Yeah, that "getting ahead of this" thing didn't work out... Meh

Chapter 10: This Time I'm Coming with You

He coughed, the dust falling on him as the bright light cut through the darkness.

"He's alive!" Someone shouted from above.

Dragging himself towards the opening through the narrow space, he tried reaching for them. A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the rubble. Another pair on hands joined in, hauling him towards them.

"That's it, breathe. You're out."

He tried sitting up, coughing and gasping for air. He wasn't claustrophobic, but he wasn't keen on being trapped in a dark confined space.

Looking around he saw the devastation around him. Large parts of the tunnel had completely caved in. People were digging at the rubble, working to find other survivors. They had put up a few lights, using torches where they were digging.

Turning on his side, he pushed himself up. Everything hurt. He didn't even remember what happened. He knew there were Hollow Men, they had caught up to them. Next he knows is he's trapped underneath that pile of rubble.

He saw Marx explaining something to a few people close to the entrance. He frowned. Why is the entrance open? Shouldn't it have been sealed? Wait… There was an explosion. That's what made the tunnel cave in. But why blow up the tunnel to seal the entrance? He started in the direction of Marx. Two men walked past him and what he heard from their conversation enraged him.

"Ah, here he is now," Marx announced as the Doctor walked up to him. "Glad to see you surv-" a fist connecting with his jaw silenced him.

The Doctor grabbed Marx by his collar and pushed him back against the tunnel wall. "Why did you this?" He demanded.

"I didn't know you could punch that hard, Doctor." Marx mocked as he rubbed his jaw.

"Shut up!" He growled through gritted teeth, stepping closer to Marx. "Why did you do it?"

Marx only stared at him. "Do what?"

"Stop acting stupid, you blew up the facility." He was going to lose control. Well, maybe he already had when he hit him. "Do you know how many people died in that explosion? Do you even care?" He shouted, rage boiling up in him.

Marx laughed. "Looks like the blast scrambled your brain, Doctor."

"What are you talking about?" The Doctor glared at him.

"I didn't kill those people." He smiled slyly. "I'm not the one who pushed the button."

With those words the memories came flooding back. Images of the Hollow Men around them, the detonator rolling towards him, his finger on the button. Marx was right, he was responsible for their deaths. His grip loosened and Marx easily pushed him off.

He turned, staring back at the mass in front of him. Their blank eyes boring into him. He took a step back.

"Doctor"

They slowly made their way forward. Their faces were as void as always, yet somehow he saw fear in them. His breathing quickened as he took another step back, feeling the cold tunnel wall behind him.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "I… I'm sorry."

"Doctor"

They kept coming, surrounding him, closing in on him. He didn't know what to do. He pushed himself flat against the wall.

"Please," he was terrified. "Please, don't." They were on him now, their cold hands on his skin. "No, please. I'm sorry!"

"Doctor!"

He jerked awake, his eyes frantically searching the room before settling on the two brown ones in front of him.

"It's over now, it's over." She kept one hand on his chest, the other on his cheek as she tried calming him.

His breathing deepened as it slowed. He sat up, her hand moving from his cheek to his back, steadying him.

"It looked so real," he whispered.

She rubbed his back soothingly. "I know."

He enjoyed the movement of her hand. Then he realised what she had said and frowned at her. He had worried about this sort of thing happening. "You saw?"

She nodded, "Yeah." She took his hand as he closed his eyes, sighing.

"Telepath. Sorry, it happens sometimes." Her hand on his back slowed.

"You don't have to apologise."

"And you didn't have to see that." He looked at her sadly. "I didn't want you to see that, Clara."

She could handle what she saw. But what she felt. The fear and anger. Anger he tried guiding towards Marx, but at the end directed it towards himself. The raw pain and guilt. It was too much for her, so she was glad. It gave her some understanding as to what was going on inside him. He moved away from her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Where are you going?"

He stopped a few feet from the door and looked back. "I don't want to wake you again."

"You need rest," she tried, but he didn't answer as he walked out.

"Did you know?"

Gruber turned, facing the Doctor. "If I did, I would have told you." He continued his path down the hall, the Doctor following him.

"The supplies we took to the facility, the day before. It was the explosives, wasn't it?"

Gruber glanced at him. "It would seem so."

"He knew about the attack." They stopped. Gruber looked at him.

"How?"

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know." Gruber snorted and started walking again. "Somehow he knew they were going to attack that facility. So why didn't he evacuate everyone before it happened?" He called out after Gruber.

Gruber stopped. "I don't know his reasons, Doctor. But listen, I'm on my way to the War Room now. I think you should come too. Marx supposedly has a plan."

"Are you mad?" He finally said.

Everyone in the room waited for Marx to reply, the friction between the two no secret. Marx looked at the Doctor, lifting an eyebrow.

"We don't know how many Hollow Men are in the Citadel. We could be overrun and it'll all be for nothing." He kept his voice as level as he could.

"No, but thanks to you we know there will be a lot less than usual." Marx smirked.

The Doctor stared at him, working his jaw as he took a deep breath. He stepped closer to Marx.

"And how do you know how many there usually are? The same way you knew about the attack on the Southern facility?" He lowered his voice as he stopped in front of Marx. "Why don't you tell us how you knew about that?" He turned to the rest of the room, "I'm sure everyone would like to hear why you knew about it, yet failed to evacuate the facility."

Marx grabbed him by his arm, silencing him. "Do not test me, Doctor." He whispered. They stared at each other before Marx turned away.

"This is the first opportunity we have to take the fight to them," he addressed everyone. "It might be the only one we get. If we succeed, this war will be over."

The Doctor scowled at him as he continued his speech. The chances of them succeeding weren't great. If they had more men maybe, but it was a huge risk to take. If only they could get word out to the Eastern facility. A small facility, but if they had any hope of taking on the Citadel they could use all the help they could get. He looked up as everyone started to leave, Marx's speech over.

"Say your goodbyes, Doctor. You leave in two hours." Marx pushed past him, the Doctor glaring at the back of his head.

"Probably not a good idea to take him on like that in front of everyone," Gruber said next to him.

"He's hiding something." The Doctor rubbed his eyes, sighing. "I might have missed part of the plan, fill me in would you?"

Gruber shook his head. "You're with me. We're going to have some fun with the generators," he smiled.

"Don't tell me you're leaving again." Clara folded her arms in front of her, waiting for his answer. The Doctor picked up his sword belt and started fastening it around his middle.

"Clara-"

"I'm coming with you," she said quickly.

"No. We're going to the Citadel, Clara. I don't want you anywhere near that place, it's too dangerous." He frowned down at the belt, struggling with it.

She neared him, taking the belt from him. She felt his eyes on her as she fastened it for him.

"You need my help," she said softly, looking up at him.

"Clara, if something happened to you I would never be able to forgive myself." He shook his head "I can't-"

"And I can't lose you. I can't go through that again, Doctor. I really thought I had lost you." She cupped his jaw. "This time I'm coming with you."

He closed his eyes. Why did she have to be so stubborn?

"Clara, please. Please just, stay here." She opened her mouth but he cut her off. "For me." Reaching up he took her hand in his, kissing her fingers softly. "Promise me you'll stay here."

She stared at him. "I don't want you to go," she pressed herself against him, hugging him to her.

He wrapped his arms around her, wincing at the increased pressure on his side, but not wanting to let her go. "I have something for you," he whispered in her ear. Pulling away, he made his way to his drawer. "Close your eyes."

"Doctor, if you're going to leave while my eyes are closed…"

"Just close them."

She watched as he rummaged through what little clothes were inside and closed her eyes.

He muttered to himself as he collected all the pieces, searching for something to write with. Finally, he found his little stub of a pencil and bent over it. After he finished he glanced at her, happy to see she still had her eyes closed and placed the papers on the bed behind her.

"You can look now," he said next to her. He pointed to the bed and stood back, watching her pick them up. She looked at him questioningly before returning her attention back to the yellowish paper at the top. "I had some free time here and there, so I kept myself busy."

She stared at the paper in front of her. It was a sketch. A beautiful pencil sketch of her laughing, made to look as if she's looking at the viewer. "It's beautiful," she whispered, putting it carefully at the back before she looked through the rest of them. She stared at them, each one adding to the tears in her eyes. They were all of her, perfectly recreated from memory, capturing a feeling of warmth and joy.

The last one was recent. In it she was sleeping, smiling as if enjoying a dream. He must have drawn it after she came back. Her eyes fell on the writing underneath it. Not his usual handwriting. This was written with great care, the letters flowing and slanted neatly, forming words that whispered their meaning to her.

Clara,

I would do anything for you,

but I also care for you too much

to let anything happen to you.

I'm sorry,

The Doctor

"Oh, Doctor…" She smiled and looked up. But he wasn't there.

I'm sad to say that there aren't many chapters remaining :(

Please review, let me know what you think.