Chapter 11

Jace had waited until morning to announce that he was ready to leave.

He had made the announcement at breakfast and the Doctor had looked at him across the table and reminded him that as his back was still healing he still needed to rest - and so would not be taking the Tardis any where until at least the next day.

"Of course," Jace had agreed, "Like I said before, you need to rest now you've had the port taken out of your back. It should be more or less healed by tomorrow."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow as he looked at him doubtfully.

"And how healed will I be, exactly?" he asked, "More, or less? Because that will be significant to my recovery."

And Jace seemed worked up again.

"I just mean, you will be almost healed, most likely you will be able to try standing without pain tomorrow. But don't try walking just yet – do it in your own good time."

And the two men exchanged a glance that Clara missed as she set coffee down on the table in front of the Doctor.

"So, where are you thinking of going?" Clara asked, and the question made Jace smile.

"Earth," he said, "Nineteenth century Earth, where I'm hoping to buy farmland and grow crops, just like Maria always dreamed of doing."

"Except that Maria will not be there," the Doctor added, and then he paused to sip his coffee, and looked up and saw sadness in Jace's eyes.

"But at least you can carry on her dream. Are you sure you want to do that, without her? Won't you find that difficult? I have a time machine, I can take you any where to start your life again. I just want to be sure you want to carry on the plans you made with her, because she's gone now."

He flinched.

"I know she's gone. Don't remind me."

"Sorry," the Doctor replied, and then he thought some more about that feeling he still had nagging at the back of his mind - a suspicion that Jace was certainly in a hurry for something...

"I'll take you tomorrow," he decided, "You'd better get your stuff packed up Jace."

And Jace smiled.

"I'll get on and do that right away," he said, and then he got up from the table and left the room.


Later on as the sun burned bright in a clear sky, Jace was over the other side of the lake, relaxing in the warm grass as he enjoyed his final day on the unspoilt planet. He had packed up his belongings and taken them back to the Tardis, now he was waiting...

But for what, the Doctor was still unsure.

As the Doctor sat in his chair in the front garden, watching the peaceful lake as the sun lit the surface and the trees along the waters edge were filled with birdsong, Clara went down the path and joined him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she stood behind him.

"So you still think he's still up to something?"

"I saw him throw something in the lake yesterday," he replied, "But he was too far away so I couldn't see what it was."

"Maybe the last of his booze? You did tell me he's kicked the habit."

"No, it wasn't a bottle. Something much smaller... I just don't know what it could be, and what ever it is, its now at the bottom of the lake."

He glanced up at her.

"Fancy going for a swim?"

She looked to the cloudy water and then back to the Doctor.

"This is an alien planet. Who knows what could be in there!"

"I know what's in there," the Doctor replied, "Leeches that suck excess fat from human bodies. You really should go for a swim, you'll come out looking like a supermodel."

And he smiled, and so did she.

"I think I'll gave that a miss, thank you Doctor!"

Then she thought some more about what he had said.

"That thing he threw in the water – how big was it?"

"Tiny," he replied, "It barely made a ripple when it hit the surface."

"Maybe he was skimming stones."

"No, he threw it to lose it - right into the middle of the lake - he wanted shot of something."

Clara gave the Doctor's shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Maybe you can try getting out of this chair soon."

"Maybe," he replied, "I want to make sure I'm healed first. I should be okay tomorrow, but I'm going to wait a little bit longer just to be sure."

Clara paused in thought for a moment, and then she spoke softly as the breeze blew warm across the water:

"I do feel sorry for him, knowing that he lost his wife. I don't think he will ever be truly happy without her."

"Then its up to him to make the most of the new life he has when we leave him on Earth," the Doctor replied, "I've done all I can for him."

"Have you?"

He looked up at her again.

"What are you suggesting, that I go back and alter his past? No Clara, I hate tinkering with time. I try so hard not to interfere and it seems I still do it everywhere I go even though I don't want to. Time is a delicate fabric."

"So is my white blouse, and a careful warm wash shifted a coffee stain that wasn't destined to stay there."

"Lives are not like coffee stains you can't compare the fabric of time to something that you put through a warm wash no matter how carefully you did it."

"Sorry, I was just trying to make a point."

"Point taken - and the answer is still no."

"But he saved your life."

The Doctor looked up at her again.

"I know that," he said, "And I'm grateful and I wish him well. But I'm not keen on the idea of messing with a time line."

"Of course not," she replied, "Why should you? You always try to be a good man and do the right thing, that makes perfect sense to me."

And she kissed him fondly, and then she went back into the house.

The Doctor sat alone at the lake thinking on her parting words and then he smiled as he shook his head.

"Oh Clara," he said softly, "You certainly know how to make a point!"


Next morning Jace was up early, he was cooking breakfast and the smell of it drifted down the hallway to the Doctor's room, walking Clara from a restful night's sleep.

"Good morning!" the Doctor said brightly.

He was up and dressed and in his chair.

"Do you need any help -"

"I tied my own shoe laces, thank you," he told her, and she sat up and blinked away sleep as she looked at the time.

"It's seven am! Come back to bed!"

"And miss all the fun?"

Now she was wide awake.

"What fun?"

"I'm taking Jace back in time to old earth today."

"And you want to leave right now?"

"Sooner the better, he's an impatient man."

"And we still don't know why he's in a hurry," Clara remarked as she got out of bed.

The Doctor watched her walk to the bathroom in a short, sheer night gown and smiled.

"Won't be long now," he promised.

She looked over her shoulder as she reached the bathroom door.

"Until what?"

"Until I'm chasing you around the bedroom!" And then he winked.

Clara smiled back at him, and then went into the bathroom and closed the door. Then the Doctor's expression changed as he thought deeply on Jace as he wondered what that man was planning...


By the time Clara was showered and dressed and had finished putting on her make up, as she looked in the mirror it surprised her how much she had changed over the space of a few short weeks:

The tension had vanished from her face, shadows that had gathered beneath her eyes after many sleepless worried nights had faded out, and her eyes now shone with confidence once more.

She thought back to all they had been through and concluded that perhaps she had to break in order to become strong again – now she was stronger than ever, now they were stronger than ever too, and it seemed to make sense that facing the crisis together had helped the Doctor to pull through.

These had not been the circumstances she had wanted to come about as their love blossomed, but that was life – something bad had happened, she had told him how she felt, he had felt the same way and now they were together, and it was working, and it was going to be good.

The fact that the Doctor was still in the wheelchair - and quite possibly always would be - did nothing to take the joy away from all she knew she had to be thankful for.

Clara turned from the mirror and left the bedroom, ready to make the journey in the Tardis that would see Jace depart to begin a new life.


"Are you sure you've got everything?" the Doctor asked as he sat in his chair beside the open door of the Tardis.

Jace looked nervously at him.

"Yeah... I've left the lab stuff, just packed up my own suitcase full of my clothes... I won't need anything else. I'm leaving everything from the past behind."

"But not your wife's picture?" Clara asked as she joined them. Jace looked at her in surprise, and then he patted the pocked of his jacket.

"Of course not, she's in here! I couldn't leave her picture behind!"

"Right," the Doctor said, "We'd better be leaving, then."

And then he paused to yawn.

"Late night?" Clara remarked.

The Doctor met her gaze and she caught a sparkle in his eyes.

"The Tardis has plenty of coffee. I'll be fine."

And then he pressed a button on the arm rest of the chair and drove through the open door, and Clara and Jace followed him inside.


As the Doctor stopped his chair beside the console, Clara closed the Tardis door, and the Doctor began to press buttons and reach for dials he could not have reached before the healing process had been complete.

"Need any help with those bags?" Clara offered, noticing Jace had two suitcases and was dragging them over to a nearby wall.

"Thanks," he said, and she reached for one of the cases.

The Doctor's hand was on a lever, ready to throw it, but he waited, watching closely as Jace stepped closer to Clara, then he saw him grab her wrist and twist it behind her back, making her cry out.

Then Jace's other hand came out of his pocket, bringing a laser pistol to her temple in a swift movement.

His hand was steady, he showed no trace of nervousness...

Now the Doctor understood what he had been planning...

"What ever he wants," Clara said as the pistol pressed to her temple and Jace held her firmly, "Don't give it to him!"

And the Doctor's hand lowered away from the lever that activated the space time controls as he looked hard at Jace.

"There is no need for this. Let her go."

"I'm sorry," Jace said as his voice choked with emotion, "I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want you or Clara to get hurt, not after what you've been through! You're both good people! But I am desperate!"

The Doctor remained calm.

"Ah, that was what I saw in your eyes – not impatience, desperation... I take it you want to steal my time machine, then?"

Jace was sweating now, and his calm resolve was crumbling, but he kept a firm grip on Clara as he pressed the gun to her temple.

"I know you won't take me back there unless I force you! I have to save Maria! What life could I have without her?"

"A new one," the Doctor replied, "Not the same as it was before, each day will have a void in it where you feel as if there's a hole inside your heart, but at least you will still have a life, Jace. That's what people do when they lose someone they love, they carry on, even though nothing is ever the same again, they carry on in their memory, or perhaps sometimes because they need to keep busy so they don't have to think about the grief, but they do carry on, because that is what happens!"

Jace drew in a sharp breath and blinked away tears.

"Take me back to the day of the transporter accident. I want to stop her boarding. And then, you will take me and my wife to earth, old earth, where we can live our days as she wanted us to, on our farm!"

"What if I told you that will never happen?" the Doctor said quietly as he fixed his gaze on Jace, who jabbed the gun harder against Clara's temple.

"Doctor!" she said in alarm, "Stop it!"

The Doctor backed away from the console and drove his chair closer to Jace.

"You wont harm either of us. I think you're more upset about the fact that you felt you had to betray us, that is what is hurting you, because you are not the kind of man to harm anyone, are you?"

"You don't know that!" Jace said, "Don't push me to do something I regret!"

"If you fire that thing in here you won't just kill Clara," he replied, "You will shoot her of course, but the laser will cut through her and then out of the exit wound and quite possibly damage the controls of this ship. Obviously, I'm keen to avoid Clara damage, but my ship has to come first! Put the gun down before you kill us all or cause irreparable damage to the fabric of space and time. A damaged time machine could have lethal consequences for the whole of the universe!"

His hand began to tremble as he kept the gun pressed to Clara's temple.

She drew in a sharp breath and began to speak:

"Listen Jace, the Doctor is right. You're not a killer. You're not the sort of man to kill your friends to get what you want!"

"You have no idea what it's like for me!" he said, and as he spoke, tears ran down his face.

The Doctor was still sitting in front of him in the wheel chair, and he looked at Jace intently.

"Tell me what it is like for you, Jace?"

"Empty!" he said bitterly, "Every day she's gone is like I'm living half a life! I can't live without her any longer!"

"I've lost people too," the Doctor replied, "Do you really want me to go through the kind of grief you suffer, all over again? Because I will if you pull that trigger. You know how much she means to me, you know how precious life is and how precious love is and what a difference it makes, that is why you worked so hard to save me!"

"I did," Jace agreed, "So you could be with Clara, because you love her."

"You haven't once asked me if I could take you back to Maria. You just assumed I would say no. And I did consider the idea, I thought about it and decided against it, because when the thought crossed my mind I knew I would be altering the course of destiny. I try not to do that too often as a Time Lord, because experience has taught me that sometimes the smallest ripple in the lake of time can have big consequences. Speaking of lakes, what did you throw in the water, Jace?"

And the Doctor spotted a look of panic in his eyes.

"What was it?" he asked again, "I want to hear you say it, because I think I've worked it out."

And he moved his chair even closer to Jace.

"I'm warning you," Jace said, and he kept a tight grip on Clara as he swung the guns aim towards the Doctor, "Don't come any closer! Just take me back, do as I say and no one gets hurt!"

The Doctor shifted his chair even closer still.

Clara thought about struggling to break free from Jace's grip, but Jace had his finger hovering on the trigger and that laser pistol was pointed straight in the Doctor's face, and the Doctor was looking at him calmly, as Jace's hand trembled... It was too risky and she knew it – if she made a break for freedom, the slightest movement could see Jace hit the trigger...

"I said, do as I say!" Jace ordered, "Get over there and back to the controls, Doctor. You're taking me back to Maria!"

The Doctor was still perfectly calm.

"No I'm not, I don't take orders given down the sight of a laser weapon, Jace."

He steadied his aim.

"Get back."

"Doctor," Clara said urgently, "I think he means it..."

"I don't care what he means," the Doctor replied, and he reached out his hand, while his gaze locked on Jace.

"Don't make me do it!" Jace warned him.

"Doctor, he's going to shoot!"Clara said in alarm.

The Doctor's hand remained stretched out for the weapon.

"I'll kill you!" Jace warned him.

The Doctor leaned forward in his chair as he reached closer for the laser pistol.

His eyes met with the desperate gaze of Jace Earl.

"Give me the gun!" the Doctor said sharply.