Author's note updated 7/11/14

-Merged Clara's POV chapters into one, added more detail to what Jake's interrogation was like to her eyes.


The dazzling light suddenly grew into what Clara can remember as sunlight. She always knew what sunlight was when she would wake up in her flat feeling refreshed. Coming home from the usual, save-the-world adventure with her Doctor, her magical Doctor-

She jumped up from bed and breathed heavily. It took a while for her eyes to focus, but she found herself in a calm surrounding. Sunlight poured into the four-poster bed from a giant window. Comfy, squashed armchairs dotted around the room with a fireplace already filled with logs. Clara also noticed she was in a nightgown. She quietly climbed out of bed and stretched for a moment before looking out the window. The scenery looked like she was in Blackfriars. Big Ben was a couple blocks away from the Thames, it wasn't that hard to see. "Wait a mo." She mumbled as she looked down. The road was dirt, and carriage and horses trundled in and out. Men in top hats and suits and women in dresses frolicked along the roads. Clara stepped back a little. Was that all a dream? Where's the Doctor?

Her bedroom door quietly creaked open and a young woman walked into the room with a tray laden with brunch. She looked no more than the same age as Clara, and looked nimble. She wore a black dress and white apron, had her hair tied to a bun, and was completely pale. She didn't seem to notice Clara standing by the window when he placed her breakfast next to her dresser, humming a tune while preparing everything, and then he turned around.

"Oh! Miss Clara!" She said in a surprised voice. "Please, I apologize for not seeing you by the window, I um... I thought you were..." she stuttered. "I thought you were asleep."

Clara was taken aback first by the intrusion, but she knew this woman's face, was undoubtedly showing kindness. She didn't know how to react to this! "Where am I?" She asked quietly. The woman seemed to be puzzled. "You're in Paternoster Row, Miss Clara, London." He replied strangely. "What is the date?" She continued. "August the twenty-eighth. The year of our Lord, 1897." She said cheerfully.

Clara then froze. "Hold on a mo'!" She said. "Jenny?"

The 1890's were a familiar year for her. Victorian London. The Doctor would occasionally visit periodically, and notable to his friends that were alive at this time - Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. She stopped the Crimson Horror from raining down on London, and remembered the time she saved the Doctor from one of her many lives when she stepped into his time stream to prevent the Great Intelligence from destroying history. "Clara!" Jenny's face expressed joy and they hugged. "I can't believe it's you! And I nearly forgot about you cause we didn't hear much from the Doctor after Sweetville." Jenny said, happily.

That brightened Clara. "The Doctor. Where is he?" She needed to know what happened before she woke up. Jenny looked confused. "Er.. Em. Strax is looking over the man who was with you when you two arrived. The TARDIS turned up 'ere in the sitting room at half past five in the morning before Strax went out on his weekly break off to Glasgow. Once you are washed and have gotten dressed, I'll come collect you and we can go downstairs.

"Strax?" Clara asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs fifteen minutes later, Jenny in tow. It was usually in Victorian London that she groomed her hair in a wavy fashion and match the period's fashion at the time, with a dark green dress with boots. The sitting room was converted into a patient's room, with just a bed on one end and all the other furniture separated on the opposite side. The small man who was tending to the Doctor (at least, that's what he identified himself as to Clara before) turned around. His stance was extremely tense and rigid, possibly from the tight suit he wore. He was undeniably bald, but his head was massive, and dome-shaped. He was incredibly wrinkly, but his expression turned into something of a sly smile. "Well well well," he snickered. "The boy is awake."

"For the love of God, Strax, it's a girl!" Jenny said, covering her face with her palm. "Please excuse Strax, he gets very confused to guests' genders if he hasn't seen them in a while."

"Ah, the girl is awake at last then." Strax pretended as though whatever Jenny said did not happen, as well as his greeting to Clara. "Forgive me Mistress Jenny, but after triple-scanning the patient's body, his DNA was most extremely interesting before reaching a possible conclusion. Triple-Helix DNA, or should I say Time Lord DNA. This is the Doctor's! Wait." Strax had a jig at first, but then looked back. "This isn't correct. Gene states this is the Doctor. Physical description does not match according to Sontaran data bank files. Permission to perform autopsy on this impostor? We can lay magnetic gene-splicers!" He asked excitedly.

"Wait, hold on." Clara said, holding Strax's arm carrying his medical scanner. "He said something before we crashed here. Something about 'regeneration?'"

"Then my dear Clara, we cannot upset the current state the Doctor is in right now." A cool female's voice entered the room. She wore entirely black, from her dress to gloves, to the hat that concealed her face with a veil, which was then lifted up. Underneath was a humanoid face resembling a familiar reptilian Clara encountered during her adventure in Sweetville. "Madame Vastra?" She asked. "Dearie me, it's been too long! Come here." They hugged and broke off, Clara being teary-eyed. "Oh you poor soul," Vastra took her to an armchair. "You're just like most of the companions that had to join late before the Doctor... knew that his time was running out. I can assure this is still him." She looked to the man sleeping peacefully on the bed.

"Well what's going on first? I need to know. Maybe we can do-" Clara winced before having her lips shut by Vastra's. "Again, I'm sorry my dear, but you can't disturb the balance of what the Doctor is undergoing right now with his post-regeneration." She told her firmly. "But this is new. Time Lords when they regenerate are renewed to a more younger, healthier form. This man does not match what regeneration descriptions show examples of. Do you know what caused something like this to make the Doctor, well, turn... old?" Vastra asked while she inspected the Doctor.

"Let me think." Clara thought while sipping tea from her brunch tray. "And he's not that old. He said that the Time Lords gave him a new cycle? That was back in the TARDIS from our last adventure here." She then explained the whole fight on Trenzalore, where the Doctor fought in the three-hundred year siege from preventing another Time War. Vastra's expression brightened up. "Oh of course! The Doctor we all know was in his final, younger form. Once he regenerated to his new cycle, it is more of a reset back to a more, older, state. Time Lord science always stated that they born not to live and regenerate back to a baby. That is why so many that die from one cycle are preserved young."

"So you're saying this is still him?" asked Clara, with a speck of hope in her eyes. "Well, that depends." Vastra shrugged. "While regeneration is useful, that means every life the Doctor was in, his DNA is erased, and then re-written. And once he wakes up when his cells are done reprocessing, gods know what will be in store. A new personality, new hobbies, to us we will remember a man who saved the universe all of time itself, but to him, it is nothing more than a man waking up from a long sleep. It will take time for his memories to return while recovering."

The cupboard under the stairs opened with a bang and a handsome man covered from hanging clothes tripped onto the floor. After fixing himself, he appeared to be tall, olive skin, with spiky ruffled black hair, and wore a blazer with a white V-neck and jeans.

"Am I in Narnia?" The man's American accent came out from his mouth and took a step back. Clara glimpsed as a portal closed behind him.

"INTRUDER!" Strax shouted. "Halt in the name of the glorious Sontaran Empire! HYAAAAAAAAAH!"

"STRAX, NO!" Vastra yelled, trying to stop the small Sontaran from coming to blows with the newly-arrived guest.


"Wait Strax! Stop!" Clara protested as the new guest was trying to remove Strax from his head while destroying the hallway.

"Imbecile! You shall be obliterated!" Strax was piggybacking on the man while punching his head. He blinded the man finally, who hit a door and dazed at her and the others. He gave a toothy grin to Clara and mumbled "You're really pretty." before Strax gave him the knockout kick down the basement.

"You idiot!" Vastra angrily stormed upon the Sontaran. Well, what can I say? Clara shrugged as she remembered what the Doctor told her about Strax a long time ago:

"Clone warrior race, mass produced by millions just bred for war only. Just think of iPods, but really walking Terminators. Strax is unique on the other hand. He's a medic. In fact, the only medic in the Sontaran fighting force because his batch humiliated themselves in suicide bombing some Daleks a long time ago before I met you and he remained as the sole survivor."


"Who and what was all that just happened now?" Jenny piped up. "I dunno." Clara said as her, Vastra, Jenny, and Strax inspected the unconscious man at the bottom of the basement stairs. "Looks very cute sleeping."

"Clara, this man may be a threat." Vastra halted her from moving down.

"He looked confused earlier." Clara replied. "And judging by his clothing, he looks like he comes from my time."

"The future?" Vastra asked. "Yes. May I go down and check? Maybe he has some identification we can know about him." Clara asks.

"I will let you. But we will have to interrogate him first. Strax, bring me the chair, and Jenny, grab some rope, will you darling?" She orders to the other two. "Clara, you will be my assistant interrogator. You and the Doctor showing up on my doorstep and an American man from your time period is something, coincidental." She purred at the last word as they walked down the basement. "And before Strax knocked the wind out of him, he looked very attracted to you judging by his last words."

Clara blushed. No one really told her she was cute, aside from her friends complimenting and the bullies that would try to hit on her when she was young. But a man that she doesn't know? At least he said it straight in front of me, she wondered. She hated when suitors talked to her in private, especially her co-worker at Coal Hill School, Danny Pink. What Clara really felt dragged down was her relationship with the Doctor before he regenerated. He was the perfect type for her, mysterious, very clever and remarkable. He didn't return his feelings for her, but saw her as a very close friend. "I fancied someone else." Clara said firmly.

Was it really time to move on?

"Oh, what a shame. It looks as though you and him could pair nicely together." Vastra said gloomly. "Now, if the man wakes up, give him the one-word test after Jenny and I record some information about him. We will be listening to the door. It works like this..." Vastra explained to her about how the interrogation worked.

After fifteen minutes of difficult shoving, fixing, and tying, Clara managed to keep the guest sitting on his chair, though she found it funny he fell his head back and his mouth hung open. Just who are you?

A couple seconds later the man's eyes blinked and coughed, pulling his head back to gravity. Vastra and Jenny stood next to her, armed with a jar containing a worm moving about and a spiked bat.

The man sluggishly looked up. Vastra spoke. "You are given three choices of interrogation. Either the easy way," She pointed to Clara, "The hard way," to Jenny, "Or my way." She pointed to the pet worm. The man eyed to Clara. "I'll take the hot chick in green, please." He spat out a bloody tooth to the side. Clara turned a bright shade of red. What a dick.

Vastra leaned in and whispered, "Remember, one word test."

"But what you told me earlier wasn't a plan!" Clara hissed back.

"You'll know. Just, adapt!" Vastra smiled as her and Jenny left the room. Clara groaned quietly and turned around to face the man. Hope those Victorian plays I did in school were worth it.

She noted his appearance first and picked up a chair. "You should have picked the one with the worm." Clara said, entering her Victorian London persona. The man snorted. "No thanks, I prefer the easy way out than be leeched or beaten up for information." Clara stood up and walked around, studying him. "Alright then. Let's start things off. What is your name?

"Jake Summers." said Jake Summers.

"Sure, Jake." Clara pretended to look serious. "Real name?"

Jake sighed. "Jacob... Casey Luke Summers. You can check my wallet in my front pocket if you wish." He grinned. Clara went up to him and searched in his pockets. "Wrong pocket." He smiled, whispering in her ear when inspecting his jeans. "I can show you what I have in THAT one if you want at a later time, though." She turned red again and hastily searched his blazer for a big black lump that she found moments later. "Can you not make this situation any weirder?" She smirked as she looked through his wallet.

"So, you were telling the truth about your identity Mr. Summers. But nice of you to show you have five grand of pounds here. Oh, what's this?" She picked up a photo. "You own a mansion?" She asked quizzically looking at a photo of him next to a beach house.

"Beach front property would be a more fitting term." Jake said. "Listen ma'am, can we move on from the damn description? You got what you know about me. Unless this isn't some MI6 interrogation, then I must be in the wrong room of a boarding house then."

Clara looked up and stared at Jake. Boarding house? You really don't know where you're actually are. "So Jake, what brought you to a sitting room?"

Jake grew irritated. Clara gritted her teeth. Damn it Clara, interrogate, not converse! He looked up to where the door opened from and yelled, "Listen, ladies? Can I get one of you with the freak worm to sort out this interrogation already? Ms. Clever here keeps a bad job of keeping a Victorian identity if it weren't for 'weirder.'"

Clara got furious when he mimiced the last word as the door opened and Vastra stepped in "Oi! I was just getting acquainted with him Vastra." She whined to the lady in black. "Hush Clara, at least we know his identity. Let me do the talking and we'll be done in no time." Clara looked at Jake one last time (who winked at her) grumpily and walked up and out of the interrogation room before closing the door behind her. "I didn't even get to try the one-word test." She said, sniffing away.

"WHAT ONE-WORD TEST?!" Jake roared, attempting to swing his chair.


"So how did it go?" Jenny asked, preparing some tea while Clara sat next to the Doctor. "Terrible. I'm so bad at talking to boys." Clara rubbed her forehead from the stress. "Oh, take your time. He does look very handsome. I found it difficult to talk to Vastra until I settled in properly, and then when we got married, it suddenly feels it's like talking to a mate." She smiled and brought a cup to a very shocked Clara. "Wot is it?"

"You and Vastra... are married?" Clara said in awe. "Yeah! Two months ago." Jenny wiggled her ring finger. "Strax was there, though, he nearly shot the pastor."

"But it's 1897." Clara remarked.

"Well the pastor was drunk at the time." Jenny laughed and Clara as well. "I wished there was a way that we can all come with you. Vastra would always tell me stories about the Doctor and the adventures they had before they found me."

"I went on an adventure with the Doctor once." Strax said as he monitored the Doctor on his scanner.

"Yeah, and there's a reason why you only went once." Clara snorted and Jenny laughed. Strax growled. "Well that put me out of my happy hour."

"What do you think will happen when the Doctor wakes up?" Jenny looked over, preparing tea next to Clara. "I don't know," Clara twiddled around with his curly gray hair. "I don't even know who the Doctor is anymore."

"He's a man full of secrets. Finding out one of them can threaten the entire universe itself." Strax said quietly. "It's best not to know. It's what makes his enemies fear him."

Clara turned to Jenny. "So what have you and Vastra been doing so far Jenny?" She asks. "Oh, we run a private investigations office here in Paternoster. We get a lot of customers that keep talking about the paranormal all the time, it's thrilling!" Jenny said excitedly. "Ghosts, aliens, you name it! When the Doctor dropped Vastra here he gave her a bunch of all this... technology, things that I know shouldn't even exist! It's what we use to solve our cases. Rumor has it that one of the clients is a young Sherlock Holmes," She sneered at the name. "An actual one to tell you the truth. Says that we had been stealing his cases from Scotland Yard."

Vastra calls up from the basement. "Jenny! Hand me the knife to release our new friend here. Strax, get a suit you've previously discarded from size issues down ready. Clara how is the Doctor?"

"Nothing here!" Clara calls out as the other two individuals stepped up and attended their duties.

So Jake is friendly, Clara thought. He better be while he's around the Doctor.