Powered through typing this one up and completely forgot it was a tear-jerker! Let me know what you think! This will add to some of Ornias's past life on earth, so apologies for the tears!
"It's a spaceship! Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go!" Mickey grinned as we stepped out of the Tardis, and I rolled my eyes.
"I do believe you owe me a trip, Doctor."
Said man rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Ornias. It's his first trip and I honestly don't know how long he'll be staying. Next one's yours. Cross my hearts."
"Your biology is as strange as your mind."
He smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"It looks kind of abandoned," Rose commented, glancing at us. "Anyone on board?"
I shook my head. "There are no souls present, although…" I frowned, tilting my head. "There are fragments and patches where time and space are being interfered with."
"What does that mean?"
"It's like my pocket dimension," I explained. "It doesn't quite make sense. I would need to see it to make sure, but something has punched a hole in time and space. Multiple holes, if I'm reading things right."
"Since when are you time sensitive?" The Doctor asked, fiddling with the ship's controls.
"As a demon, I'm able to manipulate time and space to a certain extent. I can move quickly by speeding up my personal time, disappearing into the shadows with subtle space and optical manipulation, sense paradoxes to avoid them, and create pocket dimensions. Being able to sense changes in time and space is a given." I shrugged. "I am not of your world and therefore, do not follow the rule of your universe
"It is the norm where I am from for angels and demons alike. Causing paradoxes and miracles or disasters all willy-nilly would have caused quite a problem for the Plan."
"Which was?"
I snorted. "I don't honestly know. No one but the man himself knew what was to happen. I'm sure I annoyed him with my constant questioning as an angel."
"Yeah, that's great and all, but where are we?" Mickey questioned. "When are we?"
"Fifty first century," the Doctor replied, popping up a map. "Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."
"Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?" Rose hummed.
"It's so realistic!"
"Even when faced with reality, humans always have to question it," I mused as the Doctor looked at the computer systems.
"Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on. 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, but we're not moving." The Doctor turned to me. "You said you could sense them. Could you show me where the nearest time and space disruption is?"
I nodded as he opened a door. "Easily."
"Who's cooking though?" Rose asked. "You said there's no one on board."
"Only fragments," I corrected. "And I do believe it's because someone killed the crew. The smell is burnt flesh."
"Seriously?" Rose gagged as we strolled out.
"I am almost certain. I was on Earth during the Great London Fire. I know what it smells like."
"Are you always this ominous?" Mickey muttered, earning a small smirk from me as I led the way to a room with an antique fireplace.
The Doctor wasn't the only surprised one.
"This is the source," I mused, eyeing it with a small frown. "One of them, anyway. Why is there an eighteenth-century French fireplace in a spaceship?"
"Good question and excellent observation, Ornias!"
"I've learned many things in my time on Earth. The value of good antiques and furnishings being one."
"It's double-sided too," the Doctor noticed, and I crouched down to peer through the other side with him. "There's another room through there."
"There can't be," Rose argued, looking through a porthole. "That's the outer hull of the ship. Look."
I stiffened though, as bright blue eyes stared back at me through the fireplace. A young girl with brilliant blue eyes watched the Doctor and I.
"Hello."
The Doctor blinked in surprise as the girl responded in old-fashioned French.
"Hello."
"What's your name?"
"Reinette."
"Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"
"In my bedroom."
"And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?"
"Paris, of course," she scoffed, earning a small smile from me.
She reminded me so much of Janette.
"Would you mind telling us the date, Reinette?" I asked, drawing her gaze to me. "The year, please."
"Seventeen hundred and twenty-seven. Messieurs, what are you doing in my fireplace?"
"Oh, it's just a routine fire check," the Doctor lied. "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 Messieurs."
"You said this was the fifty-first century," Mickey huffed as we stood, though my gaze still drifted to the fireplace.
"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole, and Ornias said there were more," the Doctor explained. "Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink."
I blinked at him. "A space and time door?"
He chuckled sheepishly. "Didn't want to say magic door."
"And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked to confirm.
"Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."
"She was speaking English, I heard her," Mickey argued, and as Rose explained to him how the Tardis translated, I stepped up beside the Doctor while he searched the fireplace mantel.
"Why did I hear French?" I questioned him.
"Tardis translates unknown languages. You apparently know eighteenth-century French, so why translate it? Gotcha!"
I jerked, grabbing the mantel with a small glare at the Doctor for not warning me that the fireplace would move. He just smiled away as we stepped into Reinette's bedroom; the girl herself sleeping soundly. She woke with a start though, when we moved to peer at the snow-covered Paris outside the window.
"It's okay. Don't scream. It's me. It's the fireplace men," the Doctor tried to calm her, using his sonic to light a candle. "Look. We were talking just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace."
She looked at us in disbelief. "Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months!"
"She's not lying," I informed the Doctor idly, moving to look around the room.
Something was bothering me, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
"Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in," he commented as Reinette eyed us with suspicion and curiosity.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
I tasted the shift in the Doctor's mood instantly. "What is it?"
He pointed to the broken clock on the mantel and it was quick to dawn on me what was wrong.
"Bit scary."
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette commented as my eyes and senses searched the room.
"Just a bit scared, yeah," the Doctor told her. "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?"
Quiet ticking echoed in the room and Reinette started to look nervous.
"Not living," I muttered, drawing the Doctor's gaze. "No soul. I can't sense it."
"Narrows it down. You can tell by the resonance it's not a clock. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man."
"What is it?" Reinette asked softly.
"Stay where you are," I ordered her, seeing only one possible place for something the size of a man to hide.
She stiffened but did as I asked while I neared the bed with the Doctor and he explained.
"Let's think. 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? You might start to wonder if you're really alone."
"Why are you trying to frighten her?" I complained. "Some humans run when scared enough."
"Sorry," he apologized. "Just stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."
Slowly, the Doctor went to check under the bed only to jump up as his sonic was knocked away and a masked figure stood on the other side of the bed.
"Reinette. Don't look round," the Doctor warned her before threatening the ticking man. "You, stay exactly where you are. Hold still, let me look."
I kept my eyes trained on the man, catching only a glimpse of the Doctor out of the corner of my gaze as he moved to hold Reinette's head.
"You've been scanning her brain," he said, drawing questions into my mind about his telepathic abilities. "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?"
"Depends on the girl," I hummed, trying to remember why the name "Reinette" rang a bell in my mind.
"I don't understand," Reinette said, turning around with no fear to face the mechanical man. "You want me?"
"Not yet. You are incomplete," it replied.
"Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete?" The Doctor asked, getting silence. "You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?"
The droid moved towards him, lifting its arm and a blade snapped out, right into my forearm.
"Oh, bad choice, mechanical man," I purred, using my other hand to grab its arm, making the metal groan and sparks fly. "Technology and I don't mix, and you just tried to threaten someone I'm rather fond of. Tell me why I shouldn't fry your systems instantly."
"Monsieur, you're bleeding!" Reinette cried out, before gasping and going silent at the sight of my golden eyes.
"I am fine," I informed her as the droid tried to pull its arm away unsuccessfully.
"Just a nightmare, Reinette," the Doctor calmed her, backing up with me towards the fireplace. "Everyone has nightmares. Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?"
It finally jerked free of my hold, swinging again only to get its blade stuck in the mantel.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asked softly and I smirked.
"Me."
The fireplace turned and Rose cried out in surprise as the Doctor used a gun-like object to freeze the droid.
"Excellent. Ice gun." Mickey grinned as it was tossed his way.
"Fire extinguisher," the Doctor corrected, eyeing me and the blood dripping down my left arm. "You okay, Ornias?"
"No bones were hit. It will heal completely in a few hours," I answered, eyes settled on the droid. "Shall I destroy it?"
"No. I've got questions."
"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked.
"Here."
"So why is it dressed like that?" Mickey raised a brow at the droid's fancy getup.
"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework, shame about the face." The Doctor pulled off the mask and wig only to coo at the mechanics underneath. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills!"
I rolled my eyes at his compliments as Rose worked on bandaging my arm with a medkit the Doctor had demanded I keep in my pocket dimension. While I agreed it was practically artwork, I felt now wasn't exactly the time to compliment the dangerous droid.
"Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those," the Doctor continued. "It would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you." Then, he grew serious. "But that won't stop me."
The droid vanished then, and I frowned.
"It's gone."
"Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board," he mused, moving back to the fireplace I leaned against.
"What is it?" Rose asked.
"Don't go looking for it."
"Where're you going?"
"Back in a sec." The Doctor flipped the fireplace and I gave him a look as he eyed the bedroom changes.
"You know you practically told them to look for it, correct?"
"Yeah, well… how much damage did you do to it?"
I shrugged. "That arm is probably going to be either useless or malfunction a lot. I was holding back."
"Good. We need answers. Reinette?" He called out in uncertainty as I looked around the bedroom should another droid be hiding out. "Just checking you're okay."
"Time has changed, Doctor," I informed him as he strummed a harp nearby and I peered out the window. "Snow is no longer on the ground and there are newborn rabbits in the garden."
"Ahem."
We both turned and I froze as the Doctor addressed the young woman eyeing us in amusement. She's her splitting image… No. No, she's very different, but her soul… I ran my tongue over my lips and nearly let out a small whine. Oh, so similar. She is… She must be… Oh, God, why are you testing me so? Even now. Even here where I should be well beyond your reach, you do this? It's as though Janette is once again standing before me, and I can taste it. Her life is short as well. Surely, you must be testing me but to what end? What more could you possibly do to punish me? Wasn't isolation enough?
Someone called from elsewhere in the building, exposing the now young woman to be Reinette. I was still in shock however, silent and unmoving as I tried to work through the churning emotions in my stomach that I wasn't used to dealing with.
"Reinette! Well. Goodness, how you've grown," the Doctor smiled. "Why didn't you tell me it was her, Ornias?" He turned to me when I didn't respond. "Ornias?"
A hand lightly touched my cheek and I stiffened, eyes snapping to Reinette's blue ones as she eyed me.
"I do believe I have stunned him. And neither of you appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you."
Even her voice…
"Right, yes, sorry. Listen, lovely to catch up, but better be off, eh, Ornias?" The Doctor said, taking my wrist as Reinette retracted her hand. "Don't want your mother finding you up here with two strange men, do we?"
"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old," she challenged.
So much like her, like Janette…
"Yeah, I suppose you have. I came the quick route," the Doctor said awkwardly, eyeing me with my wrist still in his grip.
"You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."
"You should never listen to reason," I finally spoke; the words being the very same that I told Janette when she discovered what I was.
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient!" A servant called out and Reinette huffed.
"A moment!" She called in return before facing me once more. "So many questions. So little time."
I had tasted the lust, the excitement of the chance to do something forbidden and risky before she'd even moved. And when her lips pressed themselves to mine, I was quick to return it with just as much fervor as her. My hand grasped the back of her neck as my other tugged her closer by the waist. I ignored the slight taste of the Doctor's uneasiness at being witness to the impromptu action and attempted to get even the slightest taste of this woman's soul. I had to know. Was it really her? God had no power here, so perhaps the rules were different. There was the potential for reincarnation. Yet, as she pulled away breathlessly, I finally sensed it. She was not her, but she was close—as close as one could get to being the real thing. And for a moment, that was enough for me.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" The servant called again, stepping in and spotting the Doctor and I in shock as Reinette rushed out.
"Poisson? Reinette Poisson?" The Doctor questioned in disbelief. "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!"
"Who the hell are you!" The servant squeaked and I was quick to step over and draw his attention to my glowing golden eyes.
"No one. Go back to work and remember us not."
He slowly nodded and left as I turned and pulled the still-stunned Doctor back to the fireplace.
"You just snogged Madame de Pompadour."
"So it seems," I muttered, still a bit dazed as we returned to the spaceship.
"Rose! Mickey! Every time," the Doctor grumbled, leading our trek through the ship after the missing duo. "Every time, it's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship."
As if he'd summoned it, a white horse stepped into our path looking completely unbothered by the spaceship it had wandered into.
"Right…" The Doctor shook his head and kept going only to look at me. "So, what was that back there? You've been awfully quiet and with Reinette, you were…"
I took a moment, working my jaw as I struggled to admit what had caused my moment of weakness. "She… she was the splitting image of Janette," I murmured. "Her appearance is different, but her personality, even her soul is so startling close I almost assumed…" I trailed off and he eyed me, choosing to ignore the horse plodding after us.
"Did you love her? Janette, I mean."
"She loved me, but again, I am a demon. I… am unsure what I felt towards her, but I never once thought of consuming her soul. I should have. An angel would have enjoyed her brightness, but the darkness is what drew my attention initially. However… I could not. It felt… wrong somehow. My stomach twisted at the thought. Even when she offered, it was almost blasphemous to consider."
"She died though."
I nodded solemnly. "As all things do, but… her passing made me stop. Stop everything. I stood at her grave and ignored time passing for an unknown amount of time. I… do not know why. I simply… didn't want anything…"
"Just her," he concluded.
"Perhaps."
"And Reinette is her reincarnation?"
I shook my head. "No. I tasted her soul for only a moment. I had to be sure. Your rules here are so different, so I thought it possible. Yet, they are different. Her soul and Janette's. A distant ancestor perhaps but nothing more."
"But she is still close. I'm sorry. It must have been hard, seeing someone so similar," he apologized. "Next time, you can stay here with Mickey and Rose."
"No. I know now and can continued," I argued, though I'm sure he knew I simply wanted to see her again.
Someone so similar to Janette. I wanted to see her, touch her, taste her. It was irrational, but my body—my soul—ached to do so. I wanted to understand why I felt like this and Reinette seemed to have the answers. And it wasn't long before we saw her again. Yet another door to her time had been opened near the stables, hence our new horse friend. Through said doors was a garden where the blonde walked with a woman, laughing about some gossip as the Doctor and I watched from behind a low garden wall.
"Why do I wish to run after her?" I asked him when he pulled me down at her turning around. "Even now, I struggle to understand what Janette has done to me."
"She made you feel, Ornias. It's not a bad thing," he explained, peeking up to see if the coast was clear.
"People do ridiculous things for emotions," I mused, peering over as well. "Things that can damn one into Hell. They're a weakness."
"And a strength," he countered, looking at me as we started back for the ship. "Depending on how you use emotions, you could save lives, fall in love, gain joy and so much more."
"The possibility may be there, but a demon has no use for something like that."
He raised a brow. "You don't wish to be happy?"
"I wish to be entertained," I huffed.
"Which can be gained through joy. I think you loved her. That's why you stayed by her side, why you never acted as a demon should. You felt something for Janette and now, you're remembering those feelings because of Reinette. You're changing, Ornias. It's not impossible to believe you can feel or even love."
We heard voices up ahead and the Doctor smiled at me before bounding off towards Rose and Mickey's voices. His words gave me something to think about, but I felt there was still something I was missing. Something Reinette could show me.
"See these?" the Doctor was explaining to Mickey when I strolled over, eyeing the mirror a young French man was preening in front of. "They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history."
Reinette walked in then, curtsying to the man.
"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 asked.
"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived."
I watched the blonde move, unable to help my eyes tracing her every step, the curves of her body, the nape of her neck.
"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."
I cracked a small smirk, eyes flaring gold for a moment. Oh, so cheeky she is… and clever.
"I think this is the night they met," the Doctor noted. "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 young man—King Louis—left with his servants, leaving Reinette alone to preen. She's nervous, but confident.
"The Queen must have loved her," Rose snorted.
"Oh, she did. They get on very well," the Doctor chirped, surprising them.
"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?"
"France is flexible," I hummed, eyes not straying from Reinette. "Rarely are they bothered by the rest of the world's conventional standards."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "France. It's a different planet."
"And what's up with him?" Rose asked the Doctor, nodding at me. "He's staring."
"She's a possible descendant of someone he cared for."
"Him?"
The Doctor waved a hand at me, apparently proving a point as Rose hummed.
"Huh. No kidding. You like her, Ornias?"
"I don't know," I explained, tipping my head slightly as I watched Reinette. "Her soul's familiarity is… comfortable, but I struggle to understand what I'm feeling."
The Doctor leaned towards her. "He's trying to figure it out. Emotions don't exactly mean things to a demon, but he's changing, so…" He shrugged and Rose nodded in understanding before Reinette turned to address someone behind her.
"How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!" She demanded but I frowned, moving towards the mirror.
"Ornias?"
"They have no soul," I informed the Doctor, who immediately understood and moved to my side to open the passageway.
"Hello, Reinette," he greeted her as I made a beeline for the droid, eyes shining. "Hasn't time flown?"
"Fireplace man!"
I appeared behind the droid, ready to destroy it but the Doctor stopped me.
"Wait, Ornias. I've got questions for it."
"Then, ask them. I'm impatient when it comes to things I like being threatened," I grumbled, eyes trained for any threatening movement from the droid.
"Who are you? Identify yourself," the Doctor commanded before looking to Reinette. "Order it to answer me."
"Why should it listen to me?"
"Why not?" I chirped with a small smirk at the taste of her fluttering heart. "It did before, did it not?"
She gathered her courage and faced it. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you."
"I am repair droid seven," it finally answered.
"What happened to the ship, then?" The Doctor asked. "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?"
"We did not have the parts."
"Oh," I mused, glad to have been correct. "They didn't have the parts, so they used the crew, as I'd believed."
The humans in the room turned green at the thought.
"It was just doing what it was programmed to," the Doctor murmured. "Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu. 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."
All eyes went to a fearful 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."
"Why her?" Rose jumped in. "You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?"
"We are the same," the droid responded, upsetting Reinette.
"We are not the same. We are in no sense the same."
"We are the same," it repeated.
"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!"
"Reinette, no!"
I felt the droid shift and went to stop it, but its blade jabbed into my side, stopping my attack long enough for it to teleport away.
"Damn robot," I spat as the Doctor hurried over, barking orders at the others.
"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."
"Arthur?"
"Good name for a horse."
"No, you're not keeping the horse."
"I let you keep Mickey. Now go! Go! Go!" he pressed a hand over the one I was holding against my side. "How bad is it?"
"Clean cut, not deep nor fatal. It'll stop being a problem in a few hours. Bleeding will stop within the next ten minutes. I'm fine."
Reinette moved towards us, guilt swimming in her soul. "You are most certainly not fine. I'll summon a doctor and—"
"You'll do no such thing," I stopped her, eyes flaring gold and making her pause. "You should know at this point that I am not human, Reinette. Do not waste time deluding yourself otherwise. You're too smart for that." I let out a soft sigh, moving to sit down. "I will heal in time."
The Doctor agreed, pulling away from me and moving towards her, placing his hands on her temples. "He'll be fine. 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. It won't hurt a bit."
"Fireplace man, you are inside my mind," she breathed as the Doctor winced.
"Oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here."
"Are they harming her?" I asked.
"No, just looking. Scattering a few things here and there."
I nodded, relaxing slightly and focusing my energy on healing.
"If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it," the Doctor instructed her. "I won't look. Oh, actually there's a door just there. You might want to cl—Oh, actually, several."
I chuckled at the Doctor's embarrassment as Reinette marveled at his ability.
"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?"
"I don't make a habit of it."
"I did," I chimed in. "Not for anything good, mind you, but it was often entertaining."
"How can you resist?"
"I'm a surprisingly patient person."
"What age are you?" The Doctor suddenly asked, making Reinette eye him.
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising."
"No, not my question, theirs," the Doctor corrected. "You're twenty-three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough."
Reinette winced then, causing the Doctor to apologize.
"Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect."
"Oh, such a lonely childhood," she murmured, drawing my attention.
She was feeling the Doctor's emotions. Not current, but past memories. I could taste it. Sense how her soul touched the Doctor's ever so slightly just as he was touching hers."
"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone."
"What do you mean, alone?" He questioned then, beginning to sense something was wrong. "You've never been alone in your life. When did you start calling me Doctor?"
"Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now." She paused then. "No. Not so lonely now. Not with a fallen angel, but you can't understand him. You wish for change for him."
The Doctor glanced at me as I tipped my head curiously. We both knew who she spoke of and while the Doctor's feelings towards me were well known, it was harder for me to get a grasp on feelings that were still growing. So, my presence making the Doctor feel as though he weren't alone confused me.
We weren't the same. He was a Time Lord; an old soldier who felt enough guilt to want to save people and make up for it. I was a demon, quite literally the opposite of him, in all ways except age. Yet, as they said, I was changing. Perhaps that was why the Doctor felt some sort of comradery towards me.
The Doctor had pulled away from Reinette in shock at having been so easily read, but the woman turned to me as he recovered.
"You certainly don't appear so demonic to me," she mused, though I could taste her uncertainty.
Much like Janette though, I had to commend her for her bravery in approaching me, despite knowing what I was.
"I assure you, I am a demon as you witnessed."
"One that is apparently changing into something new."
"Apparently," I hummed, eyes flaring gold as I smirked, showing pointed canines. "Make no mistake though, Reinette. I'm no angel."
"Show me."
"Reinette, I'm not sure if—"
She cut the Doctor off. "He has saved my life twice now. I do believe I should offer my gratitude to his true self."
I readily let my wings out, watching as Reinette slowly moved around to my side and reached out to touch them. After a moment, her blue eyes returned to mine.
"Dance with me."
I raised a brow as the Doctor stepped forward.
"He can't. This is the night you dance with the King."
"Then first, I shall make him jealous," she smiled. "I shall dance with you both."
"We can't," the Doctor pressed, giving me a sideways look that begged for my help.
I ignored it though, something in me wanting to spend as much time with thie Janette lookalike as possible.
"Doctor who?" She questioned then, sparking uncertainty in the man. "It's more than just a secret, isn't it?"
"What did you see?"
Yes, what? Very few unnerve the Doctor to this extent.
"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance," Reinette smirked, turning to me as I tucked my wings away. "And a demon becomes that much more human."
I questioned how true that statement was, but willingly took her arm and joined her and the Doctor in the festivities. I'd been to French parties before, though typically in disguise as a Frenchman myself. And despite the Doctor's worries, Reinette did indeed make the King jealous and had her dance with him. This, of course, left the two of us at the mercy of every other woman in the ballroom.
I was rarely without a dancing partner and even managed to sneak in a few other activities just out of sight. Soon enough though, the Doctor managed to drag me out to the dance floor.
"Well, now, as much as I don't mind a dance with you, it is a little out of character, don't you think?" I teased, earning an eye-roll.
"Look. We need to get back. Rose could have gotten into trouble with that droid, and we need to find the time window at the right moment to help Reinette."
"Hm," I hummed as he spun me around, earning only a few glances from others.
The French rarely cared about relationships in this time.
"And should you find it too late?"
"We won't."
"But the possibilities are still there," I cautioned him. "As is the chance that the droids move forward with their plan sooner than expected now that they're under threat."
He mulled over this for a moment before giving in with a sigh. "What do you suggest?"
"You go. I'll stay."
"Ornias."
"I can keep her safe until the opportune moment and a few decades won't bother me."
"She's not Janette, Ornias."
I paused, frowning. "I know that."
"Look. All I mean is… Well, I think you're projecting Janette onto her. You're getting attached."
"I'm a demon. I don't—"
"You're changing," he countered. "And as someone who only wants to be entertained, sitting around in France for thirty plus years doesn't sound very fun. So, tell me what's going on."
I hesitated but begrudgingly gave in, glancing at Reinette as she danced with the King. "Perhaps… it is as you said. She reminds me so much of her. The mere thought that harm could come to her when I am capable of preventing it bothers me." My eyes turned back to him as my grip on his shoulder tightened. "I rarely feel uneasy. I simply wish to do something about it."
He let out a soft sigh. "Fine, but don't do anything too… you know, demonic. Keep her safe until I get back."
I nodded in agreement and as the song finished, he stepped out to return to Rose and Mickey. Reinette had noticed too, stepping over to my side.
"You're not going with him?"
I managed a smile, offering her my hand for another dance. "My duty for now is only to watch over you."
Rose couldn't believe the Doctor had just gone and left Ornias in France. While she was glad he hadn't chosen to stay himself, she didn't quite understand how the Doctor could trust Ornias on his own. Not that she didn't trust him, but she'd seen a darker side of him lately and he only seemed to restrain himself if the Doctor was around to ensure it. Leaving the demon to his own devices with a woman he was obviously rather in love with, just seemed to be asking for trouble, in her opinion. Yet, she was rather surprised when she dropped in to warn him and Reinette.
Ornias sat playing a soft song on the piano in the music room while Reinette listened with the smallest of smiles. Rose would have thought they were a proper couple if she didn't know better.
"Yes, Rose?" Ornias called out, making Reinette turn in surprise.
He would be the first to notice me. "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years."
Ornias let out a soft hum, continuing to play quietly as Reinette eyed her.
"Five years?"
"Some time after your thirty-seventh birthday. I, uh… I can't give you an exact date. It's a bit random. But they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us, it's already happening." Rose winced. "I'm sorry. It's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better."
"Then be exact and I will be attentive."
"There isn't time."
"There are five years," Reinette argued.
"Reinette," Ornias called out, silencing her. "I will explain later. Patience."
Reinette pursed her lips but begrudgingly nodded, allowing Rose to head back towards the time window.
"Ornias, are you coming?"
The demon let a note ring out. "I think not. I will join you in five years. Best not risk it."
Rose doubted he was staying for anything other than Reinette herself but didn't argue as she slipped away. And once alone, Reinette moved to sit on the bench beside the demon.
"So?" She questioned, eager for the explanation he promised. "Why did she have no time when there is all the time in the world?"
Ornias chuckled. "Not all the time, my dear."
Reinette rolled her eyes, leaning against his side.
"If you must know, however, imagine if you will, a ship. Not much different than those in port, but this ship is in the sky."
Reinette listened silently to the story-like explanation Ornias spun.
"And within this ship, is a number of doors. Each door opening to a moment in your life. One, a fireplace in your bedroom where we first met you." He pressed a key. "Another, behind the tapestry Rose just walked through." He pressed another key. "And a third in an unknown location. The Doctor simply steps through a door and appears here. Time, unfortunately, moves faster on the ship and much slower here."
Reinette considered this for a moment. "So, 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."
Ornias nodded. "An apt description. Yes, though I do not know how quickly the Doctor ages in general. He is over nine-hundred years old, if I remember right."
"And you, centuries older."
"Millennia," he mused and Reinette squeezed his arm in comfort, though she knew he would never admit to being unsettled by his age.
"So, in five years, these creatures will return. What can be done?"
"Undoubtedly, the Doctor will come to stop them, the hero that he is. We will probably just be required to stall them. Or, I could deal with them myself. It all depends." Ornias shrugged.
"Depends on what?"
"His timing, and if I wish to be noticed. Humans do tend to get defensive when I show off." He gave her a small smirk. "Most humans, anyway."
Reinette smiled, kissing his cheek. "You are too kind to be a demon."
"Oh, no. This is me at my best, I think," Ornias argued. "I'm being well-behaved for your sake."
"And the Doctor's," she teased, earning a scoff. "What about me made you stay?"
"You remind me of someone."
This peaked her interest. "A lover?"
Ornias shrugged. "I do not know. The Doctor believes so."
"Can you show me?" She asked. "Like the Doctor walked through my memories." She placed her hands on Ornias's face. "May I walk through yours?"
"Only of her," Ornias said seriously, eyes glowing gold. "If you wander, I am not responsible for what you will come across and the Doctor would be very displeased if he returned to find your mind addled."
"Then, lead me by the hand," she pressed, taking his hand in her own and leaning her forehead against his. "Let me meet the woman I remind you of."
He sighed, but closed his eyes, allowing her to walk the memories of Janette Norris. A mere child in his eyes. One who worked hard to make a proper living in her time, blind to the few men who pursued her. That is, until she accidentally witnessed something she probably shouldn't.
I pulled away from the warm lips pressed against mine, temped to finish off the woman's soul that was just within my reach. She wouldn't even know it until it was too late, preoccupied as she was with nipping at the crook of my neck and hands wandering towards my waistband. I heard the slightest of gasps though, eyes flashing gold for a brief second until they latched onto the person who'd unwittingly wandered into our alleyway. Not her husband then. Good.
A quick look over the brow-haired woman revealed nothing special. Only slightly above average looks hidden behind a bit of grime and flour stuck to her cheek. She had a sort of homey look that said she was most likely a wife and mother of a small household. Yet, her reaction and embarrassment screamed virgin and uneasiness at being caught staring. It was amusing to me, more so than the woman in my arms now, anyway.
So, as my new target scrambled back into the pub she'd wandered out of, I quickly turned back to the woman at hand. No point in dragging this out then. My lips met hers in a feverish hunger, drawing her hands up to tangle in my hair until she began to sag. I held her waist and soon lowered her cold body to the ground, running my tongue over my lips. I abandoned the corpse to enter the pub and track down the woman—spotting her in the back getting food for a table.
I watched her for a few days, going relatively unnoticed until I decided otherwise. She was startled at first—having heard about my other prey's death—but it was never pinned on me and she began to get used to my presence. She was immune to my charms though, which was curious. I rarely hypnotized women, since they tended to not need much coercing. Yet, she resisted so easily. So, it became a challenge.
It was interesting how easy it became to speak honestly with her. I still ate souls when I had the time, tempting people and causing chaos here and there. I always returned to the pub though, drifting in more and more often just to catch a glimpse of her. I wished Aziraphale was in this world to explain my sudden obsession. It wasn't as though her soul was anything special. She was moderately good with only the slightest hint of shadows. But my eyes always trailed after her as she navigated around the tables of the pub.
I became more active then, wanting to get closer, understand her more. I started conversations, invited her to meals and getting rejected more often than not. I was persistent though, even skipping my usual soul hunting just to focus on her. Then, she didn't show. For one day, then a week. Near two weeks passed before her return, and she'd… dimmed.
She paled, lost weight—her soul clouded with sorrow, fear, uncertainty. It bothered me. I should have been the one to darken her soul. I'd been working on her for years and something else had caused her to change. So, I pressed again.
I teased, joked, tried to uplift her spirits and brighten her soul to some semblance of what it once was. She accepted a date. Then, two, four. Made plans with me for months from now. I brightened her, if only a bit and it made me feel something new. A lightness that I hadn't expected or understood. Then, again, she vanished.
I became angry. I killed, abused, attacked and did terrible things. She'd ran. Her home was empty—soul untraceable. And one day, as I lay naked with an unknown woman—now soulless—I felt sorrow. A true, bone-deep ache that made me as cold as the corpse lying beside me.
I was a demon, I remembered. A demon who'd pined after a woman for what? If she saw me like this, what would she think? Why would I care what she thought? It bothered me that I did care, and I left town for a while, but my thoughts were always on her. Where she went, what happened. Those thoughts dragged me back and the taste of her soul brought me to her door once more.
A different woman answered, but easily let me pass and step into her bedroom. Janette lay there on her bed, pale and ill with sweat plastering her hair to her face. I approached, brushing the strands back and watching her caramel eyes open to see me.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, watching her gaze fall away and tasting her unease.
"I didn't want you to see me like this."
"You ridiculous woman," I scoffed, unable to help a small smile. "As if I care about something as vain as simple beauty."
I returned day after day. Sneaking in at night and waiting in my demon form as she battled with fever. I did what I could to help, but demons were the cause of plagues, not healers. She, of course, scolded me for wasting my time with her, but I didn't care. Then, at some point, she'd found out. Perhaps being awake without my notice, but it was the first time a human scared me.
"You're here to kill me, right? You're just waiting to take my soul."
"I don't—"
"Please, don't lie. I've seen you sitting there. You're the devil, aren't you?"
How was I to respond? People ran from me in fear. I didn't want her to do the same. I couldn't. So, I let my wings out and faced her. I would take her soul now, before she could fear me. She closed her eyes in acceptance as I reached out, but I couldn't. My hand quivered until it cupped her cheek and she peered back with a soft smile, taking my hand.
"It's okay," she told me softly. "I won't mind, if it's you."
My jaw tightened and I wanted to call her a fool. How could she accept death so easily? She was capable of resisting all my advances until now, so why? And why wasn't I able to do it! I had planned to from the start, but now, I couldn't move. My mind was in turmoil, so I did the only thing I could think of. I ran away.
It took me a while to calm down, to get a hold of myself long enough to make a decision. Running away was no longer an option. My mind refused to let me forget her. So, I went back and continued to return to her side. I made snide comments, scolded her, teased her. She no longer asked for me to kill her, and we enjoyed each other's company until she got worse.
There was nothing I could do. She either slept or woke with little memory of our previous meeting. She often forgot who I was or believed me to be a lover she never knew she had. It was during the night one evening when she was finally coherent enough to ask again. I refused at first, but even I could tell she wouldn't last another day. So, I held her hand, cupped her cheek, and pressed my lips to hers.
Reinette's thirty-seventh birthday came and went, leaving her rather anxious and paranoid. I reassured her that whenever the droids attempted to move, I would be there, but it did little to help. She and I had gotten rather close after I'd shared my memories of Janette. She, much like the Doctor, was well-convinced that I had loved the woman and had proceeded to constantly question what I felt during various occurrences.
Was I worried when she fell off her horse? Did I get jealous when she spent an evening with the King? Was I lonely spending the years with her instead of with the Doctor? Her constant questioning made me realize how much more I'd been feeling as of late. I had difficulty recognizing when I felt something and what exactly it was I was feeling, but Reinette was well-gifted in explaining them to me. It was thanks to her that I spent countless nights thinking of Janette and what I had felt in regards to her.
At the moment though, another party was beginning—celebrating what, I wasn't sure, nor did I really care. There'd been so many celebrations I'd lost track. This one was turning out different though, as I sensed our soulless droid friends finally stepping into the light. Guests screamed in a panic as they led Reinette in at blade-point, but I'd chosen to stay with the fiery woman for a reason.
"Could everyone just calm down? Please!" She commanded, silencing the room in an instant as I grabbed a glass of wine, enjoying the show for now. "Such a commotion. Such distressing noise. Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French." She turned to the droids. "I have made a decision. And my decision is no, I shall not be going with you today."
"We do not require your feet," the droid replied and two went to lay their hands on Reinette only to find said appendages suddenly missing.
"Whoops. Sorry. Did you need these?" I asked, dropping the broken hands to the ground as I sauntered between Reinette and the droids. "I don't suggest trying again. I have little patience for robots, especially when—as I've stated before—they're after something of mine."
Reinette rolled her eyes. "I'm not a thing, Ornias. You cannot own me."
"Apologies, but I do believe the King would be offended if I said person I care about," I teased, earning a small frown from said man.
While none here other than Reinette knew what I was, they knew who I was—or who I was masquerading as. The King knew I was close to Reinette. How close? He didn't know for sure, and I wasn't about to tell.
"So, what now?" I asked Reinette. "If the Doctor is supposed to show, he's rather tardy."
"Can you stop them?"
"Easily, though it would reveal my true self and I would not be able to trick this many into believing otherwise.," I told her, glancing around at the many partygoers. "For you, however, I will do it."
"And the Doctor?"
"Will either fetch me or he won't." I shrugged, though my chest ached at the thought.
I refused to believe it was sorrow. Reinette's hand slipped into mine, drawing my gaze to hers. She knew I was feeling something, offering me comfort and giving her decision.
"What choice do we have?"
I smiled softly, caressing her jawline and pressing a kiss to her temple. "Then, I wish you luck, my dear Reinette, and I will watch over you until the Doctor comes."
She gave me a small worried look. "If you stay, they will…"
"It will be worth it to continue seeing you."
She rolled her eyes before reaching up and giving me a proper kiss on the lips. "My angel," she murmured when she pulled away. "I am sorry you've come to love me so."
"As am I. Now, then…" My wings unfurled and I turned my gaze to the trio of armed droids—ignoring the gasps of fear from the crowd. "To take care of you."
Reinette stepped down the dark cobbles as the King held her elbow and a lantern. They greeted the guard in place and the King paused Reinette before they reached the end of the corridor.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, lifting her chin and straightening her back in a show of faux confidence as he let her continue on alone. She reached the cell at the end, eyeing the candles, crucifixes and other holy items placed before it. Then, she allowed her gaze to lift towards the demon chained to the wall, littered in injuries that were visible on his chest in the moonlight drifting in from a small barred window draped in prayer beads.
"Oh, my dear angel," she breathed out, voice a hoarse whisper that bordered on tears. "If I had known… You should have never stayed. Oh, why did you stay?"
"This is why demons shouldn't have emotions," Ornias said, lifting his head and managing a chuckle. "We tend to do ridiculous things."
Reinette buried her face in her hands, kneeling before the cell as she sobbed. "How selfish of me, to entrap you here!"
Hand tugged hers away and Ornias used his thumb to wipe a tear off her face.
"Do not cry for me," he said quietly, pulling his hand back with a wince. "It was my choice to stay, not your fault."
"But you're hurt," she breathed, reaching through the bars and caressing his cheek.
He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. "A minor inconvenience, I assure you. The holy items just slow my healing."
"Can you not leave? Find the Doctor?"
"He is many years away," Ornias waved off. "He must come to me. As for leaving, I am physically capable, but the holy items will not be kind. I will need time to recover."
"Then, do so," she commanded, eyes concerned. "You may rest in my care, if you are so adamant about being by my side."
"Oh, what am I going to do with you, Reinette?" He sighed softly, pulling away and standing. "You are as bad as Janette."
"Ornias."
He nodded, giving her a wave as he walked back to where he'd been chained. "Yes, yes. Very well. I will join you this evening, if only to prevent you coming down to this drafty place every day. However, I will have to change once healed."
"Change?"
"They will come looking for me. If I wish to stand at your side, my appearance will have to be altered." He smirked. "Do not worry. I will return to this face once we are alone."
Reinette flushed at his teasing but was quick to get to her feet and regain composure. "Then, I will be waiting for you."
"Of course, my dear."
The Doctor landed the Tardis and stepped out in the stables of Versailles, rushing inside and shaking the water out of his hair from the pouring rain. He wasn't sure how long it had been, feeling terrible in the first place that he hadn't gone through the time window the moment the droids had come for Reinette. He couldn't risk trapping Rose and Mickey though, and Ornias had dealt with the droids easily enough.
Now, though, he'd returned to pick up said demon and give Reinette one last farewell. If only he could find them.
"Reinette? You here?" He called out, rounding the corner only to spot the King staring solemnly out the window. "Oh, hello."
"You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six," the King informed him, turning and staring at the Doctor in surprise. "Good Lord. She was right. She said you never looked a day older. So many years since I saw you last, but not a day of it on your face."
The Doctor winced. Years? Oh, no. Ornias won't be happy. The King pulled out a letter then, handing it over to him.
"She spoke of you many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are. She was so attached to that other man though. If only he wasn't what he turned out to be." He raised his gaze from the letter to the Doctor. "I warned her about visiting him after, but she wouldn't hear of it. Claimed the people were wrong and though demon he may be, the man was an angel. I… I couldn't argue. He saved her, after all, but he went missing ages ago.
"She locked herself in her room for days after. It was only a new lady-in-waiting who was able to pull her out of it. And now, I worry for her." He looked out the window at a black-cloaked figure under and umbrella as a hearse drove off. "With Reinette leaving Versailles for the last time, I fear she has lost her purpose. Only forty-three when she died. Too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end and that woman was there every minute. They both worked too hard."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized, both of them looking back at the letter.
"That was for the demon, but she said to give it to you. I hope you take good care of it."
The Doctor nodded, tucking the letter into his coat as the King sent someone to lead him out. He came up beside the woman the King had spoken of and took a moment to mourn Reinette, whom he'd only just gotten to know.
"It's just my luck that I'd end up finding yet another stupid woman to care for," the woman at his side said, making him turn in shock to find Ornias's tired face tucked under a black bonnet.
"Ornias?"
Caramel eyes turned to him. "What? Is the bonnet too much?"
The demon cracked a teasing smirk, but even the Doctor could tell it was forced.
"I'm… sorry," the Doctor murmured solemnly as they began their walk back to the Tardis.
"You and your apologies," Ornias sighed, pulling the bonnet off. "Why are you apologizing? Because she died? Every human passes at some point, and I sensed it coming long before it occurred. You could not have done anything more to prevent it than I could."
"I shouldn't have left you on your own. I should have come back sooner and—"
A hand shoved the Doctor forcefully against the stable wall, Ornias's eyes flashing gold as the horses nearby whinnied in unease.
"You would have done no such thing. I chose to stay. It was my decision. You returning sooner would have made no difference because I would have chosen to stay either way. I risked everything for her because she meant so much—" Ornias cut himself off, jaw clenching tight before he released the Doctor and whipped away to head for the Tardis.
The Doctor stayed where he was for a moment, wide-eyed in shock. Ornias had just been seconds away from stating that he cared for Reinette. The demon had never even claimed a friendship towards someone, much less a deep, tender love towards a woman. Because that's what it truly was. Much like Janette, Ornias cared for Reinette except now, he was seemingly aware of it. Something had changed during his time with her. And as comforting as it was that the demon could now recognize his feelings towards someone, it also meant the demon could feel the aftereffects of what happened when that love is lost.
The Doctor could see it easily. The demon was short-tempered, sure, but he was holding himself differently now. His shoulders sagged and his feet dragged a bit on the ground. And even still dressed as a mourning lady-in-waiting, the Doctor didn't have it in him to tease the demon about the French dress he wore. Ornias was honestly mourning Reinette and it was very much evident in his tired caramel eyes.
The Doctor opened the Tardis for the demon and sent it into the Vortex for now before handing him the letter the King had given him. Ornias took it hesitantly.
"The King said she wrote it for you."
He opened it, scanning the words Reinette left before letting out a short scoff. The Doctor swore his eyes shone with tears though before the demon waved a farewell and retreated to his room. The Doctor decided that from then on, he would do his utmost to never let Ornias wear an expression like that again.