In Her Eyes (A Whouffle Fanfiction)

Chapter 28- Visitors Part One

The Doctor walked up to the door nervously, rolling his shoulders and neck to try and get rid of the tenseness in his muscles. He was sick with worry, worry about Clara and how she was going to cope, about her Dad and how he was going to react when the man he outright hated opened the door. The last time the Doctor had seen him, Dave Oswald had made it very clear what he would door if he was ever faced with the Time Lord again. That was scary enough; but couple this with how Clara's health had worsened and had lost the use of her legs...

Be polite, the Doctor reasoned with himself, be civil. Make tea. That usually helps. Plastering a smile on his face, he nodded reassuringly to Clara in the next room, who gave him a nervous thumbs up from her chair, before turning the key in the lock and apprehensively opened the door. It jammed a bit as it opened, his nerves getting the better of him.

The Doctor had just enough time to register the livid face of Dave Oswald before a fist crashed into his face. He reeled back, staggering into one of Clara's bookcases, hand coming up to cup his nose as blood  gushed down his features.

"Dad, no!" Clara shouted, powerless in her chair. She reached out for the Doctor, gasping when she saw scarlet on his cheek. Her gran stared daggers at her Father and marched past him into the room, holding out a hand to help the Doctor out of the bookcase. He smiled at her gratefully as she produced a stark white hankerchief and began to dab at his nose. 

Behind her, Linda was doing her best to restrain Dave, pinning his arms to his sides. Clara's Father twisted in her grasp, face stained a blotchy red by his anger. 

"I thought I told you to stay away from her!" He screamed, spit flying everywhere, "I warned you what would happen!" He worked one arm loose from Linda's grasp and pointed a finger accusingly at the Doctor. "You make me sick. Get out, just get out!" He rounded on Clara. "And you! I wanted you away from him to keep you safe! Look what he's done to you!" 

The Doctor ignored him. His face was stone as Clara's gran repeatedly swabbed his nose, waiting for the bleeding to stop. He gently pushed her aside as Dave finished his rant and thanked her, clapping a hand to her shoulder before tugging his tweed so it settled more comfortably on his shoulders. He squared up to the older man, hands fisted at his sides. There was something dark brewing behind his eyes. 

Dave stood still under the Doctor's glare, not expecting the alien to square up to him. He was giving Clara's father the burning gaze that he usually reserved for the likes of the Daleks and Cybermen, age-old foes that he hated. Dave, understandably, quailed beneath the sheer force of it.  In the distance, they could both hear Clara's gran comforting her as she hiccuped and cried. 

If anything, the sound of his companion's sobs strengthened the Doctor's already terrifying glare. Even Linda looked intimidated. 

"Do whatever you want to me. Shout, scream, curse- I really don't care. I've faced much worse than you." The Doctor took a step forward, his voice dangerously calm, "but if you ever, ever, treat Clara like this again..." He left the threat unspoken, shaking his head at Dave, "you're her father, and I respect that, I do. You have a right to have a say in her life, and what she does with it. But don't you dare treat her like that under her own roof again. In case you haven't noticed, she is dying. The last thing your daughter needs is you taking out your grief on me. Is that clear?"

Dave pulled his arms out from Linda's. "Who do you think you are?" he started to say, but never got to  finish as Linda had grabbed him by the collar and unceremoniously shoved him out the front door, shutting it behind him. The Doctor looked to her in surprise.

"Sorry about Dave," she apologised, "he's not usually like this. He's protective of Clara, and it sometimes brings out the worst in him." She gestured over her shoulder, "Truth is, I don't like you much either. I better go see how he is."