CHAPTER TWO:
THE EMPTY CHILD

LONDON, ENGLAND
EARTH
1941

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"WAIT!"
Penny called after the Doctor, turning and walking in his direction. He glanced back in mild surprised, a half-smile tugging at his lips.

"Hello, again." He said jovially.

She smiled, fiddling with her fingers, nerves thrumming against her chest. "I had an urge to follow you," she blurted out. "Is that strange?"

The Doctor shrugged. "If you think that's strange, just wait till you meet me." He glanced over her clothing. "Aren't you cold?"

She looked down, a frown at her lips. She should be. It wasn't exactly summer and London wasn't exactly warm.

"I'm not," she answered after a moment. "That's odd." It was most likely the effects from the serum. Would she ever feel cold again? Maybe in freezing snow. Or she'd overheat in lava.

This would certainly take some getting used to.

"Here," he stopped, taking off his jacket and handing it to her, leaving him in a loose burgundy v-neck shirt. "Borrow mine. I'd like it back later though, it's an original." She looked it over for a moment, before her eyes dragged up to him and she smiled thankfully, slipping her arms into it.

It was a bit large on her, but not swarming like it would have been hours previously before the serum. She quite liked it.

"Why haven't you got any shoes?" He asked after a moment, eyebrows furrowing. "What did you say you were you doing?"

"Hardly matters."

He stopped walking as they approached the gates to the hospital, pulling something from his jacket. It was a thin metal stick-like object with a blue tip. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she moved closer to him, looking down at it as he aimed it at a padlock.

"What is that thing?" She asked curiously.

"My sonic screwdriver."

"Because that totally helps, thanks."

"You're very sarcastic for a woman of your time."

"Yeah, I've been told my mouth runs, I'm not apologizing for it, though."

He looked over at her as the padlock opened. "Nor should you."

When the gates opened, he stood a bit straighter and she fell into step next to him towards the entrance of the hospital.

"What're you looking for anyway? Why're we breaking into a hospital? Why isn't the hospital open? Shouldn't the hospital be open, especially because of the bombings?"

The Doctor nodded at her questions. "Good question. It should be. Most were. Why not this one?"

"You didn't answer what you're looking for, though. Why're we here?"

The Doctor half-smiled. "Bit complicated."

After the day she's had?

"Try me."

He watched her for a moment, stopping and crossing his arms. He regarded her carefully, as though deciding something. Then, "There's a little boy with a gas mask on that's not entirely human. Looks human, but does inhuman things. And something fell out of the sky that wasn't part of the air raid."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "So why're you looking? Why not someone else?"

His eyes filled with a self-pride. "I'm the Doctor. It's what I do."

"What, you fix peculiar occurrences around the world?"

He smirked. "Basically."

"Hm," she hummed in thought. "Okay then."

He blinked. "That's it? No further questions?"

Penny shook her head. "Not at the moment. I've had a weird day."

"Tell me about it."

"Can't," she said regretfully. "Classified."

His smirk fell and he watched her with more caution. "Classified? Not a soldier, are you? No, couldn't be, not for another decade."

"I'm not a soldier," she said immediately. "Absolutely not. I don't even like killing spiders." She paused, her thoughts drifting. "People are like bugs. Some are spiders and some are grasshoppers and some are butterflies. Why would I harm a spider but not a butterfly? Some people just need a bit more understanding."

A smile tugged at the Doctor's lips. "I like your thinking, Penelope...What's your last name?"

"Rogers," she said with a smile. "Penny Rogers."

"Penny Rogers," he repeated slowly. "Penelope Rogers...that's familiar. Have you done anything important in your life, Penelope?"

Besides take a super soldier serum?

"No, not that I can think of."

"Will you do?"

"Anything important?" She clarified. He nodded. "Not sure yet."

He mulled over her thoughtfully before shrugging. "Yeah, it's a common name. You don't look important."

"Gee, thank you. That's what every impressionable young woman wants to hear."

"We've only just met, but you don't seem all that impressionable to me."

Penny scratched her head in thought. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"

"Take your pick." He said simply and turned to keep walking. "Now stop distracting me. We're meant to be investigating."

Penny rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for not wanting to follow a stranger into a padlocked hospital in the middle of blitz London with no hesitations."

He smirked back at her. "You're forgiven."

"You're cheeky," she grumbled as he opened the front door, holding it a second longer for her to enter behind him.

She opened her mouth to speak but he caught her eyes and held a finger to his lips, using his other hand to point to his ears. Penny nodded in understanding.

They walked down the halls together, eyes shifting around curiously and cautiously until they came across a ward of beds.

Penny's eyes widened when she noticed the occupants on the bed, and judging by the Doctor's furrowed brow, he was concerned too.

Every patient had a gas mask on, which wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary, considering the state of the world around them, except the closer they looked at the patients, the more clear it became: the masks were sewn into their flesh.

Penny frowned and leaned closer to a patient's face, trying to get a better look as the Doctor used his sonic over one. It emitted a low buzzing hum around the otherwise silent room.

She reached a hand out and touched the line where the mask and skin melded together and a churning in her stomach warned her against nausea. This was very, very bizarre. She wished Steve were here to see it.

On second thought, he'd probably find some way to blame himself for the situation. Bless her sweet twin brother with his heart of gold. He put so much weight on his shoulders, he could carry the whole world and it wouldn't make a difference. 

A shuffling sound was heard, tearing Penny from her thoughts, and they both turned quickly, only to spot an elderly man walking towards them, supported by a cane.

"You'll find them everywhere," the man told them, giving Penny a strange look at her attire. "In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?"

"They're not," the man responded and confusion swelled in Penny. They obviously were. "Who are you?"

"I'm er...are you the doctor?" The Doctor asked, and Penny stifled a snort at his answer. That could be confusing without proper explanations, most of which, Penny was lacking anyway.

"Doctor Constantine," the man supplied. "And you both are?"

"Penny Rogers," Penny answered quickly with a bright smile. The man's eyes narrowed at her. Oh, he was an old-fashioned sort of man then. Heavens forbid she wear shorts, a man's jacket, and answer a question asked of her.

"Nancy sent me," the Doctor said after a moment. Penny glanced at him. Who was Nancy?

"Nancy?" Constantine repeated. "That means you must've been asking about the bomb."

"Which one?" Penny retorted, but it fell on deaf ears. Neither man reacted to it, seemingly worried about another matter entirely. That made her stomach twist up a bit, a bad feeling sending chills down her spine.

"Yes," the Doctor answered.

Constantine sighed. "What do you know about it?"

"Nothing," the Doctor crossed his arms. "Why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done," Constantine answered ominously.

"That's entirely too vague to be helpful," Penny muttered.

The Doctor smirked a bit at her response but otherwise made no notion he heard her. "These people, they were all caught up in the blast?"

Constantine shook his head. "None of them were."

Penny and the Doctor exchanged a look at that information and as he opened his mouth to answer another question, Constantine began coughing profusely.

Once finished, he chuckled, sitting on a chair and smiling to himself. Penny found the entire situation to be very unsettling.

"You're very sick," the Doctor observed.

"Dying, I should think," Constantine nodded. "I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?"

"I have my moments," the Doctor answered, earning a glance from Penny, which he didn't acknowledge.

"Have you examined any of them yet?" Constantine asked.

"Only one."

"Don't touch the flesh."

Penny pursed her lips. "Too late for that," she said, glancing at the Doctor. "I was curious," she said at his slightly worried gaze. "I wanted to see if it was sewn into the skin or molded with it. Definitely the latter."

Constantine shook his head. "A young woman like you ought not to be in a situation like this," he said, not unkindly, but in enough of a condescending tone that Penny didn't take the words without an eye roll. "You're going to learn your lesson quickly now."

Penny's lips thinned into a tight smile. "Thank you for your input, it's very appreciated and necessary."

Constantine looked to the Doctor again, but not before frowning at Penny in disapproval. "Conclusions?" He asked the Doctor.

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side," he relayed his previous observations. "Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another one," Constantine suggested and the Doctor turned to another patient, running his sonic over them.

"This isn't possible," he muttered.

"Examine another."

Penny watched as the Doctor took his sonic and ran it across another patient, his frown deepening.

"This isn't possible."

Constantine sighed. "No."

"They've all got the same injuries," the Doctor said slowly in confusion.

"Exactly the same?" Penny asked, looking over the beds. "How's that possible? And why do they all have masks fused into their faces?"

"Identical," the Doctor nodded to Penny. "All of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand."

Penny looked to Constantine, who was eyeing his own hand, a thin scar in the exact spot as the others. Her mind worked quickly, trying to find the connection and she looked between the patients to the elderly man. Something was missing. What was she missing?

"How did this happen?" The Doctor asked. "How did it start?"

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim."

"Where's that patient now?" Penny asked curiously, looking around.

Constantine glanced at her. "Not here," he said after a moment.

"Dead?" The Doctor asked.

"At first," Constantine answered. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

Penny looked over her hands. "That means you have the same symptoms. And I'll have them too. How long from symptoms to death?"

Constantine gave her a solemn look but didn't answer. A chill settled into her bones, nestling against the already buzzing anxiety and creating a perfect storm of nerves and fear.

"The head trauma," the Doctor answered Constantine's previous question.

"No."

"Asphyxiation."

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity."

"No."

"All right," the Doctor said impatiently, his voice laced with a mixture of curiosity and frustration. "What was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one," Constantine looked between the pair. The fear rose in Penny's chest. She should have just gone back to Steve. "They're not dead."

He hit his cane against a waste basket and Penny jumped at the loud noise as all the patients sat up at once. Unsettled, Penny took a step closer to the Doctor, trusting him more than Constantine or the patients, despite only having just met him.

"It's all right. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"What's keeping them alive?" Penny wondered aloud, her voice faint as she absorbed Constantine's words.

"And they've just been left here?" The Doctor asked. Her heart tugged at them. Some of them were children, some elderly, some in between. Where were their families? "Nobody's doing anything?"

The patients lied back down simultaneously and Penny repressed a shiver.

"I try and make them comfortable," Constantine said softly. "What else is there?"

"Just you?" The Doctor asked him. "You're the only one here?"

A sad look crossed Constantine's face. "Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor."

Penny's eyes fell to the ground and she thought of Steve and Bucky. Constantine's family was taken, most likely by the raids or in battles against the Germans and her loved ones were putting their lives on the line too.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said softly, meeting his eyes. "But on behalf of someone who could've just as easily been a patient, thank you for helping them."

Constantine's eyes softened and a small, sad smile rested on his lips, but he said nothing.

"I know the feeling," the Doctor said to Constantine.

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb."

Penny felt sick, shaking her head. "All of these people? They could be helped and instead they're just going to slaughter them?"

"What would you know of it?" Constantine asked. "You're hardly a doctor, probably not even a nurse by the way you're dressed. There's nothing else to be done here."

A simmering rage burned in Penny's core but she only tightened her jaw and crossed her arms. "There's always something to be done. We just haven't found the solution and killing innocent people isn't the answer."

"They're already dead," Constantine argued and Penny sighed.

The Doctor looked at her then, as though truly seeing her. He took note of her frustrated expression, the fiery glint in her eyes, and the way she quickly masked it all behind a facade of stoicism.

Who was Penelope Rogers? He'd never met a woman from a time period with such a fierce opposition towards the patriarchal worldview she was oppressed in. Where were her shoes? Why was she by the train tracks?

She glanced at him, noticing his silence, and the fire in her eyes died a little, replaced by confusion, and in the far recesses of his mind he came to a startling realization that he didn't want to see that fire burn out.

He looked back to Constantine, quickly brushing those thoughts aside to mull over later. He'd just met the strange woman, he was absolutely not going to think like that. Especially not with the undead patients lying in cots behind him.

"It's probably too late to bomb this," the Doctor said after a long pause.

"No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London," Constantine started coughing again and both the Doctor and Penny moved forward. "Stay back, stay back," he waved them off between coughs. "Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" The Doctor asked with a frown.

"It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying," Constantine supplied, seeming to choke on his words and the air leaving his lungs. "She won't tell me, but she might— Mummy." Penny's eyes widened when he abruptly changed subjects, head tilting to the side. "Are you my mummy?" He asked.

Before Penny or the Doctor could ask another question, Constantine's face moved, his chin and nose elongating and eyes widening as a black mask slowly emerged from his skin and settled over his expression.

He'd become just like the other patients. He was a gas-masked patient, and he was heading straight towards them.

The Doctor grabbed Penny's hand and they rushed from the room, nearly bumping into two people in the hallway.

"Good evening," a handsome man with a wide grin spoke up. He was definitely American. "Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

"He knows," the other person, a woman, said. Long blonde hair and a Union Jack t-shirt — that must have been the Doctor's friend! — was looking at the Doctor pointedly. "I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"Time Agent?" Penny repeated, giving the Doctor a curious look.

"Sorry, who're you?" The blonde asked, looking over Penny's outfit and uncovered feet in confusion.

"Oh, I'm Penny Rogers, hi!" Penny waved brightly, taking her hand from the Doctor's. "I have no idea what a Time Agent is, but this is all very fascinating."

"Penny Rogers?" The handsome man repeated, looking her over. "The Penny Rogers?"

Penny's smile fell and her heart raced in her chest. What did that mean? "Uh, just — just Penny. Not important or 'the' anything."

'Jack' stared at her longer, opening his mouth as though to say something else, before shaking his head, dismissing whatever thought entered his mind.

"Doesn't matter," the Doctor cut in, giving the man a look.

'Jack' grinned at the Doctor. "And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock." He said before walking towards the ward with the patients.

"Mister Spock?" The Doctor asked the blonde.

"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"

Doctor was a nice title, Penny thought. It didn't have to be followed by a name. The thought of the word brought help and relief to many, why should he waste time with a name if he didn't wish to?

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping," the Doctor said and Penny looked at him with wide eyes. Nine centuries? As in nine-hundred years? "Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

"Who's strolling?" The blonde retorted. "I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."

"What!?" The Doctor asked loudly, looking down at her with wide eyes.

Penny watched the pair as they discussed something called a 'chula ship' and felt her heartbeat quicken with every passing second.

"Okay, apologies," Penny blurted out. "I am  very, very confused right now. What happened to Constantine? With the mask thing? Who are these people? What's a Time Agent? Why would you willingly watch an air raid?" Penny asked the blonde directly. "And a chula-what now?"

"Sorry," the Doctor said, though he seemed more irritated than apologetic. "I know this is hard for you. It's a lot to keep up with. You can feel free to leave if you'd like."

"It's not too much for me," Penny argued, crossing her arms. "It's just a lot to wrap my head around without proper explanation."

"Hang on, you're American," the blonde observed. Penny shot her a look.

"That's exactly the right thing to focus on, thanks for such an astute observation."

The blonde gave her a look. "No need to be rude," she said coldly. "I was just stating it."

Penny took a breath. "I am sorry for upsetting you, it wasn't my intention and I'm just very stressed and sometimes my mouth runs when I'm in situations where I understand nothing and have absolutely no idea what is happening."

The Doctor sighed. "I'm not human, this is Rose, she's from the future, I don't know where Jack's from, but not this time either, and a chula warship is a bit more complicated, still figuring out the facts," he explained quickly with an impatient look on his face. "Now if you have further questions, ask Rose, she's the nice one, I've got things to do." He nodded and walked past her back into the ward and to Jack.

Penny blinked, absorbing all the information, taking in Rose's smug expression.

"Too much for ya?" Rose asked with a small smirk.

Penny shook her head. "No, not...just unexpected but I'll be okay. I am sorry I snapped at you."

Rose softened. "It's alright. It's a lot for anyone. It was a lot for me too. I can't imagine doing it in the 40's. How'd you get here? If you're American? Women don't serve yet, right?"

Penny shook her head, walking into the ward again with Rose, eyeing the now calm Constantine, who sat eerily on the chair.

"I'm with my brother. We're...he's part of the military. I'm...it's classified?" She answered as a question. How far into the future was Rose? Would she know the result of the war? How did she travel back in time? If the Doctor wasn't human, did he have a spaceship? How does one even acquire a spaceship?

"Why haven't you got any shoes?" Rose asked after a moment.

"Oh," Penny shrugged. "Long story."

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked Jack as the latter examined the patients.

"What?" Jack asked.

"He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"Why would you do that?" Penny asked the man in disappointment. Jack glanced at her, then away, a brief look of shame flooding his expression before it was gone.

"What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked again.

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this."

"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?"

"An ambulance!" Jack shouted finally. "Look," he tapped his wrist and a projection showed from it. Penny stepped forward in awe.

"That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait."

Time Vortex? Panels? Space junk? Penny pushed her questions aside for later.

"Bait?" Rose asked, a hurt expression on her face.

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

"That's not very nice," Penny commented.

"You said it was a war ship," Rose said in the same tone.

"They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you."

"I am absolutely not," Penny spoke up. "For the record. Completely human, too," she stated, then hesitated, thinking about the serum, she added, "well, sort of I guess."

"Sort of?" Rose and the Doctor asked together, giving her a look.

"I did not mean to say that aloud. I am definitely human. I'm also still confused so words are not coming naturally."

"We're freelancers," Rose gestured to herself and the Doctor, giving Penny another look.

"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain? Not to mention, Penny Rogers? That's a terrible cover name given the history attached. You don't even have shoes on, and you're not dressed appropriately at all for the time period." Penny looked down at herself then at Jack. He was a little rude. "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

"Firstly, I'm from this time. I was born July 4, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, so thank you for being so incredibly condescending for absolutely no reason. As for my appearance, I was in a rush chasing someone, got shot, and didn't happen to have shoes on so if you could all please stop commenting on my attire it would be greatly appreciated." She said the latter half of her tangent rather quickly, leaving the other three staring at her in mild surprise.

Then, they all spoke at once.

"You got shot?"

"You're born on the 4th of July? In America?"

"What were you chasing someone without shoes for?"

Penny looked between them all. "Yes, yes, yes, and confidential."

"What's confidential?" Jack asked after she answered the Doctor's question.

"Who I was chasing."

"Why would it be confidential?"

"Confidential," she replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh my..." Jack rubbed his hand over his face, shaking his head. "Whatever. Point is. The chulo ambulance has nothing to do with this."

"Penelope," the Doctor looked at her intently. "What happened to your wound? You were covered in blood when we met, how'd you fix that?"

"Oh." Penny hesitated. "It's going to sound crackers."

Rose smiled kindly. "Try us."

Penny looked between the three before sighing. "Right before you met me," Penny looked to the Doctor, "I was bleeding out and I was trying to find some light so I could pull the bullet out, because that was what stopped the healing, and then I saw a weird circular...thing...and there were these little golden fireflies that flew on me and into my stomach and the bullet landed on the ground and then I was fine. Completely healed."

They all stared at her with wide eyes.

"Penelope, have you felt ill at all?" The Doctor asked after a brief silence. "Your throat itch? You touched the patient, remember? How are you standing fine right now?"

Penny sighed. "I think I know the answer to that question, but it's confidential."

"We won't say anything," Jack said lightly.

"I like you guys just fine, but I don't trust you enough to tell you my biggest secret of all time. I'm really bad at secrets so please do not make me tell you this."

"We won't," Rose said before the other two could reply, resting her hand gently on Penny's arm. "Don't worry." She looked to the Doctor. "What's Penny got to do with this? What's happening here, Doctor?"

The Doctor eyed Penny for a long moment. "Penelope Rogers," his eyes narrowed. "Something about your name is so familiar and I can't figure out why." He looked to Rose. "Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot, that's what."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point? And why not Penelope?"

All of a sudden, all the patients sat up at once and Penny jumped back, resting her hand over her heart.

"Jeepers!" She shouted, looking around the room. "What're they doing?"

"Mummy."

"Mummy."

"Mummy?"

"Mummy?"

All the patients were talking at once. Penny felt someone grab her hand, looking to the right, she realized it was Rose. Squeezing her hand tightly, she and the other three slowly backed out of the room.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Rose asked fearfully.

"I don't know," the Doctor answered with wide eyes.

Constantine stood from his chair near the entrance to the hall and Penny jumped.

"Mummy! Mummy? Mummy. Mummy!"

"Don't let them touch you," the Doctor told them all, glancing to Penny and Rose's intertwined hands. "You better not be infected, Penelope."

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked.

"You're looking at it," the Doctor and Penny answered together, glancing at each other.

The patients began to surround the four and Penny's grip on Rose's hand tightened. This is not how she thought the day would go.

She definitely missed Steve.

She should have followed Steve.

She always followed Steve.

Why hadn't she followed Steve?

"Help me, Mummy."

"This is the scariest thing that's ever happened to me," Penny mumbled to Rose who nodded.

"It's up there."

As the patients closed in, their masks watching blankly, the same voice echoing through them all, Penny's heart fell into her stomach. She had no idea how they were going to survive this.

—

ahhhhh hope you all enjoyed:) shoutout to my sister who literally edits these chapters and makes them coherent lolllll. This book is so fun ahhh