Jekab bustled about in his storeroom, flinging things around furiously. Really, he had never met two more self-centered beings in his long life! They took advantage of his help and his shelter but did they think of what the Doctor's regeneration energy would mean to him? No! For Jekab it would be another life span. And perhaps more. If he could find a way to inveigle himself inside that odd looking Tardis (yes, he'd noticed it the first day but had no idea it was an actual Time Lord vessel) use could be made of it as well. He'd never been allowed near a Tardis back in the days of his marriage. Snobby Time Lords! At any rate, it had been too close to the settlement for his comfort earlier but now, things could be very different. If he could get it working, he could at long last be free of this life sucking planet. He could continue his researches again and make public the breakthroughs he'd already discovered. But no. The two ingrates dithered while time relentlessly ran out.

The Doctor was worsening by the moment and if Jekab wanted any benefits from his body, he would have to act fast. Clara would, no, should, have been more receptive to the generous deal if she had accepted the Doctor's inevitable death but it was clear now she never would. Jekab snorted. The Doctor should have taken a firmer hand in the matter but obviously, he was a weak man when it came to Clara. Speaking of, young Clara was a very beautiful woman but extremely paranoid. It was impossible to get a clandestine start on matters. As it was, he'd only be able to palm an ordinary looking brass key from the Doctor's voluminous pockets – really they went on for forever! He'd been looking for that curious, crude sonic device but Clara had never moved away far enough to him to search anymore.

So Jekab had to move things along quickly or all would be lost. He had secretly dialed up the sedative level even more to flood the Doctor's system, creating a death like state. Hopefully it would push him over the line. Jekab's work could begin before it was too late and if Clara objected too strenuously, he would have to lock her in the storage room until he could deal with her at his leisure. He knew he should have built a security cell years ago but he'd never had a use for a prisoner; only live experimental subjects. But he had to begin. And soon.

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Clara Oswald sat silently in the darkened room, holding on to the Doctor's hand. The room was a steam bath and utterly oppressive. Lying still on the exam table; the Doctor hadn't even twitched in hours, but she knew it couldn't have been that long. Her thoughts were in complete turmoil. Seriously, what would she do if she lost the Doctor again? She had been completely sincere about Trap Street; it had always been her intention to return. But she kept putting it off; hoping against hope to see him once more. Or, if she got word he had regenerated, she would go quietly to Gallifrey and face the Raven once last time. For she, of all people in the universe, knew one face of the Doctor's was anything but a copy of the previous one's personality. They were most certainly NOT interchangeable. But the Doctor's outburst had shaken her resolve. He'd endured over four billion years of hell; she couldn't take a couple of centuries of loneliness? She couldn't just continue on with his work, helping the underdogs, seeing justice done? But really, how long could she go on? Or should she go on at all? She had been living on literally borrowed time since their escape from Gallifrey.

The door opened and Jekab wheeled in a cart laden with alien medical instruments and some sort of scanners. He said nothing to her but brusquely moved around her to examine the Doctor. After a bit, he straightened up. "I'm sorry but he's gone," Jekab said softly. "For us to get any use out of the residual energy in his body, we must act now." He hurriedly pushed up the Doctor's shirtsleeve to his bicep.

"What?" Clara never let go of the Doctor's other hand. "What are you doing?"

"The Doctor's last wishes," Jekab replied briskly. "We had discussed this earlier, even before you involved. I promised him I would look out for you. Guide you. Protect you. He wanted you to be free of the chronolock more than anything else. He was thinking of you, Clara. He wanted to talk with you, yes, but the decision had already been made in his mind."

"He had no right to do that!" Clara flared angrily. "We always do everything together. That's how we roll. And when it comes to dying, we'll do that together too!"

Jekab thought about placing a comforting arm around Clara's shoulders but one look at her stormy face precluded that. He forced himself to wait but the panic he felt was rising while this mutinous young woman pouted. Time was slipping away.

Clara finally sighed; anger drained away. She leaned forward and kissed the Doctor's cheek. Then she turned to Jekab. "What will you need to do?"

Happiness and triumph surged from within but Jekab kept his face sympathetic. Selecting an instrument, he held up a small box. "I need to attach this to his brain. The sooner, the better, in order to collect the energy inside."

Clara started. "His brain?"

Jekab waved his hand as he moved to position the box over the Doctor's forehead. "Only a small incision, right about here," he placed his finger on the front center and drew it across nearly to the temple area.

"That's small?" Clara asked doubtfully. She looked nauseated. "Then what?"

Jekab cleared his throat. "I do not wish to sound indelicate but I could use several of his organs, starting with the brain, of course. But the utmost respect would be observed at all times." He placed a small clear mask over the Doctor's nose and mouth, and connected it to a machine.

"You want to dissect him?" Clara looked ready to burst into tears. "No, no…"

"There, there," Jekab drew closer, this time risking it and placing his arm around her small shoulders. "I'll only take the internal organs. Outwardly, he will remain…. Unchanged. For a while at least, except for the head wound. Unfortunately, in this heat, decay will set in soon.

Clara straightened and rubbed her nose on her sleeve, a rather uncouth gesture that had Jekab withdrawing his arm in disgust. He detested ugly crying. There had been far too much of that from his wife.

Sniffling, Clara stammered. "I need some time alone with him." She hiccupped. "To say a final goodbye."

What, again? That's all she had done since their arrival! Jekab fought a fierce internal battle but mastered his irritation with a grave, sympathetic manner. Don't give in to your temper now; you've won he privately admonished himself. "Of course you do," he purred. "I remember all too well when first my beloved wife was taken from me, then the faithful Sharona. I have a few more things to retrieve so you can say your farewell. But please, I must stress this. His regeneration energy was low to begin with. The longer we stand here, the less we will reap. For your own sake, Clara, be brief. The life you restart might be your own."

Clara's tear streaked face smiled bravely. In a quavering voice, she said, "Thank you."

Jekab hugged her tightly and then went out into the hallway. Clara went back to holding the Doctor's hand, bending down and talking softly to him.

Dropping the Doctor's hand, Clara went to the door and listened. Hearing nothing, she opened the door and glanced down the hallway. It was empty. Her expression hardened immediately.

Quickly wiping her tears, she shut the door. "Protect me and guide me! You're a bad liar, Jekab." Moving back to the Doctor, she removed the mask and searched his pockets finding his new sonic screwdriver immediately. Thank heavens he still had it! Pointing it at the door, Clara locked it. Then, she turned, located the video monitor and aimed the sonic at it. The picture disappeared.

Then she turned her attention to the silent figure on the table. Smoothing his riotous hair, she leaned down and whispered, "No way am I allowing this creep to dissect you. No way!" Noticing the futuristic and painful looking IV in his arm, Clara pulled it out, surprised and dismayed at the size of the hole it had made and the blood that came rushing out. This was different than the earlier one Jekab had used. "I'm not giving up, Doctor," she whispered fiercely. "And I won't let you give up either!" Clara angrily threw the IV aside. "Come on, silly old man. You are not dying today. I still think you're in there. Come back to me." Rummaging around in various drawers, she found some material and started some fast bandaging. Dead men didn't bleed that much.

DW DW DW

Jekab kept thinking about one more thing he could use – really, he was quite giddy about the thought of harvesting a mighty Time Lord's body, the thought was so delicious. He had no love for the Time Lords; not being a purebred was something he'd been scorned for his entire childhood. Especially for having the cheek to marry the mighty Omega's niece. Time for some long overdue payback. He'd seen some of that Time Lord arrogance in the Doctor as well. Not the class bias, but that supreme arrogant confidence, even while he was dying he thought himself smarter than Jekab. We'll see about that.

IF all worked out, he would use the Doctor's residual energy to try and gain another regeneration for himself first. Clara was time locked and couldn't die if she wanted to. She would keep for later. Perhaps some time away from the Doctor's evil influence would calm her down, make her more amenable. However, right now it was the Doctor's precious life source that was the most important and it was flickering like a candle nearly burnt out. If Jekab had cut short the flickering by a bit, all the better. More charitable really. Easier on the Doctor than all that suffering, easier on Clara not to see it. All in all he was doing them both a favor.

Jekab had to admit he admired Clara's spunkiness – and her utter devotion to the Doctor. She was a rare beauty, to be sure. Nearly as much as Sharona had been. But she had a big mouth on her and a disturbing tendency to think far too much of herself, all based in hysterical emotion of course. Such females were very high maintenance and troublesome. He would put her aside somewhere; perhaps in that unfinished cryogenic chamber he had been building for so long. Clara wouldn't need to know it wasn't functional but a couple of day long sessions in that might tone her defiance down a bit. Jekab knew Clara was untrustworthy and he glanced up at the monitor in the humid storeroom. The picture was dim – again – really, this planet just had to destroy everything, didn't it? He moved closer and wiped the screen with a rag.

That's when he discovered there was no picture from the exam room.

"That interfering little minx!" Jekab seethed. He left at a run.

DW DW DW

Someone kept hitting his face.

It had been going on for some time now but he had hardly noticed until now. But a well-loved voice coming from the next galaxy it seemed insisted that he wake up right now.

The voice sounded very frantic and that worried him. Something was going on. Even though the Doctor wanted nothing more than to sleep and let the pain go eat away at someone else for a while, Clara sounded panicky and that would never do. He opened his eyes.

"Oh, thank God," Clara Oswald's knees nearly buckled.

Memory flooded in and he risked a quick glance down his body.

"It's okay; you haven't changed," Clara said quickly, literally pulling him upright.

The Doctor's head swam and his mouth was as dry as the sounds of Gallifrey. He tried to speak but only a couple of croaking sounds came out.

"Oh, and by the way," Clara used one arm to brace his back but the other hand came up so menacingly the Doctor automatically flinched, "don't you dare tell Jekab you'll sacrifice yourself for me in some private agreement. Never, ever, do that again! Lucky for you I realized he lied about the other stuff in time." She held a metal cup of warm water to his lips that she snatched from a nearby console.

Thankfully, she didn't slap him as he drank. The Doctor's muddled mind and bleary eyes tried to sort out everything. Finally, he managed a, "No."

Clara was maneuvering his feet on the floor when she looked up. "Sorry?"

The Doctor looked her in the eyes, for once being nearly on the same level. "No, I didn't."

"You mean Jekab?" Clara frowned.

"No. Yes. I mean, I didn't tell him it was all right, Clara. Never agreed. Had to talk to you first." Doing a quick mental inventory, the Doctor realized his system was flooded with a powerful sedative. No wonder he felt so…. Thick? He then divided his concentration between expelling the effects and listening to Clara.

Clara snaked an arm along his shoulders, her face intense. "Well, you're learning at any rate. But now we have to go." She pulled him upright, waited for his dizziness to pass and then headed for the door.

The door opened and there stood Jekab, holding a very nasty blaster, his evidently newly repaired Mondasian Cyberman by his side. He also held up a Tardis key. "Going somewhere?"