The Doctor came back to himself with a start, shaking his head to clear his mind. Dayle was crouched in front of him looking concerned.
"Jeeeez. You had me scared to death. How do you feel? This must be from the head trauma. Follow my finger with your eyes." She held a finger up and moved it back and forth in front of him.
"Dayle, Dayle it's ok. I'm fine. Listen...we've made contact!" He beamed and jumped up full of nervous energy. He wrung his hands together with excitement. "Right! I need to figure out what exactly the link is between Miz Dayle A and myself because this level of psionic energy is nearly unheard of."
He rushed back to the library, leaving Dayle crouched in front of the jump seat, finger still held up to administer the neuro exam, blinking dumbly. "I'm so done." She muttered.
The Doctor perused the shelves, searching for the title he needed. "Where are you... There!" He reached and plucked the dusty tome from a high shelf. He rifled through the pages and came to a chapter discussing psionic energy. He read and snapped the book shut, shaking his head, still not satisfied. "For a human to be able to focus that amount of concentrated psychic energy straight through to another universe..." he fidgeted with his lower lip.
Dayle joined him in the library. "Holy crap Doc. Leave a trail of bread crumbs next time. How big IS this place anyway?"
He continued talking, as if Dayle had heard the beginning of his thought process. "I don't believe even a time lord would have that ability naturally. The only species that would even attempt such a... NO." He smacked himself on the forehead. "Stupid! It's been staring me in the face this whole time. Tregannon. Tregannon technology. The ship in the Malum system. It was a hologram projected by the Tregannon."
Dayle sat in a plush velvet reading chair, clearly amused by his hyper display.
He paced and wrung his hands. "But why? Why did they send me to this universe? Where does Dayle fit in to all this?"
"Unless..." His eyes grew wide and he looked at Dayle. "The last time I encountered this species- the Tregannon- the trouble all started because the little troll was trying to locate his Focusing Amplifier. Just a round bit of ferrous metal, something like a rock. But it is the cornerstone of Tregannon technology. It allows them to boost Psionic energy over a tremendous distance. In that case, the Focusing Amplifier ended up in a museum in Athens before it was recovered by one of the Tregannon's associates. But the creature, Sancreda had a connection with that amplifier even from England."
Dayle leaned forward in her chair, perplexed. "So you think one of these Focusing Whatsits is the connection? You think Dayle A somehow came in contact with one somewhere?"
"No, what I'm saying is far worse than that. I'm saying she has it in her possession and is not aware of it. I'm saying that one of the Tregannon wants it back and plans to go to Earth to retrieve it. I'm saying that Dayle A and the whole of planet Earth may be in a great deal of trouble."
"But like, just the Earth in your universe, right? I mean..." He gave her a withering look. "Okay. Okay. Not helping, I know."
"I have to get back immediately. They must have sprung that trap to get me out of the way. The only way they could get to me in my TARDIS. The only way they could assure I wouldn't regenerate."
"But wait a second? Why you? What makes you so special?"
The Doctor looked at her like she was a moron. Then, realized that she truly couldn't know.
"Well, you see" he began, straightening his bow tie. "The Earth is under my protection. And that is a known fact throughout the cosmos." he bragged.
Dayle smirked. "Seriously? You? With the bow tie. In a phone booth. With all your flailing and fidgeting. YOU are feared by every species in the galaxy? What, do you have an arsenal of weapons here you haven't mentioned? Laser beams that come out of your eyes?"
He sensed she was just trying to take him down a notch but he rose to the bait anyway. "Hey! I have beaten Daleks! I have beaten Cybermen! The Nestenes, the Zygons, the Sontarans. I'll have you know I've turned whole armies around at the mention of my name. In some parts of the galaxy, they call me the oncoming storm..." He saw that she was doubled over laughing and he threw his hands up helplessly.
"No, I don't have an arsenal of weapons. No I don't have laser eyes. I'm 1100 years old. I'm a Time Lord and I'm bloody brilliant, alright?"
Dayle wiped away tears from her laughing fit, hopped up from her chair and patted him on the back. "Whatever you say, Oncoming Storm. Let's get dinner while we're figuring out how to save Earth A. I'm starving." She looked him up and down. "Maybe you should change your clothes. You're looking a bit raggedy."
"Well, what do you need to borrow that skirt for?" Savannah groaned "Oh, don't tell me you have a date. Not with that Shawn again." She was looking at her mother disapprovingly.
They were in the basement bedroom Savannah shared with her boyfriend Michael. The home belonged to Michael's parents who were apparently both raging alcoholics and fought constantly. They were thankfully out of town visiting family.
Dayle was standing in front of a full length mirror, turning this way and that, trying to decide how she looked in the skirt. "I don't know. I just feel like looking cute. I've been concentrating on work and saving money. I really don't have anything nice to wear." She shrugged. "And no. I'm not messing with Shawn anymore. I got my room in Kirkmore for the week. It's about time I stand on my own two feet, don't you think?" She adjusted the skirt and peered at her reflection. She kinda liked what she saw.
Savanna watched her mother curiously. "Are you ok mom? You seem... different."
Dayle looked up and caught her daughter's eyes in the reflection.
Dayle smiled at her. "I'm good Vannah. Real good."
"Wait just a minute." Savannah narrowed her eyes and plunked down on the bed nearby. "You have met someone. Who is he? Is he someone from one of your meetings?"
Dayle tried to keep her face impassive but she'd never been good at hiding her feelings from Savannah. "I've made a... friend, yes. But it's nothing like that. We just talk, I swear."
"But you like him." Savannah insisted, obviously enjoying the blush creeping up her mother's neck. "You think he's hot. I can tell! And you want to look cute for him!" She laughed and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Dayle retrieved a shoe from the floor at her feet and threw it at her daughter. "Quit making fun of your mother. Damn you." She couldn't help but join in the laughter. She fell onto the bed and they lay there together, laughing like kids.
They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying being together. It was getting easier between them the longer Dayle stayed sober.
Savannah had swung by the motel in Michael's beat up old pickup truck and picked her up after dropping him off at work for the night shift. She had called first wanting to check on her mom after the incident at the library. Dayle was glad for the distraction and was delighted at the idea of coming to see where her daughter was living. She'd never been invited before now.
She didn't mention to Savannah that River had showed up at her motel only 2 hours before. And she sure as hell wasn't telling her about the Doctor.
Savannah turned onto her side, propped her head up with her hand. "Can I do a makeover on you? I could do you hair and nails, fix you up with a cute outfit. The whole nine." She tugged one of her mom's curls playfullly.
Dayle mirrored her daughter's pose. "I don't know Vannah. Sounds like some real Oprah bullshit to me." she taunted. Her smile said she felt otherwise.
Savanna cracked up at that. "Oh mom. Come on. It will be fun. And Mr. Wonderful won't be able to resist..." She was silenced when her mother hit her upside the head with a pillow.
They stayed up late into the night. Dayle didn't need to be at work until 2:00 pm the next afternoon. By the time Savannah dropped her back at her room in Kirkmore, Dayle was exhausted but she felt better than she had in a long time. She longed for nights like this with her daughter. Before she'd started using, it was a regular thing for them.
Dayle dumped her things on the chair and fell onto the motel bed fully clothed. She was fast asleep on top of the covers within minutes.