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moon_blitzTitle: Between the Dark and the Light
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, minor AU
Rating: G
Pairing: Clara/Jack/River
Warnings: Spoilers for 7x13, The Name of the Doctor
Summary: Clara becomes stuck while trying to rescue the Doctor, and needs a little help to make it though. Minor AU for the end of the episode.
Author's Notes: based off the prompt 'Clara/Any companion of the past/River, Only Clara can hear River and the cries of companions past... why?'. Unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine.
Between the Dark and the Light
Clara hit the ground with a gasp, rolling onto her side as the mental impact of her actions caught up to her. So many memories and emotions were flooding her mind, each clamouring for attention and all getting lost in the general chaos. A thousand lives and deaths had created a thousand different versions of her, but somehow she had ended up intact.
After a few minutes, she was able to sit up and take stock of her situation, her mind still buzzing with voices. She assumed that she was still on Trenzalore judging by the rocky ground she sat on, but with thick mist swirling all around her, it was hard to tell.
“Doctor?” she called cautiously, hoping that he had somehow remained whole after she had jumped into his timestream, and her call was quickly rewarded with the sound of footsteps running towards her. “Doctor-”
The man who dashed out of the mist was the Doctor, but he wasn’t her Doctor. She recognized him as the one who had left Gallifrey all those years ago with his granddaughter, the one she had helped by directing him towards the TARDIS he should ‘borrow’. The elderly man didn’t even spare her a glance as he ran by, the mist swallowing him an instant later.
“Doctor!” More footsteps approach, and another Doctor burst into view, scarf trailing behind him. Other Doctors followed him, all of them oblivious to her cries. Clara started to shake as panic set in. Would she be trapped in this misty wasteland forever, eternally haunted by the Doctors of the past? Had she failed to save the Doctor somewhere and was now experiencing a personal hell created for her by the Great Intelligence?
The babble of voices in her mind quieted then, seemingly overcome by the wave of terror that engulfed her. “Doctor…Doctor!” Help me!” she cried, desperate to get the attention of the ghosts that lurked in the fog. Because they were still out there, she could hear them talking, their voices mere whispers. She broke down then, shaking and continuing to call out between bouts of sobbing.
Eventually she lay curled up on the ground, trying in vain to ignore those talking around her. Those people, or ghosts, or whatever they were couldn’t be the Doctor, that much she had determined. They sounded mostly female from what she could hear, and none of the Doctors she had saved had been a woman. The snatches of conversations that she managed to make out seemed entirely random, furthering her suspicions that the owners were ghosts. Did that mean she was a ghost? Trenzalore seemed to be a giant graveyard, so perhaps this was her resting place as well as the Doctor’s.
“…ra…”
Clara lifted her head from the cold ground at the sound. Plenty of words ended in ra, but it almost seemed like something was calling for her…
“..lara…”
Yes, someone was definitely saying her name, and they seemed to be coming closer. “Hello? Doctor, is that you?” she called back, fearful that the ghosts were trying to trick her somehow.
“Clara!” She sat up fully at the call, staring as Professor Song ran out of the mist. The woman stopped abruptly to avoid crashing into her, quickly kneeling and pulling her into a tight hug. “I finally found you. Are you alright?”
“P-Professor Song…I…I’m fine. I think,” Clara stammered back, not sure what to make of the strange turn of events. The professor was dead, so did their meeting like this mean she was too?
“Good. I’m very sorry it took me so long to find you - this place is very hard to navigate, even if you know what your looking for. And please, call me River,” the woman said, pulling back slightly and stroking Clara’s hair.
“Where are we?”
“You’re stuck in a fold in the Doctor’s timestream, while I’m in the computer system of a distant planet.”
“Then…how are you here? Is this real?” Clara asked, edging away from the woman. River certainly seemed like she was here with her, but perhaps it was just another illusion, like the many Doctors who had run past.
“Yes, I’m as real as you are.” River smiled and squeezed her shoulder, clearly trying to provide a measure of comfort. “I’m here because you’re still mentally connected to the TARDIS and I’m still in the dreamscape where Madame Vastra held her conference. This place…it’s similar to a dream in that it allows the imaginary to become real. You’ve had dreams where impossible things have happened, right? It’s similar to that.”
Clara nodded at the explanation, knowing all to well what the professor was talking about. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but the murmur of nearby voices made her pause and shudder. “Can you hear them?” she asked instead.
“Just barely.” River listened hard for a moment, then shifted so that she was sitting next to Clara, close enough so their knees touched.
“Do you know who there are?”
“Yes. And you should know them as well, I think. Listen, and tell me what you hear.”
Clara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, straining to catch what the voices were saying. The sounds were muffled, but as she focused on them, they gradually grew clearer. And then she realized they were all asking the same basic question just in a thousand different ways. “They’re all asking for the Doctor…” she muttered, somehow feeling immensely alone despite being seemingly surrounded by a large number of people.
“It’s everyone who travelled with the Doctor…his travelling assistants,” she said at last, opening her eyes and looking at River again. She nodded in approval, and Clara allowed herself to smile at her.
“I’m not entirely certain, but I think they’re being generated through your mental link with the TARDIS. The place is drawing out her memories as well, although not as strongly,” River paused and looking around for a few moments, then squeezed Clara’s hand. “Would you be up to trying something? It isn’t dangerous, I promise.”
Thinking that a promise like that was difficult to make in a place like this, Clara made a gut decision and nodded. “Sure. What do you want to do?”
“I want you to try and manifest a physical form for one of the Doctor’s assistants. You should have met them all, so choose whoever you wish and focus on them alone. Between you and the TARDIS, you should have enough information to make a complete copy of them,” River explained with a mischievous smile on her face.
Clara couldn’t help but grin at her. It was a ridiculous, impossible request, but she was The Impossible Girl and this place could make the impossible possible. “You better hope the TARDIS likes me now, otherwise this could backfire horribly,” she joked, getting a laugh from the professor.
“Don’t worry, I think she’ll behave for you now,” River answered, squeezing her hand again. “Begin whenever you feel ready.”
Closing her eyes once more, Clara concentrated on the voices talking in the mist. There were just so many to choose from, how could she pick just one? Frowning and wiggling slightly in a effort to get more comfortable, she simply let the faint talking wash over her, slowly narrowing in on one particular voice among the crowd.
“Doctor…? Oh! Hello, ladies!” Clara opened her eyes at the American accent, and looked up at the man with a faint sense of accomplishment.
“An interesting choice,” River observed, and she blushed slightly at the teasing tone in her voice.
“I dunno why, but he seemed easier to focus on that the rest. I hope you don’t mind?” she asked quickly, looking between them.
“Not at all. Why don’t you join us?” River offered, patting the ground in front of herself and Clara.
“Don’t mind if I do. Captain Jack Harkness, at your service,” Jack said once he was settled offering his hand to both of them.
“Professor River Song.”
“Clara Oswald. Nice to meet you at last.” She had seem him with the Doctor and Rose Tyler on a space station orbiting a dying star, and had giver he life to save them from the flood of radiation that had threatened them all when the station’s shields had been sabotaged.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” he replied with a grin, giving her an obvious look over as they shook hands. That made her smile, and she decided to play along. Her flirting skills were rather rusty, but she had a feeling Jack wouldn’t mind.
“What’s someone like you doing in a place like this?” she asked him, leaning back and giving him a look over as well.
“Looking for the Doctor, like you are.”
“You won’t find him here, unfortunately. Although there are plenty of other things to be found, if you knew how to look…” River said slyly, and Clara realized that she wasn’t the only one having a bit of fun.
“Oh? Well, I think I managed to find you two without to much trouble. Is there anything else I should know?” Jack replied, grinning as he looked between her and Clara.
“A lot. Depends on what you’re exactly looking for, though.”
Shaking her head at River’s flirting, she leaned over and whispered, “Wouldn’t the Doctor be mad, since you two are married and all?”
“I doubt it. Besides, he’ll never know unless you tell him,” the professor answered, prompting Clara to shake her head again. She would never tell the Doctor about this, assuming she got out of this and that the Doctor was still alive.
“Erm, sorry to change subjects on you, but is there a way to get out of this place?” Clara asked a once there was a break in the flirting a few minutes later, looking around the mist that surrounded them.
“No idea, but I’ve learned that there is usually a way out if most places if you look hard enough,” Jack answered, giving her a comforting smile.
“There will be a way out eventually, but I’m afraid we’re stuck here until the fold collapses enough for it to form,” River replied, leaning over and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Until then, why don’t we make the best of situation, hm?”
Catching on to what was being implied, Clara blushed and said quickly, “I’m not sure I’m ready for that…” Sure, she’d been enjoying the banter between the three of them, and River and Jack were both attractive, but she didn’t want to overstep any bounds.
“Relax, you’re over thinking things too much,” River murmured, drawing back slightly. Her hand remained on Clara’s shoulder though, and she looked at it before focusing on Jack. He was looking up at the mist above them, an odd expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and he blinked and looked back at her.
“Not sure. I just suddenly miss the Doctor and Rose all of a sudden. I mean, I haven’t known them that long, but something about this place makes me think of them.”
Clara stared at him for a moment, then leaned over and hugged him impulsively. “I know exactly how you feel,” she murmured as his arms slid around her. “There’s just something about travelling with him that makes everything else seem weird when he’s not around.”
“That there is,” River said, her hand settling once more on Clara’s shoulder. Clara shifted, blindly reaching for her, and she felt Jack do the same.
The woman joined them a moment later, and she felt the vibrations in her cheek as Jack chuckled and muttered, “Mmm, gotta love a group hug. So you’ve both travelled with the Doctor?”
“Yes, we have. Long after you, from what I recall him saying, though, and never at the same time,” River replied. Clara nodded in agreement as well, the memories of her other lives confirming the information. She had a lot to sort though, but at the moment she had a general timeline of who had travelled with which Doctor when.
“He still mentions me, huh? That’s good to know.” Jack sounded surprised at that, and for good reason. Clara knew that the Doctor rarely mentioned those he had travelled with in the past, and it was only by chance that she had learned about River.
The distant murmur of past companion’s voices rose for a moment and then went silent. Unwilling to leave the comfort of Jack and River’s arms yet sensing something had occurred, Clara asked, “What’s going on?”
“This fold is starting to straighten itself out, collapsing in on itself and returning everything in it to its proper place,” River explained with a note of sadness in her voice.
“Guess that’s my cue to go,” Jack said regretfully, slowly pulling away from them. As he stood he flashed them a smile and added, “Even so, it’s been lovely ladies. I hope we can meet again sometime.” He stepped back into the mist, throwing a quickly salute before he vanished completely.
Clara took refuge in River’s arms as the fear of being left alone flared in her mind again. “You have to go too, don’t you?”
“I do, but I can stay a little longer. I won’t leave you here like this,” River answered, pulling her closer and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. Clara savoured the pleasant mix of emotions flowing through her as the waited for this strange world to vanish and sweep them away.
The mist slowly melted away, revealing a barren landscape shrouded in darkness. A chill made her shiver; whether real or imaginary, she could not tell, but River’s arms tightened around her as a result. How long the stayed like that, she could not say, but eventually a faint call reached her and Clara sat up straighter.
“Is that…”
“Yes, I think it is. Go, answer him. He’ll find you easier that way,” River encouraged, giving her a smile when Clara looked at her.
“Doctor! Doctor, I’m over here!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her words better. Another shout answered her, closer than the last, and hearing that familiar voice made her smile. “He’s alive…” she breathed, scrambling to her feet.
“Doubting him, were you?” River teased, standing close behind her as they waited for their Doctor to arrive.
“Clara, hold on, I’m coming!”
The girl let out a sigh of relief at that, turning to smile at River. “Thank you, River. I don’t know how I would have made it though without you.”
“Oh, I think you would have managed somehow,” River said fondly, wrapping her in one final hug. “But you’re very welcome, Clara.”
“Will I ever see you again?”
“Maybe, although perhaps only in your dreams,” River replied cryptically as they parted, smiling at her. “It’ll be tough for a while, but I’m certain you’ll be fine. Tell that husband of mine that I said hello, would you?”
“It’s a promise,” Clara declared, and River nodded and nodded in the direction of the Doctor, silently telling her it was time. She took one last look the woman, then turned and called in response to the Doctor’s repeated shouts, “You’re almost there, Doctor!”
The sudden explosion of voices in her mind let her know that River had gone, and the strength of them caused her to gasp in pain and squeeze her eyes shut. Whatever River had done to quiet the countless memories, it had worked, but Clara sensed that this was a battle she would have to fight alone from now on.
Running footsteps let her know that the Doctor was near, and as he came into view, she smiled and reached for him. Now that he was with her, everything was fine. She had succeeded in saving him, just as she had hoped.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, minor AU
Rating: G
Pairing: Clara/Jack/River
Warnings: Spoilers for 7x13, The Name of the Doctor
Summary: Clara becomes stuck while trying to rescue the Doctor, and needs a little help to make it though. Minor AU for the end of the episode.
Author's Notes: based off the prompt 'Clara/Any companion of the past/River, Only Clara can hear River and the cries of companions past... why?'. Unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine.
Clara hit the ground with a gasp, rolling onto her side as the mental impact of her actions caught up to her. So many memories and emotions were flooding her mind, each clamouring for attention and all getting lost in the general chaos. A thousand lives and deaths had created a thousand different versions of her, but somehow she had ended up intact.
After a few minutes, she was able to sit up and take stock of her situation, her mind still buzzing with voices. She assumed that she was still on Trenzalore judging by the rocky ground she sat on, but with thick mist swirling all around her, it was hard to tell.
“Doctor?” she called cautiously, hoping that he had somehow remained whole after she had jumped into his timestream, and her call was quickly rewarded with the sound of footsteps running towards her. “Doctor-”
The man who dashed out of the mist was the Doctor, but he wasn’t her Doctor. She recognized him as the one who had left Gallifrey all those years ago with his granddaughter, the one she had helped by directing him towards the TARDIS he should ‘borrow’. The elderly man didn’t even spare her a glance as he ran by, the mist swallowing him an instant later.
“Doctor!” More footsteps approach, and another Doctor burst into view, scarf trailing behind him. Other Doctors followed him, all of them oblivious to her cries. Clara started to shake as panic set in. Would she be trapped in this misty wasteland forever, eternally haunted by the Doctors of the past? Had she failed to save the Doctor somewhere and was now experiencing a personal hell created for her by the Great Intelligence?
The babble of voices in her mind quieted then, seemingly overcome by the wave of terror that engulfed her. “Doctor…Doctor!” Help me!” she cried, desperate to get the attention of the ghosts that lurked in the fog. Because they were still out there, she could hear them talking, their voices mere whispers. She broke down then, shaking and continuing to call out between bouts of sobbing.
Eventually she lay curled up on the ground, trying in vain to ignore those talking around her. Those people, or ghosts, or whatever they were couldn’t be the Doctor, that much she had determined. They sounded mostly female from what she could hear, and none of the Doctors she had saved had been a woman. The snatches of conversations that she managed to make out seemed entirely random, furthering her suspicions that the owners were ghosts. Did that mean she was a ghost? Trenzalore seemed to be a giant graveyard, so perhaps this was her resting place as well as the Doctor’s.
“…ra…”
Clara lifted her head from the cold ground at the sound. Plenty of words ended in ra, but it almost seemed like something was calling for her…
“..lara…”
Yes, someone was definitely saying her name, and they seemed to be coming closer. “Hello? Doctor, is that you?” she called back, fearful that the ghosts were trying to trick her somehow.
“Clara!” She sat up fully at the call, staring as Professor Song ran out of the mist. The woman stopped abruptly to avoid crashing into her, quickly kneeling and pulling her into a tight hug. “I finally found you. Are you alright?”
“P-Professor Song…I…I’m fine. I think,” Clara stammered back, not sure what to make of the strange turn of events. The professor was dead, so did their meeting like this mean she was too?
“Good. I’m very sorry it took me so long to find you - this place is very hard to navigate, even if you know what your looking for. And please, call me River,” the woman said, pulling back slightly and stroking Clara’s hair.
“Where are we?”
“You’re stuck in a fold in the Doctor’s timestream, while I’m in the computer system of a distant planet.”
“Then…how are you here? Is this real?” Clara asked, edging away from the woman. River certainly seemed like she was here with her, but perhaps it was just another illusion, like the many Doctors who had run past.
“Yes, I’m as real as you are.” River smiled and squeezed her shoulder, clearly trying to provide a measure of comfort. “I’m here because you’re still mentally connected to the TARDIS and I’m still in the dreamscape where Madame Vastra held her conference. This place…it’s similar to a dream in that it allows the imaginary to become real. You’ve had dreams where impossible things have happened, right? It’s similar to that.”
Clara nodded at the explanation, knowing all to well what the professor was talking about. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but the murmur of nearby voices made her pause and shudder. “Can you hear them?” she asked instead.
“Just barely.” River listened hard for a moment, then shifted so that she was sitting next to Clara, close enough so their knees touched.
“Do you know who there are?”
“Yes. And you should know them as well, I think. Listen, and tell me what you hear.”
Clara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, straining to catch what the voices were saying. The sounds were muffled, but as she focused on them, they gradually grew clearer. And then she realized they were all asking the same basic question just in a thousand different ways. “They’re all asking for the Doctor…” she muttered, somehow feeling immensely alone despite being seemingly surrounded by a large number of people.
“It’s everyone who travelled with the Doctor…his travelling assistants,” she said at last, opening her eyes and looking at River again. She nodded in approval, and Clara allowed herself to smile at her.
“I’m not entirely certain, but I think they’re being generated through your mental link with the TARDIS. The place is drawing out her memories as well, although not as strongly,” River paused and looking around for a few moments, then squeezed Clara’s hand. “Would you be up to trying something? It isn’t dangerous, I promise.”
Thinking that a promise like that was difficult to make in a place like this, Clara made a gut decision and nodded. “Sure. What do you want to do?”
“I want you to try and manifest a physical form for one of the Doctor’s assistants. You should have met them all, so choose whoever you wish and focus on them alone. Between you and the TARDIS, you should have enough information to make a complete copy of them,” River explained with a mischievous smile on her face.
Clara couldn’t help but grin at her. It was a ridiculous, impossible request, but she was The Impossible Girl and this place could make the impossible possible. “You better hope the TARDIS likes me now, otherwise this could backfire horribly,” she joked, getting a laugh from the professor.
“Don’t worry, I think she’ll behave for you now,” River answered, squeezing her hand again. “Begin whenever you feel ready.”
Closing her eyes once more, Clara concentrated on the voices talking in the mist. There were just so many to choose from, how could she pick just one? Frowning and wiggling slightly in a effort to get more comfortable, she simply let the faint talking wash over her, slowly narrowing in on one particular voice among the crowd.
“Doctor…? Oh! Hello, ladies!” Clara opened her eyes at the American accent, and looked up at the man with a faint sense of accomplishment.
“An interesting choice,” River observed, and she blushed slightly at the teasing tone in her voice.
“I dunno why, but he seemed easier to focus on that the rest. I hope you don’t mind?” she asked quickly, looking between them.
“Not at all. Why don’t you join us?” River offered, patting the ground in front of herself and Clara.
“Don’t mind if I do. Captain Jack Harkness, at your service,” Jack said once he was settled offering his hand to both of them.
“Professor River Song.”
“Clara Oswald. Nice to meet you at last.” She had seem him with the Doctor and Rose Tyler on a space station orbiting a dying star, and had giver he life to save them from the flood of radiation that had threatened them all when the station’s shields had been sabotaged.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” he replied with a grin, giving her an obvious look over as they shook hands. That made her smile, and she decided to play along. Her flirting skills were rather rusty, but she had a feeling Jack wouldn’t mind.
“What’s someone like you doing in a place like this?” she asked him, leaning back and giving him a look over as well.
“Looking for the Doctor, like you are.”
“You won’t find him here, unfortunately. Although there are plenty of other things to be found, if you knew how to look…” River said slyly, and Clara realized that she wasn’t the only one having a bit of fun.
“Oh? Well, I think I managed to find you two without to much trouble. Is there anything else I should know?” Jack replied, grinning as he looked between her and Clara.
“A lot. Depends on what you’re exactly looking for, though.”
Shaking her head at River’s flirting, she leaned over and whispered, “Wouldn’t the Doctor be mad, since you two are married and all?”
“I doubt it. Besides, he’ll never know unless you tell him,” the professor answered, prompting Clara to shake her head again. She would never tell the Doctor about this, assuming she got out of this and that the Doctor was still alive.
“Erm, sorry to change subjects on you, but is there a way to get out of this place?” Clara asked a once there was a break in the flirting a few minutes later, looking around the mist that surrounded them.
“No idea, but I’ve learned that there is usually a way out if most places if you look hard enough,” Jack answered, giving her a comforting smile.
“There will be a way out eventually, but I’m afraid we’re stuck here until the fold collapses enough for it to form,” River replied, leaning over and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Until then, why don’t we make the best of situation, hm?”
Catching on to what was being implied, Clara blushed and said quickly, “I’m not sure I’m ready for that…” Sure, she’d been enjoying the banter between the three of them, and River and Jack were both attractive, but she didn’t want to overstep any bounds.
“Relax, you’re over thinking things too much,” River murmured, drawing back slightly. Her hand remained on Clara’s shoulder though, and she looked at it before focusing on Jack. He was looking up at the mist above them, an odd expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and he blinked and looked back at her.
“Not sure. I just suddenly miss the Doctor and Rose all of a sudden. I mean, I haven’t known them that long, but something about this place makes me think of them.”
Clara stared at him for a moment, then leaned over and hugged him impulsively. “I know exactly how you feel,” she murmured as his arms slid around her. “There’s just something about travelling with him that makes everything else seem weird when he’s not around.”
“That there is,” River said, her hand settling once more on Clara’s shoulder. Clara shifted, blindly reaching for her, and she felt Jack do the same.
The woman joined them a moment later, and she felt the vibrations in her cheek as Jack chuckled and muttered, “Mmm, gotta love a group hug. So you’ve both travelled with the Doctor?”
“Yes, we have. Long after you, from what I recall him saying, though, and never at the same time,” River replied. Clara nodded in agreement as well, the memories of her other lives confirming the information. She had a lot to sort though, but at the moment she had a general timeline of who had travelled with which Doctor when.
“He still mentions me, huh? That’s good to know.” Jack sounded surprised at that, and for good reason. Clara knew that the Doctor rarely mentioned those he had travelled with in the past, and it was only by chance that she had learned about River.
The distant murmur of past companion’s voices rose for a moment and then went silent. Unwilling to leave the comfort of Jack and River’s arms yet sensing something had occurred, Clara asked, “What’s going on?”
“This fold is starting to straighten itself out, collapsing in on itself and returning everything in it to its proper place,” River explained with a note of sadness in her voice.
“Guess that’s my cue to go,” Jack said regretfully, slowly pulling away from them. As he stood he flashed them a smile and added, “Even so, it’s been lovely ladies. I hope we can meet again sometime.” He stepped back into the mist, throwing a quickly salute before he vanished completely.
Clara took refuge in River’s arms as the fear of being left alone flared in her mind again. “You have to go too, don’t you?”
“I do, but I can stay a little longer. I won’t leave you here like this,” River answered, pulling her closer and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. Clara savoured the pleasant mix of emotions flowing through her as the waited for this strange world to vanish and sweep them away.
The mist slowly melted away, revealing a barren landscape shrouded in darkness. A chill made her shiver; whether real or imaginary, she could not tell, but River’s arms tightened around her as a result. How long the stayed like that, she could not say, but eventually a faint call reached her and Clara sat up straighter.
“Is that…”
“Yes, I think it is. Go, answer him. He’ll find you easier that way,” River encouraged, giving her a smile when Clara looked at her.
“Doctor! Doctor, I’m over here!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her words better. Another shout answered her, closer than the last, and hearing that familiar voice made her smile. “He’s alive…” she breathed, scrambling to her feet.
“Doubting him, were you?” River teased, standing close behind her as they waited for their Doctor to arrive.
“Clara, hold on, I’m coming!”
The girl let out a sigh of relief at that, turning to smile at River. “Thank you, River. I don’t know how I would have made it though without you.”
“Oh, I think you would have managed somehow,” River said fondly, wrapping her in one final hug. “But you’re very welcome, Clara.”
“Will I ever see you again?”
“Maybe, although perhaps only in your dreams,” River replied cryptically as they parted, smiling at her. “It’ll be tough for a while, but I’m certain you’ll be fine. Tell that husband of mine that I said hello, would you?”
“It’s a promise,” Clara declared, and River nodded and nodded in the direction of the Doctor, silently telling her it was time. She took one last look the woman, then turned and called in response to the Doctor’s repeated shouts, “You’re almost there, Doctor!”
The sudden explosion of voices in her mind let her know that River had gone, and the strength of them caused her to gasp in pain and squeeze her eyes shut. Whatever River had done to quiet the countless memories, it had worked, but Clara sensed that this was a battle she would have to fight alone from now on.
Running footsteps let her know that the Doctor was near, and as he came into view, she smiled and reached for him. Now that he was with her, everything was fine. She had succeeded in saving him, just as she had hoped.
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