Title: The Clock
on the Mantle
Fandom: Doctor
Who
Rating: G
Characters:
Tenth Doctor, Rose, Mickey
Warnings:
Spoilers up to The Girl in the Fireplace
Disclaimer: I
only wish I were British and I owned them.
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The clock on the mantle is broken. Rose knows that it should be absurd—a broken clock no longer keeping time, a fireplace with a window into the eighteenth century. Instead it feels like one of those jokes you see on the telly, where the actor slips on a banana peel and goes sliding across the floor only to be caught in the arms of his one true love.
It's a romantic comedy, where everything turns out alright in the end and you're left feeling like maybe things aren't so bad after all. Maybe you can have a happy ending too. As she watches him step through the fireplace again, Rose has the sinking feeling that everything might not turn out alright this time.
She's a brave girl, though. Traveling with the Doctor has taught her that at least. So she turns to Mickey and suggests that they do a little exploring.
As they walk, she thinks about the two men in her life. The Doctor, who's adventuresome and spontaneous and you're never quite sure whether or not he's being serious. Mickey, by contrast, is grounded and rational and maybe scared sometimes but he's trying so hard and Rose feels guilty that there's always that little something preventing her from being happy with him.
Of course, she's not sure she can ever be happy with the Doctor either. She's still not even sure he's her Doctor. The face is wrong and the fingers aren't as calloused and when she takes hold of his hand it's just a bit too small to fit in hers comfortably. And yet, she's determined to stay with him no matter what.
She supposes this makes her a bit like the clock on the mantle. Pretty to look at, but serving no real purpose.