The Matrix reshaped itself around him and the Doctor tried to force himself to focus on anything other than it's changing appearances. Tried to focus on escaping from this. On overloading the Matrix the same way he remembered doing in the past. His brain was too grief-stricken to really listen to him. He'd squeezed his eyes shut to try and concentrate but a deep Scottish voice speaking made him open them to see what memory had appeared.

"There are easier ways to steal a key, you know." There was a man with alarming looking eyebrows glaring down at a young woman who was stood casually in front of him, her hands stuffed in her pockets as she shrugged. Clara was stood next to him, eyes wide as she too watched the other woman. There was a woman and a child sat on some stairs and another young man stood up just to the side of him.

"I don't want your TARDIS. That's not what this is about." She shook her head and then looked to the young man stood up, "Rigsy, come here, I'll remove your chronolock."

"What is this, Ashildr?" the man with the eyebrows, who he was pretty sure was him going by how she'd brought up the TARDIS. 'Blimey' he thought, rounding the man while he had the chance, 'those eyebrows… also I'm going to get old again. That's going to suck'. "You can't possibly think it'll keep me here.

"It's not a restraint. It's a teleport bracelet."

"What?" Clara stepped forward.

"I'll give you time to say goodbye. Don't worry. No-one will be hurt."

"Where are you sending me?" The Matrix him with the eyebrows began to step forward but Ashildr didn't react and just continued.

"I made a deal to protect the street. They take you; I take the key so you can't be traced. I do as they tell me, and the street is safe."

"They? Who are they?" Matrix him took another step forward.

"One more thing." Ashildr seemed to smirk, "your confession dial." The Doctor's head snapped around to look at her so fast he thought he might have pulled something. He then looked quickly to his Matrix self's face to see his reaction to this. Clara had moved forward to stand at his side. "They have other means of procuring it, but I understand it's likely to be on your person. Please, no resistance. You've already lost." Clara looked to that him with an accusatory look and the man glanced quickly to her with a grimace before looking back to Ashildr. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the circular device, holding it up for the younger woman to see. The real Doctor stepped forward to inspect it. He knew Gallifrey was to survive. He knew the Time Lords were to survive until the Master came but this was other tangible proof of their survival. The Matrix him held it out for her to take and she did so, "what is it?" she asked, turning it over in her hands.

"In your terms, my last will and testament."

"How does it work?"

"I've no idea." He held up his hands, stepping backwards with a slightly mocking edge to his voice.

"Well, thank you anyway." She turned, storing the confession dial on a shelf before speaking again, "Rigsy, your neck." She moved towards the young man who'd still been standing watching until this point. He was looking at Clara as Ashildr reached up to his neck.

"Clara, what are you playing at? The chronolock!" Ashildr dropped her hand as Rigsy turned to Clara. Clara turned around, her voice low and warning as she demanded.

"Take the teleport off him first." Ashildr frowned but reached for Rigsy once again. He stopped her, reaching for her hands to push her away.

"I don't have it, I'm telling you. Clara does!" In response Clara gathered up her hair at the back of her head and turned around, showing off the three numbers on the back of her neck. Ashildr's expression turned horrified.

"No…" she stumbled forward towards Clara, "No, you didn't."

"Go on, then. Take it off." Clara demanded once again and this time it was the Matrix him who reached for her to tug her round, his voice rough as he snapped at her, his own voice horrified as well.

"Clara, you didn't..!" Clara dropped her hair and turned to him as he began to back away with wide eyes. Ashildr turned away and began to stalk away.

"I had no idea she'd do something so stupid." Ashildr turned to look at the Matrix him, this time her face alight with fear and her eyes watering, "I swear, I never meant for anyone to get hurt." She looked to Clara, "what were you thinking, sacrificing yourself?

"I wasn't sacrificing anything!" Clara scoffed, clearly not understanding the severity of her actions and what the consequences would be. "It was strategy. Backup plan, to buy us more time." She turned as the Matrix him stalked forward towards Rigsy.

"Who told you to give it to her?"

"Nobody did! I did! Rump said…" she snapped at that him as the man crowded Rigsy and her voice had him turning the desperate anger on her.

"What exactly did Rump say?"

"He said the death is locked in. You can pass it on, but…" she trailed off.

"But what?"

"But…" it seemed to be sinking in for her now and Ashildr was the one to finish the sentence.

"But you can't cheat it altogether." There was a shared moment of horrified silence in the room that was broken by a black raven in a cage cawing loudly somewhere outside. Rigsy jumped forward, his eyes wide.

"Clara, you didn't tell me that! Give it back to me now."

"She can't." Ashildr all but whispered the words, she locked eyes with Clara, her expression apologetic, "Clara, I made a contract with the Shade when I put the chronolock on Rigsy. I promised it a soul and only I can break that contract. When you took it from him, you changed the terms. You cut me out of the deal."

"We can fix this, can't we?" Clara whirled around to the Matrix him, her hand at the mark at the back of her neck and her expression scared, "We always fix it."

"No." he told her honestly, but quickly fixed his glare on Ashildr when Clara's hope slid into fear, "but you can. Fix this. Fix it now."

"It- it's not possible. I can't." she looked panicked, regretful and the Doctor could feel his own hearts pounding as he watched his future self stalk forward, not ready to take no as an answer.

"Yes, it is, you can, and you will, or this street will be over. I'll show you and all your funny little friends to the whole laughing world. I'll bring UNIT, I'll bring the Zygons. Give me a minute, I'll bring the Daleks and the Cybermen." He dragged her forcefully over to his companion, "You will save Clara, you will do it now, or I will rain hell on you for the rest of time.

"Doctor," Clara pleaded softly with him, "stop talking like that."

"You can't!" Ashildr pleaded with him as he crowded her, getting in her face.

"I can do whatever the hell I like. You read the stories; you know who I am. And in all that time," he waved a hand in front of her face, his voice a near snarl as he continued, "did you ever hear anything about anyone who stopped me?"

The real Doctor watched this exchange with bated breath, knowing that this would probably be fruitless but hoping uselessly that it wouldn't end the way he thought it would. That the girl who'd been brave enough to throw herself into his timestream wasn't about to be taken out by a case of a mistakenly broken contract.

"The know the Doctor." Ashildr tried to talk him down, "the Doctor would never-"

"The Doctor is no longer here!" he broke out in a yell, voice echoing throughout the room as his rage hit a breaking point, "You are stuck with me. And I will end you, and everything you love." His voice dropped to a warning hiss and the real Doctor watched it, finding it hard to watch his rage from the outside. He never even liked to thing about his darker moments.

"Doctor," Clara cried out, "for god's sake, will you stop?"

"No!" He snapped back.

"I did this, do you hear me? I did this. This is my fault." He finally turned on her, the rage coming with him.

"I don't care."

"Liar. You always care. Always have. Your reign of terror will end with the sight of the first crying child and you know it." The real Doctor sucked in a heavy breath and felt his hearts break once more for this young woman who even on her death bed was trying to talk him down and have him show mercy. To let go of the rage. She was trying to save lives. It was admirable. He loved her for it the same way he'd loved all his friends for it. He was old enough to know even for him it never would have worked.

"No I don't." His tone was desperate, and Clara stepped closer to him, her voice softening.

"I do." The two stared at one another, tears gathering in their eyes and Clara continued, her voice breaking as tears threatened but she had to get the words out, "Listen… if this is the last I ever see of you, please… not like this." The fire seemed to dissipate at her pleading, the Doctor knew, long enough that it would only be gone until she was. There was the cawing again. Louder this time. The Matrix him began to pace. Clara looked to Ashildr, asking one last time, "Is there anything you can do?"

"I'm sorry," Ashildr shook her head, her expression completely showing her remorseful feelings, "I'm truly sorry, I…"

"Time's short." Clara cut her off, "yes or no?"

"No." The Matrix him had gone still and she turned to face him once more, clearly putting on a brave face for him as she spoke.

"Well, if Danny Pink can do it, so can I."

"Do what?"

"Die Right. Die like I mean it. Face the raven."

"No, this isn't happening, this can't be happening."

"Maybe this is what I wanted." How was it that whenever this happened it always seemed to be his companions trying to comfort him rather than the other way around. Amy telling him that it would all be alright, making plans for River to be there for him afterwards. Now Clara, literally on her deathbed talking him down from his rage and telling him that it would be alright. It wasn't right. "Maybe this is it. Maybe this is why I kept running. Maybe this is why I kept taking all those stupid risks. Kept pushing it." His hearts broke for her. That was never a justification he wanted to hear from anyone.

"This is my fault." Matrix him stepped forward; his voice soft as he looked down at her.

"This is my choice."

"I let you get reckless."

"Why? Why shouldn't I be so reckless? You're reckless all the bloody time! Why can't I be like you?"

"Clara, there's nothing special about me. I'm nothing but I'm less breakable than you. I should have taken care of you."

"I never asked you to."

"You shouldn't have to ask." The Raven cawed once more, and screams could be heard.

"Clara, if I'd known, I'd-" Rigsy tried to step in but she cut him off quickly.

"Don't. Shut up."

"But…"

"Really, Rigsy, shut up. If you feel guilty about this, even for one minute, I…" the cawing cut her off once more, this time it could be heard right outside and everyone in the room turned to look at it. Clara locked eyes with the Matrix him, "you." She stepped towards him with purpose, steely determination swimming in her eyes behind the tears, "Now, you listen to me. You're going to be alone now, and you're very bad at that. You're going to be furious and you're going to be sad but listen to me. Don't let this change you." She cut him off once again as he tried to speak, not even letting him open his mouth, "No, listen. Whatever happens next… wherever she is sending you, I know what you're capable of. You don't be a warrior. Promise me. Be a Doctor."

"What's the point of being a Doctor if I can't cure you?" his eyes were watering with tears and she just continued, holding eye contact with the same look in her eye.

"Heal yourself. You have to. You can't let this turn you into a monster. So… I'm not asking you for a promise. I'm giving you an order. You will not insult my memory. There will be no revenge. I will die, and no one else, here or anywhere, will suffer." The real Doctor had tears in his eyes once again. This woman knew him too well. Knew what she was doing to appeal to everything good in him. He just didn't know if it would be enough.

"What about me?"

"If there was something I could do about that, I would. I guess we're both just going to have to be brave." The Matrix him seemed to stumble silently over his words for a second, the tears now at serious risk of spilling over as his eyes got red.

"Clara…" She reached up, pulling him into a hug to hide the tears as they began to run down her face.

"Everything you are about to say, I already know. Don't do it now. We've already had enough bad timing." The raven cawed once more, closer still and Clara pulled back, looking towards the window for it, visibly scared.

"Don't run." He told her, "stay with me."

"Nah." She shook her head, her features schooled into something strong for that him once again, "you stay here. In the end, everybody does this alone."

"Clara-" he seemed to panic as he tried to protest but she simply continued.

"This is as brave as I know how to be." She tried to smile and the Matrix him tried it back, "I know it's going to hurt you, but… please… be a little proud of me." She reached up, cupping his face with a heavy intake of breath. He took her hand, holding it between both of his and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "Goodbye Doctor." She ripped her hand away as the raven cawed again and made her way outside. Both versions of the Doctor followed to watch from the doorway. The raven landed on a streetlight further down the street. People were running away. Clara stepped towards it and held her arms out, whispering something to herself that the Doctor couldn't hear. The raven flew forward, disappearing into her and she let out a scream of pain, frozen in place from it. Once she finally stopped, it was only made worse by the black mist of the raven leaving her body and she dropped to the street. Dead.

The real Doctor tried to rush to her side, a few stray tears making their way down her cheeks but the Matrix him made his way inside and the world around him began to crumble away. He reached for her still form on the ground, crying out as she too started to disappear.

"No. No!"

"It doesn't end here for her." He looked round, now on his knees, and looked up at the Master, confused. "She was a tenacious one, I give her that. Kept holding on. Weaselling her way back into being, through you. Annoying."

"How?"

"It's not nice, I think deep down you'd even prefer her being dead. Would've meant a lot less heartache for you."

"It always does. It's always worth it if I save them." The Master rolled his eyes and he heard the man step backwards and didn't even follow the motion, just kept staring forward at the spot Clara's body had been occupying just seconds before.

"I won't bother with all 4.5 billion years, we don't have time for that, as much as I would love putting you through that once again." That caught his attention and the Doctor's head snapped around to look at him, but the man had already disappeared. 4.5 billion years… No way he actually lived that. God, he hoped he didn't…

The Matrix warped once more, and he was brought out into what he thought was his old TARDIS desktop. The original one. The white one with the circle things on the walls. Clara had been watching something on the screen but quickly turned it off with a desperate gasp. She was dressed in the same clothes that she'd been wearing back in the street where she'd died. She whirled around as the doors opened and the eyebrows him and Ashildr walked in.

"You ok?" the Matrix him asked Clara who was turned with her back pressed up against the console and her body tense.

"Yeah." She tried to assure him with a nod, "yeah, yeah. Just, you know, my pulse." She reached down to sit her fingers over her pulse point on her wrist with a forcefully casual shrug.

"Yeah, we'll fix that somehow. I promise. You remember Ashildr, of course."

"Yeah, sure." Clara's eyed the other woman warily and the Matrix him raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you'd be more surprised to see her?"

"I was watching," Clara admitted after a beat of awkward silence. She reached for a pair of sunglasses that were sitting on the console and took a few steps away. He watched his future self pick up what looked to be a neural block and the real Doctor felt his face scrunch up in pity for the woman as he pushed himself to his feet finally. "No. Doctor, whatever you're about to do, don't do it!"

"It won't hurt," the Matrix him turned to her, taking steps closer to her, holding out the neural block device, "It'll be nothing. You'll just pass out for a moment."

"And then?" she asked, clearly distrustful.

"When you wake, you'll be fine."

"But?"

"Clara, just listen to me."

"Just say it. Say it. Come on. Tell me."

"When you wake up," he raised his chin, clearly trying to remain firm in his heartbreaking decision, "you will have forgotten me. You'll have forgotten we ever even met."

"And why would I want that?"

"Because it's the only way. That stuff in your head, the image of me, they could use it to find you." He tried to take another step closer and she backed away once more then held up the sunglasses, holding them out for him.

"I, er… I used these."

"On what?"

"That."

"What did you do?"

"What do you think? Ashildr's right, you see? We're too alike."

"Tell me what you did."

"What else?" She snapped, "what else do you think I did? I reversed the polarity."

"Push that button, Doctor, it will go off in your own face." The real Doctor couldn't help but be slightly impressed with her. Of course, she admitted the plan but she'd clearly learned some things from him.

"You were trying to trick me?" the man sounded a touch annoyed and she continued to snap back at him, just as angry.

"What were you trying to do to me?"

"I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Why?" that made the Matrix him pause, confused as to why she was asking this, "Nobody's ever safe. I've never asked you for that, ever. These have been the best years of my life. And they are mine. Tomorrow is promised to no one, Doctor, but I insist upon my past. I am entitled to that. It's mine." She continued to hold out the sunglasses as the Matrix him walked away.

"Oh, Clara Oswald. What am I doing? You're right. You're always…" he shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he turned to face her, "always right."

"So what happens now? Hey? Me and you, what do we do now?"

"I'm not sure you managed to reverse the polarity. I'm not even sure that you can." He held up the device, "it'll do something… to one of us. Better than flipping a coin."

"Doctor?"

"You an me… together. Look how far I went," He motioned to the console, "for fear of losing you. This has to stop. One of us has to go." The real Doctor wondered what had happened between then and now. He wondered all that had happened. He had a want to know but a strong desire to never find out. Out of fear of what he'd discover.

Clara smiled sadly at the Matrix Doctor and walked over until she was stood in front of him and she handed him the sunglasses which he slid into his pocket.

"You really don't know which?"

"Let's find out. Let's do it like we've done everything else. Together." He held out the neural block for them to both take a hold of either end of it.

"How about we just don't?" Clara tried with a smile, the Matrix him raising an eyebrow, "why don't we just… fly away somewhere?"

"Oh, that'd be great, wouldn't it?" it was obvious neither meant it, just dreaming of an imaginary future where they'd both know one another forever. Something that they both knew couldn't happen.

"God, yeah." They both managed a smile at one another, and the future him's voice was quiet as he spoke up next.

"Good luck, Clara."

"Good luck, Doctor." They both pressed down on the button of the neural block at the same time. "So what happens now?" Clara asked, letting go of the device to swing her hands at her sides.

"I suppose, we just… er… we just wait a minute, I suppose."

"And one of us… one of us will… I don't think I could ever forget you" She told him

"Clara, I don't think you're ever going to have to." He watched his future self sway sideways, the neural block tumbling from his hands as he tried to use the console to prop himself up on unsteady feet.

"No," Clara reached for him, her eyes wide and panicked.

"Run like hell." The Matrix him told her and Clara's eyes began to water as he slid down the console. She crouched with him, gripping his hand.

"What?"

"Run like hell, because you always need to. Laugh at everything, because it's always funny."

"No," she snapped, her voice broken, "stop it. You're saying goodbye, Don't say goodbye!" She was close to crying this time, pleading with the him on the floor who just continued, holding eye contact with her as he struggled to stay awake.

"Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends." He slumped to the floor properly, still holding his upper half upright.

"Stop it! Stop this. Stop it!" she snapped once more, shaking her head at him.

"Never eat pears. They're too squishy and they always make your chin wet. That one's quite important. Write it down."

"I didn't mean to do this. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's okay," he reassured her with a sad smile, "I went too far. I broke all my own rules. I became the Hybrid. This is right. I accept it."

"I can't." she was crying now, tears streaming down her face, "There has to be something I can do."

"Smile for me. Go on, Clara Oswald, one last time."

"How could I smile?"

"It's okay. Don't you worry. I'll remember it." His voice was soft as he finally slumped onto the ground and the Matrix memory crumbled away.

Whatever happened next wasn't to be remembered and the Doctor stared into the blankness with hisown tears streaming down his cheeks. She's alive though he tried to remind himself through the grief, you'll forget her but she's alive. It was better than her being dead, but he hated the thought of not being able to remember any of his friends. He hadn't even met Clara Oswald yet, but he hated the thought of not remembering her. She's alive. He reminded himself once again. She's out there somewhere, alive.

"Just one left." He whirled around to the Master, his fists clenching at his sides as he looked upon the man's face.

"Let me out." He demanded and the other Time Lord just smirked.

"No."

"Let me out, now."

"No" The Master snarled suddenly, face scrunching up in anger, "you wouldn't be in here if you'd just stayed away. Always interfering in business that doesn't concern you. At least not yet. It's being handled. You stay here, until I say otherwise." He growled out his last words, "enjoy the next one." Then flickered out of existence once more.