DuShuZhi: That's because the Ninth Doctor has such a fabulous rear bumper!
BlueStoneShiningWolf: No, Nine is having none of it. He doesn't waste a lot of time rambling on, either. He's a man of action. Yes, Jack is immortal. I didn't want anyone to forget that. But it's just something that hovers in the background. It's too new for it to really affect him mentally.
As the Doctor prepared the cures in the disinfectant tank above the lift, Cassandra watched him curiously.
"Alright, we've got it all mixed up. Now, Cassandra, when I tell you to, hold onto that lever with everything you've got!"
"What are you going to do? Kill them?"
"Nah, that's your first solution to everything," replied the Doctor, rolling his eyes in disgust.
"But you can't open those doors!"
"Sure I can." He hopped down into the lift and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the control panel. "Here I am, this is me, opening the lift." As the door opened, he quickly removed his leather jacket and hurled it out into the lobby. "Hold that lever, Cassandra!"
As the Doctor was drenched in all the intravenous treatments, he grinned at the infected patients trudging towards him. "Come on! I can help! I believe you lot have an appointment!"
"Touch each other, pass it on! It's a cure!" cried the Doctor as the first ones in the elevator were drenched with the solution.
As the people in the lobby were cured, their faces became beautifully smooth, unblemished. Some of them actually smiled for the first time in their existence. "That's beautiful!" The Doctor held a hand out to Cassandra and helped her down into the lift.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"They needed a doctor, they needed a cure, and so I gave them one. It's a new day! A new sub-species. New Humans, Cassandra. Out of the dark, no more tubes, completely alive, and absolutely fantastic!" His blue eyes brimmed with effervescent joy as he watched these people make simple contact for the first time.
Jack finally made his way towards the Doctor. "You never cease to amaze me, Doctor." He gestured over at Cassandra. "Is Rose still?"
"Yes," replied the Doctor darkly, joy fading. "Are you alright, Jack?"
"Yeah. It didn't even kill me. My body filtered it out before it could do so. Hurt like a bitch though."
"I'm sorry, Jack."
"Got other fish to fry, Doctor. We gotta get Rose back."
"That we do," he agreed, turning to Cassandra. "Now for you. I told you to leave her."
"But- everything's happy. Everything's fine, can't you just leave me?" Cassandra's eyes darted around the room in desperation.
"Are you mad? You have to get out of Rose, Cassandra." Turning to the Doctor, Jack said, "You weren't kidding."
"You've lived long enough, Cassandra. Get out of Rose right now."
"Alright, since you told me to." Then Cassandra hurled herself into Jack.
"Wow! I'm pretty! Now this is a fine specimen of male flesh! Great hair and dimples! Not even my original male form was anything like this!"
The Doctor was distracted by Jack's plight because Rose nearly fainted, dizzy from psychic trauma. He made a desperate grab for her. "Rose!"
"Oh, there you are," she mumbled. "That crazy skin flap got into you too."
He brushed her hair back from her face and looked into her eyes. "Trust me?"
"You know I do. Always, Doctor."
"I promise it won't hurt." Then he sank to the floor with her and placed a finger on her temple.
"Doctor?"
"Yes, I'm here." His voice in her head was gentle, caressing.
"You're in my head now."
"Yes. I can prevent her from hurting you this way. I needed to act quickly in case she got any more bright ideas. You couldn't take any more of that from her."
The Doctor felt Rose's delighted laughter in his mind and joy surged through him. It had been so long since he had felt anyone's presence in his mind, and even then, nothing had ever felt like this.
"It feels nice. It's like how you always make me feel, Doctor. Loved and protected. But more than that."
"Oh, Rose, that's how I always want you to feel with me. Nothing will ever change how I feel about you."
"Doctor, does it help?"
"Help what, Rose?"
"Like you said in Utah about your people being gone. That it was empty and no one was there."
This time it was Rose who felt the Doctor's laughter. "You've always made me feel less alone, but to answer your question, yes. It helps. But this will have to wait. I have erected some barriers to prevent her from possessing you again, and she's in Jack right now."
The Doctor removed his finger from Rose's temple and helped her over to the seating in the lobby.
Turning back over to Cassandra, he folded his arms and wore an expression of hostile intractability. "I didn't mean for you to go into Jack, Cassandra. No one wants to die. You had a second chance after Platform One, Cassandra, and now you've squandered it."
"I don't want to die!" Her plaintive cry sounded odd coming from Jack's throat.
"I can't help you, Cassandra. I don't want to help you. Even your investigation of the Sisterhood was all a wild stunt in the name of money. You learned nothing. Most of all, you violated Rose. But no more. You can't hurt her now, and I'm telepathic. You can float as atoms on air for all I care, Cassandra. So here's your option. Leave Jack willingly, or I'll force you out with my own mind."
"Won't that kill your handsome friend here?"
"Nope, Jack is special. But it will be a very painful end for you."
At that moment, Chip comes bounding into the lobby. "Mistress! I kept myself safe for you!"
Cassandra's eyes cut slyly over to Chip. "You're alive. And, dare I ask, volunteering?"
"I worship the Mistress!"
The Doctor shook his finger threateningly towards Cassandra. "Don't you dare, Cassandra! You have no right!"
Chip's eyes locked on the Doctor's. "I give her the right! I welcome her!"
Jack suddenly lurches as Cassandra hurtles her consciousness into Chip.
Steadying Jack by the shoulders, the Doctor briefly looked Jack over. "You alright?"
"Yeah. One of these days you two are going to have to tell me the story about this one. See if I can tell which one of you pissed her off more."
"Cassandra, you're not being fair to Chip. He cares about you, and you're hurting him."
"I'm just now realizing that, Doctor. Poor little Chip is only a half-life. And he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last. I'm going to die. And, that's actually okay." Jack caught Cassandra as she fell to the ground.
"Not long now. There's no place for me anymore."
Having regained her footing, Rose approached them, placing her hand on the Doctor's arm. Her head tilted slightly as she looked at Cassandra. Then she knelt on the floor next to her.
"Don't touch her, Rose!" cried the Doctor in a panic.
"Not strong enough," replied Cassandra in a ragged voice. The face of her faithful servant was ashen. "You were right, Doctor. Everything has its time."
Rose reached and took Cassandra's hand.
"You're such a peculiar child, Rose Tyler. I tried to kill you, and you still wanted to help me. I hurt and humiliated you, and now you're here again."
"That's Rose's greatest quality, Cassandra," replied the Doctor. He knelt on the floor and placed his arm around Rose's shoulders. "Her compassionate heart, and her capacity to forgive."
Rose lightly ran a hand down the dying woman's cheek. "And no one should have to die alone."
For once, the cynicism and fakery dropped from Cassandra's countenance. "Thank you," she whispered. With that, Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen drew her last breath.
Their journey finally came full-circle when they arrived back in Ward 26. The Doctor stood smiling at the Face of Boe. "I thought you were supposed to be dying."
"Ah, I had grown tired of the universe. But you have shown me new visions. So with a new outlook, dying can wait. I still have things to accomplish."
"I have heard the legends, you know. That you're millions of years old. Perhaps far older than that."
"Is that what they say?" The Face of Boe lightly chuckled. "Such a thing would be impossible, would it not?"
"In my travels, I have seen few things that are impossible," replied the Doctor. "But I had a feeling you had wanted to tell me something."
"I had originally thought you might be the one it was meant for, Doctor. But having seen you today, I'm not so sure. Many things have changed since Platform One. Your beautiful lady travels with you still and both of you look upon each other with unashamed affection. Your other friend is loyal to you in ways you have only recently discovered. In spite of the legends surrounding you, it is clear to me that you have love and a family. As long as you have those, you always have a home. Until we meet again, Doctor."
The Face of Boe briefly shimmered before he teleported out of the hospital.
And so we come to the end of New Earth. A different ending, yes. I just can't see Nine humoring Cassandra with a trip to the past just so she can tell herself she's beautiful. It was even out of character for Ten, really. He was supposed to be a "no second chances" kind of man, and yet Cassandra made her own second chance, and look what she did.
So I thought it was fitting for things to end for Cassandra as they did. I also thought it was appropriate for Rose to do what she did. She helped her as she couldn't before. Yes, Cassandra died. But she had an understanding, and a moment of peace before she did.