If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
Danni sat on the floor by the Doctor's side, leaning her head on his thigh as he lightly stroked her hair with one hand and kept a firm grip on his book in the other. The light had slowly dimmed over the last hour or so in the console room, the TARDIS's way of telling the pair to go to sleep. Danni had actually given up reading her book a while ago, instead using the time to give her eyes a rest by taking her glasses off and placing them on the floor next to her. She'd been half-asleep since, which the Doctor knew was the main reason he had been able to keep running his fingers through her hair for so long.
He hadn't meant what he'd said to Strax, their marriage wasn't destroyed but it certainly wasn't in the state it once was. He'd always been worried about her, but now he was in constant battle with himself to keep her safe from any danger out there and to keep her safe from himself, who had actually been the one to cause her the most harm. So much so that she was scared of him, no matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise. He'd felt her flinch, and seen her make excuses to leave when he came into the room when she was feeling particularly fragile.
He'd seen her dreams, not having the hearts to tell her that she was now projecting them periodically to him when they did sleep together. Dreams of him pushing her out of the TARDIS again and again. They were quite vivid, mainly because he still needed to show her how to stop it happening but also because she felt an enormous amount of fear during those reruns in her head. Time Lords tended to project when feeling strong amounts of emotion, he'd been guilty of it in the past and while humans would pick it up slightly, making them echo the feeling even if they weren't sure why, he did try to keep them to himself. She didn't know that, so hadn't been able to stop it overflowing to whoever was there, which lucky was just him. He'd get around to it, in fact she shouldn't have much trouble chucking up the barriers that she obviously didn't know she needed. He remembered seeing her reject the Master on the Valiant quite easily when he'd first tried to read her mind, he guessed the fact she also seemed to be part Time Lord explained that as well.
The slight tickle, the nudging inside his own head was his first indication that she'd fallen asleep. Being awake made it much easier for him to block them out, but he did get the smallest glimpse of what was going on inside her head. A flash a blonde hair, a laugh with those four beats and the feeling of pure terror.
That was another thing they'd never talked about. Danni had always been so against dwelling on the bad of the past, and he'd never liked to open up old wounds, so they'd just carried on like nothing had happened. But the Master plagued her dreams almost as much as he did and he'd never really realised how much the time on the Valiant had affected her. The way she spoke about the other Time Lord had him painted as this misunderstood man, who had been battered and abused by his elders and driven to the point of evil by circumstance, but that he was ultimately a good man. On the brief occasions they'd talked about what had happened, she'd insist that while he'd used the drums to initially coerce her, that he wasn't entirely to blame and then she'd change the subject.
But, having seen some of the memories she'd dreamt over as she slept, unaware that he could see what had happened, startled him into realising that just because she remembered the experience overall that way, didn't mean she felt it at the time. Pretty much every time was filled with a dread that would wake him up. She'd been absolutely terrified of the Master but the man had been clever, twisting it into something he had wanted and now she had to live with that.
The Doctor hadn't saved her then, either. He hadn't seen it until it was much too late and he'd let her get hurt in a way he couldn't save her. Never again. He was going to be a better husband if it took the rest of life.
The phone rang, waking Danni, who muttered out a confused 'no' as he rolled his eyes. Could they not just be left in peace?
"It's probably Vastra." Danni pointed out, rubbing her eyes before groping for her glasses, "I'll get it."
"No, it's fine." He muttered, reaching out and picking the handset up, "Yes, what?" He snapped, holding the phone to his ear in frustration, "My wife was asleep and I'm trying to read!"
"Miss Clara and her concerns about the snow." Vastra started without greeting, "I gave her the one-word test." He rolled his eyes, flipping through his book as if he was trying to prove to himself that he didn't care.
"Always pointless." He snapped, "What did she say?" There was a pause on the other side and he took the moment to glance down at his wife, who was obviously readjusting to being awake again, "Well?" He asked, still no reply, "Well?"
"Pond." The one word answer stunned him, he swallowed as his gaze shot right back to his wife, who was now kneeling and looking at him in confusion. He took the glasses off his face, Amy's glasses, and looked at them. So much love and hope and pain and loss associated with one small word.
"Doctor, what is it?" Danni asked, standing up in her concern at the way her husband seemed to freeze. He didn't reply, so she gently removed the phone from his grasp and held it to her ear, "What did she say?" She asked.
"Pond." Madame Vastra's voice replied, confirming her guess over who had been ringing them in the first place, "Strax has already suggested where to start investigating." Danni nodded, now completely understanding what had caused the Doctor to react like his world had just turned upside down.
"I'll give you a call back." Danni told the woman gently, hanging the phone up before turning to the Doctor, kneeling down in front of him, "You don't have to do anything, you know that, right?"
"How?" He croaked out before pulling her closer, resting his forehead on hers and squeezing his eyes shut. She tensed underneath him, much like she always did these days, but then she relaxed, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him back, albeit slightly gingerly.
"She won't know what the word means." She started slowly, not wanting to sound like an idiot but also wanting to help him by working through her train of thought, "There's no way. So she's telling us something else."
"It'll be what triggered her into coming back to find us." The Doctor replied tiredly, "I'm guessing you told her about Paternoster Row?" Danni shrugged, blushing slightly at being caught even though he hadn't opened his eyes so couldn't see her.
"She seemed nice." She offered, "So, an actual pond?"
"Most likely. And it'll have something to do with the snow." He opened his eyes, growling in his frustration as he leant back, running his free hand over his face, "Why can't they just leave us alone? Why is there always something?"
"Because the universe is horrible and scary." Danni replied, taking the glasses out of his hand before her broke then, folding them up before putting them in his pocket, "So when people see a beacon of hope and light, they flock towards it." She smiled softly at him, "That's you, by the way."
"I don't want them." He snapped passionately, "I just want it to be the two of us."
"No you don't." She told him and he blinked in surprise, "You love doing what you do, and something bad happening isn't going to change that. You're just scared."
"So are you." He retorted angrily and motioned with both hands towards her as she failed to hide the flinch at his raised voice, "See?! You can't even stand me touching you. You're terrified!"
"Well, do you blame me?" She snapped harshly, "A terrible thing happened and it was my fault!" His eyes narrowed in his confusion as she fell back to sit on her heels, "I can't do anything right! Everything I do ends in the people I love being hurt!" She sighed, "What's to stop me doing it again?"
"What happened was not your fault." He insisted, climbing off the chair and sitting next to her, "You've not hurt anyone, you did what you had to do."
"Yeah, right." She replied with a snort, "Look what I did to you! You won't do anything you love to do and it's all my fault!" She looked heartbroken and he sighed, wrapping her up in a hug that she returned gladly, "I'm so sorry, Theta."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." He promised, moving back and smirking a smirk she'd not seen in over a year, "How about we go see a girl about a pond?" Her eyes lit up in hope.
"Really?" She asked and he nodded, jumping up and spinning on the spot with an energy he'd forgotten he had.
"Come along, Danni-Girl!" He cried, clapping his hands in eagerness. She scrambled up off the floor, beaming.
"I'll go get changed!" She cried, turning and dashing out of the console room to change into her more Victorian-friendly clothing. His smile faltered as she disappeared, that feeling of trepidation coming back and he rung his hands together as he waited.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor jumped out of the window of the Institute, rushing over to Danni, who had done as she was told and had waited outside for him to do his investigating. He grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the street and away from the grand house that held the Great Intelligence.
"Were you all clever?" She asked as they dashed down the alley where he'd parked the TARDIS.
"Incredibly clever and hopelessly charming." He confirmed, reaching up and pulling the ladder down before motioning for her to climb first, "I made incredibly funny jokes, next time you can come so you can fully appreciate them! And now I know what pond means." She glanced back at him, her hearts swelling at the grin on his face, he looked like a child in a sweetshop he was so happy.
"Well?" She asked, "Are you going to tell me?" She stopped at the top, waiting for him to join her before heading up the spiral metal staircase.
"It's not snow, it's multi-nuclear crystalline organisms." He told her in a long ramble that almost sounded like one long word and made as much sense as it sounded, "It really does remember what it finds, and it's looking for something very particular."
"What's that?" She asked.
"DNA!" He cried, opening the TARDIS door and running to the console, "Human DNA to be exact! And our Mr Intelligence has found the perfect source for it." He turned finding her stood behind him, hanging onto his every word, waiting patiently for him to continue on, "A pond." He finished smugly, flipping the switch to send them off across London's sky.
"Brilliant." She breathed. He nodded, stepping closer and bowing his head, ready to do what he had always done when he'd figured something brilliant out, which was kiss her. But he stopped himself, with much protesting from other parts of him, and instead he rubbed her arm instead in affection.
Danni bit her lip as he let go, turning back to the console to make sure they didn't crash into anything important. He seemed disappointed, and truth be told she was too. She was sure he was going to kiss her, but she'd scared him away from trying and now he'd move away before even attempting.
The TARDIS rocked ever so slightly, indicating she had come to a stop and the Doctor turned around, smiling.
"Let's go look at a pond!" He exclaimed happily, feeling more himself than he had all year. He almost skipped to the door, doing a little bounce midway due to the bubbling excitement. Danni quickly fell by his side, desperately trying to bring up the courage to kiss him first, but the moment was gone and they were heading down the stairs once again.
~0~0~0~
It was night when they landed, which wasn't too bad for the Doctor really so Danni didn't comment on it. She did have a lot to say about him parking on the roof of the building, meaning the pair had to shimmy down the side of the grand house without being spotted, but he was having such a good time he just promised that she was a wonderful shimmier and she spent the next few minutes blushing.
"Body frozen in a pond," The Doctor drawled as he scanned the frozen pond to the front of the house with his screwdriver, reading the result as the end popped out, "the snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a full body scan." He strolled around the raised edge, looking down into it to try and see through the frosty ice, "Everything they need to evolve. Pond. Good point, Clara."
"So what do we do?" Danni asked, spotting Strax approach them before the Doctor. She smiled brightly at the Sontaran, "You'd better have brought me some pudding, Strax." She told him teasingly.
"It is in the carriage, ma'am." He replied as the Doctor spun around, pocketing his screwdriver as he did.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, snapping slightly out of habit, like he did whenever anyone who wasn't him was stood by Danni.
"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades." Strax told him, not at all fazed by the man's tone. The Doctor's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Grenades?" He exclaimed and Strax glanced at Danni, who shook her head to tell him that can't have been right.
"She might have said help." Strax corrected himself. They were one and the same to him, but not to these people.
"Help for what?" The Doctor challenged.
"Well, your investigation." Strax explained.
"Investigation?" The Doctor exclaimed in defence, "Who says I'm investigating? Do you think I'm going to start investigating just because my wife meets a bird and becomes infatuated with her?" He pointed at Strax, "Who do you think I am?" He turned away look back down at the ice.
"Sherlock Holmes." Strax replied knowingly, Danni snorting in shock and amusement at the cheek from the Sontaran. The Doctor spun, completely offended and he pointed at the short alien a few times before hopping onto the floor.
"Don't be clever, Strax, it doesn't suit you." He snapped and Strax looked down like a small child who didn't agree with being told off.
"Sorry, sir." He muttered, obviously not the least bit sorry.
"I'm the clever one," The Doctor continued, poking Strax right between his eyes, "you're the potato one."
"Yes, sir." Strax agreed with a roll of his eyes. He'd obviously been spending too much time around humans, he was picking up their habits.
"Now go away." He commanded grumpily, turning to hop back up on the pond edge.
"Yes..." Strax shot Danni a gleeful look, "Mr Holmes." He walked off, leaving the Doctor to stare after him in shock and Danni to burst out laughing.
"Oi! Shut up, you're not clever or funny and you've got tiny little legs!" He shouted after Strax before pointing down at Danni, "You used to be much less cheeky, you know?" She shook her head.
"Nah, I was always like this." She declared before climbing up onto the edge next to him, struggling slightly with the large skirt of her dress, "Is that who I am? The cheeky one?" He nodded, shooting his hand out to the side to link his fingers through hers before she could stop him. She didn't, she didn't even pull away, "So, what do we do about the frozen lady?" The Doctor opened his mouth, ready to ramble around the fact he had absolutely no idea when they were both bathed in a faint glow from the first floor of the grand house. Up in the window Clara waved tentatively at them, the Doctor replying with a hesitant one of his own while Danni waved enthusiastically.
Clara motioned for them both to come upstairs, which the Doctor wasn't too convinced about. He motioned between himself and Danni before pointing up at Clara, who nodded and motioned again. He turned to Danni, huddling them both away from Clara's view.
"Right, I'll tell her that we're leaving and we're not going up." He told her lowly, making a crossing motion before pushing away from himself with both hands.
"Let me tell her." Danni replied and he nodded, it'd probably not hurt so much coming from his beautiful Danni-Girl. They both turned around and Danni beamed, holding both thumbs up before pointing to Clara, "Five minutes!" She shout-whispered, putting as much force as she could behind the whisper without actually saying it loudly. She held up her hand, fingers and thumb splayed to indicate the five minutes. Clara beamed and disappeared behind the curtains as the Doctor stared at Danni, mouth open.
"Oh, she thinks we're coming now." Danni exclaimed with a mock sigh, "Oh well, let's go. Can't leave her waiting." She jumped down off the edge, the skirt poofing around her legs, "It'll take me a while to shimmy back up that pipe again." She stared up at him expectantly and he jumped down, taking her face in his hands. He opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to form the words to tell her off, before realising he really was looking forward to investigating the woman in the ice.
"Oh…" He leant forward, placing a kiss on her forehead, "Come along, Danni-Girl!" Hand in hand, they rushed off.
~0~0~0~
"We should go to the children's bedroom." The Doctor whispered as Danni pushed one of the doors open, revealing what she had suspected to be the playroom. It had taken her longer than she'd suspected to climb back up the building; next time he can park on the ground like a normal person.
"We can't, it's creepy for two strangers to barge into a child's bedroom." She hissed in reply, stepping in and closing the door quietly when the Doctor had followed her.
"That's new to this regeneration too." He pointed out, "When did you start to think that?" He picked up a wooden horse off the shelving unit, making it gallop across the air.
"I've always thought that." She replied. She headed to the window, looking down at the pond down below, "I think this is the room she was in, anyway. I can see the pond from here." She pushed up on her toes to get a better look, something didn't seem right about the pond.
"She won't be able to find us." He grumbled as she gasped, realising that she could see the reflection of the moon on the water, "We're both fantastic hiders."
"Doctor, the pond's thawed!" She cried and he rushed over, trying his best not to nudge her out of the way as he looked out.
"That's not good." He declared.
"Naughty, naughty children!" Both their heads snapped around at the sound of the old lady's voice cackling in the next room. The Doctor grabbed her hand, dragging her over to what appeared to be a puppet tent.
"Get down!" He commanded, pushing her down behind it and joining her on the floor as the door was flung open.
"What do we do?" A little girl cried in panic as the door was bolted shut. The old governess began to try and beat her way through the door as the Doctor pulled his screwdriver out, shaking it a couple of times before holding it up to his ear, but not setting it off.
"Frannie, Frannie, imagine her melting." Clara commanded, her words coming out quickly in her panic.
"What?!" The little girl, Frannie, exclaimed.
"In your head, melt her." Clara shouted.
"I can't!" Frannie cried, sounding terrified.
"I'm getting impatient!" There were a few more bangs then the door flew open, "You have been VERY naughty!" Danni peaked over the edge of the opening for the puppets, seeing the see-through ice-woman for only a moment before the Doctor pulled her back down.
"What about the man? You said the man was here, the cloud man and his wife." The young boy with Clara and Frannie rambled out.
"Stay down." The Doctor hissed, pulling a puppet onto his hand before using his thumb and finger to make it move.
"Punch?" She asked in the same hushed tones. He smirked wolfishly, making the puppet nod.
"Well, he's not, is he?" Clara snapped, frustrated and terrified herself.
"Where's the Doctor?" The boy asked again.
"I don't know!" Clara cried as the Doctor put the puppet above his head.
"Doctor? Doctor who?" He passed it the screwdriver, making it set it up. The governess shrieked before exploding, the ice shards scattering throughout the room. The Doctor shot up from his spot and Danni rushed out and over to the two children, "That's the way to do it!"
"Are you okay?" Danni asked the two children, brushing the shards off their nightclothes, "I'm Danni, he's the Doctor and you're going to be okay."
"You've come to stop my bad dreams?" Frannie asked hopefully and Danni nodded, rubbing her arm in comfort.
"The Doctor will." She promised, "He's brilliant like that." She ruffled the boy's hair as the Doctor knelt on the floor next to where the governess has last been, scanning the wet patches with his screwdriver.
"Where did she go? Will she come back?" Frannie asked him. He looked over his shoulder at the young girl before turning back to his screwdriver, the end popping out as he flicked his wrist and he read the results.
"No, don't worry. She's currently draining through your carpet." He stood up, turning around to face them as he tossed the screwdriver in the air, "New setting, anti-freeze, and you're very welcome, by the way."
"I'm very grateful." Clara told him honestly, "I knew you'd come."
"No, you didn't," The Doctor snapped, "because we don't."
"Yes we do." Danni interrupted and he shot her an annoyed look. She challenged it with one of her own, "He just won't admit it."
"This isn't the sort of thing we do any more." He told both of them firmly, because this was a one time deal. He took his scarf off, chucking it to one side as he began to pace the room, "Next time you're in trouble, don't expect us to..." He trailed off, coming to a stop in front a mirror that hung on the wall. He slowly walked towards it, his eyes trained on the small piece of fabric tied around his neck in a slightly skewed bow. Clara and the children rushed over behind him, seeing his attention being pulled away from them.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Clara asked quickly, wondering if she had to get the children out of the room.
"Sorry, it's just..." He pointed to the bowtie he could see in the mirror, "Didn't know I'd put it on. Old habits..." He straightened it, amazed at how much more himself he looked and felt with the tie around his neck. He looked up, seeing Danni stood to the side, hands clasped in front of her, "You never said…"
"I like it." She replied with a soft smile, "Bow ties are cool." The grin on his face grew as Clara frowned next to him, feeling the distinct chill the room had taken on.
"It's cooler." She declared and Danni frowned; she was right. Danni darted to the window, seeing the snow falling rapidly outside.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it? It is very cool. Bow ties are cool!" The Doctor rambled.
"No, the room. The room is getting colder." Clara insisted as Danni looked over her shoulder.
"Doctor, it's snowing outside!" She called over and he turned to see the rug move, a bulge appearing as the ice crackled, the governess coming back to life.
"She's coming back!" Frannie exclaimed, back to being terrified, "What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" Danni rushed over, helping Clara shield the children from the impending danger as the Doctor stood in front of them, sonic at the ready.
"Uh... uh..." He set it off, but the bulge kept growing as she repaired herself. He smacked the screwdriver against his hand, but it still didn't work so he rushed over to stand in front of Danni, "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."
"Doctor!" Danni admonished, turning to Frannie who whimpered in fright, "Of course she's not going to eat you. But we need to run, now." She held her hand out to the little girl, who clung to her and Clara grabbed her brother's hand as they all ran out of the room into the hallway. Midway the two women made the children hold each other's hands, ushering them in front of them as Clara followed them towards the stairs, Danni falling to the Doctor's side and taking his hand in hers.
The door opened downstairs, just across from the stairs and a man in a suit appeared, looking cross as the children bounded down the stairs, "Children, what is exp…" He trailed off as he spotted the two strangers following his governess, "Who the devil are you?! What are you doing in my house?"
"It's OK!" The Doctor exclaimed, "I am your governess' gentleman friend and this is my wife, and we've just been upstairs," he clapped his hands together, "kissing!" Danni shook her head, grimacing as Clara stared at him, wide eyed in disbelief.
A maid suddenly appeared from behind the stairs, flailing as she ran up the man, whose confusion seemed to be overriding his anger.
"Captain Latimer, in the garden, there's snowmen!" She cried, sounding incredibly northern compared to the others' southern accents. She turned, running towards the front door, "And they're just growing, out of nowhere, all by themselves - look!" She chucked the door open, expecting to see a bunch of snowmen staring at her, but was instead greeted by Vastra and Jenny.
"Good evening, I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife!" Vastra announced, a large amount of amusement in her voice as the maid screamed and headed back to her employer as Strax appeared from the same way she'd appeared from in the first place.
"This dwelling is under attack! Remain calm, human scum!" He commanded in his most authoritative voice. The maid screamed a final time before falling to the floor in a dead faint, landing at Captain Latimer's feet. The Doctor and Danni headed down the stairs, both of them briefly checking to make sure the maid was okay before smiling at Latimer, the Doctor patting him on the arm.
"So! Any questions?" He asked brightly. Latimer stared at him for a moment before looking up at Clara.
"You have a... gentleman friend?" He asked, sounding wounded. Clara sighed, rolling her eyes like she should have been expecting that whilst the Doctor's brows furrowed, why was that important?
"Actually, he's mine." Danni snapped from his side and his gaze shot to her, startled by the venom in her voice. She was glaring at Latimer, offended he'd even suggest anything of the sort, "You'd all do very well to remember that." With that, she dragged the Doctor into the sitting room Latimer had excited. The Doctor tried to hide his glee at the fact that Danni had shown genuine jealously at someone claiming him as someone else's. He needed to get her jealous more often, perhaps they'd get back to kissing soon.