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The Doctor burst into the unit base, chucking his long jacket to one side. There were Sontaran ships hovering above Earth, slowly poisoning the planet for some reason he had yet to figure out, but he was working on it. They'd teleported the TARDIS onto the ship, Donna safely tucked away inside so he was stuck on the surface, like some normal everyday human. Martha, well, something pretending to be Martha was following at his heels, but he'd get to her in a minute.
"Change of plan!" He shouted, rushing over to the console and pressing a few of the buttons, trying to get some sort of reading on the ship up above.
"Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor."
"I'm not fighting, I'm not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it?" He snapped at the Colonel, wanting everyone to be perfectly clear that he wasn't starting a war against the Sontarans. He moved over to a tube of the gas that was filling the atmosphere, "Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?"
"We're working on it." Not-Martha told him, tapping on a soldier's shoulder, telling him to move aside so she could sit down, taking his headset away.
"It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density." Another woman answered, watching a large map on the big screen on one wall, headset on, "We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City." The Doctor rushed over, looking at the screen with her.
"And who are you?" She stood up, saluting him and he rolled his eyes.
"Captain Marion Price, sir." She told him.
"Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute." He commanded with a groan as another solider walked in, saluting him.
"Doctor?" He asked and the Doctor glared at him.
"Oh, what now?"
"There's a female outside asking for you." He frowned, typing on a keyboard.
"I'm busy, can't it wait?" He asked.
"Oi, Spaceman!" Danni's voice floated through the doors, "How about telling them to let me in?" He grinned, stopping what he was doing.
"Danni?" He called, "Let her in." The solider nodded and held the door open, Danni rushing past and chucking her arms around him. He laughed, hugging her tightly.
"I've been trying to get in for ten minutes!" She explained, "Apparently, while you're a high ranking member of UNIT, I'm just a nobody."
"You couldn't possibly be nobody." The Doctor replied, "Look, Martha's here." Danni grinned and hugged the confused woman, who stiffened but patted her back. These human emotions were such a nuisance, they'd turned the Doctor into a grinning mess just at the sight of the red-head.
"Martha Jones, it's so good to see you!" She told the woman, who nodded and twisted back around in the chair. Danni moved back over to the Doctor.
"Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, coming from 5000 miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars." Colonel Mace continued, trying to bring them back to the matter at hand. The Doctor flicked a switch and the image on the giant screen showed a pulse heading from a graphic of the Earth, highlighting a small blip in the space above it.
"The Sontaran ship." The Doctor told him.
"NATO has gone to Defcon One, we're preparing a strike." The Doctor ran around to the other side of him, trying to send a signal up to the ship above.
"You can't do that, nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans."
"You're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth."
"I've got that authority, I earned that a long time ago." He placed his screwdriver against the console, setting it off, "Calling the Sontaran Command Ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is The Doctor." He called. An image of a group of Sontarans appeared on the giant screen, looking down at them in contempt.
"Doctor, breathing your last?" The one at the front declared.
"My God, they're like trolls." Colonel Mace breathed in disbelief. This is what was threatening the Earth.
"Yeah, loving the diplomacy, thanks." The Doctor snapped lowly before turning back to the screen, "So, tell me, General Staal," He walked around the main console, pulling Danni along with him, before sitting in an empty chair. Danni stood behind him, hands gripping the back tightly, "since when did you lot become cowards?"
"How dare you!" General Staal cried, outraged.
"Oh, that's diplomacy?" Colonel Mace exclaimed incredulously.
"Doctor, you impugn my honour!" General Staal continued, pointedly ignoring the Colonel and only addressing the man he saw fit to battle the Sontarans.
"Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle cos then I'd have a field day. But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour? Or, are you lot planning something else? Cos this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?" The Doctor demanded, studying the clone closely.
"A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces." Staal replied
"Aaah," The Doctor spun the chair slightly, "the war's not going so well, then? Losing, are we?"
"Such a suggestion is impossible."
"What war?" Mace asked, confused by the talk between the two aliens. How was taunting the threat going to stop the human race from suffocating.
"The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans." Danni interrupted, "Been going on for thousands of years. Just the two races slaughtering each other again and again." The Doctor looked up at her, impressed but she was frowning. The drumming in her head exploded, excited and joyous at the very mention of a war. The Doctor's eyes dropped to her lips, watching her mutter under her breath and his hearts fell.
"The Earth girl shows wisdom. It is a shame it is for naught. Sontar-ha!" Staal cried, slamming his gun into his hand victoriously.
"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" The rest of the fleet repeated, punching one first into their other hand with every chant.
"Give me a break." The Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. He held up his sonic screwdriver and changed the image to a cartoon. Danni giggled as a little man revealed a white rabbit from underneath his cloak. The Doctor beamed, patting her hand behind his head and she grabbed his hand tightly, not letting go. It worried him how firm her grip was, so he didn't move his hand away.
"Doctor. I would seriously recommend that this dialogue is handled by official Earth representation." Colonel Mace insisted but the Doctor ignored him again, turning the image back to the Sontaran ship. He'd have to deal with Danni later, but he would.
"Finished?" He asked Staal.
"You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold!" He stepped to the side, revealing the TARDIS to them all, "We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS."
"Well. As prizes go, that's... noble." The Doctor stated pointedly, staring directly into the screen, "As they say in Latin, Donna nobis pacem. Did you never wonder about its design? It's phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. You and I." He pointed between himself and the screen, trying to get the point across to Donna, who was currently in the TARDIS.
"You know, I bet there's a granddad somewhere, having very much the same thought." Danni pointed out, smiling warmly at the camera. She loved Donna and she hadn't seen her in a while, it was a shame they wouldn't get a bit of Donna-Danni time though, straight after this was Jenny.
"All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor." Staal interrupted.
"Big mistake though. Showing it to me. Cos I've got remote control." He waved his sonic screwdriver at them and General Staal turned to his soldiers, looking alarmed.
"Cease transmission!" Staal shouted and the screen went blank
"Oh, well." The Doctor breathed out, slightly put out. He was having fun taunting them, it was quite amusing to watch a race who considered themselves so huge like the Sontarans squirm.
"That's achieved nothing." Mace snapped, angry that the Doctor had wasted so much time on joking around. This was official Earth business, he had no right to undermine him.
"Oh, you'd be surprised." He turned to Danni, who still hadn't let go of his hand, "It's okay, you know?" He told her gently, making sure no one could hear him, "They can't get into the TARDIS, Donna will be fine."
"Oh, I know. I remember this, everything works out." She replied with a half-smile, not really feeling it. The drumming worried her, what if one day it drove her to the violence it craved? What if it was with someone she loved?
"So, you can let go of my hand then?" He prompted and she shook her head.
"No, I can't." She whispered forlornly, "I don't want to be scared."
"Scared?" He asked, surprised. If she knew everything would be okay, which to be honest really reassured him, then why be scared, "Of what?"
"The drums." She admitted and he understood, the noise could drive her to such uncharacteristic actions, he wasn't surprised it scared her. He stood up, careful to keep hold of her hand.
"Well, let's see what Martha's found out then." He stated loudly, changing the subject tactfully and she genuinely smiled, touched that he wasn't going to force her to talk about it.
"Don't you mean Not-Martha?" She retorted.
"You know?" He asked, surprised that she knew and that she was calling her by the same name he was in his head and she nodded.
"Yeah, she stinks." He laughed loudly. She was right, and he had a feeling it wasn't because she could smell it either, it was too subtle for the human sense of smell, so she must have known because of her knowledge of himself.
~0~0~0~
Not-Martha was flipping through some results that the UNIT labs had returned on the gas, pretending she didn't already know everything it listed about the substance. She suppressed a smirk, they still hadn't worked out what the gas was for; stupid humans. She was surprised as the Doctor snatched the clipboard she was holding, having a look for himself as Danni stood almost uncomfortably close. He needed both hands, she knew, but she wished he would just hold hers for a little while longer. He had such lovely hands.
"There's carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides but 10% unidentified." The clone listed as the Doctor leant in closer to the tube of glass, the device it was standing in still scanning it. He reached behind him, snaking his hand back into Danni's and she beamed, "Some sort of artificial heavy element we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it?"
"Must be something the Sontarans invented." The Doctor mused, "This isn't just poison, they need this gas for something else. What could that be?"
"I suppose you've got to think about what the Sontarans would actually need." Danni replied. She couldn't tell him in front of Not-Martha for risk of alerting both her and the Sontarans up above. Plus, watching the Doctor try and work something out was absolutely... well, it made her want to squirm on the spot. It was strange to be attracted to what seemed to be three completely different men, but for it be okay because they were, in fact, the same man. Sometimes, even now, she had trouble getting her head around it. It felt like she was cheating, but she wasn't.
"Launch grid online and active." Captain Price declared, jolting them all out of the conversation.
"Positions ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress." Mace told everyone, the team of soldiers moving into position. The Doctor rushed over to him, dragging Danni along with him, who had for some reason turned slightly pink, as if she was embarrassed.
"What?! I told you not to launch!" He exclaimed angrily.
"The gas is at 60% density, 80% and people start dying," Mace explained calmly, "Doctor. We've got no choice."
"Launching in 60, 59, 58, 57, 56… Worldwide nuclear grid now co-ordinating. 54, 53..." The Doctor watched the screen, eyes wide in sheer panic as Not-Martha stood to one side, looking at her phone. She glanced over at the silly humans, smirking then going back to the screen.
"You're making a mistake, Colonel! For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you." The Doctor snarled, pulling Danni against him, hoping it wasn't frightening her too much. She'd paled quite quickly, biting her lip and he knew that the noise in her head was increasing due to the threat of violence around them. She was muttering under her breath again, counting along with the beating as her eyes darted around the room. He knew from experience what the drumming could do to her, it broke her down and hacked away at everything that made her Danni, her compassion and her loyalty would fall around her and it devastated her and nearly drove him to hate her, but her remorse and self-hatred kept him just above that. This Danni was only half-way there, and he knew there was nothing he could do but reassure her she'd be okay in the end. So he held her close, hoping she knew that he wasn't going anywhere.
"North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and co-ordinated. Launching in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..." Captain Price counted down.
"God save us." Mace muttered, watching the screen in front of them.
"Look at Not-Martha." Danni whispered.
"...4, 3, 2, 1..." The Doctor glanced over to see Not-Martha press a big 'No' button on her phone and gave Danni an extra squeeze.
"0." The countdown finished but instead of launching, the screen turned itself off.
"What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?" Mace demanded as Price tried to get the console back online.
"Negative, sir. The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans." She explained. The Doctor looked back over at Not-Martha, then back at the man in front of him. No one had noticed but them two that someone on Earth had stopped the launch. He had to keep it that way, they needed Not-Martha to continue to squash any other attempts at launching those missiles.
"Can we override it?" Mace asked and Price nodded.
"Trying it now, sir." She replied.
"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" The Doctor asked, turning to Non-Martha, "Any ideas?" She looked at him, confused and slightly bewildered.
"How should I know?" She snapped and Danni smiled at her.
"Because, Martha Jones, you're always trying to figure out why anything happens." Danni told her and a brief flash of worry flew across the clone's face at the prospect of being caught before she nodded.
"I just haven't figured it out yet." She told the ginger.
"Greyhound 40 declaring absolute emergency. Sontarans within factory grounds, east corridor grid six." A voice came over the radio, startling everyone.
"Absolute emergency, declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red!" Mace called into the radio, alerting all the soldiers of the impending attack from the Sontarans down below.
"Get them out of there!" The Doctor whispered urgently. Mace studied him then turned back to the microphone.
"All troops, open fire!" The Doctor stared at the man as the command was followed by a distinct lack of gun fire.
"The guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work." The solider down in the east corridor told them, followed by the sound of laser fire, "Tell the Doctor it's that Cordolaine signal. He's the only one who can stop them." There was a final shot and the radio turned to static.
"Greyhound 40, report. Over. Greyhound 40, report. Greyhound 40, report!" Mace cried into the microphone, fearing the worse.
"He wasn't Greyhound 40, his name was Ross. Now listen to me, and GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"
"Trap One to all stations. Retreat."
"Order imperative, immediate retreat!"
"This is all your fault!" Danni screamed, pushing away from the Doctor and shoving the Colonel, "They're all dead because of you!" She was shaking with fury and the Doctor tried to pull her away. She shrugged him off and grabbed the Colonel by the arms, "His name was Ross, he was funny and a little sarcastic and his death is on your hands!" The Colonel looked over her head at the Doctor.
"If you cannot control your friend..." He started.
"'Control' his friend!" Danni exclaimed, "I'll show you who needs to be bloody controlled!" Her blood was on fire, coursing through her veins with every echoing slam of the Time Lord heartbeat in her head and her eyes were focused solely on the man in front of her. He had to pay, so many people died and she had decided that it was all because of him. Donna had her mind wiped, Rose was sucked into another dimension and Amy and Rory were touched by Weeping Angels and it was all his fault. She raised her hand, ready to slap him when the Doctor grabbed her arm, spinning her around.
"Danni, stop it." He told the girl and her focus shifted to the Time Lord. The world around them dissolved into nothingness, the drumming in her head slowing down and her anger at Colonel Mace forgotten as she stared at him. He held her wrist in a tight grip, her hand in front of her face as he looked ominously into her eyes, deep into her soul and she realised nothing else matters. The revelation of this was a weight off her shoulders, all that mattered in the entire universe was the man stood in front of her. Who cared if Ross died, because the Doctor was okay. Her Theta was safe and sound, and that was all she cared about. She twisted out of his grasp, but instead of turning away from him towards the Colonel she reached forward and grabbed his face. She pulled him down and, to everyone's surprise, she slammed her lips onto his.