Vincent and the Time Lords (Part 1)
The Doctor and Evy were determined to cheer Amy up after losing Rory to the crack. Granted, she couldn't remember she'd lost him, but there were times here and there where she would get a look on her face like she was recalling a terrible loss. They'd taken her all over, to various time periods and planets, the Doctor actually trying to keep the running and terror to a minimum.
Right now they were taking her to the Musee D'Orsay to see an exhibition of her favorite painter, Vincent Van Gogh. They walked in just as an older man in glasses and a bow-tie was explaining the painting 'Wheatfield with Crows,' "So this is one of the last paintings Van Gogh ever painted," the man began, "Those final months of his life were probably the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history. It was like Shakespeare knocking off 'Othello,' 'Macbeth,' and 'King Lear' over the summer hols. And especially astonishing because Van Gogh did it with no hope of praise or reward."
"Thanks for bringing me," Amy said to them, smiling, as she looked around.
"You're very welcome," Evy smiled, standing there with her arm around the Doctor's waist, his arm around her shoulder.
"You're being so nice to me," Amy told them, before narrowing her gaze, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"We're always nice to you," the Doctor defended.
"Not like this. These places you're taking me, Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this. I think it's suspicious."
"Well, it's not," the Doctor said, too seriously, "There's nothing to be suspicious about."
'I think she was joking,' Evy murmured to him.
"Ok…I was joking," Amy began, as though hearing Evy's thoughts, "Why aren't you?"
"Each of these pictures now is worth tens of millions of pounds," the man continued, "Yet in his lifetime, he was a commercial disaster. Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend. We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time, but when he died, you could've sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy a sofa and a couple of chairs," the group he was with laughed, "If you follow me now..."
"Who is it?" a boy asked. They turned to see two small boys looking at the 'Portrait of Dr. Gachet.'
"It's the doctor!" the second boy shouted, "He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad."
"I knew that," the first boy muttered as they walked off.
Amy grabbed their arms and pulled them over to a painting, 'Church at Auvers,' holding up her guidebook, "Look! There it is, the actual one."
"Yes," Evy smiled.
"You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you," the Doctor sighed, "Carving the colors into shapes..."
"Shapes that shouldn't be there..." Evy murmured, squinting as she leaned closer to the painting.
"Where?" Amy asked as she and the Doctor leaned in as well.
"There."
'That dark figure in the corner of the church window,' she added silently to the Doctor.
"What?" Amy frowned, not spotting it, "What is it?"
"Something very not good indeed," the Doctor agreed.
"What thing very not good?"
"Look there, in the window of the church," he pointed.
"Is it a face?"
"Yes," he nodded grimly, "And not a nice face at all. We know evil when we see it and we see it in that window."
He quickly made his way over to the tour guide, still lecturing, "It has changed hands for something in the region of 20..."
"Excuse me, if I can just interrupt for one second," the Doctor cut in, holding up the psychic paper, "Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection, Ministry of Art and...Artiness. So, um..."
"Dr. Black," the man introduced.
"Yes, that's right. Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?"
"Ah, what an interesting question. Most people..."
"I'm going to have to hurry you. When was it?"
"Exactly?" Black frowned.
"As exactly as you can. Without a long speech, if poss. We're in a hurry."
"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the 1st and 3rd of June."
"What year?"
"1890. Less than a year before he killed himself."
"Thank you, sir," the Doctor smiled, "Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie…" he leaned over to Evy and Amy, but spoke more to Amy, "Bow-ties are cool."
"Yours is very..."
"Oh, thank you," the Doctor grinned, "Keep telling them stuff," he grabbed Evy's hand and quickly led them back through the exhibit, "We need to go."
"What about the other pictures?" Amy asked.
"Art can wait. This is life and death."
"We have to go see Vincent Van Gogh, quickly," Evy added as they raced off to the TARDIS.
~8~
The TARDIS materialized in the middle of an alleyway at night, the 1st of June 1890. The Doctor, Evy, and Amy stepped out and headed down the alleyway, "Right, so here's the plan," the Doctor began, "We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend."
"Easy peasy," Amy agreed.
"Well, no. I suspect nothing will be easy with Mr. Van Gogh. Now, he'll probably be in the local café, sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside…"
"You mean like in 'The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night?'" Evy raised an eyebrow as she and Amy grinned, seeing the café right there but the Doctor was looking around, oblivious.
"Exactly," he nodded, still not seeing it.
Amy rolled her eyes, holding up her guidebook, open to the picture, "Like this…or like that…" she lowered the book to show him the actual café behind it.
"Yeah, exactly like that," he grinned, a bit embarrassed.
Evy just laughed and took his hand in hers, leading him over to the café where the help was clearing tables.
"Good evening," he stepped up to a man who looked like he was the owner, "Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?"
"Don't mention that man to me," he stormed off.
Evy looked back at the waitresses, "Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?"
"Unfortunately," a waitress sighed.
"Unfortunately?" Amy frowned from across the entrance way where she was looking at her guidebook.
"He's drunk, he's mad, and he never pays his bills."
"Good painter, though, eh?" the Doctor smiled.
The waitresses and the patrons laughed at that. The Doctor frowned, moving to sit at one of the tables, dejected. Evy smiled softly at him and walked over, moving to sit on his lap which earned an instant smile from him. She'd noticed that, whenever he sat with her, he preferred her on his lap. It was endlessly sweet, especially when he wrapped his arms around her like he was doing now.
Suddenly there were voices arguing inside the café, getting louder, "Come on!" someone was saying, "Come on! One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal."
The owner strode out, holding a canvas in his hand, followed by a red haired man, Vincent Van Gogh. Evy and the Doctor pointed at him excitedly as Amy nearly jumped in place, giddy.
"It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good," the owner sneered, "I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death," he held up the painting, the self portrait Van Gogh had made for himself, "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out."
"We could pay," Evy called.
"What?" the owner spun to look at them.
"Well, if you like," the Doctor agreed, "We'll pay for the drink. Or we'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink."
"Exactly who are you?" Van Gogh frowned at them.
"We're...new in town."
"Well, in that case, you don't know three things," Van Gogh rounded on them, "One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you…" the crowd laughed, "Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town, so if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend's cute, but you should keep your big nose out of other people's business."
The Doctor tensed at Van Gogh's words, his arms tightening around Evy, but Evy just leaned back against him, patting his arm, "He means Amy," she told him, having noticed the small jerk of Van Gogh's head back when he'd spoken of his 'friend.'
Amy blinked, before looking very pleasantly surprised at that bit of information.
"Come on, just one more drink," Van Gogh turned back to the owner, "I'll pay tomorrow."
"No," the owner said.
"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?"
"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no."
"Or…"
"Oh, look, just shut up the pair of you!" Amy cut in, walking up to them, "I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever…" she looked at Van Gogh, "I choose."
"That could be good," Van Gogh smiled.
"That's good by me," the owner agreed.
"Good," Amy strode past them inside, the owner heading back after her, but pressing the portrait into Van Gogh's chest on his way. He stood there a moment, looking after Amy, before glancing at the Doctor and Evy still sitting there.
Evy smiled at him, "Her name is Amy," she said, in case he hadn't heard her before.
Van Gogh nodded, smiling, as he walked into the café after the ginger.
~8~
They all sat around a small table in the café, Van Gogh and Amy drinking the wine while the Doctor and Evy sat there, just enjoying the company.
"That accent of yours," Van Gogh eyed Amy, "You from Holland like me?"
"No," Amy said at the same time as the Doctor said, "Yes."
They looked at each other.
"Yes," Evy cut in, "She is, yes."
"So to start again," the Doctor held out a hand, "Hello, this is Evy and I'm the Doctor."
"I knew it!" Van Gogh shouted.
"Sorry?" he frowned, pulling his hand back.
"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help."
"No!" he started laughing, "Not that kind of doctor."
"What do you think of that, Amy?" Evy pointed to an unfinished version of 'La Meridienne' next to Van Gogh, distracting him and changing the subject, "Wonderful, isn't it?"
"Absolutely," Amy smiled, "One of my favorites."
"'One of my favorite' whats?" Van Gogh frowned, "You've never seen my work before."
"Ah, yes," Amy's eyes widened, "One of my favorite paintings that I've ever seen. Generally."
"Then you can't have seen many paintings, then," Van Gogh sighed, putting it back down, "I know it's terrible. It's the best I could do…" he turned to Amy, "Your hair is orange."
Amy leaned forward, "Yes. So's yours."
"Yes," he nodded, tilting his head to the side to look at her more closely, "It was more orange, but now is, of course, less."
'Is he really trying to flirt with her?' Evy asked, glancing at the Doctor.
"So, Vincent, painted any churches recently?" the Doctor cut in, growing a bit uncomfortable with Van Gogh flirting with a taken (even though she didn't remember) woman, "Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"
"Smooth," Evy rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right," Van Gogh admitted, startled that he seemed to know about that.
"That is very good news," the Doctor smiled.
Suddenly a woman screamed, "She's been murdered! Help me!"
"That, on the other hand, isn't quite such good news," he jumped to his feet, taking Evy's hand as he ran off, "Come on, Amy, Vincent!"
They ran outside, following the crowd to a back alley where a young woman was lying dead on the cobblestone, a group of locals already gathered around her, "She's been ripped to shreds!" a man cried.
"Please, let me look," the Doctor pushed his way through, "I'm a doctor."
"Who is it?" a second woman asked.
"Oh, no, no, no…" he breathed as he knelt by the body, Van Gogh and Evy on either side of him, Amy looking over his shoulder.
"Is she dead?" another man asked.
A woman pushed her way through, "Away, all of you, vultures! This is my daughter!" she dropped to her knees beside the body, "Giselle. What monster could have done this?" she glared at the Doctor, "Get away from her!"
They jumped to their feet, hands raised as they backed away, "Ok, ok," the Doctor mumbled.
"Get that madman out of here!" the mother threw a stone at Van Gogh who ducked, not even noticing that the stone had bounce off him harmlessly. The crowd started to throw stones, blaming Van Gogh as Amy helped pull him back. The Doctor glanced at Evy to see she had her hand raised, focusing on making a wall as he helped pull her back without breaking her concentration.
"You bring this on us," the mother shouted, "Your madness! You! He's to blame!"
Once they were far enough away they turned and ran, catching up to Amy and Van Gogh. The Doctor lifted her head, examining her, relieved to see no blood this time, they were fairly small stones and quite few. He gave her a quick kiss, making her smile when she pulled away.
She took his hand before turning to Van Gogh, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm used to it," he replied grimly.
"Has anything like this murder happened here before?" the Doctor asked.
"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time."
"As I thought, as I thought," the Doctor nodded.
"Come on, we should get you home for the night," Evy smiled gently at him, not wanting to risk him getting caught by whatever had harmed that Giselle girl, possibly the same creature that the man would come to paint in the church.
"Where are you staying tonight?" Van Gogh asked them, concerned for the people who had shown him kindness.
The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder, "Oh, you're very kind!" he walked off down the alley, Evy tugged along with him. Amy laughed nervously before rushing off after them, leaving a puzzled Van Gogh, who put his straw hat back on and walked off after them.
~8~
Van Gogh led the Doctor, Evy, and Amy through a maze of buildings, "Dark night, very starry," the Doctor commented as Evy elbowed him gently in the stomach.
"It's not much," Van Gogh said as they walked over to a small house, "I live on my own. But you should be ok for one night. ONE night."
"We're going to stay with him?" Amy asked them quietly.
"Until he paints that church," the Doctor told her.
Van Gogh lit a lamp and hung his hat on a hook outside before opening the door, "Watch out. That one's wet."
"What?" Amy asked.
They stepped into the room as Van Gogh lit another lamp to see his cottage was filled with paintings in various stages of completion.
"Sorry about all the clutter," he commented.
"Some clutter," Evy smiled, looking around at all the paintings, letting out a low whistle.
"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me."
"Wow," Amy breathed, seeing them all, "I mean, really. Wow."
The Doctor looked up at the two women as he examined the paintings near him, 'Blossoming Almond Tree,' 'Prisoners Exercising (after Dore),' 'Wheat Filed with Cypresses.'
"Yeah, I know it's a mess," Van Gogh looked around, "I'll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must. Coffee, anyone?"
"None for us, thanks," Evy said, joining the Doctor as he popped his head around the door to see Van Gogh put his coffee down on 'Still Life: Basket with Six Oranges.'
"You know, you should be careful with these," he commented as Van Gogh wiped away the coffee ring with his hand, "They're...precious."
"Precious to me," Van Gogh agreed, "Not precious to anyone else."
The Doctor popped his head back into the main room.
"They're precious to me!" Amy called, joining them.
"Well, you're very kind," Van Gogh smiled warmly at her, "And kindness is most welcome."
"Right, so, this church, then," the Doctor asked, "Near here, is it?"
"What is it with you and the church?" Van Gogh asked as he pulled out some wood for the fire.
"Oh, just casually interested in it, you know," he shrugged.
"Far from casual. Seems to me you never talk about anything else. He's a strange one."
"Oh yes," Evy nodded, "He is."
"Oi!" he pouted.
"But I like strange," she smiled, giving him a peck on the check.
He grinned, spinning to face Van Gogh again, "Ok, so let's talk about you. What are you interested in?"
"Look around," Van Gogh motioned, "Art. It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see," he glanced at Amy looking at 'Starry Night,' "I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this Universe than you could ever have dreamed of."
"You don't have to tell me," the Doctor smiled, looking down at Evy.
Van Gogh smiled, observing them.
~8~
The Doctor was sitting in a chair by the fire as Van Gogh explained his views of art. Evy was highly amused, his rambling about the topic could almost rival the Doctor's when he talked about time.
"It's color!" Van Gogh continued, "Color that holds the key. I can hear the colors. Listen to them. Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me. 'Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on!'" he grabbed the Doctor by his lapels, "'Capture my mystery!'"
"Maybe you've had enough coffee now," the Doctor said slowly, pushing him back slightly, "How about some nice calming tea? Let's get you a cup of chamomile or something, shall we? Amy? Where's Amy?"
"She went out…" Evy turned to point when suddenly Amy screamed, "Amy!" she shouted, rushing out the door, the Doctor and Van Gogh following after. She ran right over to Amy, seeing her on her knees in the yard, "What happened?" she asked, checking to see she was alright, if she'd been hurt.
"I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind," Amy gasped.
"It's ok," the Doctor told her, "He's gone now and we're here."
Van Gogh suddenly raised his hands, trying to cover his face in fright, "No!" he backed away.
"Take it easy," the Doctor began, turning to him, "Take it easy!"
"What's happening?" Amy asked, "What's he doing?"
Van Gogh grabbed a large wooden fork and held it in front of him like a weapon, straight at them.
"I don't know…" the Doctor breathed as Van Gogh ran towards them with a shout, "Oh, dear."
They rushed to the side as Van Gogh ran past them, "Run!" he called, "Run!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the Doctor pushed Amy and Evy towards the door, "That's not a bad idea. Amy, Evy, get back. He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down."
Evy didn't stay back, of course, turning to walk back with the Doctor as Van Gogh lashed out at something, Amy running back to the door to watch in safety.
Evy's eyes widened in horror.
"Easy, Vincent, easy," the Doctor jumped in front of him, "Look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me…" he held his hands out in front of him, "It's the Doctor, look. No one else is here…"
"Yes there is," Evy breathed, "Doctor!" she shouted.
"Look out!" Van Gogh called at the same time.
The Doctor was thrown to the ground as a scaly tail lashed at him. There was a roar and one of the paintings shredded.
"I can't see anything!" Amy shrieked, "What is it?"
Van Gogh tried to fight it off, holding his fork out in front of him.
"That is a good question," the Doctor pushed himself up and grabbed a stout stick, running to join Van Gogh, "Let me help you."
"You can see him, too?" Van Gogh looked at him.
The Doctor ran to a completely different area of the yard than where Van Gogh was facing and brandished his stick around, "Yes…ish. Well, no. Not really…"
"Doctor!" Evy ran forward, "Give me that!" she pulled the stick out and slammed it to the right. There was a roar as the Doctor was thrown over the table, landing at Van Gogh's feet.
"You couldn't see him," Van Gogh looked down at him.
"No…" he gasped, before he sat up quickly, "But I think she can…"
There was a squeal as they looked over to see Evy duck and swing, breaking the stick on air before running over to them. Van Gogh ran forward, sticking his fork out, hurting whatever it was till it retreated, breaking pieces of the yard as it ran.
"He's gone," Van Gogh breathed.
The Doctor just hugged Evy to him. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. HE was supposed to protect her, it was his job as her Link to keep her safe. How could he do that facing something he couldn't see? He swallowed hard, clutching her tighter.
Trust.
He had to trust that she would be alright, that she could handle herself. She'd told him that once. That was the only way she'd managed to not die of dual heart attacks with some of the stunts he'd pulled before knowing his Link existed. He hated this feeling, the terror he felt at knowing she was in danger, he hated the fact that he'd caused Evy to feel it more times than either of them cared to remember even more.
'I'm fine,' Evy's voice filtered through his mind, 'I'm right here.'
He nodded at her thoughts, closing his eyes and resting his head against hers. He needed to figure out what was going on, what the creature was, and either how to fight it or how to see it...and soon...
~8~
"Right…" the Doctor began as they sat in Van Gogh's house, "So he's invisible? What did he look like?"
He turned to Evy but Van Gogh spoke, "I'll show you," he pulled out one of his paintings of irises and painted over it in white.
"Oh, no, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed as Amy gasped and covered her mouth, Evy just frowning.
"What?" he looked up, startled.
"That one was beautiful," Evy commented.
"On you go," the Doctor sighed, waving him on.
As soon as the paint dried Van Gogh got to work, sketching the creature with charcoal, Amy and the Doctor watching intently. It was an almost bird-like creature with a beak and talons but also a bit reptilian.
"Ok, ok…" the Doctor took the sketch, "Right. Amy, make Mr. Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."
"But it could be outside, waiting," Amy got up.
"Don't worry, I'll risk it," he grinned, "What's the worst that can happen?"
"You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see."
"Oh, right, yes. That."
"Don't worry," Evy got up and walked over to him, "I can see it, I'll keep him safe."
"How can you see it?" Van Gogh looked at her closely, trying to figure it out. He felt like he knew why HE could see it, he saw the world differently, he was mad as everyone claimed, he knew that's how they saw his visions of the world, as madness.
She just gave him a smile, sensing his thoughts, "You're not the only mad one here."
The Doctor smiled down at her before looking back at Amy and Van Gogh, "We'll be back before you can say, 'Where've they got to now?'" they headed out the door, Amy sighing and turning to face Van Gogh, "Not that fast!" the Doctor shouted, appearing in the doorway, making Amy jump, "But pretty fast," he grinned.
Just then an arm appeared through the doorway, smacking him upside the head.
"Ow!" he winced at the sting.
"Oh come on!" Evy's voice called and the hand attached to the arm grabbed the Doctor by his lapel, and pulled him out of the room.
They got outside the cottage, a soft growl reaching them as they came to an alley. The Doctor looked at Evy who put a finger to her lip, leading him forward, carefully. She couldn't see the creature around though, so they continued on quietly.
'Doctor…' Evy said as they reached the alley where they'd parked the TARDIS, 'Not to alarm you, but the creature is behind us.'
'How far?' he asked her as they picked up the pace.
'Not too far…get the key to the TARDIS out and just try to get in quickly.'
He nodded, opening the door to the TARDIS and slipping in as Evy quickly ran in and shut the door. They leaned against it, listening, hearing a low growling from the other side but moments later it passed. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, helping Evy up as he walked back to the chest in the back of the TARDIS. He began tossing some things away, while Evy held the painting, till he could pull it out.
"Right…" he muttered to himself as he dug through the chest, "You in here somewhere? I can't apologize enough. I thought you were just a useless gadget. I thought you were just an embarrassing present from a dull godmother with two heads and bad breath. Twice…" he pulled out a device that seemed to be a mirror attached to a harness, "How wrong can a man be?"
"Do you really want an answer to that?" Evy eyed him, amused.
"Ha ha," he smiled at her, before moving to hook it up to the TARDIS for power. He made a face in the mirror, sticking out his tongue. The TARDIS then printed out a picture of his first two incarnations, naming his species and planet of origin.
"Good," he looked over at the pictures printing, ripping them out so it would stop printing, "Ok, you're working. Now…see what you make of this," Evy stepped up, holding the sketch for the machine to scan, "Who is that?"
"What's it say?" Evy asked from behind it.
"A parrot," he sighed, "No, we know it's not that. There are thousands of them and you can see them plain as day. Not that either…"
"What?"
"A polar bear."
She snorted at his answer, "Definitely not."
"This is the problem with the impressionists," he commented, taking the picture from her, "Not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough or one of those proper painters. Sorry, Vincent…" he tossed the sketch to the back of the TARDIS, "You'll just have to draw something better."
~8~
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, wearing the harness and the device, the mirror aimed over his shoulder as Evy locked the door behind them with a swipe of her finger while the Doctor adjusted the controls. The device beeped and the Doctor smiled, "That's better, old girl. Time-delay, but you always get it right in the end. Good. Let's find out who this is, then…" he moved the mirror to show Evy the results as well, "Is that it?" he asked her as a larger reptilian chicken appeared.
"That's it," she nodded, frowning as she read the results, "The poor thing…"
"The brutal, murderous, abandoned thing. I hope we meet again soon so we can take it home."
"Doctor…" she stiffened, feeling breath on her neck.
He slowly fixed the mirror, seeing the creature over their shoulders, "Maybe not that soon."
She grabbed his hand, pulling him down the alley with a cry of, "Just stop talking!"
She checked over her shoulder as he checked in the mirror while they ran. They both started knocking over tables and other items, trying to slow it down. Evy pushed the Doctor around the corner, hiding, as the creature roared, but then fell silent.
She peered around the wall to see the creature lumber off, giving up the chase. She sighed, resting her head against the Doctor's chest, "It's gone," she mumbled.
The Doctor looked around the corner himself, only to come face-to-face with Amy. He yelled, startling Evy who jumped, "Never do that!" he shouted at her, "You scared the living daylights out of us."
"Sorry," Amy said, "I got bored. As much as you admire his command of color and shape, it is hard to get fond of Vincent Van Gogh's snoring."
~8~
They entered Van Gogh's bedroom to see him lying on his bed snoring loudly.
"Wake, wakey!" the Doctor called as Evy worked on letting sunlight in, "Rise and shine! Breakfast is served in the courtyard," a moment later the room was flooded with light, "Whoa! What a morning," he clapped, getting him up.
"Come on," Evy called as they headed out, "Amy has a surprise for you."
Van Gogh walked out, confused, to see Amy sitting at a table, surrounded by sunflowers scattered around in different containers, breakfast laid out on a tray before her.
"I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for helping save me last night," she called up to him.
"Ah!" he smiled, looking around.
"I thought you might like, you know, possibly, to, perhaps, paint them or something? Might be a thought."
Evy set down a second tray as the Doctor joined Amy at the table, sitting down herself as well.
"Yes," Van Gogh frowned, "They're not my favorite flower."
"YOU don't like sunflowers?" Amy asked, astonished.
"No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying…" he held one of the flowers by his window, "Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge."
"And one I'm pretty sure you will rise to," the Doctor agreed, "But, moving on, there's something we need to show you."
~8~
After breakfast the Doctor and Evy presented Van Gogh with the printout of the creature, "That's him," he said, sitting down, "And the eyes. Without mercy."
"It's called a Krafayis," Evy explained, "Apparently their species travel in packs throughout space as scavengers. There are times where one might get left behind."
"And because they are a brutal race, the others never come back," the Doctor continued, "So, dotted all around the Universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is...well, kill, until they're killed. Which they usually aren't. Because other creatures can't see them."
"But we can?" Van Gogh looked up at Evy.
"Yes," she agreed.
"And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror," the Doctor said, "So, feeling like painting the church today?"
"What about the monster?" Van Gogh asked.
"Take our word for it. If you paint it, he will come."
Van Gogh stood, "Ok. I'll get my things."
"When you're ready," Evy called, not wanting to rush him. She knew that she and the Doctor could probably figure out a way to get the creature, but since it was supposedly at the church and Van Gogh could see it also, it made a better strategy to have two sets of eyes and knock off a priceless painting at the same time. Not to mention, it made the Doctor feel much better if Evy wasn't the only one there who could see the creature. They'd already figured out that she could see it because of the inspiration the Untempered Schism had given her, she could see what others missed, what others couldn't. The same principle applied to Van Gogh in a way, he could see the wonders of the Universe, what others couldn't, see things in a different way...
"We promise you," the Doctor added, "We'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow," Van Gogh hesitated in the doorway, glancing at Amy, before going into the other room. The Doctor sighed, "This is risky."
"Riskier than normal?" Amy asked.
He stood to see if Van Gogh could hear them, before turning around, "Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the result of our trip could be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Musee D'Orsay will disappear," he collapsed in a seat next to Amy, "And it will be our fault."
Evy moved to take his hand, "Then we make sure that doesn't happen."
The Doctor looked up at her and smiled softly before pulling her down onto his lap, resting his head to her temple.
~8~
The Doctor knocked on Van Gogh's bedroom door as Evy called out, "Vincent?"
No reply.
"Vincent!" the Doctor tried, before opening the door.
Van Gogh was lying face down on his bed, crying.
"Oh Vincent," Evy breathed, walking over to kneel beside the bed, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Vincent, can we help?" the Doctor asked, stepping more into the room.
"It's so clear you cannot help," he remarked, "And when you leave, and everyone always leaves, I will be left once more with an empty heart and no hope," he rolled over to look at them.
"Our experience is that there is, you know, surprisingly, always hope," the Doctor replied, his hand on Evy's shoulder, he'd learned from her to never give up on that hope.
"Then your experience is incomplete," he snapped, "I know how it will end, and it will not end well."
"Come on," Evy reached out gently, "Why don't we get you out of here, hmm? Go go outside?"
"Out!" he shouted, lashing out at them. The Doctor pulled Evy back, "You get out. What are you doing here? What are you doing here?"
They backed away towards the door, "Very well," the Doctor sighed, "We'll leave. We'll leave you."
Van Gogh curled into a fetal position and sobbed as they shut the door. They exchanged a concerned look, before turning to lean against the railing, just looking out as Amy came up the stairs.
"What's happening?" she frowned.
"We need to go," Evy told her.
"Why?"
"Everyone knows he's a delicate man," the Doctor remarked.
"We can't push him," Evy explained, "We can't risk him…"
The Doctor swallowed, "Just months from now he'll...he'll take his own life," he pushed away from the rail, taking Evy's hand and leading her down the stairs, past Amy.
"Don't say that," Amy begged, "Please."
They said nothing as they walked on. They came to the bottom floor of the cottage, just taking their time to look at all the beautiful paintings, taking one last look…they didn't know how long they stood there, but at some point Amy had come to join them.
"Come on," Evy reached out taking Amy's arm, "It's up to us to see it through."
"Go to the church at the right time and hope the monster still turns up," the Doctor agreed.
A shadow fell across them as Van Gogh appeared in the doorway, his coat and hat on, "I'm ready. Let's go," he picked up a brush.
A/N: That's an interesting twist, Evy can see it too. She can't exactly tell Vincent she's an alien just yet and I think she also wanted him to feel better about being called mad so she said that. But really, it's her inspiration, it's based on the fact that she can see things others miss, different paths, things they can't quite make out. I figure, she could use that to see the Krafayis too. Which brings up an interesting thought, if she can see things others can't, then can she remember things others can't? I guess we'll find out when the Silence get involved.
Some notes, just want you guys to know, I read each and every review and I always try to respond if there's a question or confusion, if not in the very next chapter then the one after. It really means a lot to me when I see those reviews so I try to respond back when I can because you guys are just awesome! Seriously, you are :) As for what's coming in Series 6...not saying :) BUT! I will say this, I think you'll be very, very happy with what's coming up, especially in just a little more than a week, the dynamic of the story will change.
And...did anyone else watch A Town Called Mercy and think 'OMG! THE PROFESSOR!' I know I did. Trust me, that chapter for the Academic Series I have BIG things planned for. Lots of emotion, lots of demons, lots of...mercy. I've got scenes already outlined between the Professor and Jex, the Professor and the Gunslinger, and even the Doctor getting some action there that's how much I loved the episode (and I actually didn't think I'd be that into it, westerns aren't really my thing...despite Evy looking like a western heroine lol). Have to say, after seeing the Gunslinger and his back story, if I didn't know any better I'd think that someone from BBC was reading the Academic Series lol (just kidding). I didn't know that about possibly publishing fanfiction, though I doubt DW would give me permission, most of my stories take place during the actual episodes so that's probably a bit too copywritten than they'd be ok with.
Unfortunately for the recent episode, learning the Doctor's age (claiming to be 1,200 now) has thrown a tiny wrench into my plans for Series 7 for the Lunar Cycle (won't say what till near the end of Series 6 though). I'm going to have to reread what I've written for Evy to see if the idea I have to work around it will fit or if I have to come up with something else. But it should all be good :)
Next chapter...Evy's quite the...colorful...character. The Doctor's stealing kisses. Evy offers Vincent a small comfort and discovers a new talent.