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Chapter 11 by Haltandcatchfire11 Haltandcatchfire11

Can She Work Past This And Allow The Doctor Further Into The Dream(s)?

There are Complications

Droplets crawled freely up her bare back. Time seemed to hang suspended, much like she was, as The Doctor stared down at her and shame boiled her in her own skin. "What's brown and white and red all over?" The enigmatic professor wondered aloud. The Doctor—her Doctor—looked over and glared at him reproachfully. "Don't you have a hail of gunfire to be strolling into?"
"Ah, yes, well I suppose you ought to know," the professor replied, smugly. "How was it, by the way?"
"It was a long time ago, mostly I remember it tickling, though that's time for you...you combine it with distance and just about anything seems funny. Now, shoo!" He waved his free hand dismissively in the professor's direction as he swung Clara back over to land in a naked, dripping heap on solid ground. Quick as a flash, his long dark frock coat was off and draped over her shoulders. "Sorry about the delay, more psychic interference," he grimaced apologetically, "but we got here in the end; I hope this dream version of me didn't do or say anything...strange?" He cocked an eyebrow questioningly. Clara was still working on finding her voice again, after having given him another eyeful of all she had to offer. She drew the coat tighter around herself, and rose unsteadily to her feet. She was shorter than him by a fair bit, so the coat came down to her knees like some kind of curious sleeved dress; it was still very much obvious that she was very much naked, but it helped recover a sliver of modesty, and that was better than nothing. Clara reached up and plucked a heavy, wet strand of hair away from her eye, sweeping it down over her back, her gaze taken up by a thousand yard stare. "I...I think it was...mostly the others," she gestured obliquely to the gaggle of Doctors gathered at the pool's edge a few feet away. The Doctor looked up and down the line. "Unfortunate byproduct of your escapades up and down my timeline, you've seen every last one of me...and now they're here, in your dreams."
"W-why?" Clara stammered, still shivering from the cold and wet. "Why them?"
"Because..." his stare flicked back down to focus on her. "Them being here would embarrass you."
"L-losing my clothes," she breathed, "in front of them...they were...saying things, about me, about my—"
The Doctor held up a hand. "Best not to dwell. I apologise on behalf of the representaions of my other selves your psyche has thrown up, but we really should be getting a move on now. Are you alright to walk?"
Clara blinked. "Huh? Oh, y-yeah...yeah, I think so. I'm just..."
"Frazzled?"
"That's...one way to describe it."
The Doctor took Clara's hand and led her to the entrance, which by all rights should lead to the TARDIS corridor. The door started to open at their approach, and The Doctor turned to face her, walking backwards into it. There was something off about the view through it; she couldn't see the TARDIS corridor, she couldn't see anything, just a weird sort of heat haze. "Now, this is important—this place operates on dream logic, it's vital that we try to stay together; there's no telling what might happen if we were to get separa—" He stepped heel-first over the threshold, into the haze, and promptly vanished, his hand popping out of existence and leaving Clara's unsettlungly empty. Her eyes went wide. "D-doctor? Doctor?!" She lingered for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed. Maybe there was no cause for panic, maybe he was just on the other side, waiting for her? Maybe... She was hesitant to step through to parts less-than-known, but it was either this or...
"Oh, come on, Earth Girl! It's been ages since Rose, if you could just give me one snog, just one tiny snog?"
Clara shuddered involuntarily. On second thoughts? Anywhere would be better than this, danger be damned. She steeled herself, working up the courage, then walked tentatively through. Clara closed her eyes as she went, afraid on some level of what lurked just beyond the haze. It took some more working up for her to finally open them once on the other side, but what she saw once she did made her heart sink.

Where Oh Where Does She End Up?

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