Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 12: The Girl in the Fireplace

As the Doctor and Echo finally came back to the ship, they continued to joke around and reminisce on impossible circumstances at previous parties. The longer she spent one on one time with him, she couldn't help but feel a growing attachment and fondness for him. Though, she still couldn't figure out what exactly she was feeling. All she knew was that she never wanted these foreign emotions to ever fade away. So, to make sure she'll always have a piece of him, she carved his title into her heart and held the image of him securely in her mind palace. 

When they drew closer to were their human companions were being held, the Doctor got the brilliant idea of feigning intoxication. With wine goblet in hand, he danced his way into the room while singing. Echo simply and calmly walked in behind him with an unfazed expression. She wanted to see how his plan would unfold. Therefore, she kept her hand on her blaster and stayed in a spot where she'd be able to take out all droids if need be. "Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm." Rose sarcastically shot at him, annoyed at his supposed disregard of the danger they were in.

"Oh, you sound just like your mother." the Doctor shot back playfully.

Echo couldn't stop her snort of amusement, "Burn."

But Rose wouldn't have it. "What've you two been doing? Where've you been?" wanting nothing but a straight answer.

"Well, among other things, I think we just invented the banana  daiquiri a few centuries earlier." he admitted easily, pulling off his drunken façade flawlessly. "Do you know, they've never even seen a banana before. Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good." he rambled aimlessly, then 'noticed' the multiple droids. "Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favorite, you are. You're the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad."

After Echo had silenced her quiet laugh attack, she crossed her arms with confidence. "We also know why they were scanning Reinette's brain. They wanted to know her age." she revealed with great enjoyment. She was so happy that there would never be a boring moment  when with the Doctor. Just hearing her enchanting laugh was enough to make his own overwhelming joy soar as well.

"Want to know why? Because this ship is thirty-seven years old. They think that when Reinette's thirty-seven, when she's 'complete', then her brain will be compatible." He then turned back to look at the droid standing between Mickey and Rose; standing just beside it. "So, that's what you're missing. Isn't it? Command circuit. Your ship needs a brain. For some reason, who knows why, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do." he explained, shedding light on the truth of the situation further.

The droid then straightened up. "The brain is compatible." it said in its emotionless, robotic voice.

"Compatible?" the Doctor repeated incredulously. "If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." he said casually, then pulled off its mask and poured the dark red contents of his golden goblet into the gears of its head. Immediately did it seize up and stop completely.

"What was that?" Mickey quickly asked; still a little shaken from the scare.

"Multi grain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." Echo muttered absently as she began messing with some controls.

In the process, she freed both companions after shutting the rest of the droids down. "Are those things safe?" Sir Mickey asked with heavy distrust for the machines that had attempted to disassemble them just moments before.

"Potentially." Echo replied without looking up. "All the time windows should be able to be shut down from here." she added with furrowed brow of concentration.

The Doctor then began  searching his pockets. "Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago." he mumbled mainly to himself.

"I do believe you were using them as castanets, my guy." Echo replied with an unrestrainable smile and forced herself to remain focused on the task at hand; her now best friend helping from close beside her.

Watching them work their magic, Rose then asked the one question that was mainly on her mind. "Why didn't they just open a window to when she was thirty-seven?" 

The Timelord shook his head. "With the amount of damage to these circuits? They did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that."

Echo growled in frustration. "The windows aren't closing."

Just before she could take her growing anger out on the machinery, a small bell like sound went off. "What's that?" the blonde quickly asked, a foreboding sensation mildly dampening her mind.

"Obviously either an incoming message or a warning signal." the brunette said as she tried to figure it out.

Mickey then stepped forward with worry. "But who's it from?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Report from the field? One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's probably why we can't close them. There's an override."

A few seconds later, the first android reactivated and expelled the anti-oil through its finger. "Well, that was a bit clever." the Doctor mumbled, completely taken aback. Mere moments after did the controls switched all the droids back on. The reactivated bots straightened. "Right. Many things about this are not good." He then subtly moved to keep the others out of harm's way to the best of his currently limited abilities. Though Echo kept her hand on her blaster, anticipating the potential fight. "Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?" he practically mocked, trying to buy a little more time.

"She is complete. It begins." Every droid then simultaneously teleported out to retrieve their final piece for their repair efforts.

Rose looked at the Doctor and Echo with wide eyes; knowing full well there was danger afoot. "What's happening?" came her quiet voice, hoping to help in any way possible.

"One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops." the disturbed Timelord explained.

But Echo's expression was an unreadable mask as she stared at the controls in front of her. "Only this time, they're bringing back her head." It all became very simple to her in that moment. Nothing was going to happen to Reinette. Her death would remain as it should be. Even if that meant she had to get her hands dirty again.

A/N: 

wut is up, mah dudes. its ya boi, zeh author. srry it took so long to update, but wutever. :)
let me know if you have any auggestions, corrections, ideas, criticism, etc.