Chapter 1

"Rise of the Second Millennium? Do you really want to see that film..?"

"Why? Have you got something against the 21st Century?"

The man eyed his companion: a young woman who was just as stubborn as he. A woman also not afraid to speak her mind to him. Fitting, he supposed. They would follow each other to the end of oblivion.

"Course not! It's just… you'd think there'd be more interesting films than one about the 21st Century. Why not make a film about the 51st? When the ice age and World War VI ravaged the Earth?" she quipped, looping her arm around his and snuggling close. A retort that had begun to form on his lips died. He couldn't help but smile. So she did pay attention to some of his ramblings about Earth history…

The pair stood underneath a tattered umbrella, idle on the sidewalk next to an old fashioned cinema. The holographic poster in front of them flashed lazily, showing signs of failure with missing pixels in the image. On the poster was a picture of a thriving primitive city. Primitive was being generous; he considered it beyond primitive compared to the numerous megacities he had visited in the Earth Empire. She glanced over at the other posters on the wall. It was probably time to put away his passion for knowledge and history; today was about her - not him. They had specifically ventured out into the not so glamourous part of the city to have the retro cinema experience that she so craved. It reminded her of home, she told him. It would make her happy, in other words. Seeing her happy only brought him happiness. He would win - regardless of what film they saw.

"Here, you take the umbrella. Check the other posters if you'd rather see a different film. I'm just going to have a looksie to see if the cinema is even open." The man said, unwinding his arm from hers and passing her the umbrella.

"I still don't understand why you use this…" she half snickered before strolling off to examine the other posters. Grinning widely, the man strode off in the opposite direction towards the front doors of the complex. He was lightly saturated by the time he got underneath cover, but he didn't mind. Peering inside, there seemed to be no sign of activity. Only specs of dim light shone within the darkness. Frowning, he figured he must have gotten the day wrong for when they were closed. His attention was drawn away however when a scuffle erupted nearby. A scream quickly followed. He turned and saw the umbrella lying crumpled on the sidewalk… Where did she go? Another scream told him she was nearby - and in danger. Was she around the side of the building? He ran at full speed, ignoring the increased weight caused by his soaked clothing sticking to his skin. Rounding the building, he entered an alleyway. As if the poorly lit sidewalk didn't give him enough chills, this network of alleyways had the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Oh, why had he insisted on coming here? They could have just retired after an eventful day out, then return tomorrow during the day. Idiot, idiot, idiot! He hurried down the back alley; the rapid thumps in his chest driving his every step. More sounds of a scuffle, followed by a loud thud. He made sure to call her name over and over. Upon making a left turn, two figures began to make a dash in the opposite direction. They disappeared into the shadows that the looming buildings provided.

"You two! Stop!" He cried, now in pursuit. If it weren't for the dark and thick coat of liquid that pooled amongst the regular crystal clear puddles, he would have kept running. Instead, a mix of curiosity and shock stopped him dead in his tracks. There she was, in a heap on the floor, unmoving. His eyes darted to her face, which was half hidden from her wet hair plastered to her skin. She was on her side, and was swarmed with crimson. It pooled mainly around her head, where he figured her wound was. He called her name again, one last time, before collapsing next to her. He tried to move the loose strands of her brown hair out of her face with trembling fingers. The alleyway started to spin around him. Faint noises that were common to the night became piercing screeches to his ears. He called for help, but what type of help lurked in an alleyway? The sounds he heard now became unbearable. A rustle in the alley. A faint siren out on the street. Nearby whispers. Even the dull whirring that had started up in the distance drove him to insanity. Had someone already summoned help? Were people coming to see what the commotion was all about? It was too late for any of that anyway. Leaning down on his companion's lifeless body, he whispered in her ear:

"I love you…"

XXX

The patter of rain on his face forced the Doctor to open his eyes and scrunch his face. Strangely enough, the droplets on his skin were not icy nor warm to the touch. He heaved himself upright to find that he had been laying on the side of a road in an urban environment. A woman walked past, paying no attention to the confused old man that had apparently taken a nap on the sidewalk. A string of memories suddenly flooded back. Clara and I were about to make our way back to the TARDIS? How did..? Clara! He was up on his feet in seconds.

"Clara?!" he called, frantically scanning his foreign surroundings. The immediate area was shadowed by tall, metallic structures, and only the flickering street lamps provided any source of light. He decided to start walking up the street, hoping to find Clara nearby. As he went, he observed a remarkably quiet hovercar whizz past. He figured he was in the far future, relative to the time period he just left. Also, judging by the various call to arms propaganda posters that littered the walls he passed, he placed himself roughly in a city in the Earth Empire. The taste and feel of the place weren't giving him any clues either. He just needed more details, then he could find out exactly where he was and work out what happened to him. However, it became increasingly apparent that after every intersection he traversed, he ended up on virtually the same street he started on. He was stuck in a silently slumbering city with almost identical streets - and hardly a soul walked them. Grumbling, he stopped in his tracks and craned his head up. Many of the tall buildings on either side of him had only a couple of windows illuminated. The sky above was pitch black. That can't be because of light pollution… or could it? He shook his head. No matter, even if the stars wouldn't help him, he would figure out where he was soon enough. Perhaps I can find that woman who passed me earlier…

"I thought we were on Earth, but the lightning here is a brilliant red." a familiar voice commented, breaking the deafening silence. To his relief, Clara stood beside him. She, too, watched the sky. Sure enough, violent streaks rippled through the darkness, coating the city in a dull red glow for a split second. They waited, but the delayed roar of the sky that followed never came.

"Glad you're okay. I was looking for you." the Doctor finally remarked as he peered down at his short companion. The light rain had done nothing to the volume of her hair.

"You looked like you were sight-seeing, Doctor." she bit, meeting his gaze with a sly grin. As soon as she did however, a wave of forgotten emotions hit her. The Doctor noted her startled look before she had the chance to advert his gaze and conceal it.

"Positioning of stars? Determining location and time?" He retorted, choosing to ignore her little realisation. Clara nodded with the faintest hint of interest. Her mind clearly elsewhere now. "Eh, never mind. Right, first order of business: find out exactly where we are. Second -"

"Doctor, we were about to head to the medbay, remember?" she suddenly blurted, "I think we should see if there's someone to tend to your wounds first…" she trailed off, examining his new outfit with interest. He cocked an eyebrow, then looked down at what he was wearing. Gone were the bloodied button up shirt and tattered coat he remembered wearing prior to their memory wipe. Clara had a new change of clothes too. When did I change? He thought to himself with knitted eyebrows.

"Unbutton your shirt." Clara commanded. That earned her another raised eyebrow. He complied however, slowly unbuttoning the new navy shirt. Clean bandages were drawn across his waist and ribs.

"When did this happen? Do you remember anything at all after entering the TARDIS? Anything helps." The Doctor asked, rebuttoning his shirt a little more hastily. Clara shook her head. Something was always very wrong when memories went missing.

"I only remember coming into the TARDIS from the roof of the hosp-" she fumbled with her words. The Doctor leant closer towards her, hoping she had suddenly remembered something. Instead, she merely hung her head low.

"Clara?"

She finally looked up at him, eyes widening.

"Doctor, I know this isn't the time or place but… I really need to apologise for what happened in hospital. I -"

"Oh, Clara, you really don't need to apologise for that. I understand you did what you had to do to survive." he quickly cut in, glancing around the barren street. They weren't going to ask for directions anytime soon. Satisfied, he turned back to give her his full attention, but found her staring at the ground. He blinked. Wait, this seems very… familiar?

"I hurt you. Voluntarily. I also let you get hurt. I don't expect you to forgive me for that."

"Clara Oswald, I will always forgive you."

She lifted her head, stunned. Her own words in the cemetery echoed back to her.

"And besides, you didn't have a choice." he added. The nagging sense of deja-vu continued to nip at him.

"There's always a choice…" she said wistfully. Instinct suddenly kicked in, telling him he was following a forgotten scene. He allowed concern to take over, prompting him to close the gap between them. He expected Clara to shy away, and as scripted, Clara involuntarily took a step back. Instead of looking away however, she squinted slightly at him.

"We've done this before, haven't we? Apology and all?" she inquired.

"I get the feeling that we have."

"That's not good. How much did we forget!?"

"We need to get a riggle on. We'll be in more trouble the longer we go without those lost memories."

The pair decided on a direction and began walking. To find any sort of indicator as to where they were was paramount. It would assist greatly in finding the TARDIS, for one thing.

"I have a really bad feeling about this place. It - it's too dark." Clara muttered half to herself. The Doctor however, felt more than uneasy. Paranoia slowly consumed him as shadows danced from the corner of his eye. Since being here, had he always felt this paranoid? He glanced over his shoulder only to see the lifeless street that lay behind them. Upon passing a closed down pharmacy, a glint in the window caught the Doctor's eye. He paused to examine the glass pane more closely. It was pitch dark inside, except for the frequent flicker of static in the middle of the room. The static made the Doctor blink, and suddenly, numbers hastily cycling from 1 through to 9 appeared. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open to see the rest of the code, but the close proximity of the numbers felt as if they were searing his eyes. He blinked once more. The flurry of numbers had gone. A tug on his arm brought him back to the silent street.

"Doctor? Are you alright?" Clara asked carefully, cocking her head slightly. She still had a grasp on his arm as he turned to her.

"I saw lines of code… I didn't catch all of it though." replied the Doctor with a sigh. He spun around to peer inside the pharmacy again, only to find that the static had gone. While he examined the pharmacy, two people passed by them. Clara grinned at the Doctor and began her pursuit.

"Finally! Let's go ask the locals where we are! I haven't seen a soul since I found you." Strange, he hadn't either. Clara caught up with the pair, and struggled to keep up with their brisk pace. "Hiya! Sorry to bother you but we're kind of lost… Where abouts are we?"

The two kept walking, not even bothering to acknowledge the panting woman next to them. Clara stared at their blank faces. The two men did not blink nor seemed to be huffing and puffing at the speed they were going. She came to a halt to catch her breath. The Doctor - who was on her heels - stopped beside her, staring after the mysterious pair. They seemed to fade into the shadows as they got further and further away.

"No luck then?"

"They didn't even look at me, let alone talk to me," Clara gritted her teeth, "and the weirdest part was that they didn't even look like they were breathing." That caught his attention.

"Not breathing?"

"Yeah, and they didn't blink once either."

He was missing something very obvious. Whatever it was, it was right in front of him. The overwhelming urge to slap himself sometimes arose in moments like these.

"Uh, Doctor..?" Clara whispered quickly. All trace of venom from earlier had left her voice. Silence and near darkness? People not breathing? Not blinking?

"Just a minute, I'm thinking…" Never ending, near identical streets? No stars?

"Doctor!" she squeaked a little louder. He snapped back to his surroundings, only to find that shadows extruded from the ground and surrounded them both. They backed away, but hit one of the building walls. They were cornered. Darkness closed in around Clara at an alarming rate. It was like a thick black liquid that snaked up her body. It started consuming her lower half, much to his horror. He went to reach for her, but his hands grasped out at nothing. Clara was gone. It was as if she merged with the shadows and melted into the ground. Nothing of her remained. He stared at his outstretched hand, fixated on the darkness that was now swallowing it whole.

"It - it can't be. No, no, no, no. I got rid of this! Why is it - "

He was rooted to the ground now, unable to speak. The shadows had fast covered his body and now slithered up above his mouth. Black started to seep around his peripheral vision, creeping slowly inwards. His vision was gone. The darkness took him.

A/N: Hey everyone! The first chapter to the sequel to 'My Kingdom Come' is up! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy! For those who haven't read the sequel yet, best to click on this link to read: s/11366448/1/My-Kingdom-Come

Any reviews would be appreciated!