Chapter Three: Dammit Doctor!
Sixteen hours passed by and in that time, Jo questioned Jack about the Doctor. He only told her the basics; that he was a Time Lord (alien), had two hearts, and moved through space and time across galaxies to help both humans and other species. Jo didn't really care though after he told her, all she wanted to know was what the name for his device was. Jack and his team had stared at her for several moments after the amazing story of the Doctor until Ianto told her it was called a Sonic Screwdriver. She asked if they had any of those for her to examine and they stared at her again, telling her they didn't and that if they did, she'd already have it in her lab.
She pouted.
So, for the remainder of those twelve hours she spent drawing up her own blueprints of some variation of said device. Jack inspected the plans several times before deeming it experimental to build, knowing if anyone could create it, it would be her. He was surprised that she had created something so quickly but she just brushed it off by saying she could understand this device easier than the others. Jack stayed with her the entire day, making sure she was absolutely okay. He did that a lot, she realized, checking up on her. She asked him many times why he kept around her but each time he'd just shrug and say, "I tend to watch out for my friends, Jo." She never knew how to respond to that because she hadn't really had a friend before and even before she disappeared they weren't that close. But she didn't know what 'close' was so she left the question to ponder in the back of her mind.
Tonight she was going to a party. Professor Lazarus was going to unveil his masterpiece; it was supposed to change what it meant to be human. Jo scoffed at his television self, having met Lazarus before and learned that he was an old man who was trying to prevent the inevitable. He was also a pervert she realized after he looked at her cleavage the first time they had met. She was only going to this event to see the device he called magnificent and so she could accompany her science clueless uncle (the once Prime Minister) to the party to explain what was happening, if anything happened.
Wearing a dark blue, tight, strapless dress, black heels, and a leather jacket, Jo left her apartment with her hair in a high ponytail. Deeming her clothing already fancy, she decided not to overdo it with lipstick, eyeshadow, or anything else. She already knew that makeup just flawed her skin so she used as little as possible. In her small purse, she carried her necessities and her prototype of the Sonic Screwdriver Version 2.0 that barely fit into the clench itself. Along with her prototype, she carried some basic tools: a normal screwdriver and lock picking tools and her pen so she can write down her ideas. Since yesterday, she decided to return the pen to the necessity group after not finding it when she needed it the most—on the moon. The only thing left was her little piece of security.
The machine on her right hand had two purposes. One was to move said hand, paralyzed by an accident. The other purpose was the needed security of the Prime Minister's niece, even if his term had ended. Will was trying to be re-elected so it'd be best to stay protected. A knife had been implanted on the underside of her wrist. When unlatched and with the flick of her wrist, a knife would be unsheathed and thrown at the attacker. There were three latches total for her to unlock. This improvement was added after she returned with amnesia and no security besides her two fists and feet.
Will was waiting outside her loft with a disapproving look. "What? Yolanda said that I should wear this for the evening," she defended when he looked down at her clothing choice.
"Since when do you listen to my wife and her clothing suggestions?"
"Since when did you decide not to bring your wife to a party?" Jo retorted.
"I didn't bring her because she would be as clueless as me about the workings of Lazarus's masterpiece. And…well she'd just be yapping all night about my opponent's incompetence in a fine party and how he shouldn't be running for bloody Prime Minister along with Harriet," he explained.
"Ah, now I see it. Well, I won't talk to you about him if you don't talk about my clothing choice for the evening," Jo suggested and he nodded, accepting the deal, extending his arm for her to hold on to.
"As long as you take off that awful jacket. I told you Jack was going to give you something obnoxious."
"I will, Uncle, but the jacket is bullet proof so I just thought it'd be best to wear when standing next to you."
"I am not a target!" he defended.
"Just a precaution, just a precaution," she muttered to herself as they walked down the streets of the city with no one giving them a second glance. After ten or so minutes of walking, they ended up at Lazarus Laboratories where people began to fill into.
"So Jack was telling me you made a new thingy today in record time."
"Do you and Jack meet up every second of the day to talk about me?" Jo wondered aloud.
"We're just worried about you."
"Did you two do this before I was taken?" Will didn't reply. He looked straight ahead with a solemn face. "You don't have to worry about me-"
"We don't know what happened and you refuse to let either of us take care of you so we're left to become over-protective mother bears whose cub was just poked by a stupid human with a stick."
"I think those mothers should give the cub some breathing room to learn a few things."
"We let you get your own apartment," Will supplied.
"An apartment with three different cameras watching my every room, making company a little hard."
"Hey, if you wanted to bring someone over, be our guest. At least there'd be someone in there with you to give you some much needed se-"
"That's not what I meant and I am not having this sort of conversation with a Prime Minister."
"You can tell me if you want to-"
"Will!" Jo hissed, "I am not having this conversation with you because I do not plan on doing anything to lead up to this conversation."
"So you and Jack haven't-"
"Oh god, Jack and I aren't in any form of relationship that would evolve into such things! I don't have or want anyone to form a relationship that would evolve into those things! Now can we please go into the building and watch Lazarus make a complete fool of himself?"
"Go right ahead m'dear," Will smiled. Jo closed her eyes, letting out a sigh before continuing on to the doors. Once inside, they checked in, gave their coats to someone, and started Will's rounds of meeting people. Jo examined the device while she ate the food.
At one point a woman came up to both of them. She was a young black woman, maybe Josephine's age, in a black dress, necklace, and hair put up in a bun. "Prime Minister, Josephine Lewis, it's an honor to have both of you here this evening. Please enjoy the party and the demonstration. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the professor himself," the woman greeted. She looked around the room before spotting someone, "Now if you'll excuse me, my sister has just arrived. Thank you for coming." And then she left. Will watched her leave but Jo continued to study the device.
"Oh my…" he said after a moment or two.
Jo continued to guess the purpose of the machine while she subconsciously asked, "What is it, Will?"
"Did you say you saw the Doctor yesterday?" Will asked.
"For a brief moment yes, why? I wonder why there's a beam over there…"
"Describe him for me."
Jo glanced over at Will, weariness sketched on her face. "Why?"
He rolled his eyes, "Just tell me."
"Okay, well he's taller than me. When I saw him, he wore a dark blue suit, about the same color as my dress, red converse and red tie. He's got brown hair that is extremely ruffled and his eyes are brown. I'm sure you already know what he looks like, Will. Jack told me you met him for a moment. And with you once being the Prime Minister and all, you must know about him-Jack told me all these things he'd done." Jo pulled out her pen and began writing along her right arm.
"When did Jack tell you all this? Ah never mind, why do you suppose he's here?" he asked. Jo dropped her pen. Looking over at where her uncle was watching, she saw him. The Doctor stood right next to the woman from yesterday in the hospital. He was talking to an older woman wearing a golden gown who was probably mother to the Doctor's hospital friend. He appeared to be floundering in their conversation. The Doctor looked across the room when Jo flew to the floor, picking up her pen.
Before anything else could happen, someone dinged their glass and it got quiet. Lazarus appeared on the steps of his machine. "Ladies and gentlemen. I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight, I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, what I believe, the most important in advance since…" He continued his speech, praising how amazing his creation will be that it'll change what we say is human. When he caught the sight of Jo, he stopped to look at the famous girl before continuing his speech. After the old man was done, he stepped inside his machine.
"Experimenting on himself, that's risky."
"You're one to talk," Will scoffed. Jo rolled her eyes.
"Eh, I was to die anyway. Might as well do it at my own hands." Will leaned into her.
He whispered in Jo's ear, "You were completely suicidal."
"Still am Will, still am." He gave her a look before returning his attention to Lazarus. His team started up the machine and a bright blue light blinded most of the people watching, a small tremble in the ground caused by the machine sounded as it accelerated and the light got brighter in the room. A blaring alarm blocked out the commotion and Jo could hear the Doctor's voice but not his words. That was when the Doctor jumped to the control system to try to stop the machine. Smoke appeared as the machines went overtime.
"Do something Josephine!" Will shouted over the noise, his hands covered his ears. An elderly woman shouted something at the Doctor and he replied angrily, continuing to turn off the machine. When Jo composed herself, she was about to help but the Doctor pulled out one last plug. The machine slowed down immediately and once it had stopped, the Doctor and his friend ran to the entrance and opened it.
Smoke filled out as a man swaggered forward. His hand grabbed the outside and his face appeared out of the smoke. Gasps and murmurs along with camera snaps filled the room when they recognized the man. The Doctor and his friend watched in shock as he touched his face and spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old. And I am reborn!" an applause broke out through the room. Almost everyone was applauding the man. Everyone applauded except for Jo, the Doctor, and the woman next to him.
-/JEL/-
Lazarus walked over to Josephine Lewis. Without her leather jacket on, all the men around the room leered at her with hungry eyes. The strapless tight dress hugging her seduced everyone, including Lazarus. "Josephine Lewis," Lazarus announced as he approached her. The Prime Minister had left her side only moments ago, making her game to all the predators.
"Professor," she greeted curtly with a nod of her head. She had a glass of champagne in her hands and was slowly sipping the alcohol. He looked down at her hand, a giveaway to everyone on who she was. Josephine Lewis, a great Prime Minister's niece, the girl with the mechanical second skin, the scientist that would be known for centuries.
"Did you enjoy the demonstration?" he inquired.
"It was interesting Professor, idiotic though."
"Why do you say that?"
"For one, you operated on yourself-"
"Something you yourself have done." Josephine rolled her eyes.
"And second, you cheated something that should not be cheated."
"So did you my dear," he pointed out.
"And I was wrong to do so. You had a lifetime to live, you should have spent it wisely instead of doing what you did," she scolded. Lazarus stared at the woman before her. She was indeed a beauty, and yet that tongue of hers…
"Tell me, when you grow old and wrinkly, would you try to stop it. To reverse time on your body?"
"No, I would die."
He stared at her, she stared back, and then he sighed, defeated shoulders drooping. "Well then, I guess I won't be able to get through to you."
"I guess not."
"It was a pleasure to see-ah!" he had a spasm for a second before it went away and then his smile returned. "It was a pleasure to see you again my dear. I shall be seeing you later, tell the Prime Minister I say hello." She nodded and Lazarus reached for her right hand, the mechanical second skinned hand. Placing a kiss on the part of her hand with skin on it, he smiled. "A pleasure." She nodded and Lazarus walked away to talk with a bunch of young ladies.
Jo spotted the Doctor and his friend watching over Lazarus, talking to each other. She watched them for a moment before sensing Will standing next to her. "Is this even possible, Jo?"
"Yes, it's possible. A theory really but it is possible."
"And he's perfectly fine?" he questioned.
"I'm not so sure about that part. I was just about to go and find out for myself."
"How do you suppose you'll be doing that?" Will inquired and she looked at him, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "No, no, Jo. I told you, Will, Jack is just going to be a bad influence on Jo. No. Don't give me that look Jo, I will not be an accomplice."
"I'll see you in a bit Will. There are laboratories all over this place-"
"I don't want to know. If I know than I'll have to tell security because I was the Prime Minister so just scurry off and I'll pretend you are using the loo." Jo smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek before sneaking off into the halls of the building.
With DNA on her hand, she entered one of the labs to examine Lazarus. It looked normal for a while as she stared at it, but after few minutes it changed for a moment. Two minutes later, it changed again. "He got his genes to rejuvenate, but he's not stable. They keep changing," she muttered to herself as she examined it closer. When it began to change for longer than a second, Jo got up from her chair. She needed to get Will out. She wasn't completely sure what was going to happen to Lazarus but she wouldn't risk her only family, much less the man running for Prime Minister again.
Returning to the room, she found Will talking to the same woman that the Doctor floundered with earlier. Jo wasted no time though. "Sorry, may I borrow him for a moment; I need to talk to him." The woman nodded instantly at the sight of Jo, recognizing her immediately. Jo pulled him to the side and to an area where no one could listen to them.
"What's wrong Jo? Find something you didn't like while you used other's equipment?" he joked.
"Yes," she said seriously, "Will, I want you to leave this building now. Something's wrong with Lazarus, I don't know what yet, but his DNA keeps mutating. I want you to leave this party as soon as we are done talking and if anyone asks tell them Yolanda was missing you terribly and you just had to go and see her."
"What about you? Why aren't you leaving with me?" he asked, understanding watch she was saying-sort of.
"I need to find the Doctor, if what Jack said is correct, it would probably be smart to tell him what I found," she explained. He nodded and pulled her into a hug.
"Don't get into trouble. Tell the Doctor and then leave, okay?"
"Okay, now leave," Jo ordered. Will let go of her and gave her one last glance before turning around leave. When Jo turned back to the guests, she saw the Doctor and Martha running off towards the doors, her mother was shouting after them. Chasing after them, Jo barely missed getting into the elevator with them but stumbled into the girl that was next to the Doctor.
"You!" the Doctor shouted just as the girl said,"Oi!" When Jo regained her balance she stared at the Doctor.
"Doctor," she greeted, "There's something wrong with Lazarus. His DNA keeps changing, he's not stable-"
"We know," he said, making Jo nod.
"I know you!" the girl announced after actually looking at Jo.
"Really? Who is she Martha?" the Doctor asked.
"I told you Doctor, look me up and now that you didn't, we've stumbled into each other again!"
"Who is she?" the Doctor asked Martha again.
"Josephine Lewis," Martha replied.
"He already knows that, he doesn't actually know what the means though. Are you two chasing after Lazarus?"
"Yes, he and my sister went upstairs and she isn't safe with him," Martha answered.
"Now hold on, who is she?"
"Later Doctor! We need to find Lazarus and stop him before he does anything damaging," Jo told him strictly. The Doctor stared at her, so did Martha, until the elevator dinged and she dragged them out by her hands.
"Where are they?" Martha asked. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. Jo looked around the room and spotted the dead corpse of the elderly woman.
"Infatuated DNA will give off an energy signature, I might be able to pick it up," the Doctor replied. He pressed one of the buttons on the device and it made a beeping noise as he scanned the room. "Got him."
"Where?" Martha asked. Following the beeping noise, the device pointed them to the ceiling. "But this is the top floor…the roof!" Martha and the Doctor ran for the stairs, Jo behind them. She was calculating in her head about how much longer it would be until Lazarus became hungry again-it was soon, very soon. They practically flew up the stairs before they quietly opened the door.
Martha's sister and Lazarus were standing in front of each other, talking about frivolous things, close together. The man stared down at the girl, "Between the idea and the reality/ Between the motion and the act-"
"Falls the shadow," the Doctor finished; the couple turned to the trio.
"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Elliot, I'm impressed," Lazarus stated.
"Martha, what're you doin' here?" the girl asked.
"Tish, get away from him."
"Wut? Don't tell me what to do," Tish defied.
"Never thought you had time for poetry Lazarus," the Doctor pondered, "What you being so busy defying the laws of nature y'know."
"You're right Doctor, one lifetime was too short for me to do anything I like. How much more will I get done in two….or three or four?"
"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person," the Doctor retorted.
"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."
"Or what a curse," Jo spoke, "Look at what you've done to yourself Lazarus."
"Who are you to judge me? You have no right. You're just like me."
"Come here," Martha said.
"You have to spoil everything," Tish started, moving closer to Martha, "Every time I try to find someone nice, you have to find a fault."
"Tish, he's a monster!" Lazarus began to curl in an unappealing way, hearing his back crack made some of them shiver.
"I know the age thing is a bit creepy, but it works for some," Tish replied. And then the noise became louder with the growling and body morphing. Tish looked behind herself as the rest of them stared at Lazarus changing. Martha and Tish looked terrified as he turned into a gigantic creature with a scorpion like body but with a man's head.
"What is that?" someone asked.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted.