Chapter 2

Quarantined Day 1- Friday

The TARDIS landed effortlessly in the flat, and Graham was relieved to see that this time his furniture was still intact. The TARDIS made their home a little less roomy than one would have liked during a time when you were forced to stay inside, but Graham had to admit; with the doctor there, he felt better.

Yaz said her goodbyes quickly, eager to get back to her family. "I told them I needed some exercise. There'll be questions if I'm gone too much longer."

The Doctor punched in some numbers at the console and pulled a lever Yaz didn't recognize. A box popped out below the navigation deck. "Before you go," the Doctor started, "put these on your forehead." The Doctor handed out what looked like long black nasal strips.

"What's this for?" Ryan asked.

"This will link you directly to my sonic, so if you begin exhibiting symptoms I'll know," the Doctor explained.

Ryan held the strip up to the light, observing it. "How does it work?" he asked. "Are there some kind of nanobots that absorb into the skin?"

"Something like that," the Doctor answered. She took the strip from Ryan's hands. "This side goes on your forehead. Then you peel off the back and let it soak in. Do NOT wash your face for half an hour." Graham, Ryan, and Yaz did as they were told. "Oh, and since trace amounts will be on your fingers, try not to eat banana pudding without a spoon for the next 3 days. You do NOT want to know why..." she added hastily.

Graham's face wrinkled. "Doctor, this feels a little funny…"

"It almost burns," Yaz agreed.

"That's the nanobots linking to your immune system," the Doctor explained. "Means it's working. That's good news, right?!" she said happily.

The three friends half smiled at her, trying to convince themselves that "good" was the word they would choose..

Yaz went home as soon as they left the TARDIS, leaving Ryan, Graham, and the Doctor on their own.

Graham turned to Ryan. "Pop upstairs and clean the loo real quick, will you?" he whispered.

Ryan's eyes grew big in recognition. . "Good plan," he whispered back. The Doctor watched Ryan disappear up the stairs.

"He'll be down in a minute- just… make yourself at home!" Graham said, trying to sound less nervous than he really was. Either the TARDIS cleaned itself or the Doctor kept it immaculate. They weren't expecting to have guests, let alone HER. She had seen wonders across time and space- he could only guess what his home looked like to someone like the Doctor.

The Doctor started looking at the pictures on Graham's wall. If she found things cluttered, she didn't mention it. "Last time I was here, we were in a bit of a hurry- I didn't get a chance to really look around," she said. She looked back at Graham and beamed. "Now I have all the time in the world! Or, you know, four months… figure of speech."

Graham smiled, still a little stiff from the abnormality of it all. "Yeah, my home is your home and all that," Graham responded.

"So," the Doctor said as she sat on the sofa. "What do you do when you're in your flat?"

Graham sat down next to the Doctor. "Oh, you know, watch the tele. Read a book. Work on a hobby of some sort."

The Doctor's eyes grew big. "I could have a hobby! I'd be great at a hobby." she said.

Graham chuckled. "I don't know if my flat could withstand your hobbies, Doc. They tend to be… well let's just say, intense."

The Doctor opened her mouth to protest, but then stopped. "That's fair," she told Graham with a half smile. She did have hobbies- most of which consisted of saving worlds or inventing high tech machinery. Not many alien incursions at Graham's flat these days, and she doubted Graham had the tools she needed to keep her inventor's mind busy. She could always go back and build something on the TARDIS, but that would defeat the purpose of being there. She needed to be WITH them, no matter how bored she was already beginning to feel. That's the only way she could ensure they were safe. They sat in silence for a moment. "Tele! It's been a while since I've watched the tele. Tele sounds brilliant right now!"

"Oh all right," Graham grabbed the remote control, happy to have something to do. "Anything in particular strike your fancy?" he asked.

The Doctor shook her head. "Whatever you typically watch is fine."

"You sure? Because we have hundreds of channels. Can't promise anything good, but…"

"I'm sure," the Doctor interrupted enthusiastically. She didn't get a chance like this very often- a chance to see what her friends' lives were like without her. What they watched- what they ate- what they talked about- it all showed insight into their minds and personalities. It might not be the type of life that she as a Time Lord was accustomed to, but she was really looking forward to finding out more about her friends.

Graham turned the television on. "Oh, my favorite!" he exclaimed. The Doctor looked anticipatingly at the tele. A man was holding a fish. It appeared dead. A monotone voice narrated. "What you're seeing appears to be a sockeye salmon…"

"No way!" Graham said in amazement. "In March?! That's nearly two months early for those parts!"

The man continued. "And weighing at nearly 6 kilos, any fisherman would be proud of this catch."

Graham whistled, clearly impressed. "That's a whopper!"

The Doctor looked at Graham and then back at the tele. Surely there was something she was missing, and the look on her face betrayed such.

"Graham!" Ryan shouted as he came down the stairs, turning Graham and the Doctor's attention to him. "I've told you- no one wants to watch this with you. The Doctor's been here five minutes and you're already boring her to death." The Doctor smiled at his attempt to rescue her.

"I'll have you know, this show is an inspiration, as well as a play on words!" Graham turned to the doctor to explain. "It's called 'Go Fish-ing.' Get it?! Like the game?!"

The Doctor nodded her head in an attempt to be supportive, but failed at being able to feign any sort of enthusiasm.

Graham once again turned toward Ryan. "It inspires people to go enjoy the great outdoors. Not like your generation, fidgeting with those electronic games all day," he chided.

"It's not an inspiration- it's a sleep inducing coma." Ryan countered.

"Well it's a good thing the Doc doesn't sleep then, isn't it?" Graham defended.

"This will make her start," Ryan finished pointedly.

The Doctor jumped up vigorously, willing to change the subject. "Graham, thank you for showing me… the dead fish," she said, with a fabricated polite smile. "It was lovely…" She forced her tone to become more urgent. "I just remembered, though, that this is an epidemic. There is a biological microscopic agent out there targeting humans and trying to break into the home of my fam. I can't let it get past these doors."

She paused. Graham and Ryan looked at her and each other. "What?" Graham finally asked in confusion.

"I need to sanitize your flat," she explained. "Do you have cleaning supplies?"

Ryan and Graham nodded in understanding. "I'll get them," Ryan said, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Here, we'll help you," Graham said, getting up from the sofa.

"No need!" the doctor responded quickly. "It'll give me a chance to have a look see at your gaff!" she said lively. The Doctor turned toward the kitchen. "Also, if I do it alone, it'll take up more time…" she said quietly to herself.

"You sure?" Graham asked, still standing.

Ryan appeared from the kitchen with three sponges and some cleaning spray. The Doctor took all of it from his hands. Ryan stared at her in confusion.

"Oh yes- continue your life as normal. Well, as normal as you can under the circumstances. Watch..." The Doctor attempted to point to the television while balancing the cleaning supplies in her arms. She paused, trying to find the right words. "... This…." she finally settled. "Besides, we're family," she explained light-heartedly. "You don't have to entertain me. I'll be fine on my own,"

"Well, all right," Graham said, uncertain, but sitting back down on the sofa nonetheless. He didn't like the idea of not pitching in, especially when it was his own home; but he knew the Doctor's personality. She needed to keep herself busy.

Ryan was still facing the doctor. "I'll just be up in my room then," he told her, almost feeling like he was asking permission.

The Doctor nodded approvingly. "Don't mind me- I'll just be here and there- saving the world, from a kitchen- one invisible microbe at a time," she smiled and made her way to the kitchen. She put the supplies on the counter top. Finding herself alone, she started to monologue.

"All right, pep talk time," she told herself. "Doctor- you can do this. Your boys are safe at home. Huh, I've got boys! Always wanted to be able to say 'my boys', and now I have!" She refocused. "You've got cleaning spray that kills…" she picked up the container and read its contents. "99% of all bacteria. Nice!" she put it down and frowned. "Too bad this disease is viral. Why can't there ever just be a tub of what I need?" she asked herself. "Just once it would be nice if I had a tub of dalek dematerializer when I'm in the heat of battle…" she leaned over the counter and played with the spray bottle again. "Or, in this case, the anti-viral version of that." She popped up enthusiastically. "I could invent it!" She said, turning around as if talking to an unseen audience. "The anti-viral thing, not a dalek dematerializer. If the daleks were capable of being dematerialized, I would have invented that spray a long time ago… And fine, maybe 'invent' isn't the right word- I know humans have anti-viral spray already, but I could tweak this solution!" She turned back toward the counter, proud of her revelation. "Yes, I think I might!" She started rummaging through the cabinets, looking for ingredients.

Twenty minutes after Graham last saw the Doctor, he heard a miniature explosion coming from the kitchen.

"Doc, you all right in there?" he shouted worriedly.

Ryan came running down the stairs. The Doctor opened the door to the kitchen. Ryan's nose wrinkled at the smell.

The Doctor coughed slightly. "Nothing to see in there!" she said happily- too happily- as if she were a child trying to cover up something she had done. Then she frowned. "Literally. You can't actually see anything in there right now until the smoke clears. And I wouldn't breathe too heavily if you try- humans don't have the best respiratory response to this chemical reaction." She smiled again, trying to be reassuring. "But on the bright side- no virus from earth is going to survive that either!" she said triumphantly.

Ryan and Graham looked at each other in fear. "Did she just tell us not to breathe or we'll die?" Ryan asked.

"Give it about half an hour and all should be clear and safe again!" she said.

"Safe to BREATHE?" Graham asked incredulously.

"I can't hold my breath for half an hour…" Ryan added.

The Doctor's smile faded. "Maybe go upstairs… the both of you…" She started back towards the kitchen, then turned around. "And open a window."

Graham nodded slightly, still nervous about the insinuation of death. He swore he was starting to feel fire in his lungs.

The Doctor entered the kitchen, and popped back out almost immediately. "And maybe turn on a fan, just to be on the safe side..." Graham nodded again. The Doctor gave him a fabricated smile. "I'm going to close this door now," she said, disappearing behind it.

Graham was still watching Ryan play his video games an hour later when the Doctor appeared. "Good news!" she said. "It's safe to come out!"

"Oh THANK YOU, I'm starving!" Ryan said as he started to stand. Graham put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"You sure it's safe?" he asked the Doctor.

"Of course I'm sure! I wouldn't put you in danger," she answered. "Intentionally," she clarified.

"What does the sonic say, Doc? Because I still feel a slight tingling in my chest…" Graham revealed.

The Doctor took out her sonic screwdriver and scanned Graham. After looking at the results, she handed it to him. "See?" she asked.

Graham looked down at the sonic in her hand and saw a bunch of symbols. "I have no idea what any of that means," he said, not taking it from her hands.

The Doctor sighed and put it back in her pocket. "It says you're fine. No lasting damage."

"Yeah, if there WERE damage, Graham, it would have shown up on the Doctor's sonic. She linked us to it, remember?"

"Then how come it didn't go off when my lungs started filling up with fire?" he asked Ryan defiantly.

"I scanned the kitchen's air levels- everything is back to normal," she said.. "Well, more or less…"

That caught both Ryan and Graham's attention. "More or less?" Ryan asked.

"You trust me, don't you?" the Doctor challenged.

Before Graham could answer, Ryan interrupted. "Is the food safe to eat?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered.

"How is the food safe, but if we were to enter the kitchen, it would mean sudden death?" Graham asked, genuinely curious.

The Doctor ignored the question. "Anyway, the entire bottom level of the flat is sterilized. No chance of any pathogen surviving. In fact, I think it'll be a good long while before any virus is even capable of attaching itself on those surfaces." she said victoriously.

"You're not helping my confidence in the whole 'it's safe to breathe' thing," Graham retorted.

"And I found this!" the Doctor smiled as she took a glass cup out of her pocket. Inside the cup was a spider. Graham and Ryan peered at it closely, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be impressed by. They looked at each other inquisitively.

"Is that a spider?" Ryan finally asked.

"I found her!" the Doctor said proudly. "Don't worry- I already checked. Doesn't have any trace of mutation like the last spider Graham found here, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Ryan asked. He knew she was itching for some sort of an adventure- with her life, how could she not? But the idea of facing another spider the size of a St. Bernard made his skin crawl.

"I couldn't just let her die in the explosion. I thought I'd keep her as a pet on the TARDIS. Imagine me- with a pet!" she peered back at the glass she was holding, lovingly. "My own pet spider… Poor lass. Can you imagine? The majority of the world's spiders are born and live outside. It's what their biological instincts tell them to do. It's all they know. Plenty of fresh food sources outside. And water." The Doctor shrugged her shoulders, the enormity of the thought running over her. "It probably takes a lot of courage to set up shop in man-made quarters. So artificial. No plants to hide in. No familiar surroundings. This is a brave spider. I named her Bill."

"Why?" asked Ryan.

"No reason," the Doctor lied. "I just always liked that name," she said, watching the spider intently.

Graham whispered to Ryan. "I think being quarantined is going to be too much for her."

"Oh!" she shouted, her enthusiasm back. "I started sanitizing the upstairs! The bathroom was surprisingly clean already. Kudos to you. Two boys, living on their own- I was actually nervous to walk in there, but I must say, I'm impressed." She looked back at the spider.

Ryan smiled and laughed nervously. "Yeah, well, we try to keep it clean…"

Graham chimed in. "Very important, a sanitized bathroom…" he fibbed.

The Doctor smiled back at them and then led the way out the door with her new pet.

Before following the Doctor, Graham leaned over to Ryan. "Nice job," he whispered as they fist-bumped.

"Yeah, we got lucky with that…" Ryan agreed. Then they headed downstairs.

Ryan opened the kitchen cabinet, eyes skimming over the food.

"If you say there's nothing to eat for the thousandth time, I will feed you to that spider," Graham scolded as he sat at the kitchen table. The Doctor leaned against the cabinets, still watching her new pet.

Ryan closed the cabinet doors. "We WERE supposed to go get some groceries," he reminded Graham. "We said so, on our way to the TARDIS this morning."

"Oh you're right," Graham conceded. "We weren't planning on being back for a few days. We did let our cupboards get a little bare I suppose."

"I saw you were low on food," The Doctor added, still not taking her eyes off the spider. "Thought perhaps humans just stopped eating as much. Didn't really make any sense to me, but I was distracted…"

"By the explosion you caused in my kitchen!" Graham reprimanded.

"Are you STILL going on about that?!" the Doctor asked, finally breaking her attention away from the creature in the glass.

Ryan already had his keys in his hand. "Where's the list, Graham?"

"It's by the sofa- hold on, I'll get it," Graham answered, standing up from the kitchen chair.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked worriedly, standing upright.

"I'm just going to pop to the grocery's real quick. Get a few things." Ryan answered.

Graham emerged back from the living room. "Remember," he told Ryan, "stay…"

"6 feet apart. I know…" he answered his grandfather, almost mockingly. "I'll be so anti-social, you'll be proud."

Graham smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

Ryan attempted to leave the kitchen, but was stopped by the Doctor moving into his path.

"You can't leave. There's a quarantine," she said protectively.

"It's all right, Doc-" Graham explained. "You can still do essential travel. To and from the grocery. Medical appointments. Even to get out and stretch a little- that's how come we were able to walk to the TARDIS this morning without getting a fine."

"This virus doesn't care WHY you're out," the Doctor started. "This virus doesn't care about anything at all. It's only instinct is to replicate, and it needs you- your body- in order to do that," the Doctor explained with emphasis. "Think of it as a tiny cyberman whose only job is to get inside of you and replace your DNA with its own."

Ryan scrunched his face in disgust.

"We got to eat, though, right?" Graham countered. "Be smart- practice social distancing- in and out if you have to make a dash to the store. He won't touch his face. I'll make sure Ryan carries sanitizer with him and washes his hands when he gets home. We'll even burn his clothes if it makes you happy."

"Hey! I can't take two fires in my home the same day," Ryan protested. "Besides, I like this shirt."

"It wasn't a fire!" the Doctor defended.

"Then why was there smoke?" Ryan asked, genuinely.

"I'll go," the Doctor said as she snatched the grocery list from Ryan's hands.

Ryan and Graham looked at each other hesitantly. "You're going to leave?" Ryan asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "It's the logical solution. You need to eat and I'm not human. I can't catch this virus, nor can I transmit it."

"You don't know where the grocery store is," Graham reminded her.

"I have GPS!" she bantered back.

"Yeah but, Doc- have you ever been to a grocery before?" Graham asked.

"Yes!" She defended. "A while ago…" she said with less vigor.

"By YOURSELF?" he asked again.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. "... A few times…" she finally answered.

"In THIS century?" Graham replied.

"I am THOUSANDS of years old, Graham. I don't need a babysitter," she countered.

"Really? Because I left you in the kitchen for 20 minutes, and we almost didn't have a flat…"

"Ryan," she turned to the young man and spoke with authority. "You're in charge of Bill. Make sure nothing happens to her while I'm gone." She pivoted so she could have both Graham and Ryan in her view. "You boys- stay inside. Do NOT come after me. I will call you if I have any questions, but this is the point of me being here." She eyed them wearily and her voice softened. "To keep you safe."

Ryan and Graham looked down and nodded. They knew she had their best interest at heart. Graham was still worried, though- having her out there all on her own. It's funny- he knew she was older than he could imagine, and he had seen her save more worlds than he could count. But still, at times HE felt protective of HER. He almost felt like a father watching his little girl go off to school for the first time.

"Just… don't catch the grocery on fire," he added as the Doctor was heading out the door.

"It wasn't a fire!" she chided.

"Then why was there smoke?!" Ryan reiterated his earlier comment.

The Doctor once again refused to answer his question and gave him a sarcastic look before leaving.