The Doctor was watching everything. He couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
That scream left him paralysed.
He knew that Clara was going through too much pain. He knew everything about one of the deadliest and most silent creature in the known Universe. All the pain that she could handle, all condensed into one single moment.
There was no turning back from obtaining a chronolock, something Clara had no idea of before. And now she had to pay the consequences of her ignorance and recklessness.
The Doctor knew...
The Quantum wouldn't kill her immediately, even when it leaves it.
And that was much worse, seeing Clara battling, gasping for her last breaths whilst lying cold on the cobblestones, forgotten from the world outside Trap Street.
Alone.
Afraid.
Recklessly.
Dying... In vain.
The Time Lord heard his companion gasp heavily for air before noticing thick smoke leaving Clara's mouth and floating down the street. He saw her whole body go limp, her knees losing their strength.
At that moment, he left his spot and caught Clara just before falling, sitting on the cold street, cradling her to him, with the companion groaning and grimacing, knitting her eyebrows in the excruciating pain she felt and pressing her stomach with her hand, laying on the Doctor's legs.
The Doctor placed a hand on where the Raven had entered Clara and caressed the back of her head with the hand holding it.
"I'm sorry, Clara." He rushed.
"Shhhh... Spare your breath. We don't have much time." Clara breathed through hurried, gasped breaths.
She wanted to tell her Doctor so much, say how sorry she was that she shocked him, that she was going to leave him so suddenly and that it was her fault.
But Clara felt death catching up with her. And she wasn't ready to waste these last few minutes apologising to each other.
The Doctor noticed that her huge eyes, wide open in pain, were glistening, even if blurred with every second that passed, each second that Clara's life lost its grip and faded away; closer to death.
But they had stars. They held the Universe.
His Universe.
Clara's hand brushed against the Doctor's hair, bringing his head gently towards her. He brought her closer to him. Their tear stained lips met each other, breathing each other's air, their sweet fragrance. The Doctor's strong cologne mingled with Clara's coconutty smell. The companion moaned as a stream of emotions and sensations washed over her; the love and the pain. What she would give just to live for a few more moments and spend them with her Doctor... to reverse what happened.
For she knew that, even with a time machine, time would fracture. She had become very familiar with the laws of Time by now, and has become just like the Doctor.
That was what had to kill her in the end... And the companion had accepted her fate.
Their fingers on Clara's stomach intertwined even more, tightening themselves around each other as they kissed, their eyes closed, just savouring the moment of intimacy they had left, pressing lips and nose against each other.
They hadn't said anything, and yet... All that needed to be said, they knew.
That's the last thing they wanted from the Universe.
No excuses.
No apologies.
Making the most of the moment.
One last hurrah...
Clara's fingers tightened themselves even more around his before the Doctor felt her warm exhaled breath in his mouth, as her hand loosened its hold on his hair, slipping down his face, her grip on his fingers loosened, and her lips losing their passion, bit by bit, the Doctor feeling her dead weight on his arm.
Her last breath... And she wanted to share it with him.
The Time Lord detached himself from the kiss, focusing on her gentle, soft lips slightly apart, and her eyes which now had shut behind her eyelids, the final fall of the veil. One last lone tear, a reminiscent of her final agony had made it way down the side of her face, which the Doctor lightly brushed with his thumb.
"Clara?" He pleaded with a choked voice, praying that he would hear her voice again.
He cradled his companion's limp body to him, still radiating heat from it, nuzzling his nose into her neck.
I didn't care for you enough.
I'm sorry, my Clara.
A/N: I'm literally rereading this whilst listening to Face the Raven on loop, and I can't help but reimagine Clara's exit and cry. Thanks for reading, and reviews appreciated as always :)
