Ghost of you

by Shadow's quill

When an unusual eclipse appeared on the world on the 21st of December and left a strange virus turning people into inoffensive zombies in its wake, all the most brilliant minds had to work on the possible cure before the whole humanity disappeared. Could they manage to create it or was the world destined to end on that day?

2. Chapter 1

Title: Ghost of you.

Number of parts: 1/?.

Pairings: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler; Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness; Clara Oswald/Olivia Baxter (OC).

Synopsis: "Maxence turned off the small camera hung on the arm of his glasses and sighed. He put his glasses on his head and rubbed his face. He let himself fall on his desk chair and sighed again."

A/N: The characters and the universe don't belong to me. All rights goes to Russell T. Davies, Phil Collinson, Susie Liggat, Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall and to the BBC. Everything else belongs to my imagination.

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CHAPTER 1

Twenty-seventh day of September 2017. Day 1741 since the infection. Maxence Spitz video log.

Still no remarkable results in our researches for a cure to the noctiuagus virus that had spread across the world five years ago. On the 20th of this month, we received twenty new subjects to another variant of the cure. Only five of them are currently being used. Subjects J and K had been inoculated with the virus with the virus yesterday at 8pm. L and M were the sane patients. L was left in K's cage and J's in M's. Subject J died thirteen hours after it got infected and subject M was infected only two hours after it got in contact with J. Subject K is clearly infected but it's struggling hard against the virus. L doesn't show any symptom so far. Our patient zero still doesn't show any symptom though the virus is in his system as the last blood test revealed. Subjects A, E and F have died in the night after days of struggle. The virus is getting more violent and contagious with the time passing and we don't know how it spreads from one person to another.

The symptoms of contagion are all the same: first, all the pigmentation disappears and the skin goes almost translucent. The eyes turn completely black and people become intolerant to the light. It seems like their skin is burning to the contact of it. They can only come out when it's night time or when they're in a place with UV lights. As the time goes by, there's an obvious deterioration of the cerebral activity which leads to an almost complete inactivity. Some people handle the virus well and just wander in the streets. Harmless. But, like I've noticed at the beginning of that entry, some persons can't deal with the virus and dies quickly after they've been infected. There weren't many dead before. The noctiuagus has become virulent and we're still looking for the reason. The results of the autopsies on our latest dead subjects should come tonight. Until then, we can't be fixed.

I've studied the videos of last night. The death appeared rather quickly on subject J. Classical attack. I still don't know whether it's the heart or the brain that's letting go and leading to death. Only the autopsy will tell. Maybe it will give us some new answers that will finally give us a cure to the nightwalking disease.

Maxence turned off the small camera hung on the arm of his glasses and sighed. He put his glasses on his head and rubbed his face. He let himself fall on his desk chair and sighed again. He was exhausted. Lately, he had been working night and day on the new formula of the cure without any satisfying result. It was frustrating. He turned to face all the cages with the rats in them. That part of his lab was lighted by UV lamps to protect them from the unwanted effects of light. Sane rats, infected rats, sick rats. They were all the representation of the human population right now. Lightwalkers and nightwalkers. The biggest dichotomy nowadays. The biggest problem too. Five years of working on that damn virus and still no way to figure out where it came from and how to cure it. Maxence was one of the most brilliant minds on that Earth, one of the best scientists of the century. That's why he had been named chief of the English team working on a possible cure. All the pressure on his shoulders, thank you very much. He wasn't alone to work on that, but everyone expected him to find a miraculous solution. But he didn't have one. Not even the smallest clue. And they were still hoping after five years.

Maxence closed his eyes and tried to relax a bit. He could take a nap right now. Like all his colleagues. They had all taken a break while waiting for the autopsy results. Only Maxence had stayed up to record his last observations, and now, he was really tempted to go and sink into a comfortable bed. The advantage of being the chief was him having his own room there. Most of the scientists were sleeping in dormitories. Four to eight persons in the same room. It was tensed sometimes but they always managed to save their emotions and to let them out in a better way. The relationships between colleagues were important in those time of crisis. If there were tensions in the team, the work suffered from it and it wasn't a good thing. Thankfully, it hadn't gone to the point where one wanted to kill another one. Or Maxence would have had to take action, and that wasn't something he liked to do. That's why he sometimes hated being the chief. He was given the job because he was the most intelligent of all the scientists working there. He hadn't had much of a choice and was doing his best to do his job properly. But his only real interest was the science. Nothing more than the science.

"You should come to bed, Dr Spitz," murmured a soft voice in his ear.

A small smile crossed the man's lips but he didn't move. Gentle hands started massaging his shoulders. He was so tensed there was a lot of knots and she knew exactly where they all were. She was trying to unknot them all but it was useless: they would all come back soon enough. That was the problem when everything was your responsibility.

"That's your diagnosis, Dr Tyler?"

"Long time I haven't been called that way."

Maxence opened his eyes and faced the blonde woman. She hadn't gone to sleep obviously, and if she had, she had waited for him long enough to see he wouldn't be coming. So, she had come to get him. She sat down on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Only me can call you that way, honey," replied Maxence, kissing her temple. "What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you, in our room, but you never came."

"I had work."

"You need sleep. And food."

She pointed to the plate on his desk. She had brought him a sandwich. Not one from the machine. One she had made herself for him. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in thirty-six hours. He was as hungry as tired.

"Are you trying to buy me?"

"Just taking care of you."

He smiled tiredly. He pulled her closer to him and nuzzled her neck. He closed his eyes again and breathed in her scent. She smiled and ran a hand through his hair. He really needed a break and only her could force him to stop and get some rest. Some food, a lot of sleep and a long shower should be enough. He would work better after that, and maybe see something he hadn't seen in the first place.

"We'll find the cure one day."

"I know. I trust you."

"And then, we'll have kids."

"Oh, you already have projects."

"I had them in mind before the virus hit."

"Thankfully, we had the chance to get married before."

"Yeah."

Rose cut a small piece of the sandwich with her fingers and brought it to Maxence's mouth. He opened it automatically and took his time to chew it. He hummed in contentment. Even the smallest things were good when it came to Rose's cooking. To the smell of food, a small muzzle poked out of Maxence's coat chest pocket, causing Rose to start a bit. She lightly slapped her husband's shoulder.

"Oi!"

"Steve is in your pocket again!"

"Steve is always in my pocket. I don't know why it keeps surprising you."

Steve was a small rat Maxence had saved from his experiences for the cure. The rat was too puny for the tests Maxence was doing. So, he had adopted him last year and tamed him. Everyone around there knew Steve and liked him. No one was surprised to see Maxence walking around with the rat on his shoulder or in his pocket. No one, except Rose. She always got surprised to see the rat around. She wasn't scared of it though. She picked a crumbled of bread and offered it to Steve. The rat sniffled the piece of bread he was given and grabbed it with his small paws before he started devouring it. Maxence observed the scene while eating his sandwich with a big appetite. All the crumbles were for Steve who was very happy with that special meal. So was Maxence. Rose tapped his nose and laughed when he scrunched it up.

"Feeling better, are we?"

"Yup."

"Now, Steve goes straight to his lovely nest, and my Maxence goes to bed."

Maxence didn't argue. He really needed some sleep. Rose got up and watched as he put Steve back in his own cage, away from the other rats he used for his experiments. The cage was much bigger, much comfy and more equipped with tubes and toys. Maxence definitely knew how to make the little guy happy. He filled the small bowl of food and the bottle of water and came back to Rose. He left his coat on the coat rack. He wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and walked out of his lab, turning off the lights and locking the door behind them. They went to their room in the staff headquarters. Everything was quiet. Only some snores could be heard.

Once they were in the room, Maxence took his shoes and pants off. So did Rose. She made sure he was well tucked in before she cuddled into him. She placed her head on his chest, just above his heart, and closed her eyes. They were both so exhausted that they fell asleep in the next minutes that followed. Just as always, Rose knew what was the best for him.

Rose woke up later to the sound of an argument in the corridors. It wasn't right next to her room but it was close. She glanced at her husband. He was still deeply asleep. He was lightly snoring. It made her smile to see him so relaxed, so peaceful. But it wasn't gonna last if the argument continued. She slipped out of bed slowly and pulled on her pants. Maxence moaned when he felt her absence and rolled on his side. He buried his head in her pillow and breathed in her scent deeply. It was enough for him to get back to a deeper sleep with a sigh of contentment. Rose silently left the room and closed the door behind her. She quickly walked to the source of the argument. Two of her colleagues – two physicians with opposed ideas on their speciality – were arguing about the best way to fix the scanner of the lab. They seemed to be the only ones up.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked with an urgent low tone.

The two physicians stopped their argument and turned around to face her. They realised they were talking too loud and that they were bothering everyone. They had woken up Rose but they could wake more of their colleagues up if they kept yelling in the corridors. Working for the most brilliant man of the UK had taught them to be respectful and humble because that's just how Maxence Spitz was. But they also were jealous of his high intelligence and happiness. Not all of them had a wife like Rose Tyler who could understand your passion and still love you. Plus, she also was a very clever woman, and important part of their team.

"Oh, doctor Spitz. Sorry for waking you up. We were… err… talking about the scanner in lab 3. It's been having some failures for days now."

"And it died this morning."

"So, it's blocking the autopsy and the results and, consequently, our work."

"Alright. I'll tell Maxence and he'll call a technician. No need to argue about it. Get back to sleep or anything else. Everyone is off duty."

Rose left the two men there and walked back to her room. She pulled off her pants again and snuggled up to Maxence. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer to him. He nuzzled his face in her neck.

"What was happening?"

"'m sorry they woke you up."

"I missed my wife."

"I'm back now."

"After you solved an argument for me."

"Always the same. Roberts and Hisleton fighting over their conception of the physics."

"Was it about the broken scanner in lab 3?"

"How do you know?"

"Called someone that morning for it. Should be fixed tomorrow."

"You're the best chief this team could have."

"I don't like the job."

"I know. You'll get your 'normal' professional status when we will have found that cure."

"Don't think so. If we find that cure, they'll say I am a hero or some bollocks. Never gonna be in peace, me."

"You've always been so pessimistic."

It was true. He was always seeing the bad part of things but that was helping him to enjoy the good things better, and the good things were getting rarer lately. If they didn't find a cure, the humanity would disappear, consumed by the noctiuagus virus or a worldwide war for food. The growing number of infected was being a real problem in the production of food and other important supplies. It was also hard to wander outside to buy something. Not because the nightwalkers had invaded the town – no one could see them on day because they couldn't stand the light – but because no one knew how the virus spread to one another. People outside were wearing gloves and masks to avoid the risk of infection. Maxence wasn't in charge of filling the fridge and cupboards but he was in charge and friends with the persons taking care of it and he was personally making sure they were well protected when they had to go outside and he was also the one testing them when they came back. And thankfully, so far, he hadn't had to tell any of them that they were infected and had to leave.

"Go back to sleep, love. You've worried enough in the last forty-eight hours."

Maxence was already sleeping again and a light snore replied to Rose. She smiled and kissed his temple. It was nice to see him sleep and forget about his responsibilities for a moment. He was carrying so much weight on his shoulders. Rose knew she wouldn't have been able to bear so much pressure. She was taking some of that pressure off his shoulders by fixing the small troubles and their colleagues were mature enough not to add more than necessary. They knew Maxence was doing the best he could with a job he hadn't wanted in the first place. They liked working with him. He was a good boss, taking care of them all. And they were well paid.

When Maxence woke up hours later, feeling completely rested, Rose was still there by his side. She was asleep and looked absolutely beautiful laying there on her side, against him, her head on his chest. A smile crossed his lips. He didn't move so he wouldn't wake her up and just slipped his fingers in her hair. He lightly played with it. He unknotted it very slowly and gently. Then, he softly traced her jawline. Her skin covered itself in goose bumps in reaction to his touch and a sigh escaped her. Her whole body relaxed more than it already was. She enjoyed his little touches on her from her sleeping condition. His lips pressed a soft kiss on her head and he let his hand on the bare skin of her arm. He was surprised when, a few minutes later, she caught his hand and kissed it.

"Mornin', love," she murmured sleepily. "Sleep well?"

"Morning. Best sleep I've had in a while."

"Good." Rose glanced at his watch. "Twelve hours? That's a hell of a nap!"

"I was tired."

"And now?"

"Don't you have a small idea?"

"Oh, you're being hungry for sure."

"Always."

Rose smiled and kissed his chest. His hand was tracing her arm up and down slowly. She let out a sigh of delight at the gesture. It was pleasurable. They hadn't had sex in a while. The endorphin released during sex could help them relax more though. But they hadn't had their minds into it with all the troubles and stress going around. Maybe later. If they managed to have some time for themselves. Which was getting harder. Maxence was too serious about his work and sometimes it was frustrating. But she respected him too much to force him to do a so-called 'marital duty'. At least, they had the chance to be together. Not all their colleagues could say the same.

"We could relax together in a shower," he suddenly murmured in her ear.

He slightly sucked on her earlobe. Rose moaned and her frustration along with her desire for that man burnt through her body. She felt her intimacy tingle and she felt the urgent need to be relieved. Maxence slipped his hand under the covers and stroked her clit through her panties. She groaned and pressed herself tighter against his fingers. But he pulled away and she kicked him in answer, really frustrated now.

"Oi!"

"Never do that again!"

"I want my breakfast first. Won't be any good with hypoglycaemia."

Rose huffed and got up from bed, her frustration and excitation mixed together. She pulled her pants and shoes back on and left the room, not answering Maxence's calls. She left him there, alone, in the dark. He sighed and got up. If he had been home, he would have chased her in his boxers. But if they had been home, she wouldn't be so frustrated and needy. He pulled on his shoes and left the room, locking it behind him. He knew where he would find her. At that hour of the day, everyone would be at the cafeteria. The breakfast would be served soon. Just the thought of it made his stomach growled. His last meal was long digested and his body needed a real meal to handle the day. And yet, he went to his lab first. He checked on Steve and filled his bowl. He slipped his glasses on his nose and checked on the other rats. Two new deaths. Rats K and B. Maxence sighed and took a look at his emails on his laptop. There was the preliminary results of the autopsy. The ones that didn't need the scanner. He read it quickly and printed it. He would work on that later.

He left his lab and locked it behind him. He walked to the cafeteria, his mind already working on the next step of the cure. There was some good and some bad things about their latest version, and they needed to correct it. But the rats were giving too different results. They hadn't died the same way, hadn't had the same struggle with the virus when they had been inoculated at the same time. Better immune system? It was to study and it was gonna be a long day. A very long day. Better start it in a good way. He walked in the cafeteria and greeted every colleague who was up. Rose was there too. She was chatting with some other friends. She smiled at him – letting him know that she wasn't mad at him – when he sat down across of her.

"You have a cowlick, Dr Spitz," she lightly teased him.

"I'm gonna take a shower soon enough to fix that."

"And to shave too?"

"Don't like the beard on me?"

"You're prickly."

"You two don't know the chance you have," sighed a brunette next to Rose.

Dr Clara Oswald. Specialist in engineering. Proteomics. She was studying the proteins created by every living being. A very important part of the crew. On his right, there was Olivia Baxter. Their doctor. Another brilliant mind. Maxence was often working with her. They both were Rose's best friends. They had known each other since forever. They had been dating at some point. Clara and Liv could be dating for all he knew. It didn't matter to him as long as he had his Rose. As long as the team work wasn't disturbed.

"I don't know if being stuck in here to find a cure is a chance."

"At least, you're together," remarked Liv.

"Doesn't mean we have a normal couple's life."

"Indeed. My wife is frustrated."

"Max!" exclaimed Rose, offended.

"So what? You've told them already."

"Them, yes. But not the whole place!"

Both Clara and Liv burst out laughing at the small argument the couple was having. Of course Rose had told them. They were her best friends, she was telling them everything. Maxence was very aware of it and he didn't mind. Every woman needed friends to talk about everything, even about her husband. And in those hard moments, it was important to have friends like them.

"Anyway, I feel like everyone needs to let out all of that pressure on their shoulders. What about an improvised base-ball game?"

"It could work."

"Perfect."

Maxence grabbed his phone and typed an email he sent to all the persons working with him. He was giving them an appointment for a quick debriefing after the breakfast. He would suggest the idea of a sports session at the end of it. He would force no one. He wasn't that kind of boss. He was taking care of them the best he could and giving them break times when they needed it. And they truly needed it today.

Breakfast time hit and everyone got in line with a tray to be served. Maxence kept bothering Rose and tickling her to be the first but she didn't want to give him her spot. She was before him and she would stay there no matter what. She was as hungry as he was. Clara and Liv were laughing. Their boss was unique and so friendly. He sulked because he couldn't have what he wanted and kept sulking even when they were back at their table. Rose kicked his leg lightly from under the table but he didn't react. He just literally ignored her to eat his breakfast in his entirety.

"You're such a kid!" huffed Rose, kicking him harder.

"Oi!"

Liv and Clara laughed again. Those two indeed didn't realise the chance they had to be together and to remain true to their selves when everyone else was falling into the madness of paranoia. Which was normal considering the current times. But they were aggressive, mean, ready to fight anyone to survive. The human nature was sometimes terrible. Thankfully, not everyone was that way or they would have killed themselves and no one would work on that cure. The problem would be solved in a very primitive way. But they weren't giving up in their work and on their good manners. Their anger, frustration and other feelings were left aside to save the humanity from the worst virus ever seen so far.

Maxence swallowed the last bit of food he had left and lightly pushed the tray away. He checked his emails on his professional phone. He sent the last results to his printer. He had printed the preliminary results for himself but not for his team. He needed to add his own results and to ask them to send theirs to him so he could make the file with all the results and the remarks of the week later in the day. He got up and kissed Rose's head before he left the cafeteria, putting his empty tray on the trolley at the exit of the room. He walked to his office and unlocked it. He grabbed the handful of papers waiting for him out of the printer. He put all the papers in order and stapled the files one by one. He added his latest observations on every one manually and put them aside. They were ready for the reunion. He sat down for a minute and rubbed his face. He so wanted it all to be done. He was tired of that whole situation, of living in the fear, of exhausting himself to find that cure. He just wanted to have that normal life with Rose again, to be at their home and just live. Not survive hiding in that lab he used to love so much.

He smiled at the image he had in mind: Rose laying in their bed, tangled in the sheets. She would smile at him as the sun found its way through the blinds. He would lay over her and kiss her softly before they made love. They would be happy. The disturbing ringtone of his phone pulled him out of his daydreaming state. More than the messages it was the hour that made him hurry up. He jumped on his feet and grabbed the pile of files. He rushed out of his office and locked it behind him. He ran to the conference room. There, he stopped for a minute to catch his breath. Everybody was already there obviously. He came in, brandishing the files.

"Here's our latest updates on the researches we're making for the cure. Nothing really new. The virus is resisting and getting stronger. We have to find out why it is spreading so quickly and how people get infected. We need the tiniest lead possible to finally find a way out of that situation. We are tangled up in a web of false results and we must find our way out of it." He gave the pile of files to the colleague on his right and she took before making it all pass to the others. "But! We are technically stuck since our equipment is getting tired. Technicians are coming today to fix the broken ones and check the others. So, we have another day off. Since we all need to relax, I suggest you all to meet on the court and have some fun with a match. That's totally voluntarily. If you don't want to, you're free to go and do what you want." He clapped his hands together. "That's all for today. Any question?"

Maxence looked at all his colleagues. They were reading the file and thinking about his words. No one seemed to have anything to say about the present situation. The idea of another day of break was great. Who knew when they would have another chance like that? Maxence dismissed them. He went to the lockers and changed into shorts and T-shirt. He pulled on trainers and left his other clothes, shoes and glasses in the locker. Then, he walked to the local outside and picked the basket balls. He tested the rebounds and brought them on the court. Some of his colleagues were already there. He threw them a ball and they all started training until everyone was there. Some sat around the court, the others were ready to play. They made teams and decided of an order of who was gonna play against who.

All matches lasted around two hours and it was two hours of fun, relaxation and games. For two hours, they forgot that the world was threatened by a virus; they forgot their responsibilities; they forgot the weight on their shoulders. After that, they headed back to their districts for a good shower. As he had sort of promised, Maxence took Rose with him. The showers of the building were all public ones. But Maxence knew where to find a private one. In the chief's headquarters. The chief above him was the CEO of the place. That man wasn't there and Maxence had all the keys. It didn't take long until they were naked under the hot water. They didn't lose their time in foreplay. It had been too long. It was quick, almost too brutal, but it as good. Just what they needed after so long. They were completely relaxed and happy.

They were getting dressed when an alarm rang across the building. It took Maxence a few seconds to identify it. It wasn't the fire alarm, nor the bacteriological one. No, it was the intrusion one. Someone had come through the security. Maxence and Rose fast finished getting dressed and ran to their lab. It was completely ravaged. The couple stopped and stared, just like many of their colleagues. The common parts of work that weren't locked were totally upside down. Who could have done such a thing? What were the damages? How long would it take them to clean it all and get back to work?