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Jake's group quickly cleared the area, making sure to remove all traces of the Cybermen from the room. They knew from experience that a dead Cyberman didn't mean it was now harmless. Jake stood next to Danni and the Doctor, giving orders before looking down and smirking cockily at her.
"Don't you worry," He told her, "I'll personally make sure that nothing bad happens to you." Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at his flirtatious tone while the Doctor frowned, now suddenly very uncomfortable. Wasn't Jake in a relationship with Ricky before he died?
"Will you?" She asked, trying not to laugh because he was quite adorable. He nodded and held his hand out to her.
"Jake Simmonds." He introduced himself. Noting very briefly that he must not have met her before, meaning she never went to Pete's Universe, she took his hand. Before she could answer he pulled her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it, "And you are?"
"Taken." The Doctor snapped, Danni's head shooting around to stare at him, surprised. Even he seemed confused at his own exclamation, like he wasn't sure why he'd said anything at all. Danni turned back to Jake, nodding with an apologetic smile, gently taking her hand back.
"He's right, I'm afraid." A woman who was dragging a Cyberman leg past them rolled her eyes and nodded to Jake.
"Ignore him, he'll flirt with anything with a pulse." She warned jokingly.
"Ah," Danni replied in the same tone, "I have a friend just like that." What was Jack up to during the Battle of Canary Warf anyway? She'd have to ask him one day. She turned back to Jake, "My name's Danielle Fielding, everyone calls me Danni though." His face lit up in recognition.
"Oh, so you're the Danni-Girl Mickey's always going on about." He stated, "Never stops talking about you." Danni smiled happily, loving that Mickey liked her that much he kept her in his thoughts in Pete's Universe.
"That will be me." She agreed, "Can't wait to see him again." The woman came back over, smiling warmly at the trio.
"Area's clear, boss." She told him and he nodded.
"Excellent. Gather 'round!" He called and the rest of the group joined him in the middle of the room, waiting for their next orders. Danni looked up at the Doctor, who was still eyeing Jake with a slight scowl.
"He seems nice." She whispered, "Do I not go with you to Pete's Universe?"
"Pete's Universe?" He asked.
"Yeah, where Pete Tyler's still alive." She explained.
"Why Pete?" He pressed, still slightly confused over why she was calling it that. It wasn't the first time she'd called it that, but she hadn't even been on that adventure, so why was she so focused on him?
"Because he's the only change that mattered to Rose." She replied and his eyes widened fractionally. Rose, he'd forgotten about her again. What was wrong with him?
"Defend this room." Jake was telling the group before turning back to the woman who warned Danni away from him, "Chrissie, monitor communications." The woman, Chrissie apparently, nodded. The Doctor pulled out his 3D glasses and put them on, staring over the group, before taking them off again, "Kill one Cyber Leader and they just download into another. Move!" He snapped and the group jumped into action, rushing around to do what they were ordered to do. Jake moved back over to the pair as the Doctor stared at them all incredulously.
"You can't just- just- just HOP from one world to another. You CAN'T." He exclaimed.
"We just did. With these." Jake replied, chucking a large yellow button at him, the chain rattling loudly. The Doctor looked at it, turning it over in his hands, confused as Jake handed Danni one.
"But that's impossible. You can't have this sort of technology." The Doctor protested. Jake shrugged.
"We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it." He smirked sneakily, "Do you wanna come and see?" Jake reached out, his hand smacking the button around his own neck. The Doctor's eyes went wide in alarm and his hand shot out, a look of recognition on his face. A big, yellow button...
"NO!" He screamed in protest, but it was too late. In a flash of light, they all disappeared, Danni screaming in absolute agony as her Manipulator protested, burning deeply into her arm.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor's eyes started shooting around the moment they landed in the darker, parallel version of Torchwood. The room was in a terrible state of disrepair, the equipment that had been in the office they'd just been in strewn across the floor, wires ripped out and monitors smashed. His first thought was the obvious, that they Cybermen had obviously made it here first and done quite the number of it. His second, more frightening thought, was of the distinct lack of red hair anywhere in the room.
"Parallel Earth - parallel Torchwood. Except we found out what the institute was doing and the people's republic took control." Jake explained. Okay, so not the Cybermen. That didn't matter, though, because there was still no red-headed time jumper anywhere in the room.
"Where's Danni?" He bit out and Jake frowned as if he had only just noticed she wasn't there. The Doctor felt himself go rigid. This is what humans got for messing around with advanced technology. She could be anywhere, she could have landed in the Void for all he knew and Jake only had the decency to looked slightly confused. The young man bent down, picking up another yellow button off the floor.
"Well, her disk made it here safe." He mused and the Doctor growled in frustration.
"I've gotta get back." He demanded, "I have to make sure she's okay."
"All in due time," Another voice added and Pete Tyler joined them in the room, flanked by two soldiers, "Doctor. At least this time I know who you are." The Doctor rolled his eyes and rushed over to him.
"Right, yes, fine, hooray." He rattled off, "But I've gotta get back. Right now."
"No, you're not in charge here." Pete replied calmly, in contrast with the frustration the Doctor was emitting, "This is our world, not yours. And you're gonna listen for once." The Doctor glared at him, not saying a word. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all.
~0~0~0~
Danni groaned, her head spinning as she slowly joined the land of the living once more. Her arm still burnt from being shot across time, much more than she was used to. In fact, it hadn't been this bad since she'd landed in the Pandorica. Voices started floating around her head, it sounded like people bickering. Oh great, she'd landed in the middle of a couple having an argument. Perhaps if she kept her eyes shut they wouldn't notice she was even there.
"We can't just leave her on the floor!" One voice protested angrily. Male, she was sure of it.
"Well, every time we try and move her she sobs in pain." Another male voice retorted, "What do you want me to do, hurt her more?"
"Maybe we should try and wake her up." A female voice interjected, "She told me being transported hurt but not this bad. It might not be anything to do with manipulator."
"That's another thing. Why won't it come off her arm?" Jack? Was that Jack?
"It's a fixed point in time." The female explained. Rose? Jack and Rose? That must mean she was with Nine. God, she was early.
"How is that even possible?" Jack protested, "No one can just have a fixed point on their arm. They're either fully a fixed point, or just a normal person."
"Shows what you know, doesn't it?" Danni groaned, sitting up and rubbing her temples, "And, next time, my bed would have been a fine place to put me." She looked up from the floor of the console room, seeing Jack crouched down next to her, Rose just to his side. Nine was leaning against the console just up from them, his arms crossed and a slightly concerned look on his face.
"Danni-Girl!" Jack cheered in relief, helping her off the floor. She swayed slightly and he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her steady, "Woah, there. What happened?"
"I... I'm not sure." She admitted, looking around, "Did a big yellow button land with me?" Jack frowned, shaking his head.
"Was there supposed to be one?" He asked, still confused.
"Obviously not." She muttered. She looked down at her arm, the manipulator slowly cooling down. It was if it was protesting about being taken from the Vortex and had thrown her away from danger, "It would seem that I can't travel to different universes. Which is strange, all things considering." Now that she thought about it, though, it had been incredibly painful when she'd first been pulled to the Whoniverse. She'd been knocked out and the TARDIS had pulled a Runaway Bride into her shell at the same time.
"You were trying to get to another universe?" The Doctor asked sceptically, "That's not even possible anymore."
"And it still shouldn't be, but I just watched you be sucked away into another universe by a big, yellow button so I wouldn't count on it anymore." She retorted, "But that's not here and now, that's then and there. What was going on before I rudely interrupted you by appearing out of no where?" Rose hopped forward, smiling brightly, suddenly very excited. Once she'd deemed Danni to be fine, which was the moment she had begun to sass the Doctor, she knew that they'd could get back on course.
"The Doctor's going to take us to a planet that's completely underwater." She gushed eagerly, "But none of the people can breath in water, so everything is built in glass bubbles." She was pleased to see Danni looking sufficiently interested, because Jack had been less than enthusiastic.
"I've been there before, it's not that exciting." Jack pointed out. Danni elbowed him in the side, making him exclaim in exaggerated pain.
"Everywhere is exciting." She scolded lightly before turning to the Doctor, "Well, what are we waiting for, Spaceman? Chop chop." The Doctor shook his head.
"The TARDIS is not a taxi service." He grumbled, "I could just as easily turn this time machine around and take you all home." Rose smiled cheekily, linking her arm through his and leaning on his leather-jacketed arm.
"You wouldn't." She challenged, "What would you do without me?" He looked down at her, his eyes softening at the sight of Rose Tyler grinning from ear to ear.
"What would I do, indeed?" He replied. Danni looked up at Jack, who exaggeratedly rolled his eyes at the love-struck look on the pair's faces.
"They're like a couple of teenagers." He stated and Danni nodded, taking Jack's arm from around her waist and linking his fingers.
"Oh, wait until he regenerates." She retorted, "The gooey-eyes are sickening." He frowned, looking back at the pair, the Doctor showing Rose some of the controls again. He'd shown her a few times before, and nothing seemed to sink in, but he loved to show off to her.
"I thought in his future, you two, you know..." He shot her a pointed look and she nodded, a faint blush appearing on her face.
"We do." She replied, "But not for a long time into his future. This is Rose's time." She smiled bittersweetly. Jack couldn't understand how she was so okay with it, and promptly told her so. She shrugged, "I'm not okay with it." She admitted quietly, "It breaks my heart, quite frankly, that I was never able to be with any Doctor before Eleven. But..." She squeezed Jack's hand, bringing herself comfort rather than reassuring him, "But I could spend my time sad about it, or I could just get on and enjoy myself, knowing that when I get back to my Doctor, he'll see how sad I am and he'll make me feel better again."
"You know, I don't like how this Time Lord has so much say in your life." Jack stated after a moment, "I guess it's up to me to make sure you remember how fantastic you are without him." She smiled widely at him.
"Oh, you do." She reassured him, "If I'm particularly sad, once he's had a go at cheering me up, he takes me to you. He knows I love nothing more than spending time with my Big Boe Face." Jack grinned, then turned his attention on the two at the console.
"Hey, you two." He called over, jolting them out of their little bubble, "How about we head to Atala instead of you two making gooey eyes at each other?" Rose rolled her eyes, taking the tease for what it was, while the Doctor's cheeks tinged a slight pink and he coughed.
"I'd like to see you get us there quicker." He retorted, flipping a switch and sending them flying through space and time.
~0~0~0~
Rose and Danni stepped out, linked arms, into the lobby of the grand building they had landed in. Both were in shorts and sandals, Danni with a plain t-shirt whilst Rose had gone with a more daring spaghetti strapped top. The Doctor had told them it would quite humid and to dress light, and for once he had been right. Both she and Rose gazed around, entranced by the sheer beauty of the architecture, all high columns and white marble. The people wandering around were in flowing, cotton dresses or baggy shorts, all in a variety of bright colours. The whole place screamed ancient civilization, except for the fact the no one batted an eyelid at the blue box that suddenly materialized. And the fact that quite a few of them seemed to be talking into earpieces.
"It's so hot." Danni exclaimed in surprise, fanning herself with one hand as they headed towards the large double doors that lead to the outside world.
"Told you." The Doctor retorted smugly, "The planet is ever so slightly closer to their sun than the earth, keeping the water surrounding the glass slightly warmer. That keeps the air inside the glass warmer, hence the more Mediterranean climate." They stepped out into the street, which carried on the ancient themes of stone buildings with terracotta roofs. The streets were dusty, with no paving, but no one seemed to care as they walked around in either sandals or no shoes at at all. The streets were heaving, but everyone seemed to be heading in one direction.
"Where's everybody going?" Rose asked curiously. The Doctor glanced down the road, back at the people and smiled a big grin.
"Oh, it's a wedding." He exclaimed, rubbing his hands together, "I do love a good public spectacle. Come on, let's go watch the masses." Still arm in arm with Danni, Rose pulled the ginger woman along as she listened to the Doctor explain about public weddings in Atala. Danni's attention, however, was pulled above her at the ocean being held at bay by the gigantic glass domes. Her mouth slightly agape, she was struck dumb by all the fish swimming above them, shining in the sunlight from above the water's surface. Big shoals of tiny ones swan together as one, big shark-light creatures weaving between them looking for their next meal. Ever since seeing the fish through Kazran's eyes back with Eleven, she'd suddenly found herself with a greater appreciation for the aquatic creatures. The way they moved was truly memorising.
"Like what you see?" Jack teased next to her and she nodded, falling back into the conversation.
"So, when did the settlers come here?" She asked the Doctor, who frowned at her in confusion. She waved at the glass dome, "These aren't natural, are they? Someone must have come here and built them."
"The Atalaians are actually much older than you little humans." He explained, "And much more advanced than they let on. One day the planet fell out of it's orbit and the seas began to rise. They built the glass domes to protect their cities whilst explorers went out in search of an answer to move them back. Eventually they made it to Earth, which is where the myths of Atlantis came from." He glanced down at Danni, a huge grin on his face at a memory that had obviously appeared from no where, "Good old Plato. He had been born on the ship that eventually landed just outside Greece near the end of the 5th century BC and told the world of his home planet. Obviously, no body believed he was an alien so the myths get twisted, so it became a lost continent rather than a lost planet."
"Is that why there's so much Greek architecture?" She asked, the Doctor happy that she seemed so interested. Rose would listen to the history of a place, the facts that made it what it was, but he got the feeling she wouldn't care if he never said anything about it. Danni genuinely seemed to want to know, "Because some made it back." He nodded.
"They brought back drawings and influences that spread across this side of the planet. The other side is all high-rises and hover cars. But this, this is pure culture. It's fantastic!" She giggled and nodded.
"That it is." She agreed. Being with Nine was always such a strange experience, mainly because she rarely landed on him. He had such a short tenure, with very little happening outside the 13 episodes of Christopher Eccleson's run, that there wasn't much for her to fly off to. But, her experience with him was so different to the other two Doctors. Ten could be mean when he was with Rose, but with Martha and especially Donna he was excitable, like a puppy who's friend had come to play. Eleven liked to show off, he'd get cocky and make sure that everyone knew that she was with him. Nine didn't show off because he never had the need to, he knew how awesome he was and everyone was supposed to be able to fall in line with that. But he also didn't know her enough to fully trust her, or care about her like he did Rose, or even Jack. He was intrigued by her, she could tell, but beyond that he probably wouldn't notice if she'd never come back again.
It was horrible having the man she loved barely give her a second glance.
"Who's getting married?" Rose asked and Danni forced back the sigh that always wanted to break out at the way the Doctor's attention was immediately drawn back to Rose and not on her.
"Some nobility, since it's outside..." The Doctor started and Jack took a hold of Danni's hand, pulling her back again as Rose and the Doctor headed on.
"I guess you're not really into weddings?" Jack asked her and she shrugged.
"Not really." She admitted, "I mean, celebrating with people you care about is one thing, but some random person you've never met before?"
"So you and the Doctor don't ever tie the knot?" He teased and she smiled sadly, shaking her head.
"Not this Doctor, no." She explained, "He did propose, and I said yes two hundred years earlier. But … I don't know." She sighed, "I've been told we do get married, but I can't see it myself. I mean, when would be even find the time?" Jack barked out a laugh, shaking his head at her.
"Well, all I ask is that you remember to invite me, even if I'm old and grey." She nodded, crossing over her heart.
"Don't worry, I would never forget you." She promised with a smile, "After all, who else would walk me down the aisle?" Jack blinked in surprised, temporarily stunned by her casual request.
"Really?" He asked and she nodded, looking confused at his surprise.
"Who else would I ask?" She pointed out, "You're my Big Boe Face." He'd pulled her to a stop, staring at her in complete bewilderment. He hadn't known her for very long, but here she was asking him to basically step in for her father, basically saying he was the most important man in her life. Well, apart from the man she was actually marrying, but he chose to ignore that. Her brows were furrowed slightly before a smile broke out on her face, "Are you okay?" He nodded, laughing in joy and picking her up in a great big bear hug, spinning her around and he cheered. Rose and the Doctor stopped, turning to see Danni giggling almost hysterically as Jack set her back down on the ground.
"Are you two coming or what?" The Doctor called and Jack waved.
"Be there in a minute, Doc!" He called back before taking both of Danni's hands, "I promise you won't regret it." She rolled her eyes.
"Always with the dramatics with you, isn't it?" She teased, "Come on, Boe Face." He nodded, keeping hold of one hand as they jogged to keep up with the other two. They turned the corner onto a large main street to see it lined with people and stalls. Danni grimaced slightly at the brightly coloured flowers decorating the buildings down either side of the street, multicoloured bunting hanging in between with bright streamers overlapping them. There were tables full of free food, the paper cloths a horrid green colour. At the end of the street was a platform, a very modern but still slightly bizarre large photograph of who she guessed was the couple presiding over the gathering, looking adoringly into each others eyes.
"Oh wow..." Rose breathed as she looked it over, Danni nodding slowly.
"You could say that." She replied, believing Rose was observing it in the same, slightly disgusted light she was. Instead, Rose's open mouth turned to a beaming smile.
"This is fantastic." All three of them looked at her, bewildered by her reaction. It reminded her of all the weddings her mum had taken her to as a child, but on a much larger scale. There were clashing colours because it was the 90's, awful outfits because, again, it was the 90's and there were flowers everywhere. Okay, it might have not been a classically beautiful wedding, but it was what she used to associate with weddings as a child and that never went away.
"Really?" The Doctor asked, "Are you sure?" She nodded.
"Of course I am." She retorted, "Come on, let's mingle." The Doctor shook his head.
"Oh no, I'm don't 'mingle' at weddings." He protested, "I observe. You go right ahead, I'm not always going to be there to hold your hand." Rose pouted and turned to Danni, who shook her head. She could see where this was going, and if she went, Jack would go too and the Doctor would be left on his own, sulking like a child.
"It looks like a clown threw up on everything." She explained, "I might go back to the TARDIS." Rose tried Jack, who rolled his eyes and offered his arm.
"Come on, let's leave the two killjoys to their misery." He teased, leading Rose into the crowd and leaving the Doctor and Danni stood in a slightly uncomfortable silence.
"Did you know there was a wedding?" Danni asked him, just to have something to say. He shook his head.
"I was aiming a bit earlier than this." He admitted, "But no matter." Danni giggled slightly and he shot her a slightly puzzled, "What?" He asked with his own smile, always happy when someone else was happy.
"You never get your aim right." She told him, "Always a little bit out. A week, a year, fourteen. You might learn to fly her one day." He nudged her, knowing she was teasing him, but still feeling the wound in his pride.
"Hey, I can fly her just fine, thank you very much." He retorted. As she was about to continue to prod him, but was interrupted by a woman in a bright pink dress pushing between the two, a couple more following her quickly. Danni chucked her hands up in front of her, shooting the woman an annoyed look.
"Excuse you." She muttered angrily. She was still astounded by the lack of manners around the universe. Her parents had raised her better than that.
"... She can stick her stupid flower girl post where the sun don't shine!" The woman was ranting to her friends.
"She just wants all blonde flower girls." Another one protest, "Can't you just dye your hair, Tammy?" The woman, to her credit, looked outraged at the suggestion.
"No, I bloody can't. I didn't want to do it in the first place! She's a total nightmare to be around, you know that." Danni glanced up at the Doctor, before stepping in between the three women, Tammy looking ready to take a swing at her friend.
"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to overhear, but I think that we may have the solution to your problem." She smiled brightly at the trio.