There was another flash of lightening, and the ground surged with the force of an earthquake. The two Doctors, Rose, and Clara found themselves tossed about -
- only to land in an unceremonious heap on the floor of the TARDIS control room.
Clara's Doctor sat up abruptly. "Clara?"
"I'm here. I'm fine."
He pulled her carefully upright, gently running his fingers through her hair, checking her for injuries. "All right?" Clara nodded, and he brushed his lips briefly against her forehead. "Rose? Doctor?"
"We're fine," his counterpart replied, clutching Rose tightly in his arms.
"Was that real?" Rose asked.
"The bruises say 'yes,'" Clara said wryly.
"Sorry," her Doctor muttered sheepishly.
Rose softly stroked her Doctor's face, staring into his warm, brown eyes. "There's something…it's like a bit of tension you've been carrying around for so long that you don't even think about it anymore is just…gone."
"It's as if there was a hole inside my mind, and now it's been fixed," he replied thoughtfully.
"Yes," Clara's Doctor concurred. "Where there was eleven of us before, now there's twelve."
"Will we ever see him again?" Clara wondered.
"I shouldn't think so," her Doctor replied. "It's really never a good idea for there to be more than one of me in the same place. As wonderful as it's been to see you again," he said, with a fond glance at Rose, "we really need to finish this and get you two back where you belong."
Rose smiled up at her Doctor, and he grinned back, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the TARDIS.
Clara made to follow them, but her Doctor caught her hand. "And you…you saved me, again."
"That's what I do," she murmured, looking up at him through her lashes.
"Clara, you said something back there-"
She hushed him with a gentle hand against his lips. "Later," she promised. "After we save the world."
He smiled, then lightly kissed the tips of her fingers before clasping her hand tightly in his own. "Right then, Clara Oswald, let's go save the world!"