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The first thing the Doctor heard was the loud, incessant banging of someone who was trying to beat their way back into a house through sheer force. He blinked, taking a moment before he realised that he was lying on the floor in a doorway, staring up at the wooden frame.
"You have to keep him out, Rory." Amy was saying from somewhere to his side and he tilted his head, seeing her crouched next to him but looking at her husband, who was standing at the front door.
"How? Have you seen the size of him?" Rory snapped in reply.
"Okay, I'm getting fist..." The Doctor muttered to himself, pulling Amy's attention to him as River came down the stairs.
"I don't think she can hear us." The blonde woman told them all, "She's listening to some awful music, though."
"She always does when she's in the shower." Amy replied before turning to the Doctor, "Are you okay?"
"Was that Jack?" He asked her, "It felt like Jack." She nodded. Then, seeing he was okay, smacked him hard in the shoulder, standing up.
"Where the hell have you been?" She shouted at him and River rolled her eyes at her anger.
"Calm down, mother." She drawled, "Danni'll hear you." The Doctor pushed himself up, brushing himself down as he looked at the family, trying to work out what was going on.
"I've missed something, haven't I?" He asked them and Amy smacked him again, "Ow!" He rubbed his arm, looking almost offended that she'd hurt him, "What was that for?"
"Five months!" She exclaimed, furious, "It's been five months!"
"No." He shook his head, laughing it off, "It's been 28 days."
"Of course it has." River snapped back, "Because she's going to just make that up, isn't she?" The Doctor spun on his heels to glare at the Pond child.
"I said 28 days." He told her firmly, "And that's what it's been."
"It's okay to leave me and Rory waiting." Amy continued, "We're used to it. But you missed her birthday, and Christmas! We found her curled up after she'd cried herself to sleep because you didn't turn up!"
"I didn't leave her." He insisted, "I mean, I haven't left her." He turned to Rory, the sensible one out of all the group, staring imploringly at him, "Rory, what's happened?"
"You've been five months." Rory broke to him gently, "She's moving up to Cardiff with Jack tomorrow because she didn't want to be here when you came back." The Doctor continued to stare at Rory, his mouth slightly open as the words replayed in his head again and again, accented by Jack who was still trying to get into the house. Danni was trying to get away from him? His Danni-Girl was running away from him?
This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to be what happened. She couldn't leave him. He had to stop her.
"I have to see her." He declared suddenly, spinning to run up the stairs when River grabbed his arm firmly, pulling him back down the first step.
"She won't want to see you." River told him, a smirk on her face. She loved the fact that his world was crashing around him, that his 'Danni-Girl' was leaving him heartbroken, "Do you blame her? She's literally given her life to you, and you can't even show up on time."
"Let me go, River." He snarled, eyes blazing. She was trying to panic him, he knew, but it was working. He had to talk to Danni, he couldn't believe anything they were saying until she told him herself.
"You didn't even come when she was in hospital." River continued harshly.
"Hospital?" He asked, alarmed and she nodded.
"Couldn't even be bothered to check your messages, could you?" She taunted, enjoying every minute of his misery. A girl had to have some fun, after all.
"I didn't have the time." He dismissed, "Let me go, River." Amy frowned at his reply, looking at Rory who also seemed slightly concerned by his words.
"You did come straight here, didn't you Doctor?" Amy asked him slowly and he looked at her, incredulous.
"Don't be ridiculous, Pond." He snapped, "Of course I did." He turned back to River, "If you don't let me go, I have my ways to make you do it by force." He warned her darkly and she let go of his arm, holding her hands up.
"You want to upset her further, go right ahead." She challenged, "But don't say I didn't warn you." Without another glance at the others he took the stairs two at a time.
"Should we really let him go up there?" Rory asked and River shot him a smile, patting him on the shoulder as she headed to the front door.
"Don't worry, Daddy dearest." River replied, "If not, we've still got Jack to set on him."
~0~0~0~
"Going to take you apart. I'll put us back together at heart!" Danni sang along with her music, rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, making it that lovely smooth that she loved to run her fingers through. It was rather difficult, considering one of them had a cast covering to the middle of her palm and was in a make-shift plastic bag/glove, but she persevered. Then there was banging on the door, a male voice calling... something. Between the music and the shower pounding against the inside of the bathtub, she couldn't actually tell who they were or what they were saying.
"Hold on!" She called, turning the water off but they continued to bang, obviously not hearing her either. Great. She rung her hair out, climbing out of the bath and automatically putting her necklace back on before wrapping a towel around her, "I'm coming!" She snapped, turning the music off and unlocking the door, throwing it open.
"Danni..." The Doctor breathed, eyes wide as he panted, his cheek bright red as he took her in. She stared back, eyes just as wide, having been expecting anyone but him. What had happened to her? Her beautiful eye was surrounded by a healing but dark bruise, her arm in a cast inside a carrier bag. She had cuts on her skin. He wanted to reach out and stroke her cheek, but he was stunned by the state she was in.
She immediately slammed the door in his face, locking it with the bolt on her side of the door. He began hammering desperately on the door again, "Danni, please! Let me in!"
"Go away!" She shouted back, sliding to the floor, "I have nothing to say to you."
"I didn't know!" He promised, stopping his pounding as he stared at the white wood barrier between the two. With a flick of his sonic screwdriver he'd be able to unlock the door easily, but he didn't want to upset her any more. His Danni-Girl, his everything was behind that door and he had to convince her to let him in on her own, "Please, Danni. Just let me in."
"No!" She shouted back, "You left me here. You said 28 days!"
"I meant it." He promised, hand against the door, " I came straight here, I promise! I was only supposed to be 28 days."
"You left me here with nothing." She was crying, and fingers clenched, desperation running through him. She couldn't cry without him being there to hold her. How many times had she cried over the last five months without him there to cuddle up against? How many times had she cried because of him?
"I'm sorry." Was all he could whisper, "Danielle, I'm so sorry."
"So am I." She whispered in reply as something hit his foot. He frowned at the silver chain that appeared, reaching down as his hearts stopped. He picked it up, the TARDIS key dangling in the air, "I waited for you to stop hating me. I waited for you to be ready to love me back. I waited for you to be on the same page as me. I can't wait anymore." He stared at the door, his stomach ached, a cold sweat running over him. This couldn't be happening, he couldn't... he'd only been four weeks. This wasn't what was supposed to happen? He'd seen her happily married, it was supposed to be to him!
"I'll never leave you to wait again." He begged, "I came straight here! Just come out and we can talk about this. I can't lose you, Danni. Please, please let me make it up to you."
"I... I can't." She whimpered, pulling her knees to her chest, the overwhelming need to throw the door open and never let him go making her cry harder.
"I'm not going anywhere." He told her resolutely, sitting down and leaning against the door himself, "Not until you talk to me."
"I'll call Jack." She threatened weakly.
"Go right ahead." He challenged, settling down for a long wait, "I'll just keep coming back. And if you run away, I'll just have to follow you." He grasped the key in his fist, frowning as he felt something else digging into his palm. He opened it up and saw the gold band hanging next to it. Confused, he held up closer to his eyes, spinning it around as he saw the engraving on the inside.
I'm Always Jumping to You.
"Is... Is this a wedding ring?" He asked, voice hoarse.
"It was." She replied tearfully, "It's just a ring, now." He looked down at it again, seeing Danni down on one knee, a giant silly grin on her face and tears in her eyes as she held it out to him. Once again their attempt at making it official, in at least one culture anyway, had fallen short, but it wasn't supposed to be hers. If he had just been on time, if he could just fly that stupid time machine properly none of this would have happened!
He turned around, kneeling on the floor, reaching out to the door and pushing his palm against it, wondering if she was doing to the same on the other side.
"I'm so sorry." He started desperately, "Please, you have to understand, this wasn't my choice. I came straight here, I didn't want to make you wait around, again for me. You have been so," He paused for a moment, trying to decide how to word his thoughts, needing to get across just how much he needed her, "patient with me, I understand, I do. I will never be able to pay you back, but I need to try." He leant his forehead against the wood, closing his eyes, "You're the only thing in my life keeping me alive. My hearts will always belong to you, no matter how much time has passed. I will always follow you and I'm always, always coming back." He paused, listening for any movement on the other side of the door. None came and he let out his breath, "I love you, Danielle." He whispered, his hearts breaking, "Please don't leave me."
The lock on the door clicked as it was unlocked and he scrambled off the floor as Danni opened the door, still in her towel, hair dripping around her face, her lips pursed as stared stoically up at him.
~0~0~0~
River opened the front door into the dark night outside, smirking in amusement as Jack paused his angry pacing at the sound of her exiting the house. He had stopped his hammering when he heard the Doctor run up the stairs to accost Danni, realising it was pointless to try and break his way in, so he settled for impatiently waiting for the door to unlock.
"Are you letting me back in yet?" He asked sarcastically and she shook her head.
"Not with that attitude." She teased, sitting down on the wall at the front of the house, making sure not to dirty her dress up, "Care to join me, Captain?" Obviously frustrated, Jack sat next to her.
"We can't let him convince her to take him back." Jack ranted, "He's no good for her! All he does is hurt her." River held up her hands in surrender.
"You know how I feel about him." She retorted, "But you know that he's everything to her."
"We should be everything to her." He protested, "We're her family, not some..." He waved his hands as he tried to form the words, "Some poncey alien in a bow tie!"
"Regardless of what we feel about him," River interrupted his rant before it could insult the tie further, "You punching him isn't going to change how she feels about him. No matter how good it feels." If Jack hadn't gotten there first, River would have slapped the Doctor herself. She was still rather disappointed that Jack beat her to it, but she supposed there was still time.
"It felt pretty good." Jack admitted and they both chuckled slightly.
"You know as much as I do that they get back together." River broke to him, "And as much as he is terribly frustrating, we wouldn't have her if it wasn't for him. None of us would." Jack groaned, throwing his head back like a petulant teenager.
"You just had to remind me." He moaned before wrapping an arm around her waist, "Such a naughty girl, aren't you Doctor Song?" He asked pointedly, his voice dropping in tone as he shot her his best, smouldering smile. She twisted in his grasp, tilting her head so their lips were almost touching. Her long, slender fingers gently rested on his cheek and he leant down to close the kiss.
Instead, River moved and placed a peck on his cheek before pausing at his ear.
"You don't stand a chance." She whispered smugly before moving away, taking his arm from around her waist. He shook his head with a laugh.
"Not yet." He pointed out and they fell silent for a few moments, both enjoying their time together, "I still don't want him near her."
"They get married, Jack." River sighed, jumping off the wall, "None of us like it, but it's her choice who she marries. It could have been worse." He frowned slightly and she winked, "Spoilers." Was all she told him before sauntering back down the path, "Now, are you going to behave yourself, or do you need to stay in time out for a bit longer?" Jack grumbled as he jumped off the wall.
"Yes, mother." He mocked quietly and she looked over her shoulder at him, one eyebrow raised.
"Really?" She asked, "That's what you're going for?"
~0~0~0~
Danni tried to keep her cool whilst staring up at him, trying to show him that she was calm., ad collected, and wasn't just going to run back into his arms. But seeing his gorgeous, big, puppy dog eyes shining with tears as he looked so hopeful had her looking everywhere but directly at him.
"You'd better come in." She muttered, stepping out of the way. He quickly stumbled into the room and Danni closed the door behind him, moving to sit on the edge of the bathtub. The Doctor didn't know what to do, so he stood there, nervously twisting one hand in the other.
"Part of me thinks I'm being really unreasonable." Danni declared suddenly, refusing to look at him, "That you tried to make it on time, so I should forgive you and leave it at that." Sensing a 'but' coming, the Doctor tried to hold back his hope at that, because she did want to forgive him, "But I can't keep doing this. So, I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them honestly, okay?" She looked up at him expectantly and he nodded eagerly.
"Whatever you want." He promised and she nodded once.
"Okay." She paused for a moment, "Are you still angry with me over what happened on the Valiant?"
"No." He replied instantly and honestly, because that was an easy one, "I'm still jealous of him, sometimes, but never angry."
"Okay." She replied quietly before pausing, thinking over her next question carefully, "When we were on top of the pyramid, did you ask me to marry you because you wanted to marry me, or because you wanted me to get River to touch you?" He cringed at that before sighing in defeat.
"Both." He admitted before chucking his hands up in front of him, shaking his head as he saw the deep look of hurt pass over Danni's face, "Wait, wait, wait. I have a good explanation for that. I thought that if you knew what could happen after time restarted, that we;d be able to finally get married without the universe chasing me and stealing children to destroy me, you might have told River it was okay." He was talking with his hands again, waving them around like he did when he was passionate about something, making her believe what he was saying was true. It didn't comfort her any and she rubbed her broken wrist as she bit her bottom lip, wondering where to go from them. The Doctor smiled fondly at her, loving each one of her little habits.
"Did you go somewhere else before here?" She finally asked and he nodded once, eyes downcast.
"Yes." He replied quietly before catching her eyes, looking at her imploringly, "But it was just the one moon and it can't have been for more than four, five minutes!" He promised, "It was for you, I swear. I wanted to make sure it was perfect for you. I was going to take you there next. That's it." He reached out to take her good hand but she yanked it out of the way.
"You've just said that you came straight here!" She exclaimed angrily, pointing at the door, "You've just been begging for me to listen because you came straight here!" She stood up, "Get out!"
"Danni, please!" He cried out, "I just didn't want to ruin it." His eyes looked around the room, before falling on her plastered arm, "At least come back to the TARDIS." He tried, "I can fix that arm. I have this oitment that'll heal the bones. It's like nanogenes, remember them?" She smiled slightly at the memory of being with his Ninth self. Jack had first met her then. That had been nice.
"I don't know..." She replied, rubbing her arm again. She didn't want to go with him... okay, that was a lie. She really really wanted to go with him. But he'd left her to wait because he couldn't just have come straight to pick her up. She wanted to punish him for abandoning her, but she also really wanted the cast off as well, "How do I know you won't just fly away and take me with you?" He crossed over both of his hearts.
"Never without your permission." He swore, "But if you let me take you back to where I was, maybe you'll understand why..."
"No!" She snapped angrily, "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going to Wales with Jack. He's bought a flat for us to live in and everything."
"I know you'll love it." He insisted, "It's a beautiful moon sat in the middle of the Juxen Galaxy. Hasn't been stepped on in over three millennia." She pursed her lips and he smiled slightly, stepping forward to entice her further, "There's this ridge, where if you stand on it when their sun is in the right part of space, you can see each planet in the solar system, stretching out into the cosmos. It only happens once in each of the moon's rotations around it's planet." Danni crossed her arms. That did sound beautiful. And no one else had seen it in so long?
She had always loved the idea of being the first to see something. When she was a child she would insist on stepping out of the house first whenever it snowed so she could have the first footprint in the unmarked dusting. She'd turn the new televisions on first, she'd be the first to eat any new food they were trying. When her parents had first bought their caravan, she'd thrown a tantrum until they let her go in first and see each of the rooms on her own before they entered at all. It didn't matter that they'd seen it before purchasing it, it had been someone else's then. This was their caravan and she had been the first to step into it's walls.
"Okay." She replied grumpily, "But I swear if you do not bring me back the second after we've left..."
"No, no, no I will." He promised, "A second later. We'll disappear then reappear without anyone missing us."
"Okay then." She nodded once and they stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, "I'm going to need to get dressed." He nodded enthusiastically.
"That is very true." He replied and she rolled her eyes when he didn't move.
"I need to go to the bedroom." She told him and he jumped in comprehension.
"Oh, yes, of course." He opened the door and let her out onto the landing, "Sorry. I'll go downstairs and wait. Take as long as you like." He rambled and she couldn't help smiling at him. She'd missed how adorable he became when he was nervous.
"I won't be a moment." She told him as she headed towards her bedroom, "You can tell Jack." The Doctor blanched and she giggled to herself as she closed the bedroom door. He reached up to his cheek, the punch still very fresh in his mind.
~0~0~0~
"She is not going anywhere with you!" Jack's voice reached her ears as she finished buttoning the blouse she'd settled on up. She'd taken longer than she'd meant to trying to find an outfit to wear to a moon. Would it be cold, or hot? Middle of a galaxy suggested cold, but only in the galaxy the Earth was in. What if middle of the galaxy was only one planet away? What if the sun was huge? So, she'd decided on some smart dark blue jeans and a light yellow blouse. She'd wanted to dress up more, but then she didn't want to seem like she was dressing up.
She was really disappointed in her lack of resolve, but no one else had to know that.
"I don't care, River!" Jack continued to shout, "She's not not going with... No, you don't need to throw me outside again!" She picked up her black transporter band, knowing that she'd be able to wear it again soon, slipped it into her pocket, and opened the bedroom door, heading down the stairs. The Doctor was stood in the hallway, his hand protectively over his cheek as he looked into the living room at, presumably, Jack and the rest.
"Calm down, Jack." She called, the Doctor spinning on his heels and beaming in relief at the sight of her. Jack pushed past him, looking at her, obviously enraged.
"You can't be serious about going with him!" The impossible man exclaimed and she nodded.
"He's just going to show me why he was late." Danni explained calmly, "Then he's bringing me straight back here. Aren't you, Doctor?" She looked over at him pointedly and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Seconds later." He promised.
"And you believe him?" Jack raged, "He said that last time and you got mugged!" The Doctor frowned, stepping forward and looking up at Danni, confused.
"What's this?" He asked, "You were mugged?" She shrugged.
"Not the issue right now, Doctor." She replied.
"No, I think it is." Jack declared, "He should have stopped it. He was supposed to be looking out for you."
"Oh, stop whining." River snapped, joining the three, "If she wants to go, Jack, you can't stop her."
"Just watch me." He snarled. Danni frowned at his behaviour, not having expected him to be so greatly against the idea. River rolled her eyes, stepping past the two men and wrapping an arm around Danni's waist, seeing she was obviously uncomfortable with the way Jack was behaving.
"You do want to go, don't you sweetie?" River asked her gently and Danni nodded twice, staying silent, "Then we'll give you five minutes. If you're not back by then, I'll tell Jack where you've gone and we'll come get you ourselves." Danni smiled gratefully, placing a kiss on River's cheek.
"Thanks, Mels." River smirked, she always did like being called Mels by Danni. With that, the Doctor held his hand out to Danni, who took it automatically. The foursome headed outside and the TARDIS disappeared, leaving River and Jack to stand there anxiously waiting for it to return.
Jack let out a sigh of relief when it appeared moments later, but his face hardened when only the Doctor emerged.
~0~0~0~
Danni sat on the bed in the medi-bay as the Doctor rubbed some orange goo on her wrist in soft, circular motions. He'd been quick to fly them away before taking her there and removing the plaster with some form of laser device. She hissed slightly, because it had only recently been fractured and it hurt like crazy.
"Sorry." He muttered again.
"It's fine." She replied curtly, because even though she knew he didn't mean to hurt her, it still did.
"So..." He drawled out, scooping a little bit more out of the pot and rubbing on her arm, "You were mugged?" She shrugged, hissing again as her arm flared up. She wasn't used to that arm hurting, it was quite a weird experience for her.
"Much worse things have happened to me during our time together." She pointed out, "I think I can handle some drunk guy stepping on my arm and taking my phone."
"Still..." He replied, "You had to have been scared."
"I was inconvenienced." She retorted, effectively ending the conversation. The Doctor finished rubbing the ointment in and her arm starting tingling, a lovely sense of pain-relief flowing from the sticky part of her wrist. The Doctor held her wrist firmly but gently for a moment, not meeting her eyes as he stared intently at it.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." He whispered, feeling even more guilty than he already had for leaving her behind. He hadn't meant to leave her there, 28 days was supposed to be it but once again his terrible driving meant he was late. Why didn't he head straight there? He'd let her down, he'd allowed her to get hurt.
"Well, next time you know better." She told him and he looked up to see her smiling slightly at him. He wasn't sure if he was forgiven or not, but it was a start. He picked up a bit of blue paper towel and wiped her wrist. She grinned, amazed that it didn't hurt at all, "Wow, that's brilliant!" She cried, moving her wrist around to see if it was fully healed. He chuckled and held his hand out, helping her off the table.
"Let's go land." He decided, leading her back out.
~0~0~0~
Danni opened the door, not really sure what to expect. In her five years experience, she'd come across a variety of moons and knew that not all of them were like Earth's moon. Some had life on, some had water. Some were dry and baron like theirs, but some where vibrant and colourful as well.
"What..." She whispered, amazed. This one was shining in the sunlight reaching them for far away. It looked like glass. Not pure glass, she couldn't see straight down to the other side, it was more like many cloudy layers. She turned back to see the Doctor smirking victoriously; her amazed look must have been his goal all along.
"Go on then." He encouraged gently and she stepped outside, expecting to slip and fall almost instantly. However, just to surprise her further, the ground wasn't remotely smooth, it felt like walking on tarmac.
"What is this place?" She asked aloud and he chuckled, joining her by her side.
"It's a rough crystal moon. There aren't many in the universe and this is the only one with a breathable atmosphere." He explained lowly, "I wanted to make sure I was heading to the right one. Didn't want you to suffocate." She nodded slowly.
"Understandable." She had to agree. He motioned to a small rise just in front of them, which appeared to be on the edge of a cliff.
"Go on there." He commanded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of sunglasses, "Put these on then look left." She took them dubiously, but did as he said. She reached the top quickly and slipped them on her face, looking left and gasped. Although is was quiet obviously very far away, Danni could see the sun shining brightly in the distance, illuminating the four planets in a line heading towards them, all different colours and all tiny spots in the sky. She turned and looked to the right instead, seeing another four planets reaching out into the cosmos. She wanted to reach out and pluck them from the sky, despite what the rational side of her brain told her. It was breathtaking, all that space and it felt so close, like she was being hugged by the galaxy.
"This is amazing!" She whispered excitedly, turning on her heel, "And this..." She trailed off, her breath catching at the sight of him just behind her, on one knee, holding out a little red box.
"You once told Amy you used to dream of me proposing to you on a crystal moon." He explained gruffly, obviously trying to keep his cool even though his arm shook slightly in anxious anticipation. Danni stared at him, eyes wide as her mouth hung open, moving but no words coming out.
"You..." She tried, licking her lips, "You were late because of this?" She exclaimed and he nodded once, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea after all, "Yes." The Doctor's brows furrowed.
"Wait, what?" He asked and she smiled beautifully, her eyes full of tears.
"I said yes. Yes, I'll marry you." He slumped slightly, looking put out as his pouted.
"I had a speech prepared." He moaned.
"I don't care." She snapped, "We've both waited too long for this, Spaceman. Take the yes and come here." He grinned, scrambling up and they met in the middle, grasping at each other tightly as he pulled her in for a kiss, a desperately relieved kiss in which they battled each other for closeness. He hadn't lost her, it wasn't too late. She'd said 'yes'.
He grabbed her hand, slipping the small diamond onto her finger and she laughed in pure joy as he did, tears streaming down her face. He linked fingers with her before pulling her back in for another kiss. She'd said yes, she was going to be his and the whole universe would know it. No more people looking her way, trying to take her away from him. She would be his wife. He rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed as he revelled in the feeling of her in his arms again after being so close to losing her forever.
"Now." He declared and she opened her eyes, panting slightly as she was startled slightly by the word.
"'Now' what?" She asked and he cupped her face with one hand, the other still linked together.
"Marry me now." He implored and she looked around, confused.
"But... but what about everyone else?" She asked him, "Amy, and Jack." He placed his lips against hers gently, stopping her protests.
"We'll sort them out later." He dismissed, "Marry me, now." Danni looked around again, as if trying to find an exit. This had suddenly spiralled out of control and she felt herself panicking. Right now? As in this minute? Was the even possible? Maybe they should slow down a minute, after all she was supposed to still be mad at him. He'd left her behind, even if it was to fulfil a silly dream she hadn't had in years.
Then, she realised, she loved it like this. Her life with the Doctor was always fast, and ever changing and she didn't want it any other way.
"Here?" She asked and he shook his head.
"No, I have the perfect place." He told her smugly.