Hm. Alright. Ah, I better comment below.
"What's the emergency?" Rose asked the Doctor, trying her best to form a concerned look.
"It's mauve," the Doctor stated while rushing about the console.
"I'll never understand what kind of emergency colour is mauve," Rose muttered while shaking her head slightly.
"Universally recognised colour for danger," the Doctor continued without being asked.
"What happened to red?" Rose asked to keep him going.
"That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings! All those red alerts, all that dancing!" he exclaimed. "I've hacked into the computer, slaved the TARDIS. Wherever it goes, we go!" He looked frantically from her to the monitor.
"Alright then, let's chase it." Rose made a pointed nod at the monitor and started to stare at it in full intensity.
"You don't even ask if that's safe!?" the Doctor asked, narrowing his eyes in disbelief.
"Since when something is safe with you, Doctor?" Rose shot back and soon a grin formed on her face.
"That's more like it." The Doctor grinned at her widely and seconds later had his focus back on the screen.
"Why are we chasing it again, though?"
"It's mauve and dangerous, and 30 seconds from the centre of London."
The whooshing sound echoed in the dark alley of London. Before long, the sound subdued and the two passengers went outside the TARDIS doors.
Rose looked around her surroundings. It was 1941, London during The Blitz, just as she remembered.
Alright then. What do I know? Masked people, Jamie, Nancy, nanogenes...NANOGENES - gotta remember that. Jack. Right, gotta meet Jack. With...barrage balloon? Oh, great.
"D'you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" The Doctor began.
"Hm. Five days?" Rose replied absentmindedly. "Or is that just when we're out of milk?" Rose joked.
"All the species in all the universe, and it has to come out of a cow!" the Doctor said in a faint sneering voice. "Must've come down somewhere quite close, within a mile." He started to quicken his pace in walking as he talked. "And it can't have been more than a month ago."
"A month!" Rose exclaimed. "That's not so bad. At least it isn't a year."
"You gonna hold it against me forever, aren't you?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Okay then." Rose dropped the subject lightly. "What's the plan? You gonna do a scan for alien tech?" Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a loud bang. I'm gonna ask," he said like it was the obvious. Oh, the domestic approach...
"What if there was more than one thing that crashed here?" Rose asked and at once grimaced. Not the right kind of question.
"Like what?" the Doctor asked in bewilderment.
"Oh...I don't know.." Rose played dumb.
"Then that's it! Come on." He turned to face the road ahead of him. After a few strides they were near some sort of gate, the Doctor keeping himself busy, trying to get inside, for whatever was supposed to be on the other side of that gate.
"It's not very Spock, is it, to just ask?" Rose tossed the question lightly while the Doctor was busy buzzing his sonic screwdriver at the lock.
"Door, music, people - what do you think?" He said leaning on the gate, looking at her expectedly.
She could barely hold it for herself and not tell him that he'd better promise her one dance. But she managed to suppress the urge to drag him on the dance floor and instead decided to play her role of the concerned of the alien threat companion.
"I think you should do a scan for alien tech," Rose sang. "Come on. Gimme some Spock for once! Would it kill ya?"
"You sure about that T-shirt?" The Doctor eyed her suspiciously, ignoring her previous remark.
"Oh, I AM sure." Rose nodded. "And it's gonna have a lot of work to do," she ended under her breath.
"What?" the Doctor asked her confused.
"Oh, nothing." She sighed.
"MU-MMY...MU-MMY..." A child's voice echoed in the alley.
Rose looked up to see Jamie on the roof and for some reason the Doctor was ignorant of that.
"Come on, if you're coming. Won't take long." The Doctor told her as he began walking through the gate.
"Sorry. Got things to do," Rose said more to herself than him as she began running towards the stairs, where she could reach Jamie. And why in the world was the Doctor, with his superior hearing and all, being so oblivious to the kid?
After going up multiple stairs, she finally reached the rooftop and saw the boy sitting there casually, asking for his mummy.
"Alright, Jamie," Rose began with her hands put in defence. "I'm not your mummy, but I promise, we'll get you back to her at the end of the day."
"Mummy?"
"No no-" And at that moment Rose spotted the rope of the barrage balloon, waving in front of her.
"Blimey, this is it," Rose joked nervously. "Please don't let me regret this, Jack. What things I do to meet you." She chuckled at her own words and saw how the rope was starting to "move away".
"Oh, no no!" She started to panic that it would fly away without her. Led by the instinct, she jumped in the air, grabbing the rope.
"Wo-ah!" she yelled out when she felt herself slipping. "Calm down calm down. You gotta keep calm and hold on," Rose muttered to herself and tightened her grip, wrapping her legs around it.
And the barrage balloon began to move through the planes and bombs and dust. If you so wished, you could pretend it was New Years and fireworks playing in the sky. Just that this time, Rose was part of the fireworks show.
"The front line of The Blitz. Oh, well. It's going to be alright. Didn't fell the previous-" And then the realisation came.
She did fell.
And with an explosion underneath, she felt herself lose her balance as she fell. She yelled for her life, as for a moment she thought she must have failed, but good ol' Jack caught her in the middle of the air.
She released a sigh of relief, once she found herself surrounded by Jack's tractor beam.
"Okay. Okay. I've got you." Jack's voice echoed in the air. Oh, she missed him. Since the time he disappeared while rebuilding the Earth, as the Doctor has told her, she never saw him again. Now that she thought about it, it was kinda weird...
"Oh, thank goodness you've got me," Rose answered back with enthusiasm.
"That's a charming way of responding..." Jack trailed off a bit. "I like you," he said with a tease.
"Well thank you." Rose laughed out loud.
"I'm just programming your descent pattern. Stay still as you can, and keep your hands inside the light field."
"Yes, sir," Rose said with a half mock and was about to reach for her phone.
"What are you doing?" Jack questioned her.
"Turning off my phone, so that it would not interfere with your..whatever you've got down there."
"Right. You seem to be awfully familiar with this stuff?" Jack stated suspiciously.
"Oh, just with the basics." Rose chuckled. "By the way, I would appreciate if I could possibly reach the ground?"
"Oh, yeh. Hold on tight!" Jack announced.
"To what?" Rose exclaimed half joking.
"Fair point," Jack agreed and pressed the switch.
While Rose was descending she began to laugh through her screams. Now that she thought about it, it kinda felt like carousel. And with a last flash of light she found herself in Jack's arms.
"I've got you. You're fine, you're just fine-" He was cut short by Rose's laughing. He looked at her like she was mad.
"The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little." He nodded slightly in understanding.
"Sorry. That was just fun!" Rose beamed at him while pointing upwards. "Like a carousel." She chuckled.
"Ok-ay..." Jack eyed her questioningly. "You feeling alright?" He chuckled.
"Oh, I'm just fine." Rose shrugged while landing off his embrace. "You don't expect me to faint on you, are you?" she teased him.
"We-ll, you look a bit dizzy," he said in concern, still half holding her to keep Rose steady.
"What about you? You're not even in focus-" She pointed at him and those were her last words before she fainted.
When Rose woke up, she found herself laid down on the bed at Jack's ship.
"And I thought I got used to it...guess not with this body," Rose muttered while standing up.
It was quite dark inside. Captain must be enjoying the view. "You got lights in here?" Rose called out. And in a moment Jack lit his ship up.
"Hello." He greeted her, sitting in his captain's chair.
"Hello," Rose answered simply.
"Hello," Jack repeated himself and chuckled.
"Let's not start that again." Rose turned her head to the side while smiling and putting her hands in defence mode.
"Again? We didn't even greet each other. I'm filling up for the previous time," Jack answered, chuckling.
"Okay then." Rose nodded with a grin. Keep your timelines together.
"Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron, Royal Air Force, American volunteer." Jack introduced himself in a business like manner while showing Rose his psychic paper.
"Sorry, that's not gonna work on me." Rose shrugged. Jack was looking at her in confusion.
"That's psychic paper." She nodded towards it. "It tells me whatever you want to tell me."
"How do you know?" Jack crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair, clearly unhappy about his failed trick.
"Two things. One, I have a friend that uses this all the time." Jack exhaled in understanding. "And, two, you handed me a piece of paper saying you're single and work out," Rose ended in a soft voice.
"Tricky thing, psychic paper." And he leaned towards Rose to get it back.
"Yeah," Rose just agreed. "Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." She grinned at him.
"Oh." Jack looked blankly at the paper. "Oh?" He raised his eyebrow. "So, you are sort of single, but consider yourself in a complicated relationship...And at the same time you consider yourself available for short dates?" He looked back at her, smirking.
"We-ll, that's only sometimes. When I meet interesting people." Rose smirked back. Couldn't steal our first date with Jack now, could she?
"That's a good way of thinking," he agreed with her while standing up.
"Nice spaceship, by the way." Rose looked around it.
"Gets me around."
"Ver-y...Spock." Rose looked back at Jack to see his reaction.
"Who?" Jack looked confused.
"Well, I guess you are still not a local boy then," Rose muttered.
"Judging from your belongings, guessing you are not the local girl yourself."
"Guessing right." Rose smiled as she went to look through the glass window. When she leaned she jumped back slightly as her hands itched. Although, not as much as the last time. The bruises were a lot softer.
"Burnt your hands on the rope?" Jack's voice came from behind.
"It seems so." Rose looked at her hands.
"Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?" Jack asked gently.
"Sure." Rose walked up to him and placed her palms upwards.
"You are very trusting of people, or is it just me?" Jack gave her a questioning look.
"Oh, just you." Rose nodded smirking. "And some other ones," she added.
"Ouch. I am not an exception then," Jack complained, half-laughing, making Rose chuckle.
Rose sat down in captain's chair as Jack was buzzing her hands to check for damages. "You can stop acting now. I know who you are," he stated calmly. "I can spot a time agent, a mile away."
"Oh. 'Guess you've got me." Rose shrugged.
"Mmm, I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon! Often travel that way?"
"Sometimes I get swept off my feet." They grinned at each other. The next moment Jack was wrapping her hands up.
"A bondage? That's modern," Rose said half-mocking. "Though I must say, I'm not really running away, am I?"
"Not that surprising. But I need you to keep still." As he pressed a few buttons, nanogenes appeared on her palms, repairing her damaged hands.
"Nanogenes." Jack grinned, and saw as Rose looked with a gentle smile at her palms. "The air is full of them. They've just repaired two layers of your skin." He untied the bondage.
Okay, one layer less.
"Shall we get down to business?" Jack walked away from her.
"Fine by me."
"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He looked at her suggestively while holding champagne. "Bring up the glasses," he shouted out while climbing the stairs.
"I know I'm standing on something," Rose said, when she made the first steps on the spaceship's roof. Still one would feel unsteady, when you don't see the actual object. Thankfully, Jack understood that much and soon Jack's chula ship came into view.
"OK, you have an invisible space ship." Rose tried to play innocence.
"Yeah."
"Tethered up to Big Ben," Rose stated simply.
"First rule of active camouflage-" Jack started.
"Park somewhere you'll remember," they said in unison.
"You know this stuff," Jack exclaimed. "Well, of course, how could you not...Woah!" They both laughed out loud as the champagne shot out.
"It's getting late. I should be getting back." Rose tried to play along.
"We're discussing business. I try never to discuss business with a clear head." He made a toast to her, before drinking. Then he abruptly stood up and walked towards Rose.
"Are you travelling alone? Are you authorised to negotiate with me?" He was looking at her with intention in his eyes.
"Well, I might be, but I don't think my companion would agree," Rose said with a chuckle.
"Companion"?" Jack asked in bewilderment.
"Yeh... I probably should be getting back to him."
"Him? Is that the same one you have the complicated relationship with?" he asked in a disappointed voice.
"Well," Rose started lightly. "That depends how you look at it."
Jack made his way to Rose to grab her into his arms. "Since you are so uncertain of your answer. Does that mean I still stand a chance?" He looked into her eyes, holding her body firmly to his. He knew how to play this game.
"Ok. Jack," Rose stated calmly. As much as fun this was, they better start moving to the Doctor.
"Oh, we're getting familiar." Before Rose could say anything, he interrupted her. "Do you like Glenn Miller?" And the next moment the music surrounded them, as he swept her in his arms for a dance.
"It's 1941, height of the London blitz, height of the German bombing campaign. And something else has fallen on London - a fully-equipped Chula warship, the last one in existence." Jack began his story while they swayed together. Rose chuckled at that. He is so not gonna sell it this time round.
"And I know where it is, because I parked it. If the agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal." He stopped them, ceasing the dance.
Come to think of it. How did she not see through it the last time? A valuable object, last in existence, parked on the bomb zone.
"No, seriously. If you want to sell us something, we should be getting back to my companion." She looked him in the eyes. "Although, I don't know where he is." Oh, a slight lie.
"That's easy - I'll do a scan for alien tech."
Soon enough, they found themselves in the hospital. It was, obviously, not an ordinary twentieth century hospital. It had new occupants. A hospital filled with masked people, calling for their mummies. Sadly, only Rose knew that.
They met the Doctor in the hallway moments later.
"Good evening." Jack offered to shake his hand to the Doctor. "Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you." Jack gave Rose a meaningful smirk, which made Rose shot him a warning glare. The Doctor looked at both of them confused.
"He knows." Rose quickly disturbed his thoughts. "About us being Time Agents." The Doctor just nodded.
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr Spock," Jack said, hitting the Doctor on the back a bit, while making his way forward.
"Mr Spock?" the Doctor asked in bewilderment, when him and Rose were left behind in the corridor.
"You don't give me Spock, when I ask you." Rose looked at him with her head down, but locking her gaze with his. "I just had to create one myself." She shrugged while grinning with tongue.
The Doctor was clearly unhappy, but dropped the subject. "Where have you been? We're in the middle of London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll!"
"Who's strollin'? I went by barrage balloon." The Doctor gave her a look, while Rose started walking. "Only way to see an air raid."
"What?" He frowned in surprise.
"Listen, he seems to be a conman, who wants to sell us some kind of...chula warship..." Rose came to a stop to explain.
"What? Why are you together with a conman, then?"
"He looks trustworthy. We should give him a chance." With that Rose walked to the room.
"How would you know? And chula?" The Doctor followed her.
As Jack scanned the masked people, he started pacing about the room. "This just isn't possible." He was waving his hands around. "How did this happen?"
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Doctor asked.
"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this," Jack answered harshly, feeling a bit disturbed. Okay, more than a bit.
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it," the Doctor insisted, now raising his voice. "What kind of warship?"
"An ambulance!" Jack shot back. "Look, this is what chased you through the time vortex." He showed them a hologram of an ambulance. "It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. I threw it at you, saw your time-travel vehicle - love the retro look, by the way - threw you the bait."
"The gift of a conman," the Doctor stated in a steady voice.
"You knew?" Jack asked in bewilderment.
"I... um, suspected," Rose replied innocently.
"Then why? Oh. You are not Time Agents either, are you?" he asked them sarcastically.
"Just a couple more freelancers," Rose muttered. "And we could always use some help from time travellers, when dealing with this kind of situation.." Rose gestured to the beds.
"I should've known, the way you guys are blending with the local colour! Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain?" He raised his voice in disbelief, pointing at their clothes. When Jack described the Doctor's outfit, Rose sniggered.
"What? What's wrong with my jumper?" the Doctor asked.
"Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship," Jack interrupted.
"Human DNA is being rewritten. And by an idiot," the Doctor stated. "Must be some kind of virus converting human beings into these things."
Oh, when the answer is simply nanogenes, it is killing to act like you know nothing about it.
"But why? What's the point?" the Doctor continued. The next moment all masked people woke up and started walking towards the group, cornering them.
Mummy! Mum-my! Mummy?
"What's happening?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," the Doctor answered.
Mummy! Mummy!
"Just don't let 'em touch you!" Rose shouted.
The Doctor gave her a look. "I saw what happens," Rose stated blankly.
"Why, what happens if they touch us?" Jack questioned.
"You're looking at it!"
to be continued...
A/N: Okay, so I know that I barely changed anything. In fact, nothing. Just some of the conversations. And I'm sorry for that, but it was kinda like with Harriet. Jack was a fixed point in time (not his immortality, but his character's appearance). I had to make them meet up, and if Rose would have gone all "too smart", Jack wouldn't have followed her. Or. I thought of a way to make them meet up differently. But how could I disturb their little date?
Also, when the answer is only "nanogenes" it makes everything a bit too hard. Can't just make Rose say "Can't nanogenes fix the masked people?". Since when she is so smart? Well she is, but not as much, yet, at least. And, that would kinda make the end of the episode. Need some drama! Lol. Even if Rose doesn't really feel it...sigh
Actually, I already have a few changes in mind. And a few major. So, I can only hope you won't be too disappointed with this and wait on for the later chapters.