Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

The Empty Child

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang." the Doctor answered flatly, "We're gonna ask." He showed Rose his psychic paper.

"Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids, and his assistant, Nancy Jones." Rose read.

"Psychic paper, tells yer..."

"Whatever ya want it to tell me, I remember." Rose cut in, remembering the Doctor's explanation on Platform One.

"Sorry." the Doctor mumbled as they reached the doors.

"Not very Spock, is it?" Rose went on, "Just asking."

The Doctor pressed his ear to the door. "Door, music, people. What d'yer think?"

"I think you should scan for alien tech." Rose said flatly as she watched the Doctor flash his sonic screwdriver on the padlock, "Gimme some Spock for once. Would it kill either of ya?"

"Rose, just cos' we have fancy gadgets, doesn't mean we have to whip them out for everything." the Artist told her, "Sometimes, the old fashioned ways are best."

"You sure about that t-shirt?" the Doctor asked, looking at the rather garish Union Flag t-shirt Rose was wearing.

"Too early to say." Rose shrugged, "I'm taking it out for a spin."

"I like the shirt." the Artist reassured her.

"Thanks." Rose replied, "You should try it sometime. Bet it'd look great on ya."

Just then, her attention was caught by a child's voice in the distance calling out; "Muuuu-mmy?"

While Rose looked around for the source of the voice, the Doctor finished with the lock and opened the door. "Come on, if yer coming." he said to Rose, "Won't take a minute." He stepped through the door.

"Rose?" the Artist frowned, noticing that Rose wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah, yeah, with ya in a minute." Rose waved her off, still looking around.

The Artist considered asking her what was wrong, but then decided that someone needed to keep an eye on the Doctor, so she went through the door after him.

"Muuuu-mmy?" the child's voice called out again.

Rose continued looking around and noticed a little blonde boy in a gas mask standing on a nearby rooftop. "Doctor? Artist? There's a kid up there!" Rose called urgently, but the Time Lords were already inside the building and out of earshot, so Rose ran off to try and find a way to rescue the boy herself.

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Meanwhile, the Doctor and the Artist made their way through a darkened corridor, following the sound of voices and music. They pushed through some curtains to find themselves in a crowded drinking den, where people in mid-20th century clothing were smoking, drinking and chatting, while a female singer stood on stage performing a romantic song.

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Rose reached the building the boy was on top of. "You alright up there?" she called up to him.

"Muuuuu-my?" the boy called.

Rose began to climb the fire escape.

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In the nightclub, the singer finished her song and the patrons applauded. The singer vacated the stage and the Doctor stepped up to the mike. "Excuse me, s'cuse me. Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo? Be very quick, eh... hello!" He waved cheerfully. "Eh... might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"