NicoleR85: thanks!
The Phoenix sighed, leaning against the door. She loved her friends, she really did but she was glad to have peace and quiet. Suddenly the scanner bleeped. She pushed off from the door and walked over to it. She frowned at what she was seeing. "Plasma coils?" she questioned "that's strange" she looked up at the transparent column of the time rotor "looks I'm off to Royal Hope Hospital". The red head programmed it into the console and soon she was on her way to London, 2008.
As soon as her ship touched down, now disguised as a red phone box, the Phoenix strolled out. "I don't believe it", she breathed, noticing that she had parked right next the Doctor's TARDIS. The Time Lady darted across the road and into the building. She walked right up to the reception desk and was about to ask the lady if she'd seen the Doctor come in when Charlotte appeared, looking worried. "Lottie!" she called, hurrying over to her.
"Mum", the teenager breathed, wrapping her arms around the Time Lady.
"What happened? Is the Doctor ok?" the Phoenix asked, stepping back.
Charlotte dropped her worried expression "oh, he's fine", she assured her "he's pretending to be sick so he could check out the hospital for these plasma coil thingies".
"Smart", the red head remarked.
"Do you wanna see him?" the brunette asked "I know he'd want to see you. He missed you…" Charlotte looked down "as did I".
The Phoenix sighed "I know you didn't want me to leave you with the Doctor but I just needed a little time alone after loosing Mickey", she explained.
"I know. It just…wasn't the same without you", Charlotte said "for one thing the Doctor doesn't seem to know how to explain things simply and…you missed my birthday".
The red head stared at her adopted daughter "oh sweetie…" she breathed "I'm so sorry. Listen once we've finished here, I'll treat you", she promised.
"You don't have to do that. Having both of my parents in one place is the best present I could ever want", Charlotte said "now, lets go see dad". She took hold of the Phoenix's hand and ran over to the nearest lift.
"Nix!" the Doctor cheered, grinning when he saw the Phoenix arrive with Charlotte.
"Hey", the Time Lady greeted "so what are you in here for then? Some weird sickness?"
"I haven't decided", the Time Lord confessed "I was just vague enough so that I would be admitted but not have loads of tests done".
"That's pretty smart", the red head remarked "and what's your plan to find out where these plasma coils are coming from".
"I'll figure it out…eventually", the Doctor mumbled.
"Yeah right…well, it's a good thing that I'm here now", the Phoenix said "two heads are better than one".
"Three is even better", Charlotte spoke up.
"That is very true", the Phoenix agreed.
"Now, do you think I could have a proper hello?" the Doctor requested.
"Sure", the Time Lady said.
"And that's my cue", Charlotte said, moving away from the bed, pulling the curtains around it to give the pair some privacy. Plus she didn't want to see her parents making out. As soon as she was gone, the Phoenix gave the Doctor a kiss. The Time Lady tried to pull away when the Time Lord tugged her down on top of him.
"You know this isn't appropriate", the Phoenix remarked, breathlessly when they broke apart for the second time "it's a hospital".
"I'm an unwell guy being comforted by his wife", the Doctor stated, stroking her hip "not at all inappropriate". He went to kiss her again when Charlotte stuck her head through the curtains.
"Stop with the lovey dovey, we got a doctor coming this way with some others", she told them. The teenager parked herself on the nearby chair while the Phoenix moved off of the Doctor, settling on the edge of the bed, slipping a hand in his.
It wasn't long after that when the curtain was drawn back to reveal Mr Stoker and several medical students. "Now then, Mr Smith, a very good morning to you", the man greeted, eyeing the red head next to the Doctor. She hadn't come in yesterday. "How are you today?"
The Doctor shrugged "Oh, not so bad. Still a bit, you know, blah", he replied "this is my wife Nyx and of course our daughter, Lottie", he added gesturing to the Time Lady and teenager.
"John Smith, admitted yesterday by his daughter with severe abdominal pains", Mr Stoker explained "Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me".
Martha stepped up to the bed "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?" she remarked.
The Doctor frowned "Sorry?"
"On Chancellor Street this morning? You came up to me and took your tie off", she told him.
"That's impossible, my dad has been here the whole time", Charlotte piped up.
"Well, that's weird, cause it looked like you", Martha insisted "Have you got a brother?"
"No, not any more. Just me", the Doctor replied quietly and the Phoenix squeezed his hand. They'd both lost so much. Their families, their home…all they had was each other and of course Charlotte and Goose. It made her think that she needed to start travelling with them again.
"As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones", Mr Stoker cut in wanting to get back to the matter at hand which was teaching the trainee doctors.
"Sorry", Martha said apologetically "Right". She put her stethoscope in her ears and placed the metal disk on the Doctor's chest. Martha frowned hearing something odd and moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest. She looked up, stunned. The Doctor winked at her and the Phoenix gave her a knowing smile.
"I weep for future generations", Mr Stoker sighed "Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?"
"Um…I don't know. Stomach cramps?" Martha guessed taking the stethoscope out of her ears.
"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart" Mr Stoker picked it up from where it hung at the end of the bed, he promptly dropped it when he got an electric shock from the metal clip.
"That happened to me this morning", Martha spoke up.
"I had the same thing on the door handle", Morgenstern added.
"And me, on the lift", Swales put in. That had all three time travellers exchanging looks. It seemed like that might be an effect of the plasma coils around the hospital.
"That's only to be expected", Mr Stoker said waving it off "There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by. Anyone?"
"Benjamin Franklin", Charlotte piped up.
"Correct", Mr Stoker said.
"My mate, Ben", the Doctor sighed "That was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked…" the Phoenix cast a glance at Charlotte who was looking rather embarrassed.
'Later' she mouthed to the Time Lady when she met her eyes.
"And then I got electrocuted!" the Doctor proclaimed with a grin.
"Moving on", Mr Stoker said. He turned and walked away, the trainee doctors following him "I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric", he added quietly to one of them.
"You get electrocuted when you went to visit Ben?" the Phoenix repeated, turning to the Doctor "why am I not surprised".
"It wasn't intentional", the Time Lord argued.
"Right…of course it wasn't", the Phoenix said slowly, not believing him.
"I did tell him that his curiosity was going to blow up in his face", Charlotte said, patting her adoptive father on the shoulder "he just didn't listen".
"What is this? Gang up on Doctor day?" the Time Lord complained.
"Maybe", the Phoenix and Charlotte chorused making the Doctor groan.
"Why don't we go get you a post birthday cookie and leave the Doctor to it?" the Time Lady suggested, putting her arm around the teenager and leading her away. The Doctor watched his girls leave, a smile working it's way onto his face. My girls...how did I get so lucky? he thought. He honestly couldn't imagine that after everything he had done in the Time War that he would even get a semblance of happiness. Yet that's exactly what he had with his little family. He be damned if he was going to lose that now. He was going to protect what was his.
"So, what cookie would you like?" the Phoenix asked when they got to the vending machines "chocolate chip…double chocolate? Oh! How about we got crazy and get both?" she glanced at Charlotte and frowned when she saw that the brunette seemed to be more interested in what was going on outside the window. "Lottie? What's wrong?"
"The rain is going up", the teenager replied. That had the Time Lady at her side in a flash.
"What the hell?" the red head breathed staring at the strange weather phenomenon. Suddenly there was a loud rumble of thunder coupled with a flash of lightening. The building begins to shake rather violently causing the pair to stumble about. The Phoenix grabbed Charlotte, pulling her away from the vending machines just before they toppled over. The red head took the adopted daughter over to the wall and braced herself against it, waiting for the shaking to stop. "Are you ok?" the Phoenix asked Charlotte.
"Fine but what the hell was that?" the brunette questioned.
"I have no idea", the Time Lady admitted, standing up, pulling the girl with her "but it might have something to do with the fact that we're now on the moon", she added, noticing this.
"What?!" Charlotte exclaimed, rushing to the window, mouth dropping open "how did we get on the moon?"
"My guess is it has something to do with the rain. Possibly a H₂O scoop", the Phoenix surmised. Charlotte shot her a look, brows raised.
"That's a thing?" she questioned, surprised.
"Oh yeah", the red head confirmed "never seen one in action before. Just heard about them. Why it was used to bring us to the moon and by who, is a complete mystery. We better get to your dad before there's a riot".
"Good idea", Charlotte agreed. The Phoenix took her hand, ensuring that teenager stayed close to her while the doctors and patients ran about, terrified.
The pair strolled into the ward where there was a lot of chaos "stay with your dad", the red head instructed. The teenager nodded and went over to the Doctor's bed, waiting patiently by the curtains. The Phoenix stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled, making everyone stop. "Yes we're on the moon. Yes its very scary. Panicking won't help so I need everyone to pull themselves together and back to bed. I promise I'll get this sorted out". Thankfully everyone seemed to do as she said, without much in the way of arguing.
"How?" Martha demanded, annoyed that this woman had taken charge just before she was about to "do you have a magic wand that you're gonna wave to get us home?"
"A magic wand would be handy but no. I've got something better, my brain", the Phoenix countered, tapping the side of her head.
"Oh, so you're just going to think your way out of this mess?" Martha scoffed "you must be some kind of genius then".
"I am actually", the Phoenix stated "thanks for noticing". The black woman bristled, growing more annoyed by the second. "Now, there must an air shell or shield around the hospital otherwise we'd have suffocated by now", she mused to herself "You, Jones" she pointed at Martha "is there a balcony on this floor or a veranda?"
"By the patients' lounge, yeah", Martha replied with a slight grumble at how the red head was treating her.
"Fancy going out, honey?" the Phoenix questioned, looking pointedly at the Doctor who was now dressed in his suit.
"Sure", the Doctor replied, going over to her, Charlotte following.
"We might die", the red head said, playfully.
"We might not", the Time Lord countered with a grin.
"Oh, boy", Charlotte mumbled "If you two are going to start anything that's gonna make me a big sister then I am staying right here". That had both the Doctor and the Phoenix blushing.
The red head cleared her throat "Jones, why don't you show us where this lounge is?" she suggested.
"Sure", Martha answered "and its Martha Jones", she added as she left the room.
"I didn't ask but ok", the Phoenix said. She and the Doctor followed the trainee out to the balcony by the patients lounge.
Martha took a deep breath as she stepped outside "We've got air", she stated, somewhat relieved that they could definitely breathe. "How does that work?"
"That's easy. It's a shield", the Phoenix told her, picking up a small stone and throwing it into the air "see?" she said as it bounced off a solid surface "that's the good news. The bad news is that we've only got a limited air supply. How many people are in this hospital?"
Martha shrugged "I don't know. A thousand?"
"One thousand people Suffocating", the Doctor said, with a serious look on his face.
"Including our daughter", the Time Lady added, her eyes flickering red-gold. Whoever did this was going to have some serious explaining to do. No one…no one endangers their little girl and gets away with it.
"Why would anyone do that?" the black woman questioned, shocked that anyone would be cruel enough to do that.
"Head's up! Ask them yourself", the Doctor said, looking upward, hearing a loud rumbling. The Phoenix and Martha followed his gaze and saw 3 large column shaped ships flew overhead. The ships landed not too far from the hospital and several lines of armoured figures march out.
"Those are aliens. Real proper aliens", Martha said staring at them with wide eyes.
"Judoon", the Time Lords said in unison. Both of them knew that the presence of those interplanetary thugs spelled bad news for the both of them.
"What are Judoon?" Martha asked as the couple hurried back inside the hospital.
"Space police", the Phoenix answered "or more accurately interplanetary thugs. They brought us to the moon as its Neutral territory".
"According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated it. That rain, lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop", the Doctor added.
Martha frowned, confused "What are you on about, galactic law? Where'd you get that from Mr Smith?"
"Actually its not Mr Smith, it's the Doctor", the Time Lord amended "and she's not Mrs Smith. Just, the Phoenix", he added, nodding to the Phoenix as they made their way across the mezzanine level. The trainee looked even more confused at their names. The trio crouched down, peering over the barrier.
"This isn't good", the red head murmured, eyeing the Judoon. They were scanning people and drawing black X's on their hands. They were cataloguing people. "They're after something non-human which is very bad for us", she explained.
"Why?" Martha asked and the Time Lords just looked at her "Oh, you're kidding me".
"Nope. We're aliens", the Phoenix replied "Time Lords to be exact. Now, I think we should probably move before they find us".
"Good idea", the Doctor agreed.
"I'm gonna go get Lottie", the Time Lady said as they started off "I can't leave her alone, not with Judoon here".
"Be careful", the Time Lord said "please".
"Don't worry, I'll be fine", the Phoenix assured him "besides its not me who needs to be careful, it's them", she added with a look that the Doctor recognised. Oh boy those Judoon are in trouble… he thought. The Time Lady was as protective of Charlotte as a mama bear was over her cub.
"Do you know where I can get to a computer?" the Doctor asked after the red head had left.
"The Admin office", Martha answered "follow me" and she led him off in the opposite direction.
As soon as the Phoenix got to the ward where the Doctor had been posing as a patient, she went straight for Charlotte. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine but you look worried", the teenager remarked.
"Just a little", the Time Lady admitted "the 'people' who brought us here, they're Judoon".
The brunette's eyes widened "the space rhino's? Why?"
"They're looking for someone non-human", the Phoenix answered.
"Oh…" Charlotte said.
"Yeah…so I'm not leaving you here", the red head said, taking her hand and leaving the ward.
"Fine with me. I wanted to go find you guys anyway", Charlotte told her as they walked.
The Phoenix suddenly pulled her into a nearby room when she heard stomping feet coming towards them. She watched through a crack in the door as a couple of Judoon passed. She let out a breath "that was close", she muttered. The Time Lady pulled open the door and the pair hurried off.
The two of them ran into Martha as she was running away from two leather clad people. "Who are those guys!" Charlotte cried.
"No clue but they were with Miss Finnegan. She's the one the Judoon are after!" Martha quickly explained.
"Nice work", the Phoenix said, somewhat impressed by the human. They rounded the corner where they almost collided with the Doctor.
"Lottie, are you ok?" he asked, looking his adopted daughter over worriedly.
"I'm fine", Charlotte assured him "but I think we should run", she added, nodding to the two leather clad figures that were fast approaching.
"Good idea", the Doctor agreed. He took hold of Charlotte's other hand and the family of three ran, Martha scrambling to keep up.
The four sprinted down corridor and into the stairway. They were forced to changed course when the Judoon came up the stairs toward them. The Doctor, the Phoenix, Charlotte and Martha ran along corridors and around corners all the while one of the leather clad men was chasing them. They burst into the radiology room, the Time Lady slamming the door shut and sonicing the lock.
"Everyone back behind the screen", she said and she went to the x-ray machine, fiddling with it "when I say now, press the button".
"Which one do you think it is?" Charlotte asked, looking over the controls. Martha, pulled down the Operator's Manual from the shelf and started flipping through it.
"It's the yellow one", she told the Doctor. He nodded and held his hand over it, eyeing the door. A second later, it was bashed in.
"Now!" the Phoenix shouted as the Slab entered. The Time Lord hit the yellow button, turning the machine on. The room is flooded with radiation and the leather clad man fell down.
"What did you just do?" Martha asked as the Doctor turned the machine off.
"Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead", the Phoenix replied.
"But…isn't that going to kill you mum?" Charlotte questioned, worried. She'd read up on radiation and was aware of how deadly it could be.
The Doctor shook his head "It wont hurt her. Its only roentgen radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery", he said although he noted that the Time Lady appeared to be rather pale.
"He's right", the Phoenix confirmed, though she swaying on the spot "I'm fine".
"You don't look it", the teenager commented "in fact, you look like you're about to keel over".
"Sweetheart, I'm fine", the red head assured her and then she dropped to her knees "No!" she shouted, holding a hand out when her adopted daughter stepped forward "I just…need to expel it". The Doctor, Charlotte and Martha watched as she closed her eyes, concentrating. Suddenly a burst of red-gold flamelike energy exploded out of her body. "See?" the Phoenix said, getting up "I'm fine…" the Time Lady collapsed again causing the Doctor and Charlotte to hurry over to her.
"Mum really doesn't look good", Charlotte stated to her adoptive father.
"You're right she, doesn't", the Doctor agreed, lifting the Phoenix into his arms, holding her against him.
"So what do we do now?" Charlotte asked, looking the Time Lady, worriedly.
"We need to find the person the Judoon was after and hand him or her over", the Doctor replied "it's the only way to get them to take the hospital back to Earth".
"They're after a patient named Miss Finnegan", Martha piped up "I found her in Mr Stoker's office. She was drinking his blood through a straw, like a vampire".
Charlotte's face screwed up in disgust "Ew, gross!"
The Time Lord's eyes widened in realisation "She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it! If she can assimilate Mister Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she'll register as human", he stated.
"Which would allow her to hide from the Judoon", the teenager finished "so we really do need to find her".
"Martha and I will find her", the Doctor corrected "I need you to stay with your mother". Charlotte nodded in agreement. While she wasn't too keen on him running around the hospital looking for a 'vampire' all the while dodging Judoon without her, she knew that it was better for her to stay behind. Someone had to look after the Phoenix and she wasn't about to let Martha, a complete stranger, take that job.
"Promise me you'll be careful", the brunette said.
"I'm always careful", the Doctor said, making her raise a brow at him.
"You careful?" Charlotte scoffed "unlike mum, you're a walking magnet for trouble".
"No I'm…ok you're right", the Time Lord admitted and the teenager grinned.
"I know I am", Charlotte said cheekily "that's why I said it".
The Doctor shook his head "you're definitely your mother's daughter", he remarked.
"Uh hello we don't have time from for this!" Martha piped up "you know space rhino's, leather clad guys…low oxygen!"
"Right", the Doctor and Charlotte switched places "lets go find Miss Finnegan".
Minutes passed by and the teenager grew more and more anxious. She was also growing more lightheaded too. In fact when she was about to pass out, the Phoenix regained consciousness. "Oh boy", she groaned, sitting up "that was not fun. Lottie sweetie are you ok?"
"Can't breathe…" the brunette whispered before passing out. Air must be running out the Phoenix thought, carefully gathering the 13 year old into her arms and carried her out of the room. She didn't get very far until she noticed that it was raining.
"Looks like the Judoon is leaving. Your father must've helped them find Miss Finnegan", she said. There was a crash of thunder and a big flash of light and the hospital was back to where it should be.