Jack hated being blown up. It was a common misconception that being blown up was pretty painless. That, because of the speed of the death, that no one felt any pain because the sensation wouldn't have time to reach the brain to be felt. It was complete bullshit. He always felt himself be ripped to shreds. He always felt his flesh hitting the walls, and the floor as he was torn apart by the blast. And he hated it.

Of course, no one knew about the following part. The bit where he slowly grew back his limbs, and his skin, and his eyes and everything else was never a fun time. It usually was quite quick, but it never felt that way. Each layer of skin was agony. The pain made him wish more and more than he didn't come back from the dead. The time afterwards always made him wish he never came back from the dead.

But then something would happen, something miraculous that would make him glad he was there to see it.

This wasn't one of those times.

He usually flailed when he was fully regenerated. He took a deep breath and shot up into a sitting position. Someone grabbed his arms and tried to hold him still. "Calm down," the voice snapped. "You're fine."

Jack wasn't even sure why he was on the floor. His memories came back thick and fast, reminding him that he had been chained up in a basement by an ex. He should have been dangling from the ceiling. And the room, certainly, shouldn't have been doused in sunlight and full of rubble. It looked like the whole building had come down on him.

He turned to the person who had kept him steady and saw the steely eyes of the Doctor staring back. Ah, so the building had come down on him.

"Your doing, Doc?" he asked as the Doctor helped him back to his feet.

"Not quite," the Doctor replied. "Hope you don't mind us blowing you up. We didn't really have much choice."

Jack shook his head. "'We'?" he repeated. "You and Danni?" The look on the Doctor's face suggested that his daughter still wasn't safe. "She'll be coming back in a minute now I'm alive," he said to reassure them both.

The Doctor didn't look like he agreed. "The TARDIS has got her trapped in a time loop. At this point there's not much for her to come back to," he explained. "But hopefully, now you are back, we can unlock her."

"How do we remember her if there's that little of her left?" Jack asked, confused.

"I think we're the only ones who do."

"Have you two finished the family reunion?" someone called. River appeared on the floor above, stood in the rubble and looking down at the pair. Jack recalled the eyepatches from stories Danni had told him in the past and quickly realised the reason she was wearing it. "They're going to be coming for us soon."

"We're coming," the Doctor snapped. "Keep that ridiculous hair on and go keep lookout!"

River didn't seem too bothered by his sharp tone, disappearing again over the rubble to do as he had asked. Jack gratefully took the Doctor's hand as he helped him off the ground. The Doctor, then, began to aggressively brush him down.

"Doc, don't think I'm complaining, because I'm not, but have you got the wrong Harkness again?" Jack asked.

"You can't look like a building fell down on you when we get back," the Doctor told him. "I'll never hear the end of it." With one last brush to get the worst of the dust off him, the Doctor headed over to one of walls. It had enough rubble on next to it for him to quickly climb up and out of the giant hole in the floor above. "Come on!"

Jack couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at his rudeness. If Danni had been there she would have told him off, which just reminded him of how she was fading away. Considering that fact, the Doctor was actually being rather polite.

Jack pulled himself out of the destroyed room as well. "You do like to make a mess," he commented.

"That was her," the Doctor replied, motioning over to River who was on the street, gun at the ready. "I just wanted to scare people off. She's always a bit dramatic." He scowled. "She's trying to impress me. The quicker we get the universe back on track, the better."

"Impress you?" Jack repeated, incredulous. "River? She hates you more than she hates me."

"Not this River. Without Danni this is the one who—" he really didn't want to say it out loud "- who marries me."

He expected Jack to laugh, or mention what Danni had told him based on what the Face of Boe had said. Instead Jack looked incredibly worried and pulled the Doctor to a stop. "She's married to you?" he asked.

"I'm not married to her," the Doctor said firmly. "Don't go thinking for one second that I choose this over…"

"I'm not," Jack interrupted. "What I do know, though, is River is clever, and smart and determined. Do you really trust her to even want to save Danni?"

"She doesn't have much of a choice. I've already saved her by saving you," the Doctor snapped before glancing back at River. "River is a lot of things, but she loves her daughter more than anything. No memory is gone, they just become stories and missing feelings. With Danni still having some effect on the universe, no matter how small, River will have that obsession deep inside. She would never hurt Danni."

Jack let go of his arm. "If you say so," Jack said slowly, unconvinced. "But, be careful."

The Doctor shot him a look. How dare he, for a moment, think he wouldn't do anything to bring his wife back? Did people really think he wasn't anything but entirely single-minded when she was in danger?

He stormed over to River. "Come on," he said yet again, because people were entirely too slow. He just wanted to get back to the TARDIS, where Danni would be waiting for him. Now that Jack was safe there was no reason why she wouldn't just reappear again. He hadn't felt her come back into the universe, which was worrying him even more, but he chose not to focus on that. He just needed to get back to the TARDIS.

"Harkness!"

Jack groaned, coming to a stop at the sound of his ex-husband calling his name in anger. He turned around and looked at the man. Just seeing him made him furious. He was covered in dust as well, with his hair a mess and a large cut on his head. He was slightly dragging his foot behind him. Probably a broken ankle.

Good.

"Look, I'm sure we had a great few days, I am," Jack started, annoyed. "But trying to wipe my daughter from existence to get back at me is definitely taking being dumped too far."

Jason laughed. "You think I was doing this because you dumped me?" he asked, amused. "No, no. I mean, did I take immense pleasure from having to have you killed over and over again? Yes. I'm only human, I'm not afraid to admit that. But, believe it or not, this doesn't have anything to do with you." He wiped the blood off his forehead as it dripped down to his eye. "Your daughter hasn't just destroyed my home. She's destroyed countless others and she needs to be stopped. Bringing her back is just dooming us all."

"That's enough," River sighed, shooting the floor by Jason's feet. The man jumped out of the way, almost surprised. "We're done talking here. Your plan failed. This Danielle is going to be coming back any minute and you're upsetting my husband, so we're leaving."

Jason's brows furrowed, then he grinned widely. "Well, I didn't see that coming," he stated.

"What do you mean?" Jack demanded.

"Time's changed permanently," he explained. "You're alive, which means Danielle is. But she," he motioned to River, "still thinks they're married. I wonder what else has changed."

The Doctor had heard enough. He turned and strode towards the TARDIS, hearts pounding painfully. He had hoped that he'd just not noticed Danielle's reappearance. But the man was right. Something still wasn't right.

When he threw open the TARDIS doors, he saw exactly what it was. Danni shimmered back into existence as she looped back on herself. The TARDIS hadn't released her. He walked over, standing in her path so she passed straight through him.

"Is that…" Jack asked as he stepped through the doors. The Doctor nodded silently.

"We need to do more," he declared. Jack moved out of the way to let River in, who quickly shut the door. "We're going to the graduation. Maybe we need to put you right back on track."

"And you remember her?" River asked Jack curiously.

"You don't?" he asked in reply. River shook her head, bracing herself for the flight.

"Not even a little," she admitted freely. "I'm still not sure I actually believe it. I mean, I would never have a kid. I can't stay still for five minutes, let alone long enough to raise a little brat."

Jack looked over at the Doctor. "You didn't tell her," he stated. The Doctor, becoming increasingly frustrated, didn't even give him glance.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to sit around telling everybody's backstories," he snapped. "I've been too busy fighting to save my wife."

"What didn't you tell me?" River asked before turning to Jack. "What didn't he tell me?"

Jack wasn't sure if he should tell River. After all, when they saved Danni she'd remember anyway so it wouldn't particularly matter. But, on some level, it felt like keeping it to himself was worse. "You don't raise Danni," he said lowly. "Neither of us do. We…" he caught himself, "you give her up."

River looked shocked, which was a feat onto itself, he had to admit. "I give her up?" she repeated. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"To keep her safe," Jack explained. "The universe is after Danni. Look what my ex has done. You do it to save your daughter from growing up like you did; hunted and used."

The Doctor let out an angry yell, pulling River away from the horrible revelation and to his temper tantrum. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"The TARDIS is using all of her power to keep Danielle in the time loop. I can't take her out of the loop because she'll cease to exist and I can't keep her in it because she'll cease to exist!"

"Well, if we fix the time line, it will only be for a moment," Jack reasoned, walking over to see if he could help. All three of them had varying degrees of knowledge of how the TARDIS worked. Perhaps he could see something that the Doctor couldn't in his panic.

"I can't guarantee that, if I release her, she won't fade completely and we'll lose her entirely," the Doctor retorted. "I can't lose my wife. Do you have your manipulator?"

Jack shook his head. "He took it off me," he explained. "And then you blew up the building." He watched Danni disappear at the end of her loop, only to reappear a moment later. "We don't have a choice, Doc."

"I'm not breaking the time loop," he snapped firmly. "I thought you would care more about your daughter."

"Don't," Jack warned him darkly. "I know you're worried. We're all worried. But we can't leave her to wander the same piece of time over and over. It's cruel. We have to let her out."

"No…"

The TARDIS rotor burst into life and the two spun, alarmed, to look at River. She rolled her eyes. "I broke the loop," she explained. "And you two remember her, so can we stop arguing?"

"Do you realise what you could have done?!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"But it didn't," River pointed out. "Honestly, does she put up with you behaving like this?"

Seeing that he was probably going to be in the middle of a large fight, Jack held up his hands to catch both of their attentions. "Alright, I think we need to calm down," he said firmly. "We're all getting worked up," he quickly looked pointedly at the Doctor, "understandably, but River is right. We still remember her. That's the main thing. It means the time line is reparable. We can get her back."

The Doctor hated when people were right. He also hated getting too emotional, because it just proved everybody right and he hated that too. As the TARDIS landed on the other side of her journey – one that was particularly smooth, probably down to her delight that they were getting Danni back – he stormed away without another word. He opened the door with a bit too much force and stepped out.

River's graduation seemed to be pretty standard. They were in the presentation hall, with all the graduates at the front, walking one by one up onto the stage. Around the student seating were guests, all probably very happy and proud of the people they'd come to support. The room was rather dark, but even in the dim light he was able to spot the younger River very quickly.

"You look bored," Jack commented and the Doctor realised that they'd both joined him. He hadn't noticed as he took stock of the room and the best way to get River and Jack back to… well, he didn't want to think about that part. He just wanted to get it going so he could have Danni back. So he could hold her in his arms, kiss her, love her again without fear of losing her so completely that the memory of their time together would fade away.

"Do you know how long these things go on for?" River whispered in reply. "This is near the end. It's a wonder I don't look murderous."

"If it was so boring why did you stay?" Jack asked curiously.

"Because I had hoped the Doctor might have turned up," River reasoned. "I should have known better at that point. Then again," she glanced to her side, to her husband, "I wasn't exactly wrong, after all."

"Can we get back on track, please?" the Doctor snapped. "I'll go grab her, bring her back. You two can get acquainted and flirt, or get drunk, whatever it is you do. Danielle will come back from nothingness, you will stop thinking I'm your husband and everyone will be happy."

"Yes, happy," River muttered. She walked in front of him before he could stride through the hall to her younger self. "I should do it. She's not going to pay attention to you. I'm not even sure I knew this face that young."

"Is that a good idea?" Jack asked, concerned. He still didn't quite believe that River was going to cooperate with the plan. Danni had told him about how the Doctor and River storyline had panned out in her old universe, and while he was sure some of it was exaggerated he was also sure that it had come from a place of truth.

"I can handle talking to myself for five minutes. I'll come back, get you, and you can get to know a version of me who is completely ignorant to your flirting." She walked off, giving them both a wave.

The Doctor shifted anxiously on the spot. He hated leaving anything so serious and vital in the hands of anyone but himself, but they both watched as she approached her younger self. She bent down low, talking animatedly and quickly before motioning over to the two. She stood up straight and walked back. No one seemed to notice the two Rivers, which was probably a blessing.

"You're going to have to go over to her," River told Jack. "You're going to have your work cut out, though. She didn't seem too interested." She looked him up and down. "I can see why."

Jack just smirked. "Trust me, I don't need luck," he told them. He ran a hand through his hair. "This is so weird," he said with a laugh. "I'm about to go, consciously, to conceive my daughter with a woman who hates me." He shrugged. "Don't wait up."

The Doctor didn't even wait for him to make it to the younger River. He strode into the empty TARDIS, letting River close the doors behind them, and right up to where Danielle should have been appearing at any moment. That was where they both stood, holding their breath, as Jack put the events of the evening in motion.

The Doctor didn't dare to fly away. He wasn't sure how he fit into this particular time line. He suspected that, later in his life, he would turn up with Danni and pick Jack and River up – they both had been very vague about the series of events surrounding her conception, perhaps this mess of time was why – but he was certain that now wasn't when he was supposed to be there. Which meant there was a Danni and a Doctor about to turn up. Which mean he needed to move.

But he didn't want to. He didn't want to risk, for a moment, watching when his Danielle appeared back into existence. He didn't want to miss seeing her face again by turning away to the console.

Luckily, he didn't have to. She quickly appeared, the spot where she was standing empty one moment then there she was the next. She blinked, obviously baffled, before she looked right to him, then left to River.

"Why am I on the TARDIS?" she asked. Her question seemed strange and stopped him from reaching out and pulling her close.

"Why wouldn't you be?" he asked in reply.

She turned to him. "Well, I only come with you when mum invites me. And last thing I remember I was in Stormcage."

"Stormcage?" he repeated. "Why-Why would you be in Stormcage?"

"Well, it's where I live, isn't it?" she replied slowly, her brows furrowing. She looked to River. "Mum? What's going on?"

The Doctor didn't like her looking to River for answers instead of him. He didn't like her thinking she lived in Stormcage and not on the TARDIS, where she belonged. He really didn't like the blank way she looked at him, and the way he couldn't feel her when he reached out mentally.

He grabbed her arm, turning her around. "Who am I?" he demanded.

"The Doctor," she said slowly, still obviously confused. "What's going on? Why are you acting so strange?"

"Why am I—" he stuttered out. "What- Who am I?"

"You're the Doctor," Danni replied. "My mum's husband. My step-dad."