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The Doctor stared in horror as Danni finally let him go, jumping off his lap and onto the platform around the console. She began pacing around it, a look of pure joy on her face as she listened to the noise in her head as it seemed to fill every part of her, sending a warm tingling feeling from her head to her toes, hugging her and making her feel fantastic.
"Oh my, this is so much better than a headache." She crowed, "Oh, when I talk it gets faster. Look, now I'm talking it's more like one-two-three-four." She demonstrated the pace on her own arm, "Oh, and now it's like this," She tapped again, even faster this time, "The more I talk the faster it gets. I'll have to keep talking then, because it must like it when I talk. It got quite fast when we were kissing too, maybe we should..." The Doctor shot up and over to her, pressing a finger to her lips and stopping her talking.
"Danni." He said lowly as she stared up, wide-eyed, "Listen to me. We might still be able to stop it."
"No!" She exclaimed and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Why would you do that? You need to hear this." She grabbed his hands and placed them on either side of her head, "Do that mental linky thingy and listen!" He shook his head and moved his hands away.
"Danni, I know it seems nice right now..." He started and her eyes narrowed angrily.
"Listen to it!" She screamed before hissing, grabbing the sides of her head. The drumming, which had been making her feel euphoric not only a second before turned harsh inside her mind. It pounded against her skull, not soothingly but as if it was trying to break free. She tried to focus on the Doctor, on anything else around her but it wouldn't let her. It flooded through her system and the Doctor could only watch, helpless as she whimpered in pain.
He had tried to stop it so many times before. After the Valiant, when he had finally realised what was wrong with the ill Danni's that had appeared in his life, he had tried to force it out of her head. He had tried to help her build mental barriers around it, but every wall they placed it just tore down, blowing through it as if it were just a piece of paper standing between itself and it's goal – her.
"Doctor..." She whimpered, "What is it? What's in my head?" He pulled her up against him as he mood changed yet again, tears streaming down her cheeks as the drums changed in tone again, spiralling her downwards. She clung to him hard, confused and terrified. When her and Amy had been in Twostreams, her moods had been more erratic than normal, little things Amy would do would irritate her more than she ever thought possible, she would burst into tears and feel like she would never escape, like she was alone and doomed to be until she died. But they were always followed by periods of normality, feeling just like she did everyday.
"I don't know." He admitted, placing a gentle kiss on her hair even as she flinched away from it, "But I promise I'm going to find out. I promise I have been trying to find out."
"Please make it stop." She begged, sobbing, "It hurts." He rocked her gently as he tried to comfort her.
"I'm trying, I promise." He insisted, but she couldn't hear him, he could tell. She had tensed underneath his embrace, seemingly no longer crying as he focus was directed inwards on herself, as the drumming did what it did best, pull her out of the real world and into her own mind. She stepped away from him then did something he hadn't expected; she looked up at him, a frown on her face.
"It's in time with your hearts." She told him, bewildered, "I know it's the Time Lord heartbeat, but it's like... it's your heartbeat."
"No, no that can't be right." He pulled out his screwdriver and scanned her with it, but as always the results made no sense. She nodded.
"It is." She replied, "It went faster when you looked scared, then when you looked sad it went deeper. And then, when I was listening to your hearts, it was the same." He studied her face for a moment, she looked like she actually believed it so he gently placed her hand on his arm.
"I want you to tap along with the noise." He told her gently and she nodded, tapping a steady beat . He then took a deep breath and proceeded to slow his own heartbeats down, something he hadn't done since... oh, maybe his eighth self. He began to slowly fade in and out of consciousness, his body falling into a coma of sorts, every sense telling him that he was hurt and would need time to heal but he fought against it, focusing on Danni's finger tapping out the beat on his arm. As his hearts slowly began to beat less and less, each tap became further and further apart, but still keeping in time with his hearts. He quickly brought his hearts back to speed, and with it Danni's tapping sped up.
"It is." He confirmed with a sigh, "Why is that? Do you remember anything at all, any place you could have been when you weren't with me, where someone could have gotten you?" She shook her head.
"I'm always with you." She replied, "Only Twostreams, but then I was with Amy, wasn't I?" He nodded distractedly, looking over his shoulder at the stairs.
"Maybe I'll go wake Amelia..."
"Don't do that." Danni interrupted quickly, "They won't be sleeping." He frowned in confusion then groaned, his nose wrinkling up.
"Danni!" He cried and she laughed, her mood back where it was when she'd come to see him. The drumming was still there, but it was like she could almost ignore it, like it was at the back of her head, gently beating away at a steady rhythm.
"Oh, grow up." She teased, "It's not like we've not..." He blushed deeply.
"Danni!" He cried again, "Stop it. They might come in."
"Don't worry, we won't be seeing them for a while." She told him with a smirk and he threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine! That's it! No more... hanky-panky on the TARDIS." She nodded with a shrug.
"Fine, if that's what you want." She told him, "I'll just go to bed on my own." His eyes widened as he realised what he had said, about to protest when he caught the glint in her eye and he deflated.
"Oh you little... Dalek." He settled on and she nodded, pulling herself against him.
"Oh you big Time Lord." She replied and pulled him down into a kiss. He grasped at her tightly, his arms around her waist as she pushed him into the console, trying to get closer. He smirked into the kiss before deepening it, drawing a moan from her. He knew this bit well, the drumming would heighten every emotion she felt and this was one of his favourites. Her fingers were already undoing the buttons on his shirt, running her hands over his chest and to his shoulders, forcing his braces off and they fell to his sides. He let himself revel in the moment, enjoying the feeling of her lips on his before firmly pushing her away. Her fingers were tapping out another four beats as she held onto him, however this time it was not as fast as his hearts were going.
"Danni, we need to focus." He reminded her gently and she shook her head, trying to get back to him, "It's not always going at the same rate as my hearts, we need to figure out why it is connecting to me. Maybe then we can get it out of you head."
"No, kiss me." She demanded and he grabbed both her wrists, forcing her arms down by her sides to stop her clawing at him. Any other time he would be happy at her enthusiasm, but if he could fix this now then maybe it meant she would be okay, that whoever did it to her would leave her alone. Most creatures ran in fear when he mentioned who they were, whoever had actively harmed her wouldn't fair as well as others had.
"No." Her eyes narrowed at him but before she could shout at him, as that was what she wanted to do, her brain exploded in pain, the drumming pounding away furiously in her skull. She cried out and doubled over, "Danni, Danni-Girl can you hear me?" He asked urgently but she didn't answer, panting from the pain as she stared forward, not really looking at anything. She couldn't hear him, she wasn't even aware he was trying to get her to respond, the drumming was just so loud. It sounded... angry, and angry at the Doctor for saying 'no'. She didn't know how else to describe it. She tried to fight it down, tried to make herself heard over it as she tried to gain control, but she couldn't.
Danni squeezed her eyes shut moments before the manipulator activated, although she barely noticed as the world dissolved around her and she landed on the cold ground with a slight groan. She grasped the sides of her head tightly as she curled up into a ball, covering her ears even though it didn't do any good. It wasn't the first time something had been inside her head, the Doctor had prodded her mind a couple of times before, the last time being in America to see why she could remember the Silents, and while it had felt a bit unnatural to have someone else in there it hadn't been uncomfortable. The drumming, however, felt like it was constantly forcing itself into her mind, destroying mental walls she didn't even know existed. Footsteps echoed as somebody ran towards her, some of them echoing the drumbeat and someone pulled her off the ground.
"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" A voice asked frantically. She tried to focus on it, but it floated away before she had time to understand what the person had said, "Did the Angel do that to her?"
"No. Danni, can you hear me? Danni?" Another voice called and as quickly as the drumming overcame her it dulled to a background noise once more. She opened her eyes and saw Ten and Martha staring at her worriedly. She smiled uncertainly at them, disorientated. She hadn't felt her manipulator activate, when did she move?
"Oh, hello." She stated, "I wasn't expecting you two at all."
"What happened?" Martha asked, "You were sobbing and grasping your head." Danni frowned and tried to think back, but any memory of what had happened since she had last seen the Doctor had melted away. She remembered talking to him about Apalapucia, then... She reached up and wiped her cheek, feeling the wetness of tear tracks and realised this was how Amy must have felt after Rory had been wiped from history; crying and not knowing why.
"I... I'm not sure." She replied uncertainly, "I remember talking to Eleven, then you calling my name." The Doctor helped her stand up and she swayed slightly as she looked around, "Where are we?"
"1969!" Martha snapped, glaring at the Doctor, "Apparently we were killed by a Weeping Angel." Danni nodded, wincing at the movement.
"Ah, the Weeping Angels. I remember this, I think. You work in a shop, don't you?" She asked Martha, trying to ignore the Doctor's subtle but very concerned look. She couldn't tell him yet, this Doctor wouldn't understand why the drumming was so significant. Still, the noise increased in intensity for just a moment, as if it was angry it was being ignored. Great, an emotional mind implant. Just what she needed. Hopefully she would get to a later Doctor soon, so that they could work on finding out exactly why she was hearing the drumming only one man had ever heard in his head before.
"Just a little corner shop. The hours suck, but someone has to pay for him." Martha motioned to the Doctor, who looked slightly affronted.
"I got a job too, remember?" He replied.
"Yes," Martha told him, "And why don't you have a job anymore?"
"How was I supposed to know it would boil the eggs inside the chickens?" He protested.
"Why were you near chickens?" Danni asked as they began walking away from the alley she had landed in. They were on a small shopping street, nothing hugely exciting but it looked pretty in the dark.
"He won't say. He was working at a library!" Martha exclaimed and Danni laughed.
"Oh yes, the thing that goes 'beep'." She replied, "So, you've been paying for him all this time? I might be able to help you now I'm here. See if you can get me a job at your little shop." Martha nodded.
"I'll do my best. It's just a corner shop, I don't know if they'll need any more staff." Danni paused but the Doctor and Martha kept walking, the pair arguing over the job Martha had. She looked down an alleyway and saw a Silent stood there, staring ominously out at her.
"Hello." She told it, smirking as she thought about the last time she had seen one of the creatures, "1969 eh? This is going to be a great year for you."
"You are Danielle Fielding." It breathed and she rolled her eyes.
"Yes, and you are a Silent. I feel like I've been over this with one of you lot before. Do you mind? The Doctor's waiting for me. Send my regards to the mothership." She turned to walk away, not wanting to spend any more time with the creature, the wave of nausea she had felt when she looked away washing over her again.
"You will not speak of us to him." It warned and she sighed in annoyance, turning back. She just wanted to get back to the Doctor, being away from him was making her frustrated. The drumming in her head seemed to echo the sentiment, increasing in volume as it pushed it's way to the front of her mind from it's dormant stage.
"I know, he doesn't meet you yet. This isn't my first time travelling through time, you know?" She snapped.
"We will see you again." It told her and she nodded.
"I know you will." She corrected, "But my part is over, you tried to wipe my mind but it failed so run along." She told it firmly.
"We will see you again." It repeated, "Your part is not over yet." She frowned and opened her mouth to reply when Martha appeared next to her.
"Who are you talking to?" The companion asked, looking down the alleyway. Danni looked, ready to explain but the Silent was gone. A wave of nausea rushed over her and her hand flew to her mouth as she gagged. Martha quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulder to help steady the red-head.
"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned considering the terrible condition Danni had appeared in. She had been in so much pain when she arrived. Martha and the Doctor had been following some fort of temporal energy or something, Martha hadn't really understood what the Doctor was explaining to her, when Danni had appeared out of nowhere like she had done every other time Martha had met her. The girl had immediately dropped to the floor, sobbing hysterically as she had rolled into a ball, clutching the sides of her head, all the while counting to four in a loop. The worrying thing was that the Doctor hadn't seemed surprised at it, more worried that she appeared to be in pain. And then she had come out of it with no residue symptoms or memory of it, and the Doctor still didn't think it was a cause for concern.
"I'm fine." Danni insisted with a smile, glad she didn't have to explain the Silents to Martha, or indeed watch Martha try to kill it. After all she could be after the moon landing, she wasn't sure, "Come on, the Doctor's waiting." She linked armed with her friend and they walked off down the street to where the Doctor was stood, looking confused at the pair.
"What took you so long?" He asked Danni, who shrugged.
"Nothing, sweetie." She promised and they headed towards where the Doctor and Martha were currently living, the Doctor ranting about 'domestic' life. Both Danni and Martha tuned him out, the pair more than used to his rants and Danni looked up at her.
"Can you hear that noise?" She asked and Martha listened for a moment before shaking her head.
"Nope, just the traffic." Danni sighed sadly. She had hoped that on some level the sound was everywhere. Maybe this drumming was an echo from the future, or the past and that it might have been audible to everyone. She should have known better.
"No, I didn't think you could."