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Danni sat on the edge of a rock on the beach outside the crashed spaceship, looking into the distance as Amy sat on the other side, pulling the blanket around her. She was so happy that the Angel was finally out of her head and she could see again, she honestly hadn't thought she'd survive and hadn't been convinced it was out of her head until they'd made it back onto the surface on the planet.
"Ah, Bruised everywhere." She groaned, stopping the Doctor pacing backwards and forwards in front of her.
"Me too." He replied distractedly, his eyes flickering over to Danni, who wouldn't look at anyone. Her fingers were on her thigh, tapping away as she muttered the beat of four under her breath. She only did that when the drumming was particularly loud, but he didn't know what he could do to calm it down.
"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut." Amy pointed out, trying to get his attention back on her.
"Neither did you," He replied, "I kept saying. The Angels all fell into the time field. The Angel in your memory never existed. It can't harm you now." He reassured her.
"Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other." She asked quietly, thinking of all them men who walked towards the light, never to exist to anyone except them.
"You're a time traveller now, Amy. Changes the way you see the universe forever." They both grinned at each other, "Good, isn't it?" She nodded, the smile falling from her face.
"And the crack. Is that gone too?"
"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening..." He glanced at Danni again, "somewhere out there, somewhere in time." He stepped towards her then, thinking better of it, turned and headed towards River who was stood to the side with handcuffs on, watching Danni with a sad look on her face. The Doctor stopped by her side and they both watched the girl for a moment before River forced a grin on her face.
"You, me...handcuffs." She held her handcuffs up for him to see, "Must it always end this way?"
"What's wrong with her?" He asked in reply and she smiled, looking genuinely apologetic.
"I can't tell you." She replied, "I wish I could, but I can't."
"Why not?" He asked, looking back over to her, "You don't like it, I can tell."
"Of course I don't." She snapped in reply before sighing, "She'll be fine, I can promise you that." He nodded, not satisfied but he knew they were back to front, and as much as he'd like her to tell him everything she knew, time travel didn't work like that.
"What now?" He asked, changing topics and pacing away from her.
"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see." She replied.
"Octavian said you killed a man." He told her, turning to face her and she nodded.
"Yes. I did." She admitted, a small frown on her face. He couldn't resist, could he?
"A good man." He clarified.
"A very good man. The best man I've ever known." He nodded a couple of times to himself.
"Who?" He had to asked, he needed to know.
"It's a long story, Doctor," She explained with a laugh, "can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one:" He grinned, "you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."
"The Pandorica, ha!" He lent in close to her ear, whispering, "That's a fairy tale."
"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all?" She replied with a smirk, "I'll see you there."
"I look forward to it." He told her.
"I remember it well." Amy walked up to her, still wrapped in the blanket.
"Bye. River." Amy told her quietly, smiling softly at the woman who had tried to help her.
"See you. Amy." Her handcuffs beeped, "Oh! I think that's my ride." She looked over at Danni, who was still sat on the rock looking away from them, "Bye Danni!" She sighed sadly when the girl didn't even offer her a wave.
"Can I trust you. River Song?" The Doctor asked, seeing the sad look on her face. He knew that look, he'd seen it a few times on his own, a helpless longing to do anything useful, and it unsettled him that River felt the same way he did about Danni.
"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" She laughed before being teleported away onto the prison ship. He looked at the space she had been stood then turned to look out towards the ocean at the end of the beach.
"What are you thinking?" Amy asked, seeing the thoughtful look on his face.
"Time can be rewritten." He muttered before sending her smile and walking over to Danni, holding out his hand for hers.
"Time to go." He told her gently and she nodded, taking it with a tight grip. He frowned in surprise; she was scared, "What's wrong?" He asked and she shook her head, pulling his arm close and leaning her head on it, hugging it to her body.
"Can we go?" She asked timidly and he nodded, squeezing her hand back and smiling warmly at her.
"Of course." He pulled at her hand gently and they headed back to the TARDIS.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor flew them away quickly, hoping it would cheer Danni up to be away from the planet as quickly as possible. She was sat in the jump chair, Amy stood next to her gently rubbing her on the back to offer her some comfort, although neither of them knew really what was bothering her.
"I want to go home." Amy stated quietly and the Doctor stopped what he was doing for a moment, upset but not surprised.
"OK." He whispered and he started piloting the ship towards Amy's house the night he and Danni had first picked her up. Amy rolled her eyes, smiling down at Danni at his mistake and was happy to see Danni smile back at her, it was only a small smile but a smile nonetheless and Amy had brought it out of her.
"No, not like that!" Amy bounced over to him, leaning on the console as she smiled up at him, "I just… I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too." The TARDIS landed with a gently thud and Amy headed for the door, the Doctor not moving as he waited for Danni to stand up. She shook her head and motioned for him to follow Amy.
"I know what it is." Danni told him, "Go with Amelia before she changes her mind." He shook his head.
"I don't want you jumping off when you're not with me." She pushed herself up and walked over, grabbing his hands.
"You need to go alone." She told him gently, "I'll be fine, and I'm not going anywhere if I have any choice about it." She stood up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek, but he turned his head, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss, not moving away until he felt the corners of her cheeks pull up in a smile. He cupped her face in both his hands and placed another on her forehead.
"Don't leave. I'll only be a minute." He warned her playfully.
"Given the choice I'd always choose here." She replied, "Now go." She pushed him towards Amy and he left, not letting go of her hand until he had to, shooting her a beaming smile as he slipped out into Amy's room.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor sat next to Amy on her bed, looking at the beautiful white wedding dress hanging on the door of her wardrobe. Amy was wringing her hands nervously, staring almost afraid of it while the Doctor looked at it with wide eyes in surprise.
"Well!" He stated.
"Yeah!" Amy replied.
"Blimey!"
"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?" She asked and he checked his watch, the face of it on the inside of his wrist to protect it, just in case it broke.
"We've been gone five minutes." He confirmed. Amy leant over to her bedside table and picked up a red ring box, flicking it open and revealing a simple diamond engagement ring. She examined it, not really knowing how to think about it. It was trapping her, but at the same time it made her happy to hold it...
"I'm getting married in the morning." She declared. The Doctor took it off her by the lid, holding it in mid air before looking closer at it, tapping the stone on top. It was a nice ring, not one he'd have chosen personally, bit boring but nice enough.
"Why did you leave it here?"
"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?" Amy replied as if it was obvious.
"Yeah." He nodded, handing her back the ring.
"You really are an alien, aren't you?" She teased, placing it back on the bedside table. She didn't like holding it really, she only wore it because it made Rory upset when she didn't.
"Who's the lucky fella?" He asked slowly.
"You met him." She told him.
"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" He mimicked a big nose with one hand and Amy glared at him gently, smacking him on the leg.
"The other one." She scolded him.
"Well, he was good too." He replied sheepishly.
"Thanks." She giggled slightly, looking away in embarrassment, "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"
"Why would you need comforting?" he asked, confused.
"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think." He nodded, understanding completely.
"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times..." He drifted off slightly, thinking about the other red head sat in the TARDIS waiting for him. He could see her, sat there on the seat, swinging her legs in the air because she was really quite short. Although he was shorter in this body, he still hovered above her. He liked that though, he liked feeling like he could protect her.
"About what I want." Amy interrupted his train of thought and he turned himself back to her, "About who I want. You know what I mean?" He nodded.
"Yeah..." Then he shook his head, "No."
"About who...I want." She said pointedly and he nodded.
"Oh, right, yeah..." There was a pause and Amy could see that he had no idea what he was agreeing to, "No, still not getting it."
"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." She pushed herself over onto him, wrapping one leg around him as she tried to kiss him. He jumped in surprise, scrambling over the foot of her bed and to the TARDIS.
"Uh...! You're getting married in the morning!" He exclaimed in panic. What did he do? This was, this was beyond his knowledge!
"The morning's a long time away." She brushed aside, pushing him up against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" She began pushing his braces off.
"Listen to me. I have Danni, this isn't going to work out." He pulled his braces back onto his shoulders, "Plus, I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" He pushed past her but she just spun around, grasping his shoulders.
"It's been awhile?" she replied cheekily, ignoring what he was saying about Danni. If she thought about the other girl too much she'd chicken out, and she didn't want to do that.
"No. no. no!" He repeated, "I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. And that's hard enough, but I've got to watch that happen with Danni too. I'm not going to chuck away the moments in between for anything." Amy pushed him back against the TARDIS.
"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term." She leant forward and slammed her lips on his.
~0~0~0~
Inside the TARDIS, Danni leant up and turned the scanner off with a gentle push of a button. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she stared at the blank screen, unable to get the image of Amy and the Doctor kissing from out of her head. Just another one in a long line of women, if he'd wanted to he could have stopped her kissing him. All he had to have done was come into the TARDIS, but he hadn't. She had all these conflicting memories and emotions running through her head, she didn't know what to think about it. In the future he had told her he loved in, the past he told her he wished she'd just go home and leave him and Rose alone. They'd gone on a date, but he flirted with River Song and now he was kissing Amy. She needed to think, it was too loud and crowded in the console room and she needed to get away.
She headed towards the hallway, pushing past a Silent who was stood there silently as stormed past. The scanner turned back on, displaying the inhabitants of the TARDIS as '1: Danielle Fielding'.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor firmly pushed Amy away the moment her lips touched his with such force she stumbled into the bed.
"Amy, no." He told her, "This isn't going to happen. This will never happen."
"But she's not always here." Amy protested, "I will be."
"I don't care." He snapped before sighing, seeing the hurt look on her face and he sat on the foot rail next to her, "Amy, you're an amazing person, I only take the best with me." She smiled at that, "But I've had this before, and I don't want you to get hurt. I bluster in and out of peoples lives and they forget what is really important. But look at you." he waved her up and down, "You're Amelia Pond, the girl with the name like a fairytale. You're getting married in the morning." He paused and his eyes widened in realisation, "In the morning." He breathed.
"Doctor?" She asked, confused as to why he had suddenly changed tangents.
"It's you." He stated, "It's all about you. Everything. It's about you." He placed a kiss on her forehead, "Amy Pond... Mad, impossible Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now."
"Wait, what?" She asked, now wondering if he had decided to go along with her after all.
"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the rail and into the TARDIS, pausing at the sight of the empty pilot chair.
"Danni?" He called, confused. He walked over to the screen and saw the three names listed on there. She hadn't disappeared, but she had wandered off. That wasn't like her.
~0~0~0~
Danni headed down the corridor of the TARDIS, feeling along the wall as the world swam in her vision. There was a loud clanging and she jumped, spinning around as she gasped in fright. She couldn't see anything down the long expanse of corridor, so turned back around. She screamed in surprise as she came face-to-face with a Weeping Angel, the statue reaching out towards her, teeth bared in hunger. She forced herself to stare it down, she wouldn't be taken away, not like this. Her eyes watered as she fought against the impulse to blink until she couldn't take it anymore, her eyes closing for a brief moment. When she opened them the Angel had disappeared from existence and she knew that it was just a figment of her imagination, a hallucination much like the Cyberman she had come across just moments ago. And the Silurian just before that. She had been seeing the Doctor's enemies for a while now. Just like the Silent she had seen back in the 60's, they had been appearing and disappearing since she had headed off to her bedroom. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, they weren't real. They. Weren't. Real.
She opened her eyes and headed forward, turning a corner and praying for the door to the bedroom to be just there but she was instead greeted with the figure of River Song, dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress and a smirk gracing her lips. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed it was the same dress she had seen hanging on Amy's wardrobe not a moment ago but she was too busy trying not to lash out at her.
"You're not real." Danni stated loudly to the woman, "And I know you're not because I won't let you do it. I won't let you marry him." The woman didn't reply, just stared back at her with the smirk never wavering, "You can say what you want." Danni snapped as if she was interrupting her, "But he loves me. He loves me, not you. I know he does." She swallowed, "I hope he does. Please don't take him from me, River. I need him, he's all I have." She closed her eyes, hissing as the drumming spiked and she fell against the wall, panting harder, "I'll die without him. Please, River. Please." She opened her eyes, her head pounding in time with the beat, and River had gone, "Please." She whispered, spotting a door in the wall. She sighed in relief, pushing herself up and she stumbled towards it, opening it into the Doctor's room. She stripped to her underwear, not bothering to fetch what she had deemed her 'Doctor pyjamas' and she slipped under the deep red covers, snuggling in and pulling the duvet up to her chin. She squeezed her eyes shut and took in a deep breath through her nose, revelling in the smell of the man she loved. Tears sprang to her eyes, leaking from under her eyelids and onto his pillow as she caught the scent of something else, something underlying underneath the Doctor's.
Was it Rose? Could it be the lingering scent of the blonde after spending the night in his bed? It didn't matter that it had been years since Rose had been into the depths of the TARDIS, and that she was pretty sure that their relationship had never got that far. She knew that's what it was. Wasn't it? It had to be Rose, he loved Rose. Who else would it be?
Maybe it was River. Maybe while she had been away he'd gone to see her at another point in time. Maybe he'd taken her to his bedroom, just like he would do to her. No, he wouldn't do that. Maybe he would. Yes, he would, why wouldn't he? River was amazing. She was smart, she was flirty and she was so, so beautiful. Just like Rose. These beautiful women fell in and out of his life, did she really think she was the first? No, she had never thought that, but she had hoped that she was the most important. But, she guessed, that was big headed. She wasn't anything special, why would he choose her over anyone else? He had River in his future, and Rose in his past. Who knew who else he would have?
She only knew up to the end of the Ponds, maybe Rose came back. She could see it happening, Rose had been very popular in her universe, as had her relationship with the Doctor. Hell, she'd shipped the Doctor and Rose, why wouldn't they bring her back? And then what? Maybe she'd stay, maybe she'd have a little Time Lord baby and the Doctor would love her even more. Why would he stay with Danni when he could have Rose?
Please don't leave me, Spaceman. Oh god, please don't leave me. She could hear herself begging in her own head and she sobbed, curling up into herself as she clung to the covers cocooning her. Please don't, I love you so much and there's no one else. There never was and there never would be.
I'm not going anywhere, Danni-Girl.
Yes you are. You're going with Rose, or River, or Amy or the Soufflé girl who will die in the Dalek Asylum. Why would you stay when you had so many women who love you?
Because I love you. It was always you.
Not it wasn't. It was always Rose. She's so beautiful and she loves you dearly, why would you ever give that up for someone so insignificant? She's the defender of the universes, I'm nothing.
Don't you ever think that. You're the most important person in my universe, and I'm not going anywhere.
You're just trying to calm the hysterical girl down. She shook her head, burying her face into the pillow. You hugged her. You hugged Rose and you didn't even notice I was standing there. I was so alone, and you didn't care.
I... Rose jumped me, I didn't see you but I was so disappointed that I'd missed you. I always miss you.
What about River? You'll just marry her, and I can't survive that, Spaceman. I can't survive you marrying her again, it broke my heart when you didn't exist, I can't do that again.
I don't want to marry River. I once promised you I wouldn't and I'm keeping it. I know you lived through that, but I'm going to change it. As long as I have you, I won't marry River.
I don't believe you. Why should I, Rule 1...
The Doctor lies, I know. But I swear I'm not. Danni-Girl, I'm never leaving your side. You and me, together in the TARDIS, remember?
Really?
Really. I promise.
Danni felt a hand running through her hair and her eyes fluttered open to see the Doctor sat on the floor next to the bed, his eyes glistening but a large smile on his face as she finally came back into reality. He had been so scared when he'd finally found her, he had been searching the TARDIS for her but he had been sure the box had been keeping them apart. He had found her in his bed, which had surprised and pleased him but she had been sobbing hysterically, begging him not to leave her. He had tried to rouse her, but she had just whimpered and muttered under her breath, only replying if he said something to her.
"Are you real?" She asked bleakly, "Or a hallucination like the rest?" He smiled shakily, cupping her cheek.
"I'm very much real." He promised, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"What's wrong with me?" She asked and he squeezed his eyes shut, placing his forehead against hers.
"I don't know. But I'm working on it, I promise." He replied, "Are you hallucinating a lot?"
"I think so." She admitted, "But I don't know. Maybe some things I've seen are hallucinations, maybe they're not."
"We'll figure it out. Just go to sleep, okay?" He half-begged her. He could tell she was tired, her eyes were glazed over and she was looking too thin. He'd have to make sure she had something to eat, or at least some form of supplement for what she was missing. He was sure he had something from Akhaten he'd acquired a while ago that should boost her.
"I don't want to." She whimpered, "Because if you don't exist, you'll be gone when I wake up." He shook his head.
"I'm not going anywhere." He reiterated firmly, "Do you want me to lie with you?" She nodded, blushing in embarrassment and he stood up, pulling the covers back before dropping them with a yelp, "You're in your underwear." Her face fell in disappointment.
"You don't have to stay." She told him.
"I... I just wanted to make sure you were aware." He stuttered out, having not seen her in that state of undress for a long time. Well, actually that wasn't strictly true considering what had happened after they'd been to Starship UK, but that was an accident and she'd tried to warn him.
"It's fine." She told him as he moved around to the other side of the bed. It was quiet for a few moments and just as she had managed to convince herself he had been yet another illusion created by her mind the bed dipped and he climbed under the covers behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him. She twitched as she felt his cool skin pressed against her back and she realised he'd done the same as her; stripped to his underwear and climbed into the cool bed behind her.
"There." He told her gently, "We're both the same."
"I'll never be the same as you." She replied and he smiled.
"I'd hope not. I don't want to cuddle myself." She giggled and he buried his nose into her hair, smiling at the fact he'd cheered her up if only for a moment.
"No, I don't fancy cuddling myself either." She told him.
"I don't know, I'm rather enjoying it. Now go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, okay?"
"Okay." She admitted, closing her eyes.
She didn't fall asleep.