Hey guys. So I was rewriting this chapter when I, quite stupidly, remembered that this is fanfiction and I can basically do what I want. So I decided that instead of bashing Rose, I would just make her more likeable in my eyes. Trust me, it will help the story. If there are any errors, my apologies but I'm doing my best and I hope the writings better than how it was three years ago.
I also want to let you guys know that while I'm going to be updating more often for now, in a few months, I'll be moving from Australia to England for university and might not have time to update as often, so my apologies for then, but for now, let's enjoy what we've got.
I'd love reviews as not only do they help me write more, but it boosts my confidence, even if it's constructive criticism, I'd really appreciate it as I want to improve as much as I can. Thanks guys!
The patients are almost within touching distance when Ella came up with an idea. It was insane and probably wouldn't work, but she could at least try.
"Go to your room," Ella said sternly. The patients in the ward stopped advancing and stood still, tilting their heads to the side. "Go to your room. I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross. Go to your room!" The patients hung their heads in shame and shuffled away and get back into their beds. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words." Ella saw that the Doctor was grinning proudly while Rose was frozen in her spot against the wall and Jack was looking at Ella in shock and amusement, as if he couldn't believe that her idea actually worked.
"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked from where she sat next to a patient.
"They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone," Jack said, relaxing in a chair with his feet up on the desk.
"How was your con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked Jack.
"Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent up front, oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con," Jack explained.
"Yeah. Perfect," the Doctor muttered.
"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." Jack laughed and Ella shook her head. "Getting a hint of disapproval," Jack said.
"Take a look around the room. This is what your harmless piece of space-junk did," the Doctor snapped at Jack.
"It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty," Jack defended.
"Ella. Rose," the Doctor beckoned.
"Are we getting out of here?" Ella asked, catching up with her dad.
"We're going upstairs," the Doctor said, making Ella sigh defeatedly, the hospital giving her the creeps.
"I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it," Jack defended himself.
"I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day," the Doctor said, playing around with Jack's earlier word's. A siren sounded.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"The all clear," Jack said.
"I wish," the Doctor muttered before taking off up the stairs with Ella following close behind.
"Mister Spock?" Jack called, having lost sight of the Doctor.
"Doctor?" Rose asked. They ran past the staircase where the Doctor and Ella are on the next flight up. They poked their heads over the rails to look down at Jack and Rose.
"Have you got a blaster?" The Doctor asked Jack.
"Sure!" Jack said. They ran up to join the father-daughter pair, both of whom were standing next to a secure metal door.
"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken," the Doctor explained.
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"Let's find out. Get it open," the Doctor ordered.
"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver and laser spanner?" Rose asked them.
"Nothing," they answered. Jack's blaster disintegrated the lock and the door creaked open.
"Sonic blaster, fifty first century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?" The Doctor asked, taking Jack's blaster and studying it.
"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked.
"Once," Ella said.
"Well, they gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot," Jack told us.
"Like we said. Once." The Doctor handed the blaster back. "There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good," he said, making Ella screw her nose up in disgust. Rose and the Doctor then entered the room.
"Yuck," Ella said, making Jack chuckle. "Nice blast pattern, by the way."
"Digital," Jack said.
"Squareness gun," Ella stated.
"Yeah," Jack answered.
"I like it," Ella said cheekily. Jack chuckled before grinning at Ella charmingly and they both entered the room. The room was a big mess with chairs, paper, filing cabinets and electronic equipment strewn about. The observation window across the room is broken.
"What do you think?" The Doctor asked.
"Something got out of here," Jack stated.
"Yeah. And?" The Doctor pressed.
"Something powerful. Angry," Ella added, wondering about the room.
"Powerful and angry," the Doctor said. Ella walked around and stopped in front of a wall where child's crayon drawings were scattered on the floor and a teddy bear lying on the ground.
"A child? I suppose this explains 'Mummy'," Jack said.
"How could a child do this?" Rose asked. Ella was just staring at the pictures as the Doctor turned on a tape machine.
"Do you know where you are?" A man's voice said on the tape.
"Are you my mummy?" A child asked. The same voice that Ella and Rose heard earlier just before the balloon incident.
"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?" The man asked.
"Are you my mummy?" The child repeated.
"What do you want? Do you know..." The man was cut off.
"I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" The child kept asking.
"Doctor, I've heard this voice before," Rose said.
"Me too," the Doctor said.
"Mummy?" The child repeated.
"Always are you my mummy? Like he doesn't know," Rose said.
"Mummy?"
"Why doesn't he know?" Rose asked.
"Are you there, mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"
"Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Can you sense it?" Ella asked. The other three looked at her, confused.
"Sense what?" Jack asked.
"Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?" Ella said, pacing the room. The Doctor caught on.
"Mummy?"
"Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?" The Doctor said.
"When he's stressed, he likes to insult species," Rose informed Jack.
"Rose, I'm thinking," the Doctor scolded.
"He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than," Rose said. "She rarely insults species though. I guess that's another plus side to her."
"Thanks, Rose," Ella grinned. Rose sent a smile at her.
"There are these children living rough round the bomb sites. They come out during air-raids looking for food," the Doctor said.
"Mummy, please?"
"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?" The Doctor continued.
"It was a med-ship. It was harmless," Jack protested.
"Yes, you keep saying harmless. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?" The Doctor suggested.
"Altered how?" Rose asked. Ella then heard tape run out.
"I'm here!" Ella turned around and saw the child in the room, standing in front of the tape recorder.
"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do. It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room," Ella said, a nervous waver to her voice.
"Doctor? Ella?" Rose asked.
"I'm here. Can't you see me?" The child said. Ella nodded at the child.
"What's that noise?" Rose asked.
"End of the tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago," the Doctor said, straightening up.
"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?" The child said. Ella kept staring at the child in horror.
"I sent it to its room. This is its room," Ella said. The other three then realised she wasn't looking at them and turned around to see what she was staring at, their eyes widening in horror.
"Are you my mummy? Mummy?"
"Doctor?" Rose asked, panicked.
"Okay, on my signal make for the door," Jack said, walking forward to stand next to Ella.
"Mummy?" Jack aimed his blaster at the child, except it was a banana. Ella would've laughed if she wasn't so terrified.
"Now!" Jack yelled. He then realised it wasn't his blaster but, in fact, a banana.
"Mummy?" The Doctor pulled Jack's blaster from his belt and made a nice square hole in the wall.
"Go now! Don't drop the banana!" He yelled.
"Why not?!" Jack yelled.
"Good source of potassium!" The Doctor answered. The four scrambled through the hole in the wall and into the hallway.
"Give me that!" Jack said, snatching his blaster back.
"Mummy. I want my mummy," the child said, striding towards them. Jack used his blaster to repair the hole in the wall.
"Digital rewind. Nice switch," Jack said, throwing the banana back to the Doctor.
"It's from the groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate," Dad stated.
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack asked.
"Bananas are good," the Doctor chirped. The wall then started to crack.
"Doctor!" Rose yelled.
"Come on!" The Doctor yelled. They ran around the corner and saw that the patients were coming at them from the other direction.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."
"It's keeping us here till it can get at us," the Doctor realised.
"It's controlling them?" Jack asked.
"It is them. It's every living thing in this hospital," the Doctor said.
"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, what you got?" Jack said, holding his blaster up. Ella held her laser spanner.
"I've got a sonic, er. Oh, never mind," the Doctor sighed.
"What?" Jack asked.
"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that," the Doctor said, obviously not wanting to answer.
"Disrupter? Cannon? What?" Jack pressed.
"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am soniced up!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"A sonic what?!" Jack yelled.
"Screwdriver!" The Doctor yelled. The child finally smashed through the wall. Ella grabbed Jack's blaster and pointed it at the floor.
"Going down!" She yelled. As soon as they landed on the floor below, Jack repaired the hole in the ceiling.
"Dad, are you okay?" Ella asked.
"Could've used a warning," Dad muttered.
"What do you think I yelled going down for? Fun?!" Ella asked incredulously, hitting hitting her father's arm.
"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked.
"Dad does," Ella answered.
"Lights," Rose said, running around the room.
"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, oooh, this could be a little more sonic?" Jack said sarcastically.
"What, you've never been bored?" The Doctor asked.
"There's got to be a light switch," Rose muttered.
"Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?" The Doctor asked. Rose finally found the light switch and all the patients in this ward sat up in their beds.
"Mummy. Mummy."
"Door," Jack said. They all ran to the door and when Jack tried to open the door, the blaster wouldn't work. "Damn it!"
"Mummy."
"It's the special features. They really drain the battery," Jack told them.
"The battery?" Rose asked, sounding both incredulous and frantic. The Doctor used his sonic to get them into a storeroom and then locked it again so the patients wouldn't get in. "That's so lame!"
"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory," Jack said.
"Oh, I know. First day I met them, they blew my job up. That's practically how they communicate," Rose explained.
"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit," the Doctor said.
"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack yelled.
"Well, it's got to find us first! Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!" The Doctor said. Ella went and sat down in the corner.
"Well, I've got a banana, and in a pinch you could put up some shelves," Jack said sarcastically.
"Window," the Doctor said, jumping up on something to look out.
"Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories," Jack said.
"And no other exits," Rose said.
"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack said. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"
"Dad!" Ella said in a warning tone.
"They were hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance," Jack explained.
"Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah. Jack just disappeared," Rose pointed out.
"Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" Ella sighed sadly. The Doctor shot a warning look at her while Rose laughed.
"It's a real shame, I know," Rose said once she finished laughing.
"I'm making an effort not to be insulted," the Doctor said.
"Pfft, you're not good looking!" Ella shot back.
"Okay, thanks, that really helped," the Doctor said. The radio crackled to life.
"Rose? Doctor? Pixie? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship," Jack said. "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there."
"How're you speaking to us?" The Doctor asked.
"Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill," Jack explained.
"Now there's a coincidence," the Doctor said.
"What is?" Jack asked.
"The child can Om-Com, too," the Doctor answered.
"He can?" Rose asked.
"Anything with a speaker grill. Even the TARDIS phone," the Doctor stated.
"What, you mean the child can phone us?" Ella asked, feeling a little unsettled.
"And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you," the child's voice sounded.
"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack asked.
"Loud and clear," the Doctor said.
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do," Jack said.
"Coming to find you, mummy."
"Remember this one, Pixie?" Jack asked. Moonlight Serenade played through the radio and Ella immediately recognised it and smiled.
"Our song," Ella told Dad, who had a confused look on his face.
A little later, Rose is relaxing in a wheelchair while the Doctor is at the barred window with the ever-versatile sonic screwdriver trying to loosen the bars. Ella was still sitting in the corner, playing with her laser spanner.
"What you doing?" Rose asked the Doctor, wheeling about.
"Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars," the Doctor told her.
"You don't think he's coming back, do you?" Ella stated.
"Wouldn't bet my life," the Doctor muttered.
"Why don't you trust him?" Ella asked.
"Why do you?" The Doctor retorted.
"He saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing. Plus he's gorgeous." Ella then paused. "What?" Ella asked, noticing the look on Dad's face.
"Plus he can dance!" Rose exclaimed.
"You just assume I'm..." The Doctor trailed off.
"What?" Rose asked.
"You just assume that I don't dance," the Doctor said, sounding a bit insulted.
"What, are you telling me you do dance?" Rose asked. Ella held in a giggle.
"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced," the Doctor defended.
"You?" Rose asked. Ella quickly tuned out the conversation as she had no interest in it anymore, she just continued to fiddle with the laser spanner.
Somewhere in the conversation, the Doctor and Rose started to dance, although it was more like swaying. After a few minutes, Ella noticed that they had been teleported and she immediately went to move to Jack, making him move over slightly so she could fit on the chair with him, her legs draped over his lap.
"Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy. You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them," Rose said.
"If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked," the Doctor said. Ella and Jack shared amused looks.
"Yeah? Shame I missed that," Rose said. Ella looked at Jack and nudged his side, Jack getting the message.
"Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security," Jack said. When he first spoke, arose and the Doctor jumped apart, making Ella smile with amusement.
"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is," the Doctor said, before pulling a face at how close Jack and Ella were.
"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes," Jack said.
"This is a Chula ship," the Doctor realised.
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous," Jack said. The Doctor snapped his fingers and a golden glow enveloped his hands.
"They're what fixed my hands up Jack called them, er..." Rose trailed off, not knowing the name.
"Nanobots? Nanogenes," the Doctor said.
"Nanogenes, yeah," Rose said.
"Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. 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.
"As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were doing," Jack said, a little smirk on his face.
"We were talking about dancing," the Doctor protested.
"It didn't look like talking," Jack remarked.
"It didn't feel like dancing," Rose agreed. A few minutes past and they were all talking. Rose with Dad and me with Jack.
"I'm guessing that your real name isn't Captain Jack Harkness," Ella said after they finished talking about what happened at the weapons factory.
"You would be guessing correctly," Jack said.
"Well, I'm telling you now, the name definitely suits you," Ella said. Jack sent her a charming grin.
"I'm glad you think so, Ella," Jack said. Ella beamed at Jack using her name, the name sounding natural coming from him.
"So, you used to be a Time Agent now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked Jack in a moment of silence.
"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money," Jack said.
"For what?" Rose asked. Ella noticed that the Doctor was listening in on the conversation. "Woke up one day when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back," Jack stated.
"They stole your memories?" Ella asked incredulously.
"Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me, and for all I know he's right not to. Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?" Jack said, changing the topic.
A few minutes later, they were walking down an alleyway near the crash site. They all looked at the crash site and saw soldiers guarding the area. They were everywhere.
"There it is. Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important," Jack stated, pointing out Algy.
"We've got to get past him," the Doctor said.
"Are the words distract the guard heading in my general direction?" Rose grinned. Ella coughed, trying to cover up her laughter, making Rose send an exasperated look at her.
"I don't think that'd be such a good idea," Jack and Ella said. Jack looked at me in surprise.
"Don't worry I can handle it," Rose said.
"I'm pretty sure he's gay Rose. Have you suddenly developed male organs?" Ella teased. Jack and Dad sniggered while Rose sighed and softly slapped Ella's shoulder. Ella just smiled at her.
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him. Don't wait up," Jack said, running off.
"Relax, he's a fifty first century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing," the Doctor stated. Ella giggled, knowing what her father meant.
"How flexible?" Rose asked.
"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy," the Doctor said. Ella just kept giggling.
"Meaning?" Rose said.
"So many species, so little time," the Doctor grinned.
"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and, and..." Rose trailed off.
"Dance," the Doctor grinned. Ella was still in a fit of giggles until she saw Jack talking to the Algy guy and started to calm herself.
"Hey, tiger. How's it hanging?" Jack asked, rather loudly.
"Mummy?" Algy replied. This was when Ella's giggles stopped.
"Algy, old sport, it's me," Jack said.
"Mummy?"
"It's me, Jack," Jack said, sounding worried.
"Jack? Are you my mummy?" Algy started to retch and then fell to his knees, retching a bit more before his face turned into a gas mask. Rose, the Doctor and Ella ran forward from the side.
"Stay back!" The Doctor yelled at the soldiers near by.
"You men, stay away!" Jack warned.
"The effect's become air-borne, accelerating," the Doctor realised. The air raid sirens then started up again.
"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Ella said worriedly.
"Ah, here they come again," Jack sighed, looking at the sky.
"All we need. Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" Rose asked.
"Never mind about that. If the contaminants airborne now, there's hours left," the Doctor said.
"For what?" Jack asked.
"Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?" Ella asked.
"Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops," a voice sang. A females voice. "When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all." The Doctor entered the shed and the other three couldn't see what was going on inside. Only hearing the singing. "Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree tops. When the wind blows the cradle will rock."
When the Doctor walked out of the shed with a young woman following, Ella shared a confused glance with Rose. She looked around eighteen or nineteen, maybe older, maybe younger. Her name was apparently Nancy. The lights lit up and Jack uncovered the spacecraft.
"You see? Just an ambulance," Jack said.
"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked.
"It's hard to explain. It's from another world," Rose said gently.
"They've been trying to get in," Jack said.
"Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon," the Doctor explained. "What're you doing?" Jack was keying in the access codes.
"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it," Jack said, still in denial. The ship sparked, and an alarm went off. The access panel was now showing a red flashing light. "Didn't happen last time."
"It hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols," Ella said in a bored tone from where she was sitting down next to the ship, playing with pieces of dirt.
"Doctor, what is that?" Rose asked. After a few minutes silence, Rose yelled, "Doctor!"
"Captain, secure those gates!" The Doctor yelled.
"Why?" Jack asked.
"Just do it! Nancy, how'd you get in here?" The Doctor asked the girl.
"I cut the wire," Nancy stated.
"Show Rose. Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty eight D," he said, throwing his sonic screwdriver to the blonde.
"What?" Rose asked.
"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!" The Doctor yelled. Jack arrived back at the ship and managed to get it open.
"It's empty. Look at it," Jack said.
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?" The Doctor asked.
"I don't know," Rose scoffed.
"Yes, you do," the Doctor said, signalling with his hands.
"Nanogenes!" Rose exclaimed.
"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species," the Doctor said.
"Oh, God," Jack said, the consequences of what he'd done dawning on him.
"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gasmask," the Doctor said angrily.
"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Rose asked.
"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene," Ella said.
"One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gasmask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!" The Doctor yelled.
"I didn't know!" Jack defended. Jack looked incredibly guilty and Ella felt sorry for him. The Doctor worked on the ambulance while the patients approached the crash site.
"Mummy. Mummy."
"Rose!" Nancy yelled. Rose ran over to the young woman and spoke with her for a moment before she walked back over to the Doctor.
"It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?" Rose asked.
"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol," Ella said.
"But the gas mask people aren't troops," Rose exclaimed.
"They are now. This is a battle-field ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you," the Doctor said, a little coldly, the coldness not aimed at Rose but the whole situation.
"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing," Rose realised.
"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them," the Doctor said. The patients surrounded them, all of the patients standing just outside the barbed wire fence.
"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.
"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander," Ella explained.
"The child?" Jack asked.
"Jamie," Nancy said. They all looked at her.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Not the child. Jamie," Nancy said, sounding a little angry. Ella had a feeling that Nancy knew more than she was telling them.
"So how long until the bomb falls?" Rose asked a little worried.
"Any second," Jack said.
"What's the matter, Captain? A bit close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor snapped. Ella slapped the Doctor's shoulder, hard enough for the sound to echo.
"Focus," Ella hissed at her father.
"He's just a little boy," Nancy said. Ella wrapped her arm around Nancy's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"I know," Ella said.
"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy," Nancy said, her voice wavering.
"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can," Ella said, trying to be gentle.
"So what're we going to do?" Rose asked.
"I don't know," the Doctor said.
"It's my fault," Nancy sobbed.
"No," Ella said.
"It is. It's all my fault," Nancy continued to sob.
"How can it be your..." Ella started. Then she noticed what was going on around them. The patients were asking for their mummy because the child didn't know who his mummy was. That was when all the puzzle pieces connected.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."
"Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty one? Older than you look, yes?" Ella asked. The bombs were getting closer.
"Doctor, Pixie, that bomb. We've got seconds," Jack pointed out.
"You can teleport us out," Rose said.
"No he can't," Ella said distractedly.
"Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols," Jack explained.
"So it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do," the Doctor said. Ella saw Jack look at her and Rose and Ella winked at him.
"Jack?" Rose asked. Jack gave her a look and pressed a button on his remote and disappeared.
"How old were you five years ago? Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he? A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him," the Doctor said. Nancy kept crying and Ella backed off to give her space. The bomb site gate opened and Jamie stood there.
"Are you my mummy?"
"He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop," the Doctor said.
"Mummy?" Jamie then started walking towards them.
"Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me and tell him," Ella encouraged. Nancy and Jamie walked towards each other, and Nancy stopped in front of Jamie and crouched down to eye level.
"Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?" Jamie asked.
"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy," Nancy said.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes."
"Are you my mummy?"
"He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left," the Doctor realised.
"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry," Nancy said, pulling Jamie in for a hug. Nanogenes then surrounded mother and son.
"What's happening? Doctor, it's changing her, we should..." Rose started to say.
"Shut up, Rose," Ella said.
"Shush! Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out," the Doctor begged.
"What's happening?" Rose asked.
"See? Recognising the same DNA," the Doctor pointed out. Jamie let go of his mother and Nancy fell backwards onto the ground. Ella and the Doctor then ran over to Jamie and Nancy.
"Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one," the Doctor pleaded. He removed Jamie's gas mask and they saw that he was back to normal. Ella picked him up and swung him around.
"Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music - you're going to love it," Ella exclaimed. Jamie smiled at her, not a clue as to what she was saying.
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"The nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them! Ha-ha! Mother knows best!" The Doctor cheered. Ella put Jamie back down on the ground.
"Oh, Jamie," Nancy sighed. She held Jamie close to her.
"Doctor, that bomb," Rose said.
"Taken care of it," the Doctor said.
"How?" Rose asked.
"Psychology," the Doctor grinned. Ella rolled her eyes. The bomb hurtled towards them, but before it could make an impact, it got caught in Jack's light beam. Jack was sitting astride the bomb.
"Doctor!" Jack yelled.
"Good lad!" The Doctor yelled.
"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long," Jack explained.
"Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?" The Doctor asked.
"Ella?" Jack said.
"Yeah?" Ella asked.
"Goodbye," he said before vanishing with the bomb. Reappearing only seconds later.
"By the way, love the dress," Jack complimented before vanishing again. Jack's spaceship sucked up the light beam and flew off. The Doctor summoned some nanogenes to himself.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked.
"Software patch. Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves," the Doctor said. He threw the nanogenes to the waiting patients, who all fell to the ground. "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!" The patients stood up again, back to normal. The Doctor went to talk with one of the people while Ella hung back with Rose, leaning on the warship. After a few minutes, he came back to the two women and started to press buttons on the Chula Ambulance.
"Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state! Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?" The Doctor said.
"Usually the first in line," Rose and I said, both high fiving and laughing. The Doctor grinned at the two. They went back to the TARDIS where the Doctor ran around the console.
"The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!" The Doctor said, grinning like an idiot.
"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas," Rose said.
"I thought he was grinning like an idiot, but yeah, let's go with that," Ella said, just loud enough for the other two to hear.
"Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" The Doctor asked Rose.
"What?" Rose asked, dumbfounded.
"And everybody lives, Rose! Everybody lives! I need more days like this," the Doctor said happily.
"Doctor," Rose said. I knew what she was going to ask.
"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire," the Doctor cheered.
"What about Jack? Why'd he say goodbye?" Rose asked. The Doctor avoided the question until Ella spoke up.
"Save him," Ella ordered.
"What? Why?" The Doctor asked, a bit angrily.
"Because I said so," Ella countered.
"And I'm saying no," the Doctor retorted.
"You always get to choose the companions. I never get a choice. It's my turn, and I liked him, dad. Please. Please save him," Ella pleaded.
"Do I have to?" The Doctor whined.
"Yes. Now let's go get my companion!" Ella cheered. The Doctor punched in some coordinates and they landed in Jack's spaceship where Ella crept up behind him. Jack was drinking a martini.
"Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again. Funny thing. Last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Mmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch. Can't say that about most executioners. Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great," Jack said. Moonlight Serenade played and Jack looked around to see Ella leaning against the wall.
"That was a nice story but I'm saving your life now," Ella grinned, grabbing Jack's hand. "Come on!" Ella pulled him to his feet and dragged him through the open TARDIS doors, and into the console room where the Doctor and Rose are dancing. Well, Rose is teaching the Doctor to dance (Rose had no idea that the Doctor was pulling her leg, he could definitely dance).
"Okay. And right and turn. Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-nelson," Rose said.
"I'm sure I used to know this stuff. Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught," the Doctor said. Ella laughed as Jack shut the doors of the TARDIS. The Doctor then pressed some buttons and left the TARDIS to drift in the time vortex.
"Welcome to the TARDIS," Ella said, seeing the amazement in Jack's eyes as he looked around.
"Much bigger on the inside," Jack stated.
"You'd better be," the Doctor mumbled.
"I think what the Doctor's trying to say is you may cut in," Rose said. Ella sent a look to Rose and she pretended not to notice. The Doctor did though, and decided to help his little girl.
"Rose! I've just remembered!" The Doctor exclaimed, dancing towards Rose.
"What?" Rose asked. The music changed from waltz to swing, Glenn Miller's In The Mood.
"I can dance! I can dance!" The Doctor grinned.
"Actually, Doctor, I thought Jack might like this dance," Rose said.
"I'm sure he would, Rose. I'm absolutely certain. But who with?" The Doctor asked. Rose went to dance with him while Jack held his hand out to Ella as an offer to dance. Ella took the offered hand and started dancing with him. After around five songs, Ella took Jack on a tour of the TARDIS, leaving Rose and the Doctor to dance.
"I'm guessing that days like this are normal for you guys," Jack said. Ella nodded.
"Indeed they are, so I hope you're ready for the adventure of a lifetime. Several lifetimes in my Dad's and my case," Ella answered. The latter words making Jack look to the pink haired woman in confusion.
"Several lifetimes?" He asked.
"You're from the fifty first century, you've heard of the Time Lords from Gallifrey, right?"
"Of course. But they're a myth, aren't they?" Jack asked.
"Dad and I are the last of the Time Lords," Ella stated. Jack stared at Ella in shock.
"It must be lonely," Jack stated. Ella smiled sadly and nodded.
"I don't have many friends. I have Rose. We have our moments but I've learnt to like her, and we are actually good friends most of the time. But human lives are fleeting, so it wouldn't last," Ella explained. Jack listened intently.
"Well, if I ever become immortal, I'll keep you company," Jack joked. Ella snorted and threw her head back to laugh.
"Sure, Jack, sure," Ella chuckled, playing along.
Ella could feel this would be the start of an amazing friendship, and she was already dreading when it would end.