The Girl in the Fireplace, Part Three

Clara moaned, her head aching, as she slowly woke up. As per usual, she made to stretch, but found that she couldn't. She became aware that she was strapped down to a rather uncomfortable table, which was slanted upwards. She looked to her left and saw that Rose and Mickey were strapped to similar tables.

"Oh, look." Rose nodded towards her. "She's finally up!" Clara, momentarily forgetting that her wrists were tied to the table, made to rub her throbbing head.

"It's no use; they're really tight." Mickey told her, having already given up on getting out.

"What's happening?" Clara mumbled, still a bit groggy from her impromptu nap.

"They're gonna chop us up, just like they did to the crew." Rose replied dryly. Clara's brown eyes widened and she tried to sit up, only to bang her head on the metal table. "Ow."

Rose, shortly, explained how she and Mickey had found an eyeball and a heart worked into the mainframe and keeping the ship running.

"That's what the barbeque smell was," Clara realized. Suddenly, she felt like she was going to throw up. "Oh my God." Out of the corner of her eye, Clara noticed that the androids were in the room, even the one who had knocked her out. But, not the one that had been stalking Reinette.

"And where's the Doctor?" Mickey asked sharply, glaring at Rose. "Where's your precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!"

"You are compatible." The robotic voice of the clown sounded cold as the blade grew from its hand. It leaned down over Clara, placing the blade near her heart. Clara's stomach went from nauseated to stone in two seconds. Rose laughed nervously as another one prepared to cut out her stomach.

"Well, you might want to think about that." She tried to wag her finger at the android that had spoken. Its blade was frighteningly close to Clara's skin by now. "You really, really, might, because the three of us, we didn't come here alone."

"Oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver." Clara jumped in, looking up at the eyeless eye sockets in the clown's mask. The clown's blade suddenly grew a cogged spinning wheel, which was now millimeters from Clara. It spun very fast, and Clara's heart started beating even faster. She found herself wishing for her Doctor. Her Doctor wouldn't have let this happen. Her Doctor wouldn't have let her get caught like this, and not even be around to help her out of the mess.

"Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them?" Rose's voice grew higher as her android placed the tip of its blade on her belly. "They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the-" CRASH! BANG! All of the androids stood straight, looking in the direction of the noise. Singing began to echo off the hallway walls, drifting into the room. Clearly, the singer was very, very drunk.

"I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night!" The singing grew louder and, if possible, drunker.

"They called him the-" Rose tried again, but the singing drowned her out. "They called him the- the-" She gave up when the Doctor swaggered into the room, a golden goblet in hand. Clara- had she not been so close to losing her heart- would have been amused by the striped tie around his head.

"And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a thou." The Doctor finished his song, smiling drunkenly at the three of them. He didn't seem to notice the androids at all. "Have you met the French? My god, they know how to party." He sauntered around the table and leaned close to Clara's head, using his arm to prop his head up. He grinned down at her and she tried to glare at him, but found that she couldn't. Not only was it hard because of his good looks, but it was hard because there was no alcohol on his breath. He wasn't really drunk. Clara winked at him, letting him know she knew. He winked back, big and theatrical.

"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in." Rose sounded pissed. "The Oncoming Storm." The Doctor scoffed.

"Oh, you sound just like your mother."

"What've you been doing? Where've you been?" Rose demanded, sounding more and more like someone's mother. The Doctor stood, holding his goblet up. He kept up the drunk facade.

"Well, among other things, I think just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose." He had walked around Clara's table by that point and tapped Rose on the nose when he said her name. She rolled her eyes, not impressed by him in the least bit. Vaguely, Clara wondered if Rose was always like this, or if it was just today. "Bananas are good." The Doctor finally took notice of the clowns.

"Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favourite, you are." He poked one of them in the chest. "You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania." He paused a moment. "And so's your dad. Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is." He grinned at Rose, Mickey, and Clara. Clara was the only one to smile back, even though she was confused.

"Know why?" He asked, looking only at her. She shrugged awkwardly.

"Why?"

He barked out a laugh. "Because this ship is thirty seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. So, that's what you're missing, isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do." The android didn't speak for a moment.

"The brain is compatible." It replied.

"Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." The Doctor ripped off the clown's mask and pour a red liquid into its head. The clockwork inside the head seized up.

"Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." The Doctor explained, moving to the console in the room. He flicked a switch, and all the androids fell forward, turned off. "Right, you three, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off." He freed Clara from her constraints first, then Rose, then Mickey. Mickey stood, looking at the comatose androids warily.

"Are those things safe?" The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, way I like them." He clapped his hands. "Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets." He searched for his Zeus plugs.

"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty seven?" Clara asked. "Why the windows to when she was seven?" The Doctor grinned at her, as if she had asked the best question that had ever been asked.

"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that." The Doctor frowned at the console. "The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"

All four of them jumped when a shrill bell began ringing.

"What's that?" Rose asked, looking up in the direction of the bell.

"I don't know. Incoming message?" The Doctor guessed.

"From who?" Mickey asked slowly. The Doctor took a deep, steadying breath.

"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override." The android that the Doctor had spilled on woke up, expelling the anti-oil from its finger into Clara's face, who had just happened to be standing next to it. She sputtered, spitting the bitter, red liquid from her mouth and wiping it from her eyes.

"Well, that was a bit clever." The Doctor said. A click came from the console. "Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

"She is complete. It begins." With a flash, all of the clowns teleported out.

"What's happening?" Rose and Clara asked in unison. Clara didn't notice Rose's dirty look. The Doctor, on the other hand, did. He ignored it; there were more pressing matters at hand.

"One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head."

lalala

Clara was not happy. Rose had been sent to warn a thirty-two year old Reinette about the androids going after her. Mickey was sent to wait for her outside the window. The Doctor was to go through the window that the androids went through and save the day. And where was Clara?

Outside the TARDIS.

"Stupid Time Lord." Clara grumbled, pulling the broken pocket watch out of her purse. It had writing engraved on it. She ran her fingers over the word. Teacher.

Clara sighed and slipped it back into her purse. She didn't want to stay out there anymore, so she went inside to explore this TARDIS. She figured, since this one liked her, she didn't have to worry about getting lost.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and favorites and follows! Please, please keep it up!