ULTIMATE Doctor Who Book of Randomness (COMPLETED)

Series 2 Episode 5: The Girl in the Fireplace (Part 5)

P.O.V: The Doctor

"What? So that's the plan then. Just keep opening more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet." The ignorance and persistence of these droids made me so angry!

"Why her?" Rose asked. "You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?" 

The droid cocked it's head. "We are the same." It said, and this time Reinette responded in a fury.

"We are not the same!" she cried. "We are in no sense the same." 

"We are the same." It repeated. Reinette wouldn't stand for this, and she approached the droid. "get out of here! Get out of here this instant!"

"Reinette, no!" I needed more information! And the droid teleported away. I turned to Rose and Mickey.

"It's back on the ship. Rose, take Arthur and Mickey. Get after it. Follow it, don't approach it. Just watch what it does." Rose obeyed and led Mickey and the horse towards the mirror, then turned back around.

"Arthur?" she asked, clearly confused. 

"Good name for a horse." I said quickly, but she still wasn't going. 

"No, you're not keeping the horse." She said defiantly, casting a glance at Arthur. 

"I let you keep Mickey." I retorted, and shooed them off. "Now go, go! GO!" I ran up to the mirror and closed the door behind them. 

I walked back over to Reinette. "Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for. There's only one way I can do that. It won't hurt a bit."

I placed my hands on either side of her head and instigated a mind field. 

"Fireplace man, you are inside my mind!" Reinette said in awe. 

"Oh dear Reinette, you've had some cowboys in here."

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P.O.V: Rose Tyler

We exited the past and into the future, the ship, and began to explore, trying to find the droid. 

"So that Doctor eh?" Mickey said humorously. I turned my head and searched in the other direction. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked, although I knew what he was going to say.

"Well, Madame de Pompadour. Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra!" I faced him and stopped moving for a second. 

"Cleopatra, he mentioned her once." I defended. I really didn't want to think about this right now.

"He called her Cleo!" I didn't have a chance to respond because I saw a droid approaching behind Mickey. I called his name but it was too late, the droid grabbed him by the throat.

I spun around to find a droid right behind me too, and I tried to run but it grabbed me too soon. I felt something jab into my neck, and the world blurred around me, and everything went dark.

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P.O.V: The Doctor

"You are in my memories." Reinette said softly. "You walk among them." 

I looked in and saw the basic childhood first. Her parents, her friends, "If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it. Oh, actually there's a door just there. You might want to close, oh, actually, several."

"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?" 

"I don't make a habit of it." I continued to search for information, and Reinette had a lot of questions.

"How can you resist?" But I couldn't respond because I noticed something. 

"What age are you?" I said to myself. Why would the droids want to know that? 

"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." Reinette remarked smartly.

"Not my question, theirs. You're 23 and for some reason, that means you're not old enough. Sorry, you might find some old memories reawakening. Side effect." 

She sighed with sadness, and pity. "Oh, what a lonely childhood." 

Poor Reinette. "It'll pass. Just stay with me." 

"Oh Doctor," she said. "So lonely. So very, very alone." I felt something churn inside me, old memories flowing back from my childhood. Wait, did she say Doctor?

"What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life! When did you start calling me Doctor?" The realization clawed it's way in my mind. 

Reinette's eyes were full of pity and sorrow. "Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now. How can you bear it?" 

I broke the link and stepped away, horrified. "How did you do that?" 

She gave me a small smile. "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh Doctor, my lonely Doctor. Dance with me." 

The realization of what she was saying hit me, and I replied, "I can't." 

"Dance with me." she repeated, stepping closer. 

"This is the night you dance with the King." I couldn't mess up history now. Although----

"Then first, I shall make him jealous." 

"I can't." I repeated. I really, couldn't. This may throw off her timeline, mess it up somehow, right?

"Doctor? Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" She might have seen more than I thought.

"What did you see?" I demanded, and she smiled.

"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn to dance." 

She took my hand.