The Doctor quickly turned, handing the sleeping Tot to Jack. At the moment, it didn't matter whether the Captain was at fault here or not. He just had to keep Rae safe for a little while longer "Hold her for me, would you?" Without waiting for an answer, he whirled back around to face the patients "Go to your room," the Time Lord ordered, pointing into the opposite direction violently "Go to your room. I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross. Go to your room." The patients hung their heads in shame, shuffling away petulantly. The Doctor sighed in relief "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words."
Rose leaned around the Doctor, once again trying to stay as far away from the girl in Jack's arms "Why are they all wearing gas masks?"
"They're not," Jack pointed out, shifting the little girl on his hip awkwardly "Those masks are flesh and bone." He glanced at the Doctor "I appear to be holding a child."
The Time Lord smirked "And you will continue to. If Rae gets hurt, you'll regret it. Now, how was your con supposed to work?"
Jack looked down at the peacefully sleeping girl and groaned "Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent up front, oops." He shrugged "A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."
"Yeah," the Doctor muttered in disgust "Perfect."
"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners," the Captain shrugged with a small grin "Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day. Getting a hint of disapproval."
The Doctor swiped his hands around in a large arc "Take a look around the room. This is what your harmless piece of space-junk did."
"It was a burnt out medical transporter," the Captain exclaimed defensively "It was empty."
The Time Lord shook his head "Rose."
"Are we getting out of here?" the blonde hurried.
"We're going upstairs," the Doctor pointed out, turning to the door.
Jack didn't like being ignored. He was sure that this – whatever this was – had nothing to do with him "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one. I don't know what's happening here but believe, I had nothing to do with it."
"I'll tell you what's happening," the Doctor pointed out, just before he exited the room "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day."
A siren sounded through the walls "What's that?" Rose frowned.
"The all clear," Jack murmured.
"I wish," the Time Lord snorted.
As soon as he was gone, Jack immediately followed "Mister Spock?"
"Doctor?" Rose called, jogging past Jack.
"Have you got a blaster?" The Doctor's voice was muffled but obviously behind them, so the two of them stopped, turning back.
Jack shrugged "Sure." He ran up the stairs, careful not to jostle the little girl too much. Maybe he should stop calling her a little girl. The Doctor had called her Rae… Was that short for something? He'd have to ask later.
"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken," the Doctor explained, standing in front of a locked door.
Rose tilted her head "What happened?"
"Let's find out," the Time Lord grinned "Get it open." He picked Rae from the man's arms to enable him to use his blaster. The Doctor looked down at the little head that was resting on his leather covered shoulder. Rae looked so peaceful… Over the last few days, he had gotten somewhat worried about her and her nightmares but maybe it would help if she slept through this nightmare.
The blonde girl raised an eyebrow at the Doctor "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"
"Nothing," he grinned as Jack's blaster disintegrated the lock "Sonic blaster, fifty-first century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?"
"You've been to the factories?" the ex-Time Agent questioned, rolling his eyes when the Doctor plopped the – Rae back into his arms. What was it with this guy and him having to carry a sleeping child?
The Doctor nodded "Once."
Jack sighed "Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot."
"As I said," the Doctor muttered sheepishly "Once. There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."
Rose glanced from the door to Jack appreciatively "Nice blast pattern," she complimented, glancing at the Doctor from the corner of her eye.
"Digital," he shrugged, once again rearranging Rae on his hip.
"Squareness gun," the blonde tried again.
Jack threw her a weird look "Yeah."
"I like it," she flirted.
The Captain rolled his eyes and entered the room after the Doctor, looking around the room curiously "Something got out of here."
The Doctor nodded "Yeah. And?"
"Something powerful," Jack continued "Angry."
"Powerful and angry," the Doctor repeated, looking around the room. There were crayon drawings scattered all over the floor and a teddy bear on the bed.
Jack inhaled sharply "A child? I suppose this explains Mummy."
"How would a child do this?" Rose questioned.
The Doctor then turned on a tape machine and two voices filled the room.
"Do you know where you are?" a man asked.
"Are you my mummy?" It was the voice of a child. A voice that was very familiar to Rose and the Doctor. They had both heard it before.
"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?" Constantine asked the child.
"Are you my mummy?" the child repeated.
"What do you want? Do you know…" the man was cut off.
"I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
"Doctor, I've heard the voice before," Rose said.
"Me too," he replied grimly.
"Mummy?" the child repeated again.
"Always are you my mummy… like he doesn't know," Rose muttered.
"Mummy?" Guess who said that.
"Why doesn't he know?" Rose asked.
"Are you there, mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"
"Can you sense it?" the Doctor spoke up, looking around the room uneasily.
"Sense what?" Jack asked, coming to stand next to him.
The Time Lord sighed impatiently "Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it? Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
Rose rolled her eyes "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species."
"Rose, I'm thinking," the Doctor chided.
The blonde didn't care though, just babbling on "He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than."
"There are these children living rough round the bomb sites," the Doctor muttered "They come out during air-raids looking for food."
"Mummy, please?" the child's voice sounded again from the tape.
The Doctor continued "Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?"
"It was a med ship," Jack exclaimed in annoyance "It was harmless."
"Yes," the Doctor rolled his eyes "You keep saying harmless. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"
Rose looked at the Time Lord in confusion "Altered how?"
The tape ran out, making a clicking noise that echoes through the room "I'm here."
"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful," the Doctor told Rose "It doesn't know it yet, but it will do. It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room."
"Doctor?" Rose blinked.
"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?" the child – Jamie – questioned.
The Time Lord looked at the other two, a sheepish expression on his face "I sent it to its room. This is its room." He turned around and looked at the boy in the gas mask.
"Are you my mummy? Mummy?" Jamie tilted his head.
Rose glanced at the Doctor, panicking "Doctor?"
Jack positioned himself in front of us "Okay, on my signal make for the door." He reached into his pocket "Now!" The Captain aimed what should have been his blaster at the zombie child, shielding Rae at the same time. He froze and stared at the banana in his hand in annoyance. Really?
The Doctor pulled Jack's blaster from his belt and made a nice square hole in the wall "Go now! Don't drop the banana."
"Why not?!" Jack demanded, stuffing the fruit back into his coat pocket.
"Good source of potassium," the Time Lord shrugged.
The Captain stormed past him, snatching his blaster back "Give me that." He turned back around, repairing the hole in the wall "Digital rewind. Nice switch."
"It's from the groves of Villengard," the Time Lord proclaimed, putting the banana back into his pocket "I thought it was appropriate."
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor just shrugged "Bananas are good."
"Doctor!" Rose shrieked when the wall started to crack.
"Come on," the Time Lord waved, turning only to stop and whirl around. They were completely surrounded by patients on either side. Unconsciously, the Doctor turned to cage Rae between his and Jack's body "It's keeping us here till it can get at us."
Jack glanced at the patients uneasily "It's controlling them?"
"It is them," the Doctor corrected "It's every living thing in this hospital."
"Okay," the ex-Time Agent mumbled, looking down at his blaster "This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, what you got?"
The Time Lord shifted a bit "It's sonic. Totally sonic! I am sonicked up."
"A sonic what?" Jack shouted, fed-up with the Doctor's hedging.
"Screwdriver," the Time Lord burst out at the same time as Rose grabbed Jack's wrist, pointing the blaster at the floor.
"Going down," she warned and as soon as the four of them fell ungracefully a floor down. The ex-Time Agent quickly repaired the hole in the ceiling, checking on the girl who landed on top of him.
"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose fussed, looking at the Time Lord worriedly.
The Doctor dusted himself off "Could've used a warning," he grumbled "Rae could have been hurt, you know?"
"Oh, the gratitude," the blonde rolled her eyes.
"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack demanded.
The Doctor's shoulder when he crossed his arms defensively "I do."
Jack frowned "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ooh, this could be a little more sonic?"
"What, you've never been bored?" the Doctor asked "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"
At the same time as Rose found a light switch, the patients sat up in their beds "Mummy. Mummy."
"Door," Jack called, rushing towards it with the other two following. At the front of the group, Jack was trying to use his blaster to get through the door but nothing happened "Damn it. It's the special features," he grumbled "They really drain the battery."
"Battery?" Rose asked, sounding unimpressed "That's so lame." The Doctor bent down to hold his sonic to the lock, making the door swing open quickly.
"I was going to send for another one but somebody's got to blow up the factory," Jack complained, glaring at the Doctor.
Rose nodded at Jack's words "Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew up my job. That's practically how he communicates."
The Doctor sighed, ignoring their chatter "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."
"The door?" the Captain exclaimed, leaning against the table to take some of the strain off his arms. It was surprisingly difficult to carry a dead weight for a while, no matter the actual weight it was. Even a pencil could get heavy after an hour or so "The wall didn't hold it."
"Well, it's got to find us first," the Doctor pointed out "Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets."
Jack gave him an unamused look "Well, you've got a banana and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."
"Window," the Doctor said.
"Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories," Jack shook his head, looking at the wrist strap around his arm.
Rose sighed "And no other exits."
"The assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack commented sarcastically.
The Time Lord rolled his eyes and turned to Rose "So, where'd you pick up this one, then?"
"Doctor," Rose scolded, sitting down in a wheelchair.
Jack smirked at the other man "She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance."
"Okay," the Doctor shrugged, dropping the subject "One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?"
Rose made a noise in the back of her throat "Yeah. Jack just disappeared." The Doctor whirled around to see that the blonde girl was right. Jack had indeed disappeared and he took Rae with him. That made the Doctor even angrier. If anything happened to Rae, then the Time Lord would quite happily kill the man.
On his spaceship, Jack had just put down Rae on his bed and sat down on his seat "Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship." He glanced at the girl for a moment before starting to work on the emergency teleport "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure and I can only take one person with me. I'm working on it. Hang in there."
"How are you speaking to us?" the Doctor's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Om-Com," Jack shrugged "I can call anything with a speaker grill."
The Time Lord hummed "Now there's a coincidence."
"What is?"
"The child can Om-Com too," the Doctor replied grimly.
Rose inhaled sharply "He can?"
"Anything with a speaker grill," the Time Lord explained "Even the Tardis phone."
"What, you mean the child can phone us?" the blonde demanded.
As if that wasn't already creepy enough, Jamie's voice sounded through the radio "And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you."
Jack blinked at the speaker "Doctor, can you hear that?"
"Loud and clear," he replied.
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do," the ex-Time Agent murmured "Remember this one, Rose?" He pressed a few buttons and Moonlight Serenade started playing. Jack kept one ear on the conversation that was going on in the hospital, while simultaneously keeping an eye on the little girl and overriding the protocols. It took him ten minutes but it was worth it. He turned his chair around when he heard the conversation still going on like before.
The Doctor rolled his eyes at the blonde "If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked."
"Yeah?" Rose grinned "Shame I missed that."
Jack snorted "Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I hat to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."
The Doctor immediately sat down next to Rae, checking her over quickly "You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose shit it I."
"Oh, I do," the Captain smirked "She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes."
That was when the Time Lord looked around for the first time "This is a Chula ship."
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter," Jack nodded "Only this one is dangerous."
The Doctor snapped his fingers, making a golden glow enveloped his fingers. Rose blinked in surprise "They're what fixed my hands up. Jack called them… er…"
"Nanobots?" the Doctor guessed "Nanogenes?"
The blonde snapped her fingers "Nanogenes, yeah."
"Subatomic robots," the Time Lord hummed "There's millions f them in here, see?" He held up his hand "Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check for damage, fix any physical flaws." The Doctor turned to Jack "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space-junk."
Jack nodded quietly. This was his chance to prove that he had nothing to do with this "As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever you were doing." The Doctor glanced up from Rae for a moment and after checking her over again, he shook his head at the Captain "Oh, little One… Better be glad that you're asleep."
"So, you used to be a Time Agent and now you're trying to con them?" Rose questioned after several minutes of silence. She had moved closer to Jack, looking at him pointedly.
The ex-Time Agent raised one shoulder in a shrug "If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money."
"For what?"
Jack looked up from what he was doing "Woke up one day when I was still working with them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back."
Rose gasped "They stole your memories?"
"Two years of my life," the Captain nodded "No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me and for all, I know he's right not to." A few seconds later, he clapped his hands "Okay, we're good… Crash site?" Only minutes later, the three-time travelers were standing behind several big crates, watching the scene in front of them. The Doctor was clutching Rae to his chest tightly "There it is," Jack pointed out "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important."
"We've got to get past him," the Doctor pointed out.
Rose straightened he jacket "Are the words distract the guard heading in my general direction?"
Jack shook his head in amusement "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Don't worry," she frowned "I can handle it."
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town," Jack said, looking at the blonde pointedly "Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him." He waved them away "Don't wait up."
Rose looked after him nervously "Relax," the Doctor assured the blonde "He's a fifty-first-century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."
"How flexible?"
"Well," the Doctor hummed "By his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."
Rose raised an eyebrow "Meaning?"
"So many species, so little time," the Time Lord pointed out with a smirk.
The blonde girl blinked for several moments, trying to comprehend what the Doctor was saying "What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission?" she questioned "We seek new life and… and…"
"Dance." They watched Jack run up to the guard on duty. As soon as the man – Algy – fell to his knees before his face turned a gas mask. The Doctor and Rose surged forward from the sidings "Stay back."
Jack held out his hand to the other men who were coming closer "You men, stay away."
"The effect's become airborne, accelerating," the Doctor breathed, looking at Rae carefully. This was bad, this was very bad… What to do? What to do? He should have brought her to the Tardis when he had the chance. Now there was no way of reaching it until this was all over. And as the ultimate 'fuck you' the air raid sirens started up again.
Rose's eyes widened "What's keeping us safe?"
"Nothing."
"Ah, here they come again," Jack muttered, looking up at the sky.
The blonde groaned "All we need. Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?"
The Doctor glared at both of them "Never mind about that. If the contaminant is airborne now, there are hours left."
"For what?" Jack questioned.
"Till nothing," the Time Lord pointed out grimly "Forever. For the entire human race." He stopped, looking slightly irritated "And can anyone else hear singing?"
"Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all." The Doctor walked into the shed quietly after handing Rae back to Jack "Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows the cradle will rock." That's when the Time Lord returned with Nancy in tow. The girl looked at the others for a moment, before they all started running to the covered Chula ambulance.
"You see?" Jack gestured "Just an ambulance."
Nancy looked at the man in surprise "That's an ambulance?"
"It's hard to explain," Rose whispered "It's from another world."
Jack climbed up and looked at the area around the keypad "They've been trying to get in."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, tugging a strand of brown hair behind Rae's ear "Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon." Jack started punching in a string of numbers "What are you doing?"
"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." Was the stoic reply he got "Didn't happen last time."
"It hadn't crashed last time," the Doctor pointed out "There'll be emergency protocols."
"Doctor, what is that?" Rose questioned, panic in her voice "Doctor!"
The Time Lord looked around nervously "Captain, secure those gates."
"Why?" Jack blinked.
"Just do it," the Doctor shouted "Nancy, how did you get in here?"
"I cut the wire."
He threw his sonic to Rose "Show Rose. Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty-eight D. Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"
After they were done, Jack was on top of the ambulance again, prying the door open "It's empty. Look at it."
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter?" the Doctor grounded out, carefully putting Rae down next to the transporter. He needed both hands and the further she stayed away from all this, the better "Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?"
The blonde startled "I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
Her eyes widened in shock "Nanogenes."
"It wasn't empty, Captain," the Doctor pointed out "There were enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."
Jack paled drastically "Oh, God."
The Doctor nodded, sounding slightly satisfied when he spoke next "Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask."
"And they brought him back to life?" Rose asked in surprise "They can do that?"
The Doctor scoffed "What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"
Jack closed his eyes "I didn't know," he muttered quietly.
The Doctor worked on the ambulance while the patients approached "Mummy. Mummy."
"Rose!" Nancy called out.
Rose looked at the patients and then over at the Doctor "It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?"
The Time Lord nodded "The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."
"But the gas mask people aren't troops," the blonde pointed out.
"They are now," the Doctor explained "This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you."
"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing."
The Doctor smiled thinly "It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them."
The patients surrounded us, outside the barbed wire. They didn't come any closer though "Why don't they attack?"
"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander," the Time Lord shrugged.
Jack breathed in sharply "The child?"
"Jamie," Nancy snapped.
"What?"
"Not the child," she repeated "Jamie."
Rose looked at the sky and shifted uncomfortably "So how long until the bomb falls?"
Jack glanced at his wrist strap "Any second."
"What's the matter, Captain?" the Doctor mocked "A bit close to the volcano for you?"
Nancy had tears running down her cheeks "He's just a little boy."
"I know," the Doctor murmured softly.
"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy," Nancy repeated.
The Doctor sighed "I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."
"So what're we going to do?" Rose inquired.
"I don't know," the Time Lord shook his head.
Nancy let out a low sob "This is my fault."
"No."
"It is," she pointed out "It's all my fault."
The Doctor looked at her with a frown "How can it be your…?" He was cut off by the patients calling for their mummy again when it finally dawned on him "Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"
The bombs that were dropping from the sky got closer. Too close "Doctor, that bomb," Jack called out "We've got seconds."
"You can teleport us out," Rose pointed out.
Jack shook his head "Not you guys. The nav-com is back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols."
"So it's volcano day. Do what you've got to," the Doctor pointed out grimly.
"Jack?" the blonde frowned when the man vanished.
"How old were you five years ago?" the Time Lord questioned "Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he? A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."
The gate opened and Jamie came closer to us "Are you my mummy?"
"He's going to keep asking, Nancy," the Doctor pointed out gently "He's never going to stop. Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."
Nancy and Jamie walked towards each other "Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?"
"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy," Nancy whispered.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes." Nancy had tears in her eyes again.
"Are you my mummy?"
The Doctor cursed lowly "He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left."
Nancy took a deep breath "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She hugged Jamie and a cloud of nanogenes surrounded them.
"What's happening? Doctor, it's changing her, we should…" Rose panicked.
"Shush!" the Doctor snapped. This had to work. He couldn't just let the whole human race die… He couldn't let Rae die with them "Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out."
"What's happening?"
The Time Lord laughed in relief "See? Recognizing the same DNA." Jamie let go and Nancy fell on the ground "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." The Doctor removed Jamie's gas mask and he slumped when it came off "Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music – you're going to love it."
"What happened?" Nancy questioned, still sitting on the ground in a daze.
"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them! Ha-ha! Mother knows best!"
The girl looked at her child softly "Oh, Jamie."
Rose gasped "Doctor, that bomb."
He didn't even turn to look at the approaching projectile "Taken care of it."
"How?"
"Psychology," he shrugged. The bomb hurtled towards them and got caught in Jack's light beam just before impact.
A second later, Jack was sitting on top of the bomb "Doctor!"
"Good lad!" the Time Lord praised.
Jack looked down "The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long."
"Change of plan," the Doctor called up "Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?"
Jack nodded from where he was sitting "Rose?"
"Yeah?"
"Goodbye," he smiled, vanishing along with the bomb. A moment later, he was back "By the way, love the t-shirt." He vanished again. The spaceship sucked up the light beam and flew off, while the Doctor summoned the nanogenes to himself.
Rose frowned "What are you doing?"
"Software patch," the Time Lord mumbled "Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." He threw the nanogenes to the waiting patients who fell to the ground "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives." The Doctor crouched down to pick up Rae, settling her on his hip. One of his hands came up to rest on the girl's head, gently bringing her back to reality. Now that everything was over, he wanted her to be able to say goodbye to Nancy. While the girl was slowly stirring, the Doctor walked up to the doctor "Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn't want to get by without you just yet and I don't blame it one bit. There are your patients. All better now."
The old man nodded with a grin "Yes, yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"
"Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks," the Doctor joked "Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?" He turned around to walk back towards his little group "Are you alright, Rae?"
She shifted in his grip and looked around in confusion "What happened?"
"Had to knock you out. Sorry, but trust me. It was for the best," the Doctor explained "And look. There's Nancy."
"Nancy?" Rae repeated, perking up. She remembered the name… It was that girl who offered her food before. Who was the child with her? Was he her son?
The Doctor sat down Rae on her feet, watching carefully as she made her way over to Jamie and Nancy. He clapped his hands "Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget welfare state. Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"
"Usually the first in line," Rose teased before her grin fell when the Doctor didn't even look at her.
"Say goodbye to Nancy, Rae. We should get going," the Time Lord pointed out. Rae waved to the two humans in front of her shyly and turned to get picked up by the Doctor. She loved being carried… It was comforting to have someone that close to you. As soon as they were back in the Tardis, the Doctor set Rae on the jump seat "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic."
Rose raised an eyebrow "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas."
"Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" the Doctor smirked.
"What?" the blonde blinked.
The Doctor laughed happily "And everybody lives, Rose, Rae. Everybody lives. I need more days like this."
"Doctor…" Rose trailed off.
"Go on," he beamed "Ask me anything. I'm on fire."
The blonde shifted "What about Jack? Why did he say goodbye?"
The Time Lord's smile fell and he sighed "You want me to save him, right?" He pressed a few buttons on the console and gestured to the door "Go on, then."
Rose smiled, opening the doors quietly, watching Jack for a moment. He definitely was good looking… Maybe she could make the Doctor jealous with him? Adam didn't work, so she would have to up her game somewhat "Well, hurry up then," she called to the man outside the doors. Jack ran in, stopping in the doorway.
"Close the door, will you?" the Doctor called from the console "Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught." Jack shut the door at the same time as the Doctor started up the engine "Welcome to the Tardis."
The ex-Time Agent looked around curiously "Much bigger on the inside."
"You'd better be," the Doctor nodded.
Jack ran over to the Time Lord, studying the console. He had never seen a ship like this. It was magnificent… "Oh, hey," he blinked when his gaze fell on the little girl on the jump seat "You're awake."
Rae looked up at Jack in confusion. The only thing she could remember was him walking up with Rose before the Doctor put her to sleep "Who are you?"
"That's Jack," the Doctor explained quietly "He's coming with us for a bit."
"What language are you speaking?" the ex-Time Agent questioned "I never heard it before."
The Doctor sighed "You wouldn't have."
