"So? What do you think?"
I looked around the console room of the Tardis, still in just as much amazement as before now that I was getting a better look at it.
"It's… alien."
He rolled his eyes at that. "No, come on. You can do better than that."
"It's… pretty?" I tried again, not sure exactly what he was looking for, though the ship seemed to chirp pleasantly at what I'd said.
"Pretty? Is that it?" The Doctor folded his arms over his chest, giving me a small frown. "Not 'amazing' or 'brilliant' or the whole 'it's bigger on the inside' bit? I love that bit."
"Sorry," I apologized, deciding that I may as well indulge him. "Why's it a police box?"
He sighed, not entirely thrilled by that response but answered me. "It's a disguise. A perception filter that got stuck while I was in the 1960s and I never changed it."
I watched him for a second. "You got attached."
He cracked a small smile. "Couldn't help it."
I smiled a little back just as Rose stepped in—her smile dropping at the sight of me. The Doctor had discussed things with her about me joining before and she hadn't seemed too thrilled but had begrudgingly accepted I'd be around at least for a few trips.
"So, where are we going?" Rose asked, her smile reappearing when the Doctor looked at her.
"Further than we've ever gone before," the Doctor beamed back, giving me a look. "Hang on."
I didn't need to be told twice, grabbing hold of the railing as he started the ship up and sent us off. I had spent at least an evening thinking about and coming to terms with the whole time and space machine, but it still felt a little unreal. Though, I suppose it will only feel more unreal when we land somewhere completely unexpected. The thought of that made my heart skip a beat in both worry and excitement as the ship landed and Rose bounded to the doors, eager to be the first person out. I moved a little slower, feeling a bit uncertain, but the Doctor waited for me by the door patiently. Once I reached it though, I paused, just staring at the grass just outside, not daring to look out at the landscape just yet.
"You coming?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah, just… preparing, I guess."
"Take your time."
I inhaled and exhaled deeply, before taking that first step out and lifting my eyes to see what lay beyond. My heart might have very well stopped in my chest for a second at the sight as the Doctor stepped out behind me with a grin.
"It's the year five billion and twenty-three. We're in the galaxy M87 and this? This is New Earth."
Hover cars swooped past us as we stood on a precipice and stared out at the futuristic skyscrapers reaching up into the clouds of a whole new planet.
"That's just… That's just…" Rose gaped, just as stunned as I was.
"Not bad. Not bad at all," the Doctor hummed, enjoying the view, though a quick glance at him told me he was viewing us more than the planet itself.
An impossibly old alien with a time machine. He must have seen views like this all the time, maybe even this very same place. He's only enjoying it because we're brand new to it all. Like a human parent watching their children learn about everyday things. I turned my gaze back out to the view, closing my eyes and using some of my other senses to enjoy it.
"That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky—"
"Apples," I said, apparently just loud enough to catch their attention. "It smells like apples," I repeated, opening my eyes and glancing at the Doctor, who was beaming as he plucked a few strands of grass from near his shoes.
"Apple grass."
"Apple grass," Rose repeated as I raised a brow.
"Why make grass that smells like apples?" I looked at the strands in confusion. "Unless it was already here."
The Doctor chuckled. "Nostalgia. They don't have apple trees and groves like back on Earth. They don't grow here as well, and people began to miss the smell. So, apple grass."
I wrinkled my nose. "Bet they hate it now. Can't go anywhere without smelling apples."
"Look at you, thinking up all the difficult problems," he teased, nudging me with his elbow until Rose grabbed his other arm.
"It's beautiful. Oh, I love this. Can I just say, traveling with you? I love it."
"Me too. Come on."
He led us to a space a little further away, laying out his coat and gesturing for us to join him as he laid on it. Rose was quick to lay back beside him, taking up the rest of the room on the coat, so I just settled on his other side—hugging my knees as I watched the hover cars fly by.
"So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted."
"That was our first date," Rose smiled, giving me a smirk that I pointedly ignored.
Figures. She likes him. Thinks I'm competition. I'm really not. He's alien.
"We had chips," the Doctor informed me with a smile before he continued. "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."
"What's the city called?" Rose asked.
"New New York."
"Oh, come on," she scoffed as I snorted, not surprised.
"Let me guess, nostalgia?"
The Doctor nodded, sitting up on his elbows. "That's it. It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." He spotted the look Rose was giving him. "What?"
"You're so different."
"New New Doctor," he smiled, though I had caught the sad look that passed over his face for a split second.
He must be getting tired of that. She's still questioning him. I resisted a sigh as Rose pushed herself up.
"Can we go visit New New York, so good they named it twice?"
"Well, I thought we might go there first," the Doctor said, pointing out the nearest building with a large moon on it.
"Why, what is it?"
"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals."
I grimaced, having started disliking hospitals after spending far too long in them. "This is for me, isn't it?"
"Nah. I got this." He pulled out a wallet where words flickered across it. "A message on the psychic paper."
Ward 26. Please come.
"Psychic paper?" I questioned, lifting my gaze. "So, someone just thought up a message to give you and it forms on that?"
The Doctor chuckled, patting my back. "That's it exactly! Or, well, a good enough description. Someone wants to see me."
"Hmm. And I thought we were just sightseeing. Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes," Rose said, pulling him away by his elbow and leaving me to trail after her.
Oh, this is going to be a long day, isn't it? And it only proved to be longer when we stepped in.
"Bit rich, coming from you two," Rose cracked a smirk at the Doctor and me as we entered the hospital.
"I can't help it. I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps," the Doctor shivered as I winced at the sight of the nuns walking through the front lobby.
"And I've been in hospitals enough for a lifetime."
"Very smart," Rose hummed, trying to change the topic as she looked around.
"No shop. I like a little shop," the Doctor complained.
"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything."
"Viruses evolve," I muttered, realizing now that the nuns were actually cats in wimples.
"It's an ongoing war," the Doctor shrugged, moving towards the front desk.
"They're cats," Rose breathed, pointing as I muttered under my breath.
"Aliens. Alien cats. Aliens can be cats. Why not? Why wouldn't they?"
Needless to say, I was mostly just reassuring myself.
"Now, don't stare. Think of what you look like to them, all pink and yellow and brown," he teased us, before abruptly pointing out a corner. "That's where I'd put the shop. Right there."
Rose and I gave the spot a brief glance, but I'd noticed the Doctor bounding off towards the lift and picked up my pace to catch up with him.
"Ward 26, thanks," he chirped as I just barely made it in—incidentally, the two of us leaving Rose behind.
"Hold on! Hold on!" She shouted after us, making me wince.
"Oh, too late, we're going up," the Doctor hummed, not sounding bothered as Rose's voice grew fainter.
"It's all right! There's another lift."
"Ward 26, and watch out for the disinfectant."
"Watch out for what?" She asked, voice nearly gone.
"The disinfectant!"
"The what?"
"The dis—Oh, you'll find out," he gave up, earning a raised brow from me.
"Disinfectant?"
"Yeah," he waved off. "Just chemically-enhanced water followed by a tuft of powder and a dryer. Just roll with it."
"Commence stage one disinfection," the lift announced, little green lights turning on before water fell from the ceiling, making me grimace.
The Doctor had a blast, treating it like a nice shower despite the cold temperature of the water and the powder that coated us afterward. I shot him a mild look of annoyance when the fans came on and he held out his coat with a mad grin.
"Don't they have better ways of doing this?" I complained.
"Well, in the years after this, they come up with a ray that sort of fries any unwanted bacteria on contact. Got a little complicated and needed a species recognition after a hospital nearly exterminated a species that required a virus to stay alive, but they figured it out."
"I don't know whether to feel surprised or a little weirded out that you had an answer for my mostly sarcastic question," I muttered, before eyeing him as the lift doors opened. "How the hell do you look like this whole disinfectant thing never happened? It'll take ages for my hair to stop curling!"
"Practice," he hummed, looking pleased with the fact that not a hair was out of place, whereas my short curls were sticking up far more than I appreciated.
A cat nun greeted us at the lift and offered to lead us through the ward.
"Nice place," the Doctor hummed, and even I could appreciate the open view of New New York through the large glass and the amount of room for the patients in comparison to hospitals in my time. "No shop downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop."
I wonder if he's really a child trapped in an older man's body with how he rambles like that, I mused, giving him a look as the nun lifted her veil and gave him a mildly annoyed glance.
"The hospital is a place of healing."
"A shop does some people a world of good. Not me. Other people," the Doctor pressed, though she was hardly amused by his banter.
"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help and to mend."
The Doctor started to stroll closer to a rather large man who was groaning in his bed, looking ill—not that he was any stranger to me than the other patients. As it was, there was an orange-skinned man hovering in thin air and an albino-looking patient as well. Humans sure do change…
"Excuse me!" A secretarial woman beside the large man snapped upon seeing the Doctor eyeing him with interest and slight sympathy. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."
Politician? There's a surprise. Those sorts are usually in a private room.
"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm dying, sir," the Duke responded. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this."
Neither of us were going to openly question the man's waistline—I mean… honesty.
The secretary bristled. "Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance."
"It's fine," I cut in, almost regretting it when her piercing gaze latched onto me, but it was hardly anything new, considering my first job. "We're not from here, so any news about the Duke of Manhattan doesn't really hold any weight. We won't speak of it."
She didn't look convinced but seemed to relax slightly upon seeing some honesty in my statement.
"Frau Clovis! I'm so weak!" The Duke wailed and she hurried to his side.
"Sister Jatt, a little privacy, please."
The cat led us on, and I pointedly kept my gaze away from any other patients, remembering how it felt to have people roaming the hospital and staring sympathetically at Michelle. She would have my head if she knew I was doing the same. Aliens or not. I was beginning to feel exhausted just being in a place so similar to where Michelle and I had spent so much of our lives. The thought made me rub at my chest, feeling the steady thrum of her heart next to mine.
"He'll be up and about in no time," Jatt hummed, convinced that the Duke of Manhattan would be fine.
"I doubt it," the Doctor replied confidently. "Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for, oh… a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."
"Have faith in the Sisterhood," Jatt scolded him. "But is there no one here you recognize? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."
The Doctor's eye had caught someone then, drawing my gaze to the large face floating in a jar near the window in the back of the ward.
"No. I think I've found him." The Doctor made his way over with me on his heels as Jatt made to hand us off to the nun taking care of the large face.
"Novice Hame, if I can leave these gentlemen in your care?"
I'm a woman, but… whatever. I disregarded the gender mistake, used to it by now, though I could still remember Michelle's reaction when it happened the first time in front of her.
"I don't see how they could make such a silly mistake. You better not let it get to you, Nell."
"I should just let it grow out," I murmured, rubbing the newly shaved-down sides of my head with a hint of unease, feeling as though I'd embarrassed her by trimming it so short.
"Don't you dare," Michelle huffed before that sweet smile came over her face and she reached up to brush her fingers over my hair. "I think you're absolutely beautiful."
I blinked out of my memory at the sight of a small cup of water being held under my face. I'd apparently zoned out, staring at the sleeping Face of Boe (When did I hear his name?) while the Doctor had gone off to fetch Novice Hame and me some water.
"You okay?" He questioned as I slowly took the cup.
"Yes, sorry. I was just…" My expression softened as I looked away from the face and down at the cup. "…remembering something."
He looked like he wanted to ask more about it, but he thankfully turned his attention to Novice Hame.
"Are we the only visitors?"
She nodded solemnly. "The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There are all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to one like himself."
"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, though his tone made me glance up from my cup.
"It's just a story."
"Tell me the rest."
"It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely God."
Him. That's why he wanted to hear the rest. The Face of Boe is going to talk to him… The lonely God. I watched the Doctor as he eyed the Face of Boe in silent contemplation and again, I swear I could see a hint of the man tucked away underneath that goofy persona. I'd never heard words more accurate to describe him. A lonely God. He looked over to me then, and those emotions slipped back behind a mask as he smiled at me, as if nothing had upset him in the first place. When I didn't smile in return, he was quick to clear his throat and look away.
"W-Wonder where Rose got off to. Do you have a mobile?"
I followed after him as we headed closer to the lifts. "Yeah, but I don't have her number."
He raised a brow. "I thought you two worked together."
"We did," I muttered. "But we didn't exactly know one another. We worked in different areas. She did cashiering, I worked customer service and returns. She only knew my name because we were forced to work together during a safety meeting a while back."
"Well, let me borrow it. I know her number. I'll put it in for you."
I hesitated, reaching into my pocket. "You know how to use it?"
He shot me a look. "Yes, otherwise I'd be telling you to call her."
"Sorry. I just thought… alien."
He cracked a smile. "I've been bouncing around Earth a long time. I'm pretty sure I can work a mobile. I'll even upgrade it for you so you can call anyone, anywhere."
I handed him my battered phone that he raised a brow at, but soon he called up Rose with a smile.
"Rose, where are you?"
I couldn't hear her response and instead just tugged on a loose string on the end of my shirt.
"Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" His grin grew then. "You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe! Remember him?"
I heard laughing then and jumped slightly at the sound of a champagne cork being popped, turning with the Doctor to see a mini sort of celebration happening over by the Duke of Manhattan's bed.
"I'd better go. See you in a minute," the Doctor hastily said, hanging up on Rose and passing the phone back to me as we headed over.
"It's those two men again!" The Duke beamed when he saw us—the Doctor tugging on his ear with an awkward smile.
I simply lifted my hand. "I'm a woman."
"My apologies! I didn't mean to insult you."
I waved him off, not really bothered
"You two are my good luck charms! Come in! Don't be shy!"
His secretary, Clovis, though made sure to give us a disclaimer. "Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract."
"Winch me up," the Duke asked, being hoisted to a more upright position. "Look at me! No sign of infection."
A waiter shifted over with two glasses on his tray. "Champagne sir, ma'am?"
"No thanks," the Doctor said, shooting me a look as I took a glass anyway.
I'll need a bit of a buzz if this gets any crazier, and celebrating a recovery is something that should always be done. Not everyone gets a chance to celebrate in a hospital.
"Um, you had Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked, seeing something wrong with the recovery and reminding me of what he'd said before.
"He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for, oh… a thousand years?"
"'Had' being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured," the Duke laughed, though I grimaced when I saw he too had a glass.
I don't think any doctors would appreciate drinking so soon after recovering. Though, this is the future. Maybe something's different that I don't know about? I sipped my drink, imagining what Michelle would think of this place just as another (the same?) cat came over.
"But that's impossible," the Doctor muttered in response to the Duke's recovery.
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science," the cat purred, drawing our attention to her.
It? I really need to talk to the Doctor about alien gender pronouns before I upset someone.
"How on Earth did you cure him?" The Doctor asked her, getting a cheeky response in return.
"How on New Earth, you might say."
"What's in that solution?" He pressed, nodding to the drip that had apparently been the cure for the Duke.
"A simple remedy."
"Then, tell me what it is."
"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Nell."
I gave the nun a small wave, but she didn't seem to care either way.
"I think you'll find we're the doctors here."
Jatt came over then, interrupting. "Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care."
"If you would excuse me," she smiled, walking off with Jatt as the Doctor eyed their backs.
"I take it we should be suspicious of the cat nuns?" I commented, glancing over at him as I finished my glass and the waiter took it away.
"Very," he hummed, pulling out a set of glasses that made me raise a brow. "Take a look around. Anything you find out, let me know."
"Um, I really don't think—" I lowered my hand when he walked off leaving me to sigh softly. "…you should leave that to me." I rubbed at my chest a bit, looking around at the various patients and grimacing at the sight of them. "I really don't like hospitals."
"And that's what I love about you." Michelle smiled, taking my hand. "That you would push past that just to be with me."
I closed my eyes, feeling the pulse of her heart in my chest, and again, I sighed as I opened my eyes. "Right. I'll do what I can."
The Doctor eyed the various solutions and their obscure labels, but eventually, his gaze went over to Nell as she spoke with Novice Hame. He had expected her to perhaps take some initiative and speak with the patients, but then he thought back to her reactions to the patients earlier. He tugged on his ear when he remembered how she flinched away and refused to look at them. He knew she'd said she wasn't a fan of hospitals, but he'd expected that to be because of her own time spent in them. Now, he wondered if it was because of her wife. If the reason she looked away was because she saw her wife in them. And that made guilt swim in his stomach. He'd never thought—He shook his head, pushing past the guilt for now. He'd make it up to her. Take her someplace great after this. Yeah, that's what he'd do. After all, this was more of an errand run than her first actual trip. He'd let her choose the next one. He spotted Rose then and hurried over.
"There you are. Come and look at this patient." He tugged her to a man with dark red skin hovering in the air. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one!" He pulled her to the next, a pale white man, who eyed them with mild annoyance at their gawking. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine." He gave the man a pleasant wave, before moving her away, gesturing for Nell to come with them. "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it," Rose replied, making him frown as Nell joined them.
"What, what, what's with the voice?"
"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about New Earth." She inhaled deeply, giving him a look over. "New me."
"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor," he chirped, smiling at her.
"Mm, aren't you just—" She reached up and grabbed the back of his head, and pulled him down to aggressively kiss him.
Nell opened her mouth to say something, before promptly closing it with a "snap" and looking away awkwardly, not wanting to intrude on the moment they were having.
"T-T-Terminal's this way," Rose murmured when she pulled away from the stunned Doctor, walking off.
"Yup," he managed to squeak out, passing a hand through his hair that now stuck up at odd angles. "Still got it." He cleared his throat and looked to Nell as she eyed a wall and looked anywhere but at him. "Did you, um, find anything, Nell?"
She turned back around, eyes immediately spotting Rose a ways away and relaxing somewhat. "Not, uh… Not really. Novice Hame didn't tell me much. Said basically what Matron Casp did, though she didn't seem to really know much in comparison. I… I think the Matron knows more than… she does."
The Doctor couldn't help the small amused smile that passed over his lips, seeing the silent confusion Nell had for Novice Hame's gender. He draped an arm over Nell's shoulders, earning a look from the woman as he led her forward.
"Just to let you know, most aliens have the same two genders, though there are some that are genderless or multi-gendered. You can just call them he or she though."
Nell grimaced, shifting her gaze away—the Doctor noticing she winced a lot when she made a mistake or felt mildly guilty about something.
"Was it that obvious?" She questioned. "I honestly just didn't want to offend anyone by making assumptions."
He smiled softly, silently surprised at the consideration she had for something so mild. "It's fine, really. Most people just correct you, much like you did with the Duke back there. If we come across any species who might get more offended, I'll let you know ahead of time, so no one gets upset. I'll tell you what though, you're the first companion who's really thought about something like pronouns in regards to aliens."
Nell shifted her gaze away again, cheeks tinted red in embarrassment. "I-I just don't know what to expect with aliens, is all."
He gave her shoulders a squeeze as they neared the terminal Rose was waiting at. "I'm not scolding you, you know. You're doing great. Trust me."
A hint of a smile appeared on her face and pride swelled in his chest for getting her to smile before he got to work on the terminal.
"Nope, nothing odd," he hummed, eyeing the readout. "Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop."
"No, it's missing something else. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?" Rose questioned, making the Doctor eye her in uncertainty.
While the way she spoke before was a little odd, he hadn't thought anything of it. Her forwardness with the kiss even wasn't really something unexpected, but now he was starting to get suspicious. There were too many odd things going on with Rose that just weren't adding up.
"You're right. Well done."
"Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."
Definitely suspicious, he mused, deciding to test her. "What if the subframe's locked?"
"Try the installation protocol."
"Yeah, of course. Sorry. Hold on." He gave Nell a look as he used his sonic to see if she was suspicious too, and was glad to see she was, if only minutely.
She doesn't know Rose very well apparently, so it's a bit harder for her to notice, but even she can tell something's off. I'll have to question those Sisters about this first chance I get. His sonic unlocked a door, sending the terminal away as the group stepped through it.
"Intensive Care. Certainly looks intensive."
They made their way down into a basement area and soon were surrounded by green-glowing pods. The Doctor went to one and opened it, feeling his hearts sink at the sight of the sick man inside covered in boils.
"That's disgusting," Rose grumbled, forcing the Doctor to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at her. "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized to the man as he closed the door and moved to another. "I'm so sorry."
The next one had a young woman, and he reached out and took Nell's hand when she sucked in a sharp breath. He'd forgotten for a second that she'd lost her wife and that this sort of thing might upset her. The woman was silently grateful for the comforting action, squeezing his hand in return briefly before lightly tugging away, allowing him to tuck away another fact about her. More of the independent type. Hides her emotions as best she can, staying strong for herself because she has to. What a life she lives…
"What disease is that?" Rose asked, cutting through the tense atmosphere.
"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything," he explained with a bit of bite to his tone.
"It's how they're curing the patients, isn't it?" Nell asked, sad eyes turning to him and he nodded silently as he closed the door.
"What about us? Are we safe?" Rose questioned.
"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them."
"How many patients are there?"
Nell looked around and grimaced, seeing the thousands of pods and knowing the answer as the Doctor nearly growled at Rose.
"They're not patients."
"But they're sick."
"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm."
"Why don't they just die?"
Oh, he was going to lose his patience with her very quickly if she kept pushing his buttons like that.
"Have a little respect," Nell said sharply, surprising them both, seeing as she'd yet to ever lose her temper with them. "They're still people. Still human beings. You should be questioning why this is happening and how to help, not worrying about your own selfish needs."
Rose's eyes sharpened into a glare, but before she could snap something in return, someone else interrupted.
"It's for the greater cause."
Their eyes whipped around, and the Doctor bristled at the sight of the cat nun.
"Novice Hame. When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
"What, by killing?"
"But they're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence," Novice Hame argued, though beginning to sound unsure of herself.
"What's the turnover, hmm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!" The Doctor shouted, only staying in place because Nell had grabbed a hold of his arm to stop him from rushing at her.
"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."
"These people are alive."
"But think of those humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us."
"If they live because of this, then life is worthless," the Doctor spat back.
"But who are you to decide that?"
The Doctor stormed forward, jerking from Nell's grasp as he towered over the suddenly frightened cat. "I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."
"Just to confirm," Rose piped up, leaning past the Doctor to speak with Hame. "None of the humans in the city actually know about this?"
"We thought it best not."
"Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Rose?"
Nell looked back at Rose hesitantly as Novice Hame blinked in surprise.
"I don't know what you mean," she muttered.
"And I'm being very, very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed."
"We haven't done anything."
"I'm perfectly fine," Rose tried to argue.
"These people are dying, and Rose would care."
Rose finally groaned. "Oh, all right, clever clogs. Smartypants. Lady-killer," she purred, turning him around, untucking his tie and eyeing him hungrily.
"What happened to you?"
"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out," Rose explained.
"Is… Is someone inside Rose?" Nell asked, looking more than confused at the situation.
"Apparently," the Doctor grumbled. "Who are you?"
Rose leaned up and whispered into his ear. "The last human."
His eyes widened in surprise. "Cassandra?"
"Wake up and smell the perfume." She sprayed something in his face and he immediately passed out, making Hame and Nell rush to his side.
"You've hurt him!" Hame exclaimed. "I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron."
"You do that because I want to see her. Now, run along. Sound the alarm!"
Rose—Cassandra—pulled out a wire, setting off the alarm herself as Hame bolted from the room and the woman turned to Nell.
"Now, for you. She doesn't have much about you," Cassandra purred, sauntering over to Nell as she frowned. "Weak human, ex-coworker, love rival."
"I honestly don't care," Nell muttered, a little annoyed with the "love rival" bit.
"Either way, you're a possible problem. Chip?"
"Yes, mistress?"
Nell blinked at the man with patterns all over his skin who'd suddenly appeared.
"Put them in a pod. Together, separate, I don't care."
Chip was quick to hurry over and when Nell tried to fight him off, Cassandra stepped in and sprayed her as well, sending her into unconsciousness.
When I came to, I winced as my head throbbed, wishing I could reach up and check if I'd hit it only to find myself unable to with the Doctor shoved in on top of me. I struggled to try and reach past the Doctor in some vain attempt to open the pod. He was thankfully quick to wake up, standing as upright as he could in the small pod and looking down at me. My face was quick to heat up as our noses brushed in the tiny space and I leaned back as far as I could.
"T-The door won't budge."
"Well, then, we'll just have to try harder," he hummed, unbothered by the close proximity as he turned his head to find Cassandra smiling back at him from the pod's semi-see-through glass.
"Aren't you lucky there was a spare? Standing room only."
"You've stolen Rose's body," he declared with a scowl.
"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about three minutes left. Enjoy," she chirped.
"Just let Rose go, Cassandra."
"I will. As soon as I've found someone younger, and less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushaby. It's showtime."
The cat nuns had returned to get rid of Cassandra apparently, but the Doctor had turned back around, sending me scrambling to squeeze against the back wall of the pod for space. Yet another problem with the Doctor was the fact that he was more than easy on the eyes to a human. And as someone who'd never had the chance or opportunity to date a man, having those warm, earnest caramel eyes focused solely on me made me uneasy. Alien. Just remember, he's an alien a-and Rose is more than ready to fight you for him. Not to mention he obviously doesn't seem to care about you much. Maybe I should've tried dating guys too? I am bisexual… I swallowed thickly though, unused to such close contact between me and someone who appeared to be around my age and of the opposite gender.
"Front breast pocket," he blurted out then, making my mind scramble to try and pick up what he meant.
"Huh?"
"My sonic screwdriver," he clarified, though I hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about.
"Your what?"
He rolled his eyes. "Just get it for me, so we can get out of here."
His broad shoulders made it impossible to get his hands up to get it himself and I begrudgingly managed to lift mine up to try and dig through his pocket. It was awkward, and I did my best not to think about it too much, but just when I'd wrapped my hand around the device, the pod opened on its own and the Doctor was quick to jump out, glaring at Cassandra.
"What've you done?"
"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!" She called out, making a run for it as I climbed out of the pod and paled at the sick people steadily climbing out as well.
I was quickly on the Doctor's heels as pod doors burst open behind us and he paused to look out at the thousands of pods now opened.
"Oh my God," Cassandra breathed.
"What the hell have you done?" The Doctor spat.
"It wasn't me!"
"One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra. We've got to go down."
"Shouldn't we go up?" I argued, stepping away as more sick people moved closer.
"No way up with them blocking the path. Run!" He shouted, sending us all scurrying down the stairs.
Cassandra's assistant ended up getting trapped and left behind, making me grimace at what could have happened to him if he'd gotten caught. We ended up in another basement room where Cassandra tried a door only to slam it shut at the moaning people behind it.
"We're trapped! What are we going to do!" She wailed, though the cold eyes of the Doctor held no remorse.
"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograph is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Rose to death," he snapped pointing to an overhead device as I tried to calm my racing hearts.
"But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead," Cassandra drawled.
"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out." He pointed his sonic at her threateningly. "Give her back to me."
"You asked for it," she huffed, breathing out a deep breath tinted with pink before the Doctor jerked away.
"Oh, I'm in my head," Rose breathed out, sounding like herself again. "Where'd she go?"
We both looked over to the Doctor as he—she cooed.
"Ooh, my. This is different," Cassandra hummed. "Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used." She jerked then, awkwardly. "Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"
The Doctor has two hearts? I forgot. I mentally wondered in surprise, questioning if it was because he was alien or if it was something medically related like me.
"Get out of him," Rose snapped.
"Ooh, he's slim, and a little bit foxy. You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it," Cassandra teased Rose, before glancing at me. "Though I don't see why you're so bothered by butch-ish over there."
"Could you not call me that?" I grumbled. "It's Nell."
"Whatever," Cassandra rolled her eyes just as the sick people burst through the door, making her panic and cling to Rose. "What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"
"Ladder," Rose pointed out. "We've got to get up."
"Out of the way, blondie!" Cassandra pushed past her, scrambling up the stairs with Rose and I on her heels.
The sick followed us up as Rose bickered with Cassandra.
"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something!"
"Yap, yap, yap. God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city."
"We're going to die if—"
"Ah!" I cried out, feeling claws dig into my ankle attempting to jerk me down off the ladder.
One of the cat nuns hissed at me as I readjusted my grip on the ladder to keep from falling.
"All our good work. All that healing. The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything."
"Go and play with a ball of string," Cassandra huffed.
"Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!"
"So, leave!" I snapped, wincing at the feel of warm blood running down into my shoe. "And let my ankle go! God, this is why I'm a dog person!"
She screamed, releasing me as a sick person grabbed her ankle, sending her tumbling down below with a sickening thud.
"Move!" I shouted up to Rose, not eager to share the same fate.
Cassandra reached the top though, where a set of doors were sealed shut. "Now what do we do?"
"Use the sonic screwdriver!"
Cassandra pulled out the device like it was diseased. "You mean this thing?"
"Yes, I mean that thing."
"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."
"Cassandra, go back into me. The Doctor can open it."
"No," I argued. "Not into Rose. The Doctor's stubborn. He won't do anything if you're in trouble. Go into one of the sick people."
"What?" Cassandra questioned, looking disgusted.
"I know it's gross, but you can jump into me once we're safe. I don't care," I said quickly, very aware that every second spent talking was another second the sick people grew closer. "But we need him if any of us want out."
She groaned but gave in. "Fine. Oh, I am so going to regret this." She breathed out pink air once more and the sick woman below me jerked. "Oh, sweet Lord. I look disgusting!"
The Doctor though was quick to open the doors, helping Rose through it with a smile.
"Nice to have you back."
He then went to help me up as Cassandra growled below.
"Oh, no you don't."
Then, everything went black.
The Doctor sonicked the doors closed and whipped around to where Nell sagged against the wall, Cassandra now inside of her.
"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" He snapped, but the look on her face made him stop.
"Inside her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched."
Sympathy managed to crawl through him, and he begrudgingly held out his hand to help her up, deciding that there was no more need to be so snippy with the woman at the moment. Between the current danger and the fact that Cassandra was starting to feel something towards the sick, he felt there would be time later to figure out what to do with the woman. For now, they hurried back up to Ward 26 where they were confronted by the Duke of Manhattan's secretary wielding a metal stool.
"We're safe! We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look!" The Doctor pressed, though she wasn't convinced.
"Show me your skin."
They waved their hands at her.
"Look, clean. Look, if we'd been touched, we'd be dead. So, how's it going up here? What's the status?"
The secretary, Clovis, lowered her stool. "There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad."
"You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine."
"I am not dying in here."
The Doctor bristled. "We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There is ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off!"
She refused, and he nodded.
"All right, fine. So, I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"
Everyone rushed to help, except one and the Doctor headed over to where Cassandra was sort of dazedly standing near the Face of Boe.
"Everything all right there?"
Cassandra looked over to him, surprising him with the tears in her eyes. "You have no idea what she's been through, do you?"
His brows furrowed. "Who? Nell? We've only just met."
Cassandra huffed, wiping the tears immediately from her face. "Then, you should do better to get to know her."
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, knowing that he hadn't exactly been trying hard to do so. "I'm sorry," he muttered, earning an eye roll from Cassandra.
"Then, tell that to her, you moron. After this mess is figured out."
He cracked a small smile and got to work.
I woke up with a splitting headache that made me groan and drape a hand over my eyes. What happened again? I remembered some things, feeling a chill go down my spine. Right. The Doctor brought me to some futuristic hospital and then I got possessed by someone called Cassandra. I heard the door crack open then, realizing only now that I peered out from under my arm that I wasn't in the hospital anymore at all, but a sterile white room possibly on board the Tardis—judging by the worried-sounding hum.
The Doctor had been the one to step through, looking at a hologram-pad of some kind with furrowed brows as he took a seat at my bedside. He was thoroughly absorbed in whatever he was looking at, not even noticing I was awake until I spoke.
"Reading something interesting?"
He jerked, nearly dropping the hologram pad, but just barely managing to keep hold as I muttered a small apology for startling him. "You're awake."
"For the moment," I grumbled, wincing again and whispering a "Thank God" when the bright lights in the room dimmed.
"Headache?" He questioned, getting up immediately.
"Let me compress you in the back of your head for a few hours, and you tell me."
"Right… I saw that you have… two hearts?"
I shifted my glance away, a little uneasy about explaining it, but figuring he should know. "It's… It's complicated."
He put the pad away. "So am I, but I'm willing to listen."
I placed my hand over my chest, feeling the double beats and begrudgingly giving in, knowing my wife would scold me if she'd been here to see me hesitating.
"I've always had a bad heart. I was born with a heart half the size of a normal one with hypoplasia on both sides," I explained, pointedly keeping my gaze in my lap to avoid seeing the sympathetic look he was giving me. "My parents were told I wouldn't live past a year. Then, I made it to two, then to eight, then eighteen."
"You beat the odds," he said softly with a smile and I shrugged.
"But I didn't live. I was homeschooled. I never left the hospital or played with kids my own age. I eventually got a transplant though. Not long after I met my soon-to-be wife, except… my body rejected it and I almost died. She worried, of course, but I got better… just in time for her to get worse. It was just a cold… Then, pneumonia… then something worse. She'd get better, then would crash out of nowhere. She felt good for nearly a month, but on the way to one of my hospital meetings about trying a transplant again, she had a seizure behind the wheel and fell into a coma." I twisted my wedding band around my finger uneasily, remembering how quickly she'd gone from being happy and joking to pale and unmoving. "She wouldn't have wanted to stay like that, so when there were no more signs of her waking without being a vegetable, I…"
My throat went tight, making me unable to say what I'd done, but the Doctor understood and took my hand, gripping it tightly as I twisted the sheets in my fingers. It took a second before I could finish.
"S-She gave me her heart when she passed," I muttered, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay as they welled in my eyes. "I hadn't even known she was compatible or when she'd spoken to the doctors about it. They just said I shouldn't go through another transplant because of the dangers, especially after the last one, but I couldn't do that to her. I told them I would take it and if my body rejected it again, then that was it. And since they were worried about doing a full transplant, they compromised and just placed her heart in with mine as an assistant. And now… it's been a year and nine months." I cracked the slightest of smiles. "I'm sure she's proud to have given me some extra time."
He smiled a little in return. "Well, I wish I could thank her. We would have never met without her."
I chuckled lightly. "You two would get along, that's for sure."
"Well, she's got good taste."
"Stop," I huffed, giving him a look. "I'm nothing special."
"Now, that? That is not true." He smiled softly before standing and holding out a hand to me. "Come on then. I'm sure you'll want to change out of those like you humans are want to do. After that, it's your turn to pick where we go."
I raised a brow, accepting his hand up and being grateful that my headache had mostly faded, and idly noted the bandages on my one ankle. "Me?"
"Yup! I would've had you pick the first place, but then I got that message and didn't want to keep anyone waiting."
My eyes widened, realizing I'd missed what happened. "Wait, the Face of Boe? Is he all right?"
He chuckled. "Oh, he's great, actually. Popped off without telling me a thing."
"And that Cassandra person?"
His smile faltered. "She… She died. It was just her time."
I shifted my eyes to the floor as we walked, before giving him a look. "Who was she?"
"The last human."
"Really?"
He cracked a small smile, shaking his head. "No, not really. You lot spread out among the stars. All over the place, but you mingle, as humans do. Cassandra considered herself the last pure human, though she'd had enough plastic surgery to end up as nothing more than a flap of skin with a face."
My brows furrowed as I tried to imagine it, before shaking my head. "All right. I almost regret asking."
"Do you?" He hummed, watching me. "Regret asking?"
"…No." I tucked my hands into my pockets. "My wife, Michelle... she was a good person. Better than I could ever hope to be. One of the things she taught me was to always find out people's stories because one day they could die, and no one would know."
"She sounds amazing."
I smiled. "She was. I wish I could be even a fraction of the person she was. She taught me everything about the world when no one else would or could. You should have seen me trying to avoid her in college. The one person who actively sought me out and tried to drag me to have lunch with her and her group of friends. I thought she was mad. Turns out, she was just kind." I gave him a look. "Sound familiar?"
He nudged my arm, catching my drift before he brought me into a room that made my mouth drop open.
"W-What…"
"Welcome to the wardrobe."
I turned to him, unable to close my mouth just yet. "T-This is the wardrobe?"
"Yup. Pick anything you'd like, and feel free to keep it. I've got enough clothes for a city."
I slowly walked away from him, running my hand over a shirt nearby, feeling him smiling at my amazement. I eventually picked out a few things, before looking over at him.
"I, um… Thank you."
"You're welcome," he chirped, tossing a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll be right outside so you can change. Just pile your clothes on the floor and the Tardis will take care of them."
"W-Wait!" I stopped him, making him turn back around with a raised brow. "Could I… Could I ask you some questions later? A-About you and aliens and things?"
Again, he smiled. "Sure! Whatever you want. It's been a while since I've had someone so inquisitive."
I flushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry."
"No, it's fine! I love it!" He beamed, waving as he walked out.
I placed a hand on my chest, wishing my hearts would stop racing. "God, that man. He's going to kill someone with that smile of his. Probably me, since Rose is so determined."
Shaking my head, I went to change, silently wondering what sort of place I would choose for us to head to next.
