AN: I don't know if you saw this one coming, but if you did, kudos. XD

Attack of the Graske

The TARDIS dematerialised, leaving a dropped off Rose for an ABBA concert at Wembley Stadium, 1979. Then without warning, the Doctor raced from the console room. "Doctor! Where're you going?!" Clara called.

"Be back in a minute!" He raced through the hallways of the TARDIS, quickly bursting into their room where he grabbed a small box, then raced all the way back to the console room. He stood there, in front of a bewildered Clara, grinning but panting, slightly out of breath.

"Take your time." Clara quipped dryly.

"Clara, Clara, Clara. I believe that it's time…you had this." He pushed the box into her hands.

"What is it?" She asked. He nodded for her to open it. "It better not be a jump scare, Doctor."

He blinked at that. "Define jump scare."

Clara didn't get a chance to continue, as she opened the box and saw within, a sonic screwdriver. It was quite similar to the Doctor's current model, but it's front light was a bright orange. "You didn't." She awed, picking it up with a soft smile. Then, she beamed a radiating smile, giggling hard. "Oh, Doctor, thank you so much!" She embraced him, and he laughed.

"Oh, Clara. My Clara. You're very welcome." He said, beaming back before placing a kiss on her lips.

They parted to resume the hug, giggling like mad. Then, just for a moment, she pushed back slightly, her eyes squinting at him. "Were you going to give this to me back at the house?"

"Yeah but…" He trailed off for a moment before he cleared his throat sheepishly. "Ok, Clara, a few safety rules with a sonic screwdriver." She looked at him like a student to their teacher. "Rule one: Don't let a cat sit on it."

She blinked. "Why not?"

"It just becomes embarrassing for the cat." He shrugged simply. "Rule two: Be careful around someone who's using a hairdryer. It interferes with the sonic."

"Can't you patch that?"

"I'm trying." He whined. "Oh, and rule three: Don't use it on wood."

"Why not?"

He gulped a bit. "Because it doesn't do wood."

Her face fell slightly at that. "You're serious?" He nodded. "What a load of rubbish." She muttered under her breath.

His jaw dropped slightly. "Now that's just rude, missy." He retorted.

"You can talk."

"Do you want to keep it or not?" He asked.

She scoffed. "Yeah."

He grinned again, moving to the console. "So, challenge. What a better way to learn how to use a sonic, eh?" He stopped briefly. "Do remember though, you're still going to pick up on different settings as you go. For example, just the other day, I found that the sonic can tint glasses like this." He placed his "Brainy Specs" on and used his sonic on them. They tinted black like outdoor shades before he undid the effect and pocketed them again. "See? Brilliant! I don't even need shades. Well…maybe sometimes I will. Well…not all the time. Well…unless I can do something cool with shades."

"Doctor." Clara interrupted.

He beamed again. "Right. Sorry." He drew the monitor over. "I've been tracking a bit of odd activity for a while. Not much to follow just yet, but…" He quickly clicked a few keys, "If I can bring it up…come on…" He muttered for a moment before it beeped into action. "Ah ha! There we go!" The monitor conjured up a live feed of a mixed-race family in their living room, consisting of their grandparents, a father, and his wife and their two children, a boy, and a girl. The grandmother wore half spectacled reading glasses and a pink blouse shirt. The grandfather was balding, wearing a black and red checkered sweater. Both the father and the boy wore t-shirts, the father's plain blue, while the boy's was yellow with black and white stripes. The mother wore a pink and purple shirt with a black cardigan on top. Finally, the girl, who was wearing a blue shirt with white sleeves and was holding a small camera up, twiddling around with the settings like any kid does when they get their first piece of technology in their life.

"Doctor are you spying on them?" She asked in playful accusation.

He whined. "Clara, there's a point. Look at them. It looks like any old Christmas and it is." Clara raised her eyebrows. "Okay, no, I'm joking, it isn't. One of these people isn't Human but an alien imposter, a changeling." He moved around the console, keeping a handout for Clara to stay where she was. "I can't be over there and maintain the connection at the same time, so I need you to figure out which one it is. Look for anything out of the ordinary."

"Are they in any danger, Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Not yet." He said. "This alien has been doing small level work, but he's consistent with it, and it's growing bigger every day, which is why we need to stop him now. The monitor is looking out through their TV, but you can use your sonic to flick to the girl's camera."

"This is borderline "Peeping Tom"." Clara quipped dryly.

"Work them eyeballs, Clara." He said, motioning to his own as he flicked another switch.

Clara turned her gaze back to the monitor, giving a small sigh as she did. "Now I know how security guards feel." She muttered to herself as she turned on the volume.

"Christmas video time!" The girl shrieked and they both winced at the suddenly loud volume and she slammed it back to mute.

"Clara!" He whined.

"Sorry!" She pressed a few keys to turn it back on, but at a much lower volume.

"Ow, that hurt." He whined a bit, rubbing his ears.

"Think how I felt. I was closer." She grumbled, rubbing her own as she held her orange sonic in her other hand. She turned the volume down just a bit more as the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" blared in from the family room off their radio.

"Gran? Gran?" The girl called, moving over to her grandmother, who was half asleep on the couch. "Graaan?!"

Clara held back a small sigh of irritation and flicked her sonic to switch the view. "Dad, I can't find this part for the game. I need it. Dad?" The boy asks from the floor.

"Harry, will you put that in the box." The Mum said as she knelt in front of him. Clara blinked as her eyes glowed yellow for a second, then they disappeared. That is definitely not Human.

"It's the mother." Clara said. "Her eyes glowed, only for a second."

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Really?" Clara spun the monitor over to him as the grandfather sat on the sofa, the mother kneeling behind it as she picked up wrappers off the floor. She spots grandfather putting chocolate wrappers back in the box and she pats his shoulder.

"Wrappers in the bin, Dad." She said, her eyes glowing for a split second which the Doctor caught.

He smiled at Clara. "Nice spotting. Quite quick there too." He complimented before he got serious. "But why are they glowing?" An alarm blared on the console, making them jump. "What's that? Why're you doing that?"

"Doctor." Clara motioned him back to the screen. Through their view on the TV, they saw the mother leading the father into the empty dining room. All of a sudden through a golden flash, a small alien, three feet tall, wearing a black jumpsuit appeared on the table. His skin was a blend of crimson and pink with three large strands of skin emerging from his head, bouncing with every step he took as he moved towards the Dad. Holding out his wrinkled, long nailed fingers, he had a small black device with a light blue tip and pointed it to the father and pressed the button. The Dad shuddered up in a jolt as a small blue field was sucked from his body and into the alien's device. With a small, guttural growl, the alien disappeared in the same flash. Then, the Dad and the mother both re-entered the living room and their eyes glowed for a split second before they returned to normal. "Doctor, what was that?" Clara asked as the Doctor raced around the console.

"That creature was a Graske. They take over a planet by replacing its population. I can follow the trail of that one, but I need you to fly the TARDIS Clara."

"Right on it." Clara nodded as he pulled the dematerialisation lever, the TARDIS jolting with a thump as they sped away into the Vortex. The TARDIS shuddered and rocked, the two grasping the console for support. Okay, first: Vortex Loop. She grasped a black pump, moving it three times before pulling away. Next: Vector Tracker. She reached over to another panel, spinning a small connected twin dial with a red pointer. Finally… Without warning, her head began to throb in pain, making her frown in surprise as she suppressed a groan. For a split second, she thought she saw a face reflected in the console, but she shook it off and the pain went away. Shoot! The Dimensional Stabilizer! She blinked, her eyes dancing over the console. "Doctor!"

"It's like a lever attached to a wheel!" The Doctor called, already knowing her question.

She blinked as she spotted it. The lever, coming out of a box and attached to a gear like wheel, was right beside her. "Good job, dingus." She muttered before she grasped the lever and pulled it. The TARDIS landed with a jolt, causing them to stumble with a groan.

"Clara? You all right?" The Doctor called as he pulled himself to his feet, moving over to Clara who was panting on the floor.

Clara groaned as he heaved her up. "I'm going to be sore in the morning." She quipped dryly. "Where have we landed?" She asked.

"Nowhere. We're still on Earth." He said as he pulled the monitor back over.

She rolled her eyes lightly. "Okay, WHEN have we landed?"

He smiled at her. "Christmas, 1883. I've coded the DNA trail of the Graske in. So, let's see where it takes us." The monitor showed a gridded schematic of the Earth, zooming in one square at a time until it hovered over a small part of London, the street covered in a few inches of snow. "Now then, time to find that Graske." They quickly piloted the TARDIS to land in a small back alleyway nearby the desired street. "Let's have a look then, eh?" The Doctor called as he threw on his overcoat and they ran outside the TARDIS. He grasped her arm before they moved into the busy street. "Remember, if you see him, use your sonic to scan him, it'll make following his DNA trace much smoother that way."

"Gotcha." She said, and they moved out into the street, grasping each other's hands.

"Come along, come along! Have some mulled wine!" A white-haired old man called from a corner of the street. "Long live Queen Victoria!"

"Yeah, long live the one who banished us." Clara muttered sarcastically.

"Now, don't be brash, Dame Clara." He quipped lightly.

"Shush you." Clara retorted. They kept flittering their gaze around, spotting all assortments of people, carriages, and piles of rubble by the roads. "Okay, if I was a Graske and I needed somewhere to hide, where would it be?"

"In the shadows." The Doctor said simply, and they kept walking, right past a lady being followed by a young urchin.

"I'm ever so hungry, Missus, since the orphanage fell down." The urchin said, holding out a small tattered cup. "Give us a penny. I'm saving up for a Satsuma."

"Where would he be, Clara? Can you see him?" The Doctor whispered as they glanced at every hiding spot hidden by darkness or a shadow.

Clara breathed out a bit as the throbbing pain returned to her head. God. Where is THIS coming from?

"I think you know where." A voice answered in her head. One so familiar, it sent chills down her spine, but she shook it away, refocusing on the task at hand. And right there, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him.

"Doctor." Clara urged, tugging his arm. He discreetly followed her gaze to a stack of wicker cases, where the Graske was hiding, just partially visible to their position in the middle of the street.

"Get him quick." The Doctor said, so Clara pulled out her sonic, hidden from view by the Doctor's overcoat and scanned the Graske. However, the Graske spotted them out of the corner of his eye and he snarled, rushing away. "Keep after him!" He said, and they rushed to follow. The Graske moved through the hordes of people with the Doctor and Clara hot on his trail, until he stopped by the urchin and pulled out his device. The Graske growled low in his throat and pressed the button. The device beeped three times in succession, causing him to blink in confusion before it exploded in sparks, making him stumble to the ground with a yelp. He glanced over, seeing Clara holding out her active sonic before she pocketed it away.

"Sorry." Clara quipped and the Graske growled. He then pulled back his sleeve to show a wrist pad, and he slammed his hand down onto it, disappearing in the same golden light.

"He's getting away, but we're locked onto him. Come on!" The Doctor pulled Clara back to the TARDIS and they sent it hurling into the Time Vortex. Then, they landed with another stumbling thump. "Bit of a bumpy ride, but we've arrived." The Doctor said, pulling the monitor over.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Griffoth. The Graske home world. We've got a chance to stop them. There's an entrance but it's shielded. I've taken us as close as we can get." He flicked the monitor to the outer view of the TARDIS, a dark tunnel, with a small layer of steam and a door beyond with a purple panel. He grasped her hand and they walked slowly to the doors. "Let's be careful, eh? Don't want to trip any alarms." He said as they moved through, entering the airlock.

"TARDIS shell helping us breathe, right?" Clara asked, and he nodded.

"Don't have any respirators on board, I'm afraid." They moved up to the panel and the Doctor took out his "Brainy Specs". The panel had three symbols on it, two looking like a spiked club while the third looked like a double Fantail. "It's a symbol sequence." He took out his sonic and used it on the panel, showing the first three symbols. The first two were both option three while the third was option two. He tutted slightly, humming in his mouth before he pressed number two. A gear in the centre of the door turned counter clockwise and it slid open, the Doctor grinning as it did, the pair moving through the open doorway into another corridor. "See? I'm brilliant!"

Clara grinned darkly. "There's another door."

His face fell at that. "Oh. Way to be a killjoy, Clara." He whined.

"And you know what's after that door?" Clara asked, beaming.

He blinked. "Uhhhhh….vegetables?"

Clara giggled. "No. It's another door. Guess what's after that door?"

That hit him, and he grinned. "Jesus?"

"Jesus, yes, Jesus." They, of course, came to another door, this one's panel having a code based on numbers. The first: 79. The second: 98. The third: 89. Clara took her sonic and scanned the panel, bringing up the first three numbers: 56, 67 and 78. Before the Doctor could do anything, Clara immediately pressed option number three and the door slid open. He glanced at Clara with a blend of surprise and admiration.

"How'd you get so good with numbers?" He asked as they moved through.

"Danny." She said. "He was a maths teacher, gave me some help on it."

He blinked, now completely in bewilderment. "Really? He seemed more like a P.E teacher."

"He wasn't."

"No, I'm pretty sure he was."

"Doctor." Clara said in playful seriousness. "He was-"

"A P.E teacher, I know. Oh, another door." The Doctor said quickly to distract her. "Blimey, they've got as many doors as Jim Morrison." He gazed at the panel, seeing a set of three keys, one with four points, one with two and one with three. The lock had four points and he scoffed. "Well, that's easy as fuck." He quipped, grabbing the key with four points.

"Language." Clara admonished playfully.

"*Scoffs* You can talk."

She cocked her eyebrow. "That's the first time in a long while that you've complained about it."

He blinked a bit. "Well…I-I, uh…"

She leaned towards his ear. "Do you like hearing me curse?" She whispered huskily.

He blushed but nodded. "Yes." Clara winked, not needing to say anything, moving through the door as he unlocked it. The door had revealed a large chamber, filled with black pods with glass capsules inside, a large group of Graskes moving about, regularly checking on the pods. Some of them where empty, some of them had dormant people inside. Humans, Slitheen, Sontarans, Ood and Zygons. "Duck." The Doctor hushed as they knelt behind the railing in front of the open door as a Graske looked at the open door with scrutinizing eyes. The door slid shut and after a moment, he walked away, still glancing back at the door with a low growl. "Close one." The Doctor commented lightly as they gazed below the railing. There, they saw a console panel, their eyes instantly lighting up with the expression of "Gotcha".

"Why're these people here?" Clara whispered.

"They're the originals. They need to be kept alive to sustain the copies." The Doctor answered. In their vision, a Graske walked through the pods, coming up to a pair that held the mother and father from the family Christmas earlier. "That's the Graske we chased from Earth."

"Can we reverse this?" Clara asked.

"Yes." He quickly moved through the railing, Clara following his example as they ducked behind the console. "Okay, not exactly enough room to hide us."

"Distraction?"

"I have an idea. Let's just hope it doesn't end badly." He quickly used the sonic and flicked a few switches in the console. It set off an alarm, and one of the pods containing a Slitheen burst open. The Slitheen looked around in shock before it turned into smouldering rage. All the Graske in the room ran up, pulling out small laser pistols but the Slitheen charged at them before they could fire, forcing them to run away. "Okay, there we go." They stood up, gazing at the control panel. In the very centre above a mass number of lettered and numbered buttons was a yellow switch. "That button does…" He took out his sonic to quickly scan it. "It reverses the settings. It'll destroy the duplicates and free the prisoners, teleporting them back to where they were snatched from."

Clara put her hand over the button. "They really have some god-awful security."

"It's what made it easier for us to get through those doors, to Jesus' bounty of delicious confectionaries." The Doctor quipped. She grinned at him and pressed it. They saw the Slitheen chasing the Graske disappear in a flash of golden light. Right after that, everyone in the pods did the same. The Doctor grinned at Clara. "Brava, brava!" He said before they both scrunched their faces in disgust.

"Yeah, nah." Clara quickly said.

"Yeah, that sounded stupid." The Doctor agreed. They quickly took out their sonics and used it on the console. "Let's just turn it all off so they can't restart their mission…" The Doctor muttered, and the room flickered into darkness, the frightened shrieks of the Graske making them flinch slightly. "Feel sorry for them, it is a bit creepy looking like this." The Doctor whispered before he took Clara's hand and they raced back to the TARDIS. Sending it hurtling into the Vortex, they embraced in a giggling hug. "Clara Oswald, you were amazing!" He beamed.

"Thank you." Clara whispered with a blush. "You were pretty amazing too." She gave him a grateful kiss before parting. "Does that mean that I get to be you?" She whispered slyly.

He blinked. "What? No, I…no!" He squeaked. Clara shook her head, grinning madly which made him roll his eyes. "Well then, better get Rose. Be back in a jiffy." They landed the TARDIS back in 1979 and he raced out of the door, leaving Clara to herself for a while.

For a few sudden moments, her head swam, causing her to blink rapidly and clutch her forehead with a groan. She fought it off, staring around the empty room with a hardened glare. "I told you: Stay out of my head." She growled.

"Clara." That voice came back. HER voice. That same emotionless yet hateful voice. "Clara, Clara, Clara. Do I even need to tell you why I'm back?"

"Fun and games?"

"No. Use it."

"Stop it." Clara growled. "Stop the riddles. Why are you back?"

"The sonic, Clara. Use it."

"Why?" There was silence for a moment, so Clara tried again. "What're you hoping to achieve from this?"

She could almost hear that voice smile. "Nothing at all. Just use the sonic."

Clara clenched her jaw but did so anyway, taking out the sonic and scanning herself. Checking the readings, she rolled her eyes. "It's the same readings I've-"

"No." Cyber Clara growled. "Use it again. You're missing something very important."

Clara scanned again and looked carefully at the readings, which made her freeze. "What?" She muttered.

"I'm afraid so." Cyber Clara said, but her voice was devoid of pity or remorse. "Keep trying if it will help."

Clara scanned repeatedly, over and over again, her hands starting to shake as it kept producing the same result. "But…I've never even planned to have…why?"

"Did you really think that no heartbeat was the main drawback of your immortality? *Chuckles* I'm not actually sorry, Clara, I just came to tell you…because I felt like it." She could now feel the voice disappearing once again from her mind. "Goodluck trying to give the Doctor children now." She taunted. Clara stood there, her breath shaking as she grasped the console. She felt so much self-remorse right now. Not because she couldn't have kids, but because she never even thought of it, ever. And now…

*Beeps* (Clara? Are you all right)?

"I'm fine." Clara grumbled.

*Beeps* (Clara. What's wrong?)

"Please, be quiet."

*Beeps* (Clara, I can't help you if you don't-)

"Shut up!" Clara burst, and the TARDIS fell silent. She felt a trickle of tears rolling down her cheeks and restrained her urge to sob. She wiped away the tears and took a few deep breaths to calm herself and now she looked completely normal again. Inside however, she was still fighting back the urge to cry.

The Doctor finally found Rose, standing alone after the concert had finished and people were pulling out of the large stadium. "So, how was it?" He asked.

"Oh, it was great." Rose beamed. "And how was Clara with…you know."

He grinned. "She loved it."

Rose laughed, smacking his shoulder. "Good for you two." Her phone then rang, making her jump slightly. "Excuse me." She pulled it out to check the number, her face jumping a bit with a smile. "Oh, it's Mickey."

"Really?" The Doctor asked in surprise.

She nodded and answered the call, putting the phone to her ear. "Hello there."

"Rose, listen."

His serious tone made her perk up. "What is it?"

"There's this school, had strange lights in the sky over it, that kind of stuff. But I looked into it. As soon as the lights disappeared, most of the staff in the school was replaced and now the students in the school are becoming far too smart for their age. You tell this to the Doctor since he said it to me first but…I need him. All three of you."

Rose fought back a grin at that. "All right. We'll be there." She hanged up.

"What'd he say?" The Doctor asked.

"He said "I need you". And he was referring to you." That made him blink repeatedly before he beamed.

"Well then, let's go and see old Mickety Mick-Mickey." And with that, they raced back to the TARDIS.

AN: Well well well…Sarah Jane's a coming. This may get a bit interesting. As always, thanks for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)