Wherever You Go

by hunterofartemis080

A new regeneration of the Doctor brings him and Adelaide closer than ever before. An old friend follows them throughout the universe, watching their relationship resurge. It appears as though the stars have finally begun to align, but is everything really as simple as it appears? Sixth in the Crossed Stars. Time Lady - 12/OC

8. To Be Alone

To Be Alone

It turned out that Clara's favor was to go back and redo the ending of her date. As they left her to do that, the Time Lords decided to try and use the remnants of her link to find the dream in her timeline. Instead, they ended up finding a man trapped at the end of the universe who'd apparently time traveled there.

And, honestly, he looked remarkably similar to that little boy they'd found last time.

Almost instantly, they went back to get Clara again. They sent the man, Orson Pink, to fetch her...though it was really the Doctor who sent him since he'd distracted Adelaide so that she didn't insist she be the one to go. It was only once Orson was gone that she seemed to realize what had happened and just looked at him with raised eyebrows, which made him smirk.

"I am trying to have a date," Clara said, storming into the TARDIS just after Orson had arrived, though she seemed to have not yet realized that it wasn't the Doctor she was talking too, as Orson was still in his spacesuit. "A real life, inter-human actual date! It's a normal, nice, everyday, meeting-up sort of thing. And I would just like to know, is there any other way you can make this anymore surreal than it actually is?"

It turned out they could, given Clara's face when Orson pulled off his helmet. "Hello."

"Ah, Clara!" the Doctor cheered, hurrying around the console and away from Adelaide's head-shaking. "Well done, you found her! Now, this is really a bit strange."

"Danny?" Clara asked Orson.

The Doctor frowned at Clara. "What's gone wrong with your face? It's all eyes! Why are you all eyes? Get them under control." There was a beat, where the Doctor didn't even need to look at Adelaide to know what she would say. "Sorry."

"Better, but not enough," Adelaide called.

Orson looked between the Time Lords and Clara. "Er, who's Danny?"

"This is Colonel Orson Pink," Adelaide introduced, "from about a hundred years in your future."

"Orson Pink?"

"Yeah, I laughed too," the Doctor nodded. "Adelaide got mad."

"That's why it's not enough." Adelaide stepped around the other side of the console. "Do you have any connection with him that you know of? Or you," she looked at Orson, "with her? Any stories of distant relatives?"

"Have any old family photographs of her?" the Doctor asked. "You know, probably quite old and really fat-looking?"

Orson shook his head. "I don't."

"How did you find him?"

"Well, you left a trace in the TARDIS telepathic circuits. We fired them up again and the TARDIS brought us straight to him. So he is something to do with your timeline. Not fixed events, but something."

Clara nodded. "Okay."

"And you'll never guess where we found him."

|C-S|

They'd found Orson in what could best be described as a shuttle. Seeing it had surprised Adelaide that she and the Master had honestly thought it'd be a reliable plan to find rudimentary time travel rather than each keeping some small Time Lord technology for themselves. Of course, the Master had been the main one who would require some time travel and he was the one with the most experience with that sort of thing, as Adelaide would have access to her TARDIS.

Clara frowned when she stepped out of the TARDIS, taking in the small ship. "Where are we?"

"The end of the road." The Doctor walked up to a nearby window. "This is it, the end of everything. The last planet."

"The end of the universe?"

He nodded. "The TARDIS isn't supposed to come this far, but some idiot turned the safeguards off." Clara glanced at Adelaide, expecting the Time Lady to say something about that, but the woman just nodded back to the Doctor. "Listen."

"To what?"

"Nothing." He turned. "There's nothing to hear. There's nothing anywhere. Not a breath, not a slither, not a click or a tick. All the clocks have stopped. This is the silence at the end of time."

Clara glanced at Orson, who'd started putting the quantities of an entire locker into a bag. "Then how did he get here? If he's from a hundred years in my future..."

"Pioneer time traveler," Adelaide said, stepping up to a nearby computer and sonicing it to show Clara the news about Orson's journey. "Rode the first time shot. I believe they were aiming for the middle of the next week."

"What happened?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "He went a bit far."

Clara laughed. "A bit?"

"A big bit. Look at him now." They all looked over at Orson. "Robinson Crusoe at the end of time itself. The last man standing in the universe." He paused. "I always thought that would be me."

"Far more likely that it would be me," Adelaide mumbled, making him look at her. "I can stay stationary and alone for just a bit longer than you."

"Christmas?"

"Shakri?"

"Not a competition?" Clara laughed.

"Of course not, because then I'd win."

The Doctor stuck his tongue out for that.

Clara just shook her head. "He looks like he's packing."

"He's been stranded for six months, just met two time travelers. Of course he's packing."

Orson walked back into the room, bag in hand. "You can do it, then? You can get me home?"

"We just showed you, didn't we? A test flight to a restaurant."

"Yes, but to my family, to my own time?"

The Doctor waved a hand. "Easy. We can do that, can't we, Clara?"

"She can, yes."

"Oi!"

"With his help."

Orson frowned at Clara and the way she was staring at him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm fine."

"Do I know you?"

"No." Clara shook her head. "Nope."

"Is she doing the all eyes thing?" the Doctor, who'd pulled Adelaide off once Orson had walked up in order to show her something he'd spotted in the shuttle, called over. "It's because her face is so wide. She needs three mirrors."

Clara didn't glance over. "Adelaide?"

The Time Lady sighed. "You know, sometimes I do get tired of constantly trying to remind him of his manners. There's a reason I never became a mother. Too much responsibility."

"Are you saying you're my mother?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"I'm saying that your mother should have taught you better."

He grinned before turning to Clara and Orson, both of whom were eyeing the Time Lords with raised eyebrows. "We can't leave immediately. The TARDIS needs to recharge."

Clara shook her head. "Sorry. What?"

"Overnight, that should do it, shouldn't it, Adelaide?"

"Overnight?" Clara asked.

He glanced at Orson. "One more night. That's...that's not a problem, is it?"

Orson took a breath, looking obviously like he didn't want to say it was fine. "No. No, no problem."

"It's a shame, isn't it?" the Doctor glanced out the window again.

"What's a shame?"

"There's only four people left in the universe and you're lying to the other three. Not a good way to endear yourself to Adelaide. She doesn't like it when people lie."

Adelaide shook her head. "Did you notice it, Clara?"

"Notice what?"

"If the universe is dead, if everything that ever was is dead, if there's nothing beyond that door," she nodded to it, "but nothingness, forever, then why is it locked?"

Orson shook his head, stepping forward. "Please, don't make me spend another night here."

"Afraid of the dark? But the dark is empty now."

"No. No, it isn't."

The Doctor grinned.

|C-S|

While Clara and Orson carried his things into the TARDIS, not able to stand another night in the shuttle if he didn't have to, the two Time Lords did their various tasks. The Doctor worked on the console while Adelaide stared out the window, frowning at the nothingness.

She knew she was afraid of the dark for very irrational reasons, but she also kept telling herself that she was actually afraid of the unknown. That she was afraid of not knowing.

For Caroline, that had manifested as fear of what she couldn't see. A fear of the Vashta Nerada, a fear of not speaking until she was certain about what she was going to say.

For Adelaide, it meant that she wanted to solve the mystery. It meant that she was terrified of what would happen if she didn't manage it fast enough.

It was why this proposal of the Doctor's had been so interesting. She was almost certain that the creature he'd described didn't actually exist, but no good scientist completely discounted something until there was ample evidence, and even then she would always hold open the possibility. While she was certain that it would actually be impossible to know if such a creature existed or not, that didn't stop her from wanting to try.

After all, the creature from Midnight had been real, whatever that had been. Perhaps it was one of these things, perfectly adapted to survive.

She wanted to solve the mystery. Not knowing wasn't fun.

Adelaide very much wanted to know if there was a creature that had perfectly evolved to hide.

Clara stepped out of the TARDIS and looked between the two of them, crossing her arms. "What are we doing?"

"Waiting."

"For what?" Clara scoffed. "For who? If everybody in the universe is dead, then there's nobody out there."

Adelaide shrugged, not turning. "That's one way to think about it."

"What's the other?"

"That's a hell of a lot of ghosts." The Doctor held up his sonic, dimming the lights.

Clara looked around, sighing. "Do you have your own mood lighting now? Because, frankly, the accent is enough." She looked at Adelaide, who stepped aside to reveal what was written on the door: do not open the door. "Where did that come from?"

"It's always been there," Adelaide said. "Only visible in the night lights."

"But who wrote it?"

"Colonel Pink. Apparently, at night, he needs a reminder. Six months stranded alone, I suppose it must be tempting."

Clara frowned. "What is?"

The shuttle creaked. "Company."

Clara looked up, taking a breath. "What's that?"

"What kind of explanation would you like?"

She glanced at him. "A reassuring one?"

"The systems are switching to low power," Adelaide said. "There are temperature differentials all over the ship."

"It's like pipes banging when the heating goes off."

"Always thought there was something in the pipes."

"Me too." The three of them exchanged a look. "Who were you having dinner with?"

Clara frowned. "Did Adelaide tell you to make conversation?"

"For once, no."

He shrugged. "I thought that I would give it a try."

"I told you. A date."

"Serious?"

Clara nodded. "It's a date."

"A serious date?"

"Do I have to bring him to the two of you for approval?"

The Doctor didn't seem to sense the taunting quality in her voice. "Well, I would like to know about his prospects. If you like, we can pop ahead and check them out."

Clara sighed. "Frankly, you've already done enough."

There was a particularly strange sound that honestly sounded like a scream that made all three of them jump.

Adelaide stepped a bit closer to the Doctor. "Atmospheric pressure equalizing?"

"Or?"

The Doctor grinned. "Company."

"Why are we doing this? Why don't we just go?"

The Time Lords moved even closer together. "Because we need to know."

"Why? About what?"

"Suppose that there are creatures that live to hide. That only show themselves to the very young or the very old, or the mad, or anyone who wouldn't be believed." Clara nodded, opening her mouth to speak, but the Doctor kept speaking. "What would those creatures do when everyone was gone? When there was only one man left standing in the universe?"

There were three very loud bangs that made the Time Lords grab each other's hands.

This was Midnight. This was a bus, a shuttle.

Only this time, there wasn't a group of humans to combat. There was just them, stronger than ever.

That didn't stop them from needing each other right at that moment.

"What's that?"

"Potentially, the hull cooling."

Clara raised her eyebrows. "Potentially?"

"Believably."

Three more bangs.

"Someone knocking."

Three more.

The two turned to the door. "Yes." Three more. And three scrapes.

"Doctor, Adelaide..." Clara breathed. Three bangs. "You don't actually believe all this, do you? Hiding creatures, things from under the bed."

Three more.

"What's that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye? What's that footstep following but never passing by?"

Three more.

Clara stepped closer to them, narrowing her eyes. "Did we come to the end of the universe because of a nursery rhyme?" Six bangs that time, the Time Lords stopping right in front of the door. The Doctor held up his sonic, flicking it on, but then the wheel started to turn. "That's you turning it, right?"

The Time Lords tightened their grips on each other. "No. Get in the TARDIS."

"Why?"

"I have to know," he breathed. "We have to."

"Adelaide."

"Please, Clara."

That surprised Clara. She knew the Time Lady was curious, knew that this concept was something that intrigued her. But she'd thought that Adelaide wouldn't let it get this far. She'd thought Adelaide was reasonable enough to stop the Doctor from doing something this stupid.

That's always what she'd done in the past. That was what Adelaide was known for. Stopping the Doctor in his tracks. Forcing him to keep his emotions in check.

He was the Oncoming Storm and she was his Protector. She was the Protector.

She was the one meant to stop him.

But she wasn't.

"Okay, okay. Somebody is out there. Now we know, we can leave. Adelaide! Doctor!"

"It's a pressure lock," the Doctor breathed. "Releasing it could've triggered the opening mechanism."

Clara glanced out the window. "Is there even an atmosphere out there?"

"There is an air shell around the ship," Adelaide said.

The Doctor glanced at Clara, frowning. "Why are you still here?"

"Because I am not going to leave either of you in danger!"

"Then you will never travel with us again, because that is the deal! TARDIS, now!" he narrowed his eyes. "Do as you are told!"

Clara stared at them, disbelieving, before turning and running to the TARDIS, stopping in the doorway. "You're idiots. Both of you." She stepped into the TARDIS, closing the door behind her.

The Time Lords looked back to the door. "I know," the Doctor said. "Perhaps they're all just waiting, perhaps when we're all dead, out they'll come a slithering from underneath the bed."

The door opened into the vacuum outside.

The air shell had broken when they opened their door.

But the Time Lords, even Adelaide, didn't care. As everything in the shuttle rushed out the door, pulled out into nothingness, they clung to the edges of the console and looked. Searched. Hunted.

It was only when Orson grabbed their wrists and pulled that they reached the safety of the TARDIS interior, the man saving Adelaide first.

The moment she was inside, she bent over her knees, clutching her chest and breathing hard as her body readapted to normal pressure. She could barely register what was happening with Clara and Orson and the Doctor; there was a ringing in her ears. She didn't really know why, but she was thankful for it.

It was sharp enough to cut through her thoughts, to force her to focus.

To force her to acknowledge her mistake.

She loved mysteries. She wanted to know if the creature the Doctor had suggested could possibly exist. But what she'd done, what they'd done...she should have known that it was stupid. That there were other ways.

But sometimes, even she had taken risks to learn something new. Sometimes, she pushed herself to the brink in order to discover something.

Sometimes, she didn't stop when she knew she should.

"Adelaide?" Clara's voice cut through the ringing and, slowly, Adelaide forced herself to look up and meet the human's eyes. "We need to pilot. We need to go away."

The cloister bell tolled.

"Use the telepathic circuits again."

"Can't you pilot?"

'Leave me alone.'

"Not now." Adelaide shook her head. The ringing was back and Adelaide was fairly certain she'd been hit in the ear by some bit of debris that had been being sucked out of the shuttle. "I can't focus."

Clara nodded, straightening. "Alright. I can do this."

Orson frowned at her, following her up to the console. The two Time Lords were left on the lower level, Adelaide now able to see that the Doctor was unconscious. "Have you got a plan?"

"Telepathic circuits. I left a trace in them before."

"So?"

"So apparently, that can do a thing." Clara pressed her hands into the circuits again.

"What, that's your plan?"

Clara smirked. "It's not a plan, it's a thing."

The rotor started to stutter into motion. Adelaide, honestly, wasn't certain what Clara doing this would do, but she was almost confident that the human's life was safe enough that wherever they went would be better than a shuttle at the end of the universe. Then they could wait for the Doctor to wake and for them both to ensure that they hadn't been seriously injured.

"Okay," Clara breathed. "Come on, come on, you can do it! Come on!" The TARDIS started to fly, flying properly with just Clara piloting via the telepathic circuits. "Here we go! Come on. Come on!"

The TARDIS landed with a rather loud thud. The cloister bell stopped, sending them all into silence.

"Is that it?" Orson asked, sounding uneasy.

Adelaide finally managed to straighten, the ringing finally ending.

"I don't know." Clara glanced at the scanner, which showed nothing, and then at Adelaide. "I think so."

"Where are we?"

Clara shrugged. "Somewhere else. I hope." She moved towards the door, but held up a hand when Orson moved to follow. "No, no, no, you stay and look after the Doctor and Adelaide."

"You can't go out there by yourself."

"Thing is, my timeline, it keeps on." She shook her head. "Orson, you don't want to meet yourself. It's really embarrassing." She reached where Adelaide was again. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Adelaide nodded at the door. "You go out. See where we are."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'll stay with Orson and the Doctor."

Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind her. Adelaide just walked up to the Doctor, using her sonic on the man to ensure he was alright. It was only a few seconds after that that he jolted awake, grabbing onto her arms and clinging to her. "Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Doctor, you're safe."

He studied her face. "Are you safe?"

"Yes, Doctor. Even if you were an idiot." He frowned. "Even if we were idiots."

The Doctor reached up one of his hands, touching her face. "I'm sorry."

Their faces were quite close to each other in that moment. The Doctor hadn't kissed her in this regeneration yet - he hadn't needed to shock her, as had tended to spark their first kisses. She'd never asked, and he hadn't either. He hadn't wanted to, fulfilled with other expressions of physical intimacy.

Perhaps it was because they were practically alone in the TARDIS, with the only other person making a point to look away and give them their privacy, but Adelaide decided that she definitely wanted to kiss the Doctor in that moment. It was one of the first times that had happened in this regeneration, one of the only times that had ever happened in her life.

"May I kiss you, Doctor?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor's response was to lean up, her helping to close the distance.

They kissed, just kissed, and Adelaide felt happy.

|C-S|

Outside of the TARDIS, Clara sat on a bed in a barn in the dark and gave a little boy a dream.

"This is just a dream," she said quietly. "But very clever people can hear dreams. So, please, just listen. I know you're afraid, but being afraid is all right. Because didn't anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger. And one day, you're going to come back to this barn. And on that day you're going to be very afraid indeed. But that's okay. Because if you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind.

"It doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed or in the dark, so long as you know it's okay to be afraid of it. And that's something you'll need to learn, something you'll need to help the most wonderful woman in the universe understand. So, listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this. You're always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's okay, because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home. I'm going to leave you something, just so you'll always remember, fear makes companions of us all."

|C-S|

By the time Clara stepped back into the TARDIS, the Time Lords were back by the console, standing apart, but one look at their expressions told Clara what they'd done. And if that hadn't given it away, looking at Orson would have.

"What happened?" Orson asked, looking eager to have Clara back given the Time Lords complete lack of acknowledgment of him. "What did you see? What's out there?"

But Clara didn't keep looking at him. She stepped up to the Time Lords, Adelaide moving around the console so that she was beside the Doctor. "What if there was nothing? What if there never was anything? Nothing under the bed, nothing at the door. What if the big bad Time Lords don't want to admit they just don't want to be alone?"

The Doctor frowned. "Where are we?" the scanner hadn't started working again yet. "Have we moved? Where have we landed?"

"Don't look where we are. Take off and promise me you will never look where we've been."

Adelaide frowned. "Why?"

"Just take off. Don't ask questions."

"We don't take well to orders."

Clara kept her expression fixed, looking at them sternly. "Do as you're told."

It took the Time Lords a moment before they stepped apart again, setting the TARDIS into motion.

Together.

A/N: Felt it was important that Adelaide be forced to face the fact that she can do things as dangerous as the Doctor. You need to face your fears to become stronger, after all, and Adelaide needs to be a stronger Protector in days to come ;)