The Doctor and the Bad Wolf Chapter 18: Idiots Lantern

AN: Guys I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry...I got caught up with the end of last semester and then I worked at camp all summer and had very little wifi access and now I'm back in school but I have some extra down time so that should help.

Thank you to those of you who commented and still followed this even though I went AWOL. That means the world to me...but anyways on with the story.

Again I own nothing but some of the original plot points and any original characters, everything else belongs to the BBC and I make no money from this little endeavor.

Enjoy!

Rose woke with a start. She had been dreaming about the beautiful baby boy again. This time he was older and she had been visibly pregnant too. They had been running from something and the young boy had tripped and Rose woke drenched in sweat and panting. She felt her stomach and it was still flat, she didn't know if she should've felt relieved or disappointed.

She looked over to find the Doctor missing from bed. It was still dark outside their window but she could see the beginnings of the sunrise. Rose got up and heard the water in the shower shut off. She dressed and soon found her husband dressed coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh, you're up! I was going to bring you breakfast in bed," he said still towel drying his hair.

Rose giggled, "While that sounds lovely, whatdya say about heading back to the Tardis and Getting back on our adventures?"

The Doctor kissed her chastely, "That my dear Rose, sounds that the best idea you've had yet." He put their belongings into the small luggage and pulled her out the door. They ran all the way to their ship laughing.

Once inside, the Doctor set to work on getting them back to the time vortex. "So, how do you feel about Elvis?"

"He was great. Are we going to go see him live?" she asked excitedly.

"I believe that could be arranged, go see what the Tardis has for you in the wardrobe," he said leaning against the console. All he had to so was slick back his unruly hair and find that moped.

Rose ran to the wardrobe excitedly and the Tardis showed her an array of wonderful time period outfits. They giggled together as she tried each on and finally settled on a pink dress with layers of tulle. The Tardis sent waves of approval and provided the matching accessories.

When she was finished getting ready, they had already landed. She walked through the console room and didn't see her husband. She decided to peak outside and was disappointed not to find him there but finally sensed him coming back into the room. She stepped alll the way out and observed her surroundings, "I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era, you know the white flares and the, grr, chest hair."

The Doctor finally pops his head out to see what his wife is talking about. His hair is slicked back into a Teddy boy quiff and she thinks its absolutely adorable.

"You are kidding, aren't you? 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. What's more, you see him in style," he said leaning back in a finding the scooter. He rides it out of the Tardis and he's wearing a white crash helmet and shades. "You going my way, doll?" he asks donning an typical Elvis impression.

"Is there any other way to go, daddy-o? Straight from the fridge, man," she asks getting into the vibe.

He flashes her a blinding smile, "Hey, you speak the lingo."

"Oh well, me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday," Rose shrugs as she gets on the pillion and puts on a pink crash helmet.

"Ah, Cliff. I knew your mother'd be a Cliff fan," the Doctor says commenting on his mother-in-law's taste.

They ride off quickly down the street. "Where we off to?" Rose asks still trying to take in her surroundings while trying to hold on to her husbands waist. She realizes that his crazy driving isn't just limited to the Tardis.

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios. Elvis did Hound Dog on one of the shows. There were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it," he shouts over the motor.

"And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?" ROse asks as she notices the numerous Union Flags hanging everywhere that the Doctor hasn't noticed yet.

"That's the one," he says proudly.

A red London bus drives past the end of the street. The Doctor pulls up by a red post box and now he finally becomes aware of the Union Flag bunting strung between the houses.

Rose laughs, "Ha! Digging that New York vibe."

"Well, this could still be New York. I mean, this looks very New York to me. Sort of Londony New York, mind," he says with a mix of hurt and confusion in his voice.

"What are all the flags for?" she asks genuinely curious now that she has gotten her jibes in.

They both shrug and ride on until they find the Magpie TV van and Mr. Magpie delivering a TV set, "There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion."

"The great occasion? What do you mean?" the Doctor asks genuinely curious as to what historical event they might witness.

"Where've you been living, out in the Colonies? Coronation, of course," Mr. Magpie says rudely.

"What Coronation's that then?" the Doctor asks still playing dumb to get the information he wants.

"What do you mean? The Coronation," Magpie replied as if the man he's talking to is an idiot.

"It's the Queen's. Queen Elizabeth," Rose supplies getting annoyed with this Mr. Magpie.

"Oh! Is this 1953?" he asks becoming excited again.

"Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best," Magpie said haughtily.

"Look at all the TV aerials. Looks like everyone's got one. That's weird. My nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house," Rose points out as she notices.

"Not around here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a pop," Mr. Magpie says puffing out his chest.

"Oh, but this is a brilliant year. Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration. The nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future," the Doctor says happily to his wife.

Suddenly and woman begins to scream from down the street, "Someone help me, please! Ted!" Two burly men in black suits bundle a person into the back of a car, with a blanket over his head. "Leave him alone! He's my husband! Please."

"What's going on?" the Doctor asks around him, ready to jump into action at any second.

A young boy runs out and yells, "Oi, what are you doing?"

"Police business. Now, get out of the way, sir," one of the men in suits says.

"Who did they take? Do you know him?" Rose asks the young boy.

The boy watches with a sad sound to his voice, "Must be Mister Gallagher." The car with the covered man and police drives away. "It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters."

"Tommy! Not one word! Get inside now!" an older man, who looks like the boys father, yells from the doorway.

The boy gives them a sheepish grin and says, "Sorry. I'd better do as he says," as he runs inside.

The Doctor and Rose get back on the moped. "All aboard!" he says as he revs the engine. They take off and never end up very far behind the car but after turning a corner they are faced with a dead end. "Lost them. How'd they get away from us?"

"Surprised they didn't turn back and arrest you for reckless driving. Have you actually passed your test?" Rose finally comments on his crazy driving.

The Doctor ignores the comment and tilts his head still thinking, "Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia."

"Monsters, that boy said. Maybe we should go and ask the neighbors," she suggests, worried for the boy.

"That's what I like about you. The domestic approach," he teases her.

She smiles then frowns,"Thank you. Hold on, was that an insult? Whoa!"

The Doctor zooms off back towards the neighborhood. They get there and straighten their clothes. "Okay, we'll be home inspectors for the upcoming coronation and that should get us in," he said pulling out the psychic paper. Rose nodded as they walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. A rather large man opens the door and the couple recognizes him as the man who called the young boy away from them earlier. They both smiled and said, "Hi!"

The man looked at them confused and asked, "Who are you, then?"

"Let's see, then. Judging by the look of you, family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war, therefore I represent Queen and country," the Doctor says quickly as he pulls out the psychic paper. "Just doing a little check of Her forthcoming Majesty's subjects before the great day. Don't mind if I come in? Nah, I didn't think you did. Thank you," he says as he pushes past the man and pulls Rose look around, "Not bad. Very nice. Very well kept. I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs?"He offers his hand to the woman he assumes is the large man's wife.

The woman offers her hand also and responds, "Connolly."

"Now then, Rita. I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative. Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit," the husband says trying to gently nodge his wife out of the way.

The Doctor is annoyed with this and starts to asked the man questions, "Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more. I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty. Nice flags. Why are they not flying?"

"There we are Rita, I told you, Get them up. Queen and country," the man says shoving the flags towards his wife.

"I'm sorry." the wife says bowing her head in shame.

"Get it done. Do it now," he says louder.

The Doctor cannot stand this anymore, "Hold on a minute."

"Like the gentleman says," the husband continues.

The Doctor becomes severely annoyed and Rose grabs his arm as he speaks, "Hold on a minute. You've got hands, Mister Connolly. Two big hands. So why is that your wife's job?"

Mr. Connolly becomes red in the face and turns toward the Time Lord, "Well, it's housework, innit?"

"And that's a woman's job?"he asks raising an eyebrow.

"Of course it is," Mr. Connolly replied as if the Doctor were questioning the sky being blue.

"Mister Connolly, what gender is the Queen?" the Doctor asked walking away from his wife so he could pace as he argued with the ridiculous man.

"She's a female," he replies still lost on what the point of this conversation.

"And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?" he asks finally facing the other man again. Rose smiles behind him.

"No. Not at all," Mr. Connolly says frantically.

The Doctor picks up the numerous flags and thrusts them into Mr. Connolly's chest, "Then get busy."

The man fumbles with his words and finally gets out, "Right. Yes, sir. You'll be proud of us, sir. We'll have Union Jacks left, right and centre."

Rose stops and smiles at her husband as she says, "Excuse me, Mister Connolly. Hang on a minute. Union Jacks?"

"Yes, that's right, isn't it?" he asks as he nervously turns towards Rose.

"That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea," she points out as the Doctor beams with pride.

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, I do apologize," he says as he continues to hang up flags.

"Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man. Now get to it!" she says as she walks toward the sofa.

"Right then! Nice and comfy, at Her Majesty's leisure. Union Flag?" he asks as he pulls Rose down on the sofa with him.

Rose shrugs, "Mum went out with a sailor."

The Doctor laughs and then notices the boy that they had spoken to earlier, "Oh ho ho ho. I bet she did. Anyway, I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, and you are?"

"Tommy," the boy replied.

"Well, sit yourself down, Tommy. Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?" the Doctor said inviting the boy to move closer.

"Yeah, I think it's brilliant," Tommy said as his eyes light up.

"Good man!" the Doctor says smiling at the boy and turning his attention to the TV as he wraps his arm around his wife. "Keep working, Mister C! Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" he asks jumping right into why they were really here. Rose gives the other woman and boy a reassuring smile.

"Did you say you were a doctor?" Mrs. Connolly asked, as she looked towards her unexpected guests.

"Yes, I am," the Doctor replied.

"Can you help her? Oh please, can you help her, Doctor?" the woman asked desparately.

"Now then, Rita. I don't think the gentleman needs to know..." Mr. Connolly says turning towards the group of people in his living room.

"No, the gentleman does," the Doctor shouted back.

"Tell us what's wrong, and we can help," Rose says as Rita bursts into tears. She goes to comfort her. "I'm sorry. It's all right. Come here. It's okay."

"Hold on a minute. Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house! What the?" Mr. Connolly says as he throws the bunting down. "What the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor. You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business." His face begins to get extremely red as he faces the visiting couple.

"A lot of people are being bundled into..." the Doctor began calmly while still keeping tabs on Rose through their link.

"I am talking!" Eddie yelled moving to get in the Doctor's face.

The Doctor moved closer and got right in the other man's face, "And I'm not listening! 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!" He lets a bit of his Oncoming Storm side show, he knows that it worries Rose when he does but he won't stand to let this mother and child suffer under the tyrant of a man.

Mr. Connolly looks like he might keep yelling at the other man but a thump, thump, thump, stops him. "She won't stop. She never stops," he says looking towards the ceiling.

Tommy starts, "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. 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." He looks sad and slightly scared.

The Doctor turns toward him surprised, "Show me."

Tommy jumps up and run toward the stairs. The Doctor follows him enthusiastic to finally help out. Rose follows quickly behind them. They run up to the top of the stairs and Tommy unlocks a door, it is dark inside and Tommy quickly says, "Gran? It's Tommy. It's all right, Gran. I've brought help." He turns the light on. An old woman is standing there with no eyes, nose or mouth. Rose gasps and covers her mouth in shock.

The Doctor pulls on his glasses and looks at the older woman closely saying, "Her face is completely gone." He pulls out and uses the sonic screwdriver as his wife comes to his side. "Scarcely an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown. She's ticking over. It's like her brain has been wiped clean," he relays to her and Tommy.

"What're we going to do, Doctor? We can't even feed her," Tommy asks for the first time sounding like the scared little boy he is.

Suddenly they hear someone break down the front door.

Rose turns to the doctor and says,"We've got company."

Rita starts to cry again in the background, "It's them. They've come for her!"

The Doctor jumps into motion, thinking as if these people were his own flesh and blood, "Quickly. What was she doing before this happened? Where was she? Tell me. Quickly, think!"

"I can't think! She doesn't leave the house! She was just..." Tommy scrambles as he hears the men rush up the stairs and burst into the small attic room.

The Doctor thinks quickly and starts, "DOCTOR: Hold on a minute. There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One..."

The men punch him in the face and he goes out like a light.

"Doctor!" Rose shrieks as she bends down to try and wake her husband.

The men throw a blanket over the older woman and bundle her out.

"Leave her alone! No!" Rita shrieks still in hysterics.

"Doctor!" Rose tries again shaking him slightly.

Rita follows her mother out of the house and yelled at the men shoving her into a car, "Don't hurt her!"

While this is happening Rose is still trying to rose her husband when he suddenly sits up, nearly giving her a Glasgow kiss. "Ah, hell of a right hook. Have to watch out for that," he says jumping up and running down the stairs. "Rose, come on!" he yells run out of the door.

"Get back inside!" Eddie yells at his son and his wife completely ignoring the strange man who had be inhabiting his home before.

Rose had been following but she stopped at the living room door and sees red energy coming from the television set. She hears Tommy say, "But Dad, they took her!"

"Don't fight it, son. Don't fight it," Eddie replies.

"Dad, they took her! That was Gran and they took her!" Rose hears Tommy say as the last of the energy disappears behind the television set.

"Come on, back inside, now," his father orders.

Rose turns the set around to see the last of the energy disappearing into the aerial connection. She sees the supplier's label, too and knows where she must go now.

She stands up and readjusts the television set and her skirts as the family reenters the room and Tommy says, "Anyway, how did they find her? Who told them?"

Eddie turns toward the young woman still in his house, "You! Get the hell out of my house!"

She curtsies and says, "I'm going. I'm done. Nice to meet you, Tommy, Mrs Connolly. And as for you, Mister Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside down. Shame on you!" She smiles cheekily and runs out into the street. She realizes that her husband has left her but she already knows that she must visit this Mr. Magpie. She heads off not even giving a second thought to where the Doctor might be. They could split up and solve this mystery.

The Doctor had hopped onto his scooter, "Rose, we're going to lose them again!" He quickly decides to leave his wife here so that he can follow the men in the car. He tails them back to the street where he lost them before and is in time to the tail end of their Operation Market Stall. "Oh, very good. Very good."

He leave the moped to go exploring, and uses his sonic screwdriver to open a small door in the big follows this into a yard and sees the two burly men padlock a wire door and walk off. The Doctor goes over and unlocks it. He goes into an area with large cages and opens one. It is full of blank people, who occasionally clench their fists. They turn towards the light of his torch. He begins to run through possibilities in his mind when someone switches on a pair of searchlights.

"Stay where you are." Someone says.

Rose enters Magpie Electronics and sees an odd test signal is on the sets. She starts to look around when someone begins to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss. I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door," the man who they spoke to earlier says, as he appears behind the counter.

"Yeah? Well, I want to buy a telly," Rose says bringing out her strong side and cheek.

"Come back tomorrow, please," he begs her looking exhausted.

"You'll be closed, won't you?" Rose asks as if she is stating the obvious.

"What?" he asks looking confused.

"For the big day? The coronation," she says feeding him the same attitude he gave them earlier.

"Yes, yes, of course. The big day. I'm sure you'll find somewhere to watch it. Please go," he says trying to push her out of the door.

"Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away," she says digging in her heels.

"I have my reasons," he says looking nervously around.

"And what are they?" Rose asks trying to put him under with some of her charm.

A woman's face appears on just one screen and Rose notices out of the corner of her eye, still keeping her full attention on Magpie. "Hungry! Hungry!" it bellows.

"What's that?" Rose asks now startled by the television.

Magpie looks nervous and tries to push Rose out again saying, "It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave. Right now!"

"Not until you've answered my questions. How come's your televisions are so cheap?"she asks digging in her heals again.

"It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folk as possible get to watch the coronation. We may be losing the Empire but we can still be proud. Twenty million people they reckon'll be watching. Imagine that. And twenty million people can't be wrong, eh, so why don't you get yourself back home and get up, bright and early, for the big day," he says still trying to shoo her without actually touching her.

"Nah, I'm not leaving till I've seen everything," she says again sidestepping him.

"I need to close," he says now desperation seeping into his tone.

"Mister Magpie, something's happening out there. Ordinary people are being struck down and changed, and the only new thing in the house is a television. Your television. What's going on?" she says finally tired of trying to be nice to such a coward of a man.

"I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out," he says as he locks the shop door.

"All right, then, it's just you and me. You going to come clean, then? What's really in it for you?" Rose says gaining her confidence back and feeling as if she has finally won.4

"For me? Perhaps some peace," he says sadly.

"From what?" Rose says finally realizing how despondent the man is, not exactly a mastermind. She begins to feel fear as the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

"From her," he says pointing at the television showing the woman who spoke earlier.

Rose let out a nervous laugh, "That's just a woman on the telly. That's just a programme."

"What a pretty little girl," the woman said seeming to look straight at Rose.

"Oh, my God. Are you talking to me?" she said addressing the strange television.

"Yes I'm talking to you, little one. Unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?" the woman asks politely.

"What are you?" Rose asks leaning closer and looking at the screen at different angles.

"I'm the Wire, and I'm hungry!" she screams as energy lances out and grabs Rose's face.

"Magpie, help me!" Rose shrieks as she tries to gain purchase on anything.

"Just think of that audience tomorrow, my dear, all settling down to watch the coronation. Twenty million people. Things will never be the same again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Magpie says as he turns and walks away from the shrieking girl.

"Help me!" Rose screams as her thoughts go to her link with the Doctor before everything goes to darkness.

The Doctor is led from the holding cage into a derelict building, with broken windows. He is sat down in front of an official looking man who says, "Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know.

The Doctor starts out by being his usual smart self, "Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet."

The man narrows his eyes and gets in the Tome Lord's face, "Don't get clever with me. You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now you're connected with this. Make no mistake."

"Well, the thing is, Detective Inspector Bishop," the Doctor starts.

"How do you know my name?" the officer asks confused.

"It's written inside your collar. Bless your mum. But I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting, are you?" the Doctor points out raising his eyebrow. Why wasn't Rose hereto back him up and witness him being clever?

"I'm doing everything in my power," the man replied crossing his arms.

The Doctor got angrier at this point, "All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can. Don't tell me orders from above, hmm? Coronation Day. The eyes of the world are on London Town so any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight." He pokes the man in the chest and just knows that he is right about all this.

"The nation has an imagine to maintain," Bishop says stoically.

But doesn't it drive you mad, doing nothing? Don't you want to get out there and investigate?" he says moving now because the thought just makes his muscles buzz with energy.

"Of course I do. But, with all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man power. Even if we did, this is beyond anything we've ever seen. I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force, I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on," Bishop admits.

"Well, that could change," the Doctor said gaining excitement.

"How?" Bishop asks truly confused.

"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know," the Doctor smile cockily. He then frowns when he hears another person being delivered to the holding area.

Detective Inspector Bishop starts his tale, "We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just blank."

"Is there any sort of pattern?" the Time Lord asks ask he begins to think through anybody this might be.

DI Bishop nods, "Yes, spreading out from North London. All over the city. Men, women, kids, grannies. The only real lead is there's been quite a large number in..."

"Florizel Street," the Doctor finishes connecting the dots that Rose had begun to earlier.

Another man come in and says, "Found another one, sir."

"Oh, er, good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor. Take a good look. See what you can deduce," Bishop says as the next person is brought in and the pink shoes and skirt tell the Doctor before Crabtree takes the blanket off.

The Doctor's mind goes into a rage trying to deduce more quickly but all he can think about is his beautiful, smart, caring wife is standing there faceless, a mere shell of what she once was. "Rose," he says his mind to caught up to say anything more.

"You know her?" the DI asks.

"Know her? She..." he starts but he can't finish. His hearts are breaking.

"They found her in the street, apparently, over by Square, abandoned," the other officer says.

"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 backs then, make no mistake," Bishop says as the Doctor's blood boils.

"They did what?" he asks trying to remain calm but the Oncoming Storm is bubbling beneath his skin.

"I'm sorry?" the other man asks confused as to how he was lost.

"They left her where?" he asks again through clenched teeth. He can't take this, he would rip a Dalek apart if they were behind this but he's pretty sure they are not.

"Just in the street," Bishop recounts shrugging his shoulders.

The Doctor cannot contain it anymore he is so angry and the Oncoming Storm is coming out, "In the street. They left her in the street. They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?"

"No," the other man asks confused.

"Because now, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on!" he said rushing off. He wasn't just a man following his wife, he was the Oncoming Storm going after the Bad Wolf.

He went out into the early morning light and he went back to the house that he had last left Rose and rang the doorbell. Tommy answered the door and the Doctor silently thanked his luck. "Tommy, talk to me. I need to know exactly what happened inside your house," he said grabbing the boy by the shoulders.

"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Mr. Connolly shouted as he walked up behind his son.

"I want to help, dad," the boy said standing up to his father.

"Mister Connolly..." the Doctor tried to reason.

The other man cut him off with, "Shut your face, you, whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves." He turned to his son poking a finger into his face, "Listen, you little twerp. You're hardly out of the blooming' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain. People round here respect me. It matters what people think."

Tommy didn't back down and his looked his father straight in the face and asked, "Is that why you did it, dad?"

The older man sputtered, "What do you mean? Did what?"

"You ratted on Gran. How else would the police know where to look, unless some coward told them..." He started looking as courageous as any young man facing a threat to his family.

"How dare you! Do you think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?" the man yelled, his face turning red.

Tommy still didn't back down and shouted back, "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." The boy looked as if he had lost all faith in the man before him and it made the Doctor said but he needed Tommy to help him if he was going to get his Rose back. The three males didn't notice that the woman of the house had walked in at the end of Tommy's rant.

"Eddie is that true?" the Doctor could see her heartbreaking as she asked the question.

Mr. Connolly tried to regain his footing to somewhat console his wife and bring her back to his side, "I did it for us, Rita. She was filthy. A filthy, disgusting thing!"

Mrs. Connolly began to shake, "She's my mother. All the others you informed on, all the people in our street, our friends."

Eddie squared his shoulders and held his head high as he said, "I had to. I, I did the right thing."

"The right thing for us or for you, Eddie? You go, Tommy. 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!" she says as she slams the door shut on her husband.

The tossed out man turned and bangs on the closed door of his former home yelling, "Rita!"

The Doctor turns to the boy who had just been given permission to leave with him, "Tommy?" Tommy nods and they begin to walk down the street past trestle tables that are being laid out for the street party that will happen after all the coronation festivities. "Tommy, tell me about that night. The night she changed."

Tommy shrugged, "She was just watching the telly."

The Doctor stopped and smacked his hand against his forehead, "Rose said it. She guessed it straight away. Of course she did. All these aerials in one little street. How come?"

"Bloke up the road, Mister Magpie, he's selling them cheap," he said as they finally caught back up with Detective Inspector Bishop.

"Is he, now?" the DI asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Come on!" the Doctor says as he begins jogging up towards the shop. He will find his Rose and he will never ever ignore anything she says ever again. He just wants her hand back in his so they can run together.

They come up to the closed store front and the Doctor breaks in. He doesn't care that he is doing it in front of an officer of the law.

"Here, you can't do that..." Bishop starts.

The Doctor ignores him and yells, "Shop! If you're here, come out and talk to me! Magpie!" The anger drips back into his voice.

"Maybe he's out," Tommy suggests.

The doctor walks farther in and says, "Looks like it." He searches the drawers of the counter and finds a portable television. "Oh, hello. This isn't right. This is very much not right," he says as he turns it over in his hands recognizing the too complicated technology. He turns it over again and then licks it. The taste is off too, at least for Earth technology in this time period. "Tastes like iron. Bakelite. Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself. Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple." His thoughts are running a mile a minute as he tries to figure out who he is up against.

He barely hears Bishops say, "That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television."

The Doctor raises his sonic screwdriver and quickly reads the scans and realizes, "It's not the only power source in this room." The television screens each light up with a different face mouthing help me.

Tommy runs toward the familiar face of his grandmother, "Gran?"

The Doctor zones in on his beautiful wife's face, she is mouthing Doctor and looks terrified. He almost loses it then, having her so far away is difficult, "I'm on my way." Seeing her face has given him a new vigor to carry on and find out who is behind all this because he knows Magpie isn't working alone.

Magpie comes in from the back room, "What do you think you're doing?"

The Doctor doesn't want to give him any leverage so he yells, "I want my friend restored, and I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician, so tell me, who's really in charge here?"

A woman appears on the only blank screen, "Yoo hoo! I think that must be me. Ooh, this one's smart as paint."

"Is she talking to us?" Detective Inspector Bishop asked.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new friend," Magpie says as he steps around the counter again.

The woman on the screen smiled and said, "Jolly nice to meet you."

"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly," the officer says beginning to freak out.

"No, it's just using her image," the Doctor said as he quickly tried to analyze this being. He needed to think quickly if he was to beat her and get his Rose back.

"What? What are you?" Tommy asked confused.

"I'm the Wire, 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 woman on the screen says her black and white image transforms into a color one.

"Good Lord. Colour television!" Bishop says as his eyes go comically wide.

"So your own people tried to stop you?" The Doctor asked glaring.

"They executed me. But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars," the Wire says sadly and then triumphant.

"And now you're trapped in the television," the Doctor states trying to figure out her plan.

The Wire looks at them haughtily, "Not for much longer."

"Doctor, is this what got my Gran?" Tommy asked sounding like the scared boy he was.

"Yes, Tommy. It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it gorges itself like a great overfed pig, taking people's faces, their essences. It stuffs itself," the Doctor spits towards the Wire, finally faced with the monster that he knows took his Rose from him.

"And you let her do it, Magpie," Bishop accuses the man who he can actually press charges against.

"I had to. She allowed me my face. She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation," Magpie explains.

"What does that mean?" asks Tommy.

"The appointed time. My crowning glory," the Wire laughs.

"Doctor, the coronation!" Bishop says as he puts it together.

The Doctor nods, "For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set. But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this. You need something more powerful! This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver," he says holding up the portable television screen.

"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," the Wire says as she sends energy lancing out at them.

"Doctor!" Detective Inspector Bishop yells as he succumbs to the Wire's energy.

"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah, this one is tasty. Oh, I'll have lashings of him! Delicious!" the Wire shouts thinking that she is victorious.

The Doctor fights against the energy. He pulls his strength from his bond with Rose, he can feel her fading and that makes him fight harder. He begins to finger the sonic screwdriver.

"Ah! Armed. He's armed and clever. Withdraw! Withdraw!" the Wire screams as she pulls back into herself.

The three men collapse onto the floor and the Doctor drops the portable television as he loses consciousness.

"The box, Magpie! The box!" the Wire shouts hysterically.

Bishop's face is now blank but both the Doctor and Tommy are just unconscious. Magpie grabs the portable television.

"Hold tight," the Wire says as she zaps herself into the portable television. Her face appears on the smaller screen and she says, "Conduct me to my victory, Magpie."

Magpie leaves the store.

A short while later the Doctor wakes, and sees the blank policeman. He feels bad for the man that was so helpful but he must push on if he is going to save Rose and the rest of them. He leans over an lets out a relieved sigh when he notices that Tommy is also fine. He shakes the boy, "Tommy, wake up. Tommy, come on!"

"What happened?" he asks looking around confused.

"Where's Magpie?" the Doctor asks mentally cursing himself for letting them get away. He jumps up and runs out the door with Tommy in tow.

"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late," Tommy says sounding defeated.

"It's never too late, as a wise person once said. Kylie, I think. The Wire's got big plans. It'll need. Yes, yes, yes, it's got to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and where are we?" he asks looking around trying to figure it out.

"Muswell Hill," Tommy answers.

"Muswell Hill. Muswell Hill! Which means Alexandra Palace, biggest TV transmitter in North London. Oh, that's why it chose this place. Tommy?" He asks as he thinks aloud and figures it all out.

"What are you going to do?" Tommy asks really confused now.

"We're going shopping," the Doctor says running back into the shop. He rummages around and starts building a pile of pieces that he will need to build the device he needs.

Tommy finds a big valve and brings it over, "Is this what you want?"

"Perfect! Right, I need one more thing," the Doctor says giving Tommy the collection of parts and runs outside straight to his Tardis. He feels her mourning for the loss of Rose but feels her confidence in him. He grabs the last piece he needs and runs back out silently promising his ship that he's bringing her daughter of time home. "Got it. Let's go," he says grabbing the parts from Tommy.

They run down the streets towards Alexandra Palace and the Doctor is quickly putting the pieces together and building the device he needs. Tommy is leading him and his body is following on auto-pilot.

"There!" Tommy says as he spots Magpie climbing the transmitter mast.

"Come on!" the Doctor says finishing the device and trying to run past a guard.

"Wait, wait, wait! Where do you think..." the guard says trying to stop them. He sees the psychic paper and quickly says, "Oh! I'm very sorry, sir. Shouldn't you be at the Coronation?"

"They're saving me a seat," the Doctor shouts behind him.

"Who did he think you were?" Tommy asks curiously looking as the Doctor turns the small booklet back towards him.

"King of Belgium, apparently," the Doctor shrugs as they run into the building holding the transmitter. They quickly make it to the control room and he turns on the device and says, "Keep this switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?" He pats the boy on the shoulder and takes a coil of copper wire. He runs up the stairs to the transmitter.

The Time Lord begins to climb when he hears the guard from before yell, "You'll get yourself killed up there! Your Majesty!"

He ignores the man and continues to climb up the transmitter. He watches as Magpie attaches the Wire and as red energy streams out from the top of the mast to all the nearby aerials.

"Oh. Feast. Feasting The Wire is feasting," the woman on the screen says happily.

The Doctor reaches the top of the transmitter mast.

"It's too late! It's too late for all of us!" Magpie yells at him.

"I shall consume you, Doctor," the Wire laughs.

"I won't let you do this, Magpie!" the Doctor yells back ignoring the annoying woman.

"Help me, Doctor. It burns. It took my face, my soul," Magpie says sadly as he reaches out to the alien man.

"You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest," the Wire continues to laugh.

"No more of this. You promised me peace!" Magpie cries desperately.

"And peace you shall have," the Wire says as Magpie is zapped into atoms.

The Doctor gets up close to the portable television, "Been burning the candle at both ends? You've overextended yourself, Missis. You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there." He manages to get hold of the portable television without being electrocuted by the energy buzzing around him. "Rubber soles, swear by them!" he says like a mad man as he plugs in his cable.

Shock crosses his face as the Wire doesn't power down like she is suppose to. He hopes that Tommy is alright in the control room.

The Wire sees the Doctor's shock and says, "Oh dear. Has our little plan gone horribly wrong, Doctor?"

A few seconds tick by and then the red energy retreats back to the mast, and into the portable television.

"No!" the Wire shrieks.

"It's close down, I'm afraid, and no epilogue," the Time Lord says as he knows that they've won and he'll get his Rose back soon.

The Wire screams, then the screen goes blank. The Doctor climbs down from the transmitter and walks into the control room saying, "What have I missed?"

Tommy jumps up and excitedly says, "Doctor! What happened?"

"Sorted. Electrical creature, TV technology, clever alien life form. That's me by the way. I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here," he says tapping the makeshift VCR. He smiles wider as he slides the tape into place in his jacket pocket, "I just invented the home video thirty years early. Betamax. Oh, look. God save the Queen, eh?" He hears the National Anthem playing on the screens around them and spots the newly coronated Queen Elizabeth the Second waving on the balcony of Bukingham Palace.

Tommy and the Doctor walk back to Tommy's house and the block party is now in full swing and people from the holding cell are walking around finding their families. Tommy's grandmother says, "Oh, it's my grandson, Oh, son!" as they embrace in the middle of the street.

The Doctor sees his beautiful wife walking towards him and they run up to each other and hug tightly. He knows that their reunion will be more involved later. They break apart but Rose leans into him as their hands are linked.

"We could go down the Mall, join in with the crowds," Rose suggests not really caring where they are, as long as they are together.

"Nah, that's just pomp and circumstance. This is history right here," he says looking at her.

"The domestic approach," she smiles up at him.

"Exactly," he kissed her chastely.

As they pull apart she grabs the tape from his pocket, "Will it, that thing, is it trapped for good on video?"

"Hope so. Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivaled knowledge of trans-temporal extirpation methods to neutralize the residual electronic pattern," he says smiling as he talks a mile a minute.

She laughs and asks, "You what?"

"I'm going to tape over it," he laughs with her.

"Just leave it to me. I'm always doing that." she replies.

Tommy walks up smiling and the Doctor shows him the scooter, "Tell you what, Tommy, you can have the scooter. Little present. Best, er, keep it in the garage for a few years though, eh?"

They see Eddie leave the house in his overcoat and Tommy says, "Good riddance."

"Is that it, then, Tommy? New monarch, new age, new world. No room for a man like Eddie Connelly," the Doctor asked trying to hint at the correct way for Tommy.

"That's right. He deserves it," Tommy nods.

"Tommy, go after him," Rose says giving him the answer.

"What for?" he asks confused.

"He's your dad," Rose shrugs.

"He's an idiot," Tommy replies.

"Of course he is. Like I said, he's your dad. But you're clever. Clever enough to save the world, so don't stop there. Go on," she pushes him off.

The Doctor and Rose watch as he runs over to his father and carries his suitcase for him. He hands Rose a glass of orange juice and they drink a toast. He thinks she looks beautiful and just stares at her.

"What do I have something on my face?" she asks.

"No, you just handled that really well. Did you ever think of being a mother?" he asks just talking.

"No, I mean I guess maybe but we can still have kids, right?" she asked blushing.

"Yes, it is still possible but would you want to give up all of this? The saving the world, the glory, for a baby?" he asks raising his eyebrow. He is curious because he would, for her.

Rose thinks and she already knows the answer but she doesn't want to hurt him, "Yes, if it means we were raising them together."

The Doctor is happy but he doesn't want to show it yet. He just wants to enjoy being with Rose right now and if children happen then they happen.

AN: So this chapter took awhile but its finished and I've added some cute fluffiness. I hope you enjoyed it and we will move on to the Impossible Planet and Satan Pit! Two of my favorite episodes. So please review and let me know what you think and any ideas you have!

Thanks for reading 3