Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and never will. But I do own Charlene Davis and any other characters I make up!
A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed :D
Charlene's outfit for this episode is on my polyvore:)
Really long chapter as you can tell from the alert of a new chapter you got ;)
Third Person...
The first thing the Doctor noticed when he was on the other side of the fireplace was that the room he was in was different. It reminded him of the bedrooms in a French castle. Also unlike last time, there was no Reinette in the room so naturally; he called for her as he stepped away from the fireplace,
"Reinette…just checking you're okay."
He noticed a very gorgeous harp and he went over there to idly brush a hand across the strings of the harp. It emitted a beautiful sound, a sound that he knew that Charlene would love if she was in the room too. At the thought of Carly, he smiled to himself. He couldn't believe that she was a Time Lady; well she wasn't one yet since the pocket watch wouldn't open for her because it wasn't ready to be opened yet. But still… here he thought he was the only one left of the Time Lords but here was this girl, who he had known for a long time, and she was one.
At first he was shocked to find that fob watch, but then he was filled with happiness and it seemed as if the emptiness in his hearts disappeared like it was never there in the first place. He was too into his thoughts about Charlene that he didn't notice a woman coming into the room. This was woman was little Reinette but she was now grown up to a beautiful young woman who was the envy of every one of her friends and the other women that knew her. A clearing of a throat snapped the Doctor out of his thoughts about Charlene and he turned around.
"Oh! Hello!" he said, surprised by her. He took of his glasses and felt distracted by how beautiful this woman looked … not as beautiful as Cary was if he was to be completely honest. This woman had a more obvious beauty about her while Carly had a quiet beauty that was on the inside and out. Seeing that she was waiting for her to respond, he spoke on and he didn't miss the slight stutter in his voice (one he usually got when talking to a beautiful women but not with Charlene as he was more comfortable around and he felt closer to her now that he knew that she was a Time Lady), "Um, I was just looking for Reinette. Uh, this is still her bedroom, isn't it? I've been away, not sure how long." It must have been a while since this was a different bedroom than the one he had seen previously.
Before she had a chance to respond, someone called out from the outside of the room,
"Reinette! We're ready to go!"
The Doctor's eyes widened at that but it was also in realization. This was little Reinette!
Reinette called back, turning her head towards the door, "Go to the carriage, mother, I will join you there." She looked back at the Doctor, a teasing smile on her lips and it showed in her voice as she said, "It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
The Doctor blinked at her, amazed that this was the little girl he knew since she was seven years old and because of that, he had an amazed tone in his voice as he said, "Reneitte."
She smiled at him, a beautiful one that almost put Charlene to shame. Though this wasn't Charlene, he imagined her smiling at him the same way Reneitte was so he found smiling back at Reinette because of this fact. "Well…" He swallowed as he found his eyes unconsciously (or was it conscious?) looking her up and down, "Reinette, how you've grown."
She approached him, still smiling. "And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you."
The Doctor was unsure on how to react around her. The only woman he had been around the longest Charlene and with her easy going nature, it was easy to talk to her. Be around her.
"Right…yes…sorry," he apologized lamely. "Um…umm…um listen, lovely to catch up but, er, better be off, eh?" He chuckled nervously, "Don't want your mother finding you up here with strange man, do we?" The last thing he needed was to get slapped by someone's mother. He always had a problem with mothers. He didn't know what it was though. He must have had a face that was just begging to be slapped…
"Strange?" Reinette sounded surprised by this wording. "How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old."
"Yeah… I suppose you have." The Doctor would have rubbed the back of his head sheepishly but instead, he gave a small, nervous laugh. "I came the quick route." His eyes widened when she touched his cheek as her eyes examined him. Her hand was warm, giving him an unsettled feeling in his stomach. He wanted to push her away from him but found that he couldn't. Though Charlene wasn't in the room, he wondered how she would react to Reinette touching him on the cheek. Would she be jealous? Just the thought sounded ridiculous. It wasn't as if she was in love with him…or was she? Sometimes he did feel as if she had feelings for him and when he did, it made his hearts flutter. But why should she be interested in him? The Doctor was snapped out of his thoughts by Reinette speaking.
"Well, you seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd," she said, letting her hand drop from his cheek. "Reason tells me you cannot be real."
The Doctor shook his head as he gazed at the women in front of him, "Oh, pfft… you never want to listen to reason…"
She opened her mouth to say something in response but someone called out before she could,
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient."
The Doctor could tell that she was annoyed by the interrupted which sounded in her voice when she called back.
"A moment." She looked back at him, and something flashed in her eyes but the Doctor didn't know what it was, "So many questions. So little time."
Before he had time to react, she pulled him to her, slamming her lips to his in a passionate kiss. The Doctor's eyes widened. Well, he wasn't expecting that… She made them stumble backwards into the mantelpiece of the fireplace. Her lips were soft against his, reminding him of the way Charlene's lips felt when they kissed those two times. Just thinking about that made him return the kiss and his arms slipped around her waist. In his mind, he was thinking about Charlene as he kissed Reinette.
The same voice called again but this time it was closer.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!"
Reinette broke the kiss and ran to the open door, grabbing her purse from her dressing table as she went, not glancing back. The Doctor stared after with what he knew was an awestruck look. Blimey, that was some kiss. It reminded him of the kiss him and Charlene shared on New Earth. Yes, it was the Lady Cassandra in Charlene's body that made that happen but it was still Charlene's lips and that this made him as awestruck and dazed as the one that Reinette gave him.
The servant appeared the door, blinking in surprise at the sight of him.
"Poisson," The Doctor repeated the name that sounded so familiar. It wasn't long until the penny dropped, "Reinette Poisson?" He just couldn't believe it! "No … no, no, no, no, no way, Reinette Poisson?!" He ran right up to the servant as if to interrogate him, but he didn't allow the servant to get a word in, "Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fiftieth, uncrowned Queen of France!" He ran back towards the fireplace in giddy excitement, "Actress, artist, musician, dancer, and courtesan? Fantastic gardener!" He laughed excitedly, throwing his head back.
"Who the hell are you?!" The servant was finally able to exclaim.
Not responding, he reached for the fireplace and found the trigger to get back to the ship. "I'm the Doctor. And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" The fireplace resolved again, taking him with it as he laughed manically. He stepped back onto the ship, looking around for Carly and Mickey.
"Carly!" he called. He frowned, seeing that there was no one there, as he continued to look around. "Mickey?" A peeved look crossed his face. They had wandered off, hadn't they? And Carly said she wouldn't go searching for it. He strided forward, ranting to himself, "Every time, every time, it's rule one – don't wander off! I tell them, I do, rule one! There could be anything on this ship." By this time, he had rounded the corner and found himself face to face with a white horse in the middle of the corridor. He blinked as the horse whinnies. Well, that's not exactly what he meant by anything…
I followed behind Mickey, the fire extinguisher still in my arms. "Mickey, you're not Indian Jones!" I said to him as he did an 'Indian Jones' style drop-and-roll. "I know that you're getting into it, but you don't have to do that."
"What? It's looks cool," Mickey protested, looking over at me.
"You think it looks cool, but it looks ridiculous," I said, shaking my head amused.
He shrugged and continued to do it. I shook my head again. And this is why I sometimes wonder why my sister was dating him. There was a sudden squeak of alarm and I quickly went to Mickey and saw that he was standing in front of some kind of surveillance camera. Mickey didn't look back at me as he told me,
"Look at this."
I went up to Mickey's side and we both looked at the camera. I froze when I saw that it was an actual human eye in the camera.
"Are you seeing it too?" I asked Mickey, horrified.
He nodded, "That's an eye in there. That's a real eye."
I gulped, wondering why it was a real eye. I didn't think about it much as the eye retreated back into the wall. I could hear the sound of a heart beating and I gulped again as I slowly bent down to a small circular cover in the bulkhead. I tried to pull it off but I pulled my hand back instantly when it burnt me.
"Ouch," I muttered to myself, wincing. But I still tried to open it again. It didn't burn me this time so I was able to open it and it revealed what I was afraid of. It was a real human heart with wires and pipes attached to it and it seemed to be hooked up to the ship.
Mickey peered at it, "What is that? What's there in the middle there? It's like it's wired in."
I didn't bother to hide my disgust. "That's a heart Mickey…" I gulped for a third time, "That's a human heart."
A little while later, we were walking down a corridor, holding our guns closely to us. I ignored the eyes of the cameras watching us. The last thing I needed to be thinking about was those real eyes in those cameras.
"Maybe it wasn't a real heart," Mickey said, trying to reassure me or himself, I wasn't sure.
"No, it was a real heart Mick. It was actually beating, I could hear it." I shuddered, a chill going up and down my spine.
"Is this like normal for you? Is this an average day?" he questioned curiously.
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," I said. "One thing you have to remember with the Doctor there are no more average days. Makes traveling with him exciting." We stopped by a window with a view into a luxurious 18th century room.
"It's France again," Mickey pointed out and I nodded, gazing into the room, amazed by the beauty of it. "We can see France."
"I think we're looking into a mirror." That was the only explanation I could think of.
The doors in the room opened, and a man wearing regal clothing entered the room with two other men who I guessed were servants. Mickey scoffed from beside me.
"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?"
"King of France."
I smiled at the familiar voice and looked over at the Doctor, still smiling. "Hey, there you are. What have you been up to?"
The Doctor's eyes were on the King as he answered causally, "Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat…picked a fight with a clock work man…" The sound of a horse whining sounded from around the corner causing a 'what the hell?' expression crossed my face. "Oh, and I met a horse."
As soon as he said that, a horse trotted into view. It was a beautiful one too. I had always loved horses.
"Oh, she's beautiful," I commented, going over to the horse to pet it on her nose. The horse neighed, pressing her muzzle against my hand. I giggled. "Yes, it's nice to meet you too, Sweetheart." I was too busy admiring the horse I missed the soft smile the Doctor was giving me.
"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked causing me to look over at him.
The Doctor did the same, "Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." I returned to the spot where I was once was as the Doctor looked through the window, and he pointed. "See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history…" He placed a finger on a glass just as a woman entered the room. "Hers. Time windows…deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eightieth. Why?"
"Well, who is she?" I asked curiously.
"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette."
"Wait, isn't that the little girl's name?"
The Doctor nodded, "Yes, this is her."
I looked surprised. "Really?" My eyes went back to look at Reinette. She definitely had grown up to be very beautiful. Made me feel a little self-cautious. She probably made other women feel the same way when they were around her. I snapped out of my thoughts when the Doctor spoke again.
"One of the most accomplished women who ever lived."
"Why is she with the King? Does she have plans of being the Queen?" I asked.
"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress."
"Wow," I mumbled to myself, not expecting that answer. 'The Queen must love that' I thought to myself sarcastically.
As the King left, the Doctor said, "I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace…even with her own title – Madam de Pompadour."
Reinette stood before the mirror now, getting herself ready. I looked at the Doctor and I immediately didn't like the way he was looking at her, a spark of jealous going through me like it did when he saw Sarah Jane Smith for the first time in years. But I put that off to the side.
"What about the Queen and her? I bet they didn't get along," I said. That's definitely how I would feel if I was the Queen.
"Actually, they get on very well."
This surprised Mickey and me.
"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?"
The Doctor shrugged, "France. It's a different planet."
Out of nowhere, I heard the sounds of a clock ticking and before I knew it, we were once again fighting off a droid in Reinette's world.
"Hello, Reinette, hasn't time flown?" The Doctor greeted, fire extinguisher in his hands.
"Fireplace man!" Reinette cried in relief.
The Doctor stepped past her and sprayed the droid with the fire extinguisher until it wasn't moving anymore. He threw the fire extinguisher back to Mickey where he got it from. Before we could sigh in relief, the droid started to click and it whirled loudly.
"What's it doing?"
"Switching back on. Melting the ice."
"And then what?"
"Then it kills everyone in the room."
"Well, that's not scary at all," I said sarcastically as Mickey's eyes widened at what the Doctor said.
The droid's arm shot out towards the Doctor's throat but he quickly jumped back towards me – I grabbed onto his arm because of this – before it could reach him. I let out the breath I had held in when the droid did this and released the Doctor's arm and he squeezed my hand quickly before turning towards the droid.
"Who are you? Identify yourself?" he demanded.
But the droid didn't answer only cocked its head to the side. The Doctor looked towards Reinette, going over to her.
"Order it to answer me," he told her.
"Why should it listen to me?" Reinette asked with a confused look on her face.
"I don't know. It did when you were a child." The Doctor then whispered in her ear but Mickey and I could still hear him, "Let's see if you still got it."
Reinette nodded and turned to look at the droid. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions asked of you."
The droid finally lowered its arm. "I am repair droid seven," it replied, answering the Doctor's question.
"So, what happened to the ship then? There was a lot of damage."
"Ion storm, eighty two percent system failure."
"That ship hasn't moved in a year," The Doctor said. "What's taking it so long?"
"We didn't have the parts."
Mickey laughed, "Always comes to that, doesn't it? The parts."
I shook my head at him.
"What happened to the crew?" The Doctor asked, back to the questioning. "Where are they?"
"We didn't have the parts," the droid repeated.
The Doctor was persistent as always. "There should have been fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?"
"We did not have the parts." I looked at the droid confused. Why was it repeating that? Every time the Doctor asked about the crew?
"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where –"It finally dawned on the Doctor the same time it did for me.
I didn't hold back my gasp. "You used the crew for the parts?" I said, feeling as if I was about to throw up.
"The crew?"
I gulped audibly and the Doctor looked over at me concerned. I licked my lips, taking a deep breath before saying,
"We found a camera with an eye in it…and there was a heart… wired into machinery." The feeling of having to throw up came over me again.
"It was just what it was programmed to do," The Doctor told me softly. "Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No-one told it the crew was off the menu. What did you say the flight desk smelt?"
"Someone cooking…" I said, gulping again.
"Flesh plus heat. Barbecue."
I was sure that I looked sick to my stomach and looking at Reinette, I could see that she was looking sick too, probably not as much as I was but she was.
The Doctor turned back to the droid. "But what are you doing here? You've opened time windows, that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could have gone to a repair yard. Instead you come to Paris, France? Why?"
"One more part is required."
The Doctor jerked his head to Reneitte and he, including me and Mickey stared at her.
"Then why haven't you taken it?" he asked, turning back to look at the droid, not getting it. I didn't get it either. Not that, why would they pick Reinette? They could have their choice of anyone but they chose her.
"She is incomplete."
A look of disbelief crossed the Doctor's face. "What… so, that's the plan then? Just keep on opening more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's 'done yet'?"
"Why her?" I asked, voicing my thoughts out loud rather abruptly causing the Doctor to look at me surpised. "I mean, why did they pick her? They could have picked anyone in the whole universe, but they decided to choice her. So why specifically her?"
The Doctor wasn't the one to answer…the droid did, but it didn't really answer my question at all.
"We are the same," it said.
Reinette looked outraged by this statement. "We are not the same; we are in no sense the same!"
"We are the same," it repeated only adding to Reinette's outrage.
She advanced forward as she angrily stated, "Get out of here! Get out of here this instance!"
"Reinette, no," The Doctor protested.
But it was too late and the droid disappeared.
"It's back on the ship." He quickly turned to me, "Carly, take Mickey and Arthur, get after it. Follow it, don't approach it, just watch what it does."
"Wait, who's Arthur?" I said.
"Good name for a horse."
I gave him an exasperated look, "We're not keeping the horse."
"I let you keep Mickey!"
"Oi! I don't want him! He's my sister's boyfriend, not mine!" I huffed.
But he ignored me, pushing me towards the time window by the small of my back. "Now, go, go, go!"
"Alright, alright! No need to push!" Mickey and I ran back through the mirror portal and I got one last look at the Doctor before he closed the window behind us.
-0-
We got back to the ship and started walking down a corridor in search of the droid. Suddenly Mickey laughed.
"So that Doctor, eh?" he said suggestively.
But I didn't get what he was suggesting. Or maybe I did, I just pretended not to. "What?"
"Well! Madam de Pompadour, Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra."
I stopped walking, suddenly feeling pissed off. For no reason. It was true. I was jealous, but I didn't have to admit to it especially not to Mickey.
"Cleopatra – he mentioned her ONCE. That's all, nothing more, nothing less."
"But he called her Cleo," Mickey reminded me.
"Well, he calls me Carly, doesn't mean he's interested," I pointed out, somewhat sadly. I mean, why was it that he was interested in all those other women and not me? There was something between us. I knew it. And sometimes, I thought he knew it too.
Suddenly a droid appeared behind Mickey!
"Mickey!" I shrieked.
But it was too late. The droid clutched him by the neck as another one appeared behind me, grabbing me before I could use the fire extinguisher. I struggled, trying to pull the fire exhauster up so I could slam it against the droid's head to let me go, but it was no use.
'Fuck.' I thought to myself horrified at the sight of needles that were on the droid's arm that was extended towards me. Before I had time to slam the weapon on its head, the needles slid into my neck and I fell unconscious, my body slumping down on the ground…
When I finally came to, I heard the noise of a clock ticking and I let my eyes open, letting out a surprise gasp at the sight of the droid that we were looking for right in front of my face, staring at me. Though I knew that the Doctor wasn't around, I called for him frantically,
"Doctor!"
I tried to move my arms but found that I couldn't move them. Looking to see what was wrong, I found that I had been mangled onto some sort of operating table which was titled at a sharp angel. Remembering Mickey, I searched around quickly before my eyes landed on him. He was mangled on another one of those operating tables on the other side of the room.
I sighed relived, "Mickey."
"Charlene?" He sounded scared, but he tried not to let it show in his face. "They're gonna chop us up. Just like the crew – they're gonna chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's your precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!" His voice went louder by the time he finished.
Before I could tell him to calm down and that the Doctor would be here (it might take him a while but he would always come, always), the droid stood before me.
"You are compatible," it said.
Taking the Doctor's place, I started to talk to stall the droids, "Well, you might wanna think about that, droid things. You really, really should. Because me and Mickey …we didn't come alone. Oh yes! We're defiantly not alone! Not by a long shot! And you really, really don't want to mess with our designated driver." The droid thrusted a sharp and lethal looking tool in front of my face. I remained unfazed even though I was freaking out on the inside at the sight of this thing in my face. Ever heard of the Dalek? I'm sure you have, they are hard to forget… but back to the point! They had a name for our friend. They called him the …"
Suddenly, in the distance, there was a loud banging and the sound of someone singing drunkenly. I groaned exasperatedly. That was the Doctor, wasn't it?
"I could have danced all night; I could've danced all night…" It was off key and I was now distracted as I continued to speak to the droids.
"They called him the – they called him the – the –"
The Doctor staggered into the room, dancing with an imaginary partner wearing a pair of sunglasses, and a tie around his head. I groaned to myself. Dammit, the last thing we need is a drunk Doctor!
"And still have begged for moooore!" he continued to sing, off key, staggering around. "I could've spread my wings and fly." He actually spread out his arm in tune to his singing. "And have done a thou—"Then he completely changed the subject, grinning widely, drunkenly. "Have you met the French?!"
If I wasn't so exasperated with what was going on, I would have found this very funny. Mickey was bemused by the way the Doctor was acting. The Doctor was normally collected, didn't let loose that often.
"My GOD, they know how to party."
"Oh, there he is the man of the hour! The Oncoming Storm!" I exclaimed sarcastically.
The Doctor made a distasteful face at me, "Oh, you sound just like your mother."
"Oi!" I cried insulted. But he paid me no mind and I glared at him, unable to help it. "Where have you been? And what have you been doing?"
"Well…" The Doctor dragged out as he always did, "Among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early."
I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the table I was strapped down to. "You and your bananas," I commented, shaking my head while rolling my eyes again.
The Doctor went closer to me and leaned over me. "You should always take a banana to party Carly, bananas are GOOD."
That was when I noticed that his breath didn't smell of alcohol at all and I realized that he was only pretending to be really drunk. The glare on my face fell at that realization but I pretended to be still mad so I quickly put that glare back on my face while giving him a wink to show that I knew what he was doing now. He gave me a wink back with a wide grin. He leaned back and he pretended to finally notice the droids and be absolutely excited to see them.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho, brilliant! It's you!" He laughed drunkenly. "You're my favorite you are, you are the best! Do you know why? Because you are so THICK. You're Mister Thick, Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania!" Then he added as an after though, "And so is your dad." He strolled away before turning on his heel to face us. "Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for?"
I shook my head. "Nope, what were they scanning for, Doctor?" I asked brightly.
The Doctor sniggered before saying, "Her millimeter. They wanna know how old she is. Know why?" Again I shook my head while Mickey watched on, "'Cause this ship is thirty-five years old. And they think that when Reinette is thirty-seven, when she is 'complete', then her brain will be compatible. So, that's what your missing, isn't it?" He stared at one of the droids in the face mockingly. "Hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. You ship needs a brain. And for some reason – God knows what – only the head of Madam de Pompadour will do."
"The brain is compatible."
"Compatible." The Doctor scoffed as he approached the droid. "If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine."
He removed the droid's mask and poured the 'wine' into the clockwork inside the head of the droid. He put it back on and pat it on the head. The droid winded down and the thing that was in my face fell down and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Good the thing the Doctor showed up when he did… He went back to normal.
"Multigrain anti-oil," he explained. "If it moves, it doesn't."
A droid from the corner began to advance, but the Doctor quickly deactivated it by pulling down a nearby lever. He then turned to us. "Right, you two, that's enough lying about…"
"Like we had a choice," I muttered to myself as he released me from the table first with the sonic. As he did the same thing to Mickey, I got off of the table, brushing myself off as Mickey got off of the table too and stood beside me. I turned to look at the Doctor, "What now?"
"Now, it's time we got the rest of the ship turned off," he answered.
"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked, nodding to the droids.
The Doctor pulled down the tie so it was around his neck and he pushed the sunglasses up as he replied, "Yep. Safe. Safe and thick. Way I like them." He changed the subject, "Okay, all the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down." He felt inside his pockets, muttering to himself, "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs?" He looked around, frowning slightly, "I had them a minute ago, I was using them as castanets."
I snuffed my hands in my jeans pocket as the Doctor looked for his Zeus plugs. "But I don't get it…why couldn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-five? Instead of opening a whole lot of them."
"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they'll be lucky to hit the right century. Trial and error after that." He tried to operate the computer, but it wasn't working. I could tell by the frustrated look on the Doctor's face. "The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"
"Try to click something else," I suggested, going over to stand next to the Doctor. "Maybe your clicking the wrong thing." Before the Doctor had time to respond, there was an ominous pinging sound and I knew something was up. "What's that?"
"I don't know," The Doctor said over the clicking sounds. "Incoming message?"
"From who?" Mickey asked with me wondering the same thing.
"Report from the field…" He thought hard for a moment. "One of them must still be out there with Reinette! That's why I can't close the windows, there's an override!"
Behind the Doctor, one of the droid's sprung back to life with a whirling sound. I gasped as the droid expelled the 'wine' the Doctor had poured into its mechanics all over his shoe.
The Doctor stared at his foot. "Well, that was a bit clever." The rest of the droids sprung back to life, filling the room with ticking and he winced. "Right…many things about this are not good."
"Ya think?" I said sarcastically, gulping.
The pinging sounded again and the Doctor turned towards the droid, staring it down. "Message from your little friends? Anything interesting?"
There was pause before the droid answered, "She is complete. It begins." With that, they teleported out.
"Is this one of many things that are not good, is it?" From the look on the Doctor's face, I got my answer.
The Doctor nodded his head with a intense look on his face, "One of them must have found the right time window, and now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing her head."
-0-
"Madame de Pompadour," I called softly as I entered Reinette. She gasped as she whirled around and she opened her mouth to scream, but I cut her off, "Please don't scream. I'm not here to hurt you, Reinette, I promise you that. But we have to talk; we haven't got that long though… so let's make this go as quick as we can…" I gestured to a seat that was in the room, "Can I sit down?" She nodded quickly and I settled myself down on the seat, looking up at Reinette as she stood before me. I took a deep breath, "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years."
"Five years?"
"Yes, it will be sometime after your thirty-seventh birthday," I told her. "I really can't give you an exact time when they'll come as it is a bit random, but they are coming… I'm not going to lie to you and say that they're not because they are. I know that I'm probably not making sense." I gave her a wiry grin, "The Doctor does this so much better."
"Then be exact, and I will be attentive."
"I wish I could be exact, but there isn't enough time," I said, looking at her apologetically.
"There are five years," she persisted.
"Yeah it is, for you…for us, I haven't got five minutes."
Reinette seemed to accept this, "So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?"
"The Doctor says keep them talking," I told her simply. "They're kind of programmed to listen to you now. You may not be able to stop them, but you can delay them a bit."
"Until?"
"Until the Doctor can get there."
Reinette looked happy at that and the jealous feeling came over me again but I ignored it. "He's coming, then?"
"Yeah, he is," I said in a slightly tight voice. "He promises that he will."
Her eyes turned downwards but I didn't miss the sad look in her eyes, "But he cannot…make his promises in person."
"He'll be there when you need him. That's the way it's gotta be."
"It's the way it's always been. The monsters and the Doctor." She sighed slightly. "It seems you cannot have one without the other."
I smiled to myself as I thought of my Doctor, but I didn't know that I had a loving look on my face as I did so, something that Reinette noticed. She was right. You really couldn't. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I finally said.
"You're in love with him, aren't you?" Reinette asked surprising me.
But I ignored her question as I continued, "The thing is … you weren't supposed to have either." I knew that sounded cruel but it was true. "Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you."
Reinette looked angry, "Supposed to happen? What does that mean? It happened, child." I flinched at that but I ignored it. "And I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for a sake of an angel." She stood up, facing the fireplace.
I stared at her back and I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted by Mickey calling,
"Charlene? Charlie?"
We both turned and Mickey appeared from behind a tapestry just outside of the room.
"Charlene!"
I rushed over and met him half way. "What is it?" I asked as soon as I was in front of him.
"The time window when she's thirty-seven. We found it. Right under our noses."
"Doesn't it always turn that way?" I said, shaking my head exasperated. Then I took notice to the fact that Reinette was here. Ah damn…
She began making her way over to the tapestry.
"Wait! You can't go in there. The Doctor—"But it was too late, she already walked through onto the spaceship. I groaned to myself as Mickey and I followed her.
She looked around at her surrounding, lost and confused, and obviously slightly scared by what she was seeing. "So, this is his world." Then there was loud, frightened screaming and Reinette turned towards us. "What was that?"
"I don't know…" I looked over at Mickey for an explanation.
"The time window, the Doctor fixed an audio link."
I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked at Reinette.
"Those screams…" she trailed off as if she was afraid of the answer. "Is that my future?"
I gave her a sad, smile. "Yeah…I'm sorry," I told her, really meaning it. The way she was acting reminded me of my first trip to the future. It was scary to think of what the future held and to experience firsthand was scary.
"Then I must take the slow path," Reinette said, nodding her head as she accepted her fate.
It was then that the future Reinette's voice sounded in the distance. "Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now, you promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time."
The Reinette in front of us looked disturbed, "That's my voice."
Before I could reply or say anything to comfort her, Mickey tugged on my arm. "Char, come on – we've got to go. There's – there's a problem."
"I'll be there in a moment," I told him and he nodded, letting go of my arm. Once he was gone, I turned to look at her concerned, "Are you alright, Reinette?"
"No, I'm very afraid," she admitted. "But you and I both know, don't we, Charlene? The Doctor is worth the monsters." She went to walk about but she paused, looking over at her. "You're special to the Doctor, Charlene. Don't doubt his feelings for you. He may not admit it but he's as in love with you as you are him." She sounded saddened by this but she gave me a small smile before she disappeared.
I thought about her words. No, he couldn't have feelings for me… Before I could think about it more, the sound of Future Reinette's voice sounded,
"Doctor! Doctor!"
Sighing, I headed off. I caught up with Mickey and we both joined the Doctor at the time window as he frantically worked.
"So, you found it?" I asked, biting my bottom lip as I thought about what Reinette said. Was what she said was true? Was the Doctor in love with me just like I was with him? It felt impossible to me. There was just no way…
"They knew I was coming," The Doctor replied, not looking at me while he continued to work frantically. "They blocked it off."
"I don't get it," I said to the Doctor and Mickey in an almost whisper as I stared through the time window into the ballroom where the droids had brought Reinette into along with the King and the rest of the court were frantic. "How did they get in there?" I knew that they teleported. I had seen it, but somehow, I knew that something was going to happen. Something that would hurt me in ways that I wouldn't be able to comprehend. So when I asked the Doctor this, I wasn't really thinking about it.
The Doctor continued working as he replied to me, "They teleported – you saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-range teleports will do the trick."
"But what about the TARDIS? Couldn't we use that to get in there?" I questioned, turning my head towards the Doctor.
"No, we can't use the TARDIS…we're part of events now."
I stayed quiet, thinking to myself, as Mickey spoke up, looking at the Doctor.
"Well, can't we just smash through it?"
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck."
"We don't have a truck," Mickey pointed out.
"I know we don't have a truck!" The Doctor shouted, now starting to get frustrated.
"Well, we can't just stand here and do nothing," I said quietly, having a sinking feeling in my stomach that something bad was going to happen. I just didn't know what it was and that made me feel sick to my stomach…not knowing.
"No, smash the glass, smash the time window…" He paused as he met my eyes. I knew then and there what he was trying to say. And the sinking feeling in my stomach seemed to get bigger and I gulped, my mouth suddenly feeling dry.
"There would be no way back, would there?" I managed to ask, still in a quiet voice, keeping my eyes on the Doctor's.
He only nodded, glancing away from me to look at the time window. I could tell he was hesitating on going, but I knew if he didn't, those drones would cut off Reinette's head and would use her brain for the ship. Knowing the Doctor, I knew that he wouldn't want that to happen to her, especially since he had this puppy dog crush on her. I hated to accept that fact but it was true…
"Go and save her," I finally said and the Doctor looked away from the time window to look at me surprised.
"What?"
"Don't make me say it again," I whispered, tears starting to fill my eyes, but even after I said this, I repeated myself, "Go and save her."
"Char…"
"Go," I said in a stronger voice. "Go and save her. It's something you gotta do. I get it, Doctor… I really do." And I did. Another thing I hated to admit.
He opened his mouth to say something but out came Reinette's voice from inside the ballroom.
"Can everyone please just calm down? Please."
The Doctor looked back at the window, then back at me. I nodded quickly before looking away. I felt him stare at me for couple minutes before doing what he had to do.
A little while later, I was still standing in front of the now broken time window with tears in my eyes. Suddenly, I heard Mickey's voice from behind me.
"What happened? Where did the time window go? What's he gonna get back?"
I didn't say anything. I couldn't say any anything. I continued to stare at the remains of the time window.
'Doctor.' I thought to myself sadly as I let a tear slip down my cheek.
I was still in the same spot, hours later. I felt as if there was empty place in my heart, like there was something missing. I knew that this was because of the Doctor. I knew that I told him to go save her…but it was the right thing to do. If it was the right then why did I feel so awful about it? My feelings for the Doctor ran deep but I didn't know deep until this moment. The fob watch warmed against my chest as it always did when I thought of the Doctor.
Mickey's voice broke me out of my thoughts,
"We can't fly the TARDIS without him. How's he gonna get back?"
"He's not," I whispered but this was to myself and it was so quiet that my sister's boyfriend didn't hear me. I looked up at the stars overhead and I wondered what the Doctor was doing in this exact moment…
The Doctor was wondering the exact same thing about Charlene as she was him. He was holding a glass of wine in his hand as he stood in front of the window, blankly staring up at the same stars that Charlene was looking at. But this was something that was unknown by both of them. He was stuck here now, on the slow path. There was no way back. He would never see Charlene again. The thought of that made his hearts clench together tightly. He barely noticed Reinette coming up behind him until she spoke in a soft voice.
"You know all their names, don't you?" she said and the Doctor looked over at her. Her blue eyes met his brown ones and though Char's was a shade lighter, he could imagine Charlene being in her spot. But he had to remind himself that this was Reinette, not Charlene, not his Carly… "I saw that in your mind. The name of every star."
"What's in a name? Names are just titles, titles don't mean anything," The Doctor said wisely.
"Like 'The Doctor'," Reinette teased him in the same way Carly would.
Automatically, he couldn't help but tease back. "Like, 'Madame de Pompadour'."
She laughed as her gaze returned to the stars. "I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think."
"From time to time," The Doctor told her with a smile.
Reinette was quiet for a moment, "In saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?"
The Doctor nodded slightly, "Mm. pretty much."
"And Charlene…did she know?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, she knew too…" he answered sadly, his eyes matching the sadness in his voice.
"Yet, you still came … can you tell me why?"
"Because Carly told me to come and save you."
Reinette looked surprised but the Doctor wasn't sure why. "And she knew that you would get stuck here, and yet she still told you to go?" At his nod, she smiled softly, "That girl of yours sure is special."
"Yes, she is…"
"I can see why you're love with her."
"What?" The Doctor blinked in surprise. Was it that obvious? He supposed it was. And Charlene? Did she see it too? No, she couldn't have. She couldn't know. He had to keep his feelings for her to himself because if he admitted it to her, it would only end in heartbreak…
Reinette changed the subject, "There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of those?"
"When the mirror broke, the shock will have severed all the links with the ship," he told her. "There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid. Wherever there was a time window." As after thought he added, "I'll – I'll, er … pay for any damage." Reinette laughed, "Um…oh, that's a thought. I was always a bit vague about money…" He frowned. Now that he mentioned it, he didn't even know where to get money… "Where do you get money?" He asked Reinette.
"So, here you are…my lonely angel. Stuck on the slow path, with me."
"Yep. The slow path." It wouldn't be that bad to be on that path for a change. But the Doctor still couldn't help but think about Charlene and how she was feeling at the moment. At least she had Mickey to take care of her… He knew that Mickey would protect Carly. As long as she was safe and happy. That's all he ever wanted for her. The Doctor pushed away the depressing thoughts as he grinned at Reinette, hoping it looked happy enough, and he held up the wine glass. "Here's to the slow path."
Reinette laughed and they clicked their glasses together, sipping it at the same time. She pulled the glass away from her lips and she looked at him. "It's a pity… I think I would have enjoyed the slow path."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere."
"Oh, aren't you?" The Doctor looked at her confused as she sat down her wine and held out a hand towards him, "Take my hand."
Even though he was still confused, he took her hand and she lead him out of the room. She took him to her bedroom and she stopped so that they were standing in the doorway of the room.
"It's not a cope, it's the original," she told him when his gaze landed on the fireplace, the same fireplace that was in her room in her old house all those years ago. "I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."
"The fireplace," The Doctor said amazed as he walked towards it slowly. "The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?"
"Many years ago," she replied as she followed him. "In hope that a door once opened, may someday be opened again. One never knows when one needs one's Doctor." She stood beside him and she smiled at him and he smiled back, "It appears undamaged, do you think it will still work?"
"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it. Which means it was off-line when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But …" He moved closer to the fireplace. "The link is basically physical, and it's still physically here." The Doctor could feel her eyes on him but he didn't notice the sadness in her eyes. It was her turn to be selfless like Charlene had been by letting her Angel come and save her even if it meant losing the one she loved in the process. Her thoughts unknown to him as he tapped on the woodwork. "Which might just mean, if I'm lucky…if I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky…" Finding the spot he was looking for, he beamed. "Aha!"
"What?" Reinette asked.
"Loose connection!" The Doctor exclaimed, still beaming. He pulled out the sonic and held it to the loose connection he had found, "Need to get a man in!" He banged on the mantel before he stood up, ready for the fireplace to turn. "Wish me luck!"
The plan of being unselfish went out the window and she blurted out, "No…"
The Doctor's smile faded at that, finally noticing the sadness in her eyes. But it was too late; the fireplace was already starting to revolve. As soon as he was on the other side, he knew exactly how to make it up to her. He crouched down and called through the flames,
"Madame de Pompadour!" As soon as he could see her, he continued, "Still wanna see those stars?"
"More than anything…but what about Charlene? Would she mind?"
"Oh, I'm sure she won't mind at all." Then he said, grinning, "Give me two minutes. Pack a bag!"
"Am I going somewhere?"
The Doctor's grin widened at the question. "Go to the window. Pick a star. Any star." He stood and dashed off in the direction of the TARDIS.
Charlene's POV…
"Doctor!"
I turned at the sound of Mickey's voice and sure enough, there was the Doctor. I blinked, not believing he was there. But when I did, my heart beat against my chest and I forced down a sob as I threw myself in his arms. His arms tightened around my waist as he laughed a sound I thought I wouldn't hear again. Tears gathered in my eyes as I squeezed him as tight as I could, not wanting to let go for a second. I wanted to kiss him, oh how I wanted too. But I remembered Mickey being here and I couldn't do it in front of him so I held myself back.
"How long did you wait?" The Doctor asked in my ear softly, pulling back from the hug but still kept his arms around me. I couldn't help but rest my forehead against his, fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck. He leaned his forehead against mine, his breath playing across my face like a halo.
"Five and a half hours," I mumbled.
The Doctor released me, but moved his hands to rest on my shoulders. "Right, always wait five and half hours." He moved towards Mickey as if to hug him, but he changed his mind, shaking his head.
I giggled a bit, feeling better than I did five and half hours ago. "Where are you going?"
"Explain later. Into the TARDIS, be with you in a sec." He rushed back towards the fireplace. The smile fell from my face as I realized he was going back to Reinette. Mickey went on into the TARDIS but I stayed behind watching the Doctor.
"Reinette?" he called into the fireplace as he crouched down. "You there Reinette?" He triggered the fireplace and he turned back into Reinette's world. I stood there for a moment, staring at the fireplace for at least a couple minutes before making my way inside the TARDIS, closing the doors behind me.
-0-
From the weary look on his face and the way he walked slowly up to the TARDIS console, I knew something was wrong. I decided not to ask about it right now, I had a more important question.
"Why her?" I asked as I stood next to Mickey near the console. "Why did they think they could fix the ship with the head of Madam de Pompadour?"
"We'll probably never know," he answered with the weary look still on his face and I held back a wince at the sight of it. That look on his face was awful to look at. It made my heart swell with pain. "There was massive damage in the computer base. Probably got confused." He went over to the controls. "The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droid are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."
He tapped on the computer, acting if everything was alright. But I knew the Doctor long enough to know that something was wrong and I wondered what it was, even though I knew it had something to do with Reneitte. After examining him for a couple minutes, I spoke up in a tentative voice,
"Are you all right?"
The Doctor looked up at me. "I'm always all right." He smiled briefly and fiddled with the controls.
"Doctor…" I said pointedly and he looked back at me, meeting my eyes. "You know as well as I do, that's not true."
"Really, I'm all right," he tried to reassure me and I didn't miss the look he gave Mickey, who was standing behind me and I felt him grab my arm.
"Come on Charlie," he told me. "It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He tugged on my arm, but I didn't move an inch. I didn't want to leave him alone. If it was something that the Doctor blamed himself for, he would wallow in self-pity and he did that enough as if it probably even more so when he was alone.
"I'm not leaving," I said tugging my arm out of Mickey's grip. I crossed my arms over my chest and titled my chin up with my most stubbornness look on my face.
The Doctor stared at me, the weary look more prominent on his face. Finally he sighed and nodded towards Mickey who looked at me.
"Goodnight Charlene," he said.
"Night." I hugged him quickly and he walked away as soon as he was gone, I turned back around to look at the Doctor and I saw that he was now holding onto a letter. A curious look appeared on my face. "What's that?"
"A letter…" The Doctor gulped hard and a haunted gaze appeared in his eyes. "From Reneitte."
"Something bad happened to her, didn't it?" I realized and the haunted disappeared and it was replaced by a sad look.
"Yes," he said quietly. "She died…"
My heart broke at the look on his face. I went closer to him and placed my hand on his arm. The Doctor glanced down at my hand for a moment before meeting my eyes. I think I might have been a little too close to the Doctor because our faces seemed to be really close. But I didn't let it bother me.
"I'm sorry," I told him softly.
Using the hand that wasn't holding onto the letter, he rested it on my hand which was still on his arm. He gave it a squeeze as I let my hand flip over, allowing our fingers to entwine together. While still holding his hand, I went to stand beside him. "Open it, see what it says," I said.
Without saying anything, the Doctor opened it and read it quietly. I didn't read it myself. I would have but it didn't feel right. I was here for support more than anything.
The Doctor closed the letter and tucked it away back in his pocket. As soon as he did this, he looked at me, still with the sad look on his face.
I couldn't help myself. I pulled him into a tight hug. He tensed up for a moment before he relaxed and returned my hug. I closed my eyes tightly, burying my face in his shoulder. I wished that he didn't have to lose another person. He had lost enough people as it was and Reneitte was another to add to the list. We held onto the hug for what seemed like forever. The Doctor was the one who broke the hug first. It was then he surprised me by kissing me on the forehead and I closed my eyes as he let the kiss linger.
He pulled back and gave me a soft smile. "Thank you," he told me.
"You're welcome." I gave him a soft smile back.
The Doctor turned back around and I knew that he needed to be alone.
"Goodnight Doctor," I said.
He nodded without looking at me. I squeezed his shoulder gently for a moment and I went to leave the console room to head to my room. I glanced back at the Doctor and took notice to the fact that he was looking at the fireplace on the monitor, which was still lit with merrily dancing flames. I stared sadly. I sighed and I finally left the console room.
TBC...
In...
Rise of the Cybermen, Part 1...
I hope you enjoyed the last part of TGITFP! We got a look into the Doctor's head and everything (I hope I did a good job and that he was in character) so that was pretty awesome and really awesome to write. I think I'll be doing the Doctor's POV in third person more often. Would you guys like that? Tell me in a review if you do. Also I hope you enjoyed the differences from my version of the episode to the real one especially with the scenes between the Doctor and Reinette. Anyway, please leave reviews and tell me what you thought of the last part! Until next time on CCW! :D