Last Christmas

Chiswick
1:00am, December 25th, 2013

*Crash*

Clara jerked awake at the sudden sound outside. She blinked away the grogginess of sleep, wiping the dried tears from her eyes. Feeling emotionally exhausted, having cried herself through to sleep, that even her pillow was soaked with her tears, she looked outside her window. Please be the Doctor. Please be the Doctor. She found herself sighing with disappointment yet furrowing her face in confusion as Santa Claus was standing by a crashed sleigh, while two short men that appeared to be Elves, were bickering to him.

"Moron." Santa groaned. "Numbskull. Elf."

"Oi! That's racist!" The first said in shock.

"Of course, it's not racist, Wolf. You're an Elf." Santa sassed. "Come on, Ian. Chimneys!" Clara put on a large, woolly jacket and opened the front door, seeing them outside, the snow falling all around them.

"I'm sorry." Ian said.

"I'm just checking that you can see these massive chimneys."

"They're hard to miss."

"Well, as you've clearly demonstrated, Ian." Santa rolled his eyes. Clara looked up at the jingling sounds, seeing the mewling reindeer flying about.

"Donner! Donner and Blitzen!" Wolf called. "Come on down here, boys. Rudolph!"

Santa ran his hand over his face. "Just…just clear all the tangerines up. Pick 'em up. All of them, Ian. Wolf get them back down here before somebody notices."

"You know that no one actually likes the tangerines, don't you?" Ian pointed out.

Santa looked at him in shock. "How dare you! That's my signature gift!" He blinked for a moment. "Well…and the walnut."

Ian groaned before moving to pick up a handful of tangerines, his gaze falling upon Clara. "Uh…sir? We've been seen."

Santa and Wolf turn to look at her, their eyes widening. "Hello." Santa said.

"Hello." Clara said with uncertainty.

"Hello…Human." Ian stuttered.

"You can't call her Human!" Wolf reprimanded.

"It's not racist. They don't mind it."

"Hush up, both of you." Santa said, trying to adopt a stereotypical, old man voice. "Oh, sorry about this, my dear. We-We…are just three passing…perfectly ordinary…roof people doing some emergency…roof things. Carry on. Merry Christmas." He cleared this throat to hide his sheepish blush. "If-If it is Christmas. I mean…*Chuckles* I don't much care for things like that myself. I mean…*Blows Raspberry* Christmas! *Chuckles*"

"Are you…Santa…Claus?" Clara asked.

"Me? Me? *Chuckles* No! Oh, no. That's…that's ridiculous. *Chuckles* No, no, no-"

"Rudolph! Rudolph, what're you doing?! Get down here now!" Wolf demanded as the reindeer continued to circle overhead.

Santa sighed. "Oh, alright, fine. Yes, it's me. Ha! Guilty. How did you recognize me?" He asked.

"You know how you grew the beard as a bit of a disguise?" Wolf inputted. "People have picked up on it."

"No, shut up." Clara snapped, making the Elves flinch.

"Sorry." Ian mumbled.

"Is it me or does she sound a bit cranky?" Wolf asked.

"Stop it." Clara snapped again, putting them in silence. "Seriously? You're Father Christmas? You're real?"

"Of course, I'm real." Santa shrugged. "How do you think those presents got under the tree every year? By magic?"

"Well, I thought it was my-"

"Mum and Dad!" They all said in unison, making her eyebrows furrow.

"Well, of course it was." Ian said.

"I mean, it makes perfect sense." Wolf said.

"Yeah, your Mum and Dad, one day a year, for no particular reason, just out of the blue, suddenly decide to give you a great big pile of presents."

"No. It's because they love you so much." They shared a chuckle. "It's a lovely story dear, but I'm afraid it's time to start living in the real world."

Santa pulled out a small notebook and flicked through the pages. "Okay…where is it? Mmmmmmmm, ah, right. Here we are, Clara Oswald. Mostly favours travel books, science kits, strict ban on hair products." Clara leaned over to look. "Ah-ah-ah!"

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Marginal for the naughty list, 1993 and a believer until the age of nine." He put the notebook away with a disappointed look on his face. "Oh Clara. Why did you stop?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Because you're a fairy-tale. I grew out of fairy tales."

He gave her a knowing smile. "Did you, Clara? Did you really?"

Clara blinked before her eyes widened as she heard the TARDIS materialising behind her. Her heart raced as she spun around, a soft look of awe and relief spreading across her face as the door opened, the Doctor stepping out. "Stay there for a moment." He said to Jack and Rose from behind him, who were looking at Clara with worried faces. He strolled towards Clara, whilst she looked at him as if she's seen him for the first time. "Clara, I need you to step inside the TARDIS."

"That was good, with the box." Ian muttered in the background.

"*Scoffs* Not often we get upstaged on a rooftop."

"Fred and George Weasley shut it." The Doctor said to them.

"We're not twins." They grumbled in unison.

"Doctor?" The Doctor looked back at her, as she started to get tears in her eyes. "You're here? You're really here?"

"Yes, I'm here." He said, cradling her face in his hands. "I'm back. Now, get inside the TARDIS. Please, Clara." Clara blinked at him, before smiling gently as she nodded, moving into the TARDIS quietly whilst the Doctor turned to look at Santa. "I know what this is. I know what's happening and I know what's at stake." He said in warning.

Santa shook his head. "I don't think you do, Doctor. But I promise, before this Christmas day is done, you will be glad of my help."

The Doctor scoffed. "Happy Easter." He quipped before moving to the TARDIS.

"Oh, brutal." Wolf said.

"Cool exit line, though." Ian nodded.

"Be sure to save some room for a tangerine, Doctor."

"Haven't you learned? Nobody likes the tangerines." He closed the door, smirking at the offended look on Santa's face, whilst he walked to the console, seeing Rose with her hands-on Clara's shoulders as Jack worked on the console.

"It's okay. You're alright." Rose reassured her.

"I'm really back here? This isn't…" She trailed off as the TARDIS went into lift-off, a dreamy look on her face. "I'm back. That noise. I never knew how much I loved it."

The Doctor walked up to her and cradled her face again, making her gaze at him lovingly. "There's something you have to ask yourself and it's important. Do you really believe in Santa Claus?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Right now, yeah. I think I do."

The Doctor grinned at her before kissing her forehead. "Then come along, Clara. We've got places to go." He took her hand and led her to the door. "Tweedledee and Tweedledum? You coming?"

"Oi! Don't call me that!" Rose groaned.

"That's just rude!" Jack groaned.

Research Facility, North Pole

A woman with short, dirty blonde hair and a headset stood inside a small corridor, with both doors closed. She stood in front of one, her breath shaking as she waited. "Ashley, what've you got for me?" She asked.

"You're now 20 feet from the Infirmary. In a moment, as soon as you're ready, I'll disable the security protocols." Ashley said.

"Your neural link is good and holding. We stand ready to abort and extract at the first sign of an anomaly." Another female voice said.

"We're going to be with you every step of the way, Shona." A male voice now floated through her headset.

"We're all depending on you and we know that you won't let us down. Shona, I'm opening the door."

The door in front of her opened, revealing another door behind it, the one directly into the Infirmary. She felt her fear rise, making her shudder. "I need the toilet!" She complained.

"No, you don't. We're monitoring your bodily functions."

"And how're you monitoring that, Fiona? Cause that's rude. That is…perverted."

"Do you remember my briefing, Shona?" The man asked.

Shona walked to the next door and waited. "Yeah. Well, no. I remember some of it."

"Some of it?" Ashely scoffed.

"How much?" Fiona asked.

"Till Albert put his hand on my knee and then I was just grossing out." She heard silence, imagining them looking at Albert with shock.

"It was intended as a comfort." He said in the background.

"*Scoffs* For whom?" Fiona quipped.

"All I could see was his nose, with all the little hairs coming out of it. Have you seen those? It's like he's got insects trapped up there all trying to escape with their wee, wiggly legs-"

"Okay, we get it." Ashely groaned, making Shona smirk. "Let's just go through this again. There are four sleepers inside the infirmary. You're fine so long as they don't wake up."

"She's in range." Fiona informed.

"Okay Shona, I'm unsealing the Infirmary. From now on, everything you think and feel, everything you see will be available to them. Most of its fine, like traffic noise when you're sleeping, if you don't think about them, as long as you don't look at them."

The door opened with a hiss, revealing the infirmary inside, with the row of four filled beds lined up against the wall by the door. "I thought there was going to be music." Shona whined childishly. She could almost hear them rolling their eyes in the background.

"We've got your playlist ready to go. And no, we won't be doing Christmas carols." Fiona said.

"Why not?"

"Because it's Christmas. We're not going to be that on the nose." Fiona quipped.

"Okay, fair enough."

"Just focus on the words of the song. Try to remember what comes next. That'll work like interference." Ashley interjected.

"Okay, I'm picking a random song. Here we go."

"Keep your eyes on the floor, shut them when possible. Focus on the music and move forward through the infirmary."

Every whisper

Of every waking hour

I'm choosing my confessions

Trying to keep an eye on you

Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool

Oh no, I've said too much

I set it up

Moving through the door, which shut behind her, she closed her eyes and let the song float through her mind, humming out loud to the lyrics and moving to the beat. "Consider this. Consider this, the hint of the century. Consider this." She hummed.

"Oh, dear lord, she's not actually-"

"If dancing works, it works."

"This is ridiculous!"

"The slip that brought me to my knees failed. What if all these fantasies come flailing around? Now I've said too much. I thought that I heard you laughing. I thought that I heard you sing. I think I thought I saw you tr-Aaah! Aaah!" She cried as the door opened, the TARDIS group standing outside and looking at her in confusion.

"Shona? Shona, what's wrong?"

"We've got ghosts!"

"Ghosts?"

"Yeah. There's a U-boat Captain, a cheerleader, Han Solo and a girl in her nightie." This made them groan.

"This isn't a nightie! It's pyjamas!" Clara groaned.

"I don't look anything like Han Solo!" Jack groaned.

"What's wrong with this jumper?!" The Doctor groaned.

"I'm not a bloody cheerleader!" Rose shrieked, making them look at her in surprise.

"Well…you've got the hair colour for it." Shona shrugged sheepishly.

"What're these?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the sheet covered bodies.

"No, no, no! You're making me think about them! Don't make me think about them!" Shona cried, holding her hands over her headset.

"Doctor, what are they?" Rose asked.

The bodies slowly rose up from their beds, the sheets slipping down to reveal people, yet their heads were covered by a large, grey crab with claws, which shifted and growled with every movement. The Doctor took out his sonic and scanned them. "Deaf…blind…they can only see us if we see them, if we think about them." The Doctor pondered. "Oh, telepathic. They can home in on their own images in someone else's brain. We're being hacked."

"What does that even mean?" Rose asked.

"Rose, the visual input from your optic nerve is being streamed to their brains. Close your eyes. Don't look at them, don't think about them." They all closed their eyes, scrunching their faces as they did.

"They're still coming, aren't they?" Clara asked.

"That's because we're still thinking about them. So long as you do, they can still home in. Think about something else."

"That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight losing my religion." Shona hummed fearfully.

"Why is she singing?" Clara groaned.

"She's trying to distract herself. 504 minus 17."

"Sorry, what?"

"Plus 20. Just do it."

"507."

"Minus 14, times four."

"1972."

"Stop being so good at arithmetic!"

"I can't help it!"

"Think! What were you doing before I came back? What were you doing before I came back with Jack Sparrow and blonde cheerleader? Come on, Clara. Think-"

*Slap*

They jumped as the Doctor held his cheek, staring at Rose. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"I'm not a goddam cheerleader, okay?! Why does everyone think that cheerleaders are always blonde?! Cheerleaders aren't always blonde! I never even was a cheerleader! I don't even have the act to be a cheerleader! What makes you look at me and think that I'm a cheerleader?!" Rose ranted; the crabs stopped walking as everyone looked at Rose in surprise.

The Doctor smirked. "Has anyone told you that you sound just like your mother?" Clara sniggered while Jack crooked an eyebrow.

The door slid open with a hiss, with Ashley, Fiona and Albert rushing in with large rifles.

"Go! Run, now! Now, now!" Ashely commanded, making Jack, Rose and Clara rush towards them while the Doctor tapped Shona on the shoulder.

"Come on! Quick! Hurry up!" They rushed over to the three, as a large group of the crabs dangled from the ceiling from milky white webs, flickering their claws as they descended upon the group.

"Here they come!" Albert cried, the group screaming in terror as the crabs went straight for their faces.

"Doctor!" Clara cried as they came closer and closer-

*Boom*

They all jumped as the wall of the Infirmary shattered apart in a blast. They blinked, looking around for the creatures but there wasn't one in sight, except for the ones on the standing bodies. A tangerine bounced through, making them blink at it. Then a small group of moving slinky toys came bouncing after, making them furrow their eyebrows. Then another group, this time a bunch of toy robots came buzzing in. "What?" Rose mouthed. Jack shrugged at her. They heard the trotting of hooves on the snow outside, making them look again to see Rudolph come up with Santa hoisted on a saddle.

"Hiya!" He cheered. "Whoa! Whoa!" Rudolph settled down, allowing him to dismount and enter the base, Wolf and Ian following behind, both armed with a balloon animal and a toy gun. "Well now. What seems to be the problem?" Everyone looked at him with a mixture of awe and bewilderment. "This is the North Pole. We don't want any trouble here."

*Neigh*

"Hey, Rudolph!" He called, pulling out a car key and pressing the lock button, his red nose turning off like a light. "Easy, son." He looked at the crabs, before rolling his eyes. "Oi! Sleepy heads! It's midnight. It won't be Christmas yet. Go back to bed." He clapped his hands twice, making them move silently back to the beds.

"Who the hell are you?" Ashely asked.

"Oh, take a guess. Go on, push the boat out." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Tooth fairy? The Easter Bunny?"

"Shut your mouth, wise guy, or you get yours." Ian warned.

"You're holding a balloon animal." Wolf said.

"That's a toy gun."

"Yeah, but at least it's unsuitable for children under four. Parts small enough to swallow, so-"

"Fred and George Weasley shut it." Santa warned.

"That was my line." The Doctor whined.

"Well now, I stole it." Santa sassed.

"Oh!" Ian and Wolf said in unison before high fiving each other.

"Okay now, this is ridiculous. Am I dreaming?" Shona asked.

"Oh, very good." The Doctor mumbled.

"I need to know exactly who you are and what's happening here." Ashley said.

Santa smiled before moving her rifle to point away from him. "Hello Ashley. Lead scientist on a polar expedition. *Gasps* That microscope really paid off, didn't it? Now…your Mum and Dad wanted me to get you a toy one but sometimes, I take a chance."

"Who are you? Why are you dressed like…that?"

Santa blinked. "Why do you think?"

"No, come on, this is mental. This is totally not happening." Shona shook her head.

"I've got three words, Shona. Don't make me use them."

"What three words?"

Santa sighed. "My Little Pony."

Her eyes widened. "Shut up, you."

"Yeah? I've got lots more, babe." He sassed.

"I will mark you, Santa."

"Not before I do." Jack said with a wolfish grin before holding out a hand. "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"

"Santa Claus." He winked at Jack flirtatiously as he shook the offered hand.

"Nice to meet you, Santa Claus."

"Oh, don't start!" The Doctor and Clara said in unison.

"We were only saying hello!" They said in unison.

"Okay, Doctor, are you going to explain?" Rose asked, making everyone silence again. "What is going on?"

"It's an invasion, Miss Tyler." Santa walked back out to Rudolph.

"An invasion of what? Elves?"

"Whoa! That is racist!" Wolf said.

"Elfist." Ian inputted.

"Do you want me to do worse?" Rose warned in her 'Jackie' tone. This made them flinch and her smirk.

Santa came back inside with a glass jar, which contained one of the creatures inside it and had the label 'Specimen' on it. "You've seen them before, haven't you Doctor?" He handed the jar to the Doctor.

"I've heard of them. The Kantrofarri. Also known as the Dream Crabs."

"I'm afraid so. Depending on how many of those are already on Earth, humanity may well have seen its last day. So, are we going to stand about arguing whether I'm real or not or are we going to get busy saving Christmas?" Santa reprimanded.

"*Gasps* Santa goes bad ass!" Ian fanboyed.

"Oh, he's giving me the feels."

"Shut up!" Santa ordered. "That's a verbal warning. Please, stop it." They blinked sheepishly.

Fiona worked on the main computers in the control room, while Albert pulled out a Turkey leg as Shona talked to Santa and the Elves. Shona said to Santa with a notepad. "If you are Santa, what're you doing here?"

Santa shrugged. "It's the North Pole and I own it."

"He means the actual pole." Ian interjected.

"Yeah. It goes right through the middle of the workshop." Wolf nodded.

"And I've got a selfie with it." Ian pulled out a phone, showing said photo of him standing beside a long, stripy pole in a snow filled workshop.

"The North Pole isn't an actual pole." Shona shook her head.

"Of course, it is. Look."

"If it was an actual pole, it would not be stripy."

"It's got to be stripy, otherwise you couldn't see it moving around." Wolf shrugged. "It's basic physics."

The Doctor placed the Crab on a wooden table inside a research room, everyone crowding around to look at it. "Is it dead?" Clara asked. "Or is it dormant?"

"Let's hope it's dormant." The Doctor said grimly.

"And it's alien." Rose said.

"Oh, definitely."

"So, how can you have heard of these things?" Ashley asked.

"Guess."

She smirked. "Because you're extra-terrestrial too."

"Do you believe that?"

"Well, Santa Claus is standing with us, so yeah."

"Fair enough."

"Why is it called a Dream Crab then?"

"Theorize."

"Because it generates a telepathic field…"

"And?"

"Altered perception…"

"Meaning?"

Ashley blinked for a few moments.

"Meaning we can't trust anything that we see or hear." Clara said, trying to not break her own heart at her words.

The Doctor glanced at her, noticing her hidden meaning. "Go to the window." He told Ashley.

"Why?"

"Because it gets worse."

She moved to the window, blinking as she saw the TARDIS outside. "What is that?" Ashley asked.

"That's how me and my friends got here."

"In a box?"

"Technically, in a telephone kiosk." Jack sniggered, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"How?" Ashley asked.

"Because it's a spaceship in disguise." The Doctor shrugged. "Do you know what the big problem is in telling fantasy and reality apart?"

"What?"

"They're both ridiculous."

"So, we don't know what is real and what isn't?" Clara asked.

"I'm afraid so."

"Are we in danger?" Rose asked.

"We are well past danger, Rose. If I'm right…we're dying."

"So how do we stay alive?" Clara asked.

"I like her." Ashley whispered to Rose.

Rose nodded. "That's Clara for you."

The Doctor looked at Ashley. "I need you to show me how you first encountered them and what happened to those people in the infirmary. I notice you all wear mini-cams so there must be footage."

"Is it possible that we're about to work with someone who might be a dream?" Ashley asked.

"If it helps, so am I."

Ashley nodded. "We'll see what we can pull up." She motioned her group to move to the computers as they started working away.

"Oh, one moment." The Doctor said. "What's this polar base for? Why're you all here?"

"It's a long story." Ashely shrugged.

The TARDIS group walked into the control room, where they blinked at Albert who was munching on a Turkey leg. "Sorry. Starving." Albert grumbled.

"Why aren't you out there delivering presents?" Shona asked Santa.

"Technically, I am."

"Well, you're not cause you're standing right here."

"Oh, Shona, grow up love. There's not just one Santa delivery team. How could there be? There are 526,403,012 children all expecting presents before the morning. So, that's 22 million children per hour. That's impossible, obviously. I've got a second sled."

"Hold on, reindeer can't fly. They just can't."

"Of course, they can't. It's a scientific impossibility. That's why I feed mine magic carrots." Shona grumbled to herself as she put the notepad away. She turned back to Santa with her mouth open, ready to ask a question before sighing.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just given up trying to talk sense into beardy-weirdy."

"You don't seem much like a scientist."

"Well that's rude, coming from a cheerleader." Shona teased.

"I'm not a cheerleader." Rose groaned. "How come you're here? What brought you to the North Pole?"

Shona shrugged. "It's a long story, isn't it?"

The Doctor exchanged a look with Clara, who nodded weakly. "You missed a killer question."

"What do you mean?" Shona asked.

"Beardy-weirdy?"

"Yeah?" Santa asked.

"How do you get all the presents in the sleigh?"

"It's bigger on the inside." Santa grinned.

"Oh!" Ian and Wolf said in unison as the Doctor grumbled to himself.

"Doctor." Ashley called, making them look at the monitors. The footage began playing on screen of people dressed head to toe in woolly gear, walking through caves of ice.

"What're we looking at?" Jack asked.

"Footage from a week ago. A side expedition from our main mission." Fiona informed.

"What is your main mission?"

"Long story." The TARDIS crew exchanged knowing looks, starting to piece it together. "There's an ice cave directly beneath this base. Now, look at what we found." Pressing a few buttons, she changed the footage to the people finding Dream Crabs frozen in the roof of the caves. "Dormant at first…"

"Until you looked at them too long. Until you thought about them."

"Exactly."

"Sleeping, probably been buried down there for centuries." The Doctor said.

"And it wakes up when you think about it?" Rose asked.

"Yes. They can detect their own mental picture in any nearby mind."

"It's like it responds to the presence of any data concerning itself."

"Well that was always the legend. You think about a Dream Crab then the Dream Crab will come for you."

"This is where it gets really nasty." Albert said, gulping another mouthful of Turkey.

"Only now?" Rose grumbled.

On screen, the Crabs shifted and cracked through their ice barriers, before shattering them and descending upon the camera, making it cut off with static.

"And then…" Fiona switched the footage to the people lying in the Infirmary.

"They're a bit like facehuggers, aren't they?" Albert asked.

The Doctor looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Face…huggers?"

"Yeah, you know, Alien." The Doctor shook his head. "The horror movie, Alien."

"There's a horror movie called Alien?" Albert nodded, making the Doctor's look change into shock. "That's really offensive! No wonder everyone keeps invading you!" Clara laughed, making the Doctor wink at her.

"First, they just slept. A couple of days just lying there."

"And then…they became aggressive."

"If we got close enough, yeah." Ashley nodded.

"It would take the Dream Crab a little while to take control. Depends on how much of the hosts brain was…"

"Was what?"

"Digested." He said grimly, making them shudder.

"How much are they suffering under those things?"

"Not at all." They all looked at him in surprise. "Let me clarify: The Dream Crab induces a dream state. It keeps you happy and relaxed in a perfectly realized dream world as you dissolve. It's merciful, I suppose."

"Compared to what?" Albert asked.

"Compared to that Turkey leg you keep slobbering over." Albert blinked sheepishly before putting it down. "Could you please rewind it for me? I need to see them dormant. Clara, could you fetch me the dead one?"

"I'll make you a cup of tea while I'm at it." Clara quipped.

"Oh, yes…and perhaps a punch in the face too." The Doctor smirked.

"Actually, I would've yanked on those ears of yours." Everyone sniggered.

"Oi! Leave them alone!" Clara smirked at him before moving to leave the room.

"How do we kill them?" Jack asked.

"If a Dream Crab is feeding and the host breaks free, they die. Food has teeth too." He smirked before his eyes slowly widened.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked.

"We're thinking about them. How long have we been thinking about them."?

"For…quite a long while now."

Screams of a familiar voice echoed through the room, attracting their attention and sending cold daggers into his hearts.

"Aaah! Doctor!"

"Clara!" He raced from the room, everyone following him. "Clara!"

Clara walked into the research room, blinking as she found the table empty, the glass case and the Crab gone. "Doctor." She called into the silence but received no answer. She looked at the floor, furrowing her eyebrows as she spotted shattered glass. She crawled under the table to look closely at it. She started breathing irregularly as she picked up the broken 'Specimen' label, which amplified as she heard scuttling above the table, each step the claw made a loud tapping sound that made her flinch. She hugged her legs close to her chest and closed her eyes, mumbling to distract herself. "100 minus 42 is 58, times three is 174, minus 32 is 142 divided by 7 is 20 and-and-and a bit." She shook her head, her breathing turning into fearful whimpering. "Think about something else. Think about something else. The Doctor. Doctor…Doctor, I love you. I'm sorry I've never told you. I'm so sorry I lied to you, but I need your help. I love you and I need your help. Please." The Crab scratched and tore at the table, burrowing a hole through. "Aaah! Doctor!"

"Clara! Clara!" The Crab tore through the hole and descended upon her face.

Clara blinked as she sat up in her bed, still in her pyjamas yet the sun was shining through her bedroom window. Looking around in confusion, she felt her face, not feeling a Dream Crab there but a slight pain in her right temple. Footsteps approached her bedroom door, making her look at it, until it opened. Her eyes widened in shock. "Mum?" She blinked.

"Get up, sleepy head." Ellie admonished playfully. "Sleeping in on Christmas? That's blasphemy that is." Clara couldn't help it, letting loose a torrent of joyful tears. "Darling? Are you alright?" Ellie knelt on the bed, rubbing Clara's arm.

"I-I…" Clara struggled to find words as Dave came to her bedroom dressed in a Santa outfit. "Dad?"

"Ho, ho, ho!"

"Oh, Dave! What are you wearing?" Ellie asked, scrunching her face in disgust.

"It's a Santa outfit."

"Why are you wearing a Santa outfit?"

"Because it's Easter, and I'm Father Easter." Dave mocked.

"Watch it."

"What do you think I'm wearing this for?"

"Because you're a moron?" Clara laughed, making Ellie snigger.

"Oi! Don't laugh at me! *Sigh* Come on, Clara! Hurry up!"

"Hurry up where?" Clara asked, unable to hide her grin any longer.

"To the Indian Orient Express-Where do you think? Downstairs. It's Christmas! Which means…presents?" Clara giggled.

"Come on, lazy. Get up." Ellie said, pulling Clara out of the bed, making her shriek like a little girl, as they laughed at her.

"Shut up!" She admonished with a sheepish blush as they raced ahead of her and out of the room. She moved to the door but paused as out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blackboard sitting in her room, with the words "Clara!" writing on it.

"Mum? When did you get me a blackboard?" She called.

"How did you know we got you a blackboard? You haven't even opened up your presents yet!" She grabbed the eraser and wiped away, which changed the message to "Wake up!"

"Clara!"

"Just a minute!" She erased again, the message now saying "Please, wake up!"

"You're not falling asleep on us again, are you?"

"No!" She wiped. "Clara, please! Wake up!" She jumped as her whole room was now covered in blackboards, all saying those words repeatedly.

"Clara!" Her heart leapt as she heard that northern accent she adored. "Clara! Wake up! Please!" And just like that, it all ceased. The blackboards disappeared, and she couldn't hear his voice again.

Ellie popped her head through the doorway again. "Are you off on the nostalgia train?"

Clara blinked. "A little bit, yeah."

"Well, we're going to have to kick you off, because you forgot your wallet, doofus."

"Don't call me doofus!"

"I can, because you are one." Ellie sassed. "Now, hurry up! We'll die of old age if you keep staying in here!" She quipped as she left, missing Clara's hurt face as she realized the unintentional double meaning before she composed herself and followed. Closing the door, she missed another blackboard that said the same message again.

The Doctor knelt by Clara's unconscious body; her face covered by the Dream Crab while everyone else piled around him. "Clara! Clara, wake up! Please! Clara!" He cried fruitlessly.

"We tried to waken the others, but no stimulus worked." Ashley mumbled.

"Okay. We get it off her. We kill it. How do we kill it?"

"There's no way to kill it without killing your friend too."

"We have to find a way!" The Doctor pleaded. "Santa! In the Infirmary-"

"I told them to go back to bed, that doesn't mean I can get it off her."

"But you can get in there unharmed, yes?"

Santa's eyes widened. "Doctor, if you go into the dream with her, there's a good chance that both of you will die."

"She's dying! I need to save her! Please! Please, help me save her."

Santa sighed. "If I can commit a bajillion house breaks in one night, then yes, I can get back in the Infirmary."

The Doctor gave him a look of relief. "Thank you."

Clara and her parents sat on the sofa in front of the TV as a movie played, while night fell outside with the festive snow. On screen, a man in a pirate outfit and a young blacksmith stood over a man lying down on a pile of pigs. He pours a bucket of water on him, making the pigs squeal in surprise as he jumps. "Curse you for breathing, you slack jawed idiot!" He yells, holding up a small knife. He glanced at the pair, before relaxing slightly. "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. It's bad luck." The man said breathlessly.

"Ah. Fortunately, I know how to counter it." Jack said. "The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

The man blinked incredulously for a few seconds before nodding absentmindedly. "Aye, that'll about do it." Jack grasped his hand and hauled him to his feet, while the blacksmith took another bucket of water and tossed it onto the man. "Oh! Blast, I'm already awake!"

"That was for the smell." The blacksmith said unknowingly in unison with the Oswald family, who giggled at the man's bewildered face before he shrugged.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

They groaned, Dave grabbing the remote to pause the movie. "Danny?"

Clara nodded, yet it didn't feel right accepting it. "Going by the timing, I'd say so."

"Clara." Ellie warned. "If you let him and Dave anywhere near a subject they agree upon, we will not watch Shawshank ever again."

"Mum!" Clara whined.

"Go on." Ellie smirked.

"Fine." Clara grumbled, getting up to answer the door. Opening it, her breathing hitched as the Doctor stood on the other side. "Doctor."

"It's not real, Clara." He said as he moved inside.

"Who are you?" Ellie asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." They said in unison despite their confusion.

"Clara, they're not real. You know it. It's a dream and it's killing you." He said, grasping her shoulders.

Clara was torn, wanting to believe him yet wanting to throw him out. "Please, stop it." She pleaded.

"They're not real, Clara. None of this is real. What's real is there is a Dream Crab wrapped around your face, eating you alive from the inside. You're dying."

Clara took a breath. "If this is a dream, how can you be here? How can we both be having the same dream?"

"Guess." He said simply.

Her eyes widened. "No. No don't tell me. Please, don't make me do this Doctor."

"You have a pain right here." He pressed a finger gently to her right temple. "It's like a brain freeze from eating too much ice cream. You know what that is."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you saying this?" Ellie asked as she and Dave came over.

"Because it's true. How long do you think you've been here?"

"All day."

"No. Barely five minutes. Remember the movie Inception. Dreams within dreams, Clara, each level has time go faster than the level above it. Everything around you isn't real. Your parents aren't real. They died protecting you in an alien invasion."

"An invasion I failed to avert." Clara mumbled, tears starting to come into her eyes.

"Stop it, Clara. We're not doing that again."

"How long has she got?" Ellie asked, making them look at her.

"Minutes, until it's irreversible."

"Then give me one." Ellie said simply. The Doctor nodded then stepped aside as Ellie came up to Clara. "We're a dream and you know we are, right?"

Clara nodded, yet she started to sob. "I don't want you to be." She cried.

"But you have to let us go, Clara."

"Can't I be with you again?"

Ellie smiled sadly. "One day, maybe. But not now. You must let us go. I'm sorry that I must break my promise. If you ever get lost, I won't be there to find you. But…then again, you don't need me." She smiled knowingly, flickering her gaze to the Doctor. "As soon as he entered, you two forgot that we were even in the room." Clara sniggered through her tears, the Doctor smiling softly. "I know that you won't always be brave, and I know what you went through at the castle." Clara cried, remembering the poor kid. "But you don't have to always be brave. Just stay with him, and it'll be fine, even when it's not. Am I clear?"

"But when I wake up, you won't be there." Clara whimpered.

"Do you know why people get together at Christmas? Because every time they do, it might be the last time. Every Christmas is last Christmas, and this is ours. For us, this is a bonus. At least we got to watch Captain Jack one last time."

"Oh, you don't want to meet the real one. He's a bit of a disappointment compared to that one." The Doctor quipped.

Ellie smiled, before drawing her into a hug. "Goodbye, my darling."

"Goodbye, Mum."

They parted, Dave coming over to embrace her. "Take care, Clara."

"Goodbye, Dad."

They parted, Dave turning to look at the Doctor. "Now you take care of her, or I will look for you-"

"And you will find me, and you will kill me. Yes, Mr. Neeson." He rolled his eyes, making them chuckle. The Doctor walked over to Clara and grasped her shoulders. "Now Clara, you have to try. Accept that this isn't real and try." Clara nodded as they closed their eyes.

Everyone in the room jumped as the Crabs fell off their faces and disintegrated into ash. They gasped for breath while the Doctor crawled on his knees, grasping Clara's shoulders. "Clara! Clara! Clara, look at me! Clara! Breathe, breathe." Clara regained her breathing and looked at him, the tears returning. "Come here." He mumbled, drawing her into a hug as she broke down again, clutching at him like he was her life support, everyone else watching in silent respect. "What happened at the castle, it wasn't your fault."

"No." She mumbled.

"It wasn't your fault."

"How could it not be?" She cried.

"It wasn't you who killed Jackson, okay? And it wasn't you who killed your parents." He took her face in his hands again. "You should've stayed with us, not return home. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I didn't want you to stay and worry over me."

"Haven't you learned, Clara? I always worry about you." He held her again, kissing her head as he waited for her to calm down. When her sobs subsided, despite her irregular breathing, he relaxed his hold yet didn't let go.

Sometime later, they were standing by the table yet still hugging each other, while the science group examined the ash on the floor. Rose and Jack walked up to the pair.

"Are you two okays?" Rose asked.

"No." Clara mumbled as they eased their hug somewhat.

"May I?" Jack asked the Doctor. He nodded, making Jack come over to inspect their heads. "There doesn't seem to be a wound. It must've closed after you broke free."

"But the pain's still there." Clara said, rubbing her right temple softly.

"Yeah, the ice cream pain. I've got that." Shona pointed out.

"But only that one spot there? Doesn't that strike you as odd?" Jack asked.

"Well, we've all got it." Albert said.

"So, why do we all have that pain?" Rose asked.

"Inception." Rose blinked at him.

"She's from 2005." Clara whispered, making Jack nod.

"Okay. Have you ever woken up from a dream and discovered that you're still dreaming?" Everyone looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. "Dreams within dreams, all possible especially since we're dealing with creatures who have turned our dreams against us."

"Well, I don't know about anybody else but I'm pretty certain I'm awake right now." Fiona shook her head.

The Doctor groaned. "Come on, think. How did we all meet back in the Infirmary? All those Crabs coming down from the ceiling, attacking us. How did we survive that?"

"We were rescued." They shrugged.

"By whom? Who rescued us and is not in the room with us right now?" They turned around to look, seeing no sign of Santa and his Elves. "Come on." They all followed him out of the room, moving through corridors into the storage pantry, where Santa was talking on the phone.

"No, no, no, no, I need you to do the East Coast right now. Well, you must otherwise you're going to be delivering to the islands in broad daylight. Yeah, please try to remember that our mug shots are on every Christmas card." He mouthed "Sorry" to the group and moved out of the room. "Yeah, just get it done. Head toward the northern lights. Yes, I remembered to switch them on."

The Doctor grabbed a few manuals and handed them out to the science group. "The Herman Ziegler test, the only reliable dream test that I know of. I take it that none of you have memorized your base manual?"

"I haven't read it." Shona said sheepishly.

"Well then, these books should be identical in the real world. But as they don't exist in your memory, in a dream they can't be, agreed?" They nodded at him. "Clara, give me any two-digit number."

"57."

"Turn your books to page 57 and look at the very first word."

"Turn to page 394." Jack quipped.

"Shut up, Snape." They said in unison, making him chuckle.

"Alright, say your first word when I point at you." He pointed to Ashley.

"Isotope."

Fiona blinked. "Extremely."

"Inside."

"Chocolate." They all blinked at Shona. "Why did I get chocolate?"

"This can't be right. We must've got it wrong, that's all." Albert denied.

"We'll do it again. Clara?"

"24."

They flicked their pages. "We."

"Are."

"All."

"Dead."

Their breathing shuddered. "Since the attack in the Infirmary…nothing has been real?" Ashley asked. "We've been dreaming the whole time?"

"Oh, for Easter's sake!" Santa groaned in the doorway, making them turn to look at him and the Elves. "Of course, you've been dreaming. Have you been paying attention? *Scoffs* Rudolph, the North Pole with stripes. Come on!" They nodded at each other and said in unison. "This is a dream!" Santa stepped towards them. "How much more obvious do you want me to make it? Cause I can text the Easter Bunny, you know."

"You're trying to help?" Rose asked.

"As you stand here chatting, chatting, chatting, your lives are ending! Unless you wake up and free yourselves from these dreadful creatures, they're going to kill you!"

"You're a dream who's trying to save us?" Shona asked.

"Shona, sweetheart, I'm Santa Claus. I think you just defined me. I have watched over you all your lives. I've taken care of you from Christmas to Christmas."

"But you're not real." Fiona said.

"And yet, that never stopped me."

"This makes sense." The Doctor nodded. "The Dream Crab tries to make the dream as real as possible to trap you inside. It creates dreams within dreams, so you can never be sure if you're awake. But your brain knows something is wrong. Your subconscious fights back, this is your mind trying to tell you that this isn't real."

"And so, it gives you me." Santa concluded. "Sweet Papa Crimbo with his comedy elves, flying reindeer and a time traveling alien dressed as a U-boat Captain."

The Doctor blinked as Rose and Jack sniggered at him. "What? No, no, no, hang on."

"Living in a phone box that's a spaceship in disguise. Do you see how none of this makes any sense?"

"Leave him alone." Clara said, making Santa crook his eyebrow.

"Alright then, Miss lovey dovey." Santa quipped.

"Oi!"

"All of you, come near. Join hands."

"What?" The Doctor blinked. "No, no, no-"

"Doctor just shut up and do as you are told." Clara said.

"Yes ma'am." He quipped.

"Can you two love birds stop bickering for a moment?" Santa groaned.

"We're not-"

"Shut up!" He groaned. "Both of you, do as you are told, now hurry up."

"Why?" Fiona asked.

"Why? Right now, all of you are deep inside this dream and it's a shared mental state. The Crabs are drawing power from the multi-consciousness gestalt-"

"No, line in the sand!" The Doctor whined. "Santa Claus does not do the scientific explanations!"

Santa raised his eyebrows in challenge. "Alright then. As the Doctor would say 'Oh, it's all a bit dreamy-weamy-'"

Ian and Wolf placed their hands over Santa's mouth. "He doesn't say that yet."

"Oh." Santa said simply.

"Can we just get to the point?" Ashley groaned. "Right now, we have life forms wrapped around our faces and apparently they're digesting our brains. When you speak, how do I know it's not the Dream Crab?" She asked Santa.

"Oh, good question. Spoken like a scientist." Santa nodded.

"Can I put it another way?" Clara asked. "Why would the part of our brain that is trying to keep all of us alive choose you for a face?"

Santa sighed. "Anyone else asking that question?"

"Yep." Shona nodded. "Why you?"

"Why me?" He waved his arms above his head in exasperation. "It's Christmas day, at the North Pole and you're dying. Who you gonna call?" They blinked at him. "Just one last time, eh? One last Christmas? As if you're lives depended on it, please! Ho, ho, ho! Believe in Santa." They all sighed in defeat and moved into a large circle, joining hands.

"Alright, so what do we…" Ashley trailed off as they noticed that Santa and the Elves have disappeared. "Where did they go?"

"We're waking up. That part of the dream is over. We're on our own now."

"When we wake up, what will we expect?"

"Only a few moments will have passed at the most, the attack is still in progress."

"I'm scared." Shona said.

"Shona…fear is a superpower." He said. Clara sent him a beaming look, which he grinned at.

"Well, what do we do?" Albert asked.

"That pain in your right temple, amplify it. Make it worse. Head towards it."

They all closed their eyes. "Good luck everyone and stay calm." Ashley said. "God bless us, everyone."

They all gasped for breath as they shot up in the Infirmary, the bodies standing over them buckled over in pain. "Out! All of you, run!" The Doctor ordered, making them all rush for the door. Clara shrieked as one grasped her arm.

"Doctor! Help!" She cried.

"Clara!" He and Jack grabbed onto Clara and yanked her out of the Crab's grasp.

"Out! Out, now!" Ashley yelled, making them rush through the door before shutting it behind them.

"Everyone alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." They all nodded.

"Those people in there, can we save them?" Ashley asked.

"I'm afraid they're beyond our help." The Doctor said grimly.

"Doctor?" Clara drew his attention. "If Santa was only in the dream, why was he outside my house?"

His eyes slowly widened. "Four. Four patients and four manuals." He rushed to the control room, everyone sighing and following him. He found the manuals and picked them up again. "Four manuals. One each."

"Yes, why?" Ashley asked.

"Can't you all figure it out? Shona, what were you doing in the Infirmary before we got here?"

She blinked. "It's a long story."

"Ashley, what is the primary mission of this polar base?"

"It's a long story."

"Fiona, what brings you to the North Pole at your age?"

"It's a long…" She trails off, their eyes slowly widening at the repetition. "Story."

"Okay, why are they giving the same answer, cause that's a tiny bit freaky." Clara said.

"Here's something freakier. Why did we come here?"

"It's a long…" Her eyes widened. "Doctor?"

"Inception, Clara. When you're dreaming, do you ever find yourself in a brand-new place, with no idea how you got there?" They all gulped.

"No." Clara mumbled.

"I'm afraid so, Clara. It's the dream protecting itself, to stop you from asking the right questions. For example, why do you all have four manuals when you have a crew of eight?"

"But we woke up!" Albert protested.

He shook his head. "I warned you. Dreams within dreams."

"This isn't a dream. I know it isn't." Fiona denied.

"No one knows that they're not dreaming. Not one of us, not ever. Not for one single moment of our lives. Clara, page number and make it a good one."

She smirked at him. "Nine."

"Oh, ha ha." He grumbled before tossing the manuals at the crew.

"Very."

"Very."

"Very."

"Dead."

"So, who's going to be the first to admit it?"

"Admit what?" Ashley asked.

"That the pain is still there."

"Actually, I think it's getting worse." Shona grumbled, rubbing her right temple.

"Of course, it is. There's an alien eating you from the inside." The Doctor grumbled sarcastically.

"Doctor, what're they doing?" Jack asked, pointing to the bodies in the Infirmary, who were getting up out of their beds.

"Obviously: Getting up. Reason: Possibly sensing the end game." He turned to the crew. "Look at them. Go on, look at them. Look at them properly, at who they are." He drew the silence out dramatically as they looked at the monitors. "They're you. The sleepers are you."

"How can they be us?" Shona asked.

"Because we're dreaming, all of us. This base isn't real, nobody is standing in this room. Me, Jack and Rose are probably asleep in my TARDIS. Clara is off napping in her bed at home. God knows where the rest of you are, scattered all over the world. But wherever you are, the Dream Crabs have got us, and we're all being networked into the same nightmare."

"What're they doing?" Fiona asked, the bodies on the monitors moving closer to the cameras.

"They represent the part of your mind that has already surrendered to the attack. These are dream images of what's coming to kill you."

"That's me? That's actually me?" Albert asked.

"Yes, that's you." The Doctor paused as Albert walked to the monitors. "Don't get too close." He warned.

"Why not?"

"Don't' get too close!" Albert's Crab reached a hand through the monitor and grasped his face, pulling him inside where he disappeared without a trace. The rest of the science crew started moving absentmindedly towards the monitors. "Outside! All of you, run! Now!" He shook them out of their daze, moving them towards an exterior door and outside into the snow. Closing the door behind him, he used the sonic to bar it before he led them to the TARDIS.

"We'll freeze to death out here." Fiona grumbled, hugging herself to keep warm.

"But it's just a dream." Shona protested.

"This dream just killed your friend, so start taking it seriously."

"Where's Albert? Where is he?" Ashley asked.

"He probably just woke up somewhere in the real-world dead." He said grimly. "If we don't wake up now, we'll do the same."

*Bang*

They looked to the door, which had a large dent in it from the inside.

*Bang*

"The TARDIS! Come on! Come on!" The Doctor said, moving them to the box.

"Doctor! It's not the real TARDIS!" Jack protested.

"Let's hope that I dreamed it really well then."

*Bang*

Before they made it to the doors, they opened. The Crab covered bodies of the TARDIS group came marching out, making everyone stop in their tracks.

"It's us!" Rose shrieked.

"Of course, it's us! We're dreaming too!"

*Slam*

"Oh my god." Shona breathed as they looked at the open base door, which a massive group of Crab walkers came marching out.

"How is that possible? How can there be so many?" Fiona cried as more Crab walkers appeared in every direction all around them.

"The logic of a nightmare." The Doctor said simply. Ashley reached into her coat and pulled out a flare, igniting it and bathing the area around them in a bright, orange light.

"So, tell us how to wake up. Cause you're always talking like you're so clever, going on and on. So, tell us what to do!" Shona rambled.

"We have to leave this place!"

"How?!" Fiona asked.

"Come on! It's Christmas, the North Pole! Who're you gonna call?!" They looked up at the sound of sleigh bells ringing, seeing Santa's large sleigh flying through the sky towards them, drawn by all his reindeer, with Rudolph at the front.

"Hiya! Whoa! Whoa!" Santa cried as the sleigh came down to a stop in front of them. "Hurry up! Get in the sleigh!" They all piled in, sitting in pairs beside each other, with Jack in the front by Santa, the Doctor and Clara sitting behind him. "Don't worry! I know all your home addresses! Yah!" He flicked the reigns making the reindeer gallop along the snow, gaining momentum before they ascended into the air.

"Whooo!" They all cried in joy as the sleigh ascended higher and higher into the clouds, hovering in the night sky above the land below.

"So, what happens now? This is us just waking up, right?" Clara asked.

"It could be. Well, I hope so. Just focus on this. Do you believe in Santa Claus?"

She beamed at him. "I've always believed in Santa Claus, but he looks a little different to me." She hugged him tightly, right after seeing his eyes widen in glowing shock.

"Aww!" Everyone cooed.

"Shut up!" They blushed in unison. The sleigh flew across the sky, making them end up above London.

"Look! It's the London Eye." Clara pointed to said building with a smirk.

"Don't you dare." The Doctor warned playfully.

"Hey, Jack, do you want to take the reins?" Santa asked.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Do you want a go?"

Jack grinned. "Yeah, all right!" He took the reins, which made the reindeer bellow as the sleigh started to descend.

"Whoa! Higher! Higher!" They all cried.

"Sorry!" Jack called as he made the sleigh narrow miss the tops of the snow-covered homes below.

"Easy! You go this way!" Santa admonished.

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Go to Big Ben!" Rose called.

"Sure thing!" He swung the reins, making it head towards the large clock tower.

"We're going to hit it!" Santa warned.

"We won't!" Jack grinned.

"We're going to hit it!"

"No, we won't!" Jack swung the reins, making them encircle the tower.

"Whooo!" Clara whooped.

"I'm still the better pilot!" The Doctor called.

"You wanna bet?!" Jack stood up in the sleigh. "Let's try this! Hold on!" He swung the sleigh to move down towards the busy streets.

"Watch out!" Santa cried as the sleigh soared above the traffic.

"I've always wanted to say this." Jack grinned before looking towards the people below. "Yippee-Ki-Yay, Motherfucker!"

"Language!" They all admonished, despite their giggling.

"Alright, that's enough!" Santa said playfully, taking the reins back.

"But-but-"

"No!" Santa pointed a finger at him while using his other hand to raise them back into the sky.

"How can you ride this without looking?" Rose called.

"Because I'm-"

"Santa Claus! We know!" Jack grumbled childishly, holding back a joyful smirk. "Actually…you know…" He struggled, starting to gasp for breath.

"Yeah, yeah, take a breath." They all fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. "They're still hugging each other, you know." Santa said, nodding behind him to the Doctor and Clara.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Of course, they are."

"Now, one question. Why is the rum always gone?" Santa winked.

"I'm not a drunk pirate!" He scoffed.

"I work in a shop!" Shona called, making everyone look at her.

"I'm sorry?" Ashley asked.

"I thought I was a scientist, but that's rubbish."

"Finally, something that makes sense." Fiona grumbled.

"You're horrible, you are."

Ashley blinked. "Perfume."

"What?"

"I'm an account manager, for perfume. Does this mean we're waking up?"

"I think so." The Doctor nodded. "With any luck, we'll all wake up in our proper times and places."

"Times?" Clara asked.

"We could all be in different time zones. Time travel is always possible in dreams."

"So, we might not know each other? Not any of us?" Shona asked.

"No. I'm afraid not."

"Well, you know what we should do? We should swap numbers. We should have a reunion."

"Fiona!" Ashley called. They looked at the end to see her gone.

"Gran? Gran? Dinner's ready!" Fiona woke up inside of a sunny living room, seeing a young girl at the door.

"Sorry. I must've dozed off." Fiona said, making the girl smile before she left. Fiona looked down before gasping as she found herself sitting in a wheelchair, unable to feel her legs. She sighed, grasping the wheels of the chair and rolling herself out of the room, past the crumbled ash of a Dream Crab.

"Um…I'm pretty sure I can remember my number, so…if you memorize it, then you text me, we can go for a curry…"

"The chances that you remember any of this are very slim." The Doctor shook his head.

"Now, don't stay that! We'll remember, won't we Ashley?" She looked around, seeing the empty spot behind Rose. "Ashley?"

Ashley yawned as she rose up in her bed, dressed in her nightie and with a large, bushy haircut. She looked beside her to see the Dream Crab disintegrating into ash. "Aaah!" She yelped, getting out of bed before taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

"Am I next? Is it me now?" Shona asked.

"Shona, you're going home, you're surviving." Rose said.

"But do you want to hang out? We can hang out sometime."

"Sure."

"Santa, can I stay a bit longer?" They all turned to look at Santa, who kept his eye on the horizon.

"Oh, I'm afraid not." Santa shook his head. They looked back to her but found her gone.

Shona shot up in her made-up sleeping spot on her couch, blinking as she heard the Dream Crab disintegrating into ash on the floor. She looked around with confusion at her messy, cramped flat before gazing at the pile of ash. "Gross." She grumbled. She breathed out loud, before picking up a piece of paper from the table. It said at the top 'Christmas Day Itinerary'. Below it was a list.

DVD (Alien)

DVD (The Thing from another World)

Dad comes around

DVD (Miracle on 34th Street)

Game of Thrones marathon.

Forgive Dave?

She contemplated before picking up a red felt pen and placed a tick beside number 6.

Clara moved out of the Doctor's embrace to look at him. "It's a pity we have to wake up, really. It's not really something you do every day, is it?"

"If we stay, we die Clara."

She looked out over the horizon, smiling fondly. "You can be such a downer." She looked back, finding herself alone with Santa on the sleigh.

The Doctor, Rose and Jack gasped as they shot up, finding themselves looking at the base of a volcano in bewilderment. "Why were we here?" Rose asked.

"Can't remember." The Doctor shook his head before his eyes widened. "Clara!" They raced back into the TARDIS, which shortly thereafter dematerialized.

"You really should be waking up too, Clara." Santa said, as Clara now sat beside him.

"Just a little longer."

"Why?" She bit her lip, searching for the answer. "Time to tell him, eh?" Santa smiled knowingly. "It should be. Everyone else knows you two are in love."

"But what if-"

"Ignore those questions Clara. Yes, everyone gets those. 'Oh, will he or she love me back?' Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, after all you two have been through, just grow a pair and admit to it, okay?"

"Yes sir." She smiled at him gently.

The Doctor, Rose and Jack entered Clara's bedroom, while she lay in her bed, her head covered in the Dream Crab. "Oh Clara. I should've known that you would be the one to sleep in." He teased lightly before moving to her side. "Okay, I should be able to do this now. One of the advantages of being awake. So, just hold still and I'll zap the Crab's neural centres." He pulled out his sonic and pressed it against the Crab.

*Screech*

They winced at the sound of the Crab dying. "That ought to hurt." Jack mumbled.

"Okay. Here we go." He grasped the Crab and pulled it off, which created a squelching noise, making them shudder.

"Ew." Rose complained.

"The Dream Crabs must've got to us first, then found you in our memories. The others must've been collateral damage. Jack, could you please?" He handed the Crab to Jack, who took it with a face, tossing it out of the window, which disintegrated into ash out in the snow. "Good to see you properly at last. How long has it been? Don't tell me I've missed something, like the one year with Rose. I'm not exactly looking forward to another slap."

"But you do deserve it." Rose mumbled.

The Doctor went to protest, but noticed that Clara didn't say anything, reaching weakly for the bedside lamp. His eyebrows furrowed as his gaze fell upon her grey hair. "Clara?"

"Oh, you know, about 62 years." Clara said softly, turning on the light. She turned to look at them, their eyes widening as they saw that she was much older than when they last saw her. "Doctor." She reached for his hands, pulling him towards her. "I have missed you very much, you stupid old man." She chuckled lightly, drawing him into a hug.

"I've missed you too." He mumbled, the guilt now beginning to brew within him.

Now sitting on the sofa in the living room, Jack and Rose sitting at the table, Clara waited for the Doctor who came in, carrying a bundle of hats. "These are Christmas hats; I've seen people use them. You put them on and absolutely anything seems funny."

"It most definitely would work on you." Clara quipped.

"That it would. You wanna try?" She nodded. He handed Rose and Jack a pair before taking a hat and placed it gently on Clara's head.

Clara looked at him with a distant smile, as he looked at her like he was there for those 62 years. "Can you really see no difference in me?"

"Clara Oswald, you'll never look any different to me." Clara beamed at him. "So, how was it then?"

"How was what?"

"The 62 years that I missed."

"Oh. How was my life, you mean."?

He gulped. "Is there a Mr. Clara?"

"No, but there were plenty of proposals."

He sniggered. "They all turned you down then?"

She gave him an offended look. "*Scoffs* I turned them down." She blinked, going back through the nostalgia. "I travelled. I taught in every country in Europe. I learnt to fly a plane." She smiled knowingly.

He gave her a smirk before grabbing a Christmas cracker and sitting down on the sofa arm beside her. "Regrets?"

"Oh, hundreds. *Chuckles* I just wish there were time for a few more."

"Fair enough. They're always the best part." He gave her an end of the Christmas cracker. "Not exactly sure why people like these so much."

"Why do people like Tug of War?" She asked.

"Good point." He breathed inward. "I guess, no one was good enough then, eh?"

"There was one man, but I was never brave enough to tell him that I love him."

He took a sharp breath. "Why not?"

"He was impossible." She said simply.

He blinked at her, his hearts racing before he grasped her hands and helped her pull the cracker before slouching his shoulders. "Didn't you already know?"

"Know what?"

"He also loves you, Clara. More than anything." Her eyes radiated joy at him. "I'm sorry, Clara. I was stupid. I should've told you sooner. I should've gotten back earlier. I wish that I had."

"I know. I should've as well. I wish that we had more time." Clara said softly.

"You could've come and lived in the TARDIS with me."

"No more Wednesdays?" She breathed.

He nodded, cradling her face in one hand, she leant into his touch looking at him in adoration. He searched his mind for something to say before opening his mouth.

"Dear Doctor and Clara…how much do you both wish for that?" Santa asked, drawing their widening attention to him as he strode into the room with the biggest grin of smugness on his face.

"No." The Doctor breathed. "We're not still-"

"Were you not paying attention to Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" Santa asked.

They looked around the room, seeing no sign of Rose and Jack.

"Doctor!"

"Doctor get up!" He looked up, hearing the voices of Jack and Rose echoing around him.

"That's your cue. Wakey-wakey."

He gasped as he shot up, the Dream Crab falling off his face, with Jack and Rose kneeling beside him. He looked at them before he started beaming. "Clara." He got up and raced with them into the TARDIS.

Racing back into her bedroom, the Doctor pulled out his sonic and used it on the Dream Crab. He ignored its screeching of pain before grasping the Crab and pulling it off. Clara shot up in the bed, gasping for breath, her face now back to normal. "Doctor…am I young?" She asked.

"No idea." He quipped. She smirked as Rose grabbed a mirror and placed it in Clara's hands, who gave a sigh of relief at her look.

"Is that any good?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes, that's good."

"Looking younger every day, Clara." Jack winked.

"Shut it." She warned. Turning to look at the Doctor, she felt her heart skip a beat at how intently he was staring at her. "Doctor?"

"The TARDIS is outside."

"So?"

"So, all of time and all of space is sitting out there in a big blue box, with no more Wednesdays. Please, don't even argue." He pleaded. Clara beamed at him as he held out a hand in anticipation. She looked at it before sighing. Grasping his jacket in both hands, she pulled him in, placing a searing kiss on his lips. He shuddered in surprise, before relaxing and grasping her head in both hands before they parted for air.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor." She whispered against him.

"Merry Christmas, Clara Oswald." They grinned at each other childishly before racing out of the room.

Rose and Jack sighed in unison. "About bloody time." She groaned before they hurried after them.

"Look at you, all happy." Clara giggled.

"You know what's rarer? Second chances. I never get a second chance, so what happened this time? I don't even know who to thank."

"No, I think you do." She smiled knowingly.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright then. Thank goodness for Santa Claus. You happy now?"

"More than happy." She led him inside, Rose and Jack following before the TARDIS dematerialised, the group missing the tangerine lying on Clara's windowsill.

"Where are they?" Rose asked Jack as they searched through the corridors of the TARDIS.

"No idea." Jack shrugged. "I mean…it's pretty obvious-"

"Yes, I know." They paused, hearing muffled voices.

"Oh, Doctor!"

"Clara!"

They blinked at each other. "Oh." They squeaked in unison.

"We should just-"

"Leave them alone, yeah." He nodded before they raced away like two children in trouble.

The Doctor and Clara in his bed, completely bare as they snuggled into each other. "What're you thinking about, Doctor?" She whispered into his chest.

"That I might be the luckiest man in the universe?" He said obviously.

"Ugh, now that's cheesy."

He rolled his eyes. "We admitted our feelings to each other on Christmas with the help of Santa. I'm sure cheesiness already flew out of the window." She sniggered lightly.

"Well, I'm sure you can come up with a place for us to go." She rose up to look at him.

He nodded. "I think I already have the place." He placed a kiss on her lips.

"Don't say it's right here. That's even worse than cheesy."

"Too bad, it's right here." He turned her over and trailed kisses down her neck.

"What about Jack…and...oh, Doctor…and Rose?" She struggled to hold back her moans.

"They'll be fine." He growled, making her shudder before continuing their love making, neither of them noticing the TARDIS beeping softly.

*Beeps* (Took them long enough. I thought I was going to have to trap them alone together for a while. Ah well)

AN: Ahh, yes Rose and TARDIS, about damn time. Now that felt good to finally write. XD Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)