Apologies for the long delay in writing this Chapter, I promise the next one will be quicker!
After Clara departed to her room, Twelve continued thinking about the mystery of the missing kittens, but his thoughts kept wandering back to Clara. Had he misjudged her, with his assumption that she would consider his previous version her Doctor? After all, she had found the change difficult to cope with, so surely she would be happy to have her bow-tie Doctor back? Maybe she had got used to the new face, that must be it, and after all it would only be for a short time, and this would be the version she'd be stuck with going forward! I suppose there was the possibility that Clara actually liked this new version of himself, maybe…
Twelve's thoughts were interrupted as Clara emerged in her dressing gown carrying a glass of water.
"Don't mind me" Clara mumbled in a sleepy voice. "Just getting a glass of water, and thought I'd take the scenic route back. Doing anything exciting here?"
"Just thinking about the kittens. When I set the TARDIS to cross its own timestream, I did warn that it could be quite dangerous; you don't think that the mystery of the missing animals is related to this?"
"I'm not sure I get the connection?"
"Well after such a collision, the energy spike would be enormous, with unpredictable effects."
"What, we killed the kittens?"
"I'm sure it's not that" Twelve replied in an unconvincing voice.
"That would be terrible! Oh god."
"I'm sure they're not dead, just missing. Maybe they've gone somewhere" Twelve continued with a smile that was intended to be reassuring, but to Clara looked more creepy than anything else.
"They'd better be somewhere else!" exclaimed Clara as she stormed away.
The next morning, the two Doctors had a private conversation, while their Companions got ready.
"I've been thinking about our TARDIS collision" spoke Twelve, "And how it may have caused some local damage."
"These things can be unpredictable" replied Eleven.
"I was wondering if it somehow caused a crack in time."
"What, like the crack that's been following me around, Silence must fall, and all that?"
"That crack was caused by the…" Twelve stopped himself, "No, not that sort of crack, but a smaller one, a local tear in time."
"Can tears in time be localised? It would certainly explain why all the animal and insect life seems to have vanished. Maybe they were somehow attracted to the crack?"
"Question. If there is indeed a crack which is responsible for this, can the process be reversed? Can we somehow return all the living life to the forest?"
"I've no idea. And we need to find the crack first anyway. Assuming that that there is a crack, of course. That could take ages."
When the other emerged after breakfast, it was Eleven who spoke first.
"We've been having a little conflab, and come to the conclusion that when our TARDISes came together, they may have created a teeny-weeny crack in the local universe."
"Another one!" exclaimed Amy. "Are you sure?"
"It's just a theory at this stage" replied Twelve, "But it would explain the missing animal life."
"And this is a different crack to the one that has been following me around?"
"Yes Amy" replied Twelve glancing towards Clara, "That crack has nothing to do with this."
"So you know what caused the other crack then?" exclaimed Amy. "This is starting to get frustrating, as you and Clara clearly know everything there is to know about us and our future, but won't spill the beans!"
"Well I don't want to know" replied Rory. "What if it's bad news?"
"You're such a misery guts! Don't you want to know a wee bit, a sneak preview of the future?"
"Frankly no! And you know he'll never tell us anyway."
"What about Clara, get her to spill the beans, shall we start with a bit of tickling."
"I wouldn't waste your time" replied Twelve, "She's made of strong stuff. Surprisingly powerful arms too…"
As Clara stared at her shoes, Amy continued.
"So how are we going to find this crack? I mean, we never sought the other crack, it just kept turning up, following me around."
"I don't know Amy" replied Twelve, "The TARDIS scanners weren't very helpful, so we may have to do this the manual way."
"Manual way?"
"As in look for it on foot" replied Eleven. "Think of it like a treasure hunt! Rory, you like hiking, so it'll be like one of your walks in the countryside, and er instead of a teahouse serving scones with jam and cream or a nice country pub at the end, we'll find an incredibly dangerous crack that has lured all the living creatures to their possible death."
"I think Rory has seen quite enough cracks in his time" replied Amy folding her arms.
"Ah yes, but then if he hadn't been taken by that crack, you wouldn't have been able to bring him back as a plastic Roman; indeed in that situation it was a positive benefit that Rory was erased from history instead of just being dead!"
"All things being considered" spoke Clara, "I'd prefer it if I wasn't erased from history, seeing that I'm meant to be testing Class 9K on Macbeth now."
"If they're anything like the class I saw you teaching Pride and Prejudice to" replied Twelve with a smirk, "They'd probably prefer it if you were erased from time!"
"Since when has the school caretaker been an expert on teaching English Literature?" Clara hissed back before smiling. "Especially as I believe there's some sick you need to clear up, around the back of the lower toilets."
"How do children produce so much vomit anyway? I mean it shouldn't be physically possible for such small people to produce such large amounts…" Twelve tailed off when he saw the confused expressions from the other TARDIS team. "This search for the crack."
"As I was saying older me" replied Eleven, "Think of it as a hike in the country, an expedition to explore new terrain, Dr Livingstone I presume, and all that. So, er bring Kendal mint cake and an ample supply of fluids."
"I'll pack us all a picnic" spoke Amy, "Rory won't mind carrying it!"
Back in Twelve's TARDIS, Clara put on a pair of new walking boots. Very stylish ones she thought, which matched her dress, not that the Doctor would notice, her Doctor anyway.
"What do you think?" she asked, waving her feet in Twelve's direction.
"You want a game of football? Funny time to ask as we've got work to do. Glad to see you've had a wash though, seeing that we are in company."
Clara sighed before continuing.
"So how do we find this crack then?"
"No idea."
"So we're just going to wander around aimlessly then. Why don't we use the TARDIS?"
"You can see more on foot. And it's a nice sunny day, it'll be like a pleasant stroll in the countryside. You'd better put some decent shoes on though; I'm not carrying you back."
"These boots are perfect. And even if you won't, I'm sure there's another Time Lord out there who will carry me back" Clara smirked at Twelve as she exited.
The five of them set off towards a large hill in the distance, as from the top they would be able to see all around the area. It was a hard climb to the top. A very hard climb.
"What did you pack in here?" moaned Rory, who was carrying everyone's lunch. "It weighs a ton!"
"Oh just the bare essentials" replied Amy. "And what sort of Roman centurion struggles with carrying a picnic?"
"Amy, I'm not an actual Roman centurion!"
"You're near enough for me!" Amy replied, kissing Rory on the cheek which cheered him up a bit.
"Yeah, Rory the Roman!"
Eventualy they reached the top, which was devoid of vegetation, and afforded a panoramic view of the land around them. Amy found a nice spot for their picnic and Rory happily put down his heavy rucksack while Eleven and Twelve walked off to survey the view. Twelve spoke first.
"Can you see anything?"
"No. It's the perfect spot as we have a 360 degrees view for miles around, and there's nothing that remotely looks suspicious."
"Yes, it's all rather disappointing."
After a few minutes Clara walked over to them, leaving Amy to finish laying out the lunch.
"Can you see anything interesting Doctors?"
"Not at the moment" replied Eleven carefully.
"And it's too early to categorically say either way" added Twelve.
"You mean no" replied Clara, putting her hands on her hips in an exasperated manner.
"No-ish" replied Twelve.
"So we've walked all the way up for nothing. If you excuse me, I'll be collapsing over there!"
"This is great!" exclaimed Eleven in between bites of a fish finger and custard sandwich. "I do like a picnic, the sun on your face, the sound of nature all around. Well not here of course, as all the animals and insects have vanished into the crack, or at least we think so. And in one way that's a good thing as it means no wasps!"
Eleven did a buzzing sound to reinforce his point.
"I will admit it's a lovely spot" added Clara, "But I still think we could have taken the TARDIS up here instead."
"Good healthy exercise Clara" replied Twelve, "After all, we don't want your face getting any wider."
As Clara glared at him he continued.
"There was another reason. If the TARDIS collision caused a crack here, then it's possible that using a TARDIS again might make it worse. We can't be certain of anything at this stage."
"Oh great!" exclaimed Rory. "Are you suggesting 20 mile walks every day until we find this crack then? Cos if so, somebody else can carry lunch!"
"To be honest" replied Eleven.
"Which means you're about to lie!" commented Amy to knowing smiles from Rory and Clara.
"I always tell the truth" Eleven huffed, "But this time I'll be telling even more of the truth than I normally do."
"120% instead of 100%?"
"Yes, er no. Basically as we haven't found the crack this way, we might try a different approach tomorrow."
"Which is?"
"One that doesn't involve walking up massive hills."
"Or fish finger and custard sandwiches" added Twelve looking with disdain at the contents of the picnic.
"There are ham sandwiches as well" replied Amy.
"That's a relief. Otherwise I won't just be clearing up vomit…"
After lunch, the five of them slowly made their way down the steep hill, and continued the long walk back to the TARDISes. It was hard work, and they were all exhausted by the time they got back.
"Well I'm having a bath now" exclaimed Amy. "And when I'm finished will be having a very large, indeed bigger on the inside, glass of wine. Anyone care to join me?"
"In the bath?" replied Clara with a smile.
"Better not, might get Rory jealous. Or excited!"
"In that case, I'll have my own separate bath. We definitely deserve a drink after a day like today. Your place or mine?"
"I bet you say that to all the girls!" Amy giggled back.
"How about your place tonight, then back to my TARDIS tomorrow. By the sound of things we could be here awhile!"
Back in Twelve's TARDIS, Clara relaxed in the perfect bath, scented with her favourite bath oil and with water which always stayed at exactly the right temperature. A definite plus point for Time Lord technology. It was good to rest her tired body, especially her feet which were killing her, thanks to those stupid new boots she'd been wearing. Not that she would ever confess that to the Doctor!
Thanks for the reviews, I've been a bit busy so have a lot of catching up with my FanFiction reading as well, so apologies for the lack of reviews from me as well!
My creative juices are back and running, so the next Chapter should be a lot quicker. I even have a nice little cliffhanger in my head :-)