It was night time in France, and a party was, had actually, been happening at the Palace of Versailles. The people who hadn't been invited to the earlier party casted angry glares at the Palace. A few complaints came from their mouths, but otherwise, most of people had excepted the noise and the fact that they hadn't been invited.
Inside the Palace, however, the higher-ups of France in the 18th Century, the aristocrats, were panicking. Oh now they didn't care about their chipped nails, their messed up hairstyles that likely took hours to create, or the sequences on their masks. Instead, they were running and screaming, the women often tripping over their long gowns. They didn't understand what they were running from, just knowing that anything with sharp objects like that couldn't be good.
In a woman's bedroom however, it was peaceful. Anyone inside could almost imagine that the screams they could hear were just from a practically lose party.
But the only person inside knew that wasn't true, but despite that, this person was still focused only on a broken clock that sat on the mantelpiece. Behind her, a man's voice rose up from the others as he headed over to the private room.
"We are under attack!" He cried upon entering the room, "There are creatures...I don't even think they're human. We can't stop them." The man, King Louis XV actually, reported.
The woman whirled around. Though they were in a very bad moment, not one blond hair was out of place, "The clock is broken." Was all she replied with, "She's coming."
King Louis moved closer to the woman, "Did you hear what I said?" He asked, rather worried for his mistress that she wasn't moving. Had she not heard the screams?
The mistress to the king looked at him intensely, "Listen to me. There is a woman coming to Versailles. She has offered me advice whenever I have needed, and also has watched over and protected me. She will not desert me tonight."
"What are you talking about? What woman?" Louis asked her.
The woman smiled, "The only woman that has been a mother to me." She answered frankly, "Now go to your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your queen." Turning around, she dismissed the king in a manner that would have had anyone else's head chopped off. Instead, she knelt in front of the fire, looking into it with such urgency, it was alarming, "Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now, you promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time. Kayla! Kayla Harkness!"
3000 years later, the TARDIS landed inside a stationary spaceship. The Doctor held hands with a much better looking and feeling Kayla. Together, the couple walked outside by themselves. Originally, Rose and Mickey were going to go with them, but Mickey had suggested secretly to the Time Lord that he would like a nice, quiet, not very alien, date with Rose. Loving the idea because he would get to be alone with Kayla, the Doctor had sent the couple to a small planet that was the closest to what the couple would both like.
"An abandoned spaceship." Kayla stated, looking around the dusty room they had landed in, "Any idea what century?"
The Doctor merely took out his sonic and scanned the place, "Fifty-first century." He answered.
Kayla smiled, "I was born the fifty-second, but Jack was fifty-first boy." The smile slid off her face as she thought more about her missing, apparently immortal father.
Seeing this, the Doctor headed over to her and wrapped his arms around her, 'It's okay.' He said in her mind, feeling the brunet shiver in his arms at how odd it was.
To the Doctor, it wasn't odd. He had grown up with people chattering in his mind and had done the same with the Deca, the group he had been a part of at the Academy, but Kayla? In her time, humans had barely realized that they could form mental links, and only a few actually had any links.
'W-Will it get…easier?' Kayla asked haltingly in his mind.
The Doctor squeezed her tighter, 'With practice, yeah.' Kissing her deeply, the Doctor felt Kayla slowly relax. Of course, it the moment had to end, and as always, it was the Time Lord who ended it. Ignoring Kayla's mock pout, he headed over to a control panel. With a few nudges from his sonic screwdriver, a diagram of the ship appeared on screen.
Kayla, who was standing next to him, furrowed her eyebrows and titled her head, "Why are the warp engines going?" She wondered.
"There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe…and we're not moving. So where's all that power going?" the Doctor added on, already twisting knobs, "And look at that, the crew are gone." He noted softly.
Kayla smiled, "Mysterious spaceship, I like this date already." She commented, shoving the Doctor lightly in a playful manner. The Doctor started to blush but then tensed when he heard Kayla sneeze, "Sorry," she apologized quickly, "it smells like smoke, I'm allergic." She explained.
"Well…what's cooking then?" the Doctor asked, taking a deep breath himself. Pressing something, a door opened behind the two, causing them to whirl around. Smiling at each other, they walked through the sudden door only to see…18th century décor and a fireplace.
Kayla let out a laugh, "French eighteenth century?" She wondered.
The Doctor eyed the fireplace critically, "Nice mantel." He commented, already heading towards it and leaving Kayla behind. Rolling her eyes, Kayla followed him, "Not even a reproduction, this actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace. Double-sided, there's another room through there." He reported.
Kayla, however, crouched down. Instead of seeing the inside of the fireplace, she saw the curious glare of a young blond girl in her nightgown staring back at her, "Doctor!" She called, causing the Time Lord to look down.
"I'm gonna grab something from the TARDIS." He said. Before Kayla could protest, she wasn't that good with kids, the Doctor had already exited the room.
Rolling her eyes, Kayla muttered, "Right." Drawing out the word, she realized that the child was looking rather scared, "Guessing I should say hi." She stated.
"You should." The girl agreed.
Glancing behind her to see that the Doctor hadn't returned, Kayla ran through average social encounters with people, "Name. Birth date. Height." She rattled off before nearly cursing at the habit. The girl seemed a bit worried about the questions, "Or just name would be lovely." She added on.
"Reinette." The girl answered after reasonable hesitation.
Kayla nodded, "Where are you?" she wondered.
Reinette's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the question, "In my bedroom."
Once again, Kayla nodded, "But where is your bedroom? Where do you live?" Internally scoffing at the question, no child would be stupid enough to answer that.
Despite Kayla's thinking, Reinette smiled brightly at the question, "Paris, of course!" She exclaimed.
'D-D-Doctor.' Kayla barely managed to get out, now completely ignoring the girl.
Titling her head, her eyes narrowing again, the girl asked without any prompting from Kayla, "What are you doing in my fireplace?"
Startling, Kayla glanced behind her but saw no Time Lord, "No clue." She answered truthfully, "Odd question, but what year is it?"
"Of course I can! Seventeen hundred and twenty seven." Reinette answered.
Kayla smiled a bit, "Nice year. August isn't very good, stay indoors, oh and put out this fire before you go to bed." Glancing behind once again, Kayla didn't know whether or not to beam at the sight of the Time Lord, "Best be going!" she finished.
Reinette smiled, "Good night ma'am."
Getting up, Kayla headed over to the Doctor and glared at him, "Whatever you were getting from the TARDIS better have been good." She threatened.
The Doctor smiled and drew a jacket from his pocket, "It was chilly." He explained. At the look Kayla was giving him, the Doctor shrugged, "They're bigger on the inside." He added on, motioning to his pockets.
"Of course." Kayla stated, already zipping up the jacket, "No wonder there's so much power." She commented, "But still, France 1727?" She shook her head.
The Doctor walked over to the fireplace, "Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too." He told her. Tilting her head, Kayla started to ask but thought better of it and instead knelt on a different side of the wall. Of course, the instant she was there, it started to rotate, sending the Doctor back but taking Kayla away from the Doctor.
"Kayla!" he shouted, concern coloring his voice.
Rose did not like the Doctor's idea of a date she would like. Mickey however, from what the blond could tell, he was actually enjoying himself.
"Webbly's World of Wonders." He read off the sign at the park.
Rose rolled her eyes, "It's an amusement park." She deadpanned with annoyance.
Mickey grinned, "We've got an amusement park as a date!" He exclaimed with cheerfulness that the blond found grating.
Rose nearly let out a sigh, "What do you wanna do first?" She wondered.
Mickey's face fell, "You're the alien expert," he countered, "what do you want to do?"
"I've never been here." She told him, "But since it's an amusement park, I'm guessing it should have some roller coaster…yeah, let's go there." Not even waiting for her boyfriend, Rose headed off to the largest, busiest roller coaster she saw. Something like a pained grimace on his face, Mickey followed.
Any hope he had of a normal date were dashed at the thing that the couple were standing behind. It had, from what Mickey could see, ten long arms and then two legs. Of course, it was also yellow.
"Sunsisher." Rose whispered to Mickey, rolling the name off her tongue. Apparently hearing this, the alien turned around and fixed one of its five eyes on the two. Once it had turned back around, Rose added on in a whisper, "They have very good hearing."
Holding on for dear life as the fireplace finished turning, Kayla unclenched her white knuckles from the mantel and looked at the dark bedroom. From what she could tell, the person had to be a female child, and luckily, the child was asleep. Hopefully, it was Reinette, because then Kayla won't have to deal with awkward explanations. Like, 'Don't panic, I'm just popping in via the magical door that doubles as your fireplace' would ever work.
Musing to herself, she headed over to the window where she could see the dark skyline of Paris. Adding to its natural beauty was white powdery snow that was falling. It was peaceful...Kayla didn't like that.
A horse neighed in the distance, and behind her, the child sat up, her bed creaking. Hearing this, Kayla turned around. A brief moment happened as the two girls stared at each other, but oddly enough, it was Kayla who was panicking more than the child, who was indeed Reinette, "Don't scream! It's me, the fireplace person! I can show you." she cried out softly in alarm. Walking forwards, she sat down on Reinette's bed, "We were talking in your fireplace recently."
Reinette studied her face closely, "But that was weeks ago." She told Kayla, "Madame that was months!"
At the correction, Kayla's eyes widened in surprise, "Weak connection then." She muttered to herself. Ignoring the curious look from the child, the brunet got up and ran her hand on the mantel, her eyes mainly on the clock.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Reinette called from her bed. Despite being so young, she sounded very demanding.
Kayla didn't reply. Instead, she tapped the clock lightly, only now hearing a ticking noise, "That's not good…" she stated loud enough that Reinette could hear from her bed.
Though she wasn't looking at her, Kayla could imagine the blond tilting her head in confusion, "A broken clock isn't good?" the girl wondered with skepticism that anyone could find rude.
"Well this one isn't." Kayla countered, "This is the only clock in the room and it's broken," turning around, she peered at Reinette, "Then what's the ticking?"
The ticking, of course, grew louder, causing Reinette to glance around her room with a fearful eye, but Kayla kept on, "That isn't a clock, the resonance is too big. This noise is six feet tall, a man basically." She announced to the room.
Like any child, Reinette drew the sheets in a bunch under her chin, "What is it?" She asked with a shaking voice.
Drawing back the curtains but not finding anything, Kayla continued in her lazy traveling around the room, still talking to the room, "If I were a thing that ticked, I would break the anything else that ticks…like clocks. Otherwise you might start wondering if you're alone." Her face fell as a horrible thought came to her. She walked slowly over to Reinette's bed, "Get to the middle of the bed and don't put your hands or feet over the edge." She commanded.
Crouching down, she took out her sonic blaster, prepared to shoot, when something smacked her backwards, a single beam of laser shooting off and creating a mouse sized hole in the wall. Scrambling to her feet, Kayla dashed back over to the bed and looked underneath, only to see the feet of something she couldn't identify, wearing a typical aristocratic French dress. Her eyes widening, Kayla looked up at the blond child sitting in the middle of her bed, "Whatever you do, don't look around." She whispered the warning.
Straightening up, Kayla came face to face with the creepiest clown mask she had ever seen. It leered down at Reinette, and the poor child looked terrified. Not taking her eyes off the odd thing, the brunet addressed the child, "You stay exactly where you are." She warned her. Taking in the figure, yet another horrible thought came to the brunet. Very carefully, Kayla looked down at the blond girl, "I need to check your brain."
"Check my brain?" Reinette asked with a head tilt, but Kayla just waved her hand and put the tip of her gun to the girl's head. Very carefully, she ran the tip around the head, her teeth grinding when she lifted the gun to see the readings.
Glaring over at the thing with the mask, she spat, "You've been scanning her brain!" She accused. Glancing into Reinette's eyes for a small second, Kayla turned her sharp gaze back onto the creature, "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?"
Reinette tapped Kayla's hand, causing the brunet to snap her head down, "I don't understand...it wants me?!" the child asked the brunet. Despite her earlier warning, Reinette looked over at the figure, but didn't flinch, "You want me?" She wondered, addressing the thing.
The figure's head twitched to one side, and when it spoke, it was in a mechanical voice, "Not yet. You are incomplete."
"'Incomplete?' What does that mean?" Kayla asked, but the machine didn't answer. Rolling her eyes, the brunet pointed her gun at the machine, "Answer me, now." She demanded, but the machine refused to answer. Instead, it started jerkily move around the bed. Right before it got to the side Kayla was on, the brunet grabbed Reinette and got her off the bed before pushing her towards the wall.
Keeping her back to said wall, Kayla glowered at the machine, so she was only slightly surprised when a menacing, sharp blade slid out rather close to her face. It was only her fast reflexes that saved her a nasty scratch, "Madame, be careful!" the blond child cried out from nearby the curtains.
"Don't worry Reinette, I'm quick." Kayla called almost lazily as she started to walk backwards to the fireplace, a smirk on her face, "I've been doing this all my life." She continued, jumping to the side as the machine tried to slash at her again. The blade instantly got stuck in the mantel of the fireplace, "And it helps that monsters have nightmares about my boyfriend."
"Your boyfriend? But Madam, you're wearing a ring." Reinette stated, causing the brunet to look down at her left hand and see the ring she had been wearing at the school.
Opening her mouth to reply, Kayla was suddenly out of time due to the machine's almost escape from the fireplace. With a wave of her fingers, she made the fireplace turn around and left with it.
"Mickey!" Rose cried out with laughter. The blond was sitting on a bench while her boyfriend tried to buy some food for them with the credit card, or something that looked like a credit card, that the Doctor had given them. Turning around, Mickey gave her a sour look as she chortled with glee while the alien behind the counter waved its four hands around as it talked.
Finally, he slumped over to Rose with a bag of…something, "The Doctor's poor." He announced, waving the useless card around, "Only two…whatevers the money is here."
Rose smirked, "He's the Doctor, what do you expect?" She asked, her smirk just growing at the glare Mickey sent her.
"I'd expect money. Isn't he a lord or something? I mean, if I were a lord, then I'd be rolling in money." Mickey stated as he sat down, trying to open the bag of things.
Rose's face hardened, "He's a Time Lord," She corrected none too lightly, "and the last at that." Not looking at Mickey, she took the other bag of food from him and opened it with ease. Mickey pouted at that and started to say something but soon thought better of it, the noise died in his throat.
"Kayla!" the Doctor shouted when he saw the fireplace turning. A grin started to form on his face, but it quickly fell when he saw the visitor that had come with her. Turning quickly, he grabbed a large, gun like object from the wall and sprayed what appeared to be ice on the machine. Convulsing in a last attempt to free itself it froze completely.
Worriedly, the Doctor ran over to Kayla who still hadn't moved only to let out a little gasp at the rather nasty, still bleeding, long scratch on her cheek, "Oh Kayla." He murmured.
"It's just a scratch, but never mind that. A fire extinguisher? Really?" Smiling, she hugged the Time Lord tightly.
Hugging back, the Doctor squeezed just a bit tighter at the mere thought of how close to death she had just danced. Finally, the pulled away to head over to the machine, "Shame about the face." The Doctor muttered.
Kayla nodded, "Is it…" not finishing her sentence, she pulled the mask and wig off the machine's head, revealing the amazing clockwork inside, covered and protected with a clear, plastic-like material in shape of an egg, "Wow." The brunet couldn't help but gasp.
"Oh, you are beautiful!" the Doctor agreed, already dragging out his glasses to admire the creature, "No really, you are, you're gorgeous! Look at that! Space age clockwork, I love it! I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart - and, by the way, count those - it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you."
Kayla smirked as the Doctor took a wistful look at the creature, one hand idly searching for his sonic screwdriver, "But luckily I'm a criminal." Kayla said, waving the screwdriver about in one hand.
The Doctor looked over at her, "Oh you little thief!" He cried out, a fake look of outrage on his face.
"Thank you." Turning back to the machine, Kayla let out a small curse that made the Doctor's ears turn red, "It's gone!" She snapped in frustration.
And so it was. While the two had been mock fighting, the machine had likely teleported away, the only way they'd know, the Doctor had told Kayla smugly, is if he used the sonic screwdriver. So Kayla had given back her stolen object and grumbled to herself as the Time Lord scanned the entire room.
Finally he turned to her, "Short range teleport, can't have got far. Could still be on board…" His voice trailed off as an excited look started to grow on his face.
Kayla, however, just rolled her eyes, "Now don't go looking for him." Kayla ordered.
"Fine." He grumbled like a child.
Rolling her eyes again, Kayla turned the fireplace, leaving the Doctor all alone, "Well this is rubbish." He announced to the room. Hoisting the fire extinguisher, the Time Lord headed off to kill the machine that had harmed his Kayla.
Rose was not likely the date the Doctor had sent herself and Mickey on. It was too much like Earth for her taste. The star that served as a sun boiled down on the massive crowds, and the food…well it was horrible. Sometimes the Doctor could be so stupid, and this idea, was one of those prime times.
Mickey, however, from what the blond could tell, he loved the amusement park. He was likely pretending that they were on Earth and not some alien planet.
Rolling her eyes, the blond looked on as Mickey bounced on a zoomer ride that looked like the moon, "You done?" She called, but Mickey didn't hear her. Sighing, she glanced down at her watch and then rolled her eyes again.
"Webbly's World of Wonders will be closing in an hour." A speaker suddenly announced, "Please make sure that you are gone in an hour, as this planet will be swept and gassed." Around her, the aliens all froze. Suddenly, there was silence. Even the children stopped laughing and looked up at their frighten parents. Much like a cartoon, a sudden mad dash for the exit happened and soon, Mickey and Rose were alone in the silent amusement park.
Kayla looked around at the bedroom. A makeover had now happened, replacing the pink and laces with rich red and gold, "Reinette…it's me, the fireplace lady." Kayla called out, stepping away from the mantel, "I'm just checking on you." Walking around, Kayla noted a harp that she skimmed her hand along, producing a horrible sound from the beautiful object, causing Kayla to wince. The sound of heals on the floor caused Kayla to glance to the door, only to see a young, rather beautiful, blond woman. She paused, obviously recognizing her, "Uh…hi." Kayla said, a look akin to someone that had been caught red handed on her face, "I was looking for Reinette…but I think the connection is a lot weaker than I originally thought. Is this still her room?"
Instead of the blond answering her, a woman's voice called, "Reinette! We're ready to go!"
The blond woman's face brightened at the voice, "Go to the carriage, ma'am, I will join you there." An relaxed grin started to spread across Kayla's face as she looked at Reinette, "It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence." The blond said in a teasing way.
"I'm just very stubborn. It's bad about the link though, you've grown up." Kayla stated, giving her a slightly longer than nessiary look.
Reinette smirked, stepping forwards, "And you do not appear to have aged a single day." The blond glanced down at her left hand, "Nor have you taken your ring off. May I presume you have finally gotten engaged?"
Kayla also glanced down at her hand, "Uh, no. It's been a shorter time for me than you, and I haven't gotten to take the ring off…" The brunet shook her head, "But really, you best be off. A woman dressed like me in your bedroom?" She gestured down to her jeans and jacket, "I'm pretty sure that your…who were you talking to?"
Reinette's smile became forced, "My mother." Sh answered with hesitation.
"And you called her ma'am?" Kayla asked.
Reinette nodded, "We have a…tense relationship. She said you weren't real, so I said that you were my real mother. Obviously, that did not go well." The brunet nodded, but didn't say anything. She also didn't protest when the blond very carefully raised her hand and touched her hair, as if she was checking if it was real, "Well, you seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."
Kayla smiled, "Reason is often wrong. Best not listen to it." She advised.
It was then that a servant, who sounded extremely cross, yelled down the corridor, "Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient."
Reinette's eyes flashed with annoyance, "A moment!" Sh called back. Turning back to Kayla, her eyes took a softer touch, "So many questions. So little time." She mumbled.
And then, somehow, Kayla was being hugged by Reinette, and the blond soon excelled to peppering her face with little pecks. It was as if she was being reunited with a very close friend, a relative of which she had longed for. Due to shock, the brunet stumbled backwards a bit before planting her feet a little more firmly.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" The servant yelled again, sounding much closer. Reinette broke away and ran out of the open door, grabbing a purse as she went. Kayla watched her as she left, slightly shocked. Since she was staring at the door, she did not miss the servant arriving, his mouth gaping open at the sight of her, "Who the hell are you?" He barked.
Kayla just smirked, already grabbing hold of the fireplace. Her hands were searching for the trigger as she looked back at the servant, "I'm Kayla Harkness. And I'm Reinette Poisson's mother!" She answered.
Once the fireplace was in place, Kayla cried out, "Doctor!" But the Time Lord had disappeared. Sighing, she stepped off the mantel and started to walk out of the room, "Doctor!" She yelled again. Striding around a corner, she came face to face with a large white horse, "Right…"
Rose and Mickey were on the top of the farriers wheel when it stopped. The lights shut off on the ride, and soon, they were alone in pitch darkness.
"Oi! We're still up here!" Mickey yelled down at the ground.
"Mickey shut up!" Rose snapped.
Her boyfriend look over at her with annoyance, "Well you're not doing anything." He pointed out.
The blond rolled her eyes, "Because it's pointless. Didn't you see what was running the machine? Some kind of droid. And they aren't going to do anything for us. They must shut down or something." She explained slowly, like she was talking to an idiot.
"It's not my fault!" Mickey protested.
The blond rolled her eyes again, "Now, what do you think swept and gassed means?"
Mickey shrugged, "Something pretty bad. And scary."
"Oh yes. That cuts it down to everything I've seen Mickey." Rose snapped sarcastically.
Of course, only then did they find out.
The Doctor walked slowly down the hallway, pausing to look at certain objects, like the camera with an eye. Following the odd sound of a heartbeat, he paused at a panel. Using his sonic, he unlocked it and pulled it open, only feeling a little discomfort at the heat that would scald most humans. What he hadn't expected to see was a human heart wired up to the ship itself.
"That's a heart! A human heart!" He whispered in shock.
Kayla walked down the hallway, annoyed, "Doctor!" She yelled. Whirling around, she looked straight at the white horse that was, annoyingly, following her, "I am not your mother." She spat out, "And I want you to stop." She added.
The horse just nosed her, but Kayla brushed it off, already heading for the white, French double doors. Opening them, she smirked, "This is where you came from." She muttered.
Kayla stepped onto a grassy courtyard with a blink, trying to adjust to the light. When she had, she smiled a bit at the familiar blond that was walking, arm in arm, with a lovely looking black woman. Starting over, she paused to listen to the two speak, "Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked!" Reinette cried out with laughter.
The blond suddenly turned, looking quizzically at Kayla, who just waved and smiled, but made no move to come over. Nodding, she turned back to Catherine, "Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateneux is ill and close to death." The woman said in a tone one uses when gossiping.
Reinette seemed to hide a smile, "Yes." She agreed carefully, "I am devastated." The serious air she had developed left as she started to laugh.
Catherine laughed along with her, "Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable." Kayla smiled, glad that Reinette had someone while she was gone, "The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress. You love the King, of course?"
Reinette nodded, "He is the King. And I love him with all my heart. And I look forward to meeting him." While her friend laughed loudly, the blond turned around to stare at Kayla, tilting her head in an obvious question of why.
Seeing this, Catherine's brow puckered with worry, "Is something wrong, my dear?" She asked.
"Not wrong, no." Reinette said as she turned back to her friend. After a heavy pause, they linked arms again and walked on.
"Every woman in Paris knows your ambitions." Catherine stated.
Reinette nodded lightly, "Every woman in Paris shares them." She pointed out.
Catherine smiled, "You know of course that the King is to attend the Yew Tree ball?"
And soon, they were gone from Kayla's hearing range and sight.
Somehow, Mickey and Rose had gotten down from the ferries wheel and had gotten into one of the industrial like buildings. And not a moment too soon, because they had found out why everyone had been so worried about. Looking out the small window, the blond could clearly see a thick, toxic green gas that was slowly covering the planet.
"So that's gassed." Mickey stated, a horrified expression on his face, "For what?"
Rose shrugged, "No clue."
Turning away, the blond hugged Mickey tightly, only pulling apart when she heard a knock on the door.
"What was that?" Mickey whispered.
Rose's eyes traveled to the door, "A knock."
"But how?"
"I don't know."
Another knock sounded, causing the two to flinch, "You go get it." Rose hissed to her boyfriend, shoving him towards the door.
Mickey glanced behind at his girlfriend before he carefully opened the door, starting to cough and splutter at the gas that slowly poured in, "What the hell?!" He gasped out upon seeing the person standing there. Tears were streaming down their face.
"She's gone." He whispered as he staggered into the building. Instantly the door closed behind him as he nearly collapsed on the floor while he started to cry out.
The Doctor looked at the camera that was following him. He really wished it would stop. And that he could find Kayla and help her. Pausing at a window, he looked into a very nice, 18th century room, "Oh, France." He whispered out just as the room's doors opened. Two servants and the King entered the room.
"Spying on the King of France, are you?" Kayla asked suddenly from behind him.
Not even flinching, the Doctor nodded, "What have you been doing?"
"Oh, just meeting Madame de Pompadour and becoming her mother/imaginary friend." Kayla answered as the two gazed upon the King admiring himself in the mirror. The horse whined loudly, "And we got a pet." She added in as the horse trotted over.
The Doctor smiled at the horse before turning back to the mirror, "See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history..." He place finger on the glass as Reinette walked in, "Hers. Time window... deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?" He asked Kayla.
Kayla shrugged, "Who knows. It took me forever to figure out her name. Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, but goes by Reinette to her friends…and me."
"A regular mother hen." The Doctor commented with a smile.
Kayla just shook her head, "Oh don't you start." She glanced towards the mirror to see the King leaving, "The night of the Yew Tree ball. She and her friend were talking about it." She told the Doctor, who was looking at her rather than Reinette preening herself in the mirror.
Then, a louder than normal ticking sound started. Kayla's mouth opened in shock and she looked over at a mantel where, sure enough, the clock was shattered.
Reinette turned at the sound of the ticking noise. It was one she recognized, and one she feared, "How long have you been standing there?" She called to the figure with its back turned. From what she could tell, it was staring out the window, "Show yourself!" Responding to her command, it turned suddenly, already starting to advance on the terrified Reinette.
The Doctor grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and helped Kayla turn the heavy mirror so they could get to Pairs.
"Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" Kayla greeted as she and the Doctor left the mirror.
Reinette gasped, "Mother! And you've brought a friend!"
Ducking down, Kayla watched as the Doctor sprayed the machine until it was frozen and didn't let go of the gun, mostly because of the brunet's voice warning him in his head. And she was right, because soon, the machine whirred and clicked loudly.
"It's melting the ice." Kayla added in for the benefit of the frightened Reinette, who just nodded.
As soon as she said that, the machine's sharp knife-like object shot out at her, narrowly missing her throat, "Oi!" the Doctor sounded, "Who are you?" He asked it harshly.
But the machine didn't answer, "Order it to answer me." Kayla said to Reinette.
"Why should it listen to me?" the blond pointed out.
Kayla shrugged, "It did when you were a child." She pointed out.
With a worried look at her 'mother,' Reinette turned to the machine, "Answer her question. Answer any and all questions put to you." She ordered it.
The machine lowered it arm, "I am repair droid seven."
"What happened to the ship?" Kayla asked.
"Ion storm, eighty two percent systems failure." The droid answered.
The Doctor tilted his head, "That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?" he pointed out.
The droid pause for a second, "We did not have the parts." He finally answered.
Kayla's brow furrowed, "Then about the crew? Where are they?"
"We did not have the parts." The droid repeated.
"Oh." The Doctor mumbled, his eyes widening slightly. His horrible, hellish hunch had been correct, and that did not please him.
Kayla looked over at her the Doctor, "What oh? That was a bad oh."
The Doctor, out of the habit, grabbed the brunet's hand and squeezed it, "You used the crew, all fifty of them." He said in a horrified whisper.
Reinette let out a little whimper, "But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows, that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could have gone to your repair yard. Instead you come to eighteenth century France? Why?" the Doctor asked.
"One more part is required." The droid jerked its head to Reinette, who flinched back.
"Then take it. She's right there." Kayla pointed out, keeping her eyes, not on the droid, but on Reinette, who looked more than a little scared.
The droid tilted its head, and for a moment, Kayla fully expected it to take whatever part off of Reinette, but it didn't. Instead, it spoke again, "She is incomplete."
"So you're just opening windows into her future until she's complete?" the droid didn't answer, "And furthermore, why her?"
"We are the same." The droid answered.
Reinette shook her head, "We are not the same, we are in no sense the same!"
The droid turned its head to look at her, "We are the same." It repeated.
Reinette's eyes flashed with fury, "Get out of here! Get out of here this instance!" she yelled at it, advancing on the droid.
"Reinette don't!" Kayla yelled just as the droid teleported away.
The Doctor looked longingly at the mirror, but when he gave Kayla pleading look, she shook her head. Pouting, he watched as the brunet headed over to Reinette, "I've been practicing some with mental stuff." She started, "And I need to look inside your brain. It won't hurt…probably."
Despite the less than assuring speech, Reinette nodded and allowed Kayla to put her finger tips on her temple. A long pause followed until the blond gasped out, "Mother…you're in my brain." She whispered in shock, and it seemed to take a lot of effort for Kayla to nod.
So, mega twist, as I said before, but I loved it. It was a lot of fun to change this episode.
With Reinette calling, Kayla 'mother' was a random thing I came up with while thinking about the next episode.
So, reviews time!
dream lightning: Poor Jack is right. It's sad to be without my American!
MargaretMacDonald123: Vague. Definitely vague. Seeing that I don't really read smutty stuff, it's not going to be smutty. It'll be implied, but not smutty. I might, however, right outtakes...but probably not.