A Time for Everything and Everything in Time (Closed)

[myvalentina]

A Doctor Who RP with @GreySwan

Outskirts of Paris, 1788


The Doctor regained consciousness at the sound of a shrieking alarm. If it was ringing in the Zero room it meant whatever was going on was endangering the very Tardis itself. She pushed the haze from her mind and went for the door. Taking even just one step outside of the room was enough to tell her she hadn't completely recovered from her regeneration. Holding the wall for support as her legs buckled she was getting rather worried, until she realized the entire hall had increased the gravity two-fold for some reason. Taking out her sonic screwdriver she confirmed why her body felt like she was carrying a sack of potatoes on her shoulders. She frowned.


Marching her way down the hall, she passed by a door that was melting, the metal doorknob brightly radiating heat and after that there was a room that was leaking water. "This can't be good." She mumbled to herself, walking as quickly as she could to the control room. Passing the threshold, the gravity adjusted and she was relieved. Whatever was affecting the other rooms in the Tardis had so far not reached the controls. 


She immediately took off the oversized suit jacked and rolled up the sleeves on the dress shirt she had on-- it seemed her new regeneration was tinier than last time, as evidenced by the clothes and because some of the equipment was now positioned over her head. She hadn't even had time to fully adjust, as per usual. It couldn't deter her, so she began work at trying to dissect a problem. 


But no matter what she tried things seemed to be getting worse. A clunking, loud sound preceded a small shake of her Tardis indicating that an entire room had just ejected itself without warning. "Rayos!" She exclaimed, afraid at where the room would end up. The Tardis was still mid time stream so the room could have ended up anywhere. "A problem for another time." She told no one and proceeded to land the Tardis. The landing sound filled her ears, and she was out the door without even checking where or when she'd landed. 


"Even the blue is looking less blue-y!" She said, rushing to the back of the Tardis. She pulled back a panel and steam poured from the innards of the Tardis. Immediately she was knocked back by something small, but powerful as they barreled over her chittering in alarm. Sitting up she watched these little creatures quickly fly away into a nearby town, before she'd even had a chance to get a good look at them. "Rayos," She said, biting onto a finger sheepishly. "That certainly can't be good." 

 

[GreySwan]

"Lapin? Lapin! Allez! Up, you lazy rabbit, before I skin you like one and finally get some use out of you!"


It had been a long night at the tavern, and Noel had been trying to catch just a few minutes of sleep beside the dim fire in the kitchen before she was noticed missing. She should have known better, of course. In the Golden Apple, time was money. Her resting for a moment was akin to stealing food from the cupboards. As if there was any food in the cupboards. She enjoyed a solitary second more of darkness before she was seized by the back of the neck and hauled to her feet.


Monsieur Thomas was a big man, even in the midst of his famine, and had no more physical trouble than he had moral qualms about treating the undersized girl like a misbehaving dog. Red-faced from anger and a history of drink, he gave her a shake for good measure before releasing her. "Sleeping when the sun's rising with my clothes on your back and my food in your stomach, I can't believe it! Where do you find the audacity, child!"


Noel wanted to tell him that she had been awake since the moon became the sun and that the only thing he'd given her in her stomach right now was bitterness and animosity. Were she younger, or feeling stronger, perhaps she would have told him that. But right now she was already nursing a spreading black eye and split lip from him from a bon mot she'd failed to restrain a few days ago, along with what she hoped were only bruised ribs from a customer. It hurt far less to bite it back.


He could see the restrained rebellion in her eyes and only laughed. "Angry little thing! Do you think this makes me happy? Non. J'en ai ral le cul. If you won't earn your keep there's a thousand starving orphans out there willing to receive my charity. So if you'd prefer not to be one of them, you'll keep your eyes awake for more than a few minutes at a time! I need you to go to the market, Cook's made a list, here, take it."


"Bernard's not going to give you anything else on credit, he said that last time," she replied sullenly, rubbing her sore neck with one hand and snatching the grubby paper scrap with the other. "Your credit isn't good anywhere."


"You tell that branleur that if he ever wants to see a scrap of a franc back he'll do as he's told. Come back with what I need or don't come back at all, rabbit." He unceremoniously opening the kitchen door to the back alley and raised a hand, chuckling as she managed to dodge the blow and scamper out the door.


Immediately Noel wished she'd thought to grab the threadbare coat by the door; it was unseasonably cold and she shivered in her cotton dress, but she wasn't going to risk going back in and instead headed for the market on the outskirts of town, her pace brisk in an attempt to warm up. Don't come back... Very tempting. She had been at the tavern two years, after Monsieur Thomas had given the church she had been left at as an infant a modest donation to foster her. It was a typical arrangement, especially in such lean times as these. Little more than slavery, but the fils de pute was right; she was alive, many would take her work and beatings for her in return for that.


Still, she had always suspected that labour was not Thomas's final idea for her. After all, there were plenty of orphan boys. And she could see the way he, and the customers, were beginning to look at her as she got older. There were kinds of touches she considered worse than the back of a hand. Had she any sense and half a choice, she should have been out the door yesterdy But... it was so cold today. And she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten...


Even in the depths of her seething, something gave her pause in the light of the early morning. Something that certainly hadn't been on this dirt street yesterday. Some kind of... Box. Like a huge packing crate on end. But she'd never seen a blue packing crate. Or one with doors. One was open... Maybe a strange wardrobe? Le Box de le Police? What on Earth...? But before that thought was even complete, a swarm of what she could only say definitely were not bats swarmed out.


It seemed someone had decided her token earthly problems were not enough. Now apparently Hell had opened up inside a blue box and its demons were out.

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor tried to scramble to her feet, but the suit pants she was wearing were overly long and the shoes were large enough that she was slipping out of them with every step. She tore the extra fabric off and tied the long laces twice over before leaping back up to her feet. Mud from the ground was smudged across her face and covering her clothes, she looked quite down on her luck. It hadn't been her intention but looking around she figured it was as good a disguise on such short notice. 


The Doctor took off in the direction of the creatures. She was taking the stray bits of pant fabric and tying back her long hair, when she nearly bowled someone over in her haste. A little girl to be exact.


"I'm so sorry, my dear!" She exclaimed, reaching for the girl to make sure she didn't fall over. "Being in a rush is no reason to knock people over." She chided herself, dusting the young girl's clothes as if she could brush them newer and cleaner.


She looked back at the road and realized she had no idea where the creatures had gone. [SIZE= 16px]"Even if the rush is absolutely necessary." She amended as some worry creeped back into her voice.[/SIZE] "There's no telling what trouble they could do in this time period." But the statement to herself made The Doctor pause and look back at the young girl "By the way" she said with a soft smile to mask any look of worry. "What year is it on Earth, my dear?"

 

[GreySwan]

When Noel saw a woman tear from the box (crate? Wardrobe? Gateway to the upper circles of hell?), she was not quite sure what to think. She was a beautiful woman, yes, but she was wearing trousers and her shoes apparently did not fit very well. Another demon, ignorant of how a human was supposed to look? She had learned from the padre and nuns that demons could take almost any form, but surely to damn mankind they had to be a bit more... competent. She could not see the figure before her tempting anyone into eternal suffering. Especially not covered in mud.


Of course, it was these dim thoughts that consumed her in her confusion, not something more practical like getting out of the way of it. She (it?) collided with her before she could react. Noel prepared herself for hellfire and brimstone, but to her surprise the woman actually caught her before she could fall.


"It's fine, Madame, I'm used to it," the girl said quickly, smoothing out her dress as if her ribs hadn't already been aching. She was still cautious but finding it increasingly unlikely this woman could be a demon. She seemed to be just as concerned with those winged creatures as she was, and she didn't smell of sulfur. Just mud.


"The.. The year?" Here she paused. No scent of alcohol on her, either. "It's seventeen eighty-eight. Madame..." With a dry swallow, she forced herself to look up at the woman, afraid of the answer to the question she could not stop herself from asking. "What were those things? And what are you?"

 

[myvalentina]

"Used to it? I should hope there's time for that to become untrue." The Doctor said, arms retreating back to rest on her hips. Her eyes narrowed as she took the girl's appearance in fully. She looked malnourished and the bruises were certainly stirring something in the Doctor. At the next question the Doctor laughed.


"I should say, that's a little--" she began when all at once the question and the honorifics hit her squarely in the chest-- which is conveniently where her hands shot too. "Madame?" She said, the realization coming far too late for someone as clever as she claimed to be.


"Oh," she said, looking away.


With a deep scowl, her mouth hanging half open, it looked like she was seriously considering the graveness of the situation. But it didn't last very long, instead a large smile bloomed on her face.


"I'm a Time-lady." She said triumphantly looking back at the young girl. "But much more importantly, I'm the Doctor. Very pleased to meet you, my dear." She finished, holding out her hand for the girl to shake. 

 

[GreySwan]

Noel was increasingly certain this odd woman was not a demon, nor was she drunk, those she knew, but that did not rule out that she was entirely mad. That was sometimes harder to spot. There were a lot of signs. The clothing, of course, and the way her face jumped back and forth between emotions as quickly as a candle flickered.


"A... Time-lady," she repeated back, not quite sure she'd heard correctly. That had not been covered in catechism classes. She knew angels and demons, leviathans and Legion, even gargoyles and a male type of succubus called a Gaap. But certainly not a Time-lady. Nor a lady doctor, for that matter. She wasn't sure which was stranger. 


Still, she at least seemed to know what those demons were. Perhaps how to send them back from which they came. She seemed nice enough. And besides, if she did turn out to be dangerous, she would not be able to give chase very fast in those shoes. 


"Noel," she finally said, taking the woman's hand somewhat reluctantly. "I'm Noel."

 

[myvalentina]

"Noel." She repeated, giving her hand a good shake. She then turned on her heels and went back to the Tardis. "Maybe a change of clothes is needed. And maybe a net." She said, but as she pulled on the door it wouldn't budge. "Oh, come on." She said, more than a little disappointed she couldn't immediately show off.


"The pest's are gone. What's the matter now?"


The door opened just a tad and a puff of smoke poured into her face, sending her into a coughing fit. The sounds of hammers against wood and metal saws was enough of an indicator of the reconstruction now going on within the Tardis. With a loud burp, the Tardis spit out a black hooded cape and a flimsy net before shutting it's doors once again. "Point taken," She said, throwing the cape over her shoulders, and taking the net in her hands.


"I must apologize again." She said, turning and tapping the net against her other hand. "Whatever those things are, they're here because of me. Nearly brought my home down around me." She thumbed at the Tardis. "But I promise I'll catch them before they do any harm." She said, standing tall before shouts and screams sounded from the town area. 

 

[GreySwan]

The girl watched this display in silence, outwardly staying stone-faced but yet more confusion welling within her. There were others in that box, it seemed. Other Time-ladies? The sounds from there, and the size of it... And she called it her home. Cramped quarters, even considering the dire time. Not humanly possible. So if she wasn't a demon... Were there any saints, any angels, mentioned alongside a big blue box? Blue was the colour of the Blessed Mother... But why would an angel need a net?


This theological consideration was cut short when she heard screaming from the town she had just left. "Well," she spoke, attempting not to let the panic in her chest be too apparently on her face, to only some success. "I'd say that's where they've gone, at least."


While she hardly held deep sentiment for the town of Rueil-Malmaison, a swarm of demons was not likely to improve its charm. And while she would be all to glad to return and find Monsieur Thomas had been killed by little pitch forks, there were other people there. 

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor was immediately off in the direction of the bedlam. "Then that's where we'll start!" She said, inviting the girl along. It was to get to know her more, or to help her. She didn't know which just yet. Maybe both.


Running and companionship would do her good, it was one of the few things that remained the same from regeneration to regeneration. At least she hoped it would do her good. There was still a feeling of unease within her. She was old, there was no two ways about it. How many time lords had made it this far to a thirteenth regeneration? Not many. And why not? They'd instead decided to go die off like an old street cat. What did they know that she didn't? 


She would be fine. Wouldn't she?


There was another shout as they neared the edge of the town. A section of stone wall had collapsed, and of the bits of stone that still remained they looked to have teeth marks in them. The Doctor climbed the rubble to take a better look, not sure what she could gleam from it but needing to try. She pulled her screwdriver out and examined the bite marks, the familiar whirring sound masked by the small crowd that had gathered to comfort those that had almost been crushed by the heavy stones.

 

[GreySwan]

We... Noel had a lot of experience from adults from work "we" were going to do. But this woman (no, this Time-lady), she seemed different. And not just in the usual way. Such an odd sight, her oversized men's clothing, a huge black cape, and a net... Even if she was some breed of angel, surely this wasn't the Heavenly Host they put on stained glass windows.


But what was that line about helping angels unaware? And she was helping, even if she said those creatures were her fault. She had stopped in this mission to apologize to a little urchin when she didn't have to. And besides that... She had a nice smile. A kind smile.These were not good reasons to trust someone. Part of her knew that. Trusting a stranger in these kinds of times was just one of the many things that was apt to get a person killed. Not to mention abandoning her errand was probably going to add a new scar to her growing collection assuming her master was left alive to find out.


She decided she'd taken a scar for worse things. After a moment of hesitation, she starting running behind the Doctor. Following her up, the rubble pile, frowning as she notice the marks on the solid stone that looked like a rat had been at a block of cheese but more at... Whatever that was.


"Is that, uh, a Time-lady thing?" she managed, not even trying not to stare. It was like the handle of a magnifying glass, there had been one in the chapel library growing up that she has certainly not been allowed to touch. But there was no lens, and it was... Glowing. And making some kind of a high-pitched noise that couldn't be natural.

 

[myvalentina]

There was some spittle dripping from some of the bricks so the doctor dabbed the sonic into the goopy substance and let it run it's diagnosis while she turned to Noel.


"You can say that. The technology is available to many people, but I think I'm the only person who's ever put it all in this shape before. It's compact and it lights up real pretty." She said, flicking the top of it. "Especially in the dark."


It made a ding sound, like a microwave finished with it's countdown, and the Doctor flipped it as she took the readings in. "Strange." She mumbled to herself. "I don't think it wanted to eat the stone." She tapped it against the stone as she continued. "So why chew through it."


The sonic alerted her to near invisible specks of spit, covering the ground in the direction these creatures had gone.


"This way, my dear!" She said, pointing the sonic forward as she marched determinedly farther into town.

 

[GreySwan]

So the device was technology, not some kind of holy relic... But whatever it did, it was obviously not just the strangest pocket watch she'd ever seen (not that she had seen that many). For some reason it was that little light that bothered her the most. The Argland lamp had been invented and popularized in her her city in lifetime, and even though she'd been young even she had marveled when the rectory got one and how compact yet bright it was. But this little, metal thing, surely it had no flame and oil reserve. 


Noel dimly recalled something the woman had said earlier. In this time period. Implying others. Implying... What exactly? She was not sure, but the possibility made her feel a bit faint. Though hunger and exhaustion may have been contributory factors.


Before she could dwell too long Madame Doctor was off again, her tool apparently guiding her like a dowsing rod towards certain danger. And again, fool she was, followed after her heels. Her eyes searched for any trace of those creatures (what demons simply knocked down a wall? Why were they not raining total destruction and damnation?) when she heard the smashing of glass and a familiar, bellowing curse.


"The Golden Apple," she groaned, pointing towards the tavern she reluctantly called home. "Too early for a bar brawl. In there."

 

[myvalentina]

"We can only hope for a bar brawl." She said, looking at the tavern her young friend was pointing to. "Or at the very least, some detainment of the creatures we're after, ay?" The Doctor put the screw driver away, keeping the net at her side as she made her way to The Golden Apple.


The smell of alcohol was overwhelming, stinging her eyes slightly as she shouldered her way into the bar. Someone was very angry, yelling mostly curses so she tried to tune him out, keeping an ear out for the chatter from patrons.


"Father was right about alcohol. It's the devils drink! Did you see the bottles crash without provocation! And the spigots on the barrels flew straight off as if compelled by some unholy force." 


A drunk man shook his head, wobbling as he walked for the door. "Not-- hiccup-- devilry. It was fairies. Saw the winged buggers myself." He said, stumbling out into the street.


The Doctor took the information and went over to the bar. She had to half jump on top of it to get a good look onto the other side, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tiny creatures. 

 

[GreySwan]

Typical morning at the Apple... Business did not seem to be hampered by the empty pantry, although anyone who came there for the food was the sort of idiot who deserved to eat it. Except the floor was even dirtier than usual, shattered bottles and spilled, sour wine... More destruction, but it did not seem like the creatures were consuming anything.


“There you are, Lapin!” Monsieur Thomas stormed out of the backroom, small keg of ale under one arm and a mop in the other. He scowled at her own empty arms. “You know I only tell you once...”


“Bernard was closed,” she said quickly, keeping an eye on the Doctor. “I couldn’t...”


“Never mind that, do you see the state of this place! They’re saying it’s fairies, demons... Blessed Mother, the lot this dump attracts. My grandfather had this happen once, some kind of fungus in the ale, made the whole village hallucinate for a fortnight. At least they drank it, not smashed it all over my bar. Do you know how much wasted alcohol? And you come back without any groceries. Trust me, girl, if I need to sell something else to stay open, you will be the least happy about it.” The large man only just noticed the woman climbing up on his bar. “Hey, salope! Staff only! What’s wrong with you?”


“She’s... helping. I don’t think this is a fungus, Monsieur. I think...”


“Ferme ta gueule, girl! If I wanted chatter, I’d have bought a parrot, not a rabbit!”


Noel bit her lip, already split from a few days ago, but when she saw one of the winged animals perched up in the ceiling beams, eyeing the cask, she could hardly stay quite. “Madame Doctor? In the rafters...”

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor dodged a mop swipe and turned her attention to the barkeep. Fishing out her psychic paper from the large pockets, she hoped her appearance didn't deter it's effects too much. "Animal Control, Paris Division." She said, shoving the paper in Thomas' face. "We've had reports of some oversized animals in the area. Could have possibly been brought in from outside of the country. We're still trying to figure out the situation." She said, leaving the paper with him as she went back to hopping on the bar top. 


It was slippery and her shoes were not helping much. As she took in the disaster area. Her sonic was buzzing in her pocket so she knew something was nearby, as if right on top of her. And sure enough Noel's directions focused her attention above her head. 


"We got one!" She yelled, swinging her flimsy net and catching the squealing thing. She twisted and fought with the net hoping to keep it contained until she could subdue it. The keg in Thomas' arms burst at it's seems and more bottles seemed to shatter around her, but it was the sound of strained wood that caught her attention the most.


"Oh no." She thought, looking back up at the old moldy wood above their heads. "We might want to get out of here." She whispered, as if anymore loud sounds would bring the place down around them. 

 

[GreySwan]

"Animal Control?!" The man's face reddened, his scowl spreading. "I don't know who you heard it from but there aren't any rats here! If it was that jackass Pierre Dubois from the Strangled Swan, I have it on good authority he's a damn liar..."


 


When the keg exploded in his hands, the big man gave a yelp and a jump. "What in the blue hell... I know that can't be the rats!"


 


Noel followed the Doctor's gaze up, again biting at her lip at the sound. She'd heard the roof creak like that in a high wind, but on a still day... It seemed these little creatures had powers beyond flight. And the one the Doctor had in her net did not look at all happy. 


 


"I think that sounds like a good idea..." she murmured in assent as she inched towards the door.


 


"Hey! And just where do you suppose you're going, mademoiselle?" Thomas had dropped the remains of the keg and seized her by the upper arm in his vice grip, ignoring her startled yelp. "In case you've forgotten, this isn't Versailles! You can't come and go as you please!"


 


 


 


 

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor felt the sonic begin to heat up in her breast pocket. Whatever these things were doing, it was adversely affecting her electronics. She wanted to reach for it, but in her distraction the creature jerked in her hands. It was enough to get her to began to slip and wobble on the bar top. She thought she could regain her balance, actually trying very hard to keep from falling, but she felt almost like a pull on her body. Under normal circumstances it would be nothing, but with everything they were witnessing it felt like the power of these creatures was slowly coming to light.


And yet mid fall was not entirely the place to be figuring this out.


"Watch out! Here I come!" She yelled, deciding the best course of action was throwing herself into the softest thing nearby, which in this case was the barkeep. She launched herself in his direction, and he let go of his grasp on Noel, turning to try and stop the incoming woman. The Doctor didn't weigh much, but the momentum and angle was enough to throw Thomas to the ground.


"Thank you, for your assistance." She said, getting up quite unscathed from the ordeal and smoothing out her oversized clothes. "Now get up. You need to account for this creature! Preferably outside and quickly." The Doctor ordered, keeping Noel behind her as they maneuvered to the door. The beams were still moaning softly and she wasn't sure that just removing the creature would re-stabilize them.

 

[GreySwan]

Noel kept close to the Doctor as she made her hasty retreat, arm smarting but this a minor concern compared to her awe. Standing up to a man that size, not to mention winning in a way... Thomas had not simply socked the woman, or the girl, in the eye, but had in his stunned distraction forgot about them and had begun herding the few strangler customers outside. A woman that size putting her master in his place was quite the sight, although Noel privately hoped that their antics would not catch up, or at least not on herself or the Doctor.


She had pulled the wool over the man's eyes a few times, but in the end it had never been worth it. She had resigned herself to pain at the end of this incident, but she did not want to see this woman hurt on her behalf. But she seemed quiet capable of taking care of herself.


"Why are they destroying things?" she questioned, more to herself than anyone else as soon as they were out of doors. It was a much more pressing issue to her than a new new of bruises. Those happened every day, but this was entirely new. Examining the captured beastie, she could see why one would think it was a fairy. "They weren't eating the stone or drinking the liquor. Why go to the effort to destroy them?"

 

[myvalentina]

The last bit of people finally got the hint that the tavern was more trouble than it was worth and emptied out of the building. She picked up her psychic paper and exited the creaking building. People were gathering around at the commotion, and the Doctor decided it was best they get moving, before the barkeep felt the need to repay her for her little stunt.


The Doctor walked them away from the tavern as the first couple of beams began to collapse. The sound of yells and destruction, was overly distracting especially as she was now able to get a better look at the little creature. "Very good question, Noel." She said, coming to stop by a giant tree. 


"But it's much less about destruction and more about potential." She said. The creature was buzzing angrily, tied up in the net without a means to get out, but it's power was still affecting their surrounding. As evidence by the fact that acorns all began to fall at once from the tree's branches.


"You see?" She directed Noel's attention to the acorns furiously dislodging themselves. "An acorn falls when it's ready to head by earth's gravity. But essentially these creatures are feeding on the potential energy within objects and people forcing them into action." She finished, giving the creature a good shake.


"They must have stowed on the Tardis on the last planet I visited, damn." She said, unsure as to what to do with them. There was no safe place to keep them that wouldn't be affected. Maybe the best course of action would be to just smush them. Unless quickly could get them in the zero room, but how?

 

[GreySwan]

Noel barely noticed the tavern, her home and shackle for the last two years, crumbling behind them. Or Monsieur Thomas's angry explanations to anyone who would listen. Perhaps she was putting it out of her mind because she had a good suspicion that tonight she was going to get a lot more than a sore arm. The last time it had almost burnt down had been good for a lash down her back that probably should have had stitches and her last baby tooth knocked out for good measure. But for now she could focus on this little creature. And the larger (well, relatively larger) creature that was the Doctor.


"Pardon, the last planet? As in... Mars?" she questioned, wide-eyed as she shielded herself from the rain of acorns. She had followed the logic of the energy, but this statement had been the one to catch her. She had acclimatized to fairies and/or demons but this was new.


This thought was put on the back burner quickly enough when a different kind of noise came from the ground and stole her attention. The refugees from the tavern had spotted a gilded carriage coming down the street. Not an unusual occurrence; the town was on the way from Versailles to Paris and many nobles and royalty passed through. Even though tensions were rising about the price of bread, the upward taxes, the rumours about the queen's spending and Austrian loyalty... No one had been stupid enough to outright attack a carriage. It was a relief of tension that could lead to a date with the headsman.


Except now she saw one of the bar's regulars pluck a stone from the street and put it through the carriage's back window. A relief of tension... 


"Madame Doctor?" she said slowly, suddenly considering the consequences of a town full of enraged citizens unwound onto the upper class in an instant. "I think there's a lot more potential energy in the people of this town than in the acorns."

 

[myvalentina]

"I wish it had been mars. I know most of the things that'll live there, I don't know this one." She said, a little absentmindedly. She was still wondering how to contain these creatures. What fault was it of theirs that they had crawled into the Tardis. The creature, the little energy vampire, was still buzzing completely unsatisfied with the small meal it was eating from the falling acorns and the crumbling tavern. Even her overheated sonic would be sucked dry eventually. "How much is enough, amigo?" She said, feeling the same pull as before, but she wasn't even falling. She brought the creature close to her face and she frowned. A thought was forming, but the sound of glass breaking brought her out of her mind. Noel's comment sent a shock down her spine. "I think you're right, Noel."


What year had the girl said it was in the small Parisian hamlet?


"Oh, dear." She said. "I have to gather the creatures and soon. There isn't time to waste." She said, taking off in the direction of her Tardis. It looked like the streets were starting to fill, as people began to gather and chants began to coalesce within the din. Though she'd been at the center of many a powder keg, in all her travels she was hard pressed to think of a time she had started a revolution. At the end of the day though, it was all happening as it should. The great dilemma that faced all time travelers.


It made The Doctor stop and looked back at Noel. She knelt down to look her in the eyes. "Things are going to get very dangerous." She started, unsure what she even wanted to say to her. "It's a time of great turmoil and change and... and there is no escaping it. Here or anywhere, actually." She sighed, knowing this was a normal thing for her to encounter, a daily occurrence even. "After I fix my mess, I'll be leaving and--" She took a long breath looking away from her honest eyes, "There's room for you if you want to come with me. It's not forever and I'll bring you back to this exact moment when we're through." She finished, unsure if this was too much for Noel to hear.

 

[GreySwan]

Noel barely heard the Doctor's comments about Mars, dimly aware of just how truly bizarre the statement was, but at the moment she was seeing something just as alien to a child of the French eighteenth century; a common crowd hauling a nobleman in a powdered wig and gleaming buttons from his carriage. She had never thought of emotions as energy before, but that was what drove people to action almost as simply as gravity pulled acorns from the trees. Every night at the tavern she head the bitter complaints, to various substance but all directed towards the upper two estates, the nobility and the clergy. And now... These fairies had tipped it off like a spring.


 


"Hunger and hate," she murmured as she watched the violence. "The town has both by the gallon. The whole country does. It's got more potential power than every barrel of gunpowder in the town armory." As perverse as it was, she could not help but feel some amazement at the power. The nobility had kept their white leather boots on the backs of their necks generation after generation, and here was one crowd of early morning drunks and a little pixie magic and the primped and pressed class was helpless. Imagine if it wasn't some anonymous Marquess, imagine if that was the King of France...


 


When she saw the Doctor run, there was a moment she was rooted to the spot. When she wanted to join the crowd, to show the upper class just how they suffered, to... With a quick shake of her head and a jolt of motion after the trousered woman, however, it was gone. Not the idea, that was perhaps a justified one, but the pull. Had to keep a clear head in this madness. If the crowd killed the people in the carriage, the King was probably going to put every single person in the town to the ax and burn it to the ground for a hunting lodge.


 


She stopped suddenly when the Doctor knelt before her, starting a little at the physical closeness but not enough to miss her words. "Oh, she began automatically, "I couldn't possibly..."


 


Go with her? In that little box? To where, another planet beyond even Mars? Jupiter? George's Star, too distant to see with the naked eye and still not even properly named? And why on earth did this woman want her, anyway? A small little girl not good for much else for serving tables and cleaning the fire? Who had been raised by an institution that had turned her out at ten unsure if she was saved and deeply confused about if the Sun revolved around the Earth or the other way. A girl too scared to run away from pain because it might be towards more of the same. A girl who just stayed and took it because she was waiting for... For parents that were never going to come back. 


 


And then from the village, amidst the noise, she could have sworn she heard Monsieur Thomas's voice above them. When it came to reserves of emotional energy, the man was a deep well. Her best case scenario tonight would be to be alive when the sun rose to face more of the same. This woman might be a crazy demon, but at least Noel could not picture her hands around her throat.


 


"I couldn't possibly say no to that," she finished breathlessly, the words escaping her before her mind had thought them. Maybe it was the fairy. All the energy to leave, the hate and the hunger, had been amassing all her life only able to uncork with magic into one meek little statement. Or maybe she was simply sick of waiting. She had no idea what she was agreeing to. Only that she hoped returning to this exact spot could be negotiable. But she'd worry about that later.

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor had a very expectant look on her face, as much as she had tried to help it. Even the slight hesitation in Noel's voice had made the old, time-lady frown. Rejection was never an easy thing to face, and if the answer were no, the Doctor would mourn the loss of opportunity. And more than that, she'd always remember the young girl, even if their time together had been brief. To remember was the job of a time-lord.


In the moments before the girl's full answer, the Doctor looked towards the crowd. This was a moment that would change the course of human events. To deprive the girl of witnessing it would be a crime, one the Doctor was not planning on commiting, but with or without Noel, the event was unavoidable. As most fixed points in time were (hated as they were). If the Doctor could show her the universe and beyond, time immemoriam as easily as jumping into the Tardis, she would do that too. Because these were the moments to live for. To be spontaneous and jump through the smoking ash of a long dead fire in an effort to catch hold of the rising phoenix.  


That and she'd never been able to be alone for long...


She felt her hearts swell and the Doctor smiled, jumping up immediately. "Well then, what are we waiting for? I've had enough of ruminating about what ifs and inner turmoil, there's adventure to catch!" She said.


"First to the Tardis, Noel darling. Then we have to find the biggest break in tension. That's where we'll find our little friends." The Doctor said, standing tall and holding her hand out for Noel. The crowds were surging and she didn't want to lose her new companion in the fray.

 

[GreySwan]

The girl was most surprised that, while her heart felt like it was about to climb up her throat and escape, she was not afraid. She hadn't the slightest idea what she had gotten herself into but that survivor's voice in the back of her head that told her to avoid the unknown was notably silent. And really, why should she be afraid? The worst things a human could experience on this plane was pain and death. She had had enough of that and threats of that at the Golden Apple, surely to go die on some distant planet was an improvement to doing it in the back room of a tavern. And there was this feeling, unjustified as it was, of trust. That this woman would protect her.


 


Besides, the Doctor's smile was infectious. Noel did not smile much as a rule, sometimes it hurt too much, but despite the growing mob and the future up in the air she found herself grinning just as madly as the woman. Enough inner turmoil, she liked the sound of that. And Darling... Certainly no one had ever called her darling before. Both were such small things, but somehow in the midst of all this calamity and chaos, it was perhaps the best she had ever felt.


 


"I take it that means you have a plan, then?" she questioned, grasping the Doctor's hand with a touch more hesitation than she had accepted an unknown fate. Human contact (or Time-lady contact?) did not come naturally to her in her circumstances. Usually it was not positive interaction. She'd already put her fate in the woman's hands, so her own hand should be more of an afterthought, but a habit was a hard thing to kill. No time like the present to break a rule. C'est quitte ou double; in for a penny, in for a pound.

 

[myvalentina]

The Doctor was running through the streets with Noel, doing her best to keep at a pace that wasn't break-neck. It helped that her new form had short legs. And it was just what she had needed. Coming out of the Zero room alone and regeneration still bubbling beneath her new facade, she knew she hadn't felt herself. Too many doubts about what the future might hold for her old hearts and death seeming to loom closer than ever. What she had needed was not to focus on any of that. Instead she could focus all her attention on Noel.


Besides what was the worst that could happen to her. She was the Doctor. 


"More or less." She answered Noel's question. "The plan is taking shape. It all comes down to whether the Tardis is done with her reconstruction. And then I'm going to use myself as bait." She said, hearing shouts erupt behind them. She turned briefly to acknowledge the owner of the bar coming after them. "Who is he to you, anyway?" She ducked as he chucked the mop their way. "What a rude man." She said, annoyed.