A/N: This turned out to be a rather fluffy chapter. The plan was for it to lead into the Doctor and Joshua's raid in Simeon's castle, but I got slightly side-tracked… Hopefully you like it all the same. A big, big thank you to everyone who has reviewed the last few chapters: whoufflemysouffle, ImpossibleClara9 (hmm, that may happen ;)), Guest, runyoucleverboy-remember, Kariana Kusanagi, sesshomarugirl4ever, Guest, Guest, pancakes, Ellie, AMysteriousWoman711, RandomVictorian, Jesusisboss, Neonluminosity, Planet of the Deaf, Elenwhatthe and DesiringMagic. If you reviewed twice, you're too amazing for words.

Chapter Ten: Confessions

When they reached the safety of their makeshift home, Joshua suggested they each get some sleep. He laid out two blankets and battered pillows for the Doctor and Clara, insisting he was used to sleeping on the floor with his cloak to cover him. The Doctor insisted that he didn't need to sleep and so the kind gesture was wasted on him, but Joshua would hear none of it. The lonely Revolutionite made himself comfy in the hidden department at the back of his underground lair, leaving the Doctor and Clara on their own in the main space.

The Doctor and Clara slept separately, to Clara's secret dismay. The Doctor gave her his blanket, but he could still see her little form shaking underneath the thin layers. He couldn't help but snatch a glance every few minutes, knowing he wouldn't sleep anyway, for more than his usual reasons. It was when Clara breathed out an unsteady breath that the Doctor softly crawled closer to her and pressed a soft hand on her waist.

"Are you cold?" he asked, needlessly.

"It's freezing," she muttered underneath her blankets.

Without asking for permission, the Doctor gently nudged Clara closer to him. He draped one arm around her back and the other rested on her hand, holding it tightly. How come he couldn't feel safe any more without touching her hand? It puzzled him. Clara pressed her head on his chest, resuming their usual sleeping position, a small smile flashing over her face. The Doctor leaned his chin on the top of her head.

"Better?"

"Much better."

"Is that all I am to you, Clara Oswald? A human heater?"

Clara rolled her eyes. She patted his stomach and replied in a whisper, "Yes, it is. That and my personal chauffer through time and space."

He chuckled at that. Absentmindedly his hand moved from her back to her hair. He started to run the individual strands through his fingers, curiously noticing that even her hair had different versions of itself; different shades of brown. The sensation sent pleasant trickles of warmth down Clara's spine. Her eyes started to flutter, closing, briefly forgetting the ominous danger she was attracting.

There was a few moments of content silence, in which neither the Doctor nor Clara wanted to disrupt the serene atmosphere. The Doctor felt a change in Clara's breathing as she leaned across his chest. He frowned, only because he knew Clara couldn't see it.

"You know, Clara, when I first met you, I thought you were brilliant. You were a Victorian governess, of course, but you were still you. A part of you. I was in a dark place back then. You were the first thing to distract me. You made me feel a spark for life I thought I would never feel again." He studied a light brown strand of hair, faintly shining gold. "Then I lost you, and that hurt. More than I thought it would. But your effect stayed. It made me hope again. Then I found out I'd already met you in the form of a… Well, in a completely different, horrible form but you were still so you. That intrigued me; how could I keep meeting you? Of all the people in the universe."

She didn't reply, so the Doctor supposed she was waiting for him to finish his story.

"I went looking for you. How could I not? The only mystery worth solving. Always full of surprises, it turned out you were the one to find me. Hah! Imagine that. But, of course, you know the rest after that. Our stories entwine from that moment. Actually, they've been entwined all my life now I think of it. Always missing each other. Always going different directions. I suppose that's why…" How was that sentence going to end? He was never very good at finishing what he started, especially concerning words. And feelings. "What I'm trying to say, Clara, is that I didn't only find you again for the mystery. It was a large part, but it wasn't the most significant. You intrigued me in a different way. I knew the Victorian version of you had made me feel so… complete. I needed to feel that again. I needed you again."

He looked at a dark brown, almost black, strand of hair and brushed it flat on her head. "I suppose I just wanted you to know that in case – well, in case you thought…" the Doctor gave a small, sad laugh. "Sorry, I'm not very good at this. Never have been. What I'm trying to say is, you probably already know – you should – that I need you. Clara, you mean a lot to me. I really, truly mean that. The last time I felt anything remotely close was nearly four hundred years ago, I think. That ended badly. I guess that's why I'm so protective."

With a jolt, he realised how quiet Clara had been during this whole exchange. "Clara?" he asked, peering down at her worriedly. "Are you…?"

But Clara was fast asleep with a smile on her face, her right hand clenched tightly on the Doctor's waistcoat and her left gripping onto his hand. He gave an exasperated and slightly amused sigh: as soon as he did say the right words, the other half of the conversation wasn't even conscious. His lips brushed against her forehead and his own eyes closed for a few long seconds, as he muttered, "Well, since you can't hear this… You mean the whole universe to me, Clara. And the universe is infinite. Trust me, I've checked."

When Clara awoke she was alone. The blankets were cosily snuggled around her, as if someone decided the tighter they were the warmer she'd be but her arm was outstretched, like she reaching for someone who wasn't there. Clara blinked a few times, remembering where she was and why she was here, and then leaned back onto the pillow, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. Where had the Doctor disappeared to?

She wasn't left alone long with her thoughts. Joshua traipsed in, his wavy brown hair messy and his lips pulled back into a massive, impressive yawn. He greeted Clara before stretching out his limbs. Clara winched as she heard his joints crack.

"He left earlier to check on something," Joshua informed, reading her thoughts. "He said he'd be back before you woke up but…"

Clara perched herself up on her elbows at that. "Do you think he's okay?"

"If anyone would be okay out on their own, it would be him I reckon." Joshua plopped down beside her. "If either of us went out, well, we have the risk of being recognised. Even after the last few months, I think they'd still recognise me."

"What do you mean?"

He pointed to his hair and stubble. "Believe it or not, I used to be cleanly shaven with short hair. I tried to make myself look physically different as possible. I don't know, I think these charming good looks are hard to disguise. Not easy to forget, are they Clara?" He stopped to stare at her. Instead of looking into her eyes, he was looking through them. As if he was searching for something he knew he could find.

"I'm sorry, Joshua. I don't have any of your Clara's memories," Clara said apologetically. She could tell he wanted to know but couldn't ask. "All of my past lives used to haunt my dreams and shadow my every move, but then the Doctor helped me. He placed a shield in my mind to stop them reaching my subconscious."

"Yeah." He sniffed and looked away. "I didn't think someone would be able to live with all those memories. Doesn't matter. What is past is past."

Clara grimaced. "Easier said than done, though, when the past comes back like I do, yeah?"

He smiled; it was a small smile as if she had comforted him by saying words which were helpful and supportive. "Trust me, I'm not complaining." Unheard to Clara, something had distracted Joshua. He was slowly rising to his feet and carefully walking towards the stairs. As he peeked around the corner, Clara realised she too could hear footsteps. Her heart sank in her chest and she started to peel away her blankets to pull her cardigan back on.

There was no reason to worry: it was the Doctor. Before he even had a chance to open his mouth, Clara was over to him in a second, shoving him roughly on the arm. "Where the hell did you go?" she demanded.

He broke into an ecstatic grin. "I was checking on the TARDIS! Guess what she's done, Clara, guess what the sexy thing has done!"

Clara simply groaned and walked back to her pile of blankets. Joshua looked utterly confused.

"She realised she was in danger from being recognised and fixed the chameleon circuit!" the Doctor burst out. "Completely invisible! No one can find her! Apart from us, of course, because she'll reveal herself to us."

Smiling, just to please him, Clara said dramatically, "That's brilliant!"

Joshua took a step back to get a better look at the Doctor. "Did you just call your TARDIS sexy?"

Clara waved her hand in the air. "Yeah, he's in a co-dependent relationship with his TARDIS and a screwdriver." She paused, and genuinely considered, "Sometimes I wonder where he finds the time to fit me in."

Joking aside, the Doctor was back on mission mode. He directed his attention on Joshua and patted the man firmly on his shoulder. "Ready?"

Joshua gave a single nod. "Ready."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Clara interrupted. "You don't have a plan! You haven't discussed anything or – or…" she was searching for something, anything to say to stop them from going through with this. Her heart felt as if it was in her forehead and she couldn't think straight with worry.

"We did," Joshua informed. "While you were asleep. Just before the Doctor left to check on his TARDIS. Way ahead of you, Clara."

Clara struggled for a few moments as she glanced in between the two men. "But you – you don't have any back up or – what if something happens? Can't I at least –"

The Doctor walked halfway over to her, his eyes soft but determined. "I need your cloak. If Joshua and I succeed then I'll come back here for you and quickly get you out of the gates and back into the TARDIS. Joshua is going to wait ten minutes exactly before putting the shield back up. Long enough for us to get you out, but short enough for no one to notice. Especially this early in the morning."

Was it morning? Time seemed to be escaping from Clara. Every second felt like it was leading up to a dangerous climax, one that would only end in tears and solitude. She sighed, in a huff with both of them, but knowing she really couldn't be annoyed because after all, they were only trying to save her from Simeon. Save her from meeting the same end as the rest of her echoes. The longer she, the Doctor and the Great Intelligence stayed within the same proximity, the more likely it seemed the usual ending would happen: Simeon would try and kill the Doctor and Clara would come to the rescue, willingly giving her life. But Simeon wasn't after the Doctor; he didn't even know the Doctor was here. If he had read the scrolls, Simeon would still think the Doctor looked like his previous regeneration. Perhaps the situation was different this time.

She was going to say this to the Doctor, but she knew what he would say. If she did point out that it was different than how her echoes had died, because she was the original, the Doctor's argument would be: "You were the original you when you jumped into my timestream to save me. The only reason why you survived was because I saved you." Then the usual blabber of how he might be too late the next time. How many chances would he have before Clara died forever? They were playing with fire, as the saying goes. Tempting the inevitable. Taunting the tiger.

Clara was so distracted by her own thoughts that she didn't realise the Doctor was offering her his hand to help her up. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up into the air. She pressed her face into his shoulder, breathing in his familiar smell and imprinting it onto her memory so she could remember it forever. When he put her back down on the ground, his eyes glued onto hers and locked themselves there.

"You said you felt safe," he said so lowly, Clara thought she misheard.

"What?"

His cold hand cupped her dimpled cheek. "You asked me what you said just before you fell asleep. You said you felt safe. With me."

Clara's eyes widened in understanding. She glanced down at his thumb, no longer able to meet his eyes.

"And that's not going to change, Clara."

Then he did something unexpected.

The Doctor leaned down and delicately kissed the corner of her mouth. It was just a gentle, soft kiss, but layered with meaning and sentiment – unspoken promises, suppressed desires and a mutual burst of unconditional passion – all expressed in one lingering kiss. Clara let her eyes flutter closed, and even when he pulled away, she found she couldn't open them. His warmth was still guarding the corner of her mouth where his lips had been only seconds previously – as if his touch was catching all the escaping whispered feelings passively storming between them.

Had he meant to kiss her lips and missed? Or, were her lips the intended destination but he decided against it at the last moment because their future was so uncertain?

He brushed her hair before he stepped away. In a hushed tone, he said, "I promise."

And when Clara reopened her eyes, he was gone. So was Joshua.

Unexpectedly, Clara was glad she was alone. No one was around to see the warm tear that trickled down her cheek, leaving a small part of itself as it travelled in the form of a tear track, just before the very last drop of it fell to the ground and was absorbed by the thick dust.

Note: So close to being a proper kiss! I promise, when it does happen, it'll be worth the wait. I'm waiting for the right moment. The chapter would've been far too long with all the fluff and the action. The next chapter will be up rather soon, I imagine. Thank you for reading. Could you be a darling and leave a review?