"You know sweetie," said River as she, the Doctor, Clara, Jack and Canton sat in the TARDIS, "You told me about the prophecy and I'm pretty sure it said "fall of the Eleventh" somewhere in it. I always assumed that would mean your regeneration."
"Well I did fall over when the Master tackled me during the battle didn't I?" said the Doctor, "And I fell far enough in love to risk the safety of the entire Universe."
"I'm very flattered sweetie," said River.
"I wasn't just talking about you River," the Doctor said, looking at Clara, Jack and Canton.
"Very flattering Doctor but I'm married," Canton grunted.
"Oh my god, are you actually returning my feelings for you?" Jack asked beaming. The Doctor snorted.
"Keep dreaming Jack and I know you're married Canton," he said, "Plus, believe it or not, I have never been gay in all of my eleven lives. If you're going to make a move, wait until I've regenerated into a gay or bisexual incarnation," he then looked at Clara.
"Wait a minute," said River suspiciously, "Doctor, have you been cheating on me?"
"No but I've got two hearts River," said the Doctor, "Therefore I have more than enough love for two people."
"And what about me?" asked Jack looking disappointed.
"Well I've been trying to shake you off for centuries haven't I?" the Doctor teased.
"Hold on," Clara said, "We never...did anything Doctor. We haven't been having an affair."
"No but you kissed me in your Victorian life," said the Doctor, "And I blushed. And I didn't tell you I'm married," he looked guiltily at River who folded her arms and glared at him.
"Are you in love with me?" asked Clara looking genuinely shocked. The Doctor hesitated. River looked between the two of them and then sighed and turned away.
"Well I suppose I should have expected this," she said, "The Lonely God is comforted by someone who is not his wife while the wife leaves him to grieve."
"I still do love you River," the Doctor insisted, "But like I said; I have more than enough room for two people in my hearts."
"Think you can make room for a third?" asked Jack.
"Shut up Jack," the Doctor snapped and looked at his wife, "Look River, Clara was there for me and you weren't. What did you expect? That you could just waltz back into my life after leaving me to my misery and think that nothing's changed?" River turned to face him.
"Our relationship is always changing sweetie," she said, "And you're right; I did abandon you. I should have known you would go into the arms of another woman after the way I acted. And I don't blame you," she sighed, "I'm getting old Doctor; I thought I could reverse the aging process after my regeneration but it just didn't work; I've got too much Human in me. I'm not surprised you've lost interest."
"I haven't lost interest," the Doctor said, "Come here you," he hugged her, letting her know that he still loved her. River hesitated and then hugged him back. It wasn't something they did often.
"So the prophecy was wrong about the fall of the Eleventh?" River said as she broke the Doctor's embrace.
"No, people misinterpreted or exaggerated it," said the Doctor, "That happens a lot with prophecies." He looked at River seriously, "Are you alright? About my feelings for Clara I mean?"
"Well I've flirted and slept with more men than I care to remember," said River, "So I suppose it would be hypocritical to get angry with you. Just don't forget about me Doctor," her voice trembled as she said that. The Doctor looked at her and smiled.
"Never," he said and kissed the top of her head and he meant it. He would never forget River Song, even though the last time she would ever see him, he wouldn't even recognise her. Then he frowned, "You've slept with other men?"
"You told me that was actually quite common for Time Lady's," said River, "When one lives for so long they might get bored with one partner; it's almost a tradition for Time Lord's to sleep with other people."
"You're more Human than Time Lady," the Doctor pointed out, "And you're life span's far shorter than the maximum life span of a full Time Lord."
"Well then I guess I'm a bad girl," River said, "That's why you love me."
"Oh yeah I have told you that before haven't I?" the Doctor muttered and then shrugged, "Oh well; Time Lords are fine with people having affairs, it's actually quite common for us, so I'm not sure why it bothered me."
"Maybe you've spent too much time around Humans," Canton suggested.
"Maybe," the Doctor said, "Can't help it though."
"You know if Clara's going to be your next wife or lover," River said, "I think she has a right to know who you really are." She went over to Clara and whispered the Doctor's real name into her ear.
"What about me?" Jack asked. River looked at the immortal man and then back at the Doctor who rolled his eyes.
"Oh alright," he said, "But I want you to keep it a secret Jack; I might be the only one who can open the Time Lock with my name but I've still got my reputation as a mysterious Time Traveller to consider."
"You don't have much of a reputation since you erased yourself from the Universe," pointed out River and the Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright," he said, "It's just I've kept it secret for so long that I don't want it to be blabbed around the Universe. I want you lot to keep it between yourselves."
"I can keep a secret," Jack said and smiled.
"What about when you're drunk?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm usually too busy having sex to bother with secrets when I'm drunk," Jack's smile turned into a smirk.
"Too much information," the Doctor said uncomfortably, "Alright River tell, him my name." River stepped towards the immortal man and whispered the name into Jack's ear. She then looked at Canton and back at the Doctor.
"I'm a member of the FBI so I was born to keep secrets," Canton said, "I was reinstated after that adventure we had against the Judoon."
"Oh yeah," the Doctor smiled, "That was when I was on my farewell tour before the Silence got River to try and kill me at Lake Silencio. Alright River, tell Canton too; FBI agents can keep secrets." River obeyed and this time spoke the name out loud, since everyone in the TARDIS now knew it. It was not a particularly long name and it although it was clearly alien, it didn't sound particularly powerful or dangerous.
"So where are we going now?" asked Clara after Jack, Canton and River had left the TARDIS. The Doctor looked over at her and smiled.
"Nowhere," he said and stepped towards her, "River's given us her blessing Clara."
"Are you serious?" asked Clara, "I mean, we flirt at times but...I always thought it was just playful banter."
"Well what if that playful banter turned into something more serious?" asked the Doctor.
"I don't know," said Clara hesitantly, "It doesn't feel right; River's your wife Doctor."
"Time Lord, marriage is not like Human marriage Clara," the Doctor told her, "Sometimes we go for centuries without seeing our wives. Some Time Lords have even had more than one wife at a time."
"Are you proposing?" Clara asked.
"No," the Doctor said, "I'm just saying that in my culture, Time Lord's often have more than one partner at a time. And I don't see River very often. Also...I think our time together will be ending soon."
"Why?" asked Clara.
"I saw her die the day I met her," the Doctor said sadly, "We've known each other for so long Clara, but I don't think it will last much longer. Someday I'll have to take River to Darrilium, knowing that she will go to the Library and die after meeting a version of me that doesn't even know her."
"What if..." Clara hesitated, "Doctor I don't feel right about it; I understand that your Time Lord customs are different but I'm Human. I can't; not until..." she swallowed and looked at him almost guiltily.
"Until I finish my relationship with River?" the Doctor finished. Clara nodded and the Doctor smiled sadly, "Well, you might have to wait a while; I still do love her Clara."
"I know," Clara said, "And I don't want to ruin that. You have such a long lifespan Doctor; I won't be around to see the end of it; at least not this version of me unless we're both extremely unlucky. But there might be other incarnations of me out there in the Universe thanks to the Master. If I die before you end, your relationship with River, you could always find one of my other incarnations scattered out there."
"It wouldn't be the same," the Doctor said, "And I don't know for sure if you actually have any other incarnations. Besides you said you didn't want me to go looking for another version of you so I'm not going to go looking for one of your other incarnations when you die. If I run into them accidentally, that's different. Each of your incarnations is slightly different Clara; when I first met you in the Dalek Asylum you were cocky and always trying to outsmart me...and succeeding." Clara smirked at his confession and the Doctor shot her a mildly annoyed look before continuing, "And then you in Victorian London gave me a great big kiss in the middle of an adventure, shortly before you got killed. It was a nice kiss but the timing wasn't great. You were too forward; I wasn't ready for it. But this you is, perfect. You don't push too hard but you're always eager for adventure; you care about life, but you'll fight when you have to; you've accepted me even when I've been miserable and bad tempered from losing Amy and Rory and you flirt but you don't kiss me when I'm not ready for it."
"I haven't kissed you at all," Clara reminded him, "Not in this life."
"Exactly," the Doctor responded, "Until now I wasn't ready for it. But now I am. I love you Clara Oswin Oswald."
"That's very sweet Doctor but for now let's just settle with being friends," Clara said, "Now I want you to show me a Star Whale." The Doctor smiled, remembering his second adventure with Amy had been on the back, and in the mouth, of a Star Whale and hurried to the console, to take them to their next destination.
"Star Whale it is," he said. While he worked at the console, Clara stepped up beside him, hesitated, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't enough to break her rule of never cheating or causing someone else to cheat, but it did show the Doctor that she would return his feelings when they were both ready.
"Just so you know, I love you too," she said as the TARDIS took off into the Time Vortex.
It might be a bit sudden to suggest romance here but I would quite like it if Clara and the Doctor got into a romantic relationship. I think it would work better since Matt Smith is only four years older than Jenna-Louise Coleman while Alex Kingston is two decades older than Matt. Also Jenna-Louise is far more beautiful than Alex although she does have the advantage of being half her age and I have to admit that, for a woman who is as old as Doctor Who itself, Kingston's reasonably good looking.
I confess I was disappointed that I only got one review in the last chapter but thank you to vmcvey97 for writing that review. I don't know how well I portrayed the previous Doctor's; the only ones I feel fairly confident that I wrote right were the Eleventh, Tenth and Ninth because they are the ones I am most familiar with.