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Rory and River were marched into a grand house by the two men who'd taken them hostage, Rory all nerves but River acting like it happened to her every day. Though, in fairness, it could be something that happened to her quite often. Rory wouldn't have been surprised, at any rate. They stopped at the bottom of a stairwell, one that backed up on itself, River looking around nonchalantly.
"Ah, early Qin Dynasty, I'd say." She commented with some interest.
"Correct." Both of them looked up to see a balding, large man in a suit looking over the landing at them, "Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?" He put his hand in his pocket and joined them on the ground floor, "Early Qin, just as you say. You're very well-informed." He praised.
"And you're very afraid." River retorted, "That's an awful lot of locks for one door." Rory glanced over, seeing she was right but he was more captivated by the large collection of Chinese porcelain. He took River's strolling as permission to move around the room, so he headed straight to a vase, blinking in surprise as the Chinese characters transformed into the words 'Rapture of Summer'.
"River, I'm translating." He called over.
"It's a gift of the TARDIS." She explained, "It hangs around." The man, obviously the owner of the house, walked over to Rory, looking at him in amusement for a moment.
"This one." He commanded, "Put him somewhere uncomfortable." Rory shrugged in resigned exasperation. Why couldn't they meet any nice crime bosses?
"With the babies, sir?" One of the men asked and the man in the suit smiled, nodding.
"Yes. Why not?" He agreed, "Give him to the babies." Rory was grabbed roughly by the arm and dragged him away. The boss turned to River and shot her a slimy smile, motioning to the stairs, "If you would, Miss Malone." She mirrored his smile and headed up the stairs first, looking around the house as she did, taking in every piece of information she could. She'd only taken up being a detective as a hobby, but she was really enjoying it at the moment. People always thought they were so clever, well, they did until they met her.
She was surprised to see Danni peaking her head out of a room, catching her eye and looking very relieved. A simple mime had River turning to the man behind her.
"Mind if I just, powder my nose?" She asked and he nodded.
"Of course not." He told her, turning to his over cronies, "Stand guard." The man nodded and lead River to the room Danni was in. She closed the door and locked it, listening for a moment before turning and heading over to Danni, who was sat on the bath.
"You need to send me somewhere else." She told River without a greeting, "It didn't hold." She held her arm out expectantly, but River only sighed.
"You can't keep running away from this." She pointed out.
"Yes I can." Danni snapped, "I can't stay here. I can't watch him lose them again, River."
"When he finds out you knew, he'll be angry." River told her, "More than angry, he's killed for less."
"I know." Danni snapped, "But what can I do? I can't even warn him, can I?"
"Why not?" River asked, curiously and Danni sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Because I can't take that hope from him." She explained, "He can either spend the next few hours knowing that he's going to lose them forever, or spend them thinking he can still save them. Because I can't. This is the end of the Ponds, and Amy must always be with Rory." River regarded her for a moment before taking her face in her hands, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before bending down slightly to meet the shorter girl's eyes.
"I love you, you know that?" She told her earnestly and Danni nodded, "More than anyone."
"Apart from Amy and Rory, right?" Danni replied and she shook her head, typing a new date, time and place into her own Vortex Manipulator.
"More than them. You're my Danni-Girl, there's nothing I won't do for you." She told her.
"Okay..." Danni trailed off, a foreboding feeling falling over her, "What's wrong, Melody?" She asked and River beamed at the sound of her real name.
"Forgive me." She told her before pressing the button, Danni disappearing in a flash of light. She took a moment to compose herself, then headed out of the room.
~0~0~0~
Danni had absolutely no idea where she was. That time the ride had been less than pleasant,it had felt like she was being pulled in two separate directions, the Manipulators battling each other, but she had landed in one piece so she wasn't too worried. She was more concerned about the strange location she'd managed to find herself in, wondering where in the universe River had decided to send her. The ground was covered in bright blue grass, much like Wales had been when she'd first met Eleven all them years ago with the Silurians. The sky was bright orange and there were hills stretching out behind a wood, which she had appeared to have landed in front of. No sign of a TARDIS, or a Doctor, or even a companion. She couldn't remember a lot from Doctor Who anymore, but she was sure she'd remember such a strange looking place.
Then, a rabbit hopped out of the woods. A big, grey rabbit with a red bow tie on and she relaxed in relief.
"Oh, am I glad to see you, Sebastian." She cried, picking up the rabbit. He immediately snuggled into her arms and she placed a kiss on his head. She was on the TARDIS. The garden had obviously malfunctioned. She placed him back down again before looking for the door, eyes squinting as she searched the landscape, "What's the mean old Time Lord done to you?" She muttered and the door swung open, appearing out of a tree trunk and she smiled.
"Thanks, sweetie!" She called as she headed out into a hallway she didn't recognise. She didn't normally recognise any of the hallways, because they all looked the same, but this didn't look like normal either. It was all stainless steel, with smaller arches and bigger lights in the corners of the little squares that made the sections of it up. She slowly headed forward, her hand dragging across the wall, reassured that it was the actual TARDIS by the way she hummed under her fingertips.
"Hello?" She called, "Doctor?" She opened a door on the kitchen, but he wasn't there. Where the hell had River sent her?
"Doctor?" She called at the same time as another voice and she immediately went on the defensive, her hand shooting behind her instinctively looking for his. Another woman's head popped out of a door, a small woman with dark brown hair up in a ponytail.
"Danni?" She asked, surprised and Danni looked at her warily. She had no idea who the woman was, but that didn't stop the woman knowing her. That was quite normal in her life, but not on the TARDIS.
"Yes." She replied shakily, "Who are you?" She stepped out, letting the door close behind her.
"Clara." She offered with a smile, hands clasped behind her back, "Clara Oswald. You've probably not met me yet, have you?" She shook her head slowly.
"Not yet." She admitted, "Where's Amy?" She smiled sadly, a warm smile that Danni wanted to trust as Clara held out a hand to her.
"Let's go find the Doctor, okay Danni-Girl?" The use of her nickname worried her even more, but she took the woman's hand and they started walking through the hallway, "He likes to hide from me sometimes," Clara admitted, "But hopefully with you here, the TARDIS should lead us right to him." Danni nodded slowly but didn't say anything, feeling distinctively anxious about everything. Clara looked vaguely familiar, what if River had sent her further back than Nine? What if she was an Old-Who companion, and she was about to meet a Doctor she'd never met before, a Theta who had no idea who she was?
"You know, there's no need to be nervous." Clara reassured her with a knowing glance at her, "He'll be overjoyed to see you. He was last time." At least the Doctor knew who she was. That would make everything a lot easier. But it just confused her more, because Nine hadn't had a clue who she was when she'd appeared in Dickens's carriage.
They turned into a large archway and she gawped in a mix of shock and bewilderment at the console room that met them. It was definitely the console room, the large, glowing columns in the middle a staple in each of them, but the rest was unrecognisable. Large circles with Gallifreyan writing on spun lazily at the top of the console, while the actual controls were in a stainless steel ring around it. The platforms around it were like something out of an factory, with more controls encasing the main ones in the middle.
"Doctor?" Clara called into the room, leading her up to a break in the railings.
"What is it, Clara?" Eleven's voice called from underneath them, sounding slightly annoyed. Her breath caught in her throat. Oh Lord, she knew where she was!
"Someone's here to see you!" She called back cheekily before rubbing Danni's arm in comfort before leaving the room. The sound of footsteps on metal steps rang through the room.
"What do you mean, Cl..." He trailed off as he reached the top of the stairs, staring in shock at her, "Danni?" He breathed and she nodded. He looked so different, a new outfit with a waistcoat and a purple bow tie, round glasses perched on his nose. Her Theta, but older, she supposed.
"Where am I?" She asked, rubbing her own arm in apprehension. His face broke out in a beam and he rushed up the rest of the stairs, pulling her in for a tight hug. The last time he'd seen her, his Tenth self had dragged her into his TARDIS before he could say goodbye. She wouldn't remember that, and that was if she'd even done it yet, but he finally had a chance. He took her face in both his hands, shaking his head as he laughed.
"You just keep surprising me, don't you?" He whispered before letting go and spinning on the spot, waving his hands out, "What do you think?" He asked her excitedly, "Isn't she beautiful?!" She looked around and nodded slowly.
"She always is." She admitted, "It's... It's very 'Time Lord'." He nodded, like he was glad she'd picked up on that. She looked overwhelmed, actually, and he stopped his childishness, concern taking over.
"Are you okay, Danni-Girl?" He asked and she shook her head, running her hand through her hair.
"I'm... I'm supposed to be in Manhattan." She told him hurriedly, "But I couldn't... And with Amy and Rory... I asked River to send me away." She stuttered out, shaking, "This is after that, isn't it? Amy and Rory..." She looked up at him, eyes wide, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Theta." She sobbed, "Please believe me. I wanted to stop it, but Amy needed to be with Rory, and then there was the farm and then Soufflé girl and... And I didn't know what else to do!" He shushed her gently, folding her up in his arms and rocking her back and forth.
"Hey, hey. It's okay." He whispered reassuringly, "I know, it's okay."
"It's not okay." She cried into his chest, "But I am so sorry! I'll never not be sorry."
"I know." He promise, looking down at her, smiling softly and looking at her like he always did, like he adored her, "And I will always forgive you." He wiped the tears from her eyes, placing a kiss on each eyelid just to make her giggle before linking his fingers through hers, "Now, I believe you have to meet Clara. She's very interesting, I can tell you that much." Danni nodded as he half-dragged her through the hallway, "In short, she scattered herself through my time line to ensure none of it got rewritten. Very clever, for a human." She smacked him on the arm.
"Watch it." Danni warned jokingly, "I'm human too." He paused, turning to look at her as if he was just seeing her for the first time before grimacing in guilt.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." He replied before opening the first door they came across. The Entertainment room, where Clara was sat watching The Simpsons, "Clara Oswald, have you met Danni-Girl?" The woman looked up and smiled brightly.
"I have." She replied, "Hello!" She waved and Danni waved back.
"Hi!" She called over, "Thanks for, you know, saving my husband and all." Clara shrugged.
"Someone has to." She retorted, "He can't look after himself." Danni laughed and looked up at the Doctor, who was pouting in the super adorable way he did.
"Ah, I see she knows you well." Danni told him and he grumbled to himself.
"I'm just fine on my own!" He exclaimed and Danni began to swing his hand.
"Better with two." She exclaimed and he grinned, pulling her against him.
"Much better with three." He told her, dipping his head and brushing his lips against hers. She was about to one-up him, moving onto it being fabulous with four, but he wasn't done yet. He held her close, coaxing her into a deeper, hunger-filled embrace, where he seemed to forget they were with Clara and focused his entire being on her.
"It's still not a snog box!" Clara called from the sofa, sounding as if she was used to it and he pulled back just to smirk smugly.
"Not for you, it's not." He retorted before stroking a hand through Danni's hair, his fingers scratching against her scalp delightfully, "You two catch up, I'm going to fix whatever has given the gardens a case of 'Orange Sky', then we'll go somewhere awesome." He skipped to the door, pausing and looking at the two women with a fond look that made his eyes shine, "You both asked that when you first travelled with me. 'Somewhere Awesome.'" He chuckled to himself at the coincidence, then darted out of the room. Danni turned to Clara, who scooted over and patted the sofa.
"Come on, I don't bite." She teased and Danni slowly walked over to her, feeling completely out of her depth. With the other companions it had been easy. She knew all about them and she'd been looking forward to meeting every single one of them. She had no idea who Clara was, all she knew was the woman who played her also played a girl who died in the Dalek Asylum. And normally she loved to meet new people, but Clara represented something she hadn't wanted to face.
"No, I didn't think you did." Danni replied slowly, sitting down on the sofa, "You're Clara?" She asked slowly and the woman nodded, a bright smile on her face.
"And you're his Danni-Girl." She replied.
"So you've met me already?" She pressed, hoping that she was just somewhere off in the TARDIS, or with Jack and Clara would reassure her everything would turn out okay.
"Just the once." Clara told her, "Not too long ago, actually." Danni's heart and mood dropped at that, "He told me all about you, though. Well, only after. He didn't really tell me you existed up until that point." At Danni's hurt look Clara panicked, realising she'd said the wrong thing, again, "Not that he didn't want to. It just hurts him a lot to think of you, because he think he's responsible for what happened, and I've tried to tell him he's not, but you know how he can always make himself feel guilty."
"Responsible for what?" Danni asked quietly and Clara glanced at the door.
"Maybe I should go get the Doctor." She rambled, "I'm sure the garden can wait, and who knows when you'll jump off again." She tried to stand up but Danni placed a hand on her arm, pulling her back down with a thud.
"I'm dead, aren't I?" Danni asked, "That's why he can't talk about me, isn't it?" Clara shook her head.
"No, it's not..."
"It is though, isn't it?" Danni interrupted, "Just tell me one thing. Do I die before the Ponds?" She looked at Clara pleadingly, hoping beyond anything that the Doctor never found out she knew and wasn't going to change it.
"I don't know if I can." Clara replied uncertainly. Why did she always have to put her foot in it?!
"Please, Clara." Danni begged, "I don't want to know how, or when. Just do I survive the Ponds?" Clara bit her lip, really unsure on what to do.
"You die after the Ponds." Clara broke to her gently and Danni sunk into the sofa, devastated. She ran a hand through her hair, her chest hurting.
"So, he knows I knew, but didn't stop it?" Danni muttered, "I die with him hating me?" Clara shook her head.
"No, no, I didn't say that." Danni's gaze shot up to her, startling her slightly.
"How can he do anything but?" Danni exclaimed, "I'm going to lose my friends, then my husband and then my life?!" Clara pulled her in for a hug, rocking her slightly as Danni couldn't even find it in herself to cry over it anymore. It was set in stone now, wasn't it? She couldn't keep jumping away, and she couldn't stop it or warn him. He was going to hate her, and she was going to die.
"So, you like The Simpsons too?" She asked quietly, focusing on anything else in the room other than her inevitable fall. Clara laughed at the change in conversation and let her go, nodding.
"It's the best show ever created." She replied and Danni nodded.
"My favourite's You Only Move Twice." She replied, in total agreement.
"I love You Only Move Twice." Clara replied at the same time, the pair trailing off and staring at each other in shock. Then Danni shifted on the sofa.
"What about Scrubs?" She asked excitedly, "Do you like that?" Clara looked at her, vaguely confused.
"Who doesn't like Scrubs?" She retorted and Danni pointed at her.
"That's what I said!" She cried, "I'll tell you who doesn't? Amy! I mean, of all the people I thought wouldn't like it, Amy was not one of them!"
"She was the one who was made of leg, wasn't she?" Clara asked and Danni giggled with a nod.
"That's her." She confirmed, "Me and Amy have always had such a similar taste in TV and things, but I was disgusted to find out she hated Scrubs. She says it's 'too childish'."
"Has she never seen it?" Clara asked in reply, "My Lunch broke my heart!" They both looked at each other, eyeing the other suspiciously, both wondering at the same time how far the similarities went.
"Fairly Odd Parents?" Danni asked lowly.
"Masterpiece." Clara replied, looking at her mistrustfully, "Spongebob?"
"Hilarious." Danni instantly said, "Sabrina?"
"Kenan and Kel." Clara replied in typical word association form, "Rocko's Modern Life?" Danni shook her head, a grimace on her face.
"Too gross." She explained, "Rocket Power?"
"Recess?" Clara asked in reply and Danni's face broke out into a grin.
"Oh my god!" They both exclaimed at the same time.
"You're just like me." Danni gushed, "Oh, this is fantastic!"
"I grew up on Nickolodeon!" Clara replied just as excitedly, "Well, Nick and Disney movies." Danni nodded, looking like she knew exactly she was talking about.
"Obviously." Danni said, settling into the back of the sofa, feeling more comfortable than she had before, "What about the Killers?"
"I do like them." She agreed, "What about Meat Loaf." Danni sighed happily, falling back to memories of her childhood and dancing to the large American singer with her father.
"Oh, I love Meat Loaf." She crowed, "Mika?"
"His first album was amazing." Clara replied.
"But the rest weren't as good, I know, right?" Danni shot back, smiling and looking at the other woman much kinder now. At least Clara seemed nice, at least he wasn't alone. She paused her questioning, how long had it taken him to find the young woman across from her?
"Have you been with him long?" Danni asked her curiously and Clara shrugged.
"I suppose so." She replied, "He picks me up on a Wednesday and drops me off before Thursday. Sometimes it's just one trip, sometimes it's a couple. I've lost count, really."
"Wait, you don't travel with him all the time?" Danni asked, alarmed, "So, he's on his own most of the time?"
"I think he prefers it that way." Clara lightly defended, before nudging Danni with her hand, "I don't think he can stand replacing you."
"But I never travelled with him full time." Danni exclaimed before pausing, "Well, actually I travelled with him full time, he just never had me full time."
"I think it's more that he knows you're not coming back." Clara replied sadly, "Maybe he doesn't want someone full time, because you never were."
"So you're the new me?" Danni asked slowly and Clara shrugged.
"Without all the sex." She teased as the door flew open and the Doctor jogged in. He'd been waiting outside for a moment, listening to Clara and his Danni-Girl bonding very quickly, just like he knew they would. Then it had taken a bit of a turn, so he decided it was time to break that train of thought before it nestled into Danni's brain. He didn't want her believing that for one moment, after all.
"Come along, you two." He scolded, "Enough chit chatting. Let's go somewhere amazing!" Danni was reeling off the idea of being replaced, so hadn't been paying much attention when she'd stood up. However, when she glanced at Clara who had done the same, her mouth dropped slightly. She was the same height, pretty much down the centimetre. Their stances were almost identical, and she was beaming from ear to ear.
"Isn't that for me and Danni to decide?" She threw at the man, not noticing how Danni was staring at her. Clara even liked the shows she liked. Danni reached out and grabbed her arm, startling her.
"Where's he taken you before?" She asked urgently and Clara frowned, surprised by the question.
"What do you mean?" She asked, "Like, places?" Danni nodded.
"Places, people! Anything, tell me." She begged.
"Do we really have time for..." The Doctor asked nervously but Danni glared at him angrily.
"Let her speak, Spaceman!" She snapped before turning back to Clara, her hand still clinging to her arm, "Tell me."
"Er..." Clara thought back for a moment, "Well, the first place was Akhaten." Danni looked over at the Doctor again.
"The market? Where I saw the Silent?" She asked and he nodded in confirmation, "Where else?" She snapped.
"There was Hedgewick's World of Wonders." Clara continued, "But there were Cybermen there, so that wasn't fantastic." Danni frowned. She'd heard of that before. Where had she heard that before?
"What's that?" She asked.
"It was a theme park." Clara explained, "Completely destroyed when we'd landed, but apparently it had been some big deal."
~0~0~0~
"Oh, I have missed all this," Martha admitted, looking up at the column of the console almost longingly but nodded, swallowing, "but, you know. I'm good here. Back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides," She waved her hand and her engagement ring at them, "someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now!"
"Where are we off to, anyway?" Danni asked, seeing his face fall slightly at the look on the Tenth Doctor's face. He didn't like the idea he made her worst, he thought he'd helped her become what she was now.
"I was thinking a theme park." He said, forcing a smile onto his face, "Hedgewick's World of Wonders, it's absolutely magnificent. The biggest in it's galaxy, well," He trailed off, his mind going through a number of other theme parks, "the biggest in a few really..."
~0~0~0~
"The biggest in it's galaxy." Danni finished, "That's where we were going to go before we met Jenny, remember?" The Doctor ran his hand through his hair, looking everywhere but where she was.
"Yeah, well, you see..." She looked over Clara for a moment, wondering where else he had taken her. It was just like with Martha after Rose, but even more on the nose. He was literally just taking her places he'd taken Danni before she died.
"Have you been taking her places you took me?" She asked quietly.
"In fairness, I never took you to Hedgewick's." The Doctor tried to defend but she shook her head.
"What about Space Vegas?" She asked Clara, "Did he ever take you there?"
"He tried to." She retorted, "But we missed, ended up somewhere called Arthadia instead. They didn't seem to like him too much." Danni spun, staring at him incredulously.
"That was for my mum's birthday!" She exclaimed, worked up, fingers clenched, "Am I really that forgettable?!"
"No." He instantly replied, panicking as he stepped closer, "No, of course not." He pulled her in for a tight hug as she sobbed, emotionally broken by everything. She didn't think she had much left in her, she felt destroyed by the last five years of running, and fighting and changing moods and the next night was what was going to kill her. She didn't have the strength left to run or to hide from it, if the universe wanted her dead, they could have her.
"Did you take her to the crystal moon?" She whimpered and he cupped her face, shaking his head and looking at her like her assumption amused him. He tenderly brushed his thumb over her cheek, even red with her tears she was so beautiful. He'd forgotten how red her hair was, how much emotion her grey eyes could hold. Everything she was feeling was on the surface, it was something he adored in her.
"Of course not." He lied, placing a kiss in her hair like he knew she loved then pulled her back to his chest. He looked over her at Clara, who was looking at him pointedly, one eyebrow raised but he just shot her a look of his own, telling her to keep quiet. She held her hands up in surrender and sat down, "The only reason I took her to those places is because you are completely unforgettable and I wanted to relive my time with you, I promise." He rubbed her back as she clung to him, trying to give her comfort when he knew she couldn't take it, "And everything will be okay." He linked his fingers through hers and brought the arm up with River's Manipulator up, placing a kiss just above it, "It'll be hard, but it will be okay."
"How?" She whispered, "How can it be okay? You're on your own." He chuckled.
"As if you'd ever leave me on my own." He told her knowingly, "Now, no more of this dilly dallying. Time to go visit somewhere completely new." She nodded and looked over at Clara.
"Maybe Clara should decide, then I'll know for sure." She replied cheekily and Clara shook her head.
"Nah, don't feel like going anywhere." She declared, "You two go and do something awesome, I'm going to watch the Simpsons." Danni frowned.
"You sure?" She asked sceptically, because she loved the Simpsons, but surely going anywhere in the universe beat them?
"Yeah, And Maggie Makes Three is on next, I love that one." She nodded towards the door, "Go on, you two. Have fun." Danni wanted to argue against it more, because the Doctor was her Doctor and she should go travelling with him, but the Doctor was already dragging her out of the room, calling his thanks over his shoulder.
"We'll come find you later. Enjoy your cartoons!" He declared, letting the door shut behind them. Danni couldn't help but join in with his giddiness, a small smile spreading on her face as she fell into step next to him.
"Okay, Spaceman, where are we going?" He paused, looking deliberately thoughtful for a moment before he pushed her against the wall, smirking darkly as he leant on her forehead.
"I was thinking, perhaps, bedroom?" He purred and she laughed in disbelief.
"Seriously?" She asked and he nodded.
"You are absolutely delicious." He told her, fingers dancing up her side, "Let's take advantage of that." His lips brushed against hers teasingly and he relished in the way she still tried to follow him as he pulled away. He was desperate to be close to her again, he knew he couldn't count on her popping forward in time if she was so close to the end of Manhattan. His wife was in front of him now, all he wanted was to be as close to her as possible before he truly lost her forever.
"I do love the new outfit." She admitted, running her hand up the waistcoat he was wearing, playing with the chain she assumed was attached to a pocket watch.
"My Danni-Girl. My Danielle." He muttered, placing his lips on her cheek, teasingly kissing just next to her mouth but not on it, "My wife." He groaned, "What do you say?" She nodded silently and let him lead him away.