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Chapter 3

And that was exactly what the Doctor was thinking. Because he knew this girl and she was so very precious to him. He didn't know how she could be here, but here she lay, unmistakably his daughter.

Jenny.

Only one of her hearts was beating. The Doctor took out the defibrillator and applied the shock to the still heart. It took a few times, but the organ soon began pumping again. His mind was racing. How was she still here? He'd watched her die in his arms.

Now she was dying again.

He grabbed a bandage and placed it over her head wound. It's not too deep, so she won't need stitches, he thought. Lastly, he gave her an IV and then listened for her breathing. She inhaled and exhaled regularly, and he let out a small sigh of relief. He placed a blanket over her and then slumped down in a chair.

He could feel Rose looking at him with concern, but he refused to look at her, not ready to explain yet. Then he remembered her limp.

Of course he had noticed it, even despite her feeble attempt to hide it.

He grabbed a small kit of supplies and led Rose out of the room. He didn't want to leave Jenny, but he didn't want to disturb her by accident. He knew they would both have a lot to explain.

He and Rose sat on couch in a random room, where the TARDIS hummed soothingly. He sat his supplies beside him.

"Doctor-" she began.

"Give me your foot," he told her. She looked at him with surprise. "I know you tried to hide it—which, by the way, I don't know why you did in the first place. It's not like I haven't ever fixed you up before." He didn't try to fight the concerned annoyance creeping into his voice. It was the fact that she had felt the need to hide physical pain from him that elicited this reaction out of him. He wanted her to be completely honest with him—he needed her to be.

"Well I didn't need you to make a big fuss about it!" she snapped. "I've had enough people fuss about me…"

His voice went softer instantly, confusion building up in his eyes. "What do you mean, Rose?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just fix it up, will you? It bloody hurts." She took off her right shoe and sock.

He then tentatively took her foot and gently placed it on his lap. "I don't have all my equipment with me right now, so it's just an ordinary mundane procedure." He took wrap and wounded it around her sore ankle. "For now you should just leave your shoe off. I'll do some more work with your ankle when Jenny wakes up."

Rose perked up. "Jenny? Is that the girl?"

He nodded slowly.

She looked at him intently. He seemed like he was hiding something from her, but what for? "Do you know her?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah…"

Slowly, she said, "Doctor? What aren't you telling me?"

He looked her in the eye. "Rose, it's complicated. And you should rest. You look exhausted."

She looked almost hurt at his words and he mentally scolded himself. She was more sensitive and vulnerable now. Then she just glared at him.

"I'm not a child."

"I never said-"

"But you act like it." Before he could respond, Rose continued, "You think I didn't notice that we went to a quiet planet, and I appreciate the concern—I actually really do—but I can take care of mysel"

And all of a sudden, the Doctor realized the conversation was spiraling out of control. She was being so defensive. "Rose…"

She shook her head and held up her hand. "S'okay, I'll go rest like you said." She took her other shoe off before she stood up. She made her way to the exit, and then turned back to him and smiled lightly. "Don't let me sleep for too long, okay?"

He nodded. "'Course not! We've got places to go, civilizations to save! Sleep is for the boring." She made a face at him at his words and then disappeared into the hallway.

The Doctor looked down at his hands. He wondered if perhaps he had been too harsh with her. Then he shook his head. He could feel guilty about it later. Right now he should go see Jenny. Make sure my daughter is okay. Though, he secretly wondered if it really was her, because he had watched her die. She had jumped in front of a gunshot to save him.

But he refused to allow his hope to die. Hope…it was the strongest emotion there was. Without hope, nothing could ever be achieved, but with it anything could, and that was why he continued to believe that it may be Jenny. Perhaps the universe would be kind.

He began to head back toward the infirmary when he felt a fairly urgent telepathic nudge, and he was directed toward Rose's room. Unease filled within himself as he heard cries of fear.

The Doctor was right outside her door within moments. He didn't even bother to knock. Instead he twisted the door open. There, on her bed, the blankets were wrapped around her tightly and sweat shimmered on her body. Fear was implanted on her face.

He immediately slipped onto the bed and pulled her against him like he had done before, wrapping his arms around her. He rocked her back and forth and whispered soothing words into her ear. Her cries soon died down to weak sobbing as her hands tightened on his shirt. Then without warning, she shot up.

"Rose?" he said. He could see the internal conflict happening inside of her. She stared at him like he was a stranger. She looked embarrassed, distraught, ashamed that he had found her like this.

She'd scooted away from him and drawn the blanket up past her chest, eyes wide. It was a protective gesture and he couldn't help being hurt by it. He would never harm her, yet he noticed the slight tremble in her body, and then he noticed how skinny she was. He was forced to wonder what else had happened to her. He could still see tears shining in her brown eyes. She was wearing a white tank top and shorts—nothing really worth the need to cover with a blanket. He'd seen her in lots of tank tops before.

He repeated her name. "What's wrong?"

She continued to stare at him for a moment before dropping her gaze. She ran her hand along the blanket. And she chuckled weakly. She blinked and looked up at the wall. "It's really been a long time, huh? I thought it'd be so much easier once I got back here, but it's not." She looked back at him with pure misery. She forced a laugh as fresh, salty tears fell.

He had suspected it earlier, but now he was quite certain she wasn't telling him everything. "Oh, Rose…." He reached out and she allowed him to pull her into a hug. She was stiff at first before easing against him. He stroked her hair softly. She was almost completely limp in his arms. He felt her tears on his skin, but she made no noise. What happened? If anyone hurt her…anger burned in him simply at the thought. He rubbed her back in a comforting motion.

Then he noticed little pale scars on her shoulders. His eyes widened at the sight. There were a lot of them and they didn't stop at her shoulder. He tentatively brushed his fingers along them. And she flinched away from him.

"What happened?" His mouth was dry.

"Well…" she began, not looking at him. "You know that dimension cannon? The first time we were building it, it basically exploded. I just didn't get out of the way in time. But it's not that bad. Just little scars…"

She seemed calm enough, but he couldn't push his concern away. There was something else hidden behind her eyes. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "Nothing." She shifted uncomfortably.

He looked at her sternly, but she refused to meet his eyes. He sighed after a moment. She would tell him when she was ready. However, he did hope it was soon. Keeping a big secret would eat away at her until she broke.

The Doctor stood up and held out his hand. "Do you want to come meet Jenny? She should be waking up soon." He'd felt the TARDIS tug at him, warning that she was stirring. Anxiousness clawed at him. He knew that Jenny would physically be all right, but after seeing Rose on her breaking point, he wondered if she would be okay emotionally. And still, a part of him wondered if it really was Jenny, or just some clone…He didn't think it was. Every instinct told him that that girl he rescued from the wreckage was his daughter.

"Jenny? Is that her name?" Rose asked. He nodded. "Who is she?"

"Come on and I'll introduce you." He smiled and shook his hand to encourage her to take his hand.

He could sense her nervousness as they walked back to Jenny. She walked stiffly, and not just because of her ankle. It was expressed on her face where that nervousness and curiosity battled.

He opened the door and Rose followed the Doctor in. She could see the blonde head of the young woman. For a moment, she thought of 18th century France with Madame de Pompadour, and how the Doctor had abandoned her and Mickey on that spaceship.

He'd left them, thinking there wasn't a way to get back to them. And for a woman he just met. He could have taken Mickey and Rose with him, but he hadn't. What if there had been more clockwork droids still on the ship? Or what if he never actually did find a way back to Rose?

They could've been stranded on that spaceship forever. But they weren't (as she had told herself many times), because after five and a half hours, that git showed up again, only to go straight back to Reinette.

Though it may have hurt her to see him do that, she made multiple attempts to comfort him after it became clear he'd been too late to save the mistress. Mickey, however, had had other ideas. He somehow made the Doctor realize his mistake and the need to apologize. How Mickey had done that, Rose did not know.

She remembered the Doctor pulling her into a tight hug and as he stroked her hair, he softly said, "I am so, so sorry, Rose. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll never leave you again." Everything about him—his voice, posture, eyes—said he was sorry. She then replied he was a big git. He'd laughed weakly and guiltily before giving a lasting, comforting kiss on her forehead. That even showed his sorrow. And with those big brown eyes, it was hard not to forgive him.

Why that memory popped into her head, she did not know. Perhaps she was worried that this girl was or would be another Reinette. Maybe the Doctor would just abandon her again. Or maybe Rose just didn't want to share the Doctor, whether the girl had romantic interest in him or not.

But either way, as the girl's eyes fluttered open, she found herself gripping the Doctor's arm. "Wait here for a second," he told her and she released his arm. He walked over to the edge of the cot. Rose saw the girl's eyes widen and the shocked look turned to glee. She threw her arms around the Doctor and he hugged her gently, knowing she currently was not in the best state.

"Hello!" he laughed as joy overtook him and a few tears squeezed out of his eyes.

She buried her face in his shoulder, laughing as well. "Dad!"

And time slowed for Rose. For a moment she couldn't process the word that came out of Jenny's mouth. Dad? How long was she gone for in the Doctor's timeline?

The Time Lord released Jenny and turned back to Rose, an anxious expression on his face. "It's not what it seems…" he began.

And she laughed. She wasn't stupid. "I know how it works, Doctor. I'm just wondering how long I was gone for in your time, because it was only four years for me." She could see Jenny looking startled out of the corner of her eye.

"No, Rose, let me explain."

"What is there to explain?"

He looked up at the ceiling, and his head bobbed back and forth. "Well, quite a lot actually. Just give me a moment." She looked dumbfounded. He could sense Jenny's discomfort. She didn't understand the situation. She shuffled and he looked back at her. "Jenny, this is Rose. She's my, er, companion."

Jenny nodded, though she looked slightly confused. "I'm Jenny." She said to Rose. Then she looked back to her father. "Where's Donna and Martha?"

He scratched the back of his head, eyes clouding. "That's a story for another time. Right now, Rose needs to know a few things." He sat on the cot and patted beside him for Rose to sit down.

She crossed her arms but took a seat. He could already see the hurt in her eyes despite the attempt to hide it. Oh Rose, he thought, you should know I could never move on so quickly. He wanted to hug her and reassure her of that.

He took a deep breath and began to explain the paradox that brought him, Martha, Donna, and the TARDIS to Messaline, and how his DNA was forcibly sampled by a progenation machine, creating Jenny. With a bit more effort, he told Rose how they discovered that the war had only been going on for a few weeks and how they stopped it. How Cobb was angry about this and aimed his pistol at the Doctor, and Jenny taking the bullet for him. He told her how Jenny did not regenerate, but died in his arms, which was why he was so surprised to find her.

He turned back to Jenny with a small smile.

"Wait," Rose said, "if she died, then how is she here right now?"

They both looked at Jenny, who shrugged rather modestly. "I researched it a bit. I looked at information on Time Lords—which there wasn't much—but I found the bit on regeneration. It should have been triggered right after I was shot, right? And I should have burst into flames or something, but I didn't. I thought maybe I didn't react the same way because the progenation machine was made for human cloning. You have Time Lord DNA." The Doctor and Rose both looked at her with intent. "I thought that was why I didn't have a full regeneration." The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but Jenny continued. "Then I came across more information on the Source. I guess it has hidden properties, but no one else who was cloned was ever revived. So combine the hidden properties with Time Lord DNA, and there's the possible explanation for why I'm still alive." She grinned.

The Doctor looked baffled by the analysis. "That is brilliant." He grinned back.

Rose couldn't help but smile herself at the pure loving, paternal look the Doctor gave his daughter.