Hello dear readers!
I didn't take forever with the update this time! Hurray!
Hope you're all having a fantastic week! Enjoy ;D
~Hostile Action Displacement System~
The TARDIS was gone. Clara stared uncomprehendingly at the now empty space. What just happened? Where did the ship go? What the hell was going on?
The Doctor was cursing in Gallifreyan. She didn't have to understand his words to understand his tone. He waved the sonic screwdriver around desperately. It did nothing.
"Foreign element detected. Shields at 100 percent." intoned the computer, Mr. Smith.
Suddenly the black outside the window was replaced by criss-crossing green light. It was like a net of electricity was pressed against the glass. The massing darkness was still visible beyond the shield. The net must be covering the whole house.
Clara couldn't even ask what that meant. Pregnancy and running up staircases didn't mix. She couldn't catch her breath. Her lungs burned and it felt like there was a white-hot knife jammed between her ribs. Pressing a hand to her side Clara thought she might get sick. Wither it was from adrenaline, fear, or exertion she didn't know.
Less than a minute had passed since the TARDIS vanished.
The Doctor spun around to stare out the window. His eyes were wide and confused. Clearly he didn't know what was going on either. Maybe it was a sign of stress or just the fact that insanity was such a normal aspect of their lives, because Clara started laughing.
It was actually more of a wheezing cough since she still couldn't breathe properly. Her shoulders shook with hysterics. The Doctor didn't know what to do. That is until Clara's laughter turn to racking sobs. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple softly. She pressed her face into his shirt shaking uncontrollably. Clara didn't even know what was wrong with her. It was like every emotion she had been suppressing since Sarra died in her arms was bubbling over. The Doctor kept muttering soothing words and nonsense, holding her against his chest. He was obviously freaked by this uncharacteristic display of emotion, but was handling it well.
"I-I'm sorry." Clara gasped.
There wasn't time for this and she knew it. Something crazy was going on outside and their home had just dematerialized to god knows where. She hiccup and fought to get herself under control. Eventually she pulled away from the Doctor's tear stain shirt feeling drained.
"I'm sorry." she repeated.
Worry was clear on her husband's face. He brushed his thumb across her cheek and whispered, "It's ok, Love. There's nothing to be sorry about."
Clara gave him a small grateful smile reassuring him she wasn't about to go to pieces again. She wiped her eyes and glanced around. Martha was standing in the doorway to the little attic. It was clear from her expression she didn't want to intruded, but was concerned. Clara flushed in embarrassment because Martha had probably followed them up and had been there the whole time.
Martha saw her blush and moved over to put a comforting hand on Clara's shoulder. "I'm a doctor, believe me I get it." was all she said.
"Where is the TARDIS?" Clara asked wanting to change the subject. It was a far more relevant topic than her delectate sensibilities at the moment anyway.
He rubbed the back of his neck looking uncomfortable.
"What did you do?"
He sighed in exasperation, "I reset the HADS…"
"The what?"
"The Hostile Action Displacement System. When the TARDIS feels threatened she … removes herself from the situation."
Clara didn't like the sound of that. "So where is she?"
"Umm… probably the South Pole about now." the Doctor mumbled.
"Well at least it's not the 1960's again." said Martha sarcastically. She glanced at the electric net covering the window. "And I think we have bigger fish."
The Doctor frowned and nodded.
Clara walked over and tried to squint into the darkness outside. She couldn't make out anything even though the houses were closely pressed together and yellow streetlamps lined the block. There was simply nothing except the rolling mass of black. And it did seem to be rolling and undulating like it was caught in a current.
"It looks like some type of cloud."
"But a cloud of what?"
A shout from downstairs startled all three of them. "Guys you need to see this!"
It was Luke who shouted. He and the rest of the party guests were crowded around Sarah Jane's TV. No one looked happy about whatever it was they were seeing. Once Clara got closer she understood why.
BBC London News was on and the only reason Clara knew that was because the scrolling banner at the bottom said so. She had never actually seen a news program before, but she knew what one was. She also knew that this was certainly not how the news normal worked. Because there was no sound coming from the screen or much of anything else really.
Instead the camera stayed focused on the two reporters lying face down on the large desk in front of them. They were not moving. It was hard to see because the black smoke was in the room with them, but it was being filtered by all the white stage lights. The fact that the camera was still rolling made Clara think the operator was probably laying on the ground behind it.
"Are they dead?" Sky whispered, voicing everyone's thoughts.
Sarah Jane put her arm around her daughter, "I don't know."
"What the fuck is this shit?" exclaimed Jack.
That was the other thing everyone was thinking.
All eyes turned to the Doctor expectantly. He raised his nonexistent eyebrows incredulously.
"Oh come on! You guys expect me to know everything?"
"You usually say you do." pointed out Mickey.
The Doctor shot him an irritated glare in response then his face fell. "Not this time."
The change in the atmosphere of the room was palpable. They all might tease and give him grief, but when push came to shove they all believed the Doctor could deal with anything. They were his companions and in their minds there was nothing he couldn't do.
Except age and hardship had chipped away much of the Doctor's blusterous attitude which allowed him to bluff his way through any situation. He could still do anything, Clara knew that in the depths of her soul, but he no longer could charge grinning into the face of danger. She took his hand in a simple comforting gesture.
"Look!" cried Clyde suddenly pointing to the TV screen. "It's dissipating!"
He was right. The black cloud was thinning out. It wasn't so much dissipating as it was flying away. Clara shivered, it moved like it was alive. They went to the large windows and saw that the cloud was doing the same there. It swirled and twisted floating upwards. They watched until the cloud disappeared all together vanishing into the upper atmosphere.
There was a loud beep as the green shield around the house came down.
