Danni knew that, given what was currently happening, running fast and therefore using more oxygen was probably not the best idea. However, she was very eager to get out of one situation – the situation where her husband knew that she had been to see Missy, on her own – and into the other, which was the situation where she wasn't going to suffocate.

Luckily, the creepy dead people trapped in space suits seemed to be outside the spaceship, not inside, so she was able to get to the spare suit without much more than two racing hearts and the absolute dread of having that conversation with the Doctor once they were alive and far away from the killer spaceship.

The suit was still where they had left it, bent down ready to pick up its next load, the spare helmet on the floor where it had popped off. She smirked to herself; even though they were in danger, she could still appreciate a good joke.

"Alright, alright, let's have a think," she muttered to herself. She checked the error code on the suit's display. "Error. What error, exactly? Network error? Is that why you were walking around without a person? Or did the Doctor put you in error mode when he popped your head off?" She pointed her screwdriver at it. "You know, you could be a little more helpful? Like, for example, how do I put you on?"

"The Ganymede Systems Series Twelve SmartSuit can be equipped by visiting the designating robing stations."

She blinked, surprised at the voice. She'd forgotten, for a moment, about the AI and the voice that had discarded Nardole. "Er, thanks," she replied slowly as she looked around. It was quite obvious there was nothing of the sort in the room. "And, er, what if my suit is in front of me and I'm not currently in it?"

"Ganymede Systems Series Twelve SmartSuits are not designed to be removed by their occupants."

"Well, no, you're in space, that makes sense," Danni agreed. "But, hypothetically, say that you had no occupant," she pointed her screwdriver at the suit, wiping the user from its system very easily, "and I happen to be your new occupant, how would I get in without a robing station?"

"In event of malfunction, the Ganymede Systems Series Twelve SmartSuit can be applied with the override on the input pad provided."

Danni, again, nodded to herself. Now, instead of the output screen on its arm, there was a simple numeric keypad. "Excellent. That is very convenient. You really are a smart suit," she praised. "One more question, before I, you know, jump right into you. It says the suit is in error. What is the error?"

"Unfortunately I cannot diagnose any errors as I do not have access to the diagnostic suite. Please connect the suit to your ship's network and I can investigate the issue for you."

She beamed. "That will not be necessary," she crowed happily. "Let me just enter that override," she pointed the tip of her screwdriver at the pad, "and we can get down to business."

There was a shimmer in the air as the suit seemingly dematerialised, onto to wrap itself around Danni like some sort of superhero outfit. She hadn't expected it to be so instant, so she yelped in surprise and tried to drop the screwdriver so it wouldn't be encased in the suit. Unfortunately, she was a little too late, and instead it fell down the trouser leg.

"Oh great," she snapped. She shook her leg, where she felt it move. "What the hell am I supposed to do with that? You've trapped my screwdriver in my leg!"

The voice didn't reply and she rolled her eyes. Of course she didn't have a comeback, or a solution to her current problem. Nardole was so much better off without her. "Alright, computer, what is my oxygen like?"

"At current levels of exertion, you have two thousand two hundred breaths available."

"Perfect," she muttered, then realised talking out loud was just going to waste the breaths. Instead, she just decided to head back to the Doctor. It felt weird walking, the boots felt rather heavy but as she was walking like normal, she was convinced it was all in her head.

The Doctor met her in the hallway. She had to appreciate the forcefields the suits had instead of a traditional helmet because seeing his face made her feel as relieved as he looked to see her. "You made it," he said with a relieved sigh.

"You sound shocked," she replied. He frowned, which she didn't expect.

"Danielle?"

He said her name like she wasn't there. "Yeah?"

The Doctor turned to Nardole. "Can you hear her?" he asked. Nardole shook his head.

"No, sir."

"Bill?"

"Not a thing."

She sighed heavily. "Great, so no one can hear me," she exclaimed, which was a little redundant because no one could hear her.

"No one can hear you," the Doctor told her, again a little redundantly. "Can you hear us?" She opened her mouth to answer, then stopped and nodded her head. "And you're okay?" Again, she nodded. "Do you have enough oxygen?"

She could feel herself becoming irate with the lack of communication options already. One more nod and he motioned her over. "Just stay with me," he instructed. "Where's you're screwdriver?"

"The suit ate it," she said as she shook her leg pointedly.

His brows furrowed. "Why did you put it in there?" he asked. She shot him her best outraged look, but he waved it away. "No matter, we can do this the old-fashioned way."

"No TARDIS, no screwdriver and in twenty minutes," she said fondly. He, of course, didn't reply and she had to wonder if not having anyone be able to hear her was a bad thing. Sometimes it was nice to have a sounding board that didn't reply.

Still, she also rather did like an audience when she was being witty, or making references. How was she supposed to know he liked what she was saying if he didn't reply?

He knew that she understood the universal sign of hand-holding even without being able to hear her, so he held out his gloved hand and she took it. He took her back into the repair room, where he used the control device on his arm to contact the crew.

"Drill Chief Tasker. Do you read me?"

"Read you, Doctor. You need to take Corridor Twelve to Processing. Quickly," the voice replied urgently. They headed back into the hallway, where they were greeted by a group of the suits coming in from the outside.

"They're here!" the Doctor cried. "Come on! This way! Move!"

"You look like you're trying to run. Would you like some help with that?" the suit asked Danni, who rolled her eyes.

"I've been running all of my life, I'm fine," she snapped.

"Can you shut your girlfriend up?" Bill exclaimed, obviously as annoyed with the computer as Danni was.

"Velma! That was her name!" Nardole replied, happy that he'd managed to remember his ex's name.

"Velma?" Danni repeated. "Like they Scooby Doo character? You sure know how to pick them!"

The Doctor sealed them off from the zombies with a smash of a control panel for one of the bulkhead doors, forcing it to look behind them. The suits continued to smash against it, and it wouldn't be long before they found their way through with just sheer brute force. So, they tried the next door, which was also locked against anyone getting through.

The Doctor used his suit's communication device again. "We've hit a sealed door at the end of Corridor Twelve. No way through," he told the people on the other side as they all tried to open it.

No one opened the door. "Oh, come on!" Danni shouted to herself. "There's no need to be rude! We're quite obviously not dead!"

"Tasker, come in," the Doctor tried again, and it took much too long for the people on the other side to open the door. Long enough for the suits to make their way through and approach them at much too fast a pace for them to be real zombies.

The door eventually opened, much to everyone's relief, and they stumbled through. There was a group of people all aiming guns at them.

"Deadlock the door!" one of them instructed to another, who did just that.

"Cutting it a bit fine, weren't we?" the Doctor accused them.

"There was some debate over whether to open it at all," replied one of the men.

"What was there to debate?" Danni snapped. "They're dead, and we are quite obviously not. So much for caring about your fellow man, you jackass!"

He could see her lips move but no sound was coming through the communication system. "Ah, chose one of the dud suits, did you?"

"They're all duds," the Doctor answered for her. "We were in the repair bay, remember? And you were the one who told us to come here!"

Tasker took aim specifically at the Doctor. "And you are?" he asked.

"We got your distress call," the Doctor explained, holding out his physic paper. Danni stared at it, amazed.

"How did you get that out?" she asked, but obviously he couldn't hear her. So she smacked him on the arm. He turned to look at her and she pointed at the physic paper.

"Oh, I remembered to keep hold of it when the suit materialised," he explained. "Try and remember that next time." She smacked him on the arm again and he continued to smile, amused by the little annoyed pout on her face. She could be incredibly adorable when she was annoyed.

"They're from the union," Tasker said, amazed and in a little disbelief.

"The union's a myth," the woman replied. He handed her the psychic paper to take a look herself.

Nardole laughed awkwardly. He hadn't wanted to come on this little adventure, but he also didn't want to be killed by either the zombies outside of the people in front of him. "Yeah," he said. "We're from the mythical union. We're here to help."

Bill, who was getting a lesson on interspace race relations, was suddenly startled by the way her arms reached out in front of her. "Er, that's not me," she told them, her panic rising. "That's not me."

"It's just glitching," both Tasker and Danni said at the same time.

"Ivan, take a look."

As Ivan did just that, helping Bill over to another console, the rest of the crew lowered their guns. They all still seemed rather suspicious of the new people, and Danni couldn't blame them, but she also didn't care.

The Doctor motioned to his wife. "Can he fix her comms as well?" he asked. Tasker shook his head.

"We've only got basic diagnostics. Spare parts are back where you came from, and I don't suppose you want to be going for a quick stroll back there."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. "No, I don't suppose we do," he agreed. He then turned to Danni, who just shrugged.

"Just means I can lust over you in peace," she told him. His brows furrowed as he tried to read her lips. "Although, I would always prefer suit off, but you know that."

She wasn't sure if he could read her lips or not- she was sure he had that ability at one point, hadn't he? – so she just raised her hand and did her best to blow him a kiss, which immediately perked him up.

"Right, where's your ship?" Asked Dahh-ren, the blue man who had given Bill quite the shock.

"Parked just off your repair station."

"Then you might as well be on the moon," the woman replied with an attitude that Danni was certain was going to start to piss her off sooner or later. It was always easy to spot the person who was going to give them the most resistance when they were trying to save them. "They're swarming around there now."

"It's just maths now," Tasker explained, obviously quite to optimist. "Oxygen divided by bodies. And none of us have more than three thousand breaths left."

"Then stop wasting them," the Doctor retorted. "I need a map of the base and a full rundown on what happened here."

"Who the hell put you in charge?" he demanded.

"I'm here to save your lives," the Doctor reminded him. "But if you don't want me to, just raise your hand."

No one raised their hand, in fact they all stood in silence as the Doctor stared them down expectantly. Tasker turned to the woman. "Abby, get the man a map."

She gave the Doctor the once over, but then did as she was told, fetching the Doctor what he'd requested. Danni gave her husband a nudge. "That's my Time Lord," she praised. "Scaring everyone into submission."

He nudged her back. "I still can't hear what you're saying," he reminded. "But I imagine you're praising me for my excellent people skills, which compliment my good looks impeccably."

She smiled brightly. "Oh, you think you're so clever," she teased.

He smirked. "I am so clever," he replied and she laughed.

"I knew you could read lips!"

~0~0~0~

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen. A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen," Danni sang under her breath.

"'Deactivate your organic component'," the Doctor repeated, as he was an active participant in the conversation that Danni was listening to. Tasker was going over what had happened, which seemed pretty simple. One moment they were all working, the next most of the crew were dead or dying.

"All the suits got the same command," he explained. "Best guess, someone hacked the network."

"And you survived how?"

"We were off network. You have to be to repair the conveyors," Abby replied.

"It was just dumb luck," Dahh-ren added.

Abby had fetched a map of the ship, which was laid out o a table in front of them. The Doctor had given it a quick look over, and only had a couple of questions. "The measurements, are those in metres?"

"Average breaths. The only unit worth a damn out here," Tasker replied.

"Forty breaths to the dorms, one twenty to the core," Abby explained as she pointed out the various places on the map. "That's where we're headed. It's the safest place."

"Are there more suits inside the base or out?"

Abby looked at him like he had two heads. "Outside is suicide."

"Inside we can move faster than them," Tasker elaborated in a more diplomatic manner. "Outside they have the edge. Which means we're dead."

Bill, who had just reappeared after getting her suit fixed, quickly decided that she definitely wanted to stay inside the spaceship. When being chased by zombie suits was an inevitability, having the upper hand seemed like the best course of action.

"What are you mining? Is it worth stealing?" Nardole asked.

"You think this is a robbery?" Abby asked.

"Well, killing you'd be a good start if it was," the Doctor pointed out. Nardole nodded.

"It's how I'd do it."

Danni pulled a face whilst everyone stared at him, suddenly suspicious. "If you're having to kill everyone to rob them, you're just not doing a very good job," she said factually, to nobody.

"Well, they picked a fine day for it. This is the least productive we've all been for months," Dahh-ren stated.

"Look, we're mining copper ore. You'd need to steal a mountain to make it worth your while," Tasker explained, which was a very valid point.

"Your employers. Any help from them?"

Tasker shook his head. "They're too far away."

"Not that it matters," Ivan, the man who'd fixed Bill's suit spoke up. "Whoever hacked the suits also cut the radio."

"If it was hacked," Danni pointed out. "Do you have any proof that this wasn't an inside job?"

"So your distress call…" the Doctor spoke over her and she scowled. Her question was perfectly valid, why was no one asking it? She couldn't be heard, but the Doctor wasn't an idiot. He must have thought it too, right?

"Was a botch. I boosted a suit radio through the dish," Ivan explained.

"Good job," both Danni and the Doctor praised at the same time.

The Doctor watched out of the corner of his eye as Danni walked away from the table, understandably annoyed that no one could hear what she was saying. He wished he could. He still couldn't quite work out what was happening to the spacesuits, or the space station, and he could have really used her input. All he had gathered so far was that the people left behind also had no clue what was going on.

At least she was able to keep herself busy whilst he did all the boring talking to people parts. She did love a new piece of technology to play with, and she'd made her way straight to the computers lining the room. Perhaps she could find something in them that they all had missed.

An alarm started to sound. It wasn't very loud, and no flashing lights accompanied it which made it feel like it had been put in place by the remaining crew rather than when the space station had been built. Tasker checked the monitor and blinked in surprise at what he saw. "They're fixing the lock."

"Well, then, it's time to go," Abby retorted, which was something everyone agreed with.

"West corridor is free. Forty breaths to the core," Ivan declared, having checked more of the monitors. "Let's move."

Tasker was the first out of the room, and Nardole ushered Bill out in front of him. The Doctor waited for Danni to join his side and they all dashed through the west corridor. Dahh-ren, who was continuously looking back, called forward that the zombies that had fixed the lock were through and on their way, which made it very hard for Bill to keep her breathing down. As did watching poor Tasker die as he opened the door to the core, only to be touched by the zombies waiting for them. An electric surge shot through him as the zombie passed the command to deactivate the organic component, and he joined the force trying to kill the survivors.

"Airlock!" Ivan instructed, and no one argued as he opened one of the bulkhead doors. They all dashed into the small room and he slammed the door shut. Danni peaked out of the small glass window and saw just how many of them were coming at them.

"Helmets on," Ivan instructed as he reached into a small pouch on his hip. The Doctor, Nardole and Abby followed suit.

"Helmet?" Danni asked, a little confused as she turned around. She certainly didn't have a helmet on her.

"Where are we going?" Bill asked.

"Outside."

The Doctor reached into the matching pouch on Danni's hip. The small device he pulled out quickly expanded into a full helmet, one that looked a lot sturdier and designed for being out in the vacuum of space rather than in a pressurised environment. He'd already put his on and so he slipped hers on over her forcefield and twisted it into place.

Even though he knew that he could tell her that she was going to be fine, not hearing the response to tell him that his reassurance had worked made it feel a little redundant. So, instead, he sent her the reassurance across their link, a little tentative but he hoped she appreciated it. He knew that she was hesitant to be so open around people she didn't know, or didn't particularly trust as was the case with Bill, and so he grinned from ear to ear when he felt her shoot her own feeling back in return. It wasn't a thought, but it was nice all the same.

Bill, on the other hand, wasn't having the best time as the two Time Lords ignored their situation for a moment. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Outside," Nardole replied.

"Well, didn't they say that was a bad idea?" she questioned and he nodded.

"Oh, yes, it's not the best one. However, there is also a wave of killer suits on the other side, so…" He reached into her pouch and activated her helmet. Immediately she looked completely freaked out and she backed away slightly.

"Wait, why, why, why, why do I need that?" she demanded. "What about the air forcefield thing?"

"The forcefield is only for oxygen, there's a vacuum out there that would crush it," he explained as if he was explaining the weather to her, rather than the fact that she was about to go into deep space. "This will keep you safe." He helped her put it on as the Doctor finally let go of his wife. "Just try not to panic. Remember, breathe in, breathe out."

She tried her best to keep her breathing steady, but the helmet was very close to all sides of her head and it already felt like she didn't have enough oxygen. She really hated enclosed spaces. "What happens if I throw up in my helmet?" she asked.

"I'll throw up right next to you," Danni stated, as even the thought made her queasy.

"Colour and smells," Nardole said. Bill's eyes widened slightly.

"Don't throw up in helmet then. Check," she muttered, much to Danni's relief. She really wasn't very good with vomit. Not that anyone was good with it.

As the countdown begun, and all of them began to feel a little safer, Bill's suit began to flash red. Her arms lifted up and her hands took off her helmet. "Somebody stop it!" she cried as her arms began lowering again slowly.

The Doctor turned to her. "Put it back on!" he snapped.

"Doctor, that's not me doing that."

Danni rushed to her husband's side and they both tried to pry the helmet out of the suit's grip, but it wasn't budging at all. Bill was breathing fast and heavy, understandably panicking.

We need to get her back inside. She's not going to last out there.

At any other time the Doctor would have been almost euphoric at his wife talking in his head once again, but knowing that it was because Bill was about to die squashed any happiness. He turned to Ivan. "Stop the cycle!" he demanded.

"We can't stop it. It's automated."

Both he and Danni took to different parts of her suit, trying desperately to get it to release its grip. The screwdriver that was stuck in her leg was scratching at her skin and no matter how she tried to wiggle, there was absolutely no way that she was going to be able to get it.

"Stupid screwdriver!" she exclaimed angrily to herself. "What is the point of you if all you do is become reliant?!"

She wasn't particularly fond of Bill. Where she used to click with companions almost instantly, all Bill's presence had done was rub her the wrong way and she'd not even tried to get to know her, even for the Doctor's sake. But that didn't mean that she wished the girl harm, she'd just wished that she was anywhere else but on the TARDIS.

"Bill!" the Doctor called, trying to fight through the fog of her panic. "You're about to be exposed to the vacuum of space."

"So don't hold your breath," Nardole instructed firmly, as if it was going to give her any chance at all. They couldn't get back inside, and they couldn't get the helmet back on. She was dead, and she knew it.

The boots engaged with the floor and the countdown reached its end. "What are we going to do?" Bill sobbed, but there was nothing they could do and she knew it. She was going to die. She was going to die.

The last thing she remembered was a deafening silence and a sight of space that she had thought was awesome that now was blindingly bleak.

The Doctor could only stare at his new friend and charge in horror as she began to die in front of him. Her oxygen forcefield was delaying it slightly, but only by seconds rather than minutes or hours. He had failed her by not letting her go back to the TARDIS with Nardole when they had wanted to leave.

His next choice was clear, and devastating. He looked at his wife, who had frozen in front of Bill. He was just so lucky that it wasn't her suit that was malfunctioning. At least he only had to worry about Bill.

"Danni," he stated and she looked at him. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened as she instantly knew what he was about to do. Her head shook and she reached out, ready to stop him.

Theta, no!

~0~0~0~

Bill woke up, a crick in her neck and a headache that she couldn't quite place. She felt very disorientated as she looked around, but nothing felt familiar. She spotted a poster on the wall and let out a little chuckle of derision. Look after your Smartsuit and it will look after you. Yeah, right. Her suit had gotten her killed.

She jolted slightly as she came to the startling – although not unwelcome – realisation that she was, in fact, alive and well. Apart from the pain, and the headache. She then jumped again when she spotted the zombies staring back at her from the doorway. She tried to turn and run but she couldn't move.

"Suit?" she whispered urgently. "Suit? Velma?"

The suit burst into life. "Good morning." Bill shushed her as she spoke loudly. "How many I assist?"

"I can't move."

"This suit is currently offline for diagnostic purposes."

Oh, great. She still had absolutely no idea how she had survived, but it looked like it wouldn't matter. If she couldn't move, and there were zombies coming, she was going to be killed anyway.

The footsteps behind her had her turning her head the best she could, wondering if she was going to be attacked from behind. Instead she sighed in absolute relief as she saw Nardole and Ivan approaching her. "Ah, Nardole. Ivan, thank God!"

Nardole smiled at her. "You're awake." He shot Ivan a look. "Told you," he said in a singsong voice.

"Are you okay?" Ivan asked, much too loudly for her liking and she shushed him as well.

"No," she replied. "What happened? I can't move."

Ivan moved around to her front to take a look. "Your suit is set to auto. The Doctor hacked it and walked you out." It was a quick fix, and the moment she could she moved closer to Nardole.

"And you've got oxygen deprivation which is why you feel like you feel," Nardole added. She didn't really care much about how strange her body felt. Instead she nodded down the hallway to where the zombie suits were.

"Have you looked down there?"

"Ah, no, they're fine," Nardole promised her.

She wasn't convinced. "What? Are we safe?" He nodded. "What's stopping them?"

"This whole area's new. It's not in their mapping system," Ivan explained. She looked to Nardole for clarification. Or, rather, for him to confirm they were safe.

"You know, like when your satnav doesn't know a new road," he replied.

"So they can't come here?"

"Not without a floor plan."

Now she was starting to feel slightly safe once again, she noticed that there were two people missing that was she was expecting to see. "What happened to the Doctor? I thought I saw him…"

"Yeah," Nardole cut her off before she could continue. His voice went distinctly serious and she didn't like the sound of it at all. "The Doctor took you to safety. He gave you his helmet."

Her heart dropped painfully. "He died?"

Ivan shook his head. "He should have done. I don't know how he survived."

Nardole continued to look at her kindly, like he was going to explain something that was going to be horrid. She wasn't wrong. "Listen, about the Doctor. He walked in a vacuum for far too long," he explained kindly. He held up his hands as he saw her start to panic again. "He's mostly okay but, he paid a price."

"What do you mean?" she asked. What had he done? What had happened?

Nardole decided against explaining it to her, knowing what was waiting at the end of the hallway when they walked down. "He's in Section Twelve," he explained softly before leading her down the hallway towards the section where he was waiting. She eagerly followed, hoping to see her friend and teacher was alive and well at the end.

Then Nardole stopped and turned to her at the doorway into the section. "Before we go in," he said softly. "There's something you should be aware of."

"Oh my god, he's in a coma, isn't he?" she asked. She was worried, and panicking, and she just wanted to see the Doctor. What was he thinking, giving up his helmet for her? If he wasn't dead, it had to be something worse, and that was all her fault, wasn't it?

"No, it's not that," Nardole replied quickly to try and reassure her. It didn't help much. "You see, the Doctor and Danni, they're very old. And for the longest time all they have had is each other."

Bill frowned. That wasn't where she had thought he was going with that. "Yeah, so?"

"Well, so, Danni had a lot of things happen to her in that time. She's not had an easy live, and so, well," he glanced down the hallway. "Just-Just don't take it personally, and don't get too close to the Doctor, okay?"

"Okay…" Bill drawled, confused.

The section was still under construction and Nardole lifted the plastic out of the way to let her in. She stepped in and saw the Doctor sat down with Dahh-Ren and Danni near one of the windows. Danni held the Doctor's hand in hers, and was the only one of the two to look around at the sound of the plastic rustling.

She was immediately on her feet and Bill froze in her step. She still couldn't hear anything the other woman was saying but the pure fury on her face was being aimed straight at her. She quickly held her hands up in surrender as Danni's mouth moved with angry words, before she immediately turned her glare onto Nardole.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He looked almost queasy, which Bill could understand. "Er, Bill- Bill's awake," he said to her and the Doctor, a little redundantly to Danni.

Bill took a step forward towards the other Time Lord. "Doctor?" she asked unsurely.

Danni was immediately in front of her, blocking off her view completely. "No," she snapped into the silence that was listening. "You're not going anywhere near him."

"Danielle," the Doctor called over in warning, as if he knew what she was doing. He stood up as well and turned around. Bill gasped at the sight of his milky white eyes. The damage Nardole had mentioned was immediately apparent.

"You're blind," she whispered, horrified.

The Doctor chuckled slightly. Everyone was stating the obvious around him again today. "I am? Well, that explains the bruised shins."

She took a step to hug him, but Danni appeared between them again. This time, though, she put both hands on Bill and shoved her backwards. She didn't fall due to the suit, but she wobbled enough that it kept the distance between her and the Doctor as she stopped moving.

"I said stay away," Danni snarled. "Take another step towards him and I'll rip you out of that suit."

"What was that for?" she asked as Nardole helped her right again.

"Yeah, I did warn you," he said matter-of-factly. "She's just a little upset, that's all."

"A little upset?" Danni screeched. "I'll show you a little upset, you jumped up, tin-can…"

"Danielle," the Doctor said again, fumbling slightly as he reached out to rest a hand on her arm. She pulled back just slightly, but didn't take her eyes off Bill, who could clearly see that she was being considered a threat.

He wished he could see her, but all he had was a distinct lack of sight and the knowledge that she had blocked any chance he had of communicating with her telepathically. She had the moment they had made it back inside the spaceship, when she realised that he wasn't going to die. It was her fear controlling her and he wished he could help her, he wished he could hold her properly, he wished he could see her face, or hear her voice. But she was too closed off and she wasn't going to calm down until she could see that he was safe.

He could never let her know that he couldn't be fixed. "It's only temporary," he reassured them all.

"Really?" Bill asked.

"Yeah. Once we get back to the TARDIS," he replied. "I've got stuff in there that'll cure anything. Failing that, I think I've got some spare eyes somewhere. They're from a lizard, but I'm sure they'll fit."

Danni knew that he was just trying to make light of the situation because he was scared, and because they were all scared too. He was trying to keep everything light and calm so that he could have space to think of a way to save them all. It infuriated her that he thought that he could just talk his way out of what he had done, and how being blind might have been the best outcome but he could have died and he had been happy to do so.

She couldn't stand being near anyone, her instinct to run away growing and she turned and stormed off. "Oh, er, sir, she's gone. I think she just needed some space."

"Suit, can you mute the comms?" she asked. She didn't want to hear any of them.

She leant on the wall and watched the group. She hated the fact that he would risk himself for someone he barely knew, and she hated that it was just so distinctly him to do so. She hated the fact that he had always been like that, and that she wouldn't want him to change, but she also desperately wished that he was just a bit more careful.

She hated the fact that trying to redeem Missy, at the expense of her own safety, just to prove that anyone can be redeemed was also something the Doctor would do for her. She hated that as much as she wanted him to succeed, both of them knew that it was an exercise doomed to fail and he was going to realise that he'd married a monster. She was always going to be a monster.

She watched him walk away and into some of the debris, unable to see where he was going and refusing anyone's help. He was probably hoping he was walking in her direction and she was rather glad he wasn't.

"When we get back, when this is all over, you're going to ask me why I was with Missy and didn't tell you," she stated into the nothing that was listening. "And we're going to argue about it and it's going to go nowhere. The argument never goes anywhere."

She sighed, leaning back against the wall the best she could in the stupid spacesuit. "And I know you'd understand, and you'd want to storm in like the white knight you are and save me from the evil monster that contacted me. But today just showed me that I can't tell you. I can't show you a damn thing, because you'll just get yourself killed. I can't… I won't let them take another moment from us again."

Bill followed her husband and she felt the flare of protection that had made her shove Bill away, but this time she didn't follow it. "And when we get back, and after we argue, and we apologise and this is all over, I'm going to contact the Master back. I'm going to talk to him and fall under his spell yet again, and I can only hope you see it before it's too late. And I hope, more than anything, you can be that white knight and save me. Because I miss that. I miss you saving me, I miss not being afraid."

She swallowed back her tears. "And I'm only saying that because you can't hear me. Don't think I would ever actually say this to your face. Your ego is big enough as it is."

As she had muted her communications, she had no warning when Abby raised her gun and pointed it at the Doctor. However, she did see it, and the protectiveness that had flared up at the sight of Bill sparked back into life.

"Unmute," she instructed her suit as she moved as fast as the suit would allow her, right in front of the barrel. With a swift smack the gun fell out of Abby's hand and she was pointing it right back in her face.

"Try it," she said in warning.

"Oh, sir!" Nardole exclaimed, sounding incredibly worried. "She's got a gun!"

"Who does?" he demanded.

"That was like something out of a movie," Bill said, slightly in disbelief. Danni had appeared almost at superspeed, and whilst she didn't particularly feel safe with the woman who was angry at her having a gun in her hand, she was rather impressed.

"Oh," the Doctor replied softly. "Danielle, drop the gun."

Danni didn't drop the gun. "Look, I don't care if you live or die," she told Abby. "I don't care that the company you work for is trying to kill you all. I know you can't hear me, but you threaten him again and I'll kill you."

She didn't know when she'd realised that the deaths were at the hands of company that owned the spaceship, but she didn't really have time to care, or to share that little piece of information. She just had to keep the Doctor safe, not just from himself it would seem but from everyone else.

She felt the uncertain hands of her husband reach out and grab her arm, giving her a few testing squeezes before trying to lower her arm. She did, although she didn't let go of the gun. "It's okay, it's okay," he said to her calmly. "She just doesn't do very well when people are threatening me, you'll have to forgive her for your rudeness."

"Who the hell are you?" Abby demanded again.

"I'm the Doctor," he told her. "Until the next rescue ship comes, no one is going to help you but us. If you really want to survive, we all need to calm down."

Again, he was aiming it at everyone, including Danni, who hadn't taken her eyes off Abby. She had known that her bad attitude would just get in the way. Every time, on every adventure, it was always the humans that go in the way.

Dahh-Ren called out in pain and fear, and they all turned to see him being killed by a suit. In their arguing, no one had been paying attention and somehow they had found their way into the section.

Danni quickly fired at them, taking a couple out. "We have to move!"

"We have to move!" Ivan echoed.

"Head for the reactor core! Run!" Abby instructed as Dahh-Ren joined the walking dead.

Danni shoved her gun back at her before helping Nardole grab the Doctor to usher him along.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"Guess," Nardole retorted.

"Danielle?" he called. "Is that her? I'm not leaving her behind."

She gave his arm a squeeze to reassure him. "I'm here," she said. "All ready to gloat in your face when you realise that you've missed the biggest clues of them all."