So... I'm a terrible person to my OCs but I hope you enjoy anyway, lol. If you have anything you'd like me to try and update, let me know. My brain has been mostly focused on this one and did a chapter of Ripley, but with both of these doing the same episodes now my mind wants something else. I am working on a new time jumper one but I know there's stuff on here readers would like me to update so let me know! :)
Donna was a bit upset when she came back from checking up on her family but picked herself right back up and offered Martha a trip back on the Tardis. I knew she wouldn't stay, given how she felt about her own family but I didn't say anything as I relaxed on the jumpseat nearby. The Doctor glanced at me every so often as though making sure I was being careful after my recent death. Worry-wart. I'm fine at this point. Chest is still a bit achy but I've had worse… like that cannonball to the torso back in 1718. I shook off the memory of frantic shouting and the smell of the ocean and gunpowder, only for the Tardis doors to suddenly slam shut and the ship to jerk into motion—having prevented Martha from leaving.
"What? What?" The Doctor shouted, trying to figure out what happened as everyone grabbed hold of something.
"Doctor, don't you dare!" Martha bellowed back but he grabbed a monitor.
"No, no! I didn't touch anything! We're in flight! It's not me!"
"Where are we going?" Donna asked.
"I don't know. It's out of control!"
"Doctor, just listen to me. You take me home. Take me home right now!" Martha shouted as he went to try and fight the controls and the console sparked.
"Why's the ship flying itself!" I questioned, holding tight to the jump seat.
"I don't know! Controls aren't working," he announced, getting jerked off the console and into me, spotting his severed hand bubbling away in a jar under the console. "I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it."
I leaned around him in shocked confusion. "I'm sorry, your what?"
Donna looked at it in concern too. "I thought that was just some freaky alien thing. You telling me it's yours?"
"Well—"
"It got cut off. He grew a new one," Martha explained.
"When did this happen?" I asked, as he pushed off me and grinned.
"You were there with the Sycorax. Brilliant, isn't it?"
"As someone who's done it before, yeah, no. I think not."
"Oh, come on!" He complained, moving back to the console as Donna shot him a look too.
"You both are completely impossible."
"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely, in my case," the Doctor chirped before pausing and turning back to me. "You've lost a limb and grew it back?"
There was a spark and a bang, tossing everyone off the console and he landed next to me, breathing hard and taking a second to see if everything was all right. I let out a breath of relief too, giving him a dirty look.
"Lost an arm to a grenade back in Word War II. Died shortly after to a bullet and woke up on an empty battlefield with my arm back. Why would you keep your hand?"
"Why not? Though it wasn't me who found it. Jack had it," he hummed with a smile, getting up and rushing for the door.
"Jack would have it," I grumbled getting up myself and hurrying after him as he grabbed his coat and I took mine as well.
Martha and Donna weren't too far behind as we stepped out but I eyed the cavern uneasily right away at the sight of barbed wire, make-shift barricades, and bullet holes.
"Why would the Tardis bring us here?" The Doctor questioned as I moved up past him and ran a finger over a bullet hole in a bit of metal.
"I don't like it," I muttered, drawing his attention as I looked at him from over my shoulder. "This screams 'battlefield' to me."
He glanced around with a hum. "Looks abandoned by the looks of things."
"Doesn't mean it is," I replied as Martha leaned toward Donna with a grin.
"Oh, I love this bit."
"I thought you wanted to go home," Donna reminded her cheekily.
"I know, but all the same, it's that feeling you get."
"Like you swallowed a hamster?"
I snorted at the comparison before there was a clatter and three men rushed at us with guns.
"Don't move! Stay where you are! Drop your weapons!"
I was quick to put my hands up, knowing better than to try and take their weapons or fight back when I was outmatched and outgunned. Not to mention I don't plan on dying again so soon after the last one. I tend to have more struggles recovering when that happens. I glanced behind me a little, seeing Martha and Donna doing the same as the Doctor announced we were unarmed. Rushing in puts them at risk too. I sighed softly. This is why I avoid companions.
"Look at their hands," one of the soldiers said, making me frown. "They're clean."
"All right, process them. That one first."
Two of the soldiers came forward and grabbed me while the other moved between us and the Doctor, who'd jerked forward to try and stop them.
"Let her go! What's wrong with clean hands?" He demanded as I was shoved toward a machine.
"What's going on!"
"Leave her alone!"
My arm was placed in it and I grimaced as it started up, letting out a short cry of pain.
"Stop it!" The Doctor called, unable to help with the armed soldier stopping him. "What are you doing to her?"
"Everyone gets processed," the soldier replied as I grit my teeth.
"Wish it was less painful," I spat, shooting the man a glare. "You're lucky you have guns."
I was released from the machine, pulling my hand out with a grimace before abruptly swinging around and punching the nearest soldier with a huff. He hit the ground, stunned as the other two swung their guns toward me and I bared my teeth in frustration.
"That was for whatever the hell you just did. Damn kids waving around weapons like they're toys."
The Doctor grabbed me and pulled me back over to him, looking at the cut on the back of my hand before he was grabbed too and shoved toward the machine. A gun was leveled with my chest before I could stop them and I begrudgingly stayed where I was, giving the young man holding it a look.
"If you try to touch either of the two behind me, you can bet your gun won't save you."
He swallowed thickly as the Doctor went through the same process, seeming to know more about it than I did.
"It's taken a tissue sample," he bit out. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. And extrapolating it. Some kind of accelerator?" He questioned as he too was released and the two machines it was connected to hummed to life. "Don't like that," he muttered as Martha checked his hand too in concern. "That's just…"
The machines opened and two people stepped out. One was a blonde woman, young and eager looking but the other made all the air leave my lungs. It was a young man with loose brown curls and the ever-familiar blue eyes of a young boy from way too long ago.
"Benjamin?"
The Doctor turned to Fallon at her murmur and felt a trickle of unease roll through him. Her expression was full of pain and hurt. Not physical pain—the scratch on the back of his own hand was barely noticeable now—but some deep emotional pain that he didn't quite understand. He reached out, going to ask her if she was all right, but Martha grabbed his coat sleeve.
"Where did they come from?"
She was talking about the two who'd stepped out of the machine and even he felt a bit uneasy now about the woman who was looking over her gun. Not to the extent Fallon is though. I just wish I knew why.
"From me. Or, well, Fallon and I," he informed Martha and Donna shot him a look.
"From you? How? Who is she?"
"Well, she's…" He struggled to find a way to explain. "Well, she's my daughter."
The woman turned to him with a smile, arming her gun. "Hello, dad."
Being called dad again sent a shiver down his spine as she and the young man who was Fallon's son moved to stand with the other soldiers near a barrier.
"Did you say daughter?" Donna questioned, pointing at the man as well. "And that's Fallon's son?"
"Mm, technically."
"H-How?" Fallon said, finally speaking up and looking pale as she glanced at him. "How is he…"
"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 explained, brows furrowing. "Are you all right, Fallon? You said something before. A name."
She looked away, almost shamefully, and stared back at the young man as he armed his weapon. "Benjamin. He… He was…"
"Something's coming!" The Doctor's daughter called out then as noise came from further down the tunnel and shadows of people approached.
The Doctor cautiously pulled Martha, Donna, and Fallon back as guns were fired from both sides.
"It's the Hath!" A soldier shouted as the woman called out to them.
"Get down!"
The Doctor shoved Donna and Martha back behind some barricades, going to move himself when he saw Fallon hadn't budged.
"Fallon!"
She finally turned away from the ongoing fight and he grabbed her hand, pulling her around a barrier until one of the soldiers fell to the ground.
"Stay here," he told her, nodding to Donna and Martha. "Keep them safe."
Fallon nodded, still looking a little uncertain which was strange for her, but the Doctor would get answers about that later. He needed to check on the fallen soldier.
"We have to blow the tunnel. Get the detonator!" Another soldier shouted as he came back around, shooting him a glare.
"I'm not detonating anything!" He snapped as another soldier went down and the Hath moved in.
The woman fought hand-to-hand with one Hath when Martha gave a muffled cry, alerting Fallon to her being grabbed by another.
"Martha!" Fallon shouted, rushing past Jenny as she grabbed a detonator.
"No, don't!" The Doctor called out but Jenny already hit the button.
An alarm went off and Fallon turned, doubling back toward the Doctor before the tunnel collapsed. The Doctor's hearts stopped for a moment as he rushed back once the dust had cleared, seeing the tunnel blocked off by debris.
"No… You've sealed off the tunnel," he breathed before whipping to his daughter furiously. "Why did you do that!"
"They were trying to kill us!"
"But they've got my friend! And Fallon is—"
"Collateral damage," she countered. "At least you've still got her. He lost both his men. I'd say you came out ahead."
That only pissed off Donna too. "Her name's Martha. And she's not collateral damage, not for anyone. Have you got that, GI Jane?" She looked at the young man too, who was eyeing the rubble. "You got anything to say, ya brute? That was your mum out there too."
"I'm gonna find them," the Doctor said then, pushing past Fallon's son only for another soldier to lift his gun and stop him.
"You're going nowhere. You don't make sense, you two. No guns, no marks, no fight in you. I'm taking you to General Cobb."
"Wait." Fallon's son said then, making the group turn to him as he lifted his gun slightly. "There's someone there."
The Doctor grew hopeful and stepped forward, calling out. "Martha? Fallon?"
A figure stumbled out from the nearest barricade, holding a hand to their head, and relief flooded through the Doctor as he shoved past the soldier; ignoring the gun and hurrying to Fallon's side. She was a bit dazed with a gash across her left brow and covered in dirt from the rubble. The Doctor noticed her sleeve was torn a little too, another deeper gash on her upper arm, but generally all right. He grabbed her hand and put a hand on her cheek to try and check her eyes for signs of concussion.
"Are you okay? Dizziness? Nausea?"
"Headache," Fallon grumbled with a wince. "Ears still ringing a bit. Sorry. I was trying to get to Martha. I should've been paying more attention."
The Doctor sighed in relief pulling away and shaking his head. "No. You tried. More than that, you risked your life again. You didn't need to do that."
Fallon sighed, waving him off tiredly. "No. No, I should've done more. I was…" She glanced past him toward her son, looking uneasy once more. "I-I was distracted."
"Hey!" The soldier with the gun called out. "You found your friend, now move."
The Doctor wanted to find out what had Fallon so uneasy and if there was any way past the blockage in the tunnel to get to Martha but he had no real choice here and begrudgingly let them be led away. Cooperating might get me more answers. What we're doing here, what exactly is happening, and maybe a way to get to Martha. Fallon needs medical treatment too. I just have to hope Martha's okay for now. He took a calming breath and let it out, moving Donna in front of him and keeping Fallon by his side as her son stayed in the back.
"I'm Donna. What's your name?" Donna asked his daughter, making him roll his eyes.
Leave it to Donna to try and make friends.
"Don't know. It's not been assigned," she replied easily, not the least bit bothered by what had happened before.
"Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?"
"How to fight."
"Nothing else?"
The Doctor spoke up then, knowing some explanation would be in order. "The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name. She's a generated anomaly. Him too," he said, nodding to the young man behind them.
"Generated anomaly. Generated. Well, what about that? Jenny," Donna offered the woman, who smiled.
"Jenny. Yeah, I like that. Jenny."
"What do you think, dad?" Donna asked the Doctor with a teasing smirk.
"Good as anything, I suppose."
"Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you?"
"They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it. It's not what I call natural parenting."
"I've seen worse," Fallon muttered as Donna nodded.
"My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Don't bother her."
"You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident," the Doctor argued but Donna pointed at Fallon.
"Isn't stopping her. She's been eyeing her son all day. More of a mum than you are."
"Donna," the Doctor scolded, giving Fallon a glance with a hint of an apology.
He knew something was up with how she was acting around her new son but he wasn't sure what. He had a guess, given his own unhappiness about someone claiming to be his child, but there was something else bothering her. Something more painful.
"Look, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?" The Doctor complained, earning a frown from Jenny.
"I'm not a monkey… or a child." She looked over at Fallon then, gesturing to her son. "Are you going to name him too?"
"You called him Benjamin earlier, didn't you?" Donna added, making Fallon flinch.
"Now, don't," the Doctor said shortly, seeing that it upset her, but Fallon shook her head and brought a hand up to it when it aggravated her injury.
"No, it's… it's fine. Ben…" She looked over at her son and her eyes softened sadly. "Benjamin is fine."
The young man eyed her with a small frown himself as they moved into the main camp. The Doctor wasn't the only one who'd noticed how old her gaze was when she looked at him.
I wasn't really paying attention as we moved into an abandoned theater. Or, well, that's what it looked like, anyway, without all the military equipment being shunted around. The place put me on edge and I was already uneasy, to begin with. Putting him together with the military is just… My heart ached as I glanced over at the young man who'd stepped out of that machine. The longer I stared at him, the more—
My hands fumbled with the button of his uniform, fingers shaking with repressed emotions that I was struggling to hold back. His hands wrapped around mine, stilling them as I took in a slow shuddering breath.
"Mum, I'll be fine."
—my mind echoed sobs from oh-so-long ago. Benjamin looked over at me and I hastily turned away, afraid of the memories those blue eyes would draw forward. It felt stupid, childish, even to be avoiding him like this. He's someone else. He's a different person, I had to remind myself but it was so hard.
"And this is Fallon," the Doctor said, my name drawing me away from my thoughts and toward the gruff, older man he was speaking to.
General Cobb, I presume.
"And I'm Jenny!" Jenny chirped, grabbing Benjamin by the arm. "This is Benjamin."
General Cobb barely offered the two new soldiers a glance and snarled at the Doctor. "Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end."
Why does it always have to come to fighting? I mused with a heavy sigh, looking out at the young faces nearby moving weapons and preparing for whatever war was happening here. I brought a hand up, rubbing at my face in frustration. We're far enough in the future to create genetic anomalies like this and the human race is still bringing in children to fight their battles.
"Are you all right?"
I lowered my hand and gave Donna a tired look as the General started to lead us through the camp. "Sorry, I'm just…" I sighed again. "I'm… tired. I expected a bit more of humanity and this just tells me nothing changes. Humans will always be fighting someone."
Her gaze softened, looking a little upset about this too and I tried to offer a distraction, knowing that she shouldn't have to worry about this sort of burden like I would.
"I wasn't really paying attention though. Where are we going?"
She shrugged, grateful for the distraction. "I don't know. The Doctor asked about the people they were fighting, the Hath, then this leader or whoever started showing us the place."
"Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth," General Cobb said, gesturing to the building we were in. "Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning. A colony where human and Hath would work and live together."
"So, what happened?" The Doctor asked as I frowned, almost expecting what would be said next.
"The dream died. 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."
Greed, typical, I mused, before Donna called out near a window.
"There's nothing but earth outside, why's that? Why build everything underground?"
"The surface is too dangerous," a soldier—Cline—informed us.
"Well, then why build windows in the first place? And what does this mean?" She asked, gesturing to a numbered plate etched into the wall.
"The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meaning's lost in time," General Cobb said, making me frown.
Almost sounds like everything is a myth. It's all a bit story-book-like, a fairy tale. "Rites and symbols"? "Lost meaning"? "It's just numbers," I muttered under my breath, eyeing them as Donna came down. "What meaning could there be?"
"How long's this war gone on for?" The Doctor questioned then, drawing me back to the group.
"Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead," General Cobb replied, only making me more confused.
That's not right either. I've been in countless wars, seen them. There's always a paper trail. There are always people who know how long they fought and how long their grandfather fought and so on. This war isn't adding up right. I ran a hand through my hair, hating that I was thinking more and more about what was happening here. I didn't want to. I'd just gotten out of dealing with people like this during that year. I agreed to go with the Doctor to see and experience new things, not the endless repeat of human consequences. I was falling into old habits when in reality I wanted nothing more than to just enjoy myself.
"Not like I can just go back to the Tardis and leave," I murmured under my breath, knowing Martha was still out there somewhere as the Doctor eyed the hologram map that General Cobb had brought us to.
"Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, it'll help us find Martha."
Finally, hope, I mused, eyeing the map myself with a bit of interest. Technology humans back in my time only dreamed of.
"We've more important things to do," Cline said with a smile. "The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you two."
I turned to him with a glare, making his smile falter as Donna scoffed.
"I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flipping machine. Sorry, no offense, but you're not... Well, I mean, you're not real."
"They're as real as any of us," I cut in, earning a surprised look from Jenny that I ignored as I still eyed the map. "They think, feel, and bleed like anyone else. You shouldn't discount a life just because it's different from yours." I shot General Cobb a sharp glance though. "That said, you're not taking any more samples from me. You can be sure of that."
He scoffed, undeterred by my threat. "We need more like you if ever we're to find the Source."
The Doctor stepped in before I could say anything sharp, lightly grabbing my wrist to calm me as he forced a smile for General Cobb. "Ooh, the Source. What's that, then? What's a Source? I like a Source. What is it?"
"The breath of life," General Cobb replied, making the Doctor press a bit more.
"And that would be?"
"In the beginning, the great one breathed life into the universe. And then she looked at what she'd done, and she sighed," Cline explained
" 'She.' I like that," Jenny smiled, but I was once again frowning.
"A creation myth? Why is everything a story for you people?"
General Cobb scowled. "It's not myth. It's real. That sigh. From the beginning of time, it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of this planet."
"Ah!" The Doctor called, swiping a hand through the map and startling the group as he pulled out his sonic to buzz it. "I thought so. There's a suppressed layer of information in this map. If I can just…"
The map shifted and changed, adding more to it.
"What is it? What's it mean?" Donna asked as the Doctor grinned.
"See? A whole complex of tunnels hidden from sight."
"That must be the lost temple. The Source will be inside," General Cobb breathed, turning to the Doctor. "You've shown us the way. And look, we're closer than the Hath. It's ours."
I groaned dragging a hand down my face. "You've done it now. As if the war wasn't enough, you've gone and given them information."
The Doctor managed to look a little sheepish as General Cobb gave out orders. "Um, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?"
"Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet."
"You don't even know what the Source is!" I countered, frustrated with the leader of the humans who only seemed to want bloodshed. "It might not even be a weapon and if it was, peace talks should come first! Why is it you lot never want to just talk to solve your problems? Why does everything always have to come down to fighting?"
The Doctor agreed. "You're talking about genocide. A second ago, it was peace in our time!"
"For us, that means the same thing," General Cobb spat and the Doctor bristled.
"Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there, and the caption will read, over my dead body."
"And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms."
Cline lifted his weapon and I jerked a bit toward him until the Doctor grabbed me and muttered under his breath.
"Not here, Fallon. We're outnumbered."
"I'm not exactly eager to die," I bit out as Cline nudged us along with his gun. "But I'm not exactly thrilled to be part of a war again when there's a chance to prevent it."
"Take them. I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first," General Cobb said shortly, giving me a glare as I shot one back.
"Like to see you try. You'll be long dead before I will."
"Fallon," the Doctor scolded as I jerked my arm out of his hold and stepped toward General Cobb; stopping only when Cline's gun barrel pressed against my stomach. "Fallon, please."
I ignored the Doctor as I stared down the man who refused to back down himself. "The Doctor's warned you and that's the only warning you'll get. I'm not nearly as kind as he is and I've dealt with war long enough to make your petty little fight look like a toddler's tantrum. You keep this going and I'll snuff you out like a cigarette butt. Under my boot."
"I have an army and the Breath of God on my side. What do you have?"
"An eternity," I said shortly, seeing a hint of unease as he stared back at me before he finally turned away and ordered Cline to take us, Jenny, and Benjamin to the jail cells and get my injuries treated.
The Doctor tossed his coat into the cell as the others were brought in behind him, settling on a bench as Donna eyed the numbers above the cell door.
"More numbers. They've got to mean something."
"Makes as much sense as the Breath of Life story," the Doctor muttered, eyeing Fallon as she settled in a corner of the cell a bit away from them, rubbing at her face in frustration.
"You mean that's not true?" Jenny asked him, drawing his gaze away from her and to the naive daughter, he now had.
"No, it's a myth, isn't it Doctor?" Donna said, sitting beside him.
"Yes, but there could still be something real in that temple. Something that's become a myth. Like Fallon said, it could be anything. A piece of technology, a weapon."
"So the Source could be a weapon and we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?"
"Oh, yes."
"Not good, is it?"
"That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha, and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath," the Doctor declared before he saw Jenny staring at him almost smugly.
He saw Benjamin eyeing Fallon as well, but he didn't want to approach that topic just yet and instead addressed Jenny.
"W-What are you staring at?"
"You keep insisting you're not a soldier, but look at you, drawing up strategies like a proper general."
"No, no," he argued, hating that he was being called a soldier. "I'm trying to stop the fighting."
"Isn't that every soldier?" Jenny countered, making his anger fizzle out slightly.
"Well, I suppose, but that's, that's... Technically, I haven't got time for this," he grumbled when he couldn't come up with an answer, pulling out his sonic. "Donna, give me your phone. Time for an upgrade."
"And now you've got a weapon!" Jenny added.
"It's not a weapon."
"But you're using it to fight back. I'm going to learn so much from you. You are such a soldier."
The Doctor turned to Donna. "Donna, will you tell her?"
"Oh, you are speechless. I'm loving this. You keep on, Jenny," Donna encouraged and the Doctor turned to Fallon.
"Fallon, come on. Help me out."
Fallon wasn't listening though, instead just awkwardly turning away from Benjamin, who hadn't stopped staring at her since they were brought into the cell. The Doctor frowned, seeing she was uneasy but before he could say anything to confront Benjamin, the boy himself spoke.
"Why won't you look at me?"
Fallon winced as the others went quiet, all of them having noticed she was acting off around him.
"You stare at me all the time, nonstop," he pressed, "but the second I look at you, you turn away like I've done something to hurt you."
"No," she blurted out, turning to him only to wince and close her eyes, bringing a hand to her head. "No, I'm not… I don't mean to, I just…"
Even the Doctor was worried now, stopping what he was doing to speak up. "Fallon, what is it? I understand the fighting and the war being upsetting, but even with Cobb… I've never seen you like this."
He didn't want to admit that they hadn't known each other long enough to see all sides of her, something she adamantly repeated to him before. Still, he didn't like this side of her that he was seeing now and if he could just understand her better—understand the reason behind this attitude—then he might stand a better chance of helping her. Finally, she gave in.
"Benjamin, he's… he's my son."
Donna frowned, confused. "Yeah, we kind of established that."
Fallon shook her head. "No. No, I mean, he… he was my son. He was… was my little boy." She looked over at Benjamin now, eyes full of sadness and regret. "And h-he died. He died at war. I-I didn't even get a body back. He was just…"
The Doctor stood up, understanding dawning on him as someone who'd experienced the same sort of loss. "Benjamin was the name of a child you've had before. Someone you've lost. Oh, I'm so sorry, Fallon."
Fallon got up, facing Benjamin who was a little uncertain as she approached. "I know you're not him, not really but… the resemblance is just…" She brought a hand up, reaching for his cheek only to clench her hand and draw it back. "Every time I look at those blue eyes, I can't help but think of how I failed him." She cracked a sad, bitter smile. "Thousands of years and I'm still a terrible mother."
"Fall—"
"Are you stupid?" Benjamin said, cutting the Doctor off and stunning the group.
Even Fallon was a bit surprised. "A-Am I—"
Benjamin frowned, folding his arms over his chest in defiance. "You have to be, right?"
"B-Benjamin," Jenny started, not sure what was going on as she started to head over but Benjamin turned to her and the others in annoyance.
"And you're all just going to let her say stupid things like that?" He turned back to Fallon who was stunned into silence as he scoffed. "Thousands of years old?"
She nodded dumbly and he rolled his eyes.
"Then, how the hell do you remember his name?"
"I-I don't—"
"Or how he looks?" Benjamin pressed. "Thousands of years, hundreds of years. The people here can't even remember six generations but you've remembered him for that long and think you're a terrible mother?"
Fallon closed her gaping mouth, glancing away in shame at what he was pointing out.
"And if he was anything like me," Benjamin said sharply, stepping toward her and grabbing her hand, drawing her eyes back to him. "Then, he would know not to blame his mum for something out of her control."
Fallon's expression crumpled and she dropped her head into his chest, sighing softly. "You're just like him. Quiet and smart…" She reached a hand up as she pulled away then, before grabbing his ear and yanking harshly. "And the biggest, rudest mouth I've ever seen."
"A-Ah! Let go!" Benjamin yelped.
"Who do you think you're calling stupid?" Fallon questioned him with a brow raised. "You may not be my actual son but I will definitely treat you like one, and the first rule is don't talk to your mother that way."
"All right! All right! I'm sorry!"
Fallon let him go and cracked a fond smile. "Better. Now then," she turned to the Doctor who flinched instinctually and covered his ears.
Fallon raised a brow, amused and he flushed, dropping his hands and looking away as he cleared his throat.
"S-Sorry. I'll just…" He waved Donna's phone as Fallon rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.
It only took a moment to get the phone working and the Doctor felt instant relief when he heard Martha on the other end.
"Martha, you're alive!" He grinned, standing up with the others gathering around. "I'm with Donna and Fallon. We're fine other than a few nicks on Fallon. What about you?"
Donna gestured to Jenny and Benjamin—who was scowling and rubbing at his ear. "And Jenny and Benjamin. They're fine too."
"Yes, all right. A-And Jenny and Benjamin. The two from the machines," the Doctor explained to Martha. "The soldiers. Fallon's son and my daughter except—"
"Oh shut up and get information already," Fallon complained, waving at him in annoyance as she settled on the bench. "You're just digging yourself a deeper hole, you know."
The Doctor cleared his throat. "Anyway, where are you…? Oh, that was me. If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath."
"I take it the other army is marching for the same place?" Fallon spoke up, getting a nod as she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Damn humans."
"Aren't you human too?" Jenny asked while the Doctor tried to make sure Martha would stay safe until they got to her.
"I might be human but I said, didn't I?" Fallon explained. "Thousands of years, probably more I've forgotten. I live a bit longer than most."
Donna scoffed. "That's an understatement."
The phone went dead and the Doctor leaned against the bars, hearing the soldiers outside chanting.
"They're getting ready to move out. We have to get past that guard."
"And do what?" Fallon questioned. "We stand no chance of stopping them. You think we can get ahead of them? Finding the source first would give us half a chance at bargaining."
He snapped his fingers at her with a nod as Jenny got up, eager to help.
"I can deal with the guard."
"No, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere."
"What?"
"You belong here with them," the Doctor snapped and Fallon frowned, getting up herself and making him turn toward her. "Oh, no. Don't give me that look."
"What? The look that says I'm about to smack you?" Fallon countered, gesturing to Benjamin. "Suppose you want him to stay too, right?"
The Doctor hesitated, glancing at Benjamin who frowned as well, matching the one on Fallon's face a little too well. "This is different," he tried to explain. "Being human is one thing but being a Time Lord is different."
"She's your daughter," Donna argued.
"She's a soldier. She came out of that machine."
Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I know that bit. Listen, have you got that stethoscope? Give it to me. Come on."
The Doctor begrudgingly did so and Jenny took a slight step back when Donna approached.
"What are you doing?"
"It's all right. Just hold still," Donna said, checking something with Jenny's heart before holding the stethoscope out for the Doctor. "Come here. Listen, and then tell me where she belongs."
The Doctor stepped over, uncertain, but listened before his eyes widened. "Two hearts."
"Exactly," Donna said smugly as Fallon raised a brow.
"I'm sorry? Two what?"
"Hearts. Did I never tell you?" The Doctor questioned.
"John mentioned something to Joan but I thought it was just a dream. You have two hearts?"
"And a respiratory bypass system."
"Oh, like I know what the hell that means," Fallon scoffed. "Damn aliens with your extra organs. Anything else you have two of?"
"What's going on?" Jenny interrupted before the Doctor could answer that and Donna eyed the Doctor as he tried to come to terms with what he'd just learned about Jenny.
"Does that mean she's a, what do you call a female Time Lord?"
"Time Lady?" Fallon offered, uncertain herself but assuming as much from how Lords and Ladies were the typical titles on Earth.
"What's a Time Lord?" Jenny questioned, confused.
"It's who I am. It's where I'm from," the Doctor muttered.
"And I'm from you."
"You're an echo, that's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering," he bit out before calming down slightly. "Only it's gone now, all of it. Gone forever."
"What happened?" Jenny asked cautiously.
"There was a war."
"Like this one?"
He laughed bitterly. "Bigger. Much bigger."
"And you fought and killed?"
The Doctor looked away shamefully. "Yes."
"Then, how are we different?"
"You haven't," Fallon cut in, turning their gaze to her calm but ancient eyes. "You haven't killed. Your eyes are still young and innocent and full of life and I get it." Fallon turned to the Doctor. "I get it so much better than anyone here because I've been in your position, Doctor. I've looked those naive soldiers in the face and said they weren't anything like me. They didn't understand. They would never understand until they ended up either dead or miserable like I was."
"Then, you know why she has to stay."
Fallon shook her head. "No. I know why she has to come. Physically, she's a Time Lord just like I'm physically human like the rest of them. To understand that shared history, that knowledge, they need someone to teach them. They don't have to share the suffering part. They should never have to if you teach them what's right."
He closed his eyes, dragging a hand through his hair with a groan. "Oh, fine. Fine, but I don't have to like it."
Fallon smirked as Jenny bounced and headed over to the guard. "Never said you did."
The Doctor pointed at her with a grumble but still smiling just a bit. "You. You're a right terror when you're allowed to talk."
Fallon hummed with a smirk before nodding toward Jenny. "So's your daughter."
"What?" He looked over to see Jenny flirting with the guard and soon kissing him and stealing his pistol.
"Keep quiet and open the door," Jenny ordered the guard, who did as he was told begrudgingly as Donna gave the Doctor a sly look.
"I'd like to see you try that."
"I still can't believe that stupid mouse worked," I scoffed as we searched a tunnel for the control panel we needed. "This is why you don't hire children to be guards."
"We're not kids," Benjamin grumbled and I shot him a look that made him pout almost childishly. "Well, maybe to you, I guess."
"Yeah, that's what I thought." I spotted Donna then, looking at something else. "Find something, Donna?"
"It's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere."
"The original builders must have left them. Some old cataloging system," the Doctor offered.
"You got a pen? Bit of paper?" She asked as the Doctor handed her a pad and pen and went back to sonicking for a control panel. "Because, do you see, the numbers are counting down. This one ends in one four. The prison cell said one six."
"Always thinking, the lot of you. Who are you people?" Jenny asked.
"I told you, I'm the Doctor."
"The Doctor? That's it?"
"That's all he ever says," Donna drawled, nodding to me. "This one too. Fallon. That's it."
"Hey, I've got an excuse," I countered. "I change names all the time on Earth. Can't remember them all so I had the Doctor pick out one for when I'm with him." I tapped my temple. "Keeps me from forgetting it if someone else does all the remembering. Not that he's great at names."
"Oi! Fallongalaktikosdorhnii is a great name!" The Doctor complained, proving my point.
"See? Fallon for short."
"So, you don't have a name either? Are you an anomaly, too?" Jenny asked the Doctor curiously.
"No."
"Oh, come off it. You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met," Donna scoffed as the Doctor finally found the control panel.
"And Time Lords. What are they for, exactly?"
"For? They're not for anything," the Doctor answered Jenny in confusion.
"So, what do you do?"
"I travel through time and space."
"He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures," Donna explained better. "And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved."
"What about you?" Jenny asked, intrigued by the Doctor's description and looking at me. "You said you're different from humans. What do you do?"
My expression softened a bit and I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, I also do a lot of running and traveling but… not usually because I want to."
"How do you mean?"
"Humans don't like 'different,'" I explained. "Much less when it sticks around for as long as I do."
"Got it!" The Doctor cheered then as we heard General Cobb's voice echoing down the tunnel. "Now, what were you saying about running?"
I sighed as we took off into the next area where we were stopped by the path being intersected with red lasers. "You're joking," I grumbled as Donna eyed them warily.
"That's not mood lighting, is it?"
The Doctor tossed his toy mouse and winced when it disintegrated.
"No, I didn't think so," Donna murmured as the Doctor hurried to a control panel nearby.
"Why do they need lasers in a damn corridor?" I complained, glancing behind us cautiously, knowing General Cobbs and his men were behind us somewhere. "Doctor, we need to hurry."
"The General," Jenny breathed when she heard him not too far away, turning to rush back when the Doctor grabbed her.
"Where are you going?"
"I can hold them up," she offered, looking at Benjamin who also had a weapon. "We both can."
I felt unease trickle through me at the thought, eyeing Benjamin as the memories trickled back once more.
"You don't have to go."
Benjamin sighed. "Yes, I do, mum."
I shook my head, holding his hand in mine and wondering where the years had gone that his tiny hand that used to cling to my finger had grown to easily envelop mine. "No, you don't. I-I can talk to your father. We can leave a-and—"
"Mum. I want to go."
I clenched my eyes shut, taking in a shaky breath as a hand took mine.
"Mum, I need to go help Jenny."
I let the breath out, hating to be put in this position again. "I don't want you to."
"I know," he said, squeezing my hand and drawing my sad eyes to his. "But it's my turn to keep you safe."
"I need to fight to make sure you're safe, mum."
My heart broke but just like that time all those years ago, I knew I had to let go. I had to let him live his life the way he chose to… even if I didn't like it.
"Okay," I murmured and he kissed my cheek and hurried off after Jenny. I sucked in another shaky breath and cursed. "Dammit. Dammit, why do they always…"
Gunfire sounded from just behind us and I grit my teeth before hurrying over to the Doctor.
"How much longer?"
"Not long," he replied, giving me a slightly worried glance. "You let him go?"
I looked over at where the gunfire was and turned away to keep from thinking about the worst-case scenario. "It's their choice. You can try and teach them everything in the world but… but as a parent, you also need to let them go and make their own choices." I locked eyes with his own solemn brown ones. "Even if it's not the choice you'd make."
He looked back at the controls, silent for a moment before sighing. "It's weird not being the older, wiser one in a group."
I cracked a small smile as he called out for Jenny and Benjamin to hurry up and the lasers finally flickered off. The three of us hurried through them before we caught sight of Jenny and Benjamin returning. Problem was, the lasers returned as well.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. The circuit's looped back," the Doctor complained as I stared at the two on the other side in concern.
"Zap it back again!" Donna demanded.
"The controls are back there."
Benjamin looked at them but shook his head. "I won't have time to figure them out. They're already coming."
"Wait. Just—There isn't—Jenny, I can't."
"We'll just have to manage on our own," Jenny declared then, getting a nod from Benjamin as they both tossed aside their weapons. "Watch and learn, father."
Benjamin grimaced. "Or don't. I'd really rather you didn't."
Jenny and him took a running start before nimbly flipping and ducking through the lasers. Jenny landed on her feet with a grin as Donna gasped.
"No way. But that was impossible."
"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely. Brilliant! You were brilliant. Brilliant!" The Doctor grinned, hugging Jenny tightly as Benjamin hit the floor slightly less gracefully.
"Never again," he murmured, lying on the ground as I chuckled and offered him a hand up.
"Gymnastics was never my strong suit."
Jenny pulled away from the Doctor then, beaming away. "We didn't kill him. General Cobb, I could have killed him but I didn't. You were right. I had a choice. Ben too!"
I shot Benjamin a look as he flushed and turned away awkwardly. "Ben?"
"Shut it," he grumbled, jerking away when I lifted a hand toward his ear. "W-Wait! I-I meant, uh…"
I rolled my eyes grabbing his shirt and pulling him toward me to hug him. "I'm just glad you're okay."
He relaxed until I felt his arms tighten around me as General Cobb and his men stopped on the other side of the lasers. I bristled and pulled away from Benjamin, muttering to him.
"Take the girls and go."
He nodded and grabbed Jenny and Donna, tugging them onward as the Doctor glared at General Cobb alongside me.
"At arms," General Cobb ordered and I scoffed.
"I told you we'd stop you, general. Whatever that Source is, we won't let you use it."
"One of us is going to die today and it won't be me," General Cobb spat, making me let out a short chuckle.
"Oh, if it's not going to be anyone, it won't be me. There's a point where pride just becomes stupidity and you've long past that point."
"Fire!" He ordered and the Doctor and I took off down the tunnel away from the hail of bullets.
The Doctor's brows were furrowed as he followed his map, searching for the next tunnel entrance. Donna was talking with Benjamin and Jenny while Fallon stayed up near him. He was glad she was a bit calmer now, but could still see her uneasiness with what was happening. He knew war was always going to be a sensitive subject for her but he'd never expected that something like Benjamin would happen. Nor that it would get her fired up so easily.
"So," he started, clearing his throat awkwardly when she glanced at him with a raised brow. "You had… kids?"
Her expression softened immediately and she turned away but nodded. "A few. Some I… I never wanted but… but two that I… wish I had more time with."
"Sorry," he murmured, knowing it was a sensitive topic and offering something personal of his in return. "I did too, once, before the war." He looked over at Jenny as she smiled with Donna. "I understand how looking at them reminds you of that."
Fallon let out a small, bitter chuckle. "Look at us. A couple of old, lonely people too scared by our past to enjoy the new things."
He nudged her with his shoulder. "That's what companions are for. I know you're not a fan but… the look on their faces when they see something new. That's worth it, I think."
"Even if it's short-lived?" She questioned, hesitant and knowing how easily a heart breaks when they're gone.
"Well… that's what makes it mean so much more. We live so long, it's hard to see the beauty in things but they can look at a blade of grass and find it wonderful."
"Finding happiness through others," Fallon murmured, leaning into him and surprising him with the fond action. "Suppose I'll need to get used to that. Finding happiness."
"Won't she, Doctor?" Donna called out then, making the two split apart as he turned to find out what she was asking.
"Hm?"
"Do you think Jenny and Benjamin will see any new worlds?"
"I suppose so," he offered with a hint of a smile, making Jenny gape and grab Benjamin excitedly.
"You mean—You mean you'll take us with you?"
"Well, we can't leave you here, can we?"
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cheered, hugging the Doctor and surprising Fallon when she hugged her too before grabbing Benjamin's hand. "Come on, let's get a move on!"
"Careful! There might be traps!" The Doctor lightly warned them as Donna smiled.
"Kids. They never listen." She looked over at Fallon then. "Didn't expect you to have any, no offense. You just seem a bit… gruff, I guess. All no-nonsense and whatnot."
Fallon shrugged. "I've lived a long life. Had a lot of experiences, met a lot of people, got lonely, and did stupid things."
"What about you, Doctor?" Donna asked. "You talk all the time, but you don't say anything. Not really."
"I've been a father before," he admitted to her. "I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," she murmured. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I know. I'm just… When I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that every day."
"It won't stay like that. She'll help you and Benjamin will help you too, Fallon. We all will."
"But when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now," the Doctor countered.
"I tell you something, Doctor. Something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong," she said before there was gunfire behind us and Jenny and Benjamin returned.
"They've blasted through the beams," Benjamin said, eyeing the hall as Jenny grinned.
"Time to run again. Love the running. Yeah?"
"Love the running," the Doctor agreed as Fallon groaned.
"I could do with less."
"Oh, come on now, Fallon, have a bit of fun," the Doctor teased, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.
"My idea of fun is very different from yours," she complained as they hit a dead end. "Horseback riding on the beach, nice slightly drizzly day, drinks after. You know, not dying in a dead end."
"Can't be. This must be the Temple. This is a door," the Doctor countered, letting her go and using the sonic on a divot in the wall as Donna scribbled down another set of numbers. "I've got it!"
"I can hear them," Jenny informed him as he worked on the control panel for the door.
"Nearly done!"
Fallon was over by Donna now, eyeing the numbers herself as the red-head explained.
"These can't be a cataloging system. They're too similar. Too familiar."
Fallon eyed her notes too and pointed out the last few numbers on the list. "Is it only the last two digits changing?"
"Yeah, counting down the closer we get to the Source."
"Got it!" The Doctor shouted then, herding the group through and locking it behind them.
"Oh, that was close," Jenny chirped with a grin.
"No fun otherwise," the Doctor answered and they headed further in and looked over everything.
"It's not what I'd call a temple," Donna noted, looking up at the high ceiling.
"It looks more like—"
"Fusion drive transport," the Doctor cut Jenny off. "It's a spaceship."
"The ones the colonists showed up in?" Benjamin questioned with a frown. "Would it still be working?"
"The power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered up and functioning. Come on," the Doctor said, rushing them upstairs where there were sparks from someone cutting through another door.
"It's the Hath," Jenny said in concern as Fallon scowled.
"If General Idiot gets through downstairs and the Hath upstairs, there will be a war right here."
"Look, look, look, look, look. Ship's log," the Doctor called out bringing them to a computer nearby. "First wave of Human/Hath co-colonization of planet Messaline."
"So, this is the original ship," Jenny concluded.
"What happened?"
"Phase one, construction. They used robot drones to build the city."
Fallon spoke up then. "Could those numbers Donna found be dates then?"
The group turned to her as she went to explain.
"Eight numbers that are not a cataloging system. The most common sequence then would be dates, if only one or two digits are changing. I didn't think about it before but if this is the original ship, then it would make sense."
"But the war—"
"Can't be more than a week." Fallon shrugged. "Every war I've ever been, the people involved and their family always know how long the war's lasted. You count the days to go home, the seconds to see your family again. The records would be everywhere. Reports, journals, diaries, letters. These people just say the same things. They talk about myths and stories all the time. No one knows for certain how long the fighting has lasted. They talk in generations instead of length of time—"
"The progenation machines," the Doctor breathed, understanding dawning on him. "With those, they just make more soldiers. That's why they don't remember, why everything is just stories and myths. The original group has died off in the fighting with the new generations taking their place."
"It's why everyone's young," Fallon agreed. "Except the idiot, of course."
"Look, here. The final entry," the Doctor said, as he found the record of the start of the war. " 'Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions.' That must be it. A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines, suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war."
"Two armies who are now both outside," Jenny reminded him and he turned to Fallon.
"When did you figure out the dates?"
Fallon pointed over at Donna. "She's the one who figured it out, technically. I only noticed it with the last one."
"I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers," Donna preened. "The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on. So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out from here, day by day, as the city got built. Like Fallon said, this war started seven days ago. Just a week. A week! 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. Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend. Oh, Donna, you're a genius," the Doctor said with a grin.
"But all the buildings, the encampments. They're in ruins," Jenny tried to argue.
"No, they're not ruined. They're just empty. Waiting to be populated. Oh, they've mythologized their entire history. The Source must be part of that too. Come on."
The group took off running again only to slide to a halt with a familiar face.
"Doctor!"
"Martha!" The Doctor hurried over and grabbed her in a hug, thrilled to have met up with his missing companion. "Oh, I should have known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement."
"Donna! Fallon!" Martha beamed, hurrying over and hugging them too, though Fallon wrinkled her nose.
"You smell terrible."
"Oh, gee, thanks."
"What happened?" Donna asked.
"I, uh, took the surface route."
There was a voice calling out down the way and Fallon groaned.
"I wish that idiot would just give up already. I'm tired of running."
"We don't even know what we're looking for though," Donna countered, when Martha sniffed, turning their attention to the smell in the room.
"Is it me, or can you smell flowers?"
The others sniffed as well and Fallon hummed in mild surprise.
"Bougainvillea."
"That's it," the Doctor said with a smile. "You know your flowers."
"I've done a lot of things. Gardening one of the more enjoyable hobbies."
"Well, I say we follow our nose."
The group ended up in a sort of greenhouse space and the Doctor grinned as they came upon a glass globe in the center.
"Oh, yes. Yes. Isn't this brilliant?"
"Is that the source?" Donna asked as he tossed his coat aside and Jenny approached it with wide eyes of wonder.
"It's beautiful."
"What is it?" Benjamin questioned, eyeing the gasses floating around inside it.
"Terraforming. It's a third-generation terraforming device," the Doctor explained.
"So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?" Donna asked.
"Because that's what it does. All this, only bigger. Much bigger. It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally—"
The Hath and soldiers burst into the room and Fallon was quick to move between them with a shout.
"Hold your fire!"
The two groups listened based solely on the sheer amount of authority her voice held and their own uncertainty. A glass globe of unknown gas was hardly the weapon they expected it to be and the only one angry and ready to fight was the one and only General Cobb.
"What is this, some kind of trap?" He spat, but even he didn't fire his gun yet.
"You said you wanted this war over," the Doctor replied calmly, stepping up beside Fallon and the Source.
"I want this war won."
"My God, you're the stupidest man I've ever met," Fallon scoffed. "And I've met a lot of idiots in my time. War isn't won. It's never won. War is only full of losses, doesn't matter what side you're on. You can't win and no one can. You kids don't even know why you're here."
The General bristled but the Doctor stepped in to explain better, preferably without more insults.
"Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on. This is the Source," he pointed out to them. "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. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you. It's not for killing, it's 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," he said calmly, the soldiers and Hath lowering their weapons slightly as he pulled the Source off. "I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over."
The Source was smashed on the ground allowing the gases to escape and rise up toward the top of the rocket.
"What's happening?" Jenny asked, curious.
"The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process," the Doctor explained as everyone put their weapons down, except one.
"What does that mean?"
"It means a new world."
Fallon hummed, tucking her hands in her pockets to eye the gases herself. "So, what? Just turns the desert into an oasis?"
"Well, something like that yeah."
Then, the peace was disrupted by a shout.
"No!"
A gunshot went off and my body tensed instinctually, turning toward the sound only for the figure in front of me to crumple. They hadn't been there a moment ago and when they hit the ground it left me with a clear look at the perpetrator. General Cobb's weapon clattered to the ground as two of his own men grabbed and restrained him, and my gaze turned to the person who'd fallen.
There was this sort of ringing in my ears as I sagged to the ground, hands fumbling to remember what to do. Benjamin choked on air as the Doctor and the others hurried over as well. Martha took his pulse, looking him over while I just stared in shock. It's happening all over again. Why? Why does this always happen?
The Doctor was saying something with a hand on my back but I couldn't hear him, couldn't hear anything over the deafening ringing in my ears and my heart pounding in my chest. I wasn't even sure I was breathing as I watched my son—My baby boy—grow pale as he reached a hand up and wiped the tears I didn't know I was crying. His hand slipped off my cheek, falling back onto his chest as he breathed one last thing.
"Mum."
I choked on air, trying to find something to say, something to tell him but he was already gone by the time I managed to say anything. "M-My son. M-My Benny."
It took only a second after that for the grief to turn into something foul. It burned like a fire in my heart and made my hands clench into fists around Benjamin's shirt. H-He was safe. He was fine and he was safe a-and everything was finally going to work out okay if it weren't for—My hateful gaze turned to General Cobb and I jerked up from the ground beside Benjamin and grabbed the gun, firing off a shot immediately.
"Fallon!"
The Doctor's shout didn't even register as General Cobb cried out in pain as his kneecap was torn apart by the bullet. The men holding him let him go out of fear and he toppled over onto the ground, face in the dirt and unable to defend himself with his hands restrained behind him. I stormed forward, furious and boiling with rage at the man who'd killed my son. The one thing I had taken away from me a second time because of some asshole with too much pride. The gun was leveled with his face and between one step and the next, I pulled the trigger.
"Fallon, stop! Stop this!" The Doctor bellowed in my ear, having caught up with me and jerking my gun up the moment I fired.
I fought against him as General Cobb screamed with a bloody, torn face. I'd missed because of the Doctor but the bullet had still done damage when it tore through his cheek. The gun was taken from me and given to Martha as I jerked and writhed in the Doctor's hold just screaming at General Cobb because I had no words to express the agony tearing through me. I wanted him dead and gone. I wanted him to suffer in whatever hell he believed in for what he did. I would've taken a million lives if it meant my son was okay because I'd had enough. Humanity—these stupid people—had taken so much away from me that they deserved whatever punishment I gave them. They deserved every ounce of my hatred and I'd held that back every day for so long but they'd once again managed to infuriate me to this extent. To the extent that I simply didn't care.
"Fallon! That's enough!" The Doctor shouted, holding tightly to my arms and making me face him with his own tears just barely being held back. "Enough. Please."
My screams died off and all my fight left me in one fell swoop, leaving me shattered and broken as sobs escaped my lips instead. The Doctor pulled me tight up against him and I clung to him as I wailed and we sank to the ground together in mourning.
