"Hello?" said Clara. Unsure of what may have transpired in the past few hours to put him in such a state.

"Clara?" He asked timidly. "Clara Oswald?"

"Yes. Clara. That's me." She figured that he was just being silly, so she went along with the annoying charade.

He beamed. "Well, Clara. My name is John McClane, and I believe we are supposed to go on a date."

…

John stared hopefully at the woman in front of him. She was much shorter than he remembered, but that may just have been due to the fact he was only five when he'd last seen her. He figured he could just pretend that he was simply her date since she probably wouldn't recognise him as he was seventeen years older.

Now looking the man over, Clara remembered when the Doctor mentioned how "wibbly-wobbly" time travel could be and figured this odd version of the Doctor had not met her yet. No wonder he was so adamant about asking her if she remembered him the day before. In his mind, he probably had met her, just in the wrong order.

"Well, you're early. And weren't we supposed to meet at the café?" 'May as well lean into this bizarre scenario,' thought Clara amusedly.

"Ahh. Right. Yes. Well, I may have been…."

"Too keen?" she interjected with a wry smile.

John just chuckled nervously. It was a bit weird. He was so young when he knew her before. Was this even appropriate? It's probably fine. It was a simple date. It's not like she was going to put out for him or anything…right?

'Slow your roll there, mate,' he thought to himself.

Clara coughed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You're staring at me."

John blushed and shook his head.

"Ah, sorry. Got a bit…distracted. Umm, café?"

He held out his arm, which she took as he began to lead her out of the house. Suddenly, the hair on the back of John's neck stood up when he heard a hauntingly familiar noise.

'No. Fucking. Way.'

Sure enough, the Old Girl materialised right before his eyes. John was in shock. Not because the TARDIS (which he hadn't seen in 10 years) was now right in front of him. But shocked by the fact that Clara just went up to the doors like it was no big deal. Like she expected it. The young Time Lord was frozen to his spot as the doors opened, and she stepped inside.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

Clara laughed at the expression on the strange alien's face. She'd forgotten that he wouldn't have known she'd seen the TARDIS before. Of course, he'd be stunned. Clara went inside anyway, where she found herself with a similar stunned face as the Doctor popped out.

"Ah! Clara! Hope you don't mind. I just jumped right from last I saw you to now. I…" He noticed the confused look on her face. "Are you okay?"

She opened and closed her mouth, then turned to look back at the wooden doors just in time to see the dishevelled version of the Doctor enter. She looked back and forth between the two.

The Doctor finally caught sight of the familiar face and gaped.

"Wha? How. Wait." His mind was racing, trying to figure out if he'd crossed his own time stream and why the hell was he dressed like that. Before he could get another word out, the other Time Lord approached him and abruptly punched him right in the nose. The Doctor saw stars as he fell back onto his arse and clutched his face as the blood poured out.

"What was that for?" he yelled.

Clara backed up and watched the strange altercation play out in front of her.

"Oh, I don't know, DOCTOR. Maybe I hit you because you dumped me in the wrong time!" growled John.

The Doctor was confused. But then his confusion turned into terrible guilt as the pieces started falling together. He pulled out a handkerchief and held it to his nose as he slowly stood.

"John?" he asked tentatively.

"Surprise," John said. His voice dripping with hurt and anger. He took a few steps back and held his arms out as he spun around so the Doctor could get a good look at him.

"But… you…you're…."

"Older?" John finished the Doctor's stammering.

"Yeah," he said as he began to approach the Doctor again. He shoved his finger in the older Time Lord's chest.

"That tends to happen to children over the span of TEN YEARS! You abandoned me in 2003!"

Clara was now thoroughly confused. Were they not the same person? What the hell was happening. Was he his…brother?

"John, I'm so, so sorry. I…I thought you were with Vastra! Ten years? Really? It's only been a day since I dropped you off!"

John took a step back and gave a pathetic laugh.

"A day?" he choked out. He could feel his emotions starting to bubble to the surface.

"You mean to tell me that for you it's been….a day?"

The young man was now laughing, but there were tears in his eyes. Finally, he slumped down onto the step and put his head in his hands. He then remembered Clara was watching, so he quickly collected himself before speaking.

"Were you really going to come back for me then?"

The Doctor quickly sat down next to John.

"Yes! I swear. I'm so sorry, John. I never meant to leave you for so long. Unfortunately, I…got a bit sidetracked."

John looked at Clara, who was awkwardly shuffling around. Unsure of where to look or go. She wondered if she should leave and give them a moment of privacy.

John rubbed at his face and pulled his hair. He'd resented the man sitting next to him for so long. And now, come to find out, it was all some stupid fucking accident. He couldn't even blame the Doctor because John knew how temperamental the TARDIS could be, not getting you where you want to go.

"Should I..." Clara pointed to the doors.

Both men shot their heads up simultaneously and spoke.

"No!"

Clara just stood there for a moment. "Okay. Well then, can someone please explain to me what is going on?"

The Doctor saw that John wasn't going to speak, so he took the initiative.

"John here… he's my…my well, he's a flesh ganger."

"Uh-huh," said Clara, clearly having no idea what a 'flesh ganger' is.

John rolled his eyes at the Doctor's terrible explanation.

"I'm his fucking clone," he said mirthlessly.

"John!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"What? It's true, isn't it? I'm not a real person. Just a copy."

Clara walked closer to the two men.

"Okay, so if he's your…clone, why does he look…well, different?"

The Doctor made a face of confusion. "Different? How?" The Doctor looked John up and down with a quirked brow.

"He's umm…."

John butt in. "She's trying to ask why I look younger than you."

He then had a smug look on his face. "You've got some wrinkles and grey hair." John started ruffling the Doctor's quiff.

"Oi!" shouted the Doctor at the insult. "Do I really?" He pulled on his hair as if it was even long enough for him to see. John started to laugh. Seeing the young ganger laugh made the Doctor smile…however true John's words may have been.

"God, Doctor. Chill out. You're over 900, and you still look like your like thirty."

He turned to Clara. "Whatever happened to me when I was "created" allowed me to age like a normal person, well, Time Lord, I guess. I don't really know why. My body and mind are technically only 21 years old. As of…well, today actually. I think."

Clara was trying to understand.

"I found him when he was an infant. When John here first came to be, we were identical. Down to my very own memories. But then he…well…."

"I died. Didn't I?"

The Doctor turned to John and gave a sympathetic smile. Clara was now sitting on the floor near the men, listening to their confusing tale.

"I have dreams. Sometimes. I think it's from before. I remember a girl. She had ginger hair. Then some scary monster exploding right before I feel…nothing."

"It's a memory. One of your own, actually. You sacrificed yourself for us…for me. Your biological…well, goo, was then taken for experimentation, and somehow the scientists managed to stabalise you and bring you back. Only you were just an infant."

He turned his body towards John and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"John, you may physically be just a copy of me. But, you are your own person. Clearly we're…different from each other. Might be prone to some of the same idiosyncrasies, but… you've built your own life and have your own personality."

He smiled at the young man who was tearing up.

"Ah, this…is embarrassing," John said as he wiped his eyes. "Sorry, Clara. This probably isn't what you were expecting for a date." He sniffled a laugh.

The Doctor felt an odd twinge of jealousy that he quickly buried, not knowing where it came from, while Clara chuckled.

"It's alright. Not a fan of boring coffee shops, anyway," she smiled. "So, this is a time machine, right?"

The men both looked at her.

"Where are we going then?" She asked with a wide grin mirrored by the similar yet different faces that looked back.

"Well, Clara," began the Doctor, drawing out her name.

The look between the older Time Lord and the young woman did not go unnoticed by John. Were they flirting? He'd never seen the Doctor interact in a flirty manner before. At least that he'd noticed. Was the old man even capable? John cringed at the thought. Yes, he looked young, but he was….old. Like, super fucking old!

Clara looked around the console room, trying to figure out where to go. Finally, she stood up as the two men followed. Clara walked around the console.

"Okay. So. So. So. So I'd like to see. I would like to see...what I would like to see is...something awesome." She flashed a smile, and the Doctor smiled back, throwing some levers and switches.