In Her Eyes (A Whouffle Fanfiction)

Chapter 4- I've Got You

Clara was only vaguely aware of the huge crash to her right, the rubble and dust that cascaded into the cell. All her focus was on the needle that had been pushed into her skin, the cold liquid that was being pumped through her veins as the plunger ruthlessly forced it in. Her vision became blurry and her head spun.

"Clara? Clara! Clara, can you hear me?"

A pair of hands held her face gently but firmly, one thumb stroking her cheek, soothing her. Clara focused on the person kneeling in front of her and the Doctor's familiar features swam into view. He smiled gently at her, but there's a cold anger in his eyes as one of his hands left her cheek to untie the gag in her mouth. As soon as it's gone she leans down and plants a somewhat sloppy kiss on his cheek, her distracted state making it hard for her to control her actions. Nevertheless the Doctor blushed as he fished around in his jacket for the sonic, causing Clara to smirk lazily at him.

"You came back for me." She half whispered, voice slurred.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?"

He pointed the sonic at her cuffs and they snapped open. The Doctor helped Clara up but after one step she fell into his arms, clutching at the lapels of his tweed jacket as her weak limbs folded underneath her. The Doctor swept her up into his arms and she snuggled a little into his chest.

"I dunno." The Doctor felt her shrug. "I'm just a ghost, remember?"

The Doctor frowned. She didn't really still believe that, did she? To him Clara was anything but a ghost. She was everything to him, a vibrant streak of colour in his world of grey that will never dull, never, ever, ever fade to black, even when she was gone. Oh she may leave him, or even die, but he would never forget her. One of his hearts will always belong to her.

The Doctor leaned down slightly, making sure he had Clara's full attention before he spoke.

"Clara Oswald," he started, voice thick with emotion. "Don't you ever, ever, think that again. You are so much more to me than just a ghost."

"Really?" she asked him in a small voice, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

"Really." He confirmed. The Doctor took a deep breath, figuring that as he had already gone this far he might as well throw caution to the wind and go the whole way.

"You are my everything. Without you I would be nothing, a hollowed out, empty shell of the man I am today. The man you made me, Clara. You're no ghost. You're the Impossible Girl, the woman who sacrificed herself millions of times over just to save me. Me. A daft old Timelord with a Snog-Box."

Clara's lips twitched up into a smile at the mention of her nickname for the TARDIS. Her eyes flicked across his face, searching for any sign that what he was saying was true.

"Trust me when I say this, Clara. I will always save you. No matter his far apart we are, how desperate the situation is, I will find you, and I will save you. Never forget that."

They both found themselves leaning in, Clara's eyes fluttering closed and her stomach tightening in anticipation. Their lips were just millimetres from touching when the Doctor pulled back, sniffing at the air.

"Clara, do you smell burning?" asked the Doctor while poking his tongue out and tasting the air.

"What?" Clara reopened her eyes, disorientated by a combination of the toxins spreading through her body and the prospect that she had almost kissed the Doctor.

"I said, 'Can you smell-'"

"I heard what you said, Doctor." Clara interrupted. "What I meant was-"

The Doctor hushed her, pressing one finger against her lips to keep them shut. For a moment he looked on the verge of saying something to her about, you know, the almost kiss, but decided against it.

"Something's on fire," he whispered to cover up. Clara glared up him. They had come so close- so close- to kissing, and he was acting until nothing had happened. She was not happy.

"Doctor, you can't just..." her voice trailed off as she noticed a wisp of smoke curling from his outer pocket.

"What? I can't just what?"

When Clara didn't respond the Doctor followed her line of eyesight, eyebrows raising on surprise when he saw the smoke coming from his pocket.

"Oh."

The Doctor reluctantly unwrapped one arm from around Clara, leaving her clinging to his neck by her arms with his other arm supporting her knees, and gingerley poked his hand into the pocket, wincing and gasping when his fingertips came into contact with scorching hot metal. He flicked the object out of his pocket before it could cause any more damage and extinguished the flames with his hand.

Clara squinted through the smoke at the object. She didn't know if it was the chemicals in the smoke or her, but her chest seemed to be getting tighter with every passing second.

"Is that the TARDIS key?" Clara asked as the Doctor slipped his arm back to it's previous position around her.

"Seems like it. The TARDIS is trying to get to us, but someone or something is holding her back..."

The Doctor glanced down at Clara who was beginning to struggle to breathe.

"Are you alright?"

Vworp

The outline of the TARDIS appeared fleetingly around the Doctor and Clara then faded.  Clara's head was spinning and every single bone in her body was as stiff as a board, pain lancing up and down her small frame.

"Clara? Can you hear me?"

Much to the Doctor's concern she doesn't respond, her eyes rolling in their sockets and her head killing backwards.

Vworp

The TARDIS stays for longer this time, enveloping the Doctor and Clara for a second or two before vanishing. The Doctor shook Clara, desperately trying to get her to open her eyes. She mumbled fitfully, burying her face into the crook of his elbow.

"Clara. CLARA!"

Vworp Vworp Vworp

The TARDIS materialised around them fully, completely encasing the Doctor and Clara within her walls. She materialised quickly, but not quite quick enough to hide Clara's convulsing and shaking from the lone security camera that watched silently from above.

Please vote/comment! I plan to update on Friday, but if I get more than four votes I will try to update sooner :) Also if anyone wants to make me a cover feel free. The best one gets a dedication.
-Jazz