Thank you for the reviews :)

Chapter 14

The plan was perfect and there was no way it could possibly fail. At least that was what the Doctor had told them even though Clara decided not to take his word for it. Apparently the Doctor had once met a collector of alien artefacts called Henry van Statten many centuries ago and had found a couple more of his kind. Rich people who spent their money on things they would never be able to understand simply because they had originated on a different planet and simply because they could. One of those was in possession of a Mire helmet and they were about to steal it, or at least what was inside it.

Clara stepped into the great hall that was the size of a hangar and gasped. "Oh my God," she uttered at the amount of things this collector had accumulated over the years. She recognized a few items on display, all neatly placed within a glass case and probably secured by all sorts of alarms. It wasn't just a private collection, it was a museum.

"Hey," Clara almost cried out when she saw it and immediately approached the display case to be perfectly sure, "That's my first sonic bracelet! How did that get here?"

The Doctor stepped up to the case and eyed the device first before throwing her a suspicious look. "Sonic bracelet?"

Clara glanced up at him and eventually shrugged. "Well, I wanted a sonic something," she explained sheepishly, "Screwdriver seemed impractical cause it looks important. Remember when the Sheriff of Nottingham took yours? And the sunglasses were your thing, so I wanted something else. I thought it looked pretty and not too suspicious."

Suddenly Elsie cleared her throat behind them. "Ehem," she said, "Aren't we here for something else?"

"Right," the Doctor suddenly seemed to remember and walked across the room to a stand filled with brochures. He picked up one of them and skimmed through without really paying attention to what it said while Clara and Elsie gathered around him.

"Here," the Doctor pointed to a specific paragraph and held the brochure so Clara and Elsie could read it.

This exhibit is a faithful replica of a helmet worn by a Mire, a member of the greatest warrior races in the galaxy.

There was more but Clara had stopped reading at the word "replica". If this wasn't the original helmet they had come here for nothing. Luckily the Doctor read on.

"The original helmet is considered too valuable for public presentation and the owner has decided to offer private, guided tours only for his most interesting exhibits. Private, guided tours can be arranged upon request. Please note that they are only available to one person at a time," the Doctor read before he beamed at them.

"What are you smiling about?" Clara asked him, "It's not here. This whole trip was for nothing!"

"Oh, it's here," he said with a broad grin, "It's just not now."

The Doctor suddenly began walking around the room, appearing to be looking for something while Clara watched him, wondering what the hell he was up to. "I felt it the moment we landed. There's something not quite right around here. Someone has been tampering with time."

Clara stared at him in confusion, not understanding a single word he said. Elsie however seemed to be able to follow him. Damn Time Lord genes.

"You mean he's hidden his most precious objects, like, a fracture of a second out of sync with the rest?" she asked him.

"Exactly," the Doctor said excitedly, pointing towards Elsie, "He must have at least two vortex manipulators to be able to offer these private tours. Or other means of time travel. Given his collection it wouldn't surprise me."

"So, how do we get it? The TARDIS?" Clara asked, trying to get a word in while the two time nerds were talking.

"Yes," he confirmed, "In the TARDIS."

Clara nodded and made her way back to the blue box until she heard Elsie's voice behind her.

"Hey, you don't wanna leave this behind, do you?" she asked and when Clara turned around it was already too late. Elsie had touched the glass case under which her sonic bracelet was lying and before she could even speak the alarms were howling loudly. Clasps appeared out of nowhere and snapped shut around her daughter's wrists. The room changed colour under the flashing red alarm lights and the sirens were hurting her ears.

"Elsie!" the Doctor cried out and made an attempt to approach her but with a look their daughter told him not to.

"Go!" she yelled, "Get the helmet! The guards will be here soon and there won't be another chance!"

The Doctor hesitated.

"Get me in the TARDIS once you have it!" Elsie told him pleadingly, "But go!"

Clara reached for his hand and pulled him in the direction of the TARDIS, knowing he would never willingly leave Elsie alone. She would be fine. She was their daughter. And they would be back in no time at all. Finally he seemed to comply and eventually closed the door behind them.

"She will be fine," Clara tried to reassure him, "We'll get her in a minute. First we need the helmet."

He nodded and with the flick of a switch brought the TARDIS engines to life, landing only shortly after with a thud. The Doctor and Clara dashed outside to find themselves in the same room, only this time it looked different. The hall was still very much the same although darker and the many glass cases that held the exhibits were gone. Instead they were only three, each standing under a single spotlight. The first Clara didn't recognize, the second was the gun of a Sontaran and the third was what they had originally come for – the helmet of a Mire soldier.

After exchanging a few glances the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and disabled the alarms before he carefully lifted the glass and set it down by his feet. He checked for more security measures, apparently coming to the conclusion that it was safe and eventually took the helmet and sat down on the floor, helmet in his lap, before he started tinkering. Clara watched him the whole time and eventually a victorious "Ha!" escaped him before he held up the two medical kits that he had found inside.

"We only need one. Put the other back," she told him sternly.

The Doctor knitted his eyebrows. "No, if they realize what we came for they'll know it's of a lot more value than they had originally thought and they will eventually figure out what it is. Better if it's safe in in the TARDIS than sitting here," he concluded and rose back to his feet. After placing the helmet in exactly the same position they had found it in and switching the alarm system back on they both made their way back to the TARDIS.

"Now we get Elsie," Clara said, looking at him hopefully.

"Now we get Elsie," he confirmed and started running around the console unit, pressing a button here, flicking a switch there until eventually he pulled the lever. Slowly but surely Clara saw the TARDIS materialising around their daughter, or rather their daughter slowly appearing inside the TARDIS, still chained to the glass case holding her sonic bracelet.

"Ha! You did it!" Elsie exclaimed happily, "And perfect timing. They were about to unchain me from this." She nodded towards the display case.

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the clasps and Elsie was released immediately and before Clara could stop herself she had thrown her arms around her daughter in a tight embrace.

"You didn't get into too much trouble, did you?" Clara asked once she had let go of her.

"No," Elsie shook her head, smiling, "When the guards came I told them I had visited the museum with my parents and gotten lost. And then you came back. Did you get the Mire helmet?"

The Doctor reached into his pocket and retrieved the repair kit, holding it up for Elsie to see. "Got what we came for," he said.

Clara looked at it and took a deep breath. If she did this there was no turning back. Ever.

"Let's do it," Clara eventually said and held out her hand in the direction of the Doctor. He needed to restart her heart before she could become immortal.

He hesitated, looking a little lost. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," she said and put on a smile, "You and me. Forever."

The Doctor nodded and pointed his screwdriver at the medical kit, setting it to human beings like Clara had seen him do it for Ashildr. Then he started shaking out his hand as he approached her until it was beginning to glow with his beautiful, golden regeneration energy. When he had changed it had all happened so fast and the last time he had restarted her heart Clara had been so busy protesting that she had never really paid attention to it but, for all that it meant for a Time Lord, it was beautiful.

This time Clara knew what would happen so she braced herself as he placed his hand above her heart and when she thought that she was going to choke she took a deep breath instead. And then she felt it. The pulse. The beating heart once again pumping blood through her body. Alive once more and soon alive forever.

The Doctor looked at her one last time as he held up the medical kit as if to make sure she was okay with this and Clara only smiled and nodded. He placed it right on her forehead and Clara closed her eyes, feeling it becoming one with her body, feeling it sink into her skin and working its magic. It was strange and it tingled but after a few moments it stopped and only then did Clara dare to open her eyes again.

"How do you feel?" the Doctor asked carefully, taking a step back.

"Alive," was all Clara could reply.

"Did it work, do you feel any different?" Elsie wanted to know as she stepped into her field of vision.

Clara shook her head. "No, not really. But from what Ashildr told me neither did she."

"Oh, it worked," the Doctor smiled, "Don't worry. And you know what? We should celebrate!"

The Doctor almost jumped into the direction of the console unit until Clara cleared her throat, making him turn back around.

"Erm, Doctor, don't we have. . .," she hesitated, wondering how to put it while nodding towards Elsie, "Other matters to attend to?"

For a moment he looked somewhere in between shocked and scared. Now that Clara was alive again, now that she would stay alive they would have to conceive Elsie and he knew it.

"Uhm," the Doctor spluttered before his determination returned to him, "Later. First we celebrate!"

He turned around and pulled the lever, changing their course and Clara shook her head. He was a bloody coward sometimes.