The sound of snow falling from her roof in one large lump was what woke Clara from her sleep. It had been snowing in London, on Christmas, in some sort of rare and miraculous fashion and she really hadn't known what to make of it. All she knew was that it actually helped it feel like Christmas and she'd tried to embrace it, taking a leaf out of her father's book and soldiering through a festive season that she didn't want because it felt empty. She'd even decorated her house in a way that would make her best friend proud.

Still, she hadn't expected the snow to fall, nor the loud grunt of someone groaning to come from her roof. Was she being robbed? She'd only been in this new flat a few weeks!

She looked up at the ceiling at the sound of bells jingling. "Moron! Numbskull! Elf!"

"That's racist!" another voice replied, sounding outraged.

"Of course it's not racist; you are an elf," the first one replied. Clara quickly scrambled out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown and slippers before heading upwards. She'd never been on the roof before – why would she, who needs to go onto a roof on a regular basis? - but she was certain that no one should have been on it. Including the three men she found there, one rather large and wearing all in red, watching as the other two rushed around picking up the mass of debris that seemed to be scattering the small space.

As they rushed around, arguing amongst themselves, Clara couldn't help but stare. The two smaller men were decked out in greens and reds, with hats and pointed boots. The larger man was in red and white, with a beard, and a red hat. She wasn't sure what they were doing, but they couldn't possibly be trying to be… Above her reindeer ran about in the air, making noises and jingling with the sound of bells… This couldn't actually be happening, could it?

One of the smaller men, Ian apparently, paused, shining his torch on her and slowly straightened from picking something off the floor. He looked alarmed at her presence. "Er, sir? We've been seen."

Suddenly they all turned to look at her, freezing whatever they were doing. The man dressed up as Santa looked positively horrified that she was there. "Hello," he greeted slowly.

"Hello," she replied, because what else could she say?

"Hello," the other man greeted with a nervous laugh. She'd seen Wolf sewed into the back of his vest.

"Hello, human," Ian added with a little wave. The other man… elf… motioned to him a little angrily.

"You can't call her human," he scolded.

"It's not racist. They don't mind," Ian protested.

Santa shot them a look. "Hush up, both of you," he hissed at them both before turning back to Clara, walking slowly towards her. "Oh, sorry about this, girl," he told her, putting on a bit of a voice, as if she hadn't already heard him speak. "We are just three passing, perfectly ordinary roof people, doing some emergency roof things. Carry on. Merry Christmas." He seemed to catch himself. "If, if it is Christmas, I mean. Heh, heh. I don't much care for things like that, myself. Pfft. I mean, Christmas." He laughed nervously again, trying to play it off.

Clara had heard someone ramble like that quite a few times in her life. In fact, she'd heard two people ramble like that when they were desperately trying not to let people know that they were exactly who everyone thought they were. Which meant that he was who he was trying to pretend he wasn't. But that wasn't possible, was it?

"Are you..." she started slowly, "Santa Claus?"

He pointed to himself. "Me?" he asked, trying his best to sound incredulous whilst still putting on the voice. "No. Oh, no. That's… that's ridiculous." He laughed, just in time for two reindeer fly past, one with a bright red nose. The two elves tried to get them to land and he seemed to finally realise that pretending wasn't working anymore. He sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine, yes," he said reluctantly as he dropped the voice. "Yes, it's me. Ha! Guilty," he crossed his hands as if he was being put in handcuffs. "How did you recognise me?"

"You know how you grew that beard as a bit of a disguise?" Wolf asked him. "People have picked up on it."

This was ridiculous. This whole thing was just plain ridiculous. She was stood in her dressing gown, on the roof, in the snow, looking at Santa Claus and listening to two elves bickering. She had seen a lot in her life. She'd been to so many different planets with the Doctor and Danni. She'd seen strange, wonderful, and terrible things while looking for Danni all over the universe. This, though? This was just downright ridiculous.

"Okay. No. Hang on. Stop. Shut up," she commanded firmly and the elves did shut up. She walked over to Santa. "What? Seriously, you, you're Father Christmas? You're real?"

"Of course I'm real," he replied, giving her a 'ho-ho-ho' as if to prove it.

"How could he not be real?" Wolf laughed.

"Huh? How do you think those presents got under the tree every year? By magic?" Santa asked her. He waved his hands about, slightly making fun of the idea."

"Well, I thought it was my mum and..." she started.

"Mum and Dad?" Wolf and Ian finished for her, laughing at the very idea. Even Santa clapped, mocking her slightly and she crossed her arms, feeling rather defensive.

"Well, of course it was," Ian said sarcastically.

"I mean, it makes perfect sense," Wolf agreed.

"Yeah, your mum and dad, one day a year, for no particular reason, just out of the blue, suddenly decide to give you a great, big pile of presents?"

"No, no, no," Wolf corrected him. "Because they love you so much." They both laughed again. "It's a lovely story, dear."

"Yeah, but it's time to start living in the real world, yeah?" said Ian. The elf. Santa's elf. Santa's elf just told her to live in the real world. What was she supposed to do with that, exactly?

Santa reached into his pocket – she wondered if they were bigger on the inside – and pulled out a small notebook. He flicked through it, obviously looking for something. "Okay. Right. Clara Oswald." He found her page, apparently. "Mostly favours travel books, science kits, strict ban on hair products." She frowned, trying to look at the book but he tilted it out of the way. "Marginal for the naughty list, '93." He tutted her, before shooting her a sad look. "Believer until the age of nine. Why did you stop?"

"Because you're a fairy tale," she explained. "Make believe. I stopped making believe years ago."

"Did you, Clara?" Santa asked with a sigh. "Did you really?"

As if on cue, with that impeccable timing that the Doctor and Danni always seemed to have, the sound of the TARDIS materialising filled the air. She turned her attention off Santa and looked behind her to see the big blue box starting to appear on the rooftop. Her heart sped up, happiness and hope filled her and she wasn't entirely sure why. She was just so happy to see the TARDIS.

The moment she was solid, the door opened and the Doctor stepped out. Clara had to admit, she was slightly surprised by the lack of suit he was wearing. He rather suited the hoody and trousers he was wearing under the jacket, and his hair was longer, less well kept. The stern look he always wore was still there, though. He never seemed happy to see her anymore.

"Clara, I want you to step inside the TARDIS," he commanded firmly. "I don't want you to talk, I want you to do as I ask."

She didn't say anything, just like he asked, and she headed straight into the TARDIS. That feeling of hope was bubbling rapidly inside of her from nowhere, and she looked around the console room, taking it in, loving the mere sight of it. Perhaps she was just happy the Doctor was there to explain what the hell was going on.

Of course, then her gaze fell on the woman at the console and she was filled with such relief that she froze on the spot. Danni smiled at her, brown eyes bright behind her glasses as she brushed her blonde hair out of the way.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked and Clara seemed to wake up from her daze. She rushed over, pulling Danni into a tight hug, the relief threatening to overflow and cause the tears in her eyes to spill.

Danni quickly hugged her back. "It's good to see you too," she said with a bit of laugh, obviously perplexed. Clara pulled away only to cup her face, studying it, like she couldn't quite believe she was there.

"Is everything alright?" Danni asked her.

"Yes, it's fine," Clara replied, completely contradicting the way she shook her head. Danni seemed to immediately know what was wrong because that wonderfully kind smile appeared on her face again.

"It's alright, you know?" she said softly. "I'm safe now. You know Missy couldn't hold onto me for too long."

"Yes, I know," Clara replied, because she did. She remembered searching for her. She remembered the dark places that she looked, where they'd all looked because Missy hadn't left any clues behind. But she was back in their lives now. Danni was safe.

"Let go of my wife," the Doctor snapped as he strode to the console. He even put an arm between them, separating the two. "You're not allowed to touch her."

Danni sighed. "Doctor, be nice," she chided lightly. "What's going on? Is that really..."

"Of course not," he replied shortly. "Well, maybe, I don't know."

He flew the TARDIS without much thought, following a signal that neither of them knew what it was, and yet the Doctor definitely had wanted to chase it. Or had Danni wanted to chase it? She couldn't remember who had first decided, but now they were chasing it they were both rather happy. This was how they loved to live their lives; following random signals, stumbling on mythical beings who shouldn't exist and proving whether or not they did. The adventure, the excitement, it was just how Danni loved it.

The other side of the flight wasn't quite as picturesque as Clara's roof. There was still snow, but more of a blizzard than a seasonal flurry. They also appeared to be in front of a rather large metal station of some kind.

"Are-Are we still on Earth?" Danni asked her husband, keeping close to him in the hopes that just being close would give her some more body heat. Wherever they were it was freezing. Even the large, fluffy coats she and Clara had grabbed before heading out weren't exactly helping.

"Yes," he replied shortly. Maybe the cold was even affecting him. She did tell him to grab a coat for himself, but he never did. She reached out and took his hand and was surprised by how the action alone made her want to start crying. The lump in her throat was choking her. His hand felt so good. She'd missed it so much.

He held her tightly. Much tighter than he used to, like he was afraid she was going to disappear. Well, she could totally understand that. Missy had scared them both enough for their next couple of lifetimes.

"Let's get you warm," he said gently, walking them all over to a door in the outer wall of the base. She couldn't help but smile at the softness of his voice. There was just something she loved about being taken cared of by him.

He quickly opened the door and they were greeted with a woman on the floor, who screamed at the sight of them. The trio froze in surprise.

"We've got ghosts!" the woman on the floor exclaimed into the headpiece she was wearing. "Yeah, yeah. It's a skeleton man, a- a teacher and a girl in a nightie."

Danni frowned, pushing her glasses up with her free hand. "A teacher? Do I really look like a teacher?"

The door closed behind them as the Doctor stepped in, walking over to one set of beds that lines the room. They seemed to have entered into an infirmary, with the two sides lined with beds.

"Danielle, I think you're missing the bigger picture," he told her lowly as he peaked into one. "And yes, you do."

Danni huffed slightly, crossing her arms. Clara slowly walked over to the other side, looking at the beds. Her stomach dropped slightly. Something not so good was happening, wasn't it?

"Doctor?"

He nodded slowly to himself as the woman on the floor placed her hands on her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, no, no, you're making me think about them. Don't make me think about them!"

Danni walked over, crouching onto the floor next to her. "Why?" she asked her. "What are they?"

"Look. Just don't ask, yeah? And don't look. Don't make me think about them!" She was very insistent and it just made Danni think about what could possibly be underneath the sheets even more.

She couldn't help herself. She looked up and jumped slightly to see them all sat up in the beds. The sheets were no longer covering them and she could clearly see the slimy, grey masks they were wearing. They had no eyes or noses but there was a mouth-shaped seam that ran across the front that made them look like they were grinning.

Danni jumped up off the floor, pulling her sonic screwdriver out at the same time as the Doctor. She moved to his side and they both scanned one of the patients each.

"Deaf," he declared as they slowly began moving off the beds towards them.

Danni nodded in agreement, checking her own reading. "And blind," she confirmed before backing up towards her husband. Neither issues seemed to bother the creatures, though, as they continued their slow approach onto the group. "I don't understand. It's like they know where we are."

"The bigger picture," he reminded her again. "How do they even know we're here?"

"They can only see you, yeah, if you see them," the woman explained from the floor. "So just, so just don't look, don't even think about them."

The Doctor's eyes lit up in that way that only his could in such a scary situation. "Oh, telepathic," he breathed as he worked out what the creatures were doing. "They can home in on their own image in someone else's brain. Third-party perception. Mind piracy." He turned to her. "We're being hacked," he hissed.

"Hacked?" she repeated and he nodded. "What do we do?"

He quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her over to Clara, making sure they were all facing into their little circle.

"What does that even mean?" Clara asked him.

"The visual input from your optic nerve is being streamed to their brains," he explained, the snappiness in his tone nowhere to be found. He must have really been worried. "Stop broadcasting. Close your eyes."

He watched as both Clara and Danni did as he asked, making sure his wife's eyes were scrunched up tight before doing the same. He kept hold of her hand tightly, smoothing his thumb over the back of it to hopefully give her some sort of reassurance while taking his own.

Nothing seemed to happen for a little while, and Danni considered opening her eyes. They had been dormant, lying in the beds. It reminded her of something but she couldn't put her finger on it. She needed to take another look to see if she could work out what it was. What did they remind her of?

"They're still coming, aren't they?" Clara asked, sounding like she really didn't want to know the answer to her question.

"It's because we're all still thinking about them," the Doctor bit out. "So long as you retain them as an active memory, they can still home in. Think about something else."

"How?" Clara asked and Danni agreed. Everyone knew trying not to think about something meant that you just thought about it more and more.

"So here it is, Merry Christmas. Everybody's having fun..." the woman behind them sang.

"Why is she singing?" Clara hissed.

"She's running interference. She's trying to distract herself," the Doctor explained. It was quite impressive, and such a good idea.

But what song?

"Wise men say only fools rush in," Danni sung quietly to herself. The Doctor couldn't help but smile to himself. Their anniversary song. She still remembered. "But I can't help falling in love with you."

"Shall I stay?" Clara continued, joining in on the idea. "Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you?"

It wasn't enough. They were still approaching. "Three hundred and four minus seventeen," the Doctor declared.

"Sorry, what?" Clara asked as Danni continued to sing to herself.

"Plus twenty. Just do it!"

Clara shook her head. What did he start with? Three hundred, or five hundred? Oh, did it matter?

"Five hundred and seven!" she replied.

"Minus fourteen, times four."

"One thousand nine hundred and seventy two!"

"Stop being so good at arithmetic," the Doctor scolded.

"I can't help it!"

Well, he knew that feeling well. The calculations he was throwing out were primitive at best. At least he didn't have to worry about Danni thinking about them. He could feel her swaying slightly by his side. She was lost in the memory of that night on Trenzalore. It was a wonderful image. He needed to focus on Clara, though. Get her thinking of something but the danger around them so it stopped being a danger.

"Alright, fine," he snapped. "Think about Danielle. Think about her right now. How she's dancing, singing, to a song that I had an entire village sing to her."

"An entire village?" Clara asked in reply.

"Yes, keep up," he retorted, hoping it would keep her distracted. "Think about how wonderful that night could have been. Think about what she could have been wearing. Think about how you love her. Think about how she lived with you. Think about how we lost her because of you. Think about how she died because of you!"

"Doctor!" Danni exclaimed angrily as Clara's mind flew back to that moment she watched Danni plummet over the edge of the lava pit. Even though it was a dream, she remembered every single part of it in detail. She'd thought about it time and time again.

"Think about how you'd do it again," he continued. "Think about what drove you to that point."

Clara could feel herself starting to cry as she focused on the moment she had decided that she would do anything to save Danny Pink. She missed him so much it felt like it would crush her to death. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. Her whole life was going to have a hole in it, one she'd made so much worse by hurting her friends in the process.

"Doctor, that's enough!" Danni exclaimed, yanking her hand from his so she could put it on her hip. She opened her eyes to see him looking down at her, surprised by her outburst. "You're just upsetting her!"

"Good, upset is good!" he replied. "If upset keeps everyone alive them everyone should be upset!"

"There are other ways to distract people," she replied. "Like- Like this right now. Us arguing is a very good distraction, isn't it?"

"A very good one indeed," he replied lowly. "Much better than a song, I would think."

"I could kiss you right now," she snapped, trying to stay angry but mostly just being impressed with his mind yet again. "I'm not going to, because I have to be cross, but I really want to."

"I'm sure we can make it up afterwards," he purred and she blushed happily, forcing herself to keep a frown on her face.

Until the infirmary doors opened, of course. She jumped and he grabbed her arm, pulling her close as a woman with a gun ran in. A very big gun. She was joined by two people also with guns, but she seemed very much in charge.

"Go, run, now, now, now!" she shouted. The Doctor quickly shoved Danni forward, but she ran back and to the woman on the floor, who was still singing to herself.

"Come on, sweetie," she said firmly, scaring the woman slightly. She gasped and jumped but, on seeing the way out, she was up like a shot.

One of the people who had joined them, an older man, suddenly pointed his gun up. "Here they come!" he cried in fright. Above them slimy, hissing crabs were descending from the ceiling.

"Doctor!" Danni cried, holding her hand out for him. No matter what happened to them, she just wanted to be with him. Being separated for so long has just reaffirmed that by his side was the best place to be.

He held onto her tightly, pulling her up against his chest as they all looked up in horror. He couldn't let her go. He couldn't lose her, not again.

The wall exploded, startling screams out of most of the group as rock and smoke filled the room. They all stared, wondering what exactly could cause such destruction and if it was coming for them next.

A lone tangerine rolled into view from outside, bouncing slightly before coming to a stop. The Doctor and Clara could only stare in bewilderment as they knew who was about to step in. Danni was just plain confused by the entire thing. And the slinkies that followed, all walking in unison. And the toy robots.

It didn't take a genius, she realised, to work out who was about to appear in the opening considering where they had just come from. And sure enough, riding Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa appeared in the opening.

He jumped off the reindeer and sauntered into the room, his thumbs tucked into his belt, two elves flanking him. One was holding a toy gun, the other was holding a balloon animal.

"Well, now," he started. "Well, now. What seems to be the problem? This is the North Pole. We don't want any trouble here."

Danni could only stare. The beard, the clothes, the glasses. He really was the real deal, wasn't he? Oh, this was the most awesome thing she had seen in ages. She was meeting the real Santa Claus! He was saving them from… well, from whatever the creatures were.

Oh, this was the coolest.

From behind them Rudolph lowed, not sounding best pleased. Santa rolled his eyes. "Hey, Rudolph." He pulled out a keyfob and held it over his shoulder, pressing it. Rudolf's nose flashed. "Easy, son." He looked back over the group before giving the creatures a stern look. "Oi! Sleepy heads! It's Christmas Eve, early to bed." He clapped his hands and the creatures all turned on their heels and started walking to the beds at the slow pace they had been advancing with.

The Doctor couldn't quite believe that it had worked. He started to follow, watching closely, expecting them to do something else, but they didn't. They started climbing into bed, doing as they were told.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman who had led the charge demanded, her gun still pointed at Santa.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, take a guess. Go on, push the boat out. Tooth Fairy, maybe? Easter Bunny?"

One of the elves pointed his balloon animal at him. "Shut your mouth, wise guy, or you get yours," he warned. Danni could almost feel the Doctor's annoyance and then dismissal of everything that was happening around them. He wasn't even completely focused on the creatures, anymore. It was just Santa.

She couldn't blame him. Watching him rattle off Ashley's Christmas present from when she was a kid like it nothing was rather impressive. She had to wonder if he could do the same with her. Although, she had grown up in a different universe. Maybe not, then…

"Come on, this is mental," the woman who had screamed at them when they'd first entered the base declared. She waved her hands in a wide circle around her just in case no one knew she meant the entire situation. "This is totally not happening."

She stared at Santa, as if daring him to contradict her. He turned his back on her. "I got three words, Shona. Don't make me use 'em."

She looked vaguely confused. "What three words?"

"My. Little. Pony," Santa replied, holding up his hand and counting the words off with his fingers. Immediately Shona went onto the defensive as he turned back around.

"Shut up, you," she warned.

"Yeah? I've got lots more, babe."

"I will mark you, Santa," she warned, raising her hands and making her fingers into claws, firmly cementing herself as Danni's favourite in the new group.

Clara, on the other hand, wasn't amused by anything that was happening and instead focused on the severity of the situation. "Okay, Doctor, are you going to explain? What is going on?"

"It's an invasion, Miss Oswald," Santa replied, heading out to Rudolf. He came back in with a glass container with something rather creepy inside. It was the same as the things that had descended from the ceiling at them. It looked like a mixture between a crab and some kind of giant hand.

"I don't like to say this about anything," Danni said, her nose wrinkled up. "But that thing is horrid."

Santa nodded. "Very horrid indeed," he agreed. "You seen them before, Doctor?"

The Doctor made sure to grab Danni's hand as he walked over, fingers threaded with hers so he never lost her again. "I've heard of them," he replied lowly as Santa turned it around for him. He seemed to know that he couldn't hold it for himself without letting her go.

Danni couldn't help but smile. Oh, she loved Father Christmas.

"The Kantrofarri," the man in red declared so they all knew what they were looking at.

The Doctor leant in closer, looking at the underside. It seemed to have a mouth similar to the ones the patients had on their faces. Each of its digits had a large, sharp claw on the end. The skin looked hard.

"Colloquially known as the Dream Crabs," the Doctor added as Santa turned it around to show him the back.

"Dream Crabs?" Danni repeated as she took a closer look herself. "As in it creates dreams?"

"Pretty much," Santa confirmed for her. "Depending on how many of those are already on Earth, the human race may well have seen its last day. So," he turned to look at the rest of the group, who were still looking dubiously at him, "are we going to stand about arguing about whether I'm real or not, or are we going to get busy saving Christmas?"

With some rather enthusiastic words from his elves they all slowly agreed to at least try and work out what was going on. All of them were on Earth, after all. They didn't want to see it taken over by some Dream Crabs like their fellow crew members had.

"This is a polar base, correct?" the Doctor asked. "That means you must have a laboratory."

"We do," Ashley confirmed. "This way."

She took the lead, gun still at the ready just in case they were ambushed on the way. Her two crew mates followed her example, and Shona kept close to the people who could keep her safe.

With a glance back at the Doctor and Danni, Clara followed with the elves close by. Apparently they didn't seem to particularly trust her judging by the way they kept their toys pointed at her in warning. Good. The Doctor knew better than to do that now.

He turned to Danni, though, letting go of her hand to cup her face with both of his. It was a new habit of his, one that Danni had picked up on and didn't mind in the slightly. He was checking she was still there, still real, and she was more than happy to reassure him because it meant that she was by his side to do so.

"Are you alright, my Pet?" he asked, his eyes sweeping over her every detail. He just couldn't quite believe, even now, that he was seeing her again and the relief he felt every time he even glanced her way was threatening to overwhelm him.

"Of course," she replied. "Are you? They came at us pretty quickly."

His brows furrowed slightly. "Are you not scared?" he pressed and she shook her head.

"No, of course not," she said. "You'll work it out, you always do. I trust you."

He relaxed slightly, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers. A telepathic attacker meant that barriers had to be thrown up and kept there. He couldn't feel her in his mind, so this would have to do.

"Your faith in me is remarkable," he murmured.

"And I'll never lose it," she promised, closing her eyes to just enjoy the closeness. She'd missed it so much.

As he dipped his head to place his lips on hers, Santa cleared his throat pointedly. "Now, you two," he scolded cheekily. "No time for that. The human race is under attack. You can carry on with that nonsense later."

The Doctor let out a quiet, angry growl and Danni giggled, pulling back. "Sorry, Santa," she replied, slipping out of the Doctor's grasp to head after the others before she could feel too mortified.

The Doctor sent Santa a glare and stalked after her.

Santa watched the two, his face falling from a smirk to a look of sadness before following.

~0~0~0~

"Is it dead?"

Clara, Danni, the Doctor and Ashley were stood around one of the benches in the laboratory, all staring at the container the crab was in. The two humans didn't know what to make of it, the Doctor was staring at it hoping that he'd be able to work out what was real and what wasn't, and Danni couldn't help but wonder why Santa had gone off with the rest to check the base instead of staying and helping them. She felt rather jealous about it, to be perfectly honest. How often did you get to spend time with the real Father Christmas?

They all looked at the Doctor, waiting for him to answer Clara's question but he didn't even seem to notice that she'd spoken at all. Both Danni and Clara knew differently, though, and after giving him a moment to snap out of his thoughts and answer, Danni rolled her eyes.

"Is it dead?" she asked, repeating Clara's question.

"I don't know," he replied almost instantly, although he didn't take his gaze off the crab. "Possibly."

"I'm assuming extra-terrestrial," Ashley stated rather than asked.

"Oh, definitely," the Doctor replied, which did answer Danni's own question about it's origin. She'd suspected it wasn't from Earth purely by the name, but he knew a lot more about species than she did and stranger things had come from this planet than a Dream Crab.

Ashley seemed a little surprised. She looked at the Doctor, a suspicious look on her face. "Then how can you have heard of these things?"

"Guess," he retorted shortly. He didn't have time for stupid questions, he needed to work this out. He needed to save the world so he could save his wife.

He glanced at her, seeing her leaning towards the specimen container to give it a gentle tap. Nothing happened, but he hadn't expected it to. No, he was much more concerned about her and her own lack of concern about the situation at hand. She was not as scared of life in general as she once had been, but he knew she should have been at least unnerved about what was happening, and not poking at a glass jar like it was a toy.

"Because you're extra-terrestrial, too," Ashley guessed, correctly.

"We're a mix," Danni told her, rocking back on her heels. She pointed to the Doctor. "Alien." She pointed to Clara. "Human." Then she pointed to herself. "Both."

She didn't seem to know how to process that piece of information, but as she did seem to be in charge of the base, Danni also wasn't surprised when she seemed to take it in her stride.

"I have so many questions," she told them.

"That happens," Clara replied reassuringly. "Expect about half of them to never be answers."

Danni giggled and Clara shot her a smile. The Doctor may be ignoring her, but Danni sure wasn't and it was nice to still have her on side. She knew it would take a lot more than a few trips to win the Doctor back over again, if it was even possible to at this point, but Clara knew that Danni was helping tremendously with that. He'd do anything for his wife.

The Doctor turned to Danni. "Theorise," he commanded gently. "Why's it called a Dream Crab?"

He loved the way her brows would furrow as she tried to work something out. It was so similar to when she noticed something that she couldn't quite place. "Well, I guess, it invokes a dream state?" she suggested unsurely.

"Close," he confirmed before turning to Ashley. "You," he started, a little less encouraging than before. "Why is it called a Dream Crab?"

She had absolutely no idea, but she took her best stab at it. "Because it generates a telepathic field?"

"And?"

"Alters perception?

"Meaning?"

She shot the Doctor a look. "I seem to be doing all the work here," she pointed out.

"It means we don't know what's real or not," Danni told her. "We don't even know this is real. If there's a telepathic field around us, then it could be altering what we think is reality and we would never know."

"Well, that's great," Clara replied. "If we can't trust anything we see or hear, how are we supposed to stop them?"

"That's the thing," Danni said. "We might actually stop them to find out that we're being played by some little, gross, hand… thing." She jabbed at the glass container again. "And then again, it could actually be dead and we're overthinking it. We really don't know what is going on."

"Go to the window," the Doctor told Ashley.

"Why?" she asked, even as she did just that.

"Because it gets worse."

She looked out of the blinds that covered the window, spotting the TARDIS sat in the snow outside. "What is that?" she asked.

"That's how Danielle and I," the Doctor started.

"And Clara," Danni interjected tiredly.

"Got here," the Doctor continued without correcting himself.

"In a box?" Ashley asked in disbelief.

"Technically, in a telephone kiosk," he corrected before shooting Danni a grin. She returned it happily. There really was something quite enjoyable about showing off the TARDIS.

"How?" Ashley asked with a laugh, turning to look at then pair.

"She's a spaceship," Danni explained. "And a time machine. She has a database of disguises and can find one that will perfectly blend her in to the surroundings, and then she chooses the police box."

"You know what the big problem is in telling fantasy and reality apart?" the Doctor asked Ashley.

"What?"

"They're both ridiculous." He turned back around to look at the Dream Crab.

"So we can't tell what's real or not, because real is ridiculous and fake might actually make sense," Danni reasoned.

"Exactly."

"So what can we do to try and work it out?" she asked him, looking up at him with a look that, on anyone else, would have seemed like she was expecting him to give her an answer.

He reached out, stroking his fingertips down her face again. "I know this face is real," he told her, watching her flush happily. "Everything else is a work in progress."

She wasn't annoyed, or exasperated, or frustrated by his lack of answer. He knew that she wouldn't be. She trusted him to keep her safe, and to work it out, but she never pushed him if he wasn't quite there yet. She was just happy to watch him work, like she was just happy to watch the universe turning.

"Are we in danger?" Clara asked and yet again he didn't reply.

"Doctor," Danni snapped in warning and he sighed.

"Oh, we are well way past danger," he replied shortly. "If I'm right, and I usually am, we're dying."

"Wait, what?" Danni exclaimed, surprised. That was news to her.

"Then how do we stay alive?" Ashley asked and the Doctor pointed at her, approving of her question.

"I like you. Straight to the point," he praised. "I want you to show me how you first encountered those creatures, and what happened to those people in the infirmary. I notice you all wear mini-cams, so I assume that there is footage."

"Is it possible I'm about to work with someone who might be a dream?" she asked in return.

"If it helps, so are we," he replied.

It was ridiculous. Just like he said it was. She let out a chuckle at the absurdity of it, then headed to the door. "We have footage on the drives. I'll see what I can pull up."

Another thought caught in his head amongst the many that were swirling there. He jogged to catch her up before she left.

"Ashley!" She paused, turning back to look at him. "What's this polar base for? Why are you all here?"

She seemed to smile a very sad smile. "It's a long story," was all she offered before leaving. The Doctor watched her leave and Danni saw the frustration at the lack of answer flash on his face. She reached out, rubbing his arm as she quickly followed.

"Don't worry, I'll get an answer," she called back and he grinned again. If anyone could get an answer, it was Danielle. She was so polite, it worked on everyone.

That meant, though, that he was left in the laboratory with Clara. He definitely didn't want that but he needed to see what else he could work out about the Dream Crab before following on. He stalked over to the table, taking one last look at the rather unpleasant looking creature.

"This must be just another day for you," he shot at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she retorted, defensive. "You think I want us all to die?"

"No, just Danielle I should suspect," he countered, standing up straight once he'd determined that there really wasn't anything else he could learn from it. "We're in a dream and you always get what you want in dreams, don't you?"

She sighed, tired and frustrated that he was still throwing it in her face. "Why did you come pick me up if you don't want me here?" she demanded.

"Because Danielle wanted to see you," he replied. "Trust me, you're not here because of me."

He turned and followed Danni and Ashley, leaving Clara on her own in the laboratory, arms wrapped around herself. This was getting too much. One moment she thought she could stick it out and wait for his bad mood to end, the next she just wanted to give up on ever getting their friendship back and stop travelling all together.

Still, she couldn't help the little smile as she finally followed him and the others. Danni had wanted to see her. That was always a plus.

~0~0~0~

Danni really had intended to get the answer from Ashley. She was curious as to what the base was for, especially considering that she seemed so reluctant to give an answer at all. That just had every part of her mind buzzing, wondering what secret thing could be hidden at the North Pole that wasn't Santa. She hoped it wasn't something horrid, but perhaps the Dream Crabs could be the cause of whatever they were investigating.

She had no idea, and she had so many ideas that she really had wanted to find out the answer if only to quell her own inquiring mind. However, she just couldn't keep away from Santa. Every question he was given by Shona, he had a response for instantly, and Shona had a million and one of them. They were all so convinced that he wasn't real, but she just couldn't see him as being anything but.

The Doctor and Clara joined them and Danni could feel the tension between the two despite being on the outside of the room with Shona. It made her frown, slightly, as she thought on how to improve their relationship. Clara was supposed to be his companion, after all, even if she was Danni's friend.

"You all right?" the Doctor asked Shona as he walked past to Ashley. He placed a hand on Danni's arm, giving her a rub just to feel her under his touch. She placed a hand over his in return and he felt a little bit calmer.

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah," she replied. "I'm trying to talk sense into er," she motioned to Santa, "Beardy-Weirdy."

"You don't seem much like a scientist," the Doctor commented.

"That's a bit rude," she replied, a little defensive, "coming from a magician."

He thought his magician look had dipped slightly since adding the hoodie. Perhaps he needed to change the trousers as well. "Why are you out here? What brought you to the North Pole?"

"Long story, isn't it?" she replied, once again not giving him an answer. There had to be something in that, he just didn't know what. So many different pieces of the puzzle that couldn't be put together yet.

"You missed the killer question," he told her and she frowned.

"Sorry, what?"

The Doctor looked over at Santa. "Beardy-Weirdy," he called, and Santa turned to him. "How do you get all the presents in the sleigh?"

Both Shona and Danni liked that question, turning to Santa expectantly. In return, he raised an eyebrow, smirking. "It's bigger on the inside."

The Doctor didn't appreciate the smugness, nor the jeering from the two elves at his cocky answer. Danni giggled, though, and Santa winked at her. She grinned happily and the Doctor scowled at her reaction. That was his smile.

"Doctor?" Ashley called over and the Doctor walked over to her and her professor friend, who was gnawing on a turkey drumstick like he'd never eaten before in his life. The Doctor immediately dismissed him as an idiot, but also added him to the reason that this polar base made zero sense.

"What am I looking at?" he asked the four member of group, Bellows, who was controlling the screen with the video on.

"Footage from a week ago," she explained as it played. There was a few people in a cave, all wrapped up in polar gear. "A side expedition from our main mission."

"What is your main mission?"

"Long story," she dismissed. Big surprise there. He turned back and watched the crew on the video approach the Dream Crabs that were hanging amongst the icicles in the cave. Just exactly what he had expected. They'd stumbled upon a dormant cluster of crabs and the moment they had started thinking about them, the crabs had woken up and set about feasting on them. There was even footage of them descending from the ceiling, snaring their prey and turning them into the sleep walkers that were now in the infirmary.

He glanced over at Danni, who was stood between himself and Santa, to make sure the jump scare on the screen hadn't scared her too much. She barely seemed bothered. She was frowning, but more in confusion than terror. At least she wasn't too scared.

"They're a bit like Facehuggers, aren't they?" Albert, the man with the turkey leg commented.

"Face huggers?" the Doctor repeated slowly, having never heard of that species before and surprised that he knew anything that he didn't.

"The alien from Alien," Danni explained. "Part of the xenomorph life cycle. Remember, we watched on date night a few months ago?" His look was still blank and she sighed. She knew he hadn't liked it, but really? "You complained about the name of the movie?"

He didn't remember that, but he could see himself doing so. "Well, it's offensive," he protested. "A horror movie called Alien?" He turned back to the little group. "No wonder everyone keeps invading you."

Danni shook her head, amused rather than exasperated at her husband. She adored watching him work. Seeing the cogs turn in his head as he pulled each piece of the puzzle together was absolutely mesmerising at times. But, there was also something quite joyous in watching him get completely distracted for a moment by something incredibly mundane. It was adorable and just endeared him to her even more. She leant against the wall just so she could watch him. Over 600 years and she would never tire of it.

Santa, who up until that moment had stayed silent, walked over to Danni with his thumbs hooked into the black belt he was wearing.

"Are you alright, Danielle?" he asked her and she started slightly. "You've been quite quiet."

She shrugged. She found herself unable to look him in the eye, something she only did with the people who caused her to be the most flustered.

"Well, you know, I'm a big fan, I don't want to say something stupid," she told him with a little smile. "I guess- I guess I'm a little star struck."

He chuckled slightly. "And here is everyone else trying to prove that I don't exist," he replied.

"I see impossible things all the time," she explained. "I'm just more open minded to it, I suppose." She looked up at him. "Can I get a photo?"

He chuckled again, sounding incredibly jolly. "That big of a fan, then?" he asked, amused.

"Well, of course," she said like it was obvious. "Impossible, older man, bigger on the inside technology, travelling the world to make children happy not for any reward, but just because it's kind?" She looked over at her husband, smiling to herself. "I kind of have a thing for those," she finished softly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "So, what do you say?"

He didn't look convinced, before shrugging and nodding. "Oh, what the heck? Go on then."

She grinned and moved in close, pressing up onto her tiptoes and holding her phone up in the air. "I met a girl called Courtney who told me that this was the best way to take a selfie," she explained. "Children, they're bloody brilliant."

"That they are," Santa agreed, smiling as she took a couple of snaps. That was another tip from Courtney as well; take a few so you could choose the best shot. It was something she'd done on occasion before, but when the student had been showing her the best way to take a picture, she'd taken it to heart.

The Doctor glanced over at his wife and positively scowled at how chummy she was being with Santa. He understood that Santa, real or fake, was always going to be rather exciting for her. But he was over here being smart. What was the point if he couldn't impress her?

"Danielle," he called over sharply. She looked over, her smile brightening just at the sight of him and he felt slightly better. "Could you fetch the dead crab?"

She sighed, shaking her head fondly at him even as she headed for the door. "A please would have been nice," she told him, dipping out of the room before he could correct his slight mistake. She didn't really mind him not being overly polite because it meant he was too busy to worry about it. She just liked to tease him about it on occasion.

The flashing lights were what first alerted her to the fact that something was wrong. She couldn't see the specimen container on the table, but then again he might have moved it before coming to the control room. She stepped slowly into the room, looking around, trying to spot it. Perhaps she should have brought Clara with her. There was safety in numbers, after all. Plus Clara had been in there last with him so she would know if he'd moved the dead crab or not.

She froze in the middle of the room at the sound of something rather slimy and wet moving. Her eyes widened and she berated herself for her stupidity. The bloody thing wasn't dead, was it? And they'd all been thinking about it…

"If I lay here," she sang softly to herself, turning slowly on the spot. "If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?"

Oh, it was no good. She could hear it moving and she couldn't stop thinking about it. Clearing your mind was so bloody hard, she didn't stand a chance, did she?

She heard it move again and tilted her head up to see if it was above her. That was also a stupid move, she realised, as she caught sight of it because the Doctor had explicitly said that they could hack your optic nerves. She'd seen it, and now it knew that she'd seen in.

She screamed as it quickly descended on her, knowing that it was entirely too late for her to move.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor continued to look at the footage of the dormant creatures, although Clara couldn't quite see what use it was going to do. There was a large chunk of footage missing from between the attack and when the patients were laid out in the infirmary, what could they learn if they couldn't see the bits in between.

She leant against the console, watching him work with that big frown on his face, and lamented the fact that he'd never encountered them before. He knew what they were, but legends never gave you a way of being free from the monsters, just that they existed in the first place. Which was exactly what the Dream Crabs wanted. They wanted people to think about them, it's how they got their power.

It was as she was wondering what the dead one could offer when her eyes widened, her chest tightening in horror. What if it wasn't dead? What if it was just sleeping?

"Doctor!" she cried, but as normal he didn't even acknowledge that he'd heard her. She growled. "Doctor!"

"What?" he snapped, turning to glare at her. Even he couldn't deny her now alert stance.

"We're thinking about it!"

Her words confused him for a moment before he realised what she was talking about. He had just been pondering dissecting the dead Dream Crab, he'd been thinking about it. Danielle was thinking about it. They all were thinking about it.

A scream ran out and they all turned to the door, alarmed. He was quick to push off into a run. "Danni!"

The hallway wasn't particularly long, but it was long enough for the Dream Crab to attack her. His hands shook as he knelt next to her, horrified by the way the Dream Crab covered her entire face as she laid on the floor. If she'd been standing the fall would have hurt, although that was the least of his worries at this point.

"Oh god, Danni," Clara whispered, kneeling down on the other side of her. "What do we do? How to we get if off her?"

The Doctor's hands hovered in front of him for a moment before he clasped Danni's tightly. "Danni, Danni, can you hear me?" he asked her frantically. "Danni, I need you to wake up for me." He quickly tried to connect with her mentally, but whatever the Dream Crab was doing to her made it impossible for him to even feel her. "Danni, Danni, wake up. Please wake up."

"We did try to waken the others," Ashley broke to him gently. "No stimulus worked."

He let go of Danni's hand to run his own over his face. He needed ideas. He needed a plan. He didn't care about what would happen afters, he just needed to get it off her face. It was killing her and he was useless, just sitting back and letting it happen.

He jumped off the floor, pacing backwards and forwards. "Okay, we kill it," he decided. "We find a way to kill it and we get it off her. How do we kill it?"

"There's no way to kill it without killing your friend, too," she told him. "And as a scientist, may I just say, I don't like the way you're talking."

He stormed up to her, towering over her almost menacingly. "She's my wife," he snarled before backing off. She was right, though. Killing the creature was no good if he couldn't guarantee Danni's safety. He needed her to wake up on her own, but if she was in a dream she probably had no idea that she was dreaming in the first place.

He looked down at her. He needed to let her know. And if there was only one way to talk to her, then he would do it.

He rushed over to Santa, who was stood in the doorway. "Santa. In the infirmary, you told the Sleepers to go to bed, and they obeyed you," he said.

"Sorry, doesn't mean I can get that creature off her," Santa replied, genuinely apologetic.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, but you can get back in there unharmed."

Santa's eyes widened slightly, as if he understood what the Doctor was planning without even being told it.

Shona, on the other hand, looked positively perplexed. "What? You're asking Santa for help? He doesn't exist."

"And how would you know that?" the Doctor retorted, eyes flashing in his anger at the delay. "How did you become an expert on what does and doesn't exist?"

Santa stepped forward before a fight broke out. "I can commit several million housebreaks in one night dressed in a red suit with jingle bells, so of course I can get back into the infirmary."

"Good," he replied. "Good. Because there is only one way that I can save Danielle."

~0~0~0~

The Doctor laid Danni down on the floor of the infirmary, making sure she was as comfortable as possible before lying down next to her. He took her hand in his, threading their fingers together so he would be able to hop straight into her dream once he was able.

Clara stood next to them, another Dream Crab in a specimen jar. "Are you ready?" she asked him. She wasn't surprised that he was trusting her with this. Both of them had an understanding when it came to Danni, one to overwrote his anger.

"Do it," he replied and she tipped the jar upside down. The creature hissed, landing on his face and immediately taking hold as he kept his gaze on it and his thoughts focused around it and Danielle.

Ashley was on the other side of him, watching with a morbid fascination. "Have we just killed him? Have we just made it worse?"

"If he thinks he can save Danni like this, then he will," Clara retorted, watching the pair closely. "There's nothing in the universe he can't overcome for her. They'll be fine. He'll bring them both back."

~0~0~0~

I bet this wasn't what you were expecting, was it? What do you think of it, though?

Reviews :)

Authora97 - Why thank you sweetie! Did this surprise you as well? :P

Guest - Hehe you're not the only one. River can hold her own well, especially when it's for Danni.

Serena - Thanks sweetie :D

Quinnmarie - Yeah, quite a bit yet. I don't want to give anymore away apart from what I already have done.

LoveandAngst - Perhaps not. She and Simm!Master really have a different connection and dynamic. Hope you liked this chapter :)

Jojo - Oh yeah, I think it says a lot about Simm!Master and Danni's relationship. That is going to be fun to explore more if I ever get to season 10 XD

serenitysaiyan - Of course Wilf :D Can't say anything about Jenny just yet ;)

TheSlayerofGallifrey - Thanks sweetie! :D

bored411 - What Missy is doing is going to have long-lasting effects for Danni. It's part of what the name of the story is about, really XD

Midnight Alley - Neither was Danni XD Thanks!

AGBreads - Thanks sweetie :D