Broken Clocks (2/8)
Title: Broken Clocks (2/8)
Author: stormwolf10
Rating: Teen
Characters: Ten, Rose, Mickey, Madame de Pompadour
Word Count: 1181
Summary: A fairly routine first trip for a new companion turns into a hard lesson for the Doctor about love.
Spoilers: Through The Girl in the Fireplace
Authors Notes: Written for the Time In Flux fic-a-thon. I have to admit, when I suggested that this might be a challenge for me, I honestly had no idea just how much of a challenge it would be. When I opened my e-mail and read that I had been assigned The Girl in the Fireplace as my episode to re-write, I was absolutely terrified. It took me a long time to even start. Hell, I was even too afraid to re-watch the episode, I was that nervous! How do you re-write an episode to get the Doctor and Rose together as a couple in an episode where the Doctor falls in love with someone else?
Well, I have to say, this challenge has been worth it. Now that I've finished, I have to say I'm pretty damn proud of it. I decided to take the hard route in re-writing the entire episode, with the exception of a scene here and there removed to keep the story flowing in the right direction. Other than that, the entire episode is in there, plus a whole lot more added in to fulfill the requirements of the challenge.
Many, many, many thanks go to the brilliant, patient, and wonderfully kind edgeofworld for being my beta. I've never had a beta before, and I was slightly afraid of the prospect of getting one, but she has been incredibly encouraging and helpful in this daunting task I set up for myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Also, this has no relation to my current fic, Life Less Ordinary. That will start up again soon, once my brain has returned to a semi-solid state. ;)
Dashing to the wall, the Doctor yanked a gun-shaped object from the rack and pulled the trigger. Jets of icy mist began to cover the creature, freezing it in place, tiny ice crystals shimmering off the curled wig.
"Excellent, ice gun!" Mickey said as the Doctor tossed it to Rose.
"Fire extinguisher."
Rose stared at the frozen creature, adjusting her hold on the fire extinguisher. "Where'd that thing come from?"
"Here."
"So why is it dressed like that?" Mickey asked.
"Field trip to France, some sort of basic camouflage protocol," the Doctor explained, stepping slowly towards it, "Nice needlework. Shame about the face..." Sliding the mask off, he stared open mouthed when the action revealed a glimmering collection of golden cogs encased in glass.
"Oh, you are beautiful!" he said with sincere admiration for the handiwork he was gazing at. Slipping on his glasses, he leaned in for a closer look. "No, really, you are, you're gorgeous! Look at that! Space-aged 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." He slid his sonic from his pocket and held it up to the clockwork droid and said, "But that won't stop me."
As if sensing the danger, the clockwork came to life again and tilted it's head towards the Doctor, stabbing it's "hand" at its arm and disappearing in a shower of metal bits.
The Doctor shoved his sonic back in his pocket and strode towards the fireplace again. "Short-range teleport, can't have gone far. Could still be on board."
"What is it?" Rose asked, hefting the fire extinguisher higher. Oh, he knew that look. She always had that look when she was ready to wander off and race off into danger.
"Don't go looking for it!" He shouted at her, jabbing a finger in her direction to emphasize that he meant it. If she went looking for it, she was putting herself and Mickey in danger.
"Where are you going?"
"Back in a sec," he replied and pulled the lever again, spinning back into the past. However, when he arrived, he found the room empty, and it was filled with bright sunlight. How far had he jumped this time?
"Reinette? Just checking that you're okay," he called, but there was no answer. As he looked around, he found the room had changed. The rocking horse and doll house had been replaced with a vanity and a large harp in the corner. Okay, maybe a bit farther into her future than he had expected. He lightly brushed his fingers across the harp strings as he waited, not hearing the soft footsteps behind him.
He turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat, and felt his hearts flip inside his chest as a beautiful blond woman smiled at him. "Oh! Hello," he stammered, quickly pulling off his glasses in a moment of self-consciousness, "Um, I was just looking for Reinette. Uh, th-this is still her room, isn't it? I've...been away. Not sure how long."
"Reinette, we're ready to go!" someone called from the hall, and again the Doctor's hearts did a little somersault.
With a knowing grin, the woman called over her shoulder, "Go to the carriage, mother. I will join you there."
It couldn't be. One moment she was a frightened, but brave little girl plagued by monsters under her bed, and now...she was an amazingly beautiful woman looking fondly up at him as he grinned like a giddy school boy.
"It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood," Reinette said, "You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
"Reinette. Well...goodness, how you've grown." Right, very suave, Doctor, a voice in his head mocked him, You have quite a way with the ladies, don't you?
Stepping up to him for a closer look, Reinette put on a tone of mock-indignance. "And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you."
"Right, yes. Sorry, um...um...ah...listen, lovely to catch up, but...ah...better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you here with a strange man, do we?"
"Strange?" She replied, looking perplexed as she stepped ever-closer to him, her gaze rooting him to the spot, "How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old."
"Yeah, I suppose you have. I came the quick route--" His words stuck in his throat as her fingertips reached up to gently stroke his cheek. His somersaulting hearts ceased their dancing and now pounded in his chest. What was happening to him? He hadn't felt this way since...since...a moment while tinkering with the TARDIS, as he looked up to find another beautiful blond standing over him. Rose. Think of her. This isn't right, but...
Reinette, too, felt herself unable to break the spell of the moment, and only barely managed to force her hand to leave his face. "You seem to be flesh and blood at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real."
"Oh, you wouldn't want to listen to reason."
"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient!" the footman called, and Reinette grimaced.
"A moment!" she yelled back at him, and looked back into the eyes of her Fireplace Man. She couldn't stay, and she couldn't go without taking a chance. "So many questions, so little time."
Suddenly, the Doctor found himself wrapped in her embrace, her lips pressed tightly against his. His mind rebelled, screaming about betrayal, but in the passion of the moment, he was overtaken by just how good Reinette felt against him, how sweet she tasted. He leaned back against the fireplace she had backed him into and let his lips part to capture her mouth more firmly, his hands sliding around her waist...
"Mademoiselle Poisson!"
...and then, just as suddenly, she was gone. He opened his eyes and stared as she slipped out of his embrace, quickly snatched up her handbag, and ran out of the room without even looking back. That name, he thought to himself, resting bonelessly against the mantle, I have heard that name before. "Poisson...Reinette Poisson!" he exclaimed to the befuddled footman staring at him from the doorway.
The realization of just who Reinette was sparked new energy within the Doctor, and he began to pace madly about the room, grinning like a lunatic. "No, no, no, no way, Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis XV, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan? Fantastic gardener!" He ran back towards the fireplace in a rush of giddy energy, grabbing hold of the lever.
"Who the hell are you?!" The footman shouted at him in disbelief.
"I'm the Doctor," he giggled in reply, tugging on the lever, "And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" Howling with laughter, he spun back to his own time, on the spaceship, and was greeted with a sobering sight.
Rose and Mickey had disappeared.
Part Three