The week felt odd to Clara. Amy hadn't wanted to divulge the information until she was absolutely certain with a doctor's visit and Clara knew she didn't want to jinx anything by saying something too early, because they both knew it was early, so she hadn't said anything to anyone at the school. But she also hadn't said anything to Clara. Aside from a tiny wave here and there, the woman had been avoiding her and Clara understood – Amy knew her better than anyone and she knew aside from her elation, there'd be the twinge of sadness. Amy hated the sadness, and so she made appointments and talked with Rory and threw up more out of nerves than nausea.

And then there was Danny Pink. She knew seeing her the way he had in her flat had made it all too clear the state of mind she was in and she frowned as she thought about how that might hinder them, but he tested the waters at random. He flirted with conversation, telling her about his classroom full of curious students and asking her about hers; he grumbled about the children calling him a Cyberman while chuckling; he questioned Amy's strange behavior and shrugged it off when Clara told him it was nothing; he handed her a drink from the vending machine and walked away with a smirk.

Then he always found a reason to disappear on her, which only made her sad.

The week felt lonely and she found herself downing two sleeping pills on Friday evening just after a hurried dinner, and lying in bed, anxious for the dream world to take hold. Clara smiled when the forest bloomed around her and she laughed when she saw her daughter peek out from behind a tree that would dwarf the tallest man. Hide and Seek, she understood, and she rushed towards the girl, carefully and quietly rounding the moss encrusted trunk to bend and slip her hands underneath Maddie's shoulders to lift her as she squealed.

"Mummy," she called just before a giggle as Clara twisted her around. Her legs wrapped around her midsection and she held either side of Clara's neck, smiling at her before looking up. "Is John coming again?" She questioned.

Head tilting, Clara explained, "No, honey, maybe another time."

"Oh," she sighed. "I like when he's here."

Brow dropping curiously, she asked, "What about the Doctor?"

Maddie giggled and then wiggled out of her hold, rushing away with a wild laugh to run around the trees and through the forest as Clara chased after her. It was cool enough in the dreams, but she found herself covered in a sheen of sweat as they reached the edge of a long dark lake, Maddie crunching over the gravel towards the lapping water where she began picking up pebbles to examine. It was serene, like things usually were in these dreams, and she looked out at the mountains on the other side, curtained in a low mist that cleared out as the skies moved over them.

Crossing her arms, Clara smiled as she watched her daughter rummage around. Her curious little girl who'd become so adventurous within these dreams – she hoped she retained that when she woke. "Have we ever skipped rocks, Maddie?" Clara questioned lightly, bending to flick aside smaller stones to find the perfect stone.

Maddie shook her head, "How do you skip rocks?"

Standing at the water's edge, Clara turned the stone in her hand and then curled a finger around it, looking to her daughter who was twisting her fingers into each other as she watched, before swinging her arm deftly to send that stone hopping across the water. Maddie's eyes widened and she took a step towards her, mouth falling open as she shouted, "How did you do that?"

With a smirk, she searched the ground and told her, "Find a round flat one."

The girl immediately set herself to the task, fiddling through the stones until she plucked one up for her approval as she came to stand in front of her. Clara held her hands, trying to shift her fingers just right around the stone before she straightened and toggled her own stone between her hands, smiling as the girl watched before she slowly went through the motion, not releasing, but nodding at Maddie, who mimicked her and then giggled.

"A lot of times, even with tons of practice, they just plop in," she warned, "But if you throw it just hard enough and just right enough, it'll jump," she released her stone and watched it hop thrice before plunking into the dark water.

Maddie nodded and she was biting her lip as she turned, giving her arm several swings of practice before tossing the rock roughly and grunting when it splashed and sank. Clara's hands came up lightly to her mouth, afraid she'd be disappointed, but then Maddie turned, wide grin on her face dimpling her left cheek before she shrugged and jumped towards her, latching her arms around Clara's legs.

"It's alright, sweet pea, we can try again," Clara sighed, nodding and running her hands over her daughter's hair before holding her cheeks in her palms.

Shaking her head lightly, Maddie replied, "It's ok, mummy, I'm not sad."

"I can see that," Clara laughed, then she glanced around and side eyed the girl grinning back at her, "How about we go exploring?"

Gasping, Maddie released her and then took her hand, bending slightly to 'creep' towards the forest with her, looking about and whispering, "What do you think we'll find, mummy?"

"Mostly frogs," Clara stated.

The girl wrinkled her nose and spat, "Ew," before dissolving into giggles.

And then they heard a howl and they both straightened, Clara glancing down at Maddie to see the terrified look on her tiny face as her breathing began to quicken. "Is this you?" She questioned.

"It's dark here," Maddie stated. Branches crackled around them as the sun that had been filtering through the trees disappeared and the air that began to swirl through them became colder. Clara dropped to her knees and she turned her daughter to look at her now pale face. She shook her head and watched Maddie's bottom lip tremble. "Mummy..." she began.

Fingers gripping into her daughter's thin arms, Clara smiled and she tried to sound hopeful as she allowed, "It's ok, baby, it's alright – this is all your imagination, which means you can change it. Remember what the Doctor said, you control this. You can make it like it was, or you can take us somewhere safe."

"But what if he's here?" The girl complained weakly.

No sooner had Maddie said the words, than a shock of laughter shook the very breath in Clara's lungs and she stood, grabbing hold of her girl to lift her up into her arms, pressing her forehead to the girl's. She tried to convince herself it wasn't real, but the terror burst in a cold snap out from her heart through her body. And then she focused and told her girl, "Maddie, he's not real, daddy isn't here." She held her securely and repeated, this time with more confidence, "Daddy isn't here, Maddie."

The girl shouted out against the wind now whipping their hair about in a frenzy, "He's here, mummy. He's here and he's going to get us."

"Maddie, daddy isn't here!" Clara argued. "He can't be here. It's impossible."

But his voice echoed out, calling, "Where are my girls?" And then he added darkly, "Madeline, daddy has a present for you."

Clara shook her head as her daughter screamed, repeatedly and sharply, just as the Doctor had told her, "Bugger off! BUGGER OFF! BUGGER OFF!"

But it didn't seem to work as magically as the man had hoped and Clara took a terrified breath, telling the girl firmly, "Maddie, he's dead!" She fell back down to her knees and pried the girl's face up off her shoulder, crying out against the whistle of wind, "He's dead, Maddie, your father is dead! Doctor!"

In a blink, the girl was gone and the world was white and the Doctor was standing two feet away, a worried look on his face as he held tightly to a tablet and looked her over. She imagined she looked terrible, body still shaking, hair tussled, face red and tear streaked as she stared up at him, lips trembling. He looked to the chart and he tapped at it, then looked back at her and inched forward, but remained at a distance, trying – she imagined – to work out the best explanation.

"Did she have another seizure?" Clara asked hoarsely. "Is that what these nightmares are?" She looked to the ground and groaned, "Is this her mind deteriorating?" Her head snapped up at his silence and she barked, "Is my daughter dying, Doctor?"

He took a careful step and then knelt slowly in front of her and she thought her heart might stop at the notion that maybe there was no dying. Maybe her child was already gone and the last moments of her girl's life would have been lived in her mother's inability to protect her from the bogeyman. Clara dropped her backside onto her heels and lifted her hands to cover her face, sobbing into them as the Doctor hovered in the space in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he finally told her, hand touching her shoulder gently. "I had to stop the dream, separate you both for your own good, and my subconscious was with her, making sure she was alright before I disconnected her from the system."

Clara raised her head and asked in hushed voice, "She's alright?"

He smiled, brow creasing as he told her, "She's fine, Clara. She was scared, and a little confused, but she's fine, just resting back in her hospital bed. Just a nightmare," he assured, fingers massaging at her flesh, "Just a terrible nightmare."

Hands coming up and then flapping back down, Clara fully sat on the ground and lamented, "I don't know how to stop them. And I didn't realize before that for whatever reason she probably has more control over these dreams than I ever could – I don't seem to have any control." She inhaled raggedly. "I can't protect my little girl from the things she fears most, I can't be her mother here the way I should be, I can't..." she shook her head, covering her mouth with her palm as she cried.

"Clara," the Doctor laughed, "Clara you're doing more than so many mothers ever would, or even could."
Trying to compose herself, she sniffled hard and shook her head again, "No, Doctor, I couldn't protect her in the real world. I couldn't stop her father being in her life and I couldn't stop him from running us off the road and I couldn't stop her and her best friend from drowning, and if it weren't for some stranger who saw the accident, they'd both be dead. Little girls who wanted nothing more than to get home and play with their dolls and now one is dead and the other is dying..." she dropped her hand to the ground, trying to keep herself upright because her body wanted to collapse.

"She's not dying, Clara," the Doctor told her sternly.

Nodding slowly, Clara reached out and he took her hand, pulling her to stand and holding her steady, his hands planting at her waist, swaying her slightly as some old music began to drift into that white space. He smiled at her and he began to move, a slow dance she managed to laugh weakly at, and she wrapped her hands around his neck, letting him lead, knowing he was trying to calm her in the way he'd calmed her daughter. "What did you say to her?" She asked curiously.

He sighed and told her quietly, "The truth."

"I told her he died," Clara allowed. "I'd never told her that before."

"She asked me why you wouldn't have," he affirmed.

Clara looked to him. "What did you tell her?"

"That you were protecting her because you knew that even though he was a bad man, he was still her father and you knew a tiny bit of her had loved him." He nodded. "I told her that all you want to do is keep her safe and keep her loved and she laughed at that – asked if that was why you called me."

Smiling, Clara responded, "And what did you say to that?"

"That I'm just a good man trying to make sure everyone is safe," he shrugged, "But she told me I was wrong, at least partly. Cheeky little thing," he laughed, head toggling, "She said I was here because I loved you."

Body slowing, Clara asked, "And what did you tell her?"

Touching his forehead to hers, he whispered, "I told a secret."

"What was the secret?" She inquired.

He laughed, "It's a secret. I couldn't tell you; otherwise it wouldn't be a secret anymore."

"Fair point," Clara acquiesced. Then she asked, "But is she truly alright, should I wake and go see her – the last time she had a nightmare like this, she was having a seizure and..." his hands came up to grip her shoulders just tight enough to stop her words as he smiled.

"Hers is a special case – we monitor her vitals in a more thorough way than most clientele, all of her activity was normal for a nightmare," he explained, "Just a nightmare." Then he assured, "If there had been a problem, I would have disconnected you automatically and I would have called to let you know."

Accepting his answer, she shifted into him, resting against his chest as his hands resumed their positions at her waist and they began to dance again. Her breathing was off, stopped occasionally by the remnants of tears, and she tried to calm herself, even though Harry's voice was still echoing in her mind. It probably always would in some way, she thought to herself sadly. Her daughter, she hoped, would forget it with time.

She hugged the Doctor tightly a moment, thankful for his presence, and then she asked, "Do you think her memory of him will fade?" He hummed and she swallowed the lump in her throat to speak again, "Her father, there were good memories of him, but they were so long ago I don't know if she remembers. What she does remember are the bad times, the shouting matches and the lawyer's offices and the things he said to me when I finally took her away. And she remembers the crash, I know she does." Clara nodded. "Do you think those memories will fade with time, Doctor? Or will they haunt her for the rest of her life like they will mine?"

He laughed softly then, and she felt the sigh he released flutter over her hair. Then his arms shifted to wrap around her comfortingly. "Clara, everything fades with time; that's the nature of time. Your daughter will forget his face and she'll forget his voice and she'll forget those things said maliciously out of anger and she'll replace those memories with new ones – she'll replace them with moments shared with you, I promise you that."

"And what of you?" She sighed sadly. "You can't watch over us forever, will she forget you?"

"I suppose that depends," he responded with a light chuckle, fingers brushing through her hair as he pulled her back gently and looked down into her eyes. "Do you trust in love again, Clara?"

"If I did, would your job be done?" She smiled, at ease, now that she knew Maddie was safe.

His dropped his head back slightly, seeming to consider the question, and then he turned his eyes back down to look her over, hand pushing into her hair at the side of her head so his thumb traced over the edge of her ear. Then he leaned into her to kiss her delicately for a moment before inching back to sigh, "My job is done when you tell me to go."

"What if I never tell you to leave?"

On a laugh, the Doctor looked around the room and Clara smirked as it filled in with her flat. Somehow the magic of everything popping into place made it seem new, and she gripped his shirt lightly, laughing as the tele flickered on and some old movie played mutedly behind them as they stood in the space between her front door and the couch. The Doctor sighed as his eyes roamed over her face again, making her blush, and then he told her quietly, "Then I suppose we're going to have a problem, Clara Oswald."

Nodding, Clara asked, "What problem would that be?"

He smiled and poked her nose, "You're waking up."