They found her not far from the pool room, standing slightly hunched, as if she'd just experienced something painful, and when she'd glanced up, it was with a shock they both mirrored. She had chestnut hair that hung thick against her back and shoulders; long bangs that framed her pale face and accentuated the large dark eyes that stared at them as her thin lips opened to accommodate her terrified breaths.
The Doctor stepped forward first, right hand outstretched and an awkward smile on his face as she took a step back and glanced at a panel on the wall, a panel the Doctor eyed before giving her a nod. "It's alright, you're not in any trouble – this place is safe."
Clara stepped quietly to his side to assure with an easy smile, "Hey, it's ok – what's your name?"
Looking from one adult to the other, the girl laughed and then she lifted a hand to cover her mouth, embarrassed by the outburst before telling them quietly, "Sorry, sorry, I just…" her words trailed and her lips pushed together as her eyes watered, "I'm a bit lost."
Moving past the Doctor, Clara enveloped the girl in a hug as he grimaced because the Doctor knew the girl shouldn't have been in the ship and it was in his nature to question what she'd been doing; why she'd been looking at the panel on the wall; why she'd been bent in pain. But Clara's heart overruled his mind and he waited patiently as the woman soothed the girl that stood at her height and had laid her head on her shoulder, arms around her back tightly as she cried.
"Clara, we need to get back to the control room," the Doctor told her softly, bowing his head as he heard her say, the Doctor will get you home; he'll keep you safe, don't worry.
Turning to look at him, her own eyes now reddened in sympathy, Clara smiled and offered, "I'll take her for a bath, you get the ship stabilized."
He watched them depart, Clara's arm draped over the girl's shoulder as the girl continued to clutch at the back of her dress. To him it was disconcerting, the attachment, and the Doctor was already pondering whether she'd been sent to sabotage them – it wouldn't be the first time. And if that were true, he was about to leave Clara alone with her. Taking a small step forward, hands balling into frustrated fists at his side, he turned when he felt the engines roar through the mess of concrete and metal beneath his feet.
With a growl, he rushed onto the console space and slapped his palm on a lever and twisted a knob until his knuckles were white from his grip. He glanced towards the corridor entrance and then back at the screen, tapping at it to erase the notice that warned someone else was aboard. The warning that had taken him and Clara from steering the Tardis through the vortex to figuring out how, exactly, a third person had boarded without them knowing.
The Doctor couldn't shake the notion that she'd suddenly… appeared.
Of course, there were at least a dozen explanations. If she'd been encased in adamantium, if she'd been wearing any sort of signal distortion equipment, if she'd been on the verge of death… somehow. There was no way she could just appear inside of the Tardis, he snorted. It was like apparating in Hogwarts, there were measures in place to prevent it. With a small smile at the notion that he had to give those novels another read, he steadied the ship in space and set it drifting as he moved quickly back to the spot they'd found her and he glanced down into the crevice beside the flooring, passing his Sonic over it to try and detect any sort of device she might have dropped.
Checking the Sonic and seeing a null reply, he stood and looked to the piping in the wall, knowing it housed some of the wiring of the Tardis and he scanned it for any sort of malfunctions, any sort of tampering, and he frowned when, again, the results were null. Everything was exactly as it should be, he knew. Except it wasn't. He moved slowly down the hall and around a corner, hearing the shower running inside of Clara's bedroom and peering inside the room to find her bringing one of her dresses to the bed. She gave him a worried smile as he looked to the bathroom, door cracked open, small trickle of steam escaping as the girl inside showered.
"Her name is Celia," Clara offered. "She's an orphan; says she came on to get out from the cold."
He rubbed at his face, "Saw that it was a never ending ship instead of a quaint little blue box…"
"And went exploring," she finished in a hushed whisper before shrugging, "Just have to find out where…"
"… and when," he pointed.
She smiled before continuing, "She came from and we can return her." Then she eyed him, "Maybe after a few days."
He frowned, "Clara, we can't just pick up strays along the way…"
With a wry smile, she asked, "Isn't that what we do though?"
He pocketed the Sonic and gestured at the dress, "Shouldn't you be looking for jammies? The girl did look exhausted – thought maybe a nice long nap would do her better than a trip to the moon."
"You promised me cocktails," Clara pointed out with a nod of her head, then she shrugged back to the bathroom, "Besides, it might be good to get some food in her first – she's bone thin."
Sighing, the Doctor stepped to Clara's side to whisper, "Or we could simply return her."
"Where?"
"We'll ask her," he said simply.
Glancing back, brow wrinkling with concern, Clara whispered, "I don't think she wants to go back."
Chewing his lip, the Doctor considered the words; considered the reasons behind why a young girl of around thirteen might not want to go home, and he could see in Clara's eyes that while she didn't have the answer, she had enough worry about what the answer was for the both of them. He smiled as he reached up to cup her cheek, knowing it was the maternal side of her kicking in, as it often did, wanting to ensure the girl was happy and taken care of.
"A few days," he offered, watching her forehead smooth and sensing the tension ease from her body, "A few days, but Clara, we have to take her back." Then he added, "At the very least, an Earthly children's home – your time, she'll be safe there."
Satisfied grin breaking out on her face as the Doctor blushed, Clara stepped up to peck him on the cheek before drifting to the bathroom door to supply, "Come on, kiddo, hurry up. We're going dancing!"
