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Clara closed up her flat quickly and ran down the stairs. She was late. Her bike was in the garage, needing a repair, so she depended on the Underground in the meantime. Which also meant, getting up in time and earlier than usual. However, today she had overslept. At least, she had managed to prepare the coursework for her class yesterday.
Holding her bag tighter, she ran down the street, suddenly noticing a blue box standing at the corner towards a backstreet alley. Changing direction, she ran towards the TARDIS, hoping that the Doctor would take her to Coal Hill School. He'd protest and grumble that he wasn't a taxi driver, but she was quite sure he'd do it, especially if she promised him that she'd accompany him next weekend on top of their usual Wednesdays.
Clara opened the TARDIS door with her key, which didn't work as easily as she was used to. Odd. She'd have to mention that to the Doctor, as she had no idea why the TARDIS would be mad at her and not let her in. Since saving the Doctor on Trenzalore, she had seemed to be on better terms with the ship. Finally, Clara was able to turn the key and go inside, closing the door behind her. Turning around, she paused. This didn't look like the TARDIS interior.
She was standing in what looked like a huge 19th century living room, complete with candles, its wooden floor decorated with several expensive looking rugs. One of the walls was housing bookshelves that, when you looked upward to glance at the top shelf, you had the impression that it was almost a hundred metres up. There was also a seating area with a table lamp that could have been a Tiffany. The only indication that she was in the TARDIS was the main console and its monitors in the middle of the room. Yet, those differed too.
The main console was surrounded by several metallic support beams, but the configuration with its six trapezium-sized panels seemed similar. She walked around the console, gently tracing its edges, surprised by the wood-like feel of it under her fingers. As she regarded the different instruments on the console panels, she had trouble recognising them immediately, as they differed from the ones she knew. Most peculiar was that the console panel with the telepathic circuit was missing and that the panel signifying the location, date and time looked like it could have come straight from H.G. Wells' book.
Suddenly Clara heard a male voice coming toward her.
“What is it old girl? What's got you so perturbed?” the male voice said as the man it belonged to entered the console room.
The man was slender, with short, brown, curly hair. He was wearing a dark green coat over a waistcoat, with an open-collared white dress shirt under that and an ascot around his neck, plus light pants and leather riding boots. The chain of a fob watch was visible at his waistcoat, which reminded her of the one the Doctor used to wear.
“Oh,” the man said, the surprise in his voice evident. As he walked towards Clara, he asked, sounding more curious than angry, “Who are you? How did you get into my ship?” Finally, he stopped in front of her and looked at her closely.
Clara was relatively sure that this was indeed the Doctor's TARDIS - otherwise her key wouldn't have worked - and that the man in front of her was the Doctor. As she met his stare, his eyes looked even younger than the one in the leather jacket she had talked to back in the Black Archives, before he'd changed his own time line and saved Gallifrey. She was sure though when he still didn't recognise her.
Finally, Clara answered him, “Through the door.” It wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth.
“Ah, now, that's interesting,” he said, “since I distinctly remember locking the door.”
“Really?” Clara said, trying to show surprise, but feeling caught.
“Really. I suppose the TARDIS must like you, since she let you in. The TARDIS is my ship, by the way.” He held out his hand. “I'm the Doctor. Do you have a name?”
“Yes,” Clara said, shaking hands with the Doctor. She knew she was stalling a little, but she needed a moment to think of an alias to use. Finally she said, "Oswin. Call me Oswin."
“Oswin?” he hesitated and for a moment Clara thought she made a mistake in using that name, but then he continued, “Unusual name for a girl.”
“Blame my parents,” she said, as he let go of her hand.
“Maybe you can help me, Oswin.” The Doctor smiled at her. “According to the TARDIS, there should be a source of niridium around here, only the old girl couldn't pinpoint its exact location. It's a material that doesn't occurring on Earth naturally, so it probably arrived via a meteor shower. Have you seen anything odd lately?”
“What does this niridium look like?” Clara asked, genuinely curious.
“It's a crystal, shimmers blue, similar to an azurite, but when sunlight falls directly onto it, its inside changes to red.”
Clara opened the bag she was still carrying and pulled out the crystal her Doctor had given her last Wednesday when they had visited the fifth moon of Deneb. She had been delighted at the crystal's colour and the red shimmer inside, which reminded her of the coat the Doctor usually wore. Her delight had even made him smile.
“Is it one of those?” she asked, wondering why this younger Doctor needed the crystal.
“Yes!” The delight was evident on his face, only to be replaced by a frown. “Who has given you that?”
Torn between wanting to lie to him and wanting to see that delight again, Clara answered, “I picked it up somewhere.” Judging by his face, the Doctor definitely didn't believe her, so she asked another question, trying to take his mind away from his doubt. “What do you need it for?”
“It's for the TARDIS.” he paused, as if looking for a way for her to understand it. “I need it to fix the invisibility circuit.”
Judging by the expression on his face, Clara was sure that the explanation hadn't been the whole truth, so she asked, “There's more, right?”
The way the Doctor raised his eyebrow at Clara's observation was almost astonishingly similar to the way her own Doctor did it and for a moment she missed that version of the Doctor dearly.
"Yes," the Doctor said, sighing. Clara heard the weariness in his voice as he continued, "There's a war going on, out in the universe, far away from Earth. I don't want to get involved in the battle, but I try to help the helpless where I can. The invisibility circuit will make that a lot easier." He looked at Clara questioningly. "Do you want to come with me, Oswin? Help with taking care of the innocent?"
Clara knew she should have been tempted, but she wasn't. If this war truly was the Time War, then she couldn't be around this Doctor. Besides, she had promised someone else that she'd stay with him.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I have commitments." Clara wondered how much she could tell without screwing things up and continued carefully. "I've got a friend who needs me."
The way the Doctor looked at her at this point made Clara wonder if she had given too much away. Thankfully, it wasn't the case, as the Doctor answered her, smiling, "Well, then. Thank you for the crystal." After saying their good-byes, she left the TARDIS.
Watching the ship depart, Clara muttered softly under her breath, "Good luck, Doctor." At that moment, she realised she was now really late for work, but not angry about it anymore.
#
The following Wednesday, fully dressed and ready, Clara was eating breakfast when she heard the sound of the TARDIS coming from her living room. A few minutes later, the Doctor entered her kitchen. Instead of sitting down at Clara's breakfast table and pouring himself a coffee like he usually did on their Wednesday mornings, he stood in the doorway.
Clara had the impression he was unsure of his welcome.
"Did it help?" Clara asked, pouring him a cup of coffee.
The Doctor took that as an invitation and walked over to sit down at the table. "Yes."
"Which of your faces was it?" Clara still wasn't sure how forthcoming he would be with information about himself. His previous one would have, but this one was rather private at times.
"It was my eighth face, directly before the war," the Doctor began. "There had been battles already, but I didn't want to get drawn into the war. So I did what I could. Then I met this woman, Cass. Her ship was crashing. I wanted to help her, get her into the TARDIS, but she refused, because she hated Timelords. We both crashed and died, only I regenerated. After that, I was drawn into battle, since there was no need for a Doctor."
Despite them both knowing full well that Gallifrey was safe, Clara saw that it pained him to talk about the Time War, so she didn't press him for more information. He was different in that way, different than his previous self.
"The other you," Clara began, "he'd asked me to join him, but..."
"But you declined," the Doctor interrupted her. "I remember." His eyes were on her and Clara met his stare calmly. For a moment, no muscle in his face moved, except for his eyes, searching. Then, there was the hint of a facial movement and Clara was sure there was something on his mind.
"You have a question," Clara stated.
"Yes," the Doctor said, hesitating for a second. "Who did you mean when you talked about the friend who needed you?"
There's sureness in her voice when she answers, "You."
The answering warm smile on the Doctor's face told her more than words ever could.
End.