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"What are we doing here again?" Clara called as she ran after the Doctor and Professor, all of them huddled under a bright red umbrella, Aeon tucked into the Professor's jacket, through the rain towards a large, rather spooky house.

"Ghost hunting!" the Professor cheered as they made it to the doors, lowering the umbrella to shake it out and close it now that they were safe from the rain, something Aeon purred happily about.

"Seriously?" Clara stared at them.

The Doctor grinned, "Love a good ghost hunt!" he cheered, banging on the doors before pulling them to the side, a finger to his lips, waiting…

The door opened a few minutes later and the Doctor stuck his head out from the side, "Boo!" he shouted, startling the older man in glasses and the young woman beside him, "Hello!"

"We're looking for a ghost," the Professor smiled, sticking her head around his.

"And you are..." the man eyed them.

"Ghostbusters!" Clara cheered popping out from the other side of them as well, excited!

Not wanting to be forgotten Aeon meowed, lifting his little paws up a moment, "This is Aeon," the Professor introduced, laughing as she tugged him out of her jacket to set him down, the kitten immediately going to the young woman inside and brushing against her legs, making her smile.

"I'm the Doctor…" the Doctor began, holding up the psychic paper.

"Doctor what?" the man asked, taking the paper to look more closely at.

"If you like."

"I'm the Professor," the Professor added, before putting her arm around Clara's shoulders, squeezing her, "And this lovely girl is Clara."

The Doctor beamed and plucked the paper back, striding past the man, reaching back to tug the Professor along by the hand as Clara ran after them, following them down a hall and into a sitting room filled with all sorts of machines and electronic equipment.

"Ah, but you are very different!" the Doctor grinned at them, spinning around to the man, "You are Major Alec Palmer."

"Member of the Baker Street Irregulars," the Professor nodded, crossing her arms as she leaned against a table, watching as Aeon pawed at the young woman's legs as she and the major followed them in, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Specialized in espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance behind enemy lines…"

"You're a talented water-colorist, professor of psychology AND...ghost hunter!" he eagerly shook the man's hand, "Total pleasure. Massive."

"It really is an honor," the Professor added, stepping forward to shake his hand as well.

"Actually, you're wrong," the young woman beside the man called, having knelt down to scratch Aeon, "Professor Palmer spent most of the war as a POW."

"Actually, that's a lie told by a very brave man involved in very secret operations," the Professor told her, giving the major a smile, making him frown, seeing something inside that smile an…empathy…an understanding, something the young woman seemed to sense as she looked between them, standing up with Aeon in her hands.

"The kind of man who keeps a Victoria Cross in a box in the attic, eh?" the Doctor laughed, putting his arm around the Professor's waist, squeezing her, knowing where her mind had gone, there were things about the war she still didn't talk about, "But you know that!" he looked at the young woman, "Because you're Emma Grayling..." he walked over and gave her two Gallic air kisses on her cheeks, "The professor's Companion..."

"That's two professors now," the Professor remarked with a laugh.

"Assistant," Emma corrected quietly.

"Oh Companion's much better," the Doctor disagreed.

"It's 1974," the Professor reminded him before looking at Emma, "You're the assistant and 'non-objective equipment.'"

"Meaning 'psychic,'" he called to Clara.

"Empathic psychic."

"Getting that," Clara nodded, sitting on one of the desks, "Bless you, though."

"Oh equipment!" the Professor cheered, pulling the Doctor over to the banks of equipment to examine it, making him laugh at how excited she was, he really did love this version of her, he loved every version, but this one…he could tell SHE was having more fun in this body and that made him SO happy.

"Relax, Emma," the major reassured her, "They're clearly Military Intelligence," he glanced at them, "So what's all this in aid of?"

The Doctor smirked, winking at the Professor, "Health and Safety! Yeah, the Ministry got wind of what's going on down here, sent us to check that everything's in order."

"They don't have the right…"

"Don't worry, Guv'nor, we'll be out your hair in five minutes…"

"Oh this is lovely," the Professor hopped up to sit next to Clara and toggled a switch, "The ACR 99821."

"Oh, bliss, nice action on the toggle switches," the Doctor leaned past her, half pressed against her to reach the same switch, flicking it back and forth, "You know," he smiled up at her, his nose brushing against her own he was so close, "I do love a toggle switch."

"I know," she smiled back at him, kissing him quickly, "You love the word 'toggle' too."

He nodded, "Nice noun. Excellent verb…" he reached out and slapped Clara's hand as she reached for the button, not even taking his eyes off the Professor's, "Don't mess with the settings."

Clara rolled her eyes at that, crossing her arms. It was creepy how he did that, know what she was doing without even looking, her mum used to be the same, eyes in the back of her head she had. She'd noticed…a sort of shift, in the Doctor and Professor and how they acted around her, how they treated her. At first she was more like a guest, someone they were taking on a trip, but, lately, she'd been getting the feeling that they were acting a bit…parental towards her. Not exactly like a mother and father, nor would she want them to, she had a mother and father, the best mother and father in the world, but…like it. She almost got the feeling, with how affectionate and protective they sometimes were with her, that it was more like…grandparents. It was weird to think but also…oddly acceptable…in her mind. They'd said they were like 1200 years old and sometimes, not often, but sometimes, they acted it. For all their child-like exuberance there WAS a quiet maturity about them.

The Professor lightly pushed him back, hopping off, and walking over to the major and Emma, scanning them with the sonic. The Doctor blinked and patted his pockets, shaking his head at how she always managed to do that. One day he'd catch her, one day.

"What's that?" the major eyed the whirring device.

"Gadget," the Doctor answered though, walking over to her, putting his arms around her waist from behind, "Health and Safety."

"Classified, I'm afraid," the Professor nodded, walking with the Doctor to an archway, stopping. Aeon squirmed in Emma's hold till she set the kitten down and he ran to the Professor's side, tensing at the archway, he couldn't see it…but there was something there.

The Doctor nodded, resting his chin on her shoulder, "You know, while the back room boffins work out a few kinks."

The Professor blinked and turned to him, "Are you calling me a boffin now?" she knew in the current context, that was a praising word, a scientific expert or sorts, but, being time travelers, she often ended up thinking of things in the modern context, a bit of a comical scientist, and she was hardly as absentminded as him.

He blinked, "No!" he said quickly, kissing her, "I was talking about the other boffins."

Her eyes narrowed, "Then you're calling the TARDIS a boffin?"

He blinked again, "No! No I was um…" he shook his head, "I can't think of an answer that won't get me slapped."

"Then don't say anything," she laughed, lightly patting his cheek and turning to scan the archway more.

"What's it telling you?" Emma asked, watching them, she was as tense as Aeon was and that little kitten hadn't taken his eyes off the archway since they'd moved over to it.

"It's telling us that you haven't been exposed to any life-threatening transmundane emanations," the Professor stated, tossing the sonic to the Doctor.

"So..." he spun around, slipping the sonic into his pocket, "Where's the ghost?" he walked over and picked up a lit candelabra, "Show us the ghost," he tensed, hearing an unnatural whooshing noise that made Aeon hiss.

The Professor grinned, moving to his side, excited, "It's ghost time."

The Doctor gave her a peck on the cheek and turned to walk through a random hall, the major, and Aeon, rushing after them, Emma and Clara behind him.

"I won't have this stolen out from under me, do you understand?" the major asked.

"Er, no, not really, sorry," the Doctor shrugged.

"I will not have my work stolen, then be fobbed off with a pat on the back and a letter from the Queen. Never again! This is my house, Doctor, and it belongs to me."

"This is actually your house?" Clara asked.

"It is."

"Sorry. You went to the bank and said, 'You know that gigantic old haunted house on the moors? The one the dossers are too scared to doss in? The one the birds are too scared to fly over?' And then you said, 'I'd like to buy it, please, with my money.'"

"Yes, I did, actually."

"That's incredibly brave."

"Oh I like you too!" the Professor cheered at the man, "That's twice in a row, we've never had that much luck before," she commented to the Doctor.

"Oh I think we have," he smiled at her.

"When?" she laughed, "Things hardly ever go the way we hope, half the time we end up in places we weren't aiming, and at least once an adventure we end up getting shot at."

He just reached up to touch her cheek, "We found each other again," he told her softly, "I found you, despite everything in the Universe telling me it should be impossible, I found you again."

Her gaze turned soft, "Well, I suppose we've always been lucky then," she leaned in, resting her forehead to his, "The moment I met you my luck changed around completely."

He beamed at that, "The moment I found you again," he whispered to her, "My life started," he stroked her cheek, "I died during the war," he told her, "What I had to do killed me in more ways than one…and then I had you again," he looked into her eyes, just…gazing at her, "And I came back, in that one instant you brought me back from the dead."

"And then I died," she reminded him with a laugh, nudging him, showing him she was actually…happy about that, "And I got to start a new life with YOU."

He leaned in and kissed her gently.

The major frowned at them, completely lost, while Emma just smiled at them softly, she could feel the love between them, the joy, the relief, the happiness they felt to be with each other. She could feel it, the darkness and the despair they'd felt, replaced, the hole in their heart, filled, just by being with each other again.

Emma looked over at Clara to see her shaking her head at them, though smiling nonetheless, "I take it this happens a lot?" she asked the girl quietly, pulling the two from their moment despite trying to be polite and hushed.

"All the time," Clara sighed. It really was sweet how they flirted with each other, though she did think there were sometimes better times to do it.

Aeon though just seemed thrilled with all the love he could feel, pawing at the Professor's legs, wanting to be a part of it. It was in his nature of course, Keroberos thrived on love, on familiar love, it was what sustained them, the love of his master and mistress, the love they had for their children, the love of the children for each other and their parents. He always wanted to be closer to that.

The Professor laughed and scooped him up, cuddling him a bit as he purred contentedly.

The Doctor smiled at the sight, best decision ever to get that kitten for her, "Listen, major," he turned to the man, realizing they were still in the presence of the humans, "We just need to know what's going on here."

"For the Ministry?" he eyed them suspiciously, for being two government operatives, even married ones, they didn't act like it at times, they were far too…easily distracted by each other.

"You know we can't answer that," the Professor smirked.

He sighed, "Very well. Follow me," he stepped past them and led the way, back away from the sitting room and into a parlor where he'd set up a board full of pictures and notes about the house and the ghost.

The Doctor paused, seeing a camera on the table and grabbed it, grinning as he started taking pictures of the Professor who struck a few poses for him, till Aeon hissed at the bright lights and she set him down, the kitten running off to Clara instead.

"So what's an empathic psychic?" Clara asked Emma, picking up Aeon to set him on her lap, as she saw the Time Lords getting distracted.

"Sometimes I...sense feelings," Emma explained as the Professor tried to take the camera from the Doctor but the man kept holding it away from her though wrapping his other arm around her waist and kissing her to distract her, "The way a telepath can sense thoughts. Sometimes, though. Not always."

"The most compassionate people you'll ever meet, empathics," the Professor remarked, finally managing to take the camera away after implementing some tickling techniques. She really loved that weakness of the Doctor's.

"And the loneliest," the Doctor nodded, "I mean, exposing themselves to all those hidden feelings, all that guilt, pain and sorrow and..."

"Doctor?" Clara cut in, seeing Emma getting uncomfortable and sad.

"Yes?"

"Shh."

He looked at Emma and winced, realizing what he'd done, the Professor smiling as she saw Aeon hop off Clara's lap and onto Emma's nuzzling against her to try and cheer her up, the woman smiling a bit as she pet him.

"Would you, er, care to have a look?" the major called, thankfully changing the topic and distracting them. They all walked over to the board as he explained all the images, the house, a white specter in nearly every room of it, some images spanning decades, "Caliburn House is over 400 years old but she's been here much longer...the Caliburn Ghast. She's mentioned in local Saxon poetry and Parish folk tales. The Wraith of the Lady, the Maiden in the Dark, the Witch of the Well…"

"Is she real?" Clara asked, eyeing the images of her, "As in, actually real?"

"Oh, she's real," he nodded, "In the 17th century, a local clergyman saw her. He wrote that her presence was accompanied by a 'dreadful knocking, as if the Devil himself demanded entry.' During the war, American airmen stationed here left offerings of tinned Spam. The tins were found in 1965, bricked up in the servants' pantry, along with a number of handwritten notes. Appeals to the Ghast, 'For the love of God, stop screaming.'"

"She never changes," the Professor noticed, "The angle's different, the framing, but she's always in exactly the same position. Now why is that?"

The Doctor leaned in, holding a candelabra for more light, examining the photos. He smiled, "Leave it to you to notice dear."

She smirked back, "I use my eyes, I notice everything."

"We don't know," the major answered, "She's an objective phenomenon. But objective recording equipment can't detect her..."

"Without the presence of a powerful psychic," she finished.

"Absolutely. Very well done."

"She's brilliant," the Doctor beamed, standing back to put his arm around the Professor, "She's got 27 brains," he whispered to the man conspiratorially.

"She knows I'm here..." Emma murmured, staring at the pictures as they looked at her, Aeon glancing up at her in her hands as she just…held him, "I can feel her...calling out to me."

"What's she saying?" Clara wondered.

"Help me."

The Professor looked back, catching sight of a shadow passing the door, frowning, when she noticed Clara doing the same. She had to smile at that though, that girl was clever and sharp. Every adventure she saw more and more of her and the Doctor in the girl. She looked a bit like him, brown hair, cute nose, fast talking, but acted a bit like her, eager to explore, confident, observant.

"'The Witch of the Well,'" the Doctor repeated, thoughtful, "So where's the well?"

The major nodded to the side and led the Doctor and Professor over to a table where the blueprints of the house were spread out, "A copy of the oldest plan that we could find, there is no well on the property. None that we could find, anyway."

"Invisible to the naked eye," the Doctor murmured.

"Or the human eye," the Professor started to smile.

He grinned, taking her hand as they walked back to Clara, tapping her on the head as she stared at the photos. She gasped and turned around.

"You coming?" the Doctor whispered.

"Where?" she whispered back.

"To find the ghost," the Professor smirked.

Clara stared at them, "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you want to, come on," she nodded her head back and led them to the door, "Aeon!" she called and the kitten jumped out of Emma's lap where she'd gone to sit and scurried after them to the door.

"Well, I dispute that assertion."

The Doctor stopped them and turned around, glancing at Emma who was watching them, amused, and jerked his head, trying to be subtle, "I'm giving you a face. Can you see me? Look at my face."

Clara rolled her eyes, "Fine," she whispered, joining them, before pausing, "Dare me."

The Professor laughed, "I dare you."

"No takesies-backsies," the Doctor pointed at her.

Clara shook her head and took the candelabra from him, "Hate you," she muttered to them, heading out first with Aeon.

"No you don't," the Time Lords countered, grinning excitedly behind her as they followed, unable to help but think that she sounded like River just then.

"The music room is the heart of the house," Emma called after them, making them pause and wink at her in thanks, before catching up to Clara, walking through a dark corridor of the house, with Aeon beside her, ready to defend.

"Say we actually find her," Clara began, speaking in a soft whisper, "What do we say?"

"We ask how she came to be..." the Professor nodded, "Whatever she is."

"Why?"

"Because we don't know," the Doctor said, "The sonic only getting energy disruptions and the Professor can't scan her without seeing or touching her and ignorance is...what's the opposite of bliss?"

"Carlisle."

He laughed, "Yes! Yes, Carlyle. Ignorance is Carlyle."

"Very clever Clara," the Professor smiled at her, "Oh we should take you to meet old Tommy."

The Doctor grimaced, "Best not, he's not a rather chipper bloke."

She had to nod at that, Thomas Carlyle was probably the most bitter man they'd ever met, even worse than Kazran before they'd gone into his past. He, and his works, were most certainly the opposite of bliss. She paused a moment though, glancing back, hearing a faint snarling and scraping sound in the shadows but it quieted as soon as she looked back. She turned to Aeon to see he seemed to have noticed as well, the hair on his back all stuck up.

"I was talking about Carlisle in Cumbria," Clara remarked.

The Professor nodded, "That works too actually."

"Come on," the Doctor tugged her on, the three of them wandering around to the disused kitchen, to a bedroom, till they finally reached the music room. There was a harp in the corner, half covered by a sheet and music stands all around. The Doctor scanned the room with the sonic as Clara just looked around, the Professor smiling as she moved to the harp, plucking a few cords, the soft music seeming to calm Aeon a bit.

"Ah, the music room," the Doctor smiled back at the Professor, "The heart of the house," he looked between the two women, "Do you feel anything?"

"No," Clara said quickly.

"Right," the Professor laughed, able to tell in her voice she was lying as she made her way to the Doctor.

"Your pants are so on fire," he agreed, before he frowned at the sonic as it stopped working and started to hit it against his hand, blowing on it.

"Do you feel like you're being watched?" Clara asked them, walking over.

"What does being watched feel like? Is it that funny tickly feeling on your neck?" the Doctor wondered.

"That's the chap."

"Then, yes, a bit. Well, quite a big bit."

The Professor laughed, "Oh, look at you two, getting all flustered and scared," she shook her head, "There's not thing to be afraid of."

Clara stared at her, "We're in a spooky old house, at night, with a ghost running around…how are you NOT scared?"

"I've only ever been scared of five things in my life and only one of them is here and it's not a ghost."

Clara frowned, "What things?"

"My father, thinking, the Doctor being hurt, heights, and myself," she answered honestly, "Father's dead, I got over thinking, the Doctor won't be hurt if I'm here, neither will you Clara, we're nowhere near any heights, and, well…I'm not exactly the me I was afraid of but I'm still me so technically I'm here."

Clara blinked, shaking her head at how much she'd gotten out of the woman…and how little of it she understood, "What do you mean? Why were you scared of…"

"Clara," the Doctor cut in, shaking his head.

She frowned but didn't continue, sensing this was a serious matter between the two and not something she should pry into. She could understand that, she had been afraid of a few things in her life, getting lost being one of them and…while she had gotten lost as a child, her mother had been there. Now that she thought of it…the Doctor and Professor seemed to get them lost just a little bit, like with the sub…she didn't know how they aimed for Vegas and ended up near the North Pole on a Soviet submarine.

She should have been scared, she supposed, because, technically, they WERE lost, but…she didn't. The Doctor was always just so excited to be wherever they were that it was hard for her to get mad at him and the Professor was always just so confident that she could protect not only the Doctor, but her as well, that she just…felt safe. She felt like they'd look out for her and protect her, and they had, no matter what, no matter where they ended up, they did. It was just like her mum had once promised, that no matter where she got to or how lost she was, she'd always find her again.

It was comforting.

"Come on," the Doctor reached out and took the Professor's hand, leading her across the room to a doorway.

She paused though, a step past it, breathing out to see her breath was visible.

"I think she's here," Clara called behind them, looking around the room, nervous, stepping closer to Aeon as he looked around the room, trying to see what couldn't be seen.

The Doctor stepped forward and breathed out, not seeing anything, and turned. The Professor stepped back and did the same, getting the same results. They stepped right to each other, breathing again, and seeing their breath.

"Cold spot," the Professor grinned.

"Spooky," he laughed, before turning in a circle, "Cold," he breathed.

"Warm," the Professor stepped back, "Cold," and forward.

"Warm," he stepped back, "Cold," and forward.

"Warm," she stepped to the right side of the room, "Cold," and back.

"Warm" he moved to the left side of the room, "Cold," and back.

He laughed and pulled her into his arms, spinning her around as they cheered, oh this was marvelous!

The Doctor pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket and drew a circle around the cold spot.

"Doctor?" Clara called, "Professor?"

"What?" they looked up at her to see her holding Aeon now.

"I'm not happy," she frowned.

"No," they agreed, turning to walk out of the room when Clara looked back.

"Hey!" she shouted, rushing after them, catching up to them back in the hall, large windows at their side.

They stopped short though when they heard a loud thudding around them.

"What was that?" Clara breathed.

There were two more thuds and the Time Lords breathed out, seeing their breath, when a gust of air blew past them, snuffing the candles. They grinned widely.

"Excellent!" the Professor cheered, loving it!

The Doctor laughed, happy she was so happy with it all, but took her hands, rubbing them and blowing on them to warm them, knowing it was rather chilly around them now. Clara glanced over at the window, watching as it started to frost.

"Ok," Clara spun around, putting the candles and Aeon down, hearing two more thuds, "What is that?"

"It's a very loud noise," the Professor laughed as Aeon hissed at it.

"It's a very loud, very angry noise," the Doctor agreed.

Clara rolled her eyes, leave it to them to enjoy this, "But what's making it?!"

"We don't know," the Professor cheered, "Isn't that wonderful?!" she loved it when she didn't know something, she could learn about it!"

"Are you making it?" the Doctor eyed Clara as he moved closer to her, the two of them standing with their backs to a doorway as they looked down at the hall, the Professor moving to a window to touch the frost.

"Doctor?" Clara began.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I may be a teeny, tiny bit terrified."

"Yes?"

"But I'm still a grown-up."

"Mainly, yes, and..."

"There's no need to actually hold my hand."

The Doctor frowned and pulled both his hands out in front of him, "Clara?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not holding your hand."

They looked at the Doctor's hands and then back at the door. The Professor turned and there was a flash of lightning, lighting up the doorway to show…something, crooked, crawling on the ground.

Clara screamed and ran as the Doctor grabbed the Professor's hand as she just stared at the space, wanting a better look, and pulled her away, the three of them bolting down the stairs with Aeon, who had luckily remained in his kitten form, seeing his master and mistress running away from the danger, towards the sitting room where the major and Emma were.

As soon as they entered the room, a flat, dark, spinning disc appeared before them. The Doctor quickly grabbed the sonic and scanned it as the Professor took a step closer to eye it, not trusting herself to touch it. Aeon hissed at it, but didn't sense an actual danger from it at the moment.

"Has this happened before?" she asked the major.

"Never!" he cried.

"Camera!" the Doctor grabbed the camera from the major, "Camera!" and started snapping pictures of the disc as it spun faster and faster and began to crack.

Emma gasped as they all heard an eerie, vague scream.

"Doctor!" Clara gasped, spotting the figure of the ghost appear in the archway the Professor had been scanning before.

He turned and began snapping pictures of the white image that seemed to be in some sort of forest.

"Help me!" it screamed…when Emma collapsed, the figure disappearing moments before the Professor could try to touch it.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted as there was a crash from the stairs. They turned to see 'Help Me' had been written on the wall, fading away slowly as the disc disappeared.

The Professor pouted, "Well that was rather anticlimactic."

The humans turned to stare at her, stunned she was standing there so calmly, with her arms crossed, when they were all terrified, even Aeon seemed tense as the kitten stood beside her legs.

The Doctor just laughed and walked over to her, putting his arms around her waist to hug her comfortingly, "I know my dear, not much gets you all riled up."

She snorted, "Not much but you my love."

He grinned and kissed her, the humans just…staring…

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood in the dark room that the major had set up in the house, watching as the man developed the new pictures of the figure, Aeon with Clara and Emma at the moment as both women were a bit shaken and the kitten sensed their unease more than his master and mistresses. The Time Lords looked at one clipped to the strings set up for them to dry on as the man worked away.

"We had a little peek at your records," the Professor told him, "Back at the Ministry."

"You've certainly seen a thing or two in your time," the Doctor murmured.

"Disrupting U-Boat operations across the North Sea, sabotaging railway lines across Europe, Operation Gibbon…"

"The one with the carrier pigeons," the Doctor cut in, "Brilliant! I do love a carrier pigeon."

"I did my duty, but then, so did thousands of others," the major shook his head, "MILLIONS of others...I was just lucky enough to come back."

The Doctor frowned, seeing an image he'd taken of the Professor, the ghost behind her, which unsettled him a bit that the ghost had gotten so close and neither of them had realized it, "Yes but, how does that man, that war hero, end up here, in a lonely old house, looking for ghosts?"

"Because I killed...and I caused to have killed...I sent young men and women to their deaths...but here I am, still alive, and...it does tend to haunt you. Living, after so much of...the other thing. See, I was alone and unmarried and...I didn't mind dying. I mean, not for that cause. It was a very, very fine cause...defeating the enemy."

"And if you could contact them," the Professor looked over, "What would you say?"

"Well, I'd very much like to thank them."

She smiled.

"Ping!" the Doctor cheered, picking up a photo and clipping it up.

"What do you think she is?" the major asked them.

"Not what we thought she'd be," the Professor remarked.

"What did you think she'd be?"

"Fun," she sighed, "She's not as interesting as I hoped," she glanced over at the men, staring at her, and blinked, "I know exactly what she is," they stared, "It's simple…" they stared more and so she sighed, "Can I borrow your camera?" she held out a hand and the major handed it over, "Brilliant," she nodded and left.

The Doctor stared at her, "She's…something else, isn't she?" the major wondered.

There they were, terrified, even him to a degree, and that woman seemed completely unaffected, almost…bored. It was like she'd seen something truly terrifying in her life and nothing else could scare her as much as that.

"Oh yes," the Doctor nodded, before grinning, "And she's all mine!" and ran after her.

~8~

The Time Lords and Clara ran down the steps of the house in the rain, huddled under the red umbrella again, Aeon in the Professor's jacket once more, rushing to the TARDIS, stopping a few feet away.

"I've got this weird feeling it's looking at me," Clara murmured, staring at it, "It doesn't like me."

"The TARDIS is just like Aeon," the Professor smiled, patting the kitten as it mewed, "A bit slow to trust," she reassured her as they ran to the TARDIS, "But you'll get there in the end."

Clara scoffed as she followed them, Aeon had trusted her almost instantly.

The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS and the Time Lords slipped inside, Clara stopping to look at the house once more, before trying to enter and being unable too.

They looked over when there was a knock on the door and shook their heads, the Doctor running to open the door as the Professor began to set the controls on the console.

"Hey!" Clara smiled as she entered, Aeon rushing over to her and pawing at her as she looked around to put the umbrella away, but saw nothing, "You need a place to keep this."

"We've got one," the Doctor pointed, but then frowned, seeing the umbrella stand missing, "Or we had one...I think we had one..." he started to spin around, trying to spot it, "Look around, see if you find it. Did we have one?" he asked the Professor as he walked over to her, "Am I going mad?"

"Oh Doctor," she patted his cheek, "You're mad as a box of frogs remember?"

He smiled at her, but then he heard Aeon hiss and turned to see Clara shaking the umbrella out by the door, getting the kitten, and the floor, wet, "No, not in here!" he rushed over to her, "How do you expect her to like you? She's SOAKING wet! It's a health and safety nightmare," he set the umbrella on a chair in the side of the controls, and moved back to the console.

"Sorry," Clara whispered up at the console's rotating top as she scooped Aeon up, "Sorry to you too," she told the kitten, petting him to try and make up for getting him wet, "So...where we going?"

"Nowhere," the Professor answered, "We're staying right here."

The Doctor nodded, helping her set the controls, having seen her thoughts in her mind about what the 'ghost' really was, "Right here, on this exact spot…if we can work out how to do it."

The Professor scoffed, "If YOU can work it out?" she nodded, "Well I suppose that's right, for YOU," she nudged him, "But I think I should be able to manage it, I DID pass my exams."

"Bring that up AGAIN!" he huffed, "It's only because you wore a skirt!"

She just laughed and patted his chest.

"So, when are we going?" Clara guessed.

"Oh, that is good," the Doctor nodded, high-giving her, "That is top-notch."

"And the answer is…"

"We're going always," the Doctor responded, spinning around.

"We're going always?"

"TOTALLY!" he laughed, moving to dig for something under the console.

"That's not actually a sentence," the Professor remarked, setting the controls.

"Well, it's got a verb in it," he countered, coming back up with the orange spacesuit the Professor had worn to Apalapucia, "What do you think?" he held it to himself and spun around.

"Color's a bit boisterous," Clara remarked.

"I think it brings out my eyes."

"Makes my eyes hurt."

Aeon seemed to yowl in agreement.

He pouted before grinning, "You're right, looks rubbish on me!" he ran over to the Professor, holding it up to her, "Perfect."

~8~

The TARDIS set down ages ago and the Professor stepped out in the suit, the camera in hand, onto the volcanic, prehistoric surface, snapping a picture.

"When are we?" Clara asked the Doctor as they watched from the monitor, Aeon on the Doctor's shoulder again to watch his mistress carefully.

"About six billion years ago," he answered, watching as the Professor came back in, "It's a Tuesday, I think."

She pulled off her helmet, "Bit hot out there."

The Doctor grinned, "Bit hot in here," he eyed her.

She shook her head at him and walked over, kissing him quickly and giving Aeon a scratch behind the ears.

~8~

Clara followed the Time Lords through a jungle, filled with large insects, the Doctor snapping a few pictures this time as Aeon swiped at the critters prowling the ground around them.

~8~

They were back at the house, looking almost brand new, the Doctor taking a quick photo of the Professor holding Aeon on the gorgeous estate, before snapping one of the house.

~8~

"Be careful!" the Doctor called as the Professor, in the spacesuit again, headed for the doors of the TARDIS.

"Ever so dull," she shot back, stepping outside with the camera, making him smile, so THAT was where River had learned it from.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked, moving to Clara's side as she seemed a bit quiet, Aeon sitting on a side chair, curled up and licking his paw, "Ok, then," he nodded when she gave him a nod as well, moving to the monitor, "Don't press any buttons or pull any levers, or make any funny faces. Actually, don't move. Stand completely still. Don't breathe. Well, you can breathe...but shallow breaths…" he glanced back at her, seeing if his words might have cheered her up, he COULD tell that something was bothering her and he didn't like seeing children (because yes she really was like a child compared to them) sad, "Oi," he laughed, "Don't stand there!" he gestured her over, moving her before the monitor, the Professor on a rocky planet, looking much like the Earth they'd seen first, but…sick.

The Professor snapped a photo, looking around as Clara sighed.

"Clara," the Doctor looked at her, speaking softly, reaching out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"Have we just watched the entire life cycle of the Earth?" she asked him, "Birth to death?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"And you're ok with that?"

"Yes."

"How can you be?"

"The TARDIS. She's...time. We...wibbly Vortex and so on," he tried to explain, doing a rather bad job he knew.

"That's not what I mean."

"Ok..." he stared at her, "Some help? Context? Cheat sheet? Something?"

"I mean, one minute you're in 1974, looking for ghosts but all you have to do is open your eyes and talk to whoever's standing there. To you, I haven't been born yet...and to you, I've been dead 100 billion years. Is my body out there somewhere? In the ground?"

"Yes, I suppose it is…" he moved around the console, seeing the Professor about to head in.

"But here we are, talking. So I am a ghost. To you, I'm a ghost...we're all ghosts to you. We must be nothing."

He looked at her, "No, no, you're not that."

"Then what are we? What can we possibly be?"

He smiled at her, reaching out to push a hair behind her ear affectionately, "You," he put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye, "Are the only mystery worth solving," he told her, making her smile, "There we go," he tapped her nose, making her laugh, "Bit of a smile eh?"

"Did I miss something?" the Professor asked as she popped her helmet, stepping in.

Clara smiled and shook her head, "No."

"Doctor?" she asked him, sensing something else in Clara's tone.

"Just sorted out a bit of an existential crisis," he told her, "Nothing to worry about."

"Right," she nodded, starting to tug off her suit, "Well, if it's alright with you, I'm having a shower before going back to the manor, it's ridiculously hot out there for the sun being about to die."

The Doctor nodded, "Right, I'll just get everything set up for the return tri…"

"Who said I was showering alone?" she smirked, grabbing his hand as she passed and pulling him on.

Clara staring wide eyed as they passed, before bursting out laughing after they disappeared, her plopping down on the chair Aeon was on, moving the kitten to her lap to play with him as she waited.

~8~

The Doctor stepped out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist, to see the Professor already dressed, her hair damp, standing before their bed, her jacket, sunglasses, and sandals off, but wearing her skirt and top, with small piles of clothes before her. They'd had…quite the steamy shower, so steamy that the TARDIS had suddenly turned the water cold, when they'd finished. They really didn't want to know how the box knew when to change the water and help them cool off. The Professor had squealed and tried to get out from under the water, he'd…stayed. He needed that cold water, quite a bit. So she'd been out for a few minutes more than he had.

He walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he looked down at the outfits, smiling as he recognized them. It was her most recent incarnations clothing. There was her white shirt, her black pants, and her grey waterfall cardigan from her 9th self, her black, knee-length, cargo pants, grey/blue tank top and thin sweater jacket from her 10th self, and…the tank top she used to wear, her old jean jacket, lying before her as well. There was a box out as well, he knew what she was doing. She always kept her previous outfits, instead of returning the outfit to the wardrobe she kept them tucked away in a box. She was adding her original 11th self's clothing to it.

He did frown though when he saw something…odd…lying on top of the pants her last self had worn.

"What's that?" he nodded at the item, resting his chin on her shoulder.

She smiled, "Handcuffs."

He blinked, straightening, "Why do you have handcuffs?"

She shrugged, "After Halpen locked us up with the Ood, I thought it would be beneficial to have a pair on me, if I ever needed to use them. I didn't, forgot they were even really there."

He pouted, "I hate handcuffs," every time he ended up in them, bad things happened, like when River had locked them up in the Library, the Ood had attacked them, when River had tried to save them from their fixed point deaths…

"They can come in handy though," she remarked.

He scoffed, "No, I don't think they can."

She looked at them a moment, before picking them up, "I bet I can make you love them."

"Ha!" he laughed, that would never happen.

She nodded, conceding to that, "Or at least like them."

"And how are you going to do that?" he asked sarcastically, he really hated handcuffs.

She just turned and put her arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss him deeply, feeling him smile as he wound his arms around her waist, kissing her back. She slowly turned, moving him towards the bed, nudging him down onto it, the two of them moving farther back on it.

The Doctor let out a groan as he straddled him, moving her lips from his lips to his neck, making him close his eyes at the rush racing through his body…

Not even noticing her moving his arms…

Till he heard a click, and realized his hands had just been handcuffed over his head, to the headboard.

His eyes shot open and he looked at her, breathing hard, his eyes wide.

She just winked at him and leaned in, kissing him deeply once more…

And pulling the towel off him…

~8~

The Time Lords, both with very damp hair from their second shower, stood before the humans in the parlor, a slide projector set up before them, as they put in the slides of the photos they'd taken. The Doctor had a smile on his face, the smile of a man who had discovered he rather liked something he always thought he wouldn't...but, then again, the Professor always had a way of making him like things he usually didn't...

"What's wrong?" Emma asked, walking over to Clara where she was standing before the board of pictures, Aeon in her arms, sensing she had been upset about something.

"Nothing anymore," she smiled at the woman, the Doctor really was good at making people feel better wasn't he? "Just…saw something that got me upset a moment."

"What did you see?"

"That...everything ends."

"No, not everything. Not love..." Emma murmured, glancing at the major, which made Clara smile, she could tell the two had feelings for each other, "Not always."

"Right!" the Doctor cheered as everything was set up, "Done! That's it, gather round, gather round. Roll up! Roll up!" he flashed the sonic at the projector, "The Ghast of Caliburn House…" he began to show images the major had taken of her.

"Never changing," the Professor nodded, "Trapped in a moment of fear and torment but what if she's not?"

"What if she's just trapped somewhere time runs more slowly than it does here?"

"What if a second to her was 100,000 years to us?"

"And what if somebody has a magic box," the Doctor grinned.

"A blue box," the Professor smirked as they shared a smile despite Clara shaking her head at them.

"Probably blue," he agreed.

"What if said somebodies could take a snapshot of her, say…every few million years?"

The slides began to show a young woman in a futuristic white suit, running.

"She's not a ghost..." the Doctor explained, "But she's definitely a lost soul."

"Her name's Hila Tacorian," the Professor brought up a shot of the woman, standing there, smiling, "She's a pioneer, a time traveler."

"Or at least she will be, in a few hundred years," the Doctor nodded as they looked at the humans, staring at them.

Emma looked at Clara, "They do that a lot don't they?"

"An awful lot," she sighed.

"Even more than the flirting?"

"Quite possibly."

The Time Lords just smiled.

The major, though, shook his head, "Time travel's not possible. The paradoxes..."

"Resolve themselves," the Professor shrugged, "By and large, with a little help."

"How long has she been alone?" Emma frowned at the image of the woman.

"Well, time travel's a funny old thing," the Doctor sighed, "I mean, from her perspective, she crash landed..." he checked his watch, "Three minutes ago."

"Crash landed? Where?"

"She's in a pocket Universe..." the Professor began.

"A distorted echo of our own," the Doctor nodded as Clara rolled her eyes at them starting up again, scratching Aeon absently.

"They happen sometimes but never last for long."

The Doctor blew up two balloons, "Our Universe," he held up the balloon in his right hand, "Hila Tacorian's here," and the other balloon, "In a pocket Universe. You're a lantern," he told Emma, "Shining across the dimensions, guiding her home. Back to the land of the living," he brought the balloons closer before deflating them.

"But what's she running from?" Clara asked.

"Oh, that's the best bit," the Professor grinned, "We don't know yet," she nearly buzzed with excitement, "Shall we see?"

The Doctor grinned and changed a slide. Emma gasped as the major lowered his glasses, peering at the image, Clara and the doctor looked stunned, Aeon hissing and narrowing his eyes at the image of something looking like it was scuttling around, an elongated neck, twisted a bit.

The Professor just tilted her head, "Oh, it's a Crooked Man!"

They all just stared at her.

She just rolled her eyes, "No attention in school at all, did you?" she looked at the Doctor.

He just shrugged, he'd already admitted he'd spent more attention on her than anything else in the Academy.

"So, what do we do?" Emma asked.

"Not 'we,'" the Doctor turned to her, "You...you save Hila Tacorian because you're Emma Grayling. You are the lantern, the rest of us are just along for the ride, I'm afraid."

"Right," the Professor nodded, "We're going to need some sturdy rope, a blue crystal from Metebelis Three…"

"And some Kendal Mint Cake," the Doctor grinned, "I love Kendal Mint Cake."

The Professor laughed, "I think we've got all that in the TARDIS…"

"Right, come along Clara!" he called and they ran out, Clara following them with Aeon dashing after them, having leapt out of her hold.

~8~

Clara sat on the edge of the console's floor, her arms resting on the railings, her legs dangling down, Aeon on her lap as he peered at the Doctor working underneath it, the Professor at the console, putting together a small sort of metal strappy thing the size of a human head with a blue crystal beside her.

"Can't you just...y'know?" Clara began.

"What?" the Professor looked over.

"Fly the TARDIS into the parallel Universe?"

"Ah, it's not a parallel Universe," the Doctor shook his head, grabbing a white oval crystal from one of the panels under the console and put it in his jacket, "It's a POCKET Universe. Plus, it is collapsing," he gathered up the rope and headed up to the console.

"The TARDIS could get in there," the Professor nodded.

"But entropy would bleed her power sources, you see?"

"Trap her there until the entire Universe decayed back into the quantum foam."

"Which would take about three minutes, give or take, you know."

Clara sighed, "You two really do need to stop doing that," she told them, getting up when Aeon hopped off her lap, "It really IS annoying."

They just laughed, too late, far too late, they'd been together too long to not be able to finish the other's sentences.

~8~

The Professor was examining the wires that they'd connected all the way from the TARDIS to the house, everything set up in the music room, equipment, electronics…a tripod with a large sort of white glowing egg thing on it.

"What is that?" Clara moved to touch it.

The Doctor slapped her hand away from it, "A subset of the Eye of Harmony."

"I don't..."

"Of course you don't. Be weird if you did, I barely do myself and it was NOT because I didn't pass my exams thank you," he called to the Professor.

She just rolled her eyes and stood up, "Emma, sit down," she led the woman to a chair, setting the metal strappy crown on her head, the blue crystal in the middle, "All the way from Metebelis Three."

The Doctor soniced the clocks they'd set up all around the room, stepping over Aeon as he played with a ball of wires, distracted, as easily distracted as the Doctor could be at times.

"What does it do?" Emma asked, straightening the crown.

"It amplifies your natural abilities, like a microphone."

"Or a pooper-scooper!" the Doctor cheered as they just stared at him a moment.

"What exactly is this arrangement?" the major asked as the clocks began to tick, not seeming pleased with it at all.

"A psychochronograph," the Professor remarked, looking around, "One actually set up correctly and not sucking us into the minds of historic humans…again."

"That only happened once!" the Doctor called from the other side of the room.

"Forgive me, but isn't it all a bit, well...make-do and mend?"

"Non-psychic technology won't work where I'm going," the Professor picked up a harness that was attached to a rope.

"Hold on," the Doctor frowned, "Where YOU'RE going?" he walked over to her, "I thought we agreed I would be going."

She smiled and patted his cheek, "YOU agreed you'd be going, I, on the other hand, determined I should go."

"And YOU get to decide why?"

"Because I'm the boss," she poked him in the chest, "Don't make me pull rank on you soldier."

"Professor…" he began, actually being serious, "It'll be dangerous and I…"

"Have no experience in extraction," she reminded him, "Really Doctor, do you think the High Council was oblivious to the Dalek traps? As soon as they caught wind of it they sent ME to extract the others, I can do this. It's just a human and a Crooked Man, nothing to worry about."

He pouted, "I don't like this."

"And I didn't like you asking me to sing instead of standing beside you to face an insane star," she reminded him lightly, as he winced, knowing that would come back to bite him eventually. She reached up to touch his check, giving him a kiss, "Let me do this and we'll call it even."

He sighed, leaning in to kiss her more, "Come back safe."

"I always come back to you," she promised, reaching out to place her hand on his right heart, him doing the same, before their hands met in a hold, "Always."

He nodded, kissing her forehead, "Good luck."

She laughed, "All I need to do is dive into another dimension, find the traveler, help her escape the monster, get home before the entire dimension collapses."

He nodded, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Doctor?" Emma called, not having wanted to disturb their moment, but actually growing a bit scared, "Will it hurt?"

The Doctor took a breath and walked over to her, "No," he told her, before sighing, realizing she'd probably know he was lying, "Well, yes. Probably. A bit. Well, quite a lot. I don't know. It might be agony. To be perfectly honest, I'll be interested to find out."

Emma glanced at the ticking clocks, then the major, who nodded, and back at the Doctor, before she took a breath and closed her eyes, "I'm talking to the lost soul that abides in this place. I'm speaking to Hila Tacorian…"

The Professor strapped on the last of the harness and looked at Clara, nodding as the girl moved to Aeon and picked the kitten up, knowing that, if anything went wrong, he'd try to jump into the portal with her and neither the Professor nor the Doctor, nor her really, wanted the kitten to get stuck in the other Universe. She gave the Professor a nod, petting Aeon, as the woman looked at the Doctor as he attached the rope to the winch they'd set up, eyeing the clocks as they began to go backwards some even going forwards, some getting stuck on a second or two.

Emma began to pant before her eyes snapped open, gasping.

The disc appeared again, spinning faster, shattering…till a bright light shown through it in the doorway where the cold spot had been, wind flying out of it.

"See?" the Doctor called to the humans, "The Witch of the Well! It's a wormhole!" the Professor hooked the rope to the harness, "A reality well! A door to the echo Universe!" he looked at the Professor, "Ready?"

"Always," she grinned, bouncing a little, eager to go, moving her sunglasses down to her face to stare into the bright light.

"Ready?" he looked at Emma.

"READY!" she screamed.

"Go!" he shouted to the Professor.

She just laughed, "That's Geronimo!" she cried, jumping into the wormhole, Aeon squirming in Clara's hold, the Doctor's grip on the winch handle white.

~8~

The Professor clung to the rope as she fell through the wormhole, "Woo hoo!"

~8~

The Doctor laughed, hearing her cheers in his mind, when the winch was pulled.

"Aeon!" Clara jolted forward, trying to keep Aeon from leaping out of her old, the major rushing over to help her keep the kitten back, the Doctor's eyes on the portal.

~8~

The Professor landed in the middle of the woods, or the echo of woods, and pushed her sunglasses onto her head, looking around, making sure she knew where she was before unbuckling the harness and setting it on a rock.

She grinned, "Love this!"

And took off, running through the woods, listening for Hila…

She skid to a halt at the edge of something that looked, quite literally, like the edge of the Universe, and fell backwards, scrambling away, gasping, it was…quite a way up, "Ok," she breathed, pushing herself up, "Love it just a little less," before she turned around, "Hila!" she shouted, running again, "Hila! Hila Tacorian!"

She stopped, looking down, seeing footprints in the dirt, kneeling down to touch one, human…and other. She stiffened, hearing something growling behind her, scampering around, the Crooked Man. She slowly stood, taking out her blaster, Crooked Men, while ugly, weren't typically violent, however…one could never be sure. Typically wasn't always.

"Help me!" she heard someone scream in the distance, "Help!"

She turned and ran down a small hill...nearly running right into Hila as she burst out of the fog, "Hila!" she beamed, grabbing the woman's hand, "Wonderful," she turned to pull her on.

But Hila stayed put, "Who are you?"

"We're in a collapsing Universe, we'll be dead in two minutes, really not the best time," she told the woman, "Run!"

"Wait!" she pulled her again, "There's something in the mist…"

"Then run!" she pulled her one more time, "Run!"

They ran as fast as they could through the forest, the Professor watching the trees around her, following her own steps back to where she'd first entered.

"Professor!" they could hear Emma shouting in the distance, "Professor! Come home. Professor, come home!"

"Oh you're kidding me," the Professor panted, seeing that the rock and cable with the harness had disappeared, same spot she entered, but no way back.

"What's wrong?" Hila gasped.

"You know that exit I mentioned?"

"Yes?"

"Well, a very powerful psychic has moved it."

She turned and ran back, Hila following.

"Professor!" Emma shouted.

"This way!" she led Hila towards the voice, Emma was telling them to come home, which meant the exit had to have been moved to the house. This was an echo of the woods around it, the house must be there somewhere too!

"Professor, we're here!" Emma cried.

"There it is!" the Professor cheered, seeing the house, "Brilliant Emma!"

"What's that?" Hila stared.

"An echo house, in an echo Universe," she beamed, grabbing Hila's hand, "Come on!"

"Professor!" Emma's voice echoed as they ran towards the house. The Professor looked back to see the Crooked Man was following them, "Professor!"

They ran into the house, slamming the doors shut behind them the Professor locking them as they heard a growl and snarl on the other side as something bashed against it.

"It's looking for a way in," she told Hila, grabbing her to run off, leading her up the stairs to the music room.

~8~

"I'm not strong enough!" Emma gasped, in pain.

"Just a few more seconds!" the Doctor pleaded, starting to shake as he stared at the portal, Aeon yowling beside him.

Emma screamed.

~8~

"The rope!" the Professor pointed, seeing the harness on the ground as soon as they entered the music room, "Grab the rope, give it three tugs! Quick as you like!"

Hila put the harness on, "What about you?"

"I'll be next," she agreed, kissing her blaster and wedging it into the door handles, locking the door from the Crooked Man.

Hila tugged the rope.

~8~

The Doctor began to wind the winch in, seeing the rope tug, knowing Hila was coming through, he couldn't hear the Professor in the pocket Universe, but he knew she wouldn't let Hila not go first.

~8~

The Professor smiled as she watched Hila go.

~8~

The major ran to Hila's side, trying to get the harness off her as she fell into the house through the portal.

~8~

The Professor glanced back, waiting for the harness to fall through, only to hear thudding on the doors, the Crooked Man trying to get in, "Thought that's what you were," she remarked.

~8~

Emma suddenly fell out of her chair with a scream, just as the major got the harness off Hila, the crown falling from her head, the connection broken…

The portal faded…

"No!" the Doctor shouted as the major ran to Emma's side, the Doctor rushing for the wormhole, leaping towards it…

Only to fall onto his face on the other side of the door.

The portal was gone.

~8~

The Professor blinked, staring at the place the portal had just been, gone now.

She took a step forward and ended up back in the woods, the house gone, the Crooked Man's scampering in the distance.

"Ah," she nodded, kneeling down to pick up her blaster, "Well then…I DID want interesting…"

~8~

"No!" the Doctor leapt up, hearing the cloister bell of the TARDIS ringing, signaling the danger one of her pilots was in, Aeon leaping out of Clara's hold, having bit her hand lightly to get her to let him go, and ran to the space where the portal had been, turning in circles, trying to find his mistress.

~8~

"Where are you Mr. Crooked Man?" the Professor wondered, closing her eyes to listen, smiling when she heard it, and took off.

~8~

"No!" the Doctor cried, scrambling to his feet and running to Emma, "Wake up!" he demanded, "WAKE UP!" he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, "Open it!"

"I'm sorry," Emma wept, crying into the major's chest.

"Don't be sorry," the major soothed, "Don't be. What you did..." he stroked her hair.

"Wasn't enough," the Doctor nearly growled, "She needs to do it again!"

"Doctor," Clara tried to calm him, "She can't. Look at her!"

"She HAS to!" he snapped at Clara, but the humans just stared at him. His jaw tightened as his fist clenched, "We can't leave her!" he shouted, running out of the room, Aeon bounding after him.

"Doctor!" Clara ran after him, catching up with him outside the house as he tried to pull the TARDIS doors off their hinges, the box seeming to refuse to let him inside, seeming to know his plans.

"Come ON!" he nearly snarled at the doors, kicking them, Aeon scratching at their base, "Let me in!"

"Doctor you need to calm down…" she tried, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He just spun to her, his eyes narrowed, "Calm down? Calm down! Don't you DARE tell me to calm down Clara Oswin Oswald!"

She frowned, why did he keep bringing up that Oswin thing?

"Open!" he spat at the doors, shoving his shoulder against them…

When there was a buzz and a light flickered behind them, an image of the Professor appearing there.

"Whoa!" Clara breathed, "What's this now? That's not the Professor is it?"

"It's the TARDIS Voice Visual Interface," he stalked over to it, "Open those doors!"

The image of the Professor just blinked, "I'm programmed to select the image of a person you esteem. Of several billion such images in my databanks, this one best meets the criterion for this situation."

"We have to help the Professor!" he shouted at it.

"The Professor is in the pocket Universe."

"Yes I'm bloody well aware of that!" he snapped, "We need to go there and get her back!"

"The entropy would drain the energy from my heart. In four seconds, I'd be stranded. In ten, I'd be dead."

"She'll be dead as well!"

Clara frowned, "Is the TARDIS always such a cow?" she asked him, not liking how the box wasn't even trying to let him help the woman.

The image flickered and suddenly the Professor was looking at the Doctor, "Anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake."

The Doctor let out a breath, Clara seeing him physically deflate at those words, before he started smiling, "Oh you…" he laughed, "Brilliant!" he pointed at the image, "Open the doors, please."

The image flickered away and the doors opened.

"Yes!" he ran in, Aeon just behind him.

"What just happened?" Clara called, rushing after him.

~8~

The Professor spun around, hearing a faint, "Professor! Can you hear me? PROFESSOR!" in the distance.

~8~

"I needed to think," the Doctor began, racing around the console, Aeon at his heels till Clara grabbed him to keep him from getting stepped on in the Doctor's excitement, "I need to be able to think clearly and rationally about what I was about to do," he explained, "Being angry, I'd have destroyed the TARDIS, but now!" he cheered, grabbing a lever, "I know JUST how to get her back!" he pulled it…

And the TARDIS jolted.

~8~

"Professor?" the Professor beamed, hearing Emma and took off towards the voice, "Can you hear me?"

~8~

The TARDIS flew through the Vortex madly, Clara barely managing to hold on with one hand, Aeon in her other, as the box threw them about, the Doctor cheering.

~8~

"Professor...Professor, we're here. Come home!"

"On my way," she laughed, running, only to skid to a stop, hearing the Crooked Man. She scoffed, "You want to frighten me? Well sorry mate. I'm not afraid of the creatures in the dark, of the bogeyman under the bed, of the monster seeking whom you may devour. You want me to be afraid?" she laughed, "Tough."

~8~

"Almost there!" the Doctor shouted, managing to cling to the console, staring at the monitor.

~8~

"Professor...hurry!" Emma's voice called.

The Professor nodded, "Sorry!" she called to it, "But I'm not going to piggyback you across. You'll have to catch me first."

And with that, she took off, the Crooked Man following her, racing as fast as it could, but she always had been fast, she'd had more than enough experience running from things chasing her, and escaping them.

And she wasn't just escaping it, she was running TO the Doctor, and that made her run all the faster.

~8~

"Three…" the Doctor countered down, "Two…ONE! Geronimo!"

~8~

"Brilliant!" the Professor laughed, running towards the TARDIS as it appeared in the sky, she had to be quick, the old box had to get in and out in under 4 seconds.

She ran to the box and jumped…

~8~

In the music room, the TARDIS materialized as Emma screamed and fell to her knees, the Professor leaning casually against the box, beaming even as she panted.

The Doctor ran out of the box, turning instinctively to grab the Professor kissing her soundly, pressed against the TARDIS, before pulling her away from it, spinning her around, laughing.

"That…was…amazing!" the Professor cheered, laughing, before she pulled him into a deep kiss, the humans starting to laugh at that as well…everything was over now, they were all safe, Aeon meowing happily at seeing his mistress back.

~8~

The Doctor and Professor stood at one of the windows, looking out at Clara and Hila and the major as they stood talking outside, Aeon trotting after them, basking in the warm sunlight, when Emma came up behind them, "You wanted a word?"

"Well, if that's..." the Doctor began.

"That's fine," Emma nodded, eyeing them, "You didn't come here for the ghost, did you?"

"No," the Professor agreed.

"You came here for me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We needed to ask you something," the Doctor sighed.

"Then ask."

"Clara..."

"Yes?"

"What is she?"

Emma blinked, "She's a girl."

"Yes, but what kind of girl?" the Professor asked, it was rather frustrating to not be able to scan that.

She really liked Clara, she did, she really did think of the girl as the granddaughter she'd never gotten to have…and hopefully wouldn't have for quite a while…Jenny better not make her a grandmother that quickly. But, getting back to point, she was staring to love Clara dearly, but…there was just something that kept niggling her, that familiarity she'd felt when she'd first heard Oswin speak, when she'd first seen Clara-Oswin in London…there was something about her that she felt like she should remember but…didn't.

It was really, really frustrating.

"Specifically," the Doctor added.

"She's a perfectly ordinary girl," Emma told them, "Very pretty..."

"I've seen better," the Doctor shrugged, his arm winding around the Professor.

"...very clever..."

"Definitely seen better," he smiled at her.

"More scared than she lets on."

"Understandable," the Professor nodded, "And that's it, is it?"

"Why? Is that not enough?"

The Time Lords just looked at each other, of course it was, but…they couldn't help but fear that, if THIS Clara was the original…what if…what if whatever happened that had placed her all over the Universe, all over time, what if it killed her? What if all the other hers were destined to live in an echo, dying, like their original her had? Would they be able to keep her safe, to stop it, if it meant none of those other echoes existed? If they stopped the echoes…they would have died in London, in the Asylum, had it not been for the echoes…and that hurt.

If they stopped the echoes, that would be a paradox.

If they didn't…Clara might die.

~8~

The Time Lords smiled as they watched the major staring at the TARDIS, his hand on it, inspecting it, as Hila and Emma walked along side each other, the Doctor and Professor behind them.

Emma hugged Hila, the Doctor joining in, pulling the Professor in as well while Clara just laughed at them, Aeon beside her, watching them.

"Where will you go?" Emma asked Hila.

"They can't take me home," Hila sighed, understanding what that meant for time travel, "History says I went missing."

"But they can change history."

"No, no, no, we can't, actually," the Doctor began, "There are fixed points in time you see..."

"Husband?" the Professor cut in.

"Yes?" he looked at her.

"Hush."

"Right," he nodded.

"I knew you were there..." Hila turned back to Emma, "I could feel you."

"I know..." Emma began as they stared at each other.

"Have we..."

"We can't have. You haven't even been born yet."

"No," the Professor smiled, "You can't have met but she can be your great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter."

"Yours too, of course!" the Doctor patted the major on the shoulder as he walked over, "But you'd guessed that already, hadn't you?" he trailed off, seeing the major and Emma staring at each other, shocked, "Oh...apparently not."

"The paradoxes..." the major began.

"Resolve themselves," the Professor repeated with a laugh, "By and large, with a little help," she gestured at her and the Doctor, "That's why the psychic link was so powerful."

"Blood calling to blood," the Doctor nodded, "Out of time. Not everything ends, eh?" he patted the major's arm and pulled the Professor closer, "Not love. Not always."

"Not ever," the Professor smiled at him, tugging him to the TARDIS, Aeon trotting after them.

"Doctor, Professor," the major followed them, "What about…what about...us? Emma and me?"

"What about you?" the Doctor looked at him.

"Well, what's supposed to happen? I mean, what do we do now?"

"Hold hands..." the Doctor said, kissing the Professor's as Emma came over to the major, "That's what you're meant to do. Keep doing that and don't let go. That's the secret," he winked at them.

"Holding hands…" the Professor murmured, before frowning, "Oh I'm getting slow in my old age," she muttered, "Do you see?" she looked at the Doctor.

He frowned, thinking on it, on how hand holding could have sparked some sort of epiph…

Oh…

That creature…the one they'd seen in the house…they'd thought it was just an echo, like Hila…

Oh dear.

The Doctor smacked his forehead as he worked it out too, "I'm so...slow! I am slow, I'm notorious for it apparently," he laughed, poking the Professor, "That's always been my problem, can't think as fast as you, but I get there in the end. Oh, yes."

"Doctor?" Clara frowned, eyeing them as even Aeon looked up at them, confused.

"How do sharks make babies?"

"Carefully?"

"No, no, no, happily!"

"Sharks don't actually smile. They're just...well, they've got lots and lots of teeth. They're quite eaty."

"Exactly! But birds do it, bees do it, even educated FLEAS do it. Every lonely monster needs a companion!" he pulled them over to where they could see the house.

"There's two of them?!" Clara gasped, seeing a second creature in the window, Aeon hissing at it.

The Professor laughed, "It's ok Aeon," she picked the kitten up, petting him, "Not a monster," she reassured him, "Not a threat."

"It's the oldest story in the Universe," the Doctor began, "This one, or any other. Boy and girl fall in love," he looked at the Professor, his gaze soft, "Get separated by events…war, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the HEX…" he wound his arms around her.

"Or he's thrown into it," she countered.

"Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space, across dimensions…yearning with everything he has," he whispered.

"This isn't a ghost story," she nodded, "It's a...love story."

"Not quite the most powerful love story ever told," he remarked, "No one can beat…"

"The Ponds," she laughed.

"Us, my dear," he whispered, kissing her.

"I know, my love," she kissed him back, Aeon mewing happily.

"Let's go play matchmaker," he beamed, tugging her back to Emma, "Excuse us! Excuse us! Sorry to interrupt the rest of your life," he looked at her, "So...tiny favor to ask..."

~8~

The Doctor landed in the pocket Universe, insisting HE go this time, he wanted to really see what it looked like, and took off the harness, running through the woods, following the instructions the Professor had given him on how to find the Crooked Man and get back.

"We're sorry!" he called out, "The Professor and I understand now! I can take you to her! I can take you to a safe place far away from here! You can be together! Well, come on then! She's waiting!" he paused, hearing a snarling behind him, and turned around to see the creature with a long twisted neck, a distorted face, looking a bit like it was decaying, "Well, hello," he eyed it, "You old Romeo, you!" he glanced back, hearing the TARDIS, "Now...here she comes."

~8~

The Professor laughed as she flew the TARDIS through the Vortex, into the pocket Universe, enjoying the ride, "Woo!"

"Ha ha!" Clara laughed beside her, holding onto Aeon, "Woo!"

~8~

The Doctor looked up as the TARDIS came spinning through the sky, "Get ready to jump!" he told the Crooked Man, before doing just that.

A/N: ...I have NO idea where the handcuffs idea came from. I really don't. :/ I hope it wasn't too weird or uncomfortable for anyone. I just figured, with all the joking River made about handcuffs, it would be funny if the handcuffs appeared again but with the Professor this time :)

Lol, I really wanted the Professor to be the one in the pocket Universe just because the Doctor made her let HIM face the enemy on Akhaten so SHE wanted to face this enemy as well. I also thought, given everything she'd seen during the war, lived through before it, everything she'd done during it, and faced since then, that a ghost really wouldn't scare her all that much. The training program made it so that the Academics would feel safe if they had a weapon on them, or at the very least secure enough without one (as they WERE weapons) so as long as she had her blaster, she really would feel capable of facing anything. I think Jex is the most freaked out she'd gotten in this series and only because he was a reminder of the men and women who had done that to her as well :)

I wasn't sure if Clara was talking about Carlisle the place or Carlyle the person, so I went with the person, just so you know :) If it really is the place and not the person, just let me know and I'll fix it :)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, that sounds interesting, though I have to admit, I haven't seen much Star Trek, but when I get caught up on everything, I'll definitely check it out :)

Oh, I don't think the Universe could handle Clara, Jenny, River, AND the Professor in the same place lol :) I CAN say though that Clara/Jenny/Professor and Clara/River/Professor will make separate appearances in this series at least :) But you never know, I might to something with them later :)