*The Potter Doctor here. Big chapter this one, so I hope you're emotionally prepared for it. There's so much going on here, but it picks up straight after the last chapter left off so I think you guys get the jist of what's going to happen. As such, there is a violence warning on this chapter. Also, sorry if this chapter feels a bit stop start as there are lots of changes of viewpoint and four different characters get a viewpoint here. Please let me know what you think because I was really nervous about this chapter and as ever, thank you so much to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, following and favouriting. Here we go...*
Tom's initial reaction when the Doctor had texted him, asking him if they could meet was suspicion. But, nevertheless, he got on well with the Doctor and if it was about Clara, he was more than happy to help. Clara was one of the most important people in Tom's life and he was happy to admit it. He loved having her around, teasing her, toying with her. They had a lot of fun and Tom trusted her with anything. She was basically his best friend when he thought about it. So he agreed. He was nervous but when he met up with the Doctor and the Doctor had told him what the plan was, Tom felt his nerves melt away. The Doctor was angry, beyond angry. And determined. And Tom knew that whatever he did, the Doctor would go along with what he had planned. As for Tom, he could either join the Doctor or let it happen. He couldn't stop it. Tom thought about it. Clara wouldn't want either of them to get involved, wouldn't want either of them out here in this cold, damp night, hunting down her ex-boyfriend. But, Tom didn't care in that moment. He loved Clara to bits, but she wasn't his boss. And he wanted to hurt Jessie. Really hurt Jessie and Tom could tell just from the Doctor's eyes that the Doctor felt the same way.
"Let's do it."
Panic had taken over Clara immediately. She tried to gain control of her emotions as Annabelle stood in the bedroom beside her, shock and sadness painted across her face. Clara took a deep breath and then another. She needed to calm down, she needed to think. Tom. Tom would know where the Doctor was, what exactly he had planned. He had to, there was nobody else that the Doctor would have called for assistance. Assuming he wanted help, Clara summarised. It was entirely possible that he was already at Jessie's house, smashing his head in.
"Call Tom," Clara instructed and Annabelle nodded frantically. "Meet in the kitchen in ten minutes, be ready to leave. Dress practical and be quick. Whatever the Doctor has gone to do, I'm not going to let him. And don't give me that look." Annabelle flinched. "I know what you're thinking Annabelle, it's the same thing I'm thinking, what Tom's probably thinking if he knows. Jessie deserves it. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Jessie doesn't deserve whatever justice or vengeance that the Doctor rains down upon him. But he's the Doctor. My Doctor. And I won't let what happens tonight affect his conscience. Tom's either if he's involved. Because he's the better man, he always has been. And I am not going to let him do something that he's going to regret for the rest of his life because of me. Ten minutes, kitchen, go!"
Annabelle nodded and hurried out of the room as Clara urged her on. Clara stripped quickly and showered, possibly the fastest shower of her life. She threw on some jogging bottoms and one of the Doctor's shirts, pulling her hair up into a bun on top of her head as she pulled out her trainers. She saw Annabelle waiting for her in the kitchen, her face grim and she shook her head when Clara got there. Clara's heart sank as Annabelle explained that Tom had ignored her call. Clara swore and quickly dialled the numbers of both the Doctor and Tom, with both of their phones switched off. She and Annabelle exchanged a look and then silently left the apartment.
The Doctor hadn't said anything much to Tom as they jogged. They were moving quickly because in their hearts, they both knew they were running on a timer. As soon as Clara or Annabelle realised that they were missing, it was only a matter of time until they came after them, probably to try and stop them. Tom was nervous, more so after Annabelle tried to call him and the Doctor told him to switch off his phone in a voice that suggested there was no argument to be had. Tom did as the Doctor commanded and suddenly they were outside Jessie's house. Tom wasn't sure if there was a plan but the Doctor seemed to know what he was doing. He snuck around the back of the house, Tom following. The Doctor had something in his hand and Tom raised an eyebrow.
"Top secret government project," the Doctor informed him in an undertone that clearly indicated that the topic was not up for discussion. Tom rolled his eyes. The Doctor could be so overly dramatic. The Doctor shot him another look, this one a clear indication that the Doctor was neither joking, nor exaggerating. Tom gulped. Somehow, he doubted that anything they were going to do this night would be even close to legal. The Doctor was shimmying up a tree to outside Jessie's window, almost like he'd done it before and Tom had a thought that he decided not to vocalise. He didn't really want to know if the Doctor had climbed that tree to spy on Jessie before, particularly knowing that a good amount of time that Jessie had lived in this house, he had been having sex with Clara. The Doctor opened Jessie's window with ease and motioned for Tom to join him. Tom groaned. He was starting to have a really bad feeling about this.
When Jessie woke up, he was strapped to a chair. That was his first surprise. He had been asleep, then he'd felt a brief struggle, as though he was being held down. Then he remembered being asleep again. He supposed that he must have been drugged or something, possibly even knocked out. His second surprise, which wasn't that surprising when he'd gotten over the surprise of the first one, was that the Doctor and Clara's annoying friend who'd stopped him the other week were looming over him. He'd been expecting this, almost hoping it would happen. He couldn't believe what he'd done, what he'd allowed to happen. The spiking hadn't been his idea, he wasn't even sure he'd been the one to do it. It had been a stupid joke. But then, he'd found himself there, with Clara and he hadn't been able to hold back. Jessie deserved what was coming. He just hoped the Doctor would be merciful.
"Get on with it then," he said in a beaten voice. "We both know what's going to happen, you and your little friends have been beating me for weeks," he spat at Tom, resentment riding up in him. He hated these two, because they were close to Clara and because they'd stuck their noses in. If it wasn't for the Doctor, he'd have Clara back. None of it excused what he'd done, but he liked to think things would run smoother if these two hadn't intervened. The Doctor's face was one of pure hatred and Jessie had seen it before, just not aimed at him. The Doctor threw the first punch.
Clara was terrified for Tom and the Doctor. Whatever they had done, it would have to have been pretty fucking stupid. They headed straight to Jessie's house, but Clara suspected that it was pointless. There was no point to it, the Doctor and Tom would have got there before her. She had another thought. How were they going to drag a body around in the middle of the night? She quizzed Annabelle on this and they slipped round the back of the house where they were able to make some realisations. Jessie's window was flung open, the curtains rattling in the wind. The tree had a series of bent branches near the window and there were snapped ones littering the garden. Clara closed her eyes. They'd kidnapped Jessie. They'd actually kidnapped him. She followed the tracks in the damp earth and saw that they'd gone through a large gap in Jessie's back fence and she followed, Annabelle calling after her. Clara paused to wait for Annabelle to catch up to her.
"Look," Clara pointed. "The tracks lead across the fields. These are farmers lands, nobody's going to be out here late at night and they've obviously got something to cover him up. Properly cover him up."
"But what's across these fields?" Annabelle gesticulated wildly, almost shouting but managing to keep her voice in check. "Where are they taking him?"
Clara felt bile rise up inside her. She knew exactly where they were taking him. She grabbed Annabelle's hand and started running, desperate to reach the Doctor before it was too late.
Each punch felt like a small victory. The chair had long since toppled but Jessie was still tied to it, even though he could easily have worked his way out of the bonds by now. He wasn't trying to escape, though he had started pleading for mercy. Tom and the Doctor alternated, punching various parts of the body. More than anything, the Doctor wanted to say that he took no pleasure in it. But that would be an ugly lie. Every whimper, every drop of blood, every connection sent his pulse racing and a twisted satisfaction plagued him. He sensed it was a similar story for Tom, but by now the other boy was giving up. He threw in the odd kick now and then, but his heart wasn't in it. The Doctor didn't blame him. Tom hadn't grown up taking this kind of punishment on a daily basis. The Doctor had lived a life of pain and it felt good to inflict it on someone for a change. All his punches were delicate, precise. He knew how to maximise pain but minimise actual damage. Jessie would be fine in a few days if the Doctor stopped shortly. If. Right now, that was increasingly looking unlikely. Jessie sobbed and the Doctor rapped his jaw.
"Doctor," Tom said quietly. "You should stop now. This is as bad a beating as we've given him. It's enough."
The Doctor stopped punching to stand and stare down Tom, who wilted under the intimidating stare of the Doctor. "No!" he snapped. "It's not enough. It will never be enough. He hurt Clara, Tom and he would have done far worse to her if not for you. He deserves everything he gets. He deserves nothing. He deserves to die. This is justice Tom and if you can't handle that, I suggest you leave."
Tom put his arm out to stop the Doctor returning to Jessie but the Doctor walked through it. Tom tried to step between the Doctor and his prey and the Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"Is that wise Tom?" he asked quietly and he could see Tom's face visibly crumble. The Doctor could be very scary when he wanted to be. "Get out of the way Tom. I won't ask again. I don't want to hurt you, but I can easily incapacitate you fairly painlessly in order to get to Jessie. Note, I said fairly painlessly."
Tom stepped aside, but looked away and the Doctor watched him wince as the Doctor kicked Jessie. Tom wasn't cut out for this, but he couldn't leave. He wouldn't leave the Doctor alone because he didn't know what the Doctor was capable of. The Doctor at this moment wasn't sure what the Doctor was capable of. He straddled Jessie, who spat blood at him. The Doctor cracked his forehead against Jessie's skull and the noise elicited a shocked sound from Tom as Jessie groaned. The Doctor heard Tom ask him to stop but he didn't, punching multiple times as his hands closed around Jessie's throat. He wanted to squeeze so much. He wanted to kill Jessie more than anything. He had showed restraint when it came to the Master because he'd needed to in order to save Clara's life. He'd had to call the police because he had no other option. But Clara wasn't in the picture. She didn't need to be saved. Nobody needed the Doctor to hold back. Tom was shouting now, but the Doctor squeezed, feeling an immense pleasure rise up in him and he was sickened by himself. He didn't know if he could stop.
"Doctor!" the shouts filled the room, all blending together as the Doctor focused all his energies on ending the increasingly frantic Jessie's life. "Doctor stop it now! STOP!" The Doctor didn't want to stop.
Then, a hand closed on his shoulder, wrenching him off Jessie. The Doctor roared in anger and swirled to punch, his fist connecting with Tom's face, sending him staggering back and allowing the Doctor to resume his assault on Jessie. The gasps that had filled the room clued him in, as did the slight visual perception of who he had hit. But even before he'd placed his hands back on Jessie, he'd made the realisation himself. Tom was taller than that. He shouldn't have been able to connect with his face from there. It hadn't been Tom. The Doctor was on his feet, turning to look at Clara, whose nose was gushing blood, a look of pure shock on her face. But it was worse than shock, the Doctor realised and as he opened his mouth to speak, he realised that he had made Clara feel the one thing that he had wanted never to make her feel. He had had many sleepless nights over the idea of that emotion in Clara's eyes. He had made her afraid of him. She shrank back, as if scared he'd hit her again and he stepped forward, words unable to form. Tom was behind Clara, wrapping his arms around her as he too looked at the Doctor in pure shock.
"Clara," the Doctor managed before Annabelle stepped into his line of vision and slapped him so hard that his entire world span. They must've followed the tracks. Of course they knew where he'd be. It was the same warehouse where the Master had held Clara.
"Stay the fuck away from her," Annabelle spat, her words poison. Clara was behind her and the Doctor wanted to try and reassure her, but he was rooted to the spot as Tom guided Clara away. The Doctor stuttered, unable to find the words. Clara had stepped away from Tom for a moment and she was looking back at the Doctor for a moment. Their eyes met and Clara looked sad. So impossibly sad. And then she was being dragged away and Annabelle was stood there, her eyes fixed on the Doctor, full of fury.
"If you even think about coming to the apartment, I will put you in hospital," she warned and the Doctor nodded. He knew Annabelle was right. "Now clean up this fucking mess. I'm half tempted to call the police myself. But I won't," she added. "Because Clara loves you and God help us all I bet she still believes in you. But she shouldn't. And if I have anything at all to say about it, Doctor," she said the word like it was cursed. "She'll never see you again. Ever."
And then she left, leaving the Doctor alone. Annabelle was angry, he got that. But she also had a point. Clara hadn't said it, Clara hadn't said anything. Clara would come crawling back. She didn't understand, she never could. After all the horrible things he'd done, Clara Oswald stood by him and always would. And he couldn't let her. If Clara came back to him, if Clara forgave him, he would destroy her. He heard Jessie groan and went over to him. He untied him and pulled him to his feet.
"Leave Clara alone," he said in a fierce voice. "You leave this university, you leave Clara and you never come back. You tell nobody about what happened here tonight and I won't tell anyone that you tried to rape her. If you lie, I'll have plenty of witnesses to back me up and this whole thing will at best get messy. So I'm giving you a chance to get ahead of the storm. Go."
Jessie nodded, terrified and limped out of the warehouse, leaving the Doctor alone with his thoughts. Clara. His Clara. He could have killed her in his rage, he realised. One decent punch, if she fell back, hit her head. He was thinking worst case of course, but if Tom and Annabelle hadn't been there, would he have even realised? He felt sick. He hated himself, so much more than Clara would ever hate him. He needed to care for her, help her. Clara thought she was damaged. And maybe that was true, but he was not the man to fix her. He was too dangerous. She might be fragile, but he was a monster, a killer. She might forget that sometimes, brush it under the carpet but there was no doubt in the Doctor's mind that he would have killed Jessie unless Clara had stopped him. His Clara. She deserved better. The Doctor needed to go somewhere that she would never be able to be hurt by him ever again.
The first few steps were the hardest. But once he was walking, he knew it was the best thing for everyone. For Clara. She had Tom and Annabelle, they'd take care of her, whatever happened. The Doctor picked up his phone and thumbed her a text. Three simple words, enough to break his heart as he knew he'd never be able to say them to her again. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he dropped the phone. He didn't suppose he'd need it anymore. The Doctor moved like a ghost, his speed picking up. He knew the perfect spot.
As he reached the bridge, he gazed down, into the abyss. It was a twenty foot drop, into a crushing river. The rain of the previous months had made it a torrent of pulsating water, running down and down. If he jumped in, that was it. He would be pulled under, probably instantly. Assuming he didn't break his neck in the fall, he'd drown or be ripped apart by rocks. A ragged and painful death for a man who deserved nothing more. Justice is served, he thought graciously. He clambered up the bridge wall and stared into nothing. This was it. His final act. The Doctor took the final step.
