A/N: (Feel free to skip my useless rambling) Alright, guys, I know this is an extremely overdue update, and I apologize. I had it all written once upon a time, but then my computer crashed and I lost the chapter and had to start over from scratch. Anyway, it's here now, and I think you all will enjoy it!

I'm updating today because I'm going to be out of town and visiting family this week, and they live literally in the middle of nowhere, and don't have internet. So I won't be able to update on Friday unless I find an internet cafe or something. So, updating will be weird for the next two weeks or so, if I don't update the following Wednesday (the 5th of Sept, day I get back), then just expect an update on that Friday, (7th).

Anyway, read, relish, and review! :)


27

The Mona Lisa

They turned and burst out of the room. The Doctor glanced left and right, seeing guards pouring in from every direction. They were hot on their tails as the group ducked down a side corridor, Rory knocking down a suit of armor in the process. It fell with a clatter of metal on the stone floor as they dashed onward.

They were about halfway down the hall when Leonardo, huffing and puffing, yelled breathlessly, "Wait!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and stopped. They didn't have time to wait! He spun, still running, "Come on! We don't have the time!"

Leonardo shook his head, running up to grip the Doctor's wrist, "It's a matter of life and death."

That stopped the Doctor in his tracks, "What is?"

"The painting, I have to get the painting… and the book, it's the only way to stop her," he raved manically, an insane glint in his brown eyes.

"Stop who?" Amy had stopped running a long time ago, and she stepped forward in interest, arms folded around herself. They could hear the feet pounding on the stone not far from them, shouts echoing off the cavernous castle walls.

"And what book?" Rory added looking equally confused as everybody else.

Leonardo swallowed and took another gasping breath. Humans. Single cardiovascular systems were so much weaker than binary, the Doctor though idly. "No time to explain, we need to get to the library."

The Doctor nodded and swallowed, thinking hard. He knew that there could possibly be more things at risk and higher stakes than the life of one of the most renowned inventors of all time. If the Mona Lisa was an alien, and if she truly was dangerous as it seemed, and those other creatures were definitely dangerous and probably linked to her… they could be a danger to the culture and ways of Florence, of Italy… and if they were a danger to that, then they were a danger to the Renaissance, which in turn would endanger the future culture of Britain, America, and the rest of Europe…

Yes, there were definitely higher stakes than just the life of an Inventor.

He clapped Leonardo on the shoulder, "Alright, lead on."

"Look! There they are!"

They turned to see a Captain and several other guards pointing at them, beginning to rush down the steps and over the suit of armor into the corridor. Leonardo's eyes widened, and he looked at the group.

"Follow me."

The old man turned pushed past Brooke, Amy, and Rory and made his way as quickly as he could down the corridor. Amy and the Doctor followed, and Rory was about to when he noticed Brooke wasn't with them. She was loading her crossbow.

She aimed and fired.

An arrow seemed to grow out of the chest of one of the guards.

Brooke didn't have time to reload. Another guard caught up with her, swinging his sword. She blocked it with the wood of the crossbow, but she had nothing to fight back with. Before he even knew what he was doing, his legs kicked into action and Rory ran forward, swung his sword, and sliced the surprised man's head clean off.

He grabbed Brooke's hand, "Come on!"

Rory dragged Brooke down the corridor after Leonardo, Amy, and the Doctor's receding backs. They pelted onward, fueled by adrenaline, fear, and the voices of their chasers echoing after them.

Leonardo turned down a side corridor, opening a steel door and ushering everyone into it. It was dark inside, with only a sliver of light from the door standing slightly ajar, and that faded as Leonardo slipped in and shut it.

Their breathing was heavy and labored as the guards ran past, shouting about where on earth they'd gone. Then, Leonardo whispered, "This goes to the library, just down the tunnel."

The Doctor nodded to him, even though he couldn't see his face, and then turned and crept down the pitch-black passage. Their feet slapped on the wet stone, and as his fingers brushed the roughness of the walls, he occasionally ran across a spongy patch of moss or the slimy bump of a slug or snail. It was clear that these secret catacombs were not often used. The Doctor often found himself turning into a clumsy, flailing, ninja as his face or hands would catch on a dusty, damp cobweb. The air was still and musky, rank with the smell of wet plaster and rotting organic debris.

There was a faint hint of fear that was making its cold home in the Time Lord's heart. He wasn't even sure if fear was the right word or not. It was just that… he had no idea what he was getting into here. He'd never seen these types of aliens before. He didn't know their tactics, or weaknesses, or strengths. He didn't know their plans or what their plans might be. He didn't know their goals or their hatred or their lust. He didn't know anything. For a Time-traveler his age, who'd seen just about everything…that was frightening. Terrifying, even.

His fingertips finally brushed up against strong, smooth wood. His superior nose inhaled new scents, scents of smoke and oranges, wood and the dank musk of dusty old books and unmoved furniture. They'd arrived. His long, clumsy fingers fumbled around until they found a button, and he pressed.

The wooden wall revolved to a darkened room. Candles had been snuffed. Curtains had been pulled. The only light came from the glow of the smoldering coals that had been left to burn in the hearth. The Doctor stepped out of the passage and onto a rug, actually holding his breath, though he didn't know why. Perhaps it was because it was a library. Libraries were filled with ideas and concepts and stories. All of them were begging to be told and read and listened to. One didn't speak in libraries. One listened. One read. One came to learn, to know, to understand. There was something about a roomful of books that sometimes rendered a person speechless. Maybe it was just the solemnity of the place, maybe it was the state of being, maybe it was because libraries were kind of outside of time.

He liked libraries. Libraries were a place where ideas were immortal. They could live on as long as the books did, gathering dust but cheating time. Ideas were always there, fresh as they were the day they were thought of, waiting. Waiting to be picked up by someone who could open up to their magic. Perhaps books, in themselves, were kind of like little time-machines, transporting people outside of time and space to a place inside their heads.

Yes. That was probably why the Doctor liked libraries.

And yet he hated them. He hated them because of River. Because libraries, or rather, The Library was a tomb as much as it was a temple. It held things and lives that were long dead, only to be resurrected in a reader's mind. Except for River. River could never be resurrected. She never would be. And yet, she was every time he met her. Rebirthing and reborn. First a stranger, then an acquaintance. Friend, now. What was next? Every time he met her she was different. Changing and evolving, parts of her dropping off, being left by the wayside, forgotten as she got younger and he got older. Until Darillium. Until that awful day that loomed in his future. Until he would send her off, screwdriver in hand. She would continue to rush on, going to a Library to be open up to ideas and be reborn one more time. Until there was nothing left of River Song.

He was shaken from his thoughts as Leonardo rushed past him to an easel, quickly rolling up the canvass on it and securing it with a bit of twine and sliding it into its protective casing.

The Doctor sucked in a breath and glanced around, trying to swallow the knot that had twisted itself in his throat at the thoughts. "Alright, Leonardo…" he said quietly, "What book are we looking for?"

"It's not in here," Leonardo responded, "we have to go a bit farther to find that."

The guards' calls were faint now, hallways away, but they were getting closer.

"Take your time then," Brooke muttered sarcastically as Leonardo slowly walked to the north wall of the library and began thumbing through books.

Rory frowned, "Why are you looking if you know the book isn't in here?"

Leonardo held up a finger, shushing him irately, "Everyone be quiet for a moment!" He fingered the bookcase and then gently tugged on each book as he pressed his ear to them, listening for something. Then, a slow smile spread across his face and he pulled a book out, pressing his hand to the back of the bookcase.

A green, electrical light emitted from that spot, and the case moved the reveal a door that was very much alien.

"Holy crap." Brooke breathed.

The Doctor stepped forward and fingered the symbols on the door, brushing Leonardo aside as he traced circles on the metal. Finally he turned the handle, and went inside. Rory, Amy, Leonardo, and Brooke followed, shutting the door as the bookcase slid back into place behind them.

"Cool, secret alien room in a castle in Florence…" Amy muttered, swallowing as she glanced around. Her eyes widened when they set on a figure, sitting in a chair.

Everybody froze.

"Well, Leonardo, I was wondering when you'd show up. Have you finished your blueprints, yet?"

It was the Mona Lisa.

That ethereal smile lit up her face as she looked at the old man, her delicate fingers were poised on the sides of the settle she rested on, midnight blue dress puffed around her like a cloud of silk and satin.

"Ah, I… I haven't, Signora…" The inventor began.

She hushed him, standing as the silk flowed about her, her eyes piercing even while that smile stayed on her lips.

Rory blinked, "So she really does smile like that…" he whispered. Amy rolled her eyes at him.

The room was quiet as she glared at Da Vinci. "I have given you more than enough time. Where are my war machines you promised me? Where are my secret weapons? My hand-cannons? My diving gear?" Her voice was dangerously low. "Surely you, Signor Da Vinci, have not run out of ideas. That would be most unfortunate for you."

A purr was heard from the four corners of the room. The Doctor looked around. Man-shaped shadows shifted in the eerie, green candlelight. Their faces were barely hidden, but that smile was still evident. So were the knives.

"As much as I'd love to chat," the Doctor started, "We're getting a bit chased, rather annoying, really, and we just need a book."

She held up a worn, leather-bound manuscript. "This?"

The Doctor glanced at Leonardo. The man nodded.

"I'm afraid this holds the secrets to… well… just about everything. You see…"

"Doctor." The Doctor supplied.

She raised an eyebrow, "Doctor. I come from very, very far away. So far away, I'm sure your infinitesimal mind could barely imagine."

The Doctor simply smirked at her. "You'd be surprised."

She frowned at the interruption. "And this holds, well, important things that only my race should know. Now, apparently, our dear inventor here has read it. I can't allow those secrets out… so… what to do, what to do?" She snapped her fingers, and one of the men in the corners stepped forward. "I suppose I'll just have to take his mind directly."

She stepped forward towards Leonardo, who naturally took a step back. "This will be rather inconvenient." She sighed, "Your mind won't be half as useful when it's controlled…"

"Don't you dare…" The Doctor muttered, reaching for his sonic just as Rory raised his sword.

She simply smiled and stretched out her hand. The Doctor sonicked, and Rory jumped in between.

Her hand brushed his neck, and her smile widened. Before the Doctor could even think of what to do, the same smile spread itself across Rory's face, and he turned, raising his sword.

The Mona Lisa grinned devilishly, "Leave Da Vinci to me. Kill them."