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Martha smiled to herself as the front door to the flat opened and the Doctor and Danni entered, both laughing. She pushed herself off the armchair and walked slowly into the hallway to find them both absolutely soaked, the Doctor's long coat wrapped around Danni as the girl shook slightly from the cold.
"What the hell happened to you two?" She exclaimed, "It's not even raining!" Danni grinned.
"Well, we were on our way to see the Italian Job when this one," She motioned to her head to the Doctor, "Spotted a bunch of teenagers having a water balloon fight. They were ganging up on this one poor lad so we decided to stop them. Next thing I know I'm on a team of about 12 of them while he leads the other side."
"Brilliantly, I might add." The Doctor told them as they headed into the kitchen.
"We still won." Danni replied smugly and Martha laughed.
"Really?" Danni nodded, looking victorious.
"There may have been a slight miscalculation of ammo." The Doctor replied.
"You all surrounded me and chucked every last one at me." Danni pointed out before turning to Martha, "Not everyone else, just me."
"That seems a bit harsh." Martha said with a frown and Danni shook her head.
"Oh no, that wasn't the worse part. The worse part is after the dust fell and I'm stood there soaked from head to foot, all the boys started jeering because." She opened up the jacket, "You can see my underwear through my white dress." She turned to face the Doctor as she closed it back again, pointing at him angrily, "Best date ever!" She snapped, "But I'm still angry at you for bombarding me with water balloons so I can't look happy about it!" He grinned.
"Your team got even, and quite rightly as well because mine all turned out to be a bunch a little girls." Danni nodded in agreement. As soon as her team had seen what had happened, the one that weren't distracted by her underwear had charged with a battle cry and his team had run the other way.
"With pigtails." She added for good measure, reminding herself of Mickey. She hoped to see him again soon, but she doubted she would. Plus, that would mean an angry Doctor as she would rather stick with one who was at least nice to her, "I'm going to get dry. I expect fish and chips when I get out." She nodded once for good measure then left to get change. The Doctor watched her leave and turned to Martha, who was grinning at him.
"What?" He asked, confused by her look.
"You bombarded her with water balloons while she happened to be wearing a white dress, and not once in that Time Lord brain of yours did you consider it might go see through?" She asked and he shook his head.
"No! No, it... it was an accident." He stuttered, alarmed, "I didn't..." He pointed to the door, "She was the... it was an accident!" Martha laughed.
"Of course it was." She replied, humouring him and the Doctor looked ready to argue his case again but just shook his head.
"Well, hurry up Martha. You heard the girl, fish and chips for three. Off you chop."
"Hold on!" Martha exclaimed, "Why do I have to go?!" The Doctor motioned down at his wet clothing.
"She's not the only one who was in the fight. Chop chop." He turned, a smirk appearing on his face as he dived into his room. He was sure he'd managed to convince Martha he hadn't done it on purpose, and he hadn't. It didn't occur to him that her dress might have gone see-through, it was just a happy coincidence... until them teenage boys starting staring at her and he'd had to cover her up. Next time he might take her swimming. The TARDIS did have a pool.
~0~0~0~
The BBC played a slow version of the national anthem to indicate the channel closing down for the night and the Doctor stretched out in the chair. He turned to Danni, opening his mouth to ask her what she wanted to do next to find her asleep on the sofa, curled in a ball. Martha had headed to bed a few hours ago, leaving the two to watch a documentary on... well, the Doctor wasn't sure, if he was honest. He had been thinking about where to take Martha and Danni next to make up for being killed, which had led to him reminiscing about all the places he took Rose, which had led him to think about how he'd treated Danni and that took him back to where to take her to make up for everything. He watched her sleep for a moment before frowning and leaning over, watching her fingers tapping on her head as she slept. A beat of four, just like she would count. Even at the same speed.
She had been struggling to sleep since she had landed with him and Martha, catching an hour or so if she was exhausted and he could tell it was getting to her. She had deep bags under her eyes that Martha had helped her cover up for work, she had become irritable and she would just drift off into her own head, ignoring everything around her until someone managed to bring her out of it. She had barely eaten, only picking at the fish and chips Martha had fetched them and she was already losing weight, and she really didn't need to.
He smiled to himself, thinking about their 'date' beforehand. She had only been kidding, of course. They were only friends, and from what he knew about Earth culture friends didn't date. Danni didn't seem the kind of person who would go on dates anyway. He shook his head, not the time to think about that. She could date whoever she wanted, as long as he found them suitable of course, that's what friends were for.
He focused back on her fingers as they tapped on her skull. She really hadn't been able to sleep, and when she had she never did that. Then again, when she had fallen asleep previously she hadn't stayed asleep for very long but she seemed to be sleeping quite deeply. He reached across and placed a hand over the one on her head, forcing the fingers to stop tapping. She stayed calmly asleep for a few moments until her face scrunched up as if she was in pain and her eyes shot open.
"Doctor?" She asked, panting slightly and he let go of her hand. She looked around, taking in the surroundings.
"You fell asleep, I think it's time for you to go to bed." He told her and she nodded.
"Yeah, I think you might be right." She replied, sitting up, "What about you?"
"I think I might catch up on some reading." He told her, stretching again as he stood up. He held out his hand to help her off the sofa, "I'll walk you to your room." She smiled.
"Thanks, but I think I'll get a drink first. My mouth feels really dry considering how wet I was before." They both laughed and she stood on her tiptoes, placing a kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight, Doctor."
"G'night Danni-Girl." He replied, walking out of the room. Danni watched him go before heading to the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water from the tap. She took a couple of large gulps from it before leaning on the counter, squeezing her eyes shut. She had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming a strange dream that like always was dancing on the edge of her memory, when she had been hit with this overwhelming urge to wake up, her head pounding so hard it had ripped her from the first good sleep she had had in weeks and she knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep that night. When she had opened her eyes she hadn't seen the Doctor and the urge to attack whoever had woken her raged through her until something had triggered in her mind that it was the Doctor and she had instantly calmed. The relief that she hadn't hurt him had caused the drumming to get so angry that she could barely hear the Doctor talking to her, which was why she had come to the kitchen, in the vain hope she could calm it down. Had the Master fought against it first? Had he been scared at what was taking over him, just like she was or had he embrased it? He had only been a child, only 8 years old when he had first heard it, he probably didn't know how to function without it.
She took a deep breath to calm herself down, she was getting worked up again and pushed herself off the counter, turning around and opening her eyes. She jumped in surprise, yelping slightly as she saw the Silent stood in front of the doorway, it staring ominously at her. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She snarled quietly.
"Your part is not over." It breathed. It must have been the same one she had seen when she'd first landed carrying on the conversation.
"Yes it is." She bit back, "Now get out."
"Your part is not over." It repeated, "You will kill the Doctor." An anger she had not felt before filled her, a burning hatred of the creature raging through her as she took a step closer.
"I will not." She replied firmly, panting as the drumming reared up to her defence, fuelling the fire inside her, "Get out."
"You will lead the Doctor to us. He will die to save you." She saw red and spun around, grabbing the first thing she saw and flinging it at the creature.
"Get out fuck of my house!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as the item hurtled towards the Silent, the alien disappearing in a crackle of electricity just before it was hit in the head. The door flung open and the Doctor was stood there, looking at her in alarm.
"Danni!" He exclaimed, "What's wrong?" She shook her head, the anger replacing itself with hopelessness as she started sobbing.
"Don't let it back in, please don't let it back in." She cried and he rushed over, catching her as she crumbled.
"Hey, hey." He whispered, rubbing her back as she clung to him, "Nothing's getting in here, I promise." he looked around, catching the large kitchen knife buried in the back of the door, the blade wedged into it. It had taken quite the throw to get it in that deep, "Danni, what was here?" she shook her head into his chest.
"I don't know, I don't know." She repeated, "Please don't let it back in." He shushed her gently as he looked back over. There was no over sign that anything had been in there apart from the knife.
"I won't." He moved back, smiling warmly at her as he did, "Let's get you to bed, eh?" She shook her head.
"No, no don't leave me." She begged and he pulled her close, walking her out of the room.
"I'm not going to leave you." He promised, taking her to his bedroom and lying her down on his bed. He pulled the cover around her then grabbed his little wooden chair, placing it purposefully by the side of the bed, "I'll be right here when you wake up, then we'll talk about it." She stared at him, eyes-wide and obviously terrified.
"I don't want you to die." She whimpered and he stared at her, confused by the statement.
"I'm not going to." He told her firmly, "Now go to sleep."
"I don't think I can." He sighed and reached over, grabbing her hand gently and placing it next to her head.
"Tap." He commanded gently, "Like you were counting." She frowned in confusion but did as he was told, guessing he meant the beat of four in her head. Soon enough her eyes started to droop and she drifted off. Martha opened the door as she did and the Doctor held up a finger to his lips. She looked at Danni pointedly and he shrugged.
What the hell was that?
~0~0~0~
Danni was walking down the hallway in the office building she worked, humming a song that had yet to be released happily to herself. She loved her job, she really did. If she had known this when she'd gone to university, she would have taken up a degree in media. She shrugged to herself, skipping slightly, it didn't exactly matter now, did it? She spotted Billy walking out of a room, holding the door open for a young lady and grinned. The Doctor wanted to start filming the Easter Egg soon and they needed to rehearse.
"Billy!" She shouted, setting off in a slight jog as she headed towards him. The man looked up, slightly alarmed as the girl skidded to a stop, "I've been looking for you everywhere, where have you been hiding?"
"I was with Mary here." He motioned with his head pointedly at the woman and Danni realised instantly that she had interrupted him trying to 'woo' her.
"Oh, I see." She replied, picking up the girl's hands in hers, "My name's Danni, it's very nice to meet you Mary." She placed a kiss on the back of each of the girl's hands before dropping them and turning to Billy, "The Doctor just wanted to invite you around to ours for a catch-up. If you can nip in on your way home and let him know when you're free, I'd be very grateful, he can be quite impatient." She turned to Mary, "He's my fiancé, you see." She explained, not wanting it to seem strange she was living with another man, some people still had such old fashioned views, "He wants Billy to be his best man and they need to sort out details." She turned back to Billy before the girl could answer, "So I'll tell him you'll be around tonight, yeah?" She nodded and grinned, "You two cats be good now, but not too good. After all, life is short and you're both very hot." She winked and Billy and skipped away, heading home for the day.
~0~0~0~
"My fiancé?" The Doctor exclaimed, Martha laughing at the panicked look on his face. Danni was stood at the fridge, looking in for something to munch on. She was suddenly really hungry, she hadn't eaten in a few days and it was catching up with her.
"Uh-huh." She replied with a nod, pulling out some cheese, ham and butter for her sandwich, "Even in 1969 it's strange for two women and a man to be living together, it was the first thing that came to my head."
"But my fiancé?" He repeated and she shot him a smirk.
"Oh you should be so lucky." She teased, setting Martha into another fit of giggles. She quickly made herself a cheese and ham sandwich, sitting next to Martha at the little dining table they had.
"But you're not my fiancé!" She rolled her eyes.
"Oh does it matter?" She replied, "He's coming around, like you wanted. You'd better get ready for him, actually. I think he'll be here soon." the Doctor did what she said, leaving the room in a bit of a daze. She lifted the sandwich to her mouth, taking a small bite.
"You really couldn't think of another lie?" Martha asked her as she grimaced, placing the sandwich down, her appetite suddenly disappearing. She forced herself to swallow and pushed the plate away, feeling nauseated.
"Yeah, loads." Danni replied, "But Billy's girlfriend looked a bit startled and I wanted to reassure her I wasn't trying to get my claws into him, so to speak. Sandwich?" Martha shook her head.
"Still not hungry?" She asked the ginger woman.
"I was until I tried to eat it." she admitted, "I don't know where my appetite's gone."
"Have you seen any more of them aliens?" Martha asked quietly, not wanting to upset her. Danni had been in a fantastic mood since she'd woken up that morning, compared to how she had been in the last week or so and she didn't want to change that.
"I don't remember what I saw." Danni lied casually. She did remember, she never forgot the Silents, unlike the rest of the universe, but she had told them she couldn't remember anything after the Doctor waking her up on the sofa. Hopefully they would think it was because she was sleep-deprived and move on from it. She wasn't going to kill the Doctor, and neither were they.
"Do you think you dreamt it up then?" Danni nodded.
"I must of. I'll have to try and get some more sleep, it's becoming unhealthy." It was the drumming that kept her awake though, instead of becoming used to it as she thought, like when people lived by railway tracks and can't hear the trains going past, it just became unbearably loud whenever she shut her eyes. She had to wonder if the trick the Doctor had her do would work every time, but she suspected it wouldn't. She had noticed very early on the drumming seemed to fade into a sort of dull sound after she had been at the height of any particular emotion, and considering how hysterical she had become the night before she wasn't surprised that she had been able to finally fall asleep.
"It's a bit of a coincidence though, isn't it?" Martha started, "You fall asleep the first night you sleep in the Doctor's bed."
"It's not the first time." Danni blurted out, blushing deeply and Martha grinned, ecstatic at that piece of information.
"Really?" She asked and Danni shook her head at her enthusiasm.
"Not this Doctor, though." She elaborated, "Eleven. We share a room, it's not that big of a deal. You can't tell him."
"But..."
"No buts, Martha." Danni told her firmly, becoming serious, "This Doctor doesn't have that relationship with me, if he finds out that's to come he might fight it and I won't lose him to River Bloody Song." Martha reached across, grabbing Danni's hands which had tensed into fists at the thought of the woman. She had dreamt about River the last time she had managed to get some sleep, the woman grinning at her in a wedding dress. It had been one of the reasons she had been fighting sleep, she didn't want to see it again
"Who's River Song?" Martha asked, confused. She had never heard that name before, and Danni would occasionally let stuff slip through. Danni shook her head, forcing herself to relax and shot her a reassuring smile.
"No one. Don't worry about it." There was a knock on the front door, echoing through the flat and Danni stood up, "I'll get that. It'll be our Bill." She turned and walked out, ending the conversation. Martha sighed, everyone was keeping secrets and she knew it would all end unhappily.
~0~0~0~
Danni looked down at the large pieces of card in her hand again, then up at the Doctor. He was sat in front of plain background on a chair staring at a camera. She was sat behind the camera, Martha stood to her left while Billy fiddled with the camera, still getting used to the older technology.
"And why do I have to do this?" She whined, "Can't Martha do it?"
"No." The Doctor replied, "She's in the video and Billy has to do the camera. We need to space it out correctly, so that Sally knows..."
"So she knows what you're responding to. I know, I know." She grumbled, tugging at the sleeve of the oversized jumper she was wearing. She really didn't want to read out the part, if she stumbled over the words then they'd laugh at her and she'd mess up the entire video and they'd have to start again.
"Right, we ready?" Billy asked and the Doctor nodded, standing up.
"It says I walk into shot." He explained at Martha's confused look. Billy pressed the record button and the Doctor walked in front of the camera, sitting down. Danni held up the cards, one side with the Doctor's lines on, one side with hers on. She had much more to say, but because she was closer it was written much smaller so she could have more written on the back. She still didn't want to be doing this, she didn't want to mess up and let everyone down.
"Okay. There he is." She said slowly, leaving a few beats in between the lines as the Doctor put on his glasses, "The 's the Doctor? He's the Doctor." It was weird, like having a conversation to herself. She held up a finger on her free hand.
"Yep. That's me." The Doctor said with a nod.
"Okay, that was scary." Danni replied, "No, it sounds like he's replying, but he always says that." She held up her finger again.
"Yes, I do." The Doctor stated.
"And that."
"Yep, and this." Martha looked between the two, it was really strange. They were having a conversation that hadn't happened yet, but at the same time had already happened. That was one of the many problems with time travel, you couldn't put anything in order anymore.
"He can hear us. Oh, my God, you can really hear us!" Danni continued, not looking at anyone as she concentrated on the paper in front of her. All her lines were highlighted, she just had to keep it together a little longer, "Of course he can't hear us. Look! I've got a transcript, see, everything he says. 'Yep, that's me'. 'Yes, I do'. 'Yep, and this'. Next it's..."
"Are you going to read out the whole thing?" The Doctor replied, sounding annoyed.
"Sorry." Danni apologised on behalf of Larry, "Who are you?"
"I'm a time traveller. Or I was. I'm stuck in 1969." The Doctor explained and Danni dropped the first card as Martha moved in front of the camera, Billy panning across so that they were both in the same shot.
"We're stuck. All of space and time, he promised me. Now I've got a job in a shop, I've got to support him!" She exclaimed, annoyed.
"Martha!" The Doctor pointed at the camera and Martha deflated.
"Sorry." She moved back to Danni's side as she changed cards again.
"I've seen this bit before."
"Quite possibly." The Doctor replied.
"1969, that's where you're talking from?"
"'Fraid so."
"But you're replying to me. You can't know exactly what I'm gonna say, 40 years before I say it!"
"38." The Doctor corrected.
"I'm getting this down! I'm writing in your bits. How? How is this possible? Tell me!Not so fast." Danni said, getting bored. This was stupid, there was no need for her to be doing this. All the Doctor would have to do is read it and he could leave the right amount of space between lines.
"People don't understand time. It's not what you think it is." He told the camera.
"Then what is it?" The drumming agreed with her, she could tell. It wanted to be doing something more productive than this.
"Complicated."
"Tell me."
"Very complicated."
"I'm clever and I'm listening. And don't patronise me because people have died, and I'm not happy. Tell me." Danni smiled as she read this out. She loved Sally Sparrow, it was one of the only episodes surrounding over characters she had ever liked.
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of... wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff." The Doctor explained, using his hands as he rambled on. She had to admit, he knew how to act like the conversation was actually happening. Danni changed the card again.
"Yeah, I've seen this bit before. You said that sentence got away from you." He nodded, looking thoughtful.
"It got away from me, yeah."
"Next thing you're going to say is, 'Well, I can hear you'." Danni read.
"Well, I can hear you." The Doctor repeated with conviction.
"This isn't . It's brilliant!"
"Not hear you exactly, but I know everything you're going to say." The Doctor admitted.
"Always gives me the shivers, that can you know what I'm going to say?"
"Look to your left." He told her, nodding his head to the left as he did.
"What does he mean by, 'Look to your left'? I've written tons about that on the forums. I think it's a political statement." Danni rolled her eyes, how did he not get that during the moment is strange, "He means you. What are you doing? I'm writing in your bits. So I've got a complete transcript of the whole conversation. Wait until this hits the net. This will explode the egg forums."
"I've got a copy of the finished transcript. It's on my Autocue." The Doctor replied.
"Hey!" Danni exclaimed, looking up from the card with an angry frown on her face, "I am not an Autocue!"
"Sorry." The Doctor apologised. "It's being held up for me by my Danni-Girl."
"I always loved that." Danni read out, slower as she read the words for the first time, "I loved that part. Like he has to qualify her because she had a boy's nam... How rude is that?!"
"Danni." The Doctor warned and she rolled her eyes, changing the card.
"How can you have a copy of the finished transcript? It is still being written." Danni continued with the original conversation.
"I told you. I'm a time traveller. I got it in the future."
"Okay, let me get my head 'round this." Danni took a deep breath, like Sally Sparrow would, "You're reading from a transcript of a conversation you're still having? Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Actually, never mind that. You can do shorthand?So?"
"What matters is we can communicate." The Doctor interrupted, "We have got big problems now. They've taken the blue box, haven't they? The angels have the phone box."
"The angels have the phone box! That's my favourite, I've got it on a t-shirt!" Danni grinned, "So did I! I loved that t-shirt!" The Doctor shot her another look and she sighed, "What do you mean, angels? You mean those statue things?"
"Creatures from another world." The Doctor elaborated.
"But they're just statues."
"Only when you see them."
"What does that mean?" Danni changed the card, revealing a large paragraph for the Doctor to read out.
"Lonely assassins, they were called. No-one knows where they came from. They're as old as the universe, or very nearly. They've survived this long as they have the most perfect defence system ever evolved. They are quantum-locked. They don't exist when being observed. The moment they're seen by any other living creature they freeze into rock. No choice. It's a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn to stone. And you can't kill a stone. Course, a stone can't kill you either. But then you turn your head away, then you blink, and oh, yes it can!" Danni watched him, she loved it when he was all clever and serious, it sent a shiver down her spine. While Eleven had the talent of epic speeches, and Nine was brilliant at self-loathing, Ten had the power to grab everyone's attention while speaking calmly but deadly seriously. Even Martha, who knew exactly what was going on, stood up a little bit straighter.
"Don't take your eyes off that." Danni stated; an angel had just appeared at Sally's end.
"That's why they cover their eyes. They're not weeping, they can't risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen. The loneliest creatures in the universe. And I'm sorry, I am very, very sorry, it's up to you now." The Doctor apologised.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"The blue box, it's my time machine. There is a world of time energy in there they could feast on forever. The damage they can do can switch off the sun. You have got to send it back to me!"
"How? How?" She dropped the last card, nodding at him and he looked closer at the card she held up for him.
"And that's it, I'm afraid. There's no more from you on the transcript, that's all I've got. I dunno what stopped you talking, but I can guess. They're coming. The angels are coming for you. But listen, your life could depend on this. Don't blink! Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink! Good luck!" They paused and then Billy shut the camera off.
"Finished." He stated, "What was all that about?" He asked and the Doctor stood up, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about that, Billy-Boy." He told the man with a cheery smile, "Just edit out the transcript and keep it in your pocket until you can get it onto them 17 DVD's on that list."
"Why should I?" Billy asked. He didn't understand why he was helping these people get home if he couldn't. Sure, Mary was hot, and clever, and funny... but he would never see his family or friends again.
"Because if you don't, the world will end and you'd hate to be the cause of that." Martha told him. Danni stood up and gasped, grabbing her arm as it began to burn. She heard the sound of the TARDIS materialising, and then she was gone.