"Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper, when he'd had a drink." Trish explained, a handful of pencils in her hands. "The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free."
Rose bent down, picking up a pile of pencils and markers from the coffee table as we listened.
"I thought it was over."
"Did you talk to her about it?" Rose asked, handing them to Trish.
"I didn't want to."
Rose sat down on the couch, and the Doctor and I came in to stand in the living room doorway.
"But maybe that's why Chloe feels so alone," She told her, " 'Cause she has all these terrible dreams about her dad, but she can't talk to you about them."
"Its her and the Isolus," The Doctor commented, "Two lonely kids who needed each other."
"And it won't stop, will it Doctor?" Rose questioned. "Just keep pulling kids in."
"Its desperate to be loved," I replied, "Its used to a pretty big family."
"How big?"
"Say around...four billion?" I asked, glancing at the Doctor. He nodded in agreement.
The TV was on in the background, and the Olympics announcer was talking about how long the crowd had waited to get to their seats for the opening ceremony.
~~~
"We need that pod." The Doctor said, pulling his coat on as we walked out of the Webber's house.
"It crashed," Rose pointed out, "Won't it be destroyed?"
"Well, its been sucking up all the heat it can, hopefully that should keep in a fit state to launch. It must be close, it should have a weak energy signature that the TARDIS can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus."
"Weak?" I asked. "I don't know about that. I mean, I can feel it, its all over the street."
"What?" The Doctor asked, furrowing his eyebrows and holding up a hand. "I don't feel anything."
"Yes, but you're full-on alien," I pointed out, "Everything feels foreign to you. I've been living on this planet for thirteen years, so I can tell when something isn't normal. Even so, we can scan for the same trace that you picked up from the scribble creature."
"We just need to widen the field a bit." The Doctor agreed.
We walked down the street until we reached the TARDIS, still nudged snugly between a pair of shipping containers. The Doctor paused only to unlock the door before pushing is way through the doors.
~~~
"You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you," Rose pointed out as the Doctor and I ran around the console, "How?"
I shrugged, plugging a wire into the console and adjusting the dial.
"Whether I realized it at the time or not," I replied, putting a hand on the Doctor's back as I leaned around him to flip a switch, "I know how it feels to be sperated from your people. To feel like you're alone in the universe."
The Doctor pushed Rose out of the jump seat, sitting down with our little homemade detection device in his hands.
"Give me the steino magnetic..." He said, nodding at the devices in Rose's hands while she stared on in confusion. "Thing in your left hand."
"This one." I told her, pointing it out as she moved over to place it in the device.
"It sounds like you're on its side." Rose pointed out.
"She sympathizes, that's all," The Doctor told her, "I do too."
"The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people."
"Its a child," The Doctor argued, blowing into the scanner, "That's why it went to Chloe, two lonely mixed-up kids."
"Feels to me like a temper tantrum 'cause it can't get its own way."
"Yes, well it might seem that way from the outside," I replied, tightening one of the screws through the Doctor's fingers, "But sometimes, when you have to focus on making sure you're ok, you aren't afforded the luxury of thinking about others."
"Its scared," The Doctor concluded, "Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot."
She held out her finger to hand it to him.
"Yes." She agreed. "And I know what kids can be like. Right little...terrors."
"Gum." The Doctor held out his hand and Rose spit her chewing gum into it.
"I've got cousins. Kids can't have it all their own way, that's part of being a family." She continued.
"And what about trying to understand them?" The Doctor asked, grabbing my hand and pressing it against the mechanism to hold it in place.
"Easy for you to say, you don't have kids." Rose argued, turning back toward the console.
"I was a dad once." He said, his eyes focused on the device in his hands.
"What did you say?" She questioned, turning to face him again.
"I think we're there!" The Doctor stood up, walking up to the console beside me and ignoring the question all together, "Fear, Loneliness. They're the big ones, girls. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy."
Rose and I shared a look, both of us still stuck on the heavier parts of the conversation while the Doctor tried to move on and get back to business.
"There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe, Warp drive, wormhole refractors." I held out my hand, offering to hold the device while the Doctor twisted the valve on the console. "The only thing you need, most of all, you need a hand to hold."
The Doctor looked down at my gesturing hand, smiling and slapping his hand down in mine.
"No, I was trying to hold..." Rose and I laughed as the monitor began to beep. The Doctor and I stepped over to look at the readings, and he adjusted his grip on my hand, intertwining our fingers.
"Its the pod! It is in the street!" He exclaimed, leaning his face close to me. "Everything's coming up Doctor."
I smiled as he let go of my hand, running out the TARDIS doors.
"You alright?" I asked, seeing as Rose didn't seem to have recovered from the whole 'Doctor being a dad' bombshell.
"Yeah, it just...its easy for me to forget sometimes," She said with a slight shrug, "He had a whole life out there before I came along. Before I existed even...a whole history that I'll never know or understand."
"Understanding the past is good," I admitted, "But the thing about history is, its just that. History. You're here with him now, and I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way."
"No, I wasn't- Its not a bad thing, really," She said, shaking her head, "I'm just...I'm glad that he has someone now that knows where he came from. Someone that's like him. You can be there for him in a way that I can't, you can...hold his hand."
I smiled, reaching my hand out to her. She chuckled, taking it and allowing me to lead her out of the TARDIS and after the Doctor.
He was nowhere to be seen once we got outside, so I would've assumed that he'd already headed back the street...that is if it wasn't for the glass shards that crunched under my shoes. I let go of Rose, looking down to see the remnants of our device shattered against the asphalt.
I turned back to the TARDIS, only to find that the space between the containers was suddenly, miraculously empty.
"So these pods, they travel from some sun using heat, yeah?" Rose asked, not yet noticing our current predicament. "So its not all about love and stuff, doesn't the pod just need heat?"
"Rose." I prompted. She turned around, her eyes widening at the empty spot the TARDIS once stood before following my gaze to the shattered device on the ground.
"Doctor?" She called. "Doctor?!"
"Chloe." I realized, turning around and taking off running back in the direction of the neighborhood.
~~~
I didn't bother pausing to knock as we reached the Webber house, opening the door and taking the steps two at a time as Rose shut it behind me.
"Its ok, I've taken all the pencils off her!" Trish called, following Rose up the stairs as I burst into Chloe's bedroom.
She was sitting at her desk, the broadcast of the Olympics playing on her computer as she scribbled rapidly on a colorful piece of paper. I ripped it out from beneath her arms, glancing down at the drawing of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
"Leave me alone!" She exclaimed. "I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!"
Rose ran up beside me and I handed her the drawing.
"Bring him back now." Rose said in a low, warning voice.
"No!" She pressed a hand over her forehead before surging forward and grabbing Chloe's shoulders.
"Rose-" I warned.
"Don't you realize what you've done?" She asked. "He was the only one wo could help you, now BRING HIM BACK!"
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!"
"I know," I said softly, pulling Rose back and crouching down in front of her, "I know that you love Chloe."
"Doctor, if you can hear me, we're gonna get you out of there." Rose told the drawing.
"You think you know everything, but you don't!" She hissed. I nodded.
"You're right, I don't," I said, "No one does. But I do know what its like to be in your position, honestly I do. To be completely alone, separated from your family with no idea where they are or what might of happened to them. You must be terrified."
"I..." She trailed off. I nodded.
"You might thing that this is your only chance at having a family again," I continued, "So naturally, you're going to hang onto that family with everything that you've got."
"So you're going to let me stay?" She asked. I shook my head, putting a hand on her face.
"You can't stay with Chloe," I replied, "I know you want this, but...she doesn't. If you really love her, you can't force yourself on her like this."
"She was lonely, like me," She said, "Now neither of us are lonely anymore."
"But you both have families to keep you company," I tried, "Families that are desperately waiting to get each of you back. Not only are you depriving Chloe's mother of her daughter, but your brothers and sisters are out there no doubt wondering where you are. I can send you back...but you have to stop taking these people. You have to let them go."
She stared up at me, tears welling up in her eyes.
"You promise you can send me home?" She asked. I nodded, wiping her fallen tears away with my thumbs.
"I swear it," I said, "Just give me a little bit of time. I think I know where your pod is. I'll go get it, we can send you home, but you have to let everyone go. Do you understand?"
"Yes." I nodded, standing up and walking towards the bedroom door again. I paused beside Trish.
"Don't let her out of your sight," I said, "I think I got through to her, but she's a terrified child and they are notoriously unpredictable. Rose, with me please."
Rose ran after me, still holding the drawing of the Doctor in her hands.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She asked, as we walked down the stairs and out the front door once again.
"No, I'm not positive," I admitted, "But neither is the Doctor half the time and things seem to work out swimmingly for him."
I rushed over to the area of the street that Rose and I had occupied this morning, coming to a stop right where the car had stalled.
"That feeling that I get, the stalling cars," I said, "The pod has to be here."
I looked further down the road to see Cal, the worker from this morning crouched over a freshly repaired pot hole.
"Look at this finish," He praised, "Smoot as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump."
I nodded, looking along the ground until I found one square of tarmac that was darker than the others. I dropped to my knees beside it, running my hand over it until I felt a small lump right in the center.
"Right then," I called, looking up at him again, "So then tell me. Why does this one have a lump in it?"
I glanced up at Rose and she nodded, catching my drift and walking towards the repair van parked a few feet away.
"That's what I don't understand!" He exclaimed. "I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one! First patched it up six days ago, and then-"
"Six days ago," I repeated, "Six days ago, the street with full of hot, fresh tar."
"That's what I'm saying yeah."
"You hear that Rose!" I shouted, as she pulled open the back of the van. "Fresh Tar! Heat!"
"Hey, that's a council van! Out!' Cal called, walking over to stop her as Rose climbed into the back of it. She pulled out a pick axe, laughing wildly as she jumped out again. "You've just removed a council axe from a council van! Put it back!"
She came over to stand beside me, and I stood up as she readied herself to swing it into the ground.
"No wait!' Cal shouted, "its going back in the van, that's my van. Give me the axe!"
Rose drove the end of the pick axe down into the street.
"Wait no! No, you stop! YOU JUST TOOK A COUNCIL AXE FROM A COUNCIL VAN, AND NOW YOU'RE DIGGING UP A COUNCIL ROAD! I'M REPORTING YOU TO THE COUNCIL!"
She hit the block a few times and I dropped to my knees again, digging through the rubble until I found what I was looking for; a small brown pod covered in dark splotches.
"There you are beautiful!" I exclaimed.
"It went for the hottest thing in the street, yeah?!" Rose exclaimed, "Your tar!"
We both laughed and I stood up, holding it out so that Rose could see it.
"WHAT IS IT?!"
"Its a spaceship!" Rose told him. "Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid."
"Come on!"
We ran back inside, Rose still armed with the pickaxe
"We found it!" Rose shouted. "I don't know what to do with it, I'm hoping she does..." She trailed off as Trish came out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hands. "I thought she told you not to leave her."
"My gosh, uh what's going on here?" We all turned to the TV, which was still playing the Olympics broadcast.
"I don't care if you got Snow Whtie and the Seven Dwarves buried under there," Cal scolded, entering the house, "You don't go digging up-"
"Sut up and look!" Rose interrupted, pointing at the TV.
"The crowd has vanished. Um, they're gone, everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone, uh right in front of my eyes. Um..its impossible Bob, can we join you in the box? Bob?"
The camera panned away from the thousands of now-empty stadium seats to the commentator's box, which was also empty, leaving just a news desk sat in front of the camera.
"Not you too, Bob!"
"A stadium won't be enough." Rose pointed out. "The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters."
"Over 80,000 spectators and 30,000 Spectators, they're gone. All of those people."
I turned around, running upstairs to Chloe's room and twisting the knob, only to find that it was stuck.
"Chloe! Open the door! I can send you home, I have your ship!" I shouted, slamming my palm against the door. Rose and Trish ran up behind me only seconds later.
"Chloe!" Trish called. "Chloe!"
"Open up!"
"Rose." I stepped back, gesturing at the door. She took my place, raising the pick axe again and driving it through the wood. It took her several whacks to bust through one of the panels, but once she did, Rose could reach inside and move the chair that was blocking the door, allowing us all to run inside.
"Chloe!" I shouted. She was in the process of drawing the Earth on her bedroom wall, and her closet door was moving, her father's sinister voice echoing through it.
"I'm coming! I'm coming to hurt you, Chloe!"
"We've got to stop her!" Rose said, taking a step towards her.
"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out," The Isolus warned, "We will let him out. Together. I cannot be alone. Its not fair!"
"Look, we've got your pod!" Rose pleaded.
"The pod is dead!"
"No, no, it only needs heat!"
"It needs more than heat."
"More than..." I trailed off, my eyes widening. "Rose, the drawing! The one of the Doctor, where is it?"
She pulled it out and I took it from her hands, hurriedly unfolding it. The picture had changed, and now showed the Doctor pointing to a new object. The Torch...the Olympic torch, which was due to pass this very street any moment.
"She didn't draw that, he did." Rose said, looking over my shoulder, "But it needs more than heat Doctor."
My eyes widened.
"Exactly!" I said, running over to Chloe's laptop and turning up the volume.
"...still on its way. I suppose its much more than a torch now. Its a beacon. Its a beacon of hope and fortitude and corage. Its a beacon of-"
"Love," i said, before the announcer could finish, "That torch is a symbol of love to theh entire world; 7.8 billion people aer projecting their love onto that Torch, its the combination of Heat and love, that's what we need!"
"Go! Go!" Rose shouted, pushing me towards the door.
We both skipped down the stairs once again, sprinting down the street where the barricades were set up and a slew of civilians were standing by, waiting for the torchbearer to pass.
We pushed our way through the people until we reached the front of theh barricade, just as the bearer jogged by with his police escort.
"Sorry, you'll have to watch from here." An officer told us.
"But we have to get closer!" Rose argued.
"No way."
"We can stop this from happening!"
"Its ok, Rose," I said, glancing down at the pod in my hands. It began beeping and making a strange, warbling sound. "It can feel it."
I held my mouth to it.
"You can go home now," I whispered, "Just follow the love."
I then reared back, tossing the pod into the air over the crowd and watching as it careened through the street. At a certain point, the normal trajectory stopped, and suddenly the pod was flying on its own, forging straight ahead until it flew into the torch, causing the fire to erupt upwards.
Rose and I screamed in a cheer, wrapping our arms around each other and jumping up and down.
I let go of Rose, pushing my way through the crowd again and back into the neighborhood so that I could see the spots where the kids were taken from. Sure enough, one by one children started appearing out of thin air, placed exactly where they'd been before. I laughed, folding my hands over my mouth.
The children's parents began filtering out, running to their missing children and crushing them into hugs.
Rose stepped up beside me, tears in her eyes.
"Doctor?" She asked. I nodded.
"He'll be here, somewhere," I assured her, looping my arm through hers, "I'm sure of it. He won't leave us behind."
I felt a hand on my back and looked over to see the old woman we'd met this morning.
"I don't know who you girls are, or what you did, but thank you darlings!" She said, kissing us both on the cheek. "And thank that man from me, too."
"Where is he?" Rose asked. "he should be here. All the drawings have come to life."
My stomach dropped, and I turned to Rose with wide eyes, gripping her shoulders.
"All of them?" I repeated. Her eyes widened too.