Health and Safety: Chapter 2 – A Place to Call Home
The three Victorian investigators follow behind us into the TARDIS. Jenny quickly moves to one of the chairs by the console, motioning to the Doctor.
"Set her here Doctor, I'll look after her while you get us out of this horrid place." Jenny offers, but the Doctor shakes his head again.
"Activate emergency protocol four nine seven!" He calls out, almost immediately being answered by a female voice.
"Command recognized, voice override controls activated. Warning, the accuracy of this emergency protocol cannot be guaranteed. Please state your desired destination."
If I had more energy, I would laugh. Since when has the TARDIS ever had reliable accuracy even when flown manually? Especially when flown manually… I am willing to chalk up at least some of our getting lost to pilot error.
"Maitland Residence, London England, May 11th 2013!"
The TARDIS begins to whine, and my eyes start slipping shut. I can hear Vastra arguing with the Doctor's choice of destination.
"Doctor, please, I am aware that you are rather distraught at this moment, and understandably so, but take us back to Paternoster Row, to our house. We can protect you there, both of you. You have to be utterly drained after doing something as foolish as entering your own time stream! You both need rest right now; in our home we can keep you safe at least. This girl's home is defenseless!"
"It's not really her home. But it's as close to home as I can take her to. I'm not bringing her anywhere near Victorian London right now. She is trying to sort goodness knows how many lives in her head. How can she remember who she is if I take her into your house? She will have memories of that, memories of words and truth and… Just no, I won't take her there." He sounds terrified at the mere prospect of doing that.
He's right of course; the Maitland's isn't my home, just the house I am living in. A home is a lot more; it's not about the walls and the roof or the rooms. A home is a where you belong, where you can feel at ease, somewhere you feel safe even if you're not. As unfriendly as the TARDIS has been to me, I have to admit the snog box has started to feel more home like than anywhere else right now. Because when I am in the TARDIS… home is where the heart is right?
He said I can't stay in here though; something about the telepathic circuits, so I guess the Maitland's is our next best plan. The Doctor going anywhere near my Dad's place, especially with me like this is a bad plan. Dad would probably remember he was a champion high school boxer first, and stop to ask questions later.
Hang on a minute though, we're bringing a potato and a lizard woman with us, to the Maitland house, where I have tried very hard to keep George in the dark about all of this, and didn't the Doctor give the TARDIS a date in the past? I open my mouth to start voicing some of these concerns, but the console room vanishes before my eyes.
She was young, far too young to be so ill. Charlotte Abigail Lux. She was laying in what looked like a hospital bed, wired up to an IV machine that was pumping pain killers into her veins. A mask covered her mouth and nose, delivering the oxygen her lungs were far too weak to find on their own. Her father looked over her, tears in his eyes, holding her hand, telling her that everything would be okay, that she wasn't going to be alone. A heart rate monitor was beeping somewhere out of sight, but the beeps were coming ever slower, petering down to almost nothing. She could feel herself slipping away. When her body broke a last breath, everything went still, and then suddenly she was surrounded by books in the most beautiful room she could ever have imagined. After spinning around a few times, taking it all in, a kind looking man with round glasses and a tailored suit waved to her in welcome, asking her to come with him to see her new home. The pain was gone, she was free…
"Clara, hang on, stay with me!"
The loud cracking sound brings me back again; the Doctor's face is right over mine, his hand on my cheek. I'm still trying to take in what is around me when I hear the unmistakable sound of wood being smashed in.
"What did you do that for? You was asked to open the door, not break it!" Jenny cries.
"I was ordered to gain admission into this building as quickly as possible. Demolishing the weak biological structure barring the door was by far the most efficient method of gaining entry." Strax replies hotly.
The same sudden panic hits me as when I had awoken in the graveyard, but the Doctor seemed to anticipate it this time and cradles me into him, whispering something in my ear and crossing though a doorway.
We're inside the Maitland house, and the door had most certainly been broken down. That was going to take some explaining to George…
"Sorry girl." Strax says uncomfortably to me, shifting on his tiny legs.
"Any chance you can fix it?" I ask him.
"I shall do my best." He replies grudgingly, turning to the splintered remains of the front door.
Jenny and Vastra exchange a look, both seeming to be on edge, but before either of them can say anything; the Doctor begins climbing the stairs, going all the way up to the attic where he tenderly sets me onto my small bed, sitting next to me and holding my hand.
Now that he has stopped, he really does look exhausted. His face is worn, his eyes seem haunted and he looks old for once, all of his usual enthusiasm and energy spent.
There's a creak on the stairs and Jenny nervously peers into my room before tip toeing in and setting something on the table next to my bed.
"Doctor?"
He makes a noncommittal sound of recognition without looking up at her.
"Madam is, she is very worried about us being here… After all that has happened today…"
"Clara needs a few hours at least, I can't let her lose herself, I'm not sure what is happening to her and I don't know what going somewhere she… she lived as an echo will do to her. The TARDIS isn't any good right now either, the telepathic circuits will make it harder for her to sort out her reality, to remember."
His free hand moves to run through my hair now, very carefully.
Jenny nods, before leaving my room, looking just as unsure as when she had come in. I can hear her hushed voice speaking to her wife from the second floor, though I can't make out the words.
A cool cloth drapes carefully on my forehead, which feels so good I can't help but sigh a little. Jenny must have brought up a bowl of cold water… The Doctor leaves it for a few minutes, and then flips it to the other side.
"You should probably try to sleep." He suggests.
I shake my head. There's no way I want to sleep right now, not with what keeps happening when I slip out of consciousness accidentally. If he wants me to ground myself in reality, sleeping isn't in my best interest. He clenches his hands and gives me a firm glance, willing me to give in. Trying to deflect his attentions, I shift closer to the wall, giving him room to lay down if he wants to.
"You look like you need a nap too."
He sighs in defeat and drops down onto the bed beside me, pulling an arm around me.
"Twenty minute power nap, that's all." He says, whether to himself or to me I'm not sure.
It doesn't take long for his breathing to even out after his eyes close. It's always an odd sight, the Doctor sleeping, at rest, not dashing about madly like he is afraid to stop. Twenty minutes pass, but he doesn't wake up and I don't wake him up. He needs this.
In the quiet dark, tucked into the side of a peaceful Doctor, my thoughts start to organize themselves again, coming easier. Then I remember there is a bit of a problem, not only have we broken down the front door, we have also brought a lizard woman from the dawn of time and a gnome like Victorian butler in the Maitland house… oh dear… But then, the Doctor had brought us back in time, back to about a week ago. George had taken the kids to his in-laws for a few days, leaving me free to travel with the Doctor for a while. So no one will walk in on us I suppose and I don't remember the door looking off when I got back…
Looking at my clock now and again I watch the minutes slowly slip away. It is so simple, to see time represented by numbers on a clock, such a straightforward device keeping track of such a powerful force. One hour passes, then two, and the Doctor is still asleep. I'm feeling much too content here, dozing off would be so easy... My eyes start closing and I am almost lulled to sleep by the sound of a double heart beat when Jenny reappears in my room.
"Doctor! Someone is watching the house, or at least we think they are. People is gathering at the corner of the street, been doing so for the last few minutes, more coming all the time. Madame is keeping watch at the front door and Strax is at the back. We can't protect this place if they decide to make a move on it." She says, highly distressed.
The Doctor sits up groggily, taking in what she has said a little slower than usual.
"Doctor, I know you have your reservations about bringing her to our house, but at least there we can keep your bodies safe, as for Miss Clara's mind, you can probably do something for it can't you?"
Suddenly it makes sense. That's why I woke up twice to find his hands on my face; he's trying to reach out to me with his own telepathy, trying to touch our minds, pull me back with his. I can't let him do that, I'm not letting him anywhere near my head right now; he doesn't need to see in there…
"I'll be okay Doctor." I assure him.
He doesn't seem to like it, but he gets off of the bed and straightens his coat. I manage to get up without help, which is a pleasant feeling. I still ache, but my fever feels like it's gone down, we are making progress. I need some help walking, but it is better to use the Doctor as a crutch than need him to carry me outright…
Vastra's face looks very relieved when she sees us come down the stairs behind her wife.
"You're not going anywhere near the observatory, understand?" The Doctor says sharply to me.
"Okay…"
"Because that is where your connection will be strongest. That is where she… you…"
"Where I had to try to find a single word to get your sulking self off of that cloud." I manage to say lightly, smiling at him. That I remember very well for some reason.
"Yeah." He says, smiling back at me fondly.
"Sir, no one has attempted to gain the element of surprise by entering through the yard of back." Strax informs us.
"Time to get going while the going is good then." The Doctor says, clapping his hands together.
We rush towards the TARDIS, parked right outside the Maitland's door, which I notice has been totally repaired. Good as new, possibly better actually. Come to think of it George did ask me if I'd painted it when he was away, I offhandedly told him my 'boyfriend' did it.
Walking into the TARDIS is not a pleasant experience after my head had been clearing. The Doctor braces me against him, calling out for the vocal override controls again. The same voice replies, warning us and then asking for a destination.
"Victorian London-"
The Doctor's voice is cut off as the TARDIS suddenly jumps to life, beginning to move before he could finish…