Me again, with another story.

I got this idea from another fanfic, The Legend of Preevos (that was brilliant and was never completed and then was deleted.). I would like to note that even though it has been deleted, this story is nothing like theirs. It just got the idea off of it.

This story could be seen to be set after Last Christmas but before The Magician's Apprentice.

I hope you like this one as well as News of the Universe.

Please note that not all chapters are going to be this long. This is more than likely an one off.

Chapter 1

"So where next?" Clara said as she pulled her damp hair back into a ponytail. She knew it would dry quicker down but after the last adventure, she didn't want it to get in her way again.

They had just been to Skoth. The planet in itself was beautiful with loads of waterfalls. It was rather water based which Clara didn't mind, she had always been a strong swimmer. But like every adventure they went on, they ran into trouble and ended up having to hid in a swamp to evade capture. It absolutely stunk and she was sure she could still smell in on her even after having two showers.

The Doctor moved next to her as he fiddled with the controls.

"Oh I am sure we will find somewhere."

"Please no swamps this time."

He chuckled.

"I am being serious. I had to throw those clothes away. I really like that shirt."

He shook his head before the TARDIS shook. He quickly grabbed onto the console while she grabbed the railing. "Alright girl, what's up?" The Doctor said, his eyebrows high on his forehead.

Suddenly the TARDIS when dark. She could hear the Doctor move about as he was trying to work out what was going wrong while her eyes adjusted to the change. "Doctor, what happened?"

He took a moment to answer her. "She has shut down."

She took a few steps towards the console. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she thinks she is in danger."

The TARDIS shook again but didn't stop. Clara gripped hard to the console, trying to keep upright. It was a struggle and she was using all her strength, until the Doctor came alongside her and placed his body next to hers. She was sure he was the only thing keeping her standing until they both fell on the floor.

The TARDIS lit up and they both looked at each other.

"Okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Never better."

He was the first to get up. Clara followed him slowly before joining him by the doors. "What do you think is out there?"

He flashed her a wide smile. "Let's go and see shall we."

They walked out to what looked like a Colosseum. It was the only way that Clara could think to describe it. They had exited the TARDIS to a bright light. There were people … well aliens all around. She recognised a few, like there was a few zygons, a cyborg and some people that looked as though they were from the Rings of Akhaten. Many of the others she had no clue what they were.

"Oh, either it is Christmas or my birthday." The Doctor said.

"Unfortunately for you Doctor, it is neither."

Clara turned and smiled up to the voice. "Porridge."

"That is Emperor Longstaff to you." One of his guards said.

Porridge looked up at him. "She can call me whatever she likes." He turned back to her. "Clara, I hope you are doing well. Ignore this idiot."

She just smiled up at him. It was good to see him again.

"Did you pull my TARDIS out of orbit?" The Doctor asked.

"We had to. Apparently I shouldn't have let you go last time. I must say, I like your new face. It reflects your age well. This is your trail for your war crimes during the last great Time War."

"I don't have any war crimes. If I remember, I was the one to try and stop the time war. I said no more."

Clara remembered that day fondly. Not only had they built the greatest pact between the Zygons and Humans but he had also had a weight lifted off his shoulders. A weight that had been on him since his ninth regeneration. He wasn't the last of his kind any more. They were out there, along with his planet. They were out there, waiting for him to bring them back.

"You destroyed your own planet. Most people would call that mass genocide."

Clara felt her heart sink and could see that it had hit the Doctor the same way.

"No, no, no." He said, his accent thickening. "No, I saved Gallifrey. I didn't press that button like I thought I did, like you think I did. I did what I always did. I was a doctor. I save Gallifrey at the same time as the Zygons and the Humans made their pact."

"I was with him." Clara said to help his story. "I was the one to tell him to be a doctor." She gave a short laugh. "It was amazing. All 13 of them, saving Gallifrey at the same time."

"Unfortunately, your word is not enough. If you did save Gallifrey, then where is it?"

"Where is Missy when you need her?" He muttered.

She knew she had to do something to help him out. He was going to go down for a crime that he didn't commit.

"Look even if Gallifrey was destroyed that day, which we know it wasn't. What the Doctor did wasn't in the name of the Doctor. He wanted to stop it. That's why he said no more to it. He didn't want to fight in that war. I would ..." Clara had a flashback to when he left her to make the decision over the moon. "If anything, he was brave to do it. How many of you would be able to destroy your own home planet to make sure that the rest of the universe was safe?

"I know I wouldn't be able to do it. He has aged since then. He spent 900 years on Trezalore. This is the man that can never stay still. But he did. He has had over a thousand years to think over that day. Do you not thing that he had tortured himself enough without you sentencing him?"

She was stopped by the Doctor turning her.

"What?" She asked.

She only realised what he was doing when her eyes started to close.

"Don't fight it. Please don't fight it." Was the last thing he said to her.

Earth, 26th June 2017, 11:38am (2 years since the Doctor's Trial)

For Clara, it had been two years since she last saw the Doctor. She woke up in her bed and hoped that everything that had happened had been a dream. She called the TARDIS many times just to get the answer phone message. It used to ring for a while but now it just went straight to it. Even though she still had hope that he was coming back to her.

Maybe this would be the time.

The corridors were filled with smoke and Clara didn't believe that her lungs were fairing any better. She felt extremely light head and her coughing didn't help the situation. She had just checked to see if everyone was out. Well she was more checking if anyone had got stuck in the toilets or something stupid like that. Unfortunately that had put her to harm.

She fell to her knees and then on her side. She closed her eyes.

If she pictured her death, she had expected it to be on some foreign planet, doing as her echoes had done, saving the Doctor. It was be an honourable death and he would get back in his box and never forget her. The last thing she expected was lying in the corridor of the school she taught at, dying not because of an alien had blown up the school but because something in the kitchen had caught alight.

She acknowledge that a pair of arms had picked her up but she didn't really think anything of it. Someone had found her and was saving her. It had happened a few times before. She just listened to his breaths as he manoeuvred them through the halls. The only reason she knew they were outside was because of the gravel underneath her palms as he lied her down.

How she wished she could have willed her eyes open. How she wished she could see her saviour.

"Look after her." A familiar scottish voice said.

Now she really had to open her eyes. Her Doctor was there and had saved her. She rolled over and forced her eyes open. She wanted to call out to him as the back of his coat disappeared out of sight but her throat was too dry.

Earth, 22th December 2018, 02:03am (3 ½ years since the Doctor's Trial)

Maybe Christmas drinks weren't the best idea in the world. Clara thought as she almost stumbled off the bus.

She knew that she had passed her limit. She had passed it after the fifth double vodka and lemonade. Why did her friends insist on a double or nothing rule when it came to drink?

She was struggling to walk in a straight line, that was what probably made her an easy target. She wasn't far from where she lived when an arm came around her middle. She would have screamed out but he had already covered her mouth with his hand, and he didn't actually mind the fact that she was licking his hand. He started to drag her backwards and she blamed the alcohol for not being able to fight back properly.

She gave a massive sign of relief when he let her go. She turned to see him disappear down an alley with someone dragging him by his throat. She straightened her dress and walked over to the alley. She wanted to thank who ever had saved her.

Clara watched as her saviour had the man pinned up against the wall. She couldn't really see much, they were both in the shadows but she was sure that he was saying something to her attacker. Her saviour let go of the man and he dropped to the floor. He turned to look at her.

She must say that she was a bit disappointed when he ran in the opposite direction when she had only taken a step but it confirmed her suspicion. Her saviour must have been the Doctor. She just wanted to see him. Didn't he want to see her?

Clara looked at her attacker before realising he didn't look like he was going to be moving for a while. She moved out of the alley and went back on her original plan of going home. She would phone the police from there.

She just hoped that it wouldn't be too long before she saw the Doctor again.

Earth, 19th June 2020, 02:30pm (5 years since the Doctor's Trial)

The TARDIS sound blasted from her phone. She had recorded it once when the Doctor had dropped her off home. There were only a few numbers that she had assigned that ringtone to. The Doctor being one of them.

"Umm Miss, you know we aren't allowed phones in class."

Clara tried to laugh it off. "Yes, okay maybe I should have ..." He voice trailed off as Kate's name lit up the screen. Kate hadn't called her since the Doctor left. Why would she call her now? Unless …

"I will be right back." She said as she answered it and stepped out of her classroom. She heard the volume level increase. "Hello."

"Clara, ummm … You don't happen to be free at all do you?" Kate said.

"I am teaching at the moment. Why? What's up?"

"The Doctor. He has just materialized into my office. He is asking for you though."

A wide smile lit her face. He was back. He had made it back to her. "I am on my way."

"I thought you were teaching."

Clara spotted Adrian coming down the corridor. "I can get someone to cover." She said and then hung up. She went back inside her class room and retrieved her helmet before leaving them without an explanation.

"Adrian!" She shouted. "Do you think you could just cover me please? Just I have … a thing come up."

"Yeah, sure. But what ..."

She kissed his cheek without thinking. "You are a lifesaver. I owe you for this." She ran down the corridor towards the exit.

He was just staring blankly at the wall in front of him. She had never seen him like this before. It had taken a lot for him to get into the car to take them both back to her flat. Kate said that she would drop off her motorbike later. She stood in the doorway of her kitchen, holding a cup of tea for him, just watching him. He hadn't moved since she sat him down there. Had she told him not to move and he had taken it literally?

She walked over to him and moved some things off the coffee table before sitting on it. They were close but not too close. Her knees knocked his a couple of times as she handed him the cup of tea. She wrapped one of his hands around it and made sure he had it before she started to move away. He stopped her movement by placing his other hand on hers.

That was when Clara noticed the bracelet that he was wearing. She was sure that he hadn't been wearing it before so must have been given it when he went to wherever he went. She really didn't like not knowing what had happened to him.

"I forgive you for what you did. I forgive you for sending me away."

She noticed blood on his white shirt and stood up but he still held her hand. She turned back to look at him.

"Hey, I am just going to get you some clothes to change into and something for your injuries. I know that you are a Time Lord and heal quicker than use pathetic humans but I think it needs looking at."

He just blinked at her before allowing her to take her hand from his grip. She had never seen him like this before and she hated it. She just hoped that he would turn into his usual self soon because this scared her.