Promised One 2

by arielle.dawnn

A continuation of season one with my OC Layla.

5. The Girl in the Fireplace

I'll just say this... Two more chapters after this one...

Xxxxxxx

"Mickey Mouse, are you ready for your first experience into space in the future?" Layla asked as Mickey was facing the doors almost bouncing in excitement.

"Yeah Mickey, it's your turn to be the first one out of the doors this time." Rose told him and patted him on the shoulder. Her attitude had greatly improved from the blatant pouting she had done when the Doctor had agreed to let Mickey come with them.

Mickey takes a deep breath and nods a little shakily. The Doctor looks on in amusement. He might have had a rocky start with Mickey, but he does love to see the look on his companion's face when they see new things. Mickey opens the door and goes out first. He looks around in awe as he realizes where he is. "It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go."

The other three time-travelers follow out after him and look around the room. They see all kinds of bits and pieces of equipment scattered around. The Doctor goes to one of the monitors and tries to find some information on the ship. Rose looks around in slight confusion. "It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?"

Layla is just watching Mickey's face as his expressions change. Awe and excitement are the main ones he is switching between. The Doctor looks at Layla from the corner of his eye. He is enjoying her smile and her happiness, but somewhat pouts that it is because of Mickey right now that she is smiling, not realizing that without him, Mickey wouldn't be here. So, it is because of him too. "Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous." He pauses for a second and takes in the raised eyebrow from Layla. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous."

Layla laughed at his backtracking and starts to pick up and put down objects she comes across. Rose can see that Mickey is speechless at what he is seeing, and didn't think to ask one of the important questions. "So, what's the date? How far we gone?"

"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." He tells her semi-distractedly. He finds the light switch for the console and flicks it on. They look up towards the ceiling and can see that part of the ceiling is showing the stars. "Fifty-first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."

Rose guides Mickey to a porthole and he can see the outer space and see the stars. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"

"It's so realistic!"

"That's 'cos it is real Mickey Mouse." Layla laughs at him and he shoots her the stink eye before being drawn back to the porthole.

"Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on. Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So, where's all that power going?" The Doctor was semi talking to them and semi talking to himself aloud.

"Where'd the crew go?" Rose asked, realizing that it was seemingly empty.

The Doctor holds up his sonic. "Good question. No life readings on board."

"Do that only account for those with beating hearts? Or like robots/cyborgs? 'Cos being in the 51st century, I would assume that there are other types of beings that wouldn't register as living? Yeah?" Layla asked, remembering from Satellite Five and Cathica mentioning robots as employees. The Doctor shrugged at her, not having thought of that.

"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick smoke." Rose laughed at her sarcasm.

The Doctor was looking between his sonic screwdriver and the monitors and didn't notice Rose's sarcasm. "No, I've checked all the smoking pods." He lifts his head up and takes a few sniffs. "Can you smell that?"

Rose copies him. "Yeah, someone's cooking."

"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey adds helpfully.

"Just brings me back to my question. If there are no life readings, who is doing the cooking?" Layla wonders.

The Doctor fiddles with the console and he is able to open a door behind them. They look inside the room and see that the far wall is paneled and it contained a blazing fire in a decorative fireplace. The age of the fireplace doesn't fit with the current time period. He whistles softly. "Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteenth century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This is actually an eighteenth-century French fireplace. Double sided. There's another room through there."

Rose goes towards a porthole that is on the same wall and looks out it. "There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look."

The Doctor was inspecting the fireplace and he looks at it in surprise. "Hello."

The others look at the Doctor wondering who he said that to. They then hear the voice of a young girl. "Hello."

The Doctor smiles at her softly and Layla bends down so she can see the child as well. The Doctor looks at her and sends her a fond look at the happiness that she shows towards children. He looks towards the child and asks her. "What's your name?"

"Reinette." She tells them with childlike curiosity, most likely wondering how they are talking to her.

"What a pretty name for a pretty girl, Reinette." Layla tells her gently and laughs slightly at the bashful smile she gets in return.

The Doctor nods his head in agreement, she is a cutie. "Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"

Reinette looks at him oddly. "In my bedroom."

Layla covers her mouth to hide the chuckle that escaped at Reinette's reply and her looking at him like he was an idiot for not knowing that. The Doctor huffs and gently elbows Layla. "And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?"

"Paris, of course."

The Doctor smacks his forehead as if to let her know that he couldn't believe he didn't know that. "Paris, right!"

"Monsieur, Madam, what are you doing in my fireplace?" For the first time Reinette is actually showing some suspicion that kids usually have when talking to a stranger that asks them questions, they aren't sure if they should answer or not.

"Oh, it's just a routine fire check. Can you tell us what year it is?"

Now she looked insulted. "Of course I can. Seventeen hundred and twenty-seven."

"Right, lovely. One of my favorites. August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay. That's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night, night."

"Have sweet dreams, Reinette. Goodnight." Layla wished her softly.

"Good night, Monsieur, Madam."

The Doctor stands and offers a hand to Layla and pulls her up. Mickey is looking at the Doctor accusingly. "You said this was the fifty-first century."

"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink."

Layla looks at him with a raised brow, wanting to call him out on what he just said, because it didn't sound like a real thing and the way he said it was obvious that he was making it up. Rose and Mickey just looked at him blankly. "What's that?" Mickey asks.

The Doctor gives him a cheeky smile and shrugs. "No idea. Just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door."

"And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked showing her confusion. Layla isn't surprised though, things with the Doctor are always weird and it doesn't really surprise her anymore what they come across on their adventures.

"Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."

"She was speaking English, I heard her." Mickey protested believing the Doctor was pulling a fast one on him.

"That's the Tardis. Translates for you." Rose tells him smugly. Mickey seems to take this news a whole lot better than Rose did when she first heard about it.

"Even French?" He looks shocked.

"Yeah." Rose tells him.

"Not just French though. Any language that other species speak and we don't know will translate into English. Well except one, but I can understand why." Layla tells him distractedly thinking about the Doctor's species language that she has heard him mumble when the Tardis zapped him or he was distracted. She never wanted to ask about it, because she knew that anything relating to his species was a sensitive subject for him. She was watching the Doctor who was poking around the fireplace and walked closer to him to see what he was doing. If it was anything like the Tardis, he was probably breaking something.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed as he fiddled with a wire and the fireplace rotated taking him and Layla to the other side. Rose's shout of 'Doctor!' is lost to them as they are now facing the bedroom of Reinette.

It is nighttime when they arrived and they could see that Reinette was asleep in her bed. The Doctor quietly makes his way to the window and sees that it is snowing outside, but Reinette must have sensed that she wasn't alone anymore and wakes up with a start. The Doctor holds his hands out trying to calm her down. "It's okay. Don't scream. It's us. It's the fireplace man and woman. Look. We were talking just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace."

"He's right, Reinette. We don't mean any harm. We were just curious about the fireplace." Layla gives her a calm soft smile. Reinette sends her an unsure smile, but is happy that she came along with the man. It would have been scary to wake an seen a strange man in her room. The Doctor lights a candle so Reinette can get a better look at them and see that they were the same people as before.

"Monsieur, Madam, that was weeks ago. That was months."

The Doctor looks at her in surprise and then at the fireplace. "Really? Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in."

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

The Doctor was about to answer her when his eye caught the clock on the mantel. Layla looks at him in confusion seeing him freeze as he looks at the clock and she looks towards it, but she sees that it is broken, and there is a loud ticking in the room. The Doctor walks slowly to Layla's side. "Okay, that's scary."

Layla realizes that something has spooked the Doctor, and she can see that the ticking wasn't coming from the clock, but what was it coming from? Reinette looks at him oddly again. "You're scared of a broken clock?"

He turns away from the clock and scans the room as best as he can in the dark. "Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. Because, you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room, then what's that?" He pauses and lets her hear the ticking that they heard. "Because, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man."

The Doctor reaches down and grips Layla's hand as he faces where the sound is coming from. Reinette seems to understand that something is wrong and like any other child, she becomes scared. "What is it?"

"Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do, break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone." He walks slowly towards Reinette and pulls Layla behind him, wanting her to stay close to him. "Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge." He warns Reinette.

"It will be alright Sweetheart. Trust him and do what he says. He only means the best for you." Layla could see that Reinette was terrified and looked like she was about to cry from being scared.

The Doctor bends down and waves his screwdriver under the bed, but something knocks it out of his hand. He looks up at Reinette and whispers to her. "Reinette, don't look round." Layla sucks in a breath as she sees a figure with a mask on standing directly behind Reinette.

The Doctor slowly reaches towards the child and gently holds her head and looks deeply into her eyes. He pulls back and his expression changes to one of anger. "You've been scanning her brain. What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe for?"

"I don't understand. It wants me?" Reinette gathers her courage and turns to the man behind her. "You want me?"

"Not yet. You are incomplete." The man said with a voice that didn't sound like a person.

"Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete?" The man didn't respond and the Doctor grits his teeth. "You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?"

The man still doesn't answer and walks around the bed and lifts up his arm. A blade comes out of his hand as he faces the Doctor and Layla.

"Monsieur, Madam, be careful."

The Doctor looks at Reinette softly as he pulls Layla behind him and backs away. "Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares." The man slashes at them and the Doctor dodges while continuing to keep Layla behind him. "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?" The man slashes again, but the Doctor moves out of the way and the blade gets stuck in the mantlepiece.

"What do monsters have nightmares about?"

The Doctor looks for the switch and activates it causing the fireplace to rotate again. Before it closes all the way, Reinette is able to hear the Doctor tell her. "Me!"

Getting back to the ship, the Doctor pushes Layla further away from the man as he gets his blade out from the mantlepiece. Mickey and Rose are still in the room and Rose looks at the Doctor worried and calls him name.

The Doctor spots something and quickly runs towards it, grabbing a tube from a nearby rack and sprays the contents on the man causing it to seize up. Mickey looks at the thing in the Doctor's hand impressed. "Excellent. Ice gun."

The Doctor shakes his head. "Fire extinguisher."

"Mickey, one thing to learn, if the Doctor ever has a gun, then it is an imposter. The Doctor doesn't handle weapons, and doesn't like dealing with people who do." Layla tells Mickey. She remembers the time when he did have a gun in his hands and how it was pointed at a Dalek. And she remembers how when she seen him with it, that she didn't think it was the Doctor anymore. Since that heartbreaking day when he came to the realization that he lost his species, but his enemies continued to live, he has not held a gun again with the intention of using it. She doesn't count the Defabricator on Game Station, because he had no intention of using it, just intimating them with it. He willingly gave it to the employees because he didn't want to touch it anymore and gave them the chance to shoot him with it.

"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked. She was creeped out by the mask it was wearing.

"Here." The Doctor tells her as he looks at the man.

"So, why is it dressed like that?" Mickey didn't see how the outfit it was wearing matched what he imagined the fifty-first century would have for clothing.

"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework. Shame about the face." He removes the mask from the man and they can all see that it is not a man, but a droid. The clockwork in the head was a dead giveaway.

The Doctor looks at the droid in awe. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous!" But not as gorgeous as Layla of course. "Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got the chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and by the way, count those." He circles both sides of his chest where his hearts are. "It would be a crime; it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me." Layla laughs at the creepy grin that Doctor gives the android as he holds his screwdriver up threateningly.

Before the Doctor can do anything though, the droid beams away and he pouts. "Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board."

"What is it?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor ignores her though and grabs Layla's hand and pulls her towards the fireplace. "Don't go looking for it!"

"Where are you going?" Rose demanded to know. Why was he taking Layla with him?

"Back in a sec." He flips the switch on the fireplace again and the Doctor and Layla rotate with it.

Rose huffs and grabs the fire extinguisher like a gun and Mickey looks at her hesitantly. "He said not to look for it."

Rose gives him a smirk; this wouldn't be the first time she did something he said not to do. "Yeah, he did." She raises an eyebrow and wonders if Mickey will join her in defying the Doctor. Mickey smiles at her before he grabs another fire extinguisher and she laughs slightly. "Now you're getting it."

Xxxxxx

The Doctor wanted Layla to come, because he thought that she did well with keeping Reinette calm before, but mainly because he wants her with him. There are droids threatening the universe for a reason not yet known to him and he wants her close to him where he can protect her.

They spin back to Reinette's room and see that they have come when it is daylight, and that it looks different than it had before. The Doctor looks around the room taking in the changes but doesn't really think anything of it. "Reinette? Just checking you're okay." He plays a few notes on the harp as they wait for the child to come back.

"Ahem." Both the Doctor and Layla look towards a young woman as she looks at them curiously.

"Oh. Hello. Er, we were just looking for Reinette. This is still her room, isn't it? We've been away, not sure how long." The Doctor slightly stumbles through his explanation as two why two strangers would be in a child's room. Layla looks at the woman and notes the similarities between this woman and Reinette and wondered if they were siblings.

"Reinette! We're ready to go." They hear another woman call from a different room.

"Go to the carriage, mother. I will join you there." The woman, now known as Reinette, shouts to her mum. She looks between the Doctor and Layla, but focuses more on the Doctor, and it causes a twinge in Layla's heart recognizing the look. "It is customary, I think, to have imaginary friends only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."

The Doctor looks at Reinette in shock not realizing that the time difference had been so great compared to their side. "Reinette! Well, goodness, how you've grown."

"And you two do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you." She says coyly.

The Doctor was feeling uncomfortable by her tone and the look in her eyes. "Right, yes, sorry. Listen, lovely to catch up, but better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man and woman, do we?"

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

"Yeah, I suppose you have. We came the quick route." He shot a look over towards Layla mentally asking for help with this. Reinette had slowly been approaching him and he didn't like it.

Reinette came even closer and raised her hand to the Doctor's check and gently touched him, ignoring the flinch, thinking it was from the unexpected touch. "You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."

It was like Layla wasn't even there. Reinette was focusing all of her attention onto the Doctor and Layla was now the one to feel uncomfortable. She had a pinching in her chest and there was the feeling of possessiveness that rose in her when Reinette touched her Doctor. The Doctor kept glancing at Layla, hoping to get through to her that he didn't like the situation either. He looks towards Reinette and tries to pulls away from her so they weren't touching anymore. "Oh, you never want to listen to reason."

"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient." They hear a male voice call to Reinette.

Reinette grouses. "A moment!" She studies the Doctor intently. "So many questions. So little time." She rushes him, presses up against him and gives him a kiss pushing him up against the wall.

The Doctor and Layla freeze. The Doctor was shocked at the unexpected kiss and he could feel the bond raging at him for having intimate contact with another. He wanted to push her off of him, but he also didn't want to touch her. He wasn't responding to the kiss and tried to turn his head, but she gripped him and held him still. Layla had felt the same feelings going through her as she did when Cassandra kissed the Doctor using Rose's body. She remembered the Doctor saying that he wanted her to pull of others when they did that, but she wasn't sure if he was just talking about Rose, or all females. Still, her jealously and possessiveness were running high and she unfroze and was about to march over to them and pull her off the Doctor, just in case he meant all women, when Reinette's servant calls for her again. "Mademoiselle Poisson!"

Reinette pulls off of him and runs out of the room. The servant had entered the room just as she was leaving and sees the Doctor frozen in shock and Layla simmering with anger. The Doctor realized he recognized the name that the servant had called. "Poisson? Reinette Poisson? No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madam Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!"

"Who the hell are you two?!" The servant demanded.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Layla! See ya!" He quickly grabs Layla's hand and pulled her towards the fireplace and activates the switch sending them back to the spaceship. The Doctor can feel Layla shaking slightly from holding her hand. He looks at her and is somewhat happy to see the jealousy and possessiveness in her face. He doesn't want her to think he wanted or enjoyed that though. "Weren't you supposed to help me if something like that happened?"

Layla shrugged uncomfortably. "I wasn't sure if that was meant just for Rose, or other women as well. Sorry."

"Yes, I don't want to kiss or be kissed by other women." He looked at her intensely wanting her to see that it was just her that he wanted that with. He made sure to emphasize the other in his sentence. He was hoping that she would understand what he was meaning.

Layla gives him a smile. She was happy that he didn't want to kiss others. It seemed as if he was about to kiss her when they went back to 1879, so maybe that means, he does want to kiss, but only her. Seeing that she does have some understanding of what he was saying smiles back. But then frowns when he realizes how quiet it is. He looks around the room and quickly notices that his companions are missing. "Rose! Mickey! Every time."

He huffs and pulls Layla with him down the halls. "Every time, it's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship." They both stop when they hear something that should definitely not be on a spaceship. Turning around, they see a beautiful white horse with a bridle and saddle and look at it blankly.

They look at each other and shrug before going back to looking for the missing companions. "Rose? Mickey?" The Doctor turns around and sees that the horse is now following them. "Will you stop following us. I'm not your mother, and neither is she." Layla laughs in amusement as she reaches back and pets the horse. The Doctor opens a pair of white wooden doors and light floods into the corridor. He looks at the horse and then at the image in front of him. "So, this is where you came from, eh, horsey?"

The Doctor pulls them through and they see a lovely garden and they happen to see Reinette and another woman walking close by. "Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked." Reinette laughs.

"Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateauroux is ill and close to death." Her friend replied is faux sadness.

"Yes. I am devastated." Reinette replies back in the same tone.

"Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable. The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress. You love the King, of course?"

Reinette looks at her friend in amusement. "He is the King, and I love him with all my heart. And I look forward to meeting him." The Doctor and Layla were watching the scene from behind a stone urn on a wall. An animal call draws Reinette's attention and she turns towards where the Doctor and Layla are and they quickly hide before she can see them.

Her friend looks at her worriedly. "Is something wrong, my dear?"

Reinette looks confused. She thought she had seen something that was familiar to her, but there is nothing and no one where she was looking. "Not wrong, no." Because what would be wrong about meeting her imaginary friends that she thought she had seen.

"Every woman in Paris knows your ambitions." Her friend brings the conversation back to the original topic.

"Every woman in Paris shares them." She smirks.

"You know of course that the King is to attend the Yew Tree ball?"

"As am I." Reinette knew that she would be able to impress the King and she was confident that she would be his new mistress. The Doctor pulls Layla out of the scene when he knows they are safe from being spotted and they go back to looking for Rose and Mickey.

Xxxxxx

Mickey are Rose are having their own adventure at the same time as the Doctor. Mickey looks up at a camera that he found and looks at it in wonder at the technology from this time period. He is freaked out to see an eyeball blinking at him and wonders at the weird adaptations to technology in the future. "Are you looking at me?" He wonders why he isn't more freaked out by seeing an eyeball in a camera, but he guesses that his mind is just accepting that things are different in the future than what he is used to. The camera extends from the bulkhead and gets a closer look at him. Rose comes over and looks at the camera with him. When Rose is close, Mickey points to what he was looking at. "Look at this. That's an eye in there. That's a real eye."

The camera goes back into the bulkhead. Rose opens a small hatch nearby and they hear a thump-thump, thump-thump sound. They look down along the wiring and pipping and Mickey looks at it curiously. "What is that? What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in."

He turns to Rose who looks faintly green and like she was about to get sick. "It's a heart, Mickey. It's a human heart." Now Mickey looks like he is about to be sick and wonders why the ship was hooked up like this.

They continue wandering around the spaceship and Mickey tries to reason out what they seen. "Maybe it wasn't a real heart."

Rose scoffs. "Of course it was a real heart."

The blasé way that Rose said that caused Mickey to look at her worryingly. "Is this normal for you? Is this an average day?"

Rose gives him a smile, not too concerned with what they found. "Life with the Doctor, Mickey? No more average days."

They walk up to a large window and can see that on the other side was not the same as the ship they were on. "It's France again. We can see France." Mickey was pretty excited to be seeing a futuristic spaceship, but the 18th century at the same time.

Rose looks around the 'window.' "I think we're looking through a mirror."

They see the King enter the room with two other men and Mickey scoffs at the importance the man exudes, not knowing it was the King of France. "Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?"

They were so wrapped up in watching the image on the mirror, that they didn't hear the Doctor and Layla walk up behind them. "The King of France." The Doctor tells him and both him and Layla snicker at Mickey and Rose jumping in surprise.

"Oh, here's trouble. What you been up to?" Rose looked at him knowing that he had been up to something, 'cos he always was. But she was confused by the look on both his and Layla's face.

"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man." The Doctor pauses as the horse from before cuts in with a 'neigh'. "Oh, and we met a horse."

"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey wondered looking at the big white horse.

"Mickey, what's pre-revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." He grunts when Layla reaches over and pinches his side and gives him a look. Mickey is amused though that the Doctor got in trouble. "See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history, but not just any old history." He continues as if he wasn't just reprimanded. Reinette enters the room and they see her curtsy to the King. The Doctor points to the woman. "Hers. Time windows deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?"

Rose looks at the beautiful woman and looks at her with jealousy wondering why they always had to deal with beautiful women that all ended up becoming too close to the Doctor for her liking. "Who is she?"

The Doctor looked at Layla and then back towards Reinette. "Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived."

"So, she has plans of being the Queen, then?" Rose hadn't looked away from the woman to notice the awkward look on his face and see that he was avoiding looking at her. He could still feel her touch and his body felt wrong. He needed to remove Reinette's touch with Layla's, but couldn't do anything about it now. Especially with what he needs to talk to her about. He is hoping that after this adventure, he could distract Mickey and Rose so he could talk to her about the bond.

"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress."

Rose laughs and looks between Mickey and Layla. "Oh, I get it. Camilla." Mickey laughs and Layla pulls at face at the mention of the woman.

"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time flat she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title. Madame de Pompadour."

They watch as the King and his servants leave the room and Reinette walks closer to them. She starts to check her appearance in front of them, not knowing that her mirror was a window to them. "The Queen must have loved her." Rose thinks with derision.

"Oh, she did. They get on very well." He surprised her.

"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey looked at the Doctor oddly. He didn't see how they would get along. People didn't like it when their spouse cheated on them.

"France." He shrugs as if to say 'what else is there to say.' "It's a different planet."

They watch as Reinette suddenly turns around and faces a corner in her room. "How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!" The figure turns and faces her, having their back towards her to begin with. They all watch as the person is revealed to be a clockwork droid. The Doctor grabs the fire extinguisher from Mickey, rotates the mirror and walks through quickly facing the droid. Layla, Mickey, and Rose follow after him.

"Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown." The Doctor address her, but faces the droid. He doesn't want to really look at her and give her more attention than he has to after the last interaction he had with her.

"Fireplace man!" Reinette's face lights up and it's like she only sees the Doctor and the others in the room disappear.

The Doctor sprays the droid with the fire extinguisher and throws it back to Mickey to hold. They watch it creak slightly and then freeze. Mickey grips the extinguisher tightly and gulps harshly. "What's it doing?"

"Switching back on. Melting the ice." The Doctor tells him calmly as he makes sure to stand in front of Layla to keep her out of the droid's view.

"And then what?" The girls, having been on adventures with the Doctor before already knew, but this was Mickey's first real adventure and wasn't sure of how things worked yet.

"Then it kills everyone in the room. Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself." The droid refuses to answer and the Doctor grits his teeth in annoyance. He flicks his gaze towards Reinette. "Order it to answer me."

Reinette raises her brow. "Why should it listen to me?"

He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it."

Reinette straightens her posture and takes on a regal tone. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you."

The droid droops a little. "I am repair droid seven."

"What happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage." Was the Doctor's first question.

"Ion storm. Eighty-two percent systems failure."

The Doctor's brows furrowed. "That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?"

"We did not have the parts."

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

While Mickey found some humor in what the droid said, Layla was getting a bad feeling about the situation. Why wouldn't they just open one of those portals to a place where they could get the parts they needed? And that doesn't explain what happened to the crew. If it hasn't moved in over a year. They could have run out of food, but then where are the bodies?

"What happened to the crew? Where are they?" The Doctor was also wondering where the crew was.

The droid just repeated its last statement. "We did not have the parts."

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

"We did not have the parts."

It was here that Layla finally realized what had happened to the crew and her eyes widened. She reached out and gripped the Doctor's arm tightly and he looked at her confused at her reaction but turned back to the droid. "Fifty people don't just disappear. Where… Oh…" Now he understood Layla's reaction. "You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."

Mickey's face scrunched up. "The crew?" Were the crew robots too? He had forgotten what he had found with Rose when they were exploring.

It was then that Rose remembered what they found and looked a little green again. "We found a camera with an eye in it, and there was a heart wired into machinery."

The Doctor nodded his head as if it what happened made perfect sense. "It was just doing what it was programmed to do. Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu. What did you say the flight deck smelt of?"

"Someone cooking." Rose whispered. Mickey looked like he was going to hurl and like he slightly regretted coming along with them.

"Flesh plus heat. Barbecue." He looks at the droid for one thing he didn't understand. "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?"

"One more part is required."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Then why haven't you taken it?"

"She is incomplete."

She? Why do they want Reinette. I understand using the crew, that was all they had at the time, but why go back in time for another human instead of a repair yard? "What. So, that's the plan, then. Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet."

"Why her? You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?" Rose cuts in with a really good question.

"We are the same."

"We are not the same. We are in no sense the same." Reinette snaps at the droid.

"We are the same."

"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!" She snarls at it.

"Reinette, no!" The Doctor shouts as the droid teleports out of the room. He turns back towards his companions. "It's back on the ship. Rose, take Mickey and Arthur. Get after it. Follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does."

"Arthur?" Rose questions confused on who the hell Arthur was. Mickey and Layla looked at him confused as well.

He just shrugs impishly. "Good name for a horse."

Layla laughs and Rose points her finger at him. "No, you're not keeping the horse."

"I let you keep Mickey. Now go! Go! Go!" He pushes them towards the mirror and closes it behind them. He turns back towards Layla and Reinette. He is about to do something he really, really, really, doesn't want to, but in order to figure out what these droids want, he has to. He looks at Layla pained. "I need you to be on watch, I need to find out why they want her."

Layla looks confused as to why he looks like he is in pain but gives him a nod and moves off to the side to where she can see the doorway and she can still see them in case the droid comes back and can get to them quickly to protect them. She doesn't know what he is about to do, but it seems like it is something that he doesn't want to do.

The Doctor strengthens his resolve and he can already feel the bond fighting against him as it knows what he is about to do and knows that it is wrong to do it with another like this. It was different when he did something similar when Reinette was a child; children don't affect the bond. She was now an adult that has already shown that she fancied him. He turns to Reinette and doesn't give her much eye contact, their previous encounter still fresh in his mind and the wrongness still coating his skin. "Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for. There's only one way I can do that. It won't hurt a bit." He steps closer to her and raises his hands towards her head and hesitates. He looks towards Layla and then back at Reinette and grimaces before touching her temple and preforming a mind meld.

Reinette gasps in wonder and awe. "Fireplace man, you are inside my mind." As Layla hears this, something twinges in her heart and she doesn't understand why. She doesn't know that it is the bond letting her know that it is wrong. That it is an intimate act. That it is for her and not others. All she knows is that she doesn't like the idea of the Doctor in the minds of other people, going through their thoughts and feelings, their inner workings.

"Oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here." The Doctor mumbles uncomfortably.

"You are in my memories. You walk among them." Reinette was just so fascinated that she didn't notice that the Doctor was not happy about this situation like she was, that he was uncomfortable.

The Doctor just wanted to find out what the droids wanted with her and get out as quickly as possible. He also wanted to see as little as possible. "If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and close it. I won't look. Oh, actually there's a door just there. You might want to cl… Oh, actually, several."

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

"I don't make a habit of it." He said it more for the benefit of Layla than Reinette. He wanted her to know that he did not do this often and wouldn't do it unless he absolutely had to, like now and not with pleasure or happiness.

"How can you resist?"

He ignores the questions. This was going on a lot longer than he wanted already. He remembered that the droid said that she wasn't ready yet, old enough. "What age are you?"

"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." He doesn't see her smirk slyly, but Layla does and she narrows her eyes angrily at the woman.

"No, not my question, theirs." He states firmly. "You're twenty-three." He took the answer from her mind when she wouldn't answer him quick enough. "And for some reason, that means you're not old enough." She flinches slightly but he grips her forehead firmly. "Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect."

"Oh, such a lonely childhood." She murmurs quietly.

"It'll pass. Stay with me."

"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So, very, very alone. But not anymore, are you?" Layla's head snaps to Reinette when she calls him Doctor and looks at her with wide eyes and wonders how she knows his title.

The Doctor's face scrunches up. "What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your live. Wait… when did you start calling me Doctor?"

Reinette ignores him. "Such a lonely little boy. Always lonely as an adult. Until her. How did you bear it?"

The Doctor breaks the link and steps away from her, his eyes are wide and he is gaping at her like a fish. "How did you do that?" Now that he realizes what she did, the bond is screaming at him. He was so wrapped up in trying to figure out what the droids wanted, he didn't even hear the bond warn him what she was doing. He didn't even notice the wrongness of what she did until it was too late. It feels like his mind and body have been coated with a layer of sludgy oil.

Reinette just smirks at him slyly and looks up at him from under her lashes. "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh, Doctor. My lonely Doctor. Dance with me."

Layla's heart lurches as she realizes that not only did the Doctor go through Reinette's memories, Reinette had also gone through the Doctor's. And who knew what she gleamed from them. He was a very private person. She would like to say she knew him well, but really, she doesn't. And they have traveled together for a while. She knows that he kept most of his life to himself and she was hurt that this woman was able to know these intimate details of the man she loved.

The Doctor continued to back away from her and towards Layla. The bond was still screaming at him and he needed to touch Layla. He wanted her comfort. He was shaking his head. "I can't."

Reinette refused to give up. "Dance with me."

"This is the night you dance with the King."

"Then first, I shall make him jealous."

"I can't. I won't." He tells her firmly. He grabs Layla's hand and grips it tightly. He gives Reinette a hard look for what she did, an anger overtaking him as he feels Layla shaking. He realizes that her side of the bond must have been kicking in and would have alerted her to the wrongness of what was happening and it makes him angry at what she did.

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

He pales. Only Layla was allowed to know his name. He hopes that Reinette had not been able to find out about that. "What did you see." His tone was slightly dark, the usual tone the Doctor would take was not there. This was the tone the Doctor took when it involved something that hurt his Promised One.

Reinette realized she has overstepped as she glances between the two in front of her. She sees how angry the Doctor is at her and she sighs that she couldn't win his heart. She saw in his memories how much he loved her, but in her time, married men had mistresses and second loves all the time. Maybe she could make it up to them. "That there comes a time, Time Lord, where every lonely little boy must learn how to dance. Come with me Layla, I know the perfect dress for you. The Doctor will have to beat men off with a stick to keep you to himself."

The Doctor and Layla looked at her in confusion, but followed after her. The Doctor came along as well without releasing Layla's hand, the bond not having calmed down yet. Reinette seems to understand that they need some time to calm down and she takes the longer route to where she wants to go so by the time she gets there, she can tell that they have both calmed down. The Doctor more so since he was angrier. "Please wait out here Doctor, I shall have one of the maids escort you to the waiting area and we will meet you there after I ready Layla for the ball. That is where she will enter and you can be her escort for the night.

The Doctor pouts slightly at having to leave Layla, but is getting excited about being able to attend an eighteenth-century French ball as a date with his Promised One. If only they didn't have to figure out what the droids wanted and they could spend a couple days here, he could tell her about the bond. Maybe he can find out some of her favorite things and take her to planets that are similar. He knows she likes Harry Potter, but there isn't any type of magic around, there are similar type of creatures though. Wait a minute… wasn't Layla and Rose talking once about a book that Layla loved? What was it? What was it? Hmm… He is pondering and going over that day in his mind trying to replay the conversation in his mind and see if he can remember what book she was talking about as the maid led him to the waiting area where he could see other men waiting for their dates to arrive. He is pacing around and running his hands through his hair making it stand up wildly and the men are looking at him oddly, not that he notices since he is so deep in thought.

"Ah!" He stops as he finally remembers. He looks around as he realizes he says that aloud and sees that people are stifling laughter and clears his throat. "Sorry, just remembered what I had been trying to think of." It was the Hobbit! Which is perfect! I know just where to take her to tell her about the bond and to ask her to bond with me. Now I just need to find a way to ditch Mickey and Rose so we can go alone and have privacy. Maybe I can say that I need to refuel the Tardis and that they should go visit Jackie while they are there and have Layla come back early and sneak away and take her on a trip and be back before Rose and Mickey even notice they were gone. Easy peasy.

"Attention gentlemen!" A servant of the King rang a small bell to gather the attention of everyone present. "It is now time to announce the ladies. I will call out your name and you will wait at the bottom of the stairs. The lady that the gentleman is escorting will be called and will walk down the stairs. You will then take them in hand and walk off to the side and wait for all of the ladies to be called and then lastly the Queen shall be called and the King will have the first dance with his Queen. After that, everyone else is able to join in on the dancing as well as the dinner that is provided.

The servant starts to call out the men's names for them to stand at the bottom of the stairs and then the woman is announced. The Doctor tunes this all out as he starts to plan out his trip to that he wants to take Layla on, but he still listens for his own name to be called. He has almost everything mentally planned out when his name is finally called out. He was getting antsy. He has been away from Layla too long after what happened earlier and he wanted to be by her. He goes to stand at the bottom of the stairs and waits eagerly for her to arrive.

"Now presenting, Dame Layla Stevenson."

The Doctor feels like he has been punched in the gut as he takes her in. The dress she is wearing is similar in style to the one she wore in 1869 when they dealt with the Gelth, but this one was the color of his lovely Tardis and it looked phenomenal on her. She also had on long gloves that covered her tattoos that would cause a scandal in this time period. He is having to bite his cheek hard enough to taste blood to prevent the same physical reaction he had the first time he seen her in a dress like that. She walks down to him slowly, but he doesn't mind as he gets to devour her with his gaze.

She makes it down to him and he holds out his arm for her to slide hers around and he bends down and whispers, making sure his breath fans across her ear. "You look exquisite, Layla."

She gives him a beaming smile. "While you didn't change…" She smirks and glances up. "I love the sex hair look." She chuckles as he tries to pat down his hair a little bit.

They walk off to the side and the Doctor looks smug knowing that his date is the best one there. He then gets slightly moody as he realizes how many men, and even some of the women, are looking at his Promised One with lust in their eyes. He can see some of the challenging looks the men are giving him. They can think all they want. They won't get a chance with her at all. She is mine. Mine! He thinks darkly. The Doctor could tell that it was going to be a hard night for his restraint. Both physically when it comes to Layla, and on his anger when it comes to others intentions towards her. He is going to enjoy this time that he has with her though, without the interruption of Mickey and Rose. He looks down at her discreetly and admires the dress again, going to have to find a way to make sure we take that with us when we leave.

After the Queen was announced and she had her dance with the King, other couples moved onto the dance floor. The Doctor faced Layla and held out his hand. "Care to dance with me?"

"As long as you don't bust a hip, Grandpa, I'd love to dance. I just hope this regeneration is better at dancing than the last." She gives him a cheeky smile.

He growls softly and pulls her to him closely. "Didn't I warn you about calling me Grandpa? You're looking to be punished, aren't you? And I can dance. I'm a great dancer. I'll prove it to you and dance with you all night."

She shivers slightly as she feels his chest rumble against hers and looks up at him from under her lashes. "You'll have to show me your best dance moves and I can show you mine…Grandpa. Then we can see who is the better dancer."

The Doctor spins her out and quickly pulls her back with her spinning into his arms. Their faces are close together and they are staring at each other intensely. "Well, I'd better get started, I am centuries old. I have many years' worth of dance moves to show you." He gets her into an intimate waltz position and leads her away onto the dance floor enjoying the look of surprise on her face at the fact that he can actually dance. He makes sure to steer her away from where he can see that there are groups of single men to prevent them from trying to cut in and sends glares at those that look like they had planned on coming over. He had no intentions of letting anyone take her away from him that night.

Xxxxxx

Rose and Mickey were walking down the corridor and Mickey kept giving looking at her with a smug smile on his lips. She refused to look at him. Her lips were pursed in a pout and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest.

"So, that Doctor, eh?" Mickey couldn't help it, he just had to rub it in Rose's face.

"What are you talking about?" Rose pretended not to know, but she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well... Madame de Pompadour. Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra." Layla. Not that he would say that aloud. Oh, he could see it. It was only Rose that was being willfully blind. He was only being like this to Rose in hopes that she would see that the Doctor wasn't who she had built him up to be. He knew that Rose was under the assumption that the Doctor had feelings for her, but with the way that he acted and looked at Layla, and the way he acted and looked at Rose; there was no way that the Doctor had any type of romantic feelings for her. He wanted Rose to come back to him because she wanted to be with him, not because she was rejected and had an unrequited love for the Doctor.

That was one of the main reasons he decided to come travel with them. It was his last-ditch effort to try to gain Rose's affection back. If this didn't work, he didn't know what else he could do. He didn't know if he even wanted to do anything else, honestly. He has already put in so much of himself into this relationship trying to make it work and it has taken its toll on his heart.

"Cleopatra. He mentioned her once." Rose scoffed and totally ignored the other two woman mentioned.

"Yeah, but he called her Cleo."

Rose was about to snap at him when she saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned to see what it was. "Mickey!" She sees a droid grab Mickey by the throat and inject him with a needle but didn't notice the droid coming up behind her and was grabbed from behind. She felt the pin prick of a needle and she started to feel drowsy. A tingling, heavy sensation was in her arms and legs and her blinks were getting longer until everything went dark.

Xxxxxx

The droids have Mickey and Rose strapped to slanted tables by the time they are starting to wake up from the sedation. They are both a little groggy and have a minor headache. Mickey feels a little queasy to the stomach and Rose feels a little sleepy still and is trying to wake up fully. "What's going on? Doctor?" Rose tries to move her arms and she can't. She feels a little lethargic, but she can tell that her arms are strapped down.

Mickey is a little more awake than Rose is and is looking around in wide eyed panic. "Rose? They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!" He doesn't mention Layla. He knows that she wouldn't leave them to die, but he doesn't know where she is. He just hopes that she is alright. Okay, he knows the Doctor wouldn't leave them to die either, but the Doctor is a little more unpredictable than Layla.

"You are compatible." A droid tells them.

Rose was feeling a little better and decided to do what the Doctor would do in a situation like this. Talk. "Well, you might want to think about that. You really, really, might because me and Mickey, we didn't come here alone. Oh no. and trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver and body guard."

The droid ignores her and extends its blade. It has a little cogged wheel spinning at the end. Mickey whimpers quietly. Rose's eyes widen and she gulps harshly. She brings out her trump card, the creature all species seem to fear. "Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them? They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the…"

She cuts off when they hear a crash and a bang somewhere in the ship. Directly after that they can hear some drunken off-key singing and giggling. "I could've danced all night; I could've danced all night…"

"They called him the... They called him the, the…" Rose tries again.

The Doctor and Layla stumble into the room leaning on each other, both holding each other up. Layla's hair was mussed up, the sleeves of her dress were hanging lower than they were designed to and she was missing a glove. The Doctor was carrying a goblet and wearing his tie around his head, his shirt half untucked and his collar sticking up. "And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a thou. Have you met the French? My god, they know how to party." The Doctor swings his arm out as he stumbles and almost causing him and Layla to fall and she giggles drunkenly.

"Your singing could wake a drunken goblin." Layla snickers at the pout on the Doctor's face.

Rose is too irritated at her situation to realize that something is wrong with her friend, but Mickey wasn't. He knew that Layla didn't drink. She absolutely refused to touch any type of alcohol, no matter what. He narrowed his eyes at her and caught her eye. His eyes widened slightly at the wink she sent him before she went back to swaying around and he felt an instant relief that one, his best friend was alright, and two, he and Rose would be alright.

Rose just sneered at them taking in Layla's dress and realizing that while they were about to be chopped up, they had been partying. "Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm."

The Doctor knew that Rose was irritated with them, but he could not care any less than he does now. He does not regret the night he had with Layla and he hopes they have more like it in the future. He was also happy that Layla was able to keep the dress and will make sure to ask his lovely Tardis to store it away when she takes it off when she changes. "Oh, you sound just like your mother." He slurs at her. Layla doesn't have to fake laugh at that, because when Jackie is in a strop, she does sound like that. Rose is definitely Jackie's daughter. The Doctor almost blows the act by grinning and laughing with her, but is able to restrain himself.

"What've you been doing? Where've you two been?" The jealousy could be heard by everyone in her voice. They had obviously been in France, and at a social event, but they were both 'drunk' and disheveled.

"Well, among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good."

"No way, Doctor. Even the King agreed with me. He did not like them either and said that the pear was far superior. He said I had excellent taste."

The Doctor had a sour expression on his face and pinched her side, tickling her. He only said that because he wanted to bed you. He only had lust in his eyes as he looked at you. He is a King that only cares about pleasure. Because of that the royal authority declined due to his ineffectual rule and that led to the French Revolution. Luckily, I was able to keep him from dancing with you.

Clearing his throat, he turns towards the droids "Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favorite. Well favorite droid that is. You're the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown Thickania. And so's your dad." The Doctor spins around and faces Mickey and Rose. "Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is thirty-seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty-seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. So, that's what you're missing isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do."

"The brain is compatible." Was the only explanation the droid gave the time-travelers about why they wanted to kill Reinette.

The Doctor scoffed. "Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." Both the Doctor and Layla quit swaying like they are drunk. The Doctor removes the droids mask and pours the contents of the glass on top of its head causing it to seize up. "Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." He moves around the droid to the console and flips a switch causing all the droids in the room to hunch over as they shut off. "Right, you two, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."

The Doctor uses his sonic to get Rose out of her restraints and then tosses it to Layla who uses it to get Mickey out of his. He gives her a quick hug in thanks. The Doctor is working at the console trying to pinpoint the other droids on the ship.

"Are those things safe?" Mickey asks, his hand in the air halfway to touching the droid closest to him.

"Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled form here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets." He was feeling around his pockets trying to find them and Layla was laughing.

"You lost them in that bet Doctor, remember? You bet that you could go the longest without talking and you were the first to crack within a minute and a half."

A quick 'pfft' escapes Mickey's lips and he slaps his hands over his mouth as he tries to stifle his laughter. He had the mental image of the Doctor sitting at a table with others taking part of the bet. He is bouncing in his seat; his face is red with the restraint of holding in his words and his cheeks are puffed out and mouth pinched closed tightly as if physically holding back the words from coming out before the dam bursts and he starts blurting out things like his life depends on it. The Doctor gives him the stink eye and Layla laughs with him. Rose looks annoyed again at the reminder that Layla and Doctor were at a party together.

"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-seven?" Rose asked wanting to bring the Doctor's attention onto her.

He didn't look at her though and continued to work on to console. "With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that. The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"

A bell rings and they all look around confused. "What's that?" Rose was looking all around the console searching for what it could have been.

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. Incoming message?"

"From who?" Mickey asked this time now that he got his laughter under control.

"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override." They all jump slightly when the first droid reactivates and the anti-oil spills out onto from its finger onto the Doctor's shoes. "Well, that was a bit clever." The off switch to the rest of the droids flips back on. "Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

"She is complete. It begins." The droid answers before it teleports out.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"Well, the Doctor's sandshoes got peed on for one thing, the droids turned back on, and Reinette is now thirty-seven." Layla was ticking off each thing with her fingers.

"These are not sandshoes! Anyways, one of them must have found the right time window. Now, it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head."

Xxxxxx

Rose wasn't happy…again. Why did she have to talk to this woman. Layla knew her better. Why couldn't she do it? Why did she get to stay back with the Doctor again? Walking into the room, Rose is able to see an aged Reinette and Rose can see that she has aged well. "Madame de Pompadour. Please, don't scream or anything. I don't know if you remember me, but we haven't got a lot of time. I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years."

Reinette did look confused at first, but she took in Rose's clothes. She remembers Layla's clothes from before and recognition enters her eyes. "Five years?"

Rose nods. "Sometime after your thirty-seventh birthday. I er, I can't give you an exact date. It's a bit random. But they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us, it's already happening. I'm sorry, it's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better."

Reinette sits more regally and raises her brow. "Then be exact, and I will be attentive."

"There isn't time." Rose said exasperated.

"There are five years."

"For you. I haven't got five minutes."

"Then be concise." Reinette was trusting these people with her life and she wanted more information. This child could do her the courtesy and give her what she could in the time she had to spare.

Rose's shoulders slump but she gives in. "Er, there's, say, a vessel, a ship, a sort of sky ship, and it's full of, well, you. Different bits of your life in different rooms, all jumbled up." Rose thought that Reinette was confused and basically gave up trying to explain. "I told you it was complicated. Sorry."

Reinette raised her brow again and said in a haughty tone. "There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book, so that they may step from one to the other without increase of age while I, weary traveler, must always take the slower path."

Rose gapes at her. "They were right about you."

Reinette gives her a small smile and nods. "So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?"

"The Doctor says to keep them talking. They're kind of programmed to respond to you now. You won't be able to stop them, but you might be able to delay them a bit."

"Until?"

"Until the Doctor can get there."

"He's coming, then? Just the Doctor?"

Rose looks at her confused. Who else was she expecting? Layla? "He promises."

"But he cannot make his promises in person?"

Rose shook her head. She was now a little glad that the Doctor sent her for this task. She could tell that Reinette has taken a liking to the Doctor and the less time she spends with him, the better for her. "He'll be there when you need him. That's the way it's got to be."

Reinette gets this far off look in her eye. She thinks back to the haunting memories that she had once seen in the Doctor's mind. "It's the way it always was. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other."

Rose chuckles softly. "Tell me about it. The thing is, you weren't supposed to have either. Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you."

Reinette was an intelligent woman. She understood that these creatures were messing with history, but she also understood that Rose meant more about how she was not supposed to have the Doctor. Reinette could tell that Rose also had feelings for the Doctor and while Reinette had feelings for him, she knows that his heart lies with someone else. Someone that he would trade for nothing and no one. Someone that means more to him than life itself and Reinette would never do anything to ruin a love like that. A love she had always wished she could have had for herself. "Supposed to happen?" She asked her sharply. "What does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel."

"Rose? Rose?" They hear Mickey call and both Rose and Reinette go around the corner and Mickey comes out from behind a tapestry. "Rose! The time window where she's thirty-seven. We found it. Right under our noses."

Reinette was curious as to where this man had come from and went behind the tapestry. Rose runs after her. "No, you can't go in there, the Doctor will go mad…"

Reinette looks around in wonder at the advancement compared to her world. "So, this is their world." She is startled when she hears screams in the distance. "What was that?"

"The time window. The Doctor fixed an audio link." Mickey tells her softly knowing she would be scared.

Reinette takes a shaky breath. "Those screams. Is that my future?"

Rose might be jealous of the woman, but she would like to think that she isn't a cruel person. She places her hand on Reinette's arm and gently squeezes it, giving her some comfort. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

Reinette takes a deep breath and seems to strengthen her resolve. "Then I must take the slower path."

"Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time."

"That's my voice." Reinette whispered in awe.

"Rose, come on. We've got to go. There's, there's a problem." Mickey was gently tugging on Rose's arm. The Doctor should have already been gone and taken care of the problem. If they were still hearing this, then something was wrong.

Rose looks at Mickey. "Give me a moment." He nods and leaves. She looks towards Reinette. "Are you okay?"

Reinette tries to look brave, but then she stops pretending. "No, I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we, Rose, the Doctor is worth the monsters." She turns around and goes back through the tapestry. The last thing she hears is her own voice calling out.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

Xxxxxx

Rose runs back to where the others are and sees Doctor pacing, Layla tying her shoes having changed from the ballroom gown she was wearing into her regular clothing, and Mickey looking completely lost. "You found it, then?"

The Doctor doesn't stop his pacing, but he answers her. "They knew I was coming. They blocked it off."

Rose looks at the time window and she can see the ballroom and everyone gathered there including the older Reinette and the droids. "I don't get it. How come they got in there?"

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

Rose didn't want Reinette to die, even if she was jealous, and the Doctor looked like he was at a loss of what to do. "Well, we'll go in the Tardis!"

"We can't use the Tardis. We're part of the events now."

"It's just like on game station Rose." Layla tells her absent mindlessly, she too was trying to think of a way to save Reinette.

"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey asked semi-calmly.

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

"We don't have a truck." He said it a little needlessly.

It was meant more to himself, but the Doctor was agitated and snapped at him. "I know we don't have a truck!" Layla wasn't really paying full attention to their conversation. There was a thought niggling in her mind and she was trying to chase it.

"Well, we've got to try something." Rose was now joining in on the agitation.

"Ah!" Layla ran off, but no one noticed with their mood plummeting.

"No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back."

After a few minutes, Layla came walking back into the room with Arthurs reins in her hands and petting him on top of his nose. "Well, Doctor. We might not have a truck, but what about Arthur?"

The Doctor stops pacing and looks at her with wide eyes. He runs through the different options in his mind and throws out a few instantly. He decides to take a chance with one. It is a huge chance. A monumental one, and it would ruin his plans to take her on their special date, but it is a chance he just has to take.

He runs to her and gives her a big hug and a kiss to the forehead, doing it in a way that Rose wouldn't see him give it. "You're brilliant!" He goes to the side and acts like he is struggling to get his foot in the stirrup so Layla comes over and holds it for him and he swings himself up onto Arthur. He reaches down and with a strength that was unknown to Layla, and one that makes her instantly aroused and think of a multitude of fantasies, he grabs her arm and pulls her up behind him and digs his heals into Arthur slightly to get him to go. Arthur takes off immediately and Layla has to grab onto the Doctor tightly to not fall off, not that he has really let her go yet, and they race towards the time window and plow right through it to the other side. When they leave, they don't know that Rose is panicking about the Doctor being gone and why he took Layla with him and Mickey was panicking about both Layla and the Doctor being gone and how they were going to get home.

Xxxxxx

"Such commotion. Such distressing noise. Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French. I have made a decision. And my decision is no, I shall not be going with you today. I have seen your world, and I have no desire to set foot there again." Reinette was calm and poise.

"We do not require your feet." Two droids that were dressed like females pushed Reinette to her knees.

Reinette refused to bow her head. "You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now. You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed and if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." She had total faith that the Doctor will fulfill his promise and save her.

The room was quiet with the threat of the droids, but it seemed to get even quieter when they all hear a horse neigh and then the sound of galloping hooves. The mirror over the mantlepiece smashes and the Doctor with Layla behind him on Arthur jump through it. He dismounts and helps Layla down and he stays close by to where she has to slide down his body to get down from the horse and she has to resist the temptation to wrap her legs around his waist and cling to him. Especially since it seems like he could hold her up like that. Something she definitely wants to test.

The Doctor inwardly groans and realizes that he should not have done that, because now he wants to drag her off and do it again. He turns towards Reinette and clears his throat. "Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day."

"What the hell is going on?" The King looked between the Doctor, his mistress, the smashed mirror, and his gaze lingered a little on Layla and her 21st century fitted clothing. This caused the Doctor to step in front of her blocking his view knowing that the King was always one for pleasure of the skin.

Reinette put her hand on the King's arm, but addressed the Doctor. "Oh, this is my lover, the King of France."

"Yeah?" The Doctor asked uncaringly. "Well, I'm the Lord of Time, and I'm here to fix the clock." He turns to the droid and takes off the mask. The people in the crowd gasp loudly as they see all the gears and cogs. The droid points its blade at the Doctor's throat and the Doctor makes sure that Layla is behind him. "Forget it. It's over. For you and for us. Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand." He looked up at where the mirror used to be and just sees a plain brick wall. He winces when he thinks about Layla's reaction when she realizes that they are now stuck in 1727 and she thinks she will die here. Well, she will, if she doesn't bond with me. That was the huge chance he took. He took that choice away from her, but he didn't have time to ask her, and he panicked. Doesn't make it right, but if she says yes, he can't say he would regret it and if she says no, he would do everything in his power to make sure she has the best life she could ever have in this time period. But he thinks that his chances are good from the signals he has been getting from her.

"The link with the ship is broken. No way back." He winces when he hears Layla gasp. She must have not heard that this would happy back on the ship. "You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." The droids don't do anything for a few seconds and then they all hunch over and one even falls backwards and breaks apart. The Doctor turns towards Reinette. "Are you alright?" He knows he needs to talk to Layla, but he doesn't know what look he would see on her face at this moment, and he needs to prepare he hearts.

"What happened to them?" Reinette asked him curiously.

"They've stopped. They have no purpose now." The Doctor strengthens his resolve and turns towards Layla and his hearts hurt as she looks at him with sorrow. He lifts up his arm and she tucks herself close to his chest and he holds her tightly. Reinette isn't sure what is wrong, but she motions for the Doctor to follow her and she leads them to a room for them to rest in.

Xxxxxx

Since they have been in the room, Layla hasn't said a single word to him. He isn't sure if she is mad at him or just doesn't have anything to say. He doesn't want to ask her like this. While she is sad or possibly mad at him. He wants to ask her while she is smiling and looking at him with eyes shining with happiness. But, if she says yes, then maybe it would make her happy in the end. Now he just needs gather the nerve to ask her. He has been wanting to ask her for so long and now the time has come and he is clamming up. Looking up at the night sky he doesn't notice Reinette walk into the room and take in the scene.

"You know all their names, don't you? I saw that in your mind. The name of every star." Reinette watches as both Layla and Doctor flinch when she brings up that she was in his mind.

"What's in a name? Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything."

"Like the Doctor."

"Like Madame de Pompadour."

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

He shrugged. "From time to time."

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

He could see that Layla had turned slightly and was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Mmm. Pretty much."

Reinette smiled coyly. Maybe you can have feelings for more than one. "Yet, you still came."

"Yeah, we did, didn't we? Catch us doing that again." He said it a little bit sourly seeing that Layla was indeed upset with him because she didn't know that she didn't have to die in this time period.

"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?"

Layla looked at him more now and looked so hopeful and it hurt that he had to crush that hope in her. "When the mirror broke, the shock would have severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window. I'll, I'll pay for any damage. Er, that's a thought, I'm going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?" He quirked his lips up slightly when he heard Layla snort in amusement.

"So, here you are, my lonely angel, stuck on the slow path with me."

His face twisted and he could see that Layla's did as well and that made him happy that even though she is upset with him, she still had feelings for him. I am not your anything nor am I on any path with you. "To the slow path." He says vaguely.

"It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path."

"Well, we're not going anywhere."

Reinette raises her brow with a knowing smile. "Oh, aren't you? Take my hand?"

He grimaces and shakes his head slightly and reaches for Layla's hand instead and looks towards Reinette and sees that she is looking at him with amusement and realized that she was teasing him. Reinette leads them to her bedroom and the Doctor's jaw drops at what he sees. She smiles as she sees the happiness start to appear on both of their faces. "It's not a copy, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."

"The fireplace. The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?" The Doctor dragged Layla over to it and was looking around for the connections that would take them back to the ship in the future.

"Many years ago, in the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?" She was half hopeful it did work, because she wanted the sad look to leave the Doctor's face, and half hoping it didn't work because then maybe she could win the Doctor's hearts or at least a part of them.

"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke, that's what saved it. But the link is basically physical, and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if we're lucky. If we're very, very, very, very, very, very, lucky… ah ha!"

"What?"

"Loose connection." He gets out his sonic screwdriver and uses is on the spot. "Need to get a man in." He makes sure to have a tight grip on Layla's waist and taps the fireplace in a certain spot. There is a clunk sound. "Wish us luck!" Reinette's 'no!' was heard as the fireplace turned taking the Doctor and Layla away. The Doctor quickly turns and bends down calling for Reinette. He feels grateful that she gave them a way home a way where he can make it up to Layla for his blunder with her thinking she was going to live and die in the 18th century. "Madame de Pompadour! Still want to see those stars?"

She gives him a beaming smile. "More than anything."

"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag."

She looks at him confused. "Am I going somewhere?"

He just gives her an impish grin. "Go to the window. Pick a star, any star." He gets up and finds Rose and Mickey. Rose practically jumps onto the Doctor to give him a hug and his flinch is hidden as if he was startled by her hug, he squirms out as quickly as he can. "How long did you wait?"

"Five and a half hours."

The Doctor gives her a smile. "Great. Always wait five and a half hours." He looks around for Mickey and sees that he is hugging Layla tightly and he restrains the growl in his throat when he sees how upset they both are. He knows that it is his fault how upset they are. He needs to talk to Layla before she goes to bed tonight, not about the bond, but at least tell her that he had a plan to where she wouldn't have died in the 18th century. Maybe that would at least get her curious and keep her from being mad and upset with him.

"Where've you been?" Rose's question distracted the Doctor from his thoughts.

"Explain later." He waves off. "Into the Tardis. Be with you in a sec." He quickly goes back to the fireplace and turns it around to pick Reinette up. He decided to leave Layla behind with Mickey for the comfort and because she was upset with him and probably didn't want to be around him right now. "Reinette? You there, Reinette?" He walks further into the darkened room. "Reinette? Oh, hello."

The King turns towards the Doctor and looks at him surprised. "You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six."

"Ah."

The King takes a longer look at the Doctor. "Good Lord. She was right. She said you never looked a day older. So many years since I saw you last, but not a day of it on your face." The King went to a desk and pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to the Doctor. "She spoke of you many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are." He turns towards the window as they hear the crack of a whip. "There she goes." The Doctor looks out and sees a hearse go does the driveway in the pouring rain and his hearts hurt that he wasn't able to take Reinette on her one trip as thanks for getting him back to his home. "Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty-three when she died. Too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard. What does she say?" The Doctor didn't answer him though and tucked the letter into his jacket pocket. The King nodded. "Of course. Quite right."

Xxxxxx

Back on the Tardis everything is quite solemn. The Doctor had been quiet since he came back and the atmosphere had been bleak. "Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?" That was the one thing that Rose couldn't figure out.

The Doctor shrugged. "We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused. The Tardis can close down the time windows now that the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."

"I've been thinking about that by the way. Maybe it had to do with the name? They wanted her when she was thirty-seven because the ship was thirty-seven years old. They could have gone to a repair shop, but they were using humans instead. They opened time windows to a specific time period, looking for a specific person. What was so special about that one human; that is all she was. But who she was when she was living, what she did in life, was how she earned her title, earned her place in history books. They wanted her brain to fix the most important part of the ship. The command circuit. It's all connected. The ship, the brain, the name, the command circuit. What do people do with famous names? They christen ships with them. They named the ship after her." It was the most that Layla had said in hours.

"It's highly possible, and you have an uncanny ability to be right about things like this." The Doctor sends her a small grin and is pleased that she sends him a small one back.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked.

"I'm always alright." Was his automatic response to when he was asked that question by anyone other than Layla and he was glad that Layla hadn't asked him that question. She sends him a narrowed eye glance and he looks at her pleadingly. She seems to understand that he wants her to wait to ask when it is just the two of them and she nods discretely. He sighs in relief.

The Doctor is sending glances at Layla, which Mickey notices. Layla is sending glances at Mickey, which the Doctor notices. Mickey is sending glances at the Doctor, which Layla notices, and they all realize that some things need to be aired out. Mickey grabs Rose's attention. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He starts talking to her to distract her from the fact that Layla had stayed behind to talk to the Doctor.

The Doctor goes and sits down next to the Layla. He hesitantly reached over and grabs her hand and is happy when he doesn't pull away from him. He sighs in happiness at being able to touch her again. He looks at her sadly and sees that she is looking at him with pained eyes. "I know I need to explain my actions. It was rash and I panicked. I have a really, really, really good reason as to why I took you with me. I really do. I had a plan. With my plan, you would not have died in the 18th century, I swear that. I didn't tell you my plan sooner because you were upset with me and it was something I wanted to tell you when you were happy and in a good mood, not sad and filled with pain. My plan was meant to be something wonderful and if you had gone through with it, I didn't want you to look back on it with negative emotions. I was trying to think of a way to fix the mess I made when Reinette did it for me, that is why I was going to take her on one trip, as a thank you for bringing us back home." He bites his tongue at the slip of him calling the Tardis their home.

She looks at him thoughtfully for a few minutes and takes in everything he says. She isn't sure what his plan was, but she has a feeling it has to deal with what he mentioned when they back in 1879 with the werewolf. "Can you tell me what you plan was now?"

He winces. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that. "I could. But it is connected to something I wanted to talk to you about, and I had a special day planned for that. When the whole, we would get stuck in the 18th century thing came up, I panicked and made a quick change to the original plan. However, now that we are home." Damn his tongue for the slip again, but it felt so right to say it. "I would like to go back to the original plan I had. I just need to find the perfect day and then I can tell you. If that is alright with you of course. I just want to make it special. It is a very important thing I want to talk about. It means a lot to me."

Layla feels a warmth go through her and the earnest way the Doctor is talking about setting up what essentially sounds like a romantic date. "If it means this much to you, of course I can wait." She squeezes his hand and tilts her head as she looks at him thoughtfully again.

"Hmm?"

"How are you really Doctor?"

His shoulders slump and he sighs. "I'm disappointed that by the time I got back to go pick her up, so much time had already passed, and she had died from being sick. I really was grateful to her for getting us home and I wanted to repay her." He pulls out the letter she wrote and holds it in his hand and looks at it but doesn't open it.

"Do you want me to leave while you read it?"

"Honestly? I don't even want to read it. I know that at times I can be oblivious, but I know that she had, somehow, in the short amount of time that she knew me, developed feelings for me. The kiss she forced on me being the first example." He gives a full body shiver and his face scrunches in disgust. "I imagine it is like most letters from time periods like hers, talking about how she wants to see me again and terms of endearments and proclamations of love. I don't feel that way about her and don't want to have the last memory of her helping us tainted by reading about her possible unrequited love for me."

Layla's eyebrows were raised high on her forehead. "I can understand that, the best memories I had of her was when she was a child. I think you should at least keep the letter. You could keep it sealed, and when you come across it, you can remember the good things about this adventure and not the bad. Isn't that what you try to do anyways?"

The Doctor gives her a beaming smile and a tight hug. He kisses her forehead gently, lingering slightly. He runs over to one of the grates and pulls it up and rummages around a bit and pulls up an old box. Opening it up reveals a lot of old papers. He tosses in the letter and closes the box before tossing it back under the grate again. "Well, I don't know about you Doctor, but after all that dancing, I'm exhausted. You sure do know how to wear a girl out. I'm surprised aren't napping like all the other grandpas." Layla squeaks and quickly takes off running down the halls as the Doctor tried to reach for the back of her knee to her most ticklish spot.

"What have I told you about calling me Grandpa! Come back and take your punishment!" The Tardis hummed in amusement as her Thief chased after his Promised One. She made sure to steer them away from Bad Wolf Flower and Future Defender. She was glad that her Thief was happier and he wasn't just pretending either. She also knows that her Thief loves it when his Promised One teases him like this. When she is sassy and sweet. When she makes her innuendos and sexual comments. When she touches him and when certain things that she wears catches his eye.

And she always redirects the ventilation in his room to where he is surrounded by her scent as his mind plays through the multiple fantasies that he would like to do with her. He has been alive a long time and been to many planets, past, present, and future. He has a lot of knowledge when it comes to the sensual arts and the Tardis knows that he is dying to use his knowledge on Layla. She also knows that after today, he might be feeling a little bit more…aggressive from the leers that were directed towards his Promised One at the ball. She only wished that the Promised One had enhanced senses like her Thief. Then she could redirect the ventilation to her room and use his scent to cause hers to spike to help him more by redirecting it back and forth fanning both of their desires. Ah well, after they bond and her senses enhance, they won't need my help with the ventilation and they will be able to take care of it themselves.

Checking back with her two favorite people, she sees that her Thief is tickling his Promised One but stops as she quickly reaches into his pocket and grabs one of his precious bananas and threatens to squish it in her hand if he doesn't stop. He freezes and she takes that moment to take off with her prize, laughing at tricking the Doctor. Realizing that she both escaped him and made off with his precious naner, he immediately chases after her, a giant smile on his face and a laugh escaping his throat.