Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 96 - A Crack in the Memories

When Lyssa opened her eyes - having expected a painful landing once they'd jumped off the cliff, despite what the Doctor had said - she was surprised to find that it was barely a landing at all. It was almost as if they'd just jumped up in one room and come down in another. The Ranger looked like he'd barely felt anything during the move. The Doctor, on the other hand, looked heartbroken as he took in their surroundings, and as Lyssa followed his gaze, she could see why.

They had landed in a pure white room, and all around them, suspended in mid-air, were pieces of broken machinery, jagged and torn in a way that made her heart ache simply to look at.

"The heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor whispered, his quiet voice eerie in the sudden silence. "The engine - it's already exploded. It must have been the collision with the salvage ship." He dropped Clara's hand, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, looking distraught.

"That's why she's in so much pain," Lyssa breathed, reaching out a hand to lightly touch one of the frozen pieces. She could feel more of the ship now, feel the weariness, the determination to not give, to not let go.

"But... we're not dead," Clara objected, lowering her voice respectfully. "If we're in the center of the explosion, shouldn't we be dead?"

"She wrapped her hands around the force. Froze it. Kept it contained here," he explained, his hand tightening around Lyssa's, the familiar heat rushing to the points of contact, more intense than usual thanks to their shared pain. "Still protecting us, even now. That's why none of us turned into one of the zombies in the room with the Eye of Harmony. She gave us that little bit longer to survive, no matter what it cost to herself."

"That's why she was so quiet this morning," Lyssa realized. "She knew it was coming... and she was gathering her strength to protect us."

"So... we're safe?" Clara tried to understand.

He shook his head, eyes glistening in the bright light. "Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now." He rubbed his free hand over his mouth, shaking his head and looking almost confused, not knowing how to fix this, how to help his most faithful companion. "She's just always been there for me, taken care of me. And now it's my turn, and I don't know what to do. It... it just..."

Clara tilted her head up at him, raising her eyebrows. "Are you sure you don't have a big friendly button hidden around somewhere?" she asked innocently, holding out her hand.

Lyssa glanced at it curiously, then did a double-take when she realized that there were words burned into Clara's palm. Backwards, but easily readable.

Big Friendly Button.

"I burned myself on on something right before we crashed," she remarked casually. "The words didn't show up until now, but I'm thinking it might be important. No such thing as casual coincidences, or something like that."

"Never ignore a coincidence!" the Ranger agreed, nodding in approval. "Unless it's convenient. Then you ignore it until it comes back to bite you later. And no, I'm not talking from personal experience."

The Doctor cast him a startled glance but shook it off quickly, returning his focus to Clara, cupping her palm and studying it intently before laughing in something approaching relief. "Beautiful, fragile human skin." He kissed her palm before releasing it. "Like parchment. Thank you!" He pulled out his sonic, fiddling with the settings before holding it aloft and scanning. "The rift in time. All the memories leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find... the source." The buzzing grew slightly louder and he grinned triumphantly, leading them off to one side of the room...