The Doctor Dances
The bodies jumped out and turned to look at them, before moving out of their beds. "Mummy?" They started to incoherently say as they moved towards the group, who backed into a wall, looking around frantically for a way out.
"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Why are they like this?"
"I don't know." The Doctor said simply. "Don't let them touch you."
"What happens if they touch us?"
"We become them."
"Are you my Mummy?"
"It's Nancy. Your sister."
"Mummy."
"You're dead, Jamie. You're dead." She mumbled in terror as she was backed into the wall, Jamie getting closer and closer by the second.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy." He reached out a hand, moving it towards her face as she tried to recoil away. "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."
The Doctor moved forward a few steps. "Go to your room." He said sternly. The people stopped, sending the room back into silence as the trio behind him glanced at each other uncertainly. "Go to your room!" They all tilted their heads sideways like a child who got their hand caught in the cookie jar. "I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross. Go. To. Your. Room!" The people started shuffling back to their beds with their heads hung low, becoming still again as they lay back. He turned look at the three who had their jaws open. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been terrible last words." He laughed nervously, making them chuckle with him.
Nancy watched through the window as Jamie walked out through the streets in silence, her eyes starting to water. "Jamie. I'm so sorry." She collapsed to her knees, starting to sob. "I'm so sorry." Her voice broke as she placed her face in her hands.
Rose moved slowly towards one of the bodies but kept her distance. "Why're they all wearing gas masks?"
"They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone." Jack answered.
"How was your con supposed to work?" Clara asked.
"Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince them it's valuable so he or she names a price. When they put 50% up front, oops, a German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. They never get to see what they've paid for; they never know they've been had. I buy them a drink with their own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."
"Yeah. Perfect." The Doctor mumbled.
"The Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." Jack belly laughed, however he let it subside when he saw the stern look on Clara's face, making him gulp. "Getting a hint of disapproval."
"Take a look around the room. This is what your piece of harmless space junk did." Clara admonished.
"It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty."
"*Scoffs* You keep saying that. Empty." Clara muttered. "Come on."
"We getting out of here?" Rose asked.
"We're going upstairs." They moved to follow her.
"I even programmed the flight computer, so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one." They stopped briefly to look at him. "I don't know what's happening here but believe me, I had nothing to do with it."
"I'll tell you what's happening. A moron went through so much detail and missed something very important. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day." Clara growled. The air raid alarm blared outside.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"The all-clear." Jack mumbled.
"I wish." The Doctor muttered as they left the room.
Nancy wiped the tears from her face as the sirens sounded outside. She blinked before standing up and hurrying to the back door, only to recoil in shock as a kid in a gas mask stood there. However, he took it off, making her sigh in relief. "I thought you were Jamie." She breathed before rushing past him, before getting blocked by Arthur and his wife.
"Dad? Dad?" The kid called.
"Bloody kids!" Arthur groaned, as he grabbed Nancy by the shoulders and hauled her back inside.
"Get off me! Get your hands off me!"
"Get in! Get in!"
"Let me go!"
"Get her in there! She nicked!" The wife called as she shut the back door behind them.
"Mr. & Mrs. Oswald?" Jack called as he and Rose raced through the corridors.
"Doctor? Clara?"
"Have you got a blaster?" They heard the Doctor ask, making them double back to a small flight of steps they missed, seeing the two looking down at them.
"Sure." Jack said as they raced up the stairs, finding the two standing outside a locked, steel door.
"The night your space junk landed; someone was hurt. This is where they were taken."
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"Let's find out. Get it open." The Doctor said to Jack, who smirked before pulling out a blaster with neon blue lights.
"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"
"Nothing." Clara answered for him.
"Are you…testing him?" Rose asked. Clara clicked her neck in answer, making her eyebrows raise a bit. Jack used the blaster on the door lock, causing it to disappear and the door to open, leaving behind a square hole where the lock was.
"Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon factories of Villengard?" The Doctor deducted.
"You've been to the factories?"
"Once."
"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot."
"Like I said, once." The Doctor answered, sending Clara a wink, making her smirk. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good." He grinned.
"You and your bananas." She groaned.
"Oi! What've you got against bananas?"
She shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe you eat them too much?"
He blinked before shrugging. "Okay, fair enough." They went inside the room.
"Nice blast pattern." Rose commented to Jack.
"Digital."
"Square-nosed gun?"
"Yeah."
"I like it." Jack chuckled at her before they moved inside the room. The room was filled with filing cabinets and recording equipment complete with marked findings. The desk in the middle of the room, in front of a glass window was trashed with the glass smashed to pieces.
"What do you think?" The Doctor asked.
"Something got out of here." Jack answered.
"Yeah. And?"
"Something powerful…angry."
The Doctor and Clara nodded to each other slightly. "Powerful and angry."
Jack moved through a door on the left of the glass, finding an equally trashed room, yet filled with drawings of a mother with children's toys and an unmade bed in the corner. "A child? I suppose this explains "Mummy"."
"How could a child do this?" Rose asked.
*Click*
They looked to see the Doctor standing by the desk, looking down at it with furrowed eyebrows, while Clara moved to his side. "Do you know where you are?" Constantine's voice came out of the recording equipment.
"Are you my Mummy?"
"Are you aware of what's around you?"
"Are you my Mummy?"
"What do you want? Do you know-"
"I want my Mummy. Are you my Mummy? I want my Mummy! Are you my Mummy? Are you my Mummy? Mummy! Mummy!"
"I've heard this voice before." Rose said.
"Both of us have." Clara said.
"Mummy!"
"Always "Are you my Mummy?"" Like he doesn't know."
"Mummy."
"Why doesn't he know?"
The Doctor and Clara exchanged sad looks at this, yet they didn't say a word. "Are you their Mummy? Mummy!"
Arthur shut the door to the living room, moving inside with a stern look as Nancy sat at the table somewhat shyly. Said table was now clean and empty, now just covered with a green table cloth. "The police are on their way. I pay for the food on this table. The sweat on my brow, that food is. The sweat on my brow." Nancy refrained the urge to roll her eyes. "Anything else you'd like? I've got a whole house here. Anything else you'd like to help yourself to?"
"Yeah." Arthur blinked at her. "I'd like some wire cutters, please. Something that can cut through barbed wire. Oh, and a torch. *Scoffs* Don't look like that, Mr. Lloyd. I know you've got plenty of tools in here, I've been watching this house for ages. And I'd like another look around your kitchen cupboards. I was in a hurry the first time. I want to see if there's anything I missed."
"The food on this table-"
"It's an awful lot of food, isn't it, Mr. Lloyd? A lot more than on anyone else's table. Half this street thinks your missus must be messing about with Mr. Haverstock, the butcher. But she's not, is she? You are." Arthur flinched at her accusing tone. "Wire cutters, torch, food. And I'd like to use your bathroom before I leave, please. Oh look, there's the sweat on your brow." She smirked, making him rub his forehead sheepishly.
"Mummy! Please, Mummy. Mummy!"
The Doctor paced about Jamie's room while Clara crossed her arms, her, Rose and Jack watching him. "Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Can you sense it?"
"Sense what?" Jack asked.
"It's coming out of the walls. Can't you feel it?"
"Mummy?" None of them noticed the end of the tape was now rattling on the recording equipment.
"Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
"When he's stressed, he likes to insult species." Rose told Jack, who nodded despite his confusion.
"Rose, I'm thinking."
"Mummy."
"He cuts himself shaving, does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than. I just leave it to Clara. She gives his big ears a good tug when he's in that mood." Clara smirked while Jack chuckled.
"There are these children, living rough around the bomb sites. They come out during air raids, looking for food."
"Mummy, please."
"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?"
"It was a med-ship. It was harmless." Jack defended.
"Yeah, you keep saying 'Harmless'. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"
"Altered how?" Rose asked.
"I'm here."
"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do." He chuckled nervously. "It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room." They now just realised the tape rattling.
"Doctor?"
"I'm here. Can't you see me?"
"What's that noise?"
"End of the tape." Clara said, her eyes widening, making the Doctor's eyes synchronise with her. "It ran out about 30 seconds ago."
"I'm here now. Can't you see me?"
"I sent it to its room. This is its room." He spun around as they looked through the glass behind them, seeing Jamie standing there, staring at them.
"Are you my Mummy?" He tilted his head as he stared at Clara. "Mummy?" Clara gulped at his meaning, despite the fear she felt inside her.
"Okay. On my signal, make for the door." Jack said, slowing moving behind the Doctor.
"Mummy?"
"Now!" He yelled, but he recoiled as he noticed the banana in his hand. The Doctor grinned cheekily, before he pulled the blaster out of his pocket and used it on the wall.
"Mummy!"
"Go, now! Don't drop the banana!"
"Why not?"
"Good source of potassium!" They climbed through the hole.
"Give me that." Jack snatched the blaster back and used it to reverse the hole in the wall.
"Mummy. Are you my Mummy-" The wall resealed again, cutting off Jamie's voice?
They breathed a sigh of relief. "Digital rewind." Jack said. "Nice switch." He tossed the banana to him.
"It's from the groves of Villengard. Thought it was appropriate."
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?"
"Bananas are good." Clara moved beside him and smacked the back of his head, Rose smirking while Jack's eyes widened. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Nicking is meant to be my job!" She admonished.
"Shut up, Clara." He grumbled.
"I'm sorry?" She warned.
"I said shut it."
"Tough. What're you going to do about it?"
*Crack*
They jumped as the wall in front of them started to break. "Okay, that's a good answer." Clara nodded, making them rush to one end of the corridor, when the door burst open, revealing gas mask people marching towards them. "Other way!" She yelled, making them rush to the other end, yet the door revealed more gas mask people, trapping them beside the cracking wall.
"They're keeping us here till it can get at us." The Doctor stated.
"It's controlling them?" Jack asked.
"It is them. It's every living thing in this hospital."
"Okay, this can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and a triple enfolded sonic disruptor. Doc, what you got?"
"I've got a sonic, uh…ohm never mind." The Doctor said as he pulled out the sonic.
"What?"
"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that."
"Disruptor, cannon, what?"
"It's sonic, totally sonic. I am sonic-ed up."
"A sonic what?!"
"Screwdriver!" Jack gave him a "Are you kidding me?!" look as the wall burst apart, Jamie starting to climb through.
Rose groaned and grabbed Jack's hand that held the blaster, pointing it to the floor. "Going down!" They fell through the hole, collapsing to the ground with a loud groan before Jack used the blaster to repair the floor above them.
"You guys okay?" Rose asked.
"Yeah." Jack nodded.
"Yeah. Clara?" The Doctor asked, helping her up.
"You could've used a warning." She grumbled, groaning as she stood up.
"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked.
"I do!" The Doctor groaned.
"Lights." Rose rolled her eyes, trying to look for a switch inside the dark room.
"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, 'Ooh-ooh. This could be a little more sonic?'"
"What, you never been bored?"
"There's got to be a light switch!"
"Never had a long night. Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"
"If it makes you feel any better, I like the screwdriver." Clara said.
"Thank you, Clara." He grinned at her.
"Dear god, you two really are children, aren't you?" Jack rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, talk about calling the kettle black." Rose grumbled.
"I heard that." They said in unison as Rose flicked on the lights.
"Mummy!" They jumped as gas mask people sat up in the beds.
"Door." Jack said, making them move to a door at the end of the room which Jack used the blaster on. It gave off weak whirring sounds as they looked at him incredulously. "Dammit! It's the special features. They really drain the battery." Jack grumbled, smacking the blaster as the Doctor used the sonic to unlock the door.
"The battery? That's so lame." Rose grumbled as they locked the door behind them, finding themselves inside a large storage closed with a wheel chair in the centre and a window on the other side.
"I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory." Jack grumbled in the Doctor's direction, which he merely smirked.
"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates."
"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit." The Doctor said, moving to the window.
"The door? The wall didn't stop it!"
"Well, it's got to find us first. Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets."
"Well, I've got a banana. In a pinch, you could put up some shelves." Jack said, sitting down in the wheelchair.
"Window-"
"Barred with a sheer drop outside, seven stories."
"And no other exits." Rose finished.
"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?"
Clara turned to look at Rose. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"
"Clara." Rose grumbled with a shameful blush.
"She was hanging from a barrage balloon; I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack said with a slight smirk. Clara rolled her eyes at him.
"Okay. One: We've got to get out of here. Two: We can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" Clara asked.
"Nope." The Doctor shook his head.
"Yeah. Jack just disappeared." Rose said, making them look at the now empty wheelchair in slight shock.
Nancy entered a small hideout, finding some of the kids, including Ernie sitting there patiently, one of them typing out on a typewriter. "Thought as much. What're all you doing here?! Different house every night, I told ya!" Nancy admonished.
"We thought you were dead, or you'd run off."
"I didn't. I knew you'd come back for us." Ernie said. Nancy took their empty food container and emptied her food bag into it. "Jimmy found that old in the junk. He thinks he can write now."
"I'm writing a letter to me Dad." Jimmy said as he typed away.
"You don't even know where your Dad is. And how're you going to send it?"
"I don't know. Stick it in an envelope?"
"You can't even read or write."
"I don't need to. I've got a machine."
"Will you stop making that noise?!" Nancy ordered in irritation, making them slouch in shame. Nancy closed her eyes and breathed. "I'm sorry, Jim. On you go. You write a letter to your Dad if you want to." Jimmy nodded before returning to type.
"I know we should've gone somewhere else, but we need you, see? For the thinking."
"And what if I wasn't here? What If one night, I didn't come back for ya? There's a war on. People go out, they don't always come back, it happens. What would you do then?" Nancy knelt to grab the bag again, while Ernie's eyes widened, and he moved forward, snatching the wire cutters from her grasp.
"Wire cutters?"
Nancy snatched them back. "I need you to think about that. Someone's got to look after this lot."
"Why? Are you going somewhere?"
Nancy gave them a grim look. "The bomb site, the one at the railway station." All their eyes widened at her and Jimmy stopped typing to look at her.
"Why?"
"The child. That's where he was killed. That's where it all started, and I'm going to find out how."
"He'll get you, and then he'll come for us. He always comes for us."
"No, Ernie, he doesn't. He always comes after me." His eyebrows furrowed at her. "There are things I haven't told ya. Things I can't tell ya. If you're with me, you're in danger." The keys on the typewriter started clicking, making her heart race in fear. "Even right now, sitting here, you're in danger because of me."
"You're the one that keeps us safe."
"You think so, Ernie? Then answer this. Jim is sitting there, right next to ya. So, who's typing?" Their breathing hitched as they looked at the typewriter, which was clicking away by itself. Once it stopped, Nancy took the paper out and looked at it. Past Jimmy's partial message was the repeated words of 'Mummy? Are you my Mummy?'.
"Is he coming?"
"Ernie, as long as you're with me, he's always coming." She tossed the paper to them, which Ernie caught as he looked at it, with Nancy moving to exit the hideout. "Plenty of greens and chew your food." She said sternly before leaving.
The Doctor sat down, one arm around Clara who leaned her head into his shoulder as Rose paced about. "Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" Rose asked sarcastically.
"I'm making an effort not to be insulted."
"I mean…men."
"Okay, thanks. That really helped." The Doctor grumbled.
"If it makes you feel any better, you're better looking than him." Clara smiled fondly, making him grin at her.
The radio in the room crackled to life, making them give it an apprehensive look. "Rose? Doctor? Clara? Can you hear me?" They moved to stand beside it, the Doctor searching the radio but finding it's wires completely cut. "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport, I'm sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it, hang in there."
"How're you speaking to us?" Clara asked.
"Omcom: I can call anything with a speaker grille."
"Now there's a coincidence." The Doctor muttered, making Clara nod.
"What is?"
"The child can Omcom too."
"It can?" Rose asked.
"Anything with a speaker grille. Even the TARDIS phone."
"What, you mean the child can phone us?"
"And I can hear you." They jumped at the voice. "Coming to find you. Coming to find you."
"Doctor, Clara, can you hear that?"
"Loud and clear."
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do."
"Coming to find you Mummy."
"You remember this one, Rose?" Moonlight Serenade began to play, making them look at her which she merely blushed at.
"Our song." She smiled, making them nod before exchanging crooked eyebrows. The Doctor moved over to the window with the sonic while Clara sat down in the wheelchair, rolling about in it with a cheeky smile. "Having fun?" She teased.
"Oh yeah." Clara smiled. She then furrowed her eyebrows and reached out her hands. "Can I see your hands?"
"Sure." Rose said, moving over to her, who took her hands gently under her gaze.
"What're you trying to do, Doctor?" Clara called as he used the sonic.
"I'm trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars."
"That'll take a while." Clara grumbled as she inspected Rose's hands.
"You got a better idea, missy?"
"No. You?"
"No." He blinked before blushing sheepishly. "I actually don't know what to do. I'm just-"
"Improvising, I know."
"Sorry."
Rose rolled her eyes at them despite her light chuckling. She started feeling somewhat tingling like someone getting a massage as Clara ran her hands over hers. "What're you doing?"
"Barrage balloon."
"What?" Rose blinked.
"You were hanging from a barrage balloon."
Rose blinked before realization kicked in. "Oh, yeah, about two minutes after you two left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air raid and a Union Jack all over my chest."
The Doctor chuckled. "I've travelled with a lot of people but you're setting new records for jeopardy-friendly."
"Rose, you were hanging from a rope, thousands of feet above London, but look at your hands." Clara said, holding them up. "You don't have a cut or a bruise." The Doctor stopped using his sonic at those words.
"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up."
"Oh, we're calling him "Captain", now are we?"
"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Captain."
"He's not really a Captain, Rose." Clara shook her head at him.
"Maybe not to you. You've got your own Captain." Rose winked at her.
"No, I don't." She blushed.
"Okay, seriously, it's starting to get a bit old now." Rose groaned.
"What is?" They said in unison.
Rose groaned again. "Look, do either of you think he's coming back?"
"*Scoffs* Wouldn't bet my life." Clara grumbled. The Doctor nodded with her.
"Why don't either of you trust him?"
"Why do you?"
"He saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." Clara blinked at her. "I trust him because he's like the Doctor, except he's bolder with dating and dancing."
Clara gazed off before nodding slightly. "Okay, that's fair enough." Rose giggled while she smirked. They heard the Doctor grumble, making Clara turn to look at him. "What?"
"You just assume I'm-"
"What?"
"You just assume I don't…dance."
Clara grinned. "What, are you telling me that you do dance?"
"900 years old, me, I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point, I danced."
"You?" She giggled, Rose moving off to the side with a devilish smirk.
"Problem?"
"The big bad Time Lord dancing? Does the universe decide to implode if you dance, is that it?"
"Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast." The Doctor said smugly.
Clara bit her lip, standing up and pushing the chair to Rose, who winked at her before Clara turned up the volume on the radio, making the Doctor look at her with a blush. "You got the moves? Show me your moves." She held out a hand.
He blinked. "Clara…I'm-I'm trying to resonate concrete." He stuttered.
"We'll have to wait for Captain Jack, because that'll take too long, so come on. The world won't end just because the Doctor dances."
The Doctor looked at her with dilated eyes and a blush before he pocketed the sonic and took her hands. "Hold on, Captain Jack?"
She rolled her eyes. "If that's his name, then fine. Captain Jack it is. Although, it would be funnier if his last name was Sparrow. And if he drank rum." She paused and squinted her eyes as his clenched jaw. "Are you…jealous?"
"No." He denied.
"You're jealous. Is it because I'm calling him Captain, or is it because I'm not calling you captain?" She flirted.
He clicked his neck and started to waltz with her, yet his movements was somewhat awkward despite his intense staring. "I wouldn't mind that." He flirted.
"Well, I can't call you "Captain Doctor", that wouldn't make any sense. That just sounds like "Mister Doctor"." She blinked as he nearly stepped on her toes. "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. Can you please move them? My feet aren't for stepping on, thank you very much." She said, their personal space growing smaller by the second.
"If ever he's been a Captain, he's been defrocked."
"Yeah? Thank goodness then, eh?"
"Now isn't that just rude, eh missy? How'd he feel if you said that to him?" He quipped.
"I wouldn't care."
"Aww, that hurt." Jack mocked, making them jump. They found themselves inside of Jack's ship, with Rose standing to the side trying to hide her laughter. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. Rose was right, you guys are so sweet…when you're not children." He grinned at Rose, who nodded with a smirk. "And to answer your theory, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Navcom offline to override the teleport security."
"You can spend 10 minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is." The Doctor said, him and Clara still not moving from their embrace, making Rose and Jack's smiles grow wider.
"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Although, you're quite the lucky man to have Rose with you."
"Oi!" Clara admonished as Rose laughed.
"Sorry, you mock me, I mock you." Jack smirked at her, making her roll her eyes at him despite a smile on both hers and the Doctor's faces. "Like I told her: Be back in five minutes."
The Doctor glanced around as Jack worked underneath the pilot console, before realization creeped into his eyes. "This is a Chula ship."
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous."
*Clicks*
Nanogenes fluttered around the Doctor's hand, making Clara give them a soft look. "They're beautiful." She breathed.
"They are." The Doctor nodded.
"They're what fixed my hands up. Jack called them…um…" Rose clicked her fingers, scrunching her face.
"Nanobots?" Rose shook her head. "Nanogenes?"
"Nanogenes. Yeah."
"Subatomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulkhead's sealed, check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." He waved his hand, making the Nanogenes disappear.
"Aww." Clara whined.
"Sorry." He teased, making her half glare at him. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."
"As soon as I get the navcom back online." Jack shrugged as he sat in the pilot seat and worked away on the console. "Make yourself comfortable and carry on with whatever it was you were…doing."
"We were talking about dancing."
"It didn't look like talking."
"It didn't feel like dancing." Clara grumbled.
"Watch it, missy." The Doctor said as they untangled themselves from each other.
"What'd you say?"
"I said watch it, missy."
"They seriously haven't said anything?" Jack whispered to Rose.
"Nope."
"Dear god, that's going to get old."
"It already is." Rose groaned, making them chuckle.
"What'd you say?" They said in unison.
"Nothing." Rose and Jack mocked in unison.
Nancy crept up to the bomb site, crouching behind the large, stone fence to hide from view. Creeping around to where the fence ended in debris, turning into metal and barb wire. She knelt, glancing around to see if any soldiers were watching. Satisfied despite her caution, she pulled out the wire cutters and snapped a wire. She glanced around each time she cut barb wire until there was enough space to crawl through, moving quickly to hide in the shadows. Waiting for a long minute, she crept over to the tarpaulin and peeled it back slightly. Lights suddenly blinded her vision, making her cover her eyes as the sound of rifles being cocked were heard around her. "Halt! Don't move!" A voice shouted, before she felt two hands grasping her shoulders and hauling her away, the bright lights dimming and clearing her vision again.
"So, you used to be a Time Agent and now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked Jack while the Doctor and Clara sat together in silence.
"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money."
"What for, then?"
"I woke up one morning when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back."
"They stole your memories?"
"Two years of my life, with no idea what I did." The Doctor and Clara exchanged a silent look but said nothing. "Your friends over there don't trust me and for all I know, they're right not to." He said with a sad tone. Rose turned to look at them, who were just gazing at each other softly before leaning back into each other in contempt. "Is that their secret? They can have-"
"Entire conversations just by staring, I know." Rose nodded.
"Yep, you're right. It's already old." Jack smirked.
*Beeps*
Jack turned the chair around as the console flared, the sound perking the pair's interest. "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?" Jack called, already knowing the answer.
Nancy was hauled through a large, red gate into a small warehouse, where a man sat a table, looking down with his face in his hands. "As you were. Feeling any better?" The head guard asked.
"Just a turn, sir."
"Chain her up where Jenkins can keep an eye on her."
"No, not in here. Not with him." Nancy protested as she saw the scar on his hand.
"You shouldn't have broken in here if you didn't want to stay."
"You don't understand. Not with him."
"This is a restricted area, Miss. You can just sit here for a bit. We're going to have to ask you a few questions."
"Found these, sir." A soldier said, holding out her wire cutters.
He grumbled with a small smirk. "Very professional. A little bit too professional. Didn't just drop in by accident then, did you?"
"My little brother died here. I wanted to find out what killed him."
The head guard looked at the soldiers standing there. "Take the men, check the fence for any other breaches and search the area. She may not have come here alone."
"Yes, sir." They said in unison as they left, the head guard moving to follow them.
"Please, listen, you can't leave me here." Nancy protested.
"Watch her, Jenkins."
"Yes Mummy."
He blinked. "Jenkins?"
"Sorry. Sir, I-I don't know what's the matter with me."
"Look, lock me up, fine, but not here. Please, anywhere but here." The head guard stared at her before leaving without a word. Nancy started struggling against the handcuffs.
"You'll be all right, Miss. I'm just a little…just a little…just a little…what's the matter with you?"
"Please, let me go."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because you've got a scar on the back of your hand."
"Well, yes. But I don't see what that's got to do with anything."
"And you feel like you're going to be sick, like something's forcing its way up your throat." He blinked at her in surprise. "I know, because I've seen it before."
"What's happening to me?"
"In a minute, you won't be you anymore. You won't even remember you and unless you let me go, it's going to happen to me too, please."
"What're you talking about?" He said as his breathing grew heavier.
"What's your mother's name?"
"Matilda."
"You got a wife?"
"Yes."
"Wife's name." He started to chock, making her heart grow cold in terror. "You got kids? What's your name?"
"I-I-I can't-"
"Please, let me go. It's too late for you, I'm sorry, but please, let me go."
"What d-d-do you m-mea-mea-Mmm-Mmm-Mmmu-Mummy!" He yelled in agony as his face turned into a gas mask before he collapsed onto the table unconscious.
The four walked through the abandoned railway station, seeing a small group of soldiers chatting and pacing about. "There it is." Jack nodded to the tarpaulin. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."
"We've got to get past." The Doctor said, the three nodding.
"Are the words "Distract the guard" heading in my general direction?" Rose asked.
"I don't think that'd be such a good idea." Jack shook his head with a smirk.
"Don't worry, I can handle it."
"It's not that. I've gotten to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him. Don't wait up." Jack winked as he walked away to the soldiers, Rose staring wide eyed after him.
"Relax, Rose." The Doctor grinned as her wide eyes combined with furrowed eyebrows, making Clara snigger. "He's a 51st century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."
"How flexible?"
"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."
"Meaning?"
"So many species, so little time." He grinned while Clara crinkled her nose in disgust.
"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission, we seek new life and…and…and…" Rose stuttered.
"Dance." He chuckled at her expression.
Jack walked up to Algy, the head guard with a grin. "Hey, tiger. How's it hanging?"
Algy looked at him, tilting his head. "Mummy?"
"Algy, old sport, it's me."
"Mummy?"
"It's me, Jack."
"Jack? Are you my…Mummy?" Jack stared at him with shock as Algy started to chock, collapsing to his knees, his face turning into a gas mask.
"Stay back!" Clara yelled, the three rushing over.
"You men stay away!" Jack ordered as they came to help Algy, staring at him with horror.
"The effect's becoming airborne, accelerating." The Doctor said grimly.
"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked.
"Nothing."
The air-raid siren blared again, making Jack groan. "Ah, here they come again."
"All we need. Wait, didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" Rose asked with wide eyes. Jack nodded at her, making her gulp.
"Never mind about that. If the contaminant's airborne, there's hours left."
"Till what?" Jack asked.
"Till nothing, forever, for the entire human race."
"Can anyone else hear singing?" Clara asked, making them look to the large red door.
"Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all." Nancy hummed as they opened the door. The Doctor motioned for her to come with them, but she simply tugged on her handcuffs. He pulled out his sonic and came over to her. "Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock." The Doctor unlocked the handcuffs, making Nancy move out with them towards the tarpaulin. The lights flicked on as they approached while Jack moved the tarpaulin back, revealing the old capsule.
"You see? Just an ambulance." Jack said.
"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked.
"It's hard to explain. It's…It's from another world." Rose answered, yet it didn't lessen Nancy's bewilderment.
"They've been trying to get in." Jack grumbled.
"Of course, they have. They think they've got their hands-on Hitler's latest secret weapon." The Doctor said. Jack started inputting code into the front panel. "What're you doing?"
"Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." The capsule sparked, blaring an alarm which made them jump. "Didn't happen last time."
"It hadn't crashed last time. They're the emergency protocols."
"Doctor, what is that?" Rose asked.
Clara looked over at the large red gate, which was beginning to rattle. "We're going to have company. Captain secure those gates!" She ordered.
"Why-"
"Just do it!" Jack flinched but ran to the fence gates, closing and chaining them shut. "Nancy, how did you get in here?"
"I cut the wire."
"Show Rose."
The Doctor pulled out the sonic and tossed it to Rose. "Setting 2,428D."
"What?"
"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!" They rushed over to the side, kneeling at the fence. Nancy held up the cut wire while Rose used the sonic, reattaching each end together.
"Who are you?" Nancy asked. "Who are any of you?"
"You'd never believe me if I told you."
"You just told me that was an ambulance from another world. 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?"
"The Doctor and Clara aren't together?" Rose quipped.
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Apart from that."
"We're time travellers from the future."
"Mad, you are."
"We have a time travel machine. Seriously."
"It's not that." Nancy sighed as they finished their work, yet they didn't move. "All right, you got a time travel machine. I believe ya. Believe anything, me. But what future?" She nodded to the sky.
Rose grasped her shoulder, making Nancy look at her. "Nancy, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything."
"How can you say that? Look at it."
"Listen to me. I was born in this city. I'm from here in like 50 years' time."
"From here?"
"I'm a Londoner, from your future."
"But…but you're not…"
"Not what?"
"German."
"Nancy, the Germans don't come here, they don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but do you know what? You win."
"We win?"
Rose nodded, making Nancy smile in relief. "Come on." She nodded, leading them back to the others, where Jack had joined them and just opened the capsule.
"It's empty. Look at it." Jack said, motioning inside which was indeed empty.
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose." The Doctor nodded to her.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do." He held up a hand.
Rose's eyes widened. "Nanogenes."
"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough Nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."
Jack breathed out loud, his shoulders slouching. "Oh god." He mumbled.
"Getting it now, are we?" He growled, making Jack gulp. "When the ship crashes, the Nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, killed earlier that night and wearing a gas mask."
"And they brought him back to life? They can do that?" Rose blinked.
"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. It's nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a Nanogene. One problem: These Nanogenes aren't like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a Human being before. They don't know what a Human'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 and off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Cause you see, now they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest and they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire Human Race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother and nothing in the world can stop it!"
"I didn't know!" Jack said simply. The Doctor clenched his jaw, Clara grasping his hand to calm him. Jack ran his hands over his face in guilt, moving off to the side briefly as he took it all in.
"Rose!" Nancy called. Rose ran over but the other three didn't need to look to see what was coming, as the incoherent yells of 'Mummy' grew closer.
"The ship thinks it's under attack, isn't it?" Clara asked. "That's why it's bringing the gas-mask people here."
"I'm afraid so. It's just standard protocol.
"But the gas-mask people aren't troops." Rose argued.
"They are now. This is a battlefield ambulance. The Nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the frontline, equip you and program you."
"That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing." Rose concluded.
"He's now a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old, looking for his mummy and now there's an army of them."
"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.
"Soldiers wait for their commander." Clara answered.
"The child?" Jack deducted.
"Jamie." Nancy said.
"Sorry?"
"Not 'The child', Jamie."
"So, how long until the bomb falls?" Rose asked.
"Any second." Jack answered.
"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" Clara sassed, making his guilt increase.
"He's just a little boy." Nancy said sadly.
"I know."
"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."
"There isn't a boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy and this one can."
"So, what're we going to do?" Rose asked.
"I don't know." The Doctor said simply.
"It's my fault."
"No." Clara shook her head.
"It is. It's all my fault." Nancy choked as tears came into her eyes.
"How can it be your-"
"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!"
Clara blinked, turning back to the Doctor who also realized, nodding to her. Clara turned to Nancy with a soft look.
"Nancy, what age are you?" She didn't answer. "20? 21? Older than you look, yes?"
The bombs started drawing closer, making them flinch slightly.
"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds." Jack informed.
"You can teleport us out." Rose said.
"Not you guys. The Navcom's back online. It's going to take too long to override the protocols."
"So, it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do." The Doctor said simply.
"Jack." Rose said bluntly. He gave her an apologetic look before teleporting away.
"How old were you 5 years ago? 15? 16? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he?" Nancy shook her head weakly. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So, you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."
The gates slammed open, Jamie standing there at the front of the horde. "Are you my Mummy?" He asked, his voice quieting everyone else down into silence as he strode towards them, alone.
"He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop."
"Mummy."
"Tell him." Nancy gave her a look that screamed 'How?'. "Nancy, the future of humanity is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."
"Are you my Mummy?" Nancy turned and started walking towards Jamie. "Are you my Mummy? Are you my Mummy?"
"Yes. Yes, I am your mummy." Nancy choked.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here."
"Are you my Mummy?"
"I'm here." Nancy knelt before him, who stopped moving just to stare at her.
"Are you my Mummy?"
"Yes."
"Are you my Mummy?"
Nancy took a deep breath. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." She pulled Jamie into a hug, causing Nanogenes to circle around them. "I am so, so sorry."
"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"
"Shh!" Clara shushed her as they watched.
"Come on, please." The Doctor implored. "Come on, you clever little Nanogenes, figure it out. The mother. She's the mother. That's got to be enough information. Please, figure it out." The Nanogenes stopped circling, then disappearing away, making the Doctor rush over, Nancy loosening the hug. "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." He took hold of the gas mask and pulled it off, revealing a bewildered Jamie underneath, staring at them with wide eyes. "Ha ha! Ha ha!" The Doctor laughed, grasping Jamie and holding him up in a hug, everyone else gaining grins as they watched. "Welcome back! 20 years till pop music. You're going to love it! Ha ha!" Jamie blinked despite his grin.
"What happened?" A relieved Nancy asked.
"The Nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them." He handed Jamie to Nancy, who hugged him tight. "Mother knows best." He grinned.
"Jamie." Nancy cried in joy into his shoulder.
The bombs grew even closer, making Rose gulp. "Doctor, that bomb."
"Taken care of it."
"How?"
"Psychology." They heard the whistling of the bomb falling, looking up to see it coming closer before Jack's ship appeared above it, firing the tractor beam onto the bomb and stopping it in mid-air. Jack appeared on the bomb, looking down on them with a grin.
"Doctor!"
"Good lad!" The Doctor nodded at him.
"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put 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. "Rose?"
"Yeah?" She called.
"Goodbye." He disappeared for a moment before reappearing again. "By the way, love the t-shirt." Rose pulled down the shirt with a shy smile. "And Clara?" Clara looked at him. "He's lucky to have you, you know. You are gorgeous." He winked, making her grin cheekily at him. Jack disappeared again with the tractor beam as his ship flew off into the sky.
The Doctor stepped forward, holding up his hands which were now being circled by Nanogenes, making everyone look at him in awe. "What're you doing?" Clara asked.
"Software patch. Going to e-mail the upgrade. You want move, Clara? I'll give you moves." He clicked both hands, sending the Nanogenes towards the horde, who stumbled to the ground for a moment, before they slowly stood up, taking off their gas masks. "Everybody lives, Clara. Just this once! Everybody lives!" They laughed with joy as he rushed forward to the group, one of the people standing up being a full recovered Constantine. "Dr. Constantine, who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. World doesn't want to get by without you just yet and I don't blame it one bit. These are you patients, all better now."
Constantine looked around incredulously. "Yes. Yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"
"Well…c-c-cutbacks." The Doctor stammered sheepishly. "Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it, okay?" He grinned at him before rushing off, making Constantine blink.
"Dr. Constantine." He turned around with shock to see an old woman approaching him.
"Mrs. Harcourt. How much better you are looking."
"My leg's grown back. When I came to the hospital, I had one leg."
"Well, there is a war on. Is it…possible you miscounted?" Constantine shrugged, making her blink for a few moments.
"Right, you lot! Lots to do, beat the Germans! Save the world! Don't forget the welfare state!" The Doctor called to them, making Constantine smile before they all starting to move away from the area. He knelt on the capsule, inputting code into the computer. "Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"
"You're the first in line." Clara quipped, making him wink at her.
They rushed back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor racing around the console with a beaming grin. "The Nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Dr. Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!"
"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." Rose grinned as Clara laughed.
"Who says I'm not? Red bicycle when you were 12." He mouthed 'Her idea', pointing to Clara.
"What?" Rose blinked.
"And everybody lives, Clara! Everybody lives! I need more days like this."
"Doctor…" Rose started.
"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire!"
"What about Jack?" He paused, looking at her sombrely. "Why'd he say goodbye?" The Doctor said nothing, still working on the console.
"Doctor." Clara grasped his arm, making him stop to look at her. "One chance. Give him one chance." She said simply. He stared at her in deep contemplation, weighing the two choices.
"Okay, computer. How long can we keep the bomb in stasis?" Jack asked as he sat in the Captain's chair, his ship flying through space.
"Stasis decaying at 90% cycle. Detonation in three minutes."
"Can we jettison it?"
"Any attempt to jettison the device will precipitate detonation. 100% probability."
Jack blinked for a moment as his heart stopped. "We could stick it in an escape pod."
"There is no escape pod on board."
"Okay, I see the flaw in that. I'll get in the escape pod."
"There is no escape pod on board."
"Did you check everywhere?"
"Affirmative."
"Under the sink!"
"Affirmative."
He sighed. "Okay, out of 100, exactly how dead am I?"
"Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. 100% probability."
"Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers." He grumbled sarcastically.
"You're welcome."
"Okay then. I think we'd better initiate emergency protocol 417."
"Affirmative." On a small pad nearby, a martini with an olive appeared, making him smirk as he grabbed it and took a sip.
"Ohh, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again. *Chuckles* Funny thing. The last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners." He popped the olive into his mouth. "Hmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch. *Chuckles* You can't say that about most executioners. Anyway…thanks for everything, computer." He raised his glass in a toast. "It's been great." He downed the glass in one gulp, relaxing back into his chair, closing his eyes and entering a calm state of peace. The jazz music playing in the background helped. Wait, jazz music? He turned the seat around to see the TARDIS doors open, the Doctor and Clara awkwardly waltzing at the console while Rose waved her hand.
"Well, hurry up then!" She called, making him rush through the doors, pausing as he took it all in with surprise.
"Okay, and…turn." The Doctor failed that, getting her arm caught. "Oi! Watch it!"
"Sorry." He grumbled.
"Try to do it again and this time, don't get my arm caught up my back, please?"
Rose scoffed. "Obviously. There's no extra points for a half-nelson."
"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." The Doctor grumbled before he looked at Jack. "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up, there's going to be a draft." Jack closed the door as the Doctor piloted them away. "Welcome to the TARDIS."
He nodded slowly. "Much bigger on the inside."
"You'd better be." The Doctor teased, making Jack mock glare at him.
"What the Doctor is trying to say, you may join us." Clara said, holding her hand, which he took with a smirk.
"Don't worry, there's enough room in this gorgeous girl for all of us." Rose giggled, making them grin.
"Clara! I've just remembered." The Doctor said, beaming a grin at her.
"Remembered what?"
He changed to a more upbeat song, clicking his fingers in tune. "I can dance. I can dance."
"Doctor, I think Jack would like a dance, you know, to welcome him on board?"
"I'm sure he would, Clara. But who with?" Clara bit her lip to hide her giggling before she took his outstretched hand, the two now dancing much more fluidly. Jack and Rose leaned against each other, chuckling as they watched.
"They may be children, but at least they're fun." Jack whispered.
"That they are." The two shared a grin.
"Ooh!" Clara yelped in surprise as the Doctor dipped her, making them laugh as they stopped dancing. "You so did that because you were jealous!" She giggled.
"I was not jealous, missy." He denied despite his grin.
"Yeah, sure." She leaned her head on him as Rose and Jack clapped, making them mock bow at them. "The pleasure was all ours." Clara said.
"Shut up, you!" Rose quipped, the four laughing as the song came to an end.
AN: Welcome to the TARDIS indeed, Jack. Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review if you wish. :)