raggedy man;

 “I speak dog--

Clara was standing just outside the house, oh how she hesitated, it was her and The Doctor, the one she loved more then she would dare admit, in her eyes, he was her Doctor. She knew that the Williams had been with him before her, but he was her first Doctor, the one she first traveled with, the first one to open her to the universe. She had looked back at him quickly..”Think of me now and again.”…she whispered. She pressed her lips together..”I will be one of those stars you look at every night.”…she said softly. Her eyes were filled with tears, her hands were resting at her sides, she swallowed hard..”Can’t Rescue me this time, Chin Boy.”…she felt her voice crack…”But oh how you showed me the stars.”…she tapped her fingers against the door frame gently. She stepped outside fully after a moment..”Let me be brave.”…she whispered to herself as she walked to her impending death. She stood perfectly still right in the middle of the street, she had looked seeing some people come running past her.

She rubbed her hands together several times feeling her heart pounding against her chest..”Let me be brave.”…she whispered once again. She had held her arms out straight while watching the Raven fly right towards her. She felt her back arch as the Raven came into contact with her body, her eyes were wide opened. She felt the claws of the Raven wrap around her rapidly beating heart which caused her to scream out in pain, her eyes were filled with tears as she struggled against The Raven, that was natural in her to fight as hard as she could even when she shouldn’t of been fighting. She felt her body eventually grow limp, her face went still as black smoke eventually emitted from her body as she fell to the ground, she literally died right where she stood.

Even if Clara never asked, there is one promise he always makes to himself--to keep his companions safe.  He would endure torture, walking through burning hot coal, being stretched until he’d break, being beaten until reaching critical condition--anything, just to keep his companions safe.  After all, they were the only thing that kept him sane.

Especially Clara.  Sweet, short, bossy, impossible Clara.  Clara who has baked more than a thousand souffle’s, Clara who sways around the TARDIS console as she coos his name.  Clara who occasionally hides his bowties around the TARDIS, Clara who stops him whenever he’s about to do something incredibly stupid.  Just Clara.  Clara Oswald, the girl who makes him whole.

They were on an adventure like any other, aliens, running, almost dying, the whole routine.  He’s always been convinced that he’ll get out of any trouble that presents itself, or if he’s given a choice--leave himself suffering, but save his friends.

But when Clara lifted her dark hair to expose her neck, and he saw that bloody tattoo counting down, mocking him, he felt all the possible anger, agony, and pain rise up from his chest to his head. Blurring his vision, beating his hearts against his ears, clenching his fists so tight they turn whiter than Alice in Wonderland’s own rabbit. This time, he couldn’t save her.  There was no way at all.  All the alternatives were nonexistent.  She was gone.  Laying on the floor, her lifeless, cold body staring up at the London night sky.  He could’ve sworn there hasn’t been a worse pain.

He turns his back to her, covering his eyes with his hands as he chucks down deep breaths of freezing air, drying his throat as his eyes welled up until--

 ❝Y--