They ambled up a walkway to reach the tower. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of the sleeve of the costume and opened the door. The inside of the fairy mound was sparkling white, sterile, and cold.
"Really?" Rose asked, disappointment creeping into her voice.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"I was expectin'…I dunno, a forest or a meadow or somethin'. Not a regular ol' spaceship."
Even though he knew Rose couldn't see it, the Doctor was smiling from ear to ear. Some things never change, he thought.
People…well, not people…fairies were bustling about, almost running into them. But soon, they were greeted by a familiar face.
"What are you doing in those ridiculous things?" Meilyr asked from behind them.
The Doctor and Rose spun. The Doctor almost had to jump over the tail of Rose's costume.
"Go take them off and get to work," Meilyr said angrily, pushing past them. Then he spun on his heel. "Actually, no. I have a room full of screaming brats in cell 505. Keep the costumes on and go see if you can't get them to shut up. My mother is going to be in to inspect them soon and if she gets a headache, then we're all in for it."
When Meilyr had strolled away, the Doctor turned to Rose. "I s'pose we know where the children are," he said.
They stopped a very flustered young fairy boy who was pushing a pallet full of tubs towards the door and asked him where cell 505 was. The lad looked confused, but was in too big of a hurry to question them and pointed to a hallway opposite them. The Doctor led Rose over to the entrance and then took a peek inside the door.
"We've hit a hitch," he said quietly.
"Whaddya mean?" she asked.
"There's dozens of children in there," he explained. "I wasn't expecting them to already have this many. I need you to go back upstairs, leave Avalon, and then get Torchwood to surround the perimeter."
"I'm not leavin' you," she protested, as he knew she would.
"Rose, I can't sneak that many children out without being noticed. Not without a TARDIS. We're going to have to go to Plan B."
"And what's Plan B?"
"I'm going to take the fairy queen hostage," the Doctor said, ducking into cell 505.
