The Doctor's POV
I left Missy and Clara in the sitting room. I went back into the TARDIS to check the date and time we had landed. I pushed a few buttons and looked at the screen,
"Oooohh..." I said. I spoke to the TARDIS, "Looks like we landed a bit later than intended..."
I exited the TARDIS and into the sitting room, "So. Good news and bad news." I said, "Good news is that we landed on the right planet. Bad news is is that it's 2020..."
"Wh-what?!" Clara asked, "We landed four years too late!"
"Well... as you already know. He's not good with time... even though he IS a TimeLord." Missy paused before sighing, "Maybe you should go and see your dad. He might be worried."
"Well... TECHNICALLY he isn't my dad..." Clara muttered.
"Clara... he DID take care of you for over twenty years, so he is still your dad." Missy explained. Clara sighed in response as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, she stared at the screen. I sat next to her and looked at her phone, her finger hovered over the call button on Dave Oswald's contact.
"You really should call him, Clara." I encouraged her. She nodded in confirmation as she hit the button, she brought the phone up to her ear.
Twenty minutes later
Clara was sitting anxiously on the sofa, awaiting Dave's arrival. She had ushered Missy and I into the TARDIS, saying that she was nervous about what Dave would think of our relationship. She was also nervous about talking with Dave about 'parents'.
"MAYBE you and Clara should have some... 'girl time'." I used air quotations.
"Girl time? Really, Doctor? I DON'T need to spend 'girl time' with Clara!" She exclaimed as she walked around the console. I walked up the stairs and sat in my chair, "Why don't you go and explain to Dave about getting Clara 'knocked up'? Or perhaps you could explain the ring on Clara's finger." Missy teased. I rolled my eyes and groaned in response.
My eyes started to flutter shut.
"Since when do you sleep?" I heard Missy's voice echo in my ears.
"I'm not sleeping... Just resting... my... eyes..."
Clara's POV
"Let me be brave... Let me be brave..."
The Doctor's POV
My eyes shot open and I looked around. I was in the TARDIS, sitting on the floor near the console. I looked up and saw Clara,
"Clara?" I questioned.
"I am not Clara Oswald. I am a voice interface." She replied. I-I was ASLEEP? Everything that happened... Finding Clara and Em/Bonnie on Skaro. Finding a planet full of angels. Me going through hell in that confession dial. Finding Gallifrey AND finding Clara on Gallifrey. Proposing Clara. Finding out that she was having twins. EVERYTHING!? It was a very realistic dream... I tear fell out of my eye, realising that everything was fake.
"H-how long was I asleep for?" I whispered to the TARDIS as I patted the floor. The TARDIS replied with a hum, "Only three hours? Such a long dream crammed into such a short time. Might even be more confusing than time travel." A sad smile appeared on my face.
"Doctor?!" a voice shouted. Missy. She looked at me, "What's wrong?" I didn't answer, I was in shock that everything was a dream. She then looked at the voice interface and asked, "Clara? What's going on?"
"I am not Clara Oswald. I am a voice interface." Missy then looked at me in shock. I stayed silent.
"Where is she, Doctor? Why do you have this voice interface of her?" Missy asked.
"D-Dead..." I stuttered, "It was my fault." I whispered.
"You are giving off some strong telepathic waves, Doctor... " She said with confusion as she held out her hand to me. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. I placed my hand on the console to support myself, "In these telepathic waves... Clara is scattered all throughout them. You had a realistic dream, didn't you?" She questioned. I nodded with a sigh. "We're at Clara's flat, Doctor. I can get rid of Jack and Jenny if you wan-" She was cut off by someone rampaging through the TARDIS doors.
"Don't think you can leave me THAT easily, Doctor!" Ashildr exclaimed as she walked over to me, she clamped some sort of metal around my wrist.
"Wh-What is that?!" Missy asked.
"A teleportation device." I replied.
"How did you know?" Ashildr asked in shock.
"Errr Lucky guess?" I said.
"You saw it in your dream, didn't you?" Missy asked. I nodded,
"Oh enough of this. I don't care about your DREAMS!" Ashildr exclaimed.
"Why? Why have you put that on him?" Missy questioned.
"He left me... I spoke to the people on trap street and they said that it would be better if the Doctor could no longer return to Earth. They said they would feel a lot safer." She explained as light started to surround me, "Have fun, Doctor... have fun in your h-"
I cut her off, "Hell! Yes I know... Dreams remember... apparently they can tell the future." The light finally engulfed me.
Clara's POV
"Let me be brave..." I awaited the Raven. My eyes fluttered with worry, a single tear making its way down my face. I waited... and I waited... and waited... I opened my eyes and looked down. The Raven had stopped mere inches away from me. Time had stopped. I looked around... Time HAD STOPPED! Everything and everyone else was still, except for me. Suddenly, the Doctor's voice filled the air,
"Clara... This way!" I looked to my left to see the Doctor in a doorway, with a bright light behind him, he held out his hand, "I can save you!" He exclaimed. I looked around in confusion before focusing my attention back on the Doctor. I walked towards him and into a white room.
"Doctor?" I asked. He slowly walked towards me with a sad smile, he wrapped his arms around me and brought me close, I felt a tear hit the top of my head.
"Yeah..." He mumbled.
"Where am I?" She questioned as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Just a planet..."
"What planet?"
"Basically, my place."
I paused, "I was about to die... I should be dead!" I exclaimed.
"J-just forget about that... it doesn't matter." He replied.
"Okay... wait a minute, what do you mean by YOUR place?" I asked.
"My place." he said, simply.
"Wait... you mean... G-Gallifrey?"
He tightened his arms around me, "Gallifrey." he confirmed.
"Did I miss something?" I wondered as I tried to pull away, he quickly pulled me back towards him as he said,
"N-no. Don't leave again." He pleaded. I instantly put my arms back around my neck.
"All right..." I whispered, I could sense how worried and upset he was as our telepathic link started to become more powerful than ever, "Just... explain." I said calmly.
"We're several billion years into the future and the universe is pretty much over..." His voice started to stutter.
"Young lady, Miss Oswald..." A man started, "I'm afraid we only have a very few minutes with you." This caused me to forcefully push away and stare at the General,
"What?" I asked, "Who's he?" I looked at the Doctor.
"He's called the General." He told me.
"You SHOULD be able to tell us something about the creature known as the Hybrid!" The General announced. My hand then hovered over my ear,
"Oh... oh, that's weird. What's wrong with my ears?"
"Nothing." he quickly said,
"Oh, it's weird. What's wrong with my ears?" I questioned.
"It's a side effect..." he replied.
"I-I can hear you fine. It's like... I don't know, it's like, erm... it's like something's missing." I explained,
"Doctor, we have to tell her," The General began, "We always tell them."
"Tell me what? What's he talking about? Doctor? Doctor, what's going on?" I asked with worry and confusion. he gently grabbed my hand and said,
"Clara, there's a sound you've been living with every day of your life, but you've learned not to hear." He said as another tear ran down his face. I raised my eyebrow as I placed my hand on his cheek and wiped the tear away,
"Doctor... What's wrong?" I questioned filled with concern and care.
He sighed, "I just missed you. That's it."
"H-how long has it been since you last saw me?"
"Tha-That doesn't matter..." he replied.
"Okay... what sound are you talking about by the way?"
"Your heartbeat... Your physical processes have been time looped... Frozen between one heartbeat and the next. Even your breathing is just a habit. You don't need it."
"If I'm frozen, how can I... How can I be walking about?" I asked as I checked my pulse. There wasn't one.
"Because the TimeLords are clever... It doesn't matter." He exclaimed.
"Yes! It matters to me!" I removed my hand from his cheek, causing a disruption in our telepathic link. The Doctor flinched at that. "Just... tell me."
"Although you are currently conscious and aware, in fact, you died billions of years ago." The General said. The Doctor then softly placed his own hand on my cheek. The disruption in our telepathic link seemed to reconnect which brought a slight smile to the Doctor's face.
"Doctor?" I started.
"We have extracted you at the very end of your time stream to request your help. Once we're finished here, you will be returned to your final moments. Your death is an established historical event and cannot be altered. I'm sorry. But you WILL face the Raven." The General explained.
"Doctor!" I exclaimed. He then looked me in the eyes and said,
"I'll try not to break your jaw." He had anger in his voice.
"My jaw?" I asked in confusion.
"I wasn't talking to you." He quickly to the General and punched him in the jaw, grabbing his gun in the process. He aimed the gun at the General.
'What is he doing?' I asked myself in my head.
'Saving you!' I heard the Doctor's voice in my head, 'I'll explain later...'
"Doctor, you can't do this. You know you can't." The General said.
"No, General, I don't know that. Everybody," He aimed the gun at everyone else in the room, "Stay EXACTLY where you are! No moving about. On pain of death, no-one take a selfie!" His aimed returned to the General.
"These people are unarmed." The General stated.
"So are you." The Doctor replied with no mercy.
"Doctor, I will NOT let you leave here. That's the sidearm of the President's personal security. There isn't a stun setting." The General explained. The Doctor took a quick glance at me and then back at the General,
"I will not let Clara die." He stated which made a tear start to form in my eye.
"She's been dead for half the lifetime of the universe. If you tried to change that, you could fracture time itself. Doctor, Lord President, are you really going to take that risk?" The General said.
"Doctor... Please... I don't want this. Put it down, please." I pleaded as I softly grabbed his hand which wasn't holding the gun. Suddenly, images started to flash in my mind, I closed my eyes. An image of me on Skaro with a bullet wound in my leg. And another image of Rigsy, the Doctor and I on a planet full of weeping angels. Another image of the Doctor placing a ring on my finger. I forced my eyes open as the Doctor asked the General,
"Regeneration?"
"Tenth." The General replied.
The Doctor nodded, "Good luck." His finger started to apply pressure onto the trigger,
"You too, sir." The General said. The Doctor fired the gun which shot the General. The General collapsed to the floor as the Doctor spun around and aimed the gun at everyone else,
"I want a neuro block. Human compatible. Quickly! Come on!" He demanded. They handed him one without hesitation, "Come on, quick!" He said to me as he dragged me out of the room.
"Y-you killed that man! You shot him! He's dead!" I exclaimed.
"It was him or you." He replied. I stopped in my tracks as did he,
"I don't care!"
"Yeah? Well, the difference is, when you die, you stay dead." The Doctor said as he placed both of his hands on my cheeks.
"So does he!" I replied.
"We're on Gallifrey. Death is TimeLord for man flu!" He explained with a stern tone. He then looked down and sighed as he removed his hands from my cheeks, his voice became softer, "Clara... I'm sorry. I ca-can't let you die. They want to take you away from me."
I wrapped my arms around his neck, "No, Doctor. They don't,,, I already died. BILLIONS of years ago... It can't be changed."
"Time can be rewritten..." The Doctor whispered.
"Not HUGE historical things like this though..." I paused, "Doctor... what did I see earlier? I saw myself on Skaro AND a planet full of angels..."
"My dreams. Some TimeLord dreams are VERY realistic. I had a dream where the TimeLords saved y-you and I thought it was real... but you were really gone..." He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face into my shoulder.
"There was... one more thing I saw..." I started, "A ring... yo-you gave me some sort of ring." I felt him tense. A smile then started to spread across my face, "That ring, Doctor... Is it what I think it is?"
"Well.. What do you think it is?"
I gulped, "A-An engagement ring?" I asked.
"I should have realised that it was dream as soon as you said yes to marrying me..." He whispered. I pulled away slightly and looked him in the eyes,
"Wh-what?!" I asked with a mixture of shock, confusion and a hint of anger, "Why would that make it obvious that it was a dream?!"
"Why would you want to marry me, Clara? You could have a perfectly normal life on Earth with a human... Just not P.E. though... I really hate him." I reached up and then roughly placed my lips on his. I pulled away and looked at his shocked expression, I then put my hand in his pocket and I felt my fingers lightly graze over a velvet box. I took it out of his pocket and observed it,
"Looks like you have the ring in real life aswell as in your dreams..." I acknowledged.
He nodded, "I wanted to ask you way before the Raven 'killed' you. I-I was just too..." He was cut off as we heard shouting come from down the corridor,
"FIND THE DOCTOR AND CLARA OSWALD!"
"I want to talk about this later..." Clara said as she put the box back into my pocket.
"This way, I'm fairly sure. According to the stories, there's a secret way out. If you find it, you are allowed to leave." The Doctor explained as we walked hand in hand through an eerie looking place.
"Ex...term...in...ate!" A Dalek? I tensed,
"It's okay! It's okay, look at it." The Doctor said, calming me down.
"Exterminate... me!" The Dalek pleaded.
"Is it trapped?" I asked.
"Don't worry, it's been neutralised. Those aren't vines. In your terms, they're fibre-optic cables, they're alive and growing. We're inside the biggest database in history. Sometimes, people are stupid enought to break in."
"Ex...term...in...ate... me!"
"Come on, Clara..." He said as he pulled me away from the Dalek.
We had managed to find what we were looking for, a 'primary service hatch'. He was talking about 'losing' the moon and more shenanigans that he had gotten up to in order to pass the time whilst he tried to open the hatch. I had noticed the look that the Doctor had been giving me ever since I arrived on Gallifrey,
"Doctor. Look at me again."
"Sorry, what?" He asked, not looking up at me, his gaze still focused on the hatch below us.
"In the eye. Look at me. Just do it." I ordered.
He looked up, "What? What is it?" I saw the sadness, fear and hatred in his eyes.
"How long has it been for you since you last saw me?" I asked.
"Oh... Oh, I'm not sure." He lied.
"How long?" I asked again.
He sighed, "I was stuck on a place. They..." He trailed off.
"They what? Who? Who are we talking about?" I questioned as I placed my hand on top of his.
"It really doesn't matter."
"What happened to your coat? I like the red velvety one. It was... it was very Doctory." I said.
"I changed it." He muttered. He moved his hand which caused mine to move off of his. "I think I've almost got it. I think this is it." He tried to change the subject.
"Tell me what they did to you. Tell me, what happened to the Doctor?" I asked.
He had told me his story. He still left out the part of how long it had been since the last time he saw me,
"Twenty feet of pure diamond. Harder than diamond in fact. But you break through anything, given time..."
"Miss Oswald..." I turned my head to face this woman. The Doctor told me about these people, the sisterhood of Khan. The woman was called Ohila,
"Stay back." I said.
"I'm sorry, but we have to find a way to extract you..." Ohila calmly said.
"I said, stay back!" I repeated. I looked back at the Doctor, "The Hybrid, what is it? What's so important you would fight so long?"
"It doesn't matter what the Hybrid is. It only matters that I convinced them that I knew. Otherwise, I'd have nothing left to bargain with."
"What were you bargaining for?"
"What do you think?" I shook my head in confusion, "You. I had to find a way to save you. I knew it had to be the TimeLords. They cost you your life on Trap Street, Clara, and I was to make them bring you back. I just had to hang on on there for a bit." He said. I placed both of my hands on top of his,
"How. Long?" I asked once again.
"It was fine." He replied, STILL not giving me the answer I wanted. I stood up and faced Ohila,
"Just answer this. One question. How long was the Doctor trapped inside the confession dial?" I asked.
"We think..." Ohila paused, "Four and a half billion years. He could have left any time he wanted. He just had to say what he knew. The dial would have released him." Ohila explained. I quickly kneeled back down next to the Doctor,
"Four and a half billion years..." I whispered.
"If she says so..." He shrugged it off. I put my hands on his cheek and forced him to look at me,
"Why would you even do that? I was dead! Dead and gone... Why? Why would you do that to yourself? You didn't have to be in there for over four billion years!"
"It doesn't matter, Clara! Look I'm almost done here," He moved his head so he was looking down again, causing my hands to fall from his face, "They'll have a TARDIS in the old workshops that we can use." He briefly looked up and when he did I put my lips on his. I pulled away and said,
"Doctor..."
"We don't have time for this, Clara."
"My time is up. Doctor, between one heartbeat and the last is all the time I have. I just want to say this just in case it's the last time. I love you and just you, don't spend over four BILLION years just for me... I would love to be on the Tardis with you again... but if my death is historical..."
The Doctor and I had come up with a plan. And to be honest, it was pretty good and unpredictable.
"What did you say to him?" Ohila asked.
"Oh... nothing I'm going to tell you, or anybody else. Except, maybe this one part," I paused, "I said... 'Don't worry, Doctor. They'll all be looking at me!" We all looked towards the grate and the Doctor had descended into it. I was the distraction.
"You need to tell us what the Doctor is going to do now!" Ohila demanded.
"You really are thick, aren't you? The Doctor is back on Gallifrey. Took him four and a half billion years to get here. What do you think he's going to do now?" The sound of the TARDIS filled the air, "He's stealing a Tardis and running away because THAT'S what he does best." The grey TARDIS started to materialise around me, "Bye!" I said.
The Doctor then pulled levers and we transported away. He smiled at me and quickly pulled me into a 'spinny hug'. He set me down and said,
"I forget to say something earlier..." He scratched the back of his neck.
"What?" I asked.
"I love you too." He grinned before saying, "Now... check your pulse. It should have restarted when we broke free of Gallifrey's time zone." I checked but... no pulse.
"Erm... Doctor... I still don't have a pulse..." I said.
"You sure?" He questioned, his smile slowly dropping from his face. I nodded in response.
"I think we maybe just have to fly a little bit further for it to restart..." He said as he pushed some buttons on the console.
"They said, your lot, that if you saved me... time would fracture. What does that mean?" I asked.
"Oh, they're exaggerating. They exaggerate all the time. History will be fine. Time will heal. It always does." He reassured me.
I checked my pulse again once he told me to. I occasionally glanced at the nural block which was 'human compatible'... what is it?
"What if time isn't healing? What if the universe needs me to die?" I asked as my voice started to break as the Doctor scanned me with his sonic sunglasses. He then threw the glasses onto the console,
"The universe is over! It doesn't have a say any more!" He replied. Suddenly, there were four knocks on the TARDIS doors. He started to walk towards the doors and I followed, he stopped and said, "No. This one I do alone." I watched as he left the TARDIS, closing the doors behind him. I waited for a few minutes before grabbing the glasses and placing them on my face, I looked at the screen and said,
"Screen on." It switched on and I could see the Doctor talking to Ashildr. I listened to their conversation... something about the Doctor being a Hybrid which shocked me at first. But what he said next shocked me even more,
"I'm going to wipe her memory of every last detail of me using the nural block. She'll be safe." He said. As soon as he said that I soniced the nural block, reversing the polarity on it.
"That may not be what she wants." Ashildr replied, "Will you tell her what you're going to do?"
He nodded, "Of course."
"When?" Ashildr asked.
"Now." He said. I quickly turned the screen off and put the sunglasses and nural block back on the console. Seconds later, the Doctor walked into the TARDIS with Ashildr.
"You okay?" He asked.
I nodded, "Yeah yeah yeah..."
"You remember Ashildr..." He said as he walked past me towards the console.
"Yeah, sure..." I said.
"I though you'd be more surprised to see her..." He trailed off as he picked up the nural block from the console.
"No, Doctor, no. I was watching on the monitor. Whatever you're about to do, don't do it!" I pleaded as I started to back away from the Doctor as he observed the nural block.
Tears filled his eyes as he spoke, "It won't hurt, it'll be nothing. You'll just pass out for a moment and then wake up perfectly fine. No chronolock..." He said softly trying to stop tears from falling down his cheeks, "When you wake up, you will have forgotten me. You'll h-have forgotten we ever even met..." He explained.
"And why would I want that?!"
"Because it's the only way!" He replied. I then glanced at the sunglasses and then back at the nural block, "What did you do?" He asked.
"I reversed the polarity."
He sighed, "I'm trying to keep you safe. I would rather have you live and forget me rather than die..." I shook my head, he sighed once again, "I don't think you reversed the polarity. I'm not even sure you can... Well... it'll do something to one of us..."
"Doctor?" I asked.
"You and me... together. One of us has to go. One of us has to forget the other." I stepped in front of him and said,
"You really don't know who will forget?"
"Let's find out. Let's do it like we've done everything else. Together." Tears fell out of my eyes and his.
"Why don't we just... fly away somewhere? Just me and you?" I said, knowing that it wasn't really possible.
"Oh, that'd be great, wouldn't it?" He gave me a sad smile and I returned it.
"God, yeah..." I replied.
"Clara... If I am the one to forget you... Tell our children about me, won't you?"
"Ch-children?" I asked in confusion.
He nodded, "Twins, Clara." I looked down as tears fell to the console room floor. "Good luck, Clara..."
"Good luck, D-Doctor... I love you." I replied as we both lay our hands onto the the device,
"I love you too, Oswald." I closed my eyes, we were both ready to press the button. My hand started to feel EXTREMELY hot... I opened my eyes and the Doctor and I dropped the nural block onto the floor. It was on fire.
"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Missy's voice boomed throughout the TARDIS,
"NOTHING... Comes between our ship!" Jack shouted as he pointed a rocket launcher at us.
"Setting fires is my speciality!" Missy winked, her hands were perched on her hips.
"Don't worry about the rocket launcher..." Jack paused, "It's just for effect."
"I... I- I'm confused..." Ashildr said.