The first Clara knew of anything being wrong, she had changed into the most beautiful robe she had ever seen, even more than the dress she had worn to see Robin Hood, or the clothing she had been given by Madame Vastra. The patterns of orange swirls and deep red silk billowing from her waist as a long skirt made her feel like royalty. In fact, the entire outfit, from the headdress to the intricate beading made her feel beautiful. She couldn't help herself from admiring how she looked in the mirror. It was something that could help her escape from what she was living in, a world without Danny. For a few hours, she could pretend to be someone else, from a new place in space and time. And she knew it would be such a fascinating, new, exciting, experience, that she wouldn't for a second think about the here and now, and she couldn't remain completely happy until the Doctor took her home.
As her hands traced the beading across her stomach, she felt the floor beneath her judder. Her arms flew out instinctively to keep her balance for a moment, before a more constant shuddering began. Quickly making her way over to her bed, she sat herself down in confusion and worry. It was like an earthquake, but surely, there was no such thing as a space-quake. Unless…
"Doctor-!" She called, throwing herself off the bed with the help of a particularly strong jolt, before starting to run towards the console room through a moving maze of corridors.
The sight before her when she finally managed to arrive made her take a series of panicked steps back, before she started to make her way closer to the console. Sparks were flying, and there were small fires melting the controls, filling the air with the smell of burning plastics and petrol fumes. After only moments, smoke was clouding the room, and a few deep breaths of the smoke caused Clara to start coughing. She had to wave her hand desperately in front of her face to see ever a few yards in front of her, trying to find the Doctor. He wasn't dashing around the console, trying to regain control of his beloved machine. So she started to.
From the little she could remember from what the Doctor had taught her, Clara started pulling and pressing everything she could, trying to at least land the TARDIS. Then she could focus on finding her friend, and making sure he was okay, before figuring out why they had crashed. As she made her way around the console, she felt a burning sensation running through her fingertips, but before she could pull it away, flames burst towards her and a booming blast knocking her back off her feet and into the bars before her. Her spine felt as though it snapped against the rails and as she fell to the floor, her eyes starting to close and everything around her fading into darkness.
# # #
When she stirred, what felt like hours later, she found that she had been moved from a crumpled heap on the floor to a chair at the side of the console room, something thrown over her as a makeshift blanket. She was grateful for being moved somewhere more comfortable, but wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten there. So with a small groan, she pushed herself upright and started focusing on whatever she could see - which wasn't much. The lights didn't look to be working, the console being lit up with torches and the glow from the tip of the sonic screwdriver. At the noise of her moving, the glow from the screwdriver went out and a shuffle of footsteps were heard approaching her. Unable to see the Doctor, she squinted a little to try to find him, but he did the work for her by standing in front of her and putting a hand to her forehead. Physical contact wasn't something he was terribly keen on, but he had to check his companion was okay. After just a few moments of touch, he decided she was fine, and he pulled away from her.
"We're going to have to go out for a while. Ship crashed, must've knocked into something else. Don't worry, we landed where we're meant to be. You'll fit right in." He said, taking his coat back from where he had rested it atop of her and slipping it on. Clara sat up and nodded, the lack of cover waking her up ever so slightly more. She held out a hand towards the Doctor and gestured for him to take it. Which he did, helping her to stand up slowly.
"Easy there, you took a nasty hit, don't want you falling. It won't do you any favours." He told her, Clara moving into his arms and leaning against him for support. He let her, deciding she probably needed the help enough for him to be able to refuse.
"What happened?" She asked softly, looking up at him as she started to flex her ankles and legs, waking up every muscle slowly and carefully in case something was hurt.
"I don't know. I found you on the floor and you looked hurt. You're not though, gave you a scan, nothing's broken." He reassured her, starting to move forwards slowly with her. "And you know how I feel about not knowing." The Doctor paused, looking at Clara who was still struggling a little. "Look, if you want to stay here and rest up, you can do. But I need to know. And, to be honest, you're just going to slow me down. We can come back another day, when you're more up to it." He said, helping Clara to sit back down. Even though she breathed a sigh of relief, she still looked at him in annoyance.
"I want to come." She said stubbornly, trying to stand herself back up. But pain shooting through her ankle meant she couldn't do that, and sat down again in defeat. "You said I hadn't broken anything."
"Probably just a twist, bruise, sprain. Nothing too serious." He shrugged off, giving her a gentle smile. "Just stay here, get some rest. I'll be back before you know it." He told her, making his way over to the door. The Doctor tossed her one of the torches on his way past before turning and looking at her, receiving a look that almost made him regenerate.
"Look, don't be so grumpy about it. I'll be back soon, and we can come back when you're feeling a bit better. I'm not having you out if you can't walk. It might get dangerous." He said sternly. As the pulled the door's inwards, the console room brightened significantly and Clara looked past him at the beautiful blue sky and sand coloured buildings. She wanted to go out with him and see what was going on, but she couldn't. So, disheartened, she slumped back in the chair and crossed her arms across her chest, watching as the Doctor walked out and left her alone in the dark.
AN Hope you guys are all enjoying the fic! I've had this idea for years (seriously, I wanted to write it as a serious Doctor Who novel and send it to the BBC when it was Amy, Rory, and 11) and I'm loving writing it now that I'm actually able to write better than, well, than my 11 year old self! Anyway, if you guys have spotted something that may be hidden away in the descriptions of each chapter, or have any comments, please leave a review and I'll get back to you!
