Before Trenzalore…
The Doctor wandered back into the control room, having finally located the tools that he needed in a room other than the one he thought he'd left them in. No surprise, that. Not really. Although, he was a bit tired after their last adventure, and really could have done without the lengthy trek through the bowels of his ship. At least he could take comfort in the fact that by now, Clara would be changed into her comfy jim-jams, sound asleep…
…on one of the seats that ringed the console, curled up rather miserably and about to slip off the edge. He caught her before she could fall. "Hey…what're you doing here?" he whispered, lifting her securely in his arms.
"TARDIS…hid my room," she murmured, still mostly asleep.
The Doctor's lips pressed into a thin line of irritation, though his arms cradled Clara with infinite tenderness. "That's really rather beneath you, Old Girl," he muttered, just a bit exasperated. Tired himself, and knowing that Clara was beyond exhausted, he spun on his heel and headed for the one room he knew his ship wouldn't misplace, no matter how cross she might be with him.
He strode through the corridors to his room, and tucked Clara into his own bed. He smiled as the faint lines of stress on her face relaxed. Satisfied that she was soundly asleep once more, he smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her temple lightly.
The Doctor marched back into the control room, right up to the console and rapped on it sharply with his knuckles. "All right. You have my attention. I think you and I need to have a very long talk. What was all that about? First you hide my tools-"
The console emitted a series of beeps that sounded decidedly aggravated, an impression furthered by staccato flashes of light.
"All right. Fine. Maybe I just happened to forget exactly where I left my tools. But whatever possessed you to hide Clara's room? She's human, you know. She needs to sleep."
A distinctly disgruntled blurble of sound.
"Now that's just rude," the Doctor scolded. "Clara is my friend. It took me three goes to connect with her properly. I want her to stay with me. I…need her to stay with me."
A small, plaintive bleep served for his ship's reply.
"Well…because I'm a person…a flesh and blood person, and I need other people. To - to talk to, face to face, and do, well, people things with. I - is that it? Are you jealous?"
The lights in the control room dimmed momentarily.
The Doctor reached out and laid a gentle hand on the glass that enclosed the time rotor. "Just because I need to have people with me, doesn't make you any less precious to me. We've been together over nine hundred years, you and I. Nothing and no one could ever - ever - replace you. Even if Gallifrey still existed, and there were still workshops filled with TARDISes, there would only ever be you. Do you believe me?"
The lights pulsed warmly and the room hummed for just a moment.
The Doctor patted the console. "Good girl. Do try and get along with her, would you? For me?"
After Trenzalore…
"There now," the Doctor said soothingly as he manipulated the controls, steering them far, far away from Trenzalore. "Feeling better?"
The ship hummed contentedly.
"Think you might try being a bit nicer to Clara, now that you know she's the one who introduced us?"
The lights flickered in a rather pert manner.
The Doctor's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Is that why you were so jealous of Clara? Did you sense that time line, and know that in some way, she's been with me nearly as long as you? I need you both, you know."
"Still trying to broker peace?" Clara said, smiling as she stepped up beside him.
The Doctor turned his head to look at her and slipped his arm around her. "Can you blame me for wanting my two best girls to get along?"
The lights pulsed warmly at that.
Clara sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Are you all right? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I could say the same about you. Besides, it's alot to take in. Alot of memories, you know?"
"What can I do to make it easier?" the Doctor asked, leading her back to one of the seats.
"Would you tell me about the other people who've traveled with you?"
"Why so inquisitive about that now?" the Doctor wondered.
"Well, now I've seen some of them for myself, but actually…" Clara's voice trailed off and her face blushed a rather vivid shade of red.
"What?" he asked gently. "After today, I'd say you're entitled to ask me anything you like."
"It's just…that night the TARDIS was being so snarky, and hid my room, well…she showed me pictures of some of your former companions, and - "
"And?" he prompted, wondering what had her so flustered.
"And they were all beautiful women," she mumbled.
"Oh, Clara," he laughed. "The TARDIS was having quite a bit of fun with you that night. All of my companions, each and every one of them, has been beautiful to me. But they haven't all been women, and there have been very, very few that I've thought of in…you know…that way."
"The redhead, with the legs?" Clara asked, with raised eyebrow.
"She and her husband traveled with me. I danced at their wedding." Clara relaxed visibly at that. "Not that she didn't try…once…but…"
"You're blushing," Clara said gleefully. "And stammering."
"Oi! D'you want to hear about this or not?"
"Yes. Definitely yes. Has anyone ever turned you down?" she asked curiously.
"Grace," he said softly, his eyes misted with memory. "I think…I know I could have loved her, hell, I was already halfway there, but she was right not to come with me."
"Why?" Clara asked softly.
"Because she knew who and what she was. She was an exceptional surgeon, right there in her own proper place in time, and if she came with me, she would have lost that. And the world would have lost her. Who knows how many people are alive and well today, because of her skill? She asked me to stay with her, but I couldn't…I just couldn't stay in one place, not even for her. That doesn't speak very well of me, does it?"
"I can't imagine you settling down."
"Well, there was the time I almost got trapped in eighteenth century France…"
"But you managed to escape."
"Yes, I did. I had people waiting for me. They were my friends. I couldn't leave them stranded. "
"You wouldn't ever leave me, would you?" Clara asked, in a voice that was suddenly small and afraid.
"No," the Doctor said emphatically. "Not ever. Not if I could possibly help it."
She was quiet a moment, before her curiosity got the better of her. The Doctor was usually so reticent, she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get some straight answers out of him. "Have you ever turned anyone down?"
"Christina. Lady Christina DeSouza. She was brilliant, and mad, and we would have gotten into so much trouble together. Too much, really. She was just too much like me."
"How do you mean?"
"We're both selfish, and we don't know when to stop. The pair of us dive into things without heed for the consequences. And the consequences usually fall on someone else."
"And you were strong enough to walk away from that? I'm impressed."
"I'm impressive," the Doctor replied cheekily.
"Not nearly as much as you think you are," Clara teased. "Why me?" she asked after a moment.
"I never know why…I only know who."
"That's not a real answer," Clara chided him.
"No, I don't suppose it is," he answered unrepentantly.
Clara wrapped both her hands around his. "I really think I deserve a straight answer on this one. Why did you come back for me?"
"You're right, of course." He paused a long moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "The first time I met you, well one of you, was in the Dalek Asylum. I would have tried my best to save anyone in that situation…"
"Of course you would. You're brave to the point of idiocy sometimes."
The TARDIS emitted a series of rapid-fire bleeps, that sounded suspiciously like laughter, seeming to agree with Clara for a change.
"Thank you. I think. And stop ganging up on me, you two. But, anyway…she - you - Oswin - was brave and funny and so, so clever…holding on to the shreds of her humanity against the Daleks for a year…it hurt that I couldn't save her. And then, when I met Victorian Clara, well, I was too damn slow that time…too slow to save her, and too slow to realize who she was until I saw her name on the tombstone. But once I realized that they were the same person, I just knew I had to keep looking until I found you again."
"Just another puzzle for you to solve," Clara said, a little sadly.
"NO!" He squeezed their clasped hands tightly. "No…not a puzzle, a person; a precious, and irreplaceable person, and…I needed to find you again, and keep you safe. I don't like it when the universe snatches someone away from me."
"It's like your life is just some big game, you against the universe, and you don't like to lose."
"No, I don't."
"But you, winning, usually means that a lot of innocent people get to live."
"On a good day. I need more good days."
"Don't we all?"
"Today was a good day," the Doctor said slowly. "I got you back."
"We got each other back," Clara corrected gently. "And Jenny and Strax. Tell me about someone else."
"Who would you like to hear about?"
"Is there anyone else you came back for, more than once?"
"Rose," the Doctor replied, almost inaudibly. "She was my first companion since the war and I…"
"You loved her."
"Very much. She told me 'no,' the first time I asked her to come with me, and I left, but it was like something was drawing me back to her, across all of time and space. For all the trouble I still manage to get myself into, if I'd never met her…well, I shudder to think what I'd be like now. She taught me how to love again."
Clara nestled closer into his side. "Have you…have you ever regretted bringing anyone with you?" she asked, sensing his distress, and wanting to change the subject slightly.
"Well, Turlough certainly managed to try my patience on more than one occasion, but that wasn't entirely his fault. The Black Guardian took advantage of the fact that he was lost, a long, long way from home. I think, in the end, the journey was worth it…for both of us. And there were certainly times when I wanted to just drop Tegan off someplace where she'd have to take a vow of silence, but no…everyone who's traveled with me had something to learn or to teach me, about themselves, or myself, or the universe in general. All of them have left their mark on me."
"And me? What mark have I left on you?"
The Doctor wrapped both arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. "You? Clara Oswald? My Clara…you taught me that no matter what I've lost, or how much I'm hurting, there's still life and love and adventures and mysteries waiting for me out there."
Clara sighed sleepily and her eyelids fluttered.
"It's been a very long day," the Doctor said gently. "Don't you think it's time you got some rest? I'm pretty sure your room will be right where you left it. Isn't that right, Old Girl?" he added, glancing meaningfully in the direction of the console.
"Of all the people who've traveled with you, she's the most important, isn't she? The single one that you could never, ever leave behind?"
The Doctor grinned suddenly, and caught Clara's face in his hands, kissing her forehead soundly.
"What was that for?"
"You called her a people! And she meant it as a compliment!" he called out to the room at large as his ship emitted an odd little squawk. "But yes," he continued, "ever since that day you introduced us on Gallifrey, it's been me and her, against the universe. God knows, enough forces have tried to separate us, but we always find our way back to one another. She even gave a bit of herself so that Rose and the meta-crises could grow their very own TARDIS. And you were right, you know…I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if I'd borrowed that other model."
The ship hummed, in a tone that could best be described as smug.
The Doctor looked down at his exhausted companion. "Come along now. You really do need to get some sleep." He took Clara's arm to lead her out of the control room, but she paused, and gently disentangled herself, and walked over to the console instead. The Doctor watched from the edge of the platform, wondering what she was up to.
She laid her hand gently against the glass of the time rotor, then bit her lip, feeling a trifle foolish, before deciding to follow her initial impulse. "Thank you for keeping us safe today. I know you didn't like that place. Neither did I, really. Maybe we could…start over, you and I?"
The TARDIS pulsed her lights, bathing Clara's face in a warm glow.
"Is that a yes?" Clara whispered.
"Oh, I think so," the Doctor said, smiling as he wrapped one arm around her waist, and laid his other hand over Clara's on the glass.
The TARDIS seemed quite happy with that arrangement, and hummed contentedly.