"HELLO?" LILY CALLED DOWN THE CORRIDOR WALKING BESIDE JACK. When she saw Rose running towards her, the Doctor trailing behind in a brisk walk, she didn't have enough time to greet her before being tackled into a hug.
"We knew you'd be okay." Rose grinned and gave her one last squeeze before pulling back to look at Lily. Her hands moved to pull at the jacket Lily was wearing that was now halfway zipped up. "Where'd you get this?" That's when Rose noticed the man beside her sister. "Oh, hello?"
"An chante," Jack took Rose's hand and kissed the back of it. Lily watched with a close eye to be sure he didn't overstep his boundaries with her blushing little sister. "Hi!" Jack smiled and let go of her hand when the Doctor joined Rose's side, the American held his hand out to him. "Hope we're not interrupting." He shook his hand, keeping that same dashing look on his face. "Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."
"Yeah," Lily spoke up when the Doctor let go of Jack's hand and looked at her with furrowed brows." I told him all about you being a Time Agent, Mr. Smith."
"It's a real pleasure to meet you." Jack gave a hard pat on the Doctor's shoulder before leaving them and started to the room that he and Rose had exited.
The Doctor raised a brow at Lily and spoke when Jack was out of earshot. "Mr. Smith?"
"What? You've used it in the past," Lily defended herself. "Better than saying 'the Doctor' and having that conversation."
"Wait a moment," Rose took her sister's arm and pitched at the jacket's fabric again. Their eyes met Rose's narrowing. "Are you wearing his jacket?" She smirked as Lily pulled away, swatting her hand.
It seemed like the clogs started turning in the Doctor's head as his eyes moved from the jacket to Lily's eyes. "How long has it even been?" He exclaimed.
"Okay, you two need to stop." Lily held a hand up to each of them. "I was cold and he lent it to me. Nothing else happened."
The Doctor glared. "We're in the middle of a London Blitz and you decided to go-"
"You have too big of an imagination. You should stop before you hurt yourself." She playfully patted his left cheek, watching his eyes soften when she touched him. After pulling back, she walked backward and asked the Doctor something that had been bothering her. "What's a Chula warship?"
The Doctor's face twisted. "Chula?"
✧
Lily, with Rose close at her side, entered a ward and found Jack examining all the laying bodies with his wrist tricorder, which he had shown her on their way to the hospital. It was the very instrument he had used to track the Doctor and Rose. "This just isn't possible." Jack moved from body to body while Lily noted the same gas mask she saw on the face of the boy on the roof. "How did this happen?"
"What kind of a Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked.
"He said it was a warship," Lily explained to the Doctor, leaning her back on a nearby empty bed to rest her legs. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless you make him an offer."
"What kind of warship?" The Doctor questioned Jack.
"Does it matter?" Jack retorted. "It's got nothing to do with this!"
"This started at a bomb site." The Doctor responded to Lily, her noting the hard gaze he was giving the captain. "It's got everything to do with it." He took a step closer at the same time Rose joined Lily in leaning her own back against the headboard. "What kind of warship?"
"An ambulance! Look." Lily peered at the hologram now beamed from his wrist tricorder. The same ship the TARDIS was chasing, "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty." The hologram vanished and Jack continued admitting to his lie. "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." He added. "Threw you the bait."
"Bait?" Lily's eyes turned into slits at him.
He swallowed when he saw her looking and then kept talking. "I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk."
That made Lily straighten, stepping up to the Doctor's side. "So you lied and told me it was a warship?"
"They have ambulances in wars!" Jack ran a hand through his hair. "It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, Lily!" He put a hand on his chest and seethed. I'm a con man!" He turned to the Doctor. "I thought he was a Time Agent." Jack's eyes took in the time lord. "You're not, are you?"
Lily pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Just a couple more freelancers."
"I should have known," He let out a disgusted laugh. "The way you guys are blending in with the local color. "I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough," He looked at Rose then to the Doctor. "But U-Boat Captain?" He continued to defend his innocence. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
Lily ignored Jack and directed her questioning to the Doctor. "What is happening here, Doctor?"
He rolled his eyes- she knew it was the situation and not her. "Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know." The Doctor admitted. "Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why?" He took another look around at the patients. "What's the point?"
Every last one of the patients decided to sit straight up in their beds. A movement that sent Lily looking for her sister, taking her wrist and keeping her close. They all said in unison the word she remembered from the little boy before. "Mummy?" They repeated that same word, over and over again.
"Doctor?" Lily asked as he started backing them up behind him. "What's happening?"
"I don't know." Lily could see he was trying to stay calm, even as every last one of the patients left their beds and slowly started advancing to them, still repeating the same word in a questioning manner.
Jack had made his way to them and joined as they were forced to back up against a wall, with nowhere to run. "Don't let them touch you," Rose warned them, lacing her fingers with Lily's.
The ginger felt Jack's shoulder brush her other side and the Doctor's back backed closer to her, still standing in front of her and her sister. "What happens if they touch us?"
The Doctor was the one to answer, his back now grazing her front and the patients gaining at them. "You're looking at it."
T O B E C O N T I N U E D
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
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