Forgotten Destiny

Summary : Sequel to Change, and set in the same timeline. Clara has made the ultimate sacrifice for the Doctor, and yet she still exists. Along with the most unlikely of companions follow her as she goes on an adventure all her own, trying to find her way back to where she belongs. Back at the Doctor's side.

Disclaimer : I don't own Doctor Who or any of its character. Only this new adventure is mine.

Chapter One : The Most Unexpected Companion

The man before her was skinny and lanky, reminding her strongly of one of the Doctor's previous regeneration. Like she could turn him sideways, have him stick his tongue out, and call him a zipper. The thought made her giggle, and in that moment she realized she was in shock. Her legs gave out, sinking her to the ground once again. At least she'd stopped crying, though her heart hurt. She missed him, she missed her crazy, manic, danger friendly Doctor. The one he'd been before the silver haired regeneration he'd taken. She missed that face, and she knew them all. She heard the sharp clip of polished shoes on a hard surface and looked back up at the self proclaimed 'Master'.

Of course she knew who he was, anyone that had been around the Doctor long enough found out about the Master. This was the man she'd had to save the Doctor from so many times in her echoes that she'd lost count, the same man that had killed more than one of her echoes for her interference. He'd caused so much pain and hearts-ache for the Doctor over the centuries that it was a wonder he'd kept going as long as he had before falling into darkness.

"Why are you here?" She finally found her voice again, the anger from before failing her as the shock of her entire situation settled into her tired brain. The shoe she'd removed to hit him with was quietly put back on her foot since holding it seemed just pointless in her current state. She'd be okay, she told herself. Totally fine, perfect really. Just fantastic.

God, she wanted to cry.

The Master gave her a very haughty look as he towered over her, regarding her with that smirk on his face that said he was superior to her in every way, and that he was only humoring her with his appearance for whatever reason. One hand was also tapping a distinct rhythm against his side, an absent gesture.

"All that fire die out, my dear? Pity." He huffed and flopped down next to her. "Its so much more fun when they fight against their fate."

Clara calmly flipped him the bird and deadpanned a very rude Gallifreyian curse that had his eyebrows soaring into his hairline. "Well, so there is still fight in you. Excellent. Well then, we should get going Clara Oswald." He went back to his feet, all in the easy motion of a Time Lord, like certain laws of physics didn't apply to him. He still hadn't answered her question, but she didn't have the energy to fight with him, and wasn't inclined to play his games. Mental gent. Totally, bloody, mental.

"Why would I go anywhere with you, gent? You're the Doctor's mor...er...immortal enemy. Hell, you've killed me a few times. So sod off and fine someone else to play with, bloody asshat."

Eyebrows rose again. "Damn, he really damaged you didn't he." He slid into a kneeling position, a hand planting on her forehead before she could stop him and shooting chills throughout her body. Almost instantly, her energy returned and the sense of fatigue and shock fell away. She blinked and gawped at him. And, damn him, he just smiled serenely. "Now then, on your feet my girl. There's things to be done." She was pulled to her feet, the too big leather jacket swallowing her whole and hitting her at the knees.

"What's going on!" She'd finally found her voice again, found her strength. "Why the hell are you helping me? You hate the Doctor, and if I remember right you have 'no use' for his companions either. Or assistants, whatever you call them in that twisted brain of yours."

"So the snark returns. Excellent. Fantastic, even." He blinked and made a wide gesture with both hands, as if to indicate the room they were in. "I made a deal with the High Council of Gallifrey. They gave me back this body to do the errand they want me to attend in, and in return I have to get you," He poked her on the nose, "Miss Clara, back to the Doctor. You're little misadventure has started the unraveling of reality. Again. As much as I enjoy chaos, my dear, I'm afraid this would be the end of me as well. Can't have that, can we? Not at all."

"Unraveling? What for? All I did was..."

"Exactly!" He chirped the word, happy and mental and expressing every emotion that was totally inappropriate for this situation. "You gave yourself to the Reapers, you fixed his timeline. Not meant to meet himself, not like that, not for a person like you. It wasn't supposed to happen, but instead of fixing it, with you removed his timeline is unraveling. Rapidly. You've interfered too many times, Clara Oswald, you've done your job too well. The Impossible Girl saves the Doctor, so when she is erased then all her echoes are too. The girl that showed the Doctor his TARDIS, the girl that pushed him out from in front of an oncoming train, the one that saved him, over and over and over again. All gone. But, most importantly, the Reapers don't just 'erase' people. It isn't their purpose. They should have reset the paradox of time to where it originated, with none the wiser. But see, the paradox was so big that instead of resetting...well it broke all of time. You're gone, and the Doctor will die without you. That can't happen, as much as I'd like it too. The Doctor is meant to save Gallifrey, to return it from the pocket of time that he put it in. You were there for that, rather you remember or not."

Clara suddenly felt sick. She'd...she'd killed him? For everything she'd done, had she really essentially caused the death of her favorite Time Lord? She felt the tears return, the sudden, forceful sorrow that dragged her under and squeezed her heart until she sobbed. Head down, shoulders shaking, and sobbing.

Just this once, just for the hell of it, let me save you!

The sound of his voice, an echo around her, brought her out of her drowning depression. This place was wrong, it brought out dark emotions and kept lighter ones from taking root. She was stronger than this, dammit! She'd faced down the universe, jumped through time, shattered herself to save one man, she could deal with this! Her body hurt all over, probably from the rapid change in her moods. "This place is bad for me." She muttered it, then felt the Master touch her again and flinched away.

"Its a reality cube. You displaced out of all of reality, so the High Council saved you. I, as I said, am supposed to help you. I'm not going to hurt you, not right now anyway. Eventually, who knows." He gave a lopsided grin and ran a hand through his hair. Still tapping.

"You're psychotic."

"Thank you! You say the sweetest things!" He rose again, pulling her along with him even as she tried to keep him from touching her. It felt wrong, letting anyone else take her hand. He went serious again as she managed to start walking, falling into step alongside her. "I can release the reality cube. Then, Clara Oswald, the adventure is yours. I'm to follow your lead, rather than you mine. Probably for the best, since my way is to leave everything in my wake either dead or destroyed. I happen to want what the Council offered me, so best not to make too much trouble."

She wondered what it was they offered him that would cause him to work with, rather than against, his greatest enemy. Had to be something pretty big for him to be allying himself with her, and by extension the Doctor. Whatever. She didn't have time to think about it. She took a deep breath, let it out, then looked up at her too-tall companion. "What do I have to do?"

That's it, that's the first chapter.

I apologize now for the Master. I've never played him before and crazy isn't my natural mindset. So if he's out of character then I'm sorry. I'm actually playing him as having wandered very far off the deep end. He should have already been Missy, given the frame of time this takes place in, but he hasn't regenerated yet. So, yeah.

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