Chapter Text
Clara stirred underneath the soft quilts. They were so soft and warm; goodness knew how long she had been in bed. Not that she remembered how she got there. When she tried to remember, it all felt like a dream. And so much running.
A name came to mind. Trenzalore.
That wasn't a dream, she was certain. She remembered how long the Doctor had fought to keep her with him. Hearing him shouting her name as she battled the screams in her head.
Clara would have long been lost hadn't it been for him. Her chin boy.
She stayed with her eyes closed for a while, letting herself drift off with the TARDIS' hums. Clara soon began opening her eyes when she heard a page flip.
The Doctor, who was sitting next to her reading a book, immediately placed the book on the table as soon as he noticed that his companion was awake. The time lord leaned towards her and smoothed her forehead, his Impossible Girl humming in response.
"Hello, Clara." He said with the same old smile.
She smiled, her lips curling weakly. "Hi."
"How is my Impossible Girl?" He asked, his fingers grazing over her forehead.
She sighed, her eyes slipping closed as the Impossible Girl focused on the Doctor's gestures. "Still awfully tired. I am a bit hungry through, and in a little bit of pain."
"Headache?"
"Yeah. And some aches and pains here and there." She breathed a laugh. "I feel like an old lady."
"Give yourself some time to adjust." The Doctor said, letting his fingers linger in her hair. "You've gone through quite a lot in a matter of days."
"I know, it's just that," she let out a sigh. "I feel a bit lost because it feels... different."
"In what way?"
"I feel..." she stopped for a bit. "I feel exhausted. I'm here, but at the same time I have to save you on a planet a few hundred light years away, and at the same time running after you on Earth and a few other places."
"I know, Clara. But I'm here now. You've saved me and... it is more than I can ever ask for." He took her hand, sandwiched it between the palms of his hands; so rough and dry. "I'm not letting you save me any more."
"That might bring about a problem then, Chin Boy." Clara smiled.
"I'm listening."
"You're the most accident-prone being I have ever met. And I can't let you do anything stupid." She laughed.
The Doctor let out a sigh, laughing as he shook his head. For a moment, for just a moment; they were free. Free from all the hurt they had endured.
A terrible growl form under the bedsheets, broke the laughter in the room.
"Sorry." Clara said, her cheeks regaining their colour ever so slightly.
"No apologies, Clara." The Doctor said, as he arranged the sheets, tucking them tighter around his companion. "Food, yes? Craving anything in particular?"
"A small breakfast." Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know when I ate last."
"Breakfast, yes. Nothing poshy. Then your medication and you can go back to sleep. Just wait a bit." The Doctor kissed Clara's forehead and stood up. "I'll be in the kitchen. If you need anything just ask the TARDIS, alright? The old gal will take care."
"I hope she doesn't sabotage anymore." She sighed.
"She'll be a good girl, I'll make sure of it."
The lights inside the room pulsed as the time machine whirred. Clara hummed, the corners of her lips curling into a smile. "What is she saying?"
"She wants to thank you and she'll be all too happy to take care of you."
"This sudden change of heart?"
The TARDIS pulsed yet again.
"You -" the Doctor stopped. "Your Gallifreyan echo chose her. You used to talk to her every night when she was in the repair shop. And you led her to me."
Clara breathed a laugh. "I remember." She looked at him. "You were so old back then, but so young."
The Doctor laughed. "Regeneration is a lottery."
He pressed a light kiss to her hair once more, with Clara humming comfortable as she sunk deeper under the sheets.
"I'll be right back, very soon. Promise." He breathed.
He walked away from the bed, standing in front of the vanity to arrange his bowtie in the mirror with a huge smile on his face before making his way out of the room.
Clara woke up, she will be fine.
He came back humming happily a few minutes later with a plate containing buttered toast and eggs, and a cup of tea, with Clara already sitting up in her bed.
Clara's smile quickly disappeared as she stared at the plate.
The Doctor stopped. "Something wrong, Clara? You don't like something I brought?"
She continued to stare at the plate which was still in the Doctor's hand. The Impossible Girl's eyes inflated in an alarming rate, filling with tears. "Eggs." Clara looked at the Doctor; "Eggs." She repeated with a slight tremble in her voice. The Doctor placed the plate on the bedside table and sat near her on the bed.
Clara threw herself on the Doctor and clung to him, begging for his comfort. “It’s ok. It’s alright. You’re safe, nothing will hurt you in here.” He smoothed her long vanilla-scented silky hair. The time lord let her sob against his tweed, his hearts thumping violently against his chest. He tried to pull her away just to check if she was injured in any way, but the companion’s fingers were so tightly entwined into the Doctor’s clothing that she refused to let go. "What's wrong?" He breathed into her hair. “Please, my Impossible Girl.”
After a few moments of silence (apart from Clara's sobbing and the TARDIS' motors), Clara let out one word.
"Oswin", she said helplessly, not having enough power to say anything else, apart from the word being muffled as she talked through his jacket.
The Doctor stiffened, causing Clara to pull herself out of the hug. "I'm having dreams, Doctor. Of my echoes." She said as the companion looked downwards.
Clara couldn't hold herself from crying. She didn't want to worry him, but it was too horrible for her; passing through what Oswin had passed, being turned unwillingly into a dalek. The dream felt too real.
"It's OK, Clara." As he dried her tears with his thumb. "We'll go through this together, I promise you."
She nodded, taking deep breaths as the shaking eased. As much as she wanted didn't want to burden the Doctor, but she was sure that if she didn't let him help her, Clara would go insane. And at least, he could understand her, even if just a little.
Clara rested her cheek on his shoulder, her eyes slowly slipping shut. His scent felt like home... Even more than ever before. He was there, with her, safe. The Impossible Girl didn't have to run anymore.
His sigh brought her out of her thoughts. "Why did I even let you jump my timestream? I should have stopped you."
"You were dying, Doctor. There was nothing you could have done. And you know you couldn't. You've already seen me and admitted that I saved you 2 times before, and Trenzalore is why. Without you, the world would've crumbled; the whole Universe." She looked at her fingers as she tried to keep her anxieties low. "Better this than being erased, I suppose..."
After some time, she released herself from the hug once more. Clara dried her eyes with the back of her hands:
"I'm so sorry Doctor. I didn't want to worry you. But it's just that.... it was horrible. I cou-"
Her sentence was cut off after being buried once again in an embrace, as tight as the one they had in the timestream.
"Thank you, my Impossible Girl. Thank you for saving my life by giving yours."