AN: Just something that was inspired by a game that Matt and Jenna mentioned at a Comic Con panel. Plus I really wanted to write some Eleven. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its actors/characters. However I do own little Rose and her mother in this one shot. Enjoy!
"Oh my god. Look at them all! Is it always this crazy?" Jenna asked in awe, looking out of the car window in fascination. Swarms of people dressed in elaborate and colourful costumes scattered across the streets, all heading in one direction. Sounds of excited murmurs and ecstatic cheers just managed to slide through the car doors. The sight of such dedicated fans made Jenna grin wide in amazement.
"Yeah. It's great, isn't it? Wait till we get to the venue. It's absolutely chaotic!" Matt replied enthusiastically, almost hopping up and down in his seat due to restlessness. They'd been in the car for quite a while now and he was yearning for some movement for his legs. They were practically numb with pins and needles. His head darted back and forth to all the windows, gazing at all the characters that were dancing, shouting and jumping up and down. He spotted a dalek here, an Amelia Pond there, 10th Doctors strutting out their pinstripes and there on the pathway not to faraway was a man rocking purple tweed and a girl in a red dress...
"Hey, can we stop for a moment please?" Matt called the driver suddenly. Jenna turned to face him, her face showing a bemused frown.
"Not a problem, sir." The driver replied, turning his wheel and slowing down towards the curb. Matt smiled amusingly, his eyes crinkling like a funny joke was just made.
"Sir. That gets me every time." He announced with a kind of silly childish tone. He quite liked that this particular driver had a fondness of addressing them by "sir"and "ma'am" especially when he pronounced it in a rather thick American accent. It just seemed all too amusing. Jenna rolled her eyes at his immaturity, all too aware and used to the inner child of Matt Smith.
"Matt, what on Earth are you doing?" She asked quizzically, sighing over-dramatically like a criticising parent. There was no seriousness to her question. It was just something that she had repetitively said over time by working with her funny co-star. It was now just a habit of her saying it.
"Doctor and Clara. 9 o'clock." He said like a conspiring undercover agent. Jenna's face instantly turned from one of bemusement to one of interest, a small smile lighting her face.
"Oo. Awesome! Shove over. I wanna see." She said, intrigued. She moved over to Matt looking over his shoulder and out to the window. The car had completely stopped by now. It took her a bit to spot them with the different people and costumes surrounding the whole lot, but eventually she spotted the Doctor and Clara cosplayers. This had become a bit of a game for her and Matt whilst travelling around the states. Whenever they found a Doctor and Clara couple they would pull over, wind the window down and shout out to them. Their reactions were always priceless, whether it be complete shock and excitement to complete obliviousness and confusion. All the same, the realisation face was always the best in Jenna's opinion. That moment of clarity and recognition flittering across their eyes always bubbled her up...whatever bubbled up meant. But that was the only way she could describe it.
"Ready?" Matt asked, his hand on the window button itching to press. Jenna nodded.
"Ready." She affirmed. Matt nodded his head in confirmation.
"Geronimo." He stated lowly. Jenna both laughed and rolled her eyes at his dramatics. Such a child. Matt pressed down at the button and the window rolled down with a mechanic buzz.
"Hey! Clara and Doctor! Nice costume guys!" Matt yelled out to the couple who had their backs turned. That is, until they realised they were being called at. They suddenly stopped walking and turned around in confusion. The Doctor cosplayer was quite startled and ended up flailing about, his arms grabbing the air for support whilst the Clara cosplayer reached helplessly for the falling man, trying to keep him steady.
Matt and Jenna laughed in amusement when they saw their humorous reaction but then realisation struck upon them simultaneously as they finally gazed at the faces of the two cosplayers. Their chuckles ceased in the sudden moment. Matt furrowed his non-existent brows in thought and Jenna's mouth fell open like a stunned goldfish.
"Is it just me or do they look like-"
"Yes. Very. Quite scarily I might add."
Silence followed the choppy sentences and the two actors observed with both bafflement and amazement as they saw their duplicates talking outside and moving their heads side to side in search for the voices that called out to them.
"Do you think...?" Jenna asked trailing off, not wanting to sound crazy by finishing off the rest of the question.
"Nah. It's impossible. Must be the distance. Tell you what though, I think we just found our official doppelgängers. How cool is that! Maybe we should go greet them!" Matt answered, suddenly getting very excited and enthusiastic. His enthusiasm was very contagious and Jenna couldn't help but smile at his excitement and nod with agreement.
"I hate to interrupt sir but we are already running very late with this traffic." The driver stated with slight distress in his tone. Matt deflated with disappointment and sagged in his seat.
"Damn." He muttered. "Perhaps we'll see them at the convention?" He asked hopefully to Jenna. She nearly giggled at his big round childish eyes as they pleaded for reassurance.
"Sure. I don't see why not. We'll most likely see them at the panel and if not, we can go undercover and search around on the floor."
"Yes!" Matt cheered, looking forward to wearing a mysterious mask whilst searching through the crowd for the intended targets like a secret agent. Yes, today was definitely going to be a fun day. He turned his head to Jenna and as their eyes met she granted him her best star shining smile. Her eyes were twinkling with amusement and a kindness that he liked to think was only reserved for him. His grin softened and buzzing body settled down a bit as his thoughts wandered to all the amazing experiences he's had with his co-star, his friend. It was sad that their time was coming to the end but Matt would make sure that every single moment left would be lived to the fullest and that these last few weeks would be the best of his journey in Doctor Who.
One thing was for sure. He would always remember when the Doctor was him.
"Doctor, why are there people dressed like us and as daleks and the TARDIS and...woah look at that scarf!" Clara exclaimed as she spotted a girl wearing a crazy long rainbow scarf.
"It seems to me Clara that we are going to some sort of convention...about me." The Doctor explained as he surveyed the area and frowned in a way that meant there was trouble about. Clara eyed him cautiously, very aware and familiar with that expression.
"How is this even possible though? Do you have some sort of fan club or something? They look pretty dedicated if you ask me. But hey, at least we blend in pretty well and that's saying something with the way you dress." She said bumping shoulders with him as they walked along the path with the very weird crowd.
"What's wrong with the way I dress?" The Doctor asked indignantly. Clara replied by staring at his get up, more so at the bow tie than the rest.
"Hey! Bow ties are cool." He retorted, straightening out the fabric to make a point. Clara just rolled her eyes at his repetitive reply.
"Hey! Clara and Doctor! Nice costume guys!" A voice called out of nowhere. The Doctor halted and turned very suddenly which unfortunately for him made his balance go haywire, forcing Clara to steady him...very badly the Doctor would add.
"Come here you. God, you're about as graceful as an elephant." Clara complained as she pulled the flailing Doctor back to his feet.
"I resent that notion." The Doctor groaned as he finally found his feet and brushed himself off from the almost fall. "I'll let you know that Time Lords were the most elegant beings in the entire Kasterborous system."
"Not this Time Lord." Clara retorted. The Doctor humphed in defeat but then straightened up and looked around as he found a strange tugging sense at his jacket. He quickly found the culprit of the tugging as he looked down and found a little child with blond hair wearing a shirt that said 'Bow ties are cool'. The Doctor instantly found a liking towards the young girl and had open ears for her.
"Hello." He greeted politely with a friendly smile. The girl blushed and turned her face into her arm with shyness.
"Hello." She mumbled with her eyes averting his face.
"What's the matter sweetheart?" The Doctor asked sweetly, cautious with his words to not scare off the little girl. She finally looked up then with her warm brown eyes. They were quite sad and her lips were trembling with a nervousness and some sort of despair. The Doctor decided then that he would do anything to make that face happier. Give her the world even if he had to.
"Are- are you the Doct-a?" She stumbled over her words, furrowing her brows with concentration.
"Yes. That's me! What about you? What is your name?" He asked softly with a smile, skipping over the detail that this young girl knew who he was.
"Wose. Like Wose Ty-la!" Rose said with a bit more confidence. The Doctor's heart instantly shattered at the mention of his former companion but he had to keep strong to find out just how much this child knew about his life. Apparently quite enough to mention one of his long lost friends.
"Doct-a? Why you so sad?" The young Rose asked abruptly, catching the Doctor off-guard. He sighed, a million reasons hanging on the tip of his tongue but none were ready to escape.
When a short silence followed the question, Rose found herself needing to investigate.
"Sad cos' you leafin? Why you leafin Doct-a? I don't want you to die." Now this remark had properly frightened the Doctor. A bad foreboding crept upon all his senses and the Doctor had to fight down a shiver that was crawling up his spine.
"Rose! Rose! Where did you run off to? I told you not to let go of mummy's hand!" A young woman chastised in distress as she came out of the crowd and picked up her daughter to place on her hip.
"Ma! I found the Doct-a!" The little girl announced with joy. The young woman turned to where her daughter was excitingly pointing at and she blinked in shock and surprise.
"I-I...sorry Mr Smith a-and Miss Coleman. I hope Rose didn't cause any trouble. She's not one for staying still and I find myself constantly running after her at every turn." The woman stuttered excitingly with awe as she stared at the famous duo. The Doctor didn't reply but rather stared off into space in thought at the little girls remark about his death. He had a fairly strong inclination that Rose was slightly time sensitive hence the knowledge of his past and that didn't make him feel any better with the prospect of her prophecy.
"Ahem. Doctor? Are you going to say something? You were kinda lost there for a second." Clara pointed out with a nudge of her shoulder. The Doctor instantly snapped out and reverted back to his fake hyper act.
"Oh. Yes. Right. Sorry about that. Got a bit lost in my thoughts for a second. Do a lot of thinking me which isn't always a good thing but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad thing either. But then again my thoughts are usually always negative which means generally that thinking for me is a rather bad...bad...thing." The Doctor rambled. After an awkward moment of silence and staring the Doctor clapped his hands together and decided to end this weird encounter.
"Right. Lovely meeting you Rose and Rose's mum but it's time we head off. Come along, Clara. Off to the TARDIS."
"But Doctor-" Clara interrupted but was then cut off by the young woman.
"A-actually Matt-I mean Doctor. Would you mind getting a photo with us? Rose I'm sure would love that. You're her favourite Doctor as you can tell."
But the Doctor, as always, had the very urgent need to run away as far as possible, hoping to get away from the overwhelming crowd and especially from the time sensitive child.
"Oh no. You don't want that. I always look terrible in photos but here-" The Doctor suddenly started to rummage around through his pockets almost elbow deep in his search for a particular item to keep the pair of humans distracted. Rose and her mother stared wide eyed as they watched their favourite character's arm impossibly disappear into his purple jacket. The Doctor finally found something suitable and pulled out an entire packet of Jammie Dodgers from his jacket pocket. "- aha! Here we go! Best biscuits on this side of the galaxy. Enjoy." And with that, the Doctor promptly turned around, grabbed Clara's hand and left the stunned woman and the excited child in their wake.
"What was that all about? And why did that little girl say that you were leaving? Leaving what?" Clara questioned after they gained some distance.
"Not sure. Like you said, she's just a little girl. Doesn't know what she's saying." The Doctor clipped shortly.
"Hang on. Just wait a second." Clara commanded, halting the Doctor in his fast pacing. "She said- Doctor she said that she didn't want you to die. Are you dying? Are you going to die?" She asked nervously, staring deep into his eyes to delve for the truth. But the Doctor wasn't going to make it easy for her as he kept avoiding her inquisitive gaze. "We all eventually die Clara. Everything has it's end." The Doctor answered cryptically, his voice conveying the years and years he's lived and struggled through.
"But not you. You just regenerate." Clara reasoned.
"I'm not immortal. Even Time Lords run out of time. One day I'm going to die. I know that." Apparently Clara was not very happy with that remark as the Doctor suddenly felt a sharp pain running up his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?!" The Doctor screeched, grabbing the part of his shoulder where Clara punched him.
"Don't- do not say that! Never ever again. I-I don't care if you're not immortal. You. Are. Not. Dying." She seethed dangerously, eyes watering with intensity.
She was afraid, the Doctor realised. She was ignoring the realities of death, pretending that everything was just fine when she knew everything was just the opposite. Another chill threatened to take over the Doctor's body but this time he could not fight it back. He let a deep breath out, trying to relieve some of the tenseness in his shoulders and then he came to a decision to calm Clara. He wrapped his arms around his distressed friend to provide some level of comfort.
"Hey. Hey. Shh. It's alright. It's not like I'm going to die right this instant nor you might I add. Definitely not you either. Not my Clara. But you have to realise that I am not going to live forever. Everything ends but it doesn't have to be today, yeah?" He reassured her. Clara nodded in response then dug her head in his shoulder to feel some normalcy in this uncomfortable conversation. The Doctor kissed her head, the reaction long since a habit he's developed with his companion.
"Clara. My Clara. I'm not going anywhere." He whispered into her hair, stroking her head back and forth. Its quite unfortunate that the lovely moment was ruined seconds later.
All of a sudden, a large applause came about all around them, with cheers and whistles. Unknown to the couple, a large crowd had gathered around their display thinking that it was some sort of show for their entertainment.
"Doctor?" Clara whispered apprehensively, eyeing the converging cautiously.
"Yes, Clara?" The Doctor replied fearfully, realising too, that space around them was starting to quickly lessen by an oncoming storm of people.
"I have a slight feeling that it may be a time to run."
"Yes. I think you may be correct." The Doctor added, eyes darting back and forth between the loads of excited fans.
"Hey guys! It's Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman!" Some random person yelled out in the swarm of costumes and sweat. The crowd suddenly grew ten times bigger.
"Who?" The Doctor asked dumbly, still frozen on spot.
"Never mind that. Doctor! Run!" Clara instructed loudly, forcefully grabbing the idiot alien's hand and dragging him someway out of the constricting crowd and towards the TARDIS.
"Yes. Right! Geronimo!"