A/N: (Feel free to skip my useless rambling) One of the shorter ones, my muse and inner editor were against me this week. They decided to gang up on me, which was totally unfair. *huffs* Anyway, here we go with rescuing Leonardo! Enjoy and Review!

25

Storming the Keep (Quietly)

"Doctor, I can't wear this." Amy said, eyes bereft of any semblance of like as she stared down at the blue, high necked, dress the Doctor had given her to wear. It was truly an interesting sight, seeing the kiss-o-gram in such a strange outfit. She was accustomed to short skirts and police outfits and any costume she liked. But this was so different. It was a Renaissance ball gown, (god knows where'd he'd gotten that!). She'd only been in it for all of five minutes and already felt incredibly uncomfortable wearing it.

The Doctor hadn't even bothered to change into something even remotely Renaissance. He was in a black suit, with streaming coattails, a black bowtie was tied around his throat, and he had donned a freshly polished pair of shoes. He looked fantastic, just not for the occasion.

"Oh, don't worry, Pond. Just follow my lead." He replied easily. They were going to a Masque ball that was being held at the Borgia Castle. While in, they were supposed to find out the location of Leonardo Da Vinci, hopefully find out why he was there, and preferably get him out. While they were infiltrating the castle from the inside, Rory and Brooke would be paving a way out from the outside. If everything went off without a hitch (and it never did), they'd be able to get Leonardo, protect him from whatever alien creatures were after him, find out what they were after, possibly eliminate said aliens, and then Leonardo could live and paint and invent in peace for the rest of his long life.

Amy was probably supposed to be a peacock. Her dress was a shimmery royal blue, with threads of gold and silver woven throughout the fabric to make it shine and glow. Her mask was a deep indigo, with swirls of spring green and gold-leaf feathers placed on the left outer rim to accent it.

The Doctor, on the other hand, just looked like an awkward penguin. He'd been wise enough to forgo the top hat, settling for simply slicking back his hair with a fair amount of gel. His bangs rose to new heights, and his eyes were twinkling with amusement as he walked down the street up to the castle entrance.

A large, pantalooned guard stopped him, "Halt, nobody's allowed in."

"Ah, but we're here for the party." The Doctor said smoothly, looking up at the guard with a bright smile. He flashed his psychic paper, and the guard took it.

His eyes widened and he bowed lowly, "I'm sorry, Your Holiness, go right ahead."

As they passed into the atrium, Amy chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, "Your Holiness, hm?"

"The Bishop of Gallifrey," the Doctor said with a smirk, "And her Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh." He said, gestured theatrically to Amy.

Amy laughed, "Ooh, I'm a duchess, am I now? Making up stories, are we Doctor?"

"Always." The Doctor replied with a smirk. They walked down the steps into the bustling Masque Ball, a figurehead of Renaissance Florentine Court. As usual, it was bursting with color. The court was the height of fashion these days, with the womens' dresses spinning about the room like taffeta and silk teacups, and the mens' doublets and pantaloons and other such items of clothing embroidered beyond what was sane, so that they practically glowed in the light.

Amy whispered to him, "Now don't start dancing and give yourself away."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh please, I'm a wonderful dancer." He pretended to be hurt.

Amy rolled her eyes, "You wish."

"I have very good rhythm."

"A-rhythm, more like."

The Doctor waved her insult off, making a beeline for the punch bowl, "Mingle, Pond. We need to find out where they're keeping Da Vinci."

"Mingle." Amy breathed to herself, nodding. How did one mingle at a Masque?

"Why, hello, don't think I've seen you before!" Came the surprised comment from a very irritating female voice.

Amy turned to see a rather large woman grinning at her, "Oh, hello! Ah- I'm sorry, I don't think I've…seen you before… either." She cringed a bit. This was worse than Mel's parties back home.

The woman waved it off, "Ah, it's fine. I didn't expect you to. And you are?"

"Um… Duchess Amelia Pond."

"Duchess? Ooh! How goes the Duchy?"

"The Duchy goes…well." She blinked, god what was she supposed to say? "Um… is there a loo around her somewhere?" Where was the Doctor when she needed a rescue?

She was spared from the odd looks the woman was giving her when the Doctor took her arm, nodded politely to the woman, and then pulled Amy back towards the table, muttering, "Don't talk to her, that's the lesser duchess of Spain, people don't like her…"

"Oh." Amy blinked, "Have you found anything on Leonardo?"

"Nope, shall we go exploring?" He grinned manically.

"Is that a good idea?"

The Doctor chuckled, straightening his bowtie with one hand and then running his fingers through his hair, "Probably not, but it's a fun one. Always substitute a fun idea if you've run out of good ones, I always say!"

They crept along the hall, ducking into curtains and behind suits of armor whenever a guard or courtier passed. Amy's fingers brushed along the paneled wall. The halls were filled with golden, flickering light from the candles above. The glow played across their skin, wound its way into their hair, weaving halos with clever fingers as it went.

The wood floors were covered with rich, soft material as they walked. It muffled their footsteps. They kept closely to the wall, making no noise with which to alert anyone in the nearby vicinity. Hopefully they'd make it around the castle undisturbed. They wound through it, passing libraries and baths and bedrooms and dining halls, kitchens and museums and sitting rooms until finally the hall tapered off into a door. It was locked. Out of all the rooms in the castle, this one locked from the outside.

The Doctor sonicked it, and in they went.