Chapter 10 – Then It All Crashes Down...
The TARDIS felt extremely uncomfortable. Not just the atmosphere within the time ship, the old girl herself felt awkward. The gentle hum that usually comforted the Doctor practically made her skin itch instead. Columbia was meant to be a dream location to relax with her daughter and best friend but it had turned into a nightmare. The Time Lady did a few investigations into the events of the day but there were no excuses for the murderous behaviour of the locals. There were no signs of psychic interfere or mind altering drugs, not even the rare Demonus insect swarm which created a berserk like state in its victims could excuse Betty. What the Doctor and the others had witnessed was human greed and jealousy at its worst.
The Doctor wasn't a total apologist for the human race. She knew first hand that the species had its faults. Suspicious, territorial and overly emotional were just some of the failings of humanity. What the Doctor loved was the way that the majority rejected these biological traits. She had witnessed great compassion and kindness from humanity at times when made other species would've completely turned against each other. The good generally outweighed the bad but today, the scales were weighed heavily on the negative side.
The Judoon had taken Betty and Lazslo away so the Shadow Proclamation could decide their fate. It was largely a foregone conclusion though. The Proclamation wouldn't waste too much energy on a pair of humans. They would take a look at their list of crimes and summon the firing squad before the pair knew what hit them. Sitting alone in the library, guilt ate away at the Time Lady. Had she allowed her righteous anger to overwhelm her sense of compassion? She snorted and shook her head, she was the person who had disposed with the Family of Blood in a series of cruel punishments. Somehow throwing Betty and Lazslo at the mercy of the Shadow Proclamation seemed tame in comparison.
There was also Clara to think about. The teacher had barely said a word since returning to the TARDIS. She had deliberately avoided eye contact on a number of occasions before disappearing into her room. Jenny was also acting equally as cool, the telepathic link was muted and she wasn't getting anything from her daughter. Today hadn't just brought out the worst in humanity, it had brought out the worst in the Doctor as well.
Deciding it was time to face the music, the Time Lady stretched her weary limbs and meandered towards the console room. She could tell by the movement in the Time Rotor that they were in flight. Clara rested against one of the metal frames surrounding the console, her arms firmly clenched against her body and her gaze fixed firmly on the floor. Jenny made no attempt to interact with the teacher or the Doctor, choosing to monitor the control closely. Perhaps a little closer than was actually necessary, "Charlie's gone then?" the Doctor asked quietly.
A silent and uncomfortable hush was the only response the Doctor received. Eventually Jenny nodded slowly, "Yeah, patched him up as best as I could", she paused to allow herself time to twist a valve on the console, "he didn't feel like sticking around. He wanted a little bit of time to remember his best friend".
In all the commotion, the Doctor had forgotten about the human tragedies. Charlie's best friend had turned out to be a cruel and psychopathic murderer who was more than likely going to be executed for her crimes. The person he thought he knew best, it turned out he barely knew her at all. Caroline Caruthers didn't have a family but she was be mourned by her legion of fans across the galaxy. The Doctor was sure that someone would miss Mitchell but she never really looked past his grouchy exterior. True he wasn't well liked but that didn't make him a horrible person.
"I didn't have a choice", the Time Lady said, piercing the heavy atmosphere, "with no local law enforcement, the only people left to call were the Shadow Proclamation". That statement was something that the Doctor had repeated to herself like a mantra over the last few hours. What would she have done if the Judoon hadn't arrived at that moment? Between them they probably would've overpowered Betty but what then? She had a potential army of droids that she could've manipulated to serve her. Plus who knows what Lazslo would've done with a known murder. Either executed her personally or more likely, exploited her crimes in an attempt to make some money.
"We know", Clara answered for Jenny, "but that doesn't mean we have to like it". She kept her gaze away from the Doctor, stubbornly refusing to meet her gaze.
The Doctor wasn't equipped to handle situations like this. A wave of her sonic screwdriver wasn't going to solve an almost complete breakdown in trust between the trio. Without any else to fall back on, she opted to try and push it aside until everyone had calmed down, "So where are we going?" she asked and tried to look at the controls.
"Home", Clara answered with a quiet whisper, "I'm going home".
Those three words pierced the Doctor's hearts and sent a wave of fear through her body. She had a question on the tip of her tongue but was almost too afraid to ask it. Swallowing her fears she croaked out, "Permanently?"
Clara shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know", she sighed, "I just don't know if I can do this right", she admitted.
For a couple of seconds the Time Lady stared impassively at her friend. Today had been a sequence of nightmares and it looked like her worst fears were being played out right in front of her, "I see", the Doctor replied flatly. The TARDIS suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The older Time Lady chewed on her lip and kept her gaze on anything that wasn't Clara. "Maybe we should admit this isn't working out and go our separate ways", she finally added with a heavy sigh.
That wasn't a statement Clara was expecting to hear. She thought the Doctor would nod sadly, let her gather her thoughts for a couple of days before returning back to the open universe. Instead it felt like she was kicked her out of the TARDIS, "This isn't the first time we've fallen out recently, maybe that's nature's way of telling us that our run together is over", the dark haired woman continued.
"Oh", Clara uttered softly. The wheeze of the engines told the pair that the TARDIS had landed safely back in London, "So this is it then?"
"If that's what you want", the Doctor said, looking straight up at the ceiling. Her face was blank but underneath she was a torrent of emotions. Her stoic mask prevented her from completely breaking down. Clara grabbed her discarded jacket and inched towards the door, fully expecting the Doctor to say something else. Instead the Time Lady remained fixed to the spot, refusing to even acknowledge her existence.
The school teacher opened the TARDIS door and stepped out into her dimly lit flat. Her hand lingered on the door handle for a few seconds, expecting to be called back. She had been the one to ask for some time to think but she hadn't expected things to reach this point. When it became clear that the Doctor wasn't moving she gently shut the door and stepped away from the TARDIS. The moment the time ship groaned into life, the dam broke and Clara burst into tears. She sank to her knees and sobbed loudly, she didn't know what she wanted out of her life with the Doctor but she certainly didn't want things to end like this. "Clara?" Danny's voice called out from her bedroom. Her boyfriend rushed into the front room and the moment he laid eyes on his devastated girlfriend, he wrapped his arms tightly around her body and let her cry into his shoulder.
Inside the TARDIS the Doctor angrily slapped a couple of switches into the correct position, letting off some steam that had built up inside her, "What the hell was that all about?" an incredulous Jenny cried from behind her. The Doctor was so wrapped up in her own feelings that she didn't hear her daughter the first time, "Hey I said what the hell was that?" she repeated her question in a slightly harsher tone.
Hitting another switch the Doctor replied, "Clearly Clara is unhappy travelling with me, this is the second time she's asked me to leave her alone". She slapped her hand against the console surface, "We're better off without each other", she muttered softly.
A red mist descended on Jenny. She stepped forward and slapped her mother around the back of her head with as much force as she dared. The older Time Lady recoiled in pain before shoot her daughter with an angry look, "For a supposedly intelligent being you can be really thick sometimes", Jenny cried, "Clara's been through a traumatic experience but you're so wrapped up in your own thoughts that you didn't stop to consider someone else".
"For course I did", the Doctor snapped, "but the TARDIS isn't something you can hop in and out of at leisure".
"That's exactly what it's meant to be", Jenny pulled at her red hair in frustration, "sure dangerous stuff is going to happen but some of us actually have emotions that we need to deal with, especially after a day like today". The Doctor recoiled at Jenny's words, did her daughter really see her as an unfeeling person who didn't care about others? Did Clara think the same way too?
The Doctor was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Jenny grab her jacket and Vortex Manipulator until the red head was ready to depart, "Where are you going?" she asked fearfully.
"Away from you", Jenny snapped, "maybe I'll apologise to Clara for having an idiot for a mother whilst I'm at it". With one prod of her vortex manipulator Jenny disappeared, leaving a shell shocked Doctor alone in her TARDIS. The crushing emptiness coupled with her guilt at her own selfish actions forced a tear down her cheek. If she wasn't leaning on the console, she probably would've collapsed.
A flash of light illuminated a street in Shoreditch as Jenny landing near Clara's block of flat. She checked her manipulator and groaned in annoyance. In her anger and desperation to get away she had entered the wrong co-ordinates. She had arrived three days after Clara left the TARDIS rather than the three minutes like she had planned, "Great, who knows how Clara's feeling now".
Thrusting her hands into her pockets, she marched towards the end of the street only to find her path blocked by three men in dark uniforms. She slowed her pace only to find three more men directly behind her. Stretching out her telepathy into the local area she left at least twelve presences converging on her location. Scrap that, make it thirteen people. Jenny froze, this new presence felt very familiar to her. He was also standing right behind her.
She turned around slowly and came face to face with a heavily muscled man with dark skin and a closely shaved head. Actually face to chest was probably a more accurate description as this man towered over Jenny by nearly a foot. For a brief second Jenny hoped this mountain of a man didn't recognise her. She had regenerated since they last met. The snarled aimed firmly in her direction told its own story, "Jenny, how nice it is to see you again", he called out in a booming voice, "you should know that no amount of surgery would stop me from finding you".
Jenny was slightly relieved, he thought her new appearance was down to artificial surgery rather than her biology. That was good, she still had that ace up her sleeve. She was debating how best to fight her way out of this situation when suddenly, she began to feel very sleepy, "I know that you can fight girl", the man snarled, "did you think I wouldn't take any precautions". He chuckled loudly as Jenny slumped to the ground, completely unconscious. The large man nodded his head and in a flash of light everyone disappeared, leaving no trace of them behind.
END OF EPISODE 7
A/N - Yeah so that happened. Is this the end of TARDIS life for Clara and who's kidnapped Jenny? Episode 8 will be up in a couple of weeks so until then...