It didn't take long for Astrid to find Magpie's. To be quite honest, she didn't know how no one had noticed that the tvs were stealing faces since the place just screamed evil. It was big, the building was black, and every so often she could spot the red energy sparking the Tvs in the front window. It was as if people didn't want to notice. Or … perhaps they were just in too much of a panic to realize what was going on. Nonetheless, it was as ominous as ominous could get.

She walked in, the door squeaking open letting out the most horrid noise imaginable as a nervous looking old man turned to her in a frenzy, a wild look in his eyes as he rushed over to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss. I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door." He told her, desperately trying to get her to leave. He knew the wire could sense people. He knew that whatever that thing that had come to him for help ate people whenever they walked into his shop, and he didn't want another person to die on his account. And this girl, she looked too young, too innocent to die. He wanted to save someone, just one person without the Wire knowing, so he would know that all that he had done was not his fault.

"Oh shut it, Magpie. I know what's going on. People's faces are being stolen and the one factor all the people have in common is your tv." Astrid stated, being careful not to release any information pertaining to her future knowledge. She didn't want them to know she knew everything. That would be disastrous she was sure. She never really understood what type of alien the Wire was, but just to be safe than sorry! Foreknowledge could help this alien thing, especially if it could read thoughts. So she'd keep her future knowledge safe. Well, the best that she could anyway.

"I have no idea what you're going on about, you're delusional." Magpie replied, his eyes widening in surprise. He knew he would be found out. He just knew it! He had told the Wire his concerns the second she had explained his plan to her. He knew he couldn't hide what he was doing forever. Oh my god, what if she was a cop! He was going to be arrested! He was going to go to jail! He wouldn't survive in jail, he was much too old for the starvation and the violence. He was going to die! He didn't want to die! He just wanted peace! But he couldn't very well go blaming this on a woman from the tele that ate people's faces. She would think she was crazy and he did not want to be treated in that way, he'd be put in a house of the insane, and he couldn't be put there either. That was worse than death, way worse. He had to convince her that she was the crazy one. There wasn't anything going on with his shop, none at all.

"No, not delusional. Just smart. So, tell me Magpie. You aren't exactly the ring leader, so where is she?" Astrid questioned, looking around for the Wire. She wanted to get this over with. Granted, she also was very much not looking forward to an alien sucking her face and brain into a Tv. But the quicker it happened the quicker she would be saved, right? Right.

She turned to her right only to be greeted with a red energy that seemed to vibrate around the screen, quickly turning the screen from a dark black to a fuzzy grey, until finally, the screen cleared to reveal a well-dressed woman with her animalistic eyes glaring into Astrid's emotionless eyes. And that's when it hit Astrid. This thing. It wasn't just an alien. It was an animal. A hunter. A killer. And nothing would be able to reason with it. It had to die. And die it would.

"Hungry! Hungry! This one reeks of intelligence!"

She heard it say to her, eyeing her up and down like a lion would a wounded gazelle. To this animal alien, she was food. A delicious meal. She wasn't a person with thoughts and opinions. She was a dessert. A giant cake with rich buttercream with a decent helping of ice cream on the side. Her intelligence was a bursting bit of sweet deliciousness. And apparently, she reeked of it, like chocolate cookies baking in an oven wafting through a kitchen.

"Oh, you should meet my friend!" Astrid exclaimed, a smirk on her face as she thought of the Doctor. If her fake intelligence made her reek of intelligence, the Doctor's intelligence was a whole meal. He was waayyyyyy smarter than she could ever be. She just had a template of what was going to happen in her mind. He was a genius that saved the day and he had learned things through his decades of living. She hadn't.

"Miss, you really should go. I was just about to lock up." Magpie stuttered, knowing what was going to happen next. He knew she was probably a cop. And he didn't want to go to jail, but maybe if he saved her, she would let him go? He knew it was impossible to think that, but maybe he could convince her that she had lost her mind or something? Women were very imaginative after all.

"I know you think this will give you some peace but it won't. What you did was wrong, you stole things from people and you had no right. You will get the exact sentence you deserve, and I'm sorry, so very sorry." Astrid told the man, not even daring to turn to him as she approached the Tv holding the Wire. She was sorry. So sorry that the Wire ended up killing him because he hadn't asked for an alien entity to come to him for help and threaten his life. But the fact was, he had helped her. He had helped this monster take people's faces. He had helped it take their brains. He had taken what was not his. And that was wrong. Very wrong. He was going to die. And in her mind, it upset her to know that h died. But he deserved it. Deep in her heart, she thought he did. It was a new feeling, but it was there. Judgment. Magpie had essentially killed, and although not directly, people that killed innocent people did not deserve to live.

"I'm hungry! So hungry for intelligence. You will be a mighty good meal."

"I know." Astrid whispered as red energy crashed out of the tv and clawed at her face. It felt like something was melting her face off. Like her face was melting. And it burned, it burned so much, but she knew she couldn't show weakness. She had to focus. She had to protect her mind. To make sure that this thing couldn't eat her mind and that her foreknowledge would be safe. The Wire couldn't know what was going to happen. She clenched her hands, desperately resisting the urge to claw at her face in agony as the energy wrapped around her face. She had to focus on something else. She needed to create a brick wall, she needed to overwhelm her senses with something else. She had to create a pop-up… an ad in her mind. But of what?

She smiled, an idea popping into her mind. Her eyes turning a bright pink as she thought of the
Doctor. Her Doctor. Her hot Timeboy. The way his eyes sparkled like stars whenever he got excited. The way his smile widened when he had saved someone. The way his love for the universe and the love for humans radiated off his body. He wanted to save and save and save. And save he would.

"But you know what else I know …" Astrid stated, raising her eyes to meet the Wire through the haze of red burning energy pulling at her face.

"… The Doctor is going to give you hell." She said, laughing as she continued to imagine her gorgeous Doctor. Only one word burned into her brain as the light faded and everything went dark: Doctor.

After running into a dead end yet again, and finding out it wasn't so much of a dead end than it was a secret entrance. And being falsely questioned for being a part of whatever the hell was going on. He was finally getting answers. Finally!

"We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just blank." The Bishop explained. This man seemed to not be behind what was going an apparently he wanted help. At first, the Bishop had been totally against him helping. After all, who knew who this man was and whether he was trustworthy enough with this kind of information. But he needed help. Too many people were turning up with their faces missing. The coronation was tomorrow and he had strict instructions to make sure nothing went wrong. He needed to fix this and he needed help. And this man, the Doctor. Maybe he could be some help.

"Is there any sort of pattern?" The Doctor questioned the man. He already knew the link, he had seen it the moment they had stepped out of the TARDIS. There was something off about the street they had landed on, something strange about it. The pattern had to be linked to that specific street. But why? What was the link?

"Other than the fact that there have been quite a large number of faceless people found in Florizel Street, no, we haven't had any real leads." The man replied, with a frustrated look on his face. He didn't know what was so special about that specific street. They had gone to each of the homes, they had checked the people in the area, and everyone checked out. No one was suspicious. So why was that street so popular?

Before the Doctor could answer the man, and ask him anything further the door crashed open, a breathless Rose rushing in escorted by an officer. She seemed worse for wear. Her hair was falling out of the updo she had put in, and her face just screamed urgency. Something had happened. Something bad.

"Found this girl outside screaming for you, said she knew you." The officer stated, before leaving, closing the door gently behind him as the Doctor jumped out of his seat and approached the frazzled girl.

"Rose, what's wrong?" He questioned, looking her up and down for any injuries. He hoped beyond all hope that nothing had happened to the girl. Astrid would kill him if Rose got hurt. They didn't completely get along all the time, but Astrid basically saw Rose as a younger sister and if anything happened to her … there would be hell to pay.

"Astrid sent me here, she said to give you this note, she wouldn't let me go with her." Rose replied, handing the Doctor the note Astrid had wanted her to deliver. It had taken forever for someone to come get her after she had been screaming for the Doctor. And she really hoped that time was not of the essence. She was worried. So worried, that the time that it had taken her to get to the Doctor mattered. And she hoped that whatever the note said still mattered.

"Where did she go?" The Doctor questioned, fear gripping him by the hearts. He hoped beyond all hope that Astrid hadn't done what he thought she had. She'd done this before. This whole note thing … though, back then it wasn't a note … back then it was a secret. And it saved Rose from consuming the soul of the TARDIS. Rose was a distraction. She always was. And it seems like Rose didn't even realize that.

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." Rose explained. If Astrid didn't tell her, did that mean she was in trouble? How would the Doctor save her if she hadn't told them where she was going? What was Astrid doing?! Why was she doing this?

He opened the note reading through it quickly reading it as fast as he possibly could and he froze.

"She is an idiot. She saved you, you bringing the note was a distraction. Just like last time. What was the last thing you guys talked about? Were you going to go somewhere?" The Doctor questioned. Tossing down the note in frustration. It wasn't a warning, or a cry for help, or anything that would actually help them find her. It was just an apology. An apology for sending Rose so she could save her from what would happen where she was going. He hated it when Astrid did this. She was too reckless. She threw herself into danger like she didn't even matter when she was so precious. She was the last Timelady. The last of his kind. She was unique. But it was so frustrating when she did things like this. She could die. She could die one of these days and he would be alone again. And he didn't think he'd ever be able to live like that.

"I had a lead on how people were getting their face stolen, but she shot it down immediately." Rose replied, her eyes widening in fright as she finally realized what had happened. Astrid knew Rose would have gotten hurt so she sent her away with a note so she was safe and out of harm's way. But that would mean Astrid would take her place. Whatever she would have gone through, whatever painful injury or even death that she would have had, Astrid was going to go through that.

"Because she knew you were right. Where was it? Where were you going?" He asked her, grabbing her hand and went to open the door and run out.

Before he had even taken a step out the door, the officer that had escorted Rose into the room came back in, escorting a body covered in a bag. The Doctor widened his eyes, tears threatening to fall down his face as he saw the converse heels that could only belong to one person.

He approached the bag, his hearts stopping as he gently pulled off the bag, coming face to face with Astrid's blank face. His worst fears confirmed. It was her. Definitely her. No one had her hair. The curls that seemed to go on forever and were painted by the universe. Nobody wore her beautiful bow or her ruffly shirts. And no one wore those converses. No one. This was Astrid Selene. His Astrid Selene.

"Astrid." Rose whispered, feeling the bare skin that was once her friend's face. Astrid had saved her from this. From losing her face. And now here Astrid was, suffering the consequences of saving her.

"You know her?" The Bishop asked, confused as to what was going on. He was going to tell the officer just to put the new body in the cage with the others and follow these two people to wherever they were going, since the girl seemed to know something more about the faceless people. But this stopped him from saying anything. They both looked so defeated. The man that had been trying to help him was devastated, and he looked like he was going to cry. And the girl, she seemed shocked, like seeing this faceless body was a surprise to her. Like they knew her.

"Know her? She-" He stopped, lost for words. He didn't know how to finish that sentence. He was too overcome with emotion. She meant more to him than anyone he'd ever met. He cared about all his companions … but Astrid wasn't a companion. She was his other half in every sense of the word. She understood him, and he understood her. He deeply cared for her. She was his love. And now here she was. Everything stripped from her. The eyes that she used to see, to express what she was feeling was gone. He would never again gaze into her cloudy eyes. The mouth she used to speak brilliant words, to plan, to laugh, and to smile was gone. No longer would they talk. The brain she used to think, to remember was gone. Her memories, her feelings, her ideas, her opinions … everything that made Astrid her was gone. He would no longer see her.

"They found her in the street, apparently, over by the Square, abandoned." The Police officer chimed in. The Doctor turning to him in a fury. He had been beyond upset before, but now he was angry. So angry.

"They left her where?" He bit out, turning to the officer with a fire burning in his eyes. He might have forgiven whoever took his Astrid if they had a good reason for doing what they had done, and they had treated her with respect. But they hadn't. If he had heard correctly, they had treated her like garbage. They had thrown her out there like a bag of garbage. Like she was worthless, disgusting trash.

"Just in the street." The officer replied, causing the Doctor to glare.

"In the street. They left her in the street. They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why? Because now, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on, Bishop! Rose, stay here. Look after Astrid." The Doctor growled, running out of the room with a fierce glare and his mind set on a single task. He was going to save Astrid. Nothing was going to stop him. She was going to see again, and laugh again, and they were going to talk again. She would get back what they had stolen from her. And whoever had hurt her and left her outside like she was worth nothing, oh they better run and they better run far. Because he was going to stop at nothing to make sure they knew exactly what they had done wrong. No one hurt Astrid Selene. Astrid Selene was under his protection. Forever and always. They had crossed the line.

She woke up in a white room, noting the fact that she had no heart beats. It wasn't real. She had been taken. The Wire had taken her. Her face and her brain … they had been taken, but how was she still thinking? It didn't make sense. Where was she? She wasn't breathing. She had no blood flowing through her veins, nothing in her body was functioning so how was she here? Was she a ghost?

She went to get up, but she couldn't. Almost like she was frozen there. Stuck in her bed. She sighed. Absolutely bored out of her mind. Is this what she was meant to do? Just sit here and wait for hours? Because she did not like it one bit. It was too white, and she couldn't move and she really was not one for waiting. She wanted to run far far away from here. She wanted to breathe. She wanted to feel her hearts beating in her chest. This was horrible. She wanted a friend.

She closed her eyes, a golden energy flowing from her hands. It flowed from her, a warm tingle vibrating through her as the energy formed into a mist. The mist swirled around in a circle, vibrating love as a confused man stood where the mist once was. His eyes looked around, resting on the woman on the white bed, resting her eyes as she waited for something to happen.

He smiled at her, walking closer, and grasping his glowing hand in hers, causing her to open her eyes in shock. She looked at him, grey eyes meeting warm brown as she looked at him in surprise. How did he get here? Where was here in the first place? Was it like a never space … some empty spot the Wire had thrown her after it had eaten her face and mind? Or was this the Wire's stomach in a way? She really had no idea what was going on. But he should not be here.

"I'm not here. Well … not really. You made me, well a mental version of me. From what I understand we are in your mind. And as I'm all you are thinking about at the moment, well, you mentally created me. See the glow, that's your mental energy. You have a lot of mental energy. Well … neverending mental energy. You can create whole worlds with that." The mental Doctor explained, somehow knowing exactly what she was thinking. It made sense that he was here now that she thought about it. After all, she had thought about him excessively before she had been taken from the Wire and sucked into who knows where. Though … had she really been sucked into anywhere? From what this Doctor had told her she was in her own mind. But that didn't seem possible. The Wire ate energy, right? The brain has energy … even the Doctor concluded that she was right. The Wire eats brain energy. She should be a shell. Her brain shouldn't be functioning. Was this Doctor even the Doctor because that just seemed impossible … it was suspicious. Was this a trick? How else would the Doctor know exactly what to tell her … how did he know that she was confused and wanted to know how he got here?

"Did you just read my mind?" The Doctor questioned. It only made sense. After all, the Doctor outside her mind was a telepath so it only made sense that this Doctor was a telepath too. She assumed her powers made exact copies after all.

"No. I'm a part of your mind. I already knew what you were going to ask." The Doctor replied, his smile widening. She raised her eyebrows. If he already knew what she was going to ask then how did he know about her powers.

"How did you know all that stuff? I didn't know that stuff." She told him, confused. How could he know about something that she didn't already know? Essentially, he was made out of her thoughts and her memories … so technically he should only know what she knew. Her powers she hadn't even realized she had had.

"Oh, I have parts of your future brain. This was your first time making something using your mental energy, so you made a bit of a mistake and gave me bits of your thoughts from the future. It was bound to happen. You just need to practice more." He explained, a gleam in his eyes. So … somehow she had reached into her future and somehow she had placed it in this Doctor she had made, who explained her powers in the first place which was a paradox. Grand. She'd have to remember that in the future. Being a Timelady was exhausting! So many wibbly wobbly abilities. But there might be a way for the Doctor to help her! To change her back! So there was hope for her yet. She just needed to wait to be saved from the Wire. Which would take foreeevvveerrrr. She was already bored.

She looked down at her hands, the golden glow formulating a plan in her mind.

"Can I use my energy to get out of this bed and actually move?" She questioned happiness gleaming across her face. If she could use her powers to move she could actually run around. She could use her feet and do something while she waits to go back to reality. And it wouldn't actually be boring!

"You can use your energy for anything." He told her, their hands began to glow brighter. Warming their bodies as they slowly rose off the ground and the glow began to turn into a mist covering everything around them. She smiled at him, laughing as the mist tickled her body and the scene began to change around them. Astrid focusing on the world around her as she began to create exactly what she wanted.

She started simple. She wanted a river, a beautiful river with smooth stones. And a beautiful weeping willow with a swing at the riverside. And she wanted a field of flowers. She wanted tiger lilies and scarlet asters everywhere. They were her favorite flowers. Her mother grew scarlet asters back home. And tiger lilies were unique. They were bright and shining and they had freckles. They were a flower that stood out. Like the type of person she wanted to be. She also wanted butterflies, pretty butterflies, and a walking path.

She closed her eyes focusing her energy on stopping, and they slowly sunk to the green grass, surrounded by flowers. The mist seemed to fizzle out, leaving in its place every little thing that she had asked for down to every little detail.

"How about you and I go on a little adventure?" She questioned, smirking at the Doctor as she pulled him towards the lake. If she was going to be stuck here for a little while she was going to give herself exactly what she wanted. What she'd always wanted. A simple adventure with someone she deeply loved. No, not an adventure with killer aliens or monsters or running for your life, although that was fun to. No, she meant an adventure exploring the world. To swing. To run for fun. To smile, to laugh. To make flower crowns, to roll on the grass and smell the earth. To swim and have a water fight. To just … be. That's all she wanted. And now, finally, she would get it. Maybe getting her face sucked off wasn't that bad!

"Sounds good to me." The Doctor replied before she pulled him towards the water. Waiting wasn't going to be boring anymore. It was time to have some fun!

Rose was bored. Very bored. She had no idea what to do. The Doctor had told her to wait for Astrid. But what was Rose meant to do? The Doctor told her to look after Astrid, but was Astrid still in danger? Rose had been waiting here for a while now and nothing had changed. Astrid hadn't changed at all. Her body was just standing there and her face was still missing. So what did the Doctor want her to do?

She looked towards Astrid's face, expecting to find a blank face, but what she did see brought a smile to her face. Astrid had her face back. Her eyes were open, and confused and she was looking around for someone. Her eyes landing on Rose and their eyes meeting, a bright spark in Astrid's refreshed, peaceful grey eyes.

"You're okay!" Rose exclaimed, rushing up to the woman and hugging her tightly. She so did not expect Astrid to have her face back. The Doctor had done it. He had gotten Astrid's face back! She was okay! Everything still looked the same. Her grey eyes, her mouth, her nose. It was all the same. This was Astrid. And she was safe again.

"Yes, I'm okay now, girlie." Astrid replied, laughing as she hugged the young girl back. Her face was sore, and her brain was pounding, but she was back. And really, that's what mattered in the end, didn't it! She had to admit though, she'd really rather miss her imaginary world. It was peaceful and exactly what she needed in the chaos that was now her life. Perhaps she'd see if she could revisit that world. Maybe add to it a bit. That would be fun. Especially when she got tired from all the running. She wondered if she'd be able to keep the mental power when she got the Doctor to turn her human again. It seemed complicated, but after experiencing the world she had created, she knew she needed to keep it in her life. It was beautiful.

"Thank you for saving me." Rose exclaimed, pulling away from the girl and giving her a smile. Rose always felt attached to the woman … well, not always. At first, they repelled. But now … after seeing who Astrid was. She respected her. She looked up to her. And she was so grateful that Astrid had saved her from getting her face taken … she didn't think it would be all that pleasant. And she was glad that Astrid had been there to save her from the pain.

"I always will." Astrid stated firmly, a dark look crossing over the woman's features. She wanted Rose to know that no matter what would happen, that she would always be there for her. Always. Astrid was determined to save Rose no matter what the consequences. She had been put in this universe to save the companions. She was convinced. And that would start with Rose Tyler. Astrid knew that she ended up in an alternate universe with the Doctor's twin, and she ends up having an alright life. But Astrid could give her an even better life, here on this universe. She could make sure that her mom and Pete and Mickey and Rose all stayed here.

Astrid snapped out of her trance, looking around for the man that had saved her. She knew he was around here somewhere, he had to be. After all, from what she remembered, he found Rose not long after she had gotten her face back on the show. Granted … this was different and for some reason, they were still in the Bishop's office and not in the cage like Rose would have been.

"Where's the Doctor?" Astrid questioned, confused as to where he would be. A sliver of fear in her hearts. She was worried that something had happened. Something different that had lead to the death of the Doctor. But in her mind, she knew that couldn't be the case. Perhaps it was just taking him longer to get up to this room. She was just being ridiculous. Stupid girl.

"Astrid!" A breathless voice exclaimed from the doorway, causing the two to turn. Astrid's eyes immediately burning a bright pink as she saw the Doctor staring at her. She ran to him, hugging him tightly, expressing all of her gratitude and love and happiness all into that single touch. She knew that he would save her. She believed in him. Deep down, she trusted him with everything. And she knew, this was not where she would die, because it was not where Rose had died.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again." The Doctor exclaimed, closing his eyes as held her tightly. He had nearly lost it when he had seen her yelling for him on the tele in Magpie's shop. She seemed so sad. Her eyes looked so lost, as if she were looking for something. Forever searching. And it had broke him in that shop, staring into those eyes, knowing that she was stuck in that Tele, her body shut down like a doll never to see him again. It broke him. And he had nearly let the oncoming storm free to wreak havoc on all the parties responsible for taking his Astrid's face. But he waited. And he had kept his calm, and he had figured out the Wire's plan so he could stop it instead of killing it the second he had met it. Astrid had scared him. Just the thought of being without her scared him.

"I'll try not to." Astrid whispered, feeling his fear as he gripped her tighter. She knew she couldn't promise him that she'd keep out of trouble. But she knew that the only way to save companions would be to take their place. Even if it scared the Doctor. Because in the end, she didn't deserve to be here, and they did. In the end, the Doctor would be happy.