The End Is Where We Start From

by loulouflowerpower

11/OC-Time Lady. The Doctor and the Hatter have managed to escape Lake Silencio with their lives and reunited themselves with their infant daughter. But with Astra with them, will they be able to balance parenthood and their adventures? How will losing the Ponds affect them? And a new, impossible mystery is looming that is something quite personal for the Hatter to have to solve.

17. Chapter 17 The Rings of Akhaten, Part 2

The Rings of Akhaten, Part 2

The Hatter ran alongside the Doctor as they left the amphitheatre, her hearts racing in her chest and the image of Merry's terrified face swimming through her mind, making her quicken her pace as they made their way back into the main part of the market in record time. It was almost empty here, Merry's cries for help and the shocked sounds from the audience watching on, frozen and confused, muted now as they turned a corner swiftly.

"Why are we walking away?" Clara demanded as she hurried to catch up to them.

"Clara…" the Hatter began, sparing her a brief look back over her shoulder.

"We can't just walk away," she continued, only seeming to be growing more distressed, "This is our fault, Hatter!" she managed to grab the Hatter's jacket sleeve, forcing the Time Lady to a stop, "We talked her into this!"

"We're not walking away!" the Time Lady said loudly, giving Clara a forced, calm look as she struggled to stop herself from just dashing away because while they lingered here, in the middle of the market, Merry was growing further and further away from safety, "We would never, ever walk away from a child in need, Clara," she went on, lowering her voice slightly now that she had Clara's full attention, "From anyone, in need".

"Clara," the Doctor stepped back up next to the Hatter, his expression very, very serious, "There's one thing you need to know about travelling with us. Well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts…"

"Not relevant right now, sweetheart," the Hatter cut in pointedly. She was almost buzzing with anxiety, her mind spinning with all the possible things that might happen to Merry if they didn't get to her in time, Merry's terrified face swimming through her mind, haunting her almost as much as Astra's face did. They needed to save Merry, if it was the last thing that they did, because no one else was going to do it. They were Merry's only chance right now and they would not let her down.

"Right, dear," he nodded, clearing his throat as he levelled Clara with a stern look, "We don't walk away, Clara," he grabbed the Hatter's hand and spun on his heel, leading them swiftly off through the market, turning a corner, where they spotted Dor'een thankfully still standing by her market stall. He exchanged a relieved look with the Hatter as they made straight for the stall, the Doctor barking urgently at the alien, who gave a loud, formidable growl back. He paused to let go of the Hatter's hand, patting his front down, before turning back to the girls, though his eyes seemed to linger more on Clara then the Hatter, "I need something precious".

"Well, you must have something," Clara said quickly, looking between the Time Lords, "All the places you've both seen, there must be something".

The Doctor glanced at the Hatter, who was eyeing him closely, before turning back to Clara as he reached into his pocket, "This," he pulled out the sonic screwdriver, showing it for her to see as he frowned deeply, "And I don't want to give it away, because it comes in handy".

She stared at him in disbelief, "You're a thousand years old, and that's it?" she said incredulously, "Your spanner?"

"Screwdriver".

The Hatter remained silent, but inside she felt the guilt bubbling up inside her as she watched Clara sigh heavily, a look of resignation filling her eyes. She could give up her hat, surely that would be enough? After all, to her her hats were precious, each and every one of her hats held a sentimental value to them in her eyes…and if it meant saving Merry's life, of course she wouldn't hesitate to give up her hat. But she could also see what the Doctor was doing right now, it was another test for Clara, trying to see just what sort of person she was, testing her moral and ethical limits. No one ever said that it wouldn't also be testing the Hatter and the Doctor's moral and ethical limits, either.

Clara's eyes flickered between the Time Lords, before slowly looking down at her right hand, twisting a delicate, silver ring sitting on her middle finger with a heartbroken look. The Hatter felt her stomach drop, her eyes snapping up to meet the Doctor's…Now this was taking things too far. Clara didn't notice, of course, gazing down at the ring.

"It's my mum's," she murmured, toying with it as she lifted her gaze up to them at last.

"Clara…" the Hatter said sharply, almost feeling panicked as she realised what Clara was planning to do, what they had practically manipulated her into doing. She ignored the wide eyed look the Doctor was giving her as Clara looked at her, licking her lips as she glanced down at the ring on her hand, "You don't have to do this, that ring belonged to your mother," she gave her a stained smile, her hearts pounding so hard that she almost felt light headed, "I...I have something".

And, with a bracing breath, she lifted the delicate silver chain of her signet necklace and lifted it up, over her head. It almost snagged against the brim of her hat, the metal warmed from her skin as she took it off for the first time since the Doctor had given it back to her centuries ago as a Christmas present. It was the last thing she had of her parents, of her family on Gallifrey, her House. But what did any of that matter when it came to a life?

"Hatter," the Doctor said hurriedly, looking almost horrified, his eyes widening in shock. He knew, of course, how much that necklace meant to her, but not just to the Hatter, it also meant a great deal to him. For centuries it had been almost like a sign of hope to him that maybe he and the Hatter would be something more, more than once he had found himself simply holding that necklace when troubled or in need of reassurance that only the Hatter could give him, and without her by his side in those old days, that necklace had served as the best alternative.

She smiled weakly and tried to shrug it off, "It's only a silly necklace, Doctor," she lied, her words sounding utterly false and hollow, allowing the warmed, delicate metal of the chain and the curved, rounded pendant to dig into the flesh of her palm as she turned towards Dor'een before she could think more on what she was doing. She almost felt naked without the necklace hanging around her neck, as though she was missing something as she dropped the necklace into Dor'een's large hand and adverted her gaze as she began examining it.

It seemed so ridiculous to feel her eyes stinging with tears over a necklace.

"Thank you," Clara's soft voice drew her attention, pulling the Hatter eyes back onto the young girl who was staring at her with large, grateful eyes.

The Hatter managed a proper smile, "Don't thank me, Clara," she told her, "It was only an old relic, anyway".

They all knew that was a complete and total lie, even Clara, who might not know the full story behind the necklace, knew well enough that only something precious could have been enough, and judging by the looks on the Doctor and the Hatter's faces, or though the Time Lady tried to play it off, it was something incredibly special to both of them. The Doctor stepped closer to the Hatter and gently wound his arm around her waist, he didn't look quite as horrified or shocked now, but he did look as though he was struggling not to show just how upset he was. Not at the Hatter, never at her, but at the sacrifice she had taken upon herself.

"Come on," he said gently to the Hatter, who meet his eyes and gave him an almost apologetic look. But he simply shook his head and pressed a light kiss to her cheek, before leading her over towards the space moped.

The Hatter immediately moved around to climb into the sidecar, figuring that if they managed to get within range of grabbing Mary, she would have better luck reaching out and grabbing the little girl if she wasn't stuck sitting behind the Doctor…of course, the Doctor did shoot her a small pout, which she returned with a cheeky smile as she dropped into the sidecar with ease. The Doctor brightened slightly at her response and swung his leg over the bike seat, Clara hesitating slightly before climbing onto the seat behind him, winding her arms around his waist as he started the engine with a loud roar.

They were off in a matter of a second, zooming through the market so fast that they accidently caused objects sitting on stall tables to be knocked over, clothing to be rattled, even some fruit to end up falling from a table and scattering across the ground, but they were moving so quickly they didn't even hear the vendors shouts and complaints. The Hatter had one hand clamped down on top of her hat, keeping it firmly in place as her hair streamed out behind her, laughing at every turn that they took before they reached the amphitheatre and zoomed straight out into space before the still gathered crowd could even process what had just happened. They spotted Merry at once, still being pulled back towards the pyramid, struggling to fight back against the force pulling her.

"Merry!" Clara shouted, reaching out towards the girl as they neared. The Hatter carefully managed to balance herself so that she was practically standing, holding both arms out towards Merry, hoping desperately that at least one of them would be able to reach her, edging closer and closer, until Clara practically had her hand in her grasp, when suddenly Merry was tugged harshly and she was pulled away from them, sucked straight into the temple with a scream, "Brakes!" she cried urgently, their approach to the pyramid far too fast, "Brakes!"

The Hatter dropped back onto her seat, grasping the edge of the sidecar, just as the Doctor hit the brakes and they went skidding through the air, sending sparks and dust into the air as they all shouted loudly as they descended down onto an open area before the stone doors of the pyramid. Dust billowed up into the air that surrounded them as the engine began to shut down, the Hatter breathing heavily as she straightened her hat as it fell sideways, blinking slightly from the rather abrupt landing. Clara seemed to be handling it far less well, clinging to the Doctor from behind, gasping as she buried her head into his right shoulder, forcing the Doctor to lean back slightly on a rathe uncomfortable angle.

"Well…" the Hatter said slowly, absently touching her hair, which was rather tangled after the journey, "That was…fun," she broke into a broad smile and, without pausing, climbed out of the sidecar, spinning back around to the Doctor…who looked far less pleased, grimacing faintly as Clara still clung to him.

"Fun isn't the word I'd use right now, dear," the Doctor commented with a slight wince, "Okay, Clara…time to let go".

"I can't!" Clara replied instantly, seemingly almost squeezing the life out of him.

"Clara, you have to," he tried again, his voice slightly strained. The Hatter struggled not to smile, watching.

"Why?"

"Because it really hurts!"

She finally lifted her head from his shoulder, grimacing slightly, "Sorry," she said hastily, dropping her arms from around him and scooting back in her seat, allowing the Doctor to immediately jump up from the moped.

The Hatter laughed, noticing the way the Doctor discreetly rubbed at his chest, though she made no comment on it as she moved to join him as they stepped closer to the now closed, stone door of the temple that Merry had been pulled through. They had more important matters to be concerning themselves with, frowning thoughtfully as she eyed the very thick and heavy door before them, while the Doctor whipped his sonic screwdriver out of his inner breast pocket and aimed it at the door, leaving Clara to scramble off the moped to hurry across to stand next to the Time Lady. That door wasn't going to be an easy task; the Hatter couldn't help feeling a faint spark of nervousness inside her as her eyes quickly ran over the stone…not easy at all. After a brief moment, the Doctor lifted the sonic up to his eyes, checking the results.

"Oh, that's interesting," he remarked, looking at the Hatter, "A frequency modulated acoustic lock…" the Hatter groaned loudly, and he nodded in agreement with a grim expression, "I know, dear…"

"What is it?" Clara cut in urgently, looking back and forth between them, her large eyes wide with alarm, "What's wrong? What does that mean?"

"It means that we better hope we're incredibly, impossibly lucky today," the Hatter replied, sighing heavily as she turned her gaze back onto the door, frowning deeply. If she had felt nervous before about getting through this door and helping Merry, then she felt positively anxious now, "You see, Clara…" as she spoke, she glanced back over to Clara, "The lock doesn't just have a simple, nice and easy lock code for us to break, instead the key changes ten million times a second, which makes it a rather big challenge. Now, normally I love a good challenge, but today, when young Merry is in such danger…" she trailed off, releasing a long breath from between her lips, her forehead creasing with worry.

"Can you open it?" she asked, looking even more concerned than before.

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a quick, wary look, "Technically, no," he said as he glanced back to Clara, before turning back towards the door, motioning with the sonic towards the door as he continued quickly, "In reality, also no, but still…" he looked back to the Hatter, who could tell by the glimmer in his green eyes that he was about to do something very stupid and silly, "…let's give it a stab".

"Oh, I'm really not sure that's a good idea…" the Hatter began, because even though she could only suspect his intentions, she simply knew that it was likely to both be painful, amusing, and embarrassing for him…possibly all three, knowing him. Of course, he didn't hear her, having already taken a run straight towards the door before she could finish speaking, ramming his shoulder right into the door. He managed to land on his feet and spin back around to face them, which the Hatter was rather impressed by, lifting an amused eyebrow as he blinked slightly, "I take it that didn't turn out quite how you imagined it, sweetheart?" she said with a mock casual air.

He blushed faintly, rolling his left shoulder with a small grimace, "Shut up, dear," he muttered embarrassedly, avoiding meeting either her or Clara's eyes.

She laughed, her eyes dancing, "I love it when he gets all embarrassed," she commented to Clara, though she didn't take her eyes off her blushing husband, "It's adorable".

The Doctor seemed to grow two inches taller, straightening himself under the Hatter's affectionate gaze and tossing his head back slightly. Preening was a perfect word to describe it.

"Don't we have more pressing issues, Hatter?" Clara frowned, seeming far less amused then the Time Lady, shooting the still firmly locked door a worried look.

"Quite right," the Hatter nodded, instantly sobering at the reminder that Merry was still very much in need of their aid. She cleared her throat and stepped closer to the door, while the Doctor seemed to grow more serious too, flashing his sonic at the door…but when that failed, again, he resorted to banging his open palm against the door, while the Hatter shook her head, her mind racing through possible plans or solutions, but for once she felt at a total loss.

Clara watched them for a moment, "How can they just stand there and watch?" she huffed angrily, throwing a look back over her shoulder, towards the still gathered audience, who had made little attempt to leave, let alone to try and help.

"Because this is sacred ground," the Doctor told her, stepping back from the door and lifting the sonic screwdriver back up towards the door, backing back several steps.

"And she's a child!"

"I agree, Clara," the Hatter cut across her, turning around to face her with a grave look, "We both do, it's an unimaginable thing to leave a child in danger without trying to help them, but you have to remember that their culture is tied strongly to their religious beliefs," she sighed heavily, shaking her head as she looked past Clara to the distant audience, just a blur of shapes and colours from where they were now, "To them, this is their god, a god who has just seemingly decided to take Merry into its temple. They wouldn't dare try to intervene, for fear of defying or angering that god…"

Suddenly, Merry's terrified scream sounded through the thick door, muffled but still easily heard. It sent an ice cold shiver down the Hatter's spine as the Doctor rushed forward, desperately flashing the sonic at the door, just trying to get it open, while the Hatter began hitting her hand against the stone. It would likely end up hurting later and she knew that it was useless, but she hoped that Merry might hear it, that she might know that someone was trying to save her.

"Merry!" she shouted, pressing her ear against the cold stone, trying to hear anything that might indicate what had frightened Merry so terribly all of a sudden, "Merry, it's going to be okay! We're here…!"

"Merry!" Clara joined the Time Lady at the door, hitting her hands against the door, "Merry, hold on! We'll be there soon! Doctor, Hatter?" she looked urgently to the Time Lords.

"Yes," the Doctor muttered with lightening speed, his eyes fixed on the flickering green light of the sonic, "Yes, yes, yes…" he suddenly lifted the device up to his eyes, examining the results with a small, surprised expression, "Oh, hello".

"Please tell me that's good news?" the Hatter said quickly, looking back to him hopefully.

He smiled, "The best, dear," he said brightly, "The sonic's locked on to the acoustic tumblers".

The Time Lady almost sagged against the door in relief, closing her eyes, "Oh, excellent".

Clara shook her head, completely confused, "Meaning?" she questioned blankly.

"Meaning…" the Doctor's smile widened, laughing slightly, "I get to do this!" he aimed the sonic back at the door and made a downward motion with the device, until it was aimed at the vey bottom of the door…which suddenly began to rise, humming loudly even over the high-pitched buzzing of the sonic as it worked on over drive just to get the door to lift.

The Hatter laughed and took a step back from the door, clapping her hands as she threw the Doctor a proud look…if he wasn't so busy concentrating on getting that door up or the fact that Merry was in danger right now, she would have kissed him for being so brilliant. But she held herself back, making a mental note to do that later, while she waited impatiently for the door to rise high enough for them to catch a glimpse of what was going on within the temple. The moment it was high enough, they easily caught sight of Merry standing on the other end of the room, spinning around to face them with a startled look as behind her, a large glass box had been built around a almost mummy-like creature sitting, seemingly asleep, in a chair on a raised pedestal. Kneeling on the floor before it was a man dressed in similar robes to Merry, paying little notice of them.

"Hello there," the Doctor called to Merry, his hand shaking as it struggled to keep the sonic steady, pointed up at the door, stopping it from coming down on their heads, "I'm the Doctor, and you've met my wife, the Hatter, and our friend, Clara," he nodded his head towards both women as he spoke, the Time Lady wiggling her fingers in a little wave, "Clara was supposed to be having a nice day out," he continued, "Still, it's early yet…" he flinched as he briefly stopped the sonic, only for the door to immediately begin slipping back down. He hastily reactivated the sonic, grimacing as the Hatter shot him a concerned look, "Are you coming, then?"

Merry shook her head, looking frightened.

"Merry," the Hatter tried urgently, licking her lips as she threw the Doctor another worried look, "Please, just come with us, as quickly as you can. This door is very, very heavy…"

"Leave," Merry told them fearfully, shooting a look back over her shoulder to the creature within the glass box, "You'll wake him!"

"Really quite extraordinarily heavy," the Doctor winced, just before he was suddenly pushed onto his knees under the force of holding the door up, grunting slightly.

The Hatter instantly grasped the sonic just above his hands, grimacing as she felt the device shaking beneath her hands, positively vibrating to the point that it was already starting to make her palms and fingers numb, "Clara," she said pointedly, giving her a look, "Maybe you could have a go…" she nodded her head back over towards Merry, hoping to get the message across that they seriously needed to get Merry and the man still kneeling on the floor out of here before the door ended up crushing herself and the Doctor.

Clara nodded and ducked slightly beneath the door, which had dropped a little bit, edging around the Time Lords as she hurried into the temple itself. She slipped around the man kneeling on the floor, who seemed to be chanting desperately, his words lost to the Time Lords as they continued struggling with the door, but Clara didn't pause to listen to his words as she held a hand out to Merry, "Merry," she wiggled her fingers at her, urging her to come to her, "We need to leave".

"No!" Merry insisted, shaking her head firmly, "Go away!"

"Not without you".

"Oh, come on…" the Hatter groaned, closing her eyes tightly, forced to lean over the Doctor slightly in order to keep a hold of the sonic screwdriver. She was really starting to grow concerned that all this vibrating might end up being too much for the sonic, they were truly testing it to its limits right now and while they had put it through its paces in the past, this time not even she knew for certain just how long it would be able to continue this struggle with the door. Not to mention how much longer herself and the Doctor would be able to withstand it physically themselves, personally she didn't think the Doctor would be able to hold out for much longer, not judging by the pained expression on his screwed up features.

"You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong!" Merry shouted at Clara, the Hatter barely resisted swearing in the few languages that she knew, her arms starting to grow numb and almost itchy, "And now this has happened! Look what's happened!"

"You didn't get it wrong," Clara said soothingly, edging a little closer to her.

"How do you know? You don't know anything! You have to go! Go now, or he'll eat us all!"

"Well, he's ugly," she replied with a quick glance over to the creature within the glass box, before quickly moving past Merry and dashing up the steps of the pedestal, peering through the glass, "But you know, to be honest…" she turned back around to looked down at Merry, giving her a smile, "I don't think he looks big enough".

"Not our meat. Our souls".

The Hatter looked back over her shoulder to Clara, catching her eye as the Time Lady silently pleaded with her to do whatever she needed, just get Merry to safety…even if that meant grabbing the girl and carrying her out of the room, they couldn't let Merry remain here, in danger, not when it was starting to become clearer as to why Merry had been pulled into the temple in the first place. The creature wanted, needed, Merry's soul, that was evident, but the Doctor and the Hatter were never going to let that happen. Thankfully, it seemed as though Clara understood and she looked back to Merry, determination filling her features as she reached out towards the girl again…only Merry suddenly brought her hands up to her temples and purple sparks of energy wrapped themselves around Clara's arms, pushing her back against the glass, trapping her in place. The Doctor and the Hatter stared, just as shocked as Clara…who would have thought that such an innocent looking girl could do that?

"He doesn't want you," Merry told Clara, shaking her head as she lowered her hands from her temples, "He wants me. If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too".

"Yes, and you don't want that, do you?" the Doctor cut in, causing Merry to whirl around to face them, almost seeming surprised to find them still in the room, "You want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back".

"Yes," she nodded, her voice softer now.

The Hatter eyed her closely, desperately trying to ignore the sensation in her arms that was creeping up into her shoulders, causing them to start aching rather painfully. She could see the look of fear in Merry's eyes, because as much as she might believe that what she was doing was right, it was only because she had been taught her entire life that it is her duty. In the Hatter's eyes, that wasn't anywhere near a good enough excuse to allow a child to continue to be in a dangerous situation. Merry was very, very brave, but she was a child who needed to be protected and advocated for.

"Oh, Merry," she sighed, giving her sad little smile, "I admire your courage, I truly do, and you commitment to your duties. But there's no way we're leaving here without you, no chance at all," her voice had taken on a determined tone to it as she looked back to the Doctor, "Sweetheart, shall we?"

The Doctor flashed her a pained grin and nodded. The Hatter immediately let go of her grasp of the sonic and danced backwards a good few feet, wincing as she shook her hands out…she imagined it was probably a rather amusing sight, had the situation not been so dire, while the Doctor waited until he was quite certain that she was well away from the door before turning the sonic off and ducking quickly as the door began to slide down above him. He dropped onto the floor and had to roll out of the way the door, almost losing the sonic as it slipped from his grasp before he snatched it back, just before the door came slamming down, sealing their only known exit. He jumped back onto his feet as dust billowed into the air around them, panting faintly.

Clara closed her eyes tightly, "Did you just lock us in…"

"Yep," he confirmed without blinking, smoothing his hair back and winking at the Hatter.

"…with a soul eating monster?" she finished, opening her eyes to give him and the Time Lady a look of disbelief.

"Apparently so," the Hatter smiled widely, far from concerned as she spun around on the heel of her shoe, eyeing the creature sitting behind the glass cage closely.

"And is there actually a way to get out?"

"What?" the Doctor lifted an eyebrow, walking up to stand beside the Time Lady, joining her in her examination of the creature. He could practically hear her mind thrumming with ideas of what species the creature might truly be, its motives, its weaknesses, "Before it eats our souls?"

"Ideally, yes".

"Still working on it," the Hatter replied, her voice light, her gaze still fixed on the creature, "Luckily, the Doctor and I do tend to be very good at escaping from the seemingly impossible, so I wouldn't stress about it, Clara," she shot the girl a bright, carefree smile, though judging by the look of barely controlled panic on Clara's face, she was far from reassured right now. She frowned slightly, finding it mildly difficult to concentrate when the monk kneeling on the floor behind them continued to sing, glancing back over her shoulder towards the robed man.

"Why is he still singing?" Clara questioned, eyeing the monk warily, while Doctor edged closer to the man, crouching down before him.

"…Old God, rest your weary, holy head…" the monk was singing, his voice smooth and rather beautiful, but even he couldn't conceal his fear, his voice shaking very slightly on some of the notes. He looked up at the Doctor as he crouched before him, his eyes wide with fear as he sung the same words over and over again, "Old God, rest your weary, holy head…Old God, rest your weary, holy head…"

"He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep," the Doctor said, frowning slightly as he looked back into the monk's frightened eyes. The man continued singing, not missing a single note, "But that's not going to happen. He's waking up, mate. He's coming, ready or not," he gave him a grave look, "You want to run".

"…rest your weary, holy head," the man broke off with a soft gasp, staring back at the Doctor in compete terror, almost seeming to be frozen in place.

The Hatter moved closer, crouching down next to the Doctor, her expression gentle as she peered into the monk's pale face, "It's okay," she told him soothingly, resisting against the urge to reach out and place her hand on his shoulder, fearing that it would only worsen things, "It's going to be okay. It's over; it's time for the song to end".

"The song is over," he said softly, his voice steady and calm, despite his evident fear. Slowly, he began to climb onto his feet and the Time Lords mirrored his movements, eyeing him closely as he brought himself to his full height, "My name is Chorister Rezh Baphix," he introduced himself, pushing his hood back from his head as he spoke and stepping away from them, "…and the 'Long Song' ended with me…" he lifted his chin, looking back to them with a grave expression as he slipped his sleeve up, revealing a golden band around his wrist. He pressed a button on it and disappeared before their eyes in a flash of golden light.

"Well…" the Time Lady glanced back to the Doctor, looking faintly amused, "That was rather dramatic. I'm quite impressed".

The Doctor gave her a fond look, as though he hadn't expected anything less from the Hatter and loved her all the more for it, "That's it, then," he said, forcing himself to at least try to focus on what was happening around them. He pulled a face, reaching into his blazer pocket, "Song's over," he turned suddenly and whipped the sonic screwdriver straight at the glass cage, and instantly the creature inside awoke with a loud roar and threw itself at the glass, "Ha, ha!" he laughed, delighted as he jogged up the few steps of the pedestal, peering through the glass, "Look at that!"

"You've woken him!" Merry gasped, backing away fearfully. The Hatter instantly moved to her side, gently placing her hands on top of her shoulders, giving her a reassuring smile as the creature continued pounding its hands against the glass, growling and roaring in frustration.

Poor Clara, stilled trapped against the cage, her back pressed against the glass, could only widen her eyes, "It's awake?" she asked urgently, trying to look out of the corner of her eye, "What's it doing?"

"Oh, nothing to be concerned about," the Hatter said lightly, eyeing the creature pounding against the glass warily, despite her perfectly calm tone, "He's just…stretching, got a bit of cramp…" she flashed Clara a bright smile, though Clara only stared back at her with a look that clearly said that she didn't believe the Time Lady, at least not completely. Her smile softened as she looked down to Merry, while the Doctor circled the glass, her voice growing firmer, "We didn't wake him, Merry, and nor did you. Absolutely none of this is your fault, Merry".

"She's right, Merry," the Doctor nodded as he rounded the corner of the cage, looking down from the pedestal to Merry, "He's waking because it's his time to wake, and feed…" he pointed across to Merry, who jumped slightly, "On you, apparently. On your stories".

"She didn't say stories," Clara cut in, her voice quite rushed from her own fear, "She said souls".

"Same thing," he replied immediately, looking across to Clara, his expression very serious, "The soul's made of stories, not atoms. Everything that ever happened to us. People we love…" he looked across to the Hatter, giving her a little win that made her smile, before his expression saddened, "…people we lost…" the Hatter swallowed, hard, her mind filled with memories of all those they had lost over the centuries. He cleared his throat, forcing a small, sad smile, "People we found again against all the odds," he met her eyes again and the Hatter inclined her head, giving her a weak smile in return, before he dragged his eyes away from her, glancing back to Clara and Merry, "He threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul. The soul of the Queen of Years".

Merry edged back into the Hatter, who soothingly squeezed her thin shoulders. The Time Lady felt bad for scaring the girl like this, but sometimes one needed to know, even if it frightened you, it was better than living ignorant and in the dark about matters that concern your own life. She deserved to know, to fully understand what was happening right now, the Hatter firmly believed that, just as she also fully believed that Merry was strong enough to handle learning the truth. After all, this was Merry's life and future they were speaking of, she deserved to know why she had been taken to this temple and expected to be used as nothing more than a sacrifice.

"Stop it," Clara hissed at the Doctor, frowning as she eyed Merry's frightened face, "You're scaring her".

"Ignorance won't protect her, Clara," the Hatter told her, her voice firm. Clara gave her a startled look, as though surprised by the Time Lady's response, "I personally think that if Merry is going to be afraid, then she at least deserves to understand why," she looked down at Merry, who lifted her head to look up at her, her face pale and so very young, "Because if one is expected to sacrifice themselves, then they ought to understand what that means. Merry…" she gently turned the girl around to face her and bent down slightly, bringing herself to Merry's eye level, peering gently into her face, "I'm sorry, I truly am, but do you understand what is going on here?"

"A god chose me," Merry insisted, her large, light brown eyes wide with fear.

"Oh, Merry," she sighed sadly, shaking her head, "That creature isn't a god, it never has been and nor will ever be one. It's…a vampire, draining others lives for its own benefit, and you do not need to be another victim of its hunger," she gave her a small smile, lightly nudging her knuckles against Merry's chin, "Not ever, Merry, because you're way to special to ever sacrifice something as precious as yourself".

The Doctor smiled faintly, stepping down from the pedestal to come stand next to the Hatter, who straightened with a cheeky wink at Merry. Oh, he loved seeing the Hatter with kids, she had always been a natural with them, even when she had first doubted herself capable of even being a mother he had never doubted her. But he was also pretty good with kids, himself.

"Hey," he ducked down slightly, mirroring how the Hatter had brought herself to Merry's eye level, giving Merry a warm smile, "Do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard…" the Hatter took a couple of steps back, just simply wanting to watch with a large, fond smile playing across her lips, while the Doctor continued, "All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died," he moved to crouch before Merry, who was staring back at him with wide eyes, but finally she seemed slightly less afraid, listening intently to his words, "That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, those elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax…" the Hatter barely contained a giggle at that one, "…and cabbages and kings," he climbed onto his feet and walked around to stand behind Merry, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Until eventually, they came together to make you," he gave her a smile as Merry looked back over her shoulder to him, "You are unique in the Universe. There is only one Merry Gejelh. And there will never be another," he straightened and lightly guided Merry forward, glaring furiously at the creature pounding against the glass. He pointed at it, his tone growing cold, "Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste".

The Hatter inhaled sharply, smiling so widely and proudly that her cheeks were actually hurting. She reached up to wipe away a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek while listening to his speech, feeling rather emotional by his words. Oh, the Doctor never failed to impress her when it came to his ability to speak with eloquence and passion when required, but there were times when it still took her breath away just how beautifully he could weave words, how he could stir up such strong emotions in others through just the right ones. She liked to consider herself to be a bit of a wordsmith herself, words having always been her best tool, but that speech had been, by far, one of the Doctor's very bests, and she couldn't have been prouder of him.

Merry slowly dragged her eyes off the growling, pounding creature to look back to the Doctor, "So, if I don't, then everyone else…" she began worriedly.

"They'll be completely fine," the Hatter reassured her, pulling Merry's attention across to her. She gave her a small smile, "We will do everything we can to make sure of that".

Merry frowned slightly and shot a quick look back over to the creature, pounding and growling at the glass, "How?" she asked nervously, turning back to the Time Lords.

She only smiled wider, a hint of mischievous sparking in her eyes, "We'll do something clever and daring, but no matter how bad a situation might seem, we always find a way," she said, growing serious as she finished, meeting Merry's gaze firmly, trying her very best to reassure the girl.

"You promise?"

"I promise, and I always keep my promises, Merry," she winked, just for good measure. She held out her hand towards Merry, giving her a encouraging look as Merry slowly reached out to take her hand, looking back up to the Time Lady with a small, nervous smile, "Thank you, Merry," she said sincerely, lifting an eyebrow, "Now, how about you release Clara for us? I don't think it's very fair to keep her out of all the action, do you?"

Merry's smile grew slightly sheepish, though the Hatter merely laughed and lightly bopped the tip of her nose, once again trying to reassure the girl that none of them were upset with her about trapping Clara against the glass. Merry turned towards the cage and with a single blink, the purple energy that had been holding Clara in place disappeared with a faint ripple. Slowly, Clara lifted her arms up, looking between them, before the creature suddenly hit its fist against the glass, cracking it right over where her head had once been resting. She gasped and hurriedly dashed down the pedestal to the Time Lords.

"Nothing to be concerned about?" she threw the Hatter a quick look.

"Oh, yes," the Hatter nodded, her tone sarcastic, "Because telling you that it was trying to smash the glass you were leaning against would have caused you to be completely calm. Next time, I'll just let your spiral into a pit of panic, shall I?"

Even the Doctor looked a little surprised by the Hatter's response, from her Third body it might have been expected, that version of her had been quite sarcastic at times, but this version of her tended to lean more towards being light and cheerful, even when speaking rather bluntly about something. He shot her a concerned look, but the Hatter simply sighed and glanced worriedly down at Merry…Ah, that explained it. She was stressing, it was probably one of the few times that the Hatter actually would start stressing and panicking slightly when trapped in a room with a creature hell-bent of sucking the soul of an innocent child. He wished he could do something to ease her panic, but they didn't have time right now for him to hug her, so instead he settled on grabbing her free hand and tugging her and Merry, followed hastily by Clara, across to the closed stone door they had managed to get through to begin with. But they had only taken a few steps towards it when the ground beneath them began shaking, a dull rumbling noise thundering through the room as they all stopped, looking around.

"Something's coming," Clara breathed, her eyes wide as she looked down at the floor, before looking back up to the Time Lords, "What's coming?"

Merry gasped, all the colour draining from her cheeks, "The Vigil," she said shakily, looking up at the Hatter.

"And what's the Vigil?" the Doctor asked, glancing back to her, while the Hatter licked her lips nervously. She really, really didn't like how frightened Merry looked right now, perhaps more afraid then she had been all day.

"If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon…" she hesitated, looking back across to the creature inside the glass.

"Merry?" the Hatter urged gently, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"…It's their job to feed her to Grandfather," she finished in a small voice, her own grip on the Hatter's hand now so tight, it was almost painful.

The Hatter swallowed, hard, and pulled her closer to her side, almost hugging her to her, when suddenly three creatures appeared in a haze of thick, black and dark blue smoke, standing before the glass as they glared back at them from behind a dark grey mask, dressed all in black, their mouths completely covered by the mask. They truly were the stuff of a child's nightmare as they began to walk towards them as one, the Doctor placing himself protectively before the girls.

"I'm sorry!" Merry cried, thankfully not fighting the Hatter as she pushed the girl behind her, "I'm sorry!"

The Doctor lifted his sonic screwdriver up before him, aiming it at the advancing Vigil, while Clara edged slightly in front of the Hatter and Merry, looking almost as formidable as the Time Lady.

"Don't you dare," she glared at the Vigil, doing her best to try and help the Hatter defend Merry. She was doing it quite well, the Hatter thought, rather impressed by how the rather petite brunet was capable of appearing to be quite threatening, when the situation called for it.

"Yeah, stay back," the Doctor added warningly, not lowering the sonic in the slightest, "I'm armed…" he paused and frowned slightly, lightly shaking his head at the device, "…with a screwdriver!"

"You could have tried to sound a little more confidant, sweetheart," the Hatter groaned, barely holding back an eye roll, even a slightly fond one. She was kind of missing the Tenth Doctor's confidence right now, recalling the time he managed to play off a water pistol as being a dangerous weapon with some pretty decent conviction. This situation really could have used a little bit of that right now…

"Er…" he winced slightly, though he didn't quite dare to take his gaze off the creatures.

For one very brief, relaxing moment it seemed as though the creatures had actually listened and seemed taken in by the pathetic attempt at a threat…when suddenly the middle creature leaned forward and gave a great roar, emitting some sort of blue energy that sent the sonic flying from his grasp, landing on the floor over by the door. The Hatter tensed, her head snapping back towards the creatures, just before it gave another shout and the Doctor was sent flying, somersaulting mid-air to land rather painfully in a heap on the floor, the impact sending a loud, heavy thud through the room as he groaned.

"Doctor!" the Hatter cried, her hearts leaping in concern.

Clara was suddenly sent flying backwards, crashing into the stone door with another sickening thud, her body sliding down onto the floor, where she remained with a pained groan, seeming quite stunned by what had just happened. The Hatter backed back, pushing Merry directly behind her, pushing the girl backwards towards the door, while the Time Lady looked determinedly back up at the Vigil. She wasn't about to leave Merry's side, not for one second, but she also couldn't say that she had very many clever ideas right now about how to get them out of this mess.

"You can't have her," she said coldly to the Vigil, her chin lifted proudly, "She's under my protection…"

Of course, that probably did sound terribly impressive and brave, and no doubt it likely looked it, too, while the Hatter stood there, straight and tall, acting as Merry's shield against the Vigil…Sadly, the moment was rather ruined by the middle Vigil giving a loud roar and the Hatter, who had been quite determined to remain firmly in place, was rather startled to find herself being shoved sideways with a very great force, almost as though a massive hand had just come out of nowhere and battered her off to the side. She barely had a chance to yelp in surprise as her feet left the ground and she had a brief moment of weightlessness, before she came crashing straight into a very hard, cold wall along the side of the entrance to the temple. She groaned as she managed to avoid smacking her head, though her hat did topple off with the force and drop to the floor as she went sliding awkwardly down the wall, her left shoulder aching from the brunt of the impact. The air had been knocked from her lungs and she gasped and chocked for air, lying in a crumple heap against the wall.

The thought of Merry, utterly defenceless and alone now, gave the Hatter enough strength to be able to flop herself onto her back, groaning as her entire left side, namely her ribs and shoulder, gave another sharp pain at the movement. She didn't think she had broken any ribs, just bruised them rather badly, which would also account for why she seemed to be struggling to take large gulps of air, as her body was urging her to do. Blimey, her entire left side was going to be black and blue later. She tilted her head to the right and her eyes widened, cold horror washing over her as she caught sight of Merry being surrounded by the Vigil, her young face pale and frightened as they began leading her over towards the glass cage, where the creature inside it was still growling.

"Merry…" she managed to chock out, her voice so weak from her poor attempts to gather enough air, that the poor girl didn't have a hope of hearing her. She tried desperately to roll onto her right side, her left arm winding around her ribcage, trying to ease the pain, but she could barely even do that, let alone try to sit up or jump onto her feet. She could have burst into frustrated tears as her attempts only ended in failure. She was a Time Lady, for goodness sake; she'd been though plenty worse, but her body still needed a moment to recover.

"Clara," the Doctor said softly, sounding strained. The Hatter finally managed to ease herself partly up on her elbow, though it felt as though her ribcage was about to explode from the effort of it, finding that Clara had seemingly come back around, blinking dazedly. The Doctor was still lying on the floor between them, flat on his back with a pained grimace, "Sonic".

Clara gave him a vaguely confused look for a moment, before it seemed to register with her what he was saying. She managed to climb onto her feet with an ease that the Hatter was really envying right now, dashing across to grab the sonic from where it had rolled onto the corner of the door. She picked it up and threw it across to the Doctor, who caught it and rolled onto his stomach, aiming the sonic directly at the Vigil's backs and activating it. The Vigil whirled around and tried to use their powers against him, only they found themselves quite unable to get past the shield that he had brought up around them. Merry, seeing her chance, ducked around the creatures and ran back over to them, while the Hatter gritted her teeth and used the wall to pull herself painfully back onto her own feet, one arm still wrapped around her chest.

"Merry!" Clara quickly grabbed the girl, ducking slightly so that they were closer to eye level, "You know all the stories. You must know if there's another way out".

"There's a tale," Merry said hastily, thinking quickly, "A secret song. 'The Thief of the Temple and the Nimmer's Door'".

"And the secret songs open the secret door?" she asked eagerly, and Merry nodded, "How does it go? Can you sing it?"

Merry took a couple of quick breathes, before turning away from Clara, looking back over to where the Doctor was still struggling to keep the shield up, holding the Vigil back. She opened her mouth and sang a few long notes, varying in pitch, when the sound of a stone door sliding open rumbled through the room. The Hatter winced as she dropped her arm from around her ribs, looking around to find that a hidden door had opened on the other side of the room. She sighed in relief, though she grimaced slightly as she watched the Doctor force the shield forward a few feet, making a wider path for the door, his face screwed up from the effort of it.

"Clara," the Hatter looked back across to her and Merry, her expression urgent, "Take Merry and go, now! Don't worry about us".

Clara took one look at Merry and didn't even attempt to argue, thankfully, grabbing Merry's hand and running with her past the shield and across to the door. The Hatter would have sagged in relief, had her ribs not hurt still.

"Hatter," the Doctor said worriedly, not taking his eyes off the shield, "Go!"

"Not without you!" she replied sharply, though she did edge closer to the gap that he had created, trying to brace herself for the pain that she knew running would bring her. But she wasn't about to leave him behind, not for something as silly as some bruised ribs.

He groaned from the effort of keeping the shield up, and no doubt a little bit of frustration with her refusal to do the smart thing and be safe right now. The creature within the glass roared loudly, slamming its fists against the cracked glass, when the shield finally failed. The Doctor staggered backwards a step, looking quite tired, but the Hatter was there to grab his hand and tug him forward, biting back a small gasp of pain. The Doctor instantly wrapped his arm around her waist and they swiftly made for the new door, the Hatter gritting her teeth all the while.

The moment they stepped through the threshold they found Clara and Merry standing by the space moped, waiting for them with worried expressions. The Doctor quickly used his sonic to reactivate the shield over the doorway, ensuring that the Vigil couldn't get through, when the creature finally managed to completely shatter the glass of its cage with a great growl. It spread its arms wide and roared up at the ceiling, when, much to everyone's confusion, a bright light burst out of the pyramid, hitting the very heart of the sun. As the light disappeared, the creature was left crumpled in its chair, looking quite sickly now, while the Vigil just…disappeared.

The Hatter blinked slowly, glancing at the Doctor, who looked equally as startled as she felt, "Oh, dear…" she murmured, struck by a horrible sinking sensation.

"Where did they go?" Clara asked from behind the Time Lords, looking utterly baffled.

"Grandfather's awake," the Doctor said softly, lowering his sonic screwdriver, staring at the creature slumped in its chair. It still seemed to be alive, but barely, "They're of no function any more".

She frowned slightly, "Well, you could sound happier about it," she commented, glancing between the Time Lords as they exchanged another worried look, "And why does the Hatter look like she's feeling sick?"

"That's because I do feel rather ill," the Hatter replied gravely, what little of her natural colouring completely drained from her cheeks. She swallowed, hard, and turned around to face Clara and Merry, just as a loud rumble sounded through the air, "That tends to happen when one makes a rather large, possibly very, very bad mistake," she glanced at the Doctor, who looked almost as pale as her, "Semantics can be quite troublesome at times, after all…"

Clara stared at them, her eyes widening in alarm, while Merry looked frightened, "What mistake?"

"I thought the Old God was Grandfather," the Doctor explained, pointing over his shoulder towards the creature slumped in the chair within the pyramid, "But it wasn't. It was just Grandfather's alarm clock".

"Sorry, a bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?"

"Oh, believe me," the Hatter said rather weakly, grimacing, "There most certainly is one," she slowly turned back around and pointed up…straight towards the massive, bright yellow and orange sun, that literally had a face starting to form across it. It wasn't a very pleasant face, either, looking rather cross as it began to expand larger and larger, rumbling through the air, the glow and the heat of it growing the longer they stared up at it.

"Oh, my stars," Clara gasped, turning quickly back to the Time Lords, "What do we do?"

"Against that?" the Doctor blinked rapidly, "I don't know. Do you know? I don't know…" his voice grew slightly higher as he looked to the Hatter, a look of near panic written across his features, "Hatter, please tell me you've got some clever idea brewing in that beautiful head of yours?"

The Hatter winced; licking her lips nervously, "Um…" she said blankly, her mind suddenly completely empty.

"But you promised," Merry said softly, her wide eyes staring up at the Hatter, frightened. The Hatter felt something inside her freeze at the expression on her face as Merry glanced back up to the sun, turning back with an accusing look on her face, "You promised!"

"Merry," the Time Lady tried hurriedly, feeling even sicker then she had before. She had promised, something she never, ever took lightly, once she made a promise nothing else mattered but keeping it, in her mind, and especially when that promise was made to a child. But could she actually keep this promise…she was truly starting to fear that she might not, "I know I promised," she continued, silently pleading with Merry to not give up on her now, "And I'll keep it, whatever I have to do…"

"He'll eat us all!" she cut across her, looking fearfully back up to the sun, "He'll spread across the system, consuming the Seven Worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars".

"Blimey," the Hatter breathed, peering up at the sun looming high above them, crackling and rumbling with life now, "And I thought Gallifrey's bedtime stories were nightmare inducing…"

Clara was staring up at the sun, clearly trying to hide how scared she was, "I say leg it," she said, shrugging in an attempt to seem casual.

"Leg it where, exactly?" the Doctor turned to look at her, blinking.

"Don't know. Lake District?"

The Hatter laughed, though she quickly stopped as it made her sore ribs hurt. Yep, so going to be bruised, though it could have been worse. She might have smacked her head and gotten a concussion…or crushed her hat when she slipped down the wall. Somehow she thought that most people would consider the concussion to be worse right now.

"Oh, the Lake District's lovely," the Doctor broke into a smile, suddenly seeming to relax, considering it, "Let's definitely go there. We can eat scones, the Hatter loves strawberry jam, don't you, dear?" he playfully nudged the Hatter's side as he spoke, his eyes bright with excitement at the prospect, "They do great scones in 1927…" he trailed off, his cheerful expression melting away as they looked back up to the sun.

The Hatter sighed sadly, eyeing the sun with a grimace, "And I really could have gone for a strawberry and cream scone right about now, too," she muttered, knowing what was coming next and not completely thrilled with the idea, given the fact that she truly wasn't even sure what to do.

"You're going to fight it, aren't you?" Clara said as she looked up at the rather sinister face on the sun looming above them, bathing them in a warm, orange light, "Both of you?"

"Regrettably, yes," the Doctor agreed, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "I think we're about to do that, though if the Hatter would…"

"Nope," the Time Lady cut across him instantly, smirking as he sighed. Honestly, after all this time together and he still thought to try and get her to not follow him?

"It's really big," Clara remarked, frowning slightly up at it.

"I've seen bigger," he replied lightly, earning looks from all three girls, the Hatter actually laughing.

"Really?"

"Are you joking?" he turned to give Clara an incredulous look, which didn't help the Hatter's giggles in the slightest, "It's massive!"

"Oh, I don't know, sweetheart," the Hatter grinned cheekily across to him, instantly making the Doctor nervous as her hazel green eyes danced with amusement, "I'd say your ego would probably rival it fairly easily…"

"Oi! You're supposed to be on my side, Hatter!"

"Not when it comes to teasing you, Doctor," she laughed, winking as she reached up to pat his cheek, "You know that".

They turned back to look at the sun, silence falling over them briefly as the small, light hearted moment was quickly forgotten. It was a very daunting task ahead of them, one that the Hatter was still quite uncertain exactly how they would go about defeating. She had an idea, but it was a horrible one, she didn't wish to think on it to deeply, there had to be another way around it…but if there wasn't…

"I'm staying with you two," Clara said determinedly, looking back to the Time Lords.

"Absolutely not," the Hatter shook her head at once, frowning at her, "You're not coming with us, no way".

"Yes, I am," she insisted, "I can…assist".

"No, you can't," the Doctor said immediately.

"Clara," the Time Lady sighed, "We're not asking you to fetch us coffee or hand us tools, this is risking your life," her frown deepened, "We won't allow you to do that".

Clara narrowed her eyes, looking between them, "What about all that stuff you two said?" she said, "'We don't walk away'".

"No," the Doctor nodded, meeting her eyes firmly, suddenly looking every bit as ancient as he truly was beneath all the floppy hair and lanky limbs, "We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious…." he reached out and took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly without looking away from Clara, "We run. We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow".

"It's up to you to keep Merry safe, Clara," the Hatter gave her a gentle smile, reaching out with her free hand to lightly place it on Clara's shoulder, her eyes flickering between her and Merry, "We'll deal with this mess in the mean time, but you have a task just as important. You'll need to take the moped with you," she glanced at the Doctor, forcing a bright, carefree smile, "It seems like a lovely evening for a walk for me".

"Oh, yes," he agreed, his own lips twisting into something closer to a grimace as they turned to start walking towards an open doorway on the side of the pyramid facing the sinister planet, "Very romantic, dear, what with the orangey light and….evil face looming above us".

"Hmm, yes, it does rather sound like something the Master would have considered to be romantic, murder and kidnapping attempts included as a dash of flirting".

"Don't remind me," he groaned, squeezing her hand as they came to stand before the edge of the pyramid, looking out directly upon the sun. Neither spoke for a long moment as they simply stood there, staring out at the sinister, smirking face that looked back at them. He slowly glanced back over to the Hatter, "Any ideas, Hatter?" he asked hopefully, his voice sounding higher than normal.

"Um…" the Time Lady licked her lips, eyeing the sun warily, "Wing it?"

"So…same as usual, then?"

"Pretty much, sweetheart," she nodded, sighing heavily. Ordinarily she probably wouldn't have been concerned about the fact that neither of them really had any idea of how to save the day, but then again, ordinarily they didn't have a god-like sun literally looming over them and an entire solar system of innocent, very, very vulnerable people depending upon them to keep them safe. It wasn't the worst situation they had ever been in…to be fair, it probably didn't even crack the top five, let alone top ten, but it was still pretty daunting.

The Doctor nodded, releasing a long puff of air through his lips, "Righty-ho, then," he swallowed, hard, as the mouth of the sun opened wide before them, burning bright yellow, "Lordy".

The Hatter edged closer to him, her side pressed firmly against his, though she kept her gaze fixed on the sun before them, "I suppose it might have been worse," she said softly, almost breathlessly.

He blinked and looked at her in disbelief, "How much worse could this get, Hatter?"

She pulled her gaze away from the sun to look back to him, her lips twisting into a small, sad smile, "At least we can be certain that Astra is safe," she replied, taking comfort in that thought, and the Doctor's expression instantly softened.

She pictured her little girl's chubby little face smiling widely as she eagerly sat on the floor, using large wooden blocks in the shapes of numbers to form mathematical equations, solving each and every one presented to her with a delighted giggle, as though it was a game. To Astra it was, maths was just a fun pastime for her, just as much as fun as making towers with blocks and then destroying them, just as much fun as having raspberries blown on her tummy and her nose stolen. The Hatter used her memories of her daughter to give her the courage to stand a bit taller and confidently, turning her eyes back onto the sun before them, any hint of wariness or fear melted away entirely. Everything she did was for Astra; this was no different, because even if she died today and never saw her child again, she would be doing it gladly in the knowledge that she would be leaving the Universe just a little bit safer for her.

"We can do this, sweetheart," she found herself saying, her voice stronger and firmer than before, squeezing his hand encouragingly, "I haven't the foggiest clue what or how yet, but I know we can".

The Doctor lifted her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss lightly onto the top of her knuckles, his eyes not leaving the sun. Seeing the spark of determination flicker in her eyes made his own bravery flare inside him, making him want to keep fighting all the more. He knew better than anyone else that they could get through anything if they stood together, even when it might seem utterly impossible, together they face anything, plan or not, impossible odds or not.

"I believe you, Hatter," he told her, utterly sincerely, "You and me, plus impossible odds?" he broke into a wide grin, catching her eye, "Just watch us".

"Rest now…" Merry's voice drifted through the air, filling the air around them from out of the distance as the Time Lady took a deep breath, closing her eyes, "My warrior. Rest now, your hardship is over…"

The Doctor's smile only grew as the Hatter opened her eyes to smile back at him, her eyes lit up with delight, "Okay, then," he almost laughed, feeling suddenly lighter. They know what to do now; finally it felt as though they might actually make it out of this, "That's what we'll do".

"Let's tell a story," the Hatter laughed, almost feeling light headed now, turning back to gaze up at the sun before them. She even went so far as to wink cheekily at it, "Don't worry, it's a good one".

"Please, wake up…" the singing only seemed to grow, joined by the voices of thousands of other people, "And let the cloak of life cling to your bones…"

"Are you listening to them?" she smirked at the sun, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb towards where the amphitheatre was in the distant, no doubt currently filled with thousands of people, singing along with Merry. It must have made for quite a sight, she almost felt sad to miss out of witnessing it herself, "I can't imagine that you're not, they are making quite a racket, aren't they?" her smirk grew slightly colder, her chin lifting with a hint of pride, "Just listen to them sing, all of those people that have spent their lives living in fear of you, terrified of your judgement and power, singing in defiance of you," she laughed softly, but it wasn't a cheerful sound, "Oh, how that must hurt that god complex you've got going on, but just…listen," she murmured, closing her eyes, letting the words wash over her, "Listen to them sing".

"…live, wake up…"

"You like to think you're a god," the Doctor glared up at the sun, his tone growing angry, "But you're not a god. You're just as parasite eaten out with jealously and envy and longing for the lives of others," he pointed back towards the amphitheatre as the singing continued, growing louder and more passionate as it went on, "You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow".

"…wake up, wake up…"

"How fortunate it is that we happen to have all of those things in great supply, then," the Hatter staring up at the sun with cold, angry eyes, her voice hard, "Believe me, we've both lived far longer than anyone ever should, lost more than anyone should ever have to lose, wept more tears and suffered more broken hearts then you can even imagine. So…take it," she stepped away from the Doctor, holding her right arm out beside her, challenging the sun, "Take it all, feast away on our memories, our worst's and bests".

"I hope you have a big appetite," he added softly, squeezing the Hater's hand, bracing themselves as tendrils of bright red light began to swirl in the air, reaching out towards them from the sun, "Because we have lived a long life and we have both seen a few things…"

He broke off with a pained gasp; the Hatter groaning beside him as the light hit them both, slamming into their chests. It very nearly sent them both stumbling backwards from the force of it, the energy hot and cold all at once, filling their chests as it tried to feed of them. It was almost as though it was reaching into their very souls, the Hatter grimaced and closed her eyes briefly, suspecting that if the energy wasn't currently connecting her to the sun, that her knees likely would have given out by now. But as much as the sun might try to feed off them, they still fought.

"…cling to your bones…"

"I walked away from the Last Great Time War," the Doctor managed to get out through gritted teeth, glaring fiercely back at the sun, "I marked the passing of the Time Lords, and spent a hundred years believing myself responsible for the death of the only woman I have love…"

"I have grieved the loss of my children," the Hatter's voice shook as she pushed back against the pain, the burning sensation filling her, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, "I have witnessed friends die from my own arrogance and endured the gaping chasm left behind by the destruction of our own planet…"

"We saw the birth of the Universe and we watched as time run out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time! No space! Just us…"

"Together we have fought battle after battle, shared in our pain and in our victory. Together we have endured the betrayal of friends that we had trusted, grieved the loss of all those that we couldn't save and celebrated those that we could. Over a thousand years of companionship, love and respect and admiration, has brought us to this point…"

"We have walked in Universes where the Laws of Physics were devised by the mind of a madman," he gasped out, tears slipping freely down his cheeks, "We have watched Universes freeze and creations burn. We have seen things you wouldn't believe. We have lost things you will never understand. And we know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze!" he reached up with his free hand and straightened his bowtie, not pausing to wipe his cheeks as he spread his arm wide beside him, staring down the sun, "So come on, then! Take it!" he shouted, "Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!"

The red tendrils burned brilliant yellow and the Hatter glared determinedly back at the sun, ignoring the burn and the discomfort, the tears running down her cheeks and focused solely on pushing as much of her memories back into the sun. Every time she had every laughed or cried, every loss she had suffered and every joyful moment, all the times she had failed to be the daughter her parents wished her to be, all the adventures she had had and shared alongside the Doctor…She pushed it all back towards the sun. But it did nothing, no matter how hard she tried to force her memories at the sun, it still wasn't enough and after a moment the light faded, releasing them, growing darker and withdrawing from them. The Hatter released a sharp gasp and almost collapsed onto her knees, feeling drained, but the Doctor caught her. They hugged each other as their knees hit the dust covering the floor, shaking as they clung to each other, gasping for air.

"It wasn't enough…" the Time Lady whispered shakily, her limbs feeling like jelly as she pressed her face into his neck, her tears falling onto his collar, "We failed, we failed, Doctor…"

The once orange and red light dimmed around them, barely noticed by the Time Lords, while the sun crackled and thundered loudly, slowly returning to its bright orange and yellow appearance. The face of the sun grinned evilly down upon them, almost mocking them with their failure. Minutes must have passed by, but for once neither Time Lord payed much mind to the ticking clock inside their heads, instead they slowly tried to climb back onto their own feet, but they had barely managed to move much more from their position of clinging to one another, when rushed footsteps sounded and they looked up at the doorway, only to find Clara standing there.

She gave them a brave smile, holding her 101 Places to See book in her hand as she turned to looked out across to the sun. She seemed to brace herself for a moment, breathing in and out as she hugged the book to her front. The Hatter slowly blinked at her, lifting her head up from the Doctor's neck to watch her, surprise and hope flaring inside her.

"Still hungry?" she called out to the sun, before she flipped her book open and revealed a brown, pressed leaf, the very same leaf that had resulted in the meeting of her parents, "Well, I brought something for you. This," she delicately lifted the leaf up with the flat palm of her hand, staring back out at the sun as the Time Lords slowly exchanged a look…could it be? She broke into a broad smile, "The most important leaf in human history," her eyes began to fill with tears as the sun's mouth opened widely, "It's full of stories, full of history," she continued, "And full of a future that never got lived. Days that should have been that never were. Passed on to me," she held it up before her, held between her fingers as the sun's tendrils began to stretch out towards it, "This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day we live. An infinity. All the days that never came," her voice grew softer, but no less powerful, "And these are all my mum's".

The tendrils began to wrap themselves around the leaf, tugging it away, fleck by fleck, swallowing it up into the sun's gaping mouth. The Doctor and the Hatter managed to climb onto their feet, slightly unsteady still and their movements heavy from fatigue, but the Hatter still found enough strength to pull herself away from the Doctor to stand beside Clara, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder as she bravely fought back tears, watching her most precious possession being swallowed up before her very eyes.

"There you go, feast," the Hatter told the sun, unable to quite conceal the sadness from her own voice, feeling her hearts breaking for Clara and the sacrifice she had made.

The sun gave a loud groan, its face scrunching up, almost as though it was uncomfortable.

"Are you full?" the Doctor lifted an eyebrow, stepping up beside the Hatter and Clara, eyeing the sun with a knowing glimmer in his green eyes, "I expect so…" he smirked very slightly and exchanged a look with the Time Lady, "Because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been. There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other".

The Hatter glanced back to the leaf, just as it completely disintegrated into thousands of specks of golden dust, blowing away towards the gaping mouth. She sighed heavily, squeezing Clara's shoulder as she looked back up to the sun, "Even you have a limit," she said quietly, watching it as the face seemed to grow almost pained, "Infinity, after all, is too much for any one single being to handle".

A loud cracking noise thundered through the air, just as the last few specks of the leaf floated into the mouth…suddenly, a ripple of red energy flash across the surface of the sun and as it cleared, the face was gone, leaving nothing but the orange and yellow surface of the sun behind, before even that imploded, leaving nothing but a stretch of empty space behind, bathing them in a dim red light. The Old God was gone.

….

The Hatter struggled to hold back a yawn as she flicked a switch on the TARDIS console, still feeling rather tired from all of their efforts to stop the Old God. Clara was sitting quietly on one of the jump seats by the base of the stairs, she had spoken little since they had left the market behind, though she had cheered up enough to give Merry a rather sad goodbye and a tight hug, but the Hatter still could see the weight of sadness that hung around her. The Doctor, around the other side of the console controls, pulled the hand break lever and brought the time machine to a sharp jolting stop, right outside the Maitland's house.

"Home again," the Doctor cheered through the room, bright and cheerful as ever, but he couldn't hide the wariness he was experiencing, either, not from the Hatter's keen eyes, at least. His movements were just a tad sluggish, for him, "Home again, jiggity jig!"

Clara rose from her seat and moved across to the doors, pulling them open to peer outside at the sunlit street, "It looks different," she remarked, staring out.

"Nope," the Doctor spared her a brief glance, busy tapping something on the controls, "Same house, same city, same planet. Hey!" he suddenly grinned and pointed at the monitor screen above the controls, while Clara slowly closed the doors and turned back around to face them, "Same day, actually. No bad. Hole in one…though, you can probably thank the Hatter for that".

The Time Lady shot him a cheeky smile from around the Time Rotor, "Thank you, sweetheart," she said happily, skipping around the controls to him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

Clara, however, didn't seem to be paying their happy display much mind, frowning to herself, "You were there," she stared off into the distance, and the Time Lords instantly paused, listening warily, "At mum's grave. You were watching," she finally looked up to them as they slowly met her eyes, "Both of you were. What were you doing there?"

"I don't know," the Doctor lied instantly, dropping his eyes from hers, suddenly becoming quite interested in fiddling with something on the control panel behind him, "We were just…making sure…"

"Of what?"

The Hatter slowly stepped closer to her, her eyes roaming across Clara's face. She truly was Os, in every way but species, it was terribly unfair, "Clara, it's just…" she hesitated, giving her a weak smile, "Well, you see, you remind us of someone".

"Who?"

"Someone…dear to me," she replied slowly, finding that she couldn't stomach the idea of lying completely, not again, "Someone that died".

Clara's eyebrows lifted very slightly with understanding and she shifted slightly, eyeing the Time Lady, "Well, whoever she was, I'm not her, okay?" she said firmly, and the Hatter struggled to hold back a darkly amused smile, finding it oddly funny that Clara should say that when…well, it was highly debatable. Sadly, Clara seemed to have noticed something shift in her expression and she narrowed her eyes, "If you want me to travel with you two, that's fine. But as me. I'm not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. I'm not going to compete with a ghost".

"Of course not," the Hatter shook her head hurriedly, any trace of amusement now gone as she stared at Clara with wide, slightly alarmed eyes, "Oh, Clara, that's not at all what this is, you are your own person and we are honoured to have you travelling with us," she gave her a gentle smile, placing a hand over her left heart, "Please, never think for a moment we don't see you as you, Clara, believe me…we do".

Even if it was sometimes hard to keep that in mind, the Hatter would never forget that the girl standing before her was not her niece, no matter what no one could fill that role. Clara met her eyes firmly, before she slowly nodded and returned the smile, before turning on her heel and heading for the door, slipping outside to return to her normal life. All the while the Time Lords watch her go until she had entered her house, before exchanging a troubled look and returning to the controls; quickly sending them back off into the Time Vortex. The moment they had parked, the Hatter sighed heavily and almost collapsed onto the jump seat Clara had been sitting in.

"I truly hate this," she murmured, looking sadly up at the Doctor as he came to stand before her, "This entire situation is just…so unfair, sweetheart".

"I know, dear," he sighed, kneeling before her, placing one hand on her knee and the other reaching up to cup her cheek, his thumb lightly running across her cheekbone, "But I've got something that'll cheer you up," he suddenly broke into a wide smile, his eyes glimmering with knowing and delight, which was simply impossible to resist, even in the Hatter's gloomy mood.

She raised a curious eyebrow, eyeing him carefully, "Better than those flowers you gave me?" she asked, smiling faintly, "Because that will be very hard to beat, Doctor. You know I love flowers".

"Much, much better. Close your eyes".

The Hatter was terribly curious now, he truly did look beyond excited by whatever it was he had gotten her, he was almost humming with energy and his eyes were lit up, bright and wide and so very, very eager. It reminded her fondly of Astra. She did as he asked, however, and let her eyes close, resisting the urge to try peeking…even though it was very hard not to when she heard him shuffling and felt his hand leave her knee, before she felt something cool and metal slip over the top of her head, large enough to stretch over the top of even her hat. Still, she didn't open her eyes, but she thought she knew exactly what it was as he gently lifted her hair out of the way, the delicate metal links and familiar weight around her neck instantly lightening her heavy hearts.

"Okay," his voice whispered in her ear, his lips lightly brushing against the curve of her ear, "Open your eyes".

She did and immediately looked down, laughing in pure delight at the sight of her necklace hanging down the front of her bright pink top. She reached up to grasp the circular pendent, her thumb moving across the Gallyfreyan words engraved across the silver metal. Her name, written in her own language, her last piece of her family from Gallifrey. She looked back to the Doctor as he watched her eagerly and jumped onto her feet, grabbing his face between her hands and kissing him, hard and tenderly all at once. He was more than happy to kiss her back, his arms winding around her waist and pulling her impossibly closer. She ended the kiss by pulling back, just barely enough to break the kiss, dropping her hands down to rest flat against his chest. His hearts were hammering in his chest, as though it was but the first kiss the had ever shared.

"You got it back," she smiled, her voice soft.

"Of course I did," he nuzzled his nose against hers, making her giggle. He grinned widely, pulling back very slightly to look at her, his gaze so gentle it was almost painful, "Hatter, I would never let you give up something that precious".

"It's just an old relic, Doctor…"

"No, it's not, not to you or to me. That necklace gave me hope when I needed it most for centuries, when I couldn't hold you or have you by my side, I could have that necklace. It's precious to me, too".

The Hatter gave him an almost apologetic smile, realising that she had been mistaken to so quickly try to dismiss the necklace, even though she knew how much it matter to him…how much it mattered to them both. She kissed him again, more gently this time, and it only lasted a brief moment before she pulled back to meet his eyes firmly.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she told him.

The Doctor simply smiled and hugged her.

Here we go, up at long last. I would have had it up three weeks ago, but I ran out of time to finish it before I started my first week of placement. It took me another week to recover from the full two weeks and I'm only just now starting to feel like doing anything more than watching movies. Anyway, originally, I intended for Clara to give up her mother's ring, but I just couldn't see the Hatter letting her do it, it didn't seem fitting with her character, so instead I had the Hatter give up her necklace. Plus, it provided me with a good chance to have a little bit of Doctor/Hatter love at the end here. I feel like it's been a while since we got that.

I hope you guys liked the chapter. Next chapter, the Hatter dresses up, the Doctor's in trouble, and our Time Lords are face to face with an old friend…or is that foe? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. Tell me what you thought, please review :)

Guest Reviews:

Guest (1): I think the Doctor and the Hatter have made reference to meeting people who look like them in the past, I can't remember the exact chapter, but I'm positive I've written a remark about that in the past. It would have just been an offhand thing, but I know I did it previously. I find it interesting that they never explained why Salamander looked like the Second Doctor, I've never watched that episode myself, but I'm familiar with it, but I can't see why I wouldn't find a way to make a reference to it and perhaps try and explain it myself, in the future. I'm not sure I'd find a chance to do so in the next chapter, however, but thanks for the idea :)

Guest (2): I completely agree with you, to be honest I hate the whole Gifted One plot I wrote. If I could get rid of it completely, I would, but sadly I made it such a big piece of her past that I couldn't remove it without completely changing her as a character. I first began writing this series when I was 13, I'm now 22 and have come a long, long way since those early days of writing this series, the Gifted One was one of the very first things that I created in this story, thinking that it added an interesting plot and made the Hatter a more compelling character, I now very dearly regret that. Like you pointed out, the Hatter really is no different from the Doctor, intelligence wise, that's because I have tried my best to gloss over that terrible plot, but sadly there are times when I have to bring it up or include it, in some way, due to the fact that so much about the Hatter's past, her relationships from Gallifrey, her childhood, are surrounded by the issue of the being the Gifted One. But I'm happy that you've over looked the horrible Gifted One plot and like the story. Thank you so much :)

Review: That's because I've yet to actually write the one-shot that is supposed to finish the Waters Of Mars episode. If it seems odd that the Hatter went from being angry and upset with the Doctor, to then getting married to him in the following chapter, which I know it does make no sense, that is because I always intended to write a one-shot that showed the Doctor and the Hatter talking over what happened at the end of the Waters Of Mars, I just haven't got around to actually writing it yet, but I will and it will hopefully make the whole wedding thing make more sense, but at the time the chapter was so long, I just didn't feel like I could properly write that discussion in the chapter, so I decided to turn it into a one-shot. But thank you for reminding me of that, I needed to put it on my list :)

Guest (3): If the Hatter had died during School Reunion, then there wouldn't be much a story, would there? I think the Doctor would have been devastated, but he would have moved on, after all, during that time he was still coming to grips with the idea that the Hatter was actually still alive, losing her again and for real, would have been a horrible shock and would have hurt him, but I don't feel like it would have crippled him like it might have had it happened further on in that season.

Guest (4): Honestly, I kind of love the idea of the Doctor and the Hatter hating each other when they first met, I feel like I might have written it that way, had I began writing this series today. I love, love the whole enemies to friends to lovers plot, most of the stories that I read have that element to it, in fact my favourite couple Jamie and Brienne from Game and Thrones arguably are a perfect example of that. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure if I could imagine Theta Sigma hating anyone like that, especially if they had never done any to him, I mean he was best friends with the Master, he was probably the most forgiving and accepting kid, it's hard to imagine him hating anyone.

Guest (5): Ooh, I like that idea, I'm so putting that on my list :)