Her Impossible Wolf

1

Clara Oswald woke up lying down in someone's bed. She could feel something damp and vaguely towel-like pressed very gently against her forehead. She could hear muffled voices from another part of whatever room the bed she occupied was in.
"...might be him, mum! She could be him!"
"Listen, sweetheart, I know he can change like that, but how could she possibly be him? Anyway, I thought that box was stuck like that?"
"I don't know, do I? Been years since I saw him... The real him... It could've changed, couldn't it?"
"I just don't see how it's him, Rose." A sigh. "I really want it to be him too, sweetheart, you know I do. I just don't want you to get your hopes up for no reason."
"Just... Let me look after her though, mum. Then we can see whether or not she's him."
Footsteps echoed dimly as a body carrying one of the voices left the room. Another pair of footsteps padded towards the bed. Clara figured that there must've been a chair or something beside the bed. Silence held the room for a moment, before a hand gently moved the damp object from Clara's forehead.
"Ugh. The flannel's got warm. I'll have to get a fresh one."
There was noise as the person obviously stood from whatever seat was beside the bed. Instinctively, Clara reached out to grasp whatever was closest. She ends up grabbing a forearm.
"Are you awake?" the voice asked.
"Yes. Where am I?" Clara whispered, instinctively knowing that her voice would be weak.
"Hold on, let me sit you up," the voice replied. Clara let go of the arm. She was helped into a sitting position, then slowly opened her eyes. "Hiya. I'm Rose. Do you remember who you are?"
"Clara. Where am I?" Clara carefully took in the face that matched the voice she'd already been hearing. The voice belonged to a young woman around her own age. The woman - Rose, she'd said her name was - had dirty blonde hair that went past her shoulders and brown eyes that seemed to hold the weight of the entire world within them.
"You're at my mum's. Do you remember anything about your journey?"
"My ship. It looks like a diner." She paused. "Why didn't I change that when Me was still around to help?"
"Are you okay, Clara? Are you talking about yourself?"
"Oh, no, Me is what my last travel-buddy called herself. She was originally called Ashildr, but we accidentally stopped her from being able to die and her memory could only hold a lifetime at a time, so she ended up forgetting her name, and just calling herself Me instead."
"O...kay... Listen, your ship's in my mum's garden and is perfectly fine... Wait a minute! You said 'we'. You said 'we accidentally stopped her from being able to die'. Who did you mean by 'we', Clara?"
Clara stared into Rose's face, trying to remember. Then her chest was in agony. It kept doing that. She keeled over, clenching her body and trying not to scream. Rose was holding her in an instant, trying to soothe her.
"Your body... I don't even know what your body's trying to do, Clara! I've never seen it before! I'm trying to help you, but I don't know how to. Is there anything you need? Anything at all?"
All Clara could think about suddenly was Danny. And she hadn't thought about Danny in a long time. Then, her mind shot to... "A souffle," she muttered through clenched teeth. "And a cup of tea. Milk, no sugar." Rose's hand left Clara's back and her hurried footsteps left the room.
Clara's body remained clenched for a good few minutes, then eventually relaxed as the pain slowly died down. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed and finally surveyed the room. She realised she was in someone's pyjamas. Her clothes were on a chair in a far corner of the room. She figured her sonic she'd had made by her TARDIS would still be in one pocket, but she knew she was still too weak to get up and get it.
Rose came back in a few minutes later, carrying a tray of tea and souffle. "Here you go, Clara. A tea and a souffle. I gotta say, mum was pretty confused about that request, but it's a good job she always has party food boxes in the freezer. She loves to cook from frozen."
Clara took a swig of the tea, then looked at Rose. "What did you ask? Before my chest interrupted us."
"You'd said 'we' when you were talking about Ashildr?"
"Oh! Yeah, me and the Doctor. He's this..."
"I knew the Doctor."