The Doctor was dancing around the console with extreme excitement.
Clara looked up at him from the book she was reading. "Doctor you know the TARDIS isn't going to get us there any faster if you keep messing with her." She reminded him as she raised her eyebrows while he pulled several levers.
"It's a complicated period in time and space… I'm just trying to make sure that we get there." The Doctor replied, rolling his eyes at her.
"We're going to get there fine." She told him for the millionth time. "You've triple checked the coordinates and we're going to land in ten minutes. Just calm down."
The Doctor sighed. "I am calm." He replied with a smirk. "I'm just… excited…" He admitted.
Clara smiled, she was honestly happy for him. She knew River made him happy, but she also knew that with River back The Doctor wouldn't need her to go on adventures with him anymore. She hadn't thought about what it would be like to go back to nannying full time, and she knew she didn't want to.
"Are you alright Clara?" The Doctor asked, noticing her zoned out expression.
"Fine." She replied with a smile. "Do you have everything ready?" She asked him as an attempt to distract him.
The Doctor nodded eagerly. "The DNA replicate is hooked up to the consciousness transfer machine. I've got the TARDIS console wired so that when I hook up the sonic it will transfer River back through the machine and…"
"Yeah… I know Doctor." Clara replied with a smirk.
It was then that the TARDIS abruptly landed. The Doctor quickly pulled the brakes and checked the scanner to make sure that they had landed in the right place. "Alright, exactly two years later. Clara Oswald are you ready to save the most beautiful woman in the universe?"
"I'm going to not take that as an insult to myself and say that I am." Clara replied with a laugh. "Come on you idiot let's go." She said as he grabbed the sonic screwdriver with the consciousness transfer chip embedded into it.
The Doctor quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her from going out of the TARDIS. "Clara, you need to know something about The Library." He told her importantly.
"What is it full of some sort of creature that's going to try to eat me or something?" Clara asked as she rolled her eyes.
"Yes." The Doctor replied immediately.
Clara glared at him.
"I'm not making it up." The Doctor replied indignantly. "There's a species there called the Vashta Nerada."
"That means alive shadows…" Clara translated the name quickly. "How can shadows be carnivorous?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Clara you've seen thousands of things around the universe and you're questioning how shadows could possibly manage to be carnivorous?" The Doctor replied with raised eyebrows.
"Alright… Then how dangerous are these Vashta Nerada?" Clara asked with a sigh.
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't want to get into details… But we sort of made a deal that I'd stay out if they released the people held in CAL."
"Isn't that where River is?" Clara asked, clearly confused.
"Like I said… I would rather not get into details… All you need to know is that you need to stay in the light, and if you have more than one shadow tell me, and then get back to the TARDIS as quickly as possible." He instructed her.
Clara looked at him, unsure how serious he was being. "Should we take lanterns or something?" She asked him awkwardly. The Doctor motioned to a large box sitting next to the doors to the TARDIS. Clara quickly moved over and pulled the lid off to reveal several incredibly ridiculous looking hats. "What even are these?" She asked in confusion as she took one out of the box.
"It's a natural light infused three hundred and sixty degree headlamp." The Doctor replied as he secured one on his own head. "Just make sure you keep it on and you'll be fine." He said as he helped Clara fasten her own chin strap.
"This is incredibly uncomfortable." She whined at him.
"Clara." The Doctor replied, looking at her as if she were a little girl.
"Sorry." She replied immediately as she adjusted her hat. She felt bad about her behavior, but she was tired. She had spent the last several weeks helping The Doctor figure out how to save River and it had been exhausting, emotionally and physically. It wasn't that she didn't want to help him, it just became incredibly difficult to stay positive when The Doctor seemed to not even know she existed.
"Let's go." The Doctor said as he flipped on their lights and opened the TARDIS door.
"CALs main system is right through here." The Doctor said as he pointed down a dark hallway.
"I thought we were supposed to try to stay in the light." Clara said, sounding rather frustrated.
The Doctor tapped the hat on his head. "That's why we've got these." He said as he turned a knob on both of their lamps, turning the lights up so that the area lit around them increased immensely.
Clara blinked several times trying to adjust her eyes. "Alright then." She replied before following him down the hallway.
"So exactly how long do we have after you download River's data ghost to the screwdriver to get it into the transfer machine?" Clara asked as they went down a long flight of stairs.
"About five minutes." He replied, unfazed.
Clara stopped immediately. "I'm sorry… Did you say five minutes?" She asked him, fazed by the response.
"Yes." He replied, continuing down the stairs.
"Okay… you realize that we've been walking for almost an hour now right?" Clara replied as she quickly ran down the rest of the stairs to allow her to catch up to The Doctor.
"There's a shortcut." He replied as he emerged at the bottom into the system room.
"I'm sorry… Why didn't we take it down here?" Clara asked as she arrived in the room with The Doctor.
"I'm trying to avoid the attention of the Vashta Nerada as much as possible. They would notice the energy surge from the teleportation plates." The Doctor responded as he began to turn on the monitors in the room.
"Awesome." Clara replied, without much enthusiasm as she looked around the room. It had clearly not seen any sort of life in years. There were abandon cords and several areas of the room were covered in burn marks. After a couple of more moments of silence Clara spoke again. "What happened here?" She asked curiously.
The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment only to find every detail of that terrible event flashing before his eyes. "Nothing." He said, very unconvincingly.
"Was it some sort of great battle over The Library?" She asked curiously. "I would imagine that every country in the world would want to get their hands on a place like this. It's basically the modern Library of Alexandria."
"Something like that…" The Doctor mumbled as be pressed several more buttons on the computer. "Alright… I'm going to begin the download of River's data ghost." He said after a few more minutes. "As soon as I tell you it's done, run." He said as he pointed to the teleportation plate in the center of the room.
Clara nodded and watched nervously as The Doctor inserted the sonic screwdriver into the hole in the console. She watched carefully as the lights on the screwdriver began to light up, one at a time. She was so consumed in watching the transfer that she hadn't noticed that her headlamp had been dimming and needed to be turned up again. Another light turned on on the screwdriver when Clara felt a shiver behind her.
She looked back and immediately noticed the problem. She quickly turned back on the lamp to full power, but she knew it wouldn't help if they had gotten to her. She closed her eyes and swallowed before looking back again. She could see her own shadow following her movements along the floor and wall, but there was also another shadow, slightly to the left of her own, that looked far too similar to her figure for it to not be a second shadow.
"Doctor…" Clara began, her voice catching in her throat.
"Not yet Clara…" He replied as he anxiously watched for the last light on the sonic to flash on, indicating the end of the data transfer.
"Doctor…" She tried again, this time her voice remaining firm.
"Clara I need to concentrate!" He exclaimed as he waited, even more impatiently.
"Doctor you need to see something about…" She tried again, but he cut her off.
"NOW!" He yelled loudly, unplugging the sonic screwdriver and running for the teleportation plate.
Clara, not knowing what other options she had, followed him. During the entire teleportation she began feeling increasingly nauseated. She wasn't sure if it was a side effect from the teleportation or the Vashta Nerada, but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She closed her eyes to try to settle her stomach but it wasn't helping.
"Come on!" The Doctor demanded as he ran away.
She could hear his footsteps getting further and further away. She opened her eyes to see the TARDIS right in front of her, the door open. She watched from outside as The Doctor quickly plugged the screwdriver into the TARDIS console and watched as the transfer began into River's still lifeless form in the medical bay.
"Clara would you go watch in the medical bay and let me know when River starts to show signs of this working?" The Doctor asked, not looking away from the monitor, showing how much of the data had transferred and where to.
That was all it took for Clara to break. "Doctor." She said, her voice breaking in the middle of the word.
The Doctor looked back at her and saw her standing outside of the TARDIS. "Clara…" He said quietly as he walked slowly away from the console and towards her. "I'm so… so… sorry." He whispered.
She shook her head. "No… you can't risk the Vashta Nerada getting into the TARDIS… I understand." She said, trying to put on a brave face for him.
"Clara…" He said as his sight confirmed what he had already thought. "How?"
"My headlamp… I didn't pay enough attention… It was a careless mistake…" She said quietly. "It's okay Doctor… go." She tried to encourage him. "You and River are going to be very happy together." She said, wiping away the tears that were now freely falling down her cheeks.
The Doctor shook his head. "I did not get you out of my own time stream in order for you to die right here."
"Doctor…" Clara said quietly. "Go… please…" She was begging him. She could feel the Vashta Nerada pushing around her mind, trying to take over. "You don't need to see this…"
"No." He replied angrily. "Clara Oswald, you are impossible and you are going to be just fine."
She shook her head this time, smiling at him. "I'm sorry Doctor… not this time… Please."
"I'm going to get you out of here." He promised her, feeling the TARDIS start to hum, indicating that River's data ghost transfer was almost complete. "I'll come back here and get you out of here by going in myself if it's what it takes. No one dies today Clara… No one."
Clara smiled gently at him. "You're not God Doctor… You can't stop everything. Sometimes… sometimes we die… I'll just be with my mother and father…"
"NO CLARA!" He yelled angrily, knowing that she didn't understand. She would be uploaded to the Data core by CAL in an attempt to try to protect her, ultimately giving her an eternal life she never wanted.
"I'M GOING TO BE FINE!" She yelled back. "JUST GO."
The TARDIS obliged immediately, slamming her own doors shut.
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!" He yelled at her as he slammed his hand against the console.
The TARDIS groaned in protest and began to take off.
"NO WE CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE!" He yelled angrily at her before falling down to the ground in defeat. "…I shouldn't have brought her… I can't believe I was so careless…"
The TARIDS began to hum again, trying to get his attention, but she wasn't succeeding. She quickly jolted over to one side, with the stabilizers on in the TARDIS other than in the console room, sending the Doctor careening over to one side of the room.
"WHAT?!" He yelled angrily as the monitor swung around so it was in front of him. "River."
Clara began to weep as soon as she heard the TARDIS taking off. "DOCTOR!" She screamed, the sound of his name ripping into her vocal chords. "PLEASE!" She hadn't expected for this to begin to hurt as much as it did and it was terrifying. Both of her parents had been alone when they died and she had no idea that this is how agonizing that was. "Please…" She whimpered as she felt the Vashta Nerada take even more control of her body. "I don't want to die… please…"
Darkness.
It was incredibly dark.
Clara could feel her eyes closed and she tried to open them but they seemed to be glued shut. "Hello?" She whispered.
"Clara get up." A voice said immediately.
She opened her eyes, suddenly finding them able to open. She observed her surroundings and yawned. "Good morning Mum." She said with a smile as soon as her mother came around the door frame.
"Come on!" Her mother's voice rang through her ears. "Get a move on! You're going to be late for Uni."
Clara quickly got out of bed, and suddenly found herself at the kitchen table eating breakfast.
"Is something wrong sweetheart?" Her mother asked as she served her another poached egg.
Clara felt confused, but she couldn't figure out why. "Nope." She replied with a smile before digging into her breakfast. "Just hungry."
Author's Note: Okay I'm sorry this took so long, but I actually ended up rewriting this chapter a few times. The previous drafts were honestly just bad. So hopefully this was worth the wait! Hang in there! I promise I've got a plan for this! Please review!