Clara walked around the console, arms crossed as the Doctor eagerly followed, Star watching highly amused from the steps.
"You said…" the Doctor began again.
"I know what I said," Clara rolled her eyes; "I was the one who said it."
"You said I was looking at you funny." Well so Star had told him she'd called the TARDIS a grumpy old cow.
A cow!
She'd called the TARDIS, their beloved TARDIS, a cow. They needed to sort of their relationship if she was going to be their companion.
"I was tired. Overwrought. I didn't mean it. It's an appliance. It does it job."
"An appliance!" Star cried, outraged, "that's worse than grumpy old cow!"
"And it's a pretty cool appliance," the Doctor tapped the console fondly, "we're no talking cheese grater here!"
"You're not getting me to talk to your ship," Clara argued, "that's properly bonkers."
"It's ok. Its ok." The Doctor stroked the console.
"You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." Star quoted.
"You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves." Clara continued.
"Its important to us you get along," the Doctor remarked, "Star and I could leave you alone together."
"Now you're creeping me out."
"Alright," Star jumped up and skipped over, "how about a piloting lesson?" she offered.
"Sounds good." She nodded.
"I'll make it easy; shut it down to basic mode for you." the Doctor told her.
"Basic!" Clara raised an eyebrow in mock-offence, "cos im a girl?"
"No, cos your human." Star blinked, "Im a girl but im better than him."
"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, turning a key taking it to basics.
~.~
Clara smiled as they lesson actually went quite well. Not only was she learning how to pilot a spaceship, but the box they lived in and was also bonding with the old girl at the same time. She reached for a switch and flicked it as they didn't stop her, she assumed it to be the right one…when the room went dark. "What have I done" she quickly pulled her hand away and the lights flashed red.
"Er…ok." The Doctor frowned, moving to look at the monitor that began to crack.
"Doctor?"
"All the electrical impulses are jammed." He flicked a few switched,
"I can't get the shields back up," Star grunted trying to push a lever up, "she's completely vulnerable."
"I swear I just touched it." Clara insisted.
The Doctor came over to help pull the lever down and succeeded…only for sparks to fly and the TARDIS to lurch, throwing the three of them backwards.
"Magnetic hobble-field." The Doctor called, as he made his way back to the console "we're flying right into it. Clara stay by me."
Clara struggled to make her way back to the console and grabbed on tightly, "please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this."
"A big friendly button." Star nodded from the other side of the console.
"Are you lying?" she eyed her, she was never sure if the girl was lying or telling the truth.
"Yup."
"To stop me freaking out?"
"It's meant to work." She pouted.
"Well its not."
A device rolled onto the floor and Clara picked it up only for it to burn her hand and dropped it with a gasped.
Another explosion went off and they screamed…
~.~
Star slowly came to, she was lying on the floor in one on the corridors, the emergency lights glowing red and a flat piece of metal lying on her. She moved the metal off her and looked around to see she was alone, "Doctor?" she called, "Clara?" she rolled her eyes, of course it was just her luck to have gotten separated and trapped in the TARDIS.
She jumped up and headed down the hall, aiming for the console room, knowing she'd be able to either get out or at least contact them from there. At the end of the hall she came to a closed door with a red light flashing above it.
"Red light," she murmured, "warning light. Gonna avoid that for now."
She continued on and round the corner to a clear corridor when something on the wall caught her eye. A long claw like scratch running along it, putting her hand up to it and it matched her hand.
She swallowed hard, being even more cautious now as she continued on.
She tensed hearing a growl. It wasn't like she was scared, it actually took quite a lot to scare her nowadays, she could get freaked out or spooked but not scared, mainly because she knew the Doctor would always make sure she was safe.
But still, she didn't want to find out the source of the growl, so she quickly opened the door and found herself in the storage room; she closed the door and smiled at the sight. Directly in front of her was the cot, her cot, Rivers cot, whoever else needed a cot. She swiped her hand along the mobile, smiling to herself and spotted the toy TARDIS Amy made as a child, the Doctors multicoloured umbrella and a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes, Rory's penlight…
She blinked and took a step back; wanting to be sure she had seen that. Ignoring the hums around her when she had indeed seen what ever that was and she quickly ran out of the room.
"You know I don't understand you when you hum." Star called quietly to the TARDIS as she hummed. The old girl was fond of her and did try to protect her, but she couldn't understand her hums, she wasn't a TARDIS farmer and she hadn't been brought up near TARDIS so naturally she couldn't understand them.
She ran down the corridor, the creature following her, although she was sure this one was a different one. She past the observatory and the pool. She spotted a door, the door to the library, brilliant, she ran in and ducked behind a shelf, she peeked around the edge of the shelf, seeing the creature pass and ran down another row, the best thing about the library was the many levels and rows to hide down.
She ran up the stairs to the next level and looked down, looking for the creature, "where are you?" she whispered to herself, "show yourself." She squinted down the far isle to see a shadow creature, a small one, not child height, but…Clara height. Seeing the creature over at the far end, she hurried back down the stairs and out the way she came in and ran down the corridor, needing to get to the console room, but needed something else first.
She ran into her bedroom, grabbing Theta bear and froze, hearing a growl outside the door. She stayed still and quiet, hoping it wouldn't know she was there and would pass.
Slowly she peeked out her door and let out a breath to see the corridor clear, no creatures in sight. She ran down the corridor to the console room.
~.~
"Oh thank god." She breathed as she found herself in the dark console room.
She ran up to the console and brought the scanner round when a piece of the controls fell off. She frowned and picked it up, the way it fell, like it was knocked off.
She began to type a message 'Hello old man.'
'Are you ok?' was the response.
'Fine. Are you, is Clara?'
'We're fine.'
She let out a breath and kissed two fingers placing them on the rotor, knowing the Doctor was likely doing the same, "thank you, old girl."
'I need to get to you' she typed.
She gasped, hearing footsteps outside the room and one of the creatures stepped into the room. "Any moment now!" she called out, despite the Doctor couldn't hear her.
She stepped back to where the doors should be and closed her eyes when she felt someone holding her tightly, and squeezed onto the Doctor, hugging him tightly.
"It's all right." He whispered to her, "im so, so sorry. Please, please forgive me…"
"You're always forgiven." She snuggled into his chest.
"I'm glad you're ok." Clara ran over and hugged her, "he is lost without you."
"Hello," she smiled, noticing two black men there with them, "who are you? Im Star."
"Tricky…" the young of the two said, eying the Doctor at how quickly he went from threatening them to smiling widely just by her being there.
"And you?" she looked at the older one.
"Gregor," he answered.
"Your ok..." the Doctor breathed, keeping her in his arms. he had been terrified whwn he discovered she was still in the TARDIS, in danger, gone out of his wits to get her back, and now she was safe and in his arms.
"Care to tell us what that creature was Doctor?" Clara asked, crossing her arms.
"You encountered one too?" Star looked at them.
"Too?" the Doctor stiffened.
"Yeah, I ran away from them. Went to get Theta bear." She hugged the bear to her chest, "I got lonely. I forgot how lonely being alone could get." She added quietly.
"Alright, alright," Gregor cut in, "a deals a deal. You got your girl back. Now cancel the self-destruct."
"There's a self destruct?" Star blinked.
"Ah, yes," the Doctor nodded slowly, "the…self destruct. Yeah, there is no self destruct. Hey! Hey! Hey! Had you going, though, boys, didn't I? I just wiggled a few buttons. The old wiggly-button trick. And the face, you've got to do the face, 'save her or we all die'. I thought I rushed it a bit, but…"
"So you're telling me we're safe?" Tricky frowned.
"Ish. Apart from the monsters and the TARDIS reinventing the architecture every 5 minutes. Guys, don't worry, the countdowns a fake. Look, just give me just a second. I'll turn it off." He flicked a few switches, "I only made it look as though the engine was actually exploding." An alarm when off, "ah." the screen read 'Engine Overload' "that's not good. Ok. Don't panic, or maybe panic."
"Something you want to share with the rest of us?" Clara demanded.
"The engines damaged." Star told her, "we're in big, big trouble and it needs fixing."
"So now would be a good time to use that big friendly button, right?"
"Yeah, sorry, I should had one built in." the Doctor called as he soniced one of the panels below the console.
"Where are we going?" Tricky asked.
"Detour." He knelt down, as the panel fell inwards, "the centre of the TARDIS."
~.~
The Doctor and Star led the way through the corridors, along with Clara and Tricky and Gregor, when a shadow passed them, "shush!" Clara hissed, "Something's in here."
"Those…things," Tricky whispered, "they've followed us."
"Doctor, Star, what are they? What aren't you telling me?"
"Trust me," Star turned to her, "something's you don't wanna know."
"They're on the move again!" Gregor cried as one moved behind them.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted, "move, move!"
They ran down the corridor when Star looked back only to see Clara had gotten lost. "Clara!?" she called out.
"This way!" the Doctor called, getting her trace on the scanner, "you two stay here!"
~.~
They ran off to see Clara standing talking to the Doctor, who didn't see her,
"…say something." She waved a hand in his face.
"Clara," Star ran up to her, "you mustn't touch!"
"There's a rupture in time somewhere onboard the ship." The Doctor explained, "A small tear in the fabric of the continuum. It must have happened when the TARDIS was pulled in by the salvage vessel."
Star took her hand and pulled her along, "the TARDIS is leaking."
"Leaking what?" she asked.
"The past. The three of us."
"Everything we've done," the Doctor added, "everything we've said. Recent history. It's not real. It's a memory."
They came to a halt when a creature in front of them, this one the shortest of them all.
"What about this one?" Clara whispered.
"If you're giving me the option," the Doctor remarked, "I'd ay, 'this ones real.'"
Star kicked the creature back and they ran away from it, it chased them as it quickly recovered from the kick.
"She's right onto us." Star called.
Clara stopped "she?"
"Clara, don't ask us anymore," the Doctor yanked her hand and pulled her into a small niche to the side, the three of them pressed together as the creature paused.
"You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves." Past Clara appeared before them, past Doctor and Star following her.
"It's important to us you getting along…" past Doctor told her.
The creature followed their past versions and the Doctor, Star and Clara stepped out when there was a groaning and the Time Lords looked up.
"What's that noise?" Clara breathed.
"We're right under the primary fuel cells." Star stated.
"So? So? So what?"
"So…so the fuel has spilled out." The Doctor sighed, "So the rods will be exposed. Means they'll cool…"
"And start to warp."
"And start to warp. Maybe even…"
"No. you don't say it. Don't you dare say it."
"Maybe even break apart." Star finished, and a large rod shoot down at an angle directly in front of them, making them jump back.
"Run?" Clara guessed.
"I'm liking how you're thinking." The Doctor agreed.
"Yeah."
They turn and ran down the corridor, ducking and dodging the rods as they shot out through the walls and found Gregor and Tricky, Tricky unfortunately had been impaled through his shoulder.
"You made it though." Clara gasped.
"What's the matter with you?" Tricky demanded to his brother, "Why wont you cut me?"
"Tell him." the Doctor rounded on Gregor.
"Tell me what?"
"You cant, can you? You're a coward. You wont save him, but you're scared to tell him why."
"What's he going on about?"
"Robots don't need blast suits. They don't need respirators. They don't get frightened of monsters in the dark."
"What's he talking about?" Tricky repeated.
The Doctor shined the sonic in the mans eyes, "two bionic eyes and a synthetic voice box. But you, my friend, are human. Flesh and blood."
Tricky stared at Gregor, hurt and lost.
"It was a joke." Gregor said quietly.
"What..?" Tricky breathed.
"It was just a stupid joke. We did it to relieve the boredom."
"Oh, it was so funny," Star spat at Gregor, "they lied to you. Changed your identity. Just to provide some in-flight-entertainment!"
"Im sorry," Gregor apologised, "you're human, Tricky."
"Cut the metal," the Doctor ordered, "cut the metal!" he clapped his hands together, "go!"
Gregor picked up his laser and began to cut through the rod.
~.~
The Doctor and Star led the group down the hall with Tricky staggering behind, his arm bandaged. They stopped at a thick strolled door with a round window.
"Where are we?" Clara asked.
"Power source," the Doctor replied, peeking through the window, "right you lot stay here. Star a d I'll check if it's safe. We can only survive a minute or two in there."
Clara tapped him on the shoulder as he moved to enter, "um...what happens if we stay longer?"
"Our cells will liquefy and our skin will start to burn," Star stated bluntly.
"I always feel so good after I've spoken to either of you."
"Marvellous," the Doctor smiled, "keep this door shut," he opened the door and they stepped through.
"That will not be a problem," Clara remarked, shutting it behind them.
They blinked in the light before quickly running across the catwalk to the door at the far end. The Doctor opened the door with the sonic and they looked out before closing it and running back along the catwalk and out the door again to see Tricky charging at Gregor.
"Tricky, listen to me," the Doctor held him back, "ask yourself why he couldn't cut you up. He had just one tiny scarp of decency left in him. You just helped him find that, ok? Now you," he looked at Gregor, "don't ever forget this."
"We have to hurry," Star called, opening the door again, "Move!" she ushered them in and closed it once they were all in only to see them all staring at the Eye of Harmony, a giant star hanging in the darkness above them.
"The Eye of Harmony," the Doctor explained quickly, "exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering, you rip the star from its orbit, suspend it in a permanent state of decay. This way," he motioned them in, "quickly."
The men followed the Doctor, Gregor helping his brother, as Clara stared at the Eye a little longer.
"Clara," Star called softly, taking her hand and following them...only for them to open the door and a creature with its hand on its face, another behind, one with hands on its hips, waiting for them.
They slammed it shut and ran back the way they came only for another to be there.
"There's no way out!" Gregor shouted, "We're trapped!"
Star ran with the Doctor to the other door when Clara rugged her back from the hand she was still holding. "You're going to tell me now! If we're going to die in here, tell me what they are!"
"We can't," Star shook her head.
"Tell me! What's the use in secrets now!"
"Secrets protect us!" the Doctor told her, "secrets make us safe!"
"We're not safe!" Clara argued.
"Sensors detects animal DNA," Tricky's scanner called, "human core element. Calculating data. Calculating data..."
"No, no," the Doctor tried to grab it, "turn it off!"
"Lancashire. Sass. Identifiable substance. Clara."
"That's me," Clara breathed. Staring at it. It was the same height as her, same build, but...ashy and burnt.
"I'm so sorry," Star whispered, but...it wasn't just Clara, it was all of them. Even her and the Doctor, everyone in the room.
Clara swallowed peering out the window, "it's me. I die in here."
"It isn't just the past leaking out through the time rift." the Doctor said, "It's the future. Listen," he grabbed her face, "we brought you here to keep you safe. But it happened again. You died again."
Clara blinked and looked between them, "what do you mean again?"
The Doctor rubbed a hand through his hair as Star readjusted her corset, both uncomfortable with the conversation. When they glanced at each other, one creature had a hand to its face while another had hands on her hips, as though adjusting her corset; see quickly moved her hands away as the Doctor ran to the brothers standing back to back at the door.
"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted, "as long as we interrupt the timeline this can't happen." he tried to push them apart, "don't touch each other otherwise the future will reassure itself." he pulled them to the centre of the catwalk as one of the creatures pushed through the door. The one with its hand fused to it head grabbed Gregor by the pack on his back, "Gregor! Gregor let go of the circuit!"
"Just let it go!" tricky tried.
"Drop it!" Star yelled, "Let go!"
Gregor slipped out of the pack and backed away to the others as Tricky swung at the creature and it fell over the rail. They ran to the door when the creature fused together appeared there, stopping them.
Tricky hit the creature with a crowbar and kicked it over the rail. It fell taking Tricky with it when Gregor grabbed him.
"Don't touch him or time will reassure itself," Star warned.
Gregor helped his brother onto the catwalk but it was too late, they fused together and turned into the creature and advanced in the trio who ran out of the other door.
"The engine room!" Star shouted, leading the way down the corridor and through a door…only to almost fall of a cliff ledge.
"We're outside." Clara stated.
"No, we're still in the TARDIS."
"There's no way across."
"No." the Doctor admitted, "ok, you're right."
"So what do we do?" Clara asked them, "time for a plan. Do you have a plan?"
"Well, no. no plan, sorry."
"If you don't have a plan, we're dead!"
"Yes, we are. So just tell us."
"Tell you what?" she shook her head.
The Doctor glanced at Star who nodded, "well, there's no point now, we're about to die, so just tell us who you are."
"You know who I am,"
"No, we don't," the Doctor argued, "we see you every day but we don't understand you. Why do we keep running into you?"
"You invited me," Clara frowned, "you said…"
"Before that."
"We met you in the Dalek Asylum." Star told her, "there was a girl in a shipwreck and she died saving us. And she was you."
"She really wasn't." Clara shook her head.
"Victorian London." The Doctor added, "There was a governess who was a barmaid, and we fought the Great Intelligence together, she died and it was MY fault, and she was you."
"You're scaring me."
"Who are you?" Star asked, "what are you?"
"Are you a trick?" the Doctor eyed her, suspicious because just because she acts sweet and scared she may be a danger to Star, "a trap?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Clara whispered, backing away from them and almost falling off the ledge when the Doctor grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, "alright, alright."
"You really don't, do you?" Star eyed her. She was suspicious of her, yes, but she also loved Clara and if she said she didn't know, maybe she didn't know.
"I think im more scared of you right now than anything else on that TARDIS." Clara breathed.
"You're just Clara, aren't you?" the Doctor laughed, as he pinched her cheek and both Time Lords hugging her.
"Ok. I don't know what the hell this is about but the hug is really nice."
"We're not dying here." Star decided, "This isn't real. It's a snarl." She threw a rock over the edge.
"What?"
"What does a wounded animal do?" the Doctor asked her, "it tried to scared everyone away. We're close to the engine. The TARDIS is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off."
"We need to jump." Star grinned.
"You're insane" Clara stated.
"Yes I am."
"We'll cross a portal to the engine." The Doctor clapped his hands.
"How can you be so sure?" Clara wondered.
"Well, I can't."
"Ok, well, that's watertight."
The Doctor wagged his finger at him, "hey now, Clara, I've piloted this ship for over 900 years. Trust me this on time, please."
"Just this once?" Star raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ok. Ok. As well as all the other times. Ready?" Star told his hand in one of his and Clara in the other, "Geronimo." They ran and leapt of the cliff…landing in a white room with bits of machinery suspended throughout the room.
"The heart of the TARDIS." Star murmured. "The engine, it's already exploded. Must have been the collision with the salvage ship."
"We're not dead." Clara stated.
"She wrapped her hands around the force," the Doctor explained, "froze it."
"So…so it's safe?"
"Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for me, for us, taken care of me. And now it's my turn and I don't know what to do. It…it just…" he smiled as Star squeezed his hand.
"We'll think of something." Star promised, "You and me."
This was the TARDIS, their TARDIS and even now she was still protecting them and they had no idea how to help her when they needed too. The TARDIS was their home, they needed to do something.
Clara took the Doctor's hand in support and he looked at her burn to see 'big friendly button' burned on her palm, "beautiful fragile human skin." He kissed her palm, "Like parchment. Thank you. The rift in time. All the memories leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find…the music." They ran down the hall.
And into the console room where there was a crack in the wall under the console and walked over to it, the Doctor scanning it with the sonic, "the time rift. Recent past. Possible future."
"What are you going to do?" Clara asked.
The Doctor pulled out the remote he took from the men and used the sonic to write on it, "rewrite today, I hope. I've thrown this through the rift, before. I need to make sure this time."
"You're going to take it yourself aren't you?" Star guessed.
"Yes, I am." He nodded.
"There will be screaming."
"I am aware."
"You're an idiot."
"Yes I am." He blinked realising what she had just said, "why am I?"
She smiled sadly at him, "I can handle screaming better than you." she held her hand out, "please."
He hesitated, knowing it would hurt and he didn't want her to get hurt in going but she was stronger to do it, "alright." He handed her the device.
"Is it going to hurt?" Clara frowned.
"Yup." She headed to the rift.
"Wait! All those things you said. How we've met before. How I dead."
"Clara, don't worry," the Doctor assured her, "you'll forget. Time mends us. It can mend anything."
"I don't want to forget." She admitted, "not all of it." she wanted to know why for a moment neither of them had trusted her, why they were so sure they'd met her twice before.
"If I rewrite today, you won't remember." Star remarked.
"You'll still have secrets."
"Better than way." The Doctor patted her cheek. "Be quick." He called to Star and she winked stepping through the crack, to see the past her and the Doctor and Clara stumbling around the console just after they were caught by the mango-grab.
"Magnetic hobble-field. We're flying right into it. Clara, stay by me!"
"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this." Clara called.
"A big friendly button," his past self nodded.
"Doctor!" She shouted to her past father as he stumbled around the railing, "Doctor! Im from the future. You're future. Haven't got long. Reset deil." She threw the deil in Clara's direction and disappeared back through the crack.
~.~
The Doctor stood polishing the centre column as Clara entered having changed and showered, "I feel exhausted." She remarked, "I feel…"
"As through we've had two days crammed into the space of one?" Star guessed as she sat on the steps.
"Why would you say that?"
"I don't know. I ramble. I say things that don't make much sense to anyone but me sometimes I don't even understand what im saying."
"And me." The Doctor agreed, "do you feel safe?" he asked Clara after a moment.
"Of course." She nodded.
"Give me a number out of 10. 10 being whoo-hoo, 1 being aarrrgh!"
"11!" Star cheered, "No wait," she blinked, "13!"
"You're being weird." Was the answer Clara gave.
"I need to know if you feel safe," the Doctor shrugged her off, "I need to know…you're not afraid."
"Of?"
"The future. Running away with a spaceman in a box. Anything could happen to you." they understood now, Clara was exactly that, just Clara.
"That's what im counting on," she smiled and nodded to the console, "push the button."
The Time Lords grinned and the Doctor tossed the cloth onto the console and Star pulled the lever allowing them to dematerialise.