Monochrome Mates

Go to your room!

The Doctor glanced at his frightened Mate and then to the gasmasked patients. He had to do something! "Go to your room", he ordered and they all stood still "I mean it! I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross! Go...to...your...ROOM!" he pointed violently in a random direction and all gas masked people turn and walk meekly away. The Time Lord let out a breath, relaxing slightly. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words", he joked, trying to get Katia to smile which thankfully, she did.

"Yeah", she agreed "very sucky".

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked.

"They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone", Jack corrected.

The Doctor turned to him "How was your con supposed to work?" he questioned.

"Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk...let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put 50% up front, oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck", the former Time Agent explained "The perfect self-cleaning con".

"Yeah. Perfect", the Time Lord said, sarcastically. He was none too happy that Jack's con was putting his Mate in danger. He was looking forward to getting this trip over and done with.

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day" the American laughed at his own joke. The Doctor looked at him, clearly not impressed. "Getting a hint of disapproval".

"Take a look around the room. This is what your 'harmless piece of space-junk' did", the Doctor snapped.

"It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty", Jack insisted. The Time Lord looked at him darkly, took Katia's hand and walked out of the ward.

"Rose!" he called. Rose left the ward too, followed by the former Time Agent.

"Are we getting out of here?" she asked.

"We're going upstairs", the Doctor replied.

"I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it", Jack argued. The Time Lord shot him another look which made the American wish that the ground beneath his feet would open up and swallow him.

"I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day", the Doctor shot back. A siren goes off in the distance.

"That's the all-clear", Katia said. She remembered learning about WWII at school and how a siren goes off after a bombing to signal it was safe.

"I wish", the Time Lord muttered. He walked down the hall, taking the photographer with him. Rose and Jack hurried after them. It took a while but they eventually reached room 802. "The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken", he told Rose and Jack.

"What happened?" the blonde enquired, curious.

"Let's find out", the Doctor answered "I presume you've got a blaster", he said to Jack.

"Yep", the man confirmed, showing them.

"Get it open then", the Time Lord said. Jack grinned and points his blaster at the door.

"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Rose asked the Doctor quietly.

"Nothing", he replied. Jack's blaster cuts a perfect square around the lock of the door and it swings open.