1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by the BBC. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. This is a continuation from Venusian Valentine's and Crossroads. Reading those first isn't absolutely necessary, but it helps to put this setting into perspective.
PART 1
"I can't believe you'd be so stupid!"
Clara Masters-Oswald did not even have the strength to roll her eyes. "That makes me... feel so... much better, Missy... "
Her wife's scowl deepened. "What do you expect me to say?! How could you do such a thoughtless thing?"
Delgado frowned himself from his position of his Earth mother's right side, looking disdainfully at his Gallifreyan mother to Clara's left. Both were holding the Human, as they struggled to make it back to their TARDIS. "Mother, I don't exactly think now is the right time to have a go."
"Don't be a smark alek, Delgado," Missy scolded.
Their eldest son simply shook his head. "Can't think where I got that from... "
Before another fullscale argument could commence, Clara's voice cracked. "Please... be quiet... headache... "
"Oh, you still have a headache?" chided Missy. "Your little plan didn't work? What did you expect?"
Clara closed her eyes in pain. No, her "little plan" did not work. But she could not help it. She was desperate. She had to do something. And now she was paying for it... with possibly her life.
"Mommy!" "Momma!" came two little - yet loud - voices as the TARDIS doors closed behind Clara, Missy and Delgado. A pair of small children dashed upto them, their pitter-pattering of tiny feet like drums in Clara's head. Behind them was a slightly-older girl, aged between Delgado and the two little ones.
"Guys, not now," Delgado grunted, as he struggled to carry more of Clara's weight, his mum's legs having gone completely from under her. As if sensing her eldest's burden - which was probably literally the case - Missy tugged Clara closer to take the load onto her.
Michelle wordlessly reached out and grabbed the small Gomez and Jenna's arms. "Wha' happen' t'Mommy?" whined Jenna.
"Your brother said not now," seethed Missy. The Time Lady was never the more easygoing of the two parents, even if she was deemed the "fun" one. It was quite the contradiction. Missy always left the softer part of childraising to Clara. And with Clara in her current state, it was ironically upto Delgado to reassure his siblings.
"Don't worry" he called over his shoulder as the trio passed them and headed out the control room exit to the medibay. "Everything'll be alright."
Clara desperately wanted to comfort her children, but her strength was going by the second. Her heart stang, and she was unsure if it was because of the physical stress she was in, or the sight of her babies worried and scared.
Eventually, after what seemed days, they reached the medibay. Missy ordered Delgado to clear a bed, seamlessly sweeping Clara up and fully into her arms. The young man moved some machinery and paperwork out the way - her parents were in the beginning stages of planning another addition to the family - and fluffed the pillows just in time for Missy to lovingly lower and drape her wife ontop of the sheets.
"How many times did I tell you, Clara?" tutted Missy. "How many times did I tell you what you can and cannot do? Why do you never listen to me?"
"I... had to... " mumbled the Human. "Head was... killing me... "
"Then you should've come to me!" Missy shook her head in frustration, though her caring strokes of Clara's forehead betrayed her concern.
Clara winced as the pain intensified. "Feel... on fire... " Her vision was going blurry, and her stomach was doing flipflops. "Can't... breathe... "
At that, Missy's tone instantly changed. "It's OK, love. Everything will be fine." She took her free hand in Clara's, holding it tightly. "It's just like we talked about, alright? Just remember what I said."
"We... talked... about... ?" Through the fog, Clara's mind comprehended what her wife meant. "You... mean I'm... "
Missy bit her lip, then simply raised their joined hands to Clara's fuzzy eyeline.
Clara's hand was glowing.
Her eyes watered. "Oh... oh God... " She should have guessed. "It's... it's just like... like he said it was like... " She did not need to clarify who he was, obviously. "There... there must be... something you can... "
"Poppet, I am," said Missy. "I told you this would happen eventually. You said you understood."
At the time, Clara did. But having it explained and having it happen were two completely things.
After all, Humans were not meant to regenerate.
However, Missy was not prepared to lose Clara. Ever. Which led to Clara's current situation:
A couple of years and a couple of children into their relationship, Missy revealed to her spouse she discovered a way to impart certain Gallifreyan traits to Clara. Clara would never be an actual Gallifreyan, of course, but after several experiments and procedures Missy did the impossible: she made the Impossible Girl a pseudo-Time Lady.
At first, nothing seemed to change. Clara had no telepathy nor added resistance to injury. Sure, her ageing was slightly slowed, but nowhere near to the extent of true Gallifreyans'. But of course, a Human was never supposed to have Time Lord/Lady abilities. Their brains were simply unable to cope with the psychological pressure. Clara remembered the Doctor hinted once at someone he knew temporarily gaining the powers of a Gallifreyan... and from his tone, it apparently did not end too well.
But Missy was adamant. She would not lose the woman she loved to old age. Missy was determined to keep Clara forever. Clara was touched how much her wife loved her, but it did lead to the biggest issue with her new biology.
To handle the subconscious strain on Clara's psyche - manifesting itself in occassional headaches - she had to take medication every so often. Missy tried explaining the science of it, and indeed, of the entire procedure, on more than one instance, but it all went over Clara's head. Besides, in the end it did not matter: Clara would not be the "odd one out" in their family, forced to eventually die leaving her wife and children to mourn her. They would all be together for the rest of time.
Today, however, the headaches had been particularly strong. On a stop-off in late-20th century Earth - Clara was also touched by the fact Missy always humoured her choices of adventure destinations - the Impossible Girl was forced to visit a local chemist, the pounding in her head unbearable. There, she purchased... a simple aspirin.
She really should have known. Again, she recalled something the Doctor once said to her, about how an aspirin would kill him. At the time, she thought he was joking. Apparently not. Because it triggered her own regeneration.
To say Clara was scared would be an understatement. Both the Doctor and the former teacher's own wife described the process "almost like dying", as if your current self ended and a new person picked up your life. The thought terrified Clara. Though deep down she would be the same person - physically and in part, psychologically, she would be completely different.
Clara saw two regenerations in her time travelling, and both were heartwrenching. First the Doctor's change from his eleventh body to his twelfth, then, more recently, Missy's from a middle-aged brunnette to a slightly younger blonde. Though if truth be told, Clara found her wife's new body even more attractive. Not to mention Missy was far less maniacal now. Well... more manageable, at least.
But what would happen to Clara herself? Would Missy still love her? What would their children think?! Their sweet angels had a hard enough time coping with the Time Lady's regeneration; how would they manage both parents being different from when they first knew them?
"I honestly cannot believe you'd think such a horrid thing," came Missy's voice, bringing Clara out of her musings. "I could never fall out of love with you, poppet. We'll be together forever."
Clara was too weak - and scared - to scold her wife for using telepathy without permission. The pain was getting worse... she felt like she was being torn apart... she wanted to scream in fear and agony. But no - not with Delgado there. Not on the chance her children would hear her. All she could do was tighten her grip on her lover's hand. "Stay with me... " she choked. "Don't let... go... "
Missy looked pained herself. "I'll have to, my angel... but only for a moment. You know how explosive regenerations can be. Both I and Delgado will have to keep our distance." She then lowered her head to Clara's and kissed her deeply. "But I'll be with you the whole time, Clara. My hearts will be with you." With that, she reluctantly let go of Clara's glowing hand, and forced herself to take a few steps back - nodding to Delgado to do the same.
Clara's breathing increased so much she was almost hyperventilating. She could not hold on much longer. Any moment, the change would occur. She just prayed whatever happened, however much of her changed, her core would remain the same. Deep down she knew it would, but she could not help but fear otherwise.
Taking a big gulp of air, she sensed her whole face glowing. She took a longing look at her wife and eldest son. She also could not help a tear trickling down her cheek. "I... love... "
And then everything exploded in fire.
Clara was aware of nothing... and everything. She felt the life literally being sucked out of her... and at the same time, being sucked in. She was everywhere and nowhere. Everyone and no one. Sensitive to everything, and numb to everything. Looking at herself out of her body... and from within her very soul.
Two things were constant, however: it was seemed to go on forever. No instant happening. It went on and on and on. And second: the pain. The agonising, excruciating pain. Clara screamed to the heavens, almost like a newborn being brought into existence...
Finally, it stopped. Eyes wide, Clara stared out, not focusing on anything. Her breathing was still rapid, her body desperately trying to claim air. Her head was dripping with sweat, her entire body trembling. Everything seemed surreal, her ears momentarily deaf...
"Oh, thank Rassilon."
Clara blinked at Missy's voice. Opening and closing her eyes in rapidity, she managed to calm her senses and take in her surroundings. After another audible gulp, she opened her mouth. "M... Missy... "
She instantly clapped her mouth shut. Her voice. It sounded...
"I knew it would work!" said her wife, her face beaming. "I knew it!"
Clara could see Delgado glaring at her in bewilderment. "I... don't understand... " He blinked a few times himself. "Mum... ?"
"Delgado... " Again Clara was shocked at the sound of her own voice. It was...
"Here, here." Missy was almost squealing in delight as she manoeuvred a mirror infront of Clara. "Take a look, darling. You'll love it!"
Hand shaking, Clara took the mirror and moved it the rest of the way, until it was reflecting back...
Oh God.
Clara Masters-Oswald looked... exactly as she did before. Same round face. Same puppy eyes. Same button nose. Aside from her hair, which was long again, everything was exactly the same.
"Wh... what... " As realised already, her voice was the same, too. "How... ? I... I thought I was... going to... " She felt the same, too. Apart from her current state of shock, she felt no different psychologically.
Seemingly, now the pressure of the situation was gone, Missy reverted to her usual assured, untouchable demeanour. "Oh, please, Clara. You're perfect already - I fell in love with you, body just as much as soul, and I wasn't going to lose that. I'd never allow it. You're my Clara, and I wouldn't have you be different for anything in the universe."
Clara just stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Well, poppet," said Missy, "say something. Thank me, at least."
Instead, Clara's newly-regenerated - though unchanged - mind chose something else. She fainted right there on the bed...
TO BE CONCLUDED
