Disclaimer: The only part of Doctor Who I own is my unabashed love of it. The rest belongs to the BBC and friends.

Make Haste Slowly – Chapter 10

Usually, I make a point of not flying off the handle. Nothing good comes from sudden outbursts in my experience. So with that in mind I think it is fair to say that my immediate alarm and anger when I walk out of the TARDIS to find myself in the Maitland living room is a little unusual.

Taking in the dark room for a few seconds I turn on my heels and march straight back into the TARDIS, not only halting the Doctor's exit but forcing him to scramble backwards.

"You need to move this thing now."

"Clara, no it's okay, we-"

"Not okay. Do you know where you put us?"

"Yes I do, we are at the Maitland's an-"

"We are not at the Maitland's we are in the Maitland's!"

"Yes but-"

"In, like inside the house!"

I am prodding him in the chest now to emphasize certain words and he is still retreating backwards.

"Clara it's okay!"

I have him right up against the console now, glowering at him.

"Clara please, listen to me, its-"

"It is not oka-"

He silences me by putting a finger over my mouth, and uses his other hand to trap the one I am poking him with against his chest.

I am still glaring at him despite being unable to speak.

"Yes we are in the Maitland house. Yes, if anyone was in it would not be okay. But no one is home. It's about three weeks before we met, and you are all out for the night. Mr. Maitland and the kids are at his in-laws for the weekend, and you went to visit your Dad. Vacant house, it's okay."

He eases his finger away from my lips. Enough so that it is no longer quite pressed against them, but still close, probably in fear that I will start talking again.

He lets go of my hand, I guess convinced that I won't start accosting him with it again. The finger lingering over my mouth finally moves away too and the Doctor holds both his hands out to the side in a sort of surrender.

Part of me feels a bit embarrassed at going after him like I did, but I'm not sure what to say… So I just hug him instead of saying anything. He wraps his arms around me so I hope that means he isn't cross.

"A safe place to sleep while you worked on something was step two, so why here?" I am genuinely curious. Everywhere in time and space at our disposal and he picks the Maitland's?

"Well I know it's still standing in a few weeks with no evidence of having recently been leveled by rhinos, or Sefopats or the like. Also you wanted a hot shower and this has the infrastructure for that, and I kind of hoped a familiar environment might help keep the nightmares away in my absence..."

Because he will be busy working on some kind of equipment and thus not around to… 'hold me' sounds overemotional despite being a somewhat accurate description… 'sleep with me' implicates other things that are definitely not happening… 'bunk together' sounds overly childish and not quite poignant enough… Not that I have given our sleeping arrangements of late any thought at all, there have been more important things to worry about.

"Why not the TARDIS though?"

"Because you think she doesn't like you... And I won't be around to mediate any conflicts so I am hedging my bets for once." He states, running a hand through his still wet hair again.

Logical, well thought out, who is this and what have they done with my Doctor, I mean the Doctor? Maybe I ought to call it a night before I start thinking about how he keeps running his hands through his hair, not that I was or anything.

We bid a temporary farewell, me heading up to the bathroom and him disappearing goodness knows where into the TARDIS.

It is strange to be here, in my past… I try really hard not to move anything too far from where I found it, so that I don't give myself or anyone else any pause when we get home. Seeing how little things have changed here, yet how much I feel like they have changed since I met the Doctor is unnerving.

When I get out of the shower, into pajamas and back up to my attic, I decide that there has to be at least one thing that is the same, Doctor or not. So I pull '101 Places to See' off of my bookshelf and flip through some of the pages, only to find that even that has changed, or will change. The first page is still there right now. The most important leaf in human history, still flatly pressed in the book.

Something is missing from it though too, the little slip of paper with the Doctor's number. I haven't gotten my computer yet, so I haven't met the girl who somehow knew the best help line in the universe. We still haven't given her enough thought yet… Maybe it isn't so absurd when the Doctor says he can't find the time to do things after all.

Turning back to the leaf, I pick it up again. I have to put the book away after that though, I would do it all again, but losing that leaf still hurt and my feelings at seeing it once more are mixed.

I move to hang up my wet jacket, having been lazy before and in a rush to get out of my wet clothing I'd just tossed it on the floor. Picking it up however, I discover that I have a problem.

The sonic screwdriver is still sitting in the pocket of my jacket. I had stuck it there when I changed, and I guess Caesar and the Celts and the Maitland's house as a landing pad made returning it slip my mind, and apparently the Doctor's too... If he is trying to make something he is going to need this won't he?

Which brings me to a new problem, he is in the TARDIS somewhere, but I don't have a clue how to find him. I could wait till he came back of course, but that really isn't how I like to do things, I don't like waiting when I could be doing instead.

There is a third potential problem though; will the TARDIS let me in? If he shut the door, I am kind of stuck outside with no alternative but to knock very loudly. When I make it down to where the blue snog box is parked though, I find that the door has been propped open slightly with a mop.

Okay, so now to find him. If I was trying to build something, where would I go if I had all of space and time available to me… you know what? I would probably still go to the library first. Call it old university habits, research first and write later, but it's the best I've got right now, so let's try it.

Walking through the deserted corridors is kind of eerie, like someone is watching me, which I guess they are really.

It doesn't matter how many times I come into the library, it is just as jaw dropping every time. The place is huge though, and I'm not sure where to start. But huge is better than infinite I suppose, a lot more manageable. Following my feet, not really knowing where to go I wander about, finally coming to a small side room. I'm not sure why I am heading this way but then why not? There are odd bottles which seem to be trying to talk, with labels that say they are encyclopaedias on them. The books here all look old, really old, not un-kept, just aged. I feel like I am at the library of Cambridge or something a few hundred years back. There is one book, bound in rich leather sitting on a pedestal. Curiosity gets the better of me and I begin to walk towards it.

"Clara!" The Doctor's voice calls, somewhere behind me.

"There you are." I turn to see him, only to find he is white as a sheet.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I rush forward.

"Me, uh, yeah, are you?"

I nod, I don't know why he looks so worried, scared even.

"Um, I accidentally kept this…" I say, kind of sheepishly as I present him with the sonic screwdriver.

"I've been looking for that…" He reaches out to take it and flips it affectionately before pocketing it.

"Thought you might have been."

He gives me a funny look, some of his colour is coming back though at least.

"Let me walk you back to your room."

"It's okay; go make your rifty thing." I say as I make to leave the room, I can find my way back, I think. Assuming the TARDIS isn't crafting mazes in her spare time again.

He just offers me his arm like we are in Yorkshire again though, and ends up escorting me all the way back up to my attic like a proper gentleman, which I guess he is most of the time.

"12:07." He chuckles, looking at my clock.

"Good thing I want sleep and not internet then." I manage to get out while suppressing a yawn.

He actually tucks me in before kissing my forehead.

"Goodnight Clara." He says, quietly shutting my door.

A/N: A little fluff is good yes?