The Guardian's Secret 21/?
Title: The Guardian's Secret 20/?
Author: Hezikiah
Disclaimer: Not mine, the BBC's.
Rating: PG
Characters: Ella (OC), Donna, Eighth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Healer Koray (OC), Healer Akakios (OC)
Warnings: None
Summary: Sequel to " Witnessing the Protector," five years on. When the metacrisis begins to unravel on its own, a desperate Ella finds the Doctor...and winds up giving up more than she bargained for to save her best friend's life.
A/N: If you didn't like Lord Nevisth before, you really won't like him now. I felt that I had to make him more sinister...
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Nov. 12, 2016
Woke up a few hours later. A glance at Donna's bed told me she was still out, just like Akakios had predicted. I've been neglecting my personal hygiene somewhat since I started my vigil over Donna and once of my first thoughts was, “I really, really need a shower.”
So, I headed down to the TARDIS. As I crossed the Lobby, I noticed the fog rolling around outside and I stopped in my tracks. If I'm a sucker for anything, it's a good walk in the fog. I once spent a summer in San Francisco doing an art internship and discovered a quirky love for rambles in the mysterious damp clouds that frequently visit that city. I'd never seen fog on Gallifrey and I felt a sudden urge to go for a stroll. Besides, I could use the exercise after sitting around on my duff the last several days.
One quick shower and a change of clothes later, I headed back outside to the elevated wooden promenade that both borders and crosses the big park outside. Does that park actually have a name? No one's told me. I should ask the Doctor.
The fog was very thick, but I knew that if I stuck to the walkway that I'd be ok. It's impossible to get lost in the park. I could barely make out the vague outlines of the trees on either side and the railings disappeared, too. Just a few steps from the door of the medical center enveloped me into a world of swirling white and I smiled to myself. Walking through the fog on an alien planet. This was cool.
From time to time I'd see the dark shadow of a Time Lord suddenly loom through the cloudy miasma and I'd step aside to let them sweep past me. The soft thud of the soles of my trainers against the wooden planks was the only noise in that quiet world of greys and whites. The air was damp and cool and made my lungs feel fresh and clean after the sterile dry air of the medical building. I stopped to lean against the railing and inhale long draughts of the cleansing air.
The Park in the fog...
Only moments later I heard the voices of two men. The first voice I recognized as Lord Nevisth and I screwed my face up in disgust. It took me a moment to recognize the second voice because it was one I hadn't heard often, but it was of Lord Halikor, the General Surgeon. He had been at the hearing weeks ago and both Time Lords sat on the High Council of Gallifrey. The two men were in the middle of a conversation. Not wanting to be caught, I started to shrink back into the mist, but something Halikor said made me pause.
“...the human woman has awakened,” I just caught the General Surgeon saying.
“Former human, you mean. It's a miracle she didn't die in the process.” Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel the displeasure radiate off Nevisth like a bad smell. “A testament to your advancements in medical technology, of course, Lord Halikor, but I wonder what the unforeseen long term effects of Akakios' and Koray's little experiments will be? One must question the mental capacity and sanity of this Donna Temple-Noble.”
Halikor grunted in agreement. “That is yet to be determined.”
“I've already restricted her movements to the capital city, preferably to just the medical building...indefinitely if needed.”
I grit my teeth together in anger. They were all but institutionalizing Donna!
There was an awkward pause and then Halikor said, “I believe that decision is up to me, my lord. Your powers as Grand Inquisitor are limited to detaining, questioning, and imprisoning suspected and known criminals. I am not aware of any crimes that Donna Temple-Noble has committed, nor do I have evidence that she is mentally incapacitated...yet.”
A grin erupted on my face. You go, Halikor!
There was an long silence and even though I couldn't see Lord Nevisth, I knew he was giving Halikor that patented icy glare of his. “I have reason enough to believe that she may be a threat to Gallifrey, if not just for the knowledge that she retains of the Doctor's travels. He is a dangerous individual.” He hesitated and then added, “And you know the legends of the Hybrid...”
A short laugh cut off Nevisth's words. “That old Shobogan tale?” Halikor chuckled again. “You really believe...”
“It doesn't matter what I believe, Lord Halikor,” Nevisth snapped. “Many of our legends have their founding in truth and more than one has come to pass. I do not take lightly the stories of our forefathers. Donna Temple-Noble could possibly be the Hybrid of legend, as she was once human...”
“But is now a Time Lady both physically and mentally,” Halikor finished, his voice soft. “The Hybrid supposedly comes from two worlds, from Gallifrey and from another planet. Logically, its body would reflect those worlds. There is no trace of human DNA left in Donna Temple-Noble, my lord. She cannot be the Hybrid of legend that destroys Gallifrey. If anyone is the Hybrid, it would be Andred's daughter or young Mr. O'Donnican.”
“Precisely why his movements are controlled. He is confined to Gallifrey, enrolled in the Academy, and heavily watched,” concluded Lord Nevisth. “And we have passed such laws that require all offspring of Time Lords to be raised here. As for the daughter of Andred, her loyalty to Gallifrey has never been questioned. Unlike Mr. O'Donnican, she was born and raised here.”
Lord Halikor, the Surgeon General (I might have the silly hat color wrong)
So THAT'S the reason why the Council was so insistent about Time Lord hybrids coming to Gallifrey! It had something to do with this Hybrid story, which nobody seems to want to talk about. My forehead wrinkled in confusion. I've never heard of the legend of the Hybrid, but it sounded serious. It was enough to scare Nevisth and I'm pretty sure that takes some doing.
“Is that all you have to say to me, Lord Halikor?” Nevisth sounded irritated and eager to end their conversation.
“Ah...” the Surgeon General hesitated and then replied, “Not quite. I suspect your cousin isn't being completely honest about the fetus the human woman is carrying.”
“I see,” Nevisth said, and I hear the contempt dripping in his voice. “This wouldn't be the first time she's withheld information. Do you have any evidence of this accusation?”
“Well...” Halikor hesitated, “It's not enough to incriminate her, of course. It's possible that she missed...”
“Missed what?” Nevisth snapped.
Halikor let out a heavy sigh and I realized he was reluctant to speak to Nevisth. “This.” There was the rustle of thick fabric and then a long pause as Nevisth regarded whatever it was that Halikor showed him. “It's from the child's last scan. Do you see it, my lord? Allow me to enlarge the image.”
There was another pause and then Nevisth's voice sounded strained. “Is that...? How?” he demanded. “How can this be possible?”
“I am not certain.”
What the bloody hell are they talking about? I thought as I pressed my hands against my stomach. Was something wrong with the baby? And if so, was it life threatening? Why was Healer Koray hiding it from me?
Nevisth's next words were spoken in a voice so low and dangerous sounding that I had to strain to hear him. “Then I suggest you figure out how that...thing...was created.”
“My lord, the child isn't a 'thing,'” Halikor protested. “It's...”
“An abomination.” Nevisth hesitated and then added, “What are the statistical chances that the human woman will miscarry?”
“My lord, why would you ask that?”
“Just answer the question, Halikor.”
The Surgeon General blew out an audible breath. “I am not an expert on human gestation, but I don't believe it's very high at this point, Lord Nevisth.”
“Hmm. Pity. Ah well, there's still a considerable amount of time before the child is viable. Perhaps some unforeseen occurrence will bring about its demise.”
My hand flew to my mouth and I stepped backwards in shock. Anger and rage tore through me, but also fear. Nevisth wanted the baby dead. The fog was lifting somewhat and I retreated away from the two of them as fast as I could. It must not have been fast enough, because Nevisth didn't have time to respond to Halikor's question. I heard him add in alarm, “Wait...who was that? Someone is out there.”
They must have seen the outline of my form in the thinning clouds. Not wanting to know what would happen to me if I was caught eavesdropping on two powerful members of the High Council, I turned and fled through the fog. I wasn't sure if they were pursuing me or not, but I didn't stop to look behind me. The doors of the medical building opened silently under my touch and I raced for the TARDIS, knowing it was the safest spot. I ducked behind the blue box and peeked around the corner, out of view of the doors. Not ten seconds later, Nevisth and Halikor appeared out of the swirling fog and pressed their faces against the clear glass. I ducked back, breathing hard. I'd been wise to hide behind the TARDIS because they would have seen me in the lobby. Taking my key off from where it hung around my neck, I unlocked the ship and slipped inside, then shut the doors as quietly as I could.
“Doctor?” I called as I came down the stairs. My clothes were damp and I shivered in the cooler air of the ship.
“Over here!” he responded from the parlor. I spotted him up on a stepstool looking at books as I approached the wingback chairs. “I can't seem to find my copy of The Metamorphosis,” he complained.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my jangled nerves. “Ovid or Kafka?”
“Kafka.”
“Yuck,” I shuddered. “Guys getting turned into giant roaches? No thanks.”
The Doctor turned, that amused half-smile on his face, but his expression fell when he saw me. “Ella, what's happened? You look frightened.”
I sank down into one of the chairs. “You could say that. Doctor, what's the legend of the Hybrid?”
“The Hybrid?” he frowned and stepped down off the stool. “Where did you hear about the Hybrid?”
I told him what I'd overheard and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Nevisth really thinks Micah is the Hybrid?” He looked thoughtful as he leaned against the bookshelf and crossed his arms. “I suppose it's possible, but really...he isn't the first we've had on Gallifrey. There have been others, but they're exceedingly rare.” He shook his head. “I suspect that the recent bombing and the threat to Gallifrey's security has resurrected old fears of her destruction. Fear of the Hybrid is somewhat ingrained in Time Lord Society...”
“But the legend?” I prompted.
“Hm? Oh yes.” The Doctor rubbed his palms on his trousers and let out a breath. “Well, it's quite an old legend, possibly dating to the time of Rassilon. There's not much to it...just that a creature will come, a creature that is half Time Lord and half another species and that its coming will bring the fall of Gallifrey.”
“That's it?” I asked. “There's no way to tell who or what the Hybrid is?”
“No,” he replied and sniffed in disdain. “It's not much of a legend, if you ask me. Lots of species intermingle and produce offspring. The very idea of breeding with other species is somewhat anathema to Time Lords, so I suppose that's where the fear of destruction comes from. A Time Lord certainly wouldn't bring about the destruction of his own planet, so it would have to come from some kind of impure being, someone whose blood was tainted with another species.”
I remembered Nevisth's words when I'd been hauled into his office and accused of being an accomplice in the bombing. After all, you are an inferior species...a species known for its deviousness and violence. No Time Lord would have bombed the Academy, so it must have been done by someone who is not from Gallifrey and there aren't a lot of you on the planet at this time.
“Do you believe in the Hybrid legend?” I asked.
The Doctor hesitated, but answered, “I have my own ideas about the identity of the Hybrid, and I assure you that it doesn't involve Micah, or Donna.”
I sensed that he wasn't going to tell me any more, so I changed the subject. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
I told him what I'd overheard Halikor tell Nevisth about Koray and the baby. “Is something wrong with it? Something that no one's told me about?”
The Doctor just looked confused. “No, not that I know of. Healer Koray would have told us if something wasn't right. It sounds like Halikor spotted something that we missed.”
“Whatever it is, it's enough that Lord Nevisth doesn't think the baby deserves to live.” I explained what Nevisth had said about the baby dying in a miscarriage and had barely managed to get those words out without bursting into tears.
The Doctor set his jaw and I could see that he was furious. “Nevisth is a cruel man,” he spat out as he strode across the floor and grabbed my hands, hauling me to my feet. “Come on, let's go speak to Healer Koray.”
For once I didn't argue with him. I ignored the fact that my clothes were still damp and headed with him to Koray's office. She wasn't there, though. One of the assistants told us that she'd gone upstairs to see a patient and wasn't sure when she'd return. I thought that was kind of weird because Healer Koray is all but retired. She doesn't have a lot of patients anymore, except for me and a few difficult cases that she consults on (she told me as much).
Oh well. We decided to go see Donna because I realized she'd be waking up soon. To our surprise, Donna was already awake and sitting up in bed and speaking with Healer Koray. Donna looked a lot better after having slept longer. There was some color back in her face and someone had brushed her hair back into a low hanging ponytail. I noticed that my cot had been removed already and my belongings were stacked up on the low table by the windows. The curtains had been pulled back, revealing a spectacular view of the Citadel with the last traces of the morning mist evaporating across the majestic towers.
“There you are!” Donna exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder whether last night was some kind of nightmare.” She held out her arms for a hug. I went over to her and she grabbed onto me tightly. “I'm so glad I wasn't dreaming.”
“You weren't,” I reassured her. “Everything's going to be ok now that you're awake.”
I wasn't sure whether I was trying to reassure myself or her. Donna let go of me and I must have not done a decent job trying to mask the worry on my face because she took one look at me and frowned. “What is it?” she asked and I could hear the concern in her voice. “What's wrong? Is it the baby?”
“Everything's fine,” I insisted, forcing a smile onto my face. “Stop being such a worry wart.”
Donna snorted and crossed her arms, then raised her left eyebrow in a manner that I'd never seen before, but it reminded me of the Tenth Doctor. “Eloise Porter-Steinfield, you are and always will be a rotten liar. I knew that even before I had this brilliant Time Lord brain knocking about inside my noggin.”
The Doctor cleared his throat and I could tell he was amused. “Donna,” he interjected, “I'm curious to ascertain just how much of my memories you have. Do you remember this view?” He pointed at the windows.
She was momentarily distracted as she glanced at the windows. “Um...yeah, kind of.”
As she stared at the distant mountains, the Doctor bent down and whispered in my ear, “Tell Healer Koray. I'll keep Donna busy.”
I turned and gave him a doubtful look because I didn't want to be alone with her, but he glanced insistently at the old woman, who had drifted off to the side and had sat down in the chairs.
I refrained from rolling my eyes and went over to her. She looked up as I approached and I quietly asked to speak to her. Without a word, she nodded and swept out of the room. Behind me, I could hear the Doctor asking Donna to name all the buildings and the mountains in the distance.
The sound of Donna's hesitant recitation was cut off as the door swung shut behind us and Healer Koray moved to sit on the benches in the long hallway. It was the first time I'd been alone with her in weeks. The Doctor's been with me every time, true to his promise. She folded her long form down onto one of the seats and gestured for me to sit, but I remained standing. “What concerns you?” Koray's voice was quiet, but guarded. She also knew that something must really be wrong for me to want to be alone with her.
I told Koray most of what I'd overheard. I saw her eyes grow wide with surprise when I recalled that Halikor had accused her of lying to Nevisth. “This is untrue; I have not withheld any information from my cousin nor Lord Halikor,” she interrupted me.
“Then what about the last scan? They saw something weird.” I tried not to sound angry. “Did you see something unusual, something you didn't tell me about?”
She shook her head slowly and clasped her hands in her lap. “I would not have told you or the Doctor falsehoods about the well being of the fetus. It is developing well, better than expected. I do not know what to make of Lord Halikor's findings, but I promise you we will get to the bottom of this.”
Koray's reassurances should have comforted me, but I hadn't told her about her cousin's low opinion of the baby. I wasn't sure if I should, but her promise encouraged me to share. I hesitated and then told her what he'd said, about the baby being an abomination and his questioning the viability of the pregnancy and the baby dying. Koray shifted and she squeezed her wrinkled eyes shut, as if uncomfortable, and for a moment I thought she didn't believe me. “Lord Nevisth,” she said after a long moment, “is very much beginning to infuriate me. Although I share his concerns of hybrid Time Lords, I would never wish harm upon such beings.” Her face betrayed little anger, though, and she could have fooled me about the supposed rage she felt towards Nevisth.
I suppose I couldn't have expected her to be outraged, knowing how xenophobic Time Lords are, but admitting she'd also had enough of her cousin was a positive sign for me. “Do you think he'll try to do something to harm the baby, or me?”
Koray opened her eyes and looked out the window. “I do not know,” she admitted. “My cousin is singularly minded once he gets an idea into his tiny brain and it's quite difficult to convince him otherwise. I would not put it past him, though.” She turned to look at me. “What concerns me is the strange findings they found on the last scan. We should have another look at it.”
The lift doors at the end of the hallway opened and Akakios stepped through. Koray turned to look at him and a telepathic conversation passed between them because his expression grew more worried as he approached us. “I can't imagine anything being wrong with the baby,” he said when he reached us. “It's developing properly, but I haven't seen the last few scans.”
“Well, something's wrong. Lord Nevisth called it a thing,” I mumbled.
“It's not a thing,” Akakios replied and touched my shoulder. “But I don't think it's wise to mention any of this to Donna yet. Her mental state is still being determined and I don't want anything to upset her. Go on in and have a conversation with her. Healer Koray and I will have a look at the last scan and see if we can figure out what Lord Halikor found amiss.”
“Ok,” I agreed. The three of us returned to Donna's room.
The Doctor and Donna were both laughing as we came back in, as if they were old friends. “I remember that!” Donna hooted. “Poor Harry! He didn't know what to make of the new you. You tied him up with a jumprope and strung him upside down in the cupboard while you tried to go offskis in the TARDIS!”
“Well, he was keeping me from leaving Earth, wasn't he?” the Doctor chuckled. “But we got to be great friends later.”
“Oh yes! I remember...”
She was cut off when Akakios interrupted, “Doctor, can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Hmm? Of course.” The Doctor patted Donna's hand and got up. He followed Akakios and Koray out the door, leaving me alone with Donna.
I sat down on his abandoned chair. “How are you feeling?”
The hint of a happy smile was still on Donna's face. “Wonky,” she admitted. “Like this shouldn't be happening. There's just so much in my head. It's a bit much to deal with.”
“Do you remember everything that he does?” I asked. I've always been curious about that. Just how much of the Doctor's memories does she have?
Donna frowned, shaking her head. “No. I know I had everything before he erased my memories, but now it's like there's missing data from a hard drive. There's gaps or holes. There are bits and pieces he permanently deleted.”
“What's missing?” I asked. “Is it spread out across all his regenerations or...”
“No,” she cut me off. “It's now. I can't really remember his time here with you, when all this happened to me. I don't remember him meeting you at all.” She balled her fists in the sheets in frustration. “I tried to remember. I wanted to know what happened, but that daft Spaceman made me forget!”
I let out a breath. The Tenth Doctor had deliberately erased Donna's memories of Gallifrey, but why? I took Donna's hand. “I'm really sorry. Do you remember anything?”
She looked at me, her expression sad. “Not much. I vaguely remember this,” she waved her hand around the room, “I mean, him seeing me wake up.” She screwed her eyes up in thought. “And something about a massive threat. But...I don't remember you being here, or the baby. He took all of that away from me.”
“He must have had a good reason,” I replied. “Maybe he did it to protect you.”
“Protect me?” she snorted. “Hah! That's rich! Half the time I was saving his skinny arse! Like that time when we met Agatha Christie and he accidentally drank cyanide and I had to...”
“Ssh!” I interrupted, glancing towards the doors. Anybody could be out there. “Remember what I said yesterday? You can't...”
“Break the First Law of Time, okay, okay,” she replied, rolling her eyes a bit. “Sorry.”
I sighed a little. “Donna, you need to be careful, is all I'm saying, and watch what you do.”
My words must have struck an intuitive chord with her because she fell silent. The old Donna would have continued arguing with me, but this new Donna just regarded me in a quiet, calculating way that unnerved me. I recognized that look in the Doctor and realized that she'd picked it up from him. “What the hell is happening here?” she whispered. “This isn't like you. Telling me to shut it? You're flighty, Ella, but you always get ballsy when it comes down to it. You are frightened of something, more than I've ever seen you, and I don't like it. Tell me what's happened.”
I remained silent because I couldn't say anything to her. I shook my head and her eyes narrowed. “I can't, not yet,” I finally relented.
She wasn't satisfied with my answer, though. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes that I'd never seen before and it scared me. Where had that look come from? “What have they done to you that's made you so afraid?” My silence only seemed to anger her and she seemed to have a sudden dark thought that made her turn bright red. Her words came out in a menacing growl. “Wait...wait...there's only one thing I can think of that would scare you this much. Did they make you be my surrogate?”
I shot her an incredulous look. “No! Don't be silly! Of course not.”
Donna wasn't convinced. “Let me guess. You weren't given much of a choice.” I looked away. This new extremely perceptive Donna was unsettling to me and I wasn't sure what to make of her. “Didn't you tell them what happened before?” she pressed. “Eloise, I know your biggest fear. Blimey, I was there when it bloody well happened! I saw how traumatized you were after Bastian was born, how you swore you'd never put yourself through pregnancy and birth again.” She reached out and put a hand on my stomach. “I can't imagine that you willingly let them do this to you, love. That means they forced you.”
I was still quiet, but tears welled up in my eyes. “Nobody forced me into this,” I managed to say. “I...agreed because time was running out for both you and the baby and I felt it was the right thing to do. I didn't have much of a choice, but it was made very clear to me that it was my choice to make. I could have said no, but I said yes because I didn't want the baby to die and I thought you'd never forgive me if I chose fear over the baby's life. ”
Now it was Donna's turn to be silent before she let out an exasperated sigh and took my hand. “Ella, I'd never ask you to do something that you were terrified of. I'm afraid that this was too much and it's more than I ever expected, but thank you. I know it hasn't been easy for you. Healer Koray hinted as much.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Just that there were some early hiccups with the pregnancy, but everything's been fine since then.”
Well, that was the truth. I got the impression that Healer Koray hadn't gone into much detail and I was glad for that. I didn't want Donna to know that my own dislike for Koray had nearly cost her baby's life.
“Was it awful?” she asked, her voice soft. “Did they hurt you?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to formulate a truthful reply that wouldn't alarm her. “Um...not on purpose,” I answered. “What they did was experimental. I mean, it's never been done on a human before and they didn't know that it would hurt so much. The Doctor stayed by my side though,” I added when I saw that dark look come back. “He helped me through the first part, which was pretty painful.”
A knowing smile crossed her face. “I'm not surprised. He wouldn't have left you all alone, not that Doctor. This incarnation of him was very kind and thoughtful.”
“He put me in a trance for the rest of it and I don't remember much. I woke up and I was pregnant. It was really weird.”
“You think?” she retorted. “Knocked up by a bunch of aliens? Sounds like a bad sci fi movie.”
“That's exactly what I said!” I laughed.
The door opened a bit and Akakios stuck his head inside. “Ella,” he called to me. “I don't mean to interrupt, but Donna really should get her rest.”
“But I'm not tired, not in the least!” Donna protested. “I've only just woken up...”
“I'm sorry,” Akakios cut her off, “but I really must insist.”
“You don't want to start stirring up trouble this early, do you?” I teased her as I got up.
“Oh, go on, then,” Donna grumped. I gave her a hug and promised to come back the next day.
Akakios held the door open for me as I waved goodbye one last time and stepped into the hall. He followed me out and gestured for me to follow him. I did so and we stopped several feet away from the door. “I apologize for having to interrupt your visit, but I think I know what Lord Halikor spied that Healer Koray missed. I'm not surprised that she did. She wasn't looking for it and it's not easy to overlook in someone so tiny. Halikor's attention to detail is admirable because I nearly missed it myself. ”
“What is it?” I asked, trying to contain my impatience.
“The child has a quinary brain lobe.”
I scrunched my face up in confusion. “Wait...what? That's not right. Humans only have...”
“Exactly. You have four. The baby has five.”
“Like a Time Lord's?”
He nodded slowly. “Exactly like a Time Lord's.”
I sat down heavily on the bench. “How? It's human.”
Akakios leaned back against a column and shoved his hands into the pockets of his medical tunic. “Ella, this is only the third hybrid I've ever dealt with and this child isn't like the others. Nimelia and Micah were both the products of Time Lord fathers and human mothers. The baby shouldn't even be a hybrid, it should be human, considering both of its parents are the same species. It has all the other attributes of a human baby, but it's got the brain of a Time Lord.”
“But Donna was human when it was conceived on earth...”
“I know,” he replied and took a breath. “There's two theories that the three of us could come up with. The first is that Donna's husband is a Time Lord.”
I snorted once in amusement. “Shaun? He's as human as they come. I've met his parents and siblings, Akakios. He's no Time Lord.”
“We didn't think so.”
“What's your second theory?”
Akakios rubbed his chin before answering. “When you and the Doctor brought Donna here, she was exposed to Time Vortex radiation. Now this radiation is harmless, for people who aren't in utero. In fetuses, though, it can cause strange physical and mental mutations, sometimes beneficial but sometimes disastrous. It's so unpredictable that we are forbidden from conceiving children on board a TARDIS nor are gestating Time Ladies allowed to fly in them. We know that the baby has the Doctor's mitochondrial DNA and it was in its fifth week of development. That's the last week when all of the major systems form, including the brain. Our idea is that the radiation from the Vortex somehow mutated the baby's DNA at a crucial stage of development, enhancing its Time Lord traits so they became dominant over its human ones. It grew a Time Lord brain instead of a human one.”
“Then why doesn't it have two hearts or two of whatever else?”
He shook his head. “I don't know. Like I said, the mutations are unpredictable. I have no idea what kind of future this child has.”
A chill ran down my spine. “I think I do. It definitely means there's no way the Council will ever let it go back to earth.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “This baby is going to be stuck here forever and so is Donna.”
Author: Hezikiah
Disclaimer: Not mine, the BBC's.
Rating: PG
Characters: Ella (OC), Donna, Eighth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Healer Koray (OC), Healer Akakios (OC)
Warnings: None
Summary: Sequel to " Witnessing the Protector," five years on. When the metacrisis begins to unravel on its own, a desperate Ella finds the Doctor...and winds up giving up more than she bargained for to save her best friend's life.
A/N: If you didn't like Lord Nevisth before, you really won't like him now. I felt that I had to make him more sinister...
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Nov. 12, 2016
Woke up a few hours later. A glance at Donna's bed told me she was still out, just like Akakios had predicted. I've been neglecting my personal hygiene somewhat since I started my vigil over Donna and once of my first thoughts was, “I really, really need a shower.”
So, I headed down to the TARDIS. As I crossed the Lobby, I noticed the fog rolling around outside and I stopped in my tracks. If I'm a sucker for anything, it's a good walk in the fog. I once spent a summer in San Francisco doing an art internship and discovered a quirky love for rambles in the mysterious damp clouds that frequently visit that city. I'd never seen fog on Gallifrey and I felt a sudden urge to go for a stroll. Besides, I could use the exercise after sitting around on my duff the last several days.
One quick shower and a change of clothes later, I headed back outside to the elevated wooden promenade that both borders and crosses the big park outside. Does that park actually have a name? No one's told me. I should ask the Doctor.
The fog was very thick, but I knew that if I stuck to the walkway that I'd be ok. It's impossible to get lost in the park. I could barely make out the vague outlines of the trees on either side and the railings disappeared, too. Just a few steps from the door of the medical center enveloped me into a world of swirling white and I smiled to myself. Walking through the fog on an alien planet. This was cool.
From time to time I'd see the dark shadow of a Time Lord suddenly loom through the cloudy miasma and I'd step aside to let them sweep past me. The soft thud of the soles of my trainers against the wooden planks was the only noise in that quiet world of greys and whites. The air was damp and cool and made my lungs feel fresh and clean after the sterile dry air of the medical building. I stopped to lean against the railing and inhale long draughts of the cleansing air.
The Park in the fog...
Only moments later I heard the voices of two men. The first voice I recognized as Lord Nevisth and I screwed my face up in disgust. It took me a moment to recognize the second voice because it was one I hadn't heard often, but it was of Lord Halikor, the General Surgeon. He had been at the hearing weeks ago and both Time Lords sat on the High Council of Gallifrey. The two men were in the middle of a conversation. Not wanting to be caught, I started to shrink back into the mist, but something Halikor said made me pause.
“...the human woman has awakened,” I just caught the General Surgeon saying.
“Former human, you mean. It's a miracle she didn't die in the process.” Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel the displeasure radiate off Nevisth like a bad smell. “A testament to your advancements in medical technology, of course, Lord Halikor, but I wonder what the unforeseen long term effects of Akakios' and Koray's little experiments will be? One must question the mental capacity and sanity of this Donna Temple-Noble.”
Halikor grunted in agreement. “That is yet to be determined.”
“I've already restricted her movements to the capital city, preferably to just the medical building...indefinitely if needed.”
I grit my teeth together in anger. They were all but institutionalizing Donna!
There was an awkward pause and then Halikor said, “I believe that decision is up to me, my lord. Your powers as Grand Inquisitor are limited to detaining, questioning, and imprisoning suspected and known criminals. I am not aware of any crimes that Donna Temple-Noble has committed, nor do I have evidence that she is mentally incapacitated...yet.”
A grin erupted on my face. You go, Halikor!
There was an long silence and even though I couldn't see Lord Nevisth, I knew he was giving Halikor that patented icy glare of his. “I have reason enough to believe that she may be a threat to Gallifrey, if not just for the knowledge that she retains of the Doctor's travels. He is a dangerous individual.” He hesitated and then added, “And you know the legends of the Hybrid...”
A short laugh cut off Nevisth's words. “That old Shobogan tale?” Halikor chuckled again. “You really believe...”
“It doesn't matter what I believe, Lord Halikor,” Nevisth snapped. “Many of our legends have their founding in truth and more than one has come to pass. I do not take lightly the stories of our forefathers. Donna Temple-Noble could possibly be the Hybrid of legend, as she was once human...”
“But is now a Time Lady both physically and mentally,” Halikor finished, his voice soft. “The Hybrid supposedly comes from two worlds, from Gallifrey and from another planet. Logically, its body would reflect those worlds. There is no trace of human DNA left in Donna Temple-Noble, my lord. She cannot be the Hybrid of legend that destroys Gallifrey. If anyone is the Hybrid, it would be Andred's daughter or young Mr. O'Donnican.”
“Precisely why his movements are controlled. He is confined to Gallifrey, enrolled in the Academy, and heavily watched,” concluded Lord Nevisth. “And we have passed such laws that require all offspring of Time Lords to be raised here. As for the daughter of Andred, her loyalty to Gallifrey has never been questioned. Unlike Mr. O'Donnican, she was born and raised here.”
Lord Halikor, the Surgeon General (I might have the silly hat color wrong)
So THAT'S the reason why the Council was so insistent about Time Lord hybrids coming to Gallifrey! It had something to do with this Hybrid story, which nobody seems to want to talk about. My forehead wrinkled in confusion. I've never heard of the legend of the Hybrid, but it sounded serious. It was enough to scare Nevisth and I'm pretty sure that takes some doing.
“Is that all you have to say to me, Lord Halikor?” Nevisth sounded irritated and eager to end their conversation.
“Ah...” the Surgeon General hesitated and then replied, “Not quite. I suspect your cousin isn't being completely honest about the fetus the human woman is carrying.”
“I see,” Nevisth said, and I hear the contempt dripping in his voice. “This wouldn't be the first time she's withheld information. Do you have any evidence of this accusation?”
“Well...” Halikor hesitated, “It's not enough to incriminate her, of course. It's possible that she missed...”
“Missed what?” Nevisth snapped.
Halikor let out a heavy sigh and I realized he was reluctant to speak to Nevisth. “This.” There was the rustle of thick fabric and then a long pause as Nevisth regarded whatever it was that Halikor showed him. “It's from the child's last scan. Do you see it, my lord? Allow me to enlarge the image.”
There was another pause and then Nevisth's voice sounded strained. “Is that...? How?” he demanded. “How can this be possible?”
“I am not certain.”
What the bloody hell are they talking about? I thought as I pressed my hands against my stomach. Was something wrong with the baby? And if so, was it life threatening? Why was Healer Koray hiding it from me?
Nevisth's next words were spoken in a voice so low and dangerous sounding that I had to strain to hear him. “Then I suggest you figure out how that...thing...was created.”
“My lord, the child isn't a 'thing,'” Halikor protested. “It's...”
“An abomination.” Nevisth hesitated and then added, “What are the statistical chances that the human woman will miscarry?”
“My lord, why would you ask that?”
“Just answer the question, Halikor.”
The Surgeon General blew out an audible breath. “I am not an expert on human gestation, but I don't believe it's very high at this point, Lord Nevisth.”
“Hmm. Pity. Ah well, there's still a considerable amount of time before the child is viable. Perhaps some unforeseen occurrence will bring about its demise.”
My hand flew to my mouth and I stepped backwards in shock. Anger and rage tore through me, but also fear. Nevisth wanted the baby dead. The fog was lifting somewhat and I retreated away from the two of them as fast as I could. It must not have been fast enough, because Nevisth didn't have time to respond to Halikor's question. I heard him add in alarm, “Wait...who was that? Someone is out there.”
They must have seen the outline of my form in the thinning clouds. Not wanting to know what would happen to me if I was caught eavesdropping on two powerful members of the High Council, I turned and fled through the fog. I wasn't sure if they were pursuing me or not, but I didn't stop to look behind me. The doors of the medical building opened silently under my touch and I raced for the TARDIS, knowing it was the safest spot. I ducked behind the blue box and peeked around the corner, out of view of the doors. Not ten seconds later, Nevisth and Halikor appeared out of the swirling fog and pressed their faces against the clear glass. I ducked back, breathing hard. I'd been wise to hide behind the TARDIS because they would have seen me in the lobby. Taking my key off from where it hung around my neck, I unlocked the ship and slipped inside, then shut the doors as quietly as I could.
“Doctor?” I called as I came down the stairs. My clothes were damp and I shivered in the cooler air of the ship.
“Over here!” he responded from the parlor. I spotted him up on a stepstool looking at books as I approached the wingback chairs. “I can't seem to find my copy of The Metamorphosis,” he complained.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my jangled nerves. “Ovid or Kafka?”
“Kafka.”
“Yuck,” I shuddered. “Guys getting turned into giant roaches? No thanks.”
The Doctor turned, that amused half-smile on his face, but his expression fell when he saw me. “Ella, what's happened? You look frightened.”
I sank down into one of the chairs. “You could say that. Doctor, what's the legend of the Hybrid?”
“The Hybrid?” he frowned and stepped down off the stool. “Where did you hear about the Hybrid?”
I told him what I'd overheard and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Nevisth really thinks Micah is the Hybrid?” He looked thoughtful as he leaned against the bookshelf and crossed his arms. “I suppose it's possible, but really...he isn't the first we've had on Gallifrey. There have been others, but they're exceedingly rare.” He shook his head. “I suspect that the recent bombing and the threat to Gallifrey's security has resurrected old fears of her destruction. Fear of the Hybrid is somewhat ingrained in Time Lord Society...”
“But the legend?” I prompted.
“Hm? Oh yes.” The Doctor rubbed his palms on his trousers and let out a breath. “Well, it's quite an old legend, possibly dating to the time of Rassilon. There's not much to it...just that a creature will come, a creature that is half Time Lord and half another species and that its coming will bring the fall of Gallifrey.”
“That's it?” I asked. “There's no way to tell who or what the Hybrid is?”
“No,” he replied and sniffed in disdain. “It's not much of a legend, if you ask me. Lots of species intermingle and produce offspring. The very idea of breeding with other species is somewhat anathema to Time Lords, so I suppose that's where the fear of destruction comes from. A Time Lord certainly wouldn't bring about the destruction of his own planet, so it would have to come from some kind of impure being, someone whose blood was tainted with another species.”
I remembered Nevisth's words when I'd been hauled into his office and accused of being an accomplice in the bombing. After all, you are an inferior species...a species known for its deviousness and violence. No Time Lord would have bombed the Academy, so it must have been done by someone who is not from Gallifrey and there aren't a lot of you on the planet at this time.
“Do you believe in the Hybrid legend?” I asked.
The Doctor hesitated, but answered, “I have my own ideas about the identity of the Hybrid, and I assure you that it doesn't involve Micah, or Donna.”
I sensed that he wasn't going to tell me any more, so I changed the subject. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
I told him what I'd overheard Halikor tell Nevisth about Koray and the baby. “Is something wrong with it? Something that no one's told me about?”
The Doctor just looked confused. “No, not that I know of. Healer Koray would have told us if something wasn't right. It sounds like Halikor spotted something that we missed.”
“Whatever it is, it's enough that Lord Nevisth doesn't think the baby deserves to live.” I explained what Nevisth had said about the baby dying in a miscarriage and had barely managed to get those words out without bursting into tears.
The Doctor set his jaw and I could see that he was furious. “Nevisth is a cruel man,” he spat out as he strode across the floor and grabbed my hands, hauling me to my feet. “Come on, let's go speak to Healer Koray.”
For once I didn't argue with him. I ignored the fact that my clothes were still damp and headed with him to Koray's office. She wasn't there, though. One of the assistants told us that she'd gone upstairs to see a patient and wasn't sure when she'd return. I thought that was kind of weird because Healer Koray is all but retired. She doesn't have a lot of patients anymore, except for me and a few difficult cases that she consults on (she told me as much).
Oh well. We decided to go see Donna because I realized she'd be waking up soon. To our surprise, Donna was already awake and sitting up in bed and speaking with Healer Koray. Donna looked a lot better after having slept longer. There was some color back in her face and someone had brushed her hair back into a low hanging ponytail. I noticed that my cot had been removed already and my belongings were stacked up on the low table by the windows. The curtains had been pulled back, revealing a spectacular view of the Citadel with the last traces of the morning mist evaporating across the majestic towers.
“There you are!” Donna exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder whether last night was some kind of nightmare.” She held out her arms for a hug. I went over to her and she grabbed onto me tightly. “I'm so glad I wasn't dreaming.”
“You weren't,” I reassured her. “Everything's going to be ok now that you're awake.”
I wasn't sure whether I was trying to reassure myself or her. Donna let go of me and I must have not done a decent job trying to mask the worry on my face because she took one look at me and frowned. “What is it?” she asked and I could hear the concern in her voice. “What's wrong? Is it the baby?”
“Everything's fine,” I insisted, forcing a smile onto my face. “Stop being such a worry wart.”
Donna snorted and crossed her arms, then raised her left eyebrow in a manner that I'd never seen before, but it reminded me of the Tenth Doctor. “Eloise Porter-Steinfield, you are and always will be a rotten liar. I knew that even before I had this brilliant Time Lord brain knocking about inside my noggin.”
The Doctor cleared his throat and I could tell he was amused. “Donna,” he interjected, “I'm curious to ascertain just how much of my memories you have. Do you remember this view?” He pointed at the windows.
She was momentarily distracted as she glanced at the windows. “Um...yeah, kind of.”
As she stared at the distant mountains, the Doctor bent down and whispered in my ear, “Tell Healer Koray. I'll keep Donna busy.”
I turned and gave him a doubtful look because I didn't want to be alone with her, but he glanced insistently at the old woman, who had drifted off to the side and had sat down in the chairs.
I refrained from rolling my eyes and went over to her. She looked up as I approached and I quietly asked to speak to her. Without a word, she nodded and swept out of the room. Behind me, I could hear the Doctor asking Donna to name all the buildings and the mountains in the distance.
The sound of Donna's hesitant recitation was cut off as the door swung shut behind us and Healer Koray moved to sit on the benches in the long hallway. It was the first time I'd been alone with her in weeks. The Doctor's been with me every time, true to his promise. She folded her long form down onto one of the seats and gestured for me to sit, but I remained standing. “What concerns you?” Koray's voice was quiet, but guarded. She also knew that something must really be wrong for me to want to be alone with her.
I told Koray most of what I'd overheard. I saw her eyes grow wide with surprise when I recalled that Halikor had accused her of lying to Nevisth. “This is untrue; I have not withheld any information from my cousin nor Lord Halikor,” she interrupted me.
“Then what about the last scan? They saw something weird.” I tried not to sound angry. “Did you see something unusual, something you didn't tell me about?”
She shook her head slowly and clasped her hands in her lap. “I would not have told you or the Doctor falsehoods about the well being of the fetus. It is developing well, better than expected. I do not know what to make of Lord Halikor's findings, but I promise you we will get to the bottom of this.”
Koray's reassurances should have comforted me, but I hadn't told her about her cousin's low opinion of the baby. I wasn't sure if I should, but her promise encouraged me to share. I hesitated and then told her what he'd said, about the baby being an abomination and his questioning the viability of the pregnancy and the baby dying. Koray shifted and she squeezed her wrinkled eyes shut, as if uncomfortable, and for a moment I thought she didn't believe me. “Lord Nevisth,” she said after a long moment, “is very much beginning to infuriate me. Although I share his concerns of hybrid Time Lords, I would never wish harm upon such beings.” Her face betrayed little anger, though, and she could have fooled me about the supposed rage she felt towards Nevisth.
I suppose I couldn't have expected her to be outraged, knowing how xenophobic Time Lords are, but admitting she'd also had enough of her cousin was a positive sign for me. “Do you think he'll try to do something to harm the baby, or me?”
Koray opened her eyes and looked out the window. “I do not know,” she admitted. “My cousin is singularly minded once he gets an idea into his tiny brain and it's quite difficult to convince him otherwise. I would not put it past him, though.” She turned to look at me. “What concerns me is the strange findings they found on the last scan. We should have another look at it.”
The lift doors at the end of the hallway opened and Akakios stepped through. Koray turned to look at him and a telepathic conversation passed between them because his expression grew more worried as he approached us. “I can't imagine anything being wrong with the baby,” he said when he reached us. “It's developing properly, but I haven't seen the last few scans.”
“Well, something's wrong. Lord Nevisth called it a thing,” I mumbled.
“It's not a thing,” Akakios replied and touched my shoulder. “But I don't think it's wise to mention any of this to Donna yet. Her mental state is still being determined and I don't want anything to upset her. Go on in and have a conversation with her. Healer Koray and I will have a look at the last scan and see if we can figure out what Lord Halikor found amiss.”
“Ok,” I agreed. The three of us returned to Donna's room.
The Doctor and Donna were both laughing as we came back in, as if they were old friends. “I remember that!” Donna hooted. “Poor Harry! He didn't know what to make of the new you. You tied him up with a jumprope and strung him upside down in the cupboard while you tried to go offskis in the TARDIS!”
“Well, he was keeping me from leaving Earth, wasn't he?” the Doctor chuckled. “But we got to be great friends later.”
“Oh yes! I remember...”
She was cut off when Akakios interrupted, “Doctor, can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Hmm? Of course.” The Doctor patted Donna's hand and got up. He followed Akakios and Koray out the door, leaving me alone with Donna.
I sat down on his abandoned chair. “How are you feeling?”
The hint of a happy smile was still on Donna's face. “Wonky,” she admitted. “Like this shouldn't be happening. There's just so much in my head. It's a bit much to deal with.”
“Do you remember everything that he does?” I asked. I've always been curious about that. Just how much of the Doctor's memories does she have?
Donna frowned, shaking her head. “No. I know I had everything before he erased my memories, but now it's like there's missing data from a hard drive. There's gaps or holes. There are bits and pieces he permanently deleted.”
“What's missing?” I asked. “Is it spread out across all his regenerations or...”
“No,” she cut me off. “It's now. I can't really remember his time here with you, when all this happened to me. I don't remember him meeting you at all.” She balled her fists in the sheets in frustration. “I tried to remember. I wanted to know what happened, but that daft Spaceman made me forget!”
I let out a breath. The Tenth Doctor had deliberately erased Donna's memories of Gallifrey, but why? I took Donna's hand. “I'm really sorry. Do you remember anything?”
She looked at me, her expression sad. “Not much. I vaguely remember this,” she waved her hand around the room, “I mean, him seeing me wake up.” She screwed her eyes up in thought. “And something about a massive threat. But...I don't remember you being here, or the baby. He took all of that away from me.”
“He must have had a good reason,” I replied. “Maybe he did it to protect you.”
“Protect me?” she snorted. “Hah! That's rich! Half the time I was saving his skinny arse! Like that time when we met Agatha Christie and he accidentally drank cyanide and I had to...”
“Ssh!” I interrupted, glancing towards the doors. Anybody could be out there. “Remember what I said yesterday? You can't...”
“Break the First Law of Time, okay, okay,” she replied, rolling her eyes a bit. “Sorry.”
I sighed a little. “Donna, you need to be careful, is all I'm saying, and watch what you do.”
My words must have struck an intuitive chord with her because she fell silent. The old Donna would have continued arguing with me, but this new Donna just regarded me in a quiet, calculating way that unnerved me. I recognized that look in the Doctor and realized that she'd picked it up from him. “What the hell is happening here?” she whispered. “This isn't like you. Telling me to shut it? You're flighty, Ella, but you always get ballsy when it comes down to it. You are frightened of something, more than I've ever seen you, and I don't like it. Tell me what's happened.”
I remained silent because I couldn't say anything to her. I shook my head and her eyes narrowed. “I can't, not yet,” I finally relented.
She wasn't satisfied with my answer, though. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes that I'd never seen before and it scared me. Where had that look come from? “What have they done to you that's made you so afraid?” My silence only seemed to anger her and she seemed to have a sudden dark thought that made her turn bright red. Her words came out in a menacing growl. “Wait...wait...there's only one thing I can think of that would scare you this much. Did they make you be my surrogate?”
I shot her an incredulous look. “No! Don't be silly! Of course not.”
Donna wasn't convinced. “Let me guess. You weren't given much of a choice.” I looked away. This new extremely perceptive Donna was unsettling to me and I wasn't sure what to make of her. “Didn't you tell them what happened before?” she pressed. “Eloise, I know your biggest fear. Blimey, I was there when it bloody well happened! I saw how traumatized you were after Bastian was born, how you swore you'd never put yourself through pregnancy and birth again.” She reached out and put a hand on my stomach. “I can't imagine that you willingly let them do this to you, love. That means they forced you.”
I was still quiet, but tears welled up in my eyes. “Nobody forced me into this,” I managed to say. “I...agreed because time was running out for both you and the baby and I felt it was the right thing to do. I didn't have much of a choice, but it was made very clear to me that it was my choice to make. I could have said no, but I said yes because I didn't want the baby to die and I thought you'd never forgive me if I chose fear over the baby's life. ”
Now it was Donna's turn to be silent before she let out an exasperated sigh and took my hand. “Ella, I'd never ask you to do something that you were terrified of. I'm afraid that this was too much and it's more than I ever expected, but thank you. I know it hasn't been easy for you. Healer Koray hinted as much.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Just that there were some early hiccups with the pregnancy, but everything's been fine since then.”
Well, that was the truth. I got the impression that Healer Koray hadn't gone into much detail and I was glad for that. I didn't want Donna to know that my own dislike for Koray had nearly cost her baby's life.
“Was it awful?” she asked, her voice soft. “Did they hurt you?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to formulate a truthful reply that wouldn't alarm her. “Um...not on purpose,” I answered. “What they did was experimental. I mean, it's never been done on a human before and they didn't know that it would hurt so much. The Doctor stayed by my side though,” I added when I saw that dark look come back. “He helped me through the first part, which was pretty painful.”
A knowing smile crossed her face. “I'm not surprised. He wouldn't have left you all alone, not that Doctor. This incarnation of him was very kind and thoughtful.”
“He put me in a trance for the rest of it and I don't remember much. I woke up and I was pregnant. It was really weird.”
“You think?” she retorted. “Knocked up by a bunch of aliens? Sounds like a bad sci fi movie.”
“That's exactly what I said!” I laughed.
The door opened a bit and Akakios stuck his head inside. “Ella,” he called to me. “I don't mean to interrupt, but Donna really should get her rest.”
“But I'm not tired, not in the least!” Donna protested. “I've only just woken up...”
“I'm sorry,” Akakios cut her off, “but I really must insist.”
“You don't want to start stirring up trouble this early, do you?” I teased her as I got up.
“Oh, go on, then,” Donna grumped. I gave her a hug and promised to come back the next day.
Akakios held the door open for me as I waved goodbye one last time and stepped into the hall. He followed me out and gestured for me to follow him. I did so and we stopped several feet away from the door. “I apologize for having to interrupt your visit, but I think I know what Lord Halikor spied that Healer Koray missed. I'm not surprised that she did. She wasn't looking for it and it's not easy to overlook in someone so tiny. Halikor's attention to detail is admirable because I nearly missed it myself. ”
“What is it?” I asked, trying to contain my impatience.
“The child has a quinary brain lobe.”
I scrunched my face up in confusion. “Wait...what? That's not right. Humans only have...”
“Exactly. You have four. The baby has five.”
“Like a Time Lord's?”
He nodded slowly. “Exactly like a Time Lord's.”
I sat down heavily on the bench. “How? It's human.”
Akakios leaned back against a column and shoved his hands into the pockets of his medical tunic. “Ella, this is only the third hybrid I've ever dealt with and this child isn't like the others. Nimelia and Micah were both the products of Time Lord fathers and human mothers. The baby shouldn't even be a hybrid, it should be human, considering both of its parents are the same species. It has all the other attributes of a human baby, but it's got the brain of a Time Lord.”
“But Donna was human when it was conceived on earth...”
“I know,” he replied and took a breath. “There's two theories that the three of us could come up with. The first is that Donna's husband is a Time Lord.”
I snorted once in amusement. “Shaun? He's as human as they come. I've met his parents and siblings, Akakios. He's no Time Lord.”
“We didn't think so.”
“What's your second theory?”
Akakios rubbed his chin before answering. “When you and the Doctor brought Donna here, she was exposed to Time Vortex radiation. Now this radiation is harmless, for people who aren't in utero. In fetuses, though, it can cause strange physical and mental mutations, sometimes beneficial but sometimes disastrous. It's so unpredictable that we are forbidden from conceiving children on board a TARDIS nor are gestating Time Ladies allowed to fly in them. We know that the baby has the Doctor's mitochondrial DNA and it was in its fifth week of development. That's the last week when all of the major systems form, including the brain. Our idea is that the radiation from the Vortex somehow mutated the baby's DNA at a crucial stage of development, enhancing its Time Lord traits so they became dominant over its human ones. It grew a Time Lord brain instead of a human one.”
“Then why doesn't it have two hearts or two of whatever else?”
He shook his head. “I don't know. Like I said, the mutations are unpredictable. I have no idea what kind of future this child has.”
A chill ran down my spine. “I think I do. It definitely means there's no way the Council will ever let it go back to earth.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “This baby is going to be stuck here forever and so is Donna.”