Chapter 44: Unfair Reality

The heavy breathing coming from his exhausted wife was the only sound that could be heard. Even the monitors in the other room, the ones connected up to the younger version of his daughter seemed to have grown silent in the midst of everything.

The Doctor felt Clara shuffle in his arms, more of her weight shifting to lean against him. All of a sudden, everything seemed to be happening quicker and he was seriously worrying whether it was getting too much for her. There had only ever been one other time he had seen her so weak, the time she had discovered the grave of one of her other self's back in Victorian London.

"H… how?" she managed to breathe out, "Is this possible?"

Bronwin smiled weakly. Both she and Clara knew the answer to that one but she also knew that Clara didn't really understand anything that had been said over the past few minutes. After all, she had given birth to her daughter only a few hours earlier and suddenly she found herself standing before a grown-up version of her daughter, one who was actually older than her, but not by much.

Clara managed to push herself up from the Doctor's support not long after. God knows how she found any energy but somehow she managed to slowly cross the room towards Bronwin, her entire body shaking in the process.

"You…" she began, "You're my little girl? After all this time… you?"

Bronwin slowly nodded. She didn't even bother answering vocally but soon she found herself being tightly enveloped by her mother, something she deeply cherished.

During the moment between the two of them, the Doctor, hesitant at first, had made his way over. Despite the fact it was only a small distance, never before had anything ever felt so long… and he'd been from the start to the end of the universe!

Both of them, both of his girls, were glad when he put his arms around them. For the three of them, that moment seemed to be something extremely special. For some reason, all of them didn't think that what they were experiencing was going to be a common experience and sadly, Bronwin knew that that was going to be true.

By the time they pulled away from one another, Rutter and Shyanne Delacore had re-entered the room, both deeply pleased that the three of them finally knew who each other was. The Doctor acknowledged them both while Clara just turned to look back at the baby on the other side of the glass wall. It was only when Shyanne opened the door to enter that area that she suddenly seemed to snap back to reality.

"Oi, what ya doin'?!" she cried.

Shyanne spun around on her heels and smiled gently over at her, infuriating her quite a lot. All the false smiles from the women in blue were really starting to tick her off.

"I'm gonna disconnect 'er for a bit." answered Shyanne.

Bronwin's mouth dropped slightly before she began to walk over, her heavy steps echoing throughout the room.

"You can't!" she cried.

Clara's frown deepened when she turned to face her. "Why not?" she queried, "What's happenin' to you in there?"

Bronwin gulped before turning back to face Clara. She did briefly look up at her father at her side but it only lasted a second, if that.

"My cells are bein' modified." she explained, shaking her head lightly, "Didn't ya ever wonder why I weren't like a normal Gallifreyan hybrid?"

The Doctor suddenly frowned, looking over at his baby girl in the other room.

"Modified how?" he quizzed.

Bronwin turned to Shyanne for the answers. Although she knew, Shyanne would answer the questions which were to follow much easier than herself.

"They're bein' fused with pure time energy." she elucidated.

Clara watched the Doctor's eyes widened. Obviously, she had no idea if that was bad or not but it didn't take her long to work it out by the way he began to shake his head.

"That's not possible…" he whispered, "No-one living creature can handle that much energy and survive… Rose didn't, Idris didn't… I didn't…"

"Yet I can." interrupted Bronwin, "Thanks to these people, and this technology."

The Doctor turned to face his daughter, suddenly feeling his hearts scream for her. The pain of that much energy, that much power, it must have killed her on a daily basis. The voices inside his head were bad enough, but voices from pure time energy, being able to hear everything that was said or would be said, he was truly surprised she hadn't gone mad.

"No… no-one should have that much power…" he reminded her, "No-one should be able to control life and death… It's wrong!"

Bronwin sighed, tightly gripping one of her father's hands, making sure he listened to her very carefully from then on.

"Just because I can control life and death, it doesn't mean that I do…" she pointed out.

Clara gulped, seeing just how much that new knowledge was troubling her husband. However, that wasn't the only thing which had caught her attention.

"Your voice 'as changed." she pointed out.

Bronwin turned to face Clara, sighing and nodding a little.

"Yeah, sorry about that." she apologised, "The accent was only ever used to disguise my voice. This is how I speak normally."

"Why'd ya ever 'ave to disguise your voice?" quizzed Clara.

"Pure time energy's dangerous… and I have a very distinct voice." she explained, "If I'm not somewhere which is fully shielded and something hears it which I don't want to, they could easily track me down, just by the sound-print of my voice."

Clara frowned, shaking her head. "I don't really see how soundin' Cockney is gonna make any difference." she confessed, "Your 'sound-print' is still gonna be the same, accent or not."

Bronwin laughed slightly before trailing off when she turned back to see Shyanne removing the baby from the giant incubator.

"Shyanne, you can't!" she cried once again.

"Five minutes ain't gonna 'urt." she pointed out, "Besides, the main modification don't start 'til later."

When Shyanne returned to where the rest of them were stood, Clara's heart rate began to pick up as soon as she heard the gurgles from her daughter fill the room. Her breath hitched when Shyanne placed the tiny baby in her arms and it wasn't long before the Doctor was behind her, gently holding her hips while peering at his daughter over her shoulder.

"Hello little one…" Clara laughed lightly down at the infant.

Watching the small family begin to acquaint themselves with one another, Bronwin took a small step back into the shadows, gripping her locket in the process. Even though they were her family, she wasn't part of that particular unit.

Rutter used that opportunity to approach Clara and the Doctor, quietly questioning whether they wanted a photo taken. Both agreed without any hesitation and within a moment, it was done and dusted.

While everything was occurring with them, Shyanne slowly, and discretely, made her way over to Bronwin.

"Why are ya 'ere?" she questioned quietly enough so only Bronwin heard, "Really?"

Both were stood side by side, watching the others from a small distance away.

Bronwin shrugged her shoulders. "This isn't going to be easy for them…" she commented, "And I have a few things to do before they have to leave me here… her here."

Shyanne nodded in understanding. "Are you gonna tell 'em?" she quizzed, "Tell 'em exactly what you are? What you'll become when you grow up?"

Bronwin shook her head. "No…" she responded, "How can I if I don't even know myself? They'll find out the same day I do…"

Shyanne nodded once again. "Yeah, I get that." she stated, "But you know a lot more than they do… You were there, the younger you, anyway."

"Still…" trailed off Bronwin, "The less they know about that day and the outcome, the better."

Shyanne nodded in agreement. "How long will it be?" she enquired.

Bronwin shook her head. "I don't know for sure, I was just a baby." she reminded her, "I think… I think I was around six months, but I don't know."

Shyanne sighed. "Six months…" she repeated, "That's when the modification will be completed."

Before Bronwin had the chance to say anything else, Clara turned to face Shyanne.

"How… how long 'ave we got before ya gotta put 'er back in that thing?" she asked.

Shyanne, quickly looking down at a small pocket watch clipped on her robe, sighed.

"Half an hour?" she began, "Maybe a little less."

Clara nodded slightly. "And 'ow long will she be connected to it?" she queried.

Shyanne looked briefly at the Doctor before looking over at Bronwin who sighed. Slowly, she began to close the distance between her and her mother.

"Clara, you can't stay here." she began to explain.

"What?" Clara questioned, looking up at her husband before back at her grown-up daughter, "What d'ya mean? I'm not leavin' 'ere without her…"

Bronwin sighed. "Shyanne, Rutter, can you please give us a moment?" she requested.

Both women in blue soon evacuated the room, leaving just the Doctor, Clara, her and the baby. The Doctor had been dreading the moment where Clara had to discover the inevitable and therefore took the opportunity to take his daughter off his wife. Walking away from the pair to have a few private words with his baby, he left Clara and Bronwin alone. Part of Clara's mind already had an idea about what was coming, and she didn't like it…

"Clara, I'm… she's going to be inside that incubator for a long time…" Bronwin revealed, "And I can remember… you weren't here."

Clara shook her head. "I wouldn't… I couldn't leave her… you." she corrected herself, "How could I?"

Bronwin, once again gripping her locket for the final time, slowly removed it from around her neck. Giving it a quick kiss upon the front, she slowly raised Clara's hand and placed it inside her palm.

"What are ya doin'?" Clara enquired.

"Give this to her… to me." she whispered, "That way, you'll always be with me, no matter where you actually are."

Clara frowned slightly before opening the locket to see the image Rutter had not long taken of the three of them; the only difference was that the baby couldn't be seen in it.

Clara shook her head when she looked back up at Bronwin. "I… I still can't leave ya." she admitted, "I won't."

"You have to…" Bronwin forced out of her dry mouth, "You did before."

"Time can be rewritten." she stated, "Your Dad always says that…"

"Not this time…" Bronwin declared softly, "Besides; I need you to go somewhere else."

By this time, the Doctor had returned to the pair. "Where?" he quizzed.

Looking down at the younger version of herself being transferred from her father's arms to her mother's, Bronwin smiled before looking back up at them.

"Right now, as we speak, there's a very lonely, and very scared, little girl waiting in a Space Station, waiting for her parents to come and find her. When she was a baby, her parents had to leave her… and she couldn't wait to see them both again… She's still waiting…"

Clara felt her eyes water at that statement, realising that it seemed inevitable. Her baby, the small bundle curled up in her arms, would have to be left. She had to leave her with the women in blue… she had before, she had to now.

Unlike Clara, the Doctor wasn't upset by those words. Instead, he was intrigued, especially since something had just clicked in his mind. Smirking, he soon caught Bronwin's attention.

"The Dotter Space Station?" he asked.

Bronwin smile answered the question but that just confused Clara immensely.

"How d'ya know that?" she quizzed.

Still smiling, he continued to look at Bronwin, not really hearing Clara's question.

"23 or 24?" he queried, smirking as the memory surfaced.

Bronwin laughed although Clara didn't share the joke. "23." she responded.

The Doctor nodded adamantly. "That's where we'll go then." he promised.

Bronwin nodded before looking down at Clara. "I'll give you a few minutes."

Once Bronwin had left the room, Clara didn't know what to do, or what to think. So much had been learnt, her mind was running on overdrive in order to try and process it all.

Her interest in the Doctor's conversation with Bronwin didn't really take much priority. All she wanted to do was make the most of the short time with her baby girl.

"We really 'ave to leave 'er, don't we?" Clara almost cried.

"I'm sorry." the Doctor apologised softly, gripping the back of her neck and kissing the top of her head.

Lifting up at look at him, Clara smiled weakly. "I am too." she whispered.

"What for?" he questioned.

"For yellin', and pushin' you away…" she stated, "You were just tryin' to help…"

"Hey…" he soothed, "Don't worry about that. Let's make the most of this time with her…"

x-[]-x

The journey back to the TARDIS ended up being in complete silence. Clara refused to cry any longer but her heart felt hollow. Leaving her baby felt too wrong to even acknowledge yet she knew it was right… It just wasn't fair.

The only comfort she had was the fact that she had left Bronwin's locket with her, something she knew she would always have with her. The only problem with that was that Bronwin no longer had it… Then again, if she hadn't given it up, she never would have received it in the first place.

"Where will ya go now?" Clara asked, speaking to her daughter just before they reached the cupboard the TARDIS was hidden in.

"Dunno…" she confessed, "It's a big universe out there…"

Nodding, Clara smiled softly over at her. "Say 'ello to Dale for me." she requested, "And Emma and Abby…"

Clara trailed off as something about those people occurred in her mind, however, Bronwin just frowned.

"Who?" she enquired.

"Never mind." interrupted the Doctor, realising she wasn't at that point in her timeline yet, "We'll see you soon?"

Bronwin sighed. "Yeah…" she agreed weakly, "Love you both…"

And with that, she encompassed herself in strands of golden light and disappeared, leaving her parents alone.

Only then did the Doctor turn to his wife, one who was looking rather shell-shocked by whatever she had just realised.

"Clara?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm…" she tried to say, "I 'ave grandchildren… and I'm 26…"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "So?" he smirked, "I have a baby girl who's only a few hours old, and I'm over 1000… I think."

Clara shook her head a little, laughing slightly. God, she'd missed him…

Finding himself completely adoring her giggle, the Doctor sighed.

"Oh, come here, you…" he whispered.

Carefully, but rough enough to show her his desire, the Doctor lightly gripped the back of her neck and pulled her up towards him. The smile he felt against his lips at their caress advanced made his entire body tingle and within no time at all, both their tongues were fighting for dominance. However, no matter how much they were both enjoying it, they knew they had to leave pretty soon.

Slowly pulling away from her lips, the Doctor left their foreheads touching as he looked into her deep brown eyes, something he had deeply missed.

"Love you." he whispered.

"Love you too." Clara responded.

Smiling, the Doctor kissed the point of her nose. "Always…"