Title: Fallout, Part Seventeen

Author: Emma

Characters: A whole bunch of folk.

Rating: Starts PG, but hey, it’s got Jack in it!

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Author's Note: This fic is CoE compliant

Part One is here; Part Two is here; Part Three is here; Part Four is here; Part Five is here; Part Six is here; Part Seven is here; Part Eight is here; Part Nine is here; Part Ten is here; Part Eleven is here; Part Twelve is here; Part Thirteen is here; Part Fourteen is here; Part Fifteen is here; Part Sixteen is here

            “How is she?”

            “I’ve stabilized her, but that’s about all I can do. Keep her asleep.” Martha pointed at the monitor. “See that line jumping all over the place? That’s her brain activity. Human brains weren’t meant to maintain that speed or that level of complexity. Sooner or later she’ll burn out.”

            “Jack said she was a Time Lord for a while.”

            “Yeah. It was an accident. She got caught in the middle of a bad regeneration and the contents of the Doctor’s brain got dumped into hers.” She patted Donna’s hand. “Ultimately it would have killed her, so the Doctor locked away all her memories of him and their travels together.”

            “I wonder what triggered them?”

            “Jack doesn’t think it was an accident. He sent field agents to trace her steps for the last week.”

            “And you?”

            “I agree. The Doctor loved Donna. He would have done a thorough job.”

            “The… Lucy Saxon?”

            “Most likely, though the Doctor makes enemies just as fast as he makes friends.”

            Ifan snorted in amusement. “Now that’s God’s own truth. I better go. Jack has an UNIT meeting this afternoon. I’ll have to caffeinate him thoroughly or there’s likely to be bloodshed.” He hesitated. “By the way, Martha… mine can.”

            “What?”

            “You said human brains couldn’t handle the contents of a Time Lord’s brain. Mine can. Of course, I’m not fully human.”

            “As you suggesting what I think you are?”

            He shrugged. “It would solve at least two issues. Donna Noble would live. And I get to fill that empty mansion I carry between my ears.”

            “I don’t even know if we have the technology… Jack would know.” She drooped. “Jack would never go for it.”

            “There’s a way. The equipment we confiscated from Lazarus. Some of it was used to implant information about Gallifrey in my head. It’s a long shot, but if it works, we could transfer the Doctor’s memories from Donna to me.”

            “How could we tell them apart from hers?”

            “Believe me, Martha, I would know.”

            “Jack…”

            “I’ll deal with Jack.”