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The fact the Doctor didn't kiss her back quickly alerted Danni that something was quite wrong with the situation at hand. She opened her eyes and saw Ten staring back, wide-eyed in shock and her blood froze. She stepped back, him following her for a moment and she bit her lip, cheeks going bright red.
"Sorry... I don't know why I did that." She whispered, the drumming in her head dulling to the background noise it would always become.
"It's fine..." The Doctor stuttered back. Silently he berated himself for not kissing her back, but seeing her reaction to it he knew he'd done the right thing. That wasn't Danni kissing him, that was whatever was in her head driving her to it. He'd seen it before, she didn't have any control when that drum beat took over, and he didn't want that to be the reason he kissed her back.
"They've taken the factory." Mace stated loudly, bringing them both out of their moment. The girl seemed to have calmed down, but he would give the order to investigate this 'Danni-Girl' when this was all over.
"Why?" The Doctor asked aloud, walking around the console and to the front, trying to take in every piece of information they had, "They don't need it. Why attack now? What are they up to? Times like this, I could do with the Brigadier. No offence." He added, looking over his shoulder at Mace.
"None taken. Sir Alistair's a fine man, if not the best. Unfortunately he's stranded in Peru." Mace explained.
"Launch grid back online." Price stated, the large screen turning back on and showing the map of the world again. Danni tore her gaze off Ten and looked at Not-Martha, who pressed the no launch button again. She smiled as the screen turned back, how she loved it when the enemies were clueless against the Doctor, "They're inside the system, sir. It's coming from within UNIT itself." Price breathed in disbelief, looking at the data it was bringing up on her own personal console screen.
"Trace it. Find out where it's coming from, and quickly. Gas levels?"
"66% in major population areas. And rising." Price informed him. The Doctor watched over her shoulder, his fingers discreetly brushing against his lips.
"Doctor?" Danni called over timidly and the Doctor spun around, eyes wide as his arm dropped to his side, wondering if he had been caught, "Why attack now? UNIT is everywhere, it seems odd that they'd let them get that far." Mace looked at the girl while the Doctor relaxed, relieved no one had noticed that he had been daydreaming instead of focusing on the impending invasion.
"Good question." Mace told her, impressed, "Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside?" A soldier handed him a handful of results and data Mace turned and walked into his own little side-room to look them over. The Doctor followed, Danni following him as she took her phone out of her pocket, clutching it tightly. The Doctor glanced over the figures, putting his glasses on as he did, nothing of importance standing out to him.
"Because they wanted UNIT here." He realised, putting the paper down, "You gave them something they needed. Something now hidden inside the factory. Something precious." It was a start, at any rate. Danni watched him, memorised by the thoughtful look on his face. She wanted to kiss him again, but he hadn't responded well to the last one as she was feeling a little rejected. Maybe it was too soon for Ten, maybe he didn't start to feel the same way back until Eleven. Then again, he'd kissed her in the Library, but that might have been adrenaline. She sighed, why was everything so complicated?
"Then we've got to recover it. This Cordolaine signal thing, how does it work?" Mace asked the Doctor.
"The bullets." The Doctor replied, pocketing his glasses and Danni pouted in disappointment, "It causes expansion of the copper shell." Mace nodded with a grin.
"Excellent. I'm on it." He turned and walked out of the room.
"For the billionth time, you can't fight Sontarans!" The Doctor shouted after him. He looked over at an officer and moved to talk to him when Danni held out her phone.
"Do you want to use mine?" She asked quietly and he beamed.
"Oh, you are brilliant!" He praised her and she blushed, smiling softly. He typed a series of numbers on it with one hand, sitting down in one of the chairs in the office before pulling her down with him. He held it up to his ear, tilting it slightly so she could hear as well. She leant in close to his face, feeling like she was flying. She couldn't understand it, she'd never been the most sensual person back in her own universe. Even now, she wasn't too keen on public displays of affection, having really only recently found the courage to be that daring in private with the Doctor. But, for some reason, having his face so close to hers, his warm breath tickling her cheek, his lips so tantalising close to her own, made her want to tear the phone from his hands, chuck it across the floor and...
"What's happened, where are you?" Donna's frantic voice made her bite her lip, trapping the moan that was threatening to break out of her throat. What was wrong with her?
"Still on Earth. But don't worry, I've got my secret weapon." The Doctor replied, studying Danni in concern. Her breathing had sped up, her skin flushed as if she had suddenly become very warm. He reached up and felt her cheek and she leant into his touch, closing her eyes.
"What's that?" Donna asked. She wasn't particularly warm but he'd keep an eye on her just in case.
"You." The Doctor told her.
"Oh. Somehow that's not making me happy. Can't you just zap us down to Earth with that remote thing?"
"Yeah, I haven't got a remote," He explained apologetically, "though I really should. But I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS. I'm sorry, but you've got to go outside."
"But there's Sonterruns out there." Donna exclaimed and he smiled despite himself. Good old Donna Noble.
"Sontarans," He corrected, "but they'll all be on battle stations right now. They don't walk around having coffee. I can talk you through it." He reassured her.
"But what if they find me?" The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I know, and I wouldn't ask, but there's nothing else I can do." He admitted, "The whole planet is choking, Donna." She sighed and he smiled.
"What d'you need me to do?"
"The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link." He explained.
"But, I can't even mend a fuse." She replied despondently.
"Donna! Stop talking about yourself like that." The Doctor scolded her, "You can do this. I promise." There was a pause, then the sound of a door closing.
"There's a Sonterrun... Sontaran." Donna corrected herself.
"Did he see you?" The Doctor asked, worried.
"No, he's got his back to me." He relaxed again.
"Right, Donna, listen, on the back of his neck on his collar there's a sort of plug, like a hole. The Probic Vent. One blow to the Probic Vent knocks 'em out."
"But he's gonna kill me." Donna pointed out.
"I'm sorry. I swear I'm so sorry. But you've got to try." The Doctor urged and Danni pulled his hand down, trying desperately not to think about the fact they were touching skin-on-skin.
"You can do it Donna." Danni told her, "It's easy for the most important woman in the universe. Trust me, okay?"
"You always say that." Donna replied but Danni could hear the smile in her voice.
"You know it's true." Danni retorted, "Just imagine he's every ex-boyfriend you've ever had." There was a pause, followed by the sound of Donna walking through the TARDIS.
"Back of the neck!" Donna hissed, triumphant and Danni and the Doctor high-fived.
"Now then you gotta find the external junction feed to the teleport."
"What... what's it look like?" She asked quietly.
"A circular panel on the wall. Big symbol on the front, like a, like a letter T with a horizontal line through it. Or, or two Fs back to back."
"Well, there's a door." She exclaimed hopefully, maybe that would help him tell her where it was.
"Should be a switch by the side."
"Yeah there is. But it's Sontaran-shaped, you need three fingers." He shared a look with Danni, who was chewing on her lip. She shot him a shaky smile.
"You've got three fingers." He retorted.
"Oh, yeah!" Donna laughed at herself, "I am through."
"Oh, you are brilliant, you are." The Doctor cheered, placing a kiss on the side of Danni's head without realising. She tensed, a shudder of pleasure coursing through her that she desperately tried to suppress. She had to get away from him, if he was shocked at her kissing him there was no way he'd survive her chucking him onto the table and giving UNIT a show they'd never forget.
"Shut up. Right. T with a line through it..." Danni jumped up, walking over to the window and looking out, the Doctor shooting her a baffled look. She didn't think she could have been more grateful to see Colonel Mace return and the Doctor decided that was why she'd shot up.
"Got to go. Keep the line open!" The Doctor told Donna quickly, hanging up and walking to the door, passing Danni her phone.
"I said you don't stand a chance!" The Doctor shouted at him as he exited the room, Danni trailing behind him, hugging herself. She could feel her heartbeat dropping as whatever had come over her seemed to dissipate and she found herself able to focus on other things rather than the Doctor. Like, hurrying everything along so they could get the real Martha back. She couldn't even ask Ten about what had happened, could she? Because she still had no idea how to rank their relationship at this point, and she doubt he'd appreciate her telling him how turned on he made her without doing anything at all.
"Positions." Mace continued, ignoring him, "That means everyone!" He chucked a gas mask at the Doctor, who looked at it confused, then one to Danni. She slipped it on without a fuse, hoping it would hide her red cheeks. She was just so embarrassed by everything, even though no one seemed to have noticed. The Doctor stormed off and Danni jumped, following him as he pulled his coat off a rack by the door.
"You're not going without me!" Not-Martha demanded and he turned to her.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
~0~0~0~
Outside the UNIT base Colonel Mace led the trio over into the middle of a group of soldiers and vehicles, picking up a gun and showing it to the Doctor. The gas was filling the air, the fumes making it very difficult to see anything at any distance so Danni kept close to the Doctor and Not-Martha, knowing it was just her luck that she'd get lost otherwise.
"Latest firing stock, what do you think, Doctor?" Mace asked and the Doctor looked down at Danni.
"Are you my mummy?" She laughed at the reference, although Mace didn't seem to be too amused.
Spoilsport.
"If you could concentrate." The Colonel scolded, handing the gun to a soldier and picking up a bullet, "Bullets with a rad-steel coating, no copper surface. Should overcome the Cordolaine signal." He handed it to the Doctor, who inspected it, slightly impressed.
"But the Sontarans have got lasers! You can't even see in this fog, the night-vision doesn't work." The Doctor pointed out in exasperation, why wouldn't they just listen to him?!
"Thank you Doctor, thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening." He pulled off his gas mask and picked up his cap, turning to address his men.
"Attention, all troops! Sontarans might think of us as primitive. As does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals." The Doctor rolled his eyes, turning around on the spot but Danni nudged him back into place.
"Rude." She hissed at him and he put an arm around her shoulder, squeezing it. She guessed he was smiling, but she couldn't see behind the clunky mask.
"But no more!" Mace exclaimed, "From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back and we show them! We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do!" He turned to the radio on his lapel, "Trap One to Hawk Major! Go, go, go!" Up above a loud rumbling sound caused everyone to look up, some of the soldiers including Not-Martha ducking to the floor for cover. The fog slowly began to clear, everyone's sight becoming clearer by the moment, "It's working! The area's clearing. Engines to maximum!" The ship above them slowly came into view and the Doctor's grip on Danni tightening but she barely noticed as she grinned at the sky ship above them.
"It's the Valiant!" Both the Doctor and Danni exclaimed at the same time. Danni looked at the Doctor in surprise, she hadn't been expecting the anger in the man's voice. She knew it wasn't the best time for him, but she was sure he'd been more impressed with the use of the ship when she'd last seen this scene. Maybe she wasn't remembering it right, it had to have been a year now since she'd been home, even longer since she'd watched this season.
"UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant reporting for duty, Doctor! With engines strong enough to clear away the fog." Mace told the Time Lord as the people around them began taking off their gas masks. Danni reached up to do the same but the Doctor stopped her, waiting for the fog to clear away a little bit more before allowing her to take it off, at the same time he did funnily enough.
"Woah," He laughed in happy surprise, "that's brilliant!"
"Getting a taste for it, Doctor?" Mace asked with a smirk and the Doctor shook his head.
"No, not at all. Not me." He denied with another glance up to the sky.
"To which he means, 'I'm sorry for being a bit of a prat'." Danni told Mace and the Doctor started, slightly offended.
"Hey!" He protested and she giggled.
"Valiant, fire at will!" Mace gave the orders and the Valiant began firing at the ATMOS factory behind them, soldiers following it's lead and attacking once more with their new weapons. Mace looked down at Danni.
"That's what I thought he meant, Danielle." She blinked, not remembering him finding out her full name then grinning, also very impressed.
"You looked me up, didn't you?" She asked him and he shrugged, looking innocent, "What did you find out?"
"The Doctor isn't happy when you're not happy." He told her, "And when the Doctor's not happy, you most certainly aren't so it's good to keep you on side." She nodded, glancing at the Doctor who was watching the little humans defending their planet.
"Sounds about right." She replied. As long as the Doctor was happy, she would be too. Even if that meant River, she would force herself to be okay with it.
Actually, that was a huge lie and even she didn't believe it herself, but she could live in denial, right?
~0~0~0~
They all rushed into the building after the soldiers had moved on, following Mace who lead the through the secure part of the factory, two more guards flanking them, looking for possible threats to the officers. They pushed through a plastic hanging, Mace glancing around.
"East and north secure. Doctor?" Mace called, running down one corridor with only a glance spared in the Doctor's direction. The soldiers followed their Colonel while the Doctor pulled out Danni's phone quickly, standing to one side, a tight grip on Danni's arm to make sure she followed him.
"Donna, hold on. We're coming." He told her before pocketing the phone again, not waiting for a reply as he pulled out his screwdriver. Not-Martha appeared next to them, looking confused as to why they'd taken a detour.
"Shouldn't we follow the Colonel?" The Doctor scanned the air, listening to the sound the screwdriver was feeding back to him.
"Nah, Danni, you and me, Martha Jones. Just like old times! Alien technology, this way!" He cried, pulling Danni down the corridor while Not-Martha paused to stop the launch of the nuclear missiles again. She then pushed off into a jog, catching up with the pair as they headed into a stairwell. The Doctor slowly walked down it in front of them, listening to the beeping carefully. He had to be quick, but a mistake could alert the Sontarans to his plan. They stepped into a dark corridor, Danni tensing and grabbing the Doctor's arm in fright. Great, more darkness, just was she needed. He paused as the lights flickered, the sensors alerted to the presence of people and Danni instantly relaxed.
"No Sontarans down here. They can't resist a battle." He explained to the pair, the sonic directing him to a doorway at the end of the corridor, "Here we go." He pushed the large door open to reveal the real Martha strapped to a table, unconscious with a large device strapped to her head.
"Ooh, Martha, I'm so sorry." The Doctor groaned as he dashed over, checking her pulse, "Still alive." He breathed in relief as Not-Martha pulled out a gun, grabbing Danni and pointing it at her, "Am I supposed to be impressed? Holding a gun to Danni, not the best idea you've ever had, is it?" He told her lowly as he continued to work on Martha, knowing it was the best way to get Danni away from the clone.
"Wish you carried a gun now?" Not-Martha taunted and he shook his head.
"Not at all." He retorted.
"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time."
"We know." Danni told her, "We were trying to do the same, weren't we?" The Doctor nodded, turning away from Martha to stare the clone down.
"I needed to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans." He paced around her, eyes narrowed as her aim never wavered from Danni's temple. His only consolation was the fact that the red-head didn't seem too scared, more bored if anything so he knew she wasn't worried, "I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent!"
"When did you know?" The clone asked.
"What, you? Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying 'clone'." He moved to stand behind Martha, gripping onto the top of the table, "Although, maybe not in front of Captain Jack. You remember him, don't you?" The clone's grip loosened for a moment as she was flooded with memories of the immortal man, "Cos you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive." He reached down and pulled the device off Martha's head. She gasped as she screamed, waking up at the same time the clone dropped to the floor, the gun flying out of her hand as she clawed at her chest. The Doctor pulled Danni away from her, kicking the gun out of her reach as he moved them over to the real Martha, hugging her as she gasped for breath.
"It's all right. It's all right, I'm here, we're both here. I've got you, got you."
"There was this thing, Doctor, this alien, with this head..." She stuttered out, disorientated as his phone began ringing. He passed Martha to Danni, who smiled encouragingly at her friend. He groped around his his pockets, holding it up to his ear.
"Oh, blimey I'm busy." He muttered as he answered, "Got it?"
"Yes. Now hurry up!" Donna bit out, scared.
"Take off the covering. All the blue switches inside, flick them up like a fusebox. And that should get the teleport working." He explained to her as Martha looked around, trying to get her bearing. Her gaze fell onto the clone, slumped on the ground and panting for breath and her mouth fell open.
"Oh, my God. That's me." She exclaimed.
"Actually," Danni corrected, "We've been calling her Not-Martha." Martha looked down at her, still completely confused and she grinned back, "Well, no one can replace Martha Jones, defender of Earth, can they?"
~0~0~0~
The Doctor laid on his back in the tubular teleport, sonicing the control pad as the wires dangled out around head. Danni was next to him, letting Martha and Not-Martha have their moment across the room. It's not like she didn't remember what they were saying anyway, right? She frowned thoughtfully, something about the gas, she was sure of it. It was becoming harder and harder to remember stuff from the show, which struck her as odd because she could remember stuff from years again about other things she had watched. It almost hurt to think about it, if she had to put a description on it. The drumming certainly didn't like it. It really didn't like her helping the Doctor out.
"Are you okay?" She turned to the Doctor, who was still fiddling with the control panel, his gaze concentrating solely on the task at hand.
"Yeah, why?" She asked.
"Because you were scared before." He pointed out, "Then you were really angry, and then, well..." He coughed, "But then when Not-Martha was holding a gun to your head, you really weren't bothered by it." She thought about it, and he was right. She had felt totally at ease with a gun being pressed against her temple.
"That's not good, is it?" She whispered out loud and he paused, shooting her a reassuring grin.
"We'll work it out, I promise." She beamed back and leant on his shoulder as he played with the wires around his neck.
"What are they talking about?" He asked her and she shrugged.
"Don't know." She admitted, "But I should. I'm forgetting so much, maybe my whole life's being erased from my own memory." He pushed himself up, trying to ignore the look of hopelessness on his Danni-Girl's face. Well, Danni, just Danni, she wasn't his at any rate. He looked through the gaps in the device and decided the two Marthas were just talking about themselves.
"The gas! Tell us about the gas." He snapped, helping Danni up and walking her over to the pair of Marthas, going back to work and Not-Martha glared at him.
"He's the enemy!" She retorted.
"Then tell me." Real Martha urged, "It's not just poison, what's it for? Martha, please!" Not-Martha studied the original, her breathing become more laboured by the second.
"Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic 5." She eventually admitted.
"Clonefeed! It's clonefeed!" He smacked himself on the forehead, of course it was clonefeed. Why else would the Sontarans not just slaughter the planet?
"What's clonefeed?" Martha asked.
"Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading, they're converting the atmosphere. Changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Cos the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give 'em a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. That gas isn't poison, it's food!" He rushed back over to the teleport, Danni in tow, and handed her the wires around his neck. Danni glanced back over at the Marthas, seeing the clone slowly dying and shrugged, turning back to help the Doctor. It didn't matter anyway, it's not like she was real or that anyone could save her anyway. The Doctor took the wires back, not seeing her freeze, her face falling into a devastated look. Since when did she not care?