"Good, because there is only one way that I can communicate with Clara..."
He was beginning to doubt himself, even as the dream crab lowered itself over his face - what if he was wrong, what if it didn't work, or their dream wasn't a mutual one? What if he forgot what he was there for and the creature feeding on his mind stopped him from remembering and he fell into his own private dream world which enticed him to be there? What if...
The Doctor woke with a start, safely in his bed in the TARDIS, calling out from the remains of his dream.
"Clara!"
Confusion set in a moment later as his dream - and it had been such a bizarre dream - quickly faded from his memory, leaving him completely disorientated and wondering what had caused him to call his friend's name so frantically. There was something important he was supposed to remember he was sure - something about her. But Clara was with Danny Pink, and he was... Well he was...
His thoughts were interrupted as a voice came from behind him, an impossible voice that shouldn't be there, and yet moments later his mind is telling him that of course she should be there, at his side, after all where else would she be?
"Bad dream dearest?"
He rolled onto his back, sitting up and turning his head towards the voice - if only to confirm that this was real; and yes, there she was lying in bed beside him. Except this time she was not the prim figure without a hair out of place that was the first memory that came to mind, hair instead hanging freely around her shoulders, form fitting suit replaced by a flowing nightdress. Missy. The Mistress. Lying beside him. In his bed. Invited? He wasn't quite sure yet, still a little hazy of the details of what exactly was happening for some reason, everything a lot less clear than it normally was after waking up.
"Have you drugged me?" He asked sternly - he definitely wouldn't put it past her, and it would explain why his mind was so, well, fuzzy for lack of a better word!
Her eyes widened into an innocent and slightly offended look at that, as though she would never even consider the idea and definitely wasn't taking it on board for a future occasion!
"My dear Doctor, would I ever do such a thing?"
"Yes," came the slightly grumpy response, "and as I recall you have done on prior occasions, why break the habit note!"
"Well as it happens I'm innocent. Probably just your old age! After all you seem to have forgotten what day it is. Then again if you can't even remember your own birthday... Well!" She grinned, cat-like, predatory and slightly worrying. "What chance did you have of a little thing like Christmas? Only your favourite time of year for as long as I can remember!" She grinned at the confusion on his face.
"I think I'd know if it was Christmas, dear..." he responded, taking great pleasure in emphasising the last word as though it was a ridiculous idea, even though deep down he knew that it wasn't really all that ridiculous, and he was sure she probably knew it. But it couldn't be Christmas... could it?
"Well apparently not, love! I bet you haven't even got me a Christmas present!" she laughed, moving closer to him and sending a shiver down his spine as she did.
"Oh, and I suppose you just happen to have something for me stashed away in that nightdress of yours then?" he snapped, before immediately regretting his choice of words the moment the smirk came to her lips, of course she was going to take that in the wrong way, he should really know better than that by now! Member of the innuendo squad, second in command to Captain Jack Harkness. No, scratch that - Jack might have been Captain of the innuendo squad, but she was Queen of it! Always in charge, somehow even when showing all the signs of submission, or maybe even especially! Always had been...
"Well why don't you take a look and see? I'm sure you'll find something that appeals!"
He sent her a scathing look, deciding not to dignify that with a response.
Her face turned to one of offence, as though what she'd said had been totally innocuous, and undeserving of any such reaction. It soon softened however, seeing the remains of confusion in the Doctor's face.
"Oh my dear Doctor, you really aren't yourself, are you? Well it just so happens I do have a Christmas present for you, which I think you'll rather like!"
"Hmmmm, let me guess, you've decided to turn good, and give me the true coordinates for Gallifrey so we can skip off back home together and live happily ever after? And of course all you'd want from me is a wee bit of affection in return!"
There was another look of offence in her eyes, a little more sincere this time.
"Do I really need to answer that Doctor? Do I really need to go and blow up a few of your precious apes to drill it into your thick skull? You really think I would 'turn good'?!" She glared at him, so he glared back. "True coordinates of Gallifrey maybe, but no, I have not turned good! And if you really think that's likely then you, my dear Doctor, are more naïve than I thought! I mean you haven't even asked me what I'm doing in your bed!"
A look of confusion crossed the Doctor's face again. There was something wrong. Very wrong, which he couldn't quite put his finger on. The Time Lady laughed fondly as she watched the Doctor - she could practically see his brain at work, poor dear!
"I wasn't sure, I couldn't... I can't remember what happened, and I didn't want to offend you by kicking you out if I'd asked you to be here..."
Missy smirked at that, a predatory grin coming to her face a moment later.
"Oooh, my dear Doctor, is that a likely sequence of events then? I shall look forward to that!"
Another glare came in her direction, but it was obvious both that there was much less sincerity and that something was starting to click in his mind.
"Ever since I've woken up nothing has quite made sense, and there's this slight ache, right here..." He pressed a hand to his temple, shaking his head a little.
Missy softened her expression a little, speaking almost tenderly to him.
"You know what's happening, don't you Doctor... You're not some dumb ape who'd need, say, a Time Lord to come after them to make them realise, are you? You know why you even entertained the possibility that I might have become everything you wanted me to be when you know deep down that you love it when I'm bad, and you couldn't change me if you tried. And I know you know, because now I know too..."
The Doctor nodded as trickles of memories started to come back, but there wasn't enough time to respond before the infuriating woman had closed the gap between them, a hand either side of him, leering down and not quite pinning him in place, before leaning right in close, the breath against his neck making his own catch slightly, before the whisper came in his ear.
"You're dying Doctor..."
And then everything started to come back - the dream crab on his face from his forgotten dream, not a dream at all but reality, his initial thought that she shouldn't be here making sense now, because...
"You're dead... You died, I saw it happen, you shouldn't be here... You're not here, you're a construct of my mind nothing more..."
Another smirk from the Time Lady, who despite his realisation seemed to become all the more real.
"It's sweet really, Doctor! The one thing the dream crab thinks would entice you to stay in the dream is me, and the one thing your own mind knows will help you realise how much danger you're in is also me... I always knew you cared really!"
He shook his head a little, still trying to figure it all out when suddenly the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
"Clara! I need to save Clara!"
A soft smile came in response - definitely a dream construct then, the real Missy would never be so sympathetic to him saving one of his companions over spending more time with her.
"Go on, the sooner you save your little pet, the sooner you can stop playing the hero and so yourself from dying! I'll be waiting my dear. And if you change your mind..."
She smirked again, moving her face back in close to his, close enough to feel her breath against his lips, close enough that if he were to move a fraction of an inch, he would close the gap between them...
"I'll be waiting for you right here! And you can help yourself to your Christmas present!"
She winked, lingering a moment longer, before moving suddenly away, leaving him wide eyed and speechless for a moment. It took a moment longer for his priority to resurface - he needed to save Clara, and yet there was still a slight temptation, somewhere along with the ache in his temple, to give in to her, just once - no one would ever have to know, it wasn't even real, and it's not as if he'd have much of a chance again, given her recent death. Not everything that she was implying was such a temptation of course, but still...
He shook his head, this was ridiculous, and he needed to go. She was dead and Clara was not, so that made Clara priority.
"I'm coming Clara, I won't let you down this time..."
Later, after Clara has gone back to 'reality'
A figure, once again clad in the deep purple Edwardian style suit and all prim and proper as he'd come to expect, stepped in through the door as Clara and Danny winked from existence - Clara returning to the real world, and Danny a part of Clara's dream and not his own. And yet he... they were still here. He should have woken up too by now, he had been sure, because he knew... he knew that she was dead and gone, and he accepted that, the universe was a safer place without her! And yet... Well, there she was, standing before him. She spoke a moment later, almost as if reading his thoughts. Well of course she was. She was just a dream construct too.
"Well my dear, with those two gone it just leaves you to wake up... You didn't think your dreams were so intrinsically linked that when she managed to tear herself from it you'd automatically follow in suit did you?" She smirked, the sort of smirk that only she had ever managed to pull off, as she stepped closer and closer to him. "I know that you 'know' I'm dead, my dear... you just need to let go of this version of me, like Clara did to dear Mr. Pink. You don't really think I'm gone for good do you, my dear Doctor? You of all people should know I don't stay dead long."
The Doctor allowed himself a small smile at that, even if she was only a mental construct resembling that insane Time Lady who had been part of his life for so long, she was right, and it wasn't really beyond the realms of possibility that she was out there somewhere.
"But even if you are out there somewhere still, what if I've decided I prefer this version of you to the one on the outside... after all, you're just a mental construct, and therefore could be exactly how I want you to be..."
Missy laughed fondly at his words before smirking again, moving closer still and causing him to back away a little, until far too late he realised that was just what she wanted, leaving him trapped between her and the wall, something that was becoming all too familiar with her, dream construct or not.
"My dear, dear Doctor, you don't really expect me to believe that, I know you far too well and you know it!"
She leaned in far too close, and yet somehow still not close enough her breath warm on his skin as she once again whispered in his ear.
"I know that you could never resist searching me out if you knew I was out there! I know that you will always be infatuated with me, and that you would never cope with me being all sweet on you for long - that would be dull and you'd lose interest..."
He nodded. She was right. Of course she was, she was a part of his mind after all, but the fact that it took the form of her made it all the more frustrating.
"Okay, just... don't leave it so long next time? Over a thousand years, I'd begun to wonder if you really were gone for good... or that maybe you'd forgotten me!"
He sighed, and she moved her head back, a slight look of pity in her eyes.
"Oh, I could never forget you, Doctor... It just takes time to plan something that... special for you!"
He rolled his eyes as she took his hand, pressing herself right up against him, even as a dream construct breaking every personal boundary of his, but then he would expect nothing less.
"Until next time then, Doctor..."
He nodded, reply lost as her lips claimed his, his free hand moving to cup her cheek, making the most of every second of the sensation in the privacy of his own mind, a sensation which lasted merely a few seconds before everything faded to black...
The Doctor woke with a gasp, as the dream crab fell off his face, that last image of his dream burned into his mind for a moment. That was definitely not what he would have expected his mind to choose either to make him want to stay in the dream, or to help him leave it, but it was strangely welcome nonetheless. Not that he would ever tell a soul what he saw, of course. Besides, this wasn't over yet, and there was a lot left to do. He was not sentimental this time around and now wasn't the time to start! Now it was time to act.