The Lost Time Lord (A Doctor Who/Tenth Doctor Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine: You're Scared Of A Broken Clock?

"Yeah. Someone's cooking."

"Sunday Roast, definitely."  Suddenly a door behind us slid open. I led the way over to it, the other three trailing behind me. Most of the room looked like the rest of the ship, all except one wall, which was paneled with wood, and housed a very nice French antique fireplace.

"Now, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship."

"Is that...I want to say, 18th Century France?" I asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Right again, Mary."  I walked over to it, running my fingers over the mantle. The Doctor stood beside me, scanning it with the screwdriver. "Nice Mantle. Not a hologram. Not even a reproduction, this actually is an 18th-century French Fireplace."

"Yeah, well, I highly doubt whoever owned this ship was just super into 18th century French décor." I said, crouching down in front of the fire place. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Its double sided."

"What?" The Doctor asked, crouching down beside me.

"Look...there's another room on the other side."

"It can't be, that's the outer hull of the ship," Rose said from the window just beside the Fireplace. "Look."

"Hello." The Doctor said, drawing my gaze from Rose and back to the fire place. My eyes widened as I saw a little blonde girl in a nightgown on the other side.

"Hello." She answered. Mickey and Rose crouched down beside us. I offered the girl a smile.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Reinette."

"Reinette, that's a lovely name." The Doctor replied. "Can you tell me where you are at the moment Reinette?"

"In my bedroom."

"Yes, of course you're in your bedroom," I told her gently, "But where is that exactly? Where do you live, Reinette?"

"Paris, of course."

"Paris, right." The Doctor said, going along with it.

"Monsieur, Mademoiselle, what are you two doing in my fireplace?" Reinette inquired.

"Oh, its just a routine...fire check. Can you tell me what year it is?"

"Of course I can," She said, "1727."

"Right, lovely, one of my favorites." The Doctor told her. "August is rubbish, though. Stay indoors."

"Ok, that's all for now," I told her, "Thank you, you've been very helpful."

"Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire," The Doctor added, "Night-Night."

"Goodnight, Monsieur. Goodnight Mademoiselle."

"Goodnight, Reinette." We all stood up, turning to face each other again.

"You said this was the 51st Century." Mickey told him.

"Yes, well he also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe, so he's two for two on that one." I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink." The Doctor said.  I shot him a skeptical look.

"What's that?"

"No idea, just made it up." I nodded.

"Yup. Thought so." I muttered.

"I didn't want to say 'Magic door'."

"And on the other side of the 'Magic door' its France in 1727?" Rose asked.

"Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too." The Doctor took off his coat, tossing it aside.

"She was speaking English, I heard her!" Mickey said. Rose wrapped an arm around him.

"That's the TARDIS, translates for you."

"Even French?"

"Yep." I walked over to the mantel, looking at the clock as the Doctor stepped up beside me.

"Doctor, the floor beneath the fireplace is a circle." I pointed out.

"Yeah, so?" I shot him a look.

"So typically when a floor looks like that, it means-" My words were cut off as the Doctor kneed a spot in the fireplace, sending the whole thing rotating around and taking the two of us with it.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted.

"Ah, yeah, I see what you mean. Rotation." The Doctor told me. I threw my hands up in the air, slapping them down onto my legs again before turning around to inspect the area. Reinette was in bed, fast asleep. The room was relatively large, containing a vanity and a dollhouse on our side. The floor was a fancy black and white tile, and that, aside from the furniture and the size of the room told me that Reinette was anything but a commoner. The Doctor walked over to the window and I followed, standing beside him.

It was certainly 18th Century Paris, and it was currently snowing outside.

"Its gorgeous." I whispered, glancing up at the Doctor. He smiled.

Suddenly we heard a gasp, both of us tearing our eyes away from each other to see Reinette sitting up in her bed.

"Its ok, don't scream!" The Doctor said quickly. "Its us, its the Fireplace people, look." He rushed over, lighting the candle beside her bed with the sonic, illuminating our faces.  "We were talking. Just a moment ago, I was in your fireplace."

"Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months."

"Really? Hmm." He walked back over to the fireplace, while I stayed beside the girl.

"Loose connection?" I asked.

"Must be," He said, knocking on the mantel, "Need to get a man in."

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" The Doctor stood up straight, his eyes falling on the clock. I furrowed my eyebrows, following his gaze, only to see that the glass of the clock face was shattered. The clock was broken...

"Ok, that's scary."

"Your scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked.

"Just a little bit scared, yeah, a little tiny bit. 'Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and its the only clock in the room...then what's that?"

It was only then that both Reinette and I noticed that the room was filled with a ticking sound, and yet, it couldn't be coming from the clock. So if the clock isn't ticking...

What is?