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Rose sat next to the Doctor on the floor as they worked on the Delta Wave in silence. Danni sat across from her helping her strip some wire, which is all the Doctor deemed them able to do, as he connected parts and typed on the computer next to them. Thoughts rushed through Danni's mind as she tried to figure out exactly what to do with the Controller now she was safe. Even from her short interactions with the girl she could tell that she would need looking after, that despite all the horror she had seen she still thought and acted like the five year old girl she would have been when she had been taken from her home by the Daleks and abused for years. She was also trying to keep her mind off of Jack, who was down a few floors from them getting ready to fight the Daleks that would eventually kill him. Instead, she focused on the blind woman in the TARDIS, someone she could actually save and help have a better life.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Rose asked her suddenly, causing her to jump out of her thoughts. She had been staring at Rose with a thoughtful frown on her face for a while now, as if an idea was trying to form in her mind but failing to connect for some time. In fact, she had been thinking about Rose, about what she was about to do and about how far she had come in such a short amount of time. The television show couldn't do any of the people she had met justice, really, but even after only meeting one earlier version of Rose she could already tell that she had changed and grown.
"I was just thinking about what a wonderful person you are." She replied honestly. Rose blushed slightly at the compliment, "I have a favour to ask you, and it's pretty big and I won't mind if you say no but please think about it." Rose nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Okay..." She drawled.
"I want you to take the Controller to your mother's." Rose blinked at her in surprise. Well, that was unexpected.
"Sorry?" Danni sighed, placing the wire she was holding down by her feet.
"That poor girl was taken at the age of five and plugged into a machine which fed horrific images and information through her for years." She explained calmly, "She needs to go somewhere safe, because she may be our age but ultimately she's probably only still five in her own head. I've been trying to work out where the Doctor could take her, she needs to be shown that people can care for each other so current Earth is out of the question." She motioned to the wall, as if pointing at the Earth outside. Rose nodded, agreeing with her there. If what this satellite was broadcasting was what the human race wanted, then the Controller wouldn't be safe there. No one would.
"But why my mum's?" She asked. Danni smiled fondly, cocking her head to one side as she sat back, leaning against the desk.
"Because of you." She replied, "Because you're Rose Tyler, and you're only Rose Tyler because of Jackie Tyler. Look how fantastic you are, and that's because Jackie raised you right." Again, Rose nodded because she couldn't fault her. Her mum had been wonderful to her, making sure she had never forgotten her father even though she had barely met him, making sure that she could stand up for herself, hold her own in any situation and yet being there whenever it went pear-shaped, "And, I think your mum needs her as much as she needs a mum. I worry about Jackie sometimes."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked, feeling slightly defensive. What was there to worry about? Her mum was fine, she was always fine. Just because she's not always there doesn't mean something was wrong.
"Are you going back?" Danni asked her gently, "If you given the choice to stay with the Doctor for the rest of your life, which is a very real possibility at this point, would you ever go back?"
"No." Rose told her honestly.
"And I understand that completely." Danni explained, "But that means that your mum is at home, on her own, waiting to see if her daughter ever comes back. We have to make these decisions without worrying over those we leave behind, but they are left behind. I think your mum could use someone around who needs her, because you don't any more and it wasn't gradual, it just happened. And if she looks after the Controller in any way as she did you, then I wouldn't need to ever worry about her again."
"I don't know..." Rose replied, "Even if I did, she probably won't go for it."
"That's fine." Danni reassured quickly, "Just consider it, please?" Rose sighed and nodded.
"Okay." Danni grinned and hugged her, Rose laughing at her tight squeeze.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Danni repeated. She fell back into her seat and started working again. Rose picked up the next wire, frowning in thought. She always worried about her mother, and always felt guilty over the fact she rarely crossed her mind but she knew her mum was waiting for her. Maybe distracting her might be a good idea.
~0~0~0~
"Suppose..." Rose started, interrupting the comfortable silence the three had fallen into. She was now allowed to separate cables, rather than just strip them while Danni was helping the Doctor connect them to a large switch he had created.
"What?" The Doctor asked when she didn't continue, placing a cover on a group of wires with a rather aggressive whack.
"Nothing." She dismissed, going back to here wires. She couldn't believe that this far into the future wires hadn't been replaced by anything, there was so much of the stuff!
"You said 'suppose'." He pressed.
"No, I was just thinking... I mean, obviously you can't, but... you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?" She asked, pointing with the clump of wires at the TARDIS in the corner.
"Soon as the TARDIS lands in that second, I become part of events. Stuck in the timeline." He explained, not looking up at her from his work.
"Yeah, thought it'd be something like that..." Rose muttered, not really understanding how that was a bad thing.
"If he goes back and warns them, then they won't be here. Which means you won't be pulled here by the Controller to find out what was wrong to go back and warn them." Danni elaborated, "If you're not here to find out something's wrong, you can't go back and warn them. It's a large paradox." Rose nodded, still annoyed that they were sat on the floor making stuff rather than actually pro actively doing something to stop the Daleks.
"There's another thing the TARDIS could do," The Doctor added, "It could take us away." Rose looked over at him, a small smile on her lips as he still didn't look up, "We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989."
"Yeah, but you'd never do that." She pointed out.
"No, but you could ask." He looked her in the eye and she didn't reply, the thought only now crossing her mind. During all of this, she hadn't once thought about going home and it surprised her, "Never even occurred to you, did it?" She shrugged and went back to her work.
"Well, I'm just too good!" Danni smiled sadly as the Doctor watched Rose, looking totally amazed and captivated by her in equal measure. She would never begrudge him Rose, he loved her more than anything and he deserved that. Still, it was hard to watch them together sometimes. It was a different hard to River was. River made her angry and insecure because she didn't know how her relationship with the Doctor would be affected by the archaeologist. But with Rose it was just bitter-sweet because she knew it wouldn't end well. The computer whirred behind them and both Danni and the Doctor looked over at it.
"The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" Danni was already on her feet and rushing over to it as the Doctor and Rose scrambled off the floor. They reached her and the Doctor sat in the chair in front of the monitor, pressing a few buttons and bringing up the results. His face fell and he sighed heavily.
"Is that bad?" He leant his arms on the console, resting his forehead on them and squeezing his eyes shut, "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?" The Doctor suddenly spun in the chair to face her, his back to Danni as he seemed to perk up, an idea forming in his mind. He jumped up onto his feet and beamed down at her.
"Rose Tyler, you're a GENIUS!" He pulled her in to place a huge kiss on her forehead and she smiled back eagerly, looking up at him waiting for instruction, "We can do it! If I use the TARDIS to cross my old timeline... yes!" He cheered and ran off towards the TARDIS, Danni and Rose tailing him. Rose followed him up to the console, Danni by the doors as he typing a few things onto the console, "Hold that down and keep position." He instructed Rose, who did exactly as he asked, "Danni..."
"I'll go get Jack!" She interrupted him, pointing at the door, "He'll be able to help more than I can." She grinned at Rose, who smiled back and nodded encouragingly and she dashed out, falling still just a few feet away. She knew the Doctor would have protested, but she also knew he would rather send Rose back without her than wait and try and convince her to stay. Her smile fell and she faced the door patiently, waiting for the Doctor to emerge. He dashed out, stopping much like Danni did and faced her with a devastated look on his face.
"She'll be safe, won't she?" He asked her, for the first time needing her to tell him the future. Danni glanced at the door then back at him, steeling herself as she prepared to lie to him, then nodding.
"Do it." She told him and he turned, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the TARDIS. It began wheezing as he set it into flight. Rose's voice floated over the noise, her words not quite making it but the urgency in her tone hitting him like a train. Danni stepped closer, taking his hand as the TARDIS slowly began to fade. He held onto her tightly as his aim with the screwdriver never faltered.
"Let me out! Doctor, what've you done?" Rose screamed, pounding on the door, "Danni, please let me out!" Neither moved as the TARDIS disappeared in front of them, leaving them both sad and stranded. Danni took a deep breath then looked up at him.
"Right, this Delta Wave." She stated with a grim smile, "We'd better get back to work."
"You should have gone with her." He told her sternly, "It's not..."
"You can't refine it for just the Daleks, I know." She interrupted, holding her hand up to stop him talking, "But you had to face them once on your own and I'll be damned if you're doing it again. You may not like me, but you can't get rid of me so just get on with it. Rose is safe, that's all that matters." He stared at her, looking ready to shout at her but he rolled his eyes and stormed back over to the device.
"Make yourself useful then." He snapped, "Fetch me those switches." He pointed at one of the many discarded panels and Danni did as she was asked, not even commenting on his attitude towards her.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor sat in front of the large cage that the device was slowly becoming, sonicing parts of it to behave just like he wanted them to. Danni was sat next to him, holding out a circuit that he wanted when he was done.
"Rose," Jack's voice came over the intercom, "I've called up the internal laser codes. There should be a different number on every screen - can you read them out to me?" His image appeared on a screen underneath where the Controller once stood. Danni stared at it, only now remembering that both she and Lynda were still in the TARDIS. At least they were safe too. Hopefully Rose would remember them after he regenerated.
"She's not here." The Doctor called over to him before taking the circuit board off her and slotting it into place. She picked up the next one of the pile ready for him.
"Of all the times to take a leak!" Jack joked, "When she gets back, tell her to read me the codes!" Danni stood up, balancing the board on top of the device.
"I'll do it." Danni called up to him, sounding tired and resigned to the task at hand.
"She's not coming back." The Doctor added solemnly as Danni walked over to the screens.
"What d'you mean? Where'd she go?" Jack asked, looking surprised. The Doctor stopped what he was doing to look over at the American.
"Just get on with your work." He commanded before going back to the device.
"You took her home, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then why is Danni still here?" He snapped, angry. It was one thing to dismiss anything the ginger girl had to say, but to actively not try to save her?
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you wanted to get rid of me Captain." Danni retorted. He looked down at her, being able to see her on the monitor he was stood in front of.
"You should be with her." He told her, "If he won't take you back, I will." Her eyes narrowed and her hands flew onto her hips.
"I'd like to see you try." She challenged just as angrily. They stared each other down and Jack realised that there was no way that Danni would ever leave the Doctor on his own, not even for Rose.
"The Delta Wave..." He asked the Doctor, dropping the argument much to Danni's relief, "is it ever gonna be ready?"
"Tell him the truth, Doctor." The Emperor of the Daleks appeared on a holographic screen above Jack, where the Controller had stood, "There is every possibility that the Delta Wave could be complete, but no possibility of refining it. The Delta Wave must kill every living thing in its path - with no distinction between Human and Dalek. All things will die. By your hand."
"Doctor... the range of this transmitter covers the entire Earth." Jack pointed out warningly.
"You would destroy Daleks and Humans together. If I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?" The Emperor taunted the Doctor, who stared back at him, trying to put on a brave face but faltering.
"There are colonies out there. The Human Race would survive in some shape or form, but you're the only Daleks in existence. The whole universe is in danger if I let you live." He tried to defend his actions, reasoning them out to himself rather than Jack who was staring at him expectantly, "Do you see, Jack? That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a Human or live as a Dalek."
"Actually, it's not yours to make." Danni pointed out, moving over and kneeling in front of him, drawing his attention to her. He stared at her, looking completely helpless and she reached over, placing a hand on his arm, "We may look like you, but you definitely aren't human. Me and Jack are, and we're not going to let you make that decision alone." She looked over her shoulder at Jack, "Jack; as a human I know what I'd choose. What would you do?" Jack stared at her, understanding exactly what she was saying. He nodded once.
"You sent her home." He told the Doctor, "She's safe. Keep working."
"But he will exterminate you!" The Emperor exclaimed.
"Never doubted him," Jack replied with a grin, "Never will." The Doctor grinned back and leapt to his feet, striding over to stand underneath the holographic screen.
"Now, you tell me, 'God of all Daleks'," He asked the mutant, "'cos there's one thing I never worked out. The words 'Bad Wolf', spread across time and space. Everywhere, drawing me in. How'd you manage that?"
"I did nothing." The Emperor told him.
"Oh, come on. There's no secrets now, your worship." The Doctor said sceptically with a roll of his eyes.
"They are not part of my design." The Emperor defended, and the Doctor stared baffled up at him, "This is the Truth of God." The Doctor tore his gaze from the holographic screen just as the transmission was cut. He stared at the 'Bad Wolf Corporation' sign hanging above the room with a thoughtful frown on his face. The Dalek would have admitted if it had been their doing, so what was it?
~0~0~0~
The Doctor rushed around the room frantically, piecing all the scattered parts of the machine together. He had to hurry, there wasn't much time left. The Daleks would be there any minute and he needed it up and running as soon as possible.
"Danni, that cable!" He shouted, pointing to a huge mass of tied together wires as he plugged in his own with a spark. She reached down to get it just as the satellite shook, sending her to the floor with a yelp, whacking her knees against the metal floor. They both looked down at the floor as the aftershocks continued to shake them around.
"They've broken through the defences, haven't they?" Danni asked him quietly and he nodded, shooting her a sad smile.
"Keep working." He encouraged, helping her off the floor. She handed him the cable but turned and walked over to the intercom.
"Jack," She called into it, "Did you manage to move everyone upwards?"
"I'm kinda busy Danni-Girl." he replied tersely and she sighed.
"That means no, doesn't it?" She asked sadly.
"I did my best." He replied apologetically after a pause. She smiled even though she knew he couldn't see her.
"I know you did, sweetie." She promised him, "Stay safe."
"You too Danni-Girl." She walked slowly back over to the Doctor, who was still plugging things together but looking at her concerned.
"We'll stop them." He promised her and she nodded.
"Oh, I know. What do you want me to do?" She asked, clapping her hands together to try and distract herself. He motioned over at the computer with his head.
"Tell me what numbers appear." She nodded and walked back over.
"At the moment it's just a load of ones..."
~0~0~0~
"Jack, how're we doing?" The Doctor shouted as he moved the device closer to the computer, starting on the back of the thing. Danni bit her lip as she looked upwards, waiting for Jack to reply.
"495 should be good. I like 495." Danni gasped then giggled.
"Oh, it's the Anne Droid, isn't it?" She exclaimed and Jack chuckled.
"Nothing gets past you, does it Danni-Girl?" There was silence for a moment then Jack cheered.
"Yes!" Danni cheered with him.
~0~0~0~
Danni stood looking at a computer screen which had an aerial shot of the Earth broadcasting on it. The Doctor had hacked into the surveillance systems and pointed the Observation Deck's cameras out of the large window.
"What's happening?" The Doctor asked her as she stared silently at the screen. Dalek ships began descending onto the Earth, thousands upon thousands of Daleks heading into the atmosphere.
"They're..." she swallowed down the lump in her throat, "they're about to bomb everything." She whispered as explosions of lights began signalling the attack, "Everything's just being destroyed. They're killing everything." She hit a large button on the console, turning the screen off. She propped her elbows on the desk, holding her head in her hands as she breathed deeply, the image of the Earth exploding in front of her burned into her vision even as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"This is perfection. I have created Heaven on Earth." The Emperor's voice boomed through the satellite, basking in his victory.