Clara took a quick look into through the window in the door, checking to see if the teacher's room was empty before she opened the door. She quickly slipped in, shutting it quietly behind her just in case it alerted people to her whereabouts.

She sighed in relief, leaning against the door and closing her eyes as she finally was able to relax. She hadn't been back at work long, but she was already wishing she'd taken the offered time off and stayed away for a bit longer.

People were just being so… nice to her. She was getting lots of condolences, and people asking her how she was doing, and about her new apartment. They were taking an interest in her life, even staff who she'd barely said a word to before, all with the same pissing look of pity on their faces and it was driving her crazy. Every little soft smile and nod just said 'aww, look at the girl with the dead boyfriend' and… argh she wanted to rip those smiles off their damned faces!

She took a deep breath and pushed off, walking over to the coffee machine for yet another cup of lukewarm, cheap tasting coffee. Her forth that day, which was more than she cared to drink of the brown mud they stocked the staffroom with. They were just being nice. It came from a kind place in their hearts, but all she wanted was for them to let her get on with things. All she wanted to do was go to work, teach her classes, mark their homework and go home again.

That was something else. The kids. She never thought she'd get to the point where she wished a fight would break out in her class, but she would cheer if it did. She'd heard the whispers when Danny was alive about them guessing over their relationship, now it was all sideways looks to any disobedient student with a hiss of 'stop it, you idiot. Her boyfriend died'.

What was it with the way the human race seemed to want to remind her that her boyfriend died? Why did they want to remind her that she was all alone, that the man she loved wasn't even buried somewhere she could visit him? That she had the rest of her life to wander around, wondering what she would be doing if he was there instead of dead? Why did they have to keep bringing up that pain?

She took a sip of her drink and grimaced. Perhaps she should start to bring her own coffee in. Even instant would be better than this garbage.

She walked over to the small metal sink and poured the drink away. She guessed nothing was going to go right for her for a long time. She was never going to go back to normal, but hopefully soon everything would settle down and she'd find a new normal to settle into. She'd be a teacher by day, a time traveller at night and… well, maybe she'd be a time traveller on the weekends as well. She didn't exactly have a reason to stay behind now, did she?

Speaking of…

She pulled out her phone from her pocket and, with a quick couple of taps on the screen, she raised to her ear. It rang, and it rang, and it rang, until a gruff Scottish voice told her not to bother to leave a message because he was never going to listen to it anyway.

"Doctor, where are you?" she snapped, walking to the window to look out onto the world below. Everything looked so grey on Earth these days. "Seriously, you've got to ring me back. I know you don't like to talk to me anymore, but I'm going to help whether you want me to or not. Have you found her yet? If this is you two just getting back together again let me know..." Her eyes widened slightly. "I mean, don't tell me the details. I don't need to know the details. Just… Get Danni to call me, she'll understand more than you do."

She let the vertical blinds fall back into the place again and she turned, leaning against the wall as she looked out into the staffroom. "Just call me back, yeah?" she asked. "It's been almost a month since you dropped me off for that 'rest'. I've come back to work, that's how long I've been waiting. Just… Just call me back. And if you don't, I'm going to ring you again so you're not going to get away from me forever, got it?" She paused for a moment, as if she suddenly expected someone to answer her. She then hung up, but didn't move from her spot against the wall.

"Where are you, Doctor?" she whispered to herself, spinning the phone in her hand absent-mindedly. She knew that they weren't on the best terms, but she also knew that if he was still looking for Danni then he would have come back for her help. Like he said; she would never give up.

She hated to think of Danni trapped somewhere with Missy looming over her. Danni was so kind, and Missy was obviously insane, that she just knew that whatever was happening would be horrible for her. From what she heard from the Doctor and Martha about the Master, she knew that the Time Lady wouldn't pull any punches with Danni and she just wanted to get her best friend safe. She hoped, though, that this strange obsession with her would mean Missy wouldn't hurt her too much.

But then, if he wasn't searching for Danni anymore, did that mean he'd found her? And if he had, then why hadn't Danni gotten into contact to let Clara know she was okay? Danni hadn't been mad at her like the Doctor had been for her stupid stunt, but maybe that had changed. It just didn't seem very… well, Danni to suddenly decide she was angry. She'd either just be angry, or not.

Then, what was happening? And where was he?

~0~0~0~

"Mum, where is she?" Tony moaned for the 100th time that day. He was pressed up against the window, looking out onto the street as if he was trying push himself through the glass.

"She'll be here," Rory reassured him when his wife stood up and stormed out of the living room. He walked over to his son, ruffling his hand through her hair. "You know she loves you, and she's the one who is always on time."

"But it's my birthday now and she's not here," Tony pointed out.

"It's only 10. She'll be here," Rory replied, his tone a little short because they had been over it every five minutes since Tony had woken up. "You have to give her a chance."

He left his son to continue to stare out of the window and followed Amy into the kitchen, where she was already pacing. It didn't matter that Tony wasn't theirs biologically, he seemed to have gained his mother's impatience. Which was odd, when Rory thought about it, considering how much of her life she had spent waiting.

"Where is he?" Amy hissed the moment Rory shut the door behind him. "He said he was picking us back up again this morning before Tony woke up."

"You know what he's like. He's probably misaimed. It's not like he doesn't have previous," he pointed out. Amy shook her head, pacing away from him then turning around to point at him.

"No, no, not like this," she snapped. "He left Danni once, but he would never just leave us behind when she's in danger. He needs an army and we're part of it."

"Then- Then maybe he found her again?" Rory suggested. "You know what they're like." He pulled a face. "As much as I really don't want to think about that now."

"You never wanted to think about it then," Amy pointed out. "If he'd saved her then they'd be here to celebrate Tony's birthday. You know how big on family Danni is. She wouldn't allow him to drop her off late. She'd want the whole day." She nodded at her own point and Rory knew he'd never be able to convince her of anything else. "Something has happened."

"If something had happened he'd let us know," Rory reasoned anyway. "You know what he's like when it comes to Danni."

"Exactly!" Amy exclaimed before catching herself. She couldn't be too loud because Tony still had no idea that they'd gone anywhere at all. They both wanted to keep it that way, and Brian had been on board as well. "Exactly," she repeated, quieter this time. "He would want us there to find her. I want to be there to find her. He left us behind for Melody, I'm not letting him do it again."

She rummaged in her pocket for her mobile phone and Rory groaned when she pulled it out. "Amy, you know he never answers," he told her. "Calling him is..."

Amy didn't listen, but he didn't exactly expect her to. She was almost shaking in rage when the answer phone picked up her call. "Doctor, where the hell are you?" she hissed. "You were supposed to pick us up hours ago. Don't leave us out of the loop again. She's our granddaughter, we deserve to look for her as well. Pick us up. We can help."

She hung up and Rory watched her anger fall away to worry. He walked over, pulling her in for a hug that she obviously needed as she returned it. "She'll be okay," he promised her softly. "She's strong, he's determined, and she's your granddaughter. Nothing is going to stop him saving her and she's not going anywhere until he does."

"You know what she was like about the Master, though," Amy reminded him sadly. "We couldn't even mention him. Even the Doctor is terrified about what Missy could be doing to her."

Rory looked his wife in the eyes, making sure to seem as sure and reassuring as he could, despite his own panic. "She is going to be fine," he promised her again. "The Doctor will get back to us, we'll see her again. He's not going to stop until he saves her."

Amy took a deep breath then nodded. "You're right, you're right," she admitted. "I hate this."

"So do I," he agreed. "Now, your son is trying to escape through the window. We may want to make him breakfast."

She chuckled. "Alright, bacon and eggs, yeah?"

"I offered him pancakes but he said that he only wanted them when Danni came," Rory explained. "I'm a bit worried about how much he likes her. Last time I knew someone that obsessed with a Time Lord she ran away with him the night before our wedding."

Amy shot him a look that had him holding his hands up and backing slowly out of the room. "Alright, alright, I'll just… go keep Tony company."

Rory dashed out and Amy shook her head fondly. Her Rory really was so kind, but sometimes so stupid.

She walked over to the stove, turning it on and started setting up so she could start cooking. She paused, though, looking out of the window as the worry settled on her again. "Where are you, Doctor?" she whispered.

~0~0~0~

"I'm just saying; it's all his fault."

"Placing blame on anyone but the Master… Missy is pointless," Jack corrected River yet again with a heavy sigh. "He's trying to find her, and as much as it pains me to admit it, he's the best person for the job."

"Not true," River retorted. "He can barely aim straight. Even if he manages to find out where she is you know he'll just be too late."

"Not this body," Jack replied. He stood up, though, heading towards his computer. "Bowtie could have lost her for centuries, but this Doctor actually seems to have his finger on the pulse for once."

River snorted. "You're putting too much faith in that man," she told him. "He doesn't know what he is doing, otherwise we wouldn't be sat here waiting for him."

"Maybe he's on his way," Jack suggested lightly as he quickly logged onto his emails. He had a few hundred contacts who really could help right about now. "Maybe she's already with him."

"If she was with him, she'd have come back to see me," River retorted. "I'm her mother. She'd not leave me here waiting."

He paused in his typing. "Or me?" he prompted and she rolled her eyes, waving him off.

"Yes, yes, and you as well," she told him. "Look, are you coming or not?"

"Of course I am," Jack replied. "Let me just shoot off this email and we can get going."

"No one is going to be able to help," she said. She was just getting so impatient already, she wasn't sure why she had come back for him. She never really liked acknowledging that he had a part of her Danni-Girl, but he did and she had to begrudgingly admit that he also would be quite a good asset while searching for her daughter. "I don't even know why you let him drop you off back here."

"I told you," he replied, trying to hold onto his patience. She never liked to make it easy. "He told me he had heard something. By the time I had checked the lead he'd given me and found it was a pile of crap, he'd disappeared."

"Hence the reason I don't think he knows where she is," River reasoned. "He wanted an army to find her, and yet he's dropped everyone else off where he'd found them. If he'd found her then he'd want the same army to save her."

Jack hit the send button, hoping that something might come from one of the emails. "I know," he admitted reluctantly. "We just need to find where he is and we can get an answer from him. He can't have disappeared completely." He walked over and River held her arm out for him to take. The smirk on her face annoyed him, but he kept it to himself. She was right. Something was seriously up and he wasn't about to let the Doctor get away with it. His daughter's safety was at stake, and he may not have known her to be his daughter for long, but he wasn't about to lose Danni now.

"Do you have a starting point?" he asked her and she nodded. "Alright, sweetheart, let's go."

"I'm not your sweetheart," River told him bluntly. "That's how we got into this mess in the first place." With a push of a button, they were gone.

~0~0~0~

The conservatory door opened and Vastra looked up, hand reaching out ready to grab her veil should she need it. Both Jenny and Strax were excellent at keeping people out until she was ready, but sometimes it wasn't always possible and she had to be on guard just in case.

Luckily she was able to relax as just her constant companion and beautiful wife, Jenny, entered with a tray of tea for her enjoyment. She could never quite stop herself falling into a maid role, but their relationship was so much more complex than that. Vastra took a moment to watch her wife pour the warm liquid into two small cups, enjoying the silence and the sight.

"A Mr Johnson just knocked," Jenny told her once she took her own seat with her own drink. "'is business partner has run off with quite a lot of 'is money. Wanted to know if you'd take the case."

"I assume you sent him on his way?" Vastra guessed as she picked her own cup up. She enjoyed the feel of the drink more than she enjoyed the taste, but then again she was usually attracted to heat.

"Just like you said to," Jenny confirmed. "Will we be waiting much longer? Strax has started to clean all of his guns again. Blew the door right off the sitting room."

Vastra sighed. "I do wish he'd be more careful indoors. We have a yard sufficiently big enough for him to discharge whatever firearm he wishes to."

"'e's bored," Jenny commented. "And a little annoyed that the Doctor 'took him out of battle prematurely'. I told 'im that the most action the Doctor would let him see would be when Danni needed checking over when 'e saved her."

Vastra let out a little chuckle. "Well, he does work so well with that little nurses bag of his," she commented and they both smiled at the thought of the third member of their household. Neither of them would be without him, but considering that Vastra was a lizard lady from the dawn of time and Jenny wasn't in the most accepted of relationships, he really was the strange one.

"When is the Doctor coming back?" Jenny asked. "I thought we'd've 'eard from 'im by now."

"You know what he is like," Vastra replied. "He is unsure of where Danielle currently is, and he never is happy when he is wrong in company. He'll be back once he has located her and they can leave the bedroom long enough for a short trip."

"If you say so," Jenny replied before taking a sip of her drink. "It just seems a bit odd, doesn't it? 'e had us running around for months and then suddenly we're back 'ome? I thought he wanted an army."

"Then he decided he didn't. He changes his mind more than the weather changes. You know what he's like, dear."

"Yeah, you're right," Jenny said with a little nod. She moved onto a different topic and Vastra made the effort to nod in the right places while answering questions and making appropriate comments. Her mind, however, was elsewhere in the cosmos. Her words had reassured her wife about Danni's fate, but they did little to give Vastra comfort. She knew that the Doctor would never stop looking, but his disappearance was worrying to say the least. She didn't have much options in contacting anyone within the Doctor's inner circle, but she had sent messages that she hoped would reach his friends and they could converse easier.

She knew that the Doctor would never drop off his army without good reason, and he knew Danielle was much too kind to leave their friends hanging on the outcome. She was worried that something terrible had happened to the Time Lord, because his behaviour pointed to nothing else.

But she kept on her pleasant smile as to not upset her darling wife, and when Strax came in demanding more battle she scolded him with the exasperation she always held, one that was really full of fondness. She didn't need them to worry, after all.

But where was the Doctor?

~0~0~0~

"Dad, answer the phone!"

Jenny ducked as something not so nice hit the wall above her head. She had dodged it with ease, but it was still rather annoying. She kept the phone to her ear as she dodged yet another bolt and headed down the hallway. It wasn't much of a hassle, in fact it was rather fun and one thing life had shown Jenny was that running was awesome.

"This is getting ridiculous! You dropped us off weeks ago, and I've been looking without you but we're both kinda out of leads and we could really use your help right now. Clara says you don't listen to the answerphone, but I think you do."

There was another explosion somewhere behind her and it made her jump enough to look behind her. There was shouting from the people looking for her and she couldn't help but grin. It was so much fun when she had to get away from people who thought they could get her.

"I hope you get this, because I've found something that might actually be helpful." She quickly checked the backpack she was wearing by reaching back and patting it. There was no give, which meant the book was still there. "There was this planet, Harrinet, that I visited years ago. There was this strange woman who told me about the Time Child, and how she going to visit the planet. So I searched and I think I found her. It was a few hundred years ago, though, but I have a book..." A bolt flew past her head but she could see her exit at the end of the hall. She just had to make it through the door. She started sprinting.

"The book has the details, but it's in something I can't read. We're going to translate it, though. Call me back, Dad."

She had to dodge a few more bolts from the lasers, but she made it into the doorway of her small craft and she nodded at her companion. A moment later and she was strapping herself into her seat as he flew them away.

"I'm worried about Mum too," she continued down the phone. "Let us help. We can find her together. Call me back, Dad, and tell me where you are."

She hung up and turned to her new friend, a grin on his face as he flew the ship with ease. "He'll call back," she told him confidently. "He wouldn't leave Mum to fend for herself."

"If you say so," Perkins replied. "I'm sure he'll get back to us when he's ready, Ma'am. Did you get the book?"

"I did," she said as he levelled them off safely away from the library she'd stolen from. She unbuckled herself again and pulled out the book. "I can't read it. Think you can give it a shot?"

She opened at a random page and he took a quick glance. "I will definitely give it my best, Ma'am," he replied modestly. "But I can tell you right now that," he pointed at a couple of symbols she thought looked like little houses, "says Time Child."

"Good. Let's swap. I'll fly and keep trying Dad, and you translate."

"Yes, Ma'am," Perkins agreed and they quickly swapped seats. "If I didn't know any better, I would say your father would be rather impressed. But then again, nothing really impresses him does it?"

Jenny chuckled. "That's only this face," she explained. "When I was created, he was much more expressive. And Mum was strange, but there was two of her..."

~0~0~0~

Karn was very dark. It always seemed to be. The Doctor thought it might have something to do with the distance from its nearest star, or the atmosphere, or something similar, but he didn't want to think too much about it. He didn't want to think too much about anything. He just found himself a corner to hide in, and he hid.

Of course, he was never allowed to hide for long. The universe never allowed him time to rest, or to run away from his problems.

Ohila was one of his problems. No matter how many times he encountered her, she always seemed to want to be a problem. Didn't she knew he had enough on his plate? Didn't she appreciate just how tired he was?

"He has asked to see you," she told him, getting straight to the point. They both knew who she was talking about. "His servants seek you everywhere. Will you go?"

"No," he replied shortly and firmly, with no room for argument.

"Why do you always lie?" she argued.

"Why do you always assume I'm lying?" he shot back in exasperation. If no one questioned him then there was no-one to answer to but himself. He could handle his own hatred. He'd been dealing with it for long enough.

"It saves time," she replied simply. "The truth – will you go?"

"No," the Doctor repeated. His tone said that he very much wanted to be left alone.

"When?"

She wasn't going to let it go, and he found it very easy to answer to her. "Soon."

She paused, letting his answer sink in. "Why?"

He looked up from where he was worrying his hand with a snarky comment on his tongue. She looked down at him expectantly, ready to not accept any of his nonsense. "Because she would have gone," he explained. "Because it's polite, and she was always too polite."

Her face relaxed just slightly, a flash of sympathy that he hated seeing skirting across her face. "Did something happen?"

"No," he quickly replied. Too quickly, he immediately realised.

"Was it recent?"

He opened his mouth to deny everything, but even he could see it would be pointless. He deflated slightly. "Yes."

"Whatever it was, you owe that creature nothing."

"He and I've known each other a long time," he offered as an excuse. An excuse she didn't believe in the slightest.

"You've been enemies for all of it," she pointed.

"An enemy's just a friend you don't really know yet," he shot back before rolling his eyes. "Sorry. What, was that me being cynical again?" he snapped.

She leant in a little closer. "Aren't we friends, Doctor?" she asked in a softer voice. He was in pain, and he lashed out. It was understandable and oh, so sad.

"That's different. I don't like you!" he countered.

She chuckled lightly. "Which means you can trust me," she finished for him. "Your search is not over."

He turned away, his shoulders dropping and every ounce of his defiance leaving him. "I can't search anymore," he admitted softly. "There is nowhere to look. I lost."

"You're giving up?" she accused and his head snapped back. His eyes flashed angrily and she knew she hit the crux of the matter.

"I'm not giving up," he snapped indignantly. "I failed. She won. That's all there is to it." There was silence for a moment as he stewed and she waited patiently for his next move.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large, golden disk with Gallifreyan carved into it. Ohila took in a short, sharp breath as he handed it over. "You know who to give that to?" he asked her lowly.

"She won't deliver it," she replied and he shook his head.

"No, she will," he said certainly. It took him a moment to let go of the confession dial, but he stood up with the air of a man who was carrying the entire universe's guilt on his shoulders. "I won't go straight away." He walked away from her and into the dark, rocky landscape. He felt like he was in an abandoned quarry, but it made a wonderful place to hide. "I'll hang out for a bit. Probably meditate on a rock somewhere. Get myself ready."

She turned, watching him walk away with her own anger building up. "You are embarking on an enterprise that will end in your destruction," she accused.

"You could say that about being born," he countered easily.

"Wherever you go, there are people who care enough to find you," she promised him. He shrugged.

"There is only one person in the universe I want to care about me and we'll never find each other again," he reminded her and himself. His whole world, his whole universe, and he'd lost it. He'd turned his back and let her down. Even if he did find her before he headed to his doom, what good would it do? Everytime she looked at him she'd see it. She'd see how he'd been too arrogant and selfish and she'd paid the price. He'd destroyed them both.

"Look after the universe for me," he told Ohila with an air of finality. "I've put a lot of work into it."

She turned to watch him walk away to his TARDIS, already unable to stand being on the planet a moment longer. "Anyone can hide from an enemy, Doctor. No one from a friend. And you?" He paused in his step. "Never from the Time Child."

His hearts broke to hear her nickname, knowing that she was forever doomed due to his negligence, then he headed on his way. He had a meeting to get to. Soon.

~0~0~0~

Well, how many of you expected that? :P

There's a new Outtake up, which comes with a trigger warning, but check it out for yourselves :)

Reviews XD

Toody2013 - Ooo, that's so annoying, isn't it? Hope you enjoyed this one :D

Midnight Alley - I know, right?! She's awfully evil, I love it XD

Guest - Thanks sweetie!

Serena - That's exactly what I was going for, so I'm glad it came across that way! Thanks sweetie!

Jojo - I'm glad you liked it, sweetie! I just thought it would be funny, because Clara always seems like a flirty person to me, why would that change? XD

serenitysaiyan - Ah, can't tell you how long. That would be cheating! I'm sure Clara will kinda remember her but not, because I don't think she really recalls 'the woman in the shop' too much XD Thanks sweetie!

Quinnmarie - Danni's stronger than people seem to give her credit for. I'm sure that she'll push through whatever Missy can throw at her XD

silverhawk88 - Exactly! She'll come out of the other end, that's our Danni-Girl!