Her Impossible Wolf

5

"Damn you, Missy," Clara whispered. "You're making me feel things."
There was a knock on the bedroom door. Clara looked up to see Rose stood at the door. "Who's Missy?" she asked.
Clara picked the rest of her things up off the chair. She dumped them on the bed, then patted the chair seat. Rose walked over and sat in the chair. "Did the Doctor ever mention that there was another time lord called the Master?" Rose shook her head. "Then I'll tell as much of the story as I know.
"The Doctor, when he was growing up on Gallifrey, was best friends with another boy, around his age. This kid grew up to be the Master. But the Master went insane somehow. They grew apart and went separate ways. The Master eventually became the Doctor's... How did Missy put it?" Clara paused, then recalled what Missy had said to her. "They became best enemies. Both still wanted to be friends, but their morals differed about the simplest of dilemmas, so it would never work.
"I don't know the story, but there's rumours about a year that didn't exist. That the Master was Prime Minister for a year that disappeared from time. Harry Saxon, they're saying was actually him. Then he died at his wife's hand. But there are rumours that he was brought back to life somehow. Again, I don't know the story.
"When I met him, he'd returned to Gallifrey and been given the ability to regenerate again, and he'd regenerated into a woman. Called herself Missy. She gets on my nerves a lot."
"Clara?" Clara looked at Rose properly. "Who's Harry Saxon?"
"What do you mean? He was elected Prime Minister in 2007 I think it was. May have been 2006."
"Well there you go, then. Did you hear about the Battle of Canary Wharf?"
"Who didn't? What are you trying to say?"
"I fell through the Void into this reality. Parallel Earth. Officially I'm listed as one of the dead from the Battle. My cost of travelling with the Doctor. I wasn't on Earth for Harry Saxon. I managed to get back through for a while when the stars disappeared. Planets had been disappearing. The Daleks had been kidnapping planets for a terrible weapon of mass destruction on a galaxy-scale.
"There were a load of us all trying to save Earth separately, brought together at the appearance of the Doctor. I met the next two after me. Martha and Donna. Good women. I sometimes wonder what they're doing now. You know, on the quiet days. Most days, here."
"So we're on a parallel version of Earth?" Clara asked. Rose nodded. "How much is different?"
"Not too much. My dad, who died when I was a baby on Earth, he's still alive here. But I was a dog in this reality! A dog!"
Clara laughed a little. "I bet you were a cute dog!"
Rose joined in laughing. "I was! You should've seen me!"
"Also the uhhh, the weapon of mass destruction does sound like something the Daleks would do." Clara paused, thinking of something to say. "Hey, Rose?" Rose nodded to indicate she was listening. "What other aliens have you met? Where did you go?" Clara glanced out a window she'd only just noticed, then added: "Actually, could we talk in my ship? I'm thinking about changing the exterior, seeing as I'll be here for a while."
Rose nodded. "Yeah, we can talk in your ship. Sorry in advance if the PJs are a bit long, I didn't think you'd want to borrow any of my mum's silk ones." She helped Clara sit up properly, then moved the duvet off her legs. "D'you wanna grab something? It might be a little nippy out."
Taking the hint, Clara grabbed her jacket. She was glad, as it had her sonic, phone, and psychic paper. She pulled the jacket on over the borrowed pyjamas, feeling slightly weird. Rose pulled Clara's arm around her neck and slowly raised herself until Clara's feet were firmly planted on the floor.
"Oh wait, shoes!" Rose exclaimed slightly, lowering Clara back onto the bed. She grabbed Clara's shoes and helped her into them. "There we go. You're ready to go outside."
Rose went to lift Clara again, but she waved her friend off. "Would it be okay if I just lean on you for support?" Rose nodded and said that of course that was fine. She held her arms towards Clara as she stood, still. Just in case.
As soon as Clara was stood, she almost overbalanced by trying to just start walking. Rose gripped her tightly by the hand, and made sure that Clara was stable, before letting her try taking a step again. By the time they reached the door, Rose was just holding her arms near Clara, in case she needed extra support.
"You may want the extra support on the stairs," Rose supplied as they reached the staircase.
Clara took one look at the stairs and agreed. "I reckon, help or not, I'll need a rest at the bottom." She glanced at Rose and smiled. Rose gripped Clara firmly and smiled back. And together, slowly, Rose helped Clara tackle the stairs, taking it one step at a time. Clara was right about needing a five minute rest at the bottom, but she was determined to reach her ship. So reach her ship she did.
Rose helped her a lot of the way to the ship, after getting past the stairs, because Clara had tired out quite a bit more than she'd expected. Rose noticed her mum watching them going to the ship from one of the windows of the house.
Her father was out, working for Parallel Earth's Torchwood. Earning money to keep paying the bills for their big swanky house that he'd bought outright when he used to be an inventor. Rose and John had worked for them too, for a while. Rose hadn't been back since he'd passed. They'd called it compassionate leave. "Come back whenever you're ready and your job will be waiting," they'd told her. It had been 3 months, now, since his funeral; the last time she'd seen their coworkers other than her father.