Journey Amongst the Stars

By Lumendea

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Doctor Dances: Bomb Site

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: You know how all of you think I'm a wonder at planning… well there was supposed to be an original episode between Girl in the Fireplace and this two parter that I forgot about. Just forgot about. That's why there's been so many rewrites and only one original so far. So now I am laughing at myself and tweaking my plan to include Jack in the adventure. Thought you might find it funny that I got so excited about Jack that I tripped myself up. Plus side, it will now have Jo Grant meeting Jack Harkness which could end up being epic.

…

The Doctor did not know what to make of today. Nothing had turned out how he expected, and while usually that would entertain him, this time it left him feeling… untethered. Rose was smiling at him softly as they swayed. She was calm and relaxed despite the gas mask zombies hunting for them. Soft instrumental songs continued to play from the speaker, and he was enjoying their gentle swaying more than he would like to admit.

This body was rusty. His last body had been the romantic one. In that life, he'd decided to stop worrying so much about the Time Lords and their rules. If Rose had traveled with him then… he pushed that thought aside and knew his ears were turning red. Rose didn't ask, but there was a spark of something in her eyes. Maybe she already knew what he'd been thinking about or thought it was something else.

He almost said something. He almost put an end to this, but he didn't. Rose was looking up at him in a way that he just didn't know what to do with. It made all sorts of dangerous ideas spring to mind. Her hip was warm beneath his hand, and her hand fit into his hand perfectly as usual. Despite his hesitation, Rose had been right; they were fine. Then again, she was usually right.

"Told you it would be fine," Rose whispered with a smile.

"We're not out of this yet," the Doctor pointed out. He shook himself a little, realizing that he'd missed something. He was too distracted. "Barrage balloon? Are your hands okay?" He started to pull back, but Rose just shifted closer. "Rose?"

"I'm fine," Rose assured him. Her voice was still soft. He told himself that she was whispering to keep the gas mask zombies from finding them, but it also preserved the soft atmosphere. "Jack had some medical tech that fixed my hands. They don't hurt anymore."

"Medical tech?"

"Not as fancy as the TARDIS medical bay," Rose assured him. "Don't worry; our Gorgeous Lady remains the best ship in the universe."

The Doctor couldn't ignore the rush of pleasure at hearing Rose call the TARDIS theirs. It was silly. In the past, he might have been offended at companions saying such things, but it was just another way that Rose was different. He swallowed back the surge of emotions that were making his heart beat a little too fast. Rose was smiling at him, but it was her soft, patient smile. The Doctor was grateful for that. Yet… he despite her assurances that she had no romantic feelings for Jack, he couldn't help but worry that someday that patience would wear out.

He might have pulled her a little closer so that their legs touched as they swayed. It was barely dancing, but the excuse to be so close was incredible. The scent of Rose's soap and shampoo filled his nose and pushed away the dank dust of the storage room. Of course, it made it hard to think. The music faded away, and the smell of the room changed. The Doctor blinked. They were in a ship. The Doctor kept his hand on Rose's waist as he did a quick check for danger. Then he heard that blasted pretty boy's voice.

"Most people notice when they've been teleported," Jack said with a grin. He was in the captain's chair at the front of the narrow ship. "You guys are so sweet." The Doctor released Rose's hands. "Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security.

Rose sort of wanted to throttle Jack. Yes, she was glad to be out of that storage room and away from the gas mask zombies, but she and the Doctor had been having a moment. Yes, it was unlikely that their dance in said storeroom was going to the tipping point, but any moment was worth a lot right now! She missed the romance more than she'd ever admit out loud. The Doctor didn't often let himself look at her like that, and she'd missed it.

"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols?" the Doctor asked. "Maybe you should remember whose ship it is."

"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous." Jack was grinning like he didn't have a care in the world. "Like I told her, be back in five minutes."

"This is a Chula ship," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter." Jack gave the Doctor a pointed look, and Rose worried that another argument was about to break out. "Only this one is dangerous."

The Doctor held Jack's gaze for a long moment but said nothing. Then he snapped his fingers. The golden glow of the nanogenes rushed around his hands and enveloped them in light. The Doctor turned his hands and studied them thoughtfully.

"That's what Jack used to fix my hands," Rose clarified. "Called them nanogenes."

"Sub-atomic robots," the Doctor explained. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now." There was something in the Doctor's tone that Rose couldn't identify, but it carried a hint of danger. "They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws. Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk," the Doctor ordered Jack.

"As soon as I get the nav-com back online," Jack said with a nod. Then he turned teasing again. "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were doing."

"We were talking about dancing," the Doctor said. He sounded a touch offended.

"It didn't look like talking," Jack said.

"Because it wasn't." Rose smiled at the Doctor, enjoying the way his ears turned a bit red. "But back the crisis at hand, I suppose." She leaned against the side of the ship and eyed the two men. "So, we know that the child is patient one and seems to be in command of all the others. He definitely got infected at the crash site. Somehow he isn't dead, so whatever technology is involved is keeping him alive despite the injuries."

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed. "But exactly what that tech was and how to reverse it, we don't know."

"Just a bit more and we'll be on our way," Jack promised.

"So, what have you got against the Time Agency?" Rose asked. "I mean, why try to con them."

"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money," Jack said.

"Then, what are you after?" Rose asked. She and Jack had never discussed this.

"Woke up one day when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories." Jack swung in the chair to look at her and the Doctor. "I'd like them back."

"They stole your memories?" A chill ran up Rose's spin at the very idea.

"Two years of my life. No idea what I did." Jack looked at the Doctor, who was staring at the wall. "Your friend over there doesn't trust me, and for all, I know he's right not to." The controls beeped, and Jack forced a smile. "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?"

"Yes," the Doctor said. "I need a look at the space junk."

"It was just a Chula Ambulance," Jack huffed.

Something clicked in Rose's brain. "Wait a minute," Rose breathed as she blinked in shock "If the ship was of Chula design…" she trailed off. Frowning, Rose tried to gather her thoughts. Something was trying to connect and push its way through. "Doctor, you said that the nanogenes fix any physical danger."

"That's what they're programmed for," the Doctor confirmed.

"Then, why have an ambulance at all, don't all Chula ships have these nanogenes?" Nervous and terrified energy was welling up in Rose. Her mind was racing, and the pieces were fitting together with horrible precision. "What would be the point unless the ambulance had a lot more of them?"

She saw the horror dawning in Jack's eyes as the Doctor's eyes sharpened with realization. His grip on her hand tightened, and he tried to tug her away from Jack. Rose didn't let him move her. This wasn't the time.

"No, no no," Jack muttered as he turned and began adjusting his controls. "That can't be- how!"

"It wasn't empty then," the Doctor murmured in a low voice. "Funny how you couldn't figure that out, Captain."

"Doctor," Rose scolded lightly with a careful look at Jack's back. "Not the priority right now. Jack, we need to get to the crash site and find a way to shut the nanogenes down." She gave both men a warning look, one to keep Jack from running and the other to keep the Doctor from berating the other. "If I'm right then there might be a recall feature built into the unit or a way to shut them down."

"That's possible," Jack agreed. His hands were flying over the controls, and he had started to shake. "That would make sense. Normally they only activate when the bulkhead is sealed-"

"But they were released. For an ambulance they probably function as battlefield medicine," the Doctor cut in. "More useful than having to haul everyone back to a ship."

Jack was nodding, but his focus was on the controls. Rose noticed that he'd gone very pale and looked ready to be sick. Stepping forward, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. They would fix this, she told herself firmly. She had faith in them. Jack flinched at little at her touch but didn't pull away. Thankfully, the Doctor didn't say anything as the ship moved forward.

…

The night provided very little cover to Nancy as she crept her way forward. Soldier were patrolling around the large metal thing in the middle of the compound that was under a tarpaulin. Spotlights had been set up along with watchtowers, and the whole place was surrounded by barbed wire fence. That had been easy enough to cut through, but now she had to worry about everything else.

Suddenly she was surrounded by light. Nancy blinked against the glare and started to pull back. A spotlight had found her. Nancy was about to run when soldiers came rushing forward. Rifles were pointed at her, and her heart leapt into her throat.

"Halt!" a soldier barked. "Don't move!"

Nancy nodded. She didn't know what to say, how to explain what she was after. She didn't fully understand it herself. One of the soldiers eyed her carefully but relaxed his grip on his rifle. Apparently, she didn't look like much of a threat. For a brief moment, she hoped they would let her go.

"Come on," one of the soldiers said. "To the right. That building there." He gestured with his rifle. "March."

Seeing no other option, Nancy started to walk. The soldiers closed in around her, blocking off any chance of escape. She was tempted, but common sense reminded her that there was a war on. If she ran now, they'd shoot at her, assuming she was a spy. Nancy swallowed and took a few slow breaths, urging herself to calm down.

The building was small and barren. A table was set up with a few chairs. One soldier was sitting down and swaying slightly. He tried to stand up when they walked in, but an office waved him down.

"As you were," the officer said. There was a hint of kindness in his voice. "Feeling any better?"

"Just a touch, sir," the ill man said. Nancy's eyes dropped to his hand. There was a scar forming on the skin, a very familiar scar.

"Chain her up where Jenkins can keep an eye on her," the officer ordered another soldier.

"No, not in here," Nancy said firmly. Her voice quivered only a little.

"You shouldn't have broken in here if you didn't want to stay," the officer said.

"You don't understand. Not with him," Nancy pleaded.

She didn't know how to explain. They pushed her down into the chair gently and began to cuff her hands to the table. Nancy didn't fight, fear was creeping up on her, and she watched the sick man's face carefully. Sooner or later, it would change.

"This is a restricted area, miss. You can just sit here for a bit. We're going to have to ask you a few questions."

One soldier stepped forward with her bag and held out her bolt cutters. Nancy deflated at the sight of them. "Found these, sir." He handed them to the officer.

"Very professional. A little bit too professional." The officer was eyeing her suspiciously now. "Didn't just drop in by accident then, did you?

"My little brother died here," Nancy answered honestly. At least, mostly honestly. "I wanted to find out what killed him." She looked up at the officer, hoping he'd see the truth in her eyes.

The man huffed a little. "Take the men, check the fence for any other breaches, and search the area. She may not have come here alone."

"Yes, sir."

"Please!" Nancy gave up on being calm, letting her desperation shine through. "Listen, you can't leave me here."

"Watch her, Jenkins," the officer ordered. He looked bored now and just as suspicious as before.

"Yes, Mummy," Jenkins said.

Nancy flinched. The officer didn't seem to properly notice. "Jenkins?"

Jenkins shivered but looked at his commanding officer apologetically. "Sorry, sir. I don't know what's the matter with me."

"Look, lock me up, fine, but not here." The officer was turning to leave. "Please, anywhere, but here!"

Then he was gone, leaving her chained to a table with a man who was shortly going to become like all the others. Nancy's heart was racing too fast, and there was a moment, a brief moment when she almost decided not to bother fighting. Jamie was gone, he was dead. There wasn't anything she could do. She was just a stupid girl in over her head. The words her mother had said when she'd confessed rang through her ears.

"You'll be all right, miss," Jenkins said. He was trying to calm her down, but Nancy could see it in his eyes. He was already slipping. "I'm just a little. Just a little, just a little. What's the matter with you?" She was pulling on the cuffs.

"Please, let me go," Nancy begged.

"Why would I do that?" the man asked in evident confusion. He was in a near dazed state.

"Because you've got a scar on the back of your hand," Nancy said as calmly as she could.

"Well, yes, but I don't see what that's got to do with anything."

"And you feel like you're going to be sick, like something's forcing its way up your throat. I know because I've seen it before."

The man was looking at her with new eyes, fearful and pleading. "What's happening to me?"

"In a minute, you won't be you anymore. You won't even remember you. And unless you let me go, it's going to happen to me too. Please," Nancy added the plea to the end desperately.

"What're you talking about?"

"What's your mother's name?" Nancy asked.

"Matilda," he answered slowly.

"You got a wife?" Nancy pressed.

"Yes."

"Wife's name?" Nancy demanded. "You got kids? What's your name?" Jenkins blinked vacantly at her, his mouth opening once or twice as he tried to find the answers in his head. "Please, let me go. It's too late for you. I'm sorry, but please let me go."

"What do you mmmmm…." Jenkin's face began to change, his nose vanishing and his mouth contorting to morph into a gas mask. Nancy pulled at the cuffs, but she was trapped. "Mummy."