Author's Note: And now I offer this fic-verse back to bas_math_girl – although I may be co-writing it in the end. :) It's been a fun little trip. :D

PART 5: ANOTHER DOUBLE?

The Doctor led the rag-tag group deeper into UNIT Headquarters, where their new arrival had been taken by Martha for a check-up. Dr. Jones' ability to compartmentalise had allowed her to get over her own shock and order help in bringing her new patient to a treatment room. If nothing else, to make sure that the dimension travel hadn't harmed her.

"Two Donnas," Jack mused, a grin splitting his face. "This will be fun."

"Stow the flirting, Captain Hotpants," Jenny growled. She was having enough trouble deciding whether this meant she would have two mothers, or how difficult life must have been in Pete's World for her mother's alternate to agree to cross over. She didn't need Jack flirting with anyone right now. It was still disgusting remembering when she learned about his (still there, evidently) thing for her father, and she didn't want to think about what he might feel toward Mum or Pops!

Donna, Andy (holding Effie in his arms), and the Doctor blinked and looked at Jenny. She was gaining some strange vocabulary from working with the younger members of UNIT, and her father – in particular – wasn't sure how he felt about her acting... well, so much like a human twenty-something.

Wilf, walking alongside Sylvia and carrying Mikey (who couldn't make sense of what he was picking up from the adults and his older sister), looked worried. "She isn't going to have problems even existing because of our Donna? I mean, can there be two of one person in the same universe?"

Jack perked up, happy to have some science to answer. "You mean like on that American show, Stargate? No, entropic cascade failure is pure science fiction. It's more you can't let someone touch a past or future self from their own time-line. That causes huge paradoxes."

"As Rose should've learned," the Doctor grumbled under his breath. That memory still stuck out like a sore, swollen thumb in a cast. It was proof that he'd been too afraid of being alone to let Rose go afterward, and he had thought about it. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he'd ignored it, but – then again – if doing otherwise it meant that Mikey and Effie wouldn't exist, then he'd live with his regrets.

Donna and Andy exchanged looks. Yeah, nearly getting killed by the stupidity of the girl who said she loved you would make anyone think twice, Andy snorted.

She just nodded. The children were feeling the confusion around them, and were fussing a bit. She paused to take Mikey from his Great-Gramps, sensing that he'd want to be held when he saw another version of his own mother.

Mickey trailed behind, silently taking in everyone's reactions. He wasn't sure what to make of this development, but it wouldn't be boring. That was certain!

They found one of the soldiers who helped earlier, guarding a door. He snapped a salute (the Doctor couldn't get the people around here to stop doing that no matter what he said, and it didn't help that Donna would accept them – whereas Andy chose to ignore them) and nodded. "Dr. Jones says the patient is well and ready to talk a bit."

At the Doctor's nod, the soldier (whose nametag, the Doctor finally spotted, said "Matthews") opened the door. The group filed in. Martha was standing with her back to them, speaking softly to the woman lying (now comfortably) on the medical bed. Her colour had returned, and the Doctor took the most complete visual stock of her. The hair and face and eyes were the same, but she was a bit thinner than he would've expected for Donna Noble. She had a haunted look in her eyes that he'd only ever seen in people who'd seen their entire world (be it their home, city, country, or even planet) destroyed.

Come to think of it, time moved differently in Pete's World. Rose had spent ten years there (and hadn't aged much thanks to the TARDIS' affect on companions). Shouldn't this Donna look older? If anything, she looked younger than his Donna. Oh, right, he remembered with an unhappy sigh, she wasn't his Donna. Never had been, thanks to his own stupidity.

The Doctor shook off his thoughts when Martha spoke. "Everyone, meet Donna Eileen Noble, of Pete's World. I've mentioned about our Donna," she added when the two women's eyes met and widened, "and she's thinking about what she's willing to be known as."

The Donna on the bed sighed, resigned. "Oh, I guess I'll live with Ginger for now. But only until I come up with something better. I've still got too much of a headache from that bloody jump." She noticed the little boy whose eyes were wider than dinner plates and the sleeping baby girl, and tears formed in her eyes. "Your son and daughter?"

Donna nodded. "Mikey," she said, "and Effie can think of you as an aunt, if you don't mind."

"Let me think about it." The answer was soft, filled with the pain of memories and lost chances. Then she caught sight of Sylvia and Wilf, and a sob escaped her throat.

The Doctor's eyes watered. He had a suspicion about what might've happened to her family, and wished that he'd known about her and could've done something to help her out.

Sylvia and Wilf knew the look of someone who had lost so much. They knew how it could feel. So they gently nudged everyone else aside. "There, there, child," Sylvia said softly, stunning the Doctor as she folded her daughter's alternate into an embrace – which Wilf added to.

No one was surprised when the sobbing got louder as "Ginger" clutched the people who – to her – were her family's alternates. Jack and Mickey stepped out of the room out of respect, but the Doctor stayed put; he felt he had to witness the depth of her pain, as he hadn't forgiven himself for the hurt he'd caused Donna.

It was a while before Sylvia and Wilf had calmed her down enough that she could speak again, but they didn't let her go. Instead, they managed to sit themselves on either side of her, keeping contact to – they hoped – ground her. Jack stuck his head in to see what happened, and led Mickey back in on Sylvia's nod.

Donna cleared her throat, and quickly gave the introductions, pointing to each person. "So you know who I am. This is Michael Peter Noble, my son. That's Andrew "Andy" Noble, my... everything... and Mikey's father. That's Effie Grace Susan Noble, our daughter. Mickey Smith. Jack Harkness. The Doctor. And Jenny Noble, the Doctor's daughter. I consider her mine, too. It's why she took my last name."

They each got a nod, but the Doctor got a narrowed look. "Oh, you're the one that blonde bint was obsessed with."

Eyebrows went up, but none higher than the Doctor's. "Ah, so you... you've heard of me."

"Ginger" grimaced. "Hard to not know when you suddenly find yourself nearly twenty years into the future, your whole family's been taken by the Cybermen, and your own skillset is suddenly completely out of date. Pete Tyler told me that Rose evidently hit upon some time travel device and tried to make it work. Instead, it caught me and flung me into the future. I was a successful woman, with a fiancée and a promising career. I came back to a world completely changed... and everyone I loved was dead. My friends didn't know what to do for me, and I couldn't get work."

More than a few breaths were caught. The Doctor's face fell. "That's why you agreed to cross over?"

"That and I didn't want to actually have to meet the Heiress. I would've beaten her to a..." She caught herself when she remembered little ears were in the room. "Well, I wouldn't have been nice."

"That's okay," Mikey said. "She was mean."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks so. Who uses things without trying to find out what they might do first?"

Donna, Andy, Jack, Mickey, and Jenny tried to not look at the Doctor. They weren't careful enough.

The Doctor, still feeling the silent reprimand, cleared his throat. "Well, we will help you adjust, and I'll do anything I can to help. I know it's my fault you're in this moment, so whatever you need, just ask."

The Donna on the bed looked at him, noting the earnest wish and a guilt that seemed bottomless, and sighed. She shook her head. "Doctor, surely someone who travels the universe won't have time to deal with a little human like me."

His eyes narrowed. He didn't like anyone speaking ill of Donna, not even herself. He tilted his head toward his universe's Donna. "She was a companion, the best. Her children are my nephew and niece. So I'm going to be around a lot anyway. If you're willing," he added, on a moment of hope and inspiration, "I can take you to wherever you'd like. You can do whatever you want, and we'll give whatever help you want." Or need, he silently added.

She looked at him, puzzled. "Me, a time traveller?"

Wilf squeezed her hand. "Oh, she," he gestured to his granddaughter, "doubted it, too, but it was the best thing she's ever done. She's gained a lovely adoptive daughter, had two children in addition, and has the best partner possible. Not to mention how much she's able to do because of what she's seen and done. Don't underestimate yourself."

She went thoughtful. How much would that involve, she wondered, and can I really handle it? But on the other hand, she realised in the next moment, it'd be something to keep me occupied...

The Doctor saw the contemplation of the offer, and felt a stirring of hope that he hadn't felt since Donna was travelling with him. No, it wouldn't be the same, but what a lovely change of pace! He'd have a Donna Noble in the TARDIS again, and things would be brilliant again!

Everyone else was wondering how the new Donna would adjust to life here. But no one was worried for her. She had a huge support network now, and they could remind her how much she could do.

Jenny meanwhile, was eyeing how her father reacted. Hmm... Dad's in love with Mum, but can't have her. And now here's her alternate, alone and needing support – and he's going to offer the status of a companion to her because he wants a Donna Noble in the TARDIS again. Might I gain a step-mother from this...? And do I dare encourage it...?

THE END