If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
The Doctor turned over, crossing his arms as he tried to get comfortable, his legs bent up awkwardly. He honestly had no idea how Danni managed to fall asleep on this sofa so much, it was entirely too short for anyone to lie down on, let along get into any sort of comfortable position.
Then again he was completely positive that the sofa in the entertainment room used to be bigger. In fact, he was so sure he remembered cuddling up with Danni on this sofa on more than one occasion, it was the reason that he'd chosen this one over the hundreds of others in the TARDIS. He rolled onto his back, looking suspiciously up at the ceiling.
"Is this you?" He asked the TARDIS, as if he was expecting her to reply. She would have, for too short a while, but nothing now. Not even a hum, "You're ganging up on me again, aren't you?" He grumbled. Oh, there was the hum. Yep, definitely ganging up on him. Great.
He had known Danni wasn't going to be entirely happy with him inviting Clara to travel with them, but he'd thought that she'd have been reassured by the fact that she hadn't said yes straight away. He was going to take them out somewhere nice, somewhere calm just to ease her back into the travelling once again, then Clara could have joined them when she was more comfortable.
She'd screamed at him. He couldn't remember her being that angry at him, before, but it radiated from her. He still hadn't confronted her over the projecting, so he'd felt it full force. She'd felt threatened in her own home, which was something he'd not intended, and he tried to explain that to her as he'd followed her like a lost puppy to the bedroom. She'd slammed the door in his face, but he'd continued to promise that Clara wasn't going to hurt either of them, and that once they'd started travelling she'd see that as well.
She'd opened the door, and he'd smiled until she'd shoved a pillow at him. His pillow, it turned out, and told him that he had to sleep on the sofa, then shut the door once again.
He'd heard about this 'sleeping on the sofa' thing, but he'd never really paid much attention to it. Rory had once complained about it, Amy ha- used to have this habit of sending him there when they'd had an argument. The Doctor had never seen the point, as he rarely slept and if Rory was wasting time sleeping then that was the problem, not where.
He rolled over again, grabbing the pillow from underneath his head and pulling it up to his chest as he looked at the back of the sofa. He really was starting to see why Rory hadn't liked this. Even though he never really slept, he still liked to be there while Danni did. He'd read, or even just daydream while she wrapped herself up in the covers and dreamt without him. Sometimes he'd sneak in after she'd gone to bed, just to watch her for a while. It seemed a shame to waste all the continuous time together when it rarely happened.
Not like that was the issue any more, but he still liked to be there for her. Especially since she was still having those terrible nightmares.
He shot up, alarmed, as he realised that she was on her own with those nightmares. Of course, with the TARDIS shrinking the sofa, he then promptly fell off the sofa, arms flailing in a vain attempt to keep himself upright. He hit the floor with a thud, but it didn't stop him for long. He pushed himself up and darted out of the room, turning around a couple of corners before quietly opening the bedroom door.
She was in the middle of the bed, cocooned up in the duvet much like her old body had done. The curling up into a tiny ball was new, though, as was the bowed head. It would have been adorable if he couldn't feel her terror from by the door. It had been a couple of hours since he'd tried to sleep on the sofa, had she been scared all that time?
He sat gently on the bed, not wanting to scare her even by waking her up, and he brushed her hair from her face, placing a finger against her temple.
~0~0~0~
Danni fought. She fought as hard as she could, but it was never enough. He held her tight, his hands squeezed and even as she tried to beg him to stop, nothing came out of her mouth. She wanted to scream, but no sound ever came out. Why wouldn't he save her? Why did he watch?
Eleven flickered to Ten, and back to Eleven, stood to the side, features twisted as she was pushed to the ground, body covered by another. She wanted him to stop smirking, she wanted his eyes to stop being so big, she wanted him to help her! Why did he never help her? He promised he would!
She opened her mouth again, eyes squeezed shut, as she screamed one word as loud as she could.
~0~0~0~
"No." Danni's eyes shot open, panting hard as the images fizzled away into nothingness. She looked around, seeing the Doctor there, smiling softly as he helped her sit up. She cupped his face, confused why his eyes suddenly relaxed her so much. Just his eyes.
"It's okay." He promised her, "I'm here now." She smiled shakily, still uncertain about why she was so scared, but she just pulled him in for a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. She didn't say a word, she just held him tightly and he gently stroked her hair.
It wasn't until he'd whispered that he loved her in her ear in Gallifreyan that she'd pulled away, sitting cross legged on the bed.
"Was it him again?" He asked gently, not wanting her to know that he knew exactly what the dream was about. She didn't shake her head, or nod. She looked downwards, then out into the room, chewing on her fingernail.
"What if..." She started quietly, trailing off as she stared for a bit longer. He didn't push her, he could see her trying to form the thought in her head, "I didn't want it," she paused again, "as much as I thought I did?" She turned to look at him again and her eyes shone with the terror of the realisation. She looked at him pleadingly, like she was asking for his help. Or reassurance, he wasn't sure which.
Then, with the minutest shake of her head, it was gone, "I thought you were supposed to be sleeping on the couch?"
"The TARDIS shrunk it." He grumbled and Danni smirked slightly.
"That's what you get for inviting Clara." She retorted. He opened his mouth to argue, but she shook her head, "No, you keep claiming the TARDIS is my home too, and if this is going to work as a proper marriage, you should at least consult me on these things. I leave you alone for a few minutes to say thank you to her, and suddenly she's travelling with us!"
"I know, but-"
"She terrifies me, Theta!" She interrupted, "I can't travel with her, I'm sick of being scared!"
He waved his hands in front of him, something he always did when he panicked, and he always panicked when he could see her about to cry, "Okay, I know." He promised, taking her hands in his and stilling them both, "But you really don't have anything to be scared about."
"How can you say that?" She asked, "She's appeared all throughout time and space, always the same woman but with no indication that they know about each other! What is she, Theta? Have the Silence taken hold of her, too? Is she supposed to be the new River because she didn't do her job properly?"
"No, she's definitely human." He promised her, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb and he saw her relax slightly, "I scanned her, all human." He smiled, an idea popping into his head, "How about we check?"
"Check?" She repeated.
"We'll dive back into her past, follow Clara Oswald from the beginning of her life until now. Make sure she is who she claims to be and if she's not, we'll be know what to do?" She frowned, obviously not keen on the idea.
"What if she is, though?" Danni pointed out, "What does that mean for the other Claras? What if it's all still to happen for her?"
"Then we'll look out for that as well." He replied.
"Oh, I don't know." She murmured, "I still don't trust her." He pushed her hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek with his hand.
"You know I would never put you in harm's way." He told her gently, "Trust me." She rolled her eyes then nodded, giggling when he let go of her face to straighten his bowtie.
"You're a child!" She exclaimed, batting at him, "Go on, show me her past then I'll think about it." He jumped off the bed, helping her up.
"Are you getting changed?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Pyjamas are cool." She replied, linking their fingers together as they headed out into the hallway.
"There would have been a time when you would have been horrified at spying at someone's past." He pointed out and she shrugged.
"When it comes to you, I'm not afraid to do anything to make sure you're safe." She explained, "If she doesn't understand that, she really shouldn't be on the TARDIS anyway." He beamed, spinning the spot before taking her face in his hands, placing a kiss on her forehead. He dashed up to the console, grabbing the monitor and pulling it around to where he needed it.
"How's the countdown coming along?" Danni asked, noticing the Gallifreyan symbols that were displayed on the screen, wondering if it was the countdown. As much as she didn't want her regeneration to mean that she had different parents, she loved her mum and dad dearly and still missed them every day, she just wanted to know what had happened when she'd been shot. Was it just a one-time deal because of her continuous, unprotected flying through the vortex, or was it more permanent? Was she going to be able to live with the Doctor forever after all?
"Er..." He frowned, giving the monitor a quick look over, "Oh, ages yet. No matter." He quickly turned to something else, "Let's find out who Clara Oswald actually is."
"You know, I think you just play pretend you can read that stuff." She teased, taking hold of the console with both hands in preparation of the bumpy ride that always came with his driving.
"I can too!" He replied defensively, "It's more complicated than just your small, insignificant human words. Gallifreyan holds meaning, moments of time that can't simply be 'read'." She rolled her eyes.
"I feel like I should be offended by the 'insignificant human words' remark." She told him pointedly and he grinned cheekily, pulling her in front of him, arm on either side of her as he pulled and prodded the console, sending them into a twisting, turning spiral as they shot down Clara's time line.
~0~0~0~
It was windy. That's all Danni cared about, and she wasn't very happy about it. If the Doctor was trying to convince her to warm to Clara, making her freeze to death in her pyjamas was not the way to go about it. The bus shelter they were sat in gave very little cover and if he thought otherwise he might have been more of an idiot than she gave him credit for.
"It's freezing." She told him, her teeth chattering. He looked down at her through the glasses Amy had left behind, looking rather confused.
"You're always cold." He told her, "I don't see how that's my fault."
"If you knew when they met, you should have known the weather." She retorted, "Why did you let me come out in my pyjamas if it was going to be so windy?"
"Because I love those pyjamas." He replied simply, going back to his annual. She looked down at her pyjamas, they were just her red ones.
"What's so special about them?" She asked, confused.
"Everything." Was his vague reply. She waited for a moment for him to elaborate, but when she realised she wasn't getting any more from him, she prodded the comic he was reading, making it flap even more in the wind.
"Was The Beano really necessary?" She asked him.
"The Beano is always necessary." He replied, glancing down at her from the corner of his eyes. The old Danni would have read with him, this one seemed to be more 'adult', but the grin on her face showed that she really didn't want him to change from his own childish ways.
"You are such a child." She said through chattering teeth and he put the comic down, using his own leg to anchor it as he quickly shrugged his jacket off. She protested, but he ignored her as he draped it over her shoulders.
"Thanks." She muttered, pulling it around herself as he went back to reading. He caught her pulling it tighter around herself, sniffing it slightly to smell him on it and he smirked smugly to himself.
"It's not that cold." He retorted, "Don't know why you're complaining." She narrowed his eyes, ready to tell him off but he nodded down the street, "Here he comes."
From over the hill that they were sat just down from, a man appeared, fighting with the wind as he tried to look at his map. He was in a suit and had brown hair, just like Clara's.
"Are you sure?" She asked him sceptically.
"You doubt me?" He asked, mock-offended as the man was hit in the face with a leaf, stumbling into the road and into the path of an oncoming car. He was only just saved in time by the woman who would turn out to be Clara's mum.
"Not now." She replied honestly and he nudged her as she giggled, "Maybe your driving reminded her of her dad." She mused as the couple walked back the way the man had come from.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked indignantly as she stood up, kissing him on the cheek.
"Nothing, sweetie!" She told him happily, "Come on, next stop."
~0~0~0~
It was dark and raining, but Clara's mum and dad didn't care as they huddled under the umbrella, her father giving her the leaf that had blown into his face. As they kissed, cementing in both their minds that this was the relationship for them, the Doctor ducked back behind the tree he and Danni were hiding behind. Danni held her own umbrella aloft, black with white polka dots with frilly edges, to let the damp Doctor back under.
"Did it go well?" She whispered and he nodded, pocketing his glasses as he did.
"There was kissing and everything." He replied just as quietly, hands sneaking their way onto her hips and pulling her close.
"What are you doing?" She asked and he smirked, drops of water dripping off his nose and onto her.
"Making this go very well." He told her, dipping his head to kiss her, lips slowly coaxing hers until she returned it, hands automatically wrapping around his neck, umbrella covering neither of them. Eventually she gave up completely, dropping it onto the ground as she pushed up on her tiptoes, pressing against him firmly as their lips moved in a harmony that had been built from years of practice.
The rain seemed to pick up after that point, but neither of them noticed as it poured down on them, all the Doctor noticed was the faint taste of the water mixed in with that of his wife. Her pyjamas clung to her skin, and even though he knew it was still very much off the cards at that moment, it just made him want her all the more.
~0~0~0~
The next day found them in a park, this time Danni dressed in her clothes once again. Clara's mum and dad had taken their little girl, who can't have been more than 6 or 7. She had to admit, baby-Clara was absolutely gorgeous, with her headband and bright red wells and coat.
Then, of course, she'd kicked that ball like it had attacked her and it bounced straight off the Doctor's head, sending him to the floor and she couldn't help the loud, unrestrained laugh that broke from her hips. Especially as he jumped up, hands out in front of him as if he was going to actually physically fight off whatever he had been attacked by.
"Oh, my stars!" Clara's mum exclaimed, running over to the couple, "Are you all right?"
"Oh, he's fine." Danni replied, placing a kiss on his cheek as he opened his mouth to protest. The kiss cheered him up, the woman noted, and he lowered his hands, nodding.
"Fine! Marvellous. Refulgent." He listed off, gesturing to the sky with his hands, a sure sign he was nervous and Danni frowned.
"Refulgent?" She repeated and he shrugged, taking her hand and walking up to the Clara's mum.
"Possibly a touch embarrassed." He added before suddenly looking worried, "That's not dangerous, is it?"
"What's not?" Clara's mum asked.
"Embarrassment." He whispered, sounding as worried as he looked. She looked to Danni, almost to confirm that he wasn't hurt more than he was admitting, but the shrug the blonde woman replied with just said that it was quite normal behaviour from him.
"Not usually. Not to my knowledge." She promised the strange man in purple.
"Good." He replied, relaxing as the smile returned back on his face, "Hey, phew!" Clara's dad walked the little girl over, smiling apologetically at the pair.
"Mate, I'm so sorry." He told the Doctor, motioning to Clara, "She wants to be Bryan Robson."
"No worries, my fault. No harm done." He promised, turning to talk to Clara to make sure she knew that she hadn't hurt him, but Danni had beat him to it. She crouched in front of the girl, smiling warmly.
"Hello, sweetie." She greeted the little girl, "I have to say, that's an amazing kick you've got there." The girl shied away slightly, taking comfort in her mum's presence even though she was obviously happy at the compliment, "What's your name?"
"Clara." The little girl whispered quietly.
"Oh, that's a beautiful name." Danni praised, "I'm Danni, which is a boy's name really, isn't it?" Clara nodded, "I bet that's not the first time you've kicked a ball into someone's head, is it?" Clara shook her head, "Is it always that funny?" Clara's face broke out into that secret smile that appeared when they knew they'd done something cheeky but they were quite proud of it really. She nodded and Danni nodded to, "Thought so."
The Doctor watched her, once again fully amazed by how she was with the little girl. She seemed to be much more comfortable around children, he remembered her heading straight for the children Victorian Clara was looking after and making sure they were okay before anyone else. And Stormageddon, she'd loved that little baby. He could watch her light up like that all day.
She pushed up off the floor, slightly surprised by the look of adoration the Doctor had on his face as he smiled back at her. He leant down, brushing his lips against hers just briefly.
"Come on, let's let them get on with their day." He told Danni, who nodded.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Clara's mum asked and the Doctor nodded.
"Oh, wonderful." He replied, giving her the impression he wasn't talking about the bump on the head before he and the blonde woman walked off, the woman waving to Clara.
"How did he manage to bag her dressed like that?" Her husband asked and she smacked him on the arm.
"Be nice." She scolded.
~0~0~0~
Danni hadn't wanted to go to the funeral, it just a bit too close to her Clara's for her to be comfortable with it. But Clara's mum had died, and she'd been as sad as any girl would be who lost her mum too soon. She closed her eyes as she sat on the stairs, waiting for the Doctor to return. Could she even picture her mum anymore? She'd been blonde, but more of a dull blonde than what Danni was now. She was pretty, Danni remembered that, with blue eyes. But what did she look like?
She jolted as the door opened and the Doctor stepped in, looking troubled as he walked over and sat next to her.
"She's entirely normal." He stated, "She's just a girl."
"She can't be." Danni protested, "What about my Clara? What about Oswin?"
"That Clara is just a girl." He replied, "She can't be, but she is."
"It doesn't make any sense." Danni said, leaning on his arm, "I don't like it."
"Me neither." He admitted, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Something is going to happen to her, and I don't know what. I really don't like not knowing."
"Whatever happens to her must happen in her future." Danni reasoned, "So, can we stop it?" He shrugged.
"Depends what it is." He replied, "But we can try." She looked up at him.
"Do you want to try?" She asked and he shot her an apologetic smile.
"If it's to do with me, I'd like to try." He admitted and she nodded before shaking her head, pushing away from him.
"I don't want her staying on the TARDIS." She told him, waving her hands in front of her, crossing them over each other in a 'no' motion, "I can't, I'm sorry Theta. I can't have her here and be here too! I can't, if she's staying then I'll have to go somewhere else and I don't want to have to do that and-"
"Hey." He interrupted gently, pulling her back in for a hug, "That's not going to happen, okay?" Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, scared but with a glimmer of hope.
"It's not?" She asked and he nodded.
"We can watch her from afar." He explained, "Take her for a trip, drop her back, see how she fares in an alien atmosphere. Then we'll drop her off, come back for her. She doesn't have to live on the TARDIS."
"Really?"
"Of course not." He smiled, thumb running down her cheek, "It's always you, Danni-Girl." She felt herself slowly calm down, nodding to herself.
"Okay. I can do that." She agreed, "Where are we taking her?"
"Well, I was thinking somewhere calm to begin with. Maybe somewhere not so foreign to you, I thought it might give you one thing less to worry about." He tapped her nose, "I know how you worry these days." She pulled her tongue out at him, "But, I also didn't want it to be boring for you, so I wanted somewhere you didn't really see as well."
"Did you come up with something?" She asked and he nodded, looking rather proud of himself.
"Akhaten." He told her, "I know you saw the Silent there, but we both know that was part of, you know," he motioned her up and down and she rolled her eyes at his tact, "but we did see a little of it and it was fine. Plus, seeing alien wares is always a good way to ease someone into travelling." Danni nodded, agreeing before a thought occurred to her, a memory from before she regenerated.
~0~0~0~
"Where's he taken you before?" She asked urgently and Clara frowned, surprised by the question.
"What do you mean?" She asked, "Like, places?" Danni nodded.
"Places, people! Anything, tell me." She begged.
"Do we really have time for..." The Doctor asked nervously but Danni glared at him angrily.
"Let her speak, Spaceman!" She snapped before turning back to Clara, her hand still clinging to her arm, "Tell me."
"Er..." Clara thought back for a moment, "Well, the first place was Akhaten." Danni looked over at the Doctor again.
~0~0~0~
"You took Future-Clara to Akhaten first." She told him, surprising him slightly, "You took her loads of places you've taken me before, actually." He smiled.
"Perfect." He declared, jumping up, "That must be it, then. Follow that course, try and work out where she goes wrong." He held her hand out to him, "Ready, Danni-Girl?" She took it, letting him help her up.
"As I'll ever be."