Kill the Moon: 1 Decision

Clara wasn't feeling as confident or happy with the situation when, moments later, the room began to shake as another moonquake hit. Angel moved to a small window of the settlement once things were stable, looking out to see germs swarming onto the surface of the moon from new fissures that were created.

"I'm going to detonate the bombs, agreed?" Lundvik spoke, looking to Clara and her partners, "Agreed?"

"Now hold on…" Clara began, when something creaked in a dangerous way.

They had all just spun around in time to see a porthole across the room break, the air about to rush out of the room, when a golden wall sprang up, filling the hole and sealing the air in.

The humans looked back at Angel, her eyes fading from their golden glow even as the shimmering wall held firm, "We're alright," she reassured them.

Clara let out a breath of relief, moving over to Courtney's side and putting an arm around her shoulder, thankful Angel had remained behind with them all, she didn't want to think about what it could have been like if she had gone with the Doctor and Tailor and the porthole burst open. Terrifying to Courtney surely. And that just served to remind her of something else likely to be terrifying, if her student ended up involved in the decision to murder something. She inhaled deeply, turning to Lundvik, "If we let it live, what would happen if the moon wasn't there?"

"Listen, we haven't got time for this…" Lundvik huffed.

"Then we make time," Duke cut in, giving her a firm look. She may be his superior in this mission, but HE taught HER everything she knew, there was a mutual respect there and she would NOT be deciding this without his and Henry's say so. It hit him square in the chest, that reminder that he and Henry were THERE to make this decision with her. If it hadn't been for Angel, both of them likely would have been dead now, leaving the choice just to Lundvik, but they were alive and there and they had a say.

"We all signed up for this," Henry reminded her, "We all decide."

"Or has democracy changed down there?" even Courtney spoke up. The three astronauts before her seemed to have been assigned this mission by America, so it stood to reason that that government was who had the say.

Angel sent the girl a wink for her comment, "Five humans, so there can't be a tie," she offered.

"What about you?" Courtney frowned, looking at Angel.

She smiled a little sadly, "I don't think Lundvik would welcome my vote," she remarked, the way Lundvik looked away confirming her feeling, "I'm not human, I'm an alien. I shouldn't have a say for what happens on the planet of the humans."

Perhaps that was a more eloquent way of phrasing what the Doctor had been trying to say earlier, Clara realized. It wasn't that the planet wasn't his and so he felt no obligation to help it, that was just impossible given all he'd done in the past to save the Earth. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was that Lundvik, as the one with access to the bombs, wouldn't listen. If it didn't come from a human, she wouldn't care.

Here was Angel, protecting them, keeping them safe, an alien helping humans, and Lundvik wouldn't even consider her vote. She supposed that was the tricky thing about having a 'third party' involved. Angel couldn't be unbiased, not with how important Earth was to her but equally in being an alien, neither could the other Time Lords.

"Well that's not right," Courtney defended, "Everyone should have a say, everyone should get a vote."

"Even kids?" Angel asked her, a teasing tone in her voice as she had already included Courtney in the five humans earlier.

"Especially kids," Courtney nodded, firm.

Hmm…kids having a vote, having a say. Maybe she should bring that up at school, maybe she could get enough kids to support her that the headmaster would let them vote on some things. Like…what they want to eat at lunch or clubs they could make or different ways to spend their free periods when it was raining out or something…kids should have a say in SOMETHING in their lives, shouldn't they? If SHE could have a say in saving this alien-chicken-giant-thing, then her friends should be able to say if they wanted chips at lunch!

"I agree," Angel gave her a wink.

"We are ALL discussing this," Clara cut in, giving Lundvik a firm look, daring the woman to argue with her. Whether or not the woman would hear Angel's vote, she WOULD hear her thoughts and opinions. Without the Doctor there, Angel was the next best expert on aliens they had and, with her feelings, her insight would be invaluable. She had learned long ago that sometimes Angel would say something or do something or react to something said and still not know why she did it, or not even notice she had, and it could indicate something about the future. If she kept her attention on Angel, maybe something would come through, some hint about what could happen. The fact that the woman had stayed behind told her that, ultimately, they would be safe, she trusted the Doctor would NEVER leave Angel behind in danger. But it didn't specify what the decision would be, whether they chose to blow up the creature and the Doctor whisked them away to safety or they did not blow up the creature and they flew off in the TARDIS. There was no answer to that and they didn't have time to wait and find out. She shook her head, looking back at Lundvik and the other men, "What would happen if the moon wasn't there?"

She was an English teacher, not a science one and even her travels with the Time Lords hadn't taught her everything. And right now she was a bit too frantic to go digging through her memories to see if one of her echo lives might know.

"I have a physics book in my bag," Courtney offered, pulling her backpack off and digging through it, "There's this thing on gravity?"

"Super," Lundvik deadpanned, "Is there a word search?"

"There would be no tides," Angel began, knowing something of gravity as the pull of it could sometimes affect the TARDISes when travelling outside of the vortex or if they needed to land on the planet from space without dematerializing.

"But we'd survive that, right?" Clara asked, "They've knocked out the satellites. There's no internet, no mobiles. I'd be fine with that."

"Could do with a bit less mobiles," Duke muttered, agreeing with that last part, his kids had been glued to their mobiles growing up, used to drive him up the wall just trying to get them to pay attention during dinners.

Lundvik rolled her eyes, "It's not going to just stop being there, because inside the moon is a gigantic creature forcing its way out. And when it does, which is going to be pretty damn soon, there are going to be huge chunks of the moon heading right for us, like whatever killed the dinosaurs, only ten thousand times bigger."

"But that was stone," Angel countered.

Even Henry nodded his head at her words, "The moon isn't rock and stone like we thought it was."

"It's made of eggshell!" Clara cheered, relieved that all the arguments Lundvik was making were being torn down. Maybe this wasn't as bad as they originally thought it was.

"Oh, God," Lundvik huffed, shaking her head at them as though they were all mental, "Ok, ok, fine. If, by some miracle, the shell isn't too thick, or if it disperses, or if it goes into orbit, whatever, there's still going to be a massive thing there, isn't there, that just popped out. And what the hell do you imagine that is?"

"Loads of things lay eggs," Courtney defended, crossing her arms.

"It's not a chicken!" the woman snapped, recalling the girl's words from earlier.

Courtney gave her such an unimpressed look Angel was sure Queen Victoria would be proud, "I'm not saying it's a chicken. I'm not completely stupid."

"You're not any sort of stupid," Angel defended, "You make an excellent point, Courtney."

"I…do?" Courtney looked at her.

It was then Clara was hit with a distinct feeling of shame that took her a moment to place. But it came to her eventually, that…this was how Courtney always was, her defensive nature, how she spoke without thought, how she questioned everyone. This wasn't anything new or different an attitude from the girl…but…she DID have a very valid point that a number of different species were born from eggs. She was right and she was clever and how many times had the girl been that and no one had noticed or given her the chance to explain her thought process? How many times had they just written her off as being disruptive when she was just trying to be heard, to get her point or question across? She might not be the best at expressing herself, but when teachers shot her down constantly, how else was she going to be heard when they didn't give her the chance to talk?

The girl seemed SO shocked that her words had been heard and that importance had been given to them. Something so small made the girl feel like she'd actually made a difference.

Clara swallowed, taking a moment despite everything to promise herself that, when they returned to Earth, she would hear Courtney out when she disrupted class. Make it a conversation, a debate, a discussion, not just see her talk and assume or force her to be quiet.

"You do," Clara agreed, clearing her throat to get rid of the wobbliness of it, "It's very true."

"Chickens," Henry offered, "Platypus, doves…"

"Alligators," Duke countered, not wanting to actually argue, but feeling they needed to make this fair and comprehensive, "Dinosaurs, cobras…"

"It's an alien," Lundvik reminded them, "It's like that one said," she flung an arm at Angel, "They don't know WHAT it is or could be. For all we know it might be an overgrown exoparasite."

"A what?" Courtney frowned.

"Like a flea. Or a head louse."

"That doesn't look like any species of flea or louse I've ever seen," Angel remarked.

"Yeah," Clara gave Lundvik a hard look, "Were going to have to be a lot more certain than that if we're going to kill a baby."

"Oh, you want to talk about babies?" Lundvik scoffed, "You've probably got babies down there now. You want to have babies?"

"Well, yeah."

"Mr. Pink," Courtney coughed, only to be shushed by Clara.

"Ok," Lundvik nodded, "You imagine you've got children down there on Earth now, right? Grandchildren maybe," she looked over at Henry and Duke for that as well, knowing they DID have those down there, "You want that thing to get out? Kill them all? You want today to be the day life on Earth stopped because you couldn't make an unfair decision? Listen, I don't want to do this. All my life I've dreamed about coming here. But this is how it has to end," she looked at Duke and Henry, who had grown silent and grim, and took that as their support, quickly setting the trigger on the case.

"Oi!" Courtney jerked like she wanted to stop the woman, but Angel put a hand on her arm to stop her.

Lundvik held up a hand, "I've given us an hour," she told them, "There's a cut-out here. If anyone has any bright ideas, or if those two come back in time, that stops it. But once it's pressed, it stays pressed."

"And if they don't come back in time?" Clara glanced at the case as Lundvik set it down.

The woman shrugged, "I didn't expect to survive anyway."

"I'd like to not die," Duke murmured, "I HAVE got kids down there, grandkids, I don't want to not be able to watch them grow up."

Henry could only nod, silent though. If he had to die to save his family, he would, gladly, but that didn't mean he WANTED to die.

Courtney glanced at Angel, "They're going to come back, though, right?"

Angel looked down at her, "I have every faith that they will."

"If the Doctor gets the timing right," Clara muttered, now starting to feel on edge again as she recalled how terrible he was at that. Hopefully Tailor and the old box would help him. And, well, he might be a bit more focused if it meant getting back to his Mate.

"Ok, right," Courtney nodded, "Then we need to make up our minds, in case they're late."

Angel looked around at the five humans, all of them seeming very uncomfortable with the thought of actually needing to decide, "Look at you," she spoke with a small smile, "The best of humanity, right here," she glanced over at Clara and Courtney, "This isn't the first time humans have been in a position to affect their own future, it won't be the last. No matter what happens, life will out. Life always finds a way and humans…you're the most indomitable species I have ever met. If anyone can work out the right decision, it's you."

Clara gave her a weak smile for her words, about to speak, about to admit that she really didn't WANT this choice being put upon them. If they made the wrong decision, she would be burdened with a fifth of that responsibility for the rest of her life, as would Courtney.

Angel seemed to sense that though, moving over to one of the computer consoles, "Even here, standing on the moon, you are not alone," she reminded them, reaching out to push a button to turn on one of the monitors just as the comm. system began to crackle, a voice flooding the room.

"Can anybody hear me?" a man was calling, hazily appearing in the monitor, "Come in, please. Can anybody…"

"Hello Mr. McKean," Angel greeted, "Very nice to meet you."

"How did you…"

Lundvik shoved forward, rushing to the comm. as Angel moved to the side, "This is Lundvik."

"Er…this is ground control," the man cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah, I can tell by your haircut. How are things down there?"

"Pretty bad," the man admitted, "Yeah. Pretty bad. Listen, we're patched in to one of the TV satellites. We haven't got long. How are things up there?"

Clara glanced over at Angel, catching the reassuring look on her face as her words came back to her. They weren't alone! The WHOLE of the human race was down there right now! And they could talk to them! It wasn't JUST them alone up here with this decision hanging over them, they could get help. She quickly moved over to Lundvik, half shoving her to the side as she spoke to ground control, "Can we broadcast on this?"

"Who are you?" the man demanded, he'd nearly convinced himself the woman who had first greeted him was a figment of his imagination but no…there really WERE other people up there with the mission.

"School trip. Can we broadcast on this?"

"Well, yes…"

"Do it," Clara ordered, giving Lundvik a firm look till the woman repeated the order, then waiting till the man nodded before she began to speak to the Earth, "Hello, hello. Hello, Earth. We have a terrible decision to make. It's an uncertain decision and we don't have a lot of time. The man who normally helps, well, he may not make it back in time and…and we need to be prepared in case that happens," she swallowed hard, "Right now we're on our own. So, an impossible life verses the future of all mankind. We have 45 minutes to decide. I know this is going to sound mad, but the Moon has never been a moon, a planetary body, it's an egg and right now it's about to hatch. So…we can kill this creature or we can let it live. We don't know what it's going to do, we don't know what's going to happen when it hatches. If it will hurt us, help us, or just leave us alone and what it'll mean once it's gone along with the Moon. We have to decide together. This is the last time we'll be able to speak to you, but you can send us a message. If you think we should kill the creature, turn your lights off. If you think we should take the chance, let it live, leave your lights on. We'll be able to see. Goodnight, Earth."

She stared at the screen for a long while after the transmission ended, before hanging her head and taking a breath. She turned to face the others, "Was that ok?"

"Yeah," Courtney nodded, looking at her teacher with a new appreciation and respect.

"It was brilliant," Angel agreed, moving over to hug Clara from the side, "I don't think the Doctor or I could have said it better."

Clara gave her a weak smile, but shook her head, "This whole thing is mad," she muttered, "We either blow up the Moon and kill that innocent creature, or let it be born and doom the Earth. How is that fair?"

Angel could only give her a sad look, "Sometimes the only choices there are are bad ones, but you still have to choose."

Suddenly a bang sounded, the lights beginning to flicker.

Angel looked down as Courtney nearly jumped into her, actually hugging her around the middle for a moment at the suddenness of the noise, tense as the lights dimmed. She shook her head, "Well this won't do," she said easily, "Courtney, what would you pick if someone said 'stars' or 'sun?'"

Courtney looked at her oddly for that, glancing at Clara as though to ask if the woman had lost her mind to be asking something so weird in the middle of everything. Clara just gave her a nod of urging to answer, 'Um…stars?"

Angel nodded and closed her hand into a fist a moment before throwing it above them where specks of the Vortex began to float up to the ceiling, glowing brightly like stars in the night, making Courtney laugh at the sight, amazed.

"I'm not much a fan of the dark either," she whispered to the girl who seemed a bit embarrassed but also relieved at her words, clearly not wanting to admit her hesitation with the dark either.

"We should go check that out," Duke remarked, not even bothering to ask how the hell the woman had done that. He'd seen her make walls and shields and coverings with that yellow light and if she could somehow make stars too well…that was probably normal by now.

Lundvik nodded in agreement, picking up the trigger case and clutching it carefully as they began to walk down a corridor, trying to find the source of the banging. The floor beneath them shook once more, but the stars that were following them above held firm, glowing brightly and warmly even as the lights began to dim even more.

A brighter golden glow sprang up behind them moments before something exploded in flames from the direction they'd come, holding as they hurried along until they reached another room and shut a door behind them. Clara immediately moved for a porthole in the wall, looking out at the Earth. There was a faint glow of lights from Africa, Asia, and Australia, those areas not as heavily concentrated as Europe or the Americas were, their lights still on though.

The group was silent, watching as time ticked down from 39 minutes to 32…and that was when the lights began to flicker out. It only got worse as the countdown went on, 18 minutes, 5 minutes, less and less…until the entire planet went dark, not a speck of light to be seen.

The world had made its choice.

The sorrow could not be kept out of Courtney's voice if she tried, "Night, night."

Clara couldn't help fidgeting at the sight of the darkened Earth, "Oh, Doctor, where are you?"

"So that's it then?" Duke spoke, his voice gruff.

"We can't risk it all just to be nice," Lundvik defended.

Henry looked over, "Nine seconds left."

"You can't!" Courtney shouted, horrified that this was going to happen.

Clara could hear it, the girl did not even consider they would be killed during this, she just cared about that little baby. Just like SHE cared about Courtney, how she couldn't allow the woman to detonate while her student was there, she would NOT let Courtney be killed…and she could not let the alien be killed either, both of them were innocent babies, and they did not deserve this.

"Angel!" Clara shouted, knowing she wouldn't be able to get to Lundvik in time to stop her.

Angel snapped her finger, a bright spark of gold flashing within the trigger case, causing Lundvik to drop it, the controls shorted out, the detonation aborted.

"What the hell!" Lundvik glared at Angel, "What have you done!?"

"Listened to the best of humanity," Angel stated, "And now you're going to see what that means…"

No sooner had she finished speaking, the wheezing of the TARDIS echoed in the room.

"Don't do it!" Tailor shouted as she nearly burst out of the doors, "Don't set…" she cut herself off, looking around at them all standing there with the trigger case on the ground, smoking and sparking slightly, "Oh…brilliant!"

"Come on!" the Doctor called from within the box, "One, two, three, into the TARDIS!"

"We won't all fit in there…" Duke argued.

But Angel was already ushering them towards the box, knowing that the Doctor would likely get his beloved quote from one of the astronauts as they rushed in.

"What's happening?" Lundvik asked, pausing only a moment to take in the odd box.

Henry wasn't quite so prepared, "It's bigger on the inside!" he gaped.

The Doctor grinned and snapped a finger at him, before getting back to the controls, "Let's go and have a look, shall we?"

"Come on, Aunt Clara!" Tailor nearly squealed, "You won't want to miss this!" she tugged the woman with her to the console, the woman helping the Time Lords to pilot, MK9 hot on her tail.

"Courtney, I could use your help as well," Angel looked at the girl, guiding her towards the controls as well, "Here, grab this lever and keep it level with this number here," she pointed to a gauge beside it, "Push it up to increase, down to decrease, but keep it level, ok?"

"Got it," Courtney nodded, serious and focused on helping fly the spaceship. (She was flying a spaceship! How cool was that?!)

"Shall we do one for old time's sake, my love?" she looked at the Doctor.

He mock-grimaced, "You go on, I've had my fill."

She laughed, reaching out to another level to pull with a cheerful, "Geronimo!"

~8~

"I don't think I want to see this," Duke remarked as the box set down, the Time Lords hurrying for the doors, only having been told they were back on Earth.

"I wanted to die up there with the universe in front of me, not being crushed to death on Earth," Lundvik agreed with the man.

"No one's going to die," Tailor patted the woman on the shoulder as she passed her, MK9 nudging Lundvik's legs in a sign to go, "But you really won't want to miss this, come on!"

She and the Doctor reached out and threw the doors open, letting the humans out first before following behind, MK9 trundling after them. They were on a beach, it was daylight, the moon was full and bright in the sky though it was currently falling apart.

They could only watch in awe as the tiny dragon-thing stretched out its wings and seemed to be preening.

"What's it doing?" Courtney asked.

The Doctor chuckled lightly, seeing Angel closing her eyes, listening to the faint noises echoing down to earth from the creature, a delighted, lovely sound, and reached out to put an arm around her waist as they watched, "It's feeling the sun on itself. It's getting warm."

"And now it's learning to fly," Tailor sighed, watching as the creature merely flew away into space, the eggshell pieces of the moon disintegrating as they fell past Earth's atmosphere, harmless.

"What do you think sweetheart?" the Doctor glanced at Tailor, "What's it look like?"

It took Tailor a moment to realize that he wasn't asking her to identify the species of the creature, but to NAME it! She nearly squealed in her excitement, hopping in place, before she looked at the figure of it growing smaller, searching her brain for the perfect name, "Cora."

"Cora?" Courtney looked at her.

She nodded, "COurtney and claRA. Cora."

"A fitting name," Angel agreed, "It wouldn't be here without the two of you."

Clara let out a breath, feeling tears gathering in her eyes at the knowledge, it really wouldn't be. She had saved it, THEY had saved it, one of her students had helped save an alien and the earth!

"You made your decision," the Doctor nodded, "Humanity made its choice."

"No, we ignored humanity," Lundvik spoke quietly, a small tone of thankfulness in her voice, even she was awed by the beauty of the birth before them.

"Sometimes you have to," Tailor mused, crouching down to pat MK9, "People in large groups, despite safety in numbers, can scare each other worse than if you're alone. Mass hysteria, things get worse and worse, fear generates fear," she sighed, "Sometimes you need just one person to stand up and do what's right," she glanced at her parents, knowing they had done so, many times over, that they would continue to do so, and that, one day, she wanted to be that person to.

Angel hummed, "You know, I don't think humanity was ignored, not really," she glanced over at the humans, before she looked at Clara, "The best of humanity was right there," she smiled at the woman and held out a hand to take Clara's, "And it made the right decision."

"And then some," the Doctor spoke, proud as he looked at Clara too, "In the mid-21st century humankind starts creeping off into the stars, spreads its way through the galaxy to the very edges of the universe. And it endures till the end of time. And do you know why?"

"Because of Cora," Tailor continued, recalling what she and her father had learned while in the Vortex, "Because, one day, in 2049, right when it gave up even thinking about going to the stars, something make it reconsider, to look back up at the sky," it had been hell trying to find any data about what that 'something' was, no one knew, no one expected it, there were only faint photographs and after that it had been labeled as a hoax by the humans, but an awesome enough one to inspire their curiosity again.

"It looked out there into the blackness and it saw something beautiful, something wonderful, that for once it didn't want to destroy. And in that one moment, the whole course of history was changed. Not bad for a girl from Coal Hill School, and her teacher," he glanced over at Courtney.

Courtney gasped suddenly, pointing at the sky where a bright orb was hanging in the sky once more, a flawless surface reflecting the sun's light, "Oh, my gosh. It laid a new egg. It's beautiful!"

"That's what we call a new moon."

Courtney laughed and glanced at Lundvik, "You can be the first woman on that."

She was done with her own travels, she shouldn't run away, she got that now. She needed to stay put, take charge. Earth took SO much looking after and if she wanted a say in what happened to it, she needed to BE there on it.

Angel turned to Lundvik as well, leaning over to whisper, quite loudly, "I think that somebody deserves a thank you."

Lundvik nodded, "Yeah," she admitted, turning to Clara, "Thank you. Thank you for stopping me. Thank you for giving me the moon back."

"This is going to be Christmas," Duke mused, "They've GOT to make a whole new space program now!"

"We need to get back," Henry realized, his eyes wide and spinning around as though he'd be able to find the way home.

Angel chuckled and stepped over, turning him in the right direction, "NASA is that way," she told him, "Though it's about 2.5 thousand miles."

"It's ok though," Tailor reassured them, standing, "Dad and I put in a call to the president for you, she's sending transport."

"Why am I not surprised that you know the President?" Lundvik actually laughed.

"You do, too," the Doctor shot back with a nod to Courtney.

Tailor could only shake her head into her hand as the girl let out a squealing screech and turned to the man, a flurry of questions and shouts escaping her. She looked around, noticing Clara had moved a few feet away, staring up at the moon in silence and made her way over to Clara's side as Courtney frantically began asking the Time Lords questions about her future now that it had let slip she would one day become the President of America and how did that happen? She lightly bumped her Aunt's hip, "This was some trip, hmm?"

"That's one way to put it," Clara mumbled, her emotions such a jumble she didn't know what to feel or think.

Tailor nodded, seeming to understand the woman's lack of focus or attention, "I thought you did brilliantly," she told the woman.

"With what?" Clara looked at her with a small frown, confused.

Tailor smiled, "Watching out for Courtney," she elaborated, "Mum and dad?" she sighed, "They make it look easy, but it's really, really not."

She let out a little laugh when she saw her father making his 'save me' face and hurried over to try and distract Courtney to give him a moment of reprieve.

Clara, however, could only stand there and stare at the Time Lords as Tailor's words caught up with her. She hadn't been pleased with how the Doctor had so abruptly decided not to help, could tell by his reaction to Angel saying she would stay behind that he had planned to take the two Time Ladies with him in the TARDIS, just leave the decision to the humans. But with what Tailor had said…her thoughts were spiraling in a different direction.

She had become them.

For a little while, for this one brief trip, SHE had been the Time Lords, at least to Courtney. It was on HER to watch out for the girl, to make sure she was safe, to keep her out of trouble, to guide her and teach her and make sure she'd be ok. She'd been frantic with worry the whole time, unable to enjoy most of the trip out of fear for Courtney. She was afraid of what the girl would see, do, hear, if she'd listen to orders or wander off and get hurt. She was constantly thinking about what the girl would learn, if she'd be traumatized, if she'd hurt her somehow…

Was that…was that what the Time Lords felt each time?

Was SHE their Courtney?

She let out a breath when she realized...she was.

And it was so much worse because she was an adult. She could and would argue more, do what she wanted, make choices that actually affected things. Children, sometimes at least, respected authority to a point where they would defer to them when feeling unsafe or in danger or confused. Adults wouldn't. Adults had more freedom of choice and could get into so many worse situations, and hadn't she in the past?

How frantic had they been during other trips? Worried for her? How many trips did she dampen by being in danger?

It was so easy to forget that she was their responsibility, not just as companion but as family, so easy to not see how her being there changed what they did or didn't do. It was so easy to forget they saw her like a child to protect.

The Time Lords really did make it look so simple, so easy, but really it was SO hard. She got that now.

Another thought came to her from the line her mind was going down.

She was a teacher. She taught the children lessons and then tested them later to see if they were paying attention, if they had learned anything. And wasn't that also what the Time Lords did? Was that what this was? They showed her sights and gave her information, gave her new insights and perspectives, and trusted that each adventure taught her more and more, so she'd be capable of making choices and decisions from those lessons. It was how she'd tried to act a certain way around Courtney, why she'd fought so hard for the alien baby, because that was the example she wanted Courtney to learn from. To protect, to fight for what was right, to DO the right thing.

She had learned that from the Time Lords.

She owed them so much.

~8~

Clara had a small smile on her face as she and Courtney walked up the stairs from below the console where they had been getting changed back into their school clothing. The Time Lords were there, Tailor showing Angel all the information she and the Doctor had found about 2049 on the console monitor with MK9 adding additional bits of information, while the Doctor worked on placing some books on the steps to the gallery. It was just another day for the Time Lords, another adventure, but she felt like so much had changed, not just with Courtney, the girl seeming to have a new found purpose, but for herself, a new appreciation for everything they did, for the Universe, for the Earth, for HER too.

"Come on, Courtney, off you go," she urged the girl as they made it to the upper level, "Double Geography."

Courtney looked at her with a hopeful look, "Can we do it again?"

Clara lifted an eyebrow at her, "Get your parents' permission and we'll talk."

Courtney half-sagged, knowing that would NEVER happen and almost 99 percent sure the Time Lords probably had some sort of device that would make sure any 'signatures' she gave them were real or forged. She let out a long-suffering sigh but turned to go to the doors, stopping as she opened one to look back, "Thank you," she offered the Time Lords, getting the feeling she wouldn't be seeing much of them after this one-off trip and just…really wanting them to know she meant it.

"Go on," Angel urged her, "You've got a long way to go Madame President, best get started."

Courtney grinned and nodded, rushing out with a spring in her step.

"Couldn't you have just told her she was going to be President one day?" Clara asked them, leaning against the console after the girl disappeared, "Was all this REALLY necessary?"

The Doctor sighed, "If we told her that before, she would have thought we were just saying things because you told us to. She wouldn't have believed it."

"She needed to realize she was special in her own right," Angel agreed, "Once she KNEW she was special, it was just about letting her know how special she could be one day."

Clara nodded, getting it. It was like those times she would tell the Time Lords to tell her things would be alright and they would even though no one believed it. Because she asked them to and they did. It wouldn't have meant as much to Courtney if they did it because SHE had asked them to.

"I mean," Tailor cut in with a tease in her voice, "Yeah, being president of America is pretty cool…but I think being Aunt Clara is WAY more special."

Clara chuckled at that, shaking her head, and really looking at the Time Lords, "Thank you," she told them.

"For what?" the Doctor moved to the console, absently flicking through images of the creature on the monitor.

Clara shook her head again, it was so like them to not even know how special THEY were. It took a remarkable person to live this life, but even more so to invite people into it and keep them safe, "For looking out for me, all the time," she added, "For taking care of me. You don't have to…"

"We do," Angel turned to her, "You're family, Clara. We will always be there for you."

"I know," she nodded, "I just…I don't think it really hit me until I had to be the one looking out for someone else and taking care of them. It's…it's hard, keeping people you care about safe. So thank you. I mean it."

The Doctor waved her off in a modest way, which was surprising for him, "Go on," he sighed softly, "Go canoodle with Mr. Pink."

"Like him yet?" Clara laughed, wiping a tear from her eye, surprised at how emotional she was getting but…it felt like she hadn't had a truly serious conversation with this Doctor in a very long time. It was nice to just be able to get it out.

"It's like he said, I don't have to like him," the Doctor admitted, "This is your life Clara, you make the choices regarding your own future," he sighed again, sounding resigned in the way only a brother could when he knew there would be no talking his sister out of something, "This is me respecting you and your choices."

Even if he didn't like them or agree with them, that was left unsaid, which was just as well, for as emotional as she was she'd probably have slapped him if he'd said it aloud.

"I can live with that," Clara agreed, "See you next Wednesday?" she asked.

"Or sooner," Angel offered, though, upon seeing the way the girl's smile grew strained, she added, "Whenever you want, we'll be waiting."

"Bye Aunt Clara," Tailor gave her a tight hug before the woman turned and left the TARDIS, determination in her step.

She had made a promise to someone besides the Time Lords, to be honest and with everything that happened, there was only one person she wanted to share the story of this adventure with.

And, maybe some canoodling would happen at the same time.

One could hope.

~8~

Clara was smiling lightly to herself as she looked at her whiteboard, some facts about David Copperfield written on it, contemplating some ways to make the book more interesting for the class. She had a feeling though, that Courtney might actually provide some more insightful points about the progression of the novel. As the boy grew from child to adult, that journey of growing up, of responsibility, of maturing, she felt Courtney had a better understanding of what could come with that now. She looked forward to what Courtney might bring to the table.

She looked over when she heard a light knock on her doorway to see Danny standing there, "Hello," he offered.

She smiled at him, "Hey," she greeted.

For a brief moment a thought flittered across her mind, imagining this past adventure but instead of Courtney there with her, it was Danny. What would THAT have been like? Well, she imagined the Doctor probably would have been punched at some point. But she also felt like maybe Lundvik would have been a little less hasty and trigger happy if a soldier had been there, one as calm as Danny usually was.

She winced internally at that last part, usually was. Those were the key words. Danny was usually calm and collected, but if the Blitzer was anything to go by, he didn't always keep his cool when she was in danger, and being on a moon rigged with bombs…he'd probably have gone frantic and made things a little more difficult. But that wasn't his fault, he wasn't good in new situations, being in the army, being a soldier, it had made him quite uncomfortable with change. It made sense, with danger around every corner and never knowing what was coming, it would put anyone on edge. Anyone, except the Doctor she imagined, would want peace and quiet and calm after something like war.

Aliens and time travel and space travel were VERY different experiences.

So…maybe her plan to be honest and share the stories of her adventures with him would work better in more ways than one. If he was slowly introduced to the idea of the travel, like hearing what she got up to, maybe he'd be more open to the idea of travelling later. Maybe he'd be calmer and better able to handle it. He was an adult, he was a soldier, he could handle himself in a way that Courtney couldn't, make his own choices, be his own person. She'd worry about him, of course, she didn't doubt it. But…with Danny's history, she would also know he'd be a little more capable of watching out for himself than Courtney, of thinking things through and being responsible.

Danny gave her an odd look for the thoughtful expression on her face, almost able to tell her mind had gotten away from her, "What've you been up to?"

She leaned against her desk, crossing her arms leisurely, "Went on a trip," she began cautiously, easing him into it, "With Angel," probably best to start with her, "And the Doctor, and Tailor," probably would actually be better to leave out the part regarding Courtney though, that was something for MUCH later.

"Oh."

She nodded, he wasn't telling her he didn't want to hear about it, he wasn't storming away, he was just shifting a little. She took that as a positive sign and continued, "We went to the moon, 2049. You wouldn't believe what we discovered."

"What?"

Her smile fell just a little, hearing a reluctance in his voice, as though he wasn't sure he actually wanted to ask but was being polite, but…maybe her next part would help get him interested, "The Moon isn't actually a Moon. It's an egg."

Danny stared at her, "An…egg?"

"I know," she forced a laugh, "It sounds ridiculous, I get it. But it really was an egg! Hatched and everything! Into this adorable baby-dragon-thing. Alien, of course, nothing on earth could lay something that size. There was a bit of drama with some astronauts about whether to blow it up or let it hatch. But, in the end, Angel helped me stop them and it hatched. Laid a new egg too! Oh, it was beautiful, a new-new moon. Flawless and shining and just...beautiful," she sighed, "I wish you could have seen it."

Danny just stood there, looking at her, still shifting on his feet, though he looked a great deal more uncomfortable as her story went on. She was excited, he could see that, thrilled, and the way she sped up and beamed and rambled a bit told him she was so happy to share the story with him.

But he heard more in her words than she probably meant to reveal. She was ON the moon as it was essentially crumbling underneath her. Surrounded by strangers who had access to BOMBS. She had had to do something to STOP them blowing up the thing in the moon, WHILE she was still ON it. She'd nearly gotten blown up, in the future, and he would have never known. He wouldn't have been there. She was telling him now but not before she left.

And then he felt something hard and cold settle in his gut. He hadn't been there, he wouldn't be there, he couldn't be. He heard her words, in the last thing she said, that she wishes he could have seen it. The look on her face, he had seen it so many times, that wistful longing look of when you really wanted something but didn't want to ask for it.

She had wanted him there.

She was telling him all of this because she wanted him to want to be there too, she wasn't going to stop telling him stories about it all.

"What do you think?" Clara asked him, that hopeful note in her voice that confirmed his suspicions.

"Look, Clara," he shook his head, his voice a bit gruff, hating himself because he knew this would hurt her, "I'm sorry but...all this? This time travel and space travel and danger? I just...I can't handle it. Not right now," he couldn't look at her, he couldn't look into her eyes and see the sorrow and hurt and disappointment, "I have to go."

Clara could only stand there, her mouth open, eyes wide, as he turned and left the room without another word. She swallowed hard, her mouth snapping shut as tears began to fill her eyes. She turned her back from the door, a hand coming to her mouth as her other arm crossed in front of her to hug herself. She tried, so hard, to keep the tears from falling but…they came, they always did, and why wouldn't they? When her heart was breaking in her chest?

So that was it? Just like that? Danny was just…walking away from her? From them? From their relationship? He couldn't handle it and so that was it? They were over?

She inhaled a shaky breath, squeezing her eyes shut.

This wasn't fair!

This just…it wasn't fair, it wasn't!

She blinked her eyes open as Angel's words came back to her, how sometimes the only choices someone had were terrible ones, but you still had to choose.

Is that what this would be?

She had spent so much of the trip taking each word Angel uttered to try and piece together whether something about the future would be revealed. She'd been so sure that it would be in relation to the Moon but maybe she was wrong, maybe it had been after the Moon. Maybe it had been THIS.

To give up Danny, or give up the Time Lords.

But how could she? She loved both of them, in different ways of course, but…they were both such a big part of her life, how could she just cut one out?

She looked over her shoulder at the door Danny had disappeared through, staring at it, staring at where he'd walked away from her, all because of the traveling. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to rage that if he could walk away from her so easily then LET him, let him come crawling back, let him come begging for her to take him back. Or that she was better off without him if he wouldn't fight to stay with her.

But she didn't feel that anger, as much as she wanted it.

She just felt hurt and…

And…

And she felt like a terrible person because…because she also wanted to run after him and tell him she was done with it, with the traveling, if it meant they could be together.

For so long she had thought she would never give it up, because she did love it, the wonder, the adventure, the Time Lords. But…that was while she had been a nanny and looking after the same two kids, doing the same thing every day. That had been while she was just starting as a teacher and struggling and needing something she was GOOD at. That was before she found someone that made her laugh and smile and WANT to stay on Earth longer and longer, to spend more time with them.

She wasn't going to run after him.

But…the longer she stood there, thinking, the more she felt like…maybe this was a sign, this was a test, all great love required sacrifice didn't it? Relationships required give and take and compromise.

She looked at it in terms of the Moon. If she gave up Danny, she would have the travelling, the adventure, the Time Lords, but she would lose the man she loved. So what was the alternative? If she gave up the travelling? She…she wouldn't lose the Time Lords. They were family! Sarah Jane and Jack and Martha and Donna and the Ponds, all of them were her family, they would still meet up, and the Time Lords would be there, they would still see her. She wouldn't LOSE them, not like she would lose Danny.

And…she HAD been worn thin lately. Angel had been right about that. She was doing too much and trying to make it all work and she needed to step back, she needed to stop, she…she needed to choose which life she wanted. She had been thinking about it, a tiny niggle in the back of her mind, ever since she'd been struggling to maintain her dates with Danny. It was too much, she couldn't keep doing both. She needed to pick one life and stick to it.

Realizing how much of a responsibility she was to the Time Lords, how she was their Courtney, maybe it was time to grow up, like she felt Courtney was doing. Maybe it was time to step away from the adventures and start actually living her life. She knew the Ponds had managed to do it, had started to, before. The Time Lords had been ok with it. If she asked them, they would let her go, just like they did anything they could that she asked them to.

They would part on better terms than she and Danny would, that was for sure. They had just saved the moon! It was a high note to part on.

But that wouldn't be fair to the Time Lords, to just call and say it was over, to not show up again, to cut ties just like that. She knew the Doctor had done that in the past with some companions, until Angel had helped him realize how much it hurt them. She didn't want to hurt the Time Lords, she never wanted to hurt them.

So…maybe ONE more trip? A goodbye tour? A fond farewell?

One last adventure, one where they knew it was the last, where they could part and truly say goodbye.

She sniffled in, nodding to herself, though she knew she wouldn't do it straight away. No, she was emotional right now, she was hurt and confused and she just needed time to sort out what she really felt before she made any true decisions.

She just hoped, like with the moon, it would be the right one.

A/N: Just want to start by saying I won't be updating this story's next episode for about 2-3 weeks. As I mentioned a few chapters back, I'm going to be switching back between stories. Now that I've gotten through an episode of Angel, I'm going to finish up Darkest Before Dawn for my LOTR Menna/Aragorn fanfiction. So I'm going to get that story squared away (about 5, more chapters), and then pick this story back up for Mummy on the Orient Express ;)

Now for this chapter...

Poor Clara :( I hope it isn't too OOC for her to go from 'we're breaking up?' to 'I'll stop travelling!' :/ I've tried to sprinkle bits of her feeling overwhelmed and wanting to slow down for a while, and with the newness of her relationship with Danny, the 'I love you' and so on, I felt like she'd be a bit more wrapped up in that part of her life. I tried to translate a bit of what Clara felt/did when Danny's fate came up into this chapter. She lost him and fell apart and betrayed the Time Lords to get him back, this isn't quite on that level but she feels she has lost him, she's falling apart and frantic and doesn't want to lose him, so she's going to try and stop seeing the Time Lords as much to get him back. I can say that we'll see more of her thoughts and processing of her decision in the next few chapters and this moment will actually sort of become a thing that makes Danny's fate even worse because she's already 'lost him' once :(

I altered a bit of the reason why she chose to leave the travelling into more to do with Danny than the Doctor's actions because, with Angel's empathic abilities, I genuinely could NOT see her going along with the Doctor's plan like in the episode. She stayed, she kept Clara calm and hopeful, she was reassuring and supportive. With Angel there there was absolutely NO WAY the Doctor would just get in the TARDIS and fly away and leave her and Clara for no reason. Because of this, Clara's reaction to the Moon was different and not as explosive because she didn't feel abandoned or pushed. And with how Angel handled Danny before, I couldn't see his anger being a cause for Clara shouting and storming off either.

Courtney being there actually played very well into the change in theme I had in mind for this episode. Clara came to a very different realization about the Time Lords than in the show. Here she realizes how much SHE is their Courtney, how much any Companion is. I feel like that was something with potential that was sort of dropped in the show. Here we had Clara being the Time Lord to her own Companion, being responsible for a child, which is what humans in general are to Time Lords in comparison to their age. Courtney helped Clara see how much the Time Lords go through when SHE is in danger, how much they fret, how much they keep cool for, how much they reassure her. Without Clara being so angry like in the show, here she was able to see the parallels and has a new appreciation for all the Time Lords do, which makes her choice to leave a little more painful and heartbreaking :(

I know this chapter ended on more of a sad note than some might have expected, to make up for it though, I've decided to add a little sneak peek for one of the future TLs I'm planning to write :) This one was particularly vocal during the writing of this 3-chapter arc for Angel and when I was going through it again to edit and post, she would NOT be silenced and kept poking me until I agreed to give a little peek into TL6 ;)

~8~

"Night night," Courtney murmured, disappointment heavy in her voice.

Clara looked over when the Time Lady snorted and actually seemed to be laughing a little, "What?" she nearly demanded.

The woman turned to her, "What's that quote from that movie? It's very apt for this situation…" she hummed, thinking, before snapping her fingers, "Oh yes! 'I recognize that the Earth has made a decision…but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.'"

"You seriously did not just quote Nick Fury, did you?" Clara deadpanned.

"Brilliant man, handsome too. That eyepatch…I wonder what the Doctor would look like with one."

"Please tell me you're not going to stab him in the eye just to find out," Clara nearly begged, not putting it past the woman to actually do something so mad.

"Hardly," the woman scoffed, "Stabbing him once was more times than I meant to."

"When did you stab the Doctor?!"

"It was an accident!" the woman defended, "And it was just in the hand!"

"Yeah, you're not making it better."

She sighed, "He kept trying to steal my crisps."

"…and you stabbed him for it?"

She became dead serious as she looked at Clara, "No one touches my crisps, Clara. No one."

~8~

So, now that we have more of a peek into TL6, the Time Lady I plan to start in Series 6, I'm quite excited to get to her, just have a lot more to write for other TLs first :) I think what I might do is catch all the TLs up to the same series (this one), and then introduce another OC/TL story and catch them all up to the next series, then add the next TL story and so on, not sure yet :)

Some notes on reviews...

Rose is always a complicated companion for me, but I think she would have worked better with 10 than 9. I say it mostly because 9 came across to me as being still too hurt and scarred from the war and not ready for anyone to get into his hearts. Sure he made comments here and there, but he also seemed relatively ok with Rose having other men she was interested in around. I think 10 was more open to love than 9 was and part of him being able to start to heal from the trauma of the war was Rose. I like Rose for some things she does, her support and care, how she comforts others, which mostly came about in Angel's series, her being like a sister to Angel. But there are other things I dislike about her, flaws she had the were excused or things she did that no one called her out on. I think I would have liked Rose more in 9's era but then still sort of ended up disliking her with 10. I'm not a big fan of Companions (any companion) being paired with the Doctor so when the show started to hint in that direction I would have been put off by it. I think I would have felt more for the Doctor's pain in losing her but also been a little more upset for Martha being compared to her and having him treat her the way he did some times because of his pain in losing Rose. That's one of my favorite parts of doing so many different OC series, it gives a lot of freedom to put different spins and perceptions on events and characters :) Like with River. Being so many different things to the OCs from literally their daughter to someone else's enemy and many things in between :) River is complicated to me too, in a similar sense of Rose. I'm not a fan of her being paired with the Doctor, being a child of his companions and how she sort of kept being pushed more and more by Moffat didn't endear her to me :/ I sort of feel like she's Moffat's character that he loves too much to see how he should have maybe toned down her importance for, he was too close to her and wanted her there too much. Even being part Time Lord, I never felt comfortable with her paired with the Doctor because, if that's one reason to make it 'ok' to be with him because 'she's Time Lord!' there's too much missing, shared loss, shared information, shared history and culture for her to be considered a Time Lord. And the age thing too, to a Time Lord she's basically a child, like Rose was, which was odd to me :/ I do like River, she's interesting, but I think I would have liked her more as just a good friend or if she looked up to the Doctor like a favored uncle (since he was her mother's best friend and all), I think that would have been a much more interesting dynamic given her flirting and innuendo, getting to him and messing with him because she wouldn't be able to once he learned who she was :) And never apologize! I love questions :)