A/N I had hoped to get this done a little bit sooner, but such is life. Hope you enjoy!
PS I'm on the look out for story prompts. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Chapter Three - Space Suits

"Beta 45624 Omega?" Clara asked with a questioning look.

The Doctor spun around from the TARDIS controls to look at her, "That's just the official name. Most of us simply call it Wan Derous, because it literally went for a bit of a wander. See it got knocked out of its orbit and just went hurtling through space. The whole planet, joy riding the universe."

"I'm beginning to see why you like it."

"It gets better. The moment it left its sun, it lost its source of heat, so the entire planet froze in an instant. Waves crashing on the shore, the wind through the trees, all of it. That last moment perfectly preserved. Beautiful," he was smiling warmly at her, gazing into those big brown eyes. Beautiful indeed.

"So is it still falling through space?"

"Nah. Eventually it got caught in a binary system. Orbits two red dwarfs now, which are fortunately cold enough that everything's still in place."

"You should have told me to pack my mits," she said playfully, "I'm guessing the wardrobe has winter gear I can borrow," she was already headed in that direction, but stopped at his voice.

"These temperature are way past subzero. We're going to need a little more than a ski jacket."


Clara stared down at her white space suit with apprehension, "Are you sure you don't have any others? This suit looks like it's from the first Apollo mission," the Doctor rang his hands nervously. "Seriously? Did you give me this just because I'm human? Because I'm more than happy to wear alien things."

"But it's cool! Besides, its the only one that fits you. You are surprisingly small. I mean I'd offer you this one," he said, pointing to the orange space suit he felt brought out his eyes, "but you be all wobbley in it. Probably trip over your own feet. Besides, I made modifications to your suit, so you should be perfectly safe."

"I feel so much better after we've talked. Better be worth it," she said, although it hardly seemed like a challenge, the way she couldn't keep the grin of excitement from her face.

"It will. Trust me," Wan Derous really was one of the most beautiful places in the universe. He'd taken Rose there once, although they had mostly kept to the beach. He was taking Clara to the largest forest and he knew it would not disappoint. So he didn't have to feel bad about choosing a location based on the fact that Clara would have to be covered head to toe in bulky equipment, and with no way to distract his (slow to adapt, Time Lord) senses. "Ready?"

On initial inspection Wan Derous didn't live up to the hype. The pair stepped out of the TARDIS into a vast expanse of nothingness. "Doctor?"

"Right, sorry, just a little off. This is the bad lands. Lies at the edge of the Great Forest. Never much of anything here, so nothing to freeze, but..." he spun around on the spot, Uh ha, there it is," he was pointing to cliff in the distance where the land just seemed to end and abruptly fall away, "The valley over there is as lush as any in the galaxy. Just, you know, colder. Like frozen fish fingers. If they were trees." Clara nodded and headed for the TARDIS door, "Where are you going?"

"I thought we were going over to the valley?"

"We are, but short jumps are hard. Besides, it's a beautiful day for a walk."

She was smirking at him, "It's 150 below and there's literally nothing in all directions."

"Come on. Where's your sense of adventure?" that earned him a glare, but he knew it was playful, "Besides, I dare you."

They walked for nearly two hours. The Doctor alternating between telling strange and unrelated stories, and being surprisingly quiet. Clara's body was stiff from the rigid suit and whatever modifications the Doctor had made seemed to work a little too well. Despite the actual temperature outside she was roasting. Fortunately, they were finally at the cliff. Just before they were close enough to see into the valley the Doctor stopped, "Close your eyes." She did as she was told, a smile spreading across her lips, and all of her cares forgotten. She could feel him take both of her gloved hands in his and lead her towards the cliff. She knew that by their position this meant he must be walking backwards, and a small part of her was a little bit worried (knowing how clumsy he could be), but he gingerly came to a stop and told her to open her eyes. He turned around at the same moment, so that they could gaze at the wonder together. The valley, however, was not exactly what he had had in mind. It too was empty.

"Doctor, where are the trees?"

"That is a very good question," he did a quick scan, "okay, seems we were a little... late."

"Late?"

"Just a few thousand years or so."

"Thousand? What happened then? Did they melt? Or decompose?"

"No, no, don't be silly. They were taken."

"Taken? Who would take frozen trees?"

"Museums, private collectors, people who want to spice up their walk in freezer. Never underestimate the desire to possess something beautiful," as he said this last part he inadvertently looked over at her. "Never really understood that though. I mean after all beauty is such a subjective, arbitrary thing, what does it matter anyway?"

"Doctor, isn't that why we're here? Because you said it was beautiful?"

"I say a lot of things. Done with cold. We need some place hot. The sand on Baxton VI is bright pink and the ocean is a brilliant orange. Plus it's sugar water, not salt water, much better," his mind filled with images of Clara on the beach, Clara swimming, water running down her arms and legs, even over her stomach as she emerged from the water, "No, forget that. Baxton is rubbish, so's the hot, we need, we need..." he stopped when he caught the concerned look on Clara's face.

"Doctor, are you alright?"

"'Course I'm alright, I'm the king of alright. Still a rubbish title, but also true. Completely and utterly true and alright."

"You're just acting a little strange. Come to think of it, you've been acting sort of strange all day. What's wrong? You can tell me, you know."

"Of course I can. Because you're Clara and, well I could tell you anything."

"Good. What's wrong?"

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it would be easier to just tell her. They could laugh about it or... but even if he wanted to the words seemed to dry up on his tongue. It was too embarrassing, too impossible, and at that moment, just a little bit too appealing. He was silent for a long while before he said, "Honestly, I'm fine. Just a little thick sometimes, thousands of years off. Must be a little distracted, that's all. Maybe I... maybe I caught a space flu."

Clara stared him down, not believing him for a second. He looked sheepish, but never gave in with more information. Her disappointment was obvious. "Right. Better get back then?"

The walk back felt even longer, particularly because it was mostly spent in silence. The Doctor too uncertain to talk about much of anything and Clara too annoyed. Being back in the TARDIS did raise her spirits marginally, enough that she said in a self-deprecating way, "My body is so sweaty and stiff it feels like I've actually been to the gym. I could sleep for a week," she had already taken off her helmet and was quickly undoing her suit.

"What are you doing?!" the Doctor shouted more than asked.

"Taking the suit off. It's like a million degrees," she looked up at him and could instantly tell how uncomfortable he was. "What, afraid you'll get a peep show in your snog box?" she was teasing him, but he simply looked more frightened, "I've got something underneath it." He nodded, but still looked pale, "Doctor, what's wrong? Is it... is it something I've done?"

"You?! What could you have done? Nothing, that's what. You're fine. You're better than fine. And I'm alright and there's nothing wrong, see?" as he said it he turned his attention back to the control panel so that he didn't catch the look that he knew would pass over her face.

She stared up at him as if he really were mad. It infuriated her that after everything they'd been through he still wouldn't let her in. But she knew better than to push, "Okay. So where are we off to now?" she asked, trying to give her voice the excitement it usually had.

The Doctor looked back at her apologetically, "You said you were tired, so I thought you might like to go home."

"Home?" she parroted in disbelief, "No offense Doctor, but that wasn't exactly a successful Wednesday. I mean don't you want a real adventure?" she was egging him on, daring him, in her own way, but she didn't get the reaction she expected. She expected him to start naming off places, to chide her for still being in her suit, and tell her they had only five minutes to catch this once in a life time opportunity, despite the fact that they were in a time machine and could probably go back and see it over and over again. Instead, he remained quiet, the hang-dog expression still pasted to his face. Clara's heart sank, "You know what, you're right. I am tired."

"I mean we could go somewhere if you'd like to."

"No, home sounds good. I'm just going to go get changed," and with that she left the console room. The Doctor's eyes followed her long after she was out of view, and even as he punched in the coordinates of her house he couldn't help but glance repeatedly back in that direction. He'd messed it up. Hurt her feelings. If he ever had a chance with her, he was convinced he'd just blown it.

Clara didn't return to the console room until after the TARDIS had landed. "Next Wednesday then," she said with a weak smile, "goodbye Doctor," and with that she was gone. He didn't like the way she'd said 'goodbye'. Was it his imagination or was there more of a finality to it this time. His mind was so engaged in analyzing her tone that it took him a few seconds to realize he had missed something. Two things in fact. He didn't understand them at first, but he knew they were important somehow. The first was a comment Clara made, mainly to herself, as she left the TARDIS. She'd said, "It's been raining". The second was barely more than a whisper, a faint sound heard for a moment as the TARDIS door came to a close and Clara opened the front door of the house. It was music. MUSIC! The very same music the Doctor had heard that morning. "It's the wrong Wednesday again!" he bolted out of the TARDIS and ran for the house. Clara had locked the door behind her, but the Doctor didn't pause as he reached for his screwdriver and sonicked it open. The house was silent. He ran into the living room but did not find Clara there. Without thinking he took the stairs two at a time, "Clara! Clara stop!" he raced down the hallway and nearly ran straight into her. She had stopped just inside her doorway looking shell shocked, and staring uncomprehendingly at the couple lying in her bed. The Doctor's eyes followed her gaze, even though he knew exactly what she was looking at. Them.