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batsutousaiTitle: Dust in the Sky
Part: 5 of 6
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta:tsuki_no_suzu
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Tenth Doctor (minor Rose/Tenth Doctor, Martha/Tenth Doctor and Jack/Tenth Doctor)
Warnings: Slash, minor Ginny!hate
Summary: Sequel to Hanging by a Thread. Harry has a life to live now with a wife and children, but he can still find time for the Doctor, no matter what he looks like.
Disclaim Her: Nope.
Fifth Part, first half
-0-
Harry was learning to like Saturdays. Those were the days he always got off, save the apocalypse, and went to visit his kids. James and Albus had taken to racing each other to the door when he rang at nine each morning. James usually beat Albus and pulled open the door, shouting, "Dad's here!" And Harry would grab whichever boy opened the door up in a hug, then trade him for the other. Ginny would walk out of the kitchen with Lily and invite him in for tea.
Tea always consisted of the two boys vying for their father's attention with stories about their week and Harry would listen to both of them patiently, laughing or sympathising with them in all the right places. He would always end up with Lily in his lap at one point and she would demand a sip of his tea, so Harry would cast a cooling charm on it and let her have her sip, then warm it back up again for himself.
After tea, the boys would drag Harry out into the back yard and demand to play football with him or, if it was raining, take him upstairs to play a board game they pulled out of the cupboard. Harry would always end up staying for lunch, no matter his intentions, and would cook something up for them, despite Dobby's comments that he was more than capable of cooking for everyone.
After lunch, Harry would pull three gifts from a pocket that he'd picked up earlier in the week and 'forgotten' about until just then. He'd hand the gifts over to the kids, earning a round of squeals, then give all of them a hug and Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek and leave until the next week.
It was one such Saturday that the previously mentioned apocalypse occurred. Harry and the boys were just getting up to go play football outside when the whole world felt like it was tipping over. Harry reached out and grabbed Albus as the young boy almost fell over, while James caught himself on the table and Ginny on the kitchen counter, where she was putting away the cups from tea. Dobby had Lily and let his back smash into the cabinets to protect the little girl.
As soon as everything stopped moving, Harry called out, "Everyone okay?"
"I'm okay, Dad," Albus whispered, clutching his father's arm, eyes wide in terror.
"Safe," James said, looking around at the too dark room. "Who turned off the lights?"
"Ginny?" Harry called.
"I'm fine," Ginny said back, gently taking Lily from the wincing Dobby. "Lily, too. But Dobby's hurt."
"Dobby will be fine, Master Harry," the little elf said, standing up straight.
"Good."
"Dad?" James called from over by the kitchen window. "Mum?"
"What is it, James?" Ginny asked.
"The sky..." James whispered, turning to look at them in terror. "There's something wrong with the sky."
Harry hurried over to the window, then let out a string of curses and pulled out his mobile. Before he could do more than flip it open, it rang, Hermione's name appearing. She was currently in the Department, he knew, so he answered, "Hermione? What the hell just happened?"
"I'm not sure! The computers can't tell us anything."
"Has anyone looked outside?" Harry demanded, staring up at the planets in the sky.
"No. Should we?"
Harry swallowed. "We're surrounded by planets, and the stars are wrong. We've moved, 'Mione."
"Well, shit," Hermione moaned. "We'll keep working on things here. Try and call the Doctor!"
Harry nodded and hung up. Before he could go through his contacts, Ginny asked, "Harry, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted, feeling Albus grab at his hand. He gently took the boy's hand in his and squeezed. "We'll sort it out, though," he promised, smiling at his family. He got some very scared smiles back, then flicked down to the Doctor's name and hit the call button.
"We're sorry, this number is out of range."
Harry stared at his phone in disbelief. He checked that he'd rung the right number, then tried it again.
"We're sorry, this number is out of range."
"What the he–" He coughed, remembering the three children in the room. "Crap."
"Dad?" Albus whispered.
"What is it, Harry?" Ginny asked, eyes bright with fear.
Harry glanced at her a little warily. "Trying to get in contact with the Doctor," he admitted.
Ginny's lips tightened. "You think he can do something about that?" she demanded, waving a hand out the window. "One man?"
"Well, he might need a bit of help, but, yes. I think he could do something about it." He frowned at his phone and shook it a bit. "Assuming the bleeding phone would connect."
Said phone rang again and he rose an eyebrow at the number, but answered anyway. "Harry Potter."
"Harry, do you have any idea what's going on?" Ianto Jones asked from the other end.
"Absolutely nothing. Why are you ringing me instead of Jack?"
"Jack's on the phone with Martha." Ianto paused. "You do know Martha, right?"
" 'Course I know Martha. I know everyone," Harry replied promptly, then shook his head. "I don't suppose you lot or UNIT know what's going on?"
"No. But, whoever's got us wants us alive. They've erected an atmospheric shell to keep in the air and heat."
"You know, somehow, that doesn't reassure me," Harry offered drily.
Ianto laughed a little nervously.
"Dad?" James whispered.
"We're fine," Harry reassured his kids. They almost looked like they believed him, but when he looked at Ginny, her eyes silently asking if he was telling the truth, he looked away.
Jack said something Harry didn't catch and Ianto demanded, "When was that?"
"Strictly professional," Jack replied.
Harry snorted. "Did Jack just claim to have been professional about something?"
Ianto snorted in reply. "We've got ships coming in, by the way," he reported. "Oh, wait, transmission..."
"Exterminate. Exterminate."
Harry froze, bile in his throat. He remembered the Daleks from Canary Warf. He remembered what the Doctor had told him about them.
"Exterminate. Exterminate."
Harry slowly lowered and closed his mobile, thinking hard. They hadn't gotten into the Ministry last time. Maybe they wouldn't be able to again. "We need to go," he told his family. "Now."
"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny demanded while Harry fished for his emergency portkey in his pockets.
"Monsters," he whispered. "The stuff of nightmares. They're out there, right now. We'll be safe in the Ministry." He pulled out the portkey and held it out. "Everyone, take hold. You too, Dobby."
"Harry–"
"Ginny! I will argue with you about this when we're in the Ministry. For now, take hold of the portkey." He looked at her, eyes burning and she grabbed the portkey, making sure that Lily was also touching it.
The two boys and Dobby all touched it without being told to again. Harry activated it with a touch of his wand and they all appeared in the atrium of the Ministry.
Harry shoved the portkey back into his pocket. "Stay here," he told his family, then dashed to the security desk. "Hey, John. I need to make a general announcement to the Ministry."
John, the wizard behind the desk, handed Harry a cone, wide-eyed.
Harry nodded to him. "Code red," he said into the cone, voice echoing throughout the building. "This is a code red. Hostiles outside the Ministry. All entrances are to be shut down in fifteen minutes. Please get your families here before then. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. All entrances to be closed in fifteen minutes."
Harry's phone rang as he handed back the cone. He flipped it open, walking back over to Ginny and the children. On the other end, the head of the Department shouted, "Potter! What are you doing?!"
"There's a battalion of Daleks headed for Earth, sir. The Ministry building was safe from them last time, but if we don't close down, they may very well get in."
On the other end, there was the sound of rustling parchment, then an intake of breath. "The Daleks?" the head whispered.
"Yes, sir," Harry agreed.
"Thank you, Potter," the head said. "You've done the right thing." Then he hung up.
Harry immediately dialled the Burrow. Harry had gotten a phone installed and made sure Molly could use it after his time on the Valiant. It rang twice before Molly picked it up. "Yes?"
"Mum, I need you, Dad, Ron and the kids to floo to the Ministry," Harry said firmly.
"Why? What's going on, Harry?" Molly pleaded.
"I can't really explain right now," Harry admitted, watching as people started flooing or apparating in to the atrium. Ministry workers without an easy way to reach their family were running into the atrium and apparating away. "But I need you to floo here. Please."
"Okay, Harry," Molly agreed. "We're on our way." She hung up.
"They're on their way," Harry assured Ginny, who was watching him with wide eyes. Albus and James stood on either side of their mother, looking terrified.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted from the lifts, and he turned to wave at her as she ran up to them. "We were told there are Daleks out there."
"There are," Harry agreed grimly.
"What are 'Daleks'?" Ginny demanded as they were joined by the rest of the Weasleys.
"Daleks are the worst possible monster in the universe," Harry offered, eyes dark. "They believe all beings other than themselves are unfit to live and should be killed."
"You say that like they're not human," Arthur said with a small laugh.
Harry turned to him. "They're not. They're from the planet Skaro. Created by some bloke named Davros."
" 'Created'?" Ginny whispered.
"Do I want to know how you know all that?" Hermione muttered.
"You're saying their aliens?" Arthur asked.
Harry blinked at all of them, then startled when his phone rang. "Ianto! What's going on down there?"
"Not Ianto," Jack said. "The Valiant is down–"
"Somehow, that doesn't bother me as much as it should."
"–and Martha tried using a prototype transporter. Have you heard from the Doctor?"
"No. Can't get through. Did you say Martha used a prototype? As in, not fully working?"
"Yes I did."
Harry cursed under his breath.
"Harry!" Hermione smacked his arm.
Harry offered her a grim smile. "Sorry, 'Mione. Jack, what are you lot doing, then? I assume you haven't heard from Martha?"
"No," Jack said, sounding pained. "Nothing. And I'm afraid we won't ever again."
"Don't talk like that," Harry snapped.
"There's nothing we can do," Jack said, ignoring Harry. "We can't fight the Daleks, and unless we can somehow reach the Doctor..."
Harry closed his eyes. "I know," he whispered.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered, and Harry looked up to find his family staring at him, all looking not a little bit scared. Harry had faced down Voldemort when all seemed lost; what could be so bad about some aliens?
"Ministry building is now closing off all entrances. I repeat, all entrances to the Ministry building are now closing. All floos and surface lifts have been shut off. Please do not attempt to use these exits until the danger has passed."
"Harry?" Jack asked. "Are you safe?"
"The Daleks couldn't get into the Ministry last time," Harry replied, "and neither could the Toclafane–"
"The what?" Hermione asked.
"We're closed in. Is the Hub secure?"
"As secure as it can be. I doubt the Daleks will think to press the button behind the desk in the travel office, so we should be okay. Unless they can sense the door. Ow!"
Harry smiled. "Gwen hit you, didn't she?" Jack grunted an affirmative. "Serves you right."
"I was only..." Jack trailed off and in the silence, Harry could hear a faint voice in the background.
"That sounds like someone I know," Harry murmured.
"Yeah, well, the whole world's crying out. Why does it matter?" Jack replied.
"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" the voice snapped.
"Harriet Jones!" Harry said, smacking his forehead.
"The muggle Prime Minister?" Ron asked, frowning.
"Former," Hermione corrected.
Harry laughed as Harriet introduced herself on the other end of the line. He continued grinning as he heard her trying to get the attention of Sarah Jane Smith. "Jack, ask her how she's doing that," he asked.
"Ms Jones, Harry wants to know how you're contacting us," Jack relayed.
"Harry Potter?" Harriet replied.
"The same. Harry, is there anyone you don't know on this planet?"
"Sure. Some blokes in Japan," Harry retorted.
Jack laughed, then relayed what Harriet told him about the subwave network being made to connect all of those who could help contact the Doctor while the woman herself got them all up on screen.
Harry looked over at Hermione. "Department," he ordered, then hurried past her, leaving her to give their excuses to the family. He was in the lift when he heard reassurance that Martha was alive and well. As soon as he got into the Department, he ran over to the only computer they had working, an older model that made a horrible whining sound, but which had been updated with some alien tech by a group in UNIT when they decided the Department needed a real computer for video conferences.
Almost as soon as Harry turned on the monitor of the computer, the group of screens blinked into existence and Harry grinned at the faces displayed. Other members of the Department crowded in around him, some of them waving at Martha, who smiled back.
Harriet met out introductions to those who needed them, then explained, again, what the subwave network was, since Martha had missed the explanation. Then she explained that through the network, they should combine forces to reach the Doctor.
They all quickly figured out what they could do: Mr Smith, Sarah Jane's computer, would use all the phones in the UK to call and Torchwood would use the rift to boost the signal. Martha and Harry both had the phone number and Harry promised to add the entire Department's mobiles to the equation, since Mr Smith couldn't quite get them.
Decided, they started their work, Harry passing around the Doctor's number to all his co-workers while the others did their thing on their end. As soon as everyone reported being ready, the members of the Department dialled the Doctor's number.
When Harriet was spotted by the Daleks, she offered to transfer control to Torchwood, but Harry called, "Send it here, Harriet. Our systems might not be as high-tech as Torchwood's, but I have a feeling we'll be able to keep the Daleks out better."
Gwen glanced off-screen towards Jack, then nodded. "Transfer it to the Department," she agreed.
"Transferring," Harriet reported.
Harry turned to the group in the doorway of the alien tech room. "I need six and seven on. Now!" The group hurried and turned the required machines on to hold the network. The room filled with the sounds of machinery and, when the control was switched and one of the machines started sparking, the group in the room hurriedly turned on another two machines to help hold the overload.
Harriet's screen went blank.
"Keep trying!" Harry called to the people who turned to look at the screen in horror.
Soon enough, the fuzzy screen cleared to show the Doctor, grinning at all of them. The Department let out a resounding cheer and everyone on the screen tried to tell the Doctor about the Daleks, but he just kept grinning, pointing people out to Donna, who stood next to him.
Suddenly, the whole screen went fuzzy, then cleared to show a being in something like a pushchair. Everyone watched as the Doctor and the being discussed the past, no one quite sure who he was until the Doctor mentioned him having created a new race of Daleks.
"Davros," Harry whispered.
The Doctor ended the transmission with a manic, "Bye!"
Harry turned to his people. "He'll be coming down to Earth. I want to know where he lands."
"You're going to go to him, aren't you?" Hermione whispered, even as a man ran to grab the TARDIS finder off Harry's desk.
Harry nodded. "I have to, 'Mione. I'm sorry." His phone rang and he answered it. "Potter."
"You've got two saucers hovering over your position," Ianto reported.
Harry nodded. "Thanks, Ianto. Good luck."
"You too, Harry."
Harry hung up. "Make sure the Minister and his staff have evacuated the top floor and that it's been closed off. That's where the Daleks are most likely to break through, if they can at all."
A couple of members nodded and ran to make sure that was happening, even as the man who'd gone to Harry's desk came back with the TARDIS finder. Harry nodded his thanks, then worked the controls until it pin-pointed the TARDIS.
Harry kissed Hermione's cheek. "Be safe," he said, then hurried for the nearest apparation point, TARDIS finder beeping away in his hands.
Behind him, Hermione nodded and hurried to make sure things were under control.
-0-
Harry apparated in just as a Dalek shot the Doctor. He snapped out his wand and hissed, "Avada Kedavra."
The Dalek stopped, smoke curling out of its metal casing.
Harry was just starting off towards the Doctor when Jack appeared. He shot the Dalek, earning him a raised eyebrow from Harry, then they both hurried over to where Rose and Donna had knelt next to the Doctor.
"Get him into the TARDIS," Jack ordered, grabbing Rose's gun, which she'd set down. Donna and Rose carefully helped the Doctor to the TARDIS, Jack watching their backs while Harry watched ahead of them, wand drawn.
"What– What do we do?" Donna cried as Jack closed the door behind himself and they rested the Doctor on the metal grating. "There must be some medicine or something!"
"Just step back," Jack ordered, dropping the two guns on the chair. "He's dying, and you know what happens next. Rose! Step back."
"What do you mean?" Donna asked.
Harry touched Rose's shoulders gently. "Come on, Rose."
"But you can't, not now," Rose whispered to the Doctor. "Not after I've travelled all this way."
"Come away, Rose," Harry said again, a little more firmly. As the Doctor's hand started to glow, Rose finally let Harry pull her back to where Jack grabbed them both in a half hug, other hand on Donna's shoulder.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Donna demanded.
"When he's dying, his– his body, it– it repairs itself, it changes," Rose explained, shaking. She looked at the Doctor and pleaded, "But you can't."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said to her. "It's too late. I'm regenerating!" He lit up with light so bright none of them could stand to look at him, but they all tried to, squinting to watch him regenerate.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and aimed them at the container holding his hand under the console. The light transferred from him into the container, causing it to glow and bubble.
The Doctor knelt next to the jar and blew on it, making it calm down. Then he looked up at all of them. "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, why would I? Look at me!" He grinned winningly and fixed his tie. "So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle – namely, my hand. My hand, there. My handy spare hand." He looked at Rose. "Remember? Christmas Day? Sycorax? Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand! What do you think?"
Rose stepped forward. "And you're still you?"
"Yup. Still me," the Doctor agreed.
Rose flung herself into his arms for a hug.
Harry felt arms tighten around him and he grinned up at Jack. "I love happy endings," he said with a fake sniffle.
"Oiy! Where's my hug?" Donna demanded.
Harry slipped out of Jack's grip, laughing, and hugged Donna. "I'm glad to see you again, Donna," he said, then motioned to Jack. "I don't know that you've been properly introduced. Donna, this is Captain Jack Harkness, head of Torchwood. Jack, this is Donna Noble. And, Jack, don't start."
Jack grinned a bit too innocently.
The Doctor and Rose joined them, Rose hugging Harry before he could do more than half-turn to her. "I missed you," she whispered.
Harry smiled at her. "I missed you too, Rose." He pulled back and gently touched her cheek. "Look at you. Two years gone and you still look as lovely as ever."
"Lovelier," Jack offered, grinning over Harry's shoulder. Rose laughed and left Harry to hug Jack.
Harry grinned at the Doctor. "Glad you're still the same," he offered.
"Never change, me," the Doctor replied, then pulled Harry into a hug.
Harry pulled away. "I certainly hope not," he agreed, then reached into his pocket for his mobile. "I should let Hermione know we're all okay," he said.
Before he could do more than open his contact list, the phone and the TARDIS went dead.
"They've got us!" the Doctor announced, trying a few buttons. "Some sort of chronon loop!"
"Lumos," Harry whispered, giving them a bit of light.
Rose shook her head. "Is there anyone who doesn't know you're a wizard?" she asked, looking at the unsurprised faces of Jack and Donna.
"The Daleks," Harry offered as the Doctor managed to get the TARDIS computer working. "Where are they taking us, anyway?"
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets," Jack offered. "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."
"You said these planets were like an engine. But what for?" Donna asked, looking at the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned, then turned to Rose. "Rose! You've been in a parallel world, that world's running ahead of this universe - you've seen the future, what was it?"
"It's the darkness," she replied quietly.
"The stars were going out," Donna offered.
"One by one," Rose agreed. "We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this um... this travel machine, this... uh... Dimension Cannon, so I could... well, so I could..."
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"So I could come back!" Rose told him grumpily, making the Doctor grin madly while Jack and Harry snorted, turning away when she glared at them. "Shut up...! Anyway, suddenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world – not just in yours – but the whole of reality, even the Void was dead. Something is... destroying everything."
"In that parallel world," Donna said, Rose turning to look at her, "you said something about me."
"The Dimension Cannon could measure timelines, and it's... it's weird, Donna, but they all seem to converge on you," Rose explained.
"But why me? I mean... what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick!"
The screen beeped and the Doctor glanced at it. "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard..."
When they landed, the Daleks outside ordered them to come out and there was a bit of a discussion about the last time Rose and Jack had been with the Doctor and fighting Daleks, but the Doctor replied that, with these Daleks, the TARDIS wasn't safe at all. He asked after their various teleporting objects; Rose's needed another twenty minutes to charge, Jack's was down, and they were too far from Earth for Harry to apparate.
They had to go outside.
The Doctor let them all know that they'd been brilliant, then led the way out. Only Donna was left inside when the door slammed shut, trapping her. The Daleks dumped the TARDIS into the core of the Crucible, where it would be burned up. Nothing the Doctor said would get them to bring it back.
Harry faced Jack and hissed, "Cover me," which the immortal man did. Harry pulled out his TARDIS finder and re-set it to find the TARDIS in the Crucible. Once he'd locked on, he nodded and looked up at Jack. "Wish me luck."
"Be careful," Jack whispered back.
Harry glanced over at where the Doctor was watching the TARDIS hover in the core, slowly breaking apart. He nodded to himself, then apparated.
He fell over as soon as he landed, the TARDIS rocking back and forth and alight with fires everywhere. "DONNA!" he shouted, pulling himself to his feet with the help of a nearby railing. "DONNA!"
He caught sight of her over some flames. She was staring down at a glowing hand that was... growing a body?
He ducked around some more flames and ran around the TARDIS to Donna. There, he grabbed her shoulders. "Donna! We need to get out!"
Donna shook her head. "What's happening?" she whispered.
"The TARDIS is falling apart!" Harry snapped, shaking her a little. "I can apparate us out of here."
"No, what's happen–"
The words died on her lips as the body finished growing and sat up.
"It's you!" Donna exclaimed while Harry hissed, "Doctor?"
"Oh yes," the Doctor said.
Donna blinked, then looked up towards the ceiling. "You're naked," she said.
"Oh yes," the Doctor repeated.
Harry snorted. "Doctor, can you fly us out of this? Because I can apparate us, but..."
The Doctor grinned. "If one of you would get my other suit!" he called, jumping to his feet and starting to hit buttons on the console.
"I'll go," Harry offered as the TARDIS started up. He left Donna, staring in disbelief at the Doctor, and wandered up to the costume room. He found the required blue suit and brought it down, tossing it to the Doctor when he looked like he might be done messing with the controls. "We're safe, then?" he asked, absently putting out a few fires.
"Perfectly," the Doctor agreed.
"And do you..." Harry paused and considered his words. "Does the other you know that we're safe? I know you lot are sort of... Oh, connected or some such."
The Doctor considered that. "Don't know. She's running on quiet right now." He motioned to the central column. "He might not be able to feel her. And even if he can, he won't let the Daleks know, will he?"
"Certainly hope not," Harry agreed, then went to put out a few more fires and help the TARDIS repair the back hallway, leaving the Doctor and Donna to talk about what had happened.
Harry had mostly finished fixing stuff – why were there so many rooms again? – when the TARDIS gave a great shudder. He turned and hurried back into the control room, where the Doctor and Donna were watching something on the monitor. "What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Single-stream Z-Neutrinos compressed into..." the Doctor muttered to himself, then his eyes went wide. "No. No way..."
They watched as the planets lit up, then went back to normal. "What is it? Doctor? What did it do?" Donna asked.
The Doctor just stood there, looking disbelieving.
"Doctor..." Harry touched his arm.
The Doctor kept staring at the screen for a long moment, then suddenly jumped into motion, running off down the hallway.
Harry and Donna turned to look at each other. "Bonkers," Donna said.
Harry nodded. "I don't think he's going to tell us."
"Somehow, I think you're right," Donna agreed.
When the Doctor ran back in with a bunch of parts in his hands, he said, "I've got a plan!"
Harry sighed.
-0-
The Doctor put together a device which, when used against Davros, would destroy all the Daleks. As soon as he was finished, he hit the switch with his foot, causing the TARDIS to materialize in the Crucible. Then he dashed out the door with the weapon, aiming for Davros.
Davros shot him with electricity, causing the weapon to fly out of his hands. Then the Doctor was trapped in some sort of holding cell.
Before Harry could stop her, Donna dashed outside to try where the Doctor had failed, but she, too, was stopped, and then the weapon was destroyed.
The newer Doctor explained why there were two of him while Harry thought long and hard about how he could help. No weapon, and just killing Davros likely wouldn't help. He could probably try and destroy whatever was controlling this horrible weapon of the Daleks', but he didn't know what he could destroy to do it.
Just before the count-down finished, the power died, making all the Daleks and Davros shout about it. Harry poked his head out and saw Donna, playing with the controls and talking quite gleefully about what she'd done.
Davros turned his finger on her to try and shock her again, but Harry shot off an over-powered stinging hex. "Oh, I really wouldn't."
Davros ordered the Daleks to attack, apparently thinking Harry couldn't defend against all of them at once, but Donna quickly fixed it so the Daleks' weapons wouldn't work. Then she deactivated the holding cells and closed down the vault, keeping other Daleks from coming in. Finally, she set the Daleks to spin, getting a laugh out of all the humans. Jack ran past Harry into the TARDIS for the two guns still on the seat while the two Doctors joined Donna at the console.
Harry made his way to Davros, grinning and putting his wand against the alien's skull. "I suppose I should warn you that this kills as well as stinging. Don't try anything funny, Davros."
The two Doctors and Donna went about sending the planets home while the other humans moved Daleks out of the way.
The three at the console took a break to get more energy from somewhere and Rose stepped forward, asking, "Is anyone gonna tell us what's going on?"
Donna gestured to the original Doctor. "He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand," she motioned to the newer Doctor, "he grew out of that, but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros!" She smiled at all of them. "Part Human... part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind."
All the other humans stared at the three of them.
"So there's THREE of you?" Sarah Jane demanded.
"Three Doctors?" Rose said.
Jack blinked, looking almost pleased. "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," he said. Harry shot a stinging hex at him, raising an eyebrow when Jack gave him a wounded look.
"You're so unique that the timelines were converging on you. Human being with a Time Lord brain," the original Doctor said.
Davros turned to the Dalek sitting in another beam of light with its casing open and demanded why that Dalek hadn't told him about this.
Dalek Caan giggled.
The Doctor commented that it was likely that Dalek Caan knew all along, and Dalek Caan agreed, explaining why he did it.
The Supreme Dalek came down into the vault and shot at the Doctor and hit the console instead. Jack shot him dead and the Doctor complained about how the machine was broken, but there was only one planet left. Incidentally, that planet was Earth, but they could use the TARDIS to take it home. He ran into the TARDIS and Dalek Caan reminded them all about the prophecy and that the Daleks must all be destroyed.
The new Doctor set about making sure the Daleks would explode. When the original Doctor came back out, he didn't look amused and ordered them all back into the TARDIS.
Once they were safe from the exploding Crucible, the Doctor set about using Torchwood and Luke and Mr Smith to attach the Earth to the TARDIS so they could drag it home, with everyone helping to drive.
And once they'd gotten home, they all cheered and there were hugs all around.
-0-
They all said their goodbyes at their first stop. Sarah Jane left first, commenting that she needed to get home to her son. Jack, Martha and Harry walked out together. They were stopped by the Doctor, who needed to fix Jack's teleport again and ask Martha to get rid of the key she'd been about to use to destroy the Daleks' plans. Martha, of course, agreed.
Then all three of them saluted, grinning, and turned to walk on down the path, Jack commenting on how UNIT had maybe gone a bit bad. He'd mostly been looking at Martha, but he also glanced at Harry. Harry gleefully reminded Jack that he was only a part of UNIT as a technicality, to which Jack replied, "All the more reason to leave now, before it gets worse." They'd all laughed.
When Mickey hurried to join them, Harry said, "If you're looking for volunteers, I think Mickey would be willing to sign up."
"Sign up for what?" Mickey asked.
"Torchwood."
Mickey snorted. "I'll think about it," he decided.
-0-
Harry happened to be in Chiswick a week later, looking into a possible alien sighting that had been reported. He'd rolled his eyes when the report had come in, but promised to take it anyway, thinking he might stop by and see Donna's family. Make sure they were okay. He knew Donna hadn't intended to stop in before flying off with the Doctor again.
He was just approaching the house when he saw Donna step out, car keys in her hand. She was chattering away on her mobile and Harry watched on in disbelief as she hopped into the car and drove off.
He hurried up to the front door and knocked. Her grandfather opened the door, looking surprised. It took him a moment, but he eventually stepped out, closing the door behind him. "You're one of the Doctor's friends," he said.
Harry nodded. "What's Donna doing home? I thought she'd been planning to travel for a while yet."
Wilfred sighed and glanced back at the house. "The Doctor said she took on his memories." Harry nodded. "But they were too much for her. He had to completely wipe all memory of him from her mind."
Harry hissed out a breath. "So she's forgotten everything?"
"Yes," Wilfred agreed.
Harry closed his eyes. "I see. I'll make sure the others know."
"He said..." Wilfred looked torn.
"Yes?"
"He said she can't ever remember. Ever."
Harry smiled a little sadly. "He would know," he said. "We'll stay away," he promised. "All of us. We don't want to hurt her."
Wilfred nodded. "Thank you."
Harry nodded. "Sure. And, Wilfred?"
"Yes?"
"If you need help, I'm always here." Harry smiled. "Donna should still have my number, assuming she hasn't deleted it. Well, mine and Martha's. You might want to delete those for her."
Wilfred nodded. "Martha and..." He frowned. "I don't believe I know your name."
Harry chuckled. "Harry Potter," he replied, then apparated back to the Ministry, leaving a surprised Wilfred behind.
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: Okay, loves, that's it for Donna. Next chapter will include the specials and, I'm thinking, the Torchwood: Children of Earth season, since it happened at about the same time. My problem is, I'm not sure how much of the specials I'll be using, and since TCoE happens in there, it should help that along nicely. XD
So! If you don't know Torchwood, I'm sorry. On the other hand, I've gotten a couple of requests for the series to play more of a role, and since that particular bit would, in fact, affect Harry, it seems only right that he get involved.
That's all! See you on the flip side!
~Bats ^.^x
Harry & the Doctor Series:
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four |Five | Six
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One | Two | Three
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
Part: 5 of 6
Author:
batsutousaiBeta:
tsuki_no_suzuRating: PG-13
Pairings: Harry Potter/Tenth Doctor (minor Rose/Tenth Doctor, Martha/Tenth Doctor and Jack/Tenth Doctor)
Warnings: Slash, minor Ginny!hate
Summary: Sequel to Hanging by a Thread. Harry has a life to live now with a wife and children, but he can still find time for the Doctor, no matter what he looks like.
Disclaim Her: Nope.
Fifth Part, first half
Harry was learning to like Saturdays. Those were the days he always got off, save the apocalypse, and went to visit his kids. James and Albus had taken to racing each other to the door when he rang at nine each morning. James usually beat Albus and pulled open the door, shouting, "Dad's here!" And Harry would grab whichever boy opened the door up in a hug, then trade him for the other. Ginny would walk out of the kitchen with Lily and invite him in for tea.
Tea always consisted of the two boys vying for their father's attention with stories about their week and Harry would listen to both of them patiently, laughing or sympathising with them in all the right places. He would always end up with Lily in his lap at one point and she would demand a sip of his tea, so Harry would cast a cooling charm on it and let her have her sip, then warm it back up again for himself.
After tea, the boys would drag Harry out into the back yard and demand to play football with him or, if it was raining, take him upstairs to play a board game they pulled out of the cupboard. Harry would always end up staying for lunch, no matter his intentions, and would cook something up for them, despite Dobby's comments that he was more than capable of cooking for everyone.
After lunch, Harry would pull three gifts from a pocket that he'd picked up earlier in the week and 'forgotten' about until just then. He'd hand the gifts over to the kids, earning a round of squeals, then give all of them a hug and Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek and leave until the next week.
It was one such Saturday that the previously mentioned apocalypse occurred. Harry and the boys were just getting up to go play football outside when the whole world felt like it was tipping over. Harry reached out and grabbed Albus as the young boy almost fell over, while James caught himself on the table and Ginny on the kitchen counter, where she was putting away the cups from tea. Dobby had Lily and let his back smash into the cabinets to protect the little girl.
As soon as everything stopped moving, Harry called out, "Everyone okay?"
"I'm okay, Dad," Albus whispered, clutching his father's arm, eyes wide in terror.
"Safe," James said, looking around at the too dark room. "Who turned off the lights?"
"Ginny?" Harry called.
"I'm fine," Ginny said back, gently taking Lily from the wincing Dobby. "Lily, too. But Dobby's hurt."
"Dobby will be fine, Master Harry," the little elf said, standing up straight.
"Good."
"Dad?" James called from over by the kitchen window. "Mum?"
"What is it, James?" Ginny asked.
"The sky..." James whispered, turning to look at them in terror. "There's something wrong with the sky."
Harry hurried over to the window, then let out a string of curses and pulled out his mobile. Before he could do more than flip it open, it rang, Hermione's name appearing. She was currently in the Department, he knew, so he answered, "Hermione? What the hell just happened?"
"I'm not sure! The computers can't tell us anything."
"Has anyone looked outside?" Harry demanded, staring up at the planets in the sky.
"No. Should we?"
Harry swallowed. "We're surrounded by planets, and the stars are wrong. We've moved, 'Mione."
"Well, shit," Hermione moaned. "We'll keep working on things here. Try and call the Doctor!"
Harry nodded and hung up. Before he could go through his contacts, Ginny asked, "Harry, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted, feeling Albus grab at his hand. He gently took the boy's hand in his and squeezed. "We'll sort it out, though," he promised, smiling at his family. He got some very scared smiles back, then flicked down to the Doctor's name and hit the call button.
"We're sorry, this number is out of range."
Harry stared at his phone in disbelief. He checked that he'd rung the right number, then tried it again.
"We're sorry, this number is out of range."
"What the he–" He coughed, remembering the three children in the room. "Crap."
"Dad?" Albus whispered.
"What is it, Harry?" Ginny asked, eyes bright with fear.
Harry glanced at her a little warily. "Trying to get in contact with the Doctor," he admitted.
Ginny's lips tightened. "You think he can do something about that?" she demanded, waving a hand out the window. "One man?"
"Well, he might need a bit of help, but, yes. I think he could do something about it." He frowned at his phone and shook it a bit. "Assuming the bleeding phone would connect."
Said phone rang again and he rose an eyebrow at the number, but answered anyway. "Harry Potter."
"Harry, do you have any idea what's going on?" Ianto Jones asked from the other end.
"Absolutely nothing. Why are you ringing me instead of Jack?"
"Jack's on the phone with Martha." Ianto paused. "You do know Martha, right?"
" 'Course I know Martha. I know everyone," Harry replied promptly, then shook his head. "I don't suppose you lot or UNIT know what's going on?"
"No. But, whoever's got us wants us alive. They've erected an atmospheric shell to keep in the air and heat."
"You know, somehow, that doesn't reassure me," Harry offered drily.
Ianto laughed a little nervously.
"Dad?" James whispered.
"We're fine," Harry reassured his kids. They almost looked like they believed him, but when he looked at Ginny, her eyes silently asking if he was telling the truth, he looked away.
Jack said something Harry didn't catch and Ianto demanded, "When was that?"
"Strictly professional," Jack replied.
Harry snorted. "Did Jack just claim to have been professional about something?"
Ianto snorted in reply. "We've got ships coming in, by the way," he reported. "Oh, wait, transmission..."
"Exterminate. Exterminate."
Harry froze, bile in his throat. He remembered the Daleks from Canary Warf. He remembered what the Doctor had told him about them.
"Exterminate. Exterminate."
Harry slowly lowered and closed his mobile, thinking hard. They hadn't gotten into the Ministry last time. Maybe they wouldn't be able to again. "We need to go," he told his family. "Now."
"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny demanded while Harry fished for his emergency portkey in his pockets.
"Monsters," he whispered. "The stuff of nightmares. They're out there, right now. We'll be safe in the Ministry." He pulled out the portkey and held it out. "Everyone, take hold. You too, Dobby."
"Harry–"
"Ginny! I will argue with you about this when we're in the Ministry. For now, take hold of the portkey." He looked at her, eyes burning and she grabbed the portkey, making sure that Lily was also touching it.
The two boys and Dobby all touched it without being told to again. Harry activated it with a touch of his wand and they all appeared in the atrium of the Ministry.
Harry shoved the portkey back into his pocket. "Stay here," he told his family, then dashed to the security desk. "Hey, John. I need to make a general announcement to the Ministry."
John, the wizard behind the desk, handed Harry a cone, wide-eyed.
Harry nodded to him. "Code red," he said into the cone, voice echoing throughout the building. "This is a code red. Hostiles outside the Ministry. All entrances are to be shut down in fifteen minutes. Please get your families here before then. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. All entrances to be closed in fifteen minutes."
Harry's phone rang as he handed back the cone. He flipped it open, walking back over to Ginny and the children. On the other end, the head of the Department shouted, "Potter! What are you doing?!"
"There's a battalion of Daleks headed for Earth, sir. The Ministry building was safe from them last time, but if we don't close down, they may very well get in."
On the other end, there was the sound of rustling parchment, then an intake of breath. "The Daleks?" the head whispered.
"Yes, sir," Harry agreed.
"Thank you, Potter," the head said. "You've done the right thing." Then he hung up.
Harry immediately dialled the Burrow. Harry had gotten a phone installed and made sure Molly could use it after his time on the Valiant. It rang twice before Molly picked it up. "Yes?"
"Mum, I need you, Dad, Ron and the kids to floo to the Ministry," Harry said firmly.
"Why? What's going on, Harry?" Molly pleaded.
"I can't really explain right now," Harry admitted, watching as people started flooing or apparating in to the atrium. Ministry workers without an easy way to reach their family were running into the atrium and apparating away. "But I need you to floo here. Please."
"Okay, Harry," Molly agreed. "We're on our way." She hung up.
"They're on their way," Harry assured Ginny, who was watching him with wide eyes. Albus and James stood on either side of their mother, looking terrified.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted from the lifts, and he turned to wave at her as she ran up to them. "We were told there are Daleks out there."
"There are," Harry agreed grimly.
"What are 'Daleks'?" Ginny demanded as they were joined by the rest of the Weasleys.
"Daleks are the worst possible monster in the universe," Harry offered, eyes dark. "They believe all beings other than themselves are unfit to live and should be killed."
"You say that like they're not human," Arthur said with a small laugh.
Harry turned to him. "They're not. They're from the planet Skaro. Created by some bloke named Davros."
" 'Created'?" Ginny whispered.
"Do I want to know how you know all that?" Hermione muttered.
"You're saying their aliens?" Arthur asked.
Harry blinked at all of them, then startled when his phone rang. "Ianto! What's going on down there?"
"Not Ianto," Jack said. "The Valiant is down–"
"Somehow, that doesn't bother me as much as it should."
"–and Martha tried using a prototype transporter. Have you heard from the Doctor?"
"No. Can't get through. Did you say Martha used a prototype? As in, not fully working?"
"Yes I did."
Harry cursed under his breath.
"Harry!" Hermione smacked his arm.
Harry offered her a grim smile. "Sorry, 'Mione. Jack, what are you lot doing, then? I assume you haven't heard from Martha?"
"No," Jack said, sounding pained. "Nothing. And I'm afraid we won't ever again."
"Don't talk like that," Harry snapped.
"There's nothing we can do," Jack said, ignoring Harry. "We can't fight the Daleks, and unless we can somehow reach the Doctor..."
Harry closed his eyes. "I know," he whispered.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered, and Harry looked up to find his family staring at him, all looking not a little bit scared. Harry had faced down Voldemort when all seemed lost; what could be so bad about some aliens?
"Ministry building is now closing off all entrances. I repeat, all entrances to the Ministry building are now closing. All floos and surface lifts have been shut off. Please do not attempt to use these exits until the danger has passed."
"Harry?" Jack asked. "Are you safe?"
"The Daleks couldn't get into the Ministry last time," Harry replied, "and neither could the Toclafane–"
"The what?" Hermione asked.
"We're closed in. Is the Hub secure?"
"As secure as it can be. I doubt the Daleks will think to press the button behind the desk in the travel office, so we should be okay. Unless they can sense the door. Ow!"
Harry smiled. "Gwen hit you, didn't she?" Jack grunted an affirmative. "Serves you right."
"I was only..." Jack trailed off and in the silence, Harry could hear a faint voice in the background.
"That sounds like someone I know," Harry murmured.
"Yeah, well, the whole world's crying out. Why does it matter?" Jack replied.
"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!" the voice snapped.
"Harriet Jones!" Harry said, smacking his forehead.
"The muggle Prime Minister?" Ron asked, frowning.
"Former," Hermione corrected.
Harry laughed as Harriet introduced herself on the other end of the line. He continued grinning as he heard her trying to get the attention of Sarah Jane Smith. "Jack, ask her how she's doing that," he asked.
"Ms Jones, Harry wants to know how you're contacting us," Jack relayed.
"Harry Potter?" Harriet replied.
"The same. Harry, is there anyone you don't know on this planet?"
"Sure. Some blokes in Japan," Harry retorted.
Jack laughed, then relayed what Harriet told him about the subwave network being made to connect all of those who could help contact the Doctor while the woman herself got them all up on screen.
Harry looked over at Hermione. "Department," he ordered, then hurried past her, leaving her to give their excuses to the family. He was in the lift when he heard reassurance that Martha was alive and well. As soon as he got into the Department, he ran over to the only computer they had working, an older model that made a horrible whining sound, but which had been updated with some alien tech by a group in UNIT when they decided the Department needed a real computer for video conferences.
Almost as soon as Harry turned on the monitor of the computer, the group of screens blinked into existence and Harry grinned at the faces displayed. Other members of the Department crowded in around him, some of them waving at Martha, who smiled back.
Harriet met out introductions to those who needed them, then explained, again, what the subwave network was, since Martha had missed the explanation. Then she explained that through the network, they should combine forces to reach the Doctor.
They all quickly figured out what they could do: Mr Smith, Sarah Jane's computer, would use all the phones in the UK to call and Torchwood would use the rift to boost the signal. Martha and Harry both had the phone number and Harry promised to add the entire Department's mobiles to the equation, since Mr Smith couldn't quite get them.
Decided, they started their work, Harry passing around the Doctor's number to all his co-workers while the others did their thing on their end. As soon as everyone reported being ready, the members of the Department dialled the Doctor's number.
When Harriet was spotted by the Daleks, she offered to transfer control to Torchwood, but Harry called, "Send it here, Harriet. Our systems might not be as high-tech as Torchwood's, but I have a feeling we'll be able to keep the Daleks out better."
Gwen glanced off-screen towards Jack, then nodded. "Transfer it to the Department," she agreed.
"Transferring," Harriet reported.
Harry turned to the group in the doorway of the alien tech room. "I need six and seven on. Now!" The group hurried and turned the required machines on to hold the network. The room filled with the sounds of machinery and, when the control was switched and one of the machines started sparking, the group in the room hurriedly turned on another two machines to help hold the overload.
Harriet's screen went blank.
"Keep trying!" Harry called to the people who turned to look at the screen in horror.
Soon enough, the fuzzy screen cleared to show the Doctor, grinning at all of them. The Department let out a resounding cheer and everyone on the screen tried to tell the Doctor about the Daleks, but he just kept grinning, pointing people out to Donna, who stood next to him.
Suddenly, the whole screen went fuzzy, then cleared to show a being in something like a pushchair. Everyone watched as the Doctor and the being discussed the past, no one quite sure who he was until the Doctor mentioned him having created a new race of Daleks.
"Davros," Harry whispered.
The Doctor ended the transmission with a manic, "Bye!"
Harry turned to his people. "He'll be coming down to Earth. I want to know where he lands."
"You're going to go to him, aren't you?" Hermione whispered, even as a man ran to grab the TARDIS finder off Harry's desk.
Harry nodded. "I have to, 'Mione. I'm sorry." His phone rang and he answered it. "Potter."
"You've got two saucers hovering over your position," Ianto reported.
Harry nodded. "Thanks, Ianto. Good luck."
"You too, Harry."
Harry hung up. "Make sure the Minister and his staff have evacuated the top floor and that it's been closed off. That's where the Daleks are most likely to break through, if they can at all."
A couple of members nodded and ran to make sure that was happening, even as the man who'd gone to Harry's desk came back with the TARDIS finder. Harry nodded his thanks, then worked the controls until it pin-pointed the TARDIS.
Harry kissed Hermione's cheek. "Be safe," he said, then hurried for the nearest apparation point, TARDIS finder beeping away in his hands.
Behind him, Hermione nodded and hurried to make sure things were under control.
Harry apparated in just as a Dalek shot the Doctor. He snapped out his wand and hissed, "Avada Kedavra."
The Dalek stopped, smoke curling out of its metal casing.
Harry was just starting off towards the Doctor when Jack appeared. He shot the Dalek, earning him a raised eyebrow from Harry, then they both hurried over to where Rose and Donna had knelt next to the Doctor.
"Get him into the TARDIS," Jack ordered, grabbing Rose's gun, which she'd set down. Donna and Rose carefully helped the Doctor to the TARDIS, Jack watching their backs while Harry watched ahead of them, wand drawn.
"What– What do we do?" Donna cried as Jack closed the door behind himself and they rested the Doctor on the metal grating. "There must be some medicine or something!"
"Just step back," Jack ordered, dropping the two guns on the chair. "He's dying, and you know what happens next. Rose! Step back."
"What do you mean?" Donna asked.
Harry touched Rose's shoulders gently. "Come on, Rose."
"But you can't, not now," Rose whispered to the Doctor. "Not after I've travelled all this way."
"Come away, Rose," Harry said again, a little more firmly. As the Doctor's hand started to glow, Rose finally let Harry pull her back to where Jack grabbed them both in a half hug, other hand on Donna's shoulder.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Donna demanded.
"When he's dying, his– his body, it– it repairs itself, it changes," Rose explained, shaking. She looked at the Doctor and pleaded, "But you can't."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said to her. "It's too late. I'm regenerating!" He lit up with light so bright none of them could stand to look at him, but they all tried to, squinting to watch him regenerate.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and aimed them at the container holding his hand under the console. The light transferred from him into the container, causing it to glow and bubble.
The Doctor knelt next to the jar and blew on it, making it calm down. Then he looked up at all of them. "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, why would I? Look at me!" He grinned winningly and fixed his tie. "So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle – namely, my hand. My hand, there. My handy spare hand." He looked at Rose. "Remember? Christmas Day? Sycorax? Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand! What do you think?"
Rose stepped forward. "And you're still you?"
"Yup. Still me," the Doctor agreed.
Rose flung herself into his arms for a hug.
Harry felt arms tighten around him and he grinned up at Jack. "I love happy endings," he said with a fake sniffle.
"Oiy! Where's my hug?" Donna demanded.
Harry slipped out of Jack's grip, laughing, and hugged Donna. "I'm glad to see you again, Donna," he said, then motioned to Jack. "I don't know that you've been properly introduced. Donna, this is Captain Jack Harkness, head of Torchwood. Jack, this is Donna Noble. And, Jack, don't start."
Jack grinned a bit too innocently.
The Doctor and Rose joined them, Rose hugging Harry before he could do more than half-turn to her. "I missed you," she whispered.
Harry smiled at her. "I missed you too, Rose." He pulled back and gently touched her cheek. "Look at you. Two years gone and you still look as lovely as ever."
"Lovelier," Jack offered, grinning over Harry's shoulder. Rose laughed and left Harry to hug Jack.
Harry grinned at the Doctor. "Glad you're still the same," he offered.
"Never change, me," the Doctor replied, then pulled Harry into a hug.
Harry pulled away. "I certainly hope not," he agreed, then reached into his pocket for his mobile. "I should let Hermione know we're all okay," he said.
Before he could do more than open his contact list, the phone and the TARDIS went dead.
"They've got us!" the Doctor announced, trying a few buttons. "Some sort of chronon loop!"
"Lumos," Harry whispered, giving them a bit of light.
Rose shook her head. "Is there anyone who doesn't know you're a wizard?" she asked, looking at the unsurprised faces of Jack and Donna.
"The Daleks," Harry offered as the Doctor managed to get the TARDIS computer working. "Where are they taking us, anyway?"
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets," Jack offered. "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."
"You said these planets were like an engine. But what for?" Donna asked, looking at the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned, then turned to Rose. "Rose! You've been in a parallel world, that world's running ahead of this universe - you've seen the future, what was it?"
"It's the darkness," she replied quietly.
"The stars were going out," Donna offered.
"One by one," Rose agreed. "We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this um... this travel machine, this... uh... Dimension Cannon, so I could... well, so I could..."
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"So I could come back!" Rose told him grumpily, making the Doctor grin madly while Jack and Harry snorted, turning away when she glared at them. "Shut up...! Anyway, suddenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world – not just in yours – but the whole of reality, even the Void was dead. Something is... destroying everything."
"In that parallel world," Donna said, Rose turning to look at her, "you said something about me."
"The Dimension Cannon could measure timelines, and it's... it's weird, Donna, but they all seem to converge on you," Rose explained.
"But why me? I mean... what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick!"
The screen beeped and the Doctor glanced at it. "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard..."
When they landed, the Daleks outside ordered them to come out and there was a bit of a discussion about the last time Rose and Jack had been with the Doctor and fighting Daleks, but the Doctor replied that, with these Daleks, the TARDIS wasn't safe at all. He asked after their various teleporting objects; Rose's needed another twenty minutes to charge, Jack's was down, and they were too far from Earth for Harry to apparate.
They had to go outside.
The Doctor let them all know that they'd been brilliant, then led the way out. Only Donna was left inside when the door slammed shut, trapping her. The Daleks dumped the TARDIS into the core of the Crucible, where it would be burned up. Nothing the Doctor said would get them to bring it back.
Harry faced Jack and hissed, "Cover me," which the immortal man did. Harry pulled out his TARDIS finder and re-set it to find the TARDIS in the Crucible. Once he'd locked on, he nodded and looked up at Jack. "Wish me luck."
"Be careful," Jack whispered back.
Harry glanced over at where the Doctor was watching the TARDIS hover in the core, slowly breaking apart. He nodded to himself, then apparated.
He fell over as soon as he landed, the TARDIS rocking back and forth and alight with fires everywhere. "DONNA!" he shouted, pulling himself to his feet with the help of a nearby railing. "DONNA!"
He caught sight of her over some flames. She was staring down at a glowing hand that was... growing a body?
He ducked around some more flames and ran around the TARDIS to Donna. There, he grabbed her shoulders. "Donna! We need to get out!"
Donna shook her head. "What's happening?" she whispered.
"The TARDIS is falling apart!" Harry snapped, shaking her a little. "I can apparate us out of here."
"No, what's happen–"
The words died on her lips as the body finished growing and sat up.
"It's you!" Donna exclaimed while Harry hissed, "Doctor?"
"Oh yes," the Doctor said.
Donna blinked, then looked up towards the ceiling. "You're naked," she said.
"Oh yes," the Doctor repeated.
Harry snorted. "Doctor, can you fly us out of this? Because I can apparate us, but..."
The Doctor grinned. "If one of you would get my other suit!" he called, jumping to his feet and starting to hit buttons on the console.
"I'll go," Harry offered as the TARDIS started up. He left Donna, staring in disbelief at the Doctor, and wandered up to the costume room. He found the required blue suit and brought it down, tossing it to the Doctor when he looked like he might be done messing with the controls. "We're safe, then?" he asked, absently putting out a few fires.
"Perfectly," the Doctor agreed.
"And do you..." Harry paused and considered his words. "Does the other you know that we're safe? I know you lot are sort of... Oh, connected or some such."
The Doctor considered that. "Don't know. She's running on quiet right now." He motioned to the central column. "He might not be able to feel her. And even if he can, he won't let the Daleks know, will he?"
"Certainly hope not," Harry agreed, then went to put out a few more fires and help the TARDIS repair the back hallway, leaving the Doctor and Donna to talk about what had happened.
Harry had mostly finished fixing stuff – why were there so many rooms again? – when the TARDIS gave a great shudder. He turned and hurried back into the control room, where the Doctor and Donna were watching something on the monitor. "What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Single-stream Z-Neutrinos compressed into..." the Doctor muttered to himself, then his eyes went wide. "No. No way..."
They watched as the planets lit up, then went back to normal. "What is it? Doctor? What did it do?" Donna asked.
The Doctor just stood there, looking disbelieving.
"Doctor..." Harry touched his arm.
The Doctor kept staring at the screen for a long moment, then suddenly jumped into motion, running off down the hallway.
Harry and Donna turned to look at each other. "Bonkers," Donna said.
Harry nodded. "I don't think he's going to tell us."
"Somehow, I think you're right," Donna agreed.
When the Doctor ran back in with a bunch of parts in his hands, he said, "I've got a plan!"
Harry sighed.
The Doctor put together a device which, when used against Davros, would destroy all the Daleks. As soon as he was finished, he hit the switch with his foot, causing the TARDIS to materialize in the Crucible. Then he dashed out the door with the weapon, aiming for Davros.
Davros shot him with electricity, causing the weapon to fly out of his hands. Then the Doctor was trapped in some sort of holding cell.
Before Harry could stop her, Donna dashed outside to try where the Doctor had failed, but she, too, was stopped, and then the weapon was destroyed.
The newer Doctor explained why there were two of him while Harry thought long and hard about how he could help. No weapon, and just killing Davros likely wouldn't help. He could probably try and destroy whatever was controlling this horrible weapon of the Daleks', but he didn't know what he could destroy to do it.
Just before the count-down finished, the power died, making all the Daleks and Davros shout about it. Harry poked his head out and saw Donna, playing with the controls and talking quite gleefully about what she'd done.
Davros turned his finger on her to try and shock her again, but Harry shot off an over-powered stinging hex. "Oh, I really wouldn't."
Davros ordered the Daleks to attack, apparently thinking Harry couldn't defend against all of them at once, but Donna quickly fixed it so the Daleks' weapons wouldn't work. Then she deactivated the holding cells and closed down the vault, keeping other Daleks from coming in. Finally, she set the Daleks to spin, getting a laugh out of all the humans. Jack ran past Harry into the TARDIS for the two guns still on the seat while the two Doctors joined Donna at the console.
Harry made his way to Davros, grinning and putting his wand against the alien's skull. "I suppose I should warn you that this kills as well as stinging. Don't try anything funny, Davros."
The two Doctors and Donna went about sending the planets home while the other humans moved Daleks out of the way.
The three at the console took a break to get more energy from somewhere and Rose stepped forward, asking, "Is anyone gonna tell us what's going on?"
Donna gestured to the original Doctor. "He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand," she motioned to the newer Doctor, "he grew out of that, but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros!" She smiled at all of them. "Part Human... part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind."
All the other humans stared at the three of them.
"So there's THREE of you?" Sarah Jane demanded.
"Three Doctors?" Rose said.
Jack blinked, looking almost pleased. "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," he said. Harry shot a stinging hex at him, raising an eyebrow when Jack gave him a wounded look.
"You're so unique that the timelines were converging on you. Human being with a Time Lord brain," the original Doctor said.
Davros turned to the Dalek sitting in another beam of light with its casing open and demanded why that Dalek hadn't told him about this.
Dalek Caan giggled.
The Doctor commented that it was likely that Dalek Caan knew all along, and Dalek Caan agreed, explaining why he did it.
The Supreme Dalek came down into the vault and shot at the Doctor and hit the console instead. Jack shot him dead and the Doctor complained about how the machine was broken, but there was only one planet left. Incidentally, that planet was Earth, but they could use the TARDIS to take it home. He ran into the TARDIS and Dalek Caan reminded them all about the prophecy and that the Daleks must all be destroyed.
The new Doctor set about making sure the Daleks would explode. When the original Doctor came back out, he didn't look amused and ordered them all back into the TARDIS.
Once they were safe from the exploding Crucible, the Doctor set about using Torchwood and Luke and Mr Smith to attach the Earth to the TARDIS so they could drag it home, with everyone helping to drive.
And once they'd gotten home, they all cheered and there were hugs all around.
They all said their goodbyes at their first stop. Sarah Jane left first, commenting that she needed to get home to her son. Jack, Martha and Harry walked out together. They were stopped by the Doctor, who needed to fix Jack's teleport again and ask Martha to get rid of the key she'd been about to use to destroy the Daleks' plans. Martha, of course, agreed.
Then all three of them saluted, grinning, and turned to walk on down the path, Jack commenting on how UNIT had maybe gone a bit bad. He'd mostly been looking at Martha, but he also glanced at Harry. Harry gleefully reminded Jack that he was only a part of UNIT as a technicality, to which Jack replied, "All the more reason to leave now, before it gets worse." They'd all laughed.
When Mickey hurried to join them, Harry said, "If you're looking for volunteers, I think Mickey would be willing to sign up."
"Sign up for what?" Mickey asked.
"Torchwood."
Mickey snorted. "I'll think about it," he decided.
Harry happened to be in Chiswick a week later, looking into a possible alien sighting that had been reported. He'd rolled his eyes when the report had come in, but promised to take it anyway, thinking he might stop by and see Donna's family. Make sure they were okay. He knew Donna hadn't intended to stop in before flying off with the Doctor again.
He was just approaching the house when he saw Donna step out, car keys in her hand. She was chattering away on her mobile and Harry watched on in disbelief as she hopped into the car and drove off.
He hurried up to the front door and knocked. Her grandfather opened the door, looking surprised. It took him a moment, but he eventually stepped out, closing the door behind him. "You're one of the Doctor's friends," he said.
Harry nodded. "What's Donna doing home? I thought she'd been planning to travel for a while yet."
Wilfred sighed and glanced back at the house. "The Doctor said she took on his memories." Harry nodded. "But they were too much for her. He had to completely wipe all memory of him from her mind."
Harry hissed out a breath. "So she's forgotten everything?"
"Yes," Wilfred agreed.
Harry closed his eyes. "I see. I'll make sure the others know."
"He said..." Wilfred looked torn.
"Yes?"
"He said she can't ever remember. Ever."
Harry smiled a little sadly. "He would know," he said. "We'll stay away," he promised. "All of us. We don't want to hurt her."
Wilfred nodded. "Thank you."
Harry nodded. "Sure. And, Wilfred?"
"Yes?"
"If you need help, I'm always here." Harry smiled. "Donna should still have my number, assuming she hasn't deleted it. Well, mine and Martha's. You might want to delete those for her."
Wilfred nodded. "Martha and..." He frowned. "I don't believe I know your name."
Harry chuckled. "Harry Potter," he replied, then apparated back to the Ministry, leaving a surprised Wilfred behind.
-0-0-0-
A/N: Okay, loves, that's it for Donna. Next chapter will include the specials and, I'm thinking, the Torchwood: Children of Earth season, since it happened at about the same time. My problem is, I'm not sure how much of the specials I'll be using, and since TCoE happens in there, it should help that along nicely. XD
So! If you don't know Torchwood, I'm sorry. On the other hand, I've gotten a couple of requests for the series to play more of a role, and since that particular bit would, in fact, affect Harry, it seems only right that he get involved.
That's all! See you on the flip side!
~Bats ^.^x
Hanging By a Thread
Dust in the Sky Chapters:
One | Two | Three | Four |
The Future Doesn't Scare Me Chapters:
One | Two | ???
The Perfect Sky is Torn Chapters:
One | Two | Three
DISCONTINUED
Adrenaline Rush
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