"It's no bother, really," said Craig as Clara began to head to the front door.
"It wouldn't be the first time Paul has come over unexpectedly, although usually, it's the Doctor who is dropping him off… not his…er, friend."
"Thank you, Craig. I know this is a bit strange. Paul's former teacher now babysitting him. The Doctor had some things to attend to, but now something has come up in my schedule. But again, truly thank you."
Clara exited the modest home and made her way back to her flat. The warm summer air comforted her on her walk home. Knowing how much Paul loved to listen in on "adult conversations," she preemptively phoned Craig and Sophie to babysit so she could have a "discussion" with the Doctor.
She rounded the pavement corner and pulled Paul's photo out to look it over. Whoever the woman was must have been Paul's actual mother, not River. And now Clara could clearly (and eerily) see the resemblance to herself. But why would he lie about who Paul's mother was? And why on earth did she look exactly like Clara?
Now sitting on her sofa, Clara folded up the photo and placed it in her pocket. It was only moments later that she heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS materialising in her flat.
"Perfect timing, he's got," she said absently.
Sure enough, the Doctor popped out of the TARDIS, energetic as ever.
"Ah! Clara! I hope I wasn't gone too long. Had a run-in with some old friends. Turned out not to be friends, and "old" is a bit relative. Bit of a pickle that was. But I'm here now," he paused to look around. "Where's Paul?" The Doctor then noticed the expression on Clara's face. "Oh, you've… you've got that face. The one where I think you might be mad…at me."
"Oh, not mad. Just a bit miffed," she said as she walked closer to him. He instinctively backed up against the TARDIS.
"And why do I feel that being a bit miffed is worse?"
Clara slowly pulled out the photo and pressed it into the terrified Time Lord's chest.
"What's this?" he said as he took the picture from her. The Doctor unfolded the photo and immediately grimaced.
"Clara, I can explain."
Clara didn't say a word. Instead, she simply gestured for him to "explain."
"Um, well, this…this is Paul's mum."
"Oh, I gathered that," said Clara sharply. "Now I understand why Paul thinks I'm his mum! Is she some distant past or future relative or something? What is going on? And why the hell did you say her name was River?"
"Right, um, so truthfully, Clara, when I say I can explain, I really mean that I'm… I'm not really sure."
Clara took a step back. "Not really sure? Not really sure about what?"
"Not really sure who or what she is, meaning not really sure who or what you are…."
"Stop!" Clara yelled while holding her hand up.
The Doctor fell silent.
"Just stop!" she continued. "I know you're lying to me! You made up the whole thing about River being his mum, and let me tell you, I heard the truth straight from the source. She's not. And who is this? A..a clone? I know you have all this science-y stuff. Time machine and all…."
The Doctor cocked his head, "wait, Clara, what do you mean you heard it straight from the source?"
Clara paused. "Oh, right. Um, well, I sort of met River."
"You sort of met…River?" The Doctor was in shock. "How? She's…well, she's kind of…dead."
"Dead?"
The Doctor began to pace around and absently talk to himself, "unless you met her from her past, which would be my future, or..." he turned to face Clara. "Tell me what happened. Where were you?"
"Well, Vastra sent me this letter," Clara grabbed the letter from the floor and handed it to the Doctor. He quickly read it over.
"Why would Vastra want to meet with all of you?"
"Oh, right. Um, something about Trenza…Trenza…"
"Trenzalore?" the Doctor said softly as he slumped onto the sofa.
Clara snapped her finger, "yes! That's it! Oh, shit. Jenny! I think something bad happened. I sort of passed out. After I came to, I took Paul over to Craig's. He's safe and…" she paused. "What's wrong?"
"Trenzalore. Damn."
"Okay, this sounds really bad." Clara paused and looked around. "Let's put a pin in this whole Clara's clone is Paul's mum and figure out this Trenzalore thing. Then you can explain yourself."
The Doctor just sadly shook his head. "Clara, you don't understand. Trenzalore is my end."
"What do you mean?"
"It's where I die."
…
Clara and the Doctor were now back in the TARDIS.
"What do you mean, die? I thought you'd regenerate or whatever. Get a new body. Keep on going?"
"I'm a Time Lord, not a god. Everything comes to an end."
"That's terrible."
"Is it?" said the Doctor as he fiddled with wires under the console.
"I know you said you passed out, but you may have seen some things you don't remember from your…meeting."
"Ow!" Clara yelped as the Doctor stuck one of the wires into her palm.
"What are you doing?"
"Woo! Look…" the Doctor pointed to the screen that revealed coordinates.
"Trenzalore?"
"Yes. My…my grave." The Doctor rounded the console and began to press some buttons.
"And that's where we are going…your…grave?"
"Yep."
"Didn't you say that a time traveller's grave is the one place you must never go?"
"Did I say that?... I did, didn't I," the Doctor huffed a humourless laugh.
"You said Jenny was in trouble. Most likely, the others are too. I have to go. I have to save them."
"How are we going to do that?"
The Doctor smiled hearing Clara say "we".
"Well, apparently, by breaking into my own tomb."
Flipping the lever, the TARDIS began to violently shake.
"What's happening?"
"She's just figured out where we're going. She's against it. I'm about to cross my own timeline in the biggest way possible. The TARDIS doesn't like it. She's fighting it. Hang on! Hang on!"
…
After a very rough landing, Clara and the Doctor found themselves exiting the TARDIS on planet Trenzalore.
"Could have been worse," said the Doctor as he looked over the TARDIS. One of the glass window panes had shattered in the fall. "Oops."
"Are you alright? Isn't it kind of creepy to be visiting your own grave?"
The Doctor pondered over her statement. "I've seen a lot of terrible things, Clara," he paused, "my own grave doesn't even make the top ten."
He smiled at her sadly, remembering his Clara's grave and the sad turn of events that had brought him there.
"This looks like a graveyard. Look at all the tombstones."
"It's a battlefield graveyard….my final battle."
"Why are some of them bigger?"
"They're soldiers. The bigger the gravestone, the higher the rank."
"Wow, look." Clara pointed towards the large structure ahead of them.
"That's a hell of a monument."
"It's the TARDIS."
"I can see that," she chuckled.
"No. When a TARDIS is dying, sometimes the dimension dams start breaking down. They used to call it a size leak. All the bigger on the inside starts leaking to the outside. It grows. When I say that's the TARDIS, I don't mean it looks like the TARDIS. I mean, it actually is the TARDIS. My TARDIS from the future. What else would they bury me in?"
Clara paused for a moment to take in the terrible sight. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.
"Clara. Don't speak, don't say my name. He can't see or hear me. Only you can."
Clara turned to see none other than River Song.
"Well, come on, then!" called the Doctor.
River continued to speak. "We're mentally linked. It's the conference call. I kept the line open."
…
"Well, that was frightening," said Clara as they began their journey to the TARDIS. Luckily, they'd stumbled upon River's false grave, allowing them to enter underground.
"Where are we anyway?" she added.
"Catacombs."
"I hate catacombs. So, River really is your dead wife? How was I able to meet her then?"
"Oh well, you know how it is when you lose someone close to you. I sort of made a back-up."
River began to speak again, "I died saving him. In return, he saved me to a database in the biggest library in the universe. Left me like a book on a shelf. Didn't even say goodbye. He doesn't like endings."
"Why did you say River was Paul's mum?"
The Doctor turned to face Clara, but the whisper men had caught up to them before he could offer another terrible explanation.
"Clara, come on! Run, run!" yelled the Doctor as he grabbed her hand.
…
"We're close now," said the Doctor as they slowed their pace.
"Doctor, I'm not feeling so well," Clara said as she grabbed the wall to brace herself.
"Hey, it's okay. You're fine. The dimensioning forces this deep in the Tardis, they can make you a bit giddy."
"I…I feel like I know that. How do I know that?"
"Clara, it's okay. You're fine."
"Stop telling me I'm fine!" she yelled as she limply hit his chest. "Just stop!" Clara took a deep breath. "Now, I know I said we could talk about this later, but there might not be a later. Just tell me!"
"We can't do this now," said the Doctor sternly.
"Why not?" Clara practically screamed in response.
"Why do I keep meeting you?" yelled the Doctor back.
Clara stumbled a bit. A flash of a strange memory filled her mind.
"Clara?"
"I… the Dalek Asylum…I… I died."
"Clara?" called the Doctor again.
Suddenly, Clara's knees buckled under her.
"Clara, Clara, what's wrong?" asked the Doctor as he grabbed her waist to steady her.
"What do you mean you keep meeting me?"
"Clara, I…I don't have an answer for you. I'm so sorry, but we have to keep going."
"I…I died."
Suddenly, the voice of the whisper men rang in their ears.
"The girl who died he tried to save. She'll die again inside his grave."
"Come on, Clara. Run!"
…
The Doctor's blood ran cold when he discovered Simeon was behind everything. The deranged man tried to lure the Doctor into opening up his own grave.
"I will not open those doors!" yelled the Doctor.
"Doctor, what is your name?"
The Doctor stood silently, refusing to speak.
"The Doctor's friends. Stop their hearts," said Simeon calmly.
"Stop! Leave them alone!" yelled the Doctor.
"Your name then, Doctor. Answer me."
"Um, Doctor?" began Clara. A whisper man was closing in on her.
"Doctor, who?" called Simeon.
"Please! Stop it!" cried the distraught Time Lord. He couldn't in good conscience open up the TARDIS for the deranged man, but he also couldn't just watch his closest friends be murdered right in front of his eyes.
"Stop, Simeon. Please," he begged.
"Doctor! Doctor!" screamed Clara.
Suddenly, the door opened.
…
"Stop, Simeon! It will destroy you," yelled the Doctor.
The evil man stopped and turned. "Not at all. It will kill me. It will destroy you. I can rewrite your every living moment. I can turn every one of your victories into defeats. Poison every friendship. Deliver pain to your every breath."
"It will burn you up. Once you go through, you can't come back. You will be scattered along my timeline like confetti."
"It matters not, Doctor. You thwarted me at every turn. Now you will give me peace as I take my revenge on every second of your life. Goodbye. Goodbye, Doctor."
"What's wrong with him? What's happening?" cried Clara. All she could do was helplessly watch as the Doctor collapsed onto the ground.
Vastra came to her side. "He's being rewritten. Simeon is attacking his entire timeline. He's dying all at once. The Dalek Asylum."
"What did you say? Did you say the Dalek Asylum?"
"Now he's dying in London, with us."
"It is done," rang out Simeon's voice as the time stream turned a deadly shade of red.
"Oh, dear Goddess," cried Vastra.
"What's wrong?" asked Clara.
"A universe without the Doctor. There will be consequences."