{"You better quit trying to cop a feel."}
The Tardis materialises in the Tardis-sized gap between a pair of cargo containers. For once, she gets the door on the wrong side. Theta can't get out, "Ah." He turns her ninety degrees while a train whizzes along the track between the open ground and the housing estate. I laugh an shake my head at the dork, "Ah!" He cheers as we all step out. Rose checks out a Shane Ward Greatest Hits poster on one of the containers. "So, near future, yeah?" She turned to him with a smile,
"I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped."
We move down the street, Theta making sure to hold my hand as Rose moves to his other side to grab his arm. "Thirtieth Olympiad." I speak with a impressed look, "No way! Why didn't I think of this? That's great." She cheers yanking him closer causing him to clear his throat. "Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood around baying. No, wait a minute, that was Club Med. Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony, tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch. Lovely chap, what was his?"
A man is putting up Missing posters on the lampposts, causing me to frown an let go of Theta's hand moving closer to the poster. "Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet." John Mark, 1925-1991. I hummed to myself as I read the name and listened to the one Theta just listed off. Does he know he does that, it's not everyday that a Timelord can subconsciously predict things. "D." I called out causing Rose to frown at me with a glare.
"And in those days, everybody had a tea party to go to." He continued on in his own little word but still made his way over to me. "Doctor!" Rose gaffes at the fact that he moved away from her. "Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top?" He asked me with a wide smile, "You should really look at this." I pointed to the poster as he finally moves to stand next to me. "Do you know those things? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius."
He cheers and reads the two posters. The boy's name is Dale Hicks, "What's taking them, do you think? Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold? Is someone reducing the temperature?" He asks looking around with a frown as I stared up at him. He really doesn't know he does it, honestly I'm disappointed in myself for not knowing the man I loved could do it. Or maybe it was just this place, he seems super sensitive to it.
"It says they all went missing this week. Why would a person do something like this?"
"What makes you think it's a person?" A woman puts out her rubbish and goes straight back inside. There is no one else about apart from the council roadmenders and their white van. "Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death. Doctor, what-" Theta has run up the street to investigate the front lawn and its goal with me following along because he wouldn't let go of my hand. He holds his hand out over the grass, I watch him. "Ooo, tickles!" He giggles causing me to snort as a man steps out of his house and moves over watching us with a frown.
"What's your game?" The man glares at us, "My er. Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at squash. Reasonable. I'm being facetious, aren't I. There's no call for it." Theta stutters our causing me to smile and pull him closer. "Sorry about him." I was interrupted by the man as we back away onto the road.
"I'm, I'm a police officer! That's what I am. I've got a badge and a police car. You don't have to get. I can, I can prove it. Just hold on." I smack him slightly as he starts reaching around in my pockets instead of his. "You better quit trying to cop a feel mister." He smirks slightly before turning back to the man. "We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look or sound like any of them."
"See, look. I've got a colleague. Lewis."
"Well, she looks less like a copper than you do."
"Training. New recruit. It was either that or hairdressing, so, voila!" Theta brandishes his psychic paper in front of the man causing me to give a smile. The man grows anger as he moves us towards the center of the street where Rose was standing with a man in a yellow vest and a older women.
"What are you going to do?" A women asked as she appeared beside the man in the yellow jacket, "The police have knocked on every door. No clues, no leads, nothing." The old woman complains, "Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do." I frowned at the man, wasn't his son missing too. I could have sworn I saw him over there putting a missing poster up. "Saw it with me own eyes. Dale Hicks in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then pfft! Right in front of me, like he was never there. There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us."
"Why don't we-" Theta was interrupted by the other women, "Why don't we start with him? There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night." She accused the man in the yellow jacket who scoffed, "Fixing things up for the Olympics." He tried to explain but the father wasn't having it either. "Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it." I was already getting annoyed with this conversation, "I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do is just"
Theta was interrupted again by the boy, "You don't. What you just said, that's slander!" He shouted pointing his finger at the women, "I don't care what it is." She growls back. "I think we need to just-"
"I want an apology off her."
"Stop picking on him."
"Yeah, stop picking on me."
"And stop pretending to be blind. It's evil!"
"I don't believe in evil."
"Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van." He made a point as the father stepped up, "Here, here, here, that's not what she's saying." He tried to stop the fight but it didn't seem to be working, "Would you stop ganging up on me."
"Feeling guilty, are we?"
"Fingers on lips!" Everyone joins Theta in making the Shush gesture who had finally had enough.
"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" Theta asks with a thoughtful frown, "Er, can I? Look around you. This was a safe street till it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?" Rose looks up at Chloe in the window. Trish notices and goes back inside. Later, Theta and I are back at Tom's house, sniffing. "Want a hanky?"
"Can you smell it? What does it remind you of?"
"Sort of metal?"
"Mmm hmm."
"Oh."
Going between two lots of back gardens. We call it a jennel in my part of the world, "Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other. Whoa, there it goes again! Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand." I rolled my eyes at him as Rose snorted slightly before smelling the air again. "And there's that smell. It's like a er, a burnt fuse plug or something."
"There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this." I spot a beautiful orange cat sitting off to the side. "Aren't you a beautiful boy??" I coo at it as I bend down to pet it, Theta though wasn't paying attention again. "Thanks! I'm experimenting with back combing. Oh." He pouts when he sees I'm not talking about him as Rose smiles an moves to pet him only for him to move away from her.
"What?" I asked with a teasing smirk as he huffs and rolls his eyes. "No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it." The cat goes inside cardboard box, "Come here, boy. What do you want to go in there for?" I frown as I listen to a distant meow. The box is empty, causing me to move back a little. Rose suddenly sniffs the air, "Doctor! Phew." The smell is very strong. "Whoa! Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ion residue. Blimey! That takes some doing. Just to snatch a living organism out of space-time. This baby is just like, I'm having some of that. I'm impressed."
"So the cat's been transported?"
"It can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see. Keep them peeled, Lewis."
—
At the top of the close are the narrow three story houses with the integral garage next to the front door. I hear a noise coming from one of them, "Is that you, puss cat? Are you trapped?" Rose cued as she pushed past me causing me to roll my eyes at her drama. More noises and thumping, "Not going to open it, not going to open it, not going to open it" The door is unlocked. Rose gently opens it and a big ball of scribble knocks her down and I just barely dodge it as Theta comes running. "Stay still!" He points his sonic screwdriver, and the ball becomes hand-sized. Rose grabs it, "Okey dokey?"
"Yeah, cheers."
"No probs. I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is, because I haven't got the foggiest."
"Well, I can tell you you've just killed it." Rose snips causing me to sigh as I move closer to them, "It was never living. It's animated by energy. Same energy that's snatching people. That is so dinky! The go anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties." I explained.
—
Back inside the TARDIS, Theta puts the ball is under analysis. "Oh, hi ho, here we go. Let's have a look. Get out of here." Rose and I move to get a closer look, "What's it say?" Theta uses the eraser end of a pencil on the ball, and rubs some of it out. "It is. It's graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil." I explained in awe as we inspect it. "I was attacked by a pencil scribble?" Rose asked in disbelief causing me to snort slightly.
"Scribble creature, brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature?" Theta asks after he explained the creature, "Maybe it was a mistake I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a, like a drawing. Like a, a child's drawing. You said it was in the street." I muttered as I thought out loud causing him to nod along.
"Probably."
"The girl."
"Of course! What girl?"
"Something about her gave me the creeps. Even her own mum looked scared of her."
"Are you deducting?"
"I think I am." Rose shrugged as she smiled up at him. "Copper's hunch?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, "Permission to follow it up, Sarge?" Rose tries to be funny but neither of us laugh as we leave the TARDIS.
—
The Doctor rings the doorbell, then rattles the letter box. Trish eventually answers the door, "Hello. I'm the Doctor, This is Kate and Rose. Can we see your daughter?" He asks bluntly causing me to roll my eyes, "No, you can't." She crossed her arms with a frown as she looked at the three of us. "Okay. Bye." I waved and started to pull Theta along, "Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?" We paused, "She knows something." He nodded in agreement.
"Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought, that she might like to give us a hand." Theta tries to be friendly as Rose gave a fake smile, "Sorry to bother you." She insisted, "Yeah, sorry. We'll let you get on with things. On your own. Bye again."
"Wait! Can you help her?"
"Yes, I can."
—
The television is on, of course. "The Torch Bearer is running up the Mall, which I can tell you is-"
"She stays in her room most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone." Trish, as we learned sighed sadly, "What about Chloe's dad?" I asked as I leaned against the counter,
"Chloe's dad died a year ago." Trish explained with a sad look causing me to give a gentle smile, "I'm sorry."
"You wouldn't be if you'd known him." She muttered lowly, "Well, let's go and say hi." Theta insisted as he went to grab my hand. "I should check on her first. She might be asleep." Trish stepped in front of us causing me to frown, "Why are you afraid of her, Trish?" I asked cocking my head to the side in confusion, this was her daughter.
"I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid." Trish started causing us to frown, "I'm sure she is." Theta agreed as he nodded slowly, "She's never been in trouble at school you should see her report from last year. A's and B's."
"Can I use your loo?"
"She's in the choir. She's singing in an old folks home. Any mum would be proud. You know I want you to know these things before you see her, Doctor, because right now, she's not herself." Rose goes upstairs, and hides in the airing closet as Chloe comes out of her room and goes downstairs. She goes into Chloe's room and sees the wall covered in drawings, including Dale and the cat. There is a noise from the wardrobe, and she knocks over a jar of coloured pencils. When she's picked them up again, Dale is scowling.
—
Chloe is getting herself a drink of milk from the fridge, "All right, there? I'm the Doctor. This is my Kate." I blushed at the name causing him to smirk slightly. "I'm Chloe Webber." Her voice came out all rough and robotic almost, "How're you doing, Chloe Webber?" I asked as I watched her. "I'm busy. I'm making something, aren't I, mum." She eyes her mother with an evil glint in her eyes, "And like I said, she's not been sleeping."
"But you've been drawing, though. I'm rubbish. Stick men about my limit. Can do this, though." He gives the Vulcan salute, "Can you do that?" He asks trying to distract her, "They don't stop moaning." She admitted causing me to move closer, "Chloe." Her mother tries moving to reach for her. "I try to help them, but they don't stop moaning."
"Who don't?"
"We can be together."
"Sweetheart."
"Don't touch me, mum."
The doors to the wardrobe rattle again. Rose opens them. A wind blows in her face. She parts the clothes to see a drawing of a bearded, yellow-eyed man. "I'm coming."
"I'm busy, Doctor."
"Come on, Chloe. Don't be a spoil sport. What's the big project? I'm dying to know. What're you making up there?"
"Doctor!" Rose shouts causing us all to move upstairs Theta gets there first, "I'm coming to hurt you." I immediately shut the doors, "Look at it." Rose insisted as she pointed to a drawing. "No, ta." He goes to look at the other pictures, "What the hell was that?" Trish demanded, absolutely petrified.
"A drawing. The face of a man." Rose explained, "What face?" Trish asked causing Rose to shake her head. "Best not." She started with a frown, "What've you been drawing?" Trish demanded towards her daughter, "I'm drew him yesterday." She muttered back. "Who?" I asked with a frown, "Dad."
"Your dad? But he's long gone. Chloe, with all the lovely things in the world, why him?" Trish insisted as she held her daughter, "I dream about him, staring at me." Chloe explained, "I thought we were putting him behind us. What's the matter with you?"
"We need to stay together." Chloe insisted looking up at her mom, "Yes, we do." Her mom smiled back thing she was talking about them two together. "No. Not you, us. We need to stay together, and then it'll be all right." Chloe moved away from her mother, "Trish, the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?" Rose asked with a frown, "Who gave you permission to come into her room? Get out of my house." Trish demanded glaring at Rose causing me to raise an eyebrow. She had a point, no one told her to go snooping. "Tell us about the drawings, Chloe." The Doctor demanded, "I don't want to hear any more of this."
"But that drawing of her dad. I heard a voice. He spoke." Rose muttered in confusion as she looked towards Trish who shook her head in denial. "He's dead. And these, they're kid's pictures. Now get out!" She shouted, she was scared. "Chloe has a power. And I don't know how, but she used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks. She's using it to snatch the kids." I spoke stepping closer to Trish causing her to glare at me.
"Get out." She spoke lowly but I wasn't going to stop, this child and mother were in danger by something and they needed our help. "Have you seen those drawings move?" I asked and she flinched but shook her head, "I haven't seen anything." She denied but I could tell she was lying. "Yes, you have, out of the corner of your eye." I insisted causing her to shake her head even more with tears in her eyes, "No."
"And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain? You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever again."
"She's a child."
"You're terrified of her. But there's nowhere to turn to, because who's going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except us."
"Who are you?"
"We're help."
—
Theta absentmindedly starts eating marmalade from a jar with his fingers, I open my mouth in shock as I watch him. This man was the most brilliant in the galaxy but he was so weird it was indescribable, "Ahem." He realises what he is doing and puts it back. "Those pictures, they're alive. She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures." I take a guess as Theta nodded along, "Ionic energy. Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kid of holding pen made up of ionic power."
"And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?" Rose asks causing me to smack her arm, "How many times do I have to tell you he's dead." Trish insists, "Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke." Rose mutters in a non caring voice ignoring the clear hit I gave because she was being heartless. "If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things. Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world."
"She always got the worst of it when he was alive."
"Doctor, how can a twelve year old girl be doing any of this?"
"Let's find out."
—
Chloe is sitting on her bed. She does the Vulcan salute when the Doctor enters. "Nice one." I snorted as he puts his fingers on her temple and she rolls her eyes up. A sort of mind meld, while we're on the Spock theme. He lays her back on the bed, "There we go." He mutters lowly at her with a gentle smile "I can't let him do this" Trish spoke towards me as I grab her hand with a gentle smile. "Shush, it's okay. Trust him." I insisted causing her to nod, "Now we can talk."
"I want Chloe. Wake her up. I want Chloe." The voice was coming from Chloe's mouth but it wasn't her. "Who are you?" I asked gently, "I want Chloe Webber." It insisted, "What've you done to my little girl?" Trish shouts as her grip on my hand tightens. "Doctor, what is it?" Rose asks moving behind him and placing a hand on his back. "I'm speaking to you, the entity that is using this human child. I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation."
"I don't care about shadows or parleys." It scoffs as Chloe chasing me to glare, "So what do you care about?" I ask as I pull Trish closer. "I want my friends." She breaths out, "You're lonely, I know. Identify yourself." Theta insists, there was a long pause. "I am one of many. I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone. I hate it. It's not fair, and I hate it."
"Name yourself!"
"Isolus."
"You're Isolus. Of course."
"Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family."
The Isolus is drawing as she speaks, "What's that?" Trish asks as she squints at the drawing in confusion, "The Isolus Mother, drifting in deep space. See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone." I explain fro everyone as Chloe turns to me with a blank nod, "Our journey is long."
"The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up." Theta tells us with a frown of his own as a million thoughts grin through his mind. "Thousands of years just floating through space. Poor things. Don't they go mad with boredom?" Rose asks, "We play."
"You play?"
"While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make believe worlds in which to play."
"In flight entertainment."
"Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each others love. Without it, they're lost. Why did you come to Earth?"
"We were too close." She answered, "That's a solar flare from your sun. Would have made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods." Theta spoke in realization of the situation. "Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there, and I cannot reach them. So alone." Chloe cried out sadly, "Your pod crashed. Where is it?" I ask finally letting go of Trish's hand and moving towards her.
Memory of a tiny white flower-like being flying into Chloe's room and then into her mouth. "My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me, alone. She needed me, and I her." I frowned at the wording, "You empathised with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you." I spoke causing her to nod, "I want my family. It's not fair." She cried out in anger and resentment. "I understand. You want to make a family. But you can't stay in this child. It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself."
"I am alone."
A crash from the wardrobe. A red glow and the door shakes. Chloe is shaking, "I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming." Chloe's dads voice came from the closet, "Trish, how do you calm her?" I turned to her, "What?" She asked confused and scared "When she has nightmares, what do you do? A mother always does something to keep her child calm." Theta turned to me as I spoke, his eyes gentle at my words.
"I," She shakes her head, scared but trying to think, "What do you do?" I insisted again. "I sing to her." Theta nods and pulls her closer to Chloe, "Then start singing."
"Chloe, I'm coming."
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he"
"Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe."
"Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." Chloe falls asleep, and the wardrobe falls silent. "He came to her because she was lonely. Chloe, I'm sorry." Trish cries holding her daughter as Theta pulls me close making sure to place a hand on my stomach as well.
—
They are collecting all the pencils they can find, "Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper when he'd had a drink. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free. I thought it was over." I gave her a reassuring hug, "Did you talk to her about it?" Rose asked as she watched us with a frown. "I didn't want to." Trish mutters with a shake of her head as she sighs in her own disappointment. "But maybe that's why Chloe feels so alone. Because she has all these terrible dreams about her dad, but she can't talk to you about them."
"Her and the Isolus. Two lonely kids who need each other."
"And it won't stop, will it, Doctor? It'll just keep pulling kids in."
"It's desperate to be loved. It's used to a pretty big family." I explained as Theta nodded along. "How big?" Rose asks, "Say around four billion? We need that pod."
"It crashed. Won't it be destroyed?" Rose asked with a frown as we move on, "Well, it's been sucking in all the heat it can. Hopefully that should keep it in a fit state to launch. It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature that the Tardis can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus."
Chloe watches them from her window.
"We can scan for the same trace that I picked up from the scribble creature. We'd need to widen the field a bit."
Chloe watches the Doctor, Kate and Rose go inside the Tardis.
—
Theta is building a gizmo while Rose and I watch, "You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" Rose asks causing us both to pause and look towards one another, he knew what it felt like more than I did even though I did have moments. "I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the styner-magnetic. The thing in your left hand." She hands him what he asked for, "Sounds like you're on its side." I muttered lowly, not exactly sure I trusted whatever this thing was. "I sympathise, that's all."
"As do I but The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people." I gave him a sad look but he just shook his head at me, "It's a child. That's why it went to Chloe. Two lonely mixed up kids." I sighed with a nod, "Feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way." I scoffed lowly to myself, 'You mean like you?' Theta snorted causing me to wince, I didn't mean for him to hear that one. "It's scared. Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot."
"Yes, and I know what kids can be like. Right little terrors."
Chloe returns to her room and pulls the head off a doll to reveal her secret stash of pencils.
"Gum."
Rose spits her chewing gum, "I've got cousins. Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family." Rose tries to explain but neither of us really cared much. "What about trying to understand them?" I asked her with a frown, "Easy for you to say. You don't have kids." We both paused, "I'm a dad." I smacked him as Rose frowned at him, "What did you say?" He uses Rose's chewing gum to fix a component in place, then closes the lid on the glass globe containing the gizmo.
"I think we're there. Fear, loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold." Rose is holding her hand out, pointing at the scanner is registering an energy source. "It's the pod! It is in the street. Everything's coming up Doctor."
Chloe starts drawing the Tardis.
"Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull's egg. Very light."
Kate suddenly frowned as a pressure hit her while Chloe draws the Doctor.
"So these pods they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" There's a crash as the gizmo falls to the ground and breaks, I turn but not in time because Theta was gone, "D?!" I shout looking around the area as both Theta and the Tardis have vanished.
"Doctor!"
—
Rose hammers on Trish's door as I catch up behind her. I have to take it a little slower so my baby would be okay, She lets us in and Rose runs upstairs. "It's okay. I've taken all the pencils off her." Trish insisted as we followed her, Rose snatches the drawing of the Doctor and the Tardis. "Leave me alone. I want to be with Chloe Webber. I love Chloe Webber." The alien in Chloe speaks, "Bring him back, now." Rose demands angrily.
"No."
"Don't you realise what you've done? He was the only one who could help you. Now bring him back!" Rose grabs Chloe's shoulders and starts to shake her causing me to frown as I watched her. "Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" Chloe's insisted as I move to bend down to talk to the girl. "I know. I know. Doctor, if you can hear me, I'm going to get you out of there. I'll find the pod." I turn to Trish, "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."
"The Torch Bearer getting even closer to the Olympic Stadium heading down the Strand before turning east along the Embankment."
Kel is admiring his latest tarmac patch, the boy in the yellow vest that I managed to get a name from. "Heat. They travel on heat." Rose insisted as we moved towards him, "Look at this finish. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump." He praised his own work causing me to smirk, "Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?" I acted causing him to jump seeing as he didn't notice us coming.
"I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one." He continues to praise causing me to roll my eyes, "Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days." I demanded cussing him to frown, "Six days. When I was laying this the first time round."
"What?"
"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time."
"Six days ago."
"Yeah."
"Hot fresh tar."
"Blended to a secret council recipe." Rose runs to his van, I sighed. I'm not running again right now, "I don't keep it in the van! Hey, that's a council van. Out." Rose grabs a pick axe from the back of the van causing my jaw to drop at her. Kel backed away to hide behind me as I raise an eyebrow, "Whoa, wait, wait, wait. You just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No, don't, wait. Put the axe back in the van. That's my van. Give me the axe. No! Wait! No!"
Rose starts digging up the pothole, causing me to flinch every time she hit the road. "No! You, stop! You just took a council axe from a council van and now you're digging up a council road! I'm reporting you to the council!" Rose finds the tiny spaceship, "It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar." I muttered out causing him to frown at the sight, "What is it?" He asked me causing me to laugh. "It's a spaceship. Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid."
—
"We're live on News 24. The opening ceremony of the London Olympics of 2012 is well underway, and people from all over the world are streaming into the stadium right now. They all have their dreams. They've all put in years of hard work"
Chloe bars her bedroom door with a chair. She grabs a pencil from under the mattress, and begins to draw the Stadium and its occupants.
—
"I've found it! I don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board. Hang on, I told you not to leave her." Rose demands angrily causing me to groan at the headache she was giving me.
"My God! Er, what's going on here?"
The stadium crowd have vanished. Kel enters, "I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up" Rose rolls her eyes at him and pushes him towards the Tv, "Shut up and look!"
"The crowd has vanished! Er, they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Right in front of my eyes. It's impossible. Bob, can we join you in the box? Bob? Not you too, Bob?"
"The stadium won't be enough. The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters."
"Over eighty thousand spectators and thirteen thousand athletes."
"Not enough."
"They're gone. All of those people. It's a terrible, terrible turn of events."
Chloe opens an atlas and prepares to draw the Earth, "We won't be alone, Chloe Webber. We'll have all of them. And then we'll never feel alone, ever again."
"Since the battle of Torchwood." I frowned turning to the tv before moving upstairs behind Rose as she pounds on the little girls door. "Chloe? Chloe, it's Rose! Open the door!" Chloe rips down some pictures and starts drawing on the wall, "We found your ship. We can send you home." I spoke through the door as Trish moves into the hall. "Chloe?" Trish tries, but it doesn't seem to work. "Open up! Right, stand back."
"I'm coming to hurt you." Rose uses the pickaxe to break down the bedroom door as her fathers voice comes through the door. "I'm coming, coming to hurt you." Rose gets a hand through to push the chair away and come in, I raise an eyebrow at her rush. "Chloe!" Rose shouts.
"I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming." Her dads voice kept screaming, "I've got to stop her." Rose insisted as Chloe shook her head, "If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair." She started to cry, "Look, I've got your pod." Rose tells her gently as she shows Chloe the pod. "The pod is dead." Chloe insisted, "It only needs heat." I tried gently towards her with a small smile.
"It needs more than heat."
"What, then?"
"I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved. And that one!" Theta is pointing to an Olympic torch causing me to smile at his thoughts, "She didn't draw that, he did. But it needs more than heat, Doctor." I spoke picking him up.
"Is still on its way. I suppose it's much more than a torch now, it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love."
"Love."
"So let's have a look from the helicopter. There we go, the torch bearer running"
"I know how to charge up the pod."
"Past Dame Kelly Holmes Close."
Rose rushes out the door causing me to throw my head back with a groan and follow her out. Rose pushes her way through the crowd at the end of the close, "Sorry, you'll have to watch from here." The policeman stops her causing her to drop the pod. I quickly picked it up as she began to argue with the officer. "No, I've got to get closer."
"No way."
"I can stop this from happening!"
The pod is chittering, "You felt it, didn't you? Feel the love." I throw the pod into the air, and it flies into the flame of the Torch. The Torch Bearer staggers briefly then carries on, "Yes!" I cheer jumping up and down in relief.
—
"I can go home. Goodbye, Chloe Webber. I love you." The Isolus leaves Chloe and breaks a windowpane on its way out. "Mum?" Chloe cries looking over to her mother, "I'm here." She pulls her daughter in for a tight hug. "Mummy!"
—
"You did it! What was it you did?" Back down the Close, the missing children reappear and run to their parents. "Mummy!" A boy shouted being reunited with his mother, "Oh, Jane!"
"Doctor."
"I don't know who you are, or what you did, but thank you, darling! And thank that man for me too." A old woman smiles at me as she takes my hand causing me to smile back and nod. "Where is he? He should be here. All the drawings have come to life. That means all of them. Oh, no." There is a red glow in Chloe's bedroom.
Chloe and Trish are walking down the stairs when the front door slams shut, then the other doors, too. "Trish, get out!" I yell through the door trying to get it open, "I can't! The door's stuck!" She shouts back as Rose pushes me over. "Is the Doctor in there?" She asks causing me to glare at her, "I don't think so." Trish scoffs in disbelief at the girl. I understand he is important because I love him but right now he is not a priority. Trish and Chloe were, Theta would be fine. "Mummy."
"Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you." Chloe cries out, scared. "Please, dad. No more." She begged as he spoke again, "Chloe" I took a deep breath and moved back to the door, "Chloe, listen to me. It isn't real like the others. It's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it." I tried to explain calmly even though I too was panicking with them but I had more things to worry about. Like my baby, I couldn't get to stressed, "Help us!"
"Oh, it's because you're so scared that he's real. But you can get shot of him, Chloe." I speak to her as she cries again, "Mummy!" She shouts, "You can do it, Chloe!" I tell her finally able to calm myself down as I close my eyes and lean against the door. "I can't!"
"Chloe, I'm coming."
"I can't! I can't!"
"I'm coming."
"I can't."
"I'm coming."
"Mummy."
"Chloe." He chants scary like, "I'm with you, Chloe. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."
"Sing again! Chloe, sing!" I shout opening my eyes, "Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you. Chloe!"
"Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." The red glow fades and retreats. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." Kel walks up to Rose, sitting by Trish's front door. "Maybe he's gone somewhere." Rose turns to him with a frown, "Who's going to hold his hand now?" I rush inside, I know where he would be. Quickly turning on the tv I watch in silence with hope in my heart.
"Just look at this! Utterly incredibly scenes at the Olympic stadium. Eighty thousand athletes and spectators. They disappeared, they've come back!" Rose and Kel enter as I watch on in silence. "They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly" Rose turns to me with a glare, "Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor? I need him."
"But hang on, the Torch Bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him. Maybe he's injured. He's definitely in trouble." The torch bearer collapses. "Does this mean that the Olympic dream is dead?" A man in a brown suit and plimsolls picks up the torch, "Doctor."
"There's a mystery man. He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. He's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope, and it's courage, and it's love."
The spotlight follows the Doctor as he runs up the red carpet to the lower cauldron. He whoops with joy then lights the gas. "Go on. Join your brothers and sisters. They'll be waiting." The flame runs up to the main cauldron and ignites the proper Olympic flame. The Isolus pod zooms up into the night sky, I smile an shake my hand at my dork. The man I love so much more than life itself, the father of my unborn child and the man I would die for.
He was my everything and nothing would change that.
Ever.
——
"Cake?" She holds out a fairy cake with silver sugar ball decorations on. "Top banana. Mmm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!" Theta cheers trying to give me a bite but I shook my head causing him to pull me closer under his coat. "I thought I'd lost you." Rose stated with a frown and tears in her eyes.
"Nah. Not on a night like this. This is a night for lost things being found. Come on." He moves towards making sure to drag me along. "What now?" Rose asks with a frown, "I want to go to the Games. It's what we came for." I speak jumping up and down slightly causing Theta to place his hands on my shoulders an laugh gently. "Go on, give us a clue. Which events do we do well in?" Rose asks, "Well, I will tell you this. Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put."
"Really? You're joking, aren't you? Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?"
"Wait and see."
The obligatory fireworks display starts, "You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will." Rose smiles up at Theta as I cleared my throat. "Never say never ever." She glared harshly at me causing me to roll my eyes back, "Nah, we'll always be okay, you and me. Don't you reckon, Doctor?" He frowned at her before looking back up at the sky, "There's something in the air. Something coming."
"What?"
"A storm's approaching."
——
I yawned slightly, rubbing my stomach as I moved in the kitchen for a midnight snack. What do I want? I hummed to myself as I grabbed a bag of chips and some pickles. Pausing, I grabbed a spoon and a half pint of ice cream before moving into the library for a good read. I never thought that I would ever eat weird shit like this and actually like it but that's what's happening now.
———————
Only two more episodes to go of Season Two. Holy shit. It has been a long ride, I actually have up until Season 13 pretty much planned out so you guys are in for the long run. I don't know if I'll take a short break or not after this season. I will let everyone know at the end of the last episode but for now. Enjoy the wait.
Thank you all for the support!! You guys have been super awesome.
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