The Doctor was stupid. He always claimed to be, but sometimes it even surprised him and he hated being surprised by his own stupidity. It was even worse than when he was surprised by other peoples. It came out of nowhere and hit him in the face, and if he was perfectly honest, he really didn't need yet another injury.
The company was killing the people. The orders were coming straight from the source, and there hadn't been anyone hacking the system. They had just wanted to replace the humans that were being so inefficient with a new lot to make more money, and it was the best way that they could do it. All to save a little oxygen. All to save a little money. With no regard for life because, as it always did, it all came down to that bottom line. It was disgusting, and much too predictable for him to take this long at realising it.
Of course, coming to that realisation when he had to leave Bill to die, scared and alone, wasn't his finest hour, but he could have been forgiven for not working at full capacity. He had been deprived of oxygen, blinded, all without a sonic screwdriver or the TARDIS. Some things just took a little time to work out.
Bill called after them, and he wished more than anything he could take hold of Danni's hand and feel her reassurance. Instead he just grasped at her through the suit's fabric and she did the same to him. No matter how angry she was at him, and how angry she pretended to be at Bill for the damage caused, he knew she didn't mean it. He knew his fear came out in manic plans that he didn't quite think through. Her world had shrunk so much since losing Clara that it came out in anger. She was just angry she couldn't do anything about it.
The door to the reactor room was closed, keeping the suits temporarily out, which was all the Doctor needed. "Nardole, keep an eye on Danielle," he instructed. "I have work to do."
He didn't need to be able to see to know that Nardole immediately stepped towards his wife, and he didn't need to be able to hear her to know that she was loudly protesting the fact that she needed to be looked after. However, although he complained about the potato man/robot a lot, the one thing he could do was trust him to look after his wife no matter what and he needed to focus on the next part of his plan instead of her safety.
Alright, instead of wholly focusing on her safety but he also didn't have time to worry about the specifics. The suits wouldn't leave them alive for long so he stumbled his way to the control panel and immediately began to pull it apart.
"What are you doing?" Danni asked the air as she watched him work. She knew him well enough and had seen him work in plenty of dire situations to know when he had a plan and when he was winging it. As he was pulling wires and circuitry out of the console, she knew that it was the former.
Nardole grabbed her arm before she could walk over to his side. "Ma'am, you have to stay here."
She looked at him, annoyed. "Says who?" she snapped.
"I have to keep an eye on you," he reminded. "It's for your safety."
"Well, then, keep an eye on me while I safely stand over there," she retorted and walked over closer to watch him work. He would pull wires out and, after giving them a quick feel though his gloves, would chuck them to the side of pile them on top of the console. "You know, I wish you would give me a running commentary," she told him. "Because it looks really interesting, especially as we're about to die."
Nardole, who quickly joined her at her side like a shadow, frowned as the Doctor seemed to frantically work. "Doctor, this isn't going to work," he told the older Time Lord.
"Isn't it?" the Doctor replied, slightly sarcastically. "Why, what do you think I'm doing?"
"Electrolysis," he replied. "Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen."
"Oh, that's clever. I wish I could see me doing that." He fumbled around the hole he'd created in the console, looking for the correct wires. He had to admit, it was rather interesting working from just feel alone. It would have been better if it hadn't been in such dire situations, but he worked his best when he was in a hurry.
Danni shook her head. "No, that's not it," she corrected Nardole. "I don't know what he is doing, though."
"Doctor, that water is cooling the nuclear core," Nardole continued as the Doctor walked into him. He continued to do so until Nardole shifted out of his way. "We'd enjoy five minutes of oxygen before the whole thing overheated and blew."
"Yes, five whole minutes!" the Doctor agreed enthusiastically as he felt his way to the middle, where the core stood. He tapped on the side until he found the controls for that as well. "We could boil the hell out of an egg! Stop being such a quitter!"
Nardole shot a look at Danni, looking for her help. She just shrugged and jabbed her oxygen shield to remind him that she couldn't exactly chime in with an answer. Not that she would, she was sure the Doctor was doing something clever and she wasn't about to interrupt that.
He realised he was getting no help from her, so he turned back to the Time Lord, who was still working away frantically. "Doctor, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have saved her!"
"You know what's wrong with this universe? Believe me, I've looked into it. Everyone says it's not their fault. Well, yes, it is." He stopped, trying to face Nardole but he couldn't. " All of it. It's all your fault. So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Make it right," Danni interjected.
"There's nothing we can do! She's dead!" Nardole exclaimed. The Doctor paused and shot a look in what he hoped was Nardole's general direction.
"She's no more dead than you are," he corrected. "Than I am. Than everyone on this station is." He held his hands up. "Get me to a keyboard."
"What? Why?"
"Because I'm not trying to make oxygen. Keyboard! Now, please!" Nardole rolled his eyes but, yet again, did as he was told and walked him to a keyboard. He began typing almost immediately and the readout above him began to change.
Ivan, who was keeping careful eye on the suits that were trying to break their way into the room, glanced over at them. "You think you have a plan."
"We've got exactly one plan left."
Danni watched her husband continue to work. She wasn't sure what, exactly, he was trying to do but she could tell by his tone that his plan was rather… well, deadly in nature. Having survived through so much she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that, and it was after a little back and forth between him and the remaining crew members of the space station, he finally explained what he meant.
"The nice thing about life is, however bad it gets, there's always one last option available." He moved away from the keyboard, fumbling to press some of the controls near him. The display changed and the readouts were replaced by images of five bodies appeared. "Dying well."
"No," Abby declared before rushing over to her own computer. "No!"
"What is it?" Ivan demanded.
"Our life signs. He's wired them to the coolant system. If we die, it vents."
"When the suits kill us - and they are going to kill us - the core will blow and the whole station will be destroyed," he explained as he walked away from the controls and into the room. "One very big boom," the Doctor explained.
For a moment, Danni felt rather shocked at his plan, before the leaps he'd made obviously made a lot of sense. If the conclusion she had come to was true, and that the company was killing the crew and not a hacker or a malfunction, the best way to show how pissed everyone was would be to destroy their money-making machine. She hadn't expected the Doctor to come up with the same, rather finite, reason. He would always try and save as many people as he could, it was one of the wonderful traits that she had always loved. She didn't expect to him act like, well, like her.
"Is that really the best you've got? Revenge?" Nardole shouted angrily.
"Not just revenge. It's revenge as bright as the sun. It's revenge you can see across galaxies!" He smirked. "Not bad for a blind man."
Danni walked over, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly. He started but, with a nudge of her head, she showed him that it was her and not something to be concerned about.
I do wish we could talk before we die, she said, opening her mind up for just a moment.
Don't you worry, my Pet. I'll hear your wonderful voice yet.
He felt and sounded confident to her, which was even more confusing as he convinced everyone to open the doors and let the suits in. Surely, if they were all going to die and taking off the helmets would mean that they could neither talk nor be heard, she could never talk to him again.
Bill was the first suit in, arms outstretched ready to deactivate all of the organic parts within the room. The Doctor pointed out how very much it felt like Fate to have Bill come in first. Danni felt rather bad that she had been a little mean to Bill, after all it wasn't her fault that the Doctor had chosen to give up his helmet for her.
"Hello, suits," the Doctor greeted jovially. "Our deaths will be brave and brilliant and unafraid. But above all, suits, our deaths will be—" he grinned, "-expensive!"
The suits stopped dead in their tracks, as if they were actually listening to him. Danni, on the other hand, started to laugh so hard that she had to bend her knees to keep her balance. How had she not worked that out? She blamed it on the lack of oxygen and the near-death experience.
The Doctor let go of her hand when he realised that she had caught up with his thinking. He walked around the suits, changing the readouts on their arms so they could see exactly what he had done. "Check your readings. We die, your precious station dies. The whole thing will blow. The company will make the biggest loss in its history. A moment ago, we were too expensive to live. Now we're more expensive dead."
"Oh, you think you're so clever," Danni told him.
"I know I am," the Doctor replied, as if he could hear in. Most likely he had just assumed what she had said, but she wouldn't put it past him to have heard everything she had been saying all along. "Welcome to the rest of your lives."
"But you said that we were going to die," Abby protested, which was definitely a weird thing to protest.
"Ah. Technically, I said you were as dead as Bill. Probably should've mentioned. Bill's not dead." He reached up to Bill's helmet and quickly reactivated her oxygen. With a big gulp of breath, she came back to life. "I saw earlier her suit battery was too low. Not enough for a lethal dose. I know what it takes to kill someone."
"Doctor?" she asked as the other suits walked around, giving up their oxygen to the people who were still alive.
"Yeah?"
The young woman beamed. "I think I'm alive."
"Yep. You do seem to be under that impression."
She chucked her arms around him and it took all of Danni's strength not to push her off him. It was unreasonable, and unfounded, but the flare of protection she felt had her hands clenching by her sides.
Nardole, seemingly sensing her discomfort, walked to her side. "Cuddle?" he offered.
She scowled at him. "Piss off."
~0~0~0~
Bill had never been able to not watch what was going on around her and admire the new and exciting. Even when she was about to suffocate, crying and about to die, she still couldn't help but think about the suit she was stood in, or the ones that were bringing the dead people ever-closer to her. How they held her up and how the mechanisms worked. She might not have understood it, but mixed in with the horror and the despair was that little hint of curiosity that she figured was why the Doctor had picked her to travel with them in the first place.
And, now they were safe and sound in the TARDIS, she couldn't help but watch the Danni and the Doctor. The Doctor, who was sat down and Danni who was stood in front of him, a small device in her hand that apparently would restore his vision. Again, she didn't understand how it worked but the fact that it did was actually a little bit brilliant.
"Will you- Stop moving your eyes around," Danni scolded the Doctor lightly. "Do you want to see or not?"
"I'm not doing anything," the Doctor grumbled back. She still didn't quite understand them. Danni always seemed annoyed at him. She always seemed annoyed at everything.
Slowly, but surely, the milkiness to the Doctor's eyes faded and soon he was staring up at his wife again. A very fond, very happy, very gentle smile spread across his face. "There you are," he whispered softly.
Danni lowered the device. Her shoulders sagged and all of the worry left her. "You can see?" she pressed, just to make sure.
He reached out, cupping the back of her head, threading his fingers in her hair. "The only thing I want to see," he replied, pulling her down. He didn't kiss her, instead he pressed her forehead against his and Bill couldn't help but feel like that was more intimate than the kiss would be. Danni dropped her device to the floor, letting it clatter, as she reached out and held onto the Doctor.
"You're such an idiot," she scolded and the Doctor chuckled.
"I am," he agreed. "A great, big, ancient idiot. I can't tell you how much I missed you face."
"It's not that great," she replied. "Well, no, actually, it's pretty fantastic. I'd miss it too."
He pulled back slightly. "You're supposed to say you'd miss mine," he pointed out.
"That's a given," she replied. She let go of the top of his legs to cup his face with both hands. "I missed your eyes," she said softly. She leant forward and they shared a soft kiss that had Bill changing her mind. That was more intimate. And a little weird, considering how out-of-character it felt for Danni. Still, it was incredibly sweet. She smiled at them. They had shown her some wonderful sights, and some awful sights, and learning about how they'd spent their life she was glad that they had each other. Even if she didn't really understand it.
There it was again. Liking things even though she didn't understand them. Smiling instead of frowning. Maybe the Doctor had been onto something.
She cleared her throat. "Uh, guys, we've got company, remember?" she said pointedly.
"Well they can get their own snog boxes," Danni retorted sharply. "This one's ours."
"I don't think that is the issue, here," Bill replied. Danni shot her a look but, as she wasn't very comfortable with large displays of affection in front of other people, she pushed off the floor in front of him to let him up. As he did, he handed her the sonic screwdriver she had been able to retrieve out of her suit once they'd made it to the TARDIS. She put it in her pocket.
He did a very good job of turning to the survivors of the space station, so much so that he could immediately tell that no one thought anything was wrong with him at all.
"Thank you, Doctor," Abby said both humbly and sincerely. "For all that you've done. I'm sorry that I didn't have more faith in your methods."
"Ah, don't mention it," he dismissed, because having faith in his methods was something that even he didn't have. "Now, I can set you down on a hub outside of corporate control, or anywhere, really. The universe is your crustacean."
Abby looked at Ivan, who nodded back. "Head office. We've got a complaint to make."
He grinned and, with touch alone, set the TARDIS into flight. His mind was racing, as the realisation that his eyesight wasn't coming back hit him at full force. "Promise me you'll be loud?"
Abby nodded and Danni suddenly rather liked her. "Promise."
~0~0~0~
Bill was in good spirits when she left the office, but then again that was to be expected considering she had almost died but then had not. Danni watched her leave from by the TARDIS, where she leant against it silently. Nardole looked ready to tell them off as the door shut behind the human, which he had all of the right to considering what had happened, but Danni really wasn't in the mood for it.
"Never again," Nardole started.
"Nardole," Danni started. "Go check on the Vault. Take your time."
"I'm not going anywhere," he retorted. "We were so close to not making it back…"
"Go check on the Vault," the Doctor cut off. "Now."
"And why should I, when you obviously…."
"Because, I fear, Danielle and I are about to get into an argument."
"I'll just go check on the Vault," he declared before scuttling off out of the door, shutting it behind him. The Doctor had slipped on his sonic sunglasses when they'd left the TARDIS, and he didn't take them off when he looked over at where she was.
"You went to see Missy," he said.
"You almost died," Danni retorted.
"And you left your sonic screwdriver there," he continued. "Do you have any idea what could have happened if she…"
Danni stepped forward. "You almost died!" she repeated pointedly. "You took your helmet off in the middle of space and, for some reason, thought that was okay!"
"Why were you in there?"
He watched her straighten, as if ready for a fight, then reluctantly fall back as she realised that he wasn't going to let her change the subject with how he'd saved Bill. She knew that he wouldn't have done anything differently, and arguing wouldn't change it the next time anyone was in danger and he could save them.
"I-I got an email. I thought it was from her, and I was angry because I thought she'd managed to get internet access," she explained. "I was wrong, it was just some spam. I overreacted."
The Doctor was sat at his desk, and leant forward towards her. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. "I would have helped."
"Because!" she retorted but she couldn't tell him the reason she hadn't mentioned it. There was a little voice in her head scolding her for being so stupid, but there was another that just didn't want him to know. She hated that part, but it was the part that couldn't help but listen to. "Because I was scared, and then angry, and then embarrassed." She shuffled on the spot. "I didn't want to drag you into my embarrassment. It's embarrassing."
"As embarrassment usually is," he pointed out. He sighed heavily and shifted in his seat. "Did she break your laptop?"
"What?" she asked. "No, of course not. That was just me being clumsy. I said I'd fix it at some point."
"Are you sure? Because you did leave your sonic screwdriver in there with her, and then didn't mention that either."
She shuffled from side to side slightly, and she hoped that he'd take her discomfort at more embarrassment. "Yeah, she startled me," she muttered. "It was stupid. I hate being in there with her so much. She's only trapped because she thinks it will help her to stay put. The moment she doesn't think that, she'll be gone and if she had the sonic screwdriver it would have helped her so much more."
He knew now wasn't the moment to bring up Missy's rehabilitation, or how good she had been and not used the screwdriver once. The fact that Danni wasn't putting up a fight to tell him about what had happened with Missy, even though she was still so guarded about it, was steps enough that he let it drop. "Are you sure that was all that happened?"
"Yeah, it was just a stupid email," she promised. And, unfortunately for both of them, the Doctor couldn't see that she was lying. "I'm fine now." She walked over to him and he let her sit on his knee. "I promise."
He held onto her tightly as she kissed him, wishing he could see her as well as feel her. "What about you?" she asked. "How are you feeling, now?" She reached up and stroked her hand though his hair to move it from his face. "The glasses haven't been out for a while."
"Everything is still a bit bright; you know how regaining your vision is," he dismissed. She didn't, and told him so. "I'll be right as rain in no time."
She pressed another kiss against his lips. "I'm going to have a shower then maybe, finally head to bed. Are you coming?"
"That depends," he purred, leaning forward to kiss her again. "Are you planning on sleeping?"
"Yes, I am," she told him with a chuckle. He pulled a face and she laughed outright. She didn't move, though, and there was a silence between the before she took his glasses off so she could see his eyes. "Please don't do that again," she whispered.
"I promise, my Pet," he replied. He wished he could see her face, but luckily when he leant forward to rest his forehead against hers again, she met him and he didn't need to find his way. "I'm sorry I worried you."
"I'm sorry I worried you too."
He nudged her off his lap and she handed his sunglasses back. "Go on, go waste some time with that whole sleeping thing," he dismissed.
She shot him a smile. "Love you."
"Love you too," he replied and he waited until he heard her enter the TARDIS before his happiness dropped.
He had no idea what to do. He knew he'd done a good job convincing everyone that he could still see, but now he had to keep up the charade until he could figure out a better fix for it than just using his sonic sunglasses to read what was happening around him.
It wasn't even the worst thing that could have happened. Plenty of people had varying degrees of vision, it was just that he'd had sight for… well, too many years to count. There was an adjustment period he needed that he didn't have the luxury of affording. If Danielle found out that his actions had caused more permanent damage than he'd let on, it would reverse a lot of the progress she had made to become more comfortable in her own life. She needed him to be a stable force, not someone who was unpredictable and constantly got themselves hurt. She needed stability from him. He needed to look after her.
And then there was Missy. He was so sure that he could show her how to be good, teach her how to think until it became second nature and she stopped being a threat to the universe. But she wasn't there, yet. The moment she found out he had anything that she could perceive as a weakness she would exploit it in two heartbeats. How was he supposed to keep his vow and watch over her for a thousand years, teach her to be good and keep her away from his wife before he'd either managed to fix the damage or found a way that no one could perceive it as a weakness?
Somehow, Nardole reappearing didn't surprise him, however the fact that he now had a yo-yo did. He didn't remember taking it out, although it was rather calming and perhaps would help him sort through his thoughts.
"We were so close to not making it back," Nardole told him, and he realised that he hadn't quite gotten out of the telling off from him either. "Then what happens to the vault? You know what's at stake here."
"Stop talking," the Doctor snapped.
"What if you got killed out there, huh? What happens to your precious Earth then? To Danielle? You need to be here, and you need to be ready if that door ever opens," he continued anyway and the Doctor's frustration flared. "Look at me."
"I can't."
"What if you came back injured or sick? You really think our friend down there won't know that? Won't sense it? Look at me!"
"Nardole, I can't. I really can't!" he declared before standing up and whipping off his sunglasses for dramatic effect. "I can't look at anything ever again. I'm still blind."
The silence that followed was rather nice, and if he had known that losing his eyesight was all it would take to shut him up, he seriously might have considered it sooner. "But Danielle…"
"I know."
"Does she…"
"No," he cut in and he pointed in the direction his glasses told him to. "And you are not to, under any circumstances, tell her. Do you understand?"
"Sir, I can't keep this from her. You can't keep this from her. My orders are very clear."
"Your orders are to look after her, yes?" the Doctor asked. "Tell me something; what would happen if Missy, at this moment, found out that I was blind? Do you think she would be receptive? Sympathetic? Or do you think she would use it to her advantage? Do you think that door would stay closed? Weren't you just telling me off for that exact reason?" the Doctor continued.
"Yes, sir."
"So we're all in agreement," he declared. "Now, tell me this; if we are both frightfully concerned about what would happen if knowledge of this got out, how do you think that will make Danni feel? How do you think it will make her act?"
Nardole glanced at the TARDIS, where he guessed Danielle was because otherwise they wouldn't have been having the conversation in the first place. "Reckless, terrified, and without thought," he said.
"Exactly. She went storming into that vault on the back of a spam email alone. What do you think will happen if she finds out that I'm compromised?"
"You're scared that she might get hurt?"
"No, I'm scared that she will get herself hurt," the Doctor corrected. "She is always looking for some way that this is going to fall down around us. Poking at every little bit of uncertainty to the point we're on a space station with no oxygen, all because she's running away. I'm not scared she will get hurt. I'm terrified she will try and fix the problem by running straight into the mouth of the monster."
~0~0~0~
The shower had been very warm, and very relaxing, and Danni always felt better after having one. She was still rather wary of baths – that was probably something she was never really going to get past – but a good shower could wash all of the day's grime away and set her on a good path for tomorrow.
Of course, sometimes there was something going on that couldn't just be washed down the drain. Sometimes there was a mad man waiting at the end of an email chain, who you couldn't washed away with some shampoo and a nice smelling shower gel. Sometimes he would just be waiting, and no matter what you did, or who you hid it from, there was no getting away from him.
She sat down on the bed and looked at the laptop that had been placed at the bottom corner. The TARDIS had already replaced her broken one – which she would fix – which Danni found very surprising. She had been convinced that the TARDIS wouldn't have been on her side. Perhaps the blue box knew something she didn't.
She opened the laptop and was immediately greeted with the background image of her and the Doctor together, wrapped in a hug. It was one of the few pictures of the two of them in their current bodies because neither of them were particularly into picture taking this time around.
She looked up at the ceiling. "Bit on the nose, isn't it?" she said. "I know I should tell him. I should tell him." She looked back at the picture again. "I really should tell him."
Still, she opened her emails and saw that he hadn't replied since he'd sent the selfie. She opened it up and almost smiled at the sight. Of course the Master would send selfies instead of just explaining who he was. It was so typically him that it didn't even make her angry.
She hovered for a while, hesitating and debating if what she was doing was right… no, that wasn't quite correct. She knew that what she was doing wasn't right at all. In fact, it all felt very wrong and instead of trying to work out if she should do it, instead she was trying to work up the nerve to shut the laptop lid and go get her husband.
She sighed; this was going to end badly. She could feel it.
What do you want?
It was a short sentence, but her stomach fluttered the moment she clicked send. She leant back against the headrest, staring intently to see how quickly he would reply, but still managed to jump when the email came in.
Yes, I am alive. Thanks for asking. She glared as she felt the sarcasm from the other side of the screen. As much as I hate to admit this, I need your help.
She frowned. Her help? What for? Why could he be contacting her for help? Why her?
What did you do now?
She glanced at the door as the next email came it, almost willing the Doctor to catch her in the act. Instead, only the Master replied.
I may have gotten myself into quite a bit of trouble. It's all a big misunderstanding.
She snorted. "Yeah, right," she muttered out loud before replying.
And what could I possibly do about it?
His reply startled her into silence.
Steal your husband's TARDIS and come save me.
~0~0~0~
Just a short one today, my peeps. I hope it's okay :)
Reviews!
Lady Avotil - Your review was an absolute delight to read! Thank you so much for spending so much time writing it. Also, I am always up for people gushing over Danni and the Master's relationship. I've been looking forward to being able to write this series for SO LONG purely because of these two. I hope I don't disappoint :D
Psst - Yeah, this Danni is a little bit more abrasive. Hopefully she'll calm down.
Daydreamerxx - I would say that it's because she knows it is inevitable. The Master has always had this hold on her, that already he is already getting her to keep secrets from the Doctor, and all they have done is exchange a couple emails. She doesn't want the Doctor to find out because she is worried that something will happen to him, but she also knows that if he doesn't notice then something will happen to her. She's basically a mess of confusion and the Master is very good at playing her like that.
HannahHPandDWfanJones - Thank you very much, sweetie!
Guest - And another one :P
bored411 - I'm sure this chapter answered some of your questions, but as always probably not as many as you'd like :P