Title: Not Impossible

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Summary: AU of Asylum of the Daleks: What if Oswin had not been fully converted?

A/N: I was one of the clueless ones who thought Oswin was just a great character they were throwing away at the end of that episode so I was desperate to create an AU. Now that she's Clara and I love and adore that storyline, I added a very little hint to Clara, but mostly this is a pretty self contained. Also, you'll have to suspend some disbelief that Oswin could have lived through this.

"Oswin, we have a problem." The Doctor stood frozen to the spot as he digested the situation in front of him. Hatred of the Daleks, disgust of yet another Dalek horror were first in his heart. He tried to reign it all back in. He couldn't. It was just too... much.

"No we don't. Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe - got shipwrecked my first time out. Rescue me, Chin Boy and show me the stars."

The Doctor could still hear her voice from behind him in the corridor the way she'd intended to be heard. The way she must once have sounded. But in the flesh, in front of him, her lips only barely moved to form the words she could no longer speak herself. For she was suspended against the wall, still in her Alaska cold gear - machines tapped into her appendages, her back. Gently, the Doctor tried to make her understand her reality, tried again to keep the disgust from his voice, tried to embrace sympathy for the little human life that was left. But he couldn't keep the violence out of his voice - the truth what he wanted to do - what he really wanted to do to those who had done this.

"Because you were right, Oswin. You're a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they tried for a full conversion."

Her staring eyes flickered, blinked and with all the effort she possessed she moved her head just slightly and saw for the first time in a year - the truth. Through the mess that was her hair, she saw the machines that were keeping her alive, just. While she used her link with them to destroy the planet, she had also been destroying the very things keeping her going; the corners of her mouth lifted as her own hacked computer generated voice quipped, "I had this mad itch a few months ago. I guess this explains that. Such a relief. I thought it was onset of Garu Flu."

The Doctor plastered himself against the wall she was strapped to, using his screwdriver to see how far into her they had drilled before she'd been able to stop them, "Oswin, I can disconnect you. I can get you off of this wall, but - I am not sure you'd survive it. Oswin, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry -"

He bent down in front of her, moved aside her white fur hood, to look into her face. Her skin was freezing cold. The Doctor's face crumpled. She had been so strong. She had been so so good. And they'd destroyed her. When he took her face in her hands, turned it toward him, her eyes focused on him. Her hacked voice was nearly gone now, it had been losing strength since The Doctor had pulled her out of her illusion.

She whispered words that her throat could barely support, and behind them both, the ghost of her past voice spoke like an echo "I can still take down the shield. Go to your friends. I'll do it now."

The Doctor shook his head, "No, wait. Oswin." He released her face gently, not sure how much she was perceiving now and used the screwdriver to make all the machines but one retreat from her body. She would have collapsed immediately but he for the fact that he held her very carefully steady as she dropped. He hadn't disconnected the last of the machines which connected thru her neck. He dared not touch it. Surely, he shouldn't.

"Doctor. Are you still there?"

The Doctor was still holding her prone, he looked at her face out of the corner of his eye, "Yes Oswin, I'm here." His voice was gentle, but he was shaking. Torn already in a decision he would have to make based on value of life. A decision that would have to be made quickly. A possibly unforgivable decision he had only just decided he would be making alone.

"Tell my family not to wait." Her voice had already lost it's personality. She was dying, here against him.

Still The Doctor hesitated, "Hold on-"

"I am Oswin Oswald. I fought the Daleks and I won. I've dropped the shield. The Daleks above have begun their attack. Run!"

He was still struggling with the weight of the decision before him. Life vs. Death was easy. Suffering vs. Death... fairly easy. This vs. Death, "I can't just leave you?" He was almost speaking to himself.

"What's left of me..." Her lips moved against his jacket, unable to move away.

"Just wait, wait - can you disconnect the last machine, Oswin?" He spoke in a rush, to distract her with words, to distract himself from what he had decided to do, "Let me see you truly free - Do that and I'll go - let me tell your family you were free - do that and I'll go."

"I don't think-"

"Just DO IT!"

Oswin did. And what was left of any animation from her left. The Doctor took her full dead weight against him. With the last seconds he had, he scanned her sloppily with his screwdriver and in one long moment digested the results.

It was not impossible. Not totally impossible that she could recover.

And that made the rest of the decision simple. For the second time in as many hours he hefted a woman in his arms. But this time, he ran with her.