The Doctor knew the first place he wanted to take Clara. Akhaten. He hadn't planned on running into John but knew the young Time Lord would probably get a kick out of the alien sun as well. The trio walked through the crowds of aliens as the Doctor rambled on about the different species and other factoids.
John knew the Doctor had travelled to all kinds of places, but he'd never really seen it himself. It was surreal to finally be on a proper adventure and not stuck in the TARDIS or the monastery.
"What the hell is that?" questioned John as they ran into a rather peculiar looking creature. Clara seemed a bit frightened as it began to bark at them.
"And why is it so angry?" asked Clara as she stood slightly behind John.
"This isn't an it! It's a she. Dor'een, meet Clara and John. Clara and John, meet Dor'een."
"Dor'een?" repeated Clara as she grew more confident.
"Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy, but she's a total love actually, aren't you? Yes, you are." The Doctor was scratching the underside of the creatures chin and talking like "she" was some kind of puppy. John made a face of discomfort at the awkward interaction. Clara didn't seem bothered and even barked back at the alien. John watched Clara and the Doctor "speak" to the creature. They then looked at him expectantly.
"Umm, nah. I'm…good." John tried to give a polite smile to not offend Dor'een.
The Doctor frowned, but Clara simply laughed at John's discomfort.
"She's just asking if we fancy renting a moped," said the Doctor.
The bow-tie wearing alien then explained how the people of Akahten use things with sentimental value as currency. John tuned them out as he looked around. After a few minutes of no longer hearing the sounds of the Doctor's ramblings, he realised he'd lost track of both Clara and the daft alien.
"Shit," he said under his breath. "Doctor? Clara?" he looked around, not seeing them anywhere. What he did see was a young girl running around a corner nearly straight into him. She looked scared.
"Whoa, there! You okay?" he asked, trying not to scare her. Instead, she gave him a frightened look before running off into the crowd. John then saw some men approach, dressed in similar garb to the small girl.
"Have you seen her?"
"Uh, who?"
"The Queen of Years."
"The what?" John had no idea who they were talking about, which became apparent to the men, so they left. John had seen the direction where the girl had run and decided to follow her. He found himself in some kind of strange storage facility.
"Hello?" he called. There was a loud bang causing him to jump. He quickly looked around and composed himself, ensuring no one saw his cowardice. He finally caught sight of the girl.
"Hey! Are you okay? Are you lost?"
She clearly didn't want anything to do with him and ran off again. He didn't want to come off as some kind of creep who chased small girls. John contemplated turning around and leaving but, she looked similar in age to when he'd found himself wandering the streets alone after the Doctor "accidentally" left him. So, he sighed and followed the noise of her light footsteps until he ran into her again.
"Hey," he said softly. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. What are you doing here?"
The girl came out of her hiding place. "Hiding," she said softly.
"Why are you hiding?"
"You don't know me?" she asked, seemingly confused.
"Er, I don't think so. Should I?" He wondered if maybe the girl was mistaking him for the Doctor.
"Why are you following me then?"
John nervously rubbed his hands together. Okay, so maybe he was being a creep.
"Well, I thought you needed some help. You looked lost."
"I don't believe you." The girl was clearly growing uncomfortable, which was making John uncomfortable.
"Okay, look. I promise I'm not a creep. I just thought you needed help. I'm sorry if I frightened you."
"Really?"
"Really," he said with a smile.
…
John guided the girl named "Merry" back to the TARDIS, hoping to run into Clara and the Doctor. However, when he got to the blue box, he discovered it was locked.
"Ah, fuck," he said. A bit louder than he'd meant.
"What is a "fuck"? Asked Merry innocently.
John's eyes went wide. He hadn't any experience with young children and forgot that his vocabulary may not be appropriate.
"Er, it's umm, it's an adult word. Only adults can use it. Just… don't say it."
"Why'd you say it then? You don't really look like much of an adult." The girl had a shy smile.
John laughed. "Ah, yeah, that may be so, but still. Pretend you didn't hear that."
They both sat in front of the TARDIS to wait. He figured his travelling companions would notice his absence and come looking for him at some point. At least he hoped they'd notice.
"So, what exactly are you hiding from?" Asked John.
The girl seemed to relax a bit in his presence, now knowing he wasn't a threat.
"I'm afraid of getting it wrong," she replied cryptically. John had no idea what she was talking about.
"Right. Umm, explain it to me like I'm some weird alien that has no idea what the fu… fun you're talking about." He coughed nervously, wincing at his near slip-up.
Merry giggled before getting serious again.
"My name is Merry Gejelh. I'm the Queen of Years. I was chosen as a baby when the last queen died."
"Uh huh." John was having a hard time understanding what she was talking about but let her continue.
"I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend, every song."
"Damn. Every single one?"
Merry nodded.
"Blimey. I hated history." Merry appeared to be growing more distressed.
"And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone! A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared."
John could see the terror in her eyes and couldn't help but sympathise. He shuffled a bit to get more comfortable. His legs were aching from sitting on the ground. He cursed his long limbs for not having an ounce of flexibility, making sitting on the floor to be painful.
"Everyone's scared when they're little," he began. Merry could see the sincerity in his eyes.
"Were you ever scared when you were little?"
"Oh yes, loads of times. I sort of had to make my own way through life. No parents. No home," he said sadly. "But, look how I turned out!" He gave Merry a goofy grin as she smiled back.
"You're very silly," she said with a giggle.
John chuckled.
"That's how I fought my fears," he said softly.
John often turned to humour to cope with the crippling loneliness and absolute lack of direction or guidance in his life. It was how he survived.
"By being silly?" she questioned.
"Yeah! You should try it. Laughing is the best medicine. Trust me. I'm a doctor…or well, will be…hopefully." He then had a slight panic about the fact he was probably missing his classes but then remembered he had access to a fucking time machine and relaxed.
Merry laughed.
"And you won't get it wrong. You seem very clever. I think you'll get it just right!" he said reassuringly. John was caught off guard when the small child lept towards him and brought him into a hug. He hesitantly hugged her back.
"Right. Hugging. Hugs are cool," he said with a chuckle.
John walked Merry back into the bazaar and helped her find the chorister, who then led her away.
Just then, he turned to see the Doctor and Clara come up behind him. The Doctor was eating some weird blue fruit, and Clara watched the little girl.
"What have you been doing?" asked the Doctor.
"Oh, just exploring." John looked towards the ground and kicked at the dirt.
Clara piped up. "Where are we going now?"
The Doctor immediately discarded his food and clapped his hands together.
"We are going to watch the Long Song!" He then grabbed Clara's hand as he pulled her through the crowd with John following behind, hands shoved into trouser pockets.
…
The three travellers made their way awkwardly through the rows of aliens to find their seats just before the music began. Clara sat between the two men as they watched Merry take her place. John smiled at the sight of the little girl. The Doctor was rambling on about some mummy and the old god called 'grandfather.'
Merry began to sing a beautiful melody as the congregation started to join in.
Suddenly, there was a feeling of an earthquake, and Merry stopped singing. She appeared to be frightened. The time travellers watched in horror as her tiny frame was picked up by a strange beam that seemed to take her straight to the pyramid.
Clara shouted. "Okay, what's happening? Is that supposed to happen?"
"Help!" shouted Merry in terror. John shot up from his seat.
"Is somebody going to do something?" he yelled. "She needs help!" John watched as the Doctor ran off towards the market.
"What the hell!" he yelled, following after. "Doctor, we have to help her!"
When he finally caught up with Clara and the Doctor, he watched Clara hand over a ring to Dor'een. Then, the two hopped on as John jumped on the back, sandwiching Clara between the Time Lords.
Dor'een was barking ferociously as they sped off on the moped.
"She really seems angry this time," said Clara.
"That's because the moped is only meant for two!" he yelled back.
"Sorry!" cried, John.
The Doctor managed to crash the moped right in front of the pyramid. John had lost his grip and flew off. He was a bit disoriented. When he finally got his head back in order, the Doctor was scanning his sonic at the large stone door. He heard the Doctor exclaim in excitement as he managed to start opening it. The older Time Lord stood under the door as John and Clara entered the temple.
"Come on! This door is extraordinarily heavy!" cried the Doctor.
Merry noticed John then looked at Clara and the other strange man with John's face.
"Hello, Merry! These are my friends! Clara and the Doctor. We're here to help you. Just come with us!"
He then noticed the creepy mummy behind her, encased in glass.
"Jesus effing Christ, he's ugly!" exclaimed John. Clara rolled her eyes.
"Umm, could you please hurry!" The Doctor was now on his knees, trying to keep the door open. John watched as Clara took control of the situation.
"Merry, is it?" Clara asked gently but still with urgency in her voice. The small girl just nodded.
"You need to come with us, darling. It's okay."
Merry had tears in her eyes as she looked at John. "You said I wouldn't get it wrong! I got it wrong!"
"I'm sorry, Merry! But you didn't get it wrong. That wanker over there got it wrong!" He pointed to the man who was still singing. Clara made a questioning face, but John just shrugged. He was too panicked to care about sugar coating anything.
Merry unexpectedly giggled, causing Clara to smile, seeing that John made her feel less afraid.
"Umm, hello!" called the Doctor. He felt like his arms were jelly and didn't know how long he could hold the door.
Merry looked terrified again. "You have to go! Now! He's going to wake up and eat us!"
Clara took a note from John's book and spoke. "Well, like John said, he's ugly. And you know, to be honest, I don't think he looks big enough," she added with a smile.
"Not our meat, our souls." Merry glanced back at 'grandfather'. "He doesn't want you. He wants me. Leave before he gets you too!"
John and Clara heard the heavy door slam behind them and saw the Doctor standing up and dusting himself off.
"Did you just let the door close?" yelled John.
The Doctor fidgeted nervously.
"Yep."
John rolled his eyes and then noticed the 'wanker' chorister stopped singing. They all looked into the glass and saw the mummy begin to stir while the chorister disappeared.
"Well, that can't be good," said John. Merry ran into Clara's open arms and hugged her tight.
"He's awake! Please go!"
John watched as the Doctor took Merry and spoke to her softly. He didn't think the Doctor was capable of consoling a child. However, he knew he was right when the Doctor began talking harshly to Merry about being eaten.
"Bloody hell, Doctor! You're scaring her!" John said in anger.
The Doctor shot right back at him. "Good! She should be scared. She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means. Do you know what it means, Merry?" The Doctor's tone softened. He then gave a look to John. Almost as if he was saying, "I'm sorry." John was then struck with the thought that he'd done that very thing. He sacrificed himself. Of course, he only remembered it like it was a dream.
After the Doctor encouraged Merry to not waste her life, the asteroid they were standing on began to rumble.
"Something's coming," said Clara warily.
"The Vigil," said Merry.
Three mysterious robotic beings appeared and began making their way towards Merry. Clara turned to the girl as John stood and watched. He didn't know what to do or how to help. Finally, Clara managed to get Merry to open up another way out of the pyramid.
"Go!" yelled the Doctor. John wanted to stay and help, but Merry grabbed his hand and pulled him with her as they ran out through the secret passage.
They heard the glass breaking, indicating the mummy must have broken out. Then they saw the Doctor round the corner and join up with them as the ground continued to shake violently. The Doctor winced.
"I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo. More of a semantics mix-up, really."
Clara and John both looked at the Doctor incredulously. "What boo-boo?" questioned Clara.
He explained that the mummy was actually just the 'alarm clock' for the old god.
"So, where's the old god?" asked John. Then the sun started activating, causing all of their jaws to drop.
"Oh, my stars. What do we do?" cried Clara in shock at the scary sun.
John watched as the two bantered about scones and the lake district.
"Really? Hello! There's a huge fucking planet that's about to eat us, and you're talking about scones! What are we going to do?" John shouted. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or terrified. He was probably both.
Clara could see the determination in the Doctor's face.
"You're going to fight it, aren't you?"
"Regrettably, yes. I think I may be about to do that."
"It's really big," replied Clara flatly.
"I've seen bigger."
"THAT... is what she said!" quipped John. He wasn't trying to be an arse, but like he'd told Merry, he used humour to fight his fears. And currently, he was looking at a rather massive scary god that was about to eat him. He laughed nervously as Clara glared at him, while the innuendo seemed to fly right over the Doctor's head.
"Who said what?" asked the oblivious Time Lord.
Clara just shook her head no, as in "just drop it."
Moving on from John's distraction, the Doctor convinced the two to take Merry back on the moped while he stayed back. Clara was fighting him, wanting to assist the Doctor against the "old god", but in the end, took Merry to safety.
The three watched from afar, wondering if the Doctor could actually pull this off. Wanting to help, Merry made her way to the small stage and began to sing. John and Clara watched as the rest of the congregation joined in. Then, John noticed Clara slip away. He followed her back to the moped.
"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled as she got in the driving position.
"I'm going to "assist". She paused. "You coming or not?" John huffed and jumped on behind her as she sped towards the scary sun.
They found the Doctor lying on the ground. John watched as Clara took out a book and held up a leaf towards 'grandfather.' He watched as she gave up her most precious memory of her mother, now realising she must have passed away when she was little. Soon the Doctor was back on his feet and standing beside her.
The Doctor could see Clara tearing up as the leaf dissolved right out of her hands. Pretty soon, the evil sun collapsed in on itself. Everything went quiet as they all stood looking towards the space where the parasitic planet used to be. All that could be heard now was their own heavy breathing.
After a minute or two, John finally broke the silence.
"Well, that….that was AWESOME!" he yelled and whooped. "Holy, shit! I thought we were DEAD. Like. D.E.A.D. Dead."
He bent down and placed his hands on his knees like he was catching his breath after a long run.
"Jesus, fucking Christ. That was bloody terrifying!" He began to ramble on and laugh about nearly pissing himself. He quieted when he noticed the sombre look on Clara and the Doctor's faces. John cleared his throat.
"Sorry."
Clara gave a small smile, and John quietly followed the two out of the pyramid.
The three said goodbye to Merry and made their way back to the TARDIS. The Doctor seemed to regain his usual demeanour as he pranced around the console.
"Home again, home again, jiggety jig!"
The Doctor managed to get Clara's mum's ring back and return it before dropping her off. Now it was just John and the Doctor left in the TARDIS.
With Clara gone, the awkward tension between the two Time Lords was palpable.
"So…" began John. "Clara?" He raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who was fiddling at the console.
"Yes. Clara. What about her?"
"Are you going to tell me how she's…alive? Is…she, you know. Like me or something?"
The Doctor knew what John was wondering. Was Clara some kind of flesh ganger like he was?
"I don't think so. From what I've gathered, this Clara. She's the original. I'm still trying to figure it out."
He motioned John over to the screen, where he flipped through the three different files of Clara. Oswin from the Starship Alaska. Clara Oswin Oswald from Victorian London. And Clara Oswald from the 21st century. Seemingly, just an ordinary girl.
"I gather she doesn't remember us then?" he asked. John concluded early on that she wasn't the same woman he knew back in Victorian London.
"No." The Doctor paused. "Although, that may be a good thing. I mean. Last time I…well, we saw her she…died."
John tried to not think about the image of Clara lying on the table. Giving her last breath.
"I suppose you're going to send me home now, too?"
The Doctor came around the console and shuffled a bit. "I mean. Only if you want me to. The TARDIS. It's your home. Your room is still here."
John smiled and made his way towards the corridor.
"John?" called the Doctor. John turned to see the Doctor walking towards him.
"Yeah, Doc?"
The Doctor was about to protest the nickname but decided against it.
"What exactly have you been up to the past 10 years? How did you manage?"
John smirked as he reached into the back pocket of his trousers. He pulled out the warn wallet containing the psychic paper. The Doctor went to grab it from him, but John pulled his hand away.
"Oh no, you don't. This is mine now. I think I've earned it after you heartlessly abandoned me!" John was laughing at the Doctor's annoyance which turned into his own laugh.
"I suppose so."
John and the Doctor made their way through the TARDIS corridors whilst John began to tell the Doctor what the past 10 years had been like for him. Naturally, the Doctor felt incredibly guilty, but he was also proud of the boy's ingenuity.
"John?" questioned the Doctor as they sat in the console room. "Would you fancy another adventure? You and me?"
John thought it over. "Yes. But on one condition."
"Oh?"
John gave a lopsided grin. "Okay, maybe two conditions….or three? Actually. I have a list forming now."
The Doctor didn't like where this was going.
"Yes, John?"
"I want my own sonic, my own TARDIS key, and you have to teach me to fly her."
The Doctor scrunched his face and thought about it. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes. But! There are rules, and the second you step out of line, I'll revoke those privileges!"
"Doctor, you're not my father," John said almost sadly. It sent a pang in the older Time Lord's chest.
"How about a wise older brother?"
John pretended to be indifferent and then smiled as he stuck out his hand.
"Deal."