I know this isn't the usual update scheduled but I had an extra chapter edited and ready to publish.

"Ah." The Doctor hummed looking at the small gap between the TARDIS and the cargo container outside the door. He stepped back closing the door again and Rita looked up from the jump seat frowning.

"Something wrong?" She asked standing up. "I thought we were going somewhere? Rose just went to change" she pointed to the hallway.

"Yeah" he rubbed the back of his neck walking towards the console. "We landed on the wrong planet, turns out we landed somewhere where the air is toxic to humans" he pursed his lips, Rita tilted her head a little giving him a 'do you think I'm stupid?' face.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" She asked him. "All you had to say was that she was facing the wrong way, now you look like an idiot" she chuckled.

"Who's an idiot?" Rose asked a skip in her step as she walked towards them both at the console.

"The TARDIS was facing the wrong way" Rita paused glaring at the Doctor. "Again"

"Lemme guess, air toxic to humans?" Rose raised a brow crossing her arms.

"He used that one on you as well?" She asked looking at Rose then the Doctor.

"Of course he has" she laughed. "Doesn't want to say he was wrong"

"Have you two had enough of being rude now?"

"Nope" Rita shook her head then started to laugh.

"Enough of standing around because that's no fun." The TARDIS wheezed dematerialising and then materialising again. The Doctor ran to the door and opened it. "Ah!" He said much happier this time. They walked out and Rita automatically knew where they were.

"So, near future, yeah?" Rose asked looking at a poster on a wall.

"For you, not for me" Rita crossed her arms. "2012, five years in my past, I was in Cornwall around this time five years ago in my universe."

"What were you there for?" The Doctor asked.

"A holiday, get away from Bath and London, oh the joys of the countryside" Rita muttered. "Windy and very hilly in Cornwall" Rita waved a finger at them following the Doctor.

"Anyways I had a passing fancy of coming here. Only it didn't pass, it stopped." He grinned. They walked down the street and came up to a street of houses, there was a bunting with '2012 Olympic games' written on it. "Thirtieth Olympiad." The Doctor told them both looking up at the sign.

"No way!" Rose gasped. "Why didn't I think of this? That's great."

"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." The Doctor stopped talking slightly frowing. "No, wait a minute, that was Club Med." Rita let out a snort of laughter. The Doctor glanced at her playfully then continued to talk. "Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony, tonight, I thought you'd like that." He looked over to Rose. "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 name?" He continued to walk down the street oblivious to Rose and Rita stopping, watching a man place a missing person sign then walking off.

"Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet." He mumbled on.

"Doctor," Rose called. The Doctor ignored her continuing down the street.

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

"Doctor!" Rose shouted louder this time.

"Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top?" He asked Rose then looked at Rita about to ask the same question.

"You should really look at this." She pointed to the sign. Rita nodded in agreement and the Doctor turned around continuing his thought explaining to them.

"Do you know those things? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius." He glanced at the poster. "What's taking them, do you think? Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold? Is someone reducing the temperature?"

"Might just be you" Rita shrugged. "Anyways enough about your body temperature these posters say that all of these kids went missing this week, little strange" she hummed in thought.

"Why would a person do something like this?" Rose asked.

"What makes you think it's a person?" The Doctor questioned. Rose shrugged a little looking to Rita who shook her head confirming it was not a person doing this. They turned around to hear a front door opening and a woman rushed outside emptying her rubbish then retreated back to the safety of her house. They then glanced around the street only to notice the council van and council men were the only people outside except from the trio.

"Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death. Doctor, what-" she looked round to see the Doctor and Rita not beside her. Groaning she followed them up the street. The Doctor was crouched down beside a front lawn and a goal.

"Rita?"

"You can't ask me everything" she rolled her eyes. "I already told you it isn't human, or were you not listening, again?"

"Oh, I already guessed that" he waved her off.

"But I confirmed it" she countered. The Doctor groaned at Rita's helpfullness and stuck out a hand faced down above the grass.

"Rita try it" he laughed a little she rolled her eyes and placed her hand out feeling nothing she rolled her eyes again. "'Stupid superior Time Lord DNA'" she muttered.

"I heard that" he glared at her playfully then concentrated on his hand again. "Ooo, tickles!" He smiled giggling a little. Rita bit her lip holding in a laugh.

The two jumped up at the voice of a man behind them. "What's your game?"

The Doctor looked at the man then Rita rubbing the back of his neck he began to ramble trying to think of something. "My er. Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at squash. Reasonable. I'm being facetious, aren't I. There's no call for it."

"Clever going, officer" Rita gritted her teeth and the Doctor then caught on.
"Yeah that's right" he nodded backing away. "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 backed up on the street and Rita followed rolling her eyes at him.

"Sorry he gets a little crazy at times, thinks he all, well I don't even know" she shrugged smiling.

"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look or sound like any of them." The man pointed at the Doctors face.

The Doctor noticed Rose and pointed to her. "See, look. I've got a colleague. Lewis."

'Lewis? Really, Doctor, any name and the first one you think of is 'Lewis' Rita groaned.

"Well, she looks less like a copper than you do. Who ever are you?" He looked at Rita who widened her eyes beginning to panic clearly not thinking it through.

"Training. New recruits. It was either that or hairdressing, so, voila! He shoved the psychic paper in the man's face.

"I'll give you hairdressing in a minute" Rita muttered under her breath. "Chop chop" the Doctor widened his eyes realising what she meant and ran a hand through his hair she smiled smugly satisfied that the threat worked.

"What are you going to do?" A woman stepping out of her house asking them sounding scared and concerned.

"The police have knocked on every door. No clues, no leads, nothing." An older woman told the Doctor.

"Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do." The man told her not wanting to see the truth.

"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 but was cut off. He looked a little shocked. 2012 for you all 'I'm better than you' Rita thought to herself.

"Why don't we start with him? There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night." Another woman pointed at the council man.

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

"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it." She countered.

"I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do is just-"

"You don't. What you just said, that's slander!" The council man shouted.

"I don't care what it is."

"I think we need to just-" The Doctor looked at Rita amd Rose for help but they did nothing.

"I want an apology off her."

"Stop picking on him." The old woman spoke up.

"Yeah, stop picking on me." He repeated.

"And stop pretending to be blind. It's evil!"

"I don't believe in evil." the woman spat.

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

Rita groaned. 'Fine if you're going to let it continue any longer I'll make them shut up?' She glared at the Doctor, he looked at her in confusion seeing the glare. "Stop arguing!" She shouted and they all stopped. "Silence thank god for that." She looked at the Doctor raising a brow waiting for him to speak, he frowned then realised what she was waiting for.

"Oh, oh, right" he nodded. "In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" He asked the older woman held up her hand wanting to talk.

"Er, can I?" The Doctor nodded and the older woman began to explain. "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?"

She looked at the Doctor begging for help, he wasn't going to deny helping someone. Rose looked up at a window and saw a girl watching them all. One of the women noticed and headed back inside her house. Rose frowned a little and looked at Rita who shrugged back. 'Sorry RoseToo early for a secret.' "If I know him, he will definitely help" Rita reassured the woman.

"Oh, what about you two? Hmm?" he looked at Rita and Rose.

"Oh, course we're helping" Rose shook her head.

The elderly woman and the other woman left the street and headed back to their houses. The man narrowed his eyes at the Doctor then also headed back into his house. The Doctor walked back to the front lawn crouching down and placing his hand out again. "Still tickling?" Rita asked crouching down as well.

"Not anymore" he hummed frowning. He started to sniff the air moving around the lawn.

Rose raised a brow. "Want a hanky?"

"He's sniffing the air," Rita told her what he was doing since he wasn't explaining it himself.

"Can you smell it? What does it remind you of?" He asked them. They both sniffed the air and thought.

"Sort of metal?" Rose guessed and the Doctor hummed in response. She smiled in understanding. "Oh."

"But why?" Rita crossed her arms leaning against the wall. "Why metal?"

"I don't know, officer Lewis, Stone shall we go investigate?" He joked placing out an arm out for them both to link with his.

"Where did you get that name from" Rose chuckled linking her arm with his.

"Honestly I don't want to know" Rita laughed also linking her arm.

They walked down the road continuing to sniff the air for the smell of metal. They reached an alleyway. The Doctor then let go of the girls and placed his arm out like he did at the front garden while he walked. "Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other." Suddenly he stopped gasping a little. "Whoa, there it goes again! Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand."

"I think I'll pass" Rita commented and the Doctor sent a playful glare at her, she shook her head slowly at him sniffing the air a little, Rose did too.

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

"You're not wrong there" Rita sniffed some more then scrunched up her nose a little at the smell.

"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."

"Hmm wish they could have made the wind disappear five years ago" Rita joked following the Doctor back to the street.

"Little bit of wind doesn't hurt."

"Not when you almost get blown face first into mud, that wind was deadly, you wasn't even there Doctor so how would you know" She shook her head.

"Aren't you a beautiful boy??" Rose suddenly cooed noticing a ginger cat on the street, the Doctor beamed not realising she was talking about a cat and not him.

"Thanks! I'm experimenting with backcombing."

"Not you, idiot" Rita shook her head following Rose. "Although the experimenting is paying off" she thoughtfully tilted her head looking at him before turning to watch the cat.

"I used to have one like you." Rose cooed to the cat then turned noticing the disgusted look on the Doctor's face. "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."

"One of them ruined my shoes, you don't see me complaining" Rita rolled her eyes at him.

The cat started to walk away heading for a cardboard box. "Come here, puss. What do you want to go in there for?" Rose followed the cat. They heard a distant meow then she looked inside the box to find it empty.

"Doctor! Phew." She waved a hand by her nose scrunching her face and moving away from the box.

The Doctor walked over and picked up the box then leant away from it. "Whoa! Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ion residue. Blimey!"

"God that stinks" Rita gagged. "Smells worse than- never mind not going there" She covered her nose with a hand.

"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." The Doctor gleamed. "Oh come on the smell isn't that bad Rita you wimp"

"Oi" she lightly hit his arm.

"So the cat's been transported?" Rose tried to understand where it went.

"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."

"And what about me" Rita raised a brow.

"Keep sniffing about, go with Rose if there is something you don't like the smell of come find me."

"On it" She nodded then followed Rose and the Doctor turned in the opposite direction.

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Rita walked alongside Rose up the street looking around at the identical houses. "So what's 2012 like?" She asked.

"For most of it, the year was generally okay." She shrugged. "Never really thought anything of it."

"There is that" She chuckled then hearing a light thumping. "What was that?" She turned to Rita who shrugged.

"Sounded like it came from in there" She looked over at a garage. Rose nodded and followed the brunette over.

"Is that you, puss cat? Are you trapped?" Rose whispered moving closer to the garage door, there was another thumping, Rose jolted her head away from the door in surprise and looked at Rita whose eyes flickered to the lock. She slowly began to open in and the big scribble ball flew out knocking both of them down.

The Doctor looked up from where he was and saw the creature. "Stay still!" He sprinted over and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the ball which became hand sized. Rose caught the ball and breathed out a relief.

"Okey dokey?" He helped them up giving them both a hug.

"Didn't plan for it to go like that." Rita breathed out. "Fine through"

"Yeah, cheers." Rose sighed in relief.

"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 poked the small ball that was in Roses' hands with his sonic screwdriver. Rita opened her mouth to speak. "Not you Rita you have foreknowledge, of course, you know what it is."

"Fair enough" She grinned.

"Well, I can tell you you've just killed it." Rose held it out in her hand.

"It was never living. It's animated by energy. Same energy that's snatching people. That is so dinky!" He tossed it in the air then caught it. "The go anywhere, creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties." He placed it in his pocket. "Let's go find out what it is"

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Rita sighed sitting on the jump seat waiting for the Doctor to finish scanning the ball to figure out what it actually was.

"Oh, hi ho, here we go. Let's have a look." The Doctor jumped up heading to the monitor. "Get out of here."

"What's it say?" Rose asked squinting her eyes at the Gallifreyan writing on the screen not able to understand at all what it said.

The Doctor picked up a pencil and the ball rubbing the end with an eraser on it holding it up in the air.

"Graphite" Rita informed her.

"Basically the same material as an HB pencil"

"It is the same" Rita pointed out.

"We were attacked by a pencil scribble?" Rose raised a brow.

"Scribble creature," He corrected her. "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?"

"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. You said it was in the street."

"Probably." The Doctor nodded.

"The girl," Rose muttered.

"Of course!" He beamed then frowned. "What girl?"

"While you were busy dealing with the people Rose noticed the girl, Chloe Webber looking out her window"

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

"Hmm, she did" Rita hummed.

"Are you two deducting?"

"I think we are." Rose grinned.

"Copper's hunch?" He asked grinning with them.

"Permission to follow it up, Sarge?"

"Oh, we don't need his permission" Rita waved back heading for the TARDIS doors. "We're following it up anyway"

"If you say so." He smirked at her the three of them exiting the TARDIS.

"What if she say's no?" Rose asked.

"You said it yourself, she looked scared of her own daughter. Three random strangers turn up going around trying to figure out what's going on, askes to speak to Chloe Webber and her mother who is scared of her daughter declines? She must be mad to say no to help like that" The Doctor walked down the street. "Where did she live?" He asked.

"Follow me" Rose grumbled taking the lead.

"You don't pay much attention at times." Rita shook her head.

"Rude"

"And not ginger" Rita grinned to herself finishing off his own sentence"

"Hey, I said that Christmas day." The Doctor nudged her.

"Well done Sherlock" Rita rolled her eyes walking up to the front door and standing beside Rose who rang the doorbell.

The Door opened and Chloe's mother stood frowning a little noticing they were the three strangers from earlier. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Rita and Rose." They both waved smiling. "Can we see your daughter?"

She instantly replied. "No, you can't."

"Okay. Bye." He replied they turned around to walk off.

"Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?"

The three spun back around and the Doctor answered. "Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought," he pointed at Rita and Rose. "That she might like to give us a hand."

"Sorry to bother you."

"Yeah sorry to ruin your day" Rita chimed in.

"We'll let you get on with things... On your own... Bye again!" He smiled and then turned again starting to walk off.

Trish hesitated then shouted for them to stop. "Wait! Can you help her?" The Doctor turned around and smiled.

"Yes, I can."

"You can come in" She nodded letting them inside.

"I'm Trish" They nodded walking into the living room.

"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?" Rose asked sitting down on the sofa.

"Chloe's dad died a year ago."

"I'm sorry." Rose looked sympathetically at the woman.

"You wouldn't be if you'd known him." She said sadly.

"Well, let's go and say hi." The Doctor smiled.

"I should check on her first. She might be asleep." Trish tried to stall.

"Why are you afraid of her, Trish?"

She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before replying. "I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid." She looked at the three.

"I'm sure she is." The Doctor smiled.

"She's never been in trouble at school you should see her report from last year. A's and B's." Trish continued reassuring them.

"Can I use your loo?" Rose looked at Trish who nodded, Rose then left and headed upstairs.

"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, Doctor, because right now, she's not herself." Trish looked at him worried.

"He'll find out what's wrong" Rita promised the woman. "If anyone can find out it's him." The Doctor smiled a little at her comment and followed Trish walked into the kitchen