Hey y'all, it's been awhile huh?
I don't have a crazy excuse, I've just been working a lot on my original story, finally have the first draft done and am mid-way through my second! Wooo!
Anyways, this fic hasn't left my mind, it's always been lingering in the back pestering me every time I listen to a song that reminds me of it.
If you are curious the song that reminds me of it the most is Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin.
watch?v=IN_FFmeQAC0&si=N7qx2kk6ivBiwkwB
Some of the reasons it reminds me of it unfortunately I cannot tell y'all at this time. But it'll be more clear later on.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the following chapter!
Girl in the Fireplace: Part One
Breakfast that morning had been made by what the Doctor suspected was the Tardis, he found food already present when he and Benedict ventured into the kitchen. They were, for obvious reasons, the first ones up.
Benedict went to the table first and sat down, looking curiously at the plate of food in front of him. It looked like eggs, bacon, beans, toast, and some waffles. Benedict and the Doctor's plates weren't as full as K and the humans.
Something the Doctor took note of.
"You know, there are very few human variants that require such little food and sleep that you do." He said as he sat in his seat, at his statement however, Benedict groaned and let his head drop slightly.
"This again?"
"I'm just making conversation." He said, and Benedict frowned pointing a fork at him.
"No, you are sticking your big nose where it doesn't need to be. I already told you, this body is a human mutt." He said determinately.
The Doctor sat back in his seat, fiddling with his sonic, "which, of course, seemed like a reasonable answer, until I found out that the Tardis was purposefully trying to stop me from scanning you." He countered and Benedict sighed, poking at his food.
"I knew you were fucking doing something last night." He grunted, "last time I sleep around you. Weirdo."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "you shouldn't be sleeping in the console room anyways, I'm sure you have a bedroom around here somewhere. Just go sleep there."
"What? And leave you alone with my sister?" He asked, and the Doctor sat up affronted.
"Leave me- what are you on about? I have been alone with her for hundreds of years!"
"Yes, and the results of that have you hitting her, piloting her incorrectly, and leaving the emergency breaks on. Not to mention you never can get us to any destination. Resulting in us showing up in random places and incorrect time periods." He sent the Doctor a look, "need I go on?"
"Well maybe that isn't my fault, maybe your sister is too opinionated!"
"Maybe you're just a shit pilot and she has to compensate for you." Benedict countered, and the Doctor huffed.
"You'd think you'd be nicer to the guy you're free-loading off." The Doctor snapped back, and Benedict huffed.
"Oh please, you can't convince me you think this is your job. If it is, you aren't very good at it."
"Oh? And you think you can do better?" The Doctor challenged, and Benedict scoffed.
"Think? I know I can do better."
"Oh really?"
Benedict nodded and the Doctor crossed his arms. "Alright then, you take the lead."
That caused the entity to frown, "excuse me?"
"You heard me. Wherever we end up today, you're in charge. Show me," he crossed his arms, "show me you can do better than I." He then shrugged, "don't worry when it becomes painfully obvious that you need me. I'll help you. But, if you ask for my help, you must tell me what your body really is. Because we both know it's not a variant human."
Benedict stared at him for a long moment before sitting back in his seat and jutting his chin up, "challenged accepted ya time-bastard."
"C'mon, this early?" Rose asked, she rubbed her face entering the kitchen. The Doctor glanced over.
"Don't worry Rose, we weren't fighting. We were making a deal."
Rose went over to the fridge and rubbed her face as she grabbed some water, "a deal?"
"Who's making a deal?" Mickey asked as he came in, he looked a bit livelier than Rose, and he was already dressed for the day while she was still in her pjs.
"Benedict and I." The Doctor said as he stood and went to the fridge to grab a drink as well.
"Oh? What kind of deal is it then?" Rose asked and Benedict folded his hands behind his head.
"The Doctor is taking a step back this venture. Leaving me in charge." He grinned, leaving both humans to stare at him a moment before Rose turned to the Doctor.
"Uh…Doctor are you sure about that?" She asked and Mickey shifted.
"Yeah…no offense man, but like…" Mickey trailed looking uncertain. Benedict frowned at them.
"What the hell are you going on about? I'm a fantastic leader. And I've saved all your asses several times now."
The humans glanced at each other, and then at the Doctor.
The time lord sighed, "I'll still be there to make sure he doesn't kill anyone." He sent Benedict a look. "But he will be taking the lead."
Benedict stood up and clapped a hand on Mickey's shoulder causing the human to flinch. "See? Everything will be GREAT."
After K joined them and received breakfast, everyone went off to get ready. Well. Mostly Rose. The men of the group had dressed earlier on.
In the console room waited all four guys, K was sitting in the captain's chair swinging his legs and looking around. He still seemed fascinated by the amount of space around them.
Benedict was at the monitor, with the Doctor hovering nearby looking vaguely uncomfortable at the idea of him being there.
Mickey glanced over at them and shifted. "So, uh…Benedict." He sounded uncertain as the entity looked up at his name, "where are we?"
"51st century, human, the Diagmar Cluster." He left the monitor as Rose entered the room.
"That's pretty far." She said and went over to Mickey giving him a smile, "you excited?"
He gave her a smile, "yeah," he glanced at Benedict, "bit nervous, but yeah, pretty excited."
Benedict glanced back at them, "oh please, at least I checked to see if we had oxygen before just waltzing out there." He sent the Doctor a look and the time-lord huffed as he shrugged on his coat.
The entity opened the doors first and stepped out, closely followed by the others, the Doctor waited for K to exit before following suit and shutting the doors behind him.
As they entered, the group took in the spaceship around them. There were parts scattered all around and Benedict picked up some kind of metal rod before putting it down and inhaling deeply.
"It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?" Rose asked glancing at the Doctor, the time-lord opened his mouth-
"No. No one alive at least." Benedict cut him off as he scrunched up his nose, "which is odd, cos I smell flesh." He turned on his heel, "Doctor, use your obnoxious glowstick and run a scan."
The time-lord raised an eyebrow, "glowstick?"
"You know what I mean." Then he held up a hand as the Doctor opened his mouth, "and before you say, 'oh ho-ho you need my help already?' Just remember, you ask me all the time to sniff the place out like a hound dog. So, I, as a responsible leader, am using my available resources. You and your glowstick are one of them."
The Doctor blinked at him, "I don't…say ho-ho." He then frowned and turned to Rose, "do I say ho-ho?"
She looked a little amused, "no, I don't think I've heard you say that."
"Well, that's a lie, he just did. Twice." Benedict said before turning and sniffing again frowning to himself and stepping closer to a wall, his head tilting. "That's weird."
"What's weird?" Rose asked coming over as the Doctor looked down at the console before him. The thing looked like a mess, parts strewn about, dust and cobwebs collecting. Wherever the crew went, they haven't been here in a long time.
He pulled out his sonic and ran it over the console, his brow pinching. "that's a bit odd." He moved aside some loose parts and pulled on his glasses.
"It smells…like wood burning." Benedict said, brushing a hand over the wall as his brow furrowed, "there's…a fireplace behind this wall." He then looked over it trying to find some way of opening the door. When he didn't spot a handle he went back to the console, on the opposite side of the Doctor.
"If this is a spaceship…and the crew is gone…where did they go?" Mickey asked, and Benedict hummed.
"Somewhere other than here, the only lifeforms aboard are us and whatever is behind that wall." He said causing everyone to look at him.
"Someone is behind there? I thought you said there was a fire back there." Rose said, and Benedict lifted his head to face her.
"They aren't in the fire. There is a whole ass room back there." He looked down at the console and tossed a switch, then the wall he was referring to hissed before sliding open to reveal an ornate looking fireplace.
"Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship." The Doctor said, approaching the fireplace, Benedict stepped over to it as well, though he crouched down to face the fire.
As he did the Doctor looked over the design. "18th century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an 18th century French fireplace." He said sounding confused.
"And it's double sided. Looks like a female's bedroom." Benedict said, Rose, however, frowned and looked out the porthole on the same wall.
"There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look." She said, however only K looked over to the porthole.
"Ah, the female in question." Benedict said, causing the Doctor to lean over, followed by Rose.
On the other side of the fireplace there was a young, pale, blonde girl. She looked immensely confused at their presence.
"Female?" She inquired, and Benedict hummed.
"Indeed, and unless you want to be called female for as long as our interaction lasts, tell me your name." He said, and the girl blinked looking befuddled.
"Reinette."
"Reinette, eh? Interesting name. So, this is France, right? What part of France?" He asked and the girl tilted her head.
"Paris, of course." She said and Benedict hummed and nodded.
"Right, yeah, course."
"Monsieur, what are you doing in my fireplace?" Reinette asked and Benedict raised an eyebrow.
"Well obviously I'm checking to make sure this fireplace is up to code. Which, I gotta say, you barely passed. I'd use more ash rather than oak wood in the future. Mucks it up less." He said, and the Doctor leaned down more.
"Excuse me…do you mind telling us what year it is?" The girl looked up at him confused.
"It's seventeen hundred and twenty-seven."
"Right, lovely. One of my favorites. August is rubbish though. Stay indoors." With that he stood up and Benedict hummed.
"Right, good, now that we've done with our inspection, I think it's time to head off to the other fireplaces. Get some sleep." He stood and they all heard the girl wish him a good night before her side went silent.
Benedict watched the wall next to him a moment before shoving his hands in his pockets.
"You said this was the 51st century." Mickey pointed out and Benedict hummed.
"Indeed, I did, and I was not incorrect." He pointed to the ground, "this is the 51st century." He pointed to the fireplace, "that is seventeen twenty-seven." He turned to face the ornate warmer and hummed. "Which means, this ship, with no living crew has somehow managed to generate enough power to punch a hole in time."
"Mmm, must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink." The Doctor said, and Benedict turned to him brow furrowed.
"What's that?" Mickey asked glancing between the two aliens.
"No idea. Just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door." The Doctor said grinning at Rose, she smiled in return.
"Right, yes, well now to figure out why they are doing it." Benedict said, turning back to the fireplace. He began to look it over.
"If that is France…shouldn't she be speaking like…I dunno…French?" Mickey asked, "she was speaking English though. Like proper English." Rose smiled and came over, hugging him around his shoulders.
"That's the Tardis. Translates for you."
"What's English?" K asked suddenly pulling their attention to him. He'd sat down on the ground gazing up at them.
The Doctor turned to him, "it's a language. There are lots of them, English is just the one we all speak." He explained, "so the Tardis translates to the most common tongue."
K blinked and then pointed to himself, "do I speak English?"
"Well, no, not completely at least. You speak a mix of it and Dalek, to make it easier, the Tardis translate what you say to what we can understand and visa versa. Understand?" He asked and K paused a moment before slowly nodding.
"Oh, would you look at that." Benedict said, pulling their attention to him. He glanced up at them and flashed a grin, "I found a switch."
"A switch? What for-" The Doctor cut himself off as suddenly Benedict flipped the switch, and the entirety of the fireplace did a 360 all the way around. Taking Benedict with it.
"Did he just…" Rose started, and the Doctor crouched down to look through the fireplace, but all he could see was Benedict's legs.
Benedict blinked as he looked around the room, and the child sleeping on the bed. He looked over her for a moment and tilted his head, she was weeks older than when they'd last spoke. Interesting.
He glanced back at the fireplace and spotted the others behind it. He could probably speak to them, but he found he didn't want to.
Stepping away, he went over to the window and peered out of it curiously, it was raining. He could smell the moisture carrying into the house through the miniscule cracks in the window's sealant.
A gasp caused him to glance over his shoulder and at Reinette who'd woken at his presence.
"Good senses. Could use some work but good all the same." He amended, before turning to her fully and stepping out of the shadows, "worry not Reinette, tis I your friendly fireplace inspector. Since we last spoke, I was promoted to window inspector…" He trailed off as his eyes fell to her bed, or rather, what was under it. "Hmm."
"Window…?" Reinette trailed her brows furrowing.
"Yes, but it looks like I might get another promotion." He stepped over and she tracked him as he approached the side of her bed. "Do me a favor and stay in the center of the bed. No hands or feet hanging over the edge." he said, and she blinked, her brows furrowing.
"Why?"
"You ever heard of monsters under your bed Reinette?" He asked, keeping his eyes fixed on what appeared to be an automaton under her bed.
"I am not scared of monsters." The girl said looking affronted at his insinuation that she would be.
"Oh? And whys that?"
"Because monsters aren't real." She said with all the authority a seven-year-old could have. He let out a short chuckle.
"Well, that's where you are wrong." He crouched down slowly this time looking up at her as she stared down at him wide eyed, "monsters are very much real. More real than most things really. Don't forget that."
"I…sir I don't understand." she whispered, though she looked more frightened than before.
"Well of course not, I'm not finished yet." She blinked and he continued, "monsters are real, and yes, they are scary. But you need to remember something Reinette." He flashed her a grin, "there are always bigger fish in the sea." With that, he reached under the bed and grabbed the automaton yanking it out from under the bed. Reinette gasped but Benedict grabbed it by the back of its neck and yanked it to its feet. In response it brought up its hand and a knife to his throat. The entity let out a scoff.
"Your blade is stupid looking." He grabbed it with his other hand and snapped it in half. "And fragile."
"Wh…what is that thing?" Reinette gasped, her blanket clutched close and pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were blown wide and she looked a few shades paler then before.
Her heart was also beating twice as fast.
"Deep breaths Reinette. He's not going to harm you. Not now." He released the thing and took a step back.
"Monsieur!" The girl cried earning his attention, her eyes were on his hand instead of the creature, "you're hurt." He blinked and spared a glance to his bloodied hand; he sighed before using his free one to undo his tie.
"Right, that's obnoxious. Forget about it sometimes." He took off his tie and tossed the broken blade piece into the fire, he wrapped his hand up. Then he looked up at the bot, "Anyways, if he had been intending to harm you, he would've done it already." His head tilted, "nah, you're here for a reason, what's that?"
The bot failed to respond, and Benedict hummed, "silent type, eh? Alright, I'll play along." He went over to Reinette and gazed down at her. She looked up at him but spared frequent glances at the robot.
"Ah, now that is interesting." He stood up and glanced over his shoulder at the bot, "and weird." He tilted his head, "you punched a hole in the universe to scan a little girl's brain? Whys that?" The bot refused to answer again, and Benedict huffed. "I don't like this game."
"I don't understand. It wants me? You want me?" She turned her attention to the automaton.
"Not yet. You are incomplete." The bot said, and Benedict whirled on it fully.
"What? You answer to her?"
Of course, it failed to respond. Benedict gritted his teeth and turned back to Reinette.
"Alrighty then, Reinette, can you ask what it means by 'incomplete'?"
Reinette looked genuinely confused, but gave a little nod, she turned to face the bot only to gasp.
"Monsieur!"
Benedict whirled around and ducked as the bot used its other blade to take a swipe at his neck. He ducked around the bot and huffed as he stood again. "Attacking a man with his back turned? You have no honor sir." It swiped at him again and Benedict dodged once more. "Man, and we were making progress. You mad I found out your little trick?" Another swipe, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Monsieur please be careful!" She said, and Benedict hummed.
"Ah, but careful is boring Reinette." He ducked under another swipe and when he stood, he shot out his hand and grabbed the droid by its neck and threw it in the direction of the fireplace. It managed to recover itself, but with its back facing Benedict, he of course, kicked it squarely in the center of its back. Sending it right into the fireplace. In its flailing, the remaining whole blade got stuck in the mantle. Benedict smirked as it began to try and dislodge its weapon.
"That's why you don't have stupid blades." He turned to look at Reinette, "don't you agree?" The girl, however, was staring at the bot still looking frightened. Benedict hummed. "Ease up little lady." He turned to face her fully blocking her view of the bot. "He can't hurt you." He paused, "how about this." She looked at him at that, "you hear that noise? The ticking?" Slowly Reinette nodded, "that's a clock yeah? But the clock on your mantle is broken. Shoulda noticed that sooner, but I was distracted by the rain." He tapped his own ears, "you have good senses, you ever feel like something is wrong and you hear that ticking, check all the clocks around you."
"And…and what if they are there? What if one is around?" She asked, her eyes wide.
"Good question, just keep it talking, it listens to you. I'm pretty good at finding monsters."
"But…you're blindfolded sir! How can you-" There was a thud as the bot broke free from the mantle, Benedict glanced over his shoulder, before back at her as she turned to it wide eyed.
"Looks like we're out of time Reinette." He straightened, "remember what I said about the ticking." He tapped his ear, and then turned, "alright, ya over glorified toaster lets go back to where you belong." The bot slashed at him again and Benedict ducked under its arm and moved behind it, he grabbed it by the back of its neck again and dragged it by its heels toward the fireplace, despite its jerked and spasmed. When they reached the fireplace, Benedict leaned over the bot's shoulder. "I doubt you'll sleep again tonight, so, watch the rain, it's fun." With that, he threw the switch and the fireplace rotated once again.
"Doctor, shouldn't you like…I dunno, go in there?" Rose asked nervously, the Doctor watched the scene for another moment before standing with a breath.
"He won't hurt her."
"How the hell do you know that?" Mickey asked, "cos last time we didn't think he'd kill someone their chest was caved in by his foot." He insisted, before looking to Rose, "when I was going to free the other students…I found him in the maths room covered in blood and surrounded by the guts of those…aliens things!" He said, and Rose opened her mouth looking hesitant but closed it again.
The Doctor sighed, "look…I'm trying something."
Rose paused, "what?"
"You saw what happened before. I can't just…" he huffed, "I mean what I said about trying to help him back the. I meant what I said about second chances. I'm trying to see what happens if I'm not constantly nagging him. It clearly didn't work. And next time it might not just be a murderous Krillitane." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You know how I feel about violence. And normally I wouldn't deal with someone like Benedict. But I can't change the fact that he is here and he is here to stay. I'd…rather have him on our side then not frankly."
"What? So, we letting him run free and do as he pleases?" Mickey asked, tossing out an arm. The Doctor looked annoyed.
"Of course not. I'm not stupid." He glanced at the fireplace, "I'm…testing him." He turned back to them, "I'm ninety nine percent sure that he won't hurt the girl. From what I could see he was just speaking with her." He paused and tilted his head, "okay. Ninety-five." He gave a slight shrug rubbing the back of his neck, "which are very good odds considering."
Before either Mickey or Rose could voice anymore concerns the fireplace rotated around again bringing Benedict…and some masked Frenchman with him.
Everyone jolted, the Doctor reacted first as he dodged a slash from some kind of blade the Frenchman had. Then he backed up a step.
"What the hell is that thing!?" Mickey asked, grabbing Rose and pulling her back.
K stood up and stared at it wide eyed.
"It's a robot." Benedict said before ripping off its mask and wig, revealing a glass head shaped dome over golden and ticking gears. It tried to swipe back at him but he deftly dodged. "He's a bit pissed off but easy enough to manage." He turned to the Doctor, "you mind grabbing something to make him go still?"
The Doctor put his glasses back on as he stared at the bot impressed.
"Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills!" He said, approaching slowly.
"Doctor!" Rose cried as the bot swiped at him again. The time-lord dodged but nodded.
"Right, bit upset, aren't we?" He looked around and spotted a tube of sorts on the wall, he went over and grabbed it. "Might want to move aside Benedict." He advised, and the entity hummed.
"Suppose that's effective, alright, the count of three,1…2….3!" He vanished from his spot and the Doctor let loose the item in his hand.
The bot was showered in what appeared to be some kind of extinguisher fluid.
Soon it was frozen in place.
Mickey paused and looked around, "wait where did he-"
"Boo."
"AHH!" Mickey cried jumping away from where Benedict now stood behind him. The entity grinned as the human pressed a hand to his heart. "The hell man!" He looked back at where he was before back to him. "How did you-"
"Magic." Benedict waved about his hands before stepping past the human and back to where the Doctor stood looking over the frozen automaton fascinated. "If your done drooling over it, I'll inform you about how I found our metal friend here."
The Doctor sent him a look, but Benedict just smirked as the time-lord straightened.
"Is Reinette, okay?" Rose asked first, and Benedict turned to her.
"Of course, she is, might have a fear of monsters now but everyone needs a healthy fear of those." He moved to adjust his tie only to frown and look at his hand. Rose followed his gaze and found his palm bloodstained and wrapped in his tie.
"Benedict!"
He looked up, "what? It's just a cut." He huffed, "I just forgot how fragile skin was is all."
"How the hell do you-"
"You were going to tell us what it was doing in her room?" The Doctor cut off Mickey and earned Benedict's attention.
"Hm? Oh, yes. This guy," he pointed to the frozen bot, "was hiding under Reinette's bed. Broke the clock in her room to cover up his own ticking too."
"Why would it be in her room?" Rose asked as the Doctor's brow furrowed.
"It was scanning her brain. What for, I'm not sure yet." The entity admitted.
"Well…we could just ask it." Mickey suggested, but Benedict hummed.
"No can-do human. It will only respond to Reinette."
"So…it's dressed up like that, for what, disguise?" Rose asked, and the Doctor nodded.
"Bit of blending in, good at a distance, look too close, ya might get suspicious." He muttered looking down at the mask on the ground.
"I supposed the next part is taking it apart and seeing what makes it tick." Benedict said looking over the bot a moment.
"Well, now that would be a travesty. Such…beautiful construction." The Doctor said looking over the bot again, "a true act of vandalism." He withdrew his sonic and hummed, "but that's never stopped me before-"
Just as the words exited his mouth the bot jerked causing everyone but Benedict to flinch back, but he merely lifted both arms and evaporated into a conglomerate of light and then vanished entirely.
"Look at that, you scared it off." Benedict said sending the Doctor a look. The time-lord huffed putting his sonic away.
"It was a short-range teleport. It's probably still on board."
"Right, well, why don't you and the humans venture off to go find it." He glanced back at the fireplace, "I'll pop in and check on Reinette, hopefully we can get this resolved before lunch." He said, and the Doctor pursed his lips.
"Are you sure I shouldn't come with you? This is history Benedict, if you say or do something it could alter the course of it." He said and Benedict sent him a look.
"I know the importance of history, Doctor." He then went to the fireplace and flipped the switch, causing it to spin around again.
The Doctor stared after him his brow furrowed.
"Doctor." Rose said, and he looked to her, she nodded her head toward the fireplace, "go after him."
The time-lord hesitated a moment before shaking his head. "No. No. I said I would let him lead this." He didn't look happy about it though. "C'mon, let's find out what's going on with this ship." He determined handing the extinguisher off to Rose. She nodded and adjusted it.
The Doctor couldn't help but spare a glance back at the fireplace before he headed off, the humans and K following.
Benedict looked around the daylight lit room with interest. Sunlight bled through the window and as he took a step further into space he inhaled deeply.
"More time has passed." He muttered before he stepped over to a harp tilting his head at it. It smelled like Reinette did, in fact the whole room did, which meant he was in the right place. The question was, how much time had passed?
"You're right, it doesn't look like a little girl's room anymore." He voiced in the open space as he spared another glance about.
Only for his eyes to stop as he watched a young woman walk down the hall and enter the room.
She came to a stop at the sight of him, her eyes widening briefly as they flashed with recognition. He tilted his head at that.
"Reinette, I presume?"
"Reinette! We're ready to go." Someone called pulling Benedict's attention to his left, in the distance, past several walls and rooms there was a woman standing as servants with bags milled about her, loading up a carriage.
"Go to the carriage, Mother. I will join you there." Reinette called back, though her eyes didn't leave Benedict. "It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence." She said, looking amused, Benedict hummed and took a step closer looking her over.
"Yes, I've been told that I'm notoriously persistent." He said and then tilted his head back, "ah, it's been about…what is it, fourteen years? Which would make you…twenty-one I think."
"An apt guess." She took a step closer as well. "Though you don't seem to show any sign of those years."
"Yes, that is common for me as well."
"Well. I find it terribly rude." She said, though she looked nonplussed.
Benedict couldn't help but grin, "really? That's certainly not the rudest thing I've done." He shoved his hands into his pockets, "now, I was just here to make sure you're still alive, which you clearly are. So, you should probably run off and meet with your mother. Can't have her walking in here and finding a strange man with you."
Reinette tilted her head and stepped closer closing the distance between them, Benedict took note and raised an eyebrow, "strange might be the right word, but stranger, most certainly not, after all, I've known you for fourteen years." She said, and Benedict puffed a breath.
"Know is a bit of a strong word."
"That is true, I hardly know a thing about you, my childhood hero." She said and both Benedict's eyebrows raised.
"Childhood hero huh?" He snorted, "perhaps the less you know the better."
"Oh, but I would like to know more." She said, now standing less than a foot before him. Benedict tilted his head and watched as she lifted a hand and brushed it over his cheek. Her eyes widened, as if slightly surprised.
"You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real." She breathed and Benedict puffed a breath.
"I'm also known for being absurd I suppose."
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient." Called a male voice this time, Benedict lifted his head and watched as a servant approached.
"A moment!" Reinette called over her shoulder before turning back to him as his gaze dropped to her. She gently brushed her fingers over the edge of his blindfold. "So many questions. So little time."
Then, taking Benedict by surprise, Reinette closed the distance between them, grabbing him by his vest and pressing her lips against his. Benedict made a noise and before he knew it, he was backed up against the fireplace as the woman began to kiss him deeply. He hardly knew how to respond, but he didn't push her away. Instead, he curiously responded back.
"Mademoiselle Poisson!" The servant called again, Benedict's eyes went from her and to the man that was entering the room, but before he could do anything about it, Reinette pulled away with a gasp, spared a glance at him before taking off running leaving the room and a confused Benedict.
The servant walked in but did not find anyone there. His brow furrowed but he shook his head and headed off.
Benedict, having vanished from the spot and reappeared behind a curtain let out a breath.
His brow furrowed deeply, and he brushed his thumb over his own lips.
With the Doctor at the lead running scans over everything Rose glanced down at K who walked quietly next to her. His wide eyes taking everything in.
"How you holding up?" She asked and he glanced up at her.
"Me? Oh…good." His eyes flickered around, "this place looks like the lab…but…more grimey." He muttered and Rose smiled a little.
"Just a bit messy yeah?" He nodded, but then paused as he spotted something.
"Is that an eye?" His question made Rose pause and follow his gaze. There she blinked at the sight of some kind of camera…with what looked to be an eye at the center.
"Oh my god." She breathed and the Doctor stopped looking back at her and then up to where they were looking.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Mickey asked joining her side.
The Doctor blinked and came over as well, "isn't that just wizard, they're using an actual eye for a camera lens…" he muttered, and Rose blinked turning to him.
"An eye? A proper eye?"
"Looks like it." They watched as the lens focused on them literally shuttering as it pulled forward to examine them more. The Doctor who was closest reeled back staring up at it.
However, it quickly pulled back up into the wall, still watching them.
Rose let out a breath and looked around, trying not to think about the real eye looking down at her. Instead, she paused as she heard thumping.
Like a heart.
She seized up, "Doctor…" she trailed, and he looked over to her his brow furrowing before pausing as he seemed to hear it too.
"Is that…?" Mickey asked as he caught on as well, the Doctor paused before going over to the wall and pressing an ear to it and slowly sliding down, only to hiss and recoil as he brushed up against something hot.
He then used his coat sleeve to pry open the little hatch and crouch down peering inside.
"What's in there?" Rose asked, stepping forward. The Doctor looked grim as he slowly closed the hatch.
"I think we just found the crew."
To say Benedict was bemused when he found a horse on the ship would be an understatement, but aside from that it didn't take him long to find the others milling about. He walked up, the horse trotting after.
When he approached, they looked varying degrees of mortified and Mickey was several shades paler.
"Well. You all are a sight for sore eyes." Benedict said as he came to a stop. They, however, seemed more interested in the horse behind him.
"Is that…?" Rose started and Mickey scoffed.
"It's a horse. It's a damn horse on a spaceship."
K, however, was staring at the creature wide eyed.
The Doctor let out a breath, "it must've come from one of the time windows." He then turned to Benedict, "how did that go by the way?"
Benedict smirked, "swimmingly."
Mickey eyed him a moment, "she is…still alive…yeah?"
Benedict turned to him, stared at him. The silence stretched long enough for Mickey to stiffen up.
"What? I feel like I should ask!"
"If I had plans to kill someone. It would not be her." Benedict said and despite it being a reassurance, his lingering gaze on Mickey made the man shift uncomfortably.
"Did you find out why they would be specifically targeting her?" The Doctor prompted breaking the tension.
"Hm?" The entity turned to the Doctor. "Oh, well, not really, she doesn't seem to know anything I did get a full name though. Reinette Poisson." He said only for the Doctor's eyes to widen.
"Poisson?" He asked and Benedict nodded, "Reinette Poisson?" Benedict nodded again but looked a little annoyed this time. The Doctor took a step back. "No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!" He said, and everyone watched him for a long moment.
"Uh, alright." Benedict said, "none of that explains why they want her though." He glanced at the group, "did you guys find anything?"
"Yes…though it's not nearly as uh, exciting." Rose said, "for whatever reason, the robots decided to use the…crew for parts of the ship." She explained delicately.
Benedict stared at her, "what are you talking about?" She opened her mouth, but he cut her off, "that's infinitely more exciting! Show me!" He motioned for her to do just that.
Rose blinked, pursed her lips but pointed up at the camera that still followed them. Benedict looked up and then tilted his head, a grin splitting over his face.
"That is so fucking clever. It won't last long, regardless of what you do to it flesh is going to decay…but it is fucking cool." Then he paused his brows furrowing. "But the question remains…how does Rennette fit into this?" He wondered, and then looked up at the group. "I think we need to find one of those machines again and try and get into it's programming. Has there been any sign of them?"
"Not that we've seen." Rose said, though her attention went to K who had ventured closer to her. He stayed behind her though and his eyes were fixed on the horse that was behind Benedict.
"Right. Well. I'm going to head back to find another window, you all keep looking." The entity ordered; the two humans nodded however the Doctor stepped over.
"Perhaps if I join you, we could figure out what's going on with Reinette." He suggested and Benedict stared at him for a long moment.
"Oh? And you think I can't do that?"
"That's not what I said." The time-lord countered smoothly. "I'm offering a suggestion."
As the two aliens had a stare down, the humans cast an uneasy glance at each other.
"Doctor I'm sure-"
"Fine. But you better listen to me." Benedict said, cutting Rose off. The Doctor let out a breath.
"Of course. Now. After you."
Benedict let out a breath and walked away, the Doctor started to follow only to turn and point to them.
"Return to where the Tardis, we will meet you there." He said sternly and Rose nodded back.
"Yeah, of course, see you there."
The Doctor eyed them for a moment before heading to where Benedict went. The horse trailing behind him.
Once they were gone, Rose let out a breath and adjusted the fire extinguisher gun in her hold.
"You think they'll both make it back?" Mickey asked, and Rose glanced at him amused.
"I'm sure they will Mickey." She let out a breath and turned, only to catch sight of K gazing after where they went. "Hey, you okay?"
K blinked and then turned to her and scratching at his head, "yeah…just uh…what was that creature with Benedict?" He asked, and Rose paused before blinking.
Of course he wouldn't know what a horse was.
Not that it mattered in his situation, but the realization made her frown slightly, did the Daleks even have animals?
"Oh, well that's a horse. It's a…uh, it's an animal." She explained, and K gazed up at her before tilting his head.
"What's an an…eemal?" He clumsily tried to pronounce it, something Rose couldn't help but bite back a smile at.
"It's uh…" she trailed, a frown on her face, how would one describe an animal? "you know, why don't you ask the Doctor when we see him again?"
K frowned slightly but nodded and looked around. Shoving his hands into the front pockets of his large hoodie.
Rose let out a breath and looked to Mickey, he looked slightly amused at her lack of any attempt. She elbowed him before letting out a breath, "alright, lets see if we can find anything else."
"But didn't the Doctor say to go back to where the Tardis was?" Mickey asked with a frown. Rose turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. He did."
"But we're not gonna do that."
"No, we aren't." She then turned to face K and Mickey. Both who looked uneasy at the prospect. "Look, Benedict is the one in charge today yea? And he did say that we needed to find out where that other robot is. Just cos the Doctor isn't with us doesn't mean we abandon what we were told to do."
At her statement K looked contemplative. But Mickey raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"You're really using Benedict as your excuse?"
But Rose waved him off, "it'll be fine. And even if it isn't, if we find something the Doctor won't care that we didn't listen." Mickey still looked doubtful, but Rose turned on her heel, "let's go boys!" With that she headed down the hallway. And two sets of footsteps behind her assured her that she was being followed.
"Oh, Katherine, you are too wicked." Reinette's voice was the first thing the two men heard as they exited the ship Benedict headed in the direction of it with the Doctor following.
The timelord spared frequent glances around at their environment, but his attention landed on Reinette and her companion as they turned the corner of a hedge.
Though he soon looked to Benedict as the entity continued to walk, intent upon talking to Reinette.
The Doctor cursed under his breath, they didn't need to make a scene, especially in such a public setting.
Clearly Benedict didn't get the memo.
The time-lord went for him, grabbing his forearm and yanking him back behind the wall half wall.
Benedict yanked away and fell back on his rear, his mouth opened by the Doctor slammed a hand over it.
His other hand went to his lips in a shushing motion.
Of course, the time-lord couldn't see Benedict's eyes, but he could feel their intensity boring down upon him through the blindfold.
There was a moment where the Doctor wasn't sure if he was going to retaliate. But with a hiss Benedict pulled back and sneered at the Doctor before looking at the wall.
The time-lord, however, had to look over the wall to see what was happening. The two women were in the middle of conversation.
"Yes. I am devastated." Reinette said, but despite her words, she in no way looked devastated by whatever Katherine had said.
The darker woman however nodded like she believed Reinette was.
"Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable. The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress." She then turned to Reinette, "you love the King, of course?"
The blond woman sniffed and glanced around the courtyard. "He is the King, and I love him with all my heart. And I look forward to meeting him." She said decisively.
However not even moments after, there was a bird call from behind the two aliens.
It attracted the attention of Reinette as she turned, the Doctor ducked down the moment she started turning, Benedict glanced at him with a slight smirk, but the Doctor rolled his eyes.
It was only when Benedict gave him a slight nod that the Doctor peered over the wall again.
"Is something wrong, my dear?" The woman with her asked, and Reinette shook her head.
"Not wrong, no."
With a breath, her companion looked around, "every woman in Paris knows your ambitions."
Reinette gave a little derisive, smile, "every woman in Paris shares them."
Katherine nodded, before turning to her, "you know of course that the King is to attend the Yew Tree ball?"
"As am I." Reinette said with a nod.
The two women made their way through the courtyard, and it was only when they were out of earshot that Benedict huffed a breath.
"Well, that was a waste of time." He grumbled before turning to the Doctor, "why the hell did you stop me?"
"We can't be making a scene." The time-lord said as he stood, Benedict followed suit though he gave the Doctor an annoyed look.
"You can't be serious."
"I am very serious." He countered and Benedict huffed.
"Well, then we should probably find another doorway. I don't sense any of those things here." He said as he turned and headed back toward the door to the ship.
The Doctor gazed after where Reinette went before following him, "you have any theories yet?" He prompted and Benedict glanced back at him.
"Some, but they aren't solid enough for me to be sure yet. The fact that they used the crew's body parts is suspicious. It's possible that they needed more parts so they are grabbing people."
"But why target Reinette specifically? And why waste so much power to get to France specifically? There are plenty of places where they could snatch people without anyone noticing." The Doctor said and Benedict hummed.
"There must be something important about her."
"Well, she is an important historical figure." The Doctor said and Benedict sighed.
"Yes, you're fangirling made that pretty obvious."
As the Doctor entered the ship, he turned to face Benedict who closed the door behind him. This doorway had used the door of a shed.
"Oh c'mon, you're telling me you aren't ecstatic to meet such influential figures?" He asked, and Benedict turned to him briefly before looking around the ship.
"I don't give a fuck honestly. She's a human like the rest of them." He looked to the Doctor, "I have no clue why you like them so much." He shrugged, "she's not even going to live the length of the already abysmally short lifespan of a human."
"So, because their lifespan is so short they aren't worth as much to you?" The Doctor asked and Benedict let out a huff.
"Tell me Doctor, why the hell should I care about something that is so easily perishable? By time they get interesting they already have one foot in the grave." He countered, and the Doctor sighed.
"Shouldn't they be more valuable and interesting because of their short lifespan? They don't have centuries or eons, they are given such a short allotment, and yet they manage to do so much with it. You can't say that isn't impressive." The time-lord offered, and Benedict huffed.
"I think you give them too much merit Doctor."
With that he headed off, the time-lord lingered back a moment, but he found he wasn't upset, no, he knew this was an opportunity.
He'd give Benedict humanity; he'd show him that there was value in life and especially in the lives of those who he deemed so insignificant.
He may not know what exactly Benedict was before, but he saw what he could be. He saw the potential buried in him, and the Doctor would happily foster the sprinkles of humanity and empathy buried within the hard shell of the entity with him.
Perhaps one day the Doctor wouldn't be concerned that the malevolent entity with him would turn into a villain that the Doctor wouldn't know how to handle.
He felt sometimes that he was holding a thin leash that was only just controlling the rabid dog at the end of it. Except the dog had no qualms about turning on him as well.
It seemed the Tardis was the only thing that muzzled his bite.
And the Doctor only hoped that it would last.