"Doctor, I let you go."

With barely time for a last breath, every molecule of his being shattered and dissipated into pure energy. It was a bizarre feeling to say the least, but most surprisingly there was no pain. His mind was still active and he could feel something calling to it, pulling it forward.

Ahh, yes... the TARDIS's Matrix, of course.

When the different incarnations of a Time Lord would regenerate, imprints of their bio-data as well as their memories would be stored. It allowed future incarnations the ability to access information lost or forgotten over their extremely long lives.

Suddenly everything faded to black.

The Doctor's eyes blinked open slowly and after a moment he realized he was lying down and staring at an ornate ceiling. He reached up and felt about his face. How do I have a face? How do I have a body?! What is going on and where am I?

He heard a jumble of voices coming from in front of him and slowly sat up.

"He's waking up." said an older voice, one he knew he'd recently heard somewhere.

"Finally. He never did take enough time for sleep... and it shows." a curly headed man in a hideous jacket commented sardonically.

"Maybe give him a banana?" said one, checking the pockets of his leather jacket. Another man stepped to him and promptly produced one from his long trench coat. They smiled cheekily at each other.

"All right, let's give him a moment, we've all been new to this." A kind-faced blonde softly chided. The Doctor nodded thanks at him, but then squinted his eyes...was he wearing a piece of celery?

Then he saw the scarf and it hit him all at once.

"Oh no... no no no. You're all me." he lamented dramatically. "Great, I'm in Hell." he laid back down defeatedly.

The short one chuckled, "So very Scottish."

"All right enough of that." a voice said, coming closer to him. The Doctor opened one eye to see a hand extended out to him. He realized it was the one that came before him and a brief wave of jealousy rolled over him. He hesitated, but then accepted the young man's hand and got to his feet. Properly having a look around now, he realized they were in the library of the TARDIS. "I don't understand."

His eighth incarnation stepped up and took the lead, "You are inside the Matrix, as you must already know. However, none of us knew that it would use the bio-data to recreate our corporeal forms inside it. So now we live on in here. It's a virtual TARDIS, if you will. Infinite rooms to explore or create at your leisure. You can do whatever you want." He made a whatever motion with his arms before adding a droll, "Surprise."

"That's not the only surprise." a gravelly voice chimed in somewhat amused. Eleven simultaneous "shushes" were directed at the old warrior all at once.

The Doctor's expression turned serious then and he regarded them all with heavy suspicion.

"Oh, dear me!" commented the one clutching a recorder in one hand, "I thought the thing about the 'attack eyebrows' was just facetiousness."

"It would appear not." quipped the one in the velvet blazer. The Doctor eyed it appreciatively, wondering for a moment if he might borrow it someday.

"One of you-" he paused and flitted his hands about, "or me? Whatever...better tell me what's going on. You'll find I don't take well to surprises."

The young one smiled at him with an odd, knowing expression, and calmly said, "This is one you won't mind so much. You said you were in Hell, but I'm thinking you'll find it quite the opposite."

"Someone's been patiently waiting for you." said trench coat with a grin. Then paused, reflectively, "Weeelllllll... maybe not patiently, exactly."

He heard a door creak open from somewhere in the back of the library and footfalls were drew steadily nearer.

There were low mumbles and some chuckles from the group of Doctors. The hideously dressed one spoke up again, sneering, "At least we can stop hearing about how 'amazing and wonderful' he is now hopefully."

The Doctor looked at him, affronted, but not at his words. "Here I thought I was the rudest."

"Believe me, I was just as shocked." came a voice along with the closing footsteps.

The Doctors standing in path separated to reveal a short, dark haired young woman that he thought was forever lost to him. He hoped he couldn't die in here, because he was certain his hearts had stopped beating for the second time that day. She came to a halt in front of him. "Hello, daft old man, I've missed you."

About a million emotions crossed his face all at once and he was unable to form any semblance of a sentence. "Clara?" was all he could choke out. "Yes, it's really me." She put a reassuring hand to his face as she always had. "I'm here."

"But how can you possibly be?" he questioned.

"Because, of course, she was just as impossible in death as she was in life." said the young doctor admiringly. Clara smiled fondly over at him.

"After much deliberation amongst ourselves-" the fourth Doctor began.

Clara eyed her Doctor and mouthed 'A LOT' emphasizing it with her eyes. He couldn't help but grin and that small, familiar moment between them made it seem like they'd never been apart.

"We've come to the conclusion that when Ms. Oswald jumped into our timestream on Trenzalore, she irrevocably entwined her life with ours." The fellow Doctors all nodded in agreement. "At the time of her death, her 'soul' - as it were - was recognized as part of our own and brought into the Matrix."

"Yeah, now you're really stuck with me." she giggled, her nose wrinkling in amusement and smiled broadly back up at him. "We can do anything we want. So, what do you want to do first?"

He regarded her contemplatively for a moment; her cute round face, those huge brown eyes he'd gotten lost in on countless occasions, the soft curves of her mouth.

"I think, something I wasn't brave enough to do before."

Before she could ask what, he threw his arms around her and gathered her to him. Nearly lifting her off the ground, he passionately kissed her at long last
.

The first Doctor huffed in offense, "How inappropriate!" and shuffled off with a flustered second who concurred with an "Indeed!" The third Doctor made his leave, a bit melancholy, as his thoughts turned to Jo, as they always did. The fourth, fascinated by the development, stared and popped a Jelly Baby but was quickly shuffled off by the fifth. The sixth grimaced in disgust and hastily departed.

Clara's arms flailed about at first, stunned by his swift action, but quickly found their way around his neck and pulled him down a bit so she wasn't straining on her tiptoes. Finally together in a way they'd both skirted around for so long, they quickly, clearly, seemed to forget about their audience.

Seven and eight shared a slightly amused, but uncomfortable look and got on their way. Nine and ten regarded each other and knew exactly what the other was thinking. In unison they smiled softly and reverently said the same thing, "Rose." before exiting together. The War Doctor had the biggest smile plastered on his face. "And the old chap gets the girl in the end. Well done." he marveled, shooting a quick wink to Eleven on his way out.

The youngest Time Lord was the last to file out, giving them one last furtive glance. Naturally, he had enjoyed all the unexpected bonus time he'd gotten to spend with his impossible girl, but she'd always had an air about her, like she was anxious for what came next. He realized now it had never been a what, it had always been a who. She'd been waiting for his successor to arrive. As he walked away, he was surprised to find he wasn't jealous. He was satisfied to let her be happy in a way he knew he could never make her. The clock was striking Twelve once again.

Clara reluctantly tore herself away from their kiss, desperate for air. She felt dizzy, but knew the lack of oxygen was only partially responsible. Blimey, where did 'Mr. I don't like touching' learn to kiss like that?!' she wondered. She playfully swatted at his chest, "Well now I'm just cross with you." Not immediately realizing she was kidding, he stepped back and frowned, "I'm sorry. I should not have done that." She shook her head and laughed, "No." She reached out and pulled him back to her, wrapping her arms around his waist. Meeting his eyes now, "I'm mad that you didn't do it sooner."

His shoulders relaxed then, "Oh, well thank god for that. I thought I was going to have to spend eternity avoiding you in perpetual embarrassment." She laughed heartily, realizing how much she'd missed his levity all this time. Keeping her gaze on his, she questioned, "Well, speaking of eternity, now what?".

She saw something in his eyes shift then, something she didn't recognize, but it instantly made her stomach flutter. She realized the normal, icy blue had been swallowed up by black suddenly. His voice was so thick when he answered, it nearly made her shiver, "I've definitely got some ideas." She swallowed hard and unconsciously bit her lip. A moment later she let out a breath that she didn't even realize she'd been holding and released him, walking away.

"Clara?"

She turned back to him with hooded eyes and reached an arm out to him, "Well, come on then, let's not waste any more time."

He smiled devilishly at her, "Yes, Boss."

There wasn't a force in existence that could have kept him from her in that moment, or ever again. Not even death itself, as it were.