Chapter 37: Deadly Drizzle
They burst through the door of Vastra and Jenny's house seconds before the clouds hung above the city burst and the rain began its attack. Strax immediately shut the door behind them while Vastra and Jenny watched them enter the hall.
The Doctor fell against the wall and caught his breath back.
"I'm really not as young as I used to be." he stated through his pants.
Vastra smiled slightly. "We didn't think you were coming back." she admitted.
The Doctor sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "I didn't realise what the time was." he confessed.
Clara, who had also regained her breath back at that point, was now looking out the window. She was amazed at how quickly the weather had changed. Although that day had been gloriously hot and sunny, now it was the complete opposite. The rain was now beating down on the city and flooding the streets. Also, the clouds had made it so dark outside that it looked like it was the middle of the night.
Vastra and Jenny peered over at her before walking over to the Doctor. Without taking her eyes off her, Vastra began to speak to the Doctor.
"Is she okay now?" she questioned in a whisper.
The Doctor sighed. "I'm not sure." he admitted quietly, "I really want to take her away from here but I can't yet."
Vastra smiled weakly at him. He returned the favour with a soft smile before excusing himself and approaching Clara. She was completely oblivious to him and he noticed that she wasn't actually looking outside. She was in a complete daze. She looked a million miles away, not surprising after the day she had had.
"Clara?" he asked softly.
Her head snapped towards him as her thoughts were interrupted.
"Oh, hi." she greeted with a weak smile.
"You okay?" he questioned.
She nodded rapidly. "I'm fine." she replied, "How's your 'and?"
The Doctor raised it and quickly inspected the burn. It was slowly fading but there was a definite mark there.
"It'll be fine." he confirmed.
Moments later, a bell sounded throughout the house. Strax smiled like a child and eagerly ran down the hall towards the kitchen.
The Doctor laughed slightly, mostly at Vastra's expression of absolute dismay. It wasn't that she didn't like him; he just gave her a headache with the way he acted. It was almost as if there was a child in the house.
'You coming?" she mouthed.
The Doctor nodded in response before herself and Jenny made their way to the kitchen. He then turned back to Clara and looked down at her.
"Join me for dinner?" he questioned.
Clara smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah." she responded quietly.
x-[]-x
Clara had to admit that Vastra, Jenny and Strax were good company, much better than she expected. Although she had been sceptical of Vastra at first, she had actually grown to like her. She could see herself becoming good friends with them all in the future. Yes, she found Strax slightly annoying as he was so dumb but to be honest, that just made her like him more. The fact that he was like that presented him with a type of innocence usually only found within children.
"So, where you from?" Clara asked Vastra during conversation.
Vastra smiled. "Would you believe me if I told you I'm from Earth?" she asked.
Clara frowned. "Okay, but where's your home planet?" she asked, "Where do your species live?"
"Earth." replied Vastra.
Clara laughed slightly. "Seriously?" she questioned, looking between Vastra and the Doctor who was smiling over his glass.
"Yes." responded Vastra, "I'm a Silurian. My species evolved in the Silurian era and retreated to live under the Earth's surface. Some were put into stasis on a vessel… hopefully they found a new world."
The Doctor smiled weakly to himself. The dinosaurs on that vessel had made it to a new world but the people hadn't…
"So, where are your people now?" question Clara, deeply intrigued by the concept of Vastra coming from ancient Earth creatures.
Vastra shrugged her shoulders. "I expect they're still in stasis under the Earth." she explained.
Clara's jaw dropped slightly. "What? Right now?" she asked.
Vastra nodded. "Yes." she confirmed with a smile.
"Wow!" Clara exclaimed.
The Doctor smiled as Clara continued to talk to Vastra and Jenny. He could see that she was putting on a brave face. Although she seemed okay he could tell that all the information about her, the other Clara and Oswin was weighing heavily on her mind.
Suddenly, the conversation was disrupted as a piercing scream echoed through the room. The lot of them suddenly became alert, quickly leaving their seats and heading in the direction of the scream.
The group of them all crossed the kitchen towards the pantry. The Doctor who was leading them soon opened the door. He quickly jumped away and ushered the others away as the room before them was flooding with rain water.
"Oh God, it's got inside…" whispered Jenny.
The Doctor's eye's widened in horror when he saw the cook was being drenched with it. She was screaming as the acid ate away at her skin and it hurt him as there was nothing he could do for her.
The five of them watched as the cook's body was destroyed. They lot of them were horrified. However it also had caught the Doctor's attention as the way she was killed looked familiar.
His thoughts were soon interrupted as the water began to ripple, almost as if it was alive. It then seemed to pounce towards the door.
"Get back!" ordered the Doctor.
He held his screwdriver up at it and it seemed to apprehend the water's ability to reach them.
Strax approached the door in attempt to close it.
"Strax, no!" cried Jenny.
They were all slightly amazed that as when he reached to pull the door closed, the choppy water which hit his skin didn't burn him. Moments later, the door was closed and Strax turned to face them. The Doctor's frown was priceless.
"Strax?!" he asked in astonishment.
Strax smiled and deactivated a skin-tight force field that was around his body. He took a device off his wrist which was concealed by his sleeve and threw it at the Doctor.
"E-field generator." he explained as the Doctor caught the device, "Easily stopped laser blasts so acid rain is no problem."
The Doctor smiled and looked over at the proud little alien stood opposite him. He ran over and gave him the thumbs up.
"Ooh, you've still got it Straxy!" he cried in delight before scanning the water behind the pantry door with his screwdriver.
Vastra smiled weakly at Strax as he joined her and Jenny. She loved the moments when he seemed to regain his previous level of intelligence. Before the Demon's Run episode, she had admired his ability to form battle strategies. However, it was clear that that part of him had died along with him when he died during that battle. It was rare to see that part of him surfaced anymore.
Meanwhile, Clara was looking out of the window to see what was happening in the rest of the street. She gulped when she saw it wasn't just Vastra's house which was being flooded by the rainwater.
"Doctor!" she exclaimed.
He could easily hear the concern in her voice so he dashed over. Vastra, Jenny and Strax also followed.
"It's everywhere..." whispered Clara.
The Doctor gulped before turning to Vastra and Jenny.
"I assume this has never happened before?" he queried.
Vastra shook her head. "Never." she confirmed.
"It's always been outside." explained Jenny, "It's never gone into 'ouses before."
The Doctor sighed. "So what's changed?" he asked.
Clara bit her lip. "We're 'ere." she replied.
The Doctor frowned as Clara turned to face him. "Think about it." she continued, "It's done this for the first time while we're 'ere, and the way it killed the cook… it looked familiar."
The Doctor sighed. "You noticed that too?" he questioned.
Clara nodded.
"Do you know why?" he asked as he was seriously stumped.
Clara shook her head slightly. "The only thing it reminded me of was the way that weapon used by the Harpa-Kazran Alliance killed that officer at that hospital." she recalled.
The Doctor's eyes widened and he turned back to look at the rain.
"A weapon…" he whispered, "Oh, of course!"
Following those words, the Doctor dashed out of the room and headed towards the TARDIS.
"Doctor!" cried Clara who followed in his wake.
She was followed by the others and seconds later, they all found themselves in the control room of the TARDIS.
"What are ya doin'?" Clara questioned.
The Doctor was hitting many buttons while his eyes were glued to the screen.
"That rain," he began, "It's a weapon."
Vastra tilted her head slightly. "So the city's under attack?" she asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "It's not after the city…" he trailed off and his eyes momentarily locked with Clara's.
Her shoulders dropped and she shook her head her head in disbelief.
"Me?" she asked weakly, fighting back her tears, "Is it after me?"
The Doctor gulped and turned back to the screen. Clara realised by that gesture that it probably was as he was avoiding the question.
"You?" enquired Vastra as she stared across at Clara.
"'ow's it after you?" intervened Jenny.
It took Clara a few seconds to compose herself before she turned to the Doctor.
"Doctor… please explain because I don't understand." she admitted.
The Doctor sighed. "It's allure rain." he explained.
"And what's that?" Clara asked.
He sighed once again. "It's a lure." he answered.
Vastra frowned. "What?!" she cried.
"The 'attack' on the city was created to lure Clara and myself here." he told them, "And as soon as we arrived, it detected our presence and stepped up its attack…"
Clara rubbed her forehead as guilt began to flood her veins and pound in her head. It was after her… All those people who had died, they were killed because something was after her…
"…It's coming from a probe in orbit." continued the Doctor, "I detected it earlier this morning but it disappeared so I assumed it was just a sensor echo."
"So, the rain we've experienced for the last couple of months was designed to… lure you here?" asked Vastra.
The Doctor nodded. "And then as soon as it detected us…" he began.
"It tried to kill me…" finished Clara, "Why?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know." he confessed.
"This probe," interrupted Vastra, "Can you destroy it?"
The Doctor smiled weakly. "I already have." he replied.
x-[]-x
The Doctor was saying his final goodbyes to Vastra, Jenny and Strax. London was now safe and rain free so it was safe to say they were happy.
"Thank you Doctor." expressed Vastra.
He nodded slightly before acknowledging Jenny and Strax.
"Will Clara be okay?" questioned Jenny.
The Doctor turned to face the TARDIS which was still stood at the end of the hallway. Clara was in there alone at that moment as she was mentally struggling to cope with everything she had learnt over the past few days. Not only had she discovered that her village didn't exist or that two versions of her had met the Doctor and died, something had also tried to kill her using rain. Out of all the things he had seen in his lifetime that was definitely a first.
"I'm not sure." he confessed once he'd turned back to face them, "She's had one hell of a shock to her system."
Vastra nodded slightly in agreement. "You look after her." she instructed.
The Doctor nodded. "I will." he agreed, "I'll see you around."
They all exchanged final smiles before the Doctor departed their company and returned to the control room. It was eerily quiet which to be honest, he had expected.
He piloted the TARDIS back into the Vortex and left it adrift there before walking the small distance to Clara's room. He knocked softly a couple of times when he reached her door. However, as expected, he got no response. After a moment, he slowly opened the door and peered inside to see her knelt against her bed bawling her eyes out.
"Oh Clara…" he whispered as he made his way over to her.
He knelt down next to her and enveloped her into his arms. This exposed his chest to her which she began to sob into.
It broke his hearts to see her in that state. She was such a strong woman yet she had been reduced to a wreck. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she was only human.
"Shh…" he hushed as he began to rock her slightly.
He kissed her head a couple of times and continued to comfort her in the best way that he could.
"It's gonna be okay…" he told her, "I promise…"