chap the Doc knocked out the Tarme- saving Jack and Amy. But after the hallucination he's scared to be close to Amy, to even touch her, and she doesn't know why. Also, the Tarme are planning to do something to Donna- she has a plan but she needs her pocket watch. So now the trio are going to find and hopefully rescue their missing metacrisis.
Also, the Tarme's leader was a woman with caramel skin and soft curly hair, and the Doctor didn't see this person when he was kidnapped- she disappeared.
Enjoy!
At last they stopped- turning left into a chamber utterly different to the others- this one was paneled with clean white tiles, and assorted cylinders pulsed with different lights running up and down their lengths- transparent wires protruding from the top and then trailing down and across the floor in a semi organic way.
All the wires led to the other side of the room-to one place in particular, or rather, one person.
Lying unconscious in the centre- on a different bed in much the same postion, was Donna. The wires led up over her head along an archway, which glowed a weird green, and was veined with some kind of purple ivy. Next to her stood the New Gardener who'd been the Tarme's mouthpiece- a woman with caramel skin and soft brown curls, still wearing her forest green overalls and almost gentle looking- but for her hard, cold silver eyes.
She turned at the trio's entrance, but seemed unperturbed- as if assured that nothing they could do could interfere with her plans. Amy wondered why she hadn't gone back to her true form- like the others. Her line of thought was broken when the Doctor opened his mouth to speak- remembering the haggard way he'd spoken before, and half shuddering in horror, Amy waited for his words.
"They moved her already. Thought so- still…damn it!"
Around Donna's watch, the red orange light Amy had seen before when she'd helped them find the Doctor seemed to writhe uneasily.
Completely disregarding the Tarme woman, the Doctor stepped to Donna's side, scanning her with his screwdriver and cursing in a musical language. Amy frowned, stepping round to the other side of the bed- wary of the woman, who simply stepped back and watched. Jack followed, though he remained half turned towards the hostile alien whilst Amy leaned across Donna's worryingly motionless form.
"Doctor- please. I…I don't know-" Amy paused, unable to bring up his sudden revulsion towards her. She changed tact quickly as Donna's chest heaved and fell in a quick, gasping breath.
"Doctor- what's wrong? How can I help you?"
Unable to ignore her, in spite of the pain he felt every time he looked at her face and remembered those screams, the Doctor met Amy's eyes for a second. Staring into their confused, hurt, concerned golden depths, he lost his train of thought- overwhelmed by seemingly equal measures of love and pain.
Amy's mouth fell open as the torment hidden inside the Doctor suddenly poured into his expression. In a second it was gone, and he ran across the room, scanning one of the flashing columns- and leaving Amy more bewildered than ever.
Suddenly, the Tarme woman spoke.
"It is useless Time Lord. Doctor. The process is begun. Even you cannot stop it now."
Without the chorus of the rest of her hives voices, the Tarme woman was as gentle in her speech as she was in her appearance- in spite of her harsh words, Amy felt as if she meant no harm by them- as if she was merely stating fact.
Whipping her head round to said Time Lord so fast her red hair flew out behind her, Amy clutched Donna's hand as she demanded.
"What? What's she talking about? Doctor- what are they doing to Donna?"
The Doctor ran a rough hand through his hair, so hard he nearly pulled it out, and made a sound of frustration- smacking the nearest column with the palm of his hand so it reverberated with a low hum- though the pulsing continued gently.
Walking back to Donna with agitated steps, his jaw tight, the Doctor looked down at his unconscious friend, pulling out her pocket watch and frowning.
Sighing, he looked up at Amy, and Jack, who was also waiting for an answer to her questions.
"In orded to evolve- to go from a sort of giant caterpillar to a moth, the Tarme have to adopt a queen from another species. Like having a surrogate mother. The more powerful psychically the queen, the more powerful the resulting Tarme after evolution. The healthier the mother, the healthier the..child." The Doctor's voice broke on the word child, neither Amy nor Jack could understand why.
There was a pause, and Amy broke the silence, still confused. "Ok, sure- so…the Tarme have chosen Donna as their queen, why is that such a bad thing?"
The Doctor stared fixedly at Donna's peaceful face as he spoke. "Because in the process of the evolution, the queen's conscious mind- her memories, personality, grasp of language- everything is sacrificed to the hive. It's why they can't use one of their own, whilst powerful, their hive mind has it's flaws- if one was to be sacrificed, all would suffer the consequences."
Jack frowned. "So- stop it. Stop the process- it's just a couple of machines, sonic them off or something." In spite of the relatively blasé way he posed the question, all of them could hear the under currents of anxiety in his voice- as if he half expected what the Doctor said next.
"I can't- if I interfered with the process now, I'd only kill her. Or at least destroy her mind regardless. It's started, and now…now there's nothing I can do."
Whilst Amy and Jack digested this, the Doctor suddenly turned on the Tarme woman, who'd been watching quietly from a few metres away. She'd shown no sign of concern for her comrades- so clearly they'd recovered from the shockwave. However, nor did she bear any hostility towards the Doctor, Amy and Jack- the intruders.
The Doctor, on the other hand, was suddenly furious.
"Why her? Why couldn't you just leave her alone? She was safe! Happy! Settled at last. She didn't need the pain of this life- why did you have to drag her back into it? Don't you realize how magnificent this woman is? Do you have any idea what you're planning to destroy?"
The woman smiled a little.
"Actually, yes." Again, her voice was bizarrely compassionate.
"Unlike the rest of my comrades- I have had time to grow as an individual- learn about the species we have come to adopt."
"The first lady.." The Doctor muttered under his breath, looking at the woman in a new light. She smiled a little and nodded.
"Yes, like that. My name is Gwenyn Bondathi. Gwenyn." She glanced across at Donna's sleeping form.
"She is as you say Doctor. Magnificent. Stubborn, and rude, and…not very peaceful." Amy grinned- it exactly fit the mental image she'd formed of Donna from the start.
Squeezing the older woman's hand, Amy whispered. "You go girl!"
Gwenyn continued, "But she is magnificent. When I, on occasion, glimpsed her mind- she is brilliant, fierce and strong. It is with…sadness is the word? Sadness that I now consider our decision to make her our queen."
The Doctor's eyes were narrowed as he listened, Jack's too. But Amy was hanging onto Gwenyn's every word. There was a sincerity in her voice which seemed too nakedly obvious to be put on.
"But Doctor- did you really think no one in the universe would find out- that no one would seek such a prize?" Gwenyn's words became more fervent as she stepped towards the Doctor. He didn't step back, but he looked like he wanted to.
"A human Time Lord meta crisis. The only thing more powerful would be a pure Time Lord," Gwenyn raised her eyebrows at the Doctor as she said it. "But we are not so stupid as to think we could control the oncoming storm."
The Doctor frowned, raising his voice- "And you honestly think you can control her? Because she's half human? That's exactly what makes her dangerous- I don't know what will happen when you reach evolution- NO ONE knows the limits of her power- you could end up destroying yourselves as well as her in the process- and then what? It'll all be for nothing!"
Suddenly, Gwenyn's posture changed- she stood more erect and stiffened, as if she was a puppet on invisible strings. The silver in her eyes glowed.
"It is a risk we are willing to take. We will harness the power of the Time Lord meta crisis and become the most powerful beings in the universe."
As Gwenyn and the hive spoke, the rest of them came slithering in- hissing and clicking, ignoring the intruders they'd previous attempted to eradicate. There was no need now. The process was begun.
They all began to climb up the walls, and Amy tipped her head back to watch, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise as each caterpillar curled and took a position hanging from the ceiling much like bats in a cave.
Suddenly the light from Gwenyn's eyes faded, and she stepped forwards quickly.
"I do not have much time- I too must prepare for our evolution. First though- there is a way- I cannot save your friend, but I can let you say goodbye."
Without waiting for a reply Gwenyn made her way over to the archway over Donna, fingers nimbly picking out several thin, translucent wires. Wrapping them around her hands- she closed her eyes.
The machine began to hum, and Amy felt a slight vibration in her mind as Gwenyn controlled the contraption mentally.
The lights began to pulse faster and faster, and suddenly, Donna's eyes flashed open. She gasped for breath, blinking rapidly.
Amy could barely bring a smile to her face, knowing this was the last time she'd see this woman she'd barely had the time to know. Together, all three clustered round her bed.
Jack spoke first, "Donna- are you alright? You're not…in pain?" Amy could hear the Captain's pain in his voice- his helplessness.
Donna said nothing.
Amy leaned over her, "Donna- I.." She broke off as a tear ran down her face and quickly rubbed it away. Her hair parted over her neck, revealing her burns, and she heard the Doctor's sharp intake of breath, but for once ignored him. Donna needed them now.
Taking a deep breath, Amy managed to speak over the lump in her throat, "I'm so glad I've met you. You're really as brilliant as he says- and more." More tears ran down the girl's face and Donna squeezed her hand.
"Shhh. Amy, it's alright. Shhh."
This act of kindness- the condemned woman comforting her, shattered through Amy's last restraint and she began to sob uncontrollably. Jack put his arm around her- careful to avoid her burns.
Looking down at Donna he choked, "You're a magnificent woman Mrs. Temple-Noble. You really are."
Donna smiled a little. "Thanks Jack." She winked and Jack smiled tightly.
Finally she turned to the Doctor. His face was almost impassive but for the worry and pain in his eyes.
"If I don't make it through this-"
Agony broke into the Doctor's face when she said 'if', in a half whisper he interrupted, knowing it was his responsibility to explain that she wouldn't make it through. No matter what.
"Donna…"
Donna shook her head, smiling a little and taking his hand with her free one. "Hush Doctor. Let me speak." The Doctor's agonized protests fell silent, and Donna took a deep breath.
"If I don't make it through this- you have to get over the Hathoria. It wasn't real Doctor. It never was. It's a horrible illusion- but just that. An illusion. Don't let a nightmare define your reality. You know better than that."
The childish fear and pain raw on the Doctor's face and in his eyes as Donna spoke was enough to bring a thousand questions to Jack and Amy's minds- though they couldn't understand what Donna meant, and didn't dare to interrupt her last words.
Donna held the Time Lord's gaze for a moment, and then leaned back and smiled, as if exhausted. "Good." She murmured. She opened her eyes again, and grinned at the Doctor.
"Now, give me my watch."
Confusion washed over the Doctor's face before comprehension dawned on it, and he pressed the pocket watch into her hand, which was strapped to the bed she lay on. The watch began to glow, and whisper. Donna nodded to herself, closing her eyes.
"Alright you lot. Stand back- and I hope to god I'm as good as you think I am."
As they stepped back, Gwenyn dropped the wires, opening her eyes, and Donna sank back into her half-sleep.
Gwenyn nodded at them. "It is done. I…I am sorry."
The Doctor didn't look at her, but Amy and Jack, in spite of her tears and his pain, nodded to the woman who'd realized her mistake too late.
Gwenyn climbed up the walls with insect like ability- though she didn't transform back- and curled into a hole in the wall specially made for her.
The lights dimmed, till the room was almost pitch dark- and those on the arch over Donna's head began to pulse frantically. Jack, Amy and the Doctor could do nothing but watch.
The Tarme's evolution was beginning.
Oooh- so what now? With Donna's plan will she survive? Or will they all be destroyed?
Keep reading to find out, thanks as ever,
Kat