Allons-y Impossible Girl
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Chapter 14
Silence fell over the room. Every eye was fixed on Clara, whose eyes were wide and face was white. You are one of us. The words echoed around her mind, memories and voices and images jumping forwards. Daleks. She could see them. She remembered all the things they'd done, the time war, all their thoughts, their evil. She could remember it. But she couldn't be one of them. She was human. Not Dalek, human! She had a childhood, parents (Well sort of), she was compassionate and she loved the Doctor she didn't hate him.
"One of you!" She spat, stepping forward and drawing herself up to her full, rather unimpressive, height "I am not one of you! I am human. Flesh and blood and emotion! I am not a Dalek" the Daleks eyestalk was about level with her head and stared unwavering at her.
After a moment both the Doctor and one of the other Daleks came forward. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at her and pressed a button while the Dalek said "scanning" his eyestalk moved up and down her body. "Results: Ordinary human, female"
"See" the Doctor said "I have the same. Like she said, flesh and blood"
"But we detect Dalek in her" the black Dalek insisted. "And the Daleks do not harm their own kind, unless they stand in the way of the future" Every eyestalk fixed on her and she felt a uncomfortable feeling settle at the bottom of her stomach. Then they turned to the Doctor. "How did you survive the Time War?"
"By fighting. On the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away!" The Doctor lowered his screwdriver and tore his concerned eyes from Clara. She was still staring at the Daleks.
"We had to survive" the black Dalek said.
"The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?" The Doctor asked, wandering from side to side, trying to get into a good position.
"Doctor," Rose's voice startled him, he'd almost forgotten her. "they've got names. I mean, Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they" the Doctor frowned at this. The one of the Daleks came forwards.
"I am Dalek Thay." He said.
"Dalek Sek." The black Dalek repeated.
"Dalek Jast."
"Dalek Caan."
At these some idea began to form in the Doctors mind, but Clara got there first. "Cult of Skaro" she murmured, and Rose and Mickey looked at her in fear, while the Doctors head began to spin. She was human, he was cirtain she was human. She just had to be human.
"So that's it! At last. The Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."
"Who are they?" Rose asked, though she didn't sound sure she wanted to know. Clara opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes were wide with terror and the Doctor jumped in first.
"A secret order above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing." His eyes darkened and his tone conveyed his disgust.
"But that thing," Mickey gestured to the genesis arc "They said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?"
"I don't know. Never seen it before." The Doctor shrugged.
"But it's Time Lord." Rose protested in frustration.
"Both sides had secrets." Clara muttered. A picture in her mind of a old man, older then old, walking towards a barn across a desert land under what was once a beautiful sky with a sack over his shoulder. A bag that held destruction. The greatest secret.
"What is it? What have you done?" The Doctor demanded, oblivious to what his companion could see of his past.
"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy." The black Dalek informed them. The Doctor was getting increasingly frustrated.
"What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"
"One touch of a time traveller" Clara whispered. "Touch. The one thing a Dalek can't do."
"Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything ever, from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream." The Doctor said, staring down at the angry creatures.
"The Doctor will open the Ark!" It ordered, as if that was going to help. Clara wanted to laugh.
"The Doctor will not." Clara watched, fighting back the tsunami of images crashing through her mind. She was a bit out of it, and before she could collect herself the door was blown open and chaos was descending as Cybermen and people with guns raced inside.
"Jake!" Clara said in surprise as the handsome boy wrapped his arm around her.
"Hello lovely girl" he grinned cheekily "let's get out of here shall we?" He suggested, pulling her out the door to where the Doctor stood hurrying them all along. They watched as Rose stumbled and Pete helped her to her feet.
"Oh my god!" She said staring at him frozen "your my dad"
"Hello, Rose right?" Pete said. She only nodded, completely shocked. "Come on!" They moved to get out but the Daleks and the Cybermen jostled them and Roses hand hit the genesis arc in attempt to get away. The Doctor closed the door behind them and she turned to him panic stricken.
"I didn't mean to I swear I just-" Clara grabbed her arm and tugged her down the corridor.
"Rose, if you hadn't opened it for them, they would've tried to do it by force which wouldn't have ended well for the entire planet." Clara said. The Doctor suddenly stopped and spun around, alarming them all and making them trip over each other.
"How do you know that?" He asked. His voice was deadly calm and his eyes burned with something so terrible none of them could bare to look, except Clara who stared right back, her own eyes flashing time stream gold. He didn't seem to notice that though.
"I don't know." She said steadily "but I am not a Dalek."
"How do I know that!" The Doctor suddenly shouted, making her flinch "You're smart. You're not your parents daughter. And Daleks don't just randomly assume people as one of them and choose not to hurt them!"
"I am not a Dalek I am human" Clara screamed, stretching onto her tiptoes to get closer to his face, tears springing to her eyes.
"Then what are you!" He screamed back, and for a moment his face showed just how hurt he was. Hurt by the fact he had fallen for another one, only to be tricked.
"I'm a barmaid!" Clara yelled "I'm a barmaid who has seen the stars, alien planets and moments in time. I see wonders with you Doctor and I have known you far a while, I know you are haunted by your past and have done terrible things, so you try to save people and do good. And I know I am not a Dalek because I feel. I have never thought to destroy you, or hate you in any kind of way!" Tears fell over her cheeks and the Doctor just stared at her. Then he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry. I just had to be sure" he murmured. Clara didn't believe he was letting the whole knowing stuff thing go but the moment was nice.
Meanwhile Pete and Rose were staring at each other. "You're alive" was the only thing she seemed to be able to say while Pete explained how he was from a parallel universe and everything. Eventually Rickey cleared his throat and Clara and Rose turned to glare at him. He held his arms up.
"Cybermen, Daleks!" He pointed out defensively and they were suddenly running came across Jackie in another corridor and she and Pete had a strange reunion, which Clara felt the man was taking spectacularly well considering a daughter and his dead daughter had been thrown at him in the space of a few minutes. After the Daleks and the Cybermen had a showdown they all clambered into the lift to get to the top and see what Time-Lord science the genesis arc was. They all watched in horror from the top of Canary Wharf as it began to spin and shoot Daleks all over the city.
"It's bigger on the inside" the Doctor groaned "a prison ship"
"Millions of Daleks and Cybermen all over London. That is definitely not good!" Clara said, watching the Daleks spread.
Pete seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he pulled one of the yellow transporters out of his pocket and said "I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home." He handed them to his wife and daughter "Jacks, Rose, take these. "You're coming with us."
"But they're destroying the city." Jackie pointed out, unsure how he expected them to just leave their home in ruins.
"I'd forgotten you could argue." Pete chuckled before becoming serious again. "It's not just London, it's the whole world. But there's another world just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe as long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?"
The Doctor spun around with his 3D glasses and grinned at them "Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood." He jumped at a computer "Slam it down and close off both universes."
"Reboot systems." The computer said as it powered up.
"But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?" Rose argued as everyone walked around getting ready. Clara was stood to the side.
"They're part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution." He grinned at Clara who was starting to grin.
"What's with the glasses?" She smirked, knowing that was the question he needed to be asked.
"I can see, that's what." The Doctor said gleefully "because we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void. Oh, I like that. Via the Void. Look." He pulled the glasses off and stuck them on Clara's nose. She looked at the green particles surrounding them all except for Rose, Mickey and Jackie.
"We've been through. When the TARDIS died" Clara realised with a smile, looking at her own hand. "What is it? Like... Background radiation?"
"Yeah that's it" the Doctor grinned "Void Stuff. But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
"Pulling them all in!" Clara laughed out loud and jumped up and down so hard her heal threatened to snap. Then she was hit with something. "Hang on, we're covered in the stuff too. We'll get pulled in along with the Daleks and Cybermen"
"So you have to go" the Doctor slipped one of the medallions around her neck.
"Reboot in two minutes." The computer said.
"Back to Pete's world. Hey, we should call it that. Pete's World. I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side." The Doctor told her.
"And then you close it, for good?" Pete asked.
"The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput." He said without any of the enthusiasm from a moment ago.
"And you're just staying here?" Clara demanded angrily "No way! I'm with you, all the way. Those clamp things" She gestured to the mangaclamps "there's two of them. We'll hold on tight" the Doctor opened his mouth to argue but she got there first "No. You can't. I have nothing on that side. I don't want anything if I can't have you!"
The Doctor stared down at them. Then Rose touched his arm. "Let her stay. You need her. And she needs you" she said and forced a smile. "Take it from someone who has been sent away from you. It's not worth arguing. She'll just come back." He sighed and Clara smiled in triumph. "Goodbye" Rose whispered. "And thank you"
"Thank you Rose Tyler" he said sincerely. She smiled at him with wet eyes, and then she was gone with the others.
"Systems rebooted. Open access." The computer said. The Doctor and Clara jumped into action.
"Those coordinates over there, set them all at six. And hurry up." The Doctor told her. She ran to the terminal and tossed the medallion aside.
"Levers operational." The computer said. He tossed her a mangaclamp and they placed them on opposite walls by the levers, pressing the red buttons.
"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?" He grinned at her and she grinned back. "Let's do it!"
They pushed the levers up and grabbed the clamps. The computer declared it online, the breach lit up and the Daleks and Cybermen began flying into the void. It was all fine. Everything was going smoothly until the most awful feeling swept over Clara.
She had to let go. She had to go to the void. The thought began to consume everything. Let go. Let go. She didn't want to. She wanted to stay with him and see wanders. She wanted to be his impossible girl. But she had to let go. Images flashed across her mind.
Dying. It would be quick, then her body would break apart and fly to another time and place. She'd done it thousands of times. This one would be no different. He had a future that was far more important then her own. But why? The reasons behind hundreds of thousands of lifetimes slipped away so quickly.
Slowly Clara felt the pictures of her death, the future he needed, take over her body. Her resolve began to melt and her grip weakened. She was going to die. Her own instinct, her own mind, body, would kill her.
But that wasn't fair. She really loved him, and a part of her was sure he loved her too. He needed her to stay this time, not to give her life for no clear reason. Fighting with all her strength Clara forced the memories to the front of her mind. His face in the bar. Their first trip in the TARDIS. Him catching her as Cassandra left her body. Him grabbing her hand as they ran from aliens. Messing around when making soufflés. His funny smile. They way he said her name. The ice plant. Dancing at Derrilium. The fight was impossible. But she loved him too much to let go.
Please Review!