𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔐𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔡𝔢 𝔓𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔲𝔯
𝔗𝔥𝔢 51𝔰𝔱 ℭ𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔶
"It's a spaceship! Brilliant!" Mickey exclaimed as he stepped out of the Tardis. It was his first travel, so perhaps he was warranted this sort of reaction, but EJ still wasn't thrilled. "I got a spaceship on my first go!"
"You're not that special." The Thompson boy retorted, pettily. "We've all been on one. The Tardis is a spaceship."
"Looks kind of abandoned." Rose hummed, ignoring them both. "Anyone onboard?"
"Nah." The Doctor shook his head as he stepped towards the console, flicking a few buttons. "Nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. You know what? I'll just have a quick scan... in case there's anything dangerous."
"King of health and safety, you are." The black haired boy grumbled again. It was becoming clear that he wasn't having a good day at all.
"So what's the date?" Rose queried, walking up behind the Doctor. "How far have we gone?"
"About 3,000 years into your future, give or take." He opened a hatch, which revealed a sort of reactor looking cylinder, which he pulled up and twisted. As he did, the lights came on, and they could see the ship. "The 51st Century."
"Isn't Jack from the 51st Century?" EJ's ears pricked up.
"I think he is, yeah." The Doctor pressed a few more buttons before sighing. "The Dagmar Cluster. You're a long way from home, Mickey! Two and a half galaxies!"
Rose directed him towards the window, and they looked outside. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
His eyes scanned the stars like it was some sort of tv screen. Though, he acted very much like a child the entire time. "It's so... realistic!"
"Dear me, had some cowboys in here." The Doctor mumbled beneath his breath as he rummaged through some of the scrap. "Been a ton of repair work going on. Now, that's odd, look at that!"
EJ raised an eyebrow as he watched the screen, though it didn't make too much sense. An aerial image of the ship, with red circular pulses travelling up and down it. "What is it?"
"The warp engines are going. Full capacity! There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe. And we're not moving. So where's all that power going?"
"Where'd all the crew go?" The Tyler girl asked.
"Good question." The Doctor agreed. "No life readings on board."
"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag."
"No," He dismissed without a second thought. "I've checked all the smoking pods." Then, he inhaled, and an pungent smell hit his nose. "You smell that?"
The others sniffled in turn. "Definitely." EJ agreed.
Rose nodded, slightly disconcerted. "Yeah. Someone's cooking."
"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey said, almost absently, taken aback by it all.
The Doctor pressed another one of the buttons on the wrecked console when a great metal door slid open. A new room was revealed, a roaring fire coming out of the fireplace... why was there a fireplace? The Doctor lead them through, but this room was empty too.
"Now, there's something you don't see in your average space ship. 18th Century. French. Nice mantel." The Doctor pulled out the sonic to test it. "Not a hologram. Not even a reproduction. This actually is an 18th Century French fireplace. Double sided. There's another room through there."
When he crouched down to take a further look, EJ joined him, and his eyes opened wide. Rose shook her head. "It can't be." She was staring out of the window. "That's the outer hull of the ship. Look!"
"No, but it is." EJ grinned as he saw the interior of a bedroom, old fashioned, yet somehow still young.
Then, a girl crouched down. She couldn't have been older than eight. The Doctor smiled at her. "Hello."
She replied. "Hello."
"What's your name?"
"Reinette."
The Doctor seemed to grin. "Reinette? That's a lovely name."
"It is." EJ nodded in agreement. "It's beautiful."
He waited a moment before speaking again. "Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?"
"In my bedroom."
"Where's your bedroom?" He asked- the questions were oddly specific, and EJ was surprised that the girl was answering. "Where do you live, Reinette?"
The girl, Reinette, hardly reacted. "Paris, of course."
"Paris! Right..."
"Monseiur," She asked, softly, not wanting to intrude. "What are you doing in my fireplace?"
"Oh, just a routine... fire check." The words came out before he could rectify his excuse. "Can you tell me what year it is?"
"Of course I can. 1727!"
"Right, lovely, one of my favourites. August is rubbish though: stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now, thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night night."
She smiled at him politely. "Good night, monseiur."
When they all stood up, Mickey was quick to accuse him. "You said this was the 51st Century."
"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe." The Doctor countered. "I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink."
"What's that?"
"No idea, just made it up." He shrugged, pulling at his ear. "Didn't want to say magic door."
"And on the other side of the... magic door, it's France in 1727?" Rose almost laughed at the possibility.
"Well, she was speaking French. Right period French too." The Doctor began, throwing his jacket away as he paced.
Mickey shook his head. "She was speaking English, I heard her."
"That's the Tardis." Rose replied, wrapping an arm around his necks, like she was going to kiss his cheek. "Translates for you."
"Even French?"
"Yep!"
EJ grumbled as he picked the Doctor's coat up from the ground. "Especially French."
He began to fumble around with the fireplace, running over to stand on it, when something clicked. "Gotcha!"
"Doctor!" Rose squealed.
As the fireplace turned in its place, swapping with the original from the other side, EJ felt his heart stop in its box. The Doctor was completely out of sight, and it made him worry. If something happened to him, it was possible he would never know.
In the ten minutes that the Doctor was gone, EJ was able to look around the ship for the first time. It was nothing short of a complete mess. Things were torn up, wires exposed, and strewn in every direction. This would never pass a health and safety inspection; he was aware of that much.
When he did come back, he was running as fast as he could to grab a gun-like item from the wall. There was an animatronic droid with a knife stuck in the fireplace. EJ's eyes widened. It was something that he wasn't expecting, but part of him was slightly thrilled by it.
"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed, loudly.
Wanting to laugh, EJ shook his head. "What have you done this time?"
He activated the gun-like item, and it acted like a freeze ray, keeping the droid from escaping. "Excellent!" Mickey grinned. "Ice gun!"
When he threw it to Rose, he remarked. "Fire extinguisher."
She was confused, and taken aback. "Where'd that thing come from?"
"Here."
"So why's it dressed like that?" Mickey queried.
"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework. Shame about the face!" Then, he pulled of the mask to reveal a glass head filled with cogs, and the Doctor seemed to light up as he donned his glasses. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are! You're gorgeous! Look at that! Space-age clockwork! I love it! I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those, it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me."
However, just as he raised the sonic in his hand, the clockwork droid's head tilted slightly. It knew what was going to happen, and then disappeared, having teleported away.
"Short range teleport. Can't have gone far." The Doctor hummed, his mind beginning to run. "Could still be on board."
"What is it?" It was all Rose could ask.
"Don't go looking for it."
EJ dropped the coat to the ground as he ran after the Doctor into the fireplace room again. "What are you doing?"
Rose pressed. "Where are you going?"
He only promised as he stepped onto the fireplaces. "Back in a sec." And then he was gone again.
EJ was getting a little frustrated with him disappearing all the time. Now, he was wondering if he hadn't asked for more independence, would the Doctor have taken him with him... As much as Rose was his friend, he hadn't forgiven Mickey for his ignorance, and he wanted to be beside the Doctor. He wanted to feel safe, and somehow, he didn't.
Rose finally looked down to the fire extinguisher in her arms, which oddly impressed her as she sized it up. The Thompson boy shrugged as he approached the wall which held them, and picked the second up for himself. It wasn't as heavy as he expected it to be.
As they prepared themselves, Mickey began to appear more nervous. "He said not to look for it."
Rose nodded, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah, he did." So, he ran and grabbed the third. "Now you're getting it."
They left the console room after that, EJ still apprehensive. This was the first time he was exploring something truly alien without the Doctor, and not having him for comfort made his heart race. This was supposed to be what he wanted, but he wasn't too sure anymore.
When they trekked through the long corridors, Mickey acted like a complete and utter idiot. He seemed to think he was apart of the Mission Impossible movies as he snuck around. Even if they weren't supposed to be there, it wasn't the most subtle approach.
EJ and Rose wandered along behind him, fully taking in their surroundings. However, when they caught up, they found Mickey staring at a corner. There was a cctv camera that he was almost squaring up to.
"Are you looking at me?" He questioned, puzzled. "Ah! Look at this! That's an eye in there! That's a real eye!"
EJ followed his gaze, and found exactly what had been described. Where the lens for the camera should have been, was an eyeball, blinking and staring at them. It was quite disconcerting.
However, as soon as their attention was drawn elsewhere, they realised something else new. A heartbeat like sound, drumming away, just quiet enough to go unnoticed. Rose leant forwards and opened a valve to where the sound came. EJ wanted to be sick.
Inside of the long tube, wired into the centre of the system, was a beating heart. In all respects, it looked like his. Distorted, stretched, aching.
As his breathing quickened, Mickey queried, his ignorance a thorn in their sides. "What is that? What's that in the middle there? It's like it's wired in..."
"It's a heart, Mickey." Rose sighed. "It's a human heart."
EJ couldn't work out how he was supposed to feel, which made moving on that much harder. Instead, they just kept walking, trying to find the droids. That too seemed like a pointless mission, but he wouldn't say so. Mickey was having the time of his life on a space ship and a challenge. This was a game to him; this was real life for EJ.
He tried to lighten the mood as he shook his head. "Maybe it wasn't a real heart."
Rose just rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Of course it was a real heart."
"You should watch Greys Anatomy." EJ grumbled beneath his breath. "You might actually learn something."
"Is this, like, normal for you? Is this an average day?"
"Life with the Doctor, Mickey." Rose rolled her eyes as she patted his shoulder. "No more average days."
When they stopped walking, it was because of some glass panels, revealing another side of the wormhole. Mickey, quite obviously, still hadn't gotten the hang of it all. "It's France again. We can see France."
"I think we're looking through a mirror." Rose hummed, and EJ nodded. He was still partially self conscious, though no one seemed to notice any change.
If it really was the 18th Century on the other side, like the Doctor had said, then whoever it was that had walked in must have been extremely important. A man, adorned in white robes finished with gold lace and trimming. It must have been expensive. Then again, the room matched him.
"Blimey!" Mickey scoffed at him. His ego must have been bruised in some way. "Look at this guy! Who does he think he is?"
"The King of France."
The Doctor had walked up to join them, rather nonchalantly, and Rose shook her head. "Oh, here's trouble! What you been up to?"
"Oh, this and that." He shrugged nonchalantly, despite everything he said being of great value. "Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man..." He seemed like he had forgotten something, only to be reminded when a horses neighing sounded. "Oh, and I met a horse."
EJ turned his head to the left to see the white horse, and he laughed. "Brilliant." It was the first time all day he'd smiled.
Mickey raised his eyebrows. "What's a horse doing on a spaceship?"
The Doctor sighed. "Mickey, what's pre-revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective. See these? They're all over the place, on every deck. Gateways to history. But not any old history. Hers."
A woman had entered the room. She was dressed in cream, with exaggerated hips, and her hair pulled back into a bun-like do. It suited her. She was extremely pretty, and EJ could see the appeal, from a non subjective viewpoint. However, she wasn't his type.
"Time windows. Deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman." The Doctor kept talking as if they understood. "A spaceship from the 51st Century, stalking a woman from the 18th! Why?"
Rose seemed to pick up on his new infatuation too. "Who is she?"
"Jean-Antoinette Poisson!" They watched as her and the King met one another, circling like predator and prey. "Known to her friends as Reinette. One of the most accomplished women who ever lived."
"So she got plans on being Queen then?" The Tyler girl asked.
"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans on being his mistress."
"Oh, I get it." Rose laughed, throwing her head back. "Camilla!"
"... I think this is the night they met." The Doctor seemed to have an arsenal of facts, and he was spewing them out at speed. "The night of the Yew Tree Ball. In no time flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title - Madame de Pompadour."
When the King left, she looked in the mirror and sighed with relief. "She looks tired."
"The Queen must have loved her." Rose mumbled beneath her breath.
"Oh, she did. They got on very well."
Mickey sniggered, shaking his head. "The Kings wife and the Kings girlfriend."
"France." The Doctor shrugged. "It's a different planet."
Reinette looked at them, but she didn't realise they were there. It was the clock in front of them; and that forced her to turn on her heels. She was terrified, but she somehow managed to hold herself together. It was more than EJ could have done.
"How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!"
How they hadn't noticed it before her, EJ would never know, but in the corner of the room was a clockwork droid. This time, it was disguised as a woman, the only difference being the dress. It stared at her, and they stared at it, and that was enough for the Doctor to run into the room and steal Mickey's fire extinguisher.
"Hello, Reinette! Hasn't time flown!"
She was stuck still to her spot as the Doctor ran past her, exclaiming only the obvious. "Fireplace man!" It wasn't as catchy as the Doctor, but it worked.
He used the fire extinguisher in the same way he had earlier, only this time it wasn't as efficient. Instead, the droid began to click, and it for a moment, it was frozen. The extinguisher was thrown back to Mickey, who caught it, and looked wholly confused.
"What's it doing?" He queried, ever so slightly put off.
"Switching back on." The Doctor groaned, the equivalent of him rolling his eyes. "Melting the ice."
"And then what?"
"Then it kills everyone in the room."
The Doctor stepped closer to the clockwork droid, finding part of it quite fascinating. However, as soon as it defrosted enough, it raised its arm, the blade extending as it attempted to maim him. His breath baited, and then he relaxed, feeling more at ease in this environment.
"Focuses the mind, doesn't it. Who are you? Identity yourself!" When it didn't reply, he turned to Reinette, and almost demanded. "Order it to answer me."
She was taken aback, and halted. "Why should it listen to me?"
"I don't know." The Doctor half apologised, sort of in limbo about how to proceed. "But it did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it."
"Answer his question." Reinette told the droid, sternly. It didn't come as naturally to her as it might have to the Doctor. "Answer any and all questions put to you."
Doing as she so wished, the animatronic lowered its arm. "I am Repair Droid 7." The vaguely female voice was off putting.
The Doctor didn't change his stance, though, now glad he could speak freely. "So what happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage."
"Ion storm. 82% systems failure."
"That ship hadn't moved in over a year." The Doctor grimaced. "What's taken you so long?"
"We did not have the parts."
Mickey laughed, like a child once again, which just made EJ roll his eyes. He wasn't in the same place as them, not by a long shot. "Always comes down to the parts, doesn't it? The parts..."
"What's happened to the crew? Where are they?"
It only repeated the same phrase. "We did not have the parts."
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" He pressed.
"We did not have the parts."
"Fifty people don't just disappear, whe... oh..." The Doctor ceased his pacing, and stopped in front of the droid, finally realising. "You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."
Mickey's eyes widened. "The crew?"
"We found a camera with an eye in it." Rose whispered, the entire thing falling onto their shoulders all at once.
EJ grimaced at the thought. "Kinda freaky."
"And there was a heart in the machinery."
He couldn't make a witty comment at that, not when it made him ache even more. EJ was the heart, and the machinery all rolled into one. His chest was wired all into one great mess. It was hard to tell if he was human anymore.
"It's just doing what it's programmed to... repeating the ship in any way it can, with whatever it can find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu. What did you say the flight deck smelled of?"
Rose's voice caught in her throat. "... Someone cooking."
"Flesh plus heat. Barbecue" He shrugged. "But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows, that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could've gone to your repair yard. Instead, you come to 18th Century France, why?"
"One more part is required."
Its head snapped to look at Reinette, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Then why haven't you taken it?"
"She is incomplete."
He stood, and shook his head for a moment, EJ wasn't entirely sure what was going on. "What? So that's the plan, then? You just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet?"
"Why her?" Rose cleared her throat. "If you've got all of history to choose from, why specifically her?"
"We are the same."
"We are not the same!" Reinette exclaimed, furiously. It was the first real emotion they had seen her express. "We are in no sense the same!"
"We are the same."
Then, she commanded, without another thought. "Get out of here! Get out of here this instant!"
"Reinette, no!" The Doctor cried, but it was too late. The droid had done as asked, and disappeared thanks to the teleport. "It's back on the ship! Rose, take Mickey, and Arthur, get after it and follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does."
"Arthur?" She queried, stepping towards the turned mirror.
He shrugged. "Good name for a horse."
"No! You're not keeping the horse!"
"I let you keep Mickey." The Doctor teased, pushing them out of the door. "Now, go, go, go!"
Without an instruction, EJ just stood there, confused. It was awkward as he stared at the Doctor, who was being stared at by Reinette. Part of him hated it all, and part of him just wanted to escape.
When Rose and Mickey were gone, the Docotr turned to him, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"
His breath seemed to halt but he shook his head, and it went away. "Why wouldn't I be?"
There was an expectant look on his face. "Wired up heart?"
EJ was almost glad that the Doctor noticed when no one else did. Still, he had to move on. "I'll survive."
"Then, go with them." He nodded. "You're all better together. It's safer for you."
There was only one issue; EJ could see the way that Reinette was staring at the Doctor, and it was all so obvious. He whispered beneath his breath, almost impossible to hear. "You've kissed her."
"What?" He was taken aback to say the least. "How do you know that?"
"I can see it on your face." EJ scoffed, shaking his head. "You're like a naughty school boy."
There was a clue in his tone that the Doctor was only ever so slightly picking up on. "Are you... jealous? Or is this..."
"Me?" The Thompson boy tilted his head. "Jealous that you've kissed Rose, and Cassandra in Rose's body, and this random French lady from the 1700s, but you haven't kissed me? No... no way."
The Doctor found it almost amusing. "I think you're jealous."
"You think? Yeah, maybe, just a little bit." He scrunched his nose, walking through the open mirror. "Be safe."
With the Doctor's instructions, EJ ran after Rose and Mickey so he could catch up to them. He didn't know how safe it would be, considering they hardly knew their surroundings, but it would be enough. At least he wasn't alone.
"So!" Mickey grinned from ear to ear. "That Doctor, eh?"
Rose shook her head. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, Madame de Pompadour... Sarah Jane Smith... Cleopatra..." He listed, amused.
"Oh, Cleopatra!" She was unimpressed to say the least. "He mentioned her once!"
"Yeah, but he called her Cleo."
"The Doctor's on nickname basis with everyone." EJ shrugged, readjusting the fire extinguisher on his shoulder. "It's his thing right now, like leather jackets, and hair gel."
Because Mickey was walking backwards, he didn't see the droids behind him. Rose screamed, but it was too late. One had grabbed ahold of him by the throat, but before they could get the extinguishers to work, others had surrounded them.
The one which held onto EJ was a woman in a peach dress. It's hand clung to his neck, the other keeping his waist in place as a long needle ejected from its sleeve. He began to panic, then, his heart beating at such a pace, he felt like he would pass out. Before he could, he was injected in the neck, and he fell limp.
With no control over his body, EJ didn't know what would happen, but his mind was still racing. This was familiar. This was his childhood. And he couldn't stop it from happening all over again.
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Disclaimer!!!
I do not own Doctor Who, it's characters and original storylines. The only things I do own are my own characters, my addition to the series and my own storylines. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidental.