Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)
Chapter 32: Deep Breath Part Two
Masterlist
"What do we do?" Clara whispers, slightly panicked.
"Well, you don't want to eat, do you?" The Doctor answers.
"Hmm. Slightly lost my appetite. Ahem. How long before they notice that we're different?" Clara wonders.
"Not long," Kathy says.
"Anything we can do?" Clara asks.
"Well, Kathy and I have a respiratory bypass and could easily hold our breaths for an hour or two. You on the other hand, do not." The Doctor says.
"We could just casually stroll out of here, like we've changed our minds," Clara suggests.
"Happens all the time." Kathy agrees. Perhaps they could walk out and not end up trapped in the larder.
"Ha. Course it does." Clara beams, happy that her suggestion seems to be a good one.
And very casually, they push back their chairs, stand and almost immediately, a heartbeat later, all the chairs in the room are scraping back. All the diners now standing, but none turn to look at them. They're just standing staring directly ahead, blank, unseeing. They try to take a step to the door, but every diner room takes a simultaneous step towards them. They try again but the diners get even closer.
"Might be best to try and blend in for now, yeah? We were looking for the source of the problem after all." Kathy interjects and pulls them back to the table.
So, they sit down again, and the diners return to their tables, continuing their charade just as before. Kathy, the Doctor, and Clara pretend to look at their menus.
"What are they?" Clara whispers.
"I don't know. But don't worry, because that's not the question. The question is, what is this restaurant?" The Doctor replies.
"Okay, what is this restaurant?" Clara asks obligingly.
Kathy winces. "You don't want to know."
The Waiter approaches the table, moving with the same stiff gait as the others. He looms over the table. Just stands there. A blank, cadaverous face.
The Doctor puts on a great show of nonchalance. Flicking through the menu with disdain. "Er, no sausages? Do you? And there's no pictures either. Do you have a children's menu?"
Silence. The waiter takes his pen and shines a small green light at the Doctor from the tip. He scans the Doctor.
"Any specials?"
When the Waiter speaks, it's a grating, mechanical sound. "Liver."
"I don't like liver."
"Spleen. Brain stem. Eyes."
"Mmm. Is there a lot of demand for those?" Clara asks in a high-pitched voice.
"Clara, we are the menu." Kathy murmurs.
"Lungs. Skin." The Waiter has turned to look at Kathy.
The Doctor now studies the side of the Waiter's head. "Excuse me."
The Doctor reaches over, grabs the Waiter's jowel, and simply rips the face from the front of his head leaving the back of the head, and the hair is still in place. Revealed, the metal mesh face, verging on rusty. In the centre of this hollow head, a flame. A simple flame, like from a bunsen burner. The Waiter turns calmly to "look" at the Doctor. Kathy cringes at the sight of it.
"Okay. Robot in a mask." Clara remarks still panicked.
"It's a face."
"Yeah, it's very convincing."
"No, it's a face." Kathy corrects.
"Oh!" Clara bats away the face as the Doctor offers it to her.
"Yes." The waiter speaks.
"Yes, what?" The Doctor asks.
"Yes, we have a children's menu."
The Waiter presses a button on its pen. Metal arms come out of the back of the bench and slam around Kathy, the Doctor and Clara's chest, as they sit there, clamping them to their chairs. Then the bench starts descending through the floor. And down they plunge down a shaft.
"You've got to admire their efficiency." The Doctor remarks.
"Is it okay if we don't?" Kathy retorts.
——
Kathy, the Doctor, and Clara clank jerkily down into the room. The room they are arriving in is a large steampunk circular place, all brass and rivets. It looks a little like a spaceship, but an ancient one. Corroded, dulled with age, deep water green. Cables and chains hang like vines. Hundreds of years old, Kathy knows that it's thousands. Various people are standing still in small alcoves around the wall, and a central dais with the Half-Face Man seated in a chair, his back to them.
Kathy anxiously glances at the alcoves as the Doctor and Clara peer over at the chair.
"Hello? Hello, are you the manager?" The Doctor calls. "I demand to speak to the manager."
"This is not a real restaurant, is it?" Clara asks rhetorically.
"What gave that away? The droids? Or the fact we're alive in a larder?" Kathy doesn't mean to be snappy but she's been trying to wiggle out her sonic and it's not working.
"A larder?"
"Originally an ancient spaceship, buried for centuries," Kathy says.
As they've been talking, the Doctor has been twisting, and thrusting in his metal bonds as if trying to shake his own sonic loose from his coat.
"Very efficient, a sort of automated organ collection station for the unwary diner. Sweeney Todd without the pies." The Doctor comments.
"So why hasn't somebody come for us?"
"We're alive."
"We're alive in a larder." Clara retorts.
"It's cheaper than freezing us," Kathy says.
Clara looks panicked. "Okay."
One last twist and the sonic screwdriver is hanging from the Doctor's inside pocket. "Are you ready?"
Clara and Kathy shift position. "Go for it." The former says.
"Don't let it roll away—"
"I know!"
"We've got one shot at this."
"Next time make one that doesn't roll." Clara retorts.
Kathy wonders if that's ever the case but then Thirteen's probably doesn't have the rolling issue because of the handle.
"Go!" One last thrust and the screwdriver dislodges, falls to the floor and starts rolling the wrong way. Clara and Kathy shoot out a foot each, scrabbling after it and Kathy just manages to catch it.
"Have you got it?"
"I can only just about reach it," Kathy replies. She's taller than Clara so that helps but most of her height is in her upper half.
"Oh, it's at times like this I miss Amy." The Doctor mutters.
Kathy narrows her eyes at him in mock offence. "Oi! Clara, if this doesn't work, be ready to catch it." The companion nods. With an effort, she flicks the screwdriver back towards her. Now catches it between her feet and aims upwards at the Doctor. "Ready?"
"Don't miss."
She flicks up hard, throwing the screwdriver towards the Doctor's lap and the Doctor doubles up with an agonised oof!!
Clara and Kathy both wince.
"Did she... hit something?" Clara hesitantly asks.
"Oh, the symbolism." He gets the screwdriver into his hands and unfastens his bonds with it, then Clara's and Kathy's. They're free and scrambling out of the booth.
"You should make that thing voice activated." Clara comments. The Doctor freezes, realisation impacting. "Oh, for God's sake, it is, isn't it?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Guys?" Clara points to various alcoves, around the circular perimeter of the room. Various Victorian people are standing motionless within them with slack, sightless faces. Kathy feels unnerved as she watches them.
"Dormant." The Doctor decides.
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I'm just hoping."
They won't be for long. Kathy needs to make sure to hurry the two along though she doesn't know how she's going to stop the Doctor from wanting to look about.
"So, is it these guys that killed the dinosaur?" Clara asks as they tiptoe away.
"Yeah, all you can eat buffet of organs from a dinosaur," Kathy replies.
"Why would robots need organs? Burke and Hare from space?"
"No, but that's a good theory. Droids harvesting spare parts. That rings a bell." The Doctor mutters.
Well...
"What's important is we get out of here," Kathy tells them but it's too late as the Doctor is now circling the central dais, looking up at the top-hatted, motionless figure in the big chair. It's the Half-Face Man. Half an ordinary face - square-jawed and handsome, like a Roman Emperor, greying hair. A ragged tear down the middle of the face, and then a hollow cage structure. There is a section of the brain projecting from the human half, with wires trailing from it that are plugged into a socket on the chair. The Half-Face Man sits entirely motionless. Staring directly ahead.
The Doctor reaches forward and picks up the hands to look at them before letting them go. Suddenly, there is a noise and Kathy's eyes go to the robot nearest them. He casually moves his hands back to their original position. It makes her blood run cold. It's the calmest, simplest move. All three of them slowly step back from the creature.
"Y-Yeah. And we really need to get out of here." Kathy says as it takes hold of the chair arms and clockwork whirrs. "Now would be best. He's waking up."
"Okay, let's go." The Doctor agrees.
One eye is flickering open. On the other the pupil is dilating and now the same lights flickering on behind the Victorian Droids in the alcoves. Kathy grabs Clara's hand and tugs her towards the door, the three of them moving slowly and carefully so as not to draw attention to themselves. They reach a lit up hallway and Kathy and Clara duck through. The Doctor about to follow, comes to a slamming halt. He spins and looks around the room again. Kathy wants to slap herself; she should have accounted for this.
"I've seen this before. I'm missing something." He rants. Kathy lets go of Clara and hurries over to him, pulling on his arm to get him moving.
"Doctor!" Clara calls.
"Now is not the time!" Kathy adds.
"It's the brand new head, rebooting." The Doctor grumbles, looking around as he tries to figure it out.
"Come on!" Clara begs, but he isn't moving, so Kathy begins pushing him back out the door.
"I've seen this before!"
"You idiot! I'll tell you in a second! We need to get out of here!" Kathy snaps at him, struggling to keep her voice down. This is all going so wrong.
"Hurry up! Get out!" Clara says as she helps in pushing him towards the door.
Kathy tries, she does. She tries to position herself so that Clara would be pushed through the door along with the Doctor and wouldn't be left on her own but that doesn't happen. Instead, Clara does a particularly hard shove that propels the Doctor and Kathy through the doorway just as the Half-Face Man raises his arm and touches his palm. The door comes down with the Doctor and Kathy on one side and Clara on the other. There's a tiny grating in the door, Clara throws herself to it, looking through at them. The Doctor tries to sonic it open and that is when Kathy realises she doesn't have her sonic, she dropped it on the other side.
"Doctor. Kathy. Quickly." Clara urges frantically.
"Doctor, sonic!" Kathy hisses. She doesn't want to risk Clara's safety by getting her to go looking for Kathy's sonic.
The door starts juddering up but slow, too slow. The Half-Face Man is unplugging himself from his chair and is starting to rise, but he hasn't noticed her.
"Quickly!" Clara also hisses, but the door only lifts partway before the Doctor stops it.
"What are you doing?" Kathy snaps. She knows what he's doing but that doesn't mean she can't be angry with him. She had hoped to be the one trapped on the other side, not Clara.
"Sorry, too slow. There's no point in them catching all of us."
"Well, give me the screwdriver," Clara argues, but he gives her a look.
Kathy snarls at him, knowing what he is about to do, "Don't you dare, Doctor."
He hardly spares her a glance before sonicking the door closed. "I might need it."
"Dammit, you idiot!" Kathy growls at him, seeing Clara's crestfallen expression "Doctor!"
He then bolts down the hallway, not once turning back as Clara tries to call him back to no avail. She becomes even more panicked and Kathy struggles to think of something she could do, digging through her pockets for something useful, but finding absolutely nothing. Cursing under her breath, Kathy checks the progress of the Half-Face Man and watches as it reaches the booth where they'd once been and stops.
"Clara, I'm so sorry, I can't, but you've got to listen to me." Kathy pleads and Clara looks at her with wide, glossy eyes. "He's an idiot. A big stupid idiot for leaving you behind and I know you're upset, but you need to listen to me right now, or neither of us will make it out of here in one piece. Get into the alcove nearest to you and don't move. The moment they start coming for you, hold your breath for as long as you can. Move like they do, pretend you're one of them. They might just fall for it, okay?"
"W-What about you?" She breathes out and Kathy smiles a little.
"I'll do the same, but from out here. If you can't hold your breath any longer, I want you to flash your hand like this." Kathy opens her hand and clenches it into a fist again. "Do that three times and I'll find a way to stall them for you to get a breath, okay? But you need to get out of here, got it?"
She nods and Kathy catches sight of the Half-Face Man turning around. Nodding back to her, Clara quickly moves to an alcove and holds her breath just as the other occupants of the alcoves become active.
Kathy takes a deep breath, engaging her respiratory bypass and moves to stand at the wall of the corridor. She now has a slight view of Clara and the room.
The Half-Face Man approaches Clara. He stops and tilts his head as the gears grind, then turns away, proceeding unhurried to the next Clockwork. Kathy swallows thickly as she spies the light reflecting off a tear sliding down Clara's cheek. She'd yet to give Kathy the signal though, so Kathy waits and watches.
The Clockworks are moving around. Proceeding unhurried around the room, attending to consoles, and various pieces of ancient equipment. One of the Clockworks presses a switch and the door through which the Doctor left slides up again. Kathy restricts herself from lunging forward to grab Clara and instead slightly gestures her head when Clara looks over to her.
After a moment of hesitation, Clara begins to move, imitating their stilted walk and goes through the open door into the bright passageway. Kathy moves to stand by her as they move down the corridor which goes on and on. Room, upon room, upon room are filled with droids and Kathy knows that Clara will be running out of breath soon.
Clara suddenly takes a breath and begins to fall to her knees, passing out but Kathy catches her, trying to quickly pull her along but they are immediately surrounded by Clockworks.
"Bring them." The Half-Face Man declares.
She glances at the Clockwork whom she knows is the Doctor in disguise but knows he needs to keep up the pretence, so she says nothing.
"No, you're not having us!" Kathy tries to protest but then feels a sudden force knock the back of her head and she feels herself tilting forward before everything goes black.
——
Clara wakes up, finding herself lying on the ground. She looks around to see Kathy unconscious and chained in one of the alcoves with a Clockwork standing guard beside her. The Half-Face Man faces Clara though, sitting still in his chair, expressionless.
"Where is the other one?" It asks her.
Clara doesn't look at him, still afraid and recovering from her ordeal. She stares at Kathy in concern.
"There was another. Where is he?"
Clara still doesn't reply. She's fighting to control her terror, reign it in. Got to focus, got to keep it together.
"Where is the other?"
Clara still desperately trying to focus. Get it together. What would Kathy do?
"You will tell us, or you will be destroyed."
Clara blinks, thinking it through. Looks slowly up at him. "What did you say?" She questions.
"You will tell us."
"Yeah, I know. Or what?"
"You will die." It threatens.
Clara frowns, remembering her first day teaching at school and Courtney challenging her. Straightening her back defiantly like Kathy would. "Go on then. Do it." Clara stands up, scared, but firm as she faces the Half-Face Man. "Go on, then. Do it. I'm not going to answer any of your questions, so you have to do it. You have to kill me. Threats don't work unless you deliver."
"You will tell us where the other one is." The Half-Face Man replies.
"Nope."
"You will be destroyed."
"Destroy me, then. And if you don't, then I'm not going to believe a single threat you make from now on." Clara challenges it. This is what Kathy, and the Doctor would do, delay and work out their plan. Stay alive.
The Half-Face Man is silent. Cogs turning.
"Of course, if I'm dead, then I can't tell you where the other one went then." Clara continues. "You need to keep this place down here a secret, don't you?"
The Half-Man Man is still silent, that baleful stare.
"Never start with your final sanction. You've got nowhere to go but backwards." Clara is breathing hard, but keeping it together, brinkmanship.
The Half-Face Man eventually speaks, "...humans feel pain."
Clara lets out a breathless laugh. "Bigger threat to smaller threat - see what I mean, backwards."
"The information can be extracted by means of your suffering."
Clara swallows, the fear now getting to her, but she knows she must keep going. "Are you trying to scare me, because I'm already bloody terrified of dying. And I will endure a lot of pain, for a very long time, before I give up the information that is keeping me alive. How long have you got?"
The Half-Face Man's cogs are grinding a bit faster. Almost frustrated. It rises to its feet, looming over Clara now.
She doesn't dare move, holding her ground. "All you can offer me is my life. What you can't do is threaten it. You can negotiate."
The Half-Face Man reaches its right hand to its left, grabbing it around the wrist. He twists and the left hand simply detaches, unleashing a fiery glow from inside the arm. It now simply hangs the detached hand on his coat – the fingers, still active, grip – on by themselves.
A sob rips from Clara, a tear rolls down her face. It's like a break in the façade, the terror now visible, an involuntary step back. "Okay, okay, okay. Okay, yes, yes, yes, I'm crying and it's just because I am very frightened of you. If you know anything about human beings, that means you, you're in a lot of trouble."
The Half-Face Man has a flame-thrower where his hand is, ready to go. "We will not negotiate."
"You don't have a choice," Clara says, voice slightly firmer. "I tell you what... I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."
"We will not answer questions."
"We'll take turns! I'll go first. Why'd you kill the dinosaur?"
"We will not answer—"
"Why'd you kill the dinosaur?!" Clara shouts, interrupting it.
"We will not answer questions!" It shouts in return and Clara looks away nervously.
"Then you might as well kill me because I'm not talking again till you do." It stares at her for a moment, before turning. "Then we will ask the other one."
Clara turns towards where Kathy had been in shock and worry, having not expected the Half-Face Man to go after her. What is even more unexpected, is the fact that Kathy already has one hand free and was apparently working on the chain on her other wrist by the time they noticed her.
"Ah. I was hoping you'd forget I was here for a while longer." She complains, dropping her free hand with a sigh. "I was nearly done breaking free and possibly thinking up a way to heroically save Clara over there and escape with our heads too. Ruined that plan before it even got anywhere."
"H-how did you?" Clara splutters.
Kathy raises an eyebrow in reply, silently saying that's a silly question.
"Where is the other one?" The Half-Face Man asks, approaching Kathy with its flame thrower.
"Ooh, nice welder. Good improvement." Kathy appreciates, glad the Half-Face Man is no longer focused on Clara.
Clara hisses at her from across the room. "Kathy! What are you doing?!"
"Buying time? Nice job at that by the way." Clara can't help but preen slightly as Kathy looks at the Half-Face Man. "Oh, but I don't have any questions to ask you like Clara did. I already know."
The Half-Face Man tilts its head as she goes on. "You didn't have the parts so you've been down here so long that you knew the dinosaur had some part that you could use, yeah?"
"Within the optic nerve of the dinosaur is material of use to our computer systems." The Half-Face Man replies.
Kathy glares at it. "And you killed a whole dinosaur for one part. One measly little part that probably wasn't even vital to whatever plan you're coming up with. And do you know what that means, Clockwork?"
It tilts its head, seeming surprised almost that Kathy knows what it was.
"Oh yeah, that's right. I know exactly what you are." She growled, moving as close to the Clockwork as she could with what the chain allowed her; her expression sending a shiver up Clara's spine. "You killed a dinosaur for a part. A dinosaur that had been dragged through time, not knowing what was going on or where it ended up. A lonely dinosaur who feared the world around it and you went and set it on fire. You murdered an innocent creature who was scared. And that, Clockwork, is why you won't get away with this."
"How long have you been rebuilding yourselves? Look at the state of you. Is there any real you left? What's the point?" Clara questions.
The Half-Face Man turns its head away slightly. As if in shame or reflection. "We will reach the promised land."
Kathy scoffs. "Yes, the promised land. Silly me."
"What's the promised land?" Clara questions.
The Half-Face Man ignores her question. "Where is the other one?"
"I don't know. But I know where he will be. Where he will always be. If the Doctor is still the Doctor, he will have my back." Clara reaches behind her. "I'm right, aren't I? Go on. Please, please, go on, say I'm right."
Kathy keeps quiet knowing Clara needs this to trust the Doctor again.
A hand grabs hers and pulls her back. Then the bald robot removes the skin from his face to reveal the Doctor. "Hello, hello, rubbish robots from the dawn of time. Thank you for all the gratuitous information. Five foot one and crying along with the fiercely protective mother. You never stood a chance." He says, rushing around the room before pushing the Half-face Man's flame thrower down. "Stop it."
He puts his sonic screwdriver into the recharger in the chair. The lights go out. "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 mimes, so take no chances. See?" He throws the face over at them and Clara jumps up and catches it with an angry look on her face. "That's how you disguise yourself as a droid, Kathy. You don't dawdle."
Kathy sends him a scowl. "I was a bit busy looking after the human you abandoned. I wouldn't call that dawdling."
"Yeah, sorry." The Doctor grumbles. "Well, no, actually, I'm not. You're both brilliant on adrenaline." He turns to the Half-face Man. "And you, were out of your depth, sir. Never try to control a control freak or threaten the friend of an over-protective mother."
"I am not a control freak!" Clara shouts, before then realising that she is holding a face and dropping it on the ground once more.
"Yes, ma'am." The Doctor drawls out.
Kathy gives him a look as well, face red in embarrassment. "I'm not—" She pauses, before swallowing thickly. "—that overprotective."
"Of course."
"Why are you here?" The Half-face Man asks.
"Why did you invite us?" The Doctor counters. The Half-Face Man looks at him. Cocks its head, not understanding. "The message? In the paper. That was you, wasn't it?" The Half-Face man just stares blankly at him. It hits the Doctor then. "Oh! I hate being wrong in public." He takes back his screwdriver and turns accusingly to Kathy, who's thankfully found her sonic during this. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Kathy shrugs, holding up the sonic. "I was finding this, and you didn't give me a chance to."
"Everybody forget that happened." The Doctor says.
"Fine. Then don't mind me as I call some friends." Kathy brings out a scanner and presses send as the Half-face Man walks threateningly towards them.
A bang, a flash, smoke. Now, through the ceiling from which the booth and table descended, Vastra and Jenny spin towards the ground with silk fabric tied around their waists. They land on the floor and draw their swords from the scabbards on their backs. Jenny throws a sword to Kathy, who catches it and moves to stand in front of the Doctor and Clara.
"Remain still and lay down your weapons, in the name of the British Empire!" Vastra orders.
For a moment it's wildly impressive then a long cry, and a dumpy figure goes crashing downwards. "Argh." Strax groans.
A moment of weariness from Vastra. "Strax!"
Strax pops up into shot between them, weapon at the ready. A tiny bit embarrassed now. "Sorry."
"I've told you before. Take the stairs." Jenny tells him.
"Oh, look. The cavalry." The Doctor remarks disparagingly. "I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish, little man?" The Half-Face Man turns on the Doctor, its fiery arm raised, levelling it at him. Kathy promptly knocks down the flame-thrower with her sword, narrowing her eyes at it, challenging him.
"The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudice, and the authorities summoned." Vastra declares.
"Hang on, she called the police? We never do that. We should start." Clara comments.
"You see? Destroy us if you will, they're still going to close your restaurant." The Doctor receives some looks for that. "That was going to sound better."
The Half-Face Man makes a signal with his other hand. "Then we will destroy you." Sword blades shoot out from the various droids' sleeves. They advance menacingly. Kathy backs up with the Doctor and Clara behind her.
"No, you won't. You're logical. You have restraint. You killed to survive. You're not a murderer." The Doctor tries to reason.
Clara looks at him incredulously. "He's not a what? This is a slaughterhouse."
"Many restaurants could be argued as being a slaughterhouse. Last time I checked you weren't a vegetarian." Kathy counters.
"This is over. Killing us won't change that. What would be the point?" The Doctor continues.
"To find the promised land." The Half-Face Man declares.
"You're millions of years old. It's time you knew, there isn't one."
"I am in search of paradise."
"Yeah, well, me too. I'm not going to make it either."
The Half-Face Man draws back his weapon arm. Kathy, knowing what the Doctor will do next, doesn't step in as it lashes at the Doctor, thumping him hard. The Doctor goes down.
Clara dashes to his side. "Doctor!!"
The Half-Face Man strides towards the table and booth. "I will leave in the escape capsule. Destroy where necessary."
The Droids are now surrounding Kathy, Clara, Vastra, Jenny and Strax, blades levelled. Kathy is unnerved but knows what they need to do. Keep this lot at bay while the Doctor deals with the Half-Face Man.
"Escape capsule? This ship is millions of years old. It'll never fly." Vastra argues.
"It has been repaired." The Half-Face Man counters.
"What with?" Clara asks.
"You." Ugh. Skin balloon.
"Defensive positions, everyone." Strax cries.
"Doctor. He's getting away." Clara panics.
The Half-Face Man goes up on the bench seat. The platform starts to ascend. "Your friend is intelligent. He will know better than to follow me."
Kathy smirks to herself as the Doctor gives them a grin and a wave as he ascends with the platform by holding onto a convenient brass handle on the underside of the seat.
Now that she knows that the Doctor is fine and he'll do his side of things to stop these Clockwork droids, Kathy focuses on the current task at hand. Keeping her friends alive. Kathy clutches at her sword, surveying the droids in front of her as she, Vastra, Jenny, Clara and Strax stand in a circle, facing them.
"What are we going to do?" Clara questions panicked.
"We're going to have to hold our breath. They're stupid, they can't detect us when we hold our breath." Kathy tells them. "It's the only way we're going to get out of here."
"Do we do it now?" Vastra asks.
Kathy shakes her head. "No, Strax, Jenny and Clara wouldn't be able to hold their breath long enough for the Doctor to deal with the droid."
"When then?" Jenny asks, almost snapping but Kathy doesn't blame her considering the stressful situation.
"When I give the signal."
"Well, then." Vastra faces the droids. "It is our intent to leave. If it is your intent to stop us, perhaps we should get down to business." She declares.
Kathy, Vastra and Jenny all raise their swords, and Strax his gun. The Droids respond in kind.
They surround Clara as the droids attack, protecting her as she's unarmed. Strax is straight to Clara's side, handing her a hand weapon.
"Can we hold our breath yet?" Clara cries.
"Not yet!" Kathy grunts, knocking back another droid.
"Don't worry my boy, we will die in glory!" Strax cries gleefully.
"Okay... good-o!" Clara stutters out.
No matter how many droids they knock down, they keep getting to their feet. Slowly though.
"Why can't you stay dead, coward?" Strax cries angrily.
Eventually, they become overwhelmed. The droids have completely closed them in, grabbing them. Sword points are at everyone's throats.
"Now?!" Clara cries.
"Now. Definitely now. Do it now!" Kathy cries.
Everyone takes a big gulp. Kathy quickly engaging her respiratory bypass system. They are all standing, breath held. The droids pause and then lower their weapons, turning, looking, detecting.
Kathy quickly crouches and crawls through the droid's legs on her hands and knees. If the Doctor is for whatever reason unable to succeed or the others don't hold out long enough, she needs to get them out of here. She, stepping so carefully around the Droids, grabs the Doctor's sonic and slowly moves to the door, all the while holding her breath. Clara, screwdriver in hand, now moving towards the door. Slowly, slowly.
The Droids, moving, turning those blank faces.
Kathy gets to the door, gets her sonic out of her pocket and starts sonicking the door open. She begins to panic as she realises how slowly it's moving. She glances over her shoulder at the others. Clara is looking faint. Vastra has her lips locked with Jenny, sharing her breath. Strax is about to fire his weapon before he passes out.
Kathy begins to struggle under the strain of trying to raise the door as well as hold her breath. The door eventually reaches a height that's enough to get someone under. Kathy has no choice but to let air back into her lungs so she can warn the others. "Quick! I can only hold this open for so long!"
The droids immediately begin to turn towards her. The others scramble deliriously over to her, finally letting air into their lungs.
The droids' swords are once again nearing them, almost piercing their skin. Kathy almost calls out for them all to try and hold their breaths again but then the droids suddenly bend forward at the waist, deactivated. A few of them topple over. The room is just silent now except for the distant sound of Big Ben chiming.
——
Strax had driven them home and, just like Kathy expected, the Doctor is gone along with the TARDIS. Clara is devastated, believing she's been abandoned. Kathy tries to reassure her that's not the truth, but Clara appears unsure.
A couple of days later, Clara approaches Kathy in her chambers. Kathy smiles slightly at the sight of her now back in her modern day clothes.
Clara hesitates nervously. "I'm not interrupting?"
Kathy grins. "You never are, Clara." Kathy gestures and Clara takes a seat in front of her. "What is it?"
"Ah, well, i-it's just that, erm, I seem to be stuck here now." Clara stumbles awkwardly. "Was wondering if you and Vastra got a vacancy?"
"We do, but you don't need to worry, Clara," Kathy replies. "You know he's coming back."
Clara frowns. "How can you tell?"
Kathy raises an eyebrow. "Clara, you're wearing your 21st century clothes again."
Clara shakes her head. "No, I– I just wanted a change of clothes. I don't think I know who the Doctor is any more."
Just as she says this, the sound of an ancient set of time rotors can be heard from outside.
Kathy smirks amusedly. "You sure about that?" She smiles sadly. "Till the next time, Clara." Kathy can't help herself; she leans forward and gives a kiss on the cheek. She has to remind herself that this isn't the Clara who'd kissed her, that was technically someone else. "Oh, and give him this." Kathy hands Clara a gold pocket watch.
She had found the tramp without his coat, carrying a familiar gold pocket watch. Kathy had proceeded to trade the coat she'd grabbed from her own supply and ten shillings for the watch.
"And just talk to him."
Clara smiles and nods before running out of the room.
——
A familiar pair of eyes flicker open – one human, one implanted in machinery. The Half-Face man is confused and dazed as it looks around, clambering to its feet. The wisteria is in full bloom. A beautiful, garden. A truly perfect, golden day.
"Hello!" A voice calls.
The Half-face Man looks round. A woman in an Edwardian costume is sitting on the edge of the fountain.
"I'm Missy." The woman introduces herself, standing and walking over. "You made it. I hope my boyfriend wasn't too mean to you. My granddaughter too. She can be a nasty one."
It looks blankly at her. "Boy... friend? Grand... daughter?"
'Missy' ignores this comment and simply guides the Half-face Man into one of the chairs behind them while she takes the other. "Now, did he push you out of that thing, or did you fall? Couldn't really tell. He can be very mean sometimes." She pets its hand. "Except to me, of course, because he loves me so much. I do like his new accent, though." She thumps its shoulder. "Think I might keep it. It's a shame her accent is different. Could've been a family thing."
"Where am I?"
Missy gives him a look. "Where do you think you are? Look around you. You made it. The promised land. Paradise."
She springs up and spreads her arms joyfully. She gives him a smile of utter, utter madness.
"Welcome to heaven."
She snaps her teeth together and dances around the water feature.
——
A/N: Series 8 did feel a bit lost, but I still found it good. I think it's because when the Twelfth Doctor came in for the first time he was lost, and he was questioning on who he was. Was he a good man or not?
With the whole man who regrets and the man who forgets with Ten and Eleven, I like to see Twelve as the man who reflects, which he definitely does this season.
Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.
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