A/N: Here's part two!
I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is this story and my OC.
Please review and no flaming will be tolerated.
This is optional, but when you get the chance to listen to Carrie Underwood's song, See You Again. I came across it when I was searching for an appropriate quote, and not only does it fit this chapter, but it's awesome. If you did listen to this song, let me know when you review. Cheers ;)
On with the chapter!
LA DOULEUR EXQUISE
"I can hear those echoes in the wind at night.
Calling me back in time.
Back to you."
– Carrie Underwood: 'See You Again' (Blown Away [2012])
Corridor
Rose was not happy. It was bad enough that she had Katy to compete with for the Doctor's affections, but now she also had this Reinette chick to contend with too. To make matters worse, Mickey was not helping with her foul mood.
"So, that Doctor, eh?" He smirked, knowing that Rose was seething at this moment … and enjoying every minute of it.
"What are you taking about?" Rose feigned confusion.
"Well. Madame de Pompadour. Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra…" Your sister… Mickey pointed out.
"Cleopatra. He mentioned her once." Rose retorted sharply, obviously annoyed with Mickey's teasing.
"Yeah, but he called her 'Cleo'," Mickey replied, turning his back on where he was going, and not noticing one of the clockwork androids sneaking up on him.
But Rose did.
"Mickey!" She cries out in alarm, as the android grabs him by the throat. Another android ambushes Rose, who grabs her from behind. Both of them struggle to free themselves, but they are instead, injected with something that causes them to pass out.
Versailles Sitting Room
Back in the sitting room, Katy is still keeping watch and occasionally looking back at the Doctor and Reinette, while he is carefully sifting through Reinette's memories for an answer to why the clockwork androids were so interested in her.
"You are in my memories," Reinette observes, with her eyes shut. "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." The Doctor instructs her, and Reinette immediately opens her eyes as a playful smirk crosses her face, unnoticed by the Doctor whose eyes remain shut. "Oh, actually there's a door just there." She giggles when she notices him blush faintly at one of her more intimate memories. "You might want to cl—Oh, actually, several." The Doctor remarked, a little bit uncomfortable.
Reinette's amused giggles cause Katy to look over and look slightly upset at how intimate they both looked. Reinette spots this out the corner of her eye and feels a little guilty, before deciding to behave herself a little.
"To walk among the memories of another living soul. Do you ever get used to this?" Reinette questioned him.
"I don't make a habit of it," the Doctor states truthfully.
"How can you resist?" Reinette teases lightly.
"What age are you?" The Doctor mutters to himself, absently. Reinette gasps in a mock-scandalised fashion, despite not truly caring.
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." She flirts.
"No, not my question, theirs." The Doctor explains, missing the playful banter. Something that Reinette is pleased with; his loyalty to Katy was strong. "You're twenty-three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough." She flinches a little when a new memory appears in her head; and one not her own. "Sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect." The Doctor tells her, apologetically.
"Oh, such a lonely childhood." Reinette comments, upset.
"It'll pass. Stay with me," The Doctor reassures her.
"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone." Reinette continues, and the Doctor frowns with confusion.
"What do you mean, alone?" He wonders. "You've never been alone in your life." Then his eyes open in shock when he realises something important and stares at Reinette with fear and confusion. "When did you start calling me Doctor?"
"Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now." Reinette's eyes open slowly, and she looks at him with sympathy. "How can you bear it?"
The Doctor breaks the link and steps away from Reinette, hurriedly. He looks across between afraid and slightly angry.
"How did you do that?" He demanded. Reinette smiles at him, sadly.
"A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction." Reinette explains before glancing over at an oblivious Katy who was still keeping watch. "Does she know?"
"What? Does who know?" The Doctor frowned.
"Katy," Reinette elaborated gently with a knowing look in her eyes. "Does she know that you remember her from your past? The little girl peeking through the balustrade on the upstairs landing of that estate? Or the young woman you saved during the Time War?" The Doctor's eyes widened in shock as he turned to look over at Katy. "Does she know that she's your tether?" The Doctor doesn't respond, but Reinette notices the tender expression on his face as he continues observing Katy. "Oh, Doctor. My lonely Doctor." Reinette murmurs, before an idea forms in her head. "Dance with me." She demands, and almost immediately the Doctor turns and looks at her, alarmed.
"What? No, I can't." He insists, frantically.
"Dance with me," Reinette repeats her request with a bit more volume, and Katy pricks up her ears at the request and rolls her eyes.
"Good luck with that," She states to Reinette who looks at her curiously. "I barely managed to get him to dance with me once before." Katy remembered the awkward dancing the Doctor attempted with Rose back during the London Blitz. "It'll be a miracle for you to get him to do it again." The Doctor pouted at her, flushing with embarrassment when he too remembered.
"Dance with me," Reinette tries again, stubbornly.
"This is the night you dance with the King." The Doctor reminds Reinette, who glances at Katy calculatingly, before shrugging.
"Well, if you won't dance with me … dance with Katy, again." Reinette insists and both of them immediately protest.
"We can't."
"Doctor," Reinette sighs heavily, thinking back on the Doctor's memories, and lingering on one that stood out. "Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" She realises.
"What did you see?" The Doctor asked, warily.
"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance." Reinette explains, before turning and walking over to Katy and grabbing the younger girl's hand in hers. "Come with me, you two. You shall attend the ball as well."
"Huh? But we can't." Katy protests, looking at the Doctor for help. But Reinette intercepts before he could speak.
"I will not take no for an answer," She states, firmly. "Now come along, Katy. We need to get you some proper attire." Reinette pulls Katy out of the doors, with Katy having no choice but to follow, looking worriedly at the Doctor over her shoulder as she went, while the Doctor remained behind looking equally as befuddled as her.
The Doctor paced in front of the mirror, looking both agitated and disturbed by what he had just discovered when he was helping Reinette. Neither he nor Katy were particularly eager to go to the Yew Tree Ball, but it appeared that Reinette was adamant and stubborn about it, and he couldn't help but feel angry towards her for forcing the issue. It was obvious she was up to something, and he was unsure he wanted to know what that was.
"Our apologies for keeping you waiting, Doctor." He spins round to see Reinette had returned. The Doctor frowned at her.
"Reinette, we really can't go to the ball." The Doctor insisted, but Reinette ignored him to call out over her shoulder at someone behind her.
"Come along, Katy. Stop fussing." Reinette scolded lightly.
"I'm coming, this dress is heavy." Katy complains as she comes into view from around the corner, and the Doctor's eyes widened when he took in what she was wearing. It was a beautiful mantua ball gown made of ivory-white and gold silk with pink rose embroidery, with a square neckline, frills along the petticoat and pink ribbons that crisscrossed along the bodice in a lattice style. Her long light brown hair had been curled and elaborately pinned up into a bun with a loose curl trailing over her right shoulder, and her make-up was simple. A delicate choker of pearls had been tied around her neck.
He could've sworn both his hearts had stopped he was so stunned.
"Katy looks lovely, doesn't she, Doctor?" Reinette stated with a knowing smirk on her face. He nodded absently as he walked closer to the two women and stops before Katy who was looking at him questioningly. "Shall we?" Reinette gestures towards the open door before picking up her skirts and walking off down the corridor towards the ballroom where the party was about to begin. The Doctor offers Katy his arm, and the brunette awkwardly takes it, blushing underneath his tender gaze.
"You really do look beautiful, Katy." He tells her, sincerely.
"Thank you." Katy smiles shyly as he leads her down the corridor to where Reinette was waiting to escort them to the ball.
Spaceship
Back in the 51st century, the clockwork androids had taken an unconscious Rose and Mickey back to the room the TARDIS was standing in and strapped them down on two slanted tables. Rose awakens slowly, looking around the room in confusion.
"What's going on?" Rose asked, groggy from the effects of the drug the androids had injected her with, before realising she was strapped down to a table, with an already awake Mickey looking back at her with a very scared look on his face. "Doctor!?" Rose called out, panicking when she sees the androids surrounding her and Mickey.
"Rose? They're going to chop us up! Just like the crew!" Mickey shouted fearfully. "They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship." Rose rolled her eyes at Mickey's rant, trying to find out how to free herself from the table. "And where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He and Katy have been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!" Rose was about to snap at him, and tell him to shut the fuck up, when one of the androids approaches her.
She stops and looks at it, guardedly.
"You are compatible." It tells her, and Rose gulps, knowing what that meant.
"Well, you might want to think about that," She states nervously. "You really, really, might, because me and Mickey, we didn't come here alone." Rose starts stalling, trying to figure out how to get herself and Mickey out of this mess at the same time. "Oh, no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver." The android extends his blade, which had a little cogged wheel spinning at the end. He holds it over where Rose's liver was, while another android holds his blade over the area where Mickey's stomach was.
He begins to whimper in fear.
"Ever heard of the Daleks?" Rose tries again. "Remember them? They had a name for our friend." The android barely responds to what Rose was saying. She starts to inwardly panic. "They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the—" Rose is cut off unexpectedly when they hear a loud crash and a bang off in the distance. Then a drunken, slightly off-key voice starts singing, while another voice giggles just as drunkenly.
"I could've danced all night; I could've danced all night—"
"They called him the… they called him the, the…" Rose trails off, looking with disbelief as the Doctor and Katy come swaying into the room in the middle of an improvised waltz, with the Doctor 'miraculously' managing to avoid them crashing into obstacles in their path. Katy was carrying a goblet in one of her hands, while the Doctor was wearing his tie around his head and a pair of sunglasses.
"And still have begged for more. I could've spread my wings and done a thou—Have you met the French?" the Doctor slurred, cutting himself off mid song, addressing both the androids and his bewildered and annoyed companions strapped down on tables. His arm was wrapped tightly around Katy's waist, as though using her for extra support, while she continued drunkenly giggling at his antics. "My God, they know how to party. Are you finished with that, love?" He said this last part to Katy, taking the goblet from her when she nodded her head.
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm." Rose sneered, cattily.
"Oh, you sound just like your mother," The Doctor responded, sarcastically.
"What've you two been doing? Where've you been?" Rose demanded angrily, then does a double take at what Katy was wearing. "And where'd you get that dress?"
"Reinette gave it to me," Katy giggled.
"And among other things, I think I just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early." The Doctor explains, answering Rose's first question about where they had been. "Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before? Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good." He then takes notice of the androids surrounding Rose and Mickey and beams with excitement. "Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you!" He pulls away from Katy after deliberately kissing her affectionately and 'drunkenly' on the head and secretly giving her a reassuring wink before he stumbles over to the lead android. "You're my favourite, you are. You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick." He declared with a huge grin on his face. "You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad!" The Doctor turns towards Rose and Mickey. "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." He turns back to the lead android. "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," the android insists.
"Compatible?" the Doctor makes a face. "If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." He removes the android's mask and pours the contents of the goblet into its head, causing the clockwork to seize up. This was obviously the signal for Katy to 'sober up' as she lets out a sigh of relief and hurries over to help Mickey from the table. "Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." The Doctor answers the unasked question as he 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 unstraps Rose from the table, and she hops up from it.
"Are those things safe?" Mickey asks, curiously.
"Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, why I like them." The Doctor responds, dismissively. "Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down." He starts patting himself down. "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets."
"You gave them to that lady with the peacock feathers in her hair, Doctor." Katy reminded him.
"Oh, right. Thanks."
"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-seven?" Rose asked, trying to be logical.
"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that." The Doctor explains hastily. "The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?"
A bell suddenly chimes.
"What's that?" Katy asked.
"I don't know. Incoming message?" The Doctor guesses.
"From who?" Mickey frowned.
"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette." The Doctor realises. "That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override." Suddenly, the lead android reactivates and expels the anti-oil out through its finger onto the Doctor's converse shoe. He grimaces. "Well, that was a bit clever." He admitted, reluctantly. The android off switch moves itself on again. "Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?" The Doctor inquires to the lead android.
It suddenly stands ramrod straight, startling Katy and Rose who were standing near it.
"She is complete. It begins." The android announces, and Katy's eyes widen in horror when he and the other androids suddenly teleport away.
"Oh, God. Reinette!"
"What's happening?" Rose asks, concerned.
"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." The Doctor explains, anxiously.
Versailles Music Room
It's late at night at Versailles, and Reinette stands at one of the large windows in its grand music room, staring at the night sky and deep in thought about the Doctor and Katy, wondering what they were up to; since it had been a while since she had seen either of them. Approaching footsteps cause the marquise to jump and turn towards the intruder, only to relax a little when she sees that it's only that blonde girl, Rose, she had seen with the Doctor, Katy, and a dark-skinned boy the night of the Yew Tree Ball, all those years ago. Rose raises her hands to reassure Reinette that she meant no harm.
"Madame de Pompadour," She greets the mildly startled woman. "Please, don't scream or anything. We haven't got a lot of time." Rose explains, and Reinette nodded slowly and gestured for Rose to take a seat so she could continue explaining her presence there in Versailles. "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years." Rose stated grimly.
"Five years?" Reinette's eyes widened in disbelief. Rose nodded her head in confirmation, biting her lip and feeling awkward about how to explain this without freaking her out.
"Some time 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." Rose hesitates before continuing the rather strange conversation she was having with this historical figure. "In a way, for us, it's already happening. I'm sorry, it's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better. Even my sister tells this better."
"Then be exact, and I will be attentive." Reinette urged, frowning a little.
"There isn't time," Rose shook her head.
"There are five years," Reinette pointed out, looking exasperated.
"For you. I haven't got five minutes." Rose insists.
"Then also be concise," Reinette sighed in resignation. Rose nodded, wracking her brains to find a way to explain this complicated situation in a way that Reinette could understand, without giving away any spoilers about the future.
"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." Reinette looks at Rose with a raised eyebrow, which makes Rose wince, thinking that she had well and truly bollocks'd up this explanation. "I told you it was complicated. Sorry." She apologises.
Reinette shakes her head.
"There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book, so that he and your sister may step from one to the other without increase of age, while I, weary traveler, must always take the slower path?" She summarises, and Rose cracked an impressed grin.
"They were right about you," Rose complimented. Reinette doesn't smile.
"So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?"
"The Doctor says keep them talking." Rose explains. "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?" Reinette prompts.
"Until the Doctor can get there." Rose responded.
"He's coming, then?" Reinette looked both relieved and doubtful at the same time.
"He promises," Rose nods.
"And Katy? Will she be there too?" Reinette questions, and Rose bristles, trying to hide it from Reinette. But the marquise notices and frowns with deep dislike. What exactly has she got against one of her angels?
"I really don't know." Rose replies, truthfully.
"But neither she nor the Doctor cannot make their promises in person?" Reinette was disappointed.
"He'll be there when you need him. That's the way it's got to be." Rose stated, apologetically.
"It's the way it's always been," Reinette realises both sadly and fondly. "The monsters, the Doctor and his Katy." She doesn't bother to hide this fact from Rose, choosing to be a little spiteful over proper decorum. "It seems you cannot have one without the other."
"Tell me about it," Rose snorts in agitation. "The thing is, you weren't supposed to have either." Reinette looks at the blonde questioningly. "Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you." Rose stated, and Reinette started to become angry at this child's words.
"Supposed to happen?" Reinette spat, icily. "What does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way." Rose was taken aback by the ire in Reinette's words. "One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of two angels."
"Rose?" Mickey's voice shouts out off in the distance. "Rose?" Immediately, Rose gets to her feet and takes off down the corridor, wanting to get away from this conversation with Reinette which had started to take a dangerous, almost protective turn, and to prevent Reinette from finding out where the entrance to the spaceship was.
Reinette follows, intrigued by this turn of events.
Versailles corridor
Mickey steps out from underneath a tapestry, looking impatiently for Rose. He sags with relief when she comes out from behind a corner.
"Rose!" Mickey waves frantically at his ex. "The time window where's she's thirty-seven. We found it! Right under our noses." Mickey trails off when he sees something over Rose's shoulder and pales. Rose frowns and turns to look at what had alarmed Mickey, and freezes when she sees a frowning, curious Reinette who had followed her. The marquise takes one look at where Mickey was standing, holding back the tapestry, and makes a quick beeline for it, to investigate her angels' world.
"No, you can't go in there, the Doctor will go mad—" Rose protests a little too late, as she and Mickey quickly follow her.
Spaceship corridor
Reinette's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates when she sees this strange world that had apparently been hidden behind one of Versailles' many tapestries. Frightened tears start welling up in her eyes, and she begins to feel overwhelmed. Rose and Mickey walk silently to her side, looking sympathetic.
"So, this is their world." Reinette stated with a small voice. She flinches when screams suddenly sound overhead from hidden speakers. "What was that?"
"The time window," Mickey replied. "The Doctor fixed an audio link."
"Those screams. Is that my future?" Reinette asked, swallowing hard.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Rose confirmed, sadly. Reinette nodded to herself and drew in a couple of deep breaths before a look of determination formed on her lovely face.
"Then I must take the slower path," Reinette realised.
"Are you there?" Reinette's eyes widened with shock, and Rose winced uncomfortably. "Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantle is broken. It is time."
"That's my voice," Reinette whispered, fearfully. Mickey heads back the way he came from, back down the corridor towards the Doctor and Katy. He looks back at Rose, frantically.
"Rose, come on. We've got to go. There's, there's a problem."
"Give me a moment," Rose requested, quietly but firmly. Mickey saw the expression on Reinette's face and took the hint, before nodding and taking off back down the corridor to where the TARDIS was. "Are you okay?" Rose asks Reinette, gently.
"No, I'm very afraid." Reinette replied truthfully. "But you and I both know, don't we, Rose, the Doctor is worth the monsters." Rose says nothing but watches as Reinette goes back through the tapestry to her time.
"Doctor! Katy!" Reinette's future voice calls out, frantically. Rose sighed heavily before heading back down the corridor towards the TARDIS.
Reinette's Versailles Bedchamber
And so dear readers, we have come full circle; right back to the beginning of our first chapter when Reinette was desperately yelling through the fireplace to the Doctor and Katy.
"Doctor! Katy!" Reinette yelled persistently. Impatiently, Louis goes over and pulls his mistress to her feet, trying to convince her to leave.
"We must go. No one is coming to help us." He insists, then jerks his head towards the doorway when two clockwork androids burst into the room.
"You are complete. You will come." One of them tells Reinette.
Spaceship
The Doctor is jumping from one console to another, trying to gain access to the time window to get to Reinette. Mickey and Katy (who had quickly changed out of her borrowed mantua gown and into her other clothes) stand nearby, looking worried but determined to lend a hand where the Doctor may need it.
Rose rushes into the room, slightly out of breath.
"You found it, then?"
"They knew I was coming," the Doctor confirmed, frustrated. "They blocked it off."
Versailles corridor
Two of the clockwork androids were escorting Reinette down one of Versailles' corridors, holding her arms in a tight grip between them so she couldn't escape. Two others escort the grim-faced King Louis behind them.
"Where are we going?" She demanded, struggling only a little despite the obviously pointless effort.
"The teleport has limited range," One of the androids responded. "We must have proximity to the time portal."
"Your words mean nothing," Reinette argued. "You are nothing."
Spaceship
The Versailles ballroom is visible on the large screen in the bulkhead, and all four of them watch helplessly as the party guests are all rounded up like cattle by the clockwork androids. They are all still screaming in fear. Rose frowned at the screen with confusion.
"I don't get it. How come they got in there?" Rose questioned.
"They teleported," the Doctor replied curtly. "You saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short-range teleports will do the trick." Rose glances over at the TARDIS.
"Well, we'll go in the TARDIS!"
"We can't use the TARDIS. We're part of events now." The Doctor stated.
"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey suggested, looking irritated that every possible solution offered was being shot down by the Doctor.
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck." The Doctor retorted.
"We don't have a truck!" Mickey stated the obvious.
"I know we don't have a truck!"
"Well, we've got to try something." Rose got between both men, trying to calm down the situation.
Katy was still focused on the commotion on the screen when she heard Arthur nickering behind her, and she instinctively glanced over at him. She pushes away from the console she was leaning against, ignoring the argument taking place behind her and Rose trying to pointlessly act as mediator, and approaches the horse.
"I'm sorry, boy. I know this is a frustrating situation. But we'll get through this, we promise." Katy reassures the horse, scratching his nose with her nails. However, Arthur persistently nudges her behind him, and she frowns at him questioningly. "What? What do you want me to do?" She asks the insistent horse.
"No," the Doctor responds to, yet another suggestion made by Rose and Mickey. "Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back." He insisted, and once again Arthur nudges Katy, making her stumble towards his saddle. The very second, she touches it to stop herself from falling, Arthur settles.
"Get on the saddle?" Katy translates, looking skeptically at the horse. "Is that what you want me to do?" Arthur nods his head, and snorts. "Uh-huh. Then what?" She asks, just as Reinette's voice shouts over the screams on screen to be heard.
"Could everyone just calm down? Please." The marquise requests, firmly. Katy then suddenly realises exactly what Arthur was suggesting and looks at the horse with wide eyes.
"You cannot be serious. How are you going to break through the glass, if the Doctor says that we'd need a truck to do so?" Katy protested, but then realises that they were out of any other options, so she reluctantly sticks her foot in the stirrup and hoists herself up and onto Arthur's saddle. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Arthur." Katy mutters to the determined horse, before shouting over to her boyfriend. "Doctor!"
"Not just now, Katy!" The Doctor shouts back, impatiently.
"Yes, now!" She insists and he, Mickey and Rose look over at the brunette with annoyance before the Doctor blinks at her with confusion. "Get on!" He stops what he is doing and comes over to her side.
"What are you doing, love?" The Doctor demanded with a serious, no-nonsense expression on his face.
"I'm going to help Reinette," Katy responded.
"On a horse?" He looked and sounded skeptical.
"Yeah, well. This is Arthur's idea not mine. Just get on!" Katy explained impatiently.
"Arthur's idea?" Rose blurted out. "The horse gave you the idea?"
"Do you have any other ideas?" Katy snapped. No one responded, and the Doctor just as reluctantly as Katy did, grabbed a hold of Arthur's saddle and climbed up behind her, grabbing onto her waist for support.
"Wait, Doctor! How will you get back?" Rose asked, frantically. The Doctor didn't respond, instead indicated for Katy to get on with it, and the brunette nodded and aimed Arthur at the time window.
"Hope this works."
Versailles Ballroom
Reinette and Louis stand in the middle of the dance floor with their android captors after Reinette shouts at them all to shut the hell up. She was looking around at the party guests with a look best described as disapproving and ashamed.
"Such a commotion. Such distressing noise." She scolds them. "Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French." Reinette then turns and glares at the androids. "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," One of the male-dressed androids respond. Two female dressed androids reach forward and push Reinette to her knees, causing the crowd surrounding them to gasp with horror and fear. The marquise stares up at them defiantly.
"You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now," she tells them. "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." Reinette promises.
Suddenly, there is the sound of a horse neighing, causing everyone to pause and look around with confusion, trying to locate the horse. Then the sound of galloping hooves gets louder and louder, before finally, the mirror over the ballroom mantlepiece is smashed in as the Doctor and Katy jump Arthur through it, looking like two knights in shining armour upon their steed. Reinette's mouth falls open with shock before curling up into an amused smirk when the Doctor aims a wink at her and Katy grins in triumph.
Katy pulls Arthur to a stop, and the Doctor dismounts before turning and helping Katy down too.
"Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day." The Doctor lays on the charm before extending a hand and helping her to her feet. Katy immediately rushes forward and engulfs Reinette in a tight, relieved hug which is reciprocated by the older woman.
"What the hell is going on?" Louis demands, earning the attention of the Doctor and Katy. The Doctor eyes him with disinterest, while Katy flushes with embarrassment.
"Oh," Reinette remembers her manners. "This is my lover, the King of France." Katy immediately and politely curtseys, but the Doctor merely snorted.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time, and this is my Katy. We're here to fix the clock." He explained, walking over to stand in front of one of the androids and taking off its mask. The crowd gasps again, and the android brandishes its blade at his throat. "Forget it. It's over. For you and for us." He indicates to a suddenly pale Katy, who realises the consequences of their spur of the moment actions. He reaches over and pulls her to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist as he grimaces at the broken mirror above the mantle. "Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand."
"What do we do now?" Katy questions in a small voice. The Doctor doesn't respond, instead choosing to pull his despairing girlfriend into a hug, resting his chin on her head.
Spaceship
Rose stares numbly at the shattered time window, looking heartbroken, while Mickey just gapes at it.
"What happened? Where did the time window go?" He asked, "How are they going to get back?" He demanded, frantically.
Rose doesn't respond as a tear runs down her cheek.
Versailles Ballroom
The Doctor reluctantly tears his eyes away from the broken mirror and addresses the androids, who were still poised to kill both him and Katy.
"The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts," he tells the androids, who falter a little. "How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour?" The androids still don't move. "It's over. Accept that, I'm not winding you up." The androids, realising they were essentially screwed and trapped in the 18th century, shut themselves down and slump over into lifeless heaps.
Katy and Reinette sag with relief.
"You alright?" Katy asks Reinette, who nodded.
"What's happened to them?" She asks.
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now." The Doctor explains.
Spaceship
Mickey was still freaking out over the fact that the time window had been smashed in, thus making it physically impossible for the Doctor and Katy to come back to them.
"We can't fly the TARDIS without him." Mickey was ranting. "How are they going to get back?"
Versailles
Hours later, both the Doctor and Katy were standing at a window with goblets of wine in their hands, just looking up at the night sky at the constellation of stars glittering up above their heads. Katy was looking depressed at the fact that she was never likely to see Jackie, Rose, or Mickey ever again … unless she opened her locket and became a Time Lady again; then the possibilities would be endless. And another positive in her favour, was the fact that the Doctor would be with her.
But it didn't stop the pain of losing her loved ones in that one brief moment of crashing through a time window on the back of a horse. The Doctor, obviously sensing her mood, wraps an arm around her and pulls her close for comfort.
"You know all their names, don't you?" They glance over to see Reinette walking over, drinking from her own goblet of wine. "I saw that in your mind. The name of every star." She tells the Doctor.
"What's in a name?" The Doctor smiled at her. "Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything."
"Like the Doctor," Reinette supplied.
"Like Madame de Pompadour." Katy added. Both the Doctor and Reinette smiled at her. The latter then turns and looks at the sky with melancholy in her eyes.
"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you both have, I think."
"From time to time," The Doctor nodded.
"In saving me, you both trapped yourselves. Did you know that would happen?" Reinette questioned.
"Mmm, pretty much."
"Yet still you both came." Reinette looked grateful, but guilty that they had trapped themselves in her world: the slow path. The couple grinned.
"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" Katy agreed.
"Catch us doing that again." The Doctor added. Reinette suddenly looked thoughtful.
"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?" The Doctor shook his head.
"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," He explained looking regretful, then sheepish. "I'll, I'll pay for any damage." He offered.
"With what money?" Katy pointed out, with a teasing smirk, and the Doctor paused.
"Er, that's a thought, I'm going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?" The Doctor babbled, causing both women to giggle at his flustered babbling.
Reinette gave them both fond smiles.
"So, here you both are, my lonely angels, stuck on the slow path with me."
"Yep, the slow path." The Doctor mumbled.
"Here's to the slow path," Katy said, raising her goblet in a toast and both the Doctor and Reinette follow suit and take a sip from their wines.
"It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path," Reinette commented.
"Well, we're not going anywhere." The Doctor pointed out. A secret smile suddenly spreads across Reinette's face, and she sets down her goblet.
"Oh, aren't you?" Both of them look at her questioningly. "Walk with me."
Versailles bedchamber
Reinette leads them towards her bedchambers and indicates towards the fireplace. Both the Doctor and Katy gaze it curiously. There was something familiar about it, but neither could put a finger on what that was.
"Doctor, isn't that…?" Katy questioned him, but before he could respond, Reinette intercepts the question and promptly gives an explanation to satisfy their curiosity.
"It's not a copy," She states, and Katy looks at her in astonishment. "It's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail." The Doctor walks over to the fireplace and runs his hand across the top and sides of it. His eyes widen in surprise.
"The fireplace," He realises.
"I knew it!" Katy breathes, her hopes of returning to the TARDIS rushing back.
"The fireplace from your bedroom," The Doctor turns towards Reinette. "When did you do this?"
"Many years ago," Reinette acknowledges. "In the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor." She studies it. "It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?" The Doctor immediately starts looking for the switch to activate the revolving door.
"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke." He explained. "That's what saved it. But the link is basically physical, and it's physically still 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!"
"What?" Both Katy and Reinette exclaim.
"Loose connection," the Doctor grinned, as he used his sonic screwdriver. "Need to get a man in." He gives the fireplace another thump and there is a loud clunk. He pulls Katy onto the revolving platform. "Wish us luck!"
"No," Reinette's face falls with anguish as the fireplace turns, taking the Doctor and Katy away with it.
Fireplace room
Immediately the Doctor and Katy squat down and he shouts into the fireplace.
"Madame de Pompadour!" Reinette squats down and looks into the fireplace to see both her angels grinning back at her through the flames. "Still want to see those stars?"
"More than anything," Reinette lights up with excitement.
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag." The Doctor instructs her.
"Am I going somewhere?" Reinette questioned, slightly confused. Katy nodded enthusiastically.
"Further than you will ever go for the rest of your life!" She promises her, getting to her feet and vanishing from Reinette's sight as she goes to prepare the TARDIS for her friend's arrival.
"Go to the window. Pick a star, any star." The Doctor encourages her, and Reinette immediately gets to her feet and races back to the music room she had taken the Doctor and Katy from only moments before, going towards the window and gazing up at the starry night sky.
Spaceship
Katy races to the other room where the TARDIS was kept, excited to see her sister and Mickey again.
"Rose! Mickey!" She shouted. Mickey appears and cheers triumphantly and with relief when he sees his best friend.
"Oh, my God! I thought you were stuck there!" He bitched, as he grabbed Katy up into a bear hug.
"I know! So did I!" Katy admitted, just as Rose came into view and the blonde's mouth dropped open in shock.
"Katy?! Where's the Doctor?" Rose demanded, and Katy rolled her eyes at her sister's greeting.
"Missed you too, sis." Katy drawled sarcastically, just as the Doctor came jogging in, all smiles. Rose lets out an overjoyed squeal and throws herself at him, giving him a tight hug which he reciprocated with a warm smile.
"How long did you two wait?" The Doctor questioned Rose and Mickey.
"Five and a half hours." Rose responded, cheerfully.
"Great! Always wait five and a half hours." The Doctor jokingly instructed as he shakes Mickey's hand.
"Where've you been?" Rose demanded of both Katy and the Doctor, but he immediately turns and goes back to the fireplace room, much to her confusion. "Where're you going?"
"Explain later," the Doctor stated hastily. "Get into the TARDIS, I'll be with you in a sec. You too, Katy. Just gotta pick up our guest." Katy nodded and grabbed both Mickey and Rose and escorted them back to the TARDIS, while the Doctor returned back to the revolving door in the fireplace room.
The TARDIS
Console Room
Only a few minutes had gone by in the Doctor's absence, but it seemed that his and Katy's absence back in the 18th century had a tragic consequence, as he had just discovered. He returned back to the TARDIS with only two handwritten letters in his possession. One addressed to him, the other addressed to Katy. She was sitting impatiently on the jump seat, waiting for him to return with Reinette in tow, while Rose and Mickey were deeper in the TARDIS, freshening up after their adventure in the spaceship. Katy's head snaps up and she gets to her feet when the door to the TARDIS creaks open and the Doctor stepped inside.
"Doctor, you're back!" Katy exclaimed excitedly, before looking behind him for a glimpse of Reinette. No one other than the Doctor was standing on the threshold. Katy's smile fades a little. "Where's Reinette?" The Doctor doesn't respond, but Katy only had to take one look at his sorrowful, grieving face to realise exactly what happened. "No…" She whispered, covering her mouth in her shock.
Katy sinks back down on the jump seat and looks down at her lap, as tears started welling up in her eyes. The Doctor politely ignored this as he walked over to the console and started fiddling with some knobs, buttons, and levers; preparing to permanently shut down the fireplace room for good.
"Why her?" The Doctor looks up to see that Rose and Mickey had returned from freshening up and were frowning at the solemn atmosphere he and Katy were radiating just now. "Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?" Rose asked, tentatively.
The Doctor shrugged.
"We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused." He explained. "The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble." The Doctor paused in his preparations and just stared at the console, just as upset as Katy was.
Rose looks at him, worriedly.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm always all right," The Doctor responded with a fake smile on his face, before returning his attention back to the console, putting on the finishing touches to shutting down the fireplace room. Mickey observed the Doctor and Katy from where he was standing and realised that the Time Lord was hinting that he wanted to be alone. He wraps a hand around Rose's bicep.
"Come on, Rose." Mickey got the blonde's attention. "It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He suggested, and Rose nodded in agreement.
"Right. Come on, Katy." Rose called out to her sister.
"Leave her alone," the Doctor immediately spoke up. Rose frowned at him in confusion, while Mickey winced at the tone the Doctor used.
"But Doctor—" Rose objected.
"I said, leave her alone. Let her be." The Doctor insisted sternly, raising his voice a little and raising his head to glare at Rose. The blonde's eyes widened in shock before she nodded, looking a bit hurt at the tone he used on her, before turning and following Mickey back down into the TARDIS. Once they were gone, the Doctor pulled out both letters and approached Katy who was crying silent tears. "Katy," She looks up at him and then at the letter he was offering to her. "This is for you, from Reinette."
Katy looked surprised but took the letter from him and unseals it. The Doctor moves away and does the same thing with his own letter. Katy looks down at the expensive thick parchment paper at Reinette's neat, old-fashioned cursive writing, and began reading what she was sure had been in French but had been translated helpfully by the TARDIS.
"Dearest Katy,
As I write this letter to you, I fear that my time on this earth is nearing its end. Reason tells me that you, the Doctor, and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I saw the Doctor's memories inside his head and know that you both are destined to be together. While I know that I will not be there to witness this for myself, knowing that this epic love growing between you and him is true, brings me more joy that I had ever felt possible. I thank you for being there for me when I needed you the most.
Beware though, dearest. Do not trust your sister, Rose. I fear her jealousy about your relationship with our Doctor, will be both your undoing.
God speed, my angel. I shall miss you terribly."
Katy dissolved into uncontrollable sobs, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle the sound with it. She looked up to see that the Doctor had also finished reading his own letter from Reinette and was looking at her with unshed tears threatening in his own eyes. He opens his arms, and immediately Katy runs into them, sobbing into his shoulder. The Doctor glances over Katy's head towards the computer monitor at what was on the viewing screen.
The fireplace is on the scanner. He presses a button with his free hand, and the fire goes out.
The TARDIS dematerialises to reveal a beautiful portrait on the wall of Reinette, labelled Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) underneath it on a gold nameplate.
In space, the drifting vessel is revealed to be named: SS MADAME DE POMPADOUR.
A/N: That's a wrap. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this very long couple of chapters. Hope to see you on the next few.
Remember to review! TTFN :)