The Other Tyler - rewrite

A Lost Child

Turning to her with a grin, the Doctor said, "I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

Narrowing her eyes, Nancy stated, "I did ya a favour. I told ya not to answer it, that's all I'm telling ya."

"Okay, thanks," Mei nodded, "We should have listened. We didn't. Sorry. But you were around that alley yeah? Didn't happen to see a blonde girl did you? Was wearing a flag top? She's my sister, before you think anything funny. She wandered off and we can't find her."

Nancy's response was simply removing the Doctor's plate, answering his questions with a sharp, "Ya took two slices." Her eyes then fell on Mei, "No blondes, no flags. Anything else before ya leave?"

Pulling out some paper and a pen, the Doctor nodded, "Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like this."

He showed them a rough sketch of the thing they had chased through the vortex, it really just looked like a metal cylinder, but it brought a sort of horrified expression to Nancy's face.

Mei shrieked as someone knocked on the window behind her, whipping round to find herself staring down at a little boy in a gas mask.

"Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?" the voice from the Tardis phone asked, sending a shiver down Mei's spine. "Mummy?"

The Doctor rested a hand on her lower back, the other on her hip to get her to back away. The curtain closed over, hiding him from view.

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy whispered urgently.

One of the boys pointed to Mei and the Doctor, "Them."

"We came in the back," Mei replied swiftly, "Who came in the front?"

When a small boy piped up, Nancy hissed at him, "Did you close the door?"

"Mummy? Mummy!" the voice moved, heading for the door and Nancy barged out of the room. 

The Doctor and Mei followed, seeing her slam the front door and setting the two locks. Backing away like the door was on fire, Nancy kept her terrified eyes on the letter box as a small hand with a scar on it reached through.

"What's this, then? It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know," The Doctor scowled.

"I suppose ya'd know," Nancy shot back, not believing it was possible.

"We do, yes," Mei spoke up, her voice like ice. She wasn't sure if the Doctor was meaning himself or her, but she decided to take a guess.

Looking apologetic, Nancy explained, "It's not exactly a child." 

Before Mei or the Doctor could ask, she returned to the dining room and started ushering the kids out the back. Mei glanced at the hand, to the locks on the door, to the Doctor's inquisitive expression before taking a step forward. She hadn't meant to, but her hand automatically lived to the level of the door locks, and she probably would have opened them if the Doctor hadn't yanked her back.

"Sorry, i just-" she gasped, surprised by her own actions. The Doctor said nothing, but kept hold of her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy."

"I can't stand here and listen to that," she whispered, cowering back into the Doctor's chest, "Please, i can't-we need to do something."

"Are you all right?" The Doctor asked, watching the hand that reached toward him.

"Please let me in."

Nancy reappeared, throwing a glass at the door which shattered and the small hand withdrew. Not fast as if scared, but slowly in a somewhat threatening way.

"Ya mustn't let him touch ya!" Nancy scolded, giving the couple a glare.

"What, why?" Mei asked, "What happens if he touches us?"

"He'll make ya like him."

The Doctor frowned, "And what's he like?"

"I've got to go," Nancy said, turning away. 

But Mei was quicker and grabbed her hand, sending the younger girl a pleading look. She huffed in return.

"He's empty." The telephone began ringing, making the three of them jump. "It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box ya saw."

The Doctor picked up the phone regardless, just as he did earlier. 

"Are you my mummy?" came through the line.

Nancy quickly snatched the phone from him and put it it back. But as soon as she did, the child's voice started coming through the radio in the dining room. A clockwork money on one of the units then started clashing its symbols together, also emitting the child's voice.

"Ya stay if ya want to," Nancy told them, looking terrified, before scurrying out the back door.

Mei turned back to the door, watching the small scarred hand slid back through the letter box. It was so small, he couldn't have been more than five or six years old.

"Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in."

The Doctor cleared his throat, glancing at Mei in worry when he realised how pale she was, "Your mummy isn't here."

"No," the brunette croaked sadly, "Sorry, no mummies here."

"Nobody here but us chickens," The Doctor added, cracking a smile when he heard Mei giggle slightly.

"I'm scared," The little voice whimpered, and Mei grasped the Doctor's hand, stopping herself from trying to open the door.

"Why are those other children frightened of you?" she asked.

"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."

Even the Doctor winced at those words, and nodded to himself, squeezing Mei's hand for reassurance. "Okay. I'm opening the door now."

The little hand pulled back, and Mei and the Doctor shared another look before the latter approached the door and unlocked it. Mei watched in confusion as he took a few steps down the garden path, only to turn to her, equally confused.

"The child's gone."