Having watched a lot of television in her time, Danni had noticed that there had been a trope where a couple would sit in bed at night and talk about the issue of the day. She'd never really got it – there were so much better things to do in bed other than talk – but it seemed prevalent and she'd sometimes wondered if she had been missing out on something.

Of course, it didn't really help that the Doctor didn't sleep half as much as she did. It would seem the most human part of her that kept clinging on was her sleeping habits.

She glanced at the Doctor, sat in his pyjamas with her glasses perched on his nose, and realised that, somehow, they'd managed to fall straight into a television show. It was a funny thought, really, considering how she had come to know him in the first place.

She looked down at her own book and the technical drawings that were on the page. She had managed to stumble upon a history of various technologies of Gallifrey other than TARDIS's, which had turned out to be rather interesting. As much as the human side of her wanted to sleep, there was also a large part of her that wanted to know more about the history that the other part of her shared with her husband.

"Theta?" she asked.

"Mmm?" he replied, licking his finger before turning the page. Her nose wrinkled slightly; she hated that. It was a disgusting habit.

"Do you think I should get a friend?"

He blinked, slightly surprised. He had known that Bill's words had been bothering her for the last few days, it was why he had been a bit reluctant to bring up his trip out with her even though he knew he had to tell her. Still, though, he had thought she'd ponder on it for a bit longer then dismiss it. She'd been rather against the whole 'friend' thing for a while now.

Since Clara.

"Ignore Bill," he told her, going back to his book. "She just says things before she thinks. Questions spew out of her mouth like she had no filter. You get used to it."

"Yeah, but, that's the thing," Danni replied, turning slightly on the spot so she could face him better. "If she's not thinking then she's noticed it without paying attention, which means she's probably not the only one. Who else has noticed that I don't really interact with anyone but my professors? Who else has noticed, well," she motioned between them both, "this? What if I'm blowing our cover because I'm being antisocial?"

He wasn't sure how he felt about their entire thousand-and-then-some-year relationship being boiled down to a hand gesture and a pointed word, but seeing her getting worked up over something she'd obviously built up in her head reminded him that she was just projecting, not that she actually meant it. Much like he adored her, he knew that she loved him just as much.

"You do have friends," he reminded her. "They're just not all right here at the moment, it doesn't mean they don't exist."

"It does to people who are here now," she pointed out.

"And you have Nardole," he continued before pulling a face. "Oh, I see your point."

She sent him yet another look. "Leave Nardole alone," she scolded yet again. "But, yes, he doesn't count. He's only here because my mother thinks I can't look after myself. That's like a kid only playing with you because their parents told them to. It's not the same as someone actually liking you."

The Doctor sighed heavily. "People like you," he told her. "I think you're looking too much into things."

Danni didn't reply for a moment; she just pressed her lips together. Maybe he was right, maybe she was just worrying too much over things because suddenly everything had changed. With Bill knowing about them, it just opened the door for more people to know who they were and that, in turn, opened up the possibility of more people leaning about Missy. And that terrified her.

But she still couldn't help but feel like Bill was onto something. She had, rather a long time ago, managed to wrangle it so she didn't have to do group assignments in an actual group, and no one ever approached her to join theirs. She didn't talk to anyone outside of class, she never went to bars or pubs. She'd never participated in any of the clubs, or even a pub quiz. In fact, apart from actually being in class with them, she didn't interact with the students at all and they didn't seem to miss her either.

Which, to be honest, felt like a little bit of a blow to her self-esteem. This regeneration had been a hard one for her, she had never really grown to like herself like she had been told would happen. She still felt like she was hiding in a body that didn't belong to her, that her personality was one she was mimicking rather than one she liked having. But it was one thing not liking yourself, and quite another having no one else like you either.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she eventually agreed. "I'm just overthinking it."

She went back to her book and tried not to think much more on it. But she couldn't help it. Bill's words echoed in her mind. If people didn't like her, then maybe there really was something wrong with her. Everyone used to love her, after all. When she was blonde, she had managed to make friends just by being in the same room, now she just saw a room full of people. Had she really regenerated grumpy? Like some old person walking down the street, glaring at all of the 'youths'.

Her eyes widened slightly. Oh god, she'd regenerated old.

She turned the page forcefully. She would not be old. She could be friendly. She would be amazing at being friendly. The humans wouldn't know what had hit them.

~0~0~0~

Danni loved the TARDIS so much. She loved that she could travel in her, that she could go anywhere and anywhen in the blink of an eye. She loved the fact that she housed everything inside of her, so she never found herself wanting. She loved waking up in bed in her and knowing that she was in a TARDIS, their TARDIS, her TARDIS. It was just a great way to spend the day.

She also was a great way to regulate the days, because when a night lasted twenty-four years there wasn't a 'day' and it made it very hard to be on a proper schedule. And although she didn't sleep a lot anymore, she still needed it.

She usually took her time to wake up. She still had to make sure she was safe and in the bed she'd gone to sleep in – that was habit she'd had since before she had regenerated, so she doubted it would go away anytime soon – but she would stretch and sigh to herself. Her bed was fucking comfy!

Of course, some days she had stuff to do. And other days she had things she wanted to do. And, some days, like today, Danni was out of bed almost as quickly as she had opened her eyes.

Today was the day her father was coming.

She was quick to dress and quick to run down the hallway to the console room, where she took a moment to compose herself before entering. She didn't want anyone to know she was too excited, after all. She had an image to maintain.

She paused slightly, pouting, when she found no one in the console room. She'd, at the very least, expected the Doctor there to greet her. And yet there was no one. It was a little disappointing, if she was honest with herself. She liked to be greeted in a morning. It made her feel important.

She assumed that it was because the Doctor was preparing for Jack's arrival, and as she exited the TARDIS into the small back yard, she realised that she was indeed correct.

"Just make sure that he holds on," the Doctor was saying.

"I know what I am doing," River snapped back. "We both know what we're doing. You're not the only time traveller, you know."

"I know that," the Doctor said back, just as angrily.

"And you're not the best. So let me handle it."

Danni watched the Doctor nod along, as if he was agreeing before he reached out to grab River's manipulator off her arm. "Maybe I should just…"

River snatched her arm away. "No," she told him firmly, like he was a dog trying to steal her food. "We decided that I'm the one going to fetch Jack, not you. Calm down."

The Doctor pouted. "I don't see why," he grumbled. "It would be a lot easier in the TARDIS."

"Yes, and also the best way to have you miss by several hundred years and leave us here to rot," River retorted.

"Yeah, let's not do that," Danni drawled as she joined them both. She tried to keep her cool, but she still grabbed the Doctor's arm and hugged it tightly. "How about we curb the fighting, as well? I'm not going to last twenty-four years of you two bickering."

"We're not bickering," the Doctor retorted before waving River away. "Go on, then. Go fetch Flash. Although he does like me better, so he might not come with you."

"He'll come with me because I am the mother of his child, which means he will always like me more than you," she pointed out. She shot Danni a little wave. "Won't be long."

Danni really was trying to keep calm, but for the whole ten seconds that River was gone her hearts raced in her chest with excitement. She really did feel like a child waiting on their birthday for their biggest present, which she was sure was more telling about her than anything else.

Then River reappeared, Jack on her arm and Danni's face broke out into the biggest grin it had in a long time. Jack, as always, was taking the change of scenery in his stride. He was a little older than she'd expected, with grey hair and rather a few lines, but she should have guessed that River would have picked up an older Jack so she would look younger than he did.

Not that she cared, though. She just chucked herself at her father like a child who hadn't seen him in forever and wrapped him into a tight hug. "Dad!"

"Woah, there!" Jack laughed, slightly winded by his grown daughter tackling him. "Take it easy, sweetheart."

She backed up and tried to act guilty, but she was just so relieved that her family was with her, and she could remember how he looked and how he sounded that her smile didn't drop. "Sorry," she told him. "I'm glad you could come. We've got you a small house, I hope that's alright. You could stay on the TARDIS, but I thought you'd be less likely to see something you'd not like."

He'd heard many stories about the Doctor and Danni, and nodded his agreement almost immediately. "I do appreciate that," he told her. "Although I do have more questions about how you managed to get me a house at all."

"Oh, I just tell everyone you're my dad, and I can get pretty much anything I want," Danni told him before frowning slightly. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"The same as I feel about hearing about you and the Doctor," Jack replied before holding his hand out to the Doctor. "Long time, Doc," he greeted.

The Doctor took it, giving his hand a tentative shake, as if he was remembering Jack hitting him with it. They actually looked closer in age then he and River did these days.

Her husband looked the same age as her dad. Even though their family was all kinds of messed up, Danni still found that rather unsettling and also really amusing.

"I hope you like your new home," the Doctor replied. "It's no 'Face-of-Boe' grandeur, but it is rather quaint."

Jack ignored the slight, knowing it was because the Doctor was strangely jealous of him. He couldn't blame him; the Doctor had never been bad looking, but, really, Jack knew what a catch he was. Plus, he had been told that he wasn't particularly picky, but his daughter was definitely one line he would never cross. It was just fun to tease him with it.

"I'm sure I can make it my own," Jack retorted, giving his hand one first shake for good luck before letting it go. Danni's eyes immediately lit up.

"Oh, oh, I have just the thing for that!" she cried. "River will show you in. It's just there," she pointed to the house behind them, which apparently owned the small garden they were in, "hers is next door."

She dashed off in a flurry in excitement and Jack waited until the TARDIS door shut behind her before turning to the two people left with him. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately being able to tell. It wasn't exactly her behaviour – although, he could tell just by how excited she was to see him – but there was something in the air around him that he could feel. The Doctor had shaken his hand.

River and the Doctor shared a look. Neither of them had been sure whether to warn Jack before he came, or take him to the side once he'd settled in.

River cleared her throat. The Doctor obviously wasn't jumping in to tell Jack, which meant it was up to her. "She wiped Clara from her memory," she explained. "And she's been struggling to come to terms with it."

The Doctor snorted. "Struggling?" he retorted. "Last week she stabbed a guy and left him for dead. That's more than struggling."

"Well, maybe if you had been taking better care of her…"

"Me? You're the one who dragged her into your boyfriend drama."

"How dare you?!" River exclaimed angrily. "He was my husband."

"No, the diamond was your husband," the Doctor snapped back in return. Jack rolled his eyes. He had agreed readily to spending some actual, living, real-time life with his daughter. It was seemingly becoming more and more of a bad idea. He didn't even have time to process the information he had been given before he was trying to separate the two.

"Danni's coming," he hissed and, worryingly, instantly they stopped fighting. They were obviously trying to behave in front of Danni, that was never a good sign.

The young-looking women rushed out and over to them, tablet in hand. She all but thrusted it at her father. "Here!" she said happily. "I was in the library yesterday and I found the latest Kerblam catalogue."

The Doctor groaned loudly. "Oh no, not that," he moaned like someone was making him eat his vegetables. "Not Kerblam."

"Oh, stop it," Danni scolded. "They've upgraded to same-day delivery in this quadrant."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

River frowned. "What's wrong with Kerblam?"

"Nothing," Danni replied. "He just hates the Kerblam man."

~0~0~0~

It was strange to be nervous. Danni felt like she was back in her first day of university, back when she and the Doctor had first decided to hide out in Bristol. She was super aware of how everyone might suddenly turn around, mid-class, and all point at her at once shouting 'alien!' at the top of their voices.

Because, obviously, she lived in a children's television show.

While, realistically, she knew that no one was going to figure out why she was really at the university, much less call her out on it, she still felt like her hearts were going to burst out of her chest as she slid into her chair near the back of the lecture hall. Not too far back, not too far forward. Pretty average. She normally sat in a similar place, but it felt a bit more calculated this time around. The perfect place to not be noticed by everyone, but maybe by someone.

The hall slowly filled up and, soon enough, a lad slid into the chair next to her. He was talking animatedly with his friend. Again, she always had people sitting around her, but this time she was more aware of it. With no one on her other side, this was going to be the guy she was going to try talking to. He laughed, relaxing into his chair as he pulled out his notebook. She did the same.

How did people do this? Making friends was hard.

He glanced to his side, giving her a nod in greeting and she did the same in return, hopefully not in a creepy way. She could talk to him. He seemed nice. A little young, maybe, but then again she was rather old so what did that matter?

Before she could say anything, though, he leant towards her. "Danni, right?" he asked and she immediately nodded in response to hiding her concern that he already knew her name. "You're in the Doctor's class too, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she said, trying to sound a little dismissive so he didn't know how much that concerned her as well. Had he noticed her and the Doctor? Was this going to be another Bill scenario?

"Do you have any idea what he talks about? Because, to be honest, I have no idea," he replied. "It's like he just makes it up as he goes along, and then we're supposed to write essays on it. Honestly, I think I'm just going to fail, but you seem really smart so you must know."

She smiled slightly, realising that he was just rambling and had no idea who she or the Doctor were. "I wouldn't say that," she said. "It must take a lot of planning to be that off topic."

He chuckled slightly. "Not jumping in to deny the 'smart' observation, are you?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Can't deny what's true," she said as modestly as she could. Again, he laughed and she straightened slightly. She was on top of this!

The teacher walked in at the bottom of the room and everyone began settling down. She took her chance. "I can help, though, if you like," she offered. "I tend to be in the library most nights, just drop over if you see me."

The guy nodded. "Will do," he agreed. "It's Kyle, by the way."

She smiled again. "Alright, Kyle," she replied before getting ready to take her notes. Her smile didn't drop, or stop being a little smug. She didn't know what Bill was talking about, she could totally make as many friends as she wanted.

~0~0~0~

"You know, I am incredibly rich, we could have bought it already built," Jack said as he looked around the mountain of boxes that had appeared in the modest kitchen of his new home. They had all been delivered by numerous, rather creepy, robots that made Jack instantly understand why the Doctor hadn't liked them; the Kerblam Man was really rather sinister.

Danni's head appeared from behind one of the larger boxes. "What's the point of pre-built furniture?" she replied, confused at the very idea.

"Sitting, sleeping, eating off… You know, the usual things you do with, or on, furniture."

She didn't look particularly impressed with any of his suggestions. "The fun of furniture is building it," she told him factually. "And just because you're rich doesn't mean you have to lose that." She stood up and, once again, he couldn't help but smirk in amusement at her outfit. He never thought he'd see her in dungarees, but apparently they were appropriate attire for building the interior of a house. She placed her hands on her hips as she surveyed the job ahead. "It should only take a couple of days," she told him. "Not long at all."

"And where am I supposed to sleep while this is happening?" he asked her. She stared at him for a moment, lips pressed together, before nodding once.

"We'll build the bedroom first," she declared before climbing over the box she was stood by. "One of these has to be the bed."

When the order has come, River had very loudly told them all that she wasn't going to be having any part of him building his home and had walked out to spend some time on her own. The Doctor had, mysteriously, disappeared the moment the robots had appeared and had yet to reappear, so Jack assumed that it was just going to be him and his daughter for the foreseeable future. So, he started looking too.

"So, you're a DIY-er, now?" he asked her and she shrugged, picking up a smaller box before moving it out of her way.

"I guess," she offered. "I really like putting things together. I'm still getting—" She picked up another box, turned it upside down, and also discarded it. "- my head around more complicated things, but I'm really into building furniture right now. Every time I put something together the TARDIS takes it and replaces it with something new for me to build." She paused. "I'm not sure where the old ones go," she said, as if she'd just realised that. "Perhaps I should find them."

"And do what?" Jack countered jokingly. "I thought built furniture was boring?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but quickly realised that they were her own words and that they were right, so she shrugged it off. "I've been trying to learn more about the circuitry of the TARDIS," she explained. "I can fix a lot, but I don't really understand what I'm doing, but all of the TARDIS manuals and books are really old and dusty and, therefore, really dull."

Jack watched her grin as she pulled a large box up off the floor, grunting slightly as she did. "Found it!"

"The bed?" he asked and she shook her head.

"No, the wardrobe," she replied, as if that had been what she had been looking for all along. "That's part of the bedroom, so the bed can't be far away."

He wasn't sure how she'd managed that piece of logic, but he continued searching for the bed frame. "I could show you, if you want," he offered. She paused and looked over at him.

"Really?" she asked and he nodded. She smiled. "That would be awesome. The Doctor's tried, but I don't think he can keep up with how his brain works sometimes. He's brilliant, but the way he makes connections can sometimes leave me behind."

"Some father-daughter bonding?" he said.

"Working over a car?" she joked. "Trying to change the oil?"

He chuckled. "Just a bit more exciting," he agreed. He watched her continue for a little longer, sorting the boxes as she was going, although he wasn't sure what her sorting system actually was. She seemed fine, muttering to herself as she read the labels on the boxes, but he could see the hyper-focusing for what it was.

"When do you want to talk about Clara?" he asked.

Her happiness fell for just a moment and she looked down at the empty photo frame she'd picked up. She stared at it, brows furrowed, trying to bring up a picture of the other woman in her head. Something to fill the photo frame, and yet there was nothing. No face, no happy memories, no pain. Just… nothing.

"Not yet," she said softly and Jack nodded, accepting her answer.

"Did you remember to bring any tools?" he asked. "When I packed, I didn't expect to be working."

Danni shot him a look. "I ordered you some," she explained. "There was this great 326-piece set that looked amazing."

"Do you know where it is?" he asked, already knowing the answer. She paused, looking around the room.

"Um…"

~0~0~0~

"Look, there she is. Come on."

The chair next to her was pulled out almost immediately and Danni looked up from her book to see Kyle grinning at her happily. The chairs around her and him were also quickly filled with a bunch of other students and suddenly she felt rather ambushed and surrounded.

"H-Hi?" she started, a little unsurely. Immediately she wondered if she'd made a mistake engaging with the young man in class. What if they all were there to ask her about the Vault? What if they all knew about Missy?

"Are you busy?" he asked and she shrugged.

"I was just reading, nothing special," she replied, lifting the book slightly.

One of the women leant forward, dipping her head so she could see the title. "Classical Electrodynamics," she read off and Danni nodded. "You're just… reading that?"

She wasn't sure why the other woman sounded so confused and she looked at the cover. "Well, yeah," she replied, wondering if it was the wrong answer. "I thought I'd read something a bit easy before heading home. It's a bit simple, but I think he explains some of the principles rather well, even if it is a bit Kindergarten."

"Easy?" another young man repeated, while Kyle looked incredibly smug.

"Didn't I tell you? She's like, Hawkins smart," he told them all before turning to Danni. "We're off to do a pub quiz, wanna be our eighth member?"

Danni wasn't quite sure what happened. On one hand, she felt like them coming over purely because she was smart didn't exactly lend itself to a good foundation to build a friendship on, and rather seemed like something a high-schooler would fall for. On the other hand, she found herself nodding her agreement.

"Sure, why not?" she replied. "I've never done a pub quiz before; it might be fun."

Kyle nodded. "Oh, it'll be more than fun. Coming out with us is like, an adventure," he declared. "Bold moves, answering riddles on a quest of self-discovery, friendship and hope, with glorious and bountiful rewards meeting us on the other end."

"Oh, so you win a lot?" she asked.

"Not once," Kyle replied happily. "But we tend to get hella drunk—"

"Stop saying 'hella'," one of his friends told him as if he'd told him a million times before.

"- because drinks are always half-off tonight," he continued. "And what's a good night if not a pissed night?"

Danni couldn't argue with his logic, mainly because she wasn't sure where it came from, so she just nodded along. "Alright, well, give me a minute," she told him, standing up. "Let me call my husband, tell him I'll be late home." She headed off to call the Doctor, missing one of his mates clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Ouch, married," he teased lightly. "All that wasted effort, dude."

Kyle shrugged him off. "Don't be gross, dude," he retorted. "She's always on her own, I'm just-I'm just offering an olive branch, you know? Being kind to my fellow man."

His friend, Sarah, snorted. "Yeah, right," she scoffed. "We all can see into your head, Kyle. You're already planning on how you can be the guy who saves her from her marriage, swooping in at the last moment. You pretend you're all Lord of the Rings, but really you're just a walking, talking Mills and Boon book."

Of all the things that had every been said to him, nothing had offended him more. "Mills and Boon?" he exclaimed. "How dare you? I'm much more chick flick than novel, thank you very much!"

Danni missed this entire conversation waiting for the Doctor to pick up the TARDIS phone. "Don't tell me you got lost," he teased her. "I know books are your kryptonite, but the library really isn't that big."

"I'm not lost," she retorted. "And if I was, I'd call Nardole, not you. Last time it took you twenty minutes just to find the library."

"I told you, I thought you meant the library on the TARDIS, not the university. I still don't understand why you just don't use ours. She can create any book you will ever need."

"Because if I'm there, you'll just distract me, obviously," she told him, knowing he couldn't deny it as it had happened on more than one occasion. "I'm going to be a bit late tonight. I just didn't want you to worry."

"Why? You're not reading those Brian Cox books again, are you?"

She chuckled to herself. "No, of course not," she promised him. "I'm just—" She glanced over at the group of students she'd managed to highjack a place in, and hesitated in telling him the truth. After all, it may just be a place on a pub quiz team. And, really, she wanted to prove to herself that she could make friends before she proved it to anyone else. "I'm just getting ahead with my English assignments, that way we can have the weekend off together," she said, feeling slightly guilty about the lie. "And, I don't know, maybe go to the coast for a couple of nights?"

There was a pause. "You've been planning a weekend away?" he asked her and she nodded to herself.

"Sure," she replied, as if the idea hadn't just come to her. It was a good idea, though. She could sort that out tomorrow. Weston-Super-Mare wasn't too far away. She could get them a hotel.

"Without Nardole?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course without Nardole. I don't want him spoiling the mood," she retorted. "Anyway, I'll let you know when I'm coming back. I have my phone if you need me. Love you."

She almost skipped over to the group, her nerves really building up. She never used to feel like this when she met new people, she was sure of it. Then again, she never used to be so suspicious of everyone around her, and look where that got her? Captive, manipulated, with a monster in her basement and a smoking hot body.

Well, alright, not everything was terrible. But it still made sense that she was always a little nervous around other people. Even now, after all these years, she still had this niggle that no one was as they seemed. And, for the first time, she really wanted to get past that.

She smiled at Kyle, who almost jumped out of his seat the moment she returned. "Alright, let's go," she declared. "I have absolutely no idea where we're going, so lead the way."

~0~0~0~

It had taken Jack a while to get used to staying still. When he was younger, he would run around, looking for danger and adventure, usually with a small sense of trying to get himself killed despite the lack of ability he had in that regard. Slowly, though, he started to make peace with his lot. It still wasn't the best lot, but it was his and he could own it. And that, on some occasions, meant that he could settle down and live a few decades in the same spot doing mundane, normal, everyday things.

So it wasn't hard for him to settle into living in a small house, even if his daughter and her husband were living in the back yard, and his daughter's mother was living next door.

Alright, River living next door was proving to be rather difficult to handle. Luckily, as easy as it was for her to get a rise out of him, he could turn it around and do the same to her, which was proving to be a source of entertainment he hadn't been expecting.

For example, Danni had surprised him with a set of outdoor furniture and they were both sat in the garden, slowly drinking their way through a bottle of wine, listening to music and definitely not talking about Clara. Or the man she had stabbed. Or Missy. Just light, non-conversation that they were both enjoying when River appeared from behind the fence that separated their houses.

"Can you turn it down?" she all but snapped.

He just raised a glass. She was probably annoyed because it was his day with their daughter. They had quickly come to the realisation that they just couldn't spend too much time together, so they were splitting Danni's time with them right down the middle. It was like being in a divorce, but without the happy marriage in between.

"It's not that loud," Danni protested.

"I'm surprised you can hear each other talk. I can barely hear myself think."

"Well, then, why don't you come join us?" Danni suggested to her mother, her eyes lighting up. "The Doctor will be here soon; he's just fixing the mess he made in the bathroom. It could be like a double date!"

River's face reflected the drop that Jack felt in his stomach at the very idea, but it also gave him the motivation to play right into the idea just to get on River's nerves. He chucked an arm around the back of Danni's chair. "Yeah, River, what do you say?" he asked. "I'm game if you are."

He made it sound like he was eager to do it, but River heard the challenge in his voice. "Fine, give me a moment," she grumbled, not willing to be the one who backed down first. She disappeared behind the fence again.

"You know, she's not going to enjoy this?" Jack asked his daughter, who sipped on the glass of wine she was holding.

"No, she will," she replied. "She thinks she hates being domestic but it's all she wants really. That's why she agreed to stay here in the first place." She shrugged to herself. "Well, that and the fact she's worried about me."

Jack watched her take another sip. It was the first time she'd acknowledged the fact that there was anything to worry about, and she suddenly was very pointedly not looking at him. "Why?" he asked. "Should she be worried?"

"I'm not worried," she replied before pointing her glass at him. "Perhaps that's why she's worried. Or why you're all worried."

"You killed someone," Jack reminded. She didn't question how he knew that – she must have expected them to have talked about her.

"I've killed a lot of people. I've done a lot of bad things," she said in return. "Does that worry you too?"

"We've all done bad things. If you're looking for understanding, you couldn't be in better company," he pointed out.

"Don't you think that's why I called you here?" Danni asked, much to his surprise. "It wasn't just so I could Parent Trap you, you know?"

His brows furrowed. "Parent Trap?" he repeated, confused and she smirked slightly.

"Never heard of it?" she asked and he shook his head. "Well, then, a lot of this is going to be very new for you."

~0~0~0~

The Doctor was getting worried. Nardole had tried to calm him down by telling him that his wife was the most sensible one out of the two of them, but that hadn't helped. It was very late, even for her and the ridiculous amount of time she liked to spend in the library reading. He didn't remember her other bodies being such bookworms, but then again she said she hadn't had much to do whilst being held by Missy other than reading, so he shouldn't have been so surprised.

Still, even for her, 1am was just a little too late for comfort. She was normally home by midnight, and if not she did let him know. Saying that she was going to be home 'a bit late' did not encompass this late, no matter what Nardole said.

He had started to pace in his concern. He had tried to be calm, he had tried to be level-headed. He knew that Missy couldn't get out of the Vault without someone letting her out, he'd told Danni that a hundred times before. He truly believed that she was capable of redemption, she had to be, but that didn't mean that he wasn't worried about her in the meantime. He just couldn't let Danni see that. He couldn't let anyone see that.

What if she had, though? What if she had taken his wife yet again and he'd been too foolish to notice it?

"She's fine, sir," Nardole reassured him yet again, in a tired voice that said he'd had been going around and around in the conversation all night, which he had.

"You don't know that," the Doctor retorted. "She could be in terrible danger. How are you," he pointed at Nardole, "going to feel when we find her, injured and terrified?"

"If you're that worried, why don't you go find her?" Nardole suggested.

The Doctor shot him a look, as if he'd just proved his point. "Oh, so you do think she's in terrible danger?" he accused.

"No, I think she's found a few books and hasn't realised the time," he replied, again tiredly. He typed a couple of things on the console of the TARDIS to bring up the readings from the Vault. "And the Vault is running as expected, just as it was ten minutes ago."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something incredibly smart to put Nardole in his place, but the door opened to the TARDIS and they both froze, waiting for Danni to step in. She didn't. In fact, for a moment, nothing happened at all.

"Theta!"

The Doctor frowned at the loud call of his name before Danni did appear in the doorway. She leant against the wood like it was holding her up and his hearts skipped a beat; she was hurt. He should have gone looking for her. He should have.

"The-eta," she called again, stepping in with a bit of a stumble. She chucked her arms out to her side. "I have returned!"

That was when he noticed the badge pinned to her chest with a big '2' on it in bubble lettering. And the way she was slurring just slightly. He had been running towards her, ready to catch her and demand what had happened, but he stopped and stared, baffled.

"I think she's drunk," Nardole declared.

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious," the Doctor retorted before turning back to his wife. "Have you been drinking?"

She nodded. "I-I wasn't planning on drinking, but then we came second and it felt rude to turn them down," she explained. She moved over to him, reaching out and almost collapsing onto him. "Did you know that Liza Minelli did a cover of Queen? How crazy is that?!"

The Doctor wasn't sure what to do with that piece of information. "I thought you were in the library?"

"Well, of course I was," she replied, pushing off him to stand up straight. "Then we went to the pub quiz, and we came second and we won a load of drinks and Kyle said that because I'd helped them get that far that I could choose the cocktails so I chose the blue one, and it was gross but then he said they had Coke so I had vodka and Coke and it was a lot nicer."

Again, the dump of information was rather a lot for the Doctor to take in. "Wait a minute; who's Kyle?" he almost demanded.

"He sits next to me in my- in my- in one of my lectures," she replied. "He invited me to join their quiz team, but then Sarah and Boyle went off together and he said that they always shagged when they were drunk, and then I thought of you and thought 'hey, that sounds fun', so," she grabbed hold of his shirt. "Let's do that," she declared before pulling him in for a kiss.

Nardole wrinkled his nose, while the Doctor fought his conflicted feelings at his wife being rather eager to kiss him, but also tasting like one of the local student bars. Instead he delicately detached her from himself.

"How-How about, instead, we go lie down?" he suggested. "It will help the world stop spinning."

She hadn't said it was, but the way she nodded suggested that he had been right to assume as much. "Alright, but you have to come with me," she commanded before she started towards the back of the console room. Her eyes lit up as she saw Nardole stood there, as if she'd just realised he was in the room. "Nardole!" She stumbled over to him. "You have to come next time," she gushed, jabbing him multiple times in the arm. "I-I said that with you there that we were bound to win. You're so smart!"

"Yes, yes, he's a genius," the Doctor agreed, ushering her towards the hallway. "We can talk about that tomorrow."

She chucked her arms in the air. "I am the best friend ever!" she cried. The Doctor looked back at Nardole, who looked just as bewildered as he felt, and could only offer him a shrug as an explanation.

The Doctor had dealt with drunk Danni in the past, on multiple occasions, but this Danni never seemed to be that way inclined. She had become a bit tamer in that regard, usually steering away from large gatherings or typical human 'partying' behaviour. He wasn't sure where her sudden delve into alcoholism has come from.

And who the hell was Kyle?!

~0~0~0~

Sorry about the long break again. Hopefully, from now on, I'm going to be a bit more consistent.

Reviews!

bored411 - I'm sure Danni will have a lot to say when she founds out about Bill. This time I'm wanting to do the companion thing a bit differently.

sketchtheunicorn - Why thank you :D As I was reading them come in I was definitely hoping you'd see it. Danni has been part of my life for a long time, now, so it's given me time to really get a hold of what I want from her. I'm really hoping I can tidy her up early on and get the whole story like I would like it.

Psst - I can totally see where you're coming from, and I do still have the old chapters backed up in numerous places, but I've gotten to the point where I know I can make it better, and saving that isn't a big priority, you know? It's not like I'm rushing to rewrite the whole saga before getting out new content, but revisiting it has proven to be rather fun :)

Jedi Master Albus - I love Jodie, but I don't want to see Twelve go either, but I'm still not over the loss of Eleven so we'll see :P

valeriefiction - Thank you :D