{"Down Boy, I'm your only Queen."}
18th Century France, and the guests at a masked ball are running along corridors and screaming in terror. In a royal bedroom is an ornate clock with a smashed glass face. A woman stands in front of the fireplace, "We are under attack! There are creatures I don't even think they're human. We can't stop them."
"The clock is broken. They're coming."
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Listen to me. There is a man coming to Versailles. He has watched over me my whole life and he will not desert me tonight." She warned with a stern look. "What are you talking about? What man?" The king frowned at her.
"The only man and woman, save you, I have ever trusted. No, don't look like that, there's no time. You have your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your queen." Reinette calls into the fireplace, "Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time. Doctor! Kate! Kate!"
———————
Three thousand years later, the Tardis materialises on a spaceship with a long central hub and two rotating sections, one larger than the other, "It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go." Mickey cheers as we look around, there are lots of bits and pieces of equipment scattered around.
"It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?" Rose asked Theta with a cock of her head. Since Mickey came aboard she had been up his ass more than before an it was really starting to get to him. I somewhat found it highly amusing, "Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous. You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous."
"So, what's the date? How far we gone?" She asked again, "About three thousand years into your future, give or take." I spoke with a shrug as I looked around. Theta finds the light switch on a console, a part of the ceiling shows the stars. "Fifty first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."
"Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?" Rose smiled with her teeth between her tongue as she put her hand on his shoulders, "It's so realistic!" He laughed out looking back at me causing me to give a smile and nod back. "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?" Theta muttered as he looked at the paneling with the sonic.
"Where'd all the crew go?" I asked walking closer to him, "Good question. No life readings on board." He responded sending me a look. His dark eyes shining through his glasses as he gave me a smile. "Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag." Rose spoke from behind us trying to get Theta's attention again.
"No, I've checked all the smoking pods. Can you smell that?"
"Yeah, someone's cooking."
"Sunday roast, definitely." Theta uses the console to open a door behind them. The far wall is panelled, and contains a blazing fire in an ornate fireplace, with an ormolu clock on the mantlepiece. Exactly like the bedroom at Versailles, "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 actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace. Double sided. There's another room through there."
Rose looks out of a porthole in the same wall, "There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look." She pointed looking back at us to make sure we where looking too. "Hello."
Theta speaks to a young girl in a nightgown who is kneeling by the fire on the other side of the fireplace.
"Hello." The young girl smiled gently at us as we looked back at her through the fireplace. "What's your name?" Theta asked her gently, "Reinette." She answered softly. "Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?" I asked her with a small smile.
"In my bedroom." She spoke looking around her room to make a point, "And where's your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?" Theta asked, "Paris, of course." She looked at him like he was insane. "Paris, right!" He nodded along with her, "Monsieur, mademoiselle, what are you doing in my fireplace?" She asked once again, "Oh, it's just a routine fire check. Can you tell me what year it is?" I asked her with a small smile as Rose an Mickey watched on.
"Of course I can. Seventeen hundred and twenty seven."
"Right, lovely. One of my favourites. 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." Theta rambled with a smile, "Goodnight Monsieur." She spoke walking away to her bed, "You said this was the fifty first century." Mickey spoke with a frown looking at us unsure.
"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." Theta spoke as he raised an eyebrow, "What's that?" Mickey asked, "No idea. Just made it up. Didn't want to say magic door." I snorted at him causing him to smile an wink at me. "Magic door would have been cooler."
"And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked frowning as she watched us, "Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."
"She was speaking English, I heard her."
"That's the Tardis. Translates for you." Rose spoke not really paying much attention to him anymore. "Even French?" Mickey asked looking to me, "Yeah." I confirmed to him. "Gotcha!" Theta smiled widely, "Doctor!" Theta has found the switch that rotates the fireplace, quickly grabbing my hand he pulls me into his chest as the fireplace rotated.
Reinette is asleep and I noticed It is snowing outside. Reinette wakes with a start, "It's okay. Don't scream. It's me. It's the fireplace man and woman. Look. We were talking just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace." Theta lights a candle with the sonic screwdriver. "Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months."
I looked over at her with a frown standing at the window, "Really? Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in." I spoke smirking towards Theta who smiled at my joke. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Theta looks at the clock on the mantel, the ticking is fairly loud. "Okay, that's scary." I spoke with a worried look, "You're scared of a broken clock?"
She asked with a scoff under her breath, "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?" Theta asked with a raised eyebrow, Tick tock tick tock. "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."
"What is it?" Reinette asks with a scared look as she started to breath heavy. "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. Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge."
Theta waves the screwdriver under the bed. Something knocks it out of his hand causing me to slightly jump as I grab onto his arm. "Reinette" I whisper, "Don't look round." A figure in a smiley mask is standing behind her. "You, stay exactly where you are. Hold still, let me look." Theta holds Reinette's head and looks deep into her eyes.
"You've been scanning her brain. What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"
"I don't understand. It wants me? You want me?"
"Not yet. You are incomplete." It speaks, "Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete? You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?" The android walks round the bed and a blade comes out of its hand, "Monsieur, mademoiselle, be careful." She spoke worriedly, "Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares."
The android slashes and Theta dodges before it turns to me as well, "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?" The blade gets stuck in the mantlepiece as I moved out of the way. "What do monsters have nightmares about?" Theta grabs me an activates the mechanism and the fireplace rotates again, "Us!"
"Doctor!" Theta grabs a tube from a nearby rack and fires its contents over the android. It seizes up, "Excellent. Ice gun." Mickey laughed, impressed. "Fire extinguisher." Theta threw it at him, "Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked with a frown. "Here."
"So why is it dressed like that?"
"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework, shame about the face." Theta removes the android's face to reveal clockwork.
"Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those, it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me." The android beams away, "Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board."
"What is it?"
"Don't go looking for it!" Theta pointed towards Rose who looked back offended. "Where're you going?" Rose demanded, "Back in a sec." Theta uses the fireplace again dragging me along again. When we get through I frown, "This is not a little girl's room." I muttered as I looked around. It is a big, plush, split level room. "Reinette? Just checking you're okay." He plays a few notes on a harp, "Ahem."
"Oh. Hello. Er, I was just looking for Reinette. This is still her room, isn't it? I've been away, not sure how long." Theta rambled causing her to look towards me to which I smirk back and winked. "Reinette! We're ready to go." A woman shouted in the background, "Go to the carriage, Mother. I will join you there. It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
"Reinette! Well. Goodness, how you've grown." Theta appeared shocked at her older self, I figured it would be like this after the first time we went through. The time difference within the fireplace was the reason why. "And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you." She teased with a small smirk, "Right, yes, sorry. Listen, lovely to catch up, but better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with strangers, do we?"
"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old." She stated with a confused look. "Yeah, I suppose you have. We came the quick route." Theta told her with a small sad smile. "You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real." She cocked her head as she watched us closely, "Oh, you never want to listen to reason." I spoke with a smile causing her to nod at me.
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient."
"A moment! So many questions. So little time." She quickly grabs me with a smile an pulls me into a hug before doing the same with Theta. "Mademoiselle Poisson!" Reinette runs out, the servant enters. "Poisson? Reinette Poisson? 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!" Theta shouted as he looks at me in shock causing me to chuckle back at him.
"Down Boy, I'm your only Queen." I teased causing him to blush brightly before biting his lip and looking away.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"I'm the Doctor, and this is my lover, Kate. We just made friends with Madame de Pompadour. Ha, ha!" He laughs as we turn back into the ship.
"Rose! Mickey! Every time. Every time, it's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship." Including a white horse with bridle and saddle, I laughed at the timing of his words and the horse. Theta sighs and looks at me with a soft look, "This is why I love you. You actually listen to me." I smacked his arm with a offended look causing him to laugh and pull me close to him. "I'm kidding. I love you. You know that." I kissed him gently and nodded.
"Yes, I do. So much."
————-
Mickey is trying to be clever whilst searching the spaceship. A camera with an eyeball in the middle blinks at him. "Are you looking at me?" The camera extends from the bulkhead for a closer look. Rose approaches, "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 and we hear thump-thump, thump-thump. They gaze down along the wires and pipes.
"What is that? What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in."
"It's a heart, Mickey. It's a human heart."
——————-
"Mickey? Rose?" He turns to the horse, which is walking behind him, "Will you stop following me? I'm not your mother." Theta opens a pair of white wooden doors and bright light floods in. "So this is where you came from, eh, horsey?"
Reinette is walking and laughing with a dark skinned woman, "Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked." She laughed as we hid behind a stone pot. "Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateauroux is ill and close to death." Her friend smirked, Theta shot me a smile; he was happy to see a friend happy while we didn't know her much we definitely both liked her.
She would make a good companion, we continue watching from behind a stone urn on a wall. A peacock calls and Reinette turns around causing us to hide. "Is something wrong, my dear?" Her friend asked as Theta smirked at me as he placed his finger against his lips causing me to snort an roll my eyes. Looking back up, they were gone causing us to make our way back to the ship, hand in hand with one another.
—————-
"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey laughed as he scoffed at the man standing at the mirror. "The King of France." Theta and I spoke together causing them to turn towards us. Rose scoffed at our hands an rolled her eyes, "Oh, here's trouble. What you been up to?" She asked moving closer to him. "Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man." Neigh, "Oh, and we met a horse." I smiled an finished.
"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?"
"Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective." Theta insults causing me to smack him upside his head. "See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history." I finished as he whined at me in fake hurt. Reinette enters the room and curtseys to the King.
"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?" Theta uttered as he frowned in thought, both of us were curious about it. Why was she being targeted by the androids? Why the androids? What's with the timeline differences?
"Who is she?" Rose asked looking at us, "Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived." I explained causing her to glare at me before looking back at her through the mirror. "So has she got plans of being the Queen, then?" She asked with a frown, "No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress."
"Oh, I get it. Camilla."
"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title. Madame de Pompadour." The King and his servants leave. Reinette checks her appearance in the mirror/window. "The Queen must have loved her." She muttered sarcastically sending me a glare, a message saying she was his Queen an I was the mistress but she had that all sorts of wrong and she needed to figure that out quickly. I shot her a glare causing her to turn away, I wasn't going to back down now.
"Oh, she did. They get on very well." Theta continued, he watched us of to the side but when Rose looked back at him he had turned to the mirror making it seem like he never saw anything. "The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey scoffed, "France. It's a different planet. Good thing we aren't there." He spoke back with a glare towards Rose who flinch back in shock.
Reinette turns to see a woman with her back to her in the corner, "How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!" It's the clockwork android. Theta grabs a fire extinguisher from Mickey and rotates the mirror, as I followed closely behind. "Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" I gave her a smile, "Fireplace man! Fireplace woman!"
Theta sprays the android and throws the extinguisher back to Mickey. The android creaks, "What's it doing?" Mickey asked looking to between us, "Switching back on. Melting the ice." I explained causing him to look confused. "And then what?" Mickey asked with a cock of his head, "Then it kills everyone in the room. Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself. Order it to answer me."
"Why should it listen to me?" She huffed with a glare, "I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it." Theta spoke with a smirk. "Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you." She demanded to the android, "I am repair droid seven." It spoke, "What happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage." I asked looking at it.
"Ion storm. Eighty two percent systems failure." It explained, "That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?" Theta asked with a confused glare. "We did not have the parts." It spoke explaining itself, "Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts." Mickey scoffed, slightly shorting a glare at Rose who ignored him.
"What's happened to the crew? Where are they?" I asked moving closer to it,
"We did not have the parts." It reappeared again. "There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" Theta half demanded and questioned, "We did not have the parts." Once again, "Fifty people don't just disappear. Where. Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew." I figured out with a snarl.
"The crew?" Mickey frowned in disgust, "We found a camera with an eye in it, and there was a heart wired in to machinery." Rose pointed out with a gasp. "It was just doing what it was programmed to. 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?" Theta explained turning to Rose who immediately perked up at the attention she was finally getting.
"Someone cooking." She smiled at him causing him to wince back, "Flesh plus heat. Barbeque. 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?" Theta asked turning back to the androids, his mind going a million miles per hour as he tried to figure it all out.
"One more part is required."
"Then why haven't you taken it?"
"She is incomplete."
"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." Theta spoke towards me as he moved around. "Why her? You've got all of history to choose from. Why specifically her?" I asked as I started to pace, "We are the same." It spoke turning towards her. "We are not the same. We are in no sense the same." She glared at it and snapped angrily at it.
"We are the same."
"Get out of here. Get out of here this instant!"
"Reinette, no." The droid teleports away, "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." Theta demanded as he pushed them through the window. She frowned at him with a scoff, "Arthur?" She asked confused. "Good name for a horse." Theta turned to me with a wink causing her to scoff. "No, you're not keeping the horse." She spoke causing me to glare, "It's not your decision Rose! Now go! Go! Go!" I yelled after them as I pushed them out.
Theta closes the mirror door behind Mickey and Rose, "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." Theta instigates a mind meld. "Fireplace man, you are inside my mind." She gasped in shock at the intrusion, "Oh dear, Reinette. You've had some cowboys in here."
"You are in my memories. You walk among them."
"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?" She asked, "I don't make a habit of it." He explained as I kept a look out for others. "How can you resist?" She teased causing him to clear his throat. "What age are you?"
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising."
"No, not my question, theirs. You're twenty three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough. Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect." Theta continued his mission. "Oh, such a lonely childhood." She muttered with a wince "It'll pass. Stay with me." Theta frowned, his eyebrows pushing together. "Oh, Doctor. So lonely." She frowned.
"What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life. When did you start calling me Doctor?" He asked with a close eyed frown, "Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonely now, although you've always had her to sooth that loneliness. I can see how you can you bear it. With her around, you can bear anything." I listened to them watching her speak and what she said made my heart race especially when he looked over at me silently telling me she was right.
He breaks the link, "How did you do that?" He asked her, looking insulted. "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh, Doctor. Her Lonely Doctor. Dance with me." She smirked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't."
"Dance with me."
"This is the night you dance with the King."
"Then first, I shall make him jealous." She held out her hand, while it didn't seem to mean anything to her he still shook his head with a frown. "I can't." He pulled away from her causing her to nod an smile. "Doctor. Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it? She knows. She knows everything." Reinette spoke looking towards me again.
"What did you see?" He asked her as he eyed her, "That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance." She smirked grabbing my hand as she dragged him passed me. "But I do know how to dance." He muttered with a pout causing me to laugh.
—————
"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." The android extends his blade, with a little cogged wheel spinning at the end, "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-" Crash, bang. Drunken voice off, singing. "I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night" I rolled my eyes as I held him up.
He was so overdramatic about things, "They called him the. They called him the, the-" Theta sways in, carrying a goblet and wearing his tie around his head. "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."
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm."
"Oh, you sound just like your mother."
"What've you been doing? Where've you been?"
"Well, among other things, I think just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good. Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favourite, you are. You are 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. 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."
"Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." Theta removes the android's mask and pours the contents of the goblet into its head. The clockwork seizes up, "Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." Theta finds the android off switch on the console, "Right, you two, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."
He frees Rose and Mickey, I quickly helped Mickey stand while Rose expected Theta to help her but he just stood off to the side causing her to gap in shock and irritation. "Are those things safe?" Mickey asked looking at the droids "Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs?" He spun around in circle for a second. "I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets." I explained with a smirk towards Theta who smiled back at me.
"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty seven?" Rose asked, while she did have a point I couldn't help but shake my head. "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?" I explained before turning to ask as a bell rings, "What's that?" Rose asked looking towards Theta who shrugged back. "I don't know. Incoming message?" He looked towards me causing me to scoff and shrug myself. How was I supposed to know if he didn't?
"From who?" Mickey asked a good question, "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." I explained as The first android reactivates and expels the anti-oil out through its finger onto the floor. "Well, that was a bit clever." Theta muttered in shock, the off switch moves itself to on again.
"Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?" Theta asked with a cock of his head, "She is complete. It begins." All the androids teleport out. "What's happening?"
"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."
—
We sent Rose and Mickey to find Reinette while we went to find the opening. "Do you think it's going to work?" I asked him as we rushed past the other openings rushing to get to the end. "I hope so." He spoke grabbing my hand a pulling me further along.
"Doctor! Doctor! Kate!" Her voice echoed throughout the ship. Finally we found it, Rose and Mickey entering not to long after us. "You found it, then?" Rose asked looking up at it with a frown. "They knew we were coming. They blocked it off." The ballroom is visible on a large screen in the bulkhead, "I don't get it. How come they got in there?" Rose asked as she moved closer for a look. "They teleported. You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short range teleports will do the trick." I explained to her causing her to turn, shoot me a glare then look back at him.
"Well, we'll go in the Tardis!" She pointed out, "We can't use the Tardis. We're part of events now." I told her causing her to scoff. She always tried to use the TARDIS when something went wrong. I couldn't help but frown as I watched her; she shouldn't rely on the TARDIS all the time. It would only end up back firing on her.
"Well, can't we just smash through?"
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck." I told them causing them to look at me like I was insane, except for Theta.
"We don't have a truck." Mickey stated as fact looking slightly confused. "I know we don't have a truck!" Theta snapped at Mickey, irritated with both of them at this point. "Well, we've got to try something."
"No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back." Theta explained with a shake of his head as Reinette spoke on the screen, "Could everyone just calm down? Please. Such a 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."
"We do not require your feet." Two female dressed androids push Reinette to her knees, "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."
Somewhere a horse neighs, then the sound of galloping hooves. The mirror over the mantlepiece is smashed as Theta and I jump the horse through it. He dismounts, helping me down with a smile. "Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day." I laughed walking over with Theta behind me. "What the hell is going on?" The king spoke angry, "Oh. This is my lover, the King of France." Reinette introduced, smirking at me clearly trying to make Thera jealous.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the Lady of Time, and I'm here to fix the clock." I ignored her look and turning to the android. I take the mask off the main android, It points its blade at my throat causing Theta to glare and step forward. "Forget it. It's over. For you and for me. Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand." He snarled pushing the blade away from me. There is a brick wall where once there was a portal to the spaceship.
"The link with the ship is broken. No way back. 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." I smirked at them as the androids all wind down. One of them falls backwards and breaks apart, "You all right?" Theta asked turning towards me checking my neck causing me to smile at him and give him a kiss.
"What's happened to them?"
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now."
—————-
Later, Theta and I are looking up at the night sky, his arms wrapped around me from behind as I stood happily in his arms. "You know all their names, don't you? I saw that in your mind. The name of every star." Reinette spoke coming into the room with a gentle smile at us.
"What's in a name? Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything." Theta spoke back, placing a kiss on my forehead as he swayed me. Now all three of us were watching the sky, "Like the Doctor. The Queen." I snorted at her use of mine. "Like Madame de Pompadour." I spoke back with a raised eyebrow causing her to smile and shake her head. "I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think."
"From time to time." Theta answered looking at me with a happy smile, "In saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?" She asked us causing Theta to shrug as I gave her a look, "Mmm. Pretty much." I answered back. "Yet, still you came." She looked bemused at us, "Yeah, I did, didn't I? Catch me doing that again."
"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?"
"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?"
"So, here you are, my lonely angels. stuck on the slow path with me."
"Yep, the slow path. Here's to the slow path." They drink a toast while I stood quietly, "It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path." Reinstate spoke with a sad smile. "Well, I'm not going anywhere." I told her looking up at Theta who gave me a smile and hugged me closer. As long as we had each other we didn't need the stars. Although it was our life and our dreams out there, we didn't NEED them.
"Oh, aren't you? Take my hand." She grabbed my hand pulling me along as I grabbed his pulling him along with. We moved into her bedroom where the fireplace was, still as beautiful as before. "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?"
"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?" We both walked over, he turned pushing me against it before stepping up close to me and feeling around the fireplace. Still pressed up against me, "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 I'm lucky. If I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky." He taps the fireplace surround, "Ah ha!" Theta laughed happily kissing me as we went around. "What?"
"Loose connection." Theta uses his sonic screwdriver. "Need to get a man in." He gives it a thump and there is a clunk, "Wish us luck!" Theta cheered happily, "No." The fireplace turns, taking us away, the last thing we see is her sadly frowning at us.
Theta calls back through the fireplace, as I stand against a wall off to the side watching in silence. "Madame de Pompadour! Still want to see those stars?"
"More than anything."
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag." Theta happily laughed looking at me as I watched him from the side. He looked at me with a hopeful smile causing me to laugh, roll my eyes an nod. Why would I deny him something he wants when he's given me more than I could ever ask for? Honestly I don't know why he asked in the first place.
"Am I going somewhere?" She asked with a knowing smile, "Go to the window. Pick a star, any star."
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"How long did you wait?"
"Five and a half hours."
"Great. Always wait five and a half hours." Thera laughs and shakes Mickey's hand, "Where've you been?" Rose snapped rushing up to him an grabbing his hand, he quickly snatched it away. "Explain later. Into the Tardis. Be with you in a sec." Theta smiled grabbing me one last time to go through the fireplace.
"Reinette? You there, Reinette? Reinette? Oh, hello." I spoke towards a man who stood at the window. "You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six." He looks back out the window, "Ah."
"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." King Louis takes a sealed letter from a drawer. "She spoke of you many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are." He gives the letter to Theta, "There she goes."
A hearse goes down the driveway in the pouring rain. "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?" Theta looked at me causing me to give him a smile before he puts the unopened letter inside his jacket, "Of course. Quite right."
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"Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?"
"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 the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."
"Are you all right?" She asked, moving to grab his arm. "I'm always all right." Theta mumbled as he moved away from her. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." Mickey and Rose leave, Theta takes out the letter and unseals it taking a seat next to me as he begins reading it.
"My dear friends. The path has never seemed more slow, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I have seen the world inside your head, and know that all things are possible. Hurry though. My days grow shorter now, and I am so very weak. God speed, my lonely angel and my beautiful Queen"
The fireplace is on the scanner. The fire goes out. On the spaceship, the Tardis dematerialises to reveal a portrait on the wall labelled Madame de Pompadour 1721-1764, then we move outside to discover that the drifting vessel is the SS Madame de Pompadour.
——————
Later that night, I walked into the console room to see Theta working under the control center. "Hey." He jumped slamming his head against the top causing me to wince as he grunted holding his head. "I'm sorry." I spoke walking over and kneeling down to take a look as he sat up. Placing my hand on his head I looked for a bruise but he seemed fine, "Your fine, it might bruise later." I paused as I looked down to see him looking at me already. "What?" I asked with a frown causing him to shrug and give me a gentle smile.
"I just love you." He spoke gently grabbing my hand and pulling me into his lap causing me to let out a laugh.
"I love you too dork."
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7003 Words
I decided to do a double update today, y'all enjoy!!
Fun fact, Aria Stark actually killed The First Doctor in Game Of Thrones. David played the guy who killed her family so she slit his throat. I don't know that until I was looking for young pictures of him.