Death of the Time Lords

Pregnant, funny how one word could change a person's entire life, just like 'I love you,' both were life altering, and both could take a while to sink in. The Doctor was still trying to comprehend that the Hatter, his Hatter was actually carrying his child. They were have a baby, an actualcrying, tiny, completely helpless little thing that they would have to raise and parent for the next two hundred years, and that was only counting the teen and childhood years. It was funny, he had always dreamed about having a child with the Hatter, always wondered what he or she would be like, but it wasn't just a dream anymore, it was reality and with that knowledge brought with it not just complete and utter delight, but also terror.

He had been a father before, had raised two children and loved them both dearly, and he had also lost them and grieved for them. He had thought at the time that he would never be capable of being a father again, but then Jenny had come along and the Hatter, well, she had taken to that beautiful girl instantly, without hesitating for a moment because that was the person she was, but he had been different. He had tried so hard to deny that Jenny was his daughter, but in the end, just like with her mother, he had fallen in love with her and had begun to imagine what it would be like for their daughter to travel with them. And then, they had lost her and had been completely devastated.

He wasn't sure if he was really meant to be a father after everything, he had always been better at saving the Universe then parenting, or at least that's how it felt. And then there was the chance that he could lose them both, the Hatter and their child. Time Lady's pregnancies were well known for having been quite dangerous for both the child and mother, it was one of the reasons why Looms were so popular. They were far safer and practically assured that the child would be completely healthy. But a natural pregnancy brought with it so many risks, and the one thing he knew he would never be able to come back from would be losing the Hatter again.

He took a deep breath and glanced over to the sleeping Time Lady beside him, looking peaceful with her hair in a complete mess of waves sprawled across her pillow, her face peaceful and completely relaxed with her mouth open just slightly, releasing small breathes. At some point during the night she had kicked the covers off her pyjama clad legs, revealing the bright yellow socks she wore.

"You know," the Hatter's voice interrupted his thoughts, sounding slurred and rough from sleep, her eyes still closed. In fact, he would have been positive she was fast asleep if he hadn't heard her speak, "It really is quite disturbing to have someone watch you sleep," she cracked one eye open, not moving her head in the slightest to look up at him, "Also, I can practically hear you thinking from here".

"How can you know I was watching you if you were asleep?" he asked, raising an amused eyebrow at her.

"Don't question it, just believe it, sweetheart," she mumbled sleepily, closing her eyes again.

Well, at least he could understand what was saying this morning. Most mornings he couldn't get a coherent word out of her before she had her tea. He smiled softly and shifted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her back to his chest, unable to resist lightly resting his open palm against her flat stomach, amazed that their child was growing inside their, hardly bigger than his thumbnail right now. It would be months before she would even start to show, Time Lord pregnancies lasting for eighteen months rather than nine, like humans, so they were more drawn out then a humans, and right now the Hatter was only a little over two months. Still, it also meant that she was in one of the most high risk stages…he closed his eyes, trying to force those thoughts from his mind.

The Hatter sighed softly and rolled onto her side in his arms to face him, finally opening her eyes to look at him properly, though, she still looked half-asleep, "Are you okay?" she frowned worriedly at him, noticing how he had tensed suddenly.

He tried to give her a smile, even though he knew that she would see straight through it, "I'm fine…."

"Don't you dare try lying to me when I'm carrying your child," she cut across him at once, fixing him with a deadly serious look that just simply shouldn't be possible when she had woken up less than two minutes ago.

He opened and closed his mouth at her, really not having expected that response, "Ah…"

She continued to look at him seriously before breaking into a smile, kissing him quickly with a laugh, "Oh, I am so going to enjoy saying that for the next eighteen months!" she grinned, her eyes dancing with delight, sitting up so suddenly that she almost whack her head against the Doctor's chin, "I mean, it's almost worth having to handle all the backaches, swollen ankles, and every other awful pregnancy symptom there is just to be able to say that," she laughed again, lightly ruffling his hair, "And there's nothing you can say as a comeback, either!"

"This is just going to get worse, isn't it?" he pretended to sigh in exasperation, really quite amused now that he was over his surprise. It was just such a typical thing for her to say and for a brief moment, he forgot about his worries, simply enjoying seeing how happy she was.

"You have no idea. Now, you never did answer my question: are you alright?"

The Doctor sighed heavily, sitting up against the headboard, but he tried to avoid her gaze as he did so. How could he tell how afraid he was when she was so happy?

She reached over and cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb along his cheek bone, "I know you're worried," she told him softly, making him blink in surprise at her. She smiled slightly, "How could you not be worried. To be honest, I'm terrified," she admitted, her smile fading to be replaced with a small frown, "Anything could happen, anything. This whole thing is just as new for me as it is for you. I've never been pregnant before, I've never had to carry one of my children's lives literally inside me before and the idea of something happening to it…" she paused, swallowing hard as she looked down at the red covers, absently toying with the edge of the blanket, "I…I don't think I could bear to lose another child".

"Hey," he put a finger under her chin, lifting her head to meet her eyes, seeing just how afraid she really was. He should have known the moment she started making light of her pregnancy that she was afraid, "I won't let anything happen to either of you".

"You can't make that promise, sweetheart, not with something like this".

"No…" he nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off hers, "But I can promise to be there, no matter what happens, and do everything I can in the Universe to insure that you are both okay".

She took a deep breath, smiling at him, "And we'll do it all together, just as we always have".

"Always," he agreed, and kissed her.

…

After breakfast and the Time Lords had gotten changed, they had decided to go and check the scanners in the console, when they discovered that they had drifted towards a planet called 'The Westland of the Crimson Heart,' apparently a once very big and mighty battlefield that neither the Doctor nor the Hatter had ever even heard of before.

Curious, they decided to take a little trip down to the planet to explore the arid, reddish surface that was littered with bits of old fighter ships, cables and wires having been left scattered across the old battlefield as they explored it. Despite it once having been a place for war, the planet really was quite pretty with the reddish sky above from the two moons casting a funny red, almost coppery glow over everything and the rocky ground that surrounded the Time Lords with cliffs. There was no plant life that the Hatter could see, just plenty of debris from destroyed ships.

They explored for a while, enjoying trying to determine what piece of debris might have belonged to what model of ship, but their enjoyment soon faded as they soon became aware that there was blue lights moving around the TARDIS. They immediately recognised the lights as belonging to a teleport device, but they had no way of being able to stop it, the Doctor having left his sonic screwdriver in the TARDIS, not having thought that they would need it for a bit of fun exploring. All they could do was watch helpless, when another presence caught their attention.

A large vulture-like creature had appeared a short distance away from the TARIDS, draped in a dark blue velvet robe and with a ruffle of white feathers around its long neck. They recognised it at once as being a Shansheeth, a species that acted as intergalactic undertakers, of sorts, usually known for returning dead war heroes home from battlefields across the Universe, but why would it be on a planet that hadn't seen bloodshed in at least a decade? It simply didn't make sense…until it had informed them that it was taking command of the TARIDS, saying something about it being for the greater good of the Universe and that it intended to use their old friends from Earth to gain access to the time machine, and that within a few days the death notice would be fulfilled.

And with that last chilling note, the Shansheeth and the TARDIS both disappeared in a flash of blue, leaving the Time Lords trapped on a planet a very, very long way from Earth.

The Hatter took a deep breath, still staring at the place that the TARDIS had just been standing only moments ago, feeling her hearts sinking, "This doesn't make sense," she said after a moment, frowning, "What use would the Shansheeth have for time travel?"

"I don't know," the Doctor sighed heavily, running a frustrated hand down his face as he began pacing, desperately trying to think, "And what friends could help to get inside the TARDIS? And how?"

"They certainly wouldn't just give the key up," she agreed thoughtfully, watching him pace, finding it strangely helpful to watch him with her own thoughts, "Most of them still have their keys, but none of them would just hand it over, unless…" she stopped suddenly, a thought crossing her mind.

He paused in his pacing, looking over to her quickly, "What?"

"I just had a rather unsettling thought. The Shansheeth said that the death notice would be fulfilled in a few days, which means that there's already a death notice for us, so…"

"Oh!" he gasped, his eyes widening as he pointed at her, catching on, "That's how they're going to do it. Make our friends think we're dead, gather them together at our funeral, and…"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping, "Yes, but even if they thought we were dead they still wouldn't just hand over the TARDIS key," she shook her head grimly, "They're going to need to pull the key from their memories to get it by using a memory weave, or something similar".

The Doctor began pacing again, this time slightly less erratic then before, feeling better now that they seemed to be getter somewhere, "The Shansheeth will probably go to UNIT to organise the funeral," he remarked, thinking deeply and carefully, trying to imagine what he would do if he was in their position, "UNIT can contact most of our friends, get them to come, but they would need help from the inside to do it, too. Someone who can convince people that we really are dead".

"Yes, but they'll want to act quickly," she nodded, moving to sit on a nearby rock that was sticking up from the ground, stretching her legs out before her and crossing her ankles, "They won't want people to start poking around and with our friends, even if they are convinced that we're dead, you just know that they will".

"It's a good plan," he admitted, pausing and moving to sit beside her on the rock, taking her hand, "A very good plan".

"It's clever, I'll give them that, but not nearly clever enough to convince all of our friends. A few of them will have to be suspicious about the whole thing".

They were silent for a long moment before slowly turning to meet each other's eyes…"Sarah Jane!" they cried in unison, breaking into grins, high fiving each other in their excitement.

"She would be one of the easiest companions to contact," the Time Lady continued brightly, her eyes lighting up in delight, thinking it over quickly. They would only be able to contact three of her companions, Michael, Katie, and Tommy, while the others would be unreachable due to time differences. Lily would have only just have started travelling with her Fifth regeneration and Max and Alice, while it pained her greatly to even have to think about it, would no longer be alive by 2010. Sarah Jane seemed like the most likely person that UNIT would try and call, and she would also be a good target for the Shansheeth if they tried getting the TARDIS key from her memories, but even Sarah's memories wouldn't be powerful enough on their own, they would still need another companion, but who?

"And the most suspicious," the Doctor added, smiling broadly at the thought of his old companion. She was a journalist, after all, it was her job to question everything and if she felt for one second that something was off, she would follow that feeling until she got to the truth. Out of any of their companions that would be able to see that the Shansheeth were lying, it would be her. He just knew it.

The Hatter stood, letting go of his hand and spun back around to face him, still grinning as she began rubbing her hands together, "Looks like we have our work cut out for us this time, sweetheart," she commented cheerfully, already thinking of how they could use the junk around them to build a device to get back to Earth.

….

Carefully, Sarah Jane opened the door of the room that she and Clyde and Rani had been given to stay in while they attended the Doctor and the Hatter's funeral, peering around the metal door and into the empty corridor outside, "Rani?" she called quietly, the two teenagers and another boy, Santiago, Jo Jones's grandson, having disappeared a while ago, "Clyde?"

Jo Jones's stepped out into the hallway from behind her, looking around with a frown. She was still feeling quite confused after finding that she had managed to fall asleep while still sitting upright with Sarah Jane when they had been trying to work out just who would benefit from making it look like the Doctor and the Hatter had died, neither of them having been convinced that they were really gone. She had been thrilled to hear that the Time Lords had married, finally, though she had been disappointed that she hadn't been invited to attend the wedding, but she expected that they must have had a good reason. She knew the Hatter, or at least she did back in the old days, and knew that the Time Lady wouldn't have just forgotten about her, not if they had invited Liz Shaw and old John Benton from those days. She just hoped that she would get the chance to see them again.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, looking around worriedly for any sign of someone. There wasn't even a UNIT soldier in sight.

Sarah Jane continued to frown deeply, "I think there's something wrong".

"Wrong?" she repeated, turning back to the other women, "As in, you mean, just like the old days sort of wrong?"

She turned back to Jo, smiling broadly at her, growing excited, "Oh, exactly like the old days!" she agreed.

"Groovy!"

"Yes!"

They grabbed each other's hands and began running off down the corridor, almost running into Clyde, Rani, and Santiago as they reached a junction in the hallway up ahead.

"There you are!" Sarah Jane cried, pleased to have finally found the three teenagers.

Clyde doubled back a bit, having almost run straight past the older women, "Sarah Jane, it's the Shansheeth," he began hurriedly, "They're lying through their beaks. They want you and Jo," he nodded over to Jo, "This whole thing's a trap".

"I knew it!" Sarah Jane exclaimed at once.

"Hold on," Jo's eyes widened in realisation, pointing at Clyde, "If they're lying, that means the Doctor and Hatter's still an alive," she and Sarah Jane turned to each other, high fiving.

"Yes!" they shouted in unison.

"Of course we're still alive, Jo," Clyde said, but it wasn't his voice speaking, sounding like a completely different man, "I thought that was obvious. Catch up".

They all looked at Clyde, frowning in confusion.

"What, I beg your pardon?" Jo asked, frowning at him.

"Clyde, is that you?" Sarah Jane questioned, eyeing Clyde carefully.

"Course it's not, it's me!" the same voice replied again from Clyde, sounding exasperated, "I'm using Clyde as a receiver. We've keyed into his residual artron energy so I can organise a very complicated biological swap across ten thousand light years. Hold on…"

Suddenly, Clyde was jolted with a painful burst of bright blue energy that crackled all over his body, making him cry out before the energy disappeared, almost causing him to stumble forwards.

"That wasn't me," Clyde said, looking up, alarmed to see them all still staring at him, "That wasn't me speaking. I'm getting…" he paused, his eyes widening as he held up one of his hands to see that it was white and slightly bigger than his own hands. He stared at the hand, shocked, "That's not my hand, because my hand's not white…"

He was shocked again by the energy and suddenly, a floppy-haired man in a tweed blazer and wearing a blue bowtie appeared in his place, the energy to crackling around him as he scrunched up his face, "Sorry, Clyde," the man apologised.

Clyde appeared again, still groaning in pain.

And then the man was back, "But…"

Clyde.

"This…" the man again.

"No…" Clyde groaned painfully, disappearing again and replaced by the man.

"Space…"

Clyde.

"Is…"

Clyde.

"Taken!" the man shouted, stumbling back slightly as the energy disappeared completely, Clyde nowhere in sight. He blinked slightly, his floppy brown hair looking quite wind swept after all the switching back and forth between Clyde and himself, "Good…" he said, still appearing a bit dazed, "So…gosh!" he exclaimed, "That was different," he broke into a smile as he caught sight of the others staring at him, stunned, "Hello, everyone".

"Who are you?" Rani demanded, her eyes wide as she stared at the man. The man simply frowned at her slightly, almost as if he was disappointed, "Where's Clyde?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Come on, Rani, use your brain," he shook his head at her, "Clyde and I swapped places. I'm where he was, he's where the Hatter and I was, which means…ooh," he paused, blinking slightly, "He's in a lot of trouble," he gave himself a shake, breaking into another broad smile, "But not to worry, he's got the Hatter there. He'll be fine".

….Meanwhile….…

Clyde's eyes widened as he stumbled back, suddenly finding himself standing on a strange, reddish planet with rocks and dirt everywhere, certainly not on Earth with Sarah Jane and Rani anymore.

"Everything is just fine, Clyde," a women's voice caught his attention, and he spun around to find a brown haired, hat wearing women standing only a few steps from him, her back facing a strange looking device that was humming faintly. She smiled at him soothingly, "You'll be back home in just a tick, the Doctor just has to do something first".

He eyed her carefully for a moment, "Hatter?" he asked slowly, unsure, feeling very confused as to what was going on. Who else wore a hat and hung around with the Doctor?

Her smile broadened, "That's right," she nodded happily, throwing her arms around him a quick hug before he had a chance to even blink, startling him slightly. She pulled back just as quickly, turning back to the strange device, "It's lovely to see you again," she continued over her shoulder to him, "Now, if you would excuse me for just a moment…" she began circling the device, a small frown crossing her face, not seeming to be very happy by it for some reason.

Clyde slowly stepped closer to her, "Ah, where am I and what's going on?" he questioned, shaking his head, waving a hand at the device, "And what is that thing?"

"This?" she pointed at the device, shrugging, "Oh, this is just a teleport device that allows the Doctor to lock on to the artron energy within you so that you can swap places," she sighed heavily, "But it's not quite working properly yet, so until then I'm stuck here until he can bring one last thing back to connect the circuits together. As for where you are, welcome to the Westland of the Crimson Heart".

He stared around, his eyes widening as, for the first time, he noticed the two moons in the reddish sky, "I'm on another planet," he breathed, amazed.

…..….Earth…

"You bring him back…whoever you are!" Rani glared at the rather gangly looking man standing before them where Clyde ought to be, pointing a stern finger at him.

"No, no, no, Rani, don't you see?" Sarah Jane shook her head quickly, staring at the man in a new light. The man raised his head slightly higher, a soft smile crossing his face as he watched Sarah step closer to him, "It's you, isn't it?" she said hopefully, smiling as her eyes drifted over his new face and clothing, taking him in, "Oh, you've done it again".

"Hello, Sarah Jane," he grinned broadly at her, delighted to see her again. He only wished the Hatter could be here to see her, but she would be soon enough.

She raised her eyebrows hopefully, still smiling, "Doctor?"

"That's the Doctor?" Rani frowned, looking at him completely differently.

"What Doctor?" Jo questioned, glancing quickly to Sarah Jane and back again to the Doctor, "The Doctor? My Doctor?"

Sarah Jane shrugged slightly, holding out a hand towards the Doctor, "Yeah, well, he can change his face," she reminded her, wondering if the Hatter had forgotten to mention that to Jo.

"I know, but into a baby's?"

"Oi!" the Doctor mock exclaimed, pretending to be offended as he turned to Jo, "Imagine it from my point of view. Last time I saw you, Jo Grant, you were, what? Twenty one, twenty two?" he smiled slightly, "It's like someone baked you".

Jo gave him an offended look as Sarah Jane cleared her throat quickly, "Where's the Hatter?" she asked, deciding it would probably be a good idea to cut in.

"Oh, like I said, she's taking care of Clyde for the moment," he replied, waving her off, "She's going to be delighted to see you lot, though. She loves a good reunion…" he paused, reconsidering what he had just said, "Unless it includes the Master".

"Has she regenerated, too?"

He nodded, smiling broadly at the thought of the Hatter, "She's a brunet now with a love of pink and yellow, almost an obsession, if you ask me…"

"Everyone!" Santiago cut in loudly, nodding his head back up the hallway behind them, "Meanwhile…"

They all turned to find three Shansheeth heading towards them from down the hallway, not seeming to be very pleased.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor remarked, growing serious as he caught sight of them approaching, "The Claw Shansheeth of the 15th Funeral Fleet," he lightly pushed the humans aside and strolled down the hall towards them, really not pleased that they had just left him and the Hatter on a planet, taking off with the TARDIS, "I've been looking for you," he frowned deeply at them, "Have you been telling people that my wife and I are dead?"

"I apologise," the head Shansheeth said calmly, completely unconcerned, "The death notice was released a little too soon. Though I can rectify this for you, immediately!" and it threw out its hand towards the Doctor, shooting him in his chest with a current of red energy. The Doctor chocked back a gasp of pain, stumbling on his feet before collapsing onto his knees, struggling to remain upright, trying to fight against the pain, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Doctor," the creature spoke again, almost sounding smug, "Rest in peace".

The Doctor struggled, trying so hard to fight against the pain, just trying to think of the Hatter, anything that might get his mind off the burning pain in his chest.

…..….Meanwhile…...….…

Clyde watched the Hatter as she continued frowning at the device, circling it, the humming sound seeming to have grown louder and faster since he had first arrived, "Sounds like a countdown," he commented, still not entirely sure what the device really was.

Suddenly, there was another flash of blue artron energy and Clyde disappeared, the Doctor reappearing in his place, collapsing onto his knees, panting and clutching at his chest.

"Doctor!" the Hatter cried, running to his side and kneeling beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He took a moment before responding, "Better now," he smiled at her, making her roll her eyes slightly, helping him back onto his feet. He brushed his knees down and straightened, his smile widening, "You'll never guess who I just saw".

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Who?"

"Jo Grant".

Her eyes widened in surprise, quickly replaced with delight as she broke into a bright smile, "Oh, good old Jo," she laughed, unable to wait until she got to see her again. She hadn't seen her since her engagement party, well, she supposed that they really ought to call her Jo Jones now, but even still, she had always been rather fond of Jo. She had been one of the few people who had made being stuck on Earth during the seventies bearable.

He stepped over to the device, frowning deeply at it, "You'll be able to see her soon enough," he flashed her a bright smile, knowing how much she would be wanting to see Jo and Sarah again. He turned back to the machine, frowning again at it, "Faster, faster, faster!" he gave the device a shake, before turning back to the Hatter, kissing her quickly before she had time to even blink at him, "Be back soon, dear".

"Just be careful!" she called after him as he disappeared in another burst of artron energy, Clyde appearing in his place.

….Earth….….

Sarah Jane opened the door that locked off a section of the base, looking back down the hallway as the others hurried behind her, still being chased by the Shansheen, even when the Doctor had somehow managed to disappear and Clyde returned, looking quite shocked, saying something about having been on another planet with the Hatter. She stood back, ushering Rani, Santiago, and Jo through the doorway and into the next corridor, looking back, just in time to see the Doctor run through the door instead of Clyde. Her eyes widened in shock to see him back again, not moving to follow him in her surprise.

He paused, glancing back to Sarah Jane, "Come along, Smith!" he told her, and took off running after the others, leaving Sarah to follow behind him.

…..….….Meanwhile….…..…

The humming sound on the device began slowing as the Hatter groaned loudly, shaking the device, while Clyde watched on, "Oh, you had better hurry back, Doctor," she muttered, starting to grow slightly nervous now.

"I can still get back to Earth, right?" Clyde asked, looking between the device and back to the Hatter, noticing how worried she was looking, desperately trying to speed the machine up again.

She sighed heavily, glancing back to him, "At this point, yes," she nodded, before turning back to the device, eyeing it warily, "But this device still isn't working properly and unless we fix it soon, then, I'm afraid, we really are going to be in big, big trouble," she turned back to the device, closing her eyes tightly, "Come on, sweetheart," she murmured to herself, "Come on".

….…..Earth…..

They all dashed down the corridor, the Doctor leading the way, pausing at an open doorway to a room with two sets of bunkbeds inside, "In, in, in!" he urged them all, leaning back against the doorframe as he waited for them all to run inside the room, glancing back up the corridor to check that the Shansheen hadn't caught up with them yet.

"I'm sorry," a young women in a UNIT cap called, walking down the corridor from the other end towards them, catching the Doctor's attention, "Is there a problem?"

The Doctor dashed inside the room after the others, casting the women a quick frown as he closed the door on her face, before quickly pulling it back open, "Sorry, I was…" his frown deepened, narrowing his eyes at the women, "…slamming it," and he slammed the door shut once more, turning back around to face the others, "Right," he nodded as Sarah Jane moved to press her back against the door, too, "Now we need to lock it. Come on, use the sonic lipstick!" he clapped, turning to Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane looked back to him, "Haven't you got the screwdriver?" she asked.

"They took it," he replied.

She sighed slightly and reached into her pocket, pulling out her sonic lipstick, turning to flash it at the door.

"Oh!" Jo grinned, looking delighted as she moved to take a closer look at the device in Sarah's hand, "They do sonic lipsticks now".

"We're running out of time," the Doctor remarked hurriedly, needing to get back to the Hatter, hating leaving her back on that planet, but at least she was safer there then where he was now, "I need you, Sarah…" he turned back to the two older women, taking their hands, "And you, Jo".

"Need us for what?" Jo looked at him eagerly, excited at the idea of another adventure.

"Remember the old days when we'd go zooming off to faraway worlds?" he smiled at them, and they disappeared in a flash of artron energy, appearing on the planet. He spun back around the face the device, hearing how slow the humming was, powering down. The Hatter looking up at their arrival from the other side of the device, a look of relief crossing her face, "No, no, no, no…" he shook his head at the device.

"Oh, thank goodness," the Time Lady smiled at him, "Now we can finally get this to start working properly…" she trailed off as she noticed Sarah Jane and Jo standing behind him, her smile widening in delight, "Sarah, Jo!" she cried, practically running around the device and throwing her arms around both women.

"Hatter!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, laughing as she hugged the Time Lady back just as tightly.

She joined in with Sarah Jane's laughter, pulling back to look at them properly, hardly noticing the fine lines around their faces, while they, in turn, took her latest regeneration in with interest, "It has been far too long, old friends," she said happily, focusing on Jo, "And you, Jo Grant…or rather Jones, it is simply wonderful to see you again".

Jo stared at her, "Hatter?" she said slowly, still not quite believing that the Doctor and the Hatter were back, standing before her. The Hatter smiled softly at her, playfully bopping her nose with a laugh, making her scrunch up her face, "You haven't change," she shook her head fondly.

The Hatter winked at her and whirled around, moving to join the Doctor at the device, leaving Sarah Jane and Jo to finally take a look around at the planet for the first time, their eyes widening in amazement.

"Where are we?" Sarah Jane asked, staring around at the desert landscape around them.

"The Westland of the Crimson Heart," the Doctor answered, pulling a cable out of the device, before standing, "Planet Earth's that way," he pointed behind them, and both women turned to look, "Bit of a long walk. Sonic, please," he looked back over to Sarah Jane, kneeling back beside the device.

"Wow," Jo breathed in awe, taking in the beautiful sight before her of the moons in the sky, the planet stretching out before them. Sarah turned around, taking in the view with a similar reaction, while the Hatter watched them both with a broad smile, pleased to see the same wonderment on their faces as they had all those years ago when they first started, "It's so many years since I was on another planet," she commented.

"Me too," Sarah Jane agreed quietly, not taking her eyes off the view.

The Doctor laughed along with the Hatter and stood, wrapping an arm around the Time Lady's waist as they watched them take in the sight for a moment, before returning to working on the device, flashing the borrowed sonic at it.

…

"Right there…" the Hatter instructed Sarah Jane as she knelt on the ground in front of the device, the Doctor and Sarah Jane beside her, carefully attaching wires with the sonic. She pointed again to another wire as she connected it into place, "And there…"

"Did it hurt?" Sarah Jane asked after a moment, looking between the Time Lords.

The Doctor glanced back to her, connecting another wire and pointing to it, "And there…" he said, knowing perfectly well what she was asking about, but trying to avoid answering.

She did as he directed and lowered the sonic, eyeing them closely, "I mean, the regeneration," she clarified, needing to know, especially after seeing the expression on the Doctor's face when he had rescued Luke from being hit from a car. She had known then that he was going to regenerate, and as for the Hatter, she couldn't help be curious to know what had happened to cause her most recent regeneration, "Those last bodies of yours, were they okay in the end?" she questioned.

The Hatter exchanged a look with the Doctor, taking his hand and holding it tightly. When she had regenerated, she had been so worried about how it might affect Amy and the Doctor that she hadn't fully allowed herself to worry about how it made her feel, not really. She hadn't wanted to go, but she hadn't feared it as much as the Doctor had, she had simply tried her hardest to accept what was happening in the moment because there was no point to trying to fight it, and if the Doctor could have gone through his own regeneration as bravely as he had, she could try her hardest to do the same.

"It always hurts," the Doctor said softly, looking away from her to point at another section of the device, "And there," he told her.

Sarah Jane glanced at the Hatter, who gave her a small, pointed look. She nodded, taking the hint to change the subject as she quickly flashed her sonic at the wire, "So how did you end up in this place?" she stood, casting her eyes around the planet again.

"Oh, that was all the Shansheeth's doing," the Hatter sighed, taking the Doctor's hand as he helped her to stand, before he grabbed a length of cables connected to the device, fiddling with it, "They lured us to this planet, knowing perfectly well that we couldn't resist exploring an old battlefield".

"Because we're travelling with Amy now," the Doctor added happily, "And Rory. They got married. We dropped them off at a honeymoon planet, which isn't what you'd think," he shook his head as the Time Lady watched him, amused at his rambling, "It's not a planet for a honeymoon, it's a planet on a honeymoon," he continued, "It married an asteroid. Then they nicked the TARDIS".

"The Shansheeth, not Amy and Rory," the Time Lady cut in, and the Doctor nodded quickly, realising how that sounded. She cast her eyes around at all the debris scattered around, "And luckily, we did get lured to a planet covered in all this spaceship wreckage, because we could build a…"

"Space swapping doo-dah thingummy wotsit," he finished, grinning broadly, turning to look at the Hatter, who shook her head in amusement. She wasn't even going to bother trying to correct him.

"So, you've a married couple in the TARDIS?" Jo called from where she had taken a seat on a rock nearby, having been listening.

"Mister and Mrs Pond," he nodded, smiling again at the thought of Amy and Rory.

"I only left you because I got married," she admitted.

The Doctor frowned slightly, shifting uncomfortably as the Hatter absently brushed dirt off her skirt, taking his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze, recalling how upset he had been when Jo had decided to leave and marry. She didn't think she had seen him ever drink champagne so fast before then on the night of Jo's engagement party. She cleared her throat, glancing back to Sarah, "And there…" she directed her to another wire.

"Did you think I was stupid?" she asked, watching both Time Lords backs. While she might have technically have been the Doctor's companion, she had always felt like she was the Hatter's, too, after how much time the three of them spent together and all the adventures they went on together.

Both Time Lords turned around to face her, shocked by her question. The Hatter frowned deeply and walked around to stand closer to her, "Why do you say that?" the Doctor eyed her.

"Well…" she shrugged, smiling almost sadly, "I was a bit dumb. Still am, I suppose".

"Don't you dare say that," the Hatter said sternly, moving to take a seat on the rock across from Jo, reaching out to take both her hands. The Doctor moved to sit beside the Time Lady, "Never, ever say something like that about yourself, Jo," she went on, grasping her hands tightly, meeting her eyes firmly, "You are so much better than that, so much better. Now, where is all of this coming from?" she searched her face, trying to figure out why she would put herself down like that.

She sighed slightly, looking between the Time Lords as they looked at her intently, concern in their eyes, "We'd been travelling down the Amazon for months," she began to explain, "And we reached a village in Cristalino, and it was the only place in thousands of miles that had a telephone, so I called you two," she smiled slightly, "I just wanted to say 'hello'. And they told me that you'd both left, left UNIT, never came back," her smile faded, growing sad, "So I waited and waited, because you both said you'd see me again," the Hatter sighed slightly, exchanging a quick look with the Doctor beside her, "You did, I asked you and you said 'yes,'" she continued, and they nodded in agreement, remembering that they had told her that they would see each other again, "You promised, and the Hatter never brake's her promises. So I thought, one day, I'd hear that sound, deep in the jungle, I'd hear that funny wheezing noise, and a big blue box right in the middle of the rainforest," she smiled slightly again, "'Cos, you see, they wouldn't just leave," she shook her head, "Not forever. Not me," she paused, laughing as she sniffed back tears, "I've waited my whole silly life…"

"Oh, but you're an idiot," the Doctor said fondly, shaking his head at her.

"Well, there we have it," she laughed, still sniffling as she waved her hands at him.

"No, no, no, but don't you see?" he smiled at her as the Hatter shook her head at Jo, a soft smile of her own crossing her face, "How could either of us ever find you?" he said to her, "You've spent the past forty years living in huts, climbing up trees, tearing down barricades. You've done everything from flying kites on Kilimanjaro to sailing down the Yangtze in a tea chest…"

"Something I highly approved of, by the way," the Hatter cut in, grinning broadly at Jo with a wink as the other women's eyes began to widen. She glanced at the Doctor, shaking her head in amusement, "With all of that going on, is it any wonder that even the TARDIS couldn't find you?"

"Hold on…" Jo said slowly, blinking in shock, staring at them both, "I did sail down the Yangtze in a tea chest!" she gasped, "How did you know?"

"And that family," the Doctor continued, "All seven kids, twelve grandchildren, thirtieth on his way," he shrugged, "He's dyslexic but that'll be fine. Great swimmer".

The Hatter pretended to cough, unable to resist, "Gold medallist".

Jo looked between them both, completely delighted as a smile spread across her face, "So you've been watching me all this time?" she asked, "Both of you?"

"No," the Doctor admitted sadly as the Time Lady sighed, looking down. She had tried hard to keep an eye on all of their friends in the past, but it hadn't been until the last few years that she had managed to do so. The Time War really did hit home to her just how important it was to keep the people you love in your life, "Because you're right, I don't look back," he nodded, lowering his eyes as the brunet squeezed his hand, "I can't. But the last time I was dying, we looked back on all of you," he looked back up to Jo, "Every single one. And I…we were so proud".

Jo's eyes filled with tears, smiling at them as she shook her head slowly, "It really is you, isn't it?"

He smiled back at her as the Hatter laughed, "Hello!"

Suddenly, a loud whistle noise rang out, making them jump and turn to see Sarah Jane standing from a rock a short distance away, tucking a whistle back inside her jacket, "Sorry, but we've got that lot back at home with the Shansheeth," she reminded them.

"Oh, yes!" the Hatter quickly got back onto her feet, concern washing over her for the three teenagers that they had left behind. She began to walk back over to the device, glancing back to Jo, the Doctor moving to join her, "Now it's your turn, Jo, and I do believe that I can smell…" she paused, sniffing the air, trying hard not to grimace, "Blackcurrant," she raised her eyebrows, spinning back around to face Jo, "Let me guess, buchu oil?"

"Hand-picked in Mozambique," Jo nodded, standing and making her way over to her, rummaging around in her bag that was slung over her shoulder. She pulled out a small bottle and handed it to the Time Lady.

"Ah, excellent!" she flashed her a bright smile, unscrewing the lid, while the Doctor removed the top of the device, "These circuits need connectivity," she said, pouring a bit of the oil into the device.

"Wonderful!" the Doctor smiled, enjoying watching all his girls working together, just like the old days, "That's it," he nodded, and replaced the top piece of the device, sneaking a quick kiss the Hatter's cheek as she smiled, "What a team!" he remarked, looking back around to them.

"Now we just need to connect one last wire…" the Hatter muttered, kneeling by the device, quickly slotting the last wire into place before standing again, "And there we go, that'll do it," she grinned, waving her hands at the device with a flourish of her wrists, "One intergalactic molecular streaming device with a hint of blackcurrant thrown in," she paused, glancing at the Doctor, amused, "Now, that's got to be a first for me".

"Oh, but what'll happen to Clyde?" Sarah Jane questioned, casting the device a quick frown as it began humming again, fully activated.

"Oh, no, no, no, we've fixed it," the Doctor assured her, shaking his head, "All we needed was you two," he gestured to Jo and Sarah, "Oil and sonic. Now we can go back with the Hatter and Clyde can stay where he is," he took the Hatter's hand, moving around the device to stand between the two women, taking Sarah's hand with his free one, while the Time Lady took Jo's. He smiled at them, "Hold tight".

There was a flash of artron energy and they disappeared, appearing a moment later back in the bunkbed room that the Doctor and Sarah and Jo had left the teenagers in when they had zapped onto the planet. The Hatter groaned, reaching out to steady herself against the nearest wall while her other hand went to her stomach, closing her eyes tightly at the nauseating feeling that washed over her instantly. While the morning sickness hadn't kicked in quite yet, save for feeling a little unwell after first waking up, she had noticed now that she was aware of her pregnancy that she had been far more sensitive to teleporting lately, having simply fobbed it off as being overly sensitive in this regeneration. If this was what the morning sickness was going to be like and worse, she really wasn't looking forward to the coming weeks.

"Hatter, are you alright?" Sarah Jane's voice drifted over her, sounding concerned as she felt someone put a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Fine, fine…" she mumbled, taking a deep breathe, trying to push the sickening sensation away as she opened her eyes to find the Doctor standing beside her, rubbing her back with a small, concerned frown on his face, not seeming to be very surprised, while Sarah and Jo looked at her worriedly. She swallowed, trying to fix a smile to her face, "Just a little sensitive to things at the moment".

Jo eyed her slightly, a thoughtful expression crossing her face, but before she had time to open her mouth, a loud shout came from a vent on the wall across the room from them, "Get us out of here!" Clyde's urgent cry sounded.

"Sarah Jane!" Rani's voice followed.

"Doctor! Hatter!"

They hurried across to the vent, leaning close towards it, "Whoops!" the Doctor commented, trying to peer through the metal strips along the ventilation shaft. He glanced back to the Time Lady, "Then again, maybe leaving Clyde in the same place wasn't such a good idea".

"Look out, stand back!" Sarah Jane told them, and they moved back from the grating as she pulled her sonic lipstick from her pocket, flashing it at the vent. She and the Doctor grabbed the top of it and pulled it open.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, grinning as they moved back to look down the long, dimly lit, narrow space within the shaft that stretched on throughout the entire base, "Ventilation shafts," he playfully nudged Sarah Jane's side, recalling a time when she once got stuck inside one back in his Forth body, "That takes me back," he glanced at the Hatter, winking, "Or even forwards. After you, dear," he waved a hand towards the opening.

The Time Lady smiled at him, raising an eyebrow, "Why, thank you, kind sir," she mockingly tipped the brim of her hat to him with a curtsy, before taking her hat off, tucking it inside her pocket as she moved to climb inside the shaft, grateful for her tights as they cut down on the sudden coldness off the metal. The Doctor crawled in from behind her after a moment, shuffling along.

"Hurry up!" Santiago called up the shaft, sounding panicked, "We're getting boiled alive!"

"Don't worry!" the Hatter shouted, trying to sound reassuring as they continued crawling, trying to follow their voices, "We're on our way!"

"Don't worry, Santiago, I'm here!" Jo said loudly from behind them.

There was a brief pause as the Time Lords kept crawling, starting to feel the air growing warmer the deeper they went into the shaft, the metal becoming warmer against their knees and hands, when something banged behind them and followed by the sounding of struggling. They froze, trying to look back the way they had come in alarm and concern.

"Doctor!" Rani cried from up ahead, "Hatter!"

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, awkwardly craning their necks around, trying to see what was going on back at the entrance to the vent, but it was useless. The entrance was hidden around a corner.

"Jo?" the Time Lady called back, very worried now.

"Sarah?" the Doctor tried, too.

Nothing. Neither women responded.

"They're roasting us!" Clyde yelled urgently.

"Let us out!" Rani screamed.

Torn, the Doctor looked quickly back towards the teenagers and then behind him. The Hatter sighed heavily, closing her eyes tightly, "We have to save the children," she said firmly, opening her eyes and meeting his, "Sarah and Jo will be okay, but those kids are going to…" she paused, wincing, "Die unless we get them out soon".

He nodded, knowing that she was right and besides, Sarah and Jo would want them to focus on the children before going to save them. They continued crawling through the shafts, until they reached a section that had been closed off by a trap door that they could feel the heating coming off as they neared it. On the wall beside the door was a small control panel and the Hatter quickly set to work taking the front off it, fiddling with the wires within as a red light blinked back.

"Doctor!" Clyde called from behind the door, "Hatter!"

"Just give us a moment!" the Doctor replied through the door, watching the Hatter.

It only took the Time Lady less than a minute to reverse the lock on the door, grabbing two of the wires and connecting them together, "And…release!" she announced brightly as the red light turned green, the door sliding up to reveal the three very hot looking teenagers and, much to their surprise, a little blue alien called a Groske standing within a small room that was glowing red from the heating.

"Blimey!" Clyde exclaimed, coming face-to-face with the Doctor for the first time as the Time Lords both gathered around the doorway, peering inside. He eyed the Doctor's face curiously, "You've really have changed faces, haven't you?" he remarked, and he had thought that the Hatter's new face was different, "I couldn't see you before, I was too busy swapping".

"Oi!" Rani said loudly from behind Clyde, trying to fan herself with a piece of paper, "We're still cooking back here!"

"Where's my Gran?" Santiago asked worriedly, trying to looking behind the Time Lords for Jo.

"Goodness, you look very much like you Grandfather," the Hatter commented, finally getting a chance to see Santiago. The two really did look quite similar with the same curly, light brown hair, but she could also see a bit of Jo in his facial features.

The Doctor nodded to Santiago, remembering that they still needed to save Jo and Sarah, "Right, yes, sorry, uh," he began to move back from the doorway, glancing over his shoulders, "She's in danger, so we'd better, er…" he shook his head, realising that he couldn't turn himself around in the shaft, "Can't turn round…"

"We'll have to shuffle backwards," the Time Lady reasoned, having already come to the same issue of getting back out again.

"Oh, yes, okay," he smiled at her, pointing a finger at her, "Yet another reason for why I love you, you're always thinking ahead".

She returned the smile, shrugging, "Well, someone has to in this relationship," she replied cheekily.

He opened his mouth to say something before seeming to think better of it, simply shaking his head again with a small smile. He began to shuffle backwards, the Time Lady doing the same thing as Clyde climbed into the shaft facing them, while the others followed suit.

"Even your eyes are different," Clyde said in surprise and curiosity, noticing for the first time now that they were so close that the Hatter's eyes were now a hazel green, rather than blue. He glanced over her head, taking note of the Doctor's own green eyes instead of brown, "It's weird, 'cos I thought the eyes would stay the same," he went on, seeming completely fascinated by the whole idea of regeneration, "Can you change colour or are you always white?"

"No, we can be anything," the Doctor answered.

"Though, some of us are unlucky enough to always be damn pale," the Hatter cut in, annoyed just thinking about it. For once her life, it would be nice to have a complexion that didn't make her look like a sheet of paper or that she was allergic to the sun, even having an olive skin tone for once would make her happy. She still wondering if she shouldn't have just cheated like Romana had and picked out her own body, rather than leave it up to fate.

"And is there a limit?" Clyde asked, eyeing them both as they continued moving down the shaft, "How many times can you change?"

"Five hundred and seven".

"Oh," he nodded.

The Time Lady shook her head in amusement, "He's only teasing, Clyde," she informed him, casting a quick, almost approving look over her shoulder to the Doctor, "If you divide five hundred and seven into individual numbers and plus them together individually, you'll get twelve, which is how many times we can actually change".

After a minute or so, they finally reached the shafts entrance and the Time Lords climbed out backwards, followed by the teenagers and the Groske, who Rani helped get down from the edge of the vent. A sudden mechanical whirring noise sounded from over their heads, making the Time Lords pause and look up at the ceiling.

"They've started," the Doctor said, listening to the sound for a moment, before grabbing the Hatter's hand, making a dash out the door and into the hallway. The others hurried along behind them.

They ran through the corridors, following the whirring noise until they reached a set of double doors, immediately trying to pull them open, but they wouldn't even budge.

"Oh, they've sealed the doors off!" the Hatter groaned loudly, trying to hit the thick, metal doors with her open hand, desperately trying to think of a way to get inside, "Hello? Sarah, Jo, can you hear us?" she shouted through the doors, pressing her ear against the surface of them, listening carefully.

"They want the key!" Sarah Jane called back quickly, "They've got the TARDIS, and a Memory Weave".

"I knew it!" the Time Lady cried, having guessed that they would use a Memory Weave right from the start.

"Too late," another women's voice came, the same one that the Doctor had slammed the door on earlier that day. He had known all along she was the UNIT employee working with the Shansheeth, "Full activation!" she commanded someone within the room.

"Concentrate," the gravelly voice of one of the Shansheeth ordered, "Think of the key".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, knowing perfectly well that the Memory Weave would end up killing both Jo and Sarah the moment it had completely literally dragging the TARDIS key out of their minds from their memories.

"Try to find a way in," the Doctor said hurriedly to the kids, while he and the Hatter ran across to a machine beside the doors, pulling the lower doors of it open, setting to work fiddling with the wires and cables inside, desperately trying to unlock the doors.

The kids ran closer to the doors, banging on them, trying to force them open, "There's nothing!" Santiago shook his head, looking back over to the Time Lords when the doors wouldn't budge, "We need a bulldozer".

The Doctor leaped back onto his feet and moved closer to the door, reaching inside his pocket to pull out his own TARDIS key, "I've got the original here!" he called through the door, tossing the key up into the air and catching it again, "You can have it if you let them go!"

"Somehow I doubt they're going to fall for that once, sweetheart," the Hatter sighed, still fiddling with the wires within the machine, not ready to give up trying to break into the room.

"You let them inside this room and they'll destroy us," the women said sharply to someone within the room, "Keep going!"

"Think of the TARDIS," the Shansheeth ordered again, "The key, remember the key".

"Fight it, Sarah Jane," Jo's voice encouraged frantically, "Try to think something else".

"I can't!" Sarah Jane gasped.

"Neither can I!"

Clyde spotted a fire extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it, trying to hit the end of it against the doors, like a battering ram, "It's not shifting!" he shouted, shaking his head when he realised that he wasn't even making a dent.

"The memories coalesce!" the Shansheeth cheered suddenly, "The key, it takes shape!"

"Don't!" Jo cried out, "Don't!"

"I can't…stop," Sarah Jane breathed, her voice growing weaker.

Clyde dropped the fire extinguisher, "What do we do?" he asked urgently, turning to the Doctor and the Hatter as they knelt by the machine, thinking, "What do we do?"

"Do you think…" slowly, the Doctor looked at the Hatter.

The Hatter nodded thoughtfully, following the same train of thought, "Yes, that very well could work," she agreed, her mind racing, "The Shansheeth are making them remember…"

"I know!" Clyde shook his head at them, growing frustrated.

"But don't you see…?" the Doctor looked back over to him.

"I don't see anything!"

The Time Lady grinned, "That's exactly what we're going to do," she said brightly, scrambling back onto her feet as the Doctor did the same, hitting a button on the control panel before them, "Right, then. Opening comms.," she announced.

"Yes!" the Doctor broke into a smile, seeing a little green light go on, "Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?" he called over the link.

"The key!" Sarah Jane gasped out, her voice sounding strained, clearly giving everything she had to try and fight back against the Memory Weave, "It's almost ready!"

"You need to listen closely, okay?" the Hatter told them over the link as she and the Doctor hurried to stand by the doors, "You and Jo, you have to remember for us".

"We are doing!" Jo came over, sounding frightened, "That's the trouble!"

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, very serious, "I want you to remember everything. Every single day with me and the Hatter. Every single second".

"What's he doing?" the women demanded.

"You're memories are so much more powerful than you know," the Time Lady told them, ignoring the women, "They're the most powerful thing on this entire planet".

"Just think of it, Sarah," he urged them, "Remember it, Jo. But properly," he closed his eyes and pressed the side of his head against the door, "Properly. Give the Memory Weave everything," he opened his eyes, meeting the Hatter's eyes with a smile, "Every planet, every face, every madman and women, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor and Hatter," he took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "Every us".

"I remember," Sarah Jane cried, her voice still sounding shaky.

"No!" the women yelled.

"Memory Wave overloading," a computerised voice sounded.

"I remember," Jo breathed.

"We need that key!" the woman shouted to someone, "What is happening? What's happening?"

"Initial target lost," the computer announced.

"The device is overloading," the Shansheeth called, sounding worried now, "Too many memories. Too many!"

"Reverse it! Bring that key back!"

The Hatter turned to look back to the kids, smiling widely at them, "Come here!" she waved them over, moving back from the door to give them room, "Come on, tell them!" she encouraged them, "Remind them of all the things you've done together!"

The kids hurried forward, moving closer to the doors, while the Time Lords moved to stand behind them, "Think of us, Sarah Jane!" Clyde said loudly through the door, "Remember Maria and her Dad? And all the stuff we did, like the Gorgon!"

"And the clowns!" Rani added, grinning broadly, "And the Zodiac. Oh, and the Mona Lisa!"

"All of it!" Sarah Jane laughed, "All of it!"

"Just think, Gran!" Santiago called, "All the countries you've been to!"

"Every country in the world," Jo remarked happily.

The sound of something sparking came from within the room.

"Weave starting to self-destruct," the computer reported.

There was another sparking sound, "We've blown a circuit!" Sarah Jane said over the noise.

"I can't get out!" Jo shouted, sounding fearful again.

"I've got you!"

The Time Lords sighed, exchanging a grim look, "Now we're in trouble," the Doctor muttered, turning away from the doors, holding the Hatter's hand tighter, both very worried, "The Weaves going to blow up…" they turned back around to face the kids, "And we can't get them out".

"What?" Rani gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

"Can't escape!" the Shansheeth growled from within the room, "I need the key!"

"Weave now entering detonation phase," the computer announced.

"I can't unseal the doors!" the woman cried out over all the noise of banging and small explosions going off, "The power line is gone…" she suddenly screamed as another explosion went off.

There was a faint sound of a sonic screwdriver being used on the other side of the doors, when the sound spluttered and stopped completely, "We've drained it…" Sarah Jane breathed, sounding frightened for the first time all day. She started banging on the door, "Doctor! Hatter!" she shouted, and the Time Lords rushed back to the doors, pressing their hands flat against them, "We can't get out!"

The Hatter sighed heavily, pressing her forehead against the doors, "I'm so, so sorry, but we can't open them," she said softly, feeling her hearts breaking, desperately wishing for another way to save them.

"No sonic screwdriver…" she realised slowly, recalling the Doctor having to use hers earlier that day.

The Doctor closed his eyes tightly, "It's inside the TARIDS".

"And we can't get in, because guess what?" she laughed sadly, "We stopped ourselves getting the key. Oh, that was clever".

"I just want to say," Jo began, tears in her voice, "I'm so glad I saw you both again. I waited all this time, and it was worth it, just to see you both happy together," the Time Lords looked at each other sadly, the Hatter blinking back tears, "Every second," she continued, "Funny thing is though, your funeral turns out to be ours instead".

The Doctor's head snapped up, "Our funeral?" he repeated, looking quickly to the Hatter, who gasped in realisation.

"Doctor, Hatter, all of you," Sarah Jane added quickly, "You'll look after Luke for me, please".

"Don't you see?" the Hatter called, growing excited, her tears forgotten, "It's our funeral! Can't you see? Our funeral!"

There was a pause before…"With a lead lined coffin!" Sarah and Jo exclaimed in unison, catching on.

"Yes!" the Doctor grinned, laughing in delight along with the Hatter, knowing that they would be perfectly fine now if they could only reach the coffin in time. He frowned slightly, glancing back down to the Groske, "How much time have they got?" he asked.

"Big bang," the blue alien replied, shrugging, "Ten seconds".

The Hatter quickly looked around to the teenagers, grabbing Rani's hand, since she was closest, "We had best get somewhere safer," she said hurriedly, lightly pulling the girl along with her up the hallway, the others running behind them.

"Ten…nine…" the Groske began counting, still standing before the doors as the others took cover up the hallway, crouching on the ground behind the machine beside the doors, "…eight…seven…six…"

"Hurry up, Gran!" Santiago shouted, desperately hoping Sarah Jane and Jo would get in the coffin in time.

"…five…four…three…two…" the Groske seemed to realise it was standing in the blast zone, and took off running down the opposite end of the hallway, right before the Weave exploded and the doors were blasted off their hinges from the force, sending flames and bits of burnt paper flying out.

A moment past as the air was filled with smoke, making them all cough as the Time Lords slowly stood, moving out from their hiding place with the kids following behind them, trying to wave the smoke away. They moved closer to the open doorway to see that the room within was still burning in places, bits of machinery now completely destroyed, but the TARDIS that was sitting at the back of the room was completely untouched.

The Doctor paused in the doorway, glancing back to Rani, "What do you mean, the Mona Lisa?" he frowned, knowing perfectly well that the Mona Lisa was actually a fake. He had the original…or did he give that the Hatter for her birthday centuries ago? He couldn't remember, there was too many to keep track of.

"Yes, sounds like a very interesting story," the Hatter agreed, casting Rani a quick, curious look, making a mental note to find out the details later. She had been there when the Doctor had Leo make all the fake paintings. She and the Fourth Doctor, along with the Second Romana had gone for a little trip to Paris and she had mistaken the trip for the Doctor trying to admit his feelings for Romana. Looking back, she really should have known that he was really trying to tell her his feelings, not Romana. She gave herself a shake, glancing back to the Doctor, "But that's for another time," she said pointedly.

"Come," the Groske said, moving into the badly burnt room, waving his hand around to try and clear the smoke away from his face, "Smells like roast chicken".

The Time Lady grimaced slightly at the rather accurate way of describing the smell, trying very hard not to think about just why it smelt that way, while also trying to avoid hitting her head on dangling wires from the ceiling. Great, yet another regeneration who was off eating chicken.

"Now, then," the Doctor commented happily, catching sight of the lead lined coffin sitting off to the side of the room, stepping over to it with the brunet beside him, "Smith and Jones," he smiled, lifting the heavy lid to reveal the two women tucked safely inside, hugging each other tightly. Slowly, they looked up to see them all standing around the coffin and began laughing in relief.

"Well, this worked out rather well," the Time Lady smiled at the two, pleased to see them apparently enjoying themselves, completely unharmed, as far as she could tell, "The coffin was not only the trap, but also the solution".

"That's so neat, I could write a thesis," he shook his head, looking amused, the Hatter nodding in agreement. He looked back down to still laughing women, "Well, come on then, you two," he waved a hand at them to get out, "Out you get," but they simply continued laughing and hugging each other, overjoyed to be alive, making everyone else join their laughter, too. He wrapped an arm around the Hatter's waist, grinning, "Yes…"

"Well, it's nice to see that not all your companions feel threated by each other," the Hatter lightly nudged his side, thinking back to when Rose and Sarah Jane had first meet. Now that had been unpleasant, until they started giggling madly, comparing the Doctor's quirks.

He looked back to her, smiling gently, "Isn't it," he nodded, kissing her quickly.

….

The Time Lords landed the TARDIS in Sarah Jane's attic, saying goodbye to the teenagers, the Hatter once again managing to snag a hug from a rather reluctant Clyde before the three left the console room, carrying their bags. Once they had left, the Hatter turned back to watch Jo as she circled the console, taking the room in with a wide smile.

"Still the same old TARDIS," she remarked fondly, moving around to where the Doctor and the Hatter where leaning against the console, hand-in-hand, while Sarah Jane admired the controls, too, "It doesn't matter what's changed, it still smells the same…" she paused, inhaling deeply and closed her eyes, savouring the smell.

The Hatter smiled at her, taking a long sniff of the air, too, "Like a mixture between peppermint and engine grease," she agreed, before pausing, taking another sniff as they all looked at her, "With just a hint of jelly babies thrown in".

"Do jelly babies even have a smell?" the Doctor asked, casting a sideways, amused look.

"Trust me, from someone who spent almost an entire regeneration eating them with every meal, I would know the smell of jelly babies anywhere".

Jo laughed, shaking her head at the Time Lady, "No," she said firmly, seeming to be talking more to herself as she cast another look around the room, "I've got to say goodbye, or else I'd stay with you forever," she smiled, turning back to the Time Lords, "Besides, I probably couldn't keep up any more," she laughed slightly, sharing a quick look with Sarah Jane, "Get you both into trouble with the Time Lords".

Both the Doctor and the Hatter tensed, exchanging a quick look as he cleared his throat, looking down, "Hmm…yeah, we'd probably better go…" he turned back around to face the controls, really not wanting to get into the Time War with Jo, not when she seemed to be so happy, "You know us," he shrugged, glancing back over to them, "Stuff to do".

"Including having a child," Jo commented slyly, making them both look back to her so fast that their necks cracked, their eyes widening in shock. Sarah Jane blinked, looking confused as she looked back and forth between the Time Lords and Jo.

"How…" the Hatter began, her voice sounding higher pitched than usual, completely stunned. She tried clearing her throat, giving herself a sharp shake, "How could you possibly have known that?" she questioned, managing to regain a bit of composer, at last.

She shrugged, still looking at them slyly, "I've had seven children," she reminded them, "I know the sings. You looked green when we got back to Earth and for someone like you, you should be used to teleporting around the place. And then you could smell my buchu oil from several feet away, even for a Time Lords nose that would be hard to do".

"Wait…" Sarah Jane cut in, a small smile crossing her face as she turned to face the Hatter, "You're pregnant?"

The Hatter glanced back to the Doctor, who was still staring at Jo as if he had never seen her before. She gave him a light nudge, managing to snap him out of his shock and turned back to smile broadly at the other two women, "Yes," she admitted, laughing faintly, "I am".

Sarah's smile grew wider, looking completely delighted, "Oh, congratulations!" she cried, stepping forward and throwing her arms around the Time Lady, hugging her tightly for a moment before releasing her to hug the Doctor, too.

"You're not upset with me for giving it away, are you?" Jo asked, growing slightly worried as she moved to hug the Hatter.

"Of course we aren't," the Doctor assured her as Sarah moved back from. He paused, glancing quickly to the Hatter, "We aren't, are we?" he said in a slightly panicked tone of voice.

"No," the Hatter shook her head, casting him an amused look as she pulled back from Jo, still keeping her hands on her shoulders as she meet her eyes, "We aren't in the slightest. In fact, I'm glad you both know, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way".

"You must be so excited," Sarah said, still smiling broadly at them both. She couldn't have been happier for them both and after everything they had gone through, they both deserved to have a child together. It wouldn't make up for what they had lost, not ever, but it would go a long way in helping them to recover from the loss of their families.

"Excited and terrified".

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about," Jo waved the Time Lady off, "You've both been parents before, you know everything you need to know already," her eyes lit up in delight suddenly, "Your children must be so happy to be getting a new brother or sister…" the Hatter inwardly winced, struggling to keep the smile on her face as she felt the Doctor take her hand, holding it tightly, "And your parents," she continued, completely oblivious, "Another Grandchild on the way…"

The Doctor cleared his throat quickly, "Yes, well, we, uh…" he glanced back to the Hatter, deciding it was best to get off the subject now that it had entered into that territory, "We've got plenty to take care of in the meantime," he turned back towards the controls, trying to look busy.

Sarah Jane glanced at the Hatter, seeing the forced smile on her face, and quickly decided that it would be best to move on to something else completely, "It's daft, though," she said slowly, giving the Hatter a small smile as she sent her a grateful look, "Because we were both saying, we had this theory that if either of you ever died…" she looked between the Time Lords, "We'd feel it, somehow we'd just know," she leaned slightly closer towards them, genuinely curious, "But that's just silly, isn't it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor turned to face them, exchanging a quick look with the Hatter, "Maybe not. Because between you and me, if that day ever comes, I think the whole Universe might just shiver," he was silent for a long moment, before he suddenly jolted forward, "Boo!"

Sarah Jane and Jo both jumped, startled.

The Hatter laughed, raising her open hand up and high fived with the Doctor, who was grinning cheekily back to the two human women, feeling quite proud of himself for pulling that little trick off. Realising what he had done, both women began laughing and, exchanging one last round of hugs before heading for the door, Jo closing it behind her. They turned back to the controls and set them off.

"What a very interesting day," the Hatter remarked, moving to take a seat on the jump-seat, still not quite believing that it had only been twenty four hours since she had sat there, telling the Doctor that they were going to have a child.

The Doctor flopped down on the seat beside her, "I seem to recall you making a joke about children the last time we saw Sarah," he said, raising any eyebrow at her.

She laughed, "Funny how things turn out".

And with that, she leaned forward and kissed him.

I can't believe that's the end of this story, but you won't have to wait long for the next, which will be called 'Family Affairs' for everything that happened with Amy, Rory, and River, along with what's happening with the Time Lords and other things that you'll have to wait and see. I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read, review, alert, and favourite this story. It has meant so much to me that you have enjoyed the stories and I can't thank you guys enough.

I really loved writing this chapter with Jo and Sarah, Sarah Jane has got to be my all-time favourite companion, so even if Sarah Jane's show might have ended, I personally still believe that Sarah Jane's character lives on, saving and protecting planet Earth from her attic. I just loved writing Sarah, Jo, and the Hatter's interactions. Those three, I can just imagine the Doctor getting embarrassed and teased by the three of them telling each other stories about him.

The story will be posted in the next few hours, so keep an eye out for that. Tell me what you thought, please review :)

Guest reviews:

Guest: Well, I'm afraid that we've gone past being able to do that in this story, but I have considered doing a one-shot about what would happen if the Hatter lost her memory for a little while, but we won't be seeing that happen in the main story. Thanks for the suggestion and review :)