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Danni looked up from her book, The Shining by Stephen King, as the door to the Entertainment room opened and the Doctor sauntered in, flopping down next to her. She smiled softly and went back to her reading. She'd not realised how much she'd like horror, in fact she was sure she'd hated it before. She pushed her glasses up her nose, she had been sure of a lot of things, now nothing seemed right. Her whole life had been turned upside down, and here she was reading like nothing had happened.
"Good book?" He asked, pushing the front cover up so he could see the title, "Ah, I've never read that one. Never found the time." She shut the book, shaking her head at his childishness, amused.
"I thought it'd be scarier." She admitted, "But I'm only a third through it, maybe it'll pick up." He smiled, stretching and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Maybe you need to read it at night, while not watching the Simpsons." He teased, motioning to the cartoon currently on the screen. This body still liked the Simpsons, apparently.
"Yeah, maybe." She offered, shrugging out from underneath his touch and climbing off the sofa, rubbing her left arm with her right hand, "Do you think we could go out today?" She asked hopefully, "We haven't seen Madame Vastra since, well, since the last time we were here." She glanced at the door, unable to look at his hurt look, "We could get dressed up, it'd be really nice."
"Maybe tomorrow." He dismissed, crossing one leg over the other, "It's a bit chilly down there, and the doors are still squeaking. When they're fixed." She nodded slowly, glancing at the door again.
"I think I'm gonna go," She waved her book, "look for a better book, is that okay?" He nodded, a gentle smile on his face.
"Of course. I'll be here." He patted the sofa, "Watching the Simpsons."
"No you won't." She replied with a laugh, "The moment I'm gone you'll put Bill and Ted on, won't you?"
"I will not." He replied, acting indignant but secretly cursing himself for being so predictable. She shot him a pointed look.
"Of course you won't, sweetie." She humoured, loving his pout as she pushed the door open, "Try not to break anything this time." She warned before stepping into the hallway.
"I didn't break it last time." He called after her.
"Tell the TARDIS that!" Her voice floated through the door. He waited for a moment before the smile fell off his face and he fell back into the sofa, running his hand over his face tiredly. He'd scared her away, again, like an idiot. He really was a moron.
It had to have been a month since she'd mysteriously regenerated and they were still no closer to working out why. Scans showed she was still part human, maybe only a quarter or even a third, but she wasn't a full Time Lord, but they'd had no matches to anything beyond that, nothing could be tracked down to location, or even a time zone. They didn't know if she was adopted, or if one of her parents back in the old universe was Time Lord. He had a hunch it was because of her prolonged exposure to the Vortex, after all the same had happened to River after only being conceived in the Vortex and Danni had travelled through it unprotected for the last five years. But Danni was a fully grown adult, it was so much easy to mutate embryos than fully developed beings.
Basically, he had nothing, and it was incredibly frustrating.
He'd been spending the time noticing all the new things about the new Danni. How she suddenly seemed to love horror movies, but never found them scary. She preferred psychological-based films, but found ones based on gore boring. She wasn't much for talking anymore, preferring to listen but that just meant he could ramble to his hearts' content, knowing she was always listening and that she was never bored. Her love for bright colours had disappeared, but not her love for dresses. It was really fascinating learning the new Danni, seeing all of the old one but knowing he'd love the new one just as much, if not more.
Of course, she still flirted with him, which was nice. Well, until he'd touch her, anyway. That's where he'd gone wrong just now. He knew she was uncomfortable with him touching her, but he just wanted to hug and kiss her so much. Every moment of every day he couldn't believe she was still there with her, and he wanted her to know that. But he understood why she was wary of him. She'd told him she'd forgiven him, that she knew he hadn't meant to let her go out of the TARDIS doors, but that didn't change the fact he did and her life had been turned upside down due to his actions.
He glanced down at his hand, which had clenched on the arm of the sofa. He had to make it up to her, he had to make her feel safe so that she knew he'd never hurt her again. Maybe then they could go out for a small trip, but until then the TARDIS was the best place for them both.
~0~0~0~
Danni hadn't gone to the library, instead she'd headed to the console room, glancing behind her every moment as she headed to the doors. She stood in front of them, taking a few, deep breaths before she held her hand out to open the doors. She waivered as her fingers brushed the lock, the cold metal sending her hand back with a flutter of fingers.
Tomorrow, definitely tomorrow. She turned and headed back into the hallways, perhaps she'll try another Stephen King book.
~0~0~0~
Danni glanced behind her again as she headed to the TARDIS door again, worried she was going to get caught. Another two weeks had gone by, and at this point she was tired of his moaning about being bored. If he wasn't going to go outside on his own back, she'd have to drag him out herself.
It was actually really hard to do anything secretive on the TARDIS, it turned out. Just because she was an infinitely-sized time machine that could change shape whenever she felt like it, didn't stop the fact the Doctor wouldn't leave Danni alone if he could help it. Most of the time she wasn't complaining, although he did have a habit of trying to touch her when she was least expecting it, but when one was planning to run away, it made everything so much more difficult.
She wasn't being stupid about it, though. Oh no, she'd written him a lovely note and left it on the console in case he couldn't work out where she'd gone. She didn't want to go very far, anyway, not in the outfit she was wearing. A long, big black skirt with a corset top, accented with red panels down either side. She didn't think it would matter which body she was in, none of them were going to like corsets.
Thoughts like 'which body' would surprise her sometimes, coming out of nowhere and feeling so incredibly natural. Like her body was absolutely fine with replacing each cell and building her a new persona.
A slight pause, then she slipped out onto the cloud they were still parked on. If she'd timed it right, it should still be morning down below. She hitched the cumbersome skirt up and dashed over the cloud to the steel staircase, dashing down it before she changed her mind.
~0~0~0~
Commander Strax, Sontaran and butler, opened the door to the blonde-haired human person, stood in her dress and her hands clasped together. She did that silly thing humans do when they were happy, baring their teeth without the threat of attack.
"Strax." Danni greeted with a smile, "It's me, Danni." At his still slightly confused look, she sighed, "Danni Fielding?" Nope, nothing, "The Doctor's Wife?"
"Oh, right." He replied, finally getting the hint and she shook her head to herself, "I do apologise, ma'am, all you boys look the same."
"Girls, Strax." She corrected lightly, "Is Madame Vastra in? I need to speak to her." He stepped out of the way, letting her into the large town house.
"I will go check on her." Strax informed her, "She was taking tea in the conservatory." Danni nodded as he headed down the hall.
"Oh, Strax?" She called as an afterthought and the little alien turned around, "Can you warn her about, you know?" She waved up and down herself but he just stared at her blankly, "The fact I look different?"
"You look different?" He asked, sounding as if he didn't believe her and she nodded, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"Quite a bit, Strax." She told him and he shrugged, heading off and mumbling to himself. Danni brushed her dress down, nervous as she waited in the hallway. She didn't know how this was going to go, but she knew that it wasn't going to go well. No one in the right mind was going to believe that she was actually Danni if they knew the Doctor and his past. She'd just have to try and convince the Silurian that she was the red-head she'd met.
"Danielle!" Madame Vastra's voice called all too soon and the lizard woman appeared in the hallway. Danni winced as her features hardened, "Who are you?" She hissed menacingly.
"It's me, Danni." She insisted, "I swear." From Madame Vastra's left, Jenny stepped out in her full maid's outfit, pointing a more futuristic gun at her.
"We know Danni." She told her, "And you ain't 'er. Either start explainin', or run."
"I can explain." She rambled, having not expected the threatening quite so quickly, "I regenerated…"
"You must think us fools." Madame Vastra interrupted, "Danielle is human and cannot regenerate. Try again." Danni's mouth moved up and down a couple of times. She needed something that she knew would prove she was who she was. Perhaps the burn? No, because their Danni had a Vortex Manipulator there, and she'd still not been able to locate it. Her wedding ring? No, she could have just stolen that, it wasn't good enough. She looked the Silurian in the eyes again. She was a smart woman, it'd need to be something intellectual. Knowledge then.
"It's over now, sweetie." Danni stated confidently, pronouncing each word in her strange new voice. Madame Vastra straightened and she saw the recognition in her eyes. She reached out and put a gloved hand on Jenny's gun, pushing it down.
"What is it, ma'am?" Jenny asked, confused, "What does it mean?"
"They were the first words Danielle Fielding ever said to me." She explained, "It means, my love, that she is Danielle Fielding." Jenny turned her gaze back to Danni, who fluttered her fingers nervously.
"Okay, if she is Danni, where's the Doctor?" Jenny asked.
"On a cloud." Danni replied factually, "It's, actually, why I'm here. I need your help." Madame Vastra nodded, turning to Jenny.
"I think we may need some tea."
~0~0~0~
Jenny handed Danni a china cup of tea, head tilted as she did. Danni smiled gratefully. They'd adjourned to the parlour. Jenny had fetched the tea and knowing that Vastra wouldn't want to discuss anything further without Jenny, she spent the time telling Danni about their latest case. It was quite fascinating, actually, a lot of decapitated bodies with their necks cauterized to stop blood the bodies bleeding everywhere. It just reminded her how different her tastes were now.
"It's weird, isn't it?" She asked Jenny knowingly, "I spent a whole day in front of a mirror." Jenny started, embarrassed.
"It's like you're a completely different person." She explained in awe, "It looks real." She stood behind Vastra's chair. Even though she knew that she didn't need to pretend in front of Danni, she felt most comfortable at her wife's side.
"It is." Danni reassured, "I know, I've checked." She blew at the top of her cup of tea, "It's strange gaining a new body when you really weren't expecting one." She met Vastra's gaze, "And no, we have no idea why. I was shot in the stomach by Rassilon and then I regenerated. He says he working on it, so it might take a while."
"You said you needed our help." Vastra replied her in usual drawl and Danni nodded.
"He won't leave the TARDIS." She explained, "We've been parked on a cloud for almost two months now and there's no sign of him moving. I don't mind, but he's miserable and I need you to get him out."
"Once he misses his Roman Centurion and his red-headed companion, he will leave again. I don't see how we are needed." Vastra pointed out.
"Amy and Rory are dead." Danni replied bluntly, "So no, they won't draw him out." Both Vastra and Jenny stared at her for a moment, Jenny showing her shock a little more than Vastra.
"How?" Was her one word answer.
"I killed them." Danni told her just as bluntly, "Sort of. I didn't stop their deaths, so I suppose I did kill them Then the Doctor killed me." She pursed her lips together, the slip of her tongue annoying her more than she was willing to admit at that point. Madame Vastra looked intrigued but Danni shook her head, glossing over it, "He needs to be enticed out, and I can't do that from the inside. He won't let me out of the TARDIS, he won't even let me near the doors anymore. I need your help."
"I will need to see him for myself to judge how to proceed." Vastra explained, "I think I'm right in guessing I shall be able to quite shortly?" Danni nodded.
"Are we going to go see him?" Jenny asked, eager to see that blue box again but Vastra smirked.
"I may not know this Danielle yet," She started meaningfully, "But I do know that there isn't a version that allows anyone to 'let' her do anything. Can we expect him to appear shortly?" The blonde nodded.
"Quite angrily too, I should suspect." Danni agreed, taking a sip of her tea, "Oh, I still like this stuff. That's good, I was worried."
"It's not like you to run off without telling him." Vastra commented and Danni shrugged.
"Apparently it is now." She replied, "While we wait for him to turn up," She leant forward, a smirk on her face, "Tell me more about these beheadings."
~0~0~0~
"… we determined the technology was from the 23rd Century." Madame Vastra was explaining as there was a loud banging on the front door, "We have several suspects, but this allowed us to narrow them down to…" There was the banging again and the trio turned to look at the door to the conservatory, "I believe your husband may be here."
"Sounds like it." Danni replied with a bit of a pout, she was really enjoying the fascinating case. The sound of the front door being flung open rang through the room, "And still without his manners, it would seem."
"He's always worried about you." Vastra pointed out, "If anything that was only going to increase after you regenerated."
"I suppose, but it's just rude." Danni grumbled as the man himself stormed into the room, top hat on his head and cane in his hand. She could have laughed, he'd stopped to grab his cane?
"Danni!" He cried, sounding angry but looking utterly relieved, "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wanted to see our friends." She replied calmly, "I left you a note."
"A note?" He raged, pacing back and forward for a moment before turning to yell at her. A note?!
He had gone looking for her, running around the TARDIS like a headless chicken when he'd realised something was wrong. He'd relocated the garden and her rabbit, Sebastian, both of which had gone missing when he'd upgraded the TARDIS theme and he'd been relieved to find them again for her. Of course, that had been before he couldn't find her, which sent him into a panic he'd not felt in quite a while.
The note had only been a temporary source of peace, because she was okay after all, but then he'd realised she'd left the TARDIS on her own, without him into Victorian London, where she'd only ever been a handful of times and never on her own. He'd barely had time to grab his top hat and cane before he'd headed straight to Earth, pushed his way through the lunchtime crowds to find her still absolutely fine, drinking tea with Jenny and Madame Vastra like nothing was wrong.
Now she was stood, looking at him expectantly in a black dress that suited her so completely he felt all his anger fade, replaced by the feeling of utter relief and his face broke into a small smile because she was still there, she hadn't regenerated and she was safe.
He strode over, pulling her into a tight hug and it didn't matter that she tensed under his touch, he just wanted to feel her in his arms, solid and very much alive. He rested his head on top of hers, eyes squeezed shut as she gingerly patted him on the back. He pulled back, taking a hold of the tops of her arms.
"Let's go home." He declared softly and she frowned.
"But Madame Vastra was telling me about these beheadings." She moaned and Madame Vastra stood up.
"Perhaps you could help us." She requested, motioning to Jenny, who rushed off and came back moments later with their portable notice board, with all the information and pictures pinned to it, "We think it might be 23rd Century technology, but you might be able to enlighten us to how it came to be in the 19th." He looked down at Danni, ready to protest but she was looking up at him so hopefully, so he sighed and stormed over, quickly looking over the pictures of the deceased. Pretty gruesome, but also incredibly simple to solve.
"It's a Fire Jerry." He told them gruffly, "They travel on space debris. It probably fell off and landed here. They're nocturnal and they adore dairy, put a large quantity of cheese under a box and wait." He turned, clapping his hands, "Right, home." He headed to the door, expecting Danni to follow him.
"We have other cases." Madame Vastra declared, "One's that you may not find so easy to solve." He paused in the door, turning slowly.
"We don't do that anymore." He declared lowly, Danni's mouth opening slightly in offended shock, "We're going to have a nice, calm, safe life on the TARDIS. You'll have to do it yourself."
"But Doctor…" Danni protested. He'd not discussed any of this with her, when had he decided this for the pair of them?
"No." He snapped angrily, "The universe does not care if we help or not, so we're not. The monsters can't have you. Let's go." He strode out, cane tapping on the floor with every other step and she sighed in frustration, turning to their friends.
"Thanks for trying." She offered sadly. Jenny reached over to rub her arm sympathetically, but Danni flinched away before she could touch her and followed her husband out.
"This is much worse than I first feared." Madame Vastra said to her voice, her normally calm voice laced with hints of concern, "He carries so much more guilt than I've ever seen in him."
"What do we do, ma'am?" Jenny asked. The Silurian straightened, determined.
"What was asked of us." She replied, "We bring the Doctor back."
~0~0~0~
Danni had walked next to the Doctor in silence, hands clasped in front of her pointedly as he'd glowered at everyone and everything around them. The day was cold, as it was winter, but no snow had fallen which was always disappointing around Christmas time. No one paid any attention to them, but the way the Doctor was looking at them, it was probably for the best.
"You know, I would have appreciated being consulted on this whole 'being a recluse for the rest of my life' deal." She declared as they entered the park above which the TARDIS was parked, "Considering I actually now have no idea how long that is." The Doctor didn't look at her, reaching up with his cane to pull the ladder down.
"It's for your own good." He replied shortly, stepping out of the way, "You first."
"No." She snapped, "You first. I'm not letting you look up my skirt while you're keeping me captive."
"I'm not keeping you captive!" He argued back, frustrated, "I just want you safe, is that so bad?"
"I am safe!" She exclaimed, "I only went to Madame Vastra's and you're acting like I was dead."
"Well you were!" He cried before pointing up the ladder, "Now get up." She pursed her lips, angry because he still wasn't telling her what was wrong, and started to climb the ladder in front of him. She paused, looking down at him for a moment.
"Maybe you should think about the real reason that you're keeping me up there." She pointed out, "Then decide that if it really is the best place for me." She headed up before she could see the look on his face she knew would be there, the hurt he'd feel at being reminded of what had happened that had caused her to regenerate in the first place.
She'd headed to the wardrobe to change before he'd even made it up the staircase that the ladder led to, hoping to be able to hide from him for a little while before confronting him about what was really going on. It wasn't like she didn't have any effects from the ordeal, all she had to do was look in the mirror while trying on her normal, much more comfortable than the corset. Every time he went to grab her arm, she was certain he was going to drag her to the door and chuck her out all over again. That couple of seconds of panic would stop her breathing with its intensity.
She knew she had done a bad thing, but Amy would have done it even if she hadn't been there. Amy and Rory had to be together, she knew that even the Doctor knew that, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to get them to build a life together away from him to begin with.
She found him under the console, examining the new array of wires and controls that always came with a new desktop theme. He adored trying to find out how the new console ticked, but mostly he found it very calming to focus on something else other than the thoughts in his head.
"I don't know why you're doing this." She stated quietly and he slowly turned to look at her, his face holding more pain than she could handle. She still loved him deeply, regardless of either of their actions in the past, "Danger has never been a stopping point for you."
"There's so much awfulness out there." He replied sadly, "I can't protect you from it anymore, maybe I never could." She smiled warmly, walking over to stand by his side. If she'd been the old Danni, she would have taken his hand, perhaps even kissed him until he was smiling again. It was what she wanted to do, reassure him everything was going to be okay.
"You're fantastic at looking out for me." She reassured him.
"You regenerated because of me." He said mournfully.
"Is that such a bad thing?" She retorted, even though she wasn't sure of the answer herself, she knew he needed it to be, "Now I have all these lives, these bodies that we didn't have before. I'm not going to wither and die in front of you, in fact you're probably going to go first." She jabbed him in the chest, "You are the old man, after all." He opened his mouth to argue at her cheeky grin, but then noticed her hand hadn't moved, instead had flatted against his chest where his hearts were. The first time she'd willingly touched him for longer than he really liked to think about.
He leant forward, placing a kiss on her forehead and she smiled shakily.
"Soon." He promised, "But not yet. Please." She nodded once.
"Okay." She agreed, "Just, let me know next time something's wrong, okay?" He nodded before turning and motioning to the wires.
"I appear to have lost the mayonnaise control I added in for you." He announced, changing the subject, "Want to help me find it?" She nodded, frowning as she looked them over. It seemed like being part Time Lord didn't automatically mean she knew anything at all.
"I have no idea what any of these are." She told him, "How can I possibly help?" He smiled, now, this was something he could do.
"I'll show you." He replied, reaching in to grab a wire, pulling it out, "This is for the monitor, it…" He never finished his sentence, every single light going out and bathing them in darkness, "Or, maybe it's the lights. Definitely the lights."