The Lodger

"No, Amy, Jaz, it's definitely not the fifth moon of Sinda Callista. I think I can see a Ryman's." The Doctor takes a step outside the TARDIS. There is an explosion and the Doctor falls out. The TARDIS starts shaking as sparks fly around us.

"Argh! Doctor! It's saying we're on Earth! Essex, Colchester," Amy states as she holds on to the screen. The shaking stops as the TARDIS makes the whirring sound signaling take off.

"Doctor?! It's taking off again," I yell looking around for him.

"Doctor, can you hear me?" Amy calls out. She looks at me.

"I think he's in Essex," I comment uneasily.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

The TARDIS has been trying to land and then taking off for almost a day.

"Oh, which one, which one?!" Amy tries in vain to land the TARDIS. "No! Why won't you land?!"

"Amy, just give it up," I comment from the chair I'm sitting in. She huffs as she turns to look at me. "The Doctor is working on it."

"Fine," she relents. "And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"You could always read a book," I comment with a smile.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"Earth to Ponds, Earth to Ponds," the Doctor comes over the speaker. "Come in, Ponds."

"Doctor!" Amy says loudly as I put down the book I was reading. There is some feedback. "Ooh! Sorry!"

"Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond? How's the TARDIS coping?"

"See for yourself." Amy holds the microphone out so the Doctor can hear the noise it's making.

"Ooh, nasty. She's locked in a materialization loop, trying to land again, but she can't."

"And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So go upstairs and sort it!"

"I don't know what it is yet. Anything that can stop the TARDIS from landing is big-scary big."

"Wait…aren't you scared?" I ask him.

"I can't go up there until I know what it is and how to deal with it," the Doctor avoids the question, "and it is vital that this 'man' upstairs doesn't realize who and what I am. So no sonicing. No advanced technology. I can only use this cos we're on scramble. To anyone else hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish. All I've got to do is pass as an ordinary human being. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Have you seen you?" Amy questions sarcastically.

"So you're just going to be snide? No helpful hints?"

"Hmm, well, here's one…bow tie, get rid!"

"Bow ties are cool. Come on, Jaz, Amy, I'm a normal bloke, tell me what normal blokes do."

"They watch telly," I mention.

"They play football."

"They go down the pub."

"I could do those things. I don't, but I could. Hang on. Wait, wait, wait! Amy?! Jaz?!" The TARDIS begins to shake again.

"Interesting. Localized time loop."

"Ow! What's all that?" Amy questions as we try to keep our balance.

"Time distortion. Whatever's happening upstairs is still affecting you." After a few more shakes and a loud bang, the noise subsides.

"It's stopped…" Amy pauses. "ish! How about your end?"

"My end's good."

"So, doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?" I ask knowing it probably really is something to worry about.

"No, no, no, not really. Just keep the zigzag plotter on full, that'll protect you." Amy moves the plotter and then there is a loud noise.

"Argh!" I cover my ears.

"Amy, I said the zigzag plotter!"

"I pulled the zigzag plotter!" she defends.

"You're standing with the door behind you?"

"Yes!"

"Ok, take two steps to your right and pull it again!"

"Oh," Amy sighs as the engine noise returns to normal.

"Now, I must not use the sonic. I've got work to do, need to pick up a few items."

"Hey!" Amy calls out as the Doctor turns off his earpiece.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"So I'm going out. If I hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious, notice me." The Doctor informs us of his plans.

"Football. Ok, well done. That is normal," Amy says as she plays with a magnifying glass.

"Yeah, football, all outdoorsy. Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?" I roll my eyes at this and go back to reading my book.

"Hey," I protest as Amy takes the book out of my hand.

"Let's talk," she says putting the book on the floor. "We haven't had a proper sisterly chat for a while." I sigh and lean back in the chair.

"What do you want to talk about?" Amy ponders this for a moment.

"Ok, I've been wondering this for a while now," she says leaning back against the console and looking at me seriously. "Do you ever wonder about them?"

"Who?"

"Your real parents," she replies, "do you ever wonder?" I pause as I contemplate how to answer. "It's okay to be honest."

"I dream about them, I think," I reply honestly.

"You think?"

"Well, I dream about faces that I know I've never seen before," I say looking at my hands. "There are flashes of them, a smile or a laugh."

"Does it make you sad that they live on in the future not knowing what happened to you?" I look up at Amy and see her looking at me with curiosity and concern.

"I really don't think about it, to be honest." I stand up and walk over to her and place my hands on her shoulders. "Besides, my family, my real family, didn't turn out to be so bad." I say with a small smile. Suddenly the TARDIS starts going crazy, crazier than usual. We both fall to the ground.

"Amy! Jaz!"

"It's happening again-worse!" Amy says as we both pull ourselves up.

"What does the scanner say?"

"A lot of nines," I inform him.

"Is it good that they're nines? Tell us it's good that they're all nines!" Amy asks desperately.

"Yes, yes, it's…it's good! Zigzag plotter, zigzag plotter, Amy." Amy tries the zigzag plotter a few times before the TARDIS jumps violently.

"Argh!" we both cry out as we are thrown on to the ground.

"Amy? Jaz? Are you there? Amy?" The TARDIS engine's return to normal.

"Yes, hello," Amy finally speaks.

"Ah, thank heavens. I thought for a moment the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you and Jaz inside it, lost forever." Amy and I share a look.

"What? You mean that could actually happen?! You have got to get us out of here," she pleads.

"How are the numbers?" I look at the screen.

"All fives."

"Fives? Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry. Hang on, ok? I've got some rewiring to do."

"Hey! You… 'Hang on'!" Amy trails off as the Doctor turns off his earpiece.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"Right. Shield's up. Let's scan!"

"What are you getting?"

"Upstairs. No traces of high technology. Totally…normal. No, no, no, no. It can't be! It's too normal."

"Only for you could too normal be a problem," I state sarcastically rolling my eyes.

"You said we could be lost forever. Just go upstairs," Amy demands.

"Without knowing, and get myself killed? Then you really are lost. If I could just get a look in there…Hold on. Use the data bank, get me the plans of this building-I want know its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile, I shall recruit a spy."

Amy starts searching the data bank as I sit down to continue reading my book.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"Amy! Jaz!"

"That's Amy and Jaz Pond."

"Oh, of course, you can understand us now, hurrah…Got those plans yet?"

"Still searching for them," Amy informs.

"I've worked it out with psychic help from a cat."

"A cat?" I ask wondering if he's serious.

"Yes. I know he's got a time engine in the flat upstairs. He's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain…"

"From the ceiling."

"Well, done, Craig. And you, Miss Ponds, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex."

"Lovely," Amy comments.

"People are dying up there."

"Amy!" There's a bang and the TARDIS starts going haywire.

"Doctor!" Amy screams as we hold on for dear life.

"They're being killed!"

"Someone's up there."

"Oh, my…" Amy pulls herself up to the screen and pulls me up next to her.

"Doctor! Hang on!" she calls out.

"Craig, come on-someone's dying up there."

"It's Sophie. It's Sophie that's dying up there, it's Sophie!"

"Doctor! Stop!" Amy screams at him.

"Where's Sophie?"

"Wait, wait! Amy?"

"Are you upstairs?"

"Just going in."

"No, but you can't be upstairs."

"Of course I can be upstairs!"

"Come on!"

"No! We've got the plans."

"You cannot be upstairs, it's a one story building," I inform.

"There is no upstairs!" Amy reiterates.

"What? What?"

"Oh. Oh, of course! The time isn't in the flat. The time engine is the flat-someone's attempt to build a TARDIS." Amy and I listen in as we continue to hang on.

"No, there's always been an upstairs."

"Has there? Think about it."

"Yes. No. I don't…" The TARDIS lurches again and I lose my grip. I land on the floor and everything goes dark.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"Jaz," Amy's voice sounds distant. "Jaz." I hear again as my eyes open.

"Ow," I groan as Amy offers me a hand up.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," the Doctor states as he walks over to the console. I rub the back of my head.

"What happened?" I question a little confused.

"We saved the day," the Doctor states.

"Oh, and Craig loves Sophie," Amy adds.

"Right," I reply sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Back in time! You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for me."

"Right little matchmaker aren't you? Can't you find me a fella?"

"Oh, rectifier's playing up again…Hold on. You write the note," he turns to me and pulls me up, "and Jaz and I'll change that will."

"You got a pen?" Amy asks as the Doctor pulls me down the steps.

"Make sure it's a red pen," he calls over his shoulder.