A/N: Puppy!Clara is canon! So I had to celebrate by finally writing something akin to the idea I had so long ago. Dedicated to Emily, my Simbae who helped crystallise Puppy!Clara all that time ago. It might be Misffle but hey at least it exists now.
Also I was impatient so didn't get this fic beta'd. So apologies if it sucks more than normal.
The sun shone brightly over the bustling alien market. Denizens and visitors alike all flitted about the various stalls, numerous sellers shouting out about their wares. Other individuals stood talking, simply enjoying the weather and the company. The peaceful atmosphere was disturbed when a small figure barrelled into a stack of empty wicker baskets, scattering them everywhere.
"Sorry" Clara yelled backwards at the vendors shouting after her, cringing at the sound that came out of her mouth. She never slowed though, continuing to run through the throngs of people, who were so much taller than usual now.
Clara skidded to a stop kicking up dust around her. She spun frantically looking around for the Doctor or Missy. God if she found Missy first she'd never live this down.
Speaking of the devil, Clara spotted a distinct and familiar flash of purple in the distance through the crowd. She set off towards her goal, dodging passers-by. A reptilian child with a wooden pull cart suddenly ran across her path. Clara deftly leapt over the cart stumbling on her landing.
The move caused her to take her eyes off her objective, making her run head first into Missy. Clara bounced backwards onto her backside. She shook her head and looked up.
Missy felt something bounce into her leg and looked down already planning on how to kill the offender. She was met with the site of a small, black and white dog. Border Collie to be exact. Maybe 8 weeks old. A puppy really. The dog looked up at her with large, and strangely familiar, brown eyes. One of its ears stuck up straight while the other was bent over. Quite adorable really. But Missy had no time for adorable.
"Buzz off mutt", she sneered at the dog, "Before I decide to skin you and turn you into a Fur Muff." She turned away looking back down the street.
Clara jumped up quickly and started barking, praying to anyone who would listen that Missy could understand dog like the Doctor.
"Missy! Missy it's me, Clara!"
Missy whirled around to stare at the dog, eyes wide and shock written all over her face.
"Clara?" she exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes!" Clara barked happily, her new tail going a mile a minute. For once Missy was rendered speechless staring at this dog that spoke in an unmistakable Blackpool accent while barking.
And then she started laughing.
Clara deflated, ears and tail dropping, a grumpy look crossing her face as Missy howled. People began to stare but the Time Lady didn't care. This was priceless.
"Clara, my Clara!" she choked out in between her cackles. Clara growled and sat, her tail thumping against the dirt impatiently, which only made Missy laugh harder. Eventually she managed to get her laughter under control to a low chuckle, wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes. "Oh poppet. When I said you were the puppy, I didn't mean it quite so literally."
"Yes, we can discuss the irony of the situation later," Clara grumbled, "But right now you have to hide me!" Missy frowned as Clara looked back the way she'd come from.
"Oh, and why should I do that?"
"Because whoever did this to me is still after me and I really don't wanna find out what they want to do to me," Clara barked back quickly.
"Maybe we should just let them come," Missy said with a shrug, leaning against the empty stall next to her and inspecting her nails, "Probably the dog catcher going to take the stray to the pound."
Clara growled but looked back as she heard a commotion, seeing a glimpse of two familiar figures. She made a quick, very drastic, decision and dove under Missy's dress.
Missy shrieked in surprise, resisting the urge to stomp on the girl-turned-puppy's tail as she felt her settle between her feet. She looked up just as two men burst through the crowd into this part of the market. One human in appearance; the other humanoid but vaguely feline. The human held a small black bag. Both looked around intently, clearly searching for something. The Time Lady quickly retrieved her compact mirror and pretended to be fixing her hair as she surreptitiously listened.
"I can't believe you lost it!" the feline hissed, literally.
"I'm sorry," the human stammered, "They aren't normally so coherent after the transformation. I didn't expect it to bolt." He breathed out in what seemed like awe. "It was so small and fast." Missy smirked. 'That's my girl.'
"Well you better hope we find it soon," the feline snarled quietly, leaning into the humans face, "because Dex won't be happy if we lose merchandise." The human gulped.
Missy watched as the two stalked off back the way they came. She made sure they were fully out of sight before closing her compact and stepping over Clara. She grinned as the puppy was revealed, curled up with her paws over her eyes.
"Enjoying the view down there," Missy teased. Clara peeked out from behind her paws and, after ascertaining all was safe, looked up at Missy with narrow eyes.
"Bite me!" Missy made an 'o' in mock shock before biting audibly with a grin. Clara rolled her eyes but was extremely happy for having fur right now as it covered the blush that was surely covering her cheeks. She stood up and gave a little shake to get the worst of the dirt off her, which Missy snickered at.
"We need to find the Doctor and fix this," Clara said, setting off down the street the opposite way to where the men had gone. Missy rolled her eyes as the small creature began to pad down the dirt path.
"Well you're going to make it in even less time than normal with those stubby legs," Missy said exasperatedly. She quickly marched the short distance Clara had travelled. She reached down to grip Clara around the waist and easily lifted the small dog up.
Clara yelped in surprise and began to wriggle around growling and snarling.
"Hey what the hell!? Put me down nut job!" Missy shifted the wriggling mass of fur in her arms until she had one hand on the scruff of Clara's neck. She swatted the dog on the nose with her free hand before holding Clara out at arm's length as the puppy proceeded to try and kick at the Time Lady with her back paws.
"Hush now pup!" Missy scolded the companion, "People are staring. Now are you going sit nice for Mummy or am I going have to put you in a bag like those other two were gonna do. Hmm?" Missy raised an eyebrow. Clara whimpered at the thought and went still, dangling in the air. Missy smiled. "Good choice."
She turned the dog and brought Clara into her chest, so the pup's back was against her, before bringing her arms around under the furry front legs. Clara grumbled at having to hang off Missy's arms.
"Looks like I got my Fur Muff after all." Missy grinned and jostled Clara in her arms. "Comfy?"
Clara growled in response.
"Come on then," the psycho sing songed before heading off towards where they'd left the TARDIS parked.
Missy opened the door to the TARDIS and entered, Clara still draped over one arm. The puppy's tail started to gently wag against the Time Lady's leg as they entered the safe and comforting presence of the console room.
The TARDIS seemed to hum in confusion at the presence of the Time Lady and the strange new comer. Clara felt a tingling as the TARDIS quickly scanned her. The ship then began to make loud beeping sounds as she began to laugh. Clara growled and barked back at the TARDIS angrily, which only made the beeping louder.
"Shut up you stupid cow!" Clara snarled, "This isn't funny!"
"I beg to differ, dearie," Missy chuckled, "This is very funny." Missy gently set Clara down on the floor, the companion quite surprised the Time Lady didn't just drop her, and smoothed her dress down. "Now I'm going to find the Doctor. You." She pointed at Clara. "Sit," Missy said with a smirk, gesturing to the two seater Victorian sofa that sat by one of the many bookcases surrounding the room. Clara huffed indignantly at the Time Lady but nevertheless started to make her way up the stairs to the gantry.
Missy had to supress her giggles as she watched the puppy hop up the stairs one by one. She quickly made her way towards the corridor she figured the Doctor would be down, but couldn't help a quick peek to see Clara struggling to get her hind legs up onto the chair. She snickered quietly and hurried off to fetch the Doctor.
Five minutes later Clara heard Missy dragging a confused and protesting Doctor down the corridor behind her. Clara grabbed the back of the sofa with her front paws and pulled herself onto her hind legs so she could see.
"Missy what's going on?" the Doctor asked as Missy pulled him into the console room, "What's this surprise you keep going on about?"
On cue Clara let out a happy bark, tail already wagging. The Doctor looked up at the black and white dog head with mismatched ears poking up from the top of the sofa.
"A dog?!" he cried incredulously, "You brought a dog on board my ship?" Clara's ears dropped and she whined as the Doctor started to yell. "How could you bring a dog on board the TARDIS? It could have an owner! It could have fleas and diseases!" Hurt crossed the puppy's face. She didn't have fleas. Missy saw the dog's expression change and gently nudged the Doctor.
"Genius, that dog is our Clara." The Doctor quickly looked at the puppy confused.
"Clara?" The dog barked in affirmation. "But that's not possible."
"Oh here we go again with that," Missy sighed as the Doctor ran up the stairs towards the puppy, the Time Lady slowly following. "You keep saying that but you're the one who gave her the nickname impossible. And yet you're constantly surprised when the impossible happens. Honestly maybe you should think about your pet's names more thoroughly." She stopped next to the Doctor as he stared at the dog, who sat patiently tail wagging again.
"How do you know this isn't a trap? It could just be a dog with some enemy pulling the strings. Making us think its Clara. Clara could be in danger." He leaned in closed to the dog who cowered back as fury crossed the Doctor's face. "Is that what you are?" he said menacingly. The dog whined.
Missy rolled her eyes and elbowed the Doctor hard in the side. He jumped back with a pained and confused expression.
"You really are dense old man," Missy reprimanded, "Look at her eyes."
The Doctor turned back to the dog and locked eyes with it. After an agonisingly long minute his expression broke into joyful surprise.
"Clara!"
"Yes Doctor it's me!" the dog yapped happily.
"I'm so sorry! My dog must be rustier than I thought." He leaned in and took Clara's face in his hands. Clara whined in confusion but the Doctor took no notice. He was too busy inspecting her over. Looking in her ears; her eyes; even opening up her snout and examining her teeth. Clara whined again, this time a little distressed, and glanced at Missy. Missy thankfully took the hint and gently pulled the Doctor off the puppy.
"Not that we've established that the puppy is the puppy." Clara huffed but Missy ignored her, settling herself down on the two seater sofa on the opposite seat to the one that Clara resided on. "What happened poppet?"
Clara sighed and launched into a quick version of her story. How she'd been wandering the market looking through the stalls when she heard a child cry for help. No one else seemed to hear it so she went to investigate. Clara pointedly ignored Missy's soft scoff and mutterings of "Of course you did." How she'd turned down an alleyway and there'd been a bright flash of light. Then everything was suddenly bigger, and louder, and smellier. Suddenly a male human with a bag was in front of her trying to stuff her into it. So she'd bit him and run off, eventually finding Missy.
The two Time Lords pondered the story in silence for a few moments, gears in their large brains turning.
"Well clearly it's some sort of DNA metamorphism," The Doctor said, as usual as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"But obviously not a perfected one," Missy countered, "She's not completely dog. She still has human mental faculties."
"Exactly, and why a dog. Or is it just chance that it was a dog this time. Could we be looking at an assortment at different animals that were once human, or however many other species that visits this planet, running around?"
"Maybe it wasn't random. We all know Clara is the puppy," Missy smirked. Clara growled softly but the two continued on their triad of hypothesis that were getting more and more technobabbly. Clara whined head snapping back between the two until her poor brain couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey Time Idiots!" she barked, the two aliens suddenly looking at the furry animal they had forgotten about for a minute, "Speak English!" Missy snorted at the irony of the statement. Clara huffed at the Time Lady.
"Right. Sorry," the Doctor said, beginning to pace. "Basically someone is turning people into dogs, or in general animals possibly, for some reason."
"I think profit," Missy interjected, "One of those men did say Clara would be merchandise." Clara whined unconsciously at the thought. Missy quietly placed a hand on Clara's back and began to stroke the puppy.
"Makes sense," the Doctor said, "Turn people into animals and sell them off as exotic pets at the market."
"So how do we fix this?" Clara asked. The Doctor looked at her thoughtfully.
"If we can get a residue signal from the machine that did it, we can follow it and then hopefully reverse engineer the process."
"Hopefully?" Clara howled. Missy shot a look at the Doctor.
"Definitely," he responded quickly. Clara wilted nevertheless. Missy brought her hand up behind Clara's ears and began to scratch softly.
"So how do we find the machine?" Missy asked the Doctor.
"I have an idea. But it'll probably take a while." The Doctor glanced at Missy. "You look after her." Missy's eye widened.
"Me!?"
"Yeah, you seem to have it handled already," he said gesturing to the fact Missy was still scratching a very content Clara behind the ears, the puppy's tail gently wagging and one back leg shaking slightly. Missy rolled her eyes and glared at the Doctor.
"Fine," she said in an annoyed voice the Doctor knew was clearly for show. He hurried off down the corridor and left the two sitting there.
Missy followed him with her eyes before sighing and sitting back in the chair. She looked down at the puppy, realising she was still petting it and swiftly removed her hand. Clara whined softly at the removal before looking up at Missy with those big doe eyes. Even as a dog they were prominent and Missy wondered how the girl in either form could keep those eyeballs in her head and still have a fairly smart brain. For a human. Or in this case dog.
"The Doctor is gonna fix this right?" Clara asked Missy softly with a small whimper. Missy's eyes softened ever so slightly.
"Well if he doesn't at least you're not an ugly dog." Clara flopped down on the sofa resisting the urge to cry. Stupid puppy emotions invading her logical human brain. Missy looked at the dog thoughtfully before standing up to go towards the bookcase.
"Well we can't just sit here. I'm sure you've got an abundance of energy to get rid of in that form." Clara sat back up watching as the Time Lady browsed the stacks. She had felt a buzzing in her body that could be excess energy. Maybe taking her mind off things would be good?
Missy grabbed a book out the case and turned back to the puppy, who was looking at her thoroughly confused with her head cocked to the side endearingly.
"How about a game of fetch?" Missy said with a glint in her eye. Clara's puppy eyes widened.
"No! Absolutely not! There is no way in Hell I would ever play-"
"Fetch!" Missy yelled, throwing the book across the gantry. Clara's demeanour instantly changed as she jumped over the back of the sofa after the book, barking like mad. Missy giggled as Clara grabbed the book in her jaws, shook it once, before trotting back towards Missy. The puppy dropped the book at Missy's feet and stared at it, front end on the floor, back end in the air, tail wagging intensely.
Missy bent down and picked up the book, dodging any slobber, and waved it back and forth teasingly. She faked a throw, which Clara didn't fall for surprisingly, before she threw it for real down the stairs. Clara raced after it and leapt high, catching the book in mid-air.
As the furry blur came down towards the floor, the TARDIS let out a loud clang and Clara disappeared. Instantly there was a loud yelp and a splash from down the corridor. Missy frowned and started down the stairs towards the console which was beeping with laughter again.
"What did you do?" Missy asked the ship. Suddenly there was a loud, angry howling coming down the corridor. Clara suddenly appeared in the entranceway, shaking with rage and fur completely dripping. Missy had to quickly cover her mouth to keep from laughing.
"Really Snog Box!?" Clara barked, "Swimming pool? Again!" The TARDIS hummed amusedly. Clara growled and marched up towards the console. "Well let's see how you like it!"
Clara suddenly started to shake furiously, sending water flying all over the console. Missy dodged to the side as the TARDIS whirred in protest. Clara stopped as she heard Missy's giggles and looked towards the Time Lady.
"Well at least you've had your bath," Missy said in mock innocence.
"You want some!" Missy scoffed.
"Hardly." Without warning Missy pressed down a button on the TARDIS console. A vent at the bottom of the console opened and blasted Clara with hot air. The puppy yelped and was sent flying head over tail before ending up on her back, paws in the air. Missy let go of the button and the vent closed.
"Better?" she asked the puppy. Clara scrambled back up and noted that she was completely dry. Missy smiled as Clara barked happily. "And look what I found in my pocket." Missy pulled the sharpened stick from Skaro out from behind her back. Clara's tail started wagging subconsciously. "Whad'ya say pup. Another game?" Clara looked sceptically at the TARDIS.
"Only if she promises not to dump me in the pool again." Missy side eyed the TARDIS who let out two short beeps that sounded like 'Promise'. Missy grinned and threw the stick down the corridor, watching as Clara ran after it.
Hours later Missy heard the Doctor shout in triumph down one of the corridors. Missy closed the well-read copy of Jane Austen's works and placed it on the side table. She looked down at the black and white puppy that was currently curled up fast asleep in her lap.
"Come on sleepy puppy," she cooed softly, gently shaking the dog, "Time to get up." Clara whined in protest and curled up tighter. Missy rolled her eyes and poked the dog in the side. "Up!" Clara growled but unfurled herself with a yawn, and rolled over to stretch. A mischievous smile crossed the Time Lady's lips before she reached down and began to rub Clara's tummy.
Clara melted instantly, eyes closing and tongue lolling in ecstasy. Missy grinned as the puppy let out a long groan. She heard the Doctor approaching the console room and quickly removed her hands from Clara, sitting back in her seat.
Clara whimpered in protest before she suddenly fell silent. Her eyes popped open ears and ears perked up as if she suddenly realised where she was. She quickly scrambled off the time Lady's lap and scurried to the other end of the two seater sofa, as far away from the Mistress as possible, refusing to look her in the eye.
The Doctor thankfully interrupted Clara's embarrassment by bounding up the stairs, small device in his hand.
"I did it!" he exclaimed excitedly, crouching down in front of the sofa near Missy's legs so Clara could see. Clara snuck a quick peek at the Time Lady, who was purposely looking at the device and not Clara, before she padded over to the Doctor. Her instincts made her give the small device a sniff. Missy's lips quirked but she stayed silent. It looked kind of like a black handheld Geiger Counter but smaller.
"This little device will allow us to follow the residue, no matter how faint. It'll beep as we get closer. Sort of like a DNA metal detector." He pulled his screwdriver put of his pocket. "Now all we need is a sample." He pointed the screwdriver at Clara's chest. "Hold still."
As soon as the green glow and whirring sound started Clara yelped in pain. She thrashed and backed away from the device until her legs hit the back of the chair, ears pressed flat against her head. Missy quickly clasped her hands over Clara's ears, pulling the puppy back into her lap and pressing her face into the fabric of the purple dress to help muffle the sound.
"Doctor!" she hissed. He released the button.
"Sorry," he said, "Too high a frequency." He fiddled with some buttons. Missy sighed and lifted Clara, turning her back to face the Time Lord. The Time Lady placed the puppy back down carefully in her lap and rubbed the furry back. The Doctor sent Clara an apologetic look before pointing the screwdriver again. This time the green light glowed but thankfully no sound came out.
Once he'd finished scanning Clara he plugged the screwdriver into the black device. After a moment the screen came to life. Lines that looked like a radar popped up with a faint dot near the direction of the TARDIS doors. It let of a faint and slow beep every 30 seconds or so.
"There we go," the Doctor said, pocketing his screwdrivers. He smiled at the puppy. "Now let's go find some bad guys." Clara barked and hopped off Missy's lap, running for the door. Missy and the Doctor stood, Missy smoothing her dress. The Doctor was preoccupied with the book shelves.
"Where's my Darwin first edition?" he asked. Missy cleared her throat and dragged a manicured nail down her cheek in mock thoughtfulness.
"Oh I don't know," she said innocently with a shrug, turning away from the Doctor. "Bottom of the pool maybe," she muttered.
Night had fallen outside and the streets were deserted. The trio made their way past the empty stalls, following the beeps that were getting gradually louder and faster. Eventually they made it to the alley that Clara had been in when the transformation occurred.
A few hundred yards down their path, Clara's nose took over. She smelt something that she had smelt after she had become a dog. She pressed her nose to the ground, deliberately ignoring Missy's chuckling. She caught the scent and ran off with a howl. Missy and the Doctor glanced at each other before taking off in pursuit of the fluffy blur.
They rounded a corner and saw Clara standing in front of two large metal doors, scratching at one with her front paws. The device in the Doctor's hand was beeping like crazy. He switched it off and pocketed it, making his way over to the doors, Missy following closely. Clara backed away from the door with a bark as they approached.
"Good girl," Missy said with a grin. Clara rolled her eyes but her tail gave away her true feelings. The Doctor fiddled with the lock with his screwdriver and the door clicked. The Doctor pushed the metal and it gave way. Clara quickly slipped past him through the small gap.
"Clara!" the Doctor cautioned softly but she way already gone. He looked at Missy.
"We should have put her on a leash," Missy said before slipping through the door. The Doctor followed closing the door behind him.
As soon as they entered they were met with a cacophony of noise. Dogs, cats and countless other animals howled and cried. All shouting about how they wanted to go home. To be set free.
The building was set in an L shape, the animal noises coming from the room at the end of this hallway. They made their way towards it. Missy gently pushed the door open and the two aliens saw numerous animals of varying species in cages lining all four walls of the room beyond. Anger crossed the Doctor's face.
A soft bark from the end of the second hallway called there attention. Clara stood in front of another door, ears back and tail tucked between her legs. The two quickly and quietly made their way down the hallway and stopped next to the dog. The Doctor scanned the door with his screwdriver.
"Three life signs inside," he told the other two.
"And what are we going to do just barge in?" Missy asked. The Doctor smiled.
"Exactly!" The Doctor pulled back and kicked the door in, stepping inside, Missy following reluctantly. Missy had just enough time to scoot Clara behind her before all three beings in the room pulled guns on the two. Missy glared at the Doctor.
"Should've thought this one through old man."
"It's a lab. I didn't think they'd be armed."
"It's an illegal operation involving DNA transmogrification! What did you expect?"
"Enough!" a voice growled from in front of them. Missy looked around and took in the situation.
On their left closest to the Doctor was the human from the market. He was shaking and sweating while holding his handgun. Missy gathered that he was probably forced to be here and didn't actually like the job he was doing. Easy enough to take down.
To their right closest to her was the feline, looking at the pair with narrowed eyes. He was completely steady in his movements. Obviously the muscle of the group. His handgun was unwaveringly pointed at Missy's chest. Completely off from either heart but who was he to know the idiot.
In front of them was the apparent leader of the group. A reptilian male with a strange and twisted look in his eye. Missy should know. In one clawed hand he held a handgun and in the other what looked like a wand with a button at one end and a hollow barrel at the other. Both of which were pointed at them.
"You must be Dex," Missy stated. The reptile smirked.
"Someone's done their homework," he took a step forward, "And who might you two be."
"I'm the Doctor. This is Missy. And we're here to stop you." The reptile laughed but Missy zoned out as the Doctor got him monologueing. Choosing instead to survey the room.
Four stone walls surrounded them. The room itself looked similar to an Earth computer lab, but without the computers. Tables sat against all four walls, interspaced by the door and some open shelving units filled with books and other objects behind Dex. A double table with several vials and beakers of coloured liquid, as well as mechanical equipment such as gears and bits of metal, stood between them and the reptile. They'd need a distraction to get to him.
Clara watched the gears turning in Missy's head and came to the same conclusion as the Time Lady. The group hadn't seen her yet so the distraction would have to come from her. Clara set her jaw and took a deep breath. She carefully began to back up towards the door, keeping herself behind Missy's silhouette in the hopes the Time Lady's body would be enough to hide her from view. When her tail brushed the stone wall she stilled and, after making sure no one had clocked her, dove to her right under the tables that surrounded the room.
The reptile continued to drone on, the Doctor using his words to get Dex to spill all his plans like a knife through butter. As he confirmed their suspicions of a money making scheme involving people turned pets, Missy felt Clara's weight leave the back of her legs. Slyly Missy glanced behind her and confirmed the puppy was no longer behind her. She scanned the room furtively before she spotted a flash of white fur just off to her right as Clara clambered silently under the tables. Missy followed the puppy with her eyes until she lost her behind the shelving.
With a frown Missy focused back on the group around her. She noted the feline watching her intently but was certain he didn't know what was up. Too fixated on her to know the smallest of them all was up to something. The Doctor was spouting off some righteousness of how Dex was in the wrong and he'd be stopped while the reptile easily fell into his trap to argue back.
Suddenly at the edge of her vision she saw movement. She glanced cautiously above Dex's head and saw the black and white puppy emerge carefully from behind some books. Missy mentally raised a brow, impressed at the feat Clara had just performed. She peeked left at noticed that the Doctor had spotted Clara too. The puppy positioned herself at the edge of the shelf above the reptile's head. Clara locked eyes with the Doctor and then Missy making sure they were both ready. She then nodded towards her tail. It was at a right angle, and then she moved it slowly up three times at different angles until it was straight. Missy noted with a smile that she used the appendage like a clock to count down. Their girl was clever.
Clara looked back at the two to confirm they understood. At small, imperceptible nods from both Clara repositioned herself and too a deep breath. She moved her tail in the count down and when she got to zero jumped. Clara landed on the reptile's head, back paws digging into his shoulders, front ones grasping his cheeks lodging her claws into his scaly skin. Before he could react Clara opened her jaws with a loud angry snarl and clamped her teeth down onto his head.
Dex screamed causing his henchmen to get distracted and turn towards their leader. The Doctor and Missy sprang into action.
The Doctor moved towards the human, effortlessly knocking the shaking man's gun out of his hand, before he placed his screwdriver on the man's chest. The human gave up easily, lifting his hands in surrender and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't wanna do this anymore anyway.
Missy surged forward towards the feline. Before he could bring his gun back to her she grabbed his wrist pulling his arm around his back. There was an audible snap and the cat cried out dropping his gun. Missy then grasped the back of his head and slammed it into the table, beakers smashing, and metal and liquid going flying. The feline slumped and slid onto the floor unmoving. The Doctor was looking at her with wide eyes, to which she responded with a shrug.
Her attention was pulled back by a pained yelp. She turned in time to see Dex rip Clara from his head, blood oozing from deep puncture wounds. Clara continued to snarl and snap in the reptile's grip. The reptile snarled back and proceeded to fling Clara at the stone wall. The puppy hit the stone with a sickening noise before bouncing off one of the tables to settle on the floor limp and motionless.
"Clara!" the Doctor screamed but Missy already saw red. In the blink of an eye Missy had the bloodied reptile by the throat against the bookcase. She squeezed as he clawed at her hand, struggling for breath.
"How do you want to go about this then?" she hissed viciously at the reptile, "I could pull your intestines out slowly and let you bleed out in a forest. Or we could cut off your hands and feet and drop you in a desert. Let the animals have their way with you. Or better yet I could poke your eyes out right now and slit your throat." She slowly brought her free hand towards one of his eyes as terror crossed Dex's face.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and the reptile disappeared from her grip. Missy took a step back utterly bewildered. Then there was a squeak. Missy looked down. In the reptile's place sat a rat. The rat looked up at her and squeaked. Missy turned and saw a bloodied and panting Clara holding Dex's dropped wand in her jaws. Relief, confusion and worry all crossed Missy's face as her eyes widened.
Clara let go of the wand and the device clattered to the floor. Clara started forward eyes fixed on the cowering rat. Missy watched as Clara limped heavily towards them, left front paw barely touching the ground, if at all. The Time Lady took a small step back as the puppy approached. Her shadow fell across the rat who shrunk back. Clara then bared her teeth and growled menacingly. The rat squeaked loudly and rushed past, scurrying out the door.
As soon as the rat was gone Clara abruptly sat exhausted and looked up at Missy with a pained but smug smile. Missy let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and shook her head at the puppy. She bent down and gently scooped Clara up and held the injured ball of fur to her chest like a baby, keeping the puppy's injured side protected by her body. Clara whimpered softly at the slight manhandling but settled down in the Time Lady's arm. Her adrenaline was leaving her, pain and exhaustion now settling in so she didn't much care that she should be embarrassed by the situation.
"I want you to change every one in that other room back to normal and set them free," Missy heard the Doctor say to the human. "Or you'll get worse than what happened to your friend." She turned in time to see the human nod fervently and run out of the room. Missy raised an eyebrow at the Time Lord.
"Do you really think he will?"
"I do," the Doctor replied, walking towards her "He seemed coerced into all of this. Not actually wanting to do it of his own free will. Besides I slipped a tracker onto his shirt so if he doesn't I'll find him." He stopped in front of Missy and looked down at the dog in her arms who struggled to look at him through tired eyes. "In the meantime let's get you back to normal and patched up eh?" He turned and stooped to pick up the discarded wand from the floor. He quickly looked back and gestured Missy to follow.
Clara nuzzled into Missy's chest and closed her eyes. Missy untangled one hand from her hold and poked Clara in the nose. The puppy scrunched up her face in the most adorable way and opened her eyes again.
"No sleeping puppy," Missy reprimanded lightly, "Wouldn't want you to not wake up if you have a concussion." Clara whined but managed to keep her eyes open as Missy trailed after the Doctor back to the TARDIS.
A few hours later Clara stood in the console room of the TARDIS human again. She watched on a screen a live feed of the human they'd left behind changing back all the captive animals. Clara sighed and then winced as the simple moved cause pain to bloom throughout her body. She had quite a list this time around. A concussion; deep laceration near her left eye; broken collar bone; dislocated shoulder; arm fractured in two places; cracked ribs; puncture wounds on either side of her stomach where Dex had grabbed her; and an abundance of scrapes, cuts and bruises.
Thankfully the TARDIS had a very sophisticated sick bay with countless futuristic medicines. Unfortunately the Doctor had forgotten to restock and tidy up after the last time they had to use it. This was why she was standing in the console room with her left arm in a sling. He had found a painkiller patch that would take the worst away but she'd have to wait until they stopped at the Space Pharmacy to get anything stronger.
He also did manage to find some of the healing paste for her head, though it was only enough to close the wound and start the healing process. So for now she had a fairly prominent scar. The Doctor said that even once they got more, since it wasn't all applied right away she'd probably still have a faint scar for the rest of her life. She didn't mind too much though. Her hair would easily hide it and it would be a reminder of the time she'd help save her two Time Idiots from a hail of gun fire.
Clara had to pause for a minute. Since when had Missy become hers? She hated that woman didn't she? She was insufferable. Annoying. Spiteful. Funny. Sexy. Clara blinked. Surely this was her concussion talking.
She was so deep in thought she failed to hear the Time Lady herself come up the stairs.
"How's the Super Dog then?" Clara jumped and grimaced as the move caused pain to shoot through her again. Missy sent a surprisingly sincere apologetic look.
"Sore," Clara said, to which Missy rolled her eyes, "But alive."
"Any side effects?" Clara frowned. The Doctor had mentioned she might feel strange for a while. Wondering why her ears wouldn't move. Missing her tail. Things seeming louder every so often for a bit. She pondered for a moment.
"I feel taller." Missy snorted and Clara couldn't help but smile too. "I know. But being that small made me appreciate things from up here a bit more. I think it'll be a while before I start complaining about my height."
A comfortable silence settled between the two as they both watched the feed.
"You owe me a new dress by the way?" Missy said eventually. Clara raised a brow.
"Oh really?"
"Yes. Do you know how hard it is to get blood and fur out of that fabric?"
Clara chuckled and flinched in pain again. Damn ribs. Missy saw and frowned. Then her eyes lit up as an impish smile played at her lips.
"Aw poor puppy," she pouted, "Will a tummy rub make it better?" Missy slowly reached towards Clara's stomach. Clara saw and shook her head.
"No Missy." She moved back but Missy followed. The Time Lady chased the human around the console giggling. Missy finally managed to get past Clara's defence but as the Time Lady got a millimetre from the other brunette's stomach, Clara grasped the woman's wrist with her free hand. They paused for a moment, Missy's breath hot against Clara's ear and her fingers grazing the material of her shirt. Clara's grip was soft and not unpleasant. Everything stilled.
After what seemed like hours but was in reality only seconds the two heard the Doctor call Clara's name from down one of the corridors.
"Oh thank god," Clara mumbled, "What!" As the human called back to the Time Lord, Missy noted that Clara hadn't yet moved away.
"I found some of that 'Miracle Grow for Bones' at the back of one of the cupboards," the Doctor shouted, "Do you want to fix that now or would you rather wait the six weeks."
"Coming!" Clara yelled back, finally letting go of Missy's wrist and side stepping the Time Lady. Missy watched as Clara rushed down the corridor refusing to look back at the woman.
Missy smirked and made a mental note to scratch Clara behind the ear at some point. See if her leg shook.