The Doctor has vowed to never invite a human to travel with him ever again but when he meets Clara Oswald, he is tempted. The Doctor decides to stick around, but he will never reveal his secrets to her. How long will he be able to convince her that he is human. Twelve/Clara AU.

The Years of the Word

Chapter 1

21st December 2012

The Doctor had been lonely for a very long time. Now, after his regeneration, he didn't feel it so much anymore. He had been quite content by himself, travelling alone, with no one to look after. When he got bored of talking to himself, there was always the Paternoster Gang he could visit. He always pretended that it was an accident and that originally he had intended to land on a different planet – but since he was there, he could just as well help with their current case. Yes, everything had been going well until that stupid day in December 2012. That was when he first saw her.

The Doctor had saved the world. Again. In the basement of a first class hotel the Sontarans had installed a teleporter and were about to invade the earth, something the Doctor could prevent at the very last second. He should have stepped back inside his TARDIS then, but there had been a few damaged water pipes. The Doctor went upstairs to the lobby to find the caretaker and inform him about the leaky pipes before they flooded the whole basement. Moments later he found himself in the middle of a party. The stupid, pudding-headed people were celebrating the end of the world that was about to take place today according to a silly superstition. The Doctor knew the world wasn't going to end today. Well, it would have – had the Sontarans succeeded.

With all this. . . partying going on, how was he supposed to find the caretaker?

OOO

Clara took another sip from her drink and looked around for her friend but she couldn't find her anyway. Why? Why had she even come here? She hated going to parties, especially when the only reason she had even gone, her friend, had abandoned her 10 minutes after arriving and was now nowhere to be found. Clara imagined all the things she'd rather be doing and that even included doing the laundry. She grabbed her drink tighter and started pushing through the crowd. Even the theme of the party was stupid. She didn't believe the world was going to end tonight and she highly doubted most of the guests did. They just wanted to celebrate anything in the lobby of a classy hotel. Well, at least Clara had booked a room as well so she wouldn't have to go home late at night. In fact, she could just go upstairs right now and pull out the book she had brought from her handbag. She smiled to herself when she thought about how silly it was – booking a room for after a world's end party. If they all really believed the world would end, they wouldn't need a room, would they? Clara sniggered. You had to admire the thoughts of a tipsy brain.

Suddenly a man bumped into her and Clara's drink spilt all over his jacket. Clara took a step backwards, something that only resulted into her bumping into yet another guy.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she apologized to the guy behind her, but he was already gone. She turned back to the other man whose shirt was dripping and who just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Oh no, your jacket. Let me help you," she pulled a handkerchief from her purse and started drying the dark fabric.

"Don't worry. It was my fault," he said with a thick Scottish accent. Clara's heart skipped a beat. His voice was making the butterflies in her stomach fly wild. And she loved the accent. She lifted her head to look at him. Not bad, she thought. The man was probably in his 50s, a little older than what she usually went for, but she was tipsy, and it was the end of the world. And he did look good.

"Well, you can buy me a new one," she winked at him. Did she just actually wink at him? Oh God, she could use some flirting practice.

"I'm afraid I don't have any money," the stranger replied. She seemed a little scattered and confused.

"Mh," Clara sighed with disappointment. Then she noticed the red lining on the inside of his jacket and smiled at him. "What are you, a magician?"

"Er, no."

Okay, so this was going to be a tough one. "Well, what do you do then? Except bumping into women at parties?"

"I, uhm, travel. A lot," he said, staring at the ceiling of the lobby.

"So are you, like, a captain of a ship? Or a pilot?" Clara asked. She started to get the impression the stranger didn't like her so much.

Finally he smiled, a genuine, joyful smile. "A bit of both. And it's the best ship in the universe."

"Be careful," Clara said, checking him out again. The alcohol was making her braver than she actually was. "I might board it some day."

"I don't think so," the man replied.

"I wasn't talking about the ship."

The man stared at her in utter confusion. Clara decided to take a step back.

"I'm Clara, by the way. Clara Oswald."

"Nice to meet you, Clara Oswald. Though it would have been nice if you hadn't spilt your drink all over me."

Clara laughed, but the strange man didn't. "Okay, so what is your name?"

"Doctor."

"Doctor of what?" she stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"That is not the question," he leaned towards her and looked her directly into the eyes. It would have been a little frightening, had the situation not been so completely absurd.

"What is the question?" she whispered.

"Who!"

"Who?" Clara replied.

"Doctor."

"What?" now it was her time to be confused. Who was this mad man?

The stranger groaned and threw his hands up. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Actually, no."

OOO

The Doctor should have stopped a long time ago. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be talking to her. This woman was obviously flirting with him and he was obviously liking it a bit too much. She was clever and funny, he had known that the second he had bumped into her. And that was the reason he should leave right now. She was his type. She was companion material. And he had to leave before he did something stupid like showing her his TARDIS. He had made a promise. He had promised to never invite a human into his TARDIS again. It never ended well. They all got lost or hurt or worse. Or ended up hurting him. No more of this. No Clara Oswald in the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked at her eyes that screamed bewilderment. She should be scared. She should run, but instead, he was intrigued. Why was it always like that with humans? Why were they always fascinated?

"Well, what is the question?" Clara asked.

"Doctor Who?" he whispered.

"Is that a nickname? Doctor?"

The Doctor frowned. He had never looked at it that way, but she was kind of right. "I guess you could say it is."

At this moment a maintenance crew passed them and the Doctor realized they were heading for the basement. He needed to move his TARDIS. Now.

"I'm sorry, Clara Oswald. You're amazing. But it's always the same with you women," he gave her a pet on the head, turned around and vanished into the crowd, out of her sight.