"We're playing Mario Kart."
"No, we're not," Kyle replied slowly. "I'm at the bar with Boyle and…"
"I know we're not actually playing Mario Kart, Kyle," Dann interrupted, almost amused by how literal he had taken her words. However, she knew he was being purposefully obtuse and she didn't want him to know she found it funny. "What I mean is, if anyone asks, we were playing Mario Kart tonight."
"You mean if the Doctor asks, don't you? Why would he ask me?"
"I don't know, I just had to tell him something. I couldn't exactly tell him where I was going, could I?" She placed the heavy bag of books down on the ground, giving her shoulder a bit of a rotate. She still didn't understand why, as part Time Lord, she never seemed to gain the endurance the Doctor had. Maybe she needed to do some purposeful exercise rather than just running for her life. "You're the one who decided to be friends with a time travelling alien, now you have to pay the price. Which is lying to my husband."
"How is that going, by the way?"
"Good, good," she replied, glancing at the Vault door. "I think it's still going to take a while but I feel like I'm finally making progress. I just can't have him find out."
"I'm not going to tell him, am I?" he retorted. "For a fee."
She paused, leaning against the metal door. "A fee?" she repeated. "Is the travelling to distance times not enough?"
"Nope," he replied. "I want to win at Mario Kart."
"Win? What's the point of lying to him about where I am if he's just not going to believe me?"
"I win, or I'm not going to agree."
She sighed heavily. "Fine, fine," she muttered. "One match. You can win one match."
"Yes!" he cheered, as if he had actually managed to beat her at the game. She couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. "Are we ever going to meet this person that's helping you? Or are you keeping them a secret like you did the Doctor?"
"You are never meeting them," she retorted, with a firmer tone than she intended. Even the thought of Missy being near Kyle again made her fear flare and she had to purposefully push it down. "You still on for Saturday?"
"Of course! Bill coming?"
"Probably. Don't get too drunk, you can't keep copying off me in class."
She hung up before he could make a comment, and turned back around to the door again. She knew she should have been more concerned about just how much she was lying to everyone, but then again she knew that she was doing it for a good enough purpose that ultimately it didn't matter. All she had to do was suffer through Missy for, hopefully, not much longer and then she could save Koschei.
She took a deep breath to steady herself before opening the Vault, stepping inside. Missy was already at the small table and chairs, a few books laid out and one in her hand. Danni didn't doubt, for one second, that Missy had been looking through the many books in the Vault to find things to help her understand vortex manipulators better. She had always loved to impart knowledge onto her whenever she had the choice, as if educating her would make them actually bond. But Danni also couldn't help think that Missy was only ready to make her think that she was clever because she knew how sexy she found the Doctor when he was being clever. All of it seemed so calculated. It probably was a good thing, though. If she could still see it then Missy would never get the upper hand.
"I didn't think you were ever going to come," Missy told her, shutting the book as if she was proving Danni's suspicions. She didn't even care about where she was up to. It was all for show. "And then I heard to prattling to that new stray that you've picked up."
"You once called me a stray, remember?" Danni countered, sitting down and putting her bag on the table. "I think I got everything you asked for. I don't think that the TARDIS was feeling well because she really struggled finding me all the bits."
"Or maybe she's disapproving of our newfound relationship," Missy retorted. "She does seem very opinionated for a machine."
"She's allowed any opinions she wants," she snapped back. "And all you're doing it tutoring me. There isn't much of a relationship to worry about."
"You say that, but you came to me and not the Doctor," Missy pointed out.
"Let's just get on with it."
Danni reached into her bag and pulled out a very small box of even smaller components. She didn't like to think about how she was hiding what she was doing from the Doctor. She just didn't want him to be mad, or try and convince her that her plan was a terrible one. She knew it was. She also knew that it had to work, because life as they were currently living it couldn't last forever. She refused to be terrified anymore.
~0~0~0~
Danni pulled out her laptop and put it on the bed in front of her, opening it up just in time for the video call to stop ringing. She sighed heavily; he was so impatient.
"You have to give me a chance to get home," she told Koschei when he answered her call back. "I don't have class inside the TARDIS. It's a university, they're all over the spot."
"You're the one who told me to call now," he pointed out. "How is the manipulator coming along?"
Straight to the point, as always. "It's coming along," she offered vaguely. "How is the not-getting-killed coming along?"
"I called you, didn't I?" he replied. "Which is more proof than I have that you're actually working on a way to come get me."
"Don't be stupid, it doesn't suit you," she replied. "I'm going as fast as I can. I can't work on it every day otherwise the Doctor will get suspicious and everything falls down around us. It won't be much longer."
That was also another lie. A lie upon a lie upon a lie. That was what her life was now. Still, he seemed to buy it as he backed down a little, calming down.
"You're right, of course," he told her and she smiled slightly. "I just feel very... useless, and I have to admit I don't like it."
"Sometimes when we're in deeper than we can get out of, we have to let other people help us. Sometimes that help comes from the weirdest, or most uncomfortable of places," Danni said. "Neither of us like it, but asking for help is how we get your out of your mess."
"Uncomfortable?" he repeated. "Like asking my future self, perhaps?" She blinked, her hearts skipping a beat in surprise and slight terror. He rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid, Danielle, it doesn't suit you," he mimicked back. "It's not like you know anyone else who would help you in this little endeavour, is it?"
"You're not wrong," she muttered, wondering why she felt so relieved that he'd worked it out. "Luckily you two will never meet. No one needs that much ego in one room."
"My ego is very much justified," he replied. He didn't sound insulted that she'd implied otherwise. "However, you were always terrible at keeping your spoilers to yourself, it wasn't that hard to figure out."
"Well, don't worry, you are definitely my favourite out of the two of you," she promised. "And we don't need to talk about her anymore."
"Her?" he repeated. "A Time Lady? That is a surprise."
She could have hit herself; she really had lost the ability to keep spoilers to herself, it would seem, in the last thousand or so years. It was a good thing that she hadn't been to see anyone in a while, otherwise she might blurt out something she really shouldn't be telling anyone.
"Yes, fine, a Time Lady," she retorted. She stared him down for a moment, before shifting on the spot. She hated the fact that they were talking over a screen rather than in person. It just meant that there was still so much to do. "Are you sure you're okay, though?"
He sighed heavily, like her concern wasn't worth his time, but she knew better. She knew that he loved being worried over, especially by her. "If I could fix my TARDIS then I would be a lot better," he replied. "But I am fine. I've found a project to help pass the time."
"Oh? Really?" she asked, incredibly intrigued.
"The atmosphere on the godforsaken planet is slowly killing everyone. I thought I could, I don't know, do something to help." His voice turned into a murmur towards the end and he shot her a glare at her smile. "Don't start."
"What? I can't help it if I like to see you put that wonderful mind of yours to work," she told him, still grinning. "I promise it won't be long, I don't want you there anymore than you do."
"That is a lie, but I appreciate the thought. Have you told your husband yet?"
He said it a mockery of a voice, because he still hated the idea that she was married to the Doctor. She had to admit it wasn't the worse feeling in the world to know someone out there wanted you. Not that she wanted him back, obviously, but who didn't like being admired from afar?
"No, I promised I wouldn't so I haven't," she said "He just thinks I'm becoming addicted to video games, but I think he's happy I'm not sat around being worried every moment of the day."
"Eurgh, don't tell me you've become a worrier, Danielle. It's so unattractive."
"I'm not trying to be attractive; I'm trying to stay alive," she snapped back. "Which I wouldn't have to do if you could just keep it in your trousers."
"Don't blame your attitude on me," he replied.
"I don't, I blame it on her," she promised angrily. "But until that is solved, I am going to worry. And probably be 'too dramatic' for you."
"You've always been too dramatic. You get that from him, you know? He was always so... nice."
"Says the man who took over the Earth just to start a war with everyone else," she pointed out. "Being dramatic is in your blood, you can't get away from it."
"It's not dramatic when it's done stylishly, Danielle."
She couldn't help but laugh. Despite the screen between them, it made her happy to be able to talk to a real version of him. That somewhere out was the man who had kept her sane throughout her time with Missy. She had to save him because, whether he knew it or not, she owed a lot of her own survival to him. Or, at least, the memory of him. She couldn't just leave him to rot on a planet. He deserved so much better than that.
"Fine, fine, I concede," she told him. "Look after yourself, okay? I don't want to turn up just to find you dead."
"I promise I'll be right here waiting for you, as long as you promise to hurry up," he replied. "What is up with my future self anyway? I should have had you here days ago. Don't tell me I've regenerated stupid."
"Very stupid," she quickly said with a nod of her head. "Stupid and short, you're gonna hate it."
He observed her for a moment, trying to work out if she was kidding or not. She held the straightest face she could. Then, very quickly, he looked to his side. "I have to go," he said sharpish. "Hurry."
The screen went dark and her hearts sped up. The fact that he'd had to run away made her panic, and she looked down at her bag and all of the stuff that she had taken to Missy the day before. She was going to give it a night's rest and spend some time with the Doctor, but maybe she needed to head back down to the Vault. She knew that he would be fine, after all Missy existed in the depths below her. It didn't mean, though, that he wasn't going to be in trouble in the meantime. Maybe he would escape soon on his own, then what? All her efforts, all of her work and lies would be for nothing. She needed to save him. She needed to change the past.
With a nod to herself, she stood up and grabbed her bag of goodies. The Doctor could wait one more night.
~0~0~0~
Danni stepped out of the Vault yet again with a happy little smile on her face. Everything was going so well, soon she wouldn't have to see Missy at all. Soon all she would have to do is type in a couple of coordinates into her manipulator on her wrist and the whole universe would be as it should be. She couldn't wait, and she was surprised it was so easy. She had expected the Doctor to work out what she was doing pretty quickly, or for the universe in some way to chuck something in her way that would mean that she couldn't continue. She had expected Missy to call her out, or try and escape, or do anything other than actually help her. But everything was going to plan. It was wonderful.
She watched the vault door close with the sense of relief she always felt when it closed Missy off from the universe. Knowing that she was in there, even though it made her feel like she was trapped in the universe with Missy always watching, was still better than not knowing where she was. Everything was just starting to feel a lot better.
"Eh-hem."
The clearing of a throat came from absolutely nowhere and she spun around, sonic screwdriver out in front of her like a weapon at her attacker. Nardole was stood just in front of her, arms crossed, looking particularly displeased.
She sighed heavily in annoyance, lowering her arm down. "Nardole, I could have done some serious damage to you," she scolded. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that question, shouldn't I?" he retorted. "You're not supposed to go in there without supervision. You know how dangerous it is."
She rolled her eyes, feeling like a teenager yet again. "I thought she wasn't a danger in the Vault. Make up your bloody mind." She jabbed the sonic screwdriver in his direction again. "And stop following me. It's creepy."
She made a move to walk around and away from him, hoping that her annoyance would stop him asking too many questions. However, she just wasn't that lucky and he stepped straight in front of her path. "What were you doing in the Vault, ma'am?" he asked her.
"I didn't know I needed your permission to do everything," she snapped back.
"My job is to keep an eye on you, to make sure you are safe and healing and step in when I think you are straying into dangerous territory. You don't want me contacting your mother, do you?"
She really didn't, obviously River was never going to appreciate her going to Missy for help. No one was going to appreciate her going to Missy for help. She still didn't, really, but what else could she do? The Doctor would protest loudly - and correctly - at what she was doing and then he would white-knight himself right into a situation that she would have to save him from anyway. No one knew the Master like she did anymore. She was the only one who could do something that would help them both be redeemable.
"I'm not straying into dangerous territory," she told him. "I just can't risk you telling the Doctor what I'm doing. I'm making progress... I'm- I'm actually feeling less scared than I have in a long time."
"That's great, ma'am," Nardole cheered, automatically happy for her before realising just why he was having such a stern conversation with her in the first place. "What did you do?"
"I- I asked Missy for help," she told him. "She's very clever, and eager to help, and I thought... I really want to get this vortex manipulator fixed for the Doctor, and if I can help him find redemption for Missy at the same time... It felt like killing two birds with one stone, you know?"
Nardole, if anything, seemed more panicked by her words. "You've taken a vortex manipulator into the Vault?
She shot him a look. "I know you think I'm an idiot, but please give me some credit," she snapped. She reached into her bag and pulled out a couple of books. "It's theory, it's all theory. I'm not going to let her anywhere near anything that she can use to escape. She's the one who slaved the vortex manipulators when she captured me, she's obviously knowledgeable. I want to use that knowledge, and, I dunno, stop being so terrified of her escaping every two seconds. It's nice, like immersion therapy or something."
"I have to tell the Doctor about this," he told her and her eyes widened in panic. "You can't be spending time with her. It's dangerous. You know what's she's capable of."
"Please don't tell the Doctor," she begged him. "I do know what she's like. At the first sign of danger, or anything concerning, I'll tell him. I promise, Nardole. Please, don't tell him."
"I have a duty..."
"I'm not asking you as my babysitter!" she exclaimed, letting her bag drop to the floor to grab his hands. "I'm not even asking you as my step-dad. I'm asking as my friend. My closest friend. Please Nardole, trust me on this. I can handle it. I'm not scared, or worried. I'm just trying to do something nice for the man I love as a surprise."
He really didn't like the look on her face. Those big eyes were going to get him into a lot of trouble, but he could never say no to them. Humans were too bloody cute for their own good. "As long as you promise me you will step away the moment you have to," he replied firmly. "And you let me know when you're in there, just in case anything does happen."
She nodded eagerly and brought his hands up to place a kiss on each of them. "Always, I promise," she cried before hugging him tightly. He chuckled slightly, wondering how she could so easily manipulate him. It was just because he was too good natured, he knew that. He needed to get it patched out.
~0~0~0~
"Scotland?" Kyle repeated, pulling a face. "We've been to Britain on our last two trips. Why can't we go somewhere more... I don't know, alien?"
"I don't know, why can't we do that, Doctor?" Danni asked pointedly, looking at her husband. She agreed wholeheartedly with her companion, because the Doctor really did seem to have an issue leaving the island. He would have phases, where he would jump around history but not really space. Then he'd choose space for a little while. She knew his habits, she knew what he liked, but sometimes they did drag on a little too long. Maybe it was time for another intervention.
She frowned at the thought. Was that a Clara thing? Had she done that with Clara? Or was it with Amy? Her brain hurt when she tried to think about it.
"Because it's Bill's turn to decide," the Doctor replied, motioning to his companion. "And she has the ridiculous notion that she knows more about something than I do."
"So you want to prove her wrong? Is that really the best reason to go somewhere?"
"It's never stopped us before," the Doctor replied. She couldn't exactly argue with that.
"Well, when's it my turn?" Kyle protested. "She's been travelling with you for ages. I want to choose somewhere for once."
"This isn't a taxi service. We don't have to take you anywhere, especially if you're going to act like a child," the Doctor replied.
"He has a point, though," Danni replied, moving over to her husband's side. She shot him a little look, one that he knew meant that she was trying to sway him onto her side. "Can't we take him somewhere? You and Bill can argue all you like next week. How can I be as impressive as you if you don't let me?"
"I know what you're trying to do," he warned her and she move in front of him, taking both of his hands. His hearts sped up slightly at the darkening look in her eyes. He had to fight it. She couldn't keep pulling this card at every turn. Especially considering he wanted to pull it right back, it just meant that nothing would ever get done.
"I'm not doing anything," she said before her tongue swiped across her lips. "I would just like to choose something a little less home-grown. Something a bit more, I don't know, Spock-like."
"Oh no!" he protested. "We're not going to see your father!"
"Why not?" she asked. "You're not still jealous, are you? He's a head in a jar."
"Didn't we spend enough time on Darillium with him?"
"No, actually, we didn't," she told him. "Please, Doctor. It'll be fun. And quick."
He sighed. "Fine," he muttered, much to Bill's protest. Kyle, on the other hand, punched the air like he was a cartoon character who had just won something.
"That's not fair!" Bill exclaimed and Kyle turned to her.
"Oh, come on! You know you're excited! It's the future, it's going to be amazing!"
Danni, on the other hand, sent the Doctor a grateful smile. She wanted to make it up to Kyle for constantly using him as an alibi for Missy, and this was the best way to do it. She pressed up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on the Doctor's lips, making sure to take a moment to enjoy the closeness.
"You're going to have to pay for this, you know?" he told her softly and she nodded.
"Whatever you want, it's yours," she purred in reply.
"I want you for a week," he told her. "No classes, no homework, and no Mario Kart. Just you, me, and the TARDIS."
"Done," she promised. He was very happy to hear this, after all she had been spending quite a lot of time outside of the TARDIS recently. He didn't mind most of the time, but spending time with her was infinitely more exciting than not. He pressed another kiss on her lips, then another, but before they could fall into it, he turned to the console and set them into flight. "So, you want big jar face, not New Wales?" he asked her and she nodded.
"When's the last time we went to the Boe empire?" she replied. "It'll be a treat."
"Boe empire?" Kyle repeated and she nodded.
"Jack is immortal. He has his fingers in quite a few pies," she explained. "I rarely see him when he's older. It's hard to spend time with a jar."
"Why do you keep saying jar?" Bill asked and the Doctor and Danni shared a look.
"She was like this when she first saw the TARDIS," he explained. "Thought she was a kitchen, and then an elevator. She'll get there."
"Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room," she protested.
