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The Doctor stood in the doorway, arms crossed as he leant against the doorframe. Danni had fallen asleep in the library again, for the second time that week, book clutched to her chest like a teddy bear. She'd made it her mission to read through the entire TARDIS library, and over the last few months she's started to make a small dent in the contents, something she was extremely proud of.
He didn't have the hearts to tell her that for every book she read, the TARDIS just replaced it with a new one she hadn't.
He was also beginning to understand her frustration at him that she'd felt over the year above London, because every time he tried to get her to leave the TARDIS the pair ended up having a massive argument and he'd storm out without her, leaving her to read her books while he didn't have a good time out in the universe.
Danni just wouldn't listen to him. She was convinced that what she was doing was right, that hiding away from the universe was what she wanted to do. If that's actually what she wanted to do, he wouldn't be throwing such a fuss about it. He'd leave her to read her books and enjoy the TARDIS, but she was so deeply unhappy that he had to get her out. She was doing to herself what the Doctor had done to himself and he'd been miserable the whole time.
He walked over and crouched down in front of her, reaching out to gently wake her with a kiss on the forehead. She groaned as she was torn from her dream, her hands flailing in front of her like his did when he talked. He couldn't help but smile, she'd picked that up from him.
"No." She muttered before blinking the darkness from her eyes, "Theta?" He nodded, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Time to go to bed." He told her gently but she didn't want to move. She pulled him closer, hugging him tightly, "Hey, are you okay?" She shook her head, her face buried in the crook of his shoulder.
"Bad dream." She muttered. He sighed to himself, rubbing her back and placing another kiss on the top of her head.
"You're safe now." He promised, wondering if he should bring them up. He'd missed this one, but he knew he could guess who it was going to have featured.
"Did you have a good time?" She asked him, effectively stopping him from asking about it. She didn't want to talk about it, not yet. She knew he was curious, and she was so tired of waking up terrified, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk about them. Soon, but not yet.
"Excellent." He replied, manoeuvring her so he could sit in the chair as well, pulling her onto his lap and she curled up against him, "You would've loved it, Danni-Girl. All the birds have learnt to imitate the bells chiming, so every hour there was a beautiful chorus letting you know the time."
"That sounds nice." She agreed with a yawn, "Did you get what you wanted?" He'd gone to get a part for the TARDIS, she was sure of it. He did explain it to her, there was a lot of arm waving and long words that she didn't understand. Something to do with the psychic interface, help the TARDIS go where the Doctor wanted her to.
Of course, he hadn't told her the reason he needed to improve the interface was to try and lock onto Clara Oswin Oswald. His long-term plan was to find out exactly what had happened to make the same girl pop up in at least three places, because if she was in the Dalek Asylum, Victorian London and his future then it stood to reason she'd be somewhere else. Maybe then he could prove to Danni that she wasn't responsible for Clara's death.
"I did." He said, "I'm hoping we might be able to tap into your memories, maybe find out where exactly the Time Lord comes from."
"Do you still think I have different parents?" She asked him, hoping he'd changed his mind. They'd actually not discussed it much, considering it was such a big mystery in their lives. The Doctor hadn't cared at all what had happened to her, all that had mattered was she was alive and she wasn't going anywhere. Now that he'd opened himself back up to the universe and its splendour, he was keen on finding out the cause. He did think that it may be to do with her travelling without a capsule inside the Vortex for so many years, but now his main train of thought was it was something to do with her parents.
She didn't want it to be different people, she could accept her own parents hiding the Time Lordness from her, but to find out they'd hid an entire history from her was too much for her to think about.
"Potentially." He explained, "But I'm hoping we can tap into some really early memory, when you were a baby, where they wouldn't have been so careful talking about it around you."
"That's possible?" She asked, sounding intrigued and he nodded.
"Not for everyone." He told her before smirking, "The procedure is very delicate. Only fully qualified Time Travelling aliens can perform it." She rolled her eyes.
"Really?" She asked sceptically.
"Only the best." He confirmed.
"Perhaps Jack can help you then." She retorted, laughing when he looked offended.
"I think you like him more than me." The Doctor pouted and she shook her head, leaning closer and brushing her lips against his.
"Most definitely not." She promised, making the movement again. His hand shot to her hair, threading through it and clutching tight, stopping her moving away. Since Clara had broken the barrier between them, Danni had been much more likely to initiate or respond to any of his touches or kisses, something he could have thanked the young woman for, for the rest of his lives.
"Do you want to go see Jack?" He asked quietly, testing the waters, when he allowed her to back away. And there it was, he watched her close down, she shifted on his lap, pushing herself off.
"Maybe some other time." She dismissed, "You're right, I should head to bed."
"Danni…" He tried but she shook her head.
"It's not like he'd recognise me anyway, is it?" She pointed out, "I mean, he'd be expecting old me, and he won't believe that I've regenerated so it's probably for the best I stay away anyway."
"Danni, you can't just hide away!" He sighed, exasperated, "If I'm with you, Jack'll believe it's you. And you know he'll love it, he adores you. Quite rightly, in my opinion." He saw the smile she tried to hide and stood up, "He'll be overjoyed that you'll be around for as long as him now."
"We don't know that yet, though, do we?" She countered, the smile falling away, "Maybe we should wait until we are absolutely sure." He opened his mouth to protest, "Please, Theta. Not yet." He nodded slowly, seeing she was getting upset and shot her a soft smile.
"Not yet." He agreed and her shoulders sagged in relief, "Now, do you want me to tuck you in?" He asked and she blushed but nodded slowly, "Okay, you head off and I'll be there in just a moment." She walked over, placing another soft kiss against his lips.
"Are you coming to bed too?" She asked and he crinkled his nose up in almost disgust.
"And waste my time 'sleeping'?" He asked as if it was something awful and she giggled, "There's so many better ways I can spend my time than on sleep."
"Fine, fine." She waved her hand in defeat, "I'll sleep on my own. Don't be too long." He nodded and shooed her out of the door.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor had tucked her in then headed straight to the TARDIS console room. She was already half-asleep when he'd gotten there, he was sure it was something to do with her inactivity. She'd never slept this much before, now it was all she seemed to do. He did manage to get a little bit of kissing from her, which was great because it felt like he was making up for lost time. For her to be so close and yet so far away had been torture, that wasn't happening again.
He'd somehow managed to end up on a swing, thinking back on memories of Amy and Rory. He wasn't swinging very high, just backwards and forwards slowly. He'd linked himself up to the console, gave the TARDIS his memories of Clara and this was where she ended up taking him. Psychic interface must still not be configured right, he'd get onto that. After he'd finished swinging, of course.
He remembered seeing Danni swinging with the little girl outside the Ponds house. She'd been so carefree, swinging up incredibly too high. He'd had no idea what was going on behind that smile, but all those worries must have been there under the surface.
New regenerations were influenced by the experiences of the old ones. His Ninth self had regenerated into a pretty boy because of Rose, he still looked older than her because he'd always wanted her to know he was older than her, but he remembered thinking about how she'd deserved someone who wasn't so northern with big ears. Ten was born out of that, he couldn't really remember how much of him was thinking about Danni at that point. Probably more than he'd have admitted at the time, he'd been so angry so perhaps the southern accent had come from his need to get as far away from her northern self as possible.
This current body had come out a lot more affectionate and hyper than he was used to being, that had been all Danni. He looked like a baby, but he'd seemed almost her age, that can't have been a coincidence, but that probably had come from his need to just start again generally.
Danni's new regeneration spent more time scared than feeling safe. Her nightmares gave reason to that, jumping into adventures and into awful situations constantly had fried her emotions over the years, and then he'd turned on her, chucking her into the void outside the TARDIS, even if he hadn't meant to. Then she'd spent time in the Time War, been killed by Rassilon and she'd had to deal with the Master once again. It was a wonder, really, she wasn't a crying mess in the corner.
She was beautiful, absolutely stunning and during their few visits down to Victorian London he'd noticed she'd pulled in a few more glances than she used to. He'd always found her incredibly good-looking, thought, and the new body hadn't changed that at all.
But even that had come from the Master as well, he'd plagued her so completely that her physical appearance reflected her constant thoughts of him. He was sure her love of horror movies was just her trying to find something she could relate to. She hadn't been to the karaoke bar once.
He wasn't sure he could calm her down and convince her that everything was going to be okay. The Master was trapped in the Time War, he couldn't hurt her anymore and she was safe from him. But he couldn't even begin to do that until she admitted to herself that the way she saw the Master wasn't actually how she felt. He'd been jealous of the other Time Lord at one point, now he was just angry.
Clara had kept her calm, focused her on what they were doing and she'd been having as much fun as she used to. Until Clara had died, anyway. If he could find her, solve that puzzle and bring back her companion perhaps Clara could help her heal and move on in a way he failed to help her.
"Hello." He looked up from his hands, which were clasped in his lap, to see a very happy-looking little girl with pigtails sitting on the swing next to him.
"Hello." He greeted with a small smile of his own, still swinging backwards and forwards.
"Why are you sitting on the swing?" She asked curiously and he looked down at himself.
"Why shouldn't I?" He counted and she giggled.
"Because you're old!" He nodded, smiling at her innocent bluntness. Danni would've loved that.
"Yeah that's true." He agreed, frowning slightly, "That…that…that is very true."
They swung in silence for a moment, the Doctor looking straight ahead as the girl stared at him curiously, "My mum says I shouldn't talk to strange men."
"Ah your mum's right." The Doctor replied with a nod.
"Are you strange?" She asked and he laughed, nodding.
"Oh dear, I'm way past strange. I think I'm probably incredible!" He told her and she giggled, making him smile. There was nothing better in the universe than making a child giggle.
"Are you lonely?" She asked suddenly, out of nowhere and it surprised him slightly.
"Why would I be lonely?" He countered, confused.
"Because you're sad." She explained, looking slightly upset at that herself, "Have you lost something?"
"No." He told her, looking back down at his hands again, "My wife is sad though, she's sad and scared and that makes me sad sometimes, because I think she might feel lonely."
"When I lose something," The little girl explained, picking up her swinging slightly, "I go to a quiet place, and I close my eyes, and then I can remember where I put it!"
He nodded with a smile, "Good plan."
"I'm always losing things." She told him, "I lost my best pencil, my school bag, my gran, and my mojo."
"Your mojo?" He repeated with a laugh and she smiled, happy that she'd made the sad man laugh.
"I got it back though." She promised and he made sure to act suitably relieved, although in the back of his mind he made sure to keep a check on his. He didn't know you could just lose your mojo.
"Hey, that's good."
"What did your wife lose?" She asked gently.
"Our friend." He replied, "We've both met her twice before and lost her both times and now I don't think we'll ever find her again."
"Have you been looking?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yeah, everywhere." He began clicking his heels together. He really had tried to find her, but with the whole of time and space to look through, it was very hard to find a place to start. That's why he was trying to improve the psychic interface, so he at least had something to go on.
"That's sad." She declared and he nodded, looking around the park, trying to take his mind off just how sad it was.
"It is a bit." He agreed before pointing at a woman with brown hair, chatting to the blonde haired woman who'd pulled his attention in the first place, "Hey, is that your mum?"
"Yeah, I better go and see if she's alright." The girl replied, as if she was always checking to make sure her mum was alright, like her mum was the child and she was the adult.
"Yeah, I think you better had." The Doctor replied, feeling himself beam again. The girl was downright adorable, actually. It was a long way off, but perhaps, one day…
"How are you gonna find her?" She asked curiously.
"Well," He drew out the word, because he couldn't explain his plan to such a young child, "the first two times I met her, I just sort of bumped into her so I thought, maybe, if I just wandered about a bit I might bump into her again. You know like…like destiny. Sort of."
The little girl pulled a face, "That's rubbish!" He laughed.
"I think it probably is." He agreed, "Hey maybe I could find a quiet room and have a good think about it instead." The girl nodded, coming to a stop.
"That would be better." She told him before jumping off the swing, "Goodbye!"
"Goodbye." He called after her, waving.
She paused half way to her mother, turning around, "Mister, I hope you find her again for your wife." He smiled softly.
"So do I." He replied and she ran off, her mum probably scolding her for talking to a strange man.
~0~0~0~
"Doctor?" Danni called timidly, stepping into the console room, looking around for her husband. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep for, but the moment she'd woken up she had needed to find him.
She'd had the dream again. One she used to have periodically before she'd regenerated and one that she never seemed to stop having now. She couldn't understand it, really. All she remembered was feeling like her world was crashing around her, being crushed and Koschei being there. She always felt so terrified when she woke up, but she didn't like to think it was because he was there.
She'd spent so long blaming herself, the idea that he had something to do with their affair just seemed foreign to her. She could've fought him off just fine, actually. The drumming had just turned her slightly sex-crazy, it had nothing to do with him. It could have been anyone.
"Danni?" The Doctor called before there was an almighty bang and she yelled in surprise, dashing down the two sets of stairs to find him underneath the console, hands flaying in front of him as he tried to bat the smoke away from him.
"What happened?" She asked, alarmed, as he lifted his oversized goggles, wondering if he could see where he'd gone wrong, "Are you hurt? Did it electrocute you?" She began brushing his suit down, trying to get the dust off it.
"No, I'm fine. I just connected the wrong cable." He promised her but she didn't stop brushing him down, her hands shaking. He grabbed one and her gaze shot up to his, she looked petrified, "What's wrong?" He asked and she swallowed, trying to stop her shaking.
"I… I had a bad dream." She told him, "And I didn't know where you were." He pulled her in for a hug, rocking her quietly, "I don't want him to hurt me." It was quiet, a little whisper of a voice that would have been drowned out by the TARDIS humming but he heard it.
"He won't." He promised, not taking it any further. Instead, he held her at arm's length, grinning from ear to ear, "You'll never guess where I was."
"Where?" She asked and he let her go to put his goggles back on.
"I was on a set of swings in Blackpool." He told her proudly and she shot him a confused look.
"You told me not to go on the swings because they were dangerous." She accused.
"The way you were swinging on them, they are." He countered, "I was going at a safe speed, not at all foolhardy."
"'Foolhardy'?" She repeated and he glanced over his shoulder at her as he pulled the two wires apart.
"What?" He asked and she shook her head, motioning him to continue, "I met this little girl, she seemed to be quite sensible when it came to swings as well. She could have taught you a few things."
"A little girl?" Danni asked and he was very pleased to hear that she sounded vaguely interested, "How little?" He shrugged, pulling another wire out of the mass tangled together in the middle. He soniced the end.
"I'm not sure, somewhere between 5 and 20." He offered and she giggled, "Pigtails. She lost her mojo once, but she found it again." Danni walked over, looking at what he was doing with her nose crinkled in confusion.
"Her mojo?"
"She got it back, though." The Doctor replied to reassure her, "Right, this should do it." He put two wires together, Danni turning away as it sparked but didn't explode. He let go, pulling off his goggles with a cheer, "Excellent! Come along, Danni-Girl!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to the console, where he picked up a padded crocodile clip. He turned to her, clipping it on her finger and the monitor above it began to change.
"What's she doing?" Danni asked as the symbols shifted and changed, landing on what seemed to be Gallifreyan, "What does it say?"
"No, you silly machine!" The Doctor exclaimed instead, smacking the side of the monitor like it was a television on the blink, "Do it properly or don't do it at all."
"What have I told you about hitting her?" Danni scolded, grabbing his hand to stop him doing it again, "What's wrong?"
"She was supposed to get a reading on your parents." He grumbled, "Instead she's given us a countdown."
"A countdown?" Danni looked at the screen again, trying to see anything counting down. It didn't even look like anything was changing, "A countdown to what?"
"To read your memories." The Doctor told her before sighing, "It's probably harder than I'm giving her credit for." The TARDIS console hummed and Danni giggled. He took hold of her hand, taking the clip off her finger before placing a kiss in the middle of her palm. He then began trailing them down her arm to the middle of her bicep where the edge of her sleeve sat. He caught her gaze and her lips were slightly parted as she stared, wide eyed. He smirked then placed the clip on his own fingers.
"I'll give it a test." He told her lowly and she nodded, still staring at him, "Should be able to lock onto our Crystal Moon easily." The monitor began to change, a sure sign that it was doing the same thing it had done for Danni.
Then the TARDIS flipped onto her side, sending them flying with a scream of surprise as she took off into an incredibly turbulent flight.