The Doctor's Son

18 - The Girl in the Fireplace

The Doctor stood motionless in the doorway of the TARDIS. Dorian waited with a held breath for some sort of reaction. Rose was the first to break the silence.

'His son? How can he be your son, Doctor? Doctor?'

'I don't know.' The Doctor murmured quietly, not taking his eyes off Dorian. Dorian could practically see all the thoughts flitting through his mind and the cogs whirring in his brilliant brain.

'What makes you so sure the Doctor's your dad?' Rose asked Dorian. He didn't miss the accusation in her voice.

'Other than my two hearts, you mean?' He replied with a slight smirk. 'My mother told me.'

'And who was she?' Rose asked again.

'Reinette,' The Doctor breathed, eyes still on Dorian. Dorian nodded. 'You look like her.'

'What, Madame Du Pompadour?' Rose turned on the Doctor, nostrils flaring. 'When? While me and Mickey were being held captive by them robots in wigs? Or when we thought you were trapped on the wrong side of that time window? Well, Doctor?'

'When I was stuck in the time window. The other time windows had closed and I didn't think I was ever going to see you again.' The Doctor explained, almost pleading with Rose to understand.

'What so you just jump into bed with the next blonde you come across?' Rose raged. The Doctor tried in vain to calm her down and explain that it wasn't like that. 'I guess it helped that she was mistress to the King of Fra-'

Dorian coughed loudly and pointedly, glaring at Rose. 'That's my mother you're talking about.'

Rose merely huffed and stomped away into the depths of the TARDIS. When the Doctor was sure that she wasn't about to return and explode again he turned to Dorian.

'We've got a lot to talk about.' He beckoned for Dorian to go into the TARDIS, 'Come on in.'

'Now you're just letting anyone in.' Rose muttered dryly as Dorian followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. She was sat in some battered looking seats beside the TARDIS console.

'Play nicely Rose.' the Doctor told her with an arched eyebrow, closing the door of the TARDIS behind them.

Dorian was busy gazing around at the cavernous TARDIS interior. The whole thing was positively organic. The walls were dotted with hexagonal bubbles supported by smooth limbs that looked like they could be wood, but their texture was much rougher. Dorian stood on a floor of metal grills, and as well as the main door, another opening led off to the rest of the sprawling TARDIS. In the centre of it all was the TARDIS console, casting an eerie green glow over the rest of the room. The central beam was surrounded by hundreds of buttons and pulleys that steered the last TARDIS in the universe.

'So what do you think?' The Doctor asked, leaning on the console, eagerly awaiting Dorian's reaction.

Dorian wrenched his eyes away from the high ceiling. 'It's different to how I see it in my nightmares.'

The Doctor looked disappointed. 'Usually people say "it's bigger on the insi-" what do you mean how you see it in your nightmares? Why do you have nightmares about my ship?'

'Ever since I can remember I've had the same nightmare. I'm in this room, but it's different. There's a blue light, not green, and the console was on a platform like this.' He walked over to the console and pointed. 'But it was hexagonal and there were metal beams coming down here. Six of them.' He pointed to the walls. 'Other than the console, the rest of the room looked like a stately home.'

'That was how the TARDIS looked before I regenerated.' The Doctor peered closely at Dorian, pulling his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and buzzing it in Dorian's face. 'What are you doing in the nightmare?'