Hello, dearests! (Sorry I'm SO SUPER LATE.) 💕
Anyway. . .
Woohoo! The Doctor and Lexi are back again! 💙
And they are not alone because . . . Sky is back, too! 💚
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GUEST STARRING
RICHARD MADDEN as SKYLER "SKY" POND
~o0o~
SAMUEL ANDERSON as DANNY PINK
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And so is Danny. . . 🙄
BUT, someone new has come to join us for this episode as well! 😁
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SPECIAL GUEST
DAISY RIDLEY as ASTRA MARSH
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Who could she be. . .? 😏
Anyway, with the introductions now out of the way, I would like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who gave me sweet words of encouragement on the last chapter (a chapter that I have now deleted) that I posted about the quite rude review I received. All of the sweet words were so uplifting and an amazing reminder of why I write this series. I do it for myself, but I also do it for all of y'all who actually enjoy what I write. ❤️
And with that said, I would like to completely dedicate this episode to you, my lovely readers! You mean so much to me and I am very grateful for y'all. 💖
P.S. ~ Guess what. . .
THE GLORIOUS SERIES TURNS SIX YEARS OLD TODAY!!! 🎉
That's right! Six years ago today I published the very first chapter of The Pond Twins on fanfiction.net, which was series 5 episode 1 "The Eleventh Hour". We really have come a LONG way since then! 💖
So I suppose me finally starting this book back up again is also in honor of The Glorious Series's birthday (December 15th)!
So yeah. . .
Enjoy, my sweets! 😘
—
I would really appreciate it if you'd please leave comments. They are what keep me motivated to write more! <3
***
❝ Alright, this has definitely made it to the top of the list of our weirdest days. ❞
– Clara Oswald
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London, England
2014
Gloucester, England
1995
*****
"So tell me again..." Sky trailed off as he was kicked back in the Doctor's leather recliner, lazily swinging back and forth whilst watching Lexi as said woman was sat at her piano. "Robin 'Prince of Thieves' Hood is actually real? As in a living, breathing human being who really did exist and live in the twelfth century?"
"For the millionth time, my dear son, yes." Lexi tried not laugh, shaking her head whilst polishing the ivory keys of her piano. She tucked a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face back behind her ear before she spared a glance in Sky's direction. "Remember all the bedtime stories I would tell you and Jupiter when you were little? Well, it turns out that they were a bit truer than we realized."
"I honestly wish I could've been there." He chuckled before then sitting up straighter in the recliner and leaning a bit forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked to his mother. "Have you seen Dad at all today? It has been oddly quiet around here, and it's a bit unsettling."
"Sitting on top of the TARDIS." She answered as she set the cleaning polish that she was using to polish the keys of her piano aside. She then tentatively pressed one of the keys, a light and resounding tone resonating throughout the console room. "He said he wanted, and I quote, 'to meditate or something.'"
Sky furrowed his brows in confusion. "Wh–" He began to ask, but was cut off by the sound of the TARDIS doors opening.
The Doctor poked his head in upside down and stared unblinkingly at his wife and son for a couple of moments. "Listen!" He whispered harshly.
Lexi quirked an eyebrow. "To what?" She asked.
The Doctor jumped down with ease and closed the doors behind him. "Question." He began as he walked passed the console and up a set of stairs to where a lit candle sat atop his desk, Lexi and Sky watching his every move. "Why do we talk out loud when we know we're alone?" He asked his question as he picked up the candle before turning around to face where his wife and son were watching him from the other side of the console room. He held up a finger when he noticed Sky was about to answer him. "Conjecture..." He blew out the candle. "Because we know we're not."
"That is a very 'you' thing to say, my sweet." Lexi remarked as she and Sky watched the Doctor write on his chalkboard.
"Evolution perfects survival skills." He continued. "There are perfect hunters. There is perfect defense. Question." He stated as he finished off his list and set the piece of chalk down in the crack of a book that was on the podium next to the chalkboard. "Why is there no such thing as perfect hiding?"
"I'm confused..." Sky whispered, glancing at his mother. "Should we answer?"
"Best not." Lexi whispered back before they returned their attentions to the Doctor.
"Answer!" He exclaimed, whirling around and bracing himself against the railing as he looked across to Lexi and Sky. "How would you know? Logically, if evolution were to perfect a creature whose primary skill were to hide from view, how could you know it existed?"
"Do please enlighten us further." Lexi smirked a bit as she stood up from her piano, walking forward a few feet before leaning against the railing in much the same way the Doctor currently was on the other side of the room.
"It could be with us every second and we would never know." He responded as he stood back up straight while still keeping his hands on the railing. "How would you detect it? Even sense it... Except in those moments when, for no clear reason, you choose to speak aloud? What would such a creature want? What would it do?" He looked across to his wife and son, taking his hands off the railing. "Well? What would you do?"
Suddenly, there was a sort of rolling sound that caused the trio to look over in the direction of the podium.
One, the Doctor noticed that the piece of chalk he had placed in the crack of the book was not there anymore. And two, he looked down when he felt an ever-so light tap against the toe of his shoe. He raised an eyebrow at the piece of chalk. He promptly bent down and plucked it off the floor. However, he paused when he noticed the chalkboard.
"Neither of you wrote that, did you?" The Doctor asked.
Lexi and Sky both turned towards where the Doctor was looking, their eyes widening when they saw the word Listen written on the chalkboard.
"We've been standing here talking to you this whole time." Lexi swallowed.
"It couldn't have been us..." Sky commented, squinting at the chalkboard as he took a few steps towards it.
"Right then." The Doctor began as all three of them came to stand directly in front of the chalkboard. "That's only slightly strange."
Lexi giggled, not being able to hide her grin at that. The three of them then all shared a look before making a run for the console.
***
"I am stealth." Lucas whispered to himself as he peeked around a corner, watching as Clara angrily marched down the hall towards the door of her flat.
Should he feel weird that he's followed his best friend around all night, watching as her disastrous date unraveled even more than he knew it would? Maybe.
Did he do it out of love and concern for her? Absolutely.
"I did tell you this whole thing was a bad idea." Lucas whispered, watching as Clara frustratedly unlocked the door before entering her flat. Lucas gripped onto the edge of the corner of the wall and cringed when he heard the door slam shut.
How did things go so seemingly wrong, you may ask? Let us travel back a bit.
***
Clara entered the restaurant, gazing around the establishment until she spotted Danny at a table. Said man gave her a small smile and a wave as she made her way over to him, neither of them aware that a certain History teacher was peeking out from behind his menu just a few tables away.
"Hey." Clara smiled as she reached the table, Danny standing to greet her.
"Hey." He bent down slightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek, but then back away slightly and cleared his throat. "Sorry."
"Oh, no worries." Clara waved him off as the two of them took their seats just as a waiter came over with a wine bottle. "So, the famous drink at last."
"Yeah." Danny nodded, taking a sip of his beer as the waiter finished pouring Clara a glass of wine before walking away. "Took a bit of time. Family stuff, but here we are."
Clara smiled a bit, lifting her wine glass towards her lips. "Dinner, in fact."
Danny smiled back. "Yeah, straight to dinner."
"I like a man who moves fast."
"Mm." Danny nodded, trying not to smile too wide. "I might go straight for extras – afters." He shook his head, sighing. "Dessert."
Clara grinned a bit. "Straight to dessert."
"Right." Danny chuckled a bit nervously. "So, er... How was your day?"
"Good." She nodded. "You know, teaching."
"Yep." He agreed, nodding. "Teaching."
"Teaching, teaching."
"Totally teaching."
Clara shook her head, sighing a bit. "We probably shouldn't talk about work."
"God, yeah." Danny agreed with a wince.
"Though..." Clara trailed off as she thought before looking straight at Danny. "Do you take Courtney for anything?"
A short distance away, Lucas blinked as he spied on the two. "This is honestly the worst attempt at flirting I've seen." He mumbled to himself as he reached over and picked up his glass of Gin. He had never been much of a Gin drinker, but ever since the Glorious had started drinking it she had gotten him to try it. It actually wasn't that bad.
Anyway, Lucas casually sipped on his Gin as he continued to watch the date unfold.
Danny laughed at what Clara had just told him. "Are...are you serious?"
"Yes!" Clara laughed as well. "She said she couldn't concentrate on her work because my face was too wide!"
"Wide?" Danny repeated.
Clara nodded, giggling. "I could kill that girl some days."
"Me, too."
"And from you, that means something."
"Ouch." Lucas whispered before taking another sip of Gin, his eyes glued to the scene happening a few tables away from him. "Bad choice of words."
Danny blinked before narrowing his eyes at Clara. "I'm sorry?"
Clara sat up straighter. "I –"
"I dug twenty-three wells." He said abruptly.
"I'm sorry?" Clara looked at him, wondering if she might have just said something wrong.
"Twenty-three wells. When I was a soldier. Twenty-three."
"Okay." Clara nodded slowly. "Good. Good wells."
"Yeah, they were good, actually."
"I'm not doubting the quality of your wells."
"Whole villages saved. Actual towns full of people. People I didn't shoot. People I kept safe."
"Okay. Point taken." Clara sat her wine glass down. "Seriously."
"So why doesn't that ever get mentioned?" Danny asked her, leaning forward just slightly.
Clara tilted her head, a little irritated. "I'm sorry I didn't mention your twenty-three wells, Danny."
There was a clearing of a throat from the waiter that had suddenly appeared. "Er... water for the table?"
"Don't you worry, he'll probably dig for it." Clara refrained from rolling her eyes, quickly glancing off to the side when she all of a sudden felt like she was being watched. When she saw no one that stuck out, she turned her gaze back to Danny just as the waiter walked off once again.
Danny waited until he was sure the waiter couldn't hear them before he laughed a bit shakily, putting his head in his hands. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Clara sighed before giving him a small smile. "Really."
"Sensitive subject." He elaborated.
"Yes." Clara picked her wine glass back up. "I can slightly see that."
"It's just... sometimes people like you get the wrong end of the stick."
Clara's eyebrows shot up, and she paused as she was about to take a sip of wine. "People like me?"
"Okay, this is headed downhill." Lucas muttered before quickly downing what was left of his Gin before signaling a waiter to bring him his check.
"I wasn't making assumptions about you." Danny said quickly.
"That really is exactly what you were doing." She refuted.
"You were making assumptions about me." He countered.
Clara huffed. "I made a joke."
"A not-funny joke."
"Yeah?" She questioned as she stood from her chair. "Well, d'you know what I'm making now?"
"A fuss?" Danny guessed.
"An exit." She stated as she put her jacket back on before making her way out of the restaurant.
Danny watched her go and groaned in frustration before lightly banging his head on the table, Lucas taking that opportunity to rush by and leave the restaurant so Danny wouldn't see that he had been there.
***
Clara sighed as she walked down the hall before reaching the door of her bedroom. She turned the knob and pushed the door open before almost bumping into it when it suddenly stopped, not opening very wide. Clara furrowed her brows in confusion, wondering what could possibly be blocking her door from opening when she knew she didn't have that much stuff in her room.
***
Clara poked her head around the door in order to see into her bedroom, raising an eyebrow when she saw it was the TARDIS that was blocking the door.
"You just have to squeeze through."
Clara quickly looked the other way and saw the Doctor was actually sitting at her vanity. "Doctor?"
"Why do you have three mirrors?" The Doctor asked, ignoring her obvious confusion. "Why don't you just turn your head?"
Clara just rolled her eyes as she squeezed into the room, shutting the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"You said you had a date." The Doctor shrugged. "I thought I'd better hide in the bedroom in case you brought him home." He looked at her through the mirror. "Bit early, aren't you?"
Clara opened her mouth to respond but was suddenly cut off by a thud from the other side of her bedroom door. She furrowed her brows before twisting back around to open the door, causing a certain History teacher to stumble in. "Lucas? What are you doing here?"
"Nothing, nothing." Said man quickly straightened and casually leaned against the doorframe, trying to make it look like he totally wasn't just eavesdropping. "I didn't follow you home or anything."
Clara quirked an eyebrow at him and opened her mouth to say something but was once again cut off by a certain someone as she emerged from the closet.
"You know, you really should think about a wardrobe overhaul." Lexi remarked, holding up a plaid skirt on a hanger.
Clara squinted, tilting her head. "What is this? Invade Clara's Flat Night?" She crossed her arms. "Don't tell me there's any more of you here."
"I've alphabetized your kitchen cupboards." Sky's Scottish accent broke through before said Time Twin appeared in the doorway next to Lucas, munching on a biscuit.
Clara just threw her hands up before falling back onto her bed. "Why do I even try?"
"Aw." Lexi pouted, carelessly tossing the skirt she was holding back into the closet before going and standing at the edge of Clara's bed. "Did your date go all wrong?"
"Oh, did it ever." Lucas snorted before clearing his throat. "Forget I said that."
"It was a disaster and I am extremely upset about it, since none of you asked." Clara responded, grabbing one of her pillows and holding it to her chest.
"Well, perhaps we didn't want to pry." Sky stated calmly, albeit a tiny bit coldly, before just brushing past Lucas and entering the TARDIS, shutting the door behind him.
"Alright. . ." Lexi drawled out before just shaking her head. "Just gonna move past that." She then looked back down at Clara. "The Doctor has developed a theory and we need you," She then looked over at Lucas and pointed at him. "and you, for a thing."
"Ugh, do we really have to?" Clara sighed, turning her head towards Lexi. "I'm really not feeling it tonight. The date was awful but there's still a chance that I might get a phone call. . ."
"Clara." Lexi said as she crouched down to be at eye level with Clara, resting her arms on the bed. "Take it from someone who waited a helluva long time for a man who can barely pilot a time and space ship to the right places — a watched pot never boils."
The Doctor quickly turned away from the vanity. "I will try to not take that as an insult."
"Alright." Lexi shrugged before getting to her feet again. "Anyway, come on, everyone!"
***
"You know, I haven't actually said yes to coming." Clara stated as they entered the TARDIS.
"Yeah, I don't really think they care." Lucas told her, shutting the door behind him.
"You'd be surprised about who cares about what." Sky chimed in from where he sat at his mother's piano on the upper level.
Clara just sighed, leaning against the console. "Why are we here?"
"You know sometimes when you talk to yourself?" The Doctor leaned past the time rotor to look at her. "What if you're not?"
Lucas frowned as he came to stand next to his friend. "Not what?"
"What if it's not you you're talking to? Proposition — What if no one is ever really alone? What if every single living being has a companion, a silent passenger, a shadow? What if the prickle on the back of your neck is the breath of something close behind you?"
Clara looked over at Lexi. "And how long has he been like this?" Lexi just pointed at the chalkboard on the upper level. Squinting, Clara walked up a set of steps as she looking at the single word Listen written on it. She then turned to look down at the Doctor. "It looks like your handwriting."
"Well, I couldn't have written it and forgotten, could I?"
Lucas quirked an eyebrow. "Have you met you?" He then walked up the set of steps Clara had and noticed the desk full of papers and books strewn across it. "What is all this?"
"Dreams." The Doctor answered. "Accounts of dreams, by different people, all through history."
"This is where that theory I mentioned comes into play." Lexi chimed in, leaning against the console as she and the Doctor looked up to where their companions stood on the upper level.
"Well then, color me intrigued." Clara said, her and Lucas turning away from the desk. "What is the theory?"
"I think everybody, at some point in their lives, has the exact same nightmare." The Doctor answered. "You wake up, or you think you do, and there's someone in the dark, someone close, or you think there might be. So you sit up and turn on the light, and the room looks different at night. It ticks and creaks and breathes. And you tell yourself there's nobody there, nobody watching, nobody listening, nobody there at all. . .and you very nearly believe it. You really, really try. And then –"
Lucas jumped when a hand wrapped around his ankle, and he instinctively looked down to see Sky laying on the floor and grinning. "What the hell, mate?"
"Dramatic effect." Sky chuckled and hopped to his feet. "What I have just demonstrated is the end of the nightmare."
"The point is," The Doctor spoke up, getting their attention again. "there are accounts of the dream throughout human history. Time and time again, the same dream. Now, there is a very obvious question I'm about to ask you. Do you know what it is?"
"Have you had that dream?" Clara asked.
"Exactly."
"No, that was me asking you. Have you had that dream?"
"I asked first."
"No, I did."
"You really didn't."
Lexi sighed. "Just a yes or a no, please."
"Okay, yeah, probably." Clara conceded.
"But isn't that something everyone dreams about at least once in their life?" Lucas questioned. "It's like literally one of the most common nightmares to have."
"That's exactly the point." Lexi pushed off the console as Clara and Lucas walked back down the steps, Sky following behind them. "Why is it so common?" She held out her hands. "Come here, Impossibles." When Clara and Lucas did, she inserted their fingers into a squishy section of the TARDIS console. "Just hold on tight. And if anything bites, let it."
"What is it?" Clara asked, wincing when she felt something bite.
"How is this su–" Lucas began to ask but was cut off when he felt something bite. "Ow!"
"Clara Oswald and Lucas Harper, meet the TARDIS telepathic interface." Lexi told them. "You are now in mental contact with the TARDIS."
"Don't think anything rude." The Doctor pitched in.
"Why not?" Clara frowned.
"It might end up on all of the screens." Lexi smirked, patting Clara on the shoulder as she passed behind her and Lucas. "The TARDIS is currently extrapolating your entire timelines from the moment of your births to the moment of your deaths. Whoever's nightmare she finds first, she will latch onto it and let the other one go."
"Just as a note, I don't think I nor Clara want a preview of how we die." Lucas remarked.
"Nope." Clara shook her head in agreement.
"Don't worry, we're definitely not traveling to either of your deaths." Lexi told them as she, the Doctor and Sky went about working the controls. "We're turning off the safeguards and navigation controls — slaving the TARDIS to you, basically."
"Try to focus on the dream and its details." The Doctor instructed. "Picture them and feel them. The TARDIS will look into your subconsciouses and latch onto whoever's nightmare she can find first — just as Lex said a few moments ago."
"In a nutshell," Sky spoke up, flipping a switch on the console. "once the TARDIS finds what she's looking for, she'll let the other person go and then pick out the relevant information from the other person's subconscious and then pinpoint the exact moment in their timeline when the person first had the dream."
"And then we'll see." Lexi grinned.
"What, exactly?" Lucas frowned.
"What's under your bed!"
Clara yelped and Lucas tried not to lose his footing as Lexi sent the TARDIS flying. "Ooh!"
"Okay, now don't get distracted." The Doctor warned. "Remember, you are flying a time machine. Don't make it too difficult for her to find what she needs to."
Clara and Lucas both nodded, closing their eyes as they began concentrating.
Just then, Clara's phone started to ring, which then caused the TARDIS to jolt a bit and let Lucas go, said man stumbling away from the console.
"No, no." The Doctor quickly went over to Clara. "Don't get that." He quickly grabbed her phone before tossing it away. "Just ignore it."
Clara nodded, clenching her eyes shut, taking a deep breath, then the TARDIS landed. "Okay, that's good." The Doctor nodded. "That worked. We're here."
"Sorry." Clara let out a breath as Lucas walked back to stand beside her again. "I think I got distracted."
"No, no, no, no, no — the date's fine." The Doctor checked. "Come on."
"Come on where?" Lucas frowned.
"Clara's childhood, of course!" Lexi grinned before spinning around and walking over to the doors and exiting the TARDIS, the Doctor and Lucas following after her.
Clara watched them leave, then frowned and attempted to get her fingers out of the interface, but couldn't when she found they were really stuck in there.
"Here." Sky told her, walking up beside her and placing his hands over hers before pulling and freeing them. "Sometimes she's a bit stubborn and doesn't want to let you go so easy."
With that, Sky then turned and headed for the doors. Clara pursed her lips as she stared after him, then shook her head before hurrying to catch up.
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Please leave your wonderful comments below and don't forget to vote! <3
– Maddy Xx