Chapter 3
Q & A
By: Izzy
"Medical Bay, now," he said. It was not so much a command but a firm statement. She nodded and made her way to the Med Bay. Once there he helped her up onto the examination table.
"Thanks," she said.
"I need you to take off all your jewelry," he said. She removed her hoop earrings, rings, and watch. "All of it."
"I did," she said. "All I have is my rings, earrings and watch,"
"And the locket?" he asked.
"What?" she asked as she looked down and saw it. He knew the look on her face, as she looked at the locket, she couldn't really see it. Which only meant one thing, a perception filter.
"Where'd you get that locket?" he asked.
"Mum said it's was found with me," she said.
"Let me see it," he said. She took it off and put it in his hand. He looked it over. "It has a perception filter on it. But it seems to only effect you." He turned it over in his hand and saw something carved in Gallifreian it said; 'To my Rose, love Dad.' "This is Gallifreian technology."
"Gallifreian?" she asked. "You mean it's from the home of the Time Lords?"
"Wait," he said surprised. "I never told you the name of my planet. How did you know?"
"My dreams," she said. "They are about a woman, her name is Crimson." She paused for a moment to gather the courage to tell him. She took a deep breath then continued. "At first I was only having them once a year and I couldn't remember any of them. Then I met you." He gave her a strange look. "The first day I slept on the TARDIS I remembered the dream I had. Now I remember every dream I have, but I still can't remember the dreams before we met."
"The Slitheen called you a Kiwaka," he said.
"That's what she is or was," she said. "Well half Kiwaka, half Time Lady." He stood with a look of shock on his face. "What?" He mumbled to himself for a minute as if he was fighting with himself about something. "What is it, Heuca?"
"You're Crimson," he said. She looked at him in shock.
"No, no, no, no," she said. "I'm human!" She shook her head. "No!" She got off the table and moved away from him. "I can't be! I'm human!" She cried. He approached her and she backed herself into a wall. Seeing how scared she was, he stepped back. "How can I be her? I'm human!"
"This locket is a piece of Time Lord technology, called Chameleon Arch," he explained as he held the locket up. She stared at it like it was evil.
"What?" she asked between sobs.
"It changes the biology of one race to another," he said.
"I just wanted to know why I had these dreams so I could stop them," she said as she sank to the floor. "I, I just wanted it to stop." He felt bad, for her. Her world had just been turned on it's axis. He didn't know what to say to her to help. He never had to use the Chameleon Arch, so he really didn't know what she was going through.
"I-" he started but stopped because he knew he was not good in these types of situations, well this him. Before the war he could have told her just what she needed to hear but he was here with her not them. He sighed in frustration. Then a thought came to him, distract her. "Tell me about your dreams."
"I told you they're about a woman named Crimson," she said as she sniffed.
"What happened to her?" he asked.
"Well her parents never married," she said. "But from what I have seen of them, it was a political choice."
"Why do you say that?" he asked as she stood up.
"Well they were in love," she said. "But he lived on a different world than Gallifrey or even Domus. That's the home of the Kiwaka." She slowly stood. Then she walked back to the table and sat back on it. "Though I know it pained him to be away from both Crimson and her mother."
"What was his name?" he asked.
"Drax," she said.
"I knew a Time Lord named Drax," he said. "We went to the Academy together."
"Wow," she said. "Small universe." They chuckled. "He loved her so much. He died when she was five. She was so smart at five, she could speak both languages fluently." She had stopped crying and actually smiled as she remembered some her last dream. "She had a best friend. He was part of the Pīpuru tribe. They are a race of animal human hybrids, well not really. That is just how they looked. But he was part of a blood line that could transform into the animal they had the traits of. He was a wolf." She frowned. "But he was the last of his bloodline. Cybermen killed most of his tribe. And if it wasn't for her uncle, he would have been the last of his race." He frowned, because he knew that feeling all too well.
"How did Drax die?" he asked out of curiosity. "You never said."
"Atrios, was destroyed by Daleks," she said sadly. He looked down and away so she couldn't see his pain. "A deep seeded hatred for Daleks formed in her heart that day. Her mother begged her not to hate them, but she couldn't help it. She hated them in secret. She shallowed it down and let it fester." He turned to her so she could see the pain was in his eyes, but there was something else there too. Understanding. He understood what she had said about Crimson's hatred of Daleks. Silence fell between them for a long while. A pain filled silence.
"So, I'm Crimson?" she asked nervously breaking the silence. He nodded. "Well the language that we talked about yesterday was the Kiwaka language. I'm sorry I lied. I just wanted to see if you knew it."
"I didn't know it," he said sadly.
"What do you think I should do?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said honestly. Silence fell between them, neither looking at the other. "It's your decision." He handed the locket back to her. She took it and they left the room together. "You don't have to decide right away." She nodded.
"Let's go somewhere," she said as she put the locket back on.
"Yeah," he said, he sounded sad and relieved at the same time.
They came in after the adventure with a new companion with them named Adam. He was a charming man, that Rose had taking a liking to. Though something in the back of her mind was yelled at her to throw the man out and airlock or something to that effect. She helped him get settled into a room, then she retired to hers and thoughts of the day pored into her head.
When she met the Dalek face to face, she honestly pitied it. Then it revived and the rage that was deep inside surfaced again. She ran from the Dalek, she didn't like the feeling she got, when she was near it. She rolled over in her bed and sigh as she slumped on her bed. The Dalek chased her but when it didn't kill her and she spoke to it, she felt only pity again. Then the conversation with the Doctor.
"Get out of the way," he said his voice unsteady. "Rose, get out of the way now!" She turned to see him with a gun pointed dead at her.
"No," she said. "I won't let you do this."
"That thing killed hundreds of people," he said.
"Yes," she said. "It killed my father. Well Crimson's father."
"See!" he exclaimed.
"But it's not the one pointing the gun at me," she said.
"I've got to do this," he said. "I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left."
"Look at it," she said as she stepped aside.
"What's it doing?" he asked as he lowered the gun.
"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants," she said.
"But it can't," he started.
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me," she said. "It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" After the words left her lips she felt a stab in her heart.
"I couldn't," he started but stopped. "I wasn't. Oh, Rose. They're all dead."
"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked.
"I don't know," he said honestly.
"I am the last of the Daleks," it said.
"You're not even that," he said. "Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?" it asked.
"Something new," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Isn't that better?" she asked.
"Not for a Dalek," he said.
"I can feel so many ideas," it said. "So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die."
"I-" she started but couldn't finish because her emotions were a mess. Well not all of them were hers, most were Crimson's.
"This is not life," it said. "This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" Suddenly everything became clear in her head. This Dalek wanted to die. No, needed to die, and she was the only one who could.
"Do it," she said. The only one. In the back of her mind she heard 'Grim Reaper.' Was that what Crimson is? Was she the Grim Reaper? Death incarnate? Was that what she was to become? A killer?
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" it asked.
"Yeah," she said. Of myself. But she left the second part unsaid. Because she was afraid of Crimson.
"So am I. Exterminate," it said as it killed itself. But that wasn't the only talk with the Doctor that weighted heavier on her mind. Later when they got back to the TARDIS, they talked again.
"A little piece of home," he said as he patted the TARDIS. "Better than nothing."
"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" she asked.
"I'm the only one left," he said grimmly. "I win. How about that?"
"The Dalek survived," she said. "And I survived, maybe other did too."
"I'd know," he said as he tapped his head lightly. "In here. Feels like there's no one."
"Do you want me to go back to being Crimson?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said. "I never met her, I don't know what she's like."
"Smart," she said. "Kind, protective, a little angry like you." He laughed lightly. "She is wonderful, I'd like her as a friend." And frighting.
"If she is so good why don't you become her again?" he asked.
"I don't know," she lied. "Maybe I'm selfish." She knew why, she was afraid. Well terrified is more like it.
"You?" he asked. "Never."
She rolled over in her bed and sighed again looking at the locket, she could see it again because on the trip he turned off the perception filter so she could make the choice on her own. She was leaning against it but she still needed more information first. Maybe if she slept one more time she could have another dream that would help her choose.
Fenrir and Crimson laid together in the grass on Gallifrey, looking up at the sky. "This was your father's planet?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
"It's beautiful," he said. "Thank you."
"For what?" she asked as she rolled over and looked at him.
"Sharing this with me," he said. She rolled back over to look at the sky again.
"I thought maybe seeing this sky would help," she said.
"It has," he said. "I love it. You're my best friend, you know that right?"
"And you mine," she said.
"No," he said. "I mean it! You are the best friend anyone could ever have."
"I'm not that great," she said sadly. "I have rage and hate."
"That you are in full control of," he said.
"I can feel it," she said.
"Well of course you can," he said.
"No," she said softly. "I feel a war on the horizon." She sighed. "Your tribe was just the beginning of something horrible. And I can feel it."
"You are my best friend," he said. "I will fight and die for you, not because you're my princess, but because you're my best friend." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I mean it. I love you."
"You're the first person to tell me that in a very long time," she her voice cracked as she spoke. "My father was the last one to say that to me."
"I love you," he repeated as he looked her in the eyes. "You're my best friend and sister."
"Oh, Fenrir," she said. "Lilica!" She tackled him and hugged him tightly. (Lilica means I love you but is only said to family)
"Phifa meckica!" He declared. "Lilica!" (Phifa means together and meckica means forever)
"Come on," he said as he pulled her to stand. "Let's go save the universe!"
Rose woke up crying tears of happiness. "Oh, Crimson," she said. "You were a good person." She took off the locket and stared at it. "Maybe I should." She heard the TARDIS land so she stood up, changed clothes, refreshed her make-up, and ran out the door, leaving the locket behind on the nightstand. She found Adam and the Doctor in the console room. The Doctor motioned for her to follow him, she did. They walked out on to a space ship or station, she couldn't tell.
Several hours later they dropped off Adam at his home with a chip in his head and Rose feeling like she let the Doctor down. They stood in the console room not saying a word. She wanted to say she was sorry. She wanted to break the silence but she didn't have the courage. She decided that since she couldn't say anything to him that she shouldn't be in the console room so she turned and started to walk toward the hall. He grabbed her hand. She turned back to look at him. That's when she saw it again. Love. "Have you made up your mind?" he asked nervously.
"No," she said. "I know she was a good person but I don't want to just let her swan in and take over my life." She searched his face for a reaction to what she said and she found it. Relief and a bit hurt too. "What do you want?" He didn't say anything he just let go of her, walked back to the console and started to work on a random part of the TARDIS, which honestly didn't need fixed. She sighed and went back to her bedroom. Once inside she closed the door and leaned against it. Suddenly she burst into tears and slid down the door. She wrapped her arms around her legs and put her head on her knees as she wept.
"Another successful mission!" Fenrir exclaimed as he and Crimson toasted to their success.
"Hena, hena!" she exclaimed as they took a swig of their drinks. (Hena means hear)
"I think this calls for a song!" He exclaimed.
"Maki," she said. "But what song?" He pondered for a bit then a mischievous grin appeared on his face. He moved to the stage and began to sing, Kansas, Carry On Wayward Son. She listened as he sang with great entrust she had never heard such a song, she loved it. She had only heard songs from her planet and the lullabies her father sang to her as a small child. She drank the rest of her drink. (Maki means definitely)
Rose woke up when she heard a knock at her door. She wiped her eyes, stood and opened the door. "Yes?" she asked as she opened the door.
"I thought I'd ask where you want to go next," he said. "But if this is a bad time."
"No," she said. "It's – it's fine." She wiped her eyes again. "I'll be in the console room in a minute."
"Take you're time," he said as he walked back to the console room. She closed the door and leaned against it again. She stood there for a bit, trying to decide where they should good and only one place came to mind. When she was abandoned, by her birth mother. Well why she was left at the orphanage by Crimson's mother. She had to know, she felt it would help her make a decision. She straighted herself in the mirror and swiftly walked to the console room.
"I want to see why I was abandoned," she said as she entered the console room.
"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" he asked.
"All right then," she said as she leaned against the console. "If we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, just leave it."
"No," he said as he folded his arms over his chest. "I can do anything. I'm just more worried about you."
"I need to know," she said. "I think it will help me choose."
"Your wish is my command," he said. "But be careful what you wish for." He danced around the console, flipping levers and twisting dials. "October 5th 1987?"
"Yes," she said. He pulled another lever and the TARDIS groaned and shook. She ran out the doors into the rain. She saw the orphanage in front of her. The Doctor came out with and umbrella, holding it above her head so she wouldn't get any wetter. Suddenly she saw the queen from her dreams.
"That's Crimson's mother." In the queen's arms was a baby. "There I am." Rose took a step forward.
"Don't go," an American female voice came from behind them. They turned around to see a tall lean woman with short red hair and bright green eyes that couldn't belong to a human. She wore a woman's leather jacket with a spaghetti strap red shirt under it, and a form fitting skirt that showed off her very long legs. She held an umbrella that looked like the same on the Doctor had even down to the question mark handle.
"I can feel you, just who are you?" he asked. "You can't be a Time Lady."
"Can't is such an over used word," she smiled. "I'm a friend. Well I will be. This is your first time meeting me but I have already met you."
"A friend?" Rose asked. "What's your name?"
"Lady," the woman said. "My name is Lady, and I'm a Time Lady from another universe."
"You're lying!" he shouted. "There are no other Time Lords in any other universe!"
"Look at this," she said as she approached them pulling a picture out of the breast pocket of her coat. Rose took the picture. It was of the Doctor, Rose and another woman, the three of them were smiling but the look on the Doctor's face in the picture was towards the other woman not Rose. It was a look of pure love and admiration. "That's me in my first regeneration. The three of us were great. My Rose is my best friend, and my Doctor is my bondmate. I promise I would never mislead you." Rose handed back the picture. "I'm from another version of this universe. But I met my Doctor when the Earth ended."
"You survived the Time War," he said with a glimmer of hope in his voice.
"No," Lady said. "I was human, until I met my Doctor. I became a Time Lady."
"How do you become a Time Lady?" Rose asked.
"It's a long story and one I can't tell you until we see each other again," Lady said. "I told you when I met you so, I can't tell you now."
"So we've met before?" Rose asked.
"Not for you," Lady said. "But, I came to tell you why you were abandoned."
"You know?!" Rose asked surprised.
"You told me," Lady said.
"What did I choose?" Rose asked.
"I can't tell you that," Lady said. Before Rose could ask why Lady added. "I can't tell you because you haven't made that decision yet. What I say could change that. It could change your future. And from what I saw of your future you like your future."
"So why?" Rose said as she voice cracked from feeling like she was going to cry.
"Because," Lady said. "Queen Melody, Crimson, well your mother. She wanted you to have a normal life away from the troubles of the Time War. But little did she know the war had been ended by a Time Lord by then. She didn't know because she never went back to check on Gallifrey. She didn't even want to go in the first place, but she felt you were in danger. So she went to the one place that would remind her of of her dead love, the most."
"She loved me?" Rose asked as tears ran down her face.
"Yes," Lady said. "I have never met her, but I'm sure she loves you. As Crimson or Rose." She chuckled. "As I was once told. No matter what form you take you will always be, you." She smiled a sad smile. "My Doctor told me that. He told me that no matter if I'm human or what regeneration I'm on, I'm always me."
"Thank you," Rose said.
"It twas my honor," Lady said with a small bow. "After all you saved my JT." She smiled a sad smile again. "My JT is a trouble maker just like I was when I was young." She laughed. "Only when I was young I didn't have a Vortex Manipulator. But I think I would have been just like him if I did." She gave another small bow. "Well I bid you farewell. I do have a bondmate to get back to, and knowing him he's flipping out. Probably searching the whole of my universe looking for me. After all this isn't the first time I disappeared on him." She turned around and waved as she stepped away.
"Bye," Rose said.
"Come on," he said as he motioned her back into the TARDIS. They went back into the TARDIS. Rose didn't say anything to the Doctor she just went to bed.
"Mother!" Crimson shouted as she stormed through the halls of her mother's castle. "Mother!" She had an angry look upon her face as she continued her search for her mother. "Mother! If you do not come and face me I will tare this place down piece by piece!" She found herself in the throne room where Queen Melody sat upon a throne.
"What have I told you, about storming through the castle screaming your head off?" Queen Melody said.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Crimson yelled.
"Crimson, I have told you to lower your voice," Queen Melody said.
"Forgive me, my Queen," Crimson said bitterly. "But why have you not sent troops to aid our allies in this war against the Daleks?"
"That is not a war," Queen Melody said bitterly. "It's a slaughter."
"Not if we go help the Time Lords," Crimson urged. "We have to help!"
"No!" Queen Melody said firmly. "My sisters and I, have spoken."
"But Mother!" Crimson tried again. "At least send me-" She stopped talking when Queen Melody stood up and glared at Crimson.
"Crimson Rose Moon, I forbid you and any other Kiwaka from helping the Time Lords!" Queen Melody bellowed. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Crystal," Crimson said sadly. She stormed out of the throne room and back to her own room. She flopped down on her bed and huffed. "Why can't I get her to see?"
"Perhaps you are going about it wrong?" Shadow asked as he walked into her room.
"Uncle Shadow!" she exclaimed happily as she jumped into his arms. "Is Aunt Ash with you?"
"No," he said. "She is against the war too." She pulled away. "I will be fighting."
"But if Aunt Ash is against it-" she started but was cut off by a large finger being pressed to her lips.
"I'm going as King of the Shadō shurui," he said. She looked as if she were going to cry. "Come on now, warriors don't cry." He pulled her tiny frame into a tight hug. "Go speak to Fenrir. He has a plan to get the Queens to see that the war is unavoidable." She sniffed.
"OK, Uncle Shadow," she said as he put her back down.
"Your father would be so proud of you," he said before he bent down and walked back out of her room. Her thoughts drifted to what she could remember about her father, he had died when she was only a child. He was a Time Lord. Not a very strong or important one, but a Time Lord none the less. Which is one of the reasons she couldn't understand her mother's stand on the future of Gallifrey. That planet was her father's home. The treaty between the two races was her father's doing. She knew her mother still loved her father, she often found her mother in the Type 40 he loved so much.
She knew her father would want her to help his Time Lord brothers and sisters. He was a good man. She formed a plan in her head. She would steal her father's Type 40 and go to Gallifrey on her own. Even if she was stripped of her title and name she would defend her father's people. But without her name she could do very little. So if she wanted to make it to Gallifrey without being stripped of her name she would have to steal her father's Type 40.
She grabbed her scythe, walked out her door and locked the door behind her. She took a deep breath and held on to her scythe as if it would give her strength. It seemed to work because she walked to her mother's room and slowly opened the door. She looked around to make sure her mother hadn't returned. The room was empty aside from the furniture and marble pillar that didn't belong in the room. She moved to her mother's dresser and opened the top drawer then reached in to get the key. The key was in a secret compartment. She got the key then ran to the pillar where she put the key in and a door swung open. She smiled at the familiar hum of the old Type 40. She could remember her father working on it as she would color pictures for him.
She sighed trying to push the memories of her father aside so she could do what she had to do. She had read the manual for the Type 40 so many times she could fly it in her sleep. She flipped the switches and pulled levers. The ship moaned and groaned from not being used in hundreds of years. But she knew this was the best thing for the universe. She had to help the Time Lords, her father's people. No, not her father's people, her people. She gripped the scythe tightly. She parked the Type 40 perfectly. She got out of it and reported to the commanding officer. They sent her to the front lines.
She fought for years. She killed many Daleks and helped as many Gallifreians as she could. She was getting so tired of the bloodshed on both sides. So she would sing songs from her home at night, the children loved to gather around her as she sang. She missed home. She was a warrior, but she was also a princess. She wanted a warm bed, and a proper shower. But she had the resolve to finish this. She would help end this. Even if she had to use her power to erase the Daleks from the universe forever. She knew the Queens would frown about that and really strip her of her name and title. She frowned at the thought of her mother. Even if they had a difference in opinion about the Time War, she still missed her mother.
"Ma'am," a solider approached her.
"Report," she commanded. She had gained the rank of Major in the short time she had been fighting.
"Major, we have reports that say: the Daleks are advancing on Arcadia," he said. "We are to report there immediately."
"Send a message back, we are on our way!" she announced as she stood grabbing her scythe as she stood. In this war the Daleks had dubbed her the Grim Reaper. She laughed when a Time Lord told her what they meant by that. And she had told them that if that's what it took to end the war, she would be their Grim Reaper.
The march to Arcadia was a long one, but her troops were just as determined as she was. That was her terms when she accepted the rank of Major, she wanted to lead a crew that was just as determined as she was. By the time they reached Arcadia the battle was in full swing. She ripped through four Daleks with one swing of her scythe. Her troops fired their blasters at the Daleks. She was mowing down the Daleks like they were weeds in and unruly yard. She commanded her troops to save the civilians as she focused on the Daleks. But as she looked over the battlefield she saw her troops get slaughtered by Dalek reinforcements. She looked at their dead bodies in horror. She lost control, she ran wildly at the Daleks and killed a lot of them but in her rage she didn't watch her back. It was warrior 101. Watch your back. A Dalek came up behind her and shot her through one of her hearts. She was thrown to the ground by the force. She started to regenerate, she knew the Dalek would shoot her again to finish the job but it didn't nothing happened. Even her regeneration stopped. She couldn't move. She wondered if this was what it was like to die. As she lost consciousness she saw the Doctor's TARDIS.
Rose woke up grasping her heart and panting. She had to go see the Doctor. She knew about the Time War first hand. She ran out of her room, after getting dressed, not even bothering shutting her door. She ran straight to the console room, but as she entered the TARDIS shook. "What's the emergency?" she asked as lights flashed.
"It's mauve," the Doctor said.
"Mauve?" she asked as she tried to make her way to the console to hold on.
"The universally recognized color for danger," he said as he held on to the console.
"What happened to red?" she asked.
"That's just humans," he explained. "By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing. It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go."
"And that's safe, is it?" she asked playfully.
"Totally," he said, as a panel on the console sparked. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."
"What exactly is this thing?" she asked.
"No idea," he said with a smile.
"Then why are we chasing it?" she asked.
"It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the center of London," he explained. Well that meant that the talk would have to wait. She sighed. The TARDIS landed soon after and he popped out and she followed behind. "Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?"
"Five days?" she teased. "Or is that just when we're out of milk?"
"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow," he said. "Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"A month?" she asked surprised. "We were right behind it."
"It was jumping time tracks all over the place," he said. "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"
"How much is a little?" she asked ignoring his question, because she could if she became Crimson again.
"A bit," he said
"Is that exactly a bit?" Rose asked.
"Ish," he said.
"What's the plan, then?" she asked. "Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?"
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang," he said. "I'm going to ask." He showed her his psychic paper.
"'Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids.'" she read
"It's psychic paper. It tells you-" he started.
"Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember," she interrupted. He walked to the Delivery door in the back of the building they parked near.
"Sorry," he said. Silence fell between them as he removed his Sonic and worked on the door. He looked over at her shirt and noticed that she wearing a Union Jack t-shirt. "Are you sure about that t-shirt?"
"Too early to say," she said looking down at it. "I'm taking it out for a spin."
"Mummy? Mummy?" she heard a small boy say.
"Come on if you're coming," the Doctor said as the door unlocked. "It won't take a minute." He went inside but she wandered toward the noise.
"Mummy?" the boy asked again. As she turned around a corner she finally saw the boy. He was in rags but he wore a gas mask.
"Doctor? Doctor?" she called out. "There's a kid up there! Are you all right up there?
"Mummy?" he asked. She ran up a metal fire escape staircase, until she got to a flat roof, but he was still higher up.
"Mummy?" he asked.
"Okay, hang on," she said. "Don't move!" She saw a rope dangle in front of her so she grabbed it and gave it a good tug to see if it would hold. It seemed secure. She started to climb the rope.
"Mummy. Balloon!" he shouted. The barrage balloon drifted, pulling Rose away from the wall and the child, and dangling her over the alleyway.
"Doctor!" she yelled as loud as she could. "Doctor! Doctor!" Searchlight combed the sky. Explosions and fires started in various parts of London. A squadron of German planes flew over her head. "Okay, maybe not this t-shirt." A few minutes later she was high over Westminster, and her grip finally slid. She fell down as she fell she screamed loudly. She was surprised when a beam caught her.
"Okay, okay, I've got you," a man said.
"Who's got me!?" she yelled. "Who's got me, and you know, how?!"
"I'm just programming your descent pattern," he said. "Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."
"Descent pattern?" she asked.
"Oh, and could you switch off your cell phone?" he asked. She scoffed. "No, seriously, it interferes with my instrument."
"You know, no one ever believes that!" she exclaimed as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and turned it off.
"Thank you," he said. "That's much better."
"Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is," she said bitterly. "I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with the Union Jack across my chest, but hey, my mobile phone's off."
"Be with you in a moment." he said. She hung there for a bit. She felt anger build in her as she waited. She wondered if it was because of Crimson or if she was truly angry. "Hold tight!" Broke her out of her thoughts.
"To what?" she asked.
"Fair point," he said. She started to move down the beam but then was teleported into the ship, straight into the man's arms. He was handsome. Nothing on the Doctor but still handsome in his own right. "I've got you. You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little."
"Hello," she said sounding light headed.
"Hello," he said. She noticed that he was American.
"Hello," she repeated. "Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but you know, thorough."
"Are you all right?" he asked with great concern.
"Fine," she said as she pushed away lightly. He let her go a bit but kept his hands around her so if she fainted he could catch her.
"Why, are you expecting me to faint or something?" she asked as she stumbled and he moved to catch her but she caught herself.
"You look a little dizzy," he said.
"What about you?" she asked. "You're not even in focus." She fainted and he caught her. He smiled at her and put her in a nearby bunk. She woke up with a groan.
"Better now?" he asked.
"You got lights in here?" she asked. Then she realized that she slept without dreaming. That didn't set well with her. He turned on the lights to reveal a cramped spaceship with bundles of wires hanging from the ceiling.
"Hello," he said with a smile.
"Hello," she responded.
"Hello," he repeated.
"Let's not start that again," she said.
"Okay," he said.
"So, who're you supposed to be, then?" she asked noticing his attire. He was wearing a American solider uniform.
"Captain Jack Harkness," he said. "One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer." He handed her a piece of paper.
"Liar," she said with a smile. "This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."
"How do you know?" he asked.
"Two things," she said. "One, I have a friend who uses this all the time."
"Ah." he said
"And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out," she said with a cheeky grin.
"Tricky thing, psychic paper," he said.
"Yeah," she said. "Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over," She couldn't help thinking that this man would be perfect for Crimson's friend Fenrir, as she handed it back.
"Who's Crimson and Fenrir?" he asked.
"Well it's complicated," she said.
"I don't do complicated," he said. "But if they're as cute as you I could make and exception."
"Shall we try and get along without the psychic paper?" she asked.
"That would be better, wouldn't it?" he asked.
"Nice spaceship," she said.
"Gets me around." he replied with a shrug.
"Very Star Trek," she said.
"What?" he asked.
"Guessing you're not a local boy, then." she said with a smile.
"A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades," he said. "Guessing you're not a local girl."
"Guessing right." she said as she took a look outside of the window. She leaned on the window seal and removed her hands quickly.
"Burn your hands on the rope?" he asked.
"Yeah." she said as she looked at her hands. "We're parked in midair! Can't anyone down there see us?"
"No," he said. "Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"
"Why?" she asked not fully trusting him yet.
"Please?" he asked again. She sighed in annoyance but lifted her hands and showed him her palms where it was burnt. "You can stop acting now.. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."
"Time Agent?" she asked as he looked the burn over.
"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up," he said. "Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?"
"Sometimes I get swept off my feet," she said but quickly added, "By balloons." He wrapped his scarf around her wrists. "What are you doing?"
"Try to keep still,"he said as he pushed a button that caused miroscoopic glowing things to buzz around her hands healing the burns. "Nanogenes. Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin." The glow faded, so he untied her wrist.
"Well, tell them thanks," she said with a small laugh.
"Shall we get down to business?" he asked.
"Business?" she asked.
"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" he said as he opened the latch and climbed out with a bottle of champagne in hand. "Bring up the glasses." She followed him with the glasses in hand and was amazed by what she saw. Fires and searchlights covering London, nearly lighting up the sky. Then she looked down to see that she was standing on something, she didn't see anything. To her surprise that didn't scare her like she thought it should.
"Okay, you have an invisible spaceship," she said.
"Yeah," he said.
"Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason," she said.
"First rule of active camouflage," he said.
"Park somewhere you'll remember," they said at the same time.
"How'd you know?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said honestly. He gave her a weird look, but decided to drop it because he started to pore the champagne. "You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back."
"We're discussing business." he said as he handed her a glass.
"This isn't business," she said. "This is champagne."
"I try never to discuss business with a clear head," he said. "Are you travelling alone? Are you authorized to negotiate with me?"
"What would we be negotiating?" she asked.
"I have something for the Time Agency," he said. "Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?"
"Well, I, I should talk to my companion," she said.
"Companion?" he asked.
"I should really be getting back to him," she said as she stood.
"Him?" he asked.
"Do you have the time?" she asked. He pulled out a remote and Big Ben lit up just as it struck nine thirty. "Okay, that was flash. That was on the flash side."
"So when you say your companion, just how disappointed should I be?" he asked as he stood up too.
As he approached her, she could feel something inside her scream 'No! Get him away!'.
"Okay, we're standing in midair," she said. The voice got louder as he got closer.
"Mmm-hmm," he said.
"On a spaceship, during a German air raid," she said. "Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?"
"Perhaps not," he said as he backed away. The voice calmed and she sighed. "Do you like Glenn Miller?" He used his remote again and Moonlight Serenade began to play. He tries to take her hand but she pulls away.
"I don't dance," he said hurriedly.
"It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London," he explains. "A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. 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. Now, shall we discuss payment? Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater."
"You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer,"she said.
"Well, that's a little harsh," he said. "I like to think of myself as a criminal."
"I bet you do," she teased then the voice screamed again.
"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" he asked.
"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah," she said.
"Well, maybe we should go find him," he said.
"And how're you going to do that?" she asked.
"Easy," he said. "I'll do a scan for alien tech."
Meanwhile the Doctor had met Nancy and the gas mask child, in his search for Rose. He followed Nancy from the house she had raided for the homeless children of London. He found her at a little shack not far from the house. She was putting away the things she had gotten from the house into a safe place. He stood behind her, so when she spun around it frightened her. "How'd you follow me here?" she aksed.
"I'm good at following, me," he said with a smile. "Got the nose for it."
"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to," she said. "Only Fenrir can do that."
"My nose has special powers," he said.
"Yeah? That's why it's-" she started but started to laugh to hard to continue.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"Nothing." she laughed. "Do your ears have special powers too?"
"What are you trying to say?" he asked sounding slightly hurt.
"Goodnight, Mister." she said.
"Nancy," a male voice sad from on top of the shack. With it being so dark the Doctor couldn't make out who or what the figure was. But it jumped and spun in the air landing a few feet from the Doctor. "Is this man giving you any trouble?"
"No, Fenrir," she said with a smile. "He was just leaving."
"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids," the Doctor said. "Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"He saw Jamie?" the man called Fenrir asked. She nodded to him.
"There was a bomb." she explained. "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."
"Take me there." the Doctor said.
"There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through." she said.
"Try me." he said.
"If he's hell bent on going I'll take him," Fenrir said.
"Be careful," she said. "And don't forget to-"
"Don't worry," Fenrir said with a tooth grin. "I'll take him to the Doctor first." Even though it was so dark, the Doctor could see that the man had fangs where his K-9s were. "Come on." Fenrir lead the Doctor down to the station. "Before we go in there. I need to ask you something."
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"You're a Time Lord," Fenrir said. "Did you fight in the Time War?" The Doctor's face went dark with a mix of pain, anger, and self loathing. "I'll take that as a yes. But what I really want to ask is, did anyone else survive? Maybe a girl with long ginger hair?"
"I'm the last of the Time Lords," the Doctor said grimly.
"I feared that was true," Fenrir said sadly. "Anyway, this way." The Doctor used super-binoculars to scan the area. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up over night. See the hospital?"
"What about it?" the Doctor asked.
"That's where we go next," Fenrir said as he walked down the stairs.
"For now," the Doctor said. "I'm more interested in getting in there." He pointed at the bomb.
"We have to talk to the doctor first," Fenrir said.
"Why?" the Doctor asked.
"Because there was someone that was hurt the night that bomb fell and he was taken there," Fenrir explained. The Doctor shrugged and followed Fenrir to the hospital. The Doctor used his Sonic to open the padlock on the ornate metal gates to the hospital grounds. Inside the long, dark wards, every bed has a very still patient in it, and they are all wearing gas masks. An elderly, grumpy doctor came out from his office.
"You'll find them everywhere," he said. "In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them." He coughed.
"Yes, I saw," the Doctor said. "Why are they still wearing gas masks?"
"They're not," the man said. "Fenrir, who's this?"
"He was asking about the bomb," Fenrir said.
"Doctor Constantine," the man said as he coughed. "What do you know about it?"
"Only what Fenrir told me," the Doctor said. "Why I was asking. What do you know?"
"Only what it's done." Constantine said.
"These people, they were all caught up in the blast?" the Doctor asked.
"None of them were," Constantine said with a chuckle then a cough. He sat down in a chair. The Doctor noticed that Fenrir looked at Constantine with a great deal of concern but made not move to help the elderly man.
"You're very sick," the Doctor said.
"Dying, I should think," Constantine said. "I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?"
"I have my moments," the Doctor said. Fenrir huffed at that answer. Because it reminded him of how Crimson would answer most questions about jobs.
"Have you examined any of them yet?" Constantine asked.
"No." the Doctor replied.
"Don't touch the flesh." Constantine said.
"Which one?" the Doctor asked.
"Any one," Constantine replied. The Doctor took his Sonic and ran it over the nearest patient. He was confused by what the scan said. "Conclusions?"
"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side," the Doctor replied. "Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns."
"Examine another one." Constantine said. The Doctor went to the next one and used the Sonic to scan them.
"This isn't possible." he said.
"Examine another." Constantine said. The Doctor did and got the same results.
"This isn't possible." he said as he scanned one after the other.
"No." Constantine said.
"They've all got the same injuries." the Doctor concluded.
"Yes." Constantine confirmed.
"Exactly the same." Fenrir added as the Doctor stopped.
"Yes." Constantine repeated.
"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand." the Doctor said. "How did this happen? How did it start?"
"With the boy that was brought in," Fenrir said.
"Dead?" the Doctor asked.
"At first." Constantine said. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"
"The head trauma."
"No."
"Asphyxiation.:"
"No."
"The collapse of the chest cavity"
"No."
"All right. What was the cause of death?" the Doctor asked.
"There wasn't one. They're not dead." Fenrir said. The Doctor gave Fenrir a strange look. Constantine hit the trash can with his cane. All the patients sat up at once. The Doctor jumped back from the beds and looked like he was ready to fight.
"It's all right." Constantine said. "They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."
"And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" the Doctor asked as the patients lay back again.
"I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" Constantine asked sounding hopeless.
"Just you?" the Doctor asked. "You're the only one here?"
"I help when I can," Fenrir said.
"Before this war began," Constantine said sadly. "I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor."
"Yeah. I know the feeling." the Doctor said. Fenrir gave the Doctor a sympathetic look.
"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb." Constantine said.
"Probably too late." the Doctor said.
"No." Constantine said hurriedly. "There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London. Stay back, stay back. Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."
"Nancy?" the Doctor asked.
"It was her brother." Constantine said. "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she might Mummy. Are you my mummy?" Starting with the mouth his face changed into a gas mask.
"Hello?" Jack's voice came from the other room.
"Hello?" Rose's voice followed.
"Friends of yours?" Fenrir asked. The Doctor ignored Fenrir and went to where he heard Jack and Rose.
"Hello?" Jack asked once more before the Doctor entered the hallway. The Doctor entered the hallway and gave Jack a dirty look. "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."
"He knows." Rose said. "I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Doctor," Jack said as he shook the Doctor's hand. Jack entered the ward.
"Where've you been?" the Doctor asked. "We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."
"Who's strolling?" she teased. "I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."
"What?!" he exclaimed.
"Listen, what's a Chula warship?" she asked.
"Chula?" he asked as they walked back into the room where Jack was examining the bodies and Fenrir was no were to be seen.
"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack asked.
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Doctor asked.
"What?" Jack asked.
"He said it was a warship." she said. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."
"What kind of warship?" the Doctor asked.
"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this." Jack said.
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" the Doctor asked forcefully.
"An ambulance! Look." Jack exclaimed as he showed the Doctor a hologram of the Chula ambulance. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait"
"Bait?" she asked.
"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk." he said with a sigh.
"You said it was a war ship." she said.
"They have ambulances in wars." he protested. "It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you."
"Just a couple more freelancers." she said fondly.
"Oh. Should have known." he said throwing his hands up in defeat. "The way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain? Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
"What is happening here, Doctor?" she asked.
"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot." the Doctor said with a cold edge to his voice.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I don't know." he said. "Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?" Suddenly the patients sat up and got out of bed.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?" they chanted.
"What's happening?" she asked.
"I don't know." he said as he backed Rose and Jack into the wall.
"Mummy." the patients continued.
"Don't let them touch you." he said.
"What happens if they touch us?" she asked.
"You're looking at it." he said.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy." the patients chanted as they got closer.
Notes: Another chapter! Woot! We are getting closer and closer to merging past with present! Woo, well let me know what you think. Thank you my loyal readers and reviewers!