Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters in the series. They belong to the BBC.

Update:

This story was updated in early 4/20, in anticipation of it being Posted in the third Installment of the Gallifrey Guardian Magaizine's Tales from the Matrix. Thank you for choosing my story for this. I greatly appreciate it. For readers coming from there, although the main story is the same, there are also notes at the end of many chapters about my thought process leading up to the decisions I made for certain aspects of my story.

I would also like to inform returning readers that this story has been edited, although the main story like has been maintained. Chapter 9 and the beginning of Chapter 10 have gone under the largest changes. Most other chapters have received only minor corrections.

Thank you to everyone who supported this story.

Chapter 1

The Doctor checked the monitor one more time, as if it would change the information the screen displayed. It didn't, of course. But why would he be getting a call from there, from then? Those halls had been evacuated centuries before, or at least should have been at the time of the call.

Sensing his distress, the TARDIS tried to calm him telepathically by letting him hear the flow of time around them as she moved through the time stream. It was a relatively calm area of the vortex so the flow of time felt soft and smooth through the perception of the TARDIS, even though he would probably feel otherwise if he were directly exposed to it.

He acknowledged her attempts to soothe him by placing a hand on the console but didn't feel much better. His hearts felt like they were tearing in two again as he accepted that he would have to go back.

"What's wrong?" Clara asked. Usually, after receiving a distress call, within seconds the Doctor was typing in the space time coordinates into the TARDIS and they would be off to help whoever was in trouble. Instead, he was still staring at the screen.

"Oh, nothing," he said in a too joyful tone as he straitened his bowtie and started adjusting controls. "Just give me a moment and I'll get you back home until I can come to get you next Wednesday."

"Not so fast, what about the distress call? Aren't you going to take me with you to help."
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. I can deal with it!" He might even be able to find more information on Clara while he's there. He didn't want to bring the girl along though. He's already seen her die too many times. He didn't want it to happen again.

"I don't think that's it at all. I think you saw something on there that scares you. You don't want me to get hurt, so you're trying to protect me. Well, whatever it is, count me in. I'm not leaving you to face it alone."

The Doctor's first instinct was to argue against it, but his TARDIS seconded the sentiment telepathically, despite the undercurrent of dislike and distrust that she always had with anything involving Clara. He placed his hand on the console to more clearly transmit his refusal to the Machine. In response, she flashed the image of Amy in his head, reminding him of his promise to her.

The Doctor hesitated for a long moment before he sighed, finally giving in. The TARDIS telepathically transmitted her approval as he turned to Clara and said, "The place that this distress call originates is unimaginably dangerous, Clara. If you come, you must do what I tell you, when I tell you to. Do you understand?" He stated, his joyful façade quickly replaced with one of his rarer serious expressions.

Clara just nodded, surprised to see just how worried the Doctor was.

He shook his head and walked around the console, readjusting the coordinates and pulling the levers as TARDIS rocked and rattled. Then he could hear the whooshing shriek of her breaks and feel the jolt that came with her landing as they reached their destination. The Doctor walked to the doors as they opened it but remained within the range of the TARDIS's force field. As Clara stepped out into a room comparable in size to a small auditorium filled with bookshelves that were lit by sunlight coming through numerous windows that ran along the ceiling, the Doctor said, "Welcome to the Library."