Hey guys! Back with a longer chapter this time. Honestly, I had considered splitting this up into two chapters, but I couldn't really find a good point to break it off. Sorry if it gets a little too wordy at times. I'm beginning to appreciate just how challenging it is to write this story without proper-Rose and still have it retain some resemblance to the episodes. It's fun, though. On with the story, then!
I do not own Doctor Who.
Chapter 5: When Everybody Lived
Gas-masked zombies. As in, zombies that were wearing gas masks. Which somehow grew from the faces of people that were supposed to be healthy. They were all saying variations of the same thing: "Mummy! Mummy? Are you my mummy?" Which absolutely did not disturb him in the slightest. In fact, the night was getting better and better the longer it went on. But in all seriousness, he had to find out what was wrong with these people, and hopefully save them. Acting on a tip that girl Nancy gave him, he had headed into the old hospital after she lead him to the other end of Limehouse Green Station.
"There's someone you need to talk to first. The Doctor," she'd said.
Well, that had been easy enough. He'd made his way through the wards of the hospital, all of them occupied with the gas-mask people sleeping on the beds, before he came across the doctor. Constantine, he was called. And he was close to dying, he noted. When Dr. Constantine asked him to check the patients, he did so, albeit a little skeptically. But soon it turned into disbelief as he realized that all the patients had the same wounds: head trauma on the left side, partial collapse of the chest cavity on the right, and scarring on the back of the right hand. Mysterious still, was the fact that none of the patients had been caught in the bomb impact.
The Doctor looked back at Dr. Constantine, who had sighed as he began to tell him how, at first, there had only been one victim. How all the nurses and doctors who'd treated him became afflicted with the same injuries the next morning. How it all spread and by the time a week was over, the entire hospital was taken. Even more bizarre? None of the patients were physically alive, yet they still lived. Constantine had demonstrated this by hitting a trash bin; the dull clang woke up the patients and they all sat up at the same time for a few moments before laying back down. He then went on to say how there were isolated cases before wincing in pain. The Doctor rushed forward, concerned, but Constantine refused.
"Stay back. Stay back! Listen to me. Top floor. Room 802. That's where they took the first victim. The one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again," he said urgently.
"Nancy?" asked the Doctor, confused.
"It was her brother. She knows more than she is saying. She won't tell me, but she..."
Dr. Constantine stopped there, apparently unable to continue as he started gasping and groaning in pain and trying to breathe. He made guttural sounds, trying to speak.
"...Mum...my..." he croaked.
The Doctor's eyes widened. No. It couldn't be.
"Are...you...my...Mum...my...?"
The Doctor looked on in horror as Dr. Constantine's mouth opened wide and the muzzle of a gas mask forced its way out. His eyes were next as the lenses did the same, followed by the rest of his face. Within moments, he was one of them, a gas-masked zombie. His head drooped over on the side, no longer alive, but not really dead.
The Doctor stood there, staring at the thing that had been Constantine before he heard a voice calling.
"Hello?"
It was a man's voice. Frowning, he turned toward the doors. Who in the universe in their right minds would come here, he thought. The voice called out again, this time a little more louder.
"Hello?"
With an annoyed grunt, the Doctor strode over to the double doors and yanked one open. And found himself face to face with a dark-haired, blue-eyed man wearing a long military coat. He would have fit in quite well. However, the thing on his wrist (Oh, great. A Time Agent mucking about. Just what I needed) said quite clearly that he did not belong. But that was not the important part. He was carrying the girl in his arms, like how a parent would carry their child. And that bothered the Doctor. He watched as the man adjusted so he could carry the girl with one arm and extended his left hand out to him.
"Captain Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way here," he said, shaking his hand. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Doctor Spock."
The Doctor almost spluttered when he heard that name as he watched this Jack ease his left arm around the girl again in what looked like a protective manner. He noticed a faint look of amusement pass between them, like they were sharing an inside joke.
"Ah, likewise. Tell me, why do you have my ward...uh, I mean, the girl with you?" asked the Doctor.
"I found her about an hour ago. Poor kid was hanging from a barrage balloon and she was about to fall. So I saved her," said Jack, walking through the door.
The Doctor, realizing he was still holding the door open, let it swing shut and followed after the young Captain, intent on learning more. But the Captain beat him to it.
"So. Doctor. How did you end up with her being your ward? I mean, I wouldn't know myself, but I was under the impression that doctors are too busy for anything other than healing people. Which is admirable, by the way," he said, setting the girl down and holding her hand instead.
"It's a long story. You wouldn't be interested," said the Doctor evasively.
"Try me," said Jack, raising his eyebrows.
The Doctor heaved a sigh. He needed to find a way to save those patients, but he was still at a loss. Might as well talk.
"I won't bore you with the details, but it was in the year 5.5/Apple/26. There was a viewing party for the day the Earth burned. One of the attendees tried sabotaging it and I ended up having to save the day. And before I knew it, the sponsor of the event left her in my care," he said, pacing around.
To his slight annoyance, Jack was staring at him with a mixture of amusement and skepticism.
"Uh-huh. So, basically, you're like her nanny now," he said with a snicker.
"Oi, sod off! It's not like I asked!" the Doctor snapped. "I found her on my ship afterward. Wanted to drop her off on Earth somewhere. Maybe even New Earth. Somewhere she could be taken care of. But..."
Jack's smile faded.
"But what?" he asked.
"My ship seemed to take issue with that. So I had to let her stay," finished the Doctor.
A dark look crossed the Captain's face, and he noticed how he pulled the girl closer to him, as if he was afraid he might lose her. Strange.
"Let me ask you something, Captain. What is it about her that fascinates you?" he asked. "You say you saved her, and I don't doubt that. But you look like you're trying to protect her. Why?"
Jack's jaw tightened as he looked down at the girl for a moment, and she looked back up at him.
"She...she reminds me of someone I lost a long time ago. My sister," he finally said, ruffling the girl's hair.
The Doctor could tell he was hiding something, but he sensed the truth in his words; the pain in his voice was hard to miss. Sighing, he nodded at the younger man in understanding.
"I get it. I really do. But right now, I'm in the middle of a very big problem here. One that could be disastrous if it gets out of hand," he said, gesturing to the gas-masked people in the beds.
The Captain glanced around.
"What is happening here, Doc?" he asked.
The Doctor flicked his eyes over to the patients as he spoke.
"Human DNA is being re-written. 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?"
The Doctor spoke the last part distractedly, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He really could not shake the feeling that there was something more going on between the girl and the Captain. He had noticed their gazes meeting every so often, but now it looked like they were staring rather intently into each others' eyes. Almost like they were silently communicating with each other. Or more like the girl was communicating with him. But that was impossible, right? Well, nothing was really impossible, just highly unlikely. And the possibility that these two were telepathic definitely fell under that category.
And then, quite suddenly, his train of thought was interrupted when the gas-masked zombies all sat up at once and climbed out of their beds.
"Mummy?"
"Mummy!
"Mummy, mummy..."
More and more cries for their mummy filled the air as they slowly shuffled toward the Doctor, Jack, and the girl. More and more, as they found themselves backed against the wall. The Doctor felt a small hand grab at his wrist and he looked at the girl, who was once again carried in the Captain's arms. His mind began to haze.
"Go to your room!"
He shook his head rapidly, trying to clear it.
"Go to your room," he admonished.
To his immense surprise, the gas-masked zombies stopped shuffling and stood still.
"Go to your room!" he said again, raising his voice slightly.
The zombies tilted their heads to the left, as if in confusion.
"I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross. Go. To. Your. Room!" he nearly bellowed, finger pointing in the air.
The zombies turned around and made their way back to their beds. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been terrible last words," he said brightly.
Jack only rolled his eyes and both him and the girl shared another look of amusement. The Doctor frowned slightly again. Really, just what exactly was the big joke between them? It was starting to drive him nuts. He was about to go over to them when he noticed their looks became intense again. The young Captain was staring into the face of the girl, and unless he was mistaken, the Doctor thought he looked troubled. The girl, in turn, had a soft look in her eyes, like she was trying to reassure him. This went on for a few more minutes until finally, Jack nodded, a look of resignation on his face. With a sigh, he turned to the Doctor.
"I know what went wrong. It was that thing you were chasing earlier," he began.
"Wait...that mauve object? Are you telling me you...?" the Doctor trailed off, irritation beginning to well up.
"Yes. I was the one who threw it. Mind you, you weren't supposed to be the ones who ended up with it," Jack said, setting the girl down on a chair and sitting on the one next to her. "But you just had to go and tether yourselves to it."
"What do you mean, we weren't supposed to end up with it? Who was it supposed to be for?" asked the Doctor, glaring at him.
And as the Doctor listened to the ex-Time Agent launch into an explanation on how he had planned to con the Time Agency, he couldn't help but notice again the closeness between Jack and the girl. He also suspected that Jack knew her name. This thought did not really make him feel any better. In fact, he felt something akin to jealousy. (Hah. Time Lords did NOT get jealous.)
"...I buy him a drink with his own money and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con," Jack finished.
"Yeah, perfect," grumbled the Doctor.
Jack heaved another sigh.
"Look, it really wasn't supposed to be this way. I never meant to hurt anyone. I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living," he said. "But I think something got out of it."
"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor impatiently.
Before Jack had a chance to answer, another siren went off.
"The all-clear," he said glumly.
"I wish," scoffed the Doctor, and left through the doors.
Jack watched the Doctor go. He and Rosie gave each other exasperated looks.
"What do you think, Rosie? Let's go after him, huh?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.
She nodded and took his hand, grinning. With that, they ran out of the ward and into the corridors.
"Doctor Spock?" Jack shouted, trying not to laugh.
As they ran past a stairwell, they heard him.
"Have you got a blaster?"
Skidding to a halt, they turned and headed over to the stairs. The Doctor was leaning over the railing on the second flight.
"Sure," said Jack.
They ran up the stairs and stopped in front of a door marked "802."
"The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt. This is where they were taken," explained the Doctor.
"What happened?" asked Jack.
"Let's find out. Get it open."
Jack rolled his eyes, but got out his sonic blaster anyway and pointed it at the keyhole. A square ray of blue energy shot out and in seconds, the keyhole and the metal plating were gone. The door swung open slightly.
"Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon factories of Villengard," said the Doctor, eying the blaster.
Jack bit back a snarky response, knowing what had happened to the factories. The Doctor's obsession with bananas was amusing from time to time, but this was not one of them. However, he smiled at Rosie, remembering her saying that she liked the blaster. Or more precisely, the blast pattern. Same difference, really. He followed the Doctor into the room, noticing how Rosie seemed to tighten her arms around him. He didn't blame her in the slightest. What happened the first time gave him the creeps too. He really had no desire to relive it.
The Doctor turned on the light.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Jack gave the room a once-over. Chairs were over-turned, paper was strewn around, and glass from what appeared to be an observation room littered the floor. Old recording equipment lay battered on the desk.
"Something got out," he said.
"Yeah. And?"
"Something powerful. Angry."
The Doctor nodded slightly.
"Powerful and angry," he echoed.
He went over to the recording equipment while Jack inspected the observation room with Rosie. The paper scattered on the floor all had drawings. They looked like they were drawn by a child. A stuffed polar bear on wheels sat near one corner and most of the walls were covered with similar crayon drawings.
"A child? I suppose this explains 'Mummy.' But how could a child do this?"
Though he was fast recovering the memories of what happened previously, Jack still found it difficult to swallow.
"Do you know where you are?"
Reflexively, he tightened his hold on Rosie at the voice. He turned toward the Doctor, who had turned on the recording.
"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? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
Rosie suddenly buried her face into Jack's chest. He felt her shaking and turned toward the Doctor, opening his mouth to tell him to turn the recording off; the repeated calls of "Mummy!" were unnerving him too. But the Doctor was already striding into the observation room, looking more than a little frustrated.
"What is it? What's wrong with her?" he asked impatiently.
"She's scared, Doc. And frankly, I don't blame her," said Jack, annoyed.
"Can you sense it, then? Or her? Coming out of the walls, can you feel it? Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
Jack bit back another retort at the Doctor's insult. He might have considered the Time Lord his friend, but the rudeness was one thing he didn't miss. The Doctor began pacing around, continuing his train of thought, punctuated by the recording.
"There are these children, living rough around the bomb sites. They come out during air raids, looking for food. Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed. Suppose one was affected, altered."
"I'm here!"
"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet. But it will do. It's got the power of a god and I just sent it to its room."
The Doctor chuckled humorlessly at this. That was when Jack noticed the small flapping noise. It sounded like...
"I'm here! Can't you see me?"
"End of the tape. It ran out about 30 seconds ago," said the Doctor, a grimace on his face.
"I'm here now! Can't you see me?"
"I sent it to its room. This is its room," he said, eyes widening.
Quickly he spun around, and Jack saw the gas-masked child standing on the other side of the glass, where the recording equipment was.
"Are you my mummy?" it repeated, tilting its head. "Mummy?"
"Okay. On my signal, make for the door," he said tensely, already feeling the embarrassment of what would happen next.
Which was to pull out a banana, aim it at the zombie kid, and bellow out, "NOW!"
The Doctor, who had his blaster, aimed it at the wall and pulled.
"Go, now! And don't drop the banana! It's a good source of potassium!" he shouted as they rushed through the large square-shaped hole.
Once on the other side, Jack snatched his blaster from the Doctor's grip.
"Gimme that!" he yelled, and aimed it at the hole, which the child was now approaching.
"Mummy! I want my mummy..."
Instantly, the wall became solid again. The two men breathed a sigh of relief, while Rosie relaxed somewhat in Jack's arms. The Captain kissed her forehead affectionately.
"Digital rewind. Nice switch," he said, tossing the banana back to the Doctor.
"It's from the groves of Villengard. Thought it was appropriate," said the Time Lord smugly.
"There really is a banana grove in the heart of Villengard? And you did that?"
"Bananas are good."
A rather loud crunching sound came from the wall they had just closed up, followed by a louder cracking, pounding sound. The wall began to split.
"C'mon!" yelled the Doctor.
They bolted around the corner and started dashing down another hallway toward yet another set of double doors. But before they reached them, they opened and a slew of gas-masked zombies came shuffling in toward them, all calling for their mummy. Quickly, they ran back the way they came from, only to see another group of them coming.
"It's keeping us here so it can get at us," said the Doctor, looking at both groups approaching. "It's not just controlling them, it is them. It's every living thing in this hospital."
"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and it's a triple-folded sonic disruptor. Doc, what you got?"
Jack could hardly keep the smirk off his face, remembering how he pretty much upstaged the Doctor last time. And sure enough, he listened to the Doctor try and deflect until the zombies were practically pressing in on all sides, until he shouted "Screwdriver!" Grinning at Rosie knowingly, he slipped his blaster into her hands and helped her aim it at the floor.
"Doc! We're going down!"
The three fell through and into the room beneath, Jack using his body to cushion Rosie from hitting the floor. Quickly, he sealed the hole in the ceiling and straightened himself up. Rosie, who had gotten to her feet, sidled next to him and clutched his hand. He looked down at her.
"You okay, Rosie?"
Yeah, I'm fine.
"Doc, you okay?" he asked.
"Could've used a warning," grumbled the Doctor.
"You're welcome," he said, sarcastically. "Who has a sonic screwdriver?"
"I do," came the indignant reply.
"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'Ooh, this could be a little more sonic?'"
"What? You never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"
"Mummy!"
Jack gulped. Apparently, their little argument was loud enough to wake up more of the zombies. Like the others, they climbed out of their beds and shuffled towards them.
"Door!" he shouted, running to it while pulling Rosie gently after him. "And use your screwdriver thing! I don't think my blaster has any more juice left. Which, thanks by the way, since someone had to blow up the factory, so I couldn't even get a new battery for it."
The Doctor just rolled his eyes and soniced the door open. They ran into the room. As the Doctor soniced the door shut and locked, Jack knelt down to Rosie's level. She regarded him solemnly, and the Captain realized, with a sinking feeling, how the rest needed to play out, what he needed to do. She slipped her hand into his again.
Jack...I'm sorry. But it needs to happen this way, and you know that.
"I know, Rosie. I just hate leaving you alone. And I know he's the Doctor, but...he's not our Doctor."
I get it, Jack. Don't worry. Everything will be fine, I promise. I'll make sure of it! You can count on me!
"I know I can. Doesn't mean I like it any better though. Maybe I should order him to protect you at all costs."
I don't think he'll like that. It'll be funny though, yeah?
"Definitely."
Jack wrapped his arms around the small girl and gave her a hug, which Rosie returned. He really wasn't looking forward to this, but he didn't have much choice.
"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit," the Doctor was saying.
"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack said incredulously, standing up.
"It's got to find us first," said the Doctor nonchalantly.
Jack sighed. Here goes.
"Doc...we can't really get out of here. We don't exactly have assets. I mean, I've got a banana and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves. The windows are barred and even if we could remove them, there's a sheer drop 7 stories high."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah. So what are you suggesting?"
Taking another deep breath and giving Rosie's hand a gentle squeeze, he said, "There's something I can do, something that could get us to safety for the time-being. But I have to leave her with you and return to my ship so I can do it."
The Doctor snorted derisively.
"Oh. Fantastic. Great plan. Leave the girl with me so you could go back to your little ship? Why? 'Cos you're tired of babysittin' her?"
Jack marched right up to him, standing just inches from his face.
"Listen up, Doc. You may be an all-powerful Time Lord. But you don't know a single damn thing about me. If you think for even one second that I'm abandoning her, you couldn't be more wrong," he growled, and stepped back.
The Doctor blinked in surprise.
"Okay, then. Let's say I believe you. There's still one thing I don't quite understand. What is she to you?" he asked.
Jack, who had picked up Rosie in his arms again, walked over to the Doctor, and held her out to him.
"I won't be long, but...keep her safe. Don't let anything happen to her. She's the most precious in existence."
Shock spread across the Doctor's face as he let the Captain put her in his arms. Jack fiddled with his vortex manipulator and in the next second, he was gone.
The Doctor stared at the spot where Jack had been just a moment ago. His mind was still reeling a little from the ex-cons words.
"She is the most precious in existence."
Back on Platform One, the Face of Boe had said the same exact thing. But that would mean...No, it couldn't be...that was absurd. A coincidence, perhaps? Though centuries of being all over the place had taught him that nothing was coincidence, that was really taking the cake, even for him. Sighing, he turned his attention to the small girl in his arms, finally taking time to actually look at her. Her eyes locked onto his, and he felt the faintest of shivers go down his spine. Her eyes, which looked both green and brown, were strange to him. And was it his imagination, or was that a spark of gold he saw in them? Never mind that, though. A strange warmth started to well up inside him the longer he held the girl in his arms. It wasn't all that unpleasant, either. In fact, it was really quite-
"Doctor, Rosie, can you hear me?"
The Doctor set the girl (Rosie?) on a wheelchair and ran over to the radio, which was making static noises.
"Back on my ship. I used the emergency teleport. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure, so that's why I couldn't take you. I'm working on it, hang in there."
"How are you speaking to us?" asked the Doctor suspiciously.
"Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill."
"Now there's a coincidence. The child can do that too. Anything with a speaker grill. Even the phone on the outside of my TARDIS," he said.
"And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiind you."
The Doctor backed away when he heard that child's voice coming through.
"Doctor, can you hear that?"
"Loud and clear," confirmed the Doctor.
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do."
"Coming to find you, Mummy."
"Rosie, this is for you. Remember this?"
A song the Doctor recognized as "Moonlight Serenade" issued from the radio speaker. He felt a tug on his wrist and looked down to find the girl at his side. He knelt down so they were face to face.
"So you're called Rosie," he said.
That is what he calls me.
He almost fell backwards out of shock. He never heard her speak before, but he was never expecting that. Although, it did make sense, come to think of it.
"How are you doing that? And why?" he asked.
By touching you. This is the only way I can talk
Ah, so she was a touch telepath. But that didn't seem right.
"Please, tell me. Just tell me who you are. Why are you here? Where are you really from?"
I can't. Not now. Not for awhile.
Argh. This was getting irritating.
"And why ever not?"
She looked at him serenely for a moment. And then she slid off the chair and wrapped her arms around his neck so that their cheeks were touching. Again, he felt warmth.
Because it's not time for you to know yet...Doctor.
The Doctor widened his eyes as Rosie let go of him. This girl knew who he was. And that was one of the things he hated, when someone he had no knowledge of had knowledge of him. And yet, there was just the faintest stir in the furthest reaches of his mind that said he was supposed to know who this strange girl was. She tilted her head, as if she could sense it.
"I see you're making friends with Rosie there. Most people notice when they've been teleported," said an amused voice.
The Doctor looked around. Sure enough, they weren't in the hospital anymore. They were now in what appeared to be a warship of some kind. Chula, if he was not mistaken. Which meant...He saw Jack lazily spinning the pilot's seat around to face them. As soon as she saw him, Rosie ran over and he scooped her up into the seat with him. The Doctor felt another twinge of annoyance.
"Sorry 'bout the delay," said Jack, not noticing the glare he was being given. "Had to take the Nav-Com offline to over-ride the teleport security."
"You can spend 10 minutes over-riding your own protocols. Maybe you should remember whose ship it is," said the Doctor tersely.
Jack smirked. "I do. But that story is definitely not for her ears," he said, sharing a mischievous grin with Rosie. "Wouldn't want to be a bad influence and everything."
The Doctor rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. Instead, he snapped his fingers and right away, a ball of golden particles surrounded his right hand.
"Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk," he said, watching the gold ball disperse, leaving his hand healed where he had burned it on the console earlier.
"As soon as I get the Nav-Com back online. Make yourself comfortable," said Jack, pointing out to Rosie what to press.
"Alright then. Since we're waiting, why don't you answer something for me? What did you mean back there, when you said she was the most precious in existence?" asked the Doctor, looking at them both.
Jack didn't speak for a few minutes, letting the chair swivel back and forth as he contemplated.
"I woke up one day, and I found out 2 years of my life were gone. I was pretty sure the Agency was behind it. That's why I started with the cons. I didn't know if I was gonna get them back, but I had to try. And here's the weird part. I started having dreams that someone was calling out to me, asking me to find them. At first, I thought it was just the alcohol. I was already here for some time before you arrived. But then, when I saw her clinging to that balloon tonight...well, I knew it was her. I just knew it. Don't ask me to elaborate, 'cause I can't. All I know is that I have to protect her," he said.
The Doctor was silent. He didn't like the sound of this, not at all. It sounded like there was someone toying with Jack. Just like he felt like he was being toyed with. He was about to voice his suspicions to Jack when he saw them. Rosie was now curled up into a ball on the young Captain's lap, who, in turn, was allowing her to fall asleep. He really couldn't deny the bond the pair had so clearly formed. And try as he might, he couldn't stop feeling so vexed at the closeness they had.
There was a beeping sound coming from over the pilot seat, shaking the Doctor out of his thoughts.
"Okay, we're good to go," said the Captain. "The crash site?"
The Doctor cursed in Gallifreyan as what seemed like hundreds of gas-masked zombies came shuffling toward them. Jack just had to fiddle with the Chula ambulance, which just had to go blaring out an alarm. That, of course, was what had them surrounded. His anger at the young Captain was already at its boiling point. He'd suspected that Jack had known something about this. But the little shouting match between them minutes ago all but cemented the fact that he was involved.
"There were nanogenes in there. But they're nothing like the ones in your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and skull, but they do their best. And then off they fly, off they go, there's work to be done. Because now, they think they know what a human's suppose to look like. And it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't stop. They won't ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt into the form of a terrified child looking for its mother and nothing is gonna stop it!" he spat out.
"I KNOW THAT!" Jack bellowed, making Nancy back away a few steps. "I know that. But I have to let this happen. I have to see this through. All the way to the end. History has to play out like it's meant to. Because this...this is all wrong. It's so wrong. It has to be fixed."
"What? By letting the whole world be infected?" asked the Doctor, about ready to blow up.
"No. By letting them figure it out," Jack said simply, turning to the girl in his arms. "Isn't that right, Rosie?"
The Doctor really wanted to just let the bomb come and hit right then and there. At least, he could regenerate. He glared at Rosie, certain that she was involved as well. When the girl met his eyes though, he only saw pleading in them. She reached out to him. Jack, as if anticipating this, passed her over to the Doctor's arms.
"Protect her, Doc. I know you don't trust either of us, but please...keep her safe. I have to go see this through. And you...you have a job to do. This is the night when everyone is supposed to live, after all," he said quietly.
And he looked so serious and so determined that even the Doctor was a little surprised. Before he got the chance to say anything, Jack pointed his sonic tool upward and disappeared. And right away, in the midst of all the zombies, his head clouded once more.
"Are you my mummy?"
"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry."
Nancy reached out and held the gas-masked child in her arms, gold particles already beginning to surround them.
The Doctor blinked. Rosie pointed toward the large wooden double doors just as they swung open to reveal the child and all those converted. The child was at the front. And the Doctor knew now exactly what his role in all this was. He turned to Nancy, who was quietly sobbing.
"Tell him. Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. You're his mummy, aren't you? Trust me, and tell him," he told her.
Quieting her sobs, Nancy stepped forward to the child, who was also stepping toward her.
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes, I am your mummy," she said softly.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here."
But it seemed as if the child had almost no self-awareness left, and the Doctor told her so.
"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry," said Nancy in a stronger voice, opening her arms.
And as she embraced her child, the air glowed with the nanogenes, hovering around the mother and child.
"Come one, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out. It's gotta be enough information. Figure it out," he murmured.
When Nancy broke away from Jamie, he quickly set Rosie down and ran over to them.
"Come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one," he said, hope hammering at his chest.
And he lifted the gas mask off the little boy's head. With a joyful yell, he lifted him into a hug and then set him down by Nancy, who held him again. He grinned at Rosie and noticed her gaze at the sky. At the same time she pointed up, he heard the small explosion. His grin slid off almost at once. The bomb! And he'd forgotten about it. Already brainstorming how to somehow move hundreds and hundreds of zombies away from a rather large explosive in under a minute, he didn't notice the bomb had stopped in mid-air, nor the Chula ship above it, suspending it with a tractor beam. That is, until he heard Jack shouting.
"Doctor! The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis, but it won't last long. I'm gonna go and get rid of this thing as safely as I can," he called, atop the bomb.
Oh. That was what he meant. He was going to...Jack shouted again.
"Rosie! I have to go now. Be a good girl, okay?"
The Doctor hardly noticed the ship flying away, the full realization of what exactly Jack was doing, what he had probably known he had to do from the beginning, finally hit him. If he did not feel guilty for doubting the young Captain yet, the tears that were now forming in Rosie's eyes was reason enough. And he didn't like it that Rosie was crying. He'd make it better. Giving her a reassuring smile, he raised his hands. The nanogenes began gathering at once.
"You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves!" he said without thinking, and sent the nanogenes forward toward the rest of the gas-masked zombies.
The gold particles danced around them, and within moments, everyone was back to normal.
"Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once! Everybody lives!" he shouted happily, grinning wider than ever.
And after he had made a small speech about beating the Germans, saving the world, and the welfare state, and had sent everyone on their way, he set the ambulance on self destruct. No way he was going to risk this whole ordeal repeating itself. His face faltered a little when he noticed Rosie's wistful smile. And he understood what had to be done next. It was only right. He knelt down to her level.
"Well, Rosie. So many people were saved tonight. How about we save one more, yeah?" he said.
The way she launched herself into his arms was answer enough. And he found that it was actually a rather pleasant feeling. He liked it.
"Let's go then," he said, holding her hand and straightening up.
And they both headed back to the TARDIS to save the Captain. After all, he was right. This was the night when everybody lived.
There it ends for this chapter. And yes, I do believe that the Doctor is starting to remember, but not quite. It'll be a gradual thing. The next chapter will be an interlude chapter, but the one after that will probably be the beginning of the Gamestation storyline. Which I'm already starting to brainstorm for. If anyone has suggestions for that one, feel free to let me know. Until next time!