Dave had started them on a lullaby as they walked through the desolate landscape and by the time they reached the Tardis, her doors swung readily open to greet them. A hologram appeared of a red-headed child who smiled eagerly and waved them inside, telling them softly,
"Come on in, no more waiting."
He eyed her strangely and she rolled her eyes at him in amused annoyance as he stepped inside after the children, watching them huddle into the ship with curious looks around. Dave wasn't sure what he should do with them, and then the little girl cleared her throat.
"Well," she told him, gesturing at the doors.
He jumped and then turned, closing them quickly before glancing around. "Where's…"
"Oh yeah," the girl said, mouth twisting to the side awkwardly, "She sort of got away."
"Got away!" Dave proclaimed roughly. "Where did she go?" He turned and grabbed hold of the door handles, pulling on them and grunting when they wouldn't budge.
"Sorry, mister, you're staying inside," the Scottish child said sternly, arms crossing in defiance of his anger over the night gown she wore. Then she smiled brightly, "You've got to help lead us in a song!"
The Doctor watched the trickster drop Clara to the ground and he tried to hide his horror when she dissolved into a puddle of flesh tones and deep purples before reforming and collapsing from the effort. He frowned up at the man who smiled back at him knowingly and he understood that he knew exactly what he was thinking.
With an upturned lip, he spat, "Psychic block from anything external," and then he passed a glance at Clara, curiously, "Amplifies everything within."
She smiled weakly up at him as she shifted to sit, bringing the back of her hand to rub at her forehead and she asked quickly, "My dad?"
"Safe," the Doctor acknowledged. Then he turned to the man in front of him and nodded his head, "So what do they call you?"
He smiled, revealing his teeth menacingly before uttering, "Why don't you fish it out, Doctor – and while you're at it, why not let me in on that secret name of yours."
With a grin, the Doctor shook his head, "Let's call you Snowball then."
"Like a poodle," Clara laughed faintly.
He pointed and exclaimed, "Exactly, like a poodle!"
The man before him bellowed, "Noxsum."
And the Doctor turned with a quick fury in the recognition of the name, "You create armies to continue pointless wars. And you do it with stolen children – I should have known."
"You've heard of me then," he called proudly.
Moving towards Clara, the Doctor switched his Sonic in his closed hand and then ran it over her, frowning at the results before telling him, "Yes, I've heard of you," and then asking Clara, "Are you alright?"
She nodded slowly, "I would ask you if you had a plan, but I suppose you don't."
"It would be illogical to plan an attack on a psychic psychopath," he laughed to her, watching her shoulders shake with a small chuckle of her own.
"Logic," she sighed, "Not something I would generally associate with you, Doctor."
"I'm highly logical," he scoffed, "So logical that I presume the reason I'm frozen to this spot is because he's in my head controlling my movements."
Noxsum let out a quick deep laugh as he told him, "The reason you weren't able to put the name to the actions is there isn't a trace left."
"Just missing children," the Doctor supplied. "On some worlds they've made up whole legends around you, to fill in the gaps left in their minds, like the boogeyman on Earth to some – snatching up the children and eating them alive. If they knew the truth, they'd understand how much worse it is." Then he turned his eyes to him, "Why weren't our memories erased? I presume that's how you leave no trace; you skip along inside our memories and wipe yourself from them."
Clara jerked upright and the Doctor straightened as well.
"So why the games? The boys and the rhymes and the show?" The Doctor asked.
Noxsum laughed, "Because it's fun."
"It was fun until she distracted you; a mind you weren't anticipating got caught up in your web."
"A puzzle I've learned to conquer," Noxsum spat, walking a circle around them as they stood motionless in front of one another. "Her mind is abuzz with activity, Doctor. Moreso than yours, which I presume is because you've cautiously locked away or put a stop to your own processes as I do know a thing or two about Time Lords."
"Never got any of our children," he teased with a grin.
"That so," the man hissed into his ear. "What do you think became of those who went mad from the time vortex, the ones who couldn't be salvaged – so mad they couldn't be contained, locked away somewhere and no one gave a second thought to the clouds and the mist and the empty rooms."
Keeping his eyes trained on Clara's, the Doctor's nose flared slightly and he convinced himself that it was a lie because the notion that his people would turn a blind eye… he turned his head slowly to watch as the other man strolled casually about the room.
"So what of us?" The Doctor asked. "A Time Lord and an impossibly clever girl."
Noxsum snorted a laugh, "The price for a Time Lord, do you know, Doctor, what any of a number of armies out there would give to destroy you themselves?" He doubled over, cackles barking out loudly. "Oh, I'll sell you, Doctor, to the highest bidder."
With a grin, the Doctor replied, "I would suggest you sell to the first bidder."
"Doctor!" Clara rasped.
"If you let the universe know that you have me captive, the war that would be fought for a piece of me will destroy your home – what's left of it, anyways – and, quite possibly, you." Laughing, the Doctor informed him, "You tell them you have me and then ask them to bid? It's just a matter of time before someone shoots first."
"Never."
Nodding to the woman in front of him, the Doctor told him calmly, "Clara was capable of taking you down a notch, can't imagine what a proper trip into the pathweb of the Daleks would do to that noggin of yours." He laughed, "Actually, word gets out that one person. One. Single. Human. Was capable of exhausting your mental capabilities over a span of – what was it, two hours, less than? They deal with you out of fear, but I doubt you'll be getting much business if they knew about this, the exploitation of a weakness that others would take advantage of."
The hand at his shoulder was rough and it squeezed harder than he'd anticipated, but he could see Clara taking a small step away, and she glanced towards the entrance, brow dropping slightly. As if sensing something. But he shouted out in pain before he could see her break into a run as the cold fingers sent icy barbs into his flesh and then he was dropped to the ground. The Doctor glanced up just in time to watch as Clara was flung towards a wall where she burst into particles, floating out into the air like dust.
"NO!" He shouted, ripping the Sonic from his inside breast pocket and aiming it at the man who was too busy appreciating what he'd done to stop him. Sending a loud blast that disrupted the psychic field he was using, the Doctor demanded, "What have you done!?" as Noxsum stumbled away from him.
But a small voice called out, "Doctor, I'm fine, all here – one piece."
He turned swiftly and smiled, glancing at the woman who stood near the entrance to the room. "Run, Clara. Your father's at the Tardis with the children."
She pressed her lips together tightly and they drifted upwards into an awkward grin before she shook her head and nodded to Noxsum, "Think he'd let me leave so easily?"
"You can't let him control you; you're stronger than him."
Noxsum backed away from the Doctor and approached Clara, hand coming up to caress her cheek with his knuckles as he reminded, "My play thing, remember?"
Clara shivered slightly and then took a step closer to him.
"You're not Clara," the Doctor uttered.
"He's quick," Clara chirped. "What shall we do with him, father?"
Noxsum sighed, "Call up the Dalek fleet, tell them we have their worst enemy."
The Doctor laughed and gestured at them with a flap of his hand, telling them, "Go on, give 'em a ring, let's see how this works out."
Dropping her head back, Clara fell into an odd trance as Noxsum traced a finger over the back of her head, and the Doctor understood he was using her as a phone – her brain becoming an amplification device – and soon, he knew, there was an answer.
"What is the purpose of this transmission? Explain. EXPLAIN!"
"I have acquired a soldier for you, one of the utmost importance – the Predator, a great source for your hatred." Noxsum smiled deviously and told them, "The Doctor."
He waited, fingers metaphorically crossed, and the silence was deafening.
And then they shouted out, "Doctor Who? DOCTOR WHO?"
With a laugh of appreciation, the Doctor sighed quietly to himself, "Oh, Oswin," before dropping his head and watching Clara's come back up in confusion.
"They don't know him."
"How could they not know him," Noxsum shouted, "I know of your history; it's all in your head!"
Tapping his temple, he sighed, "All in my head, Noxsum, but fortunately I have friends – well, had a friend; well, had an acquaintance really – who's a mad screaming genius and she tip toed into their programming and snatched me right out of there. Sort of like you, with the children, except she was phenomenal and you're… we'll, not quite."
Oh, that's clever.
The Doctor looked about the room carefully, a double dose of relief flooding his chest at the sound of her voice in his mind. He listened as Noxsum screamed, and glanced at him in time to see him shove Clara aside. She hit the ground with a shout before glancing down at the red elbow and then back up at Noxsum. And then she stood and began looking from one side of the room to the other, flinching and ducking and swinging her arms about wildly.
"What's going on?" Noxsum asked.
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest, "Don't you know? This is your game."
Clara froze and shook and soon her body seemed to sizzle, a smokey gas floating away from her and drifting into the air before reforming into the ghostly shape of one of the fog boys. He glanced down at himself before looking up at Noxsum and then turned to see Clara's eyes pop open to look at him with a devious smile that gave the Doctor a slightly shiver.
"Oh yeah, I'm back," she told him, and in the nod she gave the boy, he exploded.
