To the Stars and Back

by riverofmemories

Tagging along in the TARDIS after being rescued from a situation she was sold into, Jayden O'Connors finds that there's much more to life than expected. When the Doctor's involved, it's full of adventure, other worlds, saving lives, and quite a bit of running. But the clock is ticking, and even a Time Lord from Gallifrey can't help her run forever.

22. The Doctor's Daughter

From where he leaned against the TARDIS console, the Doctor watched Martha meander around the control room, her fingers brushing fondly over different parts of it. A piece of railing here, a wall there, all with a nearly glazed look in her dark eyes. Every now and then, she'd look to him with a smile, or she'd glance at the exhausted Jay, who had curled up on the captain's seat as they waited for Donna.

The attack had come only moments after they'd stepped into the TARDIS, as if Jay's body had waited for the safety of the familiar time machine. The Doctor had taken notice that it seemed almost a second or two longer than the previous attack she'd had and was still concerned about it. She seemed content to rest for the time being, so he left her be, deciding to discuss it with her later.

Maybe it was time to actively think of another place that might have something to help her.

One of the TARDIS doors suddenly opened. Donna stepped through and Martha looked over with a frown of concern. They'd stopped by Donna's home to check on her family, and Martha was the first to ask, "How were they?"

"Oh, same old stuff," rasped Donna, leaving the door open as she moved further in, and the Doctor frowned in concern when she gently wiped at her eyes. "They're fine though. So!" She beamed at Martha, hiding her sadness, although none of them were fooled. "You going to come with us? We're not exactly short of space, and I know Jay would like it."

Jay, too tired to move, merely gave a thumbs up in agreement.

Martha smiled fondly at them all and then around herself at the control room. "Oh, I've missed all this, but...I'm good. Here. Back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides." Martha held up her hand and wiggled her fingers, making the engagement ring glitter in the light. "Someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own to worry about."

"A defender of Earth," mumbled Jay teasingly, a slight smile crossing her face. She moved to climb to her feet, shaky but feeling better, - and was promptly thrown off balance when there was a nasty jolt. The TARDIS door snapped shut with a loud slam. A brief silence filled the air as they all looked at one another in complete confusion.

Confusion turned to shock, however, when the TARDIS suddenly violently shook, the familiar wheezing sound it gave off when moving loud in their ears. Donna clung desperately to the console beside the Doctor, Martha to some railing with horror in her eyes. Jay just yelped, thrown from her place, and clung to the floor in hopes that she wouldn't be sent rolling somewhere.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted angrily as the Doctor tried to stop the TARDIS with a horrified look on his face. "Don't you dare! You take me home, and you do it now!"

"No!" he cried, and she glared at him until he said desperately, "I didn't touch anything! It's not me!" The console sparked violently and the Doctor pulled himself, barely able to remain on his feet, over to another part of it, flicking a switch back and forth to try and get the TARDIS to listen to him. She clearly didn't care about his attempts, for the TARDIS gave a particularly violent jolt that knocked him away from the console and down to the floor.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna cried, wanting to help him back up but not daring to let go for fear that she'd fall, too.

"Controls aren't working!" the Doctor yelled back to her, and then blinked at the violent bubbling sound coming from near his ear. He turned his head and grinned. The hand he'd retrieved from the Master had been placed securely beneath the console, and it delighted him to see the wildly bubbling liquid within the jar he kept it in. "I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it!"

Jay gave a very loud snort of amusement, and he flashed her a playful grin despite the possible danger they were in. As he crawled to the other side of the console to try something over there, Donna said with a hint of disgust in her tone, "I thought that was just some freaky alien talisman! You're telling me it's yours?"

"It got cut off," Martha explained, lifting her voice to be heard over the TARDIS. "He grew a new one!"

"You are completely impossible!"

The Doctor grinned as he pulled himself to his feet, trying another control. "Not impossible," he disagreed, yanking on a lever. "Just a bit unlike-"

He was interrupted by a massive explosive response on the TARDIS's part. More sparks flew, more than the first time, and there were matching screams of surprise when the TARDIS snapped violently one more time before going still. Silence fell as everyone regained their bearings. Jay shakily lifted her head, looking around, and smiled faintly at Donna, who'd been thrown to the ground by the force. Martha, too, was now sprawled on her back on the floor of the TARDIS.

Slowly, Martha scrambled to her feet and brushed herself off. Donna crawled over to Jay and stood before offering a hand, helping her to her feet. "Thanks," croaked Jay, wincing. She felt as if her skin was crawling; an aftershock would hit soon.

The Doctor suddenly shot up to his feet and nearly flew to the doors. He beamed as he ducked out, swinging the door open without pausing to think about what might be on the other side. He blinked as he emerged into the dark. When his eyes had adjusted, he realized it was an underground tunnel. Not Earth, if his taste buds were right.

"Why would the TARDIS bring us here?" he said aloud as the women all piled out of the TARDIS, all looking around.

"Oh, I love this bit," Martha said happily as she studied some of the old looking, beat up metal pieces that littered the ground.

"I thought you wanted to go home," teased Jay, and Martha sent her a playful glare in response before returning her attention to their surroundings.

"Hush, you!" Martha grinned to show she didn't mean it, and then put her hands on her hips. She looked around some more, creeping around the side of the TARDIS. Jay scrambled after her, Donna and the Doctor following. The Doctor was reluctant to let any of them out of his sight; who knew what had dragged them there? He didn't need anyone mindlessly getting hurt because they weren't ready for what had happened.

A loud sound suddenly made them jump. The Doctor snapped his head in the direction of the sound and instinctively gestured for them all to gather close to one another. Martha wound her arm through Jay's, and Donna hovered behind them with the Doctor making sure he stood in front of them all. Especially when they were surrounded on all sides by a couple of people who immediately aimed guns at them.

"Stay where you are!" barked a voice none of them recognized. "Stay where you are and drop your weapons."

Very slowly, Donna lifted her hands in surrender. Martha followed suit, reluctantly letting go of her friend, and Jay, skin crawling worse than ever, did the same. The Doctor just spread his fingers at his side to show he carried nothing, not feeling the urge to lift his hands above his head.

"We're not armed!" the Doctor said sharply, really not liking the guns pointed at them. "Look! No weapons." He displayed his hands in front of him, flipping them over. "Never any weapons. We're safe."

"Look at their hands," whispered one of the people that had gathered. His eyes flashed with shock. "They're clean."

The man who'd first ordered them to stay where they were stepped forward. He studied the group closely and then pressed his mouth into a hard line, a stony look on his face. "Alright, then process them! Him first." He grabbed the Doctor's shoulder rather harshly and shoved him towards two of his men, who proceeded to snag his arms and haul him away.

The Doctor looked too shocked by the rough manhandling to be angry. "Hey! What's wrong with clean hands?!" he cried, and Jay bolted after him. Martha was only a step behind, not daring to let Jay go alone.

"Leave him alone!" Donna angrily snarled as she rushed after them, catching up fairly quickly. She watched in annoyed confusion as the Doctor was dragged up to some kind of machinery a dozen or so feet down the corridor. It was connected to various other pieces of machinery, and some of the soldiers stepped in to stop the three women from getting any closer when the Doctor's hand was shoved into it. He yelped in pain when something made a loud, shrill sound.

"Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure," the Doctor commented sarcastically before gasping in pain when something seemed to seize hold of his hand, his knees buckling for a moment.

Donna rounded on the man in charge, looking ready to storm up and slap him. Jay casually took hold of her arm, just in case. "What the hell are you doing to him!?"

"Everyone gets processed," he said with a narrow-eyed look, not liking the challenge in Donna's expression.

The Doctor, despite the twist of pain in his hand and arm, explained, hissing through his teeth. "It's taking a tissue sample and extrapolated it...some kind of accelerator?" The machinery released him and he stumbled back, caught off guard. He examined his hand as his companions rushed over to make sure he was okay, Jay latching anxiously onto his arm to look at the diminishing scar on his flesh.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worried, but the Doctor's eyes were on another machine that was at work. A spark of worry flashed through him as he watched a pair of sliding door-like pieces filled in with glass suddenly slid aside, steam blinding them for a matter of seconds. A girl stepped out, through the steam, and blinked around as if she'd just woken up. The Doctor's face hardened immediately at the sight of her, not liking what had just happened one bit as the one in charge handed her a gun and told her to arm herself. He hated the ease with which she handled the gun.

"Doctor?" Martha breathed, her eyes stretched wide. "Where did she come from?"

"From me." His throat felt thick with the confusing emotions that spilled through him. His voice came out hoarse and pained. "She's...well...she's my daughter."

The girl snapped her head around to peer at him upon hearing, and she beamed, her light eyes sparkling with a joy that made him sick. Her blonde hair was neatly pulled from her face, her small, slim for covered in clothes that matched those of the soldiers around them. It made him even a little more unhappy with her; any "daughter" of the Doctor shouldn't have been a soldier.

"You promised to take orders and ready to fight?" asked the man in charge, dragging her attention away from him. Her eyes landed on him with determination as she answered.

"Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir," she said, voice smooth and confident. "Primed and in peak physical health." She cocked the gun in her hand, the sound making the Doctor flinch. "Oh, I'm ready."

"Your...did you say your daughter?" Donna whispered to him, her face full of shock. Martha and Jay looked equally as confused, and the Doctor glanced at Jay when she shifted uncomfortably, shuddering. An after-shock would come soon. He couldn't say he was pleased that they'd be surrounded by strangers when it did.

"Technically," he admitted, returning his attention to Donna's question.

"Technically?" Martha echoed. "How?"

The Doctor spoke mindlessly, not seeming to notice what he was saying even as he said it. "Progenation. Reproduction from a single organism. Means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement and grow. Very quickly, apparently," he suddenly added under his breath, frowning. This wasn't a good thing at all. He wasn't human, after all, and he rather disliked that they had a grip on some Time Lord DNA.

Jay's head suddenly turned, her breathing hitching a little as another shudder wracked her body. Her voice was somewhat slurred, signaling the impending attack, and the Doctor pressed his mouth into a hard line, already thinking of excuses. Martha, noticing as well, tucked Jay's other arm in hers, secure. "Doctor," Jay said under her breath. "I can hear something coming."

The Doctor frowned at her, wondering if she'd left the pendant they'd made for her in the TARDIS, but looked up nonetheless as his "daughter" suddenly shouted, "Something's coming!" The gun was propped against her shoulder in an instant, ready for use. He made a mental note of where each of his friends were, noting that Martha was closer to the direction several guns were suddenly pointed in.

Something came a second later. The Doctor furrowed his brow as a non-human figure sprinted down the corridor, weapon in hand firing. He immediately ducked, pushing Jay's and Donna's heads down. Martha copied, keeping close as the one in charge shouted, "It's the Haths!"

Haths? Martha wondered with confusion, noting the fish-like appearance of the aliens that suddenly flooded the area. Chaos erupted, complete with gunfire, and a choked sound left Jay's throat when someone hit the ground dead nearby. "We have to blow the tunnel!" someone shouted. "Get the detonator!"

The Doctor's head twisted, horror flickering across his face. "We're not detonating anything!" he shouted. There was no way he'd willingly let a bomb go off near them, not now, as Jay choked a second time, this time with her knees buckling. She jerked, her body beginning to writhe in pain that flooded her. Martha turned her attention on Jay with a gasp, worried.

The mutual lack of attention to their surroundings was enough.

The Doctor's arm was wrenched when something yanked on it and Donna shrieked in his ear. "Martha!" Donna screamed, and the Doctor spun to find that Martha was being hauled away, an arm around her waist. Jay hit the ground, breathless, eyes glazed, and was promptly hauled away by a second. His nameless daughter advanced to try and help, but an order of "Blow that thing!" had her spinning away.

The Doctor felt a flash of fury as he lunged forward, shouting for them. How dare someone who shared his blood leave them in favor of an explosive? Before he could do anything to try and get them back, however, she'd found a detonator and hit the button. The Doctor rounded on Donna and shoved her back, ducking his head and hers a second time as the tunnel suddenly exploded around them. They were thrown to their stomachs, and Donna wheezed for air as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, looking back in horror.

Sealed. The tunnel was sealed, and there was no sign of either Martha or Jay. Donna breathed their names in terror. "You've sealed off the tunnel," he breathed, snapping his eyes to her. His daughter looked clueless as to why he was so furious with her when she noticed, her eyes wide. "Why did you do that?!"

She blinked. "They were trying to kill us!" she exclaimed, flicking her eyes between she and the furious Donna as they all climbed to their feet. The Doctor only paused to check on Donna as he said lowly, "They've got our friends."

The next few words unleashed a simmering fury low in his stomach. "Collateral damage," she said dismissively, waving him off. "At least you've still got her." She jerked her chin in Donna's direction, and Donna looked taken aback. "He lost both of his men. I'd say you came out ahead."

The Doctor opened his mouth to snap at her, but was interrupted when Donna stormed right up to her, getting in her face as she snarled, "Their names are Martha and Jay, and they're not collateral damage! Not for anyone! Have you got that, GI Jane?! Jay was sick! And Martha...she's not even supposed to be here!" She looked ready to punch the younger girl, and the girl stepped back confused by Donna's anger.

Seeing the unshed tears in Donna's eyes, the Doctor stepped up and gently drew Donna back with a hand on her arm. He drew her in for a gentle hug, reassuring quietly, "I'll find them. I promise." She merely huffed softly, the breath she took ragged.

Something prodded at the Doctor's arm and he glared over his shoulder at the man holding the gun. He certainly did not appreciate being prodded with guns. "You're going nowhere," he said coldly. "You don't make sense, you two. No guns...no marks...no fight in you. I'm taking you to General Cobb. Now. Move."

For just a moment, simply out of spite towards the people that had created so much trouble for them, the Doctor and Donna exchanged a serious look, as if debating whether or not to disobey. But then the Doctor shrugged lightly and Donna sighed, and together, they started walking, figuring they had nothing better to do with the TARDIS likely buried somewhere in the mess of debris.

---

A choked-sounding cough accompanied by odd bubbling, gurgling sounds drew Martha back to consciousness. Her body ached from where she'd been thrown, and it took her a few moments to remember what had happened. She remembered being hauled away from her friends, remembered screaming furiously as Jay was snagged, too, by one of the aliens that had attacked-

Jay. Martha snapped her head around and took notice of her surroundings. Debris was scattered around them. A pair of legs stuck out from some of it, signaling that one of their captors had been crushed. Another alien, the one who'd likely grabbed her, was a few feet away, the gurgling sound clearly from him as he cradled his arm. Fear grew until she spotted Jay, heaving for air, her gaze bleary with pain as she gasped for breath.

"Jay!" Martha gasped, crawling to her.

Jay tiredly turned her face towards Martha, shadows heavy beneath her eyes. Too much too soon. But then again, the attacks had always chosen the worst of times. "I'm okay," she croaked. "It's passed."

Martha nodded, patting her arm comfortingly. "We'll find the Doctor again," she said quietly, pulling Jay upright. The gurgling alien recaptured her attention and Jay turned to look at it, too. "Are you okay to sit here? I'm going to go and help him."

Jay arched a brow, clearly confused as to why, but nodded. She watched as Martha crawled over to the alien - a Hath, she remembered hearing someone shout. They were called the Hath. Martha fearlessly settled beside the injured Hath, waving Jay closer. Jay scrambled over herself, deciding that sticking close would be better for both of them. "Hold on," murmured Martha with sympathy, eyeing his arm expertly. "Is it your arm?" The Hath bubbled, the device in its face gurgling. "Is that...is that a yes?" It nodded.

"Let me examine it," she said firmly, ordering him to keep still. The Hath nodded again to show that it understood. As she investigated, she muttered under her breath, "Half-fish, half-human. How am I supposed to know?" Jay's lips quirked at her grumbling, and she listened with amusement as Martha continued. "Is that a shoulder?" She looked back at Jay for help and Jay shrugged, not knowing. "Feels like a shoulder...I think it's dislocated."

Martha began to try and fix it, but before she could get very far, footsteps filled their ears. She spun around and immediately dragged Jay as close as she could as several Hath appeared, guns pointed at their heads. She bristled, glaring around at them. "We're trying to help him! I am a doctor, and he is my patient!" she barked. The Hath faltered, not sure how to respond to this sudden change of attitude in a human. Jay smiled comfortingly and listened as Martha said in her ear, "Go around to the other side and just hold its hand. We have to show we're trying to help."

"Yes, ma'am," muttered Jay almost teasingly, yawning. She crawled around the Hath and comfortingly took its hand, knowing this wasn't going to be pleasant. She'd never seen a dislocated shoulder put back in place, but Lucas had described it to her once upon having dislocated his own shoulder.

Martha warned, "This'll hurt." The Hath merely blinked at her. "Ready?" Jay nodded even though the question wasn't thrown at her. "One, two, three!" On three, Martha forced the join back into place. The Hath made a sound of pain at the sound, and Jay froze when the guns rose again, aggressively aimed at them.

But then the Hath they'd helped - well, Martha had helped - threw its hands up and began to speak. At least, that's what Jay and Martha assumed it to be doing, as it gurgled and bubbled and more. Eventually, the guns lowered, and they sighed in relief, staggering to their feet. Martha moved over and slid an arm around Jay's waist to help support her when her knees buckled, skin crawling once more, although less so than it had been previously.

"Now then," said Martha coldly. "I'm Dr. Martha Jones, and this is Jay O'Connors. Who the hell are you?"

---

The Doctor walked in silence, side-by-side with Donna, and thought faintly over what might have happened to their friends. The worst fate was likely that they'd been crushed, but he thought he could feel it in his hearts that they were alright, just...trapped. On the other side. Away from he and Donna. There was the possibility that they'd been dragged off to wherever the Hath were residing - the one he was most confident about. There was a chance they were trapped, alive and hurt, underneath the debris. And then there was the possibility that they'd gotten out unharmed and had retreated to the TARDIS.

He tried to figure out the best possibility, but came up empty-handed. They were all just that: possibilities. Who knew what had actually happened? He was less inclined to think they were dead though. His companions always had a knack for escaping death - even when confronted with impossibly dire circumstances.

If Jay and Martha could survive the Master and the Valiant, then they could survive a mere tunnel collapse.

"I"m Donna, by the way," Donna said suddenly. The Doctor focused on her, finding that she'd lost some of her ire and had decided to offer an introduction to his daughter. He made a face, still not too excited about it. "What's your name?"

She shrugged in response, shifting the gun in her arms. "I don't know. It's not been assigned." Donna questioned what she did know, and she shrugged again. "How to fight."

Donna turned to him as he leaned in and said, eyes locked on the girl, "The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name. She's a generated anomaly."

Donna furrowed her brow and debated for a few moments, echoing, "A generated anomaly...generated...oh! What about that? Jenny!"

The girl debated, and then smiled brightly at Donna, and Donna smiled right back. "Jenny. I like that. Jenny."

As Jenny hummed, pleased with her new name, Donna's green eyes sparked with amusement and she leaned in to tease the Doctor. "What do you think, Dad?" He shrugged, muttering that the name was as good as any, and Donna arched a brow at him, frowning when he didn't smile as he normally would have, amused with her joke. "Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you?"

He shut down any thoughts and memories that accompanied the idea of being a parent. "They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it, Donna. It's not what I call natural parentage."

Donna shrugged, not having any of his excuses. "My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Didn't bother her." The Doctor rolled his eyes, very well remembering who Nerys was. She'd stuck out at the wedding reception to a wedding that had never happened. Had even reminded him of Rose once or twice, simply through appearance, although she looked nothing like her if he thought too long about it.

"You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident." Donna muttered something and the Doctor nearly stopped to give her an exasperated look. Martha wouldn't have bothered him about this, nor would Jay. Donna, on the other hand...he loved her, as he did all of his companions, but could she not drop the subject that he clearly didn't want to discuss? "Look, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?"

Donna blinked, and then glimpsed Jenny's huffing frown from the corner of her eye as Jenny muttered, "I'm not a monkey! Or a child."

The Doctor ignored her protests, frustrated, and instead focused on the camp they'd arrived at. His gaze surveyed everything, taking in the massive underground space that the humans had made into a semi-home. He furrowed his brow. Underground...why underground? he wondered briefly before shrugging. Plenty of species had underground locations. No need to be overly concerned about it.

But humans weren't an underground type of species. They thrived above ground. He forced such thoughts to the back of his mind. That wasn't the point of it right now. Right now, he had more important things to worry about. He turned to the man who'd brought them there - the one who'd introduced himself as Cline on their way through the mass of tunnels. "Where are we? What planet's this?"

"Messaline," Cline said as if they should have known. "Well," he added, wincing, "what's left of it." He left them to go and approach an older man who'd stopped a couple dozen feet away, having spotted them, and the Doctor and Donna remained where they were, Jenny beside them.

"This is a theatre," Donna mused, looking around with interest. It's like a town, or a city...underground! But why underground?"

"Mm, good question," he muttered, focusing on that. Maybe it wasn't something to push past if another thought it was important. He straightened, making sure he was at his full height and ready to intimidate as Cline and the man he'd gone to suddenly started walking over. When they were close enough, he said neutrally, "General Cobb, I presume?"

Cobb didn't bother to return the weak greeting. "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?"

The Doctor latched onto the lie immediately, grinning. "Eastern Zone, that's us. Yeah. I'm the Doctor, and this is Donna." He nodded at Donna, who gave a small little wave with a tight smile.

"And I'm Jenny," piped up Jenny with a frown.

Cobb ignored them all. "Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking," he warned. His eyes narrowed. "We're committed to the fight, to the very end."

"Well that's alright," reassured the Doctor, rocking back onto his heels in impatience. "I can't stay anyway. I've gotta go and find my friends." Donna nodded, wringing her fingers anxiously at the thought. They had to find Martha and Jay.

"That's not possible," Cobb denied and the Doctor's eyes flashed. "All movement is regulated. We're at war."

"Yes," the Doctor said rather sarcastically, voice sharp and eyes like ice. He didn't appreciate being told such a thing when his friends could be in danger. "I noticed...with the Hath. But tell me, 'cause we're a bit out of circulation. Eastern Zone and all that. Who exactly are the Hath?"

Cobb studied him, debating how to answer. Finally, he said, "Didn't they explain anything to you? Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamed of a new beginning, a colony where humans and Hath could work and live together."

"So what happened?" prompted the Doctor.

"The dream died," he said blankly. "Broken, along with Hath promises. They wanted it all for themselves. But those early pioneers...they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival."

Donna furrowed her brow and asked, leaning slightly into the Doctor for reassurance, "There's nothing but earth outside...why's that?" The Time Lord at her side threw her an approving look. "Why build everything under ground?"

"The surface is too dangerous," Cline told her, shrugging.

"Then why build windows in the first place?" Donna's eyes scanned the massive room around them, and the Doctor blinked, not having considered that. He eyed her with interest when she added, pointing at a series of numbers that had been engraved in metal above a door, "And what does that mean?"

Cobb snorted, and the Doctor's gaze went from approving and proud to annoyance. He didn't much care for Cobb. "The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meanings have been lost in time. The war's gone on for longer than anyone can remember...countless generations marked only by the dead."

Donna's eyes flashed with surprise. "Fighting, all this time?"

Jenny spoke up now, her gaze confused as to why they were surprised. "We must," she insisted, her voice sincere like she fully believed what she was saying. "Every child of the machine is born with this...this knowledge. It's our inheritance. It's all we know. How to live, how to fight, and how to die."

The Doctor shook his head, not liking her words one bit, and ignored Donna's sharp look in favor of turning back to Cobb, doing his best to pretend that Jenny hadn't been created through the use of his tissue sample. "Can we see a map?"

Cobb agreed and guided them across the area, leading them straight to a series of machines. One touch displayed a holographic map that the Doctor got up and close with, eager to investigate. It took only minutes for the Doctor to decide that it was incredibly unhelpful, giving no sign of life. He wished he could see that much. "Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?" he requested, and Cobb gave a curt nod. "Good. It will help us find Martha and Jay."

"We've got more important things to do," denied Cline from where he stood with Donna and Jenny. The Doctor and Donna gave him nasty looks, neither pleased with the comment. "The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but as soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you two!"

Donna bristled as the Doctor made a look of disgust. "I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flippin' machine!" she snapped, glaring at him. She turned a grimace onto Jenny. "Sorry, no offense, but you're not...well, you're not real."

Jenny glowered, eyes flashing with agitation as she retorted, "You're not better than him! I have a body, I have a mind. I have independent thought. How am I not real? What makes you better than me?" She lifted her chin as Donna recoiled back a little, surprised by Jenny's answer - and uncomfortable as she realized Jenny was speaking truthful, honest words.

"Well said, soldier," praised Cobb, flashing Jenny a smile - the first any of them had seen on his face. "We need more like you if we're to find the Source." The Doctor latched onto it, demanding to know what it was, and Cobb clarified, "The Breath of Life. In the beginning, the Great One breathed life into the universe, and then she looked at what she'd done - and she sighed."

"Right, so it's a creation myth," said the Doctor as Donna and Jenny looked pleased with the fact that the Great One was female. He barely payed the myth any mind, focused on scanning the map with his sonic screwdriver.

"It's not a myth - it's real. That sigh is real. From the beginning of time, it was caught and kept as the Source," Cobb argued. "It was lost when the war started, but it's here somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet-"

"Aha!" the Doctor cried, interrupting Cobb much to Cobb's frustration. "I thought so! There's a suppressed layer of information in this map, if I can just…" He adjusted the settings of his sonic, buzzing the map, and beamed proudly when a whole new form of the map appeared. Donna gasped, and he said, "A whole complex of tunnels, hidden from sight."

Cobb looked stunned. "That must be the lost temple. The Source will be inside. You've shown us the way. And look, we're closer than the Haths! It's ours!" He grinned, whirling around to face Cline with a delighted smile, and then waved another soldier over. "Tell everyone to prepare to move out. We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, and then we march. Once we reach the temple, peace will be restored at long last."

The Doctor watched as he did all of this, and then hesitantly said, "Call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?"

"Only when we have the Source," Cobb said firmly, and Donna moved closer to the Doctor, taking his hand in hers as he spoke - as if sensing that this man was worse than they'd initially thought. "It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet!"

The Doctor's mouth was dry. Genocide? No more, he'd once vowed to himself. Never again, not while he could do something about it. "Hang on," he rasped. "A second ago, it was peace in our time, now you're talking about genocide?!"

"For us, that means the same thing."

The Doctor's anger grew, and he took a threatening step towards the man, hands shaking with rage. Donna tightened her grip, remaining silent. "Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary," snarled the angry Time Lord. "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 remained as cold as ever. He swept a careless look over the Doctor and then shook his head. "And you're the one who showed us the path to victory...you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms!"

The gun was leveled at them in an instant, and the Doctor swept his friend behind him as Donna cried, "Oi! Cool the beans, Rambo!"

"Take them," Cobb ordered, ignoring their complaints and protests. "I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor," he added with a nasty glare in the Time Lord's direction, "I'll see that you're woman dies first."

They both exploded with protests against that particular statement, neither pleased that they were being called a couple, but reluctantly let Cline began to herd them away. "I'm going to stop you, Cobb, you need to know that," the Doctor warned over his shoulder.

"I have an army and the breath of a god on my side," Cobb sneered. "Doctor, what will you have?"

"This," he said sharply, pointing to his head to indicate his brain.

Cobb snorted, amused with the idea of someone's intelligence surpassing the might of guns and weaponry. He paused when Jenny stepped forward, as if indicating that she was going to help - and then shoved her roughly. She stumbled, and the Doctor instinctively caught her shoulders to keep her upright. "Her, too. Can't trust her. She's from pacifist stock." He turned and left, calling over his shoulder, "Take them all!"

---

The walk was a long one, with Jay hanging heavily on Martha's shoulder, the crawling in her skin worsening with each step even as the attacks became less violent and further apart. A smaller one had occurred by the time they reached the base of the Haths, and Martha stiffened when others curiously rushed forward to investigate.

Her lips parted when she realized they were immediately friendly, their hands brushing fondly over them, stroking their faces and heads, their shoulders and arms. As if thanking them for helping one of their own. The Hath they'd helped kept close, as if their self-declared protector.

"They don't seem bad," Martha hissed to Jay, who merely mumbled something Martha didn't understand. She slouched completely, suddenly unconscious, and Martha helped her slide awkwardly to the ground with a worried look. The Haths faltered in their petting and happy greetings to study the situation with concern, and Martha desperately looked around. "Do you have somewhere to rest? She's...she's ill."

One of the Haths patted her head comfortingly and swooped down, scooping up Jay with ease. Martha scrambled anxiously after it as it carried the unconscious woman over to a safe-looking location and settled her neatly down. A few moments later, another Hath had appeared with a ragged old piece of cloth likely meant to represent a blanket.

"Thank you," Martha said with a smile, tucking it securely around Jay. She removed her own jacket and bundled it under Jay's head before rising to her feet. "Right," she said, looking at all of the Haths that were watching. "I need a map. Do you have a map?"

The Haths looked among one another and then one waved her over. Martha hesitated to leave her friend, but followed when she realized she wouldn't be far. She was led up to a piece of machinery that after a few moments projected a holographic map into the air for her to look at. She studied the map closely. "Ah, so we're...here," she muttered, furrowing her brow.

The Hath nodded and Martha settled in to study the map further. She'd only been looking at it for a few moments before she suddenly gasped, the map shifting into a new one before her. Her eyes snapped wide. "Hold on," she said as she took in the new tunnels. "Look! That's a new map. There's a different set of tunnels!"

The Hath froze, staring, and then, as one, they erupted into chaotic movement. Worried, Martha retreated to check on Jay, worried when a shudder wracked through her. Another aftershock, so soon...but then she relaxed, and Martha determined that if it wasn't the last one, the next one would be. Jay barely stirred as a few Haths came over and patted her again, praising her as they lifted their guns into the air, all of them gurgling.

"But I didn't do anything," muttered Martha as the Haths began to head out, leaving her alone with the one she'd helped and the unconscious Jay. She knelt beside Jay, who stirred again, clearly deciding now would be the time to wake up. She stroked Jay's forehead soothingly when she groaned, and told her friend when bleary blue eyes blinked open, so much clearer despite the short period of rest, "I think I just started a war."

---

The jail cell the trio were put in had nothing of import - in the Doctor's eyes, at least. Donna, on the other hand, immediately noted numbers emblazoned on the wall. She narrowed her eyes. "More numbers," muttered Donna, memorizing them swiftly. "They've got to mean something…"

"Makes as much sense as the Breath of Life story," muttered the Doctor bitterly. Jenny looked puzzled.

"Is it not true?" she asked in a small voice, not sure of how to interact with the two before her. One her supposed father, the other his close friend, with her being the outsider that knew nothing about either of them.

"No," said Donna, not tearing her eyes away from the numbers. She tucked some red hair behind her ear. "It's a myth. Isn't it, Doctor?"

"Yes," he confirmed, mind racing. "But there could still be something real in that temple, something that's become a myth. A piece of technology - a weapon." He scrubbed his hands down his face, thinking of Martha and Jay. He hoped they were doing better than he was at stopping this damn war.

"So the Source could be a weapon," Donna said as she turned to face him, frowning, "and we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?" He nodded. "Well that's not good, is it?"

"No," he sighed. "That's why we need to get out of here. We need to find Jay and Martha, and then stop Cobb from slaughtering the Haths." He dropped his hands and looked around, as if having covered his eyes would reveal something new. What he found, however, was Jenny simply watching him with interest. "What?" he muttered. "What are you staring at?"

Jenny's eyes flickered with interest. "You keep insisting you're not a soldier. But look at you! Drawing up strategies like a proper general."

"No," the Doctor said, eyes widening. "No, no, no. I'm trying to stop the fighting."

She challenged, "Well, isn't every soldier?"

"I...I suppose," he stammered, caught off guard. "But that's...that's technically...oh, I haven't got time for this! Donna, give me your phone!" He rounded on Donna, making her jump as he held a hand out impatiently. "Time for an upgrade," he muttered as he withdrew his sonic screwdriver. She handed it over with ease, watching curiously as he pressed the sonic screwdriver to it, the familiar buzzing sound comforting.

"And now you've got a weapon!" Jenny cried.

He glared at her. "It's not a weapon!"

"But you're using it to fight back! I'm gonna learn so much from you. You are such a soldier!"

The Doctor turned a pleading look on Donna as he dialed Martha's number and put the phone to his ear, but Donna was grinning. So much for help there. "Oh, you are speechless. I'm loving this. You keep on, Jenny."

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor turned his attention elsewhere as Martha's voice answered on the other end of the call, "Doctor?"

He grinned wildly, relieved. "Martha! You're alive!"

"Doctor! Oh, are we glad to hear your voice! Are you alright?"

We. She'd said 'we!' "I'm with Donna," he reassured, "we're fine. What about you?" Donna glared, a threat in her eyes, and he groaned in frustration. "Fine! And Jenny. She's...that's the woman from the machine. The soldier, my...my daughter, except she isn't, she's…" The Doctor shook his head, ignoring the annoyance that flashed over Jenny's face. "Where are you? Is Jay alright?"

"Fine," slurred Jay's sleepy voice. It came as a tired croak, although she seemed to gather more strength as she reassured, "I'm fine. A few aftershocks, but they're over. Martha and I are in the Haths' camp."

"Something's going on," added Martha. "The Hath are leaving, marching off to some place that's appeared on this weird map thing-"

Oops. "That was me," the Doctor admitted with a heavy sigh, grimacing. He should have known the Hath would have access to the same map. "If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath."

"What do you want us to do?"

"Just stay where you are," the Doctor said firmly, thinking of Jay's condition and the fact that Martha hadn't wanted to go anywhere yet had. "Stay where you are if you're safe and don't move." He heard Martha's protests, but he hung up before she could get any further. Something told him that neither she nor Jay would listen, but as cheering flooded his ears, he had bigger things to worry about. Tucking the phone away for later, he said, "They're getting ready to move out. We have to get past that guard."

"I can deal with him," piped Jenny, her lips curving into a mischievous smirk.

"Oh, no," the Doctor said sternly, narrowing his eyes at her. "You're not going anywhere. You belong here, with them."

"She belongs with us," said Donna with shock, her eyes wide. "With you. She's your daughter!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and shook his head, memories flicking through his mind. No. Not his daughter. "She's a soldier," he said sharply, "she came out of that machine."

"Oh, I know that bit." Donna was cross as she held her hand out, lips pressed together. She made a small gesture when he merely waited for her to explain what she wanted. "Listen, have you got that stethoscope?" He nodded, putting a hand in his pocket. "Give it to me. Come on!"

He reluctantly handed it over, and she rounded on Jenny, putting two pieces in her ears and lifting the metal disc. Jenny cringed back, worried, but Donna hushed her and gently placed it over her chest, listening, going back and forth from left to right. The Doctor's face blanked as he realized what she was searching for.

He didn't need to, but when Donna turned and said, "Come here, and listen. Tell me where she belongs," he did as she said. Slowly, he placed the stethoscope in his own ears and shakily put the metal disk over the left and then right side of her chest, listening. He nearly dropped it. "Two hearts," he breathed, unprepared despite having known what Donna had found.

"That's right," Donna confirmed. Her face softened at the look of dark distress that had appeared on her friend's face. "Does that...is she a...what do you call a female Time Lord?"

Jenny glanced between them, frowning. "What's a Time Lord?"

"It's who I am, it's where I'm from," he whispered, some unknown emotion gathering.

"And I'm from you," she said.

"You're an echo." His voice strengthened with anger and shook with despair as he nearly snarled at her. "That's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge. A code. A shared history. A shared suffering." To her credit, Jenny didn't so much as flinch or blink, only studied him as he heaved for air. "Only it's gone now. All of it - forever."

"What happened?" prompted Jenny in a soft voice, her face full of curiosity.

"There was a war."

"Like this one?"

He laughed bitterly at the comparison, thinking it amusing that she'd think to compare such a tiny war to the Time War. "Much, much bigger."
She lifted her chin. "And you fought? And killed?"

"Yes." It hurt to admit it, and he didn't miss the sadness on Donna's face at it.

"Then how," challenged Jenny, her eyes narrowing with frustration, "are we any different, Doctor?" She whirled around, pointing towards a wall. "Stay over there," she said confidently, heading for the door to their jail cell, where Cline was standing guard. The Doctor gaped, and Donna grinned as she tugged him into hiding. Hushed voices filled their ears as Jenny flirted with Cline, purring something to him. They peered around in time to see Cline dragged in for a passionate kiss that ended with Jenny getting a hand on his gun. She pulled back with a pretty smirk as she aimed it through the bars of the door at his stomach. "Keep quiet," she ordered, smiling proudly, "and open the door."

Donna choked on a laugh as Cline did as he was told, scowling. "I'd like to see you do that!" she crowed, earning a look of exasperation from her friend. The Doctor shook his head and let Jenny tie up Cline, who looked rather upset about being caught. When he was secured, they left, the Doctor in the lead.

They only ran into one guard, who was dealt with rather efficiently in a violent manner on Jenny's part. The Doctor glared at her as he knelt to shuffle through the man's pockets, seeking a map. "I was going to distract him, not clobber him!" he said crossly, withdrawing.

Jenny shrugged, not caring. "It worked. Didn't it?"

"Just...just stay there!" he snapped, rolling his eyes. "Don't hurt anyone."

He got the worst feeling that Jay was going to rather like Jenny.

He found the new map he'd seen holographically and grinned in triumph, stepping back. Jenny and Donna peered over his shoulders on either side, and he tapped a specific spot. "There! The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel." He strode off and they followed. He led them through various twists and turns until he stopped beside a locked door. As he went to work on unlocking it or a panel of wall beside it, Donna suddenly paused, frowning.

"Another one of those numbers," she murmured, studying the ones that resided atop the door. "They're everywhere, Doctor."

"The original builders must have left them," he said without looking away from his work. "Some old cataloguing system." Donna requested a pen and some paper, and the Doctor willingly handed them over, pausing to dig them out of his endless pockets.

"D'you see?" Donna said, excited. "The numbers are counting down. This one is one-four, and the prison cell said one-six."

"Always thinking," Jenny mused, gaze flicking back and forth with a hint of awe. "Both of you...who are you people?"

"I told you. I'm the Doctor," said the Doctor, going back to work. This time, he tested the wall panel, figuring it would come off easier than the door would unlock.

When Jenny questioned the title, Donna explained that it was all he ever said, and Jenny frowned at that. "So you don't have a name either...are you an anomaly, too?" The Doctor firmly shook his head.

Donna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come off it," she told him, "you're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met."

"And Time Lords?" Jenny continued as he succeeded in his task and beamed proudly, pulling the panel away from the wall. "What are they for exactly? And what do you do?"

"Time Lords aren't for anything," he said defensively, investigating the wiring that had been hidden in the wall, all leading to the door. "And I travel. Through time and space." In his TARDIS, with his friends, he almost added, but kept quiet about it.

"He saves planets," added Donna, proud to be a part of that. "Rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures...and runs. A lot. Seriously," she mused, frowning at the Doctor, "I didn't think there'd be so much running. THere's an outrageous amount involved."

The Doctor chuckled, but then cheered when the locked door slid open. Just in time, too, for nearby, he heard Cobb's voice, echoing down the corridor. "Now!" he said, wiggling his fingers playfully at Donna. "What were you saying about running, Donna?"

She took his hand and together, they ran.

---

As Martha meandered around, looking for a way to charge her phone, she kept a close eye on Jay. Jay had risen to her feet, dozing on and off for the last few minutes, and now looked better. She could do with a good night's sleep, but she was functioning now. The only sign that she was tired were those heavy shadows beneath her sharp blue eyes. "I need to charge it," she finally declared, turning to the Hath who'd remained. It blinked in confusion, pausing in its work, and she waved her phone at it. "I need power. Do you understand?"

The Hath turned its attention back to what it was doing and Martha made a frustrated sound. Jay staggered over and rested a hand on her arm, squeezing gently to reassure her. "We'll figure it out," she said.

"I know," muttered Martha with a heavy sigh before jumping when the map suddenly reappeared. This time, however, it was in 3D, with more information displayed. She moved closer, taking Jay with her. "There's more...oh, you're a clever Hath!" She beamed at the Hath, who gurgled pleasantly back at her. "So this is where everybody's headed? But look...those tunnels sort of zig-zag. If we went up and over the surface in a straight line, we'd get there first!"

The Hath gurgled and shook its head, bringing up something entirely different for her to look at.

"Readings?" Jay guessed, and the Hath nodded.

"For the surface." Martha studied them with expertise. "Well, it doesn't look too bad. Nitrogen and oxygen are about eighty-twenty, which is fine. Ozone levels are high. And some big radiation spikes." She faltered, making a face. "But as long as we don't take too long out there-"

The Hath bubbled at them, as if questioning why they were so determined to leave. Jay gave it a tired, kind smile and said softly, "We have to find our friends. They could be in trouble."

Martha nodded and took Jay's hand, guiding her towards the door the other Haths had gone through. The Hath stopped them with a series of gurgling and bubbling and she exchanged a grin with Jay. "Oh, come on, then! You, too!"

They wandered through a few tunnels, seeking something that would get them to the surface of the planet. It took only a matter of minutes to find a ladder that led to a trap door in the ceiling. Martha went up first, grinning, and Jay went to step up after her, but both women were stopped by the Hath. It gurgled at them, holding its hands up in protest, and Jay spoke softly, her eyes flashing.

"This is like a prison," she told him. "Believe me, as someone who lived in the shadows for years, you don't want to stay down here for your whole life. Come and feel what freedom is like - what the wind is like on your face."

Martha smiled down at her faintly, knowing precisely what had Jay so fierce about the subject - why she was so determined to get out and feel that mentioned wind. "What's it going to be?" she asked the Hath, going to pry the door open. "It's up to you. But nothing's going to stop us."

She clambered out through the opened hatch and turned to help Jay out. A cold wind gusted through the atmosphere and she shivered as she helped Jay catch her balance, studying the planet's surface. It was horrible to look at, but beautiful in a strange way. They stood upon a desert-like terrain, and a beautiful starless sky was lit only by three full moons. Jay cooed at the sight of them, and when the Hath emerged after them, grumbling in the only way it could, Martha laughed.

"I knew you couldn't resist!"

---

The Doctor skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over Donna and Jenny and straight into the series of red beams of light that criss-crossed the entire tunnel before them. He hissed in surprise, relieved that he'd not gone straight into them. Donna eyed them nervously, muttering, but he payed her no attention, instead digging a toy mouse from his pocket. He tossed it into those beams of light and winced when it burst into flames, sparked by those dangerous lights.

"Arming device," he declared, going to the nearby control pad. He glanced up briefly when Donna commented about noticing some more numbers, watching as she hastily wrote them down. "Here we go!" he said proudly when he shut those lights off.

Voices down the hall made them freeze and Jenny's face set in determination. "I can hold them up," she cried as she sprinted past him, her eyes snapping to him when he caught her arm to stop her.

"No," he said sharply, "we don't need anymore dead." Jenny scoffed that it was their enemies or the three of them, and the Doctor barked, "It doesn't mean you have to kill them!"

She lowered her voice into a hiss. "I'm trying to save your life."

The Doctor copied her and murmured back, eyes blazing, "Listen to me. The killing? After a while, it infects you, and once it does...you're never rid of it." It was something he struggled with. Something he'd likely struggle with for the rest of his days, and the idea of someone who shared his DNA suffering through it…

Whether he thought of her as his daughter or not, he didn't like it.

"We don't have a choice," she argued, yanking free.

"We always have a choice," he said, taking a step after her, but she merely shook her head and fled. "Jenny!" he shouted, but Jenny was gone, rounding a corner with a gun she'd found. The Doctor stared after her, gaze working into a glare. His body jerked lightly when he heard gunshots, and it was only then that he turned and stormed in the direction they'd been going, working on the number pad. "I told you," he told Donna bitterly. "Nothing but a soldier."

"She's trying to help," she said softly, touching his arm in a rare show of fond sympathy.

He managed to get the code and watched as the lights turned off. Donna cheered and the Doctor shouted over his shoulder, reluctant to leave Jenny to her demise despite the disagreement, "Jenny, leave it! Let's go!"

The Doctor bolted forward, hand in hand with Donna, and reached the other side of the corridor safely. He whirled around in time to see Jenny sprinting for them - only to stop dead, stumbling, when the lights turned back on a breath away. She blinked at them in shock.

"No," the Doctor breathed. "No! The controls are back there, I can't - the circuit's looped back!" He pushed his hands through his hair, wild with frustration as he tried to figure out how he could get through. "I...there isn't...Jenny, I can't!"

To his eternal surprise, Jenny grinned and took a few steps back, calling, "I'll just manage on my own then. Watch and learn, Father." She took another step back - and then shot forward.

The next few moments were something that the Doctor didn't think even he or Rose, who'd been a gymnast in some previous life before him, could have been capable of. Jenny flipped, over and over, missing each beam she flipped past. Within moments, she was stumbling into his arms, a little dizzy.

He couldn't help but hug her with a laugh, impressed. "Brilliant!" he praised, and she beamed back up at him, her hands on his arms as she exclaimed, "I didn't kill him! General Cobb...I could have killed him, but I didn't." Her eyes burned into his. "You were right - I had a choice."

The Doctor felt something in his chest twist with pride and relief. She wasn't a soldier like he'd thought. At least, not entirely. He nudged her over to Donna, who hugged her. "Go," he ordered, "I'll be right behind you." They nodded and continued on their way at a run, and the Doctor turned to face the human army that had finally arrived at the other side of the lights.

He took one step back as Cobb ordered his men and women at arms.

"I warned you," he said icily, taking another step back. "If the Source is a weapon, I'm going to make sure you never use it."

From where Cobb stood, he sneered, "One of us will die today, and it won't be me." He lifted his own gun, opening fire, and the Doctor turned on his heel and fled after his friend and Jenny, hoping that Martha and Jay were doing alright.

---

The surface of this God-forsaken planet is a nightmare, Jay thought with a scowl as a nasty cold wind nearly sent her tumbling down a steep hill. Martha snagged her arm and hauled her upright, and with the Hath behind them, they continued on their way. They would make it if they kept up this pace, Jay thought. So long as there really were no more aftershocks.

She was exhausted, positive that after this she'd pass out for a solid twenty-four hours, but for the time being...she could manage. Martha kept a close eye on her anyways, ready to rat her out to the Doctor should she suddenly worsen. She stumbled again; the Hath was there this time, making sure she didn't fall.

"It can't be much further," Martha gasped in her ear, and Jay nodded with a hopeful look.

Hopefully, it wasn't. She couldn't handle this much longer.

Perhaps it was because it had been Jay falling until that point, but when Martha suddenly stumbled, neither she nor the Hath were prepared to catch her. Martha went rolling down the steep incline to their right with a scream and Jay immediately hit the ground on her knees at the edge with a shriek of her name.

Martha hit the bottom and was sent sprawling into some kind of sticky bog. She stumbled to her feet, not worried - until she found herself sinking. A panicked sound left her lips and she cried, "Help me! I'm sinking!"

"Martha!" Jay called again, panicked.

The Hath made sure Jay was okay, that she'd stay there, and then flew down the slope. It hit the ground beside the bog and reached out, trying to reach for Martha's hand. Martha stretched out with a sob, tears rolling down her cheeks as fear crept higher. But the Hath couldn't reach, and Martha sobbed again, pleading for help.

So, much to their horror, the Hath backed away - and then lunged forward, jumping into the bog beside her. It gripped her waist confidently and helped push her free, tugging and yanking as the bog suctioned onto her. "No," Martha breathed as she crawled to freedom only to turn and watch the Hath sink beneath the surface itself. "No!" she screamed as its face disappeared with a final farewell gurgle. "No!"

She sobbed into her muddy hands, shoulders hunched as she remembered why she'd left this life, and from where she was anxiously watching on the crest of the hill, Jay cried, too.

---

"So...you travel together, but you're not together?" questioned Jenny as she, Donna, and the Doctor walked briskly down a tunnel, which looked far less used than the others they'd seen until that point. It was brand new almost, and it was far less worrying as it had only one way to go.

Donna looked horrified by the suggestion. "What? No! No way. No. We're friends. That's all." She made a face, and the Doctor, from where he was walking a few steps ahead, tried to not be insulted when he looked back. "I mean, we're not even the same species. There's probably laws against it." Jenny laughed, deciding to change the subject. When she asked about the traveling, Donna relaxed and smiled warmly at her. "Never a dull moment. Can be terrifying, or brilliant and funny...sometimes it's even all at the same time. I've seen some amazing things though. Whole new worlds."

A smile played along the Doctor's lips as he pushed his hands into his pockets. It was rare that Donna spoke of such matters.

"Oh," sighed Jenny wistfully, "I'd love to see new worlds."

"You will," replied Donna. She stared hard at his back. "Won't she, Doctor? Do you think Jenny will see any new worlds?"

He considered it, thinking back over the fact that she'd made what he considered a good choice. She was rather impressive, too, and there was the matter of two hearts beating in her chest… "I suppose so."

Jenny nearly stopped. "You...you mean you'll take me with you?"

He waved at the space around them, hiding his smile. "We can't leave you here, can we?" He was going to be overrun by women in the TARDIS...scratch that, he thought with a sigh. He was already overrun by bossy females. Donna alone was too much. Put her with Jay and the TARDIS...and then Jenny…

The Doctor grunted when Jenny suddenly tackled him in an excited tight hug. "Thank you!" she whispered, eyes sparkling when she pulled back to smile at him. "Thank you! Now come on! Let's get a move on!" She withdrew and took off ahead of them at a run, waving off the Doctor's warning that there could be traps.

Donna laughed. "Kids!" she sighed with false exasperation, her face warm with affection. "They never listen." She glanced at him, noticing how the Doctor had begun to frown while they walked. Donna grinned, nudging him gently. "I know that look. See it a lot 'round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock."

He nearly stopped to look at her in confusion. "Dad-shock?"

"Sudden, unexpected fatherhood. Takes a bit of getting used to," she told him, and he shook his head in denial. "Well, what is it then? Having Jenny in the TARDIS? Is that it?" Donna snorted. "What's she going to do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and she's going to turn it into a people-carrier?"

The Doctor did stop then, leveling her with a serious, but gentle look, fully aware that she didn't know everything about the nine hundred years he'd been alive. "Donna," he said quietly, "I've been a father before." She blinked, startled, and he continued, "I lost all of that a long time ago - with everything else."

"Oh," said Donna in a small voice, looking horrified. She looked down, fidgeting with her fingers uncomfortably. "I'm...I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't know. You could have told me...why didn't you tell me?" She looked up at him again, gaze full of sorrow that made him smile sadly. "You talk all the time, but you don't say anything."

"I know," he said quietly. "I just...when I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left and all the pain that filled it." He looked in the direction Jenny had gone, shaking his head. "I just don't know if I can face that every day."

She took his hand and gave it a tight squeeze, remembering her own family losses. "It won't stay like that. She'll help you. Jenny, me, Jay...we'll all help you."

He squeezed her hand in turn, grateful for her support and the good intentions. "I know, but when they died...that part of me died with them, Donna, and it'll never come back."

Donna opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but broke off when a series of gunshots filled the air. Jenny came sprinting around a corner, her eyes shining with mischief and laughter despite the danger. "They've blasted through the beams," Jenny said. "Time to run again, yeah? Love the running."

The Doctor couldn't help the grin that spread across his face despite the pain. "Love the running," he agreed, and took off with Donna's hand still in his, determined to get to the Breath of Life before Cobb. They ran and ran, until Donna was heaving for air, and the Doctor wondered if Jenny had the Time Lord lungs, too. They stopped when they came to a dead end.

The Doctor stepped forward with a frown, running his hands over the wall panels. "This must be the temple," he said, denying Donna's claim that they were trapped. "This is a door." He went to work, hurrying to open the doors.

"And again!" Donna cried, pointing to the numbers above it. She dug out her pen and paper, writing them down. "We're down to one-two now…they can't be a cataloguing system." She huffed, frustrated. "Too similar, too familiar…"

"Now!" the Doctor shouted, and the door sprang open. "Come on!" He spun inside, ushering his friend and daughter after him. When they'd entered, he hastily shut the door behind them, using his sonic screwdriver to lock it. It would give them more time.

"Oh," breathed Jenny, looking around with hardly a blonde hair out of place. "That was fun."

"This isn't what I'd call a temple," commented Donna, frowning around at the machinery that surrounded them.

"It's more like...fusion-drive transport!" The Doctor darted forward to investigate, excited with the discovery of a new piece to the puzzle that had been forming. "It's a spaceship!" He wished briefly that Martha and Jay were there; Jay knew spaceships well, and though he knew plenty, thought she might have liked to be able to help with the knowledge.

"The original one? The one the first colonists arrived in?" Donna clarified and he nodded although he made a so-so motion with his hand.

"Well, it could be," he said, starting forward once more. "But the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered up. And functioning, too. Come on!" He took off at a sprint, taking note of the sight of someone cutting through a separate door. He frowned as Jenny cried that it was the Haths.

The Doctor spotted a specific set of controls and grinned, making a beeline for them. "The ship's log!" He slammed into the controls and went to work, pulling up information with ease on a small screen. "'First wave of human-Hath co-colonization of planet Messaline,'" he read aloud. "'Phase One: Construction.' They used robot drones to build the city."

"But does it mention the war?" asked Donna as she and Jenny joined him, studying the information themselves.

The Doctor inclined his head, scrolling through the information swiftly. "Final entry," he said before reading aloud again, "'Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions.'" He flashed Donna a bright-eyed look. "That must be it! A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Started using the progenation machines and suddenly they had two armies fighting a never-ending war!"

Donna focused on something else. "Look," she said, pointing at the screen before them. "Like the numbers in the tunnels...listen. I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library." Her face sharpened with interest, and the Doctor grinned proudly at her. Donna didn't think she was worth much, but she was clever in a way that was often different from any other companion he'd taken on board. Then again, they were all clever in their unique, special ways.

"I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers. It's staring us in the face." She grinned at him, and he smiled back, amused as she cried, "The date! It's the date! Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way 'round, like in America!"

"The New Byzantine Calendar!" the Doctor realized, amazed. How had he not spotted it sooner?!
"The codes are completion dates for each section," Donna finished, tucking the numbers away with a bright smile. "They finish it, they stamp the dates on! So the numbers aren't counting down, they're counting out - from here, day by day, as the city was built."

"Good work, Donna!" the Doctor praised, throwing an arm around her shoulders in a brisk, proud hug, but she shooed him off.

"No, you're still not getting it. The first number I saw was sixty-twelve-seven-seventeen," she recited, and then pointed to a date in the corner of the screen. "Look at the date today."

"Seven-twenty-four," the Doctor muttered, and then gasped in realization. "Oh."

"What?" Jenny demanded, not following the conversation. "What does it mean?"

"Seven days…" The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, shocked by the information. "Seven days? Just seven days...seven days," he finally said, turning to Jenny, "since the war broke out. A week."

Taken aback, Jenny recoiled. "They said years."

"No," Donna replied gently, moving over to take her under her arm and give her a reassuring squeeze, "they said generations. And if they're all like you...and they're products of those machines…"

"They could have twenty generations in a day," the Doctor finished, shaking his head. "Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend." He kissed Donna's head and swept past her to investigate more of the room. "Donna, you're a genius!"

"But the buildings," protested Jenny, still unsure as she looked between them. "The encampments, they're in ruins."

"No, they're not ruined. Just empty. Waiting to be populated." The Doctor started for an empty tunnel, and Donna and Jenny hurried after him, not daring to be left behind in case they missed more or were found by the Haths or humans. "They've mythologized their entire history. The Source must be part of that, too! Come on!"

He sprinted away, and Donna groaned under her breath, earning a laugh from Jenny, as they ran, too.

---

Martha's teeth were chattering loudly, her body wracked with chills, when she and Jay finally reached a hatch that would let them into the tunnels below. Jay hugged her comfortingly and then went to work. Martha, too cold to help, watched pitifully until with a final heave, Jay had pried it open. Jay let Martha go first, and then followed, closing the hatch after them.

"Well then," said Jay, looking around and brushing herself off. The chills began to die from Martha soon, and before long they were walking again, side by side. Jay forced herself to ignore the strange emptiness that had followed them since the death of their newfound Hath friend, wishing there was something they could do for it.

They walked and walked, frustrated with each twist and turn. Martha hissed under her breath after a while, "This is ridiculous, how long are these damn tunnels-"

She broke off with a yelped gasp, nearly stumbling back as she ran right into someone upon turning a corner. Deft hands darted out and stopped her from falling, and Jay blinked in realization, a true smile breaking out on her face.

"Doctor!" cried Martha when she came to the same realization, throwing her arms around the Time Lord. He beamed, hugging her back.

"Martha!" he retaliated, lifting her off the ground. "I should have known you wouldn't stay away from all the excitement!"

Jay cried out in excitement when Donna appeared a step behind the Doctor." Donna!" she squealed, tackling her in a hug. Donna laughed in delight, hugging her back, and Jay paused to peer curiously at the girl beside her. The one from the machine, Jay recognized.

And then she and Martha had switched places, the Doctor tugging her into a hug as Donna dragged Martha to her. Jay buried her face in his shoulder, relieved to have found he and Donna. He chuckled in her ear and then gently released her, patting her shoulder comfortingly as Donna cried, "You're filthy, Martha! What happened?"

Jay laughed over her shoulder, "We took the surface route."

The Doctor chuckled and then looked over his shoulder as voices and commotion rippled down the tunnel. "Alright, that's the general. We haven't got much time." He wildly looked around, gently pushing Jay back, and she easily moved to stand between Martha and Donna, still watching the girl uneasily.

She merely smiled and said, not at all frightened of the approaching danger as the Doctor decided where to go, "I'm Jenny."

"Jay," said Jay, smiling back and deciding she rather liked Jenny's bright attitude.

"Is it me," Martha suddenly said to the Doctor, frowning as she paused, "or can you smell flowers, too?"

"Bougainvillea," the Doctor recognized, and then took off at a run once more. They all thundered after him, moving as quickly as they could, although Martha and Jay were at a loss as to why they were going where they were going. "I say we follow or nose!"

Within minutes, they'd burst into the equivalent of a massive greenhouse, hidden within the depths of the spaceship. They all paused to look around in awe, taking in the beautiful range of plants that filled the area. Jay breathed out a small sigh of awe when she noticed some lovely red flowers nearby.

After this, she decided, she wanted to go to a field of those flowers.

She took notice of a pedestal that lingered in the center of everything and pointed at it. "What's that?" she asked, nodding at it, and the Doctor followed her gaze, taking in the glass sphere atop that pedestal. It shone brilliantly in the light, filled with a beautiful golden gas-like substance.

"Is that the Source?" asked Donna with a glance at the Doctor, who was making his way over to it. "And why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?"

They trailed after him as the Doctor came to a stop before the Source, his eyes locked on it. "Terraforming," he breathed, and Jay perked up, the word ringing a bell although she couldn't remember where she'd heard it. Likely some conversation he had had with her and she just couldn't remember. "It's a third generation terraforming device...this garden, this is what it does, Donna. All this, only bigger. Much bigger! It's in a transit state. Producing this garden must help keep it stable before they finally-"

He broke off when loud noises filled the air. He stiffened when both Hath and human armies appeared, one on either side of he and his companions. Martha and Donna protectively stood before Jay and Jenny, and Jay rolled her eyes at their efforts, although she did appreciate the thought in the action. Jenny simply looked amused.

"Hold your fire!" the Doctor shouted when each side lifted their weapons to aim at the other. He seized the sphere into his hands, and neither side moved, as if recognizing the importance of it.

"What is this?" barked Cobb from where he stood at the head of the humans.

"You said you wanted this war over," the Doctor said quietly, watching him through narrowed eyes. Cobb was someone he liked very little, and he couldn't wait to be away from him.

"I want this war won."

"You can't win - no one can." The Doctor's gaze scanned each and every human and Hath present. He had everyone's full attention now, and he smiled briefly at his friends. All three smiled back; Jenny, too, her gaze sparkling with excitement. She was so full of life. "You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history is just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted it's passed on."

He lifted the sphere higher. "This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over: a device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. A bubble of gasses, a cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids - it's for making barren planets habitable.

"Look around you!" he shouted, glaring at them all. "It's not for killing, it's for bringing life! If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels, and into the bright, bright sunlight! No more fighting. No more killing."

The Doctor heaved the sphere higher above his head, nearly on his tiptoes. A smile flashed over his face, triumphant and relieved. "I am the Doctor," he declared, "and I declare this war over!" He hurled the terraforming device to the ground and everyone jumped when it shattered at his feet. Gases of shimmering gold curled through the air and over the ground, brushing gently across their faces. He smiled fondly at them all when many Haths and humans alike, in awe, lowered and even dropped their guns.

Jenny grabbed his arm, stepping closer to him. "What's happening?" she whispered, her lips parted as she watched.

He smiled at her, too. "The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process. It means a new world, for Hath and for humans."

Jenny only laughed, reaching out to run her fingers through the swirling gas.

---

Something pinged in the back of her head.

Jay furrowed her brow. She could feel something, nearly taste the violent intent on her tongue. She slowly began looking around, confused. She knew something was about to happen - something bad. Some sense told her.

Look, whispered a voice that didn't belong to her, hissed and proud, look at him.

Instinctively, Jay looked to the Doctor, but he was looking up, smiling with Jenny at the beauty around them. No, whispered the voice. Not him, him.

Some tendril yanked her head the other way and she found an angry older man at the head of the humans, staring maliciously at the Doctor. Unlike everyone else, he looked furious, unimpressed. All it took was one inch of movement for Jay to realize what he intended to do, the gun tipping up, and she was a blur of movement, throwing herself forward.

"Jay!" Donna gasped, whirling around when she accidentally rammed into her, but Jay was gone, slamming into Cobb as hard as she could. His bellow of surprise and fury filled her ears and she flinched at the gunshots that pressed in on her ears. Hot blood struck her face, but she ignored it, too busy wrestling the gun from his hands.

She might have been tired and weak from her attacks and lack of rest, but her determination to stop anymore violence from happening was strong. She heard shouts and yelps and Donna's screaming, and then other hands were there, dragging the gun from Cobb's hands and hauling her away so Cobb could be pushed to his feet.

Almost immediately, Donna was there, her hands cradling Jay's face as Jay staggered to her feet, dizzy. "Jay," she breathed, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jay managed to get out, scrubbing at her eyes. That voice had left, leaving her cold and tired.

The Doctor's cry had her spinning around. Had she failed? Would he do as he'd told her Time Lords did - as they'd watched the Master do - and regenerate, leaving them with an entire new Doctor?

No, she realized, cold horror replacing her fear. He was on the ground, but not hurt. He was bent over Jenny, his arms cradling her, Martha beside him. "Talk to me, Jenny!" the Doctor pleaded, his desperation evident in his eyes.

I wasn't quick enough. Jay stumbled over, collapsing beside them, and the Doctor barely glanced at her, his gaze flickering with fear. Donna bent over them, standing. "Is...is she going to be okay?"

Martha shakily looked up, eyes widening as she took in Jay, and shook her head sadly. She reached out to touch something on Jay's cheek, but Jay swatted her away, tears already rolling down her cheeks.

First, Pompeii, although done willingly. Now Jenny.

It took her a moment to understand that a stray bullet had caught Jenny in the side, straight through the ribs. Her breathing was heavy and wet-sounding, blood flecking her lips with each exhale. Jenny didn't seem to be scared, even as she weakly smiled and breathed, "A new world. It's beautiful." Glazed eyes studied the golden gases above her head.

Jay's lips trembled as the Doctor begged, "Be strong now, you need to hold on. Do you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me. We can go anywhere. Everywhere." His voice broke, and Jay was suddenly back on the Valiant, watching him cradle the Master in a similar way. "You choose, Jenny."

She gave a faint, choked-sounding laugh. Her gaze briefly met Jay's, flashing with unsaid emotion. Jay gave a muffled sob as Jenny returned her gaze to the Doctor's, shuddering in pain. "That sounds...sounds good."

"You're my daughter," the Doctor murmured to her, stroking some hair from her face, "and we've only just got started. You're going to be great - more than great. You're going to be amazing!" A breathless, broken laugh. "You hear me?" No response came and his eyes flickered desperately when she coughed, breath hitching. "Jenny?"

Her chest stilled, and the Doctor gave a small sound that broke his three friends' hearts. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, thinking viciously, and then suddenly looked to Martha, desperate. She shook her head as she'd felt Jenny's pulse, seeking a sign of regeneration. "Two hearts," he insisted. "She's got two hearts like me. If we just wait-"

"There's no sign," she said softly, touching his cheek in a comforting touch. He shook her off, furious with the events. "There's no regeneration. She's like you, but...maybe not enough."

The Doctor said nothing, looking down. Jay sobbed again, guilt spiraling through her. Donna knelt beside her and drew Jay into a tight hug, murmuring soothingly to her as she anxiously saw the shift in the Doctor's eyes. The darkness that appeared as he gently set Jenny down and pulled himself to his feet. "Doctor," she breathed, but he was walking, walking straight for Cobb.

No one moved or said a word when he picked up Cobb's gun, still hot, and pointed it at his head, resting the end on his forehead. Cobb stilled, glaring up at him. The Doctor's breaths came heavily, and Martha and Donna exchanged shocked looks. But then, the Doctor lowered the gun and said in a low, seething voice, "I never would. I never would!"

The Doctor clicked the safety on and hurled the gun away in one, violent motion. "When you start this new world, this world of humans and Haths," he shouted, glaring out at all of them. No one moved. "I want that to be the foundation of this society! Remember it! A man that never would."

He retreated, finished, and dropped heavily beside Jenny again, fighting the tears back. He didn't want to cry, didn't want to feel the pain crushing his hearts as badly as it had when he'd seen the Master die so similarly.

Martha sat there quietly for a few minutes as commotion died and the Haths and humans hesitantly began to mingle, to figure out what to do next. All avoided them. And then, she said softly, "I'm sorry, Doctor. I'm so, so sorry."

He flicked his gaze up, and she met those old, ancient eyes with a sorrowful gaze. "Me, too," was all he said.

---

A few hours later found the Doctor and his companions ducking into the TARDIS. Donna and Martha kept glancing at Jay's face, worried, although neither said why. Jay didn't need to be told. Hot pain was licking up and down her face now, and she wondered if a stray bullet had caught her, too. She touched the flesh and hissed; immediately, the Doctor was gently pulling her hand away, indicating that she shouldn't touch it.

"Jenny," he said hoarsely as he went to put the TARDIS into motion, deciding he or Martha could tend to it when they were gone, "was the reason for the TARDIS bringing us here. We just...got here too soon, which then created her in the first place. An endless paradox."

They'd left her on a platform, watched over by Cline and who they assumed to be the leader of the Haths. Both had promised - vowed, even - to never forget Jenny, to pass on her sacrifice and story.

They'd also promised to give her a proper burial, something the Doctor had quietly thanked them for before leaving.

"Time to go home?" the Doctor said to Martha as he flipped a switch on the console. The TARDIS hummed loudly, worried. He patted it gently. They'd be fine - all of them. They always were. Well, at least as fine as they could be when things like this happened.

Martha nodded wordlessly, and the TARDIS was set into motion.

The TARDIS shuddered, the familiar wheezing filling the air. Martha smiled fondly at the sound, knowing it would be awhile before she heard it again - if she ever did. She knew the stories; sometimes, he just...didn't come back.

The TARDIS landed with ease, and she turned to the Doctor. "I want to look at Jay's face before I go," she said, and he waved her off, indicating that she should go to the medical bay. Jay protested, not thinking the injury to be that bad.

Until a few minutes down the road, Martha showed her a mirror, and Jay hissed in shock. A bullet had caught her cheek, just as Jay had expected, although it had done a bit more damage than she'd thought. Blood crusted the entire left side of her face, and the injury was wide and long.

"Normally," Martha said softly, gathering some towels and water along with a cream the TARDIS had left out for them to use, knowing what would work best, "you'd need stitches. Thank God for alien medicines."

She cleaned up Jay's face, swiping blood away and ignoring her winces and flinches. She cleaned the injury, too, and then smeared the cream over it, ignoring the yelp that escaped her friend. Finally, she placed a bandage over it, lightly sealing it in. "Take it off in a few days," she said, hugging Jay.

Jay found herself hugging Martha back tightly, her fingers digging in. She hid her face in Martha's throat, giving a shuddering breath. Martha soothingly ran a hand down her back. "It's not your fault," she said softly, knowing precisely what had Jay so quiet. "You know it's not. Donna told us. You tried to stop it."

Jay didn't respond.

---

"You sure about this?" Donna asked as she walked Martha out of the TARDIS, the Doctor only a step behind. Jay trailed behind him, quiet and distant, lost in thought. Martha flashed her a worried look, but said nothing.

Instead, she told Donna warmly, "Yeah, positive. I can't do this anymore. You'll be the same one day."

Donna stopped to stare at her, scoffing, "Not me. Never! How can I ever go back to normal life after seeing...seeing all this?" She looked over her shoulder, and the Doctor smiled a fraction, pleased with her response. "I want to travel like this forever."

Martha merely smiled and drew her in for a hug, tightening her arms. "Good luck," she said simply. Donna hugged her back and then drew away so Jay could step forward. She said nothing as Martha hugged her tightly, murmuring something in her ear. Jay joined Donna, who tucked an arm soothingly around her as Martha turned to the Doctor.

"We're making a habit of this," he said.

"Yeah," she laughed, "and you think it'd be easier." She stepped forward, throwing her arms around him, and he lifted her off the ground in her third and final hug. She reluctantly parted with him, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Keep an eye on them, Doctor. Jay especially. She's had a rough day, too."

He said nothing, only searched her gaze before giving a curt nod, and Martha just barely wondered if he somewhat blamed her. He'd been told what had happened, had heard that Jay had hurled herself right into danger to try and stop it. Martha wondered if he was upset with their friend for failing to get there in time or for doing so at all. But he'd never been angry with them about such things. They tried and even if it hurt them all in the end, he understood.

Martha was certain he was just saddened by the loss of Jenny.

"Bye, Doctor," she said softly.

"Goodbye, Dr. Jones," he said just as softly, a teasing tint to his voice. She grinned, and then turned to leave.

The Doctor stepped back, and then whirled around to face Donna and Jay. Both looked hesitant, uncertain, and he took a deep breath before suddenly flashing them a tired, but friendly grin. "Come on," he said, shooing them towards the TARDIS. "I think we need some relaxation."

Donna agreed, looking relieved, but Jay merely frowned. The Doctor noted that, but said nothing for the time being. He'd address it when they were back in the TARDIS and everything was calm.

It took only minutes for the TARDIS to be sent into random drift, lazily crossing through time and space without landing anywhere in particular. The Doctor let out a gust of air when he was finished, and Donna, after a few moments of what felt like an awkward silence, declared, "I'm going to go shower and get some sleep. That was...exhausting."

They had done a lot of distressing things in the past twenty-four hours. First the Sontarans and then the underground base full of Haths and humans, and so much running...Donna's legs were like jello as she beamed tiredly at him and then left. Jay turned on her heel thoughtfully, intending to follow suit, but was stopped when the Doctor said, "Jayden."

She winced, not liking that he'd used her full first name. Anxiety spiraled through her gut as she warily turned to face him when he approached, not liking the kind look on his face at all. "You tried to stop it," he told her, and she stiffened unhappily. "He could have done a lot more damage had you not stopped him." They could have all been dead - well, the others. He would have simply regenerated before he'd liked.

Jay swallowed thickly, refusing to meet his gaze. "And I got Jenny killed. I didn't move fast enough." Anger - self-directed - sparked in her chest. "I should have done better. I've done this long enough. I should have known. I've seen things like this happen before. I could have done so much better than I did."

It bothered her, so much more than the other deaths that had occurred over the course of their travels. She remembered Pompeii specifically - hadn't felt nearly as bad about it as she did now. Guilty, yes, but...it had already been implanted into history, and she'd not been personally acquainted with those that had perished. None of them had been her friend's daughter.

The Doctor pressed his lips together. Most of the time, it was fun. Sometimes frightening, but very often fun even then. But rarely, things like this happened, and it made everything so difficult and stressful, hurt people so much that he worried that he'd done the wrong thing taking anyone with him.

"It tried to warn me," she said suddenly, shuddering, and he frowned. "It tried to warn me, and I should have listened faster than I did, should have understood. One second - that's all it could have taken to change everything."

"It?" muttered the Doctor in confusion, but he shook it off. Something to consider later, after she'd gotten some sleep - which she so clearly needed. Jay was wavering on her feet now. "It wasn't your fault," he said firmly. "Sometimes things happen. Now go get some rest."

She faltered, and then took a shuddering breath. "I'm still sorry. That I didn't get there in time."

Forgiveness, the Doctor realized. She was looking for forgiveness, just as he tended to do for matters such as these - like when he had been thinking of the Time War for too long. Gently, the Doctor wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, and he smiled faintly when she latched onto him like it was the only way she'd stay standing.

He gave her a few heartbeats, reassuring her as best as he could, and then he nudged her back. "Go," he said firmly, voice stern, though he pressed a fond kiss to her forehead and studied the patch Martha had placed over the wound on her cheek. "We can't do anything fun until you're not going to fall on your face from sleep deprivation."

She smiled. Shakily, but a smile nonetheless. "Thank you," she said simply, and slipped away, vanishing down the TARDIS corridor. The Doctor watched her go and sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair.

No running, he told himself as he went to the console. No running for the next trip. He wanted to give them something fun that would involve no running…he debated where to go as he fiddled with the controls. A switch here, a lever there, a knob over elsewhere…

He paused.

Donna had liked the idea of Rome.

Maybe Ancient Greece would be fun?

---

On another binge and got this written in two days. Had some fun with Jenny! I love her. I considered having her survive (well, straight-up no gun-shot wound), but decided against it to create some different kinds of angst.

Anyhow, next up is an original chapter based in Greece (the one I was exceptionally excited to write)! I think it'll be a fun one, and I hope everyone likes it. :)

Thank you so much to reviewers (bored411 and trying414!) as well as those who favorited and followed! It really means so much to me. :)