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Danni slept softly in the big bed, the cover tucked underneath her arm revealing her bare shoulder. Her lips were slightly parted and her hair was covering the pillow behind her. The Doctor laid across from her, smiling as he watched her breath. He loved to watch her breath, because it meant she was healthy and peaceful and living. He encountered so much death to see her chest rise and fall was magical. She mumbled slightly under her breath, a load of nonsense, she tended to do that as she was slowly pulled out of her dreams. He frowned slightly, he wanted her awake because he had a fantastic idea about where to take her next, the Ponds would like it as well, but at the same time he was reminded of all the times she didn't get any sleep and he wanted her to rest a little while longer.
He leant forward and placed his lips against hers, smiling into the kiss as he felt her lips pucker up to respond. He moved back to see her eyes flutter open and she blinked the sleep out of her eyes.
"Hello sleepy." He whispered teasingly. She stared at him for a moment, trying to register his face before her eyes fluttered shut and she snuggled back into the covers with a groan. He chuckled and placed another kiss on her lips to which she responded instantly before batting him away.
"Stoppit." She mumbled, "S'not fair." He stroked her hair slightly, his fingers pausing to play with the red strip of fabric still around her neck.
"I'm going to need that tie back." He told her gently. She shook her head, eyes still closed.
"My tie." She replied.
"No, my tie." He counted with a grin as his thoughts drifted back to the night before. Her eyes opened again and she pouted slightly.
"You're no fun." She grumbled, "Why did you wake me up?" She asked, snuggling up against his bare chest.
"Because it's time to get up, we've got places to go." He answered, his hand falling to her bare hip, tracing over it lightly in circular patterns, "Plus, there's very little I like more than having you all to myself."
"'Very little?'" She repeated, "What do you like more than having me all to yourself?"
"Having you to myself whilst wearing very little." He smirked as she flushed slightly, "Because I get to do this." He rolled on top of her, a hand on each of his wrist as he straddled her waist. He leant down to kiss her, Danni moving to meet him when he grinned and started pressing tiny kisses all over her face. She yelled in surprise and tried to wriggle away as he attacked her.
"Doctor, stop it!" She laughed as he moved to her cheek, doing the same over the rosy red skin, "Doctor!" He tightened his grip on her wrists, so it wasn't painful but so she couldn't use her hands to push him off as he began kissing her eyelids, "Doctor!"
"Why should I?" He asked in between kisses.
"Because it's ridiculous." He paused, looking thoughtful before shaking his head.
"Nope, that's not good enough." She struggled underneath him as he resumed his onslaught of tiny caresses.
"Because you wanted to take me somewhere?" She asked.
"Nope." He muttered against her skin.
"Because you love me." She tried. He paused again, moving away to look down at her.
"And...?" He asked leadingly. She rolled her eyes.
"And because I love you too, you fool." She retorted. He grinned and moved to her lips, kissing her forcefully. He loved to hear her say it, not every version of her did. She parted her lips and he deepened the kiss, a very different reason for waking her up now in his mind.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor was running around the controls, flying the TARDIS with minimal turbulence as Amy, Rory and Danni watched from the other side. Even though the medicine he'd given Amy and Danni had worked excellently, the Doctor had decided that they should go somewhere calm and quiet to follow the night out.
"Apalapucia." He declared with a grin, his arms wrapped around the girls' shoulders before rushing off, pressing a big button as he did.
"Say it again?" Amy asked.
"Apalapucia." He pronounced it slower so she could copy.
"Apalapu...?" She trailed off.
"Cia."
"Apalapucia." Rory repeated.
"Apalapucia." Danni tried and The Doctor shot her a grin, proud even though all she did was pronounce a word properly. She blushed happily.
"Apalapucia." Amy managed with a smile, "What a beautiful word."
"Beautiful word, beautiful world." He flipped a lever and the TARDIS shook, causing Amy to exclaim in surprise, "Apalapucia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller." He explained. Rory approached him, standing almost face to face.
"Why couldn't we go to number one?" He asked, confused.
"Planet of the coffee shops? Who wants to go there?" Danni explained before sticking her tongue out in disgust. Even though she ran off coffee, that was one of the last places she'd want to go to and the Doctor knew it.
"Exactly! Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" He grabbed Danni's hand as he led them over to the doors, spinning her around as they walked down the stairs. Rory looked at Amy before jumping down the stairs, Amy doing a little twirl herself as she followed, "I give you..." He flung the doors of the TARDIS open dramatically to reveal an empty white room with only a pair of grey doors staring back at them.
"Doors." Rory finished as he looked out of the TARDIS first. The Doctor stuck his head out next, spotting the doors with two buttons across from them.
"Doors. Yes. I give you doors." He stepped out, pulling Danni with him and Rory followed, "But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades." Amy's head popped out of the doorway.
"Have you seen my phone?" She asked and the Doctor frowned.
"Your phone?" He repeated and she nodded.
"Yeah."
"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"
"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone." She pointed out and the Doctor sighed.
"On the counter, by the DVDs." He told her.
"Thank you." She replied smugly before re-entering the TARDIS.
"I'll come with you." Danni called and followed the red-head in as they quickly headed to the television room, "He'll just be grump that you had a good reason to fetch it anyway." Amy nodded.
"I know I can't exactly show people the pictures, but I'd like to have something to look back on." The Doctor watched them go before joining Rory at the doors, his hands in his pockets as Rory kept his arms crossed.
"How do we get in?" Rory asked. The Doctor shrugged.
"I don't know." He replied, "Push a button." He motioned to the two buttons by the door, one with a red waterfall on it, the other a green anchor. After a slight deliberation Rory pressed the green anchor and the doors slid open, revealing another white room. In the middle was a glass table with a large magnifying glass stood on top of it, some chairs discarded on one side.
"OK, so, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades." The Doctor admitted.
"Yeah." Rory replied and they entered the room together. Rory headed straight for the magnifying glass while the Doctor did a quick scan around the room, checking for anything else out of the ordinary.
"It's a magnifying glass." Rory declared a bit redundantly, it wasn't as if the Doctor couldn't tell what is was. They looked at each other through the glass, neither of them knowing what it was for.
"Hey? Hey, it's locked." Amy's voice came through the doorway.
"Yeah, push the button." Rory called back, waiting for his wife to open the door. The Doctor looked around the room again, sensing something was amiss with the place they were stood in but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Come on, Amy!" Rory groaned, leaning on the table when he realised she wasn't coming through. He walked over, opening the door and looked out, seeing the TARDIS and nothing more. The Doctor sat down on one of the chairs, feeling increasingly concerned and slightly bored at the same time.
"Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?" Rory exclaimed as the Doctor leant forward, spotting a red and green button on the handle of the magnifying glass. He pressed the green button and the glass flickered like a screen, revealing a blurry close up of Amy.
"Rory... I think I've found her." The Doctor stated slowly, watching Amy as she seemed to recognise him.
"What do you mean you've found her?" He walked over and saw his wife reflected back at them, "Whoa! No, but, she's not..." Rory ran around the other side of the magnifying glass, bewildered as the Doctor and Amy looked around their sides, "she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."
"Where are we?" She asked, "In fact, where are you?" Danni appeared in front of her, pointing over their shoulders.
"Don't let the Handbots touch you!" She warned them as a door slid open with an exhalation of air. The Doctor and Rory jumped up as a white robot with realistic-looking hands slowly walked in, holding its hands up in front of it. There were two small lights on its chest, one red and one green.
"Handbots?" Amy asked as Rory let out a noise of surprise at the sight.
"Hands! Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Rory." The Doctor told the other man, the two men looking at their own hands as Amy and Danni craned their necks to try and see the robots with very little results.
"Welcome to the Twostreams Facility. Will you be visiting long?" The robot asked in a calm, reassuring voice. Rory shrugged.
"Er, Doctor. Something's happening." Amy cried, alarmed, drawing their attention back to the glass. It began to blur, Amy and Danni disappearing in front of them. The Doctor ran over and pulled his sonic screwdriver out, aiming it at the glass.
"Amy!" He shouted, "Danni, stay calm! Stay still! Ah, time's gone wobbly." The image on the screen began to change rapidly, Amy and Danni changing positions like they were flicking through a bunch of photos, "I hate it when it does that." The Handbot shot its hand out towards Rory, causing him to jump back in alarm.
"Will you be visiting long?" It asked again.
"Good question, bit sinister." The Handbot began to advance on him, "What's the answer to not get us killed?" The Doctor finally got the image back, sighing relief as he saw Amy crouched in the corner, Danni lying down on the floor.
"It's OK, I've got you, you're fine." He breathed.
"Will you be visiting long?" The Handbot asked again, having backed Rory into a corner.
"Doctor, a little help. Doctor." He cried, actually quite worried. Robots were never good, he should know. Last time he encountered some sort of robots it had tortured River Song, who turned out to be his and Amy's daughter, somehow. The Doctor moved over to Rory, seeing him in possible danger.
"And where have you been?" Amy asked , annoyed.
"Will you...?" The Handbot began to asked again.
"What do I tell it?" Rory exclaimed, now fully panicking as Amy approached the magnifying glass.
"Stop shouting, Danni's just got to sleep." She snapped, "We've been here a week!"
"A week?!" The Doctor shouted as he headed back to the magnifying glass, alarmed at this development. That meant Danni had just spent a whole week of her life with Amy and not with him. It was so hard to get any prolonged time with her, and a whole week had just disappeared without him being there, "I'm so sorry! Aha! Same room, different times. Two timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream." He rambled as it dawned on him what was happening.
"Yes, I know. Danni told me." Amy replied before looking apprehensive, "Doctor, she keeps getting headaches." His eyes widened.
"Headaches?" He asked, his voice going up in pitch. This Danni was okay, he knew she was. But if she was getting headaches, maybe this was the start of everything. Amy nodded, seemingly thinking the same as he was. Maybe this was the tipping point, he could change it. Save her from what was to come.
"Doctor, it's going again!" Amy cried, pulling him out of his thoughts as the image blurred again.
"Doctor!" Rory cried, the Handbot reaching towards his face but the Doctor didn't turn around.
"Danni!" The Doctor cried, "Amy!"
"DOCTOR!" Amy screamed before the glass went blank. He pulled out his screwdriver, playing with the settings again anxiously until the image reappeared. Amy was sat with her feet up on the table the magnifying glass was resting on, Danni leaning on her arms next to her.
"Come on. Gotcha! There. Stabilised, settled, shh! Danni, are you okay?" He asked her. She looked up, her brows furrowed angrily.
"My head hurts." she snapped, lying back on her arms, "This is stupid, I wanna leave now." He sighed, there were the mood swings.
"Why has this got hands?" Rory asked, cornered by the Handbot. The Doctor got up and walked over, looking at the hand it was holding up towards Rory.
"Organic skin, ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room. But why not just give it eyes?" He asked, still very confused.
"Will you be visiting long?" The Handbot asked again.
"As long as it takes." The Doctor replied, striding back over to the glass, "Amy, what exactly did you do?" He asked, not wanting to aggravate Danni anymore.
"I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button." She explained, "Danni followed shortly afterwards."
"Ah..." Rory said in realisation as the Handbot left him alone, "Amy, there are two buttons. Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?" Amy looked down, looking slightly guilty.
"I pushed the red waterfall." She told him, "Danni told me not to, sorry." She apologised to the other red-head who didn't even look up.
"Sorry's no good now, is it?" She replied before sighing and sitting up, rubbing her temples, "Sorry, sorry." She muttered as if she had been apologising a lot. The Doctor studied her, was it affecting her yet? Or was this a pre-illness symptom. He looked at her hand; must be pre-illness.
"Great." Rory muttered as he pressed the exit button and headed back into the little white room outside. He waited until the doors closed then went into the red waterfall room, finding it empty.
"Amy?" He called, looking around, "Danni?" There was obviously no sign of the two girls and he stepped out again, groaning as the doors shut. Of course they weren't there, that would have been too easy. He pressed the green anchor button and headed over to the Doctor.
"I pressed Red Waterfall, and they weren't there!" He explained, exasperated. Nothing could ever be simple. The Doctor nodded, he had suspected as much, pushing himself off his chair and he began pacing as Rory took his place.
"So you can't follow them directly. You know, it's never simple!" He growled, just wanting to get both Danni and Amy out of there. He walked over to the Handbot, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know."
"Statement..." The Handbot paused for a moment, "rejected." The red light on it's chest lit up, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen7." The Doctor immediately covered his mouth with his coat collar, Rory doing the same and Amy using her hands. Danni reached up and pulled Amy's arm down, shaking her head at the girl.
"What?" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Chen7, hmm?" Rory asked, wanting more information if he and his wife were in danger.
"The one day plague." The Doctor replied and Rory's eyes widened.
"What, you get it for a day?" He asked hopefully. The Doctor shook his head.
"No, you get it, and you die in a day."
"There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility." The Handbot explained, "Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now." The Doctor and Rory slowly lowered their collars as the robot bowed and teleported away.
"Sterile area, I'm safe." The Doctor breathed in relief, walking over and sitting in front of glass, rubbing his eyes. That would be the last thing he'd need, he had to save Danni.
"What about us!" Amy exclaimed, pointing between her and Danni.
"Chen7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians."
"And Time Lords." Danni piped up and the Doctor watched her sit up, the headache visibly disappearing as she straightened and grinned, "We're fine, I told you we would be."
"In that facility, I'm dead in a day." He confirmed, "Time moves faster on their side of the glass. Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?" Amy frowned, she hadn't even thought about it. The thought of food hadn't even crossed her mind.
"Nothing. I wasn't hungry." She replied.
"Danni, what about water? Didn't you get thirsty?" The Doctor asked her and she shook her head, her headache completely gone. Finally.
"Neither of us did." She confirmed.
"No, because Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives." Rory sat down in front of the glass as the Doctor leant over him, trailing off. Danni was in a different timestream, did that mean she wouldn't jump away? Would he have to watch her live to death without spending her life with him?
"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes? That's horrible."
"No, Rory," The Doctor turned to him, "it's kind. You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for 24 hours and watch them die, or sit in here for 24 hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?" Rory couldn't reply and the Doctor picked up the magnifying glass, cutting off the signal.
"Doctor?!" Amy cried, the sound coming across but the image still being blank.
"Doctor," Danni exclaimed, "Don't leave us, please!" The Doctor adjusted the glass and the girls appeared back on the screen, facing off to the side.
"I'm here, Danni. I'm right here." He reassured her and she visibly relaxed. He smiled, he loved that she felt safe when he was there. He would always protect her, always.
"Where are you? Am I looking at you?" Amy asked, smiling in amusement despite being trapped in another timestream.
"Turn left, just a fraction." They both moved, staring just off from the two men, "Bit more, stop. That's it."
"Eye to eye?" Danni asked.
"Eye to eye to eye." He promised her and she grinned, waving. He laughed and waved back, even though she couldn't see him he knew she would know he was waving back.
"Hello." Rory added uneasily.
"Amy, Danni-Girl, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you're on your own." He explained apologetically. He pulled out his screwdriver and soniced arund the edge of the glass.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"Locking onto Amy, she less likely to jump away. Small act of vandalism, no-one'll mind." He brushed off as an alarm sounded, "Ah, that will be the small act of vandalism alarm. Amy, Danni, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!" Danni grabbed Amy's hand and they watched through the glass as they headed over to another door. They stepped through but paused, turning back to face the general direction of the glass.
"Rory, I love you." Amy told him.
"And I love you, Doctor." Danni added.
"Now, save us. Go on." Amy finished and the doors closed, cutting them off from the men.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor led Rory into the TARDIS and headed straight for the console with the magnifying glass, plugging it into the top of the console.
"This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it." He explained, using crocodile clips to attach it to something Rory didn't understand, causing it to spark. Rory barely flinched, he was so used to the machine sparking when the Doctor did something to it he'd be surprised if it didn't. The Doctor headed off to the side, reaching underneath the console and pulling out a metal toolbox. Rory stared at him incredulously, he had a toolbox?
"Now then, I know you're in here." He threw the lid open and rummaged through the box, "Um... erm.. Haha!" He pulled a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses out, putting them on happily, "How do I look?" He turned to face Rory, a huge grin on his face.
"Ridiculous." Rory told him bluntly.
"Glasses are cool. See?" He put then on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."
"Oh, hello." Rory replied, grinning bashfully.
"Hello, Rorycam!" The Doctor pointed at the glasses and Rory frowned, confused.
"Huh?" Rory turned and saw the monitors being displayed on the monitors behind him, "Oh, you can see what I see." He nodded as he realised the Doctor had been talking about himself.
"We're breaking into Twostreams." The Doctor explained, suddenly back to being serious, "Now, I can't go in, the Chen7'll kill me, no regeneration. You will be my eyes and ears." He flicked the glasses then Rory's ears.
"Rory-cam. Rescue Amy. Got it." Rory nodded, sounded good.
"That's the spirit! Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bit hairy." The Doctor warned, looking at the controls as he worked out the best way to break through and get to Amy and Danni.
"Is it safe?" Rory asked and he shrugged.
"Don't know. Never tried. Best hold onto something." Rory turned and headed towards the railings, gripping tightly and the Doctor began to pilot the TARDIS.
~0~0~0~
Rory stepped out of the TARDIS cautiously, looking from side at all of the works of art that seemed to be displayed. He had the glasses on, showing the Doctor everything he was seeing and the magnifying glass strapped to him with a large leather belt. On the wall was a large red circle with a waterfall symbol cut out of it and he sighed in relief.
"Red Waterfall! We made it." He told the Doctor over the earpiece built into the glasses.
"Good old us!" He heard the Doctor breath, knowing he was happy to be there as well. As much as he was worried about Amy, he knew the Doctor was infinitely more worried about Danni and he couldn't blame him. He remembered Danni's headaches' well, and it didn't look good for her.
"How do we know that we're in the same Red Waterfall as Amy?" Rory asked as he headed into the room towards the door, looking at all the works of art dotted around.
"Focus on the positive." The Doctor replied, meaning he didn't know, "We locked onto Amy's timestream." Rory gazed up at the Venus de Milo, "Eyes front, soldier!" Rory jolted and blushed, being caught.
"Right, yes, sorry." He apologised, clapping his hands together and carrying on down the room.
"Apalapucians are the great cultural scavengers, Rory, this gallery's a scrapbook of their favourite places." The Doctor explained.
"Bit of Earth," He pointed to the Mona Lisa, "bit of alien," He pointed to a white sculpture, "bit of..." He trailed off as he saw an oozing purple... thing, "whatever the hell that is." Rory moved on, the oozing goo making him feel grossed out. He headed into the next room, more artworks being displayed for him to view, "Where... is everyone?" He pointed out.
"Right, Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it." The Doctor commanded, "I'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If I can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?" Rory held the glass up and did as he was told, the glass shimmering and the image of thousands of people overlapped, all moving at different speeds appeared on the reflection, "And there they are. 40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands." The Doctor breathed, impressed.
"Are they happy?" Rory asked, needing to know. Something about this made him really uncomfortable. Even if they said it was kind, it seemed cruel. The people may live a lifetime, but they live it on their own cut off from their families, and that didn't seem kind at all.
"Oh, Rory. Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive." The Doctor settled on, "Better than the alternative." Rory lowered the glass and a masked person came charging at him, sword raised in one hand, forcing him down to the floor.
"I come in peace! Peace, peace, peace, peace!" He cried, terrified, holding his hands up in surrender as the masked person pushed the sword against his throat.