The TARDIS was rarely a tense place, but the air was thick and heavy. Danni stood on one side of the Doctor, back straight and very wary of everything that was going on. Bill was on the other, trying to act as respectful as she could, but she couldn't help but glance at Danni every other second. No one could really pinpoint what it was that seemed to intrigue her about Danni – she wasn't really her type, and they'd barely had a proper conversation between them. Perhaps she was just another look into the Doctor's life, who she had come to really admire and rather enjoy spending time with. Maybe it was just because there was a mystery that she hadn't worked out yet. A mystery to do with a Vault and a promise, and it all seemed to circle around the Doctor's wife.

Either way, it was probably the reason Bill watched too many soap operas when she had the time to, and why the Doctor was stood between the two. He needed to keep the space between them. He liked to think he'd come to know Bill rather well over the last few months, and by the way she was looking at his wife he wasn't convinced that she wouldn't just reach over and poke her to see if she reacted.

"Where are we going?" Danni asked, hoping to get the outing started. She really had felt that having a 'companion' on their first trip back out into the universe together would make everything feel more natural, which she had then hoped would ease her nerves. However, really, while there was a part of her that had spent time for hundreds of years travelling on and off with a companion, one that'd had a best friend called Clara and expected someone else there, her memories did not reflect that. There was a blur of a person there, but without the memory of her, Clara didn't exist in the emotions or 'feeling' of going on an adventure. Therefore, having Bill there all exciting about the wider universe, felt more awkward than it did comfortable.

"I was thinking somewhere familiar, yet new," the Doctor explained. "Somewhere exciting, but not too exciting."

Danni nodded. "That sounds sensible," she agreed before looking at him, suspicious. "I don't like it when you're sensible. It's concerning."

"Do you really expect me to be the old fool all the time?" he asked and, again, she nodded.

"All the time. Absolutely all the time."

He started manipulate the TARDIS controls. "Well, that's fair," he agreed. "However, this time, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

They quickly landed, which Danni would have commented on being a first had Bill not been looking at her as if she expected her to speak. She was sure that companions weren't always like this. Was she supposed to speak on command? Perform like she was on a television show?

Then again, apparently when Amy and Rory had been younger, Amy had played pretend by being her and Rory being the Doctor like they were her favourite characters. Maybe she was just more interesting than she realised.

The Doctor headed for the door but stopped just before it. He held his arm out as Bill instinctively reached forward to open it to see what was outside. "Not you," he told her. "Danielle opens the doors."

Bill frowned. "For real?" she asked. "What, like all of them? Can you not open doors? Cause I'm sure I've seen you open plenty of doors. Is it an age thing? Or is it an alien thing? Do women have to open the door for men where you come from? Or can you not go outside in case you react badly to whatever is out there, and she's the guinea pig you use to make sure that it's safe. Because, to be honest, that sounds pretty harsh to do to your wife."

"What? No! No, of course not!" the Doctor exclaimed, utterly confused yet again by the stream of questions that came from his student. "No, she opens the doors first because I want her to see what's outside before anyone else." He turned to his wife, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. Perhaps he should have fought for having this be a trip on their own. If she was willing to go somewhere else after this then maybe that's what they'd do.

"Go on, then," he encouraged. "You first."

Danni wasn't sure if she wanted to open the door now that Bill had pointed it out. There was a part of her that was rebelling simply because the other woman had put her on edge when they'd first met and it didn't want to go away. There again, though, everything put her on edge, so she decided to just go with it. She opened the door and was greeted with a cold wind blowing in her face, snow covering everything around them. There was the sound of people around them, meaning they weren't alone. She was sure she could hear animals in the distance.

Once she'd established that whatever was around them wasn't an immediate danger, she allowed herself to take in the sight. It was very cold, and the snow suggested winter. Smog filled the air. The Doctor stepped out next to her, Bill quickly joining them. An elephant walked past being led by a man, followed by some delighted children.

"You've brought us to winter," Danni said bluntly. Bill, who had been watching the elephant with a grin of delight, shot her a look of confusion. They were somewhere new and exciting, with wild animals, and that was all she'd noticed?

"Well, it wouldn't have worked in the summer, now would it?" the Doctor retorted. "It's a Frost Fair. The Last Great Frost Fair."

"So, London, then?" Danni asked and he nodded. "So Vastra's around here somewhere?"

"No, we're a bit early for her," he replied. "1814."

Danni frowned. "We've been to later frost fairs, though. That doesn't make any sense."

"Humans rarely do," he pointed out. "It's like a rock band's last ever tour. You get to the point where they've announced it so many times that you don't expect them to actually retire." He looked down at her. "When do you think we are?"

Danni looked around, a frown on her face. "You just said; 1814."

"Narrow it down. When in 1814 are we?"

He watched her as she studied the area. She looked for clothes, and for signs of anything obvious happening around them. People were wrapped up warm, but didn't seem overtly festive. It was very cold, as the snow showed, but it didn't scream the festive season. It just felt like a normal weekend.

"I think we're early in the year," she offered. "Maybe, I dunno, it's still quite wintery so maybe... Late January?"

She never sounded sure, but he couldn't help but grin. "February the fourth," he told her.

She nodded along. "So you aimed for a frost fair, but nowhere near our friends?"

"Not necessarily," he replied. "Perhaps I just aimed for somewhere that was a bit old, and yet a bit new."

"Ah. So you did aim for Vastra, but missed," Danni teased. "Gotcha." She took one last look around, enjoying the cold breeze of a time gone by against her cheeks. Standing in new places, in new times, would always feel amazing to her. "I'll go get changed." She nodded her head towards the TARDIS. "We all probably should."

She headed inside and Bill frowned. She didn't seem too bothered about having travelled in time. In fact, she seemed more annoyed than anything. She leant in closer to the Doctor. "If she didn't want to be here, then why did she come?" she asked, more curious than anything.

The Doctor did know better than Bill. He knew that Danni was incredibly happy to be there, but too tightly wound to show it. He knew that she'd have headed not to the wardrobe, but straight to their bedroom to see if the purple dress Madam Vastra had bought for her so long ago still fit. He knew that she was trying to guess what the Frost Fair was going to offer that was different to the last one they had visited.

He opened his mouth to answer, but instead just turned and headed inside. Bill followed, wondering if she'd hit a nerve and that was why he wasn't answering. "How did you miss?" she asked. "I thought you said that this thing could go anywhere you wanted?"

"She can, and she does. Occasionally," the Doctor replied. "You don't steer the TARDIS, you reason with her."

"How?"

He glanced at the console. That was the question, wasn't it?

"Unsuccessfully, most of the time," he replied before flipping another switch, moving the TARDIS from where he'd originally landed to on a bridge next to it. "She's a bad girl, this one. Always looking for trouble."

He loved having someone new on the TARDIS. He loved the fresh blood it brought, how it shook things up and reminded him of little things that he tended to forget over time. Bill's amazement at them moving was one of them. For him it had been barely a thought, for her it was a marvel to behold.

"Last day before the thaw. Thought I'd better find a more reliable parking spot," he told her.

"Wait, you want to go out there?" she asked, a little apprehensive, much to his confusion. She'd agreed to go on the trip, after all. Had she just expected them to look out at the world around them but never step in? He knew that Danni enjoyed to people watch on occasion, but what was the point of exploring unless you, well, explored?

"You don't?"

"It's 1814," Bill reminded before pointing at her face. "Melanin."

He just looked confused. "Yes?"

She looked around before tentatively stepping out. She didn't want to be seen. "Slavery is still totally a thing."

The Doctor sighed sadly. "Yes, so it is."

"It might be, like, dangerous out there," she pointed out, stepping slowly backwards towards the TARDIS.

He nodded. "Definitely dangerous."

"So, how do we stay out of trouble?"

"Well, I'm not the right person to ask," he replied. "Danielle is usually the one who tries to keep us out of danger, but she's not very good at it, either."

Was she going to have to be the sensible one? Because, if Bill was honest with herself, she wasn't great at being sensible. She wasn't reckless, either, as her concern clearly showed. But, if she had to be the adult, she wasn't sure she was going to be up to the job. After all, she'd taken a tutorship with a man she'd barely met on a whim.

"Okay," she started. "When you go somewhere dangerous, what do you take?"

The Doctor used his hand to point into the TARDIS. "First door on the left, second right, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on the left."

"What's there?"

"The wardrobe. Pick a dress."

"So the TARDIS has dresses and likes a bit of trouble?" she asked before smiling. "Yeah, I think I'm low-key in love with her."

The Doctor grinned back. "We all are," he replied before she dashed off.

~0~0~0~

Danni pouted. She rarely pouted, after all she was a grown Time Lady and didn't need to pout, but she looked in the mirror and she pouted. She'd stepped into their bedroom and opened the wardrobe to find her favourite purple dress hanging up inside, placed there thoughtfully by the TARDIS. With only a slight adjustment of the top, Danni had fit into it better than she had expected. She still looked amazing in it and had smirked to herself as she'd looked herself over.

Until she looked down and saw the definite gap between the floor and the bottom of her favourite dress, where she'd grown a few inches when she'd regenerated. And now it just looked too small.

The door opened behind her but she didn't look around. "Everything alright?" the Doctor asked as he stepped inside. She shook her head and he was hit with the concern that maybe the trip out had been too much after all, especially with a third person. Would he have to take her back to the university? He didn't want her uncomfortable, after all, but he didn't look forward to breaking the news to Bill.

"My dress doesn't fit," she told him sadly, turning around. He looked rather dashing in his top hat and blue vest. Each body had always looked amazing in Victorian dress. He had his cravat hanging around his neck as he obviously was finishing getting ready. She suddenly wished that they'd taken their first trip without Bill, but for entirely different reason.

He tried not to laugh because, while he had been worried about her genuinely being upset, her dress not fitting as she wanted didn't seem too big of a deal. It seemed a bit silly he'd been ready to rush home because of it.

"You've got plenty of dresses. Wear one of those."

"I like this dress."

He walked over, standing behind her so he could see both of them in the mirror. "Get the TARDIS to alter it, then," he told her. She looked up at him, outraged.

"Vastra bought me this dress!" she exclaimed. "Don't be rude, Theta."

"Well, then, you'll have to find another one until she can take you shopping again," he replied simply. "Maybe you can find a blue one to go with my outfit. Which you have to admit, I look rather dashing in."

"You look amazing as always, sweetie," she told him. "You know how much I like you in a suit."

He wrapped his arms around her. They both did suit the era rather well, didn't they? "Are you okay?" he asked, this time a little gentler and she sighed.

"I'm fine. I want to be here," she promised. "Let me just find another dress." She tugged at the skirt a little more, hoping to make it reach the floor properly. "I love this dress."

"So do I," he told her before placing a kiss on her hair. "Don't be long, we've got a whole new London to investigate."

He left her staring at herself in the mirror. They both knew that it wasn't just the dress that was bothering her, but her own worry about leaving Missy unattended by anyone but Nardole. But he also knew that the temptation of something even remotely new couldn't keep her away for too long.

And he was right, of course. She took a minute to calm her nerves before heading back to the wardrobe. She was sure that, really, the TARDIS would provide her what she needed eventually. She just needed to be coaxed.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor stepped out onto the snow outside, now dressed in full black frock coat, before holding his hand out to Danni. She took it and he helped her step out like the gentleman he was. She hadn't gone with a matching blue, but rather a deep red that he thought suited her amazingly and he had been very blunt in telling her so. She'd appreciated it.

Bill stepped out afterwards in a green outfit, looking around as she tried to be sneaky about leaving. People walked past, chatting and getting on with their day and no one even batted an eyelid at the trio who had appeared out of a giant blue police box. "Doesn't anyone notice the TARDIS?"

"Your species hardly notices anything," the Doctor replied as he slipped Danni's hand into the crook of his arm. She was sure he was being overly attentive to make her feel more at ease, maybe even more so with Bill around, but it also felt so natural for them to walk together that she tried to not dwell on it at all. She was there because she wanted to enjoy an outing into the past with her husband and his friend. She didn't want to wonder what was going on through Bill's mind, or who was looking in their direction, or trying to keep an eye out for another woman out of her time who Danni knew was hanging around in Victorian London. Missy didn't turn up until later, much later. She needed to stop being so alert.

"So, what are the rules?" Bill asked as they walked down the stairs of the bridge that led to the street below, where there was a line leading to the frost fair on the Thames.

"Rules?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah. Travelling to the past, there's got to be rules. If I step on a butterfly, it could send ripples through time that mean I'm not even born in the first place and I could just disappear," she explained rapidly.

"Well, I would suggest not stepping on any butterflies," Danni replied. "They've not done anything to you and to change so much of time by hurting one seems a little cruel, doesn't it?"

Bill looked at her to see if she was being serious, but it was hard to tell with the neutral look she had. The Doctor always seemed more expressive than his wife. "You know what I mean. Every choice I make in this moment, here and now, could change the whole future."

"Oh, most definitely. Actions do have consequences, after all," Danni said shortly, almost pointedly. "Just don't do anything stupid. It's a hard task, I know, but that's all you have to do; don't be stupid."

A little girl walked up to the trio, holding out a flyer in front of her that was almost as big as she was. She looked adorable in her white dress and bonnet and Bill immediately smiled at her. She looked adorable, like a little kid dressed up as an urchin, except she was actually an urchin.

"Come to the Frost Fair, miss," she said to her. "Only a sixpence, miss."

Danni took a small step closer to the Doctor, away from the little girl and into his side. She still wasn't massively comfortable around young children. She hadn't been since she'd escaped from Missy, they reminded her of just what she'd done to get back to her husband. So many children in the universe cried because of her, it was almost instinctive that she didn't want to make another one do so. The Doctor felt the shift and let her stand so close she was pushing up against him.

"Oh, my God," Bill breathed, overcome with how adorable the girl was. Neither Time Lord could disagree with her.

She reached out, hesitating before she took it. The Doctor sent her a look. "You're not stepping on a butterfly; you're just taking a flyer." She took the piece of paper and the little girl smiled brightly at them both. The Doctor took off his hat, placing it on top of the girl's head before handing her a coin from his pocket. "It's just time travel. Don't overthink it."

"Except when you have to," Danni interjected. "Sometimes you have to."

"It's incredibly annoying, though, so we'll tell you when that is."

The Doctor paid for them at the bottom of the stairs that led down to the river. It made Bill wonder if he carried currency for every time in the TARDIS. She would have to see if he would show her his collection. She'd love to see what money was like in the future.

He stepped onto the ice first and turned, stopping his wife before she could follow. She looked down at him, seemingly confused but with a small smile on her face. He shot her a wolfish grin in reply and Bill couldn't help but remember when he'd pulled her into his office that first time. He said he'd noticed her because she smiled when she was confused, perhaps it was just something he liked in his friends.

He reached out and grabbed Danni around the waist, lifting her off the stairs and spinning her around to place her on the ice. She yelled out in surprise, grabbing him tightly by the arms whilst a couple of onlookers laughed, enjoying the sight. Danni started to smile up at him as he stared down, almost daring her to tell him off when he knew she had liked the attention.

Then she noticed Bill watching, and the smile dropped almost immediately. Bill wasn't sure if she should have been offended at the change in demeanour, or if Danni just wasn't too keen on public displays of affection. She could understand that. Being in a student environment meant she'd seen a few people who really needed lessons on privacy, and she was an open-minded girl.

Either way, Bill ignored the other two and took her own moment to step onto the ice below. Despite everyone having a good time around her, she was still concerned about the ice giving way underneath her and her plunging into the icy depths below. However, despite the sound of a small crunch of snow underfoot, nothing happened and she smiled with delight. How was this even her real life?

"Yeah, no big deal. Just walking on the Thames," she declared. She walked up to the Doctor, a serious look on her face. "I hope you realise I'm going to try everything," she told him. "Everything."

With that, she headed straight for the food vendors, looking for something tasty to sink her teeth into. Danni watched her go. "Oh, the food first? Bad choice," she declared to her husband.

"Why's that?" he asked her, looking down at the top her head.

"Well, they don't exactly sell chips here, do they?" she reminded him. "You go save her; I'm going to go see what entertainment they have out here."

She leant up, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Here was me thinking you would want to put her off going travelling," he commented.

"Oh, I do," she replied. "But no one deserves bad food." She made a move to head the other way, but then smiled at him. "This was a good choice," she said. "Thank you for making me do this."

"I would never make you do anything that makes you uncomfortable," he stated. "But I knew you needed a day out as much as I did."

She shooed him away and towards Bill as she headed out into the festivities. Frost Fairs were some of her favourite destinations. People were always friendly and merry, there was so much to see. It always felt like the best part of humanity was on display, when all she really ever saw these days was the worst in anyone. It was hard to be annoyed at the universe when everyone was smiling at you.

Well, actually, the universe in general still annoyed Danni, but the Frost Fair was dulling that feeling slightly. She could feel herself falling into the atmosphere, only checking out the shadows and not the face of every person who walked by her. She stopped and watched a juggler for a moment, a soft smile on her face. It was basic entertainment, but there was something rather enticing about a man chucking knives about and catching them without hurting himself.

In fact, the more she walked around, the happier she felt. She wasn't even bothered that the Doctor was off with someone else, exploring the sights and hopefully keeping her away from the food. She enjoyed time on her own. She didn't want to be observed all the time to make sure she wasn't 'relapsing' into her old ways. She felt more like herself than she had in a while.

Of course, that was until she saw the green lights underneath the ice. She stopped in her tracks, watching the small dots dance under the ice before disappearing off to the edge.

Green lights.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor was really enjoying showing Bill the sights. He enjoyed showing Danni, or anyone actually, the new places that he liked to travel, but with Bill as with any companion, it was nice having someone who really didn't know anything about time travel to show off too. He needed to be a bit more creative with his wife than he used to. She was starting to really become rather smart. He loved it, but he could remember a time when he was this all-knowing alien who swept her off her feet. Now he was just her incredibly handsome and smart husband.

Bill bowled her small wooden ball, knocking over the pins with one shot. There was a cheer from the crowd and she looked rather bashful. "Pub champion, two years running," she explained.

Green lights.

He frowned as he turned from Bill. Danni very rarely reached out to him anymore, not since Missy became a permanent fixture in their lives. But she had very purposefully called to him, putting the image in his mind and he looked down at the ice. There were green lights, much like the end of his old sonic screwdriver, darting around before disappearing. Interesting. Something was happening in the river. Something that shouldn't have been. This calm trip out had suddenly turned into an adventure, much like they used to, but this time he also had his wife by his side. He grinned; perfect.

He straightened up again only to notice a top hat sat enticingly behind a man who didn't seem to care about it. He'd given his away to the cute little girl because he knew it'd amuse her, but he did rather like a hat. He walked over, picking it up without anyone noticing and putting it on before ushering Bill out. He didn't want to be caught, after all.

Now he just needed to get a bit more information and to do so he needed to look around a bit more. Outside of the tent with the skittles was a salesman, calling his wares out to the people around them. "Best fist pies on the ice! Try your luck, ladies and gentlemen! Toss for a pie!"

That would do quite nicely. Fish, water, it was all the same really.

Fish pies.

One thing he never expected on their adventures was the fact that people could still hoodwink him. He expected to be surprised, or even disappointed on occasion, but being hoodwinked always came from nowhere and he didn't appreciate it. So he didn't appreciate it when the vendor of the fish pies managed to win a coin toss when he really shouldn't have. It wasn't that the coin was fixed, or that chance wasn't on his side. He very deliberately won the toss that meant Bill had to pay for her pie and the Doctor could not work out why.

Sometimes he loved not knowing stuff. Sometimes he hated it. This he hated.

As he was checking the vendor's clothes for the answer to his con, Bill spotted the lights underneath the ice again and followed them outside. If Bill was spotting them, a woman who had been open about how she was throwing herself straight into the experience of being in Georgian London, then they really were a cause for concern.

The vendor was getting more and more irate, though, which the Doctor did not understand. He needed to calm him down so he could find out how he'd managed to fix the flip of the coin, so he could show Danielle at a later date and maybe use it against Nardole to get him to do more of the chores around the TARDIS. He very much hated having to dry the dishes by hand.

"Don't look at me like that," the Doctor told him. "I'm saying you're a very good con-man."

He thought it was a great compliment. The vendor did not. "I'm a what?"

"A trickster. A swindler. You see," he smiled, boastful, "I'm a bit of a thief myself. I bet you that I could steal anything from your shop."

The next thing he knew he was being thrown from the shop, skidding across the ice into some of the entertainment. What the vendor didn't know was that it was all part of his plan. Sure, the plan was made up as he was skidding across the ice, but it still played into it perfectly.

"In theory!" he called into the shop. "I could steal anything in theory."

Bill walked over to him, pie in hand and looking very confused. "Doctor?"

"Honestly, some people," he muttered before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the pie he'd managed to swipe as he'd been thrown out of the tent. All part of his pan. "More pie?"

Bill smiled, totally amused, as they quickly made their way away from the tent just in case the vendor noticed. "Are there side-effects to time travel?" she asked him. "Like, physical symptoms?"

The Doctor paused at a well that had been created in the ice so he could make sure they weren't being followed. "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah," he told her and he could tell by the look on her face she was very concerned. "Sometimes you see lights under the ice."

He shot her his widest grin, just in case she couldn't tell he was teasing her. She sighed, relieved. "So you've seen the lights," she stated as he ushered them further on.

"Of course," he replied, weaving a path through the crowd. Suddenly, without warning, he stopped in his step. Bill immediately looked down, assuming he'd seen more lights. There was nothing, so she looked up to see him looking off the side, back the way they had come from. "There you are!"

Danni appeared, holding her skirt slightly aloft as she also fought her way through the people around them. Bill hadn't even seen her. Had the Doctor just sensed her? Was that part of his alien powers? Did he have a strange third eye on the back of his head that he used when people weren't looking?

"Well, that did you expect?" Danni replied as she joined the pair. "All you gave me was 'fish pie'. Do you know how many people are selling pies around here? It's a frost fair."

"All you gave me was 'green lights'," the Doctor pointed out.

"Yes, but that was because I assumed that you'd already seen them. I was just letting you know that I'd seen them too," she explained.

"And I assumed you would be clever enough to find us. Which you were."

"Well, I heard a man shout angrily, it wasn't hard to work out that it was because of you," she teased. "Nice hat."

He straightened it. "I thought so."

"Stolen?"

"Naturally."

"So," Danni started, looking at Bill for a moment to see if she was all caught up. She seemed more confused at the pair so she started walking again. "Green lights in the water that no one is noticing."

"Electric or organic?" the Doctor asked in reply.

"Organic, of course," Danni replied, with the air of confusion that anyone could have thought anything different.

"Hang on; organic lights?" Bill asked.

"Bioluminescence," the Doctor explained. "Fireflies, glow-worms..."

He trailed off as a young girl, wrapped in a shawl and looking a little tattered around the edges, walked up holding a large dog collar on a lead. She looked rather upset. "Please, sir, have you seen my dog?" she asked. "He was right here, but then I looked away and he..."

She trailed off, sounding like she was about to cry. Bill was immediately taken in by it. Danni was not. She knew a crying child when she saw one, she'd heard too many in her time. The girl was playing them. She turned just in time to see a young boy freeze behind her husband. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned him.

The Doctor and Bill turned around and the boy took his chance, reaching out and grabbing the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. She caught hold of his wrist and was treated to a swift boot in the shin off the young girl. Her leg gave way and she buckled as the pair rushed off.

"Danni, are you alright?" the Doctor asked as he moved to help her up. However, she was already on her feet, a snarl on her face.

"You little shits!" she shouted after them and, with another hitch up of her skirt, was already on their tails before the Doctor and Bill could react. "I'm gonna kill the pair of you!"

"Oh no," the Doctor muttered. "That's not going to end well." He motioned with his head for Bill to follow and they chanced the two children and his wife.

~0~0~0~

There was a warning that the ice was thin, probably because the thaw was coming, but as neither of the kids seemed to care, Danni didn't either. She dashed out, even as the ice creaked underfoot. "Stop right there and give me that back!" she called.

The young boy did come to a stop, but not because the Time Lady was calling after him. Instead he looked down and saw the lights that both Danni and Bill had seen, all swarming around his feet. He wasn't scared, he was delighted as they grew closer and closer to him.

"Spider! She'll have you transported!" the girl called to her friend.

"Of course I won't!" Danni snapped in reply. She had also come to a stop, away from the lights, which were suddenly her biggest concern. "But you need to get off the thin ice, the pair of you."

The lights really liked Spider, gathering under his feet in a tight spiral. He started to look less amazed and more concerned. He looked over at his friend, who looked just as worried. "Kitty?" he asked before the ice gave way and he screamed.

Danni was going to rush to grab him, but there was a blur of black clothing as the Doctor ran instead. The ice closed around the boy's arm until it was stuck up, holding the sonic screwdriver aloft like a sword. The Doctor held his hand out, stopping Kitty from running over to help her friend.

"Stay back!" he warned before slowly stepping forward. He reached out to grab Spider's hand, to pull him back through the ice, but missed. He managed to grab the screwdriver out of his hand, but not Spider, who disappeared under the ice. The ice reformed over where his armhole had been and it was as if the little boy had never been there at all.

Bill was horrified. She continued to stare at the empty spot as the lights disappeared. She couldn't believe what she just saw, and it devastated her. He was just a kid. A kid who had no parents, probably no home. Who was stealing to survive, so he can't have had much at all. And the ice just... just ate him.

She turned to the Doctor, the man who had saved her from a space puddle and saved the colonists from the robots who didn't understand emotions. He was checking out his sonic screwdriver, making sure that it wasn't damaged. She looked to Danni, who was looking at where the hole had been with a concerned, but not upset, look on her face.

"Save him," Bill demanded. Danni looked to the Doctor, who knew they were both thinking the same. How they wanted so badly to just be a couple seconds faster, but there was no way the boy was alive.

"We can't," the Doctor replied simply. "He's gone."

This wasn't the answer Bill wanted. Her face turned into a snarl and she stepped closer, almost as if she was going to fight him there and then. "Do something and save him."

The anger came out of pain and fear, the Doctor knew that. He knew what both of those mixed together looked like, so he didn't take her anger to heart. Instead he tried to form a plan, for which he needed time and for no one else to die.

He turned to Kitty. "I'm sorry about your friend, but the danger isn't over yet. There must be more of you living rough here. Tell me where."

Kitty shook her head, moving away from the trio. She didn't know what had happened, but all she knew was that going with any adult was a bad idea. "So you can take us to the Magistrate?" she accused. Danni lurched forward, grabbing her arm to stop her from running away.

"I know you don't trust us, and you've got every reason not to," she told the young lass. "But I can tell you this; we are not the bad guys here, and we certainly do not care about keeping the peace and sending you back to the workhouse. We're the ones who just tried to save your friend, and we are the only three who will care that he's gone."

"Three?" Kitty scoffed. "She's gone!"

Both the Doctor and Danni turned around in surprise to see that Bill had vanished complete. Danni rolled her eyes and Kitty broke free, running off. "Nice pick," she snapped.

"I seem to remember you not acting too well around your first death, either," the Doctor reminded in defence. Danni's annoyed look didn't waver.

"I stand by what I said," she stated. "You go after Bill, make sure she's alright. I'll follow the girl and try and find out where the rest of the kids are and keep them out of any danger."

"I thought you didn't like kids anymore. I thought they 'confused' you."

"They do," she replied bluntly. "But you're a big Time Lord now, you can comfort your own companion." She placed a kiss on his cheek. "Love the hat."

"Love the attitude," the Doctor retorted and she shot him a cheeky smirk before rushing after Kitty.