Chapter Eighteen: Girl in the Fire Place
Since we had already been able to rest before saying goodbye to Sarah, we went straight from Belle Vue Park to their next destination. The Doctor had decided to visit a spaceship instead of going to an alien planet in order to help Mickey adjust to the idea of travel and aliens.
The Doctor and I were the first ones to step out of the TARDIS. It seemed we had landed in some kind of abandoned control room which was in a state of disrepair.
"Are we actually in space or are we in a workshop?" I asked curious, trying to send out my magic through the ship. I had learnt my lesson about passively scanning a place for life forms since I had the habit of mostly ignoring it until they presented a threat. I frowned when I didn't get any life signals back – the entire place was empty. "And where is everyone? Its empty."
Before the Doctor could say anything in response, Mickey got over his shock enough to speak.
"It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go." Mickey said excitedly, moving around the room like a curious puppy.
"It looks kind of abandoned." Rose picked something up off what looked to be a control panel before dropping it again and turning to the Doctor. "Anyone on board?"
"There aren't any life forms on board. Nothing dangerous. Well…" the Doctor paused at my raised eyebrow since we had run into several things that didn't register as life forms, such as robots, which turned out to be quite dangerous. "Not that dangerous. You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous."
"See what the work crew is. They should have logs for things like people, cargo and drones." I suggested, so that we didn't get surprised by anything later on. I stood at the Doctor's shoulder, watching what he was doing. It was easier to learn about the controls and functions of future technology by watching the Doctor use it and then later asking him questions, reading about it or using one of the TARDIS's rooms to practise.
"So, what's the date? How far have we gone?" Rose asked curiously.
"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." He found the buttons which controlled the lights to give them a better idea of the state of the room they were in. Another few buttons brought a projection of the star system they were in onto the ceiling. "Fifty first century. Diagmar Cluster," he turned to Mickey. "You're a long way from home."
"Two and a half galaxies." Mickey agreed in amazement, proving that he had been doing research while they were away.
Rose brought Mickey over to the window. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
"It's so realistic!" Mickey said in amazement. I rolled my eyes. He would get over that mind-set quickly if he chose to continue with them.
"Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on." A chart appeared on the small screen they were using. "Now that's odd." he pointed to a spike. "Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So, where's all that power going?"
"And who's maintaining the power?" I added my own question.
"Good question. There are no life readings"
"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag." Rose said sarcastically.
"No, I've checked all the smoking pods." the Doctor said, taking Rose seriously. "Can you smell that?" the Doctor asked suddenly.
Rose took a deep breath. "Yeah, someone's cooking."
"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey agreed.
Deciding they weren't going to get any answer's hanging around, the Doctor opened a door behind them. Wondering in, they found a fireplace. It was very ornate, probably based on the design of the seventeen hundreds. An ornate clock was sat in the mantel.
"Odd, I can feel a life sign on the other side. But it's young. Like a kid." I told the Doctor quietly. I still hadn't explained to Rose why death affected me so much, and what else I could do. The fact that I hadn't demonstrated anything before meeting the Doctor, made her think that something had happened before she joined them and I wasn't ready to correct that assumption.
"Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteen century. French. Nice mantle." He ran his hand across the mantel. "Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace." He crouched down to look through it, and since I still had a hand looped through his arm, I was forced to crouch with him. "Double sided. There's another room through there."
Rose shot him a doubtful look and went to look through the portal that was on the same wall as the fireplace.
"There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look." Rose moved so the Doctor could come and look but he didn't move since a girl had suddenly appeared on the other side of the fireplace.
"Hello," the Doctor greeted in his happily surprised tone.
"Hello." The young girl answered confused.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked.
"Reinette."
"Reinette, that's a lovely name" the Doctor complimented before shifting slightly uncomfortable. "Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"
"In my bedroom."
"And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?" the Doctor asked more specifically when he realised he was talking to a child, so of course she took him literally.
"Paris, of course."
"Paris, right!" the Doctor agreed.
"Monsieur, Madame, what are you doing in my fireplace?"
"Oh, it's just a routine fire check." The Doctor answered, his lie coming out a bit awkward as he didn't really think about what he was going to say before he had already said it. "Can you tell me what year it is?"
"Of course, monsieur. Seventeen hundred and twenty seven."
"Right, lovely. One of my favourites. August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night, night."
"Goodnight, Reinette." I added.
"Goodnight, Monsieur, Madame." Reinette responded, sounding just as confused as she had done at the start of the conversation.
"You said this was the fifty first century." Mickey pointed out once we had stood.
"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temperoral hyperlink."
"What's that?" Mickey questioned.
"No idea. Just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door."
"And on the other side of the 'magic door' is France in 1727?" Rose clarified.
"Well, she was speaking French." I pointed out, since I had gotten quite good at identifying when the TARDIs was translating for me. The Doctor said once I could identify when the translation circuits were in affect, I could start identifying what was actually being said, which would in turn help me learn the languages of other species.
"Right period French, too." The Doctor agreed.
"She was speaking English, I heard her." Mickey disagreed with a frown.
"That's the TARDIS. Translates for you." Rose explained.
"Even French?" Mickey asked in surprise. Most of the Doctor's companions just accepted that as fact, but Mickey had decided to set a new trend.
"Yeah." Rose answered.
"Gotacha." The Doctor lifted a switch under the handle. Without a thought I jumped onto the mantel and joined him as the fireplace rotated round into Reinette's bedroom.
Reinette had been asleep in her bedroom, but woke with a start when the fireplace stopped moving.
"It's okay. Don't scream. It's us. The fireplace people. Look we were talking just a moment ago. I was in your fireplace."
Using his screwdriver, he lit one of the candles so that Reinette could see them better. While the Doctor was talking, I looked out the window to see if I could identify where we were, only to raise a confused eyebrow when I noticed that it was snowing. It would explain Reinette's fear and confusion, it doesn't snow in August (not in France anyway).
"Monsieur, that was ages go. That was months." Reinette answered confused.
"Really?" The Doctor questioned wondering back to the mantel and tapping along it lightly. "Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in."
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Reinette asked, looking between us confused.
"Okay, that's scary."
I followed the Doctor's gaze to the broken clock. I frowned and looked around the room. Trying to spot another clock but there wasn't any despite the ticking that I could hear clearly.
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked, not understanding.
"Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. Because, you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room, then what's that?" the Doctor questioned, drawing Reinette's attention to the ticking noise. Together, we moved closer to Reinette, so that we could protect her.
"Because, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man."
"What is it?" Reinette asked, watching the Doctor walk calmly around the room, trying to hide her fear.
"Now, let's think." The Doctor answered, checking several points around the room that something could hide. "If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do, break the clock."
"No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two?" I picked up on the Doctor's train of thought.
"You might start to wonder if you're really alone." The Doctor came to a stop next to Reinette's bed while I stood at the foot of the bed. "Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."
The Doctor knelt down next to the bed and scanned under it with the screwdriver. Quiet suddenly something knocked the screwdriver from his hand, before standing. I stiffened and unconsciously put an arm out as though I could reach Reinette and pull her behind me.
The being that had been hiding under the bed stood at the height of a man. It had a wig, weaved like the upper French ball wigs, and it was wearing a mask.
"Reinette," the Doctor whispered seriously, his eyes locked on the thing. "Don't look around." The Doctor stood up. "You, stay exactly where you are." He ordered, before pausing and looking between it and Reinette. "Hold still, let me look."
He gentle held Reinette's head between his hands and looked deep in her eyes. I kept my eyes on the being, prepared to get both the Doctor and the child out of the way if it decided to attack before the Doctor was paying attention to his surroundings again.
After a moment the Doctor looked away from Reinette to stare incredulously at the being. "You've been scanning her brain. What, you're crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?
"I don't understand. It wants me?" Reinette turned to look at the being. "You want me?"
The being turned its head to stare at Reinette in a sharp, jerking movement. "Not yet. You are incomplete."
"Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete?" the Doctor asked, when there was silence, he grew annoyed. "You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?"
Instead of verbally answering him, the being started walking around the bed. I stepped back and to the side, placing me next to the bed instead of at the end, while the Doctor stepped forward and met the being at the bottom of the bed.
"Monsieur, be careful." Reinette called out as the being thrust his arm forward and a blade came out.
"Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares." The Doctor answered, ducking as the thing slashed.
While the Doctor led the being across the room, back to the fireplace, I stayed in front of Reinette encase it decided to change targets.
"Even monsters from under the bed have nightmare, don't you, monster?" the Doctor teased with a smile as the monster swung. The blade got stuck in the mantel.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asked confused.
"Me," the Doctor lifted the thing that activated the turning.
Just before he disappeared, the Doctor locked eyes with me in a silent message. He would be back once he found out what the thing was to make sure that Reinette was safe, while I was to stay encase there was another thing lurking.
"Madame, are you not going with him?" Reinette asked, knelling on her bed and grabbing my sleeve.
I turned back to face the young girl before sitting on the edge of the girl's bed. "No, I'm to say and watch over you until you go to sleep."
"Why?" Reinette asked.
"Because I'm the one who keeps the nightmares away."
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Not wishing to be thrown in the dungeons because I was found lurking in Reinette's bedroom, I reached for my magic. It took a bit of concentration, but I was able to turn myself invisible, remove my sent and silence the area around me. When morning came, I stayed close enough to Reinette that she was always in my sight, but ensured that I was out of the way.
For three days, I shadowed Reinette in this way before trying the mantel. The door between the ship and her bedroom remained in place and so I continued my silent vigil. Every three days, without fail, I would attempt to return to the ship but I was never able to. I assumed that because the times were not synced through the fireplace that I wouldn't be able to get through until Reinette's time had caught up with the Doctors (after he removed the ticking man from the mantel).
Mostly my presence went unnoticed by the young girl who was slowly turning into a young lady, except for the few times when she needed me. Twice I had to step from the shadows to prevent the ticking men – who I discovered function on a form of clockwork mechanism – from getting to Reinette. Although I was only spotted briefly the first time, the second I wasn't as lucky since I hadn't discovered the presence of the clockwork man until he was already in the same room as Reinette. Fortunately, the girl had otherwise been alone – something that rarely happened outside of night times since she was normally with friends, tutors or her mother.
Ten years had passed and Reinette was now a young woman of eighteen, working her way into the king's court and the hearts of many. There was to be an event held at the palace, socialisation and courtly gossip seemed to be the only aim of the day as far as I was aware, and Reinette had returned to her room having forgotten her hairbrush.
My heart skipped a beat when I stepped into the room before Reinette to discover that the Doctor was there, playing a few notes on the piano that Reinette had added to her room five years before. There was also a harp stood to its side, but the Doctor had the common sense not to touch that since it had been tuned to Reinette's fingers.
"Ahem," Reinette caught the Doctor's attention by politely clearing her throat.
"Oh. Hello. Er, I was just looking for Reinette. This is still her room, isn't it? I've been away, not sure how long." The Doctor said awkwardly, his eyes scanning the room for Anna as he rubbed the back of his head. He hoped he hadn't been away for long, but the room had undergone quite a few changes since he was last here.
From down the corridor Reinette's mother called to get her to move along quicker. She had the habit of wanting to arrive early to any social function they were invited to while Reinette preferred to arrive precisely on time which was why she had purposefully left something in her room.
"Go to the carriage, Mother. I will join you there." Reinette called back, never taking her eyes from the Doctor. "It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
"Reinette! Well. Goodness, how you've grown."
"And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you." Reinette teased.
"That's the thing about imaginary friends, we tend to remain the same." I spoke, allowing my charms to fall.
"Anna!" The Doctor said brightly as I stepped forward and grabbed him in a tight hug.
"I have missed you these passed years." I muttered to him.
"You have been by my side all this time?" Reinette questioned, a frown on her face.
"I couldn't get back through the fireplace." I reluctantly released the Doctor from my hug but maintained my hold on his arm. "I ensured that you were safe from anymore clockwork men."
"And yet, you did not reveal yourself to me?" Reinette sounded hurt by this fact, but I just smiled sadly at her. I wouldn't have been able to guard her as I had done if I'd revealed myself, and I would have been forced to interact with others.
"Listen, lovely to catch up, but we'd best be off. Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange couple, do we?" The Doctor said, trying to make an escape as Reinette moved closer to them.
"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you both since I was seven years old."
"Yeah, I suppose you have. But I… uh came the quick route."
Reinette placed a hand on the Doctor's cheek before repeating the same action with me. "You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."
"Oh, you never want to listen to reason." The Doctor responded.
"Dreams are far better." I agreed.
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient." The voice of the head servant called.
"A moment!" Reinette called back annoyed. "So many questions. So little time."
Reinette captured my lips in a quick kiss before turning and doing the same to the Doctor.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" With the servants next call Reinette grabbed her brush from the vanity before running out. Moments after she disappeared the servant entered.
"Poisson? Reinette Poisson? No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!" The Doctor asked excitedly looking between me and the shocked servant.
"Who the hell are you?"
"We're the fireplace people." I answered before pulling the Doctor back towards the mantel and activating the mechanism.
"Rose! Mickey! Every time." The Doctor muttered looking around the empty room before turning to me. "How long was I gone?" he asked concerned.
"Ten years." I admitted.
The Doctor reached out a hand to cup my cheek and I leaned into the gesture having greatly missed it. "So long. And yet, you haven't aged."
"We knew I was aging much slower than a human should." I reminded him.
"I should have made sure you came back with me." The Doctor said regretfully.
"And then Reinette would have been left unprotect for all those years." I reminded him, grabbing the lapels of the Doctor's jacket to pull him into a passionate kiss. When we broke apart, I offered a smile. "I don't regret remaining behind, Doctor. Neither of us could have known how long the time difference would have been. Now, we need to go and find our wayward companions before they get in trouble."
"You're right. Let's go." The Doctor grabbed my hand and we began searching the space ship. "I don't understand why they insist on wondering off. It happens every time. Its rule one, don't wonder off." The Doctor complained as they walked. "There could be anything on this ship."
Turning the corner, the both of us paused in shock to find a beautiful white horse with bridle and saddle, stood in the middle of the corridor.
"You know, when you say anything, I don't quite think you meant everything." I said casually, my lips twitching in amusement.
The Doctor shot me a dirty look.
"Come on. We've got to find Mickey and Rose." I used the hand I had looped through his arm to continue tugging him through the corridors.
They were walking for a few minutes, coming across a few more doors. The horse followed them.
"Will you stop following me? I'm not your mother." The Doctor finally turned and snapped at the horse.
"Hay. This looks like the sort of door he would come through." I pointed to the white wooden doors that was coming up in front of them.
"The gardens of the palace." I commented before I spotted Reinette. I grabbed the Doctor's arm and turned the both of them invisible. In my ten years away from him I had gotten very good at channelling my magic internally and the invisibility and silencing charms were second nature once again.
"Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked." Reinette laughed.
"Catherine is one of her close friends. They meet once a week for tea." I whispered to the Doctor.
"Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateauroux is ill and close to death."
"The king's consort." The Doctor whispered to me.
"I know." I answered amused. "I was here for ten years. What History didn't teach me, my time here did."
"Yes. I am devastated."
"Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable." The two had a privet giggle to themselves. "The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress. You love the King, of course?"
"He is the King, and I love him with all my heart. And I look forward to meeting him." Reinette responded. She turned to stare in their direction when a peacock called.
"Is something wrong, my dear?" Katherine asked.
"Not wrong, no." Reinette answered, turning back round.
"In the last couple of years before you came back, she started sensing when I was here. I think it comforted her to know I was here. Even if she couldn't be certain it was me." I told the Doctor softly.
"Come on. We have to find the others." The Doctor led the two of them back through the portal and I allowed the charm to full.
They were wondering the ship for about ten minutes before they came across Mickey and Rose stood on the other side of a mirror looking in on a richly decorated room. The two of them didn't notice them coming up behind them since they were so focused on what was happening.
"It's France again. We can see France." Mickey frowned at the room.
"I think we're looking through a mirror." Rose guessed as King Louis entered the room, followed by his two standard guards.
"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey mocked.
"The King of France," the Doctor and I answered together as we came to stand next to Rose.
"Oh, here's trouble. What've you been up to?" Rose questioned, rising an eyebrow in the same way mum would do when she came home late at night or at some point the next day.
"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man." The Doctor answered flippantly. The horse neighed behind them, having refused to return home. "Oh, and I met a horse."
"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey questioned incredulously.
"Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." The Doctor responded just as incredulously.
"Rude." I chastised him.
"See these?" The Doctor tapped the mirror. "They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history." With impeccable timing Reinette entered the room and curtseyed to the king. "Hers. Time windows deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?"
"Who is she?" Rose queried, observing the women on the other side of the mirror who was bowing to the king.
"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived." The Doctor said proudly. He always enjoyed meeting people who had made something off themselves, especially against all the odds.
"So has she got plans of being the Queen, then?" Rose questioned, forming an opinion of the women before them.
"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress." The Doctor disagreed.
"Oh, I get it." Rose looked to Mikey with her tongue in tooth smile. "Camilla."
"I think this is the night they met." The Doctor said thoughtfully, taking in the body language of the people in front of them. "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 her own title. Madame de Pompadour."
The King left the room, his servants following behind him. When she was alone, Reinette moved to the mirror in order to make sure her make-up was fine before she headed off to the ball in an attempt to win the Kings affection.
"The Queen must have loved her." Rose said quietly.
"Oh, she did." The Doctor agreed, missing the sarcasm.
"The king's wife and the king's girlfriend?" Mickey asked disbelievingly.
"France. It's a different planet." The Doctor answered amused.
"Doctor, that man wasn't there a second ago." I pointed out the man in the corner of the room at the same time Reinette turned around and spotted him.
"How long have you been standing there?" Reinette demanded, affronted at someone being in her presence without telling her.
The Doctor grabbed one of the Fire extinguisher things from Mickey as the clockwork person turned around. He stepped through the mirror as Reinette stepped back in shock.
"Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" The Doctor quipped and I followed him through the mirror, gentle grasping Reinette's shoulders.
"Fireplace man!" Reinette said in shock before she registered my presence. "Invisible women."
The Doctor sprayed the android with the fire extinguisher, freezing it in place. He then threw the extinguisher back to Mickey. The clockwork man creaked and its arms twitched.
"What's it doing?" Mickey questioned warily.
"Switching back on. Melting the ice." The Doctor explained.
"And then what?" Mickey prompted.
"Then it kills everyone in the room." The Doctor answered flippantly. "Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself." When the clockwork man didn't answer he turned to Reinette with his hands in his pockets. "Order it to answer me."
"Why should it listen to me?" Reinette questioned.
"I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it."
"Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you." Reinette ordered the clockwork man.
"I am repair droid seven." The Droid answered, it's head tilting to the side.
"What happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage."
"Ion storm. Eighty two percent systems failure."
"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?" The Doctor frowned.
"We did not have the parts."
"Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts?" Mickey laughed in disbelief.
"What happened to the crew? Where are they?"
"We did not have the parts." The clockwork man repeated itself.
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" The Doctor demanded.
"We did not have the parts."
"Fifty people don't just disappear. Where…"
"Oh," The Doctor and I both breathed in horror.
"You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."
"The crew?" Mickey repeated in confusion.
"We found a camera with an eye in it," Rose swallowed thickly. "And there was a heart wired in to machinery."
"It was just doing what it was programmed to. Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu." The Doctor explained.
"That really should be one of the security programs that human's install. It would solve an awful lot of problems." I commented with a frown. It's not exactly the androids fault, when they were just doing what they were programmed to do. They weren't fighting something evil, just a piece of programming.
"What did you say the flight deck smelt of?" The Doctor questioned Rose, choosing not to comment on what I said, because it didn't really have a response.
"Someone cooking." Rose answered.
"Flesh plus heat. Barbeque. But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows. That takes colossal energy. Why come here? You could have gone to your repair yard. Instead you've come to eighteenth century France? Why?"
"One more part is required." The clockwork man looked directly at Reinette.
"Then why haven't you taken it?" The Doctor questioned.
"She is incomplete."
"What, so that's the plan, then? Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet." The Doctor asked disbelievingly.
"Why her?" Rose questioned, bringing attention to her. "You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?"
"We are the same." The clockwork man answered.
"We are not the same. We are in no sense the same." Reinette disagreed angrily.
"We are the same." The clockwork man repeated.
"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!" Reinette ordered.
"Reinette, no." The Doctor stepped forward, but it was too late. The clockwork man touched something on his wrist and he teleported away.
"It's back on the ship. Rose, take Mickey and Arthur. Get after it. Follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does." The Doctor ordered, turning back to Rose and Mickey.
"Arthur?" Rose repeated the name confused.
"Good name for a horse" The Doctor waved her off.
"No, you're not keeping the horse." Rose told him like she would a small child that wanted to keep the stray cat.
"You haven't found the room in the TARDIs full of dinosaurs yet, have you?" I questioned.
"I let you keep Mickey. Now go! Go! Go!" The Doctor waved Mickey and Rose through the mirror and closed it behind them.
"Reinette, you're going to have to trust me." The Doctor told the young women seriously. "I need to find out what they're looking for. There's only one way I can do that. It won't hurt a bit." The Doctor reached up and place his hands on either side of her temples. I moved away slightly to keep an eye on the door. They didn't really need anyone else to stumble upon them right now.
"Fireplace man, you are inside my mind." Reinette said, her voice full of surprise.
"Oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here." The Doctor frowned in a combination of disapproval and concentration.
"You are in my memories. You walk among them."
"If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it. I won't look." The Doctor said gently. "Oh, actually there's a door just there. You might want to cl… Oh, actually, several."
"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?" Reinette opened her eyes took look upon the Doctor.
"I don't make a habit of it." The Doctor responded.
"How can you resist?" Reinette responded.
"What age are you?" The Doctor muttered thoughtfully.
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation." Reinette smiled flirtatiously despite the fact that the Doctor had yet to open his eyes. "How promising."
"No, not my question. Theirs." The Doctor corrected as Reinette closed her eyes. "You're twenty three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough." Reinette drew in a sharp breath and shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect."
"Oh, such a lonely childhood." Reinette whispered sadly and my head snapped round to look at her.
"It'll pass. Stay with me." the Doctor encouraged gently.
"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone."
"What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life." The Doctor snapped his eyes open and disengaged the mind technique. "When did you start calling me Doctor?"
"Such a lonely little boy." I stepped forward and gabbed the Doctor's hand as Reinette looked upon him with sad eyes. "Lonely then and lonelier now. With only your angel by your side. How can you bear it?"
"How did you do that?" The Doctor demanded shocked.
"A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh, Doctor. My lonely Doctor. Dance with me." Reinette offered him her hand.
"I can't." the Doctor answered.
"Then dance with your wife. She waited ten years for you. The least you can do is offer her a dance." Reinette said.
"We have work to do Reinette." I cautioned her. "And we're not married."
"It can wait, there is always time for a dance." Reinette grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room, the Doctor being dragged along behind me. "Come, you must be dressed the part."
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The Doctor and I spent hours dancing together, enjoying the moment of quite to just be. They both knew that they would have to return to the spaceship, and stop the clockwork men, but we took some time together. I was grateful for this, because spending ten years without talking to anyone, a silent and invisible guardian, had taken its toll.
But eventually, I changed back into my own cloths and returned to the ship in order to go looking for Rose and Mickey. Since they were human life signs that I knew well, I was able to locate them in the control room that we had landed in.
When we got close to the control room, we stopped to listen to a clearly frightened Rose threatening what they assumed to be one of the clockwork people. The Doctor pulled a wine glass from his pocket and a bottle of something from another pocket. I rolled my eyes, but took off his tie and tied it around his head.
The Doctor shot me an amused grin and pulled out a pair of retro-round tinted glasses to put on. With his look finished, the Doctor leaned on me and began singing in an off-key drunken voice.
"…I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night…" I helped the Doctor stagger into the room where we found Mickey and Rose both tied to metal slabs with four clockwork men around the room. One of which had a blade to Rose's throat.
"And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a... Have you met the French? My god, they know how to party." The Doctor informed the room brightly.
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm." Rose said, letting her head full back on the slab with an annoyed glare shot at the Doctor.
"Oh, you sound just like your mother." The Doctor moved away from me, while I moved to the console.
"What've you been doing? Where've you been?" Rose questioned annoyed, and sounding just like an annoyed mother or jealous girlfriend.
"Well, among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early."
"They probably won't remember, bit complicated for drunk people to recall." I said leaning casually against the console.
"Do you know, they've never seen a banana before?" The Doctor questioned Rose, waving away my comment. "Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good." The Doctor turned to the clockwork man who was stood next to Rose. "Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favourite, you are. You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad. Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is thirty seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. So, that's what you're missing, isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do."
"The brain is compatible." The clockwork man by Rose which the Doctor had been insulting answered.
"Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." The Doctor took the mask from the android and poured the contents of the wine glass into the glass head. As the android seized up, I flipped a switch on the console which had the other androids shutting down.
"Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." the Doctor explained, putting the glass down.
"Safety shut off switch. At least humanity had some common sense when it came to androids. And you were just carrying multigrain anti-oil in your pocket?" I questioned the Doctor amused as he freed Mickey and Rose.
The Doctor rubbed the back of his head sheepishly for a moment before choosing the better part of valour and not answering. "Right, you two, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."
The Doctor joined me at the console and started flipping switches.
"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. Safe and thick, way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs?" The Doctor started patting himself down. "I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets."
"You left them with the banana." I informed him. Waltzing wasn't really the Doctor's style, and their dancing had quickly resulted in something the French hadn't seen before. Especially not in such high courts.
"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty seven?" Rose questioned, while the Doctor continued hitting buttons and flipping switches.
"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that. The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"
Suddenly a bell sounded overhead.
"Well, that's not promising." I commented.
"Some kind of message." The Doctor agreed.
"From whom?" Mickey questioned.
"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override."
The first android reactivated, and expelled the anti-oil out of its hand onto the floor.
"Well, that was a bit clever." The Doctor commented.
The off switch moved itself to on again.
"Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"
"She is complete. It begins." And with that ominous statement the clockwork men all teleport out.
"What's happening?" Rose asked, looking around herself in shock.
"One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head." The Doctor answered, running out of the room. "We need to find that window."
"I'll find one earlier in her time line and give her a warning." I broke off from the Doctor.
I stepped through a couple windows, but kept myself invisible until I found one which was as close to Reinette's thirty seven birthday as I felt I could get.
The portal was hidden behind a tapestry and led to a music room in Versailles.
"Reinette." I spoke softly in order to catch her attention.
"Anna." Reinette greeted me with a smile.
"I'm sorry Reinette, but I don't come with pleasant news and I don't have much time to explain. Please, take a seat." I motioned to the bench.
"What has happened?" she questioned seriously.
"You know the clockwork people were following your timeline, waiting for you to reach a certain age. We now know that age is 37."
"37? That is five years away." Reinette frowned in confusion.
"But it isn't for me. The Clockwork men come from a ship, which has opened points of time in your life. They can step from one to the other, with barely any time passing at all for them, yet years has passed for you. And they have found the right window to your 37th year." I explained as simply as I could. I knew that Reinette preferred it when people spoke their minds painly instead of dancing around a topic.
"So, these creatures will come in five years time? What can I do?" Reinette demanded.
"Keep them talking, they'll respond to you like they did when you were a child. You need to delay them long enough for the Doctor to get through."
"He's coming, then?" Reinette questioned hopefully.
"He promises."
"But he cannot make his promises in person?" Reinette frowned.
"He's currently trying to keep the promise." I told her with a soft smile.
"Anna? Anna?" Mickey stumbled around from behind the tapestry out of breath. "Anna! The time window where she's thirty seven. We found it. Right under our noses." Mickey informed them.
Reinette got up and approached the tapestry that Mickey was holding back.
"Reinette, please, don't." I cautioned the young women, but she was far to head strong to listen and she stepped onto the ship.
"So this is his world." Reinette said softly, looking around at the metal walls and wires hanging from the ceiling.
"Only a small part of it." I told her, just as softly. If Reinette was going to respond she was stopped by the sound of distant screaming.
"What is that?" Reinette questioned fearfully.
"The time window." Mickey explained with a wince. "The Doctor fixed an audio link."
"Those screams. Is that my future?" Reinette turned and demanded off me.
"Yes," I told her honestly.
"Then I must take the slower path." Reinette determined stepping back through the tapestry and into her own time.
"We'll be there. You just have to stall for time." I reassured Reinette before returning to the ship and heading to the time window that the Doctor was working on. They could hear the sound of Reinette's voice calling for the Doctor, asking for his help.
"Can you get through?" I asked the Doctor who was running around, pulling wires and flipping switches.
"They knew I was coming. They've blocked it off." The Doctor answered as I stepped up to what seemed to be a mirror showing a large ballroom full of screaming and panicking people.
"I don't get it. How come they got in there?" Rose asked confused.
"They teleported, you saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short range teleports will do the trick." The Doctor explained, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Well, we'll go in the TARDIS!
"We can't." I disagreed.
"We're part of events now." the Doctor agreed. "I can't cross over my own timeline."
"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey questioned.
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck."
"We don't have a truck." Mickey pointed out the obvious.
"I know we don't have a truck!" The Doctor shouted in frustration.
"Well, we've got to try something." Rose returned, just as frustrated as the Doctor.
"No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back." The Doctor answered just as Reinette caught their attention.
I moved to Arthur, making sure that his saddle was on properly. The Doctor turned to look at me his eyes widened in realisation.
"Brilliant." He whispered and joined me with Arthur. He swung up onto the saddle before offering me his hand. I swung up behind him pleased that he didn't try arguing with me about coming with him.
"…And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." Reinette was saying as the Doctor urged Arthur forward, urging the horse to jump as it reached the glass so that it wouldn't suddenly full on the other side and they were mostly protected from the shattering glass.
The Doctor and I dismounted together. "Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day." The Doctor greeted with a cheeky wink.
"What the hell is going on?" the King demanded from where he was being restrained by two of the clockwork people.
"Oh. This is my lover, the King of France." Reinette introduced calmly.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time," the Doctor dismissed the King before turning to the clock work man that had been holding the knife to Reinette's throat before we entered the ball room. "And I'm here to fix the clock."
He took the mask of the droid, which pointed it's blade at his throat.
"Oh, forget it." the Doctor dismissed the threat. "It's over. For you and for us. Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand." The Doctor looked to the wall were the mirror had sat which showed a brick wall. "The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up."
Faced with this realisation the androids all wound down, one of them even fell backwards and broke apart.
"You all right?" The Doctor questioned Reinette as I helped her to her feet. Moving and standing in those ball gowns wasn't easy.
"What's happened to them?" Reinette questioned looked around.
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now." The Doctor explained.
"It's over. Everyone's safe." I told her, and the King.
=^^= = ' . ' = =^^= = ' . ' =
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The guests at the ball had all left once order had been restored, and the Doctor and I had taken the opportunity to retreat.
"You know, this is the second time I've trapped you in pre-revolutionary France." The Doctor said guiltily as they stared out a window.
"At least this time I'm not hiding, and I've got you." I answered, resting my head on his arm. The down side to being so short was that I couldn't rest my head on his shoulder.
"But Rose and Mickey are trapped on that space ship. It's going to take us centuries to find a way back to them."
"We could always nick someone else's transport. A Time Agent perhaps?" I suggested causing the Doctor to laugh softly.
"I suppose we could. Might take a while to find such a Time Agent. Unless you think Jake had a spare. He visited France in 1832 didn't he?" The Doctor questioned.
"Yeah, something about beautiful and blue." I laughed softly. "The stars are beautiful here." I sighed softly, looking up at the night sky.
"You know all their names, don't you?" Reinette's voice came from behind them. "I saw that in your mind, Doctor. The name of every star."
"What's in a name? Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything." The Doctor responded as they turned to face her.
"Like the Doctor." Reinette commented with a smile.
"Like Madame De Pompadour." The Doctor returned.
"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you both have, I think."
"Oh, every now and then. Earth is our preferred destination." I answered with a smile. It always amused me that of all the planets, and stars, and moons and asteroids in the universe we spent so much time on earth. And this wasn't a new development, from the Doctor's stories he had spent a lot of time on Earth. This was his second home.
"In saving me, you trapped yourselves. Did you know that would happen?" Reinette questioned.
"Mmm. Pretty much." The Doctor answered, trying to make it sound like less of a big deal then it actually was.
"Yet, still you came."
"Of course we did."
"But you won't catch me doing that again." The Doctor muttered sardonically.
"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?
"When the mirror broke, the shock would have severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window. I'll, I'll pay for any damage. Er, that's a thought, I'm going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?"
"You've had jobs before." I reminded him softly. I knew that he was starting to panic now. He hadn't stayed stuck in one place since he was tethered to earth as punishment and that had only been for a few years – two decades at most.
"So, here you are, my lonely angel and invisible guardian. Stuck on the slow path with me."
"Yep, the slow path. Here's to the slow path." The Doctor raised the wine glass he had been holding but forgotten about.
"It's a pity." Reinette commented softly once she had clinked her cup against his. "I think I would've enjoyed the slow path with you."
"Well, we're not going anywhere."
"Oh, aren't you?" Reinette questioned with an impish smile. "Take my hand." she placed her glass on the window sill and offered us a hand each.
They didn't argue, just accepting her hand and letting her lead them through Versaille to Rainette's bedchamber. Were a very familiar sight rested.
"It's not a copy, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail." Reinette explained.
"The fireplace." The Doctor exclaimed happily running forward to run his hand along the mantle. "The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?"
"Many years ago, in the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. 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 offline when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But the link is basically physical, and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if I'm lucky. If I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky." The Doctor tapped around the fireplace. "Ah ha!"
"What?" Reinette questioned.
"Loose connection." The Doctor answered, pulling his sonic screwdriver out. "Need to get a man in." Once he had sonic'd it he gave it a good thump, and there was a click. I stepped forward and held onto the mantle. "Wish us luck."
"No." Reinete answered sadly causing the Doctor's smile to drop as they were both taken back to the space ship.
The Doctor immediately jumped in front of the fire and bent so that he could see through to the other side.
"Madame de Pompadour! Still want to see those stars?" The Doctor asked excitedly with a smirk on his face.
"More than anything." Reinette answered with a smile, excitement replacing the sadness she had expressed moments before.
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag."
"Am I going somewhere?" Reinette questioned curiously.
"Go to the window. Pick a star. Any star."
The Doctor instructed before grabbing my hand and running to the TARDIs were they found Rose sitting in the doorway of the TARDIs with tears in her eyes. Mickey was leaning against the door and he broke into a wide smile when he spotted them.
"How long did you wait?" the Doctor questioned as Rose hugged him tightly and I grabbed Mickey in my own hug.
"Five and a half hours." Rose answered as I grabbed her in a hug while Mickey stepped in front of the Doctor.
"Great. Always wait five and a half hours." The Doctor continued smiling away as he shook Mickey's hand.
"Where've you been?" Rose questioned.
"Explain later. Into the Tardis. Be with you in a sec." The Doctor ushered them into the Tardis before running back to the room with the fireplace. I didn't go with him.
"Where's he going?" Mickey questioned curiously.
"To say goodbye." I answered softly. With the way that time worked between them, and the fact that Reinette didn't live past her mid-forties I doubted that he would return to France before her death.
Five minutes later the Doctor returned, and I could see it in his eyes and the way he walked – he hadn't gotten to say goodbye.
"Why her?" Rose asked softly as the Doctor approached the console and started flipping switches. "Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?"
"We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused. The Tardis can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble." The Doctor tried putting some of his normal energy and go-lucky happiness into his voice to stop Rose worrying about him. I stood next to him and placed a hand on the small of his back to let him know that I was there for him.
"Are you all right?" Rose questioned, obviously picking up on the fact that the Doctor wasn't quite himself.
"I'm always all right." The Doctor offered Rose a smile with that statement.
"Come on, Rose." Mickey grabbed Rose's arm gentle. "It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." Rose allowed Mickey to lead her from the control room into the rest of the Tardis.
"What is it? What did she leave you?" I asked softly.
"Us." The Doctor corrected, pulling a letter from his pocket. "She left us a letter."
My dear Doctor and Annamae.
The path has never seemed more slow, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I have seen the world inside your head, and know that all things are possible.
Hurry though, my loves. My days grow shorter now, and I am so very weak.
God speed,
my lonely angels.
"You know, it never gets easier. Our meeting may have been brief, but Reinette became a friend and will be dearly missed." I told the Doctor softly, resting my head on his arm and looping my arms around him so I was hugging him sideways.
The Doctor sent them off, allowing them to float in the time vortex for a while. Neither of them were up for adventuring right now. It would be better if they spent some time together and get over their latest adventure.
"You knew her longer than I did." The Doctor muttered, returning the hug and turning them so they were facing each other.
"But you saw into her mind. You have a connection with her I could have never gained. And one of the amazing things about you, Doctor, is that you connect with people so deeply and so quickly it's like you've known them their whole lives." I told him, resting my head on his chest and listening to the Doctor's dual heartbeat.
"She was an amazing woman." The Doctor sighed.
"Yes, she was."
"Come on, let's visit the library." I suggested after a few minutes of mournful silence. Stepping out of the Doctors arms, I led him away from the console and into the Tardis. He needed some time to think about other things and the library was a good place for them both to get distracted.