PLAGUE
TWENTYEIGHT
The group met him as he bounded out of the TARDIS, in his hand he held what appeared to be a dandelion gone to seed.
"What's that?" asked Rose.
"Well…" The Doctor looked down at the globe of fine filaments in his hand. "It's a protection, a cure, a sort of anti-weapon; designed and created for us by Wil."
He breathed out gently on the sphere and a few of the 'seeds' dispersed into the air and disappeared.
"We need to take it outside."
"I know just the place!" exclaimed Jack. "But first, kill the quarantine, Ianto." He looked at his colleague, who quickly typed a command on a keyboard; there was a rush of air as the facility unsealed. They then followed him silently up a long spiral staircase that exited through a hatch onto the roof of the Millennium Centre.
It was nighttime and the stars were out in full force.
"Would you like the honor?" The Doctor asked Jack.
"How about we give it to Rose?"
"No," The Doctor said softly, brown eyes meeting blue. "Unfortunately it has to be one of us."
"Then I'd be proud."
The Doctor handed the 'flower' to Jack, who took a deep breath, held the object to his lips and gently blew on it. The silvery strands were picked up by the breeze and carried away.
"That's it," said the Lord of Time, looking up at the sky. "As quickly as it spread, if not quicker, the nanotech will now disappear. Within a very short period of time all that will remain are the memories."
"And corpses," Jack sadly reminded him.
"Yes, those too. There's nothing I can do about those."
Rose reached for The Doctor's hand and held it tightly.
"Except, of course, your frozen Frenchman, Jack. Who you'll discover once you thaw him out, is quite fine."
Jack took Rose's other hand, and then reached out for Ianto, who in turn took Owen's hand.
"And what about Wil?" the Captain asked.
The Doctor was still looking up at the stars. The sun was about to rise; the midnight sky had begun to turn an inky blue with a breath of green. "She left a message for you in the TARDIS. You should go listen to it."
"Did you?"
"No, Jack. I never read other people's mail…"