(Open POV)
The Doctor is on a world tour. He is sitting on top of the Tardis above the Earth.
"Listen!" The Doctor said, nearby.
Tardis…
"Question. Why do we talk out loud when we know we're alone?" The Doctor asked, blowing out a candle. "Conjecture. Because we know we're not."
"When I look at you my heart always goes thump-thump. This shaking feeling is fluffy-fluffy like a marshmallow. You're always so persistent, You don't even notice. Me, always staring at your profile. When we're in my dreams, the distance between us can be shortened." Jared said, singing and playing on his guitar.
The Doctor writes on his blackboard.
"Gonna ignore Jared singing and playing Fuwa Fuwa Time on the guitar. Evolution perfects survival skills. There are perfect hunters." The Doctor said, watching a lioness bring down a wildebeest.
Jared is walking around the console room playing on the guitar that looks like Yui Hirasawa's, "Oh, God, please. Give some Dream Time for just the two of us! Cuddling my favorite bunny doll, Goodnight again, tonight."
"There is perfect defence." The Doctor said.
A shoal of dazzling tuna, and a puffer fish inflates itself so the nasty spines stick out.
Jared is leaning against the TARDIS console still playing on his guitar, "Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time." The TARDIS said, in Jared's head.
"Fluffy time." Jared said, singing.
"Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time."
"Question. Why is there no such thing as perfect hiding? Answer. How would you know? Logically, if evolution were to perfect a creature whose primary skill were to hide from view, how could you know it existed?" The Doctor asked, putting his chalk down in an open book.
Jared is now walking up on the stairs with the Doctor, still playing Fuwa Fuwa Time, "Again today, your unexpected behavior makes my heart go pound-pound. Reading too much into your casual smile, I overheat! The serious face of yours I saw one day. Appears even when I close my eyes. Even in my dreams is fine, I want some Sweet Time for just the two of us!"
"It could be with us every second and we would never know. How would you detect it, even sense it, except in those moments when, for no clear reason you choose to speak aloud? What would such a creature want? What would it do? Well? What would you do?" The Doctor asked, while that word echoes around the Tardis.
Jared is walking back up the steps to go around the console room to go to the recliner, "Oh, God, why. Is this Dream Night so painful that I've come to like it? I've taken out my emergency teddy bear, will I be okay tonight?"
The chalk is no longer where the Doctor left it.
"If I could muster just a little courage. And speak to him naturally. I wonder if anything would change? I think it would, but…" Jared said, singing.
The chalk rolls on the floor to the Doctor's feet and he picks it up.
Jared is sitting on the recliner now and he is still playing on his guitar, "But that's the hardest part of all! 'Cause how would I have an excuse to talk to him? And then, I'd have to think of something to talk about, and that wouldn't be natural at all! AAaaah! That's enough! Just go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep!"
"That's right! Go to sleep!" The TARDIS said, in Jared's head.
The Doctor sees that what he wrote on the blackboard has been replaced by one word.
"Oh, God, please. Give me some Miracle Time, just this once! And afterwards, if I can talk with him no problem... we'll see where it goes." Jared said, singing.
Listen.
"Fluffy time." Jared said, singing.
"Fluffy time." The TARDIS said, in Jared's head.
"Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time."
"Fluffy time."
Restaurant…
Clara has returned home, and is recalling the evening. Clara thinks about where she has been and how she enters the restaurant and goes to the table where Danny Pink is sitting, wearing a pink shirt.
Danny raises his right arm in a sort of open hand semi-salute, "Hey."
"Hey." Clara said, going to shake Danny's hand. "Sorry." She and Danny exchange kisses on the cheeks. "So the famous drink at last."
"Yeah. Took a bit of time, family stuff, but here we are." Danny said, happily.
"Dinner, in fact."
"Yeah, straight to dinner."
"I like a man who moves fast."
"Yeah? I might go straight for extras. Afters. Dessert."
"Yes, I know, I know, dessert."
"Straight to dessert."
"Gotcha." Clara said, smiling.
"So, er, how was your day?" Danny asked.
"Good. You know. Teaching."
"Yep, teaching."
"Teaching, teaching."
"Totally teaching."
"We probably shouldn't talk about work."
"God, yeah."
"Though, do you take Courtney for anything?"
A little later, they are still laughing.
"Are you serious?" Danny asked.
"She said she couldn't concentrate on her work, because my face was too wide." Clara said, annoyed.
"Wide?"
"I could kill that girl some days."
"Me too."
"And from you, that means something."
"Sorry?" Danny asked, while the jovial atmosphere dissipates instantly. "I dug twenty three wells."
"I'm sorry?" Clara asked.
"Twenty three wells. When I was a soldier. Twenty three."
"Okay. Good. Good wells."
"Yeah, they were good, actually."
"I'm not doubting the quality of your wells."
"Whole villages saved. Actual towns full of people. People I didn't shoot. People I kept safe." Danny said, looking at Clara.
"Okay. Point taken. Seriously." Clara said, frowning.
"So why doesn't that ever get mentioned?"
"I'm sorry I didn't mention your twenty three wells."
"Excuse me?" The waiter asked, walking up to Clara and Danny.
"Sorry." Clara said, looking at the waiter.
"Er, water for the table?"
"Don't you worry. He'll probably dig for it."
The waiter leaves with the jug of water. After a few moments, Danny laughs.
"Sorry." Danny said, sadly.
"It's okay." Clara said.
"Sensitive subject."
"Yes. Can slightly see that."
"Sometimes people like you get the wrong end of the stick."
"People like me?"
"I wasn't making assumptions about you."
"That really is exactly what you were doing."
"You were making assumptions about me." Danny said, scoffing.
"I made a joke." Clara said.
"A not-funny joke."
"Yeah, well, do you know what I'm making now?"
"A fuss?"
"An exit." Clara said, putting on her coat and leaving the restaurant.
Danny thumps his head on the table.
(Jared's POV)
Clara's apartment…
"Hey." Clara said, putting her high heels by the kettle. "Came for a visit?"
"Yeah." I said, making tea for Clara, knowing she entered her apartment. "Date go bad with Danny?"
"It did." Clara said, as I passed her the cold drink I had made for her. "Thanks."
"No problem." I said, and Clara is drinking the cup of sweet tea I made for her. "It's sweet tea."
"Jared, when did you become all Southern? I thought you were from the North."
"I am. Daily visits to the South with family. Especially visits to the Deep South." I said, laughing a lot. "They have good food and drinks down there, Clara. Waffle House, Whataburger, Cracker Barrel, and a bunch of BBQ joints."
Clara's bedroom…
The door hits something as it opens.
The Doctor is sitting at Clara's dressing table, "You just have to squeeze through."
"Doctor?" Clara asked.
"Why do you have three mirrors? Why don't you just turn your head?" The Doctor asked.
"What are you doing in here?"
"You said you had a date. I thought I'd better send Jared out there to make you something to drink and hide in the bedroom in case you brought him home. Bit early, aren't you? Did it all go wrong, or is this good by your standards?"
"Doctor, it was a disaster." I said, walking up to the Doctor with a cup of sweet tea I made for myself. "Clara's deeply upset about it."
"Fine. I need you and Clara, for a thing." The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.
"I can't." Clara said, sadly.
"Oh, of course you can. Come on, you and Jared are free. More than usually free, in fact."
"No, it's just possible that I might get a phone call."
"From the date guy? It's too late. You've taken your make-up off."
"Clara hasn't." I said, drinking my sweet tea. "She's still wearing her makeup. She was going to take it off till you made us barge in here."
"Oh, right. Well, she probably just missed a bit. Come on, come on, come on, come on." The Doctor said, running into the TARDIS.
Tardis…
Clara is carrying her shoes, "I haven't actually said yes."
"Yes, you know sometimes when you talk to yourself, what if you're not?" The Doctor asked.
"Not what?" I asked, holding my cup of sweet tea.
"What if it's not you you're talking to? Proposition. What if no one is ever really alone? What if every single living being has a companion, a silent passenger, a shadow? What if the prickle on the back of your neck, is the breath of something close behind you?"
"How long have you been travelling without Jared?" Clara asked.
"Perhaps I never have been traveling with Jared." The Doctor said, showing Clara and I the blackboard with the word he didn't write.
"Doctor, this looks like your handwriting." I said, drinking my sweet tea.
"Well, I couldn't have written it and forgotten, could I?"
"Have you met you? What's all this?" Clara asked, looking at a table strewn with books.
"Dreams. Accounts of dreams, by different people, all through history. You see, I have a theory." The Doctor said.
"I'll bet you have. What theory?"
"I think everybody, at some point in their lives, has the exact same nightmare. You wake up, or you think you do, and there's someone in the dark, someone close, or you think there might be." The Doctor said, and I thought about the little boy, the little girl, the old woman waking in their respective beds, putting on the light and sitting on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor. "So you sit up,and turn on the light. And the room looks different at night. It ticks and creaks and breathes. And you tell yourself there's nobody there, nobody watching, nobody listening, nobody there at all. And you very nearly believe it. You really, really try and then." A hand reaches out from under the beds and grabs the left ankle. "There are accounts of that dream throughout human history. Time and time again, the same dream. Now, there is a very obvious question I'm about to ask you. Do you know what it is?"
"Have you had that dream?" I asked, sipping on my sweet tea.
"Exactly." The Doctor said, smirking.
"Nope. That was me asking you if you had that dream."
"I asked first."
"Nah, I did."
"You really didn't."
"Okay, yeah, probably. Yes. But everyone dreams about something under the bed." Clara said, sadly.
"That's true, Clara." I said, placing my sweet tea on the console and placing Clara's fingers into the squidgy sections on the Tardis console. "Hold on tight, Clara. If it hurts, let it happen."
"What is it?"
"It's the TARDIS telepathic circuits. It's not like the heart of the TARDIS. You're connected to the TARDIS mentally for a bit. So don't think of anything bad."
"Why not?"
"It might end up on all of the screens. The TARDIS is extrapolating your entire timeline, from the moment of your birth, to the moment of your death." The Doctor said, walking up to Clara and I.
"Which I do not need a preview of." Clara said, sadly.
"I'm turning off the safeguards and navigation, slaving the TARDIS to you." The Doctor said, pressing buttons on the TARDIS console. "Focus on the dream. Focus on the details. Picture them, feel them. The TARDIS will track on your subconscious and extract the relevant information. It should be able to home in on the moment in your timeline when you first had that dream. And then, we'll see."
"What will we see?" Clara asked.
"We'll see what's under your bed, my Impossible Girl." I said, and the Doctor starts the Tardis flying.
"Ooo!" Clara said, excitedly.
"Clara, don't get distracted. Just remember. You're flying a time machine that can also travel in space. You're flying Sexy. You're flying the Old Girl." I said, when Clara's mobile phone rings, and the image of Danny greeting her at the restaurant flashes into her mind. "Shit. This is bad."
"How bad?" The Doctor asked, while he walks around the console to Clara and I, he passes a blackboard with lots of items chalked on it, beginning with Evolution Perfects. It is what he wrote at the top of the show. "No, no. Don't you dare. No, don't. Don't, don't. Just ignore it." The TARDIS lands. "Okay, that's good. That worked. We're here."
"Sorry, I think I got distracted." Clara said, letting out a sigh.
"No, no, no, no, no. The date's fine. Come on." The Doctor said.
"Come on where?"
"Your childhood." The Doctor said, as he leaves.
"Let me help." I said, grabbing Clara's fingers to release them from the voice interface. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Clara said, and she and I ran out of the console room.
Outside the building…
It is nighttime.
"The West Country Children's Home. Gloucester. By the ozone level and the drains, mid-nineties. You must have been here when you had the dream." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.
"Never been to Gloucester in my life, and I've never lived in a children's home." Clara said, sadly.
"You've probably just forgotten. Like Jared has forgotten his nine hundred years of Trenzalore with me. Have either of you seen the size of human brains? They're hilarious. Clara, little you must be in here somewhere, with your little brain."
"Isn't it bad if I meet myself?" Clara asked.
"It is pretty bad. I've done the Back to the Future trilogy." I said, grabbing Clara's hand. "I mean, I was there. Having adventures with Doc Brown and Marty McFly."
"So, Doctor, why did you bring me out here?"
"I was still talking. I needed people to nod. Probably best for you and Jared to wait in the Tardis." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.
"Doctor, I…" Clara said, sadly.
"See you and Jared in a minute. TARDIS."
"Doctor. Jared. If I had have been distracted, what would have happened?" Clara asked.
"Well, we'd have ended up in the wrong place." I said, squeezing Clara's hand.
"But don't think we have, because the time zone's right. I won't be long." The Doctor said, walking away.
A young boy waves from an upstairs window. He reminds Clara of how Danny waves. Then he opens his window and calls down.
"What are you and your friend doing down there?" Rupert asked.
"Nothing. Er, we're just. What's your name?" Clara asked.
"Rupert."
"Oh. Okay. Hello, Rupert."
"Rupert Pink. It's a stupid name."
"No, it isn't. I know somebody called Pink." Clara said, happily.
"What? The singer?" I asked, squeezing Clara's hand.
"No. Not the singer. You know, Jared."
"I meant Rupert. I'm going to change it." Rupert said, looking between Clara and I.
"Hey. Rupert. Why are you awake at this hour? Aren't you scared?" I asked, looking up at Clara.
(Open POV)
Children's home…
The sonic screwdriver is scanning as the Doctor walks along the corridor. A balding man in glasses opens a door. The TV is on in the background.
"How did you get in?" Reg asked.
"Your door must be faulty." The Doctor said, holding up his psychic paper.
"An inspection? It's two in the morning."
"When better? Do you always work here nights?"
"Most nights, yes."
"Do you ever end up talking to yourself?"
"All the time. It's this place. You can't help it."
"What about your coffee?" The Doctor asked.
"My coffee?" Reg asked, looking at the mug he put down on the table.
Clara and Jared are going up the stairs behind them.
"Sometimes, do you put it down, and look round, and it's not there?" The Doctor asked.
"Everybody does that." Reg said, scoffing.
"Yes. Everybody." The Doctor said, as the television switches off. "Who turned your telly off?"
"It does that. It just goes off."
The Doctor has vanished. Reg looks for his mug, but it has vanished too.
The Doctor walks along the corridor and takes a drink from it, "Hmm."
Clara opens a creaky door and walks along an upstairs corridor with Jared.
(Jared's POV)
Rupert's room…
"Hey." I said, while Rupert is sitting on the floor by the window.
"Hello." Clara said, grabbing my hand.
"Hello." Rupert said.
"This is a nice room. You know, you should have more than one chair in here. What do you do if you have guests?" I asked, letting Clara squeeze my hand.
"Sit on the bed." Rupert said, looking between Clara and I.
"Why aren't you sitting on it, then? Do you think that there's something underneath it? Hey, everyone thinks that, sometimes. That's just how people think at night." Clara said.
"Why?"
"Did you have a dream? A hand grabbing your foot? You have, haven't you? You've had that exact dream."
"How did you know?"
"Hey. Do you want to know why dreams are called dreams?" I asked, letting go of Clara's hand.
"Why?" Rupert asked.
"They're not real. If they were real, dreams wouldn't need a name. Unless you're able to travel between worlds. Or well, universes."
"What are you doing?" Rupert asked, looking at Clara.
Clara looks underneath the bed, "Do you know what's under there?"
"What?"
"Me and Jared!" Clara said, as she and I rolled under the bed with me and we lay on our backs.
"Come on, Rupert. It's perfectly safe under here." I said, and Rupert lies next to us. "You see? There's no one except the three of us."
"Sometimes I hear noises." Rupert said, frowning.
"It's a house full of people. Of course you hear noises." Clara said, happily.
"They're all asleep."
"They're all dreaming."
"Can you hear dreams?"
"If you're clever enough. But they can't harm you. You know, sometimes we think there's something behind us. And the space under your bed is what's behind you at night. Simple as that. There's nothing to be afraid of."
The bed creaks as someone sits on it. It sags to within inches of Clara's nose. Rupert starts breathing quickly.
"Is there anyone else in the room?" I asked, looking over at Rupert.
"Nobody." Rupert said, sadly.
"Someone must have come in." Clara said, sadly.
"Nobody came in."
Clara rolls out with me and we stand up. There is someone sitting on the bed, covered in the red crocheted bedspread.
"Hello?" Clara asked, and I helped Rupert stand up. "Who's this? This is a friend of yours playing a game. Playing a trick, are you, hey? A little trick on Rupert here?"
The bed creaks as the figure shifts, sitting up taller.
"Okay. This isn't funny, you know." I said, when the light is switched on.
Clara, Rupert, and I turn to see the Doctor sitting in the chair flicking through a book. The figure is still covered by the bedspread.
"Where is he?" The Doctor asked, looking through the Where's Waldo book.
"Doctor?" Clara asked.
"I can't find him. Can you find him?"
"Find who?"
"Wally."
"Wally?"
"He's nowhere in this book."
"Doctor, that isn't a Where's Waldo book!" I said, excitedly.
"Well, how would you know? Maybe he just hasn't found him yet." The Doctor said, looking up from the book towards me.
"Waldo isn't in every book, Doctor Disco. There's Wilma, Wenda, Odlaw, Woof, Wizard Whitebeard, and the Waldo Watchers."
"Really? Well, that's a few years of my life I'll be needing back. Are you scared? The thing on the bed, whatever it is, look at it. Does it scare you?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes." Rupert said, sadly.
"Well, that's good. Want to know why that's good?"
"Why?"
"Let me tell you about scared. Your heart is beating so hard, I can feel it through your hands. There's so much blood and oxygen pumping through your brain, it's like rocket fuel. Right now, you could run faster and you could fight harder, you could jump higher than ever in your life. And you are so alert, it's like you can slow down time. What's wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower. It's your superpower. There is danger in this room and guess what? It's you. Do you feel it? Do you think he feels it? Do you think he's scared? Nah. Loser. Turn your back on him."
"What?"
"Yeah, turn your back on him. Come on. You too, Clara, Jared. Clara, Jared, your backs, now." The Doctor said, turning and goes to the window. "Do it. Just do it now. Turn your back. Do it now, turn your back. Lovely view out this window."
Rupert stands between Clara, the Doctor, and I.
"Yeah. Come and see all the dark." Clara said, smiling.
"I love a dark, night sky." I said, happily. "It's beautiful out there."
"The deep and lovely dark. We'd never see the stars without it. Now, there are two possibilities. Possibility one, it's just one of your friends standing there, and he's playing a joke on you. Possibility two, it isn't." The Doctor said.
"Doctor? Do you have a plan? Plans are usually good, Spaceman."
"You on the bed, I'm talking to you now. Go in peace. We won't look. Just go. If all you want to do is stay hidden, it's okay. Just leave." The Doctor said, while the figure moves up close behind us.
"Is it gone?" Clara asked.
"Don't look round. Not yet."
"I can't hear anything." Rupert said.
"Don't look round." The Doctor said, as Rupert starts to turn around. "Look away! Look away now! Don't look at it! Don't look round. Don't look round. Don't look at the reflection."
"What is it?"
"Don't know." I said, and the thing pulled the bedspread off. "Have never known."
"Imagine a thing that must never be seen. What would it do if you saw it?" The Doctor asked.
"I don't know." Rupert said.
"Neither do I. Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Close your eyes. You too, Clara, Jared." The Doctor said, while I closed my eyes. "Give it what it wants. Prove to it that you're not going to look at it. Make a promise. A promise you're never going to look at it."
"I promise never to look." Rupert said, happily.
"The breath on the back of your neck, like your hair's standing on end. That means, don't look 'round."
"It's gone." I said, when the door slams shut.
"You're right, Jared. Gone." Clara said, as I opened my eyes again.
"Gone." The Doctor said.
"He took my bedspread." Rupert said, annoyed.
"Oh, the human race. You're never happy, are you?"
"Am I safe now?"
Clara, the Doctor, and I look at Rupert's toys.
The Doctor is interested in Rupert's orange robot, "Nobody's safe, especially not at night in the dark, Anything can get you. And all the way up here, you're up here all alone."
Clara slaps the back of the Doctor's head and I punch him on the elbow, hard.
"What was that for?" The Doctor asked.
"Shut up, leave this to me and Jared." Clara said, and she has found a box of toy plastic soldiers. "These yours?"
"They're the home's." Rupert said, frowning.
"Rupert, these toys are now yours." I said, walking up to Rupert with a GameBoy Color and Pokemon Crystal inside it. "Including this."
"What is it?" Rupert asked, looking down at the GameBoy Color.
"It's a GameBoy Color. There is a Pokemon game here. It won't come out for a few to several years. This is yours now. You can have fun playing it." I said, handing Rupert the GameBoy Color.
"People don't need to be lied to." The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.
"People don't need to be scared by a big gray-haired stick insect, but here you are. Stay still, shut up. See what I'm doing? This is your army." Clara said, putting the little soldiers on guard around Rupert's bed.
"Plastic army." The Doctor said, scoffing.
"Sit! And they're going to guard under your bed. You see this one?" Clara asked, picking up a soldier and placing it in front of the other toy soldiers. "This is the boss one, the colonel. He's going to keep a special eye out."
"It's broken, that one. It doesn't have a gun." Rupert said, letting out a sigh.
"That's why he's the boss. A soldier so brave he doesn't need a gun. He can keep the whole world safe. What shall we call him?"
"Dan."
"Sorry?"
"Dan, the soldier man. That's what I call him." Rupert said, happily.
"Good. Good name." Clara said, smiling.
"Yeah. Would one of you read me a story? It'll help me get to sleep." Rupert said, looking between Clara and I.
"Okay. I don't mind. Once upon a time, there was a character in a magical land called the Johto region. They had to catch these magical creatures called Pokemon, go across two regions to battle 16 Gym Leaders to get their Gym Badges, and defeat a character called Red." I said, walking up to Rupert. "You're that character. You're that Pokemon Trainer. You're the one that catches these magical creatures and beats Red."
The Doctor touches Rupert's forehead and the boy falls back, asleep, "The end. Dad skills."
Tardis…
"So is it possible we've just saved that kid from another kid in a bedspread?" Clara asked.
"Entirely possible, yes. The bigger question is, why did we end up with him, and not you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Clara.
"I got distracted." Clara said, sadly.
"But why that particular boy? You don't have any. You don't have any kind of connection with him, do you?"
"No. No, no, no. Of course not. Why do you ask?"
The Doctor is working on a Tardis component, "The TARDIS was slaved to your timeline. Theoretically, there should have been some connection."
"Will er, will he remember any of that?" Clara asked.
"Scrambled his memory. Gave him a big old dream about being Dan the soldier man and being a Pokemon Trainer." The Doctor said, smirking.
"Hey." I said, when Clara starts crying. "What's wrong? You okay?"
"Doctor, I am sorry to ask, and, you know, I realise this is probably against the laws of time, or summat. Er, could you do me a favour?" Clara asked.
Outside the restaurant…
Clara leaves the restaurant, and Danny bangs his head on the table. The Doctor, Clara, and I step out of the Tardis.
"Is that what I look like from the back?" Clara asked.
"It's fine." The Doctor said.
"I was thinking it was good."
"Really?"
"Yup." I said, while Clara walks to the restaurant. "Good luck, my Impossible Girl."
(Open POV)
Restaurant…
Clara sits down opposite Danny, who raises his head from the table, "Sorry."
"Hey." Danny said, sadly.
Clara holds out her hand, "Hello. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm a bit tricky, sometimes a bit up myself, and I do not like my surname, but I think that's basically everything you need to worry about."
Danny takes Clara's hand, "Hello, I'm. I'm sorry…"
"Also, I mouth off when I'm nervous and I've got a mouth on me. Seriously, it's got a mind of its own. I'm really worried it wants to go solo." Clara said, smiling.
"I don't know what to say." Danny said, at a loss for words.
"Don't say anything. Or say something nice."
"I like your name."
"It's a start."
"Oswald. It suits you."
"Drifting now."
"Yeah, it's better than Pink."
"No, Pink, Pink is nice. I like pink."
"You can have it."
"Ooo, a bold offer, Mister Pink." Clara said, happily.
"I meant. You, no…" Danny said, looking at Clara.
"I know, I know."
"Why can't I speak today?"
"It's that foot you're keeping in your mouth."
"Is that where I put it?"
"Anyway. Clara Pink. Too much."
"Yeah, it is a bit much."
"Mind you, Rupert Pink."
Danny drops a glass and it breaks, "Sorry?"
"Er, ha, ha. Rupert Pink. It's not good." Clara said, happily.
"Rupert?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. That was your name, yeah?"
"Who told you that?"
"Er, someone in the school." Clara said, looking away and clucks her tongue against her palate.
"No, I haven't used that name for years." Danny said, at a loss for words.
"I cannot remember who it was."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"No. No, no, no. No way."
"Is this a joke?"
"Danny, nothing about this is any kind of joke."
The door to the kitchens creaks opens and a spaceman walks in.
"Where's your coat?" Danny asked.
"My what?" Clara asked.
"You put your coat on when you left." Danny said, looking at Clara.
"Er, I'm really sorry. Danny. There is something I should probably be honest about."
"How about everything?"
"Everything, in my case, is actually quite a lot."
"Well, that's weird."
"No, no, no, it's not weird. Not really. Where are you going?"
"I don't do weird."
"Don't go." Clara said, sadly.
"Then do something for me, Tell me the truth, because I know when people are lying to me. However weird this thing may be, just tell me the truth." Danny said, looking at Clara.
"It's not weird…" Clara said, seeing the spaceman beckoning to her. "Exactly."
The TARDIS is visible as the spaceman returns to the kitchen.
"I've had enough." Danny said, leaving.
Clara sighs, then heads to the kitchens.
(Jared's POV)
Tardis…
Clara slams the door shut and talks to the spaceman, "I am trying to have a date. A real life, inter-human actual date! It's a normal nice, everyday, meeting-up sort of thing. And I would just like to know, is there any other way you can make this any more surreal than it already is?"
"Danny…Orson! Wait!" I said, when I ran into the console room to see the spaceman take off his helmet. "Don't go towards her!"
Orson is a total dead ringer for Danny Pink, but with bigger hair and a fuller beard, "Hello."
"Ah, Clara! Well done, you found her. Now this is really a bit strange." The Doctor said, happily.
"Danny?" Clara asked.
"What's gone wrong with your face? It's all eyes! Why are you all eyes? Get them under control." The Doctor said.
"Er, who's Danny?" Orson asked.
"This is Colonel Orson Pink, from about a hundred years in your future."
"Orson Pink?" Clara asked.
"Yeah, I laughed too. Sorry. Do you have any connection with him?" The Doctor asked.
"Connection?"
"Yes, maybe you're like a distant relative or something?"
"How, how would I know?"
"Okay. I might have saved someone at some point. I don't know." I said, happily. "It's still in my future."
"You could have done that. Er, well, do you have any old family photographs of her? You know, probably quite old and really fat-looking?" The Doctor asked, looking at Orson.
"I don't." Orson said, sadly.
"How did you and Jared find him?" Clara asked.
"Well, you left a trace in the TARDIS telepathic circuits. I fired them up again and the TARDIS brought us straight to him. So he is something to do with your timeline." The Doctor said.
"Especially if I saved someone. I know I did, because I'm awesome like that!" I said, excitedly.
"Okay." Clara said, smiling.
"And you'll never guess where Jared and I found him." The Doctor said.
Capsule…
A spaceship is sitting on a rocky planet with a massive hemisphere of a sun dominating the horizon.
"Where are we?" Clara asked.
"We're at the end of the line. The end of everything. We're on the last planet in the universe. It could be Gallifrey. I don't know." I said, sadly.
"The end of the universe?"
"The TARDIS isn't supposed to go to the end of the universe. Not unless it involved the Master. And well, Captain Jack Harkness is clinging to the side of the TARDIS." I said, frowning. "Just listen to that."
"To what?"
"Nothing. There's nothing to hear. There's nothing anywhere. Not a breath, not a slither, not a click or a tick. All the clocks have stopped. This is the silence at the end of time." The Doctor said.
A clattering as Orson empties the contents of a locker into a rucksack.
"Then how did he get here? If he's from a hundred years in my future…" Clara said, in awe.
"Pioneer time traveller." The Doctor said, while he sonicks the records up on the computer. The BBC is still using the same Breaking News ticker at the bottom of the screen. "Rode the first of the great time shots. They were supposed to fire him into the middle of the next week."
"What happened?" Clara asked.
"He went a bit far." I said, taking out chocolate chip cookies to snack on them. "A bit more than Susan Foreman's time."
"A bit?" Clara asked.
"A big bit. Look at him now. Robinson Crusoe at the end of time itself. The last man standing in the universe. I always thought that would be me." The Doctor said.
"It's not a competition."
"I know it's not a competition. Course it isn't. Still time, though."
"He looks like he's packing."
"Well, he's been stuck here for six months. He met time travelers. The Doctor and me. Makes sense that Orson is packing." I said, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth.
Orson enters, "Both of you can do it, then? You two can get me home?"
"Jared and I just showed you, didn't we? A test flight to a restaurant." The Doctor said.
"Yes, but to my family, to my own time?" Orson asked.
"That's easy for the Doctor. Especially for me. We can do it, right, Clara?" I asked, looking at Clara.
"They can, yes." Clara said, frowning.
"Is everything okay?" Orson asked.
"Yeah, fine. I'm fine."
"Do I know you?"
"No. Nope."
"Is she doing the all eyes thing? It's because her face is so wide. She needs three mirrors." The Doctor said, scoffing.
"Doctor." Clara said, annoyed.
"We can't leave immediately, though. The TARDIS needs to recharge."
"Sorry. What?"
"Overnight, that should do it, shouldn't it, Clara, Jared?"
"Yeah. Overnight works." I said, smiling. "We're not by a rift in time and space. But it should work."
"Overnight?" Orson asked.
"One more night. That's, that's not a problem, is it?" The Doctor asked.
Orson's face says yes, but he's scared of it, "No. No, no problem."
"It's a shame, isn't it?"
"What's a shame?" Orson asked.
"There's only four people left in the universe, and you're lying to the other three. It was the first thing I noticed when I stepped in here. You must have seen it, too, Clara, Jared. You've got eyes out to here." The Doctor said.
"Seen what?" Clara asked.
"The universe is dead. Everything that ever was is dead and gone. There's nothing beyond this door but nothingness for ever. So why is it locked?"
"Please, don't make me spend another night here." Orson said.
"Afraid of the dark? But the dark is empty now." The Doctor said.
"No. No, it isn't."
Tardis…
Clara wears the rucksack, Orson carries two metal cases, I am playing the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC on my Nintendo Switch.
Clara leads Orson down below the time rotor level, "You'll be safe in here. Nothing gets through those doors, I promise."
"And you three are going to wait out there? " Orson asked.
"That would seem to be the plan. Wait for what exactly?" Clara asked.
"Why can't we just leave?"
"The Doctor said that the TARDIS is still recharging." I said, walking down to Clara and Danny with my Nintendo Switch.
"She didn't look like she believed him." Orson said, looking at me.
"That's just how my face looks when he talks." Clara said, sadly.
A clear plastic box containing a gun-less plastic soldier falls from Orson's backpack when she puts it down. Clara picks it up.
"It's just a silly toy thing. A family heirloom, supposed to bring good luck." Orson said, looking at the toy soldier.
"Right. Yes. Didn't do a very good job, did it?" Clara asked.
"It did. You're here, aren't you? What were the chances of you three finding me?" Orson asked.
"High." I said, happily. "Very high with me around. I do help to keep Clara and the Doctor in line."
"Orson, do me a favour. Take my advice. When you get home, stay away from time travel." Clara said, giving Orson the toy back.
"It runs in the family." Orson said, smiling.
"What? Sorry, what do you mean, runs in the family?" Clara asked.
"Nothing. It's just silly stories one of my grandparents. Well, great-grandparents, and their friends…"
"What is it? Tell me. You asked if you knew me. It's a family heirloom?"
Orson holds Dan the soldier man out to Clara and they hold hands around it, "Yeah."
Capsule…
"What are we doing?" Clara asked.
"We're just waiting." I said, tossing another chocolate chip cookie into my mouth.
"For what? For who? If everybody in the universe is dead, then there's nobody out there."
"That's one way to look at it, my Impossible Girl. There's a chance a former Viking girl is out there or possibly the Queen of Evil or two time traveling flirts."
"What's the other?"
"That's a hell of a lot of ghosts." The Doctor said, when the lights dim.
"Do you have your own mood lighting now? Because, frankly, the accent is enough." Clara said, as the capsule creaks. Words appear on the main hatch - Do Not Open The Door. "Where did that come from?"
"It's always been there, Clara. It's only visible in the night sky." I said, munching on some chocolate chip cookies. "When it's dark with light out."
"But who wrote it?" Clara asked.
"Colonel Pink. Apparently, at night, he needs a reminder. Six months stranded alone, I suppose it must be tempting." The Doctor said.
"What is?"
"Company." The Doctor said.
More slow creaking.
"What's that?" Clara asked.
"What kind of explanation would you like?" The Doctor asked.
"A reassuring one?"
"Well, the systems are switching to low power. There are temperature differentials all over this ship. It's like pipes banging when the heating goes off."
"Always thought there was something in the pipes."
"Me, too. Clara, who were you having dinner with?" The Doctor asked.
"Are you making conversation?" Clara asked.
"I thought that I would give it a try."
"I told you. A date."
"Serious?"
"It's a date. Clara's been on a date with this person for a while. Doctor, you interrupted it." I said, letting out a sigh. "It was supposed to be their second date."
"A serious date?" The Doctor asked.
"Do I have to bring him to you for approval? Jared seems to approve of him." Clara said, looking at the Doctor.
"Well, I would like to know about his prospects. If you like, I can pop ahead and check them out."
"Frankly, you've already done enough."
"Shit." I said, as what sounds like a scream makes us jump. "This is why I never liked jump scares."
"Atmospheric pressure equalising…" The Doctor said.
"Or?" Clara asked.
"Company."
"Why are we doing this? Why don't we just go?" Clara asked.
"We can't go yet. Because the Doctor needs to know." I said, looking down at the floor.
"Why? About what?"
"Suppose that there are creatures that live to hide. That only show themselves to the very young or the very old, or the mad, or anyone who wouldn't be believed." The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.
"Okay, so…" Clara said.
"What would those creatures do when everyone was gone? When there was only one man left standing in the universe?"
Bang, bang, bang.
"What's that?" Clara asked.
"Potentially, the hull cooling." The Doctor said.
"Potentially?"
"Believably." The Doctor said, and I heard bang, bang, bang. "Someone knocking."
"I'm glad I didn't have to go on that Midnight shuttle." I said, hearing three more bang, bang, bang. "Yeah. I'm really glad now."
Bang, bang, bang. Scrape, scrape, scrape.
"Doctor…" Clara said, while we hear bang, bang, bang. "You don't actually believe all this, do you? Hiding creatures, things from under the bed."
Bang, bang, bang. Scrape, scrape, scrape.
"What's that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye? What's that footstep following, but never passing by?" The Doctor asked.
Bang, bang, bang.
"Did we come to the end of the universe because of a nursery rhyme?" Clara asked.
Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang. The Doctor sonicks the hatch to Unlocked. The mechanism starts to turn.
"Doctor, that's you turning it, right?" Clara asked.
"No. Clara, Jared, get in the TARDIS." The Doctor said.
"Why?"
"Why? You never say that, Doctor." I said, looking at the Doctor. "We can help."
"You can't." The Doctor said, fixated on the door. "I have to know."
"Doctor. Doctor." Clara said, sadly.
"The TARDIS, now!" The Doctor yelled.
"Okay, okay. Somebody is out there. Now we know, we can leave. Oh, Doctor!" Clara said, terrified.
"It's a pressure lock. Releasing it could've triggered the opening mechanism."
"Is there even an atmosphere out there?"
"There is an air shell round the ship. Why are you and Jared still here?" The Doctor asked.
"Because I am not going to leave you in danger!" Clara said, worried.
"Same. I'm immortal! Let me help!" I said, angrily.
"Then you two will never travel with me again, because that is the deal! TARDIS, now! Do as you are told!" The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.
Clara and I run to the Tardis, "You're an idiot."
"You dumbo. You know what you are, right? A great, big, outerspace, dunce." I said, going into the TARDIS with Clara. "Quoting our super temp, by the way."
"I know." The Doctor said, letting out a sigh.
Tardis…
"What's happening?" Clara asked.
"He's doing something stupid." I said, flicking a switch on the TARDIS console to turn on the scanner.
"You're right, Jared. He is. He's opening the door." Clara said, gulping.
Capsule…
"Perhaps they're all just waiting, perhaps when we're all dead, out they'll come a-slithering from underneath the bed." The Doctor said.
The airlock opens.
Tardis…
"Oh, no, no, no, not now, come on!" Clara yelled.
The scanner flickers as the air starts to leave the capsule.
"Oh! Always when it's important!" Clara said, angrily.
The Tardis jolts.
"What's happening?" Clara asked.
"Don't know." I said, as a klaxon sounds. "What's that noise?"
"What's that?"
"The alarm. The air shell's breached. Stay here with Jared." Orson said.
The scanner flickers on to show the Doctor hanging on to the edge of a console as the air and anything loose is sucked out of the capsule. A gloved hand grabs his wrist as he starts to slip and he is pulled to safety. A short time later, the unconscious Doctor is back in the Tardis.
"Is he okay?" Clara asked.
"The Doctor's out cold. He'll be okay. I know he will be." I said, smiling.
"Jared, something hit him."
"Clara, you've forgotten. Everything in that pod was flying out of the door."
"Could've been that."
"Yup."
We still hear a group of three sounds repeating in the background.
"What was out there? What were you so afraid of?" Clara asked, looking at Orson.
"I've been here a long time. My own shadow, probably." Orson said.
"Yeah." Clara said, happily.
Rumble. The Tardis doors move slightly.
"That's probably just the rest of the air escaping." Orson said.
"You say probably a lot." Clara said, happily.
"I bet you got that from hanging around me." I said, hearing a creak and a whumph. "If we ever did meet in the future."
"We are safe? Nothing can get in here, right?" Orson asked.
"Probably." Clara said.
A hissing sound, like air escaping. The Cloister Bell tolls. Clara and I go to the console.
"Have you two got a plan?" Orson asked.
"We're going to be using the TARDIS telepathic circuits. Clara left her essence on them before." I said, looking at Orson.
"So?"
"So apparently, that can do a thing." Clara said, sticking her fingers into the console again.
"What, that's your plan?" Orson asked.
"It's not a plan, it's a thing." Clara said, while the time rotor starts to stutter. "Okay. Come on, come on, you can do it!"
The Doctor wheezes.
"Come on! Sorry." Clara said, as the time rotor gets up to speed. "Here we go! Come on. Come on!"
The Tardis lands with a thump. The Cloister Bell has stopped and there are no more three part bangs on the sound track.
"Is that it?" Orson asked.
"I don't know. I think so." Clara said, frowning.
The scanner isn't much help.
"Where are we?" Orson asked.
"Somewhere else. I hope. No, no, no, you stay and look after the Doctor. Come on, Jared." Clara said, grabbing my hand and dragging me away.
"You two can't go out there by yourselves." Orson said, looking between Clara and I.
"Thing is, my timeline and Jared's timeline, it keeps on. Orson, you don't want to meet yourself. It's really embarrassing."
Barn…
The Tardis door creaks slightly as Clara closes it with me behind her. On a raised platform is a simple bed, and a child is lying curled up on their side under a blanket, sobbing as the star and/or moonlight streams down through the roof. Clara and I climbed the ladder to the platform.
"Rupert?" Clara asked, walking to the bed. "Orson?"
"It's neither. It's the Doctor." I said, and the barn door opens and we see two pairs of feet enter. The woman wears a long skirt with an apron over the top. "Or this time. He's Theta Sigma."
"Why does he have to sleep out here?" The man asked.
"He doesn't want the others to hear him crying." The woman said.
"Why does he have to cry all the time?"
Clara and I hid under the bed.
"You know why." The woman said.
"There'll be no crying in the army." The man said.
"Hush."
"Don't pretend you're not awake. We're not idiots."
"Come and sleep in the house. You don't have to be alone. If you can hear me, you're very welcome in the house, with the other boys. I'll leave the door on the latch. Come in any time."
"He can't just run away crying all the time if he wants to join the army."
"He doesn't want to join the army. I keep telling you."
"Well, he's not going to the Academy, is he, that boy? He'll never make a Time Lord." The man said, walking away with the woman.
(Open POV)
Tardis…
The Doctor wakes suddenly, "Sontarans! Perverting the course of human history!"
"Doctor?" Orson asked.
"You're confusing me. What? Shut up, shut up. Where's Clara and Jared?" The Doctor asked.
Barn…
"Clara! Clara!" The Doctor yelled, nearby.
"Hello? Who's there? Hello?" The boy asked, sitting on the edge of his bed, and Clara grabbed his ankle as if by reflex.
"It's okay. This is just a dream. Just lie back again. Just lie back on the bed. It will all be okay if you just lie down and go to sleep. Just do that for me. Just sleep." Clara said, releasing the boy's ankle and he got back into bed.
Clara sits on the edge of the bed with Jared and puts her hand on the boy's head, stroking his hair gently as he sobs to himself.
Clara whispers into the boy's ear, "Listen…"
Tardis…
"What happened? What did you see? What's out there?" Orson asked.
"Don't know." Jared said, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth. "It could be anything. Or it could be nothing."
"Jared's right." Clara said, returning with Jared. "What if there was nothing? What if there never was anything? Nothing under the bed, nothing at the door. What if the big bad Time Lord doesn't want to admit he's just afraid of the dark."
"Where are we? Have we moved? Where have we landed?" The Doctor asked.
"Don't look where we are. Take off, and promise us you will never look where we've been." Clara said, looking at the Doctor.
"It's not important." Jared said, munching on his chocolate chip cookie.
"Why?" The Doctor asked.
"Just take off. Don't ask questions." Clara said, grabbing Jared's hand.
"I don't take orders, Clara."
"Do as you're told."
The Tardis dematerialises. The boy sits up in his bed.
Barn…
"Listen…" Clara said, whispering into the boy's ear.
Orson is being returned home, and giving Clara a hug with Jared joining the hug, making it a group hug.
"This is just a dream. But very clever people can hear dreams. So, please, just listen. I know you're afraid, but being afraid is all right. Because didn't anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger. And one day, you're going to come back to this barn. And on that day you're going to be very afraid indeed." Clara said.
The new War Doctor, stands in the wilderness looking at the lonely barn, taken from the Day of the Doctor.
"But that's okay. Because if you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly." Clara said. "Fear can make you kind."
Tardis…
"Ready?" Clara asked, grabbing the Doctor from behind for a hug.
"Yeah." Jared said, grabbing the Time Lord from the front for a hug to make it a group hug. "Group hug!"
"No, no. Not the hugging. No, no, no. I'm against the hugging. Please." The Doctor said, annoyed.
Danny's flat…
The Doctor drops Clara off and leaves with Jared. Danny's doorbell rings, so he goes and answers it.
"I am so…" Danny said, sadly.
"I know." Clara said, frowning.
Barn…
"It doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed or in the dark, so long as you know it's okay to be afraid of it." Clara said.
Danny's flat…
"And I just get nervous." Danny said.
"Me too." Clara said, looking at Danny.
"I don't even know what I'm nervous of." Danny said.
TARDIS…
The Doctor underlined the word Listen on his blackboard.
Barn…
"I'll show you. So, listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this. You're always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's okay, because fear can bring us together." Clara said, happily.
Danny's flat…
Clara kisses Danny.
Barn…
"Fear can bring you home. I'm going to leave you something, just so you'll always remember, fear makes companions of us all." Clara said, leaving Dan the soldier man to stand guard.