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The Doctor relocated to one of the discarded chairs in the storeroom, hands clenching and unclenching as he stared at where Danni and Jack had just been. There was always the chance that Danni had been shot away by her Vortex Manipulator, he couldn't rule that out but Jack had just abandoned them. He wouldn't expect anything less of a conman who had, however inadvertently, hurt a young child. He'd hurt too many children in the past and he wasn't going to let him get away with it. The question was; why did Danni seem to trust him so much? She had barely left his side, admitting outright that she knew the man so she must have known what his ambulance had done.
"Okay," Rose said with a sigh as she walked out of one of the many dark corners of the room, "so they've vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" She placed a hand on the back of his chair as he looked up at her, slightly offended.
"I'm making an effort not to be insulted." He told her and she waved a hand at him.
"I mean... men." She defended. Plus, he wasn't hers to feel annoyed over. That made her chest twinge a bit, her crush not really wanting to admit that, but she knew in the future he was Danni's. Not now, though, but in the future.
"Okay. Thanks. That really helped." He replied sarcastically.
"Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me?" Jack's voice suddenly floated out of a disused radio on the other side of the room, the small light on the front turning on. They both rushed over and the Doctor righted the radio, "I'm back on my ship."
"So am I!" Danni's voice called through, "Hello!" Jack chuckled.
"Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you." He apologised as the Doctor picked up the wires where the radio's plug used to hang, staring at them in confusion as he showed them to Rose, "It's security-keyed to my molecular structure and one guest. I'm working on it - hang in there."
"How're you speaking to us?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, I know this." Danni exclaimed, "It's something called Om-Com. It can use anything with a speaker, just like Jamie." Jack had explained what it was he was going to do to let the Doctor and Rose know he was coming back for them, then had poured her a bright green cocktail. It was nice, it tasted fruity but she had told him it should have been blue. It never occurred to her that it was the first thing in weeks she'd drank of her own accord.
"That's just a coincidence." Jack insisted.
"It's a pretty big one though,isn't it?" Danni replied softly.
"So the child." Rose started.
"Jamie." Danni interrupted and Rose rolled her eyes.
"Sorry. So, Jamie can talk to us like this?" The Doctor nodded.
"Anything with a speaker grille." He confirmed, "Even the TARDIS phone."
"What, you mean he can phone us?" She scoffed.
"And I can hear you." Jamie's voice called in a sing-song tone. Rose and the Doctor instinctively stepped away from the radio, "Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiiind you."
"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack asked.
"Loud and clear."
"It's like he's playing a game." Danni stated lowly, "Like he's playing hide and seek. Maybe that's what he did when he was scared."
"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do." Jack told the pair in the storeroom, ignoring what Danni had said even though there was a stacking pile of evidence in support of it being his ambulance.
"Coming to find you, mummy!" Jamie called.
"Remember this one, Rose?" Jack asked, the smirk on his face shining through in his tone. An instrumental song played through the speakers and Rose shifted, embarrassed. The Doctor turned to look at her questioningly.
"Our song." She offered as an explanation. The Doctor nodded, but his eyes narrowed slightly at the though of her dancing with the American.
"Hey!" Danni exclaimed, sounding outraged, "You've danced with me to this as well!"
"It's a good song. A classic." Jack defended, not even correcting her considering he'd never danced with her before in his life.
"No, don't you dare try and hug me Harkness." Rose snorted in laughter, despite the tense atmosphere that had fallen over the room.
"Oh, come on Danni-Girl!" He begged, "We can pick our own song later." The music continued to play, but there was no reply from either of them.
"Danni-Girl?" Danni repeated quietly. She then squealed, "Oh, I knew you said it first!" Jack chuckled, she'd obviously hugged him.
"Can you please get to work?" The Doctor snapped, annoyed at feeling angry yet again. This American bloke seemed too much trouble. First Rose, then Danni? He wasn't getting either of them if he had anything to say about it.
~0~0~0~
Rose took the Doctor's hands, placing one on her hip and keeping a firm grip on the other. The Doctor hadn't had any faith that Jack and Danni were coming back, but Rose knew that they were. Even if she was memorised by the American Captain, there was no way Danni would leave either of them behind. Danni trusted Jack? Then so did she. But, waiting was rather boring so after some teasing and badgering she was going to dance to the music with the Doctor.
"D'you know what I think?" Rose said, drawing him back to their conversation about Jack and not the fact they were now very close together, "I think you're experiencing Captain envy." The Doctor nodded slightly, as if admitting she was right as they started swaying to music, "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."
"If ever he was a captain, he's been defrocked." The Doctor told her as he put more effort into his dancing.
"Yeah? Shame I missed that." She retorted.
"Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock." they both jumped in surprise, they were now on Jack's ship. He was still in his captain's chair, Danni now on his knee with the cocktail glass still in hand. She was smiling fondly at the pair.
"That's a lie and you know it." She teased, standing up to let him get up.
"Most people notice when they've been teleported." Jack pointed out to them, the pair blushing.
"You're just too cute!" Danni added.
"Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security." Jack explained as Rose smiled at the pair, happy to see them both.
"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is." The Doctor retorted.
"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous." Jack replied, Danni rolling her eyes, "Like I told her - be back in five minutes." He disappeared underneath the console and Danni took the few steps towards Rose, pulling her in for a hug.
"Sorry for leaving you, sweetie." She told her, "But I knew we'd get you."
"I knew you would too." Rose replied, "It's Mr Grumpy here that didn't." She motioned to the Doctor.
"Oh, that's because he doesn't trust me yet." Danni explained, dismissing it with a wave of her hand even though the Doctor stared at her in surprise, "That's fine. It'll happen soon enough." After he hated her for letting Rose become Bad Wolf, but that was just a technicality.
"Oh, will it?" The Doctor scoffed and she nodded, shooting him a wink.
"Oh, most definitely."
"When?" He demanded and she shook her head, already feeling light-headed from the tiny amount of booze she'd drunken compared to her empty stomach.
"Spoilers." He frowned.
"This is a Chula ship." The Doctor finally declared after studying the red-head. She seemed confident in her forewarning, he hated that.
"Yeah, just like that medical transporter." Jack called up, "Only, this one is dangerous." The Doctor snapped his fingers and a golden glow appeared around his hand. Danni stepped forward, memorised by the sight. It was like his hand was regenerating, but she could also see the tiny little specks that made up the ship's healing system.
"They're what fixed my hands up!" Rose exclaimed in recognition, "Jack called 'em, um..."
"Nanobots?" The Doctor shook his head, that wasn't right, "Nanogenes." Rose nodded.
"Nanogenes, yeah."
"Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed - all better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." Rose beamed, impressed at his knowledge and the Doctor casually sent the nanogenes away with a flick of his hand, "Take us to the crash site." He commanded, turning to Jack, "I need to see your space junk."
"As soon as I get the nav-com back online." Jack replied and the Doctor shot him an annoyed look. Jack smirked, "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were..." He motioned between the two as he sat back in the large chair, "... doing."
"We were talking about dancing!" The Doctor explained innocently.
"It didn't look like talking." Jack teased.
"Didn't feel like dancing." The Doctor turned to Rose, looking offended.
"I'm an excellent dancer." He insisted again.
"That's true." Danni piped up and they all turned to look at her as she stared at her glass, swilling the last of the liquid before looking up at the Time Lord, catching his gaze, "I can vouch for that." She downed the drink, "There's a spoiler for ya." She turned and walked over to Jack.
"What about you, Danni-Girl?" Jack asked suggestively, "How good a dancer are you?" She sat in his lap, using all her strength to spin the chair around to face the console.
"Oh, you couldn't handle me, Harkness."
~0~0~0~
Danni held tightly onto Jack's hand as they headed to the railway station where Jack had dropped his space junk. It was only very sparsely lit, the shadows dancing from far away lights reaching towards them and Danni suddenly remembered why she'd been so scared to begin with; the shadow on Midnight. Jack seemed to sense her fear, keeping a firm grip on her but also not saying a word about it. There was a barbed wire fence surrounding the entire bomb site and they moved as close as they could without being spotted. Jack nodded over to an area being guarded by two soldiers in green coats.
"There it is." He declared, "Ay, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."
"We've gotta get past." The Doctor told the trio.
"The words 'distract the guard' head in my general direction." Rose nudged Danni with a grin, who shook her head, smiling slightly.
"I don't think that'd be such a good idea." Jack told the blonde.
"Don't worry... We can handle it, can't we Danni?" Danni grimaced slightly.
"I suppose."
"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me. You're not his type." He squeezed Danni's hand then turned the collar on his jacket up, heading towards the two men, "I'll distract him. Don't wait up." Danni shook his head.
"So bloody horny that man." She groaned, it was a wonder he didn't have more than Ella. She frowned at the thought of the blonde-haired woman. He never would let her meet the mysterious Harkness, all she'd seen were glimpses and pictures. Rose frowned then looked up at the Doctor.
"Relax, he's a 51st century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing." The Doctor explained smugly.
"How flexible?" Rose prodded.
"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy." The Doctor told her.
"Meaning?"
"So many species, so little time..." The Doctor grinned and Rose looked quite upset, looking over at Jack and seeing him in a new light. Maybe he didn't fancy her after all, he just fancied everyone.
"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and... and..."
"Dance." The Doctor finished, sniggering to himself.
"Be nice." She scolded lightly, taking Rose's hand, "He flirts with everyone, sleeps around a bit, but I know he finds you very cute." She bopped Rose on the nose, "Now, anyone got a torch?" She glanced around, her eyes widening as a figure stepped out from behind the abandoned train to their left. She let go of Rose's hand and the blonde protested as she rushed off, the figure beckoning her over.
"River?" She asked, confused at the sight of the curly-haired archaeologist. She was wearing a black dress with silver high-heeled shoes, a large black hat on her head.
"Danni." She smiled brightly at the red-headed. Danni glanced behind her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed, "He might see you!"
"I know." River replied, "It doesn't matter. I just wanted you to know that I'm here." She smiled softly, stepping forward.
"Danni? What are you doing around here?" Rose's voice floated through and Danni jumped, alarmed.
"I... I don't feel very well." She shouted back, shrugging at River who offered no help, "Just stay with Jack and the Doctor, I'll catch up. I just need a minute."
"You sure?" Rose replied uncertainly and Danni rolled her eyes.
"I'll be fine. Just a minute, okay?" She stayed silent as she listened to the young blonde walk away and then turned back to River.
"Why are you here?" She asked. Not that she wasn't happy to see her, despite the fact she was insanely jealous and wary of River, she was still one of her only friends and she was part of the Doctor's future, a Doctor who knew when she needed a hug.
"You're off to Lake Silencio soon." Danni's eyes narrowed.
"No, I'm not." She snapped back, "I'm not going through this again. He's not going there."
"He is." River replied, "You know you can't stop it. I just wanted to apologise."
"Apologise?" Danni scoffed, "For what? For the Doctor spending 200 years thinking he was going to die? Or the fact you try and marry him?" River shot her a pitying look and her eyes narrowed dangerously, "Oh no, he promised me he wasn't going to marry you. Don't you dare try and make me believe he breaks it." River took a deep breath, hurt at the anger Danni was showing her.
"Lake Silencio is coming sooner than you think." She continued calmly, "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry, and that I love you very much." Danni looked her up and down, her first instinct was to slap her silly, but that wouldn't do anyone any good. Her attire was almost in keeping with the era they were currently stood in.
"Where are you off?" She asked before she could stop herself. River looked away, her smile dropping.
"Manhattan." She replied sadly and Danni's anger dissolved instantly.
"Oh." She said, "I'm sorry." River shot her a tight smile, nodding.
"You can't stop it, I know." She reassured her, "It's why you can recite that blasted Afterword line by line. I don't blame you. They should be together, always." Danni nodded, a joyless laugh escaping her lips. River didn't blame her for not saving her parents? Well, that had to be a lie.
"I don't blame you either." She replied, "It's the Doctor's choice and we both can't have him." River stepped forward and cupped her cheek with one hand, brushing a thumb across her cheek. Danni's brow furrowed as she watched River look her over, as if she was drinking in her image and committing it to memory.
"Lake Silencio is coming sooner than you think." She repeated, "And I'm sorry, but it happens the way you think it does." Danni's eyes widened, her blood running cold.
"No, cause he promised me."
"Rule 1." River simply replied and Danni shook her head, stepping away from the blonde woman.
"No, he doesn't lie to me." She replied shakily, "He wouldn't do that to me." River sighed.
"Love you, sweetie." She kissed Danni on the cheek and then she was gone in a flash of light. Danni blinked, her heart sinking as River's words repeated themselves through her mind. It happens the way you think it does. He married her. He married River. It happens the way you think it does. The more she tried to deny it, the more people threw it back in her face.
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.
She could barely remember the conversation from the night before Amy's wedding, but she remembered Eleven clearly promising her that he wasn't going to marry River as long as he had her, and she'd gone further than Silencio many times. One of her first adventures with him was Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, which she knew was after that because the Ponds lived at home. So he still had her, so he wouldn't marry River.
I know you lived through that, but I'm going to change it
But he'd seen Danni's that had lived through it before. These Danni's who'd watched him marry River, they'd lived through watching them kiss. And he'd met them. That meant she was going to become one of them, didn't it?
It happens the way you think it does.
And she thought he was going to marry River. So he did. He married River.
"Danni? We don't have time for this!" The Doctor came around the train, looking for the ginger girl. They'd been watching Jack flirt with the soldiers whilst she was supposedly being sick. Rose had sent him after her, saying she'd rather not see someone throwing up but she was just standing there staring at an empty spot, "What are you doing?" She turned around and stormed up to him, her face contorted in fury and she reached up, slapping him hard across the face.
"You bastard." She snarled before collapsing into a fit of tears, chucking her arms around him and clinging to him as she sobbed. He blinked, confused before gingerly patting her on the back.
"What was that for?" He asked, his cheek stinging.
"You're going to leave me for that woman when you promised me you wouldn't." She cried, "Please don't leave me, Doctor. Please. I'll do better, I promise. I'll tell you things. Like Jack!" She looked up at him, "He's the Face of Boe! And, and..."
"Shush." He told her firmly and she pursed her lips together to shut herself up, "You know you can't tell me things. Now, come on. We have a little boy to save." She nodded, for once glad he wasn't pandering to her. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose.
"How do I look?" She asked.
"A mess." He replied bluntly, "Come on."