A/N: new chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 23: Twenty-three Candles

"Come on, Amelia," Olivia grinned, standing a few feet away while Joyce stood behind the baby, holding onto her hands, Amelia on unsteady feet. "Walk to mommy! You can do it!"

Olivia held her hands out toward her daughter, beckoning her forward with all of her fingers. Amelia gave a raspberry, making Olivia give a silent gasp with a frown before she stood tall, pouting.

"Hey! Don't talk to me like that, young lady," Olivia shot back before sighing and stepping forward to lift Amelia in her arms, Joyce standing next to her with a frown.

"What did she say?" Joyce wondered.

"You don't wanna know," Olivia replied, a worried look at her daughter, before Amelia lifted her hands and clapped her mother's cheeks with a happy giggle several times. "She said her first word and hasn't spoken since…now she's getting late with walking. I don't get it."

"Some babies are late bloomers," Joyce shrugged, slightly, gently pulling Amelia's tiny hands from Olivia's face and kissing her little fingers. "You didn't start walking until you were fourteen months…then I couldn't keep up with you. Be patient. She'll come around."

"Yeah, that's what the Doctor says," Olivia muttered, sitting at her kitchen table with Amelia on her lap, allowing the baby to reach the Cheerios spread across the surface.

"Is he still in the TARDIS?" Joyce wondered, stepping toward the stove to mix what she had cooking in one of the pans.

"Yeah," Olivia sighed, glancing toward the blue box in the backyard through the glass door.

He hadn't left the TARDIS since they'd come back from they had defeated the Master a week ago, and it worried her. The thought of him brooding over his once childhood friend made her angry at first, but then she would recall that if she were the Doctor and the Master were Aaron, she would never give up hope that her best friend was still under that psychotic persona, somewhere.

"Mom," she called, just as Joyce sat at the table, the flame on the stove off. "Can you take Amelia? I'm gonna go in there."

"Are you sure?" Joyce frowned in wonder as Olivia stood and set Amelia in her arms. "He said he didn't want to be disturbed."

Olivia said nothing as she made her way outside and toward the TARDIS. She lifted a hand and knocked before trying the door, frowning in wonder when she found it locked. She pulled her key out from under the collar of her shirt and unlocked the door, but when she pushed on it to open it, it didn't budge. She gave a sigh of exasperation, realizing he must have deadlocked it, which meant her Sonic wouldn't work.

Only one thing to do.

She leaned on the frame and knocked gently on the door, and it took some time before the door opened, but only a crack.

"Theta?" Olivia called, peeking in when all she saw was shadow. "I know you didn't wanna be disturbed but…it's been a week. What are you doing in there?"

Instead of an answer, the door slowly opened enough to let her in and she stepped into the darkened control room. She gave a frown as she realized the only light in the room was surrounding the console…which was pulled apart, panel by panel. Her gaze went to the Doctor as he stepped toward one of the panels, revealing himself in the light. He was wearing black trousers, a black button down shirt and a dark gray waistcoat, barefoot, his hair more disheveled than usual and her heart clenched painfully at how depressed he looked amongst disconnected panels, hanging wires and shrouded in darkness.

"Theta," she called as he picked at a loose wire sticking out from the panel and she slowly approached him, stepping up next to him to watch his hands play idly with the stripped console. She wrapped an arm around one of his and stroked his upper-arm with the other as she murmured, "Do you need help putting her back together?"

"There's nothing you can do here, Liv," he muttered, not looking away from the console. "I had to take her apart and get inside her. The Master did something that allowed him to control her, otherwise she would've protected herself against him. I'm remodeling."

"She was due for a new desktop," she nodded with a small smile but when he didn't look at her she gave a small sigh and lifted a hand to tug on his chin and pull his gaze to hers. Her heart dropped when she noticed how sunken his eyes looked. He hadn't been getting enough sleep, even for him. By now he should've had at least one, full night, if not two. "I'm sorry, my love. I know you wanted to save him and I…I didn't help."

"You did great, Liv," he sighed, making her frown at him in disbelief. "It was my fault that it happened the way it did. I shouldn't have let him out of my sight."

"You wanted to help him, Theta, and he didn't accept your help," she recalled. "This wasn't your fault."

The Doctor gently pulled his chin from her grasp to look at the wiring, making Olivia sigh again and lean on his arm, hugging it. A moment later, he gently pulled his arm from her grasp, making her frown at him but it seemed like he suddenly had a burst of energy as he leaned down and lifted the panel on the floor in front of him to slam it down into the console, making Olivia jump. She watched him march around her to grab the next panel and slam it onto the console as well, then another, then another until the console was put together again.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he moved around the console, flipping switches, pressing buttons, moving levers. She followed him around the console, watching him closely but he didn't stop. "Let me help, please?"

"You can't," he argued, making her frown in wonder as he stopped next to a set of levers on the console and grasped them. "You can tell me what you think, though."

"What?" Olivia frowned in wonder before the lights in the control room flickered on to reveal a new set up.

The Doctor leaned forward on the console to make a few more adjustments as Olivia stared around at the very Victorian-looking columns and staircases. It all had a steampunk feeling to it, even the circular décor on the walls had a clockwork look. She looked to the console, noticing the cylinder had a bright, white glow instead of the blue-green it had before. The second floor against the walls were lined with old hardcover books, making her wonder if he merged the library and the control room into one, and the jumpseats around the console were covered in plaid material. The entire control room gave a warm, golden glow. The frame around the doors still bared the Gallifreyan patterns, but now it looked like clockwork instead, brass cogs against a copper background.

"It's beautiful, Theta," she smiled, turning to him, only to see him still fiddling with the console. Her smile fell as she approached him again, and he seemed to ignore her as he worked. "You've been working hard enough, my love. Come inside and play with Amelia. She always lifts your spirits, and she misses her papa."

His hands faltered over the panel he was working on to finally look at her with a small smile, murmuring, "She calls me Papa?"

Olivia grinned and nodded hugely, slipping her arms around one of his to hug it tightly, looking up at him and silently urging him to come with her into the house, but he didn't have time to answer before there was a knock on the door.

"Doctor?" Joyce called. "Olivia? You've got a letter here marked as urgent."

Olivia and the Doctor frowned to each other before turning to head toward the door, hand in hand, and Olivia stepped out first, pulling the Doctor behind her. Joyce was holding the letter in one hand, Amelia sitting in her other arm as she handed it over to the Doctor to examine it, her emerald eyes glowing wide at the sight of the Doctor's appearance.

"Doctor, you look terrible," she breathed, but he only kept his gaze on the letter. "Have you slept at all?"

"He hasn't, and I think he should before he starts investigating this strange letter…so I'll be taking that," Olivia reported as she plucked the letter from his fingers, making him look up at her in wide-eyed surprise and she met his gaze. "Why don't you go take a nap with Amelia?"

The Doctor looked to his daughter who instantly held her arms toward him, and Olivia smiled as she saw his hearts melt instantly.

"Alright, my little nebula," he smiled, pulling her from Joyce's arms and hugging her close, making her giggle, happily. "Let's go get some rest, shall we?"

Olivia watched as he made his way into the house, through the kitchen and down the hall, no doubt to the master bedroom.

"Well?" Joyce prompted, stepping up next to her daughter as Olivia looked over the letter, frowning when she felt something more than paper in the envelope.

"He's upset about the Master," Olivia sighed, lifting the envelope toward the sky to use the suns light to see through it. There was a small, long stick of something in it along with a letter that made her frown in wonder as she lowered it, continuing, "He was brooding. But When I mentioned Amelia he seemed to come out of it a little."

"If he didn't have you two, who knows what would've happened," Joyce remarked, making Olivia frown at her in wonder. "He was so upset after what happened to Amy and Rory, I'm sure he'd still be brooding over that if it hadn't been for you being pregnant."

"I don't like to think about that," Olivia muttered, stepping toward the kitchen door to sit at the table, looking over the letter, Joyce following her to start cleaning what she had used on the stove.

"Well, my 'famous' stew cooling off," Joyce explained, running the water over one of the pans. "Once it's cool enough I'll put it in the fridge and be off."

"Thanks," Olivia called, distractedly.

She was too invested in finding out where this letter came from. It was on old paper, older than she'd ever seen and sealed with a black wax stamp she remembered seeing in old Period films. Even the ink and strokes of the writing on the paper looked old, but familiar somehow. She finally decided to open it, tearing it along the seam before dumping the contents onto the table, only to frown in wonder when she found a small, beige candle tucked away in the envelope, along with the letter.

"A candle?" Joyce frowned, looking over Olivia's shoulder as the younger woman unfolded the letter to read it. "Who sent you that?"

"Oh!" Olivia chirped with a grin as she read the first few lines. "It's from Madame Vastra! The Doctor will be happy to hear from her, and Jenny and Strax!"

"What does it say?" Joyce asked, sitting across from Olivia as she read the letter.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Sigma,

I hope you don't mind if I skip the formalities. We have a case here that seems to be baffling everyone. We had hoped you would give us a helping hand, if you could. We'll discuss the details as soon as you find and light the enclosed candle. It contains a soporific that will induce a trance-like state and allow us to communicate across time. Speak soon.

Madame Vastra

"Simple and to the point," Olivia nodded, lifting the candle to look it over as Joyce frowned at her in wonder. "Well, I guess I'd better get this lit."

"Who are these people?" Joyce wondered as Olivia stood from the table to head toward one of the cabinets in the kitchen.

"They live in Victorian England," Olivia explained, finding a small candleholder and setting it down before rummaging through a drawer. "I've only met them once before but the Doctor's gone back to help them a few times while I was watching Amelia. Vastra is a Silurian and Strax is a Sontaran."

"And what's Jenny?" Joyce wondered as Olivia found a small lighter and shut the drawer.

"Oh, she's human," Olivia replied, turning to head toward the hallway, but as she passed her mother she added, "And married to Vastra."

Joyce stared after her daughter in shock, but said nothing as Olivia turned into the master bedroom to speak to the Doctor. However, when she peeked into the room to see Amelia curled up next to the Doctor on the bed, both fast asleep, she couldn't bring herself to wake him. Deciding not to disturb him, she made her way to the guest room and closed the door, setting the candleholder on the nightstand next to the bed, placing the candle in it then lighting it. She laid down on the bed as a pleasant scent filled the room before her eyes became heavy, so heavy she couldn't keep them open, and she soon fell asleep.

She felt herself falling before she landed in a chair at a round table, then looked around the room to find herself in an Oriental decorated room, then looked around the table to see three familiar faces.

"Ah, Olivia," Madame Vastra smiled, reaching for the teapot in front of her. "Care for some tea while we wait for the Doctor?"

"I would love some tea, thank you," Olivia nodded with a smile as Vastra poured a cup of tea. "And, actually, the Doctor won't be joining us this time."

"Oh?" Vastra frowned in wonder as she handed the teacup over to Jenny who passed it on to Olivia on her left. "And why not, may I ask?"

"Thank you," Olivia nodded to Jenny as she took the cup. "Our last adventure took a lot out of him. He's resting with our daughter. I can explain the situation to him in perfect detail. You know how good my memory is, I'm sure."

"Of course," Vastra nodded with a smirk, taking a sip of her own tea, then glancing to the fourth person at the table. "Strax, the file, please."

Olivia frowned as she took a sip of her tea and Strax slid a folder toward her. She slid it closer to herself to open it and begin looking it over with interest.

"There have been two murders so far," Vastra explained as Olivia kept her gaze on the file. "Both women, both prostitutes and all rather gruesome. I've barely had the stomach to look over the images myself. He cuts their throats and then disembowels the victims."

"Jack the Ripper," Olivia breathed in wide-eyed terror at the file.

"Who?" Jenny frowned in wonder.

"You know about this?" Vastra wondered as Olivia looked up at them.

"Yes," she nodded, sitting up and leaning back with a sigh, tapping her lips with her fingers. "It's one of Earth's most famous unsolved mysteries."

"Unsolved?" Jenny echoed, incredulously.

"Explain yourself, boy," Strax demanded. "What do you mean?"

"First of all, I'm a woman," Olivia replied, seriously. "Secondly, what I mean is, Jack the Ripper was never caught. Scotland Yard had all the evidence they could gather at the time, but never found out who he was."

"Well, perhaps your history will be rewritten?" Vastra smirked, slightly.

"I'm not so sure the Doctor will agree to help with this one, Madame Vastra," Olivia warned, sending everyone's gaze to her again.

"And why wouldn't I?"

The group shot their gazes to the only empty chair that was now occupied by the very man they'd been talking about. He was reclined back in the chair with a plate filled with some kind of cookies, which he held out toward Olivia.

"Hobknob?" he offered through a mouthful of cookie.

"I see you've changed your face again," Vastra smirked as Olivia took a Hobknob from the plate and he nodded. "Why don't you tell us what you know of this case?"

"I know that he's not finished yet," he replied as Vastra poured another cup of tea. "And there's no way we can stop the murders to come."

"Why not?" Jenny questioned as Vastra passed the cup to Strax who passed it on to the Doctor.

"Because they were meant to die," he replied in a dark tone, making everyone look to him in wide-eyed shock. "Someone…or something went after these women for a purpose. Whatever it may be, their deaths are fixed and can't be changed. I'm sorry."

The group was silent as they lamented for the poor souls to be taken, but Olivia stared at him with wide, wondering eyes. Something in him had changed, she could tell. Before their last adventure he would have been begun planning something to change the fate of Jack the Ripper's last three victims. What had the Master said to him, she wondered, that changed him?

"And so, what does history say of this murderer, Doctor?" Vastra asked, solemnly.

"History says after he killed his fifth victim, the murders stopped," he continued as Olivia remained silent. "Oh, there have been others after that suspecting they were his, but I don't buy into those. There was an evolution upward in violence to his killings…he wouldn't just all of a sudden drop back down to amateur level after achieving what he would think to be his masterpiece."

"And these victims to come…you know who they are? Their names?" Vastra guessed, looking him squarely in the eye, and she could tell something was off about him as well.

"I can't interfere with this, Vastra, I'm sorry," he reported. "I only came here to warn you that you can't stop what's coming, but no one knows why the murders stopped. Maybe he was caught, maybe he fled, but you can't stop the murders he'll commit before then."

"We can try," Jenny argued as he and Vastra continued their glaring at each other. "You said he stopped after his fifth victim, which means there are three more out there we can try to help."

"Their names would be appreciated, Doctor," Vastra said again, but he only glared at her.

"Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly," Olivia divulged, making the Doctor look to her in wide-eyed shock as she continued, "You'll find Stride and Eddowes together."

"Olivia!" the Doctor snapped at her, incredulously.

"I didn't just call you here for information alone, Doctor," Vastra explained, pushing something wrapped in a brown paper bag that had suddenly appeared toward him. "Your help need not extend beyond the extraterrestrial in this case."

The Doctor frowned in wonder at the bag before dragging it closer to open it and examine its contents. Olivia moved to sit closer next to him as he reached in and pulled out a strange looking blade.

"It was found near the body of the last victim," Jenny reported. "Annie Chapman. That was why the police came to us. It's like nothing they've ever seen before, but you have."

"And so have you," the Doctor retorted, setting the blade down, and making Olivia look to him in wide-eyed shock. "You don't need my help for this, Vastra."

"It is my understanding that you've both encountered the species that crafts this sort of blade," Vastra explained as Olivia lifted the blade herself to examine it. "On some frozen planet of the insane?"

"Cathulian," Olivia breathed, catching the Doctor's attention and he looked to her with wide eyes as she frowned in concentration. "This is a Cathulian knife. I remember seeing it…somewhere."

"In a cave," the Doctor murmured, suddenly, taking the knife back and getting a better look at it than he had done a moment ago and resuming, "…sitting on a display stand surrounded by candles. Twenty-three, to be precise, to represent to twenty-three blessings given each Cathulian by their god to help them through life. It's said, the knife is passed down from generation to generation, and done so to cut through life's difficulties."

"Doctor…." Olivia breathed.

"I know," he breathed, making the other three frown in wonder at them as they looked to them.

"What is it?" Strax demanded. "Who is this new enemy?"

"His name is Talik," Olivia explained with a sigh. "He's Cathulian, and we've met him before."

"Recently, in fact," the Doctor chimed in.

"I thought you said he couldn't survive that fall," she whispered to him.

"No, darling, I said it was too far to investigate," he corrected before looking back at Vastra who was waiting patiently for his response, making him sigh in exasperation. "Alright…we'll help."

A/N: ok, so my hands did a thing and decided to revisit this guy because...lets face it, I left it wide open.