CHAPTER 3
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A LIFE CHANGING DECISION
It was finally Wednesday at last and Clara was eagerly waiting for the Doctor and the Master to arrive. So far neither one of them had showed, but she was sure that they would appear any minute now.
Instead of one of the two Time Lords appearing first though, she got an unexpected visitor instead. As she stood there in her living room waiting for the sound of a TARDIS materializing, she was completely taken by surprise when her front door opened instead, and Tish Jones stepped inside.
Oh, no! Not now. Please not now of all times. Clara thought to herself in alarm.
"Hey, Clara. I hope that I'm not interrupting anything. You gave me a key and said that I could let myself in any time so I did. If you don't want me here though, I'll gladly leave," Tish said.
Clara had first met Tish years ago back when her mother was in her last days and having to visit the hospital a lot. She had run into a very caring nursing student named Martha Jones there who had really helped her to deal with her mother's illness. In fact, she had gone way beyond her job description to help both her, her father, and her mother in those dark days.
It was through Martha that Clara had gotten to know Martha's sister, Tish, because she had introduced her to her once when she came to visit Martha at the hospital. Clara and Tish had quickly become very good friends from that day on, and Tish had been a big help to her in the terrible days after her mother's death. Both of the Jones sisters had been, and she considered them both to be like sisters to her.
Martha and Tish had both become so close to her during that time that Clara had given each of them a key to her home and made that promise to Tish that she could come there at any time she wanted to whether she was there or not. Tish had told her that she sometimes needed a place to go to get away from her family for a while and blow off steam after all.
Now she was really beginning to wish that she had never made that promise.
Clara tried to keep the panic out of her voice even as she watched for one of her friends to appear at any moment as she said, "I'm kind of expecting some visitors actually. Any other time would be just fine, Tish, but not today. I'm sorry. I don't want to be rude, but I'm really going to be very busy today."
Tish began to smile as she said, "You're going on a date, aren't you?"
"No, it's not a date. I'm just seeing some old friends. That's all," Clara said as she kept looking for one or both TARDISes to appear at any moment now.
"Is one of these 'old friends' a man?" Tish asked grinning.
Clara tried very hard not to sound angry as she said, "They both are actually, but I'm not dating either one of them. They're old classmates of mine, Tish. Could you go before they get here? I really don't want to sound rude, but I'm expecting them at any minute now."
"Alright, honey. I'll go. I'm sorry if I upset you," Tish said finally taking the hint.
"It's alright, Tish. I'll see you later, okay?" Clara said giving her a warm smile.
Tish smiled back at her and was heading toward the door when the sound of a TARDIS materializing started to come from nearby. Clara groaned out loud as she realized that it was now too late.
Tish whirled around immediately because she knew that sound. Her sister, Martha, had once been a companion to the Doctor after all, and she herself had unwillingly joined him for an adventure once. She didn't even want to think about the other experience that she shared with the Doctor. She never wanted to think about that horrible year ever again.
Clara sighed as she saw the Master's TARDIS materializing first. This was going to be fun.
She had no idea.
As soon as the Master exited the TARDIS, he saw Tish and froze. Tish froze as well and began to shake with terror. Clara knew immediately that something was very, very wrong from the look of absolute fear on Tish's face.
"Tish, it's okay. This is a friend of mine. He won't hurt you," Clara said in a soothing voice.
Tish just stared at her like she was crazy as she said, "Are you kidding? He's the Master. He destroyed the entire world and held me and my family prisoner for a year. No one remembers it now because the Doctor undid it all somehow but I do. I remember every last moment of it. He hurt the people that I love. He terrorized me day and night for that entire time. I still have nightmares about what he did, Clara. He's a monster. You can't trust him no matter what he's told you."
Clara could see the truth of what she was saying in her eyes and in the shame on the Master's face. She immediately embraced her friend as she said, "He's not going to hurt you. I won't let him. He's changed from who he used to be, Tish. I can promise you that. There's no need to be afraid of him anymore."
"You can't believe him, Clara. He'll say anything to get what he wants. Are you traveling with him? Has he . . . has he hurt you?" Tish asked in alarm as she remembered what the Master did to his wife.
"No, he's never hurt me. I am going to start traveling with him today. I won't be alone though. I'm also going with the Doctor. He's my other friend and I have been traveling with him a lot recently. I take it that you probably know him too if you know the Master," Clara said.
"Martha traveled with him once. The Doctor wants to travel with him after what he did to him?" Tish asked in disbelief.
"Not really, no. I convinced him to do it. He doesn't trust the Master any more than you do," Clara said as she finally began to realize just why the Doctor had acted that way.
"I see why he's going with you now so that he can protect you. The Doctor's right about him, Clara. You can't trust this man. He's killed and hurt so many people. So many," Tish said in a voice filled with pain and sorrow.
Clara looked at her in shock as this was not Tish's normal personality at all. She never would have guessed that she was hiding so much pain inside of her.
She had noticed a few years ago though that something happened to Tish for a while. She had seemed a bit off and aloof for a few months. She had never known why, but Tish seemed to recover her old personality after a while so she had never pressed her on the matter.
Now she finally knew, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.
She couldn't help but stare at the Master with absolute anger in her eyes, and this made him look away from her with a pained expression on his face. She was trying to control herself, but it was very hard to do that when her friend was falling apart right in front of her because of what the Master had done to her.
It was at that moment that the Doctor finally arrived. He noticed the anger on Clara's face as soon as he left the TARDIS and immediately rushed to her side placing himself in front of her protectively.
"What did you do to her?!" the Doctor demanded.
"Nothing. I didn't do anything . . . to her," the Master said in an almost quiet voice.
"Clara, are you alright?" the Doctor asked as her wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm fine. I'm very, very angry to find out what Koschei did to my friend, Tish, though. Very angry," Clara said as she continued to burn holes in the Master with her eyes.
"Tish?" the Doctor asked.
It was at that moment that the Doctor first noticed Tish standing there in tears. He hadn't even seen her before because he was so worried about Clara.
"Tish. it's me. It's the Doctor," the Doctor said in a gentle voice.
"Martha said you could change your face, but I didn't believe her. Hello, Doctor. I'm so glad that you're here. Maybe you can talk some sense into Clara. She thinks that she can go traveling with . . . him," Tish said.
"I know. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. Maybe you'll listen to Tish now, Clara," the Doctor said.
Clara pulled away from him and stood in front of the Master with a furious expression on her face as she said, "Do you really want to change, Koschei? Do you honestly want to make up for what you did? Are you truly sorry for it? Answer me and answer me truthfully. I'll know if you're lying. I always did."
Tish looked on in complete surprise as her friend seemed to be making the Master cower in fear before her. She could tell immediately that he was completely terrified of her disapproval.
The Master looked Clara straight in the eyes as he said, "I am truly sorry for everything that I ever did to hurt anyone. I really do want to make up for it, and I promise you that I would never do anything to cause any more harm to anyone again unless there were no other choice. I swear that to you."
"Do you swear it to our friendship, Koschei?" Clara asked.
"Yes, I do," the Master said.
Clara nodded as she said, "I'm giving to believe you and give you one chance to change, Koschei. If you don't and you go back to your old ways in any way, then we are no longer friends. Do you understand? If you ever become the horrible person that Tish described to me again, I will never ever have anything to do with you for the rest of our lives. Do you understand?"
The Master looked at her with a very scared look on his face that shocked Tish as he nodded and said, "I'll never give you any reason to do that. I promise."
"Good," Clara said and then she gave the Master a hug and kissed his cheek.
Tish gasped while the Doctor said in a low voice, "I know. I still can't believe it either."
"Let's go then. I'll be back later, Tish. I'm going traveling with my boys here. Everything's fine. Don't worry, okay?" Clara said.
"Clara, you can't believe that man. You shouldn't go off traveling with him even if the Doctor does go with you," Tish warned.
"Finally someone who agrees with me," the Doctor said.
"I won't hurt her. Never her," the Master said in a voice filled with such tenderness that it made Tish wonder if he really was the same man that she had met before.
Clara smiled at him as she said, "I know, Koschei. I believe you."
"I don't. I'm going with you, Clara. Someone has to watch your back. The Doctor is a good man, but I don't trust him to do it all by himself. He couldn't protect Martha from the Master before after all. She had to save the world pretty much all by herself," Tish said.
"Martha saved the world? You're really going to have to tell me about that and about her other adventures with the Doctor," Clara said eagerly.
"I will, Clara, and once I get done you'll agree with me that Time Lords are nothing but trouble. They never bring anything but pain and suffering to everyone around them even when they don't mean to. It's best just to avoid them entirely believe me," Tish said.
Clara looked uneasy as she said, "That can't be true, Tish. Not all Time Lords are trouble."
"They all are, Clara. I know they are," Tish said firmly.
"No, you're wrong," Clara said in an emotional voice.
Tish couldn't understand why Clara was so upset about that. You'd think that she had just insulted her personally the way that she was acting.
The Doctor held Clara as he said in a low voice, "It's okay, Clara. She doesn't understand what she's saying. You're a good person. You'd never hurt anyone. I know that. You know it too. If Tish knew what she was saying, she'd be the first to apologize to you about it."
"I know, Doctor," Clara said sounding unconvinced.
She had to admit that Tish's words had really wounded her deeply even though she knew that had never been her intention. She was going to make very sure that she proved Tish wrong and that there would be at least one Time Lord who never brought her any pain: her.
"Clara, are you alright?" Tish asked confused.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go now. Are you still coming?" Clara asked as she tried her best to smile at her in a nonchalant manner.
"You bet I am," Tish said determined to protect Clara.
The Master said nothing as he followed the others into the Doctor's TARDIS, and the Doctor soon dematerialized it. As they traveled through the Vortex, no one spoke at all, and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife.
Clara wished more than anything that the happy mood that she had been in this morning hadn't been taken away from her quite so quickly. She knew that the Master had done terrible things, but she had never actually heard about them from someone who was there before much less someone who she knew. This brought the whole thing home to her in a way that nothing else could.
"Clara, are you sure you're okay?" Tish asked finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Clara said.
"This is your fault," the Master said to the Doctor.
"My fault? How?" the Doctor asked.
"If you had come earlier, then none of this would have happened," the Master said.
"Yes, blame the results of your homicidal actions on me. That makes so much sense," the Doctor grumbled.
"Just shut up," the Master said.
"Both of you be quiet. Let's let the past stay in the past and just try to enjoy ourselves, okay?" Clara said.
Again both Time Lords instantly became quiet as soon as Clara spoke, and Tish couldn't help but wonder just how she was able to control both of them especially the Master so easily. What kind of hold did she have over the two of them?
The TARDIS soon landed, and the Doctor actually seemed to become happy once more as he said, "I can't believe it. You won't believe it, Clara. Guess where we are."
Clara began to smile again at his almost childish enthusiasm as she said, "I don't know. I never did like guessing games. Just tell me, Chin Boy."
Tish looked at her in surprise as she mouthed 'Chin Boy?'
"We're back at the first place that I ever took you in the TARDIS. It's the asteroid that used to circle around Akhaten. We're in the marketplace there actually," the Doctor said happily.
"You mean that dreadful place that you used to drag me and Alura off to all the time when we were young? I never did know what you found so great about the place," the Master said disdainfully.
"It's fun. You can find all kinds of special one of a kind items there that you'll never find anywhere else. That's where Susan found my five hundred year diary. I love that diary. I've used it all up since she gave it to me. That reminds me. I wonder if I could find another one there. You never know. Wouldn't that be exciting? That would be so cool. Maybe I'd even find a thousand year diary," the Doctor said in an energetic voice.
"Well, someone's pretty optimistic about their future," the Master said laughing.
"Is that a threat?" the Doctor asked.
"No, it's just an observation. You are on you last life after all," the Master noted.
Clara looked at him sharply as she said, "You never told me that."
"I try not to think about it," the Doctor said.
"I'm sorry. That doesn't mean that you're going anywhere anytime soon though. You could still have several centuries left in you yet," Clara said hopefully.
The Doctor smiled at her usual boundless optimism as he said, "That's right, Clara. You're absolutely right. I could and I will. I'm going to spend all of that time with you from now on."
Clara smiled at him as she said, "You bet you are, Chinny. From now on, we're not wasting any more time, got it?"
"Yes, boss," the Doctor said grinning.
"Sickening," the Master said disdainfully.
"Shut up. Who asked you anyway?" the Doctor asked in an irritated voice.
"I only call it like I see it," the Master said as he smiled at the Doctor's anger.
"Boys," Clara said admonishing them.
Both of them became quiet once more as Tish wondered what exactly was going on here. What had the Doctor meant about Clara spending the rest of his life with him? That wasn't possible.
Was it?
"Come on, Clara. Let's see what's available at the marketplace today, eh?" the Doctor asked as he opened the doors and went out first pulling her along with him.
The Master and Tish followed them as Tish went after the Master in an unspoken agreement. She wasn't about to turn her back on him for a second.
The Doctor soon found his friend Doreen again and barked at her in her language while Clara laughed. She could finally understand Doreen's language now that she was a Time Lord again, and she eagerly barked back at her while she talked to them. Tish looked at them both like they were mad but said nothing.
They all searched through Doreen's items as the Doctor searched for a new diary among them. His search proved unsuccessful, and they were about to go onto the next merchant when suddenly they all heard shouting coming from nearby.
Clara followed the shouting to its source and discovered a scene that provoked a sense of déjà vu in her as she saw Merry, the little girl that she met the last time that she had come here, running from some of her own people . . . again.
Merry ran right into Clara in her haste to get away from the others. Clara restrained her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Let me go!" Merry screamed.
Then she recognized Clara and said in an amazed voice, "Clara? Is it really you?"
"It's really me. What's wrong, Merry?" Clara asked again.
"I wasn't sure if it was you or not. You seem different somehow. Clara, they want to send me away. The people don't want me here anymore because they have no more use for the Queen of Years with Akhaten gone. They want to take me away from here and give me to some people I don't even know because my family are all dead now. I don't want to go. This is the only home I know. The only people that I know are all here. I'll be left with a bunch of strangers in a strange place all by myself," Merry protested as the men who had been chasing her finally caught up to her at last.
"This is none of your business, alien. Stay out of our affairs," one of the men chasing Merry said.
"Excuse me but Clara saved all of your lives and not too long ago either from the looks of it. I think she has a perfect right to involve herself in the little girl's business since she helped save her too when you lot were going to sacrifice her," the Doctor said indignantly.
"Here he goes again interfering where he shouldn't. He's going to get us all in trouble soon. Just you watch," the Master grumbled.
"Shut up. If you didn't want to come, all you had to do was say so," the Doctor said.
"I wanted him to come, Theta," Clara reminded him.
Tish continued to look at her strangely as she seemed to know both Time Lords so well and even called them by names other than the ones that Tish knew them by. What was going on here?
Clara kept a protective arm around Merry as she said to the men who had been chasing her, "If Merry doesn't want to go then she shouldn't have to. This is her home after all."
"We can no longer afford to keep her fed and clothed. Her role is useless now that we are no longer in danger. We can't take care of her anymore with public money thanks to that so we need to find her a new home with someone who will take care of her. It's as simple as that," One of the men said.
"No one here was willing to take her in?" Clara asked in disbelief.
The men shook their heads, and Clara looked at them in disgust. The little girl had helped Clara and the Doctor save all of their lives, and this was the gratitude that she received for it?
Clara looked at the terrified Merry and made a quick decision as she said, "How about me?"
"What?" The men asked as the Doctor looked at her questioningly and Merry looked at her in shock.
"I want to take care of her. I'll take her in and take care of her since no one else seems willing to. How about me?" Clara asked again.
The men looked at her skeptically as they said, "She is still a former queen. Not just anyone can be allowed to take care of her. You would have to prove that you were of noble blood in order to be allowed to do so."
Clara took a deep breath as she looked at Tish hesitantly before saying, "I guess that you could say that I am of noble blood where I come from. I am the Lady Alura Selene, acting head of the House of Heartshaven on the planet Gallifrey after the death of my cousin, Romana. They used to call me The Oracle because I always seem to know everything. I am pretty intelligent after all. The name I go by now though is Clara Oswald. That's who I am now."
"What?" Tish asked as she stared at Clara in disbelief.
"Sorry. I was going to explain later," Clara said in a low voice as the men chasing Merry looked impressed.
"A Time Lord from one of their Great Houses. Yes, that is impressive. I don't see why you can't be given custody of the queen then. If she wishes to go with you that is," One of the men said.
"Well, Merry, what do you think?" Clara asked hopefully.
Merry looked at her uncertainly as she asked, "Are you sure? You barely know me."
"Yes, I'm sure. I won't take you in if you don't want to go with me though. It's up to you, Merry," Clara said.
Merry hesitated and then the fact that she knew Clara and knew for sure that she was a sweet kind person who had risked her life for her before finally made up her mind for her. She would gladly pick Clara over someone she didn't know who might not even care about her anytime.
Merry nodded and said, "I'll go with her wherever she goes."
Clara smiled and immediately hugged the little girl as she said, "It's going to be okay, Merry. I'll give you a good home, and I'll do my best to take care of you."
"Thank you," Merry said gratefully as she returned her hug.
"It's settled then. The Queen of Years will be given over to Lady Clara Oswald of Gallifrey. Good luck in your new home, my former queen," One of the men said as the rest of them saluted her and Clara.
Then they turned around and left the time travelers alone.
"Where do you live?" Merry asked suddenly realizing that she didn't know.
"Earth. My old home, Gallifrey, was destroyed in a terrible war. Earth is a nice place too though. You'll love it there. We'll just need to make you a perception filter to hide your appearance since you don't look completely human," Clara said.
"Humans look like you then?" Merry asked.
"Yes, they do," Clara said.
"Are humans friendly?" Merry asked.
"For the most part," Clara said as the Master snorted in derision.
Clara glared at him as the Doctor said, "Humans aren't always that great at times but they can be. They can be the greatest if they really want to be. That's what you always have to remember no matter what, Merry. Humans can be so wonderful when they really want to be."
"Not in my experience," the Master muttered earning him another glare from Clara.
"Tish, are you okay?" Clara asked as she noticed that she wasn't saying anything or even looking at her.
"You're one of them. All this time I thought you were my friend, and you were lying to me," Tish said in a hurt voice.
"I wasn't lying. I used something my people called the Chameleon Arch on myself and made myself human. I didn't remember that at all though until just recently," Clara explained.
"When you opened up your fob watch?" Tish asked amazed.
Clara nodded as she said, "How did you know?"
"Martha told me about it. The Doctor once turned himself human when she traveled with him. I can't believe my best friend was a Time Lord all along," Tish said.
"I'm still the same person that you knew before, Tish. I promise. I also promise that I will never bring any trouble or pain to you. I'll always look out for you and do my best to keep you safe," Clara said.
Tish smiled as she said, "I believe you. I've believed you since you volunteered to take in Merry. That's a very Clara thing to do to help others like that especially children. You're really going to have to tell me all about your past and who you really are soon. I'm sure Martha will be dying to know too. She'll never believe it."
"I'd love to see Martha again. Is she still with Mickey?" the Doctor asked with a smile.
"Yep, I didn't think it would work out either. They seem to be meant for each other though. It's almost as if they were meant to meet," Tish said.
"I can't help but wonder about that sometimes. It makes me think Rose set the whole thing up somehow while she was the Bad Wolf. I wouldn't put it past her," the Doctor said smiling.
The Master looked at him in surprise for a moment but said nothing. He should have known that the Doctor would be connected to the Bad Wolf Girl who had broken him out of the Time Lock somehow and finding out that she was the mysterious Rose Tyler that he had heard him speaking about before when he was Professor Yana was doubly surprising. He decided to keep what he knew to himself for now because the woman had told him not to tell anyone about her for some reason.
"Well, what do we do next, Doctor? Do we keep searching the marketplace?" Clara asked as she held Merry's hand tightly in her own.
"No, Clara. I think that I'll take you home and help you get Merry adjusted to her new life. That's much more important right now. The Master can go wherever he wants to of course in his own TARDIS when I take us back there if he doesn't want to stick around on Earth for too long," the Doctor said giving the Master a not so subtle hint to get lost when they went back.
"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor. I'm spending my day with Clara just as I promised that I would," the Master said.
"You would," the Doctor grumbled.
The Master smiled at him evilly. He still enjoyed making the Doctor squirm immensely no matter how much he had changed these days.
He had to have some vices after all.
"Are we okay?" Clara asked Tish.
"Yeah, we're fine. I still don't trust Time Lords," Tish said.
Clara's face fell until Tish added, "I definitely trust one though."
"Thank you," Clara said.
The two friends then embraced while Merry looked at them with a smile. She had a feeling that she was really going to like living with Clara and that her life was about to change in the best way possible.
Next: It's time for Martha to find out the truth about Clara and to get reacquainted with the Doctor once more while Merry meets the Maitland children and tries to get adjusted to her new home. Also our trio of Time Lords and their new companions go on their first full adventure together while Clara tells a story about her past growing up with the Doctor and the Master.