The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and pulled a curtain aside to reveal a Roman marketplace. "Ancient Rome!" he grinned as the Artist and Donna joined him, "Well, not to them obviously." he began to ramble, "To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand-new Rome."
"You're rambling again." the Artist told him, concerned that it would annoy Donna, but the ginger wasn't bothered. She was too awestruck at where she was to pay any attention to the motor-mouthed Time Lord.
"Oh, my god!" Donna gasped, "It's so Roman! This is fantastic!" She hugged the Time Lords. "I'm here! In Rome. Donna Noble, in Rome! This is just weird! I mean, everyone here is dead."
"Better not tell them that." the Artist remarked.
Just then, Donna noticed something; "Hold on a minute, that sign over there is in English." She pointed to a sign advertising amphoras. "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
"No, no, no, no. That's the TARDIS translation circuits." the Doctor replied.
"Yeah, that sign is actually in Latin." the Artist added, "In fact, to all these people, you're speaking Latin right now too."
"Seriously?" Donna stared. The Doctor nodded. "I just said 'seriously' in Latin?"
"Well, yeah." the Doctor confirmed.
"What if I said something in actual Latin?" Donna asked, "Like; 'veni, vidi, vici'. My dad said that when 'e came back from football. If I said; 'veni, vedi, veci' to that lot, what would it sound like?"
"Dunno, haven't really thought about it." the Artist shrugged.
"You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?" the Doctor added. He wandered now what his favourite catchphrase would sound like to an actual French person.
"I'm gonna try it." Donna said and dashed over to a stall.
"Hello, sweetheart." the vendor greeted, "What can I get ya, my love?"
"Um, vini, vidi, vici." Donna answered.
"Huh? Sorry?" the vendor questioned, "Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy."
"Yeah." Donna grunted and returned to the Time Lords, "How's he mean Celtic?"
"Welsh. You sound Welsh." the Doctor replied simply, "There ya are, learnt something."
"Anyway, we came here for sightseeing, so let's get moving." the Artist said, linking arms with the Doctor and they led the way through the streets.
"Won't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna questioned.
"I think we'll be alright. Romans were surprisingly laid back about dress codes." the Artist replied.
"Anything goes." the Doctor agreed, "It's like Soho, but bigger."
"You two been here before, then?" Donna asked.
"I've been here once." the Artist replied. It had been with Rose, just after that business with Queen Victoria and the werewolf.
"I've been here several times." the Doctor said nonchalantly, "And before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me."
"That's not what you told me." the Artist reminded him.
"Well, it was a little bit." the Doctor corrected himself, "But I've never had the chance to look around properly. Colosseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus."
"Talking of them, we should be seeing them by now." the Artist frowned.
"Where is everything?" the Doctor agreed, realising she had a point, "Try this way." They walked down another street.
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Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor
FanfictionFollow the adventures of The Last Time Lady, The Artist, saved by the eccentric time-traveler known as The Doctor at the end of the time war, which sees their home plant of Gallifrey lost, as they travel through all of time and space in his unique c...
