"You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now. You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours."
At that moment, somewhere a horse neighs, the sound of galloping hooves following. The mirror over the mantlepiece is smashed as the Doctor jumps the horse through it. The guests at the ball gasp in shocked as Reinette watches smiling at the man as he dismounts.
"Madame de Pompadour. You look younger every day."
The King, mouth open in shock. "What the hell is going on?"
"Oh. This is my lover, the King of France." Reinette told the Doctor, gesturing to the man beside her.
"Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time." He retorted, walking over to the droid. Reinette smirked as the King looked even more flustered. "and I'm here to fix the clock." He takes the mask off the main android. It points its blade at his throat. "Forget it. It's over. For you and for me." He looks at the mirror, a brick wall taking it's place. He frowned. "Talk about seven years bad luck. Try three thousand."
"The link with the ship is broken. No way back." He told the droids, glaring at them. "You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." He threatened. The androids all wind down. One of them falls backwards and breaks apart. Reinette gasps in shock.
"You all right?" The Doctor asked her, holding out a hand for her.
She gratefully took his hand, standing beside him "What's happened to them?"
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now."
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ
Later that evening, the Doctor is looking up at the night sky, through the window, in a random room. He heard footsteps entering the room, turning to see Reinette who held two glasses of wine. He smiled as he accepted one from her.
"You know all their names, don't you? I saw that in your mind. The name of every star." She asked him, as she joined him by the window.
"What's in a name?" He asked. "Names are just titles. Titles don't tell you anything."
"Like the Doctor." She raised her eyebrow at the man.
"Like Madame de Pompadour." He copied her action. She laughed.
"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer. Just as you have, I think." She sighed, peering at the stars in the night sky.
"From time to time."
She turned to the Doctor, a sad smile on her face. "In saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?"
"Mmm." He was all he managed to say. "Pretty much."
"Yet, still you came." She asked, sadden. Silenced followed. "You're thinking of her aren't you?" She asked, referring to Raelle.
He looked at her, a sad smile on his face. "Yeah" He sighed.
"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?" She offered, desperately wanting to help the man.
He 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. I'll, I'll pay for any damage." He paused, cringing. "Er, that's a thought, I'm going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?" He asked, scrunching his eyebrows.
Reinette shook her head, smiling softly as she looked out the window. "So, here you are, my lonely angel, stuck on the slow path with me."
"Yep, the slow path." He sighed. He held his drink out to Reinette. "Here's to the slow path."They drink a toast.
"It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere." He reminded her, a sad looked on his face as he was reminded of the circumstances.
She looked over to the man to see him upset. She took his hand. "Oh, aren't you? Follow me" She led him into her old bedroom. "It's not a copy, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail." She gestured over to the fireplace on the other side of the room.
"The fireplace. The fireplace from your bedroom." He gasped. He turned to look at her. "When did you do this?"
She smiled. "Many years ago, in the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?"
He walked over to the fireplace, inspecting it. "You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke. That's what saved it." He scanned it with his screwdriver. "But the link is basically physical, and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if I'm lucky. If I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky." He tried, as he taps the fireplace surround. "Ah ha!" He exclaims, laughing.
"What?"
"Loose connection." The Doctor says, using his sonic screwdriver. "Need to get a man in." He told her. He gives it a thump and there is a clunk. "Wish me luck!" The fireplace turns, taking the Doctor away.
Back on the side of the ship, The Doctor calls back through the fireplace. "Madame de Pompadour! Still want to see those stars?" He smiles.
"More than anything." She told him, eyes wide.
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag."
She laughed. "Am I going somewhere?"
"Go to the window. Pick a star, any star." He told her excitedly, running off to find the others. He neared another corridor, bumping into them. Without hesitation, Raelle runs up to the Doctor, pulling him into the tight hug, as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck. He was taken aback by her, not realising how upset she was, but he simply returned it, both sharing a silent moment of comfort.
"How long did you wait?" He asked the girl as they broke apart.
"Five and a half hours." Rose told him, glaring at the man. She was frustrated with him for upsetting her sister.
"Great." He replied awkwardly. "Always wait five and a half hours." He laughed. The Doctor shakes Mickey's hand.
"Where've you been?" Raelle asked.
He turns to the girl. "Explain later. Into the Tardis. Be with you in a sec." He told them, as he rushed back over to the fireplace, turning to the other side.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ
"Reinette? You there, Reinette?" He calls out. He walks around the hallway, entering another room. "Reinette? Oh, hello." He says, as he spots the King.
"You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six." He told the Doctor as he stood by the window.
"Ah." He replied, downbeat.
The King looked the man over, shocked. "Good Lord. She was right. She said you never looked a day older. So many years since I saw you last, but not a day of it on your face." He walks over to a desk, taking two sealed letters from a drawer. "She spoke of you and the girl many times. Often wished you'd both visit again. You know how women are." He gives the letters to the Doctor. The Doctor looks down at the letter, sadden by missing her so narrowly.
"There she goes." The King gestured, as the Doctor watched her carriage leave Versailles. "Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty three when she died. Too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard. What does she say?" The King asked the Doctor, referring to the letters. The Doctor puts the unopened letter inside his jacket. "Of course. Quite right."
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ
Back in the TARIDS, the Doctor had just finished explaining to the others why the droids wanted Reinette.
"Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?" Rose asked, still confused at the main purpose why the droid's wanted her brain.
"We'll probably never know." He sighed. "There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused. The Tardis can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble." He told her, walking over to the console, fiddling with the switches on there.
Raelle noticed his sadden expression, walking over to join him at the console "Are you all right?" She asked.
"Are you all right?" He retorted back at her, not understanding why she had been so off at her. They both stared at one another, not wanting to explain the reasoning for their feelings.
Mickey could feel the awkward tension between the two, wanting nothing less than to escape. He grabbed Rose's hand. "Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He dragged her out of the console room, Rose looking back to give her sister an encouraging smile.
The Doctor takes out two letters, holding one out to Raelle. "She wrote us letters." He told her, a sad smile on his face. Raelle understood the reason for his misery, taking his hand as he unsealed his letter, as they both read.
"My dear Doctor. The path has never seemed more slow, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I have seen the world inside your head, and know that all things are possible. Hurry though, my love. My days grow shorter now, and I am so very weak. God speed, my lonely angel."
The Doctor sighs as Raelle rubs his arm. She goes to take her letter out, unsealing it as they read together.
"My dear Raelle. The path has never seemed more slow, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Much like the Doctor, I fear that we are never to meet again, but I will not keep my hopes up. When I look at the stars at night, I think of you and your kindness. You should not continue your course of regret and sadness for things can happen so quickly without appreciating one's true purpose. I fear I don't have long left. Till we meet again, My Fireplace Girl."
A tear rolled down Raelle's face as she quickly went to wipe it. She thought about Reinette's words, not wanting to hold grudges as she turned to face the Doctor, taking a deep breath before she continued. "I know." She told him. The Doctor furrowed his brows in confusion. "I know about the scans." She continued, the Doctor mouth slacked slightly before he composed himself. "I was upset with you that you didn't tell me. You promised me we would figure it out together."
He sighed, taking her hand. "Elle, I am so sorry I didn't tell you, I really am." He squeezed her hand. "It won't happen again." Raelle sighed, not wanting to dwell on the matter as she bought him in for a gentle hug which he gratefully returned. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded, pulling the screen towards the pair, as the Doctor pulled up the results. Her scans appeared on the screen. "I scanned your energy levels, over the course of the past few weeks." He told her, looking guilty. She nodded, looking at the results. "As you can see, there's nothing physically wrong with you but your energy levels are dangerously high." He explained, pointing at the screen.
"Ok. But why? And why do the energy fields all converge at my heart?" She asked him, confused.
He sighs. "Being honest, I don't know the reason why for certain. It's something I've never seen." He told her truthfully. "But out of curiosity, I scanned the rest of us as a comparison." He fiddled with the console, scans of Rose, Mickey and the Doctor appearing on the screen.
Raelle intently looked at the screen, observing and comparing the scans. Rose and Mickey's scans looked normal, all categories showing normal results with their energy fields distributing evenly around their body. But the Doctor's scan made Raelle frown. The Doctor's scan showed his Timelord biology with two heart and high energy levels- normal for him. But his energy fields all converged at his heart too, the exact same to Raelle's. She looked at him, very much confused by his scan.
The Doctor noticed her confusion, starting to explain. "Our scans are the same. Minus the biology aspect, but we share the same divergence of energy fields, all locating back to our hearts. The amount of energy compiled in us is also the same." He explained, pointing to the figure. "I honestly don't understand how. You're human. This type of energy should've killed you by now." He told her, a frown on his face.
"So much energy. So much energy to replace what is lost. The emptiness." Raelle muttered, lost in thought, thinking back to what Mr Finch had told her.
The Doctor recognised Mr Finch's words, taking Raelle's hand. "Rose told me what happened earlier before we got into the TARDIS." Raelle looked at him, frowning. "That burning sensation." He elaborated.
She laughed. "Oh yeah, I think the smell of Barbeque was making me feel a bit sick." She dismissed the Doctor. He didn't laugh, his frown growing more. Raelle noticed. "What? What's wrong?"
"When I went to go see Reinette, she kissed me." He told her. Raelle didn't know how to respond. "When she kissed me, my heart burned." He finished. Raelle's mouth opened in shock, taking in the Doctor's words. "The same happened to you at the exact same time it happened to me."
"How?" was all Raelle managed to squeak out.
"I don't know." He sighed, wiping his hand down his face in frustration. "I need to research it, see if anything like this has happened before." He told her. Raelle thought back to when she had used the TARDIS library to research, not finding anything relating to them. She could see this was stressing the Doctor out, so she placed her hands around his waist, pulling him into another hug.
"Don't worry Doctor. We'll figure it out. We always do. I'll help you research and I'll make sure we get to the bottom of this." She told him, pulling away from the hug, keeping her arms wrapped around his waist as she smiled up at the man.
He smiled softly. "Promise?"
She laughed. "Promise." The Doctor placed a kiss to her forehead as they enjoyed their moment of peace