CHAPTER 19
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UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS
As the Doctor put the finishing touches on K-9 after repairing him in the Console Room of the TARDIS while it was parked outside of Clara's house, he smiled at the metal dog and said, "There you go, K-9. Good as new. I've even added a new and improved firewall around your mind so that no one can ever break into it again, and I've added a regeneration program so that the next time you're destroyed you can regenerate instead of being rebuilt and reprogrammed by insane megalomaniacs out to destroy the universe. I think I've covered everything now, don't you, boy? Now tell me how unbelievably clever I am for doing all of that, K-9. Am I the King of Cool or what?"
"Affirmative, Master," K-9 said in what Clara could swear was an amused, almost sarcastic tone.
"See, Clara? He thinks I'm cool. He appreciates just how brilliant I am," The Doctor said in a pleased voice.
Clara wrapped her arms around him and kissed him before saying, "I think you're brilliant too, Chinny. I also think that you're a little, just a little mind you, full of yourself."
"Oi! I am not. Just because I know exactly how brilliant and absolutely wonderful that I am that doesn't make me conceited. It just makes me self aware," The Doctor protested.
"Of course it does. You're the most self aware person that I know, Mr. Chin," Clara said with a warm smile before she kissed him again.
"You know that's really saying something considering that you know the Master. I mean he calls himself the Master. I think that says everything," The Moment said teasing them.
"Are you saying that I'm more arrogant than the Master? I can't believe that you'd actually think that, Rose," The Doctor said grinning.
Then he quickly said, "Sorry, I know that you don't like to be called that."
The Moment smiled as she said, "It's okay. I'm learning to get used to it. I need a much catchier name than the Moment after all. I'm never going to be her though so don't expect too much from me."
"I think that you already are her. You just don't want to admit it. That's something to ask yourself, Rose. Why don't you want to admit it?" The Doctor asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to admit it because it's not true. I'm a thing that Rose created to help you. A thing with a copy of her mind. That's all I am and ever will be. I know that you miss her but I can't ever be her. Not really. Thinking anything else would just be fooling myself," The Moment said.
"You're fooling yourself alright but not in that way. It's much easier to deal with heartache when you pretend that you don't have one," The Doctor said as he looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," The Moment said as she started to tear up.
"Doctor, leave her alone. You're upsetting her," Clara said in a low voice so that only he could hear her.
"I'm just trying to help her like she's helped us," The Doctor said in an earnest tone.
"I don't need your help, Doctor! Just keep out of my business, alright?!" The Moment suddenly shouted.
Then she immediately became apologetic as she said, "I'm sorry. Look. I know what you're trying to do, but it doesn't help me any. I'm not Rose. I could never be Rose. She got a happy ending and I don't. I . . . don't get anything. I just get to be alone."
"Rose . . ." The Doctor started to say as he gently touched the Moment's face.
"You love her not me, Doctor. You've already moved past me a long time ago and that's good because I'd never want you to be in constant pain over me for the rest of your life. I . . . she had her happy ending. She lived a good life. Besides that, you're not the Doctor that I love anyway. You're not the one that I want. I can never have my happy ending because the man I love no longer exists and you don't love me. I see that in the way that you look at me. I can see that you care about me and that you think of me as a friend, but it's not like it was between you and her. It can never be that. You love the real Rose. You'll always love her but not me. What more proof do I need that I'm not really her? You don't love me. I'm sorry, Clara. I'm not trying to steal him away from you. I'd never do that. I'm just trying to explain to him how I feel and why I won't call myself by a name that could and should never be mine," The Moment said in an emotional voice.
"Rose, you need to get over me and move on yourself. Find someone who will make you happy and who loves you like you deserve," The Doctor said as he gently stroked the Moment's face.
The Moment smiled as she said, "It's just like Sarah Jane once said, Doctor. You're a pretty tough act to follow."
She started to glow as she prepared to teleport away but Clara quickly grabbed her arm before she could and said, "Rose, don't. Please stop torturing yourself like this. Please. We both love you and just want the best for you."
The Moment smiled and hugged Clara as she said, "I know. It's just hard for me to talk about. Don't you worry about me, yeah? You two should concentrate more on yourselves instead. I'll see you later."
"Rose . . .?" Clara said in concern.
"Blimey! I'm going to be alright, Clara. The way that you keep acting is like I'm going to shatter as soon as I leave. I'm a lot stronger than you lot give me credit for. I've been dealing with these issues since long before you were born, you know? Now you two get back to your own problems and don't worry about me. Doctor, I believe you have a question that you want to ask her? A very important question I believe," The Moment said with a grin.
Clara turned to look at the Doctor in surprise, and the Moment quickly took that as her chance to leave. She chuckled to herself a little as she did so.
I just gave you an opening, Doctor. Now it's up to you to take it. She thought to herself.
"What did she mean by that, Doctor? What question?" Clara asked as her mind exploded with possibilities.
Could it be? No, it couldn't be that question could it? She suddenly began to panic because she wasn't sure what her answer would be if it was.
"Clara, she's right. I do have something important to ask you. Clara, will you . . .?" The Doctor asked and then hesitated.
Clara's hearts started beating furiously now because she honestly didn't know. She wasn't prepared for this at all. It was completely out of the blue and out of her control. She didn't know what to say or how to say it, and she didn't want to hurt him.
The Doctor finally took a long deep breath to calm himself and then he finally asked, "Clara, will you link minds with me?"
Clara smiled and had to force herself not to laugh in relief because she knew that he might misinterpret that as her making fun of him. She had never even thought of him asking that particular question, but she was so glad that he did.
"Isn't that usually a part of a marriage ceremony, Doctor?" Clara said without thinking and instantly kicked herself mentally for saying it.
"Why are you asking that question for? I don't even know where that came from. You know that it can happen outside of a marriage too. Family members and close friends can link. It's not about getting married, Clara. It's about making sure that you're safe. I want to link to you so that if anyone ever tries to kidnap you again, which seems to happen every other week now, that I'll be able to find you a lot easier," The Doctor said.
"Are you sure that this just isn't a part of some secret plan to marry me?" Clara asked.
Shut up! Shut up! Clara shouted to herself.
She didn't know why she kept openly talking about the very thing that she didn't want him to be thinking about but she did. She had never wanted to kick herself as much in her life as she had in that moment.
"I'm not trying to get you to marry me. I wasn't even thinking about it and maybe that's a good thing. I'm glad to find out that you think that the idea of us being married is such a joke, Clara," The Doctor said in a hurt voice.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just me shooting my mouth off because I'm nervous," Clara finally admitted.
"Nervous about what?" The Doctor asked.
"I thought that you were going to ask me to marry you," Clara said.
The Doctor blushed and immediately turned his head away from her as he said, "Oh, no! No! Nooo! That's just . . . No."
Clara frowned as she said, "Thank you, Chin Boy. You've made your views quite clear on the subject."
The Doctor immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead as he said, "I do care about you. You know I do. I'm just not ready for marriage just yet. You seem to feel the same way."
Clara smiled as she rested her head on his chest and said, "Yeah, I do. It's not that I never want to get married though, Doctor. I need you to know that."
The Doctor gently kissed the top of her head as he said, "I understand. That's exactly the way that I feel too."
"Yes," Clara said.
"What?" The Doctor asked in confusion.
"Yes, I want to link with you. You just have to make sure that you don't pry too much in my private thoughts, Mr. Chin. I can't be held responsible for what might happen to you there. I don't want you to suddenly explode if you accidentally stumble upon one of my many fantasies about you," Clara said with an evil smile.
"Fantasies?" The Doctor asked in a high squeaky voice as his face turned so red that Clara thought that it might pop at any second.
"Oh, yes. I've had quite a few of them about you. I don't want your hearts to explode if you come upon one of them though, Chinny," Clara said.
The Doctor's voice cracked as he said, "Don't worry. I won't go anywhere that you put up an obstacle to stop me. Just think of a door to keep me out of anyplace that you don't want me to go."
"Why should I do that? Maybe I told you about them because I wanted you to have a look," Clara said seductively.
"Clara, stop it," The Doctor said in an extremely embarrassed voice.
Clara took pity on him and said, "I'm sorry, Doctor. I was just winding you up. Don't get so embarrassed. It's just us here . . . and K-9 but he doesn't count."
K-9 made a loud noise that Clara took as a sign of protest but she ignored him as she said, "You don't have to ever be uncomfortable around me. Alright?"
The Doctor smiled and gave her a kiss before saying, "Let's begin the link then."
As he started to put his hands on the sides of her face and she did the same to him, Clara smiled as he suddenly winced.
"Sorry, Chin Man, I forgot to put a door in front of that one. Silly me," Clara said giggling.
The Doctor smiled knowing that she was just teasing him again. While he was embarrassed, he was also secretly pleased. He had been lying when he told her that he had wanted to link in order to protect her. That had only been part of it. He had also wanted to see if she was willing to do it and how comfortable that she would be during the whole process if she did go through with it since it was such an intimate thing to do to share minds that way.
So far it seemed that she was more than comfortable with it. A little too comfortable as a matter of fact!
He smiled to himself as he realized now more than ever that he truly did want to marry her. He just didn't want to rush her because he knew that she wasn't ready yet. Linking was just the first in a series of baby steps that would lead up to the day when he really would pop the question. Until then, he wanted to take things slowly because he didn't want to do anything that might scare her away.
He didn't even want to imagine his life without her. Not again. Spending centuries of torment thinking about what might have been if he had married her instead of his first wife was quite enough.
Just as they finished linking, Clara finished the process by giving the Doctor a long passionate kiss. They both pulled away from the kiss in surprise as the TARDIS doors suddenly opened and Jack and Jenny stepped inside.
"Ooh, Dad! It looks like someone's finally gotten lucky. I hope you did at least as well as I did on my date," Jenny said with an evil smile.
"W-What?" The Doctor stammered with a horrified look on his face.
"I had a very good time, Dad. A very good time," Jenny said as her smile became even wider.
The Doctor looked like someone just told him that his father was a Dalek as he started having a panic attack right then and there.
As he started gasping for air, Jack immediately said, "Nothing happened, Doc. Nothing. I promise."
"Dad, he's telling the truth. I was just kidding because I don't like you acting like I can't even have a regular date like everyone else gets to have. I didn't mean to upset you this much. I'm sorry," Jenny said in a worried voice.
The Doctor suddenly completely returned to normal and said with a proud smile, "I'm so glad that I can trust you."
Jenny became enraged and her eyes filled with thunderbolts as Clara said, "Uh oh. I have a feeling that Jenny's about to prove herself to be a chip off of the old block in the Oncoming Storm department."
"Clara, maybe we should get out of here," Jack said as he started to take Clara's hand.
"No, Jack. It's okay. I was just leaving. It's obvious to me now that I made a huge mistake. I never should have been looking for him. I was better off without him," Jenny said in a furious voice.
"Jenny," Clara said in disbelief.
The Doctor felt just like someone punched him in the hearts as he said, "Jenny, I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have tricked you that way. I just wanted to know the truth. You just kept saying things that were upsetting to me, and I had to know what was going on."
"What was going on was that I was just trying to have a normal date like everyone else has. That's all it was. It was just a series of regular dates where Jack was a perfect gentleman. Apparently I'm not allowed to do that though because you don't trust me. Goodbye, Dad. You won't ever have to worry about me again. Jack, I'm sorry but I'm calling the rest of the date off. I need to go lie down in my room in my new home . . . in Clara's house. I officially don't live here anymore," Jenny said.
"Jenny, I'm sorry," The Doctor said again.
Jenny's resolve started to waver and her eyes started to soften. For a moment, Clara thought that she was going to forgive him. Then Jenny's eyes hardened once more, and she spun around on her heel and left the TARDIS without saying another word.
"Doc, I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I'll try to talk her out of it," Jack said before he quickly went after her.
The Doctor just stood there looking devastated as Clara said, "She's just angry. She didn't mean any of that, Doctor. She loves you. I know she does. Just give it a while and she'll come back and apologize."
"She's right, Clara. I shouldn't have done that. I used her feelings for me against her. No wonder she hates me," The Doctor said.
"She doesn't hate you. She's just angry and upset. She'll get over it. Don't worry, Doctor," Clara reassured him.
"Clara, I just . . . I need to lie down," The Doctor said in a distracted voice.
"Doctor, stop it. It's going to be alright," Clara insisted.
Suddenly the phone on the console rang and the Doctor picked it up in a mindless almost hypnotic state. He listened intently for a few moments, and then he hung the phone up without saying a single word.
"Doctor, what is it? What was that about?" Clara asked.
The Doctor looked like he was out of it as he said, "Of course. Why should anything good happen today?"
"What?" Clara asked.
"Count Grendel just escaped while he was being transferred from Torchwood to UNIT. He was broken out by a group of people who were so strong that they ripped the doors off of the armored van that he was in with their bare hands," The Doctor said.
"Grendel's androids sprang him?" Clara guessed.
"Possibly. These people didn't look like his androids though. They were wearing white skintight suits from neck to toe and wore silver dreadlocks," The Doctor said.
"Sounds like an old enemy of ours, Doctor," Tish said from the open doors of the TARDIS that Jenny hadn't closed when she left earlier.
Clara looked up to see that Tish and the Master were both standing there in the doorway. She realized that they must have been standing there listening to the whole conversation. Tish must have come in order to get K-9 back she decided.
She still had no idea why she wanted him.
"Yes, the Movellans. I can't imagine what they want with Grendel though unless . . ." The Doctor said and then trailed off as a thought occurred to him.
"I bet that they're back in yet another war with the Daleks again, and they need Grendel to break the stalemate between them that they seem to reach every time that they fight because they're both too logical to think of a winning move that the other side can't already anticipate first. That's why they tried to recruit you before after all because they wanted to use you to break the stalemate since you think outside of the box," Tish said as she finished his thought for him.
"Yes, way outside of the box," The Master said.
"Be quiet, Koschei!" Clara said in an angry tone.
The Master and Tish both looked at her in surprise as Clara said, "Sorry to be so hateful. The Doctor and Jenny just had a huge fight and he's very upset about it. He doesn't need any wisecracks today."
The Master was silent while Tish kissed the Doctor's cheek and said in a gentle voice, "Don't worry, Doctor. She loves you far too much to stay away for good. She'll be back to apologize either today or tomorrow. I guarantee it."
The Doctor nodded but said nothing. It was obvious that he didn't believe it for a second.
"Why don't we go see if we can track down Grendel, huh? That should cheer you up, Mr. Chin," Clara suggested.
The Doctor nodded without speaking again and just stood there unmoving and staring blankly ahead of him.
"I see that you've fixed K-9. Hello, K-9. How are you doing?" Tish asked K-9 as she rubbed the top of his head while trying to break the awkward silence in the room.
"I am in excellent working condition once again, Mistress. I . . . apologize for what happened earlier," K-9 said.
"It wasn't your fault, K-9. Don't worry about it," Tish said as she rubbed his head some more.
K-9's tail actually wagged harder now at her words. Tish smiled as she remembered just how human that K-9 could act sometimes.
Then she smiled at her mental slip of the tongue as she thought of K-9 as acting human instead of like a Time Lord. Apparently in her subconscious mind, she still thought of herself as human even now.
"Doctor, aren't you going to shut the doors and talk to UNIT about Grendel?" Clara prodded the Doctor when he still wouldn't move.
"What? Oh, yes. Yes, of course," The Doctor said in a distracted voice.
He was just about to close the TARDIS doors when suddenly a young woman raced inside of it holding a gun. She immediately pointed the gun at the Master who looked at her in absolute shock.
Clara realized that she looked far too much like Lucy Saxon for it to be a coincidence. The fact that the Master seemed to recognize her confirmed it.
"You ruined my sister's life, Harry, and then you killed her! It took me forever to find you but I finally did it. I've tracked you down at last and now you're finally going to pay for what you did to her. Do you have any last words to say before I end your reign of terror for good?" Kathy Cole said in an enraged voice.
"I'm sorry, Kathy. I truly am. I know that you won't believe it, but I actually did care about Lucy. Unfortunately she made the mistake of getting involved with me. I wish that I could undo what happened to her. I really do," The Master said in a sad, resigned voice.
"What?" Kathy asked in surprise as she had clearly not been expecting to hear him apologize.
Suddenly she crumpled to the floor as a stun blast hit her in the back. Luckily she didn't have time to pull the trigger on the gun before the darkness overtook her.
The others now looked at the entrance of the TARDIS to see Jenny standing there. She had shot Kathy down with a stun blast from one of her gauntlets.
Jenny looked at the Doctor apologetically as she said, "I just came back to . . . I'm sorry. I love you, Dad."
The Doctor suddenly sprang to life and ran towards her as he hugged her tightly and spun her around with joy.
"I love you too, Jenny. I'm so sorry for acting the way that I did and for tricking you. I'll never do it again. I promise. You . . . you can keep dating Jack. I won't say a word from now on," The Doctor said.
Jenny smiled and said, "Thanks but you're already too late. Jack and I just broke up. There was just no spark there, Dad. The only reason that I was still dating him at all was because we both loved doing it just to get under your skin and that was no reason to begin a relationship. We decided that we're still going to be friends though because I actually liked him. He's not so bad when he's not hitting on me. He's the one who talked me into coming back and apologizing by the way. I was going to wait until tomorrow."
"Oh, Jenny, I'm sorry about what happened. That's too bad," The Doctor said as he gave her a hug.
He gave Clara a huge thumbs-up and a wide grin behind Jenny's back though. Clara was surprised that he didn't do a celebratory jig.
"Good old Jenny. She came through just like you said that she would, Tish," Clara said.
Tish didn't answer. She just stood there looking at Kathy Cole with an upset expression on her face.
"Tish?" The Master asked in a frightened voice.
He had only just started getting his relationship with her back together again, and now this had to happen. He was beginning to wonder if this was the universe's way of punishing him for all of the terrible things that he had done. If so then it was exceptionally cruel to give him the promise of a new chance at love and then to yank it away from him just as quickly as it came.
He knew that he deserved it but he had really wanted to change. He had wanted to make a difference in the universe in order to make up for what he had done. Most of all he hadn't wanted to hurt Tish anymore. That was what was hurting him most of all now was to see the upset look on her face.
He suddenly found Tish wiping tears that he didn't even realize that he had been crying off of his face as she said, "It's okay. We're still okay. What just happened really did upset me, Koschei, but seeing your reaction to it has just confirmed that you really are sorry about what you've done and that you love me. I love you too and I'm going to help you make it up to the universe for everything that you've done. I'm not going anywhere, Koschei. I'm going to turn you into the person that you always should have been and would have been if not for Rassilon. I'm not about to let him win and ruin both of our lives. This is going to be our final victory against that horrible little tyrant. We're going to have a happy ending."
Then they started to kiss and the kiss became deeper and deeper and more filled with passion by the moment as Clara grinned at the Doctor and Jenny.
"Let's take Kathy to UNIT while these two are busy. Then we can try to track down Grendel wherever he is," Clara whispered.
The Doctor nodded as he dematerialized the TARDIS. Even as the Doctor prepared to start looking for him, Count Grendel was already onboard a ship that was in orbit around the Earth. After the Movellans had explained why they had rescued him, Grendel was all too eager to help them with their war with the Daleks on one condition.
He wanted to use the situation to his advantage in order to gain his revenge.
"You say that you need me in order to help you gain the advantage against the Daleks, but what if it wasn't just me helping you? I have a plan that I think will give you a certain win against the Daleks, but I'll need your help in order to carry it out. If this works, then you will finally win the war once and for all against the Daleks and completely wipe them from time and space forever. All that we need is the perfect soldier in order to lead our army," Grendel said.
"And who is that?" The Movellan leader asked curiously.
"Her name is Jenny and she is the Doctor's daughter. Working together we're going to kidnap her and plug her mind directly into your battle computer. With her superior military skills and intelligence, she will lead you to a final victory against the Daleks," Grendel said.
"Excellent. We will help you to carry out this plan then," The Movellan leader said.
Soon now, Doctor, I will take your daughter away from you forever and make her into a mindless engine of destruction. I can't think of a better way to gain revenge against both you and her at the same time. Count Grendel thought to himself with an evil smile on his face.
Next: Count Grendel carries out his plan to kidnap Jenny and use her to help the Movellans. Is Jenny the only one that he's after though and how does he plan on having his kidnappings go unnoticed? Will he succeed or will his subterfuge be found out in time?