Drabbles With The Doctor

Clara is exhausted from her adventure with the Doctor. They had spent most of the day running from angry villagers, and she felt as though she could just drop from weariness. The Tardis is just floating in the time vortex and the Doctor is nowhere to be seen. Clara knows where he is and heads to the third library. And there he is, the bedraggled Doctor, tweed coat off and bow tie hanging loosely around his neck, lounging on a couch and reading a thick and dusty book.

"Whatcha reading?" Clara asks. The Doctor jumps a little and nods when he sees her. "The history of the Mogul planet." Clara thinks the book sounds horribly dull but sits next to him anyways. She reads a few sentences over his shoulder but gives up quickly, the book is as boring as she had thought it would be. She leans her head on his shoulder and yawns. "Chin boy, tell me a story." She demands sleepily. "The first king of the Moguls was Skargo. He was succeeded by his son, Skargo the second-" "No, Doctor." Clara protests. "Tell me a real story. A good story." The Doctor sighs, closes his book, and starts his tale.

"Once upon a time there was a queen with curly, golden hair. From the moment she was born she was constantly told what to do and how to think. One day, she had finally had enough and ran away to find her own path. She was strong and brave, a lioness of a woman. Men and women fell to their knees in awe of this goddess. She was beautiful and clever, the deadliest combination if there ever was one. She had stars in her eyes and a smirk on her lips, and the slightest of her flirtations could make men come crawling. But she didn't stay with those groveling men. She fell in love with a lonely monster and reminded him he was a man. And he loved her back fiercely. They lit up the universe with their brilliant love. Time and space was their playground, and they ran together."

The Doctor talks on and on and Clara is content to listen to him all day. She leans against him and sees rather than hears the tale of this wonderful, warrior woman. After a rather long time, the Doctor trails off into silence. Clara is bursting with a few questions but she doesn't want to spoil the moment. She lasts five seconds. "Doctor, who was this woman?" The Doctor is silent for a moment before answering quietly, "She was a super hero. She saved everyone, in the end." Clara accepts the answer but asks another question. "How does her story end?" There's a hitch in the Doctor's breath and it's a long time before he answers. "Well how else, you impossible girl? She lived happily ever after."

He kisses her forehead and walks into the dimly lit halls of the Tardis. Clara watches him go and frowns at the slump in his shoulders. She turns her gaze to the coffee table where the Doctor had set his book. There's a yellowed paper underneath it. Unable to resist her curiosity, she pulls the paper out from under the book. It's a crumpled, worn note, and there's only one sentence written on it.

"Rule number one: The Doctor lies."