Chapter Seven—Burning

Clara

It didn't eat her. No, it did something much worse than eat her. It fed from her. It leaned in close and pulled in another greedy, wheezing breath. Clara was staring up at it in wild terror, so she saw the sparkling silvery spheres it absorbed. They seemed to be coming from Clara herself. A bump would appear on her skin, would start to glow. Then it would detach itself and start to float away, only to be sucked in by the creature's raspy inhale. They swirled wildly like snowflakes in a blizzard, only to disappear into the black expanse where its face should have been.

It hurt. She couldn't believe how much it hurt. Every sparkling orb vanished was like a piece of her had been ripped away and crushed, ground to dust and scattered into ashes from which the creature would rise, refreshed and renewed. And all the while Clara felt unending pain. She was being dipped in acid, set on fire; it was like stepping into the Doctor's timeline, being ripped into billions of pieces, all over again.

She screamed until she could no longer make sound.

She sobbed and begged for mercy.

She writhed and kicked her feet and lashed out as much as she could while bound.

She swore vengeance on the creature, promising it would regret ever being born.

She hissed every profanity she knew and several she had picked up from the Doctor over time from between clenched teeth.

The effort was draining her, though. It was so hard to fight…why was she fighting? She couldn't defeat this thing alone. When she realized that, realized the truth, she lost the will to fight, to live. She slumped, and the only thing keeping her from collapsing in a useless heap on the cold concrete was the iron grip of the monster on her shoulders. Her vision was blurred and there were tears sitting on her cheeks, stuck in her lashes, blinding her further.

Cold…it was so cold. She was so cold. Why was it so cold? Why was she still here? Why hadn't the Doctor saved her yet? If he was going to save her, surely he would be here by now. That could only mean, to her, that he wasn't coming. He'd given up on her. Left her behind, run off in his box to find a new companion. A choked sob escaped her. She was never getting out.

How long had she been burning? How long would she have to burn? Would she ever escape this hellish existence?

She had no concept of time passing. Each moment was exactly the same as the last and they all blurred together, becoming a single instant of exquisite agony. She stared straight ahead at the grey expanse of the wall as the creature fed. It was only when the blackness began to creep up on her that she realized time was, in fact, still passing. With the darkness came the numbness, and the numbness brought a blessed respite from the agony.

The creature exhaled long and slow as it finally released her. When it was no longer touching her all the pain melted into cold detachment. She was no longer burning. She wasn't sure what she was doing. She couldn't feel anything. There was no pain, no relief, no joy…she was nothing. She was a ghost, a zombie, just another echo.

She was nothing. Her eyes slid shut and she fell into grey oblivion.

She didn't sleep. It couldn't be called sleeping, what she was doing. There were no dreams and she didn't feel rested. She simply became…unaware. She wasn't aware of the chill of the ground beneath her or the darkness pressing all around her. She wasn't aware she was even alive.

Until the voice called out to her.

The one voice that mattered.

"Clara!" the voice said. "Clara, can you hear me? Oh, Clara please don't be dead. Stay alive, stay with me. Clara please, don't leave me, not again, I can't lose you again." His voice filled the emptiness in her mind like a lighthouse cut through the blackest night, guiding her back home. She knew that voice. She would always know that voice, always know him.

Her eyes opened and she was blinded by light. She squinted and turned her head away with a whimper. Why was it so bright? There should be no light—everything was cold and dark and empty inside, so the outside should be the same.

When she could stand the light without tearing up she looked back and found herself staring into those beautiful eyes she always knew no matter how much they changed. They were burning with cold fire—he was angry, and his anger was brilliant to behold.

Gradually, as she looked into those eyes, the numbness faded. She understood that the light which had initially blinded her was coming from the doorway—it was wide open and the light was floating in from outside, the brilliant sunlight reflecting dazzlingly off the snow. She realized he was touching her, cradling her. His thumb stroked her cheek, brushing away the tears there. His arms were tight around her. He was also shaking faintly. She realized she could move, and she sat up, though the effort it took astonished her and left her dizzy and sick. She sat still for several moments just looking at him and the name clicked into place.

She strained her voice, strained to make the words come. A hoarse whisper croaked out of her throat. "Doctor. You came…you're here…" He had finally come for her. She wasn't alone. He was going to rescue her and take her away, like he always did.

"Of course I came. Did you doubt me?" he murmured. She shrugged her shoulders because she was unable to think of a proper response. He sighed. "I'll always come, Clara. I'll always rescue you. I promise."

He promised. She knew he kept his promises, would do anything to keep his promise. But the promise was nothing, was meaningless. It did nothing to soothe her. She still felt…wrong. Cold and empty and afraid. She looked at her hands and saw that they were blistered and burned and shaking, whether from trauma or the chill, she wasn't sure. She looked back up at him and he was watching her. Focused only on her.

He didn't see the creature drifting inside behind him. He didn't hear the swish of its cloak or the hiss of his breath because he was so absorbed with listening to her breaths, her heartbeats.

She tried to warn him, she really did. But her voice still wasn't quite working. She tried to lift her arm, but it was heavier than lead. He saw her eyes widen in panic and fear. He turned, but it was too late. The creature grabbed him and pulled him away from her. Clara tried to hold on to him, to scream, but she was too weak and ended up falling flat on her stomach. She watched in horror as the creature began to feed off the Doctor.

He screamed. He thrashed. He cursed and lashed out violently. But when orbs the color of gold, of his regeneration energy, began to appear just before vanishing into the creature's cavernous face, he seemed to give up. He shuddered and the fire in his eyes went out as he slumped. Still the creature fed. He shook and moaned and whimpered but it wouldn't leave him be, wouldn't be satisfied until it had devoured him and completely destroyed him. Watching it hurt Clara almost as badly as experiencing it had. Fresh tears leaked out of her eyes.

I love him, she thought. She recalled all the times and ways she loved him.

The first time he took her away, to Akhaten, and he had tried so hard to impress her.

The time she had woken in the middle of the night from a bad dream and he had found her, alone and sniffling, and without a word had pulled her into his arms and held her all night.

The time when she had straightened his bow tie and finally admitted, if only to herself, that it was rather cool, at least on him.

The time he had told her she was the only mystery worth solving, and he had made her feel like she had a place and a meaning in the universe.

The time she had entered his time stream and he had risked the entire universe just to save her and bring her back.

All the times he had tried to sacrifice himself to save her or a friend or an enemy.

The way he waved his hands around as he spoke. The way he would talk a thousand miles a minute and speak absolute gibberish and expect her to follow. The way he would smile at her and make her feel like more than a silly girl but like…like…like someone important. The way he could look at a slimy, loathsome creature and find beauty in it. The way he seemed to always connect everything but then miss the incredibly obvious. The way he would blush sometimes, when she was brave and bold and actually flirted with him.

He was always brave. Brave and good and silly and kind and funny and childish and strong and vulnerable and…and…and he was the Doctor, her Doctor. And she loved him.

She didn't know how she could be feeling love right now. Everything inside of her was hurt and guilt and anger and despair. But somehow love was there, too. Love for the Doctor. God, loving him hurt sometimes. The times when he would look at her and seem to see right through her, or the times he would reminisce about Rose or River or some other lost love. Loving him was not easy because he was so impossible and so infuriating, but when she had begun running with the Doctor he hadn't just shown her the universe. He'd shown her how to appreciate it and enjoy every new thing. He had taught her so much and he had been so kind and brave.

After all they'd gone through, all the times they had saved each other, after all the laughs and hugs and tears they had shared, of course she loved him. How could she not?

She loved him. She had to save him. Save the Doctor. Save the Doctor. He needed her help.

The Doctor needs you. Get up and help him, Clara thought desperately. She had to do something.

She had to save the Doctor.

[A/N: Hello all. :) Did you like this chapter? Hate it? Have an idea to improve it? I still have only one vote on the Whouffle vs. Johnlock thing so if you want one or the other you'd better give some input because pretty soon I'm going to shut the voting polls and then it'll be too late and you'll be pissed you didn't. So, VOTE! Leave a review with your opinion: Do you want this story to end with Johnlock or Whouffle? Because I have plans for how it could go either way and I need to know what you guys want. You guys have until the end of Part One—which is coming soon—to cast your opinion into the voting pool.]

—Makenna