*crawls out of hole in the ground* Um, hey guys. It's been over three weeks. I'm really sorry. I have two terrible excuses for my extraordinary lateness- I went to Japan for a week, and I'm actually planning another fic! This chapter took way too long and it's probably too shippy but here you go anyway. Enjoy!

We hadn't made it five meters out of the conference room before something weird started happening.

The Doctor yelped oddly, like a strangled puppy. We all turned to him expectantly as he yanked something out from the pocket inside his jacket, eyes wide. I never questioned what he took from that pocket- he always said it was 'bigger on the inside'. I mean, once he pulled a live snake from there. It was a traumatic experience.

Anyway, the Doctor held something tiny and glowing inside his palm.

"What is that?" Sam narrowed his eyes. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a regular-looking key, pulsing with golden light.

"It's the TARDIS," the Doctor breathed. "She's okay now."

"And you know that from a.. glowing key?" laughed Dean.

"Don't mock my TARDIS!" the Doctor said lightheartedly. "This is a TARDIS key. It's her way of communicating with me. Usually this only happens when there's a console reconfiguration. Handy little trick, don't you think?"

No one responded, given the fact that something else around us was emitting a piercing beeping noise.

I looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound.

Jack squinted, clearly confused. He rummaged around in the top pocket of his coat for a while before he grabbed the thing.

"That's odd," he remarked. "I don't use this one often." It was a simple flip phone, from around 2008. Outdated by my circumstances, and certainly Jack's, too. It was probably an extra for emergencies, given that his vortex manipulator could receive and make calls.

He flipped it open, shrugging, and accepted the call.

"Jack Harkness speaking."

He rolled his eyes a couple of times as the person on the other end spoke loudly and quickly.

"Look, Ianto, I'm sorry I didn't answer your texts. I was in the middle of something- something huge. I'll tell you about it later. Hey, for now, can you and Gwen sweep the city for alien attacks? There… um…. might be daleks here."

Even I could hear the guy at the other end shout, "WHAT?!" at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah. Turns out we didn't wipe them all out. Just… I don't know. I'll be there soon. Yeah, okay. Yes, I'll tell you everything. See you, bye!"

He hung up, grimacing.

"Was that Torchwood?" I asked as Jack slipped the phone back in his pocket.

"Yep," Jack sighed. He turned to us. "I suppose… I've got to go. Torchwood, and Cardiff, they need me. There are daleks in this city- We've got to take care of it."

The Doctor nodded understandingly. "Are you sure? You could travel with us, if you want."

Jack shook his head, with hardened eyes and a smirk that wasn't terribly convincing. "I know how tempting it is, the TARDIS and the universe. I know how brilliant it is. But I've got a city to protect, and I can't risk forgetting it. I can't risk forgetting reality, like I always seem to. Just… come back to visit once in a while, alright? Don't forget about me"

"Of course I'll come back. It would be my honor," the Doctor said, a swift smile gracing his lips.

I was thinking so hard about what Jack had said that I barely noticed when we signed out of the hotel at the reception. Forgetting reality.. It wasn't something that usually happened to me- or was it? I realized I hadn't been back to London in weeks. I mean, I had a job, a life, friends. And I'd just abandoned it all.

This wasn't like me. I had a schedule- every Wednesday, one adventure, then back home. I'd set it all out perfectly. But ever since I'd left the Maitlands and started teaching at Coal Hill, I left for longer and longer periods. And I hadn't even stopped to think.

As it turned out, Torchwood was actually really close to where the TARDIS was parked, in Roald Dahl Plass. After half an hour of walking and talking, we reached it, the blue box standing tall and proud in the distance.

I was still lost in thought, and I didn't really contribute to the conversations the others had while we were making our way here. It was all just small talk- about the TARDIS, and Torchwood, and technology…

I barely responded when Jack hugged me goodbye; he scrutinized me for a second before running off to Torchwood, almost crashing into a couple of innocent tourists that were strolling by.

The rest of us, after checking that no one was going to follow us, cautiously entered the TARDIS, still worried she might malfunction again.

She seemed the same as ever, cyan reflecting off silver, all hexagons and turquoise light. She whirred and beeped as we all got inside.

I watched Charlie closely as she bounded around, eyes wider than the moon.

"It's- it's-" she mumbled.

"Go on, say it!" exclaimed the Doctor expectantly, laughter in his eyes.

"Well, first of all, it's technically impossible, but I'll let that slide. Second of all, it seems like you've fit another dimension in here, making it more spacious inside than out. And, oh my God, this place is brilliant!" She turned to us, grinning ear-to-ear. "How big exactly is she, anyway?"

The Doctor's mouth fell open. Finally, someone smart enough to keep up with him!

"Well, with the interface, I can make her as big as I'd like. The inside is approximately- well, ten square kilometers, give or take? I've just had a reconfiguration, so I can't be entirely sure…"

Charlie gaped. "And it can travel in time? And space?"

"Yep! Anywhere you'd like, within reason. Well, I say reason. I mean, there are billions and trillions and kajillions of places and times across the universe, like pages in a book. I could take you to dystopias, utopias, fantasies, legends, myths, and right back to your bedroom. Any ideas?"

The Doctor shot me a cocky smile. Meanwhile, Sam rolled his eyes. I guess he doesn't like long speeches, I thought.

"I-ideas? You mean, I get to choose and all?" Charlie stammered.

"Of course. You're new."

Charlie looked completely and utterly starstruck.

"Uh- um…" she murmured. "Wait, gimme a second." We waited patiently as she dug around in her trusty backpack for something.

She was holding an iPhone in her hand. After a couple of seconds of swiping and searching, she grinned.

"What are you looking at?" Castiel questioned.

"A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a list detailing a bunch of places I wanted to go- theoretically, of course. I mean, what are the chances that I could actually go to the future, right?" She scrolled through the list, shaking her head.

"..Well?" the Doctor inquired. "Any ideas?"

"Um, firstly I thought of all those cliched places like the moon, or Shakespeare, or Harry Potter World, or something, but what I'd really like to see…" Charlie said, "Is probably some sort of distant future planet. I mean, technology is literally my life, man. It would be really cool to see that stuff, you know?"

The Doctor nodded slowly. He started pulling levers and flicking switches madly, laughing.

"Grab hold!" he yelled delightedly. "We're heading for The Tech Shell!"

I shrieked as the TARDIS knocked us about, just managing to grip on to the console, while Sam, Cas, Dean and Charlie held tightly onto the railing. We landed with a final boom and the faint, nearly silent sound of dust settling around us.

"Where exactly are we, again?" Sam asked. "I couldn't quite hear you over the sound of your spaceship going insane."

"Oi!" scolded the Doctor grumpily. "We're on the Tech Shell. It's a distant planet that's inhabited by humans in the 137th century, if I've got my dates right. It's a lot like Tokyo, but with better wi-fi. One city on this place could house a billion people, and, in this time, it was the height of technological advances around the solar system. Twitch-coms, hover gear, toothpaste tablets, you name it!"

As he spoke, he pushed open the doors and strode out.

"The Tech Shell is the perfect place for anyone who wants to marvel at scientific advances, beautiful electronics, and it's-"

"It's empty," Dean interrupted.

We all stared out at the barren wasteland that greeted us. A cool wind whistled eerily, blustering through the skeletal ruins of a sprawling city, far away in the distance. Between us and the city was a stretch of grayish sand, rippling for miles and miles. Two small suns were high in the salmon pink sky, scattering pale light across the desolate horizon.

"Height of technological advances?" I laughed. "Blimey, you really missed something."

The Doctor scratched his head. "Um... that's not supposed to happen. Really not. I am way off! I mean, this planet only gets abandoned in the 305th century because of a battalion of cybermen… This is exceptionally not right."

Charlie groaned. "First trip in a mystical time machine and it had to end up like this."

I patted her shoulder absently, the dusty breeze tickling my face.

Something in the distance caught my eye. It was a flickering silvery light, not too far from the TARDIS- about a five minute walk. It was hidden among the shifting sand dunes, but it was clearly some sort of signal.

"Hey, do you see that?" I asked quietly.

"See what?" Sam responded, and he squinted in the general direction of the light.

"Um, the light over there," I said, pointing.

"Oh, that light. I see it," Sam confirmed. The others all nodded as well.

"Okay, this just got interesting," Charlie admitted. "But what is it?"

"No idea," the Doctor said, grinning youthfully. "Should we investigate?"

The sweltering suns beat down on our backs as we made our way through the desert.

The Doctor was still trying to figure out what had happened here. "The cyberman invasion of the TechShell is a fixed point in time… and I'm fairly sure that nothing odd or deadly occurred before then. Unless we're not actually on the Tech Shell… But I'm sure I fixed the location contraband calculation matrix, so how could that have been?"

We left him to theorize alone.

I distracted myself by playing a rousing game of 'I Spy' with Charlie and Sam to pass the time.

"Okay, I spy something-" I started.

"Is it sand?" Charlie interrupted.

"No." I rolled my eyes.

"Is it the city?"

"No! It's something… purple."

"Um, is it the Doctor's jacket?" Sam guessed.

"Yep." Probably should have gone with something more subtle.

"Should I go, then? Alright, I spy something pink." Sam looked pleased with himself.

"Ooh! The sky!" I declared.

"Nope."

"I got nothing," Charlie sighed. "Er, is it Clara's lipstick?"

"Uh, no," said Sam. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you. It's your iPhone case."

"Damn, how did I not get that?" Charlie pouted, examining her alarmingly fuchsia phone. "Okay, my turn. I spy… something cute."

Sam spluttered. "What?"

"Is it Sam's face when he's flustered?" I said cheekily.

"Ha ha, very funny, Clara," Sam said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Actually, it isn't."

"Oh, I dunno then. Is it Dean and Cas holding hands behind us because they think we can't see?" I guessed, laughing when the two boys promptly let go, blushing.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Charlie grinned. "But, boys, don't stop on my account."

"I'm laughing on the inside," Dean said stoically.

"How can someone laugh on the inside?" Cas questioned, squinting. "Is laughter not an exclusively outwardly projected phenomenon?"

Dean rubbed his temples. "It's just an expression. Sarcasm, Cas. Get it together."

In no time at all we'd reached the signal-place-thingy. It turned out it wasn't a signal at all- it was a lake of some sort, with the sun reflecting off of it to give off a flashing light. The lake itself looked like liquid mercury, thick and brilliant silver. The Doctor was already on the sandy shore, scanning the water with his screwdriver.

"Ugh, seriously?" Dean complained. "We came all this way to find a freaking pond?"

"Well, it could have been an ancient alien civilization that needed our help to defeat evil," I reasoned. Dean glared.

"So, what's with the lake, Doc?" Charlie called to the Doctor as we caught up to him.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "It's not toxic, harmful or in any way bad for a human to ingest, but it possesses a chemical composition extremely similar to mercury."

"What?"

"Exactly. It should be poisonous, but it seems perfectly safe. Not sure about the taste, though. I should probably take a vial back to the TARDIS for examination."

Ten minutes later, we were back inside the box. The Doctor led us into a sprawling laboratory. Charlie was wide-eyed and gleeful, staring at the racks of gleaming test-tubes, extraordinary microscopes and other miscellaneous scientific equipment.

I grumpily dusted off my dress- I'd fallen over walking back and it had gotten stained by the sandy ground.

"Hey, Doctor, can I go get changed?" I asked lightly, trying not to distract him from his work.

"Yeah, sure," he answered, tinkering with a test tube.

I hastily trotted out of the lab, hoping the TARDIS was nice to me today. She was, for once, and tiny lights appeared on the ground, leading me to my destination.

The bathroom was gigantic, with a helpful clothing distributor in it. I keyed in some simple commands and a dress straight from my closet at home appeared within seconds. It was lavender, with tiny green flowers patterned all over it- one of my favorites. The short sleeves were lined with lace detailing. I slipped it on quickly, tossing the other dress into the corner of the room- the TARDIS' automated cleaning robots would put it back in my room eventually.

I made my way back, no thanks to the TARDIS- my luck had run out with her. She led me to the swimming pool at first, then to the main console. Frustrated, I finally arrived at the lab.

It was in various states of disrepair. There were broken vials everywhere, and one of the precious microscopes was on the floor in a million pieces. Everyone had disappeared.

"Guys?" I called out, confused and a tiny bit scared. "Where'd you go?"

What happened here?

I noted that the vial containing the weird liquid from the lake had been drained. Maybe that had something to do with it- was it explosive or something? I didn't see any burn marks.

"Clara?"

Sam's voice came form down the hallway. It sounded… off. Too light, too soft.

"Sam? What's going on?" I poked my head out of the lab. Sam was stumbling towards me, grinning like a fool. I narrowed my eyes. Is this a prank?

"Clara, you look amazing in that dress," he breathed.

I put my hands on my hips. Sure, it was flattering, but it was weird- Sam didn't really do compliments. Suddenly he grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Get off! Are you drunk?"

He kept on smiling blankly as I struggled to get out of his vice-like grip. We got to a simple-looking guest bedroom, with a bed and some chairs scattered around it.

But the room itself wasn't important- what was happening inside it was.

Dean and Castiel were making out lazily on a chair, legs and arms all tangled together. I could just about hear them murmuring, "I love you," to each other between kisses. I almost choked, I was so shocked. What the hell is going on? Are they all on drugs?

Charlie was lounging on the bed, a polaroid camera in her hand. She giggled, completely out of it, and snapped a couple of shaky pictures. The Doctor was snoring in an armchair.

"What..?" I mumbled, totally confused.

Sam kept smiling on like a love-struck zombie. He dragged me forward and sat me in a chair. I attempted to push him off but, obviously, he overpowered me. His dazed eyes terrified me. I really didn't want this.

I started panicking. Oh God. What if he- Get out, get out…

"Whoa, stop!" I pleaded. He crushed his lips against mine. I froze up. Flashbacks to a dark day when I was seventeen, pushed up against the back of a diner- No. Don't think about that.

I kneed Sam in his groin desperately. He let go for a second and, gasping, I got out from under him. I ran as fast as I could, out of the room, and down the hallway. Sam didn't follow me, but I didn't stop until I got to the main console room, where I sunk down to the floor, panting heavily. My head sunk.

"What do I do?" I whispered to myself. Everyone else was high off something. Was it poisonous? Contagious? Was I infected now?

There was a buzzing noise in front of me. I lifted my head in confusion.

"Oh, not you again."

It was the TARDIS' visual interface, which had taken my form, like she always does.

"What is it that you require?" the interface asked sweetly.

"Um, right. Can you identify what happened to others? Like, do a medical scan?"

"I require a DNA sample for medical scanning."

"Ugh. Alright, what about my lips? Me and Sam.. uh… exchanged saliva."

The TARDIS didn't laugh. "The sample is infected with Eros algae, a species native to the TechShell. The algae produces highly dangerous levels of oxytocin and various other hormones, which, when blended together, causes humans and Time Lords to become almost mindless and heightens either their sexual or romantic activity. Extremely high doses can cause romantic obsession, sleepiness, or emotional oversensitivity."

Well, that explains it. "Am I currently infected?"

"No."

"Alright, then. Is there a cure?"

"There is no known cure. The effects can take up to four hours to dissolve, depending on the amount ingested."

"Oh, great. Got a book for me to read or something?"

Something dropped out of a compartment in the console. Frowning, I picked it up. It was a book titled 'Electronics for Dummies'. I groaned. The TARDIS still made fun of me for my previous technological impairment, even though I was now pretty good with computers, thanks to the Doctor.

"Gee, thanks." I waved my hand, annoyed, and the visual interface disappeared in a flash of light.

Four hours later, I almost forgot to go get the others.

I'd gone to the library, because it seemed to hold the most entertainment. It took me about an hour to actually find a book to read, though, as I couldn't decide. I'd gotten lost in a beautiful book about romance on a doomed spaceship published in the year 2549, but it got too confusing when it started talking about a 23rd century technological revolution, and I didn't want to spoil the future for myself.

Then I was enchanted by a first-edition Shakespeare script- A Midsummer's Night's Dream was my favorite play. We'd studied it in university, but there was just something amazing about holding the original centuries-old parchment in your hands.

Hundreds of blurbs and first chapters later, I realized how much time had gone by. Hopefully the hormones have worn off by now, I thought.

Grabbing an extra-large hardback encyclopedia just in case I had to hit anyone, I cautiously made my way back to the odd little bedroom.

I opened the door to find everyone sound asleep across chairs- or in Dean and Cas' case, entangled on the bed. There was a trench coat strewn haphazardly across the floor and a few polaroid pictures scattered on the floor. Frowning I picked them up and flipped through them. They were all blurry, with terrible lighting, but they were freaking hilarious. The first showed Dean and Cas kissing, the second showed the Doctor sleeping with a droplet of drool falling from his mouth, the third was a cross-eyed selfie of Charlie and Sam, and the last was… another picture of Dean and Cas kissing. I smirked and pocketed the pictures for future blackmail.

I poked the Doctor's cheek- now I needed some answers.

He groaned sleepily but pushed himself up.

"What happened?" he mumbled groggily. I rolled my eyes and slapped him across the face. The sleep left his eyes immediately.

"Doctor!" I huffed. "It's you who has to do the explaining. What do you remember last?"

"What? Oh! Right, I might have accidentally blown up the vial of liquid while you were changing. We all got some on our faces, and… then I fell asleep. It was quite a strange experience… I think Dean and Cas were kissing!"

"The TARDIS said you all were poisoned with 'Eros algae', I think," I said. "Everyone was crazy with love or something." The word 'love' caught in my throat when I remembered Sam.

"Oh," the Doctor muttered. "Well, that explains it. How did I not get that?"

I left him to ponder his apparent loss of memory to find Sam. I just hoped he didn't remember what he did to me.

I softly shook Sam awake. He rose slowly, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?" he mumbled. "I think I have a hangover."

He looked straight at me, then scooted three meters backwards, wide-eyed and shameful.

"Oh my God," he exclaimed. "I am so- I'm sorry- I didn't mean- Are you okay?" He looked at his hands like they were dripping with blood. I still felt angry with him for kissing me, but he wasn't himself when it happened. I softened.

"Hey, it's alright," I said, unsure of what to say. "I'm.. fine. It wasn't you."

"Seriously, I am so sorry. I would- I would never do anything to hurt you. Promise."

I looked down at my feet. Thank God he didn't ask any more questions.

I glanced back at Cas and Dean. It didn't feel right to wake them, especially in front of everyone, but someone had to do it. Sighing, I patted Dean's shoulder.

He grumbled something I couldn't hear, so I patted him more forcefully.

"Ugh, what is it?" His voice was sharp as a knife.

"Um, Dean? You should probably wake up now," I whispered. "It's getting awkward for all of us."

He raised his head, then saw Cas lying curled up like a cat next to him.

"Well, crap," he groaned. I could practically see the memories rushing back. "Did we-?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yes, you two made out for four hours. No, I'm not kidding."

Dean bounded out of bed just as Cas rolled over. His sky-filled eyes opened and he yawned lazily.

"Dean?" he murmured. "What happened?"

Dean chuckled nervously. "Uh, we'll talk about it later."

Cas sat up, looking almost naked without his trench coat.

"Whoa, wipeout!" a new voice interjected. Charlie was up. Her red hair was all over the place and her mascara was unfortunately smeared. "What did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing, just the usual."

"Good to hear. Do you have an Advil or something? My head is killing me!"

An hour later, everyone had changed into fresh clothes and we congregated in the console room. We exchanged stories- leaving bits out, of course. No one needed to know about Sam and I, or about what Dean and Cas had gotten up to in the dark.

The polaroids were safe and secret in my room aboard the TARDIS, kept in a drawer for a rainy day when I needed something to laugh at.

"Well, thank god Jack wasn't aboard for this!" I joked. "He would've had a field day."

"Hey, I could have sworn I had pictures somewhere… I totally lost them!" Charlie complained. Dean took her by the shoulders, his face solemn.

"If those photographs go anywhere, I will probably kill you." He didn't sound like he was joking.

Sam stood at the edge of the group, hands stuffed in his pockets uncomfortably. He didn't have a funny story from the night. I bit my lip before going over to him.

"For what it's worth, I don't blame you," I said casually. "It wasn't your fault, Sam."

He laughed bitterly. "I still remember it. And it wasn't a demon possession or anything- I was in control, sort of. Right?"

His eyes were so lost. I couldn't help it- I hugged him. Hard. And it felt a lot better when both of us wanted it.

"So.. we're good now, right?" he asked cautiously.

"We're good now."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Charlie slipped in next to me. "God, stop flirting, you two! Geez. I can feel the soppiness from ten feet away."

I could hear Dean laughing his head off. The Doctor smiled calmly.

"So, where to next?"