BLOOD WILL TELL
A/N: This came at me from out of nowhere, but it appeals like crazy and has now become part of this universe.
Title: BLOOD WILL TELL
Characters: Ten, Jack, Donna
Rating: Open
Spoilers: Mild for Jack's 'condition' and early Who history.
Warning: Implication that Doctor has had a family.
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to RTD and to the BBC.
Summary: The Doctor finally asks the right questions and the TARDIS gives him the answers.
"I can smell him on you!" snarled the alien, its lips peeling back from razor-sharp teeth as it snuffed the air around the Doctor.
"That's a very personal statement to make," the Doctor said with as much dignity as he could muster, seeing as how he was spread-eagled over a black onyx altar, hands and feet securely tied down. "I'll have you know that I wash on a regular basis and- hang on, who can you smell on me?" he asked indignantly.
"The cur haunts me across all of space and time," the alien spat as it lifted away from him and went to pick up a knife which the Doctor considered to be far too long and serrated for his own good. "Every time I reach a point where I am ready to overwhelm the pitiful enemies who stand before me, there he is, and everything turns to dust under my hands."
"Well, I'm sure that's very tragic," the Doctor said. "Well, it would be, if you weren't the type of power-crazed maniac who's always trying to bring about the end of civilisation, so it isn't all that bad when you look at it from any other point of view except your own. Which I know is difficult for you, seeing as how you are just the tiniest bit selfish. Um, so why would you be smelling him on me?" the Doctor asked hastily when he realised that the alien was hefting the knife a little too thoughtfully. Really, they hadn't even been properly introduced!
"You share genes with him. He is of your get."
"He's what?" The Doctor boggled at him. "No, sorry, you must have the wrong Timelord. I don't share my genes with anyone, thank you very much. Very particular in that respect. Haven't done any getting in quite a while, I can tell you." He decided that Jenny didn't really count, as he hadn't had any say in the matter and she wasn't a begetting in the normal meaning of the word. All of his original family had turned to dust, or rather had been wiped from the face of space and time.
"Do not lie!" the alien roared. "My senses are never wrong. I can taste a shared gene a thousand lifetimes removed and your genes are exceptionally strong. I remember them being in the taste of him when he knelt before me in chains, broken and alone. His own people had abandoned him, leaving him to my rage, and he should have been helpless and meat for my altar. Instead he managed to escape and overset all my plans, destroying my fleet and leaving me with no option but to run away. Me! And now I sense him in you, sense the genes that flowed from womb to womb until he was birthed to make my life a torment!"
"Um... sorry?" the Doctor hazarded after a moment.
The alien snarled and hefted the knife as it advanced on the Doctor. "At least I will have the pleasure of slaughtering you," it said, the bloodlust glittering in its eyes, "and if I am far enough back in the timeline, I might yet manage to prevent his accursed conception. Die, Doctor!"
"Sorry, can't let you do that," came a familiar voice as Jack Harkness crashed into the room, levelling a gun at the alien. "I've just got used to him looking like that and I sort of have a weakness for suits lately."
"What?" the alien screamed, staring at Jack in disbelief. "Again?! You arrive to thwart my plans again?"
"Hey, you decide to open up a coffee shop and I'll encourage your plans. You keep trying to conquer and/or destroy the universe and it's thwarting all the way," Jack pointed out with a devil-may-care grin.
"Curse you, Harkness! One day I will be successful and then you will grovel at my feet and beg for the lives of yourself and your insufferable ancestor!"
"Hey!" Jack fired but he was too late as the alien pressed something on his belt and vanished in a scatter of multi-coloured light. "Damn, missed him again." Holstering his gun, Jack came over to the altar slab and used his Vortex manipulator to unlock the chains fastening the Doctor down. "Lucky for you Donna got away to tell me what had happened to you, Doctor," he observed cheerfully. He belatedly realised that the Doctor was unusually silent. "You okay, Doctor? He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Freed from the slab, the Doctor rolled over onto his feet and backed away, staring at Jack as if he had never seen him before in his life. "No. Nononononononono."
Jack blinked. "That would be a no, then," he hazarded. After a moment, he frowned. "Would that be 'no, he hasn't done anything to me' or 'no, I'm not all right'?"
"No, can't be," the Doctor whispered. "Can't possibly be."
He turned and bolted out of the alien's lair and after a second of bewilderment, Jack shot after him. The Doctor had always been very good at running and Jack had a hard time keeping up with him, but whenever he thought he had lost the Timelord, he paused and heard the endless cadence of 'no' and orientated himself on the sound. Whatever had happened between the Doctor and the alien, it had obviously badly rattled the Timelord. They eventually found their way out of the collection of warehouses the alien had taken over as its headquarters and a slightly winded Jack was in time to see the Doctor charge past a startled Donna and dive into the TARDIS.
"You're welcome, I'm sure!" Donna yelled after him before turning a cynical eye in Jack's direction. "Did you put your bleeding moves on him again?" she demanded.
"No, I did not!" Jack denied indignantly. Then he blinked. "What do you mean: 'again'."
Donna sniffed and looked him up and down in disfavour. "I've heard about you," she said darkly.
"From who?" Jack asked warily.
"Ianto Jones," Donna said with relish, folding her arms and giving him a look of malicious triumph.
Jack groaned, knowing he was doomed. "Look, I can explain..."
OOOO
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor thumped the console. "Show me!" he yelled. He glared up at the ceiling. "Don't you dare hold out on me!" He paused to sense the response. "Yes, I know I never asked before but I'm asking now!"
After a moment, the screen flickered into life. Susan Campbell, nee Foreman, it said before exploding into an ever-increasingly complex flower of bloodlines. The Doctor's eyes widened, half in joy, half in disbelief.
"She wasn't wiped from the timeline. Why wasn't she wiped from the timeline?"
There was no response and he continued to watch as the pattern on the screen grew ever more intricate. Paths dwindled and faded, others twisted in on themselves while others bloomed into a fretwork that reached out to caress eternity. The TARDIS knew what he was after and now that he had asked the question, she answered him. Some of the pattern fell off the screen as she danced across generations and light centuries. 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th... the centuries became millennia, one planet became dozens, hundreds. Other bloodlines and genetic influences came and went but through it all was the slender golden thread.
Finally it came to a halt and the Doctor stared and stared at the final entry. Not completely final, of course. That thread was intertwined with other bloodlines and in a little while he might gather the courage to look for them. For this moment, however, he was too stunned to do more than reach out and caress the notation that glowed in the screen in front of him.
Descendant: Rosenna Sa'an.
Primary Mate: Franklin Jeddis.
Secondary Mate: Yasen Kiffra.
Family Node: Boe'taine.
Children: Solon Jeddis (AKA Jack Harkness), Grayson Jeddis, Mesera Sa'an (now part of Family Node: Boe'sendra.)
The thread continued below Mesera's name, signifying that she had had children, but the Doctor ignored that. "My descendant," he muttered, dazed. "He's my bloody descendant!" He jerked away from the screen, running his hands through his hair as he struggled to cope with the news. It explained so damn much! He glared up at the TARDIS. "You knew!" he said accusingly. He shrugged away the shiver of response. "Oh, no, don't you come the innocent with me! You knew what he was, the genes he was carrying and you still allowed Rose to channel the Vortex into him!"
Sharp reproof shivered in the air and he had to grace to look discomfited. "Yes, all right, I suppose she would have gone ahead even if you'd tried to drag back control, but still..." He paused and groaned. "No wonder the Vortex reacted so strongly to him! All those recessive genes, just waiting for the right trigger, only instead of regenerations he got stuck with perpetual resurrection!"
He puffed out a slow breath and looked towards the doors of the TARDIS. After a moment, a small smile tugged at his lips. He'd spent what felt like an eternity alone and now he seemed to have family coming out of his ears. And what a family! After a moment, the smile became a genuine laugh. He'd just realised that he was going to have to go out there and explain to Captain Jack Harkness that he was actually the Doctor's great-great-great-Lord knew how many more greats-grandson!
"Donna is going to love this!" he said ruefully as he made for the doors. "And I dread to think what Ianto will say!"
OOOO
Title: BLOOD WILL TELL
Characters: Ten, Jack, Donna
Rating: Open
Spoilers: Mild for Jack's 'condition' and early Who history.
Warning: Implication that Doctor has had a family.
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to RTD and to the BBC.
Summary: The Doctor finally asks the right questions and the TARDIS gives him the answers.
"I can smell him on you!" snarled the alien, its lips peeling back from razor-sharp teeth as it snuffed the air around the Doctor.
"That's a very personal statement to make," the Doctor said with as much dignity as he could muster, seeing as how he was spread-eagled over a black onyx altar, hands and feet securely tied down. "I'll have you know that I wash on a regular basis and- hang on, who can you smell on me?" he asked indignantly.
"The cur haunts me across all of space and time," the alien spat as it lifted away from him and went to pick up a knife which the Doctor considered to be far too long and serrated for his own good. "Every time I reach a point where I am ready to overwhelm the pitiful enemies who stand before me, there he is, and everything turns to dust under my hands."
"Well, I'm sure that's very tragic," the Doctor said. "Well, it would be, if you weren't the type of power-crazed maniac who's always trying to bring about the end of civilisation, so it isn't all that bad when you look at it from any other point of view except your own. Which I know is difficult for you, seeing as how you are just the tiniest bit selfish. Um, so why would you be smelling him on me?" the Doctor asked hastily when he realised that the alien was hefting the knife a little too thoughtfully. Really, they hadn't even been properly introduced!
"You share genes with him. He is of your get."
"He's what?" The Doctor boggled at him. "No, sorry, you must have the wrong Timelord. I don't share my genes with anyone, thank you very much. Very particular in that respect. Haven't done any getting in quite a while, I can tell you." He decided that Jenny didn't really count, as he hadn't had any say in the matter and she wasn't a begetting in the normal meaning of the word. All of his original family had turned to dust, or rather had been wiped from the face of space and time.
"Do not lie!" the alien roared. "My senses are never wrong. I can taste a shared gene a thousand lifetimes removed and your genes are exceptionally strong. I remember them being in the taste of him when he knelt before me in chains, broken and alone. His own people had abandoned him, leaving him to my rage, and he should have been helpless and meat for my altar. Instead he managed to escape and overset all my plans, destroying my fleet and leaving me with no option but to run away. Me! And now I sense him in you, sense the genes that flowed from womb to womb until he was birthed to make my life a torment!"
"Um... sorry?" the Doctor hazarded after a moment.
The alien snarled and hefted the knife as it advanced on the Doctor. "At least I will have the pleasure of slaughtering you," it said, the bloodlust glittering in its eyes, "and if I am far enough back in the timeline, I might yet manage to prevent his accursed conception. Die, Doctor!"
"Sorry, can't let you do that," came a familiar voice as Jack Harkness crashed into the room, levelling a gun at the alien. "I've just got used to him looking like that and I sort of have a weakness for suits lately."
"What?" the alien screamed, staring at Jack in disbelief. "Again?! You arrive to thwart my plans again?"
"Hey, you decide to open up a coffee shop and I'll encourage your plans. You keep trying to conquer and/or destroy the universe and it's thwarting all the way," Jack pointed out with a devil-may-care grin.
"Curse you, Harkness! One day I will be successful and then you will grovel at my feet and beg for the lives of yourself and your insufferable ancestor!"
"Hey!" Jack fired but he was too late as the alien pressed something on his belt and vanished in a scatter of multi-coloured light. "Damn, missed him again." Holstering his gun, Jack came over to the altar slab and used his Vortex manipulator to unlock the chains fastening the Doctor down. "Lucky for you Donna got away to tell me what had happened to you, Doctor," he observed cheerfully. He belatedly realised that the Doctor was unusually silent. "You okay, Doctor? He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Freed from the slab, the Doctor rolled over onto his feet and backed away, staring at Jack as if he had never seen him before in his life. "No. Nononononononono."
Jack blinked. "That would be a no, then," he hazarded. After a moment, he frowned. "Would that be 'no, he hasn't done anything to me' or 'no, I'm not all right'?"
"No, can't be," the Doctor whispered. "Can't possibly be."
He turned and bolted out of the alien's lair and after a second of bewilderment, Jack shot after him. The Doctor had always been very good at running and Jack had a hard time keeping up with him, but whenever he thought he had lost the Timelord, he paused and heard the endless cadence of 'no' and orientated himself on the sound. Whatever had happened between the Doctor and the alien, it had obviously badly rattled the Timelord. They eventually found their way out of the collection of warehouses the alien had taken over as its headquarters and a slightly winded Jack was in time to see the Doctor charge past a startled Donna and dive into the TARDIS.
"You're welcome, I'm sure!" Donna yelled after him before turning a cynical eye in Jack's direction. "Did you put your bleeding moves on him again?" she demanded.
"No, I did not!" Jack denied indignantly. Then he blinked. "What do you mean: 'again'."
Donna sniffed and looked him up and down in disfavour. "I've heard about you," she said darkly.
"From who?" Jack asked warily.
"Ianto Jones," Donna said with relish, folding her arms and giving him a look of malicious triumph.
Jack groaned, knowing he was doomed. "Look, I can explain..."
OOOO
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor thumped the console. "Show me!" he yelled. He glared up at the ceiling. "Don't you dare hold out on me!" He paused to sense the response. "Yes, I know I never asked before but I'm asking now!"
After a moment, the screen flickered into life. Susan Campbell, nee Foreman, it said before exploding into an ever-increasingly complex flower of bloodlines. The Doctor's eyes widened, half in joy, half in disbelief.
"She wasn't wiped from the timeline. Why wasn't she wiped from the timeline?"
There was no response and he continued to watch as the pattern on the screen grew ever more intricate. Paths dwindled and faded, others twisted in on themselves while others bloomed into a fretwork that reached out to caress eternity. The TARDIS knew what he was after and now that he had asked the question, she answered him. Some of the pattern fell off the screen as she danced across generations and light centuries. 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th... the centuries became millennia, one planet became dozens, hundreds. Other bloodlines and genetic influences came and went but through it all was the slender golden thread.
Finally it came to a halt and the Doctor stared and stared at the final entry. Not completely final, of course. That thread was intertwined with other bloodlines and in a little while he might gather the courage to look for them. For this moment, however, he was too stunned to do more than reach out and caress the notation that glowed in the screen in front of him.
Descendant: Rosenna Sa'an.
Primary Mate: Franklin Jeddis.
Secondary Mate: Yasen Kiffra.
Family Node: Boe'taine.
Children: Solon Jeddis (AKA Jack Harkness), Grayson Jeddis, Mesera Sa'an (now part of Family Node: Boe'sendra.)
The thread continued below Mesera's name, signifying that she had had children, but the Doctor ignored that. "My descendant," he muttered, dazed. "He's my bloody descendant!" He jerked away from the screen, running his hands through his hair as he struggled to cope with the news. It explained so damn much! He glared up at the TARDIS. "You knew!" he said accusingly. He shrugged away the shiver of response. "Oh, no, don't you come the innocent with me! You knew what he was, the genes he was carrying and you still allowed Rose to channel the Vortex into him!"
Sharp reproof shivered in the air and he had to grace to look discomfited. "Yes, all right, I suppose she would have gone ahead even if you'd tried to drag back control, but still..." He paused and groaned. "No wonder the Vortex reacted so strongly to him! All those recessive genes, just waiting for the right trigger, only instead of regenerations he got stuck with perpetual resurrection!"
He puffed out a slow breath and looked towards the doors of the TARDIS. After a moment, a small smile tugged at his lips. He'd spent what felt like an eternity alone and now he seemed to have family coming out of his ears. And what a family! After a moment, the smile became a genuine laugh. He'd just realised that he was going to have to go out there and explain to Captain Jack Harkness that he was actually the Doctor's great-great-great-Lord knew how many more greats-grandson!
"Donna is going to love this!" he said ruefully as he made for the doors. "And I dread to think what Ianto will say!"
OOOO