I decided not to upload Meet the Maitland's because I realised that this chapter was essentially the same thing and I didn't want to bore you all :P This one was more vital for character development and it sets up the next big story arch. The next story arch begins next chapter and I'm 4 chapters in already. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER 14: THE DOCTOR AND DAVE

"What I did, I did without choice. In the name of peace and sanity," The man said, his voice rough and husky. Her mind was whirring, images flashing in front of her. Her legs buckled underneath her while in her mind she was seeing a snowman. Why was she seeing a snowman?

"But not in the name of The Doctor," Her Doctor replied with a vicious amount of venom. She could feel him turning around but at the rate her head was spinning, she couldn't really tell. She felt like she was falling and Victorian London was coming closer to her. No…She was human. She was Oswin Oswald and SHE WAS HUMAN. Wait…no she wasn't. The sky was burning. He had done it, used The Moment, and killed Gallifrey. No he hadn't. He'd frozen it. Why could she see both? No one was moving, stuck in an instant of time yet she could feel the burning. The fires of Gallifrey were still licking her. No more.

"Clara. Clara. Stay with me. Vastra, Jenny and Strax, get back to the TARDIS. NOW!" He bellowed. That man back there…He was The Warrior. And The Doctor. He was both, two different people with completely different values at the exact same time. He was a clever boy…She saw her sister. A dark haired, pretty woman. Sciency. She knew her sister was jealous of her…according to her parents; her sister was the one with the defect. Clara was the pretty one. But something had happened to her…why could she only remember her sister now?

"C'mon Clara. Stay alive. You've made it this far," Clara heard her Doctor's voice enter her mind. There was another voice in there…a darker, more menacing one. It was Glaswegian and was yelling. The voice was exclaiming about the colour of his kidneys. Clara felt her mind slowly closing down, the only few yet strange images in her mind fading. Doctor. She needed to save The Doctor.

"DOCTOR!" Clara yelled out, sitting upright in her bed. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her bedroom as she managed to make out her dress flung over her desk chair and her posters and photos from when she was a teenager looking back at her. She was at her Dad's house. Her eyes were wet and she quickly wiped the tears away. It was a dream and was quickly fading. Her sister…did she have a sister? That memory slid away just like water flowing through fingertips and Clara was left oblivious again. There was a loud bang and Clara's door flew open and her dad came stumbling in.

"I heard you screaming? Are you OK?" Dave asked, walking up to her anxiously. Clara sat upright and raked a hand threw her hair.

"I'm…I'm fine. Just had a nightmare. I think…," She trailed off, her dad's outburst removing any memory of the strange dream from her mind.

"Alright. Is there anything you want to tell me?" Her dad asked. Clara loved her dad, but ever since her mum died they had drifted apart. Even if there was something wrong that she could remember, she wouldn't tell him.

"Nope, I'm fine," Clara smiled and Dave nodded. He nodded and walked out of her bedroom muttering something like 'See you in the morning'. Clara sighed and let herself drop back onto her bed. She closed her eyes trying to retain some of the images from her previous dream but they were all gone. She felt like there was something she had to remember, or rather, someone. She gave up and turned on her side, closing her eyes.

The Doctor ran up to the Maitland's front door and hammered on the front door. He smiled when he heard footsteps and then he straightened his bow tie. When the door opened, he was shocked to see a blonde woman in tracksuit bottoms and holding a mop in her hand.

"Sorry to bother you. Would you mind telling me what year it is?" The Doctor asked, scratching his chin.

"Pardon?" The woman asked, a scowl on her lips. Her accent was Australian and she reminded him a bit of Tegan.

"You heard me. What year is it? I may have made a mistake," The Doctor asked

"November 2013," The woman explained slowly as if he was a complete idiot.

"Oh…so it's the right year. You wouldn't happen to know where Clara is, would you?" The Doctor asked and the woman contemplated it for a minute.

"Tiny brunette?" she asked and The Doctor nodded.

"That'd be her," he smiled and she sighed.

"I replaced her. She went to live with some guy called Dave," she shrugged, closing the door. The Doctor quickly stuck his foot in the door to prevent her from closing the door.

"What happened to her? Is she alright?" The Doctor demanded and the woman tried to shut the door on his foot. He pushed the door open with his hand and she stood back in fear.

"Go away!" She shrieked and The Doctor rubbed his head with his hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you! What's your name?" The Doctor asked in an attempt to calm her down.

"Nikki. She's gone to live with Dave, whoever he is. That's all I know!" Nikki explained, clutching the mop. The Doctor was about to turn to leave when his legs got attacked from behind. The Doctor swung around and he realised it was Artie who was clinging onto him. Angie wasn't far behind, also hugging him. That was new.

"Uh…hello. You two OK?" The Doctor asked and they both nodded.

"We miss you and Clara!" Artie exclaimed and The Doctor ruffled his hair. Nikki snorted from behind them and The Doctor turned around.

"What are you two doing home? I haven't finished cleaning," Nikki said and Angie stiffened.

"You're meant to pick us up," Angie explained, folding her arms.

"It's not that far, you can walk," Nikki dismissed and Artie's bottom lip came out as he looked at her.

"Actually, Clara used to always pick us up from school and she'd bring us to the sweet shop on Friday's," Artie explained and Nikki lowered to his level.

"Well, Clara's not your nanny anymore, is she?" Nikki smiled and then got up.

"Can you tell Clara to come and visit us soon?" Angie asked The Doctor and he nodded.

"Of course I will. Has she gone to her dad's then?" The Doctor asked

"Yeah! Clara's wants to be a teacher now! She wants to teaches English. Isn't that cool?" Artie smiled and The Doctor laughed

"English is cool. English is very cool. Could you tell me where her Dad lives?" The Doctor asked and Angie nodded. She typed something up on her phone and then showed it in front of The Doctor. He pulled an A4 notebook out of his pocket and a pen and quickly scribbled down the address.

"How did that fit into your pocket?" Angie asked, comparing the size of the notebook to the size of his pocket.

"It's not only the box," The Doctor winked at her and Angie laughed

"When can we have another go? Doctor, please?" Artie asked, tugging on his tweed jacket.

"As soon as you clear it with Clara," The Doctor smiled and Nikki rolled her eyes.

"Clara this, Clara that. You treat her as if she's a Greek Goddess or something," Nikki complained. The Doctor swivelled around to look at Nikki, dislike lodging into his mind.

"She is actually… a long day that was. We accidently ended up on Olympus and well…anyway. I'd best be off. Bye Artie, Bye Angie!" The Doctor smiled

"Doctor, please don't go!" Artie exclaimed and The Doctor knelt down onto the floor and hugged Artie.

"Do you not like her?" The Doctor asked, looking over Artie's shoulder at Nikki who was refilling the bucket of water to mop with.

"No. She's horrible. I really miss Clara," Artie said, starting to cry.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" The Doctor grinned, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it at the sink Nikki was using and pressed the button. The top of the tap flew off blasting water everywhere, but more importantly over Nikki. Artie let out a little snicker and before long, The Doctor, Angie and Artie were collapsing with laughter.

"I'm glad you think this is funny! If you don't get out of here right now, I'm calling the police. OUT!" Nikki yelled, going red in the face. The Doctor held up his arms in defence and waved goodbye to Artie and Angie before walking towards the TARDIS. Angie and Artie stayed by the front door and watched the ship dematerialise while Nikki had gone upstairs to change.

She could go stay with Nina? Or Soph? Clara was seriously contemplating her decision to stay with her dad as they had now been sitting at the kitchen table in an awkward silence for 10 minutes. She was rolling an apple in her hand and then placed it down on the table and sighed.

"So…how's your girlfriend?" Clara asked, taking a bite out of her apple.

"She's good. What about you? Any um… boyfriend?" Dave asked, scratching his unshaven cheek.

"It's complicated," Clara said and Dave nodded.

"Right. How?" he asked

"It's a really long story. A really, really, long story," Clara explained, smirking a little at the secret she had with herself.

"Ah. OK," Dave said and took another sip from his tea. The awkward silence descended on them again, made worse by the fact that they had attempted a conversation but failed. A warm flutter filled her chest and she couldn't figure out why. That's when she heard it. That wheezing, groaning sound that brought hope wherever it went. She stood up abruptly, knocking her chair over.

"Clara!" Dave exclaimed but she was already on her way out the door. Dave sighed and sat down again, making a mental note to contact the council about the loudness of the leaf blowers.

Clara stood outside, her hair being blown all over the place as the blue she had grown to love formed its classic box right outside her dad's house. She had never been gladder to see that blue box, partly because of the awkwardness between her dad but mostly because she had missed him. He stepped out of the box, his floppy hair and bow tie accompanying him. He flashed her a toothy grin and then opened his arms out for her.

"Hello Clara!" he exclaimed and then picked her up and swirled her around. She laughed as he did it and he then placed her gently on the ground. She stood up on her tiptoes and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Did you miss me?" he whispered, their faces close so that their breath was mingling.

"Yep," She replied, biting her lip.

"Moved here then?" he asked

"Temporary fix," she replied, looking between at his eyes with her soft brown ones, down to his lips and back up to his eyes again.

"How long-," The Doctor started

"Doctor. Shut up and kiss me already," Clara demanded, her breath heavy on his lips. He didn't need to be told twice as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She ran her hand up to his hair and knotted her fingers in it. He ran his hand over her cheek, down her arms and sides and then rested them on her waist, causing her to shudder. She brought her hand down to his cheek and broke the kiss. As she pulled away, he was left with a slightly dazed look and his lips were parted. She laughed and patted him affectionately on his cheek.

"My dad's inside. I don't want him to meet you the first time when you're snogging my face off," Clara laughed and he smiled and nodded.

"Point taken. I've thought of a really cool place we can go!" The Doctor said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the TARDIS. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and he turned around in confusion.

"Doctor, we can't just leave my dad. At least come and say hello," Clara asked, doing her best pleading eyes.

"But Clara…I'm really not good with the whole parents' thing. Every parent I met has slapped me!" The Doctor moaned and Clara folded her arms.

"He won't slap you, I promise. What's the worst that can happen?" she asked and he sighed, rolling his eyes childishly.

"Fine…," he mumbled and Clara smiled in victory, turned on her heel and walked towards the house, the Doctor traipsing after her like a lost puppy. She opened the door for him and then took his hand and led him into the kitchen where her dad looked up at her from his newspaper.

"Dad – This is The Doctor. My boyfriend," Clara introduced and The Doctor waved meekly before straightening his bow tie and coughing awkwardly. Clara frowned; she'd seen him face hoards of Cybermen with more courage than this.

"Nice to meet you, uh…Doctor who?" Dave asked. The Doctor suddenly sprang to life as if he had been electrocuted, startling both Clara and Dave quite a bit. He walked over to Dave with a grin on his face as he vigorously shook his hand.

"You too! You too! Ooh look! You have Clara's eyes. Well…not literally, that would be very improbable. Because Clara's got her eyes. Not impossible, mind you. I met someone whose eyes were 20 years younger than the rest of him! Actually, his arm was the arm of my best friend's-" The Doctor rambled while still shaking Dave's hand.

"Doctor! Why are you still talking?" Clara asked, shaking her head at him.

"I really don't know. It's a habit of mine. I ramble a lot when I'm nervous. Do you ramble a lot when you're nervous?" The Doctor asked Dave but didn't give him much of a chance to reply. "Well of course you do, you're Northern. Sorry, was that rude? I didn't mean it to be rude. I'm quite normal most of the time…well, some of the time. Okay, a little bit of the time. I'm really going to shut up now." The Doctor stopped, drawing in a deep breath. Dave looked between Clara and The Doctor and slowly got up. The Doctor watched him, waiting while Clara traced her knuckle along her bottom lip.

"That's quite a lot of information to process in under a minute," Dave stammered, getting up.

"Sorry," The Doctor mouthed, running a hand through his fringe.

"No…it's all right. Better than the moody boys Clara would bring in when she was 17." Dave said and Clara looked offended.

"They were not moody! Just…brooding," Clara explained and both Dave and The Doctor shared a knowing smile. Clara glared at both of them before huffing and leaning against the wall.

"Whatever you say, Clara. I would invite them around for dinner and they would only reply with one word answers," Dave shrugged

"Can you blame them? Doctor was scared to death before he came in!" Clara said, gesturing towards the Doctor. The Doctor's mouth opened slightly as he raised his finger in contradiction before dropping at, agreeing slightly.

"Still. You're full of character, I'll give you that." Dave nodded towards The Doctor who smirked.

"Thank you, Mr Oswald." The Doctor smiled

"There's still a lot I don't know about you, though. Since you're dating my daughter, I think it's my job to make sure that you're good for her." Mr Oswald said, sitting down again. Clara groaned and turned around, rubbing her eyes.

"Please, Dad. Don't. Not 'The Interview'." Clara begged but Dave ignored her.

"Take a seat, Doctor." The Doctor gave Clara a pleading glance and then awkwardly sat down onto the chair, crossing his legs.

"What's your full name?" Dave asked

"John Smith. But everyone calls me The Doctor." The Doctor replied and Dave nodded.

"Alright, Doctor. What's your job?"

"I'm a Doctor."

"Ah. Makes sense. Reasonable income?"

"Very good."

"Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey."

"That's interesting. Is it a town?"

"Um…it's an island."

"Where?"

"Just a little one, in between the UK and Norway. It's gone now."

"I'm sorry. What about your parents? Any brothers, sisters?"

"No."

"None?"

"None."

"Aunts, Uncles?"

"No." Clara sat down next to The Doctor and took his hand comfortingly. He didn't seem too upset but Clara knew he didn't like being reminded of his lost home. Dave stopped interrogating The Doctor to watch the interaction between the pair of them.

"Sorry about bringing that up. I didn't know." Dave apologised and The Doctor nodded.

"It's fine. As you said, you didn't know." The Doctor replied

"Again, sorry. Where do you live now?" Dave asked, this time a softer tone to his voice.

"I live in London." The Doctor replied, hoping that that would be plausible. That was all he really knew of Earth – London.

"Well, you seem like a nice guy, Doctor. However, if you let her down or hurt her, I will personally search every house in London until I find you." Dave warned and The Doctor nodded.

"Of course. I'll look after Clara, don't you worry." The Doctor reassured and Dave smiled.

"That's just what I want to hear. So, will Clara come and live with you then? In London?" Dave asked and Clara coughed on the tea she was drinking. She looked up at him, her fringe falling into her eyes. He looked back at her, his lips slightly parted as they glanced at each other and then Clara looked back at her tea and The Doctor at his hands.

"If Clara wants to live with me, then I'd love her to. There's plenty of room for the both of us." The Doctor explained and then he and Dave both looked at her. She parted her fringe and then looked at The Doctor.

"If you don't mind? It'll only be temporary. Just until I find a new job." Clara declared and The Doctor frowned.

"Well…how about if you move in…permanently?" The Doctor asked and Clara's eyes widened.

"I don't know…I'll think about it." Clara said and then smiled apologetically. The Doctor looked slightly hurt but she squeezed his hand to reassure him. She knew she couldn't permanently move in with him. It sounded crazy, but she felt as if she lived with him, the excitement of being with him would start to diminish. She looked forward to their trips every Wednesday and the wait made seeing him so much better. It's like being 14 and only given the one half glass of wine every Sunday. You want more, but that half glass tastes so good. The minute you hit 18 and can buy bottles and bottles of the stuff, wine never tastes the same. It never tastes as good as the half glass of wine you were allowed every Sunday. Another worry of moving in with him was that she would have nothing to come back to. She'd leave for years and years, meet new races, discover new planets, find herself in history books and she'd come back middle aged and her dad would have only aged a day. It would never work. If she didn't have a livelihood to come back to, she wouldn't come back at all.

"Mr Oswald, there was somewhere I was planning on taking Clara today. Do you mind if we leave?" The Doctor asked and Dave nodded vigorously.

"Of course! Have fun! How come you didn't mention it, Clara?" Dave asked her but The Doctor intervened.

"It was a surprise." The Doctor replied and Dave smiled.

"That's nice. Have fun!" Dave said and Clara walked over and kissed him on the forehead.

"Bye Dad. I'll come and get my stuff later." Clara replied, looking over to the pile of boxes in the corner. Clara grabbed her coat off the rack and slipped it on and then smiled at The Doctor. They both stepped out of the house, leaving the warm soufflé, vanilla and faint cigarette scent behind them.

NEXT CHAPTER: Voyage 1

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"Not Benemartin. That's something else entirely."

"What the hell are you two doing out in the open?!"

"Yes, and what I did was wrong, Clara."

Thanks for reading! Please review :)