Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. I am not making any money from this flight of fancy.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, favourited or lurked. You made my day.
The room was dark, and The Doctor glanced out the window, pulling back the white curtains to see a slightly overgrown back garden that would be any child's playground, with a swing hanging from an old tree, and a flagstone path leading to an old shed. He smiled to himself, and turned to look at the little redhead, fast asleep in her brass bed under a multicoloured quilt and crocheted afghan. As if sensing his presence, she woke with a start and a sharp intake of breath, that The Doctor knew usually precipitated a scream of fright.
"It's okay. Don't scream. It's me. It's the fireplace man. Look. We were talking just a moment ago. I was in your fireplace." He quickly got out the sonic screwdriver and used it to turn on her little bedside lamp so that she could see better. "See?"
Amelia looked up at him frankly, and then said something The Doctor wasn't expecting. "What took you so long?"
"What?" The Doctor repeated. "We just talked!"
The little redhead sat up, pushing her quilt aside. "That was Easter! It's July."
"What, really? The Doctor asked in surprise, moving back over to the fireplace. He scanned it quickly with his sonic and tapped along the brick. "Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in."
Amelia watched him without moving from the bed. "What's that?" She asked, more curious about the apparent magic wand that had lit up her lamp and was now making noises at her fireplace, apparently attempting to fix the connection. "And who are you? What's so special about Leadworth?"
"I don't think it's Leadworth that's special, I think it's you." The Doctor replied, but quickly became distracted by the miniature grandfather clock sitting on the mantel. He could hear ticking, but the front of the clock was smashed, which meant..."Okay, that's scary."
Amelia was surprised by this, and a kind of cynicism that she was too young for seeped out in her voice. "You're scared of a broken clock?"
"Oh, you are Scottish, aren't you?" The Doctor replied, not looking away from the clock, even as he explained. "Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. Because, you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room, then what's that?"
Amelia suddenly realised that there was a ticking filling the room. She had never noticed it before, because the little clock had always made a ticking noise, even when it had been in her parent's house in Scotland, sitting on the mantle in the living room, comforting her about the constant flow of time.
"Because, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man." The Doctor explained, suddenly settling in to a more serious attitude.
"What is it?" Amelia asked, deliberately trying to cling to some form of anger rather than fear. She wasn't entirely succeeding, but she was trying her best.
"Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do, break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two?" He was thinking out loud, and his voice softened slightly as he realised where he was. Where was the best place to hide in a little girl's bedroom. He took several slow steps across the room to the brass bed where the little girl sat, trying desperately to be brave. "You might start to wonder if you're really alone." He crouched beside the bed, and whispered to her. "Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."
The Doctor lowered himself down to the floor, shining the sonic under the bed and scanning to see if he could figure out what it was in this room. Just as the sonic started to whir a proper reading, something knocked it clean out of his hand that moved quicker than he anticipated, leaving him staring at a pair of those trainers with the lights in the back that blinked when you walked. He slowly moved back to standing, staring in horror at what was before him. It was a thing, wearing something that looked like it had just walked out of a mid-nineteen-nineties boy-band video, in day-glo gold, orange, and green. Even his Sixth regeneration's coat hadn't been quite that hideous. It was made all the more terrifying by the mask made of some shiny plastic that looked like it had cost two quid at a local shop on Hallowe'en.
"Amelia, don't look round." The Doctor said softly to her, wishing to spare her some amount of nightmares in the future. The thing was, the thing from the ship didn't seem to be attempting to harm her . In fact, it hadn't moved since he had forced it from it's hiding spot. There was something about it, that made him think it had already done what it had come here to do. Instinctively, he swallowed. "Hold still, right where you are. Let me look." He placed his hands as gently as he could on her temples, brushing some red hair out of the way.
It had been a long time for him since he had used his telepathy this way, and he stayed away from actual thoughts as much as possible. Instead, he looked for, and found, footprints by a far less subtle thing. Despite himself, his anger came out, just a bit, mixed with shock, surprise, and a healthy dose of indignation. "You've been scanning her brain!" It was absurd, and yet, here it was. "What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"
Amelia looked up at him, hazel eyes wide. "I don't understand. It wants me?" She turned, all courage and a bit of spitfire. "You want me?"
The thing made an odd noise as it tilted it's head at her. "Not yet." It intoned in a mechanical, grinding voice. "You are incomplete."
That just didn't sit well with The Doctor. Amelia was just a child, she should be 'incomplete.' She should be out playing and running about, having fun, going to school. "Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete?" Despite his commanding tone, the monster from under the bed said nothing. "You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?"
The thing The Doctor was fairly sure was a robot at this point, didn't answer. instead, it seemed to have decided that The Doctor was a threat to the completion of his mission, whatever that might be, and moved around the bed, extending a long sort of blade from it's wrist, and walking towards him in a manner that The Doctor supposed was intended to be frightening.
Amelia's eyes widened in fear. "Be careful, Fireplace Man!"
The Doctor tried to smile as he dodged a slice from the blade. "Just a nightmare, Amelia, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares." He took a few steps back, making the robot move with him towards the fireplace, but his focus was really on the redhead who looked at him as though he was a hero. "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?"
Amelia seemed fascinated by this concept. "What do monsters have nightmares about?"
The Doctor grinned victoriously as the robot stuck it's blade in the fireplace. He reached for the mechanism to turn the fireplace, but not before answering Amelia's question. "Me!"
And then, the fireplace turned.
The Doctor knew once the robot was back on it's ship it would be stronger and it wouldn't have to be concerned with protecting the little girl that was apparently excessively important to it for some reason. Important enough to blow a hole in the universe for at any rate. He had to act quickly, and grabbed the first thing that might help. The fire extinguisher was standard to human ships like this, and he had used one before, so he just sprayed the robot with it until it seized up.
"Excellent! Ice gun!" Mickey enthused, like a child in a toy store.
"Fire extinguisher." The Doctor corrected, tossing the extinguisher to Rose.
"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked, who had seen nothing so far on the ship, and instead spent the time since The Doctor had left in awkward silence with Mickey, punctuated by his amazed questions about this bit of tech or that panel. She couldn't fake knowledge like she had with Adam, Mickey knew her well enough to know when she was lying. It didn't feel right, being left behind with Mickey while The Doctor went off through some magic door, spaceship or no spaceship.
"It's from here." The Doctor replied.
"So why's it dressed like that?" Mickey asked, making a face.
"Field trip to the nineteen-nineties. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Good idea, shame about the colour-blindness." He moved up close to it, removing the plasticated mask, and despite himself, was impressed. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those, it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you." His usual manic energy for adventure had taken over, as he raised his sonic screwdriver. "But that won't stop me."
he didn't get the chance. Before he could so much as remove a bolt, the android had teleported. The Doctor looked around, considering his options. "Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board." that said, he was more concerned about the little girl. He took a step back toward the fireplace.
"What is it?" Rose asked, hoping to distract him, or remind him that they were here, whatever he was up to, hoping for a cheerful 'What are you waiting for' or even 'Come along then.' She didn't get it.
The Doctor stepped up to the fireplace, careful his big brown coat didn't catch. "Don't go looking for it!"
Rose stared at him. "Where're you going?"
"Back in a sec!" The Doctor called, spinning the fireplace again.
Rose stared at the empty fireplace for just a second, before hefting the 'fire extinguisher' like action heroines did in the movies. If The Doctor was going to have an adventure without them, they could have an adventure without him.
Mickey didn't seem to get it. "He said not to look for it."
"Yeah, he did." Rose agreed, with a significant look. Mickey got it and quickly ran for the second fire extinguisher. Rose rewarded him with a smile. "Now you're getting it."
And so, they wandered off.