Strax watched Walter Simeon entering the gates to the building through his high-tech electric binoculars as he stood outside the Great Intelligence Institute. Nearby, was the Doctor and Belle. And sitting on the steps of the now rocking carriage was the Professor. He was busy using his magic in the snow. The carriage was rocking because Clara was locked inside of it. She wanted to be heard and, also, let out. She did not want to be locked in a small place, like some animal in a cage.
"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London. What do you suppose they're doing in there?" Strax asked, turning to look at the Doctor.
The Doctor was inspecting the snow, letting the snowfall through his fingers to the ground. "This snow is new. Possibly alien. When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?" The Doctor asked.
"A grenade," Strax said, a smile showing on his face.
"A profit," the Doctor corrected and stood up. "That's Victorian values for you."
"I suggest a full-frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid." "Is he always like this?" Belle asked.
"Pretty much. Sontaran. Clone warrior race. Factory produced—whole legions at a time. Made to be one of the finest warrior races in the universe," the Doctor explained.
"Sir, do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls. It's embarrassing," Strax remarked in a hushed tone. "Now, couldn't we at least investigate?"
"It's none of our business," the Doctor said, walking past the Sontaran. "Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy?" The Doctor turned around. "Permission granted."
"Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy."
"Let me out!" Clara's voice rang out again, hoping to be heard.
"Thank you, Strax," the Doctor said. "And if ever I need advice from a psychotic potato dwarf, you'll certainly be the first to know."
"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable," Strax said.
"Let me out!" Clara yelled again.
The Doctor placed a finger over Strax's lips. "It is not our problem. Over a thousand years of saving the universe, Strax, you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care," the Doctor said.
"Oi, Doctor! Let me out! Are you listening to me?!" Clara yelled again.
"Now, we have a problem of our own to worry about," the Doctor said, heading over to the carriage.
"Clara, right?" Belle asked.
"Yes," the Doctor said, who looked over at what the Professor was doing. "What are you making?"
The Professor picked up the frozen love heart he made from the snow and put it into his pocket. "Nothing," he said, in a rush.
"Let me out!" Clara said as the Doctor opened the carriage door. "Oi!"
"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you," the Doctor said, sitting opposite her in the carriage." "What is that thing?" Clara asked of Strax.
"Silence, boy!" Strax ordered. "That is Strax," the Professor said.
"Yeah. And as you can see, he's easily confused," the Doctor said. "Silence, girl. Sorry, lad," Strax said.
"Factory produced clone warrior race. Mass-produced, in fact," the Doctor explained again. "He can't count more than one gender."
"Stop discussing my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls," Strax said again. "It's getting embarrassing."
The Doctor leaned closer to Clara. "Typical middle child of six million," he whispered. Clara eyed the Doctor. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met." He looked back at Strax. "We'll need the worm."
The Professor looked back at his father. "You're making her forget? How long?" He was worried that she would forget meeting him.
"Sir," Strax said before disappearing to his right.
Clara rushed over towards the other side of the carriage. "You'll need what? The worm? What worm?"
"Don't worry. It won't hurt you, but one touch on your bare skin, and you lose the last hour of your memory." He turned to the Professor. "She'll still know you." Strax then came back empty-handed, and the Doctor looked over at the Sontaran. "Where is it?"
"Where's what, sir?" Strax asked.
The Doctor leaned closer to Strax. "I sent you to get the memory worm," he whispered. "Obviously, he touched the worm," the Professor stated.
"Did you?" Strax asked and pointed at Clara. "Who's he?" He looked around the alleyway. "What
are we doing here? Look! It's been snowing!"
"You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?" The Doctor asked.
"Why would I need the gauntlets?" Strax asked back and leaned towards the Doctor. "Do you want me to get the memory worm?"
Moments later, the Doctor sent Strax underneath the carriage to find the memory worm, which had escaped its crate. The Doctor stood right beside the carriage, with the Professor, Belle and Clara watching a few feet back.
"Well, can you see it?" The Doctor asked Strax.
"I think I can hear it," Strax said as the memory worm began to squeak.
Clara giggled to herself, and the Doctor turned around. "Oi! Don't try to run away. Stay where you are," he told her, pointing one of his fingers at her.
"She's not going to run away," the Professor answered instead. "She's entertained, right?" Clara nodded. "And I know what's going to happen next."
"What's entertaining?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, your little pal, for a start. He's an ugly little fella, isn't he?" Clara said. "Maybe. Strax gave his life for a friend of mine once."
"Then how come he's alive?"
"Another friend of mine brought him back. I'm not sure all his brains made the return trip!"
"I don't think so either," Belle said, going over to the other side of the Doctor, and reached into the back compartments of the carriage.
"I can see it," Strax said.
The Doctor leaned closer to the carriage. "Oooh! Can you reach it? Have you got it?"
Strax reached towards it, then was silent after a while, retracting his arm back. "Got what, sir?"
Belle pulled up the gauntlets and held them up for everyone to see. "These are the gauntlets that he's supposed to wear, right?" She asked, with the Doctor looking at her,
"Sir, emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab," Strax said.
Having grown fed up with Strax's failed attempts at grabbing the memory worm, the Doctor grabbed the gauntlets from Belle and decided to grab the worm himself. After a few minutes of hunting, he picked up the creature (a giant, white huge worm) and held it up for everyone to see.
"There you go," he began. "One touch, and you lose about an hour of your memory. Let it bite you
… And you could lose decades." He forcefully pushed it back into the glass jar. Sealing the lid, he looked back and saw that Clara was still with the others. "And you're still not trying to run."
"I don't understand how the snowman built itself," Clara said, then linked her left arm around the Professor's right arm. "But, then, why would I run when I have a brave, strong man by my side."
The Professor looked back at Clara, and he chuckled softly as the Doctor walked over to them. "Clara who?" the Doctor asked.
"Doctor who?" Clara asked back. "Oh, dangerous question."
"What's wrong with dangerous?" Clara asked, just as a snowman appeared out of nowhere. She turned and looked over at it. How could that be?
"The snow emits a low-level telepathic field..." the Doctor started to explain, not noticing what Clara had just seen.
"My snowman..." Clara whispered and nudged the Professor over.
"...It seems to reflect people's thoughts and memories, and because it's unusual, somehow it carries a previous shape and..." the Doctor continued.
"Dad. We have company," the Professor said, getting his father's attention.
The Doctor turned around. As did Belle. They looked over at it while the Doctor stepped closer. "Ah! Interesting. Well, were you thinking about it?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes," Clara said, as more appeared around them, encircling them from all around.
"Well, stop. Clara, stop thinking about the snowmen!" The Doctor ordered, just as the nearest snowman breathed snowflakes at them. All four of them and everyone ducked.
"Allow me..." the Professor said, making a fireball appear in his right hand, flames crackling as he did, and threw it at the closest snowman. As the fireball contacted the snowman, it melted it. The Professor made another fireball and threw it at another snowman, which melted that one too. But as each snowman disappeared, more took its place.
"Get down! All of you!" The Doctor ordered.
"Now, Clara, listen to me. The snow's feeding off your thoughts." "I don't understand," Clara said.
The Professor turned to Clara. "You're caught in the snow's telepathic field. It's mirroring your thoughts. You are thinking about the snowman, so the more they appear. You're like a lynchpin," he explained. "So, the thing to do is to imagine them melting. All of them … Melting. Can you do that for me?"
Clara nodded and closed her eyes. She did as the Professor told her to do. Picture all the snowmen melting. She took a few deep breaths as she concentrated before all the snowmen melted, splashing everyone with water.
"Well, very good. Very, very good. Ha!" The Doctor exclaimed as everyone got up. "I knew she could do it," the Professor beamed.
Clara looked over at him. "What was that fire?" She asked. "How did you do that?" "Magic," he answered. "Are you okay with that?
"Yeah. At least, I think I'm fine. So, Doctor, is that gonna happen again...?" "Well, if it does, you know what to do about it," the Doctor said.
"Unless I forget," Clara said.
The Doctor looked over at the memory worm then back at Clara before he led her over to the carriage. "Don't come looking for me. Forget about me. You understand?" The Doctor asked as the Professor climbed into the carriage too. "What are you doing, son?"
"Well, I'm gonna keep my promise. Make sure Clara arrives home safely," the Professor said. "What about the snow? Shouldn't we be warning people?" Clara asked.
"Not my problem. Merry Christmas," the Doctor said to Clara, closing the door of the carriage and tapping the window, then told Strax, who was in the driver's seat, "Take her back where we found her."
"Sir," Strax said, as he started to drive on, but the Professor and Clara weren't in the carriage as it took off. Without anyone looking, they had gotten out of the carriage. Clara still had questions, and the Professor wanted to look out for her. As they saw the Doctor and Belle walk off straight ahead, the Professor and Clara followed, but they stayed in the shadows, careful not to be caught. They followed them to the park (to which the Doctor started to whistle to the tune of Silent Night – to draw off any suspicious people around. A man whistling Christmas songs. Perhaps a man spreading Christmas joy?
Clara and the Professor rushed over to a huge tree and hid behind it. Clara peeked from one side, and the Professor peered from the other. Both saw the Doctor jump up and grab a ladder from the sky, and pulled it down. The Doctor began to climb up it, with Belle following.
Waiting a few seconds, both walked out from behind the tree and walked over to where the Doctor was. "Now what?" Clara asked.
"We jump," the Professor answered, before jumping up, and pulling the ladder down. He turned around and gestured for her to climb. "After you," he said politely.
"After you," Clara retorted back. "I'm wearing a dress. Eye's front, soldier." The Professor started to climb up. "My eyes always face the front," he told her. "Mine aren't," Clara said cheekily, to which the Professor chuckle.
At the top of the ladder, the Professor helped Clara up on the platform before both looked up at the spiral staircase. Once she was up, she looked down and waved at the passers-by, but they never saw them. "Invisible..." she noted. "Is this more magic?" She asked the Professor.
He shook her head. "No. I'd say this is a perception filter. It's not really invisible. It just makes people black it out. Like it doesn't exist."
"Oh," Clara said, sounding disappointed.
"But this is made from magic..." the Professor said, taking out his love heart that he made earlier.
"For you. It's made from the snow. I melted it, then shaped it into a heart, then refroze it before enchanting it so it can never break or melt. It symbolises my love for you, Clara, as it will never end too."
Clara took the love heart with a smile. "Awww..." she said, embracing the Professor in a hug. "This is the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me."
After they hugged, they climbed the staircase, hand in hand. The two climbed the spiral staircase until they got to a cloud, where the TARDIS was. The Professor stepped out on to the cloud-first then spun around, helping Clara on to the cloud, who stepped on it, holding the Professor's hands, tentatively. Once, she was on. She crept up to the TARDIS and knocked on the door, with the Professor right behind her. Once she heard someone coming, she grabbed the Professor's hand and took him to a side of the TARDIS, where both were hidden.
The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS and saw no one there. "Hello...?" He asked. He walked around the side, just after Clara and the Professor go around the back. "Hello...?" He asked again. "Hello...?" But there was no answer.
The three circled the TARDIS then the Professor and Clara headed to the staircase. Before Clara descended the stairs, she pulled the Professor to her and gave him a light peck before descending down the stairs, but not before she dropped her shawl. The Professor bent down and picked it up, staring down the staircase.
The Doctor saw the Professor and went over to him. "Was it you that knocked on the TARDIS doors?" He asked.
The Professor stood up and spun around. "No. I just got here," he lied. The Doctor noticed the shawl. "What's that? Where'd you get it?" "Clara gave it to me as a thank you gift."
"Oh, well, come on into the TARDIS. I have something to show you."
