The Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS, seeing Jessie standing with the team at the bottom of the ramp. "We're ready!" he told her.

Jessie nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "Alright!"

"Have you got everything?" Skye asked worriedly as Jessie swung her duffel bag onto her shoulder.

Jessie grinned at her. "I've got everything. Don't worry."

"Be careful," Saleen told her.

"Careful's my middle name!" she joked before hugging the team. "Love you all."

"Love you!" they chorused after her as she ran into the TARDIS, closing the door behind her. She set her bag down by the console and joined the Doctor as he began fiddling with levers and switches. "So, where are we going?" she asked.

He grinned at her. "Further than we've ever gone before."

Jessie raised an eyebrow in curiosity as the TARDIS materialized. The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and looked outside, nodding in satisfaction as they stepped out. "It's the year five billion and twenty three," he began, and Jessie's jaw dropped as she watched cars fly overhead. "We're in the Galaxy M87, and this - " He grinned, holding out his arms. "This is New Earth."

"That's just . . . " she sputtered, turning around and taking it all in. "That's just - "

"Not bad," the Doctor laughed. "Not bad at all."

"That's amazing," she finally managed to say, hugging him tightly before holding onto his arm. "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky . . . " She sniffed, then looked around. "What's that smell?"

"Apple grass," he replied casually.

"Apple grass," she repeated slowly.

"Yeah," he agreed, grinning. "Yeah."

"It's beautiful," she whispered. "Oh, I love this." She grinned up at him. "Can I just say . . . traveling with you? I love it."

"Me, too," he told her before grabbing her hand. "Come on!"

***

"So," the Doctor said as they laid back on his coat, looking towards the massive city in front of them. "The year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted - "

"Our first date," she told him.

He smiled fondly at the memory. "We had chips." They exchanged smiles before he continued. "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 find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."

"What's the city called?" she asked.

"New New York."

Jessie raised herself onto her elbows and stared at him. "You're kidding me. Come on!"

"It is!" he assured her. "It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it - " He rattled off all of the news, and Jessie burst out laughing by the end of it. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You're so different."

He grinned. "New New Doctor."

Jessie stood up, looking at the city. "Well, then, can we go and visit New New York, which is so good that they named it twice?"

"Well, I thought we might go there first." He pointed to a pair of curved skyscrapers.

"Why?" Jessie asked, putting on her sunglasses so she could see. "What is it?"

"Some sort of hospital," he explained, pulling out his psychic paper. "Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this." He opened it up. "A message on the psychic paper." Ward 26. Please come. "Someone wants to see me."

"Hmm," she said absently. "And I thought we were just sight-seeing." She took his hand. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes."

***

The Doctor was wrinkling his nose as they entered the hospital. Jessie raised an eyebrow at him. "Bit rich coming from you."

"I can't help it," he admitted. "I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."

"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes. Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."

"Very smart," Jessie admired as she looked around. "Not exactly NHS, though."

"No shop," the Doctor complained, and she looked at him in surprise. "I like the little shop."

He just keeps on getting more and more different, she thought, feeling a tug in her gut as she wondered just how different he could get. "I thought this far into the future, they'd have cured everything," she said.

"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses," the Doctor said, like it explained everything. "It's an ongoing war."

Jessie smiled to nurses as they walked past, but she blanched when she saw their faces. "They're cats," she said in surprise.

The Doctor nodded, then took her arm. "Now, don't stare. Think what you like to them all, all violet and bronze." Jessie continued to look around as they walked on. "That's where I'd put the shop. Right there."

Jessie looked where he pointed as he called for a lift. It opened, and Jessie was about to go in when it closed in her face.

"Hold on!" Jessie shouted, banging on the door. "Hold on!"

"Oh, too late," he called back. "I'm going up!"

Jessie checked off to the side. "It's all right. There's another lift."

"Ward 26," he reminded her. "And watch out for the disinfectant."

"Watch out for what?" she asked in surprise.

"The disinfectant!" he called back.

"The what?"

"The disin - " He paused. "Oh, you'll find out."

Jessie stepped into the lift. "Er, Ward 26, thanks."

"Commence stage one disinfection."

Jessie jumped and shrieked when a drenching spray coated her entirely. "Hey!" she shouted, holding a hand over her eyes, then shrieking again when a blow dry came through. When the doors opened, she stumbled out.

Into what looked like a sewer. "What the - ?" she asked.

"The human child is clean."

Jessie jumped and turned to look at a man with sepia swirls all over him. "I'm looking for Ward 26."

"This way, Jessie Nightshade."

Jessie slowly slid the safety off of her gun and followed him, picking up a metal bar as well as she wondered how he knew her name.

***

"Please report to reception."

"Nice place," the Doctor commented to the cat nurse leading him as they walked through the ward. "No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop."

She removed her veil and looked at him. "The hospital is a place of healing," she told him.

"A shop does some people the world of good." He paused. "Not me. Other people."

"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend."

They passed a cubicle, and a woman standing next to a man's beside glared at him. "Excuse me!" she barked to the nurse. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York!"

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor asked, referring to the sickness the man had, feeling a twist in his gut.

"I'm dying, sir," the Duke replied. "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 told the Doctor.

"Frau Clovis!" the Duke whispered. "I'm so weak."

"Sister Jatt, a little privacy, please," the woman, Clovis, told them.

Jatt drew the curtain, and led the Doctor onwards. "He'll be up and about in no time."

The Doctor shook his head. "I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for . . . oh, a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."

"Have faith in the Sisterhood," Jatt advised him before looking at him curiously. "But is there no one here you recognize? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient?"

The Doctor looked around as well before his gaze fell upon someone - rather something - familiar, and he smiled a little as it all made sense. "No. I think I've found him."

The Face of Boe sat by a window with a view of the city, another cat nurse sitting next to him. "Novice Hame if I can leave this gentleman in your care," Jatt told her before turning to go.

"Oh," the Doctor added, turning to her. "I think my friend got lost." Or she got jeopardy friendly again, he thought. "Jessie Nightshade. Could you ask at reception?"

"Certainly, sir," she agreed with a nod, then left.

The Doctor crouched down by the Face of Boe, whose eyes were closed. "I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Hame told him. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend, or - "

"We met just the once on Platform One," the Doctor replied, smiling. "He helped me comfort a friend. I owe it to him that she trusts me this much." He looked up at her. "What's wrong with him?"

Hame blinked, then looked at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."

The Doctor blinked as well. "Of what?"

"Old age. The one thing we can't cure." She stroked the edge of the container. "He's thousands of years old. Some say millions, although that's impossible."

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor replied with a smile. "I like impossible." He leaned closer to the tank. "I'm here," he whispered to the face. "I look a bit different, but it's me. It's the Doctor."

***

Jessie slowly followed the man into a basement room, and she raised an eyebrow, seeing a reel and reel projector showing a party. She stepped forward, and when the woman talking turned, Jessie froze where she stood. "Wait a minute. That's - "

"Peekaboo!" a voice she dreaded announced.

Jessie turned, her jaw dropping in shock as she saw Cassandra, still stretched on her frame, sitting pretty and looking completely unchanged. "Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra," she warned, holding up her gun.

"Why?" she asked in a sneer. "What do you think I'm going to do, flap you to death?"

"Yeah, but what about Gollum?" she asked, nodding to the man.

"Oh, that's just Chip," Cassandra replied. "He's my pet."

"I worship the mistress," Chip said as if that settled it.

"Moisturize me. Moisturize me." Jessie rolled her eyes as Chip sprayed Cassandra. "He's not even a proper life form. He's a force grown clone. I modeled him on my favorite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."

"That had better mean food," Jessie muttered. "How come you're still alive?"

"After you murdered me - "

"That was your own fault," Jessie retorted.

"The brain of my mistress survived," Chip answered. "And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin."

Pretty blue . . . ? Jessie didn't comment on the eyes. "And what about the skin? I saw it. You got ripped apart!"

"That piece of skin was taken from the front part of my body," Cassandra replied. "This piece is the back."

Jessie couldn't help but start laughing. "So that means you're talking out of your - "

"Ask not," she snapped.

"The mistress was lucky to survive," Chip told her. "Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital."

Jessie looked around. "So they don't know you're here?"

"Chip steals medicine. Helps m'lady. Soothes her . . . strokes her . . . "

"OK, you can stop right there."

"But I'm so alone, hidden down here," Cassandra moaned. "The last human in existence."

"Oh, don't start that again!" Jessie groaned, lowering her gun. "They've called this planet New Earth."

"A vegetable patch."

"And there's millions of humans out there. Millions of them!"

"Mutant stock."

Jessie growled. "They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do to you?"

"Oh, I remember that night." Jessie turned to the projector, watching the party. "Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that, it all became such hard work."

"Well," Jessie said slowly. "You've got a knack for survival. I'll give you that."

"But I've not been idle, Jessie, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something."

She looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, these cats have secrets." Cassandra's frame rolled closer, and Jessie began backing up. "Hush. Let me whisper. Come close."

Jessie kept backing away. "You must be joking if you think I'm coming anywhere near you - " She screamed when energy grabbed her hands.

"Chip, activate the psychograph."

"I can't move," Jessie whispered, then began shouting. "Cassandra, let me go! What're you doing?!"

Light streamed down from something over her head, and she felt something being forced inside of her head.

And then she was forced out.

***

"Hope, harmony, and health. Hope, harmony, and health."

The Doctor handed Hame a glass of water as they sat down. "That's very kind," she told him. "There's no need."

"You're the one working," he pointed out.

"There's not much I can do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs."

"Am I the only visitor?" he asked.

"The rest of Boe kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left." She leaned back. "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 one like himself."

"What does that mean?"

Hame shook her head. "It's just a story."

The Doctor leaned forward. "Tell me the rest."

She hesitated. "It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely God."

The Doctor's hearts lurched. Me.

He let that thought stew, then headed over to the receptionist's desk. "Scuze me, but can I use the phone for a second?"

The nurse nodded. "Of course, sir."

He began dialing Jessie's number and waited for her to pick up. When she did, he immediately asked, "Jess, where are you?"

There was a moment, then her voice answered. "Er, wotcha?"

He blinked, but continued. "Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?"

"I'm on my way, governor." He narrowed her eyes at the way she sounded. That is in no way shape or form an American accent. When did she begin sounding British? "I shall proceed up the apples and pears."

"You'll never guess," he told her, feigning excitement while his suspicion over her grew. "I'm with the Face of Boe. Remember him?"

"Of course I do."

"I'd better go. See you in a minute."

He hung up, shaking his head a little as he wondered just what kind of conversation he'd just had since it made no sense whatsoever. His attention was drawn to the Duke. "Didn't think I was going to make it!" Curious, the Doctor peeked into the cubicle and blinked when he saw the Duke completely healed. The Duke saw him and waved. "It's that man again! He's my good luck charm. Come in, don't be shy."

"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract," Clovis told him.

The Doctor nodded slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. There had been no cure for Petrifold Regression in this time, so how was he healed? He vaguely heard someone ask him if he wanted champagne, but he shook his head, holding up a hand. "No, thanks. You had Petrifold Regression, right?"

"That being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured!"

"But that's impossible," the Doctor whispered as he turned to go.

Another cat nurse stopped to talk to him. "Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science."

"How on Earth did you cure him?" he asked.

"How on New Earth, you might say."

He wasn't playing that game. "What's in that solution?"

"A simple remedy."

"Then tell me what it is."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality." She held out a paw. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."

"I'm the Doctor," he replied, shaking it.

"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here."

Jatt came up. "Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care."

Casp smiled at him. "If you would excuse me."

The Doctor nodded as she left, still wondering where Jessie was.

***

He was looking around the cubicles when he heard the lift chime, and he smiled widely as Jessie stepped out, her hair now hanging in loose waves instead of the braid she'd had it in. "There you are!" he said brightly, pulling her with him. "Come and look at this patient." He pointed. "Macroni's Disease. Should take years to recover." He shook his head. "Two days. I've never seen anything like it! They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one - " He dragged her to a man who was as white as the gown he was in. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine. 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," she replied.

He blinked, hearing a bit of British yet again. And why would she say something like that? "What's . . . " He blinked as she slowly approached him. "What's . . . what's with the voice?"

She shrugged, and the Doctor noted that the violet blouse she'd had on was unbuttoned a little. "Oh, I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me."

"Well, I can talk," he told her, still a little surprised at the way Jessie was acting. "New New Doctor."

"Mmm." She nodded, looking him over. "Aren't you just - " She grabbed him and kissed him hard, and the Doctor didn't move, struck both frozen and speechless. She pulled back, giving him a glazed look. "Terminal's this way," she then said, turning. "Phew," she muttered, walking off.

The Doctor shook his head. "Yep," he squeaked. "Still got it."

He followed her, and as he saw the way she walked, confidently and so very not her, he knew that something had happened to her.

***

"Nope, nothing odd," he said as he looked through the computers. "Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry." He frowned. "No sign of a shop. They should have a shop."

"No, it's missing something else," Jessie said, leaning to look. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?"

The Doctor nodded. "You're right. Well done."

"Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."

The Doctor didn't comment, but he was yet again suspicious. She knows there's a sub-frame? "What if the sub-frame's locked?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Try the installation protocol."

This is definitely not Jessie. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Of course. Sorry. Hold on."

He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the interface, and he raised an eyebrow as the wall slid down, and he looked down the corridor it had been hiding. "Intensive Care." He looked at Jessie, again caught by surprise at how bold she was in her look. Not her on so many levels. "Certainly looks intensive."

***

As they walked down the hallway, the Doctor sadly gazed at all of the cells. He opened one of them, and Jessie inhaled sharply, looking at the very sick man. "That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized. "I'm so sorry." He closed the door and opened another one, revealing a woman.

"What disease is that?" Jessie asked.

"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything."

"What about us? Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them." He closed the door.

"How many patients are there?"

"They're not patients."

She furrowed her brow. "But they're sick."

"They were born sick," the Doctor corrected. "They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats." He shook his head. "No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human form."

"Why don't they just die?"

"Plague carriers. The last to go."

"It's for the greater cause."

The Doctor turned to face Novice Hame. "Novice Hame," he said. "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help," she replied.

"What? By killing?"

"But they're not real people. They're specifically grown. They have no proper existence."

"What's the turnover, hmm?" he asked. "Thousand a day? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years?" When she didn't answer, he got closer. "How many?"

"Mankind needed us," she tried to explain. "They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"These people are alive!"

"But think of those humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us."

"If they live because of this, then life is worthless," the Doctor told her.

"But who are you to decide that?" Hame challenged.

"I'm the Doctor," he replied. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."

"Just to confirm," Jessie asked, stepping up to his side. "None of the humans in the city actually know about this?"

"We thought it best not," Hame replied.

This was his chance. "Hold on." He held up a hand. "I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Jessie?"

Both the cat and Jessie turned to him. "I don't know what you mean," Hame sputtered.

"And I'm being very, very calm," he warned. "You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Jessie's head, I want it reversed."

"We haven't done anything!" Hame protested.

"I'm perfectly fine," Jessie added.

He turned to her. "These people are dying, and Jessie would care."

Jessie glared back, then sighed. "Oh, all right. Clever dogs." She wrinkled her nose. "Smarty pants." She sneered. "Lady killer."

"What's happened to you?" he asked.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."

"Who are you?"

She smiled. "The last human."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Cassandra?" he asked in disbelief.

She leaned in close. "Wake up and smell the perfume."

She whipped a vial out and squirted it up his nose, and he vaguely wondered how Cassandra had survived before passing out.

***

He woke up to hear Jess - no, Cassandra now - talking to someone he couldn't see. He began banging on the door. "Let me out!" he shouted. "Let me out!"

Jessie/Cassandra poked her head by the hole to see in, and she gave a sick smile. "Aren't you lucky there was a spare?" she asked. "Standing room only."

"You'e stolen Jessie's body," he accused.

"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases." She grinned. "They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about . . . " She looked at her watch. "About three minutes left. Enjoy!"

"Just let Jessie go, Cassandra."

"I will," she replied. "As soon as I've found someone younger and less common. Then I'll junk her with the waste." The sound of footsteps approached, and she smiled. "Now hushaby. It's showtime."

"Anything we can do to help?" Jatt asked.

"Straight to the point, Whiskers," Jessie/Cassandra replied, turning to the cats. "I want money."

"The Sisterhood is a charity," Casp denied. "We don't give money. We only accept."

"The humans across the water pay you a fortune, and that's exactly what I need," Jessie/Cassandra told her. "A one-off payment. That's all I want." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the city nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?"

Casp shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"I'd really advise you to think about this."

"Oh, there's no need. I have to decline."

"I'll tell them, and you've got no way of stopping me. You're not exactly 'Nuns with Guns.' You're not even armed!"

"Who needs arms when we have claws?" Casp retorted, revealing her own.

Jessie/Cassandra backed up. "Well. Nice try." She turned to someone the Doctor couldn't see in his field of vision. "Chip! Plan B!"

The door to the Doctor's cell opened, and he looked out - to see the doors of every cell in the hall opened, the diseased people walking out dazed and confused. "What've you done?" she shouted at Jessie/Cassandra, and the man behind her.

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up." She waved to him and the cats. "See you!"

The Doctor growled, then ran after her and Chip. "Don't touch them!" he shouted. "Whatever you do, don't touch!" At least she still mostly has Jessie's speed.

He turned when he heard the sound of other doors opening, and he looked over the edge of the catwalk they'd run onto and his eyes widened as all of the doors opened. Jessie/Cassandra joined him, and she blanched. "Oh my God."

"What the hell have you done?" he snapped at her.

"It wasn't me!" she protested.

"One touch, and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra," the Doctor demanded. "We've got to go down."

"But there's thousands of them!"

"Run!" he shouted to her. "Down! Down! Go down!"

"This building is under quarantine. Repeat, this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat, no one may leave the premises."

"Keep going! Go down!"

Jessie/Cassandra ran to one of the lifts and tried calling for it, but the Doctor shook his head. "No. The lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving."

She looked around, then started running. "This way!"

The Doctor followed, then heard the sound of the diseased people coming. He turned to see Chip be cut off. "Someone will touch him!" he told her.

Jessie/Cassandra looked back once. "Leave him! He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half life. Come on!"

"Mistress!" Chip called.

The Doctor sent an apologetic look to Chip. "I'm sorry. I can't let her escape." He ran back after her.

He made it in time to see her back away from a door where more people were coming from after she closed it. "We're trapped!" She turned. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, for starters . . . " He approached her angrily. "You're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Jessie to death!"

"But I've got nowhere to go!" she whined. "My original skin's dead!"

"Not my problem," he retorted. "You can float as atoms in the air. Now get out. Give her back to me."

She sighed. "You asked for it."

He had time to see her exhale before something slammed into his mind.

***

Jessie stumbled around, glad to have her mind back. "God, my head," she gasped, holding it and looking around. "Where'd she go?"

"Oh, my." She froze and slowly turned to the Doctor. "This is different."

"Cassandra?" she asked in shock.

"Goodness me," the Doctor/Cassandra replied. "I'm a man. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used." Jessie's jaw dropped as she watched him/her dance around. "Oh. Oh. Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"

"Get out of him!"

"Oo, he's slim . . . and a little bit foxy." Jessie shook her head as the Doctor/Cassandra looked at her. "You've thought so, too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it. But what if he's like those others you try so hard to deny? Those others?"

"That's not him," she replied instantly.

"How would you know?"

Her jaw dropped, but the door burst open, and the Doctor/Cassandra looked around. "What do we do? What do we do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"

"Ladder," Jessie replied, pointing. "We've got to get up."

"Out of the way, brunette!"

"Hey!" Jessie whined as the Doctor/Cassandra pushed past her to go up. "You know, if you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something!"

"Yap, yap, yap," he/she replied. "God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city overload."

"We're going to die if - " She gasped, feeling a clawed paw on her ankle, and she looked down to see Matron Casp gripping onto her. "Get off!"

"All our good work," Casp snarled. "All that healing. The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything!"

"Go and play with a ball of string," the Doctor/Cassandra spat.

"Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!"

One of the diseased people grabbed ahold of Casp, and she fell, screaming. "Move!" Jessie shouted.

"Maximum quarantine. Divert all shuttles."

"Now what do we do?" the Doctor/Cassandra asked.

"Use the sonic screwdriver!"

He/she pulled it out, looking it over. "You mean this thing?"

"Yeah, I mean that thing!"

"Well, I don't know how! That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."

Jessie groaned. "Then go back into me. The Doctor can open it. Do it!"

"Hold on tight."

***

The Doctor shook his head, then looked back down to Jessie, noticing Cassandra was back. "Oh, chavtastic again!" she complained. "Open it!"

"Not till you get out of her!"

"We need the Doctor!"

"I order you to leave her!"

***

Jessie was cursing this Doctor's stubbornness when Cassandra swapped yet again. "No matter how difficult the situation, there is no need to shout."

"Get out of him!"

"But I can't go into you, he simply refuses. He's so rude."

"Rude and not ginger," she muttered, then raised her voice. "I don't care. Just do something!"

He/she groaned. "Oh, I am so going to regret this."

Jessie watched the energy transfer to the woman in the lead on the ladder. "Oh, sweet Lord, I look disgusting."

The Doctor sonicked the door, smiling at Jessie. "Nice to have you back."

"No, you don't!"

Jessie saw the energy swoop under the door before it slammed closed before a presence rammed her out of her own mind.

***

The Doctor glared at Jessie/Cassandra. "That was your last warning, Cassandra!"

But her face was one of horror and sadness, and he couldn't help but listen to her as she whispered. "Inside her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us." She bit her lip, looking at the Doctor. "All their lives, and they've never been touched."

The Doctor simply held out his hand, and Jessie/Cassandra took it. They entered Ward 26 - just in time to see Frau Clovis lunge at them with a metal bar. "We're safe!" he shouted, holding up his hands. "We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look!"

"Show me your skin!" Clovis demanded.

"Look, clean," the Doctor replied, wringing his hands around, and Jessie/Cassandra did the same. "Look. If we'd been touched, we'd be dead. So, how's it going up here? What's the status?"

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards," Clovis replied. "I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private execution squad."

"You can't do that!" the Doctor protested. "If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine!"

"I am not dying in here," Clovis told him.

"We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There are ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk."

"Not if it gets me out."

He huffed. "All right. Fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me." He clapped his hands. "Jessie, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, Your Grace," he told the Duke. "Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"

He hadn't expected Jessie/Cassandra to help, but she did. The Doctor found some silk rope and began wrapping it on him. "How's that?" he asked. "Will that do?"

"I don't know," Jessie/Cassandra replied, following him to the lift. "Will it do for what? The lifts aren't working."

"Not moving," he corrected. "Different thing. Here we go!" He ran towards the lift.

"But you're not going to - " Jessie/Cassandra yelped as he jumped and held onto the lift cable. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm going down!" he replied gleefully. "Come on!"

"Not in a million years!"

"I need another pair of hands." He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive why don't you live a little!"

Jessie/Cassandra gasped when the diseased people began coming through. "No!" She jumped onto his back, wrapping around him as if to shy away. "You're completely mad!" She looked at him. "I can see why she likes you."

"Going down!"

The wheel he had attached to the cable took them down the lift shaft, and they stopped on top of it. "Well," Jessie/Cassandra gasped, jumping off. "That's one way to lose weight."

"Now listen," the Doctor told her, pointing to a lever. "When I say so, take hold of that lever."

"There's still quarantine down there. We can't - "

"Hold that lever!" She closed her mouth. "I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." He began pouring the medicine from the bags into the disinfectant tank. "Now, that lever's going to resist," he told her. "But keep it in position. Hold onto it with everything you've got, and you're inside Jessie's body. That'll be a lot."

"What about you?"

He grinned. "I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in!"

He dropped into the lift before Jessie/Cassandra could reply, and he opened the doors, smiling at the diseased people. "I'm in here!" he shouted to them. "Come on!"

"Don't tell them!" Jessie/Cassandra told him.

"Pull that lever!" He heard her begin to, and he gestured the people to come into the lift. "Come and get me. Come on! I'm in here! Come on!"

"Commence stage one disinfection."

He grinned as the disinfectant tank began to spray, and the diseased people began to get cured. "Come on, come on! All they want to do is pass it on." He gestured to them. "Pass it on!"

"Pass on what?" Jessie/Cassandra asked, looking down. "Pass on what?"

"Pass it on!"

As the diseased people began to get cured, he helped her down. She looked at him curiously. "What did they pass on? Did you kill them? All of them?"

"No. That's your way of doing things." He led her out of the lift, smiling. "I'm the Doctor, and I cured them!"

One of the women hugged him. "That's right." He hugged her back, then patted her shoulder. "Hey, there we go, sweetheart. Go to him." He gently nudged her towards a diseased man, and she went to him, passing on the cure. "Go on. That's it! That's it!" He turned to Jessie/Cassandra. "It's a new subspecies, Cassandra. A brand new form of life. New humans! Look at them, look! Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes . . . but completely, completely alive! You can't deny them, because you helped create them. The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!"

***

"You are a brilliant girl, Jessie Nightshade."

Even with Cassandra in her head, she could hear the Face of Boe's voice. "Boe."

"I am here, Little Wolf."

"Little Wolf?"

"You are the Bad Wolf, Jessie. Meant to protect the Doctor from harm. And you did brilliantly."

"What?"

As if part of her mind was unlocked, she saw the events of the Game Station. She saw herself destroy the Daleks, saw the Doctor save her life with a kiss. "He does not regret it. You live because you saved his life."

"But I caused his death. How is that protecting him from harm?"

"He would have rather died saving you than died at the hands of the Daleks. You know who I am, Jessie. You should know that I tell the truth."

And she did. "Jack."

"Jessie, this is not the end for you. The dancing with the Doctor is far from over with you. Keep hanging on, and be prepared for anything."

"I will."

"Until we meet one last time, Jessie Nightshade. You were the sister I never had."

***

"This is NNYPD," a loudspeaker announced as the Doctor and Jessie/Cassandra walked through Ward 26. "Please step away from the shuttles."

"All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat, immediate arrest. All new life forms will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD."

The Doctor stopped short when he saw someone. "The Face of Boe!" The Face of Boe met his eyes as the Doctor ran over. "You were supposed to be dying."

"There are better things to do today. Dying can wait."

"Oh, I hate telepathy," Jessie/Cassandra muttered. "Just what I need, a head full of face."

"Shh!"

"I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you and your violet and bronze demigod have taught me to look at it anew."

"You knew about her," the Doctor whispered. "How did you know?"

"In time, Doctor, I think you shall understand. But know that her journey will soon extend past where you can see. Be prepared for what will come your way. In time, you will understand just how much she is to you."

"There are legends, you know . . . saying that you're millions of years old."

"There are? That would be impossible."

"Wouldn't it just." He leaned forward. "I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me."

"A great secret."

"So the legend says."

"It can wait."

"Oh, does it have to?" he couldn't help but whine.

"We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day, keep the Little Wolf in your grasp. Hold tight and never let go. You both need it still. Until that day."

The Doctor slowly stood as the Face of Boe teleported away. "That was enigmatic," he commented. "That . . . that is . . . that is textbook enigmatic." He turned to Jessie/Cassandra. "And now for you."

"But everything's happy!" she told him. "Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?"

"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra."

"I don't want to die."

"No one does."

"Help me," she whispered.

And a welcome voice called out. "Mistress!"

Jessie/Cassandra looked over as Chip ran/limped up. "Oh, you're alive."

"I kept myself safe for you, mistress."

Jessie/Cassandra tilted her head slowly. "A body. And not just that. A volunteer."

"Don't you dare," the Doctor warned. "He's got a life of his own."

"But I worship the mistress," Chip told him. "I welcome her."

"You can't Cassandra! You can't - "

The energy transferred from Jessie to Chip, and Jessie stumbled before collapsing. The Doctor caught her. "Oh! You all right?" He swung her back up, feeling how stiff and tense she was, keeping a tight hold on her so she wouldn't fall again. "Whoa! OK?"

"Yeah," she whispered before looking up at him and giving him a smile. "Hello!"

"Hello!" he said back with a matching smile. "Welcome back."

"Oh, sweet Lord." The Doctor stiffened and turned to Chip/Cassandra. "I'm a walking doodle."

"You can't stay in there," the Doctor told him/her. "I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."

"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat, but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last - "

The Doctor crouched when the body collapsed to its knees. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He/she smiled. "I'm dying, but that's fine."

"I can take you to the city."

"No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me any more. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die, and that's good."

He stood. "Come on. There's one last thing I can do."

***

Jessie stayed silent as the Doctor piloted the TARDIS. When they came to a halt, Chip/Cassandra opened the door, and Jessie recognized where they were: the party she'd seen on the projector. The last time someone told Cassandra she was beautiful. "Thank you," Chip/Cassandra whispered.

The Doctor nodded. "Just go, and don't look back."

"Good luck," Jessie added.

She stood in the doorway, watching as Chip/Cassandra and the Cassandra in the restaurant talked, and she closed her eyes when Chip/Cassandra collapsed, dying. Cassandra was reassuring him, and Jessie swallowed and looked down.

A hand gently fell on her shoulder, and she looked up as the Doctor joined her. "Come on," he told her.

She nodded and closed the door, never looking back.

***

And there goes New Earth. Man, I hate Cassandra. Everything about her I hate. Now the Face of Boe . . . I like him a lot. He's smart, he's caring, and he's Jack. Pretty much covers it.

So whaddya all think about the message Boe had for the Doctor about Jessie's timeline going further than he can see? Huh? Thoughts? Comment and tell me what you think!