Rise of the Cybermen, Part One
Clara bustled around the kitchen as the TARDIS rumbled and bounced in the Time Vortex. She had convinced the Doctor to let her make a homemade dinner for the three of them. She had claimed that it was because she was worried she'd forget how to cook if she didn't do it now and then. In all honesty, she wanted to steer Mickey and the Doctor's minds away from Rose. She could tell that they were both upset that she left and Clara wanted both of them to feel better.
"Ooh, something smells good." The Doctor surprised Clara when he appeared in the doorway. She jumped a little.
"Thanks." She said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "The lasagna will be out soon." She turned back to the bowl that was in front of her, whisking the contents quickly.
"What's that?" Before she could answer, he stuck his finger in the bowl and licked it, tasting the batter, "Oh! You're making souffles?" She grinned.
"Yep! And, this time, I will be Souffle Girl!" She declared, pouring the batter into little pans. The Doctor laughed at her silliness. The timer for the lasagna went off and The Doctor took the pasta out of the oven for her as she turned the shrill timer off.
"Alright, then. Let me pop these into the oven, then we can eat." Clara told him, carrying the three souffles over to the oven. "Go fetch Mickey, will you?" The Doctor nodded and left the kitchen, heading out to the console room. Just as Clara was setting the timer for the souffles, she heard the Doctor speak.
" Mickey, food's- what're you doing that for?" He sounded genuinely confused. Clara wondered what he was talking about and went to the console room to find out. Mickey was sitting in the captain's chair, his finger holding a blue button down.
"Because you told me to." Mickey was saying, looking up at the Doctor. Sheepishly, thr Doctor scratched behind his ear.
"When was that?" He asked lightly.
"About half an hour ago." Mickey replied. The Doctor paused a moment.
"Er, you can let go now." He told Mickey. Mickey took his finger off of the button and stood up, arms crossed.
"Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?" He demanded. Clara hurried over to the two or them. She placed a hand on Mickey's arm, worried he would get angry with the Doctor. It was a bit obvious to her that the Doctor had forgotten about Mickey.
"Ten minutes? Twenty?" The Doctor acted like he was guessing. "Twenty nine?" He mumbled, looking down. Mickey gasped, offended.
"You just forgot me!" He accused.
"No, no, no. I was just, I was, I was checking on Clara. I didn't forget-" Before he could complete his lie, the TARDIS shuddered and the power went off. The TARDIS seemed to land with a thud.
"What's happened?" Clara asked. She had grabbed a pillar to prevent herself from falling over. The Doctor grabbed the screen, pressing a few buttons on the console. He pulled his glasses- which he didn't really need- and looked closer.
"The time vortex is gone. That's impossible. It's just gone." He muttered, frantically trying to fix whatever happened. "Brace yourself! We're going to crash!" The TARDIS seemed to tilt, before crashing hard. Gas masks dropped from the ceiling.
"Everyone all right?" Clara called, clinging more to the pillar. "Doctor? Mickey?"
"I'm fine. I'm okay." Mickey answered from his spot, clutching the captain's chair. "Sorry."
"Doctor?" Clara asked again, unable to see him from the angle she was at.
"She's dead." The Doctor breathed, standing back up and trying to get a response from the living machine. "The TARDIS is dead."
"You can fix it, though. Right?" Clara asked, letting go of the pillar. She hurried over to the Doctor, flipping a random switch, hoping to get some result. The Doctor took his glasses off and stood up straight. He slipped the glasses back into his pocket.
"There's nothing to fix. She's perished." He told her. She looked up at him and her heart broke. He looked so devastated. "The last TARDIS in the universe. Extinct."
"We can get help, yeah?" Mickey asked, walking to the Doctor's other side. He placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.
"Where from?" The Doctor asked dryly. Clara shrugged.
"Well, we've landed. We've got to be somewhere." She stated. The Doctor shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension." While the Doctor ranted, Mickey made his way over to the door. He opened it and laughed.
"Otherwise known as London." Mickey stepped out the door, leaving it open for Clara and the Doctor. "London, England, Earth. Hold on." Mickey picked up a discarded newspaper from a bench and flipped it open. Clara read the date over his shoulder.
"First of February, 2006. Not exactly far flung, is it?" Clara asked, glancing at the Doctor. He was surveying the area, hands tucked in his pants pockets.
"So this is London?" He didn't really ask.
"Yep." Mickey was very sure. The Doctor gave his a disbelieving look.
"Your city?" Mickey nodded.
"That's the one." The Doctor shook his head and walked over to Mickey and Clara. Clara got the hint that they weren't really in London and had a good look around herself. It took her a second, but she saw what the Doctor and seen.
"Just as we left it?" The Doctor asked Mickey. Mickey seemed to be getting tired of the Doctor's questioning.
"Bang on." Clara pointed to the sky.
"And that includes the Zeppelins?" She asked. The sky held more than twenty Zeppelins floating around. Mickey gaped at the scene in front of him.
"What the hell?" Mickey let the newspaper fall out of his fingers.
"It's beautiful." Clara commented after a moment. Mickey tried to shake himself out of his shock.
"Okay, so it's London with a big international Zeppelin festival." He was grasping at straws to explain what was going on. The Doctor shook his head.
"This is not your world," he told the two of them. Clara had kind of figured that already.
"But if the date's the same, it's parallel, right?" Mickey sounded excited. "Am I right? Like a parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins." He grinned at the Doctor. "Am I right? I'm right, aren't I?" The Doctor shrugged noncommittally.
"Must be."
"Parallel world?" Clara was a little confused by the scifi talk. She had never heard of parallel world before. The future Doctor had never said anything about them.
"Oh, come on. You've seen it on films." Mickey told her. "Like an alternative to our world where everything's the same but a little bit different. Like, I don't know, traffic lights are blue, or Tony Blair never got elected." Clara was only half listening to Mickey. The bookstore right next to the TARDIS had caught her eye. Without saying anything, she ran to the window, eyes glued to the book in the window. It had a red cover, black cursive writing stating the book was called 101 Places to Travel: Conquered. Clara's heart stopped when she saw the name.
"She's still alive." She whispered, fingers on the glass. The Doctor and Mickey stood behind her, confused. "She didn't die."
"Who?" Mickey asked. "Ellie Oswald?" Clara nodded, tears falling from her eyes. She turned to her friends and gave them a watery smile.
"My mum is still alive here." She said at last.
"You're mum isn't alive back home?" The Doctor asked slowly. Clara shook her head, crossing her arms. Her feelings were all mixed up. On the one hand, she was ecstatic that her mum was alive here. On the other hand, though, she couldn't help but think that she wasn't really her mum here. She probably had her own Clara, her own Dad...
"Yea. She died on March 5, 2005." Clara's voice was raspy as she answered the Doctor. Clara turned to look at the book once more.
"Don't look at it, Clara." The Doctor pulled her from the bookstore window. "Don't even think about it. This is not your world. That's not really your mum." Clara nodded, tears still flowing.
"I know, but-"
"No buts! Your mum died. For all we know-"
"She's got her own Clara. Yea, I got it." Clara snapped, pulling her arm from the Doctor's grasp. She hastily wiped her eyes. "I need some air." She muttered, walking off onto a familiar, yet unfamiliar road.
A/N: A second chapter in two days?! GASP! Haha, the only reason this is out so quickly is because I gotta talk with you all.
First and foremost, did you guys see it coming? I think it was kind of obvious that Clara's mom was gonna be alive, but I still had to do it. I promise the rest of these two episodes won't be so predictable!
Second, I have a poll on my profile that I would love for you to vote in. It's for the another Doctor Who story I want to write. Don't worry- I'll still make sure I update this story once a week. I just want something else to write, too. Please vote and let me know which story you would read! The poll will be up for at least a week, maybe two (it depends on how many votes I get) I'll let you know what the results are in the A/N of either the next chapter, or the chapter after that.
And last, I just want to thank you all for being awesome and reading this. I love every review I read and I love to see the read count for this story go up and up. Please continue to review and read! Thanks so much!
