Shards
Rose's terrified scream as she looked into her dressing table mirror shocked Corin into immobility, two steps away, hand outstretched for the hairbrush she had dropped. She whirled around, looking wildly behind her towards the hallway door, then back to Corin, then back to the mirror – and screamed again, her hands flying to her mouth, utterly unlike any reaction he had ever seen her give.
The second scream seemed to jar him loose again, and he lunged forwards, dropping to his knees beside her, searching the mirror for the source of her terror. And damn near shouted in alarm, glancing involuntarily towards the door. There was nothing there. But in the mirror....
… stood a strange man, dressed in a blue-and-white rugby shirt over crisp blue jeans, and a long black overcoat. He stared at Rose, longing burning through his piercing blue eyes, then seemed to notice Corin. Turning towards him swiftly in startled recognition, he silently mouthed "help me", and another word, then.... he seemed to melt silently through the door into the hallway, just as Pete burst through it, with Jackie on his heels.
Corin fought the urge to run to the door, knowing there wouldn't be anyone there, or Pete would have tackled him. Rose turned wildly to him, clutching at him. "Corin... who... how..." came her terrified whimper.
"You saw him?" Jackie caught on quick. "You saw the man in the mirror? I wasn't imagining it?"
Corin shook his head. "No, you weren't. Neither of you. Someone's been stuck in the mirrors." The back of his mind was frantically trying to tell him something else, some clue, but it wasn't coming clear. "It was a punishment I used once, though I'd heard of it being used before. I put someone into the mirrors – she's just a reflection, one you might catch a glimpse of out of the corner of your eye, but when you look, there's nothing there. Just like you both did, this morning."
Rose was still clutching his collar, staring into his face, trying to find some sense of normalcy. "That was a hell of a lot more than just a glimpse. He was trying to tell us something! What did he say?" She shivered, trying to shake off the memory of those eyes burning through her. She almost felt as though she should recognize him, but she knew she'd never seen him before.
Corin replayed his mental tape. "He said 'help me', and then....." Reading the man's lips again in memory, he felt an icy wind blow down his back. "He said.... Rose, he used my true name." He stared at her, horrified. Who was he? There was only one possible answer.
"My god. It's him.... It's the Doctor. He's been put into the mirrors. He's in all mirrors, everywhere. But how did he get into this universe?"
Rose began shaking her head, and continued, wildly, as if she could somehow send the nightmare away. "No... no... I can't do this. I can't go through this again. I can't.... I can't...." She pushed him back, head still shaking. She caught a glimpse of the dressing table mirror again, and flinched away, though it was still empty of anything that shouldn't be there. Stumbling to her feet, she turned away to see the large mirror on the wall, and then further, the mirror in the bathroom through the door, and all of them were empty, threateningly so, because he could sidle around the frame at any second. Still shaking her head, she stumbled into the hall, past Pete and Jackie clutching at her, then began running, down the stairs, past other mirrors. Oh, God, why do we have so many fucking mirrors? And finally out the door onto the back terrace, scooting to the concrete wall to fold over it and lose her dinner on the other side.
She hung over the wall for several long moments, retching. Corin came up behind her and slid one arm around her middle, placing his other hand on her forehead to support it. When her stomach was empty, she collapsed, and he gathered her up again, turning her into his chest. Gasping and shaking uncontrollably, she snaked her arms around his waist and held on. Pete and Jackie came silently out the door behind them, worried, waiting for answers.
They stood together for several minutes, till Rose gained some control, then she pulled back slightly to ask, "Are you sure it's him?"
"There's no-one else it could be. I've never, ever told anyone my true name, except for you." River knew it, but that was definitely not River, and I hadn't told her yet. "No, it's him."
She closed her eyes, and started to shake her head again. "I can't do this.... Why can't he leave us the fuck alone?" I've tried so hard to move on. I can't go back. I can't rip off the scabs like this. Go away, damn you!!!!!
He cradled her close again, wordlessly. There was nothing he could say.
And then they heard it: the unmistakable whoosh of the TARDIS, coming from the copse of beech trees off to one side of the house. Rose began to cry, softly, as Jackie whispered "that's his ship!" to her husband, who'd never heard that sound before. Corin simply stood, waiting, excitement and dread warring in his single heart.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure walk slowly out of the copse and pause at the edge of the terrace, with another, slightly larger, lurking behind. "Well, come on out; we know you're there," he said wearily. He turned towards the figure as it came along the path below the wall, and froze, shocked for the second time that night into unthinking immobility.
"Hello, Dad," said Jenny.
