ignite ➝ Doctor Who¹

VIII

"It's that man again. He's my good luck charm."
— The Duke of Manhattan, New Earth

Penelope stood stunned, Rose had just sauntered out  of nowhere after being missing for a good while - not that the Doctor noticed - and had kissed them both. She blinked a couple of times to process it before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and moving on. She could vaguely see the Doctor doing somewhat the same thing, following after her closely.

She pulled on the lapels of his coat with her left hand, getting his attention.

"Were we just kissed by Rose Tyler?" He coughed, a little embarrassed and a tad annoyed that his companion had done that.

"I think it was more of a snog." She nodded, tips of her ears burning brightly.

"Just making sure I didn't imagine that. So what's up with her, because I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know my full name and she was just trying to touch the back of my throat." The Doctor blushed lightly at her words, looking down at the girl.

"Miss Adaams, you're supposed to sound like you didn't enjoy it, especially if you think she isn't doing okay." She gave him a side eye, not very happy with him.

"Okay, I've got nothing against kissing women, believe me, but I remember when she first started school 2 years below me. She's still a baby to me." He laughed, taking hold of her hand again and pulling her along. A childish glint in his eye that she didn't quite trust.

They stopped at the terminal, Penelope's ears burning as she stood between Rose Tyler and the Doctor. He let go of her hand and muttered out some of the names of the different wards and floors, looking for something out of place. He couldn't see anything, but obviously kept looking for the little shop, whining when he couldn't find one, she put her hand lightly on his arm to lean over and have a look herself.

"No sign of a shop, they should have a shop." Penelope giggled lightly, loving that he was still obsessed with the little shop. He grinned down at her, loving the continuous feeling of her hand on his arm as she leant to see the map. Rose wasn't having it and moved around them.

"No, it's missing something else." She took over the terminal, moving both of them out of the way. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about intensive care, but where is it?" The ginger girl frowned, sharing a look with the Doctor, who had also started to understand that something was wrong. He shifted on his feet, choosing to go along with it.

"You're right, well done."

"Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere, search the subframe." Penelope poked her head closer to the pair, listening to them both, unsure how Rose knew all of this.

"What if the subframe's locked?" He got out his sonic screwdriver, not missing Penelope's longing look of wishing she understood.

"Try the installation protocol." He held it against the screen, continuing to go along with her even though he knew that something was clearly wrong.

"Yeah, course, sorry. Hold on." He scans something, and they all hear something unlock behind the screen. Gradually the wall lowers, showing a metal encased hallway. Rose sauntered forward first, the Doctor taking Penelope's hand before going after her. Trying to disperse the uncomfortable air between the two of them and Rose, she nudges his shoulder, causing him to look down at her.

"Intensive care?" She glances at the metal walls around him and he smiles a little.

"Certainly looks intensive." They share a small smile, momentarily forgetting the seriousness of the situation, before the cold, green room brought them back to reality. Penelope would've stopped in horror if not for the Doctor tugging at her hand.

The entire room was lined with cells, rows upon rows, floor after floor. It felt like a factory. The idea of something like this underneath a place of healing caused Penelope to shiver. The Doctor noticed, giving her a sad look when he saw how horrified she was.

"Doctor? What is this?" He couldn't tear the sad look from his own face and it broke her heart, she was still stunned at the sadness behind his eyes as he led her towards one of the doors and opened it. Rose made a noise of disgust which caused Penelope to look up at what was in the cell.

"That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?" The horror was replaced with worry for the welfare of the man, who was covered with boils, burns and broken skin. She tried to step forward but the Doctor held her back.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He closed the door at Penelope's protest and strode over to the next one, pulling it open to see a woman in a similar situation. She stepped back in shock, finally pulling her hand from the Doctor's and leaning over the barrier, seeing how far she could see the cells for and knowing that each of them held someone like this.

"Doctor, what happened to them? Can we help them?" He came over to her and pulled her from the barrier, holding onto her upper arms as a source of comfort.

"They have every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything."

"Can we help them?" He sighs, finding it hard to look down into her brown eyes as they swirled with hope of recovery for the thousands of people around them.

"I'm not sure. But we will try." He was interrupted by Rose Tyler as she nervously glanced around.

"We're so close to them. Are we safe?" He didn't look away from Penelope, even as the girl watched Rose closely, knowing that something was wrong.

"The air's sterile, just don't touch them." Penelope tapped out of the conversation then, knowing that she would probably end up hitting Rose if the girl keeps her one track mind of keeping herself safe. She thought she knew her upstairs neighbour, but maybe she's different when travelling through time and space. But she's fairly certain that the Doctor wouldn't have someone like that with him, so there must be something wrong.

Without realising, she had detached herself from the Doctor and was standing in front of the cell again. Through the glass she could see how lonely the person looked, and she placed her hand on the window, hoping to give some form of comfort to them.

The next thing she knows the Doctor is at her feet and Rose has spun her around, an unnatural smile on her face.

"Unlike chavtastic here, you are stunning." Her ears start to burn unwillingly, as she tries to back up out of her grip, nearly tripping over the Doctor.

"What-"

"Don't worry about it sweet cheeks, I'm just going to take you for a spin, hold tight."

There was a sudden tightness behind her eyes, causing them to snap shut before she felt herself fall to the floor, unable to control her own body.