Danni frowned to herself. She tapped the end of her sonic screwdriver against her chin, then prodded the device in front of her. She'd been working on it for a few days now, with the Doctor's help of course, and she was beginning to think she was never going to get it right. Everything she knew said that it should just work! There was a power supply and there was not a wire out of place.
She picked up the drawing the Doctor had given her and compared what she saw in front of her to it. Nothing was wrong! She'd done everything as she'd been told to!
She looked over her shoulder at the Doctor. "Are you sure that this battery isn't dead?" she asked again.
"It's a Vermillion life long battery," the Doctor replied. He'd been hovering over her since she'd headed into the console room, declaring happily that she'd finished only for the device to not turn on. He'd followed her back to the workshop and had been watching her try and fix her mistake ever since. "They last several hundred years and it was only in the remote."
"Do we not have any, you know, fresh batteries? Something that is still in the packet?"
"It's not the battery," the Doctor insisted. "If you would just let me have a look…"
"Theta," Danni interrupted. "This is my scanner, my project. I can fix it on my own. Do we have any fresh batteries?"
The Doctor sighed, although it was more out of fondness than exasperation. She really was becoming quite the tinkerer. He often found her reading books about machinery and she was always asking questions about how things worked. It really wasn't something he'd expected out of any Danielle, but it was just another way her inquisitive mind shone through.
"I think I have some Duracell somewhere," the Doctor told her. "They won't be as good as the Vermillion…"
"Could you please get them for me?" she asked before he could moan any further. He didn't seem to like the idea that she could do this on her own. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't surprised. Their relationship had always been him saving the day, building the gadgets, finding the way out. She had never been the one to look at a pile of wires and know what to do next. She had always been much more of a people person rather than a 'things' person.
He probably felt like she was stealing his job or something. She hoped it would just take a little bit of grumbling from him before he'd settle down and they'd work together again. Until then she would just have to grin and bear it. And order him around when she needed things.
He disappeared out of the room for a while, coming back with a small black and yellow box that contained the batteries. "Have you tried…"
"If you suggest changing out the chipset one more time I'm going to chuck you out of the room," she warned him. Her voice was light, but it wouldn't have been the first time she'd had to chuck him out of the workshop.
The Doctor shook his head, knowing just how serious she was being despite her calm tone. "I wasn't going to," he quickly replied. "I was just going to suggest taking the batteries out and using the sonic screwdriver on them."
"Tried that," Danni replied as she popped out the absolutely amazing Vermillion batteries that her husband seemed so keen for her to continue using. She replaced them with the Duracell and replaced the back on the device.
She couldn't hide her glee when she switched it on and, immediately, it sprang into life. She turned around in her chair, looking at her husband completely smug. "Not the battery, eh?"
The Doctor pouted. He'd deny it, but he actually pouted. "I should get my money back," he grumbled.
"Yes, sweetie," she said, humouring him slightly as she stood up. "We should go test it. I'm sure the TARDIS can pick up something for us to scan out."
"Already done, my Pet," the Doctor replied. She took his hand and they headed to the console room. "I gave her full control. She's landed somewhere on Earth and, considering how close you two are, I'm sure that there's something on the other side waiting for you to find."
On the other side of the door was night time. They appeared to be in a woodland. Danni frowned as she looked around. Something felt a bit strange, she couldn't quite put her finger on in. The air felt almost familiar. She let the scanner hang, almost forgotten, by her side as she tried to stop anything that she might have recognised.
"England, I would say," the Doctor replied. Danni nodded.
"17th Century," she finished before he could. He blinked, surprised for a moment before grinning.
"You're starting to notice the differences in time," he praised. "I knew you'd pick it up eventually."
"I-I think I've been here before," she told him, her uneasiness making her squirm slightly on the spot. "Not here, but this time period. I feel like I've been here before."
"Well… that's the first step," he said. "Recognising where you've been. Anything else you notice?"
She shook her head slowly. "Nothing-Nothing that I… Did you hear that?"
She could have sworn she'd heard a noise, but the Doctor didn't seem too bothered. He motioned at her with both hands. "We can work on locations later," he dismissed. "Can you tell what we're looking for?"
She didn't quite understand what he was saying straight away, but she held the device she'd made up and flipped the lid open. Underneath was a compass, one that wasn't pointing at anything in particular. She turned it on again and it whirled into life, beeping and flashing lights.
"Well, there's definitely something here," she declared, turning slowly on the spot. "Something close, as well. Something…" She stopped, facing just to the left of her husband. "Something that way."
The Doctor looked down at the reading. "That's exoplanetary energy," he explained. "That's some powerful stuff right there."
Danni looked up at him, still feeling rather smug. "First thing it found, as well," she pointed out. "I think changing out those batteries really did the trick."
"Oh, shut up you," the Doctor grumbled, nudging her to follow the signal. "We haven't got all day."
"Maybe we should have gone with the digital readout like I suggested," Danni continued. Teasing him was thoroughly amusing.
"If you didn't want to take my suggestions why did you ask for my help?" he replied.
"I didn't. You're the one who was showing me how to build it. I was just trying to help make it even better." They were approaching a dust track where a horse and carriage was currently parked. Danni came to a stop as they got closer, noticing the man on horseback next to it.
In her hand the scanner was going wild. "I think our energy source is in that carriage," the Doctor said, taking it off her without asking. "Come on, before they drive away."
Danni grabbed his arm before he could walk off. "I think we should hang back just a little longer," she told him. He frowned.
"Why?"
"Because they appear to be in the middle of a robbery."
She could see the gun the man on horseback was holding, the metal shining slightly even in the darkness. It seemed rather foolish to interrupt a man with a gun who was most likely only after some gold and she told the Doctor so.
He dismissed her. "It's only a robbery," he said. "Come on, before it's too late."
He quickly made his way towards the carriage, leaving Danni by the roadside. "Doctor, get back here!" she hissed. "Doctor!"
He didn't turn around and she sighed, making her way closer. She hid behind a bush as he seemed to be going around the back to the chest the source of the energy was most likely kept in. She relaxed slightly; at least he was trying to be inconspicuous. He did know how to take things without people noticing so she had…
Oh, no, he turned and climbed into the carriage. Great.
She pulled out her own gun, holding it close and ready as she moved to join him. He came out of the other side, next to the man on the horse, barely paying them any attention at all.
"Step aside or I shall blow your brains out," the mask robber said.
"Sorry, were you talking to me there?" the Doctor asked and Danni grimaced. She really didn't want to shoot anyone, she was trying very hard not to do that anymore. "Try again. I promise I'll listen this time."
"You have interrupted my robbery, sir, and you will step away, if you wish to take another breath."
"You're going to get us all killed, if you don't shut your mouth!" the coachman exclaimed. Danni agreed with him entirely.
"Sorry. Sorry, I really was planning to listen that time but, basically, I didn't," the Doctor replied, fiddling with Danni's scanner. She'd really done a good job on it. Maybe it was time for her to get more involved with the maintenance of the TARDIS. He could take a break and tell her how she was doing it all wrong. It was nice to do things as a couple.
"I usually have someone who would listen for me, but I believe she's hiding in the bushes," he continued as he turned away from the man in the mask. The scanner was picking something up behind him. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"
On the back of the carriage was a chest, and behind the chest was Danni, looking rather exasperated. "Look, I found it," he told her. She shot him a look that made him think he was missing something. He turned, looking to the man in the mask. "Oh, hang on. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a robbery."
"I am robbing these people. You are getting out of my way," the man in the mask declared, pointing his gun at them both. Danni pointed her own gun at the robber as the Doctor decided, of all things, to argue with them. She wouldn't shoot unless she had to. She didn't need to shoot unless she had to.
The coachman, thinking quick, suddenly set off away from the bickering group of robbers. The Doctor turned, ready to chase after them. "Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!"
"You bungled my heist," the horseman declared.
"I told you to wait!" Danni scolded her husband, yanking the scanner out of his hand. "Why the hell did you climb through the carriage?"
"How else was I supposed to get around it?" he countered.
"Around the back," Danni retorted. "Past the very obviously important and locked chest where something very special was being kept inside of it!"
"If it was something valuable they would have kept it on their person," the Doctor argued. "Why would they leave it on the outside where any petty thief could get their hands on it?!"
"And yet that was exactly where the scanner pointed," Danni replied. "I'm the one who has had more recent experience robbing things. If you'd just waited like I said…"
"Then we might have witnessed a robbery and a murder," the Doctor finished. "The best way to get something done is the direct approach." He motioned with his hands, jabbing them in front of him to show the direct approach. "If we skulked about all the time we'd never get anything done!"
"And this is getting something done, is it?"
"If you are quite done bickering like an old married couple…"
Danni turned. The one thing she disliked more than arguing with her husband was people interrupting the argument. "We are an old married couple," she retorted. "And you and your fake voice and wait a moment until we're done."
The Doctor looked at Danni in surprise, who looked just as surprised as he felt. "Fake voice?" he asked.
She was staring straight ahead, her eyes slightly wide. "I didn't know I'd noticed that," she replied. He grinned, taking her face in both of his hands and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You're brilliant," he told her. "Absolutely stunning."
"I finally regenerated with a big ol' Time Lord brain," she replied happily. "I'm going to catch up to you soon, Spaceman."
He held her close. "You were always lightyears ahead of me, my Pet."
The man cleared their throat just before their kiss got a bit too involved. The Doctor didn't take his eyes off his wife but pointed over to him.
"I'm getting to you in a second, Zorro," he declared before turning to his wife. He placed another kiss on her lips before turning around. "Why hide your voice? Embarrassed? Have you got some-some terrible accent you're trying to hide?"
"I'm not trying to hide anything, Doctor," they replied, this time with a voice that both the Doctor and Danni recognised. They climbed down off their horse, removing their mask and scarf.
"You," the Doctor breathed. Danni could only stare, a little shaken.
"Yes, it is me," Ashildr declared, amused. "What took you so long, old man?"
The Doctor was positively affronted. "Old man?" he repeated, looking back to his wife for reassurance. Danni couldn't really say a word. They were centuries away from where they'd left her in the village. She should have died long ago. She really was immortal. They'd made Ashildr immortal.
"It seemed apt. Life expectancy if thirty-five these days," Ashildr replied, walking back over to her horse. "Well, for everyone else."
None of this made any sense to the Doctor. The TARDIS must have known where she had been landing, so there had to be a reason she'd brought them to Ashildr. What that was, though, he had no idea. And then there was the fact that she had held him up at gunpoint.
"But didn't you know it was us?" he asked.
"Of course, you don't forget the man who saved your life. Plus, I knew you were coming. I just didn't expect it during a heist, that's all."
"You knew we were coming?" Danni asked. She held onto the scanner tightly in her hand and wondered if she needed to change it for her gun. "How?"
Ashildr looked over at them, grinning. "I couldn't possibly say," she replied. "I have to remain mysterious."
"Mysterious?" the Doctor repeated.
Ashildr lowered her voice, changing it completely. "The Knightmare has a reputation to maintain."
"The Knightmare? You based your masked robber personality on a pun?" Danni asked.
"A good one," the Doctor replied. "How do you do the voice?"
"Practice," Ashildr replied like it was a simple answer. "It doesn't matter. You're here now. We should celebrate."
"How did you know we were going to be here?" Danni asked again. She really didn't like the look on the girl's face. Something had changed. She had been so expressive, so passionate. The woman in front of them looked like she didn't really care that they'd interrupted her heist, or that she had been expecting them and they'd finally turned up. She looked like she didn't care about anything. At all.
"It doesn't matter," Ashildr dismissed again. "I knew you were going to be, and you are."
Danni paused for a moment and the Doctor watched her analyse Ashildr. He felt how 'off' she was as well. They both were slightly unnerved.
"We're not here to see you," Danni told her bluntly, watching her closely for a reaction. "We were trying to find something. The same thing, I suspect, you were trying to steal from the carriage. We didn't know you were here."
Ashildr turned, angry. "You mean you didn't come for me?"
But it wasn't angry enough. It felt like she'd repressed the feeling. She was being cold towards the world around her. "We didn't come for you," Danni affirmed. "We didn't even know you were here."
The Doctor felt terrible. He felt guilty, because he had checked on Ashildr before. He'd not been able to resist knowing if his mistake had been as permanent as he'd feared. He'd found her in a leper colony but he hadn't stayed long and he'd not had the hearts to break it to Danni. But being left behind had done something terrible to Ashildr. She'd had to close herself off, away from the world around her. It was what he'd feared would happen to her and something that he could see in Danni from time to time. The universe had taken so much from both of them, but Ashildr had been there on her own.
"Oh, Ashildr, I'm sorry," he said softly.
The bafflement on her face felt very real. "Who's Ashildr?"
Danni and the Doctor shared a look. "You are," the Doctor replied slowly. "That's your name. Ashildr, daughter of Einarr. Chuckles. I used to call him Chuckles. Do you remember?"
Ashildr thought back hard. She tried to remember where she'd heard any of those names before, before a flitter of something came to mind. "Yes. I think I remember the village."
"You loved that village," the Doctor said, amazed and slightly horrified at the completely different person who was staring back at him.
Ashildr shrugged. "If you say so."
"That's a human sized brain for you," Danni commented. "You can only retain so much. After the first hundred years there's just no room for old memories."
Ashildr nodded. "You sound like you've had experience of it," she said, almost accusing Danni of lying.
"I do," Danni replied. "I remember that I had a mum and dad. I remember their names, I remember what they used to wear, but it's like I'm remembering a memory. They feel very far away sometimes. I bet that's how you feel about your father." She cleared her throat. She didn't like thinking on what she had forgotten, and Ashildr was suddenly a personification of that idea. "What's your name now?"
"Me."
"Yes, you," the Doctor replied, concerned at how uncomfortable his wife seemed. He hadn't wanted to drop her right in the middle of Ashildr's new life because he'd expected that she wasn't going to react well. He'd wanted to be able to do it slowly instead of slapping her in the face with it. "There's nobody else here."
"No. I call myself Me. All the other names I chose died with whoever knew me. Me is who I am now. No one's mother, daughter, wife. My own companion. Singular. Unattached. Alone." She paused for a moment, looking sombre before promptly smiling like it didn't affect her. "Anyway, I should get started. I'd offer to give you both a ride, but you'll just have to follow behind. You can help me."
"With what?"
"Packing." She climbed back onto her horse. "Come on. It's a bit of a walk away."
The two Time Lords followed her down the road, towards what they assumed to be her house. The woods were quiet, no sign of anyone else travelling. Ashildr – or Me, as it was now – didn't try and make conversation and they didn't try to talk to her.
"She can't come with us," Danni said lowly.
The Doctor looked down at his wife. "I thought you were the one who wanted to bring her along."
"I did, when there was still time for her to be okay," Danni replied. "Look at her, though. She's hardened to everything. She's lost all passion for life. Travelling with us will just…" She shook her head. "I'm not going to be responsible for turning her heart to stone."
"You don't know that," the Doctor replied, surprised at her words.
"There are two types of people who live as long as we do. There's the lover, like you, who just wants to experience the universe. See its highs and lows just to be a part of it. Then there's the indifferent. The ones who think that the universe owes them the right to see it. She's been waiting for us to turn up so she can finally leave. She doesn't remember her family or her home, but she doesn't want to either. Travelling the universe and having all of time and space to play in will just distance her all the more. I'm not going to do that to her."
The Doctor looked at the back of Ashildr's head. They were going back to her house to pack. Most likely because, even though Danni had been very clear they weren't here for her, she thought that they were going to take her away. This wasn't like Donna, who had waited because she'd seen something better than herself and was curious and excited and eager. This was a woman who had become bored with life. She didn't feel the happiness as much as she didn't feel the pain.
"And you?" the Doctor asked his wife quietly. "Where do you fall in?"
Danni was quiet for a long moment, her own feelings rushing around in her head. "I guess," she started slowly, "I wanted to be indifferent. When I regenerated I convinced myself that I didn't care. Missy was my life now, so why fight? But then something would happen that would terrify me or hurt me. You know, make me cry? Crying always brought me back into the moment. It made me feel part of the world around me. And…" She shrugged. "I don't remember them, but I miss my parents. There's a hole there. It's painful, but it's my pain, you know? I never want to get to the point when I can shrug and not care if I loved them or not."
The Doctor couldn't agree more. The pain of life was just as important, if not sometimes more so, then the happiness of it. Lows meant there would be highs. Lows meant that you had feeling. Lows meant that, no matter how hard he pretended that Danni was his conscience, he still cared.
"Will you ever tell me more about what happened?" he asked her. She looked up at him and he seemed guilty for even asking.
"Eventually," she offered, because she could feel herself already shying away from the idea. There was so much bad that had happened and she never wanted him looking at her with pity. "Not now, though. We have a rather bigger and more pressing problem to deal with."
Ashildr rode her horse in front of them, oblivious to the fact that she was their newest, most pressing problem. And neither of them knew what to do next.
~0~0~0~
Me's house was large. A proper mansion house that both the Doctor and Danni were mildly impressed with, even if they would never admit it. At least she had done well for herself in the centuries that she had been living.
"Your device, what is it?" Me asked as she took off her coat and scarf.
"It's a scanner," Danni explained. "It scans out energies that aren't supposed to be on the planet. We'd only just landed when we picked up the signal. What was it you were wanting from the carriage?"
"You mean apart from the gold?" Me asked, chucking the small bag of gold she had acquired from the robbery into a chest sat against the wall of the entrance hallway. "Lucie Fanshawe has bragged about having the rarest gem in the land, an ancient amulet from foreign parts. Could it be we are looking for the same prize?"
"Most likely," Danni agreed. She nodded towards the large chest. It was already filled right to the top with gold coins and other shiny objects that Me had obviously stolen over the years. "I'm going to guess you're not the 'steal from the rich and give to the poor' type?"
"I have a long life to live, Danni. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to be comfortable for it," Me replied.
"You have enough there for a lifetime, which is saying something for you," the Doctor stated. "Why are you robbing amulets?"
"For the adventure, Doctor," Me said. "Isn't that what life's all about?" She nodded to her side before heading off to the right. She took them to a large room, where a fireplace was burning ready for her return. Behind a beautifully ornate desk were rows of bookshelves, all full of identically bound books. "I've had eight hundred years of adventure, enough to fill a library if you write it down."
And then some, it would seem. Danni headed into the books as the Doctor headed straight for the curiosities that were spread around the room. It seemed like Me had lived a long and exciting life, full of battles and royalty. She'd fought in great battles and survived them too. Danni pulled out one of the many diaries that the room held, flipping through it. Her handwriting was incredibly neat. She must have taken her time writing everything down.
"How many people have you killed?" the Doctor asked Me as she recounted one of her more successful battles.
"You'll have to check my diaries," Me replied offhandedly.
"You can't remember?" he asked.
"Can you?" Me countered.
Danni, who was still flipping through the diary she had picked up, called over. "Yes. Twelve."
Both Me and the Doctor looked over at her. She didn't look up. She'd stated it like she'd thought about it often. The Doctor understood that, having spent more than one dark night calculating the lives he thought he'd lost on Gallifrey. He'd spent a lifetime thinking about all the lives he hadn't saved. He hadn't thought she had done the same.
"For what it's worth, I've saved many lives too," Me countered. "I cured an entire village of scarlet fever once. Almost got drowned as a witch for my troubles. Fortunately, I'm really good at holding my breath." Everything she said sounded like a brag. "Ungrateful peasants."
Danni shook her head. She didn't sound like she'd had a good time, or a bad time. She just wanted everyone to know how good she was at everything. The arrogance of living too long.
She flipped through the next diary a little slower this time. It told boring, average, everyday stories. She was surprised that Me had kept them around but reading about how the immortal woman had spent the 2nd century was still rather entertaining. She'd, apparently, been rather popular in the small village she had found herself in. Many of the days seemed to be filled with talk of the women around her, all who were very welcoming. It must have been when she hadn't distanced herself from the world.
"In fact, I've done all I can here. I look up to the sky and wonder what it's like out there," Me suddenly declared passionately and Danni looked back up. She was looking to her husband pleadingly. "Please, take me with you. All these people here, they're like smoke, they blow away in a moment. You don't know what it's like."
"We do know what it's like," the Doctor replied softly. He stood up from his chair, walking away from her.
"Then, however you fly, whatever ship you sail in, take me with you."
"When your loved ones died, did you look for more?" Danni asked. "Did you try and find more of the love you'd lost because it hurt to be without it?"
"I've learnt from my journal to never allow myself to get too close. The pain, it would seem, can be debilitating," Me replied.
"No."
Me frowned. "No?"
"No, you can't come with us," Danni clarified. "There's not much more to say about it."
"Danielle," the Doctor started. Danni looked over at him, then sighed and turned to Me.
"If you're still not looking for people to share your life with because they're fleeting, then you still haven't learnt all you need to know here," she clarified. "Coming with us won't help you, Me. You know that too, deep down."
"Please, I can't stay," Me pleaded.
"How did you know we would be here?" Danni countered.
"Someone told me," she dismissed. "It doesn't matter. Take me with you."
"No."
"The thing you're looking for, I'll help you find it," Me declared, suddenly changing tactic. She stopped begging. It was pretty obvious that she was doing it to prove she was of use. "It'll be quicker."
"We don't need your help," the Doctor told her.
"Yes, you do," Me corrected. "I know where Lucie Fanshawe lives, and I'm an excellent house-breaker. We'll leave in an hour."
She left them both in the library, not even looking back to see if they agreed to her terms. Danni sighed and put the diary she held in her hand back on the shelf. "Are you going to tell me off?" she asked.
"No, but I'm understanding more," he replied, walking over. He knew that people found him rather… terse, and a challenge. Sometimes he struggled to get his point across because people didn't understand him. Everyone but Danielle, who would understand his every intention and translate it for anyone who didn't. "I'm sorry that I forced this on her because I was emotional," he said sincerely. "And I'm sorry I did it in your name."
She smiled softly. "Thank you."
"And she won't be coming with us," he promised. He had seen it himself. Ashildr – Me – had a need to prove herself. She had to be the best, she had to matter somehow, because everything around her faded to nothing. She wanted to find more out in the universe but, if she was viewing the world already like that, then the universe would just hold more disappointment.
"I want to help her," Danni explained, walking down the bookcase to look for something else to read. "I don't want her to feel like life is long and full of pain unless you pull away completely. I remember feeling like that on Trenzalore. It's not a way to live. Being shown how big the universe is, though…"
"We'll work it out," he said, taking a diary off the shelf. "Something in one of these books will help us help her. We've just got to find the right passage." He tossed the diary to her before choosing one of his own. "Then we'll find out what's so important about that gem that she's so eager to get her hands on."
Both of them started reading, skimming across what was a long and rather heavily life, trying to find moments of note, something within the masses of pages that would help Me see that the normal and ordinary is worth it on its own.
"You know," Danni spoke up. "I'm pretty good at breaking into places and there's only room for one on her horse. It might be best for you to stay here."
"I appreciate the thought, my Pet," the Doctor replied, slightly amused. "But I've been doing this a lot longer than you. Your research skills would be much more use."
"A lot longer?" Danni repeated offhandedly. "Fair enough. What time is it?"
The Doctor turned to look at his wrist watch. He frowned. Had he not put it on? Perhaps it was the wrong wrist.
Danni held his watch up. "Looking for this, sweetie?"
He blinked, surprised that he hadn't even noticed she'd taken it. "When did you do that?"
Danni hummed slightly. "Oh, you know, before," she replied vaguely. "I'll go with Me, you stay and research."
~0~0~0~
Danni decided, there and then, to never ride on a horse again. It hadn't been the first time that she'd rode a horse, but it was definitely the last. It was painful, bumpy and took entirely too long to get anywhere on it. There was a reason the car caught on so quickly.
Plus, it absolutely stunk.
"Your husband was very keen to make me see 'the error of my ways'," Me said as they approached the large house. "You seem less inclined to do so."
"I saw your diaries," Danni replied. "I've seen the way you act. You've lived a long and hard life and you're old enough to not have two even older people tell you what to do."
"And yet you won't let me come with you," Me pointed out as she pulled on the reins, slowing her horse to a stop. "Seems a bit contradictory, don't you think?"
"I'm a mass of contradictions," Danni replied flatly. "This the place?"
It was a large house, and rather square at that. It had a centred front door and equal amounts of windows on either side, showing that it had two floors. The lawn was perfectly manicured and a well-kept stone path led up to the door. Danni wasn't particularly fond of it. She liked her houses to have more character.
"We're going around the back," Me explained, dismounting. Danni quickly followed and they used the line of the bushes at the edge of the garden to reach the back door. "Housebreaks can be tricky."
"Only if you don't know what you're doing," Danni countered. "Where does the door lead?"
"To the kitchens. They should be empty this time of night." Me pulled out a poster of herself declaring The Knightmare to be wanted as a notorious thief. "The most wanted in the land," she boasted.
Danni pulled out a small metal pointer, one that might have been used in a classroom. That had been where she'd taken it from, if she remembered correctly. She barely offered the poster a glance. "Cute," she said blandly. She continued to rummage in her pocket for something more useful. She was sure she had something in here.
She pulled out another small device, walking in front of Me and putting it against the keyhole. "The lock isn't exactly complicated," she explained. "The key is more for show than anything." There was a click and the door opened inwards. She smirked at Me. "You're the most wanted in the land, but my name is on wanted posters across the universe," she explained. "Let me know when you catch up."
"You're going to need a mask," Me told her as she stepped inside the house. Danni wrinkled her nose.
"Feel free to hide behind puns and Batman masks. I don't really care if people see my face," she replied. "Which way first?"
Me frowned. "Who's Batman?" she asked.
Danni grimaced slightly. "Sorry, that was a bit ahead of this time," she replied. "Which way?"
Me stepped in front of her, leading her through the kitchen and into the hallway. "'Tis black as night," she commented as she had expected there to still be some lights available for them. "I have a tinderbox somewhere."
"I'll grab a candle," Danni stated, walking further into the hallway as Me searched her own satchel for her tinderbox. She still had a torch in one of her pockets, but it felt better not to show the woman up too much. She found one pretty quickly and held it out so Me could light it. Me looked around, trying to get her bearings.
"The servant's stairs. Follow me." Danni did, heading up the stairs behind her. "I have a question," she whispered.
"Should we really be talking?" Danni whispered in reply.
She had a point, but Me knew a lot about people in general. She wouldn't really get another chance to ask Danni on her own. "Does the Doctor own you?"
Danni frowned. "No one owns me," she said firmly. Me nodded, pulling close to the wall and pausing for a moment.
"The woman in the strange dress seemed to think she did," Me stated. Danni's hearts froze and her hand pressed against the wall, automatically looking for a way out. There was only one person Me could be referring to and her instinct was to try and get out of the dream she was in. "Did she sell you to the Doctor too?"
"No, she didn't," Danni snapped before wincing at the loudness of her voice. "Stop asking questions. We have a prize to find."
She walked up the remainder of the stairs, straight in front of Me. She hadn't expected to suddenly be smacked in the face with Missy whilst robbing a house for some sort of gem. She had done very well lately ignoring the fear of being recaptured, now every shadow bent and stretched into the silhouette of a woman who loved to dress like Mary Poppins. She shouldn't have left the Doctor's side, but at least she had her gun. She'd saved herself before, she could do it again.
She froze at the top, holding her hand behind her to signal Me to stop as well. A servant came out of one of the many rooms but didn't notice the two intruders. She disappeared the hallway and Danni turned to Me. "Do you know where it will be kept?" she whispered.
"I'll wager there's a dressing room," Me replied, rightly assuming that Danni wasn't going to talk to her about the mysterious woman she had met. She'd try again at a later date. "Come on!"
She tried one of the doors, opening it and rushing inside. Danni quickly followed, closing it quietly behind her. What they found was a beautiful dressing room with dark panels on the walls and a large cabinet at one end, most likely being used as a jewellery box.
With just a shared look, they both walked over to it. A few of the drawers and doors seemed to be locked, so they both quickly began looking through them all for something that stood out. Danni was the one to find a large wooden box, ornately decorated, in one of the drawers.
"Not a hard guess, is it?" she whispered, opening it up. Inside sat a large amulet with a purple gem set in the middle that seemed to glow even in the dark light. She let out a quiet, low whistle before holding it in one had. In the other she pulled out her scanner. "Just give me a…"
She activated it only for a moment, knowing that it was going to make more noise than they needed it to. But it gave her the reading she needed.
Me shot her a look. "Why did you bring that?" she hissed. "We could have been heard."
"I'm not breaking into a house only to leave with the wrong item," Danni retorted. "Is this what you were after?"
Me nodded. "The rarest gem in the land," she confirmed, holding her hand out for it. Danni shot her a look before picking up the amulet and putting it in her own pocket.
"Neither of us were born yesterday," she pointed out. She got the familiar thrill of taking something that didn't belong to her. "Let's get out of here."
Me nodded her agreement, although it was obvious she wasn't happy to not be in control of their goods. She led them out into the hallway and towards the main stairs of the house. They both paused at the creak of a door opening. A quick look around suggested the door and the end of the hallway was their only choice so they both rushed to it, quietly closing the door behind them.
Of course, as always happened in Danni's life, there was a man sleeping in the room they were hiding in. A man with a terrible snoring problem. Danni looked around, trying to find the way out. Across the room was another door, this one ajar. She nodded towards it, offering it as an option. Me nodded.
Their trip to the sofa on which the man was sleeping was fine, but then a floorboard creaked and they both dropped to the floor, moving around to hide.
"Lucie?" the man called, climbing up to pick up a candle, lighting it off a candelabra that was sat by his side. "Lucie?"
They both moved out of the way until he left the room, then stood up and headed for the door. Danni paused as Me stepped out first, only pausing when she noticed the Time Lady wasn't following.
"Come on," she commanded.
Danni looked around the room again. Once upon a time, when she had been on her own, taking what she had needed had been second nature to her. The jacket she wore and loved was taken from a President who had been less than hospitable. She'd stolen money, and sometimes slept in beds where the house occupants had no idea she was there even when they were home. This felt like a time she had hoped to move on from, and yet also reminded her of the little moments she had actually enjoyed. Ones that had reminded her of when she had still been with the Doctor.
She smirked slightly. "One moment," she said, stepping back into the room and to a vase. She had been much more brazen during her travels on her own. She didn't wear a mask because she wanted people to see her face. What was the point if there was no one there to see her face?
She picked up the vase and chucked it very purposefully to the floor. It smashed instantly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Me shouted, pulling out her gun.
"Oh, sweetie, this has been fun. But what's a robbery without a little drama?" she drawled.
"There is an intruder on the premises! Bring me my blunderbuss!" Fanshawe screamed. The door opened a moment later and he came in with a pistol. Danni gave him a little wave of her fingers.
"Hello, sweetie," she purred. "Remember this face, you're never going to see it again."
She turned and dashed out, Me following on her trail. "We're going to get killed!" she exclaimed.
"Only if you're not fast enough," Danni retorted. "You've eight hundred years old. For once just live a little!"
~0~0~0~
Sorry it's taking me so long recently to update. I know the aim is once a week. For some reason Danni just wants to take a break. And so close to the five year anniversary, as well. It's annoying, I'll tell you that much!
Also don't forget about the Anniversary. Just over three weeks until the event! 3rd June, 9pm on Tumblr. Find details in chapter 25 or on my Tumblr! I'd love you to attend!
Reviews!
Authora97 - Why thank you! I wasn't sure if I'd hit the mark properly so I'm glad it worked :D
bored411 - It is a flashback, definitely. There's no way Missy will get her hands on Danni like that again, I can assure you. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
serenitysaiyan - You were getting married, sweetie, you could have put the story down for a couple of weeks :P I think you can already see it, a little, with Danni's justifications of things. Let's just hope it leads to more opening up between the two Time Lords, eh? XD
Michael Thomas1 - I'm not going to respond to this here, as I feel I may be a little more blunt than I should be. If that is the kind of author you are looking for, you are in the wrong place, my friend.