Hello dear readers! Here comes a new chapter! Thank you all for your reviews and follows :D

I'm so sorry that I take more time between my updates, but I'm actually very busy between University, working on character conception for a friend, helping out Freya and produce many piece of writing for Uni. I do as much as I can!

I wanted this chapter to be longer but I actually cut it here so you'd have a new chapter sooner and wouldn't have to wait more :) I hope you will like it, as you've seen, I've quite changed the plot. Don't hesitate to give me feedback, it's really appreciated and helps me a lot to improve myself and better my storyline. Plus I love to see what reaction chapters create and what theories are building up in your minds ;)

Thank you to Freya Astrid Nova for the proofreading! Girl, you rule! Get rid of that cold very soon! And for those who are interested, I've just published the 6th chapter of her story "The Starving Ones", it's in my stories (though I didn't write anything, it's all hers :)), go have a look :)

Turtle: Yaaaaay you're back! Missed you girl! As always, thank you :D

Now, I'll let you get on with the chapter. Reading it with Series 8 soundtrack in background might feel better as I wrote it while listenning to it. I find Series 8 soundtrack and mood much more creepy, and with series 9, it promises to be even creepier :D

Enjoy!

Melody - x.

Chapter 46

"Okay, okay, I-I put it down, look." he said, letting the cutter fall to the ground.

"No, Gregor don't-..." started the voice of the Doctor behind him before fading. "...Touch it…"

What was going on? Gregor could not see anything except what was in front of him and that meant nothing.

"Clara..?" asked the Doctor, somehow incredulous.

The burning hands on Gregor's skin suddenly cooled down at a normal temperature and the pressure around his throat loosened. How did she do this? How was that possible? Still holding him, she made him turn around to face the Doctor and Tricky.

"Hello pretty boy!" the voice said joyfully.

"What? Pretty boy?" the Time Lord mumbled, confused.

She let go of Gregor and ran to the Doctor who caught her in a spinning hug.

"Clara! My Clara! How did you find us?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I found Gregor, same as you did." she answered.

"I suppose the Tardis brought us here to prevent him from hurting her." he said, convincing himself. He looked at her again. "Are you alright? I've seen blood while looking for you in the corridors, I-

"I'm alright, thanks." she cut him off, ignoring the throbbing pain in her chest. She had to hold it back, she had to, to keep the burn on her hand she had to hold it back. So he could see.

She could see his little worried frown coming up but a movement caught her eye: Gregor was touching one of the globes.

"Oi." she called. And he instantly removed his hands.

The Doctor walked up to him, threatening:

"I said 'don't touch anything', what did you not understand in that sentence? If it wasn't for Clara you could have doomed us all just because you saw pretty glowing globes! Do you think the Tardis would have let you rip her apart without any consequences? Time Lord engineering: Time Lords were very clever, no dress sense, dreadful hats, but smart." As he was scolding him, his voice was getting lower and his eyes darker as he thought of one of the consequences. "You could have killed Clara, my Clara. Now move, let's get back to the console room before I change my mind and leave you to rot in the maze that the Tardis is."

They all walked outside the Architectural Reconfiguration System room but as soon as the door closed behind them, the Doctor turned to face Clara.

"Wait." he said, looking at her suspiciously. "How did you know his name? You're not even surprised they're here."

"Read the name on his jacket." she shrugged. Then she tapped her temp. "And well, the Tardis informed me that you have made some... 'friends'..."

He just nodded, satisfied with that and went on, in the direction of the console room.

At an intersection, they looked at the different ways offered to them when they heard a noise. It echoed against the walls, making it impossible to none of them to tell from which side it came from.

The Doctor slowly took out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the area while Gregor was contacting Bram on his radio:

"Bram? Bram can you hear me? Bram don't touch anything!"

At the other end of the radio, they only heard an incomprehensible mumble followed by the sound of a thud. Right after that, they heard some weird noises as though Bram was fighting with something, or someone.

Silence.

"Bram…? Bram! Channel's dead."

"We've got to help him!" exclaimed Tricky.

"It's over! It's too late, he's gone!"

"Shh!" the Doctor shushed him. "Your concern about your brother is really touching, the android is more cut up about it than you. Now will you two stop bickering and listen." he said, flicking his sonic and looking at the readings, getting closer to the boys and grabbing Clara's hand, pulling her in protectively. "There is something else down there. Multiple life forms on board the Tardis with us. I am getting a massive signal."

"Where are they?" asked Tricky.

"Oh you're not going to like the answer, about two steps away… One step…"

As the noise they heard before rattled just behind them, they all turned around to see a human shape made of lava. It was as though two of them were standing side by side, but merged like… like siamese twins.

"Run!" shouted the Doctor, running to the opposite corridors, dragging Clara with him until they reached the corridor near the console room. He closed the door and locked it with his sonic, hoping that it would hold.

"Okay! Back to the console room, should be safe… for now." he said, flicking a switch or two.

"All right, all right." started Gregor. "A deal's a deal: you got the girl back, now cancel the self-destruct."

"Ah, aah yes." the Doctor said, a mischievous smile starting to draw on his lips. "You know, I've got to tell you, uh, I won't be needing you in my quiz team."

"What?"

"There is no self-destruct! Hey! Hehe, had you doing though boys, didn't I?" he said, punching friendly Gregor as this one's face was slowly turning into a "I'm going to kill you" face. "I just wiggled a few buttons! Yeah the old wiggly button trick." he said, flicking some switches that were not doing anything. "Oh and the face! You've got to do the face: save her, or we'll all die. I thought I rusted it a bit, but…"

Oh dear, now here was the Doctor playing the childish drama queen, thought Clara, hiding her amused smile.

"So you're telling us we're safe." said Tricky.

"Ish. Apart from the monsters. Guys, don't worry! 'Countdown's a fake!" he said. "Look, just give me a second, I'll turn it off. I only made it look as though the engine was actually exploding." he continued, switching other controls before taking the screen. "Eerr…Ah… That's not good. Okay, don't panic. Or maybe panic."

Clara, who remained silent until now, cleared her throat and said, knowing he did a mistake:

"Something you want to share with the rest of us?"

"Er… It appears the engine is damaged. We're in trouble, Clara, proper trouble." he said, looking at her. Somehow, she could see the worry in his eyes, beyond the veil of his Time Lord countenance. The real worry, the fear even. The fear of losing her, again. "It needs fixing or we're toast."

"So now would be a good time to use a big friendly button, right?" she asked, walking next to him.

"Yeah… Sorry, I should have had one built in…" he said, slightly stroking her cheek before grabbing her hand, turning his heels and heading to the wall of the console room, taking his sonic out.

"Where we're going?" asked Tricky as everyone was following him.

"Detour!" he said as he knelt before an hexagonal panel, sonicking it and taking the piece out. "To the center... of the Tardis..."

Let me know what you think! :)