this is set sometime between The Name of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor okay please enjoy

~

Clara stared at the ceiling of her bedroom like she did every time she'd wake up. It would take her a while to get her bearings; it was easy to confuse her bedroom on Earth from her other in the TARDIS, seeing as it was an exact replica. She would have to fight through her lethargy and try to remember her last thoughts from the night before. After some blank staring, she deduced that she was indeed back home on Earth in her apartment.

She sat up with a groan, her head pounding. She decided to have a girl's night out and may have had one drink too many. It wasn't really her fault; it was Christmas Eve.

She quickly got out of bed, shivering at the sudden coldness. She wrapped her robe around her and quickly put on the reindeer slippers the Doctor just had to give her. She smiled at the memory. Oh, Doctor. He was so huffy about it.

She shuffled out of her room and into the hallway. She payed no attention to her living room (if she had, she would've noticed the giant blue police box parked in it) and went straight to her kitchen, needing that quick dose of coffee. She closed her eyes and sighed as the smell of it wafted through the air, but froze when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She quickly grabbed a knife and pointed it at the intruder.

"Merry Christmas!" The Doctor shouted. His arms were raised in the air and he grinned with glee. "What are you doing with that knife? You could hurt someone."

"That was kind of the point," she muttered but put the utensil down. "What are you doing here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here?" He asked and grabbed her filled coffee pot. "It is Christmas after all."

"Yeah, but it's not Wednesday. We agreed on Wednesdays," she countered as he watched him grab a mug and fill it up with the bitter drink.

"Who cares if it's not Wednesday? No one should be alone on Christmas," he stated. He took a sip of the coffee but spit it back into the mug. "That's horrible! What is that?"

"I'm not going to be alone. I have family and friends, you know," she explained as she took his drink and dumped it into the sink.

"I can tell. Your breath smells like alcohol," he grimaced and she quickly covered her mouth.

"Like you said, it's Christmas," she said as an excuse and made her own cup of coffee. "Now why are you here? I'm not even dressed yet."

"I've noticed. Nice slippers," he grinned down at the shoes he bought her. He knew she would love them, otherwise he wouldn't even bother to think of getting them. "No, I'm here because I'm up for an adventure. Something to put you in the Christmas spirit."

"I am in the Christmas spirit," she argued defensively.

"Yeah, I can tell from your lack of tree and cookies," he rolled his eyes. Honestly, he was starting to worry for the girl. "I got an angry call from Santa about that. He wasn't really pleased."

"Santa isn't real," Clara corrected and took a sip of her coffee.

"Yes he is, Barbie Dream Palace when you were twelve," he muttered and her brows shot up. "But seriously, we have to go. I've got the perfect place in mind."

"Really? Where?" She asked, her interest already peaked. He had to refrain from smirking at her.

"It's a planet called Mistletoe. Humans found it in the late 30th century when they were trying to find a new breeding ground - long story. The whole planet is packed to the brim of the parasitic plant, so it was only suiting that they named it after that. Not very creative, you humans are."

"Wait, you're bringing me to a planet filled with so much mistletoe that it was named after it?" Clara asked for clarification. Her coffee didn't kick in yet so it was hard to keep up with his fast rambling. The Doctor viciously nodded his head. Tons of different scenarios ran through her mind but she shook them away. "Why?"

"Well, it's a Christmas hotspot, and it's Christmas."

"So?"

"So it's the perfect holiday place!" He huffed. "Everyone from everywhere comes to visit and walk through the infested forests. There's one that's supposedly so dark and so dense, no light can shine through. They give you torches that reflects off the berries so they look like they glow. There's also another forest where it always snows, but never sticks to the ground. It literally melts the second it touches something. It can only stay on the mistletoe, but only a light coating. Nobody knows why. In the middle of another, there's a shallow pool of water that is always 38°C - perfect swimming temperature. A canopy of trees with mistletoe growing on it hangs over the pond, enclosing it in a dome. There's also-"

"Okay, you've convinced me," Clara interrupts. "When are we going?"

"Now."

"Wha-" she's cut off by the Doctor grabbing her hand and dragging her into the TARDIS. "Doctor, I'm not dressed yet!"

"You don't look naked to me," he smirked at his little joke. Clara didn't find it as amusing. "It's fine. Everyone there is going to be in their sleepwear anyways."

"You're not," she stated, eyeing his usual tweed and bowtie attire.

"Okay, fine." He took off his jacket and replaced it with a robe that just so happened to be the same color as his suit. "Better?"

"A little."

"Good. Off we go," he grinned as he flipped a lever, signaling their take off.

The ship rumbled as it flew through time and space. Clara held onto the console to balance herself out. This was always her favorite part of the traveling. She loved the shaking and the chaos. To her, it meant mystery and adventure. To the Doctor, it meant getting a chance to see Clara smile one of the wonderful smiles that he loved so much.

The TARDIS landed and all was still. The two time travelers grinned at the other.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Christmas?" The Doctor smirked. Clara nodded and made her way towards the door. She opened them with gusto but shied away from the abrupt chill. He felt it too and walked up to investigate.

"I thought you said the snow doesn't stick," Clara muttered as she looked over all the white powder.

"It doesn't. Maybe we're in the wrong place." He checked his watch. "No, this is it. Huh."

"There's a building over there," Clara squinted through the weather. The Doctor stuck his head out for a better view and grinned once he realized what it was.

"Ah, that's the hotel!" He started to march towards it, completely ignoring the 6in deep snow he was walking through. Clara paled and followed him a second too late, the word hotel echoing through her mind. Why would he being her to a hotel?

"My feet are freezing," she muttered once she caught up with him at the entrance. The Doctor looked down at her soaked slippers and slightly pouted. They're probably ruined now.

"It'll be better inside," he assured her. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Oh, er…"

"Are we stuck out here?"

"Nah, we can get back to the TARDIS," he answered. He turned to look at his beauty, but he couldn't see it. The storm got worse and the snow was thicker. "Oh no."

"What-"

The door opened and a young lady stuck head out. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"Uh…"

"Oh, never mind. Come in, come in!" The lady quickly ushered them inside. Clara sighed at the warmth and rubbed her arms.

"Uh, hello. Can we get a room, please?" The Doctor asked the lady. She was wearing a white dress with a black vest and boots. Her name tag read Bridgette.

"You mean you haven't got a room yet? No wonder you were outside!" Bridgette tuts and walks behind a counter. "Now, what can I get you young fellas? Honeymoon suite? Lover's palace?"

"Oh," Clara's eyes widened. "Oh, uh, no-"

"A regular room would suffice. Two nights. Ooo, and a Christmas tree," the Doctor smiled politely at the woman, looking to be unfazed by her suggestions. Clara didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"That will be 25,500 credits, deary," Bridgette told the couple.

"Blimey, the prices went up," his brows rose.

"Well, it's no surprise, what with the storm and disappearances and it being Christmas and such," Bridgette sighed.

"Well, that's a shame- wait, disappearances?" The Doctor leaned forward on the counter. "What disappearances?"

"What, you haven't heard? It's all over the news!"

"We're kind of new here," Clara chimed in.

"It started about two months ago," Bridgette began to explain. "About the same time this storm here came up. The snow sticked and stayed. Huge mayhem, I tell ya. People from all over came to see it. But then those people never came back." She looked down with a solemn look on her face. "May God rest their souls."

"You can't know that their dead," Clara furrowed her brow. "They're still missing. They could still be alive."

"No one can survive that storm for that long. They'll be a popsicle in less than am hour."

"I think I'm going to test that theory," the Doctor mused. "Never mind the room. We're going to need parkas and torches."

"What?" Bridgette and Clara asked at the same time.

"We're going out there. We're going to find out what happened to the missing people."

"Are you crazy?!" Clara exclaimed but shook her head. "No, don't answer that. I already know you are."

"Jackets and torches are over there," Bridgette pointed to a closet. "But please mind the mistletoe."

"Mistletoe is everywhere," Clara stated as they both ventured to the closet.

"Yeah, there's also some under every doorway," Bridget said. Sure enough, there was a strand of mistletoe hanging under the flustered Clara and the suprised Doctor. "You know the rules."

"Surely we can-"

"I mean we don't have to-"

"It's bad luck if you don't," Bridget smirked. "You have too."

"Yeah, but…" Clara looked up at the Doctor. "But-"

She was cut off by him kissing her. It was rather quick, but a kiss nonetheless. A kiss that infected her stomach with butterflies.

The Doctor straightened up and grinned. "I love old human traditions."

She stared up at him, rather dazed. "Y-yeah."

Questions floated around in her head. What was that? Why'd he do that? Why was he acting like it was nothing? Did it mean anything to him? Did it mean anything to her? Did he even want to do it? What if it was bad?

She shook her head and looked at the ground.

The Doctor furrowed his brow at her reaction. What was wrong? Did she not like the kiss? Did she even want to be kissed? Did he do something wrong? Was he too forceful? Why was he even worrying about such things? What's wrong with his stomach?

He shook his head and searched through the closet, trying to ignore Bridgette's snickering.

******

"I hate you I hate you I hate you," Clara chanted over the howling winds.

"No you don't!" The Doctor shouted, somehow hearing her. He was studying a map that Bridgette gave him, but he was having a hard time reading it, seeing as the snow covered his vision and the wind flapped it about.

"Where are we even going?" Clara asked and tried to hug her jacket tighter around her. "There's no where to go but white. I don't want to go to anymore white."

"We're almost there," he assured her. "I hope."

"What?"

"Nothing," he mumbled and looked over the map again. "Ah, that way!"

And so they trudged through the thick snow, it growing a foot since they arrived. The Doctor's feet were protected by his heavy duty boots, but Clara feared that she would have to cut off a couple toes. And a limb.

Clara accidentally tripped over her numb feet and started to fall. She braced herself for the cold snow impact, but instead was met by a lush forest floor. She uncovered her face to find herself in a tunnel of sorts, clear of all snow. Perfect.

"Here we are! What are you doing on the floor?" The Doctor turned around to look at the girl.

"I tripped," she mumbled and stood up, dusting her hands off on her totally ruined pajama pants. "Where are we?" She asked. She could only see the first couple meters in; after that, it was just darkness.

"Remember how I told you about the forest that's so thick that not even light can go through it?" He asked and she nodded. "Well, here it is."

"There's no snow," she noted. "We're protected."

"Righty-o. We can start here until we warm up, and then we can-"

"I am not going back out there," Clara growled. "Let's inspect this forest first."

"Okay, fine," he huffed. He threw her a torch and she quickly turned it on. She gasped at the first thing the beam of light touched.

"Doctor-"

"Look at the mistletoe," the Doctor grinned as he stared at the foliage above him. "Did I tell you that the torches made it look like they were glowing?"

"Yes, you did, but Doctor-"

"We don't have to kiss again, in case you were wondering," he noted. But what if she wanted to? "There's too much mistletoe for you to do that. Otherwise, everyone will be too busy kissing each other."

"That's not what I'm worried about-"

"Imagine that, though. A place where people just stay to kiss." He paused. "Actually, I think that's what bedrooms are for…"

"Doctor!"

"Hmm?" He looked at the spot where Clara was staring horrifying at. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I think we found the missing people."

"I believe so."

Where Clara's torch was shining laid a man, stuck to a tree with mistletoe growing in and out of him. His veins were green from the plant weaving its way in him and out of his pores. His face was frozen in a horrified expression, mouth ajar and eyes staring blankly at the couple.

"What happened to him?" Clara muttered, a mixture of disgust and grief swirling around inside her.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor answered. He turned around and found more people stuck to the forest. "It looks like they were attacked. Dragged in by something and was forced to become part of the forest. Like… mulch, or fertilizer. Hold on." He took out his handy sonic screwdriver and scanned the man, the green light of it casting an eerie glow on the corpse. "There's nothing out of the ordinary here. No signs of anything."

"Wait, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh," Clara shushed him.

There was indeed a weird noise, like cracking and slithering and hissing. It made the hairs on the back of Clara's neck rise. She almost didn't feel something wrapping around her leg. She screamed as she fell to the ground and was dragged away.

"Doctor!"

"Clara!"

The Doctor waved his torch around, but all he could see were more deranged corpses and mistletoe. There was no sign of the girl that was just standing right next to him. Clara was gone.

"No no no no no," he muttered. He paced around and tugged on his hair. "Why why why?"

The weird noise started up again, but this time, he was prepared. Well, sort of prepared. He wasn't really prepared for corpse nearest him to grab his shoulder.

"Oh my-"

"Free us," the creature hissed. "Free us."

"Oh dear," he grimaced and shook the creature off him. "Please don't do that again."

"Free us!" Another corpse grabbed his shoulder despite request. Her hollow eyes stared into his. "Free."

"Why should I?"

"Free us."

"Fine, uh, I will. Just give me Clara first."

"Free us!"

"Not until you give back Clara," he demanded, his friendliness fading away. "I won't do any freeing until I get Clara back."

"Free us!"

"No," he answered darkly, almost tauntingly.

There was a pause. The two stared at each other, daring the other to make a move. Except one was a zombie and couldn't do much really, but the Doctor was in the zone. The Oncoming Storm had arrived.

The creature's horrified expression turned angry. "Then die."

"What-"

Little dots started to glow in the forest. They shined not unlike the mistletoe berries would shine when under the beam of a torch. The Doctor paled once he realized what was happening. These weren't the glowing berries, but the eyes of the dead.

"Free us," they all cried.

"Uh…" the Doctor mumbled, his confidence wavering. "No?"

He screamed when a mistletoe zombie fell from above, almost landing on top of him. It slowly stood up in staggering moves, head lolled back and expression dull. Others started to follow its lead, some crawling down the trees like spiders and others just popping out of the walls. To make matters worse, vines of mistletoe reached out like tentacles.

The Doctor stared around him, hopelessly outnumbered. He did the only thing he could think of doing, the thing he was best at doing; run.

He weaved throughout the zombies, not knowing where he was going. His only guides were the light of the dead eyes and the dull torch that's batteries were running out. He just hoped that he would make it out of somewhere, maybe a place with no creatures and a lot less snow.

Something collided with his back and he fell to the ground. He flipped around to see a zombie snarling at his face. He shied away from the creature. God, his breath stunk. The creature let out a roar before getting thrown off of the man. He looked up and his eyes widened.

"Bridgette?"

"Come on, get out of here!" She commanded, waving around a broom as a weapon. She wore reflective clothes that shined out all around her, letting her have no need for torches. He watched in awe as she whacked a creature away, then karate kicked another. What happened to the young lady from before? "What are you still doing here? Move!"

And move he did.

He continued to run through the forest like he did before he was attacked. This time, he had someone to join him. He could hear Bridgette fighting behind him, and it was nice to know someone had his back. Definitely handy because Clara was currently MIA.

He finally reached the edge of the forest and dived head first into the snow. He sat up to see Bridgette fling herself out, broom armed and ready to fight. More mistletoe zombies came out, but screamed and hissed away from the sunlight. The Doctor furrowed his brow at the new discovery. Soon after, they retreated into the dark.

"Are you okay?" Bridgette asked through heavy breaths.

"Yeah," he huffed out, still a little shaken. "How did you-"

"You didn't come back after a while. Became a little scared," she answered, putting her broom in the bag that was strapped on her back. "You're the Doctor, right?"

"Yeah," he furrowed his brow. "How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," she muttered. "My mum used to tell me stories about you. Said you saved her from the Family of Blood."

"What?" He gaped. "But that was Earth. Earth 1913. How-"

"Family vacation," she answered, not explaining any further. "Now come on. We have to save your friend."

"Uh, okay," he said, still confused.

Bridgette helped him to stand up and they continued their journey. The snowstorm dwindled down to a flurry in these areas, but there were still a few inches of snow on the ground. The Doctor looked up at the mistletoe around him and noticed there was a foot of snow resting on the branches. They must be in the forest where it always snowed but only stuck to the weird plant.

"Did you know?" He asked after some silence. "About the missing? Did your company know what happened to them?"

"That's a tricky question."

"Death shouldn't be so tricky."

"There were rumors," she mumbled. "But nobody was sure. Just in case, they locked the hotels a couple days before Christmas so no visitors could go outside. Safety precautions, they said."

"More like a way to save money."

"I'm not a part of the big heads. I'm just a seasonal employee," she defended herself. "I'm supposed to work here until the new year so I can save up some credits to pay rent and support my family. I didn't even know what was going on."

"I'm not blaming you," he told her. It was silence after that.

The sudden crunch of footsteps behind the pair made the Doctor freeze up and Bridgette unleash her broom. They quickly flipped around, ready to fight, but there was nothing there. Another noise came up behind, but once again, nothing there. But the third time the noise came up and they turned around, there was something. A rabbit.

"Well that was a bit anticlimactic," Bridgette muttered.

"Good for the hearts," the Doctor shrugged.

"Free us."

"Dammit."

They turned around to be faced with three… lumps of snow?

"At least they aren't the mistletoe zombie," the Doctor mumbled.

"Free us."

"So what's this then?" Bridgette asked. "Are the snow and mistletoe teaming up to fight?"

"Unlikely," he muttered, totally missing her sarcasm.

"Free us."

"Aren't you going to talk to them?"

"Worth a shot," he muttered while straightening his bowtie. He took a step towards the snow creatures. They looked like bad representations of humans in snow form; asymmetrical and lumpy with no physical detail. They didn't move, acting like they were statues. Not even their mouths moved; they seemed to be slightly psychic. "Hello! Are you going to bring Clara back now?"

"Free us."

"I'm taking that as a no," he sighed. "Well, in that case, can you at least tell me why you need freeing or what from?"

"Free us."

"I can't really free you. You're snow! You're already free."

"Free us."

"I can't," he yelled. The snow were silent. "Good. Okay, now, if you give Clara back to me, I can try to free you. Just don't get upset if I can't."

"Free us," they said. "Then we give back girl."

"Your vocabulary is getting broader by the minute," he muttered. "But, no. That's not how this is going to work. Girl first, then freeing."

"Doctor-"

"Not now, Bridgette, I'm in the middle of a deal."

"Free us… or the girl dies."

"No. Don't you dare lay a hand on Clara," he yelled. "She is under my protection and I won't hesitate to harm anyone who-"

"Not Clara," they interrupted.

"Then who- oh no," his eyes widened with realization. He turned around to find that Bridgette had disappeared. And he had a good idea who took her. "No no no."

"Free us or the girl dies," they repeated their mantra.

"Threats are meaningless unless you deliver," he stated. They stared blankly at him. "Basically, no."

They started to glow like the mistletoe zombies did before. They finally moved out of their frozen stances and advanced on him. The Time Lord only sighed and took out his sonic screwdriver. He put the setting on anti-freeze and sonicked the them. They melted like he expected, but left behind a pile of mistletoe.

"What?" He mumbled in confusion. He went to inspect the vines, but something grabbed him and pulled him back. In doing so, he dropped his sonic screwdriver. "Hey!"

"Free us!"

"There's more of you?" he groaned.

He tried to get free from the snow monsters, but there was no way of escaping their vice-like grip. They continued to drag him away, him not knowing where because he was turned away. He was suddenly dropped on the ground, but he quickly scrambled back up.

The Doctor looked around at his surroundings. There was a dome of foreign trees and mistletoe hanging over his head. He looked down and saw that he was standing on ice, but noticed that it wasn't slippery; he tested it a couple times. So much ice and snow, yet it was so warm he felt himself sweating under his parka. This must be the lake…

"Where'd you bring me here?"

"I believe you know."

The Doctor quickly turned around at the voice, and his hearts dropped. Breathing became harder than usual and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. His eyes widened as he stared at the thing in front of him.

"Clara," he gasped.

It was indeed Clara standing in front of him, but it wasn't at the same time. She was standing in an awkward stance and her head slightly lolled around. She looked very pale, but still had the light green hue. Mistletoe weaved all around her, but luckily didn't infect her insides too much yet. Her face was twisted in agony, but also hate. This wasn't Clara; this was the leader of the mistletoe zombies.

I need to stop calling them that, the Doctor thought.

"What did you do to Clara?" He asked. He noticed the slippers he bought her were gone, leaving her barefoot.

"Clara is gone. It's only me now," she said.

"And who are you exactly?"

"Mistletoe, or Misty, if you like," she answered. "Head of, naturally."

"Why does a plant have a leader?"

"We are not plants," she sneered. "We are living."

"Yeah, well I can see that," he snorted. "Your vocabulary is much more broader than your… friends."

"That's because I'm clever."

"Really now? Why's that?" He asked. Misty stayed quiet. "Okay, fine, don't talk."

"I didn't bring you here so we can have small talk. I brought you here so we can discuss some issues."

"Fine then," he smiled politely, but on the inside he wanted to punch a wall. "Go right on ahead."

She stared at him before beginning. "Two hundred years ago, you humans came and invaded our planet. You came in and chopped down our homes for your entertainment. You created a shell that blocked away our sun to the point where we burned in yours. Two hundred years we have suffered. That is two hundred too many."

"So plants do have a conscience," the Doctor mused. "You must be awfully frightened of vegetarians."

"Do not joke about this serious matter-"

"I know this is a serious matter, which is why I can joke about it," he interrupted. "Now, about the sun thing: what do you mean exactly?"

"You humans couldn't live in our sunlight. Burned you, spoiled you."

"So they covered the planet in an atmospheric shell to block out the radiation. It was lethal to them but nutrition for you. Take that away and now you're the ones that are burning," the Doctor thought out loud. "That explains why you shy away from sunlight and why you used snow as body armor to send goons after me."

"What else were we to do?" Misty glared at the man. "You wouldn't listen to our pleas and cries for help. We even tried to threaten you and you still turned a blind eye. Can you really be so heartless?"

"Quite the opposite really," he joked, pointing at his chest. "Do you still have access to Clara's memories? They'll be able to tell you how right I am."

"I do, in fact," she answered. She suddenly became still and vacant. He realized she was doing what he asked her to do. "Ah, so you aren't human. That'll make this much more easier."

"Pardon?"

"She thinks about you a lot, you know. My my, Doctor. What an imprint you have on the ladies."

"Okay then," he stammered, starting to feel flustered and wanting to change the topic. "Why did you take her? Why do you need me?"

"We've been looking for someone to save us for a long time now. You two came up, obvious knowledge stacked into your head. We took one to know about the other. We know you can help set us free."

"Free us!" Misty's minions yelled simultaneously.

"Oh, that's all? You want to be saved?" He furrowed his brow. "But why the violence?"

"Two hundred years, Doctor. Two hundred years."

"That's not an excuse."

"We needed an army, and volunteers came."

"But they weren't volunteers. They were innocent human beings."

"So innocent that they would torture another species?"

"But they didn't know! Humans are quite dull if you haven't noticed."

"No matter. What's done is done," she growled. "You will help us, save us, and give us vengeance."

"In what way?" He asked, becoming intrigued. He knew from experience that vengeance and grudges were not very good.

"You will help us kill the humans," she answered and nodded to someone behind the Doctor. He turned around and his eyes widened when he saw an unconscious Bridgette being dragged in by some zombies. "Starting with this one."

"Even with all those memories running around inside your brain, you know nothing about me," he tutted, starting to fume. "One, I don't kill humans. Two, I'm extremely clever."

"What?"

"Mistletoe isn't just a plant. It's a parasite, and every parasite needs a host. Usually it grows on and around trees and bushes in America and Europe, but you're different. You're space mistletoe. You have a living conscience. You're basically a human when they're brain turns into a vegetable. But then the human vegetables come and you get tortured and maimed, but not on purpose. So you do what any other creature does when faced with a huge problem like this: you survive.

"Like I said, parasites can't live without a host. You said your homes were being chopped down, meaning the trees, meaning the hosts. You go and try to find new hosts. Luckily for you, the shell around the planet malfunctions and makes the weather go all haywire. Freak snow storm equals tourists which equals new hosts. But humans are filled with other types of parasites: bacteria.

"Bacteria isn't really a parasite, so to speak, but it does act like one. It moves around from one living creature to another, living off their days on or inside them. They can't live that long away from living contact. But the thing is with bacteria, they can actually be helpful. They help break down food and eat other stuff freaking out inside you. But too much means too much waste which makes your sick. Too little means not as many helpers which also makes you sick. You need to balance that out to stay healthy. But you lot, you can't stand human bacteria. It's foreign and gross and lethal. So you attack it and get rid of it, which then kills your host. But so what? It's still useful. Turn him into a zombie to help you. But without that human living quality to you guys, you're stupid. You only know a few words and learn the rest from your surroundings. But the thing is about you, Misty - you're clever.

"You needed a leader to control these mindless vegetables. But how can you do that when the only thing keeping them alive is killing you? You compromise. You kill only some of the bacteria so you both can stay alive. Now you have some brains to your advantage. Clara is still living, making you smart. You know more words than your henchmen, even though you're only an hour old. You can move more freely too. But that also makes you weak." He paused, catching his breath. "Don't worry, I will save you, but not your way."

"What other way is there?"

"Imagine this: human bacteria is very lethal to you, but my bacteria is a different story. More rare and dangerous than that silly old stuff. Your zombies could probably fight it off, but you're weak. Imagine if you got a hold of mine. Imagine if my bacteria invaded yours."

"What are you saying?"

"There's an old Earth tradition where if two people stand underneath mistletoe together, they have to kiss. Did you know that when you kiss you swap 80 million bacteria with each other? And we are standing under a hell of a ton of mistletoe." He smirked. "Basically, what I'm saying is this: pucker up."

"What-"

The Doctor glided over to Misty and gently placed his hands on her cheeks. He quickly glanced into her eyes before bringing his mouth to hers. Misty stayed still, obviously in shock. But soon she melted away and Clara kissed back.

A fire ignited inside the Doctor and the life saving kiss turned passionate. Clara started to shake inside his arms, signaling that Misty was officially gone and Clara gained back most of the control, but he didn't care. The cleverness he so greatly boasted about melted away as he fell into the kiss.

All too soon it had to stop as Clara started to go limp. She fainted from her mind being too overwhelmed. He quickly but gently caught her before she fell. His breathing was ragged and his eyes were wide. He didn't know what came over him, but he didn't exactly regret it.

He straightened up and looked around. He realized that the mistletoe zombies were there to witness the whole thing. Awkward.

"Listen up!" He shouted, authority ringing in his voice. "I am not proud of your decisions today, but that won't stop me from helping you. I will free you and make sure this planet will be safe for you to live in again. I can't say that the humans will leave, but I know that they won't harm you anymore. I promise you all of this, as long as you promise to not resort to violence and vengeance anymore. Agreed?"

One by one, lazy smiles blossomed upon all of the dead's faces before they fell to the ground, free from the parasites.

******

Clara woke up with a jolt and a major headache. She made a mental note to stop drinking so much whilst celebrating. She stared at the ceiling to figure out which bedroom she was in, but found out she wasn't in any bedroom, but in the console room of the TARDIS instead. She looked over to find the Doctor sitting on the jump seat, watching her as she lay on the floor. A flash of memories resurfaced - one standing out in particular - and she winced at the sudden pain.

"What happened?" She asked as she sat up. Her voice came out scratchy and her throat was sore.

"A lot happened," he answered with a smile.

"Like?"

"You were being controlled by a plant, said plant wanted to kill all humans via me, I saved you by ki- by being awesome, I evacuated the humans from Mistletoe, made the planet safe for the plants, gave Bridgette a lot of credits so she can pay for rent and help support her family, also bought her a new broom because her old one broke when she fought off some snow monsters, found my sonic screwdriver because I dropped it when I was being kidnapped by said snow monsters, brought you to the TARDIS to check your vitals to see if you were okay, bought your new slippers because you lost yours somehow, and now we're parked in your living room."

She stared at the Time Lord. "So a lot happened?"

"A lot did indeed happen."

"Well then," she sighed. "We done for the day?"

"I guess you could say that," he mumbled. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless… I can stay?" He asked and she raised a brow. "I mean, it is Christmas…"

"Sure why not," she shrugged and he grinned.

"Great!" He jumped up and flipped a lever. "I already set up your living room!"

"What do you mean?" She asked and slowly stood up. Her limbs felt like noodles.

"Come look," he said and opened the TARDIS doors. She stumbled out and her eyes widened.

Her living room that was previously a holiday bore was transformed into a holiday palace. Tinsel and other garlands hung and twirled around any available surface. She could smell Christmas cookies and hot chocolate coming from her kitchen. Paper snowflakes were tied and hung from the ceiling. Her coffee table was covered in Christmas crackers. A magnificent tree decorated with colorful lights and random mismatched ornaments stood in the corner with about ten presents laying underneath it. The whole thing just screamed Christmas spirit.

"Don't feel bad if you didn't give me a present. I bought myself one," the Doctor said, breaking the silence. He pointed to his torso which was covered by a blue and white Christmas sweater. "I found it at a thrift shop. I don't know why anyone would throw it out."

"Why?" She asked, still stunned. "Why did you do all of this?"

"Do- do you not like it?"

"No- I love it! It's just- why?" She looked up at the man.

"I told you," he smiled. "You needed the Christmas spirit."

She smiled kindly up at the man before hugging him. "Thank you," she muttered into his chest. She was actually feeling quite down lately, what with her teachings and rambunctious students, she was glad to have this break.

The Doctor slowly returned the hug, his hearts skipping a beat. "You're welcome." He suddenly pulled away and clapped, making Clara jump. "So! What do you want to do first? I bought a couple gingerbread houses. I've never made one before. It can't be that hard, right?"

And so the rest of the day was filled with Christmas activities; the Doctor had to remake his gingerbread house multiple times because he kept on breaking them, Clara felt guilty about not giving her anything and gave the Doctor an old blender from her closet as a present, there was a squirrel in the tree which the Doctor decided to keep as a pet, and the Doctor ate way too many Christmas cookies. Clara was laughing and smiling the whole time, loving the one-on-one bonding they were having. But it ended all too soon when Clara almost fell asleep while watching Home Alone.

When she woke up the next morning, she didn't have to think of where she was. She knew she was right where she needed to be; right in the Doctor's grasp. She smiled when she saw a twig of mistletoe on her nightstand, thoughts of their second kiss echoing in her head. She wondered if he knew that she remembered. She decided to keep it a secret.

"It's Wednesday." She looked up and saw the Time Lord in her doorway. "What do you want to do?"

"Don't care as long as you're with me."

They grinned at each other before running to the TARDIS. Next stop: everywhere.

OH MY GOD I DID IT HOLY SHIT THAT TOOK ME LIKE TWO WEEKS TO WRITE AND EDIT (I'M GUESSING) BUT I DID IT HAHAA

it's not really that good but I had fun writing it bcwhouffleyay

this came out to be exactly 6500 words (not including the authors notes) so I feel pretty fucking special. I thought it was going to be only 3000 so woooooooo!

Merry Christmas and be sure to drink your ovaltine (I had like five cups this weekend so I'm good)!

-alli-