Danni wasn't sure that she liked being President. In fact, she was pretty sure that she didn't.
It wasn't like she was being asked to anything 'presidential' either. There was a conference room with terribly old-fashioned wood panelling on every wall. The furniture was dark wood, the ceiling was dark wood. Everything was dark wood and it made her feel trapped.
The conference table in the middle of the room, thankfully, wasn't getting any use. Apart from a couple of security officers that had been a requirement of the flight, and the two pilots, there wasn't anyone else on the plane but her and her husband. No one to conference with. All in all, it was a pretty standard, if not ridiculously extravagant, flight. But the room felt so crowded, so heavy that one more person would make it feel like it was crushing her from all sides.
She sat in one of the swivel armchairs by the windows, one leg crossed over the other as she tapped her fingers on armrest to the same beat of four that had haunted her for centuries. The Doctor wasn't sure if she even noticed that she did it, now. It was probably just ingrained in her no matter how many times she regenerated.
Of course, perhaps Missy had used it on her again. He didn't know and Danielle didn't offer up the information freely.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, sitting down in the chair next to hers.
"I don't like it," she replied shortly. "This room, it's just all… I don't know… Dark, and cold and… it feels really awful. I don't like it."
He smiled slightly. He could see how aggravated it was making her, but that she had no idea why. "Do you know what this room looks like?" he asked her. She shook her head. "It looks like power. It looks like influence."
"I don't like it," she repeated. "Why does everything have to be wood? And what's with the fake wood on the walls? Is it trying to be wood, or is it trying to be marble? Why can't it make up its mind?"
"You could always get it changed," he suggested. "I'm sure President of the World can change the wallpaper."
She nodded along with him, but her fingers didn't stop tapping and she didn't stop looking around like she was about to be jumped from all sides. "What's really wrong?" he asked, because he knew the décor wasn't really bothering her that much. "Osgood will be fine."
"I know she will," she quickly replied. She looked to her husband and saw nothing but concern but support on his face. She looked back out at the two men with guns and felt nothing but worry and a sense of dread. She looked back at her husband, who definitely was the preferred out of the two. "It's… It's the control," she whispered, hoping no one else would hear.
"Ah," he said. "Because I gave you the job, you don't feel like you have control," he reasoned. She shook her head.
"No, it's the opposite. I'm too much in control," she replied, to his surprise. "I like being in control of the situation. I-I like the fact I'm in control of me, because god only knows that wasn't the case for much too long. But I-I don't like being in control of all of these people." She pressed her lips together for a moment as she looked over at the two armed guards there. "No one should have to do anything just because I tell them to," she said softly. "And I probably will, because people annoy me when they don't do what I want. I'm just going to… I'm going to make people do stuff they don't want to and I don't want to be like her… that."
He sat forward in his chair, reaching out to grab the hand that was tapping on her chair arm. "Do you know the difference between Missy and you?" he asked. "Missy did it to you when you didn't want her to. These people who you have command over are here because they want to be." He shot them a sideways glance. "Sure, we could get into the ridiculous life choices they've made and the fact that humans seem to be rather intent on getting themselves killed. But they do it willingly."
"If I have to lead people to their own death…" she started.
"Do you remember a young, ginger woman who would never stop defending the fact that I was an officer?" he interrupted. "Or the blonde regeneration who marched Mr Pink out of our home for saying the same thing?"
She didn't look him in the eye, suggesting she remembered them clearly. "Yes…"
"You would never do anything unless it was the last resort," the Doctor finished. "You'd never send people into their own deaths on a whim. You are the President of the World now. If you want to see that change, then change it."
She met his gaze again, smiling slightly. "You're quite good at that, aren't you?" she said.
"At what?"
"Those speeches that make everyone feel better," she clarified. "They always seem to work."
He grinned. "Are you saying it worked?" he asked. She nodded. "I guess I am, then."
She looked back into the room. "I want to get this redecorated," she decided. "I'll have to get Kate onto it."
"You can do that, Madam President," he said teasingly. She shot him a glare.
"Oi," she warned. "Mrs President, thank you." She shifted. "I'm married, not old."
"Of course not, my Pet," he replied, humouring her. They fell into silence for a moment. "What's the plan, Mrs President?"
"Save Osgood," she replied simply. "Then the world." She looked to him. "That's the usual plan, isn't it?" He nodded his agreement. "And then we do it all over again."
~0~0~0~
People saluted them as they got off the plane. People saluted them as they were bundled into the back of an armoured vehicle and taken to the command base. Luckily, though, people seemed to have gotten the memo by the time they were walking through the base and had stopped saluting them.
They were taken into one of the many buildings where there were a lot of soldiers who seemed very busy, being over watched by a woman in beret, who was evidently Colonel Walsh.
"At ease," the Doctor declared, arms wide and sunglasses on. In contrast, Danni walked in just behind him, not trying to pull the attention onto her. He did always like to make an entrance. "She's President of the World, I'm the First Gentleman. We're here to rescue people and generally establish happiness all over the place. I'm the Doctor, she's Danielle."
Walsh barely gave them a glance. "Yes, we know who you are," she replied. Danni frowned slightly. That was the tone of someone who really didn't think that you had any business interfering with their job. It was the sign that they weren't going to pay a bit of attention to her or her husband. That was going to problematic if and when they had to handle the Zygons.
That was going to have to be noted at the end of this whole adventure.
"Going to strike altitude," one of the soldiers said. The Doctor and Danni shared and they walked over to her side.
"What's going on here? Fun and games?" the Doctor asked lowly. The pair looked over her shoulder at the visuals being shown on the many monitors from the drone she was flying. A pilot spoke over the rather tinny speakers and it was obvious what was happening.
"That's not happening," Danni said firmly. "Osgood is still in there. Abort the strike."
"They're dangerous," Walsh replied. "And your friend is almost certainly dead. I'm not going to allow them to disperse. You can't track a shape-shifter."
Danni's head snapped around and her eyes flared dangerously. Her dismissed of Osgood wasn't something she was going to tolerate quietly. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew who I was," she stated.
"We do…"
"Then you know that I'm the fucking President," she said loudly, angrily. "And it's a bit fucking rude to ignore me, don't you think? Your orders come from me."
"I'm sorry, but you are only the President during a full-scale invasion. My orders, as you put it, come from my superiors and not you. Your friend is dead and the strike will go ahead."
The Doctor winced, knowing the anger that was going to explode in his wife. He felt it as well, a wave of anger that came from her and filled the whole room.
"Are you telling me that a planet full of shape shifting aliens that you can't find or stop isn't an invasion?" she countered quietly. "I'm the President, whether you like my orders or not. My friend is in there, my friend is alive and you will stop the strike!"
The two women locked gazes, both furious and the Doctor turned away to look at the screen that was currently showing the feed from the drone. Danielle rarely got that angry, but when she did people listened. Even he did, and he had always been known for not listening to anyone. He had no doubt who was going to win the staring contest. He also knew that, even if she did, she wasn't going to calm down straight away.
He needed some good news for her, so he turned his attention back onto the strike that was about to happen. It was surprising to see that, even though she was going to win, she might not have needed to. The drone's camera was focused on a doorway in the Turmezistanian town where two people, a man and a young boy, were stood. The same man and child who were on the photo stuck to the drone flying console. And, based on the look on the soldier's face, he was probably right in guessing that they were her family.
She quickly chucked her headset off, backing away from the console as if it was burning her. "Strike aborted. Strike aborted."
Danni looked over, surprised at the sudden turn in her favour. She, too, quickly spotted both the man and child on the screen and in the photograph.
"Well," she drawled. "That is very interesting."
"Very interesting indeed," the Doctor agreed.
~0~0~0~
The next step was to head to the town. The soldiers were ordered to pack up their vehicles and the Doctor and Danni were right behind them. Someone had tried to get them both to where the armoured vest and helmets that came with working for UNIT and as a soldier.
"Have you seen what I'm wearing?" Danni had countered. "I'm not hiding this with something so horrid and bulky. It's not like Zygons come with rifles, anyway."
She had then turned to Walsh. "What do we know, exactly?" she asked. "They've taken hold of the town but what are they doing? Is there any sign of activity from the inside at all? Are they building anything? Any transmissions?"
"We think it's a Zygon training camp," Walsh explained. "We never see more than one or two of them outside at any one time. But they always take different shapes, we don't know how many there really are. We don't know how they come and go. Whether they go through tunnels, or whether they turn into dogs and run out across the hills."
The Doctor couldn't help but notice all of the weapons being loaded up. They both needed UNITs resources to investigate what was happening with the Zygons, how far along of the 'resistance' had gotten in their plans. And, more importantly, to find and save Osgood. However, seeing all the guns never made him confident in anyone's plans.
"So, that's what we'll find out," he said shortly.
"We should have that gas," Walsh stated, causing Danni's back to straighten and her frustration the flare again. Everyone seemed so well-informed on what was in the Osgood box. Every time she heard someone wanting to use it she lost a little more faith in humanity in general. "We should be able to rip them inside out."
"Colonel, take it easy. They're trying to unsettle you," the Doctor pointed out. "They're trying to make you paranoid and panicked."
"Any living thing in this world, including my family and friends, could turn into a Zygon and kill me, any second now. It's not paranoia when it's real."
"She has a point," Danni admitted. Even Walsh seemed surprised at that. "It still doesn't justify the genocide of an entire species. It's a wonder there any animals left on the bloody planet considering how trigger-happy you all are."
"It's not genocide, it's a defence."
"It's the last resort," Danni corrected forcefully. "It's not just some weapon you can pull out because you're scared. It's not a hand-holding replacement! It's a last resort and, trust me, we're not even close to that yet."
"With all due respect, it's all well and good thinking that everyone is calm and reasonable, but this isn't just something we can talk our way out of. This is a full-on war. Weapons are the only way to win them."
Danni looked to her husband, eyes wide in the disbelief that she was still not being listened to. The Doctor held his hands up, letting her know that he had no idea why the conversation was going on this long either. They didn't have time to argue when Osgood still needed rescuing, but for all their talk of weapons, humans did seem to like a good argument.
Danni turned back to Walsh. "Are you lecturing me on war?" she asked lowly. "Do you not remember the Cybermen that came from the ground? The time the Earth was almost destroyed and my husband," she nodded towards the Doctor, "was the person to stop it? Do you remember the horrific person who did that to you? The Time Lord that, previously, had been your Prime Minister? Do you remember that?"
Walsh straightened slightly. "Everyone remembers that," she replied shortly.
"Yes, they do," Danni agreed before pointing to herself. "I'm the woman who escaped from her. I'm the one who fought that battle and won. I'm the woman who spent five hundred years at war and managed to help stop the entire universe being destroyed on more than one occasion. You may think that I'm just some silly little girl, Colonel, but let me tell you something." She leant in a little closer. "I know more about this than you will ever know. The gas is a last resort, and this isn't the time for a last resort."
Walsh nodded once. "Yes, Mrs President."
"Madam President," Danni corrected, much to the Doctor's amusement. "We're going to the village. Finish the preparations." Walsh nodded. "And I'll have that salute I've not been getting, now."
Walsh walked off, thoroughly chastised, to command her soldiers to finish the preparations for leaving. The Doctor and Danni watched her go.
"I thought you didn't look like a Madam?" the Doctor commented.
"I don't," Danni replied before looking up at him. "Doesn't mean that I'm not one. Everyone always listens to you, but I think they still see me as a sidekick."
"You are definitely not a sidekick," the Doctor promised. "You're absolutely bloody terrifying and if they can't see that then more fool them." He held his hand out for hers. "Shall we go save Osgood?"
Danni nodded. "You can be quite scary as well," she told him. "Your Oncoming Storm thing still gives me shivers."
"My 'Oncoming Storm' thing?" he repeated indignantly. "Is that what I've been reduced to?"
~0~0~0~
Danni should have been grateful that her shouting had gotten them thirty minutes in the village before they were going to bomb it. She knew that everyone was just scared. The Zygons were scared, the humans were scared. Hell, even she was kind of scared. That was why she held the Doctor's hand tightly as they stood on the outskirts of the village.
The Doctor couldn't have been happier with that development. It meant that, instead of her gun, he was now her first call when she needed comfort. She had come a long way from being terrified of everyone. She didn't seem to look around for Missy quite as much and, although she still was on high alert most of the time, she seemed to be tackling moments as they came rather than looking out for ways that she was in danger.
"We all know what a rabbit warren this place is, but we've got intel they're holed up inside the church," Walsh told her soldiers. They all listened intently, even Danni who didn't seem to like her too much. "Hitchley, you take the front, storm it, draw their fire. The Doctor, the President and I will take the back."
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of Osgood, holding it up for everyone to see. "This is our object," he explained. "This is our object. We need to get her back, safely. Try to kill as few of them as possible. We need have to have someone to negotiate with."
Walsh really wasn't fond of the idea of being less than forceful. "You know what they're capable of. Do not fall victim to it. Truck open. Code Green."
"Let's move out!" Hitchley commanded from the front of the little group and, with a wave of his hand, they all headed into the village.
"Where did you get a picture of Osgood from?" Danni asked the Doctor quietly. She hadn't expected it and had been quite surprised when he'd pulled it out of his jacket pocket. He wasn't normally one for photographs. That had been her.
"It's one of yours," he explained just as quietly. "I grabbed it when we stopped off at the TARDIS before heading to the plane."
Danni shook her head. "But I don't have any photos of either Osgood," she replied. "I don't remember taking any."
He glanced down at the top of her head. She genuinely seemed bewildered. "I think you went out on one of those lunch dates that you like so much," he offered. "I'm sure it's not important."
"Yeah," she replied slowly, unconvinced. "Not important."
The Doctor continued to watch her from the corner of his eye as she nibbled on her lip. She looked thoughtful, and although anyone around would probably think that she was just thinking about the mission ahead he knew that there was a touch of concern in her look. The way she chewed her lips suggested that she was worried about Osgood, and about herself.
"Do you remember that time that you tried to convince me to take you skiing?" he asked her out of the blue. "Because of that stupid face in a jar."
"He's my dad," Danni warned. "And I did convince you, didn't I? We went skiing."
"What I recall is you going to the top of a hill and falling down to the bottom," he replied.
The village seemed rather deserted. There wasn't much to it, just a main street with some houses and the church at the other end. It was quite quaint, in its own way. But the fact that there was no one around was rather unnerving.
"I didn't fall to the bottom," she retorted. "I did manage to ski down a good portion of it. It was fun. We should go back."
"You don't mean that," the Doctor replied shortly. "You broke your ankle."
"I sprained my ankle. You were the one who insisted I get… what did you call it?" She glanced up at him. "Bed rest. That's what you called it."
"There wasn't much resting."
She glanced up at him with a cheeky smile. "All the more reason to go again," she pointed out. "Also I know you're trying to prove that I've not forgotten a lot by pointing out something that happened centuries ago to make me feel better."
"Is it working?" he asked. She paused for a moment then nodded.
"Yes, it is," she admitted. "Do you think Osgood is alright?"
"If they'd killed her we would know by now," the Doctor replied. "You know that as much as I do. They kept the peace and they won't kill one of their own."
"Yeah, I know. I just hope they believe she's one of their own," Danni murmured as the soldiers began to surround the church. Walsh led them around the back of the church and the pair fell silent. Danni found it rather hard to not comment on the fact that they were heading through the graveyard to get to their target. It wasn't the best omen, and as someone who had spent a long time looking for signs of something sinister happening, it just didn't sit well.
They kept silent as they looked from their hiding place at the back of the church to the front to watch what was happening. When the church doors opened and an old woman stepped out rather than a Zygon, none of them were surprised and none of them were happy.
They could barely hear what was going on, but Hitchley's voice came through Walsh's communicator clear. "You're not my mother. Don't use my name."
"Oh no," Danni whispered lowly. "It's going to work."
"You don't know that," Walsh replied.
"It's not your mum, though, is it?" Danni countered. "We need to get them away from there. It's like you said; anyone you've ever loved could suddenly turn into a Zygon." She dipped her head further around the corner, looking at the group of soldiers. They were all aiming but none of them were shooting. "Why are you so scared? Is it because Zygons can imitate anyone, with their mannerisms and their memories, so you will never know?"
"Hitchley's smarter than that," Walsh defended.
"We're all smarter than that," Danni countered. "You think that you would be able to tell. There'd be something not quite right. Something they say, something they do. You think that, because you know them so well, you'd just know. You know that's not true, otherwise you wouldn't be scared."
Walsh looked at her for a moment, then back around the corner, activating her radio. "Do not fall victim. Ask for details. She's a copy. Ask something only your mum could know." She turned back to Danni. "This is why we should have the gas."
"The gas isn't the answer here," she replied. "You may think that they're the bad guys, but to them that's exactly what you are. They're defending themselves against you. We need to reinitialise the ceasefire and turning them inside out isn't exactly going to achieve that, is it?"
The Doctor, whilst serious and concerned about the situation, couldn't help but appreciate how Danni was taking over the situation. They'd always worked in a similar fashion. She'd deal with the people, he'd deal with the thinking and the planning. Distracting everyone else by talking to them always helped him focus more. What were the Zygons planning inside the church? How did they manage to get all of the host body prints? How long, exactly, had this attempt and ending the ceasefire been going on for?
"Do it!" Walsh suddenly shouted. "Don't go in there. You're going to your death! Hitchley, kill it."
"Over and out, ma'am," he replied, cutting off his radio as they all headed into the church.
"Damn it. Damn it!" she shouted, turning to run to the back entrance of the church.
Danni and the Doctor quickly followed. "This is pointless! Just let me go in and talk!"
Walsh raised her gun, ready to shoot the lock but Danni quickly shook her head. "No, no, wait!" she shouted before rummaging in her pocket. She pulled out her screwdriver and unlocked the door. "We don't want to alert them that we're here," she said.
Walsh didn't offer a thank you, instead she stormed into the church. Inside was a strategy table with a map of the world laid out on it. There were other maps, and propaganda messages pinned to the walls, all suggesting that the church had been used for quite a while as a base.
Unfortunately, on the floor was a group of hairy bundles sparking with electricity. The remains of the soldiers had just been left where they fell and it was rather horrible to see.
"They've executed my men," she bit out angrily.
"Where are the Zygons?" the Doctor replied, sounding a little cold but he did have a good point. They weren't being attacked or ambushed. The Zygons had gone.
"We need to bomb the hell out of this place. It's infested with these things," Walsh snarled. "We can't tell who the enemy is any more, we can't count them and we can't track them!"
The Doctor paused as he looked at the strategy table, looking up to meet her gaze. "I'm not going to let you do that," he warned.
"I just lost my men, I'll quite happily bomb the hell out of anywhere." She turned, heading towards the door. "We need to move. Strike's on its way."
"We're not going anywhere," Danni said firmly. "We're finding Osgood."
Walsh didn't care. She didn't care if Danni was the president or not. Her men had been killed and she was angry. "You've got ten minutes," she warned before leaving.
Danni and the Doctor shared a look. They had to find Osgood and quickly. The Doctor turned back to the table. "Did Missy pretend to be people often?" he asked.
Danni paused as she looked at the drawings on the wall. "You're asking me that now?" she replied. "We've got to find Osgood."
"I know, I know, it helps me think," he replied. "Helps me focus."
Danni stared silently at the wall for a moment, weighing up the pros and cons of the conversation he wanted to have. "Just you," she lied. "Well… I mean… not just you, sometimes it was Eleven, or Ten. I mean just you as in the 'just the Doctor'."
"And you could never tell?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not always," she corrected. "She played you very well, and when she didn't… I don't know, I guess I just always hoped it was you, rather than admitting it wasn't."
"Help, help!"
They both paused. "Osgood?" Danni called out.
"Help!"
Her voice was muffled, and obviously coming from below. "She's under the floor," Danni declared before they both began frantically searching. Danni went one way and the Doctor went another. Both of them banged on the floor as Osgood called for help until, in a side room, the Doctor found the trap door.
"Danielle, in here!" he called out, opening it up and climbing down the ladders to the basement. It wasn't a very big room, and it was barely lit, but apart from being manacled to a chair, she seemed alright.
"Osgood!" he cried as he turned his ever-present flashlight on. He headed over to her as the sound of a jet flying overhead reached even them. "Got to get you out. They're going to bomb this place." He pulled out his sonic sunglasses. "What do the Zygons want?"
"Doctor!"
Osgood stared at the new woman who appeared from the darkness. She didn't immediately recognise the face, but she knew almost instantly who it was. Even though Clara had told them that Danni was safe, she still felt a wave of relief at seeing her. "Danni!"
Danni took a moment to look her friend over. She was wearing a jumper and a blouse with question marks on the collar, which immediately answered the question to which Osgood Missy had killed. It made a lot of sense that Missy went for the Osgood who had tried to dress like her. In every aspect of her life that woman had left her mark.
"We need to go. They're not going to wait for us," Danni warned them. The Doctor nodded, getting back to releasing Osgood.
"What do the Zygons want?" he asked again.
"They're training, practising new skills," Osgood replied. "Doctor, what are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you," the Doctor replied as her manacles fell away. "In a quite dashing way, I might add." He leant a little closer. "It's the skirt," he said lowly. "It really helps with the look, don't you think?"
"Yes," Osgood agreed, glancing at Danni. She really did look rather different to the last time she saw the Time Lady. She knew about and had experienced regeneration, but it was still terribly fascinating. "No. I mean… The Zygons, they fled through the tunnels. They're going back to the UK. If you two are here, they've got you out of the way. Who's left in the UK?"
"Clara," Danni whispered, horrified. They'd just left her there with only UNIT to protect her. Clara was good, but she was still only human. They needed to get back.
"Clara," a voice hissed from behind them. Without thinking, Danni spun on her heels and pulled her gun out of her pocket. Despite of the very surprising amount of anger that flared that they dared to say her best friend's name, she aimed above them and shot three times. The ceiling collapsed onto the Zygon that had appeared, crushing it underneath them.
She blinked in surprise, turning back around to see Osgood and the Doctor staring at her. "I-I'd forgotten I had that on me," she admitted.
The Doctor pulled Osgood up from her chair. "Good," he replied sincerely. "Means you don't need it." The whole room shook as something very loud landed above them.
"The strike's starting," Danni declared. "We need to get out."
"So much for ten minutes," he retorted. He grabbed Danni's hand on the way past and Osgood quickly followed.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor had not been happy about having to take his wife through an active airstrike. Danni hadn't been happy that any of them to have to make their way through an active airstrike. Osgood was just happy to not be chained up anymore.
They had the Zygon brought back with them. That had been the Doctor's idea. Danni had been more than happy to let it rot for kidnapping Osgood and had been rather vocal about the matter.
"We should have just left it," she snapped as they walked into the main room on the plane. "It deserved nothing less."
"We can get more information from them," the Doctor replied patiently.
"I don't care," Danni replied shortly. "I'm the President, you should do what I say."
"Um, actually…" Osgood started weakly. She didn't want to interrupt their argument but, even with what had happened to her, she still couldn't help correcting Danni.
"The Doctor handed it over to me," the Time Lady interrupted before her husband could get another word in. "A fat lot of good that does me. Just get me to fight with the humans, but only when you want me to!"
"You know I'm right about the Zygon. We couldn't just let them be blown up!"
"There were other Zygons! All of them could have had information. That thing held Osgood in the bloody basement!" She pointed to the back of the room, where a black curtain hung over the doorway where the Zygon had been wheeled through. "And now I'm bloody arguing with you while it's in the other room! It held her in the fucking basement!"
"Danielle…" he started and she glared at him in warning. He held his hands up, trying to calm her down. "Danni, you know I'm right."
She stared at him for a moment longer then turned around, walking over to the computer that sat in the corner. He closed his eyes, sighing heavily. He knew that she wasn't angry at him. She was angry at the Zygon who had taken Osgood. This was just her worry coming out as anger, which he could appreciate. He watched her fire up the internet browser and knew that she would calm down eventually.
He turned his attention to Osgood, who had taken a quiet perch on one of the leather chairs. "I like the glasses," he said, nodding to the pair perched on her nose. "A new style, aren't they?"
Osgood reached up, adjusting the thin-rimmed glasses. She had chosen them shortly after her sister had died. One of them had tried to keep the Doctor in her clothing, and the other Danni. Without her sister, she had to represent both. "They seem a little redundant, now," she admitted. She glanced over at Danni, who seemed to be typing angrily on the computer.
The Doctor also looked over at his wife. "Yeah, perfect vision this time," he said softly before turning back. "She likes building furniture now. Perhaps you could get a necklace with a chair on it, or something?"
Osgood smiled, amused. "Yeah, something," she agreed.
The Doctor rolled one of the wheeled office chairs over to her, sitting down close. "Which one are you? Human or Zygon?"
She immediately pulled back, looking annoyed and a little defensive at the question. "I don't answer that question."
"Why not?"
"Because it's bloody rude!" Danni called over. The pair looked to her again but she didn't look around from the monitor. "They were both Osgood. It doesn't matter if she was originally a Zygon, or a human or a... or a Dalek. She's Osgood. She'll always want to preserve the peace."
"I will give all the lives I have to protect it," Osgood promised. "You want to know who I am, Doctor? I am the peace. I am Human and Zygon."
His face dropped. "Like a hybrid," he muttered.
Danni held her hand up. "Welcome to the club, sweetie," she called over. "We can be human hybrids together."
Osgood blushed and the Doctor tried not to focus on that word again. It made him too antsy and he had more to worry about.
"Well, I'm proud to know you, Osgood." He smiled knowingly. "And I promise that I won't tell anyone that you're a human." She looked slightly surprised. "Zygons need to keep the human original alive to refresh the body print. If you were a Zygon, you'd've changed back within days of your sister's death," he explained.
She shook her head. "Those were the old rules, before Zygons could pluck loved ones from your memory and wear their faces. Zygons only need to keep the original alive if they need more information from them. If the interrogation is over, then the original can die."
Danni finally climbed out of her chair, walking over to them. "So we can't even tell if anyone's still alive?" she asked. Her and the Doctor shared a look. "That's changed since the last time, hasn't it?"
"They've not been on Earth long, but it's had a profound effect on all Zygons," Osgood explained. "It's a fairly new development, but I'm sure the resistance will be exploiting it."
"I'd bet my sunglasses on it," the Doctor muttered. "I think we need to have a talk with our new friend."
~0~0~0~
The plane took off and the Zygon was wheeled out. The Doctor really thought that talking to them was going to help, that he'd get something worthwhile from it. Danni thought all they had was an angry, scared Zygon who would just antagonise them further.
So she focused on contacting Clara. She had been concerned about Osgood, which always annoyed her because her concern had been used against her in the past. With Clara, though, she was absolutely terrified and more than happy to show it. Clara was her best friend, who had always been there for her, who had been hurting when Danni had been taken and who Danni knew had spent so much time looking for her across the universe.
She could go to Clara when she had questions, or worries, or just needed a normal night out with her best friend. Clara had really become the best friend she'd ever had and the idea that she was currently investigating terrified Zygons was horrid. She just wanted to know that she was okay.
But her phone rang and rang and Clara never answered. She was probably busy with UNIT, but Danni knew it wasn't that. She had quite the good sense for danger and every red light she had was flashing in her head. Something was wrong with Clara.
Even the Doctor was feeling slightly concerned by the way Clara wasn't answering the phone. She was hopelessly infatuated with his wife, so knowing that she wasn't jumping at the chance to talk to her meant that something rather bad could have been going down in the UK and they were stuck in the sky for a few hours yet. He just hoped that UNIT didn't do anything stupid until they turned up.
Danni almost sagged in relief when the ringing stopped and Clara answered. "Clara, are you alright?" she asked quickly. "Is everything alright?"
"Danni," Clara replied slowly, purposefully and Danni straightened.
"Where's Clara?" she demanded. "What have you done to my friend?!"
"This plane will never land," the Zygon captive hissed and Danni pointed at it.
"You shut up!" she snarled.
"You're breaking up," Clara's voice replied, sounding far away and Danni looked to her husband. He could see the pure terror in her eyes.
"It's not Clara," she whispered. "That's not Clara."
He looked back at the Zygon for a moment, noting the glee on its face. Whatever was happening down on the ground was happening to Clara, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was concerned as well. She had been his friend too, once.
He held his hand out for Danni's phone and she handed it to him, reverting to biting her lip and hugging herself. He put the phone on speaker and the trio gathered around it.
"Clara, the invasion has happened. You're probably surrounded by Zygons. Get to the TARDIS," the Doctor instructed as if it was Clara on the other end.
"I'm sorry," she replied, "but Clara's dead."
"No," Danni breathed.
"Kate Stewart is dead. The UNIT troops are all dead," the Zygon-Clara continued. Danni felt her stomach rolling, the sound of plane's engines dulling as everything was drowned out by the overwhelming devastation at the idea that Clara was dead.
The Doctor reached out for her hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her close. Osgood looked just as horrified, and the Zygon grinned in victory.
~0~0~0~
Down below, on a cliff, Zygon-Clara raised her rocket launcher, aiming it calmly at the plane that was coming in over the sea that contained the few people who could stop her plans. Without a smile, or any nerves, she pulled the trigger and sent the missile soaring towards them.
"Truth or consequences."
~0~0~0~
Not much to say this week except - RIP Eddie. You were the best dog xxx