Ah-ha! hello again, guys and girls ^^ i had a wonderfully pain in the butt weekend due to the internet, tv, and phone lines all going down at once until this afternoon. otherwise i might've updated this sooner. sorry. and thanks a ton to those who reviewed recently on this! i love the feedback from you guys. :) anyway, here's the next chapter. hope you like it, and please review!
Chai Tea: thanks so much for your compliments on how i changed the Time of Angel's chapter. i wanted it to be different, so i'm glad.
Tyantha: Thanks for reviewing and i'm super happy that you like how i'm easing Alex into this whole thing. as for how the story first started out with the metal pieces, i can't tell you much about that. spoilers and all, but it will all be explained sooner or later :) as for how alex appears, bits and pieces will be brought up as far as how her hair is styled and her eye color etc. sorry i didn't get into her appearance much. i actually dislike it when people go on describing a lot of details and i totally understand if i put too little in here. i might have gotten a little carried away...
I sat up with a groan, closing my eyes as I rolled my shoulders, cracking my neck as I stood up and opened my eyes. Immediately, my face dropped and I paled. The green pods were all over the place and a heavy weight settled in my stomach.
"Oh dear. This is one of the worst places I could be."
I heard a door open and went to find a place to hide, but it was either get caught or hide in a pod and I'd rather not be in a pod should the door close and I be stuck in it. Especially since I knew where I was and it was no where good. New New York underneath that crazy cat hospital with the human farm and with a Tenth Doctor right after Rose and Bad Wolf.
"O-Oh, he's going to hate me." I muttered, deciding that I'd have to make a bolt for it.
Luckily, I had surprise on my side and the moment that two cats came downstairs, I ran right at them.
"Hello! Wrong floor! Bye!"
Their eyes widened and I pushed past them, but they had their claws out and scratched at me from behind. I cringed, feeling the claws rake my back through my coat and shirt, but I was still running, so I had a plus there. I bounded up the stairs, hardly winded after running so much with the Doctor, but I knew it wouldn't last when the alarm went off; the voice of a cat coming over the intercom.
"Attention patients, visitors, and staff. There has been a breach in security. Stay calm and on the lookout for a young human male, with short red hair, wearing a long coat, denim trousers, and a white t-shirt. Alert the staff immediately if he is spotted."
"Great. I'm on the wanted list. " I grumbled, pounding the button for the lift as I heard the two cats approaching. "Come on, come on, come on. Bingo!"
The lift opened and I dived in, shutting the doors quickly as I pulled out my black book and quickly skimmed the pages until I had what I wanted. Ward 26, but if I just pop up there with a warning out for me, then we're going to have some issues. Think. Disguise. Where does someone get a disguise in a hospital?
"Staff locker room!"
The lift went up and I fidgeted, making sure the book was tucked safely away deep in my pocket as disinfectant started being sprayed on me. I let it, not enjoying it as much as the Tenth would have—having to ignore the stinging of my back—but letting it do as it pleased before I was clean and the doors opened.
I quickly grimaced. "Me and my smart ideas."
Running into the room full of cat nurses, I did my best to dash past them to another lift, hitting the button and running in a loop to grab clothing as inconspicuously as possible before reaching it once it landed. Needless to say, it wasn't only my back that was bleeding now, but also left side of my jaw running down to my neck and collarbone.
"Ward 26." I said quietly to not give the cat nurses yelling outside a chance to know where I was headed.
The disinfectant stung again, but I ignored it the best I could as I looked over what I grabbed and stuck my tongue out in distaste.
"There's no way this'll fit me, let alone be something I enjoy." I grumbled, tearing the nun outfit for make-shift bandages for my neck, before tossing it aside and deciding to take my own risks, digging into my pockets for something handy. "There's got to be something in here I can use."
My future self seemed to sometimes leave things behind in the coat pockets which made it handy for me later, but what I pulled out though was not what I expected and I deadpanned at the object.
"Right, so now the Tardis gets back at me? I was looking for a weapon or disguise or a hat or something! Not a freakin' Groucho glasses!" I complained, waving the glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached in the air in frustration; knowing that it was the Tardis who left this in my pocket and not the future me.
I didn't have much of a choice though as the lift stopped and I begrudgingly put them on, taking my coat off and draping it over my arm as I walked in, hoping that with the lame disguise and no coat actually on would throw people off long enough to nab the Doctor and at least get him somewhat clued in to what was going on here. That, and I think that if I'm going to be a wanted person here, he should join me.
Walking out, I was glad that I wasn't immediately attacked as I searched around the room for the Doctor. I spotted the Face of Boe off in the back of the room, but knew now wasn't the time to say hi to the old Jack Harkness since I was already getting a couple of stares from cat nurses. Finally, I spotted the Doctor heading towards the cubicles closer to the lift where I was and I managed to grab him and pull him around the corner quickly.
"Oi! What—"
I covered his mouth with my hand, cautiously looking over at the nearest visible patient who was thankfully ignoring us as the large man sipped at some wine. I let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the now glaring Tenth Doctor, rolling my eyes.
"Look. I know you don't like me and are pissed because I did nothing during the whole Bad Wolf incident, but now is not the time. Okay?" I snapped at him, looking around cautiously again as he pulled my hand off this mouth in a tight grip.
"What the hell are you doing here and where's Rose? What have you done with her?"
"I just showed up here maybe five minutes ago and at the moment, I'm sort of wanted in this hospital because I saw something I shouldn't have. Now, I haven't seen Rose, but she should be here soon, if my timing is right, and…" I turned to him. "When she shows up, you have to understand that I didn't do anything and I can't tell you what to do about it."
He immediately snarled and grabbed the front of my shirt, making me stiffen, but I put on a brave front; more annoyed about his attitude than anything right now.
"If she is in danger, I swear I will hold you personally responsible fifty times over."
"Fine." I snapped. "If she's hurt in anyway after all of this, you can feed me to a werewolf or chuck me out into the Time Vortex or something, Spaceman. But right now, there's more important things to worry about."
"Nothing is more important than Rose being safe." He growled, shoving me away from him. "Now take off those stupid glasses."
I rolled my eyes, but took them off, replacing my coat and moving out of view of the patients and cat nurses just as Cassandra—masquerading as Rose—popped up around the corner, catching the Doctor's eye.
"There you are. Come and look at this patient." He said, leading her over to a hovering man whose skin was a vibrant red. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one…" He brought her over to a white skinned man. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." He said, bringing her back over to where I was waiting; keeping myself from being spotted. "Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it." Cassandra said in a bad accent, making me roll my eyes. "Who's this?"
The Doctor glared at me—knowing something was up, no doubt—before giving Cassandra a look. "What's with the voice?"
"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about New Earth." She took a deep breath, putting her hands on her hips and looking him up and down hungrily. "New me."
"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor." He chuckled, but she just hummed, my stomach flopping in what I assumed was nervousness.
"Mm, aren't you just—"
She launched herself up at him, making out with him and I grimaced, turning away and rubbing my neck until pain traveled up my spine, reminding me of the wound I had there. This scene always made me uncomfortable, though I don't know why it's bugging me this badly. Maybe because it's actually real to me now?
"T-T-Terminal's this way." Cassandra said, catching her breath and walking over towards me, eyeing me with a small smirk. "Ooh, you're not so bad looking yourself."
I raised a brow, about to correct her, but she looped her arm around mine and started walking with me; I myself feeling the Doctor's heated glare focused on the back of my head.
"What's your name again?" She asked. "My mind's not quite working right now."
"Alex. A-Alexander Holmes." I said, mentally smacking myself for giving her my full name which sounded like a guy's anyway. "Though, uh, you might want to watch what you say around the Doctor. He's getting suspicious, Cassandra."
She looked at me in surprise and I gave a nervous grin, fidgeting because her grip tightened around my arm.
"How do you know who I am?" She whispered, eyeing me.
"Right, sorry. I pop in here and there in the Doctor's time-line. He kind of hates me at the moment, but Rose and I get along. But I, uh, kind of know future things. Past things. Stuff like that. I won't blow your cover though, if that's what you're worried about. Things will work out, so I won't get involved."
We approached the computer terminal and the Doctor looked it over.
"Nope. Nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop." He whined, before Cassandra pulled me over to it with her.
"No, it's missing something else. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?"
"You're right. Well done."
"Why would they hide a whole department?… It's got to be there somewhere—"
"Actually…" I spoke up, making them turn to me; Cassandra curiously, but the Doctor angrily. "I know why it's hidden, but it's… hard to explain."
"Get started." The Doctor growled, making me frown over at him.
"Well, Mr. Grumpy, I figured it'd be better if you saw for yourself and perhaps we could do something about it then. But if you just want me to tell you about it, then I guess I could take all the fun out of it. Fine with me."
"No." He snapped, turning back to the terminal. "Shut up. I'll figure it out."
I nudged Cassandra and smirked, knowing that I had just turned the tables on him and she chuckled back before giving him a suggestion.
"Search the sub-frame."
"What if the sub-frame's locked?" He asked back, testing her.
"Try the installation protocol."
"Yeah. Of course." He said, pointing his sonic at the screen. "Sorry. Hold on."
After a moment, the wall lifted up to reveal another hallway and I cringed, looking behind me to see a cat nurse talking to another and pointing in my direction.
"Intensive Care. Certainly looks intensive." The Doctor said and I grabbed him and hurriedly pulled Cassandra and him along.
"Yeah, how about we get in before the crazy nurses start coming after us. They seemed to have realized that I'm their security breach."
The door closed behind us as we headed down the hall and Cassandra gaped at me in shock.
"That alarm was for you?"
I nodded, eyes scanning the corridor for the area I had come out of when I popped up here. "Yeah. Like I said to the Doctor, I saw something I shouldn't have and that was because I popped up in the ICU. Had to rush past them and then took the lift to get a disguise once my appearance had been let out, but apparently every cat nurse in the world decided to get changed in that moment and the trip to the locker room was like walking into a cheese shredder."
She picked at my coat and the make-shift bandaged around my neck. "That explains your tattered clothes, though I must say they work for you."
"U-Um, thanks? But I'm—"
The Doctor cut me off. "Why didn't you just tell me you were already down here?"
I sent him a look. "Uh, because I was being chased by rather angry cat nurses with sharp claws and was trying not to draw attention to myself? And why do you think I came to find you? Believe me. I would've just steered clear of you if I had a choice, but I figured you'd want to know what was going on down here and…" I trialed off as we reached a grated set of stairs. "And I'd rather they not have to suffer any more."
He eyed me as I waved for Cassandra to go first and then he pushed past me before I could follow, making me roll my eyes at his childishness. He's starting to make me wonder what I was so afraid of before. Oncoming Storm, sure. I'm afraid of that, but this is just him being cranky that I know more than he does. My lip twitched up in amusement, but that quickly stopped as we approached a pod and he sonicked it open.
"That's disgusting." Cassandra muttered, a hand over her mouth as I looked in on the man covered in boils with a sorrowful expression. "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry."
He closed the door and sonicked open another with a woman in it, much in the same shape as the man.
"I'm sorry." I muttered, wishing I could help them, but I knew there was nothing I could do.
Only the Doctor was capable of helping them.
"What disease is that?" Cassandra asked.
"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."
"What about us? Are we safe?"
I nodded, feeling her grab my arm again. "Yeah. The air's clean, but one touch and you have every disease they have."
The Doctor closed the door and went to lean on the railing, overlooking all of the pods in the room as Cassandra and I did the same.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He snarled and I flinched.
"I did. I went looking for you the moment I got here."
He turned to me angrily. "You could've done something."
I scoffed, pulling my arm away from Cassandra and leaning it on the railing as I ran my hand through my hair. "Do what, exactly? In the show, you're the one who saves them."
"Then change the show! Because this isn't a show, Alex, this is real!"
I could feel my patience slipping, but I stayed as calm as I could. "You think I don't know that? I'm not stupid."
"Apparently you are!" He yelled at me. "You have to be, if you can't even deviate from a show."
"Oh, you just don't get it, do you?" I snarled, glaring at him angrily and feeling proud that he stiffened. "I don't deviate from the show because one event leads to another. I change time here and people will never be born. People will die. People will never exist." I stood upright, moving towards him and stopping just in front of him. "And I'm the one stuck making that decision. I'm the one stuck between choosing to save my friends' lives or letting the universe burn. And I could just walk away. Just like you want. I could just pop up somewhere and decide that I'm not going to help and I'm not going to cause problems, but I don't."
"You should." He replied, still glaring, but I could see he was eyeing me like he was trying to figure something out; much like the Eleventh did. "You should just go and leave Rose and I alone."
"And people will die." I answered back. "I can't save everyone, just as you can't, but there are those I can save and that's why I stay. I stay to save that one person, that one creature that I can. And I do it for you." I said, poking him in the chest, before turning back to the railing and leaning on it again. "So yell at me all you want, Doctor, because I'm here to save lives, not argue with a man who doesn't want to listen."
Things grew quiet between us for a while before Cassandra spoke up, turning the conversation in a different direction.
"How many patients are there?"
"They're not patients." I muttered.
"But they're sick."
The Doctor, still angry from our conversation, turned his anger at this problem; something I was grateful for.
"They were born sick. They were meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm."
He turned and the two of us followed, Cassandra choosing not to hang off my arm for now.
"Why don't they just die?"
"Plague carriers. The last to go."
"It's for the greater cause."
I tensed at the new voice, eyeing Novice Hame with caution as the wound on my neck itched in remembrance.
"Novice Hame." The Doctor said, looking cross. "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
"What? By killing?!" The Doctor shouted.
"But they're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence." The cat tried to explain, but I wasn't having it.
"You've killed thousands!" I growled, angry by her naivety. "The moment they start feeling again, you incinerate them!"
The Doctor was even more displeased with that. "What's the turnover, hm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many?!"
"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."
"These people are alive."
"But think of those humans, out there. Healthy and happy because of us."
"And what about the people in here?!" I shouted, absolutely ticked. "Don't they deserve to be happy too?!"
The Doctor agreed, though reluctantly. "If they live because of this, then life is worthless."
"But who are you to decide that?"
"I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."
He was face-to-face with Novice Hame now, but before we could get any further with our argument, Cassandra stepped up, raising a hand.
"Just to confirm, none of the humans in this city actually know about this."
"We thought it best not." Novice Hame said with a slight bow.
"Hold on." The Doctor said. "I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand, that Alex won't tell me about, what have you done to Rose?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh, ignoring the bit of anger he sent at me. "It wasn't the cats."
Novice Hame agreed with me. "We haven't done anything."
Cassandra spoke up though, hugging my arm innocently. "I'm perfectly fine."
"These people are dying and Rose would care." The Doctor said, before Cassandra sighed.
"Oh, alright, clever clogs. Smarty pants. Lady-killer." Cassandra said, letting my arm go to pull out the Doctor's tie.
"What's happened to you?"
"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."
"Who are you?"
"The last human." She said in his ear.
"Cassandra?"
"Wake up and smell the perfume." She then sprayed something up his nose and he collapsed, I myself just barely managing to catch him and groaning under his weight.
"God, Doctor, you need to loose some pounds." I muttered, setting him down as Novice Hame rushed to his side in shock.
"Y-You've hurt him! I don't understand. I-I'll have to fetch Matron."
"You do that, because I want to see her." Cassandra said, barking orders at the cat nurse. "Now run along! Sound the alarm!"
The cat took off and Cassandra yanked on a set of tubes, setting off an alarm, before heading towards the Doctor and I.
"Uh… I'm guessing that you're not going to just let me go." I said, backing up into the door of a pod behind me as she stalked closer.
"Oh, I don't know, Alexander." She said huskily, making me swallow and try to back up further as she adjusted my coat collar. "You've been such a great help, but I can't have you interfering."
God, I sometimes hate looking like a guy. "Who, uh, who says I would interfere?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not thick, Alex. You two may have been arguing, but I still heard that bit you said about suffering for him. That just proves you would stop me if I were to say, throw him in a disease pod. Chip?"
I noticed Chip behind her putting the Doctor in an open pod, before glancing back at her and she moved even closer.
"Y-You got me there." I said, chuckling nervously.
"Yes, well, it's a shame. Like I said before, you are quite the catch."
"Yeah, about that. You see I'm actually—"
I was cut off as she shoved her lips hungrily to mine and my eyes widened, before she used my coat lapels to push me towards the open pod and shoving me in on top of the Doctor.
"Sorry~" She sang, spraying me in the face with the same perfume she hit the Doctor with, closing the door as I slumped over and everything turned black.
I was woken up by a patting on my face and opened my eyes to see Rose giving me a look before turning to the Doctor.
"He's awake."
"Good. Less weight to carry." The Doctor replied and I realized that it wasn't Rose who had waken me, but Cassandra.
"Says you." I grumbled, getting up and holding my neck with a wince. "You weren't exactly a light weight to carry. You're welcome by the way. I saved you from a really nasty headache."
He scoffed as Cassandra slammed a door shut and rushed back over to us.
"We're trapped! What are we going to do?!"
"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body." The Doctor replied, pointing to some machine in the archway. "That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Rose to death."
"But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead." Cassandra said, rounding on the Doctor.
"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out." He demanded, pointing the sonic screwdriver at her. "Give her back to me."
"You asked for it."
She took a deep breath in and then exhaled a cloud that hit the Doctor.
"I'm in my head." Rose said, holding her head. "Where'd she go?"
"Hm~"
I looked over at the Doctor and felt myself stifle a chuckle, knowing what had happened and finding it hilarious. Oh my God, I love this part.
"Oh my, this is… different."
"Cassandra?"
"Goodness me, I'm a man! Yum, so many parts. And hardly used. Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!" Cassandra said, moving in a dancing motion in the Doctor's body, but Rose didn't find it amusing.
"Get out of him."
"Oh, he's slim and a little bit foxy." Cassandra turned to Rose with a teasing smirk. "You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it."
I couldn't help it then and just burst out laughing, holding my stomach as Rose glared at me, face flushed in embarrassment.
"Alex!"
"S-S-Sorry! It's just… Heheheh… He's always so serious and… she just made him look like an idiot!" I blurt out between laughs, Rose rolling her eyes with a small smile.
Just then, the door burst open and the diseased people started coming in, causing me to stop laughing and Cassandra to freak, smacking Rose on the arm in her panic.
"What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?!"
Rose spotted a ladder and pointed it out. "Ladder. We've got to get up."
Cassandra quickly shoved her aside. "Out of the way, blondie!"
Cassandra then began climbing the ladder and Rose went next, myself following. Rose though, still wasn't pleased about Cassandra being in the Doctor's body and called up to her.
"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something."
"Yap, yap, yap. God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city."
"We're going to die if—"
"Ah!" I called out, one of the cat nurses having somehow managed to climb up the ladder after us and grab my ankle.
"All our good work, all that healing! The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything!" She called up to us as I struggled to kick her off me and keep a hold of the ladder.
"Go and play with a ball of string." Cassandra said with a roll of her eyes.
"Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!"
Just then, a diseased person grabbed her ankle and she fell down the shaft screaming as said sick person worked their way up the ladder.
"Move!" I shouted, making Cassandra let out a yelp and scurry up the ladder.
We stopped at a door on our left, but Cassandra wasn't doing the best of jobs trying to get it opened and the diseased people were getting closer.
"Now what do we do?"
"Use the sonic screwdriver." Rose told her.
Cassandra pulled said object out of her pocket, looking at it in slight disgust. "You mean this thing?"
"Yes, I mean that thing."
"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts." She said, making Rose angry.
"Cassandra, go back into me. The Doctor can open it. Do it!"
"Hold on tight."
They switched again and Cassandra groaned. "Oh, chavtastic again. Open it!"
"Not till you get out of her."
"We need the Doctor."
"I order you to leave her!"
The switched once more and I rolled my eyes as they started arguing once more.
"No matter how difficult the situation, there is no need to shout."
"Cassandra, get out of him!"
"But I can't go into you, he simply refuses. He's so rude."
"I don't care. Just do something."
"Just go into me!" I shouted up at them, catching them by surprise.
"Well, alright." She complained, moving to transfer into me, but she somehow missed and ended up in one of the sick people below me.
"Oh, sweet Lord. I look disgusting!"
The Doctor opened the door, holding out a hand to Rose. "Nice to have you back."
He then glared at me, but offered me a hand as Cassandra below us growled in frustration.
"No, you don't."
Cassandra forced her way into me this time, just as the Doctor closed the doors.
"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" The Doctor complained, though not sounding too bothered.
Cassandra though, was staring blankly ahead of her. "Inside her head… They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us… All their lives and they've never been touched."
The Doctor held out his hand and helped her up, saying nothing since he felt bad for the diseased people, but she kept going.
"A-And Alex, she… she's only been trying to help, but you just throw her aside. And she's so lonely and scared, but she hides it all just because she wants to prove she's useful to you."
Rose sent the Doctor a concerned look, knowing that Alex wasn't the best at telling her feelings and only wanted to help. But she also knew that there were things she wasn't telling the Doctor and that's why he was so untrusting towards her. She didn't have a chance to think about it more though before the pounding on the door got them focused on escaping and thankfully, they found an exit this time; leading them back to the Face of Boe's room where a woman charged at them angrily with a chair.
"We're safe, we're safe, we're safe!" The Doctor called out loudly in his defense. "We're clean, we're clean! Look, look!"
"Show me your skin." She demanded and the trio did so.
"Look, clean, look. If we'd been touched, we'd be dead."
She hesitantly lowered the chair and the Doctor quickly began trying to figure out the situation.
"So what's been going on up here? What's the status?"
"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. But I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." The woman said.
"You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine."
"I am not dying in here."
"We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There is ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off!" The Doctor shouted.
"Not if it gets me out."
"Alright, fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace." The Doctor said as he went behind the large man and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"
Everyone began scrambling to do as he said, but he noticed Cassandra rubbing at her neck with a wince.
"Oh, what is it now?"
"I just realized… I kissed a girl!" Cassandra gasped out, making the Doctor snort before noticing the red peaking out from under her hand.
"Why are you holding your neck?"
Cassandra glared at him and pulled her hand away, showing him the white strip of cloth that had been bled through.
"She's hurt."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, grabbing some gauze from a nearby nurse's cart and removing the cloth to see three long scratches going down to her collarbone. He didn't know why, but there was a heavy feeling in his stomach at seeing the wounds on Alex and it must have shown on his face.
"She didn't say anything about it because she didn't want you to be bothered by her." Cassandra said, frowning at him. "Why are you so angry at her anyway?"
"Why don't you just ask her?" He grumbled, wrapping the bandages around her neck carefully.
"She's locked most of her thoughts away, but some things are still slipping through." Cassandra said, sighing. "It's not like she wants you to stop hating her or anything. She just wants you to understand what she's dealing with. She's lost everything, Doctor. And she just figured that you would be one of the few people who would understand that."
He went quiet, not commenting on that because he did understand what that felt like and the guilty feeling in his stomach was growing. The only thing was, his mind kept reminding him of Bad Wolf and Alex just standing by to let it happen, and his feelings for Rose along with the frustration towards what happened clouded his judgment. So he changed the subject in order to not dwell on it.
"Anywhere else?"
She turned and gestured to Alex's back, where another set of scratches were, and he patched that up as well before returning to what he was doing. He grabbed a piece of metal from off a bed that he needed and a tube which he used as a rope to carry the packages of solution.
"How's that? Will that do?" He asked Rose.
"If I knew what these were for, I might say yes." She replied, a bit lost as to what he was doing.
He ignored her and hurried to the lift, opening it after telling Cassandra to stay where she was.
"Didn't you say the lifts weren't working?" Rose asked.
"Not moving. Different thing. Here we go." He put the sonic screwdriver in his mouth and took a running start towards the lift, grabbing a hold of the cable as Rose let out a tense breath of relief.
"Could you not do that? And what do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm going down." He said around the screwdriver, using it to attack a metal piece to the cable, before looking over at Rose. "Come on."
She rolled her eyes, before jumping on the Doctor's back. "You're completely mad!"
"Going down!" He called out, dropping them down the rope quickly, braking before they reached the stopped lift.
"That was fun." Rose said, slightly out of breath.
"Now, listen. When I say so, take a hold of that lever." The Doctor said.
"There's still a quarantine down there, we can't—"
"Hold that lever!" He said loudly, desperately. "I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself."
He began tearing off the ends of the solution bags with his teeth, pouring the liquid into the tank above the lift, one after the other.
"Now, that lever's going to resist, but keep it in position." He told her, opening the hatch for the lift and climbing down. "Hold onto it with everything you've got."
"What about you?"
"I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in." He said, before jumping down into the lift.
He then opened the lift door with his screwdriver, catching the attention of the diseased people in the other room, calling out to them.
"I'm in here. Come on!"
"What are you doing?!"
"Pull that lever!" The Doctor told her and she did.
"Come and get me, come on! I'm in here, come on! Hurry in! Come on!" He shouted, just as the disinfectant solution he conjured up began spraying on him and the sick people walking towards him. "Come on, come on."
The sick began to get healthier and the Doctor smiled a bit, shouting at them.
"All they want to do is pass it on! Pass it on!"
He continued to shout that as the diseased people began passing on the cure to one another before Rose jumped down to join him in the lift.
"What did they pass on?"
He smiled, walking out with her. "I'm the Doctor and I cured them."
One of the ladies came over and hugged him, him returning the hug with a grin.
"Oh, that's right! Hey. There we go, sweetheart!" He then led her over to another and he started walking around, looking at some of the others. "It's a new subspecies, Rose! A brand new form of life! New humans! Look at them, look! Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely, completely, alive! The human race just keeps on going. Keeps on changing! Life will out! Ha!"
He grinned over at Rose and she grinned in return. It took them a moment before they could get back upstairs to the room where the surviving group had been. Announcements began being called out loudly as the police began showing up, but the Doctor was far more excited by something else.
"The Face of Boe!" He called out, him and Rose rushing through Ward 26 where the big face sat and Cassandra crossed her arms with a huff.
"About time you got here. The police were about to take me in for questioning!"
The Doctor ignored her and buttoned up his suit as he faced the large head.
"You were supposed to be dying."
"There are better things to do today. Dying can wait."
"Oh, I hate telepathy. Just what I need, a head full of big face." Cassandra commented.
"Sh!" The Doctor hushed.
"I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew."
"There are legends, you know, saying that you're millions of years old." The Doctor said, getting closer and kneeling down in front of him.
"There are? That would be impossible." The Face of Boe laughed.
"Wouldn't it just. I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me."
"A great secret."
"So the legend says."
"It can wait."
"Oh, does it have to?" The Doctor whined.
"We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time, for the last time, and the truth shall be told." He then shifted his gaze to Cassandra and she stiffened. "May I speak with the Seer?"
Cassandra looked confused, before her face scrunched and she held her head, eventually lowering her hand and blinking in surprise.
"Woah. Did I really just switch places with Cassandra?"
The Face of Boe chuckled as even the Doctor and Rose looked at Alex in surprise.
"You have a strong mental presence, Seer. It was why you and the Ood were very close."
"That doesn't really explain it, but alright." She said, scratching the back of her head. "What'd you want to tell me?"
"We will meet soon, for the first time."
She raised a brow. "That's it?"
He blinked at her slowly. 'I will now speak only to you. The others will not be able to hear me, so speak in your mind only in response.'
Alex nodded. Alright.
'We will become close friends, you and I. And I wish to let you know that I will listen to anything you have to say, for all of time.'
That's good to know. Alex replied with a chuckle. I always did like you in the series, Jack.
He smiled a bit, but spoke seriously. 'You will face many troubles with this version of the Doctor and I wish you luck, Alex. However, do not let your problems pile up inside you. You must let them out from time to time and when you must, it will not only be myself who will be there to help you. Trust the people you have here, and do not loose sight of who you are.'
Alex nodded with a sad smile before gripping her head and groaning.
"How the hell did she do that?" Cassandra complained. "And talk about crowded, her head was like a mass of random information."
The Face of Boe spoke to them all again. "Until that day, Doctor, Seer."
He then phased out, traveling to some unknown destination and leaving and the Doctor a little upset.
"That is enigmatic. That—That is—That is textbook enigmatic." He said, before rounding on Cassandra.
"What did he tell Alex?"
She shrugged. "Dunno. She shut me out."
He rolled his eyes before standing and facing her. "And now for you."
She realized what he meant and started complaining. "But everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me? You don't like Alex anyway."
"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra." He said, knowing that he at least owed Alex that much after she got Cassandra out of Rose for so long.
Cassandra immediately began crying. "I don't want to die."
"No one does."
"Help me."
"I can't."
"Mistress!" Chip rounded the corner, looking pleased.
"Oh, you're alive!"
"I kept myself safe. For you mistress." He smiled.
"A body… and not just that, a volunteer."
"Don't you dare!" The Doctor warned her. "He's got a life of his own."
"But I worship the mistress!" Chip argued. "I welcome her."
"You can't, Cassandra! You—"
Cassandra ignored him and transferred over to Chip, Alex dropping towards the floor; though Rose managed to help her out.
"You alright?"
She stood up, before her knees buckled again and Rose caught her once more.
"Whoa! You okay?"
"Been better. Just give me a minute to remember how my legs work." She chuckled, Rose having to help her to the floor.
"Oh sweet lord." Cassandra said, holding up her arms. "I'm a walking doodle."
"You can't stay in there." The Doctor said, getting back on the task at hand. "I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."
"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat, but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last—" Cassandra suddenly started falling, the Doctor and Rose catching her and helping her to her knees.
"You aright?"
"I'm fine." She said, holding a hand to her chest. "I'm dying… But that's fine."
"I can take you to the city." The Doctor offered once more.
"No. You won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore… You're right, Doctor. It's time to die… That's good."
The Doctor helped her up along with Rose. "Come on. There's one last thing I can do."
Rose helped him walk and the Doctor turned to Alex, speaking softly to keep the other two from hearing.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Alex shook her head. "No, but she'll be happy."
He felt frustrated that there was nothing he could do to save Cassandra, but knew that it wasn't Alex's fault this time around and, as she started to glow, he gave her a small nod of goodbye earning a surprised look before Alex beamed a grin a him; disappearing in a spark of light.
Sneak Peak:
"Where did they come from?"
"From me." The Doctor said, glancing at Jenny and then the man beside her. "And Alex, it seems."
"From you and Alex?" Donna questioned. "How? Who are they?"
"Well, she's… Well, she's my daughter and he's Alex's son."