Guys, it's been so long since I've updated this story. I'm really sorry for the long wait! After the semester ended, I just didn't have the motivation to write anything after all the last minute studying and writing I did.
But now I'm back, and I'm super motivated. I've already pre-written things here and there for the story in the future.
This chapter was kind of difficult for me. I had some parts of it written weeks ago but I couldn't find a good way to connect the pieces together. But here we are now, you'll have to let me know how I did!
Also, this chapter is about 1/3 episode and the rest just floof, and angst.
Enjoy!
-RainingCoffee
A presence taps along the borders of my mind. A gentle nudge, but insistent. Wake up.
I open my eyes, blinking blearily up at the ceiling. A ceiling that I hadn't been looking at when I went to sleep.
The Doctor laughs. "Well I couldn't very well let you sleep on the chair the way you were, your neck wouldn't have thanked you in the morning."
Turning in the direction of his voice, I take in the way he's sitting on the edge of the bed. He's already dressed, armor for the day on.
"Did I help?" I can't help but ask, voice rough with sleep.
The Doctor's face softens. "Yeah. You helped." He ruffles my hair, hand still there from his wake-up call. "Thank you."
Good, that's good. I had hoped.
"Alright! You've spent enough time sleeping. Breakfast is ready, so you'd better hurry or Rose and Mickey will eat it all!" The Doctor says, enthusiasm making me blink at him.
"Morning person." I grumble, shifting myself off the bed and becoming somewhat vertical. "No matter how many times I get a confirmation, it still surprises me every time."
He laughs, placing a hand on my shoulder and directing me out of his room. I don't have to look behind me to know that the door had disappeared immediately after we left. The Tardis doesn't usually let other companions see it. "Don't be cranky now. I made your favorite."
That gets me to perk up. "…French toast with vanilla and cinnamon?"
"And I even picked up bananas. And strawberries." The Doctor states, smile threatening the corner of his lips.
And suddenly, just like that, I was awake.
"Ahh, there we are." He murmurs, not resisting when I grab his hand and speed up down the hallway.
Bah, you can't tease someone's favorite food and then not expect them to be enthusiastic about it.
xxxx
After food, I retreat back to my room for a change of clothes and a shower. Having completed that, I find myself in front of the mirror, frowning at my mostly dry hair.
Usually, I don't fuss around with my hair. But every now and again I get the urge to do something with it. The issue being, I'm actually horrible at anything hair related.
So, armed with my hair brush and a box full of rubber bands, I go in search of the Doctor. He's in the console room, unsurprisingly, stretched out under the grating.
"Are you doing important repairs?" I ask.
The Doctor startles, cursing, before pulling himself out of the grate. "Willa, I didn't hear you come in!"
I smile apologetically. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. If you're busy, I can come back."
"Nonsense." He waves his hand as if to wave the thought away. Eyes flickering to my box of hair bands, his lips tick up into a smile. "You want me to do your hair?"
Humming, I nod. "Yeah, I was thinking a waterfall braid today."
The Doctor pulls a rag out of his pocket, wiping his hands off thoroughly, before gesturing for me to sit down in front of him. I do so, getting comfortable in a cross legged position, while he sections out the strands he's going to use.
He starts humming a jaunty tune, and It's not long before I've picked up the beat as well. Which is how Mickey and Rose walk in on us.
"Er, what's going on in here?" Mickey asks, his tone flabbergasted.
Whatever the Doctor attempts to say comes out as garbled as the adults in Charlie Brown. He makes a frustrated noise, presumably taking the rubber bands out of his mouth, and ties off the end of my braid. "I'm braiding her hair, what does it look like I'm doing?"
He tugs on the center braid, letting me know it's done. Instantly, I swing my head back and forth, enjoying the feeling of my hair swishing around. "Thanks!"
I move to get up, but Mickey interrupts. "No, no, sit back the way you were!"
"Uh, why?" I ask him, confused.
A flash comes from his phone, which he has pointed at us. Ah, that would be why.
Pouting, I wave a hand at him. "Take it again! I wasn't ready!" This time, I lean back and smile properly at the camera.
Mickey takes another photo, looking pleased. It's a little strange, but I'm going to be getting those pictures later one way or another, so I don't think about it too hard.
"Aright!" The Doctor springs up, my box of hair bands in his hair. He darts over to the console and places it haphazardly on top. "Where should we go today?"
I get up off the floor myself, tucking my hairbrush into my back pocket as I do so. "Why doesn't Mickey decide? Since it's his first trip and all."
"Me?" Mickey asks, dumfounded look on his face. "Uh, I don't know."
"Humans." The Doctor scoffs. "Give them the ability to travel and nine times out of ten they'll freeze when asked where to go."
"Just put her on random." I say, darting over to the console myself, fingers at the ready.
He grins at me. "Random it is then!"
And then we are off. Piloting the Tardis is different when there is two of us. There is less running around and trying frantically to hit every button then there is a sort of synergetic rotation.
Rose watches us with an undecipherable look on her face, while Mickey just looks excited. I flash her a smile the next time I rotate around, which makes her lips twitch up in response. Ha, I'm getting through to her.
And then we land.
The Doctor glances at the monitor quickly, but turns it off as I come around to do the same thing. He wiggles a finger at me, mouthing the word 'surprise'.
I give him an unimpressed look. It was supposed to be a surprise for Mickey, not for me.
"Um, is it okay for Rose to have done that?" Mickey's voice interrupts our silent conversation.
The two of look over to find the door cracked open, and Rose missing from the room. Huh, guess she was impatient herself.
"Well." I start out, glancing at the Doctor for confirmation. "I'm going to assume there's breathable air."
The Doctor nods, striding for the door. Mickey looks uncertain. His eyes keep flickering between the door and me. I smile at him, gesturing towards the exit. "Onwards Mickey Smith, the world awaits you."
Mickey looks at me for a long second, then stands up straight and marches for the door like he's facing a firing squad. Good job, Mickey Smith, defender of the Earth.
I shake the thought from my head, along with the spike of pain that accompanied it, and move closer to the exit myself.
The first thing I notice when I walk off the Tardis is the fact that wherever we've landed is dark, and there are wires everywhere.
"It's a spaceship." Mickey murmurs, sounding incredibly excited. "Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go."
I hide a smile as I pull the door closed behind me.
"It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?" Rose asks the Doctor.
"Nah, nothing here." The Doctor responds immediately. "Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous." He pauses. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous."
The Doctor moves over to the console in the middle of the room, Rose moving with him. "So, what's the date? How far we gone?"
"Hmm, how about it Willa. What's the date?" The Doctor grins as he looks at me over his shoulder.
Training exercise then. A wave of nerves hit me out of nowhere. Normally it's just the two of us, and if I don't get something right then it's not that big of a deal, but with two companions here…
I'd have to make sure I got it right.
I close my eyes, letting my awareness expand. The tang of the manufactured oxygen, the smell of meat cooking and the pull of the artificial gravity are the first things to hit me. The ship itself is sitting in one place. It's called the SS Madame de Pompadour. That all falls to the way side as the very cosmos themselves spin.
By the time I open my eyes only 5 seconds have passed, though it feels as if those five seconds have stretched into five minutes instead.
"The Diagmar Cluster, 51st century." I murmur.
The Doctor's smile takes on a proud edge. "Good job Willa." He turns back to Rose and Mickey, pulling something on the console and turning the lights on. The ceiling retracts partially, showing off the stars. "We are nearly three thousand years into your future. You're a long way from home, Mickey Smith, two and a half galaxies in fact."
Mickey wanders over to the window, looking out into space. Rose follows him, leaning on his shoulders, a huge smile on her face. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
He turns back to Rose. "It's so realistic!"
I can't help but smile this time, charmed by how excited he is.
"Look at all this repair work Willa." The Doctor grabs my attention. I turn back to console, taking in the spare parts everywhere. The computer chimes, showing a 3d rendering of the ship. "Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So where's all that power going?"
"The engines are on full, and we're not moving?" I frown, worrying my lip. "What about the crew?"
"Good question." The Doctor replies, hitting a button. "No life readings on board."
Rose comes up to us with Mickey beside her. "Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag."
"No, I've checked all the smoking pods." The Doctor states, before pausing and sniffing the air. "Can you smell that?"
Rose nods after a second. "Yeah, someone's cooking."
"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey adds.
The Doctor presses a couple more buttons on the console and a door slides open behind us. It's a testament to how ingrained exploration is in us by this point that the Doctor and I immediately head for the open door, Rose right behind us. Mickey hesitates, I can hear his feet stutter in their steps, before he hurries to follow us as well.
The room that has opened up to us has a huge fireplace, on that's crackling merrily.
"Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship." The Doctor states, taken aback. "Eighteenth century. French. Nice mantle." He pulls his sonic out and scans the mantle. "Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace."
"It's double sided. There's another room through here." I murmur, kneeling down to see through the fireplace.
"There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship." Rose states. "Look."
I don't look, instead I smile at the girl who's peering through the fireplace at me. "Hello, there."
"Hello?" The Doctor asks, confused, as he kneels beside me. "Who are y-Oh, Hello."
It seems like he's finally noticed the little girl.
"Hello." The girl responds.
"What's your name?" The Doctor prompts, voice soft.
The girl looks confused, but not frightened. "Reinette."
"Reinette, that's a lovely name." The Doctor smiles. "Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"
Reinette studies him. "In my bedroom."
"And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?" The Doctor coaxes, still smiling gently.
"Paris, of course." She laughs.
The Doctor nods. "Paris, right!"
"Monsieur, what are you doing in my fireplace?" Reinette finally asks.
"Oh, it's just a routine-" The Doctor pauses, obviously trying to come up with some sort of a lie.
"It's just a routine fire check." I chime in, smiling at the girl myself. "Don't mind the goof over there, it's his first one so he's a little nervous."
Reinette giggles.
The Doctor lays a hand on my shoulder. "Can you tell me what year it is?" He asks Reinette.
"Of course I can." She replies. "Seventeen hundred and twenty seven."
"Right, lovely. One of my favorites." The Doctor states. "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 Monsieur." Reinette says, standing up from her crouch next to the fire place.
We do the same on our side of the fireplace.
"You said this was the fifty first century." Mickey accuses.
"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe." The Doctor replies. "I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink."
I cough into my hand to hide the laugh that wants to bubble up.
Mickey looks between the two of us. "What's that?"
"No idea. Just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door." The Doctor tells him, beaming.
"And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asks, exaggerating the words 'magic door'.
The Doctor shrugs off his hero jacket, throwing it on a valve to keep it from falling onto the floor. "Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."
"She was speaking English, I heard her." Mickey states, looking confused.
Rose drapes her arms around Mickey's neck, smiling at him. "That's the Tardis. Translates for you."
The Doctor ignores the conversation, inspecting the fireplace. He runs his fingers along the bottom of the mantle.
"Even French?" Mickey asks in the background. Rose confirms, but I'm more concerned with the look of triumph on the Doctor's face.
"Gotcha!" The Doctor grins, pressing a lever on the side of the mantle. The whole fireplace starts to rotate, the Doctor and I going around with it, while Mickey and Rose watch us from the room we were originally in.
The room we end up in is dark and Reinette is asleep on the bed. The Doctor moves over to the window, but my attention it caught by the clock on the mantle.
Reinette wakes up, I can hear her gasp.
"It's okay. Don't scream. It's us. It's the fireplace people." The Doctor's footsteps tell me he moves closer to Reinette's bed, and then there is more light then there was. "Look. We were talking just a moment ago. The two of us were in your fireplace."
"Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months." Reinette tells him.
"Doctor." I turn around to look at him, but he waves me off.
"Really?" The Doctor scratches his head, turning on the spot and walking back near the fireplace. "Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in."
Reaching up, I grab his head, making it face the clock. "Look."
"Oohh." The Doctor breathes, so I let my hand drop. "Now that is properly frightening."
The tick-tick-tick of a clock resonates through the room, but the clock on the mantle is broken. So where is the ticking coming from?
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asks.
"Yeah. Cause this clock is broken, but the sound of ticking is still there." I look at Reinette, seeing realization bloom behind her eyes. "What's making the ticking noise?"
"And that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big." The Doctor continues my thought, looking around the room. "Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man."
"What is it?" Reinette whispers, hands clenching around her comforter.
"Now, 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?" The Doctor pauses, looking at Reinette, before stepping up to the left side of her bed. "You might start to wonder if you're really alone." He kneels down next to the bed, sending a firm look up at the girl still sitting on it. "Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."
The Doctor pulls out his sonic and uses it to scan under the bed, something must swipe back at him because he jumps back immediately. And then I don't have to guess at what's under there anymore, as a person dressed in French clothes with a mask and a wig on, straightens up along the right side of Reinette's bed.
"Reinette, don't look behind you." I murmur, stepping up to the end of her bed myself. If the person lunges for her, I should be able to pull her away before any damage is done.
Straightening from his own crouch, the Doctor watches the figure on the other side of Reinette's bed. "You, stay exactly where you are." There is a second where nothing happens, and then the Doctor's eyes flickers between the still ticking figure and Reinette. The Doctor gentles his voice, even as he takes Reinette's hands between his hands and looks into her eyes. "Hold still, let me look."
Five seconds pass, then the Doctor directs one of his more dangerous looks at the still ticking figure. "You've been scanning her brain." His voice goes deep, a growl lurking under the words. "What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"
"I don't understand. It wants me?" Reinette looks back at the figure, knocking the Doctor's hands off her head. "You want me?"
"Not yet." The figure states, voice mechanical. "You are incomplete."
"Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete?" The Doctor asks. The figure doesn't even look at him, and it certainly doesn't answer. "You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?"
It must take offense to that, because it rounds the bed. Its arm extends, a knife popping out and I jerk back to stop myself from getting impaled.
"Be careful!" Reinette calls out.
Then the Doctor is there, a hand on my shoulder pulling me behind his back. "It's just a nightmare Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares." The figure slashes at the two of us, and we dodge it. Though the Doctor keeps up with his witty words. That man is so ridiculous sometimes. "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?"
One last slash of it's arm, and the Doctor dodges just at the right moment for the blade to get stuck in the top of the mantle.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asks, eyes flickering between the three of us.
The Doctor gestures for me to get closer to the fireplace, and I do. Then he grins over at Reinette while activating the lever that turns the fireplace around. "Me!"
As soon as the fireplace spins around, the Doctor is whirling away to grab what looks to be a large gun from beside the fireplace. I leap away as it shoots out some sort of ice-Oh, it's a fire extinguisher. Makes sense, it's right next to the fireplace.
"Doctor!" Rose exclaims, startled.
The figure finally stops struggling, the ice doing its job.
"Excellent." Mickey states. "Ice gun."
The Doctor shakes his head, throwing the gun to Mickey. "Fire extinguisher."
Huh, I was right after all.
Rose takes a step closer. "Where did that thing come from?"
"Here. I would think." The Doctor responds, examining the figure that had been hiding under a child's bed.
"So why's it dressed like that?" Mickey asks, confused.
"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework, shame about the face." The Doctor comments, pulling the mask from the figures face revealing internal clockwork circuitry.
"Oh wow." I can't help but murmur, taking a step closer.
"Look at that Willa." He eyes the machinery. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Space age clockwork, I love it." The Doctor sends me a cheeky smile. "I've got chills!"
While I might not have chills, I agree with the sentiment. "We're still going to have to figure out why it was going after Reinette though."
"You're right." The Doctor focus's back on the clockwork android. "It would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it."
There's a chime, and the android is beamed away.
The Doctor huffs in irritation. "Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board."
"What is it?" Rose asks again.
"Don't go looking for it!" The Doctor tells her, wiggling a disapproving finger at her.
Rose narrows her eyes at him. "And just where are you going?"
He darts over to the fireplace, once again pressing the button to turn the fireplace. "Back in a sec!"
And then he's gone, and the three of us are left standing there staring at each other.
Rolling her eyes, Rose grabs the other fire extinguisher off of the wall.
Mickey shifts. "He said not to look for it."
"As if that's ever stopped us before." I scoff, sharing a look of understanding with Rose.
"Now you're getting it." Rose grins, tongue poking out between her teeth.
As the three of us run off I can already imagine the lecture I'm going to get for this, but really? What did he expect after leaving us all by ourselves while he went off to do something.
However, it doesn't take us long to figure out that something horrible has happened here. The first sign is the eyeball in the security camera.
Mickey tries to be all macho about it, though he's clearly taken aback by the sight.
It does raise a question though. This ship had a crew at one point, but there were no life signs when we first got here.
A rhythmic thumping noise emanates from a small hatch on the bulkhead. Rose reaches out to open it, pulling her hand back quickly once it is open.
Mickey crowds the space and I'm left on the fringes unable to see inside.
"What is that?" Mickey asks. "What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in."
"It's a heart, Mickey. It's a human heart." Rose replies, voice faint.
An eye in the camera, a heart in the walls wired into something, and no life signs on the ship. The smell of cooking meat suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.
I have to hold back my instinctive gag. "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, that sound like a good idea." Mickey agrees, closing the hatch.
We continue down the corridor, but this time we all stay a little bit closer to one another than we had before.
Mickey hesitates, opening his mouth several times before he voices the thought he's had. "Maybe it wasn't a real heart."
"Course it was a real heart." Rose mutters.
"Is this normal?" Mickey's eyes dart between Rose and me. "Is this an average day?"
I spare him a smile. "Mickey, you just time traveled in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside. You left normal behind the moment you stepped inside those doors."
Rose has a hint of a smile on her face as she stops in front of a window. It's France again, some sort of a sitting room can be seen on the other side.
"It's France again. We can see France." Mickey states.
"I think we're looking through a mirror." Rose says, looking intently into the room.
Three men enter the room, one that's wearing clothes made of better material than the others. Clearly someone in charge.
"Blimey, look at this guy." Mickey scoffs. "Who does he think he is?"
"The King of France." The Doctor states, coming around the corner.
"Oh, here's trouble." Rose teases him. "What you been up to?"
"Oh this and that." He murmurs back. "Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man."
A horse clops up, neighing.
"Oh and I met a horse." The Doctor finishes.
"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asks, incredulous.
The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." He taps the window. "See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history."
"But why open these windows in the first place?" I ask. "And why France?"
"I don't know." The Doctor admits. "But it all has to do with her." He points to a woman who's just entered the room, curtsying for the King. "Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived."
Rose hums. "So has she got plans of being the Queen, then?"
The Doctor shakes his head. "No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress."
"Oh, I get it. Camilla." Rose states, sharing a laugh with Mickey.
"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title." The Doctor exaggerates his voice. "Madame de Pompadour."
I direct a sharp look in his direction. That's why they're doing it, that's why the clockwork androids are opening up time windows into France. This ship was called the SS Madame de Pompadour.
"The Queen must have loved her." Rose mutters, oblivious to my realization.
"Oh, she did." The Doctor tells her, watching as the King and his men leave the room. Reinette comes up to the window to check her appearance. "They get on very well."
Mickey scoffs. "The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?"
"France. It's a different planet." The Doctor shrugs.
Reinette turns around suddenly, saying something to a woman in the back of the room. The woman turns around, and of course it's not a woman but one of the clockwork androids instead.
The Doctor moves quickly, grabbing the fire extinguisher from Mickey and opening the window. "Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?"
"Fireplace man!" Reinette exclaims, stepping back as the Doctor sprays the clockwork android. She does a double take as she sees me. "And fireplace girl as well."
I wave, sending her a smile. "Hello Reinette."
The android creaks, trying to move.
"What's it doing?" Mickey asks, catching the fire extinguisher as the Doctor throws it back to him.
"Switching back on. Melting the ice." The Doctor tells him.
Mickey sends him an irritated look. "And then what?"
The android throws out an arm which the Doctor jumps back from. "Then it kills everyone in the room. Focuses the mind, doesn't it?" He grins at Mickey before focusing back on the android. "Who are you? Identify yourself."
It doesn't say anything.
"Order it to answer me." The Doctor tells Reinette.
"Why should it listen to me?" Reinette shakes her head.
The Doctor shrugs. "I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it."
Reinette takes a deep breath, her chin going up in defiance. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you."
"I am repair droid seven." The clockwork android states, voice just as mechanical as the other one had been.
"What happened to the ship, then?" The Doctor asks. "There was a lot of damage."
"Ion storm." The android responds. "Eighty two percent systems failure."
The Doctor's face screws up in confusion. "That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?"
"We did not have the parts." It tells him.
"What's happened to the crew?" The Doctor continues. "Where are they?"
The android twitches. "We did not have the parts."
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" The Doctor asks, still not getting it.
"Doctor, they didn't have the parts." I murmur.
He looks at me in confusion. "What?"
"We found a human eye in one of the security cameras, and a heart wired into the machinery." Making eye contact with him, I watch as he understands what I'm telling him.
The Doctor whirls to face the android. "You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew." He closes his eyes for a brief second. "What did you say the flight deck smelt of?"
"Someone cooking." Rose repeats, voice faint.
"Flesh plus heat. Barbeque." The Doctor narrows his eyes at the droid. "But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows. That takes colossal energy. All for what? What do you need from Reinette Poisson that you couldn't have got from the repair yard?"
"One more part is required." The clockwork droid states.
"Then why haven't you taken it?" The Doctor asks, voice hard.
The droid twitches, head tilting toward Reinette. "She is incomplete."
"What, so, that's the plan, then." The Doctor scoffs. "Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet."
"Why her?" Rose asks. "You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?"
"We are the same." The droid responds.
"We are not the same!" Reinette shakes her head. "We are in no sense the same."
"We are the same." The droid repeats.
"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!" Reinette orders it.
"Reinette, no." The Doctor reaches for her, but it's to late. The droid teleports out.
"It's back on the ship. Willa, take Rose, Mickey and Arthur. Get after it. Follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does." The Doctor orders.
I nod, ushering the two uncooperative humans towards the open window.
"Arthur?" Rose asks.
The Doctor shrugs. "Good name for a horse."
Rose sends him a stern look. "No, you're not keeping the horse."
"His ship, his rules." I chime in before the Doctor can open his mouth and make the situation even worse.
The Doctor closes the window behind us, turning back to Reinette.
"So, that Doctor, eh?" Mickey states, fighting a smile.
"What?" Rose snaps. She starts walking down the hallway and we hurry to catch up with her.
"Well. Madame de Pompadour. Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra." Mickey lists off.
"Cleopatra." Rose purses her lips. "He mentioned her once."
"Yeah." Mickey gives Rose a pointed look. "But he called her Cleo."
Rose turns to argue some more, but her eyes widen. "Mickey!"
It's to late. A droid grabs Mickey by the neck and starts dragging him across the room.
Before I get a chance to react, an arm comes around my chest, pinning my own arms to my sides. The android injects me with something. It's a sedative, a fast acting one, I note as darkness encroaches in my eyesight.
It doesn't completely knock me out, but I don't have control over my body. I'm forced to watch as Mickey and Rose are drugged, as we are all dragged down the hallway.
The place they take us to, it looks as though it used to be a med bay. There is no crew on the ship anymore, I'm well aware that the med bay has long since been turned into a room that the androids collect spare parts from so the sight of the room sends a jolt of fear through my system, one I feel even through the fog of the sedative.
We are each placed on a table, restraints placed over our wrists and calves to keep us from escaping. The room spins in a sickening way so I close my eyes to stop the sensory flow, but it doesn't do much to help with my nausea.
I know, intellectually, that they are planning on cutting us up and using us as parts in the ship, but the swirly space the drug has created in my head doesn't allow the panic to spread through me like it should.
Mickey wakes up first, I can hear his breathing change. "Rose?" She doesn't answer. He tries again. "Rose! Can you hear me?"
"Miic-key." I manage to get out through my numb lips.
"Willa!" Mickey exclaims. I wish I had enough energy to ask him to quiet down. "You're here too!"
"What's going on?" Rose murmur, voice groggy. "Doctor?!"
"Rose? They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship." Mickey freaks out. "And where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!"
A hint of confusion swells up from under the fog. We haven't been here for hours.
The android standing next to my bed moves, head tilting up. "You are compatible."
"Well, you might want to think about that. You really, really, might, because the three of us, we didn't come here alone. Oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver." Rose attempts to intimidate them, but based on the way the one next to me moves closer I'm going to say it doesn't work.
The android extends its arm, a blade snapping out of its sleeve next to my face. The panic that was being suppressed under the fog? That snaps to the forefront of my mind.
I try to struggle, but the restraints are made of metal and I don't get very far.
"Ever heard of the Daleks?" I vaguely hear Rose say in the background. "Remember them? They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him, and a name."
The android moves closer to me and even though I tilt myself as far away as I can, the blade still starts slicing into my neck. I stubbornly keep my lips pressed together, even as a terrified whine builds in my throat.
There is a bang from somewhere outside of the room. A crash follows it. The android stops moving, blade still imbedded into my flesh.
Then comes the Doctor's voice. He's…singing? "I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night!"
The only thing I can feel is disbelief as the Doctor stumbles into view, tie around his head and a goblet in his hand. "And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a thou."
He's drunk?
My panic skyrockets, hearts racing.
"Have you met the French?" The Doctor asks. "My god, they know how to party."
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm." Rose practically snarls, you can hear the anger in her voice.
He makes a noise of derision. "Oh, you sound just like your mother."
The android seems to have had enough of his talking, because it increases the pressure of its knife at my throat. I feel it dig in another centimeter. My breath catches at the feeling.
"And you! You're my favorite!" The Doctor states, lurching over to the table that's holding me. The corner of his mouth ticks down in anger at the sight of the knife at my throat. "Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad." Moving quickly, he tears the wig off of the android, pouring the contents of his goblet inside the delicate workings. The android retracts its arm, curling downward into itself.
The other androids start moving, I can hear them, but the Doctor darts over to a console in the middle of the room and pulls a lever. The sounds stop.
Then the Doctor is at my side, screwdriver releasing my restraints even as his other hand goes up to cover the cut at my neck. His concern washes over me, as well as a dangerous anger at the fact that I was hurt.
My nausea spikes at the movement, it's all I can do to lunge for the side of the table that the Doctor isn't on as I void what's in my body.
"There you go Willa." The Doctor murmurs, holding my hair back. His hand is a steady comfort from its place on my back.
I groan in response, absolutely miserable. It would have been kinder if the stupid sedative knocked me out instead of whatever the hell this is. The Doctor hands me a bottle of water. My first sip I just swish around my mouth before spitting out. My second sip I actually drink.
I wave him away, gesturing at Rose and Mickey who are still restrained. The Doctor raises his screwdriver and releases them, not even bothering to look away from me. "Is the nausea better?"
Eh.
Reaching out, the Doctor presses his fingers against my pulse, cataloging my body's response. "Try that again."
'Better.' I respond mentally, just thankful I'm no longer puking on the floor.
"Your body is trying to purge the sedative the only way it knows how." A crease forms on his forehead, eyes moving from side to side as he monitors my vitals. "Did you pass out at all?"
'No.' I send, swaying into his shoulder. 'Just foggy.'
The Doctor accepts my weight without a complaint, taking the opportunity to feel my forehead with his other hand. He makes a frustrated noise when he makes contact, sweeping me up into his arms and ignoring the queasy sound I make in response.
The world spins, corridors stretching in strange ways around us. And then we are in the Tardis med bay. 'Doctor..'
His hand brushes my forehead, and my nausea disappears. I slump in relief, watching as he sets me up with an iv. After that's done, he takes one of the dermal regenerators to the cut on my neck. The feeling of my skin knitting itself back together is odd, but one I'll gladly take over the sharp, raw feeling of the cut.
When the Doctor finishes, he sits down on the edge of my bed with a sigh, looking exhausted. There are fine lines extending from the corner of his eyes, and the lines across his forehead are stark against his skin.
I place a hand on his knee. It takes a few seconds, but he raises his head to see what I need. Instead of asking for anything, I smile. It's shaky, and I'm sure my face is a dreadful sight, but it's a smile nonetheless.
The Doctor barks out a quiet laugh, as if he can't help himself. "Oh Willa, what am I going to do with you?"
'You're going to leave me here so you can finish what it is you need to do.' I tell him, pushing how serious I am towards him at the same time.
"What?" His eyes sharpen, studying me.
'Madame de Pompadour.' Taking my hand from it's position on his knee, I purse my lips. 'I can feel it. The clockwork androids were never supposed to be there in the first place, and if they succeed in killing her..'
The Doctor nods, exhaustion gone from his face. "Her death is a fixed point, if she dies at any other time it could have disastrous consequences." His lips twitch up, just slightly. "You can feel it then?"
My nose wrinkles as I think about how to explain. 'It's like an itch, one that's getting stronger the more time passes by.' I grimace. 'Except it isn't like that at all. I don't know how to explain it.'
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the Doctor's face lights up. "Willa, this is amazing news!" He presses an enthusiastic kiss to the side of my head, lingering there and breathing out a word in Gallifreyan.
δ
It lingers in the air, long after the Doctor pulls back with a pleased expression on his face. It's a word that he hasn't taught me yet, and I have a feeling it's not even in the same dialect that common Gallifreyan is spoken in due to his intonation. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that was High Gallifreyan.
Despite me not being able to understand the word itself, the meaning is very clear. 'Child who is cherished.'
Coughing to clear my throat, I will my cheeks to lose the pleased flush that had sprung up. 'What do you mean, good news?'
"Your temporal awareness is starting to mature." The Doctor explains.
What? 'But I thought you already said I had an increased sensitivity to timelines?'
"You already had increased sensitivity to timelines, yes, which is why you get flashes of what's going to happen." He tilts his head to the side, proud smile still there. "This is different. You know Reinette needs to be helped because if she isn't a fixed point will be altered. The feeling you are getting, it's almost as if you are on the precipice of something, right?"
I nod slowly.
The Doctor's smile gets larger. "I feel that as well. It's your body tapping into the possibilities."
'I don't understand the difference.' I admit, frowning.
"Ah, don't worry about it for now." He murmurs, smile turning gentle. "Just know that I'm proud of you."
My face heats up as I lose the battle against my own embarrassment. 'Stop it.'
Ruffling his hand through my hair, no doubt destroying the braids he put in earlier, the Doctor laughs.
'Don't you have someone to go save?' I mentally mutter, anything to distract me from my embarrassment.
The Doctor has to decency to look a little embarrassed himself. "I un-synced the Tardis from my personal timeline when we entered."
My mind whirls. 'Seriously? So you mean that when you entered the Tardis, you made time slower outside?'
"I just shifted the door a bit to the left, so to speak." He murmurs, humming as he tries to figure out a way to explain it to me. "Right now, about 15 seconds have passed outside the Tardis while it's been nearly 13 minutes in here."
"That's…that's so cheating." I breathe, my words still sloppy. It's a stark reminder that even though the Doctor made me not feel the nausea that's still there, I'm still being affected by the sedative nonetheless.
He raises an eyebrow, a look on his face as if to say 'I'm the Doctor', before tapping my hand beside the iv he put in. "The saline in the iv should help your body run the sedative through faster." The Doctor gives me a sharp look. "I've made it so that you can't feel the nausea anymore, but that doesn't mean it's gone. Which means that you need to stay here until the iv bag runs out or I come back to check on you. The sedative should have run its course by then."
I don't respond, frustrated by the whole situation.
"Willa." The Doctor prompts.
'I heard you.' I mentally respond. 'I just-I just hate when I have to stay behind.'
The Doctor ruffles my hair again. "I know you do. But it won't be for long." He makes a noise of consideration. "How about when this is over with we spend some time on your studies?"
I latch onto that idea immediately. 'Oh! Can we do more on Earth Folklore?'
He levels me with an unimpressed look.
'It's interesting.' I defend myself.
"I'll think about it." The Doctor tells me.
I bite back a smile, knowing what that means. It's almost as if I can feel him rearranging the schedule he has me on. Before I lose my nerve, I push at him gently. 'Go, save Reinette.'
The Doctor squeezes my hand once more, letting go and walking out of the room quickly. He doesn't spare a glance back but I don't mind. I get the impression that he wants this whole situation to be over a soon as possible.
But, that doesn't mean I have to just sit here while he does all the work by himself. Concentrating, I turn my focus to the timelines like I had when we first got here. It takes the Doctor exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds to walk to the front doors of the Tardis. I can feel the tangle that he left behind, and I can feel him working to undo it.
He can surely feel me, just as I can feel him, but instead of getting mad that I'm not doing as he asked he actually seems a little amused. In fact, he slows down so I can get a better sense of what he's doing.
Hah, he'll take any chance to make something a lesson in one way or another.
The Doctor twists the two points in time until they sync back up, and then he leaves.
Since I have nothing better to do and I'm waiting for the iv for run its course, I examine the two pieces of space that the Doctor had just manipulated. At first glance they seem to have popped back into place with no problem, but the closer I look at them the more I see that they hadn't popped back quite the way I had thought.
The two pieces seem almost..bruised. It's as if the Doctor has damaged them by twisting them in the way he had. So not something that you would be able to use all the time. Huh.
Disengaging myself from the timelines, I open my eyes only to flinch back at the sight of a scowling Rose Tyler right in front of me.
"Did you know he was going to do it?" She demands.
I shake my head, disoriented. "What are you talking about?"
"The Doctor broke through the time window to save Madame de Pompadour." Rose's voice is bitter. "But by doing so, he trapped himself in 17th century France."
"Ah." Is all I can say in response. My head is fuzzy, and I feel sort of listless.
"Is that all you have to say? 'Ah.'?" Her face twists into a fierce scowl.
"Leave her alone." Mickey defends me, stepping into view behind Rose's back.
Rose turns to face him. "But Mickey-"
He cuts her off. "I've heard it all before, Rose. But now I've gotten a chance to see it for myself. You're angry with her because she's closer to the Doctor than you are now, but you gotta stop being jealous. All it's going to do it drive a wedge further between you and the Doctor."
"You don't understand. She knows things, things that she shouldn't know." Rose tries to explain. "And then she doesn't do anything about it."
"I remember." Mickey reminds her. "She knew about my gran. You don't see me treating her the way you are."
Rose shakes her head, the motion sharp. "Willa's the reason he changed Mickey. She promised it would save his life and then he died anyway." She hesitates. "The old Doctor would have never left me behind."
Oh Rose.
I've changed everything by being here, haven't I? But, it hasn't just been my choices which have made things change. The people around me have adapted and done things in response to the changes that I've made.
"It was my fault that the Doctor died." I admit, making them both turn to me. "I tried to make it so that he wouldn't have to. My body was already failing at that point, there was no reason to take him down with me." Focusing on Rose, I smile bitterly. "It was supposed to be you. You were the one originally supposed to take the vortex inside of you. But I couldn't let that happen. Rose Tyler was important, you see."
I tilt my head, focusing on Mickey next. "And Mickey Smith. You are also important. The both of you have no idea how much."
Mickey raises an eyebrow at me. "That's enough of that. I've picked up enough to know that you aren't supposed to be telling us any of this."
"You're right." I frown down at my hands. "I feel weird."
"I did pull your iv out so you'd wake up." Rose grudgingly admits.
Shaking my head, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up. "That's not it. It was only saline in the iv, wouldn't have made me feel this way."
"Wait." Rose and Mickey catch up to me as I make my way down the hallway. "You're telling me that it wasn't some fancy medicine keeping you asleep?"
I give her a pointed look. "Why would the Doctor give me a sedative after I had a bad reaction to the first sedative that was still in my system?"
Rose doesn't respond, frowning down at the floor. I don't have the time to figure out why she's upset now, I need to figure out what's going on. And why I feel so out of sorts.
Oh.
"Oi!" Mickey complains.
I did just stop right in the middle of the corridor causing them to run into me, so I can see why he's bellyaching.
"I get it now." I tell them.
"Get what?" Rose asks.
"I get why I feel so weird." My eyes flicker between the two of them. "And why the barrier is thinning."
Mickey tilts his head. "And why's that?"
I grin, all teeth. "The Doctor went through the time window, trapped himself in 17th century France."
"Yeah." Rose states. "We know. I'm the one who told you about it."
She's not getting it, neither of them are. "We're not human, the Doctor and I. We look it, but fundamentally there are differences. For example, we're telepathic."
"I don't understand why you're telling us this." Mickey admits, frowning down at me.
I make a noise of frustration. "The Doctor and I are connected. All Gallifreyans are connected. But now he's not here anymore. The connection has been stoppered at the source because he's so far away. Do you understand now?"
Mickey nods slowly. Good, I don't know if I'd be able to explain anymore than I already had. It was just something that I'd come to instinctually know.
"So, because you two aren't connected anymore the barrier he's put on your mind to stop you from seeing the future is breaking down?" Rose murmurs.
"Exactly." I beam at the two of them. It's a proper smile this time.
Rose exchanges a look with Mickey. "But isn't that a bad thing?" He asks me.
I nod. "Oh yeah. I'll start to tap into the timelines and eventually I won't be able to stop. It'll probably kill me again."
Mickey gapes at me.
Rose makes a noise akin to a teakettle signaling the tea is ready. "You can't just say things like that! Fix it!"
"The only way to fix it is to get the Doctor back." I explain.
"Then go pick him up." Rose gestures at the console room that's visible at the end of the corridor. "I know you can fly the Tardis."
Briefly closing my eyes, I re-open them just to smile at her. "I appreciate your concern, but that won't be necessary."
Rose opens her mouth, no doubt to scold me some more, but the sound of a door opening cuts her off.
It's the Doctor, he's found a way back all by himself.
"Hello?" He calls out.
Rose and Mickey rush forward, but I stay where I am, unsettled. Sounds of happiness and the rustle of cloth indicating a hug reach me from the console room.
I blink at the floor.
That was not something I ever want to experience again.
"How long did you wait?" The Doctor asks.
"Five and a half hours." Rose admits.
And that's enough of that, I turn on my heels and walk off in the other direction. It doesn't matter where I'm going, I just want away.
Five and a half hours was all it took. Five and a half hours for the barrier to decay to such an extent that events were bleeding through.
At the rate it had been going, I estimate that the barrier would have completely disintegrated within ten hours. I wouldn't have lasted much longer that that.
A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. My hearts begins to race, breaths turning to sharp inhales. A door opens next to me and I take the escape, anything to get me out of the strangely warping corridors.
"Fuck." I mutter, clenching the fabric of my shirt in front of my chest. It feels as though my hearts are pumping double time. Can I even have a panic attack now that I have two hearts?
The answer, I find out, is a resounding yes.
I come back to myself having no idea how long it's been since I've first entered this room. A voice is talking, a very familiar voice. One that I haven't heard in years.
"Turn it off, please." My voice is desperate, shaken.
The voice stops, silence descending across the room.
A sob catches in my throat, but I ruthlessly hold it in. No tears, not now. My body feels worn out, skin simultaneously too tight and not tight enough. The tang of my anxiety is thick in the air, it's all I can smell.
Chiming, the Tardis flashes the lights to get my attention. At some point I'd ended up huddled against the wall, so I look up from my knees only for my breath to catch at the sight in front of me.
It's the Tardis's Architectural Reconfiguration room. Probably the most vulnerable part of the ship. I needed a place to hide, a place to block out the world and she let me into the closest place I could get to her heart.
If there was ever a doubt in my mind that the Tardis cared for me, this would put a stopper to them. She burbles, the sound smug.
"Yes, yes." I pat the floor next to me. "I love you too."
She presses an image against my mind. One of the Doctor, head in his hands, outside the door.
I wasn't surprised. He had probably followed me as soon as Rose and Mickey told him what happened.
Groaning, I force my stiff limbs to hold my weight as I climb to my feet. The Tardis opens to the door for me as soon as I get close enough, which I'm thankful for, and I plop down against the wall next to the Doctor.
"You weren't supposed to find out that way." He states, voice lacking inflection. "I didn't realize that the barrier would weaken so much in such a short amount of time."
I shrug, not that he can see it. "Eh, shit happens."
The Doctor tenses, shoulders tightening. He pulls his head out of his hands to send me a truly withering look. "Shit happens. That's why you just spent the last two hours, fifteen minutes and fifty two seconds locked away having a panic attack."
"I wasn't having a panic attack the entire time, and anyways I wouldn't have wanted you to see me like that." I tell him, gentle but firm. "The Tardis did what she thought was best."
He heaves a sigh.
Leaning over, I rest my head against his shoulder. The Doctor shifts to accommodate me, but doesn't push me off which I'm going to take as a good sign.
"You are very independent. I try to remember that, but it's hard." He murmurs. "All I want to do sometimes is wrap you in blankets and hide you away from the world."
I close my eyes against the idea. It sounds wonderful right now, but I know if I give an inch he'll run with it.
"And not a single word of protest, you must really be out of it right now." The Doctor muses, arm coming around to pull me further into his side.
"You promised to tell me about Earth folklore." I grumble, pushing my face further into his side.
He levels me with an unimpressed look. "I don't remember making any promises of the sort."
Waiting, I don't say anything, and sure enough he starts talking about it anyways. I also don't say anything when I feel him brush a finger across the skin of my face, or when I feel him run a mental survey over my mind. He shores up the barrier, which I'm grateful for, but he also soothes some of my lingering anxiety.
It's as if that anxiety was the only thing keeping me on my feet, as soon as he brushes it aside I can feel my heartsrate slow and my breathing even out. I hadn't even realized it was still elevated.
"There we go Willa." The Doctor murmurs. "It's okay to need help sometimes."
I know…it's just hard.
And sometimes the hurts had to happen in order for you to get over them properly.
He huffs. "Stop being so grownup for five seconds and let me take care of you."
I yawn, my hand coming up to rub at my eyes.
Yeah, that sounds good. I trust the Doctor, he can take care of things for a while.
The Doctor's breathing stutters for a second, but I'm too exhausted to think about why. And then I'm in the air as he swings me into his arms. "Well!" His voice is oddly cheerful after everything. "No use staying here."
Oh? Where are we going then?
"You aren't even trying anymore." The Doctor states, voice warm. His long legs eat up the distance between us and our next destination.
No, I'm really not. It's not like he's not tuned into me anyways. The effort to push concrete thoughts out towards him is more than my lazy self wants to put forth right now.
The Doctor laughs. A door materializes to our left and he shoulders his way into it. It's my room, with its familiar star filled ceiling. Setting me down, he pushes me towards the bathroom. "You got ten minutes to shower and get dressed."
I frown at him, confused. Why only ten minutes?
"Words Willa." He prompts me, gentle.
Bleh. I wave him off, heading to the bathroom to do as he'd said. Words are never necessary. They're just helpful tools. You can tell a lot about a person from the form their silence takes.
I shower, dry off and get dressed with two minutes to spare. The Doctor is early anyways, loitering outside my door with a blanket, freshly showered as well.
He leads me to an area of the Tardis I've never seen before. A sort of indoor mountain range. It's really quite beautiful.
The only thing that tells me we're still inside the Tardis at all is the metal door at our back and the comfy couch sitting near the edge of the cliffside.
I direct a pointed look in the Doctor's direction, but he ignores it, going to sit down on the couch. Heaving a sigh, I follow him.
The Doctor grumbles when I plop down on his legs but doesn't do anything more than spread the blanket he brought with him over my shoulders. Then, pulling a book out of nowhere, he starts lecturing me on the differences between legends and folklore.
It's…exactly what I need. The familiar cadence of his voice helps me focus on something other than what happened earlier.
He really is pretty good at this whole taking care of me thing.
Aranel Nenharma – Right now!
GingerFury – Thank you! I try to interject a sense of realism in my stories, well at least as much as can be added when one is writing about aliens in outer space, and it's nice that someone is picking up on it. And no, I'm not going to do the New Earth episode. Some episodes aren't going to happen at all in this timeline.
Arashi – IV of VI – Thank you very much for your review!
Cashagon – Yeah, I was on the fence about going back for Rose but I decided to do it in the end.
