A/N: Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying this story so far, and if you have made it this far, thank you very much!
This part one of two chapters, take place during the Doctor Who episode, 'The Idiot's Lantern'.
I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is this story and my OC.
Please review and no flaming will be tolerated.
Thank you :)
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE
"You held me down, but I got up (hey)
Already brushing off the dust."
– Katy Perry: 'Roar' (Prism [2013])
Street
The TARDIS idled in the middle of an ordinary London Street. Suddenly her doors opened revealing a pair of pink high heels, and layers of tulle. It was Rose, dressed in full 1950s mod-chick gear: comprising of a baby pink rockabilly-style dress with black opaque stockings, and the aforementioned matching pink high heels. Rose donned a light-blue denim jacket with ¾ sleeves, partially zipped up at the front and had her shoulder-length blonde hair in a stylish bun with a pink hairband holding back her bangs. In her hand, she carried a pair of pink heart-shaped sunglasses.
Rose looked back at the TARDIS with a slightly pouty expression on her face.
"I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era," she commented. "You know the white flares and the, grr, chest hair," Rose grinned playfully.
For this adventure, it was her turn to pick where they were going next, and to Katy's surprise, her sister had immediately opted for visiting 'the King of Rock n' Roll' himself. Upon which point, the Doctor promptly sent both girls, once again, to the TARDIS wardrobe to get ready, with instructions to visit the 1950s section.
The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS and rolled his eyes at the blonde. His normally messy brown hair had been gelled into a Teddy boy quiff, but apart from that, his outfit remained mostly the same brown pinstripe suit with white converse.
"You are kidding, aren't you?" He questioned her, disappearing back into the TARDIS. "You want to see Elvis; you go for the late fifties. The time before burgers. When they called him the Pelvis, and he still had a waist." He was fiddling around with something out of a curious Rose's sight. "What's more, you see him in style."
The TARDIS's double door suddenly open wide, as the Doctor rides out a scooter with a sidecar out of her, wearing a white crash helmet and aviator shades. He grinned at his friend before turning and shouting back inside the TARDIS.
"Shake a leg, Katy!"
"I'm coming! Hang on!" Katy called back, peevishly.
Then out she stepped from the blue box, teetering a little in some black and red pumps. Unlike Rose, Katy went for an outfit that was slightly more casual and less likely to draw looks. She wore: a pair of high-waisted brown pedal pushers, with an off-the-shoulder red blouse. Think 'Bad Girl Sandy' in Grease. Katy wore her long brown hair in a high ponytail with a pompadour, accessorising with a large matching red poppy pinned and tucked behind one of her ears. Her lips had blood red lipstick painted on them, and she had a pair of white sunglasses perched on her head.
"Elvis isn't going anywhere, Doc." She reminded him, as she pulled the sunglasses off her head and slipped them on, before closing and locking the door behind her and walking to stand nearby Rose.
Their relationship with each other was still cold at best.
The Doctor once again rolled his eyes but smiled affectionately at his partner as he gunned the engine on the scooter.
"You dolls goin' my way?" The Doctor adopted a 'tough guy' American accent as he addressed the sisters, earning giggles from both of them. Rose smiled coyly at him as she put on her sunnies.
"Is there any other way to go, daddy-o?" She responded, earning an impressed eyebrow crook from the Doctor. "Straight from the fridge, man."
"Hey, you speak the lingo!" the Doctor crowed.
"Yeah. Mum, Rose, and I watched Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday," Katy explained walking over to the scooter and mounting the seat behind him, holding him around the waist in a bear hug. Rose pouted once again when she realised she had been demoted to the sidecar, before she nevertheless climbed in. The Doctor handed each girl a crash helmet; a pink one to Rose, and a black one to Katy.
"Ah, Cliff. I knew your mother'd be a Cliff fan," the Doctor remarked as he pushed forward on the accelerator, and they ride off down the street.
On the Moped
Katy smiled in contentment, enjoying the brilliant, warm sunshine on them, warming them up on this slightly chilly day, while the wind rushed by her ears. She rested her chin on the Doctor's shoulder as they took in the route he was taking them on. However, she couldn't help but frown, as something didn't quite seem right about the streets.
"Where we off to?" Rose pondered, voicing what Katy was also thinking out loud.
"Ed Sullivan TV Studios," the Doctor responded over the rumble of the moped's engine. "Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints." Then he grinned mischievously. "Bit of luck, we'll just catch it."
Rose hummed in acknowledgement, while Katy raised an eyebrow when a red double decker bus drives past ahead of them.
"And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?" Katy questioned, sensing that the Doctor had screwed up the destination in some way.
"That's the one!" the Doctor acknowledged, although sounding a little less certain after he had seen the double decker bus. He pulls up beside a red post box, and both Katy and Rose exchange looks when they notice the very obvious clue that they in fact were not in America, but in the UK: Union Flag buntings, strung between the houses.
"Ha! Digging that New York vibe!" Rose laughs.
"Well, this could still be New York," the Doctor attempted and failed to convince the sisters otherwise. "I mean, this looks very New York to me."
"Except for the whole Union Flag thing…" Katy stated bluntly. The Doctor looked over his shoulder and pouted at Katy who shrugged apologetically at him, as Rose gazed at the aforementioned flags with interest.
"What are all the flags for?" She wondered.
Living Room
Meanwhile, in a modest family home, a brand-new television had just been brought and set up. The small family of three were sitting on their couch staring at it. Although, two of them, the son, Tommy and his mother, Rita, were less than enthusiastic as Eddie, Tommy's father, and Rita's controlling husband, who was admiring the set. A 50s television show was currently playing, with Annette Mills singing:
"We love Muffin, everybody sing. We want Muffin the Mule. Hello!" She sang brightly.
"Smashing!" Eddie exclaimed. "Smashing, innit?" He turns towards his family, trying to encourage them to show a little more interest. "You'd have thought they was in the room with you, eh?" He grinned approvingly at Tommy, who frowns warily at his father. "Fair do's Tommy, you had a point. New television!" He goes over to Rita who is looking worried about something. "There, that should cheer you up a bit, Rita. Give us a smile, then, eh?" He suggested, but Rita shakes her head.
"I can't," she protested. "Nothing's the same anymore, not with her."
"Stop going on about it." Eddie groaned in annoyance.
"But her face, Eddie. What happened to her? That awful face." Rita shudders at the memory.
"I said, stop it!" Eddie bellows, causing both Tommy and Rita to cringe away from the man.
Suddenly, someone thumps on the ceiling.
Rita's eyes widen in horrified realisation.
"She's awake. I think she's hungry."
Florizel Street
The Doctor, Katy, and Rose come across a white delivery van with the name Magpie's Electricals emblazoned on the side. A middle-aged man with thinning grey hair was pulling what looked like a 'brand-new' television from the back of the van and handing it over to an eager looking man standing in the doorway of his flat.
"There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion." The delivery man, presumably the owner of the shop; Magpie, stated. The Doctor strolls up casually to him, with both Katy and Rose following close behind him.
"The great occasion?" He couldn't help overhearing. "What do you mean?" The Doctor asks Magpie, curiously.
"Where've you been living, out in the Colonies?" Magpie scoffs, as he closes the back doors of his van. "Coronation, of course."
"What Coronation's that then?" The Doctor continued querying, obviously not cottoning on just yet. Magpie gave him an amazed, incredulous look.
"What do you mean? The Coronation."
Katy and Rose simultaneously realised what Magpie was getting at and Katy elbowed her boyfriend in the side.
"It's the Queen's," She prompted him.
"Queen Elizabeth," Rose added. The Doctor's confused frown disappeared immediately from his face.
"Oh! Is this 1953?" He exclaimed.
"Last time I looked," Magpie confirmed, still looking at the Doctor like he was barmy. "Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best." Katy giggled a little at the slightly befuddled and sheepish expression on the Doctor's face, while Rose made a general observation of the street.
"Look at all the TV aerials," Rose pointed out, grabbing both Katy and the Doctor's attention as they followed the blonde's pointing fingers. "Looks like everyone's got one."
"That's weird," Katy frowned. "Our nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house." She explained to the Doctor, sotto voce, so that Magpie didn't accidentally overhear something he shouldn't.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the older man had ears of a hawk.
"Not around here, love." Magpie grinned proudly. "Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a pop." Both Katy and Rose's eyes widened in shock at how cheap his televisions were, while the Doctor just beamed with excitement.
"Oh, but this is a brilliant year. Classic!" He grinned, looking like a child at Christmas. "Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration…"
"End of the Korean War," Katy added.
"Exactly!" The Doctor grinned approvingly at his girlfriend. "The nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future." He casually drapes an arm around Katy's shoulders, admiring the progress of mankind, when suddenly all four of them hear someone shouting in distress.
"Someone help me, please!" They all turn to see two burly men in black suits bundling up a person into the back of a car, with a blanket over his head. "Ted!" An older woman, obviously the person's wife, was standing in the doorway of her flat, tears streaming down her face and looking distressed as she watched her husband being taken away. "Leave him alone! He's my husband! Please!" She shouts desperately, as the Doctor breaks away from Katy and rushes up to the poor woman, followed by Katy and Rose.
"What's going on?" the Doctor questioned, concerned. Tommy runs out of his house nearby, approaching the policemen roughly shoving the woman's husband into the car.
"Oi, what are you doing?" He demands, frowning at the leader, who looks at Tommy before just as easily dismissing him.
"Police business. Now, get out of the way, sir." He states to the Doctor who was standing in the way of the driver's side door in his effort to discover what the problem was.
Rose approaches Tommy.
"Who did they take? Do you know him?"
"Must be Mister Gallagher," Tommy replied as the police car drives away. Katy glances up at something moving in her peripheral vision, and spots someone she presumes is Tommy's father storming out of his house, looking furiously at his son. "It's happening all over the place," Tommy explains to Rose, with the Doctor and Katy listening in. "They're turning into monsters."
"Tommy!"
Tommy jumps and turns to look apprehensively at his slightly red-faced father, who was glowering at him.
"Not one word! Get inside now!" He roars, and Katy winces, looking sympathetically at Tommy who grimaces, knowing he was in for it now.
"Sorry. I'd better do as he says," He states before turning and running back towards his home, followed closely by his father. The Doctor, Katy and Rose run back towards the moped.
"All aboard!" the Doctor calls out hastily, and Rose jumped on behind the Doctor, shooting Katy a triumphant, smug smirk as she wraps her arms around the Doctor's thin waist.
Katy just aims a sharp, cold, and unamused 'yeah, so what?' look back at her before clambering into the sidecar before the Doctor could speed off without her. The moped speeds off, driving slightly erratically down the street in the Doctor's haste to keep up with the police car that was speeding away out of sight. The car continues driving down the street towards an apparent dead end. However, a pair of gates with an 'Offices to Let' sign on the front of them, suddenly open up to let the car in, and just as quickly two men with a vegetable cart, wheel it in front of the gate to block the way in.
The Doctor with his two passengers, arrives seconds too late. He frowns at the gate, looking puzzled.
"Lost them," The Doctor declared, sounding mildly frustrated.
"How'd they get away from us?" Katy questioned, confused.
"Surprised that they didn't turn back and arrest you for reckless driving," Rose stated, jokingly, but her comment was ignored. She pouted in disappointment. "Have you actually passed your test?" She asks the Doctor, who once again ignores her question, still focusing on the mysterious vanishing cop car.
"Men in Black? Vanishing police cars?" He scoffed in disbelief. "This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia."
"That boy back there," Katy piped up, grabbing the Doctor's attention. "Monsters, he said. He mentioned monsters?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Maybe we should go back and ask the neighbours," Rose suggested, trying to be helpful, and earning an almost smile from the Doctor for her troubles.
"That's what I like about you. The Domestic Approach," the Doctor agrees, and Rose grins triumphantly.
"Thank you!" She beamed, then paused for a moment when she realised what the Doctor had actually said to her in response to her suggestion. "Hold on, was that an insult?"
The Doctor zooms off again, choosing to wisely ignore her comment.
Magpie's Electricals
Magpie arrived back to his shop, and hastily barreled inside, shutting the door behind him, and turning the 'open' sign to 'closed'. Back at Florizel Street, he was all sunshine and rainbows; the perfect (and typical) salesclerk, just doing his job. Now? Magpie had done a complete 360; very nervous, twitchy, and avoiding direct eye contact with one particular television set. A weird test card was sitting right on top of the television.
"I've finished it, as you instructed," Magpie declared. It turned out that Magpie had been in the process of rigging up a portable radio and turning it into a small, handheld television.
"That's awfully good of you, Mister Magpie," A proper woman's voice, with obvious elocution lessons, responded to him. But there was something very sinister underneath the polite, posh voice; something not quite of this world. The television screen turns itself on, revealing the image of a middle-aged housewife, all quaffed up and made up to the nines, grinning back at Magpie who cringed away from her. The image of the woman was actually an alien lifeform known only as 'the Wire', who had taken on the image of a harmless housewife as a disguise.
"So, you'll go soon? You'll leave me?" Magpie asked, hopefully.
"Oh, we'll see. If you're a very good boy," the Wire smirks at him, and Magpie shudders again.
"Please," He whines. "You're burning me, inside, behind my eyes. It hurts. Even my memories hurt. I just want things back like they used to be."
"Oh, but this world of yours is busy, busy, forging ahead into a brand-new age," the Wire stated. "You can never go back. That's your tragedy. But now, the time is almost ripe, Magpie. Cometh the hour, cometh the man … or lady." 'She' giggles.
Connelly Residence
The slow thumping from before had started up again, and Tommy, worried, goes to the door at the end of the landing with a small key in his hands. He approaches the door and as quietly as he could, whispers through the door to the occupant inside the room: his grandmother.
"Gran? Gran, it's me. It's Tommy," Tommy calls out, quietly. "I'm going to come in, Gran. Stand back. Just don't…" He pauses, his emotions getting the better of him; it is obvious that what has happened to his grandmother has both confused and upset him greatly. "I'm sorry, but I've got to come in."
"What do you think you're doing?" An angry voice confronts Tommy who freezes, before turning and facing the angry face of his father, towering over him. Still, Tommy responds defiantly.
"We've got to try and help her, dad." Tommy insists. But Eddie is unmoved, instead he reaches out his hand.
"Give me that key," Tommy hesitates. "I said give me that key, right now!" Tommy reluctantly gives the key to his father, who pockets it and gives his son a look of disdain. "Don't think I've finished with you."
Eddie jerks his hand downstairs; an indication that Tommy had better get down them quick smart, or there would be hell to pay. Tommy obeys the hint and dashes downstairs and goes into the living room, where Rita is already sitting, looking at her son with surprise then worry when Eddie follows him.
"All the warnings I've given you, and every time, EVERY TIME, you disobey me!" Eddie bellows at his son, who, although fearful of him, stubbornly argues back.
"We can't just lock her away," Tommy insists.
"Excuse me, sunshine. I am talking," Eddie rebuffs him. "You can forget that college nonsense. You're going to come and work alongside me; get your hands dirty for once."
The thumping from the upstairs bedroom starts up again.
Rita whimpers.
"Oh lord, won't she ever stop?" She bemoans, and Eddie's face 'softens' and goes over to his wife and cradles her in his arms as Rita starts crying. Tommy watches this, glaring resentfully at his father's turned back.
"There, there, Rita, my sweet," Eddie soothes. "Business as usual," He insists. "Now let's get these up all over the house in honour of her Majesty." He suggests, but Rita shakes her head, more preoccupied with the condition of her mother upstairs.
"But Eddie, what if she's dying?"
"I AM TALKING!" Eddie bellows right in Rita's face, and she cringes away, while Tommy jumps in surprise. Satisfied that he had gotten everyone's attention, Eddie pulls a pleased grin across his face. "That's better. A little bit of hush."
The doorbell suddenly rings out. Eddie frowns and goes to answer it.
Front door
The Doctor, Katy, and Rose had been standing on the Connelly's front step, and were just about to ring the doorbell, when Eddie suddenly bellows loudly … unnecessarily loud, to be honest. The Doctor frowns in disapproval, while Rose looks taken aback, and Katy scoffs.
"Pretty sure everybody heard him," She mutters in disgust.
"And then some…" the Doctor agreed. "Shall we?" He reaches for the doorbell and presses down on it. A few seconds later, the door opens, revealing a suspicious looking Eddie.
The Doctor and Rose plaster on overly cheerful grins.
"Hi!" They greet Eddie, in unison. Both Eddie and Katy look at them strangely before Katy recovers first and nods politely at Eddie.
"Who are you, then?" Eddie demands, a little rudely.
The Doctor bristles a little, but easily recovers.
"Let's see, then." He inspects the man in front of him from head to toe, quickly thinking on his feet. "Judging by the look of you, family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war, therefore I represent Queen and country." The Doctor holds up the psychic paper, practically shoving the leather wallet right in Eddie's face so the man has to look at what was written there cross-eyed. "Just doing a little check of Her forthcoming Majesty's subjects before the great day." The Doctor rattles on at top speed. "Don't mind if I come in? Nah, I didn't think you did. Thank you!" He invites himself in before Eddie could say any otherwise, and shoves his way past, followed quickly by both Katy and Rose.
Living room
The three of them walk into the living room and are greeted by a surprised Rita and Tommy who look at them with confusion. The Doctor does a quick appraisal of the neat, modest house with a smile.
"Not bad. Very nice. Very well kept." The Doctor complements a startled Rita. "I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs.…?"
"Connolly," Rita responds, timidly. But before the Doctor could say anything else, Eddie barges straight into their conversation.
"Now then, Rita. I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative," He explains to his wife, authoritatively. "Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit." Eddie explains unnecessarily to the Doctor who frowns at Eddie, offended on Rita's behalf.
"Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more," the Doctor disagreed, then takes note of the Union Flag buntings laying on the ground. "I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty." He points towards the buntings. "Nice flags. Why are they not flying?"
"There we are Rita, I told you," Eddie immediately scolds Rita, who deflates underneath her husband's withering stare. "Get them up. Queen and country."
"I'm sorry," Rita says, walking over to the buntings and gathering them up with shaking hands. Katy frowns disapprovingly at Eddie, and Rose looks at Rita with sympathy.
"Get it done. Do it now!"
"Hold on a minute," the Doctor interjects, but Eddie appears not to hear him.
"Like the gentleman says."
"Hold on a minute!" the Doctor raises his voice a little, causing Eddie and Rita to look over at him questioningly. "You've got hands, Mister Connolly. Two big hands." He points out. "So why is that your wife's job?"
"Well, it's housework, innit?" Eddie looks confused.
"And that's a woman's job?"
"Of course it is," Eddie confirmed.
Katy steps forward, fed up with the man's controlling, chauvinist behaviour and deciding to take advantage of the fact that Eddie couldn't say anything negative to her, in the Doctor's presence, and put Eddie back into his box.
"Mister Connolly, what gender is the Queen?" Katy asks him, casually.
"She's a female."
"And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?" Katy prodded, struggling to hold back a smirk.
"No. Not at all."
"Then get busy!" The Doctor takes the pile of buntings from Rita and thrusts them into Eddie's hands, winking in amusement at Katy who grins back at him. Eddie flushes in embarrassment before turning and heading over to the wall where the couch was leaning up against.
"Right. Yes. You'll be proud of us, sir." Eddie stammers. "We'll have Union Jacks left, right, and center."
"Excuse me, Mister Connolly," Rose steps forward, not to be outdone by Katy and trying to impress the Doctor herself. "Hang on a minute. Union Jacks?"
"Yes, that's right, isn't it?" Eddie blinks.
"That's the Union Flag," Rose corrects him. "It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea."
"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, I do apologise."
"Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man. Now get to it!" Rose requests, before turning and giving a shit-eating grin to the Doctor and Katy, who both smile back and roll their eyes. The three of them, Tommy and Rita take a seat on the couch.
"Right then! Nice and comfy, at Her Majesty's leisure!" He states cheerfully, then leans over to mutter into Rose's ear. "Union Flag?"
"Mum went out with a sailor," Rose explained and the Doctor smirks, not surprised.
"Oh, ho ho ho. I bet she did," He chuckles, as he makes himself comfortable in between both sisters and wraps an arm around Katy's shoulders casually, much to Rose's annoyance. "Anyway, I'm the Doctor, and this is Katy and Rose, and you are…?" The Doctor glances at Tommy in askance.
"Tommy."
"Well, sit yourself down, Tommy. Have a look at this." He indicates towards the television. "I love the telly, don't you?"
"Yeah, I think it's brilliant!" Tommy grins enthusiastically.
"Good man!" The Doctor beams at Tommy, as the television suddenly shifts to a man showing the viewers the vertebra of an ichthyosaurus. Eddie continues fumbling around, pinning up the buntings, and all while giving the Doctor, Katy, and Rose filthy looks out of resentment. "Keep working, Mister C!" The Doctor reminds Eddie, obviously not a fool and realising the resentment he was getting from the other man. He then leans closer to Rita and speaks quietly to her, suddenly serious and all-business. "Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
Rita glances between the Doctor and her husband and hesitates only for a split second before responding.
"Did you say you were a doctor?"
"Yes, I am."
"Can you help her?" Rita indicates to her mother upstairs, as tears start welling up in her eyes. "Oh please, can you help her, Doctor?" She pleads, and Eddie immediately overhears, and tries to take control of the conversation.
"Now then, Rita. I don't think the gentleman needs to know—"
"No, the gentleman does." The Doctor cuts Eddie off, sharply.
"Tell us what's wrong, and we can help," Rose adds, gently.
"There's no need to be afraid," Katy agrees. Rita suddenly bursts into tears, and Rose gets up from her seat and goes over to comfort the poor woman, while Katy reaches over and grabs Rita's hand, holding it comfortingly in hers. "I'm sorry, it's alright." Katy soothes, apologetically.
"Come here, it's okay." Rose wraps her arm around Rita's shoulders and gently rocks her. Eddie notices his wife's tears, and his eager to please attitude immediately vanishes.
"Hold on a minute," Eddie frowns. "Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house!" then he notices the bunting in his hands, immediately throwing them to the floor like a hot potato. "What the? What the hell am I doing?" He storms over to the Doctor, whose demeanour immediately becomes frosty. "Now you listen here, Doctor. You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business."
"A lot of people are being bundled into—"
"I am talking!" Eddie thunders, and the Doctor immediately gets to his feet, towering menacingly over Eddie.
"AND I'M NOT LISTENING!" He returns the favour, and Eddie reacts in shock. "Now you, Mister Connolly, you are staring into a deep, dark pit of trouble if you don't let me help. So, I'm ordering you, SIR! Tell me what's going on!" The Doctor growls angrily, and Eddie is immediately cowed.
The thumping from upstairs starts up again, drawing the attention of everyone.
"She won't stop. She never stops." Eddie explains quietly, his eyes as wide as dinner plates after the Doctor bellows at him, giving the man a taste of his own medicine. Tommy steps forward, a little bit braver and confident now that the Doctor has put his father back into his place.
"We started hearing stories, all round the place. People who've changed. Families keeping it secret because they were scared. Then the police started finding out." He looks worriedly between the Doctor and the two sisters. "We don't know how, no one does. They just turn up, come to the door, and take them, any time of the day or night."
"Show me." The Doctor requests.
Gran's room
The door to Tommy's Grandmother's room opens, revealing a pitch-black room. Tommy steps cautiously into the room, the Doctor following behind him.
"Gran? It's Tommy. It's alright, Gran. I've brought help." Tommy reaches for the light switch and flicks it on, revealing a little old woman standing before them all with no eyes, nose, or mouth.
Katy and Rose gasp in shock, while the serious expression on the Doctor's face deepens. He goes over to the woman, pulling his sonic screwdriver from his pocket at the same time.
"Her face is completely gone," the Doctor states, using the screwdriver over her blank face as he scans up and down. "Scarcely an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown." He frowns, looking deeply confused and disturbed. "She's ticking over. It's like her brain has been wiped clean."
"How's that possible, Doctor?" Katy questioned, also looking disturbed. He doesn't answer her; probably because he wasn't sure himself.
"What're we going do to, Doctor? We can't even feed her!" Tommy fretted from beside Katy, who had come over during the examination to comfort the obviously upset boy. Rose stayed beside Rita, trying to give the distraught woman some comfort also, while out in the hallway, Eddie was fuming, his face a grim picture. There was a loud commotion coming from the front door downstairs.
"We've got company!" Rose reports.
"It's them!" Rita panics. "They've come for her!" The Doctor silently swears underneath his breath, before he turns back to Tommy, looking urgent.
"Quickly! What was she doing before this happened?" He asks the boy. "Where was she? Tell me. Quickly, think!"
"I... I can't think!" Tommy stammered, under pressure to be helpful. "She doesn't leave the house! She was just—" Two burly men in black suddenly burst into the room. The Doctor steps into their path, blocking them access from Tommy's grandmother.
"Hold on a minute. There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One—" The Doctor gets belted in the face, and he goes down like a ton of bricks.
"Doctor!" Katy and Rose shout in horror, as the second burly man strides forward and flings a blanket over the old woman and starts leading her from the room, while the sisters crouch beside the Doctor trying to wake him up.
"Leave her alone!" Rita attempts to stop them but gets shoved out of the way by the men. "No!"
Eddie hastens them downstairs, obviously eager for them to leave with their cargo.
Rita and Tommy run after them.
"Doctor!" Rose taps him frantically on the cheeks.
"Doctor, come on! Wake up, we need you!" Katy urged him, shaking him.
"Don't hurt her!" They hear Rita begging downstairs and increase their efforts to wake him up.
"Back inside, Rita." Eddie orders his wife.
"She's my mother!"
"Back inside now, I said." Eddie insists, rather forcefully. Katy bristles angrily.
"I can't stand that moron…" She mutters. Then jumps back in surprise when the Doctor suddenly sits up, nearly giving Rose a Glasgow kiss.
"Ah, hell of a right hook. Have to watch out for that!" The Doctor exclaims, cracking his neck and springing to his feet. Both sisters sigh in relief and rush after him, Rose a little slower than Katy; unused to wearing high heels. They make it to the front door, witnessing the same black car from before speeding away, with Tommy about ready to tear off after the car but being forcibly held back by his father.
"Don't fight it. Back inside!" Eddie orders his distraught wife, and outraged son. The Doctor pushes past the couple and their son, and yells back to Katy and Rose.
"Katy! Rose, come on!" The Doctor yells, making it for the moped parked on the street.
Katy and Rose almost make it outside but are distracted by strange red energy leaking from the television set. The sisters exchange looks and head straight to the set, pulling it away from the wall to examine the back of it. Tommy was still protesting to his father.
"But Dad, they took her!" Tommy insisted, but Eddie was stubborn.
"Don't fight it, son. Don't fight it."
"Katy! Rose! We're going to lose them again!" The Doctor shouts again. The red energy disappears, much to the sister's confusion.
"Dad, they took her! That was Gran and they took her!" Tommy shouted, angrily.
"Come on, back inside, now!" Eddie ignores what his son was saying.
The Doctor gives up and drives off on the moped; figuring that the sisters would catch up to him eventually. He wasn't about to let these guys escape him again. Katy is the first to discover the supplier's name on the back of the set.
"Rose, look!" She points a vanished finger at the metal shingle on the wood, and Rose's whiskey-coloured eyes zeroed in on it. Magpie's Electronics. The address to the shop was written underneath. The family comes back inside their house.
"Anyway, how did they find her? Who told them?" Tommy wondered.
"You two!" Eddie rudely points at the sisters, who look at him with boredom. "Get the hell out of my house!"
The sisters roll their eyes and scramble to their feet.
"We're going, we're going…" Katy mumbles, heading for the front door and shoving her way past the awful man. "Nice to meet you, Tommy, Mrs. Connolly."
Rose was close behind. Eddie glares at the sisters, and Rose can't help but leave one last parting barb as she says goodbye to Rita and Tommy.
"As for you, Mister Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside down. Shame on you!" She gives him a cheeky grin, before running from the house and seizing her sister's wrist, both of them taking off down the street.
A/N: Stay tuned for part two!