Alex found herself walking beside Jack when they reached the bombsite, much to the discomfort of the Doctor. They reached the place they were looking for and stopped a good distance away, peering carefully over a pile of crates and other random things Alex didn't bother to notice.
"There it is" Jack told them. "They've got Algy on duty, must be important"
"How could they not think something like that is important?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He hesitated.
"Shut up" He said suddenly, watching her reaction just in case. Alex laughed.
"We've gotta get past" The Doctor pointed out, breaking up their interaction.
"The words 'distract the guard' head in my general direction" Rose guessed, smiling almost smugly.
"I don't think that's be such a good idea" Jack told her cautiously.
"Don't worry, I can handle it"
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town" Jack told her. "Trust me. You're not his type. I'll distract him" He started to walk down to the site. "Don't wait up" Alex let out an incredulous laugh, looking over at Rose and the Doctor with a grin.
"Relax, he's a 51st century guy" The Doctor reminded Rose. "He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing" Rose looked at him with wide eyes.
"How flexible?"
"Well by his time you lot have spread out halfway across the galaxy"
"Meaning?"
"So many species, so little time" He grinned. Alex shook her head, looking away in discomfort.
"What, that's what we do when we get out there?" Rose asked, looking just as uncomfortable if not more. "That's out mission? We seek new life and… and…"
"Dance" The Doctor and Alex finished at once. They continued grinning while Rose looked like she was trying desperately to remove a certain image from her head. They watched Jack talking to the guard until suddenly he fell to his knees and his face changed drastically. Alex gasped in surprise, having completely forgotten about Algy, and grabbed the Doctor's sleeve out of instinct.
"Come on" He told the girls quickly, running down towards Jack, who was stood above the body. Other soldiers were rushing over but Jack and the Doctor told them quickly to stay back.
"The effect's become air-borne, accelerarting" The Doctor pointed out.
"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked, looking at him in worry.
"Nothing" He admitted. The air-raid siren sounded and everyone looked up, all except Alex.
"Ah, here they come again" Jack announced.
"All we need" Rose said sarcastically, looking to him. "Didn't you say a bomb was going to land… here?" Jack nodded in response. Alex turned away slightly, trying to hide her face from their view.
"Never mind about that" The Doctor waved off. "If the contaminant is air-borne now there's hours left"
"For what?" Jack asked, looking at him almost apprehensively.
"'Till nothing. 'Til forever. For the entire human race. Alex?" He moved to turn her to face him, placing a hand on each of her shoulders when he saw her tear-stained face. "Alex? What's wrong?" She shook her head.
"It wasn't supposed to… I… I failed, already… oh, god" She muttered incoherently.
"Alex tell me? What's wrong?" The Doctor asked seriously. Alex looked up at him, locking her eyes on his.
"Rose, look at the back of your hand" She called, not looking away. The Doctor understood immediately and his expression filled with surprise but he didn't look away from Alex, who was still crying.
"Oh my god" Rose whispered. Her and Jack exchanged horrified looks as Alex let out another sob.
"I'm sorry. Rose, I'm so sorry. I was meant to protect you" She cried, not looking at anyone now.
"Alex" Rose called softly, making her look up. "This is not your fault. Is there anything we can do?" Alex thought for a moment, deciding how best to say it.
"Not now, we can't stop you from…" She couldn't finished she sentence, looking away, but took a deep breath and looked up again to continue. "But we can fix it. Okay? We can fix this" Rose nodded, glancing around at the three of them.
"I should go" She whispered.
"Rose…" The Doctor started.
"No, the others, they were changing everyone else. If I'm here I'll end up changing you too" She explained. Alex wouldn't look at her. "Alex, if you can't fix me-"
"We will"
"If you can't, this is not your fault, okay?" She insisted. Alex glanced up at her friend. "Not your fault. Please, don't blame yourself" Alex didn't respond. Rose nodded slowly, giving everyone one last glance before turning and rushing back the way they came. Alex refused to watch her, teary eyes focussed on the ground.
"Alex-"
"Can anyone else hear singing?" She interrupted.
Alex stood by Nancy as Jack and the Doctor pulled the large tarp from the ship.
"You see? Just an ambulance" Jack pointed out.
"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked incredulously, glancing between the three.
"Long story" Alex dismissed, crossing her arms. "It's not from Earth"
"They've been trying to get in" Jack told them, looking over the controls.
"Why wouldn't they?" Alex asked with a shrug. Jack glanced at her worriedly before going back to the controls.
"They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon" The Doctor nodded, turning to Jack as he sat atop the ambulance and entered something into the controls. "What're you doing?"
"Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll see that I had nothing to do with it" He told him simply.
"I thought we were past this Jack" Alex said loudly, making Nancy beside her flinch, but she didn't seem to notice. "Something like this happens, you look for the most recent alien interaction, and that just happened to be a Chula medical transporter. So if you'd get your head out of-"
"Alex" The Doctor interrupted, stepping in front of her cautiously. "Alex, calm down"
"How do you expect me to be calm? Rose is gone!" She continued shouting, gesturing wildly. "She's gone and it's because of this thing! Because I couldn't protect her!"
"It had nothing to do with you"
"I was supposed to protect her! I made a promise! I…" she trailed off, suddenly falling silent. "I made Jackie a promise" She whispered. "And I…"
There was a shower of sparks and an alarm went off and drew their attention back to Jack atop the ship. Or Jack having fallen off the ship.
"That didn't happen last time" He said slowly.
"It hadn't crashed last time" The Doctor reminded him. "They're the emergency protocols"
"Doctor" Nancy spoke up hesitantly. "What…what's that?" She pointed out a small light on the controls, flashing red.
"Doctor!" Alex spoke up suddenly, pointing out the gates on the other side that were shaking.
"Captain! Secure those gates!" The Doctor ordered.
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
Jack ran off to do as he was told and the Doctor turned to Nancy.
"Nancy, how did you get in here?" He asked quickly.
"I cut the wire"
"Show Alex" He ordered, tossing the sonic screwdriver which Alex caught easily. "Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty eight D" He told her quickly.
"Got it" She nodded, tossing the screwdriver in the air and catching it before running off to follow Nancy.
Alex was focussing closely on her task, watching as the wire re-attached with help of the sonic screwdriver as Nancy held the pieces together. She tried to keep her mind only on the tool in her hand but it was much easier said than done.
"Who are you?" Nancy asked almost tentatively. "Who are any of you?"
"You'd never believe me" Alex dismissed. Nancy looked back down, quiet for a moment. Alex glanced at her. "You're… are you… scared of me?" She asked hesitantly. Nancy just looked back at her and Alex paused her task, thinking over the time since they'd met. "This wasn't supposed to be me" She said softly, lowering the screwdriver. "I've seen all this happen before I came here, how the story would end without me. This was supposed to be Rose"
"The girl I met before" Nancy remembered. "Where is she?" Alex hesitated.
"She's gone" She told her. "She got turned into one of them. And it's my fault" Nancy looked ready to argue, but said nothing. "I was supposed to protect her. And now this has happened" There was a moment of silence and Alex cleared her throat, lifting the screwdriver to get back to work and Nancy got the hint, holding together the next pieces of wire.
"You say I wouldn't believe you" Nancy started. "You just told me that was an ambulance not from Earth, you tell me you've seen this happen without you in the middle of it, there are people running around with gas mask heads calling for their mummies, and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me, do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?" Alex looked over at her for a moment before returning her attention to the last wire as she spoke.
"I'm from another universe and we're all time travellers from the future" She told her simply.
"Mad, you are" Nancy told her.
"No really" Alex insisted calmly. "We have a time travel machine and everything"
"It's not that. All right, you've got a time travel machine. I believe ya. Believe anything, me" She looked up. "But what future?" Alex smiled softly at the other girl as she watched the planes flying overhead, dropping bombs all over the city.
"Nancy. This is not the end of the world" She told her firmly. "I've been to the end of the world, and there are no people left on the planet by then. It's not now"
"How can you say that? Look at it"
"Listen to me Nancy. I moved to London a little over a year ago. Rose, she was born there. London, in the future"
"But… you're not… your friend wasn't…"
"Not what?"
"German"
"Nancy, the Germans don't take London. They don't win this war" Alex told her, smiling softly. Nancy frowned at her, seemingly confused. "Okay, don't tell anyone I told you this. But we win this war"
"We win?"
"Yeah" Alex nodded, smiling as the girl laughed in joy. "Something to remember. This won't last forever" She told the girl. "And I know you've been doing great things throughout this war. It'll end up alright. Come on then" She stood, pulling Nancy up with her before pausing. Alex suddenly remembered, staring at Nancy a moment too long. "Jamie" She said suddenly. Nancy froze, staring at her.
"How did you-"
"You have to tell him. Tell Jamie who you are" Alex told her. Nancy's shock doubled.
"You can't possibly-"
"Not even the Doctor knows. Perks of swapping universes" Alex told her. "But he'll figure it out. And you're going to have to tell him" Nancy didn't respond but Alex simply gave her one last encouraging nod and walked over to the Doctor and Jack, the other woman following behind.
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter?" The Doctor was asking. "Bandages? Cough drops? Alex?"
"Nanogenes" She announced instantly.
"It wasn't empty Captain" The Doctor told Jack. "There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species"
"And that's exactly what they've been doing" Alex added. Jack looked shaken by this revelation, looking between the two.
"Oh, god"
"Getting it now are we?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape" The Doctor continued for her. "Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night and wearing a gas mask"
"A child named Jamie" Alex added.
"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Nancy asked, looking between the two with the answers. Like Rose always did…
"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh" The Doctor rattled off.
"Little creepy" Alex commented.
"Nothing to a nanogene" He continued. "One problem though, these nanogenes, they aren't like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. They don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on, they do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, there's work to be done. 'Cos you see now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop" His voice was getting louder now, turning from explaining facts to just about yelling at Jack for what he had inadvertently done. "The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it"
"I didn't know" Jack insisted, although he now looked incredibly guilty. The Doctor continued to glare at him for a second and Alex stepped forward, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. She felt him relax slightly under her hand as he glanced back at her before going back to looking over the ship, taking the screwdriver as she offered it to him.
"Alex?" Nancy called hesitantly. She looked up at the other girl's scared tone and made her way over, looking out into the distance to see what she was looking at. Alex squinted slightly into the distance, taking in the sight of all the gas-masked people heading their way. Alex rushed back over to the Doctor, looking at the red flashing light Nancy had noticed before.
"It's calling in the troops" Alex warned him.
"The ship thinks it's under attack. Standard protocol" The Doctor reasoned.
"But… those people aren't troops" Nancy spoke up, but her statement sounded more like a question.
"They are now" Alex told her matter-of-factly.
"This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up. They get you ready for the front line" The Doctor explained. "Equip you… programme you" He looked almost like he was zoning out and Alex frowned at him. She waved her hand in front of his face and his gaze snapped to her. Alex went to ask what he had been thinking of, but decided against it, instead filing the information away for later.
"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior" She summarized. He nodded.
"All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old, looking for his mummy. And there's an army of them" The fence was surrounded by now and the four of them looked around nervously. Alex turned on the spot, tuning out the conversation going on around her as she searched for one person in particular. She froze when her gaze was caught on a Union Jack pattern. She simply stared, eyes wide, at the one person. Rose was gone.
A bomb landed nearby, startling Alex out of her daze as she looked around at the other three inside the fence with her. Nancy was crying and the Doctor had his thinking face while Jack had been paying attention to the bomb.
"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds" Jack called. Another landed and Alex wanted nothing more in that moment than to comfort Rose like she had gotten used to doing in dangerous situations.
"You can teleport yourself out" Alex reminded Jack.
"Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. It's gonna take too long to override the protocols" He told her.
"I didn't say anything about us" She said simply. He stared at her in shock, but her gaze was unwavering.
"So it's volcano day. Do what you gotta do" The Doctor told Jack, his eyes still fixed on Nancy. Jack looked to Alex, an apology in his gaze, and teleported out.
"How old were you five years ago?" The Doctor asked, never looking away from the woman in front of him. "Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth anyway" Nancy, who was still crying, glanced up at the two now stood side-by-side, and looked down again, ashamed. "He's not your brother is he?" Nancy shook her head, refusing to look at them. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied" Nancy nodded. "You even lied to him"
The gates swung open revealing the army of gas-masked people, Jamie at the forefront of them all.
"Are you my mummy?"
"He's gonna keep asking Nancy. He's never gonna stop" The Doctor told her gently.
"Remember what I said" Alex joined in, making Nancy look up at her. "You've got to tell him" She didn't respond.
"Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands" The Doctor took over. "Trust us"
"And tell him" Alex finished. Jamie started towards them.
"Are you my mummy?"
The Doctor gave Nancy a gentle push in his direction.
"Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?"
"Yes" Nancy whispered, then stronger. "Yes. I am your mummy" Jamie continued forward.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here"
"Are you my mummy?"
Nancy kneeled down in front of him as he stopped walking.
"I'm here?"
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes" Nancy whispered.
"He doesn't understand" The Doctor told Alex softly. "There's not enough of him left" Nancy looked at her little boy sadly a moment.
"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I am so sorry" Nancy told Jamie sincerely. She wrapped him up in a hug, no longer caring what would happen if she'd touched him. The nanogenes surrounded them, making the two glow in a golden light.
"Doctor, is it-" Alex began.
"Shh" He cut her off, holding up a hand. The pair stared intently at the mother and son, apprehensive but excited for what might happen.
"Come on please" The Doctor whispered. "Come on you clever little nanogenes, figure it out! The mother. She's the mother! There's gotta be enough information, figure it out!"
"Are they…?"
"Recognising the same DNA" The Doctor confirmed, grinning down at Alex. "You see?" Nancy suddenly fell away from the boy and the nanogenes scattered. Alex and the Doctor rushed over, the latter stopping in front of the boy and glancing back at her friend. The Doctor gave her a nod and she crouched down slightly, hands hovering over the boy.
"Come on. Give us a day like this" Alex begged softly. "Give us this one. Please" She slowly reached out, taking hold of the gas mask and pulled it off, revealing a confused Jamie underneath. She laughed happily, dropping the mask as she picked up the boy and spun around with him in her arms. "Yes!" She cried happily. "Welcome back Jamie!"
"Twenty years 'till pop music. You're gonna love it" The Doctor added, grinning.
"What happened?" Nancy asked, staring at her boy in wonder. Alex smiled at the boy in her arms as the Doctor explained about the parent DNA to Nancy.
"Hello, Jamie. I'm Alex" She told him softly.
"Hello, Alex" He said shyly, making her grin. Alex hugged the boy close, feeling a pang of sadness as she was reminded of another young boy. She placed him down gently, giving him a soft smile, even as tears were beginning in her eyes.
"Are you sad?" He asked, reaching up to place a hand on her cheek. The Doctor glanced down at her and Jamie as she nodded slowly.
"Yeah, you see, I had a little brother who looked a lot like you. I just miss him" She told the boy, brushing some of his hair away from his forehead.
"When I'm sad, I ask Nancy for a hug, and it makes me feel better. Do you want a hug?" He asked innocently. Alex nodded slowly again.
"Yeah, that'd be nice" She whispered, smiling when he moved forward to wrap his little arms around her neck. "I think Nancy might need a hug too" She whispered in his ear before pulling away. He moved to hug his mother, who was almost crying in happiness. The Doctor helped Alex to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they watched the mother and child.
"Happy cry" She whispered with a smile. "Humany woomany" The Doctor shot her an amused smile. A bomb landed nearby and Alex's smile fell.
"Doctor, that bomb…"
"Taken care of it" He said simply.
"I know" She replied in a whisper. The two looked up as the bomb fell towards them and was suddenly stopped in mid-air by a blue light field. Alex was on the verge of tears when Jack appeared on the bomb.
"Doctor!" He called down.
"Good lad!" The Doctor praised, grinning.
"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long" Jack told them.
"Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can?"
"Alex?"
Alex looked up at Jack, tears brimming and he gave her a sad smile.
"Goodbye"
He disappeared and Alex looked down, letting out a slow shuddering breath as she fought to not openly cry after everything that had happened that evening. Jack reappeared after a moment and Alex looked back up.
"By the way, nice jacket" He commented grinning, Alex couldn't help but smile in return, shaking her head at the man. Jack disappeared again and his ship zoomed away. Alex watched as it left before turning back to the Doctor, who was standing a few paces away, staring intently at his hands. He summoned a cluster of nanogenes and watched as they surrounded his hands.
"Doctor? What're you doing?" She asked, stepping closer slightly at the sight of the robots.
"Software patch. Gonna email the upgrade" He explained, grinning. "You want moves, Alex? I'll give you moves" He pulled back slightly and made a motion to throw the nanogenes away from him, to the gas-masked people still standing around the tracks. They fell to the ground, all suddenly real people again and Alex laughed in joy, jumping up and down as the Doctor beamed at the sight before them.
"Everybody lives Alex! Just this once!"
"Everybody lives!" They shouted together. Alex jumped forward and the two hugged quickly before both rushing over to the people who were beginning to stand now. The Doctor ran over to Doctor Constantine while Alex moved around the fenced area, helping people to their feet and searching the area for the one person she wanted to see above all.
"Alex!"
She looked up, wide eyes connecting with her best friend's. The two grinned and Alex started running, Rose laughing as she did the same and they met in the middle, laughing joyfully and hugging each other tightly.
"I'm sorry" Alex whispered to her, holding the other girl tightly
"You knew" Rose whispered back. "You knew I'd be alright. It wasn't your fault" Alex pulled away, grinning at her as she gripped the blonde's shoulders tightly.
"Everybody lives!" She declared happily.
"Everybody lives" Rose agreed, beaming at her.
"Right you lot!" The Doctor spoke up, making the girls look over to find him standing on the ambulance. "Lot's to do. Beat the Germans, save the world, don't forget the Welfare state!" Alex grabbed Rose by the hand and they ran back around the fence to stand in front of the Doctor, who was now messing with the controls.
"Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everyone's clear" he explained, seeing them from the corner of his eye. "History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"
"Usually the first in line" Rose returned matter-of-factly. The Doctor looked up at her, grinning, and slipped off the ambulance to land on his feet.
"Rose Tyler, you are fantastic!" He told her happily, picking her up in a hug. She laughed.
"Me? You guys brought me back!" She frowned slightly then, glancing around. "Where's Jack?" Neither answered, the Doctor going back to the controls of the ship and Alex looking at the ground.
Maybe not everyone…
"The nanogenes will clean up their mess and switch themselves off, because I told them to" The Doctor explained happily, leading the girls into the Tardis. "Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered"
"Fantastic!" Alex and the Doctor cried happily, both hitting a switch on the word. The grinned at each other.
"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas" Rose laughed.
"Who says I'm not? Red-bycicle-when-you-were-twelve" He responded quickly. Rose's smile faded into shock, blinking at him.
"What?"
"And everybody lives Rose! Everybody lives!" He pressed down on the bell, Alex laughing as it rang loudly. The Doctor grinned at her. "I need more days like this"
"Doctor…" Rose began hesitantly.
"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire!"
"What about Jack?"
The smiles faded from both Alex and the Doctor at the name and they fell silent, continuing to work.
"Alex said he said goodbye. Why'd he say goodbye?" She asked again. No one answered.
Jack leaned back in his seat with his drink, sighing as he accepted the inevitable. Then there was another noise, a song he knew playing in the background. He turned, finding a large blue box in the back of his ship that certainly hadn't been there before. Rose was standing in the doorway, gesturing him in.
"Well, hurry up then!" She called. Jack jumped up and ran inside, hesitating on the ramp as he looked up, taking in the console room in shock. Alex and the Doctor were by the console, stumbling through a dance as Rose stood to the side, trying to instruct them.
"Right, and turn…" She gestured as they tried, Alex squeaking in surprise as her arm got twisted and the Doctor let go quickly, apologising.
"Okay, okay. Try the spin again" Rose encouraged. "But this time, don't get her arm up her back" The Doctor looked away sheepishly and Alex gave him a small smile. "No extra points for a half-nelson"
"I'm sure I used to know this stuff" The Doctor shook his head, seeming rather put out. He looked to Jack then. "Close the door, will you. Your ship's about to blow up, there's gonna be a draft" Rose grinned as Jack closed the door and Alex and the Doctor moved to pilot them away.
"Welcome to the Tardis" They said in unison, Alex grinning at him.
"Much bigger on the inside…"
"You'd better be"
"Hey" Alex warned, hitting his arm lightly as they passed each other around the console. "Play nice. I think what the Doctor's trying to say is, you may cut in" She grinned, stopping in front of Jack and holding out a hand.
"Alex! I've just remembered!" The Doctor cried suddenly, making her turn.
"What?"
"I can dance!" He declared as the song changed to a faster, more upbeat tune and the lights all around the console room flashed in time with the music. He danced around a moment, clicking his fingers to the beat with a grin. Alex laughed.
"Actually Doctor, I think Jack might like this dance" She said slowly.
"I'm sure he would" The Doctor agreed, not even fazed. "But who with?" Alex laughed again. "He can dance with Rose" He told her, holding out a hand. Alex hopped over to take his hands, laughing happily as he spun her and they began dancing in the beat of the music.
"Much better" Alex commented as he spun her again. "I can't do slow" They danced on, Jack and Rose simply watching the two amusedly. They danced like they did almost everything, in perfect unison. Rose cheered as the two spun their way around the console. When the song neared its end the Doctor seemed to decide to try something. He spun Alex once more and dipped her down low, making her squeal in surprise. She was laughing and grabbing tightly at his jacket when he pulled her up, glancing over at Rose and Jack with an almost proud grin on his face.
"Again?" he asked hopefully, beaming at Alex. She nodded, grinning also as the song changed once more.
"Again" She agreed.
The four of them spent the rest of the night dancing around the console room and if you'd asked Alex years later what her most memorable or wonderful time on the Tardis was, that night would be the first thing on her mind.
It was pointed out to me that this chapter had been missing, so thanks to gwencarson126 (hoping I got the name right) I've fixed my oversight, and here you have it. Sorry about that, hope you enjoy :)