Doctor Who: The Time Child

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Gwen sat on the sofa, listening the transmissions filtering through from different governments in different languages. Danni sat next to her, her legs tucked up under her as she leant on Gwen's shoulder, her mug of tea cupped in her hands. She knew any moment now Harriet Jones would contact them, but listening to the messages of terror and defeat was heartbreaking. People still died, people still were turned into the Daleks. A little boy was about to be blown up because his father took a stand, and he'll only be one of many.

"I never thought I'd be scared of the Daleks." Danni stated suddenly, "They're the most defeated monsters in the Doctor's history, and quite frankly they're appalling to look at." Gwen glanced down at the girl, who was staring into her mug, "But now I'm here, I can't think of anything more horrifying than them tin cans." Gwen didn't reply, just leant her head on top of Danni's as they stared out into the room.

"This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek fleet. We surrender. Repeat: we surrender." The UN General's voice broke through the Dalek transmission, "Planet Earth surrenders." Ianto, who had decided to occupy himself with making everyone yet another drink, placed the tray down on a small metal table with shaking hands before falling into the chair next to it. Jack watched, feeling utterly hopeless, leaning against a wall with his knees drawn up to his chest, clutching his phone in his hand.

"Humans selected for testing will follow Dalek instructions." A Dalek commanded from above them.

"Can anyone hear me?" A female voice, full of crackling from static, began transmitting to them, "The subwave network is open, you should be able to hear my voice. Is there anyone there?" Danni grinned, letting go of Gwen and downing the dregs of her tea.

"Now we're getting somewhere." She crowed, "Come on." She grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled her over to a monitor where a snowy image had appeared, a woman's outline barely visible in the black and white blur.

"This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?" The voice continued.

"Someone's trying to get in touch." Gwen called over to Jack and Ianto, knowing from the joyful look on Danni's face it was important.

"The whole world's crying out. Just leave it." Jack replied despairingly.

"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" The woman reprimanded and Danni laughed happily as Jack and Ianto jumped up and ran over, "Now, stand to attention, sir!"

"What?! Who is that?" Jack asked, perplexed. The image solidified and filled with colour as Harriet Jones stared back at them, ID card on display.

"Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister." She told them.

"Yeah, I know who you are." Jack replied, amused that she felt she had to introduce herself.

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road." Harriet Jones called, "Are you there?" She paused as she listened for Sarah Jane, nodding, "Good!Now, let's see if we can talk to each other." The screen in front of them divided into four, Harriet in the top left, Torchwood in the top right and Sarah Jane in the bottom left, "The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through. I'll just boost the signal. " Harriet typed furiously to help boost their signal. Danni waved at the screen, knowing Rose was watching from Donna's house, even though she couldn't join the conversation.

"Hello Noble Household!" Danni cried, "I'll see you soon, sweetie!" She blew Rose a kiss as Martha appeared on the screen.

"Hello?" She asked uncertainly. Gwen, Ianto and Jack laughed in relief as Danni punched the air.

"Martha Jones!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. Danni turned and smirked at him smugly.

"Told you she'd be okay." She gloated, "Why does no one ever listen to me, eh?" Jack rolled his eyes before pulling her in for a hug, planting a kiss in her hair.

"Beautiful and smart, you're starting to become a threat aren't you Danni-Girl?" Danni nodded.

"Damn right, my American chum." She replied then looked at the screen, "Martha, where are you?" She asked Martha, wanting to know if she had been right about the location. She was so sure she was at her mums house, but she had been forgetting a few things lately. She wanted to make sure her memories weren't fading.

"I guess Project Indigo was more clever than we thought." Martha replied, "One second I was in Manhattan, next second... Maybe Indigo tapped into my mind, because I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be." Mrs Jones appeared in the background, smiling lovingly at her daughter.

"You came home. At the end of the world, you came back to me." Mrs Jones finished, eyes only for her middle child.

"But all of a sudden, it's like... the laptop turned itself on?" Martha asked, hoping for an explanation.

"It did." Harriet and Danni stated at the same time. Martha grinned at the pair, she had missed Danni and her ability to know exactly what was happening or going to happen.

"Harriet Jones is brilliant, absolutely brilliant and will explain everything to you. I, however, am going to go make myself another cup of tea. You all be magnificent."

"Danni!" Sarah Jane called, "Is the Doctor coming?" Danni nodded.

"Soon. You all just to have to hang in there. Be fabulous; that includes you Nobles out there." She winked then skipped off, her face dropping as she thought about Harriet's tragic fate. She made her way into Jack's office, flipping the switch on the now only half-full kettle then settled down on a chair. They needed the signal boosted for the Doctor to be able to follow it, and she just didn't think there was another way. She wasn't smart enough to think of another way, and while there may have been other ways to contact him they just couldn't risk him being too late. Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, Harriet's death was necessary. She rubbed her eyes as she sighed, running her hands firmly down her face as she tried to calm herself down. She just had to wait it out.

The kettle switched off and she slowly made herself a drink before sitting down directly across from the clock on Jack's wall, watching it tick around for five minutes, not concentrating on the chatter outside, only on the ticking of the clock. She was startled by the central column of the Hub exploding into life, large rings of blue energy pulsing up it and she knew Harriet was about to die.

"I think we've got a fix!" She heard Jack shout over the noise and she waited patiently until Jack then shouted, "Where the hell have you been?! Doctor, it's the Daleks!" She stood up, placed a large smile on her face and headed out into the main room where Gwen and Ianto had joined him around the screen.

"Ooh, he's a bit nice. I thought he'd be older." Gwen commented and Ianto shot her a look.

"He's not that young." He retorted, hoping Jack wasn't thinking the same thing. Danni smiled at his jealousy, although she had to agree with Gwen. The Doctor was very nice to look at.

"It's the Daleks! They're taking people to their spaceship!" Sarah Jane's voice interjected and suddenly she and Martha began to talk animatedly over each other. She approached just close enough to see Ten in the screen, smiling widely at the image of all his friends on the screen.

"...But it's not just Dalek Caan!" Martha finished.

"Sarah Jane!" The Doctor exclaimed happily, "Who's that boy?" He pointed at the square with Jack in, "That must be Torchwood. Aren't they brilliant? Look at you all, you clever people!"

"That's Martha!" Donna said before pointing at the square with Jack in, a mischievous smile on her face, "And who's he?"

"Captain Jack. Don't!" He shook his finger warningly at her, knowing without looking she was about to say something, "Just... don't."

"It's like... an outer-space Facebook!" Donna summarised.

"Everyone except Danni and Rose..." The Doctor added quietly and Danni hopped in front of Jack.

"I'm here!" She cried, holding her mug aloft, "Just getting a cup of tea." The Doctor's face lit up and she grinned back.

"Danni-Girl! What are you doing there?"

"Oh, just spending some quality time with my devilishly handsome American chum here." She motioned to Jack, who laughed at the Doctor's suddenly very angry-looking face, "We're all here." She winked at the screen, hoping Rose would understand that she meant her as well. The screen went static and Jack groaned.

"We've lost them." He growled as he began typing on the keyboard, "I'll try and give it a little boost."

"We're being intersected by another transmission." Danni told him.

"Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged." A deep voice, almost Dalek but without the robotic edge, drawled as the screen cleared into an image of a man drenched in shadow.

"Our lord and master." Danni sighed quietly, looking upwards hoping the Doctor was okay. Davros rolled out into view, his eyeless face drawing a gasp from Gwen.

"Welcome... to my new Empire, is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race." Jack looked at Danni.

"The creator?" He repeated and she nodded.

"Davros. The Dalek's are made from his flesh, that's why he has none left. He was supposed to have died in the Time War."

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros asked after a pause, obviously expecting a reply from the Doctor.

"But you were destroyed." The Doctor's voice filtered through the transmission, so barely audible that Jack turned the volume up on the machine as best he could, "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysiem.I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you..."

"But it took one stronger than you." They all winced and Jack turned the volume back down, "Dalek Caan himself."

"I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times!" a sing-song voice called from behind Davros.

"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself."

"But that's impossible, the entire War is time-locked." The Doctor snapped back angrily.

"And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?" Davros taunted.

"And you made a new race of Daleks." The Doctor's voice broke and Danni's hand shot to her mouth, her heart breaking for his. If she was on the TARDIS, she could have at least held his hand, but she was useless down on Earth.

"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros pulled the top of his leather suit open to reveal the rotten flesh underneath, hanging off his ribs so that his heart was visible, "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"

"After all this time... everything we saw, everything we lost... I have only one thing to say to !" The signal cut, leaving just static again and Danni span to face Jack.

"We have to find him!" She cried and he nodded, rushing into his office. Danni downed the rest of her tea, now only just warm enough to be drinkable, and shoved the mug at Ianto.

"The Dalek's are coming here. The subwave network diverts here." She warned him as Jack ran back in, phone against one ear as he undid his cuff on the same hand. Ianto, who had gone to check what Danni had told him on a terminal turned to Gwen.

"Gwen!" She came over to see what he had seen, "Dalek saucer heading for the Bay. They've found us." Gwen watched the blinking red dot on the map move closer to Cardiff Bay as Ianto dashed off.

"Martha, open that Indigo device! Now, listen to me: lift the central panel. There's a string of numbers that keep changing." Jack explained down the phone, picking up a large gun with his free hand. He motioned with it over to Danni, offering her it but she shook her head. He shrugged, "But the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits. Tell me what they are." He ran back over and handed the gun to Gwen as Ianto returned with his trench coat.

"That's a teleport base-code, and that's all I need to get this thing working again." He let Ianto help him into his coat them flipped open his vortex manipulator, "Oscillating four... and nine. Thank you, Martha Jones." He flipped his phone shut and Gwen handed him his gun, "I've gotta go. I've got to find the Doctor." He told his two friends, who just stared silently, "I'll come back." No answer, "I'm coming back!"

"Don't worry about us. Just go." Gwen told him, a fake smile on her face.

"We'll be fine." Ianto added and Jack smirked at him.

"You'd better be." He held out his arm to Danni, "Danni-Girl?" She linked arms with him and they teleported away, landing in an alleyway. Danni span around in a circle, used to being disorientated by a vortex manipulator and pointed to a church she could see up the road.

"That way!" She cried, taking off in a run, Jack quickly falling into step beside her. They came to an opening in between two houses and Rose appeared on the road. Danni skidded to a halt, holding her arm out to stop Jack. Rose stared at the two, smiling widely and Danni waved at her before motioning up to the Doctor, who was stood on the over end of the road, staring down at them with Donna. Rose started running, huge gun in hand as the Doctor set off to meet her in the middle. A Dalek appeared out of the shadows and Danni pushed the end of Jack's gun down as he aimed to shoot it.

"Exterminate!" It cried, hitting the Doctor in one side. Jack yelled in shock and shot the head off the Dalek. They all rush to the Doctor's side as Rose knelt down beside him, cradling his head in her hands.

"I've got you. It missed you. Look!" She smiled shakily at him, "It's me, Doctor." The Doctor panted through the pain, just about able to keep his eyes open as he smiled up at her.

"Rose." He breathed, almost in awe at the sight of her.

"Hi." She replied.

"Where's Danni?" He asked and Danni knelt beside them, taking his other hand.

"Here." She told him with a soft smile, "Look, she came back." The two girls grin at each other despite the situation, so happy to see each other again.

"You said I would see her again." He told her.

"Well, see, you should listen to me more shouldn't you?" She mock-scolded him. He let out a breathy chuckle then convulsed.

"Don't die. Oh, my God, don't die." Rose whimpered, "Oh, my God, don't die." Danni turned to her.

"We need to get him to the TARDIS." She told her gently but firmly. Donna and Jack help them get him off the floor and onto his feet. Jack then let go and grabbed Rose's gun, keeping a look out for more Dalek's as they helped him into the TARDIS. They placed him down on the floor by the console as he moaned in pain, Rose still cradling him as Danni clutched his hands. All the girls were in floods of tears.

"What- what do we do? There must be some medicine or something!" Donna cried, distraught. Jack threw the guns onto the pilot chair and turned to the three.

"Just step back. Rose, Danni! Do as I say, and get back!" He commanded, but neither move from their spots next to him, "He's dying, and you know what happens next." Donna stared at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"But you can't... not now, I came all this way." Rose sobbed.

"What do you mean? What happens next?" The Doctor held out his hand in front of his face, watching it as it began glowing with regeneration energy. Danni looked at Rose.

"Rose." She stated and the girl's head snapped up to look at her, "We have to move."

"It's starting." The Doctor moaned and Rose looked back down, shaking.

"Rose." Danni called again, "Trust me. We have to move." Rose nodded and, after kissing the Doctor on the forehead, scrambled up and moved over to Jack, who pulled her in for a hug. Danni tried to move but the Doctor kept a grip on her hand. She looked down at him, confused.

"I don't want to go." He told her and she blinked in surprise, she hadn't expected those words from him yet.

"I know." She replied, swallowing deeply, "but you'll be back in a moment." She kissed his knuckles and he did the same to her before letting her go. She rushed over to the others, hugging Donna around the waist as he slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Donna asked, terrified and perplexed.

"When he's dying, his- his body, it- it repairs itself, it changes." Rose stuttered out before looking over at the Doctor, "But you can't." She pleased.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor apologised, "It's too late. I'm regenerating!" He threw his arms out wide and tilted his neck as regeneration energy erupted from every pour, blinding the other occupants to squint at the brightness. Danni clung to Donna, eyes squeezed shut as she waited.