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"We can't just leave him!" Danni shouted, pointing to the TARDIS doors, "He's going to die if we don't do something!"
"He made his bed." The Doctor retorted.
"He's more than made up for it, though!" She snapped back. Jack had saved them all. After the Doctor had realised, finally, that Nancy was the little boy's mother he'd managed to change all the gas mask-wearing people back to normal with the help of the nanogenes from the crashed ambulence using their new data on human biology, curtosy of Nancy herself. Jack had disappeared moments earlier, reappearing on top of the bomb just about to drop on them to take it away and she knew it would blow him up if they didn't do something.
"He saved us." Rose added, seeing the Doctor about to argue back.
"It was his fault we were in danger in the first place." The Doctor pointed out.
"Oh, and you've never done something stupid before?" Danni scoffed, "Seriously, Spaceman, go save him right now! He spends the rest of his life making it up to you, he eventually dies to save you but not here!"
"You would say that." The Doctor murmered.
"Yes, I would." She snapped back, "He's one of the greatest men in all of creation. The things he does for you and this universe would put anyone to shame. He sacrifices himself again and again, all because he almost got you killed once." She stormed over, grabbing him by his leather jacket and pulling the tall man down to her face, "Now do as your told and save him!" He blinked, surprised by her strength and the anger practically rolling off her.
"What happened to 'Just this one, everybody lives'?" Rose shot, smirking as he saw him visabily give in to the two girls.
"What exactly am I supposed to do about it?" He asked and Danni beamed, letting go of him and patting the jacket down.
"You have a time machine." She pointed out, "Do something timey-wimey." He turned to the console before double-taking, staring at her in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," he started, "Did you just say 'timey-wimey'? Who actually talks like that?"
~0~0~0~
Jack moved from next to the bomb, which was suspended on the ceiling in the back of the ship, and sat in the captain's seat.
"Okay, computer - how long can we keep the bomb in stasis?" He asked the ship's computer system.
"Stasis decaying at ninety percent per cycle. Detonation in three minutes." The female voice replied. His face fell, that wasn't good.
"Can we jettison it?" He asked.
"Any attempt to jettison the device will precipitate detonation. One hundred percent probability." The computer replied. He squeezed his eyes shut, realisation hitting him.
"We could stick it in an escape pod." He suggested.
"There is no escape pod on board." The computer replied.
"I see the flaw in that." He admitted, "I'll get in the escape pod!" He pointed to himself.
"There is no escape pod on board." The computer repeated.
"Did you check everywhere?" He shouted in frustration.
"Affirmative." The computer replied.
"Under the sink!"
"Affirmative." Jack nodded slowly, looking around as he tried to find any way out of the situation at hand.
"Okay. Out of one hundred... exactly how dead am I?" He asked calmly.
"Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. One hundred percent probability." The computer told him and he sighed sadly.
"Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers." He told it sarcastically.
"You're welcome."
"Okay then." He swallowed, the despair that had flooded him a moment ago leaving him feeling numb, "Think we'd better initiate emergency protocol four-one-seven." He paused for a moment, "In blue."
"Affirmative." The computer produced a cocktail from the dashboard, similar to the drink he'd served Danni but in blue. He took it with a smile and sipped it, pulling a face at the strong aftertaste.
"Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again!" He laughed at his own joke, reclining in the chair as he prepared to die, "Funny thing... last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Hmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch!" He smiled fondly at the memory, eating the olive that had been perched in the drink, "Can't say that about most executioners." He laughed, "Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great." He took another sip of his drink before swilling the liquid, watching the blue liquid spin around and around. He'd asked for it in blue because that's what Danni had commented it should have been. He shifted on the spot, thinking of the red headed girl who had launched herself at him and had barely let go since. It was like she'd known how he was, had forgiven him instantly despite having accidently harming a child. The first person who'd ever done that, really. He'd not been much use throughout his life. He'd let everyone down; his parents, his brother. That guy on Astroid 7 he'd promised to ring back. But she'd defended him, she'd held his hand and told him he'd never get rid of her, like she'd wanted to stay with him. He had no idea why, but he was glad that when his life had come to a close, he'd managed to not let one person down. He raised his glass, "Danni-Girl. The girl who loved me unconditionally."
"Actually, it's conditional on you still being alive." Her voice called to him and he looked behind him in surprise to see her leaning against a doorway, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face despite the tears in her eyes.
"Danni?" He asked, standing up as music floated out of... wherever she was.
"Well, hurry up then!" Rose's voice shouted and he shot out of his chair, running past Danni into the large console room. He gaped in amazement as Danni shut the doors behind them. Rose and the Doctor were dancing rather badly to the music playing from the console in the middle.
"It's supposed to be like this." Danni reassured him quietly, "However, he's a terrible dancer no matter when you meet him." She motioned to Rose and the Doctor as the Doctor spun the blonde around, getting her arms twisted behind her and she jolted out his grasp painfully.
"Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time - don't get my arm up my back!" She told him firmly, the Doctor looking sheepish in return, "No extra points for a half-nelson."
"I'm SURE I used to know this stuff." The Doctor protested, reaching over to start the engines up, "Welcome to the TARDIS." He called to Jack
"Much bigger on the inside..." Jack commented.
"You'd better be." The Doctor retorted meaningfully.
"Oh, behave." Danni scolded lightly, "He'd my Jack, he's amazing inside and out."
"I think what the Doctor's trying to say is," Rose stepped over, holding her hand out to him, "you may cut in." Jack grinned and took her hand.
"Rose! I've just remembered!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly.
"What?" Rose asked as she turned around, smiling fondly at his interruption. The music suddenly changed to an upbeat tempo and the lights dotted around the room began flashing. Danni laughed, watching the man she loved clicking his fingers and he began dancing on his own in time to the music.
"I can dance!" He exclaimed.
"Actually, Doctor... I thought Jack might like this dance." Rose told him pointedly, but the Doctor shrugged it off.
"I'm sure he would, Rose. I'm absolutely certain. But who with?" Rose laughed and let go of Jack's hand to dance with the Doctor. This was the man Danni loved, but he wasn't hers yet. He was Rose's and she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Care to dance?" Jack whispered in her ear and she jumped in surprise, grinning and taking his hands on hers.
"Yes." She replied, "But I'm hopeless."
"Aren't we all?" Jack retorted meaningfully before they began dancing. Danni laughed happily as he spun her around before glancing over at the happy Rose and Doctor. With the drumming pounding loudly in her head, she hoped she'd see the Doctor that was hers before it was all over.
~0~0~0~
Eleven rushed around the console of the TARDIS, flipping and turning and pushing as he went. He had just taken Danni to meet Laurel and Hardy and the pair had been allowed to appear in the film 'Sons of the Desert'. He paused as he thought back on it; he said 'allowed' but really they had tried to get into each scene, and had finally been told that they could be in that scene if they stopped jumping in for every take. They had agreed to it and danced along with two of the funniest men to have ever existed. Danni had once told him that she would sit and watch Laurel and Hardy with her parents when she was ill and he wanted to take her mind off the noise in her head. And the fact he was running away from his own... he shook his head; no time to go down that route, he had things to do, people to visit.
He jumped as there was a flash of light and Danni appeared again. She landed next to the console, stood upright for once, looking away from him. She didn't turn around and he frowned, pausing his actions.
"Danni?" He asked and she spun around, obviously surprised she had moved. The last thing she remembered was arguing with Nine about saving Jack from the bomb he'd saved them from. Seeing Jack had actually helped so much, finding a human worth defending had helped her put Midnight into some form of perspective. Not all humans behaved like them people had.
Then she remembered Eleven kissing Jack's daughter, Ella. Had that happened, though? She couldn't work it out. Eleven had said it was an hallucination, but had it been?
"Danni-Girl?" He stepped towards her, looking her up and down worriedly. She was deathly pale, dark rings under her eyes from lack of sleep. She was shaking slightly, her fists clenched at her sides.
"Please... Just make it stop." She whispered. He pulled out his screwdriver and scanned her quickly. He blinked at the results; the drumming was still in her head. He reached over and pulled her in for a hug and she clung to him, sobbing and shaking. He stroked her hair soothingly, trying to calm her down as he bit his lip. He just couldn't take her crying. It broke his hearts every time. Her knees gave way and the pair fell to the ground together.
"I'll try, I promise." He whispered into her hair, "I promise that I will make them sorry they ever did this to you." He tilted her head so she was looking up at him.
"I... It hurts." She sobbed, "I just want it to stop. It's all the time. All I can hear; them four beats." She leant her forehead on his and he listened, hearing them pounding in his head, "I haven't slept in so long. Please..." He placed his fingers on her temples and she instantly fell asleep in his arms. He lifted her up, she seemed to be much lighter than she had last time he had carried her, and took her down the corridor of the TARDIS to his bedroom. He tucked her into his bed and laid down on top of the covers next her. He stroked her hair as he blinked away the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. He couldn't lose her, not her as well. And the drumming wasn't driving her insane like it had done to the Master, it was killing her. Someone had done this to her to kill her, but why? Who would want to hurt his Danni-Girl that much?
He shrugged away the thought and went back to watching her sleep. He doubted that it would rest her much, but it was the best he could do at the moment. When she awoke he'd take her somewhere nice, somewhere calm and peaceful.
~0~0~0~
Craig Owens sat at his kitchen table surrounded by clothes as he rubbed his temple in frustration. He had been calling everyone he knew and the repeated conversations were starting to get on his nerves.
"Mum, it's not just you." He told his mother down the phone, "I'm phoning everybody. I'm texting the world. Craig Owens can do it on his own. No-one is coming to help me!" A knock on his front door pulled him from his conversation, he rolled his eyes as his mum continued talking, "Mum, I'm going to have to call you back." he hung up on her before she could continue. The person at the door knocked again and he rubbed his eyes, "I'm coping, I'm coping on my own... I'm coping on my own!" He stated determinedly as he shot up from the chair and stormed to the front door, throwing it open, "I'm coping on my ow.." He trailed off as he saw the Doctor and Danni standing there hand in hand, both smiling even though Danni looked a bit ill.
"Hello, Craig! We're back!" The Doctor told him happily and Danni waved at him. He looked between them in disbelief.
"She didn't? How could she phone you?" He asked, utterly amazed they were standing there.
"How could who phone us? Nobody phoned us, we're just here." He leant into the doorway, looking down the hall, "You've redecorated!" He pulled himself back, "I don't like it." He stated. Danni rolled her eyes.
"It's a different house, they moved." She told him. He smiled at her, she hadn't really spoken since she'd woken up.
"Yes, that's it."
"Doctor, what are you doing here?" Craig asked.
"Social call. Thought it was about time I tried one out. How are you?" He asked sounding very uncomfortable with the entire affair.
"I'm fine?" He replied just as unsurely.
"You don't sound fine." Danni told him, "You sound really bothered, actually." She turned the Doctor, "Maybe we should go? He's busy and quite frankly I just want to be in the TARDIS." She told the Doctor, who frowned at her worriedly. She loved her time with Craig and Sophie, she had told him that. It was why he had brought her to see him again. Nevertheless he nodded and smiled at Craig.
"I think this is the bit where we say. 'We're fine, too' isn't it?" He asked Craig, trying to overlook Danni's disregard of the man, "We're fine, too. Good. Love to Sophie, bye!" He spun on his heel and they began walking away. The lights on the front of the house flickered and the Doctor looked around.
"Something's wrong!" He stated and left Danni outside as he pushed is way into the house, pulling his screwdriver out as he went. Danni sighed and followed him slower.
"I'm sorry about him waking up your baby." She told Craig, "He's a bit of an idiot and it won't even occur to him you have one." She explained before stepping into the house. The Doctor was scanning the house with his screwdriver. He flicked out the end and rushed upstairs as he read the results.
"On your own, you said. But you're not... you're not on your own!" He shouted.
"Just, shhh!" Craig shushed him as he followed him upstairs. The Doctor looked down at the floor, seeing the nappies and discarded baby clothes becoming more and more suspicious.
"Increased sulphur emissions. And look at the state of this place. What are you not telling me?"
"Doctor, please!" Craig begged him, worried about him waking up his son.
"Shhh!" The Doctor hushed him and Craig glared at him.
"No, you shhh!"
"Shhh!"
"Shhh!"
"No, you shhh!" Danni pushed past the pair becoming increasingly annoyed at their argument. It wasn't helping her headache at all.
"Both of you shhh. You'll wake him up!" She hissed, opening the bedroom door. She entered the nursery and smiled at the baby asleep in his cot; he hadn't heard any of the noise the Doctor had made. She stepped forward to get a better look at him when the Doctor burst in, brandishing his screwdriver.
"Whatever you are, get off this planet!" He exclaimed and the baby started crying. Danni closed her eyes in exasperation and Craig stormed over to the crib.
"Oh, you've woken him!"
~0~0~0~
Danni sat next to the high chair at the kitchen table as the Doctor rummaged through Craig's fridge. Craig paced with the baby, who for the life of her she couldn't remember the name of, just behind her. The Doctor shut the door and turned to Craig.
"So when you say on your own..." He drank straight from the bottle of milk he had taken from the fridge as he walked over to Craig.
"Yes, I meant on my own with the baby, yes. Cause no-one thinks I can cope on my own. Which is so unfair. Because..." He grabbed the Doctor's arm, "I can't cope on my own with him! I can't. He just cries. All the time. I mean, do they have off-switches?" The Doctor sat down at the table and flicked through one of Sophie's pregnancy books as Craig placed the still crying baby into the high chair.
"Human beings. No. I've checked." He murmured.
"No, babies." Craig cried, highly distressed at his sons crying. The Doctor placed his book down.
"Same difference. Sometimes this works though." He leant forward and placed a finger to his lips, "Ssh." Instantly the baby stopped crying. Danni smiled and reached out, holding the baby's hand and bouncing it up and down. The baby grabbed her finger tightly and began sucking on it. She giggled slightly at him and the Doctor beamed at her.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Craig asked. The Doctor picked up a children's book and began flicking through it.
"Probably not."
"Oh, please come on, I need something," Craig begged, "I'm rubbish at this."
"At what?"
"Being a dad. You read all the books, they tell you you'll know what to do if you follow your instinct. I have no instinct! That's what this weekend's about, trying to prove to people I can do this one thing well." The Doctor didn't acknowledge him, instead laughing at the book. Craig shot him a incredulous look while Danni rolled her eyes at him. She turned to Craig.
"Can I hold him?" She asked. Craig nodded.
"Sure, if you want." She smiled and picked him up, holding him so he was standing on her knees.
"Hello, little fella." She whispered as she bounced him. The Doctor put the book down to watch her interact with the baby, smiling softly. He'd never really seen her with children before, she had barely seen baby Melody and they never really came into contact with babies but the child's presence seemed to be calming her down. He looked at Craig, leaning back in his chair.
"So what did you call him? Will I blush?" Craig stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, we didn't call him 'the Doctor'!" the Doctor pouted.
"No, I didn't think you would."
"He's called Alfie." Danni pointed at Craig, holding Alfie up with one arm wrapped around his tiny body.
"Alfie! Oh, I should have known that." She exclaimed sadly. How could she have forgotten Alfie? Craig, still not quite believing the situation he was is, looked between the two.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Craig asked as he filled the kettle up, doing what he knew how to do; make a fantastic cup of tea. Alfie gurgled as Danni sat him on the table. The Doctor leant closer to the boy, listening intently.
"Yes, he likes that, Alfie. Though personally he prefers to be called..." Danni's face lit up as she remembered...
"Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All." They stated together and the Doctor couldn't stop smiling as she kissed the baby on the head, "Yes you do, don't you? Yes, you like Stormageddon." She cooed in baby-speak. Craig turned to look at them.
"Sorry, what?"
"That's what he calls himself." The Doctor clarified.
"How do you know that?"
"He speaks baby." Danni told him as she stood up, bouncing the baby on her hip, "I think he's just hungry. When did you last feed him?" Craig shrugged as he sat down and the Doctor stood up, absentmindedly typing on a baby toy then picking up a large pepper grinder, grinding pepper all over the floor.
"Of course you do! I don't even know when his nappy needs changing. I'm the one supposed to be his dad." He rubbed his eyes, exhausted.
"Oh, yeah. He's wondering where his mum is?" He began massaging Craig's shoulders, chopping at them at one point, "Where is Sophie?"
"Gone away with Melina for the weekend. Needs a rest." The Doctor looked over at Alfie, who was gurgling again while playing with some of Danni's hair.
"No, he's your dad, you can't just call him 'Not-Mum'." He admonished.
"Not-Mum?" Craig repeated, confused.
"That's you. Also, 'Not Mum', that's me. Danni is 'Almost-Mum' due to her amazing hugs," He moved to Danni, wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek, "I agree with you there Stormageddon. And everybody else is..." He leant closer to Alfie's head so he could hear him, "'peasants.' That's a bit unfortunate." He tickled the top of Alfie's head then kissed Danni again. Craig, fed up of the nonsense he was spouting and the fact they were doing better with his son than he was, sat up straight.
"What are you here for? What's happening?" Did they have to huddle together like that anyway? It made them look like a little family and he was supposed to be looking after Alfie on his own.
"We just popped in to say hello." The Doctor let go of Danni, walking around the table and picking up a piece of chalk. He placed it against his tongue, about to eat it but the look Danni shot him had him putting it back where it was.
"I checked down stairs when I moved in. And next door, both sides, they're humans. Is it the fridge? Are there aliens in my fridge?" Craig asked, panicking slightly. Aliens didn't live in fridges, did they?
"We just wanted to see you, Craig! Cross my hearts." He used each hand to cross a heart, "Danni needed cheering up and I'm on a bit of a farewell tour. One last thing, popping in to see you, then we're off to the Alignment of Exedor." Well, they would be if Danni didn't shoot away again.
"The Alignment of Exedor?" Craig had to ask, intrigued.
"17 galaxies in perfect unison. Meant to be spectacular, we can't miss it. Literally can't. It's locked in a time stasis field, I get one crack at flying my TARDIS straight into it, if I get my dates right." He picked up a newspaper, "Which I have." He threw it back on the table.
"Sounds nice." Craig commented as if he understood what the Doctor had said. Something caught the Doctor's eye and he picked up the newspaper again, flicking through the pages.
"So this is me popping in and popping out again. Just being social, just having a laugh." He placed the newspaper down again slowly, "Never mind that."
"Never mind what?" The Doctor walked towards the patio doors on the other side of the kitchen.
"Hmm...Nothing." Craig stood up.
"No, you noticed something." Craig stated.
"You've got your noticing face on." Danni added and Craig pointed at her, nodding.
"I have nightmares about that face." He exclaimed and Danni nodded.
"We all do." She reassured him as the Doctor continued to pace around the room, covering his face with his hand and spinning on the spot, looking like he was almost in pain forcing himself not to notice.
"Nope, given up all that, done with noticing things." The lights flickered and he pointed at the one above the table, "Didn't even notice that, for example. Got to go. Good seeing you, Craig." He reached over the table and shook his hand, "Goodbye, Stormageddon." He air-kissed Alfie's cheeks and left, ignoring the fact that Danni was still holding the baby.
"No, no, wait, wait, could you do the shushing thing? Shhh." He begged.
"No, it only works once, and only on life forms with underdeveloped brains." He clapped Craig on the arm and turned to leave.
"Hang on, you said farewell tour? What do you mean, farewell?"
"Ssh..." He interrupted Craig and the man blinked as he found himself unable to speak, "Danni-Girl, come on. Give back the baby, we'll get you another one later." Danni rolled her eyes with a sigh and handed Alfie to Craig, kissing them both on the cheek.
"Give Sophie our love." She followed him out onto the street, closing the front door behind her.
"Just go. Stop noticing. Just go! Stop noticing! Just go. Stop noticing. Just go." He chanted to himself as the street lamps flickered. He spun to glare at one, "Stop it!" he scolded it, "Am I noticing? No, no I am not." He turned back to the TARDIS and began walking away, pulling out his screwdriver, "And what I am not doing is scanning for electrical fluctuations." He scanned the area and then read the results, "Oh, shut up, you! I'm just dropping in on a friend, the last thing I need right now is a patina of teleport energy, I'm going." He stood with his nose almost touching the door, "Going! Not staying. Going. I am through saving them." He muttered through gritted teeth, trying to convince himself to leave. He rested his forehead on the door, squeezing his eyes closed, "I'm going away now." He didn't move and Danni approached him slowly.
"Did I ever tell you just how much I love that jacket?" She asked him quietly. He turned and leant against the door, looking at her sadly. The forced sleep hadn't really given her any rest, she still looked as pale and exhausted as she had when she had landed. He had just wanted to take her somewhere calm and peaceful; he didn't want to have to notice things and save the day. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning on his chest as she closed her eyes, listening to his hearts beating in time with the noise in her head.
"I'll wear it more often then." He promised, burying his nose in her hair.
"You'll never be done saving us, you know?" She pointed out, looking up at him and he smiled down at her, kissing her on the forehead. She pushed up on her tiptoes, kissing him on the lips. He deepened the kiss, holding her tightly as if she was going to disappear again and when she moved away she played with the lapel on the jacket.
"I do love this jacket," she started with a smirk, "But I think it'd look better on your bedroom floor, don't you?" She bit her bottom lip suggestively and he grabbed her hand, dragging her into the TARDIS.
If he was going to save the Earth again, he was going to spend every last moment beforehand exploring the one good side effect of that horrific noise in her head.