Chapter three aaay, I hope people are reading this, no one's reviewing so idk how I'm doing with the story and if you guys like it, but whatever I've decided I'm gunna keep writing anyway cause it's fun :) Enjoyy!
Clara shook her head in disbelief, beginning to feel worried for the fate of the Eleventh version of the Doctor as she stared with wide eyes at number Two. "You mean... You lost you?"
The Doctor cleared his throat, looking perlexed. "Well, yes, you could say that."
He moved away from the console, looking sheepish as he fixed his bowtie in a gesture not unlike his Eleventh self. He sat down on a seat beside the wall and propped his head up with his hands, deep in thought. Clara fidgeted nervously for a moment before moving to sit down beside him. He didn't seem to notice her movement, too preoccupied with whatever thoughts were whizzing around inside his head. Clara hoped a plan was formulating in there somewhere, because she was coming up blank. She reached out and took one of his hands gently, giving it an encouraging squeeze. She had never seen this Doctor so silent before, she hoped their situation wasn't too serious.
He looked up at her touch, his eyes meeting her own. Clara hadn't noticed how blue his eyes were, the perfect light blue colour of the sky on a calm day. They were friendly and gentle when he looked at Clara, but she could see the deep mystery he held inside them. He sighed, looking down at the floor again and snapping Clara out of her thoughts.
"I just don't know..." He muttered with a frown. "Was this the Time Lord's doing? If it was, what in Rassilon's name are they playing at!"
He stood up suddenly and began pacing aggitatedly, deep in thought. He picked up his recorder almost absentmindedly and began to play a sweet melody that relexed Clara almost instantly. She remembered what he had told her about it helping him think and could see why. After a minute or two the music increased in tempo as the Doctor got more annoyed with himself and he eventually gave up with a sigh, scartching the back of his head thoughtfully.
"What are we going to do?" Clara asked, breaking the sudden silence that the music left in it's wake. "Where are we?"
"Right now, we're simply suspended in space," The Doctor explained, gazing at the Tardis scanners. "The Tardis coordinates have been set but it won't let me see what they've been set to, which is very peculiar. I could send a recall signal to my future self but..." He frowned again, shaking his head in frustration. "I can't! It just won't work. It's like my other self has been taken out of time."
"That's not good, is it?" Clara mumbled anxiously. "We've got to do something!"
"Well I know that, my dear," The Doctor twirled his recorder in his hands. "The question is, what do we do?"
Clara approached the Tardis console and pointed at it, raising an eyebrow. "You put this ship in motion, what happens?"
"We end up wherever the source of all this is, I expect," The Doctor pondered, a slow smile beginning to spread across his face. "What do you think? Are you up for it?"
Clara considered, a smile of her own beginning to form. "Do we know what'll be out there?"
"Nope."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"Most definitely."
"Have you got a plan?"
"Not even the bgeinnings of one."
"Let's do it," Clara grinned, causing the Doctor to laugh and move excitedly around the console, pushing buttons and pressing lever at a fast pace.
"And, we're off!" He cried, pulling back one last lever as the Tardis gave a huge jolt and they were thrown backwards. Clara clung to the console, managing to keep herself upright this time. She grinned, excitment running through her at the prospect of an adventure with this new Doctor. The bumpy journey thankfully lasted a lot shorter than the latest one, as the Tardis landed with a large thud. Clara let out a breath of relief. She looked at the Doctor, the excitement in her eyes mirroring his own.
"Where are we?" She breathed, jabbing her thumb at the doors behind her.
The Doctor winked. "I suggest we find out."
He took Clara's hand and pulled her towards the door, stopping just short of them. He looked at her questioningly, as if about to voice something he was unsure about. "Are you going to be alright? The regeneration of myself that you're used to travelling with isn't here, don't you feel... Unsafe?"
Clara considered her answer. The truth was, she felt safe with this Doctor, though she wasn't sure why. She had only just met him, but she felt as if she would be ok as long as he was with her. "You're still the Doctor," She offered him a gentle smile. "Of course I feel safe with you."
He smiled at her warmly and Clara loved the way it made his whole face light up, forgetting for a moment the potential danger they were about to walk into. The Time Lord opened the Tardis doors quickly and they made to step out. Clara let out a shriek as she felt her footing fall unexpectedly.
"Careful!" The Doctor yelled in concern, pulling Clara back and keeping his arm around her protectively. He looked down at the scene outside the Tardis, eyes widening in shock. "Oh my word."
Clara took a shuddering breath as she held onto the Doctor, trying to recover from her shock. She peeked outside again. The were on the ledge of a sheer drop, ending in black nothingness, filled with a smoky shroud. Sparks of red flames shot up from the abyss every few seconds, creating an intimidating picture. One centimetre closer and the ship would have tumbled off the ledge.
"Doctor," Clara whispered. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," He muttered cautiously. "Never been here before. Come on, stay close to me."
He moved in front of her, beginning to make his way across the narrow ledge. Clara's heart accelerated in fear for him. One wrong move and he could easily fall. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding as he made it past the small gap between the Tardis and the egde of the cliff. He laughed happily and clapped his hands together.
"See, easy as pie," He grinned, holding his hand out to her. "Be careful, Clara."
Clara nodded nervously. She'd never had very good balance and if there was one thing she hated it was heights. She took a deep and breath and took her first step onto the ledge.
"You made this seem a lot easier than it actually is, Doc," She joked nervously.
"Don't worry," She could hear the amused smile in the Time Lord's voice. "Just a few steps and you'll be able to reach my hand. You'll be fine."
"I don't have great balance, Doctor," She hissed hurriedly as she moved cautiously along the dangerously narrow ledge, trying not to let the fear she felt seep into her voice. She didn't want the Doctor to think she was weak. Don't look down, She thought to herself as she kept her gaze fixed at the Doctor's outstretched hand.
"You can do it, Clara, I promise."
Clara took another tentative step forwards, and then another. She could almost reach the Doctor's waiting hand now. She went to take another step but a fragment of rock broke away beneath her foot, causing her to slip. She screamed in terror as she tumbled over the edge, all she could see was the dark, black abyss hurtling towards her.
Before she could fall out of reach of the ledge, she felt the Doctor grab her arm tightly.
"It's ok, Oswald, I've got you!"
Clara grasped at his arm frantically as he struggled to pull her up. She felt unable to string a coherent sentence together in her panic.
"Come on, Ozzy, hep me out here," The Doctor moaned, causing Clara to almost laugh at his choice of nickname. "Find a foothold, any foothold."
Clara did as she was told, scrambling at the rocks with her feet desperately until she finally found some sort of grip. The Doctor heaved her up onto the ledge again and towed her to safety. She let out a small squeak of relief as she stood on her own two feet, shaking slightly, her heart racing.
"See," The Doctor stated gruffly as he brushed dust off his jacket. "I don't break promises."
Before she knew what she was doing, Clara threw her arms around the Time Lord and hugged him tightly, causing him to stumble backwards in surprise. He caught himself just in time and chuckled slightly, wrapping his arms around her in turn.
"Thank you, Doctor," Clara breathed as she pressed her face into his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to rid herself of the picture of the sheer drop that had been her fate just seconds ago. He mumbled something along the lines of, "You're welcome," almost embarrassed as Clara hugged him tighter, not wanting to let go.
"Um, yes, er," The Doctor stammered as Clara showed no sign of releasing him. He patted her back gently. "We'd better get a move on then."
"Oh, yeah," Clara let go of him quickly, nodding vigorously, feeling herself blush. The Doctor took her hand and led her across the barren wasteland they had ended up in. Clara looked around her.
"Well, this is somewhere I would not like to live," She muttered. "You know what, I think I'd prefer to live in a box," She winked at the Doctor jokingly as he laughed.
"Well you're not the best for making life decisions, Oswald. I'm sure your mother must have told you not to get into a box with a strange man and yet here you are."
Clara laughed, pushing him playfully. Her smile slipped as she looked around her again. The place was dark, there was just enough light to see and she wasn't sure whether it was night or if this planet was like that all the time. Nothing seemed to grow there, it was like a dark, desolate, volcanic desert.
"Is there anyone at all living here?"
"I don't think many do," The Doctor murmured thoughtfully. "Except maybe the people who live there."
Clara moved her gaze to where the Doctor was pointing at a small building not far away from where they were. It looked almost like a factory although it seemed far too small to be. It was dark, grey and looked almost unused except for the miniture lights emitting from the walls, indidcating that it had windows. It was round in shape, like a dome and had a short tunnel protruding from it. The front door, Clara assumed.
The Doctor began to speed up as they approached it.
"We're going inside, aren't we?" Clara grinned at the Time Lord who smiled back at her mischeiviously.
"Suspicious looking building showing the only signs of live on a desolate planet? Of course we're going inside!"
Clara laughed and quickened her pace to match the Doctor's as they approached the door. Clara half expected to be stopped by guards of some sort, but there was no one there.
"Do you usually use the main door when you break into private places?" Clara questioned with a smirk, raising an eyebrow.
"What better way to make an entrance," The Doctor winked. "Besides, I'm sure you noticed there are no guards out here to stop us?"
Clara paused, considering his words thougthfully. "Someone wants us to go inside."
"Precisely!"
Clara grinned as the Doctor took out what looked to be an older version of the sonic screwdriver she was used to seeing, and aimed it at the door. She heard the lock open with a small click and the Doctor pushed the door gently and peeked inside. He froze.
"What is it?" Clara craned her neck to look over his shoulder in an attempt to get a better view of the inside of the small building.
"Oh my word," The Doctor muttered. "It's-"
"Bigger on the inside!"
"Of Time Lord origin!"
The Doctor and Clara looked at each other with wide eyes as they stated the two correct facts simutaneously.
"Time Lord's wouldn't come to a planet like this," The Doctor whispered to her. "Too small, too desolate, not important enough. So what are they playing at?"
He moved inside the empty room which was twice, almost three times the size of what it should be had it been a normal builidng. It was a large room, mainly empty except for a few computer screens and several sturdy metal doors lining the walls. Clara noticed a security camera in the top right hand corner, blinking at them.
"Doctor-" She began in an attempt to warn him but was cut off when one of the doors adjacent to them burst open. A group of three men dressed in black armour and wearing black helmets that hid their faces powered through. They were carrying guns bigger than Clara had ever seen, putting her on edge immediately. She pressed closer to the Doctor as the men approached. The Doctor put an arm around her protectively, making her feel slightly safer. She still felt unnerved at the fact that she couldn't see the men's faces, covered by the colossal helmets.
One of the intimidating men stepped closer and stopped, raising the gun and pointing it directly at the Doctor's head.
"You are the Doctor," It stated in a deep monotone voice.
"Yes, I know, I have been for quite a while now. I was born-"
"Cease talking!" The guard interrupted. "We are placing you under arrest. You and your human companion will come with us."
"Oi!" Clara began indignantly. "You-"
"Come on, Clara, we better humour him," The Doctor stated cheerily, letting himself be led away by the group of guards. Clara gulped as she was marched along behind him, hoping he was formulating some sort of plan. The were led through a series of dark tunnels at a quick pace. The guards were short and their strides were small, but they marched quickly in a military fashion, causing Clara and the Doctor to almost have to run to keep up woth them.
Clara had to shield her eyes against the bright light as one of the men opened the huge double doors looming in front of them and they exited the dark tunnels into a round, brightly lit room. Clara blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light as she looked at her surroundings.
The room was absolutely huge, no doubt that it was of Time Lord origin now. In the centre was a colossal machine, emitting a small green glow. It had more buttons and gadgets on the console than she could count. She knew straight away it couldn't be being used for anything good. There were what looked to be hundred soldier-like people in the room, some standing as if ready for duty, some sitting at computer screens and typing rapidly, oblivious to their sudden precense. They were almost identicle to the guards that had brought them in only they wore blue armour instead of jet black. She wonder if this was to do with different ranks.
She couldn't believe this huge room could fit inside such a small building. She wondered if it was a spaceship like the Tardis, or if it was just a building. She wished she knew more about Gallifrey. She looked to the Doctor who was looking around the room casually as if he was used to this wort of thing. She realised suddenly that he probably was. She hoped that if they got out of this, he'd take her to see Gallifrey some day. That is, if he wasn't still on the run from the Time Lord's.
"Doctor, child of Gallifrey!" Clara's attention was brought to another man dressed in the same shiny blue metal armour as the others. Clara gaped at his apprearence. She had just assumed that they were humans, but she now sure that they were most definitely not. She moved close to the Doctor, grateful when the intimidating guards didn't stop her.
"They're potatoes," She whispered, eyes wide at the ugly, stout creatures surrounding them, all sporting large, bulbous heads on top of short, stocky bodies.
The Doctor gave a loud snort as he tried and failed to suppress his laughter. "Sontarans," He corrected quietly as the Sontaran leader glared at them. Clara thought they resembled soldiers, their stance was of a military fashion. The Sontaran leader snarled at them angrily, revealing rows of uneven, jagged teeth which almost matched the colour of his deep brown skin.
"I am Commander Stor, and you, Time Lord, will cooperate with our plans. You are not required to ask questions."
"Well I would like to ask one question if that's alright," The Doctor put his hands together in front of him and smiled cheerily at the strange aliens. "Actually, now that I think about it, I have quite a few questions that need to be answered. First of all, why are we here?"
Commandor Stor nodded to the group of Sontarans that had brought Clara and the Doctor to the room and they obediently grabbed the two companions, holding them in place.
The Doctor figited in annoyance against the two Sontarans that had a hold of each of his arms. "Is this really necessary? We're unarmed!"
"Unarmed?" Stor scoffed. "You are the most powerful weapon we have at this very moment in time!"
The Doctor frowned in confusion. Clara struggled against the Sontaran holding her in place, wanting to know what was going on and hating feeling so restrained. He only tightened his grip.
"Get off!" She snapped, annoyance taking over momentarily. The Sontaran holding her growled aggressively.
"Do we really need the human alive? She is infuriating."
Stor opened his mouth to speak but the Doctor cut in before he could utter a sound.
"You dare harm her and I'll make sure you regret it," The Time Lord growled, his voice filled with intimidating anger. The tone he used was so threatening that it even stopped Commander Stor in his tracks. "Leave her alone."
Clara felt the Sontaran's grip on her lessen slightly, although he didn't let go completely. She had never seen the Doctor look so intimidating. She now understood why they called him the Oncoming Storm.
Commander Stor cleared his throat. "Right, let's get down to business, we don't have long," He stated flatly, forgetting about Clara. "This time, not even you will be able to stop us, Doctor. You will perish."
"What are you planning?" The Doctor asked inquisitively. "You might as well tell me, if I'm going to perish anyway."
The Sontaran raised an eyebrow with a smug smirk. "I'm surprised you haven't already figured it out. Although we have learned from recent events that Time Lord's are not as clever as they appear to be."
A round of sudden laughter erupted amoungst the Sontarans occupying the room at Stor's words. Clara and the Doctor exchanged a quick glance. He looked just as confused as she felt, but suspicion shrouded his features. Clara had a feeling that he had a theory about what might be happening, and she didn't think it was good.
"Now as much as I like jokes, I also like to know what's going on," The Doctor glared at Stor. "The punchline?"
"Oh you'll love this story, Doctor, it's a good one," Stor smirked. "What should we call it? The Betrayal of the Time Lord's sounds just about right!"
Commander Stor began to walk slowly around the room as he spoke, approaching the large piece of glowing machinery in the middle of the room and giving it a proud glance.
"The greed of your race will bring about it's downfall," The Sontaran continued. "I'm sure you're wondering why you were not forced to regenerate as was told before you were exiled?"
"I'm wondering a lot of things at the moment."
"I'm sure your other self is too," Commander Stor nodded knowingly. "He might be a... Predicament. We had a problem getting him here you see. He's stuck, taken out of time. But no matter! We've still got you."
Clara stomach twisted in knots. She almost didn't want to here about these aliens and their master plan. She looked to the Doctor. His expression was neutral, although he was frowning slightly.
"We made a deal with the Time Lord's," Stor explained. "They wanted you out of the way but they didn't want your blood on their hands. They were going to simply force you to regenerate and exile you as punishment, hoping it would keep you out of trouble for a while at least. Cowards," He scoffed. "But that's where we came in. Do you happen to recognise this?"
He held out a strange metal object to the Doctor who looked at it curiously. The Sontaran's released him and he took the small capsule, inspecting it carefully. Clara craned her neck to get a better look. She had never seen anything like it before, so she had no idea what it was. She could tell the Doctor recognised it though, by the way his eyes widened in disbelief and horror as he turned it over in his hands.
"Where did you get this?" He breathed, astonished.
"We found it. One of our loyal soldiers stumbled across it during a recent war. It was buried, buried deep, obviously it didn't want to be found, but a bomb opened up the ground around it and soldier Stye was able to retrieve it from the mud before it was destroyed."
"You've used it," The Doctor glared accusingly at Stor. "It's energy has been drained, it's dead!"
"Yes, we used it to jump through time and space to where you were just at the moment of deliberation of your sentence," Stor nodded proudly. "We studied it for many years, realised that it had enough energy to make us strong and help us win an entire war. But then we thought, why not win all wars? We understood that there was only enough energy for one jump, so we chose well. We jumped to that specific time and convinced the Time Lord's to let us imprison you on our home planet in exchange for not waging war on their race. We were given this Time Lord technology," He gestured to the room around them. "All to simply get you out of their way. They know that our prisons are most secure, so exiling you here was their perfect solution, an alernative to your forced regeneration and exile to Earth. And they figured that if you died here, it wouldn't be there problem anymore, they would not be to blame."
"They wouldn't do that!" Clara couldn't contain herself anymore. She couldn't imagine that the Time Lord's would be so cruel as to strike such a deal with these creatures. "That's not true!"
"Human, you know nothing of Time Lord's, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut," Stor ordered. "We too, were slightly surprised they agreed, but they were trying to avoid a war with us. Also, your Lord President Borusa is a most corrupt being. He wants power, and that is what we offered him."
"You, making a deal with the Time Lord's?" The Doctor scoffed. "That's proposterous, even for Borusa."
"It is true. But of course, the Time Lord's were too stupid to realise that we were going to betray them," Stor sneered. "We are not going to simply lock you up, keep you here on exile like a petty criminal! We are going to use you, use your regeneration energy to power our forces so that we will win every war! Our first will be against the Time Lord's, I think even you Doctor would agree they deserve to be slaughtered at this point."
"You can't do that!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You'll still lose soldiers, my regeneration energy will keep you strong for a few centuries but what happens after that? You'll die! And it will all have been for nothing!"
"That's why we selected another one of your incarnations, the most recent one. With the two of you, we will double the power, we will be invincible!"
"Where's the glory in that!" The Doctor cried. "It's cheating!"
"The machine is not ready yet," Commander Stor turned to another Sontaran, ignoring the outraged Doctor. "Lock them up."
"Wait!" The Doctor began. "You-"
"There's no chance of escape, Time Lord," Stor sneered. "Thirty minutes and this machine will be fit for purpose, with or without your future self. The ledge outside will crumble and succumb to our power source and your strategically placed Tardis will fall, burning into ashes. Your ship will perish, as will your home planet."
The Doctor and Clara were pushed and marched out of the room into another dark tunnel. They walked in tangible silence until they reached a rusty metal door, outlined in dark wood. The Sontaran guards flung the door open and shoved the Doctor inside roughly.
"Here's your human, Time Lord," One sneered, pushing Clara into the room after him forcefully.
The Doctor moved to catch her before she could hit the hard ground, wrapping his arms around her securely. She buried her head in his chest as the door slammed shut behind them, relieved to be away from the grasp of the Sontarans and back in his arms. She clung to him, not wanting to ever have to let go.
"Doctor, they're not going to hurt you are they?" She asked fearfully, hate for the Time Lord's rising in her. How could they be so stupid as to trust the corrupt Sontarans? "They can't do this!"
"Brave heart, Clara," He murmured against her hair. "It'll be alright. We're both going to be fine."
Clara pulled back slightly to look at him. His hair had become slightly disheveled in the dispute. She smiled lightly, reaching up to push some of his hair back from his face. "Have you got a plan then, Spaceboy?"
"Well," He grinned. "My plan is usually, to pretend I have a plan, then follow it through and hope it works out."
Clara sighed with a small smile. "I suppose it could be worse."
"Hey! It always works for me," The Doctor feigned mock hurt, making Clara chuckle. A dark thought crossed her mind.
"Doctor, the Tardis-"
"Don't worry, Clara," The Doctor reached out to touch her face gently, slowly running his fingers down her cheek. Clara felt her stomach flutter and had to remember to breathe as her breath caught in her throat. "The Tardis will be fine. We'll be fine. I got us into this mess, I'll get us out of it."
Clara smiled and nodded. She averted her gaze to look around the small cramped room. It was cold and empty, except for the large shadow in the corner of the room she hadn't noticed as they'd come in that caught her eye now. She blinked at it disbelievingly, a feeling of dread beginning to pool in her stomach as she realised what it was.
"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, noting her sudden change in demeanor and following her gaze to the corner of the room.
"Oh my giddy aunt."
A lone Dalek was standing in the corner of the room, and it knew that they were there.
Cliffhangerrrr :D Hope you guys liked that chapter, please review it'd make my day!