Deep Breath
Annabelle and I took over the controls and I saw we were in the Jurassic Era. I looked at the monitor and I saw we were flying right to the open mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, "HANG ON!" I shouted. I tried to get us back into the Time Vortex before it was too late, but there wasn't enough time There was a shutter as we went down it's throat. "Well, that's new," said The Doctor, "But, don't worry know just what to do…"
I saw he was going to start materialization, "No! Wait! The shields are still extended!" But it was too late. We were dragging a Tyrannosaurus Rex through the Time Vortex.
"Now what?" asked Annabelle.
"Keep him from the controls!" I said, as I set the destination for Victorian London, "Vastra should be able to help us get a handle on our guest until we can figure out how to get it back to it's proper time without being in its throat!" Once we were in London, I reversed the polarity to get the T-Rex to spit us out and the TARDIS started to shutter, "Hang on!" I shouted. We were expelled out of the T-Rex mouth and we landed hard on an embankment of the Thames, knocking us all to the floor a few moments later. I heard a knocking on the door and Strax calling out, "Hello? Exit the box, and surrender to the glory of the Sontaran Empire."
The Doctor was the first up and he went to the door, "Shush!" he shut the door.
I got up and went to the door, I saw Strax, Vastra and Jenny. "Is there a T-Rex nearby? The Doctor managed to get us swallowed by one and I think we might have brought it with us."
Before any of them could answer The Doctor pushed me aside and looked at Strax, "Sleepy?"
"Sir?" said Strax.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and stared right at Strax, "Bashful? Sneezy? Dopey? Grumpy!" He looked up and saw Vastra and Jenny, "Oh, you two! The green one...and the not-green one. Or it could be the other way round, I mustn't prejudge! Oh, you remember, Teddy, Annabelle and er…" he pointed back at the TARDIS as Clara and Annabelle walked out, "thingy, the, er, the not-Time Lord one, the asking-questions one? Names - not my area." he started to walks around.
"Clara!" said Clara.
"Well, it might be Clara, might not be - it's a lottery," said The Doctor.
"It is Clara," I said.
"Well, I'm not ruling it out! Oi, big man, shut it!" He looked up and saw the T-Rex, "Oh, you've got a dinosaur too! Big woman, sorry."
I went up to my uncle and said, "Doctor, listen to me. You need to calm down."
The Doctor ignored me and looked up at the T-Rex, "I'm not flirting, by the way."
Clara walked up to me, "I think something's gone wrong."
"Wrong?" said The Doctor as he looked at Clara, "What's gone wrong? Have you regenerated? I remember you. You're Handles! You used to be a little...a little robot head, and now you... you've really let yourself go."
The dinosaur roared, Annabelle went up to Vastra, "Reduce the frequency."
"I'm sorry?" said Vastra.
"Your sonic lanterns, turn them down. You're giving her a headache."
"Giving who a headache?" asked Jenny.
"My lady friend!" said The Doctor as he looked up at the T-Rex, "Just an expression, don't get any ideas."
"How do you know?" asked Strax.
"Come on, Clara! You know that we speak dinosaur."
Clara stood next to Strax, "He's not Clara. I'm Clara."
"Well, you're very similar heights. Maybe you should wear labels." he backed away a little, "Why... why are you all doing that? Why are you... You're all going dark... and wobbly - stop that."
We all looked at each other and Clara said, "I don't think we are."
"Never mind! Everyone... take five." Then the Doctor passed out and collapsed to the ground.
Clara, Annabelle and I rushed over to him and turned him over, "What do we do?"
"I don't understand, who is he?" asked Jenny, "Where's the Doctor?"
"Right here," said Clara, "That's him. That's the Doctor."
"Well then, here we go again," said Vastra.
We got The Doctor back to Vastra and Jenny's house. Annabelle and I got him changed into a nightshirt. But once he woke up he wouldn't stay in bed. Vastra tried to help me keep in in bed but it wasn't doing any good.
"It's simply misunderstandable to me. I don't know what it is," said The Doctor, "Who invented this room?"
Clara, Jenny and Annabelle walked in. "Doctor, please, you have to lie down," I said.
"It doesn't make sense. Look, it's only got a bed in it. Why is there only a bed in it?" asked The Doctor.
"Because it's a bed-ROOM, it's for sleeping in," said Annabelle.
"OK, what do you do when you're awake?"
"You leave the room," said Jenny.
"So you've got a whole room for not being awake in?" asked The Doctor, "But what's the point? You're just missing the room! And don't look in that mirror - it's absolutely furious."
"Doctor, please, you have to lie down, you keep passing out," said Clara.
"Well, of course I keep passing out, there's all these beds! Why do you keep talking like that? What's gone wrong with your accent?"
"Nothing's wrong with her accent," said Jenny.
"You sound the same. It's spreading. You two sound... English." He pointed at Annabelle and me, "You two sound… American. Now you've all developed a fault!"
"Doctor, I need your help with something," said Vastra, in a Scottish accent
"Finally, someone who can talk properly."
"I'm having difficulty sleeping," she took The Doctor's hand and lead him towards the bed.
"Oh? Oh, well, I wouldn't bother with that, I never bother with sleep, and I just do standy-up-catnaps."
"Oh, really, how interesting. And when do you do those?"
"Well, generally whenever anyone else starts talking. I like to skip ahead to my bits, it saves time."
"That explains so much," said Annabelle.
Vastra and The Doctor sat down on the bed, "Save me time, Doctor," said Vastra as she placed The Doctor's hands on either side of her head, "Project an image of perfect sleep into the center of my mind.
Vastra placed her hands on the sides of The Doctor's head just as he removed his from her head, "What, do you want a psychic link with me? The size of my brain, it would be like dropping a piano on you."
"Be gentle, then."
"I'll try. Brace yourself! Piano," The Doctor placed his hands against Vastra's head and instantly fell unconscious onto the bed .
"I love monkeys, they're so funny," said Vastra, in her normal voixe
"Oh, I see! So people are monkeys now, are they?" asked Jenny.
"No, dear. People are apes. Men are monkeys."
"So true," I said.
The five of us put The Doctor under the covers and let him sleep, "So what now?" asked Clara.
"He needs rest," I said, "Male Time Lords some times have strange side effects when regenerating. Rose told me he went through something similar when he regenerated into his 10th self."
We all walked out of the room to let him rest. We were in the conservatory having tea when we heard a loud roar that sounded like the dinosaur was moaning in pain. Vastra stood up, "That came from the river!"
"The dinosaur!"
"Strax, bring the carriage, now!"
We all quickly ran out of the room and out of the front door. We got in the carriage as soon as Strax brought it around front. As we drove we hear Strax say, "Out of the way, human scum! Hyya! Jurassic emergency! Hyya!"
"What do you think's happened?" said Jenny.
"I don't know, but I fear devilment," said Vastra.
"Should we not have told the Doctor?" asked Clara.
I shook my head, "He's not ready to leave his bed."
We arrived at a the closest bridge crossing the Thames where the T-Rex was. We where a little surprised to see The Doctor was already there. He was sill in his nightshirt standing on the side of the bridge looking down at the still-burning remains. "The Doctor! What's he doing here?" asked Clara.
Vastra locked the carriage with a remote, "There is trouble - where else would he be?"
"She was scared," said The Doctor, "She was scared and alone. I brought her here and look what they did."
"Who or what could have done this thing?" asked Vastra.
"No."
" I'm sorry?"
"No. That is not the question. That is not where we start."
"The question is how," said Strax, "The flesh itself has been combusted…"
"No, no, shut up! What do you all have for brains - pudding?" said The Doctor, "Look at you. Why can't I meet a decent species? Planet of the pudding-brains!"
I walked up to the railing, "Doctor... I know you're upset, but you need to calm down and talk to us. What is the question?"
"A dinosaur is burning in the heart of London. Nothing left but smoke and flame. The question is... have there been any similar murders?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Vastra, "Yes, by the Goddess, there have!"
The Doctor looked at the embankment, "Look at them all - gawking!" I turned and saw people talking excitedly amongst themselves. There was a man there showing no visual emotions, The Doctor continued, "Question two: If all the pudding-brains are gawking... then what is he?" The man then started to walk away.
"He seems remarkably unmoved by the available spectacle," said Vastra.
"Do you think that's whoever...?" Clara started to ask then we heard a splash from the river. We turned around and saw The Doctor was gone. We looked over the railing and saw The Doctor in the river, "What he's doing? He'll drown!"
"I very much doubt it," said Vastra.
"Why?" asked Clara.
"There has been a murder. The Doctor has taken up the case. If we are to see him again, we must do the same."
The next morning, I knocked on the door to Clara's bedroom, "Come in." she said.
I walked in and smiled, "Morning."
"Morning," said Clara as she poured some water into a basin before wetting a cloth. She was wearing a Victorian nightdress and has a shawl wrapped around her arms.
"Sleep well?" I asked.
"Pretty good."
Just then we heard Strax's voice from outside, "Come on, Earthling scum! Position it here. Easy now! That's it. Careful." We went to the window and saw Strax and Annabelle directing two men unloading the TARDIS in the courtyard. Annabelle was dressed in a purple Victorian style dress. Strax had a a rolled-up newspaper in his hand. "Don't get it scratched or you and all your bloodline will be obliterated from time and space."
"Very good, sir." said one of the men.
"Strax!"
Strax and Annabelle looked up and Strax said, "Ah, morning, Miss Clara. Madam Teddy. You're awake at last."
"Why didn't you just fly the TARDIS here?" I asked Annabelle.
"I think she's in the middle of a rebuilding cycle," said Annabelle, "She wouldn't let me in."
"But why bring it here?" asked Clara.
"The Doctor is still missing, but he will always come looking for the TARDIS."
"By bringing it here, he will be lured from the dangers of London to this place of safety, and we will melt him with acid," said Strax.
"OK, that last part?" asked Clara.
"And we will not melt him with acid. Old habits. The Times. Shall I send it up?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Strax threw the paper at Clara and me. I had enough time to duck but Clara wasn't so lucky. The paper hit her right in the head knocking her backward.
Sometime later we were in studio at Vastra and Jenny's. Clara and I had both changed into Victorian style dresses since that was the only clothes we had access to at the moment. Clara's dress was a dark green and mine was blue. Clara had found an advertisement in the Times that read "Impossible Girl. Lunch on the other side" Clara, Jenny, Annabelle and I looked over a map of London that Vastra had made of other so-called spontaneous combustion cases. Vastra read the rest of the paper and said, "There appears to be nothing of significance in the rest of the newspaper, not even in the agony column,"
"We can't know it's from the Doctor," said Jenny.
"Of course it's from the Doctor," said Clara, "The Impossible Girl, that's what he calls me!"
"He says lunch, but not when or where?" said Ananbelle
"'On the other side?'" said Jenny as she took another glance at the ad, "The other side of London? Bit vague."
"The other side of regeneration, perhaps, once he's recovered?" asked Vastra.
"So what are we supposed to do - guess where we're meeting?" asked Clara as she paced.
"Perhaps that's the point," said Vastra, "Perhaps you're supposed to prove that you still know him. Think what that must mean for a man who barely knows himself."
I shook my head "This just doesn't makes sense. The Doctor doesn't do puzzles. He doesn't have the attention span. He would keep it simple." I pulled the outside sheet of the paper and held it to the light. There was ad on the other side of the Impossible Girl ad. I turned it over and there was an ad for "Mancini's Family Restaurant"
Clara, Annabelle and I went to the restaurant and took a table at a booth. It was unusually quiet for being such a busy looking place. Just then there was a terrible smell. "What is that smell?" Annabelle asked.
"I don't know…" I sniffed and looked around the restaurant then I turned to my left and The Doctor was sitting next to me. He was still wearing his nightshirt under a long black coat. Clara waved the paper under her nose.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know! Maybe the smell?" asked The Doctor.
"I know, it's everywhere," he looked around.
"Where did you get that coat?" I asked.
"Er... I bought it."
"From where?" asked Annabelle.
"Er, a shop," said The Doctor.
"No." said Clara.
"Might have been a tramp."
"You don't have any money," I said.
"Er... I had a watch!" said The Doctor.
"No! That watch was beautiful," said Clara.
"It was my favorite."
"You swapped your favorite watch for that coat," said Annabelle, "That wasn't a good deal."
"Well, I was in a hurry, there was a terrible smell," said The Doctor.
I rolled my eyes, "OK."
The Doctor smiled and chucked and pointed at us, "No, no. Don't, don't... Don't, don't smile," I said, "We will smile first and then you know it's safe to smile."
"Are you cross with me?"
"I am not cross, but if I was cross it would be your fault and... yes, I am cross."
"I guessed that."
"I am extremely cross."
"Why?"
"Why?" said Annabelle, "An ordinary person wants to meet someone that they know very well for lunch, what do they do?"
"Well, they probably... get in touch and suggest lunch," said The Doctor.
"Mm-hm. OK, so what sort of person would put a cryptic note in…in a newspaper advert?" asked Clara.
"Well, I wouldn't like to say."
"Oh, go on, do say."
"Well, I would say that that person would be an egomaniac, needy, game-player sort of person."
"Thank you. Well, at least that hasn't changed," said Clara with a sigh.
"And I don't suppose it ever will."
Clara chuckled, "No, I don't suppose it will either."
"Clara, honestly…" he put a hand on one of hers, "I don't want you to change. It was no bother, really. I saw your advert, I figured it out - happy to play your game."
"No. No... no, Clara didn't place the ad. You placed the ad." I said.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you placed the ad, I figured it out! Impossible Girl, see, lunch?" I held up the paper.
The Doctor took the paper, "No, look, the Impossible... That is a message FROM the Impossible Girl."
"FOR the Impossible... Girl," said Clara.
"Oh? Oh?"
"Hmm."
"Well, if no of us placed that ad, who placed that ad?" I said as I looked out at the rest of the diners.
"Hang on," Clara looked at The Doctor, "'Egomaniac, needy, game-player'?"
"This could be a trap," said Annabelle.
"That was me?"
"Never mind that," said The Doctor.
"Yes, I am minding that!"
"Clara.…"
"You were talking about me?"
"Clara, what is happening right now in this restaurant to you and me is more important than your egomania."
"Nothing is more important than my egomania!"
We all turned and looked at her, "You do realized what you just said," said Annabelle.
"No one mention that again!" said Clara.
"It's... it's a vanity trap," said The Doctor, "You're so busy congratulating yourself on solving the puzzle," he pulled a hair from his head, "you don't notice that you're sticking your head in a noose." He held the hair up by his fingertips.
"What are you doing? And that isn't the only gray one, if you are, erm, having a cull."
"What, do you have a problem with the gray ones?"
"If I got new hair, and it was gray, I would have a problem."
"Yeah, I bet you would."
"Meaning?"
"It's too short," I said, knowing what he was trying to do, "I pulled a hair from Clara's head.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. I'm trying to measure the air disturbance in the room." I dropped the hair and it fell straight down. I looked around at the other diners. They were literally just going through the motions and never really eating.
"There is something extremely wrong with everybody else in this room," said The Doctor, as he looked around.
"Mmm, basically, don't you always think that?" said Clara.
"Look at them." Clara went to look but The Doctor stopped, "Don't look!"
"You just said to look!"
"Look without looking!"
Clara faced The Doctor but then looked out of the corner of her eyes at others in the room, "They look fine to me. They're just eating."
"Are they?" asked Annabelle.
Clara looked again, "OK, no. No, they're not eating."
"Something else they're not doing," I said as I pulled a hair from my own head and dropped it, "Breathing."
"What do we do?" asked Clara.
"What, you don't want to eat, do you?" asked The Doctor.
"Hmm! Slightly lost my appetite. How long before they notice that we're different?"
"Not long."
"Anything we can do?"
"How long can you hold your breath?"
"We could just casually stroll out of here, like we've changed our minds," said Annabelle.
"Happens all the time," I said.
"Ha! Course it does," said Clara
We stood to leave and then everyone else stood up. We took a step forward and they all took a step towards us. We took another step and so did the others.
"We could... take another look at the menu," said Clara.
Then we went to sit back down and so did the others.
Clara picked up her menu, "What are they?"
"I don't know," said The Doctor, "But don't worry, because that's not the question. The question is what is this restaurant?"
"OK, what is this restaurant?" asked Clara.
"I don't know," said The Doctor. Just then we noticed a waiter standing there, staring at us, "Er... no sausages? Do you... And there's no pictures either. Do you have a children's menu?"
The waiter took out a wand-like device and scanned The Doctor, "Any specials?" asked Annabelle.
"Liver," said the waiter in a monotone voice.
"I love liver," I said, "Is it fried in bacon grease?"
"Spleen. Brain stem. Eyes," said the waiter.
"Mm. Is there a lot of demand for those?" asked Clara.
"I don't think that's what's on the menu," said The Doctor, "I think we are the menu,"
The waiter scanned Clara, "Lungs. Skin."
The Doctor looked up at the waiter, "Excuse me," The Doctor reached up and ripped the waiters face off, to reveal a pilot light underneath.
"OK. Robot in a mask," said Clara.
"It's a face."
"Yeah, it's very convincing."
He pressed the face against Clara's face, "No, it's a face."
Clara shrieked as she dropped the face. Then, the waiter said, "Yes."
"Yes, what?" I asked.
"Yes, we have a children's menu."
Metal restraints came out from the booth over our upper arms and chest and another around the waist and lower arms. Then the booth was lowered down a shaft, "You've got to admire their efficiency," said Annabelle.
"Is it OK if I don't?"
The booth came to a stop in an open room that looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. There was a someone sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, with his back to us. I could see figures sanding in alcoves around the room. "Hello?" said The Doctor, "Hello, are you the manager? I demand to speak to the manager."
"This is not a real restaurant, is it?" asked Clara.
"Well... it's more a sort of automated organ collection station for the unwary diner," I said, "Kind of like Sweeney Todd but without the pies."
"So, where are we now?"
'Factually, an ancient spaceship, probably buried for centuries, functionally... a larder." said The Doctor.
"So why hasn't somebody come for us?" asked Clara.
"We're alive."
"We're alive in a larder."
"It's cheaper than freezing us," said Annabelle.
"OK," said Clara.
The Doctor leaned forward and I saw his sonic screwdriver peeking out from under the coat. The Doctor looked at us, "Are you ready?"
"Go for it," said Clara.
"Don't let it roll away,"
"No."
"We've got one shot at this."
"Next time, make one that doesn't roll."
"Go!" The Doctor shook the sonic out of the coat at it fell to the floor. Clara tried to reach it with her feet, "Got it?"
"I can only just about reach," said Clara.
"Oh, it's at times like this I miss Amy."
"Who?"
"Nothing."
Clara held it between her feet, "Ready?"
"Don't miss!" said The Doctor. Clara kicked up the sonic and it hit the Doctor between the legs, "Oh-h!"
"Oh. Sorry, did I hit... Something?"
"Oh, the symbolism!" The Doctor picked it up with his finger and used it to open the restraints.
Once we were all free Clara said, "You should make that thing voice-activated." She paused for a moment, "Oh, for God's sake, it is, isn't it?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
I walked over to one of the figures in an alcove. It was dressed like a Mandarin, "Teddy?" asked Clara.
I looked it over, "It's dormant."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I'm just hoping."
We all looked around and Clara said, "So... is it these guys that killed the dinosaur?"
"Well, if they're harvesting organs, a dinosaur would have some great stuff," said The Doctor.
"Why would robots need organs? Burke and Hare from space?"
"No, but that's a good theory."
"Droids harvesting spare parts," said Annabelle, "That sound familer."
We stopped and looked at the man as he sat in the chair. I could see that part of his face was missing and was similar to the waiter robot we saw upstairs, "Captain, my Captain." said The Doctor.
"Can he see us?"
"It's dormant."
"Hoping?"
"Yep. Oh, look!" The Doctor went over to the chair and lifted a wire, "He's recharging. He's asleep." He waved his fingers in front of cyborg's face, "Doesn't even know we're here."
"Are you sure?" asked Clara
"Sure, not sure - one or the other."
Clara looked at the cyborg, "OK, so half-man, half-robot. A cyborg, yeah?"
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Oh-h."
"Oh?"
"Look at the hands," I said.
"What about them?"
"They don't match. These hands don't belong to the same body."
"I don't understand."
"I don't blame you. This is not your normal cyborg. This isn't a man turning himself into a robot. This is a robot turning himself... into a man, piece by piece."
"That's what the restaurant's for," said Clara.
"Well, it would need a constant supply of spare parts," said Annabelle, "You can tan skin, but organs rot."
"Some of that metalwork looks Roman," said The Doctor, "Wonder how long it's been around, how much of the original is even left. The eyeballs look very fresh, though. Eugh!"
The cyborg's arms started to move and we all jumped back. He placed his hands on the arm of the chair. We could see the clockwork gears turning in his head.
"Is it awake?" asked Clara.
I looked at it and said, "It's waking up... I think."
Clara motioned with her hands that we should leave. I agreed with her, "OK, let's go.," said The Doctor. We moved slowly to an open door. But, The Doctor stopped and went back in, "I've seen this before. I'm missing something!"
"Doctor!" said Clara.
"It's the brand-new head, rebooting!" he said as he tapped his head, "Come on! I've seen this before!"
Clara went back and guide him toward the door, "Oh, hurry up, get out." He pushed him through the doorway. I looked behind Clara and saw the cyborg start to move. Clara looked back and before I could pull Clara through. The door slid closed.
"Doctor!" said Clara. The Doctor used his sonic on the door and rose partway but enough for Clara to get through, "Quickly!" called Clara.
Through the window. I saw the half-face man unplug himself. Then, The Doctor said, "Sorry, too slow. There's no point in them catching us both."
"Well, give me the screwdriver!"
"We might need it," The Doctor used the sonic to close the door then he walked away.
Annabelle and I followed him while he walked away, "Doctor?" I asked, "What are you doing? Why are you leaving Clara behind?"
He stopped and looked at me, "Who said we were leaving her behind?"
It took a little time but we found another door into the main room. On our way we ran into another cyborg. The Doctor used his sonic to disable it and then swapped clothes with it. The Doctor was now wearing a nice Victorian era style black suit. I looked in the window and saw Clara talking to the Half-face man, "Why did you kill the dinosaur?"
"We will not answer questions!"
"Then you might as well kill me, because I'm not talking again till you do."
The Doctor used his sonic to slowly open the door high enough for us to crawl in, "Within the optic nerve of the dinosaur is material of use to our computer systems." said the Half-face man.
"You burned a whole dinosaur for a spare part?" asked Clara, "No, no, hang on. You know what's in a dinosaur's optic nerve, which means you've seen them before."
"Where are the other ones?
"How long have you been rebuilding yourselves? Look at the state of you! Is there any real you left? What's the point?"
Once the three of us were inside we quietly made our way in the shadows to behind Clara.
"We will reach the Promised Land," answered the Half-face man.
"The what? The Promised Land? What's that?" asked Clara
"Where are the other ones?"
"I don't know. But I know where they will be...where they will always be. If The Doctor, Teddy and Annabelle are still The Doctor, Teddy and Annabelle... they will have my back." Clara slowly reached her right hand behind her back, "I'm right, aren't I? Go on. Please, please, God, say I'm right."
The three of us quickly stepped out of the shadows. The Doctor pulled Clara away from the Half-face man. Then he stepped up to face him, "Hello, hello, rubbish robots from the dawn of time, thank you for all the gratuitous information. Five foot one and crying - you never stood a chance." The Doctor slapped down the Half-face man's torch hand, "Stop it!" The Doctor pressed his sonic into the cyborg's chest, "This is your power source, and feeble though it is, I can use it to blow this whole room if I see one thing that I don't like, and that includes karaoke and mime, so take no chances. "
"Why are you here?" asked the Half-face man
"Why did you invite us?" asked The Doctor, "The message, in the paper... that was you, wasn't it?" The Half-face man looked at The Doctor and tilted his head. The Doctor continued, "Oh. I hate being wrong in public. Everybody forget that happened." He walked over to Clara, "Clara, say the word."
"What word?" asked Clara.
The Half-Face man walked closer to us, "They never sent you in here without a word."
"I don't want to say it."
"I've guessed already."
Clara pressed a finger to her brooch and the four of us said in unison, "Geronimo!"
Just then Vastra and Jenny dropped down from the ceiling, unrolling from some cloth that was wrapped around them. They landed gracefully and pulled out their swords, "Remain still and lay down your weapons, in the name of the British Empire!" said Vastra.
Then we heard a cry, Strax fell to the floor as he tried to copy Vastra and Jenny's stunt, "Strax!" called Vastra.
"Sorry," he said.
"I've told you before - take the stairs," said Jenny.
"Oh, look. The cavalry," said The Doctor.
Half-face man got closer to us, "I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish, little man?"
"What do you? Vastra?"
Vastra got between us and Half-face man, "The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudice, and the authorities summoned." she said.
"Hang on, she called the police?" asked Clara, "We never do that, we should start."
"You see?" said The Doctor, "Destroy us if you will, they're still going to close your restaurant. That was going to sound better."
"Then we will destroy you," Half-face man motioned to the other robots.
The other robots stepped out of the alcoves. As they walked out I saw they had blades attached to their arms. The door opened and more robots came in. Vastra pushed Half-face man away. But, him and the others continued to get closer. We started to back away with Vastra standing between them and us. "No, you won't," I said, "You're logical. You have restraint. You kill to survive - you're not a murderer."
"He's not a what? This is a slaughterhouse," said Clara.
"And how does that make it different from any other restaurant? You weren't vegetarian the last time I checked. This is over. Killing us won't change that. What would be the point?"
"To find the Promised Land," said Half-face man.
"You're millions of years old, it's time you knew - there isn't one," said Annabelle.
"I am in search of paradise."
"Yeah, well, me too. I'm not going to make it either," said The Doctor.
Half-face man backhanded The Doctor and he fell to the floor, knocking his sonic out of his pocket, "Doctor!" said Clara, Annabelle and I.
The three of us knelt beside him. Half-face man walked over to the booth that brought us down, "I will leave in the escape capsule. Destroy where necessary."
"Escape capsule?" asked Vastra, "This ship is millions of years old, it'll never fly."
"It has been repaired."
"What with?"
"You."
"Defensive positions everyone," said Strax. Vasra, Jenny, Strax and Annabelle surrounded The Doctor, Clara and I.
"He's getting away!" said Clara.
The booth started up the shaft, "Your friends are intelligent. They'll know better than to follow me."
"Annabelle," I said telepathically, "You stay here… The Doctor and I'll take care of Half-face man."
She nodded. The Doctor and I ran over to the booth and grabbed onto a bar underneath and held on as the booth went back up to the restaurant. Once the booth stopped. I used my sonic to unlock an access door on the side of the shaft. We crawled through the access tunnel and we climbed out in the main part of the restaurant, as Half-face man walked over to a control pane and opened it. Then, we sat down a table and The Doctor poured three glasses of whisky. Half-face man turned around, "What are you doing?"
"I've got the horrible feeling I'm going to have to kill you," said The Doctor, "I thought you might appreciate a drink first."
"I know I would," I picked up a glass a took a sip.
Half-face man pulled down a lever on the control panel. The building started to shake and some dust fell. We stood up and walked over to him, "Your from the 51st century, right?" I said, "a Time traveling spaceship, crashed in the past. You're trying to get home the long way round…. Kind of like us…"
"I go to the Promised Land," said Half-face man.
"So you keep saying," said The Doctor. Half-face man pulled another lever, "OK, so your restaurant is made out of your old ship," he picked up a bouquet of roses, "but you're wasting your time, it can't ever fly."
"The escape pod is viable."
"How? You can't patch up a spaceship with human remains," I said.
"You know, this really is ringing a bell," said The Doctor. Half -face man pressed a series of buttons and the building shook and more dust fell, "OK, that's clever. How are you powering it?" We walked over to the control panel.
"Skin," said Half-face man. We found out later that Half-face man made a balloon made of human skin. Soon we were flying high over London.
The Doctor pulled one of the fuses out of the control panel, "'SS Marie Antoinette.' Out-of-control repair Droids, cannibalizing human beings. I know that this is familiar, but I just can't seem to place it."
"'How would you kill me?'" asked Half-face man.
"'Sister ship of the Madame De Pompadour.'" He sniffed the flowers, "Nope, not getting it."
"How would you kill me?" asked Half-face man.
"Why don't you have a drink first?" I said, "It's only human."
"I am not human."
"Neither am I."
The three of us sat down at a table and I looked out the window, "What do you think of the view?" asked The Doctor.
Half-face man looked out "I do not think of it."
"I don't think of it. I don't. Droids and apostrophes, I could write a book, except you are... barely a Droid any more. There's more human in you than machine. So tell me...what do you think of the view?"
Half-face man stood up and walked to the window. He moved back the curtain, "It is beautiful."
The Doctor and I stood up and I said, "No, it isn't. It's just far away. Everything looks too small. I prefer it down there. Everything is huge. Everything is so important. Every detail, every moment, every life clung to."
"How could you kill me?"
"For the same reason that you're asking us that question, because you don't really want to carry on," said The Doctor.
We walked away, "What'll happen to the other Droids when you die?" I asked, "You're the control node, right? So, more than likely the others will deactivate."
"I will not die," said Half-face man, "I will reach the Promised Land."
"There isn't any Promised Land. It's a superstition that you have picked up from all the humanity you've stuffed inside yourself."
"I am not dead."
"You are a broom," said The Doctor, "Question - you take a broom, you replace the handle, and then later you replace the brush and you do that over and over again. Is it still the same broom? Answer - no, of course it isn't. But you can still sweep the floor. Which is not strictly relevant, skip that last part. You have replaced every piece of yourself, mechanical and organic, time and time again - there's not a trace of the original you left," He held up a silver platter, "You probably can't even remember where you got that face from."
Half-face man took the platter and looked into it. He dropped it onto a table, "It cannot end."
"It has to," I said, "You know it does."
"And there's only one way out," The Doctor went over to the door and opened it.
"Self-destruction is against my basic program," said Half-face man. He raised his hand to hit The Doctor.
The Doctor turned around just in time to block him, "And murder is against mine!" The two of them struggled in front of the open door.
They struggled for a bit then The Doctor pressed Half-face man against the door, "You are stronger than you look." said Half-face man.
"And I'm hoping you are too," said The Doctor, "This... is over. Are you capable of admitting that?"
"Do you have it in you to murder me?"
"Those people down there, they're never small to me. Don't make assumptions about how far I will go to protect them, because I've already come a very long way. And unlike you, I don't expect to reach the Promised Land," Half-face man switched off his torch and lowered his arm. The Doctor backed away to the other side of the door, "You realize, of course, one of us is lying about our basic programming."
"Yes."
"And I think we both know who that is."
I turned my back to The Doctor and Half-face man. I waited a few moments then turned back around and Half-face man was gone.
After Half-face man left, I used my TARDIS key to call the TARDIS to us. I looked around and saw the TARDIS had done a little redecorating. She moved some of the bookshelves from the library to the upper level of the console room. Then, we headed to the wardrobe. The Doctor chose a dark blue Crombie coat with a red lining, dark blue trousers, a long collared white shirt, no tie, a navy cardigan and black boots.
I chose a dark red cardigan, a light blue button up-shirt with blue stripes, black jeans and black boots. We then walked back in the console room and went to get Clara and Annabelle. We decided it best to pick them up from Vastra and Jenny's so we gave them a little time and landed in the courtyard.
I was standing at the console when Clara and Annabelle walked inside. The Doctor was sitting in a leather chair in the upper level. I smiled and walked over to Annabelle and gave her a hug. She hugged me back. I gave Clara a hug and she said, "You've redecorated."
"Yes," I said, "What do you think?"
"I don't like it," said Annabelle as she looked around. I rolled my eyes knowing she was kidding.
"Not completely entirely convinced myself," said The Doctor, "I think there should be more round things on the walls. I used to have lots of round things. I wonder where I put them." The Doctor stood up and slowly walked down to the console, "I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over 2,000 years and not all of them were good. I've made many mistakes and it's about time that I did something about that. Clara, I'm not your boyfriend."
"I never thought you were."
"I never said it was your mistake."
The Doctor put the TARDIS in motion and then popped open his coat, To show off the red lining. "What do you think?"
Clara didn't answer she took a few steps away from us then turned back, "Who put that advert in the paper?" she asked
"Who gave you our number?" I asked, "Remember? When we first met You were given the number of a computer help line, and you ended up calling the TARDIS. Who gave you that number?"
"The woman. The woman in the shop," said Clara.
"Sounds like, there's a woman out there who's wants us stay together," said Annabelle.
Soon the TARDIS came to a stop, "How do you feel on the subject?" asked The Doctor.
"Am I home?" asked Clara.
"If you want to be," I said with a smile.
"Can I have some time to think about it?," asked Clara.
My smile faded, "Of course.
Just then Clara's phone rang, "You'd better get that. It might be your boyfriend." said The Doctor.
"Shut up," said Clara, as she took her phone out of her pocket, "I don't have a boyfriend." then she walked out of the TARDIS.
The Doctor watched her leave, "Come on…"
We walked out and saw Clara standing away from the TARDIS leaning on a building, "So who is it?" asked The Doctor. He paused a moment and asked, "Is that The Doctor?"
"Yes."
"What?" I asked telepathically, "How is she talking to you?"
The Doctor smiled and responded telepathically, "I called her before I regenerated… I thought she might need some help in her decision to stay with us…"
The Doctor stepped forward while Annabelle and I watched from the door. Clara ended her call and wiped away some tears, "Well?" The Doctor asked her.
Clara looked at him "Well, what?" she asked.
"He asked you a question. Will you help me?"
"You shouldn't have been listening."
"I wasn't. I didn't need to. That was me talking." He started back to the TARDIS then he stopped and turned back at her, "You can't see me, can you? You look at me, and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like? I'm not on the phone, I'm right here... standing in front of you. Please, just... just see me."
Clara walked slowly over to him and looked over his face. Then, she smiled, "Thank you."
"For what?" asked The Doctor.
"Phoning," the Clara huged him.
Annabelle and I came out of the TARDIS and joined in a group hug, "I... I don't think that I'm a hugging person now," said The Doctor.
"You were out voted," I said.
"This isn't my home, by the way," said Clara.
"Sorry, I'm sorry about that, I missed," said The Doctor.
We ended the hug and Clara asked, "Where are we?"
We looked around and Annabelle said, "Glasgow."
"Ah!" said Clara, "He'll fit right in," pointing at The Doctor, "Scottish," she said in a Scottish accent.
"Right, shall we, er... Do you want to go and get some coffee or... chips or... something, or chips and coffee?" asked The Doctor.
"Coffee," said Clara.
"Coffee works for me," said Annabelle.
"Coffee would be great," I said, "You're buying!" I walked up to the TARDIS and locked it. Then, Clara, Annabelle and I walked down the sidewalk.
"I don't have any money," said The Doctor as he followed us.
"You're fetching, then," said The Doctor.
"I'm not sure that I'm the fetching sort…"
"You got out voted," said Annabelle.
AN: Hey there. I'm kind of surprised at how fast I got this chapter out. I guess it's because it's not like the massive episodes that the last couple were. Anyway, I'm hoping to get caught up before the start of Series 9 on September 19th and then picking up Liv and Maddie until after the Christmas Special.