Chapter 14 – Tinker, Tyler, Doctor, Spy
Finally, I've sorted all PC problems, adjusted to a new job and finished writing this (incredibly long) chapter! Sorry for mistakes – I'll give this whole story a proper edit afterwards, but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer ;-)
x
After the incident with Rose's strange premonition, the Torchwood team seemed to have decided to give her a bit of space. Everyone was friendly, even Owen, though he had cooled down considerably; but the jolly atmosphere from the night before remained elusive. Jack and Rose mostly kept themselves cooped up in the TARDIS, researching more about the transdimensional bond and how to achieve it. Gwen showed up in the afternoon to help, but the others remained in the hub to do what Jack had told them.
The work was slow-going; after the initial idea, there seemed to be no end of questions that needed answering before they could attempt to test their theory. Jack told Rose that he was glad she had a few days of forced rest; however, even he noted that it didn't seem to do her much good. She was going slightly crazy with their slow progress, and the fact that everyone seemed to be on edge around her didn't help. He noticed that sometimes, when she was working on something or just staring off into the distance, her eyes began to glow golden again. She didn't seem to really sleep at all, and began muttering under her breath more and more.
Toshiko and Owen had not found any medical records that helped, but discovered a string of numbers in the old Torchwood's databanks that had been cropping up again and again during the Cybermen incident. Rose had been pouring over them for 48 hours straight before she figured out that they coincided with a certain phase variance that identified the 'correct' parallel universe. But even this small achievement did not improve matters.
Four days after Rose's crash landing, Tosh's global weather alert finally went off. They had deliberately set it so that it would only pick up budding storms that promised to become strong enough to test their theory; but when the alarm came, the projected intensity seemed completely off the chart.
Everyone filed behind the Torchwood computers with Toshiko, who was frantically trying to ascertain where the sudden lightning storm was building up from. Rose hastened up the stairs and to her side. "Is it a storm? A proper one?"
Everyone made room for her to look at the screen. "It would seem so," Toshiko began slowly, still analysing the data. "I'm just not sure it's a natural one. Look at this."
"London?" Rose asked incredulously, rolling her eyes at the map on the monitor. "Why is everything always happening in London?!"
"And Cardiff," Jack chuckled. "Tosh's right though, this doesn't look like a normal storm."
"There's no previous build-up of cumulonimbus energy traceable, the wind speeds have been normal, and the weather forecast for today is sunny," Tosh explained, shaking her head in disbelief.
Jack leaned in closer. "This isn't all of London, though. Look, it's confined to one specific area. What's here?" He pointed.
Tosh zoomed in. "The Royal Hope Hospital," she said.
Rose was looking thoughtfully at the screen, chewing her lip. Jack nudged her with his shoulder. "An unnatural build-up of electrical energy, a storm when there should be blue skies – sounds like something the Doctor would check out, right?"
Rose merely gave a non-committed hum and sighed.
"Come on," he teased. "It's exactly what we need, and we could figure out what's going on there at the same time!"
She looked up. "Jack, we really can't afford to get into any trouble right now," she said quietly. "And you know this looks like exactly the kind of trouble that usually finds us."
"Yeah, I know, but… hey, what about, we go there, soak up the possible energy with the TARDIS, prevent whatever is currently trying to happen, and boom, killed two birds with one stone?"
Rose rocked from one foot to the other and glanced around the team. Everyone was watching the exchange, and Gwen was giving Jack worried looks.
Finally, Rose nodded. "Oh, all right, it's probably our best chance right now… but if there's a bunch of bloody aliens making thunderstorms in London, I'll kill you!"
"Been there, done that," Jack grinned and earned himself a punch in the arm.
x
About an hour later, Rose had gathered a few things together and was ready to depart when Jack was still carrying odd bits of technical equipment into the TARDIS, barking out instructions to the Torchwood team. On his last trip, he was carrying a rucksack and hurried up to the TARDIS, Gwen almost jogging to keep up with him.
"And if the Weevils act up, keep them away from Owen. And make sure you don't just eat pizza all the time. There's that lovely Indian place, go check that out, and…"
Gwen was noticeably rolling her eyes at him now. "Jack!"
Rose leaned casually in the doors of the TARDIS. She was wearing a dark pink jumper and her hair was falling down to her shoulders. She grinned, and suddenly looked to Jack as if nothing had changed. "All right, Dad?" she asked, and flashed him her best tongue-in-teeth grin. "Did you pack them lunches for every day as well?"
"Don't you start," he said.
"We'll be fine," Gwen emphasised. "You're the one going away in the time machine!" She glanced at Rose and raised an eyebrow. "And you better bring him back in one piece, and, you know, not like 50 years too late or something!"
"Yes ma'am!" Rose smiled, but when she saw Gwen's look, she stepped out of the TARDIS and up to her. "Look, I may have been a bit strange these past days, but I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out. It means a lot."
Gwen nodded.
"And I promise, I will do anything I can to make sure he's safe," she added a bit quieter, as Jack went into the TARDIS to drop of his pack. Gwen frowned a little sadly, and Rose pulled her into a quick hug. "You'll be fine," she whispered.
Gwen seemed heartened by this and smiled at Rose, genuinely this time. She sighed and nodded once more, then left.
Rose turned around, and went into the blue box, closing the doors behind her.
Jack stepped out of a corridor, grinning. He signed with his thumb over his shoulder. "She even gave me my own room, just 'round the corner here!"
Rose raised an eyebrow. "Wow, she really got over the whole fixed point in time thing really quickly, didn't she?" she said with an admonishing glare at the time rotor. She felt an encouraging hum at the back of her mind.
"I think she likes me," Jack quipped and hopped on the jump seat.
"I think she likes the plan," Rose corrected but sent him a grin whilst she put in the coordinates for London, UK, Earth, current time. She felt excitement gripping her once more. Finally they could get going and do something. All of this sitting around and waiting hadn't helped with her general jittery feelings of worry.
"All right, we're ready to go," she said happily and looked over to Jack, hand on the last lever.
He was eyeing her curiously. "It's so strange seeing you… doing these things," he began vaguely.
Rose let go of the lever and self-consciously pushed some hair behind her ear. "Like what?" she said. She knew exactly what he meant.
"I don't know, like, getting the TARDIS ready like this? Discussing the bond theory? Everything," he said, gesturing towards her. "You're amazing, Rose."
"No I'm not," she said quietly. "It's just the TARDIS putting thoughts into my brain, really. Without her, I'd be completely useless."
Jack got up and walked over to her. "No, you're not. You're coping really well, all things considered."
Rose let go of the lever and turned, leaning against the console. "It doesn't feel like that at all. It feels like a huge mess in my head. Like something in there is doing all these things, but it's not really me."
"Rose," Jack began and put a hand on her shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask…" She looked up at him with big eyes and he suddenly shivered. "What you said about Owen…"
Rose quickly looked away, pain in her eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked flatly.
"You said he would die twice." He paused, seeing that she needed some time to stop pretending that she didn't remember. "How can you... see the future like that?"
Rose sighed and pushed herself off the console. She walked around the room, trailing her hand over the pillars. "I don't know, really," she began. "It's like… I look at someone, and they're just there, just them, nothing else. And then suddenly, there's this switch, and I feel all warm… and I can see all of it." She looked back at Jack. "All of the possibilities, stretching out, like some kind of light that's broken, you know, like through a dusty window. You get all of these possible futures sort of clouding around the person…" she swallowed.
"And Owen?"
"There were… less possibilities. All I could see was that… it ends soon. It's very hard to describe anything definite…" she struggled.
"It's okay," Jack said quickly. "I can imagine." He wiped a hand over his face, thinking of the possible actions that would lead to this future. The resurrection gauntlet…
Rose came around the console from the other side. "D'you think I'm weird now?" she asked quietly.
"What?" Jack asked, startled from his dark thoughts. "Oh! Rosie," he exclaimed, quickly pulling her into a hug. "We're both weird, you and I, and I would never think anything less of you for it!" he said a little over-dramatically and kissed her hair. She giggled into his chest.
"All right then, weirdo, all set for London?"
"Aye, Captain," he saluted, letting go of her.
Rose grabbed the lever. "I'm really glad to have you on board," she said and smiled as she pulled it.
x
Two hours, and a few arguments later, a plan was formed. They'd parked the TARDIS in an unassuming storage closet inside the Royal Hope Hospital, and began their scans. The ship's computers all confirmed that there were strange plasma coils building up around the hospital, although so far, they hadn't found an explanation for them. Jack had suggested, several times, that either of them check in as a patient in order to infiltrate the building. Rose, however, had firmly maintained that both of them were physically too altered to risk it. If anyone got it into their head to analyse Jack's blood or even so much as listened to Rose's heartbeats at the moment, she didn't dare think of what might happen. Torchwood London may be gone, Rose thought, but there was no knowing what a number other strange institutions would like to do with two 'freaks' like them.
So they'd stayed out of sight behind a plastic tarpaulin set up for seemingly forgotten extension works in a closet, and scanned and scrutinised every inch of the building.
"So there's a slow, but steady, build-up of electricity," Jack said, flopping down on the pilot seat, completely exasperated. "Every scan confirms what we already knew!"
Rose held on to the console, pouring over the readings. He was right and she knew it. They'd have to go and actually talk to people to find out what was going on. And before they knew what they were dealing with, she was reluctant to wire the TARDIS up in the middle of it.
She closed her eyes. "Fine." Jack whooped and hopped off the jump seat. "Do you wanna come, or can I…"
"No, you go do your… thing, and I'll finish setting up everything else."
"Gotcha!" he said and enthusiastically bounded off into the corridor towards the wardrobe room.
A few minutes later, Jack emerged again, and Rose had to laugh. He was dressed in a perfect Doctor's outfit, complete with stethoscope, name tag and even a clipboard.
He gave a little twirl. "Right? Right!" He grinned.
"Have fun," Rose smirked back. "And if I hear any complaints about Dr. Harkness coming on to the nurses, I'll report you!" she called after him as he went down the ramp.
"Oh, you're no fun!" he cried and left the TARDIS, laughing.
Rose shook her head as she looked after him. Suddenly, a stab hit her in her side. Her heartbeats increased, and she felt as if she'd been running. She wobbled over to the seat and slowly sat down, trying to calm her breathing. A headache began forming behind her forehead. The strain was growing. She knew she didn't have long.
She took a deep breath and balled her fists, gathering her strength. She knew subconsciously she was using some kind of ancient technique to subdue the negative effects on her body, to keep going and deal with it later. She didn't really want to think about how she knew this, or how it worked; but all that mattered to her right now was that it did. She went back to the console and fixed the last pieces of the transdimensional bond. The energy signature of both the TARDIS and the sonic were programmed, she had set it to the right frequency, and the theory behind it seemed sound; at least as far as the strange, new parts of her brain were concerned. She flicked another switch to open the receptors in the TARDIS. This was how they'd soaked up the rift energy, and if all things went well, it should soak up any other excess energy around them as well. As soon as a certain level was reached, the transdimensional bond would activate and form a portal.
At least, so she hoped. She sat down on the pilot seat and continued to monitor the scans. If all went well, she would see the Doctor again soon; her hearts gave a nervous flutter. Now all she had to do was wait.
x
Martha Jones, medical student at the Royal Hope Hospital, had decided that today was not her day. She had had several very unsatisfying phone calls with various family members about her brother's birthday party, she'd dropped a sample in the lab, and Dr. Stoker had berated her on their rounds for not immediately asking about Mrs. Finnegan's diet when confronted with her salt deficiency. She was now stuck sorting through the remaining files at the reception desk, trying to figure out which were the most urgent.
However, her day suddenly took a turn for the glorious, in the form of Dr. Jack Harkness, visiting fellow from a prestigious US hospital. She first gaped at the highly sophisticated credentials in a curiously simple leather wallet, then at the unapologetically gorgeous face that accompanied them. She vaguely wondered why the hell the ID card needed to state that he was unmarried, but was distracted instantly when he leaned forward over the counter.
"Dr. Jack Harkness, John Hopkins Hospital, how're you doing?" He flashed her a toothy grin.
At first, she managed only a sound approximating a "guh", then collected herself. "Martha Jones, medical student," she almost stuttered.
"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones! Been at this hospital long?"
"I, uh... I'm just a few months into my practical year…"
"Studying hard, I imagine," he said, sounding serious, but… had he just winked?
"Yes, well," she rallied a little, "the studying part is mostly over, now it's seeing how quickly you can actually murder a patient before any of the senior doctors see you," she muttered with a smirk under her breath. Dr. Harkness flashed her an even wider grin and laughed quietly, as she clamped a hand over her mouth, realising what she'd said. "Sorry, I… you're… I… sorry," she sputtered.
"Don't worry, I won't tell," he replied teasingly. God in heavens, what was wrong with this man? Had he just stepped out of a hospital sitcom?
Okay, Martha, stay cool. "So, Dr. Harkness," she began, and he seemed to chuckle slightly at that, "I've never seen you around here before – have you just arrived?"
"You could say that," he said vaguely. "I'd like to think of myself as a bit of a traveller."
"I bet that's exciting," Martha said, before she could think about it. "I mean, you could learn so much from looking at how different people all over the world deal with diseases."
He was about to reply, still leaning over the counter on both arms, smiling at her when she reached over to take another medical clipboard from the pile and got a small electrical shock. She pulled her hand back and uttered a small cry, frowning at the clipboard.
Dr. Harkness' face immediately clouded over. "….that happen a lot today?"
Martha held her hand and looked at him in surprise. "Yes, actually," she said. "Sally got hit by the coffee machine, Oliver in the locker room, Dr. Stoker at the door…"
"Happened to me, too," he said, still that curious look on his face. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in a bit closer. "Martha – can I call you Martha? – have you seen anything else that was a bit strange today? Any unusual people or… odd occurrences?"
She blushed a little at his sudden proximity. "Uh, I don't think so, but…" she should really recommend him to another doctor, a superior or something, but sod it. "No, I'm sorry – why? Is there something going on?" she leaned in a bit closer herself now. If he was gonna blatantly flirt with her, she could just as well make the most of it. Unmarried, indeed.
He grinned a little at her response, as if he could read her mind. "Well, we've been monitoring this hospital and…" suddenly a little monitor on his wrist began beeping. So far, she hadn't noticed it, and only now that it started blinking did she realise that it didn't look like the device all the other doctors had. In fact, it didn't look like a beeper at all.
"Ugh, excuse me a moment," he said and rolled his eyes. He turned around and looked around, walking away to a windowed alcove a few steps. It seemed he wanted to go unnoticed – but Martha felt he wasn't really doing a good job at that. He pressed a button on his wrist and urgently answered the call in a hushed voice.
"Yes, what is it?"
Martha couldn't quite make out the voice on the other end, but thought it was a woman. She strained her ears. "…started… too quickly to scan… "
"What do you mean?"
"…out the window."
The doctor looked out of the window. Martha found herself leaving her stack of patient clipboards behind, stepping around the reception desk, toward the alcove. Something was odd, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Suddenly, Dr. Harkness gasped, lowering his wrist. "The rain," he murmured.
Rain covered the window. It had been raining for a while. This wasn't anything special… Martha's thoughts trailed off as she placed a hand on the window pane, stunned.
"It's going upwards?"
Dr. Harkness looked around at her quickly, a worried frown on his face.
The insistent voice (indeed a woman's) from his beeper returned. "Jack, get back here, now." She sounded extremely worried. Suddenly, everything shook. Martha tumbled forward, her world going completely haywire. Carts crashed, people screamed; she vaguely saw all her stacked patient clipboards tumble down the desk. Martha tried to shield her head from falling objects all around her, when suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed her and pulled her sideways. A second later, the receptionist's heavy office chair wheeled crashing into the window – where her head had just been.
The shaking finally stopped. She heard screams and a few more isolated crashes down the hallway; all the lights flickered, then everything was silent for a second.
Just as she noticed that she was still being held by that strange new doctor, and that it was not an altogether unpleasant experience, the noises everywhere piped up again. Patients crying out for help, people helping others to their feet; Dr. Harkness gently pulled her upright again – and grinned, his face mere inches away. "We'll continue this later," he winked, and then he was gone, dashing off towards the staircase.
Martha blinked a few times before her brain finally caught up with her eyes, and she stared at the broken window.
They were on the moon.
x
Rose was furiously checking her scans, running around the console, which had gone a bit haywire. The moon. The bloody hospital had to go get itself transported to the bloody moon. And of course, being Rose Tyler, in the TARDIS, she was smack in the middle of this newest crisis.
The door flew open, and Jack quickly ran up the ramp. "We're on the moon!"
"I know," she said, letting her words drip ice.
"The whole hospital!"
"I know."
"Hah! How is that even a thing?!" Jack laughed, sounding thoroughly exited.
Rose turned to him fully and put on her sweetest innocent voice. "Oh, I don't know, maybe it was the bloody ALIENS of the planet I TOLD YOU SO!?" her voice rose steadily as she poked him sharply in the chest with each syllable.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack held up both his hands. "Let's… let's focus on the solution, not the problem here, all right?"
Rose, still fuming, continued working the console, but to no avail. "What's wrong?" Jack asked, and at her raised eyebrow added "besides being on the moon" under his breath.
Rose sighed and slapped the console in frustration. "I have no idea. I first thought the transdimension thingy might have worked – the energy, or whatever it was, that got us to the moon certainly did something. Something wrong, though… she won't respond and I can't get the scanners to work."
"Well, we're still in this universe – that much is certain."
"But why doesn't it activate the bond?" Rose stared at the time rotor in frustration. She'd re-checked all her calculations, and as far as she could tell, it was all good to go. Maybe the type of energy didn't work, she thought. Bog-standard electricity – not exactly worthy of this strange time lord calculation… She leaned against the console, staring glumly at the floor. Her brain was going at about 100 miles an hour, trying to figure out viable solutions, when Jack awoke her back to the present.
"Rose… there are probably a thousand people in this hospital. They're panicking. They're on the moon – they don't know why and neither do we. So I'm gonna get my ass back out there to help. Let's figure out why this happened first – and worry about the bond later, kay?"
Rose stared at him for a moment and reality caught up with her. She'd been so cooped up in the TARDIS, only researching and scanning for days, that she felt like she had just been slapped awake from a weird brain binge. She clenched her fists and wrestled most of the scientific gibberish in her head into the background, and tried to be just herself for the moment. She blinked at Jack and shook off the lethargy that had settled in her mind. "Yes, o-of course… God, Jack, I've been a million miles away."
He smiled at her. "I know," he said, then offered his hand. The familiar gesture nearly made her choke up, but she grabbed his hand nonetheless and nodded. Jack pulled her along, out of the TARDIS, and together they crept out of the storage closet and into the hospital hallway.
They heard a commotion down the corridor, and saw people rushing around. As they turned a corner, they could see a young woman in a white coat trying to calm a group of people down. Then she spotted Jack and quickly ran over to them. "Dr. Harkness, there you are!"
Rose suppressed a giggle. Of course Jack had been making friends. As Jack reassured the girl, she glanced out of the window on the other end of the hallway and froze. Three giant, elongated, black spaceships had just landed outside the doors.
"Jack," she said and drew his attention to the window. "Company. Headed for the main entrance."
"Right." He turned back and pulled an apologetic face at the girl. "Martha, you don't happen to know the quickest way to the entrance hall, do you?"
The girl sent an appraising and doubtful look in Rose's direction, then nodded.
"This way."
As they jogged along, Rose noted with satisfaction that the girl seemed to be one of the only people not completely freaking out. They saw several people that had passed out, and quite a few doctors who were panicking more than their patients. They quickly ran down a few stairwells and made their way through more corridors. Finally, they turned a corner and looked down into the main lounge. It was an open space area and the stairwell led along a transparent balustrade down into the hall.
Jack stopped abruptly and held Rose back from skidding forward, just as a platoon of soldiers in dark, covering uniforms marched into the building. Everyone in the lounge ran away screaming, trying to hide behind seats and drink machines. Rose quickly drew Jack and Martha behind a few potted plants, where they had a good vantage point to see all that happened.
After a few seconds of tense silence, the front man of the troop removed his helmet, to reveal a large rhino-like head beneath. Next to her, Rose heard Martha take a sharp breath and mutter under her breath. "Oh my god it's aliens, I knew it," she whispered almost triumphantly.
Rose glanced at Jack. "Recognize them?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Judoon," he grimaced. "Alien police for hire, if you will. Had a few run-ins, but always managed to shake'em."
"Oh please don't tell me they're looking for you…?"
Jack laughed, but a little nervously. "Oh, no that's all been, uh, sorted out years ago, nothing to worry about," he said, rubbing a hand on his neck.
At this point, they caught Martha staring at them with eyes the size of saucers and her mouth slightly agape. "What the hell are you talking about?" she whispered.
However, just before Jack could launch into a no doubt charming explanation of their antics, the Judoon started to bellow out something in the entrance hall below, explaining that they were here to apprehend a criminal. One of the human doctors then got shakily to his feet, hands raised, and attempted to make some kind of peaceful introduction.
"Uhm, we.. are citizens of planet Earth… uh, we welcome you in peace."
For a second, Rose wondered why he was responding so generally, before she realised that for her and Jack, the TARDIS was doing the translating. However, the poor guy did not have to wait long for an answer. The head Judoon picked him up by the collar and unceremoniously shoved him against the nearest wall. He pointed a gadget at him, which made the humans (and the girl next to Rose) jump in fear, only to scan the man's face in a blue light. The man was stuttering along, probably thinking his life had come to an end.
The machine beeped, then the Judoon let the man go. "Language assimilated," it grunted. "Designation: Earth, English. You will be catalogued." To another round of gasps, the Judoon drew another tool and scanned the shaking man's brain.
"Category: human," he barked and drew forward his hand to mark it with a big, black X. He left the stunned man where he was and turned. "Catalogue all suspects," he ordered. The rest of the platoon sheathed their guns and drew similar scanners themselves. The platoon began to move, scanning the frightened humans, marking them all with black Xs.
"Crap," Rose muttered.
Jack glanced at her. "What?"
"They're cataloguing the humans."
"Oh. And?"
"Which means they're after something non-human."
"Oh. OH."
"Yes," Rose sighed and got up, retreating behind the wall. "Come on."
Martha quickly followed. "Wait a moment! Who are you? Dr. Harkness, how did you know what these things are?"
Rose grimaced at her. "He's not really a doctor," she added. "And we haven't got time. We need to find the alien before they find us. You helpin'?"
Downstairs, they heard the Judoon bark more orders and the troops began to move. Martha gave one last glance at them, then back at the strange pair in front of her.
"Yes!" she blurted out, and Rose smiled. Well, that was something at least. "Good," she said. "Do you know where we can find a computer or something that would have the central patient records?"
"Yes! This way," Martha said and turned towards the stairwell to lead them further up into the hospital. Jack graciously held out his hand to let her pass, and she raised his eyebrows at him. "So if you're not a doctor, who are you then?"
"Captain Jack Harkness," he grinned as they jogged up the stairs. "At your service."
"Yeah, he's not really a Captain anymore either," Rose felt the need to point out, suppressing a smile at his chagrin.
"Oh yeah? Since when?" He asked, sounding very mock-hurt, running up behind her.
"Ever since you blew up your ship… to save our lives?" She gave him a little wink and saw Martha's eyes go a little wider. Who'd ever thought she'd play wingman for Jack, she thought.
Jack grinned at Martha. "Call me Jack," he said, and Rose saw her blush a little in return.
x
A few minutes later, Martha had led them to one of the top floor offices. "You can't access the files downstairs, unless you have the passwords, and I don't. We're better off talking to Dr. Stoker directly," she explained as they strode through the hallway.
Martha glanced back at Jack. "So, you seem to know what's going on then… Why are we on the moon?"
Jack was typing furiously into his vortex manipulator whilst they were walking. "Neutral territory. They've got no jurisdiction on Earth, so they brought us here, isolated us… I think the rain going up was literally them, scooping us to the moon."
"Like ice cream," Rose mused, earning herself a very confused look from Martha. "What? Not exactly elegant, is it? Getting the whole bloody hospital – bit overkill, isn't it?"
Jack whacked his vortex manipulator one last time. "Fried. Once again. And yeah, Judoon aren't exactly known for being delicate."
Martha grabbed his arm, looking worried. "But you said…. If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon, or something?"
Jack grinned down at her. "Good thought, but no – they brought us here to find someone," he glanced back at Rose. "Not us, mind you, but it would be good if we could get to that someone before anyone else can…"
Martha abruptly stopped. According to the small sign, they'd reached Dr. Stoker's office. Martha didn't hesitate and strode inside. "Mr. Stoker, I…" she started, and Jack and Rose filed into the office behind her. Martha froze.
Rose took in the scene. Two large, looming figures dressed completely in black leather stood beside the large, wooden desk. Legs were protruding out from behind it. Legs that looked very much like they belonged to someone in charge. And there was that sound again.
A sucking sound.
A small, old woman peeked out from behind the desk, holding a straw. A straw covered in blood.
Martha backed away and bumped into Jack and Rose. Jack reached for the door handle.
"KILL THEM!" the old woman cried, and the three of them turned to run.
x
The blood pumped in Rose's veins as they raced down the corridors. Whenever she looked back, it seemed the black figure had come closer. Jack was racing ahead, and Rose felt herself and Martha lagging behind. Suddenly, he skidded around a corner; when they followed, he pulled them back behind him. He stood ready to pounce, a heavy fire extinguisher in his hands. For a second, Rose felt her hearts hammer in her chest, when finally, Jack whipped up the blunt weapon.
With a loud clang, their pursuer connected soundly with the extinguisher, crumpling to the floor. Rose and Martha both let out a breath. Jack stepped forward, panting, weighing his weapon, grinning cockily. He eyed the figure on the ground. "Not that I'm interested, but what is he wearing - and what motorcycle fetish club do I have to go to…"
He couldn't finish. Martha let out a small scream as the helmeted guy stirred, sitting up with sudden speed, grabbing the fire extinguisher. Jack let it drop and turned to run. "Nevermind," he muttered, as they bolted down the corridor. Martha had grabbed Rose's arm in support, and she quickly moved to take her hand. Martha didn't hesitate and held on tight as they ran down the hallways.
They'd moved to a nearly deserted part of the hospital, it seemed. The hallways were empty, and only carts and toppled machinery barred their way. Rose let go of Martha and shouted, "help me!", beginning to throw more carts and furniture over, to stall the leather dude. Together, they toppled a heavy drinks machine, smashing the glass window open. Cans began rolling down the hallway, spilt soda covering the floor. When she looked round, Rose spotted Jack taking a defensive position, gun at the ready.
"What are you doing? You brought a gun?" she ran over to him, taking cover.
"Not the time! Get on with it, find the alien! I'll hold him off."
"Oh no you don't, you'll…"
"Get killed?" He raised an eyebrow.
"No, Jack," Rose began, but suddenly froze. She saw the sign on the wall, next to the room they stood in front of. This could work. It was dangerous, but it could work. "Actually, how are you with radiation?"
Jack's eyebrows went up. "Oh, well, I haven't tried it so far." He pocketed the gun, just as the dark figure turned the corner to run straight into broken glass and massive drinks machine. Not that it seemed to deter it much.
"Uh, now seems as good a time as any," Jack added hurriedly and pushed Rose and a very bewildered looking Martha into the x-ray room.
Rose heard crashing behind them and quickly whipped out her sonic screwdriver. "If this works," she muttered, getting to work on the machine.
"Hang on, what are you doing?" Martha quickly turned to Jack. "What did she mean? What are you gonna do with the x-ray?"
Jack just shot her an apologetic glance and slammed himself in the doorway, just as the creature following them did the same. "Can't hold it for long, you better hurry," he grunted, and Rose sped up her movements.
Martha ran over to her. "What can I do?"
"Find the on-switch," Rose said and held the sonic steady as Martha darted away.
"Now or never," Jack shouted and ran out of the way. "Get behind the screen!"
The door crashed once.
"I need to hold it steady!" Rose shouted back. The sound of some kind of electronic overload started building up. Just another second, just another…
"I'll hold it! You! Screen!" he yelled, trying to wrestle the screwdriver from her.
The door crashed twice. It gave. The black-clad man rushed inside, ready to tackle them.
"NOW!" Rose screamed, and everything illuminated. The entire room crackled to life, and she vaguely noticed her own and Jack's skeletons shining through, whereas their pursuer remained solid.
Radiation coursed through her body; she felt a tingling, an almost unpleasant tickle in her blood. She felt unsteady on her feet for a moment, everything swam a little. Then, she could see clearly again, and registered two things. One, the thing was down, for good this time; two, she hadn't unwittingly used her strange powers again. She felt surprisingly jubilant.
The same could not be said for Jack, however. He stepped into her field of vision, grabbing her head, searching her face. "Rose, oh God, are you okay?!"
"…'m fine," she mumbled.
He quickly pulled her into a hug. "Don't do that to me again, okay? You could have died!"
Rose hugged him back, more relieved than she wanted to let on at the moment. "I guess I'm immune?"
Jack shook his head and held her at arm's length to look at her again. "And you had to find out by giving me a heart-attack?" Rose smirked a little.
"Are you all right?!" Martha shouted from behind the roentgen screen, a slight panic tinging her voice.
"Yeah, you can come out now," Jack said, letting go of Rose. "I've absorbed it all, I think."
"We did," Rose corrected, rubbing her forearms. "Ugh, tingles."
Martha stared at them, then at the thing on the floor, then back at them. "Okay, what the hell?!"
Rose sighed and sent her an apologetic look. "Martha, I'm so sorry, we'll explain later, okay?" She turned to Jack. "So we found our blood-sucking alien – what now?"
Jack rubbed a hand down his neck, looking at her thoughtfully. "How should I know? You're the Doctor now," he said, sounding sad.
Rose sobered as well. "No I'm not," she said quietly.
Martha threw up her hands in exasperation. "What is this, the party of people who aren't doctors?!" Rose and Jack both snapped their heads round to look at her. "Never mind who's got the bloody degree," Martha continued, "we need to let those rhinos know about Mrs. Finnegan!"
Jack's face went grim. "Yeah, she's a nasty one. Plasmavore, I think."
"Plasmavore?"
"Sucks people's blood to feed, but…" suddenly, he slapped his forehead. "Oh, of course! She's trying to mask herself! If she sucked your boss' blood, that means she'll register as human now! We need to find her before the Judoon can catalogue her, come on!"
He turned and made for the ruined doorway. Rose and Martha had no choice but to follow. She pocketed her screwdriver, only to find it had been frazzled by the machine. Her heart sank. So much for that asset, she thought, and dashed after the pair.
x
They went down one level, and found the corridors crowded with people sitting on the floor, looking exhausted. Rose could almost taste it in the air; the oxygen was getting scarce. Martha ran over to her colleague, who was checking on a patient. After a minute, she rejoined Rose and Jack, who were looking through the slumped people, trying to find the old woman again.
"The oxygen is running out," Martha confirmed.
"What are they gonna do? They can't just let us all suffocate," Jack said, sounding angry.
"They've done this floor," Rose said. "They must have gotten nearly everyone now. Where are they?"
"Rose, you should go back to the TARDIS. If they find you, they'll execute you on the spot. Trust me, I've seen them work."
Martha ran to keep up with them. "Wait, are you an alien too?" she gasped.
Rose chewed her lip. She didn't like hiding away, but perhaps Jack was right. She didn't get a chance to tell him, though. As they rounded a corner, they ran straight into a Judoon squad. Before they could react, a blue scanner ran down her forehead.
"Race: unknown. Alien presence confirmed! EXECUTE!" the Judoon barked, and a dozen guns were suddenly levelled at them.
"Oh my god, you are," Martha whispered, before Rose grabbed her arm again, felt Jack's hand slip in hers, and ran for her life.
Subconsciously, she was heading for the TARDIS, even while running haphazardly through the corridors. As the adrenaline coursed through her veins, she felt the golden fire rise in her mind. She needed to protect herself and her companions, and everyone in this hospital. But doubt nagged at her; if she kept on calling on the Bad Wolf, she would burn out before this day was out. She could feel it. Every time, it got more dangerous and volatile. She wrestled down the feeling, keeping it in check, for now.
Suddenly, Jack yanked her arm in the opposite direction, making her and Martha stumble. "There she is!" he yelled and grabbed Rose. "Run for the TARDIS! Go! I'll stop her!" Jack bolted through two large swinging doors and down a hallway, straight towards a room marked "MRI".
Rose ducked just as a Judoon blast broke the wall behind her head, and dragged Martha with her. "This way!"
x
Jack sighed in relief as he heard Rose run. He was afraid she'd try and pull some stupid heroics – well, that was his job now. He ran straight through the doors to the MRI, a plan forming in his mind.
"Hey lady!" he called, gun cocked. A slab stepped in his way. He knew it was pointless to shoot, but holding on to the gun made him feel a bit braver at the moment. He could just see the old woman behind a screen, working the MRI controls. The machine was crackling with electrical energy.
"Stop it, right there," he called, but she only glanced at him briefly.
"Get him," she ordered calmly, and the slab made his move.
Jack turned back and made for the door again, hoping this would work. "Yeah, you better hurry, the Judoon are on their move, lady, and they're not happy."
"Oh," she said, and then again, "Oh! You know!" She seemed delighted about it. "KILL HIM!" She suddenly screeched, and the slab hurtled itself towards Jack. He pushed through the door backwards, shooting at the slab. The creature merely shrugged it off, and lunged… but Jack had run. He dashed down the hallway, yelling loudly.
"I've found your alien! Judoon! Where are you?! Scan the damn alien!"
Some patients around him probably wondered who the maniac in the doctor's coat was, and why he was waving a gun around and yelling. They'd probably blame their oxygen-deprived brains later. Jack finally spotted the squadron from earlier and yelled even louder.
"I've found her, you idiots!"
Almost immediately, he was scanned. "Confirmed: human, with traces of alien influence," was the verdict, and he was handed a slip of paper asking him to please register with the proper authorities.
"Yeah not gonna happen, but will you now please follow me to the criminal?!"
"Auxiliary action by civilians will not be compensated," one of them stated, but the squad moved down the corridor he indicated.
"This way!" he called, and jogged back to the MRI.
The Judoon not so much opened as rather kicked the door in and raised their weapons. "It's her! She's the alien!" Jack stepped out of the way.
Mrs. Finnegan turned to them, a pleasant smile on her face. "Oh I don't mind, scan all you like."
Jack grabbed a Judoon's arm as he raised the scanner. "Use the secondary setting. She's a plasmavore. She absorbed a human's blood, to hide."
"Secondary scan initiated," the Judoon acknowledged without question.
"What? I don't know what you mean, dearie," the old woman tittered, but Jack saw a frightened glint in her eyes.
The Judoon's scanner bleeped. "Non-human."
"Oh no, you don't!" she cried, suddenly wild with fury. She turned and ran for the MRI controls, pushing a few final buttons, as the Judoon placidly continued their sentence.
"Confirmed: Plasmavore. Charged with the crime of killing the Child Princess of Padrivole Regency Nine."
"SHE DESERVED IT!" the alien cried whilst she was maniacally plugging cables together.
"The accused confesses," one of the Judoon stated. "Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution." They raised their weapons.
Mrs. Finnegan turned, a now triumphant smile on her face. "Enjoy your victory, Judoon! Because you're gonna burn with me! Burn in HELL!" she yelled, as several red beams cut into her body, disintegrating her instantly.
Jack and the squad looked at the smoking pile of ashes. "Case closed," the Judoon stated, and they all sheathed their weapons. Finally, Jack noticed that the MRI had now reached a critical state. Electricity was crackling all over it, and he reckoned it was gonna blow. The Judoon held out his scanner at the machine.
"Scans detect lethal amalgamation of magnetic pulse."
"Lethal?!" Jack cried. "But what about all the people in the hospital?!"
"Our jurisdiction has ended. The Judoon will evacuate." He activated a con system on his uniform. "All units withdraw," came the rasping voice over the loudspeakers.
"Well, shit," Jack said, as they marched from the room. He quickly evaluated his options. Could he absorb the electricity to make it safe? No… he'd probably burn to a crisp first… but… "Wait a minute," he whispered. "Electricity!"
There was only one thing he thought might work now. He pushed the comm button on his wrist. "Rose? I found your energy source."
x
Martha was pulled through the large plastic tarpaulins around the abandoned building work. She had so many questions, but she wasn't sure she knew where to begin. For one, she might have to wait until alien police from space weren't trying to kill them anymore. The blonde woman called Rose led the way, suddenly revealing a large, blue box behind scattered supplies.
Martha gaped at it, stunned. Rose, however, seemed more relieved than Martha had seen her so far, and made for the box without so much as a pause.
"What's that?" she asked, but Rose just opened the door and went inside. Martha read the signs on the strange thing. "Police box?" she asked, but got no answer. "Rose?" she asked, and came closer to peek inside the box. "Do you think this is safe to…whatthehell?"
Suddenly, inside the tiny hull, a large, cavernous room opened up before her. Golden light shone throughout, weaving in and out of large, coral-like supports. In the centre of the room stood Rose, next to a large mushroom console of sorts. Martha stared. "B-but… it's bigger on the inside? How's that possible?"
Rose looked up. "Sorry, yeah, forgot to mention. I'll explain later." She went back to checking what seemed to be large monitors that had a floor plan of the hospital pulled up.
Martha stepped on the wooden platform, gaping at all the buttons, lights and gizmos around her. "So… you're alien."
"Well. I guess so. But this is a space ship. And currently our best ticket out of here. I'm trying to patch into the speakers of the hospital, to tell everyone to come here… maybe we could get some people off the moon that way?" She seemed unsure.
Martha frowned, coming closer. She decided to just go with it for now, and applied herself to the problem at hand. "I'm not sure that'll work – most of them will have passed out from lack of oxygen by now. Unless you can, I dunno… beam them here?" she asked hopefully.
Rose gave her a rueful smile. "Don't think I can," she said sadly. Martha finally had a chance to really look at her, and considered that she didn't look – or sound – very alien to her.
"What about Jack? And… Mrs. Finnegan? Can you, I dunno, let the Judoon know where she is?"
Rose flicked a switch and then gripped the console with both hands in frustration. "I've been trying to access the hospital's internal tech stuff, but I think the Judoon messed with it somehow. Ugh, it's so frustrating, I don't know what…" Rose closed her eyes for a moment, and there seemed to be a golden glow shimmering on her skin. Martha just wanted to take a closer look, when she felt a shudder go through the room, and Rose's eyes snapped open.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, not doing it, don't worry," she muttered between clenched teeth, and Martha felt quite sure that she wasn't talking to her.
Suddenly, the console beeped on the other side.
"Rose?" It was Jack, Martha heard with relief.
"Yeah?" Rose answered, running over, pushing a button in return.
"I think I found your energy source. Transport to my coordinates." The console bleeped again.
"Wait, what?" Martha managed, as Rose began dashing around, pressing levers and switches and... a glass ball? "Transport? What did he mean, transport? I thought you couldn't... WHOA!" she cried, as the entire room lurched to the side, throwing her off balance. Rose just held on to the console as the ship rumbled and groaned. A loud, grating noise rang through the room, and suddenly, everything went still. Without a glance back, Rose yelled, "come on!" and ran for the doors. Martha had no choice but to follow.
Through the doors, she half expected to run into the supplies and tarpaulin, even though she somehow knew that they probably had moved. She saw Jack, and for some reason, he suddenly seemed the most normal thing in comparison to everything and she flung herself in his arms for a brief hug. "Oh God, we've moved!" she gasped, holding on to his arms.
"Yeah, a bit bumpy, isn't she?" he smirked. "Let's celebrate your virgin flight another time, sweetheart." He looked up. "Rose, the machine. The Judoon got the plasmavore, but she set it to overload."
"I see it," she said. She had already moved toward the controls and was shaking her head. "I'm stumped. But if this blows, so does the hospital. And probably the moon. And who knows what else."
"Can't you stop it?" Martha cried.
"No clue," Rose said, looking helplessly at all the cables and buttons.
"Rose! The TARDIS!" Jack called. "Absorb the power! You can save everyone and get your dimension thing working at the same time!"
"What if it doesn't work?" Rose came back to them, looking anxious. "We've only got one shot at this…" she chewed her lip.
Martha turned to her. "Look, whatever it is he's suggesting, we haven't got time either way. Try it, cause it's the only idea we've got so far, right?"
"Improvise, remember?" Jack said, as another loud crackle came from the machine. Rose nodded, and ran back to the TARDIS. Jack grabbed Martha's hand and pulled her away behind a screen.
"Here goes nothing," he muttered. "Nice knowing you, Martha!"
He wrapped her in his arms, leaning down for a brief, but fierce kiss. Martha hardly had time to process this when a dull sound erupted from behind them. Jack turned them, to shield her from the MRI and the ever growing white light coming from the TARDIS, together with the rasping sound that she'd heard before.
The crackling electricity reached its peak, and just as an explosion seemed imminent, all sound and light seemed to switch off. Martha felt as if the very life had been sucked out of the room, like there was some kind of negative space around them. All she knew were Jack's arms still holding her, his face next to hers, his eyes firmly closed. After a second that stretched on for an eternity, Martha allowed herself to open her eyes.
The room had gone back to normal. The MRI was silent and looked dead. The TARDIS, however, was… glowing. Martha unwrapped herself from Jack, who was now staring at the machine in awe. "It worked," he whispered. They both stepped forward.
"Rose?" Jack called. The doors of the ship stood wide open, but they couldn't make out the inside; everything was consumed in a bright, white light.
"What happened?" Martha breathed, only then noticing that she felt incredibly light-headed all of a sudden. She gasped for air, to find that not enough oxygen was reaching her lungs – hadn't been for a while now. Her adrenaline had kept her going; now she was crashing, hard.
She felt herself stumble, and reached out to steady herself. She heard Jack call out to her, but it was too late. A shock ran through her entire system as her hand made contact with the wood of the blue box. It was hot, almost burning; her entire body felt as if it was being compressed and pulled, crushed and dragged away from herself.
Suddenly, everything snapped back to reality. Her body continued its motion, as if she'd never touched the weird machine; everything was dark and she felt herself fall… but there was something else… hands gripped her legs, tackling her to the ground. With a grunt, she slammed down onto the hard floor, the shock of it finally bringing her back to full consciousness.
Someone lunged on top of her, but as it was nearly dark, she had no idea who it was. It didn't feel like either Rose or Jack. And where was the TARDIS? Everything was illuminated only by the soft, orange glow coming from somewhere behind her. Suddenly, some lights switched back on, and a voice she didn't recognize asked, "It's over. Is everyone all right?"
In the light, she saw a young guy lie on top of her, his hands cradling her protectively. She had no idea who the hell he was. Her mind being unable to make any kind of sense of the situation, she felt her instincts take over. "GETOFFME!" she cried, wriggling out of the man's grasp with vigour. His eyes snapped to hers, widened in shock and confusion. "Oi! I said, GET OFF!" she shouted again, this time scrambling free of his arms. He let go of her suddenly, and got up quickly. She got up too, wobbly on her legs, and retreated a few steps, looking around wildly. She felt trapped.
"What happened, where am I?!" She vaguely noticed that she was in some kind laboratory room. A man in a dark blue suit was standing in front of her, holding something. Around them were some people she couldn't quite make out. She tried to blink away the dizziness.
The man in the suit stepped forward. His face was anxious. "When did you put on that lab coat?" he asked quietly.
The younger man stared at her in confusion, taking in her appearance. "Martha…? W-what happened to your hair?" How the hell did he know her name?!
Martha looked around her. She was not in the hospital anymore, the ship was gone, and it seemed the whole thing was just as much a shock to them as it was to her. Finally, the whole day caught up with her in a rush, and she felt tears threatening to rise.
"Who the hell are you?" she fired at the strangers. "Where am I?! Where's Jack? What have you done with Rose?"
The man's eyes widened in utter shock and… hope? She felt her tired, oxygen-deprived body finally give in, and everything went black.