Chapter 10- The Empty Child P.2
The first thing that Rose noticed when her mind became clear was the sound of a machine humming, Rose instantly noticed that the humming was different from the TARDIS hum and knew she wasn't on the TARDIS sleeping. Which brought up the questions of where she was and when the last time she had actually slept was. Slowly she remembered everything that happened and realized that she hadn't slept since before her mother ran onto the TARDIS. She never really had the chance to ever since her mother joined them. She slowly sat up from the bed she had been placed on and noticed that she felt better than she had in a while. "Better now?" The man from before asked as he turned his chair around to face her. Rose tried to look around the room she was in but it was too dark to see anything.
"You got lights in here?" Rose asked, squinting to try to see the man. She heard the man flip a switch and closed her eyes as the lights suddenly turned on, hurting her eyes. Once her eyes had adjusted to the lights she opened her eyes and took a good look at the man who saved her. He was a young handsome man, or a 'pretty boy' as the Doctor would have said. She smiled biting back a laugh as she imagined the Doctor's reaction to finding out she was alone with a pretty boy.
"Hello." The man said smiling at her.
"Hello." Rose said awkwardly as she remembered doing this before she passed out.
"Hello." The man said with a smirk and Rose inwardly groaned.
"Let's not start that again." Rose said and began looking around and noticed she seemed to be on a space ship.
"Okay." The man said with a chuckle.
"So, um, who are you suppose to be, then?" Rose asked nervously as she took a step closer to the man. It was obvious that he wasn't from around here, not just from his American accent but also from the fact that he had a space ship. Though a voice in the back of her head was whispering that he wouldn't harm her and that she needed him to not only get back to the Doctor but also find the thing that she, the Doctor, and her mother had chased here.
"Captain Jack Harkness." The man said then pulled out what looked like the Doctor's slightly psychic paper. "133 Squadron, Royal Air Force- American volunteer." He said handing her the paper.
"Liar." Rose said looking at the paper with a smirk. She looked up at Jack who looked shocked and confused. "This is Psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me." Rose said still smirking.
"How do you know?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"Two things- One, I have a friend who uses this all the time-" Rose said still smirking as she thought of the Doctor. "And two- you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out." Rose said laughing.
"Tricky thing, psychic paper." Jack said leaning over to take the slightly psychic paper back.
"Yeah, can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." Rose said handing the paper back thinking of her answer to him saying he was single on the psychic paper. Rose smirked when he opened the paper like she knew he would. He quickly read over the psychic paper which read: 'I sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey/the Doctor. -Hello this is the Doctor speaking, I know you may not know me right now but I know all about you. Don't even think about trying anything with Rose, she is mine! You even think about her, breath on her, or touch her I will find out and I will kill you as many times as I can before I get bored.- Me and the Doctor are traveling through time and space with my mother who keeps trying to come in between us because she doesn't like the Doctor, but I can't just have him drop her off at home because that will break her heart.'
"Oh, you sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey, or is it the Doctor the paper keeps changing there." Jack said sounding very confused at the fact that the psychic paper kept changing, it wasn't suppose to do that. "There are also some the threats on here, from the Doctor, wonder what's going on there that's never happened before." Jack said realizing that some psychic person had hoped into her mind and left a little message for him, or the psychic person tapped into the psychic wave length of the paper and inserted that little message, which both things shouldn't have been able to happen anyway. "You are also traveling with your mother who is hindering your developing relationship with this Doctor fellow, but you are afraid to just drop her off at home." Jack said still trying to figure out what was going on with his psychic paper.
"What?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, says you are his and if I touch you he will find out and will kill me as many times as he can before he gets bored. Wonder what that means?" Jack asked as his eyes widened as the psychic paper cleared itself and even more threats to his life popped up from this mysterious Doctor person.
"You're lying." Rose said knowing that Doctor didn't see her as anything more than a friend, plus if he did see her as more than a friend he wouldn't be able to threaten this man through psychic paper he has never even touched. "Shall we try and get along without the psychic paper, it seems to be malfunctioning." Rose said just as a threat of tossing him out of the TARDIS and into a super nova appeared on the paper.
"That would be better, wouldn't it?" Jack said his eyes catching at threat to cut his head off and place it in a jar if this Doctor person found Rose hurt in anyway when then meet up. Jack gulped and snapped the paper shut not wanting to see any more threats and stood up as he watched Rose look around his space ship.
"Nice spaceship." Rose said wondering how she could convince him to take her to the Doctor.
"Get's me around." Jack said watching her to make sure she didn't hurt herself, he got the sense that she was the type to find danger, even when she wasn't trying.
"Very..." Rose started trying to think of the right word. "Spock." She said glancing at Jack as she continued to walk around the very small space ship, which made her wish she was back on the TARDIS.
"Who?" Jack asked.
"Guessing you're not a local boy, then." Rose said pushing past Jack to get a good look at the console.
"A cellphone, a liquid crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades- guessing you're not a local girl." Jack said after he quickly scanned her.
"Guessing right." Rose said and went to place her hand on the console to be able to lean against it to look out the large windows. "Ah!" Rose hissed as she quickly pulled her hands away as pain shot up her arms, she looked at them and noticed she had burns on her hands.
"Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack asked thankful they had found an injury in his ship away from this threat happy Doctor instead of away from his ship and in front of said Doctor.
"Yeah." Rose said then continued to carefully look out the window. "We're parked in midair! Can anyone down there see us?" Rose asked.
"No. Can I have a look at your hands for a moment." Jack asked wanting to quickly heal Rose before this Doctor person found them.
"Why?" Rose asked suddenly very nervous.
"Please. I really don't want my head cut off and put in a jar." Jack said confusing Rose.
"What?" Rose asked as she held her hands out to him and let him scan her hands with what looked like a laser pointer.
"You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are." Jack said and Rose looked at him nervously wondering if the voice in her head was wrong about the man. "I can spot a time agent a mile away." He continued.
"Time agent?" Rose asked, wondering if a Time agent was the some thing as a Time Lord.
"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by a barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?" Jack asked.
"Sometimes I get swept off my feet..." Rose started to joke and near choked on her words when she saw Jack start to undo his tie. "B-by balloons." She finished and began to panic when Jack began to tie her arms together. "What're you doing?" Rose asked.
"Try to keep still." Jack said calmly hopping to calm Rose down, not knowing if her emotions would call this mysterious Doctor to them, and he didn't want to test that right now. He leaned over Rose who was sitting in the captain's chair and flipped a switch, a second later a golden ball appeared in Rose's hands. "Nanogenes. Subatomic robots. The air in here is full of them." Jack explained and Rose watched in amazement as the Nanogenes healed her. Once they were done healing her, Jack leaned back over Rose and flipped the switch again causing the Nanogenes to disappear. "They just repaired three layers of your skin." Jack explained untying Rose's arms.
"Well tell them thanks." Rose said still amazed.
"Shall we get down to business?" Jack asked getting up and making his way to the back of the ship.
"Business?" Rose asked and Jack pulled out a bottle of champagne.
"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" Jack asked and pushed a button causing some stairs to lower. Jack quickly jogged up the steps. "Bring up the glasses." He called down to her. Rose slowly got up and found two glasses waiting for her to pick them up. She cautiously walked up the steps and was shocked to not see anything below her feet. She cautiously stepped on to the invisible ship knowing there was a ship under her but unable to stop the fear that she would plummet to her death because there was nothing there.
"I know I'm standing on something." Rose said and Jack pulled out a device from his pocket and pushed a button causing the once invisible space ship to become very much visible. "Okay, you have an invisible spaceship..." Rose slowly started.
"Yeah." Jack said encouraging her to continue.
"Tethered up to Big Ben, for some reason." Rose said looking over to Big Ben that was literally only five feet away from her.
"First rule of active camouflage- park somewhere you'll remember." Jack said then popped the cork on the champagne bottle causing Rose to cry out in fright thinking that someone was shooting at them, which caused Jack to laugh. Jack then quickly pored them some champagne all the while Rose began to try and come up with a plan to get Jack to take her back to the Doctor.
~Ten~
The Doctor and Jackie silently followed Nancy through an abandoned railroad track that had many broken train cars and to a particular train car that wasn't on the tracks anymore and looked to have seen better days. The silently watched as she hid the food that she had taken from the house into the car. Jackie shifted her feet causing some pebbles to shift under her and make a noise which caused Nancy to glance up and see them. Nancy jumped to her feet in shock. "How did you follow me here?" Nancy asked.
"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it." The Doctor said making a comment about his ability to smell people's scent.
"Is that why it's so big?" Jackie asked with a smirk.
"Oi!" The Doctor called as his hand instinctively went to his nose, it wasn't that big.
"And yet, even with that huge nose of yours you still haven't found Rose." Jackie said and the Doctor turned and glared at her.
"I'm working on it." The Doctor snapped at her, why couldn't Jackie have been the one to disappear instead of his Rose?
"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to." Nancy said looking between the Doctor and Jackie.
"My nose has special powers." The Doctor said looking back at Nancy.
"But not special enough to find Rose." Jackie muttered pissing the Doctor off.
"Shut it!" The Doctor yelled at her, it wasn't his fault that Rose had decided to wonder off in the middle of a German air raid, and he was trying his best to find Rose but he couldn't seem to find Rose's scent anywhere. It was like Rose had vanished, which scared him.
"Do your ears have special powers, too?" Nancy asked trying to make the Doctor and Jackie laugh and stop fighting.
"What are you trying to say?" The Doctor asked annoyed, why was everyone suddenly picking on him?
"Good night, mister." Nancy said turning back to continue putting the food away.
"Nancy." The Doctor said seriously causing Nancy to stop turning. "There's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?" Nancy spun around to look at him wondering how he knew that. "The thing we're looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"There was a bomb- a bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell on the other end of Limehouse Green station." Nancy said.
"Take us there." The Doctor said sensing that he would not only find the thing they were chasing but also Rose there.
"There's soldiers guarding it, barbed wire- you'll never get through." Nancy said.
"Try me." The Doctor said, he really needed Nancy to take them to where the thing landed.
"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?" Nancy asked.
"We really want to know." The Doctor said.
"Then there's someone you need to talk to first." Nancy said.
"And who might that be?" Jackie asked wondering who else knew about this thing.
"The Doctor." Nancy said and Jackie snapped her head to glare at the Doctor who looked really confused.
"But I am the Doctor."The Doctor muttered confused, how could they go talk to the Doctor when he was right there, unless it was another version of himself.
~Ten~
"You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back." Rose said turning to walk back down the stairs.
"We're discussing business." Jack said as he sat down on the ship.
"This isn't business. This is champagne." Rose said.
"I try never to discuss business with a clear head." Jack said then downed the rest of his glass of champagne before standing up and walking over to Rose. "Are you authorized to negotiate with me?" He asked.
"What would we be negotiation?" Rose asked.
"I have something for the time agency, something they'd like to buy. Are you empowered to make payment?" Jack said very seriously and Rose knew this was her opportunity to get him to take her to the Doctor.
"Well, I-I should talk to my... companion." Rose said slowly as her plan formed in her mind.
"Companion?" Jack asked wondering if she was talking about her mother, or this Doctor fellow. He was so hopping it would be her mother, he really didn't want to meet this Doctor fellow.
"I should really be getting back to him." Rose said.
"'Him'? You mean this Doctor fellow?" Jack asked suddenly fearing for his life.
"Yeah, do you have the time?" Rose asked forgetting that they were right next to Big Ben, Jack sighed in annoyance and pulled out his sonic laser pointer and lit up Big Ben. "Okay, that was flash. That was on the flash side." Rose said laughing as she felt really dumb.
"Do you like Glenn Miller?" Jack asked suddenly, his mind made up. If he was going to die soon from this Doctor fellow then he was at least going to dance with Rose once. He pulled out his sonic laser pointer again, pointed it at the ship, and pushed a button causing music to start playing. He then pulled Rose into his arms and began dancing with a very confused Rose. "It's 1917, height of the London Blitz, height of the German bombing campaign. And something else has fallen on London- a fully equipped Chula warship, the last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is. Because I parked it. If the agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it. And destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now shall we discuss payment?" Jack said as they danced.
"I need to speak with my companion." Rose said pulling out of the dance really wanting to get back to the Doctor.
"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" Jack asked.
"He does a lot of that, yeah." Rose said hoping they would leave to find the Doctor soon.
"Well, maybe we should go find him." Jack said and Rose had to turn her head away from him smirking when a sudden thought hit her.
"And how're you going to do that?" Rose asked.
"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech." Jack said pulling up his scanner.
"Finally, some Spock." Rose muttered.
~Ten~
The Doctor pulled out his binoculars when Nancy stopped and pointed to a place that was surrounded by a fence. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight." Nancy then pointed to a building behind the fenced in place. "See that building? The hospital?" Nancy said and the Doctor looked up from his binoculars to look at the hospital.
"What about it?" The Doctor asked going back to looking through his binoculars to look at the fenced in area.
"That's where the Doctor is. You should talk to him." Nancy said as the Doctor began to try and come up with a plan to get into the fenced off area.
"For now I'm more interested in getting in there." The Doctor said motioning to the fenced in area.
"Talk to the Doctor first." Nancy said.
"Why?" Jackie asked wondering why this girl wanted them to talk to this Doctor fellow.
"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." Nancy said then turned and began to walk away.
"Where you going?" The Doctor demanded never looking up from his binoculars.
"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now." Nancy said.
"Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?" Jackie asked shocking Nancy.
"What?" Nancy asked.
"The way you look after all those kids. It's 'cause you lost somebody isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it." Jackie said and the Doctor turned to look at them while putting his binoculars away.
"My littler brother, Jamie." Nancy said blinking back her tears, "One night, I went out, looking for food. Same night that thing fell I told him not to follow me. I told him it was dangerous, but he just...he just didn't like being on his own." Nancy said as a few tears fell from her eyes.
"What happened?" The Doctor asked.
"In the middle of an air raid? What do you thing happened?" Nancy snapped at him. The Doctor nodded realizing that he had asked another stupid question, it was obvious what happened to the little boy. He really needed Rose with him, because apparently if Rose wasn't there with him then he started asking stupid questions. He looked up at the sky for a little while before he laughed causing Jackie to look at him like he was crazy.
"Amazing." The Doctor said.
"What is?" Nancy asked him confused.
"1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German machine is rolling up the map of Europe. County after Country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing. Until one tiny, damp little island says 'NO!' No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Dunno what you do to Hitler- you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go, then. Do what you gotta do. Save the world." The Doctor said and Nancy gave the Doctor a grateful look before him and Jackie started towards the hospital.
~Ten~
The Doctor and Jackie entered the Hospital and began to look for this Doctor fellow that they needed to talk to when they noticed something. In every room that they looked in they found every bed occupied by a person in a gas mask. "You'll find them everywhere... in every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them." An old man said from behind them startling them when they got to one ward, they turned around to see and old man in doctor scrubs leaning on a cane.
"Yes, we saw." The Doctor said wondering who this man was because he obviously wasn't a version on himself. He didn't feel him in his mind.
"Why are they still wearing gas masks?" Jackie asked as she continued to look at every one on the beds, letting the Doctor talk to the man.
"They're not. Who are you?" The old man asked curious.
"I'm-" Jackie started walking back over to both men.
"Are you the doctor?" The Doctor quickly interrupted her, not wanting her to give her name to someone, it could mess time up.
"Dr. Constantine. And you are?" Dr. Constantine asked as he made his way over to a chair.
"Nancy sent us." The Doctor said quickly when he saw Jackie open her mouth to answer the man's question, Jackie glared at the Doctor who glanced at her for a second before looking back at Dr. Constantine wondering how many times he would have to interrupt her before she got the message.
"Nancy? That means you must have been asking about the bomb." Dr. Constantine said as he continued to slowly make his way to the chair in the middle of the room.
"Yes." Jackie said happy that the Doctor didn't interrupt her that time.
"What do you know about it?" Dr. Constantine asked finally getting to the chair.
"Nothing. Why we were asking. What do you know?" The Doctor asked watching Dr. Constantine.
"Only what it's done." Dr. Constantine said motioning to the people lying in the beds.
"These people, they were all caught in the blast?" Jackie asked gasping, if that was true then that was a huge blast.
"None of them were." Dr. Constantine said with a small laugh that turned into a violent coughing fit that had the Doctor automatically taking a few steps closer to help, but the Doctor stopped himself, his Time Lord biology telling him not to get too close to this doctor because something was wrong. He even stopped Jackie when she began to walk towards the old man to help him.
"You're very sick." The Doctor stated.
"Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?" Dr. Constantine asked after his coughing fit had ended and he had caught his breath.
"I have my moments." The Doctor said biting his tongue to keep from telling Dr. Constantine that he was the Doctor.
"Have you examined any of them yet?" Dr. Constantine asked.
"No." The Doctor said, he hadn't had time, he had been too focused on finding this doctor and keeping and eye out for his Rose to actually look at the people on the beds.
"Don't touch the flesh." Dr. Constantine said and the Doctor waited for the human doctor to point out the body he wasn't suppose to touch.
"Which one?" The Doctor finally asked.
"Anyone." Dr. Constantine said making the Doctor concerned for everyone's safety, he motioned for Jackie to stay where she was before moving to the first body to his right. He bit his tongue when he heard Jackie mutter under her breath that she wasn't some dog to be ordered around. He rolled his eyes and pulled out his screwdriver, his eyes instantly falling to the cut on the hand that looked exactly like the cut on the little boy's hand. Not really caring if Dr. Constantine saw his screwdriver or not, he began to examine the body. "Conclusions?" Dr. Constantine asked.
"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scaring on the back of the hand, and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns." The Doctor called out his finding to the human doctor.
"Examine another one." Dr. Constantine said the Doctor quickly moved to the last body in the row he was in, he noticed the same cut on the persons hand too. He scanned the person and got the same result.
"This isn't possible." The Doctor said after his scans were done.
"Examine another." Dr. Constantine said and the Doctor ran to the other side of the room to see if it was just that side or all of them. He got the same results, and saw the same cut.
"This isn't possible." The Doctor said after reading his scans.
"No." Dr. Constantine agreed with the Doctor.
"Doctor, what is it?" Jackie asked, really confused and scared.
"They've all got the same injuries." The Doctor said walking back over to her.
"Yes." Dr. Constantine agreed.
"Exactly the same." The Doctor said.
"Yes." Dr. Constantine said.
"I identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand. How did this happen? How did this start?" The Doctor demanded, he needed to know if this started when the thing they were chasing had landed.
"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim." Dr. Constantine said.
"Dead?" The Doctor asked.
"At first." Dr. Constantine said confusing the Doctor. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?" Dr. Constantine asked.
"The head trauma." Jackie asked remembering the Doctor's list of injuries.
"No." Dr. Constantine said.
"Asphyxiation." The Doctor said.
"No." Dr. Constantine said.
"The collapse of the chest cavity?" Jackie asked.
"No." Dr. Constantine said and the Doctor thought about it and couldn't find the obvious cause of death.
"All right, what was the cause of death?" The Doctor asked, if it wasn't obvious to him then it obviously wasn't obvious to anyone else, so what the hell was the cause of death.
"There wasn't one." Dr. Constantine said confusing both the Doctor and Jackie. "They're not dead." Dr. Constantine quickly hit a trash can with his cane and the people lying in the beds shot up. The Doctor quickly pulled Jackie behind him to protect her. "It's all right. They're harmless. They just...sort of sit there. There's no heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just...don't die." Dr. Constantine said.
"And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" Jackie asked outraged. How could someone just do that someone else. The people on the beds slowly laid back down on the beds.
"I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" Dr. Constantine asked.
"Just you? You're the only one here?" The Doctor asked.
"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither. But I'm still a Doctor." Dr. Constantine said reminding the Doctor of everything that he had done or given up because he was the Doctor.
"Yeah. Know the feeling." The Doctor said, his tone of his voice caused Jackie to look at him worriedly.
"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb." Dr. Constantine said.
"Probably too late." The Doctor growled.
"I know. There are isolated cases," Dr. Constantine was interrupted by a gagging cough, "Isolated cases breaking out all over...London." Dr. Constantine said sounding as if he was in pain just talking, the Doctor took a few more steps closer to the man intending to help him knowing Rose would hate him if he let this old man stay in pain when he could have helped him."Stay back. Stay back." Dr. Constantine said before coughing again, "Listen to me- the top floor...room 802- that's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again." Dr. Constantine managed to say.
"Nancy?" The Doctor asked.
"It was her brother. She's knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she mi-, mi-, mu-um. Mummy." Dr. Constantine gasped out shocking the Doctor who quickly backed away from the man to stand directly in front of Jackie. "Are...you...my...mummy?" The Doctor and Jackie watched in shocked horror as Dr. Constantine's face turned into a gas mask. Jackie gripped the Doctor's jacket in fear, hopping that this hadn't happened to her daughter. The Doctor's mind was going a mile a minute as it finally realized what had happened to all the people, and was now trying to come up with why it was happening and what was causing it so that he could save Rose and everyone else. With his superior hearing he heard a door open and two people step through the door.
"Hello?" A man called out causing both Jackie and the Doctor to spin around where the voice had come from confused. Who could possibly have come here?
"Hello?" Rose called out a minute later causing the Doctor's hearts to soar, she was alright. The Doctor quickly turned and left the room he was in, dislodging Jackie's hand from his jacket. He had to stop himself from running to his Rose when he he saw her quickly walking down the hall to him. Rose was smiling brightly when she saw him, and he would have smiled back, had he not noticed the obvious pretty boy that she was walking next to. No instead of smiling at his beautiful Rose he glared at the pretty boy that dared to be alone with his beautiful Rose.
"Hello! Good evening." The man said holding out his hand for the Doctor to take, the Doctor took his hand while still glaring at the man. "Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over." Jack said confusing the Doctor, just what did Rose tell this man?
"He knows." Rose quickly said getting the Doctor's attention as Jack and the Doctor let go of the other's hand "I had to tell him about us being Time Agents." Rose explained, filling the Doctor in on her little lie. The Doctor nodded at her tight lipped, still annoyed that she had been alone for who knows how long with this pretty boy.
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spock..." Jack trailed off finally seeing Jackie behind the Doctor. He quickly moved passed the Doctor and took Jackie's hand in his. "Hello, there, I'm Captain Jack Harkness and it's a real pleasure to meet you, darling." Jack said bringing Jackie's hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles causing Jackie to blush and giggle.
"Mr. Spock?" The Doctor asked Rose, pointedly ignoring the flirting pair.
"Hello Captain Jack, I'm Jackie Tyler." Jackie said flirtatiously causing Rose to roll her eyes before turning all her attention on the Doctor.
"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of 'Doctor'? Doctor What?" Rose asked, this was not the reunion she had been hoping for, she had hoped to run into his arms and he would then look at in her in a loving way before ki-
"Nine centuries in, I'm coping." The Doctor said snapping her out of her fantasies. "Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz- It's not a good time for a stroll." The Doctor demanded needing to know to ease his worries that she didn't touch the boy in the gas mask or get hurt by anything.
"Who's strolling?" Rose asked innocently as she noticed her mother and Jack into the room that the Doctor had come out of. "I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid." She said as she turned and followed them.
"What?" The Doctor asked as he followed her.
"Listen, what's a Chula warship?" Rose asked suddenly remembering what Jack had come here to negotiate with the Doctor and wondered if it was dangerous. Rose continued into the room never noticing her question had made the Doctor stop in the middle of the hall as everything that had happened finally made since.
"Chula?" He asked himself. Could it possibly be that simple?
-10-
"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack asked as he examined a couple bodies on the Doctor's orders as he stood behind him glaring.
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked, he needed to know all the facts before he could figure out how to stop whatever what happening or reverse it.
"What?" Jack asked.
"He said it was a warship." Rose said, her angry tone caused everyone to look at her, it was obvious to the Doctor she had figured out what had happened, oh his pink and yellow Rose was so smart. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it- unless we make him an offer." She continued.
"What kind of warship?" The Doctor demanded.
"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this!" Jack asked, he honestly couldn't have caused this, could he? His innocent con couldn't have done this, right?
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" The Doctor demanded stalking closer to Jack, ready to beat it out of him if he had to. He would do whatever he had to to save his Rose.
"An AMBULANCE!" Jack yelled, he quickly pulled up a 3-D holographic image of the thing they chased there. "Look that's what you chased through the time vortex it's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your Time Travel vehicle- Love the retro look, by the way, nice panels- threw you the bait-"
"Bait?" Rose asked.
"I wanted to sell it to you, then destroy it before you found out it was junk." Jack explained as he turned off the holographic image.
"You said it was a warship." Rose cried feeling angry at being coned.
"They have ambulances in wars." Jack said in a mocking voice trying to ignore the nagging feeling that he had caused all this.
"He's right, Rose." Jackie said quietly from her spot from behind Rose and the Doctor, she had kept quiet to hear Jack's side of the story. She honestly didn't think that the man had anything to do with it, he had said that it was space junk and empty, so how could it have had anything to do with this. Rose spun around to glare at her mother shocked that she was taking Jack's side instead of their side.
"Mum!" Rose cried, her mother wasn't suppose to side with a con artist!
"Don't yell at me young lady, it is not my fault you fell for his con. Don't forget you are not to old to get smacked." Jackie said pushing off the wall and walked over to her daughter. The Doctor quickly stepped in between the two of them not wanting his Rose to get hurt even if it was by her own mother.
"That's right it's a con. I was conning you. That's what I am. I'm a con man! Thought you were time agents. You're not, are you?" Jack asked glaring at all of them, the Doctor happily glared back.
"Just a couple more freelancers." Rose said smirking as she grabbed the Doctor's hand, the Doctor resisted the urge to smile down at her as he continued to glare at Jack.
"Ah, should've known, the way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, flag girl was bad enough, but U-boat captain?" Jack said, he didn't say anything about Jackie, because out of the three of them because her attire looked like what should be worn now. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship." Jack said as he push passed them to leave.
"What is happening here Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Human DNA is being rewritten...by an idiot." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked confused as Rose gasped.
"I don't know- some kind of virus, converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?" The Doctor asked suddenly everyone laying down shot up causing Rose to tighten her grip on the Doctor and push herself closer to him.
"Mummy! Mummy!" Everyone of the people who had once been laying down chanted as they got up and began to move closer to them.
"What's happening?" Rose asked as they all backed up to a wall, the Doctor pushed Rose behind him and stood in front of her.
"I don't know. Don't let them touch you." The Doctor said as the people continued to get closer.
"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked in a whisper scared.
"You're looking at it." The Doctor informed her shocking not only her but also Jack.