The Doctor stared up at the police detective that had detained him after he successfully tracked down their base of operations silently.
"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know," The detective demanded. He leaned forward and braced himself on his desk as he stared the Doctor down. The Time Lord merely rolled his eyes before speaking.
"Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet."
"Don't get clever with me," Another eye roll from the Doctor, "You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now you're connected with this. Make no mistake." The detective claimed, slamming his hand on the desk as he spoke.
"Well, the thing is," The Doctor twisted slightly to look at the neck of the detective, "Detective Inspector Bishop." He trailed off as the other man spoke up.
"How do you know my name?" Suspicion bled from him as the Doctor just shrugged.
"It's written inside your collar," Bishop reddened and straightened to adjust his shirt, "Bless your mum. But I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting, are you?" The Doctor accused, his eyebrows almost meeting his hairline in his amazement at the man's ineffectiveness.
"I'm doing everything in my power," Bishop attempted to defend himself.
"All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can," The Doctor held up his hand as Bishop started to retort, "Don't tell me orders from above, hmm? Coronation Day. The eyes of the world are on London Town so any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight."
"The nation has an image to maintain." The Doctor scoffed while Bishop stared at the floor.
"But doesn't it drive you mad, doing nothing? Don't you want to get out there and investigate?"
"Of course I do. But, with all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man power," Bishop ran his hand down his face, "Even if we did, this is beyond anything we've ever seen. I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force, I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on."
"Well, that could change."
"How?" Bishop asked, his voice long turned helpless and pitiful in tone.
"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know," The Doctor ordered as he stood up from his chair. Bishop sighed and gestured for the Doctor to follow him over to a map on the wall behind his desk.
"We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just blank," He explained. The Doctor examined the map for a moment before picking up one of the many files Bishop had on the issue and thumbing through it.
"Is there any sort of pattern?" He asked, his fingers fishing a pair of reading glasses from his ever growing suit pockets.
"Yes, spreading out from North London. All over the city. Men, women, kids, grannies. The only real lead is there's been quite a large number in-"
"Florizel Street," The Doctor finished. Bishop nodded in response but the opening of the door behind them distracted the detective.
"Found another one, sir," Another policeman called out as he pushed a figure into the room, their head and most of their body covered by a blanket. The Doctor turned and froze slightly, a feeling of dread starting to flow in his like freezing water. He stepped closer, noting the height of the figure, and praying it wasn't who he thought it was.
"Oh, er, good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor. Take a good look. See what you can deduce," The Doctor barely registered Bishop's words as he stared down at the blush pink skirt and navy blue shoes peeking out at him.
"No… No no no…" The Doctor's mind raced at a million miles a minute as it tried to connect to his Tether's mind. "No no no no no." Their connection was nowhere to be found.
That couldn't be. Their connection couldn't just be gone, it couldn't be. His breathing picked up, his fingers started to shake.
"No no no no no," He felt his windpipe closing with each passing millisecond. The air rushed away from him, the world crumbled away from his feet.
As the blanket rose to reveal a pink starlet dress, a pearl necklace, and raven locks of hair, the Doctor felt his soul leave his body and his mind begin to unravel like a poorly knitted scarf. He couldn't have held back the soft cry at the sight of his Tether standing there without her beautiful face if he tried. Nor the impulse to rush forward cup her cheeks in his. Nor the desperate mutterings his mouth expelled as he surveyed the utter destruction that something had wreaked upon the one person his soul could not survive without.
"Annie," The Doctor eventually croaked out. His body was beginning to fail him as he continued to stare at the shell that had been left behind. His leg muscles were reduced to a shaking jelly. His fingers trembled like the silver leaves on Gallifrey in a windstorm. And all the while, his mind further tumbled into a whirling sea of fear and despair.
"You know her?" Bishop asked.
"Know her? She-" The Doctor's voice died in his throat. Aneres was his everything. She was the burning inferno at the center of every beautiful star he had ever seen. She was the cliff face that he had always clung to as the crashing waves of horror and pain crushed his body and soul. She was the light of a warm flame that caressed his skin with comfort and left his mind forever branded by her unforgettable self. She was his universe. His Tether.
"They found her in the street, apparently, over by... Square, abandoned," The Doctor twitched as he began to register the words of Crabtree and Bishop.
"That's unusual. That's the first one out in the open. Heaven help us if something happens in public tomorrow for the big day. We'll have Torchwood on our backs then, make no mistake."
"They did what?" The Doctor's voice scraped past his vocal chords like nails on a chalkboard.
"I'm sorry?" Bishop asked.
"They left her where?" His voice grew stronger, and was tinted with an emotion that neither of the two men could place.
"Just in the street," Bishop answered slowly. The Doctor's spine straightened ever so slightly, and his jaw tensed visibly. The two policemen took a step back.
"In the street. They left her in the street," The sea became a burning forge. His eyes seared with a malicious promise. His fingers cracked as his hands moved from her face to tighten into fists. "They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things simple," The Doctor removed the glasses from his face and snapped them in half. The fragments fell to the floor. "Very, very simple. Do you know why?" He turned to stare at Bishop and Crabtree.
"No," Bishop whispered, fear evident in his face as he regarded the positively burning man before him.
"Because now, Detective Inspector Bishop," The Doctor was no longer present. There is no power IN ANY UNIVERSE that can stop me. Come on!" The Oncoming Storm had arrived. And he was going to destroy whatever had dared to make him their enemy. Whatever had dared to take away his Tether.
TEotOS
The Oncoming Storm slammed the door to the warehouse open, ignoring everything else as he stalked across the stone courtyard to the gate. Bishop lingered for a moment, staring up at the sky as the sun crept across it.
"The big day dawns," He whispered. A moment later he heard the crash of the gate opening and ran after the furious Time Lord, who had only one destination in mind. Florizel Street.
TEotOS
Tommy frowned as he heard someone knock, no. Pound their door as loudly as possible. He rushed out to see the Doctor standing on their porch without Aneres, and fury cloaking him like a shroud of violence and poison.
"Tommy, talk to me," The Oncoming Storm snarled, "I need to know exactly what happened inside your house." Tommy gulped and opened his mouth, only for his father to cut him off.
"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Mr. Connolly shouted. Detective Inspector Bishop winced as the Doctor's knuckles turned an impossible white.
"I want to help, dad," Tommy pleaded. He stared up at his father who's face contorted into a sneer.
"Mister Connolly-" The man cut the Doctor off.
"Shut your face, you, whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves," The Oncoming Storm left out a soft growl at Mr. Connolly, "Listen, you little twerp. You're hardly out of the blooming' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain. People round here respect me. It matters what people think."
Tommy's eyes widened in realization. "Is that why you did it, dad?"
"What do you mean? Did what?"
"You ratted on Gran. How else would the police know where to look, unless some coward told them?" Tommy's words spurred Mr. Connolly to grab his son by the collar in a rage, with spittle flying from his lips.
"How dare you! Do you think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?" He screamed, shaking his son violently. The Oncoming Storm watched silently, his own rage growing and bubbling up faster than any chemical reaction.
"You don't get it, do you? You fought against fascism, remember? People telling you how to live, who you could be friends with, who you could fall in love with, who could live and who had to die. Don't you get it?" Tommy pushed his father away as he shouted, "You were fighting so that little twerps like me could do what we want, say what we want. Now you've become just like them. You've been informing on everyone, haven't you? Even Gran. All to protect your precious reputation."
"Eddie is that true?" Rita whispered as she moved to stand in the doorway. Her mouth was hanging open in horror and disgust as she stared at her husband.
"I did it for us, Rita. She was filthy. A filthy, disgusting thing!" Eddie shouted, earning even more hatred from the people standing around him.
"She's my mother. All the others you informed on, all the people in our street, our friends," Rita continued, her face contorting into its own furious expression. The Oncoming Storm resisted the urge to scream at them as each second passed without him finding whatever had taken Aneres away from him.
"I had to. I, I did the right thing."
"The right thing for us or for you, Eddie?" Rita turned to her son, "You go, Tommy. Go with the Doctor and do some good. Get away from this house, it's poison. We had a ruddy monster under this roof, all right, but it weren't my mother!" And with that, the door slammed shut. Eddie gaped at where his wife had been standing, while the Doctor reached out and grabbed Tommy's hand before dragging him away.
"Tommy, tell me about that night. The night she changed," The Oncoming Storm ordered.
"She was just watching the telly," Tommy whispered, struggling to keep up with him as his strides only quickened in pace.
"Annie said it. She guessed it straight away. Of course she did," The Doctor released Tommy's wrist in order to look at the roofs of the houses, "All these aerials in one little street. How come?"
"Bloke up the road, Mister Magpie, he's selling them cheap." The Oncoming Storm stared at Tommy for a moment before breaking into a dead sprint up the road and around the corner. Bishop and Tommy gaped for a moment before taking off after him, fearing for Mister Magpie's safety as each second passed without the Doctor in their sights.
TEotOS
The Oncoming Storm's lips parted into a sadistic grin as he approached the shop, only to find the door locked. A deep growl escaped him as he searched for anything useful, his eyes eventually landing on a brick.
Detective Inspector Bishop and Tommy arrived a few seconds later, just as the brick flew through the glass window in the door. The screech of shattering glass drowned out their reprimands while the Oncoming Storm only focused on getting inside. His grin widened as he managed to flip the lock and throw the door open; and then immediately made his way inside.
"Shop! If you're here, come out and talk to me!" The Doctor stormed over to the desk and started beating the little bell to death, "Magpie!" He screamed, his eyes alight with madness and an explosive fury.
"Maybe he's out," Tommy breathed out, shrinking away from the vengeful god before him.
"Looks like it," The Doctor ripped drawer after drawer open until his eyes landed on what looked to be a portable television. "Oh, hello. This isn't right. This is very much not right. Tastes like iron. Bakelite. Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself. Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple," The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, his entire body shaking with his rage at that point.
"That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television," Bishop commented with wonder in his voice. He watched as the Doctor began to scan it with his sonic screwdriver.
"It's not the only power source in this room," A zap sounded as all of the blank monitors turned on to reveal a different face on each of them. Tommy stared at them silently, until he noticed one elderly woman mouthing "Help me!".
"Gran?" He whispered, his fingers reaching out to graze against the screen.
The Oncoming Storm crossed the room, each step sounding a muffled thud on the wooden floor. His eyes locked onto the screen in the bottom left corner, on his reason to live. He didn't register falling to his knees until a sharp pain shot through them, and brought him back to reality. She was there. She was screaming. He couldn't get to her. He could only trace the lines of her perfect face as she screamed silently.
"I'm so sorry, and I'm going to save you. I promise," The Doctor whispered, the tiniest amount of his rage fading as his brain processed the fact that she was still alive. She wasn't gone forever. He hadn't failed her completely.
"What do you think you're doing?" And just as quickly as Magpie entered, the Doctor's rage returned.
"I want my Tether restored, and I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician, so tell me, who's really in charge here?" His hands latched onto Magpie's collar and pinned him against the wall, "Tell me!" The Doctor's screams reverberated through the room.
"Yoo hoo! I think that must be me," The Doctor turned to stare at the Wire, "Ooh, this one's smart as paint."
"Is she talking to us?" Bishop whispered fearfully.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen, I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves," Magpie gestured to the telly, "May I introduce you to my new friend?"
"Jolly nice to meet you," The Wire said with a sickly sweet smile.
"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly," Bishop rambled as he took a step back.
"No, it's just using her image," The Doctor pushed Magpie away as he snarled.
"What? What are you?" Tommy demanded with a shaky voice.
"I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy. Every last morsel," Her image started to turn from black and white to color, "And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow kind denied me." Bishop and Tommy gaped at the sight.
"Good Lord. Colour television!" The former breathed out.
"So your own people tried to stop you?" The Doctor deduced.
"They executed me," The Wire turned back to black and white as she spoke, "But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars."
"And now you're trapped in the television," The Doctor finished. The Wire sneered at him.
"Not for much longer."
"Doctor, is this what got my Gran?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, Tommy. It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it gorges itself like a great overfed pig, taking people's faces, their essences. It stuffs itself." The Doctor took another step closer to the screen.
"And you let her do it, Magpie," Detective Inspector Bishop snapped, glaring at the frightened salesman.
"I had to. She allowed me my face. She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation," Magpie explained.
"What does that mean?" Tommy asked, fear continuing to grow inside him.
"The appointed time. My crowning glory," The Wire hinted with a smug smile. Tommy and Bishop paled at the realization.
"Doctor, the coronation!" The latter shouted.
"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set," The Doctor began, only to pause for a moment, "But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this," He held up the portable television, grinning at the displeasure on the Wire's face, "You need something more powerful! This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver."
"What a clever thing you are! But why fret about it?" The Wire gave them all a sweet smile, "Why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the Coronation. Believe me, you'll be glued to the screen."
The Doctor didn't have time to react as the Wire's tendrils lashed out from the screen and latched onto his face. He bit back a scream as the exact pain that had devoured the love of his life sprinted through his consciousness, taking chunks out of everything it could.
"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah, this one is tasty. Oh, I'll have lashings of him! Delicious!" The Wire cackled through her mocking cries.
The Doctor groaned as he forced his rapidly stiffening body to reach into his pocket, the sonic screwdriver just out of reach.
"Ah! Armed. He's armed and clever. Withdraw! Withdraw!" The Wire shrieked, her tendrils releasing the three men, all of whom collapsed to the floor.
"The box, Magpie! The box!" Magpie scrambled over to grab the portable television from the Doctor's limp grasp. He winced at the sight of Detective Inspector Bishop without a face, but shook his head and stood before the Wire.
"Hold tight," The Wire zipped into the device in Magpie's hands, "Conduct me to my victory, Magpie." He nodded and broke into a sprint out of his shop, and down the streets of London.
TEotOS
The Doctor popped into a sitting position, immediately noticing Bishop and Tommy's respective states. "Tommy, wake up. Tommy, come on!" He shouted as he hoisted himself up to his feet.
"What happened?" Tommy coughed out.
"Where's Magpie?" The Doctor asked, looking around for a moment before he grabbed Tommy's hands and tugged him out the door.
"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late."
"It's never too late, as a wise person once said. Kylie, I think. The Wire's got big plans. It'll need…" The Doctor looked around frantically, "Yes, yes, yes, it's got to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and where are we?"
"Muswell Hill."
"Muswell Hill. Muswell Hill! Which means Alexandra Palace, biggest TV transmitter in North London," The Doctor pointed at the huge tower in the distance as he shouted, "Oh, that's why it chose this place. Tommy?"
"What are you going to do?"
"We're going shopping," The Doctor said before turning back and running into Magpie's Electrics once again.
The Doctor and Tommy started harvesting parts, with the Doctor shouting out his instructions and or requests.
"Is this what you want?" Tommy asked, holding up a large valve. The Doctor popped up and nodded.
"Perfect! Right, I need one more thing," He said, dumping the parts into a box and running out the door with Tommy on his heels. Eventually they arrived at the Tardis, where the Doctor managed to locate the last part he needed. "Got it. Let's go."
Tommy led the Doctor down the winding streets of Muswell Hill, and did his best to prevent the Time Lord from running into lamp posts as he constructed some sort of contraption. Finally he spotted the entrance to Alexandra Palace.
"There!" The Doctor looked up and nodded at Tommy.
"Come on!" He shouted, his free hand diving into his pocket to fish out the psychic paper once again as they approached a guard.
"Wait, wait, wait! Where do you think-" The sight of the paper gave him pause, "Oh! I'm very sorry, sir. Shouldn't you be at the Coronation?" The guard demanded.
"They're saving me a seat!" The Doctor shouted back.
"Who did he think you were?" Tommy asked. The Doctor looked at the paper.
"King of Belgium, apparently," He noted. Finally they reached the control room, where the Doctor slammed the contraption down on a nearby table. "Keep this switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?"
Tommy nodded and watched as the Doctor grabbed a large coil of copper wire before rushing out to the transmitter tower.
The Doctor moved as quickly as possible, wrapping the coil around his wrist as he started making his ascent on the tower. He looked down to make sure he was still connected to his contraption, and noticed the guard from earlier shouting up at him.
"You'll get yourself killed up there! Your Majesty!" The Doctor ignored him and continued making his way up, praying he wouldn't be too late and Aneres could be saved. He noticed Magpie several feet higher, along with the Wire.
"Feed me! Oh. Feast. Feasting The Wire is feasting," Magpie attached the portable television to the mast of the transmitters, trying his best to ignore the Wire's words. He looked up from his work to see the Doctor approaching.
"It's too late! It's too late for all of us!" He cried out, completely resigned to the fate they would suffer at the hands of the Wire.
"I shall consume you, Doctor," The Wire snarled, "Just like I consumed that lovely girl last night." The Doctor's eyes narrowed with a renewed fury.
"I won't let you do this, Magpie!" He roared.
"Help me, Doctor. It burns. It took my face, my soul," Magpie sobbed wildly, pain consuming him even further.
"You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest," The Wire gloated.
"No more of this. You promised me peace!" Her accomplice continued to wail, earning an eye roll from the gluttonous alien.
"And peace you shall have," She spat. Magpie let out one last scream as he was atomized, the sound of the Wire's cackling the last one he ever heard. The Doctor, however, only grinned and continued to approach the creature.
"Been burning the candle at both ends? You've overextended yourself, Missis. You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there," He let out a shout as he grabbed the television and felt a harsh zap, "Rubber soles, swear by them!" The Doctor laughed as he plugged in his cable, only to pale as nothing happened.
"Oh dear. Has our little plan gone horribly wrong, Doctor?"
Annie. He would never see her again. He'd failed. Tears threatened to fall, he felt the air rushing away from him again, his grip wanting to fail as he realized how he had lost.
But Tommy refused to let that happen. He quickly replaced the fuses in the contraption and crossed his fingers.
The Doctor was shocked from his reverie by the Wire screaming in what seemed like pain.
"No!" She wailed. His grin grew once again, and he slammed down on the button.
"It's closed down, I'm afraid, and no epilogue!" He shouted, laughing as the Wire gae one last scream before the screen went blank and her energy dissipated.
TEotOS
Aneres gasped for air as her face was restored, her hands instinctively reached up to make sure she was okay. She sagged in relief as she realized it was all over, she was okay. And so was everyone else it seemed. Her eyes finally noticed the other people around her, including a certain grandmother.
"Excuse me, are you Tommy Connolly's grandmother?" Aneres asked, making her way over to the woman. She looked up and nodded.
"Does he know I'm okay? Where is he?"
"I believe he's with my husband, and I will bet you anything he's coming back here right now to find you."
She nodded at Aneres and beamed when policemen came over to let them out of their little holding area. The Time Lady took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around the yard as family members started trying to find each other, or ask the police questions.
And then she heard him. Her eyes widened as she heard the Doctor shout in Gallifreyan, as she heard him shout her name.
"Esha!" The Doctor cried out, sprinting over to his Tether and gathering her into his arms. She gasped and clung to him tightly, her eyes stinging with tears and fingers white and they tangled into his suit jacket.
"You found me," Aneres pressed her face into his chest, "You found me."
"I'll always find you Esha. I promise," The Doctor whispered in her ear as he held her as tightly as possible. Her tears finally fell, the sound of her true name soothing her more than anything anyone else could have said.
TEotOS
That evening, Aneres and the Doctor made their way down to Florizel Street and grinned at the street party that was officially in full swing.
"I love these kinds of parties," She said, waving at the various children and adults that were celebrating left and right. "Everyone gets to be a part of something."
"Exactly. This is history right here, with the most ordinary of people," The Doctor agreed. He stopped at a table to grab each of them an orange juice.
"The Wire, is it trapped for good?" Aneres asked as she took her orange juice from her Tether.
"Hope so. Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivalled knowledge of transtemporal extirpation methods to neutralise the residual electronic pattern," The Doctor joked. He winced when Aneres glared at him slightly.
"Yes, it's trapped for good. I figured that was the least I could do after what it did to you," He continued. She nodded and seemed to relax a little bit more.
"How scared were you? I mean, you said my name. My actual name," Aneres pointed out, "You haven't said it once since you found me."
"For lack of a better word, I felt snapped. Cut off from everything of importance. No air, nothing," The Doctor turned to stand in front of her, "You are the one person I absolutely cannot live without, and while I already couldn't bear losing you in the first place, it felt like a knife to the heart to lose you without ever saying your name. I don't know how I managed to not go after you during the years when you were gone."
"I actually developed a theory for that," Aneres grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she spoke, "I think we were so traumatized, so broken by the War that our minds closed the connection so that we could heal on our own. And then, when I finally caught up, they were able to start connecting again."
"That… actually kind of makes sense," The Doctor admitted. A moment later he shook his head. "I just never want to lose you again, alright?"
"Alright," Aneres agreed. She then looked up at the Doctor, and stood up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. He gave a pleased hum, a gentle smile coming to his lips as the two of them relished in each other's presence and in the soft caresses from each other's lips.
Of course, their moment was cut short as Tommy ran over with a blinding grin. The Doctor gave a slight grunt as Aneres pushed him away and turned her attention to the young man.
"How's your Gran, is she feeling better?" She asked while giving Tommy a brief hug.
"Much, thank you both," Tommy began, but a certain sight gave them pause. Eddie Connolly was leaving the Connolly home, his bags packed and his hat atop his head. "Good riddance," He continued.
"Agreed, he's rather horrid," Aneres ruffled his hair. Tommy grinned at the Time Lady and shook hands with the Doctor, who seemed to have suddenly remembered something.
"Tommy, how about you keep the scooter? We've got plenty at home, and you did help save the world," The Doctor offered. Tommy nodded excitedly, bringing smiles to the Time Lords as they gave him the keys and helmets.
"Just make sure you don't show it off too much, it's a bit early in history for those," Aneres warned.
"I got it," Tommy turned to watch his father walk away, "Should I go after him?"
"Only if you think it's right," Aneres took a deep breath, "But keep in mind, people like him usually don't change for the better." Tommy nodded and continued to watch his father walk away.
"I'm gonna stay with Gran and Mum," Tommy decided.
"And that is perfectly undertsandable," The Doctor said, clapping Tommy on the back a few times. "Now, run on home. I think we all need to enjoy some time with our families."
Tommy beamed at them before turning back and going over to Rita and Gran. Aneres smiled at the three of them, and gave Rita a wave before turning and heading home with her Doctor. Her Tether, her universe.
Hello again! My parents have had me on bedrest cause of my flu, so all I've been doing is writing this story which I am loving a lot! I wish that it could be like this all the time, but unfortunately tis not possible. However, I truly do hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review with your questions, comments, concerns, or a PM! I love hearing from you guys, and I'm loving where this story is going!
