She opened her eyes to smoke drifting lazily about, while lights flashed sporadically. Cold metal lay beneath her head, and she finally realized she was gazing up at the ceiling. She sat up slowly, groaning as her head began to swim.

"Are you alright?" the voice sounded far away, as if it were being muffled by a cloud. Her eyes remained stubbornly unfocused, but she knew Clara's face hovered near hers.

"I'm fine. What happened?" She asked hoarsely, rubbing her temples to try to ease the tension behind her eyes.

"Something took control of the TARDIS," his voice echoed rather painfully through her head, "we've landed somewhere, but I cannot tell exactly where. The navigator isn't working...the warning circuits...its like its all be stripped away..." the stillness in the room was like the foreboding calm before lightening strikes.

"What do you mean?" The women rose rather unsteadily to her feet, leaning heavily on the railing. He paused for a moment, amidst his frantic maneuvers about the console, to glance at her with weary eyes; they reminded her of the green fields that rolled over the hills behind her old home.

"It means I am no longer in control of my own machine, something has disabled the defenses, all but the precaution switch. I do not know where we are, and am completely blind to...everything. Someone, or something, has taken control of my TARDIS." His voice was tight with anger.

The beast was silent, it remained unmoved, yet her hands shook with rising fear.

"How is that possible..." she muttered.

"Its not...it shouldn't..." he rubbed a hand aggressively over his face. Again he turned to look at her, his eyes searching her face, "who are you?" he asked, she supposed rhetorically.

"You think I did this?" She was weary, but there was a harshness in her voice he could not ignore. He was silent for a moment, he searched her face for answers, but found her unwilling to comply. He took a deliberate step toward her, and she suddenly felt very small.

"Impossible, everything at this moment is entirely impossible, even you are impossible. Appearing here, in the middle of the vortex, is completely and utterly impossible! Yet here you are." He lifted his hands in a gesture of exasperation. He hated puzzles he couldn't solve, and she was a puzzle he couldn't even find the pieces to match.

She felt a rising discomfort under his scrutiny, and she fought to remain indifferent even as he took another, more tentative, step toward her.

"But no," he finally relinquished, "I do not believe this," he waved his hands about the room, "was your doing. But, I do believe there is something you are not telling."

He now stood so close. Eyes she new so well, finally gazing back into hers, but she was not prepared for the devastation of seeing the mistrust in them. A sadness imploded through her heart, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tumult of emotions at bay. Her hand gripped the rail, but didn't dare take her eyes away from his.

"Shouldn't we at least see where we have landed?" Clara asked, desperate for the void of silence to be filled.

The Doctor sighed, finally looking back at his, rather bewildered, companion.

"The precaution circuit should have landed us in a reasonably safe place, but yes we should take a look around." He looked at the women again, taking note of her white knuckled grip on the railing. Her eyes had traveled up toward the wall where they rested on the bold letters.

"We should look into your memories," he stated mechanically. Her eyes veered back toward him, fear flashed in them, but for only a moment, which faded away into a hardened resolve.

"We must know what is chasing us," he said slowly, hoping she would see his reasoning, "something is here now, already taking us out of the time vortex. Something like that is immensely powerful, impossibly powerful. And as you said, we are in danger. Maybe that something is what brought you here." He had lowered his voice, almost sounding comforting, trying to draw her back to him.

Her eyes imminently locked onto his, and unnervingly never wavered. He saw the gold in her eyes, and marveled how they reminded him of galaxies; there were stars floating in her eyes. They were enchanting, her sharp face, he suddenly noticed, oddly familiar. He hadn't realized how close he stood next to her until he felt her breath on his cheek. She stood so still, her eyes boring into his, he wondered if she could see his soul.

"Please," he urged gently.

She inhaled sharply, her jaw quivering slightly. She looked down, searching, other than his face, to find stable ground to gather her thoughts.

He was right, she knew as much. He would rifle through her memories, he would see everything she desperately tried to hide even from herself; relive moments she buried deep within herself. And then she would most certainly lose everything. His eyes would no longer look upon her with kindness. He would see the monster she had become; the girl he once knew, now gone. But he was right; her selfish desires would only endanger everyone further.

"Will it hurt?" she croaked, ashamed for the abashed emotion she unwillingly displayed. He shook his head, and his hand rose to rest on her shoulder; the connection surprising them both.

"No, not in the least." His voice was reassuring, but how wrong he was. It would hurt her more than he would ever know.

How close he stood.

She wanted to lean into him, take the comfort he used to give her so willingly. But he was a stranger, as was she; the familiarity they once shared was almost a forgotten memory. He seemed to take her silence as consent for he turned to Clara, who had been watching them with raised brows, and said, "I do believe we should take a look outside first."

Clara nodded, as the Doctor rambled down toward the doors, but she glanced back at the women who still stood frozen where the Doctor has left her.

"I suppose thanks is in order," Clara said in her charismatic way, but approached the women slowly as if she were a skittish animal. The women turned, her eyes questioning.

"You came to warn us. However you got to be here, it must have cost you quite a lot to do so. I know he can seem rather formidable, but trust him. The last thing he would do would be to hurt you, or anything actually." She smiled, hoping her words would help pave her way towards the woman's trust.

But the women said nothing, only nodded wordlessly.

With a slight inclination of her head, motioning Clara to follow, both woman walked to join the Doctor, who was fiddling with the door knob.

"Be ready," he cautioned, "we have no idea what could be out there, be ready for...anything."

The woman glanced over her shoulder, only now aware she no longer saw any demons lurking about. Could she no longer see them? A new fear leapt into her chest.

River.

Could she no longer see River?

What if she had found the way to destroy the beast?

She grit her teeth. Dark shadows were erupting all around her mind; she was lost in her actions, her words, she no longer knew what to do. It was all crumbling like sand. Had the beast found a way to shut her out, and drive the invisible wall between her and River?

Thoughts bombarded her, fear rising with each breath, but when the Doctor opened the door, her breath slipped from her lungs in a wordless gasp.

The Doctor and Clara walked slowly form the entry way, eyes gazing about in wonder. A bright warm sun was shining, and bright green grass flowed for miles in every direction, and for the fist time, in a long time, she felt the warmth of the sun.

She gingerly stretched out a trembling hand, and almost cried when the sunny rays warmed her cold fingers. Suddenly her whole body began to shake.

She was free.

For centuries chained to her cage, but now experiencing the beauty of the sun. She was liberated from the dark, with the sun warming her hands, and the breeze blowing through her hair; it was real, and she was free. She lifted her face up towards the sky, a smile slowly stretching across her face, and then unexpectedly, she laughed. She did not see the surprised faces of her companions, her odd behavior entrancing them both. They looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. The stoic, cold, women before them had transformed into a lighter figure; neither one had even thought the women could smile, but seeing pure joy radiating from her eyes gave them pause.

Her laughter echoed about the silent field, and the Doctor, without knowing why, could not remove his eyes from her.

Her eyes.

Her smile.

A familiar shape formed in his mind, a face began to etch itself before his eyes. It was not the woman's face, but this new face carried the same features; same smile, same laugh...what was she? Who was she?

The women felt their eyes, and suddenly the laughing girl was gone. Her sharp gaze forcing them to look away. Clara almost felt ashamed, as if she had witnessed something she never should have seen.

She looked about herself, trying to understand her surroundings.

"Doctor, where are we?" She called over to him.

The TARDIS had landed in an open field. Grassy hills stretched far into the horizon, and a single willow tree waved to them in the sweet smelling breeze.

The Doctor appeared just as puzzled as she. He turned about himself a few times, seeing nothing but grass and clumps of trees in the far distance.

"Do you hear that?" He finally whispered excitedly. Both the women and Clara stood still and listened.

"I don't hear anything." Clara whispered back.

"Exactly!" He shouted jubilantly. Clara gazed at him confused.

"There are no birds singing," the women stated for her, "these fields are practically empty of life."

"And you sound so excited," Clara sarcastically chided the Doctor.

"It's all very odd, Clara," the Doctor couldn't contain his grin, "something very new as well. Nothing looks familiar."

"What would look familiar? Theres nothing but grass and trees." The woman scoffed. The Doctor bent to pick up a blade of grass and put it to his lips.

"I've seen most of the universe. And from all I've seen, you can recognize things no other can identity." He put the slip of grass into his mouth, then spat it out quickly and wiped his tongue on his sleeve to get rid of the bitter taste.

She opened her mouth to add her own input, when a dark shadow flitted behind the Doctor.

She froze.

An ugly little demon crawled through the grass. Its eyes lifted up to hers, its teeth glistened in the sun.

"We should go." The urgency in her voice startled both Clara and the Doctor.

"Whats wrong?" Clara asked, concerned.

"Nothing..." the women wasn't sure how to convince them to go back to the safety of the TARDIS, "I just have this feeling..."

The Doctor noted how her eyes kept flitting to the spot over his shoulder. He turned, but saw nothing.

"What is it?" Now there was an urgency in his voice, one she wasn't sure how to calm. The demon smiled, seeming to sense her conflict, her helplessness. It sat back onto its haunches, preparing to spring.

A cry escaped from her lips as the demon sprung, its claws ready to strike the Doctor. She lifted her hands to defend him, when the hideous thing was unexpectedly blasted into dust.

River stepped into her view, her gun still drawn.

An audible sigh exhaled from the women, and she was tempted to fling her arms around River in gratitude.

She could feel his stare on her, his judgment felt heavy on her shoulders.

"I thought I saw something." She uttered, she hoped, steadily.

He looked at her questioningly, but she simply turned away, trying to steady her shaking hands. She glanced about, trying to glimpse any possible attacks, but she saw nothing but rippling grass. Confusion marred her brow. How was there only one?

She sensed rather than saw River come to stand behind her.

"How?" River inquired, dismayed. The women shook her head. She didn't dare speak without drawing attention to herself, but she whispered, "Later."

"What did you do?" River continued to press. The women slanted her eyes at River, and continued to walk away from her.

There, amongst the shock in River's eyes, was pain. She caught River's eyes move toward the gangly man with a sadness sweeping over her face that lasted only a moment. River was now hidden behind the veil, while she was free to roam about with him; the man they both loved.

It was disparaging for them both, and she did feel a twinge of sorrow for River, but there was an evil part in her; a part that relished the knowledge that River was finally undertaking what she, herself, had dealt with for centuries.

It was selfish, but exhilarating. It was evil, and she hated herself for welcoming the feeling. She looked up toward the sky, absorbing the warmth of the sun, wishing time would stop, that she could live without regret for just a few moments.

The moment was abruptly stopped when she heard Clara call to them.

"Come look!"

She opened her eyes to see Clara standing beneath the willow tree, pointing to something in the distance; then she saw it.

It was smoke.

They weren't alone after all.

A/N:Well, its been too long, and I hope everyone finds this chapter entertaining. Its been a rough semester, and I've been writing on the side when I find time. I'm not too pleased with how it turned out, but it is what it is. I've been debating on how I want to finish the story, and have changed ideas many, many times. I'll settle down with one eventually! Let me know what you think! /p