Hide, Part 1

It was pouring, sheets of thick, cold rain pouring down over their shielded heads as the Time Lords huddled together beneath the large canopy of the Sixth Doctor's old rainbow umbrella, while Clara trailed along behind them with her own bright red umbrella held over her head, trying and failing to a large degree to avoid accidently running in any puddles that had formed on the ground. The Hatter felt rather disappointed that it was raining so heavily that it hid the stars and moon from view, but it didn't hinder her excitement at the thought of their impending adventure. The Time Lady glanced at the Doctor beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist as he used the other hand to keep the umbrella over them, giving him a brilliant smile, her eyes positively lit up. He grinned right back at her, the same excitement lighting up his own features in the gloom of the darkened night.

They continued moving swiftly up the grounds towards the large, grand old manor house looming over them in the distance. In the rain it looked quite spooky, most of the windows darkened, while only a few rooms on the bottom floor actually seemed to be in use, light spilling out from between the gaps of the aged curtains. The Hatter took it all in as they neared, peering out through the rain and dark to try and get a better look of the old house, she imagined it likely looked quite handsome in the daylight, but right now it almost looked like the stereotypical haunted British manor house that it supposedly was. Not that she believed in ghosts, but it was still a fun idea, she loved a good ghost story, after all, something that chilled the blood and didn't actually result in her or her friends almost dying or saving the Earth. It was nice to have a little bit of down time, though there was some business mixed in with this trip, too.

"Remind me again what we're doing here?" Clara called over the rain pelting their umbrellas, making the Time Lords glance back over their shoulders to her, "You said we were going on an adventure, Hatter, somewhere exciting and legendary…you failed to mention the part about how wet it would be!" she huffed slightly as she skipped around a rathe large puddle, which the Time Lords had simply walked through with little concern.

The Hatter smiled, "I told you to bring a coat and umbrella, I rather thought that suggested the possibility of rain," she said lightly, purposely pretending not to hear the rest of her question for the purpose of annoying her, Clara was rather amusing when annoyed. Almost like a hissing kitten.

"Hatter, what are we doing here?" she sighed loudly, "Seriously".

"Ghost hunting, Clara!" the Doctor replied brightly, actually making the young girl falter, her eyes widening slightly. He grinned, glancing back to the grand house as they neared the aged, double wooden front doors, "This place is supposed to be have one of the most famous ghosts in Britain and today, they're actually investigating it!"

"How could we resist?" the Hatter remarked happily, almost buzzing with excitement to get inside and start investigating for herself, after all, there had to be a logical reason for why so many people claimed to see the same vision, and she wanted to figure it out, "I love a good ghost story, Clara," she looked back to Clara, who looked a bit more eager herself, "I almost feel like I'm in an episode of BuzzFeed Unsolved, this is going to be excellent!"

"Wait, are you actually telling me that ghosts are real?" Clara asked, smiling faintly with a look of wonder crossing her features.

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a brief, mysterious look, not answering as they finally reached the large, double oak front doors and slipped inside the front entrance, which was more like a rather grand boot room. The real front doors lay beyond that, the Time Lords and Clara folding up their wet umbrellas now that they were undercover. The Hatter was so eager to get inside, she just couldn't help herself as she lifted her knuckles up and knocked…well, pounded might be a better word to describe it, on the doors, wincing slightly after a couple very loud knocks and she realised that her attempt of just knocking on the door came off sounding a great deal more spooky then she had first thought.

"That might have sounded a bit more dramatic then I intended…" she muttered to Clara and the Doctor, who were looking at her with raised eyebrows and amused looks.

"Just a bit, yeah," Clara agreed.

"Good horror movie moment, dear," the Doctor smiled at her, looking rather delighted, before his eyes suddenly lit up, "Ooh, I've got an idea!" he unwound his arm from around the Time Lady's waist to tug her alongside him out of view of the door, Clara hesitating for a moment before moving to duck out of sight, too. The Hatter shook her head fondly, enjoying seeing him just as excited as she was, when the front doors were suddenly flung open and a middle aged man in a 70's style suit and glasses appeared, looking rather apprehensive…it certainly didn't help matters when the Doctor and the Hatter jumped out before him with a cry of, "Boo!"

The man gasped and flinched back from them, his eyes widening in shock. A few steps behind him stood a much younger, pretty, dark haired woman in a similar style 70's skirt and blouse with a vest over the top of it, her hair cut into a bob.

"Ooh, sorry about the fright," the Hatter gave him an apologetic smile, which was just a little too bright to look completely sorry, while the poor man gaped back at them, "We're such twenty year olds still…" she shook her head, giving the Doctor a fond look, not seeming to notice the slightly confused look Clara threw her from off to the side of the door, still hidden from view, "But never mind that! It's a pleasure to meet you," she reached out and grabbed the man's hand before he could even blink, shaking it twice, and releasing it before he even processed what was going on, "We hear you've got yourself a little bit of a ghost trouble".

The man eyed her with a slightly wary look, his eyes flickering carefully across to the Doctor, "And you are?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Ghostbusters," Clara grinned, popping up next to the Time Lady, lightly hitting the end of her umbrella into her open palm.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor introduced himself, whipping his psychic paper out of his pocket with a flourish of his wrist, "And this is my wife, the Hatter…" he nodded over to the Hatter, who wiggled her fingers in greeting, while he briefly flashed the psychic paper at the man.

The man narrowed his eyes very slightly, "Doctor what?"

"If you like," he replied lightly, his smile not wavering in the slightest as he gestured over to Clara, "And this is Clara".

The poor man barely had a chance to even process what had just happened before the Doctor was stepping over the threshold and brushing past him, the Hatter giving the man another apologetic smile as she practically skipped along after the Doctor, flashing the young woman lingering a few steps behind the man a bright smile as she moved past her. A short hallway opened up into a very large, once very handsome and grand foyer, a lovely sweeping staircase running up alongside one side of the room, while several doorways branched off from the room itself. Set up in the middle of the room, however, immediately drawing the Time Lords attention, was a great deal of retro looking equipment, covering at least two tables and filling the air with a light humming noise as the machinery ran. Well, retro and very, very, very primitive to the Time Lords eyes, but cutting edge for the 70's. The Hatter instantly felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her as she smiled fondly at the set up…Oh, this took her back to those old UNIT days.

"Ah, but you are very different!" the Doctor cheered as he ran over to the equipment, looking positively thrilled by the sight, so much so that he almost didn't seem to know what to do with his hands.

"Now this takes me back, sweetheart," the Hatter laughed, reaching out to lightly run her left index finger along the cool metal top of one of the machines, looking over to him with a nostalgic expression, "I almost feel like Jo Grant is going to come along with a cup of tea and you're going to start tinkering away with some part of the TARDIS".

"Those were the days, weren't they, dear?" he smiled fondly, draping an arm around her shoulders, regarding the set-up with a warm look, "Me, all velvet and ruffles and you, all sarcasm and steadfastness".

"You thought my Third self was steadfast?"

"More outwardly then your Second or First bodies had been," he nodded, his smile softening at the memory of her Third self. He loved every version of the Hatter, though the First, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh versions of her would always hold especially special places in his hearts, he did so enjoy that sarcastic sense of humour the Third Hatter had possessed, the fire that her anger would explode with, often going from annoyance to fury in a second and typically riddled with passionate anger and outrage, "I once had to restrain that version of you from strangling the Master, remember?"

She blushed, purposely turning her gaze back onto the equipment, rather embarrassed by that memory, though she didn't completely disagree, "I still say it would have been a great idea," she muttered.

He laughed at that and dropped his arm from around her shoulders, spinning back around and pointing at the man, who had followed them inside the room with Clara and the young woman trailing behind him while the Time Lords had lost themselves to their memories. They probably should have been a bit more mindful about the others presence, Clara, for one, was eyeing them both with a completely baffled expression

"You are Major Alec Palmer," he said to the man, walking closer towards the man, eyeing him closely, "Member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Ministry of Ungentlemenly Warfare," he leaned closer to the man, dropping his voice to a whisper, "Specialised in espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines…" he straightened and grinned, holding his hands out towards the man, who looked rather uncomfortable, "You're a talented watercolourist, professor of psychology, and…ghost hunting," he grabbed the man's hand, eagerly shaking it, much like the Hatter had before, "Total pleasure. Massive!"

"It honestly is," the Hatter added brightly, dropping into one of the chairs sitting before the machinery, looking back over her shoulder towards Palmer with a warm smile, "You've been on our list to catch up with for ages now".

"Actually, you're wrong," the young woman suddenly spoke up, frowning slightly at the Doctor, "Professor Palmer spent most of the war as a POW".

"An excellent cover story," the Time Lady nodded without dropping her smile, turning her warm gaze onto the young woman, "But what else would a very brave man say when so heavily involved in some of the most dangerous and secretive operations going on? He's hardly going to boast about it, is he?" she looked back over to Palmer, who shifted slightly uncomfortably, shooting the rather startled looking woman a quick glance, "I mean, that's hardly the actions of the same man currently hiding a Victorian Cross in a box in his attic…"

The Doctor lightly slapped Palmer on the shoulder, "But you know that…" he said brightly, turning his attention onto the woman, "…because you're Emma Grayling…" he moved closer to her and lightly grasped her shoulders, giving her two Gallic air kisses on either side of her cheeks, while the poor girl looked utterly stunned, staring at Palmer. He pulled back from her, releasing her, "The Professor's companion".

"Assistant," Emma corrected, blinking back to reality.

"It's 1974," he glanced back over to her, "You're the assistant and 'non-objective equipment,'" he dropped his finger quotes as he finished.

"In other words, Clara…" the Hatter threw Clara a smile as she came to stand by her chair, eyeing the equipment curiously, "Emma is an empathetic psychic, which, yes, is actually a thing and very real".

"Getting that," Clara nodded, looking back up to the Time Lady with an amused smile, "Bless you, though".

Palmer sighed as the Doctor once again lightly slapped his upper arm, "Relax, Emma," he told her, looking rather resigned as he watched the Doctor move back over to the Time Lady, while Clara took a seat on the edge of the table, "They're Military Intelligence. So, what is all this in aid of?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes on the Time Lords.

"Health and safety," the Doctor replied at once, while the Hatter nodded firmly and tried to look a bit more professional…not that her bright pink tights were helping in that regard right now, "Yeah…" he pushed his coat back and put his hands on his hips, likewise trying to seem a bit more qualified and failing miserably, "The Ministry got wind of what's going on down here. Sent us to check that everything's in order," he gestured between himself the Hatter.

"They don't have the right," Palmer instantly scowled, his expression darkening.

"Oh, don't get yourself in a huff, Major," the Hatter smiled brightly at him, shaking her head, her tone light, "We'll just be here for a quick tick, you'll barely even notice us…"

"Oh!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, his face lighting up in pure delight as he seemed to catch sight of something amongst the equipment on the table, clicking his fingers at it and pointing towards it, "Oh, look, dear! Oh, lovely!" he flashed the Hatter a positively thrilled look and moved closer the table, reaching out to start toying with one of the machines, while Clara and the other humans simply looked confused, "The ACR 99821. Oh, bliss…" he began twisting and turning one of the toggles, making the Hatter laugh fondly, watching him, "Nice action on the toggle switches. You know, I do love a toggle switch, Hatter…"

"Almost as much as you love the word, sweetheart," the Time Lady remarked, amused.

He turned to lean back against the table, giving her a affectionate look as he leant towards her, playfully tapping her nose…she instantly scrunched up her face, "You know me so well, dear," he said happily, laughing very slightly, "Yes, 'Toggle'. Nice noun. Excellent verb…Oi!" he suddenly slapped Clara's hand away from the machine, just as she went to reach towards it, giving her a stern look, "Don't mess with the settings".

Clara blinked and glanced at the Hatter, who simply shook her head and rolled her eyes good naturally at the Doctor's antics, making it seem as though he hadn't just been toying with the settings himself. But that was him, he'd deny it if the Time Lady pointed it out to him, so instead she kept silent on the matter and simply watched with amusement as the Doctor pushed away from the table and began walking over towards where Palmer and Emma stood, whipping his sonic screwdriver out as he did so, flashing it over them.

"What's that?" Palmer questioned, eyeing the whirring device with a frown.

"Gadget," the Doctor replied without looking at them, flicking the sonic and lifting it up to his eyes, checking the results, "Classified, I'm afraid," he came to a stop before a darkened archway leading off to the side of the room, by the bottom of the stairs, the hallway beyond it almost pitch black, "You know, while the back room boffins work out a few kinks," he lifted the sonic back up and began scanning the archway.

"What's it telling you?" Emma asked curiously, eyeing him closely, exchanging a brief look with Palmer beside her. The Hatter stood from her chair, moving closer to get a better look at the arch, sensing that there was something off about it.

The Doctor checked the sonic, "It's telling me that you haven't been exposed to any life-threatening transmundane emanations," he said quickly, slipping the sonic back inside his pocket and whirling around to face them with a smile, "So…" he clapped his hands, "Where's the ghost?" he asked in a spooky whisper, playfully nudging the Hatter's side as he slipped past her to grab a lit candelabrum from off a stand by the base of the stairs, allowing his eyes to wonder the room, "Show me the ghost".

There was a sudden whooshing noise, like a gust of wind had just came through and an icy draft seemed to settle over the room, causing the humans and the Time Lords to look in the direction that the noise had come. The Hatter began to smile, rolling her sleeve back to see that all the hair on her arm was sticking up and little goose pimples had sprung up over her flesh. She had the sudden sensation that a pair of eyes were looking at her, too, but she resisted against the urge to spin around to see, knowing there would be nothing there.

"Ooh…" the Time Lady grinned, her voice barely above a whisper, grabbing the Doctor's elbow, "Now that sounded spooky. Let's go check it out!"

The Doctor laughed, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before she looped her arm through his and they took off down the darkened hallway. Only the Hatter, or him, for that matter, would hear a creepy noise and get excited about investigating it…actually, come to think of it, Astra would probably find it pretty cool, too. That Time Tot was far too much like them, it was rather worrying at times, much like Jenny had been so much like the two of them and that hadn't exactly turned out very well. Behind them, the humans quickly trailed after them as the Doctor and the Hatter led the way down the hallway, the candles casting just enough light to let them walk.

"I will not have this stolen out from under me, do you understand?" Palmer huffed from just behind them, evidently still quite annoyed by their sudden intrusion onto his ghost hunt.

"Er…" the Doctor glanced back over his shoulder to him, barely making out the other man's features in the dark, their only light source the candles, "No, not really, sorry".

"I will not have my work stolen, then be fobbed off with a pat on the back and a letter from the Queen. Never again! This is my house, Doctor, Hatter, and it belongs to me".

The Doctor paused briefly, forcing the Hatter to stop, too, glancing back to the other man. The Hatter slipped her arm from the Doctor's, regarding Palmer with a thoughtful look as the Doctor moved slightly up ahead of them, peering around at some furniture that was being stored against the walls at the end of the hallway, some covered in white dust sheets, but they were all largely hidden in the shadows. Clara blinked slightly and turned to stare at Palmer.

"This is actually your house?"

"It is".

"Sorry," she shook her head in disbelief, "You went to the bank and said, 'You know that gigantic old haunted house on the moors? The one the dossers are too scared to doss in? The one the birds are too scared to fly over?' And then you said, 'I'd like to buy it, please, with my money'".

Palmer shifted slightly uncomfortably under all of their eyes, the Doctor coming to peer at him closely, "Yes, I did, actually," he said with a small frown at the Doctor.

"Ooh, excellent," the Hatter grinned, regarding the man with a approving look, "Very brave and courageous, with a hints of stupidity…" she completely ignored the slightly startled expression that crossed Palmer's face, his head whipping around in her direction, "I love it!" she playfully tapped his arm, looking close to swinging her arm around his shoulder…though she resisted the urge, "You, sir, are just my type of people. I mean, ghost hunting, arguably idiotically daring, academically gifted…"

There was a sudden loud creak and bang, almost like a door being slammed in the distance of the house, echoing back to them. Clara jumped at the noise, while the Hatter merely looked curiously back down the hallway.

"Well, that was a bit rude, ghost," she muttered, crossing her arms across her chest and turning back to the Doctor, "Honestly, interrupting a person when they're in the middle of a back handed compliment, what are ghosts coming to these days?"

The Doctor barely held back his amused smirk, "And you call me adorable, dear," he commented with a soft look, full of affection aimed directly at her, making her blush faintly under his gaze. He forced himself to grow serious as he turned back to Palmer, "Listen, Major," he began, his tone growing sterner, "We just need to know what's going on here".

"For the Ministry?" Palmer questioned with a suspicious look between the Time Lords.

"You know we can't answer that".

He nodded reluctantly, lowering his head very slightly, "Very well, follow me," he told them, resigned as he turned and began to lead them off down another hallway.

The Doctor and the Hatter watched him go for a moment, before following after him, Clara and Emma trailing after them. Palmer seemed to know his way around the old house without any real need for even the dim lighting of the candles, leading them through the hallways, taking corner after corner, until they found themselves back in the entrance hall, leading them across to a doorway that opened up into a warmly lit living room. The walls were covered in rich, handsome wood panelling with old oil painters hanging in places, grand old book cases built into the walls in sections, while a fire crackled in the grating of a large, very old stone fireplace. The room seemed to be the most well-used place that they had seen yet, there was even a fold-up table set up in the corner of the room with things set up on it for tea or coffee, every corner filled with bright, warm light.

As the Hatter stepped into the room, her eyes immediately fell on the large cork board set up in the middle of the room, covered with pictures and papers that had been pinned to the surface, depicting a history of the house and the ongoing haunting. She edged closer to peer curiously at the board as Palmer instantly crossed the room to it, seemingly trying to distract himself by pinning another piece of paper to the board, while Clara and Emma seemed to gravitate over towards the small tea area, sitting themselves in two chairs that faced each other before the table.

"Hatter!" the Doctor called eagerly, making her pull herself away from the board to find the Doctor grinning excitedly at her, holding a large camera. He lifted it up, pointing it at her as he peered through the sight, "Smile, dear!"

The Time Lady groaned, suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable under the lens of the camera, reluctantly smiling as he snapped the picture and a bright flash went off, leaving her blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision. By the time she could see, the Doctor was by her side and draping his arm around her, tugging her close to his side, using his other hand to lift the camera up high before them, the front of the camera now facing them.

"Doctor," the Hatter sighed, feeling oddly embarrassed, "You know I hate pictures, how about I snap a couple of you…"

"Not going to happen, dear," he cut her off, far to cheerfully, in the Hatter's mind, grinning widely up at the camera, "Come on, smile!" he snapped the picture of them, just as the Hatter forced another smile, snapping a couple more of just the two of them, each in a slightly different pose…he managed to snap one mid laugh as he tickled the Hatter's side, looking very proud of himself as he took one of him kissing her cheek as she continued giggling. He lowered the camera after that, not moving away from her, "Now that's one for the album, Hatter".

She gave him a fond look, pressing a kiss to his cheek in return, "It's annoying how easy you make it to not be mad at you," she tried to grumble, though it rather failed, considering how happy she was in the moment, his arm around her waist and his warm, gentle eyes gazing back at her.

"No, it's not," he shook his head, smirking, "You love it".

"Okay, maybe a little bit. Or maybe a lot…"

He laughed and kissed her then, properly this time, until the Hatter broke away and gave him a mock glare, her cheeks very pink looking and a small, almost giddy smile on her lips. It instantly made her look centuries younger when she had that light in her eyes, almost as though all the pain and grief, and suffering they had both endured had never happened and they were just those two rebellious teenagers again, dreaming of travelling the stars and playing pranks of their friends. It might not last long, that lightness, but it was still something.

"So, what's an empathic psychic?" Clara was asking Emma, looking curiously at the young woman. The Hatter pulled away from the Doctor to join the girls, looking at the assortment of tea and coffee things on the table, while the Doctor sat the camera back down on a nearby table.

"Sometimes I…sense feelings, the way a telepath can sense thoughts," Emma explained, frowning slightly, evidently trying to find a way to explain herself when it was perhaps harder to try putting into simple words. The Hatter gave the Doctor a sharp, scolding look as he grabbed a bottle of milk and went to drink directly out of it, making him wince and quickly sit it back down, "Sometimes, though," she continued, shaking her head, "Not always".

"I always love to meet empathics," the Hatter turned around to face the girls, leaning back against the table, giving Emma a warm smile as Emma looked up to her, "You're always the most compassionate individuals, gentle, fair minded…I always thought that if the Universe was filled with more people like that, it would be a far kinder place".

Emma smiled faintly, if a little embarrassedly, but she looked quite proud by the Time Lady's words.

"It comes with a heavy burden, though," the Doctor added, a little insensitively. The Hatter glanced at him with a small frown crossing her features as Emma's smile instantly dimmed, "They're also the loneliest people. I mean, exposing themselves to all those hidden feelings, all that guilt, pain and sorrow and…"

The Hatter's hand suddenly came down over his mouth, instantly cutting him off. She was giving him a warning glare, having been closely watching as any pride or happiness had completely dissolved from Emma's expression, replaced by a pained, closed off grimace. She recognised that look well herself, the look of someone who knew a truth painfully well and truly had little need, nor desire, to hear another repeat it to their face.

"I do apologise for him," she said to Emma, her tone pleasant, though the look that she shot back at the Doctor was anything but. The Doctor visibly cringed, even though half his face was still covered by her hand, "He's an idiot with a mouth that runs away with him at times".

"Would you, er, care to take a look?" Palmer suddenly called, drawing their attention to where he was standing before his board. The Hatter dropped her hand from the Doctor's mouth as they all moved to get a closer look, each image laid out across the board depicting what appeared to be the blurred outline of a glowing, white woman, featured in different rooms and throughout different periods of time, ever since the invention of the camera, at least. However, what was truly the most disturbing thing about the image wasn't that it seemed to be the same, no matter what decade or room, but rather the fact that the ghostly figure seemed to be constantly screaming. It made the Hatter shiver, "Caliburn House is over four hundred years old," he began, glancing back towards the Time Lords and Clara as he spoke, "But she has been here much longer. The Caliburn Ghast…"

He reached out and pointed to a black and white picture, one that looked as though it had been taken in the Edwardian era, showing the blurred outline of what seemed to be a woman, though it could easily have been a man, seemingly with its mouth wide open in a silent scream and a hand raised. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look.

"She's been mentioned in local Saxon poetry and parish folk tales," he went on, looking up at all the other very similar pictures pinned to the board, "The Wrath of the Lady, the Maiden in the Dark, the Witch of the Well".

"Is she real?" Clara asked with a look of wonder written across her features, peering at the pinned photos, before glancing at the Time Lords, "As in, actually real?"

"Oh, she's real," Palmer replied with a firm nod, while the Doctor and the Hatter frowned slightly. He was still looking up at his board, however, not even sparing them a look, "In the seventeenth century, a local clergymen saw her. He wrote that her presence was accompanied by a dreadful knocking, as if the Devil himself demanded entry…" the Hatter's eyebrows rose and her mouth lifted in amusement, how many other religious figures had they encountered that had jumped to the same conclusion when logic and science revealed the real truth? "During the war, American airmen stationed here left offerings of tinned Spam. The tins were found in 1965, bricked up in the servant's pantry, along with a number of handwritten notes. Appeals to the Ghast," he glanced back to the Time Lords and Clara, reaching out to lightly touch his fingertips over a slip of paper pinned to the board, "'For the love of God, stop screaming'".

The Hatter winced slightly at that, "Okay, that's a tad creepy," she muttered to the Doctor, though given how quiet the room was, they could all hear her easily.

"And I thought you loved a good ghost story, dear?" the Doctor smiled back at her, playfully nudging her side.

"I do…but that doesn't make it any less spooky, sweetheart".

"She never changes," Clara realised, running her eyes over the board, picture to picture, "The angles different, the framing, but she's always in exactly the same position. Why is that?"

"Well spotted, Clara," the Hatter remarked thoughtfully, moving closer to look more intently at the pictures, having noticed the very same thing upon first looking at the photographs. A bloom of light lit up the board and she smiled gratefully at the Doctor as he came to stand beside her, having grabbed the candelabra and brought it over to them, lighting up the board, examining the pictures, too.

"We don't know," Palmer said, answering Clara's question, eyeing the photo's curiously, "She's an objective phenomenon, but objective recording equipment can't detect her…"

"Hence why you brought young Emma in on your hunt," the Time Lady nodded, running her eyes over each photo, lingering here and there on some, her mind whirling with possibilities, "You need a powerful psychic, though…" a sly smirk crossed her lips and her eyes flickered knowingly over towards Palmer, "I imagine there are other reasons…"

Palmer gave her a sharp look as he reached up to slip his glasses off, frowning, "Absolutely," he said, though he seemed to be ignoring her last little comment. She just hadn't been able to resist and judging by the lift to the Doctor's lips, he had found it quite amusing. Palmer was still watching her, regarding her with a degree of interest now, however, "Very well done".

"Thank you," she smiled at him, inclining her head politely.

"She knows I'm here…" Emma said suddenly, her face quite pale and her hands clasped anxiously, her gaze fixed on the pictures as they all looked at her sharply, "I can feel her…calling out to me".

"What's she saying?" Clara asked, eyeing her curiously.

"'Help me'".

The Hatter's head snapped over towards the door across the room from them, feeling her hearts give an unpleasant leap, having sworn that she had seen something move out of the corner of her eye, a shadow that had dashed past the shadows of the open door. She frowned, oddly unsettled by the moment, made all the worse by the sharp look Clara had just thrown the door, too. So they had both seemingly seen something there…that was interesting, at least it wasn't all just in her own head and there was something there. Maybe. Perhaps they were just both losing their minds to the stories of this old house, it could be possible. Or maybe she was just getting superstitious in her old age.

"The Witch in the Well," the Doctor was saying thoughtfully, thankfully having missed the Hatter's little moment of possible insanity, having been examining the board. He turned towards Palmer, eyeing him, "So where's the well?"

Palmer smiled very faintly and turned, walking over to where a long table was set up along the side of the room, covered with books and more paperwork, "A copy of the oldest plan that we could find," he explained to the Time Lords as they came to look at a large set of design plans for the house, laid out across the table, leaning closer to it to examine it intently, "There is no well on the property," he informed them, the Hatter nodding slowly in agreement, not spying anything resembling a well on the designs at all, "None that we could find, anyway".

"Perhaps it was never included on the plans?" the Hatter suggested thoughtfully, eyes narrowed on the plans, before glancing at the Doctor, "Or maybe it precedes them…or even postdate them by a great deal".

The Doctor gave her a thoughtful look, his eyes flickering briefly over to where Palmer was standing by them, frowning faintly as his eyes moved between the pair, clearly sensing that she was trying to say something without actually saying it. Thankfully, the Doctor was very good at translating the Hatter and what she meant but didn't actually say…most of the time. The well might not have been built during the original construction of the house; in fact, it might not even exist now, even, in this time, but in the future…was it possible that the house was being haunted by the future? Was that an actual thing? It would be a better explanation then a ghost, anyway, in fact, given their luck; it might even be completely plausible and likely.

"Ooh…" he straightened, eyeing the Time Lady with a bright spark in his eyes, "Ooh, that's good, dear…"

She shrugged, smiling happily, "I'm not just great at wearing hats, sweetheart".

"Though, you do that pretty perfectly, too," he grinned, nudging her side, earning a laugh from her. They completely ignored Palmer's utterly confused expression, linking arms instead and turning on their heels, walking back over to where Clara was still staring up at the board. He tapped her on the head and she instantly gasped in alarm, whirling around with a mock cross expression, "You coming?" he asked her in a whisper.

"Where?" she questioned softly, dropping the cross act immediately.

"To find a ghost, of course," the Hatter replied eagerly, her voice just as low and her eyes very bright in the candle light of the candelabra held in the Doctor's other hand. Instantly, Clara's expression morphed into puzzlement, making the Time Lady frown slightly, "Oh, come on, Clara," she lightly hit her arm, giving her a hopeful look…she looked just like an older version of Astra in that moment, it made the Doctor smile faintly, "Ghost hunting! Let's catch a ghost, it'll be fun".

Clara eyed her dubiously, "And why would I want to do that?" she said quietly, "Catch a ghost, that is?"

"Because you want to," the Doctor replied simply, "Come on," he and the Hatter turned to head for the door, quite confident that she would just follow.

"Well, I dispute that assertion," she hissed after them.

"Eh?" he frowned deeply and stopped sharply by the door, giving the Hatter a very confused look, while the Time Lady blinked. They were both rather shocked that Clara didn't actually want to follow after them and go ghost hunting, their previous companions had never put up such a fuss about joining them on their investigations in the past, even when told not to follow them they would still follow. Once again Clara was proving to be quite different than the normal companion; it was just a little disconcerting.

The Hatter shook her head, looking back over her shoulder to Clara, who was almost hugging herself with a wary expression written across her features. She sighed, "Clara, please," she tried to urge her, giving her a gentle look, "You'll be perfectly safe, the shadows are nothing to be scared off…well, not unless they have Vashta Nerada hidden in them, ready to strip you of all your flesh…" she winced as Clara's eyes widened, looking completely horrified, "That didn't help, did it?"

"No!"

She glanced at the Doctor, who was slowly shaking his head at her, for once, "This is all your fault," she muttered, resisting the urge to poke him in the ribs, "Your insensitivity is rubbing off on me".

He smiled at that, but turned his attention back onto Clara…grimacing slightly as he caught Emma watching them over her shoulder, "Clara…" he focused on the girl, giving her a stern, pointed look, "I'm giving you a face," he whispered to her, jerking his head over towards the door, "Can you see me? Look at my face," he jerked his head again, urging her to join them.

Clara hesitated for another second, eyeing them very reluctantly…before releasing a heavy sigh, "Fine," she muttered, arms still firmly cross as she moved to come stand with them, frowning as she considered the darkened doorway. A playful glimmer suddenly lit up her eyes and she turned to give the Time Lady an almost teasing look, "Dare me".

"Why me specifically?" the Hatter lifted an eyebrow, amused but slightly confused.

"Because you're more fun than him," she replied with a cheeky grin, purposely ignoring the Doctor's presence, it would seem.

The Doctor immediately bristled, while the Hatter laughed, "Oi!" he huffed, barely keeping his voice down as he subconsciously straightened his bowtie, giving Clara a look of great offense, "I'm loads of fun, what does that even mean?"

She shrugged, smirking as she looked back to Hatter, "Go on," she urged her playfully, not even bothering to respond to the Doctor's growing outrage, "Dare me, Hatter".

"I don't believe this…" the Doctor shook his head in disbelief, while the Hatter regarded Clara with a very serious expression, paying him as much mind as Clara had, "Me? Not fun? And…you're not even listening to me, are you?" he huffed suddenly, scowling deeply as he looked between the girls.

"Hmm…" the Hatter hummed thoughtfully, barely holding back the urge to grin at the Doctor's growing frustration, keeping her gaze on Clara. Oh, she knew she liked the girl for more than just her intelligence, she was cheeky, too, she liked cheekiness, plus she thought it good for the Doctor's ego to be taken down by not just herself, but by their companions, from time to time, "Alright, then," she broke into a wide, challenging smile, "I dare you, Clara. Step into the shadows with us…Oh!" she dropped the spooky, dramatic tone she had used on the last sentence, pointing sternly at the girl, "And no takesies backsies".

Clara smiled and shook her head in agreement, reaching to grab the candelabra from the Doctor, who let her with a still slightly offended huff, turning to start leading the way out of the room. The Hatter gave the Doctor a fond look and pressed a kiss to his cheek, instantly melting away any trace of offense, before linking her arm with his. They moved to follow after the girl, when a voice spoke from behind them.

"The music room is the heart of the house," Emma called after them, making the Time Lords and Clara pause, glancing back over to her, the Time Lady giving her a grateful nod.

They left the room and began to try making their way through the house, creeping through the ground floor level first, guided by the light of the candles still held by Clara, while the Time Lords followed right on her heels, peering around as they moved. It was kind of spooky, even for a centuries old Time Lady like the Hatter, who had grown up in a house not so different from this one, spending much of her childhood and teenage years roaming similar corridors as these ones in the dead of the night with nothing but the light of a small torch to guide her way. She remembered thinking of that old house as more of a mausoleum or museum, then a home; she couldn't say that her sentiments towards it had changed much now.

"Say we actually find her," Clara began after a while, her voice soft, edging along one of the carpeted hallways, "What do we say?"

"'Hello,' is a good place to start, I should imagine," the Hatter remarked lightly, smiling faintly, lightly running a finger along one of the walls as they went…she was trying to detect any sort of vibrations in the walls or foundations of the property, but she couldn't detect a thing.

"Quickly followed by asking her how she came to be…whatever she is," the Doctor added, pausing briefly to try opening a doorway leading off from the hallway, only to find it locked, frowning slightly as he rattled the doorhandle.

"Why?" Clara asked at once, eyeing them as they set off again.

"Because neither of us know," he replied with a frustrated expression filling his features, glancing at the Time Lady, who nodded in agreement, "And ignorance is…what's the opposite of bliss?" he frowned deeply, throwing Clara a questioning look, since she was the English teacher amongst them.

"Carlisle".

The Hatter laughed at that, glancing sideways at the girl, "Oh, I like that…" she paused, considering it, "Actually, you know, I'm not even sure if I've ever been to Carlisle before, always seemed a little dull. And wet".

"Yeah, sounds about right," Clara commented with a small shrug.

They continued on down the length of hallway, until it opened up into another hallway, heading off down that…the Hatter shivered, sensing eyes on her back as she turned the corner. The Doctor shot her a questioning look, but she shook her head and gave him a small smile. They soon found themselves creeping through the kitchen, which were covered in dust and spider webs that made the Time Lady grimace and avoid, old pots and pans left to gather dust on shelves that ran along the wall, along with decorative plates and bowls. A large table was set up in the middle of the room and the Doctor quickly ducked to peer under it, straightening a moment later. The Hatter even managed to overcome her dislike for spiders to briefly pluck the top of off a tea pot that had been left sitting on the table, peering inside the empty pot, before shrugging and sitting the lid back in place. She felt rather pleased to leave that room, making their way into the music room.

The music room was even more neglected and sad looking then the kitchen had been, certainly more creepy, a thick layer of dust coated even the large ornate rug in places, while the large windows along the side of the room were left exposed, allowing the moonlight and flashes of lightening to fill the darkened room in intervals. A large, dust covered harp was sitting at the back of the room, while two chairs were placed on an angle across from each other with a double sheet music stand between them. Unlit candlestick holders were placed around the room, spider webs actually draping off the metal work in places. Over all, the once handsome room was in a very sorry state indeed.

"Ah, the music room," the Doctor smiled slightly as he stepped into the room, slipping the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and flashing it around, while Clara and the Hatter followed after him, the Time Lady throwing the spider webs a look of distaste…if a spider came anywhere near her, she would not be held responsible for the shriek that came from her mouth, "The heart of the house…" he began to prowl around the room, when he paused and suddenly looked back over his shoulder to them, eyeing them, "Do you feel anything?"

"No," Clara replied quickly, giving him a slightly wary look that betrayed her even more then her words.

The Hatter smiled faintly, glancing sideways at her, "Oh, you can lie better than that," she smirked, lightly patting her shoulder as she moved past her, casting her gaze around the darkened space and up towards the elaborate ceiling. She could feel every hair standing up on the back of her neck, quite an unpleasant and curious sensation that she wasn't familiar with feeling very often; in fact she couldn't remember the last time she had felt like it before. She supposed that the normal response would be fear, but instead she felt oddly curious to learn more.

The Doctor, however, frowned very slightly at the Time Lady's words and shot Clara a sharp, though very discreet glance as the girl laughed guiltily at having been called out. Was she a good lie? That was the question, wasn't it? Was she good enough to fool them into trusting her and thinking her a harmless human? He wasn't about to be remiss enough to find out…His sonic suddenly stuttered and he lifted up to his face, his frown deepening in confusion as it began to error…something it really shouldn't be doing at all. He tried whacking it against his open palm, before even trying to lightly blowing on it, thinking that perhaps the cool air of the room was confusing the sensors. That had been an issue with some of the earlier models that he and the Hatter had first developed, though that had been centuries ago now and they had well and truly worked out that kink.

"Something wrong, sweetheart?" the Hatter came to stand beside him, eyeing the device with a concerned look.

"Something's upsetting the sensors," he told her, trying once again to lightly hit it against his palm, before lifting it up and pointing it over towards the door that they had entered through. The device flickered briefly before finally working, whirring as it scanned the doorway. He glanced at the Time Lady, who was frowning faintly, looking between the sonic and the doorway, "Well…" he murmured, slightly cautiously, "That seems to have fixed it".

"Yes, but what was disrupting it in the first place?" she wondered aloud, her voice soft and thoughtful, feeling far more alarmed by this than anything else that had happened since their arrival. The sonic ought to work on just about anything…save for wood, though they were working on it, but to her eyes she couldn't see any reason for why the sonic ought to be having any trouble. She released a small breath from between her lips and exchanged another look with him.

Clara edged over to the Time Lords, coming to stand on the Hatter's right, "Do you feel like you're being watched?" she whispered to them, her expression quite tense.

The Doctor shut off the sonic and slipped it inside his inner breast pocket, feeling quite uncertain about whether or not they could even trust any results after it's odd sputter, "What does being watched feel like?" he asked just as quietly, glancing past the Hatter to Clara, "Is it that funny tickly feeling on the back of your neck?"

"Depends who's watching you," the Hatter said softly, eyes narrowed thoughtfully on the doorway, only partly listening to the conversation. There was something funny about that doorway, she just…sensed it, focusing on it made a cold shiver run down her spine, "If it's you, sweetheart, it feels rather like a warm hug or something a little hotter, depending on the situation, while the Master…more like you were about to be eaten alive and then probably still be forced to listen to his egoistical ravings, which is probably worse than being eaten alive, to be honest…But I imagine that having a ghost watch you feels rather like this, dark and oppressive and…sad," she frowned at that last one and blinked, having actually caught herself off guard.

Sad…yes, that was how she felt, though perhaps even that wasn't the right word, longing might be a better way to describe it. How curious, why would it feel like that? What was she missing? There was something…something just in the corner of her eye that she couldn't see, something she could almost reach out and touch but just couldn't, almost as though she was somehow out of sync from it.

"Er…" Clara was staring at the Time Lady, looking as though she didn't quite know how to take her response, "That's sounds about like it, yeah".

The Doctor nodded slowly, completely un-thrown by the Hatter's ramblings, "Then yes, a bit," he admitted to Clara. He smiled very slightly, "Well, quite a big bit".

The Hatter laughed as the Doctor walked away from them without breaking eye contact with Clara, which was rather spooky and dramatic, and not the least bit comforting. To Clara, that is, personally the Time Lady found it rather amusing, shaking her head fondly as he wondered over towards the curious doorway. She lightly nudged Clara's side, giving her an encouraging look as she continued to look slightly wary…when a soft creaking noise sounded from behind them and they both whirled around, finding nothing there.

"You heard that too, right?" Clara murmured nervously to the Hatter, looking back to her.

The Hatter frowned, her eyes moving around the back of room, "Just…the house settling, I expect," she said quietly, before pausing, considering it, "Or perhaps it's our ghoul friend".

"Yeah, kind of what I was thinking," she nodded, licking her lips worriedly, throwing another look back over her shoulder, "I think she's here".

"Possibly".

"You're not scared?"

"Why would I be afraid of a ghost?" the Time Lady almost laughed, shaking her head as she turned her gaze onto the Doctor, who could almost be mistaken for dancing as he took one step into the doorway, paused, before stepping out again, and back in, "The dead are nothing to fear, Clara," she sighed heavily, frowning very faintly, her voice growing distance, "The living are far more terrifying. Excuse me…" she walked closer to the Doctor, watching him curiously, noting how he seemed to have stilled in the doorway. She eyed his back, "Doctor?"

"Cold spot, dear," the Doctor told her, and just to prove his point all the more his breathe misted into the air as he spoke. He spun around to face the room, while the Hatter lifted an eyebrow and moved closer; reaching out her hand to feel the air around him…it was indeed significantly colder, almost icy. He gave her a wide grin as he caught sight of her mildly surprised expression, "Spooky".

"I love it," she laughed, and he joined in, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards him, spinning her almost as though they were dancing until her back was pressed against his front, both of them now standing in the chill. She turned her head to try and see his face, managing to catch his eye as she angled her head slightly off to the right, her hats small brim threatening to graze his head, "Are you using me as a hot water bottle, Doctor?"

"Well, you are very h-"

"Hush," she cut him off quickly, her cheeks colouring very slightly, rather acutely aware of poor Clara standing just a few feet from them. She gave him a firm look, not wishing to force Clara to endure their flirting…too much, being companions of theirs did require a certain degree of flirting tolerance, Amy and Rory had to learn that the hard way.

The Doctor smiled, "Cold," he said, as though nothing had happened, and lightly stepped them forward, as though they were actually dancing; only they stepped out into warmer air. It was still cool, but nothing like the iciness of before, "Warm…"

"Huh, curious," she said thoughtfully, any previous flirting forgotten, back to focusing on the mystery. She stepped them back, right into the coldness once again, it was almost as if there was a circular beam of icy air coming down in that one spot, "From warm…back to cold…"

They stepped forward again, just one step forward…, "Warm…" and back they stepped, "Cold…" forward, "…warm…" backwards, "…cold".

"Okay, this is very, very odd," the Hatter shook her head, pulling herself from his arms and stepping away, back into the warmth of the normal air temperature of the rest of the room, spinning back around to stare at the spot with a puzzled, thoughtful expression, "Ooh, this is…what is it?" she shook her head, frustration replacing her puzzlement, narrowing her eyes on the spot, "Something…Oh, blimey, I feel like I ought to know…" she huffed at herself, annoyed at her brain for not catching up with her instincts fast enough, which were practically screaming at her, but yet she just couldn't quite grasp what it was. Yet.

"Of course you do, dear," the Doctor flashed her a bright, proud smile, his eyes almost shining with pride as they regarded her warmly, "You're the Hatter, if anyone has the answer rattling around in their head it'll be you…and probably me, but you're probably faster".

She smiled, slightly embarrassed but very, very pleased, "Do you ever doubt me, Doctor?"

He held her eyes firmly at that, seemingly taking her words, which had been said as a rather flippant, light remark as something very serious, "Never, Hatter," he told her, making her blink slightly, before she had to clear her throat and ducked her head very slightly. His expression softened and he turned away from her, fishing a stick of white chalk out of his pocket at random and bending down to draw a circle around himself in the cold spot, spinning on his toes as he did so.

"Doctor?" Clara called suddenly, from the other side of the room, "Hatter?"

The Hatter felt just a tiny bit pleased with the reminder that they weren't alone, she hadn't quite known if she was about to push the Doctor against the wall and kiss him senseless for his words, or end up probably blabbing like a blushing school girl and failed miserably at playing it off as though his words hadn't meant so much to her. She probably would have gone down the blushing, awkward road, because as confident and flirty as this body might be, it could also be quite awkward and shy at times, usually when the Doctor ended up saying something very deep and complimentary. She turned around to see Clara looked quite wide eyed, staring back at them from the other side of the room.

"Yes?" she asked her, giving her a smile that she hoped looked calming.

Clara frowned deeply back at her, just as the Doctor straightened in the circle and turned to see, too, "I'm not happy," she said with a worried tone.

"Oh, Clara," the Hatter sighed, giving her a comforting look, "Rest easy, we'll chase the monsters away," she gave her a playful wink, trying to lighten the mood, "Maybe you could even…"

"If you're about to suggest singing a song, I'll throw something at you, Hatter".

The Time Lady laughed at that and shook her head, far more amused than anything else by Clara's response. She turned on her heel and walked over to join the Doctor as he continued to examine the circle he had drawn with the sonic, taking his free hand as he checked the results. He looked back to the Hatter and lifted an eyebrow, before they were both turning and heading out of the room, off down the corridor.

"Hey!" Clara hissed after them, her footsteps quickly hurrying along after them, before she managed to catch up to them.

They continued to make their way through the hallways of the old house, listening closely for any more odd creaks or groans, searching for any more curious cold spots along the way. They had just rounded the corner of one of the hallways with a large, handsome window lining the wall on their right, when a loud thumping noise sounded. They instantly stopped short in the middle of hallway, tensing and listening intently as the noises seemed to reverberate around them for a moment.

"What was that?" Clara asked in a whisper, looking wide eyed between the Time Lords.

The Hatter frowned slightly, when more banging sounded, though it was hard to say from what direction. She barely managed to stop herself from jumping at the noise.

"I suppose…" she trailed off, alarmed as she saw her breathe misting in the air before her. Her eyes snapped to the Doctor and Clara, finding them both looking just as startled as she felt, their breathe rising into the air, too, just as a icy gust of wind blew past them, snuffing out the candles, "Okay…" she said slowly, blinking slightly, "Loving the spooky dramatics, but did you have to turn off the heat?"

She tugged her leather jacket closer around herself, while the Doctor shot her a fond smile between blowing lightly on his fingers, trying to warm them as the air around them grew thick and heavy with an icy cold. It wasn't like a normal drop in temperature, though, this seemed to seep into your actual bones, chilling you to your very core. Even the window beside them was very quickly being coated by a thick layer of frost, but not just the glass, the actual stone and wood frame, too, from the inside. More banging echoed from all around them, seemingly coming from above and below and from beside them all at once, it was impossible to tell.

"Okay," Clara stood frozen on the spot, wide eyed with fear, "What is that?"

"It's a very loud noise," the Doctor replied, reaching out to brace himself against the wall by his hand, though he looked just a little too relaxed to be believable. He glanced nervously across to the Time Lady, who looked quite tense herself, "It's a very loud, very angry noise".

"What's making it?"

"Um…Father Christmas?" the Hatter suggested blankly, before grimacing and shaking her head quickly, earning a odd look Clara, "Oh, no, that was not an actual thought, forget that idea, both of you, immediately," she sighed, peering up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes, "Well, I might not know, which is both terrifying and really quite amazing all at once, but I think we can safely say that none of us are making it".

"Or are we?" the Doctor looked directly at Clara, rather suspiciously, too.

Clara stared at him in confusion, but before she could say anything, there was another loud bang and the Doctor instantly flinched away from the wall, dropping all pretence of being calm as he moved to stand next to Clara, their backs to the darkened archway at the end of the hallway they had just come down. The Doctor grabbed the Hatter's hand and tugged her closer to his other side, looking rather alarmed now as he wrapped his arm protectively around her middle. The Hatter, however, rolled her eyes at him, though she made little move to step away, frowning as she tried to pinpoint where the banging was actually coming from. It couldn't be coming from all around them, as it seemed to be, there had to be a source.

"Doctor?" Clara whispered, glancing sideways at him, standing side-by-side.

"Yes?" he whispered back, looking straight ahead of them.

"I may be a teeny, tiny bit terrified".

"Naturally so," the Hatter murmured, still peering up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown. Maybe if she closed her eyes and tried listening more intently when the banging started up again, she'd have better luck.

"But I'm still a grown-up".

The Doctor smiled at that, amused as he glanced back over to Clara. By Time Lords standards she was still just a child and would be until around the age of a century old, were by Gallifreyan law she would technically be an adult, though barely, and would still likely be continuing with her education at the Academy for another century. It still amused him to put it in to that sort of context, "Mainly, yes, and…?" he raised his eyebrows, still grinning to himself.

"There's no need to actually hold my hand".

He laughed…before frowning and lifting his right hand, wiggling his very free fingers that were certainly not currently holding Clara's hand, as she seemed to think, while his left hand was currently splayed protectively across the Hatter's right hip, keeping her be his side. The Hatter glanced sideways at him, too, frowning deeply in confusion and mild alarm as she looked at his right hand, actually pulled from her thoughts by Clara's words.

"Okay," the Time Lady breathed, finally looking just a little on edge now, "That's…not great".

The Doctor nodded, blinking slowly down at his right hand, "Clara…"

"Yeah?" Clara whispered back, having been busy trying to peer down the darkened hallways that stretched out before them. She finally looked across to him.

He pointedly held up his right hand for her to see and wiggled his fingers at her, alarm written plainly across his face, "I'm not holding your hand," he told her, almost frantically.

Clara gasped, her eyes widening with fear as the Hatter groaned, closing her eyes briefly, knowing that they were going to have to do that thing in every horror movie when the main characters think something is behind them and they turn around and…wham! You get that jump-scare moment…only, this wasn't one of those movies, it was very, very real and happening right now and she was actually going to have to be like one of those characters and simply hope she didn't end up screaming like a six year old. She better not end up being that one horror movie character that does the stupid thing and open the door that the weird, spooky noise is coming from while the audience is left yelling at you to turn away and just run already. She hated that character…though, in reality, she probably would do that, out of curiosity. She tried to brace herself as she, the Doctor, and Clara turned around to look back to the doorway behind them, just as a flash of lightening briefly filled the space with light, revealing a…creature, something crouching and dark in colour, bent and twisted, seemingly crawling along the hallway towards them.

Clara screamed and the Hatter jumped, despite having known that there would be something hidden in the shadows behind them. The Doctor yelped and practically flung his hands up in the air, before immediately pulling the Hatter closer and almost seemed to try carrying her, just to try and get her and himself, to safety as quickly as possible, though it was slightly awkward and the Hatter quickly pushed herself out of his arms, grabbing his hand instead as the three of them took off running down the hallways of the house, knowing for a fact that if he tried carrying her, as he seemed to think would be a wise idea right now, they were both going to end up crashing into a wall or over the stairs banister, because try as he might, the Doctor simply didn't have that sort of coordination while frightened.

They managed to reach the top of the stairs without coming across anything odd or without tripping themselves up, racing down the main stairs of the house and down into the large entrance hall, finding the Palmer already standing by the base of the stairs, snapping pictures rapidly of the darkened archway, where Emma was standing close before, staring transfixed at the empty blackness of the arch. They had barely even reached the bottom of the stairs when a large, grey and white, glowing spinning disc-like thing suddenly appeared midair across the other side of the room. It almost liked like a circular mirror, humming loudly as the Doctor and Hatter jumped the last few steps to dash across towards the object, the Doctor whipping his sonic screwdriver out as Palmer turned to gape at the object, looking positively stunned.

"Has this happened before?" the Doctor asked Palmer, trying to flash the sonic at the object.

"Never," he replied, still looking on, open mouthed, just as the sonic began glitching again and the Doctor grimaced in annoyance, trying to whack it against his palm with little success.

The Hatter quickly turned to Palmer, "Camera, please," she held her hands out towards the man, who simply looked at her blankly, seemingly forgetting completely the camera hanging around his neck, "Camera!" she raised her voice slightly more urgently, finally spurring Palmer into action as he lifted the camera up over his head and passed it across to her, the Time Lady immediately whirling around to start snapping picture after picture of the curious disc, just hoping she managed to capture something with all the spinning and shaking that the disc was doing.

Cracks began appearing across the mirrored surface of the disc, growing larger as they moved towards the edges from the middle of the disc, and the spinning grew worse. The Hatter frantically kept clicking, twisting the lens to zoom in more, just trying to get something that might help to determine exactly what they were looking at.

"Doctor!" Clara suddenly shouted, "Hatter!"

The Hatter spun around on her heel, the camera still lifted up to her eyes and continued snapping pictures as in the inky blackness of the archway, it almost appeared to be a darkened forest had appeared, while a bright white, shinning shape of a person stood amidst the trees, an eerie scream filling the air as the Time Lady just kept taking picture after picture.

"Help me!" the figure seemed to cry out, just before Emma chocked on a gasp and suddenly tipped backwards, Palmer dashing forward to catch her in his arms as she fainted. The Hatter lowered the camera to look worriedly over to the girl, while the Doctor moved to help Palmer, just as Emma opened her eyes, still leaning heavily against Palmer.

"Doctor, Hatter…" Clara said softly, pulling the Time Lords away from the girl. She was staring over towards the stairs.

The Hatter followed her gaze, frowning as she caught sight of words that had appeared across the green wallpapered wall, just a few steps up from the base of the staircase, glowing silver against the wall, the words spelling out 'Help me'. The Doctor quickly moved to climb the stairs to peer intently at the words, lifting his hand up to lightly touch the lettering, just before they faded. He turned back around to look over to the Time Lady, exchanging a look with her, just as the spinning disc also vanished in a flash of white. And everything was calm once more.

….

Palmer certainly was a man of many talents, including photography, it would seem, he even had his own dark room in the house, which he led the Time Lords to while Clara stayed behind in the living room to try and help Emma recover from her experience, the young woman still quite shaken by it. The dark room was bathed in a dark red light and smelt strongly of chemicals used to develop the pictures, prickling the Hatter' sensitive nose, but she didn't mind much as she peered around the room at all the slowly drying photos that had been hung up on long lengths of string that had been strung up across the room. Palmer set to work at a table developing the latest set of pictures that the Hatter had taken, leaving the Time Lords to look at the developing pictures. The Time Lady wasn't sure if the man was overly thrilled by their presence, no more than he had been from the start, anyway, but he didn't seem to hate having them around, either, he was just distant and wary of them, for good reason.

"We had a little peek at your records," the Doctor remarked after a while, looking curiously at some of the pictures, only half lying, "Back at the Ministry," he smiled faintly, glancing across to the man, who seemed quite intent on his work, "You've certainly seen a thing or two in your time. Disrupting U-boat operations across the North Sea, sabotaging railway lines across Europe," he moved to stand across the table from Palmer, who finally looked up from his work, regarding the Doctor over his glasses with a cautious expression, "The one with the carrier pigeons, brilliant".

"I think that's possibly my favourite," the Hatter added brightly, giving Palmer a wide smile as she came to stand beside the Doctor, "We're big fans of a good carrier pigeon story," she lightly nudged the Doctor's side as she spoke, "It's such a shame they're not used more often…"

Palmer looked back down to the photo he was developing, "I did my duty," he told them, with little arrogance or pride, "But then so did thousands of others," the Hatter eyed him closely as he continued, her expression softening, "Millions of others…" his gaze grew distant and his lips pressed into a firm line, "I was just lucky enough to come back".

"Lucky, indeed," the Time Lady murmured, recognising the look in his eyes well, she had seen it in her own eyes before, but more promptly in the Doctor's, usually when he had thought she wasn't looking, back in the early days of her return from the pocket watch that she had concealed herself inside. Palmer was a man who was still horribly haunted, not by whatever it was that was causing mischief in his house, but rather by his own memories of the war. Nothing else, no other force in this Universe, could haunt him more than that, and perhaps that was why he had turned to ghost hunting in the first place. Perhaps if he could solve that mystery, he could relieve his own haunting, the same way that the Doctor had thrown himself into his adventures to try and push aside his own grief and pain back before he had found her again.

"Yes…" the Doctor said with a frown, eyeing Palmer, "But how does that man, that war hero, end up here in a lonely old house, looking for ghosts?" he reached up and lightly tapped his finger against a photo that was hanging up along the string between them.

The Hatter smiled sadly, glancing sideways at the Doctor. In one way, she was happy that the Doctor had seemingly moved on to a part in his life that he was no longer constantly haunted by the Time War, oh, he still grieved and still felt guilt for his role, but he had managed to move past it to a point where he was no longer taunted by the nightmares of it as he had once been, like his Tenth self had been. He had other things in his life to focus on, their family, for one, she knew had brought him so much comfort and had allowed him to be able to focus his energy into them, rather than his pain, but as much as it made her happy to see how much he had grown since his last body, it didn't stop her from worrying that in a lot of ways it was still just an act. She knew that he would never, could never, move past the Time War, but rather then carry it with him, he kept it pushed the back of his mind and lived in the moment, which, sure, wasn't a bad thing, but it also wasn't the best way of dealing with the pain. She feared that one day, it might overwhelm him, and that would be perhaps worse than his Tenth regenerations way of dealing with it.

"Because I killed…" Palmer eventually spoke, his voice soft as he refused to look up at them, his expression, even in the cast of the red lighting of the room, filled with a distant pain that the Hatter recognised so clearly, it almost broke her hearts, "And I caused to have killed…I sent young men and women to their deaths, but here I am, still alive and…it does tend to haunt you. Living, after so much of…the other thing".

"Yes," the Hatter said softly, reaching out to slip her hand into the Doctor's, entwining her fingers with his without taking her gentle, saddened eyes off Palmer, "Yes, it truly does".

Beside her, the Doctor barely held back a flinch, his eyes flickering over to her, before he forced himself to look back to Palmer, who had lifted his head in surprise at the empathy in the Time Lady's words, as though she truly and completely understood what he meant, how he felt, but of course she did. She hadn't been a soldier, she had never taken a life, not directly, in any case, but she had witnessed firsthand how it had impacted others, how it had changed the Doctor and broken him, little by little, and how he had never quite recovered from it. He wasn't the same man that he had been before the Time War and nor would he ever be that man again, he was…different. They both were.

Palmer dropped his gaze from her, looking back down, "You see," he went on, "I was alone…and unmarried and…" he shook his head, frowning thoughtfully, "I didn't mind dying. I mean, not for that cause. It was a very, very fine cause…defeating the enemy".

"And if you could contact them," the Doctor watched him, squeezing the Hatter's hand, "What would you say?"

"Well, I'd very much like to thank them".

"Ah," he smiled, exchanging a look with the Hatter. He happened to glance down then and noticed that the picture that Palmer had been gently prodding in the developing fluid had finally formed, in fact it was one of the pictures he had taken with the Hatter, he was smiling widely back up at the camera, while the Hatter stood beside him in his arms with a oddly enduring, shy smile for someone who was usually so full of confidence, however, it was in the left corner, obscuring the top of the Hatter's hat, that really caught their eyes, the blurred figure of someone seemingly screaming. He reluctantly let go of the Hatter's hand to delicately pluck the picture out of the chemicals, hanging it up to start drip-drying on the string above them, "Ping," he said happily, if a little disappointment that such a good picture of them had been ruined.

"Who do you think she is?" Palmer asked them, examining the obscured figure closely.

The Hatter sighed sadly, her expression grim, "Someone in a great deal of pain," she replied, staring up at the blurred figure sadly, "Someone who is literally screaming out for help…but no one can hear her, until now, that is," she glanced at the Doctor, looking thoughtful, "I think I now understand what's happening here".

"You do?" Palmer immediately looked at her, hope and curiosity filling his eyes.

She smiled faintly, turning back to him, "Do you mind if we borrow your camera for a little bit?" she nodded over to the camera, which was sitting on the table, choosing not to answer until she was completely sure…though, she was pretty positive by this point. He reached across to grabbed the camera, passing it across to her, earning a wider smile from her as she handed it off to the Doctor, "Thank you. We'll just be ducking out for a bit".

Palmer looked slightly confused, but he let them go as the Time Lords linked arms and headed out of the dark room, quickly making their way back to the living room, for Clara. They found her sitting with a cup held between her hands, staring slightly wide eyed at Emma, who wore a deep, troubled frown across her features as she looked back at Clara.

"Clara!" the Doctor called, making the girl jump and almost drop her cup, throwing them a startled look as they paused in the doorway. He gave her an eager smile, waving her over to them, while the Hatter frowned slightly and looked between both women…something about their expressions, she felt as though she had just walked in on a rather serious conversation.

Clara, oddly enough, didn't even try to protest, giving Emma another slightly puzzled look as she quickly stood from her chair and sat her cup down on a table, before turning to quickly cross the room to join them, Emma watching them go with a look in her eyes that made the Hatter feel slightly uneasy. What could they have been speaking about? Something that had obviously rattled Clara a little bit, it made the Time Lady concerned, though she held back from asking as they headed back outside the great old house and back into the pouring rain still coming down in thick, chilly sheets, pausing to grab their umbrellas to shield them from the worst of it as they made the quick dash back down the grounds to where they had left the TARDIS, the Doctor and the Hatter huddling together to try and both stay dry. Clara was slightly ahead of them, moving more easily without another person to try and keep dry, when she paused a few steps away from the time machine, eyeing it as the Doctor and the Hatter came to stop next to her, too.

"What's wrong?" the Hatter asked, looking curiously at her, slightly confused by why they had stopped.

She frowned, not taking her wary gaze off the TARDIS, "I've got this weird feeling it's looking at me," she whispered to them, grabbing the Hatter's arm, since she was standing in the middle, "It doesn't like me".

The Doctor blinked slightly, throwing his beloved time machine a quick glance, "The TARDIS is like a cat," he told her, glancing briefly at the Hatter, who caught his eye and gave him a discreet, pointed look, recalling once again the odd reaction the time machine had towards Clara back on Akhaten when the old girl wouldn't let Clara inside. He had certainly filed it away under his list of odd things about Clara, "A bit slow to trust, but you'll get there in the end," he shook his head, pretending to dismiss it, reluctantly slipping his arm from around the Hatter and ducking out from beneath the umbrella, making a dash for the front doors of his ship and slipping inside.

"The old girl can be a bit temperamental at times, Clara," the Hatter reassured the girl, who watched the Doctor go with a dubious look. She gave her a gentle smile and lightly removed her hands from her arm, "She even gets a bit cranky towards the Doctor sometimes, she's even been known to play tricks on me…she adores Astra, though," she laughed fondly, strolling at a more casual pace then the Doctor had towards the TARDIS, Clara instantly moving to follow her, listening curiously, "I'm quite sure Astra could throw her paint and blocks on every surface of the console and the old girl would still dote on her. I swear, that little girl could do no wrong in her eyes."

"Am I ever going to meet Astra?" Clara asked, smiling at the obvious affection in the Time Lady's tone and the look of pride that was written across her face, thinking about her daughter.

The Time Lady barely caught herself before she tripped herself up on the edge of a tree root, reaching out to casually rest her flat palm against the closed door of the TARDIS, having wondered when Clara might start asking questions about meeting Astra. It wasn't as if they hadn't spoken about the Time Tot, they had, however, made an effort to not speak about Astra quite as much around Clara as they might have for this very reason. Of course, she had to go and forget. She tried to smile it off, glancing back over her shoulder to Clara, giving her an easy smile.

"Of course you will," she told her, making it sound as casual as possible, "It's just…" she sighed and her smile vanished, replaced by a slightly pained frown, "We had friends before who…well, we were very close to them, they were there during my entire pregnancy and helped bring Astra into this Universe. They were incredibly special to Astra and losing them…" she took a deep breath, giving Clara an almost apologetic look, while Clara stared back at her with big sad eyes, "We just want to make sure that she's ready".

It wasn't a lie, making sure that Astra truly was okay and ready to handle the idea of having another companion around, going on adventure with them and possibly having to babysit her during the moments that the Doctor and Hatter might not be able to supervise her and need their companion to do so for them, was a very important thing. They also needed to make sure that Clara was the type of person that they wished to be around their daughter, their friends needed to be without a doubt trust worthy and morally and ethically in line with the Doctor and Hatter's own ideals, because Astra was still so very young. They wanted to ensure that she would be influenced by the best sort of people that she could be, Time Tots, after all, noticed everything, and if their daughter was to spend any significant time around Clara, they needed to trust in her character and right now, at this point, that was something the Doctor was strongly suspicious of, while the Hatter remained reluctantly careful of.

"Okay," Clara nodded, not seeming to be the slightest bit offended. The Hatter blinked slightly and looked at her quickly, making her shrug, "You're just being a good mum and looking out for your daughter, Hatter. I don't take it personally".

"Good," the Time Lady said, relieved, smiling faintly at her. She turned back around and lightly pushed the door open, which swung open immediately for her and paused, making a sweeping gesture for Clara to go first, just in case the time machine decided to try slamming the door or something like that on the girl.

"Thanks," she said brightly, quickly folding up her bright red umbrella and slipping over the threshold, the Hatter stepped in after her with her own umbrella closed. The Time Lady immediately moved to join the Doctor up at the controls, absently hooking her umbrella's handle over the metal railing that ran around the edges of the console platform, while Clara lingered by the closed door, looking around for something to properly hang her umbrella up. She frowned, not really wanting to hang hers up on the railing, since it seemed a bit messy and a puddle was already starting to form beneath the Hatter's discarded umbrella, "Hey, you need a place to keep this," she held up the umbrella pointedly.

"We've got one," the Doctor called back over to her, and pointed back over to a space next to the door, making Clara glance at it…there was a railing in the way, not to mention a lack of floor, for any stand to sit.

"I'm pretty sure that was the last console room, sweetheart," the Hatter remarked lightly, not even looking up as she typed something into the console.

He instantly frowned and straightened to look back over towards the door, finding that the Time Lady was quite correct…not that he ever doubted her, "Ah," he sighed, nodding slowly as he vaguely remembered the old wooden hat stand that had stood by the door of the old console room, not that the Hatter ever hung her hat up unless she absolutely had to, sleeping and showering the only two exceptions, though she had tried sleeping with a hat on many, many times…, "Well, we did have one," he turned back towards the console, while Clara simply stood there, looking a little lost, "Look around. See if you find it…"

The Hatter did look up at that, giving him an amused look as he actually looked beneath the control panel, as though expecting to find the hatstand hidden under it, "I'm quite sure you got rid of it completely," she told him, just as he straightened, frowning around, "We probably ought to think about getting a new one…"

Clara, seemingly giving up on trying to find a proper place to put her umbrella, began shaking it out, sending water droplets flying across the floor.

"No, not in here!" the Doctor whirled around to see her shaking the umbrella, giving her a scolding look as he immediately moved back around the console to grab the umbrella out of her hands. The Hatter barely held back a giggle, watching Clara blinking sightly in surprise as he huffed at her, "How do you expect her to like you? She's soaking wet!" he pointedly stabbed the floor with the end of the umbrella, "It's a health and safety nightmare," he tutted as he turned away from her and dropped the umbrella on the floor, out of the way, and moved back over to the controls.

Clara shifted slightly and looked sheepishly up at the Time Rotor, "Sorry," she muttered, and the ship gave a low, annoyed hum that actually made the Time Lords wince and look up, too, the lights flickering. Yeah…that wasn't a very happy time machine. Clara cleared her throat, "So…" she continued, seemingly deciding to simply move on as she went to round the controls, looking across to them curiously, "Where are we going?"

"Ah!" the Hatter threw her a bright smile, her eyes lighting up and she held up a finger, "That's a trick question right there. Where staying right here…this exact spot, in fact…" she frowned slightly, glancing over to the Doctor, "We just have to get the calculations correct, which we will, if someone let's me handle that side of things," she narrowed her eyes on him…the Doctor gave her a weak smile and took a small step back from the controls, earning a softer smile from her and a playful wink.

"So, when are we going?" Clara asked, eyeing them, still trying to get used to the whole time travel language, but there wasn't any other way that they could be travelling, but staying in the same spot made sense.

The Hatter gave her a approving smile, while the Doctor looked up and laughed, looking impressed by how quickly Clara had managed to catch on, "Oh, that is good," he pointed at her, while the Hatter held up her hand for a high five, which Clara happily did with a small laugh of her own, "That is top-notch".

"And the answer is…?"

"We're going always," the Doctor replied brightly, spinning on the spot briefly as he began to head for the stairs down leading down onto the lower level of the console.

"We're going always?" she repeated, turning to look at the Hatter with a raised eyebrow. The Time Lady smiled in amusement, shaking her head fondly.

"Totally!" he called back, seemingly not hearing the question in her tone as he dashed slightly down the hallway, still in view of them, and paused to grab something just out of sight, hanging on a hook on the wall.

"Oh, sweetheart," the Hatter said affectionately, turning around from the controls, leaning back against them as she eyed him with a soft expression, "Sometimes I worry about your ability to grasp the English language…which is a little ironic, considering how brilliant you are at languages".

"Yeah…" Clara frowned slightly, looking back over towards the Doctor, "You do know that's not actually a sentence, right?"

The Doctor whirled back around and came to stand at the bottom of the stairs, looking back up to them with a grin and a very bright orange coloured spacesuit held up just beneath his chin, "Well, it's got a verb in it," he said lightly, "What do you think?" he began dancing on the spot with the suit still held up before him, actually twirling around with it.

Clara regarded him, moving to lean over the railing, "Ah, colour's a bit boisterous," she commented.

"I think it brings out my eyes".

"Makes my eyes hurt".

The Hatter laughed at that, while the Doctor's expression immediately fell, "If you think that thing is an eyesore, Clara," she glanced across to the girl, still laughing, "Then you should have seen what his Sixth self used to parade around in. Now that was painful to look at".

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed as Clara smirked. He pointed a scolding finger at the Time Lady, who merely looked amused, "I was going through a phase, Hatter!"

"Is that what you're calling it these days, Doctor?" she smiled back at him, her tone laced with suppressed giggles, "And here I thought it was simply your fashion taste".

"I…you…" he huffed, giving her a mock glare, "Shut up".

She grinned and winked at him, barely resisting the urge to cheekily tell him to make her. She knew from experience that such a challenge, would only led to distraction…and embarrassment, on Clara's behalf. No, it was best to simply let it go…this time.

So…things are pretty crazy, aren't they? I really, really hope that everyone is keeping safe right now, listening to and keeping up to date with the correct information, and that if you can, that you're staying home as much as possible. I myself am pretty much self isolating right now…not that it's much different from my normal life, just that my schooling has now gone online. But like I said, I really hope that you're all okay right now, it's a scary, constantly and quickly changing situation we've found ourselves in, let's try and make Fanfiction an escape from all that.

Now, onto the events that have occurred in Doctor Who since my last update…wow, just wow. I actually really enjoyed the episode when I first watched it, it completely blew me away…and then, once I'd calmed down and had a chance to actually think about it, I realised how much I actually didn't like it at all. I've got so many issues about the episode, for starters…it just doesn't make sense, how is Melody even possible? How did Ruth's Doctor's TARDIS resemble a blue police telephone box? What about Rassilon, Omega, and the Other? How do they fit into this new part o Time Lord history? And it's made me think a lot about what I'm going to do once I reach Thirteen, but thankfully, I've got quite a while before I need to decide on anything concrete in that regard yet.

On a slightly brighter note, I've actually managed to write another two chapters for 'The Three Doctors and Hatters,' so that's very exciting to me. Stay safe everyone, watch out for those around you. Tell me what thought, please review :)

Guest Reviews:

Guest 8: Well, it was a good idea, so thank you for sharing it with me :)

Sam Fraser (1): My feelings are still kind of mixed, too, though I do lean a lot more towards disliking the direction that they took the episode in. I think that my biggest issue with the episode is how many plot holes it's created, if they had been able to do it without creating so many plot holes regarding already established canon, I think I would have been able to accept it, but there are some pretty massive plot holes.

Guest (1): I agree, I do think that it brings a new, interesting element into the show and I am happy that they've managed to bring a sense of mystery back into the show, but I feel like it was just written poorly and that's what made it hard for me to like it. I do like that they've taken on an idea that was brought into the show back in Tom Baker's era, which was never really brought up again, but I still just can't move past the glaring plot holes.

Guest (2): As an episode, I thought it was beautiful, I loved, loved seeing Gallifrey again, it's always a treat to me to see anything relating to Gallifrey, and I really enjoyed seeing the Master and the Doctor interacting with each other. I got a real sense between them the complicated history that they shared and I just loved seeing that…but I wasn't a great fan of the Cybermen being brought back in the final, nor did I enjoy how it felt like the Lone Cyberman was just so easily defeated by the Master. It felt rushed to me and then I found the ending odd with the Judoon somehow managing to transport into the TARDIS, even though that shouldn't be possible, and then arresting the Doctor. Over all, I enjoyed watching the episode, but I've definitely got some issues with how the characters were portrayed and some of the writing.

Guest (3): I'm hoping to one day write 'The Brain of Morbius,' so at this point, I'm not planning to do a one shot from that episode. I'm sorry.

Guest (4): I think the Hatter would be very, very confused and shocked by the truth, but I don't see it changing how she feels about him/her at all. I think she would feel disappointed to learn that she only knows a small part of his/her life, but I also think she'd view it positively and kind of be like "Well, we'll just have to learn about it together, even if I wasn't a part of it, Doctor. I'll still stand by your side, hand-in-hand, and we'll figure it out". I feel like that would just be how she would approach something like that, while I think she would be disgusted by the Time Lords actions and even more so by the fact that someone who was supposed to be a mother to the Doctor, ended up experimenting on him/her for years, that, I think, would be the most difficult part about learning about the Timeless Child for her. I don't think it would bother her, learning that the Doctor is the reason behind regeneration, I think she'd just be so heartbroken and appalled by how her ancestors had come to pass that trait down to her, that she would just want to hold the Doctor and apologise.

Guest (5): Stunned, I'd say, I'd also say that the Hatter's mother likely wouldn't wish to believe it, given how much she has disliked the Doctor throughout his friendship with the Hatter. But that's only if she knew or found out the truth about him/her, of course. I can't see it making the Hatter's mother warm to him/her at all. I feel like she'll forever view him as being the reason for why the Hatter went down the path she did.

Guest (6): I don't think the Doctor would tell the Hatter, if they reunited after learning about the Timeless Child. I think the Doctor would try to keep it to herself, at first, due to the Doctor struggling to perhaps accept it herself, or because she just didn't want the Hatter to perhaps react poorly, like the Master did…not that she ever would, of course. Naturally, the Hatter would know that the Doctor was hiding something from her and would want to know, and would eventually figure it out, if the Doctor didn't already cave and just tell her the truth.

Guest (7): Ooh, Astra…I've got a lot to think about regarding the impact it will have on her. I suppose it just depends upon if the Doctor's genetics to have an infinite number of regenerations, compared to the Hatter's set twelve, will be dormient genetically, like how brown eyes are dormient over blue or green eyes. I'm kind of leaning towards it being more in the Doctor's favour, since the Hatter's genetics were manipulated that way generations before she was even born, while the Doctor's are one hundred percent whatever race he truly belongs to. But that is a great question.

Guest (8): Maybe. I will say that the Hatter is very knowledgably about Gallifreyan folklore and history, and the story of the Hybrid is a part of all of that, so…possibly.

Sam Fraser (2): It is a little odd that the Doctor spent all those centuries as a while male, when he had previously gone through so many genders and races, it doesn't exactly make sense, but I think that's the least of the episodes concerns. I don't think you're the only one who is upset or angry over the episode, I think a lot of people were at the time were very upset over it, I was one of them. I think it's safe to say that the whole episode was quite a mess.

Guest (9): Oh, I don't think it changes how I view the show at all, I still view the Doctor and the show the same way I did before the Timeless Child plot was revealed, and I think you're right, I think there's a lot more to come from this plot then we've seen thus far that we should try and keep an open mind about it until then, as much as I might not like it, for the sake of my love of the show and the character of the Doctor, I am trying very hard to try and keep an open mind about it all and accept what they've delivered us for now, I just wish they had done it in a way that hadn't left so many plot holes open. But I'm happy you liked the episode, it's nice to hear that there were people who enjoyed the twist.

Sam Fraser (3): I don't believe the show is beyond repair, far from it, I just think that perhaps the writing needs to be seriously improved.

Guest (10): Yes, I sadly know what you mean about the negative YouTube videos, I watched one after the episode and since then I've avoided watching any more of them. I think there's enough negativity in the world as it is, I'd rather not watch a fifteen minute long video full of negativity for my favourite show, even when they might bring up points I might agree with to a degree. You're kidding? I don't believe there's such a thing as a 'fake fan,' does that mean that if someone's never watched Classic Who that they can't love Doctor Who as much as someone who has watched every single Classic episode? That's just ridiculous to me and very unfair, if you're a fan of something, you're a fan of it, it's just that simple in my eyes, I don't believe there's such a thing as a 'fake fan,' to me that sounds like a rather toxic fan base mentality, and I'm happy you enjoyed the episode, by the way. Just because I didn't, doesn't mean I think everyone should have hated it or disagreed with it, that's just how I felt and honestly, it makes me pleased to know that there are people who enjoyed the series final. If we all thought the same way, what a boring world it would be, so well done for standing up for your own thoughts and beliefs, it's not always easy :)