Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

The Unquiet Dead

It was mayhem inside the TARDIS. Alarms were blaring and the whole box was shaking. "Hold that one down!" the Doctor ordered Rose, pointing to a button.

"I'm holding this one down!" Rose called from the other side of the console, where she was currently occupied holding another button down.

"Well, hold them both down!" the Doctor retorted.

"Hang on, I'll get it." the Artist said, moving round the console and pressing the offending button, while the Doctor began typing in co-ordinates.

"Right, yer've seen the future, let's have a look at the past." he said to Rose, "1860. How does 1860 sound?"

"What happens in 1860?" Rose asked.

"Dunno, let's find out." the Doctor answered, "Hold on, 'ere we go!" He pulled a lever and the TARDIS shot off through the Time Vortex.

After a few moments of this wild ride, the box came to a sudden stop, sending the trio tumbling to the floor. "Blimey!" Rose laughed.

"You can say that again." the Artist remarked, picking herself up and dusting her jeans off. "You alright?" she asked Rose, holding a hand out to help the human up.

"Yeah, I think so." Rose replied as the Time Lady helped her to stand, "Nothing broken... did we make it? Where are we?" she asked the Doctor, who had picked himself up and moved to the monitor.

"I did it!" he cheered, studying the screen, "Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th 1860."

"That's so weird." Rose commented, "It's Christmas."

"All yours." the Doctor said, gesturing to the doors, while the Artist went to the monitor to check the scanner.

"But, it's like... think about it, though." Rose mused, "Christmas, 1860. Happens once. Just once and it's gone. It's finished. It'll never happen again. Except for you two. You two can go back and see days that're dead and gone and a thousand sunsets ago... no wonder ya never stay still."

"Not a bad life." the Doctor smiled.

"Better with three." Rose grinned and bounced over towards the doors, "C'mon, then!"

"Oi, oi, oi! Where d'yer think you're going?" the Doctor called after her.

"1860." Rose replied as if it was obvious.

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella!" the Doctor said rudely, gesturing to Rose's hoodie and jeans, "There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, it's the fifth door on yer left. Hurry up!"

Rose stared at him, wandering how the heck she was supposed to remember all that. The Artist seemed to realise this. "C'mon, Rose. I'll show ya the way." she said, "Think I'll get changed myself."

"What, you're dressing up?" the Doctor raised a brow.

"Yes, I am." the Artist replied, "What's wrong with that?"

"We've been travelling together for years an' you never dress up. What's changed?"

"Well, I don't see the point in dressing up, given how 9 times out of 10 we end up running for our lives." the Artist explained, "But since ya making Rose suffer victorian fashion, it's only fair that I share that suffering...So, shall we?" she said to Rose and led the human through a door in the far corner of the console room.

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The Artist led Rose through a series of corridors lined with doors. Some were open and Rose could glimpse a model railway layout in one room, a vast library in another, while another room appeared to contain an Olympic-sized swimming pool. "Blimey, how big is this thing?" she asked.