The Army of Ghosts Part 1

The Doctor groaned as he heard Rose's footsteps walk into the Console Room, himself reluctantly pulling a final lever that would send them to the Powell Estate, a visit he tried to reduce frequently. And they were having such a nice time! Their newfound closeness led them to snuggling in bed during long lie ins in the morning, small food fights and hand holding practically everywhere they went. She then proceeded to ruin it that very morning by saying, "Mind if we go visit my mum?" Claiming she'd committed genocide against species that would one day save the Universe would have been better than that one sentence.

The TARDIS materialised in a small park just outside the Estate, Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, holding a big red bag of washing, a gift to her mother. The Doctor followed her out of the TARDIS, grabbing the bag from her hands as he locked the TARDIS, slinging the sack over his shoulder.

"Ever the gentleman," Rose laughed, grabbing his hand as they set their destination for the Estate.

"Of course!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Weight like this on a human back like yours, way to much strain."

"So you're saying I can't handle myself?" Rose teased playfully.

"I didn't say that at all," he defended himself.

"But you were implying it," Rose continued as they reached a metal door, the Doctor swinging it open with ease. They bantered like this until they got to an orangey yellow door, Rose opening it with her key. "Mum, it's us! We're ba-ack!" she sung as she made her way through the hallway. Jackie hurried out of the kitchen as the Doctor slung the bag off his back to his hand.

Jackie seemed to be please, but exasperated at the same time. "Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone! You never use it!" she exclaimed, but nevertheless happy to see her daughter as she pulled her into a hug. The Doctor attempted to squeeze past them as they separated, Jackie grabbing his jacket. "Oh no, you don't," Jackie said in greeting as she pulled him to her. "Come here!" She pulled him down to him, despire his protests and smothered his lips with hers briefly, Rose laughing as she moved to the living-room. Jackie pulled him into a massive hug. "Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine!" she exclaimed as she hugged him.

"Jackie," the Doctor started. "Just put me down!"

"Yes, you are!" Jackie ignored him, talking to him as if talking to a dog. She pulled away from the hug and kissed him again, walking off to join Rose in the living-room as the Doctor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand in disgust while walking to the room with her.

Rose took the bag from the Doctor hands, dumping it in Jackie's arms. "I've got loads of washing for ya!" she told her mother as she searched her pockets. "And - I got you this!" she added, bringing out a small ornate bottle as she grinned. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of um... what's it called?" she asked the Doctor, who was flicking through a magazine which was lying on the table. "Bezoolium," he answered her in an 'I'm already bored, can we go now' tone.

"Bezoolium," Rose nodded. "When it gets cold, it means it's gonna rain - when it's hot, it's gonna be sunny! You can use it to tell the weather!"

"I've got a surprise for you and all," Jackie said, not even looking at the bottle.

"Oh, I get her bezoolum, she doesn't even say 'thanks'," Rose said sarcastically as the Doctor hummed in agreement.

"Guess who's coming to visit?" Jackie said. "You're just in time - he'll be here at ten past! Who do you think it is?"

"I don't know," Rose sighed. "Mum, you know I hate guessing games."

Ignoring her protests, Jackie continued, "It's your granddad," she said in delight. "Granddad Prentice. He's on his way. Any minute!" There was a long moment of silence, Rose staring at her mother strangely. "Right, cup of tea!" Jackie exclaimed again, ignoring her daughter's stare as she marched to the kitchen. Rose watched her leave, the Doctor appeared at her shoulder a few seconds later. "She's gone mad," Rose muttered, stunned.

"Tell me something new," the Doctor told her, expecting a smack on the shoulder, which she always did when he was joking around, but this time she didn't. Rose shook her head and turned to him as Jackie whistled in the kitchen. "Granddad Prentice, that's her dad," she said. "But he died like, ten years ago," she turned back to the kitchen as the Doctor frowned. "Oh, my God. She's lost it." She walked into the kitchen, Jackie pouring steaming hot water into three cups. "Mum?" Rose addressed her gently. "What you just said about granddad-"

Jackie ignored her daughter, looking up at the clock on the wall. "Any second now," she said happily, excitedly.

"But..." Rose stuttered. "He passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?" she asked softly.

"'Course I do!" Jackie laughed lightly.

"Then how can he come back?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Jackie replied as she looked up again at the clock and smiled. "Ten past. Here he comes." Before either the Doctor or Rose could say anything, a ghostly figure stepped through the wall and into the kitchen, leaving the two stood in the doorway dumbstruck as it stood next to Jackie, herself giving a large smile a her supposed father. "Here we are, then!" she greeted. "Dad... say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?" she asked as the figure looked at her.

The Doctor jaw sprung open, snapping shut as he turned on heel and ran out of the door, down the stairs and through another door than let them out to the Estate square, the Doctor and Rose looked around frantically. "They're everywhere!" he said in confusion as he watched three small children toss a ball around, a ghost standing right in front of them as they played happily, as if the figure weren't even there. Jackie joined them a few moments later as she looked around. "They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade," she told them, looking around.

"What do you mean, shift?" the Doctor asked. "Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?"

"Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?" Jackie asked her daughter as she looked teasingly to the Doctor, her main purpose to annoy him. Greatly.

"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out or-" he muttered in a baffled tone, looking around as women carried groceries from the market and small girls riding around on tricycles.

"Why should we?" Jackie asked as she checked her watch. "Here we go. Twelve minutes past," she said, sighing sadly as she looked up and around again at the fading ghosts around them all. They all finally disappeared during the course or ten seconds, the Doctor glancing around frantically, more confused than before. Slowly, the three of them began to head back to the Estate, Jackie looking over to see a cloaked figure watching them intensely.


The Doctor sat on the floor in front of Jackie's television, Jackie sitting on the arm as they watch a programme called 'Ghostwatch'.

"On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a military display..." the producer of Ghostwatch said.

"What the hell's going on?" the Doctor asked as he watched. He grabbed the remote, changing it to the weather, which wasn't about the weather, but about the ghosts, then to some sort of Oprah, which was also about the ghosts.

"It's all over the world," the Doctor mumbled worriedly as he continued changing the channels. After the next channel swap, he'd had enough. "When did it start?" he asked as he leaned back, the back of his head on Rose's knee's as she began to play with the small tuffs of brown that stuff up, stopping immediately when Jackie gave her a 'look'. "That was about two months ago," Jackie replied. "Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were - ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that, whole planet was panicking... no sign of you, thank you very much," she huffed, then continued speaking. "Then it sort of sank in. Took us time to realise that... we're lucky."

"What makes you think it's granddad?" Rose asked. She remembered her grand father very well, but nothing of the white, cold figure reminded her of him at all. "Just feels like him," Jackie replied with a shrug as she shook her head gently as she reminisced. "There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"

"I wish I could, mum, but I can't," Rose denied as she inhaled slightly, smelling nothing but her mothers airfreshener.

"You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart," Jackie encouraged her.

"The more you want it, the stronger it gets?" the Doctor rose his eyebrows.

"Sort of, yeah," Jackie nodded.

"Like a psychic link," the Doctor said in wonder. "'course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in." He gave her a gentle look and said something he never thought he'd say. "I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory."

Jackie looked down at her hands as she realised what the Doctor was saying was slowly coming true in her mind as Rose asked, "But if they're not ghosts, what are they, then? I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people."

The Doctor looked up at her thoughtfully as she talked. "Maybe not," he said sceptically. "They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot," he said, getting up suddenly. He and Rose ran down the stairs and back to the square toward the TARDIS, Jackie watching them, a knowing look on her face as they ran, herself slowly following behind.


Rose held a newspaper as she paced around the Console, the Doctor trapped under the Console as he tampered with a few of the TARDIS' wires. "According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds," she peered down at him. "Now don't tell me you're gonna sit back and do nothing," she said as he popped up from under the grating, bobbing up and down happily at the tune of Ghostbusters, a rucksack on his back and a strange device in his right hand. "Who're you gonna call?" he asked in time with the song.

"Ghostbusters!" Rose yelled over the music giddily.

He gave a another smile, continuing, "I ain't afraid of no ghosts." After the song ended, they chuckled as they ran out of the TARDIS and ran back toward the Estate, the Doctor arranging three cone devices in the shape of a triangle. "When's the next shift?" he asked Jackie, who was looking down on him. "Quarter to," she said as she looked at her watch. "But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?"

"Triangulates their point of origin," the Doctor replied as he ran around, making sure each cone was working properly.

"I don't suppose it's the Gelth?" Rose asked thoughtfully, the Doctor quickly dismissing the idea, Rose shaking her head as if that was the answer she was expecting. "They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper."

"You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real?" Jackie asked crossly as she watched him. "Just think of it, though... all the people we've lost - our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?" The Doctor paused briefly, meeting her eye for the first time. "I think it's horrific," he replied honestly, ignoring her mildly shocked stare as he continued working. "Rose, give us a hand," he asked, unwinding the cable and attaching it to one of the cones, unreeling it as he walked backwards toward the TARDIS, Rose following him. Once he was inside and next to the Console, he plugged it into a port while Jackie stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "As soon as it becomes activated, if that line goes into the red, press that button there," he said to Rose at rocket speed, pointing to a button in front of her. "If it doesn't stop..." he brandished the Sonic under Rose's nose, herself going cross-eyed to look at it. "Setting 15B, hold it against the port, eight seconds and it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left," he said, about to point at one of the buttons.

"Hang on a minute, I know..." Rose stopped him, looking around the buttons before her. She looked at one a few centimetres from her fingers, leaning over to point at it. "It's that one," she said confidently.

"Mm, close," the Doctor said.

"That one?" she asked again.

He gave her a look, and replied, "Now you've just killed us." Rose chuckled as the Doctor looked at her gently, happily, neither one of them noticing the way Jackie was watching them. "That one," she said confidently, not even looking to where she was pointing at she watched him. The Doctor smiled, exclaiming, "Yeah! Now, what've we got? Two minutes to go?" he asked Jackie as he wondered off to the TARDIS doors.

He ran toward the cones he'd set up on the ground, pressing the device in his hands to one of them. Once finished, he did the same to the other two. "What's the line doing?" he asked through the doors.

"It's all right," she yelled back. "It's holding!" With that knowledge, the Doctor proceeded to scan the other two cones, facing the centre of the triangle as he waited in anticipation. "Come on, you beauty!" he encouraged the triangle. As the Doctor watches the triangle, a ghost materialises in its centre. As it did so, the cones were connected with blue electricity, which in turn connected over the top of the ghost, encompassing it in a kind of electric blue pyramid. The Doctor put on a pair of what looked like 3D glasses and watched the ghost. Smiling, he bent down and adjusted a setting on the equipment, a green light bleeping. The Doctor continued to adjust the settings, the ghosts groaning. Laughing, the Doctor called, "Don't like that much, do you?"

Walking foreword, he stumbled backward quickly when what seemed like an electric shook bounced from the ghost to him. He smiled again. "That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?" he said triumphantly.

A few moments later, the ghost disappeared, the Doctor quickly rushing foreword to gather the equipment. He ran back to the TARDIS with the cones under his arm, shutting the doors as he dumped the equipment on the floor. "I said so!" he said excitedly as he rushed around the Console. "Those ghosts have been forced into existence for one specific point! And I can track down the source. Allons-Y!" He pulled down on a lever.

The TARDIS shuddered as he and Rose fell back against the chair, the Rotor beginning to rise and fall as the motor wheezed. Once he was back in his feet, the Doctor fiddled with a knob, talking 50 miles an hour to himself. "I like that; 'Allons-y'. I should say 'allons-y' more often. 'Allons-y'. Watch out, Rose Tyler! Allons-y! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonzo. Because then I could say, 'allons-y, Alonzo'! Every time!" In his giddiness, the Doctor leant down to Rose and gave her a quick kiss, Rose pulling away quickly and looking up at the Doctor, a strange smile on her face. "You're staring at me," he said blandly as he calmed down.

Rose's smile increased slightly as she bit her lower lip. Quietly, so she wouldn't hear, Rose whispered, "My mum's still on board." The Doctor looked around, finding Jackie perched on one of the gantries, her legs dangling down as she looked at him with the most evilest eyes she could muster. "First of all, don't do that again," she growled at him as she gestured her daughter, who was beginning to go red slightly. "And second, if we end up on Mars, I'm gonna kill you."

A.N: Sorry about the long awaited update. Life had been really crappy recently and I have been in no mood for writing. But, after a week of Playstation with friends, Minecraft and beating people at pool, my happiness has been restored. Sorry dudes and dudettes.