The Impossible Story (Doctor Who Fan Fiction

The Bowtie

'It's funny,' she replies almost casually 'I put this in my pocket this morning. I really don't know why I just....' she trails off. Clara stares at the purple bowtie she pulled from her jacket pocket. She remembers the moment he took it off just before regenerating in front of her. Before they had started crashing she had picked it up off the console floor and stuffed it in her pocket. It was the last remnant of her Doctor and she would keep it until she died. Now she was looking at it again and her sad Doctor. 'I guess since you changed. Well, I don't even know if you like them anymore.'

The Doctor is looking up at the stars as they begin to twinkle against the last rays of the fast sinking sun. It seemed like they had only been talking for a few minutes but according to the sun it had been awhile. 'I used to think I would never tire of them. That I would run to the end of time. But, there isn't any excitement. It seems as if the joy has been zapped out of every single star in the sky,' more to himself than anyone.

When he sees Clara holding the bowtie he asks quietly 'may I?' Clara hands him the bowtie and he gently turns it over in his hands. He is staring so intently and says quietly 'When the Doctor was me.' He looks over to Clara who is watching his reaction he asks 'is this the one?'

'Yeah, I always kept it...,' Clara begins to fidget 'I guess I figured,' she lets out a heavy sigh.

'What,' the Doctor looks right into her eyes.

'I guess I figured it would help me some day. That maybe even after you had gone off and found a new companion you would come back to me. At least one more time,' she lets out a nervous laugh. 'It's silly I know,' as she fidgets with her hands trying to avoid his gaze.

'How could you know I would come back? I am breaking every rule of time just by seeing you. You can never tell him that you saw me. To him that version of him died on Trenzalore and that foreknowledge could rip a hole in the universe.'

'I didn't know Doctor. I said I was hoping. Like when I was old or dying. One version of you would come visit me and say goodbye properly. Which is a stretch because I know you don't like endings.'

'Oh, Clara you still have much to do. I will come back for you and soon. But, I need you now! Do you think you can travel with the two of us? It could rip a hole in the time vortex if we mess up. But, if you can agree to not tell him. We might be able to do it. I've been alone for so long 800 years give or take and I can't do it anymore it's this or.....' the Doctor trails off. Clara begins to smile and was going to ask the Doctor if he meant it. But the number he just said hit her like a ton of bricks.

'800 years... Oh, Doctor you should never travel alone,' Clara never imagined that the Doctor could possibly travel by himself for that long. Even if he was the universe's champion he still needed a hand to hold. His companions always brought out the best in him and sometimes stopped him from doing things he would regret.

'Oh, Doctor I will travel with you wherever and whenever you need me and Doctor I will never judge you,' Clara replies which surprises the Doctor. The Doctor lets out an audible sigh of relief. He motions Clara and they begin to walk slowly to his TARDIS. The outside is beaten up and a dull blue, the St. John's Ambulance logo is barely legible. The TARDIS had seen another Time War and it shows.