Archive of Our Own ^beta

She doesn’t know how it happened. She has no clue.  

All she knew was that she was hanging out with her friends, Stacy, Adam, Jake, Lucy, and Drew, her friends from college. They were at a pizza place, celebrating the end of the first term’s exams, all excited to go back home to visit their family for Christmas and the New Year. She wasn’t even drinking, unlike her friends, content with being the designated driver, as per usual, with her diet coke. 

She stood up to go pay for her part of the check, being the last one to do so she could help her intoxicated friends into Drew’s mini-van, it was only a couple seconds after that her surroundings changed. 

It wasn’t like in the movies where time seemed to slow as everything faded around her, nor was it like in the stories were something strange happened and she disappeared in some sort of bright light, doesn’t matter the color. 

No. 

It was as if it was a slide show with no special effects. There was one picture and there was another. Sometimes you’d blink and missed the change. 

But she didn’t, she saw it. 

On second she was going to pay her bills then drive her friends to their respective dorms, then she was suddenly in this metal futuristic hallway with cables and cords strewn across the walls and floors in disrepair. 

She couldn’t see nor hear anyone, no matter how hard she strained her ears or how many turns she took to cheek that someone was behind her. 

Everything around her changed. 

And so will her entire reality. 

~ 

Cora just stood there, frozen place. 

She didn’t dare move from her spot. Cora had no idea what just happened, but all she knows is that she is alone and in a strange place. That’s all she needed to know in that moment to know that it was bad news. 

(She has to ignore the fact that everything disappeared in a blink of an eye, because if she focuses on that she knows that she will fall into a panic and will no longer be aware of her surroundings. That’s no help to anyone or thing. She has to keep it together.) 

Cora first looked down at herself, and noticed how the clothing she wore wasn’t the clothing she had on with her friends back at the pizzeria. She wore a nice dress, with a black top, belt with golden buckle on her waist, red and black plaid skirt that ended a couple inches above her knees, black tights, and knee-high black velvet high-heeled boots.  

Now she wore ratty jeans, dirty tennis shoes, and a black baggy slip-on hoodie. Her auburn hair was in a half up, now it’s in a messy side braid that Cora knew if she took out, it’d be a giant rat’s nest. 

Cora looked at her hands, noticing how they were rougher now, they were still her’s, just rougher. Covered in cuts, bruises, and some sort of black smudge. Like dried oil or grease on her hands. She could feel it on her face two, mostly at her cheeks. Her loose strands of hair that escaped from her braid was plastered to her face from dried sweat. As if she’d been running and hiding in fear forever. 

She then remembered the dream she had the other night.  

(She had been running. Cora stumbled past some cables that hung from the ceiling, almost tripping as she did so, but somehow remained on her feet. She kept on running, but Cora could hear the ticking from behind her get louder. With a scream Cora turned a sharp corner, running in to a hard metallic thing cover in cloth. She felt two hands grab her arms, easily pinning them to Cora’s side. She gritted her teeth from the bruising grip that it had on her arms, looking up up to see a creepy clown mask and a white curly wig wearing historic French clothing. Cora opened her mouth to scre-!) 

“There you are!” 

Cora jumped with a scream, whirling to face the source of the voice as she hurriedly backed away. 

Her nerves on end from whatever... that was. 

(Best not to think about it. Right now is all that matters. And right now, there is a strange person that may or may not be calling out to you.) 

Behind her stood a tall thin man in a brown pinstripe suit with a tie, wearing converses (for some reason), with dark brown eyes, and wild dark chocolate hair that stood on end. 

The man noticed her alarmed expression and frantic state. Her heavy breathing wasn’t helping Cora to stay calm.  

(She noticed something too. The way his eyes were scanning over her multiple times. Searching for something. His eyes are guarded. She could tell it wasn’t because he was a guarded person, although that could be a part of it, but she could still see. She could still tell. He was wary. No that’s not it. It wasn’t fear either. He didn’t fear her, but wary was just too weak of word while fear was too strong.) 

“Shh, shh...”, he shushed her gently, but his eyes remained their guarded distance, “Cora it’s okay. It’s me. Remember? It’s me, the Doctor. My friends and I found you not too long after we landed, remember?” 

“I-I don’t k-k-know what you're t-talking about.”, she stumbled over her words, “I j-just- you- h-how do you know my name?” 

Something sparked in his eyes and she saw it. She knew. 

(He saw her as dangerous.) 

Cora could feel her head spinning, a bad migraine beginning to form. The moment she felt it coming, it blossomed into a world of pain inside of her head.  

With a shout, Cora stumbled back clutching her hand tightly to her head in vain hope to ease the pain. 

It hurt. Like nothing she’s ever felt before. It hurt. It felt like someone took a jackhammer and took it to her skull, only a thousand times worse than that. She felt like her skull was going to split open any second. 

She could see it. 

(His teeth gritted, eyes blazing with determination as he held firmly to her head, pinning her against the wall with his body so she couldn’t wiggle away. She gripped tightly to his wrists, trying to pry his hands away from her head, but he was too strong. 

Cora could herself gasping and wheezing as her heart thundered in her chest body trembled despite her continued struggles, knowing she wouldn’t be able to escape in the end. No matter how hard she tried. 

Knowing it to be true, her struggles weakened as her trembling increased when she could feel his fingers on her temple. 

The Doctor was breathing heavily, but not from exertion of keeping her still. It looked like anger and pain. Cora felt these emotions were towards her, not even realizing that he felt these emotions towards himself. 

The tears that have been pricking the corner of her eyes finally spilled. Falling quickly and endless down her cheeks. 

“Please.”, she sobbed, “Doctor, I just want to go home. Please.” 

He took two big deep breathes, his body began to shake as well, but he kept his hands steady. 

“I don’t know what’s even happening to me, please.”, she begged. 

“I’m sorry.” 

She didn’t hear the strain in his voice. The sincerity of his apology. Cora has never felt so scared before in her entire life. 

He dove deep into her mind, taking away everything. Despite how hard she tried to hold onto everything, anything, it would always somehow slip through her fingers. 

He kept going. 

Until there was nothing left.) 

“-ora! Cora!” 

Cora felt herself being brought back to the present, hands were cupping her face. The Doctor’s hands. The Doctor hands were on her head! 

She screamed, flailing her arms and kicking her legs as she tried to get away from him, to run away as far as she could from him. 

“Hey, hey, hey!”, the Doctor shouts, trying to control her flailing body, “It’s not real. Whatever you saw won’t happen! I promise!” 

(She shouldn’t be here, where ever here is. She should just hold still and let him do it.) 

But she still has friends. Family. She needs to get back home! 

(And where the hell is that!? She doesn’t even have a fricking clue where the hell she even is!) 

Cora didn’t know how much more she could bear, her mind going back and forth between running and giving in until the Doctor didn’t give her a choice.  

Wrestling her to the ground with him. The Doctor sat on the floor with his back leaning against the wall, cradling the girl, the child, in his arms, slowly rocking her back and forth, pressing her head into his chest so that she could hear his heart beats, hoping the constant soothing rhythm would calm her down. He soothingly pets her hair when he knew she would leave her head right above his hearts. The Doctor hugged her close with one arm while the other would pet her head, sometimes he would even run his fingers through her hair. 

She was no longer screaming and struggling. Instead, Cora just broke down into sobs as she clutched the lapels of his suit jacket. Babbling into his chest like a small child. 

“I don’t know what’s going!”, she cried, her shoulders shaking from her sobs, 

“Shh...I know. I know.”, he said softly, continuing to rock her as if she was a child. 

To him, she was. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”, he whispered his voice cracking. 

He closed his eyes, but never ceased his actions, still holding her close, rocking her gently, and whispered apologies and reassurances quietly in her ear as she quietly sobbed. 

The Doctor could feel Cora’s emotions and senses going haywire. Causing her to look in to one of the many threads of time, and obviously not a good one. 

He knew it had something to do with him. The Doctor just hoped that once she calmed, she would let him explain everything. 

The Doctor didn’t stop whispering into her ear until he felt her entire body relax and go slack as her breathing evened out.  

She fell asleep. 

He sighed with relief. Good.  

It hurts to see this. 

When the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey first found her, she was deathly afraid. She knew about the clock robots long before the Doctor found the one in Reinette’s bedroom. She couldn’t be a day over twenty, or even nineteen. Despite the grime and obvious injuries, she had, he knew the moment she stepped foot in to the Tardis he was dragging her to the med bay, she looked young. A little younger than Rose even. 

He crouched in front of her, friendly smile on his face as the Doctor introduced himself. After a moment of hesitation, the girl introduced herself as Cora, slowly reaching out and shaking his offered hand. 

The Doctor’s eyes widened with realization, but he was quick to school his features back to his original friendly smile. He noticed besides a small jump, that the girl didn’t notice, and it looked like she didn’t know that he was a part of what she felt as well. 

She had had no clue. 

And the Doctor’s fears were realized when he found her again, alone in an empty corridor, and she had no idea who he was. She looked like she had no idea where she was too. Even though when the Doctor first met Cora, she knew very well what was going on, and the state of her and her clothes suggest she’s been there a while too. 

He didn’t look, there was no need to, he wasn’t even trying it was still happening, the Doctor could feel the state of her mind. And he was not happy. 

Even more so when he begun to realize some of the damage has been caused by someone else. 

Someone has been messed and broke bits of Cora’s mind. 

And she didn’t even know. 

That meant he didn’t have much time, but he knew he had to try. To give his all. The Doctor knew he had to save her. 

The Doctor sighed, feeling the urge to tiredly rub his head but he didn’t want to disturb Cora, even when asleep she looked exhausted. So, the Doctor got comfortable and rested Cora more comfortably on top of him. Humming in content as he could feel two heartbeats against his chest. 

Two small heartbeats the echoed back after his own. 

He clutched Cora tighter. 

He had to save her. He just had to. 

She was only just a child. 

A small Tot.