Death in Heaven: Resurrection

As Danny's face grew blank, the inhibitor blocking his emotions, Angel pulled her hand away from him, the golden glow fading with the move. It was the kindest way to do this, she felt. Hitting switches or using the sonic would only serve to make the transition painful. The Vortex was intuitive, in a way, she just wanted to stop his pain, not prolong it, not exacerbate it before it went away.

"Mum?" Tailor called, the Doctor reaching out to tug her back, their eyes on Danny as he continued to stand there.

Clara sniffled and stepped up to him, "I wasn't very good at it..." she began, saying something she'd wanted to say to him before but hadn't, because she knew it would just pain him even more. Now…maybe he could hear her and know without her hurting him again, "But I did love you. I'm never going to say that again," she looked at his face, but there was nothing, not even a spark in his eye, "Goodbye, Danny."

Tailor moved over to Clara as she began to tremble, breaking down in sobs and gathered her into a tight hug.

Angel let out a long breath, gripping the Doctor's hand tightly, hoping what she felt was genuine and not just wishful thinking. She liked to believe she had those sorted, could tell the difference, but with so much happening right now, even she was starting to doubt.

'What is it you always say?' the Doctor spoke in her mind, 'Have faith, Nella. I trust you. Trust yourself.'

She took a breath and nodded, lifting his hand to kiss his scarred knuckles.

Tailor moved her arm around Clara's shoulder as they turned to face her parents, "Dad…I think it's the rain," she told him, "It fell here and the Cybers rose…"

He nodded, "It's the clouds. The rain is going to fall and pollinate the ground, hatching Cybers everywhere. They'll be activated," he rubbed his head, "Attack everyone, and when they die…"

"The rain brings them back as Cybers."

"Correct," Danny spoke, his voice hollow.

The Doctor looked over at him, startled, as they hadn't directed the questions at him nor had they expected him to answer even now that he was a Cyberman, "How do we stop it?" he tested, starting to feel that hope that always grew inside him whenever Angel's sensations began to play out and prove itself right.

"We cannot be stopped."

Clara flinched at that word, 'we,' like he wasn't just Danny anymore.

There was a whooshing noise and a beam of blue light shot down from the sky, revealing Missy floating down to them by an open umbrella, which made Tailor roll her eyes at how Mary Poppins it was.

"Oh, that was BRILLIANT!" Missy cheered, hopping to the ground, "I love the telly here, but did you see THAT? Oh, Clara, you poor thing, you must feel like death. Let me pop away the pain," she began to type a few codes into a device in her hand, only for it to spark with a flash of gold, singing her hand till she dropped it. She looked at Angel, who had snapped the energy into existence, and pouted, "That wasn't very nice."

"Don't you dare," Angel warned her.

"Don't you even think about it!" the Doctor agreed, glaring at the woman.

"Oh, sorry, hon, I'm just getting a bit carried away," Missy teased, "It's your friends, they're so more-ish. Hmm?"

Tailor watched Clara closely as the woman pulled away from her and moved closer to Danny, catching sight of the device on the ground near her foot and picked it up. She threw a look to her parents and gripped it tightly so Missy couldn't take it again.

"Oh, stop looking all cross-pants," Missy huffed, "I'm here to give you a gift. Could you at least try and be excited?"

"What gift?" the Doctor nearly sneered at her, not wanting anything the woman would ever think to give him.

Missy merely lifted her bracelet to her lips, "Cyberdears!" she called, and all the Cybermen in the cemetery moved to salute, their hand over their chest.

The Doctor kept his gaze on Missy…even as Angel saw something and sent the image to him…of one particular Cyberman NOT following orders but remaining stationary.

"Look at Mummy!" Missy called, and they turned in her direction, "Raise your arms," they did so, following and obeying every command, "Lower your arms. Raise your right. Lower your right. Turn on the spot. There are exits at the front and rear of the aircraft. Please follow the lights up the aisle," she laughed, "You see, Doctor? The power to slaughter whole worlds at a time, then make them do a safety briefing. Everyone who ever lived, man, woman, and child, is now at my command. An indestructible army to rage across the universe. The more they kill, the more they recruit. And you see! It's not even JUST a gift for you!" she looked at Angel, a taunting glint in her eye, "I did this, all of this, for YOU!" she looked between the grim Time Lords, "Don't you see? Look around you, we're surrounded by death but from it I've brought life back! All those itty bitty people you thrive on saving, all those souls all over time, it's high time life owed YOU isn't it?" she rolled her eyes when Angel just shook her head, "Fine, if you won't enjoy it…" she pulled her bracelet off and tossed it to the Doctor, "Happy birthday," before she chuckled at his confused expression, "Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things. Frankly, I'm startled to death your beloved Mate didn't," she taunted, "Well go on," she nodded at the bracelet, "They're all yours, Doctor."

"Dad?" Tailor frowned, seeing the Cybers turning to face HIM now.

"Doctor," the robots bowed their head, acknowledging him as their new leader.

"Tiny bit pleased?" Missy asked, but he just looked between them and back at her, "Oh, go on, crack a smile. I want to see if your eyebrows drop off."

"All of this..." he shook his head, "All of it, just to give me an army?"

WHY would his greatest enemy…well, the greatest of his own species, give HIM an army? It felt like every memory he had was of the Master trying to destroy him, to take away every advantage, to hurt him in all the sharpest ways…why do this?

"Well, I don't need one, do I?" she reasoned, "Armies are for people who think they're right. And nobody thinks they're righter than you!"

Tailor opened her mouth to defend her father, to say he usually WAS right in the end, and if he wasn't he learned from it, but her mother caught her eye, giving her a subtle shake of the head, and so she fell silent. She knew, just by the look in Angel's eye that her mother didn't want her to say too much, not with Missy there. The woman was clearly dangerous, and the less attention drawn to her, the better.

"Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill," Missy smirked.

"I don't want an army," the Doctor glared at her.

The last time he'd gotten one together…his Mate had been captured and his daughter stolen from them. He had been ready to gather them to tear Demon's Run apart…but they had already joined forces, in Angel's name, to save her, and to not harm those who hadn't harmed her. She had saved him, even then.

With that thought in mind, he handed the bracelet to her.

To anyone else, it would look like he was just giving it to her to hold onto, because he didn't want it. It wasn't a big show, there wasn't a whole production, it was just a simple hand over…nothing Missy would think too much of.

She always did miss the obvious.

"Well, that's the trouble!" Missy huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "Yes, you do! You've always wanted one! All those people suffering in the Dalek camps? Now you can save them. All those bad guys winning all the wars? Go and get the good guys back."

"No one should have that power," Angel spoke, clutching the bracelet in her hands, shaking her head at Missy.

"HE will," Missy insisted, "Because he won't have a choice," she turned her attention back to the Doctor, "There's only way you can stop these clouds from opening up and killing all your little pets down here. Conquer the universe, Doctor. Show a bad girl how it's done."

The Doctor just eyed her like she'd finally gone completely mad when she gave him a deep curtsy, "Why are you doing this?"

Missy smirked, glancing between him and Angel, to Tailor and back, "You couldn't protect them, could you?" she went right for the kill, enjoying how he tensed, "Not from Kovarian, not from the Paradox Machine, not from ME."

As Missy spoke, none of them saw a flicker in Danny's eye as it twitched to look at the Time Lords, nor the slight frown that grew on his face.

"You couldn't save you precious Mate from me. So…" she gestured around, "Have an army. Try it now," she laughed, "I always did love a challenge. I used to think that all I wanted was my friend back. But you're not him anymore, you've changed, SHE's changed you, being HER Mate," she frowned at Angel, "We're going to war, Doctor, again and again, all over the universe, just like good old times. Or…" she paused, mock-considerate, "Maybe that's just it. It's not just about OUR battles. There are others, all over space and time. With my little gift…every battle, every war, every invasion, YOU could decide the outcome."

The Doctor stiffened at that, catching sight to Missy's underlying plan. If he did that, if he took that army and used it the way Missy wanted…to brutalize and beat down sides HE felt were wrong…he'd be worse than her. She didn't want to hurt just HIM…she didn't want to just defeat him in battle. She wanted him to destroy himself, and his family with him.

If he took this Army, it would change him, who he was, the man Angel fell in love with at his deepest core. He would turn into something dark and cold and cruel. It would break Angel's hearts. Missy didn't just want HIM broken, she wanted Angel shattered too.

Because this army was the dead brought to life, to taunt her and torment her forever. To have her surrounded by death warped and twisted into a mockery of life? It would kill her.

Angel had a power, yes, not the Vortex, not just that, a light within her that was just HER, that changed people around her. Made them better. She made him better, healed him. She gave confidence and comfort, gave people faith and determination…it had even started to affect the Master. He'd seen it. On the Valiant, with Japan, just because she'd asked him not to. At the Gate, when Rassilon had called her an abomination, he'd seen it in the Master's face, empathy.

The last thing the Master would ever want is to change, not like that. Because he wouldn't be able to do nearly as much as he wanted or ignore how bad he felt, if Angel made him better.

Missy wanted them both destroyed and twisted.

She would know how to beat his army, she created it. And she would know how to destroy Angel without even laying a finger on her. This wasn't about giving an advantage, this was about taking his advantages away, just like always.

"What's the matter?" Missy smirked, seeing emotions spread across his face and misinterpreting them, "Don't you trust yourself?"

The Doctor was silent, unable to help thinking about how could he trust himself with anything, when he didn't even really know what sort of man he even was? When they had tried to help Rusty, he'd asked if he was a good man. But then he thought of Danny's reaction to meeting him, treating him like an officer to be despised. How Angel had had to connect to Rusty instead of him, because he hated the species too much. He insisted he wasn't a hero to Robin Hood but…if he wasn't a hero, defined as a good man who stops evil…then what was he?

"He doesn't need to," Angel spoke, reaching out to lightly touch his arm, seeing how chaotic his thoughts had grown, and not about to let them spiral more, "Because I do."

"And me," Tailor nodded, stepping up, though very strategically, blocking view of Clara as she hugged Danny, having noticed that Cyber not reacting as the others had, but allowing the hug…and not wanting Missy to see it, "No one can beat my dad on even his worst day. He doesn't need an army to win."

The Doctor smiled at her words, looking at his girls, their faith in him, and then over to Clara and Danny, and nodded to himself, "I really didn't know," he murmured, turning to face Angel, "I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes."

"Good thing I can SEE things you can't," Angel teased.

He beamed, laughing, "I am NOT a good man!" he cheered, pointing at a very confused Missy, who looked for all the world like her plan had just gotten flipped on its head, "And I'm not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a villain. And, no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I...am..." he pointed at Tailor who could only shake her head, not following the direction he had suddenly decided to take this in, "An idiot!" he laughed, "With a box and a screwdriver. Passing through with my daughter, helping out with my Mate, learning with my companions. You're right, sweetheart," he smiled at Tailor, "I don't need an army, I never have, because I've got all of you," he turned to face Missy, "Because love, it's not an emotion, love is a promise."

Angel looked over, Tailor jumping back when Danny moved out of nowhere, startling her, to put one of his arms around Clara, resting his hand on her back as she continued to hug him. She smiled at the sight, knowing she had been right, relieved she'd been right. She fiddled with the bracelet a moment, looking down at it and then to Danny, before closing her eyes and gripping it tightly, her hands glowing faintly as she focused.

"And HE will NEVER hurt her!" the Doctor exclaimed, his hearts racing because he KNEW, he knew now and…it wasn't as terrible as he thought it would be. It…it felt wonderful, reassuring, and he felt proud…of Danny Pink. He turned, approaching Angel as she stood with her eyes shut, reaching down to lightly touch her hand. She opened them and smiled, offering him the bracelet. He spun on his heel, calling out, "Maths, catch!" and tossed Danny the bracelet, which he caught with his left hand, even now unwilling to let go of Clara. The Doctor nodded at that, "You didn't notice, did you?" he turned to Missy, "While you were doing all your silly orders, while you were showing off? The one soldier not obeying."

"It's like the guard being one inch too tall," Tailor laughed, moving to her mother's side, recalling that story. How her parents were saved by cacti because the Master hadn't noticed one of them had taken a guard's place.

The Doctor snapped his finger and pointed at her.

"No," Missy frowned, shaking her head at Danny, gaping at him, truly startled, "That's wrong, that's impossible!"

"Nothing's ever impossible," Angel remarked as Danny lowered his hand and stepped away from Clara, "Just a bit unlikely," she held out a hand to Clara for the girl to come over, moving her between her and Tailor, to keep an eye on her as Danny slipped the bracelet on.

"The rain will not fall," Danny stated, turning to face Missy.

"Oh?" she asked, blinking rapidly, "Why won't it?"

"The clouds will burn."

"And who'll burn them?"

"I will burn them."

"How?"

"I will burn."

"One burning Cyberman is hardly going to save the planet."

"Correct," Danny turned on his heel and lifted his arm, speaking into the bracelet, "Attention!" and all the Cybers around him moved right to attention, "This is not a good day. This is Earth's darkest hour. And look at you miserable lot! We are the fallen. But today, we shall rise. The army of the dead will save the land of the living. This is not the order of a general...nor the whim of a lunatic."

"Excuse me?!" Missy huffed.

But Danny continued, "This is a promise! The promise of a soldier!" he fell silent a moment, turning to look at Clara, held by her family, and nodded to her, "You will sleep safe tonight."

The Doctor looked at Danny, lifting his chin to give the man a firm nod, understanding. This was both the soldier in him, needing to protect innocent life, and the man, who loved Clara so much he would do anything to keep her safe. He could relate very much.

Danny lifted the bracelet above his head, stomping his feet to activate the rockets, the other Cybers doing the same, all of them taking off into the sky.

"Clara," Angel murmured beside her, "Close your eyes."

Clara didn't hesitate to do so, missing the fiery explosion that went off above them moments later, the clouds being burned away by Cybermen all over the world flying up to save the humans.

"It's over," Tailor rubbed Clara's back as the clouds dispersed, allowing sunlight and blue skies to shine down on them.

"He did it," Clara swallowed hard, "He save me."

She knew that had been his biggest fear, the reason he couldn't handle travelling with her and the Time Lords. He was terrified he wouldn't be able to save her, that she'd get hurt and he couldn't prevent it.

In the end…he had.

"10-0-11-00 by 02," Missy spoke.

"What do the coordinates for Gallifrey have to do with anything?" Tailor frowned at the woman. Clara was having a moment, she needed peace, and Missy was bringing up not just a sore spot for her family, but interrupting Clara's grief.

"It's returned to its original location," Missy told them, "Didn't you ever think to look?"

"You are lying!" the Doctor snapped at her, in no mood for more of her games after the hell she'd put them all through.

"We can...we can go together. All of us."

"You'd be clapped in irons."

"If you like."

Clara, though, shook her head, "If you know the coordinates, you don't need her to remind you," she turned, pulling the device from Tailor's hands and aiming it at Missy.

"Clara…" Angel reached out, gently pushing her arm down, "This is not on you."

Clara looked at them, heartbroken, "If she lives…everything that happened today, is on you. All of it, on YOU."

"No, Clara," Angel shook her head, "It's not on YOU."

Clara seemed confused…when a bolt of light flew past them, colliding with Missy who disappeared in a flash.

They looked over their shoulders to see Captain Jack racing towards them through the cemetery, his weapon in hand. He skid to a stop as soon as he was near enough, and immediately hunched over, his hands on his knees, panting.

"Hell of a run," he gasped for air, "I took the brunt of the fall for Ahmed, landed two miles away!" he took another few breaths and straightened, "Thought I was in better shape than that."

"Uncle Jack!" Tailor cried out, throwing her arms around him to hug him tightly.

"Hey there, Beautiful," Jack squeezed her tightly, "You ok?" he looked at them as he set her down, "What happened?"

"Danny Pink saved the world," the Doctor said, putting a hand on Clara's shoulder as she sniffled.

"I'm so sorry, Clara," Jack moved to hug her too, "He was a good guy."

He had spoken to the man only twice, had been told by Sarah Jane she'd given his number to a potential Companion of Angel's and might get a call from him later. He had and they'd talked, he'd even put the team on speakerphone so they could all reminisce. The second time had been after the trees appeared and vanished. It was something the whole family did, call each other to check that each was ok. He'd called up Danny, checking in on the man. Danny had seemed really startled he'd done so, even more that Donna, Martha, and Sarah Jane had also called him too.

Danny hadn't said much during those calls, asked more questions than anything, but he got the sense, from the questions asked, that he was truly a good person. Well, he'd have to be for Angel to want him as her Companion and the Doctor to agree to it.

Clara sniffled, "He was," she murmured, stepping back, half-hugging herself, trembling.

"So is he," Angel remarked, something she never thought she'd say in regards to a Cyber, nodding past them, to where a lone Cyberman was standing down the row of tombstones, looking at them. Jack immediately lifted his gun to fire, but the Cyber just gestured to the side and turned to walk away.

"This a trap?" Jack asked, tense.

"I don't think it is," the Doctor answered, recalling Angel's word that this Cyber was 'a good man' too. He glanced at the group before moving to follow the Cyber. They made it to the end of the row when MK9, who had trundled ahead to be safe, located something out of the ordinary.

"Mistress!" the robotic dog called, "Scanners indicate human!"

"Look!" Clara gasped, rushing over between two gravestones MK9 got caught between to see Kate lying there, unconscious, but clearly breathing.

"Kate!" Jack called, moving to touch her neck, "Got a pulse!"

"She's alive!" the Doctor breathed.

"Affirmative," MK9 agreed scanning her.

"Missy managed to throw her out a plane," Angel explained to Clara and Tailor, both seeming a little confused as to why she was there or how she got there. It was clear Jack had managed to grab Ahmed in the fall, had landed in a way where the other man survived, but he hadn't said anything about Kate.

"The Cyberman..." Tailor realized, standing and trying to look around, "He must have caught her!"

Clara, the closest to Kate's head, leaned in, hearing her mumbling something, "She's talking about her dad!"

The Doctor's eyes widened, "Of course!" he hurried to Tailor's side right as she caught sight of it, standing across the cemetery. He smiled at the metal man, "The Earth's darkest hour. Where else would you be?" he moved his hand to his head, offering the Cyber a salute, smiling when Tailor did the same from beside him.

The Cyber bowed its head, then stomped its feet to take off into the sky.

"Thank you," the Doctor murmured to the man, before turning to look at his daughter, sister, Mate, and friends, Angel leaning over Kate and healing the smaller injuries she sustained in her fall, "All of you," he added, knowing this could have gone so much worse if he hadn't had his family around him.

~8~

Two Weeks Later…

Clara couldn't seem to get comfortable as she tried to sleep. She'd been on edge all day, had woken up at midnight and stayed awake straight through to the evening, to the night. She couldn't help it.

She'd been an absolute wreck after Danny saved the world, but she'd also just…needed a moment alone, without the Time Lords or the family around. Not that it had stopped any of them sending her cards and food and calls. She just…she needed time to work out what her life was going to be like, without Danny there. She needed time to sort herself out.

Angel had given her a tight hug and told her that they would check in in two weeks, unless they 'heard from you three' earlier.

It had, quite simply, made her heart stop.

Because Angel knew very well what she'd said, 'three,' and had smiled that smile she always gave when she was trying to hint at something but not wanting to give too much away because she 'could' be wrong.

She may or may not have bought out her nearest pharmacy of pregnancy tests.

And when they came back negative…there was only one other person Angel could have been talking about.

Today was two weeks since she lost Danny.

She had waited, all day, to see if anything would happen and even when her hope began to fade and she made herself go to bed…part of her refused to believe Angel was wrong about this. Part of her just couldn't settle till the day was well and truly over.

She had just turned on her side, before sitting up, ready to just…sit there and wait…

When a voice whispered in the dark, "…Clara…"

"Danny?" she looked around, gasping so sharply she nearly choked but refused to cough.

"Clara…"

She scrambled out of bed, hearing the voice, stronger now, coming from the hall. She nearly ran out of her bedroom to it, looking around, "Danny? Is that you?" she spun around when a light began to shine behind her, at the end of her hall, the wall seeming to turn into just a giant square of light, "Please say it's you."

She watched in awe as a shadow appeared in the middle of the light, in the shape of a man, and her hands came up to cover her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Clara," Danny's voice whispered.

"The Doctor told me about the bracelet," Clara spoke, "How it can let Missy travel from one world to the other."

It was another reason why she refused to believe that Angel was wrong. Danny HAD the bracelet.

"This place is dying now," Danny told her.

"Yes, but the bracelet can bring you home."

"There should only be enough power for one trip…"

"No!" Clara cut in, "No! There's not! Please, Danny, please trust me on this. Come on. Hurry up! Come through."

"Clara…"

"No!" she snapped, "I know it's all a mess, Danny. I know. But Angel…she had to have known, even then. She had to have seen this. SHE had the bracelet. She had to have done something to it. Given it more power, she said 'you three' to me, please, whoever's with you, you can BOTH come through!" she sniffled, "Please Danny, one last time, trust me."

She watched the shadow, saw something ripple behind it, before it grew larger, walking nearer to the wall…

Until it shimmered, and a young Middle-Eastern boy stepped through.

She nearly broke down in sobs…until she noticed a hand on the boy's shoulder, another person following him out moments before the glowing of the wall disappeared.

"Danny!" she gasped, rushing at him, throwing herself into his arms as the boy skittered to the side, Danny looking truly stunned that it worked, "I knew it," she wept into his neck, "I knew it! I knew she'd save you when I couldn't!"

Danny blinked at her words, something about them striking him as his arms wrapped around her just as tight, "Clara…" his voice cracked, burying his face into her neck, just…beyond…overwhelmed…with everything.

He was back.

He was alive.

He was back with Clara, exactly where he belonged.

He took a breath, opening his eyes to look up, to thank god for the miracle that happened just now…when he caught sight of the boy, looking around in wonder and shock, "We um…" he squeezed Clara again, tugging her back just a little, "We need to find his parents," he said, and Clara looked back as though just realizing the boy was there, "He died a long time ago. I promised him it would be ok."

Clara looked over at the boy, and let out a tiny laugh, "I think I know someone we can call to help with that."

And, despite all that happened, despite who she was talking about, Danny laughed.

~8~

Clara and Danny sat at a table in a café, the young boy he'd saved sitting at a single table a few feet away, not feeling comfortable around Danny, even less so after all that had happened. He was in shock, scared, and very lost, with two people who didn't speak his language and who he couldn't understand either. He just wanted to go home, they had been able to communicate that to him, with help from a translation website. That they were going to call someone to take him home to his family.

That was probably the only reason he had gone with them, it was one step closer to home.

The table the two of them had ended up at was only big enough for four. They'd asked for one for 6, but the boy shook his head and dashed off to a single seat one, which left them with a four person one. They sat on one side, hands clasped, having been unable to let go of each other since he'd come through. They had talked long into the night, and she was dead tired now running on such little sleep, but they needed to confirm it was him, it wasn't just a dream on her end or a hallucination. And then they needed to come up with an explanation for how he was back since there had been so many reports that he had died.

They really did need to have this meeting with the Time Lords for more reason than asking for a lift and saying thank you.

They worked out that it could have been an error at the hospital. A computer glitch that had him labeled as dead when he was actually in a coma. Notifications had been sent out, and he'd been taken to a funeral home. And when the process started, as soon as he was cut, he'd jerked awake, his pain response too strong, and had scared the living daylights out of the director of the home.

He'd refused to go back to the hospital after what happened and made his way to a friend, a Doctor, to help care for him till he was mended, and then he found his way to Clara. They would go to the hospital after speaking with the Time Lords, show them Danny alive and HOW did they get it wrong and, with some tech help from the TARDIS, make it clear it was a glitch and get that cleared up.

Honestly, Clara was just so beyond happy she would have been perfectly fine if Danny had wanted to go somewhere else and start a new life, she'd have packed up and gone with him, thrilled he was alive to do so.

He had smiled and had this…look about him, this sort of calm and reassurance he hadn't had before, and said he didn't want to leave. He met her here, their relationship started here, their kids were here, their lives, and he'd rather see where his life with her went before he went anywhere else. He'd tried to joke that his last 'move' hadn't gone so well.

She'd burst into tears and he'd had to hold her for hours on end, but they were content.

They looked over when the bell over the door rang, the Doctor, Angel, and Tailor stepping in.

"Mr. Pink!" Angel beamed, pleased…but also unsurprised…to see him. She opened her arms and Danny was already on his feet, giving her a tight hug, to the amusement and surprise of Clara and the Doctor to see that reaction out of him. Tailor just chuckled and shook her head, half expecting it. It had been the extra boost from her mother that allowed him to pass through back to this world after all.

"Doctor," Danny greeted, a small smile on his face as he held out a hand to the man.

The Doctor blinked, a little stunned, till Tailor elbowed him into shaking the hand back, "Maths."

Tailor swatted their hands away, "You're back, Mrs. Pink!" she cheered, giving him a faster and smaller hug than her mother had, but she really wanted to hug her aunt even more.

"Thank you," Danny looked at the three of them, "All of you. Everything…" he couldn't seem to find the words.

"You as well," the Doctor replied, moving to take a seat after he held the chair out for Angel to sit down, the Time Lady immediately picking up the menu to look at the food. He looked around, about to steal a chair from another table for Tailor when she shook her head.

"I have an errand to run," Tailor told him, "And you have a lot to talk about, I think," she glanced at them, before looking across the room at the young boy, "I think someone should be brought home, not made to wait even longer."

"Tailor…" the Doctor began, shaking his head.

"It's fine, my love," Angel reached out to touch his arm, "It's a quick hop, and Sissy will make sure she doesn't get into mischief."

Tailor put a mock offended hand to her chest, "What sort of person do you think I am?" she asked her mother, "I'm not stealing the keys and going for a joyride like other teenagers."

The Doctor chuckled at that, nodding, his daughter was far more mature and when it came to the TARDIS, she was exceptionally careful. With a scared little boy there, she'd be even more sure to do exactly as she said, there and back, "Five minutes," he warned her, "Or I'm hunting down Jack, stealing his manipulator, and coming after you."

"Yeah, yeah," Tailor sighed, before leaning over to give him a peck on the cheek, "I'll be back," she smiled at them.

Clara was silent, watching as Tailor moved over to where the boy was sitting, not crowding him or taking the seat across from him, but kneeling down beside the table to look up at him, talking quietly to him in a language she couldn't understand but seemed familiar to Danny.

The boy beamed, nodding eagerly, and practically ran for the door with Tailor after him.

"I didn't know she spoke Dari," Danny murmured.

"More important," Clara turned to stare at the Doctor, "You DO realize you've just given her the keys to the car, right?"

The Doctor chuckled, "She flies the TARDIS better than me," he said easily, "Not quite as well as Angel, but…" he shrugged, "I don't think anyone could."

Angel shook her head at him, but smiled, turning to Clara and Danny, "We're very pleased you're back, Mr. Pink."

"Not more than me," Danny smiled.

"Please, NO one is more than me," Clara teased him…though her smile grew a little sad as she turned to the Time Lords, "Which…which is why I asked you to meet us here…I um…there's something that I have to tell you and, um...it's probably good Tailor hopped off for a moment. It's not good news so just listen, ok?"

The Doctor gave her a fond look, "Clara…we know."

"What?"

"We know exactly what you've got to tell us."

She took a breath, "You do?"

"Psychic," the Doctor nodded at Angel beside him.

"Thief," Angel countered, before sighing, "I may not know the exact words but…" she tried to find the words, "I know what I feel, what you feel."

"Clara…" Danny began, giving her a tiny frown, a little thrown off. As far as he knew, she'd called them there to ask them to take the boy home and help them with a certain computer glitch as well as thank them profusely. He was getting the sense something else was going on now.

"You and Danny are together now," the Doctor spoke, "That's great, that's how it should be," he looked between the two of them, "The old Time Lords and the blue box, that's never going to fit in. So, no more flying around, no more lying."

"Clara, you're not…" Danny shook his head at her, "I told you, you never had to stop."

"You died," Clara turned to him, "I lost you. And…I lied, about so much, hid so much from you. I don't want that again. I…don't want to lose any more time."

Danny fell silent, eyeing her a moment, feeling like there was more to her reasoning than she was letting on. But the way she was looking at him, the begging in her eyes, she didn't want to say more in front of the Time Lords, she didn't want to give more away to Angel. He could only nod and let it go for now.

Clara took a breath and looked back at them, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," the Doctor told her, "Clara, all you ever have to do is ask and we'd do anything for you."

"As we proved by going to hell," Angel teased her, trying to ease the tension.

Danny, though he felt Angel had too, noticed the slight way Clara tensed at the mention. There was something he wanted to talk to her about, but…just as she felt, right here and right now was not the right time for it.

"How are you?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah!" Clara latched on, "How's the search for Gallifrey? Have you found it?"

Their silence was all the answer needed to know that they had not.

That wasn't to say they hadn't looked everywhere.

"We entered the coordinates," Angel said gently, "But there was nothing there."

The Doctor swallowed hard, he was ashamed to say he lost his temper when they realized it. He may or may not have punched and hit the console till Angel managed to stop him, hugging him tightly as he broke down in her arms. It wasn't just needing to see it back, to know he'd done it, to know he really hadn't destroyed his home…it was his daughter. He had a daughter now, a child who had never and may never even SEE her planet beyond a rubbish barn she'd come to tell him about. A child he was raising in a TARDIS, which he knew she loved dearly, but it wasn't their planet. It wasn't their people. She'd never see that burnt orange sky or see the trees, breathe the air.

He wanted his planet back more for his daughter than anything.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Clara asked gently, reaching out to put a hand on the Doctor's arm.

"Keep looking," he shrugged, "Live in hope."

They looked out the window of the café, catching sight of something in the corner of their eye, the TARDIS fading in and out as it rematerialized across the street.

"Well," the Doctor took a deep breath, "We'd better be off," he began to stand, helping Angel up as Clara and Danny rose as well.

"Um, tell you what," Clara spoke before they turned to go, "Seeing as it's goodbye…"

"Till the holidays," Angel reminded her with a gentle smile, "We expect to see both of you there at the family gatherings," she pointed a mock-warning finger at them, making Danny smile and nod.

"Alright, since this is goodbye to traveling," Clara repeated, clearing her throat near the end, "Shall we break a habit?"

"What?" the Doctor frowned, "What habit?"

"Hug?" Clara asked, holding her arms out, "And I mean YOU, Doctor. Angel will hug anyone anytime for as long as they want. I can't say a proper goodbye without a hug from the Doctor."

The Doctor chuckled, "Why not?" he moved over to hug her, "You're on the clock, though."

Clara shook her head and put her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly as he wound his arms around her waist, "Why don't you like hugging, Doctor?" she whispered in his ear, "And don't say it's because I'm not Angel or Tailor. I'm your sister, I've earned the right to hugs all I like."

He sighed, knowing she'd catch there was more to it than that, "Never trust a hug...it's just a way to hide your face."

Clara sniffled, hiding her face in his neck for a moment, before taking a breath and pulling back.

"This isn't the end," Angel reassured, moving to hug Clara also, "We'll see you both again."

Clara nodded, wiping under her eyes, Danny moving to put his arm around her shoulders in comfort, before they all headed out of the café and to the TARDIS.

"Hey," Clara spoke just before they opened the door to join Tailor, "I just wanted to say…travelling with you made me feel really special. Thank you for that. Thank you for making me feel special."

"Thank you for exactly the same," the Doctor told her, an arm around Angel, before they headed in and shut the door.

Clara did her best to blink back her tears as she stood back with Danny, watching as the TARDIS faded away.

"Thank you for that, too," Danny murmured beside her.

Clara looked up at him, seeing him staring at her, and hugged him tight as a few more tears escaped her eyes.

~8~

It had been difficult to tell Tailor about Clara's decision, but the girl had seemed to work it out herself before they said anything. She'd just looked at them and asked why they thought she was so quick to want to leave the café, why she didn't step out as soon as she parked the TARDIS? It really didn't take a genius to work out what Clara was going to do now that Danny was back. The man didn't want to travel, and Clara wouldn't want to leave him this time around. She hadn't wanted to be there when they had to say goodbye.

She'd excused herself to go make some tea while they piloted the box off to a mystery tour, the three of them sitting with the tea on the steps of the console, together, but still sad to lose Clara. Happy she was with Danny, but also missing her.

Angel set her teacup down, getting up and moving to the console a moment before its phone rang, answering it. The Doctor and Tailor didn't pay much mind to it, it could be any number of the family calling to make sure they were all alright, likely hearing by now that Clara was finished travelling with them.

What DID draw their attention was when a knock on the door sounded…because they were literally just floating in space right now.

"It's not another distress box, is it?" Tailor looked at her father.

He frowned, hearing a voice calling from the other side as the knocking persisted, "Hello? Doctor!" he blinked, slowly standing, "You know it can't end like that!" the person continued.

"Is it the Master?" Tailor tensed, standing as he began to take a few steps towards the doors, "Has he regenerated?"

It also didn't take a genius to work out that Missy was likely still alive somewhere, Angel would not have just stood there and let Jack shoot her without trying to stop it unless she knew Missy would be safe in the end. It reassured the humans the threat was gone, but also didn't kill off more of their quite endangered species, nor someone who had once been the Doctor's friend even if the man did not consider the Master to be so any longer. Even before, he would have rather Missy chained up and restrained than dead, despite what she had done to Angel...if only because Angel would never want the man killed, she had too big of hearts. Now they just had to find her before she caused any more chaos first.

"We need to get this sorted and quickly," the voice called through, "She's not alright, you know. And neither are you. I'm coming in."

Tailor quickly hurried to the Doctor's side as the doors were thrown open, light and snow blasting through, as a very familiar portly man entered, jingling bells sounding with each step, his suit red, with white fur trim, and black boots.

"Ah," he cheered, "There you are. I knew I'd get round to you eventually. Now, stop gawping, and tell me..." he grinned at them, "What do you want for Christmas?"

"Dad…" Tailor blinked, "…that's Father Christmas."

The Doctor could only shake his head and stare.

A/N: Danny lives! :D

The minute Missy gave the Doctor the bracelet in the show, my mind went back to Angel all the way in Series 1, how she added a boost to the bracelet there and people lived :) I just kept thinking, with how focused they were on saving Danny and with visions Angel saw in the past, especially when they went into Danny's past, of the boy Danny saved through the wall and how the bracelet fit into it, she would feel the need to supercharge the bracelet and give Danny a chance to come through too.

And now that he's back and alive, I think he has a whole new understanding and outlook for the Time Lords, even the Doctor. I can say there's something that Danny is now aware of that is very significant in his changed opinion of/respect for the Doctor, we'll find out what that is before this story is over though ;)

Though it begs the question...what happens now? How would the Christmas Special play out with a Danny who's alive? How would Series 9 happen? Will Clara be different? How will Danny handle her travelling now after this experience? Or will she not be there at all? Will we have an OC companion? ...we'll have to wait and see ;)

As for Belgium...I don't think the Cybers actually attacked, mainly because of all the other Cybers just standing around and not moving to join the others in the attack. So I took it as more she wasn't being serious about it or, off screen, called off the attack because 'it's not HER army' sort of thing ;)

In other news, final quick note...this will be the last few days to vote in the poll on my profile for the stories you're most looking forward to if you haven't already ;) I'm going to close the poll on the 21st with the next chapter and announce the next round of updates at the end of this story ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Missy is definitely a complicated person to pin down. I think there's a moment at the end of Series 10 where Simm's Master did regenerate into Missy though so she's definitely a future Master, compared to Simm's version ;) I agree, it was a very silly reason to pick Belgium, but quite in character for her. I like to think that she either took it back or wasn't serious because the other Cybers weren't heading off to attack Belgium and I don't think there were any remarks or news prompts on the show of an attack on Belgium so I hope they were safe ;)

I really felt so bad for Osgood, I wanted to save her so badly, but the Zygon episode seemed to be very important to the species and it could only happen if one Osgood perished :'( Lol, that's a very apt description for this series, I really struggled to get through it, even more in the next series too, so I really tried to make it different and more interesting, I'm glad you liked it :) I can't say for sure about Series 10, I'm not completely through the show for that series yet, sadly, but I'll do my best to keep it interesting too, I have some ideas in mind that I just need to actually watch and see if those twists will work ;) We may get a look into a possible future companion for Tailor, but whether that's in a vision of Angel's or someone else's or something else entirely we'll have to wait and see ;)

Lol, I can say that it doesn't relate to Angel forgetting the Doctor, no worries there ;) That one was more a reference to one of the Doctor's nightmares in the last story where Angel turns human and forgets him :( But as for the Mummy Monks, my lips are sealed on that one ;)

Salut! Le Link, dans l'histoire d'Evy, peut être l'un des ennemis, oui. Cela peut aller de plusieurs manières. Cela peut être romantique ou platonique (un type de lien fraternel), ou il peut n'y avoir aucun sentiment du tout. Ou cela peut être une rivalité, entre ennemis aussi. Dans celui-ci, ils seraient en désaccord, mais incapables de se faire du mal, ils feraient donc preuve de créativité dans la façon de se battre. Je m'excuse si cela n'est pas clair, j'ai utilisé Google Translate. (Hello! The Link, in Evy's story, can be one of enemies, yes. It can go many ways. It can be romantic, or platonic (a sibling type of bond), or there may be no feelings at all. Or it can be a rivalry, between enemies too. In that one, they would be at odds but unable to truly harm each other so they get creative in how to fight one another. I apologize if this is unclear, I used google translate.)