Notes: I was a little nervous at rewriting such a well known Classic Who episode, but I really wanted Rose to meet Romana, and I didn't want to throw her into the middle of all the Key to Time stuff, so this seemed to be the best choice. I really hope you like it. Please review!
Chapter Ten – City of Death: Part One
"I think there's something the matter with time. Did either of you feel anything?" the Doctor asked them.
"Mmm, just a twinge. I didn't like it," Romana replied.
"I'm not very good at sensing that kind of thing yet. And I was a little disoriented by my method of travel besides," Rose told him.
"Yes, well. It must be because I've crossed the time fields so often. No one there seemed to notice anything. We exist in a special relationship to time, you know. Perpetual outsiders," the Doctor mused.
"Don't be so portentous," Romana chastised and Rose giggled. She decided then, that she really liked Romana.
"Hmm? What do you make of that, then?" the Doctor questioned, referring to the sketch.
"Well, at least on Gallifrey we can capture a good likeness. Computers can draw," Romana replied haughtily.
"Computers? Why in the world would you want a computer drawing? You might as well just take a photograph," Rose argued.
"You sit in Paris and talk of computer pictures? Listen, I'll take you somewhere and show you some real paintings painted by real people," the Doctor told her and took Rose's hand as he stood up from the outdoor cafe table.
"What about the time slip?" Romana wondered.
"Never mind about the time slip. We're on holiday. Come on!" the Doctor said cheerily.
The trio dashed playfully through the streets, the Doctor never letting go of Rose's hand. Rose enjoyed the brief respite of sight seeing in Paris. For a long time, she had very negative memories about France, but that was a long time ago and her husbands had long since made up for those indiscretions.
"Should I signal my Doctors to remember where I am now?" Rose asked him.
~'This is going to sound a little odd, but with Romana here, it might be best to limit their involvement,'~ the Doctor thought to her discreetly.
Raising a curious eyebrow, Rose asked, ~'Why's that then?'~
~'Well, it's just a bit... awkward, perhaps? Humans don't know what is customary for Time Lord relationships, but Romana would be very aware of how unusual our relationship is compared to most marriages on Gallifrey,'~ the Doctor rambled, slightly flustered and she got the sense that there was more to it than he was saying.
~'Doctor, we are quite far from your time with me, so don't feel like I'm upset by the truth. I know that Romana is a very good friend to you. Do you fancy her? You never said that you did to me in the future, but you're in the middle of your travels with her,'~ Rose suggested, trying not to be jealous of their closeness.
~'Well, we aren't in a relationship or anything, but she is one of the only other Time Lords that has an understanding of my wanderlust, you might say,'~ he admitted.
~'And you're worried about what interactions might be like between her and your future selves?'~ she deducted.
~'A bit. Let's just hold back on contacting them for now, eh?'~ he replied hopefully.
"Alright," she said aloud as they arrived at the museum.
"There we are, the Louvre. One of the greatest art galleries in the whole galaxy," the Doctor announced happily as they walked through the hallway. "Have you ever been here before, Rose?"
"No, we've kind of been avoiding France," Rose told him.
"The greatest in the galaxy? Nonsense! What about the Academia Stellaris on Sirius Five?" Romana asked.
"What? Oh no. No, no," the Doctor disagreed.
"Or the Solariun Pinaquotheque at Strikian?" Romana suggested.
"Oh, no, no."
"Or the Braxiatel Collection?" she added.
"Braxiatel? Like your brother, Braxiatel?" Rose inquired.
"Well, yes, he is a bit of a collector. But this is far superior. This is the only gallery in the known universe with a picture like the Mona Lisa," the Doctor announced proudly as they arrived at the famous work.
"Oh, it's lovely," Rose sighed. She hadn't seen the famous painting in person before.
"It's quite good," Romana admitted begrudgingly.
"Quite good? That's one of the great treasures of the universe and you say quite good?" the Doctor asked her, clearly appalled by her frank dismissal.
"The world, Doctor, the world," Romana corrected and hushed him so that people wouldn't stare.
"What are you talking about?" the Doctor's loud voice boomed.
"Not the universe in public, Doctor. It only calls attention," Romana whispered and shushed him.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Romana. Humans would say that it was the best in the universe, and they have quite the knack for looking past those sorts of statements most of the time," Rose assured her and leaned her head against the Doctor's shoulder while admiring the painting.
"Absolutely! Besides, let them gawp, let them gape. What do I care?" the Doctor agreed.
Rose noticed a man in a beige trench coat looking at them curiously nearby, and tried to watch him discreetly as he watched them.
"Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?" Romana asked about the Mona Lisa.
"What? Is that all you can say? No eyebrows? We're talking about the Mona Lisa. It's the Mona... Good heavens, you're right. She hasn't got any eyebrows. Do you know, I never noticed that before?" the Doctor admitted and closely reexamined the work.
Rose giggled at his antics and watched as a tour group was being led through the gallery. As she asked the Doctor to move along so that others could enjoy seeing the painting, there was another time slip and the world seemed to spin momentarily for the three aliens. The Doctor seemed the most affected and when the repeated moment was over, he stumbled to a nearby bench. Rose tried to support him, but this version of the Doctor was much too large for her to help carry his weight.
Despite Rose's help, he almost fell to the floor, when the man that Rose had noticed watching them earlier came to help. The Doctor crashed into him slightly before the man and Rose managed to move him to sit on the bench. He was breathing heavily as Rose checked him over.
"Alright, stand back. Stand back, everybody, stand back. Are you alright, sir?" the man asked him.
"Yes. I just dented my head on your gun, that's all," the Doctor replied absentmindedly.
"What on Earth?" the man gasped.
"Oh, he'll be alright. Thank you for your help," Rose said sweetly, taking note of the way he protectively covered the area where he was clearly concealing a gun.
"Don't take any notice of him. He's just having one of his funny turns," Romana told the man dismissively.
"One of my funny turns? The whole world took a funny turn," the Doctor argued.
"It's alright, love. Let's go get some fresh air. That ought to clear your head," Rose responded and helped him back to his feet with Romana's help.
Once they were outside and away from the crowd, the Doctor's seeming disorientation disappeared completely. They walked briskly down the street, once they were outside. The Doctor kept hold of Rose's hand and Romana kept up with his long strides fairly easily.
~'Do you realize that man is following us?'~ Rose asked him silently.
~'Yes, of course. Let's see how long he'll keep that up,'~ he replied.
"I must say, I never imagined that the Doctor would get married again," Romana commented during their walk.
"Neither did he," Rose replied with a smirk. "I can't tell you how difficult it was to get him to admit his feelings for me."
Romana looked at her with raised eyebrows and Rose realized that she may have said something wrong.
"Well, I don't know all the details, obviously, since it's in my future, Romana. But you must realize that any relationship that would have me bonding my life so completely, would be more than the usual Gallifreyan formalities," the Doctor told his friend as he tried to cover up Rose's slip.
~'You realize that most Gallifreyan marriages have very little to do with love, yes?'~ the Doctor asked his wife silently.
~'I'm sorry. I forgot that you barely knew your first wife. The two of us were in denial for so long, both afraid to go any further, then suddenly you were proposing. Your mother said you weren't meant for the kind of marriage that most Time Lords are accustomed to,'~ she replied.
~'Quite right,'~ he agreed.
"I suppose. You've never been the typical Time Lord, have you, Doctor?" Romana said with a small smile.
"And Rose is definitely not a typical Time Lady, are you my dear?" the Doctor added with a huge toothy grin.
"That's probably the biggest understatement in the history of the universe," Rose told them with a knowing gleam in her eyes.
They walked for quite some time, with the man still following them. Romana kept trying to ask about Rose's family on Gallifrey and her time at the academy. She and the Doctor deftly brushed aside her questions with vague responses and statements about future knowledge damaging the timelines.
Finally, they reached the same café where Rose had first appeared in this time and the Doctor directed them to sit at one of the outside tables. A waiter handed each of them a menu.
"Merci," the Doctor told the man before he went back inside.
"Doctor, you realize we're being followed?" Romana asked him.
"Of course he does," Rose said as she looked over the choices.
"Yes, all the way from the Louvre by that idiot with the gun," he replied.
"Well, what do you think he wants?" Romana wondered.
"Rose, check your pocket," he said with a wink.
Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out a large bracelet. "What is it?" she asked.
Romana reached over the table to take a closer look at it.
"The woman I bumped into at the museum was wearing it," the Doctor told them.
"And you stole it from her?" Romana gasped.
"What else is new?" Rose asked, shaking her head and earning herself a playful glare from the Doctor.
"Look at it, Romana. What is it?" the Doctor prompted.
"It's a micromeson scanner," she said suddenly.
"That's right. She was using it to get a complete report on all the alarm systems around the Mona Lisa," the Doctor told them.
"You mean she's trying to steal it?" Romana asked.
"It is a very pretty painting," the Doctor replied.
"So all that tossing yourself about was just so that you could grab that thing? I almost hurt myself trying to keep you up. This you isn't as slim as in my time, thanks," Rose told him.
"I'm terribly sorry, my dear. But it was the best option of distraction after the time slip," the Doctor apologized and leaned close enough to give her a quick kiss.
"It's a very sophisticated device for a level five civilization," Romana commented, ignoring their public display.
"Why in the world would you think it was human?" Rose asked her.
"That's never the product of Earth's civilization," the Doctor added.
"Do you mean an alien's trying to steal the Mona Lisa?" Romana questioned disbelievingly.
"What else is new?" Rose sighed.
"Do you know, ladies, I think something very funny is going on," the Doctor said calmly, though Rose could feel his worry rising. "You remember that man who was following us?"
"Yes?" Romana replied.
Rose saw him then, right behind the Doctor and he glared at her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw what he was doing.
"Well, he's standing behind me, poking a gun in my back," the Doctor told Romana, who hadn't noticed him yet.
"Alright, you three. Into the café," the man ordered.
They preceded the man into the café and headed back towards the table where the Doctor and Romana had been seated earlier.
"Patron, four glasses of water. Make them doubles," the Doctor called to the waiter.
They were about to begin their conversation with their mysterious follower, when two men, dressed in black suits and fedoras approached their table. They immediately positioned themselves behind the Doctor and drew their guns.
"The bracelet. Now," one of them demanded.
"What bracelet?" the Doctor questioned innocently, with his hands in the air.
The men dug their guns into the Doctor's back a little harder and he reached over to Romana, who handed him the bracelet. He gave the bracelet to the men behind him and they promptly left the café.
"Are you alright?" Romana asked him worriedly.
"Yes, I'm just relaxing and enjoying Paris," the Doctor replied.
"Not the first time he's been held at gun point. In fact, that was the second time just today, and the first perpetrator is still with us," Rose said as she glared at the man seated across from them accusingly.
"Alright, that's enough. Very cleverly staged, but you don't fool me," the man responded.
"What are you talking about?" the Doctor demanded.
"Your men who were in here just now," he answered.
"My men? Those thugs?" the Doctor gasped.
"Your thugs," the man argued.
"Are you suggesting those men were in my employ?" he questioned. "As if I would want anyone with a gun that close to my wife. What if there were an accident?" the Doctor added as he wrapped an arm around Rose's waist protectively.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," their accuser replied.
"What possible reason would we have to stage something like that?" Rose asked him.
"You arranged for them to hold you up as a bluff. You're trying to put me on a false scent," the man answered angrily.
"You're English, aren't you?" the Doctor questioned.
"Yes," he replied warily, unsure of the nature of the non sequitur.
"Patron? I thought I ordered four glasses of water," the Doctor called to the waiter nearby.
"Monsieur," he acknowledged.
"Listen..." the man across from them began.
"Doctor," he informed him and took a sip from one of the glasses that had arrived at the table.
"What's Scarlioni's angle?" the man inquired.
"Scarlioni's angle? Never heard of it. Have you ever heard of Scarlioni's angle, Romana?" the Doctor questioned.
"No, I was never any good at geometry," she replied.
Rose rolled her eyes at them, "Who is Scarlioni?"
"Count Scarlioni," he answered as if that should be obvious.
"What?" the Doctor asked as he stared back at the man with his large, piercing gaze.
"Everyone on Earth's heard of Count Scarlioni," he insisted and looked between the three of them as if expecting them to suddenly realize what he was talking about.
"Ah, well, we've only just landed on Earth," the Doctor replied, as if that should be the most reasonable explanation imaginable.
"Right, fine, that's it. I give up! You're crazy!" he shouted and got up from the table.
"Crazy enough to want to steal the Mona Lisa?" the Doctor called after him.
The man froze in his tracks and Rose smirked. The Doctor was so good at controlling any situation he found himself in. When he returned to the table, the Doctor amended his statement, "Or at least be interested in someone who might want to steal the Mona Lisa?"
The man sat back down and sipped the glass of water they placed in front of him. He introduced himself as Duggan. He was a detective trying to find what was going on with a man called Scarlioni.
"Masterpieces that have apparently been missing over the centuries are just turning up all over the place," Duggan told them.
"All fakes, of course," the Doctor deduced.
"They've got to be, haven't they? Haven't they?" he insisted.
"Are they?" Romana questioned.
"They're very, very good ones. They stand up to every scientific test," Duggan answered.
"Could it be a rogue Time Agent, trying to scam everyone?" Rose suggested.
They all looked at her in shock. The two Time Lords contemplated the possibility, while Duggan was just confused by the statement.
"Nah, they'd be more careful than that," Rose dismissed the idea herself.
"Probably. But the only connection in this is the Count?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes."
"So?" he prompted.
"Nothing dirty can be proved, though. He's clean. Absolutely clean. So clean he stinks," Duggan told them.
"He isn't clean anymore. The Countess has the bracelet," the Doctor replied.
"What's that bracelet worth?" Duggan asked.
Rose couldn't contain a laugh at that. Imagining them trying to auction off alien technology in 1970's Paris.
"Well, it depends on what you want to do with it. Uh oh," the Doctor responded.
"What?" the detective asked as two more men in black arrived behind him.
"I think we're being invited to leave," the Doctor told him, gripping Rose's hand tightly.
"Captured already? I hope they have a nice dungeon this time," Rose commented nonchalantly.