Chapter 3: Cracked
Clara took a deep breath as she stepped out of the TARDIS. She had never been one for loving the outdoors but for some reason she just wanted to get away from confining buildings and the vacuum of space and venture out into the fresh air.
The Doctor exited the TARDIS after her and closed the door behind him. He smiled softly at the sight of Clara enjoying the feeling of the sunbeams dancing along her skin. It took her a minute but once she'd let herself enjoy the moment, she looked up at him at him. He couldn't hide his happiness of seeing her so content.
"I needed this." she confessed.
The Doctor laughed slightly before interlocking his fingers between hers.
"I know." he admitted, "Come on."
They both began to walk away from the TARDIS across the light green grass.
They were in some sort of park which was home to many types of birds which looked oddly like birds back on Earth. The only noticeable differences were the colours of their feathers. Back home in London, it was common for Clara to see brown or black feathered birds flying over her however, the birds flying around her on that planet were bright yellow, red and blue. It was odd but didn't look strange as the funny shaped buildings which could be seen just down the road were just as brightly coloured.
"So where are we?" queried Clara.
"The planet Bellatrix." replied the Doctor, "This is the… third, no fourth planet in the Orionis System."
Clara smiled and took yet another deep breath. "What's that smell?" she questioned.
The Doctor smiled and squatted in order to pull some of the grass out of the ground. He proceeded to stand back up and let Clara smell the grass in his hand.
"Mint grass." he stated with a smile.
Clara laughed slightly and inhaled the scent.
"Oh, I love the smell of fresh mint." she disclosed, "My Mum used to grow it in the garden when I was little. She used it to make 'er own Mint Jelly. I couldn't stand the stuff but I loved the smell of it."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and smiled as he chucked it back to the ground.
"I never imagined ya could get like… flavoured grass, if ya know what I mean." she said.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah you can." confirmed the Doctor, "All sorts."
Clara tilted her head to the side slightly as they continued to walk.
"Can you get apple grass?" she asked.
The Doctor frowned slightly but continued to smile. "Yeah." he responded, "Why?"
Clara shrugged her shoulders. "Just wonderin'." she answered, "I just… really fancy an apple."
The Doctor laughed to himself. "Okay…" he understood, "Let's get to the town and I'll see if I can find you one, deal?"
Clara nodded. "Deal." she settled.
The continued to walk towards the more populated part of the town just down the road. However as they walked, the both hit something… really weird. Whatever it was, it wasn't visible to the naked eye but they both passed through it within a split second.
It was a bizarre feeling and it made Clara's skin tingle momentarily. It was almost as if they were walking through some sort of barrier of light.
When they reached the other side, they both paused and looked back at where they had just come from.
"What the 'ell was that?!" cried Clara.
The Doctor's smile suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a frown. He was about to answer her when he realised that their entire surroundings had changed. He quickly looked around and noticed that the once brightly coloured buildings were now completely dull and colourless. Instead of being bright shades of yellows and red, they were all now dull greys and blacks. The population of the town had suddenly decreased and most of all, the grass they were walking on was now a light grey, not green.
Clara also noticed the changes and frowned. However, her confusion soon faded as a new smell caught her attention.
She moaned softly as she felt her stomach begin the turn slightly. The Doctor turned around and frowned when he saw her holding her hand against her abdomen.
"Clara?" he questioned.
Clara gulped as she attempted to block out the smell. The Doctor grew more and more concerned and made his way over to her. He held his hand against her cheek and stroked it slightly.
"What's wrong?" he enquired softly.
Clara moaned once again. "That smell." she responded.
The Doctor frowned slightly and began to smell their new environment. It had certainly changed from the mint but it didn't smell bad.
"It smells like… yeast maybe…?" he stated.
Clara exhaled deeply. "Yeah probably." she agreed with a false smile, "It just makin' me feel a bit sick…"
The Doctor smiled weakly. "Let's get back the TARDIS." he suggested, "I'm sure there'll be something in the Sick Bay to cure that."
Clara nodded as the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist and began to guide her back. However he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that the TARDIS wasn't in the location it had just been.
"What?!" he cried.
He swiftly pulled away from Clara and headed back the way they had come.
"Doctor?" she questioned weakly.
Despite her call, the Doctor failed to stop and he continued on his way towards the grassed area where the TARDIS had been parked. Clara's eyes widened when he suddenly walked through what appeared to be a gel-like barrier and disappeared. She could still clearly see the newly changed grassed area they had landed the TARDIS on but neither it nor the Doctor could be seen.
"Doctor!" she exclaimed.
She advanced forward, much too quickly than her already unsettled stomach could handle. She whined slightly as it turned and had to let it settle before she dared to move again. The yeast-like smell was still filling her nose and although she did her best to ignore it, the smell was still making her insides churn.
Once she reached the point where the Doctor had disappeared, she held her finger up and poked forward. She hadn't expected anything to happen so she was rather surprised when she saw the entire area begin to ripple, almost like a stone dropped in water.
She was about to poke it again when the Doctor's head suddenly appeared from nowhere, making her jump out of her skin. He came all the way through the barrier and smiled weakly.
"Sorry…" he apologised weakly, "Come on, the TARDIS is back through here."
He once again wrapped his arm around her waist and walked along with her through the barrier and back to the original part of the planet where they had landed. The colours were once again bright and cheerful and the smell was also the fresh mint one that it had been before passing through the barrier.
Clara sighed and let her nose fill with that preferred aroma. Anything she could do to overpower the other one, she did gratefully.
"That better?" queried the Doctor.
Clara nodded. "Yeah…" she whispered, "Does that offer to go back to the TARDIS still stand?"
The Doctor nodded. "Course it does." he confirmed.
Clara smiled weakly. "Good." she stated.
x-[]-x
The Doctor would have been lying is he said he wasn't concerned about his wife but ever since returning back to the TARDIS, the colour had slowly begun to return to her cheeks. In order to give her some space the Doctor had let himself become occupied with finding out what had just occurred on the planet.
Meanwhile, Clara was sitting on the edge of her bed and going through all the possibilities which could have accounted for her nausea. She had never felt so bad after smelling anything before. She had certainly disliked smells in the past but never had any made her feel so ill before.
As she sat there, her mind went over every possibility she could think of. Maybe it was some type of space flu or cold, hopefully nothing too serious. Another possibility that had occurred to her definitely scared her. However she couldn't see how it was possible… Despite trying to think of other valid reasons, her mind always returned back to the same one. Surely it wasn't possible… However as she went over it again and again, something dawned on her…
"The wedding night…" she whispered to herself in realisation.
When she thought about it, it had been just under a month ago… Maybe it was possible…
"What about it?" the Doctor queried from out of nowhere.
Clara jumped slightly and turned to see him standing in the doorway.
"How… 'ow long ya been standin' there?" she questioned.
"Not long." the Doctor confirmed as he entered the room, "You okay now?"
Clara nodded slightly. "Yeah." she confirmed with a soft smile, "Much better thanks."
The Doctor sighed and sat down next to her on the bed. He wasn't exactly sure how to engage in conversation. Should he risk asking her how she felt and end up causing an argument or should he just wait until she was ready to talk?
"So," Clara began, "What's up with that planet?"
The Doctor smiled weakly. "It appears to have been fractured by a chrono-kinetic anomaly." he explained.
Clara frowned. "And what's that?" she queried.
"Some kind of power surge has… fractured the planet into different time periods. Some are in its past, some in its present and some in its future." he explained, "Those gel-like barriers things are cracks…"
Clara nodded. "Okay…" she attempted to understand, "I'm completely lost."
The Doctor smiled weakly. "It doesn't really matter." he told her.
"Well, what caused it?" asked Clara, "Hasn't it got to be fixed?"
"Um… I don't know, and yes." the Doctor answered, "But as I don't know what caused it, I can't fix it."
"Well shouldn't we go and find out?" enquired Clara.
The Doctor shook his head slightly. "Not until you're alright." he told her.
"Doctor I'm fine!" she promised.
The Doctor sighed. "You're lying to me…" he whispered, "Clara, I know you to well."
"I'm not lying." Clara guaranteed.
"Swear it to me." he pleaded as he looked deep into her eyes, "Swear it to me on something important."
Clara sighed and shook her head slightly. She could see the pain in his eyes, a kind of pain which made her heart drop. He truly cared for her and she could see he was worried. Why couldn't he understand that there were some things she didn't want him to be burdened with?
"Doctor, I promise…" she whispered, her desperation slowly breaking through into her voice.
The Doctor gulped slightly. The fact that she couldn't do it only proved to him initial suspicions.
"Now I know there's something wrong." he stated.
Clara shook her head. "Doctor…" she begged.
Her words were cut off as all of a sudden as the TARDIS suddenly jolted and threw them both to the floor. Beams of charged light lit the room up as the TARDIS shook them around the room like rag dolls.
Clara managed to grip onto the foot of the bed. As she held on, she closed her eyes and hoped that the shaking would stop soon. It took a few more moments before the shaking ceased. Clara was more than relieved and when she finally opened her eyes, she saw the room was in almost total darkness. The only light source was coming from the gap underneath the door.
When Clara got her bearings back, she slowly pushed herself off the floor. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a mural on the wall which was being illuminated by the light from under the door.
"What…?" she whispered.
She squinted slightly and tried to see what it was. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkened room she recognised the circular patterns as Gallifreyan symbols. Strange… she would have sworn they hadn't been there before…
Her more immediate attention then turned to the vacant room. Seconds before the Doctor had been right next to her but now there was no sign of him.
"Doctor…?" she called, "Doctor?!"