Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 5 of Hold On. Thank you to those who have left reviews. It does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I'm trying my best with allowing Leona to grow and it's taking time since she's different from the other 3 witches that I've written about in the past. She's not a royal witch, or a warrior witch, nor a healer witch. So she is very much different. This chapter will take place during The Doctor's Daughter. Which will be a trip within itself. I'm excited to write this chapter just like any other chapters I've written for this story. For some reason I love bouncing around. Without further ado Chapter 5. ENJOY!
Chapter 5
Everyone hung onto the console as they traveled.
"What the hell's it doing?" Donna questioned looking up at the Doctor.
"The control's not working." He got thrown about and got a look at the jar at the base of the time rotor. "I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it."
"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.
"You are completely impossible." Donna said, looking at the Doctor.
"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely."
There was a bang and sparks, then there was stillness and peace.
Suddenly a golden light appeared and Leona landed harshly next to Donna who jumped. Leona blinked a few times.
"I was wondering when you were going to show." Martha said with a smile.
Leona let out a soft laugh.
The Doctor ran outside of the Tardis.
"What's his problem?" She questioned tilting her head to the side a little confused.
They came out into a junkyard in a railway arch and it was dark.
The Doctor blinked a few times in confusion. "Why would the Tardis bring us here, then?"
"Oh, I love this bit." Martha said with a breath shaking her head lightly.
"I thought you wanted to go home." Donna questioned looking over at Martha.
"I know, but all the same, it's that feeling you get."
"Like you swallowed a hamster?"
"Don't move! Stay where you are! Drop your weapons." A voice rang out.
Three men were pointing rifles at them.
They slowly raised their hands.
"We're unarmed. Look, no weapons. Never any weapons. We're safe." The Doctor said trying his best to diffuse the situation that they were in.
"Look at their hands. They're clean." The Soldier said looking back at his boss.
"All right, process them. Him first." Cline said, looking at the Doctor.
The two soldiers took the Doctor.
"Oi, oi. What's wrong with clean hands?" The Doctor questioned as he was taken away.
"What's going on?" Martha questioned.
The Doctor was taken to a machine and his right arm was pushed inside of it.
"Leave him alone." Donna said when Leona held her back.
Something inside of the machine grabbed his arm.
"Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure. Argh!"
"What are you doing to him?" Donna questioned looking on with wide eyes.
"Everyone gets processed." Cline said simply ignoring how scared everyone was.
"It's taken a tissue sample. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. And extrapolated it. Some kind of accelerator?" The Doctor was suddenly released.
"Are you all right?" Leona questioned looking at the Doctor with a worried gaze. With only the few times that she had met the Doctor she was beginning to grow to care for him. She didn't like the idea that he had been hurt.
There was a graze on the back of his hand. "What on earth? That's just…"
Suddenly a pair of glass and metal doors opened and a figure stepped out from the steam of the brightly lit interior. She was a skinny blonde woman in combat boots and trousers, and a khaki shirt.
"Arm yourself." Cline said, handing her a rifle.
"Where did she come from?" Martha questioned in confusion.
Leona pursed her lips tightly.
"From me." The Doctor said as he looked at the woman.
"From you?. How? Who is she?" Donna questioned very confused.
The woman checked the rifle that was very much ready to be used.
"Well, she's, well, she's my daughter."
The woman smiled before speaking. "Hello, Dad."
"You primed to take orders? Ready to fight?" Cline asked Jenny.
"Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir. Generation five thousand soldiers primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready." She took her place with Cline and the other soldiers at the barricade.
"Did you say daughter?" Donna questioned rather confused.
"Mmm. Technically."
"Technically how?" Martha questioned.
"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." The Doctor explained fairly quickly.
"Something's coming." Jenny said, her head jerking a bit.
There were shadows on the tunnel wall. As they came into view, the figures started firing.
"It's the Hath!" Cline said as they began to return fire.
"Get down!" Jenny yelled out.
The Doctor, Martha, Donna, and Leona took cover.
Leona looked over from where they were hiding her brows furrowed to get a better look.
The Hath were wearing breathing masks, big fish eyes and very wrinkled necks.
Leona slowly slunk down next to the Doctor.
"We have to blow the tunnel. Get the detonator." Cline told his crew.
"I'm not detonating anything." The Doctor said as he went to help a wounded soldier.
The Halt breached the barricade and one grabbed Martha.
Jenny took another in hand to hand combat, then got the detonator.
"Blow the thing! Blow the thing!" Cline ordered.
"Martha! No. Don't." The Doctor shouted.
Jenny hit the button.
A klaxon sound and everyone ran before a big explosion brought down the roof.
The Doctor and Leona looked on in horror.
"You've sealed off the tunnel. Why did you do that?"
"They were trying to kill us." Jenny said, looking at the Doctor.
"But they've got my friend."
"Collateral damage. At least you've still got her. He lost both his men. I'd say you came out ahead."
"Her name's Martha. And she's not collateral damage, not for anyone. Have you got that, GI Jane?" Donna said, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm going to find her." The Doctor said as he paced back and forth. He needed to come up with a plan.
"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. Now, move." Cline said, narrowing his eyes.
Leona narrowed her eyes looking at Cline.
The Doctor grabbed Leona's arm to keep her from attacking Cline. He knew one thing about Witches. They hated when someone said they had no fight in them.
DWDWDW
Donna walked next to Jenny. "I'm Donna. What's your name?"
"Don't know. It's not been assigned." Jenny admitted as she walked.
"Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?"
"How to fight."
"Nothing else?"
"The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name. She's a generated anomaly." The Doctor said as he walked next to Leona who still had a look of agitation still on her face.
"Generated anomaly. Generated. Well, what about that? Jenny." Donna said, looking over at the blonde haired woman.
"Jenny. Yeah, I like that. Jenny." Jenny said with a smile.
"What do you think, Dad?" Donna looked over at the Doctor with a cheeky smile.
"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."
"Rubbish. My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Don't bother her."
"You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident."
"Er, Child Support Agency can."
"Look, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?"
"I'm not a monkey. Or a child." Jenny said, looking over at Donna.
Leona continued to walk slowly, her arms crossed in a rather irritated way.
The Doctor looked over at Leona. "I'm sorry…"
Leona looked over at the Doctor with an irritated look. "You should've let me clock that moron." She said as she walked.
"I know."
"Why'd you stop me?"
"Because we're trying to avoid conflict."
They entered the camp which was a large room with a slightly domed roof and gallery. There are more clone chambers there. The ambient lighting was red.
The Doctor looked around. "So, where are we? What planet's this?"
"Messaline. Well, what's left of it." Cline replied as he moved.
"Six six three seventy five deceased. Generation six six seven one, extinct. Generation six six seven two, forty six deceased. Generation six six eight zero, fourteen deceased. Generation six."
Donna looked around her brows furrowed. "But this is a theater."
"Maybe they're doing Miss Saigon."
"It's like a town or a city underground. But why?"
A man with a neatly trimmed white beard approached.
"General Cobb, I presume." The Doctor said, looking over at the man.
"Found in the western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks. There was an outbreak of pacifism in the eastern zone three generations back, before we lost contact. Is that where you came from?"
"Eastern zone, that's us, yeah. Yeah. I'm The Doctor, this is Donna and this is Leona." The Doctor said introducing themselves.
"And I'm Jenny."
"Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end." Cobb said, looking at them.
"Well, that's all right. I can't stay, anyway. I've got to go and find my friend."
"That's not possible. All movement is regulated. We're at war."
"Yes, I noticed. With the Hath. But tell me, because we got a bit out of circulation, eastern zone and all that. So who exactly are the Hath?"
"Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning. A colony where human and Hath would work and live together."
"So what happened?"
"The 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."
"There's nothing but earth outside, why's that? Why build everything underground?" Donna blinked a few times.
"The surface is too dangerous." Cline said, crossing his arms.
"Well, then why build windows in the first place? And what does this mean?"
"The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meaning's lost in time." Cobb explained.
"How long's this war gone on for?"
"Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead."
"What, fighting all this time?" Leona questioned as she crossed her arms in irritation.
"Because we must. Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge. It's our inheritance. It's all we know. How to fight, and how to die." Jenny said, looking at Leona.
Leona let out a scoff shaking her head.
"Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?"
"Yes. Why?" Cobb questioned as he looked at the Doctor.
"Well, it'll help us find Martha."
"We've more important things to do. The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you three." Cline said, looking at the three of them.
"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." Donna said, looking at Cline.
"Nope not happening." Leona snapped, narrowing her eyes.
"You're no 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?" Jenny questioned looking at Donna.
"Well said, soldier. We need more like you, if ever we're to find the Source." Cobb said, looking over at Jenny.
"Ooo, the Source. What's that, then? What's a Source? I like a Source. What is it?" The Doctor questioned turning his attention to Cobb.
"The Breath of Life."
"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 said, explaining it to them.
"She. I like that." Jenny mused with a smile.
"Right. So it's a creation myth." The Doctor said thinking.
"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 the planet." Cobb said, shaking his head.
The Doctor looked at the map and made it buzz. "Ah! I thought so. There's a suppressed layer of information in this map. If I can just…" He used his sonic screwdriver on it, and up came more tunnels and chambers.
"What is it, what's it mean?" Donna questioned, slightly confused.
"See? A whole complex of tunnels hidden from sight." The Doctor explained.
"That must be the lost temple. The Source will be inside. You've shown us the way. And look, we're closer than the Hath. It's ours." Cobb said, looking at his team.
Leona rolled her eyes. The race of man and their wanting to be the dominant race over others. She really didn't see why anyone wanted to be that way.
"Tell them to prepare to move out. We'll propagate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last."
"Er, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?" The Doctor questioned as he looked at Cobb.
"Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet."
"Hang on, hang on. A second ago it was peace in our time. Now you're talking about genocide."
"For us, that means the same thing."
"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."
"Oi, oi, oi. All right. Cool the beans, Rambo." Donna said, narrowing her eyes at Cobb and the other men.
"Take them. I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first." Cobb said, looking at Donna.
"No, we're, we're not a couple."
"I am not his woman." Donna exclaimed.
"Come on. This way." Cline said moving them away towards the cells.
"I'm going to stop you, Cobb. You need to know that." The Doctor said as they were taken away.
"I have an army and the Breath of God on my side, Doctor. What'll you have?" Cobb said, looking at the Doctor with a smirk.
"This."
"Lock them up and guard them."
"What about the new soldier?" Cline questioned.
"Can't trust her. She's from pacifist stock. Take them all."
Leona grumbled as she was dragged away. Her eyes narrowed at the man. "You'll regret everything Cobb."
DWDWDW
They were in a large cage with numbers on it 60120716.
Donna looked at the numbers that were on it. "More numbers. They've got to mean something."
"Makes as much sense as the Breath of Life story." The Doctor complained.
"You mean that's not true?" Jenny questioned looking at the Doctor, her brows furrowed.
"No, it's a myth. Isn't it, Doctor?" Donna questioned looking at the Doctor.
"Yes, but there could still be something real in that temple. Something that's become a myth. 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. What, what are you, what are you, what are you staring at?"
"You keep insisting you're not a soldier, but look at you, drawing up strategies like a proper general."Jenny said as she continued to stare at him.
"No, no. I'm trying to stop the fighting." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"Isn't every soldier?"
"Well, I suppose, but that's, that's. Technically, I haven't got time for this. Donna, give me your phone. Time for an upgrade."
"And now you've got a weapon."
"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."
"Donna, will you tell her?"
"Oh, you are speechless. I'm loving this. You keep on, Jenny."
Leona let out a soft laugh shaking her head lightly.
The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on Donna's phone and then called Martha.
"Doctor?" Martha's voice rang out.
"Martha, you're alive!"
"Doctor! Oh, am I glad to hear your voice. Are you all right?"
"I'm with Donna and Leona. We're fine. What about you?"
"And, and Jenny. She's fine too." Donna piped up.
"Yes, all right. And, Jenny. That's the woman from the machine. The soldier. My daughter, except she isn't, she's, she's. Anyway, where are you?"
"I'm in the Hath camp. I'm okay, but something's going on. The Hath are all marching off to some place that's appeared on this map thing."
"Oh, that was me. If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Just stay where you are. If you're safe there, don't move, do you hear?"
"But I can help."
Suddenly the phone beeped letting the Doctor know something had happened.
The Doctor let out a groan of frustration.
Leona looked at the Doctor with a concerned gaze.
DWDWDW
Suddenly loud cheers could be heard from the soldiers. "To war!"
"They're getting ready to move out. We have to get past that guard." The Doctor said looking to where the guard was posted.
"I can deal with him." Jenny said, looking at the Doctor.
"No, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere."
"What?"
"You belong here with them."
"She belongs with us. With you. She's your daughter." Donna exclaimed, wondering why he could be so cruel.
"She's a soldier. She came out of that machine."
"Oh yes, I know that bit. Listen, have you got that stethoscope? Give it to me. Come on."
"What are you doing?" Jenny questioned as Donna began to use the stethoscope.
"It's all right. Just hold still." Donna listened to Jenny's chest. "Come here. Listen, and then tell me where she belongs."
"Two hearts." The Doctor said with wide eyes as he listened.
"Exactly."
"What's going on?" Jenny questioned, looking rather confused.
"Does that mean she's a, what do you call a female Time Lord?"
"What's a Time Lord?"
"It's who I am. It's where I'm from." The Doctor explained to Jenny.
"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. Only it's gone now, all of it. Gone forever."
"What happened?"
"There was a war."
Leona looked at the Doctor with her eyes wide.
"Like this one?" Jenny asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Bigger. Much bigger."
"And you fought, and killed?"
" Yes."
"Then how are we different?" Jenny questioned looking at the Doctor, her brows furrowed.
"Enough of the chit chat. We have to come up with a way to get out of here." Leona said, looking at them. "Any ideas?"
Jenny smiled. "I have one." She said moving towards the bars. "Hey."
Cline looked at Jenny. "I'm not supposed to talk to you. I'm on duty."
"I know. Guarding me. So, does that mean I'm dangerous, or that I need protecting?"
"Protecting from what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Men like you?" Jenny then kissed Cline through the bars whilst taking his pistol. "Keep quiet and open the door."
"I'd like to see you try that." Donna said, looking at the Doctor.
Leona let out a soft chuckle. "Come on."
They went past Cline who remained silent with Jenny having a gun trained on them. They made it to the stair case only to find a guard on the lower flight of metal stairs.
"That's the way out." The Doctor said thinking.
Jenny raised the pistol.
"Don't you dare."
"Let me distract this one. I have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years." Donna said, looking at the Doctor.
"Let's save your wiles for later. In case of emergency." He began to rummage in his coat pockets, a few moments later a clockwork mouse grinds to a halt behind the guard. He picked it up and Jenny karate chopped him from behind. The Doctor looked at Jenny. "I was going to distract him, not clobber him."
"Well, it worked, didn't it?"
"They must all have a copy of that new map. Just stay there. Don't hurt anyone."
Leona let out a breath shaking her head lightly. "Let's use the map and see where it takes us."
The Doctor nodded his head.
DWDWDW
Donna, The Doctor, Jenny, and Leona walked through the tunnels.
The Doctor stopped and looked at the map. "Wait. This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel."
"It's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere." Donna said seeing the number 60120714.
"The original builders must have left them. Some old cataloging system." Leona said thinking as she touched the number slightly.
"You got a pen? Bit of paper? Because, do you see, the numbers are counting down. This one ends in one four. The prison cell said one six." Donna explained to the Doctor and Leona.
"Always thinking, the three of you. Who are you people?" Jenny questioned.
"I told you. I'm the Doctor."
"The Doctor. That's it?"
"That's all he ever says." Donna said, looking at Jenny.
"So, you don't have a name either? Are you an anomaly, too?" Jenny questioned.
"No."
"Oh, come off it. You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met." Donna said, looking at the Doctor.
The Doctor was able to get into the control panel. "Here it is."
"And Time Lords. What are they for, exactly?"
"For? They're not, they're not for anything."
"So what do you do?"
"I travel through time and space."
"He saves planets, rescues civilisations, and defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved." Donna explained as the Doctor worked.
The door opened.
"Got it!"
"Squad five, with me." Cobb could be heard in the hall.
"Now, what were you saying about running?"
Leona let out a breath. "Well we better do that now. Cause they don't sound happy."
They ran into the passageway and began to run.
The Doctor came to a stop just before the array of laser beams criss-crossed the passage.
"That's not mood lighting, is it?" Donna questioned.
The Doctor tosses the clockwork mouse into the lasers. It disintegrated.
"No, I didn't think so."
"Arming device." He said as he turned working on a blue box nearby.
"I wouldn't be able to get us through that even safely." Leona said, shaking her head.
"There's more of these. Always eight numbers, counting down the closer we get."
"Right, here we go."
"You'd better be quick." Donna said, looking over at the Doctor.
"Corridor." Cobb could be heard coming closer.
"The General." Jenny said, moving.
"Where are you going?" The Doctor questioned.
"I can hold them up."
"No, we don't need any more dead."
"But it's them or us."
"It doesn't mean you have to kill them."
"I'm trying to save your life."
"Listen to me. The killing. After a while, it infects you. And once it does, you're never rid of it."
"We don't have a choice."
"We always have a choice."
"I'm sorry." Jenny said as she moved away from the three of them.
"Jenny."
Suddenly gun fire could be heard.
"I told you. Nothing but a soldier." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"She's trying to help." Leona said, looking at the Doctor.
"Jenny, come on." The Doctor called out.
"I'm coming."
The Doctor got the lasers to go out.
"That's it." Donna said with a smile.
"Jenny, leave it! Let's go."
The three of them ran down the corridor to get away from the soldiers.
"Jenny, come on. That's it." The Doctor called out.
"Hurry up." Donna called.
The lasers reappeared suddenly.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. The circuit's looped back."
"Zap it back again." Donna said, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.
"The controls are back there." Leona said, pointing back to where they had been prior.
"They're coming." Jenny called out.
"Wait. Just. There isn't. Jenny, I can't"
"I'll have to manage on my own. Watch and learn, Father." Jenny threw away the weapon she had and somersaulted her way through the laser beams.
"No way. But that was impossible." Donna said, her eyes wide.
"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely. Brilliant! You were brilliant. Brilliant." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
"I didn't kill him. General Cobb, I could have killed him but I didn't. You were right. I had a choice."
Cobb and his men appeared at the other side of the lasers.
Donna and Jenny ran while the Doctor and Leona stayed behind for a few moments.
"At arms."
"I warned you, Cobb. If the Source is a weapon, I'm going to make sure you never use it."
"One of us is going to die today and it won't be me."
The Doctor grabbed Leona's arm and ran with her to get away from the hail of bullets that were fired.
"You always have to be like that, no?" Leona questioned as she ran.
"If I remember correctly you loved my mouth."
Leona's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as they ran.
They caught up with Donna and Jenny.
"So, you travel together, but you're not together?" Jenny questioned Donna
"What? No. No. No way. No, no, we're friends, that's all. I mean, we're not even the same species. There's probably laws against it."
"And what's it like, the traveling?"
"Oh, never a dull moment. It can be terrifying, brilliant and funny, sometimes all at the same time. I've seen some amazing things though. Whole new worlds."
"Oh, I'd love to see new worlds."
"You will. Won't she, Doctor?"
"Hmm?" The Doctor questioned looking over at Donna.
"Do you think Jenny will see any new worlds?"
"I suppose so."
"You mean. You mean you'll take me with you?" Jenny questioned curiously.
"Well, we can't leave you here, can we?" The Doctor said with a small smile.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Come on, let's move on." Jenny said moving forward.
"Careful, there might be traps."
"Kids. They never listen. Oh, I know that look. I see it a lot round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock."
"Dad-shock?"
"Sudden unexpected fatherhood. Take a bit of getting used to."
"No, it's not that."
"Well, what is it then? Having Jenny in the Tardis, is that it? 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?"
"Donna, I've been a father before."
"What?"
"I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me? You talk all the time, but you don't say anything."
"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. We both will."
"But when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now."
"I tell you something, Doctor. Something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong."
Suddenly there was a lot of gun fire and Jenny ran back to them.
"They've blasted through the beams. Time to run again. Love the running. Yeah?"
"Love the running." The Doctor said with a smile.
They began to run until they couldn't run any longer.
Donna's eyes went wide as they came to a blocked exit. "We're trapped."
"Can't be. This must be the Temple. This is a door."
"And again. We're down to one two now"
"I've got it!"
"I can hear them." Jenny called back over her shoulder.
The Doctor worked on the door. "Nearly done."
"These can't be a cataloging system." Leona said, looking over at the Doctor.
"They're getting closer." Jenny called out.
"Then get back here." The Doctor called back.
"They're too similar. Too familiar." Donna said thinking.
"Not yet." Jenny called back.
"Now! Got it." The Doctor got the plain door open and they went through it.
"They're coming. Close the door."
The Doctor shut the door and locked it.
"Oh, that was close."
"No fun otherwise." The Doctor said with a cheeky smile.
"It's not what I'd call a temple." Donna said looking forward.
"It looks more like…"Jenny said.
"Fusion drive transport. It's a spaceship." The Doctor said, looking at it.
"What, the original one? The one the first colonists arrived in?" Donna questioned.
"Well, it could be, but the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered-up and functioning. Come on."
They headed up a flight of stairs to see someone is cutting their way through another door.
"It's the Hath. That door's not going to last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's going to break out." Jenny said, her eyes widening.
"Look, look, look, look, look. Ship's log." The Doctor said bringing up the log. "First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline."
"So it is the original ship."
"What happened?" Leona questioned moving to look at the log.
"Phase one, construction. They used robot drones to build the city." The Doctor explained.
"But does it mention the war?" Donna questioned, confused.
The Doctor scrolled down. "Final entry. 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 said thinking.
"Look at that." Donna pointed out on the display above the screen 60120724.
"It's like the numbers in the tunnels."
"No, no, no, no. But listen, 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. It's staring us in the face." Donna explained to them.
"What is?" Jenny asked, looking at Donna.
"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 it is in America"
"Oh! It's the New Byzantine Calendar." The Doctor said finally realizing what it was trying to show.
"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."
"Yes. Oh, good work, Donna."
"Yeah. But you're still not getting it. The first number I saw back there, was sixty twelve oh seven seventeen. Well, look at the date today."
"Oh seven twenty four. No."
"What does it mean?" Jenny asked, confused.
"Seven days."
"That's it. Seven days." Donna said thinking.
"Just seven days."
"What do you mean, seven days?" Jenny asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Seven days since war broke out."
"This war started seven days ago. Just a week. A week!" Donna said, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.
"They said years." Jenny said softly.
"No, 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."
"But all the buildings, the encampments. They're in ruins." Jenny said thinking.
"No, they're not ruined. They're just empty. Waiting to be populated. Oh, they've mythologised their entire history. The Source must be part of that too. Come on."
DWDWDW
Martha was finally reunited with The Doctor, Leona, and Donna. Martha ran up to the Doctor. "Doctor!"
"Martha! Oh, I should have known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement." The Doctor said, hugging her.
"Donna."
"Oh, you're filthy. What happened?" Donna said, looking at Martha.
"I, er, took the surface route." Martha said sheepishly.
"Positions."
Leona's head whipped around her eyes wide.
"That's the General. We haven't got much time." The Doctor explained to Martha.
"We don't even know what we're looking for." Donna said softly.
"Is it me, or can you smell flowers?" Martha questioned.
"Maintain defensive positions."
"Yes. Bougainvillea. I say we follow our nose." The Doctor said with a nod of his head.
"We need to move now." Leona said as the Doctor grabbed her hand.
"Squads seven to ten, advance. With me."
DWDWDW
The Doctor looked around the spaceship that was filled with plants. "Oh, yes. Yes. Isn't this brilliant?"
They walked up to a glowing globe on a pedestal with wires running to it. There was a control panel and screen nearby.
"Is that the Source?" Donna questioned in awe.
"It's beautiful." Jenny said softly.
"What is it?" Martha asked.
"Terraforming. It's a third generation terraforming device." The Doctor explained.
"So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?" Donna questioned looking over at the Doctor.
"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 ran in from opposite sides.
"Stop! Hold your fire!" The Doctor hollered trying to stop them from breaking out into a war.
"What is this, some kind of trap?" Cobb snarled.
"You said you wanted this war over."
"I want this war won."
"You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on. 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. It's a bubble of gasses. 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." The Doctor took the globe. "I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over." He threw the globe onto the floor, where it smashed and released gas and energy.
Everyone watched it slowly rise up, when they started to put their weapons down, all except for Cobb.
"What's happening?" Jenny questioned softly.
"The gasses will escape and trigger the terraforming process."
"What does that mean?"
"It means a new world."
"No!" Jenny said, suddenly jumping in front of the Doctor taking a bullet that Cobb intended for the Doctor.
The Doctor laid her on the ground.
Leona suddenly used her magic blasting Cobb to his knees causing the soldiers to surround him.
"Jenny? Jenny. Talk to me, Jenny."
"Is she going to be alright?" Donna asked softly.
Martha shook her head.
"A new world. It's beautiful." Jenny said softly.
"Jenny, be strong now. You need to hold on, do you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me, hey? Hey? We can go anywhere. Everywhere. You choose." The Doctor said softly.
"That sounds good."
"You're my daughter, and we've only just got started. You're going to be great. You're going to be more than great. You're going to be amazing. You hear me? Jenny?"
Jenny died in his arms.
"Two hearts. Two hearts. She's like me. If we wait. If we just wait."
"There's no sign, Doctor. There is no regeneration. She's like you, but maybe not enough." Martha said softly.
"No. Too much. That's the truth of it. She was too much like me." The Doctor laid Jenny down and kissed her on the forehead. He then went to where Cobb was.
Cline and another soldier who were holding his arms and making sure he stayed kneeled.
The Doctor picked up a pistol and pointed it at Cobb's head for a very long time before putting the safety back on. "I never would. Have you got that? I never would. When you start this new world, this world of Human and Hath, remember that. Make the foundation of this society a man who never would."
DWDWDW
Leona stood with the Doctor, her hand comfortably in his, squeezing it lightly.
"Jenny was the reason for the Tardis bringing us here. It just got here too soon, which then created Jenny in the first place. Paradox. An endless paradox. Time to go home?" The Doctor questioned looking over at Martha.
"Yeah. Home." Martha said with a nod of her head.
Leona slowly pulled away from the Doctor. "I should be on my way, Doctor."
The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "I know." He said softly.
Leona gave him a small sad smile. "I know you wanted her to see everything. And I'm sorry that I didn't see him firing that gun fast enough."
The Doctor's hand went up to her cheek. "It's not your fault Leona."
Leona nodded her head weakly. She looked up at him before leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you again soon Doctor." She said softly before backing away from him.
Golden swirls surrounded her.
"I know." He said softly. "Safe travels."
Leona smiled as the golden swirls surrounded her more and she vanished.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This is the end of Chapter 5. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I tried my best with writing it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'm trying my best to make these chapters as good as I can. Hopefully the rest of my chapters turn out well. I have to admit this bouncing around from episode to episode is fun. And I'm excited to show you what the next episode is. Reviews actually keep me going. I'm just trying to figure out when The Doctor and Leona should get together. Which version of the Doctor and of course with Leona being in her first life… I think I should wait until she's in her second life. What do you guys think? I'll try to update with the next chapter soon. Until next time.