The Doctor Dances: Great Looking Ones

Nancy entered a small house to see a few children crowded inside it, two girls, a young boy, and an older boy, Ernie, "Thought as much," she scoffed, "What are all of you doing here? Different house every night, I told ya!"

"We thought you were dead!" the younger boy shouted, "Or you'd run off."

"I didn't," Ernie replied, smiling at her, "I KNEW you'd come back for us," Nancy squatted down, emptying her bag of supplies on the floor as Ernie looked over at the young boy at a typewriter, "Found that old thing in the junk. Thinks he can write now..."

"I'm writing a letter to me dad," the boy explained.

"You don't even know where your dad IS. And how're you gonna send it?"

"I dunno, stick it in an envelope?"

"You can't even read or write."

"I don't need to. I've got a machine!"

"Will you stop making that noise?" Nancy shouted at the sound of the machine pinging, irritated and angry. There was a short silence as the boy looked crestfallen. Nancy sighed, "I'm sorry, Jim. On you go. You write a letter to your dad if you want to."

Jim continued typing as Ernie turned to Nancy, "I know we should've went somewhere else, but we need you, see. For the thinking."

"And what if I wasn't here?" she said, "What if one night, I didn't come back for you? There's a war on...people go out...they don't always come back. It happens. What would you do then?"

Ernie furrowed his brow, before snatching the wire cutters Nancy had just pulled out from her hands, "Are they wire cutters?!"

Nancy stood and took them back, "I need you to think about that. SOMEONE'S gotta look after this lot!"

"Why? Are you going somewhere?"

Nancy put the cutters in her bag, "The bomb site. The one at the railway station."

"Why?"

"The child. That's where he was killed. That's where it all started. And I'm gonna find out how."

"He'll get you! And then he'll come for us, he ALWAYS comes for us!"

"No, Ernie, he doesn't. He always comes after ME. There are things I haven't told ya...things I CAN'T tell ya. As long as you're with me...you're in danger. Even now, sitting here, you're in danger because of me."

"You're the one that keeps us safe!"

"You think so, Ernie?" Nancy eyed them, "Then answer this...Jim is sitting there, right next to ya…" they looked over to see Jim had moved from his spot by the machine, "So who's typing?" they looked over to see the typewriter continuing on its own, but no one was typing. The children all looked scared, when Nancy strode over and snatched the paper out, reading it.

"Is he coming?" Ernie asked urgently.

"Ernie...as long as you're with me...he's always coming," she replied, turning to leave as she dropped the paper on the floor. She paused in the doorway, "Plenty of greens. And chew your food."

And with that, she left.

Ernie picked up the piece of paper, reading it. Underneath Jim's incoherent jumble of letters and numbers was the phrase 'ARE YOU MY MUMMY' repeated over and over.

~8~

Rose approached the Doctor who was kneeling before Angel, just checking her ankle once more, "Ok, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the GREAT looking ones who do that?"

The Doctor peered up at her, giving her a look, "I'm making an effort not to be insulted."

"I mean...men."

"Ok. Thanks. That REALLY helped."

"I thought those sorts disappeared in TARDISes?" Angel asked, frowning in confusion.

Rose raised an eyebrow at the girl and her little slip, she just KNEW the girl fancied the Doctor. She cast a quick glance at the Doctor to see him look down, a faint blush on his face, as he gently massaged the girl's ankle. Rose couldn't help but smirk at bit at the man's reaction.

Suddenly an old radio beside them turned on, Jack calling out of it, "Rose? Doctor? Angel? Can you hear me?" the two of them hurried over, the Doctor picking it up to check it as Angel forced herself to hop over, "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you," the Doctor frowned, holding up some wires that were ripped out of the radio, "It's security keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it, hang in there."

"How're you speaking to us?" the Doctor shook his head.

"Om-Comm.. I can call anything with a speaker grille."

"Now there's a coincidence."

"What is?"

"The child can Om-Comm. too."

"It can?" Rose looked at him.

He nodded, "Anything with a speaker grille. Even the TARDIS phone."

"What, you mean the child can phone us?"

"And I can hear you," the child's voice came over the radio too, "Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiiind you."

"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack called.

"Loud and clear," the Doctor replied.

"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do."

"Coming to find you mummy!" the child called.

"Remember this one, Rose?" Jack asked, they could practically hear the smirk in his voice, before Glenn Miller's 'Moonlight Serenade' began to play.

The Doctor looked at her questioningly, "Our song," she muttered, embarrassed.

The Doctor nodded and turned to head back to the window, when his eyes widened in shock, "What are you doing up?!"

Rose looked over to see Angel standing behind them, balancing on one foot.

"I just wanted to…" Angel began, pointing at the radio.

She was cut off suddenly by the Doctor scooping her up into his arms, "You're resting that foot now," he commanded her lightly, carrying her back over to the chair.

Rose watched the two of them with a small smile on her face. She had noticed, ever since the incident with trying to save her father and the Reapers, the two of them had grown much closer. And she really couldn't blame them, she had screwed up royally then and just continued to make it worse…by rights she was lucky to just be allowed to continue to travel with them and not be dropped off back home.

At first she had chalked his reaction up to them realizing how close they'd both come to being alone, the last of their kind once more, but she'd been thinking more recently, perhaps it ran just a bit deeper than that.

It was the way the Doctor seemed to gravitate towards Angel, more often than not, when he reached out to grab a hand, it was the Time Lady's and not her own. She'd walked in on them a few times, early in the morning, clearly talking and reminiscing about their homes and stories of friends and family. It was something she could never share with the Doctor or come close to understanding, the Time War, his loss. But Angel could, she'd experienced it, she'd lived it, she'd lost it all as well.

She could see it as she watched them even now, they were slowly but surely healing each other.

~8~

Nancy approached the bomb site, a sign reading 'KEEP OUT. RESTRICTED AREA.' posted on the fence around it. She hurried stealthily out of sight to where a hole in the fence had been mended quickly with barbed wire and set to work, cutting them loose.

~8~

Rose shuffled around the room, looking at random odds and ends, bored, as Glenn Miller continued to play. She looked up at the Doctor as he stood by the window, sonicing it, as Angel curled up in the chair, her leg dangling off the side of the arm as she watched the Doctor, bored as well.

"What you doing?" she asked the man.

"Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete," he replied, focused on the wall, "Loosen the bars."

"You don't think he's coming back, do ya?"

"Wouldn't bet my life."

"Why don't you trust him?"

"Why do you?"

"Saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing."

"I did tell you to hold on tight," Angel commented, more sure of herself this time that what she'd said had been a 'feeling.' Now if she could just realize it at the time...

Rose sighed, "I trust him 'cos he's like you. Except with dating and dancing," the Doctor shot her a look, "What?"

"You just assume I'm..." he trailed off.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You just assume that I don't...dance."

Rose grinned, "What, are you telling me you DO...dance?"

"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point I've DANCED."

Rose's grin widened, "You?!"

Angel's brow furrowed as she eyed the two of them oddly.

"Problem?"

"Doesn't the Universe implode or something if you...dance?"

"Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast."

Rose turned back to the music, turning it up as he looked around, wrong footed. Rose walked towards him as he turned back to the wall determinedly, she held out a hand to him, "You've got the moves?" he looked at her, "Show me your moves."

"Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete," he tried to excuse himself.

Rose didn't lower her hand, "Jack'll be back, he'll get us out. So come on, the world doesn't end 'cos the Doctor dances."

The Doctor turned off the sonic and leaned forward a bit, hanging onto the bars, testing them…when a thought crossed his mind. He put the sonic in his pocket and stepped back from the windows, turning to Rose thoughtfully. He stepped forward and took her hands in his own, turning them over and looking at them, "Barrage balloon?"

"...what?" Rose shook her head, lost.

"Hold on tight," he muttered, turning her hands over, "You were hanging from a barrage balloon…"

"Oh...yeah. About two minutes after you two left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air raid, Union Jack ALL over my chest..."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy-friendly."

"Is this you dancing?" Rose asked as he turned back to her hands, "'Cos I've got notes."

"Hanging from a rope a thousand feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise."

"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up..."

"Oh, we're calling him 'Captain Jack' now, are we?"

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a captain..."

"He's not really a captain, Rose."

"D'you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain Envy," the Doctor just half-nodded, looking at her hands. Rose rolled her eyes and moved to get him into a dancing position, "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."

"If ever he was a captain, he's been defrocked," the Doctor continued, standing there awkwardly, making no move to dance.

"Yeah?" Rose smiled, growing annoyed at his lack of dancing, "Shame I missed that."

"Actually, I quit," Jack said, "Nobody takes my frock," they looked around to see they were now in Jack's ship. Angel hobbled a bit, trying to keep herself from falling over from finding herself in a seated position with no seat. The Doctor quickly moved to her side, straightening her and helping her to a box to sit on, "Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-comm. offline to override the teleport security."

"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols?" the Doctor wondered, "Maybe you should remember whose ship it is."

"Oh, I do. She was GORGEOUS. Like I told her, be back in five minutes," he smirked before moving to work on something under the control panel.

The Doctor looked around, "This is a Chula ship."

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only, this one IS dangerous."

The Doctor clicked his fingers and his hands were instantly surrounded by the golden nanogenes.

"They're what fixed my hands up!" Rose pointed, "Jack called 'em, um..."

"Nanobots?" the Doctor asked.

"Nanogenes?" Angel suggested.

"Nanogenes, yeah," Rose nodded at her.

"Sub-atomic robots," the Doctor explained, "There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed, all better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws," Rose beamed as the Doctor banished the nanogenes with a wave of his hands so they would focus on Angel's ankle as he turned to Jack, "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

"As soon as I get the nav-comm. back online," Jack replied, exasperated. The Doctor just looked on, mildly annoyed, "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were..." he gestured at Rose and the Doctor, "...doing."

"We were talking about dancing!" the Doctor shouted, innocently.

"It didn't look like talking," Jack waggled his eyebrows.

"Didn't feel like dancing," Rose commented.

"I'm confused," Angel called, drawing their attention, as she waved the nanogenes away from her ankle, all better now, "Are we talking about dancing or se…"

"Right!" the Doctor cut in, making his way over to her, "Let's check that ankle of yours."

~8~

Nancy crept onto the bomb site, making an effort not to be seen. She quickly ducked behind a tent, only for floodlights to suddenly flash on, filling the site with light, catching her.

"Halt!" a soldier shouted, "Don't move!" the soldiers turned their guns on her, trapping her.

~8~

"So, you used to be a Time Agent, now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked as Jack sat by the pilot seat, her close by, the Doctor and Angel near the back.

"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money," Jack murmured, fiddling with a control.

"For what?"

"Woke up one day when I was working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back."

"They stole your memories?"

"Two years of my life. No idea what I did," he looked over at the Doctor, who was eyeing him, "Your friend over there doesn't trust me. And, for all I know, he's right not to.

Angel leaned forward and rested a hand on his arm, making him look at her, "I trust you Jack," she gave him a small smile. She didn't know if it was a 'feeling' or just what she'd gleamed of the man so far, but he was a good man, despite the conning, he was truly a good person at heart.

He returned it with a small grin of his own, "Thanks Ange," he patted her hand, a more platonic quality to it than they'd seen from the man...

When the computer bleeped.

"Ok," he nodded, spinning around in his chair, "We're good to go," the Doctor looked over at it, "Crash site?"

~8~

Nancy was led to a small shed where a soldier shot to his feet from where he'd been sitting, "As you were," the soldier commanded and the man sat back down, "Feeling any better?"

"Just a turn, sir," the man replied feverishly.

"Chain her up where Jenkins can keep an eye on her," he turned to the soldier holding Nancy.

Nancy was forced into a chair beside Jenkins at the table, handcuffed to it by the guard, "No," she pleaded, "Not in here. Not with him," she glanced over, seeing a scar forming on the back of Jenkins's hand.

"You shouldn't have broken in here if you didn't want to stay," the soldier told her.

"You don't understand. Not with HIM."

"This is a restricted area, miss," the soldier continued as Jenkins looked at Nancy in clear discomfort, "You're going to have to stay here for a bit. We're going to have to ask you a few questions."

Nancy didn't take her eyes off the trembling Jenkins as the guard turned to the soldier holding up the cutters, "Found these, sir."

"Very professional..." the soldier remarked, examining them, "Little bit TOO professional. Didn't just drop in by accident then, did you?"

"My little brother died here," she told them, "I wanted to find out what killed him."

"Take the men," the solder turned to the guards at the door, "Check the fence for any other breaches and search the area. She may not have come alone."

"Yes, sir," the soldiers remarked, leaving.

"Please!" Nancy cried, scared and pleading, as he turned to leave as well, "Listen, you CAN'T leave me here."

"Watch her Jenkins," he ordered.

"Yes, mummy," Jenkins nodded.

The soldier turned back to him, confused, "Jenkins!"

"Sorry, sir," Jenkins rubbed his forehead, "I…I don't know what's the matter with me."

"Look...lock me up, fine," Nancy said, her eyes on Jenkins, "But not here. Please, ANYWHERE but here!"

The soldier wasn't quite sure what to make of her request so he turned and left.

"You'll be alright, miss," Jenkins tried to reassure her, "I'm just a little..." she shook her handcuffs, trying to free herself, "Just a little...just a little..." she shook them more persistently as he started to pant, "What's the MATTER with you?"

"Please, let me go."

"Why would I do that?"

"'Cos you've got a scar on the back of your hand."

"Well, yes. But I don't see what that's got to do with anything."

"And you feel like you're gonna be sick. Like something's forcing its way up your throat…" Jenkins started heaving, "I know because I've seen it before."

"What's happening to me?" he breathed, scared.

"In a minute, you won't BE you anymore. You won't even remember you. And unless you let me go, it's gonna happen to me too. PLEASE."

"What're you talking about?"

"What's your mother's name?"

"Matilda," he clasped his throat.

"You got a wife?"

His face turned red, "Yes."

"Wife's name?" she asked, but he stared at her, blank, "You got kids?" he looked horrified, "What's YOUR name?" he mouthed 'I don't know' unable to speak, "Please. Let me go. It's too late for you, I'm sorry. But please, let me go," she cried in panic and desperation.

"What d'you meeee…" his face contorted in horrible pain, "M...muuummee..." his jaw was forced open as though something was about to emerge from his mouth.

Nancy screwed her eyes shut and looked away.

~8~

The Doctor, Rose, Jack, and Angel made their way along the rails near the bombsite, looking through the barbed wire.

"There it is," Jack pointed at it, "They've got Algy on duty. Must be important."

"We've gotta get past," the Doctor said.

"The words 'distract the guard' head in my general direction," Rose smirked.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea," Jack told her.

"Don't worry...I can handle it."

"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me. You're not his type. I'll distract him," he walked away, winking back at them, "Don't wait up."

Rose turned to the Doctor, a questioning look on her face.

"Relax, he's a 51st century guy," he said, "He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."

"HOW flexible?" Rose frowned.

"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning?"

The Doctor grinned, "So many species, so little time..."

"What, that's what we do when we get out there?" Rose sounded disgusted, "That's our mission? We seek new life, and...and..."

"Dance," the Doctor sniggered.

"And as long as it's got a pulse, Jack would probably be willing to dance the horizontal tango with it," Angel added, nodding, though her attention was on Jack and making sure he was ok, not even looking back as the Doctor made a sort of choking noise and Rose stared at her, completely shocked she had said what she had.

When neither said anything for a moment she looked back, frowning, "You WERE using 'dancing' as a euphamism for sex, yes? Or did I get that wrong again?"

Rose just laughed and nodded, "Yeah we were."

The Doctor though, just stared at her, wide eyed, pink cheeked.

But Angel just smiled, pleased she'd caught that, before she turned back to watch as Jack jumped down on to the rail track on the bomb site where Algy was pacing and walked up to him with a grin, "Hey, tiger! How's it hanging?"

Algy turned to Jack, eyeing him inquisitively, "Mummy?"

"Algy, old sport, it's me."

"Mummy?"

Jack's smile faded, "It's me, Jack."

"Jack?" Algy tilted his head to one side, "Are you my...mummy?" he suddenly started coughing, falling to his knees, and, before their very eyes, his face transformed into a gasmask.

Jack stared, horrorstruck, as the other soldiers hurried over.

"Stay back!" Angel shouted as they ran over.

"You men!" Jack commanded, "Stay away!"

They quickly ran to the man's side as he lay on the ground, lifeless.

"The effect's become airborne," the Doctor looked around, "Accelerating."

"What's keeping US safe?" Rose frowned.

"Nothing."

"Ah, here they come again," Jack looked up as the sirens sounded.

"All we need," Rose muttered before turning to Jack, "Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land...HERE?"

He nodded...when the sound of singing reached them.

"Never mind about that," the Doctor waved them off, "If the contaminants airborne now, there's hours left."

"For what?" Jack frowned.

"'Til nothing. 'Til forever. For the entire Human Race. And…"

"Can anyone else hear singing?" Angel cut in, her brow furrowed as she looked around.

The Doctor quickly turned and headed for a shed, looking in to see Nancy sitting beside gasmasked Jenkins, singing him to sleep.

"Rock-a-by baby, on the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock..." she sang softly, "When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all," the Doctor creaked the door open more, startling Nancy to turn and look over at him. He gestured for her to keep singing, "Rock-a-by baby…" she yanked on the handcuffs, showing him, "...on the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock..."

The Doctor slowly approached her and pulled his sonic out, flicking it on and unlocking the cuffs. Jack, Rose, and Angel appeared in the doorway, watching as the handcuff snapped open. Nancy stood up and they all left the shed, Jenkins still asleep. They walked quickly back to the bombsite, the Doctor and Jack pulling the tarp off it to reveal the Chula med-ship as Nancy, Rose, and Angel watched.

"You see?" Jack told them, "Just an ambulance."

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy frowned at it.

"A Chula ambulance," Angel nodded.

"It's hard to explain," Rose put a comforting arm around the girl, "It's...it's from another world."

"They've been trying to get in," Jack muttered, looking at the controls.

Angel frowned, seeing writing scrawled over the outer capsule. She knelt down and gently ran her fingers over the inscription, Schlechter Wolf.

"Of COURSE they have," the Doctor rolled his eyes as Jack began to enter the code, "They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"

"Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll see I had nothing to do with it," Jack replied, when suddenly the controls exploded, sparking, forcing them all to jump backwards to avoid it, "Didn't happen last time," Jack remarked as an alarm sounded.

"It hadn't crashed last time. They're the emergency protocols."

"Doctor, what IS that?" Rose nodded towards the light on the control panel, flashing.

A/N: The Doctor and Angel are getting closer! Yay! Be honest, how many of you would LOVE for the Doctor to scoop you up into his arms and carry you somewhere? I know I would :)

Lol, 'I'm confused, are we talking about dancing or sex?' Oh Angel, you're so cute in how you don't understand humans :)

As for Jack and Angel...there'll definitely be more of an explanation as to their 'relationship' as Series 1 goes on, with Jack officially describing the relationship he feels he has with Angel in The Parting of the Ways :)