Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Dr Who - What If ❯ The Lazarus Experiment ( Chapter 8 )

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Sitting in front of the telly drinking tea, the Doctor hears something on the news that makes him do a double take. They also meet up with a friend they met recently.

Non Anime: Doctor Who Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.16.2016 | Pages: 41 | Words: 17.2K | Visits: 326 | Status: Completed

Rose sat down on the sofa in the living room of the TARDIS, and had a sip of her tea. The Doctor had put the plates and cutlery from their lunch in the dishwasher, and joined her a few minutes later. He put his mug on the low table, and turned on the TV before settling back and putting his arm out in an invitation for Rose to snuggle up.

Rose shuffled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder, as she cradled her mug in her hands. `Doctor?'

`Mmmm,' he replied, as he channel surfed.

`When the recession ends, and Hooverville is disbanded, what'll happen to Laszlo? I mean, I've seen the film “The Elephant Man” and people can be really cruel.'

He stopped surfing, leaving the TV on a news channel, and looked down at her. `You're right. Fear of things that are different can cause the unenlightened to react violently.'

`Right. Which means he and Tallulah are in for a hard time of it in the outside world. Isn't there anythin' we can do for them?'

`Well. They'll have about ten years living in the park, and then America gets drawn into World War II. He'll need some serious plastic surgery that won't be available until the end of the century.'

`That's a shame, `cos they were such a lovely couple.'

The Doctor was distracted by a news item on the TV. `Isn't that Martha's sister standing behind that old chap they're interviewing?'

Rose leaned forward slightly and screwed her eyes up. `Oh yeah. Tish wasn't it?'

`That's right. Let's have a listen, see what it's all about.'

[`Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world.']

`Who is that bloke then?'

`No idea. Some sort of egotistical scientist doing some self promotion.'

[`With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human.']

`You're not keen on scientists announcin' new discoveries, are ya?'

`Nah. They tend to be more businessman than scientist. Y'know, more interested in profit than in benefit to manki . . . I'm sorry. Did he just say he was going to change what it means to be human?'

Rose sat up as he leaned forward and rewound the news report. [`With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human.']

`What does that even mean?' she asked him as she finished her tea.

`Good question.' He pressed a few more buttons on the remote. [`Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world.']

`You want to go and see, don'tcha?'

`Wellll. It does promise to be historic.'

The Doctor parked the TARDIS on a pedestrian footpath, next to Southwark Cathedral, just off Montague Close. He stepped out wearing his dinner suit and black tie, with black trainers of course. Rose followed him out wearing a beautiful metallic blue, low backed halter neck evening gown, matching high heeled shoes, a white shawl across her shoulders, and a silver clutch bag.

`Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens.'

`The Dinner Suit of Doom,' Rose joked. `Anyway, it's not the outfit, that's just you. Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way.'

`James Bond? Really?' He held his arm out for her and put on a Sean Connery voice. `Come on then Miss Moneypenny. The mad scientist is this way.'

She laughed. `Moneypenny? I'm gonna be the femme fatale.'

They walked along Montague Close, around the corner and up to a building labelled Lazarus Laboratories. `Any of this look familiar?' he asked her.

`Don't think so . . . should it?'

`About 400 years ago, we passed by here to go to the theatre.'

`The Globe Theatre and Womaniser Will!'

`Womaniser Will? You can't call him that. He's one of the most brilliant literary minds your species has ever produced!'

`All right then. Will o' the Wanderin' Hands. Look, just 'cos he's a literary genius, it don't stop him bein' a git does it? He was all over Martha like a rash. More arms than an octopus. And `im a married man an' all.'

`You're getting to sound more like Jackie every day.'

`Ooh don't,' she laughed, and then he saw her face take on that melancholy look it always did when she thought about her mum.

`Sorry. That was thoughtless of me.'

She looked up at him and smiled. `Nah, it's okay. If we don't mention her, then it's like we've forgotten her, and I don't ever want to forget her. Anyway, talkin' of Martha, I wonder if she'll be here tonight?'

`If we're lucky,' he said as he approached the door security. He took out his wallet of psychic paper and held it up. `Doctor Smith, and Miss Tyler, my P.A. Scientific advisor to the government and UNIT.'

`P.A?' Rose whispered with an elbow in his ribs.

The security man consulted a clipboard of names. `Oh you won't find me on there. I've been sent by the P.M to make detailed observations of Professor Lazarus's demonstration and report back to her.'

`Him!' Rose interjected. Harriet Jones had lost the last election.

`Him,' The Doctor corrected. `All a bit last minute. We were pulled from a project to oversee the migration of hedgehogs across a main road in Surbiton. I recommended putting in culverts, a sort of hedgehog subway, but then you've got to try and train the little blighters to use them.'

The security man had a dribbled down his Dinner Suit expression as Rose tried to stifle a fit of giggles. `Go and check with the professor,' the security man said to his colleague.

The elderly gentleman they'd seen on the news approached, with Tish Jones at his elbow. `Is there a problem?' he asked security.

`Professor Lazarus! Oh this is brilliant,' the Doctor said, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously. Perhaps a little too vigorously for the frail condition of the professor.

`Do I know you?'

`Eh? Oh, I'm the Doctor, government scientific advisor and consultant to UNIT. This is Rose, my . . .' He saw the look Rose gave him, the “just you try that again mister” look. `Companion, my plus one as it were. Your work on gene therapy and sequencing is legendary. Do you know Rose, the professor was on the team that first mapped the entire human genome.' The Doctor had looked him up in the TARDIS.

`Didn't my office contact you? We were given the contact name of . . . who was it Rose?'

`Tish Jones?' Rose said tentatively.

`Oh my God it's you!' Tish said. Her sister had told her about a doctor and his girlfriend called Rose.

`That's right, it's us. Ooh look you've got nibbles,' he said as he walked past the group of stunned people, pulling Rose along by the hand after him. She gave them an apologetic smile as she passed them by.

`I'm sorry Professor. I literally have no idea what just happened,' Tish apologised.

`Oh don't worry my dear. No harm done, and a report direct to the Prime Minister may be very advantageous.'

`I love nibbles,' the Doctor said, as he picked up an h'orderve off a passing tray.

`Yeah, I know. How do you do that, just talk your way past security?'

`It's a gift. You lot love to chat and gossip. Ooh, champagne. This is very posh.' He grabbed two passing flutes of champagne and handed one to Rose before continuing. `Just bombard people with babble, and you can get them to do anything you want. A piece of cake?'

`It might be for you,' said Rose.

`No. Cake. Over there. Would you like a piece?' He weaved his way over to the buffet.

`Don't ya ever stop eatin'? You should be the size of a house, an' look at ya, yer like a stick,' she said with a hint of jealousy.

`It's all the running. Oh black forest gateaux, and look, they've got forks to eat it with. No messy fingers.'

They helped themselves to a plate of gateaux, and the Doctor saw a problem. `Ah. Now if I've got to use a fork, what do I do with my glass? Maybe I could put it in my pocket.'

`Don't you dare! There's a table over there.'

They reached the table and put down their glasses. `Doctor? Rose?'

They turned around to see Martha Jones standing there, looking at them in wide eyed amazement. They recognised her Mother, Francine, (who looked like a bulldog licking its own wee off a thistle) and her brother Leo, who looked decidedly uncomfortable in a dinner suit.

`Martha Jones!' the Doctor said, putting down his plate and giving her a big hug.

`Hiya,' said Rose, hugging her as well. `Nice dress. How's the studyin' goin'? Are ya a doctor yet?'

`Oh thanks,' Martha said, looking down at her black cocktail dress, and then gave them a puzzled look. `You only saw me yesterday. I'm still cramming for my finals, so not a doctor yet. Leo's party last night, and this “do” tonight are rare nights off for me.'

`Are you going to introduce us, or should we just stand here like we don't exist?' Francine said rather rudely.

`These are friends of mine. The Doctor and his partner, Rose.'

`Doctor what?'

`No, it's just the Doctor. We've been doing some work together, y'know, for my finals,' Martha explained.

`You all right, mate?' Leo asked the Doctor in a friendly fashion, holding out his hand to shake.

`Yes. we're fine for drinks at the moment thanks,' he said with a cheeky grin before shaking his hand.

Leo looked as though he was going to hit the Doctor, and Rose shook his hand. `He's windin' ya up,' she laughed. `He gets it all the time when he's wearin' black tie.'

The Doctor gave Leo's shoulder a friendly slap. `Yeah, nobody ever thinks we're secret agents, do they lad. You never see James Bond being asked to get someone a drink.' He turned to Francine, who didn't share his sense of humour. `It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you.'

`Have you? What have you heard, then?' she asked suspiciously.

Rose stifled a laugh at the stumped expression on his face, waiting for him to babble his way out of that one.

`Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and . . . er, no, actually, that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat. You know, been busy.'

`Busy? Doing what, exactly?'

`Oh you know. Studying and stuff. Helping your brilliant daughter prepare for her exams. Her trauma medicine is exceptional. Literally a life saver.'

`Nice recovery,' Rose whispered to him, which got a stern look from Francine. “She has hearing like a bat,” Rose thought to herself.

Before Francine could interrogate them any further, Tish joined them. `Er, Doctor. I'm sorry about the confusion at the door, only I'm fairly certain that I didn't receive a communiqué from your office.'

`Oh, not to worry, we're in now. I'll get my P.A to look into it tomorrow. Won't I Rose.

`You'll be lookin' at my fist in a minute.'

`P.A,' Tish said, impressed with Rose's apparent position.

`He wishes,' Rose said, giving the Doctor a playful, disapproving look. Martha snorted a laugh.

`So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?' the Doctor asked Tish.

`Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff.'

`She's in the PR department,' Martha told them proudly.

`I'm head of the PR department, actually. I put this whole thing together.'

`So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator,' the Doctor said, nodding sideways to a circular dais in the middle of the room. On it, was a man-sized frosted glass chamber and four upright posts, slightly curved at the top to aim at the chamber.

Tish pulled a face. `He's a science geek. I should have known. Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you all later,' she said to the group and moved away.

The Doctor leaned towards Rose. `Science geek? What does that mean?'

`That your obsessively enthusiastic about it.'

He straightened up and sniffed. `Oh, nice,' he said with a smile.

The lights dimmed, and a spotlight lit the dais. Professor Lazarus tapped on his glass for attention.

`Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever.'

He went inside the chamber, and two women in white coats from his scientific staff started up the machine before pressing a big red button. The Doctor looked on in interest. He always liked a big red button, but in his experience, they usually meant trouble.

The four columns started to oscillate and rotate around the chamber as they poured energy into it. Electricity arced from the columns to the chamber. Unexpectedly, an alarm sounded.

The Doctor frowned. `Something's wrong. It's overloading.'

The computer agreed with him as it flashed a “system overload” warning. There were sparks and smoke from the control consoles, as the Doctor leaped over them and took out his sonic screwdriver.

The elderly associate of Lazarus, Lady Thaw shouted as she saw the Doctor messing with the controls. `Somebody stop him. Get him away from those controls!'

`If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?' He pushed buttons and flicked switches, before running around a console and pulling out a thick cable. The spinning, rotating columns slowed down and finally stopped.

Rose and Martha hurried forwards and pulled at the door as the Doctor joined them. `Get it open.'

Rose pulled the door open, and a dense mist drifted out of the chamber; a young man emerged unsteadily. Lady Thaw gasped with pleasure.

`Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old and I am reborn!' He held his arms high, and the guest went wild with their applause.

`He did it!' Lady Thaw exclaimed. `He actually did it.'

`It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick,' said Martha.

`Oh, it's not a trick. I wish it were,' the Doctor said.

`What just happened then?' Rose asked. `Was it like . . . y'know a regeneration or somethin'?'

`No, that's just me. He just changed what it means to be human.'

`Excuse me,' Lady Thaw said to Lazarus. `That was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. Look at you.'

`This is only the beginning. We're not just making history, we're shaping the future, too.'

`Think of the money we'll make. People will sell their souls to be transformed like that. And I'll be first in line.'

Lazarus suddenly stiffened and gasped, then grabbed a tray from a passing waiter and proceeded to eat all the food on it.

`Richard.!' Lady Thaw exclaimed in disgust.

`I'm famished.'

`Energy deficit,' explained the Doctor, who had wandered over. `Always happens with this kind of process.'

'Nice cup of tea should see ya right,' Rose added helpfully.

'Oh yeah! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin,' he said with a grin.

`You speak as if you see this every day, Mister?'

`Doctor. And well, no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation.'

`That's not possible,' said Lazarus.

`Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's inspired.'

`You understand the theory, then.'

`Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables.'

`No experiment is entirely without risk.'

`That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender.'

`You're not qualified to comment,' Lady Thaw said sharply.

`If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded.'

`Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less.'

`Surely you've no way of knowin' that until you've run proper tests,' Rose said, taking the Doctor's side.

`Look at me. You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need.'

`This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially,' Lady Thaw told them.

Rose knew from first hand experience what that would lead to. `Commercially? You are jokin'. That'll cause chaos.'

`Not chaos, change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve,' Lazarus said grandly.

Commercially. So he was right. It wasn't about benefiting mankind, it was about benefiting their bank accounts. `This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer.'

`Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely.'

`Richard, we have things to discuss, upstairs,' Lady Thaw said.

`Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were,' said Lazarus, as he took Rose's and Martha's hands, kissed them, and then left with Lady Thaw.

`Oh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done.'

`So what do we do now?' Martha asked.

`We?' he said with a question in his tone. `Rose and myself will go and do some tests of our own. This building must be full of laboratories.'

Rose smiled at Martha and winked. `Lucky we've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?' she said, holding up her hand with Martha. `And also lucky that you've got a medical student as a laboratory assistant.'

`Oh, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, you're are stars.'

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

In a laboratory, the Doctor found out that Lazarus had hacked into his DNA and altered it. Unfortunately, it was unstable, and was still mutating. They needed to find Lazarus, and find out what he was mutating into. They checked in his office on the top floor, but he wasn't there. What was there, was the drained husk of Lady Thaw. They didn't just need to find him now, they needed to stop him.

They strode into the reception area and looked around.

`I can't see him,' Martha said.

`Where the hell's he gone?' Rose asked.

`He can't be far,' the Doctor said. `Keep looking.'

`Hey, you all right, Marth? I think Mum wants to talk to you,' Leo said as they walked past.

`Have you see Lazarus anywhere?' she asked him.

`Yeah, well, he was getting cosy with Tish a couple of minutes ago.'

`With Tish?' Rose interrupted. This was getting bad.

`Ah, Doctor,' Francine said, wanting to talk to him about his association with her daughter.

The Doctor ignored her. He needed to find Lazarus. `Where did they go?'

`Upstairs, I think,' Leo said unconcerned. `Why?'

`Doctor!' Francine said more sternly, but he ran past her, spilling her drink.

`Sorry,' Rose said, as she and Martha followed him out of the room.

`I'm speaking to you!' Francine called after him.

Martha looked back. `Not now, Mum.'

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to find the energy signature of Lazarus's fluctuating DNA. He'd taken Tish to the roof. They all feared that she would end up like Lady Thaw, as Lazarus fed on her energy.

`And is it like you expected?' Tish asked Lazarus about his rejuvenated body.

Lazarus gazed, unseeing over the London skyline. `I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you.' He looked down at her and quoted Eliot. `Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act . . .'

`Falls the Shadow,' the Doctor interrupted as he walked onto the roof with Rose and Martha.

`So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed.'

Tish glared at her sister. `Martha, what are you doing here?'

`Tish, get away from him.'

`What? Don't tell me what to do,' she said defiantly.

`Then listen to me,' Rose said forcefully. `You really need to come over here, right now.'

The Doctor tried to keep Lazarus distracted. `I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all.'

`You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four.'

`Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person.'

`But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be.'

`Or what a curse. Look at what you've done to yourself.'

`Who are you to judge me?' Lazarus asked defiantly.

Martha called to her sister, beckoning to her. `Over here, Tish.'

`You have to spoil everything, don't you? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault,' Tish protested, getting in her face.

`Tish, he's a monster!' Martha told her, as Lazarus had a spasm and fell to his knees.

`I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones.'

Rose nodded; she could see where she was coming from there. “Try 900 years,” she thought to herself as she watched Lazarus mutate. While they had been arguing, he'd been transforming, and Tish saw the looks on their faces as they looked past her. Tish turned around, and saw a massive bony scorpion with Lazarus's face.

`What's that?' she gasped.

The Doctor then said Rose's favourite word. `Run!'

They made it inside the stairwell and the Doctor “sonicked” the door lock.

`Right Sunshine,' Rose said. `Give `em up.' She held her hand out to the Doctor.

`Eh?' he said with a frown, and then realised what she wanted. `Oh, right.' He rummaged in his “bigger on the inside” jacket pockets, and pulled a ladies white trainer out of each one.

She took off her heels, handing them to him, and put on her trainers. `There that's better.' She saw the puzzled looks from Martha and Tish. `Y'see, I've learnt that when I wear a dress and heels, I have to run for my life.'

Lazarus banged on the outside of the door, making them all jump. `And a man claimin' he can change what it means to be human . . . well, that was never goin' to end well, was it? So I got `im to bring some backup.' The door dented as huge insect legs kicked it. `You comin'?' she said, as she moved past them and started down the stairs.

The Doctor had left Rose to get everyone out of the building, by using his sonic screwdriver to reverse the security lockdown. Meanwhile, he was giving Lazarus the run around to buy her some time.

Rose was running along the corridors, looking for the Doctor. He had told her to get out of the building, but she knew he'd need her by his side. She heard an explosion from somewhere along an adjacent corridor. `Ah, there you are.'

She ran in the direction of the explosion, and bumped into him as she turned a corner.

`What are you doing here?' he asked in surprise.

`I'm returnin' this,' she said, handing over his sonic. `I thought you might need it.'

`How did you . . ?'

`I heard the explosion. Remembered our first meetin', and knew it would be you,' she said with a cheeky smile.

`I blasted Lazarus,' He told her. He'd turned the gas taps on and rigged the lights to short out.

`Did you kill him?' she asked hopefully.

She got her answer when the giant scorpion Lazarus burst out of the laboratory and jumped down the corridor.

`More sort of annoyed him, I'd say.' They ran away as fast as they could. Rose was really glad that she'd got her trainers on.

They ran back into the deserted reception area. `What now? We've just gone round in a circle,' said Rose, as Lazarus bounded into the room and crouched menacingly.

`We can't lead him outside,' he said, that would put Martha and the crowd of people who had just escaped, back in danger. He pulled at the door of the sonic microfield manipulator chamber. `Come on, get in.'

Rose climbed inside and the Doctor shut the door, locking them inside. `Ooh, this is a bit cosy. Are we hidin'?'

`No, he knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us.'

`But we're trapped.'

`Well, yeah, that's a slight problem.'

`Oh let me guess. You don't have a plan?'

`Yes, the plan was to get inside here.'

`Then what?'

`Well, then I'd come up with another plan.'

`In yer own time, then,' she said sarcastically. He made to reach inside his jacket to get his sonic screwdriver, and inadvertently brushed her breasts in her low cut evening dress. `Oi! Watch where yer puttin' yer hands.'

`Sorry.' He reached inside the pocket, and caught her with his elbow. `Sorry.' He brushed against her again when he took the sonic out. `Sorry.' He held it up in front of her face. `Here we are.'

`What're yer gonna to do with that?'

`Improvise.'

Rose yelp in surprise as the Doctor slid down her body. `Ooh! Cheeky.' On the floor, he opened a panel, and started working with the wires and processors he found there.

`I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?'

`No, for once it's strictly human in origin.'

`Human? How can it be human?'

`Probably from dormant genes in Lazarus's DNA. The energy field in this thing must have reactivated them. And it looks like they're becoming dominant.'

`So it's a throwback.'

`Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there. Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake.'

`It's like Pandora's box.'

`Exactly. By the way, you've got really nice legs,' he said distractedly.

Suddenly, the chamber activated. `Doctor, what's happenin'?'

`Sounds like he's switched the machine on.'

`And that's not good, is it?'

`Well, I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to work that out.'

`I don't want to hurry ya, but . . .'

`I know, I know. Nearly done.'

`Well, what're ya doin'?' Rose asked him, her voice becoming urgent.

`I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it.'

`Will that kill it?'

`When he transforms, he's three times his size. Cellular triplication. So he's spreading himself thin.'

`We're gonna end up like him!'

`Just one more!' he said, and there was a blast of energy outside the chamber.

The machine wound down, and they opened the door to peep out.

`I thought we were gonna go through the blender then,' Rose said.

`Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice.'

`Maybe I should wear trousers next time,' Rose suggested, thinking that he may have been distracted by her “nice legs”.

They saw Lazarus lying on the floor, naked and apparently dead. `Oh, God. He seems so human again. It's kinda pitiful.'

`Eliot saw that, too. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.'

They waited while the paramedics wrapped his body in a red blanket and load it onto a stretcher.

`They're here,' Martha called out as the Doctor and Rose emerged from the building. `Oh, they're all right.'

The Doctor undid his bowtie as they walked slowly down the steps. Francine strode towards them. `Ah, Mrs Jones. We still haven't finished our chat.'

She slapped him hard across the face. `Keep away from my daughter,' she said angrily. She didn't know what had gone on, but she was sure that he was responsible, and she didn't want him near Martha. Also he'd ruined her other daughter's chance to show she could organise a posh reception, and that man from the government had told her he was dangerous.

Rose stepped in front and held Francine's arm. `Oi! Don't you DARE slap him. Only my mum slaps him. Got it?'

`All of the mothers, every time,' he said, rubbing his cheek.

`Mum, what are you doing?!' Martha shouted.

`He is dangerous. I've been told things,' Francine said.

`What are you talking about?' Martha asked her.

`Look around you. Nothing but death and destruction,' she said as the ambulance drove off.

Rose was seething. `Oh yeah, and so that means he must have been responsible. Even when he got you all out, and risked his life to draw that thing back into the buildin'.'

`This isn't his fault,' Martha told her mum. `He saved us, all of us!'

But Rose wasn't going to leave it there. `Just because your man ran off with a blonde bimbo, and frankly, havin' met ya, I can see why. It doesn't mean that all men are untrustworthy, and it doesn't mean that all blondes are bimbos!'

The Doctor had an open mouthed, delighted and amazed smile on his face. Jackie had taught her daughter well.

Francine and her children stood there open mouthed in shock. Francine, because no one had ever had the nerve to answer her back, and her children, because they had never heard anyone stand up to their mother like that before. It was brilliant! If only their father had done that.

`And it was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place,' Leo added sheepishly, breaking the stunned silence. `I'd say technically, it's her fault.' Tish elbowed Leo in the ribs.

There was the sound of a vehicle crashing in the distance, and the Doctor ran off to investigate, with Rose by his side. Martha started to follow them, but her mother held her arm. `Leave them,' Francine pleaded, but Martha shook her head and followed them down the street.

`Martha?' Tish called after her sister. She was feeling guilty, because Leo was right. She had been showing off to her family.

`Tish, No!' Francine said. `With your boss gone, you're in charge here. You have responsibilities.'

Tish watched her sister disappear around the corner and turned to her mum. `Yeah, you're right.'

As they ran down the street, they could see the ambulance had mounted the pavement outside Southwark Cathedral, and the back doors were wide open. Inside the ambulance, were the desiccated corpses of the paramedics.

`Lazarus, back from the dead. Should have known, really' the Doctor said sadly. Two more deaths on his conscious.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area.

`Where's he gone?' asked Rose.

`That way. The church,' he said, looking up at St Mary Ovarie.

`Cathedral' Martha said, reading the orange and red shield on the stone column. `It's Southwark Cathedral.'

`Oh very Hunchback of Notre Dame,' Rose said.

The Doctor led the way into the building, using his sonic to lead the way, with the ladies following.

`Ladies,' Lazarus leered from the far side of the bell tower.

`Stay behind me,' Rose said. `If he takes me, make a run for it. Head down the stairs. You should have enough time.'

`No!' Martha said defiantly.

`No?'

`The Doctor needs you, not me. Let me do this for you.'

It was a moot point, as the Lazarus creature clambered under the bell, ignoring the wooden walkway.

It started lashing its tail, trying to hit the ladies so that it could absorb their energy. It caught Rose across her shoulder, and she pitched over the now broken railing.

`ROSE!' Martha called out as Rose managed to grab on to the edge of the wooden flooring. `Hold on! Get away from her!'

In the organ loft, the Doctor had poked his sonic screwdriver into the pipe organ. `I hope it's a good acoustic in here.' He pressed his feet down on both pedals and started playing sustained chords.

The Doctor could hear their screams coming from the bell tower. `We need to turn this up to eleven.' He took the sonic out of the hole he had put it in, and moved it to another.

The organ notes reverberated, hurting the mutant as well as Rose and Martha. Rose started to lose her grip. Her ears felt as though they were exploding in agony, and she couldn't even cover them. The mutant stood over her, ready to strike and take her life, when it roared, arched its back, and toppled forwards out of the tower and down to the floor of the nave.

Rose squealed as she lost her grip and fell, only to have her arm grabbed by Martha. `I've got you. Hold on.'

`Rose?' the Doctor shouted in horror.

`I'm okay!' she called back.

Martha helped her to clamber back up, which wasn't easy in a tight, revealing evening gown. `We're both okay!' Rose said, adjusting her boobs back into her dress. `Thanks.'

Down in the nave, the Doctor closed the young Lazarus's eyes, as his body reverted back to its original, aged form. He heard the ladies coming down the spiral stairs and ran over to meet Rose coming out of the stairwell. They fell into a relieved hug as he lifted her off her feet.

`Nice chords,' she said, a little too loudly. Her ears were still ringing.

`Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up,' she saw his lips say.

`Hmm. Especially about playin' loud.'

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and said, `sorry?'