"Go on! Eat up!"
Clara, even from an asteroid belt away, could hear the doctor challenging the giant star parasite. It's lips were curled upwards in a greedy smile and it looked upon the Time Lord with hunger. It was prepared to devour him with eagerness and swallow all of time with it. Clara had always heard of some of the Doctor's adventures but never had she a glimpse of the emotions he felt. He was a remarkable man, wonderful in every way, but he was a drug. You became addicted to him. Because every place he went, every planet he set foot on, every dimension he crossed death followed him. Good people would die and every loss seemed to take a piece of his soul, the eccentric light in his eyes would dim more and more. He always awoke in the morning, chipper and bright, but by the end of the day he was sullen and thoughtful. He had seen the creation and the ends of universes, caused them even, but he had good intentions. The Doctor was a good man. Despite the warnings people would give her, Clara was faithful to him to the last.
Captain Jack Harkness appeared at her side, "what did I miss?"
She turned to face him, surprised to see a few tears blur her vision, "it's the Doctor, he's over at the temple. He's facing the star."
Jack's face immediately went rigid with fear. Jack had helped them come through to the temple but had been shot trying to protect them. His immunity had eventually resurrected him, but she didn't think his ability to evade death could help them now.
"Oh no," Jack took a step forward to try to get to him but he saw the cliff side in which they stood made it impossible for them to reach him.
"What does that thing want?" Clara turned her face when a long tendril of light from the parasite extended forward towards the center of the temple where the Doctor probably stood.
"The parasite, it feeds off of emotion, off of your life. It sucks the vitality, the strength, memories, and every last drop of your soul to become full, and it's always hungry."
"You talk as if you know of it," she touched his arm, "have you seen this before?"
"Once, long ago," For the first time since she knew him, she saw the real Jack, the caring and kind man, the one who didn't flirt, "I almost died, before a young lady pushed me out of the way and sacrificed herself."
"Will-" Clara barely got the words past her throat, "will it kill him?"
Jack's face darkened.
"But-but he'll regenerate!"
"The Doctor is at his most vulnerable when he regenerates, that's when every fiber of his body is dying and the agony and pain he feels will make a fine snack for the parasite. The Doctor is at his most weak afterwards, he will not be the clever man who will escape anything, he needs rest. You should've seen us after his 7th regeneration, a whole squadron of Sicorax and the Doctor down for the count." Jack spoke wistfully, "the parasite will absorb the Doctor."
"Absorb? What do you mean absorb?"
"It will basically engulf the Doctor, make him one with the parasite. 906 years of sorrow, happiness, thrill, anger, depression, kindness- all of it. A man like the Doctor could power this puppy for an eternity."
"We need to help him," Clara stepped forward towards the rusty bike that probably wouldn't even start. The captain grabbed her arm.
"Let me go," she warned the 51st century man.
"Clara, that's suicide. The parasite has a taste for the Doctor now, it won't let go. If we are supposed to be a small snack for the hungry thing then Time Lord is a thanksgiving feast compared to us."
She did the most unexpected thing. She leaned forward and grabbed Captain Jack by the collar of his war coat. She pressed her lips against his. His flirty and omnisexual nature conflicted with his worry. Clara stole the keys for the space bike from his pocket and gave him a firm kick to the chest. Jack went flying backwards into the crowd.
"Sorry, Jack," she ran towards the vehicle and kick started the engines.
Jack looked at her fleeting form and the creatures he had crushed with his body. He regarded a 4 foot tall bee, "huh, she's good."
Clara heard the Doctor as he neared, her heart broke at his words.
"Until nothing remained! No time, no space! Just me!"
She couldn't imagine the loneliness and cold he felt.
"I have seen things you will never see! I have lost things you would never understand!"
Clara wanted to run forward and tackle him down, have the parasite eat her soul instead, but she saw it start to weaken as the Doctor's words rang louder and more powerful. Eight long tendrils of sun parasite extended from his chest.
"So come on then! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! Have it all!"
The parasite's expression became one of slight distress. But the Doctor had only scratched the surface, they needed to go deeper. She pulled the leaf from her book. The Doctor's knees folded in upon themselves, and his head hit his chest.
"Doctor!" She whispered out of desperation. He stumbled and fell back, continuing to try and stand to face the parasite once more. The sun parasite grew elated and began to move more legs of light in his direction.
A rupture of space made her hair whip back and forth as Captain Jack Harkness appeared from the depths of space and time, his civil war coat billowing behind him.
"Not today!" He laughed at the parasite. She laughed of relief.
Clara ran from her place behind the pillar to stand by Jack in front of the Doctor.
"How did you get here?" She grabbed his shoulder.
He gestured to the portable time traveling watch on his wrist.
"I keep it accessible," he shrugged casually, "so, did you like what I had to offer back there," he wiggled his eyebrows smugly.
"The kiss meant nothing."
"Kiss?" The doctor gasped from the floor. Of course that's the only thing he registered through their entire conversation.
"Never mind that now," she faced the parasite, "how do we stop it?"
A cry or pain from the doctor made both Clara and Jack whip around.
"Doctor!" She ran to his side, "doctor what is it?"
"The process is starting!" He rolled on his side and Clara saw that parts of his body were starting to glow with a red orange light.
"Leave him!" Jack pulled her back, "there's nothing we can do at this point!"
"No!" She screamed, "what's happening?"
The Doctor slammed down to the floor, like a force was pushing him down.
"Clara," Jack turned her face towards his, "we need to leave, now."
The parasite's greedy grin only fueled her.
She faced it, "you know nothing! You know NOTHING about him! They say that you will engulf him, but HE will engulf YOU! Because that's the Doctor! He's lived through the Last Great Time War and he's led his people to battle, he's witnessed the death and destruction of species upon species. The extinction of his people was something he has had to bear on his shoulders for so long," she turned back to look at him, "but not anymore, not alone."
"Jack!" The Doctor choked, "get her out of here!"
Jack ran forward to his former master and placed a hand on his shoulder. Emotions ran through his face like a movie and he thought back of all their adventures. Daleks, Cybermen, The Cat People, Sicorax, Slitheen, Vashda Nerada.
"Thank you, Doctor," he smiled sadly and placed a kiss on his forehead, "time be with you."
The doctor laughed slightly and held jack's hand with strength, "keep her safe, Captain Jack Harkness." Another bout of energy made the Doctor spasm and turn.
"Clara!" Jack looked at the companion, she was yelling at the parasite. Like that would do them any good.
"You will see thousands of possibilities run through your thick and cold form every second. You will be ripped apart from the inside. Because if I know one thing the Doctor can do, is he will beat you."
The parasite screamed with anger and fury and tried to send light to her, to stop her words.
"Hah!" She laughed coldly, "you're finally understanding! Prepare yourself, parasite, prepare for the sorrow and the pain you will feel!"she pulled her mothers leaf from behind her back, "you still hungry? Well, eat up."
She threw the leaf in the air and it spiraled towards the sun. Terrified and painful screams ripped through the air as the sun parasite felt an infinite amount of possibilities surge through it. Too much.
Light began to curl and collapse upon itself. The parasites smile was now a gruesome frown as its surface began to explode. The doctor heaved himself up, his body burning up. He felt it. But he'd done this before. He could transfer his regenerative powers into another biological organism, but nothing could ever contain its power other than he or another time lord. The Doctor gathered up all his strength, all the fire that broiled through his veins. Like a clap of thunder, he brought his hands together and a jet stream of pure energy and light zipped forward, targeting the parasite. His power wrapped around the circumference of the parasite and it's eyes were cold and burning behind the energy shroud. Jack pulled Clara away from the center of the temple as the Doctor took small steps forward, gaining more power as the tendrils from the parasite retracted from his body.
"You're full now, aren't you?" The doctor smiled, sadly. With one last hoorah, he unleashed his power and the parasite exploded in a funnel of fire.
Jack had been expecting this. With one hand wrapped around Clara's waist, he leaped forward and grabbed the doctor's elbow as he crashed to the ground. They disappeared with a puff of purple smoke. The people of the city had already evacuated and Jack reappeared a 15 miles from the explosion. It wasn't far enough, they needed to get into the Tardis and fly off, but with the Doctor down for the count, how would they. Jack pulled the time traveling device from his wrist as it smoked and sparked against the grass. The grass was yellow patchy and dried, the sky was red with fire and smoke replaced the air of the planet. The explosion from the planet would soon reach them, the debris hitting them with full force.
Clara scrambled forward and placed the Doctor's head in her lap.
"Doctor, stay with me," she felt tears fall from her cheeks.
"We can't stay," Jack picked her up by the shoulders and leaned down by the doctor. His cheek was smeared with dirt and still warm.
"Grab his arms!" He told the companion and Jack held the Doctor's legs in his arms.
Clara did as told and with effort struggled to carry the Doctor's heavy body.
"Where's the Tardis?!" Jack asked while carrying the body.
"Over that hill," Clara wasn't focused on that, more the mushroom cloud coming towards them.
"Turn around, keep going."
They hobbled up the dry hill, the Doctor in between them and the parasite debris in tow. "There!" She called to the captain, "there's the Tardis!"
The blue police box lay unnerved on the patchy ground, despite the ruins and the blazing heat catching up to them.
"Open it!" Jack yelled.
"I have to get the key!"
"The Doctor just snaps his fingers!"
"I'm not the Doctor!"
Jack looked like he was seriously contemplating snapping the Doctor's fingers for him. Clara let go of the doctor's arms in a haste and he roughly fell to the ground.
"Sorry!"
"Just hurry!"
She fumbled for the key from his jacket pocket, her hands shaking too much to get a firm grasp.
"Clara," Jack laughed nervously, "I don't want to rush you or anything, but we've got parasite coming up over the hill any second now-and um do you have the key yet?"
"I've got it!" She held up the glistening gold object like a beacon.
"Use it!"
Boulder size rocks started to smash into the ground around them, leaving smoking and blistering holes in the grass. She slipped the key into the lock and tried to jiggle it open, A rock slammed right next to her hand against the wooden wall sending sparks flying across her hand.
Her own cry of pain was cut off as a rock hurled towards the Doctor's head. Jack leaped over and protected him but it cracked against his back.
"Jack!" She yelled, turning around.
"Don't," he wheezed, "just open the damn box!"
MJack knew his spine had cracked, vertebrae had been slid out of place or broken. Pieces of bone peaked through his flesh. But his immunity from Rose was helping, he pressed a hand against the spot of pain and pushed down. His eyes watered as his spine stubbornly slid back into place.
"I've got it," Clara held her charred and bleeding hand across her chest, wielding it, "we've got to get him inside."
Jack roared with effort as he used his elbow to throw the doctor inside as the heat of the parasite explosion surrounded them like a tidal wave. A wall of fire and smoke crashed into them and Jack barely closed the door. He wobbled inside, hunched, his coat catching on fire. Clara went over and doused him with the fire extinguisher the Doc kept just in case of emergencies like these I guess.
As soon as the Doctor had crossed the threshold the Tardis immediately darkened. A melancholy whine sounded within the creaks of the engine, as if she was crying. Crying for the Doctor.
He was still out, his body not as warm when she touched him but still hotter than a human being should be. She guessed he felt about 134 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Jack?" Her voice broke. She didn't want to be alone, she couldn't have Jack go out on her too, "Captain?"
"Hey, Clara, I'm all right," his usually happy voice sounded strained, "just help the Doc first."
"I-I don't know what to do," she sobbed, "how do you treat a Time Lord."
"When he regenerated when I was around, he would just sleep. Sleep for days on end."
"But he didn't regenerate," her heart clenched with fear, "he transferred his energy to that thing."
"Clara, can you come for a moment? Bring a knife or a sharp object with you please."
Clara didn't like the sound of it but she warily approached carrying a pair of scissors in her hands.
"Jack?"
He was on the floor, sweat seeped through his shirt and his face was pale.
"Oh my god," Clara bent down by his side, "it's your back isn't it."
"Look, Clara, I'm going to need you to do something. After you do that I'm probably going to pass out and die, but I'll resurrect. Can you do that?"
"What, me-alone? In the Tardis? I can't-"
"Yes, you can," she didn't think he sounded more serious in his entire life. He pressed the scissors into her hand, "please, Clara."
She reluctantly nodded, her lips pursed.
"Cut the jacket off."
"But it's your jacket, you never-"
"Do it now!" His face screwed up in pain.
She placed the blade against the wool fabric and pressed down. The coat ripped. Peeling back the fabric, a mass of rock and blood met her eyes. She almost fainted.
"Stay with me, Clara," she almost laughed, the situation should be reversed.
"I-I got it."
"Now the shirt."
Clara did that same with the jacket.
"Now the skin."
"Wait, what?" Her hands moved away from him.
"The rock is embedded between my lumbar and cervical vertebrae, right where they meet. Now, it's not like we're in an OR where we have sterile tools and a few pain meds but I need you to cut a horizontal like and pull the shard out. My body will heal itself but the blood loss will probably kill me, I'm not sure when I'll wake up."
"Captain, this is too much," she shuffled backwards.
"Please, Clara," it sounded like he was barely keeping himself together, "I know this is huge for me to ask you, but think you kissed me earlier." His joke sounded sad, "I think we've reached third base now, huh? So please," he faltered, "please, I'm in so much pain."
"Jack," even though her voice sounded reluctant, Clara leaned down next to him. The scissors cut through his skin with effort. Like sliding a blade through a puddle of wax. This gave her easier access to reach the rock that was so plainly staring her in the face.
"I'm sorry, Jack," her fingers wrapped around its tip and he stiffened, a groan escaping his lips.
"Do it, just do it."
She yanked it out from his back and he yelled with agony. His body settled back down and blood poured from his wound like water. His eyes were already drifting in and out of focus.
"Keep him safe," it sounded like a whisper but she knew Jack was talking about the Doctor. She held his hand, his fingers stroking hers as the light slowly faded from his brilliantly blue irises.
"Please," she cried, "please don't leave me alone."
Now she had two unconscious alien men in a blue time traveling machine (which she had no clue how to fly) and no idea what to do.
There was nothing more she could do for Jack, she just had to wait for him to wake up, or come back alive, whatever he did. The entire Tardis creaked and started to bake like an oven as the entire planet around them was engulfed in flames from the eruption of a supernova parasite star. Her moms leaf was gone, her Doctor was hovering between certain life states, and Jack died. Plain as that. What was she to do first? The doctor has a phone, who could she call? There was one person….
River Song sat in her cell, filling her nails. Her curly brown hair was clean and she had a manicure set next to her on the bench. The famous hypnotic lipstick was tucked away under the cot. A young and handsome guard stood in front of her cell, a big rifle in his hand.
"Sweetie," she called, he turned his head a fraction of an inch, "do you have to carry that big bad gun everywhere? Maybe come inside and play with me?"
He spat at the cell door and turned around. All day in her cell, a girl got bored. She leapt from her bench and pushed up against the bar next to her.