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Danni appeared in a street, a perfectly normal ordinary Earth street. She frowned, looking around for something she recognised but there was no one around, nothing seemed to be happening. For all intents and purposes, she was just on her own on a street. There was a few pieces of bunting hanging off the roofs of some of the houses, but whatever they were celebrating either had already happened or hadn't happened yet.
"Well, that's a bit anti-climatic." She muttered aloud to herself. This time the jump hadn't been as painful, she still had a bit of a headache but the drumming seemed to have calmed down somewhat. She yawned as she set off down the street, barely noticing the 'Missing Child' posters stuck to every lamppost. The Doctor had to be around somewhere, she was never too far away from him.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, the Doctor pulling the door closed behind him as they headed out onto the street outside. They were trying to locate a pod for a stranded Isolus, a child who had been flung from it's gigantic family and taken residence in a local girl called Chloe Webber. The Doctor held a device in his hand he had created only moments earlier while Rose walked behind him, sulking slightly. Not only had he just revealed casually he had been a father already, not that she wanted to be the mother of his child or anything, and anyway was that even possible... Not only that, but he hadn't taken her hand when she'd held it out for him. He had been doing that lately, deflecting her hand, or her hugs. He'd also change the subject when he realised they'd been flirting, she couldn't understand it but it was like he didn't even realise he was doing it.
"Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gulls egg. Very light." He explained as they fell in line with each other. That was something else she had noticed, he didn't want to hold her hand but he also didn't want her far away either.
"So these pods - they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah?" She asked, carrying on as she was deep in her own thoughts, "So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" There was a crash from behind her and she spun on the spot, alarmed to see the device the Doctor had been holding shattered on the floor and the Doctor no where to be seen.
"Doctor?" She looked back to see the TARDIS had also disappeared, "Doctor?" She gasped when she realised what had happened, Chloe had taken them both. She turned and ran to the street, she was going to get the child to give him back to her when she spotted Danni sat on the curb, her head in her hands.
"Danni!" The ginger looked up and grinned, finally, someone she knew.
"Rose!" She jumped up and they met each other, "Where's the Doctor?" She had a feeling it had something to do with the spike in pain she had felt run through her head, the drumming screaming in protest. It reminded her of when she had appeared back in the '60's, the drums aligning with the times.
"There's this girl, Chloe, who draws pictures and takes people. She's taken him!" she panted and Danni frowned.
"A girl who takes people by drawing them?" Seemed a bit ridiculous really but Rose nodded, "Is he okay? I mean, do the people die?"
"I don't know. We were trying to help her, but then he disappeared! Come on!" She grabbed Danni's hand, who to her relief didn't let go, and dragged her to the Webbers' household, banging on the door. A woman opened the door, Chloe's mother, but Rose barged past her before she could even say hello. Rose dragged Danni into the bedroom upstairs.
"It's okay! I've taken all the pencils off her!" The mother called, rushing up the stairs after them. In the room Chloe was adding the finishing touches to a picture of the Doctor stood by the TARDIS. Rose ripped it out from underneath her pencil and showed it to Danni. The redhead took the picture, staring at the smiling face of the Time Lord and felt a surge of anger flow through her. How dare this little girl trap her Doctor?
"Leave me alone! I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!" The girl cried, the alien that was obviously residing inside her using her voice.
"Bring him back, now." Rose demanded.
"No." The Isolus replied firmly. Rose turned away from her, head in her hands as she tried to figure a way to get the Doctor back. Danni's fists tightened, scrunching the edges of the paper before she knelt down in front of the girl.
"Bring him back, now." She hissed, eyes narrowed.
"No." The Isolus repeated and Danni grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly.
"You bring him back, right now!" She shouted, the girl's eyes widening in fear, "He was going to help you, and this is how you repay him?!" Rose pulled her off Chloe, surprised at her violent response.
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" The Isolus cried and Rose sighed, smiling sadly at her as she firmly held Danni in place.
"I know." She told her gently, "I know." She removed the picture from Danni's hands, looking at the man staring back at her sadly, "Doctor, if you can hear me, I'm gonna get you out of there. I'll find the pod." She whispered before turning to Trish, "Don't leave her alone, no matter what." She commanded, grabbing Danni's hand and pulling her out of the room, "What was that about?" She asked quietly.
"If she doesn't give him back I'm going to rip the alien out of her myself." Danni swore.
"It won't come to that." Rose reassured her. She had seen her in this sort of mood before, if something happened to the Doctor she would fly off the handle and it could be scary, but she knew it was just because she cared for him. There were various stages of Danni's moods, angry was good because it meant she still had energy and the drive to help her get him back. They stepped out onto the street outside to see a council worker putting the finishing touches on the ground, but otherwise nothing had changed.
"Right." Danni nodded, forcing herself to calm down, being angry was no use to them right now, the more she raged the more time she had to spend away from the Doctor, "So, there's an alien inside the girl who has taken the Doctor, and we're looking for a pod, right?" Rose nodded, "So, where could it be?"
"Heat. They travel on heat." She explained as they headed onto the street.
"Heat?" Danni asked. That sounded familiar. She frowned in thought, everything that had happened seemed familiar. Maybe it had been a Doctor Who book, she had read a few but she hadn't been as obsessed with them as she had been with the television show. She liked seeing the Doctor, that's why she was so angry now. She had to be with him, as long as she was there she could look after him and save him from whatever the Silence had planned.
"Look at this finish. Smooth as a baby's bottom." The worker declared pulling her out of her thoughts and Rose grabbed Danni's hand.
"Let's ask Kel." She decided, taking the lead and pulling Danni towards the man. It was rare Danni didn't know what was happening, it had only happened a couple of times from what she could remember, so she was determined to be the one to bring the Doctor back.
"Not a bump or a lump." The man told them as Rose crouched to the ground next to him.
"Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?" Rose asked.
"I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship I did this one!" He continued, not really listening.
"Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking," She snapped, exasperated, they were in a bit of a hurry, "but before you do that - think back six days."
"Six days..." He pointed down at the ground, "When I was laying this the first time round!"
"What?"
"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time."
"Six days ago... Hot fresh tar..." She looked up at Danni, who had the same thoughtful look on her face, "You don't think..." Danni nodded, spotting Kel's silver van at the end of the street. She ran off towards it without a word, Rose jumping up and following her.
"Ah- ah! I don't keep it in the van!" Kel shouted after them in surprise as Danni clambered into the back of the van, picking up a pick-axe and handing it to Rose, "Whoa, wait, wait, wait, you just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No don't, wait - put the axe back in the van, that's my van, gimme the axe." Rose moved over to another pothole and smiled at him happily, "No! Wait! No!" Rose cried out as she brought the axe crashing down into the tarmac, smashing through it as she broke through the surface, "No! You- stop! You just took a council axe - from a council van - and now you're digging up a council road! I'm reporting you to the council!" Kel exclaimed, outraged as Rose stopped. Danni jumped out of the van, falling to the floor and searching through the rubble, finding a very small pod that looked like a seed.
"It went for the hottest thing in the street. Your tar!" Rose replied, laughing in delight.
"What is it?!" Kel asked.
"It's a spaceship!" Danni told him, looking at it as if he should have known that. She hated when people got in their way, if he wasn't going to help get to the Doctor then she didn't need him distracting them.
"Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid." Rose added.
"We need to take it to Chloe." Danni explained, "Then maybe the creature will leave her and we can get the Doctor back."They both turned and ran back to Chloe's house, bursting through the front door despite Kel's protests.
"We found it!" Rose cried as the ran into the living room, axe still in hand as Danni clutched the pod tightly, "I don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board." Trish joined them from the kitchen, glass in hand as Rose stared at her, alarmed, "Hang on, I told you not to leave her!"
"Oh my god..." Danni breathed, not paying attention to them but instead looking at the television with coverage of a ceremony for the Olympics.
"My God. Er - what's going on here?" The commentator exclaimed, the stadium they were looking at completely empty.
"I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up-" Kel ranted, joining them in the front room.
"Shut up and look!" Rose snapped, pointing at the screen and he turned to the television, his mouth dropping in shock.
"The crowd has vanished! Er- um... they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Er... um... right in front of my eyes. Um... it's impossible! Bob, can we join you, um, in the box?" The footage moved to an empty commentator box, "Bob? Not you too, Bob?"
"We're not going to be able to save him." Danni whimpered, her mind not on the thousands upon thousands of people who had all disappeared, but on the fact the Doctor was one of them. She had to get him back, needed him to be there even if he was one of the ones who didn't like her. She felt helpless, completely useless to stop the little girl taking everyone on the planet and she'd never see him again. Maybe this was what the Silent had meant; maybe she had failed to save him, maybe she had killed him.
"The stadium won't be enough." Rose agreed sadly, "The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters."
"Over eighty-thousand spectators and thirteen thousand athletes...Er... they're gone! All of those people. Er... it's a terrible, terrible turn of events..." The commentator continued and Danni ripped the axe out of Rose's hands, despite the girl's cries, and ran upstairs to Chloe's room. She rattled on the door handle a couple of times but as she suspected it was locked.
"Danni, wait!" Rose cried as the two women followed her upstairs, but she ignored them, stepping back and holding up the axe.
"You will give him back!" Danni shouted, bringing the axe down and crashing into the door, smashing through one of the panels enough to reach her hand in. She scrambled around blindly, feeling a chair lodged under the handle and pushed it out of the way, opening the door wide.
"I'm coming to hurt you..." A male voice growled from behind the wardrobe doors, causing it rattle in it's anger. Danni stared at it, confused, before stepping closer. The door rattled harder, whatever it was behind it trying to break free.
"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair." The girl whispered, glaring at them as she paused her drawing of the Earth. Danni held out the pod to her.
"We found your pod. Get in it and give me back my Doctor." She snarled.
"The pod is dead." The girl told her simply.
"It- it only needs heat." Rose stammered out from behind Danni, not really knowing what to do. Danni looked ready to attack the poor girl, who wasn't doing anything more than wanting more friends.
"It needs more than heat."
"What, then?" Rose begged.
"I'm not being funny or nothing," Kel stated as he stepped into the room, staring at the opposite wall, "but that picture just moved." Rose and Trish turned to look at the wall, "And that one!" He pointed to the bed and their gaze moved to the picture of the Doctor and the TARDIS. A simple sketch of the Olympic Torch was now next to him and he was pointing at it.
"She didn't draw that. He did." Danni spun around, "But it needs more than heat, Doctor." Danni moved over, her arm dropping as she stared at the childlike drawing of the Time Lord. Everything about this felt so familiar, she had to think back.
"It's the torch..." She whispered and Rose frowned, watching her stare at it intently. Danni hissed, dropping the axe as a spike of pain went through her head, stopping her thinking about anything else. What was happening?
"It's much more than a torch now," The commentator continued and Rose turned to Chloe's laptop where a feed of the news was playing, "it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love." Rose jumped slightly.
"Love..." She repeated thoughtfully.
"So let's have a look from the helicopter - there we go, the torch running..." She grinned and turned to Danni, letting the picture fall to the ground.
"I know how to charge up the pod." The pair ran out of the room, leaving Chloe colouring in the Earth as her mother watched, helpless.
~0~0~0~
Rose and Danni ran down towards the large crowd, all waiting for a glimpse of the Olympic Torch as it and the runner made their way to the stadium, completely unaware of the devastating events that had just taken place up the road. They pushed their way through the crowd, struggling to get to the front where they both tried to get over the metal barrier.
"Sorry, you'll have to watch from here." A policeman told them firmly, stopping them getting closer.
"No, we've gotta get closer..." Rose begged, trying to push herself over the barrier to be held back by the man.
"No way!"
"I can stop this from happening!" She exclaimed as the torch bearer ran by, holding the torch aloft.
"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Danni exclaimed, jumping over the barrier and running towards the bearer. The policeman yelled at her to stop as she pulled her hand back, launching the pod into the air.
"There you go!" She cried as it landed in the flame, "Now bring him back!" Two policemen grabbed her, restraining her arms behind her back.
"Hold on! You can't do that!" Rose cried as they walked her over to the blonde, "She's just really excited, I'll take her home." The officer looked between the two and nodded.
"Fine, but if she's around here again we'll have to take her down to the station." Rose grinned and helped Danni back over the barrier.
"We both promise, don't we Danni?" Danni nodded, watching the air and barely paying attention. Rose pulled her back through the crowd, "You almost got arrested." She told her, grinning even though she was trying to tell her off.
"Do you think it worked?" Danni asked her in reply.
"It must have." Rose replied, "We'll get back and he'll be there."Kel headed towards them as Rose cheered again, chucking her arms around the man in delight. Danni laughed, finally feeling the happy feeling Rose was exuding.
"You did it!" Kel praised before pulling back, "What was it you did?" Rose laughed and cheered, grabbing Danni and the girls bounced up and down in delight.
"We did it!" Rose cried out and Danni laughed.
"I always told you that you didn't need him!" Danni exclaimed, "Rose Tyler, defender of the universe strikes again!"
"Rose Tyler and Danni Fielding." Rose corrected, linking arms with her and they headed back towards the street as the children were all released, each materialising back into existence. They watched as they all ran to their parents, hugging each other tightly as the parents cried.
"He's not here." Danni mumbled, her mind unable to focus on the joy around her, just the fact that he wasn't there, that she wasn't with him.
"I don't know who you are," An old woman said with a beaming smile, touching Rose on the arm to get her attention, "or what you did, but thank you, darling!" She kissed Rose on the cheek, "And thank that man for me too!" Rose's face fell as she left the two girls alone.
"Where is he? He should be here." She looked at Danni, seeing the girl getting agitated that he wasn't there.
"I have to find him," Danni muttered, "I have to save him." Rose frowned, watching the girl tap against her thigh. Danni had once explained to her what the drumming was in her head and how it had affected her when she'd had it, but Rose hadn't really seen the effects of it directly, and not for a while. The girl scanned through the crowd, eyes darting as she discarded everyone as unimportant, only focusing on finding the Time Lord.
"All the drawings have come to life." Rose reasoned before a thought dawned on her and she looked up at Chloe's bedroom window, "That means all of them." The red light that flooded from the room along with the menacing growl pulled Danni's attention away from her search.
"Her dad!" Danni exclaimed, her eyes widening as terror replaced her anger, "I remember this!"
"I thought you didn't know what was going on?" Rose asked as Danni grabbed her head, doubling over as she hissed in pain. The drumming in her head pounded harder as she tried to access the memories. She remembered the drawing of the father, she remembered the two in the house singing but the more she tried to remember, the harder the drumming. Her mind felt like it was exploding, tinting her vision white and causing her head to burn.
"We have to help them!" She cried out, unable to bear the pain anymore and stopping, focusing on the situation at hand. She couldn't remember what happened or where the Doctor was, but she could help the little girl in the house who had just been lonely. She grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her to the house, pounding on the door.
"Trish, get out!" Rose exclaimed, seeing the blurry figures of Chloe and Trish through the window.
"I can't! The door's stuck!" Trish shouted, shaking the door handle to try and get her daughter away from what was coming
"Is the Doctor in there?" If the Doctor was in there, he'd know how to save them. Rose felt powerless as she shook the door handle. At the very least he could use the sonic screwdriver to get them out.
"I don't think so!"
"Mummy..." Chloe whimpered, terrified. Large, heavy footsteps echoed from upstairs and they all stopped their actions.
"Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you..." The voice echoed menacingly down the stairs. Trish and Rose restarted their efforts while Chloe turned to look up the stairs.
"Please, dad. No more." She whimpered, curling into herself and away from the illusion of the man heading towards her.
"Chloe..." Danni knelt down by the letterbox, lifting it up to talk to the girl.
"Chloe, ignore him." She pleaded with the girl, "He can't hurt you if you don't let him. You're stronger now he's not here, you can do it."
"It isn't real like the others." Rose added, "It's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it-"
"Help us!" Trish pleaded, scared at everything that was happening. When her husband had died, she thought they were safe but now this was happening as she was still powerless to stop him.
"Oh it's 'cos you're so scared that he's real! But you can get shot of him, Chloe!" Rose continued.
"Mummy!" Chloe cried, her hand shooting out behind her, going unnoticed by everyone but Danni.
"Trish take her hand." Danni commanded, "Show her she's okay now."
"You can do it, Chloe!" Rose encouraged her as the girl shook, her hand moving away moments before Trish could grab it.
"I can't!" She sobbed.
"Chloe... I'm coming..." He called, heading closer and closer to them.
"I can't..." Chloe slid to the floor, shaking, "I can't."
"I'm coming..."
"Mummy..." She whimpered and Trish looked down at her terrified daughter, took a deep breath and sat next to her.
"Chloe..."
"I'm with you, Chloe." Trish told her, taking her hand, "You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."
"You have to sing!" Danni told them, recalling the little she remembered from before, "Show him you're not alone, show him you're not afraid anymore because he doesn't exist
"Chloe..." Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, clinging to her mum tightly.
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..." Chloe began.
"Chloe... Chloe... Chloe... Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you. Chloe!" He called down.
"... merry merry king of the bush is he..." Determined to save her daughter from the man she had failed to stop before, Trish nodded once, straightening and joining in with her, "Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." As they sang together the voice of the man upstairs dulled away, Danni and Rose collapsing against the door, exhausted from their efforts as the pair inside laughed, happy that the man was finally gone from their lives.
"But he's still not here." Danni whispered from her place on the floor next to Rose as Kel appeared, walking up the path to them.
"Maybe he's gone somewhere." He offered the pair in consolation and Danni frowned, an thought flickering in the back of her head like a flame
"Who's gonna hold his hand now?" Rose asked on the brink of tears. He was all alone, like Chloe and the Isolus felt and she wasn't there to make him feel better.
"... a flame..." Danni muttered out loud, "The torch!" She scrambled up off the floor, "We need to get to the stadium!"
"Now?" Kel exclaimed, sceptical and Danni nodded.
"Right now! The Doctor's at the stadium!" Rose looked at her, surprised.
"Are you sure?" She asked hopefully and she nodded, the drumming crowing in joy at the fact she had found him.
"Yes, I can't believe I forgot!" The memories of the episode flooded back to her, the children going missing, the Doctor taking the torch off the bearer who had stumbled. It had to be because it wasn't her favourite episode, she'd only seen it a few times in comparison to the rest... yes, that had to be it...
"You're never going to get there, it's miles away and the roads are closed around it!" Kel protested.
"You can take us as far as you can, won't you Kel? In your council van?" Rose asked, standing up and looking expectantly at him. He opened his mouth to protest then sighed, nodding.
"Fine! But you're on your own after that!" Rose hugged him again, causing the man to smile and they ran towards his van.
~0~0~0~
Rose and Danni stood outside the impressive grounds, not being allowed in without a ticket. Danni was pacing, muttering under her breath as Rose bit her thumbnail, apprehensive. There had been talk of a mysterious stranger taking the torch, backing up Danni's story but there was still no sign of him as people had poured out from the opening ceremony. They straightened up hopefully as, in the last of the crowd who trickled out, the Doctor appeared, hands in his coat pockets and a grin on his face.
"Doctor!" Danni cried happily and Rose took off in a run, chucking her arms around the man who hugged her tightly, lifting her off the ground and not looking back at her. Her face dropped in despair as the pair began chatting animatedly. He hadn't even noticed she was there, and there was no mistaking the grin on his face as he looked down at Rose, not letting go of her hands. He wanted Rose there, not her. He never wanted her, he was stuck with her when all he wanted was Rose. She disappeared in a ball of light as Rose pointed over, explaining Danni's part of the whole plan. The Doctor blinked at the light, then frowned slightly in disappointment.
He hadn't had the chance to see her.