On a seemingly normal street in 2012, the trio discovers an entity stealing children to avoid loneliness.

The music above is called 'Soul Inside' from The Host.

***

Between two blue cargo containers by a railway, the TARDIS materialised nicely in the centre. The Doctor was prepared to exit his ship before finding that it parked the wrong way round, meaning they couldn't get out. "Ah." He retreated back inside, configuring the controls a bit as a train behind them went past. It was turned ninety degrees, allowing them to leave. "Ah!"

The trio strolled out into the bright shining sun as Rose wandered over to some posters of Shayne Ward. "So, near future, yeah?"

"I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped." The Doctor said as they walked down a street titled 'Dame Kelly Holmes Close'. Above them was a banner, saying 'London 2012 Olympics'. "Thirtieth Olympiad."

"No way! Why didn't I think of this? That's great." Rose exclaimed, clutching onto Willow's arm in excitement.

"Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood around baying. No, wait a minute, that was Club Med. Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony, tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch. Lovely chap, what was his?" As the Doctor rambled on, Willow and Rose noticed missing posters of children being put up on a lampost nearby. "Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet."

Willow pulled Rose away, reading what they had to say about their disappearances. "Doctor."

"And in those days, everybody had a tea party to go to." He continued.

"Doctor!" yelled Rose.

"Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top?" 

"You know I think you should really look at this!" Willow shouted to him, pointing out the situation at hand.

He turned to them, still proceeding with his conversation. "Do you know those things? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius." He joined the two girls, reading two missing posters that said 'Dale Hicks' and 'Jane McKillen'. "What's taking them, do you think? Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this." 

She shivered a little since she chose to wear a white tank top today. "It feels cold. Is something reducing the temperature?"

"It says they all went missing this week. Why would a person do something like this?" Rose asked, disgusted.

"What makes you think it's a person?" He wondered as they observed a woman placing her rubbish outside, wary of the three strangers.

"Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death." She acknowledged as the woman quickly jogged back inside, fearful. "Doctor, what-"

The girls rotated their heads in the direction of the Doctor, noticing he was no longer there and was now sprinting over to a nearby garden. Willow rolled her eyes as Rose remarked. "I can't believe you're marrying a man who always runs off. What happens if he leaves you at the altar?"

"That won't happen. He's better than that." stated Willow, beginning to walk down the street.

A man in a red Mini was driving down before abruptly stopping in the middle of the road. A council roadmender marched up to the man in the vehicle. "There you go. Fifth today. Not natural, is it?"

"I don't know what happened, I had it serviced less than a month ago." The driver replied.

"Nah, don't even try and explain it, mate. All the cars are doing it. And do you know what? It's bonkers. Bonkers. Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it. Quicker you're on the way, happier you'll be." The driver got out of the car as the roadmender started to push on the rear end, forcing it to move. "There we go."

"Do you want a hand?" asked Rose.

"No, we're all right, love." He answered.

Willow crossed her arms. "Look, we're tougher than we look alright. Come on." The girls helped support the roadmender by pushing the car along. Once they were over some freshly made tarmac, the engine of the car started up again, forcing the man to the ground. The driver thanked them before getting back in his car and driving away. "You're not. I'm tougher than I look, honest."

"Been doing it all week." He stumbled back up.

"Since those children started going missing?" 

"Yeah, I suppose so." The man responded, unsure.

"I'm Willow and this is Rose. We're looking into the... strange happenings of this street." She introduced themselves.

"I'm Kel, I work for council." He told them.

Rose nodded. "Why are you fixing up the road?"

"For the Olympics but we've had to keep coming back here. Every car cuts out. The council are going nuts. I mean, they've given this street the works. Renamed it. I've been tarmacking every pothole. Look at that. Beauty, init? Yeah! And all that is because that Olympic Torch comes right by the end of this Close. Just down there. Everything's got to be perfect, ain't it? Only it ain't." Kel confessed.

An elderly and slightly dazed woman walked up to them. "It takes them when they're playing."

"What takes them?" Rose queried.

"Danny, Jane, Dale. Snatched in the blink of an eye." The woman continued.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was being backed up by a strong man. "I'm, I'm a police officer! That's what I am. I've got a badge and a police car. You don't have to get. I can, I can prove it. Just hold on." 

He reached into his jacket pocket as Willow and Rose accompanied him. "We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look or sound like any of them."

"See, look. This is my partner and I've got a colleague, Lewis." The Doctor pointed at the girls who shyly stood out.

"They look less copper than you do." The man responded.

"Training. New recruit. It was either that or hairdressing, so, voila!" He brandished his psychic paper, revealing his fake credentials as several other neighbours gathered around them. 

"What are you going to do?" A young woman asked.

"The police have knocked on every door. No clues, no leads, nothing." The old woman affirmed.

"Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do." The man justified.

"Saw it with me own eyes. Dale Hicks in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then pfft! Right in front of me, like he was never there. There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us."

"Why don't we-" The Doctor started.

"Why don't we start with him?" Another woman interrupted, wagging her finger at Kel and his co-worker. "There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night."

"Fixing things up for the Olympics." He answered.

"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it." The man stated.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, annoyed by constant nagging around him. "I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do is just-"

"You don't. What you just said, that's slander!" Kel fired back.

"I don't care what it is!"

"I think we need to just-"

"I want an apology off her!"

"Stop picking on him." The old woman advised.

"Yeah, stop picking on me!" He added.

"And stop pretending to be blind. It's evil!" proclaimed the old woman.

The woman continued to argue. "I don't believe in evil."

"Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van."

"Here, here, here, that's not what she's saying." The man defended her, also wanting to end this pointless argument.

"Would you stop ganging up on me!"

"Feeling guilty, are we?" The woman bellowed.

The Doctor had quite enough of this, yelling. "Fingers on lips!" He placed a single finger on his lips, telling everyone to do the same to the bewilderment of the homeowners. Rose giggled a little before noticing the Doctor advising her to put it up. She did what she was told before he turned to Willow. 

"Seriously?" He firmly nodded, causing her to sigh in irritation as she copied everyone else's movements.

"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" He recounted the basic information.

"Er, can I?" The old woman queried. He accepted her permission to talk. "Look around you. This was a safe street till it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?"

Rose gazed up at a window, noticing a young girl looking out at them. The young woman discerned her glares, realising she was staring at her daughter. She went back inside, departing from the conversation.

***

The three were sniffing out the man's garden where Dale Hicks disappeared, looking for clues. Behind them, the man was observing their strange movements as the Doctor was continually smelling out the place like a bloodhound. "Want a hanky?"

"Can you smell it? What does it remind you of?" He asked.

"Metal, definitely." Willow answered.

"Oh, yeah!" recognised Rose, smelling it too.

They strolled towards a back alley where another boy, Danny Edwards, had vanished also. "Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." His hand shot up, feeling something. "Whoa, there it goes again! Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand."

"There's something weird about this place." added Willow.

"And there's that smell. It's like a... er, a burnt fuse plug or something." Rose guessed.

"There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this."

***

When strolling through someone's garden, Rose noticed a small tabby cat walking around. "Aren't you a beautiful boy?"

She bent down to stroke it as Willow smiled. The Doctor, on the other hand, didn't realise who she was talking about. "Thanks! I'm experimenting with backcombing- oh..."

"I used to have one like you." Rose recalled, brushing its fur.

Willow smiled, remembering the cat they found years ago outside the Powell Estate. She turned to face the Doctor, seeing him snarl. "What?"

"No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it." He mentioned.

The cat wandered away from Rose. "Come here, puss." She tried to draw the cat back to her but it crawled into a cardboard box. "What do you want to go in there for?" When it completely vanished from sight, a small cry came from the box. Rose gazed inside but the cat was gone. "Doctor!"

He strolled over to the box, picking it up and strongly smelling the metal residue left behind. "Whoa! Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ion residue. Blimey! That takes some doing. Just to snatch a living organism out of space-time. This baby is just like, I'm having some of that. I'm impressed."

"So the cat's been transported?" asked Willow.

"It can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see. Keep them peeled, Lewis." He told Rose before marching on.

***

At the top of the close, Rose was investigating around townhouses with integral garages next to the front doors. When walking past one, a sudden banging noise was heard on the other side. She stopped. "Is that you, puss cat? Are you trapped?" Rose asked, hearing several thumps inside. It didn't sound like a small cute cat. "Not going to open it, not going to open it, not going to open it"

However, her temptation got the best of her as she gently opened the garage door. Abruptly, she was knocked to the ground by an unknown force. She looked up to find that she was being attacked by a mess of black and grey lines.

The Doctor and Willow rushed around the corner, acknowledging that Rose was in trouble. "Stay still!" He yelled, using the sonic screwdriver to shrink it into the size of a small ball that landed in her hands. "Okey dokey?"

Rose stood back up, clearly dazed and confused whilst embracing the two. "Yeah, cheers."

"No probs. I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is, because I haven't got the foggiest." He said, admiring the ball in curiosity.

"Well, I can tell you you've just killed it."

"It was never living." The Doctor informed her. "It's animated by energy. Same energy that's snatching people. That is so dinky! The go anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties."

***

Back in the TARDIS, they had placed the strange scribble ball under analysis to decipher what it was. "Oh, hi ho, here we go. Let's have a look." A message in Gallifreyan appeared on the screen, surprising Willow and the Doctor. "Get out of here."

"What's it say?" wondered Rose. 

He picked it up, using the back of a pencil to rub it out. "It is. It's graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil."

"I was attacked by a pencil scribble?"

"Scribble creature, brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. 

"But why make a scribble creature?" Willow asked. "It's not exactly a monster is it?"

"Maybe it was a mistake I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a, like a drawing. Like a, a child's drawing." Rose theorised, remembering what the Doctor had said earlier. "You said it was in the street."

"Probably."

She muttered. "The girl."

"Of course!" He raised an eyebrow. "What girl?"

"Something about her gave me the creeps. Even her own mum looked scared of her." mentioned Rose.

"Are you deducting?"

Rose leaned back. "I think I am." 

"Copper's hunch?"

"Permission to follow it up, Sarge?"

"Ok enough with the police jokes! We've got a real investigation at hand." Willow pleaded, already irritated by their banter.

***

They found the house where they had met the young woman from earlier and where Rose had seen the girl creepily staring out the window. The Doctor rang the doorbell, waiting for a few moments for a response from the homeowner. 

Eventually, the woman answered the door shyly. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Willow and Rose. Can we see your daughter?"

She seemed offended by his remark. "No, you can't."

"Okay. Bye." They turned away, preparing to leave.

As they were halfway down their driveway, the woman spoke again. "Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?"

The trio looked back. "Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought, that she might like to give us a hand."

"Yeah, but it's ok. We're fine with it." Willow replied.

"Sorry to bother you." said Rose.

"Yeah, sorry. We'll let you get on with things. On your own. Bye again." He did a quick wave before they turned back to leave once again.

"Wait!" She stopped them. "Can you help her?"

The Doctor happily smiled at her, compliant. "Yes, I can."

They entered the house, the woman introducing herself as Trish before leading them into the living room. The television was on, showing the events of the Olympics while Trish told them about her daughter. "She stays in her room most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone."

"What about Chloe's dad?" queried Willow.

"Chloe's dad died a year ago." She informed her.

She frowned, understandable. "I'm sorry."

"You wouldn't be if you'd known him." Trish commented.

Something in this house didn't feel right and the Doctor felt it, wanting to discover what it was. "Well, let's go and say hi."

Trish gulped, showing an unsure expression. "I should check on her first. She might be asleep."

"Why are you afraid of her, Trish?"

"I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid." She told them.

He bobbed his head, listening along. "I'm sure she is."

"She's never been in trouble at school you should see her report from last year. A's and B's." She said, smiling.

"Can I use your loo?" Rose queried, scratching her head.

She nodded, allowing her to use her home's facilities. Rose exited the room, secretly sharing a glare with the Doctor and Willow to tell them that she was going to investigate. Trish continued to praise her daughter. "She's in the choir. She's singing in an old folks home. Any mum would be proud. You know I want you to know these things before you see her because right now, she's not herself."

A little while later, they heard a noise coming from the kitchen. The Doctor, Willow and Trish wandered through, leading to their meeting with Chloe. Her hair was done up in a bun and she was wearing a purple shirt and trousers, she seemed very serious and silent. "All right, there? I'm the Doctor and this is Willow." He leaned on their table as Chloe took something from the cupboard.

"I'm Chloe Webber." She answered.

"How are you, Chloe?" Willow wondered, sending a friendly smile her way.

The little girl continued to glare. "I'm busy. I'm making something, aren't I, mum?" 

Trish ignored her, pointing out the problems she's had with Chloe. "And like I said, she's not been sleeping."

"But you've been drawing, though. I'm rubbish. Stickmen about my limit. Can do this, though." The Doctor gave a Vulcan salute from Star Trek. "Can you do that?"

Chloe still frowned, uncaring of the Doctor's attempts to reach out to her. "They don't stop moaning."

"Chloe-"

"I try to help them, but they don't stop moaning." She sounded annoyed by something, something that might be to do with the missing children.

"Who don't?" He asked.

She ignored him as if something else was talking through her. "We can be together."

Trish tried to comfort her. "Sweetheart-"

Although, Chloe stepped out of the way. "Don't touch me, mum." She turned back to the Doctor. "I'm busy, Doctor."

She began to leave but the Doctor still wanted to talk to her. "Come on, Chloe. Don't be a spoilsport. What's the big project? I'm dying to know. What're you making up there?"

"Doctor!" yelled Rose from above, finding herself in trouble.

The two raced up the stairs, followed by Chloe and Trish. The Doctor ran in to find Rose being entranced by some energy in Chloe's wardrobe, upon which he slammed it shut. "Look at it." She told them.

"No, ta." He went to look at the other pictures, noticing that the drawings were of the missing children and the cat but also several other things too. 

"You ok?" Willow asked Rose who nodded in response.

"What the hell was that?" Trish questioned, wanting to know what was inside Chloe's wardrobe.

"A drawing. The face of a man." She described.

"What face?" She tried to open it but Rose prevented her from doing so.

"Best not."

Trish turned to her daughter, bewildered and fearful. "What've you been drawing?"

"I drew him yesterday." Chloe mentioned.

"Who?"

"Dad." She stated.

"Your dad? But he's long gone." Trish was shocked, remembering all the abuse they had suffered. "Chloe, with all the lovely things in the world, why him?"

"I dream about him, staring at me." 

She edged closer. "I thought we were putting him behind us. What's the matter with you?"

"We need to stay together." asserted Chloe.

Trish agreed. "Yes, we do."

"No. Not you, us." Her words caught the Doctor's attention, alarming him. "We need to stay together, and then it'll be all right."

"Trish, the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?" Rose asked.

By this time, Trish didn't care, wanting the trio out of the house. "Who gave you permission to come into her room? Get out of my house."

"Tell us about the drawings, Chloe." The Doctor said.

"I don't want to hear any more of this."

"But that drawing of her dad. I heard a voice. He spoke." She drew attention to the drawing of Chloe's father.

"He's dead. And these, they're kid's pictures." Trish pointed at Chloe's drawings in defense. "Now get out!"

"Look, Chloe has a power. And she's used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks. She's using it to snatch the kids." Willow summarised their collective thoughts.

"Get out." She continued to tell them.

"Have you seen those drawings move?" questioned Rose.

"I haven't seen anything." She replied.

However, the Doctor corrected her. "Yes, you have, out of the corner of your eye."

"No."

"And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain? You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever again."

Though she knew the Doctor was right, she protested. "She's a child."

"You're terrified of her. But there's nowhere to turn to, because who's going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except me."

She was speechless, astounded by his words. This wasn't just some policeman, he was much more. "Who are you?"

"I'm help." He muttered, relieving her anxiety a little.

***

Back in the kitchen, the trio were gaining more information about Chloe from Trish as the Doctor mindlessly took a jar of marmalade, stuck his finger in and ate it. "Ahem," Willow shook her head, glaring at him in disgust. He took notice of Trish's shy glare and Rose's alarmed expressions. "Those pictures, they're alive. She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures using ionic energy."

"Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kid of holding pen made up of ionic power." The Doctor told them.

"And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?" Rose asked.

Trish huffed. "How many times do I have to tell you he's dead."

"Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke." She commented.

"If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things." He thought, sending a shiver down his spine. "Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world."

"She always got the worst of it when he was alive." Trish admitted.

"Doctor, how can a twelve-year-old girl be doing any of this?" questioned Rose.

"Let's find out." Then, he led them back up to Chloe's bedroom where she was sitting on the bed. When they came in, Chloe put up a Vulcan salute as the Doctor did earlier. "Nice one." He approached her, placing his fingers on her temple and causing her to roll her eyes up in a trance.

Then he laid her back on her bed, forcing her into a deep sleep. Trish on the other hand wanted to stop him. "I can't let him do this-"

Willow halted her. "Just trust him, ok?"

"Now we can talk." The Doctor said.

"I want Chloe." A whispery voice came out of her mouth but it didn't sound like Chloe. "Wake her up. I want Chloe."

"Who are you?" He interrogated.

"I want Chloe Webber." She slammed her fist on the bed in anger.

"What've you done to my little girl?" Trish tearfully asked, scared for her.

"Doctor, what is it?" Rose queried.

The Doctor ignored their questions. "I'm speaking to you, the entity that is using this human child. I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation."

"I don't care about shadows or parleys." The voice exclaimed.

"So what do you care about?"

"I want my friends." She stated.

He bent down, trying to be understanding. "You're lonely, I know. Identify yourself." 

"I am one of many. I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone. I hate it. It's not fair, and I hate it." The voice explained, opening her eyes.

"Name yourself!" He demanded.

"Isolus."

Unexpectedly, the Doctor calmed, kneeling down next to her. "You're Isolus. Of course."

"Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family." The Isolus began drawing a picture on a sheet of paper nearby.

"What's that?" Trish queried.

"The Isolus Mother, drifting in deep space. See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone."

The Isolus repeated. "Our journey is long."

"The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up." He proceeded.

"Thousands of years just floating through space. Poor things. Don't they go mad with boredom?" Rose wondered.

"We play."

"You play?"

"While they travel, they play games." Willow expanded. "They use their ionic power to literally create make-believe worlds in which to play. Basic in-flight entertainment."

"Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each others love. Without it, they're lost." He continued to interrogate her. "Why did you come to Earth?"

"We were too close." It took another sheet of paper, drawing an image of the sun.

The Doctor realised what it was trying to say. "That's a solar flare from your sun. Would have made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods."

"Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there, and I cannot reach them. So alone."

"Your pod crashed. Where is it?" The Doctor questioned.

The Isolus did not properly answer his question. "My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me, alone. She needed me, and I her."

Willow approached her. "You empathised with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you. I understand."

"I want my family. It's not fair." It cried.

"You want to make a family. As a child, I only had a few people in my life, but now I have so much more," She gazed up at the Doctor and Rose. "Yet I still feel lonely at some points but you can't stay in this child."

"It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself." He addressed, finishing Willow's sentence.

"I am alone." A sudden crash from the wardrobe startled them as Chloe began to convulse.

A gravelly male voice growled from within. "I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming."

None of them knew what to do. "Trish, how do you calm her?"

"What?"

"When she has nightmares, what do you do?" She seemed clueless in this situation. "What do you do?"

"I-I sing to her." She responded.

"Then start singing." He told her as Chloe's nightmare father screamed on.

Trish jogged over, stroking Chloe's head as she began to sing. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." The cries from the wardrobe ceased as Chloe drifted back off to sleep, relaxing. "He came to her because she was lonely. Chloe, I'm sorry."

***

They all gathered back in the living room, collecting any pencils they could find to prevent the Isolus from drawing more people into her pictures. "Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper when he'd had a drink. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free. I thought it was over."

"Did you talk to her about it?" asked Rose.

Trish shook her head. "I didn't want to."

"But maybe that's why Chloe feels so alone. Because she has all these terrible dreams about her dad, but she can't talk to you about them." Rose speculated since she used to talk about her father as a child.

"Her and the Isolus. Two lonely kids who need each other." The Doctor described.

"It's dependant and it just won't stop will it?" Willow wondered.

"It's desperate to be loved. It's used to a pretty big family." He stated.

"How big?"

"Say around four billion?"

***

The trio left the house, heading back to the TARDIS. "We need that pod."

"It crashed. Won't it be destroyed?" asked Rose.

"Well, it's been sucking in all the heat it can. Hopefully, that should keep it 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." He said as they walked off, unknowingly being watched by Chloe and the Isolus. 

Once they arrived by the TARDIS, Chloe was following them. "We can scan for the same trace that I picked up from the scribble creature. We'd need to widen the field a bit."

They went inside as the Doctor went straight to work on a device that would be able to track the pod. "You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" Rose wondered.

"I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the styner-magnetic." She seemed clueless. "The thing in your left hand."

Rose handed it to him. "Sounds like you're on its side."

"I sympathise, that's all."

"The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people." She dissuaded.

"Come on Rose, it's a child. That's why it went to Chloe. Two lonely mixed-up kids." Willow described. 

"Feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way." She wasn't wrong though.

"It's scared. Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot." Willow handed the Doctor the equipment he needed as Rose continued to state her opinion.

"Yes, and I know what kids can be like. Right little... terrors." She recalled.

The Doctor held out his hand. "Gum."

She spat it out onto his hand, sickening Willow slightly who pulled a disgusted expression. "I've got cousins." Rose glared at her, remembering what she was like when she was very little or old, whatever way they put it nowadays. "Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family."

"What about trying to understand them?"

"Easy for you to say. You don't have kids."

"I was a dad once." He quietly mentioned, striking a chord.

The girls turned to him, intrigued. "What did you say?"

However, the Doctor ignored her question as he fixed up the little device. He used her gum to fix a component in place before closing the lid on it. "I think we're there. Fear, loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose. 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. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold."

Then Rose held her hand out, recognising something on the screen but the Doctor mistook it. He took a hold of her hand, alarming her. "No, look, I'm pointing and keep that hand to be held by your fiancée."

Willow grinned at him, knowing she was right. They gazed at the scanner, analysing that it was telling them something. It was registering an energy source of some kind. "It's the pod! It is in the street. Everything's coming up Doctor."

They exited the TARDIS, Rose leading the group. "Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull's egg. Very light."

"So these pods, they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" There was a crash behind her that sounded glass. She spun around, realising in shock that the TARDIS, the Doctor and Willow were gone. "Doctor! Willow!"

Chloe and the Isolus had taken them, she must have still had pencils in her room. She sprinted back to their house, hammering frantically on Trish's door. She let her in but Rose wasn't in the mood for talking. "It's okay. I've taken all the pencils off her."

Rose didn't listen as she raced up the stairs, Trish following close behind. She angrily entered Chloe's room, noticing Chloe's new drawing. She snatched it off her, looking at her friends who were now trapped in paper. She had no one, the Isolus had taken them from her. "Leave me alone. I want to be with Chloe Webber. I love Chloe Webber."

"Bring them back, now!" She ordered.

She protested. "No!"

Nevertheless, Rose did not give up, grabbing Chloe's arms tightly. "Don't you realise what you've done? He was the only one who could help you. Now bring them back!"

"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" The Isolus spat in a loud whisper.

She sighed, letting her go. Rose stared at her cousin, the girl she had been jealous of for years but still loved all the way. "I know. I know. Willow, if you can hear me, I'm going to get you out of there. I'll find the pod." She gently put it down, turning to Trish. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."

Rose ran back downstairs and through the front door, meeting with Kel outside who was admiring his latest tarmac patch lovingly. An idea came to mind. "Heat. They travel on heat."

She crouched down beside him. "Look at this finish. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Not a bump or a lump."

"Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?" She questioned.

He was too distracted by his work to reply to her question. "I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one."

"Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days."

"Six days." Kel thought to himself for a moment. "When I was laying this the first time round."

She widened her eyes. "What?"

"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time." He expanded.

"Six days ago."

"Yeah."

"Hot fresh tar." She began piecing it all together, realising where the spaceship was the whole time.

"Blended to a secret council recipe." However, Rose was already sprinting over to the van and climbing inside. "I don't keep it in the van! Hey, that's a council van. Out." She searched for an item to dig it up, locating an axe. Rose wickedly grinned, leaping out of the van. "Whoa, wait, wait, wait. You just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No, don't, wait. Put the axe back in the van. That's my van. Give me the axe." She lifted it high above her head, ready to smash it. "No! Wait! No!"

Nonetheless, it was too late and Rose was already digging up Kel's beloved work. "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!"

When most of the open hole was revealed, Rose dug her hands into it, finding a small pod. She widely grinned, laughing in delight. "It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar."

"What is it?"

She stood up, holding it in her hands. "It's a spaceship. Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid." Rose ran back into the house. "I've found it! I don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board." Upon realising that Trish was standing right in front of her instead of being with her daughter, she said. "Hang on, I told you not to leave her."

"My God! Er, what's going on here?" The television caught their attention right as Kel stormed in.

"I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up-"

"Shut up and look!" She pointed at the screen, showing them that everyone in the Olympic Stadium had vanished.

"The crowd has vanished! Er, they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Right in front of my eyes. It's impossible. Bob, can we join you in the box?" The screen flashed to another camera, but the presenters weren't there either. "Bob? Not you too, Bob?"

Chloe had taken them all. "The stadium won't be enough. The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters."

***

In her bedroom, Chloe, being controlled by the Isolus, listened to the broadcast. "Over eighty thousand spectators and thirteen thousand athletes." 

She gazed down at her drawing, realising that it wasn't the right number of people she wanted. "Not enough."

The commentator continued. "They're gone. All of those people. It's a terrible, terrible turn of events."

Chloe took an Atlas from her bookshelf, showing a picture of the Earth for her to copy. "We won't be alone, Chloe Webber. We'll have all of them. And then we'll never feel alone, ever again."

"Since the battle of Torchwood-"

"Chloe? Chloe, it's Rose! Open the door!" Rose cried from outside as she ripped down pictures on her wall and began to draw speedily.

Outside, Rose continued to plead with her. "We found your ship. We can send you home."

"Chloe?" Trish yelled.

"Open up!" No matter how hard they tried, Chloe wouldn't open the door. Rose still had the axe in her hand though. "Right, stand back." She lifted it up and forced it onto the wood a few times, breaking it down.

Eventually, a large hole was made, allowing Rose to use the doorknob to open the door. "Chloe!"

The wardrobe was shaking again with a bright red light coming out the gap. "I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming."

"I've got to stop her." Rose tried to grab her but was stopped by the wardrobe banging.

"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair." The Isolus stated.

She took the pod from her pocket, presenting it to her. "Look, I've got your pod."

"The pod is dead." It declared.

"It only needs heat." She asserted.

"It needs more than heat." The Isolus explained.

"What, then?"

"I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved." Kel spoke, pointing at Chloe's drawings. "And that one!"

Rose looked down at the picture of Willow, the Doctor and the TARDIS. However, there was now a drawing of the Olympic Torch that they were both pointing at. She picked it up, inspecting it. "She didn't draw that, they did. But it needs more than heat."

"...Is still on its way. I suppose it's much more than a torch now, it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love." The moment the presenter mentioned it, Rose's eyes lit up. 

"Love." It all came to her like it came to the Doctor and Willow. "I know how to charge up the pod."

She sprinted out of the house with the pod in hand, Kel trailing her from behind. Rose tried to push through the crowd to get close enough to the Olympic Torch. Although, a policeman stopped her. "Sorry, you'll have to watch from here."

"No, I've got to get closer." objected Rose.

"No way."

"I can stop this from happening!" She shouted but the policeman simply declined again as she was forced to the back of the crowd. As she was pushed back, the pod started to chitter in her hands. "You felt it, didn't you?" This was her one chance and she wasn't going to waste it if it could save the Doctor and Willow. "Feel the love."

Rose threw her hands up in the air, watching as the pod flew from her hands towards the torch and landing slapbang inside it. "Yes!" She cheered, jumping up and down. 

"You did it!" Kel hugged Rose, unsure what had just happened. "What was it you did?" 

As the Isolus left Chloe and travelled back to its spaceship, it released all of the missing children from captivity and the other creatures she had drawn. Rose smiled as the crowd dispersed and the children reunited with their parents in joy. They probably wouldn't remember what happened when they went missing, hopefully meaning that Chloe won't be witch-hunted anytime soon for the bad deeds the Isolus had caused.

Nevertheless, though everyone was being reunited, the Doctor and Willow were still missing. "Willow..." muttered Rose.

"Rose!" She heard a familiar voice yell behind her. Rose turned around to find her cousin, Willow, running towards her. "You did it!"

They embraced, both smiling in joy. The old woman approached them. "I don't know who you are, or what you did, but thank you, darlings!" She leaned in to kiss Rose's cheek and also Willow's. "And thank that man for me too."

As she left, Rose asked. "Where's the Doctor?"

Willow frowned, realising he was nowhere to be seen. "I swear he came out with me. I thought he did. If every drawings' coming out then..." She gazed up at Trish and Chloe's house, seeing a red glowing light emerge in her bedroom. "Oh no!"

They jogged over to the house, attempting to get in but they were locked out by a sudden slam. Willow banged on the door. "Trish, get out!"

They saw Trish try to pull it open again but it wouldn't budge. "I can't! The door's stuck!"

"Is the Doctor in there?" She questioned.

"I don't think so." Trish replied.

"Mummy." Chloe cried from inside, watching as her father's shadow was ominously cast overhead.

"Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you."

She horridly recalled every time he had hurt her in both reality and in her nightmares, not wanting it to happen again. "Please, dad. No more." 

"Chloe!"

"Chloe, listen to me. It isn't real like the others. It's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it." Willow told her through the door.

"Help us!" cried Trish.

"It's because you're so scared that he's real. But you can get shot of him, Chloe." Rose said, trying to help.

"Mummy!"

The girls tried to support her, but the words weren't getting through to her. "You can do it, Chloe!" 

"I can't!" She sank down as the Nightmare Dad yelled to her. "I can't! I can't! I can't. Mummy!"

"I'm with you, Chloe. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again." Trish told her daughter, holding onto her hand in comfort.

Though it almost seemed impossible, Willow remembered how Trish's singing calmed Chloe during her nightmares. That's all they had to do; sing. "Sing again! Chloe, sing! It calms you during your nightmares so it might work now!"

"Merry merry king of the bush is he." Chloe started to sing, her mother joining in along with her. "Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." The Nightmare Dad was clearly weakened, yelling in agony as it was pushed back into the wood of her wardrobe again. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."

As the red glow faded, the girls sank down, relieved that the leftover energy didn't kill Trish or Chloe. However, the Doctor still wasn't there. Kel wandered up to them. "Maybe he's gone somewhere."

"Who's going to hold his hand now?" Rose asked, referring to Willow who sat on the ground in silence.

***

Later, the group met back up in Trish's living room watching the Olympic Ceremony on live television.  "Just look at this! Utterly incredibly scenes at the Olympic stadium. Eighty thousand athletes and spectators. They disappeared, they've come back!" The presenter announced on the television.

"I can get the TARDIS up and running, be able to take us home if he doesn't come back." Willow told Rose with a saddened tone.

"They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly..."

"Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor? We need him." stated Rose.

"But hang on, the Torch Bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him. Maybe he's injured. He's definitely in trouble." Unexpectedly, the torchbearer slowed down, tired from running and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. "Does this mean that the Olympic dream is dead?" 

It must have been the Isolus, attracting more heat but it meant that it couldn't go home. Suddenly, to their surprise, a man in a brown pinstripe suit and jacket picked up the torch and carried it down the track. Willow and Rose's eyes lit up. "Doctor!"

She grinned, watching him take the torch all the way up to the lower cauldron. "There's a mystery man. He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. He's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope, and it's courage, and it's love."

He cheered before placing lighting up the cauldron, allowing the Isolus to find its family and go home. 

***

Strolling through Dame Kelly Holmes Close, the Doctor searched for his fiancee and his best friend, wondering where they were. "Cake?"

Rose held a cake with silver ball bearings, like the ones he mentioned earlier, with Willow by his side. The Doctor guffawed, approaching them. "Top banana. Mmm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!"

Before the Doctor could take it from her hands, Willow put her arms around him. "Don't ever run off again!"

"Wouldn't dare!" He said, hugging her back whilst taking the cake. "Not on a night like this. This is a night for lost things being found. Come on."

"What now?" asked Rose.

He took a bite of the cake, speaking with his mouth full. "I want to go to the Games. It's what we came for."

"Go on, give us a clue. Which events do we do well in?" She wondered.

"Well, I will tell you this. Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put." He informed Rose.

"Really?" He nodded. "You're joking, aren't you? Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?"

"Wait and see." The firework display started, illuminating the sky in infinite majesty.

Willow smiled, gazing up at the sky. "You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will."

"Never say never ever."

"Nah, we'll always be okay, you, me and Willow." However, he didn't respond, only staring solemnly up at the sky. "Don't you reckon, Doctor?"

"There's something in the air. Something coming." The Doctor declared.

Willow frowned, slightly fearful of his insinuation. "What do you mean?"

"A storm's approaching." 

***

And 'Army of Ghosts' is up next!

Wow, holy cow, I didn't think I'd almost be finished. Honestly, this book has been such an improvement from the first one. My writing style has definitely changed.

You know what happens next, how will Willow react when she discovers she might lose Rose forever?

BTW this book just hit 2000 reads! THIS IS INSANE! I swear ever since I put that new cover up, the book just blew up overnight.

Thank you!

- Alice ❤