Sister Star
Chapter 11: The Doctor Dances
Almadynis
Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!
AN: My wonderful beta is peaceloverhealer101.
Astrid's thoughts
The gas-mask people were surrounding Rose, Astrid, the Doctor and Jack. Then - the Doctor stared sternly around at them. His tone suggested that they were all very disobedient children. "Go to your room." The gas-mask people all hesitated. "Go to your room!" The people all cocked their heads to one side, all in the same direction, as if they didn't quite understand. Astrid grinned at her Doctor—my Doctor? Okay, that cinches it. I'm dancing with him in this episode! "I mean it! I am very, very angry with you. I am very, VERY cross! Go. To. Your. ROOM!" He pointed violently up and to the left. Even though his face was a mask of sternness, there was surprise in his eyes. He watched, holding the position and expression until all the patients climbed back onto their beds. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been TERRIBLE last words." Astrid gave a small bark of laughter and she reached up to hug him from behind.
Rose sat beside one of the beds, looking at one of the gas-mask people as closely as she could without touching. Astrid watched Jack settle down in the chair Dr. Constantine had changed in and put his feet up on the desk.
Rose was still confused though. She looked behind her at the other—relatively—normal occupants of the room. "Why are they all wearing gas masks?"
Jack's tone was very frank. "They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone."
The Doctor refocused the conversation onto things he didn't know yet. "How was your con supposed to work?"
Jack didn't know what he had done. He's still convinced that he didn't do this. "Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space-junk; let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth. Convince him it's valuable and name a price. When he's put 50% up front - oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for. Never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."
"Yeah. Perfect." The Doctor looked at him with an expression that Astrid couldn't identify, but she was starting to see a trend with those looks. It's when the Doctor is trying to hold himself back. He's restraining himself.
"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though. But you've got to set your alarm for Volcano Day." Jack laughed at his own joke. Astrid walked over to him and hit him solidly on the back of his head. That coupled with the Doctor's very blank look made Jack's laughter die away. "Getting a hint of disapproval."
Astrid shook her head, "I forgot how much of an idiot you when you were young." Jack's expression changed to both surprise and annoyance. "Look around, Jack. This is what your 'harmless piece of space-junk' did!"
Jack half-glared at the little slip of a girl. She was barely five feet three inches, the shortest one in the room. How dare she talk to him like this? "It was a burnt-out medical transporter, it was empty."
The Doctor touched Astrid's shoulder and she looked at him before nodding. He glanced over at the blond. "Rose."
Rose gave one look at Jack before starting to follow her sister. "We getting out of here?"
The Doctor pointed over his head. "We're going upstairs."
Jack got up out of his seat and called out after them. "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one!" His tone got a bit quieter, more earnest. "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me. I had nothing to do with it."
The Doctor looked back at him and sarcastically answered, "I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's Volcano Day."
A siren began to go off in the distance. Without being asked, Astrid told Rose quietly, "It's the all clear."
The Doctor looked at the brunette and shook his head. "I wish." She caught his look and nodded in agreement. He left the ward, Astrid by his side, holding his left hand. I probably won't survive 'Bad Wolf' and the Daleks…I should enjoy the time I have left while I can. Which means dancing. Ooo…wonder if I can kiss him? Rose and Jack follow them.
Apparently they were going too fast for Rose and Jack to follow them adequately, because they got separated. Or Rose and Jack completely missed the huge 'STAIRS' sign. She heard Jack call out for 'Mr. Spock' and Rose for the Doctor and laughed. She heard them start to run past the stairs and pushed her head over the banister. "Over here, sillies!"
The Doctor poked his head over to look at the cocky young man. "Have you got a blaster?"
Rose and Jack skidded to a halt, backtracked, and looked up at the pair of them. Jack called up, "Sure!" They ran up the stairs to catch up with the two brunettes and found themselves at a locked metal door.
"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken." The Doctor explained.
"What happened?" Rose asked, curious.
"Let's find out." The Doctor turned to Jack and motioned to the door. "Get it open." He stepped out of the way as Jack pulled out a gun-like object that glowed at one point in the middle with blue light. Jack pointed it at the door.
Rose quietly whispered, "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"
Astrid giggled and answered. "Nothing, he just wants to see Jack's equipment."
Jack's blaster cut a perfectly square hole around the lock of the door and it squeaked open. Now the Doctor knew exactly where and when the former Time Agent had been. "Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon Factories of Villengard."
Jack was now intrigued. "You've been to the factories?"
The Doctor took the blaster from Jack so that he could have a closer look. "Once."
"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot." Jack's tone was a sad resignation.
"Like I said. Once." The Doctor gave the blaster back. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good." He smiled pleasantly at Jack and entered the room, Astrid right behind him, giggling softly. He looked at her in question and she grinned up at him.
"I always liked that line." He gave a quiet laugh at that. He moved into the room beyond the door, found the light switch and flicked it on. The room had been an observation room of the room beyond the broken glass window. Something/someone had broken out of the hospital room through the window, tossing glass and machinery every which-a-way. There were broken things all over the floor, including an overturned chair.
The Doctor looked over at Rose and Jack as they entered the room. He didn't have to ask his Star, he knew that she knew what had happened. "What do you think?"
"SOMETHING got out of here." Jack's answer was incredibly short.
The Doctor wanted him to think, and really think. Star had said that Jack was like a brother, and that he was currently a lot more juvenile than she remembered. Who better to make a grown man grow up but the Doctor? "Yeah. And?"
Astrid had the sense that Jack was half-way guessing when he answered further. "Something powerful. Angry."
But Jack was right this time. The Doctor nodded in acceptance. It was good enough for now. "Powerful and angry."
Jack entered a room beyond by a door to the side. Astrid knew that every surface, floor and walls that could be reached by a four year old, was covered with drawings. A few toys were scattered around, some broken, some not and a little bed lay in the corner.
Jack hadn't actually seen Jamie yet, he didn't quite understand. "A child? I suppose this explains 'mummy'."
"How could a child do this?" Rose was incredulous.
Astrid had watched as the Doctor fixed the tape player and he flicked the 'on' switch. A tape of Doctor Constantine talking to Jamie began to play. Astrid looked down in sorrow. He's just a little boy looking for his mommy. He never wanted to hurt anyone. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into the Doctor's compassionate eyes. "All he wants is to know, Doctor. He's four, he doesn't understand." The Doctor nodded and they moved into the room, all the time the tape playing in the background.
"Do you know where you are?"
"Are you my mummy?"
"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you...see?"
"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?"
As they looked closely at all the drawings, you could see that every single one of them, every one, was of a female. All of them were girls, presumably the child's mother.
"Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
Rose pointed to the tape. She was starting to understand. "Doctor, I've heard this voice before."
He nodded. "Me, too."
"Mummy?"
"Always, 'are you my mummy?'. Like he doesn't know." Astrid nodded at Rose's statement. There we go. Now she's got it. Rose saw the nod and grew concerned. "Why doesn't he know?"
"Are you there, mummy? Mummy?"
The reels of the tape spun, making a very distinctive sound. Astrid watched as the Doctor began pacing the room, she ignored Rose's question.
"Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"
Rose was getting concerned. "Doctor?"
"Can you sense it?" He kept pacing, his tone starting to get a bit stressed.
Jack hadn't gotten the idea that the Doctor wasn't human, but he would soon. "Sense what?"
The Doctor's voice was so tense. Astrid watched him solemnly from her perch on the end rail of little Jamie's bed. "Coming out of the walls, can you feel it?" He could see her out of the corner of his eye, they were both across the room from Rose and Jack. Astrid was watching him silently, but every now and again, her eyes would drift to the drawings and the look in her eyes. Even if she didn't know how or why, she had a small empathic response. He knew she had strong protective mothering instincts, and perhaps this room brought them out, or she was—at least in a tiny manner—truly empathic. Some humans were gifted with psychic connections. It was part of the reason they were so great. Gandhi himself was a very gifted empath, as was Madam Curie. It was too early to tell which Star was, and he had more important problems than his own curiosity.
"Mummy?"
All these thoughts about his Star did bring out the incredulousness he felt toward the other two though. Even if it was only mother instincts on Star's part, Rose should have the same ones. Jack should at least feel some sort of protective instinct. It was part of evolution to protect the children. How can the next generation continue if you don't protect them? "Funny little human brains, how do you get around in those things?"
Rose sighed and explained to Jack in an almost breathless tone. "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species."
The Doctor was still pacing, trying to understand. He could feel the emotions of the room coming out of the walls, but he couldn't quite place it. The emotions were child-like and viewed as a child views the world. "Rose, I'm thinking." It had been a long time since he was a child.
"Cuts himself shaving. Does half an hour in life forms he's cleverer than." Rose continued, unheeding.
"There are these children living rough around the bomb site. They come out during air-raids looking for food." He had stopped in front of the broken window, facing the other three occupants of the tiny room.
"Mummy, please?"
"Suppose they were there when this thing-whatever it was-landed?" He was starting to put the pieces together.
Jack intoned evenly. "It was a med-ship. It was harmless."
"Yes, you keep saying. 'Harmless'." He glared at Jack before looking at Rose. "Suppose one of them was affected-altered?"
Rose knew when the Doctor was on a roll and knew how to keep him going. "Altered how?"
"I'm here!"
The Doctor suddenly had a light go off in his brain; you could see the pieces click into place as he figured it out. "It's afraid. Terribly afraid, and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do."
He gave a small laugh and smiled. "It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room."
Astrid nodded and got to her feet, coming up off the small bed and around to the others. She heard the loud, crackling sound filling the room where before the background of the child's voice and Dr. Constantine took it up, that is what she now heard. She also was very thankful for her earring filters; she knew that without them, that noise would have her wincing because it was so loud. It was even making Rose scared. "Doctor…" The child said something, but Rose was focusing on that noise she couldn't identify. "What's that noise?"
"I'm here. Can't you see me?"
The Doctor's smile faded as he focused his massive intellect on her question. "End of the tape. 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." The Doctor spun around and there was Jamie, still wearing a gas-mask, just standing there in the observation room behind the tape machine.
"Are you my mummy?" Jamie cocked his head to one side and looked in Rose's direction, then Astrid's direction. "Mummy?" He focused more on Astrid, after all, she did have the same color hair as who he thought his mother was, and she was the shortest person in the room too. Oh crap, never thought about this part.
Jack began to move closer to the others and quietly said, "Okay...on my signal...make for the door. NOW!" He violently produced a banana and pointed it threateningly at Jamie as he rested his hands on the Doctor's shoulder.
The Doctor grinned widely, pulled out Jack's blaster, pointed it at the wall and pulled the trigger. It made a rather large square hole, big enough to jump through easily. "Go! Now! Don't drop the banana!"
Jack was still a bit slow on how the Doctor handled situations. He really doesn't like guns…which is kinda funny, 'cause he has no problem with explosives. Jack hopped through the hole after Rose, Astrid was motioned through after the other American, and the Doctor was last. "Why not? !"
Astrid laughed at Jack and was grinning just as wide as the Doctor was wont to do, exclaimed at the exact same time as the Doctor, "Good source of potassium!"
Of course, now they were in a hospital corridor. The little boy was fast enough that he was already in the room, coming toward them. Jack snatched his blaster back from the Doctor. "Give me that!" Jack pointed it at the wall and it rebuilt itself, blocking Jamie…for a little while at least. "Digital rewind." He explained. He tossed the banana back to the Doctor and reluctantly said, "Nice switch."
The Doctor didn't know that they were still in danger. He was smiling. "It's from the Groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate."
"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack was incredulous.
Astrid spoke up; ruining her quiet set up, but it was for a really good reason. "Bananas are good. And getting out of here would be better. I know that I'm only a human from another dimension with knowledge of the future, but now would be a REALLY good time to run."
As if to prove her point, Jamie began to hit the wall from the other side and it began to crack and bulge under the pressure.
"Doctor!" Rose called out in fear.
"Come on!" They rushed down a short flight of stairs and down another corridor, before they encountered all the patients bursting out of the ward calling 'mummy'. They hastily backtracked, but they found the gas-mask people coming from that direction too. Now they were back at the point where they started, where the child was still breaking through the wall. "It's keeping us here so it can get at us."
Jack couldn't decide which direct would be better to point his blaster. "It's controlling them?"
"It IS them. It's every living thing in this hospital." The Doctor explained.
Jack, being from the Time Agency, was a bit military minded in these sorts of situations. "Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and it's a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, whatcha got?"
The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, but Jack was not looking as he was too busy brandishing his sonic device at the gas-mask people. "A sonic, er…oh, never mind."
"What?" Jack put himself between the people and the girls, Rose closest to him, facing outward to point his weapon at them.
The Doctor was faced the other direction, "It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that." The Doctor turned to face the other group of gas-mask people, switching on his sonic screwdriver.
Jack demanded an answer though. "Disrupter? Cannon? What?"
"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am sonic-ed up!"
"A sonic WHAT?" You know, when you are actually IN the corridor fearing for your life, this seems vastly inappropriate and I wish they would hurry it up!
"SCREWDRIVER!" Ah, thanks Doctor. I feel better.
Or not… Even as Jack spun around in shock at the confession, the little four year old boy finally managed to punch through the wall. Astrid's eyes widened and she looked at Rose. Rose was watching the boy. As Jamie began to climb through, Rose grabbed Jack's wrist and physically made him point the blaster at the floor and pulled the trigger. "Going down!" The floor disappeared beneath them and they all fell in a messy tangled heap on the floor of the ward below.
The seventh floor ward was dark as Jack found the switch for the digital rewind and made the hole created become a ceiling so that they couldn't be followed. Rose asked quietly, "Doctor, Astrid, are you okay?"
"Could've used a warning."
Astrid gave a short laugh. "She did give a warning; it just wasn't suitable enough for your sensibilities."
Jack was still caught up on one detail. "Who has a sonic screwdriver?"
"I do!"
Rose was looking around, feeling her way through the room. "Light!"
The boys were a bit preoccupied with measuring their equipment. "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'Oh, this could be a little more sonic'?"
The Doctor was indignant in his defense of his most prized possession outside of the TARDIS itself. "What, you've never been bored?"
Rose was still poking around in the dark. "There's gotta be a light switch!" I wonder if she's afraid of the dark? The Doctor already said…will say…that it's not an irrational fear, and it's perfectly normal. And he is SO not paying attention is he?
He was still defending his screwdriver. "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"
Rose finally found a switch and turned the lights on. All the gas-mask people lying in the beds immediately sat up and start calling 'mummy'. Crap, why is it I always forget the details? I guess in this scene I was more occupied with laughing at the escapades of the boys.
Jack spotted a door off to the side and said as much as they all rushed to it. The patients all started to get out of bed. Jack tried to open it with his blaster but it just fizzled and died. "Damn it!" The Doctor gently pushed him out of the way and used his sonic screwdriver instead. Jack whacked his hand against the gun, as if that would help. "It's the special features, they really drain the battery."
Rose couldn't quite believe that a 51st century gun would even NEED such a 21st century invention. "The battery?"The Doctor opened the door and they all ran through it as Rose continued. "That's so lame."
They entered a storeroom, bits and odds and ends strewn around. Only one window that was covered in bars. Jack ran to the window to look out as he spoke angrily. "I was gonna send for another one, but SOMEBODY'S got to blow up the factory." He turned to glare at the Doctor as he used the sonic screwdriver to lock the door.
Rose had a small sense of realization in her voice. "Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates."
Jack jumped down from the window ledge and walked across the room toward Rose. The Doctor was finished with the door and came through as well. They met in the middle to…discuss things. "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."
"The door? The WALL didn't stop it!"
"Well, it's gotta FIND us first! Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!"
"Well, I've got a banana, and at a pinch you could put up some shelves." Okay, that's enough.
Astrid walked over and slapped the back of Jack's head. When he turned to look at her, she was giving him a very stern, angry look. "That's enough, Jack. You're not helping." He accepted her statements with a nod. He didn't really know how to handle the brown-haired girl. She said she was his sister, but the only real things they had in common were eye and hair color. Also he didn't remember her at all. All of a sudden, he had a younger sister, who treated him like an older brother easily. If it wasn't for that last part, he wouldn't believe her.
The Doctor went to the window and looked out. "Window?"
Jack curbed his tone to be more fact-oriented. "Barred, sheer drop outside. Seven stories." He sat down in a rolling chair.
Rose looked around and commented. "And no other exits."
"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" He winced as the slap to the back of his head was harder this time.
The Doctor turned around from his spot at the window; he stared at Jack for a second before looking at Rose. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"
Rose muttered under her breath warningly. "Doctor."
Jack had a huge smile on his face. "She was hanging from a barrage balloon. I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a CHANCE." Rose looked slightly uncomfortable by what he was saying, but Astrid was almost positive that it was from embarrassment.
"Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we CAN'T get out of here. Have I missed anything?" By this time the Doctor was facing the window again and missed the sound of Jack's teleport.
Rose didn't though and looked in the direction of the sound. Her voice held wonder. "Yeah…Jack just disappeared."
The Doctor spun around to stare at the empty wheelchair that had formerly held the sarcastic captain.
Rose was pacing this time. "Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the GREAT looking ones who do that?"
The Doctor looked up from his position in the wheelchair. "I'm making an effort not to be insulted."
Astrid was standing, leaning up against the wall. She blushed hotly, but said to him in a very earnest tone. "I think you're great looking."
He looked over at her and gave her a wide ear-splitting grin. "Okay. Thanks."
An old radio suddenly sprang to life, lighting up with a golden yellow hue. Jack's voice transmitted through it. "Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me?"
Astrid glared at the radio. "What am I? Chopped liver?" She stayed where she was, watching as the Doctor traced back the wires for the radio and found that they had been completely ripped out and were frayed on the end beyond repair.
Jack was still talking of course. "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there." They heard him do something to make a whirring noise.
The Doctor was sensing another piece of the puzzle. "How're you speaking to us?"
Jack answered easily; he didn't understand the significance yet. "Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill."
The Doctor's face was back to being blank. "Now there's a coincidence."
"What is?" Jack asked.
"The child can Om-Com too."
"He can?" Rose hadn't actually experienced the unique, really intimidating, form of communication yet.
The Doctor nodded gravely. "Anything with a speaker grill. Even the TARDIS phone."
"What, you mean the child can phone us?"
Little Jamie's voice came through the radio too as he said in a very sing-song voice, "And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiiind you."
Jack was concerned, rightly so. "Doctor, can you hear that?"
"Loud and clear."
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do." Heck yeah, you made this problem!
"Coming to find you, mummy!"
Jack had a tone of amusement in his voice as he asked innocently, "Remember this one, Rose?" Glen Miller began to play through the radio a slow steady melody that was comforting. I think it's called 'Moonlight Serenade'…I was always more partial to the upbeat ones like 'In The Mood'.
Rose looked ever so slightly uncomfortable as the Doctor turned to look at her questioningly. She was slightly embarrassed as she explained. "Our song." Rose shifted from foot to foot. Astrid gave a small chuckle.
The Doctor looked at the brunette female and smiled softly. She winked at him in response.
[break]
Rose shuffled around in the wheel chair, intensely bored. The radio still played 'Moonlight Serenade'. Okay, I am starting to really hate this song…after a constant repeat it gets really boring. The buzzing of the sonic screwdriver was in the background as the Doctor was standing vigil at the window, doing something to the bars. Rose spun the wheel chair around in the Doctor's direction. Astrid was sitting on the ledge that the Doctor was standing on, watching with her back against the wall.
Rose was bored enough to ask something probably best not to ever ask the Doctor. "What are you doing?"
The Doctor answered absently. "Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete. Loosen the bars."
"You don't think he's coming back, do ya?"
"Wouldn't bet my life." Or ours.
"Why don't you trust him?"
"Why do you?"
"Saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." Astrid laughed at that one. Rose looked at her and smiled in return. The Doctor didn't answer though and Rose continued. "I trust him 'cos he's like you. Except with dating and dancing."
The Doctor glanced back at her with a very irritated expression and shook his head before focusing back on the bars.
Rose had caught the look though and was confused. "What?"
"You just assume I'm..."
"What?"
The Doctor was facing the window as he answered, Astrid thought it could be because he wasn't used to the personal questions."You just assume that I don't...dance."
Rose was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "What? Are you telling me you DO…dance?"
"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point I've DANCED." Ummm…don't think they are talking about dancing anymore. Oooo…does that mean I don't have to die a virgin? Nah, don't think I want to go that fast with him. Or him with me.
Astrid was shaken from her thoughts as the Doctor said in an off-hand manner something that had her blushing scarlet. "Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast."
Rose, still grinning, stopped shuffling around in her wheelchair and got up to turn the music louder. The Doctor looked around, completely wrong-footed. Rose walked slowly forward, flirtatiously. He looked determinedly back to the wall. Rose was grinning just as big as the Doctor did usually, she snagged Astrid's hand and pulled her onto her feet and into the floor and Rose moved the wheelchair out of the way. Rose called up to the Doctor, "You've got the moves? Show me your moves. Dance with Astrid."
By this time, Astrid was blushing crimson enough that she wouldn't be surprised to see a glow. The Doctor seemed to take pity on her…or he just isn't interested when he said, "Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete."
Rose didn't back down though, she escalated, offering her hand up to him to help him down from the ledge. "Jack'll be back, he'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end 'cause the Doctor dances."
The Doctor snapped off his sonic screwdriver, replacing it in his jacket pocket and stepped away from the window towards her, an odd expression on his face. He jumped down to stand in front of Rose for a moment. Astrid would have been offended if she didn't know what was happening and what had gotten his attention. He took Rose's hands; she was staring up at him almost apprehensively. He turned her hands over and looked at them. "Barrage balloon?"
Astrid took pity on Rose this time, she remembered the tongue-tied girl from the show. "Jack has nanogenes on his ship that took care of Rose's hands."
Rose grinned at her friend and pulled out of his hands to shove Astrid into her place. "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."
Astrid was blushing and confessed softly, whispering to him, "I don't know how to dance."
He gave her a small smile, took her hands gently in his own and just moved his hips side to side for the slow song. She couldn't take her eyes off of his blue ones, starting to be drawn into their depths as she experienced her first dance. The world seemed to dissolve away from her when she was in his arms.
Which was suddenly shaken when she heard Jack's voice from behind them, making them both turn immediately in surprise. All around was the inside of Jack's ship, exactly as she remembered it. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Nav-Com offline to override the teleport security."
Astrid sighed in defeat. Is that all the dance I'm going to get? I was starting to really enjoy that…wow…now I know why some people think dancing is erotic. Rose gave her a sympathetic look to which Astrid shrugged.
Jack ducked down into a compartment beneath his chair, saying that he'd be back in five minutes.
The Doctor was looking around and noticed a very important detail. "This is a Chula ship."
Jack's voice came up to them. "Yeah, just like that medical transporter." His head popped back up to give them a very serious look. "Only, this one IS dangerous."
The Doctor snapped his fingers, and his hand was instantly surrounded by nanogenes. "Sub-atomic 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 bulkheads sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." The Doctor banished the nanogenes with a wave of his hand. Rose beamed up as he glared at Jack. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your 'space junk'."
Jack acted as though he was being nagged. "As soon as I get the Nav-Com back online." The Doctor glared at the sarcastic American in annoyance. "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were..." Jack gestured to Astrid, "…doing." She blushed hotly again. This is becoming a trend. I don't like blushing damnit!
The Doctor sounded innocent; he didn't want to embarrass Astrid. "We were talking about dancing!"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "It didn't look like talking."
Rose also put in her two cents, making Astrid blush again, this time in shame. "It didn't look like dancing." The Doctor gave the brunette girl a small encouraging smile, but she didn't look up to see it.
Rose was talking to Jack and Astrid was sitting beside the Doctor. She finally spoke, "I'm sorry that Rose forced you to dance with me. I didn't hurt you, did I?" People always talk about how they step on people's toes when they dance.
The look he gave her was surprise. "If I didn't want to dance, I wouldn't have. No, you didn't hurt me." He was quiet for several seconds, listening to Jack and Rose before he said. "Have you really never been dancing before?"
Astrid shook her head. "There was this program in school that taught swing-dancing for a Holocaust project. But that's it." She looked at her clasped hands in her lap. Her accent was coming back, a sign he had learned that she was stressed. "I was a real wall-flower in school when it came to social stuff. I would answer the teacher's questions and things, but no boys were ever interested in me. When I finally got up the courage to ask them, they never accepted. I went on a few blind dates that ended poorly. Finally, I just decided that I would worry about dating and…dancing…after I graduated college."
He nodded in understanding just as the computer beeped. He looked up when Jack called back to them, "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?"
They walked through the railway station, trains all around them. The bombsite was near and they hurried over to peak over barbed wire to see what they could. Jack was the one to state the obvious. "There it is." He saw the main officer and grinned. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."
The Doctor was a bit impatient. Can't blame him. "We've gotta get past him."
Rose was slightly breathless. "Are the words 'distract the guard' heading in my general direction?"
Jack shook his head. "I don't think that'd be such a good idea."
Rose was almost soothing him as she said, "Don't worry, I can handle it."
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me. You're not his type. I'll distract him." He walked away from them, and then waved slightly. "Don't wait up."
Astrid giggled. "Relax, Rose. He's from the 51st century; they are a bit flexible when it comes to dating and dancing."
Rose had wide eyes. "HOW flexible?"
The Doctor was having fun, payback for making Astrid embarrassed with the dancing. "Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."
"Meaning?"
He grinned at her teasingly. "So many species, so little time!"
"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and... and..."
Astrid 'helped' her with a huge smile on her face. "Dance. Lots of dancing. Honestly, I have no idea how he's still clean, but you would think by the 51st century they would have cures for most of the diseases."
"Oh yeah." The Doctor said absently, watching the proceedings below them.
Algy coughed and fell to his knees. Before the very eyes of Jack, Astrid, Rose and the Doctor, his face transformed into a gas mask. Jack was horror-struck. The other soldiers began to hurry over. The Doctor saw what was happening and yelled out, "Stay back!"
Jack also took charge of the situation. "You men! Stay away!" Astrid, Rose and the Doctor rushed over to Jack and Algy, who was lying on the ground, lifeless. Rose stared down at him in shock, Astrid stared in sorrow.
The Doctor was frank. "The effect's become air-borne. Accelerating."
"What's keeping US safe?" Rose asked in fear.
He wouldn't lie to her. "Nothing."
The air raid siren began to blare out across the station.
Rose breathed out, "All we need." She looked at Jack as something occurred to her. "Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land...HERE?"
Jack nodded his head in confirmation. The Doctor shook his head to dismiss the unnecessary information, he already knew it. "Never mind about that. If the contaminant's air-born now, there's hours left."
"'Til what?" Jack still didn't understand.
"'Til nothing. Forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?"
They turn to the shed to their left where 'Rock-a-by Baby' was being sung by Nancy. She didn't have half a bad voice, but no training.
The door creaked open. Nancy turned her head sharply to see the Doctor poke his head into the shed, Astrid right beside him. He motioned for her to continue singing.
#Rock-a-by baby... # She jerked her wrist against the handcuffs to show why she hadn't left yet. # ... on the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock...#
The Doctor approached her, taking his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. He flicked it on and began to unlock her handcuffs. Rose and Jack appeared in the doorway behind Astrid. The handcuffs snapped open, Nancy stood, and they all left the shed, leaving Jenkins fast asleep.
They went back to the bomb site, and the Doctor and Jack uncovered the Chula med-ship as the huge flood lights illuminated the entire area, which has a tarpaulin over it, hiding it from view. Nancy and Rose watched to one side. Astrid waited right at the top of the ambulance, using the bars that made the hub as a ladder to see better, since the boys were using the sides.
Jack, of course, was still indignant that it wasn't his fault. "You see? Just an ambulance." Astrid looked over as Nancy asked a question, but let Rose take care of it. Nancy was only a year younger than herself, and could easily take care of herself. Jack was messing with the controls. "They've been trying to get in."
The Doctor gave him a 'duh' look. "Of COURSE they have." He watched as Jack began to enter a code. "They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"
"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll see I had nothing to do with it."
The controls exploded with a shower of sparks, and they all jumped backwards. Astrid gave a gasp of surprise and fell off of the back of the 'bomb', right on her ass. Well, at least I had cushioning…and hey, I didn't get hurt this time! That's a miracle in and of itself! An alarm started to go off. Oh, I am so glad I've got my earring-filters, that's annoying even WITH them in, don't want to imagine what it would be without them.
Jack was talking again. "Didn't happen last time."
The Doctor explained; he was the expert. "It hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols."
Rose had noticed the red light blinking in time with the alarm. "Doctor, what IS that?"The gates were shaking and Rose cried out in fear. "Doctor!"
He took control. "Captain, secure those gates!"
Jack was being difficult. At a time like this, he decides to be difficult. "Why?"
"Just do it!" Both the Doctor and Astrid yelled at him. The Doctor continued, turning to Nancy. "How did you get in here?"
She knew how to handle bad situations. She lived in the London Blitz. Her tone was frank and she was concise. "I cut the wire."
"Show Rose." He tossed his sonic screwdriver to the blond. "Setting 2,428-D. Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"
Jack slammed the gate shut.
Astrid stuck close to the Doctor, watching as Jack slid open the hatch of the medical transport ship. Jack was full of righteousness. Trouble was, he was so sure he was right, that he never thought of what could be the case if he was wrong. "It's empty. Look at it."
Rose and Nancy rejoined them.
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?" The Doctor demanded of Jack and then turned to someone who knew, even if they didn't.
"I dunno."
"Yes, you do." He held out his hand in the same manner he had when he had summoned the nanogenes on Jack's ship.
Her face lit up in understanding. "Nanogenes!"
The Doctor turned back to Jack. "It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."
Jack took a step back. His face went ashen as he finally understood the depth of his mistake. "Oh, God."
"Getting it now, are we? 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, probably killed earlier that night and wearing a gasmask."
"And they brought him back to life? They can DO that?" Rose was incredulous and amazed.
"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like." Jack, Rose and Nancy were hanging onto his every word. Astrid was watching the Doctor's face. He was angry, so angry. "All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas-mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cause you see, NOW they THINK they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother. And NOTHING in the world can stop it!" He was shouting at the end, glaring at Jack who finally was understood.
But he was still defiant. "I didn't know."
Astrid gave him a blank look and commented softly, "That never works in court either, Jack."
The Doctor fixed him with a cold stare for a few seconds, and then went back to examining the med-ship, starting to work with his sonic screwdriver. There was a very tense couple of minutes, bombs dropping and exploding in the background.
Nancy stareed into the distance, beyond the fence. The gasmask people had arrived, still calling 'mummy'. Nancy was scared as she called out to the blond. "Rose?" Rose rushed to Nancy's side, following her gaze. The gasmask people stumbled towards them over the rail-track. They were quite a distance away, but still too close. Rose rushed back to the med-ship, and looked again at the flashing red light on the control panel. She might not know as much as the Doctor, but she was intelligent. She looked at him and asked urgently. "It's bringing the gas-mask people here, isn't it?"
"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."
"But, the gas-mask people aren't troops!"
Astrid said quietly from her perch on top of the ambulance. "They are now, Rose."
The Doctor looked up at her and nodded. :This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up; they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, program you."
"That's why the child's so strong? Why it could do that phoning thing?"
"It's 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."
The gas-mask people were now surrounding the fence, fencing in the five people next to the ambulance. All of them calling out 'mummy'. But they stopped at the boundary the fence created.
"Why don't they attack?" Jack was asking, probably looking for a weakness.
The Doctor had to dash those hopes. "Good little soldiers. Waiting for their commander."
Jack was incredulous. "The child?"
"Jamie." Nancy said gently.
He didn't understand. "What?"
She glared at him, angry. "Not 'the child'. Jamie." The Doctor looked at her, a glimmer of an idea in his mind.
Rose wasn't sure which threat she was more worried about. "So, how long until the bomb falls?"
"Any second." Jack was worried too.
"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor glared at him in passing as he went toward Nancy.
Nancy was looking at him, trying to make him understand. Or maybe to explain it to herself. "He's just a little boy."
Astrid nodded as the Doctor said, "I know."
Nancy was starting to get upset enough that her voice was shaking. "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."
"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."
Rose was now really scared. "So what're we gonna do?"
"I don't know."
Rose sighed and looked at Astrid, but the brunette was actually starting to look like she did when they had first landed. She was beginning to smile. Amidst all of the bombs dropping, the gas-mask people all around them calling out 'mummy', the brunette was smiling. Rose stared in disbelief. She was avidly watching Nancy and the Doctor, leaning forward on her perch to get as close as she could without moving from her spot. Rose moved to her side and focused in the same direction.
She saw tears well up in Nancy's eyes as the girl confessed. "It's my fault."
"No." The Doctor said gently.
"It is. It's all my fault." Her voice broke.
He gave her a soft smile of compassion. "How can it be your-" he was cut off as all the gas-mask people around them began to call out stronger than ever. The Doctor spun around to look at them all; in so doing he saw the expression on Astrid's face, her joy. She looked straight in his eyes and nodded urgently. So he was right. He went back to Nancy. "Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"
A bomb landed nearby, loud enough that all of them flinched.
"Doctor - that bomb. We've got seconds." Jack was afraid.
Another landed even closer than the last.
Rose looked at Jack. "You can teleport us out."
Neither the Doctor nor Astrid was paying them any attention, eyes fixed on the sobbing Nancy.
Jack spoke to Rose, answering her unasked question. "Not you guys. The Nav-Com's back online. Gonna take too long to override the protocols."
The Doctor was looking at Nancy with such a beautiful expression. He understood. His mind was working furiously. Astrid had said before that this story had a fantastic ending; he would make sure that she wasn't a liar. He spoke to Jack in an even tone, no inflection other than mild interest. "So it's Volcano Day. Do what you've got to do."
Rose couldn't stop staring at Jack, her tone full of betrayal. "Jack?" He looked at her almost apologetically. He made a decision and clicked a button in his hand, teleporting away from the bomb range.
The Doctor was still focused on Nancy. "How old were you five years ago? Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway." Nancy, still sobbing, glanced up at him and then away again, shame faced."He's not your brother, is he?" She shook her head, sobbing. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied." She nodded again. Astrid, watching all of it avidly, was starting to cry herself, but they were in empathy. Her own smile didn't fade one bit. "You even lied to him."
The gates swung open. Jamie stood at the forefront of an army of gas-mask people, ready to charge. His voice was so sweet; it belied the severity of what he could do. "Are you my mummy?"
"He's gonna keep asking, Nancy. He's never gonna stop. Tell him." The Doctor's voice was so gentle as he forced her to understand. He wanted that happy ending. He didn't quite know how it would happen yet, but by Astrid's face, knew this was the way to go. Nancy didn't answer him though, didn't move, she just kept crying. The gas-mask people began to move forward with Jamie. "Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me…and tell him." As Jamie approached them, he gave her a very gentle push in the direction of her son.
"Are you my mummy?"
She whispered the words in the beginning. "Yes." But it wasn't long before her voice got stronger. "Yes. I AM your mummy."She faced him. The little boy walked slowly forward.
His voice changed to one of excitement. "Mummy?"
"I'm here."
But it was gone again. "Are you my mummy?"
She knelt down in front of him; she was so short that even in this position he was taller than her. "I'm here."
"Are you my mummy?"
She whispered. "Yes."
Rose was by the Doctor's left side; Astrid had jumped down to be on his right. The Doctor was sad, resigned. "He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left."
Astrid ignored him for the moment, smiling at the young woman with her son, tears rolling silently down her face.
Nancy, though her voice was filled with tears, was sincere. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." Then she hugged him to her chest tightly, she didn't care anymore what might happen to her, she just loved her son.
The nanogenes filled the air around them, surging all around the pair. "I am so, so sorry." Mother and child glowed with golden light. Nancy hugged her little boy tightly, her eyes closed as she stroked his hair lovingly.
Rose didn't understand. Her voice was filled with fear. "Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"
But he held out an arm to silence her. "Shh!" His expression was changing. He had been apprehensive before, but he was now excited. He understood how it could be a happy ending. "Come on, please. Come on, you CLEVER little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother. She's the mother! There's gotta be enough information. Figure it out!"
"What's happening?"
The Doctor pointed to the nanogenes, one particular part of them was brighter than the rest. "See? Recognizing the same DNA." Nancy fell away from the child tumbling to the ground, as the nanogenes disappeared. The Doctor, Astrid and Rose rushed over, the Doctor staring down at the child, hardly daring to hope. Astrid was grinning so widely though, and the tears had been wiped away. "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." It was almost like a prayer. He reached out to the gas-mask and it easily came off over the boy's head. The sweet little blond boy underneath looked a little confused. Nancy stared at her son in wonder and amazement. The Doctor laughed ecstatically. He lifted the boy into the air and spun around, making the boy smile. "Ah-ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years 'til pop music. You're gonna loveit." He hugged the boy tightly, laughing.
Nancy looked at the Doctor in wonder. "What happened?"
"The nanogenes recognized the superior information. The parent DNA. They didn't change YOU because YOU changed them! Haha!" He set Jamie down in front of her, grinning like a loon Astrid right beside him doing the same. "Mother knows best!"
Nancy held her son, crying this time in happiness. "Jamie!"
Another bomb dropped nearby, making Rose start. "Doctor, that bomb."
"Taken care of it."
"How?"
He gestured to Nancy and Jamie. "Psychology!"
The bomb plummeted towards them and was suddenly snatched out of the air by a blue force field. A moment later, Jack appeared hovering in the tunnel of light, sitting right on top of the bomb. He called down to them. "Doctor!"
"Good lad."
"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long." Jack was urgent.
"Change of plan! Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can?"
Jack focused on the girl he liked. "Rose?"
"Yeah?"
"Goodbye." He disappeared, leaving her very disappointed. Then he reappeared, still on the bomb. "By the way…love the t-shirt." He grinned at her which was returned easily, but she tugged at her t-shirt a little in embarrassment. Jack disappeared again and his ship zoomed off up into the night sky.
As they were conversing, the Doctor had his hands up and was staring at them intently. He summoned the nanogenes and they glowed golden around his hands.
"What're you doing?" Rose called out to him as he made his way slowly forward to face the crowd of gas-mask people.
"Software patch. Gonna email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." He threw his hands forward as if he was rolling a ball, towards the gas-mask people still moving about beyond the fence and in the yard. All of the people fell to the ground, the nanogenes surrounding them tightly, fixing them. The Doctor had on his goofy face, grinning so widely, his face so full of joy that Astrid couldn't help but join him in his enthusiasm. "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once. Everybody lives!" The gas-mask people got to their feet, but this time, they were back to being their normal selves. The nanogenes flew up and away, kept going to fix all the other mistakes.
The Doctor ran over to Dr. Constantine, happy enough that he was practically hopping. Astrid laughed excitedly. "Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor! World doesn't wanna get by without you just yet, and I don't blame it one bit." He gestured around to all the former gas-mask people just milling about. "These are your patients. All better now."
The poor doctor was clearly confused. "Yes, yes... so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"
The Doctor couldn't stop grinning. "Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks. Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably gonna find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?" He rushed back off to Rose and Astrid, and began to climb on top of the Chula medical ship. "Right, you lot! Lots to do! Beat the Germans. Save the world. Don't forget the Welfare State!"
Dr. Constantine smiled at the odd man and woman that had come into his life, but he couldn't argue with the results. He gestured to the nurses and everyone began to drift away.
The Doctor was at the controls as he spoke to Rose. "Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"
"Usually the first in line." She grinned at him and they all burst into laughter.
They walked into the TARDIS, the Doctor and Astrid still both grinning insanely. He was happily chattering away, explaining himself. "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered. Fantastic!" He laughed, Astrid joining him with a wide smile. I love this one…even with all the realism it brings to the fore, in the end…everyone is healthy, happy, and one little boy found his mummy.
Rose was smiling at their enthusiasm. "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas!"
"Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve?"
Astrid burst into hysterical laughter, leaning on the side seat as she clutched her belly. Rose lost her happiness in her shock. "What?"
The Doctor spread his arms out wide to encompass everything. "And everybody lives, Rose! Everybody lives!" He flipped a switch on the console, beginning to direct Astrid to certain switches and dials. "I need more days like this. Go on, ask me anything. I'm on FIRE!"
"What about Jack?" The Doctor's smile faded, but he doesn't stop working, moving Astrid's hand one button over when she almost vented out the oxygen in the room easily without expression. "Why did he say goodbye?" There was no answer as the Doctor stared intently at the console.
It took about five minutes, since the Doctor had to gently and discretely fix Astrid's mistakes, show her what to do correctly in such a way as to not frustrate her—which he had learned the hard way was a really good way to get an angry, crying girl in the library—so that they appeared in the cargo section of Jack's stolen ship.
Rose was teaching/reminding the Doctor how to dance with 'Moonlight Serenade' so that he could show Astrid. She had seen the problem easily in the storeroom before and knew that this was the best way to fix two problems at once. So far, it wasn't going so well.
Rose called out to Jack. "Well, hurry up then!"
Jack leapt to his feet and dashed into the TARDIS. Rose and the Doctor were waltzing around to 'Moonlight Serenade' by Glen Miller. Rose was teaching the Doctor dance moves, making okaying noises as they danced. Jack looked around at the sheer size of the place, compared with the outside. Astrid was sitting on the bus seat, watching. "Jack! Shut the door! Your ship is about to blow up, there's going to be a draft!"
The Doctor spun Rose around but got tangled. "Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time - don't get my arm up my back!" He looked sheepish. "No extra points for a half-nelson."
The Doctor was getting a little irritated, mostly at himself. "I'm SURE I used to know this stuff." The Doctor went over to the console and flipped a switch, starting up the engines as Jack obeyed the brunette girl. He looked at Jack. "Welcome to the TARDIS."
"Much bigger on the inside."
"You'd better be." The Doctor glared at him, but Astrid giggled and he had to smile at the girl.
Rose moved over to Jack and held out a hand. "I think what the Doctor's TRYINGto say is... you may cut in." They both grinned and he took her hand easily. They looked like they were about to start dancing when the Doctor interrupted them.
"Rose! I've just remembered!"
She looked over. "What?"
'In The Mood' blared out of the speakers - wherever they were. Lights flash all around the room, and the Doctor moved towards Star in time to the music, clicking his fingers. He remembered her comment about swing-dancing. "I can dance!" She gave him a huge grin and hopped off the seat.
Astrid took his hand and laughed gaily as he began to spin her around the TARDIS console room, just as she had practiced for hours when she was younger. It was fun, not sexy. But as he spun her out and then pulled her sharply in, they stopped, even with the music still going, and the world disappeared around her again. She stared up into his blue eyes, leaned forward, and their lips met in the blue-green glow of the Time Rotor.
Two more episodes until the end of 'Sister Star' and the beginning of 'Star Fall'. What do you guys think? Astrid lives off of reviews!