Star was under the console, on the harness, finally getting round to trying to fix the phone, the Doctor was leaning over her 'helping' as he called it, but really he was just getting in the way.
A moment later his pocket burned and he spun around, reaching into it, pulling out the psychic paper, looking at the message scrawled across it, "Pease save me from the monsters." He read, putting it back in his pocket and dashed up the stairs, working the controls.
Star, surprised, he'd just gone up, took of her goggles and followed him up.
"Haven't done this in a while!" he exclaimed.
"Done what?" Amy asked, she and Rory looking over, "What're you doing?"
"Making a house call." He grinned, pulling a lever down, causing everyone to stumble as the TARDIS jolted to a stop.
~.~
Rory stepped out first and looked around at a set of flats as Amy joined him, he looked taken back by the unimpressive location, "no offence…" he called back in.
"Which means the complete opposite," Star commented as she stepped out.
"…but we could get a bus somewhere like this."
"The exact opposite," the Doctor agreed, closing the door behind him.
"Well, I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory." Amy sighed.
"Yes, it can!" Star argued, "Course it can! Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do!"
"But not today. No." the Doctor scanned around with the sonic as they entered the courtyard, "today, we're answering a cry for help form the scariest place in the universe."
"A child's bedroom. Seriously, some of the stuff in there," she shuddered at the thought.
"Like what?" Rory asked.
"Like hearing a noise of someone in your room, then you get out of bed to look around and something grabs your foot, and whispers to you…"
They walked to the entrance of the building and the Doctor pulled out the psychic paper as they waited for the lift.
"'Please save me from the monsters.'" Rory read, "Who sent that?"
The Doctor closed the wallet and slapped Rory on the head with it, "that's what we're here to find out." He put it away.
"Sounds like something a kid would say."
"Exactly," the Doctor pointed at her, "a scared kid. A very scared kid. So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us. In the TARDIS."
"Yeah, but you've traced it here?"
"Exactly." The lift pinged open, "Ah! Going up." He stepped in with Star, Amy and Rory.
~.~
The group had split up; they'd all gone their separate ways.
Star knocked on one of the doors and a small boy opened, holding a cat in his arms, the cat hissing to be let down.
"Hello," She smiled down at the boy, "Is your mummy or daddy in?"
The boy opened the door wider to reveal the mother smoking behind the boy, a small baby in her arms, only a few months old, "Can I help you?" she demanded.
"Hi!" she put on a fake smile, trying not to let on how disgusted she was with the woman, "Star Smith," she flashed on the psychic paper she'd nicked from the doctor, "Work experience for the local council. I just wondering if you've had any bother around here?
The woman stared her down.
"No? Any improvements needed around here?"
"Get lost!" the woman slammed the door but Star stuck her foot out, keeping it open.
"As I am aware, this is a non-smoking apartment complex. Speak to me like that again and I could get you chucked out." And with that she turned on her heel and walked off.
~.~
The group met back at the lift.
"Hey!" Amy greeted, "Any luck?"
"Three old ladies, a traffic warden for Croatia and a man with 10 cats." The Doctor replied.
"A snotty smoker with a young boy, trying to kill his cat." Star remarked, "And a man who looked like had just had the best night of his life."
"What are we actually looking for?"
"10 cats!" the Doctor empathised.
"Scared kid," Star reminded Amy, "Remember?"
"I found scary kids," Amy commented, "Does that count?"
"Hm." The Doctor hummed, "Try the next floor down. Catch you later." He tapped Amy's shoulder and flicked Star on her nose and walked off.
"Hey!" she called after him, "Don't you want this?" she waved the psychic paper around. He rummaged around in his pocket, only now realising she'd taken it. "Catch!" she threw it at him and he continued on as Rory pressed the button for the lift.
"Maybe it was, you know…junk mail." Rory leaned on the wall, arms crossed.
"What?" Amy looked at him.
"The message on the psychic paper. Maybe it was just nothing."
"It's a small child managed to reach us in the TARDIS, it's definitely not nothing, Rory." Star shook her head. The lift arrived with its usual ping and they got it. "I wanna press the button!" Amy rolled her eyes at her as Star pressed the button, grinning as though it was the best thing ever; she kept pressing the button until the doors eventually closed.
As soon as they were shut the lift plummeted down.
"Brace yourself!" Star yelled and they pressed themselves against the sides of the lift.
~.~
Star blinked awake and shot up to find herself in a dimly lit room, the only light from the windows. Looking around she spotted Amy and Rory unconscious.
~.~
Rory slowly came round and spotted Star sitting on a dining table, "Amy! Amy? Where is she?"
"Over there." She pointed, not realising he couldn't see. Thank goodness for her Time Lord eye sight, she can see a lot better in the dark.
"Yeah." Amy called as she awoke, "here. No, here! It's me." She crawled over to him.
"You ok?" he found a small torch and switched it on, checking the girls were ok, because if Star got hurt, the Doctor would kill him.
"Yeah," Amy squinted at the sudden brightness, "I think so."
"Im fine." Star nodded.
"What happened to the lift?" Rory looked around, "We were in a lift, weren't we?"
"Yeah, yeah," Amy nodded, "we…I remember getting in and then…" she heard Rory groan, "what?"
"We're dead, aren't we?" Rory looked at Star.
"Eh?"
"The lift fell and we're dead."
"Shut up."
"We're dead…again!"
Star giggled at their argument, "We're not dead. But…I haven't a clue where we are. Come on!" she jumped off the table, "Lets explore!"
Rory helped Amy up and they walked out the room, "You know it's obvious what's happened."
"Yeah?" Amy scoffed, "really? Because it's not obvious to me."
"The TARDIS has gone funny again. Some time….slippy…thing. You know, the Doctors back there in EastEnders-land and we're stuck here in the past. This is probably 1700 and something."
"Yay!" Amy cheered, sarcastically, "My favourite year!"
"The TARDIS is fine," Star frowned, "Besides daddy can fix something's." They looked at her, before the burst into laughed. But Star quickly sober, looking over her shoulder, swearing she saw a shadow move behind them.
~.~
They entered a small room, Rory entering first, trying to be the guard for the girls. Looking around it appeared to be the kitchen, shelves reaching the ceiling, fireplaces for coking and utensils scattered around the room. In the middle of the room was a long table.
Amy knocked against some utensils and they made a loud noise, "Bit neglected, wherever it is."
"Let's find the front door, at least." Rory sighed, "then we can work out here we are. When we where."
Star picked up a pan from the table and knocked it, "funny."
"What's funny?"
She held the pan up and knocked it again and they heard a wooden sound, "it's made of wood and painted to look like copper."
"That's stupid." He knocked it himself.
Rory shone the torch around the room.
"Wait." Amy spotted something, "hang on," she found a lamp with a candle; "there's a switch." She turned it on and an electric light started up,
"We're still in the present." Star realised. "Come on, there might be something useful."
They began opening the drawers in the counter and Amy jumped back with a scream. They ran over to see a giant eyeball staring back at them.
Star reached out to touch it.
"Don't touch it!" Amy cried.
She looked at her, "Would you like too." Amy rapidly shook her head and Star grinned and touched the eye, "its okay. It's glass. It's a glass eye."
Rory's torch light flickered on and off.
"Stop doing that." Amy turned to him.
"It's not me." He insisted. The flickering stopped and 5 times, "Come on."
"5 times." Star mused.
"What?" the humans looked at her.
"The torch flicker 5 times…like…like a scared child would do to keep the monsters back."
"No one does that." Amy shook her head.
"I used to. Well something similar. Face the window in bed, face the door, window, door, window, door, window, door, window, door, lie on my back and fall asleep."
"You're weird."
Star tilted her head at her, "Thank you for noticing."
"Come on." Rory began to walk to the door opposite the one they entered through.
Star picked up the pan and ran after them.
~.~
They walked down a hallway, Rory leading them on, to protect them from any dangers, "Lets try down here." They continued on.
Star looking back over her shoulder, just missing another shadow, watching them.
They walked into the front hall, the front door across from them, a staircase opposite. Rory grinned, walked to the door, "oh, at last." Then he groaned.
"What is it?" Amy asked.
"No doorknob?" Star guessed.
Rory nodded, "wooden pans. A massive glass eye and now no doorknob?"
"And this clock." Amy nodded to the grandfather clock.
"The hands are painted on." Star frowned, running her fingers along the painted hands.
They turned as they heard the sound of a child's laughter. Rory put a finger to his lips walking towards another door. Star following him.
"You hear that?" Amy asked as they followed the laughter.
"Yeah." Rory nodded.
Amy started forwards, "Wait!" Star held her back, listening as the laughter got louder.
"They're getting closer!" Amy realised.
"They?!" Rory frowned.
They slowly crossed the room. Star readying the wooden pan. Rory slowly reached for the doorknob and opened it quickly, to see a life-size wooden doll, with a large head, the paint chipping, staring back at them.
"It's just…it a dummy." Amy let out a breath of relief, "oh, it's a dummy."
"This is…weird." Rory remarked.
"Says the time-travelling nurse." Star teased. Rory reached out to touch it, but Star grabbed his hand, "Let's leave that. Come on."
~.~
"Why aren't there any light?" Rory wondered aloud, "I miss lights. You don't really miss things till they've gone, do you? That's what my nan used to say, 'you'll never miss the water till the well runs dry.'"
"Rory..." Amy began.
"Except light I mean, not water. Lights are great, aren't they? I mean if this place was all lot up, we wouldn't even be worried at all."
"Rory!" Star laughed at him, "You're rambling!" And people say she rambled on.
"More like panicking." Amy muttered.
"Yeah, yeah." Rory nodded, "Sorry."
A man ran down the hall towards them, "Help me! Please! Keep them away from me! Keep them away!"
One of the life-sized dolls grabbed the man around the neck with one arm around his neck with one arm, forcing him to the floor. He screamed as he was slowly turned into one of them.
"I take it back." Amy gasped, "Panic now."
Rory nodded.
"This way!" Star shouted, leading them down the halls, the dolls stiffly chasing them.
"Don't run away!" the dolls called after them, "We want to play!"
Star led them to the library. Amy and Rory slammed the door behind them, leaning against it as the laugher continued.
Star laid on the stomach and peeked under the door to see the dolls shadows move away. She let out a breath of relief.
The dolls soon returned.
"Lock it!" Amy ordered.
"This isn't a lock!" Rory cried.
Amy groaned as the three of them continued to push on the door. The dolls shoved it open a crack but the managed to shove it closed again.
Star spotted a giant spool of thread and ran and shoved it in front of the door.
"We can't stay here," Amy decided, looking for another door, but finding none, "We've got to get out! Star, can you do that teleport thing?"
Star adjusted her corset, "Amy! I struggled taking you in the Byzantium; I don't think I could do it with two extra people!"
"Ok, so, how do we get out?" Rory asked.
Amy grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him close, "Take control, Rory. Take control of the only thing we can. Letting them in!"
"Letting them in?"
"And then we surprise them."
Star grinned, "We open the door, push past them."
"Kick them. Punch them. Anything." Amy nodded, "ok?"
"Time to play!" came the muffled call from the dolls.
"Ok." Rory agreed, picking up a mop to use as a weapon.
"Right," Star readied herself to run, "I'll go first..."
"No!" Amy and Rory shouted in unison.
"Why not?" She pouted.
"The Doctor will KILL us!" Rory told her.
Star rolled her eyes, "Hello. I'm insane." they shook their heads, not wanting to risk it, "Ok, fine. Rory you first, then Amy, then me," she removed the spool from the door.
One of the dolls fell into the door, Rory pushed past wit the mop, Amy following, they made it past safe, "Star!" they yelled, "Come on!"
She ran but the fallen doll grabbed her ankle, making her stumbled and giving another doll the chance to keep hold of her, "Let me go!"
"Star!" the yelled again, realising that they should have let her go first. They could only watch, helpless as Star was turned into a wooden doll.
~.~
Amy and Rory ran down the stairs, fending off the dolls with the mop and spoon, the Doctor and a man, ran up and joined him.
"Amy!" the Doctor gasped, "Rory!"
"Doctor!" they panted.
His jaw stiffened, "Where's Star?"
They shared a glance and pointed to a ginger haired doll that had followed them.
He sent a glare at them; they should have been looking after her, keeping her safe. But it was only George who could help now, he'd kill them later, "George!" he shouted, "George, you have to face your fears. You have to face them now! You have to open the cupboard or well all be trapped here forever in a living death! George! George, listen to me! George! George listen to me! George!"
The Doctor, Rory, Amy and George's dad were surrounded by the dolls and Star.
"Please!" the Doctor pleaded, "George, you have to end this! End this, end this. End this now!"
The dolls suddenly stopped and they spotted a young boy in the centre of the room, most likely George.
"George! George! You did it! You did it! Its ok, it's all ok, now. Everything's going to be fine." the dolls began moving again ad walked down to George, "No. No. No. No. No. No. No!" he leaned over the banister, "George, you created this whole world. This whole thing, you can smash it! You can destroy it!" George shook his head, "Something's holding him back. Something's holding his back. Something..." he looked at Alex, "That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted. That someone was going to come and take him away."
The dolls approached George, who shook in fear.
"Well, we...we talked about it." Alex flustered.
"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex. A Tenza's sole function is to fit in, to be wanted, and you were rejecting him."
"We just couldn't cope. We needed help!"
Rory pushed the dolls with his mop.
"Yes, but George didn't know that." The Doctor pointed out, "He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it."
"But how could we keep him?" Alex shook his head, "How can we? He's not..."
"Not what?"
Alex looked down at George as the dolls surrounded him, "He's not...human."
"No." the Doctor agreed.
"DAD!" George yelled.
And Alex pushed the scissors as the Doctor as ran down the stairs, pushing past the dolls and pulled George into a tight hug. The dolls stopped as George cried.
"Whatever you are, whatever you do, you're my son," Alex told George, "and I will never, ever send you away. Oh, George. Oh, my little boy."
"Dad." George whimpered.
A bright light filtered through the Windows.
"My little boy." Alex hugged his son tighter.
"Dad." George continued crying.
~.~
The lift doors pinged open and Amy, Rory and Star stepped out.
"We never speak of this again," Star pointed at them.
"Never." Amy shook her head.
"Not at all." Rory agreed.
They walked out of the apartment building and went to sit on a low wall, waiting for the Doctor.
~.~
The Doctor strolled over to them, and pulled Star into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground as she giggled, "You okay?"
"I was a doll." she stated bluntly.
He nodded, "Come on then. Things to do, people to see, whole civilisations to save. It's good to be back together again in the flesh."
Amy and Rory shared a glance at each other; both surprised how calmly he was taking it giving that they had let Star get turned into a doll.
~.~
The Doctor bounded up the steps to the console with Star. Amy and Rory following. "Now did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff? Where do you want to go?"
"Um..." Amy hesitated.
"Minds gone blank."
"It's not like you were turned into a wooden doll." Star rolled her eyes playfully.
"Well...we are surprised you not gonna kill us."
"Why would I kill you?" He frowned.
"Um...you did say that if anything happened to Star when you aren't around, you'd kill us." Rory reminded him.
"And I'm right here!" Star waved. "So, there is no reason to kill you."
"This time," the Doctor mock glared at them.