Ties Between Time and Space

✦37✦

Chapter Thirty-Seven
Saving The World's Faces

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The Doctor was the first to wake up. He looked around and saw Emma unconscious next to him, her head resting against her forearm. Tommy was behind them, not awake yet but perfectly fine. Bishop, on the other hand, he wasn't so lucky. His face had been stolen from him, he was lying on the floor, his hands clenching and unclenching like every other faceless person back at the secret police base.

"Emma," the Doctor leaned over her. "Em, come on. Wake up," he shook her, and slowly Emma stirred awake with a murmur. "That's it. That's my girl," the Doctor helped her to sit up before looking over at Tommy. "Tommy, wake up! Tommy, come on!"

Tommy blinked his eyes open before leaning back on his elbows and glancing around in confusion. "What happened?"

"Magpie's gone," Emma said, getting to her feet.

The Doctor tucked his sonic away safely inside his suit pocket before throwing the shop door open and rushing out of it. Emma and Tommy right behind him.

"We don't even know where to start looking. It's too late," Tommy said.

"It's never too late, as a wise person once said," the Doctor darted his eyes around. "Kylie, I think." He then started pacing anxiously as he thought everything over. "The Wire's got big plans. It'll need. Yes, yes, yes, it's got to harvest half the population. Millions and millions of people and where are we?" the Doctor asked.

"Muswell Hill," Tommy replied like it was obvious.

"Muswell Hill," the Doctor repeated before exclaiming, "Muswell Hill!" He ran in a circle before throwing his arms out. "Which means Alexandra Palace, biggest TV transmitter in North London. Oh!" the Doctor groaned. "That's why it chose this place. Tommy? Emma?"

"Yes," Emma answered.

"What are you going to do?" Tommy asked.

"We're going shopping," the Doctor declared and ran back inside Magpie's Marvellous Tellies.

He started rummaging through everything he saw, pulling drawers out and pushing supply boxes aside. Tommy and Emma helped him, crouching behind the counter and searching for something that neither had the faintest idea of. 

"Doctor, what does it look like?" Emma asked.

"Like a - Like a... Well, like a valve, I suppose," he replied.

Tommy found something blue in color and held it up for the Doctor to see.

"Is this what you want?" he asked.

"Perfect!" the Doctor dropped everything and stood back up. "Right, I need one more thing." He grabbed the spare parts off the table and took the valve from Tommy. He then dumped both into the boy's arms as he ran off again. The Doctor exited the shop and disappeared inside the TARDIS. He reappeared a second later and tossed an object toward Emma. "Got it. Let's go." She caught it on instinct and the three went running down the street in a hurry.

As they were running, the Doctor started to assemble whatever it was he was trying to make. He held an insulated wire with his teeth as he untangled a different wire from the spare part still in Tommy's arms.

"Is this going to work?" Emma asked.

"Eh, probably," the Doctor answered.

That made Emma unknowingly smile. His probably reminded her of her old Doctor's reasonably that time during World War II. Even now she was finding small differences between the two that turned into more like similarities between them.