Shouting out, he shifts away from her, bringing himself back to his feet as she gets to hers and she approaches, face furrowed in anger, "You, you always talking about not wandering off, and you leave, and you left me with those people who weren't prepared to defend themselves, or their guests, and…" she stops, "Oh, my Stars, are they alright? Are the children alright?"
Her hands are at her chest, waiting for his nod before her face shifts again, back into a scowl of wrath that shocks him, "And you do know what's happened? I've been kidnapped by some lunatic who wants to bleed me dry to stop some insane werewolf plague on this planet and I was tied to a table getting blood drawn and you, you…"
Stepping forward, he grabs her and pulls her into a hug and for a moment she melts into it and he smiles, glad to be done with the tirade – partly because anything after them would definitely hear them, but mostly because he doesn't like when she yells at him – but then she pushes him off and she steps back. The boy, Micah, moves to her side, hand slipping into hers and the Doctor gestures at him.
"New friend?" He asks hesitantly.
Micah growls.
The Doctor grows serious and holds out a hand, "Clara, the boy is dangerous."
"He saved me. He's not dangerous," she tells him with a frown. "He was infected and partly cured."
"He could still be dangerous," he sighs, touching his nose as Micah gives a slight mischievous grin that the Doctor responds to with an appalled face before he decides the antics of the boy weren't important in the grand scheme of things. What was going on; how to save everyone – that was. "Where did you come from; where was he holding you – were there others?"
Clara shakes her head and gives him a sideways look, "Oh no, I know what you're thinking and we're not. Absolutely not."
"I haven't even…"
"You want to go in there, Sonic blazing, and talk to them." Clara shakes her head again and tells him bluntly, "They're bonkers, mad, insane – maybe a bit infected by the thing they're trying to cure! Big screaming amount of 'Clara, get away from the crazies' back there!"
He smiles at her ferocity because it's past the point of frightening him now that she's done pummeling him. Bending slightly, he reminds her, "Clara, I can't help if I don't engage at some point."
"Well engage without me," she allows, pulling up Micah's hand and moving past the Doctor, "Point me in the direction of the Tardis."
The Doctor raises a hand towards her and warns, "It's not safe in the forest."
"It's not safe in that cave," she turns to tell him, stopping and gripping Micah to herself.
She's standing there sheltering the small boy – a new charge – and the Doctor smiles, allowing the pause to consider her: she's actually more concerned about the half-wolf boy than herself in a forest full of wolves and mad men all intent on either eating her or capturing her. She would make a fantastic mother. He drops his head, hand coming up to rub at his brow and he approaches her, touching her cheek lightly and receiving a low guttural noise from the boy.
"Clara, please," he pleads, "Stay by my side."
"Doctor, I am afraid," she admits, "Very afraid and I'd like to be someplace safe."
He takes her other hand and nods, "By my side."
She eyes him, considering the pained features that are begging her and she understands that as afraid as she is of going back, he's even more afraid of her leaving again and she relents, looking to Micah, who doesn't understand. "Stay close," she tells the boy, who nods and grips her hand within both of his.
A sigh of relief escaping his lips, the Doctor turns back to the spires of light rock just beyond the trees and he explains, "The humans who have been turned to wolves fear this place not because of anything in particular about the structures or the location, but because they are – despite their previous human state – still wolves, affected by their senses and those very senses are disturbed by the electrical currents being channeled through the tunnels I presume are beneath this place."
"He had a computer, some lab equipment," Clara whispers.
With a nod, the Doctor scans the ground again, "His ship must have crashed nearby. Somehow he was able to transport his equipment. Other survivors from his ship – had to be one helluva ship to keep the wolves at bay." He has an odd thought before telling her, "Possibly he was infected with the virus from the start and was able to slow its progress…"
"The old man," Micah tells them both. "Older than rocks," he adds with a small nod.
"The virus can't mutate a human overnight, it needs time," the Doctor supplies, "So it prolongs a life. So long as someone is infected, they won't age naturally – it's possible they won't age at all." He laughs quietly. "Immortality virus."
"Wolf virus," Clara corrects. "With bite-y teeth." Then she asks, "How do you plan to stop it?"
He taps the Sonic to a small device he removes from his pocket, placing it in his ear and giving it a buzz before asking, "Dom, are you still there?"
The man shouts out in response from where he waits in the Tardis, alarmed by the loud and sudden voice that booms through the main chamber and he calls out pointedly, "Still here in your box, Doctor."
"I've found Clara, we've taken on a small feral child, apparently, and we're on our way to the mad scientist's lair," he says with a raised eyebrow and a grin to Clara. Then he adds, "Wait for my word to open the doors."
"Gotcha," comes the quick response.
Turning to Clara he explains, "I've collected all airborne Nano-bots, I just need to know what he's working at, possibly get a scan of the pure virus, and then the Nano-bots can be programmed to fix everyone."
"He did want the Nano-bots in my blood – which you said should have been sneezed out."
"Well, there were probably millions in you, might take a bit before you expel them completely."
She makes a sickened face, "So you lied,"
"I always lie," he admits. "But it was to make you feel better."
Clara points a finger, "Not being told I had, have, programmable Nano-bots in my body that could be used in whatever way a controller wants, including turning my internal organs into soup… not making me feel better."
Raising his hands to her, he groans, "And this is why I lied!"
"Quiet," Micah warns, reaching out to tug the Doctor down with himself and Clara and they all look out to see what he's detected and see a group of men walking slowly towards them.
They seem to be communicating amongst each other and the Doctor can make out a word here and there, muttered, and much like the boy's speech, he realizes – previously infected, but 'cured'. He looks to Clara when he hears them refer to the space woman again, and then he turns back when she finally meets his eye and easily reads his expression.
"Looking for me, aren't they?" She starts to hiss.
Micah cups a hand over her mouth before she can finish.
He silences his Sonic and aims it in their direction, trying to scan, but they're too far away and there are too many trees in the way. Clenching his jaw, he tries to amplify the settings before he grunts and stands, waving his arms in the air and shouting, "Hello! Hello, I'm the one making the ruckus – the one you're searching for!"
"Doctor!" Clara shouts and Micah puts a fist into the back of his knee that brings him back down to the ground with a scowl at the boy.
"You've really got to work on your bedside manner," he tells the boy.
Micah grabs at Clara and starts to pull her away from the Doctor and she manages to get on her feet, trying to pull him back because if the Doctor doesn't want them to leave, it's probably best they don't. Clara struggles with Micah for a moment before he turns and complains, "Mummy, run!" His head shakes as he catches himself and repeats, "Run, Clara!"
She eyes him sadly and shakes her head at him, watching the defeat spread over his face as she holds him in place. The men are coming at them and the Doctor stands, reaching out and taking hold of Clara's arm and he tells her blankly, "It's no use anyways," as he glances up and nods towards the forest.
Micah continues to tug gently, but Clara can see what the Doctor has noticed and she stops the boy and turns him, forcing him to look up to see the pack of wolves pacing between the trees. "No more running, Micah," she tells him quietly, feeling the trembling in her own chest.
He looks up at her and his face is red as he searches her and Clara understands, he'd lost his parents the same way, had probably watched it happen, and as he looks from Clara to the Doctor, he doesn't comprehend why they'd succumb to the same fate.
"Run," he manages to squeak.
"We've surrendered," the Doctor shouts.
"No, Run!" Micah screams.
The Doctor presses a hand into his shoulder and bends slightly to tell the boy quietly, "We'll run, don't you worry. Right now, let's be brave. Can you be brave, Micah?" He glances up, "For Clara, can you be brave?"
He shifts away from the man who straightens and he nods.
"Bring me the woman – she's the key. Kill the spares," comes the cry from just behind the men and they watch as the men and the wolves advance from either side and Clara understands the spares to mean the Doctor and Micah and she runs forward, towards the man.
"NO!" She shouts, "The Doctor can save you all!"
But neither the wolves, nor the men stop running and she looks to the Doctor, who's now holding Micah at his side, trying to decide what to do. She closes her eyes, trying not to imagine the gnashing teeth and the sharp claws and she runs towards the wolves as both man and boy scream because she knows it's the only way to stop the onslaught – putting herself in danger. Clara jumps in the way of the first oncoming beast and while it tries to avoid her, she ends up colliding with it and the two go tumbling to the ground.
And the forest goes silent.