Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Part 2.
The Doctor burst through the door of the medical imaging room to find one very surprised Florence Finnegan.
Right, he thought, human, this should be easy. “Oh boy, have you seen, there are these things, these big space rhino things out there and we’re on the moon. Huh, Space rhinos on the moon.”
He stared down at his bare feet.
“I only came in for my bunions, see,” he lifted his foot up to show the woman.
“They did a good job, don’t you think? I was telling my wife I’d recommend those foot Doctors to anybody, and then this happened and we ended up on the moon, can you believe it, how many people want to visit the moon on a regular basis.”
He smiled again. “Did I mention the rhinos?”
The Doctor watched as the woman left the controls she was fiddling with and motioned towards the slab behind them.
“Hold him.”
The Doctor was soon restrained, held firmly by the drone. His eyes followed her every movement.
“Is that big machine meant to make that kind of noise?”
She looked up from the MRI controls, annoyed, and waved his question off with the flick of her hand. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I know, isn’t it some kind of magnetic imaging thingy? It’s like a ginormous kind of magnet or something?”
She looked at him as though he might have some vague idea, but decided it couldn’t hurt to level with him as he’d be dead soon enough.
“The magnetic setting has been set to 50,000 Tesla, though I’m sure that means nothing to you.”
The Doctor struggled to keep a straight face; he knew perfectly well what that meant. He thought about his Rose, hiding out in the cleaner’s closet and mentally kicked himself for having left here there. Chances were that she’d die anyway. He wished she was here, now, by his side.
“That’s a bit strong isn’t it?”
“Perhaps, but it should allow me to send out a magnetic pulse strong enough to fry the brain cells of every living individual within 250,000 square miles, everyone except for me that is.”
He frowned, “I’m sorry, I’ve been a post man for the past 15 years, so I’m a bit out of my depth, but what possible reason could you have for wanting to do this?”
She smiled and turned to the Doctor.
“You really have no idea, do you? With everyone dead, it means that the Judoon ships will be mine, for an easy escape.”
Ah, that was her plan all along. Who’d question a Judoon ship? She could be on the run for as long as she needed to be. Again, he thought about Rose, he had to stop this woman before she went too far.
“You’re talking like you’re some kind of alien.” He realised the ridiculousness of his very own words, but tough times called for tough measures.
“Quite so.”
“No.” The irony was more than he could tolerate, but he managed. His brown eyes were wide as he feigned shock and awe.
“Yes.” She smiled slyly.
“You mean, I’m talking to an alien? In a hospital, do you lot get specialist medical treatment too? How does that work?”
“Why not, it’s the perfect hiding place for somebody like me.”
“Oh, I get it. Those big rhino thingies, they’re looking for you?”
She held up her right hand to show him the prominent black X marked upon her skin. “Yes, but as you can see, I’m hidden.” He knew that the ‘but’ was coming.
“However, for this to work, I must assimilate.”
He gave her a strange look and she explained further.
“I have to appear to be human.”
“Well,” he pulled on his ear, “you’re more than welcome to come home and meet the wife. Rose, her name’s Rose. We can have cake.” He was floundering now; he knew his time was running short, very short indeed.
She laughed at him then, “Why would I want to have cake? I have my straw. You’re quite the funny man, aren’t you? Steady him.” Her voice was serious and the Doctor swallowed thickly, his mind quickly turning to Rose to block out the inevitable pain. It was then that she advanced on his jugular.
________
The Judoon were still in the hall, busy scanning the little old lady they’d bumped into on their search for extraterrestrial life. The ring leader was busy swiping the woman with his hand held scanner, lights flashing as the result came forward.
“Non-human traits confirmed,” he announced. “What are you?”
Again, he scanned the woman before him, the static blue hue of his scanner bright in the face of adversity.
“Confirm human, non-human trace confirmed.”
The Judoon leader handed her a small slip of parchment. The woman simply looked up and smiled.
“Thank you.” She waved it about in the air.
“Compensation,” he assured her.
She stepped aside and let the fleet pass, she knew there was somewhere else she needed to be right now, this was one appointment she needed to keep. She picked up her feet as the spritely old lady made haste for her destination. She prayed she’d not be too late.
The Doctor was in and out of consciousness; he had only one thing on his mind, Rose, his Rose. His blood drained, his strength left him and his body gracelessly fell to the floor upon the arrival of the Judoon.
He watched from the corner of his eye as the familiar old woman stopped just inside the door. He had enough breath left in his body to utter one word, one she knew he’d muttered before, all those years ago.
“Rose.” His hearts stopped, that was it.
“Look what you’ve done, “Florence pointed to the Doctor. “This poor man has died of fright.”
“Scanning, confirmation, deceased.”
There was a gasp from the woman at the door; she knew it couldn’t be true. Think, she had to think, she had to buy the Doctor more time, time for his hearts to start again.
She marched into the room, pointing to Florence.
“But it was her, she killed this man.”
“The Judoon have no authority over human crimes.”
“Please listen to me,” the woman begged, “she’s not human, she’s not.”
The scanner came to life once more as the Judoon leader scanned a smug looking Florence Finnegan.
“Scan all you like, I’m human.” She pointed to the X on her hand.
“Non-human,” spoke the Judoon. “Confirm analysis, non-human.”
“Oh, that must be a mistake; I’m as human as they come.”
“Confirmed, plasmavore. I charge you with the crime of murdering the Princess of Patrival Regincy Nine.”
Florence scowled her eyes wide and her face scrunched as she verbally erupted.
“She deserved it, those cheeks, those curls, that simpering voice.”
The woman the Doctor had met earlier in the day had moved to his side now, she watched as the plasmavore confessed her crime and laughed at the situation.
“Do you confess?” The Judoon advanced, withdrawing their weapons.
“Confess, I’m proud of it,” she boasted.
The Judoon fired a shot and the slab fell dead before their feet. Florence looked shocked, but held her composure until the end.
“Verdict, guilty. Sentence, execution.”
Florence laughed in the face of her executioners. “Enjoy your victory, Judoon. You’ll burn with me, burn in hell,” she laughed.
One shot of light was all it took as the Judoon took aim. She was gone, just like the slab, blown away to nothing more than mere particles of dust on the wind.
The Doctor wasn’t responding to touch, he wasn’t even responding to the sound of her voice.
“Don’t you dare do this to me, not when I know that you have so much to look forward to, Doctor.”
The Judoon’s voice echoed through the room.
“Scans detect lethal acceleration of mono-magnetic pulse.”
“Stop it!” screamed the woman by the side of the Doctor. “Do something, please.”
“Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate.”
The older woman turned to the Doctor, she had to try. It was her only hope. She pressed her lips to his and watched carefully as a wisp of bold energy entered his body.
“Please,” she begged. “Five years of my life gone, just for him.” She still had one trick left up her sleeve. She drew her hand back and brought it down to strike his cheek.
The Doctor started to cough, his eyes opened one by one and he smiled at the sting of the force that had recently connected with the side of his jaw.
“Welcome back,” she smiled, “the scanner, she’s done something with it, I think you may need to have a look.”
The Doctor staggered to his feet and stumbled towards the magnetic machine. He tugged at the lead and unplugged the scanner. He turned to the woman that had saved his life, but the room was empty.
“Quite right too,” he chuckled.
Rose, she was still out there, she was still out there waiting, he told her he’d be back, that he’d come to the closet and whisk her away for a night on Barcelona. He had to find her.
He stumbled across the room and out into the corridor. His head was fuzzy, but he knew it was her as soon as his eyes landed upon the prone figure before him. Her blonde hair spread out across the floor like a striking veil. He crouched beside her, his long, slender fingers wrapped around her wrist as he felt for a pulse. Upon finding it, thready and weak, he placed his lips upon her forehead in a chaste kiss.
He cradled her to his chest and staggered to the nearest window. He wasn’t a man of god, but he prayed all the same.
“Please, please, please, come on, Judoon, reverse it.”
“Doctor?” she managed to croak.
That was all he needed, all it took for his smile to surface once again.
A brilliant flash of white signalled their descent and the Doctor held onto Rose, afraid to let her go again.
“Raining on the moon,” he whispered.
________
Rose wriggled out of the Doctors grip. “Doctor, I’m fine. You’ve done all of the tests twice and they all said the same thing, I’m fine.”
He looked sideways at her from his perch on the side of the med-bay cot.
“Oxygen starvation is serious, Rose. It could have been far worse than this if you ...”
Rose brought her fingers up to stroke his cheek, “’m fine, yeah? See I’m right here, not going anywhere.”
“Well, Rose Tyler, I have a very good memory, and I seem to recall the promise of one very romantic weekend.”
“Barcelona,” she giggled.
“Oh yes, Barcelona.”
He pulled Rose into his lap and she settled there, her head against his shoulder.
“Doctor, that woman, who was she? You said she wanted to get her hands on you, is that why she followed us today?”
“I don’t know. Couldn’t tell you, probably heard you calling me Doctor, maybe that was all she needed?” He smiled to himself; he was pleased that Rose was here with him. Though the cost of her family would continue to be hard on her, he didn’t want to think about what he might have become without her.
“What do you say about making use of some of those bananas we brought earlier, Doctor? I think we have some chocolate topping somewhere.”
Rose extricated herself from his grip and slid out of the room, she paused at the door waiting, a sly grin on her face, a smile she knew the Doctor could never resist.