Okay, here we go...
"Reinette," The Doctor repeated the little girl's name, smiling at her. "Thank you. You've been very patient with us strange, lost souls. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, monsieur, mademoiselle." Reinette replied, and the Doctor stood, helping Rose upright as well.
Stepping away from the fireplace a moment, he beckoned Jack to join them.
"1727?" Jack asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Engine power high enough to punch a hole in the universe." The Doctor reminded. "I believe we just found our hole."
"And through that hole is a little girl from 1727?" Jack said, putting his hands on his hips. "Why? Is it an anomaly?"
"Fireplace tells me it's not." The Doctor said pointing to it. "That is an actual 18th century fireplace, and all around it is decor to match. I have a feeling if we were to try, we would find a switch or some sort of mechanism that would lead us to that little girl's room in 1727. More so, we may figure out why."
They returned to the fireplace, searching for something to that may lead them to some answers.
"She said Paris." Jack said as he searched the left of the mantel.
"Yes," The Doctor replied from the right side, craning around Rose in the middle to see Jack a moment. "August will be terrible."
"But she was speaking English." Jack said.
"It's the TARDIS," Rose replied before he could, the Doctor grinning as he paused a moment to watch her examine a clock. "Translates for ya."
"Handy." Jack replied as the Doctor resumed his feeling behind the mantel, fingers finding a switch.
"Quiet so," The Doctor said as he flipped the switch.
"Doctor, there's som-" Rose had started to say, the words changing to a yelp as she was caught off guard by the sudden rotation of the mantel.
"Rose," The Doctor called as she stumbled back, cleared of the platform.
"I'm alright," He heard just before the wall clicked in place.
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about." The Doctor muttered to himself, noting Jack had hung on and was now with him. They looked at each other in the dim light provided by the flames of the fire place. There was the ticking of a clock in the room, the crack and popping of the wood burning, and not much else.
"Paris on our first date?" Jack teased.
"Imagine where we'd go if I really liked you." The Doctor countered; attention drawn to the bed as young Reinette popped up with a gasp. "It's alright, don't be alarmed, it's only me." He said, quickly taking out his sonic and pointing it at the candle, causing the wick to catch with the press of the button. He strode closer, more into the light, and smiled. "Hello, remember me?"
She frowned. "The Doctor."
"Yes, that's right. We were just speaking a moment ago. You must have been quite tired." He replied.
She shook her head. "Monsieur, that was weeks ago! That was months!"
"Months," Jack said. "Doctor, that's not just a hole in the universe."
"Well there isn't a name for it, that's for sure." He replied. The ship couldn't have been capable of time travel as well. And it's been abandoned for some time…." The Doctor returned to the mantel, knocking on the wood.
"Who are you, what are you doing?" Reinette asked, sounding utterly put out.
The Doctor didn't turn around, instead noted what likely had caught Rose's attention before they got separated. The clock on the mantel was broken, clearly no longer working. At least, not as it should. It would have been just something Rose would have remarked on the other side of the anomaly, but here, in the darkness it was something sinister.
"Reinette," The Doctor said quietly, turning very slowly. "Is there another clock in this room?"
She furrowed her brow. "No, monsieur."
"Well that is very bad news, indeed."
"Doctor, what is it?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow and crossing his arms.
"You don't hear it? It's understandable that you don't, humans have a way of being able to tune out the sounds they're accustomed to hearing. Someone breathing too heavy, the hum of electricity, or the sound of a ticking clock." He said, meeting Jack's gaze. "Tick, tick, tick, tick." He said in time with the ticking noise, and Jack shifted his gaze about the room as though moving his eyes would let him hear better. "And all the while, it's a terrifying sound. The tick of something big, maybe five, or six feet. Too big for the clock in the room, but even if it weren't, even if a clock that size could make a tick that loud… it's broken."
Jack's eyes went wide and he turned to the clock on the mantel. "Oh, shit." He said.
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked skeptically.
"Jack, check behind the curtains." The Doctor instructed before inching toward Reinette. He crouched at her right, glancing below the bed before meeting her brave, yet nervous gaze. "Stay in the middle, Reinette. Don't look, keep your arms and legs in snug. That's it." He said as she adjusted.
He then looked under the bed, seeing a silhouette of something man shaped beneath. He slowly thumbed the settings on his sonic, then hit the button. Barely a fully tick sounded before the Doctor was knocked back, and something scurried out from under the bed.
"Ah-ah, nice and easy." Jack said, and the Doctor slowly got to his feet. "Reinette, don't look behind you, alright? Keep looking at me and the Doctor."
The Doctor noted Jack took the stance of a soldier, both hands on his blaster which he had pointed directly at the ticking being standing on the opposite side of Reinette's bed.
Dressed for the fashion of the era, it had a sinisterly painted white mask covering its face. It stared straight ahead, or so it seemed, but the Doctor got a sense it was actually looking at the little girl on the bed. He was picking up something on the edges of his mind, and the feeling was so strange that he almost didn't recognize it for what it was: a telepathic being sought out, but not with him.
"Reinette," he said as he slowly sat beside her on the bed. "Can you look at me? Yes, me, right in the eye, just like that, now hold very still." He said as he slowly reached up and gently took the little girl's face in his hands, his finger brushing her temples. Just a light brush confirmed his suspicions. "Why are you scanning her brain?" The Doctor asked the droid, standing abruptly. It didn't answer, continuing to stand still. "Come on, tell me. What is so important about this girl that you crossed two galaxies and blew a hole in the universe to get to her?"
"I don't understand," Reinette whimpered. "It wants me?" She then turned to face the droid, not even flinching at the sight of it. "You want me?"
It responded, tilting its head to face Reinette. "Not yet, you are incomplete." It responded in a mechanical voice.
"Incomplete? How is she incomplete?" The Doctor demanded. "What does she need to be complete for?" It didn't answer, continuing to stare at Reinette. "You'll answer her, but not me, why is that?" He wondered aloud, and was slightly startled when the ticking creature righted itself and then made its way around Reinette's bed to him. As it got closer, it extended its arm, a sharp blade coming out and getting dangerously close to the Doctor's neck.
"Monsieur, be careful!" Reinette cried.
"Doctor, move." Jack half shouted.
"Put that thing away, Jack. You'll draw too much attention firing that off in here." The Doctor chided as he took a step back toward the fireplace.
"What do you want me to do then?" Jack asked as the ticking creature pursued the Doctor.
"Get ready to return," The Doctor said as his back hit mantel. He glanced behind the droid to Reinette. "Don't worry, it's just a bad dream." He told her. "And in a moment, it will all be over." The ticking thing raised its arm, readying to strike. "Jack, the switch, now!"
"Where!?" Jack asked.
The Doctor side stepped, knocking Jack away from the mantel for a moment in order to get to the switch. He flicked it, Jack barely making it back to the area before they swung around and were once more on the space ship.
"Rose, get the fire extinguisher!" The Doctor called.
"The what?" She called as he noted the ticking being about to pull free of the wood.
"On it," Jack said, dashing away.
The Doctor stepped back, moving to stand between Rose and the creature just as Jack sprayed it down with the extinguisher. It broke free, and still tried to go after them despite the ice slowly freezing its gears.
Relaxing, the Doctor turned to Rose. "Sorry," He apologized.
She shrugged. "Not your fault."
"How long were we gone?" He asked her curiously.
"Not long, actually. Sorta like you just popped around, grabbed a bot, and came back." She replied, chewing her lip.
"Well for Reinette, it was months." He said.
"Months? Was only a mo between when we saw her and when you two left."
"Doctor," Jack got their attention, and the pair turned to see the captain had removed the wig and mask from what was clearly a clockwork droid.
"Now there's a beauty you don't see too often." The Doctor admired, moving quickly to the droid and running his hand over the smooth, clear, egg shaped head.
"It's… it's like a clock." Rose said, her brow furrowing as she inched closer. "Sorta steam punk."
"Same idea, but more advanced." The Doctor agreed, beckoning her closer with a tilt of his head. "Inside, there's likely a very small computer. No more than the size of, say, a memory card your time. One you would put in a digital camera. That's where its voice would be, its programming. It's a beauty," The Doctor said with utter reverence. "Pity I have to take the thing apart."
The droid righted itself, and in a flash the Doctor had Rose behind him. He raised his sonic, ready to vibrate it apart before it could attack them. It teleported away.
"Short range teleport," Jack stated the obvious, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.
"So, it's somewhere on this ship, nothing to fret too much over. As you said, short range, it couldn't have gotten far." The Doctor said, moving toward the fire place. He examined the mantel, the clock, then he turned to Rose. "Voulez-vous aller à Paris, mon amour?" He asked her, his brow twitching up and lips curling up as Rose blushed. She bit her lip, moving swiftly to join him at the mantel.
"I thought you said the TARDIS translated everything?" Jack asked.
"It does, I purposely didn't want her to. Are you coming with, or are you going to look for the droid?"
Jack unholstered his blaster. "You two have fun, I'm going to find our friend."
"Be careful, Jack." The Doctor called as his companion took off down the corridor. He then turned to Rose, putting an arm around her waist, bringing her a little closer. "Hold on," he said, feeling for the switch and then flicking it, sending them around back to Paris in the seventeen hundreds.
Rose gasped as she took in the room, fully lit by the sun shining through an open window.
"'S beautiful," She said, moving around, hand reaching for everything from the curtains to books, but never fully touching.
The Doctor frowned, glancing to the ground. "I could have sworn there were dollhouses." He said, shifting toward a harp. "And I don't recall this." He said, reaching out and plucking a quick tune on the strings, humming when he found it well in tune. He heard Rose's chuckle behind him, and turned to catch her chewing her lip with a grin. "Yes?"
"Musically inclined, you are."
"Well, I do try my best." He said.
Someone cleared their throat, and the Doctor brought his attention to the young woman in the doorway. She was about Rose's age, dressed very finely, and had a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Hello," he said. "You're probably wondering what we're doing in here. I'm the-"
"Doctor." The young woman said, her smile growing as she came toward him. "You have not aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you." She reached out a hand, gently stroking his cheek. "You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate."
"And you seem very… forward." The Doctor said, gently taking her hand away and holding it in his own, placing his other over top. "I'm sorry, have we met before? My memory is not the best."
"Reinette! We're ready to go." A woman called from somewhere in the house, and the Doctor looked over the woman's shoulder, expecting the little girl to tear into the room at any moment.
"Go to the carriage, mother, I will join you there." The woman before him said, having never taken her eyes off of him, and the Doctor's eyebrows nearly hit his hairline.
"Reinette?" Rose said, earning the woman's attention for the first time. "You're the little girl?"
"I was, once." She replied sweetly. "I do vaguely remember you, as well. Rose, I believe. I recall the Doctor the most, of course, as well as… I believe you called him Jack. I never saw you again after that night, either of you. Reason tells me you cannot be real."
"I assure you we are." The Doctor replied.
"Mademoiselle!" A man called. "Your mother grows impatient!"
"A moment!" She snapped back before returning her gaze to the Doctor. "So many questions, so little time." Reinette shifted forward, and the Doctor shifted back, bowing over her hand.
"I have no doubt we'll cross paths again," He said, as he righted himself, seeing the disappointment in the young woman's eyes.
"Such a gentleman." She smiled honestly despite the rejection.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" The same man shouted.
"Until the next time, may it come sooner." Reinette said as she darted up, kissed his cheek, and dashed for the door, snatching the bag she had likely came for in the first place as she left.
"Poisson? What a minute, Poisson?" The Doctor spun to look at Rose, though not really seeing her. "Reinette Poisson, Madam Etoiles? The future official mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, Lady in waiting to Queen Marie, one of the most politically influential people of all time! Rose, that is Madam de Pompadour!"
Rose, he realized, did not share in his excitement. She stood, arms crossed, her jaw set in a very distinctly displeased way. "Official mistress?" She repeated a little sharply. "I can see how that happens."
"Who the hell are you?" The man who had been shouting for Reinette asked, causing both he and Rose to startle.
"Just… the mantel inspectors." The Doctor said lamely. He darted to the mantel. "Yes, we've come to, uh… check it over. Rose, could you?"
She uncrossed her arms and joined him, standing on the opposite side and holding tight.
"Right, yes, see, I think there's ah…" He flicked the switch, peeking at the bewildered servant until he was out of sight, and they were back on the ship. When the mantel locked in place, he turned to Rose and grinned. "You're jealous!"
"What?" She asked, still frowning.
"You're jealous of Reinette," He said as he reached for her, snatching her hand before she could pull it away. "And you shouldn't be."
"She had her hands on you." Rose grumbled.
"And I have felt similarly at the idea of Jack, knowing he danced with you. Seeing how he flirted with you right in front of me."
"So, this is you getting back at me, or…?" Rose's brow furrow, and he tapped her nose for how adorable she was.
"I'm not trying to make you jealous in turn, darling." He said with a smile. "I knew she was advancing on me, and I tried, very politely, to decline her affections. I apologize if you somehow thought that I held any sort of interest. I don't, I promise." He said, kissing her gently on the forehead. "But now I know who she is, and she is a very big deal in history, but it makes me wonder why they clockwork droids are going after her, following her through time."
"The one that came through, was dressed like a Frenchmen, yeah?" Rose asked thoughtfully. "Maybe trying to change history somehow? Make it so that… she doesn't do all that? The political things and what not."
"I'm glad you were paying attention despite not being very pleased with me." The Doctor commented.
"Hanging on your every word, I was. Waitin' to see what other sorta titles and comments you were about to throw in." She mused.
"I warned you I wasn't very good at the human aspects of romance. I'm liable to put my foot in my mouth more than I keep it on the ground. But that's me regardless, and you knew that before you asked for a definition."
"Yes, well, try not to flirt too much with gorgeous women. 'Specially blondes."
"I'd never replace you, darling." He said, turning to face the ship, glancing around. "We should try and find Jack. If Reinette is already a young woman, it would do us no good to try the mantel again."
"How is that happening?" Rose asked as they stepped away from the reproduction, edging closer to the TARDIS. "First time it was like a minute between when we saw her, and when you and Jack went through. Then, you came back, gone not more than four or five minutes, and then she's my age? How's it working like that?"
"I'm not sure." He replied. "Ripping a hole in the universe to time travel is something my people would have closed up before the first droid ever made it through. But it's just me now, which is why the TARDIS probably brought us so far off course. We needed to be here." He sighed, scrubbing his hands on his face before glancing at the computer. "I wonder if Jack's found anything."
"Well, whether he has or not, I'm going to nip in to the TARDIS for a quick wardrobe change." She said as she went up to the doors and pushed them open.
"What, why?" He asked, looking over her outfit once, then again.
"Because," Rose grinned mischievously, stepping half inside. "If we're to pop back into to France, seventeen hundred something, I'm not gonna go in looking like some peasant from the streets. Gotta look my best so Madam de Pompumdoor doesn't think she can easily steal my Time Lord." She gave him a little tongue touched smile before darting inside.
"It's Madam de Pompadour." He called as the door closed, staring after it and shaking his head a little to himself. "And it's very un-Time Lord of me to like the fact that you're a little jealous." He said quietly to himself before putting his hands in his hair and tugging a little on his curls. "Oh, Doctor, Doctor, you're in it deep this time." He turned about, finding the panel he'd used to scan the ship earlier. "Now, while I wait for Rose, let's see what other information I can find on this ship."
~DW~
Jack hadn't gotten terribly far in the ship before that smell of roasted meat got a bit stronger. Before he could investigate it, however, something nudged him.
"Don't move!" Jack shouted, spinning quickly and pointing the blaster at a horse.
Face contorting in confusion, Jack slowly lowered his weapon as the horse grunted and quietly whinnied. Its tail flicked and it kept staring at him with those big, glossy eyes.
"You don't have to keep looking at me like that, I'm not about to shoot you." Jack said, holstering his blaster and slowly lifting his hands in a placating gesture. Then, he slowly moved to pet the horse, stroking its mane. "Where did you come from, anyway? Where is there a time portal big enough for you to get through, huh?"
He wasn't sure why he was asking. He knew that the talking horses in old Earth movies couldn't possibly actually talk, but he had seen many thing s in his life, and sometimes even the best time agents were thrown for a loop. He gave the horse a couple of gentle pats on the rear before attempting to retrace its steps. Not very far off, and half-hidden in an alcove Jack passed by earlier, he spotted a set of white, French double doors that were open just a crack.
"Doctor? Rose?" He called out, pausing. "I think I found another portal!" He listened but he couldn't hear anything. Smirking, Jack opened the doors and stepped through.
The grounds of a palace spread out before Jack, vast and green with a smell that was so pre-industrial era it was entirely too alien to him. But the people, the people were beautiful. He could see them all milling about in pairs or groups.
One lady in particular caught his eye, walking with a friend around the garden. Both were dressed as the aristocracy would, carrying little parasols and sharing whispers like spies or lovers.
"Oh Catherine, you are too wicked." The blonde said before turning, seeming to sense them being watched. She caught Jack's eye, and he smiled. She paused, and turned a touch more toward him.
He waved, and then seeing her friend had noted him as well, decided to venture forth and join them for a bit.
"Ladies," he greeted with a slight bow.
"Catherine, this is my childhood friend, Jack."
"Captain Jack Harkness." He said to her, smiling as Catherine blushed.
"Reinette, must you keep all the charming men to yourself?" Catherine asked, offering her hand to Jack who took it and kissed the air above it.
Reinette? Little girl Reinette who was quite clearly not a young woman anymore. He righted himself, and took her in, seeing the similarities now up close.
"Jack and another rescued me from a fiend when I was but seven." Reinette explained to her friend. "I was quite taken in my youth with them both, but I had only seen the other just once. This is the first time Jack and I have encountered one another since that fateful night so long ago."
"Oh, so does that mean he cannot weigh in on the topic at hand?" Catherine asked slyly.
"What were you ladies gossiping about?" He asked, offering an arm to both of them, which the both took as they resumed their light stroll.
"Just that Madame de Chateneux is ill and close to death," Catherine replied, though it didn't really help shed any light on the conversation.
"And I am devastated." Reinette replied, doing her very best to appear serious and failing terribly.
"The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress." Catherine said in a knowing way, and Jack nodded.
And Reinette here had her eye on that position.
"Well the King has heard many tales of her beauty, among other things. Reinette was asked if she'd like to join the hunt not the other day. And you do love him, of course." Catherine said this as she bent slightly around Jack.
"He is the King, and I love him with all my heart." Reinette said, a little too much slyness to her grin for it to only be that.
"Her ambitions are widely known," Catherine said this to Jack. "What do you think of all this? Of our Reinette being mistress to King Lois?"
Jack was about to reply when understanding clicked. A mistress named Reinette to King Louis? He looked to Reinette who turned her gaze questioningly to him, and he chuckled a little at realizing who he had on his arm. "I think you're going to knock his socks off," Jack said, then leaning in and added, "As well as his pants."
Catherine tried to appear utterly scandalized, but the glint in the eye and the laughter coloring her gasps gave her away. Reinette had at least contained her mirth, but any attempts at appearing at all serious was hindered by her pursed lips and merry eyes.
"Much as I appreciate the unusual show of support, many of the women of Paris share my ambition."
"Trust me," Jack said, turning his full attention to Reinette. "You will capture his eye, and capture his heart, and no one can or will ever compare to you. I'm even willing to bet you know just how to ensure you catch him."
"Well, he is going to the Yew Ball," Catherine noted.
"I bet he'll want you for the whole night." He said with a smile to Reinette, and she grinned back. "Now, ladies, much as I hate the idea of leaving such beauty behind, I must be off."
"Off?" Reinette asked. "Won't you stay?"
"Afraid I can't. I need to go find our mutual friend." He said told her as he stepped back, first bringing Catherine's hand to his lips, followed by Reinette's.
"Will you pass a message along for me?" Reinette asked.
"Anything." Jack replied.
"Tell him not to wait so terribly long between meetings." Reinette said, and Jack nodded, watching the ladies as the moved from his arms to link their own. And instantly they were back together, bent in secret with one another.
Jack watched them only for a moment before turning around and heading back to the doors that led him to the spaceship.
~DW~
"Not too much?" Rose asked the TARDIS, smoothing the bodice of the soft blue dress with delicate gold lace. There was no doubt there were likely many other layers, and very likely a corset, to make it look more era appropriate but she didn't really have time for all that.
The TARDIS blinked twice, and Rose nodded.
"You better have sent us here to fix the whole hole thing," Rose chided with a smirk. The ships lights rolled around the room, before it blinked a single time, very slowly, and Rose laughed. "Alright, I get it." She said, reaching out and stroking the walls of the wardrobe room. She then started her journey back out, feeling a little like she was walking side by side with a girlfriend, having a chat. "'S just, that girl, yeah? Barely noted I was there. I mean, I was standin' right there, and she was just all over the Doctor. Not like he's walkin' around with a sign or a ring or anything, 's not like we're like that. Just, it's new, yeah? And he's so different, and for a mo' I thought maybe she was just … better. He thought she was better. Couldn't blame him, really," She said as she walked down the hall, her fingers grazing the wall as she did.
She could feel something inside her, something that felt distinctly separate from herself yet a part of her. It was warm and comforting, reassuring in a way that reminded Rose of an arm around her shoulder, of someone to lean on. It was like it was attempting to nudge her spirits up. And then, her mind spun a little, causing a slight wave of vertigo that had her stopping as she could see in her mind's eye the Doctor flicking on the music in the console room, of him pulling her close in a dancing stance before landing the ship on Jack's. But it was like looking at a recording of it, as though she were out of body. She could see, for that one moment the Doctor brought her close enough she couldn't see his face the sereneness in his. Another moment, and she could see the utter adoration in his eyes as he spun her out.
"You showing me that, yeah?" Rose asked, and there was another, definite brightening of the TARDIS. "'Kay, good. So, you're trying to say I had nothin' to worry bout, that it?" She asked, and the TARDIS gave her another glow. "Right," She righted herself. "Feel a bit better 'bout that if she weren't so proper and pretty and the like." She wasn't even in motion, and yet Rose distinctly felt the floor shift. "Oi, what was that for?" No response. "Was that sorta like a shove or a slap?" A distinct, but clipped blink. Rose's shoulders sagged and she gently caressed the wall. "You don't want me being hard on myself. Sorry." She said, turning and pressing her forehead to the wall. There was that warm apart from herself again. It was so loving that she allowed herself an extra moment to bask in what she wanted to believe was affection from the ship before she pushed off and headed through the console room and out the doors.
The Doctor was hunched over the computer with a frown when she found him.
"What is it?" She asked as she came up beside him.
"This ship is the SS Madam de Pompadour, from sector 26 Gamma Beta. It was one of a small fleet named for historical figures pre-twentieth century Earth."
"Right, anything else?"
"It's about thirty-seven years old, and hasn't moved in about a year. All the crew disappeared, one by one, the life signs just blinked out over time. The engines have been going for a few days now, but the ship is still not moving."
"Which is how we got our door to Narnia."
"Yes," The Doctor said, turning to her and looking her over. "You look lovely," He said with a smirk.
"I thank you," She said with a put-on accent, curtsying in exaggeration before chuckling. "Shall we wander and see where our Jack has gone?"
The Doctor offered her his arm, "We shall."
Rose put her hand in his elbow, and the wondered down the ship in a pace a little too quick to be casual.
A little up ahead, there was a whinny, and then a slight grunt.
"Yeah, well, I can't exactly just walk in, can I?" Jack said as though he were having a conversation with someone. "Not sure what it would do from here."
The rounded the corner, and both paused as they spotted Jack standing in front of a full-length window, arms crossed and looking troubled. And there beside him, looking over his shoulder, was a white horse.
"Jack," The Doctor drew out his name, curiosity and amusement in equal measure. "I know you're very fluid…."
"He snuck aboard." Jack retorted. "I think it's likely he came from the garden I was in not that long ago. With Reinette. A full grown Reinette and her full-grown friend."
"Yes, we've met." The Doctor said as he led Rose to Jack's side. "So, what are we observing?"
Jack gestured to the window. "Think it's a mirror. I've seen a few aristocrat types stop and preen, but no one I think is too important. No Reinette."
"Soon, likely." The Doctor said, tilting this way and that, frowning. "It looks like they're getting ready for a party."
"Any sorta important party she's involved in?" Rose asked, and the Doctor turned to her.
"Yes. The Yew ball, where our dear Madam meets and wins the King of France." He said as a man who was very likely said King of France appeared in the room.
Rose frowned, pursing her lips as Reinette came into the room. "You said she was his mistress." She commented as they watched the flirting game of another time take place on the other side of the glass. "Famous enough to have a ship in the future named for her."
"Yes," The Doctor said. "And for some reason the ship is punching holes in time to meet with her time line, but why?"
Reinette watched the King of France leave, a coy smile on her lips as though she knew she'd gotten what she wanted.
"The ship is named for her?" Jack asked incredulously.
"Just be glad we aren't on the SS Marie Antoinette. We mighta lost our heads." The Doctor quipped as they watched Reinette preen.
Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes, not even needing to look at the Doctor to know he was quite pleased with his terrible play on words.
They watched a moment more, when Reinette tensed, just as the sound of ticking reached Rose's ear. Reinette turned, facing someone in the corner who'd been facing the wall. "How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!"
The figure turned, revealing the presence of a clockwork droid.
It all happened swiftly.
The Doctor grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall nearby, then pulled Rose to follow him as he pushed through the mirror, the whole thing spinning like a revolving door, leaving the ship behind and re-entering Reinette's time line.
"Hello, Madam." He greeted as he stepped through, already aiming the fire extinguisher at the droid.
"Doctor!" Reinette gasped in surprise. And joy. And a little something more that Rose didn't want to pin point.
The Doctor subdued the droid, then tossed the fire extinguisher to a waiting Jack whom Rose hadn't even realized came with.
"I don't think it's gonna hold," Jack said wearily.
"It won't," The Doctor replied, studying it as the gears began to click and whir within. "And it might just try to kill everyone in the room, so I recommend standing back." He warned as the droid's hand shot up, its grip coming dangerously close to the Doctor's throat. He backed off a little, shifting to stand between Rose and Reinette as if he could somehow protect both at once. "I never got to ask your friend before he so rudely teleported away: do you have a name?"
The droid cocked its head, but didn't answer.
The Doctor glanced at Reinette. "It'll listen to you, ask it to answer me."
She looked baffled, maybe a little frightened, but not terribly so. "Why should it listen to me?"
The Doctor sighed, rolling his head about. "It's complicated, Reinette, but trust me when I say you likely have all the power over them."
Reinette frowned, but nodded a little. She turned to the droid, and in a tone befitting a Queen, said. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you."
The droid, surprisingly, lowered its arm.
"I am repair droid seven." It said in a mechanical voice.
"Excellent. Alright, Repair Droid Seven, what happened on the ship that stopped it from moving?"
"Ion storm, eighty two percent failure." The droid replied.
"Eighty -two percent, that's quite the damage rate. But it's not utter failure, so why has it taken you so long to repair it?"
"We did not have the parts." The Droid replied.
"Is that what happened to the crew, they went out… no, even the travel time to the nearest system and back in a pod would have had the crew and parts back in plenty of time. And they blinked out. But oxygen levels were fine. Was it food? Is that what happened to the crew?"
"We did not have the parts." It repeated, and Rose noted Jack straightening stiffly, his hand tightening around the fire extinguisher.
"Doctor." Jack said in a warning tone. "I found some interesting bits throughout the ship. Which would explain the wonderful aroma Rose noted."
Rose felt her heart start to beat more rapidly, her stomach tightening. She glanced at the Doctor, hoping Jack wasn't alluding to what she hoped.
"Flesh? Plus heat?" The Doctor said, arching a brow. "And the crew suddenly gone."
"You sayin'… you sayin' the crew…?"
"Were used for parts. Yes, unfortunately, organic matter as parts of a ship has been a practiced used in recent centuries. And I'm betting the droids are programmed to repair the ship through any means necessary." The Doctor turned to the droid, "But why open the time windows? You already went through the crew, why meddle in the time line of the woman your ship was named for?"
The droid jerked its head toward Reinette. "One more part is required." It replied, and Rose glanced at the woman, seeing her poised as ever, only the slightest tremble of fear.
She was quite beautiful, and regal, and brave, and Rose felt that bit of insecurity the TARDIS did a good job banishing begin to rise up again.
The Doctor looked to between Reinette and the droid. "I have the sick feeling I know what you're implying. But you have been part of her life here and there thus far. Why haven't you taken what you needed yet?"
"She is incomplete."
"But why her?" Rose asked, unable to help it. She glanced at Reinette. "You had your 'parts', yeah? All those people on the crew, couldn'ta just run outta parts, yeah? So why her?"
"We are the same." The Droid replied, and something about those words had the Doctor's eyes widen.
"We are not the same!" Reinette replied vehemently. "We are in no sense the same!"
"We are the same." The Droid repeated.
There was no fear in her now as Reinette advanced on the droid, completely and totally a queen, despite the lack of title being absent from the ones she would acquire later. "Get out of here, get out of here this instance!" She demanded, and the droid teleported away.
The Doctor blinked as if he'd just come out of a trance. "Jack, head back to the ship, see if you can find it. Don't take too long, and if you encounter any of them, destroy them immediately. By any means necessary."
"Will do, Doc." He said without thinking, saluting the Doctor and disappearing back through the mirror.
"Destroy?" Rose asked, frowning at the Doctor.
"It wants Reinette, and we can't let the droids get to her. They've murdered the crew already, and if they fail in securing Reinette, then the ship will not function to their requirements, and they will become of now use." He turned fully toward her, taking a step toward her and taking her hand. "They aren't a living being, Rose. But they are dangerous."
She nodded her understanding, and he smiled warmly at her before turning to Reinette.
"I'm going to do something that seems a bit invasive." He said gently. "They've likely been scanning your brain throughout your life, and you probably didn't always know it. I'm just going to have a look, make sure my assumptions are right, and ensure there is no damage, alright? I promise you it won't hurt."
Reinette nodded, a little fearful still after their encounter with the droid, but trusting of the man in front of her.
Rose watched as the Doctor lifted his fingers to Reinette's temples, closing his eyes as hers did. She gasped, and Rose blushed, feeling a bit like a voyeur.
"Doctor, you're inside my mind." Reinette said in a quiet voice, her brow furrowing.
"Oh dear, oh dear." The Doctor said, his voice equally quiet. "They've been rooting around more than I thought."
"You are in my memories; you walk among them." She said, and Rose squirmed a bit, shifting around as quietly as she could, grateful for the soft soled flats the TARDIS provided so she wouldn't distract, nor draw attention to her slight withdraw.
"If there's anything you don't want me looking at, just imagine a door. I won't go in, I pro- oh! There's a door."
Reinette opened her eyes, looking up slyly at the Doctor.
"You might want to clo-," The Doctor stopped, and Rose swore his cheeks got a bit pink. "Let's stick to the task, Reinette." He chided kindly.
Reinette closed her eyes again. "To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?"
"I try not to do it often," The Doctor said, and Reinette peeked at him again.
"How can you resist?" She asked.
"I like the idea of maintaining privacy. But they don't. What age are you?" He frowned.
She closed her eyes, by the sly smile remained on her lips. "So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising."
Rose inhaled deeply, clenching her jaw at this woman's behavior.
"No, it's not my question, it's theirs. The one they keep asking every time they scan you. Which-" Reinette flinched. "Sorry, sometimes doing this causes forgotten memories to come to the surface."
"Oh, such a lonely childhood." She said, frowning.
"Sorry, it should pass."
"Theta Sigma, so outcast, so different, so alone."
The Doctor's eyes snapped open. "What did you just say?" He asked, his voice nearly whisper soft that, had there been any other noise in the room, Rose never would have heard it.
"Such a lonely little boy," Reinette continued, her eyes still shut. "Lonely and for so much of your life. How can you bear it?" She asked, opening her eyes and looking at him with adoration.
The Doctor withdrew his hands, a pain in his eyes Rose had never seen, not even when he spoke of his lost home planet. "How did you do that?" He demanded.
"A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction…."
"Yes, but one typically waits for an invitation, they don't normally go barging in to someone's home." His voice rose, and Rose looked between the two of them.
Reinette, who had appeared proud before, bowed her head, a hint of sorrow about her that Rose didn't trust. "I know I should feel repentant, but I do not. It allowed me to get closer to you, to learn something of the man I have known my whole life, who I have carried in my secret heart, and yet has only known me but a mere handful of times."
Rose was about to say something when the Doctor took Reinette's hands in his own, and she stopped dead. She swallowed, and swallowed again, trying desperately to rid her throat of the lump it held to no avail.
"Reinette, I admire you, and can appreciate how I may have made an impression on a young girl. But even if you were to decide right now, to give up your scheme of capturing the King's heart for me, it would be in vain."
"Because of Rose," She said, and her eyes shifted to where Rose stood, pale and shaking ever so slightly. She hadn't even realized she'd been inching toward the mirror until she was pinned by Reinette's gaze, and forced to stand still.
"Yes, because of Rose." The Doctor said with fondness. "No, you have a king to woo, and you won't be able to do it from here."
"Will you not dance with me?" She asked.
"My dance card is full, I'm afraid." He said, letting her hands drop.
Reinette nodded, smiling gently if not a bit sadly. "Well, I do not wish for you to go just yet. If you can spare a moment, or an hour, you and your lady should join us. If tonight is as momentous for me as you seem to believe it, I would want nothing more than my protector, my guardian angel, to be there as well."
She curtsied, then fled the room, through a different door than she entered.
Rose remained still, unable to turn away from where Reinette had fled. She heard the Doctor's footsteps coming toward her, but still felt a bit surprised when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Her own arms went around his shoulders, and her emotional turmoil was completely forgotten as she felt him shuddering slightly, his breathing more ragged than she'd ever known it to be.
"What's wrong?" She asked him, rocking slightly.
"She was in my mind." He said against her shoulder. "She was in my mind, and that… it's a violation, Rose. It's… it's invasive, and intimate. Even Time Lord's didn't just willie nilly enter each other's minds like that, not in the way she did."
Rose squeezed him tighter, glaring where Reinette disappeared to.
"I didn't even know a human could do that." He said.
"What?" She said, her anger forgotten as he pulled back.
He looked at Rose, moving his hands from her waist to her face, his fingers lightly brushing her temples. "I didn't know a human could get into my mind. I have been inside the heads of others before, always with permission, but never once had it occurred to me that they could enter mine."
Rose moved her hands to hold the Doctor's face in hers, her heart aching. "She found out your name." She realized.
"My name?" The Doctor replied, frowning.
"Theta." Rose replied. "Wouldn't even tell me that, and she just… took it."
"Rose, that's not my name." He replied promptly. "No more than the Doctor is. It's… it's who I was, as a child, in the academy. Our names, our true names are only for those we have bonded with. Not even my wife knew my name."
"So, she didn't just pluck up a detail of you that you hadn't told me?"
"Well, I never told you I was lonely."
"Didn't have to," Rose replied gently. "Ran away from it all, yeah? No one runs away if they're not lonely."
"You ran away." He reminded her.
"Ran with, not away." She said, getting on her toes and gently pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Be with you until you tell me not to. Promised you, I'm never gonna leave you."
"Never say never," He whispered before turning his head and capturing her lips with his own briefly. "Shall we go dance, my darling?"
"You should." She said as she got back on her feet. Rose brushed at her gown. "My mate Shireen always had a thing bout not lettin' people see you were bothered by 'em. Think this qualifies."
He held out his hand, and she placed hers in his.
"Or you just want me to dance with you." He replied, his smirk a little too flirty.
She let it be, though. He likely needed to reground himself after what happened, and Rose couldn't blame him.
~DW~
So, the droids wanted Madam de Pompadour's brain? And they were going all through her time line to try and find the perfect match. Well, Jack had deduced pretty easily that, from what the Doctor said, it was likely to be around her thirty-seventh birthday.
He found the secondary computer system where the Time Windows were opened, and while spraying the droids who attempted to attack him every few minutes, he worked on seeing about shutting them down.
He had already made himself look bad upon their meeting; he hadn't made himself look very competent while they went to see Rose's father. But Jack was from this century, and he knew these systems. He could be useful, and maybe even get them offline before the Doctor and Rose returned from when they were.
There was a groan, and a slight ticking, and Jack lifted the fire extinguisher and promptly refroze the droids. It wouldn't last him much long, but hopefully enough to see them through to the end.
He heard their laughter before he'd notice them, and Jack smiled to himself over how happy and loving it was.
"Ah, here's trouble," He raised his voice, waiting a beat before turning to face them with a slight grin. "What took you so long?"
"It's been ten minutes here, Jack." The Doctor replied as he let go of Rose's arm and joined Jack at the computer.
"We danced. In France. At a royal ball." Rose informed him giddily.
"That why you decided to dress like that?" He said, gesturing to the gown Rose had slipped into sometime earlier.
She glanced down on it. "Least I blend in." She said, gesturing to his long coat.
"I like it." He said. "And if I had known I was going to be going to eighteenth century France, I would have changed to blend in."
"What have you been up to, Captain?" The Doctor asked, and Jack turned to see the Time Lord looking over his work with approval.
"I've been attempting to find the proper time window, and I think I have," He said pointing to the one in front of him. "But I've also been trying to shut them down, but I haven't had much luck."
"They probably have a droid in every window, waiting for her to scan her milometer." The Doctor acknowledged, and Jack preened a bit. "Alright, as fun as having 18th Century France a quick step over the threshold away, it's time we get this all settled and done. Madam de Pompadour's life has been meddled with enough. Jack, remain here, watch for any sign in that window that events are about to start, and continue shutting it down. Rose, there's a portal about here." He said, tapping on the screen, showing a spot a little ways down the ship. "Go in, explain to Madam what's going to happen, and when. Not long after her 37th birthday, I'd imagine. Tell her when the mantel is broken, we'll come for her, and to keep the droids talking, or distracted until we arrive. I need to make a quick trip to the TARDIS a moment."
"Why?" Jack asked, frowning, glancing at his Vortex manipulator.
"Because I'm not sure the TARDIS will be willing to make the venture to when the time portals are open, but neither can either of you pilot her to get her there afterward."
"Why would we need to?" Jack asked, frowning. "Go there, stop the droids from messing with history, come back. Done."
"Because I'm going to need you to finish closing the time windows, force it to shut down. But once you do that, I don't believe any of them will work. I have something in the TARDIS, something less punchy than your Vortex Manipulator. Just, do me one favor, if you could. Look up the date, the exact date of today, and our location. I'm going to need it."
He turned to Rose, and Jack turned away, only to watch them in the reflection of a monitor that didn't work any longer.
The Doctor cupped Rose's cheek as she said, "Do I really gotta be the one to tell her?"
"I can't go back; I don't dare be alone with her." The Doctor replied quietly, his other hand going to Rose's waist. "Even at the ball, she still tried to dance with me. Even set up the line so I would be forced to interact with her, and I can't."
Rose nodded in understanding, something Jack lacked, and he noted the worry in his friend's eyes for the Time Lord. She then got up on her toes and kissed the Doctor's cheek before heading off.
The Doctor sighed, rubbed his face, and then took off as well.
The horse whinnied.
"Yeah, seemed a bit heavy to me, too." Jack replied, having really no idea if the horse had commentary on the over-heard conversation. The horse snuffed. "Sure, it's fine, the Doctor will talk about it if he wants to."
And with that, the horse fell silent, and Jack went back to work.
~DW~
He kept himself together until he entered the TARDIS. The Doctor walked down the corridor of the ship, briefly catching Rose's voice as he passed by a curtain, and kept himself on task until he was behind closed doors.
He then punched the door. Teeth gritted, he continued his assault repeatedly until his hand was bloody and sore and all the anger, hurt, repulsion was drained from his body. Panting, he leaned his head on the same panels he punished, closing his eyes, and willing his stomach to settle.
He'd been, for lack of any other term, molested. His mind, sacred and his, had been entered without his permission. His private, and most painful memories picked at and looked through without thought. It never once occurred to him, ever, that a none time lord could just waltz right in. And, really, he shouldn't be surprised that a woman with ambitions to be the lover of another woman's husband would have no qualm taking what was not hers when she desired it.
The TARDIS soothed him as best she could, but even he could feel the underlying disgust in her song. She wasn't even encroaching on the bond, just skimming the surface of his mind.
He pushed off the door, knowing he didn't have time for wallowing, and moved to the swiftly re-located med bay. He quickly repaired the damage to his skin, not wanting Rose to worry for him, nor Jack to ask too many questions. Then he left the room and went to the console, feeling underneath for the little compartment the TARDIS always had regardless of her desktop. He found it a third through his rotation, pushing on it so it would unlatch and open.
Inside was a time ring, one he really preferred not to use, but desperate times. He slipped it on his left ring finger, feeling as though it were the proper place for it in this instance.
He then caressed the consoled after closing the compartment, looking up at the rotor. "You don't need to be distant." He told the TARDIS in a hushed, gentle tone. "You are always more than welcome in my mind."
The TARDIS gave him the mental equivalent of a loving hug, and he chuckled to himself before caressing the console one more, then turning to leave.
As he made his way back to the last time window, he heard Rose, and possibly even the voice of the Madam up ahead. He shifted to the side, hiding behind a wall so he could listen without being spotted.
"Yeah," Rose said. "Well, sorta. It's… it's just a place we've visited. Sorta got pulled here, yeah?"
"It's all so strange." The Madam said, and the Doctor risked a peek, thankful she was positioned just so, her back turned enough that she wouldn't spot him. "This world, it's…."
There were screams further down, and the Madam's voice among them, calling for him. Had he not been looking right at her, the Doctor might have thought she was calling for his attention.
"Those screams … is that my future?" the Madam before him asked.
"Yeah," Rose replied, wringing her fingers. "Probably is, sorry."
Madam de Pompadour took a deep breath. "Then I must take the slower path." She bowed her head, her poised form trembling.
Rose looked on in understanding, and maybe a little pity, but that was well placed. She put her hand on Madam de Pompadour's arm, and tilted her head down just a touch. "Are you okay?" She asked kindly.
"No, I'm very afraid," came the reply, and the Madam looked up once more and met Rose's eye. "But you and I both know, don't we Rose? The Doctor is worth the monsters."
Rose smiled sadly and nodded, watching as Madam de Pompadour returned to her time line, and her world, through the tapestry.
Rose remained where she was, looking at the woman, understanding deep in her features, and the Doctor's two hearts swelled at how compassionate she was.
He stepped out, startling his partner, who smiled weakly.
"That's done, then, now what?" She asked.
"Now, we go to the time window." He said, catching her arm as he walked by and bringing her along.
When the returned to the space, Jack was pounding on the window overlooking the ballroom where a crowd of French aristocrats coward at the edges, held back by droids.
"What's going on?" The Doctor ask as he let go of Rose's arm and joined Jack.
"When I saw what was starting, I tried to go in, put a stop to it, slow it down or something, but I can't. It's like the droids knew we would be there and blocked us off."
The Doctor groaned, smacking his head. "Of course, stupid, stupid Doctor." He huffed, and then looked to a confused Rose. "I sent you with a warning for Reinette, but I should have known they would still be scanning her brain. They could have picked up on the memory and did the hard work for us, causing a one-way link between Reinette's time and now."
"Right, well, how they suppose to get back with her head, then?" Rose asked.
"They could teleport. Short range teleport, they only need that one-way connection to maintain their limited distance. She's not there in the room just yet, which means she was somewhere else in the castle, and they needed to bring her closer. I had a feeling something like this would happen, which is why I went and got this." He explained, holding up his left hand.
Rose narrowed her eyes, her mouth slightly agape. Jack shifted behind him.
"A wedding ring?" Jack asked.
"A time ring, like your Vortex Manipulator, but with more TARDIS-like technology." The Doctor replied, fiddling with the ring. "Which is why I needed the date and time, do you have it?" He asked. Jack gestured to the computer screen, and the Doctor twisted the ring this way and that until the coordinates were set." Right, now I just need a way to break through the glass."
The horse whinnied.
"You're gonna go in there, a hero on a white horse?" Rose asked as Madam de Pompadour's commanding voice quieted the court.
"It's terribly cliché, isn't it?" The Doctor said as he went up to the horse, stroking it lightly on the mane before mounting it. "Still, there are worse choices."
Rose came up to him while he was mounted, and he looked down at her, smiling slightly. She was still in her lovely gown, her hair up, the worry in her eyes.
"Promise you're gonna come back." She said, placing her hand on his knee.
He lifted it, and bent down to kiss her knuckles. "I'll be back, my darling." He swore before turning to the time window, seeing the droids force the Madam down on her knees. "Onward, Arthur," He said, giving the horse a nudge.
"Arthur?" Jack asked as the horse backed up.
"Good name for a horse, I think." The Doctor said before the horse darted forward and made the leap through the glass as if he were just jumping a pile of hay.
The French court shrieked, and understandably so, but Arthur slowed down to a gentle trot almost immediately. He hopped off the horse, glancing the King Louis. "Your majesty," He addressed the King before looking to the droid. "I'm terribly sorry for the broken mirror." Arthur whinnied. "And the horse.
"What the hell is going on?" Louis asked as the Doctor made his way to a droid.
"Just a terrible misunderstanding involving these lot." He replied, reaching up and removing the mask and wig from the nearest droid. "It's over, the link is severed. Try as you might to get back to your ship, you won't be able to. You're out of time, both literally and figuratively. And rest assured, I don't believe anyone here will want to wind you up again when that mechanical heart of yours stops ticking."
The droids hummed and whirred, a clicking sound repeating a few times before finally, as one, they all stopped working, slumping over.
The guests whispered among themselves, and the Doctor willed himself to look at the wall where the mirror had been, a small part of him still hoping that, when he looked up, he'd see Rose and Jack on the ship. But it was a wall, just a wall, and he rubbed his thumb on the underside of his time ring with relief.
"What's going to happen now?" Madam de Pompadour asked, once more on her feet, the king at her side.
He looked to her. "Now, you will be left alone. No more droids, no more time windows."
"No more Doctor." She said sadly.
"Yes, no more Doctor." He agreed, lifting his left hand. "And now that you're out of danger, I get to go home, once and for all."
"Will you not stay one night?" She asked, the King frowning at her.
"No," He said firmly before activating the time ring, the strange sort of TARDIS sound louder in his ears than if he were in a console room.
One moment he was in France, looking at the King and his mistress, the next he was back on the ship, a surprised Rose and Jack turning to face him.
He smirked. "What? Did you really think I would go in there without a way back?" He asked them, ignoring the slight bit of dizziness that time travel without a proper capsule caused.
"No," Rose said. "S'just…."
"You just went through the window." Jack said, gesturing to the space on the ship wall where once they saw France, nothing there but a frame and some shards of mirror. "You literally just broke the glass and vanished."
"Well, I timed my return well, didn't I." The Doctor replied, keeping quiet on the fact that he may have undershot how long it would take him to get through after he set the time ring. It didn't matter, not really. He was back, and he could put this whole mess behind him. He strode over to Rose, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Shall we go back?" He said, and at her confusion added, "to the TARDIS. We were supposed to go see Jackie after all."
"Yeah," Rose nodded, something in her eyes telling him she knew something was a bit off. "Let's go." She said with a little grin.
He kissed her brow, then turned waited for Jack to come to his side before leading them to the time ship.
~DW~
She changed back into her other clothes almost as soon as they got back on board, and heard Jack mention something about a shower and a shave before meeting anyone before she went in her room. So Rose wasn't terribly surprised when the ship had taken off, but she'd yet to feel the TARDIS land. And there was an emotion around her, not quite her own, that had her hurrying in her change of clothes to get back out to the console room.
She found the Doctor there, standing before the console, head bowed, a deep and utter sadness about him. She moved to him quickly, hesitated, then wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her forehead between his shoulder blades.
"I used to feel them, in my mind." He said after a while. "Other Time Lords, just on the edges. That deep connection we all had but rarely used because it was so utterly intimate, and Time Lords didn't do intimacy, not if it could be helped. After… after I did what I did, I felt that loss. I even tried… but then you were with me, and… I won't say you made me forget, but you made it feel like I could get beyond the loss of my people and my home world."
"Now you can't." Rose guessed.
She felt the Doctor shift and turn in her embrace, so she lifted her head and stepped back to give him room. He settled with his hands on her hips as she placed her arms on his shoulders, getting closer.
"No, it's not that. I still think that, with time, I could move beyond. But what… Reinette did," He said, half spitting out the woman's name. "It's awakened an ache for me. I feel unsettled, not only because of how she brazenly took it, but because I feel I still need it."
Rose took in every detail of his beloved face, hoping she wasn't misunderstanding him before saying, "Can I do that for you?"
The Doctor's entire body tensed. "What?" He asked, his voice too quiet.
Rose looked away, cursing herself for her idiocy. "Sorry, just…"
"No, no, no, what did you say? What did you ask?" He desperately kept her with him.
Rose pulled up some more of her courage, reminding herself that she and the Doctor were romantically involved now. Clearing her throat, she met the Doctor's gaze and said, "the mind thing. Can I do that for you?"
The Doctor wasn't breathing, something she hadn't realized until seconds ticked by with him staring at her, eyes wide and bright with something like hope. She slid her hands down, feeling the rapid tattoo of his hearts going far quicker than normal.
She frowned, but before she could ask if he was alright, his hands left her hips and framed her face, fingers brushing her temples.
"Rose," the way he said her name caught her breath. So, she just nodded, and closed her eyes, focused on breathing.
He took a breath, and then she felt something in her head, like a tickle. "Enter." She mused, smirking at what she figured was a knock.
And then she gasped. Her head felt warm, as though she'd been basking in the sun all day, but also different. It was relaxing, like when Patrice demonstrated face messages, but also as if she'd had more cocktails that what was proper. She was high, and drunk, relaxed and floating.
"I wanted to tell you that you could picture a door in front of anything you didn't want me to see, but the images floating about are a little amusing." The Doctor teased, and Rose chuckled as she realized he was seeing everything she was recalling. She pulled herself together, imagining her mind like a great big room full of doors, a year of her life tucked behind each one, leaving only her own memories and feelings for the Doctor lingering about for him to see.
"I'm not sure how she did it." He said.
Rose focused on the alien warmth in her head, mentally stepping into it.
"Not sure what I'm doing." She said with a slight laugh.
She felt him smirk. "You're doing just fine." He said, but she realized he didn't speak. She heard him in her head. Or maybe it was his head? "You're here, you're in my head. I was just prepared for your entry."
Rose frowned, because while she could feel the alien nature of it, she could see anything.
And then she did. She saw the basement of Hendricks, the emergency exit corridor. And she heard herself, demanding the Autons give up their prank.
"Ha!" She smiled. "That's when we met."
"You two need a room." Jack's voice was distant and present all at once.
So was the Doctor's chuckle as his presence eased from Rose's head.
She opened her eyes when she felt his fingertips leave her temples. Blinking rapidly, Rose gripped the edge of the console to steady herself as the Doctor moved around to the other side, and Jack joined him.
"Now, we'll see Jackie," The Doctor said, meeting her eye from the around the rotor. His eyes were darker than normal, and he smiled at her like there was some secret between them that Jack would never know. Maybe there was, and it gave her a sort of thrill. They really were a couple, and any doubts she hadn't realized she had were gone now, just gone. There would be other people coming aboard, other people who wanted him, who would try and get his attention. But it didn't matter, because he was hers, they were each others', just like he said.
"Popping to 2005?" Jack said, breaking the moment once more.
"Just to make sure she's alright, and then," The Doctor said, glancing down at the controls, flicking them quickly before meeting her eye again. "Off to the next adventure."
First of all, thank you all for your reviews and patience while it takes me time between posts. Second, I hope I cleaned the moffat mess enough for you all.
Until next time.