Chapter 12: Perfectly Normal

Jack was still amazed at the difference of the TARDIS control room. The old one had been very bright but this one seemed gloomier… Odd considering the Doctor seemed much happier than he had ever seen him. However, there was a sort of magic in that new model which made it seem much more alive yet much more like a machine. Whatever it was, she still hated him, he knew that. Then again, he was an anomaly which couldn't be explained away. It was in her instincts to hate him.

"So, how long's it been like this?" Jack asked the Doctor when he appeared from the level underneath him.

The Doctor considered it before dumping a load of bits and pieces onto the floor in order to free his hands. Jack took a quick look at the items while the Doctor continued to think about his response. There were at least half a dozen pieces of pipe-like components, colourful wires bent into different shapes and another dozen things he couldn't even describe as they looked like nothing he had ever seen before.

"About a year, in human terms anyway" the Doctor replied before abandoning the items and moving over to work at the console.

Jack smiled as he watched him work. It had been a long time since he had seen him and although he had a new face, just spending time with him again was deeply satisfying.

"Don't suppose my old room's still here?" he asked.

"Um…" the Doctor began before clicking a button and pulling a lever, "It is now. Down that corridor, second door on the right."

Jack turned to look at the corridor which he was referring to before nodding slightly.

"Thanks." he expressed, "So how long have you two been together?"

The Doctor scratched the side of his face. "Not sure." he confessed, "I might be a Timelord but I don't keep track of time that well."

Jack smiled slightly. "And you're married?" he queried.

The Doctor laughed slightly. "What is this?" he asked, "Twenty questions?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Am I not allowed to ask?" he quizzed,

The Doctor rolled his eyes before removing his jacket and tossing it over the bar.

"Five weeks." he answered to his earlier question, "We've been married five weeks."

Jack smirked. "I take it my invitation got lost in the Time Vortex?"

The Doctor laughed a little before nodded. "Yeah that's it…" he teased, "But no. We didn't invite anyone. It was just a little private ceremony on a beach."

Jack tilted his head slightly to the side. "It's funny." he stated, "Never imagined you as a married man."

"Yeah…" agreed the Doctor as he sieved though his memories, "Nine was never really into the whole family thing, Ten was…"

"Cheeky." interrupted Jack.

The Doctor smiled. "Cheeky." he concurred, remembering Jack calling him that when he met him as Ten for the first time, "And then there's me…"

Jack smiled as the Doctor broke away from his eye contact and began to fiddle with the golden wedding ring sat on his finger.

"Well, goodnight Doctor." Jack stated after a moment.

The Doctor looked back up at him and smiled. "Night." he responded before Jack disappeared down the stairs and out of the room.

The Doctor sighed to himself before turned back to the console. His mind then raced through everything that had happened to him and Clara over the last few days. Yes, he was glad they'd gotten her checked out and rather happy to discover he was to become a Dad once again, but there was something at the back of his mind which was bugging him, a lot…

With the click of a few buttons, he pulled up some data about Clara's scans. His most immediate attention returned to the original pregnancy test. Although when he scanned her now the scanner said positive, he couldn't understand why it had come up inconclusive. Then again, maybe he was just looking to deep into it.

He then continued to pull up all the information about Bronwin and her seven incarnations. His fact files on each were all filed in now but he still couldn't put it all together. However, he now had a plausible theory which explained the majority of the things about her that he had seen… but there were still certain elements which he couldn't understand. It wasn't so much as who she was anymore, it was more what was she?

x-[]-x

He had considered on numerous occasions whether or not he should go to bed. It wasn't that he was tired, but like most nights now, he liked to lie at Clara's side. Not only was it because he liked to be in close proximity to her, he liked to be there when she had yet another one of her nightmares. Although he couldn't actually stop them, he didn't want her to face them alone.

While he was in the process of trying to upgrade the console, the TARDIS suddenly shuddered for a moment. He quickly grabbed hold of the console as he lost his balance but as the shuddering only lasted several seconds, it wasn't long before he was back on his feet.

"What was that about?" he queried, pulling the screen around to him in order to scan the area.

However, there was nothing that he could see which warranted that reaction from the TARDIS. It didn't make sense… everything was perfectly normal…

Clara shot up from her bed, her hands entangled in the covers. Her breathing was heavy and her face plastered in sweat despite the fact that the bedroom was rather cold.

The images she had just seen weren't pleasant, and that was putting it nicely. Usually she would have dismissed them for just being another nightmare but there was something, she didn't know what, but there was something about those particular images which felt different, scarily different.

Without a second thought, she whipped her legs out of bed and let her feet feel the floor in search of her slippers, or at least any type of warm footwear which she usually left at the side of the bed. After finding them and slipping them on, she retrieved her silk dressing gown from the dresser and wrapped it around herself before heading out of the room.

Her steps were rapid, almost as quick and sharp as her breathing. Although she had the general idea about where the control room was, she knew the TARDIS had a tendency to move certain rooms around. It wasn't normally that extreme, usually it was to help her find certain rooms or keep her away from others, but she sincerely hope that at that time, the control room would be where she expected it to be.

She frantically walked down the metal corridors, deeply startled as she walked head first into Jack after turning a corner.

She gasped as he caught her shoulders to stop her face planting his chest.

"Whoa!" he cried, "You alright?"

She nodded up at him. "W-What are doin'?" she queried.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm trying to find my room but, I don't think my friend here wants me to find it." he explained as he tapped the wall with his fingertips.

Clara frowned a little. "She won't help you find your room?" she questioned.

"Oh no, I found it." he informed her, "Then I sneezed, blinked momentarily and then it was gone… I shouldn't be surprised really, she's never really liked me."

Usually Clara would have found that slightly amusing but her mind was filled with too many unpleasant images for her to enjoy that fact.

Jack could see that something was wrong as she definitely wasn't the happy, bubbly person he had met earlier that day.

"Are you okay?" she queried.

Clara couldn't lie, no matter how much she wanted too, and she found herself shaking her head in response.

"Excuse me." she said before pushing past him and heading towards the control room.

She walked a little further and turned through the main passage which connected the corridor with the room she was indeed looking for.

"Doctor?" she called quietly, her voice not going much higher without her physically shouting.

The Doctor immediately looked up at her call. He frowned and crossed the floor in order to lean on the bar as he looked down at her.

"Clara?" he queried, "What are you doing up? I just put you to bed."

Jack entered the control room moments later but remained on the outskirts, careful not to get too close to her as she looked very jumpy, maybe even paranoid about something.

The Doctor examined his wife closely before travelling down the steps and meeting her teary gaze. She was shaking rather violently; he couldn't tell whether that was due to tiredness, coldness or fear. Whichever it was, he didn't like it…

"What's wrong?" he queried.

Clara looked up towards the console before looking back at her husband's worried gaze.

"What happened?" she asked him.

The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean 'what happened'?" he enquired.

"What 'appened on the planet?" she quizzed.

The Doctor briefly made eye contact with Jack who looked equally as confused as he felt before looking back at Clara.

"What planet?" he asked her.

Clara sighed. "A minute ago, the TARDIS shook due to a shockwave which originated from a planet." she told him, "But what 'appened? What caused the shockwave?"

The Doctor's frown intensified as he placed his hand on the side of her face and began stroking the area just under her ear.

"How do you know all this?" he questioned, his concern growing more and more every minute.

Clara looked up at him like it should have been obvious. "Because I saw it." she responded.

The Doctor once again exchanged a worried glance with Jack.

"Just show me the planet!" demanded Clara, "Please…"

The Doctor looked back at her once again. He could tell that whatever she had seen, however she had seen it, it was scaring her. The only way to ease her mind was to do what she requested, show her everything was okay.

"Alright." he agreed before taking her hand and walking up the stairs with her, always physically one step ahead.

Jack also followed as the Doctor brought up the only planet they had passed within the last hour or so and displayed it on the screen.

"The planet Kradus Bajoria." he said, allowing both Clara and Jack to view the screen, "Perfectly normal."

The Doctor looked down at Clara who was intensely examining the image on the screen.

"I wanna see it." she told him adamantly, her eyes not leaving the image for a second, "I wanna see it now."

The Doctor sighed and nodded slowly. "Okay." he agreed before pulling a few levers and landing the TARDIS.

Clara dashed over to the door. The Doctor and Jack soon followed, the Doctor retrieving his jacket in the process and whipping it on.

Clara opened the door hastily and dashed outside, immediately followed by Jack and the Doctor. What greeted them made all of their jaws drop in horror. The Doctor and Jack were the most horrified, Clara had somehow expected it.

The entire environment was dark, a thick black smoke hovering above them and blocking out the sun, making the planet surface seem very cold. Remains of building stood up in front of them, but just barely. The most common sight was just rubble and ash. There was certainly nothing living there, not now.

"What the hell happened here?" Jack queried.

The Doctor shook his head. "No idea." he confessed.

Clara, who was still looking at the remains of what she knew was a town square, gulped.

"They all burnt…" she whispered, "Everything burnt…"

The Doctor looked over at his wife and could see her struggling with whatever it was that she knew.

He slowly walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"They screamed…" she explained, her voice cracking as he cries broke though, "They screamed so loud… The fire came thick and fast, burning them as they screamed… the only thing left is their ashes…"

The Doctor couldn't stand to see her that upset so within seconds, she was in his arms. She sobbed into his chest while he stroked the back of her head.

Jack looked over at the Doctor who was rather worried that Clara somehow knew what had happened before they had even landed.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Jack quietly.

The Doctor nodded.

"If this is your definition of 'perfectly normal'," he started, "What exactly is the definition of bad in your books?"