Hello everyone. So here is the 'Girl in the Fireplace'. I hope you like it. I struggled a bit with this chapter, but in the end I really like it. Please enjoy!


Harper's POV

We all walked out of the TARDIS into a spaceship. "It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go," Mickey said sounding excited. I smiled over at him.

"Looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Nah, nothing here. Well… nothing dangerous. Well… not that dangerous," the Doctor said. I coughed getting his attention; once he looked over at me I gave him a look that said, 'really'. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan… in case there's anything dangerous."

I shook my head at him and started to walk around.

"So, what's the date?" Rose asked coming up beside the Doctor, "How far have we gone?"

"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." The Doctor pulled a switch causing the room to light up and a panel open in the roof. We all looked up to see the galaxy. "Fifty-first century. Dagmar cluster. You're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."

Rose and Mickey walked over to a smaller window and looked out, "Mickey Smith, welcome to the universe! See anything you like?"

"It's so realistic!" I laughed at Mickey and leaned against a walk watching them.

"Dear me had some cowboys in here," the Doctor said looking around the computers. "Got a ton of repair work going on. Now that's odd. Look at that."

Rose and Mickey walked back over and looked at the screen the Doctor was looking at. "All the warp engines are going… full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe," The Doctor said.

"But we're not moving," I said.

"Yeah, so where's all that power going?" The Doctor asked looking back at me.

I shrugged my shoulders, "you're the expert."

He smirked at my comment and Rose asked, "Where'd all the crew go?"

"Good question. No life readings on board," the Doctor said messing with the computer again.

"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag," Rose said.

"No, I've checked all the smoking pods," the Doctor said, not getting her sarcasm. "You smell that?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah someone's cookin," Rose said.

"Sunday roast, definitely," Mickey added.

"But no ones on board," I said. "Now that's just creepy."

The Doctor pushed a button making a wall slide to the side. Unfortunately for me, it was the same wall I was leaning against. I let out a small scream as I fell down.

"Well, there's something you don't see in you average spaceship." The Doctor said as both Mickey and he came over to me to help me up. I took one look over to Rose and grabbed Mickey's hand, leaving out the Doctor. He gave a small frown before saying, "Eightieth century. French. Nice mantel."

The Doctor scanned the fireplace while I got down in front of it to look inside, "not a hologram. Not even a reproduction. This actually is an 18th century French fireplace. Double sided, there's another room through there."

"Can't be," Rose said looking out a window that was beside the fireplace. "That's the outer hull of the ship. Look."

"Hello," I said smiling at a little girl on the other side of the fireplace. I felt the Doctor bend down next to me.

"Hello?" The young girl said almost like she was asking a question.

I let out a small laugh and asked, "What's your name?"

"Reinette."

"Reinette, that's a lovely name," the Doctor said. "Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"

"In my bedroom," Reinette said.

I laughed, "No Reinette. He means, where do you live?"

"Paris, of couse."

"Paris, right," the Doctor nodded his head.

"Monsieur, Mademoiselle, what are you doing in my fireplace?" Reinette asked us.

"Oh… it's just a routine…" He was struggling on what to say.

"Fire check," I finish for him.

"Can you tell us what year it is?" The Doctor asked Reinette.

"Of course I can," Reinette looked very proud of her self. "1727."

"Right, lovely, one of my favorites. August is rubbish, though. Stay indoors." The Doctor told her. "Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night-night."

He stood up and Reinette said, "Good night, Monsieur."

"Good night, Reinette. Sweet dreams," I smile at her.

"Good night, Mademoiselle."

"You said this was the 51st century," Mickey said.

"He also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe," I commented as I stood up. The Doctor looked at me in shock, "What? I do pay attention sometimes."

He shook his head at me and turned back to Rose and Mickey, "I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink."

"What's that?" Mickey asked.

I let out a laugh, as the Doctor said, "No idea, just made it up; didn't want to say 'magic door'."

"And the other side of the 'magic door' is France in 1727?" Rose asked.

"Well… she was speaking French. Right period French, too." The Doctor walked over to the side taking his jacket off.

"She was speaking English. I heard her," Mickey protested.

"That's the TARDIS," I said from my position by the fireplace. "It translates for you."

"Even French?"

Before anyone could reply I accidentally hit a switch on the fireplace causing it to spin around, much like you would see in the old Scooby Doo movies. "DOCTOR!" I yelled.

He was there in the next second spinning around with me. We both stepped away from the fireplace to look around the room. Reinette was asleep so we walked to the window to look out.

'Paris! I have always wanted to see Paris,' I thought.

'Umm, we will have to come back sometime and explore.' I smiled up at him when we heard Reinette gasp and sit up.

"It's okay. Don't scream. It's us. It's the fireplace man and lady. Look," he just the sonic screwdriver to light the candle beside Reinette's bed. "We were talking a moment ago. We were in your fireplace," the Doctor told Reinette to clam her down.

"Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was mouths."

"Really?" He walked over to the fireplace tapping on it. "Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in."

"Who are you two? And what are you doing here?" Reinette asked us.

"Okay, that' scary," the Doctor said looking at the broken clock on the mantel.

Reinette looked at the Doctor like he was crazy and asked, "You're scared of a broken clock?"

"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…"

"Then what's that?" I asked hearing the 'tick tock' of another clock.

"Well… that is not a clock. You can tell by the resonance," he started walking over to Reinette and I. "Too big. Six feet, I'd say. Size of a man."

Reinette sounded so scared as she asked, "What is it?" I got on the bed with her and pulled her into a hug.

"Now let's think." The Doctor walked over to the window looking behind the curtain. "If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do…"

"Break the clock," I offered.

"Yeah, your right. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone." He came over to the bed and started to bend down, "Stay on the bed, right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."

Reinette hugged me tighter as the Doctor looked under the bed. He started to use the sonic screwdriver under the bed, but jumped back went something jumped out at him. He looked under the bed again, but stood up very slowly, looking at something behind Reinette and I.

"Reinette, don't look around." I looked up to see a man dressed in 1700 clothes with a white mask on. The ticking noise was coming from him, so I pulled Reinette closer to me. "You stay exactly where you are. Hold still, let me look."

The Doctor knelt down and put his hands on either side of Reinette's face. I closed my eyes to see what he was finding in her mind. "You've been scanning her brain!" I yelled, standing up and turning to look at the man.

"What you crossed two galaxies, three thousand years just to scan a child's brain?" The Doctor asked. "What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"

He dropped his hands as Reinette said, "I don't understand. It wants me? You want me?" Reinette turned and asked the man.

"Not yet. You are incomplete," the man said, sounding very much like a robot.

"Incomplete? What does the mean, incomplete? You can answer her you can answer me. What do you mean 'incomplete'?"

I went start to the Doctor's side as the man started walking his way. The man, who now I think to be a robot, put up his arm and out came a blade of some kind almost getting the Doctor.

"Monsieur, be careful!" Reinette cried.

"Don't worry, sweet heart. It's just a nightmare," I told Reinette as we back away from her. We made it to the fireplace, but the robot man was still following just, "Everyone has nightmares. Even monster under the bed have nightmares."

The robot man swung his arm again and the Doctor and I jumped out of the way at the last minute. The blade got stuck in the wood of the mantel.

"What do monsters have nightmares of?"

"Me!" The Doctor said with a laugh as he hit the lever sending us back around to the ship.

"Doctor!" Rose called and Mickey called, "Harper!"

The Doctor ignored them and run for a device hanging on the wall. I stepped out of the way as he started to spray the robot, freezing him.

"Excellent, ice gun!" Mickey said.

"Fire extinguisher," the Doctor corrected him.

"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked as the Doctor tossed her the extinguisher.

"Here," I said.

Mickey looked at me like it was crazy and asked, "So why's it dressed like that?"

"Field trip to France, some kind of camouflage protocol. Nice needle works. Shame about the face." The Doctor pulled of the mask and wig. Underneath was what looked like to be the inside of a clock. "Oh you are beautiful! No really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that, space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills!"

'Your so fangirling over a clock,' I laughed at him.

'But it's so cool!'

"Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart. And by the way count those; it would be a crime. It would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, "but that won't stop me."

Suddenly the robot started back up and teleported away.

"Short range teleport, can't have got far," The Doctor said.

"So it could still be on board?" I verified.

"Yeah," he answered.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

The Doctor was back at the fireplace and just pointed at us saying, "Don't go looking for it!"

'I mean it Harper!'

'Well your no fun.'

"Where are you going?" Rose asked still not sure what was going on.

"Be back in a second." Then he was gone. He had gone back around to Reinette's side of the fireplace.

I sat down to wait on him as Rose started to look at the fire extinguisher in her hands.

"He said not to look for it…" Mickey said.

"Ya, he did," Rose said simple. Mickey smiled and grabbed his own extinguisher. "Now you're getting it. Coming Harper?"

"No. I just stay here and make sure he doesn't get into to much trouble."

"Suite your self." Rose and Mickey turned to leave and I yelled after them, "stay out of trouble!"

"We are on an abandoned spaceship. What trouble can there be?" Mickey asked as they left.

"Oh, now did he have to say that?" I said.


The Doctor's POV

"Reinette," I called as I walked into the room. "Just checking you're okay."

I looked around the room and saw small changes. It was daytime so sometime had passed since Harper and I were here. I was looking at a harp when I heard someone clear his or her throat behind me. A young woman was standing there watching me, "Oh, hello. I was just looking for Reinette. Uh, this is still her room, isn't it? I've been away. Not sure how long."

"Reinette, we're ready to go!" I heard someone yell from another room.

"Go to the carriage, mother. I will join you there." The young woman called back. "It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."

"Reinette?" She was… "Well… goodness how you've grown."

"And you do not appear to have aged a single day," Reinette walked over to me. "That is tremendously impolite of you."

"Right… yes… sorry. Um… umm… um listen, lovely to catch up but, er, better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man, do we?"

"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old."

"Yeah, I suppose you have. I came the quick route."

"And fireplace lady, is she with you?" Reinette asked.

"No… no she um… she stayed behind."

"To bad," she did not look sorry at all. She put her hand on my cheek, "you seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."

"Oh, pff… you never want to listen to reason…"

"Mademosielle! Your mother grows impatient," a man called.

"A moment," Reinette yelled sounding irritated. "So many questions. So little time."

Reinette did something then that shocked me. She kissed me. We both backed up until my back was against the fireplace. I was enjoying the kiss far more than I should have been.

"Mademoiselle Poisson!" The man called again, and just as I wrapped my arms around her she pull away running from the room.

A servant came into the room looking at me, but that is when it hit me. "Poisson. Reinette Poisson? No… no, no, no, no, no way." I ran up to the man. "Reinette Poisson?! Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fiftieth, uncrowned Queen of France."

I made my way back to the fireplace as I kept talking about Reinette. "Actress, artist, musician, dancer, and courtesan. Fantastic gardener."

"Who are you?" The servant asked.

"I'm the Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" I pushed the button sending me back around laughing the whole way.

I saw Harper sitting over to the side and ran over to her, "Harper you will never believe whom Reinette is! Madame de Pompadour!"

She had her arm crossed and looked mad, "did you have fun on you little outing?"

I was a little taken back by her attitude. "What's got you in a bad mood?"

"I'm fine," she said, and I tried to look into her mind to see what was wrong but found she had blocked me out. "Lets just go and find Mickey and Rose."

"What?" I looked around the room only to find them not there. "Every… 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 we rounded the corner we saw a horse. "Oh my word! He's so cute," Harper said walking up to it. "You're a pretty horse, yes you are."

"Oh, stop talking to the horse and come on." I grabbed her hand pulling her away.


We were still trying to find Rose and Mickey, "Rose?" I called.

I heard Harper giggle behind me and saw the horse was there. The horse had its nose in Harper hair, which was causing Harper to laugh, "Will you stop following us? She is not your mother."

"Oh, don't listen to the grumpy old Doctor," she told the horse.

I walked over to double doors opening them, "Is this where you came from, horsey?"

Harper followed me and we walked out onto and garden of some sorts. I saw Reinette and another woman walking and laughing. Just seeing her made me smile.

"Ugh, I'll be inside with the horse." Harper said sounding irritated.

I did not stay there long before following her.


We finally found Rose and Mickey. They were standing in front of a window looking out onto Reinette and the king.

"Blimey, look at this guy," Mickey said laughing. "Who does he think he is?"

"King of France," I said coming up beside them.

"Oh, here's trouble. What have you two been up too?"

"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man," the horse made a sound behind me, "oh, and met a horse."

"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked.

"Mickey, what's pre-revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective."

Harper elbowed me in the side saying, "be nice." Mickey smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulder. I really wanted to push him away from her but held my self back.

"See these?" I said pointing to the window in front of us. "They're all over the place, on every deck. Gateways to history, but not just any old history… hers." Reinette walked into the room. "Time windows, deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from the 18th, why?"

"Who is she?" Rose asked.

"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette," Harper said.

"One of the most accomplished women who ever lived," I finished for her.

Rose asked, "So, has she got plans on being the queen, then?"

"No, he's already got a queen," I told her. "She's got plans on being his mistress."

Rose laughed saying, "Oh, I get it. Camilla."

"I think this is the night they met."

"The Yew-Tree Ball, right?" Harper asked.

"Yeah, in no time flat she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace, even with her own title. Madame de Pompadour."

"Queen must have loved her," Rose said,

"Oh, she did. They got on very well," I answered.

"The king's wife and the king's girlfriend?" Mickey asked in disbelief.

"France, different planet," Harper said with a laugh.

We all watched as the king left leaving Reinette by herself. It wasn't long after the king left the one of the clockwork men showed. I immediately grabbed Mickey fire extinguisher and opened the time window running in, "Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?"

"Fireplace man!"

"Reinette," Harper ran up to her pulling her into a hug.

"And fireplace lady."

I sprayed the clockwork man, freezing it in it spot. I threw Mickey the extinguisher watching the clockwork man.

"What's it doing?" Mickey asked as it made a noise.

"Switching back on. Melting the ice," Harper answered.

Mickey asked, "and then what?"

"Then it kills everyone in the room," the clockwork man suddenly tried to grab me, but I jumped back in time. Harper grabbed onto my hand pulling me farther back. "Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself." I was getting really tired of these things, "Order it to answer me," I told Reinette.

"Why should it listen to me?" She asked in surprise.

"It did when you were a child," Harper told Reinette. "Why don't we see if you still got it," She joked.

"Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you," Reinette said with authority in her voice.

The droid put it's arm down and said, "I am repair droid seven."

"What happened to the ship then? There was a lot of damage," I said.

"Ion storm, eighty two percent system failure."

"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taking you so long," I asked.

"We did not have the parts."

Mickey laughed, "Always comes to that, doesn't it? The parts."

"Not the time, Mick," Harper said. Mick? Since when did Harper give him a nickname?

"What's happened to the crew?" I asked ignoring Mickey, "Where are they?"

"We did not have the parts," it repeated.

"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" I tried again.

"We did not have the parts."

"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where…"

"Doctor," Harper interrupted me and I turned to look at her. She looked a little sick as she said, "they did not have the parts."

I looked at her for a second and then I got it, "Oh… you didn't have the parts so you used the crew."

"The crew?" Mickey asked in disbelief.

Rose said quietly, "we found a camera with an eye in it. And there was a heart wired into machinery."

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Harper said. I looked over to her and saw Reinette comforting her.

"It was just doing what it was programmed to do. Repairing the ship any way it can with whatever it can find. No one told it the crew wasn't on the menu." I turned to Rose, "What did you say the flight deck smelled of?"

"Someone cooking."

"Flesh plus heat… barbecue. But what are you doing here?" I asked the droid. "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 18th century France, why?"

"One more part is required."

I looked back at Reinette. Harper got in front of her, "Over my dead body."

I dismissed what she just said and asked, "Then why haven't you taken it?"

"She is incomplete."

"What… so, that's the plan then? Just keep on opening more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet?" I said sarcastically.

"Why her?" Rose asked, "All of history to choose from, why specifically her?"

"We are the same," the droid said.

"We are not the same," Reinette said coming out from behind Harper. "We are in no sense the same!"

"We are the same."

"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!" Reinette snapped.

"Reinette, no." I ran back to the time window. "It's back on the ship. Rose, take Mickey and Arthur get after it. Follow it don't approach. Just watch what it does."

"Arthur?" She asked.

"Good name for a horse," I said.

"Yes! We get to keep Arthur!" Harper cheered.

"No, you're not keeping the horse," Rose told us.

Harper pouted and I said, "I let you keep Mickey! Now go, go, go!"

"Fireplace lady, will you stay," Reinette asked Harper.

"First off, it's Harper. And secondly, what sort of imagery friend would I be if I left you now?"

Both of the girl smiled and I came back to them. "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."

I put my hands on either side of her head just like I had done when she was a child. "Fireplace man, you are inside my mind."

"Annoying isn't it," Harper side.

"Shush," I said to Harper, "oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here."

"You are in my memories. You walk among them," Reinette sounded amazed.

"If there is anything you don't want me to see just imagine a door and close it, I won't look. Oh, actually there's a door just there, you might want to… oh, I see several."

"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?" She asked.

"I don't make a habit of it," I told her.

"How can you resist?"

"What age are you?" I asked suddenly.

"Wow, Doc. Why to go and ask the wrong questions," Harper said.

"I agree with Harper. So impertinent a question so early in the conversation."

"Not my question, theirs."

"They want to know how old she is?" Harper asked.

"Yes, your 23 and for some reason that means your not old enough." Reinette suddenly flinch a little, "Sorry, you might find old memories awakening. Side effect."

"Oh, such a lonely childhood," Reinette said.

"It will pass; stay with me."

"Oh, Doctor," Reinette said. "So lonely, so very very alone."

"What do you mean alone?" I was very confused by her words. "You've never been alone in your life." My eyes flew open, "When did you start calling me Doctor?"

Reinette's eyes were still closed as she when on, "Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then, but it would seem not as lonely now. Still, how can you bear it?"

I took a step back breaking the mental connection. "How did you do that?"

"A door once opened maybe stepped through in either direction. My Doctor, my lonely Doctor." She stepped forward taking my hands, "Dance with me."

"I can't," I said.

"Dance with me," Reinette insisted.

"He can't," Reinette and I looked over to Harper. "I mean he really can't dance. It's just so sad."

Reinette and Harper laughed as I said, "This is the night you dance with the king."

"Then first I shall make him jealous."

"I can't," I said once more.

"Doctor. Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?"

Harper looked worried at what Reinette just said and I asked, "What did you see?"

"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when ever lonely little boy must learn how to dance. Besides, Harper wants to came, right?"

We turned to look at a wide-eyed Harper, "Oh, I don't dance. Two left feet. I'm worse than him. Sorry."

Reinette walked over to her and said, "Trust me, my dear Harper. Tonight will be just what you need. The French know how to throw a party."


Harper's POV

I have to say, Reinette was right. This ball was very fun. She was the best wingman. She brought a guy over right at the beginning and I have not stopped dancing yet. I am better than I thought! Every time a song ends there is always another guy asking for the next one.

It was wonderful! The only problem was I had not seen the Doctor all night. I was still mad at him, but I don't like not seeing him. The first guy had taking me away quickly and I lost sight of him.

I had just started to dance with a gentleman named Raphael, when he became a little too flirty for my taste.

"So my beautiful lady," Raphael said, "Why are you here all alone?"

"Oh, I am not here alone. I just lost track of him."

"Umm, him? And does your husband not mind you dancing with so many man?" He pulled me closer and slipped his hand down a bit too low.

I was getting uncomfortable, "Oh I am not…"

"Yes he does!" I heard from behind me. I turned around quickly to see a fuming Doctor. He looked very much like the Oncoming Storm right this minute. "Now if you don't mind, I think it's time I get MY wife home."

I was very glad the Doctor was there but he was being just a tab bit dramatic. The Doctor grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Raphael. Raphael grabbed my other hand pulled me back to him saying, "I beg your pardon, sir, but I believe this is my dance."

"And I think," the Doctor pulled me back once again. "You should back off."

"Well…" Raphael start to say something back but I cut him off. "I am not a rag doll! You two stop it right now!"

Raphael let go of my hand and the Doctor took his chance to take me from the room. I catch sight of a smirking Reinette as we left the room; she had something to do with this, I just knew it. The Doctor basically dragged me all the way to the time window when he stopped and turned to me.

"What was that?" He yelled.

"Excuse me, are you mad at me?"

"Yes! You… you… they…" he just could not find the right words. "You were just throwing your self at all those men. And that last guy… Ralph…"

"Raphael," I corrected.

"Whatever! He was… he was… he was taking advantage of you."

"Okay stop right there," I was mad now. "I am a grown adult and can take care of myself. And if I want a little attention for men then so be it. It's not like I was snogging in the closet. I was dancing. I am not a child so quiet treating me like one," I yelled at him.

"Well then stop acting like one," he yelled back. "You are not from this time, you don't know these men."

"Oh excuse me, mister I snog every girl I meet. Did you know Reinette before you snogged her? Umm?"

"Yes, I did. We meet twice before then."

"Oh, so you did snog Reinette!"

"What? No, I did not snog Reinette."

"You just said you did!" I threw my hands up in angry. We were both standing there fuming. Neither of us wanted to give in. The Doctor sighed, knowing I was not going to back down, "let's just go and find Rose and Mickey."


We both looked around the corner to see Mickey and Rose in a sticky situation.

"Okay, Harper I've got a plan. Just follow my lead." The Doctor slipped sunglasses on and put his tie around his forehead. He had a glass of something, still not sure where he got that from and all of the sudden started singing a song for My Fair Lady. "I could have danced all night, I could've dance all night…"

I hear Rose from the other room talking, "They called him the… they called him… the…"

She could not finish because at that moment the Doctor went dancing in still singing, "And still have begged for mooore! I could've spread my wings and done a thou…" He was a very good fake drunk. "Have you met the French? They know how to party."

"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in," Rose sounded irritated. "The Oncoming Storm."

"Oh, you sound just like your mother." I looked at Mickey when the Doctor said this, both of us finding this very funny.

"What have you been doing? Where have you two been?"

"Well, among other things… I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a couple of centuries early. Do you know, they'd never even seen a banana before," the Doctor walked closer to Rose. "Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Hey!" He suddenly turned to me and Mickey, "You told me that your first night in the TARDIS. I got it from you and you got it from me, HA. I love time travel."

He turned back to Rose and the droid who was threatening her life. "Oh oh oh oh! 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 Mr. Thick Thick Thickety Thickface from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad."

If I wasn't so mad at the Doctor I would be laughing right now.

"Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is 37 years old, and they think, when Reinette is 37, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. 'Cause that's what you're missing, innit, hm?" He asked the droids in the room.

"Command circuit, your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, who knows what, only the brain of Madama de Pompadour will do."

"The brain is compatible," the Doctor's 'favorite' droid said.

"Compatible?" I said sarcastically.

"If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." The Doctor pulled off the droids mask and wig pouring the oil onto its head. And then put the mask and wig back on. The droid turned and the dropped down. "Multigrade anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't."

All the other droids started moving our way so I reached over to the controls flipping a switch to stop them.

"Right, you two, that's enough lying about." The Doctor used the sonic to free them, "Time to get the rest of the ship turned off."

I went up to Mickey giving him a hug and he turned to the Doctor asking, "are those things safe?"

"Yep, safe. Safe and thick, way I like 'em."

"Not the only thing that's thick around here," I mumbled to Mickey, talking about the Doctor. I think he heard me because he looked over to us with a frown.

"Okay, all the time windows are controlled from here," the Doctor said going back to business. "I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs, where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets."

Rose asked, "Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was 37?"

"Amount if damage to these circuits, they'd do well to hit the right century," I said.

"Trial and error after that," the Doctor added. "The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"

We heard a strange noise and Rose asked, "What's that?"

"I don't know, incoming message?" The Doctor guessed.

"From who?" Mickey asked.

"Report from the field."

"You mean to tell me one of them is still out there with Reinette?" I asked the Doctor.

"That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override." The droid the Doctor poured the oil on straightened up making us jump. It raised its arm pouring the oil onto the Doctor shoe. "Well, that was a bit clever."

The switch I had flipped to stop the droids, flipped itself activating the droids. "All right, many things about this are not good."

"No kidding. Didn't take a genius to figure that out," I said angrily.

"Oh, what's your problem?" The Doctor was getting mad.

I was about to say something else when Rose interrupted me, "Not the time."

"Right, sorry," the Doctor turned away from me and addressed the droids. "Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

"She is complete. It begins" the droid said, and then they all teleported away.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"One of them must have found the right time window, and now its time to send in the troops," the Doctor said. "And this time they're bringing back her head."


The Doctor had asked Rose to go and talk to Reinette. She had been gone for a bit when Mickey went to get her leaving the Doctor and I alone.

"Look, Harper…"

"You know what, I think I'll go help Mickey," I said jumping up and running from the room.

As I rounded the corner I see Reinette on the spaceship.

"So, this is his world." There were screams coming from the time window. "What was that?"

"The time window," I said coming up to her. I pulled her into a hug as Mickey said, "The Doctor fixed a audio link."

"Those screams… is that my future?"

Rose and I shared a sad look and she said, "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Then I must take the slower path," I gave her another squeeze.

"Are you there?" We heard the Reinette from the time window say. "Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time!"

"T-that's my voice," Reinette sounded frightened.

"Rose, Harper come on. We've got to go. There's a problem," Mickey said.

"Umm, you two go on. I'll be there in a moment," I told them. I did not say anything for a second just hugged Reinette. "You okay?"

"No," she said. "I'm very afraid, but you and I both know, don't we Harper, the Doctor is worth the monsters."

"I guess he is," I gave her a sad smile. "Listen Reinette, I just want to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Will I not see you in five years when the Doctor comes to help?"

"No, this will be the last time I see you and you see me."

She pulled me into a hug this time before turning and going back to her side of the time window. I let a single tear fall before joining Mickey, Rose, and the Doctor at the time window.

I came in to Rose asking, "I don't get it. How come they got in there?"

"They teleported. You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-ranged teleports will do the trick," the Doctor said sounding frustrated.

"We'll go in the TARDIS," Rose sounded proud she found a solution to the problem.

"No, we can't. We're part of the events now," I said.

"Can't we just smash through?" Mickey asked.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We'd need a truck!"

"We don't have a truck," Mickey said.

"I know we don't have a truck!" The Doctor yelled.

"We've got to try something," Rose said.

"No, smash the glass, smash the time windows. There'd be no way back," I said knowing what the Doctor would do.


So here we were. The Doctor had gone and used Arthur to smash through the glass. Trapping him there and us here.

"What happened? Where'd the time window go?" Mickey asked, "How's he gonna get back, we can't fly the TARDIS without him. How's he gonna get back?"

Neither Rose nor I answered Mickey. We just stood there looking at the time window. I was mad at him, but that did not mean I wanted to loose him.


We had been sitting doing nothing for somewhere around three hours. Mickey had been trying to comfort Rose while I tried to stay out of her way.

I felt Mickey come up beside me, "how're you doing?"

"Fine."

"Is that fine as in your good or fine as in horrible?" I gave a small laugh at this.

"Mickey, you know women better than any other man I have ever met. I am fine as in horrible. I knew he was going to do it, but…"

"It didn't hurt any less?" He asked, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah, we were in the middle of a fight and now I could loose him."

"Mind telling me what you were fighting about?"

"He was being a hypocrite. I had danced with a couple of guys, mind you I just said danced, and he blow up. Its just… there's Rose, then Sarah Jane, now Reinette… shoot even the stupid droid get more attention from him than I do."

"Have you ever thought that maybe he is keeping you at arms length because he is scared?"

"Haha! You think you're so funny," I fake laughed. "No, I just think I am like the annoying little sister who he has to put up with."

"I still think your wrong about that, Harp."

I wished I was wrong and Mickey was right, but whom was I kidding, the Doctor could never feel any way other than friends towards me. We fell back into silence just waiting for something to happen.


The Doctor's POV

I was looking out a window at the stars thinking about Harper. We left each other on bad terms. We have never had this big of an argument and I had to think it is mostly my fault. I overreacted at the ball and now I will never get to see her again.

"You know all their names, don't you?" Reinette asked as she came up beside me. "I saw that in your mind. The name of every star."

"What's in a name? Names are just titles, titles don't mean anything."

"Like 'the Doctor'," she joked.

"Like 'Madame de Pompadour'," I said back. I thought to the times Harper and I used to have banters like this. My smile fell thinking of her.

"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think."

"From time to time."

"In saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?"

"Mm… pretty much," I nodded my head.

"Yet, still you came," Reinette smiled at me.

Her smiled made me smile also, "Yeah I did, didn't I?"

"And, Harper? Did she know you would get stuck?"

My face fell at the mention of Harper, "I believe so. She knows pretty much everything. Don't tell her I said that!" I said quickly making Reinette laugh.

"You love her very much," my head snapped up at this. 'Me love Harper? No… well… maybe…' "There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of those?"

"When the mirror broke, the shock will have severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid. Wherever there was a time window. I'll… I'll, er… pay for any damage."

I stopped and thought for a second, "Um… that's a thought. I'm going to need money. I've always been a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?" I asked Reinette.

"So here you are…" Reinette said not answering my question. "My lonely angle. Stuck on the slow path, with me."

"Yep, the slow path. Here's to the slow path," I raised my glass.

"It's a pity… I think I would have enjoyed the slow path," Reinette said confusing me.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, aren't you? Take my hand." She put her glass down and took me hand pulling me from the room. We walked into, what I guessed to be her bedroom, to see the fireplace. "It's not a cope, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."

"The fireplace," I let go of her hand to walk over to it. "The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?"

"Many years ago. In hope that a door once opened, my someday be opened again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. It appears undamaged, do you think it will still work?"

"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it. Which means it was off-line when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But…" I moved up closer to it, " the link is basically physical and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if I'm lucky…"

I started tapping on the fireplace, "if I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky… aha!"

"What?" Reinette asked.

"Loose connection!" I soniced the connection, "Need to get a man in! Wish me luck!" I push the button and started to spin around when Reinette said, "No."

Once I was around to the other side I got down and called to Reinette.

"Madame do Pompadour," once she was down looking at me I asked, "still wanna see those stars?"

"More than anything."

"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag!"

"Am I going somewhere?" She asked.

"Go to the window, pick a star, any star."

I ran off to find Harper, Rose, and Mickey. I ran into Harper first, she looked as if she had been crying so I was about to pull her into a hug when she slapped me, "Never! Never do that again." She turned and went back into the TARDIS without another word.

I heard Mickey's laugh and looked over to see him and Rose. I would have to worry about Harper later and pulled Rose in for a hug, "How long did you wait?"

"Five and a half hours," she answered.

"Right, always wait five and a half hours."

When she pulled away she asked, "Where've you been?"

"Explain later, into the TARDIS, be with you in a sec." I said before running back to the fireplace. "Reinette? You there Reinette?"

I spun the fireplace around entering a darkened room, "Reinette?" I called once more.

I walked into another room to see the king looking out the window, "Oh, hello," I said.

"You just missed her," he said barely turning to look at me. "She'll be in Pairs by six."

"Ah."

When he finally took a good look at me he said, "Goodness, 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." My heart sunk, 'how many years?'

He walked over to a desk and pulled out two letters, "She spoke of you many times. You and another, the fireplace lady, although she said she would never see her again. But she often wished you'd visit again, but you know how women are."

He handed me the letters, one addressed to me and one addressed to Harper. He walked back over to the window, "There she goes, leaving Versailles for the last time. Only 43 when she died; too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work to hard. What does she said?"

I did not answer him, but simple tucked the letters into my jacket. "Of course, quite right." I turned and left, going back to the spaceship.


Harper's POV

I had been crying in my room for a good while when I heard a knock on the door. I quickly dried my eyes and went to the door. I opened it to see the Doctor.

"Yes?" I asked, my voice sounding a little horse from all the crying.

"Umm… this is for you. It's from Reinette." He handed me a letter and I took it from him about to close the door when he said, "Harper, please talk to me."

I sighed and said, "I don't fell much like talking right now."

"Harper, please!" He sounded so pitiful and sad. It broke my heart.

"Doctor, I promise I will talk to you in the morning, okay? I just need a good night's sleep."

"Okay, well… goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." He did not look happy about it but I need time.

"Night, Doctor." I shut my door and went to sit on my bed.

I just held the letter not knowing if I wanted to open it or not, but I knew I need to read it.

Fireplace lady,

The Doctor has told me he will come and take me to see the stars, but I worry what you said to be the truth. I am to never see you again. And it would seem I am to never see the Doctor again. Although I know this to be true I have to hope and wish it to be not so. I fear my time is coming to an end and hope to see you and the Doctor once more. Now if I am never to see you again I must tell you that you are very fortunate to have a man such as the Doctor. He loves you a great deal. Do not miss out on such a wonderful thing because of petty quarrels or insecurities.

Please attempt and come back, my dear Harper. Endeavor to change what you know to be true.

Yours truly,

Reinette

After reading the letter I was more confused than ever on what to do about the Doctor. Everyone keeps tell me the Doctor has feelings for me, but I just could not see it. Maybe time is what we need, and who is better with time than a Time Lord?


SOOOOO what did you think? I know it kind of ended sad, but I felt this was the way the real episode end. So I what to mirror that. Harper and the Doctor fighting oh no! You all will have to wait and see what happens. Thanks for reader, my dear Whovians, and remember don't be lasagna! ;)