15/02/2016

I found the two near the console whispering to each other. As I watched them, I began to wonder what I had missed out on. I hadn't ventured into the room completely; there was a slight hesitation to enter and an overwhelming urge to run back to my room. Before I could succumb to that itch, Rose turned and saw me. A smile quickly came to her face and she walked, well jogged towards me. Without much resistance, I let her engulf me in a hug. "I'm so glad you came out of that room. I've missed you." I nodded as she released me. I looked towards the Doctor expectantly, but he just stood there, head down and eyes on the console. I had hoped he'd say something but I didn't really expect much.

"So," I started, turning to Rose. "What have I missed?"

"Well, the Doctor, Adam, and I went to the year two hundred thousand. It was a space station, broadcasting news all over the galaxy. The people had chips in their heads, literally making them walking computers. There was this whole undercover thing going on and everything. People were getting promotions and never coming back but the Doctor and I set it right with the help of a woman named Cathica. She was brilliant. Ended up being this big alien, the Jagrafess and the Editor. We were detained for a bit but Cathica rerouted the heat up to Floor 500 and killed the creature."

"Sounds fun. Wait, what about Adam?"

"He ended up getting a chip and trying to use information to make himself rich or something. We dropped him off home. Seems like my judgment was a bit off."

"Chip and all?"

"The Doctor destroyed the answering machine and all the information he took. As for the chip, he still has it. I wonder what his mum thinks of it," she giggled. I smiled and urged her on. "We went to see my dad too."

"How'd that go?"

"I watched mum and him get married. Dad got her name wrong. Then we went to the day he died. I messed up and saved him. The Doctor was so angry. We had an argument and he took away the Tardis key. Turns out dad was playing around. She thought I was one of his girls. Anyways, these things appeared because I saved him. Then I messed up again, touched the baby, touched myself, and let one of those monsters in. The Doctor sacrificed himself to save us. Then the Tardis disappeared. They were gone, the both of them. Then my dad ran out, he let himself get hit by the car. It fixed everything and the Doctor came back. My dad, he wasn't alone this time, I was with him as he died."

"He wasn't that upset then."

"What do you mean?"

"You said you went at it with the Doctor and he took away the key. If he wanted to, he could have brought you home but he didn't. He wasn't that upset at you."

"Maybe. But he was still horrible to deal with. Kept on insulting humans. He kept pretending it didn't bother him but he kept walking past our rooms and would spend most down time in the library. He missed you."

My heart picked up a bit of speed as she said that, but I quickly dismissed it. There was no way it could be true. "I doubt it. He probably-" I was cut off by the flashing red light and the sudden jostling. Rose and I glanced at each other before she ran over to the Doctor, clutching the console as it shook. I hung back and used a Y beam for support.

"What's the emergency?"

"It's mauve."

"Mauve?"

"The universally recognized colour for danger," he answered, looking at the monitor and pressed buttons.

"What happened to red?"

Rose ran moved closer to him, looking at the monitor as he spoke. "That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." The Doctor fiddled with the console as I clutched the wall, watching the two of them. "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Where it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, is it?"

"Totally," the Doctor replied before pulling a lever that caused sparks to fly and a loud bang. I rolled my eyes but remained silent. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."

"What exactly is this thing?"

"No idea."

"Then why are we chasing it?"

"It's mauve and dangerous," he stopped and looked at Rose, his expression one of utmost seriousness, "and about thirty seconds from the centre of London."

When the finally Tardis landed, I walked out behind Rose and the Doctor to find that we were in a back alley between two buildings. I looked around, taking in the area. Cloth lines with flapping garments hung between what I realised were two brick stone apartments. There was a half wall between them, barely cutting off sight to the other side and garbage was strewn on the floor. "Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" the Doctor asked.

"Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?"

"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow."

"Must have come down somewhere quite close," the Doctor mused, "within a mile, anyway." The Doctor and Rose started to walk away, leaving me behind. Rose must have noticed because she reached her hand back and grasped mine before she got too far. "And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."

"A month? We were right behind it."

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place. We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"

"Yeah. How much is a little?"

"A bit."

"Is that exactly a bit?"

"Ish."

Rose rolled her eyes at the man and crossed her arms. I could tell she was slightly annoyed with his answers. "What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?" I shook my head at her. That wasn't how the Doctor went about things, and it worked, even if he was incredibly daft. While I listened to them speak, I heard the sound of music playing. Being a history buff, I ignored them and tried to make out the words. From the melody, I could tell it wasn't particularly new, at least in the sense of where Rose and I came from. After a little longer, I realised that it was a song I'd listened to the few times I'd gone to the pubs on 30's night. My eyes widened when I came to the realisation that we were in London, during the 1930's. It was obvious that that Doctor hadn't figured it out just yet, and I was beginning to get antsy. We were in a time of constant air raids and at any moment, a bomb could drop down on us, which would make the Doctor's task of finding the thing all the more difficult. With the knowledge that the Doctor wouldn't take anything I said into account, I stood off to the side and tuned back into the conversation.

The Doctor put his ears to the black door. "Door, music, people. What do you think?"

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?" I raised an eyebrow at her before I watched the Doctor as he tried to open the door.

Mid-through, he turned to Rose and took in her attire. "Are you sure about t-shirt?" I could see what he meant, there was a huge Union Flag on the front of it. It also made me think he wasn't as clueless about the time as I thought he was.

Rose looked down at it, pushing her hair aside a bit. "Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

As we stood there waiting for the Doctor to open the door, Rose and I heard a voice. "Mummy? Mummy?"

"Come on if you're coming. It won't take a minute." Without waiting for a reply, he walked inside.

"Mummy?" We glanced up, shocked to see a little boy in a gas-mask on the roof of the building. We looked at each other trying to figure out what to do.

"Doctor?" Rose called. "Doctor? There's a kid up there!"

"How did you get up there to begin with?"

"Mummy?"

"Cerys, you go with the Doctor. I'll get the kid." I groaned and rolled my eyes before I followed after the alien. After a quick glance around, I made my way to where towards the music, only to stop as I reached the beaded curtain since the Doctor was against the wall. Sighing, I stood on the other side of him. As my eyes flicked to the walls, I noticed the posters, most talking about bombs and Hitler, which only confirmed that we were in WWII London. I sighed, knowing that whatever the Doctor was going to ask would get us nowhere.

Once the singer finished, I watched as the Doctor took her place in front of the mic. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo'?" As weird as it was, they all gave him some form of their attention, even if many were whispering between themselves. "Be very quick. Hello! Might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?" The club goers we silent for a moment before the place erupted in laughter. Even I couldn't help the small chuckle that managed to escape, although it was more-so for myself thinking he had some realisation of his where-abouts. "Sorry, have I said something funny? It's just, there's this thing that I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." Suddenly a siren went off and everyone stood and began to leave. The Doctor remained on the stage, trying to speak over the noise. "Would've landed quite near here. With a very loud-" I glanced at him and then the poster that said 'Hitler will send no warning!'

As I watched the Doctor attempt to put two and two together, a man tried to usher me out. While I had half the mind to go, I quickly rebuffed him and continued watching the Doctor as he finished his statement. Realisation dawned upon him and the leather clad man then jumped down and ran out of the door, not giving me the slightest glance. I groaned, a bit hurt but feeling as if I deserved it. Knowing there were bigger problems, i pushed my feelings aside and followed him outside.

"Rose?" he called out before he went over and picked up a black kitten with a white muzzle and mittens that had meowed. I looked up on the roof hoping to see her to no avail. "You know, one day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole don't wander off thing. Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me." I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms as I glared at him. Last I checked, I hadn't gone off anywhere. As he started to say something else, the Tardis phone rang, something that made me incredibly curious. Once he had set the cat down, he went over to the Tardis.

"Is it supposed to do that?"

He ignored me and opened the small door. "How can you be ringing? What's that about, ringing? What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?" Just as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, a girl walked up to us.

"Don't answer it. It's not for you."

I glanced at her but said nothing, letting the Doctor do all the talking and hoping he wouldn't get us into any trouble. "And how do you know that?" He questioned as he approached her.

"'Cos I do. And I'm telling you, don't answer it."

The Doctor's head cocked to the side for a moment. "Well, if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing?" He turned away, walking back to the phone. As he did that, I watched her slink off. "It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not-" he stopped when he turned and saw that she was gone. Shrugging, he hesitantly answered the phone. "Hello? Hello? This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" Since all I could hear were his portions, I blocked out his voice as I tried to think of where my best friend could have gone.

I barely moved my attention to him when he hung up and knocked on the Tardis door. "Rose isn't in there. She went looking for the little boy you were talking to," I told him.

"Rose? Rose, are you in there?" I rolled my eyes and went to lean on the wall. His constant ignoring me had begun to irritate me long ago and it left nothing but anger and pain in it's wake. The man looked around as if he was trying to figure out which way she went when there was the sound of garbage bins clacking. As per what's become a recent trend, he took off without giving me any warnings. Pushing myself off the wall, I ran after him.

We ran to the end of the alley until we reached the corner, where the Doctor abruptly stopped. I crashed into him as his sudden stop caught me off guard. Like hitting a brick wall, I fell to the ground, wincing in pain. After a moment, I stood and brushed myself off. The Doctor's eyes met everything but mine. Unsure of what to say or do, I kept my eyes to the ground, my lips firmly between my teeth. I was confused and angry with the Doctor - scared for Rose and the situation she could be in. Having gathered some strength, I glanced up and found the Doctor's eyes on me. I quickly averted my gaze to one of the houses. It was all so confusing- he was confusing. He looked as if he wanted to say something and my mind immediately went to this being my last trip. few moments later, I found his arms wrapped around me. I quickly placed mine around his waist, brandishing a small sigh when he squeezed me. Coming to my senses, I pushed away from him, my eyes set in a confused glare.

He studied me for a moment before words I never thought I'd hear, at least in my direction, were said. "I'm sorry." I cocked my head to the side as I waited for him to continue. What I said to the Dalek, I didn't know."

"Rose told you?"

"She mentioned. I didn't mean to hurt you, to make you feel that way. I was just so angry-"

"I know."

"You should have told me, said something. Maybe I could have avoided this." The man took a step towards me and took my face in his hands. "I shouldn't have waited for Rose to say anything."

"Honestly Doctor," I sighed, "you should have noticed how your words affected me but you didn't. I know I can't expect you to take note of everything, but I just thought..." I took a breath to reorganise my thoughts and gather myself. "You let your pain and rage take over and blind you. I'm not saying that what the Daleks did was right but in the end, there was pain on both sides and you ended up dishing out more, whether it was intentional or not. I'm not happy with you but I'm not going to hold it against you. Besides, it doesn't matter, it was in the past, er, the future." He smiled at me but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He dropped his hands from my face and looked around. Not knowing what else to do, I came to terms with the fact that our conversation was over.

When he seemed to have found what he was looking for, he grasped my hand and pulled me along with him towards a house. The backyard was covered by the brick fence but the Doctor climbed a-top of the bins that were there and peered over. I could hear a woman and man arguing, the man more irate than the woman about the air raid. When we could no longer hear them, the Doctor climbed down. "The girl from earlier."

"What about her?"

"She's in that house."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I understood that she had information, but if she was going into the house while the owners were leaving, then it meant she only had a limited amount of time to get whatever she wanted. "Meaning?"

"We're joining her for supper," he said with a smile after there was a whistle and the pitter patter of running feet. I honestly thought we were better off waiting but I suppose with other people there, she'd be more inclined to talk to us, even just a little bit.

As we walked in, there was the sound of the people talking. Glancing at each other, we silently walked into the dining room. While the Doctor and I were aware that she was gathering things from the house, we had no clue she would be there feeding children. They were so busy looking at the food and placing some on their plates that they didn't notice we had also taken seats. The food was passed around until it got to the Doctor. I watched as he took two slices of turkey and then placed another on my plate. "Thanks miss," he said, causing panic amongst the children. They all stared at us in shock, some standing ready to run.

"It's alright. Everybody stay where you are!"

"Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?" I rolled my eyes but passed him the salt shaker. "Thank you."

"Back to your seats. They shouldn't be here either." The children warily sat down and after a while, began to eat, their stomachs overpowering their urge to flee. I couldn't blame them; I was sure they weren't getting the best or most food by how thin they all were.

"So, you lot, what's the story?"

"What do you mean?" one of the boys asked.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?"

"Why do you want to know that? Are you a copper?"

"Of course I'm not a copper. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?" The children laughed. "I make it 1941-"

"You guys shouldn't be here. Why weren't you evacuated to the country?" I asked, interrupting the Doctor. I nearly missed the glance he gave me, but chose to ignore it.

"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm."

"So why'd you come back?"

"There was a man there." I frowned as my mind went to all the things the 'man'could have done to the poor kid. While I wasn't much of a fan of children, I didn't like knowing they were being harmed. My heart went out to him and without much thought, I reached over and patted his hand in order to give some comfort.

"Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago."

"Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food," Ernie said.

"I bet," I replied with a smile.

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us."

I looked at the girl, happy to finally have a name. "So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?"

Her small smile faded as I took her attention. "What is?"

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you."

"Something wrong with that?" she asked defensively.

"Wrong with it? It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

"Why'd you follow me? What do you want?"

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favour. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you."

"Great, thanks. And I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?" I watched with a smirk as Nancy stood and took his plate after he finished up the sentence. "What have I done?"

I nudged him, getting his attention. "There are children at the table and you're going on about craving a blonde."

"You took two slices. No blondes, no flags. You should be ashamed of yourself talking about another woman with your lady by your side," she chastised, giving me a sympathetic smile, which I returned with a shrug. "Anything else before you leave?"

"Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like this," he asked as he began to draw on a napkin. As he showed them, I watched Nancy as a glimmer of recognition passed through her eyes. I looked away when there was a knock on the door and the children jumped in fear.

"Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?" I looked out the window and saw the boy Rose had gone after. A shiver made its way down my spine and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Rose, especially if she wasn't with the child. "Mummy?"

"Who was the last one in?"

"Them," Ernie answered pointing to the Doctor and me.

"No, they came in round the back. Who came in the front?"

"Me," another boy answered.

"Did you close the door?"

"Er…"

"Did you close the door?" Nancy questioned almost frantically as she tried to keep some form of composure for the sake of the children. As the child at the door continued to call for his mother, I watched as Nancy ran out into the hallway and bolt the front door. I walked to her, the Doctor following.

"Nancy, why aren't you letting him in?" While I felt there wasn't something right with the child, it wasn't particularly nice to keep him from a meal. Granted, I wanted to believe that the child was all right, of course.

"It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."

"I suppose you'd know."

"I do actually, yes." I looked up at the Doctor and then took hold of his hand. He glanced down at me and gave a small smile.

"It's not exactly a child," she replied.

"Mummy?"

"Right," Nancy said as she turned around and re-entered the dining room with me following closely. "Everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!" All the kids grabbed their coats and retreated from the house. One little girl was left, sitting in the chair terrified. "Come on, baby, we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game. Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!" The girl finally got herself up and together before following the other kids. When they were gone, I went back to the Doctor.

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy." I leant against the wall, trying not to let his cries bother me. I knew how the kid felt, unwanted and dejected but there had to be a reason as to why Nancy and the children were frightened of him, especially Nancy. A small hand came through the letter box.

"Are you all right?"

"Please let me in."

I glared at Nancy as she threw glass at the door, causing the hand to disappear. "What the hell was that for?"

"You mustn't let him touch you!"

"What happens if he touches me?"

"He'll make you like him."

"And what's that?" I questioned.

"I've got to go."

"Nancy," the Doctor started. "What's he like?"

"He's empty." Nancy and I jumped as the telephone rang. "It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw." The Doctor looked at us and went to answer the phone.

"Are you my mummy?" Nancy snatched the phone and placed it back on the hook. Then the radio in the dining room came on. "Mummy? Please let me in, mummy." This continued as a clockwork monkey started to go off. As the noise continued on, Nancy began to back away. It was obvious she had no desire to remain in the house, not that I could blame her. Whatever- whoever the child was, stirred some feeling in her and I couldn't help but think it was something more than fear.

"You stay if you want to," she said before she ran out the back door. Once she'd left, the little boy pushed his hand through the letterbox again. This time I noticed a scar on the back of his hand in the shape of an 'X'.

"Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in."

"Your mummy isn't here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens. Well, two chickens."

"I'm scared."

I inched towards the door only to be stopped by the Doctor. When I looked up at him, he shook his head. In response, I raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Maybe my feelings on the child were right; maybe he wasn't exactly like the other children. "Why are those children frightened of you?"

"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."

"Okay. I'm opening the door now." The little boy slowly removed his hand. The Doctor pushed be back a bit before he unbolted the door and opened it. To our surprise, the boy was gone, with no sign of him ever being there or running down the street. The Doctor and I glanced at each other questioningly, wondering how something like that could happen.

"How?" The Doctor shrugged and I let out an annoyed breath. "It seems like Nancy has all the answers. The only thing is, why is she so reluctant to say anything?"

"Don't know. Maybe we should find out."

"We don't know where she went," I stated.

"Sure we do. Come along now," he said as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the house.

After a bit of travel, we arrived at a shack near some railway sidings. We watched as Nancy entered it and went to stand by the door, waiting for her to exit. When she did, she jumped in surprise, obviously not expecting to see us, none the less be followed." How'd you follow me here?"

"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it."

"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to."

"His nose has special powers."

"Yeah? That's why it's…" I smirked at her, knowing what she wanted to say. I couldn't exactly help the jibe. His nose wasn't that big, but I didn't want to be obvious about his ears. He'd already said something about it when he'd first met Rose. Besides, I was quite sure Nancy would pick up on it.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing. Do your ears have special powers too?" she remarked with a smile. I giggled, enjoying the fact that I was right about her and she was clever enough to say realise where I was going. Then again, she seemed to be very interesting woman, if I really had to say so.

"I believe they do, Nancy." I winked at her as the Doctor looked between us, confused.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked her before turning to me. "What do you mean?"

"Goodnight, Mister, Miss."

"Cerys. No miss here." Nancy smiled at me again before she started to walk off.

"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Nancy turned to face us, her expression grim. "There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."

"Take us there."

She shook her head. "There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through."

"Trust me, he can get in almost anywhere."

"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?"

"We really want to know."

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

"And who might that be?"

"The doctor."

"Well," I smiled, walking over to her, "would you mind taking us there?" She glanced at me warily before nodding.

"I'm not coming in with you."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"Good," she finished before walking off with the Doctor and me in tow.

We had walked for a while before Nancy stopped atop the stairs. The Doctor pulled binoculars from his pocket and looked through them. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight." She pointed past the tarpaulin as the Doctor passed me the binoculars. "See that building? The hospital." I nodded and returned them to the Doctor.

"What about it?"

"That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him."

"For now, we're more interested in getting in there."

"Actually, I think we should talk to him." The Doctor glanced at me, wondering why I was suddenly so interested with speaking with the doctor. "It could help us figure out what's wrong with the little boy."

"I suppose," he started. "Why though?" I shrugged my shoulders, not really having another explanation or wanting to give an actual reason, especially when I was going off a feeling.

"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside."

"Doubt that," I muttered as Nancy began to walk off again.

"Where are you going?"

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now." I nodded in understanding and hoped she was able to get in and out without being caught.

"Can I ask you a question?" he started, waiting for her response to continue. "Who did you lose?"

"What?"

"The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it."

"My little brother. Jamie. One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous, but he just. He just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?"

"In the middle of an air raid? What do you think happened?"

He huffed out a breath, donning a small smile. "Amazing." I watched, not saying anything until he explained himself. Nancy asked what he meant and the Doctor was very happy to reply. "1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here, he chuckled, "a mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then do what you've got to do. Save the world." I smiled as he finished, grabbing my hand and leading me down the stairs. "All right then, just you and me."

"Seems like it. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," he answered as we headed off to the hospital.

Albion Hospital sent chills down my spine. It was eerily quiet for the middle of the Second World War. The Doctor released my hand for a moment to unlock the padlocked gates with his sonic screwdriver. When it was opened, he took my hand and led me to the door. I was glad for his hand. It comforted me, helped to push away the fear I felt. We walked down a long corridor before we reached the first ward. Upon entering the darkened ward, I observed that every bed held an extremely still person, a patient, each wearing a gas mask. As I observed them, an elderly man entered the room.

"You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them."

"Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?" the Doctor asked.

"They're not. Who are you?"

"I'm, er…"

In an attempt to save the Doctor from answering the question and causing a small debacle, I spoke up. "Are you the doctor?"

The man's eyes landed on me. A wave of sadness and pain hit me. I slightly grimaced, trying not to let it bother me too much. I inched back a bit, falling behind the Doctor. "Doctor Constantine. And you are?"

"Nancy sent us."

"Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb." I nodded in affirmation. It seemed easier to remain unnamed if anything. And it would help us get the information quicker, which I wasn't too upset about. I was still worried about Rose and couldn't help but wonder where she had disappeared to. "What do you know about it?"

"Nothing. Why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Those people, they were all caught up in the blast?"

"None of them were." Doctor Constantine chuckled a bit before he started to cough. I rushed over to him and started to help him to a chair but he swatted me away. I backed away, respecting his wishes.

"You're very sick."

"Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?"

"Not me but this one has his moments," I said, jerking my thumb to the Doctor.

"Have you examined any of them yet?" The Doctor easily replied with a negative and was told not to touch the flesh of any. Doctor Constantine and I watched as the Doctor walked over to the nearest patient and pointed the sonic at her. Constantine didn't seem the least bit fazed at appearance of the sonic and instead remained quite business-like. "Conclusions?"

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another one."

The Doctor did as he was told. "This isn't possible." The two continued until the Doctor repeated his previous statement. Whatever it was, it was impossible to happen, even if it had.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"They've all got the same injuries."

"But how?"

The Doctor shrugged but kept his attention on Constantine as he said, "yes." He repeated himself again as the Doctor asked another question. I furrowed my brows in confusion but remained silent. I hadn't seen the scans, and I knew nothing about what had happened, even if I understood what they were saying, in terms of the injuries at least.

"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand." With that, I immediately thought of the little boy. I looked at Doctor Constantine's hand and saw he had the exact scar. When he noticed my gaze, he pulled his hand back, as if to hide it. Then I realized he had rejected my help in order to protect me. "How did this happen? How did it start?"

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim."

"Dead?"

"At first. His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma."

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No." I shook my head, catching what Constantine was saying. The little boy was the victim and instead of being dead, he was running around looking for his mother. I couldn't understand how but he was and if he had infected all the people in the hospital, then he was like a plague carrier, infecting others and changing them into gas-mask zombies. They were all still alive. As I came to the conclusion, I tuned back into the conversation.

"All right. What was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one. They're not dead." Doctor Constantine hit a bin with his cane. The Doctor and I watched in shock as they sat up in their beds at the sound of the noise. I backed away a bit more, with the Doctor pushing me behind him. "It's all right. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"And they've all just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" The patients slowly laid back down.

"I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?"

"Just you?" I asked softly.

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor."

"Yeah. I know the feeling." I glanced at the Doctor as he said that, his face expressionless and his eyes on the wall.

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb."

"Probably too late."

"No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London." He leant forward and the Doctor and I moved to help him, the Doctor more so than me. Doctor Constantine was changing and it was only a matter of time before he was no longer himself. "Stay back, stay back. Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?"

"It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she might-" I watched in horror as his expression turned blank and he grabbed his neck. "Mummy. Are you my mummy?" As he finished, his face began to change. A cylinder nozzle began to force its way out of his mouth and his pupils became so dilated that his eyes became black. Soon he was another gas-mask zombie. As we stood there in shock, I heard the voice of a man calling out, followed by the familiar voice of Rose. Glancing at the Doctor, I took off into the corridor and bumped into her.

"Rose! I'm so glad to see you." I said as I hugged her. A throat was cleared and I released her and looked at the man. He was handsome, but there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, at least at the moment. His demeanour reminded me a bit of some of the guys I'd spent time around when I used to run around London. "Um, hello."

"Jack Harkness. And who might you be?"

"Cerys."

"Nice to meet you," he smirked, taking my hand and kissing it. I quickly pulled my hand away, wiping it on Rose.

"Hey!"

"He's your friend."

I raised an eyebrow when I caught his slightly irritated expression but said nothing as he spoke. "Right. Uh, where is he?"

"Who?"

"Your other companion. Rose said there were three of you."

"Oh, right. Er, he should be right behind me," I said as I whipped around and collided with the Doctor's chest. I stepped back and glared at him. "You could have said something, you know."

"Eh. Who's this?"

"Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

"He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock." Jack said as he clasped the Doctor's shoulder and walked into the ward, leaving the three of us alone.

"Really, Rose?"

"Mister Spock?"

"Oi, look at you two, finishing each other's questions." The Doctor continued to look at her while I brought my gaze elsewhere. "What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."

"What?!" The Doctor and I yelled at her.

She rolled her eyes at us, slightly amused. "Look, what's a Chula warship?" I glanced at the Doctor, hoping he'd have an answer.

"Chula?" Instead of an answer, he turned and walked into the ward, leaving us to follow.

When we got in, we found Jack using some device on his wrist to examine the patients. I stood back and watched, deciding to let the Doctor do all the talking. "This just isn't possible. How did this happen?"

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" Jack looked up, seemingly confused by his reply.

"He said it was a warship," Rose answered. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?"

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this."

"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" the Doctor asked angrily as he approached the man.

"An ambulance! Look." Jack pressed some more buttons and a hologram of what the Doctor had been chasing popped up. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait-"

"Bait?"

Jack pressed on as if no one had spoken. "I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

"You said it was a war ship."

"They have ambulances in wars," Jack said, to her, almost as if she were stupid, which didn't sit well with me. "It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you?"

"Just a couple more freelancers."

"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but the Punk and U-Boat Captain? Anyway, whatever's happening, here, has got nothing to do with that ship."

"Wouldn't be so sure about that," I muttered. While I'd thought it was low enough for just Rose and the Doctor to hear, the glare Jack threw my way told me otherwise. It honestly didn't bother me that he'd heard though. There was just something about this whole situation that pointed to the ambulance, and the con Jack had set up.

"What is happening here, Doctor?"

"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"

I thought about it all for a moment. This all started with the ambulance and ended up here. There was a child running around looking for him mum with the same cut on his little hand. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made but it also made a ton of sense. I looked up. "What if there is no point? What if it's just a side effect, an accident?"

"To what?"

"I-" I stopped when I saw the patients sit up. My expression must have told them something since the Doctor, Rose and Jack came over to me, the Doctor taking a protective stance before us. I felt his hand snake into mine, offering me comfort.

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?"

"What's happening?" Rose fearfully asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted as the patients and Constantine stood up and joined the mass. "Don't let them touch you."

"What happens if they touch you?"

"That, Rose. You become one of them," I answered for the Doctor.

"Help me, mummy." We backed against the wall, with the patients crowding around us and the Doctor again took a stance in front of us in an attempt to shield us.

"Well, this feels familiar," Rose said, bringing up the adventure with the Gelth. I managed to crack a small smile at her remark. Before they got too close, I tugged the Doctor's hand. When he turned around, I placed a quick peck on his cheek, getting my point across in that small move. If we were to become one of those zombies, I wanted him to know I was grateful for all he'd done.

Hey all! Super sorry I haven't updated in forever. I went on vacation, which I think I mentioned before and although I had internet connection, I was usually extremely busy and had little to no time on the computer. But I'm updating now and will be consecutively until next week, one chapter a day until next Sunday when I return to my normal schedule.

Also, with the edit, I think I might have made him a bit OOC, which I sincerely apologise for. I didn't mean to, but I kind of like it better that way than Cerys just falling into his damn arms without him explaining himself. But that's just me. It's what I like and so the slight OOC for the wonderful Nine will remain. Sorry not sorry if you don't like it. Also, I realise I kind of contradicted myself. Totally meant to do that...

Guest: Yeah, that's a thing I'm trying to get through. Always listen to Cerys when she has her feeling. The Doctor and Cerys' relationship will be revealed as the story goes. I'm dropping hints in each chapter about it.

Hae: I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Yeah, honestly, she'd one of my favourite characters so fat. I am definitely keeping all the good stuff until the right time.

Lunabloodmoon66: Thank you so much and I am so happy you're enjoying HER SECRETS. I really felt that someone should have been there when the Doctor was in the elevator with Van Statten and his guards to at least try and stop him from torturing the poor man.

Grapejuice101: I'm very happy to oblige.

Lizzybug2000: Yeah, I'm trying not to write too much but a good friend of mine (also a writer) is constantly checking to make sure I get my word count in. Well, we do that for each other. But I'm definitely refreshed from my vacation so there will be a lot more writing when I don't have any coursework to do.

BreeBree12345: Really glad you like the story so far. Get ready for a chapter overload! *cue evil laughter*