Sour Times

by Greensleeves89

AU & eventual SPN crossover - Rose in series 8. They knew things were not the same. How could they be? When the Doctor makes the decision to keep Rose safe from her enemies following a near death experience it sends them both on a journey they didn't think they'd ever face: life without one another. The Doctor and Rose Tyler - that's how it's supposed to be...isn't it?

1. Deep Breath

The emergency lighting system was activated about ten minutes ago. Rose reaches up behind her and gently tugs the cloth that used to be a bow tie from her hair. It falls down her back and Rose wraps the cloth around her wrist, tying it absently. She holds her wrist out slightly and admires her work before settling back, gripping the railings tightly in her hands until her knuckles blanch and her nails dig into her palms. Time to settle back into the thickening silence. Everyone seems to have claimed a corner of the console room as their own and just decided to be alone with their thoughts. No one has said much since the incident. Minutes after his regeneration and they had gotten into an argument about piloting the TARDIS. He didn't think she was doing right, she had shouted he had no idea what he was doing and poor Clara was standing there stunned.

She had stolen glimpses at screen to show them jumping around from place to place. She saw them parked in front of the Berlin Wall and its collapse in 1989, to jump back to the Stonewall Riots in the 60s. All because they were arguing about piloting, finally he had gotten so frustrated because she had wanted to take them somewhere safe until she was certain he was all right from the regeneration, so they could talk so they all could get to know one another again when he had hit a random button. She didn't catch which one she had just felt the TARDIS lurch, throwing her into the console, she had landed hipbone first and she can already feel the bruise starting to form.

They had struck something hard, she had felt them bounce off of whatever it was and when Rose had managed to make her way back to the screen she saw that they had bounced off was a T-Rex. She had widened her eyes and attempted to quickly make the jump again when he had taken over and decided the best remedy for the problem was to outrun the dinosaur. No matter how much she attempted to convince him otherwise. Even Clara had gotten in on the convincing. He had brushed them off. Rose had waited for what she knew would come next. And sure enough that's what happened. Hence their current predicament, stuck. Frustratingly stuck in a dinosaur's mouth, merely waiting to be hacked up. But somehow he had still managed to make the jump. Who knows if it actually worked. It's been awhile, anyway. Eerie and silent. So she assumes probably not. And that's when everyone had regulated themselves to a corner and shut themselves off from one another.

Rose leans forward to sneak a small glance at the Doctor as he stares at the ceiling lost in thought. She worries for their future. She worries for what this means for their relationship. He doesn't even remember her name. Or Clara's. He's been calling them 'Not me,' since this whole misadventure started. What is she going to do? The nervous knot in her stomach twists tighter. The new path they are forced to take after every regeneration is and can be daunting to her. He already knows her, at least he should – in this case not, but she needs to rediscover him. Every time. And she worries that they will be unable to continue what they had attempted to build and fix the last time. Because he may not love her anymore.

Granted there had been some bumps in the road. Charlie had been a huge one and she is not going to apologise for that, she's already made that very clear, because she hadn't expected to fall in love with him and being in love with him wasn't something she could stop even if she tried. She still hasn't given him enough hell for banishing her once again. This amnesia scares her. She worries for their future. A relationship can only work between two people who are present and dedicated to one another, despite any outward distraction or internal problems. She looks away from him. Will it work? They're either in together or not at all. So what's it going to be? She doesn't know and now isn't the time to inquire either. If they ever get the opportunity to discuss it then maybe she'll know. What if this is it? She leans back on rails at the realisation. She becomes bitter. Between them, their troubles she worries they can't come back from everything they once had and everything the want in the future. Love can never die a natural death. It dies because those falling out of love don't know how to replenish its source. It dies because of blindness and errors. It dies of illness and wounds, it dies of weariness, of withering and of tarnishings. She covers her mouth. What if that's them? She peers around the console again. Does he feel it too? Is he thinking about her? Of them? She can't read him anymore, it's scaring her.

He sneaks a glance at the woman with the blonde hair while she isn't looking. He's been doing that a lot. Stealing looks when her gaze is elsewhere. He feels himself gravitating towards her but is unsure as to why. She kissed him, could it have something to do with that? She can pilot the TARDIS, is that normal? She isn't a Time Lord, he'd know if she were. But who is she? There is just a blank void; he can't remember anything up until she kissed him, why? There had been a spark in that kiss, he had felt it, as brief as it was.

She's just so…captivating. He thinks that is the appropriate word to use in this situation. If they didn't have the problem they do now, namely waiting in this darkness for a solution, then he'd ask questions of her. Who she is, why she captivates him so. Or…maybe she isn't aware she does that? Are they…more than…whatever is they have now? That doesn't make sense, does it? Does he? She makes sense, he thinks, anyway. She's commanding. The way she took charge of piloting this thing…before he argued with her about what she was doing. She's a good yeller and so stubborn. Is he like that? He doesn't know. There is just so much he doesn't know. Many images come to the forefront of his mind but he can't seem to place them at all. They are lost before he has any time to sit through and really think about them. She is so…what does he know about her? He gravitates towards her.

Her voice echoes in his mind. The way her lips called his name…he looks to his hands that grip the console. Tell me more; he wants to call to her. You're so complicated; surely you are simpler than that…

I am quirky, silly, and often blunt and a little damaged. My days are sometimes too dark and my nights are sometimes too long. We all have insecurities and sometimes I trip over my own. I long for passion, and wish to be desired. I often use music to speak when words fail me, though, ironically, words are as important to me as the air I need to breathe. I love hard and with all that I have…my faults are there and it doesn't mean I deserved to be loved less because of them. I am going to do what I want to do because no one can stop me or tell me no or say no you can't. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm sure as hell going to figure out what that is and what it takes to get there.

She said that to him, he could hear her voice ringing in his mind. Conviction clings to her voice, but when and where did she say it? If only he could recall her name…surely it would make things easier. This woman that sits on the rails with her arms crossed and looking away from him…there is so much hidden beneath her surface. Together they had gone through things, he can tell even if he can't remember them. To look at her is to see a breathtaking mosaic of all the battles she's been through and won. And there had been many of them. So if they've been through things together, why does it still feel as though there is a gap between them? There is an aura; she shines bright in brilliant golden light. Toss that girl to the wolves and she'll come back leading the pack, won't she? There had been a time when he had been afraid of her and her power. What power had that been and why? This lack of understanding is frustrating. He wishes to have a frank conversation and yet he's certain no words would come to him because he wouldn't know what to say or ask of them.

He steals another look at the blonde before he shifts his gaze to the brunette. She isn't like the blonde at all but that's a good thing. She's different in her own way and that's okay. He can't recall her name either. She has more of an innocence to her that the blonde doesn't have, a sweeter disposition. The blonde is kind, he can see it but right now it's hidden, as though she keeps parts of herself hidden and unattainable. He thinks. He's just basing his thoughts on them in the hour or two he's known them.

A sudden rattle causes them to grip the nearest thing around them. A rumble echoes around them and Rose looks to the ceiling. Is it finally time? Will that dinosaur finally make an attempt to dislodge them from its throat? Hopefully. It's been long enough. Rose approaches the console and holds onto it tightly ready to get them active again when another shudder causes her to fall back into the rails. All is so silent. Rose frowns and she moves around to face the door and the Doctor looks over to her.

'What's going on, do you think we're free?' Clara whispers to Rose and she shakes her head, unsure herself. The TARDIS has landed, so hopefully that's a good thing. Unfortunately because of the…gunk on the monitor, she can't really make out where they are. And that isn't the only thing bothering her either. Where's the dinosaur?

Rose turns to Clara and bites the corner of her lip. 'I don't know. There's something troubling me, though.'

Clara eyes her carefully. She doesn't like when something troubles Rose. That usually means things are bad or about to get a lot worse. Clara looks towards the Doctor and then to Rose.

'What's troubling you?'

Rose doesn't have a chance to answer her when another voice interjects and Rose can feel the dread building within her. How can this entire ordeal get any worse? Rose steals a glance at the Doctor, he's quiet and to her he doesn't entirely well. Pale, maybe?

'Hello? Exit the box, and surrender to the glory of the Sontaran Empire.'

The Doctor's gaze shoots up and he begins to walk with haste towards the door. Rose and Clara know that voice anywhere and Rose's hand extends in front of her in an attempt to stop him.

'Wait, Doctor. We know him!' She insists and the Doctor turns around in a flourish with a frown. At least she knows where she is now…

'You know Sontarans? That's not good, not at all, is it?' The Doctor tells them and Rose and Clara exchange looks. How do you explain a situation to someone who should know all about it but doesn't at this moment? Rose presses a hand to her head. 'But that doesn't matter, I don't think. He's causing an awful lot of noise. And I'm trying to figure something out.'

'Figure what out, exactly?' Rose wonders exasperated and folds her arms but she doesn't receive a reply from the Doctor, he's already at the door. Clara shakes her head and finds herself holding her breath. This is uncharted territory for her. She's never dealt with this before.

Ever since she found out that he had the ability to change his face it had intrigued her but Clara believed she'd never had to experience that. Ever. She just assumed he'd be the same forever. However when Clara watches the way she interacts with the Doctor, this new version, she gets the impression that she's done this once or twice before. After all, how many times has she been in a situation like this? Well, not the eaten by a dinosaur part but just this situation. Trying to make friends with a man who is still the same but isn't at the same time. She must have done this numerous times, right?

Clara watches the Doctor rush towards the door and opens it in a flourish. He shushes whoever is on the other side. Rose rolls her eyes and walks up to him when he comes back up the ramp.

'Have you seen that…?' He begins before Rose cuts him off. Clara is rather glad she's taking charge of this situation because she's immensely overwhelmed. She wouldn't know what to do if it had simply been the two of them.

'That is…' Rose begins but he holds his hand up and she falls silent from the surprise. She plants her hands on her hips and he opens the door once again. Rose throws her head back in obvious frustration and Clara twists the hem of her dress impatiently. Rose can hear Strax call the Doctor's name and the confusion in his voice.

'I was being chased by a giant dinosaur, but I think I managed to give it the slip.' The Doctor explains and Rose shakes her head. Something must have gone wrong, the regeneration has done more than affected his memory. It hurts her a bit. It takes her back to the time she first witnessed the regeneration and the mess it caused back then. Sure, she's better equipped to handle things this time around but he's being so…flighty, it's hard to keep him in one spot for long.

She needs to take charge. 'Doctor, you know that the dinosaur ate us…'

He turns back to her with a frown before opening the door to the TARDIS once again. Rose comes up behind him and is about to put her hand on his shoulder when she pauses, hand shaking. It's the clothing. That's what is making her so uncomfortable. They spent their last moments together before being thrust into the unknown together. Seeing him still clothed in his predecessor's clothing drives the memories to the forefront of her mind and she has to constantly push them away. She can't even enjoy them to give her a sense of comfort. As usual her feelings need to be pushed away. She hardens herself.

The Doctor watches the blonde, nearly asking her why she's so incredibly close to him and why she's giving him that incredibly odd look. A thought strikes him so he reopens the door in a flourish and Rose attempts to peer over his shoulder. 'Sleepy?'

'Sir?'

Rose can hear the confusion in Strax's voice and again she hesitates placing her hand on his shoulder. She's about to ask what he meant by the word sleepy when it dawns on her. He really must have hit his head to think that Strax is one of the Seven Dwarves. Incredibly the Doctor steps out of the TARDIS and Strax takes a step back. Rose immediately exits after him and stays close to his side. Clara cautiously steps out next to Stax and watches the Doctor move around him in a circle. Clara and Rose look at one another and Rose shakes her head. Clara presses her lips together. This is going to be extremely difficult. She wraps her arms around herself and notices that there is two other women off to the side watching the events unfold with candid fascination. Clara remembers them, just not their names. When they look over to Rose, she shrugs absently, motioning to the Doctor with her eyes in a sideways glance.

'Bashful? Sneezy? Dopey? Grumpy!' The Doctor exclaims when Strax remains silent. When he notices that there are two new people he hasn't seen before he points to them. 'Oh, you two! The green one…and the not-green one. Or it could be the other way round, I mustn't prejudge!' He pauses and Jenny and Vastra widen their eyes. He points back to where Clara and Rose are. 'Oh, you remember, er…thingy, the, er, not me ones, the…asking questions one? And uh…oh, the tough one, Charlie. Am I right? Names - not my area.' He begins to meander around, checking out the sights and sounds of wherever he is. It's so familiar…why? He feels so…disorientated and unclear as to what's causing it.

He looks at the river behind him to the crowds of people that have gathered around. Again the two women, the green one and the pale one, are carefully studying him with an incredulous look on their faces. Where are they exactly? And how does Grumpy know his name? It's nothing but a blank space in his mind at the moment.

'Clara!'

He turns around to where the girl constantly asking questions is staring at him with a hard look in her eyes and her hands on her hips. He dismisses her. 'Well, it might be Clara, might not be – it's a lottery.'

'It is Clara,' She responds flatly and motions to Rose still having some sort of mental conversation with Jenny and Vastra. 'And that over there is Rose, not Charlie. Where did you get Charlie?'

'Well, I'm certainly not ruling it out! And I'm not sure…names, you know?' The Doctor replies and Rose presses her hand to her head and sighs, it worries her that the name Charlie is stuck in his mind, worse that he's begun to associate it with her. It tells her that he was thinking of her relationship just before the regeneration.

When she pulls her hand away she's surprised to see the Doctor staring at her. 'Yeah? Why are you staring at me?' She finds herself unable to breathe and holds the breath in her chest the longer he continues to watch her. She's about to ask him something when a loud roar bellows above them. She widens her eyes. The dinosaur is in the Thames!

'Oi, big man, shut it!' The Doctor shouts and looks to Strax. 'Oh, you've got a dinosaur, too! Big woman, sorry.' He adds quickly, almost apologetically.

Unable to stop herself, Rose walks over to him and swallows her fear, she places her hand on his shoulder and he turns away from the dinosaur to stare at her. Those icy eyes, she nearly trips over her words but swallows her discomfort and pretends this doesn't bother her. He turns away from him and she places her hand on his cheek. It startles him but he shifts his gaze back to her. He remains unreadable to her. She hates it. No time to dwell on that fact, it's time to move on.

'Listen to me. You need to stop. You need to calm down, take a deep breath.' Rose instructs and the Doctor continues to watch her carefully. He doesn't answer her for some time and when he does look as though he's about to answer her, he hesitates before whipping around to address the dinosaur still in the Thames.

'I'm not flirting, by the way.' The Doctor addresses the dinosaur but turns around half way through his sentence to look at Rose. She's shaking her head at him. Why? Has he done something wrong? He doesn't think so.

Clara has been observing them but doesn't like that Rose is unable to have any progress with him. She turns to Vastra with a desperate look in her eyes. 'I think something's gone wrong.'

The Doctor frowns and peers around Rose to glare at Clara. He begins to take a step towards her when Rose holds him back by the arm. She shakes her head.

'Deep breath.' She encourages with a soft smile and for a moment the Doctor forgets what he's about to say. He gets lost in those bewitching hazel eyes. How do her eyes do that? Why are they so familiar? Why can't he recall her name? He grows uncomfortable and looks over her shoulder to the brunette, pointing at her.

'Wrong? What's gone wrong? Have you regenerated? I remember you! You're Handles!' The Doctor states confidently and tilts his head the longer he stares at Clara the more something doesn't make sense. But he past it and gives her a warm smile as he points at her. 'You used to be a little…a little robot head, and now you…you've really let yourself go.'

'Doctor!' Rose scolds and he flinches as the dinosaur roars at them. Rose covers her ears and the Doctor rushes to Vastra, standing in front of her. He glances back to the dinosaur and nods his head.

'Reduce the frequency.' He demands and Vastra frowns, confused by his words. She does give a look around to see if she's missed something but finds nothing alarming. She then shifts her gaze to Rose who stands there with a shrug, she starts towards them.

'I'm sorry?' Vastra finally questions and the Doctor motions around them angrily. Why don't they get it?

'Your sonic lanterns, turn them down. You're giving her a headache.' The Doctor repeats and Jenny glances to the crowds above them on the railings looking down.

'Giving who a headache?' She wonders and the Doctor gives her a once over and walks forward towards the dinosaur. He passes Rose along the way and motions to the dinosaur.

'My lady friend!' The Doctor explains and then smiles at the dinosaur. 'Just an expression, don't get any ideas.'

'How do you know?' Strax inquires and the Doctor brushes his comments off with a sigh.

'Come on, Clara! You know that I speak dinosaur.' He insists and Clara huffs, coming to stand beside Strax with her hands on her hips.

'He's not Clara. I'm Clara.'

'Well, you're very similar heights. Maybe you should wear labels,' The Doctor frowns suddenly and begins to back away. He stops by Rose and turns to her, confusion written all over his face and Rose becomes alarmed. 'Why…why are you all doing that?'

'What? What are we doing?' Rose questions desperately and he grips her arm tightly for a brief moment before he lets go and shakes his head. Those eyes. Why do they make him feel the way he does?

'Why are you…you're all going dark…and wobbly – stop that.' He demands and Rose shakes her head not understanding while Clara gives him a funny look.

'I don't think we are.' She replies and the Doctor appears to have gotten over whatever has plagued him because he smiles at them.

'Never mind!' He declares and Rose frowns when she notices that he becomes a bit pale she closes the gap between them but he still distances himself from her. He takes a quick survey of everyone gathered before him and he claps his hands together. 'Everyone…take five.' He begins to fall backwards and Rose leaps to secure him in her arms and they tumble to the ground together. He's in a dead faint and Rose lands hard on the ground.

Everyone else springs towards them and Rose continues to study the Doctor carefully entirely numb to the emotions she's feeling right now. Some how so eerily similar to what she went through years ago, but it's different than before. So different. She reminds herself that he is the same. And yet she feels so helpless, just like before. She can be so tough about anything else but facing prospects like this make her feel like she's stuck, unable to do anything to help. Clara kneels beside Rose and watches her with a worried expression. She's been so closed off since this entire ordeal that Clara is concerned about her just as much as she the Doctor. Clara presses her lips together and continues to watch Rose hold the Doctor protectively in her arms; she's never even looked up at her or even acknowledged that Vastra, Jenny and Strax have joined them.

'Rose?' Clara calls softly and it takes her a moment before she finally breaks her silent vigil over the Doctor to look at her.

'Yeah?'

Clara bites her lip and motions to the Doctor. 'What do we do?'

Rose glances down to him once more and Clara can hear her softly sigh. 'We just get him somewhere comfortable. And we keep a tight watch over him until things get sorted out. That's about all we can do…'

Clara isn't surprised by her answer and yet she thought Rose would have more to say on the matter. A way to rouse him, to help him…instead they have to leave him to his own devices. She doesn't like feeling so helpless and lost, she assumes that Rose doesn't either but she has this ability to know when they need to back off or are in over their heads. Is this one of those times? What if he doesn't get better? She doesn't like that thought and so she tries not to dwell on it even if it continues to be such an invading thought.

Jenny and Vastra kneel beside them as well and after a careful inspection of the man who still lies cradled in Rose's arms there are more questions than answers. And so Jenny glances up to Rose, she obviously must know this man, why else would she be so protective over him?

'I don't understand, Rose, who is he? Where's the Doctor?' Jenny questions and Vastra runs a device over him to ensure that everything is all right. Rose glances to him before she shifts her gaze to Jenny.

'Right here. This man is the Doctor.'

Vastra lowers the device in shock and smiles half-heartedly at Rose. 'Well then, here we go again.'

'Can we take him back to your home, Vastra?' Rose wonders and Vastra is already on her feet and nodding her head. Jenny straightens up and glances to the TARDIS.

'Of course.'

'Thank you,' Rose stands as well and motions for Jenny to grab the Doctor's feet, which she does and Rose bends down to secure a grip under his shoulders. They hoist with difficulty and Rose motions to the TARDIS with her head. 'Let's get him to the TARDIS. I can take us back.'

Jenny and Rose begin shuffling towards the TARDIS while Strax moves to the door and opens it for them the closer they get. Vastra begins to follow them but Clara pauses in her own step and turns over her shoulder to look at the dinosaur that is splashing around in the waters and she presses her lips together before trotting to catch up to the others.

'But…what about the dinosaur?' Clara points back and everyone pauses, having forgotten that little problem. There is a quiet silence before Vastra walks towards Clara. When she puts her arm around Clara's shoulder she becomes slightly comforted.

'One problem at a time, dear Clara. Come.' Vastra instructs and leads Clara to the TARDIS where Rose is waiting at the controls. The moment Vastra and Clara enter and the door is shut, Rose powers up the controls and the TARDIS begins to dematerialise.

Rose attempts to keep her mind focused on the task at hand and effortlessly moves around the console, pressing buttons. Her mind is going a mile a minute, what to do about this situation, what will happen if she's unable to fix it and finally, perhaps strangely last, is what to do about the dinosaur that is roaring in the Thames. How will they get it back where it belongs? Situations like this test her mentally. There is a nagging feeling that is still in the back of her mind that is concerned about this entire ordeal. She is unable to stop thinking that there is a time, possibly now, that things between them will be so different they can't fix it. This incident here is proving that. He can't remember her. And as she hits the final lever for the TARDIS to land, her stomach begins to twist itself in a knot. This could be it. When things are resolved…she may just be on her own again. She looks down to the controls.

Such is life, isn't it?

---

Rose watches from the corner of the bedroom while he angrily paces around and Vastra tries desperately to calm him down. He had been out cold for nearly two hours after they had successfully managed to get him into a guest room at Jenny and Vastra's that she elected to take the first watch. Everyone else had gone down stairs to hold a silent vigil. Rose had slid down the wall and drawn her knees up to her chest. The moments before the regeneration reply over and over in her mind. She had regretted so many things that she had said to him over the course of their fight about certain things. They had agreed to let it go but something tells her he hadn't been entirely honest.

She had actually managed to shut her eyes for a brief moment and she hadn't realised she'd fallen asleep, entirely drained – mentally, physically and emotionally, until the sounds of movements echoed around her and she got up, knocking lightly and was granted entry. He had still been mightily confused but somewhat calmer and less flighty. Then the arguments had started. He claimed that he couldn't understand her. That she had been speaking some foreign language. Slowly her words down, announcing everything clearly hadn't helped. So she had attempted French…and then Russian. To no avail. In fact she believed it confused him further.

No, Charlie, no, I don't understand you…what are saying to me?

It's Rose. My name is Rose, Doctor…please, I know you know it…

But nothing had worked. Finally so exasperated, both at the fact that she hadn't been able to communicate with him properly and that he had maintained his calling of her as Charlie led her to call to Vastra for helping, hoping that perhaps she could talk some sense into him and succeed where she had failed.

Unfortunately Vastra hadn't had much luck either, the moment she had walked in the Doctor began to barrage her with questions as well. Most of which she had no answers for only seemed to aggravate him further. Rose is getting further and further to a point of declaring herself totally out of ideas. She's never gone through this before. Rose holds her right hand out in front of her…it's shaking. The tremor is slight, hard to notice but she can. Come to think of it she does feel rather odd, she can't pinpoint what it is exactly but it is there. She ignores it. It's what she's good at.

'It's simply misunderstanding to me. I don't know what it is.' The Doctor declares and Vastra sighs, pressing a hand to her head. Rose tilts her own and watches the Doctor heading towards the door. Rose holds her hand out.

'Doctor, wait, please!' Rose calls but he walks out into the hallway and Clara and Jenny who have had their ears pressed to the door the moment Vastra had gone upstairs at Rose's behest, leap back and get into standing positions, attempting to cover the fact that they had been eavesdropping.

The Doctor turns over his shoulder as the blonde's pleading voice made him do so. But instead he shakes his head. 'Who invented this room?'

Jenny takes the opportunity to sneak in past the Doctor and yanks Clara's arm and tugs her into the room as well. They see Rose in the corner by the vanity and Vastra by the window. Clara can see Rose is at her breaking point so she attempts to help her out as best she can. She manages to get the Doctor's attention but he doesn't hold it for long. Clara grows exasperated.

'Doctor, please, you have to lie down.' Clara points to the bed and he scoffs at her assessment.

'It doesn't make sense. Look, it's only got a bed in it. Why is there only a bed in it?' The Doctor wonders exasperated and Clara stares at him surprised while Rose goes over to the window and wraps her arms around herself while she thinks. She's becoming detached. She's running circles. How does she get off?

'Because it's a bed-room, it's for sleeping in.' Clara explains and the Doctor turns to her with a frown. None of them are making any sense. Why are they not making sense? And why do they sound so odd? It's spreading.

'Okay, what do you do when you're awake?' He wonders and he finds his gaze falling on the blonde girl, Charlie? No, that's not her name, is it? It's the only name he can associate with her though, but she keeps telling him no. Why is she being so distant now? She was so kind and caring hours ago…

'You leave the room.' The taller brown haired girl explains and he breaks his gaze with the blonde to look at her. She's not making sense either. It's starting to become exasperating.

'So you've got a whole room for not being awake in? But what's the point? You're just missing the room! And don't look in that mirror – it's absolutely furious.' He explains and Clara can't help but study the vanity mirror…all seems okay to her. Damn he distracted her from the issue at hand and so she attempts to get him to focus.

'Doctor, please, you have to lie down, you keep passing out.' Clara begs and the Doctor motions around the room as though the answer to statement is right there in front of her.

'Well, of course I keep passing out, there's all these beds!' He reminds her and Clara frowns before exhaling slowly. Maybe now she can see why Rose is so…detached. 'Why do you keep talking like that? What's gone wrong with your accent?'

'Nothing's wrong with her accent.' Jenny states and the Doctor shakes his head quickly. He feels as though he's about to lose his mind. Of course they wouldn't know if they have a fault. Hopefully he can fix it.

'You sound the same, it's spreading. You all sound all…English,' The Doctor pauses and then motions to Charlie. No wait, just the blonde. That'll be her name. 'Except her, she can't decide if she's French or Russian. She's got a serious fault that needs to be fixed. Actually, you all do. Do you realise that?'

Rose motions Vastra forward and she joins Rose over by the window. They listen to the Doctor and Clara continue to argue over the purpose of the bedroom. She thought this was going to get easier. That things would just sort of…fix themselves after they got him back here. But it isn't like that at all.

'This isn't making any sense, how can he think we're…why does he think our accents are faulty?' Rose wonders and Vastra folds her arms in thought, taking a look back to the Doctor who is angrily glaring at Clara.

'He said we sounded…English.' Vastra recalls and Rose scoffs and rolls her eyes at nothing.

'I wonder why. We're in England,' Rose retorts and widens her eyes as something strikes her. Oh, of course! How could she have been so blind? 'Vastra? How good are you at speaking with a Scottish accent? The last time I tried…I was told not to continue…'

'I can make it passable. Do you think it will work?' Vastra wonders and Rose continues to stare out of the window before turning to Vastra with a small shrug. She is running out of patience. She feels…she doesn't know. She presses her hands to her temple and Vastra places her hand on her shoulder before turning to the Doctor and clearing her throat.

'Doctor, I need your help with something,' Vastra declares in a shaky Scottish accent and he whips his head around and stares at her. Vastra leans into Rose and gives her a small smile. 'You're brilliant. Now let me see if I can get him to rest once more.'

The Doctor grips Vastra's shoulders and gives her a relieved smile. 'Finally, someone who can talk properly.'

Vastra takes his hand and begins to lead him back towards the bed. He reluctantly sits beside her only when she motions him to. 'I'm having difficulty sleeping.

The Doctor looks Vastra up and down and frowns. 'Oh? Oh, well, I wouldn't bother with that, I never bother with sleep, and I just do standy-up catnaps.' He declares and Vastra nods her head eagerly while glancing to Rose who seems to be holding her breath. Clara eagerly twists her skirt hem and hopes that whatever they're doing right now is going to work. She can't remember a time when she has been so lost on how to help.

'Oh, really, how interesting,' Vastra comments and pauses. She continues to think on her feet as quick as she can. She has to keep him talking. 'And when do you do those?'

The Doctor shrugs before smiling a bit. 'Well, generally whenever anyone else starts talking. I like to skip ahead to my bits, it saves time.' He explains and once more Vastra nods. She takes his hands in her and takes her time phrasing her request to him. She can feel herself getting closer to winning this mental game they seem to be engaging in.

'Save me time, Doctor,' Vastra implores and she takes his hands and placing them on either side of her head and closes her eyes briefly. 'Project and image of perfect sleep into the centre of my mind.' She begs and the Doctor nods his head quickly.

Vastra places her hands on the sides of the Doctor's head just as he removes his from her head. Rose feels her heart beating faster as he appears to be debating her request. Rose watches him look over Vastra's shoulder to her.

Before she knew exactly what he was trying to say to her. With a single look they could have an entire conversation and now…she just sees nothing but emptiness and unrecognisable longing. She can almost see him trying to figure out why he should know her and where she fits in to his memories. Even if he insists on calling her Charlie. It's embarrassing. He won't stop looking at her and so Rose has to look away first. Who can she speak to about how she's feeling? There is no one she can talk to about her fears and worries, as real or as unfounded as they may be because no one amongst them knows what their relationship was like. Maybe Vastra…but she would have to admit a lot of things. They would need to have such an in depth conversation…maybe this is bothering her more than it ought to because the last little bit of their time together before the regeneration hadn't exactly been the most pleasant. It could be why she's been so anxious and edgy. Oh, what she wouldn't give for the easier day when it was a regeneration and that was it. No drama. Wait a second…they all had drama. Leading up to it and after. You know…she isn't sure what she wants.

'What, do you want a psychic link with me? The size of my brain, it would be like dropping a piano on you.' The Doctor replies concerned and Vastra gives him a small smile before closing her eyes.

'Be gentle, then.'

The Doctor exhales and holds his hands against Vastra's temples. 'I'll try. Brace yourself! Piano.' The moment he touches her temples he promptly falls unconscious onto the bed without another word. Rose punches the air in victory and Clara closes her eyes in relief. She smoothes down the wrinkles in her skirt.

'I love monkeys, they're so funny.' Vastra muses and resumes speaking in her normal voice. She gets up from the bed and smiles turning over to the little group still before her but frowns when she sees Jenny's dark glare and rigid posture.

'Oh, I see! So people are monkeys now, are they?' Jenny wonders indignantly and Vastra smiles at her while walking towards her and places her hand on Jenny's cheek.

'No, dear. People are apes. Men are monkeys.' Vastra explains and Jenny relents, giving her a smirk, while Rose comes over from her place by the window, smirking also at Vastra's assessment, and helps Jenny and Vastra place the Doctor on the bed and Rose draws the bedcovers over him to get him comfortable.

'Rose, how did you know that would work?' Jenny questions and Rose absently shrugs her shoulders. She steals another glance at the Doctor before turning her morose gaze to Jenny. Her heart is heavy with sorrow.

'Honestly? I didn't. I took a risk. Thankfully some of us can speak with a better Scottish accent than others.' Rose replies and looks at Vastra with a small grin. Vastra merely closes her eyes in response.

Clara watches the three of them continue to converse while she continues to stare at the Doctor. How are they…so accepting of this? Why are they not making a bigger deal out of this? They keep talking about regeneration as a means he uses to heal himself but…why did he change? That…doesn't make sense to her. If he made himself better why doesn't he look like the person who she met? Why is he…older when he's supposed to be younger? Isn't there a way to change him back? Is this what's making him so…odd? Why he's having all these problems? Something during the regeneration process didn't heal completely or properly and now this is what they're here to fix. She hates that she's the only one concerned like this. The others don't seem to be concerned about this mess as she is. Clara presses her lips together and clears her throat. Everyone turns to Clara with a frown.

'So what do we do? How do we fix him?' Clara questions and Rose wraps her arms around herself and looks out the window. Clara notices and doesn't like the way Rose reacted. Seems as though that question is wrong, at least by Rose's actions.

Thankfully for Rose, Jenny answer's Clara's question. Regeneration can be confusing to those who have never experienced it first hand. It's an unsettling time for those involved especially when there are small technical snafus such as this one. Everyone needs time to get reacquainted with one another.

'Fix him?' Jenny echoes and Clara rubs her arms. She's getting that need to twist her skirt hem to work off her anxiety because of the way that Jenny and Vastra are looking at her.

Clara exhales, as it seems they need a better explanation for what she asked earlier. They don't understand, not good because neither does she. 'How do we change him back?'

Jenny looks nervously over to Vastra who walks towards Rose and places her hand on her shoulder. Rose angles her body to stare at Clara with a flat stare and closes her eyes sadly. Vastra gives Rose's shoulder a small squeeze and encourages her to go on. Rose feels drained and yet connected to Vastra. She believes that if she needs to unburden herself she can talk to Vastra. It isn't good to keep it all inside, is it? But she has no one else that would understand, does she? It can be so isolating.

'Clara…there isn't anything we can do. He just needs rest to get well. That's all.' Rose explains and keeps her voice barely above a whisper. How does she explain it to someone? There is no going back now. Rose watches Clara's face go white before draining of emotion and she looks to the floor.

'Oh…'

Another heavy silence follows and Vastra sighs lightly before glancing to Jenny with a small, tight smile. Time to change the subject and move on from this endeavour. 'Jenny…I will be in my chamber. Would you be kind enough to fetch my veil?'

Jenny frowns but nods her head nonetheless. 'Why, are we expecting strangers?'

Vastra looks to Rose with a small nod and Rose folds her arms and glances down to the Doctor. 'It would seem…there's already one here.' Vastra declares and strides from the room. Jenny begins to follow her but pauses as a distant roar is heard.

Both she and Rose head to the window to stare out in the direction of the Thames, listening carefully but nothing is heard again. It seems as though the four of them are going to have to put their heads together and figure this mystery out. Without him. It's an odd thing to think of. They always figure everything out with the Doctor…

She abruptly straightens up. She doesn't need him. She got along just fine without him, that much is obvious. If she needs to abscond with the TARDIS for a little while to draw the dinosaur back to its home then that's what she'll do. And she can do it with or without the help. And so help those that get in her way.

Rose glances up to Jenny when she puts her arm around Rose's shoulders and offers her a kind smile. Surely Jenny and Vastra must know of their once deep closeness. Try as they might they were never able to hide it well enough. She knows, knows well that this is just a little hiccup in the regeneration cycle but she feels as though that closeness has been eroded. And it's a feeling she's unable to expel from her mind. It's her heart preparing her for the worst. He might not love her anymore. And that perhaps her time on the TARDIS is numbered…

It's a depressing thought in and of itself but she isn't sure she could stand next to someone, to go on adventures with…to spend the downtime in here with someone who used to mean the world to her…but no longer does. Their history is too rich and saturated, with the good and the bad, to simply be cast aside. Maybe this is where her story concludes. It isn't Rose Tyler, the Doctor and the TARDIS as it should be. Maybe, and perhaps it always will be, the Doctor and the TARDIS. Because in the end…that's all that matters.

One thought at a time. She pays attention to the feelings she has festering within her because she has the itching feeling to dye her hair colour again. That's a sign either she wants change or change is coming to her. How about chestnut? Better than the coppery tones like last time. Quit jumping ahead, girl. One thing at a time.

'It will be all right, Rose. We'll think of something.' Jenny tells her softly and Rose covers Jenny's hand with her own, needing the comforting words and touches.

'Thank you. I'm glad we landed here. It's nice not to have to work this…oddity alone.' Rose confides and Jenny smiles. She's about to answer Rose when Clara's meek voice cuts in.

'What have I done wrong?' She wonders and Rose and Jenny turn to face her. Rose gives her a sad smile.

'Nothing, Clara. We haven't done a single thing. These things can happen after a regeneration cycle is triggered. He'll be okay. I promise. I've gone through this once before. Well, not exactly the same but close.' Rose promises and Clara raises her gaze from her feet to see Rose's eyes. She speaks in a tone that suggests all will be well, so why don't her eyes reflect that? Her smile doesn't reach her eyes. They're just dull. Like the light is out in her eyes.

Clara wants to ask her about it and as she opens her mouth to carefully inquire as to why, the dinosaur roars loudly in the distance. Clara moves her eyes to the window while Jenny and Rose do the same. They stare at the direction of the Thames and Rose believes the answer is simple. Take the TARDIS and attempt to recreate the problem in the first place. That should work.

'The dinosaur doesn't seem happy.' Jenny remarks and Rose nods her head.

'I can imagine. Plucked out of your home only to be put on display for people to gawk at. She's probably stressed and scared.' Rose replies and Clara kneels by the bed to study the Doctor.

How can it be that he's older when he was just younger? It doesn't make sense, he was supposed to just…heal himself and things were supposed to be okay. He was supposed to just be…himself. Not this new self. Why doesn't any of this make sense?

'What's wrong with it, do you think?' Clara questions, mostly to keep the intrusive thoughts out of her mind. She doesn't want to think of things like that. As confusing as they may be.

Jenny listens to another roar and frowns. It just sounds like a dinosaur roaring to her. If there is distress that the creature is feeling, it certainly doesn't come across in the ferocious vocal roar. She shrugs absently and turns to Clara. 'I dunno. The Doctor's the one that speaks dinosaur,' Jenny replies and squeezes Rose's shoulder before giving her a curt nod. 'Excuse me, ladies, the wife doesn't like to be kept waiting.'

'Where did he get that face? Why's it got lines on it? It's brand-new. How can his hair be all grey? He only just got it?'

Jenny is nearly out of the door when Clara's voice rings out and cuts Rose's deeply. Jenny can see the tear that falls down her cheek from her angle, Clara wouldn't, Rose has her back to her but seeing as though a question like that can be hurtful to someone who is mourning the loss of someone she knew and yet who is there still but struggling to remember her. Clara's lack of understanding hurts Rose because she wants to answer her but it means acknowledging her own fears and insecurities. Because of that Jenny answers Clara's question so Rose doesn't have to.

'It's still him, ma'am, you saw him change.' Jenny tells her, firmly but kindly. Rose appreciates the gesture. She doesn't know what other way to say it. She went through the same thing the moment the man in the leather jacket left her and replaced him with hair that stood on all angles and the most expressive brown eyes she could imagine. He remembered everything about the man before him. Including the single word uttered to her upon their very first meeting. The man is always the same. Deep, deep down.

'I know. I do, I…I don't know.' Clara admits with a sigh and finds that she's gripped the bedcovers tightly in her fist. She widens her eyes and releases them. Smoothing them out. How can she properly articulate what is truly bothering her. The lack of understanding about this whole ordeal? Can she say that? Will that truly show the others what she means.

The last two versions of the Doctor were young. She assumed that yes they were young but that they aged at a much slower rate than humans did. So why is it that he was able to repair himself on Trenzalor, so much so that he remained the same man. But why did that trigger a regeneration cycle. And why didn't he regenerate into another young man? Is that supposed to be how it works?

'Good.' Jenny's forceful tone shakes Clara from her thoughts and causes her to nod slightly while pressing her lips together. That little nagging feeling won't go away. They all seem to just have accepted this is how things are. Why can't she?

'It's just…' Clara begins but trails off, looking at the Doctor resting and Jenny rests her hand on the doorframe watching Clara before she glances to Rose who has wrapped her arms around herself. Poor thing.

'What?' Jenny wonders and Clara shrugs, shaking her head. It doesn't matter. There is nothing to be done to change it, what does it matter if she questions it more?

'Nothing,' Clara replies but finds her fear asking the next question as Jenny begins to leave the room. 'If…if Vastra changed, if she was different, if she wasn't the person that you liked…' Clara finds herself interrupted by Jenny. She could sense where Clara was going with her line of hypothetical wondering. She can't have that.

'I don't like her, ma'am, I love her. And as to different, well, she's a lizard.' Jenny states firmly and leaves the room in a flourish. The heel of her boot can be heard as she travels down the hall and into the room at the end of it.

Clara stands and fusses with the bedcovers, readjusting them to get the wrinkles out before she pauses and holds her hand out. She wants to rest it on the Doctor's but is unsure that would wake him. And she's scared. Her hand trembles slightly. She presses her lips together and swallows her fear, a tight lump in her throat and rests her hand lightly on the Doctor's. He doesn't move or even flinch and she finds herself smiling regardless. Don't worry, she wants to whisper to him, we're here for you and we'll help you. You have us all here behind you. She inhales sharply when the dinosaur roars faintly and she removes her hand, walking towards Rose who is still by the window, staring off. She isn't taking this well. And what's strange for Rose is that Clara can see it. Usually Rose is incredibly hard to gage. But Clara can read her every emotion in those dull eyes. It worries her further.

'Rose, can I ask you something?'

'Sure, of course you can.'

Clara looks to the Doctor briefly and then back to Rose. 'Why can't he remember your name?'

Rose finds herself smiling ironically and perhaps bitterly as well. 'I don't know but I suspect it had to do with our disagreement right before this incident happened.'

Clara frowns and stares up at her. 'Disagreement? You guys fought?'

'Sure. Although, never quite like this. He didn't like the company I chose to keep for a little while upon my return to Earth. It wasn't his business as we hadn't met up yet and he didn't know I was back. I'm sure it was the shock of someone like me paired with someone like…' Rose trails off and searches for the right word or phrase to describe someone like Charlie without admitting to Clara that he was a mafia don. Clara can see that Rose is struggling with a word or something of likes to finish her sentence. Clara decides to help her out.

'Charlie? Was that his name?' Clara wonders and Rose finds herself instantly relax at the mention of his name. Rose doesn't realise that she smiles intimately and her eyes get lighter. Clara notices it.

'Yes. It was.'

Realising instantly why the name sounds familiar, Clara nearly opens her mouth to spill the secret that she'd been keeping since she and the Doctor were in Chicago in 1931. By accident. After an interesting adventure the two of them had. That was the man she'd been with, she's certain of it. Clara had spotted Rose instantly in a beautiful hunter green, floor length dress staring out of the window in a hotel lobby by the banquet hall she'd just left. She had called to Rose, but she hadn't heard her and her second attempt was stifled by the Doctor's hand. She can't know they were there, he had said to her. It will spoil things. He had dragged her away to the opposite banquet hall where there apparently had been a wedding. Clara remembered being dragged by her arm away, seeing the hurt in the Doctor's eyes but Clara's gaze had been fixated on the man who had abruptly appeared beside Rose. How he had slipped his arm around Rose's waist and pulled her closer. How in love they looked and Clara's dreamy sigh when the man had tilted Rose's chin up to kiss her. It had been so romantic; she hadn't gotten the significance of that city and the year. Nor the man himself. The Doctor hadn't bothered to explain it and told her to stop asking questions about it.

In fact, the Doctor refused to answer any questions regarding Rose and that man for days. Even when they had been sneaking around a guest's hotel room in search of the creature that had hatched from the supposed pearl the Doctor left the bride and groom as a gift for the wedding they had crashed. Even when waiting in that hotel room for the…romp to finish between the two people staying there as that's where they had followed the escaped creature. That had been one hell of night and now that Clara knows the man's name that had been with her is the same man's name the Doctor had been calling her, then it opens up more questions and her curiosity is peaked. She presses her lips together and wants to know more but how can she ask without revealing that she had been there to see him?

'Seems like a funny thing to argue about.' Clara remarks and Rose nods her head.

'You have no idea,' Rose replies and then sighs. She presses her hand to her forehead. 'That must have been one of the last things on his mind before the regeneration happened. Damn.'

'I'm sure he'll remember your name, don't worry.' Clara attempts a smile and Rose gives her a tight one. That isn't the issue she's concerned about.

'I'm sure he will, too. It isn't the issue.'

'What is?'

'It's the fact that he promised me he wouldn't think about that subject anymore. And if he's calling me Charlie that means I know he's thought about it as recently as the regeneration.' Rose replies and she can tell her answer is a bit impatient. Clara nods her head quickly, attempting to understand and she knows that Rose's tone isn't meant for her. But it sounds like there is a lot of information that hasn't been told to her yet. And she doesn't want to pry exactly as it wouldn't help matters along anyway. It's mostly her own curiosity that she wants to sate. Besides how do you come out and ask someone what dating a man like this Charlie infuriated the Doctor so much that he needed to argue about it with Rose? Clara hides her shock. Was he a bad man? Was he a…criminal? No, couldn't be. Rose didn't associate with that type of person…did she?

It simply reinforces the fact that Clara really doesn't know much about Rose other than what she chooses to reveal at certain times and under her terms. What's worse, she knows even less about Rose and the Doctor together. They surely have something that they keep hidden. She can tell. Their relationship – the two of them – is different than the relationship that she has with the Doctor. But Clara can tell Rose worries that it won't be the same.

'I'm sorry…' It's all Clara can think to say and Rose shakes her head.

'Oh, it's not your fault. I'm sorry. It's just…irritating to me that he lied. Again.'

'Maybe it was just subconscious?' Clara offers and Rose sighs. She shouldn't be getting as cantankerous as she is. She nods her head and closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Let it go. She has to forget it. He's the jealous type, as is she. If he wants to call her Charlie until he remembers her name…fine. There isn't much she can do to stop him other than keep on insisting that her name is Rose.

She doesn't know how to answer Clara and so Rose stays quiet. Together they continue to stare out of the window, listening to the soft clicks of the horses on the cobblestone roads as they pull carriages. If things weren't the way they were currently, Rose might actually have an inkling to go out and have a wander around London. With or without company.

Rose and Clara turn around when the soft murmurs of the Doctor are heard and they turn back to face one another with a frown before slowly making their way over to him. Rose tilts her head and folds her arms while she stands by him and Clara gets on her knees once again to carefully listen to what he has to say.

'I am alone. The world which…shook at my feet, and the trees…and the sky, have gone…and I am alone now…alone.' The Doctor states and Rose sits on the edge of the bed to listen carefully to what he's saying.

'He must be translating.' Clara surmises without looking up to Rose and glances to the window thinking of the dinosaur still refusing to leave the Thames.

'If he is, it certainly solidifies my thoughts about the dinosaur. She's terrified and confused with where she is. We need to figure out how to get her back home. Quickly.' Rose replies and Clara nods her head at her. They both turn their attention back to the Doctor when he begins talking softly once again. Rose looks at him sadly.

'The wind bites now…and the world is grey…and I am alone here. Can't see me. Doesn't see me. Can't…see me.'

Clara frowns. It doesn't make much sense to her. How can they not see it? Is the dinosaur thinking of something or someone in particular? She leans a little further in so that he can hear her soft tone. 'Who can't see it? I think all of London can see it.'

Rose nearly covers his hand with her own when Strax appears in the doorway and clears his throat. Rose halts her actions immediately and Clara and Rose look over to the doorway simultaneously.

'Boys? Madam Vastra is waiting.' He informs them and Clara stands. Rose remains seated. She doesn't feel comfortable leaving the Doctor alone and so will stay behind. She's certain that Clara can relay any information that Vastra may inquire about. She watches Clara get to her feet and to the door.

'Okay, whatever. Rose, coming?' Clara pauses in the doorway and rests her hand on the frame. She frowns when Rose shakes her head lightly and motions to the Doctor.

'I'm going to stay behind, if you don't mind. Just to keep an eye on him. In case he may wake up disorientated or confused.' Rose watches Clara nod her head in agreement.

'Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, I figure Vastra wants to know what happened.' Clara replies and Rose smiles absently.

'I have no doubt you're right.'

Strax watches the blonde boy turn her attention back to the Doctor while the brunette boy turns back to him and he nods his head curtly. 'I will convey you to her chamber,' Strax motions for Clara to follow him and she does so. He turns back to her with his hand outstretched. 'May I take your coat?' He offers and Rose covers her smile while Clara stares at Strax confused.

Clara arches her eyebrow and presses her lips together. 'Not wearing a coat.'

That seems to surprise Strax because he widens his eyes and pauses in the hallway. He turns around and motions to Clara. 'What's all that?' He wonders, pointing to her.

Clara can only surmise that he must be referring to her outfit. 'Clothes.'

That answer seems to satisfy him because he smiles and nods his head. Once again he holds out his hand to her and smiles. 'May I take your clothes?'

Clara pauses and blinks. 'Probably not.' She strides down the hall and Strax trots to catch up with her.

Rose smiles inadvertently when she hears Strax's next inquiry float down the hall. She gets up from the bed and peers out of the door and down the hall where Clara is now leading them.

'Are you wearing a hat?' Strax wonders and Clara pauses and turns to him briefly before shaking her head and continuing on. He hurries to catch her.

'It's hair.' Clara responds with a firm tone and Strax shakes his head in response and points to Clara's head. Rose shuts the door softly but presses her ear to the door regardless, curious as to what Strax will say in response.

'No, I think it's a hat, would you like me to check?' He wonders and she doesn't hear Clara's response over the sound of the two of them descending the stairs to the main level. Rose is confidant that Clara will be able to answer all of Vastra's questions to the best of her ability. So then why does she have the feeling that Vastra's summoning of them is harbouring another meaning?

She goes over to the small vanity placed in the corner by the window and picks up the wooden chair there. She carries it over to the end of the bed and positions it close enough to the bed. Rose crosses her legs and tilts the chair legs back so that they are resting on the back legs. She tilts her head to lean it on the wall. He's fallen silent again and Rose presses her lips together.

Her worries plague her. What if they are unable to rouse him from whatever grips his mind? Is he lost in himself? How can she help him out of that haze if he can't remember her and their history together? To him she's just another face, who can't speak proper English and who he calls a name he doesn't realise he's attributing to someone else. That's still a new one to her. The last time he went into this haze he still recalled who she was when he managed to snap himself out of it. It just confirms her fears she had relayed to him earlier. What if he doesn't like her? What if…things between them are unable to be repaired? There is a knot in her stomach that twists tighter and tighter. If he doesn't awaken then they will handle getting the dinosaur back to the proper time on their own, she knows they can do it. That doesn't worry her. And it surprises her that it doesn't.

It's her selfishness that stuns her and how bad the need she has within her for things to be as they were, and the realisation that they might not drives it further and further home to her. Sometimes she can't adapt to change well. This will be one of those times. To her…to lose him…no she doesn't want that to happen but knows that there won't be anything she can do to stop it. She would miss the two of them sitting somewhere, anywhere, and he would lie beside her and count the stars while he called them all by name. She lets the chair go forward to rest on all fours while she gets up from the chair and kneels down by the head of the bed. She reaches to hold his hand tightly.

'I wish there was a way for you to tell me how I can help you…' Rose whispers and is a little surprised when he grips her hand lightly and she looks over to him. She smiles lightly and places her hand on his cheek. 'I don't like when you go places I can't follow.'

'Charlie…?'

'I'm here…' Rose breathes and bites the corner of her lip. He doesn't say anymore and Rose closes her eyes in defeat. So much for that. She straightens up and leans forward, placing a kiss on his cheek. 'Doctor, it's me, it's Rose. Just…listen to my voice and come back…'

She straightens up and sits back in the chair slightly morose when nothing comes of it, not that she expected it would, but she attempted to be hopeful. She closes her eyes and sighs, tilting the chair back once again and rests her head against the wall.

She begins to think of a solution to the problems that seem to get larger and larger. Well whatever comes of this, she hopes that Clara, Vastra and Jenny are having better luck than she is.

---

There were a lot of plants in the conservatory that Strax had led her to. It smelt like…the earth. It's nice. Relaxing however it was a tad on the humid side but when she got seated, she hadn't realised that she had quickly grown accustomed to it. There was a fine china set displayed on the table that is positioned in front of a grand wicker chair. No tea was it in the little porcelain china cups – still isn't any now, either. Vastra was poised in the wicker chair; her face was obscured by her intricate lace veil. She had a ridged posture, not very inviting, Clara immediately thought when she had walked into the room. Jenny had been off to the side, slightly off to the left of Vastra and had motioned to Clara to sit in the vacant seat opposite of Vastra's. She had sat down and hadn't felt…welcome. More like judged. And then Vastra hadn't said anything at all. Neither had Jenny. She had been forced to sit awkwardly, crossing and re-crossing her legs while she had waited patiently for someone to say something. For god sake anything.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity. Vastra inquired as to what had transpired in the TARDIS that had the Doctor regenerate, crash landing in London with a dinosaur that had managed to eat them. It had sounded so…unbelievable when Vastra recounted the chain of events and indeed, where does she even begin to explain how events happened without back tracking to Trenzalore? Should she start there? It seems only right, she can't very well start at the part where Rose and the Doctor erupted into an argument, well she guesses she could but she isn't sure she should, after all does she really want to portray Rose and the Doctor as incapable of working together because, really they can. She's seen it and they work amazingly together. Clara can feel her eyes shifting from Jenny to Vastra and she inhales before launching into her explanation.

'We…we were at Trenzalore. We went there because there was this message that was broadcast all across the universe and it summoned all these other beings and they were above this planet waiting for the signal to attack.' Clara begins and Vastra leans forward slightly highly intrigued.

'What happened then?' She questions, she believes that if she requires any further information or to fill in details that perhaps Clara is unaware of, she may need to go to Rose, or possibly the Doctor once his mind has settled. How odd things have become. More so.

Clara looks down to her hands folded neatly in her lap. 'Well the Doctor…he just sent us away. He decided to just fight all the other beings by himself. And he did that for centuries before Rose and I could get back to him. By the time we got back…he was an old man who didn't have anything left in himself to give anymore. He was ready for the end to come and somehow…the end didn't come. He fixed himself…or so I thought.

'When we all managed to get back to the TARDIS…he sorta changed. He was gone. And the TARDIS…Rose tried to pilot it as best she could and then he…tried to take control from Rose and they got into an argument. A loud argument…' Clara sighs trails off and stares at Vastra and tilts her head. From what she remembers, Vastra usually only wears her veil if she is going outside on a mission or someone comes to the house. While they may be expecting someone later, why is she wearing it in front of her? She's not afraid.

'And then?' Vastra watches Clara frown and search the room. She smirks lightly. This is getting rather…interesting. She wonders how much longer it will take for Clara to realise how closed off she is from change. She didn't need to worry about Rose. You could see the acceptance in her eyes and actions. In her heart…she has been through a regeneration before. Maybe more. It seems just Ms Clara is unreceptive of change.

'Why are you wearing your veil?' Clara finally questions and Vastra folds her hands in her lap and waits to answer her question.

'And then?' Vastra repeats and Clara sighs in defeat, okay so that question will not be answered at this moment…or ever…probably. Clara motions to the window.

'The argument stopped and we got swallowed by a big dinosaur. You probably noticed.' Clara remarks and once again Vastra smirks. Jenny sees the faint nod from Vastra for her to join the conversation. Still Clara hasn't realised their ulterior moment.

'How did it happen?' Jenny inquires and Clara doesn't really remember anything about how it happened. She does remember that Rose was shouting that whatever he had been pressing was inhibiting their ability to escape, slowing them down. She recalled Rose telling him to let her do this and he had insisted he could do it fine without her. The TARDIS stalled and they began to get tossed around. She had heard the dinosaur's jaw snap shut, echoing around them, she doesn't believe she'll ever forget that sound.

Clara lifts her gaze to Jenny and she is waiting patiently for her to answer her question. She begins to twist her hands in her lap. The more she thinks about it the more frustrated and anxiety ridden she becomes. Things changed. And she doesn't like it. She wants things back to the way they were.

'I don't know, I don't know, we were…crashing about everywhere. Rose was trying to get things under control and she and the Doctor were arguing but he was gone. It's like the TARDIS went haywire. Everything was…everywhere.' Clara confesses and Jenny glances over to Vastra who doesn't return her gaze but knows exactly how Jenny is looking at her. Time to get Clara more flustered.

'He's not gone. He's upstairs.' Jenny reminds her and Clara rolls her eyes. Distinction without difference in her mind at least.

'Okay, he changed.' Clara retorts and Vastra finds herself smiling at Clara's response to Jenny's reminder.

'He regenerated, renewed himself.' Vastra explains and Clara smirks sardonically at her.

'Renewed, fine.' Clara answers back with a curt tone and Vastra clicks her tongue at Clara.

'Such a cynical smile.' Vastra retorts and Clara stiffens, not appreciating Vastra's condescending tone at her response to her questions. Well, if she doesn't like it too bad, she's just relaying her frustrations about the situation.

Clara folds her arms. 'I'm not smiling.'

'Not outwardly, but I'm accustomed to seeing through a veil. How have I amused you?' Vastra adds when she sees Clara actually smiling. She knows that she is pushing Clara to really explore the uncomfortable spots within her so that she can really address what is bothering her.

'You said he renewed. He doesn't…he doesn't look renewed, he looks…older.' Clara informs them and Jenny looks away. Vastra leans forward.

'You thought he was young?' She inquires and Clara shrugs her shoulders slowly. Why does every question Vastra asks of her make her really stop and think about her reply. As though she is wrong for having those thoughts? Wrong for feeling what she is.

'He looked young.' Clara answers stiffly and Vastra is unable to stop herself from letting out a small, cold laugh. Clara folds her arms.

'He looked like your dashing young gentleman friend.' Vastra observes and Clara feels her face getting hot. She grips the cushion in her hands on either side.

'Shut up!'

'But he is the Doctor. He has walked this universe for centuries untold; he has seen stars fall to dust and everything in between. This is a reason he looked the way he did.' Vastra explains and Clara pauses, letting go of the cushion but frowning, really dissecting Vastra's words to her. She widens her eyes at what Vastra is implying. Again she feels her face getting hot.

'I never, ever flirted with him if that's what you're implying.' Clara states seriously and begins to wonder if maybe the three of them don't realise that the Doctor and Rose had something going on between them. Should she…point that out? Is she right to do it?

'If you insist. Most are unable to keep themselves from falling for the charm he seems to exude.' Vastra counters and Clara finds herself smirking.

'Some of us didn't.' Clara is unable to stop the words that fall from her mouth. Well guess the secret's out now, if it wasn't already.

'I do not count Rose amongst those. She is has a different relationship with him entirely. While I have not had the privilege of knowing the Doctor as long as she has, I do know that he does things for a reason. While you may not have flirted with him, he certainly flirted with you.' Vastra replies and enjoys watching Clara widen her eyes and her cheeks burn. She must not have realised that both Jenny and herself know exactly who the Doctor is to Rose and vice versa. It's obvious enough. Rose is immensely worried she sensed it the moment they all emerged from the TARDIS.

Clara frowns and attempts to get her heart rate lower. She hadn't liked the way Vastra ended her sentence. 'How?'

'Looking young – who do you think that was for?'

'Me?'

'Everyone,' Vastra replies seriously and Clara blinks. Vastra smiles. 'I wear a veil as he wore a face – for the same reason.'

'What reason?' Clara wonders and Vastra tilts her head at her inability to see.

'The oldest reason there is for anything…to be accepted.'

'Oh…' Clara's eyes dart to the ceiling. She hopes that everything is going okay up there. She wonders if he's awoken at any point. If he has she believes Rose will be able to help him…still. Why does she feel so hopeless?

---

Something…smells. He sniffs twice, memorising the scent. Whatever that smell is…it's enticing. So he inhales deeply and sits up. Right this room. A bedroom that's what the brunette called it. A room with a bed in it for sleeping – still doesn't make sense to him. He turns his head to the right and catches a glimpse of the woman with blonde hair sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. Is she sleeping? She must be, it is a bedroom. So then why is she sleeping in a chair? Weren't there others in here, too, at some point?

He continues to stare at the blonde. He dreamt of her…with the golden halo, and of a very real power within her that should scare him. Instead it draws him closer to her. I create myself…I want you safe…I declare…

He dreamt they had adventures together in far away places. But at one point he turned around and she…she wasn't there. Her hand wasn't in his and it devastated him. He didn't know what to do without her. So he continued on…he had more adventures with new people he found along the way. And then he found himself in front of some kind of…door and when he opened the door there she was. She was back. It made him so happy…but he couldn't tell why she was unhappy. She was different. She felt different. Again…no way to tell why. He knows her and yet he doesn't. But he did know that he was so immensely grateful that she was back. He needed her; it wasn't the dream telling him that. It was a physical need. Look at her sleeping. Look at how beautiful she is. Why's she frowning? He doesn't know what she's frowning at. She's asleep, how can you be angry while you're sleeping? He pauses and draws back from her before leaning in once again.

Her breathing is soft, light and even. He watches her for a moment longer. He wants to know why he feels so close to her. Should he wake her up and ask? This would probably be a good time to ask. Is it rude to wake someone up who's sleeping in a room designated for sleeping?

He widens his eyes when he's abruptly staring at a stunned pair of hazel eyes. He can't move. He's frozen. And she's holding her breath. What does he do now? What does he even say to her?

'Hi…' Rose breathes and he pulls away from her. Thankfully she asked first. That's easy enough to work with. He only remembers her voice when they were shouting at one another, why were they so angry at each other? 'Are you…feeling better?'

'You're still…not making much sense.'

Rose smiles, he seems less…flighty now. 'The last time I tried to make sense, you told me to stop.'

'I did? When?'

'Oh, a very long time ago. When it was just you and me. Forever ago.' Rose watches the Doctor sit on the bed and to her it's very obvious that he's attempting to process the information. She doesn't want to over load him with anything further lest he get his mind stuck on a loop attempting to recall the memories. She wants to sit beside him but at the same time she doesn't want to push him away because he perceives it as uncomfortable.

'I can't remember.' The Doctor admits and Rose pushes her fears aside and discomforts and sits beside him regardless. He looks over to her and Rose covers his hand with hers. She's glad he doesn't pull away but he does watch her carefully.

'I know…it's okay. You will.' She encourages and the Doctor looks down to her hand once again. She hopes that if he is attempting to remember things about the two of them, that they're good and not the bad ones that seem to plague their final days.

'I dreamt of you…' He tells her abruptly and Rose stares at him stunned. She tilts her head and widens her eyes. Good thing or bad thing. The Doctor notices her stunned expression and quickly attempts to back peddle. 'No! No, no, what I mean is, um, I think, think – yes, that the word I need – I was remembering things about you.'

'Good things, I hope.' Rose replies and the Doctor looks around.

'I think so…you always seemed to have…' He pauses and inhales deeply. Rose notices the odd reaction and begins to scan the room as well. Everything seems to be rather sound. 'You always had a golden halo.' He finishes his thought and Rose is taken back by the vision of her with the power residing within her. He abruptly gets up and gets on his hands and knees, looking under the bed.

Rose is curious, both of his comment and his strange action and turns to the other side, laying on her stomach and shifting herself forward to lift the bed skirt and look under the bed as well. She can't see anything but he's already finished with the bed and has begun to move on to the radiator. He studies it carefully before scrabbling with his hand underneath it.

'What have you found?' Rose wonders and the Doctor pulls out a long piece of chalk, holding it under his nose and inhaling deeply. He then marks the chalk against the radiator and Rose presses her lips together. What is he doing? He is fixated again and doesn't answer her when she repeats her question to him. Still no answer.

The Doctor glances to the chair the blonde had been sitting in and grabs it into his hands, he turns to her and she's standing by the bed looking confused. So he shoves the chair into her hands, rather roughly so she falls back onto the bed and he points to her feet.

'Stay there, don't move.' He instructs and gets back down onto his hands and knees and continues to mark with the chalk all surfaces off the floor, beginning in one spot before moving on to another. Rose rests the chair at the foot of the bed while she stands up.

She covers her mouth in surprise and watches the Doctor continue to work in a flourish. She can't even think of anything to say, she's transfixed by what he's doing. He's moving with such haste to cover the entire floor that she's begun to turn in small circles to see if there is some kind of pattern. She can't seem to find one but the Doctor is moving faster, seemingly he aims to cover every inch of this floor. But why? He's entirely focused on his task and ignores her when she questions what he's doing.

There's goes that worry in her again. She's never seen him act like this before. Is he still attempting to work through missing parts of his memories and this is the only outlet he can think of to express them? He told her he dreamt of her with a golden halo, so clearly is remembering one of the most important times in their relationship, which does kinda make her feel good. He remembers important things, she just needs to help him sort through the rest.

Both of their heads shoot up when the faint roaring of the dinosaur is heard in the distance. She hopes that those surrounding the Thames when they left are leaving the poor creature alone. It's one enormous problem she isn't sure how to solve yet. And truthfully she wishes to ensure that the Doctor is safely taken care of before she goes gallivanting in prehistoric times.

The sound of the door opening draws her attention back to the Doctor who is standing there and peering out into the hallway. He leans out a bit further before straightening out and shutting the door. He turns over to Rose. The way he's looking at her makes her believe he's judging her for still standing on the bed.

'Door. Boring. Not me, right?' He looks up at Rose and she pauses. Lie or tell the truth. To lie means to potentially shape him incorrectly, especially if he's relying her to help him through the fog. She has to be honest.

'Definitely not you.' She agrees and sighs lightly. He dashes over to the window and opens it in a flourish.

'That's me!' He declares and climbs through the window out to the roof. Rose widens her eyes and holds her hand out to stop him but the words are lost in her mouth. She grabs the chair and positions it halfway from the bed to the window so she won't ruin anything, just in case they need to revisit his artwork.

'Doctor!' Rose shouts when she reaches the window ledge. She can't see him and so she climbs through and wraps her arms around herself. Bloody hell it's cold out here.

She gasps as she watches him run along the rooftops towards the Thames and she hastily trots to catch up to him. These damn clay shingles are hard to get a good grip on and few times she cries out as she loses her balance, throwing her arms out to stop herself from tumbling over the side. This night keeps on getting stranger and stranger. At least she knows where he's going. She just has to make there either with him just after. There is no way she'll beat him to the dinosaur…but she also wants to be there with him just to experience what he does.

---

Clara watches Jenny enter the room over Vastra's shoulder carrying a black lacquered tray with a teapot and cups with milk and sugar. Jenny sets the tray down on a side table and Clara is rather relieved that Jenny returned. The conversation had lulled dramatically when she left. Clara had been too peeved by Vastra's assumptions to attempt small talk. She had been too thoroughly ticked. The sound of Jenny clinking spoons onto saucers and the tea hitting the china cups shows Clara that she's been thirsty, and hopefully a strong cup of tea will help cool her off. Jenny turns around with two saucers and cups in her hands and gently passes one off Vastra who accepts it without saying anything and then to Clara who smiles at Jenny and thanks her. Jenny nods her head and goes back to the table to get a few cubes of sugar and she walks back to Vastra's outstretched hand and drops the two sugar cubes into the cup while handing Vastra a spoon.

Clara takes a few small sips and watches Vastra above the lip of the cup as she gently stirs the tea, tapping the spoon against the cup before placing it back on the saucer. Okay, this is getting awkward. The lingering silence is getting heavy. Vastra won't say anything but Clara does catch a lingering smirk on Vastra's face. What's there to smile about, does Vastra enjoy getting her all riled up?

Finally Vastra sets the cup back onto the saucer and leans forward to the table and sets the cup and saucer down. She leans back into her chair before waiting for Clara to do the same. When Clara does get the hint she sets her teacup down onto the table as well.

Vastra motions to Jenny who has resumed standing over Vastra's shoulder. 'Jenny and I are married, yet for appearance's sake, we maintain a pretence, in public, that she is my maid.'

Jenny rolls her eyes and straightens up slightly. It doesn't go unnoticed by Clara. She instantly feels for Jenny. 'Doesn't exactly explain why I pour tea in private.' She mutters with an annoyed tone.

Vastra smiles. 'Hush now.'

Jenny's look falls flat and Clara lowers her gaze to Vastra. 'Good pretence, isn't it?'

Vastra continues on as though Jenny hadn't said anything. Clara can see Jenny look away. 'I wear a veil to keep from view what many are pleased to call my disfigurement. I do not wear it as a courtesy to such people, but as a judgement on the quality of their hearts.'

Clara grips the armrests of each chair and feels her temper flare. 'Are you judging me?' She questions hotly and Vastra ignores her.

'The Doctor regenerated in your presence. The young man disappeared, the veil lifted. He trusted you. Are you judging him?'

Unable to take Vastra's misconceptions of the relationship she fostered with the Doctor she stands in a flourish and points at Vastra feeling immensely irritable and uncaring of how cold or impolite she's being. Jenny feels a slight smile on her face as she watches Clara become impassioned and her voice rings with conviction.

'How dare you! How dare you!' Clara states angrily and balls her fists at her side. 'Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, last of the five good'uns, stoic philosopher.'

Vastra sits back against her chair no longer under the guise of her veil. She allows Clara to become further emotional. 'Superlative bass guitarist – the Doctor really knows how to put a band together.'

'Well that was the only pin up I had on my wall when I was fifteen, the only one I ever had,' Clara states angrily and feels her insides shaking with rage at Vastra's perceived notions of who she is as a person. It incenses her beyond belief. 'I am not sure who you think you're talking to right now, Madam Vastra, but I have never had the slightest interest in pretty young men. And for the record, if there ever was anybody who could flirt with a mountain range, she's probably standing in front of you right now! Just because my pretty face has turned your head, do not assume that I am so easily distracted!'

'Whoo! Woo-hoo!' Jenny begins to applaud but it slowly dies down when she notices that all the inhabitants in the room have started to stare at her. She stops entirely and clears her throat, feeling the heat creep into her cheeks.

Vastra leans forward in her chair and is remarkably impressed with Clara's sudden realisation and declarative statement. She rather likes the fact that Clara has finally chosen to speak her mind, she often wondered about her. Still the fact that she has not noticed the lack of veil is telling.

'Well…' Vastra chuckles lightly to herself. 'Goodness me! The lake is ruffled at last. I often wondered what you'd be like when you lost your temper.' Vastra gives her a slight smile, it bothers Jenny and so she steps beside Vastra and gives her a light tap on the head, which causes Vastra to hiss from surprise.

'Oi! Married.' Jenny states and places her hands on her hips. When Vastra stands she turns to Jenny with a slight smile and places her arm on Jenny shoulder.

'Come now dear, I've overlooked the glances you passed along Miss Tyler's way upon your last interaction,' Vastra whispers to Jenny and Jenny leans back with a shocked look in her eyes. Clara misses the exchange between Vastra and Jenny and before she can inquire, Vastra has turned around to face Clara. 'The Doctor needs us, all of us; Miss Tyler cannot be tasked with bringing him home from the ruination of his mind. It will take us all. You more than anyone.'

Vastra walks by her with Jenny following suit and Clara goes along as well before a striking difference hits her, she pauses in her step and calls out to Vastra who has stopped in the doorway when she hears Clara's question.

'When did you stop wearing your veil?' Clara takes a few steps towards them and notices Jenny's confident smirk and Vastra's sly one.

'When you stopped seeing it.' Vastra disappears around the corner and Clara stands there surprised by her words and Jenny's satisfied smirk. Jenny motions Clara towards her and she smiles when Clara draws closer.

'Come along, Miss. Madam doesn't like to be kept waiting.' Jenny insists and ushers Clara out into the hallway and towards the grand staircase.

For the first time since this whole ordeal has occurred Clara feels at ease. With Jenny and Vastra's help, she's certain that they will help her and Rose figure out a way to get things back to normal. And they will she knows it. However that explosion that rattles the house causes Jenny and Clara to stop and turn over their shoulders, listening to the rattling of the crystals of the chandeliers above them. They frown and look towards one another for answers. Explosions are never a good thing, especially since she's rather certain that it came from the direction of the Thames. Clara presses her lips together and watches Jenny disappear up the stairs, time to get the battle uniform on, she declared. Something tells her she's going to need it.

---

Rose continues to chase after the Doctor who, for being asleep for more than a few hours, is running quite well and at a very decent pace. He's more assure of himself on the rooftops while she is staring at her feet while she attempts to steady herself while she jumps from one roof to the next. The Doctor hasn't even acknowledged her nor the fact that she's been following him since the beginning. And another thing, it's freezing out here. She's caught a chill; if she's cold she can't imagine how cold he must be just in a nightshirt. Her lungs burn from the cold every breath she takes.

'Doctor! Would you stop for a second?! Doctor!' Rose calls to him but he's at least a few rooftops ahead of her and she's worried he doesn't hear her until he shouts back a few moments later.

'Can't slow down, Charlie! I have to get to her!' He shouts back and Rose puts on another burst of speed to catch him. Damn his stubbornness. And damn the snow that's been falling and causing the clay to become slick.

'We can still get to her safely! You're worrying me!' She attempts another angle, maybe then he'll remember that when she's worried, he sometimes will stop and take a moment to tell her that her fears are irrational. That doesn't happen. And she doesn't know why she isn't surprised.

He continues to run towards the Thames, shouting and waving his arms. 'Oi! Oi! Oi, big, sexy woman! Oi! Sorry. Sorry, it's all my fault. My time machine got stuck in your throat. It happens,' He tells the dinosaur apologetically when he stops at the final house that sits beside the Thames. Rose breathes a sigh of relief when she sees that he's finally stopped. She darts towards him and vaults herself over the gap between the final houses the separate them. 'You know it's funny, but that's actually how I meet girls, ask Charlie, here. I think. I think I used my time machine, Charlie, did I? Tell her how we met.' He instructs when Rose comes to a rest beside him, drinking in the cold air and she nods her head, still a bit on the odd side of things that she's addressing a dinosaur.

'Is she even going to understand me? I don't speak dinosaur.' Rose wonders and the Doctor turns to Rose and nods his head at her. She can tell he's really enjoying this; he's excited and happy. It's hard for her not to be as well, just because he is.

'You're smart! That's true, tell me then and I'll tell her.' He replies and Rose nods her head.

'Okay, if you want me to. Yes, you did use your time machine.' Rose replies and decides to forgo any more details; they won't matter to him, as he doesn't remember them well enough. They can wait, hopefully, until the bigger problems have been settled. And they can have a chance to sit and talk. But will that ever happen? It worries her.

The Doctor gets excited and turns his attention from the flushed face of Charlie – is it really that cold out? – to the dinosaur. He keeps to himself the small details he suddenly remembers of Charlie pressed against a wall and a lot of shop window dummies surrounding her. That's funny. Why does he remember that?

'See, I do meet girls that way! Charlie's been around for a while. That's cause I keep her safe, don't I?' He wonders and Rose nods her head at him when he turns to her for confirmation. 'I kept her safe. And I swear right now to you, I promise you that I will get you home. I swear, whatever it takes,' He pauses and uses his hands to motion his thoughts. He glances to Charlie and she smiles at him. A tender smile. One that says she believes in him. That's very reassuring. 'I will keep you safe. You will be at home again.'

Rose is about to reach for his hand when the dinosaur abruptly bursts into flames and cries out from the shock and her hands fly to her mouth. Both she and the Doctor can only watch on helplessly with no way to neither stop nor protect her from it. 'No! Oh, my god! Stop!' She screams and immediately scans both the Thames and the skies to see if there is something somewhere that will show her where the assault is coming from. But it's nothing helpful. The night sky reveals nothing to her. And the Thames appears to be empty as well.

The Doctor rushes a few more feet forward. 'Stop that! Who's doing that? No, don't do that.' He begs and turns around, running off while the dinosaur collapses into the Thames and Rose watches on in horror. She is about to turn to the Doctor and ask him what they can do to help her when she sees him running off along the roof tops again.

She bites her lip and looks back to the dinosaur before tearing off after the Doctor. He's already put quite the distance between them and once again he ignores her calls for him to slow down and to be mindful of his step. She watches him continue to run until he abruptly takes a side step and leaps into a nearby tree. She widens her eyes when she hears the leaves rattling, the Doctor groaning and the sounds that tell her he didn't quite make the landing and hopefully hasn't hurt himself judging by the cracks the branches make when he hits them.

Rose pauses on the roof above the mews and listens while he lets out a sigh of relief and she lowers her centre of gravity and slides down the side of the room, once she gets to the end she side jumps off the roof where she lands in front of the Doctor who is hanging upside down and staring at her. She begins to see if there are any carriages coming their way that they can take to the Thames but the Doctor shouts at her. At least she believed it was at her.

'Halt!'

Rose turns around to see that he's managed to stop the large carriage that has approached them from behind. The pair of horses stomp the ground impatiently. Impressive considering he's still hanging from a tree branch he managed to snag with his legs and is currently hanging upside down. The man operating the carriage stops and Rose smiles at him.

'Thanks for stopping!' She replies and the man stares at the pair of them with a confused look and he merely gives her a small uneasy smile.

'Sorry, I'm going to have to relieve you of your pet.' The Doctor declares and the man looks up to the Doctor with a frown before dropping his look to Rose who smiles.

'He's gonna what?' He questions Rose and she shrugs, truly not knowing where things are going at this point. 'You're gonna what?' The man wonders and looks up to the Doctor who is shaking his head quickly.

'Shut up, I was talking to the horse!' The Doctor replies angrily and he drops from the tree branch and lands on the horse uneasily. 'Charlie, can you ride?'

Rose climbs up onto the carriage and sits on the same bench the driver is sitting on and she claps him on the shoulder before taking a small leap onto the second horse beside the Doctor and she looks over to him. 'Not well.'

The Doctor smirks at her and leans back to use the sonic on the reins, severing them entirely and it causes the Doctor's horse to rear while Rose tightens the reins in her own hands and feels herself getting nervous, her stomach tightening into knots.

'What are you doing?' The man demands and the Doctor ignores him entirely.

'Forwards!' He shouts and his horse takes off while Rose digs her heels into her horse's sides and it begins to take a slow start before awkwardly breaking out into a run. Her legs begin to hurt from how tense her muscles are in an attempt to remain straight and level. Riding bareback is not easy and as she leans forward to keep in sight the Doctor, who of course makes it look easy, Rose whispers into her horse's ear.

'Listen, it's my second time doing this but we need to catch up, think you can go faster?' She pauses and frowns. 'Like you'll understand me.'

Surprisingly she does pick up speed, she lets out a cry of surprise and soon closes the gap between her and the Doctor. She holds on for dear life. They continue to weave themselves through the London streets, people quickly stepping out of the way and Rose attempts to ignore the wind as it bites into her cheeks and the tears that form in her eyes. The river never seemed so far away from them before.

'You're not doing bad for someone who's never ridden before.' The Doctor calls back to her and Rose smiles at him. They're nearly side-by-side now.

'Thanks, it's not easy.'

They come up to a sharp left and the horse wishes to go right so the Doctor begins to yell at the horse. 'Left! No, no! Right, right, right, right! Sorry, it's my new hands. I can't tell them apart.'

'Your other left!' Rose calls and he nods his head in agreement.

'That could work!' He replies and Rose winks at him when he turns back to her. He looks away quickly. She's making him blush. Could she always do that?

Their horses slide along the cobblestones from the slickness of the streets. Rose gasps and believes for sure that she is going over the side of the horse but remarkably she manages to hang on. Her heart is beating wildly in her chest. The Doctor turns back to her briefly and masks it as a quick check. This woman follows him without hesitation, is concerned for his well being…she has to be special to him. She just…knows how to do things, he's certain of it. What he isn't certain of is what kind of things and why. There is more to her than meets the eye, he sensed it the moment he set eyes on her. He could sense her complexities, why else would she blindly follow him without fear or anything of the likes. He's transitioning into this new life, a new beginning. Truly she was meant to be here with him right now because those people and situations that don't fit the new him would tend to fall away. She does not. He feels torn between the nostalgia that he should know without question or hesitation and for the familiar with has disappeared within his mind.

And yet what he has is a craving for the foreign and strange. The only sure thing he knows, the surest thing he knows is that that woman riding a horse through London town with a slight expression of frozen fear on her face, is meant to experience everything with him. Because when he steals another look at her - she's carefully tightening the reins in her hands – she has that about her. A look of otherness, of eyes that have seen things much too far and thoughts that have wandered off the edge of the world. And he wonders why. Why such a profound connection to her when he feels as though he's just met her but has actually known her for lifetimes. A woman bathed in gold. A gold dust woman. Does he need to schedule in a time to have a frank discussion with her? She's just blindly following him, does he make her stop? He notices her horse slides as they round the next corner and she lets out a small squeak of surprise.

'What it on the corners, it's a bit slippery!' The Doctor calls back to Rose and she finds her look become flat. Her heart is racing in her chest and she truly believed that she was going over with the horse.

'Yeah, thanks, I gathered that.'

'You're really not good at this, are you?' The Doctor wonders and Rose shakes her head at him.

'Nope, my first and only riding experience was in Aquitaine, that was also high stakes gamble.' Rose calls to him and the Doctor turns over his shoulder to frown. He… can picture that scene. She had been riding a brown horse in a long dress reflective of the twelfth century. Why does he remember that? Was he there?

'Did the gamble pay off?'

She nearly tells him that he ought to know, he was there. But rather than risk the incident that could happen, she doesn't mention anything. Instead she offers him a smile that causes him to look away quickly. 'It sure did.'

'Eleanor was happy, wasn't she?' The Doctor wonders and pauses at his words, who's Eleanor? Rose stares at him.

'What?'

'What?' The Doctor repeats and Rose doesn't press the matter further. There goes her heart rate. Racing through the night on a horse she has no business riding and recalling past adventures in medieval France. Steady now…the last thing she wants is for him to get jolted at once will all his past lives.

'Never mind…' Rose focuses on correcting the horse as they take the next corner sharply. The wind is biting into her cheeks reddening them. Each breath she takes hurts her lungs the air is so cold, it gets suck in her throat.

Nothing more is said between them and Rose can feel the awkwardness growing. Her fears become reignited. What if they can't fix what has been damaged between them? She knows it's too early in the grand scheme of things to start questioning things like that but she is unable to stop herself. Fear the unknown.

When they arrive at the closest bridge that crosses over the Thames the wind is the only thing making a noise. People have gathered around to see the spectacle, Rose slows her horse down and watches as the Doctor dismounts his own horse and leaps onto the railing to over look where the dinosaur once stood before it was brutally killed. Rose carefully swings her leg over the horse and gets down, trailing behind the Doctor and she studies him carefully as he mutters apology after apology to the dinosaur. She wants to tell him that it will be okay, that it wasn't his fault but she knows better. It was their fault. It was their fault they allowed themselves to be swallowed by her and then time travelled with her while lodged in her throat. They brought to an unknown world, she was scared at her surroundings and while they promised to help her and bring her back to the world she knew, they utterly failed at that. They lied to her. They are supposed to help not lie. So Rose doesn't say to him because in doing so it would be an insult and more than likely upset him further. She rests her elbows on the railing and stares at the dinosaur, wondering what or who had the capacity to do that to her. Is there something more sinister at foot here? And if there is then it's up to them to stop it. The fact that the dinosaur's remains are still smouldering cause Rose to straighten up and declare silently that she will find answers to this. Are there similarities to anything else? Can they connect the dots and find out where to start looking.

A carriage pulls up abruptly and Rose turns over her shoulder relieved to be able to identify it as belonging to Vastra. The door swings open and Clara steps out relieved to see Rose followed by Jenny and Vastra. Strax hops down from the driver's seat and Vastra uses a remote to arm the carriage.

'Rose! Doctor! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting. Rose…why'd you let him leave?' Clara chides and Vastra places her and on Clara's shoulder before stopping at Rose's side and gives her a tight smile.

'Wherever there is trouble, Clara, where else would he be?' Vastra replies and Rose looks up to the Doctor when he calls down to her and she waits for him to go on. He points to the dinosaur.

'She was scared. She was scared and alone. We brought her here and look what they did.' He laments and Rose nods her head agreeing with him.

'We will find the connection.' She tells him and his eyes light up, but before he can answer her, Vastra has looked at the dinosaur's remains and closed her eyes.

'Who or what could have done this thing?' She questions and the Doctor shakes his head at her.

'No.' He tells Vastra firmly and she looks up to him.

'I'm sorry?'

'No. That is not the question. That is not where we start.' The Doctor informs them and Strax takes a step towards them and motions to the Thames believing that he understands what the question and starting point should be, because he's superior, of course.

'The question is how. The flesh itself has been combusted…' Strax begins but the Doctor silences him with a single look.

'No, no, shut up! What do you all have for brains – pudding?' The Doctor wonders exasperated and turns around to see the small group that seem to collect around staring at him with dumbfounded expressions.

'Doctor!' Rose scolds and he turns to her and taps her on the head.

'Look at you. Why can't I meet a decent species? Planet of the pudding brains!' The Doctor sighs angrily and Clara walks up to the railing and glances at Rose who has an unreadable expression on her face. Clara leans forward so that the Doctor can see her and he frowns at her. Rose turns to rest her back on the railing watching the crowds thicken. People are staring at the Thames. She continues to scan the crowd until her gaze stops on one person in particular. She straightens up.

'Doctor…I know you're upset, but you need to calm down and talk to us. What is the question?' Clara wonders as she slowly comes towards the railing just in case her movements startle him. She grips the rails first and then eases herself beside him. When Clara looks back to Rose, she's not watching the smouldering dinosaur – or what's left, she's watching the crowds.

'A dinosaur is burning in the heart of London. Nothing left but smoke and flame. The question is…have there been any similar murders?' The Doctor wonders and Vastra widens her eyes and nods her head quickly, rather annoyed she missed the connection at first.

'Yes! Yes, by the goddess, there have!' She exclaims and watches the Doctor turn around to stare at the crowds that have grown in numbers on the embankment. They are nattering amongst themselves, pointing at the mess in the Thames.

The Doctor notices that the blonde – Charlie, is staring at something off to the side. He leans into her and Rose holds her breath, he's so close to her now. She swallows.

'What are you watching?' He questions, keeping his voice low so the others can't hear him just yet. He wants to see if he and Charlie noticed the same thing.

'Of all those who are gawking…why isn't that man?' She points to an odd man with only half a face who is showing no emotion, not fear or excitement, just a blank slate almost as if he is only half alive. 'Do you see him? A dinosaur has died in the Thames. And he's just staring.'

'You noticed him?' The Doctor echoes and Rose nods her head. He likes her more and more. She notices the unusual. Things that aren't right…she's done this before, hasn't she? Beauty and brains. He likes it. He likes her. Oh. Hang on…

'I think he sticks out more than anything or anyone else here. He's intriguing. Don't you think?' Rose turns to him and the Doctor is nodding his head. He's awfully close to her. She bites the corner of her lip and looks away.

'What are you two chattering away about?' Clara calls and the Doctor points to those still gathering on the embankment, looking on gleefully.

'We were talking about all those people over on the embankment – gawking!' The Doctor replies and Clara looks over to them. Indeed…they're drawn to this…gory scene. The Doctor's voice rattles her attention and she looks to him. 'Question two. If all the pudding brains are gawking…then what is he?'

Everyone but the Doctor and Rose turn over to the man who is watching the event unfolding before him and yet offers no reaction. Jenny frowns at the man's lack of movements and Vastra offers a rather cold half smile at the man's stature. He certainly can't be human. He lacks emotions.

'He seems remarkably unmoved by the available spectacle.' Vastra observes and while everyone has their eyes on Vastra the Doctor slowly backs up and turn around to face the waters where he makes a split second decision just as Clara begins to voice her opinion.

'Do you think that's whoever…?' She stops mid sentence as everyone's heads snap around to see a vacant spot where the Doctor used to be standing only to be replaced by a splash. Rose peers over in hopes of seeing him but she can see nothing but the black waters of the Thames. Her heart is pounding in her chest as her eyes dart from left to right trying to see him. 'Oh my god, what's he doing?! He'll drown!' Clara cries out and leans over the rails to try and see him.

'I very much doubt it.' Vastra replies calmly and looks over to Rose who has herself a blank look on her face. Vastra understand immediately what she will do and has gone to a place within herself to help her focus on the mission at hand. Ah, how many times has she too gone to that place?

'Why?' Clara has rooted her fingers into her hair and slowly lowers her hands instead to twist her skirt hem. And why the hell is she the only one panicking about this situation? Why aren't the others? Why the hell isn't Rose?!

Vastra has calmly signalled to Strax to get the carriage and as he brings it around, Vastra smoothes out the supposed wrinkles on her dress and motions to the dinosaur's remains in the Thames. 'There has been a murder. The Doctor has taken up the case. If we are to see him again, we must do the same,' Vastra instructs and Jenny walks towards the carriage and before Vastra follows her, she turns to Rose who is staring out to the waters. 'Rose, I trust we will see you both in good health upon your return?'

'I will certainly try. Our communication will become sparse.' Rose looks over the rails and wonders if she really feels like jumping into the waters, it's rather chilly out. And the last thing she needs to catch a cold. She assesses the situation one more time.

'I should expect so.' Vastra agrees and watches the human girl thinking of a plan to save the man she loves. What a difficult time she must be going through at the moment. And there is little they can do to help them.

'You needn't worry. We'll be fine.' Rose assures them and Vastra smiles at her.

'I truly had no doubt. Come along, Clara. We should get out of the cold.' Vastra turns to go to the carriage and Jenny opens the door for her. Clara watches Vastra go and turns back to Rose, stung by the fact that she isn't invited along for this excursion. Why does Rose get to go and she can't? She can help.

Rose seems to read her thoughts because she places her hands on Clara's shoulders. 'I'm sorry, Clara, that you can't come with me. I don't know how dangerous it could be and I wouldn't want to drag you into any sort of mess and have you get hurt.'

That's a clever way of saying she can't come along because she could get into trouble and mess things up, Clara believes. Jealousy stings. She wouldn't be in the way, and she's smart, too. She could help but is angry she isn't being given the chance to become involved. She's just as worried as Rose is about the Doctor, surely Rose must know that. So why keep her out of things, out of the way? It isn't fair!

And then Clara becomes silently embarrassed at how she's been acting and for what she's been thinking. She didn't mean to become jealous that she couldn't tag along because maybe it is dangerous, maybe even deadly. She's torn. She wants to be mad that she's getting shoved away because she could get in the way of a supposed dangerous mission and guilty for feeling that way. Why can't it be easy? What does Rose know about the Doctor that she doesn't? Has she been through something like this before? Their relationship can be so secretive. How is that fair to any of them? How can she answer Rose in a friendly way without seeming bitter? Is there a way?

'Just…make sure you keep him safe when you find him, okay?' Clara answers and is surprised at herself for her cordial tongue. But she can see the flicker of something in Rose's eyes. Perhaps it's the way Rose may distrust the authenticity behind her words. Is there an animosity growing between them? Clara scoffs internally. No of course not. Now she was being paranoid. God, what a day.

'I will, don't worry.' Rose promises and doesn't miss the relief that flashes before her eyes. But it doesn't mask the low-key hostility that Rose can feel emanate off of Clara. She knows that Clara must be dying to go with her, to help in whatever capacity she can. Rose can't explain why she feels so protective over the Doctor, she always has been. He's in trouble and she believes she's the only one who can help him, even though she knows – how can she not? – that that isn't the case. Everyone can help but perhaps it's because of their history. How…intimate it is. She's protective because of what they have – had, and she desperately is need of recapturing it. She gets him on another level because of their intimate relationship. She wants to help him discover it once more; if she can, and she believes it will be better one on one.

Clara closes her eyes at the drawn out pause. 'Okay, good.'

Rose hops up onto the rails and begins to watch Clara head towards the carriage. Again she can feel the resentment but knows that Clara is smart and resourceful. She will be able to keep a keen eye on things. 'Oh, Clara?'

'Yeah?' Clara turns around hopeful Rose will invite her along but appears dejected when she doesn't.

'You know, no matter how long we're gone for, one sure fire way to get us back to you is to take something that of his that he will always come looking for. No matter what.' Rose explains and Clara stares at her while attempting to understand the cryptic message. Nonetheless, Clara nods and continues on her way to the carriage. She pauses after a moment and turns around back to the railing that Rose had just been standing on but she's no longer there. Even more peculiar is the fact that she didn't hear a splash.

Clara walks towards the carriage and Vastra opens the door for her. She places her foot on the step and is about to get in when Rose's words abruptly make sense to her. She smiles and gets in, taking her time in answering Vastra's inquiry about the smile plastered on her face. She begins to fill them in as Strax directs the carriage home.

---

The longer the night wore on the colder it got. She's cold. She can't imagine how the Doctor is. When she had found him, still wet from the Thames, she insisted that they go somewhere warm to keep the cold out but he hadn't listened to her, instead he wanted to continue to hunt for answers to their problems. And so she let him. She followed him, allowing him to open doors, tip over things in search of answers or even clues but they hadn't come up with anything. So far the night had slipped by them into the predawn hours, so again she attempted to get him to someplace warm. Even when some of the men began going around to snuff out the flames on the gas lamps that lined the streets she still couldn't get him to listen to her. Her body had begun to feel the drain from how hard she'd been pushing it and it begged her to sit and rest. And hey, you know if that included sleep, it'd be helpful too.

When they had reached the entranceway to a small park he led her through and when she spied a bench she stopped to sit. When the Doctor noticed that she wasn't with him anymore, he had doubled back and had sat with her. Which had surprised her. Truly she had thought he'd go on without her. She believed that had been a good sign.

However when she had sat down, in somewhat of a protest, her remaining energy reserves had depleted and then she hadn't wanted to get up. So she supposes that's where they left off. Embarrassed by her actions. He sat with her sure, closer than ever – that was okay to her. They hadn't said anything but she hadn't minded. Then she had closed her eyes, intended to blink only but then she had started to doze off. And her head lolled over to rest on his shoulder, which had spooked them both. She woke up in a panic when he jumped out of her reach. One step forward, two steps back.

Rose looks to her hands. She had apologised but now nothing was being said. She desperately wants to move the conversation forward but is unsure of how to go about doing so. Not to mention the fact that her mind is pre occupied with other things. Like how she's cold – the Doctor must be freezing – how she's hungry. How exhausted she is and how she's dying for a hot shower to ease the ache in her muscles from keeping herself tense to naively keep out the cold. No such luck. She racks her mind to think of a way to start conversation. She could open with another apology…that might help. If only she could stop this shivering. Great, now it's internal. She needs to stop. So she wraps her arms around herself and turns herself away from him.

'Are you…cold?'

Rose turns over to the Doctor with a slight frown. 'Not as cold as I'm sure you are.'

He smiles at her before looking away. 'We're biologically different.'

Rose playfully rolls her eyes. 'That a no?'

'That's a maybe.' The Doctor answers and turns back to her. However odd this night has been she feels comforted by his presence. She hopes he feels the same.

'Good, I thought for a moment you were going to say that humans are inferior and so we'd succumb to the cold quicker.'

'Is that something I would say? However true it is?'

'There it is,' Rose smiles. 'Sometimes.'

'I like humans. Most humans. Most of the time.'

'I know.'

There is a pause. A lull. She looks to the sky and counts the stars she can see. The Doctor moving closer to her surprises her and hopes that it's a sign he's getting more comfortable when he's around her.

'Do you miss the stars?' The Doctor questions and Rose smiles a bit. She blows on her hands to keep them warm. Her fingers have begun to turn red from exposure to the cold. Hopefully the damn sun will hurry up and rise so it will burn off some of the cold air.

'I do.' She confesses and nearly adds she misses their closeness but stops herself.

'I'll get you back up there, if that's what'll make you happy.'

'I know you will.' Rose turns red when he takes her hands in his and studies them, fixated on the ring she still wears on her left middle finger and the faint scar that runs across the top of her hand. The Doctor continues to turn her hands over in his and study them.

'You are cold,' The Doctor comments and smiles. 'I remember this ring. It's Russian.'

Rose swallows a lump in her throat. 'It is. A parting gift.'

'For lives you saved.' The Doctor remembers faintly seeing an elderly woman in the embrace of two young children. Russian. Charlie got lost there, didn't she? Who's the red head he's getting faint visions of?

'A long time ago, it feels like.'

The Doctor looks at her. Her nose is red and so are her cheeks. Maybe that's why she was so tired. She's succumbing to hypothermia. That's bad. He should get her somewhere warm. Or at least some warmer clothes. 'If you're so cold, why don't you go somewhere warm?'

'Are you going to follow me if I do?' Rose wonders, already knowing his answer. He doesn't look at her and so she smiles. 'Since I'll take that as no, don't worry about me, then. I'll be fine. We have more important things to do anyway.'

'Your…hands say otherwise.' He was going to say her body but didn't feel as though it was appropriate. Or is it? He truly doesn't know anymore. She sometimes looks at him with an intimate look. Almost like longing. Were they…together?

'I've been through worse. A little cold…nothing to it. Builds character.' Rose tells him but can't stop the smile that appears on her face; neither can the Doctor because he looks away when she smiles.

'You couldn't say that with a straight face.' He observes and Rose snickers, shrugging when he shifts his gaze back to her.

'No, you're right.' Rose covers her mouth to hide the grin she can't seem to get rid of.

As dawn light breaks overhead the Doctor turns back to the direction of the city. Humans are fragile, he knows that. And he's certain that she's pushed herself beyond her means. She's cold and if that's the case then she may also be hungry. She doesn't have any energy to keep up the good fight. And while he didn't admit to her that he was cold also – he is. Maybe a trip into the heart of the city would be beneficial as well. For both of them…but more so for her.

'Are you…hungry?'

Rose blinks from the surprise. 'Maybe.'

The Doctor jumps to his feet and points to the city heart, curious, Rose also gets to her feet and crosses her arms waiting for an explanation. 'Come on, Charlie, the clues to this mystery aren't going to be found in a park, they're only going to be found if we're up and looking for them!'

Rose watches him run off towards the city and she sighs, pressing her hand to her forehead and closing her eyes. 'It's not…dammit, it's not Charlie. It's Rose. My name's Rose…'

She sprints to catch up with him and tears sting her eyes. Only she's not sure if it's because of the cold wind or something else. It's the sting of that name, of his confusion their identities that remind her of two losses. She runs harder; hoping that the harder she runs the more she can convince herself it's just the wind.

---

Commotion has drawn her attention to the window and so Clara sets the water jug down before tilting her head at the loudness of Strax's voice as he directs something. She heads towards the window and tightens the shawl around the nightdress that Jenny had been kind enough to lend her. Everything is just so…loose and not at all warm. She didn't know what to believe, she thought Rose would find the Doctor and they'd be back within a few hours or so…but that wasn't the case. Why? Did she not find him yet? No, Rose can do anything.

'Come on, Earthling scum! Position it here. Easy now! That's it, careful…' Strax orders and Clara moves the drapes further to the side so she can peer out. She rests her head on her hand while she observes Strax directing two men who unload the TARDIS into the courtyard. He's also carrying a rolled up newspaper. 'Don't get it scratched or you and all your bloodline will be obliterated from time and space.'

There is an awkward pause before one of the men peers around the TARDIS with a small, strained smile. 'Very good, sir.'

'Strax!' Clara calls up and he turns around to look up to the window where he nods his head at her in acknowledgement.

'Ah, morning, Miss Clara. You're awake at last.'

Clara points to the TARDIS as the men who unloaded it walk around it trying to decipher what the box could contain. 'You got the TARDIS, then?'

Strax nods and keeps a careful eye on the men staring at it. 'Military tactics, Miss Clara, an excellent suggestion. The Doctor and the other boy Rose are still missing, but the Doctor will always come looking for this box, which means the boy will follow him. By bringing it here, he will be lured from the dangers of London to this place of safety, and we will melt him with acid.'

Clara blinks at the final part of his sentence and smiles. 'Okay, that last part?'

Strax pauses as he reassesses his words and nods his head in understanding. 'And we will not melt him with acid. Old habits,' He explains and glances to the newspaper still in his hand. 'The Times. Shall I send it up?'

'Yeah, why not?' Clara calls to him and Strax lobs the paper up to the top window Clara has been watching from however he throws it with such force that it hits her squarely in the head and she lets out a squeak of surprise as she falls over.

She stares at the ceiling in surprise and hopes that they won't have to wait long for the Doctor and Rose's return. Oh…she thinks she feels a headache coming on. Is it because of the newspaper or because of how mundane the real world is? She doesn't break eye contact with the ceiling as she thinks of a way to reach them. What about a message? She could send them a message to meet her somewhere, that might work. She scoffs at her own foolishness. That's the oldest idea in the book. He'd never even get the message. It'd have to be so obvious that he could miss it. How'd she even do that? What message could she possibly use that would be cryptic enough that only he'd understand? Time to think of another plan.

---

Rose leans against the brick exterior of a building and pulls the riding jacket she'd managed to steal from a house earlier in the morning. Clearly meant to be worn with a corset but she wasn't touching one, not for a long time. Problem was the house she broke into happened to be the house of a widow, so as such there wasn't anything in the ways for the Doctor to have but he had seemed pleased she found something a bit thicker to keep the wind out.

They wandered around the streets for a bit while they waited for the shops to open so she could get food before he had abruptly darted into an alleyway and she caught him just before he rounded the next corner and disappeared into another one.

Now she watches him rifling through the trash and junk. She closes her eyes before opening them and looks around, wondering if she could spy some laundry drying or something she could take to keep him warm. That nightshirt hasn't dried out at all.

'If you promise me you'll stay here, I will find you something.' Rose calls to him and he pauses from his rummaging to stare at her. He shakes his head.

'No, it's too bright out now. You'll be caught. No matter how…easy you made the first one look. You just didn't choose the right one.' The Doctor replies and goes back to the junk. Rose crosses her arms and frowns.

'Well, how the hell was I to know that house we selected was a widow's house? You insisted I take something for myself to be warm. I was perfectly content with trying again.' Rose laments and the Doctor shakes his head, tossing a book he found over his shoulder.

'No, no point in that. We have everything we need right here.' The Doctor tells her and Rose shakes her head. She inhales deeply and breathes out slowly.

'Give me ten minutes and I will get something for you.'

'No.'

'Why must you be so stubborn? I'm only trying to help.'

They don't see a tramp has entered the alleyway as well and paused to listen to them argue. He watches the man dressed in only a nightshirt and his rather pretty toffer glare at each other before the man in the nightshirt pulls out a mirror and stares at himself. Again they dissolve into an argument and hoping to get their attention the tramp tosses the bottle he had been holding onto the ground where is shatters into pieces. The toffer jumps and gasps and the man turns around to look at what caused the noise.

'What'd you do that for?' The toffer questions and the tramp points to the man in the nightshirt.

'What's goin' on here, then? You chasing him cause he stiffed you on payment? Call the coppers; they'll get your money. After they arrest you, I'd think.' The tramp informs her and the toffer tilts her head, she opens her mouth to question his meaning when she abruptly closes it and balls her fists. She walks towards him just as the man in the nightshirt steps forward to secure her arm. She does that a lot, he vaguely remembers. That's a natural reaction for him.

'Are you insinuating that I am a prostitute?' Rose's look falls flat and she turns to the Doctor who reluctantly releases her arm.

The tramp pauses and looks around. 'Why else would you be chasing a man through the alleyways?'

'That's hardly any of your business.'

'Bitey.' The Doctor informs the tramp casually and he frowns. Is the man drunk, too and that's why the toffer followed him? He's forgotten to pay her because he's too drunk and she's waiting until he sobers up? That could be awhile. Still doesn't explain why he's rooting around the trash.

'Bitey?' The tramp repeats and the Doctor nods his head, tossing an umbrella over his shoulder. The tramp looks over to the man who's nodding his head.

'The air…it's bitey, it's wet and bitey. Charlie says it's cause it's -…'

'Oh, it's cold!' The tramp interrupts and the Doctor rushes towards the man and nods his head. The tramp looks a bit uneasy and Rose spies a newspaper the Doctor had discarded and picks it up, it's a bit wet but she can still read it.

'That's right. It's cold! It's cold. I knew it was a thing. We had to…borrow…a jacket for Charlie because she was cold, but she borrowed from the wrong house. So now I need, um…I need clothes -…'

'Which I could have gotten you.' Rose calls from her spot against the wall and the Doctor shakes his head at her.

'No! No more borrowing. But I do still need clothes, that's what I need,' The Doctor tells the tramp who is starting to become a bit uncomfortable with the flighty attitude of this man. The Doctor rubs the back of his neck after a burst of wind whips through the alleyway. 'And a big, long scarf. No, no, move on from that, looked stupid. Um…have you seen this face before?'

The tramp looks to the toffer engrossed in the newspaper before looking back to the man. 'No.'

'Are you sure?' The man repeats and the tramp nods his head solemnly.

'Sir, I have never seen that face before.'

The Doctor nods his head at the tramp before turning back to Rose. 'Charlie…you're certain you've never seen this face before?'

'Oh, yes.' Rose tells him without looking up from the paper.

'You didn't look. You have to look and then tell me no.'

Rose sighs and glances up from the paper. 'Yes, Doctor, I have never…' She stops. Maybe it's the light in the alleyway. Maybe it's something else but she does feel a twang of recognition. She doesn't recall where or when. Maybe she has seen that face before. Then again…she could be going crazy. Until she knows for certain the answer is no. Because her mind could very well – and probably is – playing tricks on her. 'No. I haven't.'

'You hesitated!' The Doctor comments on the fact that she's stalled at first. She paused to really look. Those hazel eyes searched through him at his request. Did she recognise it? If she does she's lying to him. Is this face another mystery they're going to have to solve?

'I did not!' Rose insists and buries her nose into the paper.

'Er…why this one? Why did I choose…this face?' The Doctor wonders and he walks towards Rose who is still reading the paper. 'Charlie? Why this face?'

'Doctor, I'm sure I don't know. You always said to me regeneration was a lottery.' Rose lowers the paper and folds it half. The Doctor shakes his head quickly and takes her hand and places it on his cheek. Rose isn't sure what to do. He's holding her eyes so deeply with his.

'No, no. It can't be. It's like I'm trying to tell myself something, like I'm trying to make a point. But what is so important that I can't just tell myself what I'm thinking?' The Doctor laments and Rose draws her hand away quickly, and hides the fact that it's shaking. She presses her lips together.

'Er…' The tramp begins but stops himself, this whole…incident is something that he really doesn't want to get involved in. In fact he should have just pressed onward when he heard the commotion and not let curiosity get the better of him.

The Doctor looks over to the tramp and then back to Charlie who is absently rubbing her hands and yet both are silent. He motions to them both. 'I'm not just being rhetorical here, you can join in.'

'I don't like it.' The tramp cuts in and Rose frowns at him. The Doctor is nodding his head at the tramp's words. Really taking them apart to understand their meaning. He notices that Charlie has a scowl on her face.

'Well, that's rather rude. Don't you have manners? Don't like it, keep your mouth shut.' Rose snaps sharply and the tramp looks away shyly at her words. She's a saucy toffer, no wonder she got stiffed for her money.

'But he wanted honesty.'

'I don't care, lie.'

'No, no he's right, Charlie. I agree with him,' The Doctor replies and Rose stares at him with a perplexed stare, confused by his words. 'Do you like it?'

'It's fine. It makes you look distinguished. Maybe people will take you more…seriously than before.' She smiles at him and her smile causes the Doctor to look away. Her smile…does she always do that to him? Make him lose his train of thought? She goes back to reading the paper.

'Oh, well in that case maybe it isn't so bad. It's all right up until the eyebrows. Then it just goes haywire. Look at the eyebrows! These are attack eyebrows. You could take bottle tops off with these!' The Doctor declares and he watches Charlie start to snicker and she lowers the paper to give him a smirk and shake her head. Damn her smile. And her laugh.

'They are mighty eyebrows indeed, sir.' The tramp agrees, breaking the Doctor's fixation on Rose and he widens his eyes at another realisation.

'They're cross! They're crosser than the rest of my face. They're independently cross. They probably want to cede from the rest of my face and set up their own independent state of eyebrows.' He pauses his rant when Charlie sighs audibly.

'Doctor! Okay…we get it.' Rose chides gently and he glances between the tramp and Rose several times.

'That rant. That's Scot…I am Scottish. I've gone Scottish.' The Doctor states stunned and Rose glances up with a smile. Relieved he's starting to figure out little things about himself. She flips the page in the paper and continues to read.

'Oh, yes, you are. You are definitely Scots, sir. I…I 'ear it in your voice.' The tramp confirms and watches the man walk around the alley a bit. The tramp begins to get a bit nervous over the man's eccentric attitude. Eccentric means anything could happen. He's not entirely sure he wants to be a part of that.

'Oh, no, that's good. Oh! Oh! It's good I'm Scottish, I'm Scottish. I am Scottish. I can complain about things. I can really complain about things now,' The Doctor decides and the tramp nods his head enthusiastically with a slight smile that morphs into a frown when the Doctor holds out his hand. 'Give me your coat.'

The tramp shakes his head. 'No.'

'I'm cold.' The Doctor complains and Rose lowers the paper and sighs, rolling her eyes.

'I'm cold.' The tramp echoes forcibly and folds his arms, hoping it deter the man from asking further. The Doctor throws his hands up and sighs in frustration.

'I'm cold. Well, there's no point in us both being cold, give me your coat. Give me your coat! No, wait. Shut up, shut up!' The Doctor rushes back over to Rose who widens her eyes at him.

'What? What?' Rose holds out her hands to stop him unsure if he'd run into her. He yanks the newspaper out of her hands and starts to look through it. 'What? What'd you see?'

'I missed something. It was here, it was here. It was…what was it? I saw, what did I see?' He flips through the paper until he finds what he's looking for and turns it over for Rose to see. 'This is what I saw! Spontaneous combustion!' The Doctor shows the tramp and the tramp frowns, squinting to read the print.

'What devilry is this, sir?' The tramp wonders and the Doctor shrugs.

'I don't know, but I probably blame the English.' The Doctor replies somewhat seriously.

'Oi! Watch it.' Rose points her finger at the Doctor and snatches the paper from him. She goes back to leaning against the wall. She's certain that the Doctor and vagabond go back to arguing about the coat when she catches something…coincidental about the Doctor's relationship with Clara. She rereads the two words over and over again. They've made contact.

'I promise I'll give it back!' The Doctor insists and the tramp shakes his head again. It causes the Doctor to sigh loudly in frustration once more.

Rose waves him over without breaking eye contact from the paper and when he doesn't respond to her, she motions harder. 'Doctor, Doctor, come here. A message, I've found a message.'

'What?' The Doctor looks over his shoulder from tugging the coat off the tramp and the tramp is attempting to shove the Doctor off of him.

'Come here, stop bugging that man and come here!' Rose calls and tilts her head as she attempts to decipher the meaning. On the other side. What could that mean? She vaguely hears the shouts and curse words coming from the tramp as the Doctor rushes over to her and peers at the newspaper over her shoulder.

'Where? Where's the message?'

Rose is about to point to him when she notices that he's got something on him that he shouldn't have. 'Did you take that man's jacket?'

'Yes…I borrowed it. Like you borrowed yours.'

Rose shakes her head. 'No there's a difference. That woman won't notice it's gone. That man depended on that jacket to keep him warm. That woman lives in a house and that poor man lives on the streets. Did you at least give him some money to get another one?'

'I haven't got money.' The Doctor doesn't understand why there is suddenly a grey area to taking something that doesn't belong to one. Rose folds the newspaper and tucks it under her arm. She digs around for some money she's certain she's left in these pants from another visit to Victorian London.

'Course you don't. Maybe one time it'd be nice to go Dutch.' She sighs and checks her back pocket.

When she finds them she rushes back to the man who is standing at the mouth of the alley looking forlorn. Rose places her hand on the man's shoulder and he turns around. The Doctor watches her motion to him with her thumb over her shoulder and he frowns. She's a caring person, always wanting to be sure everyone has been taken care of. He watches her drop a few coins into the man's hands and directs him where to go to get a good deal on a warm coat – if he mentions her name. The tramp watches with a stunned and confused look on his face as Rose heads back to the Doctor and takes the newspaper from under her arm to bat the Doctor on the side of his arm. Coupled with a stern look he can tell she's not impressed by his actions.

'That was nice of you.' The Doctor watches the tramp wrap his arms around himself and walk out onto the streets. Rose is flipping through the paper trying to find the place where the message is.

'If he counts it properly, he'll see there's enough to catch a coach and a meal,' Rose replies without looking up from the paper. 'I couldn't let him walk away without knowing he'd be looked after. Ah, here it is. Look.'

The Doctor reads a small advert at the bottom of the page and tilts his head. In a small box are two words that instantly grab his attention. Impossible Girl. That's the bossy girl he was with earlier. The brown haired girl.

'That other girl. That's what I called her.' The Doctor leans forward and studies the other words just under Impossible Girl. Rose nods her head. Again she takes note of how close he is to her. Please let that be a good sign.

'Yes, that's what you call Clara. She must have put an advert in hoping to get into contact with us. Since I'm notoriously bad for keeping people up to date, she must have gotten tired of waiting for us.' Rose again looks to the clue left at the bottom of the page, no doubt to prove it's truly them when they finally decipher it and meet her at the location. Wherever the 'other side' may be.

'Where is the location of our meet up?' The Doctor takes the paper from Rose and turns it different ways to try and make sense of the clues.

'Wherever the other side is.'

'That's very ambiguous.' The Doctor complains and brings the paper closer to his face. Rose gently pulls it back and the Doctor frowns at her so she gives him a little smile.

'I believe that's the point. Leave it vague yet simple enough so we would understand it and meet her there.' Rose explains and the Doctor passes the paper back to Rose in a flourish. He folds his arms and begins to pace.

'But I don't get it.'

Rose studies the paper further. Vague and simple, the less complex the better. The other side. The other side of what? The other side of London? Plausible perhaps but maybe not that easy. The other side. If thinking outside of the box is to be expected of them maybe she needs to start thinking inside the box. Out and not in. The other side. Other side of the Thames? No, no that could still be too obvious. Make it simpler. Rose just removes the sheet of newspaper that has their message on it and discards the rest of paper. What can be simpler than the other side? As she holds the paper up to her eye level, arms extended in front of her, the light shines on the paper and makes the print of the advert on the opposite side visible, contrasting with her message. She widens her eyes. Of course! So simple, it's dead simple!

'I've got it.' Rose announces and the Doctor whips around to stare at her. He rushes over to her and stands beside her, staring at the page of paper in her hands. Still looks like words to him.

'What? What'd you mean you've got it?' The Doctor continues to study the paper and Rose smiles.

'Clara made it simple because she knows you don't like puzzles – short attention span. You're not a complicated person, you like simple.' Rose explains and the Doctor looks affronted by her assessment of his personality.

'I don't like puzzles?'

Rose can't help it and she starts to laugh. 'Not at all! Do you remember the one time we challenged each other to who could finish the New York Times crossword puzzle the quickest and you got stuck on a word and gave up? Then you accused me of cheating when I actually finished it?'

'No! Well…a little bit.' The Doctor confesses and can't recall what sparked the challenge, though he did remember the two of them sitting on a chair in the console room of TARDIS doing two separate crossword puzzles. And his declaration of how ridiculous it was before disappearing. Only to have Charlie here march over to him and she had tossed her completed puzzle on the floor.

'Right so…keeping it simple…' Rose trails off and flips the paper over to reveal another advert on the backside of their message. When she turns it over it reads Mancini's Family Restaurant. 'Literally on the other side.'

The Doctor laughs and embraces her tightly. 'We were over thinking it!'

'Yes!'

The Doctor quickly grabs Rose's hand and tugs her down the alleyway and into the streets, which are filling quickly with the morning traffic. 'Come on, Charlie, we have a lunch date with a bossy girl!'

Rose struggles to get into step with the Doctor and jumps over a rather large puddle he attempts to lead her through the streets. 'Do you know where you're going?' He doesn't answer her for a bit and Rose sighs.

'Nope!'

She attempts to direct him as best she can. She does have a feeling she is going to have to apologise profusely for forgetting to keep Clara informed as to what had been happening. But thankfully Clara is immensely resourceful and thought of her own way to get their attention. She'll have to applaud her for that.

---

There is an eeriness to this restaurant. Clara turns over her shoulder to stare at the street her back faces to watch the bustle of the street. Carriages and handsome cabs go up and down the streets, the impact of the horses' hooves hitting the cobblestone echo in the streets long after the horses have carted off their passengers. Foot traffic moves every which way, conversation between people grows closer before moving by her. A normal, typical day in London. And yet when Clara turns her gaze back to the restaurant…why does she feel her heart rate increase and dread build within her? She continues to linger in the doorway. Something deep within her tells her this is dangerous and not to go in.

But then why is another part of her wondering why she's so skittish? It calmly points out that there are multiple diners at this restaurant, all sitting and looking a menus, there isn't anything wrong. Her head directs her left foot forward and Clara takes a few precarious inside and shuts the door behind her. No one notices or even acknowledges that she's arrived. Their gaze hasn't shifted from the menus. Clara swallows an awkward lump and removes the paper with the message in it out from under her arm. Pressing her lips together Clara studies the diners as she walks to an empty table against the wall. The heel of her shoe clicks loudly. The air is so still that one could almost hear a pin drop. This is not an inviting atmosphere. Instead it's thick with tension and apprehension.

As she walks to the table, she studies the patrons and finds herself keep her guard high. How can so many people be engrossed in their menus and still not have a decent conversation? Clara pauses in her step and glances over her shoulder to stare at the closest table before her gaze jumps from one table to the next. That's what is so unnerving about this place. No one, not one single person, is talking. That explains the eerie silence. There is zero conversation. Clara hurries to the vacant table and sits. She finds herself breathing heavily and buries her nose into the paper hoping to keep the attention on her arrival minimal at best.

When she inhales to calm her heart rate, the breath gets stuck in her throat and she nearly coughs. What is that smell? It's horrendous! Clara takes another sniff and covers her mouth and nose with her hand. She drops the paper to the table and begins looking around for the source of it. She can't find anything. And the weight of the silence feels as though it's growing. Defeated, Clara looks down to the newspaper before jumping when her eyes catch sight of Rose and the Doctor now sitting beside her. How in the hell did they manage that? It's so quiet and yet they arrived with no noise whatsoever. Rose she could see, her middle name should be stealth but not the Doctor. She imagines the quieter he attempts to be the louder he'd become. Clara notices that Rose sniffs and crinkles her nose in disgust at whatever is making that horrendous smell. She starts to look for the source as well, Clara accidently gets a nose full of the stench and she coughs.

The Doctor's look falls right on Clara and he frowns at her coughing. 'What's wrong?' He wonders and Clara gapes at him. She motions to their surroundings.

'I don't know! Maybe the smell?' Clara hisses and the Doctor nods his head, noticing that Charlie is turning all over in her seat until she kneels on the seat and turns over to look at the rest of the patrons.

'I know, it's everywhere.' The Doctor agrees and joins in with the people watching. The people there are almost surreal. It's such an odd thing to witness.

'Where did you get that coat?' Clara's question causes the Doctor to look back to her and when he shifts his gaze around to other things in the restaurant, Clara finds her face draining of emotion and she folds her arms. This ought to be good.

'Er…I bought it.' The Doctor informs her and Clara arches her eyebrow. He's such a terrible liar.

'From where?' Clara wonders innocently and the Doctor rubs the back of his head.

'Er…a shop?'

'No. Rose?' Clara calls and Rose slips back down to sit at the table with them.

'He took it from a tramp.' Rose informs Clara and she sighs.

The Doctor points to Rose. 'Well, she stole hers!'

'You stole yours too!' Clara cries and the Doctor stares at her.

'And again, let me remind you that my stealing was from a wealthy widow who won't notice it's missing! Not from some poor soul on the streets.' Rose replies hotly and the Doctor sighs audibly from frustration.

'But I didn't have money!' The Doctor insists and Rose and Clara exchange looks. Clara's is one horrified expression and Rose is about to explain that she gave him money when the Doctor finishes off his thought. 'I offered my watch.'

Rose's head whips around to him. 'When did you do that?'

'You had your nose in the paper.' The Doctor answers and Rose closes her eyes and sighs. That explains the tussle earlier. She mentally tuned it out. And in doing so she just cost the Doctor a gorgeous watch.

'That was a beautiful watch!' Clara replies horrified and the Doctor nods his head solemnly in agreement. Thankfully he still has it on him. He wouldn't know what to do if the tramp had agreed to take it in exchange for the coat. Maybe not given it to him?

'I know it was. Thankfully the tramp didn't think so and didn't want it.' The Doctor tells them and Rose breathes out a sigh of relief, resting her head on the back of the booth as Clara closes her eyes satisfied. When she opens them, the Doctor is smiling at her.

Clara straightens up. 'No, no. Don't, don't…don't, don't smile. I will smile first and then you know it's safe to smile.' She states seriously and Rose glances from Clara to the Doctor. She lumped in with that statement as well? She must be. She was also lacking in the communications department. Clara is livid. That much is certain.

The Doctor leans forward a bit and drops his voice. 'Are you cross with me? Cross with us?'

Clara scoffs, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Rose shifts a bit towards the Doctor, the anger is palpable. 'I am not cross, but if I was cross it would be your fault. Both of yours…and, yes I am cross.' Clara exhales having not paused to take a breath the entire time.

The Doctor looks at Rose and smiles when she does. 'I guessed that.'

'I am extremely cross.' Clara insists and Rose nods her head in agreement. She can hear the 'teacher' voice in Clara. And boy, does Rose ever feel as though she's getting scolded for doing something wrong. Just like in elementary school.

The Doctor glances to Charlie when she shifts and stares at her lap. He can almost see the thoughts running through her mind. He looks up to the cross brunette who is almost glaring at him. He thinks he knows why she's so angry with him. Clearly Clara doesn't like change. Then again, who truly does? Is this his fault? Did he make her feel the way she did by changing?

'And if I hadn't changed my face, would you still be crossed?' The Doctor wonders and stares at Charlie when she places her hand on his arm in comfort. She shakes her head.

'Oh, Doctor, no…' She begins but draws her hand away when Clara rests her elbows on the table and gives them each a sharp glare.

'Rose is right. I would be cross even if I wasn't cross!' Clara states curtly and the Doctor frowns, really not understanding her hostility. He looks over to Charlie with a look that pleads for her to explain Clara's hostility. Much to the Doctor's dismay, he gets no response. He's gotta do it himself.

'Why?' The Doctor finally questions and Clara looks as though he's got three heads. She looks to Rose who gives her a shy shrug and a little smile. Clara knows Roses gets it. Why can't the Doctor seem to get it?

'Why?' Clara echoes and presses her hand to her forehead and exhales her frustration. 'An ordinary person wants to meet someone that they know very well for lunch, what do they do?'

The Doctor doesn't understand her question. Is it a trick one? Well normal people, what do they do? They're no fun, he dragged Charlie here. But they're not normal, are they? Normal. Think normal. 'Well, they probably…get in touch and suggest lunch.' He concludes and Clara is already nodding her head in agreement. His answer was correct.

'Mm hm. Okay, so what sort of person would put a cryptic note in…in a newspaper advert?' Clara questions and Rose frowns and looks to the Doctor before turning back to Clara.

'What you think that was us?' Rose interrupts and Clara's eyes dart between Rose and the Doctor.

'Yes?'

'No, we thought it was you.' Rose insists and Clara shakes her head.

'No because…well it just has the Doctor all over it. Right?' Clara feels herself becoming quieter as she finds Rose staring at the Doctor and well…if it wasn't them. Who?

'I would be inclined to agree that whoever that person is would be an egomaniac, needy, game player sort of person.' The Doctor cuts in and Rose finds herself staring at him with a flat look on her face. She really wishes he wouldn't change the subject like that.

Clara points at the Doctor in agreement. 'Thank you. Well, at least that hasn't changed.'

'And I don't think it ever will.' The Doctor agrees and enjoys that Clara is smiling at him. Maybe she's getting more comfortable around him. That'd make him happy.

'Amen,' Rose replies but her eyes fall to the paper Clara has just put on the table. 'But…it doesn't explain why you think we placed that advert, Clara. We thought it was you.'

Clara is already shaking her head before Rose has a chance to finish her sentence. 'No. No…no, I didn't place the ad, Rose. You placed the ad.'

The Doctor frowns. 'No, we didn't.'

Clara takes the paper in her hand and flips to the advert in question. 'Yes, you placed the ad, I figured it out! Impossible Girl, see, lunch?' Clara holds up the paper to them when she finds the spot in question. Rose shakes her head in disagreement and the Doctor leans forward to take the paper from Clara.

'No, look, the Impossible…that is a message from the Impossible Girl.' The Doctor explains and Clara folds her arms and frowns.

'For the Impossible…Girl.'

Rose feels something icy drop into the pit of her stomach. Suddenly their little argument about who's right seems petty and vindictive. 'Guys?'

'Oh? Oh?' The Doctor looks around and Clara sighs.

'Hmm…'

'Well, if neither of us placed that ad, who placed…that ad?' The Doctor trails off and begins to look around at the diners who have still not engaged one another in any conversation and yet it feels as though thousands of eyes are watching their every move.

'Ever get the feeling you're being watched?' Rose wonders out loud and the Doctor nods his head in agreement. Clara is about to ask Rose something when she abruptly remembers something the Doctor said about the personality of one who may have placed the ad.

'Hang on, 'egomaniac, needy, game player?" Clara questions firmly and the Doctor turns over to Rose having ignored Clara entirely. Clara feels the annoyance fester within her at what the Doctor had been supposedly implying about her.

'This could be a trap.' He informs Rose and she glances over to him.

'I'm beginning to get that feeling. But who, and why? And how long until things about us become noticed. We haven't conformed.' Rose states and the Doctor looks over to her with an arched eyebrow. Good to know they're on the same page.

'That was me?' Clara interjects and the Doctor dismisses her thought with a flick of his wrist. He continues to hold Rose's stare as they silently have a conversation about what to do and where to go from here. How many steps to the exit and what would happen if they all got up and left?

'Never mind that.' The Doctor replies and Clara huffs in anger, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red. Who the hell does he think he is calling her an egomaniac?

'Yes, I am minding that!' Clara states hotly and Rose taps her finger on the table to get Clara's attention but she misses the cue. Instead cutlery begins to be heard. The diners are starting to eat. Why does that unsettle her more? Rose studies them. She widens her eyes. How…terrible. That is not good.

'Clara…' Rose begins but she ignores Rose and glares at the Doctor.

'You were talking about me?' Clara insists, answering her own question. But she'd feel a hell of a lot better if the Doctor would come out and admit his comment was about her.

The Doctor glances to Rose who is carefully watching the other diners. 'Clara, what is happening right now in this restaurant to you, me and Charlie is more important than your egomania.'

'Nothing is more important than my egomania!' Clara hisses hotly and notices that the Doctor and Rose exchange surprised looks.

'Wow…' Rose trails off and finds herself smiling at Clara's outburst.

'Right, okay, she actually said that.' The Doctor tells Rose and she says nothing but nods her head. God Clara hates it when the two of them team up like that. For god sake he can't even get Rose's name right but their damned idiosyncrasies never fail to pair up at the most inappropriate times.

'You two never mention that again!' Clara exclaims and Rose holds up her hands in agreement, immediately backing off.

'Can we move this conversation back on track, please? I need to tell you all something. Before we make more of a scene and draw more attention to ourselves.' Rose wonders and the Doctor begins scratching his head.

'It's…it's a vanity trap. You're so busy congratulating yourself on solving the puzzle,' The Doctor gently pulls a hair from his head but doesn't look at it at first. 'You don't notice that you're sticking your head in a noose.' He holds the hair up by his fingertips and studies it. Rose frowns at his analogy while Clara gapes at him.

'What are you doing?' She questions and finds herself soften slightly as the Doctor doesn't answer her but instead continues to study the hair. 'And that isn't the only grey one, if you are, erm, having a cull.'

The Doctor looks at Clara with an indifferent look. 'What, do you have a problem with the grey ones?'

'If I got new hair, and it was grey, I would have a problem.' Clara retorts and the Doctor rolls his eyes. Rose presses her hands to her face. So this is how it's going to be?

'Yeah, I bet you would.' The Doctor's tone is snarky and Clara folds her arms at him in protest. She scoffs and arches her eyebrow at him.

'Meaning?'

'It's too short.' The Doctor replies and leans forward towards Clara who instinctively draws away but too late. The Doctor reaches for something on Clara head and when he appears to have it, he pulls.

'Ow!' Clara's hand immediately flies to her head and rubs. The Doctor shrugs half-heartedly.

'Sorry, it was the only one out of place. I'm sure you would want it killed.' He tells her and looks over to Rose. She's watching him fascinated.

'Ooh, are you trying to tell me something?' Clara wonders but doesn't know what it could be, and so maybe that's why the tone she used came out a bit sarcastic. When Clara looks at Rose she can see the uneasiness in her eyes. But why?

'I'm trying to measure the air disturbance in the room.' The Doctor explains and Clara smiles ironically and shakes her head, leaning back against the booth seat and sighs.

'Right, moments when you know you are boring.' She replies coolly and Rose watches the couple closest to her. She nudges the Doctor and he turns to them.

'That…isn't good,' Rose whispers and the Doctor nods his head. They continue to observe the closest couple until Rose looks over to the table beside that couple. Same thing. Mechanised movements…are they real? Going through the motions, never actually eating. 'Doctor. Over there, woman in the dark blue dress. Same thing. Drop the hair.' She instructs and he does so. It falls straight to the ground.

'Concerning. I see. Are you…thinking?' The Doctor leans into Rose and questions. Rose gives him a bit of a pained look, knowing he meant is she thinking of an escape plan. Yes, but she's got this nagging feeling if they leave…something's going to happen.

'Thing is…if they anticipate our movements…things could get a bit…sideways when we leave.' Rose anticipates an interception of their exit and looks for something she could use to carve them out a path if need be.

'Good point. We should still try though. No harm in that.' The Doctor decides and straightens up while Rose counts the steps to the door.

'What? What are you two gossiping about?' Clara wonders with a sigh and the Doctor can't believe that she doesn't see it. How is that possible? Is she pretending not to?

'There is something extremely wrong with everybody else in the room.' The Doctor tells her flatly and Clara rolls her eyes. Tired of how everything they do together is the result of some problem.

'Basically, don't you always say that?' Clara questions rhetorically, now he's even got Rose wrapped up in this little game of his. Honestly the two of them have to feed off one another's energy for seeing trouble when there really isn't anything wrong.

'Look at them,' The Doctor instructs and Clara sighs impatiently but decides to humour him and turns over her shoulder to stare at the diners. She doesn't stare for long because the Doctor's hoarse whisper causes her to jump. 'Don't look!'

Clara whips around and glares at him. 'You just said to look.'

'Peripheral vision, Clara,' Rose explains and she leans closer, her voice barely above a whisper that Clara struggles to hear it. 'Look at them, but don't see them.'

Clara does as she is instructed and keeps her head facing Rose and the Doctor but ever so slightly turns her head to the left to get just a few tables in her line of vision. And? What's so unnerving? They are eating. Cutlery hits the china; sounds are made, echoing around them. There is nothing odd about what is unfolding before them. People are out enjoying their meal. The two of them are trying to make something from nothing. As always.

'Seriously? Guys, they look fine. They're just eating.' Clara informs them and Rose and the Doctor each steal a sideways look at one another. Rose presses her lips together. Clara saw…but she didn't look.

'Are they?' The Doctor wonders and rests his elbows on the table. Clara frowns at him and is about to argue with him some more when she decides to take a better look. A look without looking.

Clara widens her eyes. Okay. That's a problem. Food is on forks and people are bringing the forks to their mouths but the food never goes into their mouths. They lower their hands and the motion repeats itself. Like being stuck on a continuous loop.

'Okay, no. No, they're not eating.' Clara confirms and abruptly feels on edge. Like it's time to get the hell out of here.

'Another thing they're not doing.' The Doctor reaches over to Rose and yanks a hair off of her head and she scowls. Clara holds her breath as the Doctor holds the blonde strand in his fingers.

'What?' Clara breathes and the Doctor drops the hair to the ground, it sinks as though it has rocks attached to it. What does that mean?

'Breathing.' The Doctor finishes and Clara straightens up and swallows a hard lump in her throat. Okay, really uncomfortable now.

'What do we do?' Clara whispers and shifts uncomfortably in her seat. It makes her more nervous the way Rose is constantly surveying the room. She can tell that Rose is attempting to plan their escape while the Doctor remains neutral. As he always does.

'What, you don't want to eat, do you?' The Doctor wonders and Rose turns to him with an apathetic look on her face. Clara is already shaking her head before he finishes his sentence.

'I kinda am still hungry.' Rose sighs and Clara gapes at her.

'What that apple wasn't enough?' The Doctor muses and Rose shakes her head and folds her arms. How can they think about food in a place that reeks to high heaven and where the people still don't seem to be alive but rather going through the motions of life to seem or to appear to be normal.

'How can you think about food? I've slightly lost my appetite.' Clara directs her question at Rose who shrugs and looks to the food at the closest table.

'I don't know, I haven't eaten much in awhile. I don't remember the last time I sat down to eat.' Rose replies honestly and Clara looks away, embarrassed for having chided her the way she did. She forgets Rose has been tailing the Doctor to keep him safe, which means she hasn't looked after herself in god knows how long.

'How long before they notice that we're not like them?' Clara attempts to push past her embarrassment about her comment to Rose and also to get their rather serious situation the focal point of conversation again.

'Not long.' The Doctor answers and glances to Rose hoping she's thought of some covert way to get them out.

Clara rests her head in her hand and blinks. 'Anything we can do?'

'How long can you hold your breath?' The Doctor glances to Rose and then to Clara. Rose absently shrugs.

'Long enough.'

Clara shifts in the booth and swallows. 'We could just casually stroll out of here, like we've changed our minds.'

'Happens all the time.' The Doctor agrees and Rose smiles.

'Much better than what I was going to suggest.' Rose answers and the Doctor nudges her as he gets ready to stand.

'I can guess what.' He tells her quietly and Rose shakes her head with a small smirk.

Rose, Clara and the Doctor stand together and Rose elects to go first, just in case a path needs to be cleared the closer they get to the front door. What they didn't expect to happen is that the moment they stand every single person in the restaurant now stands with them. Clara inhales quickly and widens her eyes. Rose instinctively grabs the Doctor's hand and he turns to her surprised while she lets go of his hand just ask fast as she'd grabbed it.

'Okay, just wait a second. I want to try something.' Rose instructs and she shuffles out of the booth and stands. While the patrons do nothing, not even acknowledging them until Rose takes a step towards the front door. The patrons move towards her and the Doctor nearly reaches for her to keep her safe.

While Rose side steps out of the way again the patrons move towards her in the same direction. Well that confirms it. If they attempt to leave then they are going to be met with trouble. She can't possibly take on all of them, even if she was on point with all her senses, punches and kicks. Besides, she doesn't want to hurt them…but something tells her that they are not entirely…normal. Alive or not. Mechanical in movements. Are they robots?

'You know, Rose, we've decided that we're going to take another look at the menu.' Clara suggests and Rose nods her head deeply, watching the patrons continue to stare into nothing – with their dead like eyes. No light behind them. They are so lifelike. She mechanically sits herself next to the Doctor who is staring at her and together they nod their head. Once the three of them sit, so do the patrons.

'I think we've walked into a trap.' Rose informs them and pretends to bury her nose in the menu. Clara is staring deeply at hers but nothing is being absorbed by her mind. The specials staring her in the face are nothing but a collection of letters and words.

'What are they?' Clara questions, dropping her voice and Rose peers over the top of her menu to study the patrons and their benign movements. Forks are lifted to their mouths but nothing is on them. The forks are lowered and the motion repeats itself.

'I don't know,' The Doctor informs her and Clara closes her eyes and sighs. Not the time to mention that she feels as though her heart is going to beat right out of her chest. 'But don't worry, because that's not the question. The question is what is this restaurant?'

Clara glances between the Doctor and Rose as they stare at one another and have their private conversation. 'Okay, Doctor. What is this restaurant?'

'I don't know.' He replies and Clara sighs out her annoyance.

'Heads up.' Rose informs them and Clara and the Doctor join Rose in looking up at the new person to their table. A waiter.

The waiter also has a banal look on his face, dead eyes too and yet it is somehow a deep and soul searching gaze he seems to have. Also rather unnerving. He says nothing to them but rather continues to study them. Almost as though he's sizing them up for harvesting. Rose inadvertently shivers from her grimly morbid thoughts.

'Er…no sausages? Do you…and there's no pictures, either. Do you have a children's menu?'

'Doctor…' Rose bats him in the arm and the waiter mechanically reaches down for something and Rose struggles to hold herself in place. Could be a weapon. Could be anything. And yet she doesn't feel comforted by the thought of it being only a pen.

When the waiter's hand reappears he has a wand like device clasped in his fist. Rose relaxes but only slightly. He aims it at the Doctor and it takes everything in her not to jump up and bat it away. This could tell them more about what exactly is going on in this place.

'Any specials?' The Doctor wonders and a small beep from the device makes Rose pay attention that much harder, since the Doctor is absorbed in the menu and Clara is watching him with a careful eye, Rose feels the need to be the observant one.

'Liver.' The waiter replies with a monotone. He…can't possibly be alive.

'I don't like liver.' The Doctor tells him dismissively and goes back to studying the menu.

'Spleen. Brain stem. Eyes.'

Clara pales a bit and glances up to the waiter once he has finished. 'Mm. Is there a lot of demand for those?'

'I don't think that's what's on the menu. I think we're on the menu.' The Doctor explains and Clara pales a shade lighter and Rose pushes the menu towards the waiter.

The waiter holds the wand up to Clara and scans her as well. 'Lungs. Spleen.'

'Okay, so have we walked into an organ harvester's nest?' Rose wonders and feels the waiter staring at her while he scans her as well. The wand dings.

'Kidneys. Heart.' The waiter declares and Rose folds her arms. The whole idea of this place is becoming more and more unsettling. Especially since she can't seem to figure out what the end game is. Harvesting organs. For what purpose? At least she knows why the dinosaur was targeted.

'Huh. Thanks,' Rose retorts and the Doctor glances over to Rose who is shaking her head. 'Oh no, don't do it.'

'Oh yes,' The Doctor nods his head and turns his gaze back to the waiter. 'Excuse me.' The Doctor reaches up to the waiter's face, who – just as Rose suspected – doesn't offer a fight, merely stands there motionless while the Doctor rips off the face to reveal a pilot light burning underneath.

Clara widens her eyes and shifts closer towards the Doctor. 'Okay. Robot in a mask.'

Rose watches the Doctor handling the face and feels something icy drop into her stomach as the Doctor studies it. 'I don't think that's a mask. Oh, my god.'

'Yeah, it's very convincing.' Clara agrees and frowns when the Doctor presses the mask against Clara's face and leaves it there. She glares at him while she peels it off.

'It's a face.' The Doctor informs her and Clara nods her head absently. Honestly she doesn't need him to repeat Rose's words to her. She heard Rose the first time.

'Yes, I heard…' Clara widens her eyes and drops the face to the table in shocked horror. 'Oh!' She begins furiously wiping her hands on her dress and her hands shake when she places them on the table again. That at some point had been someone's flesh. Someone's actual face.

'Yes.' The waiter abruptly tells them and Rose frowns.

'I'm sorry, yes to what?' She inquires and the waiter turns to her and watches for several seconds before answering her question.

'Yes, we have a children's menu.'

Metal restraints abruptly come out of nowhere and secure themselves around everyone's upper arms and chest. Rose attempts to pry them off as best she can before another set appear and secure themselves around everyone's waist and lower arms. She doesn't care that she's struggling harder than the others to free herself from the restraints. No one is going to harvest her organs, nope. Not going to happen.

However as the booth rattles lightly, Rose pauses and frowns. The Doctor and Clara also stop their struggles to listen. Slowly the booth begins to be lowered down a shaft and the only light to be seen is the small sliver from the restaurant where the waiting is peering down. He grows smaller and smaller until there is nothing around them but the unsettling darkness. The Doctor looks over to Rose and Clara and smiles a bit.

'Well. You've got to admire their efficiency.' The Doctor informs them and Rose turns to him and shakes her head at him.

'Not the time nor the place.'

'Yeah, do you mind if I don't.' Clara adds and attempts to turn over her shoulder to see whereabouts they might be heading to. But there is nothing but darkness all around them. It's almost oppressive. Unnerving. She really would rather prefer to keep her organs with her.

They are jostled in their confines as the booth comes to a noisy rest in an open room of some ship that has gone unused for a very long time. Decades or longer judging by the rust that has been accumulating. Rose studies the room looking for anything that stands out – more so than normal. She spots it and nudges the Doctor with her foot and his gaze turns to her and then to a man sitting in the middle of the room, not moving or acknowledged their arrival. Maybe he hasn't heard them arrive as his back is towards them but it'd be rather hard not to. The ride down this shaft was loud and announcing. Visitors were coming. Visitors have arrived. Rose frowns when she notices the alcove above them. There are figures standing there as well. But they do not move either. Silent and eerie.

'Hello? Hello, are you the manager? I demand to speak to the manager.' The Doctor calls and his voice echoes around them however nothing happens. There is no reply. Rose nudges him once more with her foot and flings him a serious glare. He shrugs.

'Would you stop inviting trouble to us while we're incapacitated?' Rose chides and the Doctor shrugs. Clara wiggles against the restraints and sighs when nothing comes of it.

'This is not a real restaurant, is it?' She wonders and looks around the vastness of the room they're in. How do they get out of here? Is that shaft the only way back up? It must function as an elevator of some kind. Wait, she's jumping ahead. They need to figure out how to get out of this booth first.

'To be rather blunt, Clara, I think this is actually the heart of the organ harvester's operations.' Rose explains and Clara feels the colour drain from her face and she swallows as her eyes dart from place to place. Doesn't really seem…sterile.

'Like Sweeny Todd without the pies.' The Doctor adds and Clara flings him an unimpressed look. Like she needed that visual. A place the wary diner comes to eat and doesn't come back out. Delightful.

'So, what are we in right now?' Clara questions and the Doctor scans the room carefully. A ship. Old and decayed, buried. Oh, that's his inside voice. He should switch to external audio. Especially since Clara is waiting for her answer.

'Factually, an ancient spaceship, probably buried for centuries, functionally…a larder.' The Doctor surmises and Rose looks around the room for the third time. Nothing's changed. That's good…she supposes. She still wants out, though. Ugh, to her this is like a long list of inconveniences that are just piled on top of one another.

'So why hasn't anyone come for us.' Clara realises the uneasiness of her own words and hopes that her question won't be answered by the arrival of some organ harvester. Nothing happens. She sighs in relief.

'We're alive.' The Doctor answers plainly and again there isn't anything comforting about his words when he addresses her inquiry.

'We're alive in a larder.' Clara repeats and wiggles around in the constraints. Nothing helps. They are secured tightly. Damn.

'Exactly. It's cheaper than freezing us.' The Doctor replies and Rose flings him a rather disgusted look. However true his assessment and when Rose is about to scold him, she notices that he leans forward and the sonic screwdriver is visibly peeking out from under the coat. Finally. Best news she's heard all day.

Clara observes what the two of them are staring at and when she sees the sonic, a grin becomes plastered on her face. She beams. 'Yeah. All right!'

'Clara, are you ready?' The Doctor wonders and Rose feels her heart rate quicken. She's on the end of this table. But she has no doubt Clara will be able to grab the sonic.

Clara nods her head. 'Go for it.'

'Don't let it roll away.' The Doctor explains and Clara nods her head absently.

'No.'

'We've only got one shot at this.' The Doctor adds and Rose holds her breath as Clara readies herself but she also can't help but add a little jab at the Doctor in the process. It amuses Rose greatly.

'Next time, make one that doesn't roll.'

'Go!' The Doctor shakes the sonic loose from the coat and it tumbles to the floor with an audible bang. Clara throws her feet forward and attempts to catch it so it won't roll away from them. It comes to a gentle rest and Clara strains to have her foot make contact with the sonic. Rose exhales slowly forgetting to breath. Tense moments.

'Come on…' Clara mutters and continues to stretch her foot out as much as possible. She bites her lip and nearly makes contact with it.

'Got it?' The Doctor twists around to see her feet since he can't see the sonic. Why is this taking so long?

'I can only just about reach.' Clara replies and the Doctor smiles to himself. Because in situations like this…there was usually only one person who could help them out for these types of jams. Because she was nothing but leg. He can remember her…her red tresses and smile. Amy.

'Oh, it's at times like this…I miss Amy.' The Doctor says softly. Rose catches it and feels the slight sting of jealousy. He remembers Amy and those long legs of hers…their friendship and everything…but he can't remember her name. Instead he calls her the name of a man who caused so much friction between them because he let it get to him.

'Who?' Clara wonders, interrupting her thoughts and Rose turns away, silently struggling against her own restraints, something to do to work off the anger and defeat. He may never remember her. What's she gonna do then, leave? Cross that bridge when she gets to it. One problem at a time.

Clara grins as she secures the sonic between her feet and shimmies it towards her a bit more before tightening her grasp as best she can. 'Ready?' Clara questions and slips her right toe under the sonic and glances up to the Doctor.

'Don't miss!' The Doctor instructs and Rose feels as though her heart will beat right out of her chest. Clara nods her head and carefully counts down the seconds in her mind.

When she mentally reaches zero she kick flips the sonic into the air and it manages to land squarely in the Doctor's lap. Maybe a little too perfectly because Rose widens her eyes as it lands in a rather sensitive spot in his lap. She winces for him and the Doctor leans forward a bit from the pain. He groans a bit and Clara feels terrible.

'I'm sorry! Did I…hit something?' She wonders cautiously and the Doctor straightens up and flashes her a bit of a pained glare. She shrugs innocently in response.

'Oh, the symbolism!' He replies and picks up the sonic with his fingers, using it on the restraints and they pop off instantly. Rose leaps to her feet and meanders around the room, stretching but also to go up to their friend who is sitting in a stasis like state.

Clara gets to her feet and rubs her arms where the restraints dug into her. She motions to the sonic as the Doctor pockets it. 'You should make that thing voice activated,' Clara informs him and he avoids her look. Clara feels her mouth drop. How does he manage to conveniently forget these things? 'Oh, for god sake, it is, isn't it?'

The Doctor rubs his own arms and avoids Clara's glare by focusing on the man Charlie's in front of. 'I don't want to talk about it.' He states sourly and Clara brushes his comment off.

She too begins to wander around the larder, checking things out when her eyes reach the second level above them and to the figures that are merely poised there. Like wax figures. One of them is dressed like a Mandarin. Are all those people…dead?

'Doctor?' Clara calls to him but feels the need to keep her eye on the Mandarin. She's fearful that should her eyes leave that…thing will disappear. She waits until the Doctor is by her side and that she's certain he's looking at it too before her eyes leave it.

'Dormant.' He tells her and she feels relieved. But that was a rather fast assumption based on five seconds of observation. She now wants the proof that there's nothing to be fearful of.

'How do you know?'

'I don't. I'm just hoping.' He answers and they look around cautiously. He spots Rose over by the man sitting in the chair and he watches her studying the man.

'So…is it these guys that killed the dinosaur?' Clara wonders and the Doctor shrugs at her question.

'Well, if they're harvesting organs, a dinosaur would have some great stuff.' He replies and Clara gets a chill all of a sudden. What is this place? Why are they harvesting organs for the black-market, how is that even a thing?

Rose straightens up. This man doesn't tell her much. Sadly. 'I believe this man here is in a form of stasis. He's plugged in to something. Charging…'

The Doctor hurries over to Rose and Clara follows, still keeping her eyes moving on everything. He pauses when he stands beside Rose and she points to the wire he's connected to. 'Captain, my captain.'

Clara joins them and tilts her head at the half faced man. Rose lowers her own to his hands. 'So he truly can't see us?'

'No he's recharging. He's asleep,' The Doctor tests his theory by waving his hand and fingers in front of the man's face. There is no reaction. 'Doesn't even know we're here.' He replies confidently and somehow Clara doesn't feel relieved.

'Are you sure?'

The Doctor shrugs. 'Sure, not sure – one or the other.'

Clara leans in to observe the man's half of a face. 'Okay, so half man, half robot. A cyborg, yeah?'

'Doctor…?' Rose tugs on his coat sleeve and he turns to her.

'What?'

Rose points to the man's hands and begins to feel a little sick. 'Look. His hands.'

The Doctor lowers his gaze and widens his eyes. 'Oh.'

Clara's look darts between the two and she frowns. 'Oh?'

'Well, now we know why we're in an organ harvester's den.' Rose replies and feels the need to take a step back from this man just in case the charging is complete and he suddenly springs to life. There goes her heart rate again. Clara is looking at the man but sees nothing but a robot like cyborg. What are they seeing?

'What? What is it?' Clara leans from side to side hoping to spot the difference. But he just looks…well, unusual yes, but normal unusual. If that makes sense.

'Look at the hands.' The Doctor instructs and points to them. Clara does so but frowns. Okay. Hands. He's got two of them. What's the big deal?

'What about them?' Clara looks up to the Doctor who is still pointing at them.

'Look at them.' He tells her again and Clara crosses her arms feeling rather irritated at the moment. They look like hands. That's all.

'I'm looking.' Clara insists and she spends seconds studying the hands. She is creeped out when the Doctor picks up the man's hands in his own and holds them in front of her. The shock and disgust is evident on Clara's face.

'They don't match. These hands don't belong to the same body.' The Doctor explains and Clara widens her eyes and takes a step back. That scares her. And she looks over to Rose who has been rather quiet for the most part. She is scanning the robot carefully.

'I don't understand.' Clara tells him and the Doctor stands beside Rose, as they stare at the clockwork gears dormant in his head. This entire ordeal seems rather familiar, but she dare not voice her thoughts just in case. Rose points to the gears and the Doctor nods his head at her before his gaze returns to Clara.

'I don't blame you. See, this…this is not your normal cyborg. This isn't a man turning himself into a robot. This is a robot turning himself…into a man, piece by piece.' The Doctor explains and Rose shivers. She points up above their heads.

'That's what the restaurant's for.' Clara surmises and both the Doctor and Rose nod their heads.
'This is unsettling. The need for a constant supply of organs. Because, well, organs would rot if they're not kept alive. If the host…isn't alive.' Rose bites the corner of her lip and she looks to the ceiling. Something is telling her that it's time to go.

'Charlie's right. You can tan skin, but look,' The Doctor points to some of the metal work and Rose and Clara lean their heads in to study what he's pointing at. 'Some of that metalwork looks Roman. Wonder how long it's been around, how much of the original is even left. The eyeballs look very fresh, though.'

Suddenly the three of the gasp and jump back as the man with only half a face begins to stir. He places his hands on the arm of the chair and the clockwork gears spring to life. Clara fishes around for something to grab and secures a tight grasp on the Doctor's coat. Her heart is pounding in her chest and she exhales slowly.

'Okay, it's time to go.' Rose decides however they remain stationary just in case their sudden movements may hasten his awakening.

'Is it awake?' Clara whispers and Rose doesn't want to tempt fate by leaning in for a closer look.

'It's waking up…I think.' The Doctor confirms and Rose motions for them to go ahead of her while she brings up the rear. They quietly move around her and Rose takes a few steps backward to ensure the man with half a face doesn't follow them.

They continue to slowly creepy back towards the shaft where the booth was lowered when Clara notices that the Doctor has paused and looks up to the ceiling of the ship as though he's just remembered something, like a light bulb has gone off. He stops and begins to turn around to head back to the man with only half a face when Clara reaches back to grab onto the Doctor's hand. Rose hasn't noticed because she's still making sure that the…robot man is still in a state of semi consciousness.

'Doctor!' Clara hisses and it causes Rose to whip around and stare with wide eyes at the Doctor walks by her and points to the cyborg.

'I've seen this before. I'm missing something!' The Doctor insists and Rose frowns as she watches him continuing to point. He's seen this? How could he have seen this? He doesn't even remember her name. But he remembers clockwork like cyborgs sitting in an abandoned ship, buried decades or centuries while they periodically show themselves to the world…

Rose widens her eyes. They have seen this before. She was there. Ships. Clockwork like cybrogs. Robots. These ones are slightly more sophisticated than the last round. She still feels the jealousy of that interaction. But why regress? No, not regress. Advance. Instead of one woman…now the entire city of London is game.

'You're right. We have seen this before.'

The Doctor turns to her with a surprised look and he rushes to her. 'We have? You and I?'

'You and I, yes. Shall I find you a fireplace, a horse and perhaps a French royal mistress?' Rose folds her arms and the Doctor takes a step back seeing that she is immensely annoyed for some reason. A fireplace? Why would he want a fireplace? Oh, that was the key to get there. How'd he forget? How'd he forget Charlie's rage with him?

'No…I, I was just going to point out that the head is brand new. And, that's why…I was remembering things. But I remember how cross you were with me.' The Doctor admits and Rose smirks while arching her eyebrow.

'I really was. And I remember you not really caring. You always do what you want anyway…even if it means that you don't get to see how much you hurt those around you.' Rose counters and the Doctor looks away, fully remembering that tiff. It also reinforces the belief in his mind that they are so much closer to one another than he perceives them to be. Question is: why is she doing that? Who is she trying to protect?

'I…right. Time to go.' He deflects, as usual, and rushes past her but reaches back and grabs onto her arm, taking her with him and she nearly loses her balance. She isn't sure which of them one that fight, or if it was even a fight or what. This is entirely daunting to her.

They rush right by Clara who is transfixed by the cyborg who is still unplugging himself from the machines. She wonders what they are designed for. She wonders what that cybrog is designed for and what its purpose is. And why all of a sudden is it causing London so much grief? Or is it just are they finally starting to pay attention to it? There are other questions to answer but she figures now it not the time for explanations.

She vaguely hears the shuffling and light hisses from Rose and the Doctor, arguing again most likely, but when she hears her name being called she turns over to see Rose staring at her through the door's port window with wide eyes and a scared look on her face. Clara doesn't realise it right away until she watches Rose turn to who she presumes is the Doctor and begins pointing at the window with vigour and after she widens her eyes and turns back to Clara. Sensing that she may have just become trapped in the room with a cyborg that may be dangerous. Or not. But with her experience, the answer is probably yes. So she quietly tries to draw as much attention as she can away from herself and makes a dash for the door. Rose and the Doctor put their heads together to stare at one another. Clara frowns.

'Doctor!' She whispers angrily and motions to the door and Rose gives him a gentle shove to get him to move quicker.

Clara's heart pounds in her chest as she watches the door move at an agonising slow pace, higher and higher until it just…stops. A little bit. It isn't even enough for her to slide under or anything. But she can hear Rose's frantic pleas. It causes Clara just slip into a panic mode just a little bit quicker.

'Hurry, Doctor, lift the door higher so Clara can get out.' Rose instructs and the Doctor watches with a candid fascination as the cyborg unplugs himself from the machines and slowly begins to come back to life.

'Sorry, she was too slow. There's no point in them catching all three of us.' The Doctor decides and Rose feels her jaw drop. Clara widens her eyes and turns over her shoulder to where the cyborg lifts his left hand and flex it. She turns back to Rose and the Doctor with wide eyes.

'It's fine, never mind then. Just give me the screwdriver.' Clara demands and the Doctor looks at it before looking to Clara and holds it closer, shaking his head at her. Rose throws the back of her hand into his arm and glares at him.

'I might need it.' The Doctor replies seriously and he uses the sonic to close the door the remainder of the way. Clara watches him with wide eyes and Rose is about to bang her fist on the door before deciding otherwise. It may just alert that monster out there.

Clara and the Doctor continue to lock angry glares at one another before the Doctor turns and leaves, she watches him walk away down the corridor. The sting of betrayal hurts immensely and Clara is stunned by his actions. However Rose appears through the port window and presses her hand on the glass. Clara matches her actions.

'Don't worry, Clara. I will get you out. No matter what. Just be calm. Don't panic. You panic and mistakes are made. So calm down. Take a deep breath in…' Rose smiles at her before she turns on her heel and dashes down the hall, ready to give the Doctor a piece of her mind. Plan or not it's not right that one of them is left behind. That's not the way they do things around here.

'Rose? Doctor? Oh!' Clara hides her gasp as she watches the cyborg slowly come around to the booth and she presses herself into the indentation by the door in a vain attempt to hide. She can hear her heart pounding in her ears. Her heart racing. Clara exhales slowly, quietly so as not to draw attention to herself. The cyborg is up and moving around. She doesn't know what sets it off, how it knows if there are people around, things like that. So she slowly waits for an opportune moment to get out of her situation. And plot for what she'll say to the Doctor the moment she gets him within yelling distance. She believes Rose when she says she'll find her a way out, but the Doctor…she doesn't get why he'd just…leave her like that. It hurts her the longer she tries to figure it out. Why betray her like that? What does he gain from it other than losing her trust in him? She knows that Rose will truly give him a piece of her mind. So it makes her feel a little bit better.

Clara widens her eyes when she notices that the cyborg has turned around and now has his back to her. She bites the corner of her lip and slowly tiptoes sideways from her hiding spot to another door she spots across the room. Her escape attempt is thwarted when she finds herself unable to open the door and she silently curses. Of course, what luck. She spots the alcove and hurries up as fast as she can while trying not to draw attention to herself to take refuge there. She begins exhaling quickly, her heart fluttering in her chest when she feels a presence looming over her. It sets her on edge and when she lifts her gaze she sees the Chinese robot she spotted earlier studying her with an eager enthusiasm. What does she do? She's going to get caught! She directs her gaze forward and desperately thinks of what she can do to help herself in this situation. Strangely she remembers something Rose said earlier that makes her frown.

'Take a deep breath.'

Why didn't she finish it with, 'and then exhale slowly.' Why say it like that? What's she implying? And then the Doctor's words echo in her mind. An extension of what Rose had been implying when she and him had been bantering back and forth earlier in the restaurant.

'Something else they're not doing. Breathing. How long can you hold your breath?'

'Long enough.'

Clara watches in fear at the cyborg striding towards her. Danger if he catches her. Hopefully she's right. He's mere feet from her now. Clara inhales deeply and holds her breath. The cyborg stops and tilts his head, staring at her directly in the eye. Clara has her eyes wide open and her brow furrows. This is harder than she thought it would be. She wants to breathe so badly. However in a stroke of luck, the cyborg turns around and walks away from her. But she can't risk it. She's surrounded on all sides. She breathes and they'll know she isn't like one of them. Then she's in real trouble. But it hurts, she's fighting her natural instinct to breathe, she craves the air. She tries not to think about it, she focuses on everything in the room to stop thinking about how desperately she needs to breathe. What if she faints? That's a dead giveaway. The Chinese robot moves away and a solitary tear falls from Clara's eye as she jerkily follows the robot hoping to blend in further as she looks for a way out. As the Chinese robot moves towards a door, it opens and she makes a small dash for it, keeping her movements erratic to show that she is a part of them while she waits for the Doctor's miraculous plan.

---

Rose slips her hair into a ponytail, sweeping her hair off the back of her neck felt good, she's hot and can feel their perspiration running down her temple. When the Doctor has carefully peeled off the mask, he tosses it over to her. She winces as she catches it and feels a chill run through her. This idea seems extremely risky to her. She doesn't like that Clara has been left behind like that. It makes her worry something could happen. Especially since they don't even know anything about what that cyborg wants. She tries to keep the faith but she just worries. She wishes it were she back in that room, at least she'd know Clara was safe with the Doctor. She could handle herself. Besides, he had told her he surmises that Clara didn't come into the restaurant alone. And she agreed. She told him that all Clara needed to do was get word to her backup squad and they'd be there to rescue her. Which is good. More back up for them. Question is…are they going to have to summon them or can they rely on their wits alone to get them out of this situation.

The Doctor glances over to Charlie as she grimaces holding the face in her hands. She hasn't said anything to him since their disagreement over how he handled the situation regarding Clara and how she vehemently disagreed with him. What else is new?

'Are you not going to speak to me for the rest of this misadventure?' He wonders and Rose plants her fist on her hip and looks over to him, pausing in his actions of peeling off another face for himself. They pause and hold their breaths as a robot walks down the end of the corridor. Thankfully it doesn't spot them. They exhale quietly. But in order to keep the heat off of them, they say all of their sentences without taking a breath; there are robots that are close, in the next corridor over that could hear them.

'I just wish you would keep me informed of your plans so that I can react better. I don't like doing things on the fly.' Rose replies and the Doctor walks towards her and when they stand in front of one another, Rose feels a small painful stab at her heart. He looks at her. But he looks through her.

'I had a more honest reaction out of you and Clara. Had I been more forthcoming, I might not have had the appropriate response. Arousing suspicion.' The Doctor explains and Rose scoffs while rolling her eyes.

'Doesn't matter, we've left Clara alone and unarmed.'

'If she was paying attention to what we said she will be fine.'

'I worry for her.'

'Don't. The adrenaline would have kicked in by now. She's in survivor mode. She is more adept to bargaining for her life and extracting information. Self-preservation. She'll be okay.' The Doctor tells her and he places his hand on her arm and Rose relents, feeling the tug within her to continue to get closer to him. But it probably isn't right. So she doesn't.

'Promise me she will.' Rose begs and surprising her, the Doctor moves his hand from her arm, to her cheek. Now it's her turn to freeze with fear and confusion. He gives her a curt nod and watches her bite her lip. She does that. And next she'll avoid his look. Which she does. He knows her.

'She will. She's a control freak. And we all know what happens when someone tries to have power over a control freak.'

Rose begins to laugh lightly and quietly. 'Right. Yeah. Okay. Thanks…'

She widens her eyes when he places a quick kiss on her cheek. He pulls away embarrassed and she has wide eyes from the shock of what he's just done. That's a hell of a sign. She can feel the colour deepen on her cheeks and she opens her mouth to say something when the Doctor beats her to it and takes a step back, beginning to hammer out apologies. Rose reaches for the front of his shirt with wide eyes and pulls him toward her, pressing her lips to his in a fluid motion. He rests his hands on her shoulders. Whether it's because he's afraid to push her off or to keep her where she is…she doesn't know. But she decides to end it. God only knows what this means nor what consequences she'll reap from this. Then again…she may have just helped him with his memory problem.

Rose pulls away first and when she opens her eyes she sees the Doctor staring at her with a stunned expression on his face. She really needs to start listening to that gut instinct she has. It always is right and she never believes it. She takes a step back to put distance between them. What a colossal mistake she's made. Terrible. What's wrong with her? She looks to her feet.

'I'm sorry. I don't know…what came over me…' Rose admits and the Doctor avoids her look as well. There had been so much love in that brief kiss. She's so special to him, isn't she? So why does his memories of her seem so…incoherent? He can remember nearly everything about Clara…but with Charlie…it's different. He's not even sure that's her real name.

'I…didn't mind,' The Doctor discloses casually and Rose lifts her gaze to meet his. She gives him a crooked, sheepish smile. 'I just…you're just…there. In my mind. I can see you, see us, see what we've done together. What we haven't. But there's holes. There are pieces missing. And…I know, know Charlie isn't your real name but I can't remember it and I don't know why I call you by that name…'

Rose reaches her hand out and the Doctor takes a firm grasp of it. She doesn't want to tell him why he calls her Charlie, let him remember on his own if he must. However she does want to tell him that it'll be okay. He'll remember her in time. 'You know my name…it's-…'

The Doctor silences her by pressing his finger to his lips and Rose freezes. 'Listen. They're coming. Positions.'

They break a part and hide in alcoves the next corridor over, putting on the masks that they had secured, even though Rose winces as it touches her face and she closes her eyes at the morbid thoughts running through her mind. Rose waits until the last possible second to hold her breath, listening as the footsteps draw closer, Clara's heels echoing around them. In spite of this she nearly loses it when she sees Clara stumble almost into their corridor. She's holding her breath and Rose can see her eyes darting to the robots that line both sides of the halls. She nearly runs to the adjoining corridor to catch a break. But no such luck. Clara's face is covered with a thick layer of perspiration and her eyes are constantly water, tears streaming down her face. Rose wishes she could give Clara a sign, not to worry because they're here with her.

But Rose grows more concerned when Clara begins to stumble, her movements laboured. She drags her feet and her eyes roll to the back of her head several times. She's going to faint. Rose watches Clara throw her hand out to feel around for a wall or something sturdy so she can steady herself but of course she finds nothing. She can't take much more of this. Rose observes Clara pausing in her step, biting her lip to keep the air out but she can do no more. She gasps for breath, inhaling sharply as she slides to the floor in a dead faint.

'Bring her.' The cyborg commands and Rose and the Doctor spring from their spots and they secure a grasp under her arms and haul her to a standing position and drag her back into the main part of the ship. The cyborg is now sitting in his chair once again and Rose can feel herself reaching her own breaking point.

The cyborg dismisses them once they leave Clara just by his feet and together they slink off to a different part of the ship's main room, an alcove not far from Clara. They exchange looks and continue to wait until Clara comes out of her faint. Rose slowly exhales blowing out the breath as quietly as she can and inhaling even more quietly. The cyborg does turn to her direction but doesn't come to her. Thankfully.

Rose and the Doctor watch Clara slowly stir and sit up on her hip, looking around confused until she notices the cyborg in his chair and she gasps, shuffling back as fast as she can before getting to her feet. She looks around, turning in a circle for help, but she doesn't see any and Rose can tell she's going to rely on her nerves and wit to help stall for time.

'Where are the others? There were two more. Where are they? Where are the others? You will tell us…or you will be destroyed.' The cyborg demands and Rose watches Clara ball her fists and take a step forward.

'What did you say?' Clara demands and the cyborg leans forward.

'You will tell us.' He repeats and Clara folds her arms defiantly.

'Yeah, I know, or what?'

'You will die.' The cyborg tells her simply and Clara smirks at him, shaking her head deeply. She's been put to the test before, on her very first day teaching. Those kids were unruly, disruptive and taunted her. They pushed her past her breaking point, nearly brought her to tears but she survived her first day. And then her second one. She can do anything she sets her mind to. And she will survive this.

'Go on, then. Do it. I'm not going to answer any of your questions, so you have to do it. You have to kill me. Threats don't work unless you deliver.' Clara retorts and holds her arms out to the sides of her. Unsurprisingly, the cyborg does nothing at all to her but stare at her with this rather vacant glazed look in his eyes.

'You will tell us where the other two are.' The cyborg commands again and Clara shakes her head.

'Nope.'

'You will be destroyed.' The cyborg declares and Clara smirks at him. Rose is immensely impressed by how Clara's managing to stall for time. The Doctor had been right, the adrenaline has kicked in and now she's in full survivor mode. She's incredibly brilliant. Rose exhales slowly through her mouth, being as silent as she can and since the cyborg is so wrapped up in Clara, he fails to notice.

'Destroy me, then. And if you don't, then…I'm not going to believe a single threat you make from now on,' Clara folds her hands in front of her and studies the room, trying to see if she can see something that sticks out to her, so show her that Rose or the Doctor are nearby. But nothing. Everything is the same. Fine, she'll just stall for more time. 'Of course, if I'm dead, then…I can't tell you where the other two went, then…you need to keep this place down here a secret, don't you? Never start with your final solution. You've got nowhere to go but backwards.'

'Humans feel pain.' The cyborg reminds Clara and she finds herself holding back her laugh of bitter irony. Of course they do. And she doesn't want to feel pain but she needs to keep this…half man like cyborg from believing he has her scared. She presses onward.

Clara points at the cyborg, however he remains stoic. 'Bigger threat to smaller threat – see what I mean? Backwards.'

'The information can be extracted by means of your suffering.'

Clara scoffs and folds her arms. She shakes her head. His tune is getting old very quickly. And she'll simply continue to call his bluff, while being honest with him and herself. Yeah, she's bloody terrified. 'Are you trying to scare me? Well, cause I'm already bloody terrified of dying…and I'll endure a lot of pain for a very long time before I give up the information that's keeping me alive. How long have you got?'

The cyborg stands and Clara almost takes a step back but holds her ground and glowers at the cyborg. 'Where are the others?'

'All you can offer me is my life – what you can't do is threaten it. You can negotiate,' Clara tells him and the cyborg takes a step forward and Clara backs up two steps. The cyborg removes his right hand and lifts it to where it grips his lapel. Clara holds out her hands to stop him. Her heart is racing and she feels tears starting to form. 'Okay, okay, okay! Okay, yes, yes, yes, I'm crying and it's just because I am very frightened of you. If you know anything about human beings, that means you…' Clara squares herself to the cyborg and points to him. 'You're in a lot of trouble.'

The cyborg reaches to attach a blowtorch to his arm and holds it out towards Clara. She widens her eyes and exhales slowly. 'We will not negotiate.'

'You don't have a choice. I tell you what, I'll answer your questions if you answer mine.' Clara proposes and Rose finds herself inwardly grinning. There it is. Clever girl.

'We will not answer questions.' The cyborg repeats and studies the blowtorch carefully. Clara watches the cyborg carefully and swallows a lump in her throat. You know a sign saying that the Doctor or Rose are close at hand would really be soothing to her nerves right about now.

'We'll take turns, I'll go first. Why did you kill the dinosaur?' Clara probes and the cyborg tilts his head at her for a brief moment before he takes another step towards her.

'We will not answer questions.'

'Why did you kill the dinosaur?' Clara repeats and she watches the ominous look in those dead eyes turn to rage. She braces herself.

'We will not answer questions!' He shouts and points the blowtorch at her. Clara jumps lightly at the force in his tone when he shouted at her. Hopefully what she does next will call his bluff.

'Then you might as well kill me, because I'm not talking again till you do.' Clara looks away and takes that moment to study the alcoves. Again nothing but similarity. She hates doing this on her own, without any indication the outcome will be good. Where are they? How long does it take? Out of the corner of her eye, Clara is surprised to see the cyborg lower the torch.

'Within the optic nerve of the dinosaur is material of use to our computer systems.' He explains and Clara inwardly beams. Yes. Here we go. Finally getting some answers out of him. But it certainly wasn't the answer she wanted.

'You burned a whole dinosaur for a spare part? No, no, hang on. You know what's in a dinosaur's optic nerve, which means you've seen them before.' Clara surmises and widens her eyes at her own realisation and deduction. This means that…whatever is on this ship has been here…maybe since the dawn of time.

'Where are the others?' The cyborg wonders and Clara frowns as she begins to piece together the mystery of this cyborg's origins. She points to him before drawing her hand back and biting her thumbnail in thought.

'How long have you been rebuilding yourselves? Look at the state of you! Is there any real you left? What's the point?' Okay so that last bit became rhetorical. But he'll answer her, she's certain of it.

'We will reach the Promised Land.' He answers and Clara frowns at him.

'The what? The Promised Land? What's that?'

'Where are the others?'

The Doctor signals Rose to move and they slowly descend from their hiding spots in the alcoves and silently make their way down to Clara who has backed up from the cyborg, trying to put some distance between them. Clara doesn't hear them and so when she comes to a stop they take up their spots just behind her and wait for the moment to reveal themselves to her. Rose notices that Clara's hands are shaking.

'I don't know. But I know where he will be…where he will always be. I know that between him and Rose…they'll always have my back. Because that's who they are,' Clara inhales and ignores her racing heart to reach her hands back behind her. 'I'm right, aren't I? Go on. Please, please, god, say I'm right.'

Rose and the Doctor grip her outstretched hands tightly and they yank Clara back where Rose envelops her in a hug and Clara exhales her nervousness and clings to her tightly. She turns around to see two of the same figures that dragged her down the hall and into this room reach their hands up and peel off the faces, exposing Rose's mischievous eyes and the Doctor's grin. Rose drops the facemask to the ground and Clara nearly jumps into her embrace. She clings to Rose tighter and is so relieved that she's safe she nearly jumps up and down.

'I told you, you'd always be safe with me.' Rose whispers and Clara smiles a bit, nodding.

'I believed you.'

The Doctor takes a step towards the cyborg and smiles. 'Hello, hello, rubbish robots from the dawn of time; thank you for all the gratuitous information. Five foot one and crying – you never stood a chance,' The Doctor slaps down the cyborg's torch hand and presses the sonic into the power source. Stop it! This is your power source, and feeble though it is, I can use it to blow this whole room if I see one thing that I don't like, and that includes karaoke and mime, so take no chances. See, Clara?' The Doctor turns around and tosses the face to her, which she catches and then makes a face at. 'That's how you disguise yourself as a Droid. Was it convincing enough? Did we do a good job?'

'Oh yes, so much so that I'm sorry I didn't have enough time to join in on the fun. You know, I was just abandoned.' Clara retorts and the Doctor shrugs a bit.

'Sorry. Well, no, actually I'm not, you're brilliant on adrenaline. And you were out of depth, sir,' The Doctor points to the cyborg who continues to stare blankly at him. 'Never try and control a control freak.'

'Doctor…' Rose sighs and presses her hand to her forehead while Clara balls her fists at her side.

'I am not a control freak!' She tells him furiously and throws down the face.

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Why are you here?' The cyborg questions and Rose arches her eyebrow as she moves forward ever so slightly. She stands next to the Doctor while they continue to study the cyborg's question.

'Why did you invite us? The message, in the paper…that was you, wasn't it?' The Doctor trails off and the cyborg tilts his head, staring at them with that depthless gaze. Oh, okay. Maybe not the man – half man – who invited them here? So embarrassing. The Doctor sighs. 'Oh. I hate being wrong in public. Everybody forget that happened,' He tells them and walks over to Clara with a smirk. 'Clara, say the word.'

Clara frowns. 'What word?'

Rose throws her fists up as the cyborg begins to advance on them. 'The word.'

The Doctor points to the ceiling. 'They never sent you in here without a word.'

Clara feels the heat creep into her cheeks and shakes her head. 'I don't want to say it.'

'On three!' Rose calls to them and the Doctor points to Rose.

'We've already guessed it.'

Clara inhales and nods her head at him. She presses her finger to her brooch and together the three of them shout in unison.

'Geronimo!'

From an opening in the ceiling, Vastra and Jenny descend from an aerial drop as they unroll with a silk sash. Rose whistles and Jenny winks at her once they land gracefully and unsheathe their weapons.

'That was a beautiful entrance! Teach me that!' Rose tells them and Jenny nods her head.

'Next time!'

'Remain still and lay down your weapons, in the name of the British Empire!' Vastra commands and everyone's heads shoot up to the opening as something heavy lets out a cry and falls to floor, they lower their gazes to find Strax pulling himself up from the floor having attempted to copy the exact same stunt, only to fail at executing it.

'Strax?' Rose calls and he brushes himself off with a huff. 'You okay?'

'Perfectly fine, lad.' He replies but Rose notices he winces a fair bit. She can't help but shake her head at him.

'I've told you before – take the stairs!' Jenny scolds and he chooses to her ignore her.

'Oh, look. The cavalry.' The Doctor smiles at Clara and Rose takes up her position by Vastra and Jenny. The three of them exchange a little look, sealing it with a nod.

The cyborg begins to advance towards them and Rose, Jenny and Vastra hold the line. 'I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish, little man?'

The Doctor shrugs absently. 'What do you? Vastra?'

Vastra blocks the cyborgs arm from extending further. 'The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudice, and the authorities summoned.' She explains and Clara stares at Vastra as though she's spoken a foreign language. She turns up to the Doctor.

'Hang on, she called the police? Is it that easy? We never do that. Why don't we do that? We should start.' Clara decides and the Doctor takes a few steps until he is standing behind Vastra. He reaches over and squeezes Rose's shoulder. She looks back to him and smirks.

'You see? Destroy us if you will, they're still going to close your restaurant. That was going to sound better.' The Doctor replies and the cyborg continues to stare blankly at them before he lifts his hand and the other robots spring to life.

'Then we will destroy you.' The cyborg decides and Rose, Jenny and Vastra watch the other robots in the alcoves begin to step forward, blades have appeared in place of their arms. Rose widens her eyes. The doors to halls abruptly open and it allows for the others to begin pouring in.

Vastra pushes the cyborg back and away from them where he is flanked by the other robots. Together they all begin advancing towards them, Rose motions for the Doctor and Clara to back away – which they do while they continue to hold the line, creating a buffer for Clara and the Doctor to stay safe.

'Well, ladies? And Strax? Plan of action or everyone just pick a section and get to work?' Rose wonders and Jenny smiles.

'I'm okay taking a section.' Jenny replies and Vastra nods her head in agreement.

'As am I.'

'Well, let's see who takes the first swing, shall we?' Rose watches the robots over the cyborg's shoulders. They are merely waiting for his command to attack and she doesn't want to be caught off guard and slow to respond. She steadies her breathing and hopes not to get on the wrong end of those blades.

'Before you get to work, you three, I want to tell the half man something,' The Doctor interjects and moves to just standing behind Rose. 'You won't destroy us. You're logical. You have restraint. You kill to survive – you're not a murderer.'

Clara widens her eyes and stares at him before shifting her gaze back to the cyborg and then again to the Doctor. 'Doctor, what? No. This is a slaughterhouse.'

The Doctor turns to her and stares at her deeply. Clara doesn't like that look. It makes her uncomfortable. 'And how does that make it different from any other restaurant? You weren't a vegetarian last time I checked. This is over. Killing us won't change that. What would be the point?'

'To find the Promised Land.' The cyborg informs them and Rose drops her hands to her sides to stare at him.

'There it is. I hate to be the one to tell you this…but there is no promised land. Haven't you realised…? You've been here since the dawn of time. Maybe that was the promised land. What's happened since then? Progress. It's always progress.' Rose explains and the cyborg stares at her before tilting his head.

'You're millions of years old. If you didn't know…sorry we had to be the ones to tell you.' The Doctor adds and the cyborg remains silent. No one is sure if he is digesting the information or comprehends it at all. Silence begins to grow thicker and Rose finds herself holding her breath. Ironic, given the day she's had.

'I am in search of paradise.' The cyborg explains and the Doctor rolls his eyes.

'Yeah, well, me too. I'm not going to make it either.' He replies and the cyborg steps forward and backhands the Doctor who falls to the floor. Rose shouts at the cyborg but Jenny restrains her while Clara is on her knees ensuring that he's okay. The Doctor nods his head at her and Clara helps him up.

The cyborg walks over to the booth at the base of the shaft and lowers himself into it. Everyone watches with curiosity as the cyborg settles himself and turns over to the small crowd before announcing his plans.

'I will leave in this escape capsule. Destroy where necessary.' The cyborg explains and Vastra stares stunned.

'Escape capsule? This ship is millions of years old, it'll never fly.' She tells him seriously but her words are not heard by the cyborg who merely brushes off her concerns as though he's never heard them before.

'It has been repaired.' He informs them and everyone exchanges confused looks. It certainly doesn't seem to be repaired, judging by the interior of this ship.

'With what?' Vastra wonders and the cyborg turns to them with a deadpan expression on his face.

'You.'

'Defensive positions everyone.' Strax declares and the four of them surround the Doctor and Clara as the robots spring to life and begin to encircle them. The Doctor takes Rose's wrist in his hand and she turns over to him with surprise in her eyes. He smiles at her.

'Be careful.'

Rose gives him a small, crooked smile and shrugs. 'No. I won't make promises I don't know if I can keep.'

'Try to try,' The Doctor tells her and Rose nods her head at him. 'Good.'

'He's getting away.' Rose motions to the shaft casually and the Doctor looks over. The cyborg turns to her and then looks away. 'You friend is intelligent. He'll know better than to follow me.'

Rose snorts as the booth begins to head up the shaft. 'Yeah, well, joke's on you because he's not smart enough not to follow you!' She calls to the cyborg and then looks over to the Doctor, feeling guilty for what she just said. 'Sorry about that.'

'Your assessment is accurate enough. Well, me and my stupidity are off again.' The Doctor smiles at her and dashes off to the booth, side stepping those robots who try to stop him. He winks at her and grips onto a bar that is under the booth and rides up the shaft. She swallows and turns her attention back to the problem at hand.

Rose focuses on the robots surrounding them and stands back to back with everyone else. She looks over to Clara whose eyes are darting around the robots. It's okay to be scared; hell she always is, even now. She places her hand on Clara's shoulder and Clara shifts her gaze to Rose's.

'Ready?' Rose wonders and Clara gives her a curt nod.

'I sure am.'

'It is our intent to leave. If it is your intent to stop us, perhaps we should get down to business.' Vastra decides and Rose and Jenny get in to defensive positions while Clara sticks close by Rose just in case. She looks around the floor for anything she can use to help them, but doesn't see anything.

Rose takes a quick look up to the shaft and hopes that everything will work out. Though she knows deep that that's rarely the case. She goes back to heightened alert and waits to see who will strike first. The silence grows. What will happen if they become overwhelmed? Why is she thinking like that? Okay, why does this cyborg feel as though it is so important to find this land that she's certain doesn't exist. She then understands that this poor thing crashed here so long ago that it's looking for a way back home. And was surviving the only way it knew how. And of course taking a hell of a long way home. She's surprised that the cyborg never lost faith after millions of daunting years that it would be going back home. Hopefully they can help him, and hopefully it won't have an unhappy ending.

---

The cyborg watches the two men in crisp authoritative garb scurry from the restaurant after he ignited the torch. He waits and listens. Nothing else comes from it. No other humans burst through the door and demand things. Who are they to demand anything from him? They know nothing. There are merely stepping stones for him to eliminate along the way as he makes his way to the land of promise. And he has nearly succeeded after millions of years waiting. Those that were to have attempted to stop him are below him now, being dealt with. There is nothing that can stop him.

The sound of liquid flowing causes him to turn around and see the man from below sitting at a table pouring two drinks into a glass. Whiskey. How did he even get up here without him knowing? Or had he been so concerned with the final leg of his plan that he began to suffer from tunnel vision? The man invites him to sit at the table he is at and the cyborg tilts his head.

'What are you doing?'

The Doctor shrugs and pushes the glass of whiskey forward. 'I've got the horrible feeling I'm going to have to kill you. I thought you might appreciate a drink first. I know I would.' The Doctor takes a sip from the whiskey and swallows it. It's warming, pleasant and not all that bad.

As the Doctor assumed, the cyborg ignores him and walks over to a control panel and pulls a lever. The restaurant begins to shake as the roof slowly begins to retract, noisily and parts of plaster and dust begin to fall, settling on ground as the Doctor begins to walk towards the cyborg. He does nothing but watch the Doctor carefully approach him.

'51st century, right? Time travelling spaceship, crashed in the past. You're trying to get home the long way round.' The Doctor surmises and the cyborg ignores him for another moment before he turns over to the Doctor.

'I go to the Promised Land.'

The Doctor sighs. 'So you keep saying,' He watches as the cyborg pulls another lever but remains silent. 'Okay, so your restaurant is made out of your old ship,' He begins thinking to himself and notices that a large bouquet of yellow roses has been knocked to the floor and he scoops them up. Inhaling their scent. Beautiful. Ironic, though, he thinks, as yellow roses signify that one's forgotten something. Yeah, this whole situation. And Charlie…and the blonde's name. He refuses to call her Charlie because that's not her name. 'But you're wasting your time, it can't ever fly.'

'The escape pod is viable.' The cyborg explains and the Doctor shakes his head. Twirling the roses in his hand. What's he forgotten? Why is this familiar to him? Why does he recall the blonde being so uptight with him before? This situation mirrors another one. She hadn't spoken to him for days after. Why? What's he missing?

'How? You can't patch up a spaceship with human remains,' The Doctor insists and pauses, he inhales the roses again. Listening to his own words. He's nearly there, he can feel it. 'You know, this really is ringing a bell.'

The cyborg presses another series of buttons on the control panel hidden in the wall. When he presses the final one, another batch of tremors shakes the restaurant and dusts falls onto them with earnest. 'I will go to the Promised Land.'

'Okay, that's clever. How are you powering it?' The Doctor wonders and strides to the control panel to see.

'Skin.'

'Oh…'

His mind continues to swirl with thoughts on this situation and where he's seen it before. Why it's so familiar it nearly hurts. Why the blonde made the comments she did. A horse. Fireplace. A French royal mistress. Where does it all fit in with this?! He's wracking his mind for answers but is coming up empty handed. Yellow roses means he's forgotten something. Yeah, he's forgotten a lot of things. Come on, why is this so hard. Just remember.

Remember!

He stares at the roses longer. He barely has a memory. They're all fleeting, coming and going. But he remembers this scene, this set up. He recalls robots trying to repair a ship. And that they used human parts. And these roses in his hand…he remembers something about roses. He was drawn to them, that's why he picked them up. On top of trying to stop what's happening here, he's trying to figure out his place in this world, who he is now and why he's been thrust into this situation with the experience he has. And strangely why he wants chips…

---

Rose rolls over Jenny's back as she bends forward and Rose kicks her legs out, knocking one of the robots onto the ground, Jenny tosses over her weapon and Rose drives it into the chest of the robot, she backs up and waits a few seconds before she pulls the weapon out and lobs it over to Jenny who attempts to take off the head of another. Rose pants and groans as the robot she'd just impaled slowly gets back up again.

'Oh, come on!' She complains loudly and Vastra and Jenny begin to converse as they fight.

'It's so nice to be getting out and doing things together.' Jenny remarks and Vastra side steps out of the way of a robot that tries to slice through her.

'And what luck, we have a third person who enjoy our little outings together. Another to join our menagerie.' Vastra replies and Jenny starts to laugh. She shakes her head and tosses Rose back the weapon.

'Phrasing,' Jenny catches the weapon. She turns to look at Rose who is just getting up from driving the sword into the robot once again when she is taken from behind. 'Rose!'

Rose struggles in the grip of the robot that has her in a chokehold. Clara comes rushing to her side but Rose holds her hand out to stop her and keep her safe. She continues to wiggle in the robot's grasp, kicking herself up in the air to loosen its grip on her. It doesn't help; it lets her go a slight amount but only to get a better grip of her. Jenny and Vastra slowly begin to make their way towards her hoping to help her, even Strax telling her to hold on. Rose plants her feet on the ground before springing off her left foot and throwing her right leg over her shoulder where her leg connect with the head of the robot and disorientates it. It lets her go just enough that she secures a grasp on it and throws it down.

'Teach me that!' Jenny calls and thrusts the sword into an on coming robot's chest. Rose smirks and nods her head.

'Deal!'

Vastra exhales as she drops another robot to the ground. 'Ladies, how many do you estimate?'

Rose's hand flies to her arm as she was too slow to move out of the way of one of the knives attached to the robot. She hisses and glares at it. Jenny is knocked back into Rose and together they fall to the ground.

'You okay?' Rose questions and holds her hand out to help Jenny up.

'Thanks, and yes,' Jenny rushes back to Vastra's side who has begun to get surrounded and lunges at the robots. 'More upstairs, about twenty, thirty?' Jenny surmises and Vastra nods her head, fully accepting the challenge, but she believes it is a bit easier.

'The ones upstairs were mere decoys. These are battle ready. I anticipate a challenge.' Vastra replies and Rose smiles. She twists out of the way of another robot who has tried to clumsily stabbed her.

This isn't like the last time where she and Mickey were strapped to a table waiting to be saved. She's the hero of her own story now. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

Clara continues to stick close to Strax who is rapidly firing at the robots. He nods at her when they lock eyes. 'Don't worry, my boy, we shall die in glory!' He declares and Clara widens her eyes.

'That's a bit grim but okay. Good-o!'

Clara begins to think of a way to help them. She might not be able to physically fight off these things but surely there is an easier way to deal with them. Think, think. How can they make this easier on everyone? What about the Doctor? Has he caught up with that half man like thing? And what was that rumbling earlier?

---

Overhead there is a square escape capsule that is tethered to the balloon as it floats away over London. The Doctor pays attention to what's happening but is curious as to the controls and their functions still that he reaches forward and pulls out the closest fuse. He turns it over and tucks the roses under his arm. The fuse bears the name SS Marie Antoinette. French. He widens his eyes and backs away.

"SS Marie Antoinette. Out of control repair Droids, cannibalising human beings. I know that this is familiar, but I just can't seem to place it.' The Doctor laments. They were on a spaceship once before. Who are 'they' exactly? Then he was in France. Three of them together. He met someone in France. Right? Did that happen?

You sound just like your mother.

Who, who sounds like whose mother? This is rather irksome. How can he recover if it's as though his mind won't even try? Or is he simply trying too hard?

'How would you kill me?' The cyborg wonders abruptly and the Doctor continues to stare at the fuse in his hands before replacing it and secures a grasp on the flowers. Those roses. They are comforting to him. Like a light in the dark. They are guiding him. Follow the light and it'll help him remember. The yellow roses are telling him to remember what he's forgotten and yet roses are comforting to him. Maybe it's the yellow colour. It's bright, and so is the blonde's hair…and her eyes. Her eyes go yellow sometimes…all of this makes his head hurt.

"Sister ship of the Madame De Pompadour," That name…the Doctor inhales the scent of the roses and exhales. 'Nope, not getting it.' He sighs.

'How would you kill me?' The cyborg repeats and the Doctor motions to the table that still has two whiskey glasses poised on them. He gives the cyborg a small smile.

'Why don't you have a drink first? It's only human.' The Doctor offers and watches the cyborg's eyes fall to the drinks but he then raises them and stares at the Doctor blankly.

'I am not human.'

The Doctor smiles crookedly for a brief moment before it vanishes and his thoughts begin to invade once again. He walks over to the table with the whiskey and scoops up his glass, taking another sip. 'Neither am I.'

The cyborg walks to the doors and opens them, lingering in the entrance way for a moment before he turns around and begins to head towards the Doctor's table. Mechanically the cyborg sits and places his forearms on the table. With the doors now open the cyborg and the Doctor sit at the table and the cyborg directs his gaze to the city as it passes them by. The Doctor enjoys the view. Beautiful and quiet. He looks to the roses he placed on the table beside him when he sat. Work your magic, he silently tells them. Am I good man? Rose, tell me who I am. He straightens up. Why did he say Rose instead of roses? Why singular and not plural? He must be getting closer.

'What do you think of the view?' The Doctor attempts to engage the cyborg in conversation. And even though the cyborg is looking at it, studying it, his answer is automatic and untrue.

'I do not think of it.'

The Doctor sits back in the chair and while addressing the cyborg's lies; his eyes never stray far from the yellow roses. 'I don't think of it. I don't. Droids and apostrophes, I could write a book, except you are…barely a Droid any more. There's more human in you than machine. So tell me…what do you think of the view?'

The cyborg pushes the chair back and stands; walking to the window he pauses and moves the curtain back. He stares for a long time before he gives the Doctor his answer. 'It is beautiful.'

The Doctor pushes his own chair back, scoops the flowers up and joins the cyborg at the window and together they watch London below as they pass over it. 'No, it isn't. It's just far away. Everything looks too small. I prefer it down there. Everything is huge. Everything is so important. Every detail, every moment, every life clung to.'

'How would you kill me?' The cyborg wonders and the Doctor tears his eyes away from the flowers and leans on the wall next to the cyborg.

'For the same reason that you're asking me that question – because you don't really want to carry on,' The Doctor replies and walks away from the cyborg staring at the roses. He glances over to the booth that is connected to the shaft and wonders how the others a getting on. He worries for them and so he questions the cyborg. 'What'll happen to the other Droids when you die? You're the control node, aren't you? Presumably they'll deactivate.'

'I will not die. I will reach the Promised Land.' The cyborg repeats and the Doctor scoffs, twirling the roses in his hand. He shakes his head and points to the cyborg's head.

'There isn't any Promised Land. This is just…it's a superstition that you have picked up from all the humanity you've stuffed inside yourself.' The Doctor explains and the cyborg continues to stare at the Doctor confused but the Doctor can tell that he is starting to question his existence.

'I am not dead.' The cyborg maintains and the Doctor inhales the roses once again.

Run!

What's your name?

Rose?

Nice to meet you Rose, now run for your life!

The Doctor frowns, pushing aside the strange memory and focuses on the task at hand. 'You are a broom. Question – you take a broom, you replace the handle, and then later you replace the brush and you do that over and over again. Is it still the same broom? Answer – no, of course it isn't. But you can still sweep the floor. Which is not strictly relevant, skip that last part. You have replaced every piece of yourself, mechanical and organic, time and time again – there's not a trace of the original you left,' The Doctor informs him and sets the flowers back down on the table to pick up a silver platter. He walks back to the cyborg and holds up the platter so the cyborg can see his reflection. The Doctor peers around it. 'You probably can't even remember where you got that face from.'

The cyborg reaches his arm out and takes the platter from the Doctor and stares hard into it. He can see the cyborg examining his own face multiple times at different angles and on the other side; the Doctor can't help but catch sight of his own reflection. He smiles ironically. Not a win but not a strike out either. To his left he can see the roses on the table and thinks back to the randomness of the voice that echoed in his mind not moments ago. Memories of his life. His history with her.

Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.

I want you safe, my Doctor…

Come here…I think you need a Doctor…(He remembers that kiss being electrifying.)

I took your hand and said one word, just one.

Doctor…?

Hello.

He can't make out the girl's face. Her back is always to him. Rose. But that's her name. Could it be his blonde down below? Could the girl he's only seeing the back of in his memories be the same girl that's been by his side since…well since the beginning be the same?

But then why is there such a dark gap? He frowns as he tries to remember everything. He can hear someone crying out in rage and confusion, hurt but actions he doesn't quite recall doing, and maybe it will come later. He's just stunned at the desperation and her seemingly one-sided conversation in his mind.

I will not be left behind!

I don't want to be caged. Please don't cage me…

Let me in…can't we talk about this?

But I love you…shouldn't that mean more?

No! Come back!

That's it…that's all he remembers. A black hole. At least without that blonde girl in it. He moved on, that's what he does. He doesn't let things stop because he's lost someone; he loses people all the time. Which is sad in and of itself but then again…he's never been as close to someone as the blonde in his memories. That blonde woman…he loved her. Which can explain why he feels the same way around the blonde down below. Those feelings he felt for her the moment he laid eyes upon her seemed to be reignited or he remembered them even if he didn't remember her. Just their strong connection. And that it made him want to figure it out.

He then remembers the reaction when she actually steps back into his life again. How calm she had been, burying her bitterness while he had been stunned and questioned her authenticity as a human. How foolish he had been. Then again, how foolishly in love with her he had been.

It's impossible. You can't be here…you can't be real…

Why can't I be?

Because I let you go!

Look at you…you just keep getting younger. Except those eyes. They never change.

She's one to talk. She housed the power of the vortex within her once. It nearly killed her. He saved her and their love grew deeper because of it. Their adventures together, good and bad and how he then broke her heart. And how they managed to move past it. He thought they did quite well.

Look at him. He's decided, then, hasn't he? Those memories of her. She is perfection to him. A human, pink and yellow, who is hope in his darkest hour – the light in his life when all others go out. She is the spark. She is the sound of glass shattering – the sharp ringing in his ears that snaps him out of any mood he is in. She is the zig-zag in his straight line and the absence in his direction. He knows that she can be his every turn he takes, like he was racing through a hedge maze trying to beat the setting sun. She is a sentence that isn't scripted and to him…she is the word he wished he could say to her.

There is so much history in the way he looks at her – earlier in the bedroom. When he says her name…Rose, his Rose, he feels something awaken. When they are together…the current that runs between them is palpable, like an electric charge that is just shy of erupting into a perfect storm.

And now he understands why he had called her by that name before. The man that drove a wedge between them and tested what they had. But he shouldn't say that. It tested how he felt about her. Not the other way around. They had done their wrongs to each other. He wanted to write to her in a time where her could find her, before that man made them test each other. The other of that man loving her as he did, that had been on his mind before he regenerated. It had been an accident and looking back on their interactions he could see her hurt. How could he make it up to her? He'd better start thinking of a way after he deals with the problem at hand. Just as he snaps out of his own fog of memories, the cyborg throws the platter onto the table in a fit of rage and raises his blank stare to the Doctor.

'It cannot end.' The cyborg decides firmly and the Doctor begins to meander around the room and sighs. He pauses by the window and shrugs.

'It has to. You know it does. And there's only one way out.' The Doctor informs him and takes a few steps towards the door and opens it. The cyborg turns his gaze to the door and tilts his head.

'Self destruction is against my basic program.' The cyborg explains and while the Doctor is apparently engrossed in watching the view below the cyborg raises his hand to strike the Doctor while his back is turned.

However the Doctor can sense the cyborg's looming presence. 'And murder is against mine!'

The Doctor turns just in time to block the cyborg's attack and the two of them struggle in front of the open door. The Doctor looks over his shoulder at the drop down, which he doesn't want to be the one to see how far down he'll drop. He finds his thoughts wander to Rose…and he hopes that she's okay.

---

Rose pants as she flings another robot off her. The group had been disarmed minutes ago and in that short time span, they had become overwhelmed and surrounded. She had lost sight of Clara but knew that Strax would keep her as safe as he could. Vastra has lost sight of Jenny and she desperately calls out to her.

'Jenny!'

Clara looks around the robots and attempts to spot anyone she can. Strax pushes Clara behind him as the robots advance on them further. Clara widens her eyes. Why are they doing this, when there is an easier way?

'Everyone! Everyone, hold your breath. They're stupid. Everybody hold their breath!' Clara demands and inhales deeply; she puts her hand across her mouth and nose to keep the air out.

Because of the fighting she'd been doing, Rose finds it difficult to keep holding her breath because she wants to pant so badly. She follows Clara's actions and plasters her hand across her mouth and nose in an effort to stop breathing but her lungs crave it. She closes her eyes and concentrates.

Clara drops her gaze to the ground and notices the sonic is just by her feet. The moment everyone has stopped breathing, the robots pull away their weapons and pause, as if to ascertain where the enemies have gone. She sinks to her knees and crawls on the floor as she hunts for the sonic. When she finds it she kisses it and continues to crawl away. She pauses when she finds Vastra and Jenny locked in a passionate kiss and she nods her head in approval before stopping in front of the door and she smiles, wiping the sweat from her brow she kneels and points the sonic at the door, hoping that this will be their way out.

She nearly lets out a gasp when she aims it at the door but nothing happens. Desperation sets in. She shakes it harder and tries again. Nothing happens. She turns over her shoulder and widens her eyes; this was their way out. Her plan to get them out safe and sound. She watches Rose take a step back and lock her hands behind her head to take her mind off the lack of oxygen. Clara directs her gaze to the door. Open. She aims the sonic and tries again. Open!

---

The Doctor manages to gain the upper hand in the scuffle and is able to press and pin the cyborg against the doors. He stares deeply at the cyborg who of course stares at him with nothing but dead eyes. An unnerving stare that doesn't stop. Surely now the time has come. They have to admit that to one another.

The cyborg gives the Doctor a small, half smile. 'You are stronger than you look.'

'And I'm hoping you are too. This…is over. Are you capable of admitting that?' The Doctor wonders and the cyborg studies the Doctor with careful regard.

'Do you have it in you to murder me?'

The Doctor looks down to London below him. When he's satisfied with what he knows, he smiles a bit and motions to the city with his head. 'Those people down there, they're never too small to me. Don't make assumptions about how far I will go to protect them, because I've already come a very long way. And unlike you, I don't expect to reach the Promised Land.'

The cyborg pauses, listening to the Doctor's words before he switches off the torch and lowers his arm. The Doctor slowly back away to the opposite door and catches his breath.

'You realise, of course, one of us is lying about our basic programming.'

'Yes.' The cyborg agrees and the Doctor drops his hands to his side, anticipating what will be coming next.

'And I think we both know who that is.'

The cyborg lunges for the Doctor and they continue to tussle for supremacy before the cyborg stops and straightens up. The words have finally gotten to him, it's evident. The drive to survive has left him. The Doctor watches carefully, before lowering his guard as the cyborg gives him a curt nod and turns towards the open door. The cyborg fixes his coat and takes three large strides before he falls out of the door and to his death. The Doctor exhales slowly and walks towards the door, peering out to see that a spire has impaled him. His top hat gracefully falls down clock face at Westminster.

As the escape pod continues to listlessly float over London, the Doctor waits until the pod has lowered enough and over an appropriate courtyard before he takes a running leap out of the pod and holds his breath while he falls for his target. Which he lands in perfectly, though he does fear he'll be pulling straw out of places for a long time.

---

The door opens slowly. Silently. Well nearly silently but since this is his ship…he can sense these things. He's pleased when he sees who it is. He's so excited that he can share with her what he remembered. That he knows her name. He watches her taking in the changes he's made, only recently as she's come rather quickly. Her eyes are darting all around and the smile appears on her face, gradual but when she spots him in the upper level which now has been lined with book shelves and a leather chair, she grins. He doesn't move from his spot in the chair, his feet reclined.

'Didn't take you long to change things now, did it?'

'No, do you like it?'

'I love it.'

'Everyone's okay?' The Doctor questions and Rose nods her head. She leans against the console, keeping him in her line of vision and folds her arms.

'I disappeared soon after we made it out, giving my thanks to Jenny, Vastra and Strax. Clara didn't see me leave. She needs time.' Rose tells him and the Doctor looks away.

'I've scared her. I never meant to scare her.'

'Oh, Doctor, I know. She just…doesn't understand the lottery of regeneration.' Rose tries and the Doctor places his hands behind his head and stares ahead. Rose can see him thinking deeply on her words. She hopes he understands that he's done nothing wrong.

'What if…she doesn't want to come along anymore. What then, Rose?'

'Like I said Doctor, she may just need some time to comprehend things. I-…' Rose pauses and widens her eyes. She turns to him and pushes herself off the console, walking until she is directly in front of him. 'What did you just call me?'

'Rose. That's what I called you. That's your name.'

'You…remembered. I knew…' Rose trails off and shrugs at her emotions. Wondering why she's feeling so emotional to begin with. 'Never mind.'

'I'd like to apologise for earlier. I never meant to call you Ch-…' He begins before Rose interrupts him. She doesn't want to mix things up again, no more blending of her past and present. Though that is all she seems to do.

'It doesn't matter. Just forget it.'

'No, I won't. I'm sorry.'

'You don't have to apologise for anything. Please just…no more. Don't talk about him to me. Not now. We're working on what we have.' Rose begs and the Doctor looks away. But he has to confess to her that she and that man were on his mind. He wants to start fresh with her. So that she knows it isn't a big deal for him anymore, that he is getting over it. Now he just has to vocalise what he just thought.

'No, Rose. I want to tell you that you were right in what you were thinking. You and him were on my mind before. I want to make things right between us over that subject.' The Doctor replies and Rose holds up her hand to make him stop.

'You can make it up to me by forgetting about-…' Rose begins before the shrill ring of a mobile phone pierces through her sentence. That's her mobile ringing. Where is it?

The Doctor holds up her mobile and she widens her eyes. 'This what you're looking for?'

'Where'd you get that?' Rose leans forward at the Doctor lobs her mobile down to her. She glances at the screen to see it flashing and unknown number. Great, those are always the worst. You never know who's on the receiving end.

'It was on the console. You gonna answer that?' He wonders and Rose shakes her head, fully intent on ignoring it so that she and the Doctor can finish this conversation.

'No, not until we're done here.'

'Go on, answer it.'

'No, it's rude, we're talking.'

'I don't mind.'

Rose eyes him suspiciously. 'Do you know who's ringing me?'

'Answer it.'

Rose glances to the mobile before lifting her gaze to the Doctor and he gives her a nod. She sighs and slides her finger across the screen and brings her phone to her ear, falling back to default mode. 'Marion speaking.'

'I don't want to speak to Marion, I want to speak to Rose.'

The Doctor watches Rose's hand slowly cover her mouth from shock and he smiles to himself before shifting his gaze back to stare at the wall in front of him. He misses Rose turning up to him while tears spring to her eyes.

'How…how is this possible? Where are you calling me from?'

'Take a guess. Go on.'

'I have no idea. Just tell me.'

'Trenzalore.'

'When?' Rose whispers and wracks her mind attempts to think of a time when he could possibly have the time to talk to her. Was it during that centuries old gap when he sent her away and when she came back?

'Just after the explosion. I saw you escape using the severed ropes and made sure you were safe after you landed. I wanted to stay but…I had to get back to the TARDIS, just in case.'

Rose feels the tears fall in confusion and then smiles. 'Yeah, no of course you did. But…why are you calling me? I thought we had a pretty decent send off, you and I.'

'We did? What'd we do?'

'Don't tell him, make it a surprise.' The Doctor calls down to her and Rose looks up to him still stunned. He wants to go down there and wipe her tears away but not yet. Now isn't the time.

'Who's that? Is that me? I sound…old. Oh no, did I get old?'

'That's for me to know, and you to find out. And besides…there are worse things in the world than getting older.' Rose tells him and is surprised when both Doctors laugh. She smiles before it wavers and she presses her lips together.

'True enough.'

'Why are you calling me?' Rose whispers and the Doctor huffs in her ear.

'I wanted to…say some things to you. In case I didn't get the chance to. In case it happens before you get here.'

'Yeah? Like what?' Rose breathes and the Doctor looks down to her, wiping at the tears that keep falling. She's not doing a good job.

'About how I treated you.'

'You treat me just fine.'

'But I didn't.' He insists and Rose shakes her head and turns her back to the Doctor. He watches and makes an attempt to get comfortable in the chair. Is it still considered eavesdropping if you're actually the one on the other end of the mobile?

'It doesn't matter, now, Doctor, yeah?'

'My conscious is burdened.'

'Then unburden it.'

'I'm trying but you gotta listen.' He tells her and Rose closes her eyes. They had this conversation. He asked if she forgave him. She told him she did. Was that just something he needed to hear or to be reassured – after this conversation – that she was being truthful?

'Okay. I'm sorry. Go on.'

'Where do I even begin to start?' He wonders rhetorically and Rose begins to pace around the console. The Doctor watches her. He wants to give her a hand to hold, but it isn't time yet.

'Wherever you feel is appropriate.'

'Going back to how that rift all started? In Bergen?'

Saying that name causes her heart to lurch. He wants to go that far back? 'If you want to…'

'Or back to when I should have just regenerated instead of creating something I shouldn't have. Not to mar your memories. I don't mean to.' He backtracks and Rose shakes her head. The Doctor watches her drop her hand to her side and it shakes. She actually shakes.

'I know you don't. But you already apologised for that.' She insists and closes her eyes when he sighs loudly in her ear in disagreement.

'Maybe I'd feel better if I did it again.'

'You know you won't. Stop lying to me.'

'It's one of the biggest regrets I have.'

'I know, you've told me before. But we've gotten over it. You and I will always have little hiccups here and there. That's what makes us, us. And our ability to shout and scream at each other,' Rose pauses while the Doctor laughs and agrees with her. 'Before we move on.'

'And then fight about it again later.' He adds and Rose smiles at their jealousies. Things like that will be dealt with at the appropriate time

'That's just us. Through and through. Doesn't mean I love you any less.'

'I'm sorry for…well, you know…judging you about -…' He begins before Rose interrupts him shaking her head. She begins to twist the end of her hair, trying to keep her mind busy so her tears stop falling.

'It's fine. You've both apologised for it. Leave it be.'

'So…if I'm there…with you…what am I like?'

'I'm not going to tell you that.'

'Why?'

'Why do you think?'

'Are we getting along?'

Rose turns over to the Doctor and he smiles at her, a small one. One that tells her he's recalling this conversation too. 'I think so. The adventure's finished. We'll be able to spend more time together. That way we can see if we click.'

'I'd like that. Very much.' The Doctor calls to her and Rose nods her head at him eagerly. He still wants to wipe the tears away. He carefully stands and watches her pause by the console.

'I can't imagine why we wouldn't.' Comes the reply through the phone.

'I guess we'll have to see.' Rose teases and she can hear the Doctor slowly descending from his spot on the second level. Rose turns over and smiles at him through her tears.

Rose can see that he hesitates. He isn't sure what to do now that he's around her, he hasn't thought that far ahead. Things are always a little awkward at first. She's learned that.

'Thanks for all that you've done for me, Rose. I mean it.'

Rose shakes her head. 'You're not going anywhere. You're right here.'

'Maybe I just want to thank you.'

'Okay, done. You're welcome. As always.'

'I just wanted you to know.' He insists and Rose nods her head at him. She still doesn't understand why he's going through all this trouble; they've worked through this before.

Rose looks over to the Doctor who is still looking at the ground and she reaches back to take his hand for a moment before she lets go and begins to twist the end of her hair, trying to phrase her next request delicately and lowers her voice.

'Will you do me a favour?'

'Of course.'

'Call Clara next. She needs reassurance. She's scared and uncomfortable.'

'What, why?'

'Because this is new to her. Please?' Rose pleads and there is a pause on the other end while she waits for his response, though deep within her she already knows what it will be.

'Yeah, I will. What should I say to her?'

'You'll think of something. The moment will do the rest.' Rose assures him and the other end goes silent again.

'Okay, Rose. I will,' He replies and Rose hears something going on in the TARDIS on the other line. She holds her breath. 'I have to go. Someone's coming. I think it's you.'

'Bet you it is.'

'I guess…this is goodbye.'

'It really isn't, I'll see you on the other side,' Rose takes the phone from her ear and stares at for a while and watches the screen go dark. She holds the phone to her chest and closes her eyes. A few moments pass before she places the mobile on the console and turns around to the Doctor who is watching her carefully. 'Why did you do that?'

He looks away. 'I just felt…things between us…wouldn't have closed properly if I didn't.'

Rose holds her hand out to him and he looks at her outstretched hand before gingerly taking it tightly in his own. 'If they hadn't then we would've just waited until we had a moment to talk about it.'

The Doctor watches her slowly take a few steps closer towards him until she's standing right in front of him. Those hazel eyes are staring at him so deeply. And she hasn't let go of his hand. 'Are you sure you know who I am?'

'Long ago, when I myself questioned it, you looked at me and smiled. And told me a secret that only the Doctor would know.' Rose explains and the Doctor frowns.

'I did?'

'Of course. You told me how you met me. With one simple word.'

'Run…'

'That's right. We've never really stopped, have we?' Rose wonders and acting on impulse, Rose embraces him but is a bit surprised he doesn't embrace her back. She can feel his arms still at his side. 'You gonna just stand there?'

'I just…don't think I'm a hugging person anymore.' The Doctor replies and Rose holds him out at arms length and frowns at him with a slight smirk.

'Well when you're with me, you are. So.' Rose trails off and embraces him once again. This time, after some hesitation, he wraps his arms around her and holds her tightly to him. Rose rests her head on his chest and sighs lightly.

He has to admit…this is rather nice. After initial discomfort when Rose had held him…it felt right to him. Her hand fit so well with his. And if he recalls…it always had. Trying to be a bit bold, Rose stands on her toes and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. She pulls away and he looks stunned, he merely…stares at her.

'I…' He begins but Rose shakes her head.

'It wasn't as bad as you thought. Yeah?'

He can't tell if she's referring to the kiss or the hug. Both of which he hadn't minded. 'No…'

'Good. But I won't make you any more uncomfortable,' Rose places her hand on his chest and winks. 'Like the outfit, by the way.'

'Yeah?'

'Very mature for you. A nice change. People may just take you seriously from now on.' Rose teases and the Doctor smiles at her. Their adventures. He could get used to them. She certainly brings something to them he isn't sure he'd get if he were alone.

How can he describe what they have? He isn't sure. Is it a love story?

No, it's their story.

He looks at her. She and him. Against the rules, it seems like that have been set before them by time. As though a marker had been drawn to show their time is set to end, because it's permanency has been etched into time's own line. Still their briefest moments together, shared with her are the longest on his mind. And how desperately he wants more.

---

'You, have one of the first publications of Voltaire's The Age of Louis XIV? You?'

'When you're there on the day it's released, yes.'

'From 1751? Can I…? Oh my god…'

'How'd we even get talking about Voltaire?'

'No idea. This is beautiful… ''Il est coupable de tout le bien qu'il ne fait pas."' Rose trails off; there is a stunned tone to her voice.

Clara frowns and wonders what they are possibly going on about. She had been hesitant to come. Perfectly sure that after Rose had disappeared, she'd be stuck in this Victorian like setting forever. Maybe she needed time to accept things she couldn't change. Maybe that's all it was. That wasn't to say she was annoyed Rose had left her alone, she didn't mind. Obviously Rose is beyond comfortable with this entire ordeal, then whatever. She couldn't do much to change Rose's mind either. What she didn't understand is just how Rose seemed to adapt to this new person that stands in front of them with little to no regard of how different he is than the man who left them behind in Trenzalore. She's got the attitude of, well that happened, time to move on. How can Rose do it? And why can't she do it? What's she missing?

Gingerly Clara takes a few more steps around the console to be surprised at the small makeover the TARDIS has gotten. New man, new look? Is that how it works now? Change…yeah; she's not good with it.

As Clara rounds the console to the stairs that lead up to the second level, she sees the upper level is now lined with bookshelves and a leather chair poised in the corner. Rose is standing on the level with the Doctor by her side as they pour of some book by Voltaire. She clears her throat and both of them turn around to see her standing there with her arms folded. Clara gives them a tight smile and shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, trying to show them that this situation doesn't bother her as much as it does.

'You've redecorated.' Clara observes and the Doctor turns towards her to stare at her head on. Rose quietly shuts the book and remains quiet as she hugs it to her chest and allows Clara and the Doctor to have their moment. They so desperately need it to reconnect.

'Yes.'

'I don't like it.' Clara decides and Rose smiles as she turns her gaze to the Doctor who absently shrugs as well.

'Not completely entirely convinced myself. I think there should be more round things on the walls. I used to have lots of round things. I wonder where I put them.' The Doctor tells them, but his eyes are locked with Rose's who shrugs and motions silently at him to pay attention and not become distracted. She then nods her head and the Doctor slowly walks down the stairs with Rose a few steps above him. Clara stays close to the console. The only familiarity she has at the moment.

'Easy…' Rose whispers and the Doctor turns his head slight to acknowledge that he's heard her but Clara has no idea what she's said to him. However he does seem to descend the stairs with a slower pace and pause at the bottom. Clara shies away.

'Clara?' The Doctor calls to her and Clara peers around the console.

'Hm?'

'I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over two thousand years and not all of them were good. I've made many mistakes,' He pauses and surprises Clara by rounding the opposite side of the console and she widens her eyes. 'And it's time I did something about that. Clara, I'm not your boyfriend.'

Clara crinkles her nose in shock before arching her eyebrow at him. He's serious about that last statement. 'I never thought you were.'

'It wasn't your mistake to make,' The Doctor clarifies and Rose closes the last little gap between them before standing beside the Doctor and giving Clara a sympathetic smile. She can see the uneasiness in Clara's eyes. Clara withdraws into herself further when the Doctor gets closer to her to set the TARDIS in motion and to show off his new attire to her as well. Black on black with a red lined jacket. 'What do you think?'

Clara frowns. 'Who put that advert in the paper?'

'I can think of one good person.' Rose sighs and the Doctor turns over to her and shakes his head. Clara's eyes dart between the jealousies suddenly evident in Rose's rolling of her eyes while the Doctor will have none of it. He turns back to Clara.

'Who gave you my number? A long time ago, remember? You were give the number of a computer helpline, and you ended up phoning the TARDIS. Who gave you that number?'

Clara begins to go back in her memories for that face. While Rose hopes that she's realising this is the Doctor's way of attempting to show her that he is the same man always. It worked for her. Now she can only hope it will work for Clara. 'The woman. The woman in the shop.'

'Then there's a woman out there who's very keen that we stay together.' The Doctor informs her and Clara's head whips around to the doors when she hears the TARDIS materialise.

'Am I…?' Clara begins softly but is cut off by the Doctor finishing off his thought. Rose leans against the console as Clara draws ever so closer to acceptance or rejection.

'How do you feel on the subject?' The Doctor wonders hopefully and Clara clears her throat, willing her voice to be louder. She can't take this stifling awkwardness and the forceful way in which they make themselves communicate. It may work for Rose…but it isn't working for her. She doesn't belong here. Because she doesn't know what here is anymore. Nor those who are in it.

'Am I home?' Clara questions and the Doctor absently shrugs, gripping the console tightly. Rose covers his left hand with her own, out of sight of Clara.

'If you want to be.' The Doctor smiles at her and Clara goes white. She takes a few steps back towards the door, so relieved that she's back at home, and Rose peers around the corner. Clara gives her a tight, strained smile before shaking her head quickly.

'I'm sorry. I'm…I'm so, so sorry…but I don't think I know who you are any more.' Clara decides firmly and she can see the moment that his hearts break. He says nothing to her but a nod of his head and he straightens up. Clara is about to say something but her phone rings. Loudly. She lets it ring a few more times before she begins to fish around her pocket for it. Still she doesn't answer it.

'Between you and Rose today…' The Doctor trails off and sighs before motioning to her mobile. 'You should get that. It might be your boyfriend.'

'Shut up,' Clara answers automatically but the Doctor notices that she smiles at him nevertheless. 'I don't have a boyfriend.' She walks to the door and throws it open, leaving the Doctor and Rose to watch her leave. They move around the console together and pause just in the doorway, watching Clara bring her mobile to her ear.

'I've scared her away for good.' The Doctor decides and Rose looks up to him.

'Give it time. I told you…the moment will do that rest.'

'Why did you want to come back after the first time?' The Doctor wonders and Rose gives him a bit of a smirk coupled with a flat look. As though he should know the reason. Because she doesn't need to vocalise it. 'Oh. I see. Well, that explains a lot. But we're different. Always an exception to the rules, you and I. How do I make someone come back?'

'Oh, Doctor, you don't. Free will. But if I can imagine what you'll say to her…everything will work out in the end. You'll see.'

Together they fall silent and watch Clara have a conversation that will no doubt confuse her and stir up all the emotions she's been keeping at bay since this whole ordeal started. But it'll work out in the end. Most things tend to do just that.

'Hello! Hello?' Clara calls and frowns, pressing her free hand to her ear to drown out the noise around her. She attempts to hear through the static on the other end and grows impatient. Who the hell is calling her?

'It's me.'

'Yes, it's you, who's this?' Clara rolls her eyes at the answer; she's started meandering around the traffic trying to ascertain who it is.

'It's me, Clara. The Doctor.'

She pauses in mid stride. 'What do you mean, the Doctor?'

'I'm phoning you from Trenzalore on the advice of a good friend.'

'I don't…'

'From before I changed,' There is a pause and Clara can feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Rose. It's the only good friend she can think of that would have told him to reassure her. How could she have possibly known? 'I mean it's all still to happen for me, it's a coming. Oh, it's a-coming. Not long I can…feel it.'

Clara moves the phone to her chest to stifle the sob she wants to release and instead settles for the tears sliding down her cheeks in earnest. 'Why? Why would you do this?' She whispers, her voice has no strength in it anymore.

'Because I think it's going to be a whopper and I think you might be scared. And however scared you are, Clara, the man you are with right now, the man I hope you are with, believe me, he is more scared than anything you can imagine right now and he…he needs you.'

Clara swallows a tight lump in her throat and turns over to the TARDIS where she sees the Doctor standing in the doorway looking at her eagerly with Rose by his side. She has her fingers laced with his and is hugging his arm to her chest, resting her head on his shoulder. Whatever help he needs, it isn't needed from her. He has Rose. That's all he needs. Right? Look at them…they only need one another.

'He…you…he doesn't need me. He has Rose.' Clara insists and the Doctor chuckles lightly in her ear. She frowns at his jovialness.

'Of course I need you! You're my Impossible Girl! I need all my companions, Clara. I need all the help I can get.'

'So, who is it?' The Doctor calls to her and Clara turns over her shoulder. Rose has a soft smile on her lips because she knows this scene before. Somewhere in her history with the Doctor…something like this has played out between them. Maybe that's why she wasn't scared, why she had been so utterly accepting of everything that's happened. She's been around the block before. But how do you just…move on and accept the memories you made with a different person. How are they still the same, how are they still valid?

'Is that the Doctor?'

'Is that the Doctor?'

Clara nods her head. 'Yes.'

'He sounds old. Please tell me I don't get old,' He sighs in her ear. 'Ah, she wouldn't tell me either! Anything but old! I was young. Because I could be. But for her, what's she gonna?…damn. Oh! Oh. Oh…is he grey?'

Clara smiles through her tears. She's missed listening to those ramblings! Never have they been so comfortable. 'Yes…'

He must sense the hesitation in her voice. 'Clara, please, eh, for me, help him. Go on…and don't be afraid,' There is a slight pause and Clara watches the Doctor and Rose step out of the TARDIS. He continues to walk towards her and while Rose follows him…she stops a distance and gives them space. How Clara wished she hadn't done that. 'Goodbye, Clara. Miss you.'

Clara turns to face the crowds of people walking in front of her and ends the call, wiping the tears away off her cheeks. She swallows and feels her heart beating quicker when she hears him drawing closer. There are things she misses that she shouldn't and things she doesn't that she should. Is that what she's clinging to? Memories of a person who is still there with her? The moment he left her…she began searching through all her old journeys with him, frantically looking for the first comforting memories to cling to. Searching for details that she doesn't seem to be able to recall, nor any morsel of information that may have been lost to her subconscious. Why is it that she feels as though her memories of him are fading, a little at a time and that she can feel herself forgetting? She couldn't and she can't. Because he's right here with her.

Reflecting on the thoughts and adventures with him she's had so far, come and go with ease. Yet the thoughts of him, from long before have yet to make their leave. Her memories of Clara travelling with the Doctor still find her because the Doctor still stands in front of her, and yet it is not the Doctor she met and adventured with. Those memories find her here and now, and yet his voice – the voice she is most familiar with is resounding in her mind. Her past with him is so quickly becoming an echo of a past that truly can't be forgotten. While the Doctor she met may be an afterthought…it doesn't mean she has to forget him entirely, right?

'Well?' The Doctor wonders loudly and Clara is startled from her thoughts and hastily wipes the tears away before she turns around to face the Doctor, Rose is standing in the distance. She is nodding her head lightly and a little smile is etched into her face.

'Well, what?' Clara clears her throat and sighs.

'He asked you a question. Will you help me?'

'You shouldn't have been listening.' Clara scolds lightly and pockets her mobile. The Doctor looks away briefly before his gaze returns to hers and Clara is surprised by the conviction in his voice. Rose starts to get closer.

'I wasn't. I didn't need to. That was me talking,' The Doctor tells her and then waits for Clara to say something. When she doesn't he nods his head at her and turns to go back to the TARDIS. He collects Rose along the way, putting his arm around her shoulders to draw her closer for comfort. He gets about half way back before stopping and turning back to Clara. 'You can't see me, can you? You look at me, and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like? I'm not on the phone, I'm right here…standing in front of you. Please, just…just see me.'

Clara is stunned by the desperation and pleading in his voice and she takes a few tentative steps closer to him. Rose nudges him gently to meet her half way and when they do, Rose holds her breath and waits. Clara presses her lips together and really studies his face, trying to see the familiarity she knows is there but seems to elude her. She believes him. Because he's here with her. And she smiles at him. When she does…he looks so relieved.

'Thank you.'

He frowns and Rose closes her eyes in silent jubilation. 'For what?'

'Phoning.' Clara replies and embraces him tightly. The Doctor looks over to Rose for help but all she does is shake her head, grinning. He turns back to Clara and continues to hold his hands out behind her back.

'I…I don't think I'm a hugging person now.' He protests and Clara merely hugs him tighter in response.

'I'm not sure you get a vote.' Clara answers and Rose starts to laugh. The Doctor sighs at them.

'Whatever you say…'

'This isn't my home, by the way.' Clara informs brightly and the Doctor begins to look around and nods his head in agreement.

'Sorry, I'm sorry about that. I missed.'

Clara ends their hug and begins to look around in confusion. 'Where are we?'

The Doctor rubs the back of his head and shrugs sheepishly. 'Glasgow, I think.'

Clara nods her head in acceptance and smiles at Rose as she decides it's appropriate to join them. 'Ah! You'll fit right in. Scottish.' She attempts her best Scottish accent and to her delight the Doctor smiles before he locks eyes with Rose. Rose gives him a crooked smile.

The Doctor looks around and catches a few people holding coffee cups while chatting away with friends by their sides. Others are sitting outside a bistro eating chips. Maybe that's a good way to get reacquainted with Clara and Rose.

'Right, shall we, er…' The Doctor pauses and shrugs a bit. 'Do you two want to go and get some coffee or…chips or…something, or chips and coffee?'

Rose starts to laugh and nods her head. 'Coffee?'

'Coffee would be great. You're buying!' Clara decides and points to the Doctor. He frowns.

'Oh, if that's the case, then I know a great place! Just opened up a little while back. I've been dying to go.' Rose informs them and they begin down the pavement. Clara falls into step with Rose and the Doctor hurries to catch up to both of them. He quick grabs Rose's wrist and she turns up to him. They exchange a brief look before he lets her go and they continue on as though nothing happened.

'I don't have any money, you know.' The Doctor reminds them and Rose sighs and shakes her head.

'You never do.'

'Okay, well, that means you're fetching, then.' Clara decides and the Doctor leans forward to stare at her with confusion and he begins to refute her statement.

'I'm not sure I'm the fetching sort…'

'Yeah, still not sure you get a vote.' Clara replies and the Doctor smiles at her. This is rather enjoyable. He likes the thought of having coffee with Rose and Clara. What a lovely way to spend the rest of the afternoon.

'Don't worry, I've got it,' Rose tells them and the Doctor looks entirely relieved. 'But this is twice now. Let's go Dutch next time.'

They walk side by side down the pavement and at some point Rose has stopped to take a look at something in a shop window, some sort of bag and Clara pauses to join her as well. He didn't wait to see. By the time they've rejoined him, he seems to have been regulated to the middle. Rose is on his right and Clara on his left. It's rather…comforting to have both of them by his side. He doesn't want to say it out loud but he can't wait for the three of them to get to their next adventure. They did so well together the first time.

And then the world seemed a bit brighter now that everything has been resolved. He likes those two words, the open up a world of possibilities. Like a prelude to something more wonderful. Like when Rose used to leave him notes around the TARDIS when he wasn't expecting them. Little riddles and sayings. He used to love that. And then…that swift and surprising exhilarating transition from nothing to everything. Those two words hold such a world of promise to him.

---

And here we go. The start of series 8. Honestly I'm really sorry it took so long. I hit a major writing block for a few months and while I continued to work on original ideas for this story, I couldn't seem to direct any of my writing effort into completing this chapter. And really set the tone where I could be happy with it.

The good news is that I plan to write an original story next. Yay. Ghosts. Ooh. There is going to be so much going on again. Certain characters make their returns, hearts get broken, people get separated and people die. Here comes the feels.

Now I do have a request. I have only seen this episode. Nothing more to series 8 or 9. And since I doubt I'll be able to binge watch everything I was hoping that those who take the time to review, by the way, thank you, but I was hoping you can tell me how the Doctor is in this series. Give me your best take, I'll watch as many as I can but I don't want to be inauthentic to him.

All and all, I hope you like chapter one of an emotional packed take on series 8. Leave a comment or your thoughts. Thanks to all those have stuck it out with me.