Clara stopped missing the touches, stopped smarting from his flinches when they would accidentally brush up against each other or bump arms. She stopped wondering what had changed so much inside him that had made her physically repulsive to him now. Then one night she agreed to a set-up on a blind date. Sequel to Hold Onto Me.

But it was what had brought them to this point: kneeling together on an ancient, dirt-caked circuit board, so close and yet – separated by the one thing that had always kept them apart. The one thing that might have made everything different if only they had the courage to *talk* to each other. Hell Bent missing scene.

The Doctor knows what Clara doesn't- his time with her is almost at an end. The only thing he doesn't know is how he'll ever find the strength to let her go. Companion Piece to "Finders Keepers" and "Dinner at the End of the Universe."

His hand curls tightly around her own, and he closes his eyes as he speaks. "Clara, I'm trying to tell you that I love you."

What happened between the Doctor finding Clara inside of the Dalek, and them making their great escape to the Tardis? We might never know, but I needed to explore a what-if...

AU after 'Black Hearts'. Lisbon moves to DC, Jane has a hard time adjusting, and everyone else makes a lot of phone calls.

"...And then she'd gotten on a plane. He didn't mind this time, especially since he had gotten on the same one."

"He was frighteningly shaky, both metaphorically and literally, and he felt very strange, like he was sleepwalking. Baring one's soul was an exhausting thing. But worth it, as it turned out."

'Jane squeezed her fingers. "Anxious to get going?" he murmured. "We're just lucky some idiot didn't sneak on board and disrupt proceedings. I hear the TSA really frowns on that sort of thing."'

They're both broken, and she can still see the cracks when they're held up to the light, but maybe it's the mixing of pieces and the sharing of scars that will make them whole again. They're not running anymore. He loves her. She loves him. And it might not be perfect, but nothing ever is, and it's a very good place to start. During/post 6.22, "Blue Bird".

Tag to 6x22 Blue Bird: "Finally they're here; the storm weathered, the battle won, a shared future theirs for the taking. And it's going to be wonderful." Jane x Lisbon

He thinks they sound kind of like a true love story. Post-ep for 'Blue Bird'.

6x22 Tag -"He would never, never forget the second when he began to believe that maybe, just maybe he wasn't going to have to be alone anymore."

"Everything okay?" Marcus asked, concerned. "Yeah." The lie was unconvincing even to her own ears. Since most rational human beings wouldn't be reduced to tears by the delivery of Italian pastry, obviously there was more to the story than that, but Marcus knew enough not to pry. Post ep for 6x20, Il Tavolo Blanco

6x16 Tag - "And then she sat on the floor of her shower, hot water streaming all around her, telling her heart to shut up. It was time she did something for herself. Marcus was kind and thoughtful and, best of all, he wasn't wearing a wedding ring."