Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who that goes to the BBC
A while later inside the study of the Latimer house, Clara was lying on a table as Strax scanned her with Vastra's device as she stood behind him. Above the table there was a red light of energy pulsating from the device. Alice and the children stood nearby with worry on their faces as Jenny and Sydney stood nearby with their backs against the wall, while Latimer stood at the opposite side of the table from Strax as next to Vastra was the TARDIS.
"That green woman said she was dead," Latimer stated with confusion in his voice, "How can she be alive now?"
"This technology has capacities and abilities beyond anything your puny human mind could possibly understand," the Sontaran explained, "Try not to worry."
Vastra then entered the TARDIS with Sydney following her into the ship.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose were standing by the console and near each other and held their sonic screwdrivers in their right hands. They had them activated as they used them on pieces of ice from the Ice Governess as they held them in their left hands. Both Gallifreyans put the pieces into a tin box decorated with a map of the London Underground from 1967 that was resting on the console before they both took out another with their left hands and repeated the process as Vastra and Sydney entered the ship.
"Isn't the creature still a danger?" Vastra asked them as she approached them as Sydney closed the TARDIS door behind him with his right hand, "It could reform."
"Yeah, Mum and Dad, isn't the creature still a danger to us?" Sydney said, agreeing with the Silurian.
"No, not in here," the Doctor answered.
"He's right," Rose stated, agreeing with him, "The TARDIS is a safe space. The creature can't reform in here. We've made sure of that."
"Then you both should be with Miss Clara," Vastra told them.
"Indeed, you both should be with her as she could pass on anytime soon," Sydney muttered, agreeing with her.
"She's going to be fine, I know she is," the Doctor argued, "She has to be."
"Yes, she has to be," Rose said, agreeing with him, "We've seen countless miracles in our travels, and from what we've seen in our short time of knowing her, Clara is strong. She's a fighter. We believe in her."
"Doctor, Rose, her injuries are severe," Vastra stated, "That equipment will bring back anyone for a while, but long term…"
"It was our fault. We are responsible for what happened to Clara," the Doctor told the Silurian, "She was in our care."
"Yes, we are," Rose said, agreeing with him, her voice filled with regret and determination, "And that's why we won't give up. We'll do everything in our power to help her recover. She won't just become a companion of ours, but a part of our extended family."
"What is the point of blaming yourselves?" Vastra asked them.
"She's right, Mum and Dad," Sydney stated, agreeing with her, "You both need to stop blaming what happened to Clara and start facing reality."
"None," the Doctor answered, "Because she's going to live."
The Doctor and Rose both stepped out of the TARDIS and walked into the study of the Latimer house with the box of ice in his right hand as they both stared at Clara. He then placed the box of ice in his left hand and handed it to Jenny, who took it with both of her hands as Vastra and Sydney exited the TARDIS as well before he and Rose walked over to Clara. He leaned over as Sydney closed the TARDIS' behind him with his right hand as the Doctor took one of her hands into his and stroked her head, causing the Governess to open her eyes.
"Hey," the Doctor whispered to her, "Hello."
"Hello, Clara," Rose greeted the Governess with her voice being filled with warmth and relief, "It's good to see you awake."
"They all think I'm going to die, don't they?" Clara asked them, weakly.
"And I know you're going to live," the Doctor assured her in a whisper-sounding tone.
"As do I," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"How?" Clara asked them, weakly.
"I never know how," the Doctor answered as he reached into his jacket's pocket with his right hand and pulled out her TARDIS key, "I just know who." He then kissed then key and placed it in her left hand before he kissed her left hand.
"That's right," Rose stated, agreeing with him, her voice filled with conviction, "We don't know how things will turn out, but we always know who we are, and who we're fighting for. And right now, Clara, we're fighting for."
"The green lady," Clara muttered, weakly, "She said you both were the saviors of worlds once. Are you both going to save this one?"
"If we do, will you come away with us and Sydney?" The Doctor asked her in a whisper-sounding tone.
"Yes, Clara. If we save this world, would you consider joining us?" Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "There's so much to see, so much to do. We'd love for you to be a part of it."
"Yes," Clara answered, weakly.
"Well then," the Doctor whispered as he kissed her forehead, "Merry Christmas."
"Like he said," Rose muttered, agreeing with him, "Merry Christmas, Clara. Here's to new beginnings and wonderful adventures together."
The Doctor then stood back up and straightened his bow tie with both of his hands. He then walked back towards Vastra, Jenny and Sydney before he took the box from Jenny as he and Rose left the room.
As the Doctor and Rose entered the house's front hall, the Time Lord opened the front door and saw that Simeon was still standing there and was still surrounded by the snowmen as well.
"I have in my hand a piece of the Ice Lady," the Doctor told Simeon as he held the box up in the air with his right hand, "Everything you need to know about how to make ice people. Is that what you want?" Simeon then stepped forward a bit and extended his right hand towards them, "See you at the office."
"Like he said, see you at the office," Rose said, agreeing with her husband before he closed the door.
The Doctor and Rose both strode back into the TARDIS followed by Vastra and Sydney with the young Gallifreyan boy closing the door behind him with his right hand as his parents worked the TARDIS' controls furiously.
"So then, Doctor and Rose, saving the world again?" Vastra asked both older Gallifreyans, "Might I ask why? Are you both making a bargain with the universe? You'll both save the world to let her live?"
"Yes, and don't you think, after all this time and everything we've ever done, we are owed this one?" The Doctor answered.
"He's right," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "We've given so much, fought so hard. If there's a balance to the universe, then yes, we are owed this one."
"I don't think the universe makes bargains," Vastra told them.
"Nor do I," Sydney said, agreeing with her.
"It was our fault!" The Doctor reminded the Silurian.
"Yeah, it was our fault that she fell from our TARDIS exterior staircase," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Well, then, better save the world," Vastra stated as she grabbed the Doctor by his jacket's lapels.
"I must admit, I'm a bit surprised about this," Sydney told them, "You're both saving the world again, even before my education to become a Time Lord after you both stopped when I was born seventy years ago. But then again, I suppose there's no better lesson on what it means to be a Time Lord than this, is there?"
"You're right, Sid," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, her voice filled with warmth and pride, "There's no better lesson than this. Remember, being a Time Lord, or in my case, a Time Lady isn't just about knowledge and power, it's about responsibility, compassion, and courage. it's about doing what's right, even when it's hard. And today, you're part of that lesson."
With that said, the Doctor pulled the TARDIS' dematerialisation lever down, putting the ship in motion as it began dematerialising from the Latimer house.
A while later at the Institute, Simeon opened the door to his office as the Doctor was sitting at his desk with his legs crossed and resting on its surface with Rose, Sydney and Vastra standing behind him.
"You two promised us something," Simeon reminded the Time Lord couple as he walked into the room and approached them, "Have either of you brought it?"
"Big fella here's been very quiet while you've been out, which is only to be expected considering who he really is," the Doctor stated before he stood back up and held up the box with both of his hands as he walked towards the centre of the room, "Know what this is, big fella?"
"I do not understand these markings," the Intelligence told him.
"A map of the London Underground, 1967," the Doctor explained, "Key strategic weakness in metropolitan living, if you ask me, but then I have never liked a tunnel."
"And speaking of tunnels and the London Underground, it's worth noting that in the not-too-distant future, it will be invaded by creatures that resemble what humans refer to as 'Yeti,'" Rose added as Simeon removed his hat with his left hand and placed it on his desk, "Quite an eventful history, wouldn't you say? But that's a story for another time."
"Enough of this. We are powerful, but on this planet we are limited," the Intelligence told them as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket with his right hand and moved it behind his back and activated it as he placed his left arm behind his back as well and held its emitter with his left hand as to not raise suspicion to Simeon, "We need to learn to take human form." Its voice then began changing as it changed to a mixture of an adult man's voice and a young boy before changing to one of a young boy, "The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity."
"What's happening to its voice?" Vastra asked them as the Doctor removed his left hand from his screwdriver's emitter.
"Yeah, what's happened to its voice, Dad?" Sydney said, agreeing with the Silurian.
"Just stripping away the disguise," the Doctor explained as he deactivated his sonic screwdriver.
"And showing us who he really is," Rose added.
"No, stop," the Intelligence ordered them as the Doctor placed his screwdriver back inside his jacket's pocket, "Stop that! Cease! I command you." As the Intelligence said that, Simeon slowly fell back against his desk for support almost as if he was remembering something.
"It sounds like a child," Vastra stated.
"Yeah, it does," Sydney said, agreeing with her before he looked at his parents, "Mum, Dad, it sounds like a child. It's strange, isn't it? The voice of whatever this is taking on the form of a child's voice is a bit weird."
"Of course it sounds like a child, it is a child," the Doctor confirmed, "Simeon as a child, the snow has no voice without him."
"He's right. The voice we're hearing is Simeon's childhood," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "The snow, or the Intelligence as it calls itself, is merely echoing it."
"Don't listen to them!" The Intelligence ordered Simeon, "They're ruining everything."
"How long has the Intelligence been talking to you?" The Doctor asked Simeon.
"I was a little boy. He was my snowman," Simeon answered, "He spoke to me."
"Snow doesn't talk, does it?" The Doctor stated, "It's just a mirror. It just reflects back everything we think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into a snowman, and look," He then pointed to the snow globe with his right hand's index finger, "look what it became!"
"I don't understand," Vastra told the Time Lord as she stepped forward.
"Nor do I," Sydney said, agreeing with her as he walked towards them.
"It's a parasite feeding on the loneliness of a child and the sickness of an old man," the Doctor explained as he walked towards the snow globe before he walked back towards Simeon, "Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values and something terrible is born."
"Yes, it's a chilling combination," Rose said, agreeing with him, "the innocence of a child's imagination and the despair of an old man's solitude, twisted and amplified by the snow. It's a potent reminder of how powerful and dangerous unchecked emotions can be."
"We can go on and do everything we planned," the Intelligence told Simeon.
"Oh, yes, and what a plan," the Doctor muttered to himself, "A world full of living ice people. Oh, dear me, how very Victorian of you."
"What's wrong with Victorian values?" Simeon asked the Time Lord before he lunged at the Doctor and grabbed the box of ice, only for Vastra to come forward and take it back from him.
"Ah-ah-ah," the Doctor muttered as he held up left hand's index finger, "Are you sure?"
"I have always been sure," Simeon answered.
"I wouldn't if I were you," Rose told him as Simeon reached into the box with his right hand to take a piece of ice from it, only to grab the memory worm which was in the box instead as it bit his hand, causing him to groan and knelt over on his side.
"Good," the Doctor muttered, coldly as he bent over towards Simeon, "I'm glad you think so. Since your entire adult life is about to be erased. No parasite without a host. Without you, it will have no voice. Without the governess, it will have no form."
"What... What… What's happening?" The Intelligence asked him, "What's happening? What did you do?"
"You've got nothing left to mirror any more," the Doctor explained as he stood back up and turned around towards the Intelligence's snow globe and held both of his arms out, "Goodbye."
"What did you…" The Intelligence began to ask him when its voice and energy faded away before resuming as if nothing happened, "Did you really think it would be so easy?"
"That's not possible," the Doctor stated with disbelief in his voice, "How is that possible?"
"Like he said, that shouldn't be possible," Rose said, agreeing with her husband as she had the same look of confusion on her face. "How are you doing that?"
"Doctor! Rose!" Vastra called out to both Gallifreyans as she and Sydney ran over to the office's windows and looked out the windows.
"Mum, Dad, you two better take a look at this," Sydney said, agreeing with her before the Doctor and Rose both ran over and looked out the window at the snow and saw that the snow's snowflakes were becoming more violent than usual.
Back at the Latimer house, the snowmen in the front yard grew taller and growled as Jenny was keeping watch from the study's windows.
"They're growing!" Jenny reported to everyone, "The snowmen are growing."
"What do we do?" Latimer asked her as he walked over to her by the window.
"But you were just Dr. Simeon. You were not real," the Doctor told the Intelligence as he, Rose, Sydney and Vastra stood at the base of the Intelligence's snow globe, "He dreamed you. How can you still exist?"
"Exactly," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, her voice filled with the same confusion as his, "You were a figment of a child's imagination, given form by snow. Without Simeon, you shouldn't exist. So how are you still here?"
"Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die," the Intelligence stated, "Once I was the puppet… Now I pull the strings!" Simeon then suddenly rose up from the floor behind them, charged with electricity with the Intelligence now speaking through him with his skin now being blue as if it was cold with frost covering it, "I have tried so long to take on human form. By erasing Simeon, you made space for me. I fill him now."
Vastra pulled her sword from its sheath with her right hand as the Intelligence said that as Rose pulled out her sonic screwdriver and aimed it at him, while Sydney went into a Venusian Aikido ready stance that he learned from his mother as the Silurian moved to attack Simeon, but he flung her aside and did the same to Rose and Sydney before he put his hands around the Doctor's throat, pushing him down to the floor.
"Born in snow, born in Simeon," the Intelligence went on from Simeon's body, "Even this old body is strong in my control." The Intelligence then reached Simeon's right hand to touch the Time Lord's face and his skin, causing him to groan in pain, "Do you feel it?" As the Intelligence used Simeon's hand to touch the Doctor's face, steam rose from the Time Lord's skin as the heat left his body as his skin began to turn blue and cold, "Winter is coming. Winter is coming!"
"No, you must fight," Strax ordered Clara as he watched over her again and stared at Vastra's vital device, "Hang on and fight, boy, you can do it!" Latimer then came to stand beside the table.
"Captain Latimer…" Clara muttered, weakly as Latimer gripped her right hand with his own right hand, "your children. They're afraid. Hold them."
"But it's not really my area," Latimer protested as he looked at his children.
"It is now," Clara stated, weakly before Strax clicked on the device as a single tear fell from Clara's right eye when suddenly, there was a flash of lightning outside the house, causing Jenny to turn towards and look out the window and saw that the snow's snowflakes turned to rain.
Back at Simeon's office, the snow inside the snow globe suddenly turned into water, causing the Intelligence, still controlling Simeon's body, to fall back from the Doctor and curl up in pain.
"What's happening?" The Intelligence asked them as the Doctor moved over to Simeon's body to examine him as Rose and Sydney got back up on their knees with Rose approaching Simeon's body and examined it as well before Vastra also got up as she and Sydney looked at the snow globe.
"Doctor, Rose," Vastra called out to both older Gallifreyans as she pointed at the snow globe with her right hand's index finger for a second before lowering her right arm, "The globe, it's turning to rain." The Doctor and Rose then looked at the snow globe, "All of it, the snow, Look." Simeon's skin turned back to normal as he looked at his hands as they trembled before dropping them to his side as the Doctor felt his arms for a pulse, "He's dead. What happened?"
"Like she said, how did the snow turn into snow?" Sydney asked his parents, agreeing with the Silurian.
"The snow mirrors. That's all it does," the Doctor explained, "It's mirroring something else now, something so strong, it's drowning everything else." He then ran over to the window and opened it with both of his hands and let the rain fall into his right hand's palm, "There was a critical mass of snow at the house. If something happened there…" He then placed his hand in front of his mouth and licked his hand before Rose did the same.
"Salty," Vastra stated as she did the same thing that the Doctor and Rose did and tasted the rain, "Salt water rain."
"It's not rain, Vastra," Rose corrected her, "It's tears."
"She's right, it's not raining. It's crying," the Doctor said, agreeing with his wife, "The only force on Earth that could drown the snow, a whole family crying on Christmas Eve."
Back in the study of the Latimer's house, Clara's tears fell to the floor to be absorbed by the room's rug.
The Doctor looked at Rose, Sydney and Vastra before they all ran back to the TARDIS.
As the TARDIS began to rematerialise inside the study of the Latimer's house, the snowmen outside began to melt in the rain before the Doctor opened the TARDIS' door and stepped out of the ship, followed by Rose, Sydney and Vastra with the Silurian closing the door behind her with her right hand.
"I'm sorry. There was nothing to be done," Strax apologised to both older Gallifreyans, "She has moments only."
Latimer had his arms around Francesca and Digby as they cried against his chest before Digby turned his head and watched as the Doctor and Rose both approached the table and kneeled in front of the dying Clara.
"We saved the world, Clara, you, me and Rose," the Doctor whispered to Clara with a small smile on his face, "We really, really did."
"Indeed, we did," Rose said, agreeing with her husband with a small smile on her face as well.
"Are you both going back... to your cloud with your son?" Clara asked them, weakly.
"No more cloud," the Doctor answered, weakly, "Not now."
"He's right, it'll be a while till we go back to our cloud," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Why not?" Clara asked them, weakly before she closed her eyes.
"It rained," the Doctor explained as he and Rose bowed their heads.
"Run," Clara muttered, weakly, causing both Gallifreyans to lift their heads in surprise.
"What did you say?" Rose asked her with surprise in her voice.
"Run, you clever pair," Clara went on as she reopened her eyes, "And remember." She then passed away when church bells began to ring from outside.
"It's Christmas," Jenny stated, "Christmas Day."
"It's kind of hard to fathom someone dying on Christmas Day," Sydney muttered to himself with a hint of sadness in his voice.
A few days later, after Clara's funeral proceedings, Latimer, Francesca and Digby were all dressed in black with Latimer wearing a top hat over his head, while his children wore caps over their heads as they stood by the side of Clara's freshly-dug grave. The Doctor, Rose, Sydney, Vastra and Jenny watched from a distance. The Silurian was wearing her veil as the Doctor held a bouquet of flowers in his right hand.
"And what about the Intelligence, melted with the snow?" Vastra asked both older Gallifreyans.
"No, I shouldn't think so," the Doctor answered, "It learned to survive beyond physical form."
"And with that, we can assume that it survived," Rose added, agreeing with him.
"Well, we can't be in much danger from a disembodied Intelligence that thinks it can invade the world with snowmen," Jenny stated.
"Or that the London Underground is a key strategic weakness," Vastra added, "Which may even one day invade it with Yetis."
"And that could even be in 1967 as you said the markings of that tunnel was from, Dad," Sydney stated.
"The Great Intelligence," the Doctor muttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the calling card that he had taken from Simeon's office when he and Rose infiltrated the Institute as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson with his right hand as Latimer and his children walked away from Clara's grave, "Rings a bell. Great Intelligence?"
"Wait a minute," Rose muttered to herself with surprise in her voice as she widened her eyes with realisation, "The Great Intelligence… I remember now. You've encountered it before, haven't you, Doctor?" He then turned to look at her with a questioning look in his eyes, "Yes, you've told me about this. The first time was with two former companions of yours, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield in 1930s Tibet when you first met someone by the name of Professor Travers. And then there was the incident in the London Underground, where you and them reunited with Travers and met Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, who later became Brigadier."
"You're absolutely right, Love," the Doctor told her as he slapped his forehead with his right hand with shock, "I can't believe I forgot that."
"It's called being on more adventures than me, due to me regenerating and being chameleon-arched before being sent to Earth in 1986 on our 50th anniversary, Doctor," Rose explained, causing Sydney to slightly giggle before stopping when he suddenly remembered when Clara passed away on Christmas Day.
As the Doctor and Rose noticed that Latimer and his children left Clara's gravesite, they walked towards and approached the grave.
"Doctor… Rose…" Jenny began to call out to them before she looked at Vastra and Sydney.
"Mum, Dad, what's wrong?" Sydney asked his parents as he, Vastra and Jenny walked over to find the Doctor and Rose kneeling by the grave, looking at it's headstone before they looked up at their approach before turning back to the marker.
"I never knew her name, her full name," the Doctor explained.
"Neither did I," Rose said, agreeing with her husband as they saw that the name carved into the grave's headstone read 'Clara Oswin Oswald,' before they recalled meeting Oswin at the Dalek Asylum with Amy and Rory seventy years ago in their timeline.
"Soufflé girl," the Doctor muttered to himself, "Oswin, it was her." He and Rose then recalled the last words that both Oswin and Clara said to them, "It was Soufflé Girl again." He then stood back up, followed by Rose, "We never saw her face the first time with the Daleks seventy years ago, but her voice, it was the same voice."
"Yes, it was her," Rose said, agreeing with him, "Oswin from the Dalek Asylum and Clara… they were the same person. It's all coming together now."
"Doctor… Rose…" Jenny began to say as she, Vastra and Sydney all stared at them.
"The same woman, twice, and she died both times," The Doctor went on, "The same woman!"
"Doctor, Rose, please, what are you both talking about?" Vastra asked them.
"He's talking about someone they met before I was born," Sydney explained.
"Something's going on, something impossible, something…" The Doctor began to go on before he backed away and pointed at them with both of his hands, "Right, you two, stay here, stay right here, don't move an inch." He then lowered his arms as he looked at his wife and son, "Rose, Champ, come on!" He then turned back around and hurried away with Rose and Sydney following him.
"Are you three coming back?" Vastra asked the three Gallifreyans.
"Shouldn't think so!" The Doctor answered.
"But where are you three going?" Vastra asked them.
"To find her," the Doctor explained, "To find Clara." He then laughed and ran off.
"And an Impossible Girl," Rose added as she turned back around towards them for a second before she turned back around and chuckled as she and Sydney continued to follow the Doctor.
"But Clara's dead," Jenny stated with confusion on her face as she looked at her wife, "What're they talking about, finding her?"
"I don't know," Vastra answered, "But perhaps the universe makes bargains after all." She then looked at the headstone of Clara's grave as underneath her name on it, read the words 'Remember me for we shall meet again.'
The Doctor, now donning a velvet waistcoat with a modernistic fob watch attached to its third button, stood out in his slightly pinstriped dress shirt and grey trousers. Beside him, Rose had traded her Victorian dress for a more contemporary look. Her hair, now styled in a bob, complemented her outfit of a white blouse and high-waisted brown trousers with thin blue pinstripes. Over this, she wore a suit jacket that was strikingly similar to the jacket of the Doctor's previous incarnation. It bore the same colour and pinstripe pattern, but had been tailored to a more feminine cut, fitted at the waist and flaring slightly at the hips. The jacket was neatly buttoned up, adding a touch of formality to her ensemble. Adding a pop of colour, she wore red converse trainers and sported a watch on her right wrist.
They ran down from the upper level, their movements echoing around the console room. Meanwhile, Sydney, who had also shed his Victorian attire, leaned against the railing on the upper level. He was casually dressed in a black jumper, a white and blue plaid shirt with a blue t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and red and white Reeboks. A smile graced his face as he watched the scene unfold below.
"Clara Oswin Oswald," the Doctor said as he and Rose slipped different switches around the console before stopping with Rose approaching her husband and Sydney walking down the stairs as they looked at the scanner, which displayed an image of Clara before he looked at his wife and son with the corner of his eye, "Watch us run."
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