This was the fourth time in a matter of days that I had been a hundred percent sure I was about to die. Unlike the last time, I wasn't able to save myself, but that didn't mean somebody else couldn't.
Even as the patients advanced, the Doctor stepped forward. "Go to your room." He ordered and I furrowed my eyebrows as I watched him. Was he insane? I guess he wasn't because they all stopped where they stood. "Go to you room." He repeated and every single patient cocked their head to the side as they stared at him. "I mean it," He said. "I am very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross." When they didn't move, the Doctor tried again. "Go. To. Your. Room!" He pointed to the left.
At first I was certain that the patients were going to bum rush him, but instead they all began to slowly turn and head back to their respective beds before getting back into them. Once they were all back into bed, the Doctor let out a breath.
"I'm really glad that worked." He said. "Those would've been terrible last words." I looked at him in disbelief. He saw my look. "What?
THE DOCTOR DANCES
Linnie, Jack, Rose and the Doctor must find a way to get them out of their current mess; surrounded by infected patients who want their mummies. What happens when they all finally come face to face with Patient Zero? What secrets is Nancy, a girl who makes it her mission to care for the street children of London, hiding? And why is Linnie suddenly not feeling too hot? And why the hell won't the TARDIS let her sleep?
"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked from where she kneeled next to one of the patients in bed. She obviously hadn't learnt her lesson the first time. I, on the other hand, had and was once again seated on the desk in the middle of the room while Jack sat in the chair.
"They're not." He answered. "Those masks are skin and bone."
"That's disgusting." I commented.
"How was you're con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked and Jack looked over to him as he put his feet up onto the desk next to me.
"Simple enough, really." He said and I pushed his feet back onto the floor. "Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable an name a price. When he's put fifty percent upfront...oops!" Jack held his hands out. "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."
I scoffed. "Because it totally went according to plan." I said gesturing at the gas mask wearing patients.
Jack ignored me, I was really getting tired of people ignoring me as if I wasn't here. "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." He laughed. Nobody else did.
"That's not funny." I said and Jack's laughter died down.
"I'm assuming you disapprove?" He said looking at me and then the Doctor.
"Look around the room." The Doctor ordered. "This is what your piece of harmless space junk did."
"It was a burnt-out medical transporter." Jack defended. "It was empty."
I scoffed again. "Obviously it wasn't." I said as the Doctor turned and headed towards the door.
"Rose, Linnie." He called and I looked at Rose.
"Are we getting out of here?" Rose asked and I crossed my fingers.
"We're going upstairs." My fingers were now uncrossed and I was up and following Rose and the Doctor.
"I programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't hit anything living." Jack called after us. "I harmed no one!" Rose stopped and looked back at Jack so I did too. If you hadn't noticed, I was taking most of my cues from her and the Doctor. "I don't know what happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it." He claimed.
"I'll tell you what's happening." Apparently the Doctor had stopped too. "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's Volcano Day." Suddenly the sound of a siren sounded, but it wasn't close.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"The all clear." I answered, remembering my fifth grade history test. "Means the air raid is over...for now." Then I took Rose's hand before pulling her after the Doctor. I could hear the sound of Jack's footsteps following us, but as we went up the stairs, I lost sight of the Doctor. His legs were a lot longer than mine.
"Mr. Spock?!" Jack asked as he, Rose and I rushed down the hall.
"Doctor?" Rose and I chorused.
"Have you got a blaster?" We heard from behind us and we all skidded to a stop before turning back and running to the stairwell where the Doctor was already on the second flight of stairs.
"Sure." Jack said and reached into his pocket as he rushed up the stairs. I pushed Rose after him as the Doctor ran out of sight to the top floor. I hadn't stopped to explore when I was up there the first time, but I still managed to follow the Doctor as he ran down halls.
He finally stopped in front of a thick metal door at the end of a hall. "The night your space junk fell, someone was hurt." He said looking to Jack. "This is where they were taken."
"What happened?" I asked.
"Let's find out." The Doctor stepped to the side of the door and looked at Jack. "Get it open." Jack grinned and pulled out a small, alien looking gun and Rose pulled the Doctor to the side. Jack pulled the trigger on his gun and a square beam shot out and made a square hole where the lock and handle had been. "Sonic blaster." The Doctor said as the door swung open. "Fifty-first century. Weapon factories of Villengard."
"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked.
"Once." The Doctor said taking the gun and examining it.
"They're gone now." Jax explained. "Destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot."
The Doctor held out Jack's gun to him. "Like I said; once." He looked back at Rose. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas." He turned to Jack with a big smile on his face. "Bananas are good."
He went into the room and I rolled my eyes. "That was random, but true." I said walking past Jack and going in after him. We ended up going into a small room, but it was too dark to see anything. The Doctor obviously didn't mind before he was just walking around in the dark so I flipped the switch.
The room had been trashed. The room we were in looked like an observation room with sound equipment that had been destroyed for the most part, except for what I thought twas a recorded. The glass looking into the observation room had been shattered.
I went into the second room to look around. There were dozens, maybe fifty or sixty, child drawn pictures of women, one on each page and each was different. They were all stick figures, but some had red hair, blue hair, green bodies, the list went on. There were even more pictures on the floor along with the odd toy, a knocked over chair and a bed that had been shoved into the corner. There were even more drawings that had been drawn directly on the wall.
"What do you think?" I heard the Doctor ask.
"Something got out of here." Jack replied and there was silence. I figured someone was waiting for elaboration.
I was right. "Yeah, and?" The Doctor asked, but I couldn't see what they were doing. I was too busy staring at the pictures. It's like the were radiating some kind of energy that I couldn't place.
"Something powerful..." Jack added. "Angry."
I sighed. "And sad." I added and I could feel them all staring at me. I heard footsteps come into the room and they were light, too light for Jack or the Doctor, so it had to be Rose. I confirmed that when she stepped beside me.
"Are you okay?" She asked and I shook my head.
"That little boy." I said. "The one we saw on the roof?" She nodded. "This was his room."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know?" I had no idea how I know.
"I just do." I replied. "He kept calling for his mom, like...like he didn't know where she was, like he wanted her, but these-" I knelt down for a moment before picking up one of the drawings. It was of a stick woman with a red body and blue hair. She had a smile on her face. "This is...he didn't just not know where she was..." I looked at Rose. "He didn't know who she was or what she looked like. That's why there's so many different drawings." I looked around the room.
"You think the thing that's doing this is a child?" Jack's voice asked from behind me and I turned my head to look at him.
"The person." I corrected. "The person who did this was a child and he's not a child anymore because of your stupid Chula space crap!" Jack looked down and I knew he was feeling bad even though he claimed he had nothing to do with it, but I wasn't feeling to bad about making him feel that way.
"How could a child do all this?" Rose asked.
"Do you know where you are?" A voice asked. It was old and male, but it was coming from right behind us. We all turned around to see that the Doctor had flipped the switch on the recording device.
"Are you my mummy?" Another voice asked. It was the little boy Rose and I had gotten stuck on a barrage balloon for.
"Are you aware of what's around you?" The older voice asked, ignoring the boy's question. "Can you...see?"
"Are you my mummy?" The boy asked again.
"What do you want?" The first voice asked. "Do you know-"
"I want my mummy!" The boy yelled. "Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
"Please turn it off." I requested, turning away from the broken observation window.
"Doctor," Rose said. "I've heard this voice before."
"Me, too." He confirmed.
"Always 'Are you my mummy?'." She said. "Linnie's right, I don't think he knows who his mum is."
"Why doesn't he know?" Jack asked. I shook my head.
"He's probably an orphan." I told them as I sat the knocked over chair upright and sat on it. "Parents probably died or abandoned him."
"No." The Doctor said rushing into the room. "Can't you sense it?" The Doctor asked. Rose looked at me, Jack and then the pacing Doctor.
"Sense what?" The Doctor shook his head again.
"It's coming out of the walls." He said. "Can't you feel it?" He suddenly stopped and looked at me and Rose, who was standing next to me while I sat in the chair. "Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?"
"Excuse me?" I asked and Rose put an hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay." She said. "He likes to insult other species when he's stressed." Well that's his problem, not mine."
"Rose, I'm thinking!" The Doctor defended, but I figured he just needed her quiet.
"Mummy?"
"He cuts himself shaving, does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than." Rose added looking to Jack as the Doctor continued pacing around the room.
"Are you my mummy?" The Doctor stopped suddenly when he was next to me.
"There are these children," He said. "Living rough 'round the bomb sites. They come out during air raids, looking for food."
"Mummy, please."
"Why aren't they in an orphanage?" I asked, but the Doctor shook his head.
"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed."
"It was a med-ship." Jack stepped in. "It was harmless."
"You keep saying that," I said. "Harmless. It obviously was not harmless."
"What if one of the children was affected," The Doctor took over. "Altered."
Jack crossed his arms. "Altered how?"
"I'm here!" That's a new one.
The Doctor didn't notice. "It's afraid." He said. "Like Linnie said. It's terribly afraid and powerful. I doesn't know it yet, but it will do."
"Mummy?" That was it.
I turned to look up at the Doctor. "I thought I asked you to turn that thing off?!" I demanded and he snickered. "This isn't the time for jokes! Why are you laughing?"
"I did turn it off." I he said and I furrowed my eyebrows. "That child has the power of a God and I just sent him to his room."
"I'm here!" The voice said. "Can't you see me?"
I looked around at the bed and drawings on the wall as I realized what the Doctor was saying. "This is his room." The Doctor whirled around and I stood up to see the child standing in the observation room, gas mask and all.
It was just staring at us. "Are you my mummy?" He asked and cocked his head to the side. "Mummy?"
"Is this a normal occurrence?" I asked looking over at the Doctor and then back at Rose. "About to die or be...altered?"
"Pretty much, yeah." She nodded and I turned back to the child.
"Fantastic."
Thankfully one of us had a plan." On my signal make for the door." Jack ordered before whipping out his gun- wait what? "Now!"
"Is that a banana?" I asked staring at the yellow fruit he was pointing at the child. Jack looked at the banana and the Doctor grinned at him before pulling out Jack's real gun and pointing at the wall. A large square portion of the wall disappeared and the Doctor yelled: "Go, now, don't drop the banana!"
"Why not?" Jack asked and the Doctor rushed us toward the hole. Rose went out first, then me and then Jack.
"Good source of potassium." The Doctor said jumping out of the hole and right into us. He righted himself before Jack took his gun back and used it to refill the hole in the wall as the child walked toward it.
"Nice!" I breathed and he looked smug.
"Digital rewind." He explained before looking to the Doctor. Rose looked like she was freaking out a bit so I went to make she she was okay.
"Are you alright?" I asked putting my hand on her back and she nodded.
"Just wasn't expectin' that." I nodded and rubbed her back.
"I don't think any of us were." The rest period, however, was short lived.
Suddenly we all heard a loud crack and looked to see that someone, the Child, was punching the wall from the inside.
"Doctor!" I yelled.
"Come on!" The Doctor began running and we all followed him around the bend of the hall, but we all skidded to a stop when a hoard of patients came through the doors leading to the other portion of the hall.
"Back, back, back!" I yelled and we all turned around and ran back around the bend only to stop when the patients began walking out of their rooms, all of them calling out for their mothers. We tried to go back the other way, but stopped when the patients came around the bend and then pushed ourselves back against the wall when the child continued to try and break out. "He's herding us." I realized.
"It's controlling them?" Jack asked pointing his gun at everything and anything.
"It is them!" The Doctor said. "It's every living thing in this hospital."
I shook my head. "All I'm hearing it crap we already seem to know. Does anyone have a plan?"
Jack went back to pointing his gun towards the oncoming group of patients. "This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and it's a triple-enfolded sonic disruptor. Spock, what've you got?"
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "I've got a sonic...never mind." He quickly shoved it back into his pocket as Jack turned back to us.
"What?" Jack asked.
"It's sonic, okay?" The Doctor said. "Let's leave it at that."
"Would somebody please do something!" I asked. I seemed to be the only one who noticed the look on Rose's face. She was thinking of something.
"Disruptor? Cannon? What?" Jack asked as the child punched the wall again. We were gonners.
"It's sonic, totally sonic." The Doctor rushed. Is he really embarrassed? "I am soniced up!"
"A sonic what?!" Jack yelled and the Doctor had enough.
"Screwdriver!" He yelled right in my ear and I flinched. Jack turned to face us with a look of disbelief on his face. The child had now broken through the wall and I turned to Rose.
"Whatever you were thinking about, do it now!" I ordered. She grabbed Jack's gun and pointed it down at the ground.
"Going down!" She yelled before pulling the trigger. The floor disappeared and I screamed as we fell down to the lower floor. Jack took the gun back and replaced the floor.
Unfortunately for me, I landed on my back while Jack, Rose and the Doctor managed to land on their feet. "Lynette, are you okay?" I held my hands out and the Doctor took them before pulling me up. Did he just call me Lynette?
"Surprisingly, yes." I answered before looking to Rose. "What took you so long?" I asked and she scoffed.
"The gratitude."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Bite me." Jack seemed to still be on the sonic screwdriver thing.
"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" He demanded sounding miffed.
"I do." Rose rolled her eyes and turned to me.
"Find some lights." I nodded and she went to one end of the room while I went to another. The Doctor and Jack stayed where they were, arguing. I couldn't see much so I just put my hands on the wall and ran them across until I hit something.
"Got them!" I announced and pulled the switch up.
"Mummy!" I jumped away when I realized that we were in yet another room full of infected patients and they were all waking up. "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" They overlapped and I rushed back to the middle of the room to Jack and the Doctor. Rose did the same.
"Okay," I said. "So maybe turning on the lights wasn't the best idea."
"Door." Jack said and took off towards it, expecting us to follow. Unfortunately the door was locked and Jack's gun was no longer working.
"Damn it!" Jack hit his gun against the palm of his hand and I looked to see the patients getting closer. They were taking their time, but I wasn't complaining.
"I don't mean to rush you, but they're getting closer." I informed him as he moved away from the door and was replaced with the Doctor who took out his sonic screwdriver.
"It's the special features." He said. "They really drain the battery." Thankfully the Doctor got the door open.
"The battery?" Rose demanded. This was so not the time. I grabbed her by the arm on her jacket and pulled her inside of the room. Jack followed and the Doctor closed the doors and sealed them with his screwdriver. "That's so lame."
"Well, I was gonna send for a new one," Jack said turning on the lights and going to the window. "But someone had to go and blow up the factory."
Rose blew out a breath. "I know. First day I met him, he blew up my job. That's practically how he communicates."
"Not the time!" I shouted and they both shut up. I took a deep breath and pulled out out the band keeping my braid from falling apart before retying my hair into a messy bun. I was suddenly feeling very hot.
I looked around, but had no idea where we were. The room was unusually large for a closet, but there was a few shelves holding medical supplied like wraps of gauze and bottles of stuff. There were a few packages in piles on the floor, a wheelchair and a few other pieces of hospital furniture.
"That door should hold for a bit." The Doctor said moving away the door.
"The door?" Jack demanded. "The wall didn't stop it!"
"It's got to find us first!" The Doctor yelled back. "Come on, we're not done yet. Assets."
I unbuttoned the top three buttons of my dress and pulled it open. Why was I so hot? "I've got a banana and in a pinch you could put up some shelves."
"Window?" I asked, hoping someone would open it as I fanned myself. Was I getting sick?
"Barred, sheer drop." Jack said. "Seven stories." That's just great.
"And no other exits." Rose added in. Jack sat down in the wheelchair and I sat down on the door and let my head drop between my knees. What was the matter with me?
"Well, the assets conversation went by in a flash, didn't it?" Jack asked.
"Not helping." I grunted.
"So where'd you pick this one up, then?" The Doctor asked.
"Doctor, don't be rude." I ordered before shaking my head. Why did I care?
"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship." Jack said and I lifted my head. "I never stood a chance." The Doctor looked at me.
"How did you get here?"
I shrugged and wiped the sweat on my forehead. "Rose forced me to let her go and the balloon brought me here. I dropped ten feet to the roof, cried, made my way to the first floor, found Rose with Jack, slapped here for making me let go and then you showed up."
The Doctor looked at Rose who wouldn't meet his eye. "We'll talk about that later. Right now we've got other things to deal with. One; We have to get out of here. Two; We can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?"
I looked to Jack, expecting him to say something, but was confused when I saw that he was no longer in the wheelchair. I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Yeah," I said. "Jack's gone."
"What?!" Rose and the Doctor turned to look at the empty wheelchair. "What do you mean he's gone?" Rose demanded and I sighed.
"We'll, he was there a few seconds ago and now he's not." I elaborated. "Gone."
The Doctor squinted his eyes at me as he jumped down from the podium by the window and made his way to me. "Lynette, are you okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah," I lied. "Just a little hot." He took out his sonic screwdriver and shined it on my forehead before looking at the side.
"More than hot." He said. "Your temperature's in the triple digits. I don't want to scare you or anything, but the first number isn't a one." Rose crossed her arms and I let my eyes closed.
"It works as a thermometer?" She asked before everything went dark.
/
"Linnie?" Rose knelt down in front of Margo and placed her hands on the sides of the girls face. "Linnie? are you okay?" The Doctor knelt down next to Rose and felt the brunette's forehead. "What's wrong with her?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I'm guessing her brother had the flu."
Rose looked up at him. "Had?" He nodded.
"Her physical body had the symptoms and now it's been passed on to her life force's host body." He explained. "She'll be fine. She just needs some sleep and fluids. Here," Rose moved out of the way and the Doctor slid one of his arms behind Linnie's back and the other underneath her legs before picking her up and putting her in the wheelchair.
"She'll be alright though, right?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded.
"Her body will burn through it pretty quickly." He answered. "Now we just have to wait."
And wait is what they did.
For twenty minutes all they did was wait. The Doctor took it upon himself to check Linnie's temperature every five minutes and was satisfied that it was lowered by a couple of degrees every time.
"Rose?" Jack's voice said and the two looked around, looking for him. "Doctor? Linda? Can you hear me?" The Doctor quickly got up from where he sat as static sounded and rushed over to the radio that sat on one of the shelves. It was backwards so he turned it around and began to tune it so Jack's voice came out clearer.
"Her name is Linnie." Rose corrected. "Where are you?"
"I'm back on my ship." He answered. "I used the emergency teleport. Sorry, but I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it so hang in there."
"How are you speaking to us?" The Doctor asked.
"On-Com." Jack answered. " I can call anything with a speaker grill."
"The child can do that too." The Doctor said.
"He can?" Jack and Rose chorused, sounding surprised. Rose was surprised that the Doctor hadn't mentioned it earlier.
The Doctor nodded. "Anything with a speaker grill. Even the Tardis phone."
"You mean the child can phone us?"
"I can hear you." The child's voice said from the speaker, answering Rose's question. "Coming to find you...coming to find you." He sang.
"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack asked.
"Loud and clear."
"I'll try to block out the signal. It's the least I can do."
"Coming to find you, Mummy." The child called.
"Remember this one, Rose?" Jack asked before Moonlight Serenade began to play. The Doctor looked at Rose quizzically, wondering why she would even know the old song.
She blushed. "Our song." She said before moving away to check on Linnie.
/
When I woke up, I was alone.
No Rose. No Doctor. No Jack. "Those asshole." I breathed closing my eyes. "Those asses left me."
"We didn't leave you." A voice said and I opened my eyes to see the Doctor was right in front of me. I furrowed my eyebrows. He was not there a few minutes ago. "See?" He said gesturing to himself. "I'm still here." I put my hands on the armrests of the wheelchair I was in, I decided to worry about how I got in it later. I tried to lift myself up, but only ended up pushing the wheelchair back. "Whoa!" The Doctor rushed forward and caught me before I hit the floor. "I don't think you're strong enough to do that yet." He moved one of his hands before my back before sliding the other one under my legs.
"I don't need to be carried." I protested, but that didn't stop me from laying my head on his shoulder.
"I don't believe that." The Doctor argued.
"I second that." I picked up my head and turned it a bit to see that we were no longer in the hospital closet, but in a ship. It kind of looked like a puddle jumper from Stargate: Atlantis just more...colorful. Rose stood a few feet away and Jack was sitting in pilots chair.
"How're you doin', champ?" I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. "Yes, I have that effect on most women- men too."
"What happened?" I asked looking back to the Doctor.
"You got sick and took a nap." He said simply. "Your brother got sick and when he got over it, the sickness moved to your body because of his life force."
"Life force?" Jack asked.
"Long story." I heard Rose say back.
"Your body burned through it pretty quick." The Doctor said sounding a bit amazed. He turned so he was facing Jack and Rose. I heard a beeping sound and Jack turned his chair back around to face the front of the ship, that's when I realized that the Doctor was still holding me.
"We're good to go." He said and the Doctor let me down.
"Where?"
"The bomb site where the Chula warship landed." Rose told me and I could feel the ship moving. "But I think you should stay here."
"Why?" I asked and she gestured at me.
"You're sick." She reminded me. "You can barely stand."
I gave her a look. "She's right." I looked up at the Doctor who shrugged. "You should stay here, get some rest."
"I'm fine." I argued. They both looked at each other and I knew I wasn't going to win this. "Fine." I sighed. "I'll stay on the stupid ship."
Of course, I didn't do that.
As soon as Jack had beamed Rose, the Doctor, and himself from the ship I got into the pilots seat and watched them walk away under a bridge near the bomb sight. I had seen the buttons Jack had pushed so I just pushed them myself.
I ended up just where the others had and made my way under the bridge and too the gate. I had no idea where to go from there so I just walked along the fence until I spotted Jack, the Doctor and Rose. They were in the middle of the gated area, near the train tracks, all standing around a metal cylinder thing that I was pretty sure had been the thing we were looking for and it was beeping for some reason. Luckily for me there was a hole not far away in the gate.
I forced myself through and ended up making some noise...that how everyone spotted me.
"I thought I told you to stay in the ship?" The Doctor asked when I made my way to them.
"You did." I confirmed. "And I didn't." I finally got tot hem and realized there were four people, not three. The extra person was a girl who looked like she was a few years younger than me with dark brown hair, brown eyes and red cheeks. I held up my hand. "Hi, I'm Linnie."
"Nancy." I nodded and turned back to the others. "So," I said clapping my hands together. "Are you going to waste time and drag me back to the ship or are we going to open then this?" Then I noticed they had already opened it. "Never mind..." I leaned closer. "Why is it blinking red?"
"Jack opened it and now it's calling the gas mask people to come and kill us." Rose answered. Oh, we're going to die? How refreshing.
Suddenly the big red doors leading outside the gate began moving, like people were pressing on them. "I'm assuming they're here."
"Captain, secure those gates." The Doctor ordered. Jack looked like he wanted to argue, but just shook his head and started running. The Doctor looked at me. "How did you get in here?"
I pointed my thumb behind me. "Somebody cut the gate open."
"That was me." The brunette, Nancy, claimed and the Doctor looked to her.
"Show Rose." He said before taking out his sonic screwdriver and tossing it to Rose, who just nearly caught it. "Setting 2428-D."
"What?"
"Reattaches barbed wire." That was oddly specific. "Go!" Rose ran off with Nancy and I turned to the Doctor.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked as the Doctor began trying to stop the beeping coming from the Chula ship. He turned back and looked me up and down before answering.
"Try not to faint again." I huffed and put my hands on my hips.
The Doctor continued to fiddle with the ship, but wasn't able to stop the beeping before Jack, Rose and Nancy returned. The movement of the gate began going faster as Jack pushed open the small door of the ship.
"See?" He asked standing up straight and looked to the Doctor. I leaned to look inside, but there was nothing there. "It's empty. Look at it."
"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? " The Doctor asked sounding extra condescending. It didn't suit him. "Rose?"
Rose shook her head. "I don't know."
"Yes, you do." He corrected and held up his hand and rotated it. What did that mean?
"Nanogenes!" I crossed my arms and turned to the blonde.
"What in the hell is a nanogene?" I asked and she stepped toward me and away from Nancy.
"Jack's ship was filled with 'em." She told me. "Little...lights that surround you and fix you up."
The Doctor looked back to Jack. "It wasn't empty, Captain." He said. "There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species." He crossed his arms as an understanding look went over Jack's face.
"Oh, God..."
"Gettin' it now, are we?" I looked to him.
"Now is not the time to be a condescending ass!" I informed him. "How could little, healing lights make the child what he is?" I asked.
"When the ship crashed the nanogenes escaped." He began. "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 that night and wearing a gas mask."
"And they brought him back to life?" Rose asked with a disbelieving tone in her voice. By the look on Nancy's face, she couldn't believe it either. "They can do that?"
"What's life?" The Doctor asked rhetorically. "Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene."
"That's why they've all got gas masks, right?" I asked as I filled in the rest of the blanks. "They didn't know what a human was supposed to look like, so they just assume our faces look like gas masks because that's what the kid looked like." The Doctor pointed to me, telling me I was correct and I shook my head. "How did I know that?"
"You've basically got two brains in your head because of your brothers life force." He said. I felt like I was going to hear those words a lot; 'Your brother's life force'. "The extra brain soaks up the information and knowledge the first brain misses or can't. Makes it easier to understand."
"That doesn't explain why everyone else's faces are turning into masks." Rose said.
"The nanogenes think they know what a human should look like." The Doctor explain. "So now 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 his mother and nothing in the world can stop it!"
"I didn't know!" Jack yelled and I looked back at Nancy, realizing that it was her brother we were talking about. Her brother was part of the cause for everything going on. She had an uncomfortable look on her face and I understood.
"Nancy," I called softly and she looked up at me. "Where is your mom?"
Nancy shifted on her feet. "She died when I was-" She shook her head. "I mean, when Jamie was smaller. Our dad too."
I shook my head. "She die in childbirth?" I asked and Nancy shook her head. If her mother hadn't died in childbirth, why didn't Jamie know what she looked like? She opened her mouth to continue, but it slowly closed as her eyes drifted away from my face and over my shoulder. I followed her line of sight to see that she was staring at trains a long way down the track.
"I think someone's out there." She said as I moved away from her. I walked a few feet forward and squinted my eyes, trying to see what it was.
"Doctor!" I yelled, backing up when I saw that it was a hoard of patients coming straight at us. As if we hadn't had enough of them at the hospital.
"Mummy!" I heard them call as they slowly got closer. "Mummy!"
The Doctor popped up from behind the Chula ship, but his eyes looked down before he addressed me. "The ship thinks it's under attack." He said. "It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."
I saw Rose's lips move, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. She and the Doctor exchanged a few sentences before he stood up. I just made out the words 'Chula warriors'.
"Mummy!" Nancy and I whipped around, now finding that there were dozens more patients all around the fence. The child was herding us again.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Jack asked moving down from the raised ground around the ship.
I looked at him. "Let's not complain."
"They're waiting for their commander." The Doctor replied.
"The child?" Nancy looked to Jack.
"Jamie." She corrected. "The child has a name and it's Jamie."
"Mummy? Mummy?"
"Jack, did you say a bomb was going to fall here?" I asked and Jack nodded. "When?"
"Any second." He said, looking and sounding terrified, but he hid it well.
Seriously? I whirled my hands in a 'keep going' gesture. "Could you be a bit more specific?"
"I wish."
The Doctor stepped down from the raised dirt before making his way to Nancy and I. "What's the matter, Captain?" He asked. "Bit too close to the volcano to you?"
"He's just a little boy." Nancy said, close to tears and I put my hand on her shoulder.
"I know, sweetie."
She shook her head. "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."
"I know." The Doctor said looking out at the patients. "There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy."
I looked at him. "What are we gonna do?" I asked. "His mom is dead." I looked to Nancy who wiped at her face, trying to hid her tears. "Sorry."
"It's my fault." She said and I shook my head.
"Do not blame yourself." I told her. "You've done the best you could to raise him after your parents..." I stopped when Nancy ducked her head, most likely to keep her tears at bay. "Your parents..." I repeated as I realized what she meant. "Not Jami-"
"Mummy?" That hadn't come from one of the patients. That was the child's voice. "Mummy?" The patients began repeating after the child's voice and began to overlap. "Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" I turned back to Nancy to see that she was now open crying, making to attempt, whatsoever, to hide her tears.
"Oh, no."
"What?" Rose asked from where she stood by the ship, but I ignored her. Let them see how annoying it was to be ignored. "What's going on?"
"How old are you, Nancy?" I asked softly as she cried. The patients continued to call out for their mothers, but Nancy didn't answer me. "Fifteen? Sixteen?" I asked. "Or are you older than you look?" I felt the ground shake as my ears were assaulted by the sound of an exploding bomb, but I didn't take my eyes off of Nancy. "I once knew a woman who was thirty and looked like she was teenager."
"Doctor, the bomb." Jack warned as another exploded. It was a lot closer that time. "We've got seconds."
I didn't hear the Doctor's reply as I stared at Nancy. "What year is it?" I asked her. "1940? 1941?" She sniffed and I took that as a yes.
"Lynette, what are you going on about?" I heard the Doctor ask.
"When I was a freshman in high school, my school took a survey." I began, not looking away from Nancy. "There were two hundred and eighty five girls in my school and forty-three of them were pregnant." I told them and Nancy let out a sob as I turned my head to look at the Doctor. "More than half of those girls weren't even fifteen yet." I turned back to Nancy. "I live in 2018 and being a pregnant teenager then is one of the worst things that could happen to someone. You were a pregnant teenager in the 1930's." I shook my head. "I can't even imagine."
"I-I told 'im our parents were dead when he started asking questions." She cried and shook her head.
"He knew the truth, though." I continued and she nodded. "Somehow, even after all the lies you told him, he knew the truth. That's why he keeps asking if you are his mother."
We all turned our heads when the gate that Jack secured was pushed open and even more patients entered the railroad tracks. All of them being led by the child, Jamie.
"Are you my mummy?" He asked. I looked back to Nancy who squeezed her eyes shut.
"He's going to keep asking." I told her, but she already knew that. "He's never going to stop asking until he gets an answer." She opened her eyes and I looked to see that Jamie was getting closer, but the other patients had stayed where they were. "You have to tell him."
"I can't." Nancy said with a sniff.
"You have to." I countered.
"Nancy," The Doctor said and she looked over my head at him. "The future of the human race is in your hands." Nancy looked away and back at Jamie. "Do what Lynette says and tell 'em."
"Are you my mummy?" Nancy began to walk forward and met the tiny boy halfway. "Are you my mummy?"
"Yes." Nancy said quietly. "I am your mummy."
"Mummy?"
"I'm here." I felt Rose take one of my hands as Jamie got even closer to Nancy.
"Are you my mummy?"
"Yes." Nancy knelt down on the ground so she was face to face with Jamie and took his hands.
"Are you my mummy?"
I shook my head. "I don't think he understands." I said. "He might be too far gone."
Nancy was not willing to give up. "I am your mummy." She told him. "I will always be your mummy...I'm so sorry." She pulled him into a hug and I stepped back as they were surrounded in tiny golden lights that began buzzing around them.
"What's happening?" I asked, but no one answered me. "Doctor?"
"Shh!" He balled up his hands. "Come on! Please!" He urged staring at the lights. "Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out." I looked to Rose, but she didn't know what was going on either. "The mother, she's the mother."
I gasped, suddenly realizing what he was begging for and Rose looked at me expectantly.
"What?" She asked, wanting to know.
"The nanogenes." I told her. "They brought him back to life, they made him this way because they didn't know what a human was supposed to look like."
Rose didn't get it. "Yeah, so?"
"So?" I scoffed. "If they're smart enough to bring Jamie back to life, they're smart enough to realize that if Jamie's mother looks like she does-"
"Than he should look the same!" She realized. I was rubbing off on her.
The nanogenes scattered away and Nancy fell back onto the ground, but Jamie didn't move. The Doctor ran forward with Rose and I on his heels and stopped right beside the small child.
"C'mon." The Doctor pleaded. "Give me a day like this. Give me this one." He took hold of the mouth piece of the mask before pulling it up. We all basically freaked out when it slid clean off and behind it was the place of a small, grinning blonde child. "Ha ha!" The Doctor yelled before grabbing Jamie and tossing him into the air. I covered my mouth as Rose hugged me from the side. What even...? "Welcome back!" The Doctor greeted. "Twenty years to pop music." He said. "You're gonna love it."
He returned Jamie back to the ground where he was pulled into another hug by, a now standing, Nancy.
"What happened?" She asked.
"The nanogenes recognized the superior information." The Doctor explained although that really didn't tell us anything. "The parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them!"
Another explosion went off somewhere far away, slightly dampening the good mood, but the Doctor didn't seem bothered by it. "Doctor, the bomb." Rose warned, but he just kept on grinning.
"Taken care of it." He answered and I narrowed my eyes.
"How?"
He threw his hands up. "Psychology."
I looked up to see a large bomb heading straight towards us with a high pitched whistle, but before it could could the ground, Jack's ship came out of nowhere and engulfed the bomb in a line of blue rings.
"Hey, Spock!" I looked up and was surprised and shocked to see that Jack had beamed himself on top of the bomb. Two questions ran through my head; how was he so calm with a bomb, seconds from exploding, between his legs? And how was he gonna get back up?
"Good lad!" The Doctor called up.
"The bomb's already started detonation." Jack called down. "I've put it in stasis, but it won't last."
"Then why the hell are you still here?" I demanded? "Go put it on Mars or something!"
"I think I'll miss you most of all, scarecrow."
I furrowed my eyebrows. We were in 1940. "That movie isn't even old enough to be refrenced yet!" I reminded him as he, the bomb, and the blue rings disappeared but came back a second later.
"By the way!" He called and we all looked up. "Love the T-shirt." I looked over at Rose's T-shirt, now on full display and raised an eyebrow as she grinned.
"What?" She demanded as the ship flew away. "I can't enjoy a compliment?" I raised my hands in surrender, but put them down when I noticed the Doctor walking away from us and toward the patients. He, however, stopped when he was about ten feet away from us.
A cloud of nanogenes formed around each one of the Doctor's half raised hands as he admired them. "Doctor!?" Rose called. "What're you doing?"
"Software patch." He said and I rolled my eyes.
"We're not the IT guys," I reminded him, putting a hand on my hip. "Just tell us what you're doing." The Doctor looked back at us and grinned.
"I'm gonna email the upgrade." He explained before turning back. "You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." The Doctor pulled his hands back before throwing them out at the patients and the nanogenes followed. They flew through the air and formed a cloud over the patients before they all fell to the ground, unconscious. "Everybody lives, girls." He said as the patients, no longer covered in gas masks, began to rise from the ground. "Just this once! Everybody lives!"
The Doctor ran to them and I turned to Rose with a grin. "I think this is a Kodak moment." I said before kneeling down and pulling out my phone from where I had tucked it into my sock. I had almost forgotten it was in there.
"Is that your phone?" Rose asked and I nodded. "So they basically get flatter and bigger as time goes on?"
I nodded. "Pretty much." I quickly typed in my four digit code to unlock my phone before clicking on the camera app and flipping it around so I showed myself. "Everybody squish in!"
"What is that?" Nancy asked picking up Jamie as I tried to get us all in the frame.
"Don't worry about it." I told her. "By the time these things come out, you'll either be in diapers or dead. Now say cheese!"
/
"That was a very exhausting day." I commented from where I leaned against the center console.
We were now back in the TARDIS, on our way to get Jack. After leaving Nancy and Jamie we had gone straight back to the alley where we left it and got in. Then the Doctor decided he was feeling charitable and was going to save Jack from 'the volcano'. I had already stopped trying to understand him.
"You do not even get to complain." Rose said from where she sat on the small two seater. "You got to take a nap!"
I gaped at her. "I was sick and my body was burning hotter than humanely possible." I reminded her before looking over at the Doctor. "What was my temperature?"
He thought for a moment. "269"
I looked back at Rose. "See? 26- wait, what?!" I demanded standing up straight and he looked confused as to why I was yelling.
"What's wrong?"
"I was burning up at 269 degrees, that's what's wrong!" I yelled. "You didn't think to get me Tylenol o-or some antibiotics?"
The Doctor shrugged. "You're fine aren't you?" I scoffed and shook my head.
"You're unbelievable." Rose laughed as I sat down next to her. We were both quiet for a few moments as we watched the Doctor tinker with a wooden brown box he had on the other side of the TARDIS. I didn't know what it was, but it was keeping him quiet.
"I'm sorry." Rose said suddenly and I looked over at her with an raised eyebrow. "About your mum and brother." She elaborated. "I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see my mum ever again."
"It's fine." I told her. "After seeing my brother and how well he did with me gone..." I shook my head with a sigh. "I'm sad because I didn't get to see him grow up, but I'm proud of him, y'know?...I'm proud that he did something great with his life. He's a writer, he's married to the president of America!" I looked over at Rose. "He saw me, you know." I told her. "When we went to 2029. He looked so confused, so sad and so..." I struggled to find the word. I gave up after a moment had passed. "I can't even begin to understand how he felt."
"He was probably happy." Rose said. "I mean, imagine it; You're a kid when your big sister dies and then you suddenly see her again thirteen years later and she doesn't even look a day older than the last time you saw her." Rose laughed. "I'd pee my pants, but I'd still hug you and never let you go."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked and she shook her head.
"My dad died when I was a baby." She answered. "My mum never remarried." I raised my hand and put it over the hand she had sitting on her knee.
"Then I'll be your sister." I told her. "I've always wanted a sister. I mean, Leo was great and I'll never be able to get over not seeing him grow up, but I also need someone my own age. I spent all my time working so I didn't really have any friends."
"I..." Rose dragged out. "Would love for you to be my sister, my best friend, my confidante..." She trailed off in a silly deep voice and we both laughed when I pushed her slightly.
A few minutes later, I found out what the Doctor had been fiddling with when it began playing an old song from the fifties...or forties. Apparently the Doctor and Rose had some unfinished business, because she instantly got up and started giving him dancing lesson. They were actually quite entertaining to watch, especially when the Doctor dropped Rose on her butt.
"Lynette," The Doctor called as he helped Rose up from where she had tripped over his feet. "Would you go invite our guest in?"
I shrugged. "I don't know what that means, but sure." I quickly pulled myself up before jumping over the railing and going over to the TARDIS doors. I pushed them open, expecting to find myself in eighteenth century France or something, but instead found myself staring into Captain Jack's ship. He sat in the pilots chair with a martini glass in his hand.
"Thanks for everything, computer." He thanked and raised his glass. "It's been great." And with that he lowered his glass to his lips. I knew that was the perfect time to invite him on board.
"This is the saddest pity party I've ever seen." I said and grinned when Jack choked on his drink and began sputtering as he turned to me. I leaned against the TARDIS doorway as he stared at me in disbelief. "Are you coming or would you rather stay here with the detonating bomb?"
Jack quickly jumped out of his seat before rushing out of his ship and into the TARDIS. Once he was in, I closed the door after him. Rose and the Doctor were still trying to dance when I took the spot next to Jack and snorted when Rose nearly fell when the Doctor tried to dip her.
"Okay," She said moving away from him. "Try and spin me again, but this time, don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-Nelson."
The Doctor scratched his head as he went toward the radio. "I'm sure I used to know this stuff." I put my hands behind my back and cleared my throat, hoping to get the Doctor's attention. He looked over at me and I cocked my head towards Jack. "Welcome to the TARDIS."
Jack looked around at the beams and high ceiling. "Much bigger on the inside." I bumped him with my hip.
"You'll get used to it." I told him and turned back to the Doctor when the sound of jaunty dancing music began playing.
"Rose! I've just remembered!" The Doctor grinned.
"What?" The Doctor began snapping his fingers and began crossing one leg over the other as he stepped towards her. For some reason I was reminded of when the drama department in my school put on their version of West Side Story during my Senior year.
"I can dance!" He chanted swinging his arms as he snapped his fingers. "I can dance!" The Doctor took Rose and began dancing with her around the TARDIS' center console. Feeling awkward just standing there, I turned to Jack and held out my hands.
"Captain?" He took my hands with a grin before we went up the steps and began dancing. We couldn't do all the fancy spins and dips Rose and the Doctor could and I'm pretty sure I stepped on Jack's feet more than once, but he never complained. He simply tried to keep his feet away from mine as we made up our own little dance.
"I'm going to spin you now!" I quickly shook my head, but Jack grinned as he nodded.
"Jack-" I warned, but I was cut off when he pulled me in close before pushing me out. He did that two more times before he spun me and let go of my hands.
"Ooph!
"Ow!"
Apparently the Doctor had the same exact idea as Jack and had spun his dancing partner too...right into me. Rose and I had managed to spin without tripping over our own feet, only to hit my forehead on Rose's when we collided and fell onto our butts.
"Are you okay?" I smacked Jack's hands away a couple of times as I tried to get up on my own, but he was persistent so I let him help me before helping Rose up too. I could already see a bruise starting to form on her forehead.
She rubbed the spot she bumped with a groan. "I think that's gonna leave a bruise."
"It is." I told her. I remembered when I had run into a girl on the playground when I was a little girl. It wasn't a giant bruise, but it did hurt. I turned to Jack. "And this is why we don't spin girls who can't dance."
Rose and I went to sit in the seat that sat facing the console while the Doctor began banging on it like usual. Jack's hands went to his hips. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, this is how he works his spaceship." I told my fellow American. "He presses buttons and bangs things with a hammer."
Rose nodded. "Very alien." She grinned before looking over at the Doctor. "Where are you taking us anyway?" She asked.
"Well," The Doctor said, not stopping his pulling, pressing and banging. "I figured you all could use a break after everything that happened with Nancy and the gas mask people, so I am taking you to our original destitnation." He pulled on a lever causing the TARDIS to make a crash landing and I fell onto the ground. Eventually, I was going to end up with a bruised tailbone. It was only a matter of when.
"Maybe we should postpone that trip, Doctor." Rose suggested as I pulled myself up from the floor. "I'm spent."
"And I'm sore," I added. "I don't think your machine likes me and I'm starting to feel the same way about it." The Doctor considered this.
"A few hours won't hurt." He agreed.
/
Since I was the new girl, it was unamously decided that I should be the one to show Jack to one of the many, infinite spare rooms. I, obviously, didn't get a vote because If I did I would already be in my room. I mean, seriously, who decides that the news, most inexperienced person in the TARDIS should show new people around? Insane people, that's who.
After making sure Jack was situated, I managed to find myself back to my own room. It was insane how easily the Doctor had been able to recreate my bedroom from back home. It wasn't much- just a full sized bed, a desk, dresser and closet with a couple of photos and posters on the walls- but it was familiar. The Doctor had insisted that it had been simple enough as making any other room, but I really appreciated it. I had also appreciated the adjoining bathroom.
After taking a shower, I changed into a pair of pajama pants with a cloud pattern and a gray tank top before climbing into my bed and falling asleep.
Unfortunately, I didn't sleep for long; A shrill buzzing noise woke me up from my sleep, but it didn't cause me to actually get up and try and do something about it until it got louder.
Throwing my covers side, I stood up from the bed and slipped on my penguin shaped slippers before venturing out of my room.
The buzzing was still loud as I made my way down the hall and I honestly couldn't believe that I was the first to hear it. Maybe this was a nightly thing and Rose and the Doctor were used to it, but how did that explain Jack? Was I going crazy or was he just the heaviest sleeper to ever exist?
I continued to ponder those thoughts as I- unintentionally- made my way to the control room. It wasn't until I stepped up to the console that I realized that the loud buzzing noise had stopped. I couldn't help but think that the TARDIS had lured me here. I decided to test that theory.
"Alright," I said looking up at it. "I'm here. You called, I answered- now what do you want?" I got nothing in response. Of course I got nothing- what was I expecting? It was a machine. Turning around, I started back towards the hall, only for the buzzing to return and even louder this time. "Okay!" I yelled, returning to the console. "Okay! I'm back! What the hell do you want?" The buzzing got louder. "Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, geez." The buzzing quieted down. "Don't be so sensitive." The TARDIS made a strange humming noise. "Yeah, I don't know what you're saying; I don't speak TARDIS." It hummed again. "Use your words," I suggested. "You've got a screen; tell me what you want." I went around to the screen just as words began to pop up.
I WANT YOU GONE
"Why?" I demanded immediately. "What did I do?"
I DON'T KNOW YOU
"You can't get to know me if you try and put me out." I pointed out. "Plus, there was a time you didn't know Rose- or even the Doctor and I don't see Jack up here in his underoos waiting to get kicked out.
...
"That's what I thought," I sighed. "Why don't we get to know each other?" I suggested. "Maybe then you'll be a bit more comfortable with me being here because, honestly, I have nowhere else to go." It said nothing. "What do you think?"
TALK. START FROM THE BEGINNING
"The beginning?" I asked before sighing and leaning on the console. Okay, the beginning; I was born on April 11th in Japan- Sendai to be more accurate...
Next Chapter
The Glass
After a horrible time in 1941, the Doctor decides it's time for a bit of relaxation for all of them, but of course he can't go anywhere without causing trouble. And what happens when Linnie and Rose find an underwater city prepping to take over the planet?
Okay, so I did add some Linnie/TARDIS bonding in this chapter mostly because I hate how- in some stories- OC's are in the TARDIS and magically have some super tight bond with the TARDIS that they put no effort into. I wanted Linnie and the TARDIS to get to know each other the same way everyone else does; by actually talking.