This is bad, this is really bad, Clara thought. She had woken up on a tiny cot, in what seemed like a cell. She kicked the damp floor in frustration. She should have known that trouble would find her eventually, especially when that Missy showed up at Coal Hill. She glanced around the room fearfully, trying to find a way out.
The room was in darkness, but for the moonlight seeping in through the high-barred window, and near it, a great, heavy door. The air was musky and oddly enough, smelt faintly of peppermint. A wave of panic coursed through her as she remembered what happened right before she had woken up here. One thing at a time, she decided. She strode towards the door and gave it a tug, hoping it would open.
Nothing.
It was locked and dead-bolted from the outside.
"Don't bother. She always locks it."
She spun round fast towards the owner of the voice.
"Wha-? Who's there?" Panic rose in her voice faster than she would like to admit.
"Doctor Chang, you might remember me?"
Chang shuffled around a bit in the darkness before stepping into the illuminated part of the room.
"But you were - you were disintegrated. I saw that happen with my own eyes." Her panic was now replaced by hesitation with a tinge of disbelief
"You might think it strange, but that device could be used as a transporter of sorts. I wouldn't expect it less of someone like my boss."
"So," Clara said slowly, trying to process this recent revelation, "if we're transported and not dead, then… where are we?"
"Not sure," Doctor Chang said, "Likely the Nethersphere, or some part of it. To be honest, I'm not too clear."
"Well, great."
Clara scanned the walls looking for an exit.
"No use, believe me, I've tried."
Clara paused, before fumbling around in her pockets.
"What are you trying to find?" Doctor Chang asked quizzically.
"My phone! If I find it I can call the Doctor!"
"Oh, no use, your items are most certainly confiscated."
At this point, Clara could almost scream in frustration. Almost. She steeled her emotions and took several, long and deep breaths.
She will get out. She will get out.
The Doctor will come, but she needed to save herself. She looked at Doctor Chang, whose wiry frame was slumped down on the cot on the other side of the room. He was staring at the ground, at nothing in particular. In the small sliver of moonlight, she noticed a pink scar that ran the length of his neck. Her curiosity piqued.
"How long have you been here?" She asked tentatively.
Doctor Chang looked startled at the question, 00)before adjusting the glasses perched on his nose. A nervous tic, she absentmindedly noted.
"Oh, uhm, days, months, years. I really lost count after a while."
"Oh. And where'd you get that scar?"
She paused, before hastily adding. "If you don't mind me asking."
She mentally berated herself for being just as rude as the Doctor.
"Oh no, it was from when I tried to escape this place. I forgot when, it's been so long ago. She found me trying to escape and you could the say that the punishment wasn't so...pleasant."
"But do you know where?"
"It's in another cell, I can't take you there, clearly" He gestured to the door.
Great. She thought. Another dead end.
She decided the best course of action was then to wait, perhaps for an opportunity to present itself. It was only a matter of time before she made her escape. She strode across the room and stood in the centre of it, taking in her surroundings. What would the Doctor do?, she thought. He's surely gotten through a lot of this tight spaces before.
She took a deep breath.
Step 1: Always assume you're going to win.
She looked at the cot again, and an idea came to her.
Step 2: Win.
She pressed her ear to the door, listening to the thunderous boots of the guards stride past her cell. She scurried to the cot, and ducked under, fumbling around in the dark. She felt the cool touch of a metal latch. She pushed the cot away and tugged the trapdoor open, a spray of dust and cobwebs everywhere. She coughed.
"Oh that's clever. That's insanely clever" She murmured. looking at the newly-discovered hole in the ground.
"What are you doing?" Doctor Chang protested "We can't do that! She'll find out!"
"Suit yourself." She paused. "But come with me if you want to live"
"Do you even know where that tunnel leads to?"
She shrugs, "But it's the best chance we've got to escaping."
Doctor Chang stared at her incredulously. "It could be really deep."
"Oh nonsense." She said as she chucked a stone into the tunnel. A thud came soon after. "See? Not too deep. I bet it leads outside or to another room."
Quickly, she jumped into the tunnel before calling out, "Are you coming with me or not?"
Shrugging defeatedly, Doctor Chang followed soon after.
The first thing Clara noted was the smell of damp earth. She tried hard not to notice that there was dirt that was clinging onto her dress and tried not to remember that this was a new dress she bought. Not that she was vain, of course, but she really would have preferred it if her new dress wasn't so muddy. Her hands and knees were getting quite sore from crawling and she paused for a moment to catch her breath.
"Are you sure we're going the right direction?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Lucky guess, since no one is coming for us as of yet."
"I'm guessing the tunnel may widen out in a couple of metres?"
"Probably, yes."
"We'd best get going. The guards may have noticed that we're gone."
A little while later, the sound of humming filled the jail cell, followed by the TARDIS materializing. The creak of the old wooden door of the police box filled the air as Missy and the Doctor stepped outside.
"Clara? Clara!" The Doctor shouted urgently.
"See? I told you I'd take you to her." Missy huffed impatiently.
They were both met with silence.
"Well?" The Doctor demanded.
Missy huffed in annoyance before declaring, "Well, Doctor, clearly you can see that neither my pet Doctor Chang and your little plaything are not here."
"You said you'd take me to her!"
"I said I would, but she's not here. Oh, do try to keep up, Doctor." she surveyed the room, noticing the opened trapdoor.
"Then where is she?"
"Well, it seems your clever clever Clara has found herself a tunnel." She cackled.
"To where…?" The Doctor asked hesitantly.
"Oh, just a little project I've been working on."
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things got a little crazy with college and whatnot but here it is!
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