The Doctor watched as an alarm started and a family entered their shelter, the husband calling out and cursing all along. He didn't seem fazed by the alarm, and neither did a young woman who climbed out of the bushes and entered the house.

She stayed inside for about a minute or so before going out and giving three low whistles. Almost immediately, a group of kids led by another girl neared the house. She was carrying a boy in her arms, and as the group entered the house and turned to the right, she leaned to tell one of them something before taking the boy to the left.

Curious, the Doctor followed the group inside.

"It's got to be black market," he heard one of the kids say. "You couldn't get all this on coupons."

"Ernie, how many times?" the woman asked. "We're guests in this house! We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up!" she added, making the group laugh and the boy groan.

"Oh, Nancy!" he protested, and she turned to look at one of the boys.

"Haven't seen you at one of these before," she noted.

"He told me about it," the boy said, nodding at the boy next to him.

"Sleeping rough?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yes, Miss."

"All right, then," she sighed, starting to pass the plate of meat around. "One slice each," she warned. "And I want to see everybody chewing properly."

As the plate passed around, each boy politely thanked Nancy for the food and the Doctor sat down.

"Thank you, Miss."

"Thanks, Miss."

"Thank you, Miss!"

"Thanks, Miss!" the Doctor said as the plate reached him, making all heads in the table turn to him and some boys stand up.

"It's all right, everybody stay where they are!" Nancy called.

"Good here, innit?" the Doctor asked. "Who's got the salt?"

"Back in your seats," Nancy said, ignoring him. "He shouldn't be here either."

One by one, the kids sat down and resumed eating in silence. The Doctor looked between them and was just about to say something when the woman from earlier entered the room, a young boy in her hands.

"I changed the bandage on Ricky's leg," she told Nancy. "If I'd have waited a day it would have gotten infected. Told you we'd find what we need in this house," she added, looking at the table appreciatively. "Oh, hello," she greeted the Doctor with a smile. "You're late again."

"Do you two know each other?" Nancy asked.

"I know him better than he knows himself," Eva said, sitting down next to the Doctor and propping Ricky next to her. "And I suppose he can say the same about me."

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked as Eva grabbed the plate of meat and served a piece to herself and another to Ricky.

"I told you already," Eva said, digging into her food at the speed of someone who hadn't had a proper meal in a while. "You're late."

The Doctor eyed her oddly as she cut Ricky's meat into smaller pieces, before focusing on the problem on hand once more.

"So, you lot," he said, looking at the group. "What's the story?"

"What do you mean?" one of the boys asked.

"You're homeless, right?" he questioned, "Living rough?"

"Why do you wanna know?" a second boy questioned. "You a copper?"

"Course I'm not a copper," the Doctor huffed. "What's a copper gonna do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?"

The group laughed and he looked at Eva from the corner of his eye, satisfied by the smile on her face.

"I make it 1941," the Doctor said, looking between the kids. "You lot shouldn't be in London. Should've been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated," one of the boys said. "Sent me to a farm."

"So why'd you come back?" the Doctor asked.

"There was a man there..."

"Yeah," another boy nodded. "Same with Ernie. Two homes ago."

"Shut up!" Ernie muttered.

"Not everyone has people who care enough to evacuate them," Eva said, wiping food from the corner of Ricky's mouth. "And it's better on the streets anyway. It's better food."

"Nancy and Evie always get the best food for us," Rick told the Doctor.

"So that's what you do, you two?" the Doctor asked, looking between Nancy and Eva.

"What is?" Nancy asked, annoyed.

"Soon as the sirens go, you find a big family meal, everyone's down in the air raid shelter, and – bingo – feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London! Pudding for all!" he called, before looking at Eva disapprovingly. "As long as the bombs don't get you."

"Beggars can't be choosy," Eva said. "We make do with what we've got, and in the middle of a worldwide war, when the Germans are bombing the city, it isn't much."

"Something wrong with that?" Nancy asked, daring him to tell her there is.

"Wrong?" the Doctor asked. "It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical," he added, making the kids look at him with confusion.

"Why did you follow me?" Nancy questioned. "What d'you want?"

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call," the Doctor said. "Normally, I'd have asked Evie but she wasn't there and probably wouldn't have told me even if she were. So you seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favour," Nancy said. "I told you not to answer it. That's all I'm telling ya."

"Great, thanks," the Doctor said sarcastically. "And I wanna find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one, I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?"

Eva looked at Nancy, who nodded towards the Doctor's plate, and sighed. She stood up, taking the plate from him and handing it to Nancy.

"It was a joke!" the Doctor protested. "Evie..."

"You took two slices," Eva shrugged. "I didn't make the rules, and it's not my fault you broke them."

"No blondes," Nancy said tightly. "No flags. Anything else before you leave?"

"Yeah, there is, actually, thanks for asking," the Doctor said, taking a piece of paper from his pocket and starting to draw on it. "Something I'm looking for. Would've fallen from the sky, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably just buried itself. And it would've looked something like... this," he finished, showing the group the paper.

Eva could feel Nancy's eyes darting to her, and resisted the urge to look back as she raised Ricky to her knees. The entire group jumped as somebody knocked on the window.

"Mummy? Are you in there, Mummy? Mummy?"

"Who was the last in?" Nancy questioned.

"Him," Ernie said, pointing at the Doctor.

"No, he came round the back," Nancy shook her head. "Who came in the front?"

"Me," the new boy said shakily.

"Did you close the door?"

"I don't..."

"Did you close the door?!"

"Mummy? Mummy? Mum-my!"

Eva raised Ricky into her arms as she ran after Nancy and the Doctor to the hall, where Nancy shut the door down and locked it.

"What's this?" the Doctor asked. "Never easy being the only child left out in the cold."

"I suppose you'd know," Nancy muttered.

"I do actually, yes," the Doctor replied.

"It's not exactly a child," Eva cut in. "I'll take the kids away."

"Mum-my!"

"Eva, I –"

"Not now, Doctor," Eva bit out. "I'll meet you later."

"How will you know where?" the Doctor asked.

"I always know where," Eva replied, turning away and entering the kitchen.

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy. Please let me in, Mummy."

"Everybody, out!" Eva called out into the kitchen. "You know where we're going. Pair up, I want each of you to know where your pair is."

She started ushering them out of the house, vaguely noticing the Doctor looking at her as he spoke to Nancy. With the last of the kids out, she shut the door and ran away, her arms holding Ricky tightly.

During the past couple of weeks, she had managed to muster the art of running while carrying an eight year old boy in her hands, but she didn't think she'll ever be able to get used to watching over a group of panicked kids.

It didn't take them long to reach the alley where they lived, and Eva put Ricky down carefully before turning to Ernie.

"I need to go," she said, collecting her little belongings. "I need you to stay here and take care of the rest, can you do that for me?"

"Where are you going?" Ernie asked.

"The man who was in the house," Eva explained. "I know him. He's a good friend of mine and he's going to fix everything."

"Eva?" Ricky asked. "Evie?"

"Not now," Eva sighed. "I'm going to go help him, and I'll return after that to say goodbye before I leave."

"You're leaving?"

"I always said I won't stay forever," Eva reminded him.

"Evie? Evie?"

"But that's what I have you for, Ernie," she added. "You're going to help Nancy take care of the rest of them, won't you?"

"Evie?" Ricky's slightly distorted voice said. "I need to ask you something... Are... Are you...?"

"What?" Eva asked, turning around to glare at the boy only to stop when she saw the gas mask on his face. "Ernie?" she asked.

"Yes?" Ernie asked nervously.

"Are you my mummy?" what used to be Ricky asked.

"Take the kids and run," Eva ordered. "I'll see you later."

"Are you my mummy?" a small voice asked behind her as she ran away, tears burning in her eyes. "Are you my mummy?"

EMH

Eva ran. She ran hard, and fast – faster than she remembered she could, as carrying an eight year old boy usually slowed one down. Once or twice, she paused, looking for Ricky, but every time she remembered what happened it hit her like a punch to the guts.

The Doctor will fix it, she knew that much. Even if she hadn't watched the episode, she knew the Doctor will fix this because he had to fix this.

She couldn't bear the thought of losing Ricky, not like this.

At a certain point, she realized she ran into a building and stopped. Slowly falling to the ground, her back against a wall, she curled up and finally let the tears flow as she cried for the young boy she had grown attached to during the past month and a half.

"Eva?" she heard a confused voice calling. "What are you doing here? Evie?" The voice was closer now, and the person it belonged to had surely seen her weeping on the floor. "Evie, what's wrong?"

A soft hand reached out to move away the curls that stuck to Eva's face, wet with tears, and she wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck, crying into his shoulder.

"It's okay," he whispered, rubbing circles on her back. "I'm here now. Everything's gonna be okay." He kept this, whispering comforting words into her ear until she calmed down enough to speak before asking, "What happened?"

"R-R-Ricky," Eva cried. "He- He asked if I'm his m-m-mummy..."

"What?" the Doctor asked, confused. "No, you haven't been here nearly that long...Why would he think you're his mum?"

"N-No," Eva said, backing away enough to look at the Doctor. "He- He asked if I'm his mummy."

Realization crossed the Doctor's face as the meaning of Eva's words finally filtered through. "Oh, Evie..." he muttered, hugging her again. "I'll fix this. I'll fix this, and I'll fix him. I promise."

"O-Okay," Eva sniffed, allowing the Doctor to help her to her feet. "Where... Where are we?" she asked, looking around.

"You don't know?" Eva shook her head. "We're at the hospital. Nancy brought me here to meet the doctor."

"Oh," Eva said, wiping tears off her face. "O-Okay."

"How did you even get in here?" the Doctor asked, thinking about how he had to break in using his screwdriver.

"There's a back door," she replied, as if it was no big deal. "And a hole in the fence."

"Alright then," the Doctor said. "Do you want to wait here, or...?"

"No," Eva said determinedly, grabbing the Doctor's hand in hers. "I wanna come with you."

The Doctor smiled, pulling Eva closer to him for a kiss before starting to head deeper into the hospital. Eva didn't think he was aware he even said it out loud, but she still heard the mutter under his breath.

"Fantastic."

Oddly enough, that out of place mention of his familiar catchphrase made her feel just the tiniest bit better.

EMH

The door squeaked as Eva and the Doctor walked a room. The Doctor looked around at the people in the cots, examining them in confusion and curiosity.

"You'll find them everywhere," Dr. Constantine said, walking into the room. "In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them."

"We saw," Eva said, and Constantine's gaze turned to her.

"Eva," he said fondly. "How's little Ricky?"

"Like them," was all Eva supplied, and it was enough to make the smile drop from his face.

"Why are they still wearing gas masks?" the Doctor asked.

"They're not," Eva and Dr. Constantine said together.

"Who are you?" Dr. Constantine asked, looking the Doctor up and down.

"I'm..." the Doctor started hesitantly. "Are you the doctor?"

"Dr. Constantine," the medical doctor replied. "And you are?"

"Nancy sent me."

"Nancy?" Constantine repeated. "And you're wandering around with Eva... That means you must have been asking about the bomb."

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed.

"What do you know about it?"

"Nothing," the Doctor said, looking at Eva with confusion at Constantine's weird behaviour. "That's why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done," Dr. Constantine replied, marking at the room.

"These people," the Doctor said, looking around once more. "They were all caught up in the blast?"

"No," Eva said quietly. "None of them were."

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask something, when Constantine burst into a fit of coughs, all but falling into a chair.

"You're very sick," the Doctor stated.

"Dying, I should think," Constantine replied. "I just haven't been able to find the time! Is he the doctor you spoke about?" he asked Eva.

"He has his moments," Eva shrugged.

"Have you examined any of them yet?" the medical doctor asked.

"No," the Doctor said, heading towards one of the beds.

"Don't touch the flesh," Constantine warned.

"Which one?" the Doctor asked.

"Anyone."

The Doctor raised a brow but said nothing more as he headed towards the nearest bed, using his sonic screwdriver to scan the patient in it.

"Conclusions?" Constantine asked.

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side," the Doctor listed. "Partial collapse of the chest cavity to the right. Scarring on the back of the hand. The gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can't see any burns..."

"Examine another one," Eva instructed.

Again, the Doctor raised a brow but did as he was told, stopping as he saw the identical scar on the back of the second patient's right hand.

"This isn't possible," he muttered.

"And examine another," Constantine said.

"This isn't possible!" the Doctor said, after checking a third patient, only to get the same results.

"No," Constantine agreed.

"They've all got the same injuries."

"Yes," Eva said.

"Exactly the same!"

"Yes."

"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand." He turned around, looking between Constantine and Eva. "How did this happen? How did it start?"

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim," Eva said.

"Dead?" the Doctor questioned.

"At first," Dr. Constantine replied. "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 on the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries..." Dr. Constantine said. "As plague. Can you explain that?" The Doctor didn't respond, and Dr. Constantine went on. "What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma," the Doctor replied almost immediately.

"No."

"Asphyxiation?"

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

"All right," the Doctor said, annoyed. "What was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one," Eva said, inching closer to the Doctor and holding his hand.

"They're not dead," Constantine agreed, slamming his walking cane at the floor and making every patient in the room sit up. "It's all right, they're harmless," he said in dismissal as the Doctor backed away from the beds and Eva neared him. "They just sort of sit there."

"There's no heartbeat," Eva said. "No life signs of any kind. They just... don't die."

"They're just left here?" the Doctor asked. "Nobody's doing anything?"

"I try and make them comfortable," Dr. Constantine said. "What else is there?"

"Just you?" the Doctor questioned. "You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began I was a father and a grandfather," Constantine said, a pained look in his eyes. "Now I'm neither. But I'm still a doctor."

"Yeah," the Doctor muttered, holding Eva closer. "Know the feeling."

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb," Constantine sighed.

"Probably too late," the Doctor muttered.

"I know," Dr. Constantine said. "There are isolated cases..." he added through coughs. "Isolated cases breaking out... all over... London."

"Ricky," the Doctor said and Dr. Constantine nodded before breaking into another fit of coughs.

"Stay back!" he said when the Doctor moved closer to him. "Stay back! Listen to me. Top floor, Room 802. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" the Doctor asked, confused.

"It was her brother," Eva explained, inching away from Dr. Constantine.

"She knows more than she's saying," Constantine said. "She won't tell me, but she m..." Constantine paused, looking as if he was about to puke. "Mum-meee..." Eva inched closer to the Doctor, whose expression darkened. "Are you my... mummy?"

Eva stared, shocked, as the gas mask came out of Dr. Constantine's mouth before the metallic looking skin started appearing. It wasn't long before Dr. Constantine looked just like the rest of the patients in the ward, up to the scar at the back of the hand and the way his body was limp on the chair.

"Did that happen to Ricky?" the Doctor asked, shocked.

"I suppose," Eva muttered. "I... I didn't really see it happening. I just... saw him after."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said.

"Well, sorry isn't gonna bring him back," Eva muttered.

"Hello?" a voice called from the hall before either of them could say anything else. "Hello?"

The Time Lord looked at the woman next to him before taking her hand and going to the corridor. Two figures neared them, and it was impossible to fail to notice Rose's blonde hair or Union Jack shirt, but the other man was unfamiliar – to him, at least.

"Good evening," he said, shaking the Doctor's hand and looking Eva up and down. "Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

"He knows," Rose said, making the Doctor's eyes jump to his hairline and Eva to stifle a small laugh. "I had to tell him... About us being Time Agents."

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr Spock," Jack said, making Eva snort. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Eva," she said, reaching out a hand for him to shake.

"It's a pleasure," Jack told her, bringing up her hand to his lips, and making Eva snort with laughter once more. "What is it?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing," Eva said. "You're just... inside joke," she said with another small laugh.

"Two steps away from each other, please," the Doctor said, extracting Eva's hand from Jack's. Jack raised his brow, moving on, and Eva laughed again as the Doctor turned to Rose. "Mr. Spock?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Rose asked. "You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of 'Doctor'? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping," the Doctor muttered. "Where have you been? We're in the middle of the London Blitz, it's not a good time for a stroll!"

"Who's strollin'?" Rose said with a small wink at Eva's direction as the trio started following Jack. "I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."

"What?" the Doctor asked, confused.

"Listen, what's a Chula warship?" Rose asked, moving on without waiting for a reply.

The Doctor looked at Eva, confused. "Chula?"

Eva smiled, leading him towards the room where Rose sat, looking at Jack as the former Time Agent scanned the people in the cots.

"This just isn't possible," he said. "How did this happen?"

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Doctor asked, eyeing Jack with mistrust.

"What?"

"He said it was a warship," Rose said. "He stole it, parked it somewhere, somewhere a bomb's gonna to fall on it. Unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" the Doctor pressed.

"Does it matter?" Jack questioned. "It's got nothing to do with this."

"This started at the bomb site," the Doctor said. "It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" he repeated.

"An ambulance!" Jack called out, before sighing and uploading a hologram of the vehicle. "Look, this is what chased you through the time vortex," he said. "It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty," he clarified. "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?" Rose questioned.

"I wanted to sell it to you, then destroy it before you found out it was junk," Jack sighed.

"You said it was a warship."

"They have ambulances in wars," Eva noted, making Jack look at her in a desperate attempt to make them understand.

"It's a con," he said. "I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man! Thought you were Time Agents," he added, looking them up and down. "You're not, are you?"

"Sorry, honey," Eva said, looking truly apologetic.

"Just a couple more freelancers," Rose told him.

"I should've known, the way you guys are blending with the local colour! Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain?" he asked, looking at the Doctor. "Pretty Thing here is the only one close to looking in place."

"Wait, what?" the Doctor asked, looking at the Captain with alarm.

"Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship," Jack finished, ignoring the other man.

"What is happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Human DNA is being rewritten," the Doctor said. "By an idiot."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," the Doctor sighed. "Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why?" he asked, looking at Eva. "What's the point?"

"You know I –" she started.

"Yes, yes, I know," The Doctor said. "You can't tell me anything. But a little help still would've been nice."

He didn't seem angry at her, not like he was angry at Jack. More than anything else, he seemed desperate, and just a bit disappointed. Eva wasn't sure if it was better or worse.

"Mummy!" Suddenly, all of the patients sat up. "Mum-my! Mummy?"

"What's happening?" Rose asked, scared.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, looking at the patients as they sat up and headed towards the four time travellers.

"Mummy! Mummy!"

"Don't let them touch you!" Eva warned, stepping closer to the Doctor.

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked.

"You're looking at it," the Doctor said.

"Mum-my! Mummy! Mum-my!"

"Doctor, now would be a great time to do something," Eva said, looking at the Doctor who stood in place, frozen.

"Mummy! Mummy!"

"Doctor," she repeated.

"Mummy! Mummy!"

"Doctor!"