The console room was filled with tense silence, Rose's anger towards both the Doctor and Victoria very obvious.
Mickey stood beside the blonde who had her arms crossed against her chest, watching as Victoria pushed buttons here and there when the Doctor requested.
Rose felt betrayed, it was as simple as that.
She had been traveling with the Doctor for over a year when they met Victoria, she had loved him the whole time. Never romantically, she knew it would never work, but he was her best friend. She missed his old body, ears and all, but most of all, she missed being his best friend.
His new body was different, yet she still loved traveling through time and space with him. But ever since they met Victoria, she felt as if she was losing him.
The Doctor was drawn to Victoria, and they got along well. She was brilliant, fun, and adventurous, and Rose loved that about her.
It was the fact that the Doctor didn't trust her enough to share anything with her that hurt her the most.
She knew she shouldn't be taking her anger out on Victoria, but it was easier to be mad at her than the Doctor.
Just watching the redhead work silently with the Doctor, Rose couldn't help the tight, constricting feeling that gripped at her heart.
"Come on, Mickey," she muttered, needing time to cool off, unable to watch the two.
The Doctor watched the two walk out of the console room out of the corner of his eye, internally wincing at the tension that Rose left in the room.
Victoria watched him hesitantly as she took a seat in the captain's chair. She swung her leg absentmindedly, noting how his shoulders were slightly hunched, waiting for the inevitable question.
"Everything okay between you and Rose?" he probed.
"Yeah," she nodded lightly, not wanting to say anything else, feeling as if she were a tattletale.
"Victoria," he warned, his tone disapproving, having caught her lie. She sighed before standing up to stand beside him.
"Why do you tell me about your past instead of Rose," she responded, rather than outright admitting the argument.
He tightened his grip slightly on the knob he was holding. What could he tell her, that he felt drawn to her? That he trusted her almost immediately? He might as well, there wasn't much to lose.
"I…" he trailed, swallowing lightly before looking over at the redhead beside him. "You're more experienced and mature than Rose is. I mean, you skipped years in school, you grew up surrounded by aliens, and you're six years older than her. And Rose is amazing and she'll always be one of my dearest friends, but I find myself trusting you more."
Victoria couldn't describe how she felt when he told her that he trusted her more than Rose. Shock, disbelief, happiness, guilt, she felt them all. She knew all of them were most likely present on her face, yet she couldn't help herself.
"Oh," was all she managed to get out, blanching internally at her weak response. She wasn't sure how she could respond to his admission.
"Don't worry about Rose," he told her, enjoying her reaction to his words. "I'll talk to Rose in the morning."
He could see her affectionate smile out of the corner of his eye, having turned back to fiddle with the console.
He didn't understand why, but there was something inside of him urging him to tell her his nickname from school, to get one in return.
They stood together in silence, but as Victoria turned to leave for bed, the Doctor reached out and lightly grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her place.
"You okay, Doctor?" she asked, a worried expression settling on her face.
"Theta."
She stared at him with a confused frown. "Theta?"
"It was my nickname when I was at the Academy," he explained, grinning at the emotions that flitted across her face once again.
"Why are you…?" she trailed off, taken aback by his trust in her.
"I'd like it if you called me that when we were alone," he told her.
"If that's what you want," she agreed with a slight head nod, a small blush painting her cheeks.
"It is, Vie," he told her.
A warm, tight feeling grew in her chest, and a small smile made its way onto her face. "I like that."
"Good."
Having yawned one too many times, the Doctor gently told Victoria to head to bed. "Goodnight, Theta."
"Goodnight, Vie."
- Page Break -
Life on the TARDIS was nothing like Mickey thought it'd be, but he was attributing that to the hostility flowing from Rose.
The previous night, she had guided him to his room before rushing towards her own, shoulders shaking as she cried silently to herself.
The next morning, after waking up, Mickey found himself in the console room as the Doctor fiddled with the controls, not noticing his new companion's arrival. He decided to stand towards the side, taking his place beside a beam.
Almost immediately after he settled into his spot, Rose walked in and towards the Doctor. "Why don't you ever tell me anything?"
Mickey winced, watching as the Doctor grew tense. He had hoped Rose would feel better in the morning, but she obviously didn't.
"Rose…" the Doctor trailed off, having been caught off guard.
"No," she snapped, crossing her arms. "I've got a right to know, yeah? I've been traveling with you for almost two years, do you not trust me?"
"Rose Tyler." The Doctor turned around to look at her with a frown. "Of course I trust you."
The tears that Rose had been biting back had begun to shine in her eyes. "Then why don't you talk to me."
He took a deep breath and gathered her into his arms, preparing himself to tell her the harsh truth.
"When we met in Hendrick's, it had only been a few months since I had… Since I had ended the Time War.
You… You were this pink and yellow human who managed to pull me out of my personal darkness. I needed you so much before, and of course, I still need you now, you're one of my best friends.
But since meeting Victoria, she's helped in a different way…"
Rose pulled back to look up at the Doctor, taking in his expression before her anger finally fell away as she realized what was happening. "You love her."
He flinched back, surprised by her statement. "I don't know-"
"I can see it when she helps you pilot the TARDIS, when you grab her hand even when you aren't running, and even when you guys stay up late into the night talking when no one else is up."
She took in his shocked, tense face and smiled wryly. "I'm sorry… You don't have to tell me anything you do want to. You're my best friend, and I just don't want to lose you."
Although he was still processing the fact that Rose thought he loved Victoria, he smiled back at his favorite blonde. "What would I do without you?"
She stuck out her tongue and laughed. "Let's hope we don't find out."
Mickey felt uncomfortable, yet intrigued, both for good reason. He had been forced to listen to the pair's heart-to-heart, unable to move as he'd give himself away. But, he had also learned that the Doctor was in love with Victoria. He was glad to know that Rose didn't love the Doctor, and he had to admit, Victoria and the Doctor did look kinda good together.
Although he could tell that things would be okay between the trio, he couldn't help but worry that things wouldn't change for him. He was always second best, always on the side, and he didn't want this to be another similar situation.
But for now, he pushed back that worry as Victoria walked into the room.
"Sorry, the TARDIS wouldn't let me out of the kitchen," she turned to glare half-heartedly at the console.
The Doctor let out a relieved sigh, patting the console in thanks.
"Nah, it's fine, you didn't miss much," Rose grinned at her, her tongue poking out through her tongue.
Victoria raised a playful, questioning eyebrow before turning towards Mickey. "Is she telling the truth?"
Mickey watched as surprise crossed the Doctor and Rose's faces, figuring that they in fact hadn't noticed him standing there.
The Doctor's face begrudgingly turned pleadingful behind Victoria's back. Mickey let out a small sigh before smiling. "Nope, nothing special."
"Good," she grinned back at him before turning to the Doctor. "So where are we heading?"
"I put the TARDIS on random, so let's hope she picks something good," he told them, running around the console.
"You should hold onto something, Mickey," Victoria whispered, grabbing a hold of the console seat as the TARDIS began to wheeze.
"Wha-" he was cut off by Rose. "No, really. Hold onto something."
"Oi, I'm not that bad," the Doctor whined, his lip jutting out.
Rose looked across the room and met Victoria's eyes. "Yeah, you are," they said together, laughing together at the indignant look that crossed his face.
"I'm really no-" the room tilted to the side, throwing the group about.
Mickey hadn't grabbed a hold of anything in time, wincing as his butt throbbed from the fall. He let out a laugh as Victoria's hand slipped, sending her falling onto Rose who had fallen into the captain's seat.
"You want to try that again?" Victoria teased, looking at the Doctor as he ran around the console as if he hadn't been knocked to the ground.
"Come on, Mickey," the Doctor muttered, casting a playful glare at his two female companions.
Victoria pulled herself off of the blonde before holding out her hand.
Rose smiled gratefully as Victoria helped her up, but it soon turned apologetic. "I'm sorry."
Victoria shook her head. "No, you don't have anything to apologize for."
"But I do," Rose grabbed Victoria's hands and squeezed them. "I'm sorry for taking my anger and frustration out on you. You didn't deserve it, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you, but you have to understand, I've known him longer, so I thought he would have told me. I get it, that's not my choice, it's his. And I've got to respect that."
Victoria smiled as the blonde pulled her into a tight hug. Rose nuzzled her head into Victoria's, appreciating the fact that she had such a good friend.
"Come on, Rose. We shouldn't leave the boys waiting," she said, and after a few moments of hesitation, the blonde moved away.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's hope they haven't killed each other."
Victoria skipped forward and pushed open the door to see a slightly irritated Doctor and awed Mickey standing quietly in the dark.
"It's a spaceship! Brilliant, I got a spaceship on my first go!" he exclaimed, looking at Rose with a smile as Victoria moved towards the Doctor.
"Looks kind of abandoned... Anyone on board?" Rose asked the Doctor.
Looking up from where he was searching, he told her "Nah, nothing here. Well! Nothing dangerous. Well! Not that dangerous." He paused, glancing once more around the room. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan... in case there's anything dangerous," he said quickly, pulling out his sonic before doing as he said he would.
He followed the beeping of the sonic as it led him to the light switch.
"So," Rose started. "What's the date? How far have we gone?"
"About three thousand years into your future, give or take."
The roof began moving slowly, opening like plastic curtains until the stars could be seen. The lights had taken a moment, but they eventually flickered on.
"Fifty-first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey! Two and a half galaxies!" the Doctor said, smiling with his hands in his overcoat pocket.
Mickey was in a state of complete awe as he stared out a porthole. Rose gently smiled at his happiness as she joined him in watching the stars. She sat her hand on his shoulder as she enjoyed the view.
Victoria watched as the Doctor inspected the control panel that was covered in a few pieces of scrap metal and broken mechanics. "Dear me, had some cowboys in here! Got a ton of repair work going on," the Doctor muttered.
She helped him take the pieces off the panel to reveal a dusty screen. On the screen, they could vaguely see a diagram of the ship.
"Now that's odd, 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... and we're not moving. So where's all that power going?" the Doctor asked out of curiosity.
"Doctor, shouldn't there be a crew?" Victoria asked, looking around the desolate room.
"That's a good point," the Doctor said as he fiddled with the controls. "It says there are no signs of life."
"Well, we're in deep space; they didn't just nip out for a quick smoke," Rose muttered and the Doctor nodded.
"I already checked all the smoke pods," he told Rose. The Doctor had moved away from the screen and began sniffing the air. Turning to Victoria, he asked, "Do you smell that?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "It smells like a barbeque."
"Like someone's cooking," Rose agreed.
"Sunday roast, definitely," Mickey added.
The Doctor moved his hand along the wall until he hit a switch, causing a door to open behind the group.
Inside the new room was an old, beautiful fireplace that stood out from the fifty-first century technology.
"Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteenth-century! French! Nice mantel," the Doctor pointed his sonic at the fireplace.
As the Doctor looked at the readings, Victoria crouched down beside him and looked closer at the fireplace. "Not even a reproduction, this actually is an eighteenth-century French fireplace. Double-sided, there's another room through there," the Doctor explained.
She looked into the fireplace to see a young blonde girl in a nightgown gazing into the fire as well.
"Hello!" she waved gently at the young girl, catching the Doctor's attention in the process.
"Hello..." the girl answered as the Doctor came into view as well.
"What's your name?" the Doctor grinned.
"Reinette," she answered quietly/
"It's nice to meet you, Reinette, " Victoria told her with a gentle smile.
"Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?" the Doctor asked softly.
"My bedroom," she said, looking over her shoulder briefly.
"Where do you live, Reinette?" he asked.
"Paris, of course! Mademoiselle, Monsieur, what are you doing in my fireplace?" Reinette asked in confusion.
"We're here for our annual cleaning. Reinette, could you tell us the year by any chance?" Victoria asked, causing the girl's face to screw up slightly in confusion.
"Of course I can! Seventeen hundred and twenty-seven," she responded.
"Right, lovely! One of my favorites... August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Nighty-night!" the Doctor waved goodbye, and Victoria quickly followed suit.
"Good night, Monsieur, Mademoiselle," Reinette said before she walked away from the fireplace.
After the Doctor stood up, he held out a hand for Victoria and helped her up.
"You said this was the fifty-first century," Mickey spoke slowly, trying to understand what was happening.
"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-temporal hyperlink," the Doctor said.
"What's that?" Mickey asked.
"He doesn't know so he made it," Rose told Mickey with a teasing smile.
"It sounds better than a magic door," the Doctor admitted.
"And on the other side of that magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded.
As he threw off his jacket, he explained, "Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."
"She was speaking English, I heard her!" Mickey insisted but Victoria shook her head.
"The TARDIS actually translates almost every language for you. You won't have to worry about not understanding any language, whether it be an Earth language or alien," she explained with a smile.
"Gotcha!" The Doctor called as he hit a lever on the fireplace. As he began to turn, he grabbed a hold of Victoria's arm, causing her to yelp as he pulled her with him.
"Doctor! Victoria!" Rose called out, her voice pitched higher with worry as her friends disappeared.
Once the fireplace stopped moving, the Doctor let go of Victoria's hand and walked deeper into the room. It was very large, especially for a little girl's room. As they looked out the large window, they noticed snow covering the ground and trees shimmering under the moonlight. In the distance, they could hear horses and carriages being pulled.
The Doctor spun around as a small gasp filled the air to see Reinette standing stiffly alone.
"It's okay! Don't scream! It's us, it's the fireplace man and woman. Look," the Doctor spoke calmly as he walked over to Reinette, pulling me along. He pulled out his sonic and lit the candle next to her bed.
"We were talking, just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace," Victoria spoke, causing Reinette to shake her head.
"Mademoiselle, that was weeks ago. It has been months!"
"Really?"
Victoria followed the Doctor as he moved over to the fireplace, listening closely to the sounds it produced when he tapped on it.
"Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in," the Doctor muttered.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Reinette demanded, slightly scared.
The Doctor put on his glasses and looked closely at the clock. "Do you hear the ticking?" the Doctor asked quietly and Victoria nodded, a small sliver of fear forcing itself though her. "But the clock is broken," the Doctor said.
"Oh, that's creepy. Properly creepy," she muttered, feeling uneasy.
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked, not quite understanding.
"Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. 'Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room-" the Doctor began.
"Then where is the noise coming from?" Victoria finished, glancing over at the Doctor to see a protective look in his eyes.
The ticking noise got louder, and Victoria could tell that it was beginning to scare Reinette. She walked over to the young girl's bed and sat down next to her and took a hold of her hands gently.
"Cause you see that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. Size of a man," the Doctor explained quickly, Victoria barely keeping up with the speed of his words.
"What is it?" Reinette asked.
"Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticks and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, the first thing you do: break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone," the Doctor spoke quickly after having looked behind the curtain.
He walked over to the bed, pulling Victoria off the bed as he crouched down. Together they looked under the bed, looking for the source of the noise.
"Reinette, I'm going to need you to stay where you are and to keep your hands and feet from going off the bed," the Doctor told her and he prepared to flash his sonic. When he turned on his sonic, something lept towards the two. The Doctor flinched backward, pulling Victoria away from the bed.
"Stay exactly where you are," the Doctor hurriedly told Reinette as they scrambled to their feet.
He shifted his focus between the young girl on the bed and the creepy figure behind her. It only took him a moment before he truly focused on Reinette "Hold still, let me look..." the Doctor spoke, moving close to Reinette before grasping her head lightly. He stared deeply into her eyes, reading her mind to find what the droid was looking for.
After coming across what he needed, he stood straight and glared at the figure. "You've been scanning her brain!" he frowned. "What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"
"I don't understand, it wants me?" Reinette looked at Victoria in fear, then looked at the droid. "You want me?"
"Not yet," it said. "You are incomplete."
"What does that mean, incomplete?" Victoria asked the droid.
The droid refused to answer, it's gaze never leaving Reinette. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the droid threateningly. "You can answer her, you can answer us. What do you mean, 'incomplete'?" the Doctor asked, causing the droid to pivot towards him.
Moving close to the pair, the robot extended its arm, stopping dangerously near Victoria's throat. She leaned back as far as possible when a knife popped out of its hand, barely an inch away from cutting it. She gave the droid a wary glance as she took tiny steps away from it.
"Mademoiselle, be careful!" Reinette called.
The Doctor reached out and grabbed Victoria's hand, pulling her back slightly, urging her away from the murderous droid.
"Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares," he called back to Reinette as they walked faster towards the fireplace while the droid followed. As they reached the fireplace, the robot took a swipe at her neck. Victoria jumped backward, her back hitting the mantle.
"Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?" the Doctor asked, feeling around for the switch.
The droid swiped at Victoria once again, and she ducked from its incoming attack. Its knife got stuck in the mantle, halting it for a moment.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asked just as the Doctor found the switch.
As the two began to rotate with the droid beside them, the Doctor responded with 'Me' and a laugh of sorts.
When they reached the other side, Mickey pulled Victoria away from the fireplace as the Doctor grabbed an ice gun off of a nearby wall and sprayed the droid.
"Are you okay?" Mickey asked.
"Thank you for asking," Victoria told him with a shy smile as she fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt.
"You know, if you ever need anything, I'll try my best to help. I may not be as helpful as the Doctor, but I can sure as hell try my best. I'm glad you're traveling with them. They need someone who will keep them in check," he told her lightly, although she could read the seriousness in his words.
"Man, do I know it."
"Vie!" the Doctor called out to her. She turned to him, seeing that he was waiting beside the fireplace with an impatient frown on his face.
Placing a hand on Mickey's shoulder, she smiled and said, "Thank you, Mickey."
She jogged over to the Doctor and stood beside him and waited for him to flip the switch. Once he was sure she was settled in, the fireplace began to rotate, causing her to let out a quiet laugh.
"Man, that's so cool. Just like the movies," she told him, feeling like she was in a Scooby-Doo episode.
The room had changed from before. They both noticed that the large doll house that had been against one of the walls had been replaced with a large harp and a vanity.
"Reinette... we're here to make sure you're okay," Victoria called out as she ran a hand over the harp, causing a small chim to fill the air.
"Oh, hello!" the Doctor called, causing Victoria to look up abruptly. Standing in the entrance of the room stood a beautiful, blonde haired woman who was dressed in a large gown.
Both time travelers smiled at the woman, enamoured by her beauty. Yet, neither knew why their chests began to feel tight and somewhat sad.
"Um, we were just looking for Reinette. Uh, this is still her room, isn't it? We've been away, not sure how long," the Doctor explained, waiting for the woman to talk.
"Reinette! We're ready to go!" a voice called out.
"Go to the carriage, mother. I will join you in a moment," Reinette called back with a cheeky grin. Victoria glanced over at the Doctor in shock, and she felt her grin grow larger.
"It is customary, I think, to have imaginary friends only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence," Reinette said, taking a few steps into the room.
"You look… beautiful," Victoria told her after finding her voice, causing a blush to grow on Reinette's face.
"Well, goodness, have you grown," the Doctor added, swallowing roughly.
"And you both do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you two," she told them, coming to stand in front of the two.
"Right... yes... sorry. Um... umm... umm.. listen, lovely to catch up, but er, better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man and woman, do we?" the Doctor stuttered, looking away from Reinette.
"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I have known you both since I was seven years old," she told them,
"Yeah, I suppose we have. We took the quick route," he said with a small, awkward laugh. Reinette reached out, putting a hand on both of their cheeks.
"Well, you seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real," she decided as the Doctor shook his head.
"You never want to listen to reason."
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient," a voice echoed through the room, more irritated than before.
"A moment," she snapped before turning back towards her guests.
"There are so many questions and so little time," she said before making a rash decision. She quickly pulled Victoria closer where she kissed the corner of her mouth for a moment before doing the same to the Doctor.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" the voice called out again.
Reinette smiled once more before rushing over to her vanity and grabbing her purse. With one last glance, Reinette ran out of the room as a servant walked in. "Poisson?" the Doctor called out, seeming startled by the news.
"Wait, you mean the Reinette Poisson?" Victoria asked, looking at him with excitement, her love of French history peaking through.
"No... no, no, no, no, no way, Reinette Poisson?!" he asked, rushing up to the servant. "Later Madame Etoiles? Later the mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France?" he said, moving back towards the fireplace. "Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan? Fantastic gardener!" he exclaimed, grabbing Victoria's hand and pulling her towards the fireplace as she had yet to move.
"Who the hell are you?" the man cried while the Doctor smiled.
"I'm the Doctor. This is Victoria. And we just kissed Madame de Pompadour!" he exclaimed as he hit the lever on the fireplace. He laughed to himself while Victoria began to come out of her shock.
She had always considered herself bisexual, but had never truly found herself enamoured with a woman. Not like she was now.
"Madame de Pompadour just kissed us. Us! God, she is so beautiful," Victoria exclaimed, still shocked that Reinette had kissed her.
The Doctor responded with a bright smile, although it didn't last long. He glanced around the room with a confused frown. "Where did they go?"
"Rose? Mickey?" he called out. Grabbing her hand, the Doctor pulled Victoria down the hallway, grumbling about how his companions never listen to him, how they always run off.
"I haven't run off yet," she told him and he stopped and gave her a pointed look.
"The key word in that statement is yet," he told me, and Victoria nudged him with a laugh.
"Maybe next time I might just run of-" she was interrupted by the neigh of a horse. Looking over, they came face to face with a white horse.
"Well that's something you don't see everyday," she muttered, reaching forward to stroke the horse's mane.
"Now isn't the time, Vie. We need to find Rose and Mickey," the Doctor said, tugging slightly on her hand.
"Fine," she pouted slightly, not wanting to leave the horse. He shook his head as he pulled her away.
As they wondered about the ship, Victoria decided that maybe it was time for the Doctor to hear about her father.
"I don't remember much from 2006 to 2009. I think my dad erased bits and pieces of my memory," she admitted. "My dads, they worked for some organization to deal with aliens, mainly in Cardiff. He never told me who they were, but he met my other dad, Ianto Jones, there. He died in late 2009, and it really broke Dad's heart. Everyone's gone now, either dead or got out, except him."
"How is he doing now?" he asked, looking over at her. She pondered silently, trying to decide if she should tell him the whole truth or spare him the grief.
"He went out with a guy named Alonso briefly after my dad died, but it didn't last long. I think… I think I'm the only thing keeping him happy nowaday, besides his work."
"I'm sorry."
She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "What for?"
"It's my fault he can't die," he said as they turned the corner, but she shook her head.
"He was mad at you at the beginning, when you left him on the game station," she said, though her tone was light in an attempt to show the Doctor that there were no hard feelings. "But in the end, I think he was grateful as he otherwise wouldn't have been able to raise me or get to protect Cardiff."
She winced slightly to herself, she should have known to not bring this up. She squeezed his hand as they walked in silence, though she could practically hear his brain going into overdrive.
"Will you stop following us? We're not your parents," he snapped, turning around to point at something. Victoria looked over her shoulder and grinned as she saw the white horse from earlier a few feet away.
Recognizing the subject change, she reached out to stroke the horse's mane. He caught her hand and shook his head. "No, Vie."
With a sigh, she looked back at the hallway and saw a set of white french doors. "Doctor, look," she nudged his shoulder.
They approached the door with the horse trailing behind. "Is this where you came from?" Victoria asked, running her hand down his nose.
The Doctor pushed the doors open to reveal eighteenth-century France. They stepped into a grassy courtyard with lots of trees and a little pond. As they moved deeper into the field, they noticed Reinette.
The pair crouched behind a nearby row of pillars, one in which had a large flower pot on top. They watched as she walked beside her friend, each holding a parasol, when she looked in their direction. The Doctor yanked Victoria down and out of view.
"Come on," he nodded back towards the door where they could see the horse waiting inside. He leaned around the pillar, checking to make sure it was safe before helping her up.
After Victoria took his hand, they walked in silence as they looked for Rose and Mickey. Only after a few minutes of wondering did they finally find the couple standing in front of a window, looking in on Reinette and the King of France.
"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey asked as they walked up to them, though neither noticed.
"Le Roi de France," Victoria injected, causing the two to jump.
"That's the King?" Mickey asked and the Doctor nodded.
"What have you two been up to?" Rose injected, looking between the Doctor and Victoria.
"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat... picked a fight with a clockwork man..." the Doctor trailed off.
"And we met a horse," Victoria grinned, watching as confusion grew on their faces.
"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 scolded lightly, and Victoria nudged his shoulder lightly.
"See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history..." he began. "Her's," Victoria said along with him.
"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?" he muttered.
"Who is she?" Rose asked, causing Victoria to grin. "Jeanne-Reinette Poisson. One of, if not the most, beautiful, accomplished woman ever."
"So has she got plans on being the queen?" Rose asked.
"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress," the Doctor said, causing Mickey and Rose to share a glance.
"I see. Camilla," she said, causing the two to start laughing.
"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 explained as the King left the room. Reinette then walked over to the mirror that we were seeing through and began to touch up her hair and clothes.
"The queen must have loved her," Rose said sarcastically.
"Oh, she did. They get on very well," the Doctor, having either not noticed the sarcasm or chose to ignore it.
"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey asked incredulously.
"France, It's a different world," Victoria spoke softly, staring at Reinette.
It was then that a ticking noise filled the air, the same one from the clockwork droid from earlier. On the other side of the window, Reinette noticed the sound as well, turning around in freight.
"How long have you been standing there?" she called out to the droid hiding in the shadows.
"Show yourself!" she demanded. The droid did as asked and began advancing on her.
The Doctor noticed the fire extinguisher in Mickey's hand and pushed on the window, allowing for the group to enter the room. He raced forward, the gun in his hand, and sprayed the clockwork droid until it froze.
"Hello, Reinette. It's so good to see you," Victoria grinned at her
"Fireplace woman! Fireplace man!" she said happily, albeit scared of what was happening in front of her.
"What's it doing?" Mickey asked from behind Rose.
"Switching back on. It's melting the ice," the Doctor explained, listening to the whirring noises coming from the droid.
"And then what?" Rose asked, gripping Mickey's hand tightly.
"Then it kills everyone in the room," the Doctor told her just as the droid's arm flew out towards his neck. He jumped backward, barely avoiding the knife that replaced its hand. "Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself," he questioned, having moved to stand by Reinette.
The droid refused to answer, only cocking its head slightly. "Order it to listen to me," the Doctor ordered Reinette softly.
"Why would it listen to me?" she asked.
"It listened to you all those years ago. Why not now?" he asked, watching as understanding flashed in her eyes.
Turning towards the clockwork droid, she announced, "You will answer any questions that are put to you."
Lowering its arm, the droid answered the Doctor. "I repair Droid Seven."
"So what happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage," the Doctor asked.
"Ion storm, eighty-two percent system failure," the Droid replied.
"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?"
"We did not have the parts," the Droid answered, causing Mickey to laugh softly.
"Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts."
"What's happened to the crew, where are they?" the Doctor asked sternly, desperately trying to understand.
"We did not have the parts," the Droid repeated.
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" the Doctor asked quickly, obviously not appreciating the Droid's answer.
"We did not have the parts."
"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where-" the Doctor started harshly before stopping himself as he began to understand. "Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew," he explained, causing Victoria's heart to drop.
The smell of meat cooking from earlier filled her nose as Rose admitted to finding a beating heart hooked to machinery.
"Please stop," she whispered, thinking about the dead crew added to the ship. The Doctor looked down at Victoria with concern, before looking back towards the droid, prepared to continue his investigation.
"But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows, and that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could have gone to your repair yard. Instead, you come to eighteenth-century France? Why?" the Doctor questioned, walking a bit closer to the droid.
"One part is still required," the droid looked at Reinette as he spoke.
"Then why haven't you taken it yet?" he asked, looking away from Reinette.
"She is not complete."
"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 harshly.
"Why her?" Rose asked quietly. "I mean, you have all of history, and you chose her."
"We are the same," the droid responded, causing Reinette to stiffen. "We are not the same, we are in no sense the same!"
"We are the same."
"Get out of here! Get out of here this minute!" she demanded angrily.
"Reinette, no!" the Doctor called but it was too late. The droid touched its wrist and teleported away.
Turning around quickly, the Doctor began instructing Rose and Mickey on what to do. "Victoria, look around the room and make sure there's nothing we're missing," he said, handing her the sonic.
As she moved towards the wall, the Doctor placed his fingertips on Reinette's face. "Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for, there's only one way I can do that. Won't hurt a bit."
"Oh, such a lonely childhood," Reinette muttered sadly.
"It'll pass, stay with me," he told her, gently.
"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone," Reinette whispered, though the Doctor misunderstood.
"What do you mean, alone?You've never been alone in your life-" the Doctor stopped.
"When did you start calling me Doctor?" he asked, eyes wide open in fear and confusion.
"So unsure of how to feel. You love her, but you love History as well," Reinette whispered as the Doctor released her head.
"How did you do that?" he asked in fear, but Reinette smiled. "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction."
"Victoria," Reinette called out, drawing the red head's attention from where she was crouching.
"Both of you, dance with me," she smiled, walking towards Victoria with her hand held out as the Doctor slowly trailed behind.
"We can't. This is the night you dance with the King," the Doctor declined her offer.
"Then first, I shall make him jealous," she tried but he shook his head.
"We can't."
We stood in silence for a moment before Reinette spoke. "Doctor... Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?"
"What did you see?" he asked, causing Reinette to look at Victoria, though she didn't notice.
"If you won't dance with me, at least dance with Victoria," she said with a small, sly grin. "I saw that there comes a time when every lonely boy must learn how to dance."
Turning towards Victoria, she smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards her closest to prepare for the dance.
- Page Break -
"Why did you let me have those drinks?" Victoria questioned with a slight slur and a slowly growing headache.
The Doctor and Victoria had danced together for quite a while before she had come across some sort of drink, though learned that it was alcohol too late, having had four cups.
He shook his head as he helped her walk through the halls of the spaceship. When he let her go, the room started spinning a little bit, causing her to let out a somewhat pained giggle.
He reached over and put his tie over her head, causing her to laugh harder. "Just... just keep doing what you're doing," he told her, grabbing her hand in the process. He guided her to a huge room as he began singing off key. "I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night," he sang and she laughed harder, tears beginning to leak from her eyes.
"And still have begged for moooore... I could've spread my wings and done a thousand," she sang while the Doctor walked over towards Rose. "Have you met the French, they really know how to party," he said as he pointed towards the hysterical redhead.
"Hi, Rosieeee," Victoria sang, stumbling over towards her.
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm," Rose huffed, but watched her friend in worry.
"Oh, you sound just like your mother," the Doctor said distastefully, causing Victoria to gasp loudly.
"Doctor, that's rude," she pointed at him.
"What've you been doing? Where've you been?" Rose asked rather crossed.
"I invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries too early and Victoria had a little too much to drink," the Doctor explained.
"Did you know, they've never seen a banana before. Never! How awful is that!" she cried, thinking about their confused faces.
"Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are GOOD," the Doctor said leaning over Rose.
The Doctor spun around to notice the droids from early and pointed at them. "Oh ho ho ho ho, brilliant. It's you! You're my favorite, you are, you are the best! Do you know why? 'Cause you're so THICK. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania," he said, causing Victoria to fall into another string of laughter.
"So's your dad," she called out, enjoying the insult perhaps a bit too much. She looked over to where Mickey was lying down and wandered over. "Hi, Mickey. How are you doing?"
"Victoria, are you seriously drunk?" he asked incredulously. Shaking her head up and down, I pointed to the Doctor who was pouring oil into one of the droids. "I got thirsty, and turns out their drinks were definitely spiked."
"Alright, you two, that's enough lying around," the Doctor called out as he released the two from their tables.
"Oh, Doctor. My head hurts," Victoria called out, leaning against Mickey.
"Maybe you shouldn't have had any of those drinks," the Doctor suggested as he put his hand in his pocket as he checked for medicine.
After finding some, he handed the pills to her. She grimaced as she swallowed them dry. "Please never let me drink on a trip ever again."
The Doctor nodded while he got to work with the controls. Mickey and Victoria stood by the wall as the Rose helped the Doctor. Suddenly, the ticking noise of the droids filled the air.
"Right... many things about this are not good," the Doctor spoke. "Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"
"She is complete. It begins," the droid speaks before they all teleport away.
The Doctor quickly explained what happened before they group made their way back to the TARDIS.
"Victoria, are you feeling better?" the Doctor asked and she nodded.
"Much better."
"Good, because I need you to talk to Reinette." He helped her find the right window before going to work on getting the audio link in the time window to connect to the ship.
Victoria walked into the room and stood in the doorway, watching as Reinette looked out the window.
"Reinette, I need to talk to you, and we don't have much time," she announced, wincing as the blonde jumped at the sound of her voice. "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years."
"Five years?"
"Sometime after your thirty-seventh birthday. We don't have an exact date, we just know they are coming. It's currently happening to us in a way, it's very hard to explain."
"Then be exact, and I will be attentive," Reinette says, but Victoria shook her head.
"There isn't enough time, Reinette."
"There are five years," she tries.
"I barely have five minutes with you," I say sadly.
"Then be concise."
"There's a ship that has different parts of your life in it in different rooms," she explain slowly, making sure her wording wasn't too confusing.
"There is a vessel in your world... where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book so that he may step from one to the other without increase of age... while I, weary traveler... must always take the slower path?" Reinette asked, causing Victoria to smile sadly.
"I'm afraid so."
"So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?" she questioned.
"The Doctor says to keep them talking. They're kind of programmed to respond to you now. You won't be able to stop them, but you might be able to delay them a bit," Victoria explained. "Until?" she asked.
"Until the Doctor can get there."
"Are you coming?" she asked, and she shook her head.
"I don't think so. It seems this meeting will be our last," Victoria whispered, causing Reinette to reach forward and squeeze her hand.
"But he is coming, then?"
"He promises."
"But he cannot promise me in person?" she asked, causing Victoria to look down a moment.
"When you need him the most, he will be there. That's how it will go," she told her apologetically.
"It's the way it's always been. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other."
"It seems like it," Victoria laughed lightly. "I am so appreciative to have you in my life and to have met you, but you were never meant to meet me or the Doctor," she told the older woman, watching as anger filled her expression. "But I would never have it any other way."
"I would not have it any other way either," she admited when Mickey walked into the room.
"The time window when she's thirty-seven. We found it. Right under our noses," he explained, causing Reinette to move towards the tapestry that hid the ship.
"You shouldn't go in there," Victoria called out, but did little to stop her as she walked into the ship.
"So, this your world," she looked at Victoria, her eyes wide as she took in her surroundings.
Suddenly, screams and cries filled the hallway. "What was that?" Reinette asked, a tremor in her voice.
"The time window, the Doctor fixed an audio link," Mickey explained. "Those screams, that's my future?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," Victoria apologized, laying her hand on Reinette's shoulder.
"Then I must take the slower path," she announced when her future self's voice filled the air. "That's my voice."
"Victoria, we need to go. There's a problem and we need to get back," Mickey told her, and she looked at him pleadingly.
"Give me a moment with her," she glanced at him, watching as he nodded and ran back in the direction of the Doctor. Victoria turned to look directly at Reinette and asked, "Are you okay?"
"No. I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we, Victoria? The Doctor is worth the monsters," she told me. She moved to walk back to her world, but Victoria grabbed her hand, stopping her before she left.
"Goodbye, Reinette. It was a pleasure getting to know you," she told her, pulling her into a hug.
"Goodbye, Fireplace woman. I am forever grateful that you and the Doctor appeared in my life," she said with a sad smile. Pulling back, Victoria kissed the French woman on the cheek before releasing her.
"Goodbye, Victoria Jones," she smiled as a tear fell down her face before walking through the tapestry, back to her world.
Victoria stood still, watching the tapestry for a moment before rushing back to the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey.
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Victoria asked, watching with wide eyes as the Doctor mounted the horse that had followed them earlier.
"The droids blocked the time window, and the only way through is with force, and I promised her that I'd help."
"How will you get back?" Victoria asked frantically and he shrugged, his eyes pleading with her to not worry.
"I'll figure it out."
Rose pulled Victoria back, and they both wished him good luck and watched as he rode through the time window.
The room was filled with tense silence, and a sense of dread creeped through Victoria. She sat down against the wall beside the fireplace as Mickey and Rose went into the TARDIS, too worried to do anything else.
Though she tried to fight it, sleep quickly overtook her in the first hour of waiting.
Page Break -
"Madame de Pompadour!" he cried, crouching down to look through the fireplace to look at Reinette. "Still want to see those stars?"
"More than anything," she told him with a smile.
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag!"
"Am I going somewhere?" Reinette called out.
"Go to your window and pick a star," he responded before standing up.
He spun around to see Victoria sitting against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees as her chest rose slowly, a small snore escaping her mouth as she breathed.
"Victoria," he whispered, but she didn't budge. "Vie."
She blinked her eyes open with a yawn. "Doctor?"
"How long was I gone?" he asked, offering her a hand to pull her up.
She shrugged, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Five and a half hours," Rose called out as she pushed the TARDIS doors open.
"Rose!" he pulled her into a tight hug before doing the same with Victoria.
"Right, always wait five and a half hours," he said as he shook Mickey's hand. "Explain later. Into the TARDIS, be with you in a sec," he said, grabbing Victoria's hand and pulling her to the fireplace.
"Reinette? You there, Reinette?" he asked, crouching in front of the fireplace. He pulled the lever, impatiently waiting for the fireplace to move into the new room.
"Reinette?" Victoria echoed as they entered the room, though it was dark, only light by a few candles on tables near the walls.
"Oh, hello," the Doctor said, noticing a man standing in front of a window, quickly realizing it was King Louis.
"You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six," he answered softly.
"Oh," Victoria whispered, feeling sadness wash over her as she took in his words and posture.
"Good Lord... she was right. She said you two never looked a day older," he said before turning his attention to the Doctor. "So many years since I saw you last, yet not a day of it on your face." The man reached into a drawer that he stood by and pulled out two letters.
"She spoke of you both many times," the man said, and the Doctor began to realize what had happened as well. He handed them both a letter before looking back outside. The sound of a horse neighing and the sound of a carriage being pulled away filled the air. "There she goes. Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty-three when she died," the man explained and Victoria gripped the Doctor's hand tighter.
Together they walked to the window and watched the hearse vanish in the distance. "Too young... too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard," the man, whom she realized was King Louis XV, said. "What does she say?" he asked, looking at their letters. The Doctor silently put his letter in his jacket while she gripped hers tighter. "Of course. Quite right," King Louis said, understanding that he was intruding.
Victoria nodded a farewell to the King as they left the dark, solemn room in silence.
Page Break -
When they got back to the TARDIS, Victoria immediately went to her room, not having the heart to deal with anyone. She sat down on her bed and fiddled with the sleeve of the dress Reinette had given her, her old clothes stuffed into the never ending pockets in the Doctor's suit.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the letter.
'My Dearest Victoria,
I wish I could have seen your face one last time, as I can feel myself fading. It has been over ten years since I have last seen you, but I have thought about you and the Doctor.
I never told you all those years ago, when we met for the third time, how beautiful I thought you were. And seeing you dance with our dear Doctor in my dress warmed my heart. I've loved you both, and have missed you dearly.
I know I do not have much left in me, but I hope that one day I will get to see your faces once again.
Godspeed, my Sweetest Love'
She folded the letter as tears began to fall down her face. She sat the letter on her bedside table as she fought with her emotions.
A light knock broke the silence of Victoria's room, and she called out weakly: "Come in."
The Doctor walked in silently, closing the door as he entered, and sat down beside Victoria without a word.
She rested her head on his shoulder, and together they mourned the loss of Madame de Pompadour.