Victoria stood against the console, watching as the Doctor dug haphazardly through the containers below the grates.
"Any luck yet?" she called out, startling him. He flinched, banging his head into the frame with a wince.
"Hm… almost. I think I see the last one. Ooh, look at this Vie!" he exclaimed. She grinned widely as he popped up from the grate. In his arms were three different motorbike helmets, but on his head was a medieval knight helmet.
She stared at him for a moment before doubling over in laughter. She gripped her waist as tears leaked out of her eyes, feeling a cramp begin to form.
"You… You look so stupid!"
The Doctor grinned at her, a small sense of pride filling him at being able to make her smile. It had been a few weeks since they had met with Jack, and Victoria had been a little out of it, which he understood.
Her world had been rocked when he showed her his pocket watch. He was trying his best to not make her feel like she had to open it any time soon, though he knew sometimes it didn't come across that way. He couldn't help but be a little impatient when it came to meeting another Time Lord again.
"Hey Doctor," she grinned, skipping towards him. "I heard from a little birdy that a knight fell very sick over the weekend. He had a running temperature and was feeling very nauseous. The doctor called it Saturday Knight Fever."
She stuck her tongue out, almost exactly like Rose, before beginning to laugh at her own joke. He watched her fondly for a moment before laughing along with her.
'Victoria!" Rose called out from outside the Tardis, groaning loudly. This made the Doctor laugh harder while Victoria pouted lightly.
"Come on, Vie. Let's blow this popsicle stand," he said, standing up while tossing the medivial helmet back into it's container. He walked over to the motorbike sitting by the door and held a helmet out to Victoria.
"Wrong time period, Doctor," she shook her head, climbing onto the bike. He laughed and revved the engine before driving out of the Tardis.
He parked beside Rose and grinned at her, sliding a pair of sunglasses on.
"You goin' my way, Doll?" the Doctor, trying to sound like Elvis, asked Rose. With a smirk, she whipped out a matching pair of pink sunglasses and put them on.
"Is there any other way to go, Daddy-o?"
Victoria couldn't help but laugh as Rose walked over to the pair, saying "Straight from the fridge, man."
"Hey, you speak the lingo!" the Doctor uttered happily, tossing her a pink helmet.
"Yeah well... me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday"
Victoria send her an apologetically as the blonde lowered herself into the sidecar, but she waved her off.
After she was situated, the Doctor started the bike back up again and drove down the street. Victoria enjoyed the feeling of the wind whipping at her face and hair, and she smiled contently.
"Where are we off to?" Rose yelled, trying to speak over the wind.
"Ed Sullivan TV Studios, Elvis did 'Hound Dog' on one of the shows, there were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it," the Doctor called back.
"Isn't it in New York?"
Victoria blinked, looking around as she took in Rose's words.
After Rose had said that, Victoria noticed that the buildings lining the street were decorated with Union Flags with red post boxes out front.
"Digging the New York vibe!" Rose giggled, causing Victoria to grin.
"This could be New York. I mean, it kind of looks New-" Victoria cut the Doctor off before he could continue. "There is no way this is New York."
"What do you think the flags are for?" Rose questioned.
"Maybe some sort of celebration?" she offered and felt the Doctor shrug lightly.
After looking around for a moment, the Doctor pulled over and helped Victoria and Rose off and out of the moped respectively.
"You know, I'm surprised you two didn't wear matching dresses," the Doctor commented as they began walking down the street.
"I'm sorry I love the housewife style dresses," Victoria defended, spinning slightly to show off the puff of her polka dot dress.
"You mean your dream of being Sandy from Grease?" Rose teased, sticking her tongue out at her.
"You've spoiled it!" Victoria exclaimed jokingly, but got distracted when a van pulled to the side of the road. Three men get out, one of them opening the van's doors while the other two carry a tv into the house.
"There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion," The man that held open the door told the house owner.
"The great occasion? What do you mean?" the Doctor asked as they walked past.
With a look of confusion, the man answered "Where've you been living, out in the colonies? Coronation, of course."
"What coronation's that, then?" the Doctor questioned, causing both girls to look at him incredulously.
"The Queen's," Rose began. "Queen Elizabeth's Coronation."
Victoria tried to hide her laugh as a look of awe crossed the Doctor's face. "Oh! It's 1953?"
"Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best," the man answered.
"Look at all the TV aerials... looks like everyone's got one. That's weird, my nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house," Rose explained.
"Not round here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a box," the man replied. Victoria shook her head slightly in disbelief, there was no way that they could be so cheap.
"Oh but this is a brilliant year! Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration-" the Doctor quickly changed accents. "The Nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future!"
Rose and Victoria couldn't help but burst into laughter, but almost as soon as they started laughing, a scream was heard.
"Someone help me, please! Ted!"
The Doctor reached for Victoria's hand and quickly pulled her towards the yelling with Rose grabbing her other hand.
"Leave him alone, it's my husband!" a woman pleaded as two men pushed a man with a blanket over his head into a car.
"What's going on?"
"Oi, what are you doing?" A voice called out from behind us. Victoria turned away from the van and was greeted by a teen boy, probably sixteen years old.
"Who did they take, do you know?" Rose asked the boy.
"Must have been Mr. Gallagher," he explained as the van drove off, leaving the woman distraught.
"It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters…" he explained.
"Tommy, don't you dare say another word!" A deep, angry voice called out. "Get. Inside. Now."
Tommy quickly said goodbye, and rushes over to his house where it looked like his father was standing.
"Well, all aboard," the Doctor called out, having walked back to the moped. Victoria hopped onto the back as Rose sat back in her seat.
"Yeehaw!" Victoria exclaimed as the Doctor and Rose shook their heads. "Wrong decade, Vie."
"Well too bad," she laughed as the Doctor drove down the road.
"Keep your eyes out for that black car." The Doctor said.
After a few minutes of driving, they turned down a road that led to a giant metal gate with a market stand in front of it. The Doctor stopped in front of the market, and we inspected the area quickly.
"Of course we lost them," the Doctor muttered, and Victoria patted his arm comfortably as Rose mocked his driving, which was not surprisingly terrible.
The Doctor, however, wasn't paying attention. "Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia!"
"Monsters, that boy said..." Rose trailed off and Victoria suddenly got an idea. Quickly turning around and pointing at her, she gave her idea. "The Neighbors. I bet they know something!"
"That's what I like about you two, you take the domestic approach," he grinned as we all got back onto the moped
"Thank you," Rose grinned as Victoria flicked him in the back of the head. "I believe that was an insult, not a compliment."
The Doctor's only response was a grin before turning the moped on. He began driving back down the road to where they started, all three watching for any suspicious activity.
It didn't take long for the trio to get back to the house from before, and Victoria stood back with a fond smile as Rose and the Doctor argued over how to present themselves.
The three walked up to the door, Victoria being in the middle but standing back a bit, with Rose on her left and the Doctor on her right. Rose leaned forward and pushed the doorbell.
"Are we sure this is the right way to do this?" Victoria questioned, causing the Doctor to snicker.
"Now you get why I never do the domestic approach. It never -" he explained just as they heard the doorknob begin to jangle and clang.
The door swept open to reveal the older man that had been calling for the teenage boy earlier. The three of them put on the biggest smiles possible and in unison greeted the man.
"Who are you?" he grumbled, looking at them all suspiciously.
"Let's see then, judging by the look of you - family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war - therefore, we represent Queen and country!" the Doctor exclaimed, reaching into his pocket only to pull out his psychic paper. "Just doing a little check of Her Majesty's forthcoming subjects for the great day. Don't mind if we come in? Nah, didn't think you did, thank you!"
She couldn't help but snicker at the Doctor. Sometimes he made it hard to believe that he didn't like the domestic approach. He just seemed to enjoy himself just a little too much sometimes.
As the Doctor began barreling past the man, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. She looked over her shoulder and Rose was behind them with a small smile.
As they walked into the living room, the Doctor began to inspect the room.
"Not bad, very nice! Very well kept! I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs... ?" the Doctor asked, looking over at the obviously nervous woman. "Connolly."
"Now then Rita, I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative!" her husband explained harshly, walking over to the Doctor, and by default, Victoria.
She let go of the Doctor's hand and moved closer to Rose, feeling tense with Mr. Connolly peering over her shoulder.
As sad as it was, Victoria had to remind herself that that was how men acted towards women in the 1950s. She was extremely grateful for the family she grew up with, not being able to imagine what life would have been life without Jack in her life.
The Doctor, she realized, made her just as happy as being with her dad. She'd grown so close to him in their travels, she couldn't not being traveling with him in the future.
"Look, Mr. Connolly, you should probably get to work," the Doctor spoke, bringing Victoria out of her thoughts. She looked to see the Doctor handing the man a large strand of Union flags.
"Ah, yes, of course. Yes, sir." He took the flags and began hanging them up, much to his chagrin. He seemed no less happy to do this as he did before.
"You'll be proud of us, sir! We'll have Union Jacks left, right and center!" he told them, and she saw Rose smirk at his comment.
She stood up and walked over towards him, standing next to him. "'Scuse me, Mr. Connolly, hang on a minute! Union Jacks?"
"Yes, that's right, ain't it?" he questioned and she shook her head. "That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea."
"I... I'm sorry, Ma'am." he apologized, fear obvious in his voice.
"Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man," she smiled widely, obviously enjoying herself.
After not responding quick enough for her, she exclaimed: "Now get to it!"
As he got to work, the Doctor and Rose sat down on the couch next to Victoria, glancing at each other with semi-amused looks.
"Union Flag?" the Doctor quietly asked.
"Mum went out with a sailor once," she explained, and immediately the Doctor nodded his head.
"Oooooh, I bet she did."
"Anyways, I'm the Doctor, this is Victoria, and this is Rose," he introduced, pointing towards us respectively. "And you are?"
Victoria looked over at the teenager they met earlier who told us his name was Tommy.
"Well, sit yourselves down," the Doctor said, moving the chairs to point towards the televisions.
"Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?" he asked Tommy, who nodded excitedly.
"Yeah, I think it's brilliant!"
They then sat in silence, watching the program on the tv, the Doctor occasionally calling out to Mr. Connolly to check his progress.
"So, both of you, what's wrong?" he questioned, and the son and mother looked surprised.
"Did you say you were a Doctor?" Rita asked the Doctor, who nodded.
"Can you help her. Can you please help her?" she begged, catching her husband's attention.
"Now then Rita, I don't think the gentleman needs to know-" he tried, but the Doctor wouldn't let him end the conversation.
"No, the gentleman does," the Doctor insisted.
"Rita, Mrs. Connolly, please," Victoria began, moving out of her seat to hold her shoulder. "Please tell us what's the matter." Rose raced after her as Rita began crying even more.
"Hold on a minute! Queen and country are one thing, but this is my house!" Mr. Connolly yelled, chucking the flags onto the floor.
With her free hand, Victoria grasped Rose's tightly, beginning to feel tense again. She looked over at the Doctor, who was trying very hard to restrain himself.
"What the- what the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor! You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business!" the man yelled louder than before.
"All the people are being bundled into-"
"I AM TALKING!" Mr. Connolly shouted, and the two girls squeezed each other's hands tightly. Immediately, the Doctor moves closer to Mr. Connolly and shouts even louder, "And I'm not listening! Now you, Mr. Connolly, are staring into a deep, dark PIT of trouble if you don't let me help."
"So I'm ordering you - SIR! - to tell me what's going on!" As Mr. Connolly tried thinking of something to say, a thud could be heard from upstairs.
"She won't stop," he whispered, fear obvious in his voice. He continued to look at the ceiling as the banging got louder and louder. "She never stops."
It surprised them when it was Tommy who talked next.
"We started hearing stories, all around the place. People who've... changed. Families keeping it secret 'cause they were scared. The police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just... turn up, come to the door and take 'em. Any time of the day or night."
"Can you please show us, Tommy?" Victoria asked quietly, and he nodded lightly.
Tommy got up slowly and led them up the stairs to a closed room. He slowly opened the door, peaking into the room.
"Gran... It's Tommy," he called out, opening the door to allow them to enter. "'S all right Gran, I've brought help."
Inside the room they saw Tommy's gram standing by a window with the lights all off. Whatever Victoria was expecting to see when he turned the lights on, what she actually did see wasn't it.
His gran's face was completely smooth, no features whatsoever.
The look of it, her face with no features, was off-putting, to say the least. Looking at her made her feel uneasy, so she, unfortunately, was stuck standing outside with Mr. Connolly who didn't want to look either.
They stood in awkward silence for what felt like forever, and it wasn't broken until a crash came from the floor below.
"It's them! They've come for her!" Rita cried, and Victoria watched in horror as a small smile took over Mr. Connolly's face.
She looked down the stairs to see policemen rushing into the house.
"Hurry up, Doctor!" she called out, her voice cracking with fear.
As the burly police officers rushed towards the room, she threw herself in front of the doorway in a moment of desperation. "There's got to be a good reason for wh-"
She tried buying the Doctor some time, but the police officers didn't care about Victoria or what she had to say. One of them grasped her arm tightly, and she immediately could feel the blood to her wrist stop circulating.
"Hey, let go of me!" she gasped, trying to pull her arm away. The police officer let go of her , shoving her away before moving into the room next door.
Victoria could hear the Doctor speaking quickly, obviously trying to gain some time before they took Tommy's gran. What she wasn't expecting was to hear the Doctor to suddenly go quiet, then a thud, and then Rose to call out for him.
Victoria rushed for the room as quickly as possible, barely avoiding the police officers who were guiding a figure, obviously Tommy's gram, down the stairs. When she walked into the room, she saw Rose kneeling over the Doctor
"Come on, Doctor!" she muttered before she brought her arm back and slapped the Doctor in the face.
He immediately started awake, sitting up quickly as if he hadn't have just been knocked out. "Ah, hell of a right hook! Have to watch out for that!
He quickly got up off the floor and booked it out the room without a single word, leaving the two girls alone.
"Come on, let's go!" Rose ushered as they rushed down the stairs after the Doctor. However, when they reached the living room, Rose noticed something peculiar about the television and tugged on Victoria's arm and pointed at it. She gaped as red strands of electricity flowed out of it.
"Vie! Rose! Come on, we're going to lose them!" Victoria heard the Doctor call from outside the house. She felt conflicted, wanting to go with the Doctor but figured it'd be more use for her to stay with Rose.
Just as she turned back to look at the tv, Victoria noticed that the strands of electricity had gone back inside, leaving it with the appearance that nothing had happened.
She rushed forward to look at the tv, and Rose did as well. They grabbed the tv box and turned it around and looked all over it in hopes of finding something useful.
"Vie, look at this," Rose prompted, pointing at a sticker on the back of the box. "Magpie Electricals," she whispered just as she felt a presence behind me.
Mr. Connolly had walked back into the family room and had finally noticed that they were still in his house and not with the Doctor.
"You two! Get out of my house!"
"We're going, we're done! Nice to meet you Tommy, Mrs Connolly. And as for you, Mr Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside-down. Shame on you!" Rose called over her shoulder, dragging Victoria out of the house.
Once out of the house, they stood close together, watching out for the black cars from earlier.
"Okay, so we need to find 'Magpie Electricals'. That has to have some sort of clue for us to use," Rose told Victoria and she nodded.
They linked arms and made their way downtown and towards the television shop.
It only took the two girls roughly fifteen minutes to walk there, but when they got there, it was beginning to get late. As they walked in, a man, who they assumed was Magpie, told them that he was closing and that they needed to leave.
"But we'd like to get a television," Victoria told him but he shook his head.
"You'll just have to come back tomorrow. If you'll excuse me." He walked around the counter and towards the front door.
"But you'll be close tomorrow, won't ya?" Rose asked and he looked at her in confusion. "You know… because it's Coronation Day?"
"Ahh, yes. Well, I'll have to ask you to find somewhere else to watch it," he told them, moving closer to the door.
"Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away," Rose questioned, curiosity ruling her voice. Victoria could tell what she was trying to do, get him to stay as long she could.
"I have my reasons," Magpie defended.
"Well, what are those reasons?" Victoria questioned, and he turned his defensive look on her.
"Hungry. Hungry!" a voice behind them spoke. "What is that?" the two asked together, looking around.
"It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave! Right now!" he pleaded.
"Not until you've answered my questions. How come your televisions are so cheap?" Rose demanded, staring him in the eyes.
"It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folk as possible get to watch the coronation. We may be losing the Empire but we can still be proud! Twenty million people they reckon i'll be watching! Imagine that! And twenty million people can't be wrong, eh? So why don't you get yourself back home and get up, bright and early, for the big day?" Magpie tried once again, but failed.
"We're not leaving until you've told us and shown us everything," Victoria crossed her arms.
"I need to close my shop."
"Mr Magpie, something's happening out there. Ordinary people are being struck down and changed, and the only new thing in the house is a television. Your television. What's going on?"
Magpie's persona faded as he finally accepted that we knew something. "I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out." He walked over to the door and locked it.
"All right, then, it's just you and the two of us... you gonna come clean, then? What's really in it for you?" Victoria questioned, squinting her eyes slightly.
"For me? Some peace."
"Peace from what?"
"From her," he looked in the direction of the television, which all had the picture of a woman on it.
"It's just a program. All it is is a woman in a program," Rose reasoned and he shook his head.
"What pretty girls you brought," the voice spoke, causing Rose and Victoria to share not so good looks.
"Are you talking to us?"
"Yes - I'm talking to you, little one. Unseasonably chilly for this time of year, don't you think?"
"Who… What are you?" Victoria barely got out.
"I'm the Wire, and I'm hungryyyyyyyy," the voice called out, just before tendrils of electricity came out and caught both of their faces.
Victoria could vaguely hear Rose talking, but she wasn't paying attention. She could barely breathe, and felt like she was suffocating. She felt like she was being filled with static and her ears started to ring.
And then the suffocating stopped.
And the ringing.
And then.
Nothing.
- Page Break -
"Start from the beginning, tell me everything you know."
The Doctor sat at a table, staring at a man who was very unamused. "Well... for starters... I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet."
The man glared, pointing a reprimanding finger at him. "Don't get clever with me. You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now, you're connected with this. Make no mistake."
"Well, the thing is, Detective Inspector Bishop-" he was cut off abruptly.
"How do you know my name?"
The Doctor hesitated for a moment. "It's... written inside your collar."
Detective Bishop adjusted his collar awkwardly while the Doctor kept talking. "Bless your mum. But, I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting. Are you?"
"I'm doing everything in my power," he said, and the Doctor restrained himself from rolling his eyes.
"All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can. 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 Doctor watched the detective outwardly amused, disguising his worry in a smile that he knew would make the man want to punch him. To add to Bishops' irritation, the Doctor was spinning around in his chair like a child.
"The nation has an image to maintain," he tried to stress.
"Doesn't it drive you mad? Doing nothing? Don't you wanna get out there and investigate?" the Doctor asked instead, raising an eyebrow.
"Course I do. But…" he slid into the chair across from the Doctor. "With all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man-power. Even if we did... this is... beyond anything we've ever seen. I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force…" Bishop trailed off, causing the Doctor to lean forward, listening carefully.
"... I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on."
"Well... that could change," the Doctor said, standing up. The detective stared at him helplessly.
"How?"
"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know," he said, staring down at Bishop. The detective was quickly beginning to feel less and less like an actual detective.
"Come here," he said, leading the Doctor over to a map on a stand. "We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just... blank."
"Is there any sort of pattern?" the Doctor asked, flipping through a file that had been lying on the detective's desk.
"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-" he was cut off by the Doctor.
"Florizel Street," they said at the same time.
"Found two more, sir," a police officer announced, entering the room.
The two of them looked up, but the Doctor was filled with dread and horror as he took in the dresses of the two girls, both of their heads covered in a blanket.
"Oh, er - good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor…" Bishop said, but the Doctor was barely listening. "Take a good look. See what you can deduce."
He lifted the blanket off of Rose's head first, and closed his eyes, wishing that he had been wrong in his assumption. He gently cupped her check before turning to Victoria.
The anger that he had felt when he saw Rose grew stronger as he took in Victoria's face. He pushed her hair back behind her ear, trying his best to fight his instincts to yell and get angry.
"Rose," he nodded to the blonde before looking back at Victoria. "And this is Victoria."
"Do you know them?"
"Know them…" he stared at Victoria helplessly, glancing at Rose every few seconds.
"They found them in the street, apparently, over at Master Square, abandoned," the police officer explained.
"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 back, make no mistake," Bishop said, startling the Doctor.
Torchwood was following them almost as much as Bad Wolf had, and he had a very bad feeling about it. But that barely registered with him, focusing on the police man's first statement.
"They did what?" he spoke, and noted how the two men shivered slightly at his tone.
"I'm sorry?"
"They left them where?" he asked, trying his best to remain calm. "They abandoned her on the road?"
"Yeah," the detective nodded slightly. "In the street."
"In the street. They left them in the street... They took their faces and just kicked them out and left them in the street. And as a result, that makes things... simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?"
The Doctor folded his glasses as he managed to pull his gaze off of Victoria.
"No?"
"Because now!" the Doctor finally raised his voice, unable to hold his anger back. "Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on!"
- Page Break -
The Doctor had only one thought on his mind. Saving the girls. Saving Rose, saving Victoria.
He'd walked to the Connolly house as quick as he could, barely remembering that Detective Bishop was following semi-close behind.
As he knocked on the door, the detective huffed, standing beside him.
"Tommy, talk to me," the Doctor said, cutting to the chase. The teenager stared at him for a moment before walking out of the house, closing the door behind him.
"I need to know exactly what happened inside your house," but before Tommy could answer, the door flew open.
"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Mr. Connolly hissed, glaring down at his son.
"I wanna help, dad," he replied, trying his best to not let his voice waver.
"Mr Connolly…" the Doctor tried to cut in, but he quickly turned his glare to the odd man.
"Shut your face, you. Whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves," he turned back to his son."Listen you, little twerp. You're hardly out of the bloomin' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain. People around here respect me. It matters what people think."
"Is that why you did it, dad?" Tommy asked quietly, surprising his dad.
"What d'you mean? Did what?"
"You ratted on gran. How else would the police know where to look? Unless some coward told them…" angering his father even more than before.
"How dare you?" he cursed lowly. "You think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?"
"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? 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," Tommy stared back at his father, unwilling to back down.
"Eddie... is that true?" Mrs. Connolly asked quietly, coming towards the door.
"I did it for us, Rita! She was filthy. A filthy, disgusting thing," his face wrinkled in disgust as he talked.
"She's my mother," she whispered. "All the others, you informed on all the people in our street, our friends."
"I had to," he struggled to explain, his hands flailing slightly. "I did the right thing!"
"The right thing for us or for you, Eddie?" she muttered before turning to her son.
"You go, Tommy. You 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!"
As she slammed the door, the Doctor and the detective watched Tommy closely. The Doctor called out to him, and he walked over to the two, leaving his father behind.
"Tommy, tell me about that night. The night she changed," he asked the teen.
"She was just watching the telly," he shrugged, not sure what else to say.
The Doctor glanced around the street, noticing the tv aerials. "Rose said it. She guessed it straight away, of course she did. All these aerials in one little street. How come?"
"Bloke up the road, Mr Magpie, he's selling them cheap," Tommy offered, and that was all the Doctor needed to hear.
He took off down the street in the direction of the shop, vaguely hearing the footsteps of two behind him.
- Page Break -
When they arrived at the shop, the Doctor didn't hesitate to break the glass, ignoring the detective's protests. He punched through the glass, ignoring the burn of his fresh cuts.
"Shop?" he called out, walking over to the counter where a bell sat on top. He pressed it repeatedly, in an attempt to irritate whoever he was about to deal with and Bishop who was beginning to get on his nerves.
"If you're here, come out and talk to me! Magpie!" he yelled, all pretenses of being call out the window.
"Maybe he's out," Tommy offered, and the Doctor nodded absentmindedly.
"Looks like it…" He walked around the desk and began rifling through the drawers, almost happy to find a device similar to a portable radio and tv.
"Oh, hello... this isn't right. This is very much not right," he stared at it for a moment before licking it a few times. He ignored the disgruntled looks on Bishop and Tommy.
"Tastes like iron. Bakelite," he noted, placing it back on the counter. "Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself…"
The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned the device, talking to himself. "Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple."
"That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television!" the detective exclaimed, in awe of the technology in front of him.
The Doctor didn't respond, simply raising his sonic toward the tvs, causing them to all turn on to a static channel.
"It's not the only power source in this room…" continuing to scan them. Slowly, the static dissolved to show the faces of all the different victims.
The Doctor immediately spotted Rose, who was mouthing his name over and over again in fear. Beside her, he noticed Victoria, who was mouthing 'Theta' frantically.
"I'm on my way," he placed a hand on each of the screens.
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice boomed, but it was nothing compared to the Doctor.
"I want my friend restored and I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician so tell me, who's really in charge here?" the Doctor demanded, storming up to the man.
"Yoohoo! I think that must be me," a female voice responded, taking over all of the screens. "Ooh, this one's smart as paint."
"Is she talking to us?" Bishop whispered to no one.
"Sorry gentlemen, I'm... I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new... friend."
"Jolly nice to meet you," the woman in the tv smiled.
"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly," Bishop gasped, taking a step back.
"No, it's just using her image," the Doctor shook his head.
"What... what are you?" Tommy asked, stepping forward.
"I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy. Every last morsel. And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow-kind denied me," her grin took an devious turn while the tvs began to colorize.
"Good Lord! Colour television!" the detective yelled.
"So your own people tried to stop you?" the Doctor guessed.
"They executed me. But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars."
"And now you're trapped in the television," he taunted, causing her smirk to fall alongside the colour of the tv screen.
"Not for much longer," she threatened.
"Is this what got my gran?" Tommy asked, looking over at the Doctor.
"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," he spit, glaring at the screen.
"And you let her do it, Magpie," Bishop turned to the man who was watching the events unfold.
"I had to! She allowed me my face! She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation," he pleaded, but that just angered the Doctor more.
"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.
"The appointed time. My crowning glory," she hinted, which Bishop caught onto.
"Doctor, the coronation!"
"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set," he began to taunt. "But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this!"
He grabbed the transmitter off the table and waved it around. "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? why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the coronation. Believe me, you'll be glued to the screen," she smirked again as red sparks flew from the tv, one gripping each man's face.
"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah! This one is tasty. Oh! I'll have lashings of him! Delicious! Ah!" the Wire growled, beginning to feed from the, while Tommy and Bishop struggled.
The Doctor, with lots of effort and grunts, managed to pull his sonic out of his pocket.
"Armed! He's armed and clever! Withdraw! Withdraw!" the Wire called out, noticing his actions.
The sparks vanished immediately, causing the men to drop to the floor unconscious.
When he woke up, the Doctor knew he wasn't out very long. He quickly noticed that the detective had his face stolen while Magpie and the transmitter were nowhere in sight.
"Tommy, wake up! Tommy! Come on!" the Doctor shook the boy's shoulder.
"What happened?" he asked in return as the Doctor helped him stand up.
"Where's Magpie?" the Doctor asked instead, and they ran out of the shop. He noticed that Magpie's car was nowhere in sight.
"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late," Tommy shook his head, and the Doctor shook his head adamantly.
"It's never too late, as a wise person once said - Kylie I think... But the Wire's got a big plan... so it'll need... yes, yes, yes, it's got to harness half the population... millions and millions of people... and where are we?" the Doctor rambled before finally taking in the buildings around him.
"Muswell Hill."
"Muswell Hill - Muswell Hill! Which means…"
"Alexandra Palace - biggest TV transmitter in North London! Ohh! That's why they chose this place! Tommy?" he said, gesturing to a building in the distance.
"We're going shopping," he said, running into the shop.
He was going to do whatever it took to save his friends. Victoria. Whatever got in his way, well… Good luck.
- Page Break -
When Rose and Victoria woke up, they were in some dark basement surrounded by others. Around them, people touched their faces experimentally, but the two travelers pulled each other into a hug.
"Rose," Victoria whispered into her shoulder.
"Victoria." she sighed.
"What happened?" Victoria asked hesitantly.
"I… have absolutely no idea. We need to find the Doctor."
Together, the two girls made their way out of the building, which ended up being behind the little market they found earlier.
As they stood there, surrounded by families reuniting, Victoria looked for the Doctor. It didn't take her very long to find him as he stood with Tommy to the side of the road talking.
When she finally caught his eye, his reaction surprised her. He had looked sad from afar, and a look of happiness lit up his face as he raced towards them.
"Doctor!" Victoria called out with a smile. "I'm so glad we found you! What happened while we were go-" The Doctor cut off her words in the most surprising way imaginable.
He grabbed her face and kissed her.