Hope you're having a great day, folks! Now then. Time for my chapter, eh? ^^ Cheers.
"You two! Get the hell out of my house!" Eddie shouted at them both.
"Why such temper, Mr. Conolly? You won't get the ladies that way, if you know what I mean..." Jack winked at the man.
"Jack..." Rose whispered a warning.
"Wha..." Eddie stammered, looking uncomfortable. "What a disgrace!" he snapped. "Get out!"
"We're going, we're done!" Rose said, walking towards the door of the living room, where the whole Conolly family stood. "Nice to meet you Tommy, Mrs Connolly." She smiled softly at them. "And as for you, Mr. Conolly." She came to stand face to face with him, her head held high. "Only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside-down. Shame on you!" She grinned cheerfully and took Jack, running out of the house.
And that's how they have been chucked out of the Conolly's house.
"So, judging by the facts we have gathered up until now; we got faceless people, unknown cause, presumably jailed Time Lord, nasty policemen, Mr. Conolly's house with the man, who obviously is a big prick, his lovely wife and brave young man Tommy, not to mention the great Coronation just a day ahead," Jack calculated. "Using the basic friendship rule, help a friend in need, we better bail him out first and then decide of any further plans."
When he saw Rose chuckling, he grinned at her. "Oh, I know I'm pretty handsome, but no need to laugh at that. Rosie."
"Nah, it's just...you still got that..." She gestured. "Bossy, vibe in you."
"Bossy vibe by the 21st century's slang. Is it good or bad?" he asked.
"Good for you I guess." She laughed. "Mind you, when you're with the Doctor you get no chance."
"A man has got to feel like he's in charge with his woman near," Jack said teasingly.
"I'm not his woman, Jack-"
"Oh, really? My eyesight must have gotten pretty bad over the years. I could've sworn I saw Rose Tyler and the Doctor snogging each other senseless on some windy beach in Norway. Or did I dream that one up?" He looked like he was seriously considering it.
"I'm not talking about that with you." She pointed at him, smiling, with a shade of pink on her cheeks. "'sides, this one said nothing of that sort to me. It doesn't really even count." She moved to relax her shoulders' muscles.
"So you would want him to?" He winked.
"Mmm, maybe," she said slyly and both of them chuckled. "Anyway." She cleared her throat, smiling. "That plan of yours? You go ahead, I'll stay here. Look around, check for clues. That sorta job."
"I think he would find it cute, if you went to bail him out with your cheeks boiling red," Jack said seriously, seeing her escape plan.
"Oh my God. Jack, stop it." She put her face in her hands, laughing.
"Seriously, what I'll do with you two. You're like teenagers!"
"Maybe we're," Rose said seriously, her hands down. There was a pause, then she began faintly. "It's just... all that...secrecy thing... He's him, but he's not." She furrowed her brows. "It's like...there're two versions of him-"
"You were with him before regeneration too, Rosie."
"I know, I know, but it's not... like the regeneration. It's different. He knows the different me. We're different. And sometimes...it just feels... wrong." She shook her head. "Oh, that man's so bloody complicated." She laughed.
"Then make it the same," Jack suggested, his gaze serious.
"How d'you mean?" She narrowed her eyes. "I can't tell him, not yet. He told me, he told you too about it-"
"I know. It's not about that. Maybe you just need to show him what he's to you. I mean, it's pretty fun and everything to tease him, but-" Jack laughed.
"You did not just say that. He would kill ya, if he heard," she sang.
They both laughed at that.
"He's the most brilliant man I've ever met," Jack said, after calming down. "And he's got you, Rosie. Just this one seems not know it yet."
"So what do I do?" she asked faintly.
"Just be yourself and all will be fine." Jack kissed her forehead, Rose smiling softly. "See you, then. He's going to get mad at me again for letting you wander off, but I guess it's just you being you." They both grinned at each other, Rose stepping backwards and waving to him.
"Bring him back unscratched," she shouted out, smiling. "Take this with you, you might need it." She threw the psychic paper in his hands.
"You had this?" Jack asked in wonder.
"The Doctor gave me just before he went out."
Jack chuckled. "Won't make the man wait for much longer, then. See you soon." He saluted and went off, running.
She wanted to get away from everything for a moment. Maybe that's why she chose to drift away from the "rescue mission". It was a quiet night in the 50's London. Calming breeze blowing in the wind. Just what she needed. Some peace before the big day. Before the face-eating-Coronation took place in England's history.
There really were a lot of odd creatures out there.
Odd... Ood. She swallowed at the thought.
When she woke up after a made-up crash on Earth and met his eyes, she saw that he was gone. That her time of pretending resumed. She hated doing that. Truth be told - a lot. But she could never blame the Doctor for choosing that. He would have never done that by his own will. But there really was no other choice there. They had to preserve the timelines.
Always something to save.
Always something coming before them.
You get used to that in a long run.
She smiled sadly, while walking down the streets. And if her ache in the heart was anything to say... she could only imagine what it was for him.
She was supposed to be strong, but the mere thought of her being there alone...Impossible planet... No, she couldn't think like that. He trusted her to look after them both. And she was not alone alone. The Doctor was there. Would be there. She really hoped he would. He would just be... someone who didn't experience that yet. And she would be someone who did.
She exhaled a long, shuttering breath, pulling her arms around herself.
A movement in the corner of her eyes, caught her attention. Rose titled her head to the side just to find two men dragging a person, covered with a blanket.
"'em again," she muttered and dashed towards them.
"Oi!" she called out for them. "Leave him alone!"
After spotting her closing the distance to them, the men quickened their pace and shortly after, disappeared around the corner.
Rose couldn't just leave them. What they did to people. Taking them out of their homes, treating them like recyclable stuff... If anything, their families had the right to keep their family members. With or without their faces.
She ran towards the corner where she saw the men vanish to. After a few leaps she reached the place, but to her surprise, found nothing there. The alley there looked even darker than the one she came from, but there seemed to be nothing living there.
Did they hide the body somewhere?
She took a few wary steps further. "Hello?" she called out. Might as well come clean about her being here.
"Look, I know you're here! So stop mucking about!" she called out.
Still nothing. Only a gentle breeze scattered her bangs.
"Well, that's weird," she exhaled, her hands on her hips, looking to the sides. "I could've sworn I saw 'em going here..." She circled her tongue inside her mouth.
Just then, she felt a presence behind her. She took a side-way glance and saw a shadow lurking about.
"Done hiding then," she said, smiling, and turned around.
The smile was short lived, though. She gasped, taking a step back at what she saw.
"Good evening, miss."
"Aaaah!" the Doctor sang in delight, when he spotted Jack coming near his cell. "There's my rescue team! Took your time, I must say. I was almost getting settled down in here." He bounced his extended legs. "A bit dark though. Don't like dark that much." He grimaced. "Oh, well. Time to say goodbye to this place, gang," he said blithely and stood up from the bench, beaming.
"Although." He glanced behind Jack casually. "You seem to be one member short?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow. Jack gave him a meaningful look, while unlocking the cell and letting the Time Lord out.
"Oh oh! One wandered off!" the Doctor exclaimed, then his face twisted to I knew it. "I knew she would do that. Never stays long in one place," he muttered. "A bit like me. Clever and learns fast. Maybe not always the things she should, but..." He considered. "Blimey, too much like me. Although, I have a time machine to wander off with, she got only her feet. Humans and their way of travelling." He shook his head disapprovingly.
"She's investigating," Jack said.
"Good!" the Doctor smiled. "She may find us a clue. Well, she usually does. Brilliant she is. I would really do no good without her. Good thing that I wont't be-" His face suddenly shadowed. He swallowed the almost slip up.
Being without her... A thought sharper than any knife or blade.
Jack watched him in silence. The Doctor's face muscles clenched as a piercing pain ran down his both hearts. Then just as suddenly, the Time Lord put his nonchalant mask on. "Right then!" He clasped his hands together. "Let's head out. Can't do worse than her. I still got Time Lord image to preserve." He saluted to Jack, grinning, as he went off.
"You...what're you doing here?" Rose asked the man in front of her.
"I knew this would happen..." the man said in an exhausted voice. "I knew I would be found out one day."
Rose narrowed her eyes. "What're you talking about?"
"But I can't let others find out. Or she won't let me live the day," he said painfully, looking at her with sad eyes. Then he made a nodding gesture towards the men and they started closing the distance between them and Rose. She tried to back away, but they soon found their way at her, grabbing her by her forearms.
She tried to struggle. "What're you doing?! Let me go! Magpie!" she shouted at him.
"I just want some peace," he said remorsefully. That being the last scene she saw as a rough palm with a cloth on her face sent her unconscious.
Not entirely sure after how many minutes or hours, she finally came to. What she instantly felt was the restrains, tightly wrapped around her skin, stifling her movements. Her hands were both tied down behind her back, her legs on one of the chair's legs. She tried to move, but it was all in vain.
They went all out for this, it seemed.
It didn't take long for her to take in her surroundings. Ironically she was being kept at Magpie's shop, right in front of the tellies behind the counter. The man himself was fidgeting nervously on his feet.
Rose snorted. "What a great proud man of the country. Not only he helps take the faces of all those people, but now even resorts to kidnapping. Oh, how lucky of us to have you!" she said sarcastically.
Magpie looked up at her. "You couldn't possibly understand... what...it's like, with her..." he stammered.
"Believe me, I know a great deal about her," she muttered.
Then in a flash, one of the screens blinked up and the woman appeared. "Yooohooo! Oh, what a little girl we have here. Such a shame for being so unintelligent and going through other people's business."
"Comes from the living Wire, posing as a woman of the telly," she bit a snort.
The Wire's face twisted at once. "Who're you?" Her eyes wide.
"Guess you'll never know," Rose sang, her gaze firm on the telly.
"Magpie! Who's she?" the woman asked sharply.
"I-I don't know. I barely saw her one time while delivering tellies. She was with some other two men..."
"WHO are they?" the Wire asked.
"I don't know..." Magpie's voice weak.
"Find them and bring them to me!" she ordered, then turned her gaze on Rose. "And you, little girl." She smiled. "Will settle my HUNGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER," she sang, her mouth opening.
Rose shifted in the seat uncomfortably. She was really not keen on getting her face chopped off, but there seemed to be no way out of it. She took one last glance at the doors, extending her fingers, which only proved her once again that physical strength won't take her out of this one.
"And Rose... don't get your face taken."
The Doctor's words, echoing in her mind. She failed to keep her promise. She closed her eyes, muttering, "I'm sorry."
When a sudden wave hit her face, that stretching feeling of one's skin, the feeling of being separated from your own body started, her voice broke out on its own.
"DOCTOR!"
Int. Bishop's office
The first thing the Doctor was greeted by when he entered the office, surely was not what he expected when getting arrested. As soon as his legs made inside the room, one of the men, approached him with a nervous smile on his face.
"It's so good to see you here, Sir," he said with a smile.
"Is it?" the Doctor asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow.
The man seemed a bit lost for a moment, but caught on, when Jack cleared his throat, glaring at the man.
"Please excuse my manners, sir. We've just never thought to have an opportunity to meet one of you."
"Oh?" the Doctor nodded blithely, pressing his lips together. "And that would be-?" He urged him on.
"Welcome to our little headquarters, Special Undercover Agents of the Secret Organisation." The man beamed at them.
The Doctor only blinked, his face blank. "Wh-who?"
Jack poked him. "That's us," he whispered.
"Are we now?" the Doctor exclaimed. "Oh. Right." He considered. "I didn't ask how I got out."
"We're terribly sorry for our misunderstanding. We were just not...expecting you."
"Well..." The Doctor took a breath. "The thing is, Detective Inspector Bishop-"
"Have you heard of me?" the man asked expectedly.
"Huh?" The Doctor blinked.
"You knew my name." He beamed at them. Certainly if he was known among the special forces, it must have meant a pro-
"It's...written inside your collar?" the Doctor said apologetically.
Bishop looked slightly embarrassed and adjusted his collar.
"What can we do to help you, Special Undercover Agents of the Secret Organisation? If you came just before the Coronation, the information must have exceeded to the headquarters."
"No. Don't do that," the Doctor said, grimacing.
"Sorry?"
"Don't say that grandiose name, it just gives me the creeps. Just call me the Doctor," he said and walked over the table.
"The Doctor? As a code name?" Bishop seemed impressed.
The Doctor titled his head to the side in amusement. "You could say that."
"You can just call me Captain Jack Harkness," Jack extended his hand to greet Bishop.
"My loyal colleague," the Doctor exhaled, pointing with his mouth the last word. The Doctor gave one wary look at the round guy, who stood just beside Bishop, but appeared unmoving as a statue, as the Time Lord squeezed past him.
"Ain't you that big guy who punched our agent?" Jack intervened, giving a meaningful look at him.
"Sincere apologies!" the round man exclaimed in a soldier pose.
"Oh, nothing to worry about. Just gotta be on a lookout around you some more," the Doctor muttered, glancing him over, then cleared his throat.
"Please excuse us for our incompetence," Bishop said, rubbing on his forehead.
The Doctor just nodded blithely. "Right right." He dismissed them with a hand, taking a seat on the chair, his legs on the table, looking through the papers. "Is this everything you've got?" He asked in an authoritative voice.
"We keep records. Yes."
"But you're not doing much of an investigation work yourself, are you, Detective Inspector Bishop?" the Doctor glanced from the papers.
"I'm sorry. If we disappointed you-"
"Nah, not me. After aaall, they send me for the job." He pointed with his mouth. "But what about you? Don't you want to get out and investigate?" he sang. "No such itch?" The Doctor looked at him expectedly.
"Of...course I have," Bishop exhaled. "But with the Coronation right at the corner..." he said helplessly. "And this is way beyond anything we've ever seen. We don't even know where to start."
"Well... You can start from the beginning," the Doctor said, peeking out from the held papers. "Tell me all you know."
"We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage." Bishop walked over the wall, where pictures of various faceless people were glued at. "Heads just... blank."
"Is there any sort of pattern?" the Doctor asked casually, standing up and looking through the pictures.
"Yes, spreading out from North London," Bishop breathed. The Doctor turned to examine a file on the desk. "All over the City. Men, women, kids... grannies..." Bishop continued. "The only REAL lead is there's been quite a large number in-"
"Florizel Street." The Doctor read.
A sudden knock at the door took everyone's attention. Everyone in the room looked up.
"Found another one, sir," policeman announced.
A figure, two men in room were expecting in the least to see, stood in the middle of Bishop's office. A figure wearing a familiar pink voluminous skirt with matching pink shoes...
Jack gasped. This was not her... right? She after all, knew things... This was not her...
"Oh, er - good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor..."
The moment his Time Lord's brain recognised the skirt, the Doctor walked from the table, dropping any pieces of papers he had had in his hands, not caring about them messily scattering on the floor. His whole body moved towards the figure in a trance, fingers numb.
No. He couldn't believe it was her. He didn't want to believe it could be her. There must be some kind of mistake. Or... a similar person-
And then, the policeman took the blanket off. The Doctor's eyes widen in horror, his hearts skipping a painful beat, as he approached her.
"Rose," he breathed, his voice barely a whisper. What have they done to you?
"Do you know her?" Bishop asked.
"Know her? She-" he said breathlessly. His voice was unsteady, as his words caught themselves in his throat. His hearts were beating frantically in his chest. And his ears shut down all the unimportant background sounds.
Know her? Were there words to describe what she was to him? And would the man even understand half of it, if he were to tell him? How could some stranger human possibly understand what she was to him? There were no words to describe her, much less English. He wouldn't be alive without her, for Rassillion's sake! In body and soul. And now they... they ripped her off her whole essence. Rose. Her heart-warming smile, those beautiful hazel eyes - they were just gone! Gone. Nothing... left. She... she wasn't even breathing, hell there was no air to breath or mouth to eat. There was just plain nothing!
"What the hell happened! You better tell me, because I'm not exactly a friendly type when it comes to certain things." Jack was shouting at the men. "Who did this?"
"We don't know ourselves. They found her in the street, apparently, over at Master Square, abandoned."
"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," D.I Bishop said.
Something very dangerous snapped inside the Time Lord, when he heard those words.
"They did what?" he said coldly, interrupting the men with Jack together, who was on the verge of choking a nasty swear at them.
"I'm sorry?" D.I. Bishop asked.
"They left her where?" the Doctor said in a forced-calm voice, gritting his teeth. The voice was anything but calm and Captain would have probably shivered himself, if his own fury wouldn't be helping him close those thoughts off.
"Just... in the street," the man answered, a bit stammering.
"In the street," the Doctor said quietly, his eyebrows rising from anger and suppressed urge to force the words into the poor man's mouth. "They left her in the street." His voice was rising, and the suppressed Oncoming Storm was breaking through. "They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the street." He took a shuddering breath. "And as a result, that makes things..." he breathed in a low voice. "Simple. Very, very simple," he said pressing his lips together, his intense gaze fixed on Rose's clean-face.
"Do you know WHY?" the Doctor asked the man, finally tearing his gaze away from Rose's face, and taking his glasses off, turning to the two men.
"No..." Bishops said a bit warily.
"Because NOW!" the Doctor shouted furiously. "Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this EARTH that can stop me!" he said in a voice full of anger, which left no doubt that nobody wanted to cross this man at this time. "Come on!" he called for them, going for the door without hesitation.
Someone did this to her. Whatever had interested him of this whole situation before, now put a whole new level to it. Things just got very very personal. And the Oncoming Storm was out on the surface.
The Doctor, Jack and Bishop burst out of the gates into the dawn sunlight.
"The big day dawns..." Bishop announced.
The Doctor did not reply. He moved on immediately.
"Better not get on his nerves now, Detective Bishop. Be a wise man. Nothing can stop him now."
"What has stopped him till now then?"
"Rose," Jack breathed. "And now, he doesn't have to feel the responsibility to do this the human way. I may not be in the best of moods myself, but nothing compared to the Oncoming Storm."
"Is this another code name, Oncoming Storm?" Bishop asked.
"Something you don't want to learn about directly."
Outside the Conolly's house
Tommy opened the door and found the Doctor standing there with Bishop and Jack.
"Tommy, talk to me," the Doctor said in a low voice.
"I need to know exactly what happened inside your house," he continued as Tommy stepped outside the door, closing it behind him.
Suddenly Eddie pulled the door open violently and rounded on Tommy.
"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" he spat in Tommy's face, roughly.
"I wanna help, dad," Tommy simply said.
"Mr Connolly..." the Doctor said warningly. One more word from that man...
"Shut your face, you," Eddie spoke into the Doctor's face. "Whoever you are.
"You don't wanna know who I really am," the Doctor said in a low Time Lord's voice, glaring at the man from above. He could barely see a human man in front of him. Whatever he was, he was only a hindrance, and obstacle to go past to.
Eddie titled his head backwards a bit. "We can handle this ourselves. And I thought you were supposed to be in prison." He glanced the Doctor over.
"Let the man talk," Bishop intervened. "He's of High authority. You don't wanna bring this upon yourself, and neither do I."
"What, what the blazes?" Eddie frowned at Bishop.
"What can I do, Doctor?" Tommy said.
Eddie sprung around at him. "Listen you, little twerp," he said in a cold whisper. "You're hardly out of the bloomin' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain!" He shook his body from the words.
The group only watched silently, but as Jack took in the Doctor's clenched white fists, he knew that the man better shut his mouth soon.
"People round here respect me. It MATTERS what people THINK!" Eddie talked fiercely.
"Is that why you did it, dad?" Tommy asked.
"What d'you mean? Did what?" Eddie leaned back, taken aback.
"You ratted on gran. How else would the police know where to look? Unless some coward told them..."
"How DARE you?" Eddie said in a raging voice. "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!"
"Eddie... is that true?" Rita came to join them, as she heard them talking.
"I did it for US, Rita!" Eddie defended himself. "She was FILTHY." He jumped at the words. "A FILTHY, DISGUSTING THING!" Spitting.
"She's my mother," Rita said quietly, shocked. "All the others - you informed on all the people in our street - our friends."
"I had to." He flailed slightly, looking around for understanding. "I did the right thing...!"
"The right thing for us... or for you, Eddie?" Rita said heartbroken. "You go, Tommy." She turned to her son. "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!" Close to tears she went back inside, slamming the door on Eddie's face.
"Rita?" Eddie called out for her, concerned.
"Tommy." The Doctor extended his hand, urging the boy to come with him.
The streets were busy as people were preparing for a street party. The Doctor, Jack, Tommy and Bishop walking along.
"Tommy, tell me about that night," the Doctor said impatiently. "The night she changed."
"She was just watching the telly," Tommy said.
"Rose said it," Jack blurted out.
"She guessed it straight away," the Doctor continued, looking up at the TV aerials. "Of COURSE she did. All these aerials in one little street - how come?" he asked Tommy.
"Bloke up the road, Mr Magpie, he's selling them cheap."
Tommy was still talking, when the Doctor started running down the street, towards the shop, Jack following close behind.
"Is he, now?" Bishop asked casually.
"COME ON!" the Doctor yelled back, his voice ringing through the whole street. That was enough to bring the two out of their chit-chat.
When they were just a few meters away from the shop, they saw that the place was closed and Jack was already taking out his blazer to blast the doors open, but got no chance, as the Doctor smashed the glass in Magpie's door with his own bare hand in order to gain entry to the shop.
Bishop still tried to chastise him. "Here, you can't do that, even if you are of Special forces-"
"Better shut up," Jack warned him, but the Doctor ignored them anyway, as he stormed his way in the room.
"SHOP?" he yelled. Then he took a few long strides towards the counter and started pressing the bell on the top repeatedly with mad energy. He shouted to the back of the shop.
"If you're here, come out and talk to me! MAGPIEEE!?" He was bursting with furiosity.
"Maybe he's not here," Tommy said.
"Looks like it..." The Doctor walked over the counter, rifling through the drawers behind the counter. In one of them, he found the device that looked like a cross between a portable radio and TV.
"Oh, hello... this isn't right. This is very much not right." He was inspecting it in his hands.
Much to the surprise of Tommy and Bishop, he licked it.
"Tastes like iron. Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride," he said looking at the device.
"Or Bakelite," Jack added. The Doctor obviously couldn't bother to explain what he said. "One of the first plastics made from synthetic components," Jack said to the two blank faces, who watched the Time Lord.
"Put together with human hands, yes." The Doctor put it down on the counter. "But the design itself..."
He scanned it with his sonic screwdriver. "Oh, beautiful work." He admired it, even with the grave situation at hand and that could only mean one thing, Jack noted. "That is so simple," the Doctor said in disbelief.
Yeh, they were moving forward.
"That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television!" Bishop talked.
The Doctor then raised his sonic screwdriver, pointing it around the room - the televisions turning on to static.
"It's not the only power source in this room..." he whispered.
As the screwdriver whirred, the static gradually faded away and on each screen appeared a different face - the faces of the people who were taken by the Wire. They all looked terrified, mouthing pleas for help. The Doctor looked around at them, brow furrowed. Tommy noticed his gran's face in one.
"Gran?"
"Doctor," Jack called. The Time Lord skipped a beat, turning around to see Captain looking at one of the screens with furrowed brows. His legs took their way towards the telly and he could identify her face clearer by each step.
Rose. The Doctor's hearts leaped out, when he saw her mouthing 'Doctor, Doctor' over and over again. He squatted down before the screen, looking both sad and intense.
"I'm on my way," he breathed, wanting for her to hear him more than anything.
"What do you think you're doing?! I'll call the police!" Magpie's voice could be heard, as Jack dragged him out of the back of the shop.
"We are police for you," Jack countered him.
When the Doctor spotted the man, his face at once switched to a thunderous one. "I want my friend RESTORED!" he said, rounding on the man. "And I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician so tell me, who's really IN CHARGE HERE!?" He made Magpie flinch from his outburst, praying to be anywhere but near this fury.
"Yoohoo! I think that must be me," the Wire appeared on one of the screens. The Doctor turned to her, surprised.
"Ooh, this one's smart as paint," the Wire continued, as the Doctor approached her or it.
"Is she talking to us?" Bishop asked.
"Sorry gentlemen, I'm... I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves," Magpie stammered. "May I introduce you to my new... friend."
"Jolly nice to meet you." The Wire smiled at the group.
"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly," Bishop announced, realising.
"No, it's just using her image," the Doctor said.
"What... what are you?" Tommy asked.
"I'm the Wire," it announced happily. "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." The screen gradually colourized at those words.
"Good Lord - colour television!" Bishop exclaimed with eyes popped out.
"So your own people tried to stop you?" the Doctor asked.
"They executed me. But I escaped - in this form - and fled across the stars," she said with a smirk.
"And now you're trapped in the television," the Doctor said mockingly. The smirk faded from the Wire's face, and with it, the colour from the television.
"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," he spat in disgust. "Taking people's faces, their essences, it stuffs itself."
"And this mouse man, let her do it," Jack said coldly. "Tell me when to shoot." He pointed the blaster at his head.
"Pl-please don't. I had to! She allowed me my face! She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation."
The Doctor glanced at Jack. "We're not shooting people, Jack," he warned him.
"I thought some things changed," Jack breathed disappointed, pulling the weapon away.
"They don't. He's just an idiot man, who couldn't know or feel better for his own people." He looked at Magpie in disgust.
"What does that mean? Releasing her at the time of manifestation?" Tommy asked.
"The appointed time - my crowning glory," the Wire said, hinting, taking everyone's attention.
"Doctor - the coronation!" Bishop exclaimed.
"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set," the Doctor said. Then his face turned to a gloating one, as he approached her. "But you're not strong enough yet, are you?" he asked, trying her. "You can't do it all from here." His face close to the screen. "That's why you need this!" He shook the device teasingly, backing away.
"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 smiled meaningfully to them and the next moment lines of red sparking light suddenly pulled all four faces into the Wire's TV - the Doctor, Jack, Tommy and the Inspector.
"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah! This one is tasty. Oh! I'll have lashings of him! Delicious!" The Wire was enjoying her meal.
However, the impact was not strong enough for the Doctor to become stiff and he, with effort, but slowly pulled out his sonic screwdriver.
The Wire's face suddenly twitched, noticing. "Ah! Armed!" she said in surprise. "He's armed and clever! Withdraw! Withdraw!" She severed the connection between herself and them, and all four fell to the floor, unconscious.
The Doctor woke up just to see Jack together with the Inspector with no face.
"Tommy, wake up!" He shook the boy. "TOMMY!" he shouted out. "Come on!"
"What happened?" Tommy breathed.
"Where's Magpie?" the Doctor breathed anxiously, standing up.
They both ran outside the shop and saw no sight of the man. Magpie was gone.
"We don't even know where to start looking - it's too late," Tommy said, defeated.
"It's never too late," the Doctor countered him. "As a wise person once said - Kylie I think... But the Wire's got a big plan... so it'll need..." He paced anxiously around in circles, his hands on his hips, thinking. "Yes, yes, yes, it's got to harness half the population... millions and millions of people... and where are we?" he asked.
"Muswell Hill," Tommy answered simply.
"Muswell Hill - Muswell Hill!" the Doctor exclaimed, running a few meters further. "Which means..." He looked around until he spotted a large building on the horizon, gesturing at it with both hands.
"Alexandra Palace! Biggest TV transmitter in North London! Ohh!" He bended his knees slightly. "That's why they chose this place!" He turned around to get back to the shop. "Tommy?" he called out for him, loudly.
"What are you going to do?"
"We're going shopping," the Doctor answered half-humorously and opened the doors.
Tommy and the Doctor were gathering equipment. Tommy holding up a device.
"Is this what you want?"
The Doctor suddenly sprang on his feet from another corner of the room. "Perfect!" he exclaimed, putting the thing on the top of others, which were gathered in their time there. "Right, I need one more thing," he said, giving the whole set of equipment to Tommy.
Then suddenly, a sound of something clanging on the floor echoed in the room. The Doctor turned to face Tommy, who was trembling slightly.
"Tommy! Keep it steady." The Doctor picked up the thing, which rolled on the floor and placed it back. "What is it?" he asked the boy impatiently.
"What's he doing?" Tommy pointed his head towards the floor. The Doctor tilted his head just to find a disturbing sight of a certain Captain's face in the...regrowing process. He had his mouth back, but obviously, not speaking yet. Still lacking the whole other set of his face features.
"Don't look at it," the Doctor said in a low but gentler now voice and turned away to search for the last thing he needed.
Tommy and the Doctor ran out on the streets, both loaded with equipment.
"Got it, let's go."
Tommy and the Doctor were running down a street, the Doctor plugging a device into Tommy's huge equipment bank that he was carrying, with its one end in his mouth. After a few corners, Tommy spotted Magpie on the pylon and pointed at him.
"There!"
"Come on!" The Doctor urged him.
"Woah, Woah, woah! Where do you think-" An official tried to stop them, but the Doctor just flashed his psychic paper in the man's face, not stopping his run.
"Oh! I'm sorry sir! Shouldn't you be at the coronation?"
"They're saving me a seat," the Doctor called back, already a few leaps ahead.
"Who did he think you were?" Tommy asked, as they rounded a corner.
"King of Belgium, apparently," the Doctor said casually, after he checked on his paper.
Int. Alexandra Palace, control room
The Doctor was dashing around, gathering the equipment he needed, Tommy in front of a video machine and television screen.
"Keep it switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?" the Doctor called out for him, as he was backing away out of the room.
Tommy just nodded.
The Doctor sprinted back around the corner, past the confused official, trailing a stream of magnetic recording tape behind him from a reel around his waist. He ran up the metal stairs and began climbing up the transmitter, following Magpie.
"You'll get yourself killed up there! Your Majesty!" official called out for him, but was left completely ignored.
He had no time to spare. He had to get her back.
He spotted as Magpie reached the mains plug.
"Feed me!" The Wire was demanding. The Doctor was still quite a bit behind, climbing with determination.
Magpie then plugged his TV in to the main current and the Wire laughed triumphantly. Across the country, TV aerials drew in the sparks emitted from the pylon and people watching the TV were being pulled in by the red electricity.
"Oh! Feast! Feast... ing! The Wire... is feasting," it sighed in contentment.
"It's too late! It's too late for all of us!" Magpie shouted out, devastated.
"I shall consume you... Doctor," the Wire said evilly and the Doctor was blasted in the face with red light, making him cry out and nearly loosing his balance on the transmitter.
"I won't let you do this, Magpie!" he shouted, when he regained his firm position.
"Help me Doctor! It burns! It took my face - my soul!"
"You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest." She smiled and blasted yet another beam at the Time Lord.
"No more of this! You promised me peace!" Magpie pleaded.
"And peace you shall have," she said, blowing him into thousands of particles with the red light. The Wire laughed as his screams echoed in the alley, until he dead. The Doctor tried to touch the portable TV but was zapped by red sparks on his hand.
He shook his hand. "Been burning the candle at both ends? You've overextended yourself missus." He mocked her. "You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there," he said, picking up the TV, only to be zapped in the foot.
He cried out again, but regained his grip on the device. There was no way he was stopping now. "Rubber souls! Swear by them!" He shook his head madly at the device, as he inserted a switch into the TV, but to his utter shock, nothing happened to the Wire.
"Oh dear!" she said mockingly. "Has our little plan gone horribly wrong, Doctor?" The Wire started laughing as the Doctor only stared, horrified. This couldn't be it.
His fears were short-lived, when the beams started retreating back into the Wire's portable television. Her face twisted at once. She was crying out in agony, wailing with pain. The Doctor started grinning.
"It's closed down, I'm afraid - and no epilogue," he said half-humorously, watching her intensely.
With one last piecing shriek from the Wire, transforming that into one of the dead program, the television switched off. The Doctor stared at it for a moment, getting his breath back.
"What have I missed?" the Doctor asked casually, leaning on the frame of the door of the control room.
"Doctor!" Tommy jumped, facing the Doctor. "What happened? The device broken down, it went flying with blazes. He tried to help... but he got too much electricity in him," he said in a wary voice.
"Who did?" the Doctor asked cautiously, edging towards the boy. Tommy titled his head on the floor.
The Doctor leapt towards the fallen body, checking the pulse. "Good lad," he breathed in pride at Jack. "Wakey wakey!" He slapped his cheeks and after a while, Jack woke up with a gasp.
"Blimey!" Tommy breathed. "I thought he was dead!"
"Nah, he's just sort of...playing tricks on all of us." The Doctor laughed a bit.
"Can't say I enjoy this type of game." Jack rubbed his forehead. "Is it gone?"
"Yep. All sorted. I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here." He stood up, walking towards the device, indicating the video. "I just invented the home video 30 years earlier." He tossed it in his hand playfully, showing it to Tommy. "Betamax." He grimaced.
Jack laughed out loud. The Doctor smiled back at him. "Good to have you, Captain," he said warmly.
"Anytime, Doc." He saluted. "I think you have more important things to attend to now, though," Jack said meaningfully.
The Doctor seemed a bit confused at first, but after receiving Captain's smirk, he only grinned and dashed out the doors.
The Doctor was first to return to their street, followed by Tommy and Jack just a bit behind. There were loads of people milling around and meeting loved ones.
"Gran!" Tommy ran to her, after spotting the elderly woman.
The Doctor smiled at the exchanged hug, but continued with his long urgent steps, scanning the crowds for one person. And there she was! Chatting up with someone, a man or a woman, he did not know, as he was only seeing her. Rose. She turned around just about the same time he spotted her, a wide smile spreading across her face, which the Doctor returned, quickening his pace towards her.
He was only a portion away from running towards her. She laughed, just so happy to see him again and he threw his arms around her, lifting her right off the ground in a huge hug. She clung to him, grinning widely and burying her face in his shoulder. And he was grinning all the same, not knowing any better and more right thing in the universe than having her with him.
The folks were celebrating the big day. Out on the street, 50's music was playing, people were out on the street dancing and talking. Trestle tables lining the centre of the road covered in pastries, cakes, drinks, etc. The Doctor and Rose leisurely walked down the street.
"We could go down the mall, join in with the crowd," she suggested casually.
"Nah." He grabbed a victoria sponge from the table. "That's just pomp and circumstance. This is history right here." He laughed happily, eating his snack.
"The domestic approach," Rose said seriously.
"Exactly," he agreed and they both laughed.
"Is it trapped for good - on video?" she asked.
"Hope so," the Doctor answered blithely, not really caring all that much. All he cared about was walking right beside him. Aaannd... let's think about it some other time. "Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivaled knowledge of trans temporal extirpation methods to neutralise the residual electronic pattern," he spilled, trying to cover up his other thoughts with some science terms.
Rose nodded at him. "You what?" she asked.
"I'm going to tape over it," he translated, leaning to her side.
She laughed. "Just leave it to me, I'm always doing that."
"Having good time, buds?" An American voice from behind their backs, startled them.
"Jack," she laughed. "What have you been up to?" she grinned at him.
"Fetched a drink for a lady, for one." He smiled meaningfully at her and handed one of his glasses to her. She laughed.
"Thanks."
The Doctor leaned to his side. "Buds? Really?" he asked incredulously. "After the whole Special Undercover Agents of the Secret Organisation you really want to go down that road?"
"Wha-what organisation?" Rose nearly chocked on her drink, licking her lips, placing the glass on the table.
"I know, ridiculous. That man has one of a imagination. Imagine him living in the 21st century!" the Doctor exclaimed. "He would go completely mad with all the James Bonds, Detective shows and movies. Silly man." He shook his head disapprovingly.
"Hey, bud." Jack suddenly approached Tommy, who was near the table.
"Hey." The boy smiled at him.
"Look, he approves of bud." Jack pointed at him and laughed as the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Good taste. Keep that in mind when you go pick someone up."
"JACK!" Rose and the Doctor chided him.
"I'm just saying." He defended himself.
"It's never only saying with you." The Doctor gave him a meaningful look. "Tell you what Tommy." The Doctor leaned against the table. "You can have the scooter. Little present. Best... um... keep it in the garage for a few years though, eh?"
Behind them, Eddie walked down the street with his suitcase.
"Good riddance," Tommy said, looking over the Doctor's shoulder. The group turned to face the man.
"Is that it then, Tommy?" the Doctor asked seriously. "New monarch, new age, new world - no room for a man like Eddie Connelly."
"That's right. He deserves it." Tommy nodded. The Doctor just nodded, not buying it though.
"Tommy." Rose nudged his shoulder. "Go after him," she said softly.
"What for?" Tommy asked.
"He's your dad," she said gently.
"He's an idiot," Tommy said sadly.
"'Course he is. Like I said, he's your dad," she said like it was obvious. The Doctor looking at her with interest. "But you're clever. Clever enough to stand up to save the world so don't stop there," she said. The Doctor could only watch her in pride and admiration.
What would he do without her? He wanted to never experience that.
"Go on!" She smiled, giving him another nudge. Convinced, Tommy finally ran to join his dad. The group saw them walk side by side and Tommy taking his dad's bag for him. They continued down the street together. The Doctor, Jack and Rose watched them fondly from a distance.
The Doctor then straightened up and took two glasses of orange juice. Handing one to Rose he smiled at her and she back at him in gratitude. They chunk their glasses together with Jack, smiling.
"Tell you what," Rose said, after taking a sip.
"Mm?" The Doctor looked at her, intrigued.
"Let's join them." She tilted her head to the side, at the dancing couples. The Doctor raising an eyebrow at her.
"Come on." She put hers and his glasses on the table and took his hand, dragging him towards the music.
"Captain?" the Doctor called out.
"I'll just go scan the crowd." He winked at them. "You enjoy." He waved at them and disappeared in the crowd.
"He'll be fine. Don't worry." She chuckled at the Doctor's concerned reaction.
"I bet more than fine," he breathed, raising his eyebrows. They both laughed at that.
to be continued... in Idiot's Lantern Aftermath. Chapter-sort-of.
So, my dear readers. I hope you enjoyed this one. Brush me a comment if you can ^^