Hi everyone! Long time, no see.
Here is the new chapter, updates will now be a little more frequent! I promise. The first few weeks of uni were a little messy but i'm slowly getting used to it! Very slowly. Very very slowly. thanks to all the new story followers and favourites! and thank you for everyone that comments!
please leave a comment if you can. it makes me really happy to see what you all are thinking! feedback is welcome as well!
love, maze 3
The table in the bridge was now covered with maps of all kinds. Maps of the base, the planet, the sun system and satellite pictures. Agnes looked them over in curiosity, trying to see what The Doctor saw when looking at them, as he was now explaining his discovery to the group. He made Bennett, O'Donnell and Clara hold up probs to visualise "the sword", referencing to the Orion's sword in the coordinates.
Because the words that the ghosts kept mouthing were coordinates, coordinates that were pointing towards earth and more specifically towards their location. The location of the ghosts. As they were just serving as transmitters to enhance the signal of the coordinates being sent out.
Agnes followed the conversation half-heartedly, as she already knew the big revelation of course or at least enough of it. With the signal being sent out…towards unknown forces, whether it was a distress call or a warning, they're purposely killing people to strengthen it. Which was really fucked up. Like why not use a radio or whatever?
There was only one part of the coordinates they hadn't covered yet, the final puzzle piece, which was supposed to reveal exactly where the ghosts are calling their backup to. Cass was the one to remember first, signing what they've all missed discussing yet. The Temple. Or in this case, since the base was located in a flooded town, a church.
The Doctor leant over the map displaying satellite pictures of the town before it was flooded, suddenly standing next to Agnes (when did that happen?) and pointed at the building in question.
"Whatever the coordinates are for, it's in that church. Find that and you're a hop, skip and jump to stopping them." He glanced around the room, Agnes purposely avoided his eyes, and the rest of the people present stayed silent at first, having to process what The Doctor was suggesting.
Bennett was the first who seemed to understand, raising his hand to stop the Doctor from continuing as he collected his thoughts. "Wait, you're not suggesting that-? But we're safe now! The ghosts are in the cage. We can get out of here." He looked around at his crew, waiting for them to agree, but they all stayed quiet.
"No one has to stay. In fact, I would prefer it if you went. You'll all get in the way and ask ridiculous questions. But, you know," he motioned towards Cass, Lunn and O'Donnell, "you have chosen to protect and serve."
"You," he motioned towards Bennett now, "have given yourself to science and the pursuit of knowledge. None of you have chosen anonymous or selfish lives. Go, and a part of you will always wonder, what would have happened if I'd stayed? How could I have helped? What would I have learned? I want you to go. But you should know what it is that you're leaving."
Agnes couldn't keep the small smile from her face. The Doctor was always so good at giving speeches and he fucking knew it. Meeting Clara's eyes, who were sparkling with mirth as she grinned at Agnes, she knew that the brunette was aware of it as well. It wasn't really witchcraft to notice. How easily he could draw people in, make them curious, make them hesitate. And it worked well. She could see it in their eyes.
Cass was the first to break.
"Cass says we should go," Lunn started translating as they all looked towards the woman, "but everything that happens here is her responsibility now, so she's going to stay…So I, er, guess I should too."
O'Donnell started grinning at the both of them and then moved to stand by Cass' side.
"Well, count me in. Who wants to live forever, anyway?"
Oh, no. Agnes felt the urge to open her mouth, but she could stop herself at the last second. This was ironic. In the worst way. Clara glanced at her as she noticed her grimacing slightly but Agnes shook her head.
"Sorry, er, have you gone insane? We can go home," Bennett interrupted them, looking at O'Donnell who did a one-shoulder shrug and grinned wider. He looked back at The Doctor and then at Agnes, who grinned, hoping he remembered what she'd told him earlier.
Bennett couldn't fight the smile anymore.
"They're ghosts, though. How can they be ghosts?" His voice was filled with excitement, expression thoughtful. Then he relaxed his shoulders, having made his decision. "Well, at least if I die, you know I really will come back and haunt you all."
Agnes laughed.
"That's a promise!"
—
With the help of a drone submarine and Bennett controlling it with the help of VR goggles and remote controls on his fingers (and Agnes really really wished she could have been the one to do that because it looked so cool) they quickly discovered what it was the coordinates led to.
Now standing in the main hanger, they all stared at the white casket looking box in the centre. Big enough to hold one and a half grown men.
The Doctor stepped forward and examined it closer, prodding and stroking, getting down on both knees and eyeing it closely. "It's the suspended-animation chamber from the spaceship."
Clara stepped towards the box as well, grabbing Agnes by the wrist when passing her to pull her closer as well. The girl let out a surprised huff, looking up at the brunette in protest but only earning a stern look. Okay, teacher much.
"So the pilot could be in there," Clara guessed, pulling Agnes with her as she went around the chamber and Agnes grumbled.
The Doctor looked between the two women, brows knitted together a little, then turned his attention back to the important matter at hand. Leaning over the box, he inspected it closer.
"There's something inside there. But it's deadlock sealed. I can't open it. It should be the pilot, it should be. So why do I think it isn't? More questions. Everything I solve, just more questions," he mumbled to himself, glancing at Agnes once more but shaking his head as if to remind himself they were fighting right now and he couldn't just ask her, then he straightened up, "I have to go back to the beginning."
He walked around the room, stopping at the other end of it and started to replay the sequence of events. "We arrive, we see the ghosts. They don't kill us. They lead us here, they show us the spaceship. Then they try to kill us."
He looked back at the spaceship, then towards Agnes and the girl looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Figure it out," she pushed, earning an amused look from Clara.
The Doctor didn't need to be told twice. He went inside the spaceship, rushing to the back to stare up at the symbols Agnes knew to be there. He reached up to touch them and Clara gave Agnes a questioning look. The girl nodded towards the Doctor, motioning for her to wait for it.
He cleaned his sunglasses and put them on, looking up at the scratched marks again, the whirring she knew from the sonic filled the room. Then he took his glasses off again, putting his glasses in his pocket, before joining them outside the spaceship again.
"Lunn, translate for me," he ordered, coming to a halt in front of Cass, "Whenever I step outside, you are the smartest person in the room. So, tell me, what's weird about this? I know that it's all bonkers but, you know, when you think about it, one thing keeps snagging in your mind. What is it?"
Cass thought about his words for a moment before answering.
"The markings on the inside of the spaceship."
"The markings on the inside of the spaceship," The Doctor praised, a huge grin on his face, "Yes! Why?"
"I don't think they're just words."
"They're not. They're magnets," he explained, before stepping towards Agnes, raising his arms, "Oh Agnes, clever girl! Should have believed you."
Agnes snorted.
"Obviously."
But the others didn't quite seem to understand what the Doctor meant, yet.
"Magnets? How?" Bennett asked.
"Well, a localised and manufactured electromagnetic field, to be precise. The dark. The sword. The forsaken. The temple. When we heard the coordinates for the first time, did anyone expect them not to be that? No, exactly. Me neither. It's like we already knew, somehow. Like the words were already in us. That is for everyone who's seen the words," he pointed towards Agnes, grinning, proud he's finally solved it, "Not Agnes, of course, she's not seen them because she didn't arrive with Clara and me."
"So that writing is the coordinates?"
The Doctor began to explain, trying to relate it to how whatever they experience would shape them in some way but these words specifically were able to actually rewrite the synaptic connections in their brains, using the radio he didn't have in the Tardis (because he used them to make clockwork squirrels) as an example. Because the first song he heard in the morning would be stuck with him. Like an earworm. Because these words were nothing else but an earworm.
"A song you can't stop humming, even after you die."
The Doctor stepped towards Agnes, looking down at her with a gentleness in his eyes. Reaching out a hand towards her, palm up, he smiled softly at her.
"Forgive me?"
Agnes felt a little awkward under the intensity of his stare, averting her eyes as she scoffed but she still grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.
"If you stop being an idiot, maybe."
The Doctor laughed.
"Can't promise that!"
She felt better now, having The Doctor be so cold towards her has been weird, and uncomfortable. Not only that, but it also had given her a feeling of dread. The Doctor didn't trust her completely, and why was that? He seemed fine back after Venice. Sure, he hadn't let her go outside but he still believed what she told him.
Glancing at Clara she saw the brunette smile at them but she couldn't really read the expression on her face, nor had she time to think about it as Clara already turned around again, her attention directed at the spaceship once more.
"Okay, so, the spaceship lands here. The pilot leaves the writing on the wall so whoever sees it, when they die, they become a beacon of the coordinates, while he slash she slash it snoozes in the suspended-animation chamber," Clara summarised.
"Waiting for his slash her slash its mates to pick the message up," The Doctor finished, " My God. Every time I think it couldn't get more extraordinary, it surprises me. It's impossible. I hate it. It's evil. It's astonishing. I want to kiss it to death."
Agnes chuckled.
"God, you want us to leave the room a little?"
"Oh! I didn't-"
The blaring sound of an alarm rang through the room, interrupting The Doctor in his sarcastic response. A monotone Computer voice speaking alongside, telling them to evacuate immediately, as emergency protocols have been initiated. O'Donnell rushed towards a touch screen hanging on the wall which displayed a warning sign in red. Agnes followed, grabbing Clara's hand and pulling her with her towards the screen. The brunette huffed in surprise. Sweet Revenge
"Oh, no. The ghosts tampering with the day-night settings caused a computer malfunction." She turned towards them, seeing the confusion written on their faces and goes on to explain. "Its first priority is to keep the reactor cool, so it's opening the hull doors and it's flooding the base."
Agnes rolled her eyes. Of course, typical.
"Cass says, close the internal flood doors. That'll contain the water in the central corridor," Lunn translated as Cass was signing and O'Donnell nodded before she quickly started typing on the screen, working to follow the orders and close the doors.
"Where's the Tardis?" The Doctor asked.
"On the other side of it," Agnes sighed, remembering the part where they all ran through the corridors to get to the ship in time...and failing.
"She's right," O'Donnell agreed, glancing at Agnes.
They'd probably get separated this time, too. She thought she remembered one of them stumbled...or hesitated or something and that's why they were too slow. But with whom should she stay? The Doctor would probably want her to stick with him, and Clara was fine on her own...but maybe she-
"We need to get there. It's our only way out."
O'Donnell finished putting in the commands and straightened her back, nodding towards Clara, The Doctor and her. "Okay. We've got thirty seconds before the flood doors close," she told them and motioned them to follow her as she started rushing out of the door.
Agnes went to follow, right behind The Doctor and Clara right behind her, still holding her hand. She forgot to let go...
"Agnes-"
She glanced behind her to look at Clara, cocking her head to the side in question but Clara was staring back at her with furrowed brows, looking confused.
"What are you looking at me like this for-?! We have to hurry, come on," she told her hastily, running past her and pulling Agnes along by the hand. The teenager stumbled over her feet, staring at the back of Clara's head with narrowed eyes.
"But you were the one who said my name!" she called out, head whipping back to look for Cass and Lunn to see them following right behind them.
"I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you d-"
A door started closing right before them, forcing them to stop. Agnes and Clara skidded to a halt, The Doctor's face visible through the round window in the door. His big angry eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at them, trying to work out what to do. But he didn't have much time left to think. Agnes could hear the rushing of water through the wall and see The Doctor realize he didn't have any other choice. He turned to rush through the other doorway before he was caught between two closed doors in a corridor that was soon going to be flooded.
"Doctor!" Clara screamed.
Looked like Agnes didn't even have time to make a choice. She was stuck with Clara. That wasn't too bad she thought, glancing at the woman from the side. Her eyes were wide and panicked as she looked through the glass of the window and Agnes squeezed her hand.
The monitor next to the door lit up, showing that The Doctor had activated the intercom. A few seconds later the connection had stabilised and his voice was audible.
"I'll get you and the others out. Sit tight, I'll come back for you. Agnes, you stay with Clara."
Clara shook her head.
"Just come over here in the Tardis now."
His face contorted, showing concern for a second before he managed to force it back into a neutral expression. "The Tardis won't go there. It won't go near the ghosts," he explained with a shrug before he turned and started to run off.
"You can't just leave us!" Clara yelled, stopping the man in his tracks. He turned and walked back towards the window, staring at Clara and Agnes with a determined look in his eyes.
"Listen to me. I'm going back in time to when this spaceship landed. If I can understand why this is happening, I can stop them killing anyone else. I can save you. You trust me, don't you, Clara? Agnes?" As he was talking the water in between the two-door had started rising rapidly, filling out the whole room, so that they saw The Doctor's face through the water. The Doctor had placed his open palm against the glass, looking towards them, expecting.
Clara nodded, putting her palm against the glass as well and Agnes could tell that although Clara trusted him, she didn't like being separated from the Doctor a little bit. And to be entirely honest, Agnes didn't like it either. But they weren't alone. They had each other.
"We trust you." Agnes agreed, locking eyes with the Timelord and giving him a nod, telling him they were okay again and he straightened.
Then he, Bennett and O'Donnell left.
"If you leave, too, I will kick your ass," Clara warned her, watching him leave.
The girl smiled, nudging the woman's shoulder.
"It's a date."
And Clara cracked a smile.
—
"And you're sure the Doctor won't just leave us here?" Cass asked as Agnes let herself sink down in a chair in the mess hall. They've come here directly after they've realized standing in front of that locked door didn't do them any good.
Clara laughed, forcing a careless grin on her face as she looked between Lunn and Cass. "Guys, look, this is how we roll. He's going to go away, come back and we'll have to listen to how he did it. Right, Agnes?"
Agnes surprised she was pulled into this now looked up to find Cass and Lunn looking at her expectantly. Well, okay then.
"He does like to brag...and he tends to be more dramatic than is necessary. So, yeah, No worries." She smiled brightly, hoping it didn't look as forced as Clara's smile.
Lunn was translating what she said to Cass, signing, before he suddenly stopped, eyes focused on something outside... in the water. Agnes turned to follow his eyes, catching sight of the dark figure slowly approaching them. It was too far away to make out the details of its appearance but still, Agnes knew exactly what it was.
As Lunn, Cass and Clara went to step closer to the window, bending forward to see better, Agnes remained seated.
"Is it Moran or Pritchard or the mole guy? How, how did they get out?" Lunn asked.
"No, I don't think it's any of them. I think it's a new ghost," Clara responded, squinting as she tried to recognize who the new ghost was.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that something happened in the past, it means that somebody else must have-" Clara stopped, pausing, as the ghost has come close enough for her to recognize who it was, "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no."
The Doctor...
"Told you he has a tendency for dramatics..."
Clara looked back at her, eyes big and filled with fear. She stared at her and Agnes realized how scared the brunette must be at that moment. She didn't know what this meant. To her, this was proof The Doctor was going to die.
"That's not funny, Agnes! I mean...does he?" She walked towards her, looking down at the girl, who was still sitting in the chair, "Tell me what this means."
Agnes hesitated.
"Clara."
The brunette shook her head, pulled out a chair and placed it in front of hers as she sat down. She leaned closer, probably to make sure that Lunn and Cass noticed this was a more private conversation and would be polite enough to turn their head. It didn't really work as Cass was staring at them entirely unashamed.
"Agnes! I don't care about your stupid no spoilers rules! This is important! Tell me!"
She cursed The Doctor for putting her in a situation like this, the rule was stupid, she had said so from the very beginning. It made everything more complicated...or maybe that was just her. Maybe she was the one that made everything complicated.
"It's kind of a big spoiler, Clara."
Clara didn't advert her eyes, staring into Agnes' eyes intently, as if she was trying to read the answer directly from her soul. But Agnes stayed quiet, enduring the intense glare until Clara let out a sigh and leaned back, breaking their eye contact.
"I understand. You're new, you don't know, yet."
Agnes frowned.
"What do you-"
But Clara pushed back the chair and stood up, face set in a thoughtful frown. Then she walked towards a corner in the room and sat down on a chair there, crossing her arms and leaning on her legs as she stared into thin air, turned away from Agnes.
The girl followed her with her eyes but didn't go after her. She probably was trying to calm down and not be angry at her for not being "allowed" to tell and Agnes did appreciate it. It didn't help her feeling of guilt, though.
A nudge to her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Cass looking at her with a concentrated expression on her face. Agnes lifted her eyebrow at the woman and Cass started signing, slowly.
Following the movements, the teenager did appreciate it because while she did know the basics of sign language, there was no way she could process the hand movements this quickly.
"You know the future, but are not allowed to tell her. Why?"
Agnes smiled, being reminded of how clever Cass really was, and how little she cared whether or not the question was appropriate or not. Agnes raised her hands, hesitating as she tried to remember the exact hand movements and then slowly started answering, wording the words out, too, in case her signing was too messy for Cass to recognize.
"It's a rule by The Doctor. Timelines," she hesitated, deciding to spell out the word, "They get messed up otherwise...or something. I am not happy with it, either."
Cass nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer, sitting down on a chair next to Agnes, looking towards the ghost on the other side of the glass. Apparently, that was all she had wanted to clear up. Okay then.
Agnes did follow the woman's example, sighing as her eyes settled on the empty black sockets of the ghost. She got why Clara was so scared, not knowing exactly why the ghost was here or what it really was, there was no way to tell the difference. Watching this all through a screen and experiencing it in the skin...she wasn't yet sure if she could ever get used to it, either. The adrenaline that still lingered as an echo under her skin from her last adventure, the thrumming of her heart whenever something Agnes was familiar with behaved exactly as expected and the little voice in the back of her head, telling her how real this was over and over again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lunn approaching Clara.
Clara had said she didn't know yet.
Agnes hated that.
She didn't know, yet. She was still young. She was still new. Everyone kept reminding her as if she wasn't aware of herself. She barely knew anything, which was funny considering she had tons of foreknowledge when it came to The Doctor's adventures...but she was absolutely clueless when it came to stuff regarding herself. And she had really tried to ignore it, to not think about it too much, push it to the back of her brain after The Doctor had deflected her questions. How did she even get here? The jumping...it had felt so...unnatural. Which made sense. She's never done that before.
But she would have to. To get here. This wasn't her universe, she woke up in this reality. In the reality where The Doctor existed. She would've had to jump. But The Doctor hadn't answered that question, only smiled sadly, how he had so often. So, if she hadn't jumped here, how else had she come here?
A loud slapping noise ripped Agnes out of her thoughts and she flinched, eyes wide as she turned towards the source of it. It was Cass, who had loudly slapped the back of her chair to draw everyone's attention to her, looking back at where Clara and Lunn were looking at her in surprise. Agnes let out a huff, begrudgingly watching the woman sign quickly enough to make her head feel all dizzy again.
"Cass thinks the Doctor's saying something different to the others." Lunn and Clara step closer to them and the man was looking between Cass and the ghost Doctor with furrowed brows. "He's saying Moran Pritchard Apprentice. No, Prentis O'Donnell Clara Agnes Doctor Bennett Cass. It's a list of all our names and when he finishes, he just goes back to the beginning again, over and over. That's it."
Agnes cocked her head and narrowed her eyes in thought. Weird, why was she on the list? Considering she couldn't be affected by the ghosts it wouldn't make sense to put her on it...unless.
"Idiot," she muttered under her breath.
Did he want to convince himself that Agnes was either dumb enough to interact with the writing on the wall despite knowing it was a bad idea or even worse, that Agnes was dumb enough to get herself killed without it? The fisher king wouldn't have any interest in killing her otherwise!
She'd hit him for this one! What an asshole move.
Clara wasn't all too put off by Agnes quiet muttering, ignoring it in favour to ask her a more pressing question it seemed.
"Who's Prentiss?"
Before she had a chance to answer Clara's phone rang.
"It's The Doctor!"
"He's alive?" Lunn asked with relief and Clara smiled crookedly. "For the moment."
Agnes pushed back her chair and walked to stand next to Clara, who was looking at her with wide questioning eyes. The girl gave her a smile, leaning to look above Clara's shoulder at the screen as she accepted the face time request. The Doctor's big grumpy face popped up.
"Doctor? Doctor, are you alright?" Clara asked, worry seeping into her words and expression.
The man didn't even waste a second to say Hello or ask Clara and Agnes about their current status, only gave them a short answer before he already started talking about what they discovered. The spaceship, it was a hearse. Luckily The Doctor wasn't dense and Clara wasn't being subtle as she was staring with big sad eyes.
"Clara, what is wrong? Agnes?"
"Another ghost has appeared..."
"What? Who? Has someone died?" The Doctor asked.
Clara had to swallow and then Agnes glanced at her she could see the woman was struggling to keep her voice steady.
"Doctor. It's you."
The Doctor looked like somebody slapped him in the face, staring back at them in silence. Clara glanced back at Agnes, and they exchanged looks.
"You okay, Doctor?" Agnes asked, leaning further into Clara's space, so the Timelord could see her face well enough, too.
"Yeah...well...currently."
"What does it mean?" Clara asked, probably hoping he'd give her a different answer to the one she was already aware of. The only one that made sense at the time.
The Doctor took a deep breath before he took a step back. "It means I die."
Agnes had to bite her tongue to not call him an idiot again. He wasn't supposed to know yet...but what would it change if he did? Too much? Or just a little bit? The look in Clara's eyes...Agnes had to turn her face.
"No, not necessarily. We can change the sequence of events so," The brunette shrugged, trying her best to sound as nonchalant as possible, but Agnes knew better.
This was the look of someone who was in denial about the inevitable death of a loved one. Well, inevitable in Clara's eyes.
"This isn't a potential future. This is the future now. It's already happened. The proof is right there in front of you. I have to die." His voice was so quiet. So...defeated.
And Clara, Clara looked absolutely devastated.
"No. You don't know. You can change things. Agnes!" She turned to look at her, eyes bigger than ever and Agnes blinked in surprise at being put on the spot like this. She opened her mouth, no words escaping.
"No, Clara. She can't tell us," The Doctor interrupted.
"But-" Agnes tried to protest. For Clara's sake. The Doctor didn't care. "No, Agnes! It's the rule! You can't."
He sighed. "And I can't change anything. Even with the tiniest change, the ramifications could be catastrophic. It could spread carnage and chaos across the universe like ripples on a pond. Oh, well, I've had a good inning. This regeneration, it's a bit of a clerical error anyway. I've got to go some time. "
With every word Clara's breathing had become more and more ragged, her expression a mixture between anger and frustration and fear and when The Doctor had finished it was the last straw.
"Not with me!" She yelled, leaning closer to the phone and Agnes took a step back to give her a little bit of space. "Die with whoever comes after me. You do not leave me. "
The Doctor paused before he let out another sigh.
"Clara, I need to talk to you just on your own."
He motioned to her and Clara quickly put him off the speaker, walking off to the corner of the room to talk to him in private. Agnes looked after her, feeling like garbage. She knew telling her wouldn't be smart...or actually, maybe telling Clara wouldn't be bad. Telling The Doctor would be the detrimental thing. But telling Clara...
The woman approached them again, looking less hopeless and more fierce-full now. Whatever the Doctor had told her, it looked like it had worked.
"No, nothing. You're the same as all the other ghosts with the weird black eyes and-" She stopped, noticing something about the ghost Doctor that she hadn't before, "No. No, wait. Your coat. It's torn. The right shoulder. "
Clara held up the phone then, pointing it at the window and Agnes could see The Doctor's concentrated frown on the screen once again.
"I assume I'm just saying the same thing as the others."
Agnes shook her head.
"No, You're listing our names...well mainly ours. Uh. Moran, Pritchard, Prentiss, O'Donnell, Clara, me, Bennet and Cass."
The Doctor's frown deepened at the mention of her and Clara's name until Clara took him off face time again and his face vanished.
"Who's Prentiss?" Clara asked, this time the question was directed at the Doctor, holding the phone in between her and Agnes.
"The mole-faced chap."
A sudden noise made the two of them spin around at the moment the ghost Doctor had stepped through the glass. Now standing in the same room as the four of them. Agnes cursed in surprise and Clara let the phone fall on one of the tables as she flinches back, staring at the ghost with wide eyes. Now they were all at high alert, waiting for the ghost Doctor to attack them as all the other ghosts had. Agnes wondered if he would pretend to try to kill them with a plastic chair, too, that would be a funny call back.
"What's the matter, Clara, what's happening? Agnes, are you alright?" the distorted voice of the Doctor filled the room, breaking the silence of bated breaths and fearful expectation.
"That's up to debate still," Agnes answered unthinkingly, grimacing at the sight of the ghost Doctor. He was being very convincing playing this role.
"You've moved inside. You're inside here now," Clara answered his question.
"What am I doing?"
"Er," Clara started, seemingly expecting the ghost Doctor to start with his killing scheme but relaxed when she noticed he just stood there and continued saying the words, "nothing. You're, you're just standing there. "
"I'm not trying to kill you? Why am I not trying to kill you?" The Doctor sounded confused but Agnes thought she heard a tinge of disappointment in his voice, too. Turning to glare at the phone in Clara's hand, she scoffed. "Sounds like you're complaining!"
The ghost Doctor started walking.
"No, wait," Clara continued, willingly ignoring both the Doctor and Agnes, watching as the ghost proceeded. He was walking towards the control panel at the wall. "You're moving, going toward the control panel…"
Clara took a few steps closer, trying to get a better look at what the ghost was doing as Agnes waited.
"Oh, no," Clara retreated, waving Agnes to come with her as she walked towards the other end of the room and she followed, "He's opened the Faraday cage. He's let the other ghosts out."
Looking at Cass and Lunn, Agnes saw the panic in their faces and the helplessness. They didn't know what to do.
"I need to talk to me now."
Clara activated face time again and Agnes was able to see the relatively relaxed face of The Doctor. A complete opposite to Clara's wide eyes and open face.
"Didn't you hear me? You opened the Faraday cage. The other ghosts are outside. Shouldn't we be hiding?"
"In a minute. I need to talk to the ghost me."
Clara let out a sigh before placing the phone on a cabinet close by, turning it so the screen and inner camera were pointed at the ghost.
"Okay, Doctor, you're on," Clara mumbled, retreating a little.
"Doctor. Such an honour. I've always been a huge admirer. This is really a delight. Finally someone worth talking to," The Doctor said in a bashful tone and Agnes rolled her eyes, "So firstly, why are you here?"
The Ghost Doctor turned towards the screen, but other than that did nothing but stare for a few seconds before turning back around. That was weird….Was that weird?
"Clara? Clara, what's happening?"
Clara retrieved her phone from the counter, watching The ghost Doctor in confusion when he…stopped talking.
"Er. Er, you, you've just stopped." And right as the words had left her lips he started forming words again, "Oh, no, wait, you've started again."
Cass noticed something and started signing, making Lunn look confused while he translated. "His message has changed. He's saying something different. He's saying-" He stopped because Cass had stopped, furrowing her eyebrows.
"What?" Clara urged.
"What?" The Doctor asked.
"What?" Agnes added because she felt left out.
"What?" Lunn leaned forward into Cass' space, looking at her in anticipation. And then Cass continued, hesitant and confused.
"He's saying, the chamber will open tonight."
The Doctor's expression changed then, a new glint in his eyes. Agnes wasn't sure why those words in particular had sparked some idea in his head.
The ghost Doctor had now started to walk towards them, head lowered and black holes looking even more creepy than they did before. Clara urged Cass and Lunn backwards and Agnes grabbed the brunette's hand once more as she signalled her to do so.
"Clara, Agnes, now the ghosts are out, go to the Faraday cage. They won't be able to get you in there," The Doctor told them before he remembered something. "Oh, there's a problem."
"Problem? What problem? Oh, really?" Clara's voice was more high-pitched. Cass, who didn't seem to like they weren't already running away and still talking, slung her arm around Clara's torso to try to pull her back even more. "Because everything else is going so smoothly."
Agnes laughed and Clara glared at her a little. The ghost Doctor walked closer towards them.
"The phone signal won't be able to get through. What you'll have to do, put the phone outside, and you can watch it through the little round porthole. And when you see it ringing, if it's safe to do so, go out and answer it. Agnes can tell you when that is."
No Agnes couldn't. Because Agnes was horrible at telling the passage of time in shows. And Agnes didn't know how much time would pass in between them getting into the cage, the ghosts stealing the phone, Lunn getting it back and The Doctor calling them. Or if he called at all that was.
Clara glanced at Agnes in question and Agnes faked a "yeah I am so smart" smile.
"Okay, how long are you going to-"
"Clara, listen to me. Don't let that phone out of your sight. I need to be able to reach you, I need to know everything my ghost does. Do you understand? I'll come back for you and Agnes. I swear."
And with that Clara ended the call and let herself pull back by Cass and Agnes, running away from the ghost Doctor and the other ghosts that were soon to arrive, too, and towards the cage.
—
"You want us to take the phone inside?"
Clara was staring at Agnes in disbelief, eyebrows scrunched up and arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Exactly."
She had thought about this since The Doctor had said it over the phone. He had said she'd knew when it would be safe outside, and he was somehow right about this. Fact was, as far as she remembered The Doctor didn't call at all, or maybe he did call but just right before he popped out of the chamber? Agnes didn't know for sure if or if he didn't call. But she did know leaving the phone outside for it to be picked up by one of the ghosts was a bad idea.
No one died…but why not make things a little easier?
"But we won't have any signal in here and The Doctor said-" Clara stopped mid-sentence, narrowing her eyes in thought, before looking back at the girl. "Are you sure?"
Agnes nodded. "Yes."
The brunette sighed, nodding as well and stepping to the side to gesture Agnes to go ahead then. She hesitated, glancing at Clara, who stood with her back turned towards the door. She looked more tired than before. Her fingers were tapping against her arms as she bounced her leg, restless. She didn't even look up at her, her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyebrows furrowed.
Oh, to hell with the stupid rule.
Agnes reached towards Clara, wrapping her arms loosely around the smaller woman's shoulder and giving her a smile. Clara glanced up at her in confusion but relaxed under her touch.
"Don't worry. The Doctor always finds a way, right?" she asked, raising her eyebrows to give her a pointed look.
The brunette frowned and searched the girl's face before the words seemed to register. Then her face lit up, smoothing the lines on her forehead and filling her eyes with hope. The frown disappeared and was replaced with a small smile. Agnes nodded to assure her, grinning.
"Thank you, Nes." Clara reached up to place her hand on Agnes'.
"Don't tell The Doctor about it. He's no fun." Agnes joked, tightening her grip a little. Clara laughed and hit her arm, causing Agnes to yelp dramatically (which made Cass and Lunn send her uncertain looks) and the woman rolled her eyes at her.
"Go get the phone already," she pushed her away playfully and the girl gave her a silly salute, and turned to open the door.
There was a face staring at her through the glass.
The ghost face of O'Donnell.
"Holy fucking hell." She flinched back and Clara, who turned at her outcry rushed to her, deflating when she laid eyes on the ghost.
"O'Donnell is dead." She sounded far away.
Agnes couldn't breathe. It was her ghost. She would pick up the phone, right...she forgot. She knew and then she forgot. She felt Clara, Cass and Lunn edge forward, stepping even closer when O'Donnell turned away.
They were all pressed closely together to be able to watch what she was doing through the window. All eyes were on her as she walked towards the phone. Clara started cursing her under her breath, begging her not to do it, but O'Donnell didn't hear nor care. She grabbed the phone and started walking off. All of them stared after her.
That's what happened when you waste time on sentimentals…
"I will go get it," Agnes blurted out without even thinking about it.
Clara and Lunn turned in her direction staring at her in disbelief. Cass nudged Lunn to translate.
"What?! Agnes-" Clara grabbed her shoulder, turning her around but flinched back when she caught sight of Agnes' face. She didn't know why.
Cass hit her shoulder from behind and when Agnes turned around the woman already started signing at her, too quick and hectic to recognize, although she caught the words "moron" and "child". Agnes pouted in offence. She didn't look that young, did she?
"I will be fine." She signed back, before turning towards Clara.
"Remember? I am not affected! I didn't go into the ship. The ghosts aren't interested in me."
Clara opened her mouth to protest but stopped, realizing that she was right.
"The message isn't inside you!" Agnes nodded and Clara lit up. "You can get the phone!"
The girl rolled her eyes and nodded again. "That's what I'm saying!"
Lunn who's been translating their conversation and had until then stayed quite perked up as he too seemed to realise something.
"I didn't see the message either. Cass wouldn't let me go inside the ship."
Agnes knew what he was trying to say but she stopped the thought before it could form and develop further.
"No, you stay here. I'm going alone."
Lunn looked offended, but one look at Cass and Agnes had decided. If Lunn went with her then Cass and Clara would come as well and everything would repeat all over again.
"I know where it is. I know where the ghosts are. I am safe. I am doing this."
Clara seemed to contemplate what she was saying, looking in between Cass and Lunn and Agnes and then she sighed.
"Fine."
Cass let out a sigh of relief but gave Agnes an apologetic look. Yeah well, she wasn't in love with her either so she would forgive her for being happier that Agnes went alone instead of with Lunn.
Clara opened the Faraday Cage and Agnes exchanged one last look with everyone in the room, telling her to stay safe and don't do anything stupid, before stepping outside the cage and slowly walking off towards the ghost's den...this felt like deja vu.