ClockWork Angel
Chapter 11
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Time was unravelling, set askew in order to save one girl, but she was a magnificent girl at that. One that had sacrificed her entire existence in order to save a mad man in a blue box. If he could not save her now, she would forever be trapped, watching from the distance, unseen by even himself. In some ways, she was older than he, much older, much more clever, much kinder, much more innocent.
He had delved blindly into a situation, once again, without thinking about what sort of consequences there might be involved. Because of this, not only had he almost lost his friends, he had lost his wife, once again. Oh, how he wished she were still alive, perhaps he could face one of his greatest fears if he she had survived.
Giving a shake of his head, trying to dispel the memories, but only succeeding in dislodging his hair, he moved on, carrying his burden in his arms. Clara Oswin Oswald, the Impossible Girl was possibly the most amazing woman he had ever come across. Things made so much more sense, the mystery surrounding her was but a distant memory.
He had turned from his past self, the one who had acted against the name of the Doctor and began his trek out of the time lone. His other self shouted for him to look out, causing him to look up suddenly from the pale face of Clara. However, it had been seconds too late, the Great Intelligence was not as gone as they had thought. It's disembodied form held a great distraction as what remained of the Silence reached into his chest, pulling at one of his hearts.
He ripped himself free, stumbling back, a gaping wound not far from where one of his hearts used to beat. Now it quivered vainly in his ribs and he knew his time was close at hand. His other self stepped forward, placing a hand upon his shoulder, giving him a shove through a vortex he had not noticed before. The two of them falling, looking back at the scene before them.
"Silence will fall when a question is answered. The name of The Doctor is..."
He did not hear what was said, he did not need to, but he was surprised as the Silence literally fell at the feet of the man who is not The Doctor, but himself all the same. Everything began to twist and snap, holding onto Clara was all he could do to stave off unconsciousness. He stumbled from his time line which was cracking and wavering in an unstable way.
Now free from his own time line, they needed to leave. It appeared as if the others had already gone, so he stumbled his way back toward HIS Tardis, not this shell of one. He was growing weaker by the minute and was unsure if he would make it to safety, let alone if Clara would survive the trip. A groan from the woman alerted him to her waking and he set her down, deciding he needed to rest...
"Doctor?" Clara questioned as she rubbed her head, standing and he chuckled dryly at her timing.
"Yeah, I'm here, can you help me up?" He asked, now that he had stopped moving, he was finding it hard to get back up.
The horror written on her face was enough for him to know he was not going to make it out of this one alive. He had seen that look many times, too many times...
"Listen, we need to get back to the Tardis, she'll get us out of here, I'm sure of it. Even though we have saved the past, my future is collapsing, I-I don't know what that means, just that we need to go." He grunted, holding back a cry of agony in hopes to keep Clara calm and thinking clearly.
"Hold on Doctor, we'll get help, I promise." Clara sniffed, dragging him to his feet as best she could.
A rumble told him they did not have much time. Hurrying as fast as he could, he guided her back through the maze of catacombs they had entered in before the Tardis came into view. Another rumble collapsed the tunnels behind them and showered them in soot and rubble, mixing splendidly with the blood on his shirt.
No wait, that other thing, grit in the wounds was bad...
Clara pushed open the doors of the Tardis for them and he could feel his long time friend's agony at his condition, she gave a small wurr, letting him know she was there for him, yet again. Clara was oblivious to the communication, but she went to the console to try her best to get the Tardis going.
"Doctor, don't pass out, I don't know how to fly the Tardis!" She shouted in a panic. He did not remember her being that close and could only assume he had passed out at some point, they were not out of the woods yet, he had to hold on just a little longer.
"Push that leaver and pull that button." Clara looked at him dumb founded for a moment before he realized what he had said.
"Reverse that, pull the leaver, push the button!" He ground out, letting out a strangled scream of pain as his second heart attempted to compensate for the loss of the other. His temperature was slowly climbing with the effort and it was unbearably hot all of the sudden.
Complete cardiac arrest was looming over him, but he had to hang on long enough to get Clara home safely. He watched as best he could as she did as instructed, the two switches should have been activated at the same time, but as the were not, it caused the Tardis to lurch. He had expected this, as for the longest time it was only him running the controls. Memories of past companions and their time piloting the Tardis comforted him some and he wondered, if he truly died this time, would he see some of them again in the after life?
"Turn that one there and we're home free..." Clara was a good little trooper, he hated the thought of leaving her behind, especially now that he had just gotten to know how much she really meant to him and how much she had given up for him.
A backlash from the collapse of his future rocked the Tardis, but he did not feel it. In fact, he felt very little in that moment, except the overwhelming darkness that claimed what little consciousness he had fought to keep.
He had saved the Impossible Girl, he could rest, for now...
