F/O:- Hello everyone! This chapter is dedicated to my amazing reviewers, belongs to the BBC, and was written by me. It's relatively short, but when I was splitting it into chapters, this was a sensible ending point. My idiom comes true - more reviews faster updates!
Chapter Two.
"They were found in the top security vault with a strange blue box they claim is their ship, and the body of Oskaa!" The Doctor groaned to himself. He loved the TARDIS, he really did, but her persistent knack of getting them into sticky situations was wearing thin. He was certain that the entire incident with Tegan was more because she liked the young girl than because she was actually malfunctioning. But that was four lifetimes ago now, back when Gallifrey was still there…
Faladeh was moving towards them, intent on proving their guilt, by hook or by crook, despite the elderly leader's calls for him to stop. Two bodyguards rushed forwards and held him, but by then his supporters were calling from the stands, and a full-scale riot was in the making. He considered backing away and making a run for it, but, judging by the sheer amount of Cervarians in the room, that would be near impossible.
"Doctor!" Jack called suddenly and frantically from behind him, and he swirled round, just in time to see Rose fall to the floor, her face ashen white, Jack clutching her to stop her from falling. He was immediately by her side, lifting her from the hard floor and moving her head onto his lap, linking eyes with Jack briefly as he reached for her forehead to check her temperature.
"What happened?" he said quickly. Jack looked down at the blonde girl hopelessly, his face devoid of the usual fluent charm.
"I don't know, she just collapsed – no warning." He glanced at the furore behind them, which was gradually calming, then back at the Doctor. "Think it's connected to earlier?"
"You bet." Her skin was cold, clammy, and her heart rate was fast. They needed to get her out of here, and now.
"Doctor!" a voice called, and his head snapped round, ready to glare at any person who interrupted, stopping as the elderly Cervarian approached slowly, its features expressing concern. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes, it's Rose, she's sick." He said shortly, shrugging off his jacket once again to wrap it around her smaller form.
"Can we help?" The Doctor paused, thinking as he rearranged the item of clothing. Then he looked up and fixed the other's eyes.
"I need my ship." He said simply, searching its face intently. It nodded, and then stared hard at the three of them in turn, as if trying to read their thoughts, its gaze finally resting on Rose.
"I would be lying if I said that I entirely trust you Doctor."
"And I would be lying if I said the same." The Doctor replied in a low tone. The Cervarian nodded appraisingly, and refolded its pincers to give it time to gather its thoughts.
"You have done us no harm." It finally said. "I will see it that you will get to your ship. However, this one," it pointed at Jack, "will have to remain, to convince the others of your trustworthiness."
"I need Jack." The Doctor said quickly, wondering if he was pushing his luck. If it had eyebrows, it would've raised one.
"Very well. This is not a good time for you to be here, Doctor. I wish you well on your way." With that, it stepped back, and gestured for a different Cervarian to come over.
"Take the Doctor and the other two to their ship. The female requires medical assistance." It said briskly. The insect nodded, and Jack quickly picked up Rose carefully. When the Doctor semi-glared at him, he just replied in an undertone,
"You still need to get us out of here, and if we get in a sticky situation, you're definitely more use than I am."
The escort led them out of the hall unobtrusively as the leader tried to reassemble order, and took them down a separate corridor. Luckily, the main throne room was quite close to the scientific research laboratories (or the equivalent), so they didn't have to walk far. This insect seemed more loyal to the elder and kinder to its three guests than the others, and even bowed low when the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS door, ushering Jack inside quickly.
"Thank you. To you and the Mwugab." He said, turning back, before entering the Police Box and shutting the door. Within minutes, a whirring sound emitted from deep within, vibrating the air into a brisk wind, the top light winking as it faded from space and time.
On the TARDIS, the Doctor manically flicked switches and pumped away at the bicycle pump, pleading desperately with the machine. It exuded sympathy to his partially telepathic mind, and worked quickly, taking them to the safety of the time-space vortex. Then he dashed off after Jack, patting the console in thanks before he left and raced down to the infirmary.
Jack was just laying her on the bed as he entered, the other man's face reflecting the pain and worry he felt gnawing at his chest.
"What can I do?" he said, stepping back as the Doctor stalked forwards.
"I need some of that equipment," he waved at a desk over the other side of the room, littered with all sorts of alien artefacts. "Pass me the small red one, with the little buttons." Moving quickly over to the tabletop, Jack found the appropriate item, and tossed it over at the Doctor, who caught it deftly.
"This should regulate her pulse better." He explained, fixing it gently to her wrist with soft straps, and keying in a few numbers. "I need the Blood Analyser; that's the larger silver one." Jack found it underneath a selection of what appeared to be non-stick bandages, and walked across, passing it over. The Doctor quickly picked up her limp hand, and gently pressed a finger onto a scanner, which shone white, then faded as it took a blood sample without even breaking the skin.
"I'm just gonna feed this into the database," the Doctor said by way of explanation as he hurried over to a largish computer console, Jack trailing behind him. Jamming the device into a slot that looked like it had been cannibalised for this purpose, the Doctor fiddled with the computer, before nodding as it started to analyse the blood.
"And now we wait." He said, deflating slightly. He turned to glance at Rose's still form, worry etched on his features.
"She'll be fine." Jack said unconvincingly, patting the Doctor carefully on the shoulder, and looking him in the eyes. Looking back over at Rose, he reinforced that thought mentally to himself. She would be fine. Making a quick and rather unwanted decision, he turned back to the other man. "You stay with her, I could do with a break and some food. Unless you…?" he trailed off hopelessly as the Doctor shook his head.
"Thanks Jack." He said as the man left, and the Time Agent nodded in response. Moving a chair next to the soft infirmary bed, he sat down, resting his elbows on his knees, and, after a few moments, took Rose's unresponsive hand in both of his. And he waited.
Several hours later, a small light started to flash on the console, accompanied by an unassuming but repetitive blip. The Doctor, lost in a myriad of thoughts that drifted across his conscious, and the usual vibrant knowledge of time and space that threaded through his subconscious, heard it vaguely, and resurfaced. Within a few seconds, he cleared his head enough to think, and stood, walking stony faced to the console. Tapping a few keys that would print out the results into hardcopy, he waited impatiently as it whirred into life, glancing over at Rose again. She hadn't moved at all, except to breathe, her chest moving gently up and down, and her pulse thudding into the hand that had clasped it. Her skin was pale, and looked as clammy as before, slight moisture glistening on her cheekbones.
When the sheet of paper finally inserted itself into his waiting hand, he practically tore it out of the machine and read it swiftly. What he saw made his haggard face pale further, and he dropped it from now nerveless fingers. The thin recycled paper fluttered to the ground and lay there on the cold floor as he walked off.
Jack was just making his way to the infirmary, feeling slightly more rested now than he had earlier. That short nap and meal, while punctuated by his worries over Rose and the persistent feeling he should be by her side, was definitely good for him. He wondered hopelessly if the Doctor had got any rest, or would do until Rose woke up. Probably not. Despite the fact that the man was Gallifreyan, he still needed some sleep Jack knew, though when or where the man slept he had no idea. It could have been weeks since the old man had got any shuteye. And he definitely wasn't likely to get any soon.
He entered the infirmary deep in thought, not noticing the missing presence of the Doctor. When he eventually noticed, he glanced around in concern, his sharp eyes spotting the paper lying forlorn on the floor. Picking it up with deft fingers, he walked over and sat down beside Rose's bed, wondering what was going on. His eyes scanned the paper in confusion, before he glanced up at Rose. It couldn't be… that was impossible.
Relying on the fact that she wasn't going to get any better or worse for the moment, he dashed out of the room, paper clasped in his fingers, intent on finding the Doctor.
Luckily for Jack, the TARDIS was feeling helpful, and rearranged the rooms and corridors as much as she could to aid the young companions flight. Down corridors, looking desperately in rooms, banging doors and cursing in the many languages he knew.
He finally found the reclusive Doctor, in, of all places, the garden. He had only been in once, during Rose's lightening-stop tour a few days after he'd first arrived, in which he'd been primarily warned against a certain unused bathroom, the third kitchen and a man-eating plant called George.
He was in the deepest part of the garden, and the most intricate. Lush plants grew everywhere, and, somehow, there was sky. At the moment, the TARDIS had obviously decided it was night time, and had adorned the, ceiling? Sky? With small twinkling diamonds, in what appeared to be Earth's constellations. The Doctor, however, seemed oblivious to this, and stood hunched over a delicate wooden trellis fence, his head bowed, bony arms resting on the top rail.
"Doctor?" Jack called, and the other man glanced round to look at him, then returned his staring into space, his eyes dark. "Doctor, what's going on?"
"It's impossible." The old Gallifreyan said, mostly to himself. Jack walked cautiously forwards, confused.
"What's impossible? Doctor?" There was a short, tense silence, and then the Doctor whirled round, uncommon moisture in his eyes.
"How can this have happened?" he half-shouted, then quieted slightly. "It's killing her." A shiver ran down Jack's spine.
"Doctor," he said carefully. "You're not making any sense." For the first time, he looked up, and their eyes locked. The untold pain and emotion in the usually manic/steely blue green eyes was almost enough to physically move the Time Agent.
"You've seen the results." It wasn't a question, and Jack's eyes flicked to the piece of paper still clenched in his hand.
"Yes, but this is impossible!" He said, unconsciously repeating the Doctor's earlier sentiment. "This says her DNA's changing, and to something I've never seen before!" He glanced at the paper to refresh his memory, then tapped it for emphasis. "For God's sake, this says that even her cells are changing, mutating somehow!" The Doctor's breath hitched, almost as if Jack's sudden announcement was a shock to him, and his face tightened.
"I know." He said eventually, suddenly looking very vulnerable without his jacket. He glanced away, into space, obviously thinking and assembling his thoughts. He sighed, and looked back to Jack, his face carefully arranged into his usual expression. "First of all I think we need to find out what's going on. I've got some more equipment we can set up, see what else's wrong." Jack nodded; strangely reassured by the calm way the older man took over, and slightly disturbed the way he just accepted it. Shaking it off, he followed the Doctor slowly out of the garden, pushing all thoughts but Rose's welfare out of his head. Pondering on his newfound change of character could be done later, right now the 21st Century Londoner needed them both, and judging by the results still clenched in his fist, she needed them now.
Review Responses
SlayerGirl, AN, bookz, earthdrago, Avelynn Tame, Sheela, Dreyan, porkpie, Acid Lee, Akisame15, Oni Wolda, Laseri, golwenadaneth, EbonyBeach, YamiKITG. Thanks to you all! This chapter is dedicated to you, who have managed in a very short space of time to make this my third-most-reviewed story in existence, IN ONE SINGLE CHAPTER! Woohoo!
Special Responses:
Avelynn Tame – Thank you for coming back! I'm so glad I managed to entice all you 'Species' readers back for a second round, and I can assure you, it will continue! So far I'm thinking at least 4 chapters, but every time I write, it gets longer… I just want to say that I think 'Species' may have been slightly misleading, in some aspects. No babies will be involved in the near future.
Sheela – Have a cookie! I really love reviews like this, who point out what I'm doing right (nothing against criticism, but I need something occasionally). Well done, but I'm not letting out any of my plot just yet! Well, not until you read it…