Madame Vastra pulled her veil off and removed her gloves. Jenny stepped up with a welcome glass of Madame's favorite ruby red refreshment. She took a long sip, and then with a smile, handed the glass back to Jenny. She turned to the Doctor, motioning him to take a seat in her conservatory. As he plopped into a chair, she asked him if he wanted refreshments.
"Well, certainly not what you just tossed down," the Doctor grinned. "If you have any Jammy Dodgers about, I'll take a handful or two." He looked hopefully at Jenny, who had returned after taking the empty glass back into the kitchen.
"Nahh, we don't 'ave any o' those modern inventions 'round here. However, I did bake a batch o' shortbread this mornin' before we went out. Y'kin 'ave one o' those if Strax hasn't eaten the lot."
"I haven't touched them. Well, most of them. I only consumed a fair amount," Strax remonstrated as he passed through, on the way to picking up the evening paper at the front door. "Have to keep my fighting strength up after all."
"Which means 'e may 'ave eaten them all," Jenny whispered in the Doctor's ear.
"I'll just take a cup of tea, then, Jenny, my girl," the Doctor smiled, crossing one long leg over the other and folding his hands in his lap. Only Vastra noticed the smile was forced; she could see the lines of sadness around his eyes.
She sat down in her elaborate wicker chair that gave the appearance of being more of a throne than a simple piece of household furniture. Settling into it she gave the Doctor a pleased expression. "Once more we are indebted to you, Doctor, for your help in solving a case. Thank you for your timely and thorough assistance."
"No problem. I was just passing through, as you know, and thought I'd better lend a hand, seeing as to how both you and Jenny were locked up in that nasty basement cell and Strax had been rendered unconscious." He took a sip of the tea Jenny had placed next to him on a small side table. "Glad to help a friend."
"Indeed. We were certainly pleased to see you once more," she replied. She paused for a moment, carefully choosing her next words. "We were sorry, however, not to experience Clara Oswald's company along with yours."
A sour expression passed over the Doctor's face. "I already told you why she wasn't with me," he murmured in a low voice. "I don't care to discuss it any further."
"And yet, the entire time you were working alongside of us, we could tell you were feeling her absence decidedly, weren't we, Jenny?" Madame Vastra looked up to Jenny, who had taken a stand behind Vastra's chair. Jenny nodded vigorously, almost too enthusiastically, the Doctor noted bitterly.
"Right you are, Madame. He kept sayin' things like, 'Clara would've noticed that,' an' 'Clara would've reminded me to do this.'" She grinned too broadly for the Doctor's taste. He squirmed a little in his chair.
"I said," he repeated in an icy voice, "I don't care to talk about it further."
His tone did nothing to quell Jenny, however. She continued to relate uncomfortable recent history in spite of the sound of the Oncoming Storm in his inflection. "Madame—remember when he called me 'Clara' several times? I thought he was gonna grab my 'and and run off with me at one point."
"Indeed," Vastra gave a wicked smirk. "He even called me 'Clara' once. And then when I corrected him, he had the most lost expression on his face. One would think he actually…missed…his Impossible Girl."
"Stop it," the Doctor growled.
Madame Vastra narrowed her eyes and leaned forward in her chair. "Doctor…you told us the reason you stopped traveling with Miss Oswald was because you were afraid of becoming too close to her and then losing her, because compared to you, she lives such a short life span."
"Yes. You cannot deny that's true," he retorted, irritated that they would not give up the topic, which was making him more uncomfortable by the moment.
"I don't deny she lives a much shorter life than you possibly can. That is quite obvious, with your being a Time Lord and she being merely human," Vastra continued.
"There are many things Clara Oswald is," the Doctor corrected. "Merely human is not one of them." His voice softened and his expression took on a wistfully sad mien, as he looked down at his hands in his lap. "Charming, clever, brave, perfect in every way…but not merely human."
At that, Madame Vastra and Jenny exchanged a knowing look.
"I would take issue with you on one point, Doctor." His head snapped up to find Vastra giving him a piercing look. "You said you were afraid of becoming too close to her."
"Yes…what of it?" the Doctor challenged.
"I submit it's too late for that." Vastra sat back with a smug grin. "You're already too far gone."
"What on earth do you mean?" he snapped.
"She means it's pretty obvious you're madly in love with Clara," Jenny blurted out.
There was an awkward silence, as Jenny and Madame Vastra watched a panoply of emotions pass across the Doctor's face. Shock, horror and fear paraded themselves across his features—followed by the realization that something he'd tried to hide had been exposed. It was quickly replaced with a frown, but too late—both women had seen it.
Vastra pressed this to her advantage. She leaned even closer to the Doctor. In return he leaned back in his chair, the frown now replaced by a worried expression.
"You are presently sitting in the same chair I presented the 'one word challenge' to Clara Oswin Oswald in. I now present you, Doctor with the same challenge. And know that I am also aware of your Rule Number One, that being, 'The Doctor lies'. I will know when you're lying." Her blue eyes pierced his green ones. He squirmed a bit in the chair. "So; knowing that…in one word…tell me how you feel right now about Clara Oswald."
If a black hole had opened up beneath the Doctor's chair and swallowed both him and the chair completely, he would have at that moment been the most grateful Gallifreyan in the universe. However, no helpful celestial event presented itself; leaving him with the problem of responding to Madame Vastra's question with difficulty. His brain froze for a moment, and then inspiration hit him. No sense not telling the truth.
He sat up straight and squared his jaw. "Conflicted," he divulged.
If Vastra had had eyebrows, one would've gone up. It was not quite the answer she was looking for. "Conflicted because you want to love her, but think you shouldn't?" she pressed.
If she'd had any doubts about his feelings previously, the red shade his face was taking on now confirmed the hypothesis. The Doctor had it bad for Clara Oswald, that was obvious. He slunk back down in the chair and tucked his head in to his shoulders. For a second he considered employing Rule Number One, then decided against it. What was the use? They had him dead to rights.
"Yes," he breathed, almost too quietly to be heard.
"I submit it's pointless, then, to avoid Miss Oswald, when you are obviously already in love with her, and since her time is short, you should enjoy that time with her as much as you can, before it's too late." Vastra smiled and sat back in her chair. Jenny grinned as she watched the game of cat and mouse between the Doctor and Madame. "What do you think of that? One word, please."
For a second Jenny thought the Doctor was going to be rude, or worse, vulgar. Instead he snapped out his one word with irritation. "Meddlers."
Vastra smirked. "Oh, to be sure, but since you're going to be worth nothing to your friends until you get things settled with Miss Oswald, you're going to have to put up with a little interference. Now. My next question is, do you honestly think Clara Oswald is happier without you?"
Both Jenny and Vastra thought their hearts would break with the sad look that came over the Doctor. Before he could speak, Jenny took pity on him. Putting one hand on his shoulder, she leaned down and looked into his melancholy face. "Doctor…Madame an' I both know Miss Oswald," her soft brown eyes looked into his soulful green ones. "I 'ad a chance to chat with her the last time you was here. Miss Oswald…she 'as it as bad as you does. An' I don't think I'm breakin' a confidence to let you know…she said there were many a time she tried not to fall in love with you…an' kept failin'…miserably."
The naked hope that suddenly shone in the Doctor's eyes at this piece of news made Jenny's breathing stop for a moment. Vastra saw it as well.
"Well? Is she happier, Doctor?" she urged.
The Doctor's breathing became shallower as he visibly became excited. He gave Vastra a look of fear mixed with joy.
"Unknown," he exclaimed.
Vastra nodded. "You will never know unless you find out for yourself." She jerked her chin in the direction of the front door. "Now is as good as a time as any."
He bolted out of the chair and left them without a word.
"What do ya think…was he glad you gave 'im an excuse not to answer any more questions, or was he in an 'urry to get to Miss Clara?" Jenny puzzled.
Madame Vastra folded her hands in her lap. "We'll know the answer to that if we get a wedding invitation in the next month or so."
Clara Oswald turned off the telly with a sigh. Nothing could distract her from a broken heart. Not even a pint of her favorite ice cream. She picked up the empty tub and headed into her kitchen to toss it in the bin. As she passed the calendar on the wall, she gave another heartfelt sigh. Six months since he'd left her. All her tears and pleading had been ineffectual on him—he was determined to spare himself the heartache of losing her too soon, so he had decided instead just to stop traveling with her. Clara tossed her spoon viciously into the sink. The big idiot never thought about how heartbroken she'd be by having to give him up. No, it was all about him. Jerk.
And yet she'd give anything to have that jerk and his outrageous chin and bow tie and floppy hair and goofy grin show up again in his persnickety TARDIS she'd give anything to hear once more…
She froze in place. Outside a very familiar sound was rasping through the frosty winter air.
Clara almost wrenched the front door off its hinges. Her breath came out in puffs of steam as she glanced up and down the street. Sure enough, a large blue box was sitting about a half block away. For a second she stood perfectly still as the door opened with a creak, and the one face she'd been longing to see for six months peered out. The Doctor looked towards Clara's house, and the two of them locked eyes as he stepped all the way out of the TARDIS.
In her slippered feet Clara broke into a run at the same time the Doctor did. They collided into each other in the middle of the snowy street in a fierce hug, which then evolved into the Doctor lifting Clara off the ground and swinging around in a couple of circles with her. One slipper went flying and her plush bathrobe floated through the air. He set her down and neither one of them knew who started the kissing. It just seemed the natural thing to do; first on each other's faces, and then on the lips, long and satisfying. The Doctor pulled Clara close in his arms and Clara sank into him. The only thing that stopped them was when a car, trying to traverse the road, had to beep them out of the way. Blushing, they scrambled towards Clara's house.
Much later, a very happy Clara Oswald sat in the Doctor's lap on her couch, kissing his outrageous chin slowly, until he captured her chin and pulled her lips to his once more. A few sweet, lingering kisses later, Clara pulled back and smiled down at the Doctor's face, showing her dimples and tapping his nose playfully with her finger. His hearts did that interesting bounce they always danced whenever she did things like that. He was getting used to the sensation.
"So," she purred, "what was it that Madame Vastra said that made you come back to me?"
"It wasn't so much what she said, it was what she gave me," he murmured, capturing one of her hands in his and kissing her fingers.
"And what was that?" She snuggled her head on his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.
His sigh came from the depths of his chest. He pressed her fingers once more to his lips. "Hope."
She lifted her head from his shoulder, and looked into his old, young green eyes. "You never should have lost it in the first place," she breathed, leaning her forehead on his. "Didn't you know? You've had my heart a very long time…ever since that first night you sat outside my window guarding me from the spoonheads."
"And you've had my hearts ever since I met you in the Dalek asylum."
"Then I'd say it's about time we got around to kissing each other," she whispered, moving her lips toward his.
"Just arrived in today's post, Madame. I think it's pretty obvious what it is," Jenny handed Vastra a large white envelope. Vastra quickly opened it with her penknife and scanned the contents.
"Make sure my best dress is packed, Jenny, and would you mind mending my jet capelet? There's a tear in one corner. I might purchase a new pair of kid gloves for this affair. And Strax will need a new suit, he ripped the shoulder seam of his old one the last time he was in Glasgow." She handed the invitation to Jenny to peruse.
"I'll 'ave to press my muslin an' make sure my petticoats are all turned out. How excitin'! A weddin'. Well, well, we got our answer, didn't we, mum? Looks like 'e was in a 'urry to get to Miss Clara after all." Jenny gave an impish grin.
"Or he escaped to Clara to get away from my questioning," Vastra smiled. "Either way, at least he'll no longer be moping around the next time we see him."
"Unless he shows up askin' for our help after she gets pregnant," Jenny mused, tapping her chin with the invitation.
Vastra's eyes widened as she took it in. "Heavens…are we ever going to be done babysitting that Time Lord?"
Jenny gave a heartfelt sigh. "I fear we're in for it for a very long time, mum."