The Doctor and The Nightingale {1}

the girl in the fireplace 4.4

Tate joined the others at the time window. It showed the ballroom where all the guests were being terrorized by the clockwork droids. "You found it then?" Tate asked once he arrived. Rose went over to stand by Tate, while Mickey stayed near the window.

"They knew I was coming" Nova admitted. She was now dressed in her regular clothes again. "They blocked it off"

"I don't get it" Tate shook his head. "How come they got in there?"

"They teleported" The Doctor answered. "You saw them" He began pressing buttons and flipping switches on the console, in an attempt to fix the time window. "As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short range teleports will do the trick"

"Well, we'll go in the Tardis!" Rose suggested.

"We can't use the Tardis. We're part of events now"

"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey concurred.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other" Nova divulged as she motioned towards the window. The Doctor was still running around. "We need a truck"

"We don't have a truck!"

"I know we don't have a truck!" The Doctor screamed out in frustration.

"Well, we've got to try something" Rose stressed.

"Well," Tate began as the lightbulb went off in his head. "We don't have a truck but we do have something else with horsepower"

"Oh, Tate, you're a genius!" Nova praised her best friend. She bopped him on the nose. "Rose, Mickey" She turned to face her other two friends. "Where have you put Arthur?"

"No!" The Doctor protested when he realized what Nova was intending to do. He stepped in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way for you to get back" He cautioned her.

"I realize that, Doctor" Nova whispered. She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "But Reinette needs me right now. I made a promise to her. I never break a promise" She closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his. The Doctor closed his eyes as well and wrapped his arms securely around Nova. "If I'm not back in five hours--"

"Please," he begged, holding her closer to him. "Don't say that"

"If I'm not back in five hours," Nova continued. "Take the Tardis and go. Look after Tate for me. Please, promise me that, Doctor"

"I can't" The Doctor croaked, shaking his head. "I can't because you will come back" He paused and took her face in his hands. "You're gonna come back to me because I can't lose you. Not when I just found you"

"Promise me"

"I promise"

______

"Such a commotion" Reinette boomed her voice loud enough for the commotion in the ballroom to stop. "Such distressing noise" Everyone's attention was on Reinette. "Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French" Reinette turned around to look at the droid that was a few steps away from her. "I have made a decision. And my decision is no, I shall not be going with you today. I have seen your world, and I have no desire to set foot there again"

"We do not require your foot" The droid spoke in a literal sense.

Two female dressed droids grabbed Reinette and pushed her down to her knees. The droids pointed their blades at her. The droid Reinette was talking to approached her and pointed its blade also. However, Reinette was not going to give up that easily. "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"