Chapter 34: Somewhere We Shouldn't Be
The Doctor had been an idiot, he knew that. Clara was right when she said that it was better to live in the moment rather than sulk over something that hadn't happened. After all, it was possible his interpretation of Bronwin and Dale's conversation was wrong. Maybe he wasn't going to lose her, perhaps he had completely misunderstood… he certainly hoped so.
To make up for the weeks of doing nothing, the Doctor had taken his wife to as many beautiful places he could, as long as they were safe. Once again they were back to full time travelling, but slower than before. He had never realised just how much Clara was struggling with the baby resting heavily on her spine, making her back almost impossible to deal with at certain times of the day, especially as her pregnancy advanced.
As Clara sat on the steps in the control room, watching her husband choose the destination for the day, she attempted to ignore the pain which was once again draining through her lower back. She couldn't deny it, the words which the Doctor had told her that Bronwin had said were still heavily on her mind. Part of her was pretty worried but more so for the Doctor rather than herself. She knew that if the Doctor were to lose her, it would more than likely kill him.
"Ready?" asked the Doctor, regaining her wandering attention.
Nodding and allowing him to assist her to her feet, Clara looked up at him.
"Where are we?" she queried.
Smiling instead of answering, the Doctor slowly guided her to the door.
"Come on." he whispered, making her lips begin to curl into a smile.
Opening the door and stepping out, or at the very least attempting to, Clara couldn't stop herself from sniggering as she came face-to-face with a large metal wall, inhibiting her from stepping out.
"Lovely spot." she commented, the sarcasm in her voice easily noticeable.
Peeking over her shoulder, the Doctor's eyebrow shot up.
"Ahh…" he breathed, "It's gone very downhill."
Laughing at him as he reached over her shoulder to close the door, Clara leant against the metal bar while the Doctor quickly moved the TARDIS, pretending he hadn't completely messed up their original destination, like usual...
Expecting a smooth journey, Clara didn't hold onto the rail all that tightly, something she deeply regretted a moment later when the TARDIS began to tremor violently before landing rather roughly a second later. When it came to a full stop, a very unimpressed Clara looked over at the Doctor.
"What… the hell… was that?!" she cried, forcing the words between her gritted teeth.
The Doctor's upper limbs began to flail, making Clara tighten her eyes which were glaring at him.
"Turbulence?" he suggested.
Clara eyes and lips tightened so much after that that the Doctor honestly wished some random anomaly would appear and swallow him up.
"Turbulence…?" she whispered, her voice beginning to increase as her anger broke through, "Turbulence?!"
The Doctor felt his teeth begin to bite into his lip.
"Space… turbulence…?" he proposed.
Rolling her eyes, Clara began to rub her stomach. "Whatever!" she shouted.
Slowly approaching his wife, the Doctor shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"I didn't plan it." he pointed out.
"You never do!" she snapped, "It's just…"
Clara trailed off when she watched her husband who was taking all of her words gracefully upon the head. Sighing and dropping her head in what she could only describe as shame, Clara could feel her eyes watering up. She was doing it again… taking out her frustration on the only person who she had let in the entire universe, the only one who she knew wouldn't take it to heart, but even that didn't make it acceptable.
"There I go again…" she whispered, signalling to the Doctor that it was now safe to approach.
Brushing lightly past her shoulder and wrapping his hands around her waist from behind, gently locking his fingers against her bump, the Doctor slowly kissed the side of her face, earning a soft moan from his wife, mostly since he'd forgiven her… again.
"What did that Nurse call it?" she tried to remember.
The Doctor shook his head slightly. "I don't know." he answered, "Does it matter?"
Clara shook her head. "Not really." she whispered.
She fell back onto the Doctor's strong frame as he released his arms from around her waist, slowly trailing up to her shoulders. Clara moaned as he began to expertly massage her shoulders, carefully avoiding her neck.
"God, that feels good…" she sighed.
The Doctor smiled softly. "You are so tense." he pointed out, kneading his hands along her shoulders.
Allowing the Doctor to continue for a few moments, Clara sighed.
"You know, I remember that reptile-lookin' woman at the 'ospital sayin' that by... 'bitterly attacking you partner verbally,'" she began, imitating the woman's posh accent perfectly, "Your child's relationship with you will by utterly destroyed for eternity'… Stupid cow!"
The Doctor smirked at the memory of the check-up they had been to about a fortnight beforehand. The Doctor had never seen a pregnant woman move so quickly before, nor one run away so quickly. If anything, that day had taught him never to cross his wife while she was pregnant. God help anyone who even tried…
"Folk myth." stated the Doctor, "I think my favourite has to be from a race called the Magesterianks. They believe that if a child is delivered in the same place it's conceived, its IQ will be that of a God's."
Laughing slightly, Clara shook her head slightly. "Well, that definitely isn't happening with our daughter." she confirmed, "My bed's for sleeping, not giving birth."
Kissing her face once again, the Doctor smiled. "You ready to go?" he queried.
Nodding and taking his hand, Clara looked up at him. "Yep." she confirmed.
x-[]-x
Stepping out of the TARDIS, the sight which greeted Clara made a smile break out on her lips. The dusty street seemed to sparkle a deep bronze under the delicate sunlight while people, men and woman alike, dashed around in toga-type outfits.
Standing outside of the TARDIS, soon joined by the Doctor, Clara was carrying a very broad smile, one which was almost mirrored by her husband.
"Is this the promised Ancient Greece?" she queried, receiving a wink in response.
For much of their travels, especially over the past few weeks, Clara had mentioned on several occasions to go to that particular location, mostly because European History had always fascinated her as a child. Being able to see an ancient civilisation and walk down its street would have been any historian's biggest dream.
The pair of them began to walk down the street, ending up in the next square pretty quickly. Clara took her time when looking around, allowing her eyes to notice all the details around the busy market place.
"Doesn't look very Greek." she commented.
Turning to look up at her husband who had suddenly gone very quiet, she was rather puzzled to see him frowning, constantly visually examining the scene around them.
"What is it?" she asked.
He shook his head slightly. "This seems… familiar." he explained, "Too familiar."
"Is that a bad thing?" Clara asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Suppose not." he stated, "Come on."
As they continued, the Doctor still couldn't shake the feeling that the entire place seemed oddly familiar. However, he just couldn't understand why.
"You know," Clara began, out of the blue, "This place don't 'alf remind me of Epcot."
That simple phrase in itself easily captured his attention, making him turn to face her.
"Epcot?" he laughed, "Um… why?"
Clara shrugged her shoulders. "Well, look at it." she ordered, "All these foreign objects… ancient objects… but eveythin's in English. I mean, I know it's 'cause of the TARDIS but, it's just weird seein' it all in my own language."
The Doctor rolled his eyes; sighing slightly when he reminisced back to another Earth woman he remembered saying something about 'Epcot'… a very long time ago…
"Epcot…" he muttered, not looking where he was going and ultimately colliding with one of the market stalls.
Moaning as he hit his head, his muffled cries were lost under the laughing of both Clara and the stall owner.
After apologising and swiftly moving away, hoping his embarrassment being displayed as a deep blush wouldn't be seen, Clara just about managed to keep up.
"Stop laughing!" he exclaimed, rubbing his throbbing forehead.
Covering her mouth, hoping she would, but seriously struggling, Clara shook her head.
"Oh, you stupid boy!" she laughed, closing the space between them and tip-toeing up in order to kiss nose, "I'm sorry."
Giving in as his trying-to-be-angry face wore away, the Doctor planted a quick kiss upon her lips.
"You're forgiven." he stated.
Scoffing slightly, Clara rolled her eyes. "You bet I am, Chin Boy!"
Linking arms, they continued to walk once again, the Doctor watching his step that time. However, Clara's words were making his mind wander. 'Stupid boy'… it wasn't that long ago when one particular woman had called him that, crying her eyes out as he 'lay dead' next to Lake Silencio…
Feeling Clara stop suddenly, the Doctor snapped out of his walk down memory lane, something she wasn't sure whether he was happy or sad about.
"Look, I am really sorry, Doctor." apologised Clara, "But there is no way this is Greece. If it is, the 'istory books are really wrong."
The Doctor nodded slightly. "Yeah, you're right." he concurred, "It doesn't even feel like Greece."
Clara nodded softly. "So, where are we?" she quizzed.
The Doctor sighed. "Italy…" he replied, nodding slowly as he began to concur more with the location, "Yeah… Italy. We're in Rome."
"Ya sure this time?" teased Clara, a smirk forming on her lips.
The Doctor nodded adamantly. "Yeah." he answered, "Ancient Rome!"
Clara's eyes lip up. "Can we go see the Seven Hills?" he requested.
"Seven Hills of Rome?" the Doctor repeated, "Sure."
The Doctor laughed as his wife began to smile as wide as a child when off to the zoo. He was rather glad; he'd been awful toward her for much too long over the past few weeks.
Turning around the next corner, Clara's left eyebrow raised as she looked at the sight towering in front of her. It certainly wasn't what she had been expecting.
"Well, I see one." she stated, "Ain't there supposed to be seven…?"
Her words had barely left her mouth when they first heard it. Clara was startled by it, she couldn't lie, but it didn't particularly bother her, at first. However, when she saw the colour swiftly drain away from the Doctor's face, that's when she began to get a little scared.
It was a simple bell, probably one ringing in a nearby square, or so she thought. The only thing which made her think otherwise was by the way the Doctor had completely froze, his eyes wider than she had ever seen before.
"What is that?" she asked, hoping to break him out of whatever was happening in his mind.
"The cloister bell…" he whispered.
"The 'what'...?" she asked, her words being interrupted as he dashed off in a rather spectacularly fast run, abandoning her in the square.
Running about three steps after him, Clara had to stop when her daughter had decided that enough was enough. Turning back to look at the single hill, Clara's face fell into a deep frown, then fear when she saw a small line of smoke rise from the top, a line which became thicker and darker over the following seconds.
"Oh God…" she whispered.
Snapping her head around as the cloister bell suddenly ceased, Clara couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing. However, what was bad was what happened a moment later: the ground began to tremor.
Feeling her heart begin to hammer harder in her chest, Clara gulped as she watched the people around her actually laughing at the tremors which shook their homes and businesses alike.
Looking up at the single formation towering over the town, Clara bit her lip.
"That's a volcano …" she said to herself, her mind racing through her historical knowledge, "Oh my God…"
The tremors discontinued moments later, giving Clara ample time to spin around on her feet.
"Doctor!" she cried, shouting as loud as she could, after all, he couldn't be that far away… "Doctor!"
Quite a few people turned at Clara's call, all quite concerned since a woman so young seemed to be in distress.
"Is she alright?" one asked.
"She's calling for a Doctor!" another exclaimed.
"Doctor!" she called once again, her cries becoming louder every time.
By that point she was walking rather quickly in the direction of the TARDIS, deeply regretting it a moment later as her daughter just wasn't happy, and she was certainly letting Clara know that.
Stopping and leaning on a stone column for support, Clara caught the attention of a young woman stood at a nearby stall.
"Are you alright?" she asked, rather concerned since the woman was clearly with child.
Clara immediately got her strength back and looked over at the woman, well, not even a woman, a teenager.
"Why… wouldn't I be okay?" Clara asked delicately, not meaning in any way to come across as rude.
The young girl shook her head slightly. "You're…" she started, "You're calling for a doctor."
Clara smiled sympathetically, shaking her head. "Oh, no." she attempted to explain, "I don't want a Doctor. I need the Doctor… my husband."
"Oh, right." realised the girl, "But, you are okay?"
Clara wanted to nod, she wanted to smile and confirm to her everything was okay, but she didn't want to lie…
Looking back towards the volcano she could barely even see, Clara sighed.
"I'm as good as I can be." she promised.
The young girl nodded, probably assuming Clara was talking about her health in her current condition. After all, she probably had no idea about what that thing rumbling away even was. For all she probably knew, it was just a mountain… a noisy mountain.
Clara once again acknowledged the woman before continuing to walk towards the location of the TARDIS.
"Doctor!" she called once again.
It was then that she heard clattering behind her. Not startled but curious enough to turn around, Clara's jaw dropped when she saw a man approaching her, not that far in front of a woman in dark denim jeans and long-ish, almost paint-splattered top… Not very Ancient Rome…
"What…?!" she whispered, a gulp swallowing the rest of her words.
The man stopped not that far in front of her, frowning slightly when he caught her eye.
"No…" she whispered, her head shaking as she rubbed the side of her face, "No, not you."
"I'm sorry?" he attempted to confirm.
"Doctor…" she whispered, "No, Doctor… You shouldn't be here…"
"I'm sorry." he apologised, "But who are you?"