O! my heart now feels so cheerful as I go with footsteps light
In the daily toil of my dear home
And I'll tell to you the secret that now makes my life so bright
There's a flower at my window in full bloom
-0-0-
Two moons lit up the night sky on a random planet I had forgotten the name of, waves crashing along a purple sanded beach. Behind me the Doctor was being thanked by a little girl and her mother for his help in saving their pet (a strange cat-like animal with 6 feet instead of four).
When he finally joined me, his face was covered in red lipstick marks. I raised my eyebrows in amusement, and he rolled his eyes.
"Not a word."
"I wasn't going to say anything," I defended myself, looking over at the beach.
He brushed his face with his sleeve, but all he managed to do was smear the lipstick across his cheeks, completely missing the one on his forehead. I snorted, looking away so I wouldn't start laughing. The Doctor let out a disgruntled sound as he caught sight in the reflection of a car window.
Or at least what I thought was a car.
"It's kind of a shame, you know. There are beautiful planets like this and yet I get stuck with boring old earth," I mused.
The Doctor frowned. "Boring old earth? That wasn't what you said when we went to Rome."
"Wait, what?" I turned to him with wide eyes. "Rome?"
"Ahh, too early?"
I snorted, pointing above his left eye. "You still have a smudge, right here."
He squinted at his reflection, rubbing on the wrong spot, so I reached over to grab his chin, leaning to the left so he was facing me. I rubbed the spot with my thumb and pulled it back so he could see the left over pigment. The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets with a nod.
"Anglerians. Lovely species, overly affectionate."
"So, Rome?" I questioned with a grin.
"Hmm, one of our first adventures with Jack. Mickey wasn't overly fond of it, kept getting pick pocketed."
I winced. "Hopefully you didn't go to the past. I can't imagine what some 17th century robber would do with a cell phone."
The Doctor laughed. We walked along the beach back to where the TARDIS sat, the vivid blue wood blending beautifully with the purple sand that stuck to the bottom of its doors. The Doctor warned me to shake out the sand before coming inside.
"Well, I can't wait to visit Rome someday. And meet Jack. I haven't met him or Mickey yet. Should be interesting, huh?"
"Must be very early for you then, if you haven't met Jack yet," The Doctor mused, squinting at me. "Actually, how early is it?"
"Can't really remember how long I've been with you exactly. Maybe a few days?"
The Doctor suddenly looked like he remembered something. "Oh, in that case."
He ducked down under the console and grabbed something, popping up with a smile. I raised an eyebrow as he brought out a watch, holding out a hand and waiting until I rested my own over his palm.
"You know, I'm no expert in time," I drawled while he adjusted the straps of the watch over my wrist, "but wouldn't a watch be kind of useless when you keep changing time zones?"
"Nope," he said, popping the p. "This specific watch works around your chronological timeline as opposed to your linear surroundings."
"Words are coming out but I'm not getting anything," I told him, admiring the simple but elegant watch he had handed me.
"It tracks your personal time. It tells you how long you've been traveling with me," He explained.
I nodded, looking down at the numbers. "So, seconds, minutes and hours? Like a stopwatch?"
The Doctor looked offended. "It's a lot more than just a stopwatch. It can also track your current date and location if there's access to a nearby database, although it might not work in all locations."
"Like the moon?"
"Depends on the year," He mused, pulling on levers and pressing buttons. "Now, how about a lovely breakfast at the most popular marketplace in the universe?"
"Sounds hectic," I pointed out, giving him a grin. "Let's go."
-0-0-
I was laughing the next time I jumped. The Doctor had gotten into a fight with some random purple alien over whether or not we were allowed to park the TARDIS in a busy marketplace, which ended up with him getting a smoothie thrown in his face. His bewildered look was the last thing I saw.
I wasn't even worried when I was engulfed by the golden light this time, landing in an empty corridor of what looked to be a hospital. Based on past assumptions, I knew the Doctor had to be nearby.
"Doctor?" I called out.
I walked down the hallway, poking my head into some random rooms. They were all filled with sleeping patients, and I got close enough to the end of the hall that I started to hear some noises.
"Doctor?"
I opened the door and immediately froze, as The Doctor, Rose and Jack were all trapped against the wall as a group of people with gas masks walked towards them.
"Oooh, bad moment?" I said jokingly, and a few of the patients closest to me turned at my voice.
"Chloe!" Rose yelled out, looking relieved. "Oh, thank God."
"Get out of here!" The Doctor yelled, "Don't let them touch you!"
"Oh don't be so dramatic," I said, walking into the room. I eyed one of the nurses reaching out to touch me. I stood my ground and pointed at the beds with a scowl.
"Go to your room." Like expected, they all stood very still. "I said, go to your room! I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. Now go to your room!"
Like a scolded child, the patients shuffled back to their beds and laid back down on their cots. The men looked at me in surprise, but Rose just let out a laugh.
"Oh, you were brilliant."
"Yeah, glad I got here in time, huh?" I accepted her hug, holding her tight. It had been a while since I had been hugged. "Just wish it wasn't in a hospital."
Rose pulled back and tilted her head in confusion. "You don't like hospitals?"
"Hate them. Almost as much as I hate Doctors," I said without thinking. As expected, the Doctor sent me a confused and slightly offended look. "Not you though. Oooh, I am so glad Martha isn't here right now. She would never let me live that down."
"Martha?" Rose asked.
"She's a Doctor. You'll meet her someday, just don't ever tell her about me hating Doctors."
Rose nodded in understanding. From across the room, a handsome young man who I assumed was Jack wandered over and looked between me and Rose.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Names Chloe," I said. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"You with them?" He pointed over to the Doctor, who was leaning against a wall and observing the patients with careful eyes.
"She comes and goes. Just another freelancer," The Doctor said.
Jack nodded his head in understanding, giving me another onceover before he started to smile in his typical flirtatious way. He held out his hand.
"Well in that case, it's nice to meet you. I'm –"
"Captain Jack Harkness," I finished for him, giving him a wink.
He frowned. "How'd you know that?"
"I know a lot of things I'm not supposed to know," I replied nonchalantly.
"It's true," Rose explained, "I didn't really believe her either at first, but trust me. She knows everything."
"Well, not everything. I have the SAT score to prove it," I shot back. Rose laughed, pushing against my shoulder playfully.
"Well if she knows so much, does that mean she knows what's going on?" Jack asked.
I nodded. "I do, actually. But I'm not allowed to tell you."
"What do you mean?"
"It's her rules," The Doctor cut in, "She can't say anything unless it's a matter of life or death."
He sounded annoyed, as if he didn't agree with the rules. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh please, as if you don't like figuring things out yourself. You love showing off."
The Doctor looked like he wanted to say something, but Jack cut in. "So what are we supposed to do then? How do we fix this?"
I clicked my tongue. "Well there wouldn't be anything to fix if an idiot hadn't started this mess to begin with."
"This wasn't my fault," Jack insisted.
My smile widened. "Never said it was."
Jack scowled and Rose let out a laugh. Rolling his eyes the Doctor motioned to the doors. "Well I suggest we go figure this out then."
"Are we getting out of here?" Rose asked.
"We're going upstairs."
-0-0-
The Doctor took off quickly down the halls and I had to shuffle forwards quickly to match his pace. Rose and Jack were talking as they walked behind us, slowing down as they began to converse and getting left behind. By the time they realized it, the Doctor had already made his way up some stairs that I was in the process of climbing.
"Mister Spock?"
"Doctor?"
I skipped steps running up the staircase (and immediately regretted it because then my lungs began to burn) and let out a short laugh in amusement as the pair ran past the staircase. The Doctor popped his head over the side of the banister.
"Have you got a blaster?" He yelled down.
Jack and Rose skidded to a stop and doubled back. Jack glanced up at the Doctor as he replied, and the pair quickly joined us at the top of the stair. The Doctor pointed at the metal door keeping us from getting into the room.
"The night your space-junk landed, someone got hurt. This was where they were taken."
"What happened?" Rose asked, looking at me.
I smiled at her, gesturing towards the door. "Let's find out."
The Doctor nods at Jack. "Get it open."
Rose leaned in close so she could ask the Doctor what was wrong with his sonic screwdriver, to which he replied nonchalantly that nothing was wrong. Jack blasted open the part of the door that held the lock easily, looking back to give us a grin. With nothing holding it close, the door creaked open.
The Doctor stepped forward to admire Jack's blaster. "Sonic blaster, fifty first century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?"
"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked in surprise. The Doctor winced.
"Once."
"Well, they're gone now. Destroyed. The main reactor went critical and vaporized the lot," Jack explained to me and Rose.
"Yeah, like I said. Once." The Doctor handed the 'gun' back to Jack. "There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."
I snickered as I followed the Doctor into the room, giving him a pointed look.
"You know, normal people ask before 'borrowing' something," I told him, and he grinned.
"When have I ever been normal?"
Rose and Jack followed us into the room, and the Doctor turned on the lights to reveal a huge mess that I know was created by a little kid. The others focused their gaze on the broken window leading to the observation room.
"What do you think?" The Doctor asked. Jack looked around with a calculated look.
"Something got out of here."
"Yeah. And?"
"Something powerful. Angry."
"He's just scared," I corrected, tracing the edge of the desk all the way to the observation room. I paused in the doorway.
Jack and Rose stood behind me as they took in the drawings on the floor, the dirty toys, and the little bed in the corner. Even through all the mess, it was easy to tell that the room belonged to a kid. Or at least what used to be a kid.
"A child? I suppose this explains Mummy," Jack mused, taking calculated steps into the room. Rose shook her head.
"How could a child do this?" She wondered.
The Doctor turned on the tape machine that laid on the table, and the recording filled the room as the others began to investigate.
"Do you know where you are?" A man's voice asked. The little boy ignored him.
"Are you my mummy?"
"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?"
"Are you my mummy?"
I crouched down next to a pile of drawings, all of them of his mother, and gently traced the lines. The poor kid just wanted his mom, and he would do anything to find her. He didn't deserve any of this.
"Doctor, I've heard this voice before," Rose said. The Doctor nodded.
"Me too."
"Mummy?" The kid continued to call out. Rose blinked in confusion.
"Always 'are you my mummy'. Like he doesn't know," She continued.
I looked up sadly. "That's because he doesn't."
"Why doesn't he know?"
I didn't answer, instead standing up to bring my hand up against the wall the Doctor would blast through. The little boy would be here soon. The Doctor walked into the child's room with us, pacing back and forth with a frown. Jack and Rose watched him in confusion.
"Doctor?"
"Can you sense it?" He asked randomly, shaking his hands out.
"Sense what?" Jack asked.
"Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?" The Doctor continued, looking agitated and full of energy. When nobody answered, he looked at us incredulously. "Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species," She explained.
"Rose, I'm thinking."
"He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than," Rose continued. I sniggered, until the Doctor glared at me.
"This child, you know who he is," He said. I nodded.
"Course I know."
"Mummy, please?"
"Don't you think this is important enough to help out?" He accused.
"Not unless it's urgent," I reminded him.
"People could die, and you want to wait until they do to say anything?"
"Doctor, I think you should focus on the situation at hand," I said, making a gesture to the tape that had now run out.
"I'm here."
"Because I sent those people downstairs to their rooms. The other patients went to their beds, but what about the kid?" I reminded him. The sound of the end of the tape was loud enough that Rose looked worried.
"Doctor?"
"I'm here. Can't you see me?"
"What's that noise?"
The Doctor grinned at her. "End of the tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago."
Rose and Jack exchanged confused glances.
"I'm here now. Can't you see me?" The child asked.
"It was sent to its room. This is its room," The Doctor explained. As the situation donned on them, we all looked over to the broken window to see the kid standing there.
"Are you my mummy?" He asked.
"Any time somebody would like to use their blaster," I said pointedly at the Doctor.
Jack, on the other hand, hadn't realized he wasn't the one in possession anymore. He reached his hands into his pockets. "Okay, on my signal, make for the door."
"Mummy?"
"Now!" Jack jumped behind the Doctor holding a banana over his shoulder, and then looked down at it in confusion.
I immediately moved out of the way, just as The Doctor pulled out the real blaster. With a grin he shot a hole into the wall behind us.
"Go now!" He yelled, ushering us out of the room. "Don't drop the banana!"
"Why not?!" Jack yelled back as Rose and I jumped out into the hall.
"Good source of potassium."
As he joined us out in the hall, Jack grabbed the blaster from the Doctor. He repaired the hole in the wall as the little boy began to walk towards us, and Rose let out a sigh of relief.
"Digital rewind," Jack explained, throwing the banana at the Doctor, "Nice switch."
The Doctor waved the banana. "It's from the groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate."
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard, and you did that?"
"Bananas are good."
The wall cracked as the boy slammed up against it, and Rose looked up in panic.
"Doctor!"
"Come on!" He yelled, taking off down the hall. I didn't even bother running after them, and soon enough they came running back. The Doctor sent me a harsh look. "Well don't just stand there!"
I pointed to the end of the hall just as Jack and Rose were forced to stop as the hallway filled up with patients. They boxed us in, all chanting out 'mummy' and Jack raised his blaster at one side.
"It's keeping us here till it can get at us," The Doctor pointed out.
Jack shifted his grip on his blaster. "It's controlling them?"
"It is them. It's every living this in this hospital. And it has us trapped," He said, whirling around to glare at me again. "Is this urgent enough for you?"
I rolled my eyes, holding my hand out to Jack. "Blaster."
Jack and Rose looked over in confusion. I raised my eyebrows.
"Blaster. Gimme, now."
With a nod from the Doctor, Jack handed me his blaster, the wall cracking more as the kid began to push through.
"Warning," I told the Doctor, pointing the blaster at the ground.
He didn't have time to respond before I blasted the floor, making us all fall down into the room below. Jack once again grabbed his blaster to repair the hole in the ceiling, and Rose got up onto her knees.
"Doctor, are you okay?"
"Could've used a warning," He muttered bitterly.
"I gave you a warning."
"No, you said warning. Not the same thing," He shot back.
I rolled my eyes, looking away. "Oh, go build a shelf."
Rose started looking for some lights, but Jack and The Doctor didn't seem all that bothered. Jack did however look confused at my comment, looking at the Doctor with furrowed brows.
"Shelf?"
"He's got a sonic screwdriver," I mentioned, just to mess with the Doctor. He glared.
"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked, now even more confused.
The Doctor huffed. "I do."
Rose let out a groan of frustration. "There's got to be a light switch."
She spotted it then, and I didn't have time to warn her about the occupants before she turned the lights on. Immediately, the patients still in their beds were awoken and sat up, simultaneously calling for their mummies.
"Door!"
Jack moved to blast open the nearby door, but his blaster jammed. He hit it in frustration. "Damn it!"
The Doctor moved him over so he could have a go. Jack turned to explain the battery problem to Rose as the sonic screwdriver unlocked the door for us, and we all ran into the storeroom. The Doctor again used the screwdriver to lock it behind us.
"That's so lame," Rose mentioned in reference to the battery of the blaster. Jack crossed his arms.
"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory."
"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates," Rose said in understanding.
The Doctor finally finished whatever it was he had been doing. "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."
"The door?" Jack yelled, "The wall didn't stop it!"
"Well it's got to find us first! Come one, we're not done yet. Assets, assets!"
Jack gave him a blank stare. "Well I've got a banana, and in a pinch you could build some shelves."
"Window," The Doctor pointed out, ignoring Jack's comment. Jack sat down in a chair.
"Barred, sheer drop outside. Seven stories."
"And no other exits," Rose said, resigned.
"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack concluded. The Doctor glared.
"So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"
Rose sent him a look, but Jack answered for her.
"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance," He flirted. Rose looked down in embarrassment.
"Okay. One, we've gotta get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" The Doctor asked. Rose looked over at where Jack had teleported in confusion.
"Yeah, Jack just disappeared."
"I wish I could do the same thing," I drawled, plopping down into his empty space. The Doctor turned his sour mood onto me again.
"Yeah, because you're no help just sitting there doing nothing."
"Don't have to," I said, even though his comment hit deep. "Jack will get us out."
As if to prove my point, the radio near the door crackled to life, Jack calling out on it.
"Rose? Doctor? Chloe? Can you hear me?" Rose and the Doctor ran over to the radio. "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you, its security keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it, hang in there."
I couldn't help but remember the image of a cat hanging in a tree whenever I heard that phrase. I stifled a laugh.
"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 muttered.
"What is?"
"The child can Om-Com, too."
Rose looked at him sharply. "He can?"
"Yup," I told her, smacking the radio with a grin. "Anything with a … speaker grill? Apparently that includes phones that aren't phones."
The Doctor sent me an annoyed look, but I could tell he was partly amused. Rose didn't seem to get the joke, just looking even worried.
"Does that mean the child can phone us?"
"And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you," The boy responded through the radio. Rose and the Doctor sent each other worried looks.
"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack asked, running over the child's voice.
"Loud and clear."
"I'll block out the signal. Least I can do," Jack said, and when the child called out through the radio he blocked the noise with a song. "Remember this one, Rose?"
A song I didn't recognize began to play, and Rose seemed a bit sheepish at the look the Doctor sent her.
"Our song," She explained. I winked at her when he turned around and she let out a short laugh.
Settling into some chairs (or a wheelchair in Rose's case), the next few minutes were spent watching the Doctor pace around in agitation before he suddenly seemed to get a great idea. He bounded over to the window and began to sonic with determination.
Rose and I exchanged looks.
"You want to take this one, or should I?" I asked her, even though I already knew what he was doing. She grinned, rolling back and forth in her wheelchair.
Rose turned back to the Doctor. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars," He replied, doing a great job of pretending he hadn't heard me speak.
It seemed that this Doctor was almost reluctant to listen to me if my past experiences were anything to go by. It was a very big change from both the 10th Doctor and the 11th, who were much more willing to trust me.
"You don't think Jack's coming back, do you?" Rose stated.
"Wouldn't bet my life," The Doctor replied. I leaned back in my chair nonchalantly.
"I would."
He turned to me in surprise. "You really trust him, don't you?"
"Oh, ye of little faith. There is a very short list of people I would trust with my life," I said, wishing I had a plastic ball to throw up and down. "Jack's one of them."
"And this has nothing to do with your knowledge of the future?
Rose was watching us both carefully. I didn't answer him, instead choosing to walk over to the radio and turn up the song playing. I kind of wanted to see the TV show events happen. They gave me a sense of security, assured me that things were going as planned.
Unless somebody was going to get hurt. I had no problem changing that.
Holding out a hand, I pulled Rose out of her chair. I leaned in and whispered in her ear while the Doctor watched intently, his task now forgotten.
"Ask him to dance," I told her softly, pulling away and walking over to the door.
Rose looked startled, but did what I asked none the less. He looked away from her and to me with a raised eyebrow, which I returned. I nodded my head at Rose, who held out her hand with a little more courage now.
"What's wrong, don't dance?" She asked. The Doctor turned away and pretended to continue whatever it was he was trying to do with the concrete.
"I'm trying to resonate concrete."
"Jack will be back. He'll get us out," Rose said, looking back at me for confirmation. "So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances."
The Doctor put away his sonic screwdriver, and turned around to face her. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the palm Rose held out to him drew his attention. The Doctor jumped down in front of her and snatched her hand.
"Barrage balloon?"
Bewildered, Rose blinked at him. "What?"
"You were hanging from a barrage balloon."
"Oh, yeah." Rose suddenly looked less confused. "About two minutes after you left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest."
The Doctor sent her a look. "I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy friendly."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Is this you dancing? Because I've got notes."
"Hanging from a rope," The Doctor explained, "thousand feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise."
"Yeah I know. Captain Jack fixed me up," Rose mumbled, looking embarrassed again.
"Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?"
"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain."
"He's not really a Captain, Rose."
I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes as they bantered, only opening them back up when I almost fell backwards from the sudden transportation. Just as expected, neither the Doctor nor Rose noticed as they continued to talk.
"If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked."
"Yeah? Shame I missed that."
Jack spoke up from the front of the ship. "Actually, I quit."
The Doctor and Rose pulled apart in surprise, looking around the ship as they finally realized they weren't in the storeroom anymore.
"Nobody takes my frock," Jack continued as he popped up from behind his seat. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. You two are so sweet."
Jack continued to talk, but I tuned him out in favor of checking out his ride. It was a bit future tech, but honestly didn't seem to have anything that I would be surprised of. Just a bunch of buttons and cool light areas that you could find on any other ship.
Not that I had been on a lot of them. Only one other, actually.
"This is a Chula ship," The Doctor stated, looking around as he slowly began to realize something.
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous," Jack explained. The Doctor snapped and looked down at the golden flow that enveloped his hand.
"They're what fixed my hands up!" Rose said, closing her eyes as she tried to remember. "Jack called them … er-"
"Nanobots? Nonogenes," The Doctor said. Rose nodded.
"Nanogenes, yeah."
I looked down in confusion. "Uh, Doctor?"
"Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them 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."
"Doctor!"
The three looked back at me suddenly, but I couldn't take my eyes off the continuous glow surrounding my body. Unlike when I jumped, the glow wasn't caused by me. However, I was a little curious as to why the ship thought my entire body was a physical flaw, or why it wasn't going away.
"Should I be worried?" I asked, finally raising my gaze. The Doctor had a dark look in his eyes, but it was Jack that spoke up.
"That's not supposed to happen …"
The Doctor waved it away. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
With another snap of his fingers, the nanogenes left, yet it didn't hide the fact that I knew the Doctor was lying. Jack was still looking at me with worry and confusion, but the Doctor drew his attention away.
"Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."
Jack turned to him. "As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Make yourself comfortable."
Rose looked just as worried as Jack, and she sat down next to me on one of the bunk beds with a frown. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. The Doctor didn't take his eyes off me either, looking like he was thinking really hard. His gaze was steadily getting more intense.
I really didn't want to know what he was thinking about.
-0-0-
Jack leads us down the railroads and to a closed off station, guarded by a couple of men.
"There it is. Hey look, they've got Algy on duty," Jack mused, "It must be important."
"We've got to get past him," The Doctor pointed out.
Rose smirked. "Are the words 'distract the guard' heading in my general direction?"
I let out a snort, patting her on the back. "Oh Rose, trust me when I say that is not a good idea."
"Don't worry, I can handle it," She said, slightly offended.
Jack grinned and pushed past her. "No, she's right. I've gotten to know Algy quite well since I've been here, and trust me … he's not your type. I'll distract him."
Rose stared after him with a surprised look, turning to me and the Doctor as if expecting us to be equally shocked. The Doctor grinned, leaning forward.
"Relax, he's a fifty-first century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."
"How flexible?"
"It means that Jack comes from a time where people are more open about this kind of stuff. I bet he's done it with actual aliens by now," I mused.
Rose spluttered. "Is that what we do? When we get out into the universe? We seek new life, and, and-"
"Dance," The Doctor said. Rose still looked confused, so I nudged her slightly.
"You know, the Doctor is technically an alien. Is it so hard to believe that we... dance with them in the future?"
She didn't look fully convinced, but if she thought the look she gave the Doctor was anything but subtle, boy was she wrong. The Doctor also gave me a strange look, but I didn't ask about it. Jack reached the guard by this point, and was making obvious moves to talk to him.
Too bad Algy was already too far gone.
The soldier began to choke, falling to his knees as his face slowly morphed into a mask. The Doctor sprinted over as he called for Jack to stay back, and Jack was quick to return the sentiment to the other guards running their way.
"The effects become air-borne, accelerating," The Doctor explained as we caught up to where Jack and the guards lay. Rose sent him a panicked look as the sirens started up again.
"What's keeping us safe?"
"Nothing."
"Ah, here they come again," Jack pointed out, as if we couldn't hear the sirens ourselves. Rose scrunched her nose up.
"All we need," She muttered, then looking up in realization. "Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?"
"Never mind that," The Doctor said, motioning to Algy. "If the contaminants are airborne now, there's hours left."
"For what?" Jack asked. The Doctor sent him a look.
"Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?"
"Nancy," I told them, motioning over to where the singing was coming from.
The Doctor snuck into the tent with a sleeping masked soldier, releasing her restraints and allowing her to escape. The five of us made our way to the crash site as the rest of the guards, which was no longer guarded. Jack and the Doctor pull back the sheet covering the spacecraft, Jack waving at it with his free hand.
"You see? Just an ambulance."
Nancy looked on with wide eyes. "That's an ambulance?"
"It's hard to explain," Rose said, on one side of Nancy. "It's from another world."
Jack ran his hand along the hull and the scratch marks that covered it, pointing it out to the Doctor.
"They've been trying to get in," He said.
"Of course they have," The Doctor replied, "They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"
Jack keyed in the access code. "The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it."
As if jinxing him, the space ship suddenly sparked and an alarm went off. Both Nancy and I covered our ears at the sudden onslaught of noise, and the Doctor sent Jack an incredulous look.
"Didn't happen last time," Jack said in his defense.
"It hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols," The Doctor explained. Rose took a step back as the noise began to grow.
"Doctor, what is that?"
The Doctor grimaced as Jack continued to try and get the alarm off. It only took a few seconds before the red gates leading to the bomb site was battered against by the patients from the hospital. Rose was the first to notice.
"Doctor!" She called out, and we all looked over in panic.
"Captain," The Doctor said to Jack, "secure those gates!"
Jack looked on in worry. "Why?"
"Just do it!" The Doctor yelled, turning back to us. "Nancy, how'd you get in here?"
"I cut the wire," she said, looking confused and frightened.
"Show Rose," The Doctor said, throwing his screwdriver over at said companion. "Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty eight D."
"What?"
"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"
I watched as the other two girls ran off in a hurry. The Doctor started to pace, looking agitated.
"Is there anything I could do to help?" I asked, the anxiousness in the air starting to get to me. The Doctor turned to look at me with urgency.
"You tell me. How do we fix this?"
I shook my head. "Doctor, I'm sorry, but I-"
"You can't tell me, I understand." He spit out bitterly. I touched his arm gently, then gripped his shoulders until he looked at me.
"Everyone's going to be fine," I reassured him. "If you can't figure it out in time, I promise I'll fix it. I won't let anybody get hurt."
He stared down at me, a familiar look on his face as the last time I looked at him face to face, right before he blew up at me. This time, his features softened as he looked me over, and then away. He nodded to himself.
"I know."
Jack came back and resumed his attempts to open the space ship. He finally manages to get it open as Rose and Nancy make their way back to us, and Jack gestures eagerly at the inside of the ship.
"It's empty. Look at it."
The Doctor scowled. "What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?"
"I don't know," Rose said, looking at him in confusion. The Doctor motioned towards his hand.
"Yes, you do."
It clicked, and Rose pointed at him in understanding. "Nanogenes!"
"It wasn't empty, Captain," The Doctor explained. Jack's face slowly morphed into understanding. "There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."
"Oh, God."
"Getting it now, are we?"
The Doctor continued to explain what the nanogenes had done. He told us about how they had found the little boy, wearing a gas mask. I looked away as he continued, explaining how they started changing everybody they could find, how they won't ever stop. I wrapped my arms around Nancy to comfort her when I noticed her face.
"I didn't know," Jack said, looking devastated. The Doctor didn't answer him, instead choosing to fiddle with the ambulance.
Nancy pulled away from me, stumbling forward as she began to notice the patients making their way closer. Nancy called out for Rose in panic, who ran forward and back to the Doctor. She then seems to realize something observing the ship. Rose turned to the Doctor with wide eyes.
"It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?"
"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol," he answered her. Rose frowned.
"But they aren't troops," she pointed out.
The Doctor didn't even hesitate before answering. "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." The Doctor paused so he could look behind him to the growing crowd of patients. "Equip you, program you."
Rose nodded. "That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing."
"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes," The Doctor mentioned, standing up. "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."
We were now fully surrounded by the patients, most of them on the outside of the barbed wire. Jack looked around in confusion as they suddenly stopped, just standing there.
"Why don't they attack?" He asked.
"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander," The Doctor mentioned, hands fidgeting at his sides. I frowned.
"The child?"
"Jamie," Both Nancy and I spoke up at the same time. Nancy looked over in confusion, but she didn't say anything.
Jack frowned. "What?"
"His name is Jamie," I said softly to him, and Jack looked over in understanding. Nancy bowed her head.
Rose squinted up at the sky. "So, exactly how long until the bomb falls?"
"Any second," Jack declared, eyes wide. The Doctor stepped down from the raised ground, walking over to where I stood.
"What's wrong, Captain?" He mused, "A little too close to the action for you?"
"He's just a little boy," Nancy hissed, looking around at the patients. The Doctor nodded.
"I know."
"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy," She said, looking devastated. Knowing what was going on in her head, blaming herself, I touched her arm gently and smiled sadly when she looked up.
She sniffed.
"There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can," The Doctor told us, shaking out his hands in an act that I recognized. He was worried.
"So what are we going to do?!" Rose yelled, as the sound of bombs started getting closer. The Doctor frowned.
"I don't know."
He turned to me, probably to ask me to do something, but I shushed him before he could. I sent a discrete nod over to Nancy, whose eyes hadn't left the soldiers who were still waiting around. Her eyes were filled with tears.
"It's my fault," She whispered. The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, looking back at me.
"It's not your fault, Nancy," He spoke, but she shook her head.
"It is, it's all my fault," She spoke, starting to cry.
The Doctor looked down at her sympathetically. "How could it be-"
The patients began to call out for Nancy, realizing she was upset. The others looked around in worry, but the doctor finally began to put together the pieces. He looked down sharply at Nancy.
"Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"
Nancy nodded, and the bombs started shaking the ground from how close they were. It reminded me of back when I first met the Doctor, except this time there was no doubt on whether or not one of those bombs would land here.
Jack shifted nervously. "Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds."
I touched Jack's arm, and he turned to me in panic. I smiled softly. "You know, all my knowledge of the future has one big fault that not even I can help."
"What?"
"People are tricky, Jack. You never know what they're going to do, how they might react. And when stuff starts to go wrong, the only thing you can hope for is that they do the right thing," I told him pointedly, and he stared at me with wide eyes until he got it. He turned to Rose.
"Jack?" She whispered. He sent her a sad smile, before teleporting himself out.
The Doctor continued. "How old were you five years ago? Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he?" Nancy looked away in shame, and Rose watched in understanding. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."
The gate holding the patients back suddenly burst open, Jamie at the front of the crowd. Nancy let out a sob, covering her mouth as she came face to face with her son and what he had become.
"Are you my mummy?" Jamie asked. The Doctor placed a hand on Nancy's arm.
"He's never going to stop asking, Nancy," he told her as Jamie called out again. "Tell him, Nancy. The future of the human race is in your hands."
She looked doubtful, so I grabbed her hand. When she turned to me, eyes red and face flushed, I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Trust me, Nancy. Everything's going to be fine. Tell him."
Nancy nodded, and I let go of her hand as she took shaky steps forward. Jamie drew closer, not seeming to hear Nancy when she assured him that she was his mother. Nancy crouched in front of Jamie, but he continued to repeat himself.
"Are you my mummy?"
"He doesn't understand," The Doctor realized, "There's not enough of him left."
But Nancy wasn't giving up. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry."
Nancy pulled Jamie close, and the pair were surrounded instantly by the nanogenes. Rose looked on in alarm.
"What's happening? Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"
"Shush!" The Doctor said, interrupting her worry. "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."
Rose grabbed my hand in her worry. "What's happening?"
"See?" The Doctor motioned to the nanogenes. "Recognizing the same DNA."
Something happened, and suddenly Jamie dropped the hug. Nancy fell backwards and the nanogenes disappeared. The Doctor, Rose and I ran forward, and the Doctor immediately crouched next to Jamie as Rose and I helped Nancy back up.
"Oh, come one. Give me a day like this. Give me this one."
The Doctor managed to remove Jamie's gas mask, and Rose and Nancy looked on in shock. The Doctor scooped Jamie up into his arms in delight, bouncing him softly.
"Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years until pop music – you're going to love it."
"What happened?' Nancy asked.
"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them! Ha-ha! Mother knows best!"
Nancy grabbed Jamie the moment the Doctor put him down again, wrapping her arms around her son in relief. I looked away to hide my own tears, the scene hitting a little too close to home for me.
"Doctor, the bomb," Rose gasped. I bit my lip.
"Taken care of," The Doctor waved it off.
I shook my head. "How can you be so sure?"
He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. "Worried?" I nodded, and he grinned. "Ye of little faith."
Rose looked up suddenly as the whistle from the falling bomb could be heard, but a spaceship appeared out of nowhere to catch it before it could land on us. Nancy let out a large sigh of relief, and I laughed a little.
"Oh, thank god."
Jack called out from where he was sitting on the bomb. "Doctor!"
"Good lad!" The Doctor called out.
"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis, but it won't last long."
"Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?"
Jack nodded solemnly. "Chloe, Rose?"
I looked up in surprise, not expecting him to have said goodbye to me. Rose frowned, still not getting it. "Yeah?"
"Goodbye."
It seemed to hit Rose that something was happening, but before she could question it, Jack was back with a grin on his face.
"By the way, love the T-shirt."
And then he was gone. Nancy, who still hadn't let go of Jamie's shirt, looked up at me with a smile. "Thank you."
I glanced over to the Doctor with a soft smile. He was messing around with the nanogenes surrounding his hands. I shook my head, placing my hand over Jamie's head and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"I'm not the one you should be thanking."
-0-0-
Back in the TARDIS, I watched in amusement as Rose tried to teach the Doctor to dance. I was also finding it amusing to watch Jack's reaction when he realized that we had landed inside his ship. He looked up from where he was sulking when he heard the music, and I stepped away from the TARDIS doors with open arms.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!"
Jack was quick to run in, and I shut the door before the Doctor could yell at him about it. I didn't really want to risk the ship exploding while the doors were open. We both stood next to the railings and watched as Rose guided the Doctor around.
When they pulled away, the Doctor looked confused.
"I'm sure I used to know this stuff," The Doctor mused, moving over to the console so he could get us out of there. "Welcome to the TARDIS."
"Much bigger on the inside," Jack pointed out.
"You'd better be."
I shook my head in amusement, and Rose walked over to Jack with a smile. "I think what the Doctor's trying to say is you may cut in." The pair began to slow dance to the music as the TARDIS took off, settling into a soft wheeze as she began to drift through space.
The Doctor suddenly looked up. "Rose! I've just remembered!"
I looked up in surprise when the Doctor danced over to where I was standing, holding out a hand to me with a smile.
"I know how to dance," He said, obviously asking to dance with me. I snorted.
"Yeah, no way in hell buckaroo. I don't dance," I told him, and he narrowed his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like- hey!"
I let out a yelp of surprise as the Doctor pulled me away from the railing, spinning me around with a flourish I struggled to keep up with. I heard Rose and Jack laughing behind me, and I raised a hand to flip them off. This only made me lose my balance, and the Doctor managed to change his hold on me to not only keep me from falling, but somehow managing to dip me in the process.
I actually laughed as I was pulled back upright, holding on tightly as the Doctor slowed down and spun me around again.
Okay, maybe dancing wasn't so bad.
-0-0-
Often I gaze upon this flower with its blossoms pure and white
And I think as I behold its gay costume
While through life we all are passing may our lives be always bright
Like this flower at my window in full bloom
- The Flower At My Window by Lucian B. Watkins