Chelsea and the Empty Child
The Empty Child
This is a two-shot story featuring my OC Chelsea Willows from my story Travelling with the Raggedy Man, only she's with the 9th Doctor here, instead of 11. This two-shot is non-canon to that story and is just a bit of fun. Regarding Chelsea's appearance, I picture her as looking like Ashley Greene, but speaking with an English accent instead of American.
The TARDIS hurtled through space in pursuit of a cylindrical object. Chelsea hurried into the console room to find the Doctor rushing about the console, operating the controls. "Where's the fire?" she asked him.
"It's mauve." the Doctor replied.
"Mauve? What does that mean?"
"The universally recognised colour for danger."
"I thought that was red." Chelsea frowned.
"That's just Humans." the Doctor replied. "By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." He turned his attention back to the object they were chasing. "It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Where it goes, we go."
"And is it safe?"
"Totally." the Doctor replied casually, and pressed a button on the console, which abruptly sparked, causing him to jump back. "Ok, reasonably. Should've said reasonably there."
"Ah, you should see the consoles on the Enterprise; they're always doing that." Chelsea snorted.
The chase continued. "No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us." the Doctor groaned.
"Doctor, what is that thing?" Chelsea asked. "Looks like a giant Smarties tube if ya ask me."
"No idea." the Doctor replied.
"Then why're we chasing it?"
"It's mauve and dangerous," the Doctor told her, "and about thirty seconds from the centre of London."
"Well, in that case, put ya foot down!" Chelsea prompted.
~8~
The TARDIS materialised in an alleyway between two rows of terraced houses on a dark January night. Chelsea stepped out first, closely followed by the Doctor. "D'yer know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" the Doctor asked sarcastically.
"Hey, maybe you should tell ya alien friends to stop using it as a punching bag!" Chelsea retorted. "Honestly, an entire universe of planets, and they have to pick on us!" she grumbled.
They began to make their way down the alley. "Must've come down somewhere quite close." the Doctor said. "Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"But we were right behind it." Chelsea pointed out.
"It was jumping time tracks all over the place." the Doctor defended. "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you wanna drive?
"Yes." Chelsea snorted. "So, how much is 'a little'?"
"A bit."
"A bit exactly?"
"Ish."
"Ok. So, what's the plan, then? You gonna scan for alien tech or something like that?"
"Chelsea, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang." the Doctor said flatly, making for a set of padlocked doors at the end of the alley. "I'm gonna ask." And he showed Chelsea his psychic paper.
"'Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids.'" she read out.
"Psychic paper, tells yer..."
"Whatever ya want it to tell me." Chelsea cut in. "Yeah, yeah, I remember you telling me that before. Not very Star Trek, is it?" she remarked as they reached the doors.
The Doctor pressed his ear to the door. "Door, music, people. What d'yer think?"
"I think you should scan for alien tech." Chelsea said flatly as she watched the Doctor use his sonic screwdriver on the padlock. "It'll save a lot of time."
"Where'd yer get that jacket from?" the Doctor asked randomly, nodding to the black biker jacket Chelsea was wearing.
"Found it in that wardrobe." Chelsea shrugged. "Thought it'd suit me." She was quite satisfied with the outfit she'd thrown together for herself today. In addition to the biker jacket, she was wearing a black jumper, TARDIS blue skinny jeans and black boots.
"Mummy?" a child's voice called out from somewhere in the distance. "Mummy?
Chelsea looked round to try and find the source of the voice. The Doctor meanwhile had unlocked the door. "Come on if yer coming." he said as he went inside the building. "Won't take a minute."
"Muuuu-mmy?" the child's voice called out again.
Chelsea continued looking around and noticed a little blonde boy in a gas mask standing on a nearby rooftop. "Oh, my God! Doctor, there's a kid up there!" she called urgently, but the Doctor was already inside the building and out of earshot, so Chelsea decided to try and find a way to rescue the boy herself.
~8~
Meanwhile, the Doctor made his way through a darkened corridor, following the sound of voices and music. He pushed through some curtains to find himself in a crowded drinking den, where people in mid-20th century clothing were smoking, drinking and chatting, while a female singer stood on stage performing a romantic song.
"For nobody else gave me the thrill. When I have uphold silence still, it had to be you, wonderful you."
~8~
Chelsea reached the building the boy was on top of. "You ok up there?" she called up to him.
"Muuuuu-my?" the boy called.
Chelsea then saw a fire escape running up the side of the building, so she began to climb it.
~8~
The nightclub singer finished her song and the patrons applauded. The singer vacated the stage and the Doctor stepped up to the mike. "Excuse me, 's'cuse me. Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo? Be very quick, eh... hello!" he waved cheerfully. "Eh... might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"
There was silence for a moment, then all the patrons burst out laughing. The Doctor was confused, wandering what was so funny about his question.
~8~
Chelsea reached the rooftop to find that the boy was standing on top of a water tank, with no steps leading up to him. "Mummy?" he called again.
"It's ok, don't move." Chelsea called up to him. "I'll help ya down." She noticed a rope hanging down the side of the tank, so she began to climb it.
~8~
The patrons continued to howl with laughter. "Sorry, have I said something funny?" a confused Doctor asked, causing them to laugh even more. "It's just, there's this thing I need to find." he pressed on. "Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago."
Suddenly, a loud siren sounded in the distance, and the patrons began to evacuate the room "Would've landed quite near here." the Doctor tried to continue. "With a very loud..."
He then saw a poster on the wall bearing the legend 'Hitler will send no warning.'
"Bang." he finished sheepishly, realising that they'd landed in the middle of the Second World War, where things fell from the sky day in and day out.
~8~
Chelsea continued to climb the rope up the tank. Now, Chelsea was a fairly sensible young woman, but she still made mistakes and she had made a huge mistake by not checking to see where the rope she was climbing had come from.
"Mummy." the boy called again. "Balloon."
Chelsea looked up to see that the rope she was climbing up was attached to a barrage balloon. And before she could realise her mistake and jump clear, a gust of wind caught the balloon and began to blow it away from the rooftop, taking Chelsea with it. "Doctor!" she cried out in terror, but the Time Lord was still inside the building and couldn't hear her. The balloon began to drift across the city. Chelsea looked round to see the view over her shoulder: blacked-out London, with a few fires burning and barrage balloons spread out in the air. Worse still, Chelsea could see a swarm of German planes coming straight for her. "Sh*t!" she breathed fearfully as the planes zoomed around her.
~8~
The Doctor left the drinking den and made his way down the alley, looking for his companion. "Chelsea?" he called out, but there was no sign of her. He turned a corner to where the TARDIS was parked. A cat was sitting on top of a dustbin and the Doctor turned to it. "Yer know... one day. Just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole don't wander off thing." he said irritably to the cat. "Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me."
Suddenly, he heard a phone ringing nearby. He followed the sound to find that it was coming from the TARDIS. Brow furrowed in confusion, the Doctor opened the panel on the door where an old fashioned phone was hidden. "How can you be ringin'?" the Doctor wandered. "What's that about? Ringin'? What am I supposed to do with a ringin' phone?"
"Don't answer it. It's not for you." a voice called out behind him, and he turned round to see a young woman standing there
"And how do you know that?" the Doctor questioned.
"Cos' I do." the woman replied. "And I'm tellin' ya, don't answer it."
"Well, if you know so much, tell me this, how can it be ringing?" the Doctor asked, turning back to the phone. "It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not..."
He turned back to see that the woman had disappeared. The Doctor paused, confused, then looked back at the phone. He hesitantly picked up the receiver and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he called. "This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?"
"Mummy?" a child's voice came over the other end. "Mummy?"
The Doctor's sceptical grin faded from his face. "Who is this? Who's speaking?"
"Are you my mummy?"
"Who is this?" the Doctor asked forcefully.
"Mummy?"
"How did you ring here?" the Doctor questioned "This isn't a real phone, it's not wired up to anything, it's..."
"Mummy?" the child's voice interrupted, then the line went dead.
The Doctor slowly put the receiver back in it's cradle and poked his head inside the TARDIS. "Chelsea? Chelsea, are yer in there?" he asked.
Suddenly, he heard a crashing sound from somewhere behind them, so he went off to investigate, hurrying out of the alleyway and into a street.
Soon, his attention was caught by a woman's voice, "The planes are comin'. Can't you hear 'em? Into the shelter. None of ya nonsense, now MOVE IT!"
Following the sound, the Doctor climbed up on top of some bins and looked over a garden wall to see a plump woman ushering a small boy into an air raid shelter. "Come on, come on, get in there." the woman fussed and turned back to the house. "Arthur! Arthur, will you 'urry up?! Didn't ya hear the sirens?"
A plump man, evidently Arthur, came storming out of the house. "Middle of dinner every night." he grumbled. "Bloomin' Germans, don't they eat?"
"I can hear the planes!" his wife fussed.
"Don't you eat?!" Arthur shouted skywards, then stumped over to the shelter.
"Keep ya voice down, will ya? There's an air raid!" his wife ordered, then pushed him into the shelter and followed him inside, both of them arguing all the while.
The Doctor smirked at the little domestic he'd just seen, then he saw the woman from before come out of hiding by the shelter and creep into the house by the back door. The woman, who's name was Nancy, entered the kitchen and began taking tins of food out of the cupboards and putting them into her knapsack. She then made for the front door, but stopped when something in the dining room caught her attention. She saw an unfinished meal on the table and smiled. She went out to the end of the front path and whistled, then went back inside. She slipped her coat off and began carving up the plump joint of meat on the table. Two boys ran in. "Many kids out there?" Nancy asked.
"Eh... yes, miss." the younger boy, Jim, answered, then they both ran to the table and made for the food.
"Ah, still carvin'." Nancy told them. "Sit an' wait. We've the whole air raid."
"Look at that." the older boy, Ernie, commented, looking at the joint. "Bet it's off the black market."
"That's enough." Nancy chided lightly.
~8~
Chelsea meanwhile was still clinging for dear life to the rope. The balloon continued to drift over London, nearing Westminster. Planes continued to whizz past Chelsea, their machine guns letting rip, while anti-aircraft guns on the ground fired into the air in an attempt to nail the air-borne invaders. Then, a bomb landed somewhere beneath Chelsea and the blast caused her to lose her grip on the rope and fall towards the flames, screaming.
Suddenly, a blue beam of light shot out of somewhere near the Westminster clock tower and caught Chelsea mid-fall. "Ok, ok, I've got you." an American-accented voice called out.
"Wh-who's got me?" a scared and confused Chelsea shouted. "And how?"
"I'm just programming your descent pattern." the voice replied. "Keep as still as you can and keep ya hands and feet inside the light field."
"My what?"
"Oh, and could you switch off ya cell phone? No, seriously, it interferes with my instruments."
A confused Chelsea pulled out her phone and switched it off.
"Thank you." the voice said. "That's much better."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, that's really better!" a hysterical Chelsea blustered. "I'm hanging in mid-air in the middle of a German air raid but at least my mobile phone's off!"
The voice just laughed. "Be with you in a moment. Ready for you. Hold tight."
"Hold on to what?!"
"Fair point."
Chelsea suddenly found herself zooming feet first down the tunnel of light, screaming all the way. There was a flash and the next moment, Chelsea found herself in the arms of a dashing dark-haired man in an RAF uniform. "I've got you." he said. "You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble ya head just a little."
Chelsea suddenly seemed to notice him. "H-hello." she said breathlessly.
"Hello." the man grinned, raising his eyebrows and looking her up and down. It hadn't escaped his notice that Chelsea was a very attractive young woman, with her long dark hair and slim figure.
Chelsea realised that he was checking her out. "Sorry, don't wanna sound ungrateful, but d'ya mind putting me down?" she asked.
"Sure." the man said, and set Chelsea down on her feet. "You alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah, fine, thanks." Chelsea replied, sounding a little woozy. "Why? You expecting me to faint or something?"
"Well, you do look a little dizzy." the man said.
"What about you? Why're you all blurry?" Chelsea managed to get out, before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted in the man's arms.
~8~
At the house, several children were now sitting at the table as Nancy continued to cut up the joint. "It's got to be black market." Ernie said for the umpteenth time. "He couldn't get all this on coupons."
"Ernie, how many times? We are guests in this house." Nancy scolded. "We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up."
The other children all laughed at Ernie. "Oh, Nancy." he sulked.
Nancy looked to one of the other boys at the table. "Haven't seen you at one of these before." she said
"He told me about it." the boy, Alf, replied, pointing to his mate.
"Sleeping rough."
"Yes, miss."
"Alright then." Nancy said, passing the plate around. "One slice each, an' I wanna see everyone chewin' properly."
"Thank ya, miss!" Jim said as he took his slice and passed the plate.
"Thanks, miss!" Ernie said as he took a slice for himself and passed the plate along.
"Thank you, miss." a boy said, taking their slice and passing the plate to the person next to them.
"Thanks, miss." an older, Lancashire-accented voice said as a pair of adult hands took the plate. The children all gasped and jumped back in surprise to see the Doctor sitting at the table.
"It's alright." Nancy assured the kids. "Everybody stay where they are."
"Good here, innit?" the Doctor said casually. "Who's got the salt?"
"Back in ya seats." Nancy told the kids. "He shouldn't be here either."
The children all sat down again as the Doctor helped himself to some sauce. "So, you lot..." he said, "what's the story?"
"What d'ya mean?" Ernie questioned.
"Yer homeless, right? Living rough?"
"Why d'you wanna know that?" Jim probed. "Are you a copper?"
"Of course I'm not a copper." the Doctor snorted "What's a copper gonna do with you lot anyway? Arrest yer for starving?"
The children all laughed at that, breaking the ice.
"I make it 1941." the Doctor continued, looking at his watch. "You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."
"I was evacuated." Alf replied. "Sent me to a farm."
"So why d'yer come back?" the Doctor questioned.
"There was a man there..." Alf shivered.
"Yeah, same with Ernie." Jim remarked. "Two homes ago."
"Shut up." Ernie grumbled. "It's better on the streets anyway. Better food."
"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us." another boy agreed.
"So that's what yer do is it, Nancy?" the Doctor asked her.
"What is?" she looked over.
"As soon as the sirens go, yer find a big fat family meal, still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and, bingo! Feedin' frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all! As long as the bombs don't get yer."
"Something wrong with that?" Nancy asked defensively.
"Wrong? It's brilliant." the Doctor replied. "Not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."
The children looked confused at this.
"Why'd you follow me?" Nancy asked the Doctor. "What d'ya want?"
"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call." the Doctor replied "You seem to be the one to ask."
"I did you a favour. I told ya not to answer it, that's all I'm tellin' ya."
"Great, thanks." the Doctor huffed. "And I wanna find my friend. She's about 18, with dark hair, grey-green eyes and wearin' a jacket a bit like mine. Anyone seen a girl like that?"
Nancy suddenly came over and took his plate away. "What've I done?" he asked indignantly.
"You took two slices." Nancy told him sharply, and the kids all laughed at him. "And we ain't seen ya friend. Anything else before ya leave?"
"Yeah, there is actually, thanks for asking." the Doctor said, reaching into his pocket. "Something I've been looking for, would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb." He pulled out a note book. "Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Would've just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would've looked something like..." he did a quick sketch, "this." And he showed them a scribbled drawing.
Nancy looked at it intently, but said nothing. The picked up on her body language, but before he could ask the Human about it, there was a knock on the window and the children all gasped.
"Mummy?" a child's voice sounded from outside. "Are you in there, mummy?"
The Doctor went to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Standing on the other side of the window was the blonde gas mask-wearing boy that Chelsea had seen earlier.
"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked urgently.
"Him." Ernie answered, gesturing to the Doctor.
"Nah, he came round the back. Who came in the front?"
"Me." Alf whispered.
"Did ya close the door?" Nancy asked him.
"I..." Alf began hesitantly.
"Did you close the door?" Nancy repeated, sounding more urgent this time.
"Mummy?" the child's voice called again. "Mummy?"
Nancy rushed down the hallway, slammed the front door shut and bolted it before the child could get in. She then backed away, looking at the shadow of the child outside the door, terrified.
The Doctor had seen all of this. "What's this, then?" he asked concernedly. "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold yer know."
"I suppose you'd know." Nancy shot back.
"I do actually, yes." he retorted.
"It's not exactly a child." Nancy told him and went back into the living room. "Right, everybody out, across the garden and under the fence." she ordered the children, who all just looked at her "Now! Go! Move!"
The children all jumped out of their seats and hurried out of the room, while Nancy put her coat on.
One little girl hadn't moved out of her seat. "Come on, baby." Nancy said to her. "You've gotta go, ok? It's just like a game. Just like chasin'."
The girl got to her feet.
"Take ya coat, go on." Nancy said as she ushered her out of the room.
The Doctor stood in the hallway watching the kids rush out of the backdoor, slightly confused. "Mummy?" the child's voice caught his attention. "Please let me in, mummy." The child stuck his hand through the letterbox, revealing an X-shaped scar on the back of it. "Please let in, mummy."
"You alright?" the Doctor asked.
"Please let me in." the child pleaded.
Suddenly, a vase came flying past the Doctor and smashed against the door, causing the child to withdraw his hand. The Doctor looked round to see Nancy standing behind him. "You musn't let him touch ya." she warned.
"What happens if he touches me?" the Doctor asked.
"He'll make ya like him." Nancy answered grimly.
"And what's he like?" the Doctor asked, concerned that everyone seemed to be frightened of this particular boy.
"I've gotta go." Nancy said evasively and turned to leave.
"Nancy, what is he like." the Doctor persisted
"He's empty." Nancy shivered. Then, the phone rang and the Doctor looked at it. "It's him." Nancy told him. "He can make phones ring, he can. Just like with that phone box you saw."
The Doctor looked at the shadow of the child outside the door then picked up the phone. "Are you my mummy?" the child's voice came over the other end. Nancy snatched the receiver off the Doctor and slammed it back down. Then, the radio in the dining line sprang to life. Above the lively music came the same child's voice, "Mummy? Please let me in, mummy." The Doctor went over to the radio and fiddled with the tuner, to no avail. Then, a toy monkey came to life. "Mummy? Muuumy, muu-my..." the child's voice filtered through the monkey.
"You can stay here if ya want." Nancy shivered and left through the back door.
The child stuck his hand through the letterbox again. "Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Let me in."
The Doctor knelt in front of the door, looking at the scarred hand poking through the letterbox with a look of concern on his face. "Yer mummy isn't here." he said.
There was a pause, then the child spoke again, "Are you my mummy?"
"No mummies here." the Doctor replied. "Nobody here but us chickens." He looked behind himself at the deserted house. "Well, this chicken." he corrected.
"I'm scared." the child whimpered.
"Why're those other children frightened of you?"
"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."
The Doctor thought for a moment, then his parental instincts took over. "Ok, I'm opening the door now." he said.
The child withdrew his hand. The Doctor drew the bolt back and opened the door, but the child had disappeared. The Time Lord walked down the path and looked down both ends of the road, but there was no sign of the child.
~8~
Chelsea awoke to find herself lying on a bunk bed. She got up and looked around at her surroundings. She appeared to be inside a spaceship. "Better now?" the American man's voice called.
"Yeah." Chelsea replied, regaining her bearings. "D'ya mind turning the lights up a bit? I can barely see anything."
The man flipped a switch and the lights came on to reveal him sitting in the pilot's chair "Hello." he grinned.
"Um, hi." Chelsea waved slightly. "Sorry, um, who are you?"
"Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron, Royal Air Force, American volunteer." the man replied, handing Chelsea what appeared to be an ID card.
Chelsea looked at it. "No, you're not." she said. "This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."
"How do you know?" Jack asked, caught out.
"Well, first of all, I've got a friend who uses it all the time." Chelsea replied. "And second, this says ya single and you work out."
"Tricky thing, psychic paper." Jack remarked, taking the paper back off her.
"Yeah, gotta stay focussed when handing it over." Chelsea commented.
Jack read the paper. "Oh, your name's Chelsea Willows, you're 18 and you're available." he smirked.
"I'm not..." Chelsea blustered, her cheeks going bright red.
"Actually, you're very available." Jack smirked.
"Ok, let's ditch the psychic paper, shall we?" Chelsea said, standing up.
"That would be better, wouldn't it?" Jack said, also standing.
Chelsea looked around at her surroundings. "Nice spaceship." she commented.
"Gets me around." Jack replied nonchalantly.
"Reminds me of a Danube-class runabout."
"A what?"
"I guess ya not from round here, then." Chelsea shrugged.
Jack looked at a device on his wrist, having scanned Chelsea while beaming her onboard. "A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch and fabrics that won't be around for another two decades." he fired off. "Guessing you're not from around here, either."
"And you're guessing right." Chelsea replied, sitting down in the pilot's seat. She leaned forward to look out of the viewport, putting her hands down on the ledge, but suddenly winced in pain and pulled her hands away. She looked at her hands to see that the palms were badly blistered.
"Burn ya hands on the rope?" Jack asked.
"Must've done." Chelsea muttered, then had another look out the viewport. "Can't anyone down there see us? We're literally hovering over the middle of London!"
"No." Jack replied calmly. "Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"
"Why?" Chelsea asked suspiciously.
"Please?" Jack repeated, and Chelsea held her hands out in front of him. He then ran a scanner over her palms. "You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can smell a Time Agent a mile away."
"A what agent?"
"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up." Jack continued. "Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?"
"Only when there's no trains running." a bemused Chelsea replied. "I mean, there is a war on."
Jack then removed his scarf and began tying it around Chelsea's wrists. "Oi, what're ya doing, Commander Riker?" she asked suspiciously.
"Try to keep still." Jack instructed as he finished binding her hands. He pressed a button on the control panel and what appeared to be golden fireflies appeared above the wounds on Chelsea's hands "Nanogenes." Jack explained. "Sub-atomic robots. The air in here's full of 'em." He pressed the button and the nanogenes disappeared, leaving Chelsea's hands good as new. "They just repaired three layers of your skin." Jack finished as he retrieved his scarf.
"Well, that's pretty neat." Chelsea remarked, looking at her now unblemished hands. "Um, thank you, nano-whatever ya called."
"Shall we get down to business?" Jack said, walking down the ship.
"What kind of business?"
Jack picked up a bottle of champagne. "Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He pressed a button and a set of steps lowered from the ceiling. "Bring up the glasses." Jack said as he went up the steps.
Chelsea found a pair of drinking glasses and cautiously followed him upstairs to find that they were standing atop an invisible ship beside the Westminster clock tower. "Ok, so what am I standing on?" she asked Jack, who chuckled and took out what appeared to be a key fob from his pocket. He pressed a button and a sleek-looking ship appeared beneath their feet. "Ah, a cloaking device." Chelsea realised. "Nice ship. Looks a bit like Darth Maul's Sith infiltrator. Um, why're ya parked next to Big Ben?"
"First rule of active camouflage. Park somewhere you'll remember." Jack said and popped the cork on the bottle, then poured himself a glass and began to pour one for Chelsea too.
"Ah, well, just don't tell my dad." Chelsea shrugged, deciding to let her hair down and have a bit of fun for once.
~8~
Meanwhile, Nancy had gone to some railway sidings. She snuck into the cab of a tank engine that had been disabled by enemy action and began stashing the food she'd acquired from the house into the firebox. She suddenly became aware of the presence of another person and spun round to see the Doctor standing by the cab's entrance. "How'd you follow me here?" she asked in alarm.
"I'm good at following, me." the Doctor replied casually. "Got the nose for it."
"People can't usually follow me if I don't want 'em to." Nancy said suspiciously.
"My nose has special powers."
"Yeah?" Nancy snorted. "Is that why it's so..."
"What?" the Doctor asked indignantly.
"Nothing! Do ya ears have special powers too?" Nancy asked teasingly.
"What're yer tryin' to say?" the Doctor huffed, knowing full what she was trying to say
"Goodnight, mister." Nancy said, and turned to leave.
"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids." the Doctor called. "Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?"
Nancy stopped and turned around.
"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?"
"There was a bomb." Nancy said slowly. "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green station."
"Take me there."
Nancy shook her head. "There's soldiers guardin' it, barbed wire... you'll never get through."
"Try me." the Doctor said simply.
"You sure ya really wanna know what's going on in there?"
"I really wanna know."
"Then there's someone ya need to talk to first."
"And who might that be?"
"The doctor." Nancy replied, and turned away.
~8~
Chelsea and Jack were sitting on top of Jack's ship, sipping their champagne. "Ah, well, it's getting late." Chelsea said, setting her glass down and standing up. "I really should be getting back."
"We're discussing business." Jack replied casually.
"Huh, this isn't business; this is flirting!" Chelsea snorted.
"I try never to discuss business with a clear head." Jack retorted, standing up.
"Ya know, my dad told me not to trust pretty boys." Chelsea remarked.
"I'm no pretty boy." Jack winked. "Are you travelling alone? Are you authorised to negotiate with me?"
"Um, what would we be negotiating?" Chelsea asked, going along with it.
"I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you empowered to make payment?"
"Well," Chelsea began, running a hand through her hair, "I'd probably have to talk to my friend about that."
"Friend?" Jack raised a brow.
"I really should be getting back to him." Chelsea said.
"Him?"
Chelsea checked her watch, only to remember that it was set to TARDIS time. "Sorry, d'ya have the time?" she asked Jack, who pressed his key fob and the clock tower chimed next to them. "Ok, nice gadget." Chelsea raised a brow. "Like impressing the ladies, don't ya?"
"Are you impressed?" Jack smirked, moving closer and placing his hands on Chelsea's waist. "So... when you say 'friend', just how disappointed should I be?"
"Ok, that's enough flirting." Chelsea said uncomfortably. "We're in mid-air, on a spaceship, in the middle of a German air raid. Is now the time to be coming on to me?"
"Perhaps not." Jack said and walked away from her.
"Just so we understand each other." Chelsea said, though she secretly didn't mind the attention from Jack. "Hey, you should meet my cousin Amy; she'd flirt with herself if she could!"
Jack turned back to her. "D'you like Glen Miller?" he asked and pressed his key fob again, causing Moonlight Serenade to play.
"Sure, why not?" Chelsea shrugged. "Just keep ya hands off my arse or I'm gonna smack you."
Jack walked back to her and they began to slow dance. "It's 1941. The height of the London Blitz." Jack said. "The height of the German bombing campaign. And something else has fallen on London, a fully-equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth." he drew back to look at Chelsea properly. "And I know where it is. Because I parked it."
"I bet you did." Chelsea raised a brow.
"If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for ya." Jack continued. "But in two hours, a German bomb is gonna fall on it and destroy it forever." He looked at her and his tone became more serious. "That's the deadline. That's the deal. And now, shall we discuss payment?"
"Sorry... can ya sum that all up for me?" Chelsea asked.
"Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater."
"Unless we pay you." Chelsea nodded. "Ok, I think I've got the gist of it. So... you used to be a Time Agent and you're, what, a free-lancer?"
"Ooh, that's a little harsh." Jack remarked. "I like to think of myself as a criminal."
"Huh, that much is obvious." Chelsea snorted.
"So, this friend of yours, does he handle the business?"
"Uh, pretty much, yeah, though I'm the street-wise one."
"Well, maybe we should go find him."
"Easier said than done." Chelsea said. "He's not exactly an easy man to find."
"Not for me." Jack said simply. "I'll do a scan for alien tech." And he began fiddling with the device on his wrist.
"Hmm, good idea." Chelsea nodded. "Pity he never thinks to do that."
~8~
The Doctor and Nancy stood on a footbridge near Limehouse Green station. The Doctor took out a pair of binoculars from his pocket and used them to survey the sitr. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin." Nancy explained. "That put that fence up overnight. See that building? The hospital."
The Doctor shifted his attention to a nearby building, Albion Hospital. "What about it?" he asked.
"That's where the doctor is." Nancy replied. "You should talk to him.
"For now, I'm more interested in getting in there." the Doctor replied, moving his binoculars back to the bomb site.
"Talk to the doctor first." Nancy insisted.
"Why?"
"Cos' then maybe ya won't wanna get inside." Nancy retorted and began to walk back up the steps.
"Where're yer going?" the Doctor asked her.
"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got a lot of mouths to feed." Nancy replied. "Should be safe enough now."
"Can I ask you a question? Who did yer lose?"
"What?"
The Doctor lowered his binoculars and turned to her. "The way you look after all those kids. It's 'cos you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it."
"My little brother, Jamie." Nancy sighed. "One night I went out lookin' for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, told him it was dangerous, but he just... he didn't like being on his own."
"What happened?"
"In the middle of an air raid? What d'ya think, happened?" Nancy retorted.
The Doctor nodded in realisation. They were silent for a moment, then the Doctor looked to the sky and smiled. "Amazing." he remarked.
"What is?" Nancy frowned.
"1941." the Doctor replied. "Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one tiny, damp little island says 'no'. 'No, not here.' A mouse in front of a lion. Yer amazing the lot of you. Dunno what yer do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell outta me. Off yer go then... do what you've gotta do. Save the world."
He went off down the steps and walked towards Albion Hospital, while Nancy went off back towards the house she was at earlier.
~8~
When the Doctor reached the hospital, he found the gates padlocked and a notice warning people to keep out. The Doctor made short work of the padlock with his sonic screwdriver and the entered the building. He found the hospital dark and deserted. After wandering through a few corridors, he entered a darkened ward where he saw rows upon rows of patients lying on the beds, all wearing gas masks for some reason and completely lifeless. He looked around at them all, brow furrowed, then walked back into the corridor. He headed into another ward, which had some lights on, and was also full of lifeless, gas mask-wearing patients. He heard a noise from behind him and turned to see an elderly man in a doctor's coat enter the ward. "You'll find them everywhere." the man told him. "Every bed in every ward. Hundreds of them."
"Yes, I saw." the Doctor replied. "Why are they still wearing gas masks?"
"They're not." the man answered. "Who are you?"
"I'm, uh... are you the doctor?"
"Dr Constantine. And you are"
"Nancy sent me."
"Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb."
"Yes." the Doctor confirmed.
"What do you know about it?" Dr Constantine asked.
"Nothing. Why I was asking. What do you know?"
"Only what it's done." Dr Constantine sighed.
"These people, they were all caught up in the blast?" the Doctor asked.
"None of them were." Dr Constantine replied, then suddenly went into a coughing fit and sat down in a chair behind him.
"You're very sick." the Doctor said rather obviously, noticing just how bad the coughs sounded.
"Dying, I should think, I just haven't had the time." Dr Constantine replied. "Are you a doctor?"
"I have my moments." the Doctor replied.
"Have you examined any of them yet?" Dr Constantine asked
"No."
"Don't touch the flesh." Dr Constantine warned ominously.
"Which one?"
"Any one."
The Doctor went over to the nearest bed and scanned it's occupant with his sonic screwdriver.
"Conclusions?" Dr Constantine asked.
"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side." the Doctor replied, and ran the sonic screwdriver over the patient's chest. "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." Dr Constantine said.
The Doctor went over to another body and performed the scan again. Once again, the gas mask was fused to the patient's face and they even had the same scar on their hand. "This isn't possible." the Doctor frowned.
Examine another." Dr Constantine said, and the Doctor hurried to another bed to do so.
"This isn't possible!" he repeated, finding the exact same symptoms.
"No." Dr Constantine nodded.
"They've all got the same injuries!"
"Yes."
"Exactly the same."
"Yes."
"Exactly the same."
"Yes."
"Identical, all of them. Right down to the scar on the back of the hand." the Doctor rambled, not noticing that Dr Constantine had that very scar on the back of his hand. "How did this happen? How did it start?"
"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim." Dr Constantine explained.
"Dead?" the Doctor asked.
"At first. 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 had 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?" the Doctor asked.
"No."
"Asphyxiation?"
"No."
"The collapse of the chest cavity?"
"No." Dr Constantine repeated.
The Doctor gave up. "All right, what was the cause of death?"
"There wasn't one." Dr Constantine replied grimly. "They're not dead."
He whacked his walking stick against the bin next to him and the patients all sprang upright in bed. The Doctor recoiled in alarm.
"It's alright." Dr Constantine reassured him. "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?" the Doctor stared in disgust. "Nobody's doing anything?"
"I try and make them comfortable, what else is there?" Dr Constantine replied as the patients lay down again.
"Just you? You're the only one here?" the Doctor asked, noticing that some of the patients were in hospital uniforms.
"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather." Dr Constantine told him. "Now I am neither. But I am still a doctor."
"Yeah. I know the feeling." the Doctor sighed.
"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb." Dr Constantine said
"Probably too late." the Doctor said grimly, looking around.
"No. There are isolated cases..." Dr Constantine began, sounding like it was getting harder to speak, "but... isolated cases breaking out all over London..." He erupted into another hacking coughing fit. The Doctor started towards him, but he waved him back. "Stay back." he warned, and the Doctor then noticed the scar on his hand. "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 frowned.
"It was her brother." Dr Constantine gasped out. "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she mi... mi.." he gagged and clutched his neck. "M... mu... mee... Are... you... my... mum-my?"
The Doctor could only watch in horror as a gas mask emerged from Dr Constantine's mouth and spread across his face like a rash. His eyes bulged into goggles and he slumped in his chair, his face fully transformed into a gas mask. An eerie silence followed, which was broken when the Doctor heard heard an American-accented male voice calling out in the distance "Hello?"
Then he heard a familiar English-accented female voice, "Hello?"
The Doctor stepped out into the corridor to see Chelsea and Jack coming the other way "Good evening." Jack greeted "Hope I'm not interrupting, Jack Harkness." He shook the Doctor's hand. "I've been hearing all about you on the way other."
"I had to tell him about us being Time Agents." Chelsea told the Doctor.
The Doctor nodded, deciding to go along with that for now.
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Dr McCoy." Jack said, patting the Doctor on the shoulder. He then walked off, leaving the Doctor looking rather bemused.
The Doctor turned to Chelsea. "Dr McCoy?" he echoed.
"Well, I had to tell him something." Chelsea defended. "You've never told me ya name. Besides, you're a bit like Bones, actually."
"I am not!" the Doctor huffed. "Where've yer been? We're in the middle of the London Blitz, it's not a good time for a stroll."
"Yeah, I noticed." Chelsea said flatly, starting to walk after Jack. "Kinda hard not to notice when ya hanging off a barrage balloon."
"What?!" the Doctor raised a brow, walking after her.
"Oh, what's a Chula ship?" Chelsea asked.
The Doctor stopped. "Chula?" he muttered, a possibility coming to him.
~8~
Jack was busy scanning one of the patients in the ward with the device on his wrist, which the Doctor recognised as a Time Agent's Vortex Manipulator. "This just isn't possible." he frowned. "How could this happen?"
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Doctor interrogated.
"What?"
"He said it was a warship, or something like that." Chelsea explained. "He said he nicked it and parked it somewhere out there. And he's fixed it so that a bomb's gonna fall on it unless we pay him."
"What kind of warship?" the Doctor questioned Jack.
"Does it matter?" Jack shot back agitated. "It's got nothing to do with this!"
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it." the Doctor retorted angrily. "What kind of warship?"
"An ambulance!" Jack huffed. "Look." He brought up a hologram of the cylindrical object on his Vortex Manipulator. "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?" Chelsea frowned.
"I wanted to sell it to you and destroy it before ya found out it was junk." Jack huffed and turned the hologram off.
"You told me it was a warship." Chelsea scowled, crossing her arms in annoyance at being played.
"They have ambulances in wars." Jack retorted and walked away from them in a huff. "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?"
"No, just a pair of freelancers." Chelsea retorted crossly.
"Oh, should've know. The way you guys are blending into the local colour." Jack scoffed. "I mean, Biker Girl was bad enough, but U-boat Captain?"
The Doctor glanced down uncomfortably at his clothes, while Chelsea rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
"Huh, somehow I doubt that." Chelsea huffed. "Doctor, what is happening here, anyway?"
"Human DNA's being rewritten..." the Doctor replied, "by an idiot."
"What d'ya mean?"
"I dunno. Some kinda virus, converting Human beings into these things." the Doctor told her. "But why? What's the point?"
Suddenly, every patient in the ward suddenly sat bolt upright, all saying "Mummy?" repeatedly.
"What's happening?" Chelsea gasped.
"I don't know." the Doctor replied.
The patients all got up out of bed and began to advance on the trio. "Don't let them touch you." the Doctor warned the two Humans.
"I know I probably shouldn't ask, but what happens if they touch us?" Chelsea asked.
"Yer looking at it." the Doctor replied grimly.
The patients continued to advance, still chanting "Mummy" as they backed the trio against the wall, enclosing them ready to make them the next victims of their plague.
To be continued...
Author's notes: And here's another AU story with Chelsea, this time covering The Empty Child/Doctor Dances. I thought it'd be fun to cover this two-parter with Chelsea, given her somewhat different relationship with the Doctor compared to the one Rose had. This two-parter gives me a chance to show a more fun-loving side to Chelsea, compared to her usual goody-two-shoes persona. Her interactions with Jack were fun to write and I hope they're fun to read too. I hope you like this AU and I'll see ya next week for The Doctor Dances.