Suppose I should just put out there that I don't own Doctor Who, don't own any of the characters blah de blaaah... I'm extremely lazy so I'll probably only say it once =)) Thank you Zarius for the review and thanks to anyone else reading the story, I'm glad that at least one person is enjoying it :) Chapter four aaay!
"Doctor," Clara uttered fearfully, keeping her voice low so as not to draw attention to themselves. "I think we've got a problem."
"Yes, yes I see that," The Doctor mumbled. "Get behind me, Clara."
He took hold of Clara's arm, pulling her behind him and shielding her with his body. She knew she should feel safer but couldn't help feeling terrified that the Doctor was now completely exposed and unarmed.
"Doctor, that thing will kill you!" She exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet and attempting to move out from behind him instead of cowering away.
"No, it won't," He stated grimly, putting an arm out to stop her. "The Sonataran's want me alive, if this creature is going to kill anyone it will kill you, you're not needed."
"Should I feel insulted?" Clara scoffed indignantly at the Time Lord's insensitive remark, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.
He smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry, Oswald, I don't mean it like that. You're just as important as me, I promise you."
Clara managed a weak laugh. She was glad the room was dimly lit so the Doctor coudn't see the light blush that began to spread across her cheeks. "If this situation wasn't possibly life threatening, I'd take that as a compliment."
The Doctor's brief smile was quickly replaced with a wary frown as the Dalek began to stir. "Oh dear," He muttered, backing away, forcing Clara to retreat aswell. "It's waking up!"
"Daleks can sleep?" Clara hissed in disbelief, fear running through her veins at the mechanical hum the monster was beginning to make.
"Well, not sleep exactly," The Doctor began to make exuberant hand gestures as he attempted to explain frantically. "They can shut down half their systems temporarily, a form of resting, if you will. It's not usual behaviour for them, but I'll bet my hat this one's been held prisoner here for a very long time."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Spaceboy, but I don't think we have much time before it fully wakes up," Clara tightened her grip on his arm in fear as she looked at the Dalek that was now beginning to move. The Doctor raised his eyebrows and grimaced.
"Well, you're not wrong."
"Seek..." The Dalek croaked, it's eye stalk beginning to move stiffly as if it hadn't changed position for a millenia. "Locate... Anihalate!"
The Doctor rushed to the door, pulling out his sonic and scanning the edges frantically. He turned around quickly, waving the screwdriver in the air in annoyance.
"Wood!" He cried, throwing the device across the room in his tantrum. "The idiotic potatoes outlined the door with wood!"
Clara shook her head in disbelief, stifling a laugh at the refrence to the potato-like aliens. "You create a device that can be specifically used to open locked doors and it doesn't work on wood? Ninety percent of common doors are made of wood!"
"Doors on Earth!" The Doctor cried defensively. "And anyway, any room concealed behind a wooden door is usually not worth entering."
The Dalek had full awoken from it's slumber, starting to move slowly. It pulled against the chains that Clara had only just noticed were keeping it in place. Somehow she didn't expect they would hold it for long.
"The Doctor!" It screeched aggressively in recognition. "The renegade Time Lord and his human companion!"
"Yes, I know who we are!" The Doctor yelled, almost hopping up and down on the spot in irritation at the situation. Clara would have found the scene almost comical had it not been potentially life threatening.
"The human will die!" The Dalek stated threateningly, struggling to break free of the chains that bound it to the wall.
Clara felt frozen to the spot, paralysed by fear.
"Oh!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly, clapping his hands together. "That's it!"
"What's what?!" Clara gasped frantically, eyes fixed on the Dalek which was nearly free of his retraints.
"My sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor yelled in outrage, momentarily forgetting about the Dalek. "I've lost it! Who stole it?!"
Clara raced to the floor where he had thrown it and picked it up, throwing it to the eccentric Time Lord who caught it with a grateful grin. "Thought you might be needing it," She winked.
"Marvellous!" He exclaimed, rushing over to her and dropping to the ground, pulling her down with him. She let out a surprised squeak as she hit the floor lightly. He pulled them back into the shadows slightly, holding her close to him.
"Listen to me, Clara, and do exactly as I say," His voice dropped to a whisper, his breath against Clara's ear, causing her heart to speed up. She flinched as the Dalek gained enough energy to break free of it's chains at last and began to move away from the far wall steadily. The Doctor continued talking quickly in a hushed whisper. "The Dalek should still be adjusting to the light in here. Give it a few seconds and it will be able to see clearly, so we have to move fast. Now, I'm going to do something extremely stupid and possibly fatal, but you must stay here."
Clara opened her mouth to protest but the Doctor clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her.
"Shhh don't interrupt," He scolded quietly. "I'm going to- Clara!"
He let out a yelp as Clara licked his hand, causing him to withdraw his hand from her mouth in surprise.
"What the-"
"Shut up!" She whispered hurriedly, looking into his eyes firmly. "Let's get something straight, Time Lord. I'm not letting you put your life in danger!"
"You stay here until I say so, that's an order, Ozzy. I'll be fine, I promise," The Doctor touched her cheek briefly, ignoring her objection and hopping up from where they were crouched in the corner. Clara watched nervously as the Time Lord strolled briskly across the small, cramped room and stopped in front of the Dalek, his back to the door.
"Hello," He smiled cheerily, clasping his hands together in front of him. "Are you here to kill me?"
"You are compatible for the experiment. You must be kept alive," The Dalek stated flatly in it's piercing electronical voice. "The human will be disposed of."
"Now, now let's not be hasty," The Doctor shook his head, waving a hand at the Dalek. "Why kill her when you could kill me? Come on, I know you want me dead more than anyone, I know I'm special."
The Dalek paused. Clara held her breath, fighting the urge to run to the Doctor's aid. She now realised what he had meant when he said he was going to do something stupid. The most idiotic thing you could do was aggravate a Dalek.
"You are needed for the Sontaran's experiment," It croaked. "You must be contained."
"Yes, well that's wonderful but why do you care what the Sontarans want?" The Doctor took a step closer. "Why don't you just kill me? Go on, I know you want to!"
"Your talking will cease!" The Dalek screeched. "Daleks do not tolerate unwanted conversation!"
"Well what better way to shut me up than to exterminate me?" The Doctor questioned. He spread his arms wide and grinned like the madman he was. "I'm no expert but I don't think the dead can talk. So go on, exterminate me!"
"You will be destroyed," The Dalek stated aggressively, finally giving in to the Doctor's jibes. Clara leapt to her feet despite the Doctor's warning, her heart in her throat.
"Exterminate!" The Dalek screeched. The Doctor dropped to the ground quickly just as a ray of lethal electricity from the Dalek's weapon flew over his head and cascaded against the metal door, blowing it to pieces. The Doctor winked at a wide eyed Clara from his position on the ground and rolled to the side, out of harms way. He hopped to his feet, rushing over to Clara as she ran to meet him halfway.
"The Doctor must be destroyed! The Doctor must be destroyed!"
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Clara spoke breathlessly, holding the Doctor's face between her palms. He grinned at her.
"Now for part two of my plan."
"You actually have a plan for once?" Clara laughed, following the Doctor as he ran behind the Dalek.
"Yes, and it's mad and it's dangerous and it probably won't work!"
Clara watched in disbelief as the Doctor began to push the unsuspecting Dalek from behind, propelling it out of the door and into the corridor outside. Clara joined him with a grin and placed her hands on the cool metal of the Dalek, helping the Doctor to push it down the alley.
"Under attack! Under attack!" It cried in outrage with a loud robotic scream. "The Doctor must be destroyed!"
"Watch out!" The Doctor warned as the Dalek shot blindly.
"Doctor, what the hell are we doing?" Clara cried breathlessly, the Dalek being heavier than she had expected. They had nearly reached the end of the dark tunnel and Clara could now see the door in front of them that led to the main room they had been in before. The room full of dangerous Sontaran's that they seemed to be about to run straight into.
"I'm going to open that door," The Doctor huffed with the exertion of pushing the metal alien. "And I want you to push the Dalek through. Then when I say duck, duck."
Before Clara could question the Doctor's sanity, he had left her side and rushed to the door surprisingly fast, brandishing his sonic screwdriver at it and flinging it open. He threw himself to the side as Clara let out a shout of determination, pushing against the Dalek with all her might and propelling it through the open door. The Doctor appeared beside her to help push it the rest of the way through, making the weight of the huge robotic alien a lot easier to move. He gave a grunt as he heaved with all his strength against the Dalek, putting a spin on it's final push as they entered the room after it.
"Duck!" He yelled and Clara did as she was told, dropping to the ground beside the Time Lord and raising her head slightly to catch a glimpse of what was going on.
"Under attack! Under attack!" The Dalek began shooting wildly as it spun, it's deadly rays rebouding off the walls and causing outrage and confusion amoungst the Sontarans.
"Doctor!" Commander Stor's roar of rage echoed throughout the room, causing the Doctor to laugh gleefully. "Ignorant Time Lord!"
"Let's not hang around," Thhe Doctor yelled, grabbing Clara's hand and running across the room to the exit, keeping close to the ground. The Sontaran's were distracted by the Dalek which was threatening their Time Lord machinery as it spun out of control.
"Stop spinning, metal contraption!" Clara heard a Sontaran demand aggressively. "Face me in battle!"
Clara shot a quick glance behind her. The Dalek was now unintentially causing damage to the huge machine in the centre of the room. Clara caught sight of a large electronic timer on the far wall, which was now counting down from five minutes. The Doctor had spotted it too, and had a look of dread on his face. She realised this must be the amount of time they had left before the machinery was ready, before the Tardis fell into the pit.
"Kill it!" Stor screeched, raising his gun at the robot. "Destroy it! End it's petty existence immediately!"
The Sontarans turned their guns on the confused Dalek and opened, giving the Doctor and Clara enough time to make it to the door.
"Not so fast, Doctor!" Stor roared, rounding his gun on the Time Lord and his companion.
"Sorry," He responded with a smile, his head poking out from behind the door. "Must dash."
They ran down the short tunnel into the room they had first entered as they came in the main door. Clara had never run so fast in her life, and she did a lot of running with the Doctor around. They escaped through the main door they had come into, running out into the dark, misty haze of the desolate planet.
"I never thought I'd be so happy to see the outside of this place!" Clara gasped breathlessly as they stopped for a moment, holding onto the Doctor's arm to steady herself.
The Doctor let out a loud guffaw and embraced her briefly. He let go of her suddenly, jumping back with an expression of realisation and horror on his face.
"The Tardis!" He yelled, taking off towards the distant ship at a sprint. "We have three minutes!"
Adrenaline pushed Clara on as she took off after the Doctor, running as fast as she possibly could, each breath burning in her chest. She was mentally counting down the seconds in her head, giving an inaccurate but close enough idea of how long they had left. They reached the Tardis with less than a minute to go. The Doctor started across the narrow ledge hastily, his foot slipping every now and again in his hurry and causing Clara to nearly have a heart attack. She breathed a sighed of relief when he made it to the door, opening it and stepping safely inside.
Clara began across the ledge, trying to speed up her pace without falling. It was easier this time, with adrenaline coursing through her and she soon reached the Doctor's outstretched hand as he pulled her the rest of the way across and into the safety of the Tardis. The door shut behind her with a loud bang as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank God!" She exclaimed wearily, trying to catch her breath.
"We're not safe yet!" The Doctor cried, rushing around the console and pushing random buttons and lever at a speed Clara had never witnessed before.
"How do you know what to do with them all?" She asked in awe, staring at the console which made no sense to her whatsoever.
"I don't!" The Doctor yelled frantically. "Not at the moment. Right now I'm pressing random buttons and hoping we don't die."
"You don't know how to fly your own ship?" Clara cried fearfully, running over to see if there was something she could do to help.
"Don't be proposterous!" The Doctor laughed. "I know how to fly my ship, it's just... More complicated this time. The Sonataran's have a hold on it, preventing me from flying."
Clara yelped as the Tardis began to lurch as if falling and started to slowly sway to the side.
"I don't think we have much time!" She yelled in warning.
"You're right," The Doctor had his hand to his lips thoughtfully. A look of steely determination suddenly set in his eyes as he began bounding energetically around the console once more. "Of course!" He yelled gleefully as if coming to a sudden realisation. "If I can reverse the thingymabob, and switch the hydro-thing with the spacey... Stuff..." He trailed off as he worked, leaving Clara feeling baffled. Her bemusment was soon replaced by fear as she felt the ground beneath the Tardis finally give way and they began to fall down into the abyss below.
"Whatever timey wimey thing you're doing, Doctor, I suggest you hurry it up!" Clara cried, clinging onto the console for dear life as they dropped.
"Nearly finished!" He yelled frantically, waving his hands around as he tried to keep the ship under control. "Clara grab that lever! No, not that one, the one that's blue but not quite blue! No the... Yes, yes that's the one! Pull it down now!"
Having located the right lever, Clara pulled it down, not expecting it to be so stiff but not about to let go either. The engine in the centre of the console began to move with a low hum, indicating that they were beginning to take flight.
"Oh, thank Rassilon that worked!" The Doctor cried excitedly as they flew away from the iminent death that falling into the Sontaran pit would bring. "Splendid job, Clara!"
Clara managed a weak laugh, sinking to the ground and letting out a huge sigh of relief. They were safe, for now. But for how long?
Hope you liked that one guys, I'd love love LOVEE if you reviewed 'cause I love hearing what you have to say about the story :)