"So?" Clara asked excitedly, leaning into the console and gently pushing herself back and forth from the controls. "Where are we going today, Doctor?"

The Time Lord's lips pulled into a slight smile after stealing a glance at his companion, but then quickly went back to pulling levers and pushing buttons, setting their course for today. Although he was still quite nervous about letting Clara and his unborn children outside of the safety of the TARDIS, they had agreed that traveling three times a week to fairly relaxing destinations would be the perfect way to maximize their security and yet continue with the adventures that Clara and him so desperately craved. "Sancta Magna," the Doctor replied. "It used to be the planet of the holy parks of the Papal Mainframe. Only the clergy of the Church were allowed to use it. Imagine Earth's Central Park, or Regent's Park, except filled with state-of-the-art space facilities and covering the entire planet! And now, since the Papal Mainframe has found a better park planet, it now belongs to the people for everyone to enjoy!" The Gallifreyan pushed a square blue button for emphasis, making the TARDIS shutter to life.

The woman laughed, holding onto a bar underneath the console and looking in the Doctor's direction. "That's amazing. As long as it has good restrooms and some peanut butter cookies and ice cream, I'll be perfect!"

"I'd bet there's all of that there. I guess what I've really got to be thankful for is that your cravings are semi-reasonable," the Time Lord agreed. He made a face. "Except for when you wanted greasy chips covered in Oreos and cherries." The Doctor stuck out his tongue, then immediately chewing on his lip to prevent from grinning widely as Clara made an indignant noise.

"I was hungry, okay," she pouted. "I'm eating for three, Doctor. Three. You've got to respect that."

"Clara," the Doctor said, face suddenly composed and so very, very sincere, as the time machine groaned to a stop. "I will do anything for you and your children."

"Our children, you silly old man," the woman said, scooting over to where the Doctor stood by the controls, and putting her hand over his.

The Gallifreyan's cheeks quickly flushed beet red as the Doctor's desperately tried to contort his face into a neutral expression. Finally, he sighed and smiled softly, taking Clara's hand underneath his own and leading her to the TARDIS doors, then letting go and gesturing to the new world outside. "Welcome to Sancta Magna!" He announced.

Clara sucked in a breath as she took in the surroundings. As far as the eyes could see, bright almost neon green, perfectly manicured grass was spread around her. Species of almost every kind that she had ever seen in her travels were walking, biking, rollerblading and even hoverboarding over cement paths. Glass buildings stood proud and tall around the green areas, advertising themselves as museums and cafes. "It's beautiful," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, it's about to become even better," the Time Lord said, his impossibly thick eyebrows perking up, ready to reveal his surprise as he went back to the time machine and momentarily stuck his hand inside, bringing out a woven basket. "I made a picnic!"

"No way," his companion marveled, immediately rushing over to his side, peering in the basket and rooting through its contents. "You actually did this for me? And you said you weren't my boyfriend!"

Almost instantly after she had said that, Clara knew that she had uttered the wrong thing. The Doctor's face suddenly went stone cold and expressionless, trying to keep his composure, although she could see that tell-all red sink into his cheeks. "I'm not. J-just looking after you," the Time Lord managed to choke out, looking absolutely disgusted at the mere thought of them being anything more than friends. Clara tried to keep her heart from doing a freefall in her chest, telling herself that of course, she hadn't expected anything, she didn't even want to be more to him…

But although she didn't dare admit it, out loud or otherwise, she knew that that was a bullshit lie.

Their walk to set up their picnic, apparently towards another park of Sancta Magna called Stillhet, as the Doctor so helpfully elaborated, was mostly silent. When the pair came to the park, the Doctor unfolded a red checkered blanket and brought out bread, some steak bites, a Caesar salad, and a smattering of peanut butter cookies and mint ice cream. And Clara, with all of her most recent favorite cravings spread out on a stereotypical blanket for a stereotypical romantic picnic, desperately ignored the part of her brain that was unhappy with the fact that the Time Lord was still hardly talking to her, merely mentioning the weather and exchanging thoughts on the scenery around them, where a rainbow plethora of space wildflowers was spread out as far as the eye could see. With the lack of stimulating conversation and anything else to do (and the fact that tiredness was now always a constant because of her pregnancy) Clara soon found herself drifting off to sleep, lying down on the blanket, stomach full. Feeling the miniscule movements of her children inside, the woman smiled softly and rubbed her small bump, wishing for rest for her babies too.

So when Clara woke up, and a bony hand grasped her shoulder so hard she was afraid it would be severed from her body, she was extremely startled. Looking behind her to glimpse three Silence, she immediately shrieked and tried to pull away, struggling with all her might.

She saw the Doctor wake up from his slumber and blink lazily for a second over the scene, before jumping to his feet instantaneously and whipping the sonic out of his pocket when he realized the danger before him. "Cover your ears!" The Gallifreyan yelled to her as he made the sonic screwdriver whir to a higher pitch. Grimacing, Clara felt the Silents release their grip and had just enough time to grab the Doctor's hand as they sprinted through the grass back to the TARDIS. She could hear the Silence behind them, could feel the static of their strange, terrifying electricity came out of their hands, trying to zap the pair. The woman barely registered as the Doctor tugged her through the time machine's doors and threw a lever on the console, making the TARDIS fade away from existence on Sancta Magna.

"Clara! Clara? Are you hurt? Are you okay? Clara, breathe with me. In, and out. In, and out. Come on," the Time Lord stated in a calm, collected voice, in great contrast to Clara, who was suddenly having a hard time being able to get air into her lungs, feeling the grip of that one Silent still. The Doctor held out his hand to her, and she grasped it as a lifeline, until she was able to breathe normally again. "Wh-what hap- "

She was interrupted by the clang of the cloister bells, and the TARDIS lights went out, leaving the console room in pitch-black darkness, save for the red emergency lights. Clara and the Doctor turned around to the screen perched above the console, their eyes going wide as a Silent appeared on the device. "The Holy One commands you, Doctor," the hollow voices rasped. "Give us Clara Oswald. Give us Her Gifts."

With horror, Clara connected the dots. The Silence wanted her children. They somehow knew she was pregnant. And she knew, although vaguely, their terrifying history with hybrid Gallifreyans/humans. Frightened couldn't even match the emotion that raced through her veins. "Doctor?" She screamed. "What's going on?"

The Time Lord in question shouted back to her from the buttons of the console, desperately typing in symbols that the woman presumed meant he was trying to take back the TARDIS under his control. "Clara, run! Run as far into the TARDIS as you can! And don't come back until you hear the cloisters shut off!"

"No! Let me help!" She petulantly grumped, although her body desperately screamed for her to run away exactly as he had told her to do so. "I'm not leaving- "

The time machine unexpectedly flipped on its side and Clara was thrown to the floor, the Doctor barely still gripping onto the console, furiously typing despite the abrupt movement. The Silence, she could see, were still on the console screen, repeating their mantra of the Holy One, wanting her and her Gifts. A part of the console, chipped off because of the impact, and Clara groaned as it ripped across the skin of middle stomach. Huddling into a ball, the woman desperately tried to shield her bump, oh god, her children- from any other debris, staying as still as she possibly could with the TARDIS shaking about.

After what felt like hours, the shuddering of the time machine stopped as the Doctor smashed his fist into a large button. As quickly as they had come, the Silence disappeared from the screen, the cloister bells cut off, and the time machine's lights flicked back on. Clara felt the Time Lord squat and gently rubbed a hand on her back. "Clara, it's okay. I figured out a way to crash their communications and location override of the TARDIS and dematerialize into the vortex. It's highly, highly unlikely that they'll find us now, even when we land anywhere else. You can get up now."

Wiping tears from her eyes, the woman nodded in understanding and gently extricated herself from her position on the floor, groaning as she got up and felt the scrape across her midriff sting. Scared at what damage she might find, Clara lifted up her light brown blouse and peeled off her mustard yellow sweater to get a good look at the large gash that stood out, bright red. "Doctor- "She gasped, starting to tear up again.

"It's just a cut, Clara. A deep one, but it's just a cut. It shouldn't have done any damage. It shouldn't- "He paused, clearly understanding the danger that they had just been in in its entirety for the first time. The danger of those babies, those four hearts already so imbedded in his, slipping out of their lives forever. The Doctor gulped. "It shouldn't have harmed your- our- children."

"Can you make sure?" Clara said, blinking her wide brown eyes, still wiping away tears.

The Time Lord nodded, and patted her back again, then using his hand to take her toward the infirmary, shutting his eyes tightly and then letting out a drawn-out sigh. "Let's get that cut cleaned up and then check on the children, shall we?"


The Doctor sat in the captain's chair, spinning it from left to right, as he thought about the events that had transpired that afternoon. After leading Clara to the infirmary and cleaning up her wound, they had watched on his mobile medical sonogram equipment as the thudding of their kids' hearts and tiny forms had filled the screen, seemingly in perfect bliss. Besides the twins leaping around a bit more than usual, likely because of all of the excitement that had gone underway, they were perfectly fine. The Time Lord grimaced, just glad that their children had not hit the point of development yet where he would have been able to sense their emotions. It was one thing to feel your own anguish, confusion, and fright, but quite a different thing to feel someone else's. Especially somebodies as precious as the twins.

The Doctor stood up from the chair, suddenly resolute in his goal as he recalled guiding Clara to her bedroom, where she immediately slipped under the covers of her bed, only her face visible. He had kissed her cheek, and then had come back to the console. The Time Lord set his mouth in a hard line, bushy eyebrows furrowed. He was going to find out who these Silence were, and what exactly their business was with the mother of his children. The Oncoming Storm, The Destroyer of Worlds, was not going to stop in his search of not only the Silence, but the Holy One who wanted Clara. Who wanted his kids. He was going to find them, and put an end to their plans, once and for all.

It was unlikely, the Doctor thought as well, that he would show much mercy either.


Nothing can stay danger-free forever in Doctor Who, can it?

God, as always, I am so sorry that it's taken such a long time to upload this next chapter. I had a hectic end of a senior year, dealt with some terrible mental illness issues, and only spent two weeks at home this summer. Now I've been in college (wtf!) for almost a month and really just had the time to write this.

However, I am trying to write a lot in the ongoing months. Since I most likely will major in something where heavy amounts of writing are involved, I need all the practice I can get. Plus, I'd love to end my attachment to fandoms on the Internet once and for all, and to do that, I definitely need to get my fics done.

On the horizon, look out for more chapters to this piece and The Ecstasy of Domestic Crisis. I additionally hope to finally write that "Clara was pregnant in the series 9 finale" fanfic.

I'm also a huge fan of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the Marvel comics/Marvel Netflix shows in general nowadays, so I'm working on some fics for that too! I'm very excited to branch out into that genre, and so thrilled to be writing my favorite character of all time, Matt Murdock.

Thank you, again as always, for supporting this fic and all my other works. Please give a kudo, like, comment, or bookmark! Hope you are all well.

P.S. Can you find the Latin and Norwegian words? Cookies if you do.

Love you guys!