A/N hey guys! Here's another chapter. Thank you SO SO SO MUCH for all the reviews. They really motivate me to get up and write, and make me so happy (especially since I've been feeling pretty sad lately). So please, all you amazingly lovely people, please leave your thoughts and feedback. It's actually the best thing ever. Thank you everyone and enjoy the chapter!

•••

The Doctor stood up with such force that the whole stall rattled, and several tarot cards spun off the table, fluttering down to the ground in mad spirals.

"Good day, ma'am," he nodded stiffly before turning to swiftly step outside. Clara followed, jogging to catch up as he weaved through the crowd at a formidable pace, before slowing beside her.

"Enough of that psychic gobbledygook, eh?"

She wasn't quite sure what to say. They both knew that it had been much more than just 'gobbledygook'.

"Doctor, are y-"

"Oh, would you look at that?" he pretended not to have heard her, pointing to their left as something she could not see, being shorter than most everyone else in the vicinity. "I can't simply take you to Jottrein and deprive you of the sight of the Tranick mountains!"

He dragged her through a gap between the stalls, sprinting among the crowd. Always so stubborn, he was. If he didn't want to tell you something, it was almost impossible to question him about it.

The packed rows of stalls began to lessen, and the crowd began to thin, and suddenly they were both standing on the brink of a cliff, and the sounds of the market were carried towards them dim and distorted, tossed around by a growing wind.

"The Tranick mountains. The reason for the site of the Jottrein market, and the gem of this solar system," the Doctor announced, sweeping his arms out in a 'look and be amazed' gesture.

Clara knew this was just an attempt to divert her attention from his strange actions and the words of the fortune teller, but the sight before them really was breathtaking.

The ground dropped smoothly to a flat, rocky plain, dotted by tall, thin trees with no branches. And then in the distance, probably hundreds of kilometers away but able to be seen by the clear air of this planet, rose three magnificent mountains, so tall and wide they were almost incomprehensible, reaching far into the sky and fading into the air. She didn't think the crests would be visible from the ground at all, even on a clear day. They were like sentinels, gods, guarding and peering down on everything this side of the planet. Rendering everything else next to insignificant.

"Fourth tallest mountains in the universe."

"Fourth tallest?"

"Of course. Well, maybe fifth. Well, maybe twenty fifth. Point is, they're big. The locals devoted an entire religion to them. Still do, actually. I think."

She felt him sling an arm across her shoulders, and only just then remembered the situation they were in. The fortune teller had been telling the truth, they were not safe, and the Doctor knew something.

She turned to him, and saw his gaze was fixed firmly on the spot where the mountains disappeared into oblivion.

"You're going to have to tell me sometime, I know something's wrong."

"No, no. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. Peachy," he glanced at her, smiling too widely.

"I know you. You forget that sometimes, but I do. So stop prancing around and tell me what's wrong."

He was getting flustered now. "I...I can't-"

"Doctor, if you don't tell me right now what that lady was on about, I swear I will-"

"No! Clara, you don't understand!" he was backing away from her now, running his hands through his hair.

"I think I very well do understand! We're in danger, and there is something very wrong with you. And you're going to tell me. I've let you have secrets, everyone needs them. But I can't let you have this," she stepped towards him. "I want to help you, alright? But I can't do anything if you keep on just-"

"Secrets! Yes, everyone has them! You have them, I have...more than most. But that isn't the point!" his voice was louder now, slipping into that steady, low tone that usually meant that she had gone too far. "Secrets protect us, Clara! Secrets keep us safe!"

"We're not safe!"

He stopped, dropping his hands from where they gripped her shoulders. The fiercely protective look in his eyes was gone, replaced by something that terrified her, something like fear.

"Doctor, please, we aren't safe, we never are! Enough secrets, please, enough lies! I don't even know your name, you know. The Doctor. Doctor wh-"

Her words were abruptly muffled by the Doctor taking her by the shoulders and quickly kissing her. She froze for a second. Was this something they did now, the kissing thing?

But just as she had regained her composure, he jumped back from her quickly, and she saw he was just as surprised as she was.

"Sorry-I didn't-I mean I-sorry it's-um-well-er...I don't know why I...I shouldn't have, sorry-it wasn't right- I mean-er...it's not that I didn't like it- because I did...oh wait no...I don't know-um..."

She let him stutter, because it was mildly amusing.

He looked awkwardly down at his hands, and she saw that he was smiling crookedly to himself, even as his feet shuffled.

But the smile morphed, again, into clear horror.

He was staring at his left palm, where, marked in stark black against his pale skin, were four small lines.

He looked up at her, no longer mumbling and embarrassed, but eyes wide and mouth thin and terse.

"Clara," he said slowly. "Stay here for a moment. Don't move. Please. I'll be back, I just have to...find something."

The steadiness in his voice chased away all of the questions in her mind, so she nodded and watched as he darted in between the stalls.

There really was danger now. And not in some vague future. This was now. This was here.

And he wouldn't tell her what it was, or what it wanted.

More secrets.

She stood there as the minutes ticked by, and though she should probably follow him. He had told her to stay put, and she had obliged simply because of the warning in his voice. But maybe he was in trouble, maybe...

She was just stepping towards the spot he had disappeared when the man himself erupted from another corner of the clearing.

"Clara! Please trust me. Please. Take my hand, and run," he pleaded, his eyes wide and his breathing ragged in desperation.

The look in his eyes said more than his words, so she took his shaking hand, and ran.

They sprinted in between the stalls, ducking left and right, the Doctor frantic in his escape. What they were running from, she didn't know. But whatever it was, it scared him. And if it scared him, it must be truly frightening.

So she ran, ignoring the startled faces of all they pushed past, not bothering to squint through the crowd for some sign of an enemy. Because although the Doctor was hiding, he knew something she should know, he was lying to her, she trusted him all the same.

She laughed hollowly to herself. And he told her she was smart.

•••

The Doctor ran faster than he had ever before, dodging and sprinting between the bustling crowds and around the shouts and whispers. Running from the danger behind them, running from his past and inevitable future.

Why was he bothering? He knew this was coming. He had always known. They couldn't be tricked forever. They were always going to find him. Why run? Why not just stop and let it happen, as it must?

When we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run, fast as we can, and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow.

Clara. He had to keep her safe. If nothing else. She was precious. And as unstoppable as the oncoming shadow was, he couldn't let it take her.

He would never forgive himself for that.

The sight of the TARDIS standing tall on a small hill above the stalls was like the sight of someone thought long dead. The doors opened in anticipation of them, and he pulled Clara inside before locking them shut behind.

He set the coordinates in seconds, only letting himself breathe after they had begun on their course.

He looked down at his palm again, the four little black lines now six separate tallies. He had kept a pen in his pocket at all times in fear of this very situation, as he knew it would come. But he had hoped it wouldn't be so soon. He had hoped they would give him just a little more time.

"What are you afraid of?"

Clever Clara. Asking the real questions. "Some old enemies."

She waited, and he paused before continuing, "The Silence. A religious order, united in their quest to end my life. There's lots of those out there, actually, but these people...they don't care who stands in their way. I thought I'd tricked them, got rid of them for a while, at least. Maybe even destroyed any of their hopes of actually...killing me. I was wrong.

"They have come for me."

"They can't find you now, can they? We've left them behind."

"Oh, no. No no. We haven't left them behind. They'll find me soon enough."

"But-" she took a sharp breath. "What do the marks mean? A tally?"

"Of how many I've seen. Once you look away from them, you forget them. It's how you keep track," he ducked under the console and rummaged in one of the compartments, throwing out several sandwiches and a pair of red converse before he found what he wanted. "Here. Keep this on you at all times. If you see one, make a mark on your hand. And...hold still," he took her hand and injected the recorder into her palm. She took a pained breath in surprise.

"Sorry. Press that, and it records anything you say. If you see it blinking, it means you've left a message for yourself. Hopefully they won't go after you, but..." he trailed off.

He had been avoiding her eye, but now he couldn't ignore her gaze. "You aren't going anywhere, are you? You aren't going to do anything stupid?"

"I never do anything stupid."

She just raised an eyebrow as a reply.

"Okay, fine. But don't worry. I'll...we'll work something out. I tricked them once, I can do it again," he pulled open the TARDIS doors to reveal the Maitlands' front garden. Clara stepped out, but turned back to look at him with something concerned in her expression.

"Be careful, won't you?" he said to her. Though he knew she would. She wasn't arrogant, or impulsive. She was clever, she wouldn't willingly jump into any kind of danger. Not unless the situation direly required it.

"I will if you do."

He wasn't sure he could promise that. But he said so anyway. "I'll be careful. And I'll come back. I just...need to work out what they're doing."

"You'd better come back, chin boy."

He smiled and waved as she walked back up to the house and disappeared inside.

As soon as he was sure she was out of sight, he let himself close his eyes. Shutting the door, he leant back against the wood, tracing the grain with the tips of his fingers.

"I'll see you later, Clara," he whispered. "If I'm lucky."