Chapter Seven.
Day One.
The Doctor entered carefully shutting the door behind him.
"They've gone, all of them." He dusted off his hat and hung it up along with his jacket.
"Are you absolutely certain? We cannot afford to find them on our doorstep once more."
"I followed them out all the way to Pluto. They would have settled in their cryo-units by the time they reached Saturn, so if they were planning on coming back..."
"We would already know." Jenny finished "Cor, I ain't half glad to see the back of them. Breath like a mouldy cabbage and tempers to match."
"A true warrior never misses the chance of glory in battle. A pity boy, your actions were worthy. It was a glorious battle." Strax had sat himself somewhat awkwardly in one of the tall backed chairs, his legs stuck out straight, leaning back with his hands clasped, eyes shut as a smile played across his face. Looking away Jenny flicked a strand of hair out her face.
"Well they had taken particular offence at me."
"A fight for honour no less!"
"Couldn't get it into their heads that a Silurian wasn't an alien though. Obviously didn't know their history."
"Hmm." The thoughtful sound cut through from the Doctor. "The Time Lords disappear and already others try to fill the gap. It was never their place to decide how and when contact and progress occurs."
"They meant well."
"By killing everything and everyone they deemed out of place? That would include all of us remember."
"Yeah, but" Jenny asked "do you really want to be doing all the work your people did before the war? Surely it would be good to share the load."
"They never did anything, that was the problem! And as for..."
"A conversation for another time perhaps." Madame Vastra cut across before the Doctor could get embedded in his rant. "We have managed to succeed in our task. At least for tonight let us celebrate. Strax, there is a bottle of champagne in the south-east corner of the cellar, could you retrieve it for us? And some glasses."
"How many?"
Vastra did a quick count. "Four."
"Five," the Doctor muttered, distracted for a moment "Strax wait. We want five and our fifth person to enjoy it. It's been a while- where's Clara?" Silence stretched between them.
"Somewhere safe." The Sontaran hazarded.
"Strax, where is she?" After more silence the Doctor repeated his question. "Look you can't have forgotten, she's a person, not some thing you can misplace. Please tell me you've not forgotten where she is."
"Sir, I would never forget such an important piece of tactical information."
"I'm glad to hear it. Where is she?"
"Safe."
"You already told me that, Strax- where is she? And don't just say safe this time!"
"She is in a local facility with good security and great personal care. She is well looked after."
"Yes, that's all good, but where? What is her location? Tell me!"
"Never!"
"What?!"
"I have been sworn to secrecy."
"Strax,"
"Sir?"
"I swore you to secrecy."
"Yes," Strax paused, a blank look passing across his face as the Doctor waited tensed on the edge of his seat. "and honour demands I defend it with my life."
The Doctor let out a small cry of frustration, standing up and pacing around the room, massaging his temples before coming to a rest by the wall. "Strax," he tapped the wall every time he said it, "Strax Strax Strax Strax Strax Strax Strax. It has been three, very long, very busy weeks. We've all been working hard, we're all quite tired, and all I want to know is where I can find Clara so I can take her home. Yes, I swore you to secrecy, but that was to stop the Ganess Warriors from finding her. They're gone now, there's no more danger, just tell me where she is." Strax looked pointedly at Jenny and Vastra. The Doctor sighed. "It's okay, you have my permission to tell them. In fact it doesn't matter anymore, you can tell everyone in the world if you wanted, it doesn't need to be a secret anymore. Where is she?" Strax looked for a moment as if he was going to answer, then he clamped his mouth shut and stood unanswering to the Doctors plea. Taking pity on the Doctor, Vastra chose that moment to intervene.
"Strax, tell the Doctor where he can find Clara or I will ban you from visiting Scotland."
"This is blackmail!"
"Strax!"
He grumbled. "Very well. She's at St Bethlems." Gone were the smiles or smirks as the remainder of the rooms occupants vacated their seats in a scrape of wood on stone. "Ah, you know it?"
"Only by reputation." The Doctor pointed out.
"Good, it's..."
"No," the Doctor said curtly "not good."
"Strax," Vastra commanded, "get the carriage ready, then stay out of our way."
"It's not as bad as it used to be." Jenny tried to provide some small comfort.
"Would you spend three weeks in a place with that history?" He asked to a shake of the head. "Three... I'll get the Tardis." With that he swept down the hallway, and collecting his coat and top hat, left.
Three weeks earlier.
"Ganess Warriors. A rather awkward and unpleasant group. It appears they have delivered an ultimatum to all non-terrestrials on Planet Earth." Vastra declared, holding a sheet of typed paper. The Doctor gestured to Strax, who passed him his copy. which he quickly read, folding it shut before Clara had the chance to see what it said.
"What do they want?" She asked.
"All aliens to immediately cease interaction with the natives and leave."
"Or..."
"War. They come and eradicate all sign of any alien influence." The Doctor sighed.
"You realise you must stop them." Vastra pointed out.
"They have the Tardis."
"More reason to do so. Regardless," Vastra tore the paper into small pieces, "I do not believe they should be doing this. They have already made one mistake: I am no alien. If they see that they may be persuaded of the error of their ways." The Doctor nodded in response, looking to Jenny who simply took a step to stand by her wife.
"Right. Okay. Start the search, we need to find them, if possible get a message through. We'll each go out and ask around, Clara can you find my sonic?" The Doctor patted down his jacket "I think I might have left it upstairs." With a roll of the eyes she left and the Doctor immediately turned to Strax. "You know what these warriors are like."
"Sir they are famed to be some of the best hunters in the galaxy, rooting out and slaughtering their foes with maximum prejudice. To them war is an artform, it is truly magnificent- it will be an honour to face them in battle for the glory of the Sontaran..."
"Strax, they will kill everything and everybody associated with aliens. I need you to go with Clara, take her away from here, somewhere safe, look after her until I've dealt with the Warriors, and nobody must know where she is- swear it."
"On my honour I swear I will not reveal where the boy is."
"thank you." The Doctor glanced up as Clara reappeared.
"Couldn't find it." She stated.
"It'll turn up. I need you to go with Strax, you'll start making enquiries down to the south."
"Why am I with him?" She demanded.
"Because I need someone sensible to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't blow anyone up."
"Fine."
"Look after yourself." They hugged and the carriage drew up to the front of the house, Strax sat atop. The Doctor watched as she climbed in and it trundled away, out of sight.
Okay, so I'm leaving this here: even if I do come up with a handful more amusing moments for the Doctor and Strax. Thank you, reader, for making it this far. As the author, I realise it started okay, then there was a huge time gap after the third chapter: this was because I started thinking about the why I was putting behind it, and in developing that story it got deep and serious pretty quick, and some of the themes it was going into I didn't want trivialise too much, which is why I finished it as I did. (I hope that make sense.) That story won't appear on here, but I hope this one entertained (it was fun to write!).
With Thanks to all the readers, Kirrithian
