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Danni slowly walked down the stairs to the console, now dressed in a knee-length skater dress, blue of course, with no tights and no shoes. She had just finished telling Amy about Tooth and Claw, well, what she could remember of it. She hadn't been able to recall as much of the episode as she might have been able to previously and it really was beginning to worry her. If she forgot too much, then what use would she be? She looked down the see-through glass of the platform to see the Doctor hanging from his harness, fixing something he probably broke himself. She sat down on the stairs and watched him working intensely from above, a small smile on her face. He really was adorable.
"You don't have to watch me from up there, you know?" He called up, startling her slightly. She blushed in embarrassment at being caught and he looked up at her, flicking his goggles up onto his forehead so he could see her better. She stood up, smoothing the dress down and headed down to his level.
"What did you break?" She asked him and he frowned, offended.
"I didn't break anything!" He defended. She raised an eyebrow at him and he pouted, "I was trying to add mayonnaise to the console and I may have severed one of the connections to the library. Don't go in there, the books think they can fly." He smiled, "They really can't."
"Oh Theta." She replied with a giggle, "You're adorable sometimes." He smiled and hopped off his harness so he was stood next to her. She reached for his hand and swung it happily, "Thanks for taking me to Arthadia. My mum would have really loved it. Even with the king-stealing aliens." He lifted her hand up and placed a kiss on her knuckles.
"Sorry I cut off his head." He replied, "But I have an excellent idea for a follow-up trip." he pulled her up the stairs and to the console monitor, swinging it down so she could see it as well, "There's this little-known planet that, for thirty days straight, it's sun and all ten of it's moons are on display all day and night. There's this one flower that only blossoms under those exact conditions and it is that," he pointed to her dress, "colour." She looked down at her dress then up at him.
"What are we waiting for?"
"Amelia." He replied, before shouting for the other red-head.
~0~0~0~
Rose thanked the woman with the pushchair and headed back down the road she had just come up. Thank god it was the beginning of summer, and not raining otherwise she'd be soaked by now. As she turned a corner and saw the sign for the television shop she was heading for there was a flash of light, and she jumped in surprise as Danni appeared in front of her. Danni grinned, so much for seeing that blue flower, when she saw the blonde in full 1950's dress while Rose stared back at the girl in a blue dress, her legs and feet bare.
"I was getting dressed." Danni explained at the girls inquisitive look, "Aiming for Elvis, was he?" Rose nodded with a sigh, flattening her skirt slightly.
"Yes, and now there's something taking people's faces. I think it's something to do with the telly's from that shop." She pointed at Magpie's shop and Danni nodded slowly.
"Ah yes, I remember this. Come on then." She held her hand out and Rose took it with a smile.
"Aww, I missed you." Rose told her and Danni laughed, squeezing her hand as the walked towards the shop.
"I missed you too sweetie. And look at you, solving mysteries all on your own. Who needs a Time Lord when you've got Rose Tyler?" Rose nodded smugly.
"Soon the whole universe will see that." Rose added and they laughed, stopping outside the shop to calm themselves down. Rose entered first, the bell above the door ringing quietly as they stepped inside. There was a man behind the counter fiddling with a television set who looked up nervously as Danni closed the door behind them.
"Oh, I, I'm sorry miss, I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door." He stuttered out.
"Yeah? Well, me and my sister wanna buy a telly." Rose replied. Danni tried to force the smile on her face down. Sister?
"Come back tomorrow. Please." He insisted.
"You'll be closed, won't ya?"
"What?" Magpie asked, confused.
"For the big day?"
"The coronation." Danni clarified and he nodded in realisation.
"Yes, yes, of course. The big day." Rose began walking slowly over to the counter, looking around the room at all the screens dominating the walls, "I'm sure you'll find somewhere to watch it. Please go."
"Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away." She stated pointedly.
"I have my reasons."
"And what are they?" She leant in close with a whisper, but before he could reply the television next to Danni turned on, causing her to jump slightly. A woman's face appeared on it, staring out at the room with an eerie smile on her face.
"Hungry! Hungry!" The woman called.
"What's that?"
"It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave! Right now!" He walked from behind the counter to the front door.
"Not until you've answered my questions. How comes your televisions are so cheap?" Rose continued.
"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!" Rose looked over at Danni, neither girl looking convinced, "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?"
"Nah, we're not leaving 'til we've seen everything." Danni told him firmly.
"I need to close." He tried a final time, but neither girl was going to give up.
"Mr 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?" Rose asked him. He stared at her, a look of defeat appearing on his face.
"I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out." He told her glumly before turning and locking the door. Danni's heart began to beat faster in her chest as Rose looked uneasy at the turn of events. She stepped closer to the blonde, hoping to reassure her slightly.
"All right, then, it's just you, me and Danni... you gonna come clean, then? What's really in it for you?" Rose asked uncertainly.
"For me? Perhaps some peace." The man breathed sadly.
"From what?"
"From her." He glanced over to the woman who had appeared on the television before. Rose followed his gaze and frowned in confusion.
"That's just a woman on the telly, that's just a programme." She reasoned.
"What two pretty little girls." The woman stated and Rose stared in shock.
"Oh, my God - are you talking to us?" She asked the television. Danni pulled her away slightly from the screen as she leant in closer.
"Yes - I'm talking to you, little one. Unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?" Actually, Rose didn't think it was cold but then again her nanna had always said the summers were warmer 'back in the day'.
"What are you?" Rose asked her breathlessly.
"I'm the Wire. And I'm hungrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy!" The woman bared her teeth and a large bolt of pinkish electricity shot out of the screen, going straight for Rose's face. When people would ask Danni why she pushed Rose out of the way, taking the bolt for herself she would tell them it was because she didn't want Rose to be trapped and scared. But, the main thought in her head was how this might make Ten like her, saving Rose might just stop him giving her a hard time.
Rose yelped in surprise as she fell to the floor, her head bouncing off the wooden surface and knocking her unconscious.
"Please leave her with me." Danni forced out before it went dark.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor was sat in the office of Detective Inspector Bishop, watching the man and his associate fume with a look of amusement on his face. The man was trying to loom over him intimidatingly but, as anyone who knew the Doctor, that wasn't going to happen. He was sat behind the man's desk, which was littered in pictures of the people who's faces had been stolen, and a map was in the corner showing the whole of London, dots indicating where the people had been found.
"Start from the beginning," Bishop demanded, "tell me everything you know." The Doctor took a deep breath, forcing himself to look serious.
"Well... for starters... I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet." He told them. Bishop pointed at him in warning.
"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 man placed his hands on the desk, leaning in cloister to the Doctor.
"How do you know my name?"
"It's... written inside your collar." The Doctor told him apologetically. Bishop shifted embarrassed, adjusting his collar, "Bless your mum. But, I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting. Are you?"
"I'm doing everything in my power." The man defended.
"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." The Doctor had begun to spin in the chair as he mused out loud. Bishop placed his hands in his pockets as he glared down at the man, annoyed at his attitude and the fact that he was right.
"The nation has an imagine to maintain." Bishop argued. The Doctor looked at him incredulously.
"Doesn't it drive you mad? Doing nothing? Don't you wanna get out there and investigate?"
"Course I do. But..." He sat down across from the Doctor, looking just like the downtrodden man he felt, "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..." The Doctor leant forward, crossing his arms as he listened carefully to the man, "... I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on."
"Well... that could change." The Doctor told him.
"How?" Bishop asked sceptically. He couldn't see how anything could change, no one could possibly know what was going on except Torchwood, and quite frankly they gave him the creeps. The Doctor stood up, hands on the desk in front of him as he mirrored Bishop's actions from moments ago.
"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know." Bishop nodded and stood up, leading him over to the map. The Doctor studied it carefully as he pulled out his glasses, pushing them up his nose.
"We started finding them about a month ago." Bishop explained, "Persons left sans visage. Heads just... blank."
"Is there any sort of pattern?" The Doctor asked, walking over to the desk and picking up a file, a picture of a woman without a face on top of it. He flipped through the paperwork but found nothing of interest.
"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 interrupted, recalling the house he and Rose had been in earlier that day. He hoped Rose had headed back to the TARDIS, when he was done here he'd go find her. Bishop looked over at the man, surprised as there was a knock on the door.
"Found another one, sir." A policeman declared as he lead in a small figure covered in a grey blanket that hung to their knees, a blue skirt peeking out underneath over bare legs and no shoes.
"Oh, er - good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor..." The Doctor placed the file down and walked over, apprehensive of the person underneath. The grandmother on Florizel Street hadn't been dangerous, but that didn't mean that they couldn't become dangerous, "Take a good look. See what you can deduce." Crabtree pulled the blanket off the person's head, revealing deep orange hair the Doctor recognised instantly. His eyes widened in surprise and horror as he stared at Danni, without a face. Of all the things he had expecting, it hadn't been her. Even if she was going to be here she would have known what was happening and stayed away.
"Danni?" He exclaimed.
"Do you know her?" Bishop asked, having not expected him to recognise the person, after all London was a big place.
"Know her? She..." He trailed off as he approached her, staring down into her featureless face. He couldn't explain to the man who she was, mainly because he didn't really know that himself.
"They found her in the street, apparently, over at Master Square, with another lass. She'd been knocked unconscious but we're questioning her now." Crabtree told his superior, who frowned.
"That's unusual, that's the first one out in the open." He explained to the Doctor, "Heaven help us if something happens in public tomorrow for the big day, we'll have Torchwood on our back, make no mistake." The Doctor kept gazing down at Danni as anger began bubbling up inside him. He frowned as a fierce need to fix her flooded over him; he hadn't ever felt the need to save her, not really. Not even when they'd first met, she always seemed to know what was happening and what to do about it. It's one of the things that had irritated him about her. But now, seeing her actually helpless, he needed to save her and he needed to do it now.
"Fetch her in." The Doctor barked, startling the pair.
"I'm sorry?" Bishop asked.
"Bring the other girl. Blonde, am I right?" He continued.
"Yeah, how did you know..." Crabtree began.
"Go fetch her, now." He snarled. Crabtree turned to his Inspector, who nodded his consent and the policeman left to fetch the other girl. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and scanned Danni's faceless head, nothing new coming up on his scan. Same results as the grandmother; almost complete neural shut-down.
"What is that?" Bishop asked.
"Sonic screwdriver." The Doctor replied offhandedly, placing the screwdriver back in his pocket, "Why take their face?" He reached over and brushed a loose piece of her hair behind her ear, pausing and blinking in surprise as he caught himself doing the action almost involuntarily. The door opened and Rose rushed in, tears streaming down her face. He jumped back from Danni as if he'd been electrocuted and held his arms out, scooping Rose into a hug.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." He whispered reassuringly before holding her at arms length, "What happened?"
"We were at that Magpie's store, and the television started talking to us. This... energy came out of the screen and Danni pushed me out of the way. Then I was woken up by him." She motioned to Crabtree before sniffing and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. At first she had been scared for Danni, then she'd been dragged to a police station before finally being reunited with the Doctor. Her mind had been racing about what this meant for her friend, she really hoped the Doctor could reverse it.
"She tried to save you?" The Doctor scoffed and she glared at him.
"Yes, she did. She always does. She tries to save you as well, if you haven't noticed! She's a good person, if you'd give her half a chance!" Rose snapped in reply before pausing and taking a deep breath. She wasn't really angry at him, she could never be angry at him, "Look, whatever happened to her, she has to be scared and she did that for me. And then he just chucked her out into the street, knowing she'd be scooped up and forgotten about." She continued, calmer this time. She really hated the way this regeneration reacted to Danni, as if he physically couldn't stand to be around her. She didn't understand why, his old self had almost been amused by the space-hopping ginger. Danni had often told her about the future Doctor and he was fine with her as well, so something must change. She just hoped it was soon. The Doctor studied Danni, who stood there motionless and faceless, her head tilted up slightly. If she'd had eyes, she would have been looking straight at him asking him for help.
"He left you both in the street?" Rose grinned; he said 'both', and nodded, "That makes things... simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?" He tore his gaze from Danni, taking his glasses off as he faced the two other men in the room. They started slightly as they realised they were actually being included in the conversation.
"No..." Bishop replied.
"Because NOW, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this Earth that can stop me. Come on!" He turned and headed out of the door, grabbing Rose by the hand. She smiled as she wrapped her fingers around his and they headed out of the room together.