Chapter Twelve: Confusing the Scent

The Doctor backtracked down the hallway at a run, still wheeling both anesthesia machines. His mind positively buzzed, so much that he nearly failed to notice when Martha stepped in front of him.

"Doctor?" She seemed out of breath, likely due to the thinner air supply as much as running.

"Martha! There you are!" His grin quickly faded. "How is everyone, how's Rose? No, no, hold that thought. Where's Jack? The Family of Blood's moved."

He spoke so quickly that Martha had to pause a moment before responding. "What do you mean, moved?"

"They've switched bodies," the Doctor explained, grabbing her shoulders. "I need to warn Jack. Where is he?"

"Third floor still, I think. We could…I don't know, call him or something? No signal, though…maybe the intercom is working?"

The Doctor released her. "Call! Phone! I've got a mobile!" He patted himself down, fishing out John Tyler's mobile from his inside lab coat pocket and kissing it. "I've got a mobile! Brilliant! Oh, you humans and your silly little phones! Thank you!"

Downstairs, Rose wriggled in Father of Mine's grip as she watched what used to be Jack sniff the air with a frown.

"This body feels…off," Son of Mine said with Jack's voice, flexing his hand in front of his eyes. "But powerful. Not like the other humans."

"He's only half-human," Rose lied quickly. If the Family found out about Jack's immortality…

Son of Mine looked her up and down thoughtfully. "I can't access much surface memory…He must have had psychic training. However…" He grinned, eyes lighting up with triumph. "She's Rose. She loves the Doctor. Or…" He thought a moment. "Or the Doctor loves her…"

Rose swallowed her panic. "Definitely one-sided. He only likes French girls. Wouldn't look at me twice. Ask anyone."

Son of Mine frowned. "No. No, I don't think so." He closed his eyes and leaned in closer, his nose almost touching hers as he inhaled deeply. Rose nearly lashed out at him, but stopped herself. If she injured Jack, he'd heal, and the Family of Blood would know they'd found themselves someone much more appetising than the Doctor.

Son of Mine smiled as he moved back. "She certainly smells like him. He's left his mark all over her."

Rose settled for spitting in his face.

Son of Mine glared at her and she flinched as he raised his arm—

Jack's mobile rang, and the Family of Blood all froze for a moment.

Rose fought with a new fervour as Son of Mine reached into Jack's pocket and pulled out the mobile.

"Keep her quiet," he ordered, and answered the phone.

"DOC—" Rose started, but Father of Mine's headlock tightened like a vise while his other hand covered her mouth and nose. Rose scrambled desperately to yell, to get free, but she couldn't breathe. She could only listen helplessly as Son of Mine flashed her a malicious smile and spoke into the phone.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor's knuckles were white as he clutched the phone, listening to the maddening drone at the other end.

"Doctor?" Jack's voice came on the other side of the line.

"Jack," the Doctor said in relief, "The Family of Blood, they've switched bodies!"

"They've switched bodies?" Jack repeated, tone even.

"Yes. So stop loading people into the TARDIS; we can't let them get in."

"Yes, sir, I'll do that."

The Doctor frowned. He couldn't detect even a hint of sarcasm in Jack's voice. The 'sir' was genuine. "Be careful, Jack. Don't get anywhere near them. I meant what I said."

"Believe me, Doctor, I'm staying far away."

The Doctor's frown deepened. "Good. Where are you?"

A split-second hesitation. "Third floor."

"Molto bene. I'll meet you by the fourth-floor examination room then. See you."

"Goodbye."

The Doctor hung up and stared grimly at the phone for a moment, then returned it to his pocket.

"Well?" Martha said anxiously.

The Doctor rubbed both hands through his hair with a frustrated groan. "They've taken Jack."

Martha covered her mouth. "You mean he's dead?"

The Doctor's hands slid down his face. "Yes. Which is possibly the worst thing that could have happened. Well…not quite the worst. But we're getting there."

Martha watched warily as the Doctor's hands clenched into fists at his sides. In his eyes flashed a thunderous anger that gave her chills. "They took Jack. They really, really shouldn't have done that."

He snatched one of the anesthesia machines and rolled it towards Martha. "Help me." He grabbed the machine behind the first and wheeled it down the hall at a run, sonicking it with his other hand.

Martha broke into a run behind him, dragging her machine. "What are we going to do?"

"As much as I hate saying this, we've got to kill Jack," the Doctor called back before sticking the screwdriver in his teeth a moment and sticking his hand into the wiring.

"I thought you said he was already dead!"

The Doctor yanked the screwdriver back out and ran it over his machine. "Jack's a bit special. He can't exactly die. To the Family, I might be a ten-course dinner, but Jack's an all-you-can-eat-buffet. The good news is, they haven't realised it yet."

"Hold on, how can someone not 'exactly die?' You mean he's an alien too?" Martha asked in alarm as they rounded a corner.

"Immortal human—I'll explain later—"

"Immortal?"

The Doctor screeched to a stop as he reached the fourth-floor examination room. He wheeled his anesthesia machine inside, then ushered Martha and her machine in. "Point is, the minute Jack's body is injured, the Family will realise what he is and what he can be to them. So we'll have to kill him instantly. Jack himself should come back if we can just get the Family out of him."

He yanked a hose off of the anesthesia machine.

Martha backed up. "What are you doing? You're letting the gas out!"

"Nitrous oxide!" the Doctor said grimly, yanking the hose off Martha's machine. "Better known as laughing gas. With a nice drug cocktail of my own mixed in. High enough dosage should do the trick. The air's already thin, so oxygen levels are low, and I've concentrated the dosage." He dumped some more pills down each hose and sonicked the machines a bit more. "Was supposed to just keep them unconscious for extended periods of time, but if they've got Jack I need it a bit stronger. I'm super-infusing the dosage enough to be fatal." He rubbed his back against the door vigorously, like he was scratching an itch, then licked his palm and wiped it all over the inside of the doorframe. "Let them follow my scent in, lock them inside, wait a bit, use my respiratory bypass to go in and grab Jack, wait for him to wake up. Then we can deal with the Judoon."

Martha, who still couldn't believe she was not only listening, but following, nodded. "There's a room across the hall we can hide in."

"Brilliant, Martha Jones. Er…" The Doctor rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "This is just to hide my scent a bit, understand? So they'll follow the smell into the room and not realise I'm hiding across the hall. Doesn't mean anything. Honestly."

"Um…what?" Martha asked, utterly bewildered.

"Sorry, so sorry," the Doctor said hastily as he started to tug Martha's lab coat off her shoulders. "I'll give it right back, promise."

"It's just a coat," Martha said as she shrugged it off, still a bit confused.

"Well," the Doctor said as he put Martha's lab coat on over his own, "It was really more about this."

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Very tightly. So tightly that Martha could feel two hearts pounding against her chest and every one of his ribs pressing against hers and his jaw nuzzling her cheek. Her eyes widened. "You've got—"

"Two hearts, yep. Told you so. Walk towards the door," he murmured into her ear.

Walking awkwardly they scooted through the door.

"Close it."

For a moment, Martha stood there stupidly, mind completely unable to focus. She wondered if her knees were going to give out.

"The door, Martha," the Doctor said impatiently.

Martha shook herself a bit. "Right, right." She couldn't really see pressed up against him as she was, but she managed to slide an arm free to pull the door shut behind her.

"And across the hall…"

They shuffled through the door opposite, and the Doctor pulled it shut behind him and released her immediately. "There we are! Ta." He tossed her lab coat back at her and nudged the blinds covering the window next to the door aside. "Good view of the hall," he said appreciatively.

Martha scooted next to him to peer out the hall. "Now what?" she asked, praying he couldn't hear the breathlessness in her voice.

"Now, Martha Jones? We wait."

Spots danced in front of Rose's eyes. Her muffled screams had become desperate attempts to gasp by the time the phone call finished. Father of Mine's hand still enveloped her mouth and nose, cutting off air.

"Goodbye." Son of Mine slid the phone back into his pocket. He glanced briefly at the weakly struggling Rose, then turned to Father of Mine behind her. "He's on the fourth floor."

"Then kill the woman and let's go," Sister of Mine whined, her young arms folded in front of her and her foot tapping impatiently.

"Patience, Daughter of Mine," Father of Mine droned. "I say we bring her. Revenge for your mother. Make the Time Lord watch her suffer before he is consumed."

Son of Mine nodded coldly. "If that is the case, then I suggest you loosen your grip, Father of Mine, or else she won't make it to the lift."

"Take this," Sister of Mine offered, holding out the blaster to him.

Rose gasped for air as Father of Mine's hand moved from her face to the blaster. He jammed it against her skull as he dragged her towards the lift. "Move, human."

"There they are," the Doctor murmured, "That's right, follow the scent…"

Martha peered at the group approaching. "You sure that's them? They look normal."

"So did the plasmavore. No, they've killed the human and took the shell," the Doctor explained quietly as he too watched them approach. "See, there's Jack in the front, and…" Every muscle in the Doctor's body tensed beside her as he choked. "Rose…"

Martha gasped as she picked Rose out from the group. The Doctor had gone completely rigid. She put a hand on his arm comfortingly, but he yanked away.

"What is she doing out here?"

"I heard her asking Jack if we needed any help, and she was doing fine when I left." Martha reached for his hand and squeezed it. "Look, that one's got a gun on her, right? So she's still her. They haven't taken her over or anything."

The Doctor relaxed, but only slightly. Then he ran a hand through his hair in frustration as the Family and Rose moved closer. "But they're going to follow the scent—they're going to bring her in there with them..." With his hair an utter mess, he stared at the approaching Family resolutely. "Right, plan B."

"What's plan B?"

"No plan B." He gazed around, spotted a fire extinguisher, and seized it.

"But—but you must have some sort of plan or something."

"Working on it!" He grabbed a roll of gauze, tore off a long strip, and looped it around the fire extinguisher's handle so he could sling it around his shoulder.

"…So, what's the plan?" Martha asked, completely at a loss.

The Doctor flashed her a smile that contrasted with his previous distress so greatly it caught Martha off guard. "Oh, the usual. Save Rose and think of something clever. Stay here." And before she could protest, the Doctor jumped out from their hiding room and in front of the Family, arms up in surrender.