"The Six" AU
'Journeys Converge'
Chapter Five
- Brainstorm -
A/N: I don't own squat, except what I write.
Music: Massive Attack Dissolved Girl
The Doctor was a bit of an emotional wreck. Both the new Doctor and Donna had just committed genocide. The only thing that kept his feet on the ground was Rose hugging him from the side. He did notice that Martha was consoling Danielle from accidentally shooting Davros with a rather large hug.
"Donna?" Rose said quietly, getting her attention. "Lets go get Sarah before we can't."
Nodding with a small smile, Donna gently pushed the other Doctor aside as she went around the console, flipping switches.
"Who's Sarah?" the new Doctor asked, glancing at Sarah Jane in confusion.
The Doctor looked at him. "I think this makes you an uncle."
"You lied!" the new Doctor shouted at Rose in shock. "Well, I can see why. Knowing him, he'd break the universe trying to get back to you. Mind you though, I thought you were sterile?" he said to the Doctor questioningly.
The Doctor shook his head in confusion. "Bad Wolf?"
"Probably," Donna said. "Rose was a busybody that day. Daleks, Jack, rewiring herself and himself to be compatible? Chump change, that."
The new Doctor stared at Rose. "You rewrote yourself?"
"Yeah, I heard about that after throwing the extra into your hand," the Doctor said, hugging Rose. "My Star is now a Time Lady."
Martha stared at Rose in shock.
The TARDIS materialized on Bad Wolf Bay, in front of a girl who had a rather large back pack on. It was so large, it actually dwarfed her. When the ship arrived with a thunk, she knelt down and pulled a large rolling travel trunk up. She took her mobile out of her coat and thumbed the send button without looking at it.
The message to her uncle simply said, 'Goodbye Uncle Tony. They did it. Love you, Sarah.'
The time rotor came to a halt, and the both doors opened on their own. The Doctor turned and saw his daughter enter the ship. His smile at the sight of her was painful, it was so big. She was wearing somewhat bulky winter clothing, and she dropped a rolling trunk to the deck, getting everyone else's attention.
Instead of looking at her parents, Sarah took her pack off and locked eyes with Danielle. The blank look on her face cracked into a state of painful sorrow as she shook her head.
"No," Danielle breathed. She glanced at her trunk on the deck, then stared at Sarah. Sarah's face said it all. "No... please..." she quietly begged.
Sarah ran over and hugged her. "No!" Danielle shouted and came completely undone. Sarah held on to her while Danielle cried her eyes out.
The Doctor glanced at Rose when he felt her shaking. "Rose?"
"Mickey," Rose whispered. With that, she left the Doctor's arms and joined Sarah and Danielle. Sarah let up long enough for Rose to hold on to Danielle. Together, Rose and Danielle sobbed on each other's shoulders.
"We're in Cardiff," Donna said quietly. "Set the ship to charge." The Doctor nodded and went over to hold onto both Rose and Danielle. There was nothing else to be said really.
Donna lifted a telephone receiver from the console and handed it to Sarah Jane. "Anyone you need to call?"
"Luke," Sarah Jane nodded. "Thank you." She dialled and looked at the group hug. Danielle had told her that Mickey was sick, but she didn't realize just how bad. She wiped her eyes and focussed on the phone. "Luke? It's mum, are you all right? It's over."
Donna pulled her mobile out to contact her mother and grandfather. "Yeah, it's me. Everything's sorted now. See you soon and explain everything. Love you, Gramps." Closing her phone, she was surprised when Jack hugged her from the side.
"You all right?" he asked her.
"I don't know what to think," Donna said truthfully. "I mean, Mickey."
"I know," Jack said quietly. Donna looked up at him and saw tears on his face. Impulsively, she pulled him into a proper hug.
The new Doctor caught Martha staring at him. He smiled sadly at her, then surprised her by giving her the once over.
Donna's small shout startled everyone. "Ow!"
"Donna?" Jack said.
She pulled out of the hug and leaned on the console, holding her head with her left hand. "Nothin'. S'nothin'."
The new Doctor left Martha's side to go stand in front of Donna. Taking her shoulders, he bent down to look her in the eye. "Tell me what's happening."
"Spike in my head," Donna complained. "Probably need a lie down brown frown."
The Doctor turned from Rose and Danielle abruptly, then went over to Donna and his other self. "Donna?"
"Nothin'," Donna shook her head. She bent forward and cried out in pain.
"Donna!" both Doctors shouted.
Donna shook her head again. "I'm fine line brine shine."
"Do you know what's happening?" the Doctor asked quietly, his mind racing.
"Yeah," Donna said with a look of dread on her face.
"Pay attention," a new voice said. The Doctors turned to look at Sarah. "The ship is telling you both to look up."
Staring at each other briefly, both Doctors turned their heads up and saw the Chameleon Arch hanging overhead.
"Right!" the new Doctor shouted running around the console to the keyboard. "Reversing the sequence and voiding the need for the fob watch!"
"Wait!" the Doctor shouted. "Donna? Is this what you want?"
While Donna nodded weakly, the other Doctor scowled. "Of course this is what she wants! I know everything she does, and she would rather die than forget, you git!"
"What's happening?" Jack asked.
The new Doctor talked while his fingers flew over the keyboard. "Time Lord consciousness in a Human Brain. Donna's overloading, so we're going to give her head the room it needs to survive."
Martha, realizing what was happening, put her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God."
"Don't worry Martha," the new Doctor said. "Not locking anything up, just changing her biology about."
Rose left Danielle with Sarah, and went to the Doctor and Donna. "Is this what you want Donna? Really?"
"Bless guess YES!" Donna shouted in frustration while nodding her head.
"Martha, help me," the Doctor said as the Arch descended.
Letting Rose help hold Donna up, the Doctor mentally told her what was going to happen while he and Martha placed the headpiece over Donna's head.
"All right everyone," the new Doctor said as he finished up his adjustments to the program. "This will be loud, scary, and will most likely turn your stomach. What we're doing is changing Donna's biology from Human/Quasi Time Lord to Full Time Lord. Rather than take the knowledge she received from the metacrisis, we're enabling her brain to hold everything its been given.
"All we ask of each of you is to not interfere in any way. No one can touch her while this is going on, or you'll receive a huge jolt. Don't recommend it." He paused long enough to see how Donna's preparation was going.
"Lean her against the railing," the Doctor said to Rose. "Everyone please back away."
"Donna?" the new Doctor said. "Say when!"
"Row cow NOW!" Donna shouted.
The new Doctor hit the activation sequence, and Donna immediately started screaming. Her hands shot up to grasp the headpiece firmly as she started to convulse.
Sarah and Danielle held on to each other and stared at Donna in horror. Rose hid herself in the Doctor's arms. Jack pulled Sarah Jane into a hug. Surprisingly, Martha ran over and ploughed into the new Doctor. He responded by holding his hands over her ears.
For the Doctor, the new Doctor and Martha, it lasted not near as long as when it happened in 1913. For everyone else though, it seemed to drag on and on. Donna's screams were shrill, and horrified everyone.
Once it was over, the Doctor and Rose caught Donna before she hit the deck. Still holding a trembling Martha, the new Doctor looked over. "Jack, mind giving them a hand and help Donna to her room?"
Once the Doctor, Rose and Jack carried Donna out of the console room, Sarah saw that Martha hadn't let go of the duplicate of her father. Soft arms came around her and Danielle, and she saw her namesake.
"You two all right?" Sarah Jane asked them.
"Yeah," Sarah said. "Dannie?"
"That was horrid," Danielle said softly. "Will she be all right now? I mean, what?"
"Should be," Sarah said. "Tell you what though," she whispered conspiratorially, "something tells me that dad's duplicate might have a thing for Martha."
Sarah Jane chuckled when the new Doctor glared at them over Martha's head. "Maybe," she whispered back. "Time will tell. Danielle? Want a spot of tea?"
"What's that?" Danielle asked.
Eyebrows up, Sarah Jane scooted them towards the inner door. "Oh, we need to educate you."
"You know," Sarah said, "that drink that mum and grammie always complained about not having."
Their talking died away as they left the room, and Martha finally looked up at the new Doctor. "Thanks."
"No problem," he answered with a small grin. "Kinda nice, actually. I mean, other than the reason for it, that is."
Martha saw the new Doctor's ears turn a shade of pink, and bit her lip. "A bit, yeah."
"Want some tea?" he asked her. "Think Sarah Jane is going to do her special in the kitchen."
Martha ducked back down and just enjoyed the hug. "Yeah. Will Donna be all right?"
"Should be," he said. "Will most likely be out of it for a while as she acclimates."
"You're still hugging me," Martha said quietly.
The new Doctor grinned. "So are you."
"'S nice," she murmured.
"Yeah. Couldn't help noticing that your left hand is bare of jewellery. Is it too soon to ask what happened?"
Martha shrugged and tucked her head under his chin. "Tom didn't go for long distance relationships. I was assigned to the UNIT base in New York, and he didn't come with. Ended up going to Africa himself, with Doctors Without Borders."
"Sorry," he rubbed her back. "Actually... I'm not, really."
"Oh? Why's that?" she asked with a hint of warning to her voice.
He smirked. "Don't have a reason to feel guilty about hugging you now."
Stunned, Martha started giggling with wide eyes.
The Doctor and Rose were sitting on opposite sides of Donna's bed, with Donna lying between them. Rose was checking her temperature with a hand on her forehead, while the Doctor had his stethoscope out, monitoring Donna's chest.
"How's she doing?" Jack asked from the foot of the bed.
"Most likely be up and about tomorrow," the Doctor said. "Both of her hearts are pumping strongly."
"She doesn't feel warm to me," Rose said. "Feels like Sarah does. That mean her temperature is normal for us?"
The Doctor fished his sonic screwdriver out and scanned Donna with it. Checking the results, he nodded. "Seventy four point eight. A touch hot, but that's understandable."
Donna groaned a bit, and a bright swirl of golden particles came out of her mouth.
"Looks familiar," Rose said with an arched brow.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. She'll be out for hours. Let's leave her to it. Donna doesn't like people watching her."
"Tried that, did ya?" Rose asked with a smirk.
The Doctor grinned. "She threw a pillow at me." He looked up and sent a query to the ship. "Sarah Jane's making tea. Fancy a cup?"
"Oh God, yes," Rose said, standing up. "They didn't have tea over there."
"You're kidding," Jack said, getting out of her way.
"Really?" the Doctor said, following her out. "That's just wrong."