The Doctor stood at the console, flipping the occasional switch and tugging a lever while Rose made her goodbyes with Jackie and Mickey for the umpteenth time. A soft sigh escaped his lips as his mind looked back on everyone he had ever pulled away from their normal lives, just so he wouldn't be alone anymore. Rose had left her mother, the only family she had left really, and Mickey who loved her to bits, for him and all the danger that came along with him. He shook his head, clearing himself of those thoughts as the pocket inside his trench coat started to warm up ever so slightly. With a frown, he pulled out the psychic paper to see a delicately written message that made his eyes widen comically before Rose threw the doors open.
"So where are we going?" She asked, her voice dripping with excitement as her lips broke into a smile. The Doctor slipped the paper back into his pocket, turning to grin back at her and flip a switch. "Further than we've ever gone before." He smirked as he set the Tardis into motion, rocketing through the Time Vortex.
Two emerald green eyes opened, tears spilling from them as they looked into the eyes of Matron Casp. "He's coming, and your beloved Sisterhood will fall" a cracked and dry voice hissed out in muffled delight as fear sparked in the eyes of the Matron. Soft, quiet laughs lept from the figure's lips as Matron Casp rushed from the room in terror.
The Tardis materialized in a field of green grass, the Doctor and Rose quickly rushed out of the door, grinning at the new world before them. "It's the year five billion and twenty-three. We're in the galaxy M87 and this? This is New Earth," the former breathed out, his body tingling with an all too familiar feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins. "That's just. That's just…" Rose whispered, the majesty of traveling hitting her with full force once again. "Not bad. Not bad at all." The Doctor finished, beaming at the city, the cars, the water, everything sprawling out in front of him.
"That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky." Rose squeaked out in delight, "What's that smell?" She questioned, turning to look at the Doctor as he leaned down to pluck the grass from the ground and present it to her. "Apple grass." He said, holding it out for her to smell, "Apple grass." She repeated with a grin. "Yeah, yeah." The Doctor affirmed, turning his gaze back to the city before him. His eyes narrowed upon landing on the hospital, the psychic paper heating up once again in his pocket once again.
The green eyes closed again as the woman possessing them took deep breaths through her damaged body. Her muscles suddenly contracted as she forced her mental capabilities to the brink, reaching out for that little signal again. A smile ripped her cracked lips, blood pooling on them as she found the signal and immediately sent it another message.
Another figure gasped, watching through a monitor as Rose and the Doctor ran through the fields outside the hospital. "Human! She's pure-blood human! Closer, closer." He gasped, desperately urging his metal, spider-like probe to follow them further.
The Doctor and Rose paused their running to relax in the field of apple grass, their gaze turned up the sky and flying cars streaking across it. "So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." The Doctor explained. "That was our first date," Rose exclaimed, cutting him off with a smile, not noticing the slight dimming in the Doctor's eyes. "We had chips." He whispered before snapping back to his explanation, "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in." He finished, gesturing to the world around him with a grin.
"What's the city called?" Rose asked, propping herself up to look at him. "New New York." The Doctor replied, amusement dancing in his eyes while Rose's rolled dramatically, "Oh, come on…" She said, a joking smile on her face. "It is. It's the city of New New York." The Doctor exclaimed, "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. What?" He trailed off, looking at Rose's appraising eyes.
"You're so different." She murmured, reaching out to put a strand of his hair back into place and then frowning when the Doctor leaned back ever so slightly. "New New Doctor." He breathed out, an awkward smile on his face. The spider probe slowly inched forward, completely unnoticed by the two travelers.
"Impossible. I recognize that child. Her face. Show me her face!" Another woman's voice whispered from behind the man with the metal spider. "Closer, closer." The man murmured, hurriedly obeying the voice. "Face! Face! Face!" The woman shrieked quietly.
"Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" Rose asked as she rose from the grass to stretch her legs. The Doctor quickly joined her and focused his attention back on a certain building. "Well, I thought we might go there first." He said, pointing towards the building with a green moon painted on the side. Rose frowned as she stared at it, "Why, what is it?" She asked while moving to stand next to him. "Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals." The Doctor explained before pulling out the psychic paper, "I got this. A message on the psychic paper." He turned the paper towards her to reveal a message saying "Ward 26, please come"
"Someone wants to see me." He whispered, a small piece of hope blooming in his two hearts at the idea of who in the Universe could have sent that message. "Hmm," Rose said, a jealous curiosity seeding itself in her mind. "And I thought we were just sight-seeing. Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes." She said, trying to brighten herself up as she tugged him away.
The female voice crowed in sadistic delight, "Rose Tyler! I knew it. That dirty blonde assassin." Said voice emanated from a stretched piece of skin, hooked up to a metal frame, with two stunning blue eyes and a pair of thin, red lips. "She's coming here, mistress." Her assistant explained, adoration shining in his eyes as he crept closer to Cassandra. "This is beyond coincidence" She murmured, "This is destiny. At last, I can be revenged on that little-" She suddenly stopped, her eyes widening.
"Don't forget about me…" A chilling voice whispered in Cassandra's mind, echoing ever so slightly. "I would never forget dearest," Cassandra replied aloud, gesturing with her eyes for her assistant to leave the room. "I'm sending Chip to move you right now, we'll hide you here until the proper time." She continued, a wide smirk smoothing out over her features. "Your kindness will not be forgotten, Cassandra" the voice whispered across Cassandra's mind before fading out.
Chip hurried down several disgusting basement hallways, littered with used medical equipment, bags of medical waste, and layers of grime on most surfaces that he could see and touch. Eventually, he made it to a room with a small keypad next to it. He closed his eyes and waited for the voice that had guided him and his mistress in surviving living in this pit of squalor. "The code..." Chip's back straightened instantly at the sound as he listened intently. "Seven, six... one, three... nine... zero" The voice rasped, cracking every so often as Chip typed in the code to the room. A pair of green eyes snapped open just as the doors did, a gasp of relief tumbling from her cracked lips as she struggled in the restraints. Chip sprinted over, his nervous fingers undoing the buckles on the woman's wrists and ankles as quickly as he could. The bindings slid off soon after, followed by a cackle of delight from the woman as she stretched out her limbs for the first time in a long while. "I'm free." She choked out, sliding off of the table and into a wheelchair. "Take me to her Chip, and don't make any stops." She ordered the man, concentrating on her injuries as Chip started to rush her over to his Mistress.
A horrified gasp left Cassandra's lips upon Chip's reentry into their hiding space, her eyes locking onto the petite woman in the rickety wheelchair that Chip was pushing in front of him. "Chip, get her some food, medicine, anything!" She shrieked in alarm, never hating her lack of mobility more than she did at that moment. The man nodded in understanding and sped from the room to raid another supply closet on one of the upper floors. "Don't you dare die on me," Cassandra muttered, glaring at the woman who merely sent her a lazy smirk. "I'm not planning on it, don't you worry dear. If we want this to work you need me and I happen to be quite difficult to kill." The latter rasped from her dry and cracked throat as an orange tint started to form under her skin. "I'll be fully healed in a tick Cassandra, and then we can commence. Do you have any clothes I can change into once I am healed?" She finished, locking eyes with Cassandra. "Yes, a pair of scrubs is in that cabinet over there for you to change into. Before we worry about that though," Cassandra paused, "Please tell me your name if you want me to trust you with this mission." The woman opposite her raised a sculpted brow, her eyes locked on Cassandra's before rolling them in sheer annoyance.
"I cannot tell you my true name dearest, merely the one I give to those I met on my journeys," The woman warned, her eyebrow still cocked up as she studied Cassandra's paper-thin form. Cassandra gazed back intently, awaiting the name she had requested. "My name is Aneres," Cassandra smiled at the reply, quietly whispering it to herself. Aneres rolled her eyes once again before hoisting herself out of the chair. "Time for me to get ready I suppose," She murmured, grabbing the scrubs as Chip returned with some stolen food.
Rose and the Doctor entered the hospital, gazing around at their surroundings as the latter explained his rather ironic dislike of hospitals. "Bit rich coming from you." She muttered jokingly, smiling at the Doctor. "I can't help it. I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps." He exclaimed defensively, pouting ever so slightly at his companion. A voice echoed from the hospital intercom, simple regulations being broadcasted as they continued to gaze about. "Very smart. Not exactly NHS." Rose continued, her brown eyes flicking around every surface she could spot. "No shop. I like the little shop." The Doctor whined softly, glaring at anything and everything. "I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything." Rose thought aloud, ignoring the Doctor as she looked at the nurses and doctors that were moving across the lobby. "The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war." He responded idly before drifting off at the feel of tendrils stroking his mental shields. "Impossible..." He whispered mentally until he was roused by Rose's incredulous tone.
"They're cats." She harshly whispered in his ears, her eyes wide and fixed on the cat-human nurses and doctors. "Now, don't stare. Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow." The Doctor snarked at her, the accidental rudeness annoying him to no end. He sighed, thinking that she had seen enough to at least be polite to those they met on their travels. "That's where I'd put the shop. Right there." He finished, distracting himself as he hopped into the lift alone. "Ward 26, thanks!" He chirped, gaining the attention of three individuals several floors beneath him.
Chip frantically moved to his monitor and control, whispering, "Override controls." Into a small microphone, Aneres coming up to stand next to him as he worked. Her rags had been replaced by a pair of white scrubs and a navy scrub cap to hold back her unruly mane of jet black hair. Cassandra grinned in delight as she realized her ticket out of here was rapidly approaching. "The lift is moving down, the human child is coming," Chip breathed out, drawing a smile to Aneres' lips. "Retrieve her Chip." The latter ordered the clone away, moving back to Cassandra's framing and checking everything over.
The clone watched as Rose emerged from her lift into a rubbish-strewn corridor, disgust marring her face. "The human child is clean." He said, a sinister grin splitting his lips as he leered at the blonde. "Er, I'm looking for Ward 26?" The human called, fear shaking and cracking her voice ever so slightly. "This way, Rose Tyler." He replied, slinking down the hallway as muffled giggles escaped his lips. At last, his mistress and dear friend would be freed from their communal prison.
The Doctor carefully exited his own lift, a veiled nurse beside him as his guide to Ward 26. "Nice place. No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop." The Doctor rambled, his eyes flicking back and forth across the ward. "The hospital is a place of healing!" The nun exclaimed, ripping her veil off in horror to eye the Doctor up. "A shop does some people the world of good. Not me. Other people." The Doctor attempted to claim, much to the annoyance of the nun. "The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend." She muttered, her tone breathy with irritation. However, they were both interrupted by an angry shout from an open cubicle they had been passing.
"Excuse me! Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York." A spindly red-headed woman snapped, glaring from behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses at the Doctor and the accompanying nun. "That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The former asked, nodding his head at the obese, gray man in the bed before him. "I'm dying, sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this." The Duke drawled, rolling his eyes in offense at the situation he had found himself. "Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." The aide tacked on, her words flying like acid from her puckered lips. The Duke lunged forward, demanding his aide, Frau Clovis', comfort. "Sister Jatt. A little privacy, please." Clovis continued, turning back to the Duke as Jatt and the Doctor hurried away from the pair.
"He'll be up and about in no time." Sister Jatt reassured the Doctor as they moved away from the Duke, much to the Doctor's confusion. "I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for oh, a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue." He joked, smiling at Jatt, who was clearly unamused. "Have faith in the Sisterhood." Jatt breathed out, her lips pursed, "But is there no one here you recognize? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient." Jatt pointed out, facing the Doctor in bewilderment. "No, I think I've found him." He replied with a smile, his eyes falling on the Face of Boe.
Rose continued to follow the peculiar man until they entered an even filthier room. A film played on a small projection screen, and a woman with dark hair and green eyes stood in the corner. "I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever. I'm bored with this drink. Anyway. Oh, hello darling! Now, don't. Stop it." A gorgeous blonde woman tittered on the video, a gracious smile adorning her face and handsome men surrounding her. "Wait a minute, that's-!" Rose's exclamation was soon cut off by the very same woman's voice emanating from behind Rose. "Peekaboo!" Cassandra said with a peppy grin.
"Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra." Rose warning, slowly moving away from the flap of skin. Aneres' eyes narrowed as her lips fought the urge to smirk at Rose's movements. "Why? What do you think I'm going to do? Flap you to death?" Cassandra drawled sarcastically, her eyes rolling for the umpteenth time that afternoon. "Yeah," Rose conceded, "but what about Gollum One and Two?" She asked, gesturing the rod at Chip as he stood next to Aneres. "Oh, that's just Chip. He's my pet." Cassandra said, utterly bored with this change of subject. "I worship the mistress!" Chip crowed in delight, a grin stretching his lips. "Moisturise me, moisturize me." His mistress demanded, causing him to hurry over to her with a spray bottle.
"He's not even a proper life form," Cassandra explained, relishing the feeling of the moisturizer landing on her skin from Chip's spray bottle. "He's a force-grown clone. I modeled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs." She continued, her eyes occasionally closing in bliss. "I hope that means food." Rose muttered before asking, "How comes you're still alive?" The woman in question snapped her eyes open in a glare, "After you murdered me." She spat at the blonde. "That was your own fault." Rose pointed out, much to Aneres' amusement.
"The brain of my mistress survived." Chip continued the explanation, "And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin." Aneres added on, calling Rose' attention back to her for a very brief second. "What about the skin? I saw it. You, you got ripped apart." Rose continued, shaking off the other woman. "That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back." Cassandra elaborated, a tinge of embarrassment in her features. "Right! So you're talking out of your a-" Rose's cackle, however, was cut off by Aneres' statement of, "Ask not."
"The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital, where we found m'lady's friend." Chip whispered, his spray bottle continuing to pump lotion on Cassandra's body. "So they don't know you're here?" Rose clarified, slightly confused. "Chip steals medicine. Helps m'lady. Soothes her, strokes her." The clone continued, his hand ghosting over Cassandra's translucent form a few times. "You can stop right there, Chip." Rose snapped in disgust, as Cassandra continued, "But I'm so alone, hidden down here. The last Human in existence." She finished, despite an eye roll from Aneres.
"Don't start that again. They've called this planet New Earth." Rose moaned out, exasperated with Cassandra's pureblood human-supremacy complex. "A vegetable patch." Cassandra retorted, her mouth twisted in a frown. "And there's millions of Humans out there. Millions of them." Rose continued, debating with Cassandra who merely spat, "Mutant stock."
"They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do you?" Rose questioned, raising an eyebrow at Cassandra as Aneres shot a glare of daggers at Rose from opposite the room. "Oh, I remember that night." Cassandra whispered, "Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it all became such hard work." She finished bitterly, a wishfulness entering her voice.
"Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that." Rose sighed out, seeing Cassandra wasn't backing down. "But we've not been idle, Rose, tucked away underneath this hospital. We've been listening. The Sisters are hiding things." Cassandra whispered, drawing the blonde's attention back to her. "What do you mean?" Rose asked, her gaze drifting over to Aneres in suspicion. The raven woman merely stared at her, her face schooled into an impassive mask. "Oh these cats have secrets. Hush, let me whisper. Come close." Cassandra murmured, drawing Rose's eyes back to her own. "You must be joking if you think I'm coming anywhere near you!" Rose replied, hurriedly backing away before she found herself trapped.
"Chip, activate the psychograft!" Aneres shouted, rushing forward to check Cassandra's connection to the machine. "I can't move. Cassandra, let me go! What're you doing?!" Rose shrieked in alarm as Aneres and Chip continued to move their plan into action. "The lady's moving on!" Cassandra exclaimed, "It's goodbye trampoline, and hello blondie!" A grin passed over all three of them as a burst of pink energy lept from Cassandra to Rose's body.
"Mistress?" Chip asked tentatively, slowly moving closer to the unconscious blonde. Then Cassandra's voice sounded from the body. "Moisturise me." Aneres rolled her eyes at the familiar phrase. "How bizarre. Arms, fingers, hair!" Cassandra quickly lept to her feet upon realizing the change had succeeded. "Let me see! Let me see! Oh my God. I'm a chav!" She wailed in horror, eliciting a loud cackle from Aneres as the latter embraced her. "Another step closer to victory my sweets." Aneres murmured, her lips wide and smiling.
Hi everyone! Please let me know how you enjoyed this chapter. I will try my best to update this story by doing two or three chapters per episode, meaning this fic will span all of season 2 and then end. My updates will probably happen once every two weeks, as I am very busy with work and school at the moment. Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter and I hope we can be together to watch this story grow with time.