"Go to your room."
Those words might as well have been gospel from the heavens. My hearts were going fast paced as one of the patients had been just within touching range. I had shut my eyes, trying to trick myself as to be anywhere else but here. It wasn't working, though it didn't stop me from trying.
One of my eyes slowly opened. My hearts beat just a bit faster seeing them all stand too close. My fight-or-flight instincts were telling me to runrunrunthefuckoutofhere. I realized I was being an idiot. They weren't even really zombies, it was just a bunch of adults in a really FUCKING creepy setting saying a fucking creepy line.
"Go to your room." The Doctor repeated. "I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross. Go to your room!"
My other eye eased open. The patients were sulking back to their beds, their 'rooms'. I took in a breath I hadn't even known I was holding in. They weren't proper zombies, they were people full of nanogenes. I'm ridiculous. I am official the most ridiculous person in this room, and the Doctor exists.
"I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words." He turned a side eye at me. "Though not as bad as your shouting at me."
"I was a little nervous." I admitted. My hands slipped into my hoodie pocket. "Zombies freak me out, okay?"
The Doctor kept up his grin. Does he know that I am all for slapping his face? "Zombies? Really?"
"Shut it. I bet if zombies came after you, you'd go screaming like a b-baby." I warned. Oh, I had been so close to calling him a bitch. Still am, actually.
My half swear just made him smile wider.
Rose and Jack had wondered off during our conversation. Jack had gone to Constantine's chair, propping his legs up on the desk. Rose was going to the patients, looking closely at their masks.
"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked, her heart slowing down to normal.
"They're not." Jack stated. "Those masks are flesh and bone."
"Jack, explain to me how this con was supposed to go." I ordered. If Magoo did it, I don't think he'd say it kindly this go around.
Jack shrugged thoughtfully. "Simple enough, really." I walked up to his table, sitting beside him. "Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent up front, oops!"
He glanced to the Doctor, who hadn't stopped giving him the evil eye since Jack started talking. I paid attention to his words, though. A formality, but Jack was still a friend (or at least would be).
"A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had." Jack explained. I'll admit, it had some good points. "I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."
"No wonder it messed up." I stated, sitting up. "You never say anything is fool proof. That's when it stops being foolproof."
Jack was about to give me an annoyed look, but it changed to an amused grin. "Fair point." He chuckled.
The Doctor was giving me the evil eye now.
"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." Jack laughed. I glared angrily, reminded of Fires of Pompeii. "Getting a hint of disapproval."
The Doctor responded in kind. "Take a look around the room." He gestured to the patient beds. "This is what your harmless piece of space-junk did."
The urge to roll my eyes at him, to butt into the argument and get them to shut up, took everything in me to hold back. "It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty." Jack argued.
"Magoo, Carolina, Buttface." I called out, rising out of my chair towards the door.
Jack threw his head back and laughed. "Buttface?"
"It was either that, or Jackass."
"Sailor!" The Doctor shouted, in warning and humor. He was walking to the door too.
"Shut it Magoo!" I shouted back. "And that happens when I swear, so you're Buttface."
"Alright. I'm calling you TJ."
"You learn fast."
Rose sighed in exasperation. Guess I couldn't bond with her boyfriend. "Terra, are we getting out of here?" She asked, walking up beside me.
"Upstairs." I ordered, sternly. The Doctor was still angrily glaring at Jack. 'Okay. He did it. He has no IDEA he did it. Let's show him what happened. He'll put it together, and you'll see that he's decent.'
The Doctor scoffed mentally. 'Does your profile trick tell you that?'
'Yes.' I stated. The Doctor threw a skeptical wave at me. 'You didn't hate Rose when she apologized for what happened with her dad. You won't hate Jack for that.'
It wasn't because of the other episodes that told me that. It would be too easy. It was the Doctor in general. He forgave Rose as soon as she apologized, as soon as she faced the consequences of her actions. He forgave Jack. If Jack wasn't immortal, the two of them might have gotten along really well.
Jack didn't stop trying to get on the Doctor's good side. "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it!"
"I'll tell you what's happening." The Doctor interjected. His voice boomed. It surprises me that he didn't wake any of them up. "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day."
Jack stared in exasperation. The comment was rude, though not uncalled for.
Immediately after, a siren sounded off in the distance.
"What's that?" Rose asked, cautious.
"The all clear." The conman and I answered.
"I wish." The Time Lord grumbled, before sassily marching out.
==CON==
The Doctor marched quickly down the hallway. The humans could barely catch up. No idea why, I felt I was actually going slowly.
'How can your profiling tell you that he's decent?' The Doctor thought.
I mentally shrugged. 'Keep in mind, I don't have all the facts. I don't like to judge without facts. My profile, though, and my gut instinct, says that Jack isn't doing this for money.'
'He's a conman!' The Time Lord argued sternly.
'We had him made before he could ask for money. I wasn't there when Rose found him, but I'm willing to bet he found her specifically because she wasn't from here. He could have done the con with any of the military men, they're the ones that really want this warship. He chose her, a Time Agent. His manipulator seems to be in working order, or at least enough for a trip out, so he's not stuck. He wants something other than money.'
The Doctor paused while we were on the stairs, staring at me. 'You really figured all that out just after five minutes with him?'
'Two minutes made me an expert, five is ample.' The quote came suddenly, but felt perfect. 'I can tell he's a good person because he didn't try to run when he found out we couldn't give him what he wanted. He's curious about what's happening, and will be horrified with himself when we tell him it was his fault.'
The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. 'Or, he doesn't know we can't get it for him.'
'He want Time Agents. Not us.' I explained. It was annoying now that he wasn't getting this.
He added a stern glare Jack's way. 'I don't like people with guns. Even if he's an ex-Time Agent, he'd still carry around his blaster. And he's got a rifle the British Army gave him when he signed up.' He turned to look me in the eye. 'And I know you've seen it.'
I didn't reply, because he was right.
"TJ?" Jack shouted. "Mister Spock?"
"Terra?" Rose called out. "Doctor?"
The Doctor leaned over beside me. "Have you got a blaster?" He asked Jack conversationally. The two humans stopped and turned back. Rose huffed in exasperation.
Jack grinned. "Sure!" He rushed up the stairs, pulling out his blasted.
'I don't trust people with guns.' The Doctor repeated in a victorious voice.
My first thought after was that I had a gun, several. I was the Last Time Lady, and I was a big disappointment to him wasn't I?
The four of us rushed to Jamie's room. I kept looking down to my bag, thinking about the various weapons I had deep inside it. The Doctor was right on another thing about training, it was hard to let go of it even after you moved on. There had been multiple times to past three months.
Had it really been three months?
A heavy weight settled in my chest when I realized I could never introduce him to Darcy. I had thought, maybe later the two could meet. She was my sister, my best friend, so of course I'd want to see her, but not now. She was everything he hated. Any of my companions had been. They were all reformed killers. They all liked a working gun near their hands. Even Hero, the reformed Leroy, had a violent streak.
Worse off, I knew I had could never tell him about my dark side. He'd be disgusted with me, like I was.
I jumped out of my thoughts when we reached Jamie's room. "You set it not to hit anything living." I explained dutifully to Captain Jack and Carolina. My back leaned against the wall beside them. "It hit something that wasn't living. The hospital found him, placed him in here."
"What happened?" Rose asked me.
The Doctor turned to us, grinning condescendingly. "Let's find out." He offered the door to Jack. "Get it open."
He stepped away from the door, giving the Captain room. The conman stood confidentially, smirking at me as he aimed at the door knob.
"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Rose asked
The Doctor shrugged. "Nothing." 'Nothing from you on it.' The Doctor warned, faintly sarcastic.
I kept uncharastically silent.
The Captain threw me a wink as he made a square hole of the lock. He swung the door open, beaming like a child with their first A plus. I gave him a weak smile, for some reason unable to make it more realistic.
So what if I could never tell the Doctor, the one person who I thought could handle it, about her? He'd throw me out of the TARDIS, out of his life. He was my friend, I didn't want to lose my friend. But...but I wanted to tell him...I needed to tell someone.
This was insane! Why was I like this? The Doctor said nothing that could mean losing a friend. Why was the idea just suddenly there?
Because I knew he would think the worst once I told him. How could he look at me the same after finding out how long I let her use my body? After all the hurt I caused, lives I destroyed, I shouldn't be trusted.
"Sonic blaster, fifty first century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?" The Doctor walked to the door, taking the blaster in his hands.
"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked.
"Once."
"Well, they gone now, destroyed." Captain Jack explained. I gave the Doctor a look. "The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot."
"Like I said. Once." The Doctor snarked. I gave a dry snort. Even if I was hurting, it was still a funny joke. "There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."
He walked into Jamie's room. I followed after, lingering just a bit like when Jackie met the Doctor.
"Nice blast pattern." Rose commented.
Jack smirked at her, though he was making sure I heard too. "Digital."
"Squareness gun." Rose added, loving the tech.
"Yeah." Jack agreed.
Rose nodded. "I like it." She followed the Doctor, going past me.
Jack chuckled, walking to my side. "And you, TJ?"
I gave him a small smile. "It was decent."
"Just decent?"
"Well, yeah. People don't really like squares." I teased.
Jack draped his left arm over my shoulder, his left side nearly pressing against my right. I tended at the sudden contact, but not enough for it to be uncomfortable. He was just giving me a friendly hug, right? Darcy had done this dozens of times.
"I'm a bit rusty on my slang." Jack commented. He looked down at me, eyes glinting with his overly friendly affection. I (hopefully) gave the same teasing look back. "But square does refer to somebody boring?"
"Quick study." I joked. My eyes scanned the small room we were approaching.
"Trust me, I'm not boring." Jack stated, his trademark smirk getting wider.
The two of us walked into the room. I looked over the broken glass, the fallen over chair, and the small child sized room.
I snorted. "Oh? Then please, Buttface. First glance?"
The conman looked over. "Something got out of here." Jack stated, not taking his arm off my shoulders.
'What are you doing?' The Doctor suddenly asked in my head. He sounded mad.
'Just...just standing here.' I replied, confused.
"Yeah. And?" The Doctor asked curtly to us. I gave him a look, reminding him our talk was in our heads and it should stay there. He was still angry. 'Terra, his arm is over your shoulders. You hate people touching your shoulder. I don't know what century you think he's from, but men from the fifty first century? They call that flirting.'
I glared at him. 'I'm not flirting. I don't flirt. Can we please just move on?' I cut off the conversation, not wanting to talk about this anymore.
"Something powerful." Jack went on. Thank the Story. The Time Lord's angry eyes had Jack's arm slipping off me. "Angry."
The Doctor hmm'd. He was still angry at Jack, even though Jack had stepped off. What the hell, Doc? "Powerful and angry."
Nodding my head, I walked with Jack to Jamie's room. "Sounds about right." I mused.
My eyes went to the various pictures of various motherly figures. It hurt to think a half dead child had drawn this, looking for a mom he thought was dead, so I walked back into the recording room.
The Doctor was setting it up, I just moved it along. There was a small push in my mind as he tried to talk to me, but I didn't want to talk. I kept up and tail wall to keep him out, instead working on the tape recorder.
He gave me a curious face. I ignored it. My head kept sending my back to the days with Pops. The one that stood out was the time his experiment turned everyone, save Lilo and I, into babies. That didn't mess with the family dynamic at all.
"A child? I suppose this explains Mummy." The conman stated.
Rose turned to us, confusion in her eyes. "How could a child do this?"
I flipped the switch to the recordings.
"Do you know where you are?" Came the voice of Constantine.
Jamie's voice came after. "Are you my mummy?"
"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?" Constantine's recording asked.
"Are you my mummy?" Jamie asked.
"What do you want? Do you know-"
"I want my mummy." Jamie ordered. "Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
"Doctor, Terra, I've heard this voice before." His companion added.
The Doctor nodded briskly. "Us too."
"Mummy?"
"Always are you my mummy? Like he doesn't know." Rose pointed out softly.
"Mummy?"
"Why doesn't he know?" Rose asked.
I hissed, flinching back. "Hey! That sentence turned my hearts on! Why did you do that? It'll take forever to turn them off."
Jack chuckled.
It was a joke to hide the growing sense in the back of my head. The big dose of psychic energy that was all over this room like a bad smell. It was giving me a headache.
Beside me, the Doctor was having the same problem.
"Are you there, mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"
Rose looked up at the fidgety Time Lord. "Doctor?"
The Doctor was staring at them incredulously. "Can you sense it?"
"Sense what?"
"It!" I replied, the feeling growing stronger the closer Jamie was.
"Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?" The Doctor added.
"Mummy?"
The Doctor shook his head at them, grinning. "Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
"When he's stressed, he likes to insult species." Rose explained to Jack.
"Rose, I'm thinking." The Doctor snapped.
"He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than." Rose added, ignoring him.
"My favorite was the one when he slammed his foot into the console." I chuckled, braving through the mental storm. "That rant about the Wohcnu?"
The Doctor had ranted for twenty minutes about how the Wohcnu, and how they were parasitic worms with red eyes that liked decorating. He kept talking about how stupid it was that they couldn't make a decent government if it hit them in the face.
Rose chuckled too. "Oh my god. That was hilarious!"
The Doctor interrupted our musings. "There are these children living rough round the bomb sites. They come out during air-raids looking for food."
It brought me back to the seriousness. My smile dropped, turning cold. "Their leader is a girl named Nancy. Her 'brother' wandered out in an air raid, the night the med-ship landed." I explained.
"Mummy, please?"
"It was a med-ship." Jack repeated. "It was harmless!"
"Yes, you keep saying harmless." The Doctor spat. "Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"
"Altered how?" Rose asked.
The tape ran out right after. "I'm here!" Jaime called out from the hallway.
I glared at the Doctor. He went on pointedly ignoring my stare.
"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do." Magoo began to grin, as if suddenly remembering what position he put us in. "It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to it's room."
The woman in the Union Jack shirt glared at him. "Doctor." Rose began, nervous.
"See the problem yet?" I questioned them. Jack was staring at me curiously, waiting for an answer. I smiled, innocently.
"I'm here. Can't you see me?"
Rose glanced from the Doctor to me. "What's that noise?"
"End of the tape." I answered her, but made sure to keep smiling innocently at Jack. "It ran out about thirty seconds ago."
"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?"
The two humans froze as they realized the voice couldn't be coming from the tapes.
"I sent it to it's room." Magoo explained. "This is it's room."
So slowly, the four of us turned to the door.
"Are you my mummy? Mummy?" Jamie asked.
==CON==
"Doctor?" Rose asked, looking for the plan.
"Okay, on my signal make for the door." Jack ordered.
My hand slipped into his jacket, pulling out the blaster. A near century of living on the streets makes a good pick pocket out of you. The Doctor followed after me, giving Jack the banana instead.
"Mummy?" Jamie repeated.
"Now!" Jack shouted, pulling out the banana.
"Mummy?" Jamie asked, having no idea a square could have been made of him.
I pulled out Jack's gun, firing it at a point in the wall. "Move out!" I ordered. Rose climbed out.
"Don't drop the banana!" The Doctor added as Jack followed her.
"Why not?!" Jack snapped.
"Good source of potassium!" The Doctor shouted before leaping in.
I stared sadly at Jamie. 'I'm getting you hell, Jamie, I promise.'
He tilted his head.
I went through the hole in the wall, stepping nearly into the conman himself.
"Give me that!" Jack tried grabbing it out of my hands.
I pulled it out of reach. "You were going to shoot the kid with it?" My thumb flipped the digital rewind switch.
"It was to give us time to escape!" Jack defended.
"For future reference, I'm against shooting kids." I warned him.
He looked at me incredulously. Guess he didn't think Jamie was a kid anymore. Though, hearing Jamie call for his mummy unnerved me. I flipped the switch on the gun, firing it back at the hole in the wall.
"Digital rewind." I explained flatly to Carolina. "Neat trick."
Jack blinked in surprise. "How did you do that?"
"I'm good with tech." Was my curt response. "Especially alien tech."
It seemed to be enough of an explanation. Jack also picked up that he lost brownie points with me. The conman turned to the Doctor, tossing him the banana. "Nice trick."
"It's from the groves of Villengard." Magoo supplied. "I thought it was appropriate."
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack questioned.
The Doctor gave that trademark grin. "Bananas are good."
Jamie smashed his fists on the wall. I stared at it, thinking of all the best ways to get us out.
"Terra!" Rose called out. Her hand lashed out, grabbing my wrist.
"Moving on!" I dragged her towards the opposing hallway. The Doctor at the lead, Jack on the tail end.
We made it about halfway before the doors opposite opened. The patients had woken up, walking towards us chanting for mummy. We turned back, only to see the same happening down the other hall. There was nowhere else to stand but where Jamie was about to break free.
"He's keeping us trapped until he can get to us." I explained. My eyes were on the floor, looking for the best place to make the fun way down.
"It's controlling them?" Jack asked, shocked.
"It is them." I corrected, giving him a quick glare. "Anything it touches becomes another soldier. Kinda why I didn't want to shoot the kid. It would've made him angry."
Jack's eyes were soft in understanding. He turned back to the approaching army. "Okay. That blaster, which you should really give back-"
"All's fair in love and war."
"It can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter." Jack listed. "Terra, what you got?"
"In my bag I have three glocks, five magazines, a plasma blaster, bo staff, arrow and bow, smoke bombs, the means to make four really small bombs or one big one, tasers, throwing knives, and a really big sword." The conman stared at the bag, wondering how it all fit. Rose were looking at me in confusion. The Doctor, he was disappointed. "And your blaster, but I don't have time to pull any of them out."
"You fit it all in that?"
"You should see me play tetris." I teased, moving myself to the best spot to send us all down.
Jack grinned, keeping watch of the approaching soldiers. "Doc, what you got?"
The Doctor pulled it out. "I've got a sonic, er." He dropped the sentence. If he had been arguing with Jack over Rose, then shouting he had a screwdriver wouldn't help. "Oh, never mind."
Jack didn't let up. "What?"
"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that."
"Disrupter? Cannon? What?"
"We don't have time for this!" I shouted angrily at them.
"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am soniced up!"
"A sonic what?!"
"Screwdriver!" The Doctor and I shouted.
There was a loud crash when Jaime crashed through the wall. I growled, taking the blaster again. Rose and I exchanged a look of understanding. For lack of creativity, my warning was a simple "Going down!" To the boys.
The four of us fell to the floor below. I quickly gained my bearings. Aiming the gun at the ceiling, I closed the hole. Sorry Jamie, find another way down.
"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked,
The Doctor gave me a look of compliant. "Could've used a warning."
"Oh, the gratitude." Rose snarked.
"Wow. Don't thank me all at once." I deadpanned.
Jack yanked the blaster from me. I scoffed, deciding to look for the storage room. "Who has a sonic screwdriver?" He asked the Doctor.
The Time Lord turned haughty. "I do."
Rose got to her feet. "Lights." She mumbled, walking to a wall.
"Carolina, I really wouldn't do that." I warned her over my shoulder.
"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, 'ooo, this could be a little more sonic'?" Jack asked.
The Doctor didn't hide annoyance. "What, you've never been bored?"
"There's got to be a light switch." Rose grumbled.
"Carolina, hold on!" I hissed.
"Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?" The Doctor argued. "And you!" He pointed at me.
"Me? Why am I in trouble?" I questioned. He was glaring fiercely, with quick looks to my bag. "Oh Story. Yes. I have an armory in my bag. So what?"
"So, I don't like people hiding things from me!" The Doctor argued. "Especially when those things are guns!"
"I was in the FBI! They have guns there!" I argued. "I've had these guns the whole time. You just don't need a gun to kill someone."
The lights went up. Was this some kind of reaction, or example? There was anytime to think on it because the patients woke up.
The patients sat up. RUNRUNRUNFUCKINGRUN! They started to chant, so I grabbed Rose's wrist to drag her towards the side room.
"Door." Jack insisted, raising his blaster.
"Agreed." I dragged Rose behind him.
"Damn it!"
"Why do you think I gave it back?" I called to him. The Doctor came up, sonicing the lock.
Jack grunted in annoyance. "It's the special features. They really drain the battery." He commented just as the Doctor got the door open.
Rose gawked at him. "The battery?"Rose turned to me, wondering if I was seeing her only hope vanish. "That's so lame!"
Jack glared at us. "I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory." He threw the Doctor a glare.
Rose snorted. "Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates." She assured.
"I blew up your job." I corrected her in annoyance. "He just made it bigger."
"Right, thanks for that." Rose commented.
"You weren't in the building. Quit complaining."
"Jack, completely forgot to say, that Terra gets
The Doctor walked away from the door. "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."
"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack shouted.
"Well, it's got to find us first!" The Doctor reminded him. He turned to Rose and I. "Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!" He prompted.
"Well, I've got a banana, and in a pinch you could put up some shelves." Jack listed.
"It doesn't work on wood-you don't care." I supplied, until the fifty-second century man turned to me in annoyance.
"Window." The Doctor offered.
Jack shook his head. "Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories."
"And no other exits." Rose supplied
"There's a wheelchair." I added, just as Jack dropped into it.
My words brought me to Jack's attention. "You have a lot of weapons in that bag of your's."
I threw him an annoyed look. "Yeah. The guns required signed waivers before I could even think about them. No way I'm passing them out like party favors. There's no telling if any of them would actually work. The bombs would take too long, and the resulting blasts would hurt us too."
"Okay, what about the sword?" Jack tried.
It made a small part of me happy that Jack was getting so annoyed. "You missed the part when I said 'no weapons on kids' didn't you?" I asked rhetorically. "Plus that sword is-" Enchanted to only work with the magic of a fairy? "-broken."
Jack huffed indignantly. "Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?"
The Doctor scowled at Captain Jack. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?" He asked Rose.
"Watch it." I cautioned.
The Captain brightened. "She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack gave Rose a flirty grin. She blushed.
"Okay." The Doctor began. "One, we've got to get out of here."
The conman and I exchanged a meaningful look. I gave a small nod, showing him I trusted him. Jack pressed a button on his manipulator, going away in a mechanical whir.
"Two, we can't get out of here." The Time Lord continued. "Have I missed anything?"
"Buttface is gone."
The Doctor's lips made a tight frown. It was his scornful attitude that kept me from being honest. About Darcy, the weapons in my bag, my years. He would hate me for it. He would call me a disappointment...
...and then Logan would be right.
==CON==
There was a long moment of silence after that. The Doctor sat down on the table, a cross look on his face. Rose nervously paced around the room. I sat in the wheelchair, hands gripping the strap of my Infinity Bag.
There was a small push in my mind. I didn't let him in. He hated the weapons, he would ask me to get rid of them. I would say no. He would kick me out of the TARDIS. I would have to stay with Darcy. Logan would find us...he would find my sister...I can't let him hurt her too.
Rose tried to build the peace back between everyone. "Okay, so he's vanished into thin air." Rose turned her head towards me. "Can your profiling thing tell why it's always the great looking ones who do that?"
I shrugged. "Their ears are usually so small they can't hear you calling for them."
Magoo turned to her. "I'm making an effort not to be insulted."
"Just pretend I called you Magoo again." I supplied. "I mean, I did, but I did it in my head."
"I mean, gosh Terra, men." Rose sighed. The companion followed with a snorted. "Be happy you haven't dated. Men are a great big mess."
"Okay, thanks, that really helped." The Doctor snarked.
The radio crackled to life. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Story.
"Terra? Rose? Doctor?" Jack's voice came out from the grill. I smirked smugly at the Doctor. "Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship." With every word Jack spoke, I let my smile grow wider. "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there."
The Doctor glared at the radio. I held back a snort. "How're you speaking to us?" He asked
"Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill." Jack explained.
"Now that there's a coincidence." I mused.
"What is?"
"The child can Om-Com, too." The Doctor explained.
Rose's expression darkened. "He can?"
"Anything with a speaker grill." The Doctor "Even the TARDIS phone."
Rose gawked. "What, you mean the child can phone us?"
"And I can hear you." Jamie cheered. "Coming to find you. Coming to find you."
I shivered. "Terra, can you hear that?" Jack asked.
"Clear as crystal." I replied. "What can you do about it?"
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do." Jack charmed.
"Don't keep me waiting, buttface."
"Coming to find you, mummy." Jamie reminded.
"Wouldn't dream of it, TJ." Jack promised. "Remember this one, Rose?"
Moonlight Serenade came through the speakers. I hummed along, giving Rose a look. She smiled sheepishly. "Our song."
==CON==
The song was still playing. I was standing beside it, since Rose took the wheelchair. The music gave me a backdrop to think.
My mind was spitting out decent plans of escape. Three of them required revealing my powers, so they were out. Another four wanted to use powers I don't have right now. The next couple ones meant calling in Darcy, no chance was she getting mixed up in this. Our best bet was to wait for Buttface to beam us into his ship.
After Rose gave the wheelchair one last twirl, did she ask "What you doing?"
"Thinking of a way out that doesn't involve dying or touching them." My only plan was waiting for Jack, and filming the Dancing Talk.
"I'm trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars." The Doctor added.
Rose stared at him in surprise. "You don't think he's coming back, do you?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Wouldn't bet my life."
"Why don't you trust him?" Rose asked.
"Why do you lot?" The Doctor looked to the two of us.
"Cause I profiled him." I admitted. "He's trustworthy."
"Right. The profile you gave me. Is it always trustworthy though?" The Doctor asked. It was always fun to meet the skeptics. They made the job more fun. Especially when they started doubting half way through a case, and people were dying, and the head of the police department wasn't liking our methods. I would take too long to think about the people my team and I had offended because we profiled things they didn't like. "He could be faking it."
"He also could've left when he found out we weren't Time Agents." I reasoned. My voice had turned into that same 'I'm gonna give it to you straight, because people are in trouble and you can't afford not to listen to us' voice. "Captain Jack trusts us, and I trust him."
The Doctor tsked. Stubborn to the bitter end, huh?
I looked to Rose. His companion had seemed hesitant to get in the middle of this. Why? She hadn't had any trouble doing it before. I needed her help. She was the one to actually spend time with Jack, the one who led him to us. Surely that's gotta be something. Rose wouldn't have brought another bloke to us if they couldn't be trusted, right?
She seemed to understand what I was asking. She turned to the Doctor, an exasperated look on her face. "He saved my life." Rose stated. "Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." She told me. I nodded, pretending to take that seriously. "I trust him because he's like you. Except with dating and dancing."
The Doctor went back to his bars. I nervously fiddled with the latch on my bag. Neither of us could look Rose in the eye.
"What?"
The Doctor struggled a bit for words, trying to find a way out. I gripped my Bag tightly, as if holding it tight would turn it into a Portkey (Portkey Plan dropped earlier, would require magic I don't possess yet) to get me away from here. "You just assume I'm." He looked away.
"What?" Rose asked, confused at the sudden awkwardness.
The Doctor managed to say "You just assume that I don't dance."
Rose snickered. I was frankly embarrassed by the mental image of Magoo and Carolina Rose dancing. "What, are you telling me you do dance?"
"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced." The Doctor countered.
"You?" Carolina laughed.
Magoo threw her a sassy look. "Problem?"
Carolina was chuckling, turning to me. I was blushing heavily, trying to hide behind my hair and hoodie. "Terra?"
"Nope." My voice cracked a bit. Dozens of talks with Darcy were replaying in my head, most of which ended with me being teased on my V card. Besides, I wasn't talking about dancing with these idiots. Or any idiot.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"I'm not joining this discussion. Please carry on conversing without me." I explained quickly, fighting a blush. Rose snorted. "What's so funny?" I snapped.
She shook her head, laughing at harder whichever Time Lord she looked at. It wasn't giving me a confidence boost. "Sorry. It's just...I mean I knew you hadn't before, but, you don't dance."
I kept back a retort of 'yeah never have' because my sister had already beaten that horse. "Okay."
"Does the universe implode or something if Time Lords dance?" Rose joked. I blushed.
"Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast." He joined in on her teasing.
While Carolina made her way to the radio, I kept my gaze away. The universe just might implode if I dance, because that would mean I had a boyfriend and he liked me back. It would make another target for Logan, and I am never doing that to anyone else.
There had been a few contenders. The odd coworker crush that grew into something the other didn't feel. No one can imagine the pain of meeting the man you've had a crush on since you first saw him on TV, only for no fromande to kindle from his side of the could've-been-relationship. I was the queen of one sided relationships.
Nope. This wasn't helping getting rid of my blush. I turned to stare at the wall, wanting to hide right now.
'What's wrong?' The Doctor asked. He sounded a mix of amused and proud. I tensed at the mental lashing I knew was coming. 'Upset the conman isn't all you profiled him up to be?'
It just made me blush harder, because the Doctor honestly didn't want me to explain it! I squirmed in my seat, more discomfort and embarrassment being sent across the Time Lord link.
There was a hum of him finally understanding. 'Oh.'
I glanced to Rose, who was walking to the radio. 'Yeah. So can we please stop?'
The Doctor sighed mentally. 'Terra, it's not a bad thing-'
'NO! No. Stop. We are not having this talk right now. Or ever. Just drop it.' I pleaded. My parents never gave me the Talk, they knew I had figured it out by the time it would have been necessary. Darcy learned it all when my memories appeared in her head.
After many trips to high school, I knew that the only way to avoid talking about the V card was to talk about something more pressing on people's mind. I actually preferred talking about chemistry homework to guys I would bang.
'You don't trust people with guns. You don't trust my profile. You don't trust me, that's fine. I'm fine. People don't trust me, it's nothing.' I thought to him. I felt sudden dismay across the Time Lord bond. 'Stick to resonating concrete or whatever you're actually doing. I'll just stay here, being untrustworthy.'
His presence faded from my head. I was happy for it. He didn't trust me. That was what I wanted wasn't it? I didn't what him to trust me, because if he did then Eleven would die for me. So what if it screwed up my past? I needed to keep everyone I cared about safe. They can hate me, because at least then they'll be alive.
I pointedly avoided his eyes. Those deep ancient blue orbs would make me cave, to do anything to get me to get rid of my weapons. I needed to stay strong.
Behind us, the cheeky twenty-first century woman turned up the radio. Carolina skipped back to the Doctor. I sat down in the abandoned wheelchair.
"You've got the moves?" Carolina teased. "Show me your moves."
Though I couldn't see him, I knew the Doctor was looking at his lady love with a deer in the headlights look. "Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete." He argued lamely.
Rose didn't care. "Jack'll be back. He'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances."
I quietly pulled out my phone, setting up the camera to start filming. If anything, this would get my mind off my own failed attempts at a relationship. Besides, this was excellent blackmail material.
The blonde held out her hands. After staring at her for a moment, the Doctor stepped down from his concrete. Rose smiled victoriously. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
The Doctor didn't start dancing, not even a little. He took Rose's hands, staring at them incredulously. "Barrage balloon?"
Rose gave him a stunned look. "What?"
"You were hanging from a barrage balloon." Magoo clarified.
I had to hold back a snort. It would've messed up the sound on my recording.
"Oh, yeah. About two minutes after you left me." His companion teased. "Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest."
The Doctor looked over at me. I lowered my phone so it would look like I was texting.
He was shaking his head at her when I got back into the shot. "I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy friendly." The Time Lord admitted, still looking at her hands.
"Is this you dancing? Because I've got notes." Carolina spoke. The flirty tone going right over his head.
The Doctor gave her a flat look. Oh, Darcy is so gonna love this video. "Hanging from a rope thousands feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise." The Doctor simplified his problem.
"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up." Rose stated.
The Time Lord glowered. "Oh, we're all calling him Captain Jack now, are we?" He threw that last bit at me.
I didn't get a chance to steal the
"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain." Rose explained with a teasing lit.
"He's not really a Captain, Rose." The Doctor stated, too happy a smile on his face.
Rose gave him a tongue-on-tooth grin. "Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy." Okay. That time I snickered. "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."
The world around us changed in a blink. We were on the Captain's ship. I was standing next to the Captain now, and his smile told me it wasn't an accident. Jack turned his chair towards me, smirking when he saw what I was doing.
I held a finger to my lips. He better keep his flirty mouth shut or he's dead...well not permanently I'd just let off some steam. It would hurt though I can promise that!
"If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked." The Time Lord countered. Aww, nobody touches the blonde.
Rose giggled. "Yeah? Shame I missed that."
"Actually, I quit." The couple jumped apart from each other. They stared at Captain Jack in surprise, as well as their new surroundings. "Nobody takes my frock." Jack stated. "Most people notice when they've been teleported."
I whacked his arm. "Dude! I wanted to see how long they could do it!" I laughed. "They could've gone two more minutes without us."
Buttface laughed. "You sound like you got experience."
"Three months worth!" I groaned, stuffing my phone away. My hand reached over, messing up Jack's hair. To my displeasure, the tousled look benefited him.
Buttface laughed. He playfully shoved my arm. "It looks like it." The conman grinned at the couple. "Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."
"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols?" The Doctor scoffed. "Maybe you should remember whose ship it is."
"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous." Buttface winked. "Like I told her, be back in five minutes."
My sister had pulled that same stunt multiple times. It made me laugh to recall times she came back from a one night stand with a proud smirk and the guy's wallet. We ate like queens on those days.
"Chula, right?" I asked, reclining against the wall right beside him.
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter." Jack explained. "Only this one is dangerous." The last bit was directed at our mutual friend.
I don't know why, but the thought of us all being friends made me smile. The Doctor must have caught it, and not been happy with it. He sneered at the Captain. His fingers clicked together to reveal the nanogenes.
Rose gasped. "They're what fixed my hands up! Jack called them er."
"Nanobots?" His expression darkened. "Nanogenes."
"Nanogenes, yeah." Rose
"Sub-atomic robots." I cheered. It wasn't implausible that I knew about this. In my hoodie, I had hundreds of nanobots keeping me cold. "There's millions of them in here, see? They fixed the burns on y'alls hands." I motioned to the others. Carolina was grinning, shaking her head probably amused at how every Time Lord knew so much about tech. The second Time Lord was appraising me. If I wanted to give cold hard facts, I could. "They activate when the bulkhead's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws."
"Wisely said, gorgeous." Jack complimented.
I smirked, shrugging smugly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm super genius. Try not to be blown away by me." That made both humans laugh. The Doctor was glaring at Jack, again. "Hey Buttface, can you get us to the crash site? See, Magoo and I have a theory about what's causing all of this, but we need to see your space junk."
The Captain saluted playfully. I sneered back in jokingly annoyance. "As soon as I get the nav-com back online." Jack reported. He turned back to his control panel. "Make yourself comfortable." He commented towards the love birds. "Carry on with whatever it was you two were doing."
The Doctor bristled. "We were talking about dancing."
Jack looked at them with a face of 'yeah right'. "It didn't look like talking."
"It didn't feel like dancing." Rose added.
Jack glanced at me, then my phone, then he winked. Good, he wasn't going to tell them about my impressive blackmail collection.
==CON==
Some odd minutes later, I struck up a conversation I'd been dying to start. It could be enough to bring the Doctor to Team Jack.
"Since we're having a bit of friendly conversation." I began, my hands slipping into my hoodie pocket. My body was in a relaxed pose against the wall near his pilot seat. "Buttface, my good conman, my walking contradiction, what's your story? Why are you trying con your old bosses?"
"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money." Jack explained. His voice losing some of it's flirting charm.
"A conman that doesn't con for money. The contradictions just keep coming with you." I threw the Doctor a 'told you so' glare. He looked a bit off-put at how right I was. "Then what for?" I questioned.
Jack paused in his mechanics. He realized this would be a serious talk. He turned in his chair to the three of us, since all three of us would need to hear this story. Or, at least the Doctor. "Woke up one day when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories." As Jack explained, I felt a large rock drop in my stomach. From the Doctor's expression, he was thinking along the same lines I was. Rose's eyes widened in agreement. "I'd like them back."
"They stole your memories?" I spoke, a softness in my voice as I remembered nineteen years had been taken from me.
Jack nodded. He braced himself to explain. "Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me, and for all I know he's right not to."
When he was done, I turned to my traveling companions. They were looking to me, as if I held the answers. I was probably the only person on this ship who understood what Jack was going through.
"Someone took mine too." I admitted.
Jack didn't look at me, assuming I was faking. "Sorry, TJ, but you don't know what it's like."
"You wake up somedays, and it doesn't hit you for awhile. You'll be making breakfast, or talking with someone, and you have to stop because you'll find all the gaps in your head and it's like the first time all over again. Just blank days." I explained in quick fire. Jack was staring at me in quiet surprise. "Sometimes, you'll think you yourself 'did I do something worse than this?' or 'what if I'm do the same thing without knowing?' It makes your head spin thinking about it, so you try not to. Some days, you wonder if you even want your memories back."
Jack gawked, like honestly gawked. I kept going. "And these thoughts keep coming back. All the time. Maybe you begged for them to be taken, maybe they needed you alive but willing, or maybe it was all just some filing error. You can't...you can't tell and it drives you crazy."
"...and then you want them back again, because then those questions'll stop. It'll be horrible, but you still want to know." Jack stated, voice uncharastically quiet. After a long pause, I nodded.
The two of us made eye contact for a long time. I couldn't properly explain it, not with exact words. There were an unspoken agreement between us, a bond formed. It wasn't a bond of lovers, far from it. It was a promise of friendship and protection.
It was the same bond I had with Darcy.
"How much?" The Captain asked.
A bittersweet smile grew on my face. "Nineteen years, or just about." That got 'oh god' looks from everyone. "Woke up and couldn't remember anything about home. All I've got is that I had two moms and an aunt, and they were just the ones that adopted me after I was banished." Jack looked at me in surprise. "My people, this weird alien species I'm not even going to get into. The Doctor's one of my people, he says I was banished. My memories of home were wiped clean, and I was dumped on Earth like trash, because of something I can't remember doing."
I sat closer to Jack. He needed to hear this.
"The Doctor's learning to trust me. I'm not the easiest person to trust, I mean I have a secret weapon stash in my bag." I snorted. "There's a lot about me that I don't talk about. He still keeps me around. He'll learn to trust you too."
Jack looked at me evenly. He believed me.
A timer went off behind me. I winced, as it had gone off right next to my ear.
Jack chuckled. "Okay, we're good to go." The Doctor and Rose's heads popped up. I had actually completely forgotten they were here. "Crash site?"
==CON==
Sneaking into a military base in World War Two was war too easy. Really, getting into the hospital was harder! It was otherwise nice to have a man already on the inside.
Jack showed the four of us the bombsite.
"There it is." Jack stated. We came to a stop right before done supplies. He paused, staring at the posted guard. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important." He mused.
"We've got to get past him." The Time Lord oh so wisely stated.
"Are the words distract the guard heading in my general direction?" Rose concluded, in a voice saying she was actually looking forward to it.
Jack and I chuckled. "I don't think that'd be such a good idea." Jack let her down gently.
"Don't worry I can handle it." Rose assured. She'd done it before. It was impressive, how fast the Doctor got jealous when she did.
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type." Jack preened. "I'll distract him." He winked at me. "Don't wait up."
I winked back. "I'm patient."
The Captain took my word for it. He walked confidently over to the stationed guard.
As Carolina's confused look, I looked at her with a straight face (somehow). "He's from the fifty first century. They're more...flexible...on dancing than your time is."
Carolina gawked. That's right. You flirted with a man that'll screw anything with a pulse. "How flexible?"
"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy." The Doctor tried not to outright say Jack was a man whore.
"Meaning?" His companion pressed.
"So many species, so little time." The Doctor hinted.
Rose looked at him with wide eyes.
"What, that's what we do when we get out there?" She asked, becoming giddy. "That's our mission? We seek new life, and, and-"
"Dance."
"Careful, Magoo, I'd think you were flirting with him." I teased, feeling just a bit vindictive.
He threw me a less than pleased look. "Oh I wouldn't want to get between the two of you."
"He's not my type." I replied, matter of factly. I kept a watchful eye on the ex-Time Agent.
"You've...got a type?" Rose asked. She was hesitant, more so than earlier.
The way she said it rubbed me the wrong way. "Yeah. I do." I snapped, defense.
She backtracked. "No! I just meant, you." She nervously glanced back to the Doctor, before turning to me. "You don't talk about that stuff."
"Maybe I don't like talking about it." I stated.
More would've been said, but Algy fell to his knees in pain.
"Fall back!" I shouted, running to defend Jack.
The ex-Time Agent was staring at his comrade in shock. Right when I gripped his wrist tight, pulling him away just as Algy's mouth opened wide. It cracked and popped with sickening noises. It was worse than when Constantine changed, because at least then I had more distant than two feet.
"You men, stay away!" Jack warned the approaching soldiers.
Algy slumped to the ground. I dragged Jack away a couple steps, just as the other two in our group came up.
"The effect's become air-borne, accelerating." The Doctor warned.
"Hate when they do that." I sighed. My sigh began in time with the sirens.
"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked us.
"Nothing." The Doctor and I answered.
Jack looked up at the sky, having just heard the sirens apparently. "Ah, here they come again."
"All we need." Rose snarked. She paled, turning to Jack. "Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?"
"It won't kill us." I assured.
"How do you know?" Jack asked, starting to panic with Rose.
"Because it's airborne, there's only hours left." I informed plainly.
"Until what?"
"Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race." The drama queen finished. "And can anyone else hear singing?"
Everyone was quiet, as we focused on Nancy's singing. "Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all."
We walked into the tent, seeing Nancy handcuffed to a table. There was another gasmasked soldier beside her, passed out on the table. She was reaching for the keys to unlock her handcuffs.
Nancy looked at us pleading. I looked to the Doctor, motioning to the sonic. He nodded, silently asking Nancy to keep singing. She put on her brave face and got to it.
"Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows the cradle will rock."
Jack and Rose came in just as Nancy was freed. I filed the singing thing away for later.
==CON==
After some brief introductions, the five of us went to the ambulance. It looked like space junk at first glance, Jack must've cleaned off any medical stamps or the like. (More)
"You see? Just an ambulance." Jack informed the Time Lords.
"That's an ambulance?" Nancy gaped, standing on the sides with Carolina.
"It's from the future." I assured her. Nancy looked at me incredulously. "And from another planet." I added, as if it would help assure her that she wasn't crazy.
"They've been trying to get in." Jack remarked, pointing at the scratch marks around the keypad.
"Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon." The Doctor realized. Jack began typing on a small keypad. "What're you doing?"
"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." Jack
"I wouldn't do-"
*ZAP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
"-that."
"Didn't happen last time." The ex-Time Agent commented.
"It crashed, you dingbat!" I whacked his head. He cried out, rubbing at the spot where I hit him. "It's got emergency protocols, like any spacecraft!"
"Doctor, Terra, what is that?" Rose spoke up for the first time since we got here.
The three of us looked down at the blinking light. I was about to answer when the nearby soldiers turned zombies pounded on the gates.
"Doctor, Terra!" Rose shouted.
"Captain, secure those gates!" The Doctor ordered.
"Why?"
"Just do it!" The Doctor barked. "Nancy, how'd you get in here?"
Nancy hesitated, unsure about answering him. "I cut the wire."
"Show Rose." The Doctor ordered. He pulled out the sonic, tossing it to Rose. "Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty eight D."
"What?" Rose
"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!" The Doctor turned to me. "Terra, stay with me. Try to turn off the alarm."
"Working on it!" I tried to type out the cancellation code. It wasn't like I could cause anymore damage.
==CON==
None of the codes I was typing were working. I had a suspicious that they wouldn't, but it still annoyed me. That stupid alarm was getting on my nerves.
The ex-Time Agent came back over. He pulled open a hatch, showing off the empty ambulance. "It's empty. Look at it."
"Yes that you for your input." I snarked, slamming the hatch closed. "What did you think was in it?" The Doctor opened his mouth, to shout more at Jack. "No. Don't talk, I don't want to kill you today." The Time Lord wisely backed off. "Carolina?"
"I don't know." Rose replied, lost.
I looked meaningfully at her hands.
She got the hint. "Nanogenes!"
"Of course it wasn't empty. It was full of nanogenes. Based on the size of the ambulance, there was enough to rebuild a species."
Jack paled. "Oh, God."
"Yeah. Now you see." I shouted. 'Because he had NO IDEA it would do THIS!' "The ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, killed earlier that night, and wearing a gasmask."
"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Rose asked.
The Doctor shrugged, though not as harshly as he had been all night. "What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene." The Doctor ranted. I let him vent it all out. "One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gasmask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"
"I didn't know." Jack shouted.
The Doctor didn't respond to him. No one did. My fellow Time Lord turned to me, silently asking to be let back in my mind. I allowed it.
'You were right.' The Doctor admitted, going over to work on the ambulance.
I was silent.
'He really didn't know.' The Doctor went on. 'But now it's too late.'
I looked up at him. 'You sure?'
'Maybe we could set up a systematic reset, but that's gonna take time we don't have.' The Doctor sighed. He clapped his hand on the side of the ambulance.
'Would a self destruct help any?' I asked.
'That'll only destroy this thing, it won't stop them from coming. The signal's already out.' The Doctor explained.
'We'll come up with something. We always do.' I reassured.
My friend smirked. 'You were right last time. I know better than to doubt you twice.'
"Rose!" Nancy cried out.
I didn't even need to turn my head. The sounds of 'Mummy' were echoing off everything. His companion ran up to the ambulance, looking at the still blinking red light.
"It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?" Rose asked. She didn't need confirmation, she already knew she was right.
"The ship thinks it's under attack." The Doctor explained. "It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."
"But the gas mask people aren't troops." She argued.
"They are now." He countered. "This is a battle-field ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you."
"Which explains the super strength, and the Om-Com." I sighed. My hands ran through my hair, then fixing my headband. "Chula nanogenes are fully equipped to prepare them for war." I looked over at Jack. "And all of those people are being controlled by a crying four year old looking for her mom. He turned them into an army."
As I spoke, we were surrounded by all the gas-masked zombies from the hospital and surrounding areas. The four of us stood up. The hairs on my neck was standing up, ready for a fight.
"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.
"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander." The Doctor answered.
Jack looked to the zombies in confusion. "The child?"
"Jamie." Nancy corrected.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Not 'the child'." Her eyes were watering with unshed tears. "Jamie."
"So how long until the bomb falls?" Rose was starting to panic.
"Any second." Jack answered. The panic was spreading it seemed.
"What's the matter, Captain? A bit close to the volcano for you?" He snarked.
'Doctor.' I warned.
'He didn't do it on purpose, but that doesn't make him innocent in all of this.'
"He's just a little boy." Nancy whimpered.
The Doctor looked at her sadly. "I know."
Nancy sniffled. "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."
"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy." The Doctor explained. "And this little boy can."
Rose glanced between the Doctor and I. "So what're we going to do?"
The Doctor stared at her, sadly. "I don't know."
"Terra?" Rose asked.
I turned to her. Rose was looking at me pleadingly. "You have something, right?"
Yes. I did. The Doctor would in a few seconds. It was all gonna click in his head and then we'd be in the clear. This was his biggest victory, I couldn't take it from him.
"You said you were in the FBI." Rose went on. She was getting more panicked the longer we went without the bomb. "Can't you use something from there to fix all of this? Do that profiling thing?"
"What would you do?" The Doctor asked. The question surprised me, as I didn't think he wanted to ask me. He must have noticed my hesitation. "How does Terra Johnson save the world?"
There was a rock in my throat. It would be easy to do, totally easy. This would all be done on five minutes if I did it the Terra way. This was the Doctor's victory, not mine. This was the day nobody died. How could I take that from the Doctor?
"I can't do it!" I argued, panicking.
The Doctor walked up to me, keeping eye contact. "Terra, I trust you." Magoo promised. "Trust yourself, please."
I can't do that either.
But the Doctor was counting on me now. He wanted my help. He was begging for it.
Nancy whimpered. "It's my fault."
I rounded over to her. "How old are you?" I asked, forcefully. Nancy winced. "Twenty? Twenty one? Older than you look, yes?"
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy." The patients chanted.
"Terra, that bomb." Buttface reminded me. "We've got seconds."
"You can teleport us out." Rose suggested.
Jack shook his head. "Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols." He explained.
"Volcano day." The Doctor hinted. Jack's face steeled as he knew the only way to stop it. "Do what you've got to. We're busy."
Jack turned to me, goodbye in his eyes. I sent him a reassuring smirk.
Rose didn't understand. "Jack?"
He was already gone.
I braced myself. "You're his mother, aren't you?" I started to put it together the profiler way. "That was why you started taking care of those kids. Not because you lost a brother, because you lost a son. You were trying to push away that guilt because he died not knowing."
Nancy looked at me, surprised. "How did you-"
"You two were wandering around long before this. No mother would leave her children alone like that unless she were dead, but Jamie is still looking for her. You wince every time he asks for his mother. He follows you, calling for you, and that's why you run. If he knew it was you, you wouldn't react that way. He died thinking you were his sister, and you've been running from him because of how you think he'll react to finding out your his mom."
The gates opened wide for the commander. His expression was hidden by the mask. "Are you my mummy?" He asked. His tone blank, automatic now.
"He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop." I explained. My words came out as a plea and a demand. "He'll tear the world apart looking for you. A son would tear the world apart for his mom."
Jamie's attention peaked at my word. "Mummy?"
"You're only hurting him more by keeping this secret." I finished. "Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."
Nancy stared at me for a long time. She broke when she looked back to Jamie. The mother walked towards her son,
Jamie "Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?"
Nancy hesitated. "Yes. Yes, I am your mummy."
"Mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes."
"Are you my mummy?"
"He doesn't understand." He sighed in dejection. "There's not enough of him left."
"Give them a minute." I beamed, grinning. "Just give them a minute."
"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy." Nancy explained. She was crying now, but being strong for Jamie. "I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She hugged her son, and golden lights covered them both.
The Doctor stared wide eyed. My hands were shaking in glee.
"What's happening?" His companion asked. "Terra, Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"
"Shush!" We both scolded her.
"Come on, please." He begged. "Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out!" He was so giddy. "The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information." The Doctor was panting. "Figure it out." He pleaded.
Rose turned to me. "What's happening?"
The nanogenes were focusing on Jamie. I excitedly ran up to the mother-son, just as Jamie let his mother go. The Doctor explained the DNA thing to Rose, while I just knelt by the boy.
"Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." The Doctor spoke under his breath.
I pulled off Jamie's mask, revealing the cutest four year old boy. He was definitely related to Nancy, they had the same cheeks and eyes.
The boy smiled at me. I smiled back, starting to laugh. He was lifted into a sudden hug by the Doctor.
"Ha-ha! Welcome back!" The Doctor beamed. "Twenty years till pop music-you're going to love it!" He explained, setting Jamie down.
His mother came up from the dirt. "What happened?" Nancy asked, in shock at seeing her son back.
"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them!" The Doctor pulled me up in a hug. I let out a squeak of surprise. "Ha-ha! Mother knows best!"
"Oh, Jamie." Nancy sighed happily. She pulled her son into another hug.
There was an explosion some hundred feet away. The rest of us jumped back.
"Doctor, Terra, that bomb." Oh Carolina, such a worrywart today. And that's coming from ME!
The Doctor and I exchanged a look. "Taken care of it."
"How?" Rose asked, hesitantly.
My smile faltered. "Psychology."
Right on cue, the bomb was caught in Jack's tractor beam. I snorted at him. Such a drama queen. There was some more flashing, and I saw Jack on top of the bomb. Any thoughts about his libido were ignored.
"TJ!" Jack cheered.
"That's my boy!" I laughed.
The Doctor laughed with me. "Good lad!"
"The bomb's already commenced detonation." Jack explained. I felt my hearts skip a few crucial beats. "I've put it in stasis but it won't last long."
"Change of plan. Don't need the bomb." The Doctor asked. He had felt my bit of panic. "Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?"
Jack didn't outright answer. He looked to me, locking our eyes. "TJ?"
"I want you home by midnight." I warned him, trying hard not to cry.
Jack grinned. "I'll do what I can."
"You better!" If anyone saw tears on my cheeks, they must've been mistaken.
He vanished, coming back a second later. "By the way, Rose, love the t-shirt." He disappeared with the bomb. His ship flew off, presumably to find the safe distance but I knew it wouldn't.
Rose beamed. Someone at least liked her shirt.
The Doctor walked off from the group, I followed after him. These were the ones that had changed Jamie, the ones that would fix everyone else. All they need is a bit of direction. Our hands started to glow golden.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked us.
"Software patch." The Time Lord explained. The two of us exchanged a smile. "We're going to email the upgrade."
I chuckled, gathering up as much of the nanogenes in my hand as I could.
"You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." The Doctor beamed before throwing the nanogenes at the patients. I followed suit. All the people fell the ground as soon as they were hit. "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!"
I cheered loudly as one by one their gas masks disappeared.
When Doctor Constantine stood up, the Doctor and I excitedly ran over to his now cured self.
"Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients." The Doctor complimented. "Back on your feet, constant doctor."
"The world still needs you." I added. "It wasn't ready to let go, and I wholly agree." We motioned to the confused people milling about. "These are your patients. All better now."
"Yes, yes, so it seems." The doctor glanced around, only seeming more confused by what he was seeing. "They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"
"The British government, man. They do crazy stuff in war times." I lied smoothly.
"Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured." The Doctor cut in. "Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?"
Neither of us gave the doctor a chance to talk back. We made our way back to the ambulance. The Doctor climbed on top of the thing, while I geared up the self destruct sequence.
"Right, you lot. Lots to do!" He shouted, catching the attention of everyone. "Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state!"
"Terra, what're ya doing?" Rose asked, coming up to my side.
"History says a bomb went off oh, right about here." I mused. "Conveniently after everyone's a safe distance away."
"And who are we to argue with history?" The Doctor added.
"Usually the first ones in line." Rose teased
"Hey!" We both cried out.
==CON==
It had taken a while for us to make it to the TARDIS. The Doctor's joy hadn't gone down at all.
"The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to." Magoo happily explained.
His joy was infectious. Carolina was giggling like a schoolgirl.
My mind kept going back to Jack.
"Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto." The Doctor nodded. "All in all, all things considered, fantastic!"
"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." Rose teased.
The Doctor snorted gleefully. "Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?"
Rose stopped. "What?"
"Hey! I got her those black roller blades." I defended. It had been after we got rid of Door-In-The-Head. Rose had been asleep, and the Doctor was trying to be sneaky about dropping off the bike. I came up, throwing in my (way cooler) gift.
Rose's jaw dropped.
The Doctor smiled on. "And everybody lives, ladies! Everybody lives! I need more days like this."
"Doctor." His companion asked softly.
"Go on, ask me anything." He laughed. "I'm on fire."
"What about Jack? Why'd he say goodbye?" Rose asked.
The Doctor didn't say anything.
So I did.
"I want him as my companion." I admitted to the Doctor. He looked at me with curiosity. "Hear me out. I'll accept blame for anything he does, honest."
"You think you can handle that?" The Doctor challenged.
"Remember my friend that isn't a friend? Female version of that." I acknowledged. "Not even kidding. Or downplaying."
Rose laughed. "I'd like to meet her."
"No you don't." I argued plainly with her before going back to Magoo. "Anyway. Can I keep Buttface?"
The Doctor went to pull on the handbrake, before looking up at me in uncertainty. 'Are you sure, Terra?'
I sent him a mental wave of assurance. 'Yes.'
==CON==
The TARDIS landed in Jack's ship. The Doctor actually managed to set it to silent. It was inflight that Rose pointed out that the Doctor never did show her his moves. She set up the radio to play, and as soon as the Doctor landed she took his hand to dance.
I popped the door open, smirking as he hadn't yet noticed us. "You know, most people notice a big blue box landing in their ship." I teased.
Jack's head shot up. My new companion turned to me, a grin forming on his face.
"You wanna come in?" I called out. "There's a bit of a rush."
He ran in, staring at the sexy thing that was Idris's console room. I nodded, a knowing smile on my face.
Rose was busy dancing with her partner. In a completely nonsexual (disappointing to both parties) sort of way. "Okay. And right and turn." Rose instructed.
The Doctor tried, bless his hearts. (As someone from the south, I learned you can say whatever you want as long as you add bless their heart)
"Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-nelson."
Jack and I exchanged smirks. Those two were so cute when they were in denial.
"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." He mumbled to her. The Doctor glanced up to Jack, giving him an amused withering look. "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught."
He quickly shut the door. The Doctor pulled down the hand brake, sending us off just before the explosion.
"Welcome to the TARDIS!" I decreed.
Jack nodded in appreciation. "Much bigger on the inside."
"You'd better be." The Doctor teased.
Rose giggled. "I think what the Doctor's trying to say is 'you may cut in'."
Jack looked to me, silently asking if they were always like this. I gave him a small nod.
"Rose! Terra!" The Doctor shouted in joy. "I've just remembered!"
"What?"
The music changed to more upbeat tunes. I smirked up at the ceiling. Idris sent a hum which translated to 'I have no idea why it changed either! How shocking' which I did not believe. You guys think Nine is sarcastic, you should head the stuff the TARDIS thinks!
"I can dance!" The Oncoming STORM sounded less like the Dalek predator and more like a cartoon mouse. "I can dance!"
"Actually, Doctor, I thought Jack might like this dance." Rose fluttered her eyelashes.
"Oh yeah. Definitely. Without a doubt." I went along. "But who with?" I suggested, dancing around the console with the music.
Jack took hold of my hand. I turned to him in surprise. "Come on. Let's show those two how to do it."
"Story damn. Now it's a contest." My free hand grabbed Jack's, immediately setting us up to dance with the music. "I'm competitive."
Jack smirked knowingly. "Never would've guessed."
Sure enough, the four of us danced in the console room.
"Hey Buttface." I tried to start up a sort of serious conversation. It was really heard with Glen Miller on in the background.
"Hey TJ." Jack teased, giving me a quick spin in time with the music.
"There's a Time Lord tradition." I explained, working hard not to giggle. "At least in the TARDIS. Rose is the Doctor's companion. Since I claimed ownership of the TARDIS-"
"No she didn't!"
"Oi! Don't ruin her story!"
I rolled my eyes at those two. "I get a companion. You're perfect for the role."
"Your her first." Rose teased as the Doctor spun her around.
"Fourth, actually." I corrected. The others looked at me in surprise. "He's not the only guy that gets off showing people the universe."
The Doctor looked a bit flustered at my statement, much to Rose's amusement.
Though I wouldn't show it, I was missing all the other people I'd trusted in my lifetime. Half of my companions are dead, because of me. My first faces too. What would it hurt to have the man who could never die?
Jack grinned. "No chance I'm missing this." My companion took my hand, swinging me around to the music again.
"Terrific!" I cheered. Then I got about to making sure I beat those two at the impromptu dance off.
==CON==
AN: My dad was watching 28 Days Later, and it (coincidentally) was at the scene where Christopher Eccleston's character gets killed by the zombies. I make a reference to it here, cause how could I not?
Besides that, I lost my job of eighteen months. Downsizing is a bitch, right? Now I'm having to do a lot of babysitting jobs and extra hours at my other three jobs to try and make up for the loss. I'm still job searching, so fingers crossed!
I'm sorry this took two months to write, but my head just wouldn't let me write it! The next chapter is gonna be a filler, so we'll have to wait for Boom Town. I'm writing three other stories right now anyway, and those'll be my top priority until the next chapters are published.
Thanks to zoey-the-catgirl, BlueJae3, Jessxmn, Celaena007, Scribleyellow, AnimeVamp1997, animelover132, Scolite, for favoriting
Thanks to Flamand Vert, BlueJae3, Scribleyellow, Celaena007, .is. , AnimeVamp1997, xXxDragonxPhoenixXx, Scolite, for following.