"You, where the hell did you come from? You're a different, different kind of fun, and I'm so used to feeling numb. Now, I got pins and needles on my tongue. Anticipating what's to come. Like a finger on a loaded gun." - Kelly Clarkson: 'Heartbeat Song' (Piece by Piece [2015])
~**~
The Powell Estate
Because it was Christmas, the Doctor graciously decided to let Katy and Rose stick around for an extra day to spend time with Jackie, while he did some tinkering with the TARDIS, as he vaguely remembered crash landing in the middle of the courtyard when he was in the middle of regenerating, and wanted to check if there were any damages made to his beloved ship.
But however grateful she was for the Doctor to do this for them, Katy wasn't really in the mood to go visiting Bev like Jackie had promised during Christmas Eve when they were waiting for the Doctor to recover. So, she left Rose and Jackie to it and stayed behind.
While Rose and Jackie were out visiting, Katy went for a walk to the nearby park, coincidentally where Rose and Mickey had spotted the 'Bad Wolf' graffiti that had inspired Rose to risk everything and go back to 200,100 to help the Doctor. Also suspiciously, the graffiti seemed to have disappeared too.
Katy took a seat on a vacant park bench that had a view of the swing-set and jungle gym, just watching children playing amongst themselves underneath the watchful eyes of their parents, just absently playing with her locket.
"So, this is where you went off to," Katy turned her head and saw the Doctor standing beside the bench, looking at her with a pleasant cheerful smile on his face. She grinned back at him, and shuffled over on the seat, inviting him to sit down with her.
"Is the TARDIS okay?" Katy asked, and the Doctor nodded.
"Yeah, no harm done. Just needed to make a few repairs to the console after that incident involving you and Rose." The Doctor narrows his eyes at Katy, and she flushed guiltily.
"Hey, that was Rose not me. I tried to stop her from doing that," Katy protested her innocence. "If I hadn't, it could've been much worse." The Doctor sighed heavily.
"Yeah, but the point is, it should not have happened in the first place. Just as well, it's in the past; nothing we can do much about it now," He admits. The Doctor then looks seriously at Katy, making her feel a little bit nervous about what he possibly would want to say. "Now, let's continue on where our conversation left off, shall we?" Katy winced, having anticipated that that was one of the reasons why the Doctor had delayed taking her and Rose on their next adventure with him.
Too bad one of the topics was a little bit difficult to talk about with him.
"I suppose we do, don't we?" Katy acknowledged. "Where do you want to start, then?"
"You tell me," The Doctor retorted, and Katy raised a confused eyebrow.
"I don't follow you?"
"Well, you must have questions about regeneration. After all, you just witnessed me going through one," He pointed out, and Katy nodded. It was a fair enough observation. "So, fire away when you're ready. I'm all ears." Katy was silent for several minutes, before she swallowed and looked vulnerably at the Doctor who immediately looked concerned.
"Does it hurt?" Katy muttered, quietly. The Doctor blinked in astonishment at the question.
"No. Just unpredictable and potentially dangerous for bystanders if they stand too close," The Doctor replied.
"What do you mean?" Katy frowned.
"A Time Lord's regeneration can sometimes be explosive, depending on how severely they have been injured or from other circumstances," The Doctor explained. "Though, I doubt that will be the case with you, since we don't know how many times you've regenerated in the past when we were still living on Gallifrey."
"So, it's different for every Time Lord. How many times have you regenerated if you don't mind me asking?" Katy quizzed the Doctor who looked a little bit awkward. "If you don't want to answer it's completely fine-"
"No, it's not that. I don't mind telling you," The Doctor hurried to reassure her. "This is my tenth regeneration," He explained, and Katy's eyes widened in surprise.
"Tenth? How many do we get or is it unlimited?"
"Time Lords only get eleven chances at regeneration. Once they're gone, time's up. We just die for good," The Doctor looked incredibly solemn, and Katy looked appalled.
"That doesn't seem fair."
"No, but that's life. You gotta make the most of it," The Doctor stated, going back to being cheerful once again. He immediately gets to his feet. "So why don't we get started, huh?" He offers her his hand, and Katy hesitates a little just staring at it. The Doctor wiggles his fingers enticingly and Katy lets out an amused snort before reaching up and taking it, allowing the Doctor to pull her to her feet and tucking her into his side by wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they walked back to the Powell Estate.
"So where are we going tomorrow?" Katy questioned, slyly.
"Nah, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Where's the fun in telling?" The Doctor scolded. "It's much more exciting if the adventure is a surprise."
"Okay. I'll hold you to that," Katy shrugged.
~**~
Next Morning
The Doctor stands at the console, starting to power up the TARDIS while outside, Jackie and Mickey were saying their goodbyes to both Katy and Rose, both of whom had heavy looking rucksacks on their backs, full of their clothing and other belongings they needed on their travels.
"Have you got everything?" Jackie questioned her daughters.
"We've got everything, mum. Don't worry," Katy reassures Jackie who gives a small smile that looked more like a grimace than anything, and Katy felt a little guilty that yet again, she and Rose were leaving her behind to go off on adventures with the Doctor.
"Just be careful," Jackie begs.
"You'll have to call Mo about that-" Rose attempted to remind Jackie, who impatiently waves off Rose.
"Oh, never mind Mo."
"Okay, I'm going now. I love you!" Rose chirps enthusiastically and bounces over to peck both her mother and Mickey on their cheeks and give them hugs goodbye.
"I love you," Jackie tells Katy and Rose, and Katy smiles warmly back at their mother with affection.
"I love you too, Mum. I'll call you later just to check in," Katy reassures Jackie, who squeezes her into an appreciative hug.
"Good. At least one of you is responsible about things like that," Jackie states, as Katy turns and walks over to Mickey who also looks a bit downtrodden that yet again both girls were going off who knew where, and probably getting into yet more danger than before.
"I'll miss you," Katy tells Mickey who squeezes her tightly.
"Have fun, yeah?" Mickey reminds Katy who nods before kissing his cheek and running into the TARDIS behind Rose. Jackie and Mickey watch the TARDIS dematerialise away before Jackie lets out a sad sigh and turns, heading back to her flat, while Mickey just walks away.
~**~
The TARDIS
Rose dumps her rucksack in the middle of the walkway and runs up to the Doctor in her excitement, while Katy rolls her eyes and shifts both hers and Rose's rucksack somewhere less likely for either she, the Doctor or Rose could trip over it.
"So, where are we going?" Rose asks, enthusiastically.
"Further than we've ever gone before," The doctor responds, just as giddy and all of them have to grab onto the console for dear life when she takes a violent jerk off course before the Doctor hastily steers her back into place.
"Certainly no less bumpy than before," Katy commented, earning a playful glare from the Doctor, to which she retaliated by sticking out her tongue at him childishly.
~**~
New Earth
The TARDIS eventually materialises on a small grassy island directly across from a massive city. Flying cars zoom overhead, just as the double doors open and out steps Katy and Rose, who drop open their jaws in shock and awe when they see this beautiful view for themselves. The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS behind them and preens at the stunned expressions on his companions' faces. He steps up beside Katy and takes her hand, ignoring when Rose bristles a little when she sees this.
"This is the year five billion and twenty-three," The Doctor explains, cheerfully. "We're in the galaxy M87, and this?" He gestures around the spot like a realtor trying to sell property. "This is New Earth."
"That's just. That's just-" Rose babbles in her excitement.
"-Fantastic!" Katy finishes her sister's sentence. "Absolutely fantastic!" Katy marveled, turning, and grinning at the Doctor who beamed back happily at her and squeezed her hand.
"That's amazing," Rose agreed. "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky," She sniffs interestedly. "What's that smell?" Rose glances curiously at both Katy and the Doctor who take a curious sniff for themselves.
"Smells like apples?" Katy observes, and the Doctor nods in agreement.
"Apple grass," The Doctor confirms. "Yeah, yeah."
"It's beautiful," Rose sighs happily. "Oh, I love this!" She turns and goes over to the Doctor and grabs his other hand in her excitement. "Can I just say, travelling with you, I love it."
"We are so lucky!" Katy adds, and the Doctor's grin continues growing.
"I'm glad you think so," He states, before tugging on both their hands. "Come on!"
None of them notice a very familiar metal spider scuttling after them, observing the three of them with its hidden camera. In an unknown basement room, a humanoid with strange tattoo-like markings continues to observe the Doctor, Katy, and Rose through an electronic crystal ball.
"Human!" He zeroes in on Rose, speaking with a gentle Irish brogue. "She's pure-blood human! Closer, closer," He encourages the spider who immediately obeys as it scuttles closer to the oblivious trio. The Doctor, meanwhile, had taken off his long brown coat and spread it out like a picnic blanket on the slightly damp apple grass, and immediately reclines on it; beckoning to Katy and Rose to sit either side of him to take in the view of the amazing futuristic-like city off in the distance.
"So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted," The Doctor lectures, and both Katy and Rose grin at the memory, despite the negative things that had happened shortly after they had arrived there.
"Our first adventure together!" Katy recalls.
"Yep. We had chips!" The Doctor nodded, also enjoying the memory. It was also the same time that he and Katy had reconciled after he blew up at her for risking her own safety, earning the cold shoulder from her as a result, and then they grew closer. It was also when the Doctor realised that he had started developing feelings for Katy that he hadn't felt in a very long time. At least, not since meeting his wife back on Gallifrey. "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then they find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in," The Doctor continues lecturing.
"What's the city called?" Rose asks, curiously.
"New New York," The Doctor answered promptly.
"Seriously?" Katy looked at him, skeptically.
"It is," He insisted. "It's the city of New New York." Katy nodded, taking his word for it. "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." Rose smiles at him fondly, making the Doctor feel slightly uncomfortable. "What?"
"You're so different," Rose observes.
"New New Doctor," Katy chirps, earning a beaming smile from the Doctor, and an irritated look from Rose for stealing the Doctor's attention away from her during her observation.
The metal spider is close to them. In the same basement room, another unknown figure was also observing the trio through the hidden camera on the metal spider and is shocked when they recognise both Katy and Rose.
"Impossible. I recognise those children. Their faces. Show me their faces!" The unknown person demands to the strangely tattooed man.
"Closer, closer," He urges the spider.
"Face! Face! Face!" The person shrieks in almost excitement. Still oblivious to their little audience, Katy, the Doctor, and Rose get up off the grass and the Doctor picks up his coat and shrugs it on, as Rose looks at the distant city with a curious gleam in her whiskey-coloured eyes.
"Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" She asked the Doctor, looking hopefully at him. The Doctor hesitates, digging his hand into one of his pockets and pulling free his psychic paper. Both girls beam when they see the Doctor's secret weapon.
"Well, I thought we might go there first," He indicates towards a nearby elegant white skyscraper building situated beside a nearby river. There was a large green crescent moon stenciled on the side of the building.
"Why, what is it?" Katy asked.
"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals," The Doctor explains then holds up the psychic paper for them both to see. "I got this," The girls look down to see a message in neat handwriting which read: 'Ward 26. Please come.' "Someone wants to see me."
"Hmm. And I thought we were just sight-seeing," Rose mused thoughtfully, before looping an arm through the Doctor's. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes," She stated, cheerfully. Rose starts leading the Doctor off, and he quickly grabs Katy's hand and pulls her along, causing the brunette to trip and stumble after them to keep up.
The metal spider watches them leave.
~**~
Basement Room
The unknown person turns out to be Cassandra who had somehow survived being ripped apart by the intense heat leftover from the sun expanding and overheating Platform One and was restored back into her previous flat state in a somewhat lashed up frame. Her companion, the strangely tattooed man whom she called Chip, stood obediently nearby, waiting for her next orders.
Cassandra was fuming.
"Katy and Rose Tyler!" Cassandra shrieked in her fury. "I knew it. Those dirty assassins."
"They're coming here, mistress," Chip reminds his mistress who looks thoughtful.
"This is beyond coincidence. This is destiny," Cassandra decides. "At last, I can be revenged on those little-"
~**~
Hospital reception
The Doctor, Katy and Rose enter the elegant hospital and find themselves standing within a massive area. The Doctor was in the middle of whining about the fact that he had never really liked hospitals. Rose found that little factoid amusing.
"Bit rich coming from you," She was commenting, and the Doctor made a face, as Katy rolled her eyes at his complaining.
"I can't help it. I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."
"Not exactly living up to your name, are you Doctor?" Katy joked, smirking at him and the Doctor just gives her a flat look. An overhead loudspeaker suddenly gives an announcement.
"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes," The trio continue through the lobby, behaving like the worst of rubberneckers as they walked. "Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."
"Very smart. Not exactly NHS," Rose observes, mildly impressed. However, the Doctor immediately pouts when he notices something.
"No shop. I like the little shop."
"I'd have thought this far into the future, they'd have cured everything," Katy mused, frowning thoughtfully, and ignoring the Doctor's observation.
He shrugged at Katy's comment.
"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war," A nearby member of the nursing staff walks by. She is dressed in nun-like wimples and habits. But there was one attribute that both sisters noticed that made these nurses stand out completely.
"They're cats," Rose points out.
"Just when you thought you'd seen it all travelling with the Doctor..." Katy mutters, as the Doctor goes to the cat-like nuns' defense.
"Now, don't stare. Think what you look like to them, pink and yellow," He indicates to Rose. "Pink and brown," He gestures to Katy who snorts in amusement before he drapes an arm around her shoulders and turns her towards a nearby spot that had waiting room chairs and greenery. He grins. "That's where I'd put the shop. Right there." The Doctor pulls away from Katy and starts walking towards a nearby lift, followed closely by Rose. Katy was still studying the spot where the Doctor figured a gift shop would be best suited and failed to notice that he and Rose had moved off without her. "Ward 26, thanks!" The Doctor requests, grabbing Katy's attention and she ran to make the lift.
"Hold on! Hold on!" She yelled, frantically.
"Oh, too late. We're going up," The Doctor tells Katy as he and Rose travel up in the lift, his voice fading rapidly. Katy looks over at the second lift, and stabs at the button to access it.
"It's all right, there's another lift," she tells him.
"Ward 26," The Doctor yells loudly to her. "And watch out for the disinfectant!"
"Watch out for what?" Katy frowns, and yells back for confirmation.
"The disinfectant!" Rose yells, trying to be helpful.
"What?"
"The disin-" The Doctor groans impatiently. "Oh, you'll find out." He mutters to Rose, who smirks a little. The other lift finally arrives with a ding, and Katy steps inside. As the doors close, she remembers the Doctor telling the lift where he wanted to go.
"Er, Ward 26, thanks," She asks, both awkwardly and politely. But unknown to her, the lift is actually travelling down, rather than up like the Doctor and Rose's lift.
"Commence stage one disinfection."
A hidden speaker requests in both lifts, and in the lift that the Doctor and Rose were in, they get drenched in spray, which causes Rose to shriek because of the cold temperature. However, the Doctor barely flinches, and instead smirks. In Katy's lift, the same thing happens, and like Rose, Katy lets out a low curse.
The next stage is a blow dry, which is the equivalent of being stuck inside a wind tunnel. The Doctor is enjoying every moment of the disinfecting stages, while Rose wears an unimpressed scowl on her face that she directs towards the Doctor. Katy shuts her eyes to avoid her hair flying into her face and both sisters flinch when they have a white powder suddenly blown right into their faces.
~**~
Basement
Katy's lift opens up to a rubbish strewn corridor, and immediately the brunette's dormant Time Lady senses indicate to her, that something is not quite right. Especially when she is greeted by Chip.
"The human child is clean," He greets her with a polite smile, and Katy raises an eyebrow at him.
"Er, I'm looking for Ward 26?" Katy questions him. Chip nods and gestures back down the corridor he had come from when he was sent by Cassandra to collect her.
"This way," He turns and walks off.
Katy goes to follow him but pauses momentarily to stoop down and pick up a thick metal bar just in case, before following carefully.
~**~
Ward 26
The Doctor and Rose step out into a surgically sterilised corridor, looking none the wiser. The overhead speaker rings out again.
"Please report to reception," The Doctor and Rose are escorted by a veiled nurse.
"Nice place. No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop," The Doctor gives a suggestion as the nurse removes her veil, giving him a quizzical look, while Rose just rolls her eyes.
"The hospital is a place of healing," she tells him, but the Doctor shrugs unrepentant.
"A shop does some people the world of good," Then he frowns a little. "Well, not me. Other people." The Doctor amends his retort.
"The Sisters of Plenitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend," The nurse insists to him as they pass by an open cubicle. A severe looking woman with her blonde hair tied back in a tight bun and wearing black business attire, black rimmed glasses and red lipstick turns and glares at them, before addressing them sharply.
"Excuse me!" Both the Doctor and Rose turn and blink questioningly at the woman. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York," She chastises them, as the Doctor observes the morbidly obese man the woman was attending to, curiously.
"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" He questions. The duke groans before responding to the Doctor's observations.
"I'm dying, sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this."
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance," The woman snaps imperiously at the Doctor, who just looks at her flatly, unperturbed by her rudeness.
"Frau Clovis! I'm so weak," The Duke moans pitifully. Clovis immediately takes the duke's hand, and glares at the nurse escorting the Doctor and Rose.
"Sister Jatt. A little privacy, please," Jatt nods respectfully before quickly escorting Rose and the Doctor away.
"He'll be up and about in no time," Jatt reassures them, and the Doctor gives her a doubtful look.
"I doubt it," The Doctor snorted. "Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for oh, a thousand years?" Rose looks at him with shock. "He might be up and about, but only as a statue."
"Have faith in the Sisterhood," Jatt scolds him, lightly. But then frowns at him with confusion. "But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient." The Doctor glances around the ward, before his eyes suddenly focus on a patient in the corner of the room and a slow smile spread across his face.
"No, I think I've found him," The Doctor confirms, prompting Rose to look over too. Her eyes widen when she sees the patient they had been looking for.
"But that's, that's the Face of Boe," She exclaims, looking surprised. They approach the familiar large face in a container by a picture window with a view of a city behind him. Another nurse was sitting beside the container, watching the Face of Boe sleep. Jatt leads the Doctor and Rose over to her.
"Novice Hame," Jatt addresses her fellow nurse who looks at her obediently. "If I can leave this gentleman and girl in your care?" Novice Hame nods as Rose approaches the Face of Boe with a concerned frown on her face. The Doctor moves to follow but pauses when he realises that Katy was still missing.
"Oh, I think my friend got lost," He explains to Jatt, who looks at him politely. "Katy Tyler. Could you ask at reception?"
"Certainly, sir." Jatt bows before turning and leaving. The Doctor turns back and walks over to where Rose was observing the Face of Boe with sad eyes.
"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Novice Hame explains to the pair. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you both friends, or...?"
"We met just the once on Platform One," The Doctor confirms, also looking at the large face with concern. "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew," Novice Hame looked surprised. "The Face of Boe is dying."
"Of what?" Rose pipes up, looking concerned.
"Old age," Novice Hame responds, with a small smile. "The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible." She laughs a little.
The Doctor smiles back.
"Oh, I don't know. I like impossible," The Doctor walks over and crouches before the giant face, touching the glass with his hand. "I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me. It's the Doctor," He promises, solemnly.
~**~
Basement Room
Katy follows Chip to the basement room, where upon entering she notices a reel-to-reel projector showing a film of a party. She frowns when she watches the image of a beautiful blonde socialite mingling amongst her group of friends.
"I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever," She fake giggles. "I'm bored with this drink." The woman thrusts a half-drunk cocktail at a passing waiter, which makes Katy raise an eyebrow at the sheer rudeness displayed. But she also frowns for an entirely different reason. The woman's voice was uncomfortably familiar to her. "Anyway. Oh, hello darling!" The blonde woman greets another friend with a fake smile and places air kisses on both her cheeks. "Now, don't. Stop it," The woman giggles, and that was when Katy's eyes widened when she immediately recognises that impossible giggle.
"Wait a minute, that's-" She turns and immediately backs away when she spots Cassandra staring at her smugly from her frame, with Chip standing dutifully at her side.
"Not exactly who I had in mind. But you'll do," Cassandra comments, before smirking smugly at Katy.
"Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra," Katy warns, coldly.
"Why? What do you think I'm going to do? Flap you to death?" Cassandra retorts sarcastically.
"Doesn't stop your little friend standing beside you," Katy points out.
"Oh, that's just Chip. He's, my pet," Cassandra explains somewhat dismissively. Chip looks at the 'last human' with sheer adoration on his face, which made Katy's stomach flip over unpleasantly.
"I worship the mistress," He states.
"Moisturise me, moisturise me," Cassandra commands, and Chip picks up a spray canister and spritzes Cassandra with it. "He's not even a proper lifeform. He's a force grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern," She explains, haughtily. "But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."
"I sincerely hope you mean food," Katy said, turning slightly green at the disturbing picture Cassandra's explanation had put into her head. "But how is it that you're alive?"
"After you and your bratty sister murdered me," Cassandra spat hatefully.
"You brought that upon yourself," Katy corrected her.
"The brain of my mistress survived. And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin," Chip took over the explanation.
"And the skin? You were ripped apart by the extreme heat," Katy stated.
"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back," Cassandra sniffed, causing Katy to smirk devilishly.
"Right. Talking out of your a-"
"Ask not," Cassandra interrupted her, scowling viciously.
"The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted milady into the hospital," Chip helpfully supplied the relevant information to Katy, whose smirk fell.
"So, they have no idea that you're down here?" Katy realised.
"Chip steals medicine. Helps milady. Soothes her, strokes her."
"I get the picture, thank you," Katy stops him.
"But I'm so alone, hidden down here. The last Human in existence," Cassandra bemoans her fate, causing Katy to roll her eyes at the dramatics.
"You are hardly the last human in existence, Cassandra. This planet has been named New Earth," Katy stated condescendingly. Cassandra wrinkles what she considered a nose at the term.
"A vegetable patch," She dismisses.
"There's millions of Humans out there. Millions of them," Katy insists.
"Mutant stock."
"Oh, you can hardly talk," Katy spat, flatly. "They've evolved, Cassandra. They've just evolved, like they should. You stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good has it done you?" Cassandra doesn't respond, instead turning her attention back towards the projector which was still showing the party scene, and she becomes somewhat melancholy.
Katy observes this curiously.
"Oh, I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace," She sighs sadly. "That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it became such hard work."
"Well, you've got a knack for survival. I can't fault you for that," Katy admitted reluctantly.
"But I've not been idle, Katy, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening," Cassandra explains mysteriously, and Katy frowns at her. "The Sisters are hiding something."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, these cats have secrets," Cassandra stated, then looks slyly at Katy. "Hush, let me whisper. Come close." Katy immediately continues to back off, pointing warningly at the flap of skin.
"You've got to be kidding yourself if you think I'd come anywhere near you," Katy stated, then cries out in alarm when energy suddenly grabs at her hands, holding her still. Cassandra looks over at Chip.
"Activate the psychograft," She demands.
"What the hell? I can't move," Katy glares at Cassandra. "Let me go! What're you doing?" She demands as light streams down from a nearby contraption, and Katy immediately begins to panic.
"The lady's moving on. It's goodbye trampoline, and hello cutie!" Cassandra declares as Katy's eyes widen in horror.
"Don't you dare!" But there's a sudden whoosh of energy emanating from Cassandra to Katy before everything switches off.
Katy collapses.
"Mistress?" Chip tentatively approaches Katy's body still crumpled in a heap on the ground. A few seconds later and Cass-Katy groans groggily.
"Moisturise me," She automatically states in a slightly more sophisticated, raspy version of Katy's voice, and Chip immediately goes for the spray canister before Cass-Katy realises something crucial and stops him. "Wait!" She examines her new body in amazement. "How bizarre. Arms, fingers, hair!" Her eyes light up when she feels Katy's soft brown hair between her fingers. "Let me see! Let me see!" Cass-Katy runs for a nearby mirror and gasps at her reflection. "Oh my God!"
~**~
Ward 26
Rose was still sitting with the Face of Boe and Novice Hame, still looking worriedly at the enormous face.
"Hope, harmony, and health. Hope, harmony, and health."
An overhead speaker chants soothingly, as the Doctor walks back into the ward and towards the Face of Boe's designated area, carrying two cups of water. He hands one to Rose, who smiles and takes it from him, and he hands the second one to Novice Hame who takes it, looking surprised.
"That's very kind. There's no need," She insists, but the Doctor shrugs at her.
"You're the one working," He responded, absently. He was still very worried that Katy had not made an appearance yet, and a little disappointed that Rose didn't seem to notice this.
"There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke," Novice Hame explains. "And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs," Rose smiles at the very idea.
"Are Rose and I the only visitors?" The Doctor inquires.
"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left," Novice Hame confirms. "Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to two like himself."
"What does that mean?" Rose asks.
"It's just a story," Novice Hame shrugged.
"Tell me the rest," The Doctor encourages, having a suspicion and wanting it to be confirmed.
"It's said he'll talk to two wonderers. Two beings without a home. The lonely God and his Heart," Novice Hame reluctantly explains, causing the Doctor's eyes to widen in shock; realising that this nurse was talking about him and possibly Katy.
Although this was yet to be confirmed.
~**~
Basement Room
Cass-Katy was checking herself out in the mirror, and not exactly looking pleased by what she was seeing.
"Look at me. From class to brass," Cassandra observes disappointedly, then pauses when she notices something. "Although, oh, curves," She smooths a hand across the curve of Katy's right butt cheek appreciatively. "Oh, baby, it's like living inside a bouncy castle!" She chirps with amusement.
'Excuse me. Do you mind?' Cass-Katy freezes when an irate voice growls at her inside her head.
"What is wrong, mistress?" Chip asks, looking concerned.
"I can hear this girl's voice inside my head," Cassandra states, looking a little freaked out.
'If you know what's good for you, you'll get out of my body!' Katy continues yelling, causing Cass-Katy to wince in irritation.
"Now I'm developing a headache. Thank you very much," She complains, and Chip just looks at her in confusion. "Oh well, there's not much she can do about it anyway. This is my body now." Cassandra declares.
"The mistress is beautiful," Chip compliments Cass-Katy who preens with delight.
"Absolutement!"
But then her face falls when she notices her old skin still attached to the equipment that had been keeping her alive. The equipment had fried itself when she had jumped from it and into Katy's body.
"Oh, the brain lead expired," Chip exclaimed in horror. "My old mistress is gone!"
"But safe and sound in here," Cass-Katy reassures her minion, pointing towards her temple, looking both smug and triumphant.
"But what of the Katy child's mind?" Chip asked, curiously. Cass-Katy pauses for a moment as she attempts to see if Katy would start speaking again.
"Oh, tucked away. She hasn't spoken again, and I can just about access the surface memory," Cass-Katy states, dismissively. But then she freezes when she analyses Katy's memories and discovers something vital. "She's. Gosh, she's with the Doctor. That man. He's the Doctor. The same Doctor with a new face. That hypocrite!" She growls but mellows when she fully takes in his new face. "I must get the name of his surgeon. I could do with a little work," She re-examines Katy's body appreciatively. "Although, nice rear bumper. Hmm..."
'Leave my body alone, Cassandra! I mean it!' Katy's angry voice echoes in Cass-Katy's head, causing her to bristle with irritation. Suddenly, she jumps when Katy's phone in her back pocket starts ringing.
"Oh, it seems to be ringing," Cass-Katy observes, and pulls the phone out of the pocket, looking at it quizzically. "Is it meant to ring?"
"A primitive communications device," Chip explains to Cass-Katy helpfully. She hesitantly presses the answer button.
"Katy, where are you?" The Doctor's slightly annoyed and concerned voice questions. Cass-Katy looks at Chip in askance.
"How does she speak?" She whispers so the Doctor doesn't hear her.
"Received pronunciation," Chip responds hurriedly.
"Er, hallo?" Cass-Katy awkwardly responds.
"Where've you been?" The Doctor demands. "How long does it take to get to Ward 26?"
"I'll be there in a moment," Cass-Katy answers.
"You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe. Remember him?" The Doctor asked, excitedly.
"Of course, I do," Cass-Katy grimaces.
~**~
Ward 26
"-That big old... boat race," Cass-Katy acknowledges, but the Doctor is momentarily distracted by Rose who was tugging at his sleeve and pointing towards a fully (and impossibly) restored Duke of Manhattan, who was toasting his good fortune with glasses of champagne.
He frowns in confusion.
"I'd better go. See you in a minute," He urges, before hanging up and handing Rose back her phone as he strides over to the Duke of Manhattan's bed. The man was extremely happy.
"Didn't think I was going to make it," He chirped then takes notice of the Doctor and Rose. "It's that man and girl again! They're my good luck charms!" The Duke greets them enthusiastically. "Come in. Don't be shy," He coaxes.
Frau Clovis intercepts them before either the Doctor or Rose could take a step.
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract," She states, imperiously. Rose rolls her eyes as the Doctor continues frowning at what he saw as an impossible recovery.
"Winch me up," The Duke requests. "Up! Look at me. No sign of infection!"
"Champagne?" A waiter offers a glass to both the Doctor and Rose.
"No, thanks," The Doctor declines, and Rose shakes her head. The waiter moves away as the Doctor questions the Duke. "You had Petrifold Regression, right?"
"That being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured," The Duke confirms.
"That doesn't seem possible," Rose points out, having observed the disturbed expression on the Doctor's face.
"It's not. It's completely impossible," The Doctor confirms. One of the nurses' approaches.
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science," She explains.
"I've never seen science do that," Rose commented. The Doctor ignores the obviousness of that statement to address the nurse with his own observations.
"How on Earth did you cure him?" He demands.
"How on New Earth, you might say," The nurse jokes, but the Doctor doesn't crack a smile.
"What's in that solution?"
"A simple remedy," She replied, evasively.
"Then tell me what it is," The Doctor prompted, raising an eyebrow at her evasive answer. The nurse shakes her head, looking a bit haughty and smug.
"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality," She explains, not looking remotely sorry for rejecting the Doctor's request for more information. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose," He introduces himself and the blonde.
"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here," Casp retorted haughtily. Another nurse approaches Casp looking rather harried.
"Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care," Casp nods once, before turning to the Doctor and Rose to make her excuses.
"If you would excuse me," She and the other nurse walk away.
~**~
Basement Room
Cass-Katy was 'freshening' up before making a move to seek out the Doctor in Ward 26. A trapped Katy was protesting vehemently, especially when she noticed that Cassandra was exposing more of her cleavage from her shirt than was morally appropriate. She knew that the Doctor was a gentleman, but still, she felt extremely uncomfortable and helpless.
"This Doctor man is dangerous," Chip reminds Cass-Katy, who flips back Katy's hair, that she had released from the confines of the hair elastic Katy had neatly brushed her brown hair up into a high ponytail and had run her hands through it to make it look a little messier and more stylish.
"Dangerous and clever," Cass-Katy corrected him. "I might need a mind like his," She concluded. "The Sisterhood is up to something. Remember that old Earth saying, never trust a nun? Never trust a nurse. And never trust a cat," She takes one more look at her appearance, before turning towards Chip and holding out her hand. "Perfume?" He hands her a small vial of perfume which she promptly hides down her cleavage. "Right then. Wish me luck."
Cass-Katy promptly leaves.
~**~
Ward 26
Cass-Katy finally manages to locate Ward 26 and immediately spots the Doctor and Rose darting about the cubicles, observing the recovery process of each patient contained within. The overhead speakers make yet another announcement.
"Ambient temperature stands at fourteen degrees. This temperature is designed to promote healing and well-being."
The Doctor spots movement out the corner of his eye and turns to see Cass-Katy standing in the doorway, looking around the room in a bemusement. He is momentarily confused about her appearance, as he could've sworn Katy had her hair tied up in a ponytail, and she wasn't ... ahem... showing as much cleavage as she was at this moment. He promptly looks politely away from that particular area and swiftly approaches her.
"There you are," He gently grabs Katy's upper arm and leads her over to a nearby cubicle. Rose stares wide eyed at her sister's appearance, shocked. "Come and look at this patient." The patient inside the cubicle was floating in mid-air. "Marconi's Disease," The Doctor explains the patient's condition to both Cass-Katy and Rose, the former only giving mild interest to what she was being shown, while the latter was still taking in her sister's un-Katy-like appearance. "Should take years to recover. Two days," The Doctor was mystified about the speedy recovery time. "I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced." The Doctor then leads them both towards another cubicle. "And this one..." He reveals a patient who had skin as white as the hospital gown he was wearing, who looks at them warily. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine," The Doctor's excitement peters out as he glances around. "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it," Cass-Katy responds with her slightly posher voice. The Doctor and Rose immediately frown at her.
"What's, what's. What's with the voice?" The Doctor prompts, as alarm bells start pealing madly in his head.
"Why are you acting weird?" Rose adds, suspiciously.
"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about," Cass-Katy replies dismissively. "New Earth, new me." Rose doesn't look entirely convinced, but the Doctor seemingly accepts her answer.
"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor," He grins at her.
Cass-Katy looks at him flirtatiously, which makes the grin on the Doctor's face falter a little. Something was not right about his Katy.
"Mmm, aren't you just?" Cass-Katy flirts, before she grabs the Doctor's head and kisses him, long and hard; much to Katy's objections.
'Stop it, Cassandra!' She begs, anxiously.
Cassandra pulls away from a slightly dazed looking Doctor, ignoring an enraged looking Rose who was staring at them with a gaping mouth.
"Terminal's this way," Cass-Katy tells the Doctor, a little breathlessly, and moves to go in that direction. However, before she could take a step, Katy's arm suddenly latches onto the Doctor's arm, gripping it almost painfully. "Doctor! Help me, please!" Katy's normal voice urges in fear, prompting the Doctor to snap out of his dazed state, and look at Katy with concern, before Cassandra retakes control. "Phew, excuse me. Where were we?" Cass-Katy states in the overly posh tone before walking away.
"What the hell was that?" Rose demanded, looking freaked out.
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," The Doctor replied with a determination. "Come on."
~**~
Ward 26 waiting room
The Doctor and Rose follow Cass-Katy and find her standing before a terminal in Ward 26's waiting room, just by the lifts. The Doctor steps up to the monitor and starts pressing random buttons to access information.
"Nope. Nothing odd," He confirms. "Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry," He lists, frowning in slight frustration. "No sign of a shop." Rose rolls her eyes at the fact that the Doctor was still bemoaning this less than important fact. "They should have a shop."
Cass-Katy frowns at the monitor.
"No, it's missing something else," She realises, earning suspicious looks from both the Doctor and Rose. "When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?" She ponders out loud. The Doctor raises an eyebrow at her, despite the fact that she had brought up a valid point.
"You're right. Well done."
"Why would they hide a whole department?" Rose wondered.
"Exactly. It's got to be here somewhere," Cass-Katy agreed. "Search the sub-frame."
"What if the sub-frame's locked?" The Doctor questioned, testing a theory about Katy.
"Try the installation protocol," Cass-Katy stated, exasperatedly. The Doctor farrowed his brow worriedly but nodded in response.
"Yeah. Of course. Sorry. Hold on," He pulls out his sonic screwdriver and uses it on the interface, causing the whole wall to suddenly slide down to reveal a hidden corridor. Without blinking an eyelid, Cass-Katy immediately walks straight through.
The Doctor and Rose glance at each other.
"Intensive Care. Certainly looks intensive," The Doctor mutters underneath his breath as he and Rose follow Cass-Katy inside. None of them realise that their actions had been observed by Novice Hame.