Clara stepped out of the Tardis, faltering on her legs. She could not believe her eyes, she could not believe what just happened. Her mind must have been playing trick on her. Because she saw that happened before, and she saw his previous life, but what was standing in front of her... it was not possible.
The figure stood up, the tongue against the teeth, as if testing.
« Well... new teeth, that's always a little weird, need time to adjust to that. Wow, funny voice. I got a funny voice. And, I don't have the accent anymore. That's rubbish, I liked it. I was allowed to be mad at things for no reason ».
The figure lifted up the chin, without noticing the dazzling confusion in the woman's eyes.
« Maybe I can fake it... no no no... that would also be rubbish... Right, no. Wait... what was I doing ? Oh, regeneration, it's always a little bit confusing. Well... at least I do remember who I am. Ish. In my case it's still something, to remember-ish. Right. No. Legs. Yes. Legs. I've got legs ».
Clara looked, as the Doctor started to hop from one foot to the other, apparently very pleased by his new legs.
« I like them. They're in the right spot and everything. Could you imagine if they had been in my back ? Or put as my arms ? Would have been awkward right ? Oh arms ! I've got arms ! With hands, and fingers, look ! »
Proudly, the Doctor stuck a hand right before Clara eyes, waving the fingers before her.
« Well... legs, good. Arms, good. Let's see, what else... » The Doctor grabbed a piece of chocolate curly hair, and smelled it with what seems to be a inch of disgust. « Still not ginger, but after all this years, it would have been surprising, and to be honest, nothing surprised me in years... »
Clara was not sure about the last one, and she was not sure either to understand what the gingery hair was all about, but the Doctor seemed to move on to a different matter.
« Do I still have my two hearts ? Of course I still have them... would be silly to only have one... What am I, human ? »
Just to be sure though, the Doctor checked, one hand on each heart. And as the Time-Lord was checking, Clara noticed that the alien was starting to figure out what was bothering her.
« Clara ? »
She cleared her throat, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, trying to focus on the Timelord.
« … Hum... yes ? »
« Do I have breast ? »
« I... » she started, not sure how to finish.
But the thing is... there were not an easy way to say that. So she decided to just go for it.
« Yes, you do have breast ».
« Am I a woman ? » the Doctor calmly asked
« … It would... appears » she said carefully.
« Well... I take it back, that's definitely a surprise. I mean... It's the first time it ever happened to me ! How exciting ! I'll be able to put a dress on ! Well... not that I didn't put on a dress before that, but it will certainly suit me better »
Clara almost jumped out of her skin when the Timelady firmly grabbed her shoulders to look her deep in the eyes.
« Clara, dear Clara ? »
« Hum... yes ? »
« I've got one question for you, one very important question, and I want you to answer it honestly ».
« Doctor, you're frightening me ».
« Nah, don't be frightened, frightened is rubbish. Be properly terrified or don't be. No, wait, yes. Not what I meant to say. No, yes. Wait... What I wanted to say was... was a very important thing, a question... Clara, dear dear Clara... »
« … yes ? » said the teacher again.
She could feel her breath almost freezing in a chest. She wanted to cry, for the second Doctor she saw died before her eyes, and she didn't know how to react to the woman she had in front of her. Not that it bothered her that she was a woman but... but... But she didn't know how to react because it was maybe a little too much.
« Do I have a pretty face ? »
« … What ? »
« Am I a pretty lady ? » the Timelady asked again with patience. « This is not a vain question. Wait... or maybe it is... Am I vain ? No. No I'm not. I'm really concerned with the prettiness of my face, but I don't think it's vain. It is more in a... how can I put that... How bad did it go on the regeneration process, you know because it is kind of a lottery ».
« I... you... »
« Stop moving your eyeballs » she commanded.
What ? Why was she... ? Confused, Clara looked away briefly, then into the new hazel eyes of the Doctor again. She could see her own reflection into her... and then she figured it out.
« Are you looking at your reflection in my eyeballs ? » she whispered.
« Yes. That's not very conclusive ».
Apparently not bother that much by the news, the TimeLord – Timelady – started moving, just to fall on the first step of the stairs. Luckily for her, it was only a few steps, and she stood back up quickly, sweeping her clothes off some dust
« Sorry, new legs, they still don't know what they're doing, but it's okay, I don't know what I'm doing most of the time either » she announced.
The Doctor kept moving, but she was not really walking, she seemed to forget how to do so. She was... half-jumping her way, apparently full of energy. She grabbed a silver plate, standing on a pedestal carved with some info about whom was the previous owner of the said silver plate, and she examined her face with an intense focus.
« Well, I certainly am a bit blurry » she announced after a minute. « I can do with blurry. So... What was I doing... yes... I regenerated. Yes, I absolutely did that. And I regenerated becauuuuuse... »
She wheeled to face back Clara again, her now too large clothes whirling around her, and she said :
« Someone shoot me. How inconsiderate is that, you tell me ! »
« Very » she reacted after a split second. « Very... very inconsiderate ».
But again, the Timelady didn't seem to care that much about that because her mind already jumped on something else.
« How did we end up in the Tardis ? We were definitely not in the Tardis, I would have remembered being in the Tardis when I was being shot. Wait. No, yes. Wait ».
She spun around, waving her hands around her eyes.
« I'm thinking. You, Clara dear Clara, you were there. But I got shot and you were not, you were there, but after... ».
She stopped moving, turned toward her, and again, grabbed her shoulders firmly yes, but in a more friendly way than previously.
« You helped me. You took me to my Tardis ».
« Of course I did you... you were... and I thought... »
« That I was dying ? No no non. Dying is boring. Really. So the Tardis, yes. Then I got out of the Tardis... I'm... I'm missing something... we didn't move. I know we didn't because... because this is blood... look I... wait... what is that ? Do I have something in my pocket ? ».
She dug in her pants pocket, and managed to exhume the sonic screwdriver, as if it was hidden under a pile of other stuff in a bigger-on-the-inside-pocket. She threw it in the air, and failed to catch it. The device rolled on the floor, to Clara's feet, and the Timelady seemed startled, and stared at her right hand.
« Han. Apparently... something decided to do as it wishes again... Would you be... »
Clara picked up the screwdriver, and threw it to the Doctor. She caught it with her left hand, and rotated the device between her finger.
« Oh, I appeared to be a lefty » she noticed, apparently pleased. « That's interesting ».
She played one last time with the device, then she scanned the whereabout while the familiar sound was fulling the air, then examined the reading.
« Yes, my blood. So we didn't move. Oh, again, I'm missing something. I think I have a terrible eyesight Clara. It's like I can't see what is right in front of me. Oooooor... I'd rather say... I don't notice what it's notin front of me... Where is my Tardis ? Big blue box ? Police box written on it ? You remembered it ? We just stepped outside of it ».
She moved forward, and stopped when she hit something invisible.
« Of course. Of course of course. I can't see it because it's invisible. Clever, very clever. Did you do it ? Or did I ? Anyway, it was very clever. Hidding it from the enemy in a time of trouble. But come with me Clara, my dear Clara ».
« … wh... where ? »
This was not right. She was lost, confused and... what was she supposed to do ? The last time she saw the Doctor regenerate, he was suffering from memory-loss, and even if it didn't seem to be the case at the moment... there were something else. It was not the fact that he was now a woman, but that he was an entirely different person again. She wasn't sure she could handle it again.
« Well... obviously to meet the thing who shoot me. I should probably not called it a thing, it was definitely a living thing, but I can't remember... Anyway, what I do remember was that... »
She stopped moving around, and very calmly, said :
« They had hostages. Oooh Clara, why didn't you remind me of that sooner ? I'm not saying it's entirely your fault, I mean... I do have memory loss so it's part mine too but... but just come ».
The Timelady moved forward, climbing the stairs. After a mild hesitation, Clara decided to follow, running after her to catch up. Sure, it was not her friend anymore, even if... somehow it was. But still. After all that happened between the two of them, she could not possibly leave him. Her. That was going to be confusing.
[***]
Her memories were still a complete mess. She remembered a lot, but not the immediate premise of her death. It was ugly, she remembered that. And, possibly shameful. She couldn't have lived with the fact that she tripped over something and died. That was a silly way of dying. Just like choking on a peanut or something.
She kept moving. Her memory loss was bothering her because she could not possibly remember who shot her. It was kind of annoying, when one was just about to face them again. She didn't like surprises. At least not all the time.
« Doctor ? Doctor wait ! »
She kept walking, fully aware that Clara was running after her.
« Where are you going ? ».
« Obviously, facing the thingy who shoot me » she responded.
« They killed you once, I thought... I thought you were dying, I thought it was your last regeneration but... but it wasn't ».
The Doctor stopped moving and faced Clara. She stopped so suddenly that the teacher almost bumped into her.
« You don't happen to remember what's happened ? »
« I... I was not there. Not... not exactly ».
« Would you mind to elaborate ? »
« You called me, told me to meet you there. When I got here, I found you on the floor in the lobby, you were bleeding, asked for the Tardis so I helped you got there ».
« I see... » she said slowly.
« You can't go. Not... not like that. You're still... and you're not... »
« … the Doctor ? Why ? Because my biology and my look changed ? »
« Because you're still healing, because you don't know what you're facing, because... »
« I don't know who I am » she interrupted. « Well... I do, but I don't. New me, new everything. I mean I don't know what I'm like, but you would know what I'm talking about you were there when I regenerated from a drunk giraffe to an angry eyebrow scotsman. But I know that. I am not running away from danger. Never. Honestly, what would be the fun in it ? »
She smiled at her companion, then started walking. She remembered where she was. Earth, London, museum, at night. No. Not a museum. A theater. An old one. She remembered why she was there. She remembered what shot her, and why her assailant didn't pursue her, when she was still a he. She pushed the two doors leading to the room filled with chairs, chairs filled with people apparently very absorbed by an old cow-boy movie. No one turned the head to watch when she entered, no one said a thing. Clara closely by her side, she wandered about, scanning the room.
« Hi » she said after a while. « I'm the Doctor. And, I do recall someone shot the sheriff ».
No one answered. Hum. Disappointing. She kept moving, the sonic in her hands, throwing it in the air and catching it with her lefty.
« I know you're there. I know exactly where you are, and the least you can do is to say 'hello' back ».
« Hello » a disembodied voice answered.
A victorious smile appeared on the lips of the Timelady, while Clara blenched.
« Hello indeed ».
She pointed the sonic toward the screen, and the movie flickered. Seconds later, the screen was totally blank, except for one thin black line running from one side to the screen to the other.
« Do you happen to have a name ? ».
« My name shalls not be spoken » the voice responded.
The thin line moved, matching the waves sound of the deep voice. Clara had the feeling the voice was resonating through her bones, and it was not a nice feeling.
« Right » The doctor said. « I'm going to call you Steve then. Is this okay for you ? By the way, still the Doctor ».
« You are not the Doctor. The Doctor is dead. You are only a woman trying to impersonate him ».
« Well... I do have to grant you that one, I am a woman. You certainly are good with stating the obvious. Now I was wondering... why do you keep humans like that ? ».
She scanned a girl, sitting not far away from her. She was alive, definitively alive, but at the same time, she was out. Completely turned off, while the moving light of the screen was showing on her face.
« My guess... they all are in a deep state of hypnosis. Why ? Well... I don't know yet. Well I've got nineteen theories. Well... I'll admit only four of them actually make sense, but still ».
While the Doctor was speaking, Clara moved and touched the hand of a young boy. It was cold, but she could see him breath. That was not fair. He was just a kid, he could have been one of her students.
« You are not the Doctor ».
« I heard you the first time you know. And, again, I am ».
« The Doctor is dead. You are not the Doctor. We ended the Doctor ».
« Yes » she said, with her last piece of patience. « Rude by the way. And... kind of a stupid death ».
Clara kept moving, and notice a spot of blood on the carpet, down some steps. She looked up, looking at the screen. It was as if... the shotgun came from the screen but it was... it was impossible. She saw crazy things, plenty of them, but it was...
« It was clever, I admit. You used a... oh damn... Sometimes I forget I am the cleverest person in the room ».
No you don't Clara thought. You never forget that for a second, and you never let anyone else forget it.
« You're using the movie to induce a hypnosis state to the human being, by the way, Clara, I don't think you should stared at the screen for too long, better be safe than sorry. But the thing is... it's not really a movie, it's you, creating it, using your... shape. you can't go out of the screen, not entirely at least because otherwise, you wouldn't need the empty humans, but you can get something small out of the screen. Something small like... let's see... a bullet. Well... some kind of bullet ».
« You are not the Doctor. You are only a woman »
« Are you having a stroke of some kind ? » she sighed. « Because you said that. Several times. I got you the first time, really. Now again, I'm not entirely sure why you need the humans. To have a body, most likely, but what's your purpose ? World domination ? Because that so mainstream. Everyone wants to achieve that. Plus... you won't have an army with that. That's nothing. Unless... »
Clara, her hand still holding the boy's, looked up, carefully avoiding to look the screen. She could see, on the new face of the Timelady, that she figured it out.
« It's a test. You're testing ! And since it's working... oooh humans and their screens, it's actually going to be the end of them ! You might actually achieve world domination »
« You are clever » the voice said. « But you're not the Doctor. You can't stop us ».
Clara screamed when the boy firmly grabbed her hand, squeezing it with more strength than an average ten-years old boy. Then, they stood up. All of them. Their eyes were dead, and they all moved at the same time, and they were standing up.
« Oh I can » she stated. « And I will. Unless you let them go, and leave this planet. I can actually find you some nice quiet spot if you want. I don't know, a nice old TV. Not connected obviously, you might want to seek world-domination again. That's really up to you ».
« You are not the Doctor. You are a woman ».
« Oh. That's unexpected. I did not realise that becoming a woman would have that kind of impact. So I'm going to assume it's a 'no' for you, you don't want to leave while you have the chance ».
The sonic in her hands, she went down the stairs, moving toward the screen, apparently not afraid of the walking-brainwashed humans.
« You might be bothered by my pretty face, and that's actually not a problem for me, you want to know why Steve ? » she said, while walking. « Because while you're busy making the mistake of underestimating me because of my new gender, I'll be busy crushing you. Because I am the Doctor... ».
She pointed the sonic toward the screen, and added :
« And you're just a sonic wave ».
The sonic screwdriver flickered with a green light, as the sound wave line started to shiver. Soon, the line disappared to be just one single black spot on the screen, and as an old TV going off, the spot disappeared, and the screen went fully white again.
In the room, people woke up. The boy squeezing Clara's hand seemed startled for a second, and let her go, not sure what he did, and why. But the teacher smiled at him.
« You're okay ? »
He nodded, and with a last smile, she left him to meet the woman in the old Doctor's clothes.
« So... he shot you ».
« A trap » The Timelady said, as if agreeing, while they were going back to the lobby. « It was basically a sound wave, using sound to hypnose people. It was hiding behind a movie, very clever when you think about it... anyway... I think it lured me here on purpose. He must have known about the sonic. What better way to kill off sound than with sound, right ? Still not sure of what it was though and I hate not knowing »
She looked at Clara. Her companion was still smaller than her, even if herself felt like she was smaller. Seriously, she had this feeling she was very close to the floor. More than before at least.
« Soooo » she said, bouncing on her feet. « Are you ok ? »
« Yeah. yeah, sure » Clara responded, stroking her wrist where the kid squeezed it. « Fine ».
« Sorry, I might sound inconsiderate, but I don't mean your arm. I mean... Because of me. Changing again. With... kind of a plot-twist ».
« Can you... turn back into a man ? »
« Do you... want me to ? »
« Not really » she answered frankly. « But if you could... would you ? »
She shrugged.
« I don't know. It's new. New is not always bad ».
Clara smiled back at her. She still has some... issue grasping the concept of her friend, turning into a girl.
« Do you want to go home ? »
« Yes. Yes. But... not because of you. Is that... okay for you ? »
« I'm not sure I have a say in that. If you want to go home... it's pretty much your choice ».
She slipped her hands in her pants pockets, slowly rocking on her feet, while the silence was growing between them.
« Will you be fine ? »
« I'm always fine. Except when I'm not, but even then, I am ».
She picked up an apple from the fruit basket standing on the counter of the cinema, and her face tourned soured.
« Well... an apple a day does keep the Doctor away » she noticed, spitting out the piece of apple she did not swallow.
She gave the apple to Clara, washing her hand on her jacket. The teacher, the fruit in her hand, looked at her friend, looking for something to say.
« I'll... see you soon then ».
« Well... maybe not... soon soon. Got stuffs to do. Like... find my Tardis again. I turned it invisible. The last time I did that, I lost it. Well... not exactly lost, let's say I didn't know its location for a certain amount of hours. Anyway. Clara. Dear Clara. Thank you ».
« For what ? »
« Being more than the friend I deserved ».
She smiled, then walked away, maybe less bouncing than before. Maybe she was used to her new legs by now. Then she turned around one last time, and giver her a salute. That she seemed to immediately regret.
« What am I doing? Why are you saluting! » she yelled at her own hand.
Clara watched her leave, not sure what to do next. Did she really want to go home?
... Of course not. Her smile grew bigger on her face
« Doctor wait! »