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"Doctor." Donna's voice came through loud and clear across the speakers of the phone and Danni grabbed it,passing it to the man, "Blue switches done.But they've found me!" He pulled Danni out of the teleport before pointing his screwdriver at the device.
"Now!" He shouted, setting it off and activating the pod. Donna appeared in a shimmer of blue light holding a mallet, looking slightly awed before running and hugging the Doctor, pulling Danni up against her side who hugged her just as tightly.
"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?" She shrieked, the Doctor pushing her onto Danni.
"Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me!" He told her, "Gotta bring the TARDIS down." He rushed back to the control pad and soniced it, reversing the beam that had taken the TARDIS and planting her back where she should have been.
"Are you okay?" Donna asked Danni, who nodded with a gentle smile.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"Right, now. Martha, you coming?" The Doctor interrupted before Donna could reply and Martha walked over, dressed in the Doctor's overcoat.
"What about this nuclear launch thing?" She asked.
"Just keep pressing N, we want to keep those missiles on the ground." Martha pulled out her phone and pressed the 'No' button just as the countdown reached the end. Donna looked around, getting her bearings when she saw the clone slumped on the floor.
"But there's... two of them." She breathed.
"Yeah, long story." The Doctor brushed off.
"The Sontarans made a clone of Martha so she would stop the missile launch and not destroy all the hard work they'd put into gassing the planet." Danni explained, "See, not that long." She pulled her tongue out at the Doctor as she and Donna stepped into the teleport by the Doctor and Martha. He rolled his eyes but looked amused. He then glanced at the three women and a huge teeth-showing grin spread across his face.
"Here we go. The old team, back together! Well, the new team." He corrected himself.
"We're not going back on that ship!" Donna protested as he typed some co-ordinates into the keypad.
"No, no, no. No." He promised, "I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to..." He activated the teleport and they appeared in another pod in a large room, "...here! The Rattigan Academy, owned by..." The boy, Luke, appeared pointing a gun at the foursome, his hands shaking wildly.
"Don't tell anyone what I did! It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they..." He rambled as the Doctor strode over, yanking it out of his hands.
"If I see one more gun..." He muttered, chucking it to one side as he walked away, leaving the boy stood there, embarrassed. Donna and Martha looked at him for a moment before walking around him.
"You know, that coat, sort of works." Donna told the old companion.
"Feel like a kid in my dad's clothes." Martha admitted.
"Oh, well if you're calling him dad you're definitely getting over him." Donna retorted, "It looks better on Danni anyway." Danni smiled before turning to Luke, patting him on the arm.
"Don't worry about it Luke-y boy." She told him before following them across the room and out into a laboratory. Donna grabbed her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and placing her firmly between the two women as Luke followed, standing meekly to one side. The Doctor was rushing around, grabbing bits and pieced from around the room.
"That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles," He was explaining as he held a large metal tube to his eye, deeming it suitable and placing next to a piece of machinery, "they were holding back." He growled and grabbed the mallet from Donna, smashing up the larger part of the device he was making, "Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could've sparked off the whole thing." Martha pressed the 'No' button again.
"What, like set fire to the atmosphere?"
"Yeah." He confirmed, "They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?" He cried and Luke rubbed his neck, still feeling humiliated.
"They promised me a new world." He told them quietly.
"You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this!" He finished the device and it turned on with a red glow, "An atmospheric converter." He picked it up and ran outside, the rest of the group following steps behind. He rushed out onto the front lawn, kneeling in front of it as his configured it.
"That's London." Donna breathed, looking out across the horizon sadly. The whole area was covered in a thick, grey smog, "You can't even see it. My family's in there."
"If I can get this on the right setting..." He muttered, standing up and moving back over to them, control in hand.
"Doctor, hold on, you said the atmosphere would ignite." Martha pointed out.
"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" He pressed a button and a large red shot exploded from the top of the device, heading up into the sky. He dropped the controller and wrapped his arms around Danni, pulling her against his chest, "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please..." He prayed, his good luck charm firmly in place as he tightened his grip on her. Danni, on the other hand, felt nothing like she had done back at UNIT, instead she felt utterly serene, as if she could have stood there forever as the gas ignited and set the sky alight before disappearing, leaving the atmosphere clear.
"He's a genius!" Luke exclaimed, staring at the Doctor in wonder as Donna cheered.
"Just brilliant." Martha agreed, remembering to press the 'No' button just in the nick of time. Danni shook her head.
"It's not over yet." She muttered as the Doctor let her go, scooping the Atmospheric Converter up into his arms.
"Now we're in trouble!" He exclaimed, turning to run back into the building. They all followed him in as he dived into the teleport pod, still clutching the converter. Danni stepped in after him, fully intent on following him up towards the Sontaran ship.
"You can't come to." He told her and she shook her head.
"Yes I can. You're not leaving me behind." She insisted.
"I can't go up there with you!" He cried.
"Well I can't stay without you!" She retorted, "Please, Spaceman." He opened his mouth, fully intent on berating her out of the pod when he saw her shaking, tears in her eyes and he realised it was because she knew what he was about to do. He closed it, gently placing the atmospheric converter on the ground before taking her by the arms.
"Danni-Girl." He said her name slowly before smiling, "You are worth fighting for." She gasped, recognising what he had said as what Jack had told Rose on Satellite Five as he leant it, placing a kiss gently on her lips. She chucked her arms around his neck, just like she had done to Jack, and the pair stood in place as their lips moved in harmony. He broke it off, smiling at her with a silly little grin. He was right, it was better when it was just her. He gently nudged her towards Martha, who pulled the girl close, having worked out what the Doctor was doing.
"Right, so..." He drawled, getting back to the moment at hand, "Donna, thank you. For everything." Donna frowned in confusion, what was he going on about, "Martha, you too. Oh... so many times." The young doctor smiled weakly, holding onto Danni, "Luke, do something clever with your life."
"You're saying goodbye." Donna stated and he turned away from them and switching all the switches on the converter.
"Sontarans are never defeated." He told them, "They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..." He trailed off with a shrug.
"You're gonna ignite them." Martha finished and he nodded.
"You'll kill yourself." Donna summarized, her face falling as her chest tightened.
"Just send that thing up, on it's own. I don't know... put it on a delay." Martha suggested hopefully.
"I can't." He replied.
"Why not?" Donna pressed. There had to be a reason why he was doing this, leaving them all behind. The Doctor she knew would never leave Danni on her own.
"Because he has to give them the choice." Danni spat out bitterly. The Doctor didn't reply, just looked at his family one more time before activating the teleport and beaming out of their lives. Donna's hand shot up into her hair as her world collapsed around her, the most amazing man she'd ever met going to his death. She broke into sobs as Martha clutched at his jacket, tightening it with the feeling in her chest as they stared on, despondent.
"Someone should do something clever and save him." Danni spoke up suddenly, startling them out of their thoughts.
"What?" Martha asked.
"Someone should do something clever and save him." Danni repeated angrily, turning to Luke, "Don't you think, Luke?" She knew she was trying to encourage a young lad to kill himself to save the Doctor, but she didn't care. He was going to bring her Time Lord back for her, whether it was his choice or hers.
~0~0~0~
Luke had stood around, staring at the pod for a while before turning to Danni who would glare at him until he turned back to the pod. He reproached it cautiously, pressing a few buttons on the keypad but nothing happened, which he had already guessed would happen. The Doctor had programmed it for one trip. The man was a genius, but so was he. He dropped to the floor, pulling the wires out of the bottom and switching them around, his tongue sticking out slightly, standing up again as it beeped. Martha and Donna heads snapped in unison to face him, Danni watching with a triumphant smirk on her face the entire time.
"What are you doing?" Martha asked, worried the boy might be doing something to further wreck the day.
"Like she said," He motioned to Danni, "Something clever." He pressed two buttons on the control panel, disappearing in a shimmer of blue light. Moments later the Doctor reappeared, falling to the ground in surprise as he panted, looking around. Danni scrambled over to him, crawling across the bottom of pod and kneeling in front of him. He smiled at her but her face hardened and she slapped him, sending his head to one side and leaving a hand print on his face. He slowly looked at her in shock and she broke down, chucking herself onto him as she began sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her, shushing her gently as he moved them to the edge of the pod. Martha sat next to them, smiling as she rubbed the ginger girl's back and Donna stormed over. She also smacked him, except not as hard and on the arm, before kneeling in front of him and placing her hand on his arm, showing her relief that he was okay.
~0~0~0~
Donna, who was using any opportunity she could to get to know the people the Doctor had travelled with in the past, decided to take Martha to the wardrobe to get her some clothes and out of the hospital gown the Sontarans had put her in.
"So, did he always run around like a startled gazelle?" She asked as they stepped into the hallway, Danni and Martha promptly bursting into fits of giggles.
"Yes." Martha answered.
"Hey!" The Doctor shouted after them, "Everyone always laughs." Danni nodded.
"Well, that's because you're highly entertaining, Spaceman." She reminded him before sitting on the chair in front of him, swinging her legs in the air.
"Would you have really blown them up?" She asked him quietly and he shrugged, turning away to fiddle with the console, pretending he was doing something instead of hiding from her gaze.
"Maybe. Probably. I don't know." He sighed, "Still, it was brave of Luke to take my place." She snorted.
"No, that was me." She told him, "Don't you give him credit for my idea."
"What?" He exclaimed, spinning back around, "You were going to switch places with me?!"
"Don't be daft." She laughed, "I wouldn't have even known where to begin with that teleport. I told him to 'do something clever' and save you." The Doctor studied her with a frown.
"Did you know he'd do that?" She nodded.
"I just give him the push." She explained, "I wasn't about to let you explode up there with the Sontarans; he brought it on the planet, he had to save you."
"That's..." Not like her, he wanted to say loudly, sending a young man to his death. She hated death, but she was just sat there smiling at him, like it meant nothing at all. He remembered her reaction to Jack on Satellite 5, and to Lady Thaw back at the Lazarus Laboratories. He took a deep breath to try and find out why, when he saw her swallow deeply, a sheen in her eyes showing the tears there and he realised she did know what she did was awful, but she just couldn't help it. He turned back to the console, and did the one thing he was good at.
He changed the subject.
"Have you had a lot of experience smacking ex-boyfriends?" He asked and she blinked, surprised.
"What?"
"You told Donna to imagine the Sontaran she hit with the mallet was all her ex-boyfriends." He elaborated.
"Yeah, because I know Donna would always go for the element of surprise." Danni explained before narrowing her eyes, smiling in amusement, "Are you asking me why I told Donna that, or inquiring about my exes?" He blushed a deep pink that even from the back Danni could see. It made her grin all the more.
"No, no, no!" He repeated quickly, "I was just wondering where the train of thought come from."
"Good." She nodded, swinging her legs purposefully to get the momentum to jump off the chair, "Because it's not much of a story to tell." She walked up to him, "One when I was 14 for two week, a two-and-a-half year one when I was 17 and 6 months when I was 22. He dumped me a couple of weeks before I came here."
"You had a boyfriend before you came here?" He asked, sounding put out and she nodded.
"Yes, and I was so heartbroken I just fell into the arms of a Time Lord." She teased and he tensed slightly. She grinned and patted his arm, "I'm going to go help Martha. Be good, sweetie." She turned and walked out of the room, saving her giddy little dance for the hallway. He was jealous! Ten was jealous! She could have squealed. Instead, she burst into the wardrobe and hugged her friends tightly, rambling about the time she and Martha had gone ice skating.
~0~0~0~
Donna walked slowly back into the TARDIS, eyes still full of tears from her sad goodbye to her granddad. Both of them knew what she was giving up by going with the Doctor; she might never come back, it was a real possibility in this alien's life to suddenly be faced with death, as had been painfully apparent today. But, she had to do it, this life was worth the risk and her granddad knew that as much as she did. Still, it didn't make it any easier to leave him behind when all she wanted was for him to hug her and tell her she'd be okay.
"How were they?" Martha asked gently as Danni hopped down the rap to take her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as they walked up the ramp.
"Oh, same old stuff." She replied, wiping her eyes, trying to sound casual and failing, "They're fine." She nodded and forced a smile on her face, "So! You gonna come with us? We're not exactly short of space." She let go of Danni's hand to wrap her arm around her shoulders, her smile brightening. This was her family too, she had to remember that and young lass next to her needed her there as much as she needed to be there.
"Oh, I have missed all this," Martha admitted, looking up at the column of the console almost longingly but nodded, swallowing, "but, you know. I'm good here. Back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides," She waved her hand and her engagement ring at them, "someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now!"
"Where are we off to, anyway?" Danni asked, seeing his face fall slightly at the look on the Doctor's face. He didn't like the idea he made her worst, he thought he'd helped her become what she was now.
"I was thinking a theme park." He said, forcing a smile onto his face, "Hedgewick's World of Wonders, it's absolutely magnificent. The biggest in it's galaxy, well," He trailed off, his mind going through a number of other theme parks, "the biggest in a few really..."
"Sounds fun, I hope you have the best time." Martha told them sincerely, hugging Donna then Danni tightly before heading towards the door. The doors slammed shut in front of her as the TARDIS set into flight, shaking wildly as Danni tried not to cheer, she was going to meet Jenny!
"What? What!?" The Doctor exclaimed, fighting with the controls to try and get her to land.
"Doctor, don't you dare!" Martha shouted as the four clung to console for dear life.
"No, no, no! I didn't touch anything! We're in flight, it's not me!" He promised.
"Where are we going?" Donna asked, slightly worried. Last time the TARDIS had taken off without the Doctor doing anything she'd ended up on a Sontaran ship on her own.
"I don't know, it's out of control!" The Doctor struggled to bring the monitor in front of him but the data just spun out of control.
"Doctor, just listen to me! You take me home, take me home right now!" Martha demanded, fuming at him even though she knew it wasn't his fault. She had just managed to build the courage to walk back out them doors, this can't happen!
"He can't!" Danni snapped back, pulling herself up after a particularly hard jolt, "We're being pulled across time!"
"What the hell's it doing?" Donna shouted with a scream.
"Controls aren't working!" The Doctor replied, meaning he had no idea. He tried again to gain control but the console sparked at him, sending him to the floor. He frowned at his hand in the jar as it bubbled away, he still didn't know why he kept it but he couldn't bring himself to put it in storage.
"I don't know where we're going but my old hand's very excited about it!" He told them as Donna fell to the floor next to him.
"I thought that was just some freaky alien thing! You telling me it's yours?" She exclaimed, that was disgusting.
"Well..." He trailed off and she stared at him, mouth open.
"It got cut off. He grew a new one!" Martha confirmed.
"You are completely... impossible!" Donna settled on and Danni laughed. It was horrible, a hand in a jar. The drumming in her head agreed with her, she guessed, because it was having a ball as they flew around the console room. She was going to have some bruises after this.
"Not impossible, just... a bit unlikely!" He corrected as the console exploded, sedning them all the floor, the Doctor landing in the chair next to the console as Danni landed on top of Martha. The TARDIS fell silent, they had landed. The Doctor quickly looked over them, checking they were all okay before running to the door, grabbing his jacket on the way before stepping out into what appeared to be tunnel. The three girls scrambled up and followed, dashing out and falling to a stop just behind him.
"Why would the TARDIS bring us here?" The Doctor asked aloud, looking around the debris littering the area around them before turning to Danni, "Any ideas?"
"Oh, loads." She retorted, avoiding the question, "None which I can say in present company."
"Danni!"
"Oh, I love this bit." Martha breathed as she took in the area.
"Thought you wanted to go home." Donna teased her and she rolled her eyes.
"I know, but all the same..." She glanced over at Danni and the Doctor who were checking out the old pieces of metal, the Doctor tasting the dust off one of them and Danni whacking his hand away with a scold, "It's that feeling you get..."
"Like you swallowed a hamster?" Donna asked, knowing exactly what she meant. This, this was why she had gone with the Doctor. The newness of it all, yet it still looked like it could be on Earth. New planets, new places, new people... No one could turn this away. There was a loud crash and a flash of light, startling the four as a girl stumbled into existence, running out of control across the floor and crashing into the Doctor. They fell onto the floor in a heap, the Doctor staring up at her, eyes wide in bafflement.
"Well," The new Danni said as she looked around, "Hello there, Spaceman." She climbed off him and brushed herself down. Danni, the original one, stared at the new version of her that had just appeared in front of her.
"What the..." She whispered as New-Danni smirked at her.
"Oh, I remember this!" She cried, "This is going to be fun." She giggled as the other four looked on in shock.