It was startling to the Doctor to see the effect that only spending six months with Missy had on Danielle. It had taken some gentle coaching to get her out of the Vault because Missy's lies had taken full root and she was convinced that the moment she stepped out that she'd be under their control. It was with a lot of promising that if she showed a single sign of being under their control then he would push her straight back in the Vault – and, unfortunately, the promise that Nardole was waiting at their safe house – for her to even consider following him.
Just as he had known all along, she survived stepping outside without falling immediately under the Monk's control. He didn't point that out, of course, but instead took her hand and led the trio away.
The safe house wasn't exactly a house, but rather a collection of storage boxes that they had covertly stolen for their base of operation. The deprogrammed guards that had helped them escape were already there, with Nardole who was spending his time waiting for them knitting.
He obviously wasn't expecting them to turn up with Danni, because he was out of his chair like a shot at the sight of her. "Ma'am," he cried, surprised, dropping the needles and rushing over. "Where have you been? The Doctor never mentioned that he had found you."
Danni shrugged, her face stoic, as the Doctor stepped into the room. "She was in the Vault," he answered for her and Nardole looked, rightly, horrified. "Did you not think to check in there?"
"No-No sir, I didn't think that she," he turned back to Danni, who's lack of expression suddenly made a lot more sense, "I didn't think that you would go in their willingly."
"Next time think harder," the Doctor snapped.
Nardole nodded, not commenting on his anger. He felt the same way towards himself knowing that Danielle had been trapped in the Vault for six months with Missy. He should have checked when he went there to make sure that Missy was still trapped in the box, but he had genuinely believed that she would have run away to hide before stepping foot inside on her own. "Well, did she at least say anything useful?"
"Nothing," the Doctor retorted.
"There's a way to defeat them," Bill spoke up and the Doctor shook his head.
"There isn't," he insisted before hesitating slightly. "Well, there is, but not that."
Bill, on their silent trip back to the home base, had thought on it a lot. She had thought about what Missy and Danni had both said, and about how this was all her fault. All those people under the rule of an alien race, the Doctor being trapped, Danni stuck inside that strange Vault, that had all been her fault. She had said yes to save the Doctor. She had given her consent to get him his sight back and she would do it a million times over, but that didn't mean that she was exempt from the consequences.
"Come on," she said. "You knew she was going to say something like this. It's why you needed me back. You could have escaped from that ship. You could have started something to defeat the Monks without me."
"Can someone...? What did she say?" Nardole asked, very confused.
The Doctor was going to protest, but Bill turned to him before the Time Lord could speak. "She said it's me. I asked the Monks for help and started all of this, so I have to be the one to finish it. The only downside is, if that's what we do, well, it's not worth me starting any long books."
Nardole blinked, surprised at the revelation. "Okay, well, er, let's er put a pin in it for now, as they say, and, er, see if we can think of something else," he suggested calmly, because it was painfully obvious that Bill had decided that she was going to get herself killed. He turned to Danni, who didn't look particularly fazed by her declaration. "Ma'am, did you learn anything else?" he asked.
Danni was looking around the room, at all of the people that she didn't know. A whole life that Nardole and her husband had lived outside the Vault and not one of them had thought to check to see if she was inside. To be honest, it did hurt a little to know that they'd not found her. Then again, they were worrying about her out here in the world whilst she was worrying about them inside.
"Nothing that can help with that," she replied. "The source of the mind control is Bill. Cut off the source and it fades away." She quickly looked at the Doctor. "Not that it's a viable solution, but it's the only one I found. It's a good system; even if you find out how to stop it, chances are you're not going to want to kill the person at the centre. They depend on compassion to keep the link going."
"You see," Bill said, looking back at her tutor, her friend. "That's what's protecting the Monks. It's why their plan works."
"There is always another way," the Doctor insisted. "I'll work it out. I always do."
"That is true," Danni offered to Bill, again with a casual shrug. "If anyone can save your life, it's the Doctor."
~0~0~0~
And so, the Doctor set about trying to save Bill's life. Even he knew that it was a long shot, but he worked best in tight situations and with long shots, so he was very much in his element as he instructed the group of people what they were going to do. They were going to break into the Pyramid that had started it all, and the Doctor was going to overpower the transmitter himself. It was now located in London, which did make the whole process a lot easier.
Too easy. Danni couldn't help but see each advantage they received as a part of an elaborate storyline. She could imagine being sat at home on a Saturday evening, cuddled up on the sofa and watching the Doctor run about with his companion, saving the day and each time something happened to help it would be because the writer wanted to get to the good stuff quicker.
Of course, in reality, that wasn't what happened. They had to get to the other side of London, past all of the helicopters and armed guards that were looking for the escaped Doctor and his accomplices. There was preparation, and dark alleyways, and toilet breaks that when she had been a young human were never shown on television. Sometimes, all these centuries later, she still couldn't help but think about it. It didn't help that for the longest time that was how she worked out whether she was in reality, or whether Missy had put her to sleep again.
The one thing that never changed, though, was the wonder she felt when she watched the Doctor fight against all odds. Everyone, including him, knew that the best way to stop the Monks was for Bill to die. But he was never going to take that option, he was never going to trade one life for another. That's why he was blind in the first place, and why he now had his sight again. She'd never grow out of watching his hope. It was beautiful and it always would be.
He caught sight of her watching him and frowned slightly in confusion. She knew he was confused about her staring, but whilst she had been trapped in the Vault she had come to a couple of conclusions about her life. And one, a big one, had been that she was tired of pretending that she didn't love him. Everyone else got to show how amazing they found him and she wanted to let it all out.
So she smiled slightly, lifted her hand to her lips, and blew him a kiss. He seemed more startled at that than anything, but his smirk grew. She was finally coming out of her shell despite the fear she felt around her. He knew she could do it. He knew she could find herself again.
They had taken shelter in a house just outside the Pyramid. The Monks had done great work clearing out a ring around their base of operations, but it did make for easy hiding. They didn't expect anyone there, so they could hide with ease.
Nardole looked out of the grimy blinds to the entrance of the Pyramid. "That's odd," he commented. "There's no Monks guarding the entrance."
"Come away from the window," he instructed. "How many Monks were there?"
"About twelve Monks there," he replied, now rather worried. The rest of the group looked at each other, confused at the sudden change in numbers.
"Twelve?" the Doctor repeated. Nardole nodded so the Doctor motioned to the window again. Just as before, when Nardole looked out, there were no Monks guarding the entrance.
He turned back around, now wise to the trick. "Well, you have to admit that's ever so clever."
"Don't praise the bad guys, Nardole," Danni scolded. "They're controlling everyone."
He ducked his head. "Right, sorry Ma'am."
"Another way they hang on to power is to create a myth that they're here in greater numbers than they really are," the Doctor explained to them.
"The beam's stronger here, isn't it?" Bill asked. "I can almost hear it. It's so hard to hang on to any thought of life before the Monks."
That was very reassuring to hear, because now that she knew that everyone was feeling it around her, Danni knew she wasn't being pulled under the Monk's spell. She had no desire to follow them, or to believe their lies. She could remember the time without the Monks very clearly, and it felt like a large weight was lifted off her shoulders. Now that she wasn't worried about being taken over by alien overlords, she could focus on helping fix the world once again.
"Yes, and it's going to get stronger the closer we get to the transmitter. The lies are going to become more convincing. You'll want to turn around. You won't know what you're doing here or why you're working against the Monks," the Doctor explained. "Now, have you all got your stereo headphone iThing?"
Everyone but he and Danni pulled out a pair of headphones. Even Nardole. "Yeah. You never told us what we needed these for."
He pointed at her. "Ah, this is where you come in."
This was another part that Danni remembered the show never showing. Bill needed to record a voiceover so that the humans could constantly hear her explaining that the Monks weren't really their masters. Of course, Bill has to stop and start a couple times as she stumbled over her words because that's what happens when you don't have time to rehearse. Eventually, though, they headed into the Pyramid.
"Are you sure you don't want a pair of headphones?" the Doctor had asked her and Danni shook her head.
"Nah," she dismissed confidently. "It'll take more than a couple of corpses to overrun my brain."
The confidence she was now exuding reminded him of how she was before they'd picked Missy up. She was relaxing, feeling more herself, and he loved it more than anything. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly in a position to explore that confidence, but he knew that it was going to be a lot of fun doing so.
The pyramid itself was dark as they entered, with plenty of places for the Monks to hide and sneak up on them. And, with most of the guards wearing headphones to stop them turning against them, sneaking up on them was very easy to do. Two men were quickly taken out, their screams echoing against the stone walls, finally alerting everyone else to their presence. They dove and ducked out of the way as the guards fought back, until, finally they reached the door where the transmitter sat on the other side.
"So, you're just going to plug your brain into it?" Danni whispered to her husband. "Is that a 'Time Lord overload' plan, or a Library plan? Because last time you were going to do something like this my mother died."
"Overload," he dismissed, hoping he wasn't lying. "I'm not planning on dying today."
Danni nodded, satisfied with his answer. Then they all heard the sound of a gun cocking. They turned to see Alan, one of the guards, pointing a gun directly at the Doctor's head.
"Everything all right, Alan?" he asked nervously.
"You tricked us. You tried to make us believe the Monks were invaders. How could you say that? They've always been here. You know that," Alan insisted.
"Doctor," Danni said slowly, as not to startle the man with a gun against her husband's forehead. "His tape player…"
The Doctor glanced down and saw the damaged tape player. "Ah, oh, I see," he replied. It must have been damaged in the fight against the Monks on their way in. He should have checked to see if everyone was okay. That was on him. That was just sloppy on his part.
As Danni was about to intervene, her face twisting in anger at him being in danger, Alan dropped to the ground unconscious. Nardole was stood behind him, finger and thumb in front of him, looking at the floor with very little concern.
He saw everyone staring at him. "Tarovian Neck Pinch," he explained. "Yeah, I er, I studied their martial arts for a while, actually. Yeah, reached the level of Brown Tabard."
Danni grinned. "Nardole, that was awesome," she praised him. He smiled, a little proud of himself.
"Can't do it with this hand though," he replied, holding up his other hand to illustrate. "Kind of bugs me. Course, this wasn't my original hand, as you know."
She stepped from the Doctor's side to his. "Is any part of you still original?" she asked him. "And why do you keep hiding these stories from me?" She noticed the Doctor looking at her pointedly. "Oh, right, sorry. Continue."
As the Doctor sonicked the door open, she leant in a little closer to Nardole. "We should have an evening out. You, me and River. We'll get pissed and try and one-up each other with stories."
Nardole agreed, giving her a little nod as the Doctor led them into the room. It was huge, with triangular screens showing the Monks intertwined with moments of history. Images and clips played on each wall that surrounded a giant upside-down pyramid that pointed down to a Monk sat in the middle of the room.
"Fake News Central."
Bill removed her headphones, looking around in slight awe at the scale of the machine. "I can think. They're not in my head. Why is that?"
"I imagine that the information is being beamed outwards from that thing," Danni replied, motioning upwards. "No need to project it into the guy sending it out to everyone."
The Doctor instructed the remaining guards to guard the doors into the room before slowly approaching the Monk In the middle. It was wearing a head piece, hands on two glowing columns that obviously plugged into the machine. He circled around it, checking out the equipment.
"Boo!" he shouted, startling both Nardole and Bill. Danni laughed again and he grinned at her.
"Not necessary," Nardole muttered.
"Very necessary," Danni replied, amused. It was easy to see that anything that would be projecting a fake history into the brains of planet would leave the user completely unaware of what was happening around them. If they were startled then that was their own fault.
The Doctor looked incredibly confident as his hands hovered at the Monk's temples ready to interrupt the broadcast. He pressed his fingers delicately against the headpiece and it began to glow. All around them the images of the Monks began to disappear, being replaced with the actual events of history.
"It's working! The Monks are disappearing!" Bill cheered, ecstatic.
"That's my Time Lord!" Danni cried along with her. No matter how old they got, or how long they lived with each other, nothing was better than the Doctor winning against the bad guys. She could watch it for all eternity.
But, as nothing could be that easy, the Doctor was quick to remove his hands, panting from the exertion. "Oh, I didn't agree to this."
Danni moved closer. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"He's fighting back. He's blocking me, countering every move," he explained before trying again. His head tilted backwards as he struggled to fight off the Monk. The pictures around them began reverting, the Monks becoming more and more prominent until finally, with a cry of pain, the Doctor was chucked off the podium and across the room.
"Doctor!" Danni shouted and they rushed to his side. She dropped down to her knees, quickly checking him over.
"Is he…" Bill asked, horrified but Danni shook her head.
"No, he's just exhausted," she promised, feeling absolutely and completely relieved. "He just needs to rest." She placed a kiss on his forehead before standing up, rubbing her hands together. "Which means it's my turn."
"Ma'am, that was not part of the plan," Nardole protested.
"Neither was the Doctor being flung across the room," she pointed out. She walked up and stood behind the Monk, looking at the top of its head. "Urgh, it looks like it's decomposing," she muttered.
"I really must protest," Nardole continued. "If the Doctor couldn't fight it…"
She looked up at him. "We don't have time to argue on whether or not you think I'm weaker than the Doctor. We have to stop the Monks, this is an invasion, and I'm the bloody President!"
With a deep breath she placed her fingers against the metal band. Immediately she saw the Doctor's issue with the Monk, who immediately starting pushing her out of its head. She growled as she fought back, trying to force as many Monks out of the memories and history she could see by forcing her own knowledge onto them.
The problem she was slowly coming to realise, though, was that she just didn't know as much as the Doctor. She quickly came across moments in history that she just didn't recognise and apart from visualising them without the Monks, she wasn't sure of the true nature of the events that had taken place. It just made it easier for the Monk to push her back and away, causing her mind to burn in pain.
Eventually she was overpowered, and outmatched, and she too was thrown across the room and into darkness.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor was a little woozy as he slowly came back to consciousness. He couldn't remember much about what had happened at the end of his attempt to overpower the Monk, other than the burning pain of someone fighting in his own mind. He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings when he realised that he was propped up against the doorway into the room. He'd been thrown across it, hadn't he? That was embarrassing.
He tugged at his arms as he realised that he'd been tied up, then he met Bill's eyes, who crouched down in front of him. "I wanted to do it before you woke up," she said apologetically. "But I had to say goodbye."
He instantly knew what her plan was, mainly because she had been hell bent on sacrificing herself since the moment Missy mentioned it. It was still surprising how much power the other Time Lady could have over people. "Bill, whatever you're planning, there's no need for this," he insisted. "Let me try again. He caught me unawares. Cup of tea and I'll get my second wind."
"Neither your or Danni could beat it," she pointed out. "You couldn't do it again."
"Danni?" he repeated, now frantically looking for his wife. She was across the room with Nardole, who was sat on the floor with her. She was also unconscious but Nardole had her head in his lap. "Danni!"
"Nardole says she's fine," Bill reassured him. Nardole nodded his agreement.
He believed Nardole, although it didn't make him feel any less worried. In fact, it made him rather more frantic because he was awake when she wasn't. He turned back to "Let me talk to Missy again," he begged.
Bill, understandably, looked and felt like she was going to cry. She had known since the moment Missy had mentioned how to stop the Monks that she was going to die, but being faced with it as her own choice didn't make it any less horrible. "We have the answer," she cut in. "Doctor, please. I don't want our last conversation to be this."
"I don't want this to be our last conversation," he replied softly. She felt that deeply, and wanted more than anything to agree with him. But this was her mess, her mistake, and ultimately it was her sacrifice. He didn't get to choose whether or not she saved the world, that was entirely up to her.
"Goodbye, Doctor," she said before placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She smiled at him, taking one last look at her friend and mentor. "God, it was worth it." Despite his protests, she walked up to the Monk and stood behind him. With a deep breath, she placed her hands on his head and connected to the broadcaster.
The Doctor, finally free from his restraints, rushed over to her but was just slightly too late. She was fully connected and it reflected on the screens as images of the Monks were replaced by her face, her memories. For the briefest of moments, it looked like it was working. But then the Monks were overtaking the memories and it was like nothing had ever changed.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no! They're hijacking her memories, infecting them like a virus," the Doctor exclaimed, looking at the room in horror. "She's just reinforcing their lies. She's dying for nothing!" He scrambled at the base of the chair, looking over the wiring in the hope of being able to do something to save Bill. "Argh! There must be a way to shut this thing down!"
"Doctor," Danni groaned from the other side of the room and he turned to see her sitting up from where she was lying against Nardole. She looked a little worse for wear, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking up at the screens, which were changing yet again. "I think she's doing something."
On the screens the images were being replaced, yet again, now with pictures of her mother. But not moving memories, this time it was static pictures. The photos that the Doctor had taken to give Bill a little piece of her mother were replacing everything that the Monks were trying to project. It was so clever that he wasn't surprised that he'd never thought about it. "Oh, you clever, brilliant, ridiculous girl. Look at that! All the pictures I gave you. I thought I was just being kind, but I was saving the world. Bill, if there's any of you left in there, listen. You have to keep thinking about your mum, the memory you created. Her voice, her smile. The Monks can't get near it. Fill your mind with it! Push it into every corner," he instructed. On screen, Bill's mum reached for her, a big, warm smile again.
"Bill."
"Mum," Bill sobbed.
"She's filling its mind with one pure, uncorrupted, irresistible image," the Doctor explained as both Danni and Nardole stood up, looking around the room in amazement. "And it's broadcasting it to the world, because it can't help it. All those years you kept her alive inside you, an isolated subroutine in a living mind. Perfect, untouchable. She's a window on the world without the Monks. Absolutely loved, absolutely trusted. And that window is opening everywhere. A glimpse of freedom. But a glimpse is all you need. The lie is breaking. Bill's mum, you just went viral!"
With a pained gasp Bill let go of the Monk's head and stumbled backwards. He grinned and rushed over, making sure she didn't fall over. "Did-Did it work?" she asked, a little wonky.
"Oh yes," he promised. "We need to leave, now."
He quickly moved her to Nardole before taking Danni's hand. "We need to talk about your recklessness," he told her as they rushed out of the pyramid.
"My recklessness?" she repeated, outraged. "You're just angry that your attempt didn't work!"
"Yours didn't either," he pointed out.
"Actually, until they started pulling out moments in history that I didn't know about it was going quite well."
"So it wasn't working."
"You two stop bickering," Nardole scolded. "We're running for our lives here."
Neither of them listened. "You should have waited for me. I would have had an excellent plan," the Doctor insisted.
"Oh yeah, Mr I'm-Gonna-Hide-I'm-Blind?" she shot back. "How did that go for you?"
He looked down at her and they both grinned widely. She wasn't angry at him, and he was happy he could see the cheek on her face once again. "Awfully," he admitted freely. "As everything does without you, my Pet."
~0~0~0~
The Monks had wasted no time on removing their mark on the planet. The Pyramid spaceship had taken off pretty much the moment they had left it, and by the time they had made it back to the university campus the statues had all been removed. All that was left were a couple of metal supports sticking up from the platforms that they had stood on to hold them in place. It was incredibly messy, and rather rude, in Danni's opinion anyway. If you were going to take over an entire planet, the least you could do was tidy up after yourself. It was basic manners.
"This is exciting, isn't it? You know, kind of, it's like a turning point," Bill commented as they watched the world pass by. "Humans have learned that they can overthrow dictators and stuff, they just have to band together."
"Humans never learn anything," Danni retorted. "Do you know how many alien invasions there have been that none of you can remember?"
Bill looked at her. "What, seriously?" she asked.
"Remember the giant whale?"
"You, Appalling Hair!" the Doctor called over to a poor student who was just trying to get to class. Even worse was the fact that she stopped and looked over at the trio. "This thing that we're sitting on. What is it?"
"Er, we thought they were just like filming something here or something?" she replied helpfully.
"Thank you. Very helpful. Now go away, or something," he replied and she did. He turned back to Bill. "You see? The Monks have erased themselves. Humanity's doomed to never learn from its mistakes."
"Well, I guess that's part of our charm," Bill offered with a giant grin.
"No, it's really quite annoying," he replied factually. "Anyway, I mustn't keep you. Three thousand words. The Mechanics of Free Will. Now six months overdue."
She looked outraged for a moment knowing that he thought that she had to complete the essay, but quickly decided that she shouldn't have expected any less. "Why do you put up with us, then?" she asked, both curious and also delaying going to start the essay.
"In amongst seven billion, there's someone like you," he explained. "That's why we put up with the rest of them."
Bill couldn't help but smile, not quite sure what he meant by that, but let it go. She watched more people go about their daily business around them. She wondered what the people who didn't remember thought had happened over the last six months. Did they have memories of things that never happened, or did everyone just go about their lives and the Monks had removed themselves from the story? If she asked someone what they did last week would they have an answer? What if it didn't align with the answer that she wanted to give?
"Hey, Danni!" a voice called and the trio looked over at a group of students. Kyle, Danni's friend, had caused them to stop. "Where have you been?"
"Oh, all over the spot," she called back and the Doctor looked at her, surprised. She seemed so happy to just chat to the other humans, like it was natural to her. She hadn't done that in so long. "You got class?"
"We're meeting up afterwards, you coming?" Another one of them, one the Doctor didn't recognise, asked in return.
"Can't, sorry," she replied. "I'm spending the night with my husband. We have a lot of catching up to do."
Even the group couldn't help but hear the innuendo in her voice and jeered teasingly at the idea. "We still haven't met this husband of yours," Kyle pointed out. "Are you hiding him from us? Or does he just not exist?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You wanna meet him now?" she asked. She shifted to the side slightly. "Meet the Doctor!" she called before leaning forward, kissing him soundly on the lips. There was silence for a moment as she broke away before he could really deepen it. She turned back to her friends. "Any questions?"
The group of students all looked at each other, not quite sure how to take the fact that their newest friend was married to their weirdest professor. Then one girl shrugged. "Well, makes sense, doesn't it?" she declared. "You'd need someone as smart as you, us mere mortals couldn't keep up with you."
With that, there seemed to be no issue for any of them as they started walking away, with Kyle walking backwards. "Yo, Doc, you should join us for our next games night!" he called over. "Be on our team, maybe we'll win!"
"Don't-Don't call me Doc," the Doctor said as they disappeared inside the university building. "Please don't start that again."
Bill stood up, stretching. "Well, I've got an essay to write," she said, also leaving the pair. "See you later, Doc."
Danni snorted slightly. "You know, she's growing on me," she said.
"You mean you like her now?" the Doctor asked, mocking a surprised voice.
"I didn't say that, but she can stay." She stood up, holding her hand out to him. "Coming, Spaceman?" she asked.
He was very happy to take it.