CHAPTER 8
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A COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED RETURN
Clara landed the TARDIS right in the living room of her father's house not long after she left her own home. She knew that she would have a lot of explaining to do, but she had been in too much of a hurry to get there before the Daleks did to worry about that.
She sighed in relief as she saw on the monitor that he was standing there alone looking at the TARDIS in absolute amazement. He was alright.
As soon as she opened the TARDIS' doors, she said, "Dad, I know this is going to be hard for you to understand but . . ."
"Clara, run!" Dave Oswald suddenly shouted.
Clara looked at him in surprise as she hesitated for a single moment. That moment proved to be crucial as Commander Stor suddenly appeared out of nowhere and put a large gun to her head.
"You were invisible I see," Clara said not bothered in the slightest.
"Of course. Your concern for the human overrode your natural instincts or you would have detected me the moment that you left your TARDIS, Time Lord. Now it's too late and you've fallen into my trap. Let us hope that your thinking is much clearer when you lead our battalions into battle against the Rutan scum that have plagued my kind for so long," Stor said.
"As if I'd ever lead you! I'd rather lead the talking jellyfish any day over a bunch of walking potatoes," Clara said with a smirk.
"You'll have no choice. You will either lead us or watch the human that raised you die horribly," Stor said as he pointed to a bomb wired to Dave's waist that Clara hadn't even noticed until now.
"I must really be slipping," Clara said with chagrin.
Stor laughed as he said, "Your concern for him has blinded you to all of the dangers around you. That seems to be your primary weakness, Lady Alura. I'm so grateful that I was able to use it to achieve a tactical advantage over you. Now the choice is yours. Do you agree to help us or do you watch the human die?"
"So you really are an alien. I didn't want to believe it at first when he told me, but a blue police box suddenly materializing in my living room definitely convinced me. Ellie and I always wondered where you came from even though ultimately we really didn't care. We were just so glad to have you. After so many failed attempts to have a child suddenly receiving you on our doorstep was like the answer to our prayers," Dave said.
"Dad, there's so much that I need to tell you," Clara said.
"There's no time for that now. You have to tell him no, Clara. Leading some war somewhere for the rest of your life isn't who you are, and I'd rather die than to be responsible for that happening to you. Let him do what he wants to me, Clara. Just go. Go now," Dave said.
"There is no choice. I'll kill both him and you if you attempt to leave," Stor warned.
Suddenly the bomb strapped to Dave disappeared in a burst of golden light as Stor looked on in disbelief.
"What?!" Stor shouted.
Then he felt a finger tapping him on the shoulder and turned around to see the Doctor standing there with a jelly baby in his hand as he said, "Hello, I'm the Doctor and luckily for you this is Universal Exchange Day. I'll tell you what. I'll exchange that big nasty gun of yours for this delicious jelly baby that's fresh out of the bag. What do you say?"
Stor pointed the gun at the Doctor as he said, "You are the Doctor! I will receive a hero's welcome if I can kill you! For the glory of Sontar, you must die!"
"So you're not a fan I take it," the Doctor said with a large smile.
Suddenly Stor was knocked out cold as the Master punched him in the face. Stor hadn't even noticed him because he had been wearing one of the Doctor's homemade perception filters around his neck while he slowly walked towards him.
"Ordinarily, I'd congratulate him on his good taste, but he deserved that for threatening Clara," the Master said with a smirk.
"That was absolutely brilliant teamwork. We've still got it, Koschei. Here's your jelly baby as a reward," the Doctor said as he tried to hand the small candy to the Master.
The Master glared at him and the Doctor said, "Fine. That's more candies left for me then."
"You just had to buy him the jelly babies, didn't you?" the Master said to Clara.
"It wasn't me. Tish bought them," Clara said.
"I bought them for Merry not him. I used to like them when I was little," Tish admitted.
"Yeah, she did. Mum was constantly having to take them away from her because she was afraid that she would rot her teeth on them," Martha said with a fond look on her face.
"Well, you're not rotting Merry's teeth with them," Clara said with a smile.
"Clara, what do you want me to do with this?" the Moment asked as she suddenly appeared holding the bomb that had been around Dave's waist.
"Maybe you could give it to that Dalek who's about to come in the front door," Clara said.
"I like the way you think," the Moment said with an evil grin as she opened the door and threw the bomb at the Dalek who had been about to burst through it.
"ALERT! ALERT! UNEXPECTED ATTACK!" the Dalek said in alarm just before the bomb went off blowing it and several of the Daleks behind it into pieces.
"That's what you get when you miss with the girl who can see the future!" Clara said with a smirk.
"Where was this power of yours a minute ago when you landed us right into a trap?" Tish asked.
"It doesn't always work when my mind is too clouded with emotion like when I'm worried about someone," Clara admitted as she embraced her father.
"Why are all of those aliens after you, Clara? What is going on?" Dave asked in confusion.
"It's a really long story, Dad. Why don't I tell it to you later? Right now I have to get you out of here before someone else tries to come after you next. Besides that you still haven't met your granddaughter yet," Clara said as she led him towards the TARDIS.
"Granddaughter?" Dave said in even more bewilderment.
All of them rushed into the TARDIS and the Doctor dematerialized it as Merry walked up to Dave and said, "Hello, I'm Merry. Clara adopted me and gave me a home when I had nowhere else to go."
Dave's confused look turned into one of pride as he said, "That sounds like her alright. It's so nice to meet you, Merry."
He then started to pick her up when she said, "Wait. There's something that you need to know first."
She switched off her perception filter and said, "I'm an alien. Is that okay?"
Dave smiled as he said, "It doesn't matter to me. I seem to have good luck with aliens."
He then picked the little girl up and embraced her as Clara said, "You're taking all of this a whole lot better than I thought you would."
"I think that the full impact of it may not have hit me just yet. It still doesn't feel quite real yet. All that really matters to me right now though is that you're alright, Clara. I was worried sick that I was going to be the cause of getting you killed when you walked into a trap by coming to visit me. Somehow I'm really not surprised that your boyfriend is an alien though. That explains so much about him," Dave said as he looked at the Doctor
"He's not my boyfriend," Clara said just a little too quickly.
"You could have fooled me," Dave said smiling.
"Everyone else thinks that he's her boyfriend too. Clara and the Doctor are the only ones who don't think so," Merry told him.
"He's not my boyfriend," Clara said again in exasperation.
"Sometimes the ones who are in love are often the last ones to know," Dave explained.
"That's silly. Shouldn't they be the first?" Merry said giggling.
"Not always. I remember being in love once, and I didn't even realize it until after the man that I had fallen for was already gone. I couldn't even tell him how I felt because an entire universe was dividing us," Tish said sadly.
"I've been there before. I mean Rose has anyway," the Moment said.
"Tell me about it. I was terrified that Rose was going to have a heart attack because she became so upset when she lost the Doctor," Mickey said.
The Moment smiled at him as she said, "Naw, she's a lot tougher than you think. Even she didn't know just how tough until after all of that happened to her though."
"What are you talking about, Tish? When was this?" Martha asked in surprise as she ignored the exchange between Mickey and the Moment.
"When was what?" Tish asked with a blank look on her face.
"What you just said about being in love with someone who you couldn't tell because an entire universe was keeping you from him? When did that happen? That was when you were a Time Lord wasn't it?" Martha asked.
Tish looked at her with an upset look on her face as she said, "I don't even remember saying anything. I thought that that kind of thing would stop when you took the watch away, Clara."
"Not always. Your memories have been awakened now so they're going to come to you sometimes when you least expect them," Clara said.
"Then nothing can stop it? I'll change whether I want to or not?" Tish asked in alarm.
"No, I didn't say that. You can still hold it off forever if you want. It's just that nothing can stop the memories from leaking in now that you know the truth. I'm sorry but that's the way that it is, Tish," Clara said.
Tish nodded and said nothing as Martha put a comforting arm around her. Clara's hearts really went out to her in that moment and it made her finally wonder if maybe she should tell the Doctor how she truly felt about him whether he felt the same way or not. She still wasn't sure yet though.
"I feel so lost right now," Dave said as he watched all of this in complete confusion once more.
"My life almost seems like a soap opera doesn't it, Dad? Mind you I do look like someone who was in that one soap once. You remember the one don't you? We used to watch it together when I was younger," Clara said with a grin.
"Oh, yes. That was the one with your favorite actress in it wasn't it? You liked her because she looked so much like you. Now she's on that science fiction show isn't she? It all seems oddly appropriate now as if it's mirroring your life somehow," Dave said thoughtfully.
"It does doesn't it?" Clara said laughing.
"Science fiction? Soap opera? Now I'm the one who's confused," Merry said with a perplexed look on her face.
"Merry doesn't know much about human culture yet except video games. She loves video games. Don't you, sweetie?" Clara asked.
"I love them, M – Clara. It's so much fun to beat both Artie and Angie every single time at them," Merry said happily.
"She's smart, my Merry," Clara said proudly.
Dave looked at her already beaming away over her daughter and was so glad to have gotten to see that moment. He just wished that her mother could have been there to see it too. He wondered to himself just how she would have felt to know that she was an alien. He was sure that it wouldn't have bothered her any more than it had him. In fact, she might have adapted to it even quicker.
Then his thoughts of the past were rudely interrupted as the TARDIS began to shake violently. Clara raced to the console to find the Doctor and the Master already running around it frantically adjusting the controls. She gasped as she realized the full extent of what was going on.
"Clara, what is it?" Martha asked as she began to feel an odd sense of deja vu.
"It's the Daleks. They're following us through the Vortex and attacking us with one of their time machines," Clara said.
"The Daleks have a TARDIS?" Martha asked in surprise.
"Well, I wouldn't insult my old girl by comparing that piece of junk that the Daleks have to her, but it's their version of her anyway. It's nowhere near as good as the real thing though. Is it, Sexy?" the Doctor said as he stroked the console lovingly.
"Why don't you marry her and get it over with, Doctor?" Clara said in a jealous voice.
"I'd prefer it if he did actually. They deserve one another," the Master said with an evil smile.
"Don't listen to the mean man, Old Girl. He's just jealous that his TARDIS doesn't have the same relationship with him that we've got," the Doctor said to the console.
"Is he quite right in the head?" Dave asked Tish.
"I wonder sometimes," Tish said laughing.
The TARDIS shook yet again much more violently then before and knocked several of the crew over. Clara now joined the other two Time Lords at the console as the three of them raced across it in an all-out effort to try to keep the TARDIS one step ahead of the Dalek time ship at all times.
"The Dalek ship has weapons doesn't it? It has weapons and we have nothing," Mickey realized in horror.
"Yes, it has weapons but it doesn't matter because the TARDIS' force field is still up. At least it is so far anyway," the Doctor said.
"If we had taken my TARDIS instead of this bucket of rusty old bolts, we would have weapons too. We could fight back against them then. We're practically sitting ducks in this piece of junk. It has no weapons at all, the force field is mediocre at best, and it's already about to fly to pieces at any time because it's so old. A well-placed sneeze could take it down," the Master complained.
"I'm sorry about that, old girl. Yes, I agree. He doesn't know what he's talking about. You're still the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen," the Doctor said to the console.
Clara coughed loudly as she said, "Can you stop sweet talking to the Old Cow already, Doctor?"
"Jealous, Clara?" the Doctor said joking.
The anger on Clara's face said it all, and the Doctor instantly backed down the second that he saw it. There was no more talking to the console from that moment onward.
"I agree with you, Grandfather, they're definitely in love alright," Merry whispered to Dave who laughed at her.
Somehow it felt natural to have her call him Grandfather, and he didn't even blink at all. The two of them were instantly bonding already to his immense surprise.
"YOU WILL SURRENDER TO THE DALEKS AND LEAD US TO TOTAL UNIVERSAL VICTORY, ALURA, OR YOU WILL NEVER BE REUNITED WITH YOUR MOTHER," A Dalek voice said over the console.
"What?" Both Clara and Dave said together.
Clara became enraged as she said, "My mother is gone. You can't threaten me with her, you monsters! There's no way that you can touch her without completely unraveling the Web of Time."
It briefly occurred to the part of Clara that thought of herself as human just how weird it was for her to be the one saying that kind of thing now. That thought was mostly drowned out by the torrent of anger that the Daleks had just unleashed in her as it opened up an old wound in her soul that had never completely healed over.
"YOU ARE VERY MUCH MISTAKEN, TIME LADY. WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WISH. THE DALEKS ARE THE MASTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH!" The Dalek voice shouted.
Then Clara's hearts seized up as she heard a voice that she thought that she would never hear again.
"Clara, is that you? Where am I? Please help me, Clara!" The unmistakable voice of Ellie Oswald said in a terrified tone.
Clara began to make a gasping noise as if her air supply had been cut off, and she realized that she was having a panic attack. She was having an extremely hard time breathing now.
"Clara, it's a trick. They're trying to lure you into a trap," the Doctor said as he immediately wrapped his arms around her in silent support.
"Agreed. They're preying on the part of you that's still human and trying to use it against you," the Master said.
"It couldn't be her, Clara. She's gone. She's safe from them," Dave reassured her.
"Dave? Dave, help me!" The voice of Ellie now called out.
"Stop it! Stop tormenting us!" Dave screamed in anger.
"WE HAVE HER, ALURA. SUBMIT TO THE WILLS OF THE DALEKS OR WE WILL KILL HER AGAIN," The Dalek voice now said.
"It's not real. It can't be!" Clara said in a voice filled with pain.
Then she ripped herself from the Doctor's arms and dived toward the console. She forced the TARDIS to land at a random location before anyone even realized what she was up to. She was already out the doors before the Doctor or anyone could stop her.
"Clara!" the Doctor screamed in alarm as he raced after her.
"What's she doing? How could she be so foolish?" the Master asked in disbelief.
"It's called being human, Koschei. Maybe you should try it sometime," Tish said as she ran outside as well.
"What did she call him?" Martha asked in surprise.
"That's one of his other names," the Moment said but she didn't comment any further on how Tish knew it.
Clara waited outside patiently as the Daleks landed their time ship and quickly surrounded her in all directions. The Doctor caught up to her just in time to be trapped right along with her.
"Why did you do that?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.
Clara looked at him with tears in her eyes as she said, "I had to know if it was really her or not. I'm sorry. I just had to."
The Doctor smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her as he said, "It's alright. I understand."
"Clara," The voice of Ellie Oswald said and made Clara freeze in her tracks.
She slowly turned toward the sound of that voice and almost screamed as she saw her mother standing there with an extremely sad expression on her face.
"Clara, it is you but you're older now. I don't understand. What's happening? I thought that I died. I remember dying," Ellie said.
'Why are you doing this?" Clara said to the Daleks in a voice filled with pain.
"This is cruel even for you," the Doctor said to them in an outraged voice.
"NOW! CAPTURE THE TARGET! OBEY!" One of the Daleks ordered.
"I obey," Ellie said as an eyestalk came out of her head and a gunstick came out of her hand.
She then shot Clara and the Doctor with the gunstick and knocked them both out cold.
"MOVE HER INTO THE SHIP NOW. MOVE. MOVE," One of the Daleks ordered the other ones.
Before they could though, the others from the TARDIS crew finally reached them, and the Master began attacking them. Dave meanwhile starred at Ellie in horror.
"Who are you? What are you doing posing as my wife? I know that you could never be her now. My wife would never hurt her child! Never!" Dave shouted.
He didn't see the tears that began to fall from Ellie's eyes as he said this.
As the Master and the Moment joined forces to attack the Daleks in an attempt to rescue the Doctor and Clara from the Daleks, the Sontarans arrived.
"We have finally tracked them down, sir. Now do we attack while Alura is vulnerable?" One of the Sontarans asked General Styx.
"Yes. Go now. Distract the others and then send in an extraction team to take Alura while the Daleks and the others are being kept busy," General Styx ordered.
Even as the Sontarans began to join into the mix, things were made even worse as the Ice Warriors now suddenly appeared out of nowhere as well. They began to attack everyone else as one of them slowly moved toward Clara under the cover fire of the other Ice Warriors.
This lone Ice Warrior now gently picked up Clara and began to carry her off before he was stopped by a small army of Cybermen. The Cybermen all began to fire on the lone Ice Warrior as he dodged all of their incoming fire while protecting the unconscious Clara from it.
"Surrender the Time Lady to us now or you will be eradicated," the Cyber Leader warned.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you. I am Grand Marshal Skaldak and this woman is under my protection. I owe her for helping me to keep my honor when I almost threw it away in despair, and I intend to repay that debt by saving her from all of those who now seek to enslave her. No one will touch her now that I am here. Keep away from her or I will rip you all apart!" Skaldak shouted as he challenged them all.
Next: It's all gotten pretty crazy hasn't it? It's the battle of the century as the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, and the Ice Warriors all fight for the future of Clara while Skaldak, the Doctor, and the rest of Clara's friends and family all struggle to keep her safe. Meanwhile what about the woman who claims to be Ellie Oswald? Who is she anyway? Could she really be Ellie?