Fic - In Dream to Dream
Title: In Dream to Dream
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Rating: G
Pairing: slight Clara/Martha/River
Warnings: Spoilers for 7x13, The Name of the Doctor
Summary: Clara keeps suffering from a nightmare, and finds help in an unusual place.
Author's Notes: Based off the prompt 'Clara/Any companion of the past/River, Only Clara can hear River and the cries of companions past... why?'. Unbeted, so any mistakes are mine. Title is taken from Richard Berengarten's poem I Dreamed I Slept
In Dream to Dream
Clara was falling again, falling through a bottomless black void with the cries of the past ringing in her ears. Susan, Jaime, Jo, Sarah Jane, Harry, Tegan, Peri, Frobisher, Ace, Fritz, Rose, Martha, Amy…their voices mingled with those of all the others. Everyone who had ever travelled with the Doctor were calling out to her - calling for help, calling hello, calling simply because they could. And it was close to driving her mad.
This was the nightmare she had been having every night since she saved the Doctor on Trenzalore. Clara knew he would help if he could, but she never remembered anything upon waking except that she had experienced a bad dream. Only when she fell asleep did the memories return and the endless fall begin all over again.
As she fell, she tried to block out the babble of voices, tried to focus only on herself, to keep her mind intact until she woke. And it wasn’t just the voices - scraps of memories not her own frequently intruded into her mind, some benign, other terrifying. She suffered through each of them as best she could, and tried not to think of when the next would come.
She had no idea if she had been asleep for a minute or eight hours when she heard an odd call coming out of the darkness. Unlike the others which all mixed together, it was stronger, able to drown them out for a moment. And the voice was calling her name.
“Clara! Come Clara, focus my voice! I know it’s difficult, but you must wake up now!”
The voice was familiar, but she was too lost in the flood of other voices to recognize it exactly. But she did as directed, focusing as best she could on that one voice, blinding following it for the refuge it seemed to offer. Slowly, she felt herself rising instead of falling, the calls fading to whispers as she left them behind.
Clara woke up with a gasp, finding herself being held by someone. “Doctor…?” she murmured, still disoriented from the nightmare. She could remember it now, and that was nearly as unpleasant as actually experiencing it.
“Not quite. Although I was a doctor once,” her saviour replied, pulling away to smile at her.
“River! But how-where are we?” Clara cut off one question for another when she realized something wasn’t quite right. This was her childhood bedroom, not her room aboard the TARDIS where she had fallen asleep.
“A safe place generated by your subconscious. You’re still asleep, but everything in this room is as real as if you were awake,” River explained gently, giving her time to look around as absorb everything.
“So what are you doing here then? How are you even here?” Clara asked suspiciously, wondering if the woman was from her nightmare and had somehow managed to slip in her with her.
“I’m stuck in the database of the largest library in the universe. It has plenty of information about how to navigate dreams. Or nightmares, in your case.” River paused and looked away, thinking for a moment. “I’m here because you still have a faint psychic connection to the TARDIS as well as a lingering connection to the dream conference call Vastra held. I have an…unusual connection to the TARDIS myself, and she must have felt your discomfort and summoned me to help you using the connections you have. Not that I can prove anything, of course.”
“I see…”
It made sense as far as she could tell, but Clara was still too unnerved by the nightmare to push further. River must have seen the fear in her eyes because she pulled her close and murmured, “Now that I’m here, how can I help?”
“I…I don’t know. It’s just almost too much for me.” She huddled closer to River, feeling lost. “I just want to be normal again, you know? No memories from all my other lives, no weird nightmares, just me. But I don’t think that’s possible anymore.”
“I think it is, Clara. It will take a lot of work to separate yourself from all the other yous swimming around in your head, but you’ll get there in time,” River said, giving her a squeeze. “Although for getting rid of that nightmare, I suspect we’ll be needing some outside help.”
“Are we able to contact the Doctor?” Clara asked hopefully, pulling away and sitting up a bit straighter at the thought.
“I doubt it. No, I was thinking of another kind of doctor. How familiar are you with his previous assistants?”
Clara frowned, thinking over the possibilities. “It depends on which one you want. I know who most of them are, but I only met a few of them personally. Who are you thinking of?”
“One Martha Jones. Ring any bells?” River asked, looking at her carefully as she thought it over.
“Yeah, I know of her. Do you think she can help, and if so, how do we contact her? If I wake up, I’ll forget this.”
“I’m almost certain she can help,” River replied confidently. “And you don’t need to wake up to get her help - between you, me and the TARDIS, we should have enough power to create a dream replica of her.”
“Sounds risky. And really weird.” Still, if it would get rid of the nightmare, she would try almost anything. “Let’s give it a go, then.”
“Excellent. Now sit up, close your eyes, and follow my instructions,” River said, giving her an encouraging smile. Clara managed a faint smile in return, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down before closing her eyes.
She heard the bed creak as River shifted position, then stiffened as fingers touched her temples and their foreheads met. “It’s alright, just relax,” the woman murmured, her breath warm on Clara’s face. “I’m just setting up a psychic link between us, that’s all.”
Clara was confused for a second over what exactly that meant, then understood when River was suddenly in her mind. She gasped in surprise, but resisted the urge to jerk away. “Can you tell what I’m thinking?” she asked shakily, trying not to think of anything embarrassing and failing spectacularly.
River’s fond chuckle confirmed her answer. “I can. And what you’re feeling as well. It usually works both ways, but since I’m not technically alive anymore, you probably won’t get much. Now, think of Martha and try to remember everything you know about her.”
Clara took another deep breath and nodded. Martha. They had only met face-to-face once, and only for a few brief minutes before circumstances had forced them to go in different directions. The other times, Clara had seen her from afar. Everything else, she knew from the brief glimpses she got during her nightmare. She could feel River observing her thoughts, and did her best not to let that distract her. Together, they built a mental profile of Martha Jones, and she could almost feel the TARDIS filling in the gaps. It wouldn’t be a perfect copy, but it was something, and that was better than nothing.
River pulled away once they were done, but left the link in place, albeit weaker than before. Clara blinked a few times, adjusting to the feeling of yet another person inside her head, but didn’t complain. She trusted River, and as bizarre as it sounded, it felt almost comfortable for the other woman to be sharing her thoughts and feelings.
A polite tap on the bedroom door made them look at it, and Clara felt her spirits lift as Martha entered the room. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yep. I’m in a bit of a bind, and in need of a doctor,” Clara responded hesitantly, not entirely sure what she was supposed to ask for.
“Then you’ve asked the right person for help. What can I do for you?” Martha smiled at her, and that simple gesture made Clara think that perhaps everything would be all right.
“Clara has been suffering from a recurring nightmare, and she would like it to stop. I’m aware that mental health isn’t your speciality, but any input you can provide would be a great help,” River explained, giving Clara’s knee a squeeze.
“Nightmares are no fun to deal with. Have you tried relaxing before you go to sleep?” Martha asked as she settled on the bed on the opposite side of Clara, looking her over with a practiced eye.
“I usually read a little before going to bed, but the thing is, I can’t really remember that I’ve had a nightmare until I’m having it again,” Clara explained, shivering as she recalled the endless fall that she always went through.
“That…makes things a bit more difficult. What exactly is your nightmare about?” As Clara explained what she experienced, Martha bit her lip and looked sad. “That sounds horrible. I’m so sorry you’re going through this…”
“Thanks, but it’s not your fault. Given what I went through, I’m surprised nothing else has happened to me.” Clara looked down at her lap for a moment, then back at Martha. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but any tips?”
“Hm…I know we covered some basic things, but that was a while ago and I’ve done a lot since then.”
“Take all the time you need to think,” River said and Martha nodded and got up to go stand by the window. The woman then leaned in and whispered, “I know you’re scared, but we’ll find a solution to this, I promise.”
“Thanks.” They shared a smile, but Clara couldn’t shake the fear that still lingered. She never wanted to experience that feeling of chaos ever again, at least not when she was asleep. River pulled into another hug then, clearly sensing her fear. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” the girl murmured, wishing she could be stronger right now.
“But I do worry,” River answered, rubbing her back gently. “I worry about all of you who travel with the Doctor, even if I only know you from what he tells me.”
“Did you meet me before you, er, died?”
“Sorry, can’t tell you. Spoilers,” River said with a laugh and Clara chuckled as well, beginning to get a picture of why the Doctor had married her.
“I think I remember some tips, as well as some stuff Mum told me,” Martha said then, re-joining them on the bed. “Would you agree to going back to sleep afterwards, though? It’s the only way you’ll know for sure if it worked.”
“Yeah, I can do that.” She wasn’t particular tired right now, but she figured that since she was technically not awake, sleep would come easy enough.
“Great. Now, lie down on the bed and relax for a while. I know it’s tough, but just try not to think of anything and focus on your breathing. And when you’re ready, think about your nightmare.”
Clara nodded and moved so that she was stretched out on the bed, River doing the same. At her surprised look, the woman explained, “We’re in this together, so whatever you do, I do.”
“If you insist…” The girl closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to ignore the sensation of being stared at. She could do this, she just had to stop thinking so much. A hand brushed her hair, and she felt the link between her and River strengthen again. As Martha had suggested, she focused on her breathing and tried to empty her mind.
Not thinking got boring really fast, but River was there to keep her mostly on track, although distracting thoughts did keep creeping up. Eventually, when she felt calm enough, she turned her thoughts towards the nightmare. Having described that awful place out loud made it easier to think about, although her stomach still twisted in fear at the memory of it.
A hand settled on her shoulder a few minutes later, and Martha’s voice kept her from being pulled too deep into those dark thoughts. “You’re doing great, Clara. Now smile and think of something happy.”
“Gotcha,” she murmured, turning away from that dark void and thinking of happier places. The memory of hanging out with her parents made her smile, and she felt a thrill of happiness from River, but, like her memory, it was mixed with sadness.
“Did you not get to spend a lot of time with your parents?” Clara asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
“At times, no. It’s a long and very complicated story. A tale for another dream, perhaps.” River didn’t seem upset by the question, so she murmured her agreement and thought instead about all the amazing places she had seen on her travels with the Doctor.
“Ok, I’m thinking happy thoughts. Now what?”
“It’s time to go to sleep,” Martha replied, and Clara was bolstered by the reassuring tone in her voice.
Her hand was still on Clara’s shoulder, so the girl reached up and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Martha.”
“You’re welcome. I hope it works for you, and if you ever need me, don’t hesitate to call,” she replied, and Clara knew that she was smiling.
“Ready?” River asked once they had gotten comfortable underneath the blankets.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She was still scared to go back to that place, but not nearly as much as before. She looked over at Martha, who was seated on the end of the bed. “Thanks again, and maybe I’ll see you again someday.”
“I hope so. Now go to sleep!” she replied with a grin, giving her a shooing motion. Yes, it was time to go.
“I’ll be with you until you wake up, so I’ll be here to help if anything happens,” River said as she closed her eyes and relaxed. “Goodnight, Clara.”
“Goodnight, River.” There was no need to thank her, since River could no doubt feel the gratitude she was feeling through their link. With luck, this would be her best sleep in a while.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Rating: G
Pairing: slight Clara/Martha/River
Warnings: Spoilers for 7x13, The Name of the Doctor
Summary: Clara keeps suffering from a nightmare, and finds help in an unusual place.
Author's Notes: Based off the prompt 'Clara/Any companion of the past/River, Only Clara can hear River and the cries of companions past... why?'. Unbeted, so any mistakes are mine. Title is taken from Richard Berengarten's poem I Dreamed I Slept
In Dream to Dream
Clara was falling again, falling through a bottomless black void with the cries of the past ringing in her ears. Susan, Jaime, Jo, Sarah Jane, Harry, Tegan, Peri, Frobisher, Ace, Fritz, Rose, Martha, Amy…their voices mingled with those of all the others. Everyone who had ever travelled with the Doctor were calling out to her - calling for help, calling hello, calling simply because they could. And it was close to driving her mad.
This was the nightmare she had been having every night since she saved the Doctor on Trenzalore. Clara knew he would help if he could, but she never remembered anything upon waking except that she had experienced a bad dream. Only when she fell asleep did the memories return and the endless fall begin all over again.
As she fell, she tried to block out the babble of voices, tried to focus only on herself, to keep her mind intact until she woke. And it wasn’t just the voices - scraps of memories not her own frequently intruded into her mind, some benign, other terrifying. She suffered through each of them as best she could, and tried not to think of when the next would come.
She had no idea if she had been asleep for a minute or eight hours when she heard an odd call coming out of the darkness. Unlike the others which all mixed together, it was stronger, able to drown them out for a moment. And the voice was calling her name.
“Clara! Come Clara, focus my voice! I know it’s difficult, but you must wake up now!”
The voice was familiar, but she was too lost in the flood of other voices to recognize it exactly. But she did as directed, focusing as best she could on that one voice, blinding following it for the refuge it seemed to offer. Slowly, she felt herself rising instead of falling, the calls fading to whispers as she left them behind.
Clara woke up with a gasp, finding herself being held by someone. “Doctor…?” she murmured, still disoriented from the nightmare. She could remember it now, and that was nearly as unpleasant as actually experiencing it.
“Not quite. Although I was a doctor once,” her saviour replied, pulling away to smile at her.
“River! But how-where are we?” Clara cut off one question for another when she realized something wasn’t quite right. This was her childhood bedroom, not her room aboard the TARDIS where she had fallen asleep.
“A safe place generated by your subconscious. You’re still asleep, but everything in this room is as real as if you were awake,” River explained gently, giving her time to look around as absorb everything.
“So what are you doing here then? How are you even here?” Clara asked suspiciously, wondering if the woman was from her nightmare and had somehow managed to slip in her with her.
“I’m stuck in the database of the largest library in the universe. It has plenty of information about how to navigate dreams. Or nightmares, in your case.” River paused and looked away, thinking for a moment. “I’m here because you still have a faint psychic connection to the TARDIS as well as a lingering connection to the dream conference call Vastra held. I have an…unusual connection to the TARDIS myself, and she must have felt your discomfort and summoned me to help you using the connections you have. Not that I can prove anything, of course.”
“I see…”
It made sense as far as she could tell, but Clara was still too unnerved by the nightmare to push further. River must have seen the fear in her eyes because she pulled her close and murmured, “Now that I’m here, how can I help?”
“I…I don’t know. It’s just almost too much for me.” She huddled closer to River, feeling lost. “I just want to be normal again, you know? No memories from all my other lives, no weird nightmares, just me. But I don’t think that’s possible anymore.”
“I think it is, Clara. It will take a lot of work to separate yourself from all the other yous swimming around in your head, but you’ll get there in time,” River said, giving her a squeeze. “Although for getting rid of that nightmare, I suspect we’ll be needing some outside help.”
“Are we able to contact the Doctor?” Clara asked hopefully, pulling away and sitting up a bit straighter at the thought.
“I doubt it. No, I was thinking of another kind of doctor. How familiar are you with his previous assistants?”
Clara frowned, thinking over the possibilities. “It depends on which one you want. I know who most of them are, but I only met a few of them personally. Who are you thinking of?”
“One Martha Jones. Ring any bells?” River asked, looking at her carefully as she thought it over.
“Yeah, I know of her. Do you think she can help, and if so, how do we contact her? If I wake up, I’ll forget this.”
“I’m almost certain she can help,” River replied confidently. “And you don’t need to wake up to get her help - between you, me and the TARDIS, we should have enough power to create a dream replica of her.”
“Sounds risky. And really weird.” Still, if it would get rid of the nightmare, she would try almost anything. “Let’s give it a go, then.”
“Excellent. Now sit up, close your eyes, and follow my instructions,” River said, giving her an encouraging smile. Clara managed a faint smile in return, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down before closing her eyes.
She heard the bed creak as River shifted position, then stiffened as fingers touched her temples and their foreheads met. “It’s alright, just relax,” the woman murmured, her breath warm on Clara’s face. “I’m just setting up a psychic link between us, that’s all.”
Clara was confused for a second over what exactly that meant, then understood when River was suddenly in her mind. She gasped in surprise, but resisted the urge to jerk away. “Can you tell what I’m thinking?” she asked shakily, trying not to think of anything embarrassing and failing spectacularly.
River’s fond chuckle confirmed her answer. “I can. And what you’re feeling as well. It usually works both ways, but since I’m not technically alive anymore, you probably won’t get much. Now, think of Martha and try to remember everything you know about her.”
Clara took another deep breath and nodded. Martha. They had only met face-to-face once, and only for a few brief minutes before circumstances had forced them to go in different directions. The other times, Clara had seen her from afar. Everything else, she knew from the brief glimpses she got during her nightmare. She could feel River observing her thoughts, and did her best not to let that distract her. Together, they built a mental profile of Martha Jones, and she could almost feel the TARDIS filling in the gaps. It wouldn’t be a perfect copy, but it was something, and that was better than nothing.
River pulled away once they were done, but left the link in place, albeit weaker than before. Clara blinked a few times, adjusting to the feeling of yet another person inside her head, but didn’t complain. She trusted River, and as bizarre as it sounded, it felt almost comfortable for the other woman to be sharing her thoughts and feelings.
A polite tap on the bedroom door made them look at it, and Clara felt her spirits lift as Martha entered the room. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yep. I’m in a bit of a bind, and in need of a doctor,” Clara responded hesitantly, not entirely sure what she was supposed to ask for.
“Then you’ve asked the right person for help. What can I do for you?” Martha smiled at her, and that simple gesture made Clara think that perhaps everything would be all right.
“Clara has been suffering from a recurring nightmare, and she would like it to stop. I’m aware that mental health isn’t your speciality, but any input you can provide would be a great help,” River explained, giving Clara’s knee a squeeze.
“Nightmares are no fun to deal with. Have you tried relaxing before you go to sleep?” Martha asked as she settled on the bed on the opposite side of Clara, looking her over with a practiced eye.
“I usually read a little before going to bed, but the thing is, I can’t really remember that I’ve had a nightmare until I’m having it again,” Clara explained, shivering as she recalled the endless fall that she always went through.
“That…makes things a bit more difficult. What exactly is your nightmare about?” As Clara explained what she experienced, Martha bit her lip and looked sad. “That sounds horrible. I’m so sorry you’re going through this…”
“Thanks, but it’s not your fault. Given what I went through, I’m surprised nothing else has happened to me.” Clara looked down at her lap for a moment, then back at Martha. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but any tips?”
“Hm…I know we covered some basic things, but that was a while ago and I’ve done a lot since then.”
“Take all the time you need to think,” River said and Martha nodded and got up to go stand by the window. The woman then leaned in and whispered, “I know you’re scared, but we’ll find a solution to this, I promise.”
“Thanks.” They shared a smile, but Clara couldn’t shake the fear that still lingered. She never wanted to experience that feeling of chaos ever again, at least not when she was asleep. River pulled into another hug then, clearly sensing her fear. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” the girl murmured, wishing she could be stronger right now.
“But I do worry,” River answered, rubbing her back gently. “I worry about all of you who travel with the Doctor, even if I only know you from what he tells me.”
“Did you meet me before you, er, died?”
“Sorry, can’t tell you. Spoilers,” River said with a laugh and Clara chuckled as well, beginning to get a picture of why the Doctor had married her.
“I think I remember some tips, as well as some stuff Mum told me,” Martha said then, re-joining them on the bed. “Would you agree to going back to sleep afterwards, though? It’s the only way you’ll know for sure if it worked.”
“Yeah, I can do that.” She wasn’t particular tired right now, but she figured that since she was technically not awake, sleep would come easy enough.
“Great. Now, lie down on the bed and relax for a while. I know it’s tough, but just try not to think of anything and focus on your breathing. And when you’re ready, think about your nightmare.”
Clara nodded and moved so that she was stretched out on the bed, River doing the same. At her surprised look, the woman explained, “We’re in this together, so whatever you do, I do.”
“If you insist…” The girl closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to ignore the sensation of being stared at. She could do this, she just had to stop thinking so much. A hand brushed her hair, and she felt the link between her and River strengthen again. As Martha had suggested, she focused on her breathing and tried to empty her mind.
Not thinking got boring really fast, but River was there to keep her mostly on track, although distracting thoughts did keep creeping up. Eventually, when she felt calm enough, she turned her thoughts towards the nightmare. Having described that awful place out loud made it easier to think about, although her stomach still twisted in fear at the memory of it.
A hand settled on her shoulder a few minutes later, and Martha’s voice kept her from being pulled too deep into those dark thoughts. “You’re doing great, Clara. Now smile and think of something happy.”
“Gotcha,” she murmured, turning away from that dark void and thinking of happier places. The memory of hanging out with her parents made her smile, and she felt a thrill of happiness from River, but, like her memory, it was mixed with sadness.
“Did you not get to spend a lot of time with your parents?” Clara asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
“At times, no. It’s a long and very complicated story. A tale for another dream, perhaps.” River didn’t seem upset by the question, so she murmured her agreement and thought instead about all the amazing places she had seen on her travels with the Doctor.
“Ok, I’m thinking happy thoughts. Now what?”
“It’s time to go to sleep,” Martha replied, and Clara was bolstered by the reassuring tone in her voice.
Her hand was still on Clara’s shoulder, so the girl reached up and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Martha.”
“You’re welcome. I hope it works for you, and if you ever need me, don’t hesitate to call,” she replied, and Clara knew that she was smiling.
“Ready?” River asked once they had gotten comfortable underneath the blankets.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She was still scared to go back to that place, but not nearly as much as before. She looked over at Martha, who was seated on the end of the bed. “Thanks again, and maybe I’ll see you again someday.”
“I hope so. Now go to sleep!” she replied with a grin, giving her a shooing motion. Yes, it was time to go.
“I’ll be with you until you wake up, so I’ll be here to help if anything happens,” River said as she closed her eyes and relaxed. “Goodnight, Clara.”
“Goodnight, River.” There was no need to thank her, since River could no doubt feel the gratitude she was feeling through their link. With luck, this would be her best sleep in a while.