As they made their way further in, Donna drifted forward toward Jenny. Perhaps she felt a little bad after her harsh words earlier, and Terry was happy to see the soft-hearted companion making an effort to get to know the Doctor's daughter. She wouldn't mind doing the same, but the Doctor's grip on Terry's hand kept her firmly beside him. Glancing up at him, Terry sighed at the stony expression on his face.
"You don't even know her yet." Terry commented softly.
But the Doctor's mental voice was harsh as he responded, "She's a soldier, she just does what she's told without any question as to the cost."
"Because she hasn't been taught better." Terry insisted. "She has your genes - she can know good if we just teach her there's more to life than fighting."
But the Doctor's jaw just tightened, and Terry gave up… for the moment. Instead she listened as Donna said to Jenny kindly, "I'm Donna. What's your name?"
"Don't know. It's not been assigned." Jenny answered with a shrug a slight shake of her head.
"Well," Donna said slowly, "if you don't know that, what do you know?"
"How to fight." Jenny answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The Doctor's jaw worked beside her and Terry grimaced. Jenny was definitely not helping her case at the moment.
"Nothing else?" Donna prompted, but it was the Doctor who spoke up next, his tone flat and dismissive.
"The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name. She's a generated anomaly."
"Theta!" Terry elbowed him, giving him a reproachful look to match her mental tone.
Jenny glanced back at them curiously but Donna thankfully turned the discussion around as she mused aloud, "Generated anomaly. Generated. Well, what about that?"
She tapped Jenny's shoulder in question.
"Jenny?"
Jenny's face turned thoughtful and she repeated slowly, "Jenny."
"I like it." Terry chimed in from behind before the Doctor could stop her.
A smile appeared on Jenny's face as she looked back and she agreed, "I like it too. Jenny. I'll be Jenny."
She beamed as she faced the front once more. The Doctor made a face that no one but Terry saw, and Donna called pointedly over her shoulder, "What do you think?"
She glanced back as she added in a lower voice, "Dad?"
The companion's pointed look told Terry that she knew Terry was fine with anything while it was obvious the Doctor was the exact opposite. The Doctor didn't reply at once but at Terry's gentle prodding he sighed.
"Good as anything, I suppose." He muttered and Donna eyeballed him shrewdly.
"Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you? Despite your age." Donna commented rather dryly.
But the Doctor shot back without missing a beat, "They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it. It's not what I call 'natural parenting'."
"Rubbish." Donna sniffed. "My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Don't bother her. "
"You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident." The Doctor argued.
"Er, Child Support Agency can." Donna retorted. "Besides, Terry seems to have accepted it so why can't you?"
"Rose didn't call Terry 'angel' for nothing, Donna." The Doctor snapped back, shooting Terry a stern look for good measure too. "Terry's often too trusting for her own good, and no offense angel, but you're still far too young to understand."
"Hey!" Terry objected, but the Doctor went on over her.
"And let's face it, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?"
"Theta." Terry said to him sternly in her mind, and he made another face at her while Jenny whirled around indignantly.
"I'm not a monkey." Jenny protested. But the Doctor just gave her a cursory and skeptical look before he continued walking.
"Or a child." Jenny muttered petulantly from behind, while Terry gave the Doctor yet another reproachful look.
"Would you please stop taking her side, angel?" The Doctor warned, and Terry frowned at the aggravation in his mental tone.
"I'm not taking her side." Terry protested and the Doctor accused, "Yes, you are!"
"Fine, maybe I am a little but it's because you are - for once - wrong! Theta, you can't deny the fact staring you in the face." Terry argued.
"What fact?" The Doctor replied a little sharply.
"That you're a parent again. It's maybe debatable whether she has part of my DNA but she's definitely got yours. So accept it because denying it isn't going to make it any less true. And you're hurting her."
Terry's mental voice was soft at the end, trying to soften the blow. It made no difference, however, as the Doctor didn't reply. Instead he turned his head away in silence as they continued to make their way further and further into the tunnels.
As Cline led them toward some stairs, bringing them out of the tunnels, the Doctor finally questioned, "So, where are we? What planet's this?"
"Messaline." Cline responded as he stepped out of the dark tunnels and into a better-lit stairway. "Well, what's left of it."
The Doctor glanced back at Terry who just gestured for him to follow as Cline reached the top of the stairs and stepped out into a small camp of sorts.
"Six six three seventy five deceased." A monotonous voice called over the intercom s the Doctor and the others stepped out into the room at last. "Generation six six seven one, extinct. Generation six six seven two, forty six deceased."
Cline led the way deeper into the camp, and the group followed slowly. The Doctor and Donna looked around with mixed pity and confusion as they took in the soldiers cooped into such a small environment, and Donna especially frowned as she looked up at the architecture of the building the camp resided in.
"Generation six six eight zero, fourteen deceased. Generation six-"
"But this is a theatre." Donna said in a low voice as she looked at her friends, and Terry nodded while the Doctor shrugged.
"Maybe they're doing Miss Saigon." The Doctor suggested sarcastically, plopping down on a nearby medical bed that was set up in the middle of the theatre hall.
Donna was looking at the sealed windows, apparently created for aesthetic purposes only as the outside was pure rock, and she said in a puzzled tone, "It's like a town or a city underground. But why?"
The Doctor however was focused on the man who now approached them, and he stood up to greet the man.
"General Cobb, I presume."
Terry also examined the elderly man with a neat beard and dressed in khaki overalls as he came to a halt before them, and she pursed her lips. But she remained otherwise aloof and quiet as Cobb said sternly, "Found in the western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks. There was an outbreak of pacifism in the eastern zone three generations back, before we lost contact. Is that where you came from?"
"Eastern zone, that's us, yeah." The Doctor answered without missing a beat, nodding to his companions. "Yeah. I'm the Doctor, this is Terry, that's Donna."
He nodded to each woman as he introduced them all. But when he failed to say more, Jenny piped up, "And I'm Jenny."
Terry smiled wryly at the blonde while Cobb said brusquely, "Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end."
Donna's eyes narrowed but the Doctor was quick to agree once again as he answered, "Well, that's all right. I can't stay, anyway. I've got to go and find my friend."
He gave Cobb a friendly smile, but the general was unyielding as he replied shortly, "That's not possible. All movement is regulated. We're at war."
"Yes, I noticed." The Doctor answered, losing the smile and leveling a look at Cobb. "With the Hath. But tell me, because we got a bit out of circulation, eastern zone and all that. So who exactly are the Hath?"
Cobb raised a brow and exchanged looks with Cline, when Terry put in, "You see, there was a battle on our side and our generation was born without knowing the history."
Cobb eyed her shrewdly, but Terry just gave him a polite smile.
"I suppose that might explain your pacifist nature." Cobb muttered, and the Doctor gave Terry a sly wink of approval while Cobb led them on a minor tour of the base.
"Back at the dawn of this planet," he began as he walked while the Doctor and the rest followed. "These ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning. A colony where human and Hath would work and live together."
"So what happened?" The Doctor asked, and Cobb answered with a sigh, "The dream died. Broken, along with Hath promises. They wanted it all for themselves."
Terry glanced to the side as she saw Donna wander off, the redhead's interest captured by a metal plaque that was drilled into the wall underneath one of the sealed windows. The Time Lady averted her eyes and looked back at Cobb, feigning interest as the old man continued grimly.
"But those early pioneers, they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival."
"There's nothing but earth outside." Donna suddenly called, pointing to the sealed window. "Why's that? Why build everything underground?"
"The surface is too dangerous." Cline explained curtly, and Donna frowned.
"Well, then why build windows in the first place?" Donna asked, puzzled. "And what does this mean?"
She tapped the plaque that had a list of numbers stamped into the metal.
"The rites and symbols of our ancestors." Cobb answered firmly. "The meaning was lost in time."
"How long's this war gone on for?" The Doctor questioned, frowning at Cobb as he tried to understand the situation.
The old general heaved a sigh as he replied wearily, "Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead."
"What, fighting all this time?" Donna asked as she returned to the group, staring at Cobb with almost pity.
But it was Jenny who spoke up in response as she said to Donna passionately, "Because we must. Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge. It's our inheritance. It's all we know. How to fight, and how to die."
The Doctor's hand twitched. Terry, noticing the movement, closed her hand around his. He relaxed at her touch, flexing his fingers to uncurl his hand as he instead entwined his fingers with Terry's.
Terry then addressed Cobb as she asked, "Do you have a map of your city?"
"Yes, why?" Cobb asked, raising a brow as he eyed her suspiciously.
"We'd like to see the extent of our ancestors' legacy." Terry explained without missing a beat.
Cobb still looked highly suspicious but he led them to his official tent where a map of the city was already being projected on his desk. The Doctor whipped on his glasses to better examine the hologram map, and he quickly noticed the much larger size compared to what they had seen in the camp.
"Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?" The Doctor questioned and Cobb's frown deepened.
"Yes. Why?" He asked, and the Doctor muttered, "Well, it'll help us find Martha."
"We've more important things to do." Cline replied with a shake of his head. "The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active," he grinned. "We could breed a whole platoon from you three."
He nodded at the group and the Doctor frowned while Donna balked.
"I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flipping machine." The redhead said sharply, before she remembered Jenny.
The blonde was looking at Donna indignantly, and Donna said quickly, "Sorry, no offence, but you're not... Well, I mean, you're not real."
Jenny scoffed and she said angrily, "You're no better than him."
She gestured at the Doctor who ignored her while Jenny listed, "I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought. How am I not real? What makes you better than me?"
Donna grimaced apologetically while Cobb said proudly, "Well said, soldier. We need more like you, if ever we're to find the Source."
"Ooo, the Source." The Doctor piped up, looking at Cobb with great interest. "What's that, then? What's a Source? I like a Source. What is it?"
Cobb glared at the Doctor but he still replied, "The Breath of Life."
"And that would be?" The Doctor prompted, raising his brows.
Cline took over, explaining brusquely, "In the beginning, the Great One breathed life into the universe. And then She looked at what She'd done, and She sighed."
Jenny smirked and she added with a glance to Terry, "'She'. I like that."
But the Doctor ignored the blonde once more as he said slowly, "Right. So it's a creation myth."
"It's not myth." Cobb hissed defensively. "It's real."
The Doctor shrugged, unconvinced, but Cobb continued, "That sigh: from the beginning of time it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet."
The Doctor had long since tuned Cobb out, staring at the map once more, and he suddenly surprised them all as he lunged at the map while letting out a triumphant shout.
"Aha!"
Donna jumped, startled, before she let out an irritated sigh that the Doctor ignored as he stared at the map.
"I thought so." He muttered as he reached into his suit pocket. "There's a suppressed layer of information in this map. If I can just…"
He soniced the projector of the map, and almost immediately the hologram shifted to reveal a much more complex series of tunnels and chambers.
Cobb and Cline leant forward in awe, while Donna whispered, "What is it, what's it mean?"
"See?" The Doctor grinned. "A whole complex of tunnels hidden from sight."
"That must be the Lost Temple." Cobb breathed. "The Source will be inside. You've shown us the way. And look," he tapped the map. "We're closer than the Hath. It's ours."
The general turned and strode off, Cline right behind him. The Doctor and Terry quickly followed, Donna and Jenny hurriedly bringing up the rear as they moved after Cobb while he barked orders.
"Tell them to prepare to move out. We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last."
"Er, call me old-fashioned," the Doctor interrupted, pulling Cobb aside. "But if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?"
"Only when we have the Source." Cobb disagreed firmly. "It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet."
"Hang on, hang on." The Doctor interrupted. "A second ago, it was peace in our time. Now you're talking about genocide."
"For us, that means the same thing." Cobb answered seriously.
The Doctor's expression darkened as he continued to stare back into the general's unyielding and unrepenting gaze.
"Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary." The Doctor stated with barely suppressed anger. "When you do, look up genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there, and the caption will read, 'Over my dead body!'"
Cobb just scoffed and he retaliated, "And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms."
Cline instantly lifted his gun, pointing it at the Doctor. Terry pushed her way between the gun and the Doctor, despite the Doctor's protests, while Donna said sharply, "Oi, oi, oi. All right. Cool the beans, Rambo."
"Take them." Cobb ordered as the Doctor successfully moved Terry behind him. "I won't have them spreading treason."
He looked back at the Doctor as he added, "And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first."
He gestured at Terry, who replied sharply, "I'm not his possession, thank you very much. And you're very brave thinking you'd succeed in killing me. Or stupid."
"We shall see about that." Cobb sneered back as he made to turn away.
But he was stopped when the Doctor pointed at him and promised in a low voice, "I'm going to stop you, Cobb. You need to know that."
"I have an army and the Breath of God on my side, Doctor." Cobb countered in a steely tone. "What'll you have?"
"This." The Doctor answered, tapping his temple to indicate his mind. "And this."
He tapped Terry's temple. Donna made a noise of indignation at being left out, but Cobb had had enough.
"Lock them up and guard them." The general ordered.
He started to walk away but Cline asked, "What about the new soldier? "
Jenny stepped up immediately, awaiting orders, but Cobb gave her one cursory look before he said, "Can't trust her. She's from pacifist stock. Take them all. "
He pushed Jenny into the Doctor, who caught her rather reluctantly and gave her over to Donna almost immediately. Terry shook her head at him but the Doctor didn't notice as he watched Cobb walk away with dark eyes.
Inside their cell, Donna examined another plaque of numbers that hung above the door to the cell.
"More numbers." She murmured. "They've got to mean something."
"Makes as much sense as the Breath of Life story." The Doctor muttered as he sat down on the one bench in the cell.
"Stop sulking." Terry chided as she settled down beside him, and the Doctor gave her a look.
"I'm not sulking." He protested.
"Right," Terry rolled her eyes. "And a creator did breathe life onto the planet."
"You mean it's not true?" Jenny asked, looking over at, essentially, her parents. Terry shrugged.
"Probably not."
"But there could still be something real in that temple." The Doctor added, his brows furrowed in thought. "Something that's become a myth. A piece of technology, a weapon."
"So the Source could be a weapon," Donna repeated in disbelief. "And we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?"
"Oh, yes." The Doctor sighed, leaning back and Donna's shoulders slumped.
"Not good, is it?" The redhead sighed.
Jenny folded her arms while the Doctor muttered, "That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath."
His eyes roamed the cell, landing on Jenny as she looked down at him with a raised brow.
"What, what are you, what are you, what are you staring at?" The Doctor asked, nonplussed.
"You keep insisting you're not a soldier," Jenny protested, gesturing at the Doctor. "But look at you, drawing up strategies like a proper general."
"No, no. I'm trying to stop the fighting." The Doctor corrected but Jenny countered without missing a beat, "Isn't every soldier?"
Donna raised a brow and she glanced at Terry. Seeing the Time Lady watching the argument with a faintly amused expression, Donna's own lips turned into an amused smirk as she sat back to watch while the Doctor sputtered.
"Well, I suppose, but that's... that's..." The Doctor struggled to find a counterargument before he moved on. Quickly. "Technically, I haven't got time for this. Donna, give me your phone. Time for an upgrade."
Donna snorted, highly entertained, but she handed over her mobile as the Doctor pulled out his sonic.
"And now you've got a weapon!" Jenny exclaimed triumphantly.
Terry let out a noise that sounded like a hastily stifled laugh while the Doctor replied quickly, "It's not a weapon."
"But you're using it to fight back." Jenny pointed out.
She threw her hands up in the air before leaning back as she said smugly, "I'm going to learn so much from you. You are such a soldier."
The Doctor mouthed soundlessly for a second before he said, "Terry, will you tell her?"
Terry let out another badly muffled snort and the Doctor turned to her with an aghast expression.
"Angel!" He complained telepathically, and Terry fought to maintain a neutral expression as she answered, "Sorry."
Jenny had a funny expression on her face again, but she watched as the Doctor instead turned to Donna, requesting, "Donna, will you tell her?"
"Oh, you are speechless." Donna cackled, finally letting her own amusement show. "I'm loving this. You keep on, Jenny."
The Doctor glared at her and Terry - so much for their support - before he finally finished with Donna's mobile. Ignoring his traitorous companions, the Doctor dialed up Martha's number quickly.
"Martha, you're alive!" He crowed in relief when she answered, and he stood up to pace as he spoke with his friend.
"I'm with Terry and Donna." He replied to Martha's question. "We're fine. What about you?"
"Hem hem." Terry coughed, nodding at Jenny pointedly. "Doctor, you forgot Jenny?"
The Doctor gave her a look, but Terry matched it with a stern one of her own and the Doctor sighed.
"Yes, all right." Giving in, he added to Martha, "And, and... Jenny. That's the woman from the machine, the... soldier."
At Terry and Donna's dual looks of reproach, the Doctor rectified, "My daughter - except she isn't, she's, she's…"
"Theta." Terry warned, and the Doctor chose to just give up.
"Anyway, where are you?" He asked Martha.
Terry gave him another look but he grimaced at her so she let it slide for now. The Doctor listened to Martha explain her situation, and Terry watched as the Doctor's eyes widened.
"Oh..." He mumbled, glancing at Terry sheepishly. "That was me."
He glanced out of their cell to where the humans were gathering weapons and getting ready to head off, and the Doctor muttered, "If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath."
As Martha suggested something, he answered instantly, "Just stay where you are. If you're safe there, don't move, do you hear? Martha?"
He looked at Donna's phone, which had cut off.
"Her battery must have run out." The Doctor sighed, passing the phone back to Donna.
"What do we do now?" Donna asked,
The Doctor looked down at his girlfriend.
"We need to get past the guard." Terry pointed out to her husband (not that he knew it yet).
"I can deal with him." Jenny volunteered, but the Doctor instantly shut the idea down.
"No, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere."
"What?" Jenny started to protest, but the Doctor cut her off.
"You belong here with them."
"She belongs with us." Donna chimed in, outraged. "With you. She's your daughter!"
"She's a soldier." The Doctor answered sharply. "She came out of that machine. It doesn't make her my daughter!"
"Oh, for the love of-!" Terry sighed, before she turned to Jenny.
"Jenny." Terry called telepathically and the blonde jumped - as did the Doctor. "If you can hear me, tell me - who are you?"
"I..." Jenny faltered, looking from the Doctor's shell-shocked expression to Terry's much kinder one. "I..."
Jenny swallowed before she whispered to both Time Lords.
"I'm your daughter."
*A/N I just want to say thank you to everyone who has returned to read this story and especially to everyone who has already favourited or reviewed. I was a bit overwhelmed (in a good way) at just how quickly I started receiving notifications after I posted this story and I want to thank each and every person here. I read every review and check every favourite, and the support has been astounding even after all this time. So thank you and hope you continue to enjoy!