Born of Fire (Doctor Who AU)

Chapter 1 Fulfilment of A Prophecy

Donna pounded her fists against the TARDIS doors in desperation and disbelief, but they refused to budge. On the other side, the Doctor shook the doors attempting to force his beloved ship to open. His panic filled voice added to her own terror, but still, the doors refused to give. "Please," she begged, "I don't want to die like this." 

A violent shudder ripped through the ship, tossing Donna to the metal grated floor. The simple act of grabbing the ramp railing proved difficult. The ship creaked and groaned around her as if she were a passenger on a boat caught in a hurricane. Each increasing wild jerk sent her crashing to the metal floor making it impossible to stand. She struggled across the grating on her hands and knees to reach the shelter under the console. Hand outstretched, she inched forward until her fingers grasped the cold, metal rail. It required all of her strength to pull herself up only to have the ship lurch tossing her to the floor again. 

The adventures of the last month played out in her head as the explosions began tearing apart the walls. With smoke and fire filling the heart of the ship and chunks of coral support beams dropping on her she didn't know who would die first, her or the TARDIS. This was wrong; she and her best friend had so much more to see and do. with her beloved friend. Each thump of pounding heart acted as a reminder that she would never see her mum or granddad again. The pain of that hurt worse than hitting the metal grating full force.

Donna dragged herself across the grating until she could tuck herself under the edge of the console hoping for a little protection from falling debris. The heart beating in her chest echoed in the room. She huddled there waiting for the sound and her life to end. Instead, it grew louder drawing her attention to the daft container holding the Doctor's hand.  It twitched. In the midst of the TARDIS dying, the bloody hand twitched. She watched, mesmerised by fingers beckoning her to touch the glass. The jar's fluid pulsed in time with the strengthening heartbeat. Frozen in place, Donna knew that she'd gone mental. The need to reach and touch the jar was overwhelming. The sound of a heartbeat pulsed louder inside her head. Without conscious thought, she stretched her hand across the short distance to the glass.

Gold energy sparked, shattering the glass arcing around the room and her fingers, coursing through her hand, flowing up her arm, into her eyes. Her body shook uncontrollably as timelines bent around her, her mind splintered. The wonders of the universe played out before her. Even the inner workings of the TARDIS made sense. The hand that beckoned from inside the jar now lay on the grating, its fingers wiggling as a gold river of energy flowed and then coalesced into an indistinct shape.  A head formed followed by the formation of extremities. Unable to move, Donna watched the energy transform into an apparent human. The being bolted upright wide-eyed, breaking the spell.

"Oh. My. God."

Donna sat back on her heels. Time froze.  The rocking stopped. A man stood in front of her staring straight ahead unblinking at the chaos around him.

"You're naked!" she blurted.

 "Oh, yes," he answered. 

She averted her eyes from the creature who looked like her Doctor. "Completely naked!" 

"Yep!  Clothes, I should get clothes," he muttered more to himself than her.

"You're like worms, cut off a piece and it grows back!" 

"No.  I'm unique. There has never been anything like me before," he replied moving to the console,  flipping switches and dials as if he knew what he was doing.

The explosions stopped, the fires evaporated as the ship morphed into a separate reality disappearing from the hell Davros had consigned her to. The new life form glanced down and then back up at Donna, shame flickered in his eyes as the realisation struck. God, Donna was his mother. He was in front of his mother -- naked. "Clothes, he said louder, "I really should -- get dressed, maybe the blue?"  With that,  he turned on his heels and ran.  He only had minutes to come to grips with what had just happened, develop a plan and save them all.