Hi again! This is the fifth story of my Starlight Saga, featuring my oc, the Doctors daughter, Star.
She is currently in her 5th regeneration, a small girl with ginger hair and a full fringe with half clipped back with a bowtie from the 11th Doctor. she usually wears a white shirt with a black bowtie, a green corset, a purple skirt with teal boots and bright pink laces, with her dagger inside. I picture her to look similar to Bella Thorne. At the end of Written in the stars she was 618.
"Italics" is Gallifreyan.
'Italics' is telepathic communication.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
"I got it!" Star reached for a lever, she had begun piloting them, everything going smoothly, or as smoothly as normal, then the Doctor had suddenly remembered how to pilot and taken over, and they ended up getting stuck in the mouth of a dinosaur. This is why he shouldn't even be allowed in the console room after regenerating, at least they didn't have to worry about getting burnt this time.
"No, I've got it!" the Doctor moved her hand away.
"You regenerated 5 minutes ago! Go take a nap!"
"Im fine!" he waved of her concern.
"You said that last time and got hit by a cricket bat and walked into a tree!"
"You also got hit by a cricket bat!"
"That…" she blinked, forgotten that, "was not my fault."
"Oh for gods sake!" Clara grumbled, pulling the lever herself, seeing both had their hands on the lever but neither pulling it. She sent them flying out of the dinosaur and onto the bank of the river Thames.
There was a knock at the door. "Hello?" a voice called, "exit the box and surrender for the glory of the Sontaran Empire."
"Is that Strax?" Clara wondered, remembering the potato dwarf from Victorian Yorkshire and other times.
The Doctor opened the door, "shush," he looked at Strax before closing the door again, leaving Strax confused before he opened the door again and peered out even further, "we were being chased by a giant dinosaur but I think we managed to give it the slip." he shut the door again.
"No Doctor," Clara began, they didn't get chased by the dinosaur, HE piloted them into the poor creature's mouth. Somehow they had ended up in prehistoric times, got stuck in the dinosaur, and then it seemed had now landed in Victorian time, she assumed with Strax being outside.
This time Star opened the door, "sorry," she grinned sheepishly, "He just needs a nap."
"Sleepy," the Doctor peeked out, squinting at Strax.
"Sir?" Strax eyed him.
"And now he names the dwarfs," Star rolled her eyes playfully, not that she was complaining, she loved Snow White, she'd worn of on him.
"Bashful," the Doctor advanced on poor Strax who slowly backed away, "dopey, grumpy!" he towered over the Sontaran when he noticed Vastra and Jenny staring, eyes wide at the pair of them. "Oh, you two. The green one," he pointed at Vastra and then Jenny, "and the not green one. Could be the other way round, I mustn't pre-judge. Oh, you remember the female little me," he pointed at Star.
"Little you." she pouted, "Is that all I am? Just a mini you?"
"No, of course not, you're my beautiful girl." He smiled softly at her, making her beam, "And you remember, er, thingy," he pointed as Clara as the woman stepped out, looking traumatised, "the, er, the not me one. The asking questions one. Names, not my area."
"Clara," Star reminded him.
"Might be Clara, might not be. It's a lottery."
"It is Clara!" Clara insisted.
"Well, I'm not ruling it out," he muttered when the T-Rex roared, "Oi! Big man! Shut it!" the Doctor shouted up to it, "oh! You've got a dinosaur too!"
"She's a girl," Star whispered to him.
"Big woman, sorry," the Doctor corrected himself, "what would I do without you."
"I dread to think," Clara muttered, if he can end up in a dinosaur with her there, she couldn't even imagine what trouble he got into on Trenzalore for 800 years without her.
"Now, please take a nap," Star tried to reason with him.
"You need to calm down," Clara agreed, slowly walking over.
He ignored them and continued calling up to the dinosaur, "I'm not flirting by the way. My daughter wouldn't be very happy with that."
"Is regeneration always like this?" Clara asked Star quietly.
"Normally with him." she nodded, "he doesn't handle it very well, usually side affects…or it might have gone wrong because it was a new cycle." She didn't know how the regeneration went when given a new cycle, never knew anyone he had been given one. No, she did, she knew the Master had been given many more than most should have been given, especially with his history.
"Wrong?!" the Doctor turned to the group as they watched him, "what's gone wrong? Have you regenerated?" he looked at Clara, "I remember you. You're Handles; you used to be a little...a little...robot head and now you...really let yourself go. Reduce the frequency," he turned to Vastra, "your sonic lanterns, turn them down, you're giving her a headache."
"Giving who a headache?" Jenny shook her head.
"My lady friend! That's just an expression by the way," he added, "don't get any ideas."
"How do you know?" Strax frowned.
"Come on, Clara," the Doctor turned to Strax, "you know that I speak dinosaur."
"That's Strax," Star told him.
"Im Clara," Clara stepped next to Strax.
"Well they're very similar heights," he looked between Strax and Clara. "Maybe they should we're labels "he squinted at them, "why are...why are you all doing that...why are you all going dark? Stop that."
"We're not going dark," Star said slowly, "you just need a rest."
"Very well. Everyone take 5," he proceeded to faint and hit the ground.
"Ooh that is gonna hurt later," Star winced as she knelt next to him, checking to make sure he was alright.
"What do we do now?" Clara demanded as she came to her side.
"I don't understand," Jenny frowned, "Who is he? Where's the Doctor?
"Right here," Clara whispered.
"Regeneration." Star informed them.
"Well then, here we go again," Vastra remarked.
~.~
That night Star and Vastra were in one of the guest bedrooms, trying to get the Doctor to go to sleep, but he refused, Star managed to trick him into getting into a long night shirt, but he was ranting about how bedrooms were pointless and the mirror in the room was furious.
It was stressful very stressful, no matter how they tried to reason with him, he didn't not like the idea of a room just for sleeping in.
He was also complaining about them developing faults because they sounded English while he was now Scottish, it was very annoying.
"Daddy," Star called, mimicking a Scottish accent, getting very irritated with him and actually thinking about killing him, "I haven't been sleeping well lately will you help me."
"Of course," he nodded, joining her on the bed.
"Will you go into my mind and send me to sleep?"
"Is that what you want?"
"Please."
"If that's want to want," he placed his fingers to her temples, about to send her to sleep, when she placed her fingers on his temples first, sending him to sleep before he had the chance.
"So slow, old man." She grinned.
"What now?" Clara asked as they tucked him in the bed, Jenny and Vastra leaving them some privacy.
"Let him rest."
"Will he be ok?"
"He will be just fine," Star assured her.
"Where did he get that face?" Clara wondered, "Why's it got lines on it, it's brand new. How can his hair be all grey, he only just got it."
"Regeneration," Star shrugged her off, "it's a lottery. We don't know where the faces come from. I've always wondered though."
There was a mournful roar from the dinosaur, "I am alone," the Doctor translated in his sleep, "the world which shook at my feet and the trees, and the sky, have gone, and I am alone now, alone."
"Are you translating?" Clara frowned, "is he translating?"
"The wind bites now, and the world is grey and I am alone. Can't see me. Doesn't see me. Can't see me."
"Who can't see it? I think all of London can see it."
"Boys?" Strax called, entering the room, "Madame Vastra is waiting."
Clara sighed, knowing Vastra was going to do that test thing on her, she could just recall her doing that on the Victorian echo, "Ok, whatever."
"I will convey you to her chamber. May I take you coat?"
"Not wearing a coat."
"What's all that?" he gestured to her clothes.
"Clothes."
"May I take your clothes?"
"Probably not."
They walked out the room, Star still at the window.
"Are you wearing a hat?" Strax asked.
"Its hair," Clara sighed.
"No, I think it's a hat, would you like me to check? Ma'am," Strax called to Star, seeing she hadn't followed them, "Madame's orders."
"I'm going to keep an eye on him, just to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Strax nodded, before turning and leading Clara off.
~.~
Star curled up on the corner of the bed; still awake as the Doctor slept...when he slowly stirred, sniffing.
He sat up in bed, sniffing deeply, looking around the room as Star sat up, just watching him, knowing it was better to let him do his own thing.
He threw over the covers and scrambled around on his hands and knees, reaching underneath the dresser and pulling out a stick of chalk, grinning.
Star watched as the Doctor wrote calculations on the walls and floor, covering every surface.
They looked out the window as the dinosaur roared.
The Doctor stood up, and dashing to the door, opening it, "door! Boring! Not me!" he ran to the window and looked out, looking down at the three story drop and the drainpipe to the window. "Me!" he grinned, looking back at Star, "stay here."
"No!" she argued, "im coming with you."
"No. Stay here."
"Please," she pouted, giving him her puppy dog eyes.
"Oh, fine," he gave in. He REALLY needed to stop giving in to the face, maybe she hypnotised everyone?
He climbed out of the window with Star following before running along the rooftops towards the river, shouting, "Oi. Oi. Oi, big, woman. Oi. Sorry. Sorry, it's all my fault. My time machine…"
"Our time machine," Star corrected.
"Yes, our time machine got stuck in your throat. It happens. We brought you along by accident. That's mostly how we meet companions, but don't worry; I promise we will get you home. I swear. Whatever it takes, I will keep you safe. You will be at home again."
"No!" Star cried as the dinosaur suddenly burst into flames.
"Stop that," the Doctor breathed, "who's doing that? No, don't do that."
He leapt off the roof and down not a tree, getting stuck upside down, "Argh! Argh! Oh. Star, don't copy me." He called up to her.
"Wasn't going too," she laughed as he hung by his knees, "I can do this." She teleported down to the base of the tree as a man came trotting along on a horse and carriage, "hey, there." She grinned, "Can we retrieve you of your pet?"
"You're what?" the man blinked at her.
"Shut up, she was talking to the horse." The Doctor grumbled, flipping down off the tree and onto the horses back. Star jumped on behind him as he used the sonic to release the horse's chains. "Forwards."
The horse galloped forwards, with the Doctor and Star riding.
"Left!" the Doctor called.
"No, right!" Star corrected.
"Sorry, new hands, can't tell them apart."
"That's why I'm here."
"Watch it on the corners," the Doctor warned as they galloped, "it's a bit slippery up here!"
They came to a halt on Westminster bridge, both jumping off the horse and looked down at the burnt dinosaur from the bridge wall.
"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor whispered, "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry."
Vastra's carriage arrived, and the group stepped out.
"What are you doing here?" Clara asked Star.
Vastra pulled her pin from her hat and used it to lock the carriage, "there is trouble, where else would they be?"
"She was scared," the Doctor whispered, neither Time Lords looking back, "she was scared and alone."
"We brought her here." Star stated.
"Look what I did."
"What we did."
"Who, what could have done this thing?" Vasta called.
"No, that is not the question." The Doctor shook his head, "That is not where we start."
"The question is how," Strax corrected, "the flesh itself has been combusted."
"Shut up!" the Doctor turned to him. "What do you all have for brains? Pudding? Look at you, why can't we get a decent species? Planet of the pudding brains!"
"Doctor...Star..." Clara slowly approached them, "I know you're both upset. But you need to calm down and talk to us. What is the question?"
"A dinosaur half bury down half of London, nothing left but smoke and flames," the Doctor looked down at Clara, "the question is...has there been any similar matters?"
There was a moment of silent as they thought, before Vastra spoke up, "yes. By the goddess there have."
"Look at them all…" Star shook her head at the humans, "just…gawking!"
"Question two." the Doctor continued, "if all the pudding brains are gawking," he pointed, "then what is he?" he pointed at a tall thin man, hiding in the shadows.
"He does seem remarkably unmoved by the available spectacle," Vastra frowned, watching him leave.
"Do you think that's whoever..." Clara began...but the Doctor had jumped off the bridge and into the river.
"Um…" Star glanced between the river where the Doctor jumped and Clara, debating whether to follow the Doctor or stay with Clara, before jumping back of the ledge to Clara side, not daring to leave Clara alone. The Doctor will survive the night in Victorian London alone…hopefully.
"What's he doing?" Clara cried, "He'll drown!"
"Don't be silly, Clara."
"What?"
She merely shrugged, "Do you really think he'd die and regenerate by drowning."
"You did."
Star opened her mouth and closed it again, "that was because of a green singing shark in an evening gown."
"Im not even going to ask." Clara shook her head.
"There has been a murder and the Doctor has taken case," Vastra agreed, "If we are to see him again, we must do the same."
~.~
The next morning Star was outside the house with Strax, getting a few workmen to help bring the TARDIS over from the cart where they had brought the old girl over from the bank. She had borrowed the same purple dress from Jenny as she had last time, her hair up in a fashionable bun for the times, regretfully Strax and been the one to do it for her, he had pulled her hair to tight, it was beginning to give her a head ache.
"Come on, Earthling scum!" Strax called, "position it here. That's it. Careful..."
"Don't get a single scratch in her," Star warned.
"Star?" Clara called down from the room they had given her to sleep in.
"Oh, hello Clara, sorry, did we wake you?" she asked.
"I was already awake. You got the TARDIS then?"
"Military tactics." Strax said, "The Doctor is still missing, but he will always come looking for his box. By bringing it here, he will be lured from the dangers of London to this place of safety, and we will melt him with acid."
"...that last part?" Clara blinked, wondering if she had heard that as Star didn't seem at all fazed by the remark.
"And we will not melt him with acid. Old habits." he pulled out a rolled up paper from under his arm, "the Times. Shall I send it up?"
"Yeah, why not?" she shrugged.
He threw the paper up, hitting Clara in the face.
"Ouch," Star winced, "you alright Clara?"
"Fine." The woman called back, "yeah! Im ok."
Star sat at the kitchen table as Strax washed the floor, he had tried to give her her mandatory medical examination but she had reassured him that she was in fit condition and there was really no need, they would know straight away if something was wrong with her.
"Ah, Miss Clara!" Strax looked up as Clara entered, wearing her own period style dress, "you look better now you're up."
"Thank you, Strax," she smiled.
"No, sorry, trick of the light. You still look terrible. Can I get you anything?"
Clara took a seat at the table next to Star, "Er, no, thanks. Maybe just some water."
"I wouldn't," Star murmured.
"Wouldn't what?" Clara turned to her.
And got her answer when Strax placed his bucket of dirty water on the table in front of her, "well, don't hold back, I've nearly finished anyway."
"Um..." she eyed the water.
"It's perfectly alright. I washed in it myself."
"All of a suddenly, I'm not very thirsty."
"Really? Perhaps it is time, then," he went into a draw and pulled out a high-tech multifunction device, "for you mandatory medical examination! Say ah!"
"Ah." she opened her mouth as Strax looked at her eye through the lens.
"You didn't move your lips."
"You're looking at her eye," Star pointed out.
"Oh, yes," he nodded, "there we go, easy mistake. Now that's interesting."
"What's interesting?" Clara asked.
"Deflected narcissism, trades of passive aggressive and a lot of muscular young men doing sport."
"What are you looking at?" Clara frowned.
"Your subconscious. Is that sport? It could be sport."
"Well, stop looking," Clara moved the device away.
Strax changed the lens, "Ah. Excellent. Enviable spleen, well done. 27 years old with a projected life-span of exactly..."
"Stop right there!" Clara cut him off; she didn't want to know when she died.
"Oh, you're going to do quite well. But watch out for fluid retention later, it's going to be spectacular. Put your clothes back on."
"They are on."
"Oh," he looked over the device, "so they are."
Clara moved the device away, "why are you doing that?" she asked.
"If we are to serve together," Strax replied, "I need you at peak physical progress." he playfully pinched her arm.
"Why would we be serving together?" Clara shook her head, "the Doctor will come back, won't he?"
"It is to be hoped."
"Clara, he'll come back. He wouldn't leave us here." Star reassured her.
~.~
Clara burst into Vastra chambers as the lizard worked, with Jenny posing, she dragged Star in with her, she had found something in the newspaper and was very happy.
"Madame Vastra!" Clara called.
"Clara, Star excellent." Vastra smiled, "pop your clothes on that chair."
"Look." she showed Vastra the Times newspaper.
"Advertisements yes," she nodded, "so many. It's a distressing modern trend."
"No, look. Look." she tapped on the paper, one advert said 'Impossible girl. Lunch on the other side'.
"Ma'am?" Jenny frowned.
"The game is afoot. We're going to need a lot of tea." Vastra walked over to a bell on the wall and rang it.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Star looked at Jenny, as the woman stood in a corset, "and posing."
"She was meant to be painting me." Jenny said, mock-glaring at Vastra.
Star looked between Vastra's board on a map of London with the places there had been spontaneous combustion accidents and Jenny. "But you make the room look so bright." Vastra hissed at her, "oh, don't worry she's still all yours. I don't go for married girls."
~.~
Vastra finished looking through the newspaper, trying to see if anything else related to the advert of impossible girl. "There appears to be nothing of significance in the rest of the newspaper. Not even in the agony column."
"We can't know it's from the Doctor." Jenny countered.
"Of course it's from the Doctor," Clara argued, "the Impossible Girl, that what he calls me."
"Give me," Star grabbed the paper from Vastra and looked at it, actually properly looking at it. Earlier when Clara had showed her it she only got a glimpse before the woman had dragged her to show Vastra.
"It doesn't make sense," Clara shook her head; "he doesn't do puzzles. He isn't complicated. Really doesn't have the attention span." Or at least he didn't, this would take time getting used to the new him, thank god she still had Star, she didn't know how she would cope if it was just her by herself having to deal with him regenerating.
"It really isn't his style or mine. It's someone else's," Star muttered, squinting at the advert, turning the page over to see the advert directly behind it, 'Mancini's Family Restaurant, the Best Dinner in London.'
"Ha ha!" She cheered, "Clara, how do you feel about lunch?"
~.~
Clara and Star walked into Mancini's restaurant and sat down at one of the tables, sitting at small booth with two chairs on the other side of the table. Clara read the advert again, sniffing when she heard Star coughing and gagging, she looked over to see the Doctor had slid into the booth next to Star, and was patting her back as the girl coughed.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"It stinks," Star stated bluntly.
"I know, it's everywhere."
"Where did you get that coat?" Clara demanded, waving the menu around, trying to waft of the smell. She dreaded to think of what he had done last night and this morning. Alone.
"Er, ahem, I brought it."
"From where?"
"Er, a shop?"
"You mean a tramp don't you, dad?" Star guessed.
"Might have been, yeah," he admitted.
"How? What did you swap?"
"I had a watch."
"I loved that watch." Clara sighed.
"It was my favourite."
"You swapped your favourite watch, for that coat," she shook her head, "that's maybe not a good deal."
"Well, I was in a hurry. There was a terrible smell."
"Ok," the Doctor smiled and let out a small laugh but Clara shook her head, "no. No don't. Don't. Don't. Don't smile. I will smile first and then you know it's safe to smile."
"Are you cross with me?"
"I am not cross. But if I was cross it would be your fault and..."
"She's cross with you." Star stated.
"I guessed that." He nodded.
"I am extremely cross," Clara corrected.
"Would you be cross if I hadn't changed my face?" he asked.
Star winced at that, "this is Clara, we're talking about. Knowing her she'd be cross even if she wasn't cross."
"Hey!" the woman cried.
The Doctor nodded in his agreement, "no, that's true."
Clara let out a breath, "An ordinary person wants to meet someone they know very well for lunch, what do the do?" he shrugged, "you don't know?"
"I haven't done it in a while." He murmured.
Clara winced, realising what that meant. Star was the person who contacted people, and he had spent 800 years without her.
"You'd call and arrange to meet." Star said.
"So what kind of cryptic person would put a note in a newspaper advert?"
"Well..."
"Not you. Him," she nodded to the Doctor, "do say."
"I would say," he began, "that that person was an egomaniac, needy, game player."
Clara sighed, "thank you," she chuckled, "at least that hasn't changed."
"I don't suppose it ever will."
"I don't suppose it ever will either."
He placed his hands on Clara's, "but Clara honestly, I, WE, don't want you to change. It was no bother really. I saw your advert, I figured it out, happy to play your game..."
"No," Clara stuttered, "no, I didn't place the ad. You placed that advert."
"No, I didn't."
"You placed the ad, Star figured it out." she set the paper on the table, "see, look, impossible girl: lunch."
"Exactly," the Doctor nodded, "a message from the Impossible Girl."
"For the impossible girl." Clara corrected.
"If you're both done with your banter," Star cut in, "who placed the ad?"
"Hang on," Clara leaned to the Doctor as he looked at the other tables, "egomaniac, needy, game player."
"Could be a trap," the Doctor mumbled.
"That was me?!"
"Never mind that."
"Clara," Star slapped her hand over the woman mouth, "this is more important than your egomaniac."
"Nothing is more important than my egomaniac," she hissed.
"Did you just say that?"
"You never mention that again, either of you."
"Or what?" she teased.
"It's a vanity trap," the Doctor realised, "you're so busy congratulating yourself in solving the puzzle; you didn't notice you're sticking your head in a noose."
"She didn't even solve it, I did," Star told him, "she just found the ad in the paper."
"What are you doing?" Clara eyed the Doctor as he plucked out a single hair, "that's not the only grey one, if you're having a cull."
"Do you have a problem with the grey ones?" he demanded, holding the hair and dropping it to the floor, watching it.
"If I got new hair and it was grey I'd have a problem."
"Oh, I bet you would."
"Meaning?"
"Too short," he murmured.
He reached to pluck a piece of Stars hair but hesitated, "may I?" he asked.
She plucked a piece herself, rubbing her head, "there. That long enough for you?"
"Perfect," he nodded, dropping the hair and watched it fall to the floor. "I'm trying to measure the air disturbance in the room."
"Right, moments when you know you're boring..." Clara mumbled.
The Doctor leaned in closer, whispering urgently, "there is something extremely wrong with everybody else in this room."
"Basically, don't you always think that?" she scoffed.
"Look at them," Clara turned to look, "don't look."
"You just said to look."
"Look without looking."
Clara looked at the other people through the corner of her eye, "they look fine to me. They're just eating."
"I don't think they are." Star frowned.
Clara looked again, closer this time, and saw one person eating soup, raising the spoon but not touching it. "Ok. No they're not."
"Something else they're not doing," the Doctor whispered, dropping another hair, "breathing."
"What do we do?"
"Do you still want to eat?" Star asked.
"Slightly lost my appetite," she admitted, "how long before they notice that were different."
"Not long," the Doctor replied.
"Anything we can do?"
"How long can you hold your breath?" Star eyed her.
"We can casually stroll out of here," Clara suggested, "like we've changed our minds."
"Happens all the time," the Doctor agreed.
"Course it does."
The three of them stood up. The other diners also stood. They stepped forwards, only for the diners to step closer to them.
"We could take another look at the menu," Clara offered, they sat back down and the diners sat back in their seats. "What are they?"
"I don't know." the Doctor said, "but don't worry, because that's not the question. The question is; what is this restaurant?"
"Ok, what is this restaurant?"
"I don't know."
They looked at the menu when a waiter appeared.
"Er, no, sausages?" the Doctor clicked his tongue, "And there's no pictures either. Do you have a children's menu? I think Star would need the children's menu, she's a really fussy eater" the waiter shone a green light in the Doctors eye with the top of his pen, "any specials?"
"Liver," the waiter stated, voice too flat to be normal.
"I hate liver." Star grumbled.
"Spleen. Brain stem. Eyes."
"Mmm, is there a lot of demand for those?" Clara looked up.
"Yeah," Star let out a breath, "I think we're the menu."
"Lungs," the waiter continued, "skin."
"Excuse me," the Doctor leaned behind the man and teared of his face to reveal it was a robot.
"Ok, robot in a mask," Clara breathed.
"It's a face." He past it to her.
"Yeah, very convincing." She poked it with her fork.
"No, it's a face."
"Yes," the robot called.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, we have a children's menu." the waiter pressed a button on its pen and steel band slammed around the trips chest, clamping them to the chair as the booth slowly descended through the floor.
"You got to admire their efficiency," the Doctor remarked.
"Is it ok if I don't?" Clara countered.
The booth stopped and they found themselves in an old alien spaceship of the sorts. In the middle of the room was a dais with a chair facing away from them, with a tall figure sitting in it, a top hat on its head.
"Hello?" Star shouted, "Oi! I demand to speak to the manager!"
"This is not a real restaurant, is it?" Clara guessed.
"No, I don't think it is."
"Well," the Doctor looked up, "is more of a sort of...automated organ collection station for the unwary diner. Sweeney Todd without the pies."
"So, where are we now?" Clara inquired.
"Factually an ancient spaceship been buried for centuries. Functionally, a larder."
"Why hasn't someone come for us?"
"We're alive," the Doctor stated.
"We're alive in a larder."
"Cheaper than freezing us."
"...ok."
The Doctor twisted, shaking the sonic out of his coat. "Are you ready?" the sonic peeked out.
"Yep," Star nodded.
He shrugged the sonic out of the coat and Star flashed her eyes, levitating it, dropping it on his lap, next to his hands.
He used the sonic, unclamping the bands around them, they quickly stood up.
"You should make that thing voice-activated," Clara commented, when he paused, "oh for gods' sake it is, isn't it?"
"I don't wanna talk about it," he waved her off.
"You made your sonic screwdriver voice activated but didn't make me one?" Star pouted.
"Do you really need one?" he countered.
"No. But I want one."
"Doctor. Star." Clara pointed to the various gaps in the walled around the room, each with Victorian people standing motionless within.
"Dormant," the Doctor stated.
"How do you know?"
"I don't, I'm just hoping."
"So is it these guys that killed the dinosaur?"
"If they're harvesting organs, a dinosaur would have great stuff," Star reasoned
"Why would robots steal organs? Burke and Hare from space?"
"Maybe." the Doctor nodded, "that's a good theory. Droids harvesting spare parts. Rings a bell!"
They walked around the centre dais, looking at the figure in the chair. An ordinary human face with greying hair. A ragged tear over one of the eyes, showing the hollowing inside.
"Captain, my captain," the Doctor murmured.
"Can he see us?" Clara asked quietly.
"Dormant."
"Hoping?"
"Yep." he examined the half-face man, "ah, look!" he pointed to a cable from under the clothing plugged into a socket on the chair, "re-charging. He's asleep, doesn't even know we're here."
"Are you sure?" Clara asked, hesitantly.
"Sure, not sure, one or the other."
"So. Half man, half robot. A cyborg, yeah."
"Oh!" Star blinked, "look at the hands," she nodded to the hands as they were set in the chairs arms.
"What about them?" Clara shook her head.
"Look. Can't you see?"
The Doctor picked up the hands, setting them next to each other, showing they were different, "they don't match. These hands don't belong to the same body."
"I don't understand."
"This is not your ordinary cyborg," the Doctor explained, "This isn't a man turning himself into a robot. It's a robot turning itself into a man, piece by piece."
"That's what the restaurants for?"
"It'll need a constant supply of spare parts. The skin, organs, it looks roman. Wonder how long it's been around. Not much of the original is even left. The eyeballs look fresh though."
They jumped back as the robot moved its hand back to where they were originally.
"I think it's waking up," Star remarked, "we should go." they crept off and through a door leading to a bright corridor only from the Doctor to do a double take as entered the room again.
"I've seen this before," he murmured, "I'm missing something!" he slapped his head, "It's the brand new head, rebooting!"
"Come on!" Clara urged from the door way.
"I've seen this before."
"Hurry up!" Clara came back to his side, pushing him out the door, "get out."
But just before she got through the door slammed shut, blocking her exit.
The Doctor and Star in the corridor with Clara trapped in the room.
"Doctor!" she hissed through the small metal gating on the door, "Star!"
The Doctor quickly soniced the door, lifting it an inch of the floor, only to stop, seeing the robot slowly waking up.
"There's no point in it catching all of us," he told Clara.
"Well, gimme the screwdriver," Clara replied.
"And if we need it?" he countered and closed the door again, running down the corridor.
"Dad!" Star cried, "Im sorry." She told Clara, running after him, "hey!"
"Come on." He took her hand, pulling her off, but she pulled her hand out of his grip.
"No! We can't just leave her back there!"
"Nova. Don't worry, I have a plan."
"But, Clara…"
"Yes, Clara. Now come on." He ran off again, leaving Star little choice but to follow. If they didn't go back to Clara, she would kill him.
~.~
They ran back to Vastra's house only for the trio to meet them half way. The Doctors plan was to get the TARDIS and get Clara out but since they didn't have time to waste going all the way back to the TARDIS they turned back to the restaurant with Vastra, Jenny and Strax, taking out the robots which were in the restaurant and waiting for the right time to get Clara. Knowing that the girl would be able to get the information needed from the droids.
Clara awoke, looking around the chamber, from when she had passed out by trying to escape. The droids surrounding her as the half-face man sat down on his chair looking at her, "where are the other two?" he demanded but Clara stayed quiet, looking around the room, still woozy from fainting, "where are the others? You will tell us, or you will be destroyed."
Clara blinked, slowly looking at him, "...what did you say?"
"You will tell us."
"Yeah, I know. Or what?"
"You will die."
Clara looked around the room, "go on then," she swallowed, thinking back to her first day of teaching, how she had threatened to throw the children out of school if they didn't quiet down, "do it! I'm not going to answer any of your questions. So you have to do it, you have to kill me. Threats don't work unless you deliver."
"...you will tell us where the other ones are..." the half-face man said.
"Nope".
"You will be destroyed."
"Destroy me then. And if you don't then, I'm not going to believe a single threat you make from now on," the half-face man stayed quiet, "of course if I'm dead, then I can't tell you where the other one's went then, you need to keep this place down here a secret, don't you? Never start with your final sanction. You've got nowhere to go but backwards."
"Humans feel pain." the half-face man stated.
"Bigger threat to smaller threat, see what I mean, backwards."
"The information can be extracted by means if your suffering."
"Are you trying to scare me, because I'm already bloody terrified of dying." Clara breathed heavily, "and I will endure a lot of pain for a very long time, before I give up the information that is keeping me alive. How long have you got?" The half-face man stood up, looking over Clara, the girl staying strong, "all you can offer me is my life, what you can't do is threaten it. You can negotiate."
The half-face man reached its right wrist with its left, detaching the hand to his arm, revealing a direly weapon.
A sob escaped Clara and she stepped back, "ok, ok, ok. Yes, yes, yes, I am crying. It's just because I'm very frightened of you. And if you know anything about human brings, you'll know that means you're in a lot of trouble."
The half-face man raised its arm, "we will not negotiate."
"You don't have a choice. Tell you what; I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."
"We will not answer questions," he slowly advanced on her.
"We'll take turns, I'll go first. Why did you kill the dinosaur?"
"We will not answer..."
"Why did you kill the dinosaur?"
"WE WILL NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS!" the half-face man shouted.
"Then you might as well kill me, because I'm not talking again till you do," she looked away, her mouth shut.
The flames on the half-face mans weapon surged, ready to kill her...but lowered it's arm, "within the optic nerve of the dinosaur is material of use to our computer systems."
"You burned a whole dinosaur for a spare part?" Clara frowned, "no, hang on; you know what's in a dinosaurs optic nerve, which means you've seen them before."
"Where are the other ones?"
"How long have you been rebuilding yourselves? Look at the state of you! Is there any of the real you left? What's the point?"
The half-face man turned away; "we will reach the promised land." it muttered.
"The what," Clara blinked, "the promise land? What's that?"
"...where are the others?"
"I don't know." Clara whispered, "But I know where they will be. Where they will always be."
"Where are they?"
"Right here!" Star called, a drape of fabric falling down with two figures sliding one, Star closely followed by the Doctor.
"5 foot 1 and crying," The Doctor remarked, "never stood a chance."
The half-face man swung it's arm at the Doctor, "oh, stop it!" he moaned, jamming his sonic into the power dock on the chair, "this is your power source, and feeble through it is, I could use it to blow this whole room if I see one thing that I don't like, and that includes karaoke and mine so take no chances. And I'm talking to you, Star," he turned to her, "don't even think about doing karaoke!"
She pouted, "I thought you like my singing."
"Oh, fine, you can," he turned to Clara, "You're brilliant on adrenalin," and back to the half-face man, "you were out of your depth sir, never try to control the control freak."
"I am not a control freak!" Clara cried.
"Of course you're not." Star hugged her, knowing full well just how controlling Clara could be.
"Why are you here?" the half-face man asked.
"Why did you invite us?" the Doctor countered, the half-face man cocked its head, confused, "oh! I hate being wrong in public, could everybody forget that happened?"
"Never," Star shook her head.
"Say the word," the Doctor turned to her as the three stood next to each other.
"What word?" she asked, innocently.
"You know the word."
"Why can't you say it? It's your word."
"And now im giving you the word."
"Geronimo!" Star cheered.
Vastra and Jenny came spinning down through the ceiling on the fabric Star and the Doctor had slid down on, landing on the ground in leather cat suits, drawing out their swords.
"Remain still and lay down your weapons," Vastra called, "in the name if the British Empire!" There was a cry as Strax fell down behind them, "Strax!" she huffed, exaggerated.
Strax stood up, his own weapon at the ready, "sorry."
"Told you before," Jenny sighed, "take the stairs."
"Here comes the cavalry," Star rolled her eyes.
The half-face man turned to her and the Doctor, "I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish?"
"What do you?" the Doctor countered, "Vastra?"
"The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudge," she told them, "and the authorities summoned."
"Hang on," Clara frowned, "she called the police? We never do that, we should start."
"You see?" the Doctor turned to the half-face man, "destroy us if you will, they're still going to close your restaurant. That was going to sound better."
"Then we will destroy you." the half-face man stated.
Swords shot out of the droids arms, raising them menacingly.
"No, you won't," Star said calmly.
"You are logical." the Doctor added, "You have restraint. You kill to survive, you're not a murderer."
"He's not a what?!" Clara called, "this is a slaughterhouse."
"And how does that make it different from any other restaurant? You weren't vegetarian the last time I checked." he called back to Clara. "This is over," he turned back to the half-face man. "Killing us wont change that. What would be the point?"
"To find the promised land." the half-face man answered.
"You're millions of years old. There is no promise land. Get over it!"
"I am in search of paradise."
"Yeah, we'll us too, we're not going to make it there either." they were slowly giving up hope on finding Gallifrey, they knew it was in a pocket universe, but they had no idea how to get it into this universe and stop everyone from attacking.
"I will." the half-face man declared, lashing his weapon arm at the Doctor sending him flying.
"Doctor!" Clara dashed to his side.
"I will leave in the escape capsule. Destroy where necessary." he ordered the droids.
"What escape capsule?" Vastra scoffed, as the droids advanced on them, "this ship is millions of years old, it'll never fly."
"It has been repaired."
"What with?" Clara inquired.
"You." he sat in the booth as it began to ascend, "your friend is intelligent. He will know better than to follow me."
"You don't know my dad," Star murmured, seeing the Doctor hanging onto the bottom of the booth, waving at them.
The droids approached the five of them as they huddled in the centre of the room.
"It is our intent to leave." Vastra remarked to the droids, "If it is your intent to stop us, perhaps we should get down to business." He raised her sword as the droids pulled out their weapons from their arms. "How many do you estimate, my dear?" she asked Jenny as they attacked the droids.
"More than upstairs, about 20…30?" Jenny shrugged, unable to she how many there actually was.
"The ones upstairs were mere decoys these are battle ready." She grinned, "I anticipate a challenge."
"Don't worry my boy, we will die in glory!" Strax told Clara as he stood next to her, the only person unable to attack the droids.
"Okay...Good" she swallowed, not wanting to die today even if it was in glory or not.
"I don't know about you Strax," Star murmured, kicking a droid back, "but I don't really feel like dying today."
No matter how hard they fought, the droids kept getting back up.
"Just stay dead!" Star cried, stabbing one in the chest.
"Hold your breath!" Clara shouted as the droids surrounded them, "they're stupid, everyone hold your breath!"
They all held their breath, the droids stopping their attack and lowered their weapons.
Star grabbed the sonic the Doctor had left and ducked under a droid, needing to get the door open, knowing Jenny and Clara couldn't hold their breath for much longer. Vastra and Strax could hold a little longer than them but not much.
As soon as she got the door open the droids all fell forwards, deactivated. They all took a deep breath, relaxing.
~.~
"You're sure he'd come back here?" Jenny asked as they walked through the courtyard where the TARDIS was parked.
"There's no trace of him in the wreckage. They searched all Parliament Hill. Where else would he go?" Vastra reasoned, he must be here waiting for Star. Maybe he just wanted to freshen up before he and the girls left again.
They stopped at the courtyard seeing the TARDIS in the same place as she was that morning.
"Star?" Vastra smiled.
"Yes!"
"Give him hell. He'll always need it."
"Of course." She saluted, dragging Clara into the TARDIS.
"You redecorated," Clara blinked. There was now a higher level, crammed with bookshelves; it was a lot darker but cosier now, more homely and less machine.
"Yes." The Doctor nodded from the upper level where he sat on an armchair his back to them.
"I like it." Star grinned.
"Not bad." Clara offered, she was used to the place being mechanical and spaceship-y, it was a very big change it a sort amount of time.
"Not completely entirely convinced myself. I think there should be more round things on the walls. I used to have lots of round things. I wonder where I put them. I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over two thousand years, and not all of them were good. I've made many mistakes, and it's about time that I did something about that. What do you think?" he spun around, showing his new clothes.
It was simple, smart and also casual. Black sturdy boots, dark blue trousers, a white shirt, and a dark blue coat with red lining.
"No tie?" Star pouted, she wasn't upset that he no longer wore a bowtie, she assumed he would with the regeneration having different tastes each time, just like her.
"I thought I wouldn't risk you trying to strangle me with one," he chuckled softly.
"I wouldn't strange you," she huffed, she wasn't THAT bad. She'd stab him.
Clara smiled at them both, "who put that advert in the paper?" she asked.
"Who gave you our number?" Star countered, it had been annoying her for a while, whoever it was, might have been the same person who sent the ad in the paper.
"What?" she blinked.
"A long time ago," the Doctor reminded her, "you were given a number for a computer helpline but you ended up phoning the TARDIS. Who gave you that number?"
"The woman. The woman in the shop."
"What woman?" Star stressed, "What did she look like?"
"Just…I don't know," she shrugged; this was months ago for her.
"Then there is a woman out there who is very keen that we stay together." The Doctor deadpanned as the TARDIS landed, "How do you feel on the subject?"
"Am I home?" Clara frowned.
"If you want to be."
She looked back at the Doctor, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But I don't think I know who you are any more." her phone began to ring.
"You better get that. Might be your boyfriend," Star teased.
"Shut up," she huffed, "I don't have a boyfriend." she stepped outside to answer the phone.
The Time Lords followed Clara outside as she spoke on the phone.
"Hello? Hello?"
"It's me." The 11th Doctor rasped down the phone.
"Yes, it's you. Who's this?"
"It's me, Clara. The Doctor."
"What do you mean, the Doctor?"
"I'm phoning you from Trenzalore."
"I don't…"
"From before I changed. I mean it's all still to happen for me. It's coming. Oh, it's a-coming. Not long now. I can feel it.
"Why?" Clara asked, "Why would you do this?"
"Because I think it's going to be a whopper, and I think you might be scared. And however scared you are, Clara, the man you are with right now, the man I hope you are with, believe me, he is more scared than anything you can imagine right now and he, he needs you. He has Star but he also needs you."
"So who is it?" Star called.
"Is that the Doctor?" the Doctor repeated the question the 11th Doctor just asked himself.
"Yes," Clara answered to both Doctors.
"He sounds old. Please tell me I didn't get old. Anything but old. I was young. Oh, is he grey?"
Clara gave a teary laugh at that. "Yes." she answered.
"Clara, please, hey, for me, help him. Go on. And don't be afraid. Goodbye, Clara. Miss ya."
"Well?" the Doctor demanded as the call ended, he and Star walking over.
"Well what?"
"He asked you a question. Will you help me?"
"You shouldn't have been listening."
"Clara!" Star placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, "that was him on the phone."
The Doctor looked at Clara, "you can't see me can you?" he asked her, needing to know the answer he was dreading, "you look at me and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like? I'm not in the phone, I'm right here. Standing in front of you. Please, just...see me!"
Clara looked at him a moment before smiling, "thank you."
"For what?" he frowned.
"Phoning." she pulled him into a hug.
"I...I...I'm not sure in a hugging person now," the Doctor admitted as he stood awkwardly as Clara hugged him.
"You're not a hugging person when you're daughter is the clingiest person in the universe," Clara laughed.
"Ok, im not a human hugger." He corrected, nothing would stop him hugging his Star.
"I still get hugs!" Star beamed.
"Of course you do."
She giggled as she joined the hug, both girls squeezing the Doctor tightly, "We're in Glasgow, by the way."
"You'll fit right in," Clara nudged the Doctor, "Scottish."
"Right," he nodded, "shall we er...do you want to go and get some coffee or chips or something. Or chips and coffee."
"Coffee," Clara laughed, "coffee would be great. You're buying."
"I don't have any money."
"You're fetching then."
"I don't do fetching," Star mumbled.
"Still not sure you get a vote."