'Sleep, baby, sleep,
Your father guards the sheep.
Your mother shakes
The dreamland tree,
And from it fall
Sweet dreams for thee
Sleep, baby, sleep.'

"She's gone?"

Ticking. Something was ticking. It was relaxing. Calming. Nice. She didn't want the ticking to end.

She remembered bright lights, soft voices. Whispers. Someone was holding her, close to them, tight. Like if they let go, something awful would happen. Lights. Blue, pink, yellow, they weren't harsh, they were dim. Footsteps, many different ones. Hard heavy ones, light ones.

They were all around her, something was humming, someone was cooing, someone was chuckling, someone was crying. But there was a unanimous feeling. Coming from all of them. Love.

They loved her, they loved her so much. It was strong. It was brave. It was sad. It was powerful.

Stronger than anything she ever felt.
She didn't want to leave this place.
This love.

This memory.

"Cara!" the Doctor shouted happily, a laugh still on his lips.

Nothing.

The Doctor frowned, the odd cold feeling of her uncharacteristic absence entering him. "Rose?" The Doctor said, whipped around. "Mickey?" he called, striding forwards, hands on his hips.

"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!" he cried, turning a corner, staring into the face of a large white horse.

"Oh…"

"Oww…" Cara murmured, rubbing her head, pulling herself off the floor. Her head was killing her. 'What happened?' she thought, looking around.

She was still on the ship, in an empty corridor. No droids, no warm feeling, no TARDIS, no Doctor. Great.

Rubbing her neck, the odd sense her losing something. Cara walked around aimless down the corridors. "Doctor! Doctor! Mickey! Rose! Anyone!" she shouted, swallowing hard, massaging her head.

"Doctor!"

"Cara! Caaraa!" the Doctor called out, walking down at halls, the horse following dutifully behind him. The Doctor peered down a corridor before turning to the horse.

"Will you stop following me? I'm not your mother!" he scolded. The horse nudging him with his nose, walking down a corridor. "Yes. Off you go!" the Doctor said, the horse making a 'neighing' sound.

Turning around, the Doctor started to make his way down the next corridor, when….

"Bloody hell!"
"Cara?!"

"Bloody hell!" Cara screamed, stumbling backwards into the wall. The giant white horse in front of her, nudging her with its nose. "You scared me, you sweetheart." Cara cooed, instantly starting to pat the horse.

"Cara!" the Doctor called, appearing at the corridor. The giant horse, blocking his way to her. "Hey Doc," Cara said, smiling at the familiar face. "Where you been?"

"Where I've been? Looking for you! What is rule number one?"

"Never wander off."
"Never wander off, exactly. And what did you do?"

"Mickey and Rose left me, then something poked me, then I ended up-nevermind. Why is there a horse here?" Cara asked, not wanting to ruin the Doctor's good mood by saying something stabbed her with a needle and definitely did something to her.

She'd rather not cause any more problems.

"Dunno, just sort of found me," the Doctor said looking intently at her, scrunching his eyebrows. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Cara said quickly. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a set of white doors, a little way down. The Doctor walked towards them, opening them peeking out into the shining sun. "Think this is where he came from, eh, horsey?" the Doctor asked, gesturing to Cara to follow him.

Cara gave the horse a quick pat, walking into France 17…something Versailles. "Wow." Cara breathed out, looking at the gardens, everything was in bloom, birds chirped in the clear blue skies. It was like stepping into another world.

And in a way, they were.

"Cara, Welcome to the Palace of Versailles, home to King Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour, known commonly known as-"

"Reinette." Cara said watching as two woman stroll across the gardens. "The girl in the fireplace, she's-?"

"Madame de Pompadour!" the Doctor said excitedly, leaning the pillar watching the two woman converse.

"Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked!" Reinette said, suddenly turning around, looking behind her. Cara and the Doctor ducked down. Cara a little slower, Reinette just catching her in her eye line.

"Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateneux is ill and close to death."

The woman, Catherine said. Cara and the Doctor straightening up, leaning against the wall, listening.

"Yes. I am devastated." They laughed. "Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable."

The Doctor smiled, Cara following his gaze, smirking to herself. Of course the Doctor would be intrigued by Reinette, she was one of the most successful woman in early history.

Brilliant, beautiful and (something Cara might have picked up on) blonde. Seemed like the Doctor had a type.

"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."

"Youu like her." Cara teased, smiling cheekily at him. "I do not."

"You're a terrible liar."

Catherine laughed again. Reinette suddenly turning around, causing both Cara and the Doctor to duck behind the pillar again.

"Is something wrong, my dear?"
"Not wrong, no."

The Doctor straightened up a little, watching them. After a few seconds, the ladies linked arms and started to walk again. Cara and the Doctor straightening up, resuming their position on the wall.

"You're right. You reeeeaaallly like her." Cara giggled, the Doctor rolling his eyes, smiling to himself. The ladies voices fading into the distance.

"Why her? Why Reinette, I mean I understand she's incredible, but why are so interested in her-?"

"Scuse me, have you seen a horse?" a man asked from behind them. Cara and the Doctor shared a look.

"Well, um-I."
"Umm."

"Dammed animal," the man cursed, shaking his head. "I'll whip it within an inch of its life, soon as I find it." he said to himself. Cara staring at him. "You-ah," Cara blubbered, looking pleadingly at the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed. "Oh, I wish you hadn't said that."

Opening the door back to the ship, the Doctor in lead. Cara rubbing her head behind him, the walking to the horse, who was still standing dutifully where they had left him.

"Hello, gorgeous." Cara greeted, patting his head, scratching his ears. The Doctor sighed, rubbing his hand along the horse's face. "Okay, rule one, don't wander off."

"What about…Martin?"

"Too much like Mickey," the Doctor said instantly. "David?" Cara suggested, leading the horse with them. The Doctor scrunched his nose. "David." he said testing the name out on his tongue. "I dunno, David. David…It's so David."

"There they are." Cara said spotting Rose and Mickey staring out of a large mirror, into a gateway of Reinette's history. The Doctor sneaking up behind them. "King of France." The Doctor answered.

"Oh, here's trouble. What you been up to?" Rose asked, the Doctor watching the king, straightening himself out in the mirror.

"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat... picked a fight with a clockwork man..."

"Found a horse." Cara interjected, the horse whining next to her.

"Yes, we met a horse."

"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked. "Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." The Doctor sassed, turning back to the window.

"See these?" the Doctor said pointing to the glass. "They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history..." he said placing a finger on the glass, when Reinette walked in. "Hers. Time window... 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 asked. "Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. Known to us as Madame de Pompadour, one of the most accomplished women who ever lived." Cara answered, patting the horse walking to the glass.

"So has she got plans of being the Queen, then?"
"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress."

"Oh, I get it. Camilla." Rose said, she and Mickey laughing "Camilla?" Cara mouthed to the Doctor, the Doctor shrugging.

"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at 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 Doctor said, the King leaving the room. Reinette instantly going to the mirror, preening herself.

"Queen must have loved her..." Rose said coyly.
"Oh, she did. They get on very well."
"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?"
"France. It's a different planet."

"Doctor!" Cara said the sound of ticking reaching her ears, far quicker than they reached there. The Doctor looked up. The clock on the mantelpiece was shattered.

"How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!"

"Doc! It's already there!" Cara shouted, watching the clockwork droid advance on Reinette.

The Doctor grabbed the fire extinguisher from Mickey, swinging the mirror around, jumping into the palace.

"Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" the Doctor greeted. Cara, Rose and Mickey jumping though the time window after him.

"Fireplace man!"

The Doctor stood in front of her, spraying the droid with the fire extinguisher, until it powered down like the last one. "That's not going to hold it." Cara said, the Doctor tossing the extinguisher back at Mickey.

"I know." The Doctor said, the droid beginning to whirr loudly.

"What's it doing?" Mickey asked, Cara glancing up at Reinette would was looking between her and the Doctor her eyes widening.

"Switching back on. Melting the ice."
"And then what?"

"Kills everybody in the room." Cara said, Mickey's eyeballs jetting out of his head. "Theoretically." Cara added. Just as the droid's arm knife shoot out for the Doctor's throat, the Doctor jumping back just missing it. "Nevermind." Cara said, decided to keep close between Mickey and the Doctor.

"Focuses the mind, doesn't it?" the Doctor said, turning to the droid. "Who are you? Identify yourself."

The droid cocked its head, silent. "Maybe it can't speak?" Cara suggested. The Doctor shook his head. "No…" he said thoughtfully turning to Reinette. "Order it to answer me."

"Why should it listen to me?" Reinette cried, staring at the droid fearfully. "I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it." The Doctor replied.

"Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you." Reinette ordered.

The droid lowered its arm. "I am repair droid seven." it said, its strange robot voice sounded oddly calm and relaxed. It fit the time period.

"So what happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage." the Doctor asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Ion storm, eighty two percent systems failure."

"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?" the Doctor continued. The droid creaked and whirred again, its clogs spinning. "We did not have the parts."

"Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts." Mickey laughed. Cara nudging him hard in the ribs. "Shut up, Mickey." she hissed.

"What's happened to the crew, where are they?" the Doctor tried again.
"We did not have the parts."
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?"
"We did not have the parts."

"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where...?" the Doctor paused, something dawning on him. "Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."

"Oh…" Cara whispered, looking down at the floor. She couldn't appreciate how nice they were. Her stomach churned, Cara hoping her body didn't decide to spew its guts here of all places.

"The crew?" Mickey mumbled. "We found a camera with an eye in it... and there was a heart... wired in to machinery." Rose said softly.

"It was just 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 said, staring at the droid. "Cara said there was a smell? One she didn't like…wasn't the smell that made her uncomfortable…What did you say the flight deck smelt of?" the Doctor asked.

"Someone cooking..." Rose said quietly.

"Flesh plus heat. Barbeque." The Doctor said darkly. "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 come to eighteenth century France? Why?"

"One more part is required." The droid said jerking its head in Reinette's direction. The four glanced at her. The Doctor looked back at the droid. "Then why haven't you taken it?"

"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 said NJKFN

"Why her?" Rose said abruptly. "You've got all of history to choose from, why specifically her?"

"We are the same."

"We are not the same, we are in no sense the same!" Reinette burst out, glaring furiously at the droid.

"We are the same."

"Get out of here!" Reinette shouted. "Get out of here this instance!"

"Reinette, no." the Doctor started, the droid already disappearing from sight. "It's back on the ship." The Doctor said, turning around. "Rose, take Mickey and Arthur, get after it. Follow it, don't approach it, just watch what it does."

"Arthur?"
"Arthur?" Cara and Rose asked, the two glancing at each other before back at the Doctor.

"Good name for a horse." The Doctor said glancing at Cara. "No, you're not keeping the horse!" Rose said tiredly. "I let you keep Mickey! Now go, go, go!" the Doctor shouted.

Mickey and Rose turning around, running back through the mirror portal. Cara about to follow them.

"Cara back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor

"Wha-" Cara cried about to protest, the Doctor cutting her off before she could. "I need you to find me everything on Reinette and those droids, why they might be here. Can you do that for me?"

Cara nodded, walking back to the time window.

"Cara." The Doctor called, before she could step though. "Yeah?" Cara said turned around, looking back at Reinette and the Doctor. The Doctor sighed, his worried eyes returning again.

"Be careful."

"Fifty first century, droids, Madame de Pompadour…God, I wish I had Google." Cara grumbled under her breath. The TARDIS violently flashing its lights.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, I know you're far better that Google, but I don't understand what could be connecting them together." Cara said tapping a few buttons.

"I just can't seem…" Cara paused, tilting the screen lower so she could read it better. "That…oh…could it? No-"

A loud crash from outside, Cara turned around, looking at the door. "What was that?"

The TARDIS light's flickered again, a little quieter than usual.

Cara bit her lower lip, walking down the steps to the door. "Should I?" she said unsurely reaching for the handle. Glancing up at the ceiling.

The TARDIS was quiet, before flickering a few more lights. "Okay." Cara said opening the door, poking her head out. "What'd I miss?" Cara asked, looking around the room. Rose and Mickey were strapped to two operating tables, the droid's (all powered down) surrounding them and Doctor wearing his tie like a mad person, and sunglasses?

"Well?" Cara asked, stepping out of the TARDIS. "What'd I miss, I feel like I missed something." she said, looking around the room pouting. Mickey letting out a light cackle, even Rose had cracked a smirk.

The Doctor grinned, whipping out his sonic. "Right, you two, that's enough lying about..." he said, releasing Rose and Mickey from their bonds. "Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."

"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked, the Doctor fixing his tie and pushing the sunglasses up. "Yep. Safe. Safe and thick. Way I like them. Okay, all the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down." The Doctor said feeling in his pockets. "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago, I was using them as castanets."

"Casta-What happened?" Cara cried.

"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-seven?" Rose asked.

"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they'll be lucky to hit the right century. Trial and error after that." The Doctor said, tapping on one of the computers. "The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"

There is an ominous pinging sound.

"What's that?"
"I don't know... incoming message?"
"From who?"
"Can someone give me a brief, I'm really confused."

"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 Doctor cried.

One of the driod's behind the Doctor spring to life. The droid expelled some red liquid onto the Doctor's shoes.

"Well, that was a bit clever." The Doctor mumbled.

The rest of the droids bursting to life, one of them that was a bit too close to Cara jumping up with a bit of hutzpah, making her squeal. Mickey pulling her next to him.

"Right... many things about this are not good."
"Ya think?" Cara said the strange pinging noise ringing out again.

"Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?" the Doctor said lightly, though Cara could sense a drip of worry.

"She is complete. It begins." One of the droid's said, all of them teleporting away.

"What's happening?" Rose asked, glancing at the Doctor.

"One of them must've found the right time window, and now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head."

Cara groaned. "Fan-bloody-tastic."

"Language."
"Seriously?!"

Hiya!

So sorry for the late update, but life has been and still is pretty crazy, so chapters will be coming in slower than normal, but hopefully things will speed up!

So thoughts? I love to hear, and I love you all for giving me, favs, follows, and reviews!

Ps. Got a lotta reviews, concerning Rose, and I will say, I'm pretty excited (and incredibly worried) about how its going to go down. So yeah, no spoilers coming from me. But I will say, that no I will not completely 'trash' Rose or something, coz she is good in her own way, and she did get me into Doctor Who, but I dunno, I always preferred her with 9 as a companion and LOVED 10 with Martha and Donna. It just flowed better for me.

Random how do we feel about Martha Jones? I have to admit, Martha and Donna are one of my all time favs, coz they have the full package of awesome storyline and just awesomeness all around.

Also, another random: I found an old ATLA fic I had tried writing a while ago, and I've been rewatching, sort of on the fence if I should just delete it or make some 'magic' and post it? Thoughts?

Anywho, I'm chatting too long XD, but as usual please: comment, review, fav, follow, PM, ect. :)

And a HUGE Thank You! For reading, reviewing, faving and following!

Till next time…