"Let's split up. We're never going to find anything this way," suggested Oswin characteristically.

"Are you kidding? Of course not! Haven't you watched any horror movies? Splitting up always ends badly!" The Doctor threw up his hands.

"She has a point, Doctor," Jenny added.

"Yes," agreed Madame Vastra. "We could split up into two groups. That way if one group gets into trouble, the other will still be mobile." After looking at the eager faces of his colleagues, the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But don't go blaming me when this turns into a suicide mission."

"Cool. So Jenny and Strax go with Madame Vastra, and the rest of us go with you?" questioned Clara.

"Whatever. It won't do any good either way!" The Doctor turned and walked away from the center of the cobblestone street. Shrugging, the three Claras followed him.

Under his breath, Strax muttered to Jenny. "Maybe he's just a bit stressed with his current relationship problems. He does have three different identical girls following him around." She looked concerned, and the Vastra turned to him. In a warning tone, she said,

"Strax..."

The street was dark, save for a lone lamp post at the edge. The Doctor occasionally whipped out his sonic and buzzed it around in dark places. The three women followed him, all silently inspecting the sides of buildings surrounding the street. Finally, it became awkward, and Oswin, who seemed to be the bravest out of all of them, began to talk to the other two in a whisper.

"So, where are you two from? I mean, technically we're the same person, but..."

"I'm from here, except that I was killed by an evil ice woman a few months ago."

"I'm from...around here, but I live in the 21st century."

"Ah. So you're from the past, you're from the present, and I'm from the future?"Oswin surmised.

"I guess so."

The walked in silence some more, then Clara, present- day Clara wondered aloud: "How long have you two known him? Oswin, you seem to flirt with him more than I do."

"Don't worry, he's yours if you want him. I mean, I shouldn't even exist, right? You're the one who's possible."

"But I'm... his impossible girl. And I don't think of him that way."

"Sure you do," teased past Clara. "The way you two look a each other... I know we're all supposedly the same person, but not really. You're special to him." As Clara blushed, All three of them realized at the same time that the Doctor was nowhere in sight. Seconds later, they were knocked out.

The Doctor prowled around for awhile, and he could hear quiet chatter as they walked behind him. Well, he thought. At least they get along. He didn't know why he felt so weird about having all three Claras ther. Stranger things had happened to him before, so why did this faze him so much? He also felt very protective of Clara, his Clara. The other two weren't going to harm her, certainly but... He stopped thinking. The street had become eerily silent, and as he turned around he realized that the girls were no where in sight. Now, he didn't have to worry about one of them being safe: he had to worry about all of them.

And, at precisely that moment, he heard a scream. A scream he would never forget, one that he had heard many times before. It was the scream of his impossible girl, and he knew instantly that she was in danger.

He dashed into the blackness, as the lamp post was too far away to be of any use. He ran wildly around, there seemed to be no way to leave the long, twisted alley. The Doctor suddenly ran into an open space, one that he realized was Poppam's square, the same place he had stood among his friends less than twenty minutes before. Only now, he saw that it was filled with strange creatures. At once their eyes were upon him. They had cold dark eyes. He pushed his way through them and saw that they were clustered around Clara, whose eyes were wide, pale, and unblinking. She stared straight ahead, but as he tried to reach her, they didn't let him pass.

"We are the Nazda Kurudu. We have been waiting for you to come. We used doubles of your companion to lure you to her, and now we have her in your grasp." The spoke in deep, rattly tones; in the place of mouths they had stretches of mottled skin. They were slightly larger than the average human, but they did't intimidate the Doctor.

"Where are the other two?"

"They are gone, never to return to this world."

"Hang on- are you saying they weren't real?"

"The resistance is forming as we speak. You will be incinerated."A loud blast of a horn sounded in the distance, and without a word the aliens marched across the square and down the street. He rushed to Clara's side.

"Clara!" The Doctor yelled her name and she collapsed into his arms. He cradled her limp body, then realized their predicament. He needed to get her back to the TARDIS before the Nazda Kurudu returned to bake incinerate them. He kissed her forehead, scooped her up, and lifted her. She wasn't very heavy, and she seemed to weigh nothing to him. It was a reminder that she, as a human, was fragile.

Clara stirred slightly against him, and her hand tightened its hold on his shirt. She snuggled into him, and at that moment he admired her for being so small and yet so brave.

Once they were a safe distace from the square, he set her down on the ground. As he watched, the buildings around the square went up in flames. The doctor threw himself over her, feeling the fire lick his back. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into Clara's brown irises. She grinned at him.

"Oi! What're you doing on top of me?"

The Doctor scrambled upright and offered a hand to her, straightening his bow tie nervously. "Er... Sorry about that. Didn't want you to get burnt. "

"That's right, I bet you didn't I just hope you didn't try anything funny while I was out." Suddenly, a deep growling voice sounded from behind them.

"Turn around or you will be incinerated."

"Oh, hello! You really can't let go of the incineration thing, can you?"

"Turn around."

"Doctor look out!" At Clara's warning, he quickly turned around, only to be promptly hit in the head with a heavy object."

When he came to, he was lying on the dusty ground. Clara stood beside him; they were surrounded by the Kurudu. Without speaking, Clara helped him up and clung to his arm.

"Doctor? Why are they surrounding us?"

"I have no idea. Something about a revolt, I think. But I do know that we really need to get out of here, or we'll be cooked, medium-rare."

"Right. And how exactly do you propose we do this?"

"Human scum." A Nazda stepped forward. "You will now get up. You will now be separated and each transported to different places. You have one minute." He stepped away.

"Clara, its all right, I'll think of something."

"I wasn't worrying. Much. Doctor?" He turned to face her.

"In case we never meet again..." She kissed him sweetly on the lips, and he kissed her back, not flailing around like he usually did when someone kissed him. Suddenly, aloud boom startled them and they broke apart. Before them stood Jenny, looking slightly amused at coming upon them. Seeing that the Nazda Kurudu were temporarily stunned, the Doctor grinned, grabbed Clara's hand, and pulled her to where Jenny stood.

"The TARDIS is back at our place. Come on, we've no time to lose."

And they ran.

T.B.C.

Now that I'm on holiday break, I've had more time to write, so I might even do another chapter this week. Hooray for free time!