CHAPTER 34

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A NEW BODY AT LAST

Mary Shelley's Home, London, 1824

"Mary, are you absolutely sure that this man's name was Solon?" The Doctor asked in an uneasy voice.

"Yes, of course I am. It's not a name that I'm ever likely to forget, Doctor, especially not after the many terrible things that he's done. Even now he's here in London preparing for a special exhibition tomorrow of one of his monstrous creations to the richest and most influential people in England. No doubt he hopes to impress them in order to gain their financial backing to finance all of his future experiments. You have to stop him, Doctor, while you still can. If he gains the support of the rich and powerful, there will be no end to the amount of unspeakable abominations that he will pour out into the world at that point," Mary Shelley said in an anxious tone.

"Aye, she's a writer alright. She even talks like one with her fancy turn of speech. I've never heard anyone sound like that in real life before," Jamie whispered to Victoria who gave him a slight smile of amusement.

"Yes, she is rather full of herself isn't she?" Clara whispered as she overheard him.

"Now I didn't say that exactly. I just meant that she was very intelligent is all," Jamie protested in a low voice.

"Yeah, and she constantly loves to show that intelligence off to everyone," Clara said in an annoyed tone.

That was when she suddenly heard a muffled gasp of surprise come from Mary and realized far too late that she should never have spoken and drawn attention to herself. She sighed as she realized that there was no way to hide herself from her now.

Well, this was certainly going to be fun.

"Doctor, w - who is she? What is her name?" Mary asked as she looked directly at Clara with a look of stunned disbelief.

"Hello, Mary," Clara said as she reluctantly moved towards her and gave her a tight, uncomfortable smile.

"Clara, you know Mary?" The Doctor asked with an actual look of interest on his face for once.

Rose of course didn't seem surprised by this at all Clara realized. In fact that annoying enigmatic smile on her face suggested that she knew that this was going to happen all along.

Thanks a lot for warning me, Rose. Clara thought to herself with a frown.

"Clara? Your name is Clara? Is that really you? H – How can it be though?" Mary asked as she stood there with an amazed look on her face.

"It's complicated, alright? Just to clarify things here, I am not the Clara that you knew. She actually did die and is still very much dead right now. I didn't return from the dead like the creature in your book if that's what you're thinking," Clara said in a tone of voice that suggested that she would really rather be almost anywhere else right now.

"They're definitely not the best of friends it seems," Victoria whispered to Jamie who nodded vigorously.

"You look, talk, and act just like her though. How can this be possible?" Mary asked in a confused tone while she gently touched Clara's shoulder as if to make sure that she was really there.

Despite her obvious disdain for Mary, Clara actually smiled for a brief moment at that gesture as she said, "Well, you've already traveled with the Doctor before so you should be used to his special brand of weirdness by now. Hopefully that means that I won't have to explain any of this too much. That other Clara, the one that you knew, she was a part of me. She was me and yet wasn't me. She was created when parts of me were scattered across time and space once while trying to save the Doctor. She was like an echo of the real me and that gave me a connection to her that let me remember all of her memories including the ones that she had of you. Understand? I mean you wrote science fiction so none of this should be too far over your head I don't think."

Mary looked at her in confusion as she said, "Science fiction? I don't know that term. If by that you mean that I wrote of horrifying future worlds then yes I did. I am indeed far more willing to accept ideas that most people would consider completely mad or unbelievable so therefore I suppose I can accept that you are somehow a part of my dear old friend even if I don't quite understand how."

"Well, I'd hardly call us friends at least not at the end anyway. So that's good that you understand everything more or less. So now that you know that I'm really not your Clara at all then we can just let the whole matter drop, yeah? Doctor, you can continue pumping her for information on Solon now," Clara said as she started to move away from her.

"No, definitely not friends in the slightest," Victoria said to Jamie in a sad voice.

Something terrible must have happened between them she reasoned to herself. She couldn't believe that the normally sweet Clara would treat anyone the way that she currently was Mary without a very good reason after all. Regardless of what her reasons were however she found herself hoping that the two of them could work it all out between them somehow because she saw a horrible look of loss on Mary's face that reminded her far too much of her own expression at times.

She too had lost loved ones just as Victoria had it seemed and it weighed just as heavily on her heart as it still often did on hers. To see one of them suddenly miraculously come back once more and then to be rejected by them must have been even more devastating to the poor woman.

Mary did indeed look completely destroyed by Clara's reaction to her and started to move towards her only to be instantly blocked by a completely oblivious Doctor who said, "Good because I was so bored that I was completely tuned out of most of that conversation. Let's get to something far more interesting now. Mary, can you take me to where Solon is currently staying. I definitely need to have a few words with him preferably when he doesn't know who I am since I've changed quite a bit since he last saw me. Nine times in fact. Ten if you count Donald."

"Doctor," Rose said in a disapproving tone as she glared at him.

"What is it now, Rose? Am I being rude again?" The Doctor asked with a sigh.

"Incredibly. Doctor, move out of the way and let her talk to Clara," Rose ordered.

"Why does she need to talk to Clara for? Clara obviously doesn't want to talk to her. Even I can tell that," The Doctor said with a frown.

"That's exactly why she does need to talk to her," Rose said with a groan.

"No, I'm good. There's no need to worry about me," Clara insisted as she gave Rose a pointed look that clearly told her to stay out of her business.

"See? She's fine. Now, Mary, about Solon . . ." The Doctor said as he started to get back to business once more.

"Clara, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I had said that before you, the other you, died. I've regretted that so much ever since that day. It's been almost eight years now and I've lost so many others since then. My husband, most of my children, and so many good friends are gone now," Mary said in a mournful voice to Clara as she completely ignored him.

"Now that's rude, Rose. Why don't you say something to her?" The Doctor complained.

"Shut up, Doctor," Rose said with a tone of anger that clearly told the Doctor that he had better not say anything else if he wanted to avoid the infamous Tyler slap.

The instant look of sympathy for Mary on Clara's face made Rose smile now as Clara started towards her once more. She just couldn't help herself Rose realized with approval. She just naturally wanted to help anyone who was upset or in trouble. She was far too much like her mother that way Rose mused.

Even as she thought of Ellie, she quickly pushed those thoughts aside almost as soon as she had them. Now there was a can of worms that she really didn't want to open right now.

Clara put her arms around Mary and hugged her tightly now as she said, "I'm sorry too, Mary, and I know that the other me was. She forgave you in the end just before she died if that helps you any."

Mary smiled even as she started to cry tears of joy while she said, "It does. It really does. I'm so glad to hear that she didn't die hating me."

"Of course she didn't. She could never hate you any more than you could hate her. The two of you were practically sisters after all. You even named one of your children after her.* That kind of bond doesn't die easily especially not with someone like me," Clara said with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you. Thank you, Clara," Mary said as she continued to cry on Clara's shoulder.

"Well, it's kind of silly of me to still be holding a grudge after hundreds of years anyway isn't it?" Clara said with a chuckle.

"Why not? It certainly worked for the Master," The Doctor said.

"Shush," Rose told him with a finger to her lips.

"Why? They've made up now. Haven't you?" The Doctor asked impatiently.

"Yes. Yes, we have. I'm sorry, Mary," Clara said once again as she kissed Mary's forehead.

"Good. Now about Solon . . ." The Doctor started to ask once again.

"What I'd like to know is what were you, the other you, so angry at her about in the first place though?" Jamie asked curiously.

The Doctor openly groaned as she said, "Does anyone care about Solon right now? He is extremely dangerous after all. Does that sort of thing not matter to anyone anymore?"

"Quiet. We'll get to him in a minute, Doctor. Trust me, okay?" Rose reassured him.

"Know that for a fact, do you?" The Doctor said with a slight smile.

"I could do. Just remember who you're talking to here, Mister," Rose said as she returned his smile.

"How could I ever forget? I don't think that I could forget you even if I tried, Rose Tyler. Not even the Chameleon Arch could remove your face from my memories," The Doctor admitted as he started to move closer to her.

"Yeah, I know. Martha told me. Joan even showed me a sketch that you made of me back then. It was quite flattering I must say. I think you made me look much better than I actually do though, yeah?" Rose said with a grin as she bridged the gap between them and slowly moved her face closer to his.

"I always thought that it was never quite good enough. It didn't even begin to capture the real you. Even I'm not that good," The Doctor said with a loving smile.

"Flatterer," Rose said with a snicker.

"It worked though, didn't it?" The Doctor asked with a smirk as he moved in to kiss her.

"Every time," Rose said as she started to give him a passionate kiss.

Jamie rolled his eyes as he said, "Do those two ever stop? I suppose while they've actually stopped talking for a minute I should finally find this out while I still can. What were you so angry at each other about, Clara?"

"Yes, I'd really like to know that as well, Clara, if you don't mind," Victoria asked eagerly.

Clara looked at Mary who nodded her silent approval before she finally said, "If you must know, it was because her two-timing friend Lord Byron broke the heart of the other Clara's sister. The two of them fell in love or so she thought, and then he started seeing someone else behind her back. Elena was severely depressed for a long time after that and I, I mean the other Clara, was really worried about her for a while. Byron, of course, acted like he could care less."

"Why blame her though for something that her friend did?" Jamie asked.

"That's because she knew all about it and instead of trying to discourage them like she should have she actually encouraged it. She didn't tell the other me a thing about it either until it was already too late to stop it. You really should have known better, Mary. Sorry. I'm letting it go now. See? This is me letting it go," Clara said with a grin.

"I honestly thought that he loved her or I never would have done such a thing. I should have known that he would be just as fickle towards her as he was towards so many others," Mary apologized.

"It's okay. It's ancient history now, Mary. And for me that's not quite an exaggeration considering how old that I am," Clara said as she smiled at her own private joke about her age.

Even as Mary looked at Clara with incomprehension, Rose couldn't help but realize thanks to this that there were so many secrets that Clara still hadn't shared with any of them yet. Who knew how many similar tales were hidden in the past of Clara's echoes after all? Clara had so many hidden sorrows that only she knew about it seemed and that she never spoke about with anyone.

Rose could sympathize because she too knew so many things that she couldn't tell. The two of them were far more similar than even Rose had thought that they were. In her own way, Clara seemed to have almost as much hidden knowledge about both the past and the future as Rose did and probably knew things about the Doctor's life through his past and possible future interactions with her various echoes that even Rose didn't as a result of that.

She really wished that she would reach out to her more to help her share the burden of all of that knowledge. If anyone knew the toll that could take on someone she certainly did.

Maybe someday she would. Maybe someday they would share so many things with one another.

"Are you alright, Rose?" The Doctor asked as he saw the contemplative look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Rose said dismissively which made him immediately gave her a stern look.

"Not buying it, huh?" Rose asked with a grin.

"Not in the slightest. If that doesn't work for me, then it definitely won't for you either. You really should tell her the truth about her mother, Rose," The Doctor said in a low voice.

Rose looked at him in shock now as he replied, "Don't look so surprised. I worked that out a long time ago. It explains so many things about the both of you. Don't assume just because you have to keep secrets from me that I don't already know about many of them, Rose. I'm very good at figuring things out after all."

Rose smiled as she whispered, "Yes, you are. I really don't like doing it, you know? If it wouldn't disrupt the future, I'd always tell you everything. In Clara's case, it's because I'm not sure how she'll react. It's an awful lot to suddenly spring on someone after all."

"I have a feeling that you're going to have to tell her sooner or later anyway though. Things like that always come out eventually believe me," The Doctor whispered back as he put a comforting arm around her.

"That's what I'm afraid of, yeah?" Rose said in a melancholy tone.

Clara had seen and heard none of this because she was too busy catching up with Mary to notice. Now the two of them suddenly turned towards the two Time Lords at last as Mary prepared to finally finish talking to the Doctor.

"Doctor, I'm so sorry for interrupting our talk about Solon earlier. It is very important after all. I can tell you exactly where he is right now. He's currently staying in an old abandoned tavern that he bought called The Renegade's Shadow a few miles away from here. You should be able to find him there without much trouble since I've heard that he never leaves the place after having converted it into a laboratory. He stays in it constantly day and night as he works away endlessly on his many . . . projects. He's definitely the talk of the city which is why I know so much about him. You can never hear about anything else lately it seems," Mary said.

"Really? Interesting. It seems that Solon definitely doesn't care about keeping a low profile this time around, does he? I wonder why," The Doctor asked thoughtfully.

"I'm sure I know why," Rose said.

"Aye, so do I. It's a trap for you, isn't it, Doctor?" Jamie said with the weight of years of experience in his voice.

"Well, of course it's a trap, Kilt Boy. When is it ever not a trap?" Clara said with a smirk.

"It certainly seems like it, doesn't it? He deliberately comes here to the exact time and place where one of my friends lives and makes a public spectacle of himself so that I can't help but notice him. What else could it be? What I can't help but wonder is why though. Why would he want to spring a trap like this on me? Why do it now of all times anyway?" The Doctor mused.

"Do you think that it has anything to do with . . . him?" Rose asked.

"I don't just think it, Rose. I'm almost sure of it. He has a history of helping and falling under the influence of power mad megalomaniacs after all. Who better for him to use? I just don't know what he wants him for exactly but I will soon enough. Come along, Rose. We're going to pay a visit to Dr. Solon," The Doctor said as he got the address of Solon's new home from Mary.

Even as the Doctor, Rose, and the others left Mary's home, Solon was already expecting him. His new benefactor had told him that he would come soon after all, and he always seemed to be right about everything.

He reminded him so much of his previous master, Morbius, and yet he was far more confident and self-assured than even he was. So much so in fact that Solon had become almost convinced that Lord Erebus actually did know everything in the short time that he had been working with him.

Or maybe that was just the enormous feeling of gratitude that he felt for him and his faithful Brethren that was making him feel that way?

They had saved Solon from his death at the Doctor's hands by altering history so that the cyanide gas that the Doctor had used on him hadn't been quite fatal enough after all. In this new version of events, it had come close to killing him but hadn't quite finished the job.

In return for this, Erebus had sent his emissary The Corsair to tell him that he expected to be fully repaid one day. Thankfully it had turned out that the method of his repayment was one that Solon very much approved of: the destruction of the Doctor.

Erebus wanted the meddling Time Lord completely out of the way and was using Solon's past history with him in order to lure him there.

This wasn't only a trap for the Doctor however. He really was carrying out experiments after all. That much hadn't been an invention.

Ironically enough these experiments were very similar to his old ones. Yet again another renegade Time Lord had asked him to help give him a new body. Only this time he wanted the new body to be far more than a cobbled together bunch of odds and ends. This time around his new master wanted a very specific body to serve as his vessel for his return to this plane of existence after his long exile from it by his father. He wanted a body with near unlimited power and one that had the ability to bend the very laws of reality of this world to its command.

He wanted the body of Rose Tyler.

*Mary Shelley really did have a daughter named Clara by the way. Coincidence? You decide.

Next: The origin of Erebus, the leader of the mysterious group of renegade Time Lords called the Brethren, is revealed at last as Solon lays a trap for both Rose and the Doctor. As it turns out, Solon has some revolutionary new methods in the field of brain transplanting that he wants to test out on Rose. Will he succeed?