Feeling the anger and possessiveness running through her alien, Cass quickly cupped his cheeks, saying, "I am so sorry, I have no idea where that came from, and I certainly didn't invite it. It was supposed to be you she kissed. Not me."
He slowly nodded, beginning to silently pull her back towards the fireplace. When he felt the panic wafting from her, he sighed, leaning dow to nuzzle into her cheek softly, whispering, "Told you, insane possessiveness. It's going to take the bond a minute to calm down from that."
"How can I make it better?"
Her question, asked so hesitantly, as though she was afraid he would reject her offer was what did him in.
As though he could ever deny her anything.
Slowly, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him as he leaned down, and pressed their lips together, the feeling of her kissing him going leagues and miles towards calming the angry bond.
Reassuring it that the tether hadn't been damaged, that she was still as much his as she had always been.
Unbeknownst to her, he'd managed to activate the fireplace's mechanism at the same time, so when he pulled away, they found themselves back on the ship.
Cass looked around, before chuckling in disbelief. When he looked at her confused, she elaborated, a little smugly, "I mean, I guess I can add Madame de Pompadour to the list of people I've kissed now. Not a bragging right I ever thought I'd have, but here we go."
The Doctor's eyes widened, and he gasped, "No! No way!"
"Way, way," Cass smirked, "I just had Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France, actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan and fantastic gardener...all over my lips."
He chuckled slightly, before looking over her shoulder and frowning at the empty room. Noticing his expression, she giggled, "Did you really think they'd listen to you and stay still? On a spaceship that is mysteriously empty, yet filled with clockwork people?"
Grabbing her hand, he pulled her behind him, grumbling as he exited the room, "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!"
"Like a...horse?"
"Yes, like a horse..." his voice trailed off, as he noticed Cass gently petting a white hose on the nose, stroking its coat happily.
Snorting, he stayed where he was, shaking his head at the absurdity of the scene.
——————
Later, as they continued wandering around the halls, searching for their companions, he turned around, huffing at the horse that seemed to be glued to his tether, "Will you stop following her? She is not your mother!"
Cass giggled, looking at him fondly, "Hon, are you jealous of a horse?"
"He's taking all of your attention away!" He pouted petulantly, only to grin when she cupped his cheek and kissed him, smirking, "There we go. There's enough of me for both of my boys, right Arthur?"
"Arthur?"
She winked, grabbing his hand and beginning to pull him towards a set of double French-doors, "Good name for a horse, don't you think?"
Pushing them open, they both stepped in slowly, glancing at the gardens in awe. Petting the horse absentmindedly, the Doctor chuckled, "So this is where you came from, eh, Arthur?"
They both watched for a moment as Reinette talked happily with a friend, before walking back into the ship, the doors closing behind them.
Hooking her elbow through his, Cass grinned, "Shall we continued looking for our companions then, love?"
He nodded, walking alongside her quietly, until he asked, "Can you give me a clue? A hint as to what's going on here?"
His tether bit her lip, sadness beginning to flow from her as she remembered the tragedies of this particular episode. Looking up at him, she whispered, "spoiler: the name is the reason."
"The name? Reinette's name?"
"In a way, yes."
Sighing, she looked up at him regretfully, "I've been squeezing my brain since we. Got here, trying to find a way to clue you in on what's happening without giving too much away, and this is the best I could think of. I'm sorry."
He reached over, hooking a finger under her chin, before raising her eyes to his own, smiling at her downtrodden face, "I know, I wasn't complaining love. I know you always do your best, and that is far more than I could ask for."
Stroking her cheekbone once more, he then began pulling her in a different direction, revealing, "I can hear Mickey's voice all the way from here. Blimey, but you've picked a loud one."
Cassandra rolled her eyes, smiling gratefully at him, "yeah well, at least it makes him easier to find."
"That is true."
Slowly, they found them, the companions looking through a mirror into France, observing in fascination as King Louis XV stood before it.
"Blimey, look at this guy," Mickey whispered, "who does he think he is?"
Smirking, his pilot retorted from behind him, "the King of France. Why, who'd you think he was?"
Rose turned to them, raising an amused brow, "oh, here's trouble alright. What have you two been up to?"
The Doctor shrugged casually, "Oh you know, this and that. Became the imaginary friends of a future French aristocrat... picked a fight with a clockwork man..."
From behind them, a loud neigh sounded, and Cass grinned, "oh, and we met a horse!"
Arthur trotted into view, as though responding to the mention of himself, and Mickey stared incredulously, "what's a horse doing on a spaceship?"
"Mickey," the Doctor groaned impatiently, "what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective."
Cass rolled her eyes, before tilting her head towards the mirror, explaining, "see these things, they're all over the place here. One on every single deck. A gateway to history, if you will, but not generalized history..." her finger touched the glass, pointing towards the beautifully dressed blonde woman who'd just entered and continuing, "hers. Time Windows, deliberately arranged to spy on one woman's timeline."
"A spacesuit from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth," the Doctor added, "Why?"
Rose looked at the woman, and questioned, "who is she?"
"Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived." The Doctor revealed, before smiling mischievously, one of his arms wrapping around Cass' waist, and pulling her into his chest, "besides our very own Cassie, of course."
The woman in question scoffed, shaking her head to hide the delighted smile on her face, as Rose nodded knowingly, "ahh, so she's got plans to be the Queen, then?"
"Not at all," she informed her quietly, eyes on the little girl she'd once held, who'd turned into the woman who had tried to kiss her so passionately earlier, "he's already got one of those. She's got plans of being his mistress."
"Oh, I get it," the younger blonde murmured, Mickey humming beside her, "yes, Camilla then."
The two chuckled slowly, as Cass continued, smiling at the joke, "I'm pretty sure this is the night they meet, at the Yew Tree ball. Give her no time at all, and she'll get herself established as his primary mistress, with her own rooms at the palace and everything. Hell, she even gets her own title; Madame de Pompadour."
"Queen must've loved her..."
"Oh, she did," the Doctor assured, nodding happily, "They got on very well."
Mickey scratched his head in confusion, "The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?"
The Time Lord shrugged, smiling slightly, "France. It's a different planet."
Glancing at her companion, she pointed suddenly to the fire extinguisher in his hand, "Mick, can I borrow that?"
He handed it to her, and she immediately lobbed it at her tether, simply winking in response to his unasked question, knowing he'd understood her unspoken 'spoiler'.
Through the mirror, Reinette's angry voice reached them, demanding, "How long have you been standing there?"
There happened to be a figure standing against the wall, shrouded in darkness. Unfortunately for it, it happened to be ticking quite loudly, and Reinette, remembering the sound from her childhood, had immediately noticed.
"Show yourself!" She commanded once more.
The redhead looked her elbow through the Doctor's, before pressing the mechanism that allowed the mirror to turn, and stepping back into Reinette's world once more, greeting her as her tether sprayed the robot, "hello sweet girl. Hasn't time flown since we've seen you last?"
"Fire-Woman! Fireplace Man!" The blonde courtesan yelled one shock and joy.
Cass quickly pulled her closer to herself, while the Doc tossed the extinguisher carelessly to Mickey through the opening, yelling, "thank you, Mickey!"
Before he could reply however, the droid began creeping loudly, and Mickey asked instead, "what's it doing?"
His pilot sighed, before answering casually, "it's melting the ice, trying to switch itself back on to teleport away."
She noticed the Doctor stepping closer to her, his body shielding her own slightly as a means of protection and she smiled fondly, slowly reaching down and wrapping her hand around his.
From beside her, Reinette noticed the gesture and grinned, the love she'd always been able to see between her 'Fire-People' as she'd called them now tugging at her heart.
These two, they'd shown her by example exactly the kind of love she should strive for. They'd made her realize it at seven, and now, at twenty-three, she still believed none existed quite as potent as theirs.
"And then what?" Mickey's voice piped up, reminding everyone of the situation at hand once more.
Cass could feel the Doctor's frustration, and before he could blow up at her companion, she leveled a warning look at him, and answered herself, "honestly? Probably nothing Mick, it would just try to escape. But, I do have a sonic, and I am not afraid to make use of it should the need for a back-up plan arise." Injecting humor into her voice, she joked, "never let the Doc deal with a back-up plan Micks, he's hardly capable of coming up with premier ones!"
"Oi!" Her tether yelled in mock-offense, grinning when she shot him a wink, before focusing back on the robot and asking, "who are you?"
When he received no reply, he tried again, voice more commanding, "identify yourself!"
Cass meanwhile, leaned closer to Reinette, grabbing onto her hand reassuringly, before suggesting, "think you have it in you to try asking it?"
The aristocrat looked at her in confusion, "but why would it listen to me?"
"It did when you were little sweet girl, who's to say it still won't? Besides, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?"
Reinette nodded, before tightening her hold around Cass' hand and ordering the droid firmly, "Answer their question. Answer any and all questions put to you."
"I am repair droid seven," its mechanical voice finally answered.
The Doctor nodded, "So what happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage."
"Ion storm, eighty two percent systems failure."
"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?"
"We did not have the parts." The droid droned tonelessly.
From behind the mirror, Mickey scoffed, "Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts."
"What's happened to the crew, where are they?"
"We did not have the parts." The droid repeated.
Cass could feel her tether's anger mounting, and wishing to keep him from feeling that fully, tried to interject, "Doc..."
But he ignored her, persisting, "There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?"
"We did not have the parts."
"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where-"
"Doc,"
His tether's saddened voice drew his attention away, and when he finally looked at her, he felt the waves of sadness and pity flowing through her and into him, as she continued softly, "they didn't have the parts, not the machine parts anyway, so they made do with what they had on board. They used the humans, the crew."
"The crew?" Mickey repeated, horrified.
The Time Lord nodded, swallowing as Cass replied grimly, "they were simply doing what they were programmed to. Repairing the ship in any way, and using anything they could find. It's just that no one wrote in its protocols that the crew were off the list, and they're droids, they can't calculate decisions morally or ethically."
Glancing over her shoulder, she met Rose's eyes and whispered, "do you remember what you said the main deck smelled of?"
"Someone cooking," the young girl breathed, face beginning to turn green in horror and disgust.
Cass nodded, "yep. Flesh and fat plus heat, equals the world's most horrifying barbecue."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, as he took up his position in front of the redhead once more. Glaring at the droid, he asked, "But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows, that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could have gone to your repair yard. Instead you come to eighteenth century France? Why?"
"One more part is required." The droid answered, its head jerking towards the redhead, or rather, the one the redhead stood in front to protect.
Cass glared venomously, "then why the hell haven't you taken it yet?"
"She is incomplete."
The Time Lord scoffed angrily, "What... so, that's the plan then? Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's 'done yet'?"
"Why her?" Rose questioned, all eyes turning to her as she asked the most obvious thing no one had thought of yet, "You've got all of history to choose from, why specifically her?"
"We are the same."
Reinette gasped in horror, shaking her head and pointing at the droid angrily, "We are not the same, we are in no sense the same!"
"We are the same." It simply repeated.
The blonde shook Cass' hand off, advancing towards the machine, enraged, "Get out of here! Get out of here this instance!"
"Reinette, no!" The Doc yelled, but it was too late, as the droid had already teleported away.
Cassandra sighed tiredly, before looking at Rose and requesting gently, "Rosie, could you please take Mick and Arthur and go after it? It teleported back onto the ship?"
The young blonde nodded, before her eyes narrowed in confusion, "Arthur?"
"Good name for a horse," the Doctor shrugged casually, winking at his tether, who smiled in return.
"No!" The blonde protested, "you two are not keeping the horse!"
"I let you and Cassie keep Mickey!"
"Hey!" Cass retorted in return, "you didn't let me keep Mick, he's MY companion!"
From behind the mirror, the boy found himself smiling at her words, at how possessive she seemed of him as her companion. And she'd always been that way even when they'd only been best friends, she'd been the only one to make him feel wanted, truly. Not in a romantic way, but in terms of companionship, of familial love.
The Doctor grunted, "never mind that, now go! Go! Go!" He joked back, not giving her any time to protest as he swung the mirror closed between them.
"Reinette," he turned back to the blonde, "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. Won't hurt a bit."
As she closed her eyes in agreement, his jumped to his tether, feeling the sharp slice of hurt that came from her, and finding her eyes focused on the floor, rather than the two of them.
She didn't want to watch. It felt wrong, so, so wrong for him to do this, and knowing what she knew, knowing that Reinette would be able to prance through his mind as well made Cass want to choke on her jealously.
Somehow, in the back of her mind, she knew that no one but her should have access to the Doc's mind. She was his tether, the only person who should be allowed to see the inner recesses of who he was, his deepest fears and greatest hopes.
And yet, here she was, standing in the corner of the room as he placed his hands softly on Reinette's temples, preparing to share something so intimate with her.
Not that he knew he would, anyway.
"Fireplace man," the blonde breathed, "you are in my mind."
Swallowing his discomfort, the Doc replied casually, "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," he advised softly, before huffing, "oh, actually, there's a door just there. You might want to clo...oh actually, several."
Reinette grinned slyly, before softening as her eyes wandered to her Fire-woman, noticing how small she suddenly seemed, gaze dropped to her feet. Looking back at the man, she closed her eyes once more, and whispered in awe, "To walk amongst the memories of another living being...do you ever get used to this?"
"I don't make a habit of it."
She chuckled, "how can you resist?"
He paused, his brow furrowing in thought, " What age are you?"
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising."
"Not my question, theirs. You're twenty-three and for some reason, that means you're not old enough." She flinched, and he quickly apologized, "sorry, you might find old memories reawakening. Side effect."
Reinette sighed sadly, "oh, such a lonely childhood," her heart breaking for the darkness her Doctor seemed to be in in his earlier days.
"It'll pass. Stay with me."
She frowned lightly, "oh, Doctor. So lonely, so very, very alone."
And he had been. Walking through his memories, she felt as though the loneliness and guilt would crush her whole, the weight of his darkness far too much for her to bear. But then, it was as though a light appeared, and was slowly chasing the demons away.
The bright, fiery glow that encompassed everything in a lovely, amber haze.
"What do you mean, alone?" He opened his eyes, brows furrowed in question, "You've never been alone a day in your life...." his eyes widened, "and when did you start calling me 'Doctor'?"
He felt a flash of pain from his tether, but was unable to look towards her, as Reinette began, "Such a lonely little boy. Lonely and lonelier....but not anymore." From behind her lids, the amber glow grew, nearly blinding her in its brightness, and she was forced to open her eyes, finishing gently, "you now have your very own fiery miracle."
And that was when he understood. That was when he knew why his tether had been in so much pain, had felt so much hurt at what was occurring.
Reinette had gone into his mind, and Cassie, as little as she knew of the bonds, had understood enough to know how wrong it was for anyone but her to do so.
And she'd felt the pain of the tether reminding her of it for every second the blonde had been in there.
Stepping back, he asked, aghast, "how did you do that?"
Reinette smiled at him knowingly, explaining, "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction." Chuckling at the look on his face, she continued, stepping closer, "Oh, Doctor, dance with me."
He shook his head, taking another step back before replying warningly, his own tether beginning to send pulses of discomfort at him for the attention, "I can't."
"Can't or won't?" She teased him, understanding exactly how deep the connection between them went. How he could never look at anyone the way he looked at his 'fiery miracle'.
"This is the night you dance with the King," he deflected skillfully, eyes moving to his Cassie, who had her own arms wrapped around herself, as though for protection.
"Then perhaps I should make him jealous first, no?"
He sighed, before answering her earlier question, intent clear in his voice, "I won't."
"I know," she smiled in understanding, before tilting her head towards his tether, "why would you, when you've your very own miraculous flame."
Stepping closer, she continued in a hushed whisper, "the Doctor and his Oracle...but who are you two? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?"
"What did you see?"
The aristocrat smiled teasingly, "that there comes a time, Time Lord, when every little boy must learn how to dance."
"I do know how to dance," he admitted, understanding that the conversation was no longer about actual dancing, but rather, something far more intimate.
Reinette tilted her head curiously, "Any yet, you hesitate to ask her to join you."
"I don't know if she would want to. I don't know if she even enjoys...dancing."
"And how would you ever know, if you've never asked me to dance?" Cass asked, stepping from behind Reinette into his view.
She'd begun paying attention when the conversation had veered away from the one she'd remembered, when she'd begun hearing the teasing, joking tones in Reinette's voice, and noticed her furtive, yet happy glances her way.
Cass had payed attention when she'd understood that Reinette didn't want the Doctor, that she hadn't overstepped her boundaries on purpose, but had simply stumbled clumsily though them, her curiosity getting the best of her.
And really, she'd have been the mother of all hypocrites if she'd held that against her.
But now, when the discussion took the turn it did, she'd felt the need to interject. Especially when her tether revealed how insecure he was about her willingness to...dance with him, to use his own terminology.
Stepping closer, she cupped his cheek lovingly, a glowing smile on her face as she whispered, low enough that even Reinette could not hear, "in case it somehow wasn't clear from last night, I would love nothing more than to...dance with you, Doc." Pressing their foreheads together, she continued, "I would love nothing more than to feel what it would be like to be with you, fully and completely, with every bit of emotion between us on display."
She could feel the desire growing in him, even as his cheeks blushed and reddened under her eyes, and as his hearts began beating wildly in his chest. Slowly, she lowered his lips to her own, pressing them together in a gentle, loving kiss.
A flurry of emotions and affection and something even deeper that neither was ready to talk of just yet.
When she pulled away, she was blown apart by the stars in his eyes when he looked at her, the depths of his feelings lying in those honey pots, raw and real and honest.
But she didn't have time to mention them, as Reinette had grabbed her arm excitedly, announcing, "and now, we shall both get ready to dance!" Before smirking at the Doctor, her elbow looked through his tether's who winked at him slyly, "at the ball, I meant."
—————
Rose bleakly blinked awake to find herself strapped onto a table, a droid looming menacingly over her head. "What's going on?" She tried to look around, but found herself immobilized instead, "Doctor? Cass?"
From beside her, Mickey's panicked voice yelled, "Rose?They're gonna chop us up. Just like the crew, they're gonna chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's the Doctor? Where's Cass? They've been gone for flipping hours now!"
"You are compatible," a droid intoned mechanically, as it stepped near the prone blonde.
"Well... you... you might wanna think about that." She stammered, attempting to buy herself some more time, "You really, really might because... me and Mickey... we didn't come here alone, oh no! And trust me, you wouldn't wanna mess with our designated drivers." The droid didn't react, simply thrust a wickedly sharp tool in her direction, but she continued, voice growing more desperate, "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..."
There was a loud bang in another room, and the Doctor's loud voice slurred, "I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night..." only to be followed by Cass' drunken giggles.
The blonde glanced towards the direction of the singing distractedly, stuttering, "They called him the... they called him the... the..."
The Doctor sauntered into the room, dancing drunkenly. He had his tie wrapped around his head, and a pair of sunglasses on. In one of his hands, he seemed to hold what looked like a wine goblet. Twirling gently from his other arm was Cass, a bright smile on her face, her hair styled into ringlets, which were resting beneath a ruby-jewel band. She was wearing a crimson corseted gown, one that brought her curves to full attention, her pale skin and freckles glowing under the light in contrast. Her lips had been painted a deep red, and around her neck, drawing the eye both to its length, and the cleavage that laid beneath, rested a crimson stone.
Giggling, she threw her arms around the Doc, as he pulled her close, nuzzling softly into the crook of her neck, lips clearly leaving wet kisses as he sang off-key, "And still have begged for moooore... I could've spread my wings and done a thou..." noticing them, he grinned, asking, "have you met the French?"
Rose rolled her eyes at them, deadpanning, "oh look what the cat dragged in, the Oncoming Storm, and his All-Seeing Oracle."
"Oh, you sound just like your mother." He grunted distastefully, nuzzling into his tether's neck even more, lips peppering kisses along its column.
Mickey started at the sight in disgust, muttering, "is that what you've been doing this whole time? Getting my pilot drunk so you could ravish her off in France while we've been tried to tables?!"
"Amongst other things," he slurred, "I think just invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early. Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before!"
Cassandra giggled in delight, before looking at her companion seriously, "this should be a lesson, Mick. always take a banana to a party, bananas are very good."
The Time Lord glanced behind her, spotting the droid and pointing at it happily, "Oh ho ho ho ho, brilliant. It's you! You're my favourite, you are, you are the best! Do you know why? 'Cause you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad."
He continued talking, pretending to not notice how his sneaky tether had snuck past his grip and headed towards the control panel, fiddling with the buttons, "Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They wanna know how old she is. Know why? 'Cause 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? He stares one of the droids mockingly in the face. 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."
"She's compatible," the droid stated.
"Compatible?" He chuckled, approaching it with uneven steps, "if you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine."
Quickly, he opened its head up, emptying the contents of his glass into it, before explaining to the companions, voice completely sober, "Multi-grain oil. If it moves, it doesn't."
From the corner of his eyes, he noticed another droid approaching, before it suddenly shut down, Cass' clear voice mocking, "oh would you look at that? Clockwork orange seems to be malfunctioning."
He grinned, before pointing his sonic at both prisoners, releasing them, "Right, you two, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."
Mickey slid off his table, helping Rose down as well, before turning to his apparently sober pilot and asking, "are those things safe?"
Cass smiled, reaching for the Doctor and tugging his tie down, fixing it properly, before pulling the sunglasses off and tossing them in his pocket, "Yep. Safe. Safe and thick. Just the way we like them." Glancing at the Doctor, she added, seriously, "Okay, all the time windows are controlled from here. We need to close them all down."
He nodded, patting his pockets furiously, "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago!"
His tether reached into her corset, fishing the plugs out victoriously, before handing them to him, shrugging, "You were using them as castanets, and where else am I meant to store things? This dress doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination, nor does it come with pockets, you know."
The alien winked roguishly at her, pressing a soft, open-mouthed kiss to her jaw, as Rose asked, "Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty-seven?"
Cass shook the haze his sensual kiss placed on her mind off, before snorting, "with the amount of damage done to these circuits? It's a goddamn miracle they were able to open any time windows with a slight measure of accuracy at all. If their luck had been any worse, they would have truly blown a hole in the fucking universe."
"Trial and error after that." The Time Lord finished, before pressing a couple of buttons on the panel, huffing when nothing happened.
"The windows aren't closing," he announced, before looking at his Cassie, "why aren't the windows closing? Can you give me anything?"
The redhead nodded slowly, biting her lip as she thought, before saying simply, "well, it's a little hard to close any window when someone's hand is in the way."
He frowned in slight confusion, trying to understand her clue, before a loud sound reverberated through the room, drawing all of their attention to the paralyzed droid.
"What's that?" The blonde questioned slowly.
The Doc shrugged, "I don't know... incoming message?"
"From who?" Mickey added.
"Report from the field..." his voice trailed off, before his eyes widened, and he pressed a passionate kiss to his genius Cassie's lips, "one of them must still be out there with Reinette! That's why I can't close the windows, there's an override! Like a hand keeping a window from fully closing!"
Behind them, one of the droids began whirring back to life, and as they turned to him, Cass grabbed the Doc, pulling him into her just as the one they'd immobilized 'spat' all of the oil where the Doctor's shoes had once been.
Glancing at her gratefully, he sighed, "well, that was a bit clever."
Around them, the remainder of the droids sprung to life, and Cassandra's dry voice remarked, "and this, has all the marking of shit-fest written all over it."
He watched with purely masculine interest as her hand reached once more into her corset, pulling her red-tipped sonic out from between her breasts, and holding it limply in her hands, waiting for the moment to use it.
But she didn't have to, since at once, the droids all teleported away.
Rose looked around in confusion, as Mickey asked, "what happened now?"
Both Cass and the Doctor looked at each other worriedly, as the Time Lord informed them gravely, "One of them must've found the right time window, and now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head."
—————
Rose had gone to warn Reinette through one of the mirror, while Cass and the Doctor kneeled by the final window, one hidden covertly behind a seemingly innocent tapestry.
They both had their Sonics out, each focusing on a different part, trying to return the signal to the window so they can save Reinette, but so far, neither had managed to have any progress.
Well, apart from Cass, that is. She'd managed to restore the audio connection, which in hindsight, hadn't been the greatest idea.
They could hear her screaming from behind the window, and yet the were unable to help, both of their hearts breaking at the wreckage they were partly witnessing.
"You found it, then?" The blonde asked quickly as she rejoined them, placing one of her hands on a tense Cass' shoulder.
The redhead shook her head, "no. They knew we'd be coming, so they managed to block this one window off."
"I don't get it. How come they got in there?" She asked, eyes straying to the ballroom scene.
Mickey joined her, explaining softly, "they teleported, we all saw them. So long as the ship and the ballroom remain linked, their teleports work."
When he noticed both the Doctor and Rose throwing him weird looks, he shrugged, glancing instead at his pilot who was looking at him proudly, "Cass explained it to me earlier, it made sense."
"Well, we'll go in the TARDIS!" The blonde suggested excitedly, only to deflate when the Doctor shook his head.
"We can't use the TARDIS, we're part of the events now."
The boy tilted his head in confusion, turning to look at his pilot, "why can't we just smash through?"
"Hyperplex glass on this side, plate glass on the other. We've got nothing this strong."
"We'd need a truck,"the Doctor muttered.
Mickey shook his head, "We don't have a truck."
"I know we don't have a truck!" The Time Lord yelled angrily.
Immediately, Cass shot him a furious glare, hissing, "do not raise your voice at him, he's said nothing wrong. I understand you're frustrated, but don't take it out on them when they're just trying to help."
Both companions looked at her gratefully, relieved that apparently, regardless of how tethered she was to the Doctor now, she would always berate him for hurting them. That she would always protect them, keep them safe.
He sighed, glancing at her apologetically, as Rose exclaimed, "Well, we've gotta try something!"
"No," he shook his head slowly, "smash the glass, smash the time window, there'd be no way back."
His tether stood up, gathering the folds of her dress in her hand as she hurried outside, only to return minutes later sitting atop a familiar white horse, coming to a stop next to him.
Leaning down, she gave him her hand, before winking, "we might not have a truck, but we definitely have a horse. I told you keeping Arthur would be a good idea!"
The Doctor laughed happily, standing up, before mounting the horse behind her, grabbing the reins with one hand, as the other wrapped around her waist, holding onto her.
As he directed them towards the window, Cass looked back at the companions and smiled reassuringly, yelling, "give us exactly five and a half hours!"
But that was all she was able to get out, as the Doctor ran Arthur straight through the glass, shattering it loudly, as they galloped onto Reinette's world for the final time.
The guests in the ballroom all shrieked in surprise, as the Doctor drew the horse to a stop, hopping off elegantly, before reaching up for his tether, hands wrapping tenderly around her waist as he pulled her off, keeping her glued to his side as they turned to face a happily surprised Reinette.
"Madame de Pompadour," Cass curtsied politely, before shooting the woman a small wink, "you look younger by the day."
The blonde smiled widely, her eyes moving to the Doctor as he bowed, before King Louis came next to her, exclaiming, "What the hell is going on?!"
Gesturing to him casually, she introduced, "Oh, this is my lover, the King of a France."
"Yeah?" The alien grinned smugly, "Well, I'm the Lord of Time, this is my beautiful wife, and," turning to the droid, his tether took over, voice mocking as she added, "we're here to fix a very broken clock."
Slowly, she left the Doc's grasp, reaching out to the droid's face and ripping its mask off, to the pleasure of the crowd, who all gasped at the sight of its clockwork interior.
Noticing its arm about to move, she quickly leaned sideways just as it flung the sharp weapon where her face used to be, tutting quietly, "stop it. It's over, for you and for the both of us."
She was quickly grabbed by the Doctor, who tugged her back to his side protectively as he glared at the droid, gesturing towards the broken mirror, it's shard on the ground, though where there once used to be a passage, now only lied a brick wall.
"Talk about seven years' bad luck," he huffed, "Try three thousand...."
They both watch as it tried to teleport, but to no avail, as the Doc explained, "The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up."
Finally, as though understanding that it was as stranded here as they were, the droids all wound down at once, slumping forwards, as Cass silently approached Reinette, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright, sweet girl?"
The blonde nodded, smiling at her gratefully, before gesturing to the clockwork robots, "What's happened to them?"
"They've stopped." The Doctor said, coming to stand behind his tether, his hands wrapping around her waist as he held her to him, "They have no purpose now."
—————
Later, they stood in the same position before a window, Cass holding a glass of Pinot Noir in her hand, as the Doc continued gripping onto her waist.
Leaning back against him, she sighed, gesturing towards the view, "you know, when I was younger, I remember laying down outside and talking to the stars. I remember wishing so hard for someone to lay down beside me, so they can share their secrets with them too." Glancing back at him, she smiled, all warmth and softness and....love.
"But they did something even better, they gave me you."
He didn't say anything, couldn't say anything under the force of what she felt for him. She'd been sneaky, his tether, somehow managing to shield her deeper feelings from him, much like he'd been doing all along too.
But he was a Time Lord, a species that was mildly telepathic by nature, so he was used to fortifying his mind, allowing only what he wanted to seep through. It made no sense to him that Cassie would be able to do the same, on the same nearly expert level, and yet...she did. Only revealing the best gift he could've received when she knew he felt at his most hopeless.
Chuckling, he finally pressed a tender kiss to her temple, "always like to surprise me, don't you love."
"Can't give away all of my secrets at once, Time Lord. You might get bored of me otherwise." She shrugged casually, biting her lip impishly.
He didn't answer, simply smiled as he shook his head, watching as she took another sip from her wine, the stars' shine reflecting in her forest eyes.
From behind them, Reinette joined with a small smile, saying, "you know all their names, don't you?" Her eyes were on the Doctor, though they soon turned to include Cass as well, "I saw that in your mind. You both know the name of every star, or nearly."
"What's in a name?" He shrugged loftily, "names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything."
"Like 'the Doctor'," she smirked, "or 'the Oracle'."
Cass rolled her eyes, smiling at the woman before adding, "or even better, 'Madame de Pompadour',"
Reinette laughed nodding happily, before continuing wistfully, "I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think."
"From time to time,"
"Often enough,"
They both replied at the same time, before looking at each other and smiling, another deep similarity unveiling itself between them, strengthening their bond even more.
"In saving me, you trapped yourselves. Did you know that would happen?"
The redhead nodded, "pretty much, yeah."
"And yet, you still came."
"We did, didn't we?" The Doctor grinned, "catch us doing that again."
The blonde aristocrat titled her head curiously, "There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?"
"When the mirror broke, the shock will 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, er... pay for any damage. Um... oh, that's a thought, I'm gonna need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?"
His tether chuckled softly, "don't worry. As the actual human, I'll probably deal with that better. You're likely to give it all away for a fish or something."
"So here you are," Reinette sighed, "My lonely Angel and his Fiery Miracle. Stuck on the slow path with me."
Cass grinned, holding her glass out against the blonde's, "here's to the slow path indeed."
Their glasses clinked, before Reinette added, "it's a pity...I think I would've enjoyed the slow path."
"Well, we're not going anywhere." The man shrugged.
"Oh, aren't you?" She raised an elegant brow, before gesturing for them to follow her, "come..."
Cass left her glass behind on a table, as they both followed Reinette through the corridors, to her chambers, where she motioned towards a fireplace, "it's not a copy. It's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."
"The fireplace," the Doctor breathed, pulling Cass behind him as he went to inspect it, "the fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?"
Reinette smiled secretly, "Many years ago," she shook her head, before sighing, "In the hope that a door once opened, may someday be opened again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor or one's Oracle. It appears undamaged, do you think it still works?"
Cass had kneeled by the fireplace, sonic already in hand tinkering, as the Doctor explained, "You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it. Which means it was off-line when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But..."
"The link is basically physical, and it's still physically here." His tether finished, looking up at him and grinning knowingly.
"You already knew about this, didn't you?" He deadpanned.
The redhead smirked, "maybe. It would serve no use for the entire universe to refer to me as 'the Oracle' if I couldn't predict this one thing, now would it?"
He grinned, kneeling beside her as he began knocking on the wood, explaining quickly to Reinette, "basically, it means that maybe, if we're very, very, very, very, very, very lucky..."
"Aha!"
"What?" Reinette questioned curiously at the sound, her Fire-Woman rolling her eyes good-naturedly and explaining, "he's found a loose connection."
"Exactly!" He yelled excitedly, sticking his sonic into it, "need to get a man in!"
With his other hand, he tugged his tether close, holding her tightly to his chest as he stood, ready to turn the fireplace, "wish us luck!"
As it began turning, they heard Reinette cry, "no!"
Cass shook her head sadly, still following after the Doctor as he kneeled down on their side of the mirror, calling out happily, "Madame de Pompadour!"
She appeared on the other side, smiling wide, "yes?"
"Still wanna see those stars?"
"More than anything!"
"Two minutes. Pack a bag!"
As he stood up, her eyes caught Cass', only to find the girl staring at her with such complete heartbreak and desolation that she understood.
Reinette wouldn't be visiting the stars after all.
Gathering her courage, she shot her childhood protector one final smile, gentle and accepting.
She may never get to see the stars, but she was luckier than most, for the stars had made two of their chosen children her protectors and friends.
—————
Running toward the TARDIS, Cass found herself heaved into a giant hug by Mickey, as the Doc asked Rose, "how long did you wait?"
The blonde bounced in place, running straight at the redhead, tackling her into a hug as she said, "exactly five and a half hours! Just like you told us to!"
"See?" Cass smiled, pressing a small kiss to the blonde's head, "I told you we'd be back. I just got a companion, I can't leave him without showing him the universe! And besides, I've got one blonde sister that's more than enough trouble by herself already, I don't need anymore."
Rose smiled gently at her, as Mick once more wrapped his arms around both of his favorite girls, squeezing them far too tightly.
Cass gasped out a laugh, before beginning to hit his hand sloppily, "Mick, I'm wearing a corset and it's suffocating enough without you squeezing whatever air remained in my lungs out, please!"
He chuckled, the sound turning into a full-blown laughter when the Doctor snatched her away the minute he released her, shooting him a small glare, before smiling again, and ushering both him and Rose back into the time machine, "We'll explain later, but get into the TARDIS, we'll be with you in a sec."
As he began pulling Cass with him, the two companions couldn't help but notice the very sad expression on her face, and knew immediately, something would go very, very wrong.
—————
They ran back to the fireplace, the Doctor kneeling before it and calling out Reinette's name softly, only to receive no response.
Standing up, he weaved his fingers through his tether's, before activating the fireplace, and walking into Reinette's room confidently once it stopped spinning, calling out, "Reinette?"
By the window, shrouded in darkness, the King jumped, turning around and clearing his throat softly.
"Your majesty," Cass curtsied, as the Doc merely waved, "oh, hello."
"You just missed her," he informed them sadly, gesturing towards the window, "She'll be in Paris by six."
"Ah."
The King continued staring silently at them, before taking a couple of steps forwards and gasping as their faces became clearer, "Good Lord... she was right. She said you never looked a day older. So many years since I saw either of you last, yet not a day of it on your faces."
Reaching down, he opened a drawer, pulling out a small letter as he continued, "She spoke of you two many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are."
Looking back at them, he found the beautiful redhead with her head on the man's chest, slowly caressing his side as though to offer him comfort, though there was a knowing gleam in her eyes.
He gently handed it to him, before growing distracted by the sound of galloping hooves outside.
"There she goes. 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."
Harshly wiping the tears from his eyes, he glanced back at the couple, wishing them a silent farewell, but couldn't help but ask, eyes straying to the white envelope, "what does she say?"
When the Doctor silently placed it in his pocket, he understood, nodding, "of course. Quite right."
Slowly, the time travelers turned around, walking back to the fireplace and leaving Reinette's world, never to return again.
—————
"Why her?" Rose had asked them as soon as the TARDIS doors had closed behind them.
The Doctor stood silently by the console, and Cass, for the first time in what felt like a very long time, stood alone by the jump-seat, eyes set intently on its material.
"Why did they think they could fix the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?"
The Doctor sighed, shaking his head, "We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory base. Probably got confused. The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble."
When he grew quiet once more, Mickey gently put his arm around the blonde's shoulder, motioning to the other couple with his eyes, before suggesting quietly, "come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place."
When they left, Cass slowly walked to her tether, reaching up to press a soft kiss to his cheek, before beginning to walk slowly away.
Before she left though, she glanced back at him and said tentatively, "The SS Madame de Pompadour. That's the ship's name. That's why the droids believed they were one and the same."
When he didn't say anything, didn't even turn around and she couldn't feel any emotions from him, she bit her lip sadly, before whispering, "I'll be in my room if you need me. Not that you would for any reason but...yeah, goodnight."
—————
She'd taken every smudge of makeup off, had even managed to somehow tame her hair back to its former, non-Shirley temple ringlet state, and even ditched the poofy skirt, now all that was missing was the fucking corset.
Cass groaned in frustration as the ribbons escaped her fingers again, "how the hell am I meant to do this? This is not a one-person job!"
"Which is why courtesans usually had someone help them into and out of corsets," an amused voice intoned from behind her.
The redhead twirled around quickly, face and neck blushing a bright red as she noticed the Doc leaning against her closed door, a small smile on his face, while she stood in front of her mirror in nothing but the corset and a skimpy pair of lace panties.
"Doc! Um, exactly how long have you been standing here?"
He slowly walked towards her, turning her to face her mirror again, as his fingers began deftly pulling at the strings of her corset, undoing them slowly, "when it's just you and me, call me by my name. Please."
Cass swallowed, meeting his eyes in the reflection, "Theta, what are you doing here?"
His smiled softened even more, and she felt his emotions stroke across her own, gratitude and appreciation and so much...love she could nearly drown in it. Keeping their eyes interlocked, he slowly leaned down, pressing his lips to her bared shoulder, before whispering, "you said you'd be here if I needed you. I always need you."
Glancing back at the strings in his hand, he chuckled, "though I suppose it's lucky I came when I did, or you may have just begun ripping this thing off your body."
"It was getting close," she whispered, unable to join him in laughter when she felt as though her heart was in her throat, desire coursing through her veins faster than the speed of light, filling her to the brim.
She knew when it reached him, saw his Adam's apple bobbing heavily as he swallowed, before his eyes met her own, nearly black as his pupils expanded.
Neither of them said a word as he continued unlacing her from the garment, until he'd reached the end.
Holding it still closed, his voice sounded rough when he whispered, "do you want me to leave?"
The intention was clear, the underlying meaning of his words so evident he may as well have just said them outright.
Do you want me to stay?
Cass swallowed, before reaching with her own hands for the edges of the corset, keeping her eyes on his face and she slowly pulled it away from herself, letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor.
"Never."
Forever.