Chapter 10: The Empty Child
They all continued chatting for another half an hour and then Jack went to fetch Nine and Rose so they could all watch the next episode. He was bouncing up and down because Ten had mentioned that he should be coming up soon and couldn't wait to see what his future with the two of them would hold. He hoped they would still want him though they had become a couple. He also wondered if he would go back to the timeline he came from where Rose and Nine were not a couple or if that timeline no longer existed and he would be dropped into their timeline with all his memories of this place. Pushing aside these thoughts, he pushed the button to start the TV once everyone was seated. Donna had taken the beanbag right next to him as Mickey and Martha were cuddled up on the second couch, similarly to how Nine and Rose were sat. Sarah Jane sat with the tentative couple while Ten was with his past self with Rose sandwiched between them.
The Tardis is in pursuit of a small spacecraft. Rose asks what the emergency is and the Doctor tells her it's mauve. When she is confused, he explains that mauve is the universal colour for danger.
"What about red?" Martha raises an eyebrow.
"That's only Earth. Everywhere else red is camp." Jack informs her with a wriggle of his eyebrows.
"I bet that causes some misunderstandings." Donna sniggers.
"Oh yeah." He grins wickedly.
She asks about red and he tells her that is camp by everyone else's standards. He links the TARDIS to whatever they are following so they can track it and Rose asks if that is safe. He says it is but there is a bang and he corrects that it is reasonably safe.
"I think you need to work on your idea of 'safe' Spaceman." Donna laughs.
Rose asks why they are chasing it and the Doctor replies that is it mauve, dangerous and thirty seconds from the centre of London.
"All the places on the planet and if it isn't Cardiff then it's London. I think other life forms only ever hear about two cities." Ten grins.
The Tardis materialises in a back alley between two terraces. The Doctor asks how long they can knock around in space without bumping into Earth and Rose replies it's five days unless that's just when they run out of milk.
"You can only get milk on Earth?" Mickey raises an eyebrow.
"Course not. He just has a soft spot for it." Rose laughs. "Tries to pretend otherwise by callin' us all stupid apes but he likes humans really."
"Oi! You're givin' away all my secrets." Nine pokes her.
"If you spot by Earth every five days for milk, how come it was so long between the two visits you made to see Jackie and me?" Mickey asks. "How long has it been for you two at this point?"
"We had been travelling together about nine months by this adventure, linear time." Ten informs him.
"We go to Earth every few days linear time but we don't always stop by in your time, we go to all different time." Rose tells him.
"It'd be dead borin' stopping by the same time period on the same planet every few days." Nine rolls his eyes.
The Doctor tells her it has to be somewhere close and can't have arrived more than a few weeks ago.
"A few weeks? You were right behind it." Sarah Jane looks at him amusedly.
"It was jumping time tracks everywhere." Ten defends.
Rose comments that they were right behind it and he defensively says they were bound to be a bit out and asks if she wants to drive.
"I'd totally love to drive her." Rose grins up at him.
"I might give you some lessons when we get back. I'd be good for you to learn how to in case something happens." Nine agrees. "Besides, she likes you, probably fly better for you." He adds looking a little annoyed.
"Well, I'm sure Rose won't threaten her to make her fly where you want her to go." Sarah Jane laughs.
"You threaten the TARDIS?" Martha asks him.
"Not really. Not much I can actually do to the old girl." Ten shrugs. Sarah Jane raises an eyebrow at him and he rubs the back of his neck embarrassedly.
Rose asks him how much a little is and he says it's a bit. She asks if he means exactly a bit and he replies 'ish'.
"Well that clears everything up." Donna rolls her eyes at him.
She asks what they plan is and if he is going to scan for alien tech. He tells her it hit the middle of London with a bang and he plans to ask someone.
Jack bursts out laughing loudly. Ten scowls at him but looks faintly amused.
"What?" Nine asks with a frown.
"Didn't check what time period you landed in then?" Jack asks, still laughing.
"Why?" Mickey asks.
"You'll find out I guess." Jack gestures to the screen, trying to snigger quietly enough for the episode to restart.
The Doctor shows Rose his psychic paper ID for the occasion. He is down as Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids. Rose wants him to scan and give her some spock.
"He often scans for alien technology." Martha looks confused.
"No he doesn't. At least, not so far." Rose shrugs.
"Well, you taught me a few lessons." Ten looks sheepish.
"What is this Spock?" Jack asks, remembering Rose had introduced the Doctor by that name.
"Modern day Earth program. Where are you from then?" Donna looks over at him. "You a Martian too?"
"I'm not a Martian." Ten rolls his eyes at her.
"Sure you are, Spaceman." She grins.
"I'm from Earth but the 52nd Century." Jack grins.
The Doctor opens the door with the sonic screwdriver, and looks at Rose's Union Flag top. He asks if she is sure about it.
Jack starts laughing again and this time Ten joins in, snickering quietly.
"What's wrong with my shirt?" Rose frowns.
"You'll find out soon enough." Jack winks at her.
"You manage to set a new record for jeopardy friendly." Ten sighs still looking amused.
She says she is taking it out for a spin. Rose hears a child calling for it's mummy. The Doctor goes inside and then she spots a little boy in a gas mask up on a nearby roof.
"A gas mask?" Sarah Jane raises an eyebrow. "Those haven't been used in a while."
"Why's the kid up on the roof?" Martha wonders in concern. Neither of them get an answer.
Rose calls to the Doctor but he can't hear her. The Doctor follows a waiter through a bead curtain to where a saxophonist and jazz band is accompanying a woman in 1940s clothes. Rose runs up a metal fire escape staircase to get to the child.
"Rooose. Rule number one is don't wander off." Nine whines. "You should have come and gotten me first." She just grins up at him cheekily. He rolls his eyes at her but kisses the top of her head.
In the nightclub, the Doctor takes the woman's place at the microphone. He asks if anyone has seen something fall from the sky recently. Everybody goes silent and then starts laughing.
Jack laughs with them all.
Rose gets to a flat roof. The child is still above her. It calls for its mummy again and she grabs hold of a rope that dangles down in front of her. She gives it a tug and it seems secure. The Doctor is asking if he said something funny and that he needs to find something that would have fallen a couple of days ago.
"I thought you said you could be a month behind it?" Donna questions.
"I said it can't be more than that. I might be closer than that." Nine defends.
An air raid siren sounds and people start to leave. He desperately keeps asking when a man tells him to get to the shelter quickly. He spots a post on the wall about Hitler.
Now everybody starts laughing except the two Doctors.
"You're asking if they've seen something fall from the sky in WW2?" Rose giggles.
"I thought you're superior Time Lord senses would have told you what year it was at the very least." Donna snickers.
"I was distracted." Nine scowls, his cheeks and the tips of his ears going red. "And you…" He turns to Rose. "Are now wanderin' around with a Union Flag on your chest in the middle of the blitz. No wonder he said you set a new record for being jeopardy friendly." His scowl deepens as Rose's eyes go wide.
"Wrong time to take that shirt for a spin then." She sighs.
Rose is using the rope to help her climb up to the child. The child calls out about a balloon as a barrage balloon drifts past, pulling Rose away from the wall so she is dangling over the alley.
"You've got to be kidding me." Nine groans. "Not only are you wanderin' around, you're dangling above the city with that flag on your chest in the middle of an air raid."
"How did you get down?" Donna marvels.
"Don't know, not done it yet." Rose shrugs, trying to look unconcerned.
"That would be me." Jack winks at her.
"At least this pretty boy has his uses." Nine sighs.
"Aww, you think I'm pretty, Doc." Jack grins widely. Nine doesn't respond.
She calls for the Doctor as searchlights comb the sky. Explosions and fires start in various parts of London. A squadron of German planes head towards her and she comments the t-shirt may not be the best idea. The Doctor emerges into the alley to find Rose has wandered off. A cat meows and he picks it up, complaining about Rose going off.
"I thought you weren't a cat person?" Martha looks at Ten questioningly.
"Yeah, well, being almost killed by cat nuns makes you reconsider things." He shrugs.
"Can nuns?" Rose raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we met them on New New Earth." He grins.
He comments that after nine hundred years of travelling, it's the only thing left to surprise him. As he says that the phone on the TARDIS starts ringing.
"What the..?" Nine looks utterly confused.
"I thought you said it isn't a real phone?" Martha frowns over at Ten.
"It isn't. It isn't wired up to anything, it's simply for show." He informs her.
"But it's ringing." Donna points out like she is talking to a child.
"Yeah, it should explain soon enough." He shrugs.
He opens the small door, asking the phone how it can be ringing and what he should do with a ringing phone.
"The usual thing is to answer it." Mickey laughs.
"Well this isn't usual." Nine retorts.
He gets out his sonic screwdriver. A young woman has walked up the alley, telling him not to answer it, it's not for him. He asks how she knows that and she repeats not to answer it. He asks her how it can be ringing as it isn't a real phone but when he looks up she has gone so he answers the phone.
"Of course. Someone who appears to know something says don't answer it, so of course now you have to answer it." Rose rolls her eyes fondly.
He introduces himself and a child's voice calls for its mummy. The Doctor asks who is there but it gives the same answer. He asks how it rung him as the phone isn't wired up to anything but it repeats the word mummy again and then it goes to the dialling tone. The Doctor knocks on the TARDIS door asking if Rose is in there.
"Why would I do something like that?" She looks up at him in bemusement.
"Seems more plausible than a child ringing a phone that can't ring." He huffs.
He hears a noise and runs out of the alley. He climbs up on a dustbin to look over a wall into someone's back garden. A middle-aged woman is shepherding a young boy into an air raid shelter, calling for her husband. Once they are all inside, the Doctor watches the woman who told him not to answer the phone go into the house.
"What's she doing?" Mickey asks.
"Well, I imagine she is going in to look for food. She probably lives on the street or something and when an air raid happens she can sneak into houses that have been abandoned in a hurry and get food." Sarah Jane explains.
"Still, she obviously knows something." Martha frowns.
Meanwhile, dangling over the Thames near St Paul's, Rose has an excellent view of a typical night raid during the Blitz. An officer stands on a balcony and spots Rose through his binoculars.
"It's me!" Jack exclaims looking excited.
"Good thing too by the looks of it." Rose laughs at his enthusiasm. "Least somebody spotted me."
Another man asks if Jack is going down to the shelter. He comments on the balloon while Jack zooms in on Rose's backside.
"Oi! If you're going to oogle me you could at least get me down first." Rose complains.
"So you don't mind if I oogle you?" Jack grins wickedly.
"Not at all. You can look as much as you like, just not touch." She winks at him.
"Tease."
"No lookin' and no touchin'." Nine tells him sternly.
"Sure thing, Doc." Jack replies, winking at Rose. She grins and kisses Nine's jaw. His expression softens and he misses the Captain coughing the word 'whipped' to their left.
He comments it's an excellent bottom.
"It is indeed." Nine mutters to Rose. "And all mine."
"Yes, dear." She snickers, patting his arm.
His friend tells him there is a time and a place. Jack says he has to go and meet a girl but assures his friend that he has an excellent bottom too.
"Oh sure, just take your time. Not like I could fall at any moment or something." Rose glares at him.
"I couldn't leave him thinking I didn't think his bottom was excellent." Jack tells her.
"You could always mention it to him later." She replies.
At the Lloyd's house, Nancy finishes filling her little sack with provisions and heads for the front door. In the hallway she stops and looks into another room and smiles, then goes outside into the street, where she whistles twice then goes back inside. A pair of urchins run in to see the feast she's discovered. She asks if there is many kids out there and Jim tells her there is.
"Oh, she's not just looking for herself. She must be helping all the homeless kids." Martha smiles.
"Shouldn't all the kids have been evacuated by now?" Rose asks.
"I imagine some homeless kids would have been overlooked. Or not wanted to go to a stranger's house where the conditions could potentially be worse." Ten tells her sadly.
Jim and his friend dive for the food but Nancy tells them she is still carving so they can sit and wait. Jim comments that he reckons the food must be off the black market.
"That is an extraordinary amount of food for WW2. They had rationing back then didn't they?" Mickey frowns trying to remember his history lessons.
"Yes they did." Sarah Jane nods.
High over Westminster, Rose finally loses her grip on the thick rope. Screaming, she falls, and is caught in a beam.
"That was far too close." She scowls at him.
"Hey, I knew what I was doing. I never let a pretty lady fall." He winks but does seem slightly sheepish. "However if this happens in your future I'll try and be quicker next time." This seems to mollify Rose.
"You'd better be." Ten glares at him. He hadn't realised just how close it had been.
Jack tells her he has her but Rose isn't calmed by this, demanding to know who has her and how. He tells her he is programming her descent pattern and to keep still.
"Don't bother, she never listens." Nine grins.
"Oi!" She pokes him in the side.
He then tells her to turn off her phone. She turns off the phone and when he tells her that's better she mutters sarcastically that she's hanging in the sky during a German air raid with a Union Jack on her chest but it's all better because her phone is off.
"I definitely like you." Donna laughs.
"That does sound rather like you." Ten snickers at Donna. "He's just trying to help." He adds smirking over at Rose.
"My phone is not the biggest of my priorities right then." Rose retorts but the corners of her mouth quirk upwards.
On Jack's ship the computer tells him that the mobile device indicates non-contemporaneous life form.
"Huh" Rose frowns.
"Not from that time." Jack explains. "They didn't exactly have mobile phones back then."
"Oh yeah." She shrugs, biting her lip.
He tells her to told tight.
"To what you idiot?" Donna yells at him. He turns a little red and shrugs.
Rose asks hold on to what and he admits that's a fair point. Rose hurtles down the light field into Jack's arms. He tells her she is fine but the tractor beam can scramble her head.
"You were so funny." He grins at her.
"You just said my head would be scrambled. I have an excuse." Rose glares at him. He hold his hands up but continues smirking.
Rose says hello and ends up saying it twice. He asks if she is alright and she says she is so he puts her down. She asks if he was expecting her to faint or something. Jack tells her she looks a little dizzy. Rose protests that he isn't even in focus and then faints. He catches her and puts her in a nearby bunker.
Both Doctors and Jack start laughing. Rose pokes both Doctors and nods to Donna who hits Jack over the back of the head. All three of them protest loudly.
Something watches two more small boys run down the street to join the feast. One of the boys at the table comments it must be black market. Nancy tells him they are guests and won't make that type of comment. She tells him he is on washing up duty and all the other children laugh.
"Least she keeps them in check." Sarah Jane smiles.
She addresses a new boy, asking if he is sleeping rough. When he tells her that he is, she lets him stay and sends round the plate of meat, telling them one slice each. They each take a slice, saying thank you until the Doctor also says thank you. The children panic and Nancy tells them to stay where they are.
"That's you Doctor, terrifying kids everywhere." Mickey laughs. Nine and Tell both scowl at him.
"It's probably the ears." Jack sniggers.
"Oi!" Nine glares at him, looking offended.
"I like those ears." Rose informs him with a smile. His glare subsides and he looks at her rather smugly.
"You're crazy loving this daft old face but I'll take what I can get."
The Doctor acts casual, asking for the salt. Nancy tells the boys to get back to their seats and then tells the Doctor she shouldn't be there. He ignores this and asks the kids what the story is. They are confused until he asks if they are living rough. Jim asks if he is a copper which he denies. He expands on his point, saying they should all have been evacuated by now.
"Look at you asking all sorts of useful questions. It's like you're actually trying to work out what is going on rather than blunder around blindly." Rose teases.
"Watch it, you." Ten mock-glares at her. "I always know what's going on."
"Like hell you do Spaceman." Donna chokes on her laughter. He pouts at her.
One boy says he was evacuated but came back because there was a man there. Jim comments it was the same with Ernie. Ernie tells him to shut up and admits it's better on the streets as Nancy gets them better food. The Doctor asks if this is what Nancy does. Finding meals still warm on the table when the sirens go off. When she asks if there is something wrong with that he denies it saying it's brilliant.
"It is a good idea. Risky, but clever." Martha nods.
"Not like that family are going to starve if they miss one meal." Donna snorts. "Definitely not if they are getting food from the black market or something."
Nancy asks why he followed her and the Doctor says he wants to know how a phone that isn't a phone can get a phone call and that she seems to be the person to ask. She tells him she did him a favour by telling him not to answer it. He chooses not to pursue the subject and instead asks if they have seen a blonde in a Union Jack. Then he clarifies he is looking for a specific one and he didn't just wake up with a craving.
They all start laughing at the same time as the kids on screen.
"You're right, you didn't wake up with a craving. You had a craving as soon as Rose appeared wearing that shirt." Jack winks.
"Might have done." Nine admits. "Although, I think, given the situation, I'm craving a slightly different t-shirt. Well, really, any other t-shirt."
"How about no t-shirt." Rose gives him a wicked grin that Jack would be proud of. Both Nine and Ten go red.
"Erm..well...yes...that would be preferable." Nine splutters, his ears also going red. Jack laughs loudly.
"I wouldn't mind no t-shirt Rosie." He winks.
"Definitely not." Nine shouts louder than he meant to due to his embararssment.
"Alright Doc, calm down. Rose is yours, but if you ever want to spice things up I'd be happy to help." Jack grins roguishly.
"I think we'll be fine." Rose assures him and the Doctor relaxes slightly.
"When you've finished discussing your sexual preferences." Mickey cuts in. "We have a film to finish." He looks disgruntled and Martha leans into him slightly. Nine sends him a smug grin over Rose's head so she can't see, knowing she disapproves. It also wouldn't help his argument that Time Lords don't do jealousy.
Nancy takes the Doctor's plate away. The Doctor looks upset, asking what he did wrong and she tells him he took two slices.
"Greedy." Rose nudges him with a laugh.
She tells him there are no blondes and no flags, asking if there is anything else before he leaves.
"Oh don't ask him that. You'll never get rid of him." Donna grumbles playfully.
He agrees that there is something else, asking about something falling but not a bomb. He hold up a rough sketch of the craft they had followed in the TARDIS. Then there is a knock at the door that makes them all jump.
"Who'd be out in the middle of an air raid? None of the other kids knocked to come in." Sarah Jane notes.
"That kid in the gas mask that Rose went after might still be around." Martha offers.
"But if he was one of the homeless kids, surely he wouldn't need to knock." Mickey frowns.
"Might be his first time." Rose puts in.
The child calls out for its mummy.
"That's what the TARDIS phone said." Nine's eyebrows fly upwards in surprise.
"How can a child make a phone that isn't a phone ring?" Rose asks.
"No normal child can." He tells her.
The Doctor looks out of the window. It's the boy in the gas mask. Nancy asks who the last one in was and Ernie points at one of the boys. She says he came in the back and another boy says he was the last one in the front. Nancy urgently asks if he closed the door. He isn't sure and she runs out into the hallway and bolts the front door as the gas mask child calls for its mummy again.
"What's so scary about the poor kid?" Mickey asks.
"It's not a normal child." Nine warns him. "Something has obviously happened to him and Nancy seems to know something about it."
"Why not tell someone about it then?" Donna frowns.
"Who would she tell? It's WW2, they have slightly bigger things on their mind than one weird child." Ten shrugs. "They certainly wouldn't know it was alien."
The Doctor comments that it's not easy being the only child left out in the cold and Nancy says he'd know about that. He agrees and she tells him it's not exactly a child. Then she goes back into the dining room and tells all the kids to get out. The children grab their coats and flee. Nancy speaks to the sole remaining little girl, who can't be more than four.
"How can it be dangerous then? She's certainly acting like it is." Rose looks up at Nine.
"I'm not sure. It's either been infected or possessed by somethin' would be my guess. It would have to be powerful though to be able to make phones ring."
Nancy ushers the little girl out and the child keeps calling out as a little hand pushes through the letterbox. The Doctor asks if he is alright and it asks to be let in. Nancy throws something that breaks against the door and the hand withdraws. She tells the Doctor not to let it touch him or he will come like the child.
"Sounds more like an infection then. Spreading by touch." Nine looks intrigued. "That ship we followed must have contained something that spread when it hit the ground."
The Doctor asks Nancy what he is like and she says he is empty. The phone rings and she says that it's the child. He can make phones ring and the Doctor answers it. The child calls for its mummy again and Nancy puts the phone back on the hook. Then the radio starts up in the dining room. The child's voice comes through that too and a clockwork monkey starts up too.
"It seems to be gaining power, if it was only phones before and now it can make clockwork monkeys work too." Rose comments.
"It keeps popping up at the same time as Nancy." Jack notes. He had kept mostly silent so far as he still felt guilty that this had all been his fault even if it was unintentional.
Nancy leaves by the back door. The boy puts his hand through the letterbox again. There is a scar on the back of it. He calls for his mummy, asking to be let in. The Doctor tells him his mummy isn't here. He asks if the Doctor is his mummy which he denies, saying that nobody is here but this chicken.
"Chicken are you?" Rose grins.
"Never, just trying to make the kid feel better." He sniffs looking put out.
The boy says he is scared and the Doctor asks why the other children are frightened of him. It just asks to be let in again saying he is scared of the bombs. The Doctor says he is opening the door.
"Really? She just told you it can turn you into something like him and you're letting him in?" Rose asks him incredulously.
"I think I can outrun a child, Rose." He tells her in his 'I'm a superior Time Lord' tone.
"You think you can do a lot of things." Donna snarks. "Doesn't mean you can."
"Oi!" Nine and Ten protest.
The boy pulls back his hand and the Doctor unbolts the front door. When he opens it, the boy has gone and the street is deserted.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally sure you can outrun it now." Rose tells him sarcastically. "It can vanish into thin air and reappear wherever it likes, it seems." Nine looks a little less confident in himself.
"It's not me it's after." He assures her.
Back on Jack's ship Rose wakes up and Jack asks if she is feeling better. She asks if they have lights and he turns them on. They are in a small, cramped spaceship with bundles of wires hanging from the ceiling. They say hello again and she asks who he is. He introduces himself and hands over some psychic paper. She tells him she knows it's psychic paper as it tells her he is single and works out.
"Gotta keep concentrating when using that stuff." Nine smirks.
"Who says I wasn't concentrating?" Jack winks. "It's exactly what I wanted to say."
"Of that, I have no doubt." Rose laughs.
"I don't use it all the time." Ten pouts at her.
Jack grins and tells her psychic paper is tricky stuff. Rose comments that you can't let your mind wander when you hand it over as she gives it back. He looks at it and says she has a sort of boyfriend called Mickey Smith but considers herself to be footloose and fancy free.
"Oi!" Mickey complains. "So I'm a sort of boyfriend that you can ignore when someone prettier comes along?" He knew Rose had fancied the Doctor and that he had no chance there but that comment stung.
""I am extraordinarily pretty." Jack smirks.
"I'm sorry Mickey. I really should have broken up with you properly. When we get back to the right time I promise not to keep stringing you along." Rose looks over at him apologetically. He nods, still slightly hurt that he had pined over her and this is how she thought of him. Martha takes his hand and squeezes it.
Rose asks what and Jack continues that the word she uses is available.
Mickey raises an eyebrow but decides it's not worth commenting on.
Jack says another one is very. Rose suggests they get along without the psychic paper and he agrees that would be better.
"It would be better if you didn't get along so well at all." NIne grumbles playfully.
"Aww, have you got captain envy?" Rose smirks.
"Of course not." He denies. "I know you love me."
"Good." She kisses him quickly, pleased that after the previous night he seemed less awkward with the 'L' word.
Rose comments that it's a nice spaceship and that it's very spock. Jack asks who that is.
"I'm so getting you to watch Star Trek when we meet up with you." Rose tells him.
"Movie night on the couch, I look forward to it." He winks.
Rose guesses he isn't local and he says she isn't local either. She agrees and he asks if she burnt her hands on the rope. A bomb whistles past and Rose realises they are parked in midair. He assures her nobody can see them and asks to see her hands.
"Least you got round to healing her eventually." Nine shoots Jack a look.
"Need her in perfect condition." Jack smirks back. He's sure it isn't a very smart idea to provoke the Time Lord but he can't help himself.
Jack says she can stop acting and that he can spot a Time Agent a mile away.
"Apparently you can't." Donna laughs.
"Well, I didn't think Time Lords actually existed." Jack shrugs. "Time Agents are the only other people who would have followed that ship."
Rose is confused but Jack says he has been expecting someone to show up, though not by barrage balloon.
"Only Rose would travel that way." Ten rolls his eyes, looking amused.
Rose just says she gets swept off her feet, looks embarrassed and adds by balloons. Jack wraps a scarf around her wrists and tells her to keep still.
"Needed to tie her hands up did you?" Nine raises an eyebrow at Jack who winks cheekily.
"Of course. She might have moved."
He presses a button and a glowing bundle zoom around Rose's palms. He informs her they are Nanogenes which are subatomic robots who healed her. The glow dissipates and he unties her.
"Mighty good of ya Captain." Rose grins at him.
"Always willing to help a damsel in distress."
Rose tells him to thank them and he asks about business. Rose is confused and Jack suggests a drink on the balcony. He opens a hatch in the roof. Fires burn below and searchlights pass through the spaceship and Rose comments she is standing on something. He uses a remote control and the ship appears.
"Invisible spaceship. Nice." Mickey whistles appreciatively.
"Interesting parking spot." Martha laughs.
"Well, I like a good view." Jack grins roguishly.
Rose comments that they are tethered to Big Ben and Jack tells her the first rule of camouflage is to park somewhere you will remember.
"Guess that only works when you can make your ship invisible." Donna smirks.
"A chameleon circuit is a perfectly good camouflage system." Ten pouts.
"Yeah, but yours doesn't work." Martha points out.
"I could fix it, but I'm rather fond of her current look." Nine shrugs.
Jack opens the bottle of champagne and fills the glasses Rose brought with her. Nancy goes to a shack in some railway sidings and hides the food she took from the Lloyd's kitchen. She stands up to see the Doctor, smiling. She asks how he followed her there and he tells her he is good at following as he has the nose for it.
"Makes you sound like a bloodhound." Sarah Jane laughs.
"He acts like one. This one seems to prefer licking things though." Martha nods over at Ten.
Nancy admits people can't usually follow her unless she wants them to and he tells her his nose has superpowers. She asks if that is why it's and then trails off.
Most of the room start laughing. Ten pouts and Nine scowls down at Rose who is giggling in his arms.
"My nose is what?" He asks her indignantly.
"Rather large and very adorable." Rose tells him. He huffs but the corner of his mouths quirks up slightly.
He asks what and she says nothing. He asks again and she asks if his ears have special powers as well.
Everybody starts laughing again even harder than the last time.
He indignantly asks what she is trying to say and she bids him goodnight. Before she leaves, he calls out saying something is chasing her and the kids. He asks her again about something that landed about a month ago, pointing out she knows what he is talking about.
"So now it's back to falling a month ago? When you asked the people in the club at the beginning you said a couple of days ago." Mickey points out, confused. Nine shrugs at him.
She admits there was a bomb that wasn't a bomb. He tells her to take him to it. She points out there are soldiers guarding it with barbed wire. The Doctor tells her to try him. She asks if he is sure he wants to know what's going on. He agrees.
"He's always sure she wants to know what's going on." Rose laughs.
Nancy says there is someone he needs to talk to first. When he asks who he tells him it's the Doctor. Back on Jack's spaceship, Rose states that it is getting late and that she should get back.
"Yes, you should go back to the TARDIS and wait for me." Nine nods.
"Actually, I was planning on searching for you." Rose shrugs. He sighs.
Jack says they are discussing business. Rose points out this is champagne not business.
"Of course it's business. Can't do business without champagne, how boring would that be?" Jack protests.
Jack grins and tells her he never discusses business with a clear head. He then asks if she is authorised to negotiate with him and she asks what they would be negotiating.
"Absolutely nothing if I can help it." Nine mutters in her ear. Rose laughs at him.
"Don't worry, I know you're the boss." She snickers.
Jack says he has something for the Time Agency and asks if she is in power to make payment. She says she should talk to her companion and that she should get back to him. Then she asks for the time and he lights up Big Ben. She tells him that was flash and he asks when she says companion, how disappointed should he be.
"Very." Nine grins widely.
"I see that now. But if you ever need some company Rose…" Jack winks at her.
"I'll keep that in mind." She sniggers.
"You will not. You're all mine." Nine grumbles. Jack laughs.
"Don't worry Doc, she's all yours. I wouldn't dare mess with Rosie given that I expect she slaps like her mother." Jack tells him.
"Too true." Mickey agrees.
"You better believe it." Rose smirks.
Rose comments that they are standing in midair on a spaceship during an air raid and asks if it's a good time for him to be coming on to her. Jack agrees perhaps not. Then asks if she likes Glenn Miller. Moonlight Serenade plays and he begins dancing with her.
"I wondered what caused all those questions about dancing." Ten mutters.
"What?" Sarah Jane asks, looking confused.
"Oh...you'll see." He gestures at the screen.
While they dance, Jack explains what he has to offer the Time Agency and gives her a two hour deadline to agree a price. Then wants to discuss payment. Rose was paying not attention and Jack keeps trying but she clearly is distracted by him. She realises he used to be a Time Agent, asking if he is now a freelancer. He corrects he thinks of himself as a criminal.
"Oh yes, because that's so much better than 'freelancer'." Donna scoffs.
"Freelancer implies I do work for them. I was trying to con them. Big difference." Jack shrugs.
Jack asks if her companion handles the business and she says that she delegates a lot of that.
"Excuse me? You delegate to me?" Nine scowls at her.
"Yeah." Rose smirks at him. "We both know I'm the boss really. You're the designated driver."
Jack suggests they go find him and when Rose asks how he says he will scan for alien tech.
"Finally!" Rose exclaims. "I meet someone who knows what he is doing."
"Oi!" Ten protests. "I know exactly what I'm doing." He sinks back against the couch as all his companions, past and present look at him doubtfully. "You're all so mean." He mutters.
"You make it up as you go along, Spaceman. You never have any idea what you are doing." Donna laughs.
"Yeah, but I do it so brilliantly." Ten grins.
"Keep telling yourself that." She retorts and he pouts at her.
Rose looks pleased saying he's a professional. Over at the bomb site the Doctor uses super-binoculars to scan the area. Nancy tells him it's under the tarpaulin and then points over at the hospital, telling him that is where the doctor is. The Doctor says he is more interested in getting inside the fence.
"This doctor might know something about what has happened to that boy." Martha points out.
She tells him to speak to the doctor first as he then might not want to get inside. She then moves off and when he asks where she is going, tells him she has mouths to feed. The Doctor asks who she lost, pointing out that she looks after the kids because she lost somebody. She confesses it was her brother.
"That kid seems to be following her. Do you reckon it's her brother?" Sarah Jane asks.
"Could be but it's searching for its mummy not its sister." Mickey shrugs. "It don't think it's smart enough to think his sister could lead to his mother as he keeps asking if she is his mummy."
She tells him her brother got caught outside during an air raid. The Doctor comments about German war machines rolling across the map until Britain says no and calls them amazing. He tells her to go and save the world, watching he walk away. At the hospital the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver 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 doctor appears, leaning on a walking stick.
"There are so many." Rose breathes in horror.
"Why are they all so still, not moving around like the boy?" Sarah Jane asks.
"No idea." Martha frowns.
Doctor Constantine says he will find them everywhere, hundreds of them.
"They have taken over the whole hospital. It must be full of people like that." Mickey comments.
The Doctor asks why they are still wearing gas masks and Constantine tells him they aren't, asking who he is. The Doctor pauses and asks who he is. Constantine introduces himself and asks who he is. The Doctor now introduces himself, saying Nancy sent him. Constantine realises he must have been asking about the bomb and asks what he knows about it. The Doctor says he knows nothing that's why he was asking about it.
"This doctor surely can't be the only one there." Martha frowns.
"Well, it is the middle of the night and there isn't exactly a lot they can do for them." Jack points out.
"There should still be more than one Doctor there." She replies.
Constantine tells him he only knows what is has done. The Doctor asks if all the people were caught up in the blast and is told none of them were.
"So it transfers by touch." Sarah Jane states. "Just like that Nancy said, but none of these are moving, how did they transfer it?"
"Unless the boy turned them all and they've never moved." Suggests Donna.
The doctor chuckles then coughs. He sits in a chair by the desk. The Doctor comments that he is very ill and Constantine agrees he is dying. He then asks if the Doctor is actually a doctor and he agrees that he has his moments. Constantine asks if he has examined one yet and when receiving a negative reply, advices him not to touch the flesh. The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at the nearest patient. He says they have massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. 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.
Martha gasps in horror. "No wonder that person aren't moving."
"The mask is fused to his face?" Rose wrinkles an eyebrow. "How on Earth would that happen?"
"Not by any Earth means." Nine tells her.
Constantine tells him to examine another one he does, exclaiming it isn't possible. He does it again and realises they all have exactly the same injuries, down to the scar on their hand. It is shown that Constantine also has the scar.
"He's turning into one of them!" Rose realises.
"He must have been careful not to touch them though? He knows what would happen." Mickey frowns.
"Maybe it's becoming airborne." Nine suggests warily.
"That's not good, you could be at risk." Rose glances up at him in worry.
"I think it's taken quite a while to happen to him. I should be fine for a while yet, superior biology and all that. You, on the other hand, should go to the TARDIS and wait for me there."
"Not going to happen." She scoffs.
The Doctor asks how it started and Constantine tells him when the bomb dropped there was one victim, already dead with dreadful injuries. Then, the following morning every doctor and nurse who had treated him had the same injuries, eventually spreading to the whole hospital.
"I wonder how he stayed safe then?" Martha asks.
"Seems like he didn't stay safe for too long." Sarah Jane points out.
He asks the Doctor what he thinks caused the death. The Doctor guesses and is told no each time. Eventually he tells him there was no cause of death as they aren't dead. He hits the waste basket with his stick and the noise makes every single patient sit up.
"Woah!" Rose jumps slightly.
The Doctor jumps back and Constantine tells him they are harmless. They have no heartbeat but they don't die. The Doctor asks if nobody is doing anything as they all lie down again and he tells him he tries to make them comfortable. The Doctor asks if he is the only one there and he agrees, saying he was a grandfather and a father before the war, now he is only a doctor. The Doctor agrees that he knows the feeling.
Rose is the only one who looks unsurprised by the news. She had seen vague memories of them in his head the night before and leans into his side a little more, holding him tightly. Nine buries his face in her hair while Ten just looks at the others and shakes his head sadly.
Constantine confesses he suspects the plan is to bomb the hospital and blame it on the Germans.
That's horrible! They aren't doing anything now, just lying there." Donna scowls.
He says there are isolated cases spreading all over London. He begins to transform and the Doctor reaches forwards. Constantine tells him to stay back, telling him the room where they took the first case. He then tells the Doctor to find Nancy again, saying her brother was the first case and that she knows more than she has said. Then he asks if the Doctor is his mummy. A gas mask appears over his face.
"I wonder what else she can possibly know. This can be of human design so I doubt she knows exactly what happened." Nine frowns.
"Does explain why it keeps following her though." Rose says.
"It can obviously sense her, so why isn't he following his real mom, not his sister? Unless she is dead." Martha looks at the screen sadly.
The Doctor is going down a corridor and runs into Rose and Jack.
"Finally." Nine breathes.
Jack says he hopes they aren't interrupting. Rose comments that she had to tell him about being Time Agents and the Doctor catches on quickly. Jack says it's a pleasure to meet Mr Spock.
"Mister Spock? Really, Rose?" Nine whines.
"Well, it's not like you have a name I can introduce you by. 'The Doctor' always gets followed by Doctor Who?" She shrugs.
"Could have at least said Doctor Spock." He mutters. She grins at him.
Jack heads towards the ward and the Doctor frowns at Rose, asking why Mr Spock. Rose points out he doesn't have a name, doesn't he get tired of Doctor Who? He retorts that after Nine Hundred years he is coping. Then he asks where she has been, pointing out it isn't a good time for a stroll. Rose asks who's strolling, commenting that she went by barrage balloon.
"Nice way to give me a heart attack." Ten scowls playfully at her.
"Thought you said you can't have a heart attack due to two hearts?" She smirks.
"I think you might just be the first person to find a way to give a Time Lord a heart attack." He replies and she winks.
She then asks what a Chula warship is. The screen cuts to Nancy returning for the remainder of the meal. The radio switches on and the child is heard. The front door slams and Nancy hides under the table and the child walks along the hallway. Back at the hospital, Jack is using his wrist tricorder to examine the patients and asks how it happened. The Doctor asks about the Chula ship and Jack denies it had anything to do with it.
"Whatever did this was alien and that's the only alien technology to land recently by all accounts." Sarah Jane points out. Jack says nothing, sinking slightly lower on his bean bag.
The Doctor persists, asking what type of warship is was and Jack yells that it was an ambulance, showing him a holograph of it. He admits it was space junk that he was trying to use to con them. He explains his whole plan, realising they were not Time Agents. Rose agrees that they are a couple more freelancers. Jack says he should have known given the way they are dressed.
"Oi!" U-Boat captain?" Nine glares at him. Jack shrugs and grins.
Rose asks what is going on and the Doctor says that human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot. He says he thinks it's some kind of virus convert human beings into these things, but can't work out why. Back in the living room an apple falls from where Nancy is hiding and the child goes to pick it up. Nancy makes a dash for the door but the child points and it slams shut.
"Woah. It's getting more powerful." Mickey's eyes widen.
The patients suddenly sit up. Rose asks what is happening and the Doctor admits he doesn't know. The patients and Constantine all stand up. The child asks if she is his mummy. Nancy calls out that it's her. At the hospital the Doctor tells Rose and Jack not to touch them as they will turn into one. Nancy keeps calling out she is his sister. The patients close in on the trio. Nancy pleads that Jamie. The patients keep chanting mummy and the screen goes black.
"That can't be it! Put the next one on." Rose exclaims. Jack grins and obliges.
