The TARDIS materialised right in-between two gates, one saying "DANGER - KEEP OUT" and the other saying "NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THESE GATES".
The Doctor opened the door but the TARDIS had materialised the wrong way round, the gate blocking the door completely.
Walking back in, he rolled his eyes at the knowing smirk on his tether's face, "wrong way around?"
"Stop being smug, Cassie," he muttered, smiling when she softly bumped their hips, inputting the correct commands in the machine, and pulling a lever, "Hush you, you love my smugness."
As the TARDIS materialised again, this time the correct way around, he laid his lips to her neck, correcting happily, "I love you."
A throat cleared happily from behind them, and they turned around, facing a smiling Rose who gestured towards the door, "So…shall I go and leave you two alone, or….?"
Cass blushed lightly, pulling away from the console and grabbing her tether's hand, leading the way outside.
The blonde followed, spotting a Shayne Ward poster on a wall and grinning, "So, near future, yeah?"
"For you," Cass smiled, "this is kinda old for me, actually."
A warm arm wrapped around her shoulders, the Doc grinning, "I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped."
"Two-thousand-and-twelve," she explained to Rose happily, continuing, "I was in Cambridge around this time, actually. Getting one of my Doctorates."
"Engineering?"
"Nah, Quantum Mechanics. I did the Engineering bit at Harvard before," Cass corrected casually, smirking when Rose rolled her eyes at the nonchalant way she spoke of her, very much not casual degrees.
They walked out on the street, the Doc waving an around around excitedly, "30th Olympia."
Rose linked her arm with Cass on the redhead's other side, smiling wide, "No way! Why didn't I think of this, that's great! Ah!"
"Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about... wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood about, begging... no, wait a minute... that was Club Med." The Doctor explained, chuckling lightly at his own joke, "Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony... tonight, I thought you'd both like that."
He was so deep into his own thoughts, that he didn't notice both girls had disappeared from his side, standing in front of lamppost, looking curiously at the variety of 'Missing' posters glued to it.
"Last one they had in London was dynamite." He continued obliviously, "Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch... lovely chap, what was his…?"
"Doctor?" Rose tried.
"Mark...? John..? Mark...? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet."
"Doctor!" She tried again, but he still continued, "And in those days, everybody had a tea party to go to. Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top.. Do you know those, those things? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius."
t=7646
She turned to Cass pleadingly, and the redhead huffed, nodding, "Honey? Mind coming over here for a sec?"
Instantaneously, his head turned to them, and he hurried in their direction, wrapping his hand around his tether's once more, Rose rolling her eyes at the fact that nothing could snap him out his thoughts but Cass.
"What's taking them, do you think?" He asked curiously, "Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold...? Is something reducing the temperature…?"
Looking down, he noticed the light shivers from Cass, before pulling her tighter into his chest, his hand rubbing lightly over her arm, trying to warm her up.
"It says they all went missing this week." Rose read, "Why would a person do something like this?"
Cass glanced at the blonde, eyes moving to the quiet street thoughtfully, before she said, "What makes you think it's a person?"
When they both turned to her curiously, she thought for an instant, knowing what they were asking, before saying, "spoiler; loneliness can be a terribly destructive force."
The Doc nodded, before walking down the street, tugging the redhead along with him. Whatever was going on here, it wasn't good.
Wasn't good at all.
—
They stopped by a lawn, the Doc kneeling down and raising his hand over the grass, hovering as though trying to sense something.
Knowing he was tapping into something she couldn't feel, Cass knelt beside him, letting him work, as her eyes moved curiously over the buildings, trying to find the lonely child behind this whole mess.
Her eyes moved back to him when he giggled lightly, chuckling when he huffed, "Tickles."
Noticing her laughter, he tugged her to him, landing on his back, Cass sprawled over his chest, giggling softly as he pressed soft kisses down and up the column of her throat, "Kinda like this…"
"What's your game?" A rough voice cut them off, and they slowly turned their heads towards it, noticing a frowning man, standing at the edge of the lawn.
Cass righted herself, clearing her throat and blushing lightly at the position they'd been in, while the Doctor simply tugged at his ear, mumbling, "My... um... Snakes and Ladders?"
Sitting up, he pulled Cass back into his arms, continuing, "Quite good at... Squash. Reasonable…."
"He's being facetious," the redhead sighed, before whispering to him, a small amused smile on her face, "I think he thinks you're being very rude, right now."
He turned to her, smirking softly, before looking back at the man and sighing on a nod, "Yeah, there's no call for it."
—
They were backing away from the man, who was quickly advancing on them, a furious expression on his face.
"We're... We're police officers!" The Doc floundered in a panic, "We've got badges, and... and a police car... you don't have to get... I can... I can prove it! Just hold on." He dug his hand into his pocket, fishing uselessly for his psychic paper.
"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look, or sound, like any of them." The man nearly growled, coming closer.
"See, look!" The alien pointed at Rose triumphantly, "We've got a colleague! Lewis."
Rose flashed the man a policeman-like wink.
"Well, she looks less like a copper than you two do."
"She's new," Cass jumped in, thinking quickly, "A trainee. New recruit and all."
"Exactly," the Doctor nodded from beside her, hand still digging through his pocket, "It was either that or hairdressing, so…" he held his psychic paper out, flashing it at the man, a victorious grin on his face, "Voila!"
"What are you going to do?" Asked another woman, as she joined them.
Cass turned to her curiously, fighting to keep her face set in a mask of impassive curiosity, rather than realisation. Especially, since this was the mother of the reason all this tragedy was occurring in the first place.
"The police have knocked on every door, no clues, no leads, nothing." The woman who'd been by Rose replied.
"Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do…" the burly man shook his head.
The one who'd spoken scoffed, "Dale Hixon in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then…" she waved her hands around, mimicking something disappearing, "Right in front of me, like he was never there! There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us."
The redhead looked around, eyes straying up. It was one of those windows, she was sure of it! She kept looking at each one until finally, her eyes landed on a shadowed figure, one that was clearly observing them intently.
Around her, the people all continued arguing, another neighbour joining in, "Why don't we start with him?" She pointed at the man that had accompanied Rose accusingly, "There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night."
"Fixing things up for the Olympics!" He cried indignantly.
"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it." Tommy's father uttered suspiciously.
"I'm of the opinion that all we've gotta do is just…" the Doctor tried to cut in, only for the man accused to cry, "You don't... what you just said, that's slander!"
"I don't care what it is!" The neighbour yelled back.
"I think we need to just…" The Doc tried again.
"I want an apology off her!"
"Stop picking on him."
"Yeah, stop picking on me!"
"And stop pretending to be blind! It's evil!"
And on and on and on some more, until finally, having had enough, Cass whistled loudly, quieting them down enough for the Doc to yell, "Fingers on lips!"
She'd already placed hers there earlier, having felt his patience run dry through their tether, but she was still looking up at the shadowed figure in the window, keeping her eyes on Chloe Webber, and the alien that had taken residence inside of her.
"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" The Time Lord questioned.
One one the women began, gesturing towards her mouth, "Er... can I…?"
He nodded, and she removed her finger, answering, "Look around you... this was a safe street 'til it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?"
Rose had noticed her sister's glance, and followed it, noticing with growing eyes the figure watching them from behind the curtains.
—
Tommy's dad parted his curtains, to see Rose and Cass standing outside his house and the Doctor sniffing around the front lawn like a sniffer-dog.
Rose watched him for a few moments, before asking, "Want a hanky?"
From beside her, Cass snorted, "I was going to ask whether he expected us to scratch him behind his ears and call him 'good boy' once he was done."
Looking up at them, he rolled his eyes at his tether, winking slyly, before asking seriously, "Can you two smell it?"
"What does it remind you of?" He added quickly, noticing their noses rising slightly in the air.
Rose sniffed indelicately, nose wrinkling, as the redhead murmured thoughtfully, "Smells like a sketching class. Pencils…"
"Sort of... metal?" The blonde questioned softly.
The Doctor nodded, grinning excitedly, and she followed suit, hooking her elbow through Cassandra's as he joined them, waving merrily at Tom's dad, before leading them down the street, hand grabbing onto his tether's.
"Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." He said, pointing to an alley, before stopping, both he and the redhead gasping lightly.
"There it is again," she whispered, goosebumps erupting over her skin at the feeling.
He nodded, raising his hand between both girls, yelping, "Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand."
Rose grimaced slightly, before sniffing, "And there's that smell... it's like a um... a burnt fuse plug or something."
"Residual energy," he mumbled thoughtfully, raising his voice and repeating, "There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this."
—
Rose was walking a few paces behind the Doctor and Cass, watching as the redhead swung their clasped hands back and forth gleefully, when she noticed a fat ginger cat.
"Aren't you a beautiful boy?!" She exclaimed, hurrying to it happily.
"Thanks!" The Doctor beamed, not noticing the knowing smirk on his tether's face, "I'm experimenting with back-combing…Oh," he huffed, pouting when he realised his companion had been talking to a cat.
A soft hand cupped his cheek, and he turned back to his Cassie, to find her smiling happily, "Well, if it makes any difference, I happen to think you're the handsomest boy."
He grinned proudly, moving his head slightly and pressing his lips to her palm, relishing in the feel of her skin.
Things had been…different in the best way possible sine they'd realised who she truly was. It was as though the small part of him that had been holding back subconsciously, the part that feared the unimaginable pain and hurt he'd have felt when she died, was gone now. And their bond had strengthened because of it.
Because she wasn't human. She was a Time Lady, and instead of dying, his tether would simply regenerate, as he did.
Granted, there was still that pesky problem of who she actually was, the fact that she wasn't just any old Time Lady, but the Oracle of Gallifrey, to contend with. Since she was still human, she didn't realise the implication, didn't understand or remember exactly how powerful she actually was. How revered she'd been on their planet.
The Oracle. The council's secret, hidden weapon. The one with no face. The blessed one. The legendary child, who'd stared into the schism, and grew so inspired, it became a part of her.
No one had known her identity, as every time she'd been in public; the very rare, very few times she'd been in public, her face had been hidden behind a crimson veil. It had been expressly forbidden to look upon her true face, to see her identity. It was an honour only granted to a precious few.
And she'd been his tether. This entire time, all the days he'd spent with the council, in meeting rooms and strategy halls, knowing she was close…she'd been his tether.
It made him a little sad to think about, knowing from her words that her life hadn't been happy, and knowing from experience how ruthless the council could be. If he'd just known earlier, he could have saved her from that, could have stolen her from them, and taken her with him on the TARDIS, with nothing but time and space to worry over.
I'm here now, Theta. That's the bit that matters. Her voice ran through his head, stronger than it had ever been, reminding him that she was here now, flesh and blood in his arms.
Where he could personally ensure she would always be happy and radiant and smiling.
Pressing another gentle kiss to her palm, he turned back to Rose, grimacing slightly as he watched her coo at the cat, before walking towards her.
"I used to have one like you." She petted the creature softly, before looking up, noticing the small smile on Cass' face and the grimace on the Doc's.
"What?" She asked the alien.
"No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it." He replied, before smirking lightly when his tether pouted up at him, "So we can't get a pet cat in the TARDIS?"
"Sorry, love." He grinned softly, "I'm afraid you'll have to contend with me."
Cass bit her lip, miming thoughtfulness for a second, before nodding with a tiny pout, "Fine, guess you'll have to do, Time Lord."
The kitty ran away from her, straight into a cardboard box, hiding.
"Come here, puss! What do you wanna go in there for?" Rose cried softly, following after it.
The cat meowed, a low whooshing noise following, and when she kneeled down, peering into the box to find it empty, she yelled, panicked, "Cass! Doctor!"
They hurried to her, both drawing back as they got close enough for the smell to hit them full-on.
"Whoa! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" He chuckled, waving the smell away, before picking the box up, peering inside of it with an impressed look, "Iron residue. Blimey! That takes some doing!" Turning it around, he shook it lightly, continuing, "Just to snatch a living organism out of space/time. This baby is just like, 'I'm 'avin' some of that', I'm impressed."
"So the cat's been transported?"
"It can harness huge reserves of ionic power." He shook his head, "We need to find the source of that power." He looked around curiously, "Find the source and you will find... whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see." Turning back to his girls, he patted Rose quickly on the shoulder, before pressing his lips to his tether, grinning when he pulled away, "Keep 'em peeled, Lewis, Mrs. Holmes."
Before walking around the bend of the alley and disappearing from view, leaving the two girls behind to do some investigating of their own.
Cass shook the usual haze from her mind, before turning to her sister and commenting, "Did he just call me Mrs. Holmes?"
"Yep."
"I'm not Mrs. Holmes! If anything, I'm the Sherlock of the relationship and he's like…like a more attractive, way smarter Watson!"
—
Cass had led them to a small garage. Around them, the neighbourhood was eerily quiet except from a dog barking. Something crashed from inside the garage, causing Rose to turn and give her an intrigued expression. When the initial crash was followed by several smaller ones, she approached, standing beside the redhead, both of them looking curiously at the door.
"Is that you, puss-cat?" The blonde cooed softly, putting her hand on the metal door, "Are you trapped?"
When there was another loud crashing noise, she jumped back, before groaning when she noticed the intrigued expression on Cass' face.
"Please don't open it, he's going to kill me if I let you open it and something attacks!"
Cass rolled her eyes, shrugging casually, "Precog, remember? Typically, I'm the one keeping you two from opening doors you shouldn't open."
Reaching down, she grabbed the handle with one hand, the other pulling her sonic from her pocket, holding it tightly at the ready. And with one strong tug, she opened the door, moving aside just as a large, metallic shape flew precisely where her face had been.
She could hear Rose yelling frantically for the Doc, could hear his running footsteps, but she ignored them, dodging another attack quickly, before pointing her screwdriver and pressing the button, the creature decreasing to half it's original size and falling…directly into her open palm.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders, and she was turned around to find herself staring into her tether's worried eyes, his hands reaching up to cup her cheeks, frantically asking, "Love, you okay?"
"Honey," she soothed, grinning slightly, "I'm fine." Looking over his shoulder at Rose, she continued, smirking, "Honestly guys, you need to have some more faith in me. You two are typically the ones getting into mortal danger, I'm the one getting you out of it. It's starting to become a little insulting."
The blonde shrugged, unapologetic as she came closer, pulling her into a small hug, "I wasn't going to risk it. I've seen how he is when you're in danger. Don't want that aimed at me."
The Doctor chuckled softly, before grabbing to small creature from the redhead's palm, and glancing at it in confusion, "I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is." He takes out his own sonic, poking it softly, "'Cos I haven't got the foggiest."
Rose leaned over, looking at it as well, "Well, I can tell you Cass just killed it."
"It was never living," the redhead revealed, "I managed to scan it before blasting it. It's made up of Ionic energy, same kind of energy left over from when kids get snatched."
The Doctor laughed, throwing the small thing in the air and catching it gleefully, "That is so dinky! The Go-Anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket... makes friends, impresses the boss... breaks the ice at parties…" placing it in his pocket, he grabbed his tether's hand, pulling her behind him, grinning when he heard her laughter mixing with Rose's in the air.
—
They'd gone back to the TARDIS, where the Doc was currently trying to scan the metallic blob.
"Oh, hi ho, here we go. Let's have a look." He grinned, as the screen began displaying the results in wide, Gallifreyan circles.
Leaning closer, his eyes grew in size, "Get out of here…" he murmured softly, before spinning around and pressing his lips to a surprised Cass, crying happily when he pulled away, "You're a bloody genius, love!"
"Um…sure," she murmured, clearing her throat, knowing her cheeks were blazing with colour, "Why, exactly?"
Rose chuckled, nudging her teasingly as they both stared at the man, waiting for the information.
"You said it earlier. It smelled like a sketching class! Should've known it was a premonition based on your face, but I'm still learning the expressions," he blabbed quickly, only to get silenced when a lovely hand landed on his lips, his Cassie's smiling voice intoning, "Less blabbing, more informing, Time Lord."
He kissed her palm gently, before grabbing it and finishing, "It's graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil. Which would typically be used in a sketching class."
Pulling a small eraser from his pocket, he rubbed it over a small part of the blob, grinning when it disappeared, "See!"
"So Cass was attacked by a... pencil scribble?" Rose questioned incredulously.
He nodded, "Scribble creature." He sniffed it lightly, before bringing it to his companion's nose, "Brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But... why make a scribble creature?!"
"Maybe it was a mistake... I mean, you scribble over something when you wanna get rid of it. Like a um... like a drawing." Rose shrugged.
"Sure," The redhead added, before turning to look at then blonde knowingly, "Or a child's scribble."
Rose's eyes grew, and she whispered in realisation, "The girl."
Cass nodded, "Yep. I knew she gave me the creeps for a reason."
The Doc nodded along, "Of course!" Just wanting to join in on the moment, before looking at his tether and asking, "What girl?"
"even her own mum looked scared of her." Rose continued, as Cass explained to him, "Little girl was watching us all creepy-like from her window earlier."
"Ahh," he breathed, turning to grin at the youngest, "Are you deducting?"
"I think I am," she smirked.
"Copper's hunch?"
Cass bit her lip, leaning teasingly close to him and adding, "Permission to follow it up, Sarge?"
—
The three stood right in front of a non-suspect door, one Cass had lead them to, knowing it belonged to Trish, the woman they currently needed to talk to.
They were waiting for her to open up, the Doc having rung the doorbell. But realising it was likely she wouldn't, Cass reached over, knocking gently on the door again.
"Hello!" The Doctor began, smiling happily when she opened the door, "I'm the Doctor and this is my wife, Cassie."
The redhead shook her head at his words, making a mental note to ask him about it later, smiling gently, before turning to Trish and nodding, "Hi, lovely meeting you."
"And this is Rose. Can we see your daughter?"
"No! You can't." She immediately balked at the request.
The three made knowing eye-contact, and Cass nodded slowly, turning to leave, "Yeah, okay." With her back to the woman however, she smirked, slowly raising three fingers to countdown.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Why?" Trish called, the three turning back around to face her, the alien having to consciously keep from grinning when he heard his tether's voice in his head; bingo!
"Why do you want to see Chloe?"
"Well," he began, "there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought, well, we thought, that she might like to give us a hand."
Cass shrugged softly, adding, "But…if that's too much to ask,"
"Yeah," Rose followed nonchalantly, "Sorry to bother you."
"We'll just leave you to go back to things…"
"On your own." The Doc finished, "Bye again!"
They turned to walk away, only for Trish to call them back again, "Wait!"
The woman seemed helpless, as she nearly pleaded, "Can you help her?"
And Cass couldn't help but fall even further in love with her tether when he smiled gently, nodding, "Yes, we can."
—
"The Torch Bearer is running up towards the mall, which I can tell you is…" The TV presenter was softly saying as they entered the living room, Rose and Cass immediately heading for the couch, the Doctor throwing his coat on the armrest nearest his tether, choosing to simply stand beside her, his hand on her back.
"She stays in her room, most of the time." Trish sighed softly, the aura of helplessness and….fear growing around her, "I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone."
"What about Chloe's dad?" Rose questioned softly.
"Chloe's dad died a year ago."
The expression on the woman's face was odd, as though she was relieved as she uttered those words. And to Cass, there was only ever one reason for a woman to look so relieved that her partner was dead and gone.
And somehow, the redhead knew that she understood exactly what Chloe had been through, not in this life, where she'd been an orphan, but her other one.
"I'm sorry," Rose murmured.
Cass looked at Trish softly, nodding, "But you're not, are you?"
The woman turned her eyes to her, noting the understanding gleam in them, the one that made her feel as though Cass understood, and sighed, "You wouldn't be either, if you'd known him."
The hand that had been placed lightly on her back tensed, and she could feel the Doctor growing angrier, the feeling throbbing through their tether, as he injected brightness in his tone and announced, "Well! Let's go and say hi!"
Trish hesitated, eyes looking up the stairs, towards her daughter's room, "I…I should check on her first... she might be asleep."
The redhead stood up, walking slowly, carefully towards the woman, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Trish…why are you so afraid of her?"
And she was. The fear was clearly written on the woman's face, the hesitation…the absolute helplessness. And Cass, she'd never been a mother, but she understood exactly what it felt like to fear something you never should.
After all, she was most afraid of herself.
"I just," she swallowed heavily, looking at them with a certain kind of desperation that tugged at their heartstrings, "I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid."
"That, I'm certain of," Cass murmured reassuringly, pulling the woman to the couch, nudging her gently to sit where she had been, before moving to her tether, leaning her back against him.
Trish nodded, "She's never been in trouble at school…" she chuckled wetly, smiling proudly, "you should see her report from last year. As and Bs."
Rose nodded, smiling softly at the woman, before rising, "Can I use your loo?"
The mother nodded, Cass looking at the blonde intently as she disappeared from their view, heading up the stairs.
"She's in the choir…" Trish continued, "She's singing in an old folks home. Any mum would be proud. You know... I want you to know these things before you see her, Doctor. Because right now, she's not herself."
—
The Doctor popped his head around the corner, looking through the dining room and into the kitchen, where Chloe was getting herself a glass of milk.
"All right, there?" He grinned, walking in, his hand wrapped around Cass', Trish following behind them.
"I'm the Doctor," he introduced when the girl turned to look at them apathetically.
The redhead waved softly, adding, "And I'm Cass."
"I'm Chloe Webber."
He nodded slowly, "How're you doing, Chloe Webber?"
She shrugged, the expression on her face still curiously devoid of interest or intrigue, "I'm busy. I'm making something." She turned to her mother, "Aren't I, mum?"
Trish swallowed, looking at the couple hesitantly, "And like I said, she's not been sleeping."
Cass shot the mother a small smile, before looking back at Chloe, titling her head towards her pencil stained fingers curiously, "You've been drawing. Your mom was telling us how you're working on a masterpiece."
"I'm rubbish." The Doctor commented casually, "Stick men are about my limit." Glancing down at his tether, he grinned, "Cassie though, she's a real Picasso."
"He's lying. I'm average at best," she rolled her eyes with a small grin, before adding thoughtfully, "Can play the piano though,"
She could feel his interest piquing, his curiosity at this particular skill of hers rising. After all, Cass hadn't exactly had the opportunity or access to instruments since she'd been transported to his universe. And it's not like the TARDIS had a baby grand just lying around, waiting to be played.
To be honest, she wasn't even sure she'd remember how. The last time she'd played, she'd been twenty-two and about to leave Massachusetts, for Washington D.C, to start her new job at NASA. And she doubted she was all that good anyway, since 'The Ivory Spot' hadn't exactly required classical training.
But knowing him, she just had a feeling… a piano would be waiting for her at the end of this adventure.
"I can do this," he added, clearing his throat lightly, before flashing the little girl the 'live long and prosper' sign from Star Trek, smiling lightly when he heard Cass' chuckle at the move.
Though, Chloe Webber seemed very unimpressed.
"Can you do that?" He encouraged softly.
Trish nodded at her daughter encouragingly, but all she did was say, apathetically, "They don't stop moaning."
"Chloe…" her mother began softly, but the girl continued, eyes on the couple, "I try to help them, but they don't stop moaning."
"Who don't?" Cass asked softly.
"We can be together."
"Sweetheart," Trish sighed, reaching for her slowly, only for the girl to flinch, and dodge away, "Don't touch me, mum."
The woman stopped dead in her tracks, dropping her hand, eyes rising to the couple, helplessness and fear warring in them.