CHAPTER 6

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A REMARKABLE RESEMBLANCE

"Another prison cell. Oh, joy! It's not like I haven't been in this situation before. Being with you, Jeanne, is exactly like being with the Doctor. In fact, it's just like I never left. The only difference that I can see is that I actually understand what you're saying most of the time, and I can't boss you around like I could him," Amy said with a mischievous smile.

"That's okay, Red. That's what I'm here for," Clara joked.

Reinette looked at her in amusement as she said, "So you really see yourself as the boss in our relationship?"

"Let me tell you a secret, Jeanne. I'm always the boss in all of my relationships. I just allow people to think otherwise. It's much easier on their egos that way," Clara said.

"Are you really going to put up with that, Jeanne? I mean you're the famous one in the future not her. They don't exactly write books about the Baroness Clara, do they? Actresses want to play you in movies and television not her," Amy teased them.

"Me? Why would anyone want to play me?" Reinette asked in surprise.

Clara became completely serious now as she said, "You really don't know? You're the smartest, bravest, kindest person that I've ever met, Jeanne. That's not even getting started on all of the many important things that you've done in your life that I'm sure will be talked about even farther into the future than Amy's time. Who wouldn't want to play you?"

As Reinette gave Clara a warm smile of appreciation for her heartfelt sentiment, Amy couldn't help but feel that she was intruding by even being there. The two of them were family after all, and she just didn't belong. She knew where she belonged, and it wasn't stuck in some jail cell in the middle of seventeenth century Paris.

She belonged in her husband's arms.

"Amy, it's going to be alright," Reinette said suddenly shaking her out of her thoughts.

"What is?" Amy asked as she pretended not to know what she was talking about.

"You don't even know that you're crying, do you? If you did, you wouldn't even try to hide anything from us. We will get you back to Rory somehow. I promise," Clara said.

Amy smiled at her even as she found that she really was crying as she slowly wiped the tears off of her face. She really hadn't realized it.

"You know you're not so bad at times, Short Stuff. I could definitely grow to like you . . . someday," Amy said.

"It might take me a bit longer to like you, Red," Clara joked.

"Shut up in there!" One of the guards suddenly shouted.

"Why, Monsieur? Is it because it bothers you that we're not frightened? Does that unnerve you just a bit? Or is it because it threatens your illusions of being in control in this situation?" Reinette asked with a sly smile.

The guard now put his face to the bars of the door as he said in a hard voice, "I have no illusions of who is in control here, Mademoiselle. I am. I control everything about your lives now whether you choose to accept that or not. Don't believe me? Then how about this? If you keep giving me back talk, I'll make sure that the three of you starve to death because I won't bring anything to eat or drink to you anymore. Do you understand me?"

Reinette's smile quickly faded as she said, "No, I am in control here, Monsieur, and I have been since I first set foot inside that door. I could have escaped from here at any time, but I was merely waiting for the right moment."

The guard smirked as he said, "And what moment would that be?"

"The moment where you were the lone guard watching us," Reinette said with a triumphant smile as she pulled the sonic pen out of her pocket and activated it.

The guard screamed in agony as a massive sonic wave assaulted his ears and knocked him out cold on the spot. Then Reinette used the pen to quickly unlock the door.

"I thought sonic screwdrivers didn't work on wood," Amy asked in confusion as Reinette held the door for her and Clara to walk out.

"This is a sonic pen and it does. The Doctor didn't want his sonic device to work on wood because it's made out of organic materials. The Doctor doesn't like to harm others. The owner of this device had no such qualms I'm afraid," Reinette said.

"Yeah, she was a really nasty one. I'm so glad that we were able to run her off before she killed more people with her horrible weight loss medication that turned people into dozens of little white creatures," Clara said.

Amy gave them both an impressed look as she said, "That sounds just like something that the Doctor would get up to."

"Doesn't it?" Reinette said with an enigmatic smile.

"So now what? How are we going to get out of here without being spotted? One guard is no big deal but getting past several of them is another thing entirely. This place has to be crawling with them," Amy said.

"I know which is why we won't be going past them. We'll be escaping a very different way instead," Reinette said as she headed further into the prison that they were in instead of out of it.

"What are you doing, Queenie? You're going the wrong way," Amy said with a frown.

"Queenie?" Reinette said with an upraised eyebrow as she continued moving forward.

"There's a secret exit to this place," Clara explained.

"Really? How do you know that? This is a hundred years ago," Amy asked.

"Jeanne and I studied this period in history extensively as children, Amelia. We always loved the story of the hidden exit out of Cardinal Richelieu's prison. It was featured in one of our favorite stories from this period," Clara said.

"A story? You're risking getting us caught on a story?" Amy said in disbelief.

"It was supposed to be a true story of a man who once escaped this place and then went on to talk about later after the Cardinal was dead," Reinette said.

"Supposed to be, huh?" Amy said skeptically.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Amy. Jeanne's never wrong. Well, hardly ever anyway," Clara said.

"Oh, I'm loving this plan more and more. I really am," Amy said with a sigh.

"Amy?" A voice suddenly called out from one of the cells.

Amy turned to look towards the cell in complete surprise as she saw a man wearing an iron mask standing there watching her. She had no idea who this could be or how they could know her. It certainly didn't sound like anyone that she had ever met before.

"It really is you. How did you get here? I don't ever remember bringing you here," The man in the mask said.

"What? What are you talking about? I've never even met you before," Amy said in confusion.

"Think, Amelia, think! Who would know you in the middle of seventeenth century Paris? For that matter, who do you know that would even wind up in a prison in seventeenth century Paris in the first place?" The man in the mask asked in an impatient voice.

"Doctor? Is that you?" Amy asked in a hopeful voice.

"I thought that we had already established that, Amelia. Now will you please get me out of here? I have to rescue Clara," The Doctor said impatiently.

"Okay, okay. Just hang on a minute. You're really a grouch in this incarnation aren't you?" Amy said.

"Thank goodness you're from a late enough period in my timestream where I don't have to explain regeneration to you. I was afraid that we'd be caught before I could," The Doctor said with a sigh of relief.

Amy glared at him as she said, "You should be so glad that you're still in that cell or I'd slap you unconscious for what you're inferring there, Raggedy Man."

"Clara's here? Where is she? Do you know?" Reinette asked as she started to open the door with her sonic pen.

"How could she be captured anyway? She's the TARDIS. No prison could hold her or at least it shouldn't be able to anyway," Clara said in a worried voice.

"Reinette? Baroness? What are you two doing here? I know I never traveled with you when I was with Amy, and this is definitely the wrong time period for you to be around just yet," The Doctor said in confusion as Reinette let him out of the cell.

Amy grinned as she said, "Well, you don't sound so smug now, do you? I'm not traveling with you anymore obviously. I'm with them now. That stupid Angel sent me to Jeanne instead of Rory, Doctor. Shouldn't you know that already though? Your Clara already knew it. She was the one who sent us all here by mistake after all while trying to fix that."

"She didn't tell you, did she?" Reinette asked the Doctor in a knowing tone.

"No, she didn't. I knew that she was helping Amy, but I never knew the specifics about it though. She thought that she was hiding everything from me, but I knew that something was going on when she talked about Amy in her sleep. I know what she thought of course. She thought that she was protecting me by not telling me about it because she thought that I would never be able to let her go if I found her again," The Doctor said.

"And was she right?" Reinette asked with a smile.

"We have to find Clara. I just hope that she's not . . . I hope that it's not too late," The Doctor said in a worried tone as he deflected the question.

"Doctor, what happened? There's obviously more going on than you're telling us," Reinette asked.

"Yeah, and how did you wind up with that fright mask on? You look like you came out of a Musketeers movie," Amy asked.

"I really hope that one of these days that someone will kindly explain to me what a movie is," Clara said in an irritated voice.

"Later, Baroness. We have to get out of here first. We'll use the hidden exit to avoid the guards," The Doctor said.

"So there really is a hidden exit," Amy said.

"Obviously, Amelia, or I wouldn't be mentioning it," The Doctor said as he rolled his eyes at her.

"I love the Scottish accent, Doctor, but I'm really not loving the attitude so far," Amy said.

"Why not, Red? He acts a lot like you if you ask me," Clara said.

"Oh, shut up," Both the Doctor and Amy said at once.

"See? It seems to me like he stole more than your accent in this future body of his," Clara said with a smug grin.

The Doctor ignored her as he quickly lead the way to the hidden exit while Reinette said, "It's exactly where the old story said that it would be. How did you know about it, Doctor? Did you read the same story?"

"Oh, don't tell me that you wrote the story, Raggedy Man," Amy said.

"Of course not, Amy. You're the writer not me. I was told about the exit by Jacques de Val, the very man who will write that story one day. It was a couple of lives back when I met him I think," The Doctor said.

"Why am I not surprised by that, Doctor?" Reinette said with a grin as the Doctor now activated a hidden latch behind a painting of Cardinal Richelieu that was hanging on the far wall of the prison.

A hidden door opened in the wall and the four of them quickly went inside a tunnel as the door closed behind them. The tunnel eventually led to the surface and well out of sight of the guards.

"So, Doctor, now will you tell us what's going on? Where is Clara? What happened to her?" Reinette asked again.

"You were always the perceptive one, Reinette. I could never get anything past you," The Doctor said.

"No, you can't so tell me what happened while I use the pen to remove that mask from you. Why were you wearing it anyway?" Reinette asked.

"Maybe he's the original Man in the Iron Mask? I wouldn't put it past him," Amy said.

"No, it's too early for that. That's not until much later. Although it's tempting to think that what Richelieu did to him may have inspired that punishment to be used again later on the real Man in the Iron Mask," Reinette said as she used her sonic to slowly open the mask.

"Sorry. I don't know much about French history despite traveling with him," Amy said.

"That's because you never paid close enough attention," The Doctor said in a gruff manner.

"Is there some reason that you're being so rude to me?" Amy asked in an angry tone.

"Doctor, get to your story. What happened to Clara and why are you here in the first place?" Reinette asked as she tried to keep the two of them from fighting and wasting more time.

The Doctor sounded almost grateful as he said, "Clara and I came across an old enemy of ours called the Boneless, a group of two-dimensional aliens who were attempting to invade the Earth yet again in this time period. They thought that they wouldn't run across any opposition, namely me, to their plans here like they had in the twenty-first century."

"They obviously didn't know you that well then," Reinette said with a fond smile as she continued to loosen the mask so that the Doctor could slip it off.

"No, they didn't. Perhaps one day they'll learn. Today though, they were still making the same old mistakes as they attacked me and Clara. This time though they did succeed at getting one thing right unfortunately. Before I could send them back to their own universe again, they used their abilities on Clara and turned her into an image on one of the walls of the royal court. Reinette, she . . . she was screaming," The Doctor continued as he said the last part in an emotional tone.

"You don't think that she's dead?" Reinette asked in horror.

"I don't know. They killed all of their other victims that they did that way but Clara . . . Clara's a special case. She's not human. I hope that she survived somehow. I don't know for sure if she did or not because I was ambushed from behind as soon as I saw what had happened to her and knocked unconscious. Then I woke up with this mask on in that cell. I was already starting to come up with a plan to escape when you three came along," The Doctor said.

"Yeah, I just bet you were. You would have rotted in there if not for Jeanne," Amy said.

The Doctor started to say something back to her but Reinette quickly stopped him as she said, "The mask is loose enough now I think, Doctor. Take it off."

The Doctor immediately did so, and all three women gasped in shock.

"What? Yes, I'm old. It's not that surprising is it?" The Doctor said with a frown.

"No wonder they put the mask on you, Doctor. You look just like the Cardinal. They must have wanted to hide you away as soon as possible out of fear of you attempting to take his place somehow," Reinette reasoned.

The Doctor snorted in derision as he said, "As if I'd care about ruling over these pudding brains."

"It's time that you lead us to where you saw the image of Clara now, Doctor," Reinette said as she sighed.

"I can't. Not yet. I need to get the 2DIS back. Those guards stole it from me when they captured me. It's the only thing that can make Clara three-dimensional again. It must be somewhere in the prison," The Doctor said.

"So we have to break back into the prison?" Amy asked in disbelief.

"Maybe not. Maybe all that we'll need is a good distraction. Doctor, can you locate this 2DIS with my sonic pen if we provide one for the guards so that you can slip past them?" Reinette asked.

"Yes, of course. I'm surprised that they didn't take that from you like they did my sonic actually," The Doctor asked as Reinette handed the pen to him.

Reinette smiled as she said, "I had it hidden in a secret pocket inside of my dress. Even they wouldn't search there thankfully."

The Doctor snorted as he said, "You humans and your modesty. Still, it did come in handy this time. You're as clever as always I see."

"I only hope that you'll still be saying that in a moment when I carry out my next plan, Doctor," Reinette said.

"What is that plan by the way?" Clara asked curiously.

"Clara, do you remember how we got into that secret Illuminati base?" Reinette asked with a smile.

Clara began to smile back at her as she said, "Of course I do. It was fun. I had them eating out of my hand. Literally. I don't have any soufflés filled with sleep-inducing medications on me this time for them to eat though."

"We won't need any. This time we're going to knock them out instead," Reinette said.

"How do you propose that we do that?" Clara asked in disbelief.

Reinette looked at Amy as she said, "Don't worry. It'll all make sense soon. Just follow the same plan as before."

The Doctor looked at the three women with a frown but said nothing. He just had to trust that they knew what they were doing. Reinette usually did after all.

Moments later, Clara walked in the prison with a seductive smile on her face even as she inwardly hoped that none of the guards were the ones who had brought her there. Luckily for her they weren't.

"What are you doing here? Visiting hours are over," One of the guards said.

Clara pulled a soufflé out of her pocket and started to slowly eat it as she said in a seductive voice, "Couldn't you waive that little rule just this once? For me? Please? I'd be ever so grateful to you boys."

As she slowly licked the leftover pieces of soufflé off of her fingers, the guards all stared at her in fascination and never even noticed the Doctor sneak past them. The Doctor almost snorted as he went. He just didn't see it himself. The Baroness was nowhere near as sexy as his Clara.

He never would understand these pudding brains.

Even as the Doctor quickly made his way to the 2DIS and the sonic screwdriver using the sonic pen, Clara continued to hold the guards spellbound. She smiled as she knew now that she had them completely in her power. They had forgotten everything but her in that moment and weren't paying a bit of attention to anything else.

That turned out to be a big mistake as Reinette and Amy knocked both of them out from behind a moment later.

"That's a bit demeaning isn't it?" Amy asked Clara.

"I don't really like it, no. It helped us this time though didn't it? All that I care about is that we save Clara. Is that really what's bothering you, Red? Or do you just think that you couldn't do the same thing yourself?" Clara asked.

"Oh, do not even go there, Shorty! I once passed my driving test because of my charms. I'm definitely capable of holding my own with you," Amy said.

Reinette raised her eyebrows at them as she said, "This is not the time for such a frivolous conversation, Amy."

"In other words, shut up," The Doctor said as he emerged with the 2DIS in his hand and threw the sonic pen back into Reinette's waiting hand.

"Doctor, stop it!" Reinette said as she saw the look on Amy's face when he said that.

"We have to go find Clara. I know exactly what building she was in. Follow me," The Doctor said as he walked away from them quickly.

Reinette quickly caught up with him and whispered, "You're not angry at her. You're angry because you're going to have to give her up again. This time you'll be doing it willingly, and every time that you see her you're reminded of that. Isn't that so?"

The Doctor turned back to look at her with a curious expression that was somewhere between sadness and fury as he said in a voice filled with pain, "She was right to keep it from me, Jeanne. She was so right."

"Doctor," Amy said from behind him.

The Doctor turned to see her looking at him in sympathy as Reinette said, "This is what she wants, Doctor. She's miserable without her husband just as you would be without Clara. I think that will give you the strength to do what you have to when the time's right."

The Doctor silently nodded with great sadness in his eyes and then continued to lead them to where he had last seen Clara. It didn't surprise Reinette too much to find that it was the same building where she, Amy, and the Baroness had first appeared in this time. Apparently there was indeed a purpose for them having come there when they had.

They soon snuck inside the building by posing as Spanish officials who were there to see the Cardinal on special business for the King of Spain. The Spanish accent that Reinette had perfected in her time in the theatre in addition to her regal manner served them well in convincing the guards there that they were exactly who they said that they were.

The Doctor didn't take long at all to find the place where he had battled the Boneless, and they could all see with a shudder that the picture of a silently screaming Clara Idris was still there on the wall. The Doctor looked at her image mournfully as he aimed the 2DIS at her and hoped beyond hope that it wasn't too late for her now.

The device started working almost immediately as Clara Idris started to come back to life while the others watched in awe. Within moments, Clara Idris was completely back to normal once again and collapsing into the Doctor's arms.

"Clara, are you alright?" The Doctor asked in a worried voice.

"I will be, Skeleton Man. Don't worry. My shell kept me alive all of this time until you could get to me. Idris knew that Reinette and the others would be here soon to help," Clara Idris explained.

"So did she, I mean you, also know that I got sent to the wrong place by that crack?" Amy asked with a frown.

"Yes, she did but she didn't tell me about it before. You see I don't tell myself anything about the future unless I have to so that I'm not tempted to change it, Amy. That definitely backfired on me this time though," Clara Idris admitted.

"You think? So do I finally get to go home now?" Amy asked.

"Amy, she's so weak she can't stand," Reinette said.

"I meant when she was feeling better obviously," Amy said.

"Yeah, I'll definitely send you back later, Ames. Right now though, we have to concentrate on getting out of here before Richelieu finds us here again. My shell isn't too far from here. Come on. Let's go," Clara Idris said.

They quickly made their way back to the TARDIS and as soon as they were inside of it once again, Clara began to glow with energy as power flowed from the Heart of the TARDIS straight into her. Clara was fully recharged in no time and she immediately dematerialized the TARDIS and sent them all away from there with a single gesture.

"Now it's time to send you all where you need to be," Clara Idris said next.

"Good because I really need to be with Rory right now," Amy said.

Reinette though looked at Clara Idris skeptically. Something about the way that she had said that didn't sound right to her somehow. She had placed too much emphasis on the word need.

Clara Idris smiled almost as if confirming her suspicions even as she gestured towards Reinette, the Baroness, and Amy. The three of them then vanished as she sent them into the future.

The Doctor looked away sadly as he said in a low voice, "Good bye, Amy."

Clara Idris silently put her arms around him as she gave him a tender kiss.

Meanwhile back in the Paris of the eighteenth century, the Monk was already making plans on exactly how he would help Louis take over the world. Perhaps if he gave him superior technology in addition to helping him assassinate the leaders of all of the major nations of his time he could make a huge difference in the Earth's timeline. Then maybe he could actually help Louis become the one and only ruler of this world.

He really wanted to see just how far that the French King could go with a little help from him. Could his family successfully avoid the French Revolution this time by conquering so much so quickly and adding immensely to the personal wealth of everyone in France?

It was going to be very interesting to find out.

He immediately went to the King and started to tell him of his plans while the monarch listened to him with a skeptical manner. The Monk would soon show him that he could be taken completely seriously when he demonstrated a bazooka to the no doubt astonished French court however.

The King wasn't the only one listening to the Monk fortunately. Sally the Rutan was as well in disguise. Once she found out what the Time Lord had planned she immediately set about coming up with a plan to stop him.

She wasn't about to let him succeed after what he had tried to do to her. Her revenge on him was going to be very sweet as she denied him his goals just as he had helped to deny her hers earlier.

While this was going on, Katherine, one of Reinette's closest friends, was waiting in her chambers for her to arrive. She was starting to get worried because no one had seen Reinette or Clara in some time now not even Gabrielle who almost always knew where she was.

What if this time one of Reinette's monsters had actually succeeded in finishing her?

Then to her immense relief, Reinette finally walked into the chamber and Katherine immediately hugged her tightly. Reinette looked at her with more than a little surprise as she did so.

"Yes, I know, Jeanne. I'm still supposed to be away on holiday, but I came back early. It's just so boring in Venice this time of the year. I knew I shouldn't have gone so late in the season. Where were you all of this time, dear? Did you have another run-in with one of your monsters?" Katherine asked.

Reinette blinked and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes, that's it. I had a problem with a Rutan who was trying to destroy the entire world. I stopped her though and we're all safe once again."

"I'm glad to hear it. I was starting to worry about you when no one knew where you were. It was almost as if you had dropped off the face of the Earth," Katherine said.

"Isn't it?" Reinette said with an enigmatic smile.

At that moment, Gabrielle and Josette came into the room as Gabrielle said in a concerned voice, "Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you!"

Then she immediately said, "Sorry, Marquise. I forgot myself."

Katherine laughed as she said, "You know Jeanne won't be angry at you, Gabrielle. She could forgive you for anything. You and Clara both could get away with murder around her."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Reinette said with a smile.

"Neither would I. I'm glad that you're alright though, Marquise," Gabrielle said gratefully.

"So am I. I was worried too. You shouldn't endanger yourself so, Marquise," Josette said in an emotional voice before she ran to her and hugged her.

"I thought I'd lost you and you're all that I have left now," Josette whispered to her.

Reinette returned her hug as she said, "I'm not going anywhere, child. Not as long as all of you give me your help."

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked.

"There's another deadly menace to this land around, and he's with the King at this very moment. He's trying to fool him into thinking that he wants to help him, but he's actually out to destroy him instead. All of you have to help me stop him before it's too late," Reinette said.

"Of course we will, dear. Whatever you want, we'll do just like always," Katherine said eagerly as Gabrielle and Josette both nodded in agreement.

"Good. Very good," Reinette said with a pleased smile on her face.

"Jeanne, where's Clara?" Katherine asked.

"Clara? She's . . . away. Yes, she's gone away on holiday now just as you did," Reinette said.

"She did? I haven't heard anything of it from her servants," Gabrielle said in surprise.

"She didn't tell them. She didn't tell anyone but me. She just decided to leave quickly and get some much deserved rest after our last run-in with that Rutan," Reinette said.

"I can't say as I blame her. That was a nerve wracking one for sure," Gabrielle said.

"I hope that she'll enjoy herself much more than I did wherever she went," Katherine said.

Josette said nothing because the whole thing sounded odd to her. Clara would never leave Reinette's side for that long no matter what happened to her.

What was going on here?

Sally the Rutan smiled smugly as she stood there wearing Reinette's face. The humans had bought her lies completely. Now with their help she could stop the Time Lord in his tracks and finally gain her revenge on him at last.

Then once he was dead, she would continue on in Madame de Pompadour's place until she found a way to get back to her people. Surely with the amount of aliens that Reinette usually ran into she could find a way back home in no time.

Until then, no one would ever even know that the real Reinette had never returned home.

Next: Where did the real Reinette go then? We'll find out as she, Clara, and Amy don't arrive where they want to go but definitely where they need to be instead. Also Sally while in disguise as Reinette continues to move against the Monk in secret. Will she succeed in stopping his insidious plan before it can get started?