DISCLAIMERS/NOTES

1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by the BBC. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.

2. This is a femslash story. If you don't like that sort of thing, you won't like this.

PART 21

Clara watched the Doctor intently as he approached. Neither had noticed Amy disappear before she could enter the TARDIS.

Clara frowned as she spied the object in the Time Lord's hands. "What's that?" she asked, nodding to it.

As if caught like a deer in the headlights, the Doctor's body stiffened. "It's, er... how can I put this... " Clara sighed. Often she found her old friend's offbeat manner endearing, but not now: too much had happened recently. Clara was emotionally exhausted.

Perhaps he sensed her lack of patience, as he cleared his throat and closed the distance between them. Now up close, Clara could inspect the object better. It was a small, bronze oval, almost rectangular if not for the curved far ends. There were three overlapping rings engraved on it, and smaller circular etchings throughout. On one end was a hole, where the most detail was carved around. Frankly, it looked like a funky keyring. "It's something that'll take the pain away," he eventually offered.

The teacher frowned. "A painkiller? Doctor, I'm not in any pain... " Unless... did he know about the pregnancy?

"Yes, you are," he simply said, a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sick of failing my friends, of seeing their lives ruined by being with me. And if there's anyone who deserves a happily-ever-after, it's you and Amy."

Clara merely glared at him, bewildered.

"This'll fix things," the Doctor continued. Clara almost got the impression he was trying to convince himself as much as her.

"Can't we do this later, in the TARDIS?" She paused and closed her eyes as she thought about what she had to do. "I... I have to talk to Amy."

"We should do this now." The Doctor looked away briefly. "Before I lose my nerve... "

"Your nerve... ?"

Darting his gaze back to her, the Time Lord clenched his jaw. "Clara, do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," she said. "Apart from Amy, there's no one else I trust more." Again she felt a sting in her heart: if only she was as trustworthy. "But Doctor, I don't have time for this. I have to see Amy."

"Please, just do as I say." He held the object out. "Press here," he instructed, indicating to the end without the hole, which he was still holding.

Yes, he was certainly being his usual eccentric self. Clara really did not feel like indulging him, but if it meant getting back to Amy, then fine. She clasped the object and put her thumb in the middle of the outermost circle. After a lengthy look between them - ending in a reassuring nod from the Doctor - Clara pressed down.

There was a barely-audible whizzing sound, but otherwise nothing else happened. Clara's frown only deepened, but the Doctor just stared at the object. "You can let go now." She did so, and the Time Lord took the device back fully into his hands. "This is for the best, Clara." He looked away, his voice momentarily distant once more. "For the best." Turning back to her, he continued. "Once this is done I'll take you and Amy home, and this will all just be one bad dream for you."

"More like a nightmare," sighed Clara. "I still have to tell Amy... what I did." A sob escaped. "And... oh God... not to mention the baby... "

The Doctor's face instantly dropped. "The what?"

So much for subtlety - but Clara had no time for subtlety now. "In Missy's TARDIS, I was... she had some of her... I mean, his... I mean... I'm guessing when she was a he... some... reproductive samples... and I was injected... with them... " She looked down in shame, unable to meet his no-doubt appalled face. "I mean, she didn't do it. We were attacked, and... it... God, it doesn't matter. What matters is that... " She closed her eyes tight as she finally voiced the fact, making it real for the first time. "I'm pregnant. With Missy's baby." Drained, Clara looked back up at her friend... and blinked at his expression.

She expected the Doctor to be repulsed, disgusted. But instead, he just looked... dizzy. His eyes were almost rolling into the back of his head, and his body swayed. Clara flinched when the device fell from his hands and dropped to the ground. "Doctor... ?"

When he spoke, his words were slurred, and his breathing getting heavy. "This... this wasn't... supposed to... " He suddenly dropped to one knee, and Clara lowered with him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Doctor! What's happening?!" She held onto him as he then fell backwards slowly until he was barely balancing on one elbow on the ground. Clara felt panic like she almost never felt before as she screamed in the direction of the TARDIS. "AMY! HELP US!" Amy had to be able to see what was happening outside the police box, and hear Clara's loud cries. Of course, Clara did not know Amy was nowhere near.

"Shouldn't have... shouldn't have... " the Doctor stammered. What was happening? Was he regenerating? Clara glanced at his hands, and saw no golden glow. He glared at her, a crazed yet distant look on his face. "Don't... understand... not supposed to... be this... this... pregnant... baby... ?"

Clara's jaw wobbled. Was that it? Was he just that shocked?

"Missy... baby... ?"

Tears trickled down Clara's cheeks. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't plan for any of this... I... I've ruined everything... "

"Ruined... every... " The Doctor took one last, almost mournful look at her... then his eyes closed and he collapsed, unconscious.

Clara shook her head violently. "No! No, wake up! Tell me what's happened!" She looked back up at the TARDIS. "Amy, PLEASE! HELP!" Nothing.

She then heard a small beeping noise, and turned to see the object on the ground next to them. Clara picked it up and looked at it bafflingly.

Suddenly, it exploded in her face. It did no harm, but it was just big and surprising enough to force her kneeling body backwards, and she smacked the back of her head on the ground.

Yet again, everything went black...

TO BE CONTINUED