Claudia pours her tea as she hears the door open. When she walks out of the kitchen, she notices Clara leaning against the door, looking regretful.
"Not good?" Claudia guessed as Clara walked to the kitchen and passed her.
"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, taking the glass of tea the bluenette had made and drinking it slowly. She takes out her heels and puts them on the kettle.
"That's a shame, I'm curious about him," she admitted and poured another one for herself. "Or her. Or both."
"Yeah," Clara mumbled, feeling awkward now. She's not sure what to tell Claudia about Danny. And she certainly will never tell her. "I'm going to bed."
"Actually, Clara…" Claudia rubs her neck when the door of her bedroom hits something as she opens it. "They're here."
Clara glances around her bedroom, finding the Doctor's sitting at Clara's dressing table while Arthur's writing his diary. Not Blonde Arthur, but Brunette Arthur. "Doctor? Arthur?" She frowns.
"Why do you have three mirrors?" The Doctor looks at her mirrors. "Why don't you just turn your head?"
"It's not unusual, Doctor," Claudia rolls her eyes as she carefully enters the bedroom, followed by Clara as she puts her bag. "What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were searching for new books for Arthur."
"You said Clara had a date. I thought I'd better hide in the bedroom in case you brought him home." He looks at Clara. "Bit early, aren't you? Did it all go wrong, or is this good by your standards?"
"Really, Doctor?" Claudia shook her head as she sat on the bedside while Clara leaned on her bed, ready to sleep. "When she gets home early, what do you expect? A party?"
"It was a disaster and I am extremely upset about it," Clara replied, taking a pillow.
"Fine. I need you, for a thing."
"You have Claudia and Arthur. I'm sure they'll be happy to fill me."
"Oh, what's the fun with that? Come on, you're free. More than usually free, in fact."
Clara sits up and looks at her phone. "No, it's just possible that I might get a phone call."
"From the date guy? It's too late. You've taken your make-up off."
"Oh, that's very helpful," Claudia hissed, throwing a pillow on the Doctor's face.
Clara smirks as the Doctor pouts with Claudia. "Okay, I'll go," she decided.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"You know sometimes when you talk to yourself, what if you're not?" The Doctor begins as they all enter the Tardis.
"Not what?" Arthur frowns. Ever since he arrives, he didn't tell him what's going on and simply dragging him.
"What if it's not you you're talking to, Sunny? Proposition. What if no one is ever really alone? What if every single living being has a companion, a silent passenger, a shadow? What if the prickle on the back of your neck, is the breath of something close behind you?"
"Like the Silence?" Claudia suggests and Arthur flinches by the reminder.
"No, no. This isn't like the Silence. This is much, much different."
"How long have you been travelling alone?" Clara asked, sceptical.
"Perhaps I never have," the Doctor whispered, showing them his blackboard that has LISTEN written over it on the upper floor.
"It looks like your handwriting," Claudia realised.
"Well, I couldn't have written it and forgotten, could I?"
"You literally forget I wrote a grocery note a week ago and thought Strax, of all people, wrote it."
He waves his hand before continuing. "Dreams. Accounts of dreams, by different people, all through history. You see, I have a theory."
"I'll bet you have. What theory?" Clara asked while Arthur sat on his study chair.
"I think everybody, at some point in their lives, has the exact same nightmare. You wake up, or you think you do, and there's someone in the dark, someone close, or you think there might be. So you sit up, and turn on the light. And the room looks different at night. It ticks and creaks and breathes. And you tell yourself there's nobody there, nobody watching, nobody listening, nobody there at all. And you very nearly believe it. You really, really try…and then, you feel something grab your leg."
"There are accounts of that dream throughout human history," Arthur added, checking several books laying on the table before following the others to the console.
"Time and time again, the same dream," the Doctor pointed out. "Now, there is a very obvious question I'm about to ask you. Do you know what it is?"
"Have you had that dream?" Clara and Claudia asked at the same time.
"Exactly."
"No, that was me, and Clau, asking you. Have you had that dream?"
"I asked first."
"Nuh-uh. We asked first," Claudia corrected while Arthur navigated the console. "But you're right. Everyone dreams about something under the bed."
"Why?"
"Beats me. I'm not an alien expert like you."
"Done," Arthur said as a panel showed up on the console. "The Tardis telepathic interface, like you ask, Doctor."
"What's that?" Claudia frowns while the Doctor places Clara's fingers into it.
"A new method I try to easily navigate the timeline using memory," he replied. "Just hold on tight. If anything bites, let it. You are now in mental contact with the Tardis, so don't think anything rude."
"Why not?" Clara looks at him.
"It might end up on all of the screens. The Tardis is extrapolating your entire timeline, from the moment of your birth, to the moment of your death."
"Which I do not need a preview of."
"Arthur had turned off the safeguards and navigation, slaving the Tardis to you," he continued. "Focus on the dream. Focus on the details. Picture them, feel them. The Tardis will track on your subconscious and extract the relevant information. It should be able to home in on the moment in your timeline when you first had that dream. And then, we'll see."
"Which is?" Arthur asked, gripping his hoodie.
"What's under your bed," he replied as the Tardis started flying. "Okay, now don't get distracted. Remember, you are flying a time machine."
Clara's mobile phone rings.
"I'll turn it off," Arthur proposed.
Clara opens her eyes. "Wait, don't!" She yelled.
The Doctor walks around the console to her. "No, no. Don't you dare. No, don't. Don't, don't. Just ignore it."
They hear the Tardis lands.
"That work," Arthur guessed, taking his backpack on the floor. "Right?"
"Sorry, I think I got distracted," Clara apologised as Claudia helped her remove her hands.
"No, no, no, no, no. The date's fine. Come on," the Doctor gestures to them to go out.
"Come on where?"
"Your childhood," he said as he tugs Arthur before leaving.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"'The West Country Children's Home, Gloucester'," Arthur read the sign as he looked around the orphanage. It's night and foggy.
"By the ozone level and the drains, mid-nineties," the Doctor guessed as Clara and Claudia followed them. "You must have been here when you had the dream."
"Never been to Gloucester in my life, and I've never lived in a children's home," Clara disagreed.
"Maybe it has something to do with mine," Arthur said. "The orphanage the other kids from my place went to is in Gloucester."
"So how come you're not?"
"Mr. Shaw sent me to Sheffield, since my mother told him to do that when I was 10." Arthur glances at the Doctor. "I thought you knew. You sent me my backpack for my 5th birthday. You should know where I lived for 10 years."
"Yes, of course" He mumbled. He didn't remember doing it yet. Maybe in his future.
"And even if Clara did come here, wouldn't it be bad if she met herself?" Claudia pointed out.
"It is potentially catastrophic."
"Okay, then we'll stay here. Simple."
"Doctor," Clara called him as he and Arthur walked into the door. "If I had have been distracted, what would have happened?"
"We would probably have ended up in the wrong place. But don't think we have, because the time zone's right. We won't be long," he assured her before continuing walking with Arthur.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Claudia muttered.
"What do you mean?" Clara frowns.
"Arthur just came after the whole Minatour thing."
"Wait. You mean, when the Doctor told him?" No wonder the Doctor acts weird. He had to deal with a child who currently knows his father. That would make it very weird. "Oh, dear."
"What are you doing down there?" A young voice asked from above. Both girls find themself looking at a young, black boy with pyjamas, leaning on the open window.
"Waiting," Claudia replied. "What's your name?"
"Rupert."
"Oh. Okay," Clara looks relieved, confusing Claudia. "Hello, Rupert."
"Rupert Pink. It's a stupid name."
"No, it isn't. I know somebody called Pink."
"I meant Rupert. I'm going to change it."
"Why are you awake?" Claudia asked him. "Is something bothering you?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The sonic screwdriver is scanning as the Doctor walks along the corridor, holding Arthur, knowing how afraid he is of dark places, to tell him that he's here, that he'll make sure the Silence won't take him again.
A balding man in glasses opens a door. Arthur hears the TV on in the background. "How did you get in?" He demanded.
"Your door must be faulty," he reasoned, showing his psychic paper.
"An inspection? It's 2 in the morning."
"When better? Do you always work here nights?"
"Most nights, yes."
"Do you ever end up talking to yourself?"
"All the time. It's this place. You can't help it."
"What about your coffee?"
"My coffee?" The man looks at the mug he put down on the table. Unknown to him, Arthur quietly walks closer to the mug, curious.
"Sometimes, do you put it down, and look round, and it's not there?"
"Everybody does that."
"Yes. Everybody," the Doctor repeated as the TV suddenly switched off. Arthur takes the mug and walks towards the stairs very quietly. "Who turned your telly off?" He asked before leaving quietly.
As they walk the corridor, Arthur takes the coffee and winces. "Too bitter," he commented before looking at the Doctor. "I think we're making him paranoid," he added.
He simply shrugs and takes the mug from Arthur and continues walking. That's not the issue he's worried about.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Claudia quietly knocks the door that has light beneath it, the only source of light in this dark corridor.
"Come in," Rupert said and Clara opens the door, finding Rupert is sitting on the floor by the window.
"You have a neat room," Claudia noted, gripping her sonic pen on her left hand as she looked around his room, in case something's hiding here, while Clara takes a chair near Rupert. "You should have more than one chair. After all, what do you do when people come round?"
"Sit on the bed," Rupert answered.
"Why aren't you sitting on it, then?" Clara asked, noticing the scared face on the boy's eyes. "Do you think that there's something underneath it?"
"Everyone thinks that too," Claudia denoted, kneeling beside him. So not Clara, but a child that has that nightmare.
"Why?" Rupert asked her.
"Did you have a dream of someone, or something, grabbing your foot?"
"You have, haven't you?" Clara realised. "You've had that exact dream."
"How did you know?"
"Do you know why dreams are called dreams?"
"Why?"
"Because they're not real. If they were, they wouldn't need a name."
Rupert frowns as Clara and Claudia walk to his bed. "What are you two doing?"
Clara looks underneath the bed while Claudia scans it. "So far, nothing," the bluenette whispered.
Clara nods. "Do you know what's under there?"
"What?"
"Me!" She rolls under the bed and lies on her back. "Come on, It's perfectly safe."
"Come," Claudia gestures to Rupert, guiding him to lie next to Clara as she lies beside him. "Nobody's here. Just us."
"Sometimes I hear noises," Rupert remarked.
"Rupert, this house is full of people and children around your age. Of course you hear noises."
"They're all asleep."
"They're all dreaming," Clara reasoned.
He frowns. "Can you hear dreams?"
"If you're clever enough. But they can't harm you. You know, sometimes we think there's something behind us. And the space under your bed is what's behind you at night. Simple as that. There's nothing to be afraid of."
The bed creaks, as if someone sits on it. It sags to within inches of Clara's nose. Rupert starts breathing quickly.
"Who else is in this room?" Claudia quietly questioned the boy.
"Nobody."
"Someone must have come in," Clara guessed.
"Nobody came in," Rupert said otherwise.
Claudia slowly rolls out and stands up. Her eyes narrowed on the bed, where someone sitting on it, covered in the red crocheted bedspread. "Who are you?" She demands as Clara rolls out and helps Rupert.
"This is a friend of yours playing a game?" Clara asked Rupert, who shook his head. "Playing a trick, are you, hey? A little trick on Rupert here?"
The bed creaks as the figure shifts, sitting up taller.
"Stand back," Claudia warned, gesturing to both Clara and Rupert to stay away from the bed. Before she can use her sonic pen, the light is suddenly switched on. Clara, Claudia, and Rupert turn to see the Doctor's sitting in the chair while Arthur's sitting on his lap, looking at the book the Doctor's flicking through
"Where is he?" The Doctor asked them.
"Where's who?" Claudia asked back.
"Wally."
"Wally?" Clara was confused.
"He's nowhere in this book," Arthur reasoned, looking very serious.
"It's not a Where's Wally one," Rupert informed.
Arthur huffs as the Doctor closes the book and puts it back. "So, I've been pranking for the last 11 years," Arthur grumbled, standing up, looking at… whoever or whatever it is on the bed.
"Are you scared?" The Doctor asked Rupert. "The thing on the bed, whatever it is, look at it. Does it scare you?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's good. Want to know why that's good?"
"Why?"
"Let me tell you about scared. Your heart is beating so hard," he clasps his hand with his, "I can feel it through your hands." He lets go. "There's so much blood and oxygen pumping through your brain, it's like rooocket fuel. Right now, you could run faster and you could fight harder, you could jump higher than ever in your life. And you are so alert, it's like you can slow down time. What's wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower. It's your superpower. There is danger in this room and guess what? It's you." He pointing at his chest. "Do you feel it? Do you think he feels it? Do you think… he's scared? Nah. Loser. Turn your back on him."
"Eh?" Arthur reacted. "But—"
"Turn your back on him, Sunny. Come on. You too, Clara, Claudia," he said, turning and going to the window. Arthur takes Rupert to the window before Clara and Claudia do the same. "Lovely view out this window."
"Yeah. Come and see all the dark," Clara commented.
"The deep and lovely dark. We'd never see the stars without it. Now, there are two possibilities. Possibility one, it's just one of your friends standing there, and he's playing a joke on you. Possibility two…it isn't."
"Please tell me you have a plan," Arthur pleaded, trying hard to not imagine the Silence behind him.
"You on the bed, I'm talking to you now," he said to the thing behind them. "Go in peace. We won't look. Just go. If all you want to do is stay hidden, it's okay. Just leave."
Arthur can hear the quiet footsteps behind them. "It's still here," he mumbled.
"I can't hear anything," Rupert said.
"Don't look round," the Doctor warned and shouts as Rupert starts to turn around. "Look away! Look away now! Don't look at it! Don't look round. Don't look round. Don't look at the reflection."
"What is it?"
"Imagine a thing that must never be seen. What would it do if you saw it?"
"I don't know."
"Neither do I. Both of you. Close your eyes."
"Why?" Arthur asked, his hearts beating faster.
"Just close your eyes. You too, girls. Give it what it wants. Prove to it that you're not going to look at it. Make a promise. A promise you're never going to look at it."
"I promise never to look!" Both boys promised, still closing their eyes.
"The breath on the back of your neck, like your hair's standing on end. That means, don't look round."
Arthur yelps as he hears the door slam shut, while Clara, Rupert, and Claudia turn around, finding nobody else.
"Gone," Clara breathed.
The Doctor turns around. "Gone."
"He took my bedspread," Rupert commented.
The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Oh, the human race. You're never happy, are you?"
"Am I safe now?" He asked, sitting on the bed.
"Nobody safe, Rupert," Claudia answered brutally as Arthur held an orange robot. "There's always danger roaming around, even in your—"
"Hush," Clara quickly nudges the bluenette to speak more. Her eyes found a box of toy plastic soldiers. "These yours?"
"They're the home's."
"They're yours now," she added, taking the toys out of the box and sets it on the floor.
"People don't need to be lied to," the Doctor remarked.
"Like you never lie to your son?" Claudia retorted, shutting him up as Arthur looks away, gripping the robot.
"I don't need the reminder," Arthur responded with a snappy tone, folding his arms.
Clara glances at Claudia, noticing how remorseful the girl looks. But now, she needs to talk to Rupert first. "See what I'm doing? This is your army. And they're going to guard under your bed. You see this one?" She takes a toy soldier. "This is the boss one, the colonel. He's going to keep a special eye out."
"It's broken, that one. It doesn't have a gun," Rupert clarified.
"That's why he's the boss. A soldier so brave he doesn't need a gun. He can keep the whole world safe. What shall we call him?"
"Dan."
"Sorry?" Clara repeated.
"Dan, the soldier man. That's what I call him."
"Good. Good name."
"Yeah. Would you read me a story? It'll help me get to sleep."
"I know a good trick," Claudia suggested, reaching Rupert's forehead as he slowly falls back asleep. "Learn it myself," she clarified to Clara.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"So is it possible we've just saved that kid from another kid in a bedspread?" Clara asks as she sits on the stair tread while Claudia leans on the railing.
"Entirely possible, yes," the Doctor answered. "The bigger question is, why did we end up with him, and not you?"
"I got distracted," she confessed, standing up.
"But why Rupert Pink?" Claudia wondered, tapping her foot.
"Maybe you have a connection with him," Arthur guessed, looking at the Tardis' monitor.
"No. No, that can't be!" Clara responded quickly.
The Doctor's working on a Tardis component as he points out, "The Tardis was slaved to your timeline. Theoretically, there should have been some connection."
"Well, I never met him, so that's wrong," she deflected. "Will er…will he remember any of that?"
"I managed to erase his memory of our encounter," Claudia denoted. "Trying to give him a dream about Dan the soldier boy."
Clara slouches on the console, resting her hands on it, remembering Danny and how regretful and sensitive he becomes about his life as a soldier. In a way, she's responsible for leading his path as a soldier.
"Clara, are you okay?" Claudia asked, resting her palm on hers, concern.
"I'm good," she replied, looking up at Claudia before looking at the Doctor. "Doctor, I am sorry to ask, and, you know, I realise this is probably against the laws of time, or summat. Er, could you do me a favour?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor, Claudia, and Clara step out of the Tardis, looking at Clara from the past.
"Is that what I look like from the back?" Clara wondered.
"It looks great," Claudia complimented.
"Shut up," Clara nudges her, and quickly walks to the restaurant so Claudia or the Doctor won't notice her red face.
"Well that was weird," the Doctor frowns as they enter the Tardis.
"Doctor, we have a distress signal coming from the trace of the Tardis telepathic interface," Arthur informed, looking at the monitor.
"On it," Claudia nods and sets their next destination. As the Tardis landed, she opened the door, and found herself standing to a man with a beard and wearing an orange spacesuit
"Hello. Are you part of the rescue team?" He asked her, sounds very scared.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Clara slams the door shut and talks to the person inside the spacesuit. "I am trying to have a date. A real life, inter-human actual date!" She yelled, passing Arthur who looked at Clara in confusion. "It's a normal nice, everyday, meeting-up sort of thing. And I would just like to know, is there any other way you can make this any more surreal than it already is?"
"That's not the Doctor," the boy clarified before Orson took off his helmet.
"Hello," he greeted her.
"Sorry for interrupting," Claudia interjected, noticing the shock expression. "I want to come to get you, but Colonel Pink himself suggests getting you."
"This is Colonel Orson Pink, from about a 100 years in your future," the Doctor introduced.
"Orson Pink?" Clara repeated.
"Yeah, I laughed too."
"Clara, you've been acting weird," Claudia noticed. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"That's not the point," the Doctor waves his hand. "Do you have any connection with him?"
Clara frowns. "Connection?"
"Yes, maybe you're like a distant relative or something?"
"How, how would I know?"
Arthur glances at Orson. "Colonel, do you have any old family photographs of her?"
He shook his head. "I don't."
"How did you find him?" Clara whispers to Claudia as Orson talks with Arthur.
"You left a trace in the Tardis telepathic circuits. Arthur found a distress signal coming from it. I brought us straight to him," the bluenette explained. "So he has something to do with your timeline. But the weird thing is," she folds her arms, confused, "is where we find him."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Where are we?" Clara looks outside the capsule, at the rocky planet with a massive hemisphere of a sun dominating the horizon.
"The end of the road. This is it, the end of everything. The last planet," the Doctor said.
"The end of the universe?"
"The Tardis isn't supposed to come this far," Claudia added, "but Arthur turned the safeguards off, so we got here. Did you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"Nothing," the Doctor denoted. "There's nothing to hear. There's nothing anywhere. Not a breath, not a slither, not a click or a tick. All the clocks have stopped. This is the silence at the end of time."
Orson empties the contents of a locker into a rucksack with some help from Arthur. "Is this the one?" The boy asked, showing him a small box.
"Yeah, that's it," he nods.
"Then how did he get here? If he's from a 100 years in my future," Clara pointed out.
"Pioneer time traveller," Claudia responded as she scans records up on the computer with her sonic pen, showing the news about Orson. "Rode the first of the great time shots. They were supposed to fire him into the middle of the next week."
"What happened?"
"He went a bit far," the Doctor answered.
"A bit?"
"A big bit. Look at him now. Robinson Crusoe at the end of time itself. The last man standing in the universe. I always thought that would be me."
Claudia rolls her eyes. "Don't get jealous."
"Am not," the Doctor insisted.
Clara looks at Orson and Arthur. "He looks like he's packing," she noticed.
"He's been stranded for 6 months, just met a time traveller. Of course he's packing."
Orson enters, already finished packing, while Arthur takes a moment to look at the view outside. "You can do it, then? You can get me home?" Orson asked him.
"Claudia and I just showed you, didn't we? A test flight to a restaurant."
"Yes, but to my family, to my own time?"
"That won't be a problem," Claudia assured him.
Arthur frowns again. "Clara, is everything okay?" He questioned her.
"Yeah, fine. I'm fine, Arthur," she replied.
"Do I know you?" Orson asked.
"No. Nope."
"Is she doing the all eyes thing? It's because her face is so wide. She needs three mirrors," the Doctor pointed out.
"Do you want to get slapped again?" Claudia reminded him of that time when she slapped him inside Rusty.
"We can't leave immediately, though. The Tardis needs to recharge."
"What?" Arthur looks at him, as if he's out of his mind. Oh, who he's kidding, he's always like that.
The Doctor glances at Clara and Claudia. "Overnight, that should do it, shouldn't it, girls?"
"Overnight?" Orson repeated.
"One more night. That's…that's not a problem, is it?"
"No. No, no problem."
Arthur turns behind, sensing something… nearby. "Colonel, just tell him," Arthur insisted.
"Tell him what?" Claudia asked.
"The universe is dead. Everything that ever was is dead and gone. There's nothing beyond this door but nothingness for ever," the Doctor takes a step closer to Orson. "So why is it locked?"
"Please," Orson pleaded, "don't make me spend another night here."
"Afraid of the dark? But the dark is empty now."
"No. No, it isn't," he looks at him, "and your son knows that very well."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"So, we're waiting," Claudia commented as she and the Doctor sat on the available chairs in front of the door, while Orson, Clara, and Arthur stayed inside the Tardis. "Until this creature shows up."
"That's one way of looking at it," he shrugged as the lights dim.
"Seriously?" She grumbled as the capsule creaked as five words appeared. "'Do Not Open The Door.'"
"It's always been there. It's only visible in the night lights."
"Colonel Pink wrote it?"
"Apparently. At night, he needs a reminder. 6 months stranded alone, I suppose it must be tempting."
"Doctor, why exactly are we doing this?" The bluenette glances at him, drumminy her fingers on the desk monitor. "Does this have something to do with Arthur's trauma?"
They hear slow creaking.
"What kind of lie would you like?"
"A convincing one?"
"Well, the systems are switching to low power. There are temperature differentials all over this ship. It's like…pipes banging when the heating goes off."
"Is this because Arthur just jumped from the whole Minotaur?" Claudia asked more.
"What makes you say so?"
"Because you don't look at him. And I know you're doing that because you're freaking out and afraid of being with him."
"I have dealt with him before you were born," he huffed. "How can I be afraid of Sunny now?"
"You don't know if he loves you."
"And that scared me?"
"Terrified you, to be precise."
They jump when they hear a screaming noise.
"Atmospheric pressure equalising," the Doctor guessed, stands up.
"Or we had our invisible guest messing around," Claudia concluded, also standing up. "Why don't we just go?"
"Because I need to know."
"About?"
"Suppose that there are creatures that live to hide. That only shows themselves to the very young or the very old, or the mad, or anyone who wouldn't be believed."
"What would those creatures do when everyone was gone?" Claudia remarked.
Bang, bang, bang.
"And it's knocking."
"Potentially, the hull cooling," he tried to convince her.
"Not working," Claudia hissed.
Bang, bang, bang.
"Can we just go?" The bluenette looks at him as the banging continues. "Hiding creatures, things from under the bed… maybe we shouldn't know."
"What's that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye? What's that footstep following, but never passing by?" The Doctor proposed.
"Who cares?!"
"I do!" He insisted and unlocked the hatch. The mechanism starts to turn. "Get in the Tardis."
"Why?"
"I have to know."
"I can't believe I said this, but are you out of your mind?!"
"It's a pressure lock. Releasing it could've triggered the opening mechanism," he warned her.
"So?" Claudia folds her arms. "I can handle it. I know there is an air shell around the ship."
"You're still in danger."
"So do you."
"But I must know!" He insisted. "This is my only chance to know! Just get inside the Tardis, Claudia! Get inside! I can't lose you because of your stupidity!"
Claudia sighs, knowing she can't convince him to stop this madness. "For the record, You're an idiot!" She yelled before running to the Tardis.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"What's going on?!" Arthur asks as Claudia enters the Tardis.
"The idiot opens the airlock," Claudia muttered, checking the monitor while letting out a harsh breath. "So insistent! I'm going to kill him now!" She grumbled as the monitor showed the Doctor still standing before the Tardis jolts and the monitor flickers, followed by a klaxon sound.
"The alarm. The air shell's breached," Orson realised. "Stay here."
"I'll help you," Claudia volunteered as they walked outside, while Clara and Arthur watched worrily from the monitor, showing the Doctor hanging on to the edge of a console as the air and anything loose was sucked out of the capsule before Orson and Claudia his wrist as he starts to slip, pulled to safety and pick him up.
"Is he okay?" Clara asks as Claudia puts the unconscious Doctor on the chair.
"He's out cold. He'll be fine," the bluenette assured her. "Something hit him."
"Let's just go somewhere," Arthur proposed as he dematerialised the Tardis.
"What was out there? What were you so afraid of?" Claudia wondered to Orson.
"I've been here a long time. My own shadow, probably."
"We are safe? Nothing can get in here, right?"
"The Tardis is indestructible. She can handle everything."
The Cloister Bell suddenly tolls. Then, out of nowhere, the time rotor starts to stutter. "Wait, don't!" Arthur yelled, trying to take control.
Claudia quickly checks the console. "What did you do?" She glares at Arthur as the time rotor goes haywire.
"Nothing! She suddenly went into the wrong coordinate!" He insisted before the Tardis landed with a thump. The Cloister Bell has stopped ringing. He checks the monitor, but it shows nothing. "It's broken."
Orson frowns. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere safe, I suppose," Claudia denoted. "Orson, Arthur, stay here. Keep an eye on the Doctor. Me and Clara will check."
"But it could be dangerous!" Arthur pointed out.
"Orson, Arthur, you don't want to meet yourself. It's really embarrassing," Clara suggested before they both go outside.
"Are they always like this?" Orson asked the young brunette.
Arthur shrugged. "At least when I'm around."
The Doctor wakes suddenly. "Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!" He suddenly shouted. "You're confusing me. What? Shut up, shut up." He stops. "Where's Clara and Claudia? Clara! Claudia!"
"They're fine," Arthur assured him. For some reason, he had a feeling that the Doctor can't go outside. "They just check outside. Just wait."
Before the Doctor can say more, both girls enter the Tardis. Claudia looks a little solemn while Clara looks a little relaxed.
"What happened? What did you see?" Orson asked them. "What's out there?"
"What if there was nothing?" Claudia remarked, taking a step closer. "What if there never was anything?"
"What if, the big bad Time Lord doesn't want to admit he's just afraid of the dark?" Clara asked, looking straight into the Doctor's eyes.
"Where are we? Have we moved? Where have we landed?" He demanded, ready to leave.
"Don't look where we are," Claudia grabs his hand. "Please, just don't go outside."
"Why?"
"Take off, and promise me you will never look where we've been," Clara insisted.
He frowns, noticing the shift expression on their face. They didn't want him to find out, and Arthur seems to sense that as well. "All right," he finally said.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As the Doctor read the bedtime story to Arthur, he recalled a dream he had. Way back in Gallifrey, when he was mere 8 years.
"This is just a dream. But very clever people can hear dreams. So, please, just listen. I know you're afraid, but being afraid is all right. Because didn't anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster, and cleverer, and stronger. And one day, you're going to come back to this barn. And on that day you're going to be very afraid indeed."
Arthur tilts his head, already lulled to sleep. He quietly puts down the book beside his table, tucking his blanket on his body, and puts off the light, leaving a lamp table on.
"But that's okay. Because if you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind."
He kissed his forehead, smiling, before quietly closing the door and went to the console room, where Claudia had underlined the word LISTEN on his blackboard, turning to see him with an eyebrow rising.
"You want to tell me now?" She asked.
He sighs, glancing at the console. "You're right," he confessed. "I was panicking. And freak out. And scared."
"It's okay to be afraid," the bluenette shared, recalling the words Clara had spoken to the young Doctor. It'll be fine, Doctor. Really. Arthur had just known you're his father. He needs more adjustment for that. Show him that you care, like you always do. Don't let him think that you never wanted him."
He sighs. "Right," he muttered, trying not to think of his bad treatment in the past and what it might affect him.