Alright everyone, I know I have not been active for the rest of my stories for a while - there's been a lot going on lately. For example my first terms worth of university work has been due in, and unfortunately I've had a bit of struggle with a unspecified learning difficulty (don't ask, they say its dyslexia then they sat its not) that has made writing a very difficult past time lately. Anyway, i need practice writing for my upcoming creative writing assignment and this has been playing around in my head for a while - I know everyone usually things of 12 as a wolf in fairy tales, but honestly I've kind of thought of the Doctor, all the Doctors, as a bit of a mad man (by his own deceleration too of course).

Depending on the reception of this first chapter I may or may not continue this.

Mad Tea-Party

The last thing Clara remembered was her students falling asleep. She wouldn't have been that surprised – she found Jane Eyre to be rather boring too if she was honest – except it was odd for an entire class of thirty odd students to fall asleep almost simultaneously. She didn't have long to dwell of the odd behavior however before her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and she smacked her head on the desk as she too passed out.

When she woke something felt… off. The classroom was empty for one thing, but that was not her main concern (after all her clock, which before falling asleep had been a plain clock but was no painted with a severely creepy smiley face) told her it was sometime after school hours, she wouldn't have been surprised if her class had left without waking her. They had been uncannily kind for the last few months since Danny's death, even if their kindness was not always the most helpful thing.

No it wasn't just the empty classroom that felt off, and it took her a surprising amount of time to realise the shadows cast through the window by trees of all sizes that had seemingly sprouted in the few hours she'd passed out. Clara's head started working overtime, wondering if this was because another solar flare was headed for earth like last time, when she noticed the lights fluttering in the trees. Tiny little flittering lights, she could see them through the window. And the mushrooms that grew where odd colours, the kind of mushrooms she'd seen in children's story books, and she wondered why it took her so long to realise some of the tree's weren't even the colour a tree (at least one from earth) where supposed to be. If there was anything that would startle even a former time traveller, it was a tree with a blue trunk and purple leaves.

Clara felt her hand twitch towards the phone on her desk and stopped herself. It wasn't the first time in recent weeks shed been tempted to call the Doctor, thought this was the first time she had a legitimate reason to call the Time Lord, usually she wanted to pick it up and confess that she had lied. She had always lied. She wanted to pour her heart out, tell the grey stick insect how much he meant to her, how much she missed him, how much she felt she needed him – more than the air she breathed – but something always stopped her. That little voice in her head that reminded her how happy he'd looked when he told her he'd found Gallifrey, how pleased he was to finally be going home. She stopped herself from calling him because she didn't want to be selfish. That old man and his box deserved their home at last, after so long torturously thinking he'd destroyed them all. He didn't need her weighing him down.

She took the phone and shoved it in her purse to limit any more temptations to ring him, and stood. Which was when she noticed her clothing had changed too. Her simple black skirt and shirt had vanished, replaced with a simple dress, blue as the sky, which reached down to her knees. She rushed to the women's room, nearly running into the door when it was slow to open, and quickly stood in front of the mirror. The dress wasn't the only thing that had changed – her makeup had been done (which was really confusing, because she'd stopped wearing makeup lately – she just hadn't had the heart to put it on these days) and her hair which had been left to its own devices these days had been ironed straight, a small portion of it pulled up and wrapped in a bow to match the dress.

There as something familiar about the entire outfit, and yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

However she did say to herself in the silent bathroom "If I find out some creep re-dressed me and did my hair and make-up while I was asleep heads are going to roll." And then she left, exiting the school and only hesitating a little when she realised London had been completely covered in forest – again – though this time it was much more… whimsical, with the floating lights and funny colours.

Clara walked for some time, having lost any ideas that this was a dream because a dream wouldn't let her feel the pain from a blister she'd gotten while running the night before, and feeling increasingly lost amongst the dark trees when she finally spotted someone else.

A young girl, no older than thirteen, skipping towards Clara. The child carried an old wicker basket in one hand, and over her simple jeans and shirt she wore a red hooded cloak. "Little red riding hood?" Clara mumbled with amusement – more shocked when the girl actually stopped to look at her.

"Yes?"

Clara couldn't help but look around. "I'm sorry I just thought it was funny – you look an awful lot like little red riding hood."

"I am little red riding hood" the girl frowned, confused.

Now it was Clara who frowned. "But… red riding hood is just a book character."

The child had now fully turned to look at Clara, still frowning she tipped her head to one side and regarded her carefully before she said "Did you hit your head when you fell down the rabbit hole?"

"Rabbit-?" realisation hit Clara like a ton of bricks and she nearly smacked herself for not realising before. "Oh! I'm… Alice? Alice in wonderland?"

Red riding hood was looking a little concerned for Clara's mental health, she turned back around to carry on her way but continued to look over her shoulder at Clara. "I should get going – my grandma needs these cakes – try to stay on the path Alice, there are wolves around… and maybe you should stay away from the mad hatter too. He's a bit grumpy today."

Red riding hood left Clara laughing to herself in the middle of what Clara now figured was an enchanted woods. Nothing less would have made sense. She was a little scared of what was going on and why, but Clara couldn't shake the sudden thrill she felt – a surge of adrenaline through her system she hadn't felt since she stopped travelling with the Doctor. "Curiouser and Curiouser" she quoted the book as she continued down the path with a little more haste than before, wanting to know what else she would find – though she kept red riding hoods warning in mind and didn't stray from the beaten path, especially after she saw several pairs of yellow eyes in the darkness of the tress.

Clara found that though she walked – and in some places ran – for what felt like hours her feet, despite the blisters, never seemed to get tired. She passed several more fairy tales as she walked, a young woman with inky black hair, pale skin and rosy red lips followed by seven small men surely had to be Snow white and her seven dwarfs (the fact they were playing poker just added absurdity to the mix). Clara even passed a few faces she recognised outside of fairy tales – she wasn't surprised to find Courtney woods dashing around an a huge white horse clad in shiny armour – she'd never pegged the headstrong girl to be a princess waiting for a knight to rescue her.

One thing was for sure, Clara had no idea what was going on but for once she rather liked it.

Eventually she started getting rather hungry, despite this fantasy world she was still reminded that she hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning. It had been a thing that last few months, she would forget her meals sometimes for entire days until the hunger clawed at her insides and reminded her to eat. She had gotten better in recent weeks, but she still forgot sometimes. She searched the path convinced that in a fairy-tale world there must have been some kind of fruit tree around – instead, just up ahead on the path she spotted a fluffy white rabbit.

Clara grinned at the rabbit as it stood on its hind legs, long ears pointed in her direction and its nose and whiskers twitching as it stared at her. "Oh my ears and whiskers!" Clara found herself quoting "How late it's getting!"

Almost as soon as she had said it the rabbit sprang into action – it hopped a few meters down the path, then turned and looked at her again, repeating its movements until Clara got the idea. She was Alice, and she was to follow the white rabbit.

"Alright" she picked up her pace to follow the fluffy creature "But if you try leading me down a rabbit hole, we're done."

The rabbit lead Clara to a clearing in the forest – if she had to guess she was sure the clearing was on the square just outside her apartment building. What was most odd to her was that the clearing was bathed in obvious sunshine, as though it was the middle off the day when it had clearly been late afternoon when she left the school and the rest of the forest was bathed in late twilight – but the clearing was like a little spot of warm summer all to itself.

There was a long table sitting in the centre – Clara stood cautiously and observed from behind a tree- with many mix matched chairs, from over stuffed armchairs to rickety wooden stools, and it was piled high with plates of cakes and teapots. The mad hatter's tea party if she ever did see it – but there was no one around except the hatter himself. He wasn't at all what she imaged when she was a child and read the book. Rather than multicolours he simply wore black slacks, a white button up shirt and a black waistcoat, paired with a black blazer like jacket that when standing would likely reach just above his knees. He slouched in a chair at the head of the table, his hand resting on the arm so he could lean his cheek on his fist. His face was hidden by a large top hat, pulled down low on his head.

Clara could've sworn there was something familiar about him. She jumped, apparently she'd been to intent on staring at the hatter to notice the little white rabbit brush up against her bare ankle. She knelt down – not taking her stare off the hatter, though he hadn't moved an inch, she picked up the rabbit a little clumsily. She hadn't handled rabbits since she was a little girl – they had always been a favourite pet of her mother, not her father who preferred dogs or cats.

And then the mad hatter man moved – and Clara's heart stopped, because just for a second she'd seen a flash of red lining on that jacket. But it couldn't…

"It can't be him" she mumbled, lifting the rabbit further into her arms as it wriggled a little, pressing her face to its soft snow white fur. "Think I should go check?"

The rabbit just stared dolefully back.

"If I'm to believe all this fairy tale stuff" she mumbled to herself "It shouldn't matter too much if I approach the mad hatter, because I'm supposed to be Alice…" she shrugged and looked at the rabbit again. "Right?"

Clara held the rabbit still as she stepped out from behind the tree into the sunlight of the glade – but the hatter didn't respond. Actually she was almost sure he was asleep. She approached cautiously, her footfalls barely heard on the softest grass she'd known, and yet even as she got closer she thought she saw familiar grey hair, and those boots certainly reminded her of the Doctors and though she hadn't spent much time looking – really, really she hadn't! – his hands looked familiar too.

She suddenly got a whimsical feel, putting the rabbit on the floor again and letting him hop away she moved around the hatters chair unseen – by now completely sure that he was asleep – until she was standing behind it. She happened to look up at that time and saw that without her noticing the table had begun to fill with children – a pair of boys who looked identical and where for some reason covered in smashed eggs, one girl could not stop grinning and a long tail curled behind her and comically large cats ears sprouted from her head, whilst the two girls sat beside her where furiously glaring away from each other one dressed entirely in red and the other in white. She recognised all the characters – and they recognised her, smiling lightly back at her.

The new audience did make Clara hesitate for just a second, but that was all. She leaned down, tapping on his right shoulder while she leaned her face onto the left. However maybe she should have been a bit more curious to the man's stillness because he did not move to check what had tapped his right shoulder the same way anyone else would – but rather his face stayed on the left, so when she leaned down he just whispered near directly into her ear "I feel I should not be surprised that you should be our Alice heading down the rabbit hole."

The voice was gravely, familiar and yet warmer than she had ever heard it before. It made her gasp, jumping back to stare, but still unable to see his face completely, Clara reached up and pulled the top hat up – revealing the Doctors face.

He did not smile, but he did not frown. He stared at her as she stared at him, apparently neither knowing quite what to say or do. As usual Clara was the first to move, she couldn't resist hugging him even if he hated them. She dove on him, glimpsing the startled expression before she nearly knocked them both out of the arm chair.

For his part the Doctor did his best to both catch her and steady them, one arm wrapping around her while the other grabbed for the table to stop the chair toppling over. Around the table the children giggled obviously finding their hug amusing. He grimaced, but found he was just as happy to see Clara as she obviously was to see him. In fact once he was sure they were not going to tip over in the chair, the Doctors arms both wrapped around Clara, one hand resting on her waist and the other between her shoulder blades as she buried her head in his neck and breathed in the scent that was him – like old books and something indescribable and yet old, if she had to guess what the other smell was she would label it as time and space itself.

"Are you crying?" the Doctor's voice sounded startled, he pulled her away from him just a little so he could see her face, those large wide brown eyes wider than he'd ever seen them before – or maybe they were just magnified by tears. "What's wrong? Are you sad? Are you hurt?"

Clara giggled wetly, wiping at her face "No, no I'm happy. These are happy tears. I'm… just so glad to see you again. I can't believe it."

The Doctor snorted "You can believe that I am here but you can believe you've been sucked into a fairy-tale London?"

She punched him lightly and sniffed, but smiled. "Don't ruin the moment Doctor."

He still looked confused "I'm not sure what moment this is, but fine."

She nearly tried to explain the 'moment' but decided against it. The Doctor struggled with happy crying, best not to confuse him anymore. Maybe it would be healthier for him to figure it out himself anyway.

"Can we start our tea party now?" the two boys looking like Tweedledum and Tweedledee asked in union, causing laughter across the table.

"What do you say, Alice?" the Doctor looked at Clara.

Clara looked down at him, looking daft in the over large top hat – she was actually tempted to tell him to wear it always though knew he'd find the suggestion ludicrous – and looked out at the expectant faces of the children. "I'd started with eating the cake first" she grinned, watching as the children nearly pounced upon the many piles of sweet treats.

After watching them for a few minutes, in which Clara realised she was sitting surprisingly comfortably on the Doctors lap and that he was holding her against him rather than pushing her off, she turned to ask him "So what is going on Doctor?"

"What do you think is going on?" he countered, hooking one of those usually frowning eyebrows at her in a way that let her know he was testing her.

"I think I'm dreaming." She answered honestly.

He sighed "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

Clara smiled and lightly slapped his chest. "That wasn't even Lewis Carroll – that was Poe!"

The Doctor smiled too, a rare expression that completely changed his face. "Nice job teach. But yes you were right, almost. This is a kind of dream – but the entire world is having the same dream right now, obviously including me. And it's all thanks to these delightful children." He waved towards the kids eating cake.

Clara frowned "But why?"

The Doctor shrugged "These kids helped me with a problematic alien nanny that had infiltrated their school and was eating the teachers. They said I had to owe them something – since when had children gotten so good at racking up debt? Anyway I had the TARDIS project a sort of fantasy dream world that the children created so that for a few hours the world is like this. In the morning the human population shall wake up with little to no memory of this, save for those who are aware that something has changed – like you, me and these children."

Clara grinned – she was going to say it was such a nice thing for him to do, instead her mouth chose to ask "Wait, how many times did I help you with an alien and you didn't give me anything?"

He scoffed "I consider your help a penance for your vague answer of 'show me something amazing' every time I asked for a destination."

"You did show me amazing things though…" she reminded him softly.

There was a silence between them for a few seconds, before the Doctor went suddenly rigid beneath her. "So, where is Danny – what did he become? Your daring white knight?"

Clara stiffened too, her mouth opened and shut several times nearly spilling lies again – but when she finally spoke, she was thankful to realise it was the truth. "Danny never came back."

"What!" the Doctors exclamation attracted the attention of the children – who he and Clara waved away, waiting until their attention was back on the food before he asked in a quieter voice "What do you mean he never came back? You said he did – I saw the bracelet!"

Clara sighed, looking away from him, but she didn't get up from his lap – she wasn't sure he would let her. At her confession his grip had gotten tighter by just a fraction. "Danny sent back a child he accidentally killed in the war instead of coming back himself. I just told you he came back because you'd found Gallifrey and I didn't want you to hang around just for me…"

The Doctor said nothing, processing this information – his respect for soldier boy going up even more. Finally he sighed softly. "I never found Gallifrey – I said that so you would stay with Danny, I didn't want you to feel like you owed this old man anything."

After a few minutes of silence between them – broken by the children's laughter and shouting and happy eating – Clara laughed suddenly. She caught the Doctors stunned expression. "I'm sorry, but I haven't laughed like this in a while" she said around the laughter, her breath gasping between words "I just… I can't think of another reaction. I guess in a situation like this – all you can do is laugh!"

This got the Doctor chuckling as if he agreed, until he was finally laughing too.

When she had calmed down enough, Clara looked at him seriously. "I missed you, you idiot."

He looked away from her shyly, muttering softly "I missed you too… pudding brain."

She smirked "It's not the same running without having you yelling that I'm a pudding brain or having some kind of monster chasing me."

He smirked back at her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You have no idea how many times I nearly rang you – just wondering if you'd actually answer."

"Why?" his focus suddenly laser like on her, eyes nearly boring into her soul.

"I…uh…" his focus had her faltering slightly.

"Clara…" he frowned.

"I missed you." She confessed again. "I guess… I wanted to see if you'd… well, if you'd show me something amazing again."

There was no reply for a few seconds, until finally the Doctor's face broke into a wide smile – one that actually showed his teeth, which was such an uncommon sight it startled her a little. "I'd be happy to show you something amazing Clara, the entire universe is full of amazing things, but I need you to do me one thing first…"

"Doctor?" she looked at him suspiciously.

He smirked, reaching up he pressed a finger to her head, directly between her eyes. "Wake up."