A Stutter in Time (Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: Quoth

Does your heart ever stutter?

Stuck for a moment between a strong beat and a weaker one, does it ever linger too long? Your chest heaves to catch up. Your vision blurs - only for a second. You forget what's around you.

Clara Oswald was stuck between two heartbeats. Instead of a stutter, it as a void. A stretch of nothing, an emptiness in her chest. A cavity collecting dust.

Heartbeats were irreplaceable. Unnoticed by the living. Missed by the dead.

Clara was dead in every sense of the word. Yes, she could feel, she could walk, talk, think freely. But she couldn't age, she couldn't bleed, couldn't change. She was, quite literally, frozen in time.

It was the Doctor's solution to heal his broken heart. He had temporarily saved her from her inevitable fate, but she was a marked woman. The unyielding tattoo on the back of her neck branded her as property of the raven, the Quantum Shade from Trap Street. All paths led to Gallifrey, to the Extraction Chamber, to her very last heartbeat. She was taking the long way round.

Whether intentional or not, Clara was never sure, but the Doctor had left her with a companion and the TARDIS. She'd been travelling the stars with Ashildr, Lady Me, or 'Ash' as Clara had renamed her. They didn't know how to travel too far yet, they'd only been exploring starboard of the sun, but they were working on it. In between saving planets, of course.

She had the life had with the Doctor, only this time, she travelled with a little less heart and the last ticks of her soul.

"More tea, Miss Clara?"

"That would be lovely, thanks Jenny."

She watched the steam rise from her teacup. A trickle of liquid ran down the side. Once again, Clara was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread.

Lately, she and Ashildr had been visiting Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Clara found them comforting in their strange familiarity. She felt closer to the Doctor when they were around. As it happened, Ashildr knew of Madame Vastra, too. They'd met once before while chasing a copycat killer of Jack the Ripper. It was a topic neither lizard nor immortal wanted to broach again.

"What's wrong?"

Clara closed her hands around the mug. As she looked up at Jenny, she could see the gentle pulse of a heartbeat under her collar. Her dark eyes, so inquisitive, were gleaming in the half-light of the day. Clara felt her stomach clench; she had the distinct feeling that her own eyes had lost some of that fervour. The twinkle of mortality.

"I'm overthinking, that's all," Clara said with a small shake of her head. "We've stayed here too long. We should probably get going."

Jenny smiled. "You can stay here as long as you want, you know. There's always a room for you. Don't feel like you have to run off anytime you get too comfortable."

Clara took a long sip to delay a reply. There was a clatter from inside the kitchen and both women spun around. Strax stood at the threshold, one large foot stuck in a bucket and a mop attached to his head.

"Strax? What happened?"

"Miss Me didn't appreciate my attempts to remove her helmet," said Strax, clearly affronted.

Clara suppressed a laugh. "It's not a helmet, Strax, it's her new haircut."

"Oh." the Sontaran's face dropped. "That's what it was. Not to worry, Madame Vastra asked me to deliver a message."

"Go on, then," Jenny prompted.

"She would like to see Miss Clara in her study immediately, about a secret and confidential matter. It is important that I don't reveal what the secret and confidential matter is, as that would be a strategic weakness." He lowered his head and smiled. "But between you and me, boy, I believe it's something to do with what Miss Jenny and Madame Vastra have been whispering about all week."