Only Human
A Doctor Who /Thick of It Crossover fic – AU in all ways (pretend Face the Raven never happened – 12 x Clara forever!)
Rated R: For language, scenes and themes of an adult nature, heavy emotional rollercoaster.
Warnings: See rating above.
Pairings: 12/Clara Malcolm/Clara some Malcolm/Sam
Summary:
When the Tardis is attacked by an energy stealing creature seeking the Doctor's regenerations, he tells Clara the enemy will not stop pursuing him because it has locked on to his rare Timelord DNA signature – making him hunted through out time and space. He then tells her the only way he can avoid capture is to land on Earth and use the Chameleon Arch to become human – and then wait for the creature to give up and move on – which could take a few years...
The Tardis arrives in the year 2005, and Clara is given instruction by the Doctor to guard the watch that will hold his Timelord consciousness, and to protect him – because while he is in genetic disguise, he is as vulnerable as any other human on the planet...
Clara is in for a shock when the Doctor uses the Chameleon Arch and goes through the agonising alteration process – and when he finally recovers, she finds the quick tempered, foul mouthed human he has become who goes by the name of Malcolm Tucker is nothing like the Timelord she has secretly loved for so long.
But as they settle into life on earth together, Clara soon finds that Malcolm is a very passionate man, so welcomes the chance to finally get close to the Doctor, who is not a hugger nor a kisser – then as Malcolm carves out a stressful but successful career in Downing Street, the years fly by too soon. The signal on board the Tardis has long since vanished, but Clara has been too happy to dare to break the spell, as on the occasions she has tried to mention opening the watch, Malcolm Tucker dismisses her fucking time travel fantasies.
But disaster strikes shortly after Malcolm quits his job under a cloud of trouble in 2012 – and then discovers he is dangerously ill. With his human life in grave danger, Clara must persuade him to open the watch... But when he does, can life ever be the same again for the Doctor and Clara, as Clara has fallen in love with Malcolm Tucker – and this was not a detail laid out in the Doctor's list of possible happenings, in the recording he left for her that covered everything... except the possibility of her falling in love with his human alter ego...
Only Human
"There must be an angel with a smile on her face
When she thought up that I should be with you
But it's time to face the truth
I will never be with you..."
Introduction: Seven Years Later
Clara walked across the polished floor alone and pulled back drapes as sunlight flooded into the room, diffused by the soft nets that hung at the windows. She paused to stand by that window and push aside the nets, to look out into a sunlit garden with high brick walls. The roses were still in bloom and the scent of them carried through into the house as she opened up the window, the morning light greeted her like a kiss from heaven as the sun rays hit her face, and she looked to the skies and wished to have back all that had been snatched away.
But how could she mourn a loss that wasn't a loss?
Her heart felt sliced in two as she blinked away tears that glazed her dark eyes. Then she heard the familiar foot falls of his boots – his heavy, polished boots that matched his black suit with its crimson lining, and as he spoke up, she remained where she stood, her hand clutched at the net as she held it back and looked out, down a rose lined lawn that carried so many memories.
"Clara..."
Yes, it was definitely him. It was the Doctor, he was back...
He noticed she did not turn around and as he held a flood of memories of his other life inside his head, he took a slow, deep breath and spoke again.
"It's done..." he walked over to the window, standing behind her, but not too close, because she would not look at him, and that worried him deeply.
"I used the Chameleon Arch and reversed the process, Tardis scan confirmed I'm one hundred percent Timelord once more – and perfectly healthy now. I was right, that being in my first new cycle of regenerations and loaded with so much regenerative power might have caused some kind of genetic anomaly when I converted to human - I recall he had pain for quite a while after the process and that's not supposed to happen... It would explain why the human version of me became so very ill after just seven years -"
Her sharp gasp as she stifled a sob and the way she briefly held up her hand silenced him as he stood there, feeling powerless as he struggled to handle this.
"I don't want to know why," she said as her voice trembled, "I just want him to come back to me!"
"That's impossible," the Doctor replied, "You were right, I had to reverse the process before it was too late...Clara, please look at me."
She kept her back to him as tears ran down her face.
"Clara..." he said again.
Her thoughts were with Malcolm as she still did not turn around.
"We loved more in seven years than most people know in a lifetime together!" she said as grief choked her voice.
"I know, I have his memories! Clara, please – just look at me..."
"Bring him back!" she said sharply.
As he fell silent she stayed with her back to the Doctor. The Tardis was at the bottom of the garden, where it had been for the past seven years. But her heart was too shattered to allow her to turn around and look into the eyes of the Doctor – because her heart was aching for Malcolm Tucker, the man she would love forever...
Chapter 1 : Seven years before
Clara had looked into the eyes of the Timelord who was worth the thrill and the danger and all that went along with travelling with the Doctor, and as their eyes met, the slightly dangerous but warm gleam in his eyes was contagious as together they threw the lever and sent the Tardis hurtling randomly through time and space.
"I don't even care where we end up, Clara!" the Doctor said as they stood side by side at the console, and then as his gaze locked with hers, his hands stayed on the console as he wished he could turn and pull her close and embrace her – but in this lifetime, it was so difficult to do. Instead he smiled.
"I never want our adventures to end!"
"Me too," she replied, and she turned and looked into his eyes.
The Doctor inwardly froze and hoped hesitation didn't show in his eyes. Yes, he loved Clara, but to say it, to act upon it...he was a Timelord and to him, in this lifetime, it could take him years to be ready...quite possibly, longer than the lifespan of the human he was in love with...
"Doctor," she said gently, "Come closer."
"Why? I'm fine where I am!"
She gave a sigh, stepping closer to him to save wrecking the moment with a debate on the subject.
"I just want to..." she paused, her gaze locked with his as she reached up, placing her had on his cheek. He caught it, held it there for a moment.
"Clara," he said fondly, and she heard so much warmth and depth in the way he spoke her name. Then he let go of her hand and stepped back, looking down at a console that didn't need attention.
"Doctor, I just wanted to say something -"
"No, Clara...We need to change course - now."
He was still looking down at the console. His words made her heart sink.
"Maybe we should stay on course. I don't want to change the subject!"
Then she realised he was no longer looking at the controls as a distraction – a screen had lit up, there was something glowing on the monitor and Gallifreyan swirls passed over it, as the Doctor read them silently and then looked up with urgency in his eyes.
"We need to change course because there's a Zeprion Nomad vessel tracking us! They're shape shifters... energy stealers ...My regenerative ability would keep this one fed for ten billion years! They're capable of matching the Tardis for speed and tracking but time travel...not as fast as the Tardis...we have time...I think...to out run it!"
He turned dials, hit switches and slammed down a lever. The Tardis lurched violently, spinning as it switched course, and then the engines wheezed and groaned, and the blue box faded out of the time stream, re emerging in another time and place, at a speed the Nomad vessel could not match.
As the Tardis landed, the Doctor dashed around the console activating controls.
"What are you doing, Doctor?" Clara asked, "We've landed -"
"Yes, Clara and there's much to be done..." he worked on a keypad, his long, elegant fingers stabbing at buttons as he kept his gaze down on the task as he reeled off an explanation:
"We have landed on Earth in 2005. We may be here for a long time...the Nomad vessel will linger far out in space, locked on to my DNA if it can find it, to move in for the kill...damned things are just one of many types of energy vampires out there... It will give up eventually - after a few years -"
"Years?" Clara looked at him in alarm.
He glanced up from the console.
"Yes Clara, years..." then he looked down again and continued to work.
"Why is this so difficult?" he said impatiently, thumping the console and then stabbing harder at the keypad, "I'm the first in a new regeneration cycle...it's not as simple as it used to be!"
"What are you doing?"
He was still frantically working as he replied.
"The Nomad is looking for a Timelord...I need to use a device called the Chameleon Arch to alter my DNA to human...my TimeLord consciousness will be kept inside a pocket watch...You will need to guard it with your life - and me, too because I'll be human, I won't know a thing about my life as the Doctor... As for my human self, his name is Malcolm Tucker and he's just been appointed Director of Communications for the British Government...I've been keeping the preparations for this planned for a long time, in case I ever needed to use it...he has a home set up and all the paperwork needed for the job and the Tardis did the rest. Now I just have to become him, and you need to keep an eye on me!"
He looked up from the controls and met her gaze, his own burning like blue fire and old as time itself as she looked back at him, wide eyed as she took in all he had said.
"You'll find a recorded message from me. Refer to it when ever you need to. I know you've got my back, I know this will be okay...But I'm not looking forward to it. The process is painful. Don't touch me during conversion."
Then he activated a control, and Clara looked on, watching as a metallic device lowered from the ceiling and a reclining black leather chair slid out on the floor beneath it. The chair had restraints and looked more like something out of a torture chamber than something that belonged in the Tardis...
"Are you sure about this?" she said cautiously.
The Doctor went over to the chair, sat down and it reclined, the restraints locking down his wrists and ankles as the metallic device clamped about his head. He looked to Clara, and in that moment she saw fear shining in his eyes.
"Look after the watch...and me!"
Then power surged down the cable and into the device and the Doctor's body stiffened as he gave a cry of terrible pain.
Clara had lost track of how long the Doctor had screamed in agony. The Tardis console room was vast and hearing him scream like that, seeing him in such agony, was almost too much to bear. But Clara stayed by the console, looking on, powerless to intervene. Then finally the power stopped flowing, the restraints sprang back and as the device released from his head and went back up to the ceiling, the Doctor's body fell still. He seemed deeply unconscious, save for the rise and fall of his chest that assured her he was very much alive.
Then she heard a click and looked around to see a pocket watch with Gallifreyan swirls engraved upon it had risen up from the console.
"Clara..."
A monitor had just jumped to life, and as she saw the Doctor on the screen, she felt a wave of relief and sadness at the same time as it occurred to her that this message would be her only link to him until this was over...
"I made this recording in the event of having to use the Chameleon Arch," he began, "Now this has obviously happened, or you wouldn't be watching me on this screen...Soon I – he - should be waking up...within around five to ten minutes assuming all went well. If it didn't, it's because I'm in a new set of regenerations and the program had to adapt...This could mean my human form could be prone to cell mutation or degeneration on some human level...But I'm hoping it worked out just fine. When I wake, I'm not the Doctor any more, I'm human and my name is Malcolm Tucker, he's me but he's not me – he knows nothing of the past or of being a Timelord. The Tardis has landed in the garden of a house – his house, the one you share with him."
"And who does he think I am?" she wondered.
As if he could hear her, the Doctor gave a reply.
"You're his...Clara... sorry I don't know. I had no time to perfect that bit, the new regeneration cycle DNA signature was complicated to work out and I had little time. But I'm safe now. The Nomad Vessel can be seen on the Tardis radar, it will linger out in space at a distance for several years. The Tardis will let you in to track it. When it's gone, make Malcolm open the watch, then I get my consciousness back again..."
Then he paused, leaning closer to the screen as his gaze locked with hers. "Now, I have a long list of possible scenarios that may arise and what to do about it - but the main priority is to look after him. He's human, he has one life. If he's in danger, he has to open that watch so I can get myself back again. Guard the watch, too... Now, he should be waking up soon. Don't worry if he seems a little dazed, take him in the house. He'll have absolutely no memory of life as me. You can listen to the rest of this recording later on. Go and help me, Clara – right now I'm a confused human."
She pressed a button and stopped the message, then grabbed the watch, slipped it into the pocket of her skirt and went over to the chair, that had now rose to a sitting position.
"Doc -" she paused, remembering he was no longer the Doctor, "Malcolm?" she said cautiously.
He was still slumped in the chair, his hair was damp with sweat and his face was pale. A trickle of blood started to run from his nose and she looked back at the console and the darkened screen, feeling a flicker of alarm:
The Doctor had said, he should be just fine, and clearly he was not...
"What do I do?" she wondered aloud.
Then she noticed his hair seemed different – shorter, less grey than before...even the lines on his face seemed a little faded out. It all served to reminded her this man was not the Doctor – at least, not now the Chameleon Arch had altered his DNA...
"Malcolm?" she said again, and as he rested against the chair he turned his head, gave a quiet groan and his eyes remained closed as more blood ran from his nose.
"I don't think that should be happening," she muttered, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping away the blood. The pallor was leaving his face now, and as his eyes flickered open and he saw her through a misty haze, his head ached.
Clara smiled as she looked lovingly at him.
"It's okay," she said softly, "It's me, Clara...your...Clara...Let me help you up."
Malcolm blinked, the room a blur thanks to his aching head as he focussed on her face.
"What the fucking fuck happened?" he said weakly as he sat up, his hand to his head.
Clara blinked.
"Excuse me?"
He glared at her as pain throbbed was a glare that reminded her of the Doctor...but only at first glance...This man was nothing like him at all with his harsh tone and four letter words words and aggressive gleam in his eyes.
"You're fucking excused," he said, "Now help me up before I bleed to death, vomit on you or both, I feel like shit!"
He was feeling stronger now, and managed to stand unaided, pushing away her offer of help as he spotted through blurred vision an open doorway.
"I need to get my head down and sleep this off...You want to help me? If this is helping I'm so glad I don't pay you for it, at least I get plenty of sex..."
He staggered for the open door, swayed and she caught up with him, putting her arm around him to steady him, and this time, as his head swam, he didn't object.
"Sex?" she said in surprise.
They had stepped out into the garden. Clara heard the door of the Tardis close behind them and did not look back as she led him towards the house.
"Well I wouldn't be dating a fucking nun, would I?" he snapped, and they reached the door and she found a key was in it, turned it and opened up the back door, helping him inside, to a bright, modern kitchen. Suddenly Malcolm felt too weak to complain about his aching head as the pain spread through the rest of his body.
"Put me to bed, Clara, I'm sure you can do that right...Why did you let me fall over? How could I fall in the garden? I'm not even drinking... or was I?"
He sounded exhausted, and his eyes briefly closed as he leant against her, then as they left the kitchen, went up the hallway, passed a comfortable living room and headed for the stairs he paused, leaning heavily on the rail as he broke out in another sweat.
"This isn't right," Clara said quietly, recalling how the recording had said, Malcolm should be fine...unless the DNA conversion had gone wrong somewhere...
He grasped the stair rail with a shaky hand, stumbling weak and exhausted as she helped him, and when they reached the top she steered him clear of the potentially fatal drop if stumbled backwards, leading him towards a wide open doorway, where the room was light and the breeze soothing as nets shifted gently.
She looked to the big, comfortable bed and realised she would be expected to sleep with him...Had the Doctor wanted this on some level? He was nothing like the Doctor. This man was so far removed from the Doctor that Clara wanted to sob because she missed him – then as Malcolm laid down heavily on the bed and closed his eyes, she stood there looking down at him – he was the Doctor, in human form – he just didn't know it...
"Take care of the watch – and me!"
The Doctor's last words before the Chameleon Arch had done its work rang through her head as she leant over Malcolm, who had fallen into a deep slumber.
"Of course I'll look after you, Doctor," Clara whispered.
Then she carefully began to undress him, removing the Doctor's suit as Malcolm slept on, still shattered from the ordeal of becoming human, as Clara wondered if her ordeal was just beginning, because it felt as if the Doctor was gone and in his place was a stranger. And the Doctor had said, this could take years...She was stranded back in 2005, with a total stranger...a man she wasn't even sure she could tolerate...