Author's Notes: I do not own the Duplicate Doctor, the Alternate Donna, Alternate Eleven, the Silence, Alternate Amy, anybody. Thanks for the reads and the reviews, I so love it when you all are really into this. So, this chapter is a little different with some timey wimey-ness, so bear with me. You'll see why when you get there. Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think. If there are questions, just let me know.

Donna awoke again with no idea why. That was one thing for Time Babies, no noise. She found Georgiana lying happily in her bassinet just a foot away from her side of the bed.

"What is it this time, you?," Donna asked with a smile, lifting her up. "What do you want now? A feeding? A changing?"

Georgiana just smiled. Donna supposed she got it from John.

"Were you bored again?," Donna asked. John had explained it was some sort of sport for Time Babies to awaken their parents just to see that they would come. Georgiana seemed to have taken to it extremely well. Josh had screamed for similar reasons thus waking up Ella and never giving Donna more than an hour's rest. She gave her a kiss on top of the head. "Are we hungry, miss?"

Donna sat in chair in the corner and pulled her top down for Georgiana to latch on. In the four months since they had brought her home from hospital, she had been afraid to leave the house, she was running the company from her sitting room mostly, unwilling to take any chance that Georgiana would be taken while she was at work. Still, that part wasn't all that bad. No one cared if she wore yoga pants and a nursing cami most of the day, she put on makeup and dressed her top half for video conferences. She spent all that time with Georgiana, she was there when Josh and Ella got home from school.

She loved watching them with their new sister. Ella treated Georgiana like the ultimate baby doll. If Donna left the two, she would come back to find Georgiana dressed in her frilliest outfit or taken to a tea party with Ella's dolls. Josh had resisted her at first, after all, she was a baby and a girl, she didn't seem to be much fun but John pointed out to him that Georgiana was fascinated by him. She sat in a playpen in the back garden and watched as John helped him practice cricket or football. She had surprised them all by clapping to share in the excitement. She had since found them together in front of the telly as Josh explained the finer points of a football match. She had drawn the line on buying the baby a Manchester United sleepsuit, she wasn't about to lose another child to that club.

Then there was John. He was an amazing dad. He hadn't been able to stay at home as he wanted but Donna understood, he had to keep hunting for the Silence and Rose Tyler for Georgiana's sake. He came home early every day that he could and took over for Donna so she could get some work or actually leave the house for a meeting or even to just meet Nerys for supper. He talked to her constantly, telling her stories of what she assumed were the Doctor's adventures. He didn't mind getting up with her, just to walk around the house or play with her while Donna slept. He even gave her to Donna so she could nurse and stayed awake to put her back in her cot.

"Come on, let's see what Daddy's gotten into."

Donna came downstairs to find John on a ladder with a drill. Amy stood at the bottom, holding it.

"Oh, you're awake!," he said happily.

"Hello, Donna," said Amy.

"What are you doing?," asked Donna.

"Teleportation dampening field, installing it throughout the grounds. Don't know why I didn't think of this before!"

"Are you putting holes in the ceiling?," she asked.

"Yes," Amy answered for him.

"For a good cause," said John.

Amy groaned. "Would you hurry up and finish so I can look at the baby?"

"What's keeping you from looking at the baby?"

"I'm holding the ladder for you, idiot!"

Donna smiled. John came down and Amy walked over.

"Oh, she is gorgeous," said Amy. "Ginger as promised. John was certain to mention that to everyone in the office."

"Yeah, he was certain to mention it to me as well," Donna said with a smile. She looked over at him. He was staring at that blank bit of paper again.

"No answer from them?," asked Donna. John had promised that the Doctor could certainly help them.

"No," said John.

Amy caught the look on Donna's face. "The Doctor and the Oracle will come, I'd bet anything on it."

Donna took the baby back from Amy. "It's just it's been months."

"They always come," said Amy. "Sometimes it takes a while, but he has this way of showing up in the right place."

"What about his daughter?," asked Donna. "She was taken."

"But he came for her," said Amy.

"Poor girl," said Donna, pulling Georgiana back against her. "Six years with those monsters."

Lydia, short for Lydianasathvanara, her father always had problems with long names, lack of attention span, her mother said, knew she was different. It was so obvious. She was the only fifteen year old around. When she was six, she had come home to Gallifrey, not knowing the man who took her there, not knowing the blonde lady who cried as she greeted her, holding her for hours. The man said he was her father, but the other man had said he was her father before he vanished into that gold light, replaced by the other man. It had been terrifying. She had hidden deep in the blue box, hours before he found her.

From her arrival, there was so much catching up to do, her parents said. Her father tutored her, teaching her maths and sciences and reading and writing in the strange new language. She thought she would never understand at first, but it began to click by the end of the first day.

The reason for the acceleration, her mother said, was that she was six, only two years away from seeing the Untempered Schism and going to the Academy. Other children her age had been taught these things since birth and she could catch up. Her mother said she had every confidence in her, she knew she was clever.

So, Lydia studied with her father. He taught her all the maths and science stuff, then he would teach her about far away planets and gave her books to read in English, which she already knew. She had fun, though, certainly more than she ever had. Her grandfather took her for hikes into the mountains. For the first time, she played with other children, usually introduced to her as her nieces and nephews. And she drew. She had a gift for drawing, so her father claimed.

Then one day something changed.

It was two days before she was set to go to the Academy. Her parents had explained it all and assured her that everyone was scared of leaving home at first, but they had all done it, and promised they would see each other on holidays. Her family, older brothers and their spouses, nieces and nephews, grandparents were all gathered at the house for a sort of going away party.

Then an old friend of Dad's had arrived. Her nephew identified her as Lady President Romana. She disappeared with her parents for what seemed like an eternity until they returned, looking defeated. The party broke up soon after and her parents explained to her she wouldn't be going to the Academy, not then anyway.

Not ever as it turned out. Eventually all her playmates went off to school and she was alone mostly, except for her family.

So, here she was. Stuck in this pointless life. She didn't even go for walks around the Citadel anymore. Everyone knew her, she was the girl who couldn't go to the Academy. The last time she had tried, people had just stared and whispered, even the regular Gallifreyans.

That was two years ago. Without goals or plans or anything really, her mind just drifted back to her early years, the time spent with the Silence and River Song. The episodes were like nightmares in the form of daydreams.

She was small and she was led into a room. In front of her was River Song, with an eye patch and a black suit. She knew her well, but she knew she couldn't trust her. There was no sort of warmth between them. She walked in the company of monsters and when she arrived, pain always followed. The woman said it was because she was hanging on, Lydia never quite understood what that meant, but she knew there was something, like a song from far away, playing in her mind.

"Lydia, sweetie," she said. "Your daddy has come to visit."

She always looked over at the man. He was tied up, wore pinstripe suit and trainers, was almost as tall as the monsters, had crazy sort of stand up hair. When he looked at her, the song seemed louder and clearer.

"Don't make her watch this," he pleaded.

He was tied next to a young woman with ginger hair. She found out later this was Amy Pond. "Melody, please."

"Oh, but Mummy, he came all the way to the Gamme Forest to see her, how could I deny him now?" She turned to Lydia. "Go ahead. Walk over there."

Lydia walked over, unaware of her legs as she propelled herself. She looked up at the man.

"You have my eyes," she said.

"Yes," he said softly. "Yes, I do."

"Who are you?"

"I'm your dad," he said, voice breaking.

"I don't have a dad," she said.

"Oh, but you do," he said. "You have a dad and a mum and a big sister and eight older brothers and grandparents and uncles and cousins."

"Where are they?"

"Far away on Gallifrey. You were born there. Do you remember that? You had a room with a cot and a big window, there were two suns and purple flowers on red grass. In the mornings, I took you to see the Flutterwings in the garden."

Lydia suddenly got a flash of being held in the man's arms, her tiny arm being moved to point at something like large flying insects in beautiful colors. They were like no kind of creature she had seen in the Gamma Forest. The song played loudly in her mind.

"There was a lady with dark hair and blue eyes." That meant something to Lydia, she got another flash of the woman, being there as she opened her eyes, hovering above her with a smile. Then another flash of the monsters that walked with River, striking her down. "She was your mum and you have to believe if I don't get you out of here she will because she's a Time Lady and that's what you are."

"She died," said Lydia, her mind filled with an image of the woman lying on the floor, then a golden light starting as the monsters carried her away.

"No, she didn't. She is so alive and she'll come for you."

"Very touching," said the lady. "She has owners now and she is what they say."

"Bloody hell, Melody, stop it!," screamed the red haired woman. "I couldn't stop them from taking you and I am sorry, I think about it every day but you can still save her. You can end this."

"I intend to end this."

"Don't make her watch," begged the Doctor. "Please."

"Oh, but I thought you wanted to spend time together?"

"If you kill me, you'll have ended this, stopped the prophecy," said the Doctor. "There won't be a need for this."

"Your point?"

"You could send for the Oracle. She could come collect her."

"Why would we give her up when she can be so useful?"

The woman got behind a console. Amy turned to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry I got you into this, Amy."

"It's not your fault. I know you didn't want any of this." She smiled. "It was fun, yeah?"

"Yeah, lots of fun."

"An awful lot of running, though."

"An awful lot of running."

River flipped a switch and the lights went out. She turned to the henchmen.

"Doctor?," whispered Amy.

"Yeah?"

"We're not dying, are we?"

"Not today."

"Do you mind telling me that next time?"

The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver and they were freed from the pole. He pointed the sonic at the console and it blew up, then he grabbed Lydia.

"Lydia."

Lydia looked up. She had been drawing again on the veranda, she hadn't even realized it. This happened often, she would fall into daydreams of the monsters and the woman called Melody or River and hours would pass. The suns were setting, she had passed the whole day like this again.

And she always would. Time Lords lived for thousands of years. She couldn't stand that thought, thousands of years with days like this.

Her father stood in the doorway, grimacing.

"The Gardener is coming for dinner," he said. "Still, along with his idiot parents."

"Right," said Lydia. "I'll just take dinner in my room."

"You don't have to take dinner in your room. Please don't. They're all grown up and boring."

She shook her head. "I don't mind." In fact, she preferred it. Lydia couldn't bear being around people, sometimes not even her own family. She would hide in her room or the old TARDIS that sat in the library when her room wasn't hiding enough. It was easier that way.

She couldn't bear the disappointment, so she left before her father had the chance to give his usual counter argument.

When the Doctor was a young boy, he had dreamt of running away. As a young man, he had done just that and had seen everything, nothing could shock him anymore. He had grown too old for that, too cynical.

That was until the day Mayantha had a guest over for dinner. A young man of three hundred and ninety, a little young for her, but he supposed that was a trifle. There were other things he found much more worrying such as his name.

The Gardener.

What sort of name was that for a Time Lord? How did that intimidate one's enemies? Ooh, let's be scared, the Gardener is here. What names would his enemies call him? The Oncoming Watering Can?

As usual, his wife had told him to not blow it out of proportion. If only he could have taken her travelling more, gotten her mind off useless boys, but as it was he was stuck on Gallifrey with the rest of the Time Lords, a terrifying civilization where people called the Gardener were somehow seen as suitable to enter the gene pool! Maybe he would regenerate into something tolerable. He had half a mind to test the theory. The other half of his mind didn't care whether he regenerated.

Mayantha's mission to Earth had been like manna from Heaven and he would know because he had seen the manna fall that day. Get her off the planet and away from the Gardener. He would have kissed Lady President Romana's feet for it if the Oracle hadn't given him the look she usually gave when she was about to make his life miserable. Then the surprising news about a Metacrisis Doctor!

The Time Lords of his universe had known about the Doctor's alternate in what was called the Forbidden Universe. They had sealed off the walls from that universe's reality in order to prevent any crossover whether it be from Daleks or the alternate Doctor. They feared them both, though the Doctor himself had always thought it was somewhat cruel. He had lost his civilization, he didn't see what would be so bad about letting him take up here. If anyone was going to complain, it should have been him, he was the one who would have a double running around.

Mayantha had told them in detail what the Time Lords had only gotten in broad strokes about the Reality Bomb incident. The alternate Doctor had a wife, a human wife! The thought was almost bizarre to the Doctor, he had never thought about a human like... that. He supposed his alternate didn't have a lot of options, though, when she had mentioned she was ginger, that explained everything. Donna had been part of a Human Time Lord metacrisis that also formed the Duplicate now living on Earth with yet another Donna who was ginger. And the first Donna had saved all reality! If such a human wasn't worthy to be the wife of the last of the Time Lords, he didn't know who was. And the Time Baby! The fact she could even conceive a Time Baby was remarkable enough to make the Doctor think it was destiny and besides, it seemed like his alternate deserved someone. He couldn't imagine life on his own, completely isolated. He had always liked having human companions himself and though he wouldn't admit it, he needed to know that home was just a trip away in the TARDIS.

He and the Oracle had told Mayantha not to breathe a word of this to the High Council. There were a lot of things in that story they wouldn't have cared for. Alternate Doctor, Metacrisis Doctor, Time Human little people.

Not as worried as he was about the dinner guests this evening. The Gardener and his parents. If the Gardener was uninspiring, it was easy to see why. His father was called Eldard, a plump man on his third regeneration, though he was older than the Doctor who was on his eleventh. The Gardener's mother, Lufufi, was on her second and again, was older. He didn't see why either of them was so determined to hang on to the regenerations, they were uninspiring. So was their offspring. A whole loom of uninspiring children. What if Mayantha and the Gardener loomed their children? What if he had grandchildren that were this awful? Just this... ordinary.

The Oracle kicked his shin in the chair next to him. He had forgotten that she had placed his hand on hers and thus had been listening to every thought since the Oncoming Watering Can.

"Are you alright, sir?," asked the Gardener.

"Just swell," said the Doctor.

"Will your other daughter be joining us?," asked the mother of the blessed specimen. It didn't sound as if she was looking forward to the young lady's company.

"No," said the Oracle. "She's feeling unwell."

"Oh, too bad."

"What will you do with her?," asked Eldard.

"Sorry?," asked the Doctor.

"Well, you can't send her to the Academy. That's forbidden. She's not suitable for any position in the Citadel," he said exchanging nods with Lufufi. "There's the Wastelands, I suppose."

The Doctor rose. "Who do you think you are?"

The couple looked at each other.

"We only meant-"

"Surely, Doctor, you understand that she can't be admitted into society."

"Mum," Mayantha pleaded with the Oracle.

The Oracle turned. "No, sweethearts, I think I'll let this one just happen."

"Sir, my parents only mean that since the fortunes of our two houses are now joined, that your other daughter is now our concern as well."

"And I only meant that you three are all ignorant, narrow-minded prats who have never stepped outside the Citadel, let alone off Gallifrey, so how could you possibly presume to walk into my house and tell me to send my daughter, whose lineage stretches back to the era of Rassilon, to the Wastelands to be treated as some sort of savage!"

"Don't forget our inbreeding theory," added the Oracle.

"Right!," added the Doctor. "When they loomed you all, did they remember to recombine the DNA or did they just keep making copies until the whole thing was watered down?"

They puffed and their faces got red. The Doctor looked at the Gardener. "And the Gardener! What sort of stupid name is that for a Time Lord?"

"I think we should postpone the wedding, Mayantha," said the Gardener. "Until your father becomes more reasonable."

"Ha!," said the Doctor. "Shows what you know! I never get reasonable!"

"Dad..." said Mayantha.

"Father of the bride, remember? I do not consent, I do not gladly give! I deny permission and hold on bitterly!" He looked at the Oracle. "Anything else?"

The Oracle considered. "I think we've covered everything." She looked at the Gardener and his parents. "Now, if you would be so kind as to get the hell out of my house and never return."

The Gardener and his parents were on the front step when the Doctor felt something. He reached into the breast pocket of his tweed jacket and pulled out the psychic paper.

"What's that?," asked the Oracle.

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "I haven't gotten a message in ages!"

Mayantha re-entered. "Did you have to do that?"

"Of course I did," said the Doctor. He opened the psychic paper. "It's from the Metacrisis Doctor!"

"John?," asked Mayantha. "Is he alright?"

"He's had a baby girl!," the Doctor said with glee. He looked at the Oracle. "Do you think she's ginger?"

"Is that why he's writing?," asked the Oracle.

The Doctor continued, his voice lowering. "He says the Silence have returned to Earth and they want the child. And something called Bad Wolf. What's Bad Wolf?" He shook the paper. "This thing's all muddled from coming through the barrier! I can hardly read it!"

"Bad Wolf? I've never heard of it," said the Oracle.

"What are we going to do?," asked Mayantha. "We can't tell the High Council."

"No, of course not. We'll have to lie."

The Oracle scoffed. "Because that always goes really well."

"Okay, you have to lie then."

"What do we say? We got a message and need to go to Earth for no particular reason?"

"Well, don't say we got a message. We need to make something up obviously!," exclaimed the Doctor. "Come on, a ginger Time Baby is at stake here!"

"Ginger Time Baby?," asked the Oracle, casting a glance at Mayantha. "Do you know you sound ridiculous?"