The Time of the Doctor

"Once, there was a planet, much like any other and unimportant. This planet sent the universe a message. A bell tolling among the stars, ringing out to all the dark corners of creation. And everybody came to see. Although no one understood the message, everyone who heard it found themselves afraid. Except for two. The ones who stayed for Christmas."

~8~

The Judge hit a button on the console and, in a flash of light, the Doctor appeared before her, a black cloak around his shoulders, his face scrunched up along with his body in a defensive position, his one arm up to block his face which also held a Dalek eyestalk right up in front of him as well…and sighed, "You should have let ME set the coordinates Doctor. Dalek Ship?" she guessed.

He cracked open an eye to see that he was back in the TARDIS, safe from the Dalek fire he'd nearly endured. It probably wasn't the best thing to do, go waving around a Dalek eyestalk and claim peace in the middle of a Dalek ship, not the best thing at all. But he'd been investigating with the Judge, the mysterious sound, a beeping noise that had resonated everywhere, literally everywhere in time and space, and he hadn't wanted to let her go out there. One of them had to be there to keep the lines open and get the other out if things went wrong.

Handles, the Cyberman head that he'd managed to get his hands on and reprogram, was utterly useless it appeared because he'd been shouting at it to teleport him back, and instead his wife had had to.

He didn't want to let the Judge out there to face whatever was on the ship he'd told Handles to send him to in the first place. He understood his wife well enough to know that she was still in the process of trying to adapt to his adventures and how to deal with potential enemies. He didn't want to stick her in the middle of it all, and she was still a bit rusty with the TARDIS so he thought it would help to have him go out there and face the danger and let her get more reacquainted with the ship and the controls. It was a good compromise, he felt, in this situation, she got to stay in the TARDIS and not have to go out there into whatever was waiting, and HE got to have his own little adventure and know she was safe and nearby and could pull him out if it got too bad.

"Every ship I go on, they just shoot at me," the Doctor huffed, it wouldn't have mattered if it was a Dalek ship or not, every species seemed to do that to him. He reached up and unhooked his cloak, letting it drop to the ground as he made his way over to the Judge as she stood before Handles, rooted to a pole on the console, "Handles, I said, 'Put me on a ship.' I didn't say, 'Put me on a Dalek ship.' Don't put me on a Dalek ship, when I'm holding a broken bit of Dalek!" he got a bit huffy again and ended up whacking Handles with the Dalek eyestalk.

"Ok, enough of that," the Judge reached out and took the stalk from him, placing it on the console out of reach of him, "You can't expect him not to Doctor, haven't you seen the pattern?"

"What pattern?" he pouted.

She gave him a look, "You want to go in there and make a statement, so you pick some sort of trophy from a deadly enemy, the eyestalk," she gestured at it, "The Slitheen arm you stole from that museum bloke, the Sontaran gun," she shook her head, SHE knew that he'd nicked the gun from Strax when he'd gotten the Sontaran to owe him a favor, it was a sign of dishonor to have a Sontaran warrior hand over their weapon, and, without context, it came across to Sontarans that one of their own had been attacked that the weapon had been removed from their cold, dead fingers, "And each time you ended up on a Dalek ship, or a Slitheen ship, or a Sontaran ship…" she gave him a look, "Handles is assessing the tech and species what you have originates from and sends you to THAT ship."

The Doctor blinked at that, "No he isn't."

The Judge reached out and swung the monitor over to show him the record of the ships he'd been on, the ones that had all fired at him, and the 'trophies' he'd brought with him to prove he was an ally only to be seen as an enemy due to the ship he landed on. It was exactly like she'd said it was.

"Ok," he nodded slowly, "Maybe he is a bit," he reached out to pick Handles up, turning him over in his hands and pulling the sonic out to flash the robotic head with, wanting to reprogram that.

"You did not indicate a preference," Handles defended.

"And so he matched it based on tech," the Judge nodded.

"Yes, yes," the Doctor sighed, agreeing now that he looked at the sonic readings, Handles really HAD been doing that. His gaze looked up at the monitor once more, shaking his head at the list of ships he'd already visited, "They're all here, Daleks, Sontarans, Slitheen…and more," he let out a breath at that, there were still hundreds, if not thousands of ships he hadn't got to yet.

"What I don't understand is why aren't they fighting?" the Judge stepped beside him, frowning at the image on the monitor, "Half of them are here and so are their natural enemies and they're all just…waiting."

"Why?" the Doctor agreed.

"The message was received throughout the universe," Handles answered.

They rolled their eyes at that, "He sounds more human than Cyber," the Judge grumbled, of course they knew about the message, that was what had brought them all there. The question they were asking was WHY everyone seemed to be waiting and not doing anything else when half of them should be fighting each other and the Daleks should be trying to end them all.

"Yes, yes, the message, the message," even the Doctor seemed irritated by Handles's rather obvious statement, "But we can't translate it. I mean, why is everyone here if they don't understand it?"

"You're here," Handles remarked.

"Well, you know, I'm OCD and the Judge tends to just get dragged along, sorry kitten," he smiled at her, laughing when she rolled her eyes and walked to the other side of the console, he was moving onto animal names now, trying to find the one that he could use that would fit her. Hadn't quite managed to find it yet, "What's their excuse? What does this message mean?"

"That IS odd," the Judge murmured, looking up at the rotor, "I thought the only thing that the TARDIS wouldn't translate was Gallifreyan, but if it was, WE would be able to understand it or recognize it."

It couldn't be that though, she knew that there were some things that the TARDIS failed to translate, like Judoon, Dor'een's language, quite a few others. The Doctor said he didn't know why that was, she was sure he'd had to have broken something or fried some part of the translation circuit. Still…Gallifreyan or not, the TARDIS should have recognized it and let them know, THEY should have recognized it even though it was just a beeping.

"Oh, no," the Doctor grumbled, pulling the Judge out of her thoughts and alerting her to the fact that the phone had been ringing for quite a while now, "And remind me I've got to patch the telephone back through the console unit," the Doctor told Handles as he set the head back down and turned to go to the doors, the phone behind the instruction panel seemed to be the only one working so far, "This is getting ridiculous."

"Attention!" Handles lit up, "Information available."

The Doctor grinned widely, spinning on his heel and dashing back down the ramp to the robot, "Ok?" he looked at it expectantly.

The Judge glanced at the door, the phone was still ringing and the Doctor seemed to have forgotten about it so she made her own way over to it, barely paying attention to how the 'information' was Handles reminding him to fix the phone and the Doctor getting all grumpy and irritated at having to explain to Handles to remind him later at an unspecified time. She opened the door and leaned out, popping the instruction panel open to grab the phone.

"Hello?" she asked. That was another sorry thing about the mixed phonelines, they couldn't get the ID tracing at the console if the phone wasn't on the console so she didn't know who was calling, if it was Jack or Jenny or UNIT or…

"Emergency," Clara gasped, "I need your help."

"Clara?" the Judge frowned, she was fairly certain it WAS Clara but her voice had gone a bit squeakier than normal in her anxiety, "What's wrong?"

"Clara?" the Doctor looked over as the Judge made her way back into the box, the phone line extending to allow her mobility as she nodded at him.

"You're my friends," Clara began, "Right?"

"The Doctor is," the Judge agreed.

"Oi!"

The Judge winced at that, more from the shrill pitch of Clara's voice than any feelings of having hurt Clara's, "I don't…DO friendship with humans much," she shrugged.

"You're friends with Jack!"

"And I've been hanging around him for…" she shook her head, "About a decade, he wore me down."

"Who wore you down?" the Doctor gave her a look that was half-pouting.

"Jack," she told him, putting her hand over the phone so Clara wouldn't hear, "He's my…friend. A human friend," before she returned to the call, "You're more…my responsibility Clara."

And she didn't mean it to be offensive though she knew that was probably how it came across. She just…humans still set her on edge, and the thought of being FRIENDS with a companion made her uncomfortable, made her feel like she was betraying her children to be that close to the ones that the Doctor chose over them. There might be strings of friendship, the stirrings of something that resembled it, but, for her, right now, Clara was more a charge to her, someone she had to look out for, was obligated to keep safe, was responsible for. They would never talk about their feelings or go out for pizza or have a girl's night together. She hadn't even done that with Tosh and Gwen, well…only once but only a short while before Tosh had been lost and that had been years after knowing them. Clara came only on Wednesdays and left, she didn't really live on the TARDIS like the other companions seemed to, she didn't see much of Clara.

She didn't feel a friendship between them but a responsibility, as much as that might hurt Clara to hear, it was bet to be honest.

"Well then it's your duty to help me out," Clara huffed though the Judge could hear an acceptance in Clara's voice, Clara was realistic, she knew that they weren't friends but to know there was at least some form of care was enough.

"And, again, what's wrong exactly?"

"I need friends. And I need them quickly."

"Why?" the Judge frowned, she was genuinely lost and, try as she might to wrack her brain for a logical explanation, she had no idea what Clara was going on about.

"Christmas dinner, me cooking, and I may have told my Aunt Linda that I was inviting some friends over too."

"So? I'm sure you have loads of friends, co-workers, other teachers…"

"Who all have families of their own to spend Christmas with."

"I'm sure you're aunt will understand."

"You've never met my Aunt Linda," Clara deadpanned, "She's already declared I don't have any friends and I'm making it up to look popular."

The Judge opened her mouth to respond when she heard the Doctor speak, a note of excitement in his voice that could NOT be good, "Handles, that's a new ship! Ok," he held up a finger to her, seeing her turn her attention on him, "We'll take the TARDIS this time."

"Please," Clara begged in the Judge's ear, "Come for Christmas dinner. Just do that for me. Come to Christmas dinner and show my aunt that I DO have friends."

"Doctor!" the Judge shouted when man, with Handles in hand, ran out the door the second the TARDIS was set down. She sighed, "Hold on just a mo Clara," she leaned over to grab the monitor, swinging it to her to see what ship they'd landed on now that the Doctor hadn't bothered to check before. And let out a scoffing laugh as she shook her head, "Cyber-ship with a Cyber-head."

"What?" Clara called.

"Nothing," the Judge sighed, glancing back when she heard an attack starting up, the Cybermen had likely just seen the head of one of their own in the Doctor's clutches.

"So will you come?"

"We may be a bit late," the Judge offered, "The Doctor's being shot at by Cybermen."

"But you'll come?" Clara latched onto the fact that it wasn't a no.

The Judge kept her eyes on the doors as the Doctor managed to dash inside and slam them shut behind him, panting, Handles with a few burn marks on him, "Yeah, we'll come," she agreed, if just for an excuse to get the Doctor away from all this a moment, he was truly having the WORST luck at the moment and…a break and food might be just what he needed, a nice distraction to keep her husband alive.

~8~

The Judge had her back to the console, allowing her to face the door as she leaned on the controls, the rotor directly behind her, which was good, that was what she wanted, the rotor between her and where the Doctor was leaving a message for a woman, Tasha Lem, the Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe. She was there, away from him, her back to him, because of what was required to even speak to the woman like that, the head of the church. While she loved her husband and while they were working and succeeding, she hoped, in fixing their marriage…there were something she wasn't quite ready to see from him just yet.

Which explained the red flaming her cheeks and why her gaze was on the ceiling when Clara entered in a rush.

"Oh thank god you're here," Clara hurried for her, "I just…what's wrong?" she stopped short, "Your face is all red…" she frowned when the Judge glanced over her shoulder, hearing someone walking over, and quickly put a hand over her eyes, "What are you…"

"Clara!" the Doctor cheered when he stepped around the console enough to see her, his hands thrown up into the air in excitement.

Clara quickly mimicked the Judge, both in flush and hand over the eyes.

Because the Doctor was naked.

"No, stop, stop, don't move, don't do anything!" Clara pleaded, turning around so her back faced him, both hands over her eyes now, not even trusting that if she took her hands off her eyes he wouldn't find some way to get in front of her.

The Doctor looked between both women, a pout of hurt on his face, "Why, what is it? What's wrong?"

"You're naked, love," the Judge called, the Doctor looking over to see her covering her eyes but looking down now, her head bowed.

They hadn't been quite that…revealed to each other, not yet. They shared a bed yes, but they hadn't done anything like that. Kissed, yes, slept beside each other in their arms, yes. But they changed separately, they didn't see THAT much and now he was just…she felt herself blushing even more. She was slightly horrified with herself and how she felt about it. She was embarrassed a bit, to see that much of him, but…there was a little part of her that felt a thrill at it, at the small glimpses she'd gotten. He was making her feel like when they'd first been married, when they'd first caught little glimpses of each other after they'd stopped ignoring each other, the small catches here and there that helped build a more physical attraction to each other, one that had helped lead to their first child.

It was reminding her of that, making her feel like she was centuries younger again and it was…an odd feeling, to be so old now and feel like that.

"Yes," he said slowly, still not entirely certain why that was a problem, "I am naked. I wondered if you'd notice."

"Doctor, why are you naked?" Clara's voice squeaked again in mortification of having walked in on that.

The Judge shook her head, "Because he was talking to an official of the church," she offered, knowing how the Papal Mainframe worked thanks to the Doctor. One had to bear everything, expose all flaws and sins and…other things…to be able to be 'purified' and forgiven by the church, nothing could be hidden, NOTHING. And even to leave a message for them meant that their systems would scan, if the person's plea was genuine, they would have nothing to hide at all, if they were hiding something then some sort of clothing would appear.

"And now he's not," Clara reminded them.

"You're right," the Judge agreed, "Please put some clothes on dear."

The Doctor let out a huff, though he couldn't help but smirk now that they weren't looking at him, it widening when he saw the flush on the Judge's cheeks, he could have put clothes back on the moment he was finished. He could have…but he'd sort of wanted to tease the Judge just a bit…hadn't quite expected Clara to come rushing in, but it had the desired affect on the Judge. And…now that he thought about it, he had an even better idea. He chuckled lightly to himself and reached out to flick a switch on the console, shivering as a sensation washed over him, "All done," he called to them.

The women slowly lowered their hands, the Judge's eyes flying up to the ceiling again, making him grin widely, though Clara let out a sigh of relief, "Much better Doctor."

The Judge frowned in thought a moment, glancing over at Clara quickly, noting how much more at ease Clara appeared, as though she could see clothes on him now though he, and clearly the Judge, knew there was still nothing of the sort.

"Something wrong?" the Doctor smirked at her.

The Judge looked back at him, forcing her gaze to remain on his face as her eyes narrowed, "Not at all," she forced herself to say, knowing he was trying to get to her, trying to play some sort of game with her and she was NOT going to let him get to her.

He wanted to parade around naked with only Clara seeing his clothing, go ahead.

And if some humans ended up getting decked by her for looking somewhere too long, it would be his own fault.

The Doctor laughed again, "Hologram clothes," he told Clara, spinning around as he knew she'd see his typical purple suit, "Projected directly onto your visual cortex."

THAT seemed to make Clara suspicious though, "Still naked underneath?"

"Everybody's naked underneath," he shrugged, only to blink a moment later, unable to stop his gaze flicking to the Judge a moment, the woman crossing her arms over her green plaid shirt and give him a challenging look, smirking herself when he blushed a bit, likely imaging just that.

"Eugh," Clara's face scrunched up, "Don't say things like that, it's Christmas. Come and meet my family," she turned and led them out of the TARDIS, scurrying towards the Powell Estates in a quick dash as it was chilly outside and there was a sharp, biting wind in the air.

"Suppose it's a good thing you're Time Lord," the Judge remarked as they left the box, the Doctor tensing as the cold air hit him, "It's rather frigid out," she gave the Doctor's face a pat, letting him close the door behind him as she moved after Clara. And if the Doctor happened to jog quickly and hurry them up, she said nothing.

~8~

The Judge wasn't sure if she was half dreading or half intrigued by what would happen when they stepped into Clara's flat after her, spotting the girl's father, her grandmother (or so she assumed), and what had to be her Aunt Linda sitting around a table. Clara was literally the only one there that didn't see the Doctor's lack of clothing and it was quite obvious by the time they appeared before the trio that the other Oswalds were very much aware of his nudity.

"Hello, so, er, here they are," Clara grinned with excitement at being able to prove her Aunt wrong for once and, hopefully, shut her up for the rest of the dinner, "This is the Doctor and his wife, the Judge."

"Hello, the Oswalds!" the Doctor cut into anything else Clara might have wanted to add, "Hello!" he reached over across the table to shake their hands with enthusiasm, "Merry Christmas. Hello, hello!" he winked at Clara's grandmother before offering her two Gallic air kisses in greeting, "Hello, handsome," he smiled at Clara's father, pausing a moment, waiting for them to respond but only was met with awkward silence and even more awkward stairs as Clara's aunt and father tried their best not to look at him and her grandmother seemed to delight in not looking away, "Anyone for Twister?"

The Judge closed her eyes a moment, shaking her head, before she offered the Oswald's a smile, "Apologies for my husband," she told them, "He…" she tried, she really did, to find something that would explain why he was standing in the nude before them, how SHE could have let him 'leave the house' like that, and had absolutely nothing, "I've no excuse."

"No excuse for what?" Clara asked.

The Judge bit the inside of her cheek, just knowing where Clara's family's minds must have gone at her remark, that she was likely so used to the Doctor being naked that she didn't even notice now. And that was NOT the sort of thing she wanted anyone to think, that HER husband was naked around others like that. Well, besides this time, but she knew he was doing it with the purpose of trying to get a rise out of her.

He'd done the same thing in their marriage, when they'd started to actually talk and get to know each other. He'd tested what buttons to push and which to leave alone, he'd teased her and tempted her and joked with her, trying to gauge her sense of humor. Eventually it had grown less about joking with her and more about actually trying to make her smile and feel things and grow closer to her. She felt, despite it all, her hearts warm to know that they had seemed to reach something of that point again.

"His nakedness," the Judge tilted her head to Clara, giving her a tense look.

Clara grabbed her arm and turned her around, thankful that the Judge was between her and the Doctor, "He didn't do that projecty thing with his clothes on them?!"

"The fact that I just told you he's still naked in front of your family tells you what Clara?" she whispered back.

"That no one except me can see his clothes," Clara closed her eyes as well, "Oh my stars…" she turned and half pushed her off, "Get him in the kitchen!" she hissed the order, the Judge turning the Doctor to push him on, thankful that Clara was going to deal with whatever to tell her family now.

"Please tell me this wasn't some sort of tease," the Judge muttered to him as they entered the kitchen, her hands on his chest to keep pushing him back, though she felt like she already knew the answer given how he was grinning at her.

He reached out and put his hands over hers, keeping them over both his hearts, "Why would I tease you, bambi?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Is that you're way of trying to be clever and call me 'deer' instead of dear?"

"Nope," he laughed.

"Doctor, I may not understand humans, but even I know you don't just go tromping around them in less than your knickers," the Judge told him, before thinking of the one thing that would make sure he never did this again, "How would you feel if I had been the one to do this and Clara's family, her aunt and gran and father, saw me like that?"

The Doctor blinked, realizing that it hadn't just been one woman to see him, like she was implying it would have just been one man had it been her, but three, "Sorry butterfly…"

"No," the Judge shook her head, "If you're gonna apologize, you do it with my name."

He smiled, his thumbs rubbing over the backs of her hands, "I'm so sorry Carah," he told her, "I didn't think…didn't realize…" he sighed, moving her hands closer to the center of his chest, "I won't do it again."

"Good," she nodded, leaning in to give him a quick kiss, not feeling comfortable getting too closer or kissing him too long when was really very undressed.

He smiled as she pulled away, before his nose scrunched, "Do you smell raw turkey?" he inquired, looking around till he spotted the oven on, the turkey inside…completely raw, "Oh, that's never going to work, is it?"

"What's wrong?" Clara hurried into the kitchen, just catching the last part of that statement, but she quickly caught up, holding her hand up to stop the Judge commenting as she nodded, understanding what he was on about, "Do you not think it's done yet?"

"It's not cooked at all Clara," the Judge pointed out, "Is this even working?" she reached out to open the small oven, "It's not even hot…"

"Ok," Clara winced, she'd forgotten to actually set the oven to go, the turkey had been in there for ages now and she'd only just realized 5 minutes before her family showed up, "Well, use an app."

"An app?" the Doctor lifted a brow at that.

"On your screwdriver, app it."

"The oven or the turkey?" the Judge scoffed, "Neither would help."

"It doesn't do turkey," the Doctor agreed, "Nothing does turkey. You'd need a time machine," he looked back at the turkey for a moment or two, till he realized Clara had gotten unnaturally quiet without the Judge giving some sort of snide comment to drive her to it, and looked over to see Clara staring at him pointedly, "What?"

The Judge sighed, "We HAVE a time machine."

"Exactly," Clara smiled and reached in to pull the turkey out with ovenmits, if just to be careful, "Now, let's get this goose cooked!" she cheered, hurrying out of the room, leaving the Time Lords little option but to go after her.

~8~

"We should NOT be using the TARDIS like this," the Judge stated as she headed for the console, leaving the Doctor to assist Clara in carrying the turkey in. She had been hoping that, in making the Doctor realize what Clara was talking about, that he'd try to stop the girl using the TARDIS as an oven. Apparently Clara was fast for a human, had made it out of her flat and down all the stairs before they caught up to her.

"Like what?" Clara scoffed, not seeming perturbed.

Though it did mean something when even the Doctor agreed she was going too far in the use of the box, "Missed birthdays, restaurant bookings. And please just learn how to use iPlayer."

But still, he continued to lead Clara down to the underconsole, exactly where she needed to go to cook the turkey, "Ooh, vortex cooking?" she smiled, excited at the prospect.

"And that is how the human race ends up with new diseases," the Judge called down, "You think, 'ooh radiation, let me just stand right in the front of it' and then wonder why your cells go haywire," she moved to the railings and looked down at them, "Please tell me you're not actually going to feed your own family something COOKED by the time vortex."

"What, will it turn them into babies or something?" Clara glanced up at her, handing off the turkey to the Doctor to set in one of the panels.

"No, no nothing like that," the Doctor reassured her, "Though the turkey itself…it'll either come up a treat, or just possibly lay some eggs."

"Information available," Handles's computerized voice echoed, nearly making the Judge jump at how she'd forgotten it was even there, attached to the console once more.

Clara hurried up the stairs till her head peeked up to the main console level, frowning at the sight of the metal head on the pole, "What's that?"

"What does it look like Clara?" the Judge asked, with less bite in her voice than Clara was used to.

Clara rolled her eyes at that and walked up the last few steps, the Doctor behind her, making her way to the head to look at it, "Head of a Cyberman?" she guessed, having only had the one encounter with it.

"I have developed a fault," the head stated.

"The organics are all gone," the Doctor nodded at Clara's question, bopping Handles on the head, "But there's still a full set of data banks. Found it at the Maldovar market."

"It's been more trouble than it's worth though," the Judge told her, pulling a lever and sending the TARDIS off, if the time winds were going to cook the turkey, then it would have to be riled up first, and that meant transport, and, if they were going to go anywhere, they might as well check into what they'd been investigating before.

"Planet identified," Handles continued, "From analysis of message."

"Planet?" Clara looked at them.

The Judge moved the monitor around so Clara could see they'd appeared in the middle of what looked like an intergalactic gathering of ships, all hovering above a light blue planet.

"Tell us what is the planet," the Doctor looked at the robot head, moving to lean casually against the console beside it, grinning, wanting to impress, "Go on."

"Processing official designation," it spoke, "Processing…"

"See," the Judge gave him a look, "More trouble than it's worth. If we hadn't been routing some of the TARDIS power and synching up some of its scanners, the TARDIS would have told us by now…

"Gallifrey," Handles cut in.

The Time Lords tensed at that, their gazes snapping to each other at the sheer impossibility of it. They looked at the monitor, at the planet, it could NOT be Gallifrey, it was impossible, it wasn't even the same color! Gallifrey was red, this planet was not, they would KNOW their home if they saw it, whether it was shielded like this planet appeared to be or not, they would KNOW.

"What did you say?" the Doctor whispered, pushing off the console to look at the Cyber-head.

"Gallifrey."

"It can't be Gallifrey," the Judge shook her head.

"Confirmed. Planet designation, Gallifrey."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed at that, the Judge able to feel his anger rolling off him at what Handles was saying as he grabbed the head off the pole and tossed it around in his hands, holding it up to the monitor to show it the planet, "You see THAT? Gallifrey is our home, we know it when we see it. THAT is not Gallifrey!"

And with that, the Doctor nearly broken Handles in shoving it back onto the console before he turned to storm to the doors, throwing them open.

"Is he ok?" Clara asked the Judge quietly, having actually jumped at his shouting.

The Judge let out a breath, giving the Doctor a moment to look out the doors and gather his thoughts, knowing he just wanted to put himself together again after his outburst, "Gallifrey is home," she reminded Clara simply.

Ever since they'd met his past selves, since he'd learned about how they had likely saved Gallifrey…his thoughts had changed. He always called the TARDIS a home, all the time, ever since the war had ended, each time he brought up the box it was with the semblance and notion and understanding that it was home to him. They'd talked about it. She'd caught him actually and he'd admitted it. She'd walked into the console room after she thought they'd gone to bed, to see him racing around the console, trying to find Gallifrey, running program after program, putting in calculations, trying to find someway to track the planet. She thought it was just to see for himself that it was really saved, but he'd admitted it was something else.

It was HOME.

He'd spent so much time regretting what he'd done, ALL of it, not just the Moment he'd thought he'd used, but all the time he'd lost with her and their children, all the time away from their home in the box. He just…after the war, after the planet was gone, he'd thought of the TARDIS as his home. He HAD to, because if he focused on that, if he thought of the box as JUST his home, he wouldn't think about Gallifrey as much, he'd have no reason to. Because the TARDIS would be his home now and not Gallifrey, and if he didn't think of Gallifrey then he wouldn't feel that regret, if he didn't view the planet as home but the TARDIS instead, it would be easier to stay in the box.

But now Gallifrey was safe, it was real, it was out there, and their home could be their home again.

He'd had to focus just on the TARDIS and not Gallifrey as his home, but now their real home might be back…and to have Handles imply that it was Gallifrey, to think, for just that one moment that maybe it was? And then to be hit with the realization that it was NOT…it was hard. Because they WERE looking for Gallifrey, they really were trying and they'd had no luck yet.

She gave Clara a look to wait a moment, before she moved over to the doors, joining the Doctor as he looked down at the planet, sorrow etched on his face, "It's not Gallifrey," he murmured, "Gallifrey's gone."

"Gallifrey's just not found yet," she corrected, putting a hand on his arm.

The Doctor looked over at her, reaching up to place his hand on hers, squeezing it as they both looked out at the planet again…only for a ship to start to block their view, a very large ship that appeared to be a sort of multi-storied building, black, slightly curved as well as it lifted higher and higher, blaring out a ship's horn at them.

"What's that?" Clara walked over to them, staring at the ship.

"Papal Mainframe," the Doctor gestured at it, sighing, honestly not in the mood to have to deal with it now after that little moment, "It's like a great, big flying church. The first ship to arrive."

"You see the shield around it?" the Judge pointed out a very, very faint line that appeared to be circling the ship, and then pointed at the planet where the same shield had trapped the world, "They created it around the planet too, it's keeping everyone, even the TARDIS, from getting through it."

Clara nearly jumped back when a face blinked into view before them, a hologram forming between the two curved ends of the ship, a woman with a pale face and, what appeared to be, a raccoon line across her eyes, dark hair and sculpted features, smirking at them, "A friend of yours?"

"Tasha Lem, the Mother Superious," the Doctor seemed about to bow, but then decided on simply nodding his head at the woman's face.

"I hope her ship isn't a snogbox," the Judge mused as Tasha crooked her finger at them, much like Clara had once asked if the Doctor just crooked his finger and people jumped in his snogbox to fly away. She gave the Doctor a look, "Is it?"

"Not for me, firefly," he winked at her and the Judge rolled her eyes at that.

"Why's she want us to join her?" Clara whispered to them, not sure if the woman's face could hear them too.

"Because I asked her. Swallow this," he pulled a small capsule out of his pocket and handed it to her, the Judge wrinkling her nose at that, she'd always hated taking pills of any kind, but she'd forced herself to down one before.

Clara just reached out and took it, swallowing it whole, "What is it?"

"You ask that NOW, after you've eaten it?" the Judge gave her a look and she blushed.

"I trust you two," Clara defended, "I think, if you wanted to poison me, you'd have done it by now."

The Doctor chuckled lightly at that and patted Clara on the shoulder, "It's just your hologram projector. You can't go to church with your clothes on!"

~8~

"Doctor," the Judge began as they walked ahead of Clara down an aisle that was lined on either side by various men and women, the room itself dark and black but the aisle a bright red, the people staring ahead blankly, with Tasha Lem in the flesh standing at the end with two other men on either side of her.

"Yes?" the Doctor glanced at her.

"Do you remember how uncomfortable our wedding vows were in front of all those people when we had to kiss?"

"Yes," he nodded slowly, recalling how awkward and uncomfortable the entire ceremony had been. They'd basically been strangers and were expected to declare their love and loyalty and support to each other in front of hundreds of people they'd never met before. And then to kiss, after having barely spoken a handful of words to each other was another thing to add to that.

"This is worse."

The Doctor smiled more at that, reaching out to take her hand as they continued on. They appeared to have clothes on to each other, but they all knew that to everyone else they were as naked as they day they were born. It was making her very uneasy that people were able to see her like that, she really hadn't ended up in the situations he had, she wasn't as comfortable with some of the things that he seemed to be, because she'd never been in positions like this. So all he could do was squeeze her hand, but it was enough.

"What is this place?" Clara whispered to them, leaning forwards lightly to not have to whisper any louder than she had to.

The Doctor glanced back at her over his shoulder, "The Church of the Papal Mainframe, security hub of the known universe."

"A security church?"

"Yep. Keeping you safe in this world and the next!"

"So how exactly do we greet her then?" the Judge looked at him as they drew nearer to Tasha, "There's always ways in each religion."

"Like this," the Doctor made an over exaggerated bow to the woman the second they were close enough, "I venerate the exaltation of the Mother Superious."

One of the men beside Tasha nodded at that, accepting the greeting, "Welcome to the Church of the Papal Mainframe. Your nudity is appreciated."

"Hey, babes," Tasha smirked at him, sending him a wink.

"Babes?" the Judge turned to him, crossing her arms with her eyebrows raised.

The Doctor opened his mouth to try and explain, but instead spun back to Tasha, "Tasha, I'd like you to meet my wife…"

"The Judge?" Tasha looked at the women beside him.

The Judge seemed surprised by that and gave the Doctor a questioning look.

"I DID tell some people that I was married," he offered in Gallifreyan, "The ones that came on too strong, I told them. Because I wouldn't do that to you Carah, I really wouldn't."

The only one he hadn't specifically told was River, because he assumed she knew he was married if she saw him so much throughout her life.

She smiled at that and looked at Tasha, "Hello," she greeted amicably, making the Doctor smile at that, pleased that she wasn't angry or hurt or shocked any longer. He had hoped that Tasha wouldn't greet him the way she always seemed to do when they spoke, once she'd found out that he was married, being part of the church she knew how much that meant, she'd completely switched off any attempts on him. They had a comfortable friendship, but she tended to call him different 'pet names' like babes and stud and others as a joking greeting.

"Still here too," Clara reminded them with a small wave to Tasha.

"Clara, this is Tasha Lem," the Doctor gave a soft chuckle as he introduced the two, "The Head of the Church of the Papal Mainframe. Tasha, this is my companion, our ward, Clara Oswald."

Tasha nodded her own greeting to Clara before glancing at the man beside her, the one who had spoken to the trio and accepted the Doctor's veneration, "We'll go to my chapel," she told him, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin to address the rest of her congregation, "All honors in place, no sacrifices required."

"She doesn't mean like…human sacrifices, does she?" Clara whispered to the Time Lords as they turned to follow Tasha out of the room, down a small hall off the side of it.

"No, no," the Doctor shook his head, "They only do that at Christmas."

Clara blinked, "Doctor…it IS Christmas."

The Doctor glanced at her, "Ah…" he nodded, remembering that, "Well, I'm sure they don't know that."

Clara and the Judge shared a look at that, shaking their heads, before the Judge focused on the Doctor once more, "I assume Tasha chose to shield the planet," she glanced at the woman, "Can you let us past?"

Tasha spun on her heel to face them as they reached a set of very large double doors, so large that they seemed to nearly take up the whole wall, the only well lit area of the hall actually, the rest filled with just pillars and some small walls, all dark, save for the doors, "I would have conditions."

"That's not a no."

Tasha smirked at that, "I have confidential matters to discuss with the Doctor though," she tilted her head to him, seeing him frowning at that, and back to the two women, "Would you...excuse us?"

The Doctor shook his head in refusal, "No, whatever you want to say to me you can say before my wife."

"And me," Clara nodded.

"And Clara," he paused to consider that statement, "Well...quite a lot of it. Probably about half, maybe a smidge...under. Actually," he winced, glancing at Clara, "Clara, would you mind waiting out here?"

"I'll stay with her," the Judge offered as she saw Tasha opening her mouth to ask her just that, "She wants to speak to you for a reason Doctor," the Judge looked at him, "And I trust you."

He smiled at that, very, very happy to know that she still did trust him even with how Tasha had greeted him, the fact that Tasha knew who she was, what she was to him, and that she was aware his wife would be right outside the doors, he knew nothing would happen in there but talking. He had told Tasha of the Judge, a fair bit actually. He would never admit it out loud, but he had actually sought out the Papal Mainframe ages ago, shortly after he'd found that his wife was alive again. He'd just…needed someone to talk to, someone to confess his many mistakes of his past, to talk about his conflicting feelings over his wife. He'd wanted her to join him on the TARDIS, wanted her to come travel with him, had considered the many ways he could convince her to do so, but had refrained from doing. He just…needed to talk, about his wife and how much he missed her but also be reassured he was doing the right thing in giving her space. And so he'd sought out the largest church, the Papal Mainframe and when the priests had found out that he was the Last Time Lord, they'd directed him to their leader, Tasha.

Tasha had had to listen to him speak of his wife for ages, not just as his confessing priest but also as a friend, as a woman, she gave him insight that he had desperately needed but never said more than she had to or made assumptions about his past, knowing that there was always more to a story than one side and that it wasn't her place to remark on that, merely to hear him out and offer a listening ear. It also meant that Tasha knew what the Judge was like, that this adventure stuff wasn't her thing, and for her to want to speak to him and just him, despite knowing that the Judge was right there, it meant that she felt there was something that would alarm his wife or make her nervous or put her off and she was trying to avoid the added stress.

He appreciated that consideration.

"Thanks lamb," the Doctor winked at her.

"No," she shook her head at that name.

He laughed and followed Tasha into her quarters, the doors shutting behind him and leaving the Judge and Clara standing in the hall.

"You really trust nothing's gonna happen?" Clara glanced at the Judge, trying to assess her thoughts, not wanting to push, but not wanting to insinuate anything either.

"Nothing happened even when the Doctor thought I was dead," the Judge shrugged, "It won't happen now that I'm alive."

Clara smiled at that, "Wish I could find a man like that."

The Judge looked over at her, "You're too young to be dating."

"I'm 26!" Clara laughed, only to hold up her hand a moment longer, "And I know, I know, to you that's baby years," she rolled her eyes, "But in human terms, I'm about 1/3 through my life! I need to start trying to find…"

The Judge turned in where she was wandering a bit to see Clara frowning at something and pointing, "Clara?"

Clara shook her head and looked over at her, "Sorry, what?"

"You were pointing at something," the Judge moved over to her side, trying to see, from her point of view, what it was, but there was nothing there, "What was it?"

"I didn't see anything," Clara told her, "I was just saying that I need to start trying to find a decent bloke and…"

"No, you didn't. You stopped talking and were just gaping like a fish."

"I thought the Doctor was the one comparing people to animals," Clara grumbled at that.

"Clara…" the Judge reached out to grab her arm, tugging the girl behind her as a thin alien stepped out from behind a pillar, tall and with a large bulbous head, small eyes and no mouth, thick fingers, dressed in some sort of black suit, "It's the Silence," the Judge breathed, recalling the Doctor had told her about it.

He'd called her after the mess with the little girl in the Astronaut suit to warn her about their existence, had called her as he was staring at a hologram of it so he could describe it to her. And because she wasn't looking at one herself, she remembered what they looked like, she knew which species it was and what it could do, she was NOT about to let it command her or Clara.

"I saw that thing…" Clara blinked at it, peeking over the Judge's shoulder as it started to walk towards them, "And then I forgot it. How does that work?"

"It's called a Silent," the Judge began to push her back, closer to the doors to Tasha's quarters, "You can only remember them while you're looking at it, the moment you look away you forget they were there."

"Confess..." the Silent started to hiss, however the sound of it became an echo, making the Judge tense, catching a glance of more Silence coming to join it, nearly surrounding them, "Confess..."

The Judge shook her head, "Get the doors open Clara," she tried to push Clara more, they were nearly up against the doors.

But Clara turned around, losing sight of the Silence, "What?"

"Open the doors!"

"Why am I…"

"Clara! Just do it!"

"Alright, alright," Clara huffed, opening the doors to Tasha's rooms and nearly toppling over as the Judge backed into her quickly, slamming the doors shut behind them.

"Judge?" the Doctor hurried over to them from where he and Tasha had been standing beside a small receiver, "What happened? Are you ok?"

"I don't remember…" the Judge blinked and looked at him, "We were in the hall, and now we're here…"

"Yeah," Clara nodded, "You were telling me to open the doors."

"I don't remember that."

The Doctor looked at her closely, his eyes searching hers a moment before he glanced at the doors and back to Tasha, seeing the woman lift her chin in a sign that she would not answer questions about it. He rubbed his head, not even needing to guess what was likely on the other side of that door and the notion alone of what species it was was enough to put him on edge and make him want to get out of there.

"Tasha, about letting us on the planet," the Doctor gave the woman a pointed look.

Tasha raised her chin even more, but gave a short nod, turning to lead them to the back of the room where there was some sort of odd contraption, a series of control banks with two booths on either side of it, tall booths that looked like confessionals, with a cloth door, "Right, this is my personal teleport. I can put you down just outside the town. Find the source of the message and report back to me in one hour," she moved to the left confessional, pulling back the cloth to allow Clara into one while the Doctor did the same on the other side for the Judge, "And on your life, Doctor," she stepped closer to him, pointing a warning finger at him, her eyes narrowing into mere slits, "You will cause no trouble down there."

"When do I?" the Doctor rolled his eyes at the question, stepping in to join the Judge, though he peeked out to point at Tasha, "Don't answer that."

"Always," the Judge replied instead, a moment before the curtain was thrown open and Tasha held out an expectant hand to the Doctor.

"What?"

"I'm not an idiot," Tasha was on the verge of sneering, "Everyone in this church is trained to see straight through holograms. Give now. You are taking no technology of any kind down there."

The Doctor pouted at that but slapped the key to the TARDIS into Tasha's hand, "What can I do with a key?" he turned to the Judge and held up a finger, "Don't answer that."

So Tasha answered instead, "You could summon your TARDIS."

"The TARDIS doesn't work by remote," the Doctor taunted, as though he were speaking to a child and explaining something that they ought to know better about, blinking a second later as he looked at the Judge, "I'm starting to sound like you."

Tasha smirked at that, amused, and stepped back with the key gripped tightly in her hand, over to the controls, "Remember. I want you back in one hour."

~8~

The trio blinked rapidly as, instead of the dark confessionals they were now standing in a semi-dark forest, surrounded by snow…naked save for their holographic clothing…not a good combination. Well, not a good combination for Clara mostly, being Time Lords they were a bit more adept at enduring extreme weather.

"Oh, cold, very cold!" Clara instantly started shaking, wrapping her arms around herself, her teeth chattering in the frigid air.

"There should be a heat shield in the hologram," the Judge called to her, "It'll start in a mo, just let it trigger first."

"Yes," the Doctor snapped a finger and pointed at Clara, "Just give it a mo to kick in," he nodded, looking around them and spotting a small village down the hill they were standing on, illuminated in a soft golden light from inside the buildings, "So, sweet little town covered in snow, half the universe in terror. Why? Why?"

"Oh, my God!" Clara gasped.

The Judge spun to face her, "What is it?" she asked quickly, thinking that Clara was about to be attacked or something, usually the girl said 'oh my stars' when she was more in awe or shock, 'oh my god' was more for alarm.

"There's something under the snow there," she pointed, squinting through the darkness, able to make out what looked like an arm sticking out of the crisp white snow.

"Is that an arm?" the Judge squinted as well, starting to think she may need to actually borrow Amy's reading glasses from the Doctor at some point, her eyes weren't what they used to be.

"I dunno," Clara stepped towards it cautiously, "Looks like…stone? It is! It's only a stat…ow!" Clara winced as the Judge unceremoniously yanked her back by the elbow, "What was that for!?"

"Don't touch it Clara!" the Judge warned, having seen her reaching out to try and touch it, "Think. Why would anyone bury a statue out here? There's no reason at all. Which means the statue was here on its own."

"A statue just walked over here on its own and thought, 'gee, I'd like a nice sit down in the middle of a snow storm?'" Clara gave her a look.

"No," the Doctor agreed, "A statue doing that is impossible," he nodded, "But a Weeping Angel…"

The two Time Lords looked over when they realized they'd both looked away, nearly jumping back when they saw that there wasn't just an arm sticking up from the snow, but the top half of a Weeping Angel, its hands braced on either side of it as though it were pulling itself out.

"Keep your eyes on that Clara!" the Judge ordered, doing just that.

"Keep looking at it," the Doctor turned frantic, "Don't look away! Don't even..." he stepped back, trying to guide them back, away from the Angel, glancing behind him to make sure that there were none hiding behind them, "Blink!"

"What is it?" Clara whispered, now understanding that this was serious.

"There is a Weeping Angel under the snow. Looks like a statue, isn't a statue," he kept them moving back, "Just…keep backing up and…"

But was cut off suddenly when he failed to realize there wasn't any more hill behind him, sending the three of them toppling down it, rolling and tossing through the snow and twigs and pebbles, all the way down to the base of it where, of course, because it had to be the Doctor's luck, they found themselves surrounded by even MORE Angels, all of them in various stages of freeing themselves from the snow.

"They're climbing out of the snow!" Clara gasped.

"Really?" the Judge remarked dryly as they scrambled to get standing, "We hadn't noticed!"

"Just keep looking at them," the Doctor pressed his back to them, the three of them all looking in different directions, at as many of the statues as they could, trying to keep calm, "At all of them."

"Why?" Clara swallowed.

"Quantum-locked life-form, it can only move if it's unobserved."

"What are they doing here?"

"They must have got to the planet before Tasha realized," the Judge answered, "Or somehow gotten through it…they don't register as alive but as stone, the shield must be just for things that give off a lifesign."

"Just keep looking at them," the Doctor called.

Clara tried, reaching up to wipe away the snow that was flying, matting her hair in her face, landing on her eyelashes, but it was no use, it just kept coming, making her eyes strain to blink, "I can't. I can't see, the snow's in my eyes."

"Doctor we have to get the TARDIS down here," the Judge told him, knowing he hadn't wanted to risk using it without knowing what the shield was like and what havoc it might do to the circuitry.

"But you can't fly it remotely!"

"No, but it can home in on the key," the Doctor agreed, reaching out to take the Judge's hand, "And I would not be adverse to letting the old girl do that right now!"

"But she took your key!"

"She took one of them!"

The Judge deftly pulled a key out of somewhere, holding it up in the air as it began to glow golden, the TARDIS appearing around them nearly instantly, "Oh thank god that worked," she nearly slouched against the console, the Doctor coming over to hug her tightly. The Weeping Angels were one of the worst of his enemies, they literally cornered you, you couldn't run or talk to them or do anything but stare, made you a sitting duck. Thankfully they'd had that teleport idea.

"Come on, chickadee," the Doctor murmured in the Judge's ear, pressing a kiss to her temple, "We just have to home in on the mysterious message. Ooh, yes," he pulled away, smiling softly at her, "I like that, the mysterious message."

"You know what I like?" the Judge countered.

"What?"

"Not chickadee."

He pouted at that.

"Where were you hiding that key?" Clara asked, giving the Judge an odd look.

"You don't want to know," the Judge told her.

"Bit of misdirection," the Doctor answered, reaching out to brush her hair past her shoulders and behind her neck, unintentionally telling Clara that it had been hidden at the back of her neck, behind her hair, "I knew Tasha would be focusing on me and expecting ME to try and hide something, from what I told her of the Judge, she wouldn't think SHE'd break the rules."

"There were no rules in place to be broken," the Judge shook her head at that, "Just because the Papal Mainframe got to the planet first, doesn't mean they had a right to decide who could or couldn't land on it. It's an already established planet, already inhabited, only the peoples of that world had a right to that."

"How'd you get it to stick?" Clara tilted her head, more focused on that.

"Tape?" the Judge gave her a look for that. Still, it was better her with her longer hair able to hide it than the Doctor. She'd walked in on him about to shave his entire head one night because he was bored and thought that having a wig would be a good place to hide things.

"Right," the Doctor cut in, pulling a lever, "Setting us down, near the signal source. I'm going to turn the engines on silent, don't want to make a fuss."

"You just don't want Tasha to realize that we got the TARDIS through her shield," the Judge poked him.

"That too."

"And, speaking of Tasha, now that we're not dealing with her any longer, I'm going to find some actual clothes," the Judge announced, turning to head away from the console and towards the halls, Clara hurrying after her as she did NOT want to be walking around naked any more than she had to.

The Doctor pouted, looking at the controls to the hall and back before sighing and following the two women off, he'd best get dressed too. If he didn't want to cause a fuss, he should probably not leave it to chance that the visual projections of his clothing would work on everyone. He wasn't sure if the species was human on the planet and that was what the projection was set to.

Better safe than sorry.

~8~

It appeared that the location of the signal was the actual town they'd seen when they'd been at the top of the hill so it hadn't been that much of a hop, but it would be enough to leave the Weeping Angels wondering where they'd got to. The road they'd found themselves on when they stepped out of the TARDIS was lined by trees and lamp posts that hadn't quite reached the electronic stage just yet, small fires flickering away in it. It was…quaint, had a very Victorian air to it, a Christmas sort of feel as well, which was fitting given that they'd just come from Christmas on Earth, even if it was technically July on the planet at the moment.

"Oh, it's good to be wearing clothes again," Clara gave a relieved and very happy sigh, "That's so much better, don't you think?" she looked at the Time Lords, but they were too focused on what was going on at the moment, at tracking the signal.

The Doctor had his sonic out, trying to get a reading on it while the Judge walked beside him with Handles in her arms and not looking all that happy to be carrying a Cyber-head. Talk about not wanting to cause a fuss, and then decide they should carry a robotic head around. The Judge had asked him if Clara had suggested that one, which made her give an irritated huff.

"Now, what do we make of this place?" the Doctor looked at the two women, "It's two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Hmm…" the Judge hummed at that, looking around, "So it's a planet with rather short days if it's night at 2 already."

"Yes, and…" the Doctor looked up, pointing ahead of them, "The message is coming from that tower," the Judge reached out and pushed his pointing finger down when a lovely middle-aged couple walked right in front of the line of his finger, passing the clock tower that apparently held the signal, "Hello!" he lifted his other arm instead, but in a wave this time, "Hello, there!" he started towards the couple that was also now making their way towards them, whispering to the two women as he went, "Right, we're a couple from the next town," he told the Judge, "And we're just visiting with our…niece," he offered to Clara, the same cover they'd used for Mrs. Gillyflower, "My name's probably Hank or Rock, something like that…"

"Or we could just stick with John Smith," the Judge mumbled before putting on a smile for the couple as they reached them, "Hello!"

"Good to meet you, nice snow."

"Most pleasant to meet you too," the man gave them each a firm shake of the hand.

"Most pleasant," the woman agreed, "Most pleasant!"

The Judge's smile grew slightly strained at how…chipper they all were, chipper humans were a little irritating, might be another reason why Clara sometimes grated her nerves, she was chipper like that at times.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor introduced, but instead of stopping, was compelled to add, "I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I stole a time machine and ran away from my wife and kids, something I've yet to forgive myself for, all the while I've been flouting the principal law of my own people despite the fact I'm married to one of the law's representatives," the Doctor coughed at that, seeming shocked that he'd spoken so much, "That wasn't quite what I was meant to say!"

The Judge gave him an odd look for that, but she knew that he DID have a tendency to ramble so she didn't think much of it…till SHE began to speak as well, "And I'm the Judge, his wife, a Time Lady from Gallifrey that tends to keep things bottled inside till I just explode at the people I care about because I just can't bring myself to tell them when they've torn my hearts apart and crushed my feelings…" she dropped Handles at that, wanting to put her hands over her mouth to stop herself and only succeeded in dropping it on her foot, "Ow…" luckily though it stopped her talking, though it did make the Doctor look at her with such guilt and sorrow in his eyes for what he'd done to her and how he'd hurt her to hear her blurt that all out.

"Well I'm an English teacher from planet Earth," Clara smiled, pleased that she was finally the normal one, but even SHE couldn't seem to stop, "And I've run off with a man from space because I really fancy the adrenaline which might actually be slightly a bit much of a problem..."

"I think," the woman gave a soft chuckle, holding up a hand to stop them, "Perhaps, you should stop talking till you get used to it."

"Used to what?" the Doctor put his hand under his chin, appearing to be thinking, though it was more to stop himself talking if he were to start again.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Bubbly personality masking bossy control freak!" Clara answered without even a pause, before slapping her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Stickler for the rules with a crippling need for stability," the Judge tried to just say 'the Judge.'

The Doctor had even worse luck, "Man guilt-tripped into helping save others lives because I destroy more than I save…oh I see," he nodded slowly, "It's a truth field!"

The Judge looked at him for that, now HER eyes were full of sorrow for that, to know that he felt like that apparently, that he really felt that he destroyed more lives than he had saved, and he had saved SO many, even she could admit to that, his travels had saved so many lives.

"No one can lie in this town," the man nodded, leaning down to pick up Handles, not even questioning why they had a robotic head as he handed it back to the Judge, "Especially this close to the tower," he gestured back to the clock tower the Doctor had scanned before.

The Doctor eyed the building a moment as the couple began to continue their walk, before turning to call after them, "Doesn't that make life a bit difficult?"

"Not at all," was the woman's soft, chuckling reply, despite the man beside her deeming, "Yes," instead.

"What's the name of this town?" the Judge asked.

"Christmas," the man stated, making the trio look at each other confused as to why someone would name a town after a holiday, "Be happy here. Be well."

Clara turned to follow the Time Lords as they began to approach the clock tower, "How can a town be called Christmas?"

"I don't know, how can an island be called Easter?" the Doctor shrugged, "Maybe it's just nice here. I almost hate to find out what's wrong."

"I'm guessing the 'almost' is an important word," the Judge remarked, if it was a truth field then she didn't doubt there was some part of him that was just buzzing to determine what it was that was going on.

The Doctor reached out as they made it to the doors of the tower and held them open for the Judge and Clara to enter. The room was dark, no light at all for them to see by…which made it all the more easy for them to find the source of the signal, for there was only one, odd light that was flickering off the walls down a small corridor. They followed it, the Time Lords stopping as they came face to face with a crack on the wall of the small room they'd entered.

And not just any crack, but a very specific one, one that the Doctor was rather familiar with for it was the exact same crack that had popped up when he'd first met Amy Pond. The Judge recognized it from some pictures he'd shown her, from some warnings he'd given her of what to look for if any were to show up around Torchwood. She had come across one, had been able to close it with some help from Jack, so she knew what this crack meant…or she did then. What it was doing here and now when the TARDIS had ceased exploding and the Doctor had fixed everything she wasn't sure of.

"What took you so long?" the Doctor murmured at the crack as they stepped more into the room.

"What's wrong?" Clara looked between the two of them, seeing how serious they had both grown in such a short time, how they were so focused on the large crack, "It's only a crack in the wall," granted said crack WAS emitting a blinding white light.

"Do many cracks make a light like this Clara?" the Judge countered, making Clara nod that it really wasn't all that normal.

"I knew," the Doctor shook his head, fixated on the crack, the identical crack that he'd seen in so many place and thought he'd gotten rid of, "I always knew it wasn't over."

"And what sort of crack is it?" Clara frowned, "it's not normal, but WHAT is it?"

"A split in the skin of reality. A tiny sliver of the 26th of June, 2010. The day the universe blew up."

Clara blinked at that, "Missed that…"

"You didn't," the Judge shook her head, setting Handles down on a chair and moving closer to where the Doctor was crouched down and examining the crack, his narrow eyes trying to look through it but seeing nothing, "The Doctor reversed it all. The TARDIS blew up, for some reason."

"I DID fix it," the Doctor agreed, "But the scar tissue remains. A structural weakness in the whole universe and someone's trying to get through it, from outside our universe, from somewhere else…"

"Then they'd pick one of the scarred areas," the Judge realized.

"Outside the Universe…" the Doctor murmured, glancing at the Judge, with Handles right beside her, as a thought hit him and he hurried over to the robotic head, "You said Gallifrey. Why did you say Gallifrey?" he asked the robot.

Handles's eyes lit up, "Analysis of message composition indicates Gallifreyan origin, according to TARDIS data banks."

The Judge let out a breath at that, "Please tell me it's not implying that the message is coming through this crack?" not sure how she felt about that, that this crack might be a connection to Gallifrey, that it might be RIGHT here…because if it was…there were thousands if not millions of ships above them that would do anything to destroy it.

"I think it is," the Doctor nodded, solemn, "The truth field too," he glanced at the crack a moment, when Handles beeped, starting to resonate the same beeping noise that had lured everyone there in the first place. He looked up at the Judge a moment before turning to Clara, pulling a small medallion from his pocket and pressing it to Handles's head, sonicing it to stick.

"Is that the seal of the High Council of Gallifrey?" the Judge stepped closer, her eyes widening at the sight of it.

"Nicked it off the Master in the Death Zone," he nodded, "There is an algorithm imprinted in the atomic structure. Use it to decode the message," he ordered Handles.

"Message decoding," Handles reported, "Message analysis proceeding. Information available. The message is a request for information."

"What request?" the Judge cut in, seeing the Doctor getting irritated with how Handles had made 'it's a question' into a long drawn out definition.

"It is being projected through all of time and space on a repeating cycle…"

"I didn't as that, I asked what IS it."

But the words Handles had spoken seemed to resonate with the Doctor as he straightened his shoulders, his eyes widening as he breathed, "The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight..."

"Warning!" Handles cried, his eyes lighting up, "Translation will be available to all life-forms in range. Translation follows. Doctor who? Doctor who?"

The Time Lords looked up as that same question began to repeat, knowing that every single ship above them was hearing it as well, that everywhere in all of time and space, was hearing that question.

"A question only we could answer," the Doctor breathed, turning to the Judge, only those that knew the answer to the question could speak it, and that there were only two alive that knew it.

"The truth field to make sure it's really a Time Lord giving it," the Judge realized.

"If we give my name, they'll know they've found the right place and that it's safe to come through."

Clara opened her mouth to ask something, but snapped it shut, thinking for a moment about the question. Of course it was the Time Lords, the Gallifreyan, the talk about the planet being Gallifrey, it HAD to be them. So…the real question was, why didn't either the Doctor or the Judge look HAPPY about that?

"Why wouldn't you give your name?" she inquired.

The Doctor looked over at Clara, as though just remembering she was standing there, and then back to the Judge who bit the inside of her cheek, seeing the question in his eyes.

'We can't let her stay,' she answered him in his mind, not risking speaking out loud even in Gallifreyan, 'It's not like last time, even with the two of us here, it won't be safe, this is…it's too much.'

She had wanted to yell at Clara in the Gallery, about how foolish it had been of her to do what she had, with a wormhole that no one but the Doctor (vaguely) knew about. But Clara had clearly intended to STOP him jumping in, had reached out to grab him to pull him back and got yanked along. Clara hadn't wanted to jump into the wormhole, hadn't chosen or thought to do it, but had unfortunately been brought along, so she couldn't fault her for trying to stop the Doctor.

This though…this had the potential to be even more dangerous. A wormhole anywhere could mean they landed in…Candyland for all they knew. But this, they KNEW this was the Time Lords, and they KNEW that nothing good would come of them letting the Time Lords out or even leaving. Because everyone knew that the message was from Gallifrey now, everyone above them would be aware the Time Lords could return through this planet…and they'd want to stop them.

This was infinitely more dangerous to Clara.

"Because I don't have everything to help them," the Doctor lied, turning to Clara, "So I need you to take this to the TARDIS and put it in the charger slot for the sonic," he pulled out a small disc and handed it to her, the Judge recognizing it as one of the preset coordinate flight plans, one that would likely take Clara right back home.

"Why?" Clara asked slowly even though she reached for the disc.

"Because this has to be done right," the Judge agreed, "We only get one chance Clara, because there are millions of ships above us, more than half are probably hostile and would destroy each other to ensure the Time Lords don't come back."

"And this'll help?" Clara held up the disc, "What, will it make it so that the ships don't know the Time Lords are coming?"

"It'll help," was all the Doctor agreed.

"Doctor!" they all looked up as Tasha's voice began to echo above them, coming from outside, "Speak with me."

"Clara," the Judge looked at her, "Please, get to the TARDIS," she hesitated a moment before adding, "It's already starting," she tried to make it sound like it all depended on Clara getting to the TARDIS to spur her into action, and it did, Clara nodded, gripped the disc, and ran out of the room.

The Doctor reached out and took the Judge's hand, leading her to the doors as well, spotting a set of steps beside them that went up to the top of the belfry, the two of them hurrying up them, able to see a hologram of Tasha's face had appeared in the sky above the town.

"Doctor! Face me now!"

"She's very demanding," the Judge grumbled as they made it to the top.

The Doctor smiled at that and looked out from the tower at the hologram, "Mother Superious, there is only one thing I need from you, this planet...what's it called?"

Tasha's hard expression didn't even falter as she spoke, "Trenzalore," she informed them, observing as they both looked perturbed by that, "If you speak your name, the Time Lords will return."

"If they return, they will come in peace."

"Peace or not, everyone else will want to stop them," the Judge remarked, "Especially the Daleks."

"Your wife is wise, Doctor," Tasha agreed, "They will be met with a war that will never end. The Time War will begin anew! I will not that let that happen at any cost. Speak your name and this world will burn!"

"No," the Doctor shook his head, reaching out to take the Judge's hand again, squeezing it, "This planet is protected!" he flicked his sonic up at the sky, shorting out Tasha's hologram, the two of them looking down just as the TARDIS disappeared.

"Please tell me we DID do the right thing in sending her away," the Judge whispered to him in the moment of silence that followed.

The Doctor lifted her hand and kissed it, "I think we did," he tried to smile at her, tried to tease, "Pooh bear."

She just gave him a look, "No."

~8~

"In the time that followed, the Papal Mainframe strove to maintain the peace between the Time Lords and their enemies. As the days passed, and the years, the Doctor and his wife stayed true to his word. On the fields of Trenzalore, they stood as protectors, both of their own people and their new home. Over time, their enemies would find new, stranger ways to enter the town called Christmas. With every victory, the town celebrated. In time, the Doctor seemed to forget he'd lived any other life than the one he shared there with his wife and the people of the town came to love the ones who stayed for Christmas."

~8~

To say the Judge was shocked when, 300 years after she and the Doctor had sent Clara away and began their wait for the TARDIS to return, Clara reappeared along with the TARDIS would be an understatement. To say Clara had experienced a shock in travelling through the Time Vortex, grabbing onto the outside of the box, only to find herself before a man that looked like the Doctor but was quite a bit older than when she'd left him…would also be an understatement.

The Judge looked over at Clara as they all sat on the top of the clock tower, her, the Doctor, and Clara, waiting for the dawn to arise, roasting marshmallows over a small fire. She'd been in the tower chamber, posting some of the pictures that the children had made for the Doctor and her on the walls when the Doctor had come in with a shaking Clara and explained what happened. While they had been on Trenzalore, dealing with Sontarans in an invisible vehicle, dealing with stopping wooden Cybermen, and dealing with just about every other enemy and their daft ideas of how to attack the town, for 300 years, Clara had been grabbing onto the outside of the TARDIS, forcing the box to extend the shell and make the journey exponentially slower than it should have been to return to them. They'd been there for 300 years, had endured attempt after attempt after attempt by their enemies to sneak into the town and attack them, had dealt with them all. They had settled down as much as they could, living in the clock tower, had gotten to know the children and the people of the town each generation, been able to take part in their celebrations of their victories and how they were all safe now because of the Time Lords. But still, they had needed the TARDIS ages ago and it had been lost to them, the Doctor had grown older as well, after 300 years, he had a bit of a limp, needed a cane, even had some wisps of gray hair to match his starting-to-form wrinkles.

And she looked the same.

The Doctor had taken no small amount of pleasure in pointing out to her that she'd been with him, in the middle of a small battle, for 300 years and hadn't regenerated ONCE…but had spent almost 10 with Torchwood and regenerated half a dozen times at the least.

But they were still alive, still together, closer than they had been the last time that Clara had seen them, which was odd to her to see them sit so close, the Doctor's arm around the Judge's shoulders while she roasted marshmallows for them, a sort of…ease about them that she wasn't used to. But she could still see a little bit of tension still there, and she had to wonder just how many issues the two Time Lords had in their marriage that even 300 years later there were STILL things they had to work out.

"It's a bit…peaceful, for a battle going on," Clara remarked, glancing out at the quiet town, the two had been filling her in on what she'd missed and it didn't seem like the middle of some sort of fight at the moment.

"We're at a standoff," the Judge shrugged, "They haven't been outright attacking just yet, more…trying to sneak past the defenses to get to us before we can act."

"They can't attack in case we unleash the Time Lords," the Doctor nodded, "And we can't run away, because they'll burn this planet to stop the Time Lords."

"And even if the Time Lords find another crack," the Judge shook her head, "We lost our planet, we won't let someone else's actually BE destroyed."

That was why they were staying. Oh their enemies could attack and think they were getting the Time Lords wiped out, but they wouldn't. Gallifrey would find another crack to put a call through…and it would all start over again and yet another planet would be targeted. They couldn't do that. The Doctor squeezed her shoulders more, tugging her closer to him, needing her closer. He could almost imagine what he'd be thinking of all this if she hadn't been there for him, hadn't been beside him the last 3 centuries, that he stayed because Christmas was a place that needed him to stick around…but that would be a lie. Because SHE needed him, she'd always needed him to stick around, with her, with their family, and he hadn't.

He was trying to make up for that now, to protect their planet, to stick around and actually protect their home, protect HIS home…protect his wife.

"Where do you get these?" Clara lifted her stick a bit, wanting to change the subject from war and battles and destruction to something lighter…marshmallows worked.

"We have a supplier," the Doctor smiled, "The pinks ones are best."

The Judge smiled at that, recalling why he thought that. He'd sometimes get treats for the children when they were growing up, off-world treats from traders, marshmallows on Earth were one of them, and their daughter had always loved the pink ones. It was his way of remembering her. Much like how the brown M&Ms were his favorite because their eldest would only eat the brown ones and how the green candies were always their second son's favorite because it turned his tongue green.

Her thoughts were cut off when the sun just began to peek out the top of the buildings in the distance, casting a light, warm glow around them as the birds came awake and began their morning songs.

"What do you think?" the Doctor looked at Clara as he stood with the Judge, walking over to the edge of the belfry to look out at the town, pulling a marshmallow off the stick to pop into his mouth as they observed the dawn, "We come up here once a day for a few minutes...remind us of what it is we're protecting."

"It's beautiful," Clara could admit to that, but the sight of it, the color of the dawn, that warm glow that the TARDIS had too, and seeing the town in the light, seeing all of it, hearing them talk about protecting the town, it made her wonder, "Why did you send me away?"

"To keep you safe," the Judge said simply, "It's why we always do what we do. To keep you safe Clara."

"But…"

"It's been 300 years," the Judge gave her a look, "You would have died about 250 years ago."

The Doctor was silent at that, looking at Clara and the Judge speaking, a small frown on his face as he observed the Judge, almost seeming questioning or curious of something, but before he could comment, Clara continued, "I wouldn't have. I would never have let you get stuck here."

"Everyone gets stuck somewhere, eventually, Clara," the Doctor chuckled, shaking his head, "Everything ends."

"Except you two."

"The Judge maybe," the Doctor agreed, "Eh monkey?" he laughed as the Judge rolled her eyes at that.

He was back on the animal names again. Well, not really again. He wasn't…he didn't quite have a grasp on which names he'd already tried on her and which he had. There were some he knew, certainly, that she didn't enjoy and not to bother with. But some were…some were fuzzy, he truly couldn't recall if he'd used them or not. So he made rounds, going through the different names all over again.

The Judge just…never told him he'd already gone though every single name in each round already, many times, and she'd put them all down. She didn't have the hearts to tell him he'd already tried the names, repeatedly, didn't want to have to say it, to say it out loud and say what they both were fearing would happen and was happening, that his mind was slowly slowing down.

"AND you," Clara insisted.

"Have you been paying attention?" the Doctor huffed, making the Judge laugh at how he'd sounded a bit like her just then, "I'm an old man now."

"But you don't die," Clara argued, "You change. You pop right back up with a new face."

"No, not forever. I can change 12 times. 13 versions of me. 13 silly Doctors."

"But I thought the Judge…"

"I'm on my 14th," the Judge agreed, "But I was given another set of 12, during the war. The Time Lords gave it to me."

"Then can't they give YOU another?" Clara looked at the Doctor.

"How?" he deadpanned, "They could barely manage 3 beeps through a crack and think they could direct an entirely new set of regenerations to me?" he shook his head, "They can't.

"Ok," Clara frowned, "But you're number 11, so you still have…"

"Are we forgetting Captain Grumpy, eh? I didn't call myself the Doctor during the Time War, but it was still a regeneration."

"Fine," Clara got a bit irritated now, "You're number 12 then."

But the Doctor just kept shaking his head, "Number 10 once regenerated and kept the same face, I had vanity issues at the time."

"But do you see Clara?" the Judge sighed, "He's used up all his regenerations. And I can't give him any of mine. There's no way to get another set…" she swallowed hard, "This is it."

"This is where I end up," the Doctor agreed, "This face, this version of me. We saw this planet in the future, remember? All those graves...one of them mine."

"Ours," the Judge reminded him.

"We'll talk about that later," the Doctor waved it off, determined to at least get her to safety, to not die there like he was sure she would. That time tunnel, it had been his, the majority of it and he had a theory that if the Judge were to NOT die…it wouldn't affect much of it, that there wouldn't be major consequences…they didn't even know if she really HAD died then, they were just guessing really and…and…and…he just didn't want his wife to have to die with him when she had more lives that she could use to live.

"Change the future," Clara determined even as the sun began to set.

"We can't," the Doctor resigned himself to that.

"You've got your TARDIS back!"

"And we said before Clara that we just can't leave," the Judge reminded her.

"I know, but you've been protecting this town for over 300 years. Do you not think it's anybody else's go yet?"

"Who?" the Judge challenged, "Who would step up and protect it for us? Against all of them?" she gestured up at the sky.

"Ok, but fine, if no one came…" Clara shook her head, "You JUST said that you both won't be here forever. It'll end the same way, whatever you do. The town WILL be destroyed whether it's now or after you've passed."

"Every life we save is a victory," the Doctor stated with feeling, "Every single one. And we'd rather have centuries more of people living than to end it now."

"What about living YOUR life?" Clara could feel tears gather in her eyes now, hearing him talk like that, it wasn't even that he was thinking of dying, he wasn't, not really, he was talking about fighting, about continuing to fight and survive and save more and more people, but…she couldn't help but think of all they'd be sacrificing in doing that, "Just for once, after all of this time, have you not earned the right to think about that?"

"It's been 300 years Clara," the Judge sighed, "We've had 300 years of coming to think of this place as our home, as much our home as the Earth was," she would never ever say as much as Gallifrey was, "We are a stubborn people and we will fight to the end to protect our home. Because our REAL home is here too," she reminded her of the crack, "And if we lose THIS connection to it…we don't know if we'll ever find another one."

Clara fell silent at that, not having thought of it that way. This had been a complete accident that they'd stumbled on the crack there…what if this was the only one left? What if that scar was the only one they could open? If they left now, if Trenzalore was destroyed…WOULD they have another chance at getting their planet back?

But before she could apologize for the argument she'd started, there was a thunderous cracking noise beside them and Tasha's face appeared in the sky once more, "Doctor! Judge!"

"Look who's woken up!" the Doctor muttered.

"The Church of the Silence requests parlay. Your rights and safety are sanctified."

"We'll be right up," the Doctor waved the hologram away.

"I'm sending a transporter."

"We wouldn't have said we'd be right up if we didn't have a way to literally be right with you," the Judge remarked, "We have the TARDIS again, we'll see you soon enough."

Tasha nodded her head once at hat before the hologram disappeared.

"It's gone dark," Clara finally noticed the sunset had happened…and she'd missed it.

"Well, the sun's gone down," the Doctor gave her a look that reminded her FAR too much of the ones the Judge would give when she'd said something that the Time Lady considered stupid.

300 years with the Judge and the Judge alone…she was almost afraid of what he'd be like if he spent 300 more with her.

"Already?"

"Everything ends, Clara," he repeated, letting out a gentle sigh, "And sooner than you think."

The Judge just reached out and took his hand, they both knew that he had a few more centuries left in him, but…for Tasha to contact them, it meant things were getting increasingly hostile above them. The Mainframe was trying to maintain a peace, a truce of sorts, a stalemate, but if they needed to speak now…it meant that their hold over the others was weaning away.

Soon enough, a real war would begin.

~8~

Tasha was very serious and solemn as they sat across from her in the long table of her quarters after having arrived on the Papal Mainframe. They'd encountered the Silence, though they now understood them to be Confessional Priests that had been genetically modified to help 'unburden the soul' as they'd allow you to forget that you'd told someone your confessions but still allow you to feel lighter about it. But Tasha had been in no mood for light chatter or even a greeting or veneration as she merely turned and walked off, assuming they would follow, and there they were now, gathered together in privacy to talk politics.

Or they would have if the Doctor hadn't been going through a box of marshmallows that his 'supplier' had placed before him before taking her seat.

"Satisfactory?" Tasha inquired.

"Where are the pink ones?" the Doctor pouted at that.

The Judge frowned, not sure if he was being entirely serious in not knowing where the pink ones were, that Tasha had given them to him, that he'd been eating them on Trenzalore just before, or if he was just trying to irritate the Mother Superious, so she said nothing.

"E-numbers. You're hyper enough as it is and I doubt your wife would appreciate you running about on a sugar high."

"Thank you," the Judge turned to Tasha, really actually thankful that she had taken the pink ones out. This felt like it had to be a serious talk and the Doctor would undoubtedly get distracted by the pink ones, "Why have you called us here Tasha?"

"This situation cannot continue," the woman stated.

The Doctor nearly snorted at that, "It can't end either," he pushed the box of marshmallows away, focusing.

"Why did you ever come to Trenzalore?"

"It's not like we KNEW it was Trenzalore," the Judge argued, the databanks on the TARDIS hadn't managed to patch through that, had gotten all confused by the message from Gallifrey, it had actually thought the planet WAS Gallifrey till it was too late, "And YOU were the one that SENT us down there."

"And nothing can change that now," the Doctor agreed, pointing a cane he'd been using at Tasha in accusation, "Didn't stop you trying, though, did it?"

Tasha's raccoon eyes narrowed at the implication, "Not me. The Kovarian Chapter broke away. They travelled back along your timeline and tried to prevent you ever reaching Trenzalore."

"So that's who blew up my TARDIS. I thought I'd left the bath running."

The Judge did smile at that though, THAT she knew he was jesting about.

"They blew up your time capsule," Tasha grew remarkably serious, sounding almost chastising of how lightly he was treating all this, "Created the very cracks in the universe through which the Time Lords are now calling…"

"The destiny trap. You can't change history if you're part of it."

"They engineered a psychopath to kill you."

"Better people than your church have tried to kill him," the Judge remarked, that much she knew for certain, the Doctor had had…many, MANY attempts on his life, "If the Time Lords themselves couldn't get rid of him, I doubt you or anyone else could."

"Thanks, panda," the Doctor rolled his eyes at that, though he was smiling, knowing she wasn't saying it in a way that expressed she'd wished they'd succeeded but more that she was trying to say how resilient he was.

"No more bears Doctor," the Judge gave him a look, she'd been called pooh bear, and panda bear, and grizzly bear after one rather angry interaction with a Rutan, it was getting ridiculous now.

"I am not interested in changing history," Tasha cut in, not about to let them get on a tangent or start to flirt or whatever it was that they did, not when the situation was so serious, "I want to change the future. The Daleks send for reinforcements daily, they are massing for war. Three days ago, they attacked the Mainframe itself!"

The Time Lords stiffened at that, "They attacked here?" the Doctor frowned at that, there had been no word of it at all.

"Why didn't you tell us?" the Judge followed on that line of thought, three days was far longer than Tasha, from what the Doctor said of the woman, would wait to inform them, she would have contacted them likely the instant it was happening or just after.

"How did you stop them?" Clara shook her head.

"Stop them?" Tasha merely turned her head to Clara, "It was slaughter!"

"Why didn't you call me?!" the Doctor demanded, "I could have helped."

"Doctor," the Judge reached out to touch his arm, something about Tasha's words hitting her, "She said it was a slaughter, that the Daleks hadn't been stopped…which means…"

"I died in this room, screaming your name," Tasha stated.

The Doctor stood as quickly as his bum leg and cane and age allowed, the Judge at his side instantly, moving around him to Clara, grabbing her arm to try and pull her up and away from Tasha.

"Oh..." Tasha breathed, blinking as she thought about what she'd just said, "I 's funny the things that slip your mind."

The Judge winced as Tasha gasped and slammed her head down onto the table, her body starting to jerk and seize under her, before reaching out to grab the Doctor's arm as he tried to take a step towards the woman to help her, but it was too late. Tasha suddenly went entirely too still and then jerked upright in her chair, a Dalek eyestalk now jutting out of her forehead.

Clara screamed as a blast went through the doors of the chamber, exploding and sending them shattering open, Daleks trundling in mass numbers, their laser stalks twitching at the trio as they ordered, "Step away from the Dalek unit Doctor!"

The Doctor gaped at them, "You shouldn't even know who I am!"

Clara, well, Oswin, had made sure of that!

"Information concerning the Doctor and the Judge was harvested from the cadaver of Tasha Lem."

The Judge looked over as Tasha began to rise, keeping her eye on the woman as the Doctor faced down the Daleks, not about to let them get surrounded or surprised from behind.

"Beg she never told you how to break the Trenzalore force field, though," the Doctor smirked at that, "She'd have died first."

"Several times."

"They're horrible," Clara breathed, absolutely disgusted with the Daleks.

"And now you're, what?" the Doctor challenged, "Going to try and kill me? Well sorry, sweetheart," he pulled his sonic out and allowed the message of 'Doctor Who?' to echo through the room on Tasha's receiver, "I'm a tough old bird. I'll be ages dying. Way enough time to answer a question. And, if I get my way, even if I go, my wife can answer it for me," he smiled, "And then what happens, boys?"

"You will die in silence, Doctor, or your associate will die!" the Daleks threatened.

But the Judge pulled Clara back, thankful she'd been watching Tasha the entire time, letting out a fierce kick to the woman's stomach, using Clara as leverage for balance, and sending Tasha stumbling back, falling to the floor, "Care to try that one again?" she asked the Daleks, trying to be brave in facing them, even if she wasn't actually facing them-facing them, the Doctor was doing that, she was at his side, yes, but they were focused on him…which was letting her focus on Tasha and keeping Clara safe.

The Doctor glanced down at Tasha as the woman robotically began to get up again, seeing a flicker of pain in her eyes from the blow and realizing she was still in there, he just had to trigger her enough to get her back, to override the Dalek control, "You see, Tasha," he turned slightly, putting his arm around the Judge, "That's what I'm talking about! You see what my wife did? Now THAT is a WOMAN! I always knew you were a bit spineless," he added, taunting her, "You and your pointless church! Why did I ever rely on you? Never trust a nun to do a mother's work!"

Tasha, who had just straightened upright, turned and swung her hand, with a Dalek laser set in it, out at them, but the blast flew past them and at the Daleks behind them, destroying the lot of them. The Doctor cheered and kissed the Judge quickly, knowing that even if it was a different reason that she'd protected Clara, the fact was she WAS a mother, and Tasha, with her church and her faith and her vows, would never be and he knew, as terrible as it was to use against the woman, that at one point in her life she HAD considered breaking her vows and finding a good man to actually BE a mother…but had chosen not to. It was a cruel thing to say to her, to flaunt the fact that the Judge was not just his wife but the mother of his children at the woman, but it had worked.

"Right," he looked at Tasha, not sure how long she'd have control for, "Get us back to the TARDIS. Can you do that?" he took the Judge's hand and led her and Clara back to the confessional-teleports in the back.

"Yes," Tasha hurried after them, "But quickly, the Dalek inside me is waking."

"Fight it."

"I can't."

"Tasha," the Judge turned to her, "What do you love most in this world?"

Tasha frowned at that, "My flock," she answered instantly, thinking of all the people that followed and believed in her church.

"Think of them," the Judge told her, "Daleks operate on hate, so fight it back with love. Think of all the people you love, think of why you love the church and use it to keep the Daleks out."

Tasha gave a short, unsure, nod, and gestured them into the confessionals as she ran to the controls, "The force field will hold for a while, but it will decay, and there are breaches already."

"Then this isn't a siege any more, it's a war," the Doctor peeked out at her, "It's all up to you now. Fight the Daleks, inside and out. You can do it, I know you can."

"Oh, I see," Tasha narrowed her eyes at him, accusation heavy in her voice, "You've got your TARDIS back, time to fly away."

"Tasha, love not hate," the Judge peeked out as well, warning the woman that she was starting to sound Dalekish again.

Tasha closed her eyes and took a breath, nodding to herself before she reached out and pulled a lever to send them to the safety of the TARDIS a moment after they pulled their heads back into the teleport.

~8~

"Was that the klaxon?" the Doctor frowned as he stood by the console, hearing a bell ding.

The Judge glanced at him, slightly saddened to hear him ask that. While SHE had never really spent that much time in a TARDIS, and couldn't be expected to understand every single alarm that went off, she knew that HE did. He used to know every single sound and noise that the TARDIS made, but now, 300 years later, he couldn't even recognize the klaxon, "I don't think so love," she told him softly.

"Ah," he nodded, smiling regardless of that, "Must be the turkey then."

"What, is it done?" Clara looked up from where she was absently flicking a switch, not sure what to say to the two now that they had escaped yet another deadly situation.

"Either or that or it's woken up."

Clara grinned at that, relieved to see that the Doctor's sense of humor was still intact. She'd noticed he was a bit more scatterbrained, a bit…more lost in thought, almost less enthusiastic. It was so odd, to her at least, to see him like that. Only seconds ago he was a young man, or young looking, with so much energy and spryness, and now he was slowing down right in front of her, in the blink of an eye. It was different for the Judge, who didn't seem to really react or look at him like SHE did, the Judge had seen him changing, had had the centuries with him to get used to this new him slowly but surely.

"Do you want some?" she asked the two aliens.

The Doctor glanced at the Judge, something seeming to pass between them, an unspoken question and answer, before the Doctor turned back to her and smiled, nodding, "Go on, then."

That made Clara beam, "Got any plates?" she turned hop off and get the turkey, already able to smell the turkey wafting up to her now.

"Do you know, I've even got Christmas crackers!"

Clara hesitated the moment her foot landed on the first step down to the lower levels, remembering Christmas, not the town but the holiday, remembering how she'd walked out on her family to prepare the turkey, how she'd almost been sent back to them but had grabbed the TARDIS as it began to leave. She turned on her foot and made her way back to them, "One thing," she looked between them, making sure she had their full attention before she spoke again, "Look me in the eyes so I know you're not lying and tell me you will never send me away ever again."

The Doctor looked at the Judge for that once more, and the Judge nodded solemnly, leading the Doctor to look at her once more, "Clara Oswald, I will never send you away again."

Clara hurried over to him, hugging him tightly for that, not seeing the Judge subtly starting to work the controls behind her back, before she turned and rushed down to get the turkey.

The Doctor waited till Clara had completely disappeared beneath the stairs before he looked at the Judge again, his face drooping, 'Thank you,' he murmured to her in her mind.

The Judge just shrugged, 'YOU promised not to send her off,' she reached out and put a hand on a lever, 'I didn't.'

"Turkey smells good!" Clara cheered up to them.

"Yep," the Doctor swallowed, trying his best to make his voice sound just as cheery, "Smells great."

He closed his eyes a moment, his hand over his eyes before he nodded, that was why HE had said the promise, had said I and now we, because it was the only way he could 'break' it without breaking it, 'Do it,' he called to the Judge.

She pulled the lever, setting the box on silent, on a preset coordinates, controls, destination, and reached out to take his hand, helping him towards the doors just as they heard Clara cry, "Perfect!"

The doors shut behind them and the box started to disappear, taking Clara back to the Powell Estates, leaving the two of them on the streets of Christmas, watching, waiting, hoping that when the box did reappear, it would be on time and without Clara. And, moments later, it did. Clara, they knew, was not going to be within the box this time, after her last little stint they'd made sure to put a safety precaution into it, the box wouldn't return if Clara was in it or even so much as touching it, but the second she let go, it would return to them.

Clara, at last, was safe.

"If you're not leaving," a voice said beside them, making them look over to see a young boy, Barnable, had joined them, "Why did you bring it back?"

"It's a reminder," the Doctor took the Judge's hand, giving her a small smile, it was a reminder of SO many things. The battle that had gone on, how Clara was gone and safe, how they were STAYING there, how Christmas had become like a home to them now. Not Gallifrey, but the crack, the feel of home that filtered out through the crack, it was enough for now, and maybe…maybe it was a reminder of what they needed, time together, time alone, time with stability and order, time to rebuild, time to actually fight beside each other this time, fight for each other, "Besides," he cleared his throat, seeing tears gathering in the Judge's eyes as she heard his thoughts, felt his hope that even in the middle of all this destruction, life would out, "We might leave tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that."

"But for right now," the Judge nodded, "We're here to stay," she squeezed the Doctor's hand and turned to lead him off, letting him lean on her as his leg began to bother him more.

"And we'll stay together," the Doctor agreed, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple, "Duckling."

The Judge just gave him an exasperated smile and shook her head, Barnable watching them walk away, back to their home in the clock tower.

~8~

"And so, to the fields of Trenzalore came all the Time Lord's enemies. For this was the winter of the Doctor. In time, when all other races had retreated or burned, only the Church of the Mainframe remained in the path of the Daleks. And so those ancient enemies, the Doctor and the Silence, stood back-to-back on the fields of Trenzalore."

~8~

It had been hell, utter hell, that rained down upon the small town of Christmas. The Time Lords went back and forth between feeling guilt that the people, the innocent people had to endure the constant and increasing attacks the last 500 years had brought them, that their once peaceful ways had been so long forgotten that each generation knew only battle. And torn between feeling relief that the war around them did not equate, even in the smallest fraction, to what the Time War had been like, no one ever deserved THAT sort of war. It was as though each enemy of the Doctor's would back off, let someone else fight him, each hoping that the Doctor would be tired out, would make a mistake, would fail and they could swoop in and end it.

But every enemy met the same end, till only the Daleks remained to face him, others having fled or been destroyed in staying to face the Oncoming Storm.

The Judge sat beside him now, that poor old storm, that had lived so long in this last body of his, grown so old he was almost unrecognizable had she not seen him aging slowly through all those centuries. His head was resting on her shoulder as she recited poems and stories from their home to him in their language. His hand was resting on her knee, his thumb stroking the cap of it with a soft hum. He did this each time he was about to face an enemy, gathered strength from her, he told her, needed the reminder of what he was fighting to protect. Because so many of the town had died, had grown up and lived and had families and died, all the humans around him just kept aging and leaving him or making foolish mistakes in thinking they could face one of his enemies alone and feeling the consequences of it.

But the Judge had stayed, she had been his constant, though the last 800 years he'd been on Trenzalore, she had been the one constant, never changing, facet of his life, the reminder of why he fought, of who he had to fight for. It was…the most time they'd ever spent together in a home on one planet, stationary, with time passing just as it should. 800 years of being together and yet their marriage had almost remained stationary while everything changed around them. There was so much bloodshed, so much destruction and devastation, so much to do and repair and fix and preserve that they had so few moments where they could just be married without the thought of the next battle or the last enemy. They were closer, they'd healed, yes, old wounds and time and all that.

Just being together like this, living the life of a married couple, it was enough to heal from the past, to truly LEAVE it in the past and make up for their mistakes…well, almost all their mistakes. They had grown closer, more dependent on each other, having only each other for so long while all others left them, but still no children came, even when they'd reached a point of not being quite as cautious to prevent such a thing, they never came. And they were glad of that, it still felt too much like they'd be replacing their children, and the thought of having any and subjecting them to being raised in a war like this left a bitter taste in their mouths and made their hearts clench so painfully that they were glad when some surprise alarms were proven false. No children had resulted and they knew none would come the last couple centuries or so.

They had grown comfortable with each other again, had had ample time, just the two of them, to truly talk and make amends for the past.

The Doctor always came back to her, and that was what mattered, he came back from each battle, the ones she wasn't able to be a part of whether for being elsewhere fighting her own battle or it was a surprise one while he was with someone else, but he always came back to her. He kept his promise to fight to return to her, to stay with her. He always said, the moment he saw her again and took her in his arms, that she was his strength, the one he fought to get back to, the reason he was still there.

But they both knew that the time was coming where he wouldn't be able to fight any longer. He was growing older and older, so weak, so feeble, so tired…and the Daleks were as strong as ever, they knew that this battle, this next confrontation would be his last, likely her last as well.

They had been…disappointed, at the realization. Because when they'd saved Gallifrey, they'd seen another Doctor, a future Doctor, but they knew it couldn't be. They had no idea how it was possible save perhaps he was some sort of clone or maybe someone that just found the Doctor's TARDIS and had come to help. There was no proof but the man's word that he was the 13th (not counting when the 10th Doctor had made a half-human clone of himself). For all they knew he could be from another dimension where the Doctor had not used his regeneration to keep himself the same in the Crucible. They didn't know who he was or how he came to be, but they were quite certain he couldn't be a Doctor, not THE Doctor.

And that meant this one was going to die, soon.

And he'd told her, he didn't want it to be of old age, anything but that, and he was so old already that if this confrontation didn't end it, his body would. He'd died of old age once before, in his first body, he didn't want that to be how he well and truly stopped. If he was going out, it would be with a big bang. He'd chucked at that turn of phrase, but he'd been adamant that that was how he wanted his end to be. And she couldn't deny him that, she knew being so old was painful to him. He was slowing down, his body not functioning right, his mind not cooperating or retaining anything and for the most clever of men to be reduced to someone who barely understood or remembered half of what was going on around him…it killed him in his lucid moments to realize how far he'd fallen. He didn't want to live like this, he didn't want to force HER to live with him like that, as his carer instead of his wife.

But she'd made him realize that if he did this, if he wished for it to end in this next confrontation, that SHE would be beside him. He'd tried to argue against it, wanted her to live, cited that she still had another regeneration cycle to go. But she'd just brought up the time tunnel, how her end was the same as his, brought up that he'd lived for nearly a century thinking that he was the only one alive and asked him how that felt, if he would want HER to live like that, so alone. Because there was nothing for her if not him. HE had his adventures, his humans, his box. She didn't. She didn't have that drive (the time on Trenzalore had made her more comfortable, the stability, she wouldn't want to go out there and travel), she wouldn't want to live in the TARDIS, and the humans? After all this, after all this fighting, after seeing them cause him so much pain just in their natural courses of being born and living and dying? She doubted very much that even Jack would be able to convince her to stay in Torchwood and help them. There would be nothing for her, nowhere to settle that could be a home because HE wouldn't be there, no hope of children that would live as long as her and she refused to bury more children, no drive to do anything or go anywhere, she'd just waste away without him.

SHE didn't want that life either.

They went together or he was forbidden to go at all.

He'd chuckled at that and called her a stubborn mule, back on the animal names again. He alternated, went through so many types, scores of ones he'd already gone through but forgotten he had as his mind slowly left him with gaps and fuzz. She indulged him, never reminded him that he'd already called her a daffodil 270 times, that he'd already compared her to a dove 9,448 times over, that he'd smiled at her as he called her honey for the 75,435th time. He forgot a lot of things.

She cut off suddenly as she heard the door open and leaned forward to look around him at who had entered. Most people just ran in, screaming or still felt the need to knock despite the war going on, so to just open and quietly enter was new, relatively speaking, "Clara?" she stared, not entirely sure if she might be losing her mind as well, but it was her, it was really her, "What are you…HOW are you…"

"Tasha," Clara answered, and the Doctor stiffened, turning to look at Clara as well, barely allowing her to hold in a gasp at how old he appeared now. He was wrinkled and gray and his eyes seemed to be without their youthful sparkle, something that was odd to think given how aged and ancient his eyes usually appeared in his younger body. If she had to guess how old he was in human terms, it was late 80s, perhaps early 90s, but she knew better, knew it had to have been centuries and centuries for him to have actually aged so much, "Hello."

"Clara?" the Doctor blinked rapidly and Clara's heart stopped at how he almost seemed to not recognize her name, almost seemed to not have a single clue who she was or how the Judge knew her, but she saw the Judge nudge him slightly and his eyes widened as they looked at his wife, as though she were silently conveying something to him, a memory of her, and he smiled, looking at her with familiarity again, "Were you always so young?"

"Nah," she tried to joke, "That was you," she moved to stand in front of them both, trying to keep the tears from appearing in her eyes, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!"

"It's always Christmas," the Judge sighed, and the town still retained quite a bit of the Christmasy flare that came with the name.

Clara gave a soft chuckle at that and held a Christmas Cracker that she hadn't realized she hadn't let go of up to them, "Did they have crackers here?" she asked, kneeling before them and offering one end to the Doctor.

The Judge quickly reached out as the Doctor put a hand on it, curling hers around his, not about to let him try to pull it on his own, not because she didn't want him to pull it, but because to pull it…she knew he wasn't at his best, at his full strength, he'd just be reminded of how weak he'd grown and she didn't want to dampen his mood or make him feel less strong than how he felt at the moment, he'd need all he could muster to face the Daleks one last time.

"Ah!" the Doctor smiled, nodding his head though no one had said anything when the cracker was pulled open with a little pop, "Is there a joke? Huh?"

Clara took a small card out of it, the Doctor grasping some of the confetti within with a pinch and flicking it at the Judge for a laugh, distracted already, "Extract from 'Thoughts On A Clock' by Eric Ritchie Jr."

"Is it a knock-knock one? Those are best."

The Judge put a hand on his arm, "I think it may be a poem," she told him gently, not about to contradict him that Clara had already implied it was NOT a joke, but an excerpt, not about to use the tone she usually used on humans with him, not in this state.

Clara looked at the Judge for that, understanding with a slow nod what the Judge was conveying without speaking, before she focused on the poem, "'And now it's time for one last bow Like all your other selves Eleven's hour is over now The clock is striking twelve's.'"

The Doctor's brows furrowed at that, "I don't get it," he stated genuinely.

The Judge took a soft breath but said nothing, he'd forgotten by now, within the span of seconds, that it wasn't a joke but a poem.

Luckily neither she nor Clara had to endure an awkward silence of trying to work out what to say to that, as there was a terrible boom out the door, the Daleks launching their final attack, "Doctor! The Doctor will be brought! The Daleks demand the Doctor!"

And then, just as the Judge had expected before, the doors were thrown open as a young man ran in, his clothes worn and frayed, a gun strapped to his back, looking tired and pale and afraid, "They're here," he reported to them, the Judge rolling her eyes as the Doctor had to reach out and take her hand, knowing she was about to let out some sort of biting remark that 'no, they NEVER would have guessed the Daleks were here,' "The Daleks, we can't stop them. They want you."

"We're aware," the Judge settled for that, "And we shall deal with them once and for all."

"Yes, yes, it's alright, Barnable," the Doctor smiled at the boy, before blinking rapidly, a frown starting to mar his face as he eyed the young man, "Are you Barnable?" he whispered, his voice starting to shake as though he were realizing Barnable had been dead for centuries now and there was no way and that he was remembering the wrong person.

The young man, it appeared to Clara, didn't seem at all startled or pulsed by that question, merely responding, "No, Doctor," simply, as though it were a common occurrence that the Doctor never got their names right.

Clara was sure he DID get names right, just that he was remembering the dead and, judging by how the Judge looked at him sadly when the Doctor's next words were a cheery, "It's ok, Barnable," she was sure she was right.

"We have got a plan," the Doctor waved him off, "Off you pop," the smile on the Doctor's face didn't even fade as he turned to Clara once they boy was gone, "I haven't got a plan, but people love it when I say that."

The Judge reached out to help him stand, the Doctor grabbing her arm with as tight a grip as he could manage and Clara noticed, for the first time, that the cane she'd seen him use was gone. But she could see the Doctor's hands gripping the Judge's plaid covered arm, so wrinkled and weak…a cane must be painful for him to grip so tightly and put all his weight on, a person would be much nicer and far more stable to use as balance.

"What are you going to do?" Clara had to wonder.

The Doctor gave an offhanded shrug, "Oh, I don't know. Talk very fast, hope something good happens, take the credit. That's generally how it works."

"Doctor…" the Judge began.

The Doctor looked at her, blinking again, his face scrunching as he seemed to try and focus on something and glanced at his hands, letting out a small sigh as something worked its way into his mind, "Not this time," he murmured, "This is it."

He'd thought, for a moment, that he was himself once more, that he was that youthful Doctor that really could do something like that. When it was just the Judge and him, he could look at her and see her looking exactly the same as she had before all those centuries ago. When it was just them, he could pretend he was still the same, that nothing had changed, that it hadn't been so long and that he was still young. He'd started to withdraw from the town, the last century or two, still there, still present, still available when an attack happened, but residing more in the clock tower than he usually had. He'd waved it off to others that he was getting old and need rest, really though…he just wanted to be with his wife as much as possible, to relish in the times his mind mixed up the timelines and it felt like they'd only just set foot on Trenzalore again.

Seeing his old, wrinkled hand had reminded him that was not the case and there was no use and no time left to pretend any longer.

"But…" Clara shook her head, not wanting to believe this really could be the end.

This was just like before. She'd come from one second in time and he'd been centuries older. She'd come from a few minutes and he was near his end. He was talking one minute that he would win the war and the next that it was over…the Time Lords were both resigned to a fate that, to her, hadn't been a thought only an hour ago. So much had changed and so much had been lost.

"The time tunnel is proof Clara," the Judge looked at her, warning her NOT to argue, the Doctor was already confused enough as it was and she was determined to allow him to see out his final lucid decision out as best she could, "THIS is how it's meant to end."

"No it's not!" she argued, "You can change it! Like Tasha said, change the future!"

The Doctor sighed, looking at Clara with clarity that she knew would be fleeting so she gave him her full attention, "We could have once. When there were Time Lords. Not anymore."

"There's not enough of us to do anything," the Judge agreed, glancing at the crack in the wall, "We can't let them out to a slaughter."

"Now," the Doctor added when Clara opened her mouth to say something more, "You're going to stay here. Promise us you will."

"Why?" Clara wanted to be petulant, wanted to ask why she should promise something to them when they had broken promises to her, but this was just…this was not the time and she wasn't that sort of person.

"All the time you've been with us Clara," the Judge began, "It's been our responsibility to keep you safe. This is the last time we'll be able to do it, and we need to know you WILL be safe."

"One last victory," the Doctor reached out to take Clara's hand, allowing her to feel for the first time just how weak he really was, "Allow us that. Give us that," he smiled, "Thank you. And goodbye," he cleared his throat and looked at the Judge who slowly started to move with him, leading him towards the doors, feeling his grip on her hand both tighten and weaken the nearer they got to it. Clara watched as the Doctor turned to the Judge, speaking to her, as though he'd already forgotten SHE was still in the room, "The trouble with Daleks is, lady bug, they take so long to say anything. Probably die of boredom before they shoot me."

"If you didn't die of boredom sitting through some of my presidings," the Judge countered, not bothering to remark on the 'lady buy' comment, "I don't think it'll happen now, love."

"The Doctor is required!" the Daleks began to chant, firing their lasers everywhere as the Time Lords stepped out of the tower, towards the stairs that would lead up to the top of it, there was really no reaction from them save to climb, after all the explosions and threats and enemies…this didn't faze them at all.

They ignored the cries of the Daleks until they'd reached the top of the belfry, the slowest of goings and something the Judge knew the Doctor would be complaining about himself had he been his old self, how slow they were going, but it was necessary.

"Doctor!" a single Dalek flew down to face them, hovering level with the top of the bell tower, its eyestalk taking in the two Time Lords before it.

"Sorry, I'm a bit slow," the Doctor wheezed, closing his eyes as he tried to catch his breath, "I may not be at my best right now."

"You are still THE best," the Judge reassured him quietly in his ear, making him smile.

Sadly the Dalek couldn't allow it to remain there as it felt the need to add, "You are dying, Doctor."

"Yes," he swallowed, narrowing his eyes at the pepperpot, shifting back slightly to sit on a bench, the Judge though remained standing beside him, her gaze down at the people who were hiding around various objects for cover, Clara running out among them to look up at the two of them instead of getting into the safety of the TARDIS, "I'm dying. You've been trying to kill me for centuries, and here I am, dying of old age. If you want something done, do it yourself of have your wife do it," the Doctor joked, winking at the Judge, recalling quite a few times in their marriage, both on Gallifrey and on Trenzalore, where she'd threatened to kill him herself when he did something dangerous or returned with a rather bad injury.

"You will die, and the Time Lords will never return!"

"And yet you haven't even tried to ensure that?" the Judge frowned, "We're standing here, right in front of you, all but sitting ducks, and you haven't even thought to try and fire?" she didn't understand Dalek logic.

"You're still worried I've got something up my sleeve," the Doctor realized, smirking darkly, "Well, you knock yourselves out, boys. I've got nothing this time."

He reached out and took the Judge's hand as the Daleks began to descend, firing on the town, but there was nothing they could do, nothing at all, and it broke their hearts to know the town they'd defended for so long, for so many centuries, was going to be destroyed despite their efforts. The Judge looked down at the Doctor and he back at her, both trying to smile at each other…when a deafening cracking noise resounded above them, above the Daleks, and their heads snapped over to see a crack, the SAME crack that had been on the wall within the tower, appear, splitting the sky open with a white glow.

But that wasn't all that had captured their attention and awe, it was that the white glow began to shift to the golden-orange of regeneration…and drift OUT of the crack, heading right for the Doctor.

"Oh my god!" the Judge gasped, quickly pulling her hand away from the Doctor and jumping back away from him, knowing that something like this was tricky and fragile and had to be done with care. Without the Time Lords there to actually direct the energy, it would drift towards the nearest Time Lord, and it HAD to be the Doctor…

Because that glow, that energy…was a new regeneration cycle!

The Doctor frowned, slowly standing on his own, not sure why she was backing away so far…when the energy zapped right into his mouth, into HIM, making him gasp himself and his eyes fly wide in surprise. He looked at her for confirmation that it was what he thought it was, but she just smiled and nodded down at his hands…hands that were now glowing with regeneration energy.

"You will die now, Doctor!" the Dalek before they cried, not seeming to understand the enormity of what had happened, of what that energy meant for the Daleks as well, "This is the end of you and your wife."

"Doctor," the Judge called, making him look at her, "It'll be…violent," she warned, gesturing, half-flinging, a hand towards the Daleks, "VERY violent."

He nodded slowly, the Daleks still talking, "The rules of regeneration are known. You have expended all your lives."

"Sorry," his head snapped back to the one before them, the Judge shuffling back, half down the stairs, knowing that it really could be terribly violent and knowing the Doctor would never forgive himself if he injured her, "What did you say? Did you mention the rules? Now, listen! Bit of advice. Tell me the truth if you think you know it. Lay down the law, if you're feeling brave enough to challenge my wife, but, Daleks, never, ever tell me the rules! There's only ONE person that can do that!" he winked at the Judge, already able to see the rippling of the orange-gold energy of the regeneration starting to waft up from his neck, affecting his vision.

"Emergency!" the Judge laughed as the Daleks finally seemed to realize what was going on and the danger they were most certainly in, "Emergency! The Doctor is regenerating! The Doctor is regenerating!"

The bell struck twelve behind them, making the Judge wince at the noise, sure that this version of her was now going to have permanent hearing damage because of it, but the Doctor just did a merry little jig.

"Oh, look at this!" he exclaimed, "Regeneration number 13. We're breaking some serious science here, boys. I tell you what, it's going to be a whopper!"

"Exterminate!" the Daleks all started to gather together, firing more on the Doctor than the town though a few were focusing on the town in an effort to distract him, "Exterminate the Doctor."

But the Doctor was enjoying this far too much, laughing nearly madly at what was going to come next, "You think you can stop me now, Daleks? If you want my life...Come. And. Get it!"

With that last word, he swung his arm around in a wide circle, blasting the energy that had shot out of his right arm up at the Daleks flying for him, blasting them out of the sky.

The Judge frowned though, concentrating, making out some other voice through the din, through the Daleks and the clock and the Doctor's regeneration…Clara's voice, shouting to the people to run, to get to shelter, to get out of the way…

The Doctor wound up his other arm, throwing that one out to the Daleks on the other side of him, taking out the Daleks coming at him from that side.

The Judge scrambled to her feet, hearing the tone of Clara's voice shift from warning to alarm and half climbed onto the railing of the stairs to look over the side of the tower, spotting Clara rushing for a child that was too scared to move, crouching beside it and ushering it back to the others.

"Love from Gallifrey, boys!" the Doctor gave one last call, flinging his head back and letting the regeneration take full control, a beam flying right up into the air and taking down the large Dalek ship that had descended on the planet.

But that wasn't what had the Judge crying out in alarm, screaming really…

It was that, just as Clara stood up to run back to the people…

A Dalek blast struck her in the back, sending her falling to the ground.

Dead.

~8~

The Judge stepped off the bottom of the clock tower's stair barely a minute after the Doctor's regeneration had settled, onto the ground once more, smoke from the burning Daleks in the air, everything utterly destroyed but the town was standing and the people were safe, well, most of them. She looked over at the Doctor, the man no longer old but appearing youthful once more, the same him that Amelia Pond had first met, not the old man she'd gotten used to this entire time. She had to wonder what he'd be next, old or young, it would take a lot of getting used to to see him young again after him having been so old for so long.

But that wasn't the focus of her thoughts, it couldn't be, because as she and the Doctor stepped further into the town, they could see it, Clara's body, lying right where it had fallen.

The Doctor looked down at her, sorrow and guilt in his eyes. The Judge moved beside her, kneeling down to press a finger to Clara's neck…there was no pulse. She let out a breath and turned to the Doctor, shaking her head negative. He nodded slowly, before he crouched down and hefted the girl into his arms, her body hanging limply in his hold. The Judge took a deep breath and stood, moving to the TARDIS to open the doors for him, they couldn't just leave Clara there, that wasn't right, not at all.

As the Judge moved to the console to set them off into space, get them off of Trenzalore, the Doctor gently set Clara down on the floor of the TARDIS, closing his eyes a moment, his hand over them as he took a moment to mourn his fallen companion, swallowing hard when the Judge put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. He reached up and placed his hand on hers, before turning, on his knees, to take her hand in both of his, examining it, the same hand she'd had for the last…oh…800 years, still looked exactly as it had while his had gotten more frail and wrinkled. He kissed her hand and look up at her, "Carah…" he began.

"You don't have to say anything Theta," she whispered, "I know what's coming next," she swallowed hard, knowing that his regeneration was more…a reset, that the actual change would be coming soon now. It had happened when she'd become this incarnation. Instead of just regenerating like normal, she'd nearly terrified Jack when she'd expelled her energy and remained the same, he thought she'd pulled what the Doctor had in the Crucible, till, instantly, before his eyes, she became someone new yet again, "I'll get Clara home, you just worry about you."

She was NOT looking forward to that, to how she would explain to her family, at Christmas, that she was dead, how she would handle losing both Clara and this Doctor…but she'd do it, she knew she'd have to. She'd endured so many of the Doctor's incarnations over time, another one wouldn't be anything spectacular or daunting to deal with, but Clara…SHE had never really lost a 'companion' before. There were the Ponds, but she had only seen them a handful of times before they'd been lost and they'd been planning to leave anyway.

"No, no," he shook his head, squeezing her hand, "It…everything will be alright," he smiled at her, his expression growing sad and thoughtful, "It all just disappears, doesn't it?" he cleared his throat as it thickened with emotion, "Everything you are, gone in a moment, like breath on a mirror. Any moment now, he's a-coming, the next me," he squeezed her hand once more, "Promise me…promise me you'll stay? That…that he'll be as much your husband as I am. I…I need to know that…"

She nodded, "You, Theta, will ALWAYS be my husband, no matter what, no matter who you become, WHAT you are to me will never change."

He let out a relieved breath at that, slowly standing, making her realize the significance of his kneel just then, a sort of pseudo-proposal that had been. He opened his mouth to say something when he looked away, almost as though he were seeing something she couldn't.

"Theta?" she called softly, reaching out her free hand to his cheek, drawing his attention back, "Whatever it is you're seeing," she began, knowing she'd hallucinated as well when her new cycle had begun, an end that should have been an end was being thwarted and it always left you unbalanced and wonky for a bit, "Please…don't look away."

He lifted his one hand to hers, pressing it more firmly to his cheek, a frown starting to appear on his face as he saw tears in her eyes, "It's just regeneration, tiger," he murmured.

She laughed at that, "Of course, you find a word I'm not completely mortified by now," she joked, knowing he'd actually called her tiger a handful of times so far, his memory having gone a bit and leading him to repeat quite a few names. Tiger wasn't...terrible, but it wasn't fitting either. But she sobered quickly, "I…I've never seen it before."

He grew confused at that, "You've seen loads of…"

"Not YOURS," she cut in, "I've…never seen you regenerate Theta, not ever, you always just...came back different," she looked at his eyes, "It's only just hitting me now that I never had to actually watch you die before…"

"Hey," he let go of her hand on his cheek to touch her own, his thumb wiping away a tear, "I'm not dying, not really," his hearts clenched and not from the regeneration pains but from the knowledge that likely the ONLY blessing his travels had afforded her was never having to force her to watch him regenerate and NOW he would be starting his next body with that, they would be starting his next life with her having witnessed it, "I'm just changing," he nodded, firm in that belief, a belief so much different than his last self how hadn't wanted to go, not for anything, hadn't wanted to die, "We all change...when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's ok," he nodded again, starting to smile, "That's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this," he promised her, "Not one day with you Carah. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me."

He gently lifted her hands to his neck, setting her fingers on his bowtie and giving her a reassuring nod that it was alright. His eyes remained locked on hers as she slowly undid the tie and tugged it off of his person. He lifted her hands once more, wrapping his tie around one and kissing it, "I love you now, I loved you then, and I will love you always."

"I love you too," the Judge whispered, making him smile before he felt the pain that had been growing inside him reach unbearable levels and stumbled back, half falling right on top of the console before he jerked back off it.

And a new man was standing in his place, wearing his old clothes.

The Judge didn't even blink as she took the man in, from his thinner frame and taller stature, to his shorter, more curled gray hair. His bushy, angry eyebrows would take some getting used to, but his blue eyes pierced her soul just as much as the last Doctor's green ones had. He was older now, wrinkled, and staring right at her with the widest eyes she'd ever seen.

"You alright?" she asked him, knowing it was a very jarring experience and he had always had the worst reactions to regeneration that she knew of.

"Kidneys!" he breathed, finally looking away from her to place his hands over where his kidneys were, "I've got new kidneys," and then looked back at her, "I don't like the color."

"Well you have 15 hours to work on that," she reminded him, only to fall to the side as the TARDIS began to buck around them, "Seriously!?" she shouted up at the rotor.

"Ooh," the new Doctor ran to the console, grasping for the monitor, frantic in his movements, jerky in his actions from the unbalancing the regeneration had caused, "We're probably crashing!"

"Please tell me this you isn't going to sound like a human more than the last one!" the Judge called above the noise of some minor explosions going off around the console, struggling to regain her own balance as he was thrown back into one of the side chairs.

"Just…stay calm," the Doctor pointed at her, "Just one question. Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?"

Before she could even answer the TARDIS began to rattle and jerk even worse than before, making them look up at the rotor in alarm. They glanced at each other and pushed off of where they'd fallen, knowing they needed to get to the controls, needed to get things settled...

But just as they reached the console, just as they grabbed a lever here and a switch there, something happened that gave them pause and made their eyes widen in more shock than everything that had happened yet...

Clara gasped awake...

Alive.

A/N: I feel so evil to end it like that }:D

And I'm sorry this was late, it should have been up yesterday, but my sister was supposed to go to a Halloween party and her friend bailed on her and it was a sort of 2-person costume, so, somehow, I ended up dragged to it in place of her friend and that's after ending up holding over at work for a late co-worker. It was fun and at least my sister got to go, it was just awkward and last minute for me lol. But I have something that might hopefully make up for both the ending and the lateness...

I've really thought long and hard about Doctor Who, about my stories, about the plagiarisms, about everything, especially about the way that people have reacted to the conflict I was feeling about discontinuing Doctor Who indefinitely. The reactions ranged from sorrow to understanding, offers of thanks to heartfelt pleas not to give up. And you, all of you, on this site and tumblr and quotev and wattpad, all of you really made me think about it all. And I'm so sorry that I let myself get to a place where I felt it would be better for me to not do DW any longer, especially when it would be letting so many of you down. I was reminded of how much the stories mean to all of you, how much they've helped inspire you, encourage you, brighten your days. I was reminded of how people opened up to me and admitted things about themselves that they struggled with and that the stories gave them hope and strength to face down and keep going and to be able to touch someone's life that way is something I think every author hopes to do one day. I was reminded that it's not just fanfiction, it's the characters and the readers and my relationship with all of you as an author and friend that means more to me than my fears or desires to protect my OCs, my babies. Because I consider all of you, every reader, to be one of my friends and I would hate to lose any of that, you all are my family too and you all have been so supportive of me, so protective, so encouraging, that, after a very focused and deep consideration, I've decided that I WILL continue to write DW.

I will admit, I reconsidered it. I was going to announce in the last chapter, on Tuesday, that I felt comfortable enough to continue DW, and then one of my readers was threatened to be cut and it just threw it all back at me that it's not even just the OCs that were in danger but my actual readers. Even if it was an internet threat, it was still a threat, and it made me feel so guilty that it had happened because of my stories :( But I saw so many of you rally together and express how you felt about that threat and I like to think we've all become a family by now and that, to threaten or harm one of us is to threaten and harm us all and we stick together and look out for each other. You've all proven that my OCs are safe with you, because if you see them or their stories being taken, you tell me about it and it really brings a tear to my eye that people know my stories THAT well that they can recognize my work in someone else's when they try to copy it. And you've all proven that you're safe with each other as well, that you stick up for and protect each other. And that does make me tear up too, that all of you feel you can connect and relate to each other through my stories.

So yes...I WILL continue Doctor Who for Proffy, Evy, Angel, Mac, and the Judge, as well as continue with the 3 future TLs still to come :)

I have to say thank you though, all of you, when I'm down and when I'm really questioning myself and my choices, you all are always there for me to set me straight and remind me of the things that mean so much to me when it comes to why I write. You're always here for me and I will try my best to always be there for you too :')

I love you all :')

And, before I forget, I should probably add...

To be continued...in...Penance and Patience!

Also, 4 quick notes, I have a 'name' in mind for what the 12th Doctor should call the Judge like she calls him love. But I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any they'd love to see ;) If I like yours more than mine, I'll be sure to give you a shoutout in the next story and use it instead ;)

With all the plagiarism dealings last month, I fell behind on my spinoffs and was originally planning to add in one for the Judge this/next month. I'm still going to try and do it. So we'll hopefully get a spinoff of the Judge's time in Torchwood likely the start of next month ;) I'm trying to keep them in order of when the TL was posted (save for TAOSAT and IYC as they are both for the same series so I split them as 1 at the start and 1 at the end). So it's usually an Evy spinoff, then Professor, then Angel, then Mac, and then the Judge, so hopefully the start of December and is tentatively called 'The Tales of Torchwood Three' ;)

The WWTW crossover sequel, as I was plagiarized on October 13th, will be up, instead on November 23rd so a little tribute to DW then instead ;)

And my OUAT story, Phantom Melodies, will be resumed tomorrow ;)

Now, to finish, I really just want to say thank you to all of you again, to everyone that read/reviewed/followed/favorited/anything this story. It really means so much to me to know that you all are enjoying it :') And I hope I'll be able to keep it coming in the future too, so thank you all again for all your support with my writing and encouraging me to keep going, you all reminded me that I have more reasons to keep going than to give up :')

Some notes on reviews...

Thank you, we hope my mom will be ok too :)

Yup, Clara's like Jack! ^-^

I have no idea how I end up with different ideas lol, I think I just try to get the OC as different from the others as possible and it just sort of falls into place how things end up different around them because of that :) And Clara...well, let's just say she's quite like a rather Impossible Boy that the Judge knows ;) And thank you for your support, it means a lot to me :')

Thanks, I try to go through it and get rid of as many typos as I can. I hope that, one day soon, I'll have some time to go through and read all my stories and fix everything :) I think the Judge let Clara off the hook that time because Clara was trying to stop the Doctor instead of jump with him :) I was debating having the Judge kiss the Warrior/10 but I figured that they were both aware of their own Judge relative to their timelines and would see the current Judge as 11's :) I'm glad you liked Clara working out the sonics :) I wanted to try and make it a sort of 'tough love' relationship with the Judge, that her methods are a bit harsh and seem condescending at times, but Clara really is coming out of it better in the end :)

Lol, I so called the Missy/Master after the first episode :) So I was so hoping that it would be that just for Evy :) But it'll depend if the Master still kisses the Doctor though, she might have other reactions depending on the OC with him :)