Chapter Fourteen
The Snowman: Their Timelines

They slid out from the small living room on the slick wood floor. The Doctor promptly slammed the double doors behind them shut. The almighty clatter that followed resonated throughout the large open stairwell for quite a long while. The other three watched as he fumbled through his overcoat pocket, seemingly looking for something.

"I've got to-" he mumbled, but soon found what he was looking for. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and activated it at the small metal lock mechanism. His jaw hardened defiantly as he gripped his small device.

There was a click. The rest of the group immediately turned around, waiting for further instruction.

"What's happening?" Frannie asked fretfully.

The Doctor began to speed down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. "She's not human, not anymore, she's a beast made of ice. You need to keep away from her, or she'll eat you whole. Got it?" He looked back when he noticed they weren't following. "Come on!"

The fall of footsteps rumbled against the floor as Clara and the two children began to follow after him down the staircase. They were stopped short when another man came in, likely the father, he assumed.

His countenance was furious. "Children, what is the expla-" However, when he saw the Doctor, it turned to one of shock. "Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?"

The Time Lord's lips slid up just a fraction, a very confident air arising from him. He stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets. "Ah, I'm the Doctor; your governess here let me in. I'm just a mate." Clara's head jerked around at this.

"Let you in, you climbed through a window!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. The Doctor cringed. Like that was in any circumstance a good way to introduce him to her employer.

"That's not helping."

"Sorry..."

The man confusedly starred at him. Luckily, the strange tension was broken when the household's maid ran into the entryway in a melting flurry.

"Captain Latimer. In the garden, there's snowmen!" she fret. "And they're just growing out of nowhere, all by themselves, look!"

She ran to the elaborate front doors and flung then open to reveal...

"Good evening," Vastra intoned, her veil slipped down and Jenny standing at her side. "I'm a Lizard Woman from the Dawn of Time, and this is my wife."

The maid let out an earsplitting screech, one that certainly could have given the Time Lord's old companion Melanie Bush a run for her money. She swerved as far from the doorway as she could, and next found herself face to face with the last member of the Paternoster Gang, the walking potato.

"This dwelling is under attack. Remain calm, human scum," Strax ordered.

She screamed again, and soon exhausted herself in the aforementioned action so much that she fainted. The ever-growing crowd watched as she hit the floor with a resounding thud, a sound that echoed through the tall entry hall. There was a short silence in which everybody just stood there staring at her, faces blank.

Well. That was interesting.

The Doctor's head shot up like a stretched spring, surveying the crowd. "Any questions?"

Latimer seemed highly disappointed by this all. "Her... mate?" he asked him. His gaze swiveled to Clara. "You're married?"

She rolled her eyes, and gave a pointed look at her new friend standing next to her. Her hands were extended out in front of her as if saying, "What the hell was that for?" He simply shrugged when he saw that she was trying to hide a smirk, and casually stepped down from the first step to the floor. The man swiftly moved over to where the Silurian stood.

"Vastra, what's happening out there?" he asked her hastily.

Her eyes narrowed in worry. "The snow is highly localized, and on this occasion not naturally occurring."

"It's coming out of that cab parked by the gates," completed her wife.

His head slowly bobbed, soaking in this new revelation. He inhaled deeply through his nose, as if this action could relieve any amount of anxiety stored in his hearts. "Right. So," he began slowly pacing through the group, "this is quite the large household you own, Captain. How long do you think we could stay in here under siege? A few days? A week?"

Latimer seemed to be temporarily caught off guard by the fact that the Doctor chose to address him specifically, but soon found in his intelligence an estimate. "Ah... With as many people there are, I'd say five days at most."

"Fine by me. Bunking with you lot, however," he said, gesturing around the room, "that'll be interesting. I'm not usually one for domestics." He waggled his tongue in disgust. "Five days... Blimey, that should be a while, don't you think? Oh well, I'll likely have sorted it all out by then. I've got quite the brain. Clever, that's me," he exclaimed gleefully, with a hint of boastfulness in his tone. "Anyways..."

He turned around. When he was positive nobody could see him, he blew air through his cheeks and ran his hand through his now-mussed hair. Five days. Five days... This was absolutely not what he had in mind when he disembarked his lone cloud. Still, he supposed that with Clara around it might turn out to be all right after all. He began looking around the establishment to get an idea of the layout of the place. If he was going to stay in this manor for the better part of a week at most, he'd like to know enough about it to avoid getting lost. However, his attention was soon gripped by a most unpleasantly dripping sight that was beginning to meander down the stairwell.

"Hello, Clara!" the repetitive ice woman droned in her scratchy voice. The young governess in question immediately pulled the children, behind her back. Almost everyone backed up, not wanting to stand any closer to the cold monster than was absolutely necessary. Jenny however, had the nerve to step towards it. She took a small black sphere from a pocket, twisted the top, and hurled it at the ice woman with a small grunt. A red, tangled force field bubbled around the figure, trapping it for the foreseeable future.

She breathed in relief. "That should hold it."

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asked, unknowing, which piqued the Doctor's interest. If he did not know the name 'Clara', then it had to be that she used a completely different one around the children and him. Perhaps as if she were living two completely separate lives...?

"Oh, sorry, failed to mention," he butted in before Clara could even speak. He pointed a spare finger in her direction, almost making her jump in surprise. "Say hi to Clara! She's a former barmaid who's been posing as an upper-class governess for quite some time, am I right?"

She starred at him bemusedly, having no way to respond now that her secret was out.

"Hello, Clara!"

The group had been trying to ignore the woman made of ice. They all failed, a fact that was testified when all eight of them turned their necks to flick a glance at it. Latimer seemed quite disturbed by the perfect icy copy of the old woman he used to employ. The Doctor began to run his hand through his hair again, knowing that this meeting was just getting stranger and stranger as the seconds of the grandfather clock down the hall ticked on. His brows rose up. "Well, and then there's the fact your previous governess is now a human popsicle, but... I think you've noticed."

"Sir, this room," Strax prompted, pointing towards a sitting room to their right. "One observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance."

"Nice find, Strax," he commended, and turned so that the other seven could all see him. "Everybody, mouths off and listen! Let's get in there, quickly!" They all followed his command immediately, something that he was extremely grateful for. Usually, getting people to follow directions was like trying to herd two-tailed Barcelonan cats. (From the planet Barcelona, not the city, that is...) Vastra's young human wife exchanged eye contact with him, just long enough for him to pass along a request. "Jenny, can you carry her in?" he asked, motioning to the slack body of the household's maid Alice lying on the floor.

~8~

A few minutes had passed by the time the Doctor walked assertively into the sitting room they had decided to post base at. "Strax!" he called urgently.

"Sir!"

It was immediately obvious to everybody that he was under a certain amount of stress in the situation, but to say it was all due to Dr. Simeon and his snowmen would be a lie. A certain part of him was still quite a bit wary about the topic of Clara, and especially how she had ended up with him in a dangerous time once more. To add to it, it seemed as though she didn't fully comprehend the gravity of the situation with the way that she was gazing at him with that coy smile of hers. "How long we've got?" he queried, creases forming in his forehead like what always happened when he was in deep thought.

The news was better than he expected, much to his delight.

"They're not going to attack. They made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily, and they're clearly in a defense formation."

The Doctor nodded, quickly connecting the dots in his head. "Makes sense, as there's something here they want living."

Clara, who had been previously sitting in the corner listening to events unfold and comforting the children, stood up. "The ice woman," she guessed.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p', and with a wry smirk travelling across his lips.

"Why's she so important?" Jenny's voice rang from across the room.

"They need her to evolve, to survive," the Time Lord answered her, mentally honoring her reasonable question. "You have to understand, she fell into ice. It scanned her, and learned how to meld, humans with ice. And that's exactly what Simeon wants; he wants never-melting, living ice!" His gaze turned back to the young governess/barmaid. "The pond never melted like the snow did, that's right?"

"Yes."

His eyes flipped back to Jenny as he began to finish his thoughts. "And there you have it, Jenny. If they manage to get their hands on her, then they can build more." His face hardened. "They can build an entire army. And if that happens, then-"

Her expression was hard to read, but trepidation peeked through its edges. "What?"

"Well... End of the world."

Clara standing next to him blinked, and her breathing was heavy as she tried to understand the full ramifications of this. However, for just a few seconds the Doctor managed to sustain eye contact with her, and discovered something else pouring out of those eyes he had looked into quite a few times before. It was trust. She trusted him. And it was this that made his hearts speed up like nothing else.

It was the doorbell that pried him away from the emotionally haphazard moment, thankfully. However, its ring quickly brought a tidal wave of gloominess into the room, reminding him that he had a duty to accomplish for the sake of all humanity. He soon noticed that all attention in the room was placed squarely on him, and no other. Sighing, he gazed around at the other seven, grave.

"Seems we've got a visitor," he mumbled, and turned for the door. Before he left, he starred at Clara for a moment. Again, she beamed that coquettish grin of hers back. He paused, all the words he had planned lost. "Stay here."

~8~

"Clara, I told you to stay in there!" the Doctor chastised, having made roughly only seven steps before Clara had decided to follow him. Again...

She just smirked, walking right up to him. "Oh, I didn't listen."

"And you're right, you really don't."

"It's why you like me," she cheekily shot back.

One of his brows shot nearly past his hairline in confusion. "Who said I like you?"

...

In retrospect, the Doctor should have probably expected it. In the moment, however, he was completely at a loss for words. He was completely at a loss for everything, really. Even his thoughts had become all muddled and jumbled up.

The only recognizable thought that even fleetingly passed through his mind as Clara pressed her lips against his was how nice her hair smelt.

...

When she finally pulled away, her expression was a triumphant one. "I think you just did," she whispered, batting her lashes at him.

Dazedly, the Doctor inhaled a large quantity of air, trying to settle his pounding hearts, and severely hoping that his cheeks would very soon return to their natural color, and away from their current shade of crimson. "What was that for?" he wined, attempting to act completely unaware of what she was doing.

"You blushed."

"Blushed? Me? Really?" he squeaked.

Before he could continue, Clara interrupted him by wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, once again pulling him into a deep kiss. The gaslight hanging above them flickered, and for the Doctor, the rotation of the Earth beneath his feet seemed to completely stop. She was on her tiptoes, every curve of her body pressed against his in desperation. Her fingers at the base of his neck began to twirl with his hair, electrifying his nerves with her every touch, while her other hand drifted up the side of his face to feel his prominent sideburns. Her soft lips were warm, inviting, enticing...

No, you can't! he thought, refusing these urges to just give in, to return her kiss, to live in the moment... A fire raged throughout his every synapse, tempting him. His two hearts were almost pounding out of his chest. He wondered if she noticed them.

An instant passed, and soon the Doctor found that he was kissing her back. He realized that his right hand had drifted down to Clara's petite waist, pulling her warm body ever closer to his. The remaining, intelligently thinking section of his conscious mind was practically screaming for him to stop, but his time senses were off the charts. The exact moment he decided to return Clara's kiss, her fuzzy and hard to read timeline suddenly twisted around his, becoming tighter than even the triple helix of a Time Lord's DNA. He moaned, parting his lips just a bit. She took this as an invitation to explore. Her tongue had only just started to touch with his when the doorbell rang once again.

The Doctor quickly broke from the passionate embrace, and his subconscious was silently thanking the bell. He gently pushed himself away from Cara and skittered away towards the door, much bemused. He wasn't quite sure what exactly happened. Hers was a wish, a kiss of longing, while his...

Shaking his head unbelievingly, he opened the front door.

"Release her to us," the stoic Simeon breathed, apparently trying to seem ominous.

Instead of expressing any sort of fear, he just laughed. "Oh, I certainly will not!" he responded, a cheeky grin on his lips. He slammed the door shut in Dr. Simeon's face.

He whisked back around to face Clara, the heart rate of his two hearts increasing now, as he looked her in the eye. He ignored it for the meantime. There was no spare moment to waste with these sorts of things.

"We need an escape plan!" he exclaimed, pacing with her back into the hallway. He paused, and did not notice when he unconsciously began talking with his hands. "Well, not an escape plan, exactly... We need her to follow us, so they can't get her hands on her."

"Oh, of course we do," Clara murmured. "How, exactly?"

A small smirk crossing his lips, he reached down to the small rack standing at the side of the stairwell, and yanked an umbrella free.

"Easy. Use this," he said as he tossed it to her. She caught it on the first try, raising a solitary brow.

In the corner of his eye, he was aware of Captain Latimer entering the entry hall. Well... It was a good thing he hasn't entered just a minute earlier. If he had seen what they had been up to then, the man just might have shed a tear. "Those creatures outside, what are they?" Latimer questioned warily.

"I don't believe they plan to harm you, if that's what you're worried about. Now get back in the room where you're safe!" he said, dismissing him. He looked at Clara, his tone softening. "Both of you."

There was a sudden discharge of energy as the ice woman violently bashed against the force field that surrounded her. As Latimer left, muttering something about "bloody houseguests", the Doctor bravely stepped up to the figure, brandishing his screwdriver. His expression was taunt. Shortly, he felt a presence at his shoulder.

"Not a chance," Clara breathed, nestling herself at his side.

The smallest of smirks appeared, lightening his countenance. "Oh, well, I feared that. At least I tried."

Her eyes shone with curiosity. "What are you doing?" she asked, her expression suggesting that she might not like his answer.

"Absolutely no idea!" he responded with a grin, and pointed the sonic screwdriver at the ice lady. He activated the emitter, and suddenly the force field that kept her from attacking them disappeared. Clara gasped. Eager to show his brilliance, he waved the thin device around them, and the red field reformed around them.

"I get the feeling we're about to do something very, very stupid," deducted Clara, worry etched in her expression.

"Your feelings must be in the right place, then, come on!"

Her hand easily slipped into his, and he pulled her up the stairs. Together, they ducked under the swinging arm of the ice monster. Clara yelped in surprise, having to take two steps for his every one.

"I'll have you know I'm usually not a reckless person," she exclaimed, out of breath. The Doctor shot her an odd look, something between "Are you serious?" and "Tell me about it..."

"Hello, Clara!"

Her brows furrowed. "Why does she keep saying that?"

"She's mirroring, mirroring me, it's not important. Now, how do we get to the roof?"

"This way!"