A/N - I spent all morning finishing this episode! You are not ready.

The phone attached to the console started ringing.

The Doctor answered it. "Yes? What? I'm trying to read. That's always pointless. What did she say? Well? Well?"

Whatever Madame Vastra said got the Doctor's attention, because Elise could see it on his face. He took off his glasses and stared at them. He hung up and grabbed his jacket.

"Where are we going?" Elise asked.

"You, are not going anywhere."

"What?"

"You're going to wait in the carriage."

"You know, if I had known you were going to keep me locked up, I would've left with River." But Elise was bluffing. She could have never left the Doctor. He was all she knew.

The Doctor grabbed a deerstalker hat and took her by the arm, leading her to Madame Vastra's.

Strax took them to the Institute and true to his word, the Doctor locked the carriage behind him. He'd even taken her sonic screwdriver from her so she couldn't get out.

Elise crossed her arms over her chest and sulked in her seat. She knew why he was doing this. For the same reason he'd told her to stay by the TARDIS that day in the graveyard. He didn't want to lose her, but he was starting to irritate her.

The Doctor walked around the edge of the pond, sonicing it. He'd still not returned Elise's screwdriver to her, which Elise didn't appreciate. "Body frozen in a pond. The snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a full body scan. Everything they need to evolve. A pond. Good point, Clara."

He turned around and saw Strax holding an alien weapon. "What are you doing here?"

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades?"

"Grenades?"

"She might have said help."

"Help for what?"

"Well, your investigation."

"Investigation? Who says I'm investigating? Do you think I'm going to start investigating just because some bird smiles at me? Who do you think I am?"

Strax smirked. "Sherlock Holmes."

Elise let out a high pitched giggle, shocking herself. This was the first time she'd laughed since losing Amy and Rory.

"Don't be clever, Strax. It doesn't suit you."

"Sorry, sir."

"I'm the clever one, you're the potato one." The Doctor poked him between the eyes.

"Yes, sir."

"Now go away."

"Yes, Mr. Holmes." Strax chuckled at his own joke as he walked away.

"Oi! Shut up. You're not clever or funny and you've got tiny little legs!" The Doctor turned around and saw Clara watching them from a window. She waved and he waved back.

Clara gestured for them to come up.

The Doctor spun around, talking to himself. "Okay, just tell her you're leaving, you're not going up. Leaving. Not going up." He spun back around and showed her five fingers and a thumbs up.

Clara closed the curtains and the Doctor smacked himself in the head. "What was that about? Five minutes, where did that come from?"

Elise found herself smiling as they walked towards the house.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Nothing." Meeting Clara was the best thing to happen to her since arriving in Victorian England.

Clara and the children ran into the next room.

"What do we do?" Digby asked.

"Franny, Franny, imagine her melting," Clara told her.

"What?"

"In your head. Melt her."

"I can't!"

"I'm getting impatient!" the ice woman shrieked.

The door burst open.

"You have been very naughty!"

"What about the man? You said the man was here, the cloud man and his daughter!" Digby cried.

"Well, he's not, is he?" Clara said.

"Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know!"

A puppet popped up and said, "Doctor? Doctor? Doctor who?" The puppet soniced the ice woman, who shattered. The Doctor stood up. "That's the way to do it."

Elise rolled her eyes and stood up, going over to Clara and the children. "Are you alright?" Elise asked.

"We're fine. Thank you," Clara said.

Elise smiled. At least someone was happy to have her around.

The Doctor walked over to the rug and soniced the wet spot.

"Where did she go? Will she come back?" Franny asked.

"No, don't worry. She's currently draining through your carpet," the Doctor told them, "New setting. Anti-freeze. And you're very welcome, by the way."

"I'm very grateful. I knew you'd come," Clara said.

"No, you didn't, because I don't. Because this isn't the sort of thing I do any more." He whipped off his scarf as he stepped in front of the mirror. "Next time you're in trouble, don't expect me to... Sorry, it's just. Didn't know I'd put it on."

Elise smiled, seeing his straighten the bow tie, like his old self would have done. She hadn't said anything when he put it on because it seemed like he was returning to the Doctor she knew. Ice was forming on the windows.

"Old habits."

"It's cooler," Clara said, noticing the change in the temperature.

The Doctor smirked. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? It is very cool. Bow ties are cool."

"No, the room. The room's getting colder."

Something was forming under the carpet.

"She's coming back!" Digby cried.

"What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" Franny asked.

The Doctor tried sonicing her. "Er, er, she's learnt not to melt. Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast. She's going to eat you. Run." The Doctor grabbed the children's hands and they ran to the foyer.

A man came into the foyer. "Children, what is the expla..." He stopped seeing Elise and the Doctor. "Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?"

"It's okay. I am your governess' gentleman friend, and we've just been upstairs...kissing!"

Elise's eyes went wide as she stared at the Doctor. What on earth made him say that?

The maid came running in. "Captain Latimer. In the garden, there's snowmen! And they're just growing out of nowhere, all by themselves. Look!" She threw open the front door and Madame Vastra stood there with Jenny.

"Good evening. I'm a Lizard Woman from the Dawn of Time, and this is my wife," Vastra told her.

The maid screamed and turned around, running into Strax.

"This dwelling is under attack. Remain calm, human scum."

The maid screamed again and promptly fainted.

The Doctor ran down the stairs and checked on the maid, before standing up and putting a hand on Captain Latimer's shoulder. "So, any questions?" the Doctor asked.

Latimer turned to Clara. "You have a gentleman friend?"

Clara sighed.

"Vastra, what's happening?" The Doctor ran into the living room to look out the window.

"The snow is highly localized, and on this occasion not naturally occurring."

"It's coming out of that cab parked by the gates," Jenny explained.

"Sir, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens," Strax said.

"They're made of snow, Strax. They're already smithereens. See, Clara? Our friends again," the Doctor said.

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asked.

"Your current governess is in reality a former barmaid called Clara."

The ice woman appeared on the stairs. "That's the way to do it!"

"Meanwhile your previous governess is now a living ice sculpture impersonating Mister Punch. Jenny, what have you got?"

Jenny threw a device that created a force field at the top of the stairs. "That should hold it."

"Sir, this room. One observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance," Strax told them, gesturing to the study.

"Right, everyone in there. Now. Move it. You, carry her," the Doctor ordered.

"Nice to see you off your cloud and engaging again," Vastra said as the Doctor soniced the force field.

"I'm not engaging again, I'm under attack."

"You missed this, didn't you? I know Elise did."

Elise smiled.

The Doctor gave Vastra a smile. "Shut up."

They entered the study.

"Strax, how long have we got?" the Doctor asked.

"They're not going to attack. They made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily, and they're clearly in a defense formation."

"Way, aye, aye. Well done, Straxy. Still got it, buddy." He kissed Strax on the head.

"Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep."

"So there's something here they want," Vastra said.

"The ice woman," Clara deduced.

"Exactly," the Doctor said.

"Why's she so important?" Jenny asked.

"Because she's a perfect duplication of human DNA in ice crystal form. The ultimate fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve and she's the blueprint. She's what they need to become. When the snow melted last night, did the pond?"

"No," Clara answered.

"Living ice that will never melt. If the snow gets hold of that creature on the stairs, it will learn to make more of them. It will build an army of ice. And it will be the last day of humanity on this planet."

The doorbell rang.

The Doctor cracked his neck. "Stay here."

Both Clara and Elise followed after him.

"Oi, I told you to stay in there," he told Clara, "With Elise I'm used to it."

"Oh, I didn't listen."

"You do that a lot."

"It's why you like me."

"Who said I like you?"

Clara grabbed the Doctor and kissed him, shocking both Timelords. "I think you just did," Clara said.

"You kissed me," the Doctor argued.

"You blushed."

"And with...this... Shut up." The Doctor ran to the front door and opened it.

Dr. Simeon stood there. "Release her to us. You have five minutes."

The Doctor closed the door. "We need to get her out of here but keep her away from them."

"How?"

The Doctor grabbed an umbrella from a stand. "With this. Do I always have to state the obvious?"

"Those creatures outside, what are they?" Latimer asked.

"No danger to you, as long as I get that thing out of here. You, in there, now." The Doctor went up the stairs and soniced the force field.

"What are you doing?" Clara asked.

"Between you and me, I can't wait to find out."

The force field disappeared and reappeared behind them.

"Right, if you look after everyone here, then I can..." The Doctor realized Clara was standing next to him. "Clara!"

"Doctor!"

They managed to get around the ice woman and ran up the stairs.

"Stupid!"

"You were stupid, too!"

"I'm allowed. I'm good at stupid."

"That's the way to do it!" the ice woman shrieked.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Clara asked.

"Mirroring. Random mirroring. We need to get on the roof," the Doctor told her.

Clara turned around and grabbed the Doctor's hand. "This way!"

"No, I do the hand grabbing. That's my job. That's always me!"