The Nowhere Hotel

The Doctor wakes up fresh from a new regeneration struggling to find out who he is. Then after arriving in a strange hotel he meets a girl who doesn't remember who she is... or who the other two people inside her head are.

PART 3

The Doctor felt Napkin Girl tugging at his arm again. It was time to go. He turned and took the TARDIS key out of his pocket, it was a struggle with one of his arms completely out of action, but he managed to open the doors and lead Napkin Girl inside.

"Hey, I think you dropped… this… wow." Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the TARDIS console room, she took a few steps forward, letting go of his hand and seemingly forgetting about whatever it was she'd picked up. She looked up and all around, her jaw left open as she turned back to him.

He smiled his most charming smile at her, having longed to hear those wonderful words again.

"However did you manage to fit all of this into a coat room?" She asked, turning the small round object over in her hands.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Well that's a new one." He chuckled a little disappointedly and moved towards the console, taking the round object from Napkin Girl as he passed her, and placing it in his pocket, "If we knew the answer to that question it would surely take the place of something much more interesting and important."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Napkin Girl asked, moving to join him by the console.

"Put simply, it's bigger on the inside. But it's the outside I'm more interested in. That place, you said it wasn't real?"

She turned quickly to face him, "Right, yes!" She shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders, "We have to go!" She began to shake him, "Get me out of here! Anywhere, I don't care, just please go now!"

The Doctor placed his hands on her arms and she immediately stopped shaking him. He moved her arms down by her sides and straightened himself out before setting to the console.

"Could you hold this button down for me?" He asked, pointing to a small green button.

"Are you sure?" Napkin Girl asked.

"Of course, just press it down." He took hold of her hand and placed it on the button, "And keep it down like your life depends on it, okay?"

She visibly stiffened up at that remark. He laughed to himself as he pulled down a large lever, setting the TARDIS into action. The matrix began to rise and a whirring noise sounded all around them as the TARDIS shook wildly.

"What does this button do exactly?!" Napkin Girl shouted to him, holding the button down and clinging to the edge of the console.

"Just a security measure!" He called back to her.

The Doctor took a moment to look over his new passenger as the TARDIS threw them around. She was quite short compared to him and managed to look shy even as she held that broken light switch down just as he had told her to. He laughed at the thought, his brand new console had a broken switch just for his little test. What definitely contradicted her shy demeanour was the elegant strapless red dress she had on, it fitted her perfectly but she didn't look very comfortable wearing it. The shaking finally stopped and the whirring sound died down as the TARDIS came to landing.

He slowly walked up behind her, his eyes moving from her hand still holding the button down to her face. He tried not to laugh at her squished up expression and tightly shut eyes. She looked awfully cute.

"You can let go now." He grinned as he took her hand away from the console.

"Have we landed?" She asked, opening one of her eyes.

"Yes. We've landed." He laughed.

Napkin Girl slowly took her hand back from him and brushed her fringe out of her eyes, opening them both and blinking a few times before looking up at him.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Somewhere else. For sure. But if it's okay with you, before we find out where we are, I'd like to know a little more about you… a bit more about Napkin Girl if that's possible?"

"Napkin Girl…?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, it was that or…" He paused, slowly walking around her, "Hotel Girl…"

She watched him as he moved, her gaze never leaving his.

"Jessica Rabbit?"

"Who?" She asked, folding her arms at him.

"No one. Do you remember your name?"

"Oh, right. I guess I owe you that much. I'm McKenzie." She leant back and sat on the edge of the console.

The Doctor smiled, "Nice to meet you McKenzie. I'm The Doctor."

"Just The Doctor?" She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled back.

"Just McKenzie?" He returned her raised eyebrow and held his hand out to shake.

She scrunched up her nose, "I'll give you that one… but Doctor what, exactly?" she looked down at his hand and back up to him, "It can't be, Doctor… Cheeky?" she shook his hand and smirked.

He laughed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Am I cheeky? I honestly don't know." He shrugged. "No… it's just The Doctor."

McKenzie tilted her head as she looked at him, seemingly thinking something over in her head. For a slight moment she looked down at the floor then back up to him, attempting to hide the falter in her smile. He decided to change the subject.

"What about where we just came from, do you know why you were there?"

McKenzie sighed, "No I don't."

"Okay… What did you mean by it doesn't exist?"

"Oh, that was just my way of explaining it all I guess. It had this sort of blurry feeling to it— I mean, you were there so it had to have been real-ish… but everything about it was wrong, it was all impossibly spaced and tangled up in itself. And those people! They were just… there." She shuddered, stood up and started pacing.

"So… no way out?"

"Not until you showed up. I only had the one floor, my room and that lounge, then a bunch of long winding corridors that didn't seem to end or fit together properly. Come to think of it, I don't remember there even being a coat room." She offered him a weak laugh, "There was a lift, but it never worked. One time I got curious and tried to wrench it open with anything I could find… but when I got close I started to black out. Then I'd wake up in my room, no evidence of my escape attempt. Eventually I woke up and the lift door was gone. But I swear it was somewhere around that cupboard you came in from."

"How strange. And what about them? Back in your room you said if they hear us, who are they?"

"I don't know, but sometimes when I blacked out I'd hear a door opening and heavy footsteps coming to get me." She paused for a moment, "I don't remember anything else. All I know is I'm just McKenzie. I was trapped in a hotel and just The Doctor helped me escape in his magic blue box. That's it." After she spoke she put her hand to her forehead as if shaking off a dizzy spell.

The Doctor frowned, "Nothing else, at all?" he asked.

McKenzie stood up straight, she looked around the TARDIS and her gaze rested on The Doctor, she narrowed her eyes at him and slyly smiled, leaning on her hip as she looked him up and down. As she spoke her voice sounded different, as if she was attempting to mimic her own voice but hiding… a French accent?

"Sorry hon, but I really don't." She said, stepping towards him as she spoke, swishing her hips behind her, "I woke up in a prison all by my lonesome," she pouted and took hold of his tie, "But of course I am very grateful to my knight in shining armour." She smirked and giggled.

"Oh, well…" He shrugged, smiling as he looked up. He knew she was acting strangely but he definitely enjoyed being thanked. "You're—"

He was very suddenly interrupted by McKenzie pulling him by his tie into a tight embrace and passionate kiss. He felt her fingers tangled in his hair and her body pressed against his, her hand snaking its way down his back. He froze, that electric feeling of her skin against his, their lips crashing together made his hearts feel like they were beating out of his chest. It was incredible. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this close to someone. Yet, he knew it was wrong. He didn't know what to do with his hands. Then as suddenly as she had started, she stopped.

Her eyes grew wide as she stared back at him. She quickly let go of him and stumbled back.

"Uh… I—" She said.

"Hmm." He replied, unsure of how to respond.

Again, she seemed different. She stood very upright with her arms folded, she looked almost angry. She took a deep breath and spoke, again with a different accent. Transatlantic this time, not even attempting to hide it as she had done before.

"Sorry, but might you be able to tell me where I am? And what I'm doing here?" She asked.

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and straightened himself out.

"You don't know?" He asked, unable to think of anything else to say. His mind still fixed on their kiss.

"No. I don't. Who are you, anyway? Why were we… kissing? I mean, I don't— I'm not—" She put her hands at her sides and jumped in shock, "Why in the hell am I wearing a dress? And hmm—!" She looked down at herself, then back at him her eyes wide and eyebrows raised, "Why am I a girl?"

The Doctor stared back at her, "You weren't before?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"My name is George. I can't remember anything else, but I'm damn sure I never used to be a woman!"

McKenzie collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS and The Doctor ran to her side.

"Um… McKenzie? George…?" He asked carefully, unsure of who she would wake up as next. He found in the back of his mind he was hoping that kissy girl would wake up. He shook the thought from his mind, knowing it was wrong… but damn, that had been an incredible kiss. Or had it? Realising he'd not kissed anyone for a long time, it could have just been the surprise.

It was the loneliness creeping up on him again. He frowned and attempted to help McKenzie up. No way was he the kind of man to take advantage of someone who needed his help.

McKenzie stirred and opened her eyes, looking up at him and laughing a little.

"Doctor, what happened? Why have you got lipstick on your face?"

The Doctor felt his cheeks heating up but tried to put the thought aside, he found it strange that she didn't recognise her own shade of lipstick. But perhaps she hadn't been the one to put it on? He took her hand and helped her up on to the nearby jump seats. She swayed dizzily as she moved.

"What do you remember?" He asked.

"I was telling you about the hotel… then my head hurt. I remember getting a lot of headaches like that in the hotel. I'd pass out then I'd always wake up on the floor somewhere else, with a horrible pain in my jaw."

"And you really don't remember anything else? Nothing about—" He paused, his cheeks feeling even hotter as he wiped the lipstick away with a napkin from his pocket, "Nothing about George?"

"Who's George? Did they…?" She giggled as she pointed to his face, before taking the napkin from him and wiping the rest of the lipstick off.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "No I think that was someone else."

She handed him back the napkin and he put it in his pocket.

"How many people have you got hidden away in here?" She asked, smirking as she looked around the console room.

"Me?! I could ask the same to you!" He sat next to her on the jump seats, "Out here it's just you and I… But in here," he tapped her forehead, "I'm beginning to think my TARDIS isn't the only thing that's bigger on the inside."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" The Doctor stood and paced in front of her, "George and… the other one. They were both—" he stopped pacing and turned to face her, "Well. They were both you."

"Wait, me? I kissed you?" She suddenly blushed furiously, the red in her cheeks matching her dress. "Gosh, I am so sorry. Why did I do that? Why did I tell you my name was George?"

The Doctor grinned at her embarrassment, "Well, you seemed to think you were a different person. Even saying that you don't remember ever being a… a woman." He felt his own cheeks turning red again, suddenly unable to look away from her figure. He forced himself to look up at the ceiling and began counting the round things on the wall, then stopped abruptly, not the time to be thinking about round things.

"What a strange thing to say, I was the last time I checked." She laughed weakly then looked down at herself, her eyes widened and she suddenly looked even more embarrassed, even going so far as to fold her arms in an attempt to cover herself, "You wouldn't happen to have anything I could change into would you?"

"Huh?" He looked back down at her. Had she noticed him checking her out? He couldn't bear the thought of making her feel uncomfortable, "Why? I mean, you look—"

She cleared her throat before he could finish, "I'd just rather be in something more comfortable. I never usually dress like this and… well I kind of got used to waking up in different clothes and just kind of ran with it. I guess now I know why." She bit her lip, "But I'm dressed like this… in front of a real person… I suddenly feel a bit exposed."

"Uh, I'm sorry. I can show you to the wardrobe?"

"The wardrobe?" She raised an eyebrow at him, "It's big enough to have a the in front of it?"

He hummed a small laugh, "Well, it's got to be big enough for any and every eventuality. I have a habit of changing who I am."

"Huh, something else we have in common I guess." She sighed and shook her head. Evidently she knew nothing about her split personalities until now. "Lead on then." She smiled at him.