Time Can Be Rewritten
Disclaimer : I don't own anything
Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, followed and added this story to your favourites, I really appreciate it.
I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
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New Earth
Rose hugged her mum and Mickey goodbye as the Doctor waited for her on the TARDIS.
"Have you got everything?" Jackie asked quietly.
Rose smiled and assured her "I've got everything, don't worry."
"Be careful, sweetheart." Jackie told Rose sternly, concern clear on her face.
Rose hugged her again "Okay, I'm going now. I love you!"
Rose kissed Jackie on the cheeks as her mum said "I love you."
She then turned and gave Mickey a hug and a kiss on the cheek "I'll miss you." She whispered softly before she let go of him, stepping back as she grinned at them both.
"Love you, love you!" Rose shouted back at them as she bounded into the TARDIS, closing the door quietly behind her as she shrugged her rucksack from her shoulders, beaming at the Doctor when he finally noticed her. He grinned back and pulled a lever harder than necessary as she walked towards him.
Rose leaned over the console towards the Doctor as she said "So, to this old friend of yours, Doctor?"
The Doctor grinned at her "To further than we've ever gone before."
OoOoOo
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS arm in arm with the Doctor as she materialised.
"It's the year five billion and twenty three… we're in the galaxy M87, and this… this is New Earth." The Doctor said as he smirked at her.
Rose laughed as she looked up at the flying vehicles zooming above them "That's just… that's-" She cut herself off as she laughed gleefully.
The Doctor nodded "Not bad. Not bad at all!"
"It's amazing!" Rose exclaimed happily "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet!" She jumped up and down excitedly "Different sky!… What's that smell?"
The Doctor grinned at her excitement before he bent down and pulled up some grass and showed it to her "Apple grass."
"Apple grass!" Rose said, just as delighted as the first time she had been here.
"Yeah, yeah!"
"That's beautiful!" She sighed happily and gazed up at the Doctor with a wide smile "I love this, travelling with you… I love it."
"Me too." He responded simply before he captured her lips in a soft kiss, his hands falling to her waist as she ran her hands through his hair.
Rose giggled as she pulled away "I love that too…"
The Doctor laughed and nodded "Me too."
She grinned at him as he grabbed her hand and pulled her ahead "Come on!"
The Doctor laid his coat on the grass before he lay sprawled on top of it, Rose next to him with her head on his shoulder.
"So, the year five billion - the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted."
"That was our first date." Rose pointed out with a grin.
The Doctor grinned "We had chips!"
They laughed before the Doctor 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 find this place." He wrapped his arms around Rose "Same size as the Earth… same air… same orbit… lovely! Call goes out, the humans move in!"
Rose smiled "What's the city called?"
"New New York."
Rose rolled her eyes, smirking "Oh, come on."
"It is!" He defended "It's the City of New New York!" He paused for a moment to think "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."
"You were right." Rose then said simply.
The Doctor looked utterly confused "About what?"
"You've certainly got a gob!" She teased with her tongue in tooth grin as her Doctor pouted adorably.
She rested her head back on his shoulder as she whispered "New New Doctor."
He chuckled as she giggled.
"So where is this old friend of yours?" Rose asked, getting a feeling of dread in her stomach as she remembered Cassandra possessing her. She inwardly frowned, unsure of what to do… for the nurses to be found out, and the intensive care patients to be healed she needed Cassandra to possess her but she really hated what that had felt like last time, being trapped in her own mind watching as her body moved to Cassandra's wishes unable to fight against her, although she couldn't actually remember most of it.
The Doctor pointed towards the hospital "In there, it's some sort of hospital," he explained "See that green moon on the side - that's the universal symbol for hospitals." He got out his psychic paper then and showed the message to Rose "I got this." she watched as the words 'Ward 26 - Please Come' scrawled across the paper.
"Someone wants to see us." The Doctor added.
Rose beamed at him as she linked her arm through his "Well, we better get moving then, Doctor."
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Rose snorted "Bit rich coming from you."
The Doctor shrugged "I can't help it! I don't like hospitals - they give me the creeps!"
Rose looked around her like last time, knowing that she had to make sure she was intercepted by Chip and Cassandra.
"Very smart. Not exactly NHS." Rose commented.
The Doctor was almost pouting as he said "No shop. I like the little shop!"
Rose rolled her eyes "I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything."
The Doctor glanced at her "The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war."
A cat nurse walked by, like last time, and nodded to Rose and the Doctor.
"They're cats…" Rose felt the need to point out again, because despite how many aliens she had seen with the Doctor… walking, talking cats was definitely one of the weirdest.
The Doctor rolled his eyes "Now, don't stare… think what you look like to them, all…" He looked her up and down "Pink and yellow." He walked off again then before he pointed randomly and said "That's where I'd put the shop!"
Rose turned to look as the Doctor walked ahead into the lift.
"Hold on! Hold on!" Rose shouted when she was sure she wouldn't be able to make it, because as much as she hated to go to Cassandra… the Doctor would need her help to save the patients in 'intensive care'.
"Oh, too late - I'm going up." The Doctor responded as the lift doors closed.
"It's alright there's another lift… Ward 26, right?" She asked.
"Yeah!" The Doctor shouted back "And watch out for the disinfectant!"
"Watch out for what?!" Rose called back up, though she had a good idea what he'd been shouting after the nasty shock she had gotten last time with the disinfectant.
"The disinfectant!"
"The what?"
"The di-"
Rose rolled her eyes as the Doctor cut himself off and she stepped into the other lift and stated "Ward 26, thanks."
The doors closed and the lift went down.
"Commence stage one disinfection." The speaker in the lift stated and Rose braced herself for the shower.
She screamed a little as she was soaked in the disinfectant and closed her eyes tightly as she tried to smooth down her hair.
As white powder was suddenly puffed onto her, Rose jumped again before the blow dryer started up and Rose attempted to tidy her hair before she stepped out of the lift.
As she walked out into the cellar she watched as Chip observed her from a distance.
"This doesn't look like a hospital ward." Rose stated.
Chip ignored her and said "The Human child is clean."
"Where's Ward 26?" Rose asked.
"This way, Rose Tyler."
Rose watched as he scurried off ahead and followed behind him cautiously.
OoOoOo
As Rose stepped into a room where the old tape of Cassandra was playing she watched it silently before she said quietly "I meant what I said Cassandra, you truly do have beautiful eyes."
She turned to face Cassandra and watched as the trampoline appeared to be in shock.
"You knew I was here?" She finally asked.
Rose smiled "I recognised you."
Cassandra didn't appear to know how to respond.
"So nurse cat nuns, then?" Rose asked.
"What would you know about them?" Cassandra asked curiously, her hostility apparently gone.
"Heard 'em mention an 'intensive care'" Rose lied.
Cassandra smiled tightly "Yes…"
"I'm guessing the hospital doesn't know your 'ere?" Rose asked.
"Chip secreted milady into the hospital. Chip steals medicine. Helps milady. Soothes her, str-"
"You can stop right there, Chip."
Cassandra's eyes narrowed as she asked "How did you know his name?"
Rose inwardly cursed herself as she realised Chip hadn't been introduced to her in this timeline.
She shrugged "Pretty sure I 'eard his name somewhere."
Chip merely watched as his mistress spoke to the human child. How she knew his name was a mystery to him, though it wasn't something he was concerned about, his mistress would figure it out she was intelligent as well as beautiful with pretty blue eyes.
Cassandra watched Rose warily. The girl didn't appear to be afraid or even shocked at her being in the hospital and she knew her pets name, and for the first time in her life Cassandra was torn - on the one hand, she wanted to leave this godforsaken hospital after finding out their dirty little secret but on the other she could hear Rose's voice echoing in her mind 'Help her', even being so angry with her, Rose had asked to save her.
She decided to change the subject as she looked at the film "I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it all became such hard work." She spat the last words out bitterly.
Rose sighed "Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that."
Cassandra looked at Rose before she informed her "I've not been idle, Rose… tucked away, underneath this hospital - I've been listening. The sisters are hiding something."
Rose nodded "I knew that."
Cassandra glared at her, she had decided now. Rose hadn't saved her when the Earth was destroyed… saying the words didn't help, so what did it matter that the possession would compress her to death after all then she'd learn all Rose's little secrets such as how she knew Chip's name, how she knew the sisters were hiding something, who that vile man and she really were.
Oh yes, Cassandra thought viciously, though she had nothing against Rose in particular, she had done nothing for her and she would be helping her get her revenge on the Doctor because that's who she really despised out of the two of them.
Cassandra rolled her eyes and said "Enough talking then."
Rose was then caught by a machine that bound her with light so she couldn't move.
Bad Wolf's song sounded in her mind as the Wolf whispered "You'll be protected…"
Rose frowned, not understanding Bad Wolf's meaning.
She was interrupted from her thoughts by Cassandra shouting "Chip! Activate the psychograft!"
"Let me go, Cassandra!" Rose yelled.
Bars of light then descended from the ceiling forming a cage around Rose as Chip pulled a lever.
"What're you doing!" Rose shouted furiously.
Cassandra smirked at Rose "The lady's moving on. It's goodbye trampoline, and hello Blondie!"
A cloud of pink light suddenly jumped from Cassandra and flew across the room into Rose.
Rose collapsed to the ground as she felt Cassandra enter her mind but Bad Wolf enveloped Rose into her warm embrace as she sang.
OoOoOo
Bad Wolf hummed to herself as she waited for her human to wake… well, to become aware was more appropriate. Especially since the trampoline had hijacked Rose's body, Bad Wolf had made sure to conceal Rose's mind from the other human's sight. Her song echoed in Cassandra's consciousness as she shielded herself and Rose from her.
Rose groaned as she sat up "Where are we?" Rose asked groggily as she noticed Bad Wolf grinning down at her.
"In your mind."
"Okay… my mind's the TARDIS?"
Bad Wolf grinned "You are the TARDIS' heart, of course you would choose the TARDIS to represent your mind."
Rose snorted "Of course."
"I have enshrouded us both as well as your memories and thoughts in my song until we can throw Cassandra from your body."
"How can a song hide us from Cassandra?" Rose asked.
Bad Wolf smiled "She is only able to use your body, she cannot use your mind."
"So, Cassandra wont try and find out what the song is hiding?"
"You are the only mortal who could perceive me, who could even hold a fraction of my power and not succumb to death even after being 'saved' by the Doctor."
"And in English?"
Bad Wolf shrugged "If she does, it will be the last thing she will do."
Rose cocked her head to the side.
"You had all the power of the universe in your hands and you asked me for three things - to be with our Doctor forever, for our Captain to never die and for our Captain to have love for as long as he lives. These, whilst they can be conceived as selfish, are innocent wishes… hence why I chose you to survive."
Rose's eyes were wide as Bad Wolf spoke.
"If Cassandra tried to breach the barrier my song creates, she would be obliterated."
Rose gaped at Bad Wolf "O-okay… better not try and 'breach the barrier' then."
Bad Wolf smiled "Would you like to see what she is doing?"
"We can see?"
"Of course, you are more than human now so you will be able to perceive more than you could before."
Rose nodded.
Bad Wolf smiled as she turned the monitor on "The TARDIS monitor will allow us to see what Cassandra is doing through your eyes."
Rose grimaced as she heard Cassandra speak to the Doctor on her mobile "I do NOT sound like that."
Bad Wolf chuckled before she suddenly commented "I have allowed Cassandra to know that we are travelling with the Doctor… it was enough to allow her to think she could access surface thoughts."
Rose nodded "Might keep her suspicions down if she thinks she can access my thoughts."
Bad Wolf smiled "Sooner or later she will try and find out about you and the Doctor."
"Why?" Rose asked curiously.
"She wants revenge. In her mind you stood by in silence as the Doctor callously murdered her."
Rose rolled her eyes "She raised the temperature."
Bad Wolf smirked "I'm not saying she didn't."
"Besides she isn't dead… she's very much alive, unfortunately" She muttered the latter word in annoyance causing Bad Wolf to snort in amusement.
They turned their attention back to the screen as Cassandra finally entered Ward 26.
The Doctor smiled at Cassandra/Rose when he saw her "There you are! Come and look at this patient!" He took her arm and led her over to a patient whose skin was entirely red, the Doctor took his sexy-specs off as he spoke "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 lead her to another bed where a man was completely white "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine!" The Doctor waved cheerily at him, causing both Bad Wolf and Rose to snort in amusement.
He turned to Cassandra/Rose seriously "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." He grabbed Cassandra/Rose's hand as he lead her out of Ward 26 "Because if they've got the best medicine in the world… then why's it such a secret?"
Cassandra/Rose stopped as she looked around "I cant Adam and Eve it."
The Doctor cocked his head to the side as he frowned confusedly "What's- what's with the voice?"
Cassandra/Rose looked up at him "Oh, I don't know… just larking about. New Earth… New me…" She looked him up and down as the Doctor looked down to her chest where most of the buttons on her shirt were undone.
"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor." He said with a grin.
"Mmm… aren't you just…" She muttered before she suddenly pulled his face towards hers and kissed him forcefully.
Cassandra/Rose was slightly breathless as she pulled away and saw the Doctor's extremely shocked and puzzled face.
"T… terminal's this way." She stuttered before walking off ahead.
"That is not how I kiss!" Rose yelled at the screen before she frowned and commented "I think the Doctor's finally figured something's strange about 'me'."
Bad Wolf snorted "He's always thought there was something strange about you."
Rose's eyes widened "What?"
"He thought you were psychic at first, after you encountered Gwyneth."
"He never mentioned it."
"He wouldn't."
"So what you're really saying is that I wasn't at all subtle."
Bad Wolf grinned "Nope."
"Then why hasn't he brought it up?"
Bad Wolf smirked "The TARDIS recognised you would eventually be her heart and threatened the Doctor that if he were to confront you then she would lock him in a timeloop, fully aware, until he changed his mind."
Rose snorted "I cant imagine that."
"She's fond of you. As am I and my power was within the Doctor before he released the energy back into the TARDIS… I assured him that when the time was right, he would know everything he could without messing up timelines."
"You told him!"
Bad Wolf smiled "I wiped the conversation from his memory, only to be recalled when he is told, if he is told about the real Canary Warf."
"And I cant tell him before then because it would mess with the timelines."
"No." Bad Wolf shook her head "Although that has some truth to it, that is not my reasoning for keeping him in the dark… It would break his hearts to loose you twice."
"But he wouldn't know -"
"He can read minds… tell him to look through your memories, your original timeline if you do in fact inform him."
Rose arched an eyebrow at Bad Wolf "He can read minds?"
"He needs to be in contact with you to do so."
Rose nodded as she said "That's a pretty awesome ability to have."
Bad Wolf snorted "Indeed." The she motioned to the screen "Shall we…"
"Of course."
On the screen Bad Wolf and Rose saw row after row of green doors, they watched as the Doctor opened one and a man covered in boils and surrounded by smoke stared back at them.
Cassandra/Rose exclaimed "That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?"
"Oh, he'll definitely know I'm not me now…" Rose said quietly.
The Doctor looked horrified as he said to the man "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He closed the door gently and opened another.
"What disease is that?" Cassandra/Rose asked as they looked at the woman inside the next one.
The Doctor spoke quietly, his voice betraying his disgust for what had been done to these poor people "All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."
Cassandra/Rose gasped "What about us? Are we safe?"
The Doctor looked at her for a moment with a frown before he said "The air's sterile. Just don't touch them."
Rose felt her heart ache for these poor people, she couldn't even begin to imagine how it would feel to be locked up in a cramped space and infected with every single disease in the universe.
The Doctor and Cassandra/Rose leaned over the railing as she asked "How many patients are there?"
"They're not patients." The Doctor responded curtly.
"But they're sick."
The Doctor replied angrily "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 up the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm."
"Why don't they just die?" Cassandra/Rose asked, looking around with unconcealed disdain.
"Plague carriers. The last to go."
"It's for the greater cause." One of the cat nurses spoke up from behind them making the Doctor and Cassandra/Rose to spin around to face her.
"Novice Hame." The Doctor greeted calmly, only his eyes betraying his fury and disgust "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"
Novice Hame attempted to appeal to the Doctor "The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
The Doctor lost it then as he shouted at her "What, by killing?!"
"But they're not real people." Novice Hame responded gently "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."
"They can feel, they can talk and breath and live…" Rose muttered angrily, disgusted at her dismissal of life, "It doesn't matter if they were grown not born, they're still alive, still people…"
Bad Wolf wrapped her arms around her human comfortingly.
The Doctor advanced dangerously "What's the turnover? Hm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousand? For how many years?" His voice rose with each word until he shouted "How many?!"
"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything." Novice Hame pleaded with him to understand "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."
The Doctor spat back furiously "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." He responded and Rose silently agreed with him.
"But who are you to decide that?"
The Doctor stepped forward "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."
Rose shivered slightly, she stood firmly by her statement that the Doctor was possibly one of the most terrifying beings when he was angry, incredibly sexy, but extremely terrifying.
Cassandra/Rose then peered over the Doctor's shoulder as she asked "Just to confirm… none of the Humans in the city actually know about this?"
Novice Hame responded hesitantly "We though it best not-"
The Doctor cut her off "Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. But one thing I cant understand - what have you done to Rose?"
Novice Hame looked at the Doctor in confusion "I don't know what you mean."
The Doctor was deadly quiet as he spoke "And I'm being very, very calm. You wanna 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."
Rose smiled slightly as she watched the Doctor, she couldn't remember any of this from last time.
"We haven't done anything." Novice Hame said, still looking incredibly confused.
"I'm perfectly fine." Cassandra/Rose said.
Rose snorted "She clearly didn't think much of the Doctor if she thought she could fool 'im."
Bad Wolf grinned.
The Doctor glared at Novice Hame "These people are dying, and Rose would care."
Cassandra/Rose rolled her eyes "Oh, alright, clever clogs." She spun the Doctor around to face her and pulled his tie flirtatiously "Smarty pants." She lowered her voice huskily "Lady-killer."
"What's happened to you?" The Doctor asked his brows furrowed in concern.
Cassandra/Rose sighed "I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."
"Who are you?"
Cassandra/Rose stood on her tiptoes and whispered into the Doctor's ear "The Last Human."
The Doctor pulled away looking unpleasantly surprised "Cassandra?"
Cassandra/Rose arched an eyebrow "Wake up and smell the perfume." She took out a tube of perfume from her cleavage and sprayed it in the Doctor's face and he immediately keeled over, unconscious.
Novice Hame gasped and knelt at the Doctor's side "You've hurt him! I don't understand - I'll have to fetch Matron!"
Cassandra/Rose sneered "You do that, 'cause I want to see her. Now, run along! Sound the alarm!"
As Novice Hame rushed off, Cassandra/Rose ripped out a cable and smirked, satisfied as an alarm went off.
Rose watched helplessly as Chip placed the Doctor into one of the cells. Bad Wolf told her to wait until the Doctor was at least conscious before she forced Cassandra out of her mind.
Cassandra/Rose smirked smugly as she heard a groan from the Doctor's cell before she heard him shout "Let me out! Let me out!"
She looked the door and simpered "Aren't you lucky there was a spare? Standing room only."
"You've stolen Rose's body."
"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…" She paused as she looked at her watch "three minutes left. Enjoy."
She heard the Doctor sigh "Just let Rose go, Cassandra."
"I will!" Cassandra/Rose assured him before she added "As soon as I've found someone younger and… less common… then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushaby! It's showtime."
"I'm 19!" Rose protested.
Bad Wolf grinned at her human.
The Matron and another Sister approached Cassandra/Rose and Chip.
"Anything we can do to help?" The Sister asked curiously.
"Straight to the point, whiskers… I want money."
The Matron shrugged helplessly "The Sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money. We only… accept."
Cassandra/Rose arched an eyebrow as she attempted to blackmail them "The Humans across the water pay you a fortune. And that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment. That's all I want…" she paused for a moment before she added "Oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the City nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?" She asked with a smirk.
The Sister pressed a few buttons on a remote as she looked at Rose unimpressed.
The Matron laughed "I'm afraid not."
Cassandra/Rose sneered at them "I'd really advise you to think about this."
The Matron chuckled "There's no need. I have to decline."
"I'll tell them!" Cassandra/Rose threatened "And you've no way of stopping me! You're not exactly Nuns with Guns - you're not even armed."
The Matron smirked at her "Who needs arms when we have claws?" Her claws shot out of her paws as she hissed menacingly at Cassandra/Rose.
Cassandra/Rose stepped back nervously "Well, nice try." She spun around and called to her pet "Chip? Plan B!"
Chip nodded and pulled a lever causing every cell door on the row to swing open, the Doctor's included.
The Doctor yelled at Cassandra/Rose "What've you done?!"
She shrugged "Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake 'em up. See ya!"
She ran off as the Doctor shouted "Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch!"
Cassandra/Rose screamed as every single cell in 'intensive care' swung open and released every infected person.
"Oh, my God…" Cassandra/Rose exclaimed as her, Chip and the Doctor paused and watched as all the infected 'flesh' broke out of their cells.
"What the hell have you done?" The Doctor asked Cassandra/Rose angrily.
"It wasn't me!" She protested.
The Doctor glowered at her "One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra! We've gotta go down!"
As the 'flesh' approached them Cassandra/Rose said quietly, her voice betraying her obvious fear "But there's thousands of them!"
"RUN!" The Doctor shouted at her in response "Down! Down! Go down!"
The three of them continued their descent down the stairs as the 'flesh' followed them, arms outstretched.
"Keep going! Go down!"
They finally descended the last flight of stairs and burst through a door into the cellar, Cassandra/Rose desperately tried to operate the lifts.
The Doctor stopped "No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine, nothing's moving."
Cassandra/Rose looked panicked before she ran the other way and shouted "This way!"
The Doctor followed close behind, narrowly avoiding being touched by one of the 'flesh' that was spilling out from the converging corridor and leaving Chip behind.
Cassandra/Rose stopped and watched as the Doctor looked torn as Chip whimpered and he started to go back "Someone will touch him!"
Cassandra/Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed the Doctor's arm "Leave him! He's just a clone thing, he's only got a half life - come on!"
Rose felt saddened as she heard Chip's pitiful cry of "Mistress!"
The Doctor called back to Chip helplessly "I'm sorry, I cant let her escape!"
OoOoOo
Cassandra/Rose lead the way into the room where Cassandra had possessed Rose and tried to open another door after closing the first behind them.
She screamed slightly as she saw more of the flesh behind that door and slammed it shut turning to the Doctor as she asked hysterically "We're trapped! What're we going to do?"
The Doctor glared at her angrily "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body." He gestured to the psychograft with his sonic screwdriver and said "That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet! You're compressing Rose to death."
Cassandra/Rose rolled her eyes uncaringly "But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead!"
"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out." He pointed his sonic screwdriver at her threateningly "Give her back to me."
"You asked for it." Cassandra/Rose sneered before Cassandra as a cloud of pink light leapt from Rose's body and into the Doctors.
"Blimey, my head…" Rose muttered as she was suddenly pushed from the back of her mind to the front again.
Bad Wolf giggled in the back of her consciousness and Rose rolled her eyes.
"Cassandra, get out of 'im." Rose commanded Cassandra/Doctor.
Cassandra/Doctor completely disregarded Rose as she said "Oh, my. This is… different."
Rose bit her lip as she tried not to laugh.
"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts! And hardly used…" She wiggled around crazily "Ah… ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"
Rose snorted as she said "Get out of him."
Cassandra/Doctor ran a hand down the Doctor's body "Ooh, he's slim. And a little bit foxy." She raised her eyebrows at Rose "You've thought so too. I've been inside your head…" Cassandra/Doctor came closer teasingly "You've been looking… you like it."
The 'flesh' suddenly burst through the door making them both jump.
Cassandra/Doctor grabbed Rose's arm as she asked frantically "What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor- what the hell would he do?"
Rose spun around and pointed to the ladder "We go up."
"Out of the way, Blondie!" Cassandra/Doctor said as she pushed Rose roughly out of the way.
As Cassandra/Doctor climbed hurriedly up the ladder, Rose turned hesitantly to the 'flesh'.
"Help us…" One of them pleaded weakly.
Rose felt tears well up in her eyes as she whispered "I promise you, the Doctor and I… we will cure you, I promise."
The 'flesh' people stared blankly at her, the one who had spoken eventually smiled hesitantly.
"The Doctor will find a way and the Sister's will pay for what they did to you." Rose promised firmly before she turned to go up the ladder.
They were nearly at the top when the Matron suddenly grasped Rose's ankle "Get off!" Rose shouted down to her.
The Matron hissed "All our good work! All that healing!"
Rose cut her off "Healing! You call locking innocent people up in cells healing! You call infecting them with every know disease, healing?!" Rose looked down at the Matron, disgust plastered on her face "Your definition of healing is skewed."
"Ther-"
Cassandra/Doctor cut her off this time "Go and play with a ball of string."
The Matron glowered at the two humans above her and said "Everywhere - disease! This is the Human world. Sickness! We m-"
For the third time the Matron was cut off but this time by a diseased hand grasping her ankle making her wail in pain as she broke out in boils before she fell off the ladder, wailing.
Cassandra/Doctor, Rose and the diseased 'flesh' all watched as the Matron fell before Rose shouted to Cassandra/Doctor "Move!"
Cassandra/Doctor whimpered as she hastily climbed the ladder.
As they got to the top of the ladder Cassandra/Doctor figured out that the doors were sealed.
"Now what do we do?" Cassandra/Doctor asked.
"Come back into me!" Rose yelled at her.
Cassandra/Doctor arched her eyebrow "Hold on tight."
Rose gripped the ladder tightly as Cassandra re-entered her body.
"Oh… oh, chavtastic again. Open it!" She shouted at the Doctor.
The Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Cassandra/Rose "Not 'till you get out of her."
"We need the Doctor!" Cassandra/Rose pointed out, irritated.
The Doctor shouted angrily at her "I order you to leave her!"
Cassandra then leapt back into the Doctor's body again.
"No matter how difficult the situation, there is no need to shout!"
Rose growled at Cassandra/Doctor "Get out of him!"
Cassandra/Doctor sighed "But I cant go into you, he simply refuses - he's so rude."
"That's the Doctor for ya." Rose joked.
Cassandra/Doctor rolled her eyes before a disgusted look appeared on her face "Oh, I am so gonna regret this…"
Cassandra left the Doctor's body and jumped into the body of the diseased woman below Rose. "Oh, sweet Lord… I look disgusting."
The Doctor opened the lift doors quickly and held out a hand to Rose "Nice to have you back."
"No, you don't…" Cassandra/'flesh' snarled as she left the infected woman's body and jumped back into Rose.
"I'm seriously gonna get dizzy with all this jumping around…" Rose muttered grumpily to Bad Wolf who sniggered.
The Doctor sealed the doors as Cassandra/Rose crouched on the floor.
"That was your last warning, Cassandra!"
Cassandra/Rose stared into space as she said quietly "Inside her head… they're so alone… they keep reaching out, just to hold us… all their lives and they've never been touched."
The Doctor held out his hand which she took as he pulled her to her feet. They heard the 'flesh' banging on the doors as the Doctor lead them through a door back onto Ward 26.
OoOoOo
Rose and Bad Wolf were cut off from what was happening as Jack's voice echoed in her mind "Hello, Rosie."
"Jack!" Rose exclaimed happily as was seemed to be a hologram of her Captain appeared in her mind.
"Since we're in your mind, I can talk to you like this." He grinned at her, "And not like an overly large head."
Rose beamed at him "Can I hug you?"
Jack answered that by pulling his Rosie into a bear hug.
"We're in your mind, Rosie… anything could happen." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh, God… how the hell do you manage as just a head?"
Bad Wolf and Rose both laughed as Jack pouted.
"Shall we watch?" Jack asked eagerly.
Rose arched an eyebrow "You couldn't see this last time?"
"No idea… this is a brand new adventure to me." He said excitedly "But since you didn't speak with Bad Wolf last time, I'm assuming I couldn't enter your mind without Cassandra being aware of it."
"Ah." Rose nodded "So, I change Canary Warf?"
Jack grinned "Cant say, sorry Rosie… you know the rules."
She sighed "I suppose… Bad Wolf'd wipe it from my mind anyway."
Bad Wolf grinned as she agreed "You cant know your future."
Both Jack and Rose sniggered.
"Okay, bad phrasing… whilst you CAN know what you did in an alternate timeline, you cannot know your future in your current timeline."
Rose nodded "I know… I'm just glad you gave me a chance to start over."
Jack grinned "Ditto… I have my lovely Welshman now as well."
Rose stared at him wide-eyed "It worked?! He's still with you?"
"Yup!"
Rose threw her arms around Jack's neck "I'm so glad!"
Jack beamed at her "So am I… although unlike me he isn't a giant head, he's still the same as he was on earth… still 24."
"Oh… so-"
Jack shrugged "Don't apologise… Doc said I was a fixed point in time, I was meant to be the Face of Bo right?"
Bad Wolf shrugged noncommittally as she said "Spoilers, Captain."
He just smiled sheepishly before he turned his attention to the screen "Let's watch."
OoOoOo
Jack, Rose and Bad Wolf all watched the screen as the Doctor took a running jump into the middle of the elevator shaft and clung onto the rope.
Jack whistled appreciatively as Cassandra/Rose shouted incredulously "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm going down!" The Doctor replied, sonic screwdriver between his teeth before he removed it a fixed something to the rope with it.
"Come on!" The Doctor shouted at Cassandra/Rose.
"Not in a million years." She refused.
The Doctor rolled his eyes "I need another pair of hands. What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive… why don't you live a little?"
Suddenly more of the 'flesh' appeared outside of the ward and Cassandra/Rose squealed a little as she jumped into the lift onto the Doctor's back.
"You're completely mad. I can see why she likes you." Cassandra/Rose commented slyly.
The Doctor ignored her as he warned "Going down!"
They whizzed down the shaft, screaming before straightening themselves out as they reached the bottom.
"Well, that's one way to lose weight." Cassandra/Rose said shakily.
"Now, listen - when I say so, take hold of that lever."
"There's still a quarantine down there, we cant -"
The Doctor shouted at her "Hold that lever!"
Cassandra/Rose backed away slightly then as the Doctor knelt down "I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself."
He ripped the tops of the packets of each solution and squirted them into the clear container where the disinfectant for the lifts was.
The Doctor motioned to the lever "Now, that lever's going to resist. But keep it in position."
He opened a trapdoor in the top of the lift.
"Hold onto it with everything you've got."
"What about you?"
The Doctor smirked at her "I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in."
He dropped down into the lift and Cassandra/Rose heard the doors open beneath her.
She heard him shout "I'm in here, come on!"
"Don't tell them!" Cassandra/Rose protested.
"Pull that lever!" He shouted back "Come and get me, come on! I'm in here, come on!"
The lift speaker sounded "Commence stage one - disinfection."
"Hurry up, come on!"
She heard him shout enthusiastically "All they wanna do is pass it on. Pass it on!"
"Pass on what? Pass on what?" Cassandra/Rose asked confused.
"Pass it on!" He yelled excitedly.
Cassandra/Rose jumped into the lift with the Doctor's help.
"What did they pass on?" She asked curiously "Did you kill them? All of them?"
"No. That's your way of doing things." He walked to the middle of the room "I'm the Doctor and I cured them."
A woman approached and hugged him "That's right! Hey, hey! There we go, sweetheart! Ay? Look at him…" The Doctor ushered her off to sit with someone as he continued to look around.
Rose, Bad Wolf and Jack smiled.
A man got up then and approached both the Doctor and Cassandra/Rose and Rose recognised him as the man she had spoken to in the cellar.
He looked into Cassandra/Rose's eyes and whispered "Thank you…" Before wrapping his arms around her in a grateful hug.
Rose took control back from Cassandra for a moment as she hugged him back and whispered "You're free to live now, you all deserve it."
The man smiled warmly at her before he stood beside another of the now cured 'flesh'.
The Doctor grinned around him, slightly confused at the man thanking Cassandra but he ignored it for now as he spoke "It's a new subspecies, Cassandra! A brand new form of life! New Humans. Look at them, look!" His smile grew as he looked at the life around him, the happiness and child-like curiosity in their eyes, "Grown by cats… kept in the dark, fed by tubes… but completely, completely alive!" He pointed at Cassandra/Rose "You cant deny them, because you helped create them."
Cassandra/Rose rolled her eyes.
"The human race just keeps on going. Keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!"
OoOoOo
Rose sighed as Cassandra/Rose and the Doctor entered a familiar ward.
Jack smiled sadly at her, he knew that the next time he saw Rose and the Doctor, Ianto and himself would both die. But that was okay, he'd lived a long full life and to quote Dumbledore he couldn't wait for the 'next great adventure' with Ianto.
"I'll see you again, Jack?" Rose asked tearily.
Jack grinned at her before he kissed the top of her head and whispered knowing she needed the assurance "Of course, Rosie…"
Bad Wolf smiled sadly at her Captain, it would break Rose's heart to see him die but he was old now… older than the Doctor and he longed for peace as did his Ianto.
Jack disappeared from her mind suddenly and Bad Wolf wrapped her arms around Rose as she cried silently, she knew he was hiding something from her… she just didn't know what.
They turned to the screen as the Face of Bo teleported away, the Doctor looking very impressed "That is enigmatic. That - that is - that is textbook enigmatic."
Rose giggled "I am so telling Jack that when we next see him…"
Bad Wolf smiled.
"And now for you." The Doctor said spinning around to face Cassandra/Rose.
"But…" Cassandra/Rose protested "Everything's happy. Everything's fine… cant you just leave me?"
"You've live long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra."
Cassandra/Rose started to cry "I don't want to die!"
"No one does."
"Help me!" She pleaded.
"I cant."
Chip suddenly appeared making Cassandra/Rose gasp.
"Mistress!" He exclaimed happily.
"Ah! You're alive!"
"I kept myself safe. For you, mistress."
Cassandra/Rose stared at Chip calculatingly "A body… and not just that, a volunteer…"
The Doctor said warningly "Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own."
"But I worship the mistress!" Chip defended Cassandra.
Cassandra/Rose winked at Chip.
"I welcome her."
"You cant, Cassandra, you-"
Cassandra ignored him as she jumped into Chip's body leaving Rose to fall forward with a gasp.
The Doctor lunged forward to catch her immediately "You alright?"
She grinned up at him as he helped her stand "Yeah."
Rose pressed her lips to the Doctor's gently "Love you, Doctor…"
He smiled happily as he whispered back "I love you, too."
They were interrupted then by Cassandra's exclamation of "Oh, sweet Lord. I'm a walking doodle."
The Doctor turned his attention to Cassandra/Chip then "You cant stay in there. I'm sorry Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the City. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."
Cassandra/Chip looked thoughtful for a moment "Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour. And certainly my finest hat."
The Doctor and Rose glanced at each other.
"But I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half life. And he's been through so much. His heart is racing so." She paused "He's failing. I don't think he's going to last -" Her legs gave way and Rose and the Doctor lunged forward to support her.
"You alright?" Rose asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." She smiled weakly "I'm dying. But that's fine."
The Doctor said calmly "I can take you to the City."
"No, you wont. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die." She swallowed "And that's good."
Rose felt a tear roll down her cheek as she said "There's gotta be something we can do for ya at least."
Cassandra/Chip smiled weakly as the Doctor and Rose helped her to her feet.
"There is." The Doctor agreed as they lead her away.
OoOoOo
The Doctor and Rose leaned against the TARDIS doors as Cassandra/Chip walked ahead of them into the part where Cassandra was last told she was beautiful.
She turned back to them and smiled tearily "Thank you."
"Just go. And don't look back."
Rose wrapped her arms around Cassandra/Chip's neck and whispered "Good luck, Cassandra." before she released her.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Rose before they turned to watch as Cassandra/Chip approached her younger self.
Rose grasped the Doctor's hand tightly as Cassandra/Chip keeled over suddenly and the younger Cassandra knelt down beside her, gathering Cassandra/Chip into her arms as she called for help.
They both walked back into the TARDIS with one last look back at Cassandra before they shut the doors.
"I'm glad." Rose said eventually.
The Doctor looked at her curiously.
"I'm glad, that Cassandra had a chance to be somewhat happy in her last moments." She continued, her eyes filled with tears because Cassandra had, after everything, redeemed herself by helping the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled before he frowned "Why did that man thank you?"
Rose grinned at him "I told him that we'd find a way to help them, that you'd save them back in the cellar when Cassandra possessed you. Bad Wolf allowed me to take control back from Cassandra for a second when he hugged me."
"You could've fought her?"
"Bad Wolf could… but she wouldn't let me, I guess she knew Cassandra would have to set things in motion for you to save them."
The Doctor smiled after a moment "There's something about you, Rose Tyler…"
Rose smirked at him before she asked innocently "So between Cassandra and me… who was the better kisser?"
The Doctor's eyes went wide as she asked that and he stuttered "I - yo - Ca- you se- I…"
Rose sniggered at his impression of a deer in headlights look "Sorry, that was mean."
The Doctor scowled at her before he mumbled "…you…" very quietly, it was only thanks to the fact she was stood right next to him that she heard.
"Of course." Rose nodded as if the answer was obvious and the Doctor snorted.
"You've been copying Jack."
Rose sniggered "Maybe."
"So, where'd you wanna go next?" He asked.
"I dunno…" Rose muttered thinking of the werewolf they were going to see soon "Somewhere in the past though." She decided with a grin.
The Doctor grinned back as Bad Wolf and the TARDIS watched their human and Time Lord in amusement.
OoOoOo
I hope you liked this chapter! And Bad Wolf and Jack's involvement… I just had to include Jack in this because he's awesome. I also mentioned Ianto because he's beautiful! If you didn't like it, please tell me what you thought wasn't up to scratch and I'll see if I can improve. Constructive criticism is always welcome!
If you were confused by the use of female pronouns when I was referring to Cassandra when she was in a male body then I apologise however I thought it was appropriate considering she was still a woman despite the body she was inhabiting.
I have also decided that I will be doing a Torchwood fic that I will be posting after I've finished Series 2.