However lost you might feel, you'll never really be lost - not really. Because I will always be here and I will always come and find you.

Every single time.

Who was looking for her now, Clara wondered. The Doctor – she knew he would be, he had to be. But he wasn't there, at least not yet; and, for a moment, Clara allowed herself to be scared - actually, properly scared. The people in chains drank their tea enthusiastically – like drowned men and women who had just had their first taste of air after so long. They even seemed to be glowing – little sparks of multi-coloured lights just seeping out of them, floating up. She followed the lights with her eyes as they were drawn in to the crystal chandelier that was still pulsing with light. The room was significantly warmer than before, she noticed. It was either that or she was simply short of breath and her palms were getting all sticky.

She hadn't heard another word from the odd alien anteater-like Brewer couple because they had left the room after laughing at their own wit. She didn't yell after them – that would have been a waste of energy and time. And it would have made her look weak – like she was begging for her life. They said bravery made them want to keep her for a little while – maybe a little bit of bravery, no matter how forced, would get her through this before she figured out how to get this ordeal sorted.

Every single time, her mother had said. Every single time she would get lost, Clara knew she would always be found. But she wasn't thinking of her mother when she thought of those words – she had been thinking of a brilliant, funny, mad man with a big chin and a snog box that looked at her funny. And she knew he would come and find her. If only she could find a way out herself and free those children, among the other tea people.

She couldn't get through the invisible electric fence but there was enough light to see the children that were taken from her. They were in her care and she shuddered at the sight of them no longer looking at her with fear in their eyes, they were staring at the tube and they were sucking – fear replaced by adoration in their eyes. They were staring at the tea now – their expressions the same as all the others. They were drinking and sucking – barely stopping, even to take a breath. It was like they couldn't stand even a second without it. Even after a few minutes – at least, it seemed like a few minutes – the gems that were in the cracks of their skin seemed to dim as the chandeliers flickered still.

"O… 'kay. This is bad. This very, very bad," she muttered to herself. None of the tea people seemed to be paying her any attention. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Heeeello?"

The only sounds in the room were the echo of her voice, the sound of slurping and swallowing from the drinkers, and the low buzzing the chandeliers seemed to make whenever they flickered. When Clara received no reply, she surveyed her surroundings. She tapped at her lip with her pointer finger and pondered and paced the floor. What would The Doctor do? What would my mum do? What am I supposed to do?

She was scared – as loathe as she was to admit it. She ought to have been used to it by now, travelling with The Doctor often came with fear right in the travel packet, but there was no getting used to fear. There were only different things to be afraid of. But if there was anything constant in her travels – she was never left alone, not really. Because he would always come and find her. Every single time. And before then, she would let herself be afraid because there was no other way to be brave than to let the fear in and acknowledge it was there.

She whispered three words like a prayer as she paced in the little prison, trying to think of what to do next. Over and over again, as she thought and hoped, only three words kept her spirits up.

Brave heart, Clara.

X X X

The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and shut it, resting his back against the doors. He let out a small sigh of relief and almost drank the tea that he was holding before he remembered what he came to the TARDIS for.

"Ey! Right then, old girl! Got to find Clara!"

He walked briskly to the main console and the TARDIS lights seemed to flicker when he neared. He stroked the console to calm and soothe her but the lights still flickered as if the TARDIS was upset. "Hey? You alright? What's gotten into you girl, ey? Come on, then. We've got to find Clara!"

He flicked on some buttons and pulled some levers expertly until a small test tube sprouted out from the fourth section of the TARDIS console. He moved the pilot's monitor to face him and began typing his commands to scan and extrapolate the contents of the tea. He rubbed at his chin as he watched the readings flash him by, processing the information faster than he can even speak it.

"Z-neutrino energy wired in to atomic electric parasites? Hmm… that's new. I don't like it," he started, rubbing his chin as he readings went on. He scratched the back of his head, still thinking of Clara and where she was and what she could possibly be doing, as he tried to make sense of what was in the tea. "Why would anyone want people to digest z-neutrino energy and force it into living sentient systems. Why that would dampen and alter the electrical field that holds their atoms all together – even change their chemical composition, leaving out what made them unique to thin air. But it would take an enormous amount of power unless…"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he hit himself on the forehead several times as if to chastise himself. "Oh, I. Am. Slow! Slow! I am so slow! Of course!"

He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the tea, fiddled around with it until he got the right setting, and grinned. He flicked it as he liked to do, the claw opening, and the green light telling him that he now had the frequency just right. The sound of the sonic rang in his ears and he kissed it in delight. He twirled around the TARDIS console. "Oh, you old girl! You never let me down!"

He got to the second section of the console and toggled on wheel-y bits and pressed some buttons and pulled some levers. He twirled back to the fourth station and typed at his usual speed – which was remarkable speed.

"Come on, you…" he murmured as he worked, putting in the right codes for the scanner. "She has to be here somewhere, somewhere close, somewhere in the- aha! Found you!"

He broke down the schematics of the entire space station, deciding against bringing the TARDIS into the fracas he was sure to cause. After deciding on the best sure route to the red dot he knew to be Clara, he nodded and smiled an impish little smile that spelled trouble. He did like to cause a mess and with a villain who likes tea, things were bound to get broken and spilled; and the old girl did hate getting muck on her floors. She did so dislike it when he came back home all messy and dirty – as he usually did.

"Won't be long, dear," he said, stroking at the central glass panel. "Just popping back in to work for some overtime." He put a kiss on his fingers and his fingers passed it to the console. "It's tea time!"

He practically ran back to the doors but before he opened them, he turned back, both hands in the air, pointer fingers raised. "And before I go, be a dear and make her something nice!"

He looked at the door, straightened his bowtie, thought of Clara, and smiled. "Right then,"

"Geronimo."

X X X

Clara walked to the crystalline children's mother and waved a hand in front of her again.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" she tried again but to no effect. She huffed indignantly and shook her head. She turned to look at the children again and already, their skin was turning pale, their gems dimming. She wanted to scream but that was no use here; who would hear her? She looked down and bit her finger, trying to concentrate.

"How did they take the children past the electric? There was a ripple of electricity when they went through but they weren't electrocuted by it…"

Clara put her hands on her hips and looked to the woman and back at the electric wall. Her eyes narrowed as an idea came to her and she approached the woman, very, very carefully. She tried touching the woman's arm again and the woman responded as she had before – only Clara was waiting for it.

"Tea?" the woman begged. Clara swallowed and tried to keep as calm as possible. She could feel the woman's hand on her arm, tea already dripping down to her skirt, making the red look like rust. Blimey, that's going to be hard to clean out.

"Yes. Tea. Over here," Clara said, taking the woman's tea-hand and taking her to the wall. When the woman was at her side, she went through the wall with their conjoined hands first. There was a tingle in her skin but she was able to pass through without a scratch on her. The woman took all of the electricity in her system, her touch protecting Clara. She breathed out a sigh and even had the nerve to giggle. It worked.

She dragged the woman to the crystalline children, whose skin slowly resembled that of their mothers. There were guards next to them but they seemed to be preoccupied in trying to breathe in as much tea as possible. Clara tried to snap her fingers in front of their faces and even waved. No reaction.

"Tea?" the woman asked again. Clara turned her head, raised her eyebrows, and said: "Oh. Right."

She went to Quartz and moved to take the tea tube away from him. When she did, Quartz's eyes flashed opened and he started thrashing about, wailing for tea. Clara was so surprised that she dropped the tube and tea started spilling around everywhere. The woman grappled for it and spilled some on herself before she started sucking at it vigorously. Clara tried to soothe Quartz as best she could but all he wanted was tea – he kept screaming for it but none of the others seemed to notice. They were too enamoured with their own tea tubes.

"Shhh, quiet down now!" Clara pleaded in a whisper, her tone desperate. "They'll hear you! Oh, come on! Please be quiet! Quartz, please be quiet!"

"My, my, my." The female Brewer's voice echoed throughout the room and Clara felt a weight in her stomach – and that weight just dropped. She was in trouble and The Doctor could come any day now with that cranky, wonderful snog box of his. "Dear, me. I do dislike naughtiness. The aftertaste is so bitter."

"Never you mind, my darling," replied the male Brewer. "Absorb her in now before her flavour ripens."

The guards near the children awoke – as were all the other guards. The couple only watched as their creations went after her. Clara thought of running – but running where? The light from the chandeliers was too centralised. She saw no doors or even a possible way through all the people. Quartz was still yelling for tea and she couldn't just leave the poor boy. All the people were still under the tubes were still drinking, not a care in the world if it didn't involve their cuppa.

"No!" she yelled as a few of them managed to grab her by the arms and drag her to the nearest empty chain link. She struggled and screamed and tried to kick at them but the guards merely breathed in the tea and did as they were told. They didn't grunt or groan – the only sound that could be heard from them was the steady flow of tea in their system.

Where they touched her, tea splattered - cold tea that smelled of peppermint – on her clothes and on her skin and she daresay she might never have another cup again. It was while she was struggling and fighting that she noticed the uncanny resemblance. Each and every one of the guards looked like the bar keep from the main tea room. Even the woman, the mother of the crystalline children, was starting to lose her hair as she drank the stuff. Somehow, the tea was turning them into tea and made them addicted to it. That only made her more afraid and fight even more, chanting 'Brave heart, Clara' in her head but he still wasn't there.

When they had her at the wall and she was properly chained, a tea tube fell and Clara sucked in a breath. She tucked her lips in and tried to evade it as best she could. She ducked down but the tea-people were forcing the tube in. She could feel the drink on her skin and it smelled glorious. It smelled of her mother's English Breakfast with too much milk and honey – just the way she liked it.

Then she heard a familiar buzzing sound and she felt the tea tube fall away. Tea was spilling on the floor and the tea-people were gone. But there was quite a huge tea puddle near her feet with empty tea tanks and nozzles scattered around. Clara could breathe again and she even grinned. She knew that sound anywhere and she would even dream of it when she's safely tucked in her bed back in London. The Doctor's sonic screwdriver – which meant he was there. And she was safe - she had faith in that.

"Sorry I'm late!" said The Doctor, though she could not see him. "I didn't realise I was going to be late for the party but I seem to have lost my invite!"

"Who said that?" asked the female Brewer. Her voice was panicked in contrast to its usual coldness. The male Brewer wrapped an arm around his wife and looked around with those big black alien eyes of his.

"Doctor!" Clara yelled. "Your priorities, maybe?"

"Now, now, Clara – let's not be rude!" The Doctor danced and twirled his way next to her. A flick and point of his sonic screwdriver and her chains snapped. She fell on her feet but she nearly stumbled – she would have, if The Doctor hadn't caught her.

"Righty-o, Clara! Are you alright?" he asked, cupping her face, grinning down at her. Clara looked exasperated and she was shaking her head at him. But she was still smiling either way.

"Yeah. 'Course. Peachy keen. Now," she breathed out.

The Doctor hugged her and kissed the top of her head. He let her go but still held her hand with his free one. He pulled her with him as he stepped away from the puddle of tea on the floor. He always made the mistake of leaving her in the middle of battle. He really should stop doing that – look at the mess they got in when he did. Then again, he's been doing that for the last thousand years. Clever old man, he was. He never learns.

"Get them!" the male Brewer demanded and a platoon of more tea-people with tea tanks.

The Doctor had a glimmer in his eyes – he was confident, she could tell. The way he looked at the approaching mob of tea-people and the way he just held his sonic screwdriver near him – it was comforting and discomforting at the same time. She held his hand tighter. "And… a… very merry unbirthday to you-" he sang as he pointed to a section of the mob. Right away, they melted into tea puddles and abandoned tea tanks.

"To you,"

"To you!"

Clara watched, astonished and wide eyed, at The Doctor's handiwork. Those were people who were reduced to tea puddles right in front of her eyes. That and The Doctor was singing. Singing.

"Doctor," she said as a reproach. She pulled at his hand and pulled him nearer her. "Priorities!"

"Right!" The Doctor turned to the Brewers who had been trying to edge away, back into the darkness. But The Doctor pointed the sonic at their corner and a lock locking could be heard. Clara let go of his hand and she ran to the children. The tea had stopped running by then and they were asleep – or looked like they were sleeping. "So what are two Stravaloxi tea brewers doing in this galatic vector – turning people into tea, ey? I mean, turning electronic Z-neutrino compressors into atomic granules mixed into the tea blends that alter the chemical composition is quite ingenious – beautiful, even – but then by now you have to know that I'm going to stop you."

"These humans were honing in on our business!" the male said. "The Stravalox have always had the monopoly on the tea business in all the universe and in come these primates with their plants and tea bags and they have practically run us off the market."

"It's a business strategy, Doctor. One that you needn't interfere with!"

"Oh but you make any business something I interfere with when you interfere with people I-" The Doctor looked at Clara for a split second before he said another word, blushed, straightened his bowtie, and turned back to the Stravalox to continue his speech. "Travel with."

"So why turn them into tea?" The Doctor continued. "The atomic compressed Z-neutrino energy isn't enough to fully disperse the electronic field that holds all matter together – it would take the strength of 27 planets realigned to power that kind of baby up and believe me, I would know – so why even change their atomic structure and turn them into your little robots?"

The couple said nothing, adamantly keeping their silence, trying to look for a way out. But there was none. They were caught. Clara was still trying to free the children, he saw, and so he pointed at all the chains in the room with his sonic screwdriver, and all of those who were chained fell to the ground.

"Doctor – the children said something about the crystals in the chandeliers!" Clara yelled as she tried to wake the children up but they only murmured "tea" under their breaths.

The Doctor then scanned the crystal chandeliers at the ceiling, flicked it to extend the claw, and saw the readings they gave out.

"Oh… OH!" he said. "The Z-neutrino energy in the tea breaks down the chemical composition of the drinker and the crystal in the chandeliers are like magnets that take different nutrients in and compress it and these crystals are crushed and ground-"

"And sold by the pound across the stars, Doctor. Emotions in anything's body is a chemical warfare waiting to be harvested – or a buffet of assorted flavours if you knew your teas as well as we do," said the woman.

"So you take the chemicals of emotions from people and turn those chemicals into tea?" asked Clara from a corner. "But what happens to the people – what gets left behind?"

"You saw what happens to them, Clara," The Doctor muttered, his expression losing all the jovial energy it had before. "There's a narcotic in the electronics that make you addicted after a few gulps. It rewrites you completely and turns you into what you crave most. Once you absorb enough tea and extract enough nutrients – once they sweat all their light out - all you are is walking tea, held together by a electric force."

The Doctor looked around him and up at the ceiling. An idea came to him and some of the light in his eyes came back.

"But then now that you've gone and told me that, you know what happens next?"

The Doctor gave Clara a look and luckily enough, she was looking at him then. He gestured for her to come to him and she Clara ran to his side and held his hand. With his other hand, he raised his sonic screwdriver to the ceiling and with a flick, the chandeliers sparked and millions upon millions of twinkling lights fell and were absorbed by those who were chained and to those who were still standing.

Some of those who were standing were approached by the little lights but then the lights flew away and they were reduced to tea puddles. Most of the people who were not yet fully absorbed and extracted returned to their regular state. Clara looked to the crystalline children and saw that their mother was returning to the cracked, rock-like skin she probably was before – bright red gem stones in her cracks. Ruby, then, she thought.

But before Clara could even run to them and be happy for the little crystalline family, The Doctor had dragged her away and made her run with him.

"Doctor, what's-"

"The Stravalox, come on!"

The Doctor and Clara ran in the semi-darkness as the crystals were now too dim to offer as much light as they did before but they ran. The clicking of the woman's heels against metal gave them enough away that The Doctor was able to hear where they were going. When they got to the door, The Doctor found that the door had been deadlocked when he tried to open it with his sonic screwdriver.

"Wha's happenin'? Where are they?" asked Clara, trying to catch her breath.

"I don't-" The Doctor started but then a red flashing light started blaring above the door and in all his years of wisdom, red flashing lights never meant anything good. He tried as best he could to open the door but it wouldn't budge. And when it did open, there was ahead of them was an observation deck. Only there was a large chute in the middle of the glass pane that could possibly open wide enough to send anything that was in the room out into open space.

"Oh no," The Doctor whispered. He swallowed and looked out the window and saw the Stravaloxi couple, holding each other, as they floated.

"Doctor, what- what happened to them?" she asked as she crept nearer, still trying to absorb what had happened.

"They caused a fracas," he explained. He held her hand before he looked out at the deceased couple one last time. "And they expelled themselves."

X X X

A/N: Okay so… writing action/science-y scenes in story form is not my cup of tea. It's so exciting in head but translating it into words, which is my job, is really freaking hard. I need to practise on this form some more. Writing them in screenplay format is much easier but this? I never realised how difficult it would be and it's not my forte. So I'll admit that this chapter isn't as great as I thought it would be but let's just pretend that everything makes sense, yes? At least, I hope everything makes sense and maybe some of you enjoyed it even a little bit? If I had at least one person even slightly scared of tea because of this story then I'd call that a job well done. I really hope you enjoyed my first Doctor Who adventure and maybe stick around for some future ones?

Again, thank you so much for the fantastic and positive reviews! You're all such lovely people and I truly don't know how to react to you lot. I blush easier than The Doctor, honestly.

This story's more or less done – save the epilogue, which will be up shortly. Perhaps an hour or two after this chapter is uploaded.

Reviews might get you an actual whoufflé, if you get my meaning! ;)

xx, Jonnah.