Missy was everywhere. Danni was used to seeing her everywhere in her head, but it being in the real world was incredibly more disturbing. It didn't matter that by sheer quantity alone Danni knew it wasn't the real deal, it still terrified her. She had always been adamant that, if she ever saw Missy again, she'd kill her where she stood and she would love it. She and the Doctor had actually argued about it on occasion. Proper arguments as well, where there was shouting and no making up at the end. He felt she was better than that. She disagreed.
However, seeing Missy all over just showed how much of a coward she still was when it came to the Time Lady. She stayed close to the Doctor's side, hand on her gun, eyeing everyone around her warily. Suddenly she wondered, should Missy reappear, if she would just follow her meekly like a good little pet…
"Your friend called Rigsy a murderer," Danni said to Ashildr, focusing not on her fear but her anger instead. Anger was good. "As I very much doubt it, I'd like to know how someone got the jump on little old Ashildr."
"That's not my name," Ashildr dismissed lightly, but with a tone that said she was normally listened to.
"Yes, it is," Danni replied with just the same dismissive tone. "You've read your diaries, you know that."
"How long have you been here?" the Doctor interjected, also feeling Danni's anger. Ashildr seemed to have just taken authority over the street and all the alien life upon it, deciding who would live or die on what seemed to be very little. He may have lost trust in his ability to make friends, but he also knew that Local Knowledge wouldn't have the capacity to take anyone's life.
"Since Waterloo," Ashildr replied.
"The battle?"
"No, the station," she replied a little sarcastically. "Really, Doctor." They continue down the street, all the people around them slowly paying more and more attention them. "Tread carefully while you're here. Some of your greatest enemies are within a few feet of you. As far as you're concerned, this is the most dangerous street in London."
"I can see that," Danni snapped.
Clara stepped forward. "Fascinating," she lied openly. "Now, can we skip to the part where you want Rigsy dead for some reason?"
"It's him! He's back!"
They stopped in the street as they were suddenly surrounded. Rigsy shied away from the hateful gazes, holding onto his arm like he was hugging himself for comfort. One Missy stood up from her chair, stepping closer towards him and Danni's immediate response was to keep her as far away from Rigsy as possible and she moved between the two. Missy flickered, revealing a Sontaran underneath, but she didn't care.
"It's best we get him inside first," Ashildr told Clara.
"Murderer," Sontaran-Missy snarled at Rigsy. "You're not welcome here." They all jeered and snarled at Rigsy, closing in and it was very clear Rigsy was in quite a bit of danger.
"Like I said, it's best we get inside." Ashildr motioned them down a corner and they were all very happy to pick up the pace. This street was much quieter, with only one person watching, hiding in the shadows. The young man darted into their house when they noticed they'd been spotted, showing a second face on the back. Danni frowned; why didn't they look like Missy?
"This misdirection circuit of yours is remarkable," the Doctor declared. "The cloaking device that hides the street, makes everyone look like humans."
Danni turned her attention back away from the young man. Ashildr shook her head. "It's no device. It's the Lurkworms." She motioned above their heads towards the old-fashioned lamps that illuminated the street. "Quite something, aren't they? The light is a telepathic field. It normalises everything you see, places it within the compass of your expectations, your experiences."
"Ah," Danni drawled. "That suddenly makes every make a lot of sense."
It was unfortunate, but her words echoed exactly what the Doctor was feeling. They all saw humans because, on Earth, everyone expected there to be humans. Danni, on the other hand, always expected Missy. It was her first point of call, her first thought in any unusual situation. She tried to look past it, she even succeeded most of the time, but it still sat there. Her expectations were that every bad thing involved Missy. Her experiences were that her expectations were usually met.
They stopped in front of a woman bandaging the head of a man. Or Missy bandaging another Missy's head, depending on your perception of reality. "You can bypass them, of course," Ashildr continued.
Knowing that she wasn't seeing Missy didn't exactly help, however, calm Danni's anger and her fear. So, when Ashildr reached out to pinch the Doctor's arm, Danni's hand shot out and caught her wrist. The look on her face was almost feral, the only thing she needed to do to warn Ashildr away. Her arm dropped and the Doctor wondered if that was what she always warned him to not be like; protective to the point of violence.
It was enough to take him out of the situation and he saw the two people flicker into an Ood fixing up a Cyberman's head. He wasn't sure that was any better.
"Don't worry," Ashildr told them both. "We're perfectly safe."
"Said no one around a Cyberman; ever," Danni muttered.
"We find that phrase is usually followed by a lot of screaming and running and bleeding," the Doctor agreed.
"I brokered a truce. We have strict rules against violence here. Rules every creature must abide by if they wish to remain on the street." The rules didn't seem particularly sound as the aliens around them continued to jeer threateningly around them at Rigsy as they continued on.
"What's better, that they're in here with me, peaceful and cooperative, or out there on Earth like the Zygons?" Ashildr proposed. "We haven't had an act of violence on this street for a hundred years, until yesterday, when your friend here attacked one of our most vulnerable residents."
"Allegedly," Danni pointed out as they entered a house that was, most likely, where Ashildr lived. "Allegedly our friend attacked someone. Someone in your street, with cloaking worms and where the humans outside will forget whenever they walk in. You're telling me that all that failed, for the first time 100 years?"
The house still held a lot of the features of the era in which it was built. A lot of wood and old glass, but the woman suspended in the container by the staircase was definitely a lot more advanced than the architecture around it. The Doctor immediately strode over, completely distracted for a moment by the very out-of-place technology.
"She was found at the entrance of the street," Ashildr explained. "No weapon on the scene, but the cause of death is likely the head wound. Seems she was knocked to the cobblestones."
"Seems?" Clara asked, furious. "You've sentenced Rigsy to death yet you don't know exactly what's going on?"
"He was found over the body," Ashildr explained. "My people were angry, frightened. I had to act."
"The purpose of a leader is to lead, not to make rash decisions that hurt other people instead!" Danni raged. "If you truly cared about this street, you would know that. Instead you're punishing people because you're scared that you'll be found out as a fraud."
Ashildr looked at her with calculating eyes. "You speak from experience?"
"We all speak from experience. Our experiences are all we have," Danni snapped in reply.
"What was her name?" Rigsy interrupted before Danni could think too much on how angry Ashildr made her, and how conflicting it was considering it was because of them she was even around to make such a bad decision.
"Anah. We're keeping her here until someone can take her home for burial."
"She's a Janus," the Doctor declared as he finished his circuit around her. Just from the brief examination he could give her, it did look like the head wound was what had killed her. However, seeing the second face on the back of her head did give him a bit of hope that he might actually be able to save Rigsy.
He had noticed the second face almost instantly, however who was he to interrupt his wife when she was having a good rant?
"She escaped slavery. She fled here with her child," Ashildr explained. Danni walked over to her husband's side and he motioned to the face on the back of her head. She had never encountered the Janus before, she'd never even heard of them and he watched as her eyes lit up at the knowledge of something new. That never changed, he'd noticed, from body to body. And in the same regard they were the same. Always drawn to the new and exciting, even at the most inappropriate of times.
"The child. A daughter?" he asked. Ashildr shook her head.
"No, a boy."
"Is that bad?" Clara asked.
"Just unhelpful," he replied shortly. She frowned and Danni motioned her over as well, knowing the Doctor would never explain what was going on to Clara.
"She has two faces," Clara commented. "I think we saw her son outside."
"Can he not help?" Danni asked her husband. "Maybe he was there too."
"The female Janus is psychic," he explained to her, and by extension Rigsy and Clara. "One face sees into the future, the other looks behind her, into the past. The son won't have the same abilities."
Danni frowned. "What does his other face do, then?" she asked him, curious.
"Nothing, why?" the Doctor asked him. She shrugged.
"I dunno," she said. "I mean, if I was going to regenerate with a second face then I'd want it to be there for more than decoration. I'd want it to see into the past. Or… I dunno, be able to drink while I ate, maybe? If it didn't do something different, it'd probably annoy me by talking when I'm trying to sleep or something stupid. I know I'd do that if I was a face stuck on the back of someone else's head."
It was a fair point, and not a new thought to the Doctor. However, the conversation was halted by the desperate pleas from a man outside.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry," Ashildr said, heading to the door and out to see the man outside.
"Yes. Please, go. It's not like we've got a ticking clock or anything." The Doctor walked over to the young man, checking the back of his neck for the numbers counting down his death. "Forty-one minutes."
Clara had already headed out of the house, intent on finding out what exactly was so pressing that it had to take precious minutes from Rigsy's life to sort out. She was surprised by the crowd that had gathered outside and, for a moment, was worried when Rigsy came out after her in case they had turned up to finish the job before the countdown was complete.
Inside the circle was an old man and woman, the man begging Ashildr for his life. It seemed like he had been sentenced to death for stealing medicine, which was also incredibly worrying. If they were willing to kill a man over some medicine, suddenly Rigsy's less than airtight case made a lot more sense.
She did feel better when the Doctor and Danni joined them outside as being around Danni always made her feel better. Nothing ever seemed so bad when your best friend was by your side to go through it together.
"This man stole medical rations. He broke a rule of the street and he stole from all of you," Ashildr told the crowd. "And yes, I can remove the chronolock. But I won't. Our rules keep us safe."
The old woman begged to take the punishment, but he looked at his wife like she was the only thing worth living for and told her just as much. Then, with all of the grace of a merciless leader, Ashildr took a deep breath and let the Quantum Shade go. The tattoo disappeared from her neck.
"What's a Quantum Shade?" Danni asked the Doctor softly. A large raven appeared at the end of the street and it was obvious that everyone was terrified of it. She felt it too. It felt ominous and frightening, and she wanted to run. Something was very wrong with that bird.
"It's a kind of spirit. Once it's bound to a victim, you could flee across all of time and all of the universe, it would still find you," he explained. Danni shook her head once, like the very idea horrified her enough to try and deny its existence and he very much felt the same.
The old man turned and ran from the raven, which crowed and followed him through the houses as he tried to outrun his fate. The Doctor moved over to Ashildr, leaving his wife with Clara, to try and get some mercy from her. However, there was only coldness in her eyes.
"Peace on this street depends on one thing," she told him. "To break it in any way is to face the Raven."
There was a scream of agony from around the corner of the twisting street and the man's wife looked ready to break down as she realised that he was dead. The black smoke reappeared, wrapping around Ashildr's neck and ending the horror show they'd just witnessed.
"We've created a monster," Danni whispered sadly. Clara turned to her, hearing the tears in her voice. She took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She was taking everything quite hard and to see her taking the blame directly to heart angered Clara more than she could say. Danni had become reserved, she knew that she only expressed anger and confidence when around others and kept everything else private to the people she trusted. But, watching her wipe her eyes like she had been about to cry just said that she was feeling it too hard to hide anymore.
"This isn't you," she said softly, kindly. "These are her choices, not yours." Danni leant on her arm and the warmth Clara felt from it was rather bittersweet. She just gave Danni a quick side-hug in the hopes that it would help. As the other woman straightened slightly, Clara saw that it did and she tried not to smile.
Ashildr turned to the Doctor. "I have no wish to harm your friend if he is innocent, Doctor."
Danni, who had been feeling a lot of emotions since coming to Trap Street, decided to settle on the one that she always did; anger. She broke away from Clara and stormed forward to her husband's side, teeth bared. "You don't have a choice," she snarled. "Innocent or not, this ends today."
"It's not me you need to convince of Rigsy's innocence. It's them." She nodded to the crowd, who were turning their sights back onto Rigsy. Danni shook her head.
"I don't give a shit about them," she declared firmly. "You're out of control. We're going to save Rigsy, find the real killer, then we're getting that thing off your neck." She leant in a little closer. "That's a promise."
Danni didn't really have anywhere to go, but the need to get away from her was building up so much that she just turned and stormed into the house where the body was being held. The Doctor stepped forward to follow, but Ashildr stopped him before he could. He stared down at her, antsy and exasperated.
"Feel free to question anyone you want," she offered. "Examine the body. Do whatever you need. But it's not me you need to convince of Rigsy's innocence; it's them." With a nod of her head towards the crowd, she left with her two escorts. Clara looked back at Rigsy and the house, then headed over to the Doctor, who looked even more annoyed at being stopped yet again.
"She's really angry," Clara said. He rolled his eyes.
"You don't think I've noticed that?" he snapped. Clara raised an eyebrow at him, not at all intimidated by him anymore and he knew that was because Danni was just in that house. If he started shouting then she'd be out like a shot to tell him off. As fun as it was to see her passionate, he had barely any time left to do what he did best and save lives. He sighed, frustrated. "She's been confronted by a lot of things as of late. Ashildr is bringing out the worst in her. Then there's you being here." He waved her up and down. "She's always been rather overprotective of you. She'll be fine when we can leave. The quicker we can find out what is really going on, the quicker that'll be and you're stalling me from doing my job."
Clara smirked slightly, about to retort before she shook her head. Bragging was best left for after the adventure. "Okay, we split up," she declared. "I'll take Rigsy and you go calm her down."
He looked at her, incredulous. "Who do you think is in charge here?" he demanded. She grinned.
"Me, obviously," she told him. "Off you go."
He growled slightly but stormed off into the house, leaving her in the street, looking around to try and work out her first course of action. Rigsy was on the phone to his family and she didn't want to interrupt that, especially if that was the last time they would ever get to speak. She still held onto the phone call she had been on when Danny had…
She cleared her throat. What she needed to do was get Danni out the situation they were in now before she did something stupid. It was becoming clearer as time went on that, even though she seemed rather detached, she was just as emotional as ever. Both Time Lords were the same and she wanted to ease that pain for her.
She caught sight of one of the two men who had caught them at the entrance of the street as a thought popped into her head. She walked over to him.
"Rump?" she started before shooting him her best smile. "It's er Rump, isn't it?" He didn't say a word, but she assumed that was because she was friends with Rigsy. "That man's wife. She said something. 'Give it to me, tell me I can have it'. What did she mean?"
His face turned from annoyed to solemn quite quickly. "Two ways to survive a Quantum Shade," he told her lowly. "The Shade's master removes the chronolock or you can give it to someone else."
This was news that quickly started the gears turning in Clara's head. "Give it? You can just…"
"No. You can't just push it on someone. It's not that simple," Rump interrupted. "It has to be taken willingly. The death's already locked in. You can pass it on, but… you can't cheat it." He turned, walking away as if he wasn't willing to talk about it anymore. It didn't matter, though, because Clara already had ideas and she stood on the spot, trying to work it out.
They all needed a win. Whether it was the Doctor because he still wasn't over not saving Danni, or Danni who was seeing Missy everywhere she turned. Or herself, who had lost so much and just needed to cling to something. Saving Rigsy was definitely that something for all of them.
And Danni had made it absolutely clear that she was to be protected while on the street, something the Mayor had been happy to give her word to achieving. And it was so smart. Using the Mayor's own tricks against her. Danni would be so impressed…
All she had to do was convince Rigsy to give up the chronolock, but that was going to be the easiest part. She was incredibly good at convincing and, with a girlfriend and a young daughter at home, he would be more willing to go along with her if it meant he could get home alive.
Working for UNIT really had helped her deducing skills. Once this was over, maybe she could get Danni to talk to Kate, get her a promotion. Or a raise.
"I am so smart," she praised herself quietly, but incredibly smugly. "I am Miss Clever."
~0~0~0~
The Doctor opened the front door to the house slowly, slipping inside and closing it just as quietly as he'd opened it. Danni was stood in front of the poor dead woman, hands in her pockets, frown on her face. She looked incredibly annoyed, but the Doctor knew her well. He just wished he could do something to help her.
"I thought I was getting better," she told him without looking over. "But she's still everywhere I go."
"She will go away eventually," he promised her. He stepped to her side, also pretending to observe Anah.
"No, she won't," Danni said, confident in her words. "Everyone else on this planet sees humans in this street and yet I can't stop seeing her stupid smug face. And even when I can't…" She took in a heavy breath, letting it out slowly. "Ashildr's coldness and detachment from the world around her is a direct result of Missy kidnapping me. It ripples out from that moment in time, across the universe. Being taken has hurt people so much more than me."
"Missy believing she had the right to lay claim on your person has hurt so many people," he corrected. "It brought out fear, which brought out misguidedness and ultimately led to Ashildr being here today."
"And possibly has led Rigsy to his death," Danni finished. She looked up at her husband. "And you unable to leave me alone for five minutes in case I do something stupid."
He shook his head. "Unable to leave you alone for five minutes in case I do something stupid," he corrected again. "I may not see her on the faces of other people, but she did take my wife and I am always thinking of how she might take her again."
"She'd have to be quick," Danni said shortly. "I'll kill her where she stands the next time I see her and know for definite it's her." She reached into her pocket, holding the gun she'd failed to pull out last time. She didn't believe her own words, but she hoped eventually she would.
The Doctor wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to place a kiss on her hair. He didn't want her to know how sad it made him to know that she really wanted what she had said to be true. And he didn't like how he felt it as well.
Danni took another deep breath. "At least we have each other," she declared. She nodded her head once. "She never could get rid of that. Let's go save Rigsy." She looked up at him. "What's the plan, Spaceman?"
"Ashildr said that all we have to do is persuade the creatures that it isn't Rigsy and the death sentence can be lifted," he explained. "Then, we find the real killer and then we remove the Quantum Shade."
"Alright," Danni replied. "Where do we start?"
~0~0~0~
No one had a bad word to say about Anah, which Danni found incredibly suspicious, but the Doctor didn't think much of. She would have been much sort after because of her powers. Being murdered didn't necessarily mean that the murdered didn't like you.
It didn't exactly shift the bad feeling Danni had as they walked around the streets, running out of time to save Rigsy and find the actual killer. Nothing felt right, everything was all wrong and she was getting sick and tired of not knowing what was going on. All that was obvious was that Rigsy hadn't done it. And, if someone else had, no was giving them up.
"We're wasting our time here," Danni told her husband. "We've got, what, fifteen minutes left? We should be finding Ashildr and making her take the chronolock off Rigsy."
"She won't take it off him unless we can prove he's innocent," the Doctor pointed out. "She won't budge and she's the only one who can remove it."
"Then-Then we take him home," Danni replied. "We let him say his goodbyes, see him see his daughter and his girlfriend again. We-We need to stop running around aimlessly and give him the good death she never got!"
The Doctor came to a stop, looking to her, confused. "What's wrong?" he asked her.
She looked around, at all of the aliens who were walking around, minding their own business and purposefully trying to ignore them. Each one was Missy, each one flickered on occasion to remind her that the Time Lady was just a mask, but she still didn't want them overhearing her.
"Something's wrong," she said. "And-And I don't mean the whole 'killing Rigsy' thing, or-or the Missy thing because that is all shades of wrong. There's something else and I really don't like it."
He nodded, because he felt it too. There was something in the air, something he felt like he was almost swimming through. It was all around him but he couldn't quite see it and, as always, not knowing everything was making him as anxious as Danni seemed to be.
"What is it?" he asked her. She shrugged.
"I have no idea," she admitted, but the way she couldn't seem to focus on him suggested otherwise. "I can't… Why Rigsy?" she asked him. "There's, what, eight-nine million people in London around this time? And it happened to be Rigsy, someone who we know, someone we've saved and someone who happens to have a direct line to that TARDIS?" This thought seemed to jolt something inside of her and she stepped closer to her husband. "And why did the TARDIS reroute the call in the first place?" she asked, almost accusing him even though her anxiety wasn't directed his way at all. "The TARDIS has never been overly fond of Clara—"
"Can you blame her?" the Doctor muttered.
"-So why would she send a call to someone she doesn't like?" she continued. "What is happening here?"
"All incredibly good questions," he told her and she deflated slightly, obviously reassured by the confirmation of her concerns. "Ones we, hopefully, will get an answer to soon." His eyes scoured the area, immediately spotting Kabel, one of the two aliens who had greeted them at the entrance to the street. He nodded over to him. "Let's see what our banker friend has to say."
"Your friend, acting like he was all scared of us, calling for a doctor," Kabel ranted, looking over at Rigsy who was waiting for Clara to finish her own questioning.
His words caught both of their attentions, managing to even pull Danni away from her concern at Clara talking to strange people on her own.
"A what?" the Doctor asked.
"I know. The cheek of it," Kabel scoffed. "Humans can survive losing entire limbs and I'm supposed to believe he…"
"Oh, do shut up!" Danni snapped, cutting him off in surprise at her outburst. "He was scared, right, understandable. Did he ask for 'a' Doctor, or 'the' Doctor?"
"Does it matter?" he asked in reply. "He asked the Mayor to call him a doctor. Poor Anah, dead at his feet, and…"
"You're doing it again!" Danni exclaimed. "What did he say? 'A' Doctor, or 'the' Doctor? It's not that hard of a question."
"'The' Doctor," he clarified and Danni looked up at her husband, completely disregarding Kabel from the conversation.
"I knew it," she said. "I knew something else was wrong."
"Yes, well done, later," he replied, grabbing her hand and running over to the two humans. He motioned them all into a small enclave, away from any ears that may have been listening in.
"Clara gave you my number for emergencies," the Doctor said to Rigsy. "So when you wake up with a weird tattoo on your neck and no memory of the last twenty four hours, the first thing you do is call the Doctor."
"Call the Doctor?" Rigsy repeated, his face flashing in recognition. Something was bubbling away in his head, trying to push past the retcon.
"But you find yourself accused of murder on a strange alien street in the middle of London," the Doctor continued. "Only they've taken your phone, so you beg the woman in charge to call me instead."
"Me knew who you were all along," Danni finished for him. "She knew who you were, she knew we were friends, and she knows so much more than she is letting on!"
Clara reached out instinctively, placing a hand on her arm. "Shh," she said softly, trying to stop her raising her voice anymore. They had enough attention on them, after all. Danni did seem to relax slightly, but only when the Doctor also gave her hand a squeeze. He could feel her tension as well.
Danni took a deep breath. "Something is wrong here. Beyond this ridiculous witch hunt. Something is happening and we're running out of time to work it all out."
Clara cleared her throat. "There's twelve minutes left," she declared, not looking any of them in the eye as she started walking off. "I'm not giving up yet."
"Look, Clara, even if one of them knows something, they're not going to come forward. The way they look at me," Rigsy told her.
Clara blinked and it all suddenly made sense. "The way they look at you?"
Rigsy frowned but Danni grinned. "Oh, you know something," she stated. "I know that look." She took a step closer. "What have you worked out?"
"Everyone here looks at him like he's a murderer," she said. "So we need to find the person who isn't."
"And you know who that is?" Danni asked and she nodded. "Oh, you are good."
Clara smirked, feeling like she was on top of absolutely everything. When she pulled out their final ace, Danni was going to be so impressed. "Better than good," she bragged.
~0~0~0~
That was how they met Anahson, Anah's daughter hiding as a boy to keep her powers a secret from the universe, to save her from being sold into slavery like her mother had been. Clara had noticed how, unlike everyone else, she had watched them curiously rather than hatefully. It was because she had been able to see what had happened. She knew Rigsy was innocent because she could look into his past and see that he hadn't killed her mother.
"I can't see everything," Anahson told them. "But she thinks she's doing the right thing."
"They usually do," the Doctor replied. "If what Ashildr is doing is harmless, then we'll just walk out of that door. No one will know of your abilities. But if it's not…" He trailed off leadingly, hoping to entice the answer out of her.
"I don't know what she means to do," she explained. The Doctor obviously didn't believe her, but Danni could tell by the look on her face alone that she was telling the truth. "No, I'm trying, but I can't see it. I can't see it because it involves you two." The two Time Lords looked to each other, suddenly rather concerned. "When I look at you, I can't tell your past from your future, and there's so very much of both."
"She's using us," Danni breathed as the Doctor stalked around the couch that Clara and Anahson were sat on. "She's using us to cloak what she's doing."
The Doctor shook his head, although he didn't doubt that Ashildr had been using that to her advantage. "This isn't about Rigsy," he told them. "It's about us."
Anahson took a deep breath, closing her eyes. It was rather fascinating when the face on the back of her head – just like her mother – opened its eyes and stared blankly forward. "She couldn't just ask you here. She needed a mystery. You can never resist a mystery. She's afraid."
"Afraid of what? Of whom?"
"I can't see." She closed her eyes again, opening them back her front face. She looked incredibly upset. "I'm sorry." Clara reached out, giving her arm a rub in comfort. She felt so sorry for the young girl, she remembered how it felt to lose her mother. She wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Danni, on the other hand, was feeling a lot of feelings. She felt sorry for Anahson, that was the easy one to find. She felt frustrated that she hadn't seen this coming, and terrified that Missy was hiding out in the mass of herself in the streets. She was terrified of losing her own memories, and curious about just how Anahson's back face worked. How did she see into someone's past? It was fascinating.
But, most of all and most strongly, she felt angry. No, she felt furious. "Me," she snarled. "She's scared of me!"
Surprising everyone she stormed out of the house, pulling her gun out and setting her sights squarely on Ashildr. She had lured Rigsy to the street, put a death sentence on him, just to get them both there. She'd put him in danger, Clara in danger, the Doctor in danger because she felt the right to an audience with the pair.
The Doctor had complained that she seemed more concerned about Clara than him. This was what happened when he was in danger. She wasn't sure if he approved, and to be quite frank she didn't care. She could tell they were following her, but it just meant that she could keep an eye on them as she got what she wanted; the chronolock off Rigsy, Clara and the Doctor away from Ashildr and all of them away from the fucking street forever.
"Danni, wait!" Clara called after her as she chucked the door to Ashildr's house open. Inside sat Anah behind the stasis field but there was no sign of Ashildr anywhere. She growled to herself, storming over to the stairs as the Doctor ran into the building.
"Danielle!" he cried and she turned, eyes flashing.
"I'm going to kill her," she warned him. "I'm-I mean, I'm not, because she can't die, but I'm going to find her and rip her pretty little head off!"
"I'm sure you are. And I'm sure you'd be great at it," he said, almost admirably and she faltered slightly in her anger as she tried not to smile. "But there's more going on here than we think. We need to stay calm."
"Like what?" she asked, almost demanding. "All I see if a little girl who's had way too long to grow up and stop playing dangerous games in charge of an entire alien community!"
Clara led both Rigsy and Anahson into the house, not knowing what she was going to find. Luckily the Doctor seemed to have caught Danni's attention long enough to stop her doing anything stupid, but the fury on her face said that they didn't have long to calm her down. Clara needed to give her something else to focus on while they worked out just what Ashildr wanted.
She glanced at the woman suspended in stasis, and felt sorry yet again for her daughter who was left behind. Her mother's funeral had been an absolutely horrid day, but she also knew the days after would be even worse. And Anahson didn't even have her dad to help her through it. She'd have to go back…
Hang on.
"Her mother!" Clara cried. Danni looked over at her, the anger in her eyes fading somewhat.
"Clara, not now," she warned. "We can find the murderer once I've…"
"No, her mother!" Clara repeated. "She-She's the reason we're all here! Everyone loved her, everyone knew her and she knew everyone." She turned to Anahson. "You can't see the future, but you can look into the past. You knew, the moment that your mother died, that it was something to do with the mayor. You would have always known, and eventually we would have found you. You would have always told us who killed your mother." She turned back to the Doctor and Danni. "She wants you two for some reason, right?" she asked. "But she's knows you don't just come back for anything. If she's really killed someone to get you here, then you're not going to allow that to slide. Once everything is sorted, once you win, you'll be back for her and her punishment."
"Unless she thinks she's going to win," Danni pointed out, quickly becoming exasperated with all the talking.
"But it's like you said, she's lived a long time, and she obviously knows the pair of you very well. Why would she leave open the slightest chance that you would win?"
Danni looked up at the Doctor. "Osgood did say that it was stupid to leave us alive," she recalled. "Remember? Twelve bullets in quick succession?"
He nodded. "You've always known something was wrong here. Wrong beyond the death and the hidden street," he reasoned. "And if she thought, for a moment…" He rushed over to the controls for the stasis pod the Anah was suspended in. He pressed his hand against one of the screens and it flashed into life.
"What is it?" Anahson asked.
"It looks like medical data," the Doctor mused. Danni moved over to his side. For the most part it just looked like dials and readings, and while she didn't know what a lot of them meant, she knew that he was right.
"But it can't be," Anahson replied, confused. "She's dead. She isn't breathing."
Danni's eyes widened as she looked at her husband. "Unless she isn't," she breathed. He pressed his fingers against the screen and the sound of a heartbeat came from the controls. Danni laughed in pure delight.
"She's alive!" she cried. She looked over at Clara. "You are so clever!" she praised. "Honestly, you are amazing!"
Clara looked rather smug. She could tell Danni well and truly meant it. "Well, you've not seen anything yet," she promised, thinking about her ace card currently counting down on her neck.
"Get her out! Get her out of there!" Anahson cried, kicking them into gear. The two Time Lords began pressing the two screens.
"There must be a way to unlock it. Something basic, something simple that I'm missing," the Doctor grumbled as the console just continued to make angry beeps at their wrong commands.
Rigsy, who wanted to help the woman he'd thought, for a moment, that he'd killed, ran over and dropped to his knees. He spotted something on the side. "A keyhole!"
"A keyhole would be very handy, yes, but I haven't got one," the Doctor dismissed.
"No, he's found one," Danni retorted, nudging him out of the way. Sure enough, on the side of the console was a very simple lock, nothing like the tech it was attached to. A very simple lock of a very simple key.
Both of them recognised the lock immediately.
Anahson, now panicking because her mother was trapped, ran towards the door. "I'll find her. I'll get the key."
Danni shook her head, holding her arm out to stop the girl. "No, don't," she said softly. "There's no point." She moved around the console, crouching down to examine it.
"Is there one there?" the Doctor asked. Danni ran her hand over the brass fitting.
"Yeah," she said simply, a sigh in her voice as she stood up. "Two keyholes."
"For two keys," he finished for her.
"What does it mean?" Clara asked. Danni only glanced over shoulder at her before looking back at her husband.
"The Mayor is missing because she wants us to save Anah," she explained. "She wants us to unlock the stasis pod."
"With these," the Doctor finished for her, pulling out his TARDIS key. Danni did the same, holding it tightly in her hand.
"The TARDIS?" Clara asked. "That's what this is about?"
Danni nodded. "What do we do?" she asked her husband. "If we unlock it…"
"Then she gets the TARDIS and runs," he finished. "Finally getting to travel amongst the stars."
Danni nodded, letting out a shaky breath. He knew she wouldn't be a fan of that plan. She'd already struggled so hard to get back to the TARDIS, giving it away was going to probably be too much, even for her.
"Then we run after her," Danni declared. He shot her the biggest smile he could.
"Then we run after her," he confirmed. They both chose a side of the console, crouching down by each keyhole. The Doctor put his key in first and looked over to Danni, waiting for her signal.
She placed the key next to the hole, pulling it away just before it slipped inside. Her insides, her instincts, everything was telling her to turn and run, Anah and Rigsy be damned. She ran her hand through her hair, shaking slightly. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to do this.
She quickly pushed the key into the hole before she changed her mind.
There was a clunk as they turned the keys in sync and then Danni cried out as something clamped down around her arm, pulling them into the controls. The Doctor struggled against his own trap but he looked over at her.
"Can you-I can't—" he stuttered out and she shook her head.
"I can't either!" she cried. She continued to struggled until, suddenly, it let them both go and she fell back onto her arse.
The Doctor looked at the steel bracelet firmly clamped around his arm, over his jacket. Rigsy, Anahson and Clara moved over to Anah to catch her as the stasis chamber opened and she fell forward out of it. The Doctor looked down at his wife, who was staring at the golden cuff that was around her own arm in terror.
"Get it off," she whimpered. "Get it off. Get it off. Get it off!"
Clara could only stare in absolute horror as Danni began to scream, tearing at her arm as she tried to get it off. She was shaking, panicking and repeating over and over again to get whatever had clamped around her arm off. She was turning red, tears streaming down her face, and rocking and Clara needed to help her right now.
The Doctor beat her to it. He dropped to the floor in front of her, grabbing hold of her wrists and pulling her hands as far apart as he could to stop her hurting herself. She struggled against him. "No!" she screamed. "Get it off!"
"Danni," he called, trying to get her to look at him. "Danni, Danni, look at me. Look at me. I'm right here." She continued to flail, screaming, begging but he held her tightly. He couldn't let her hurt herself. "Danni, I'm right here. Look at me. I'm right here."
She could barely focus on him as memories of each and every time she had been restrained flew through her head. Each time Missy had kept her tied up, each time she'd been locked away. To the time, the very first time, when she'd woken chained to a bed with no idea what was happening with just the knowledge that something bad was about to happen. To seeing Missy for the first time, to finding out who she had been all along. To knowing that she was trapped. To dying, calling out her husband's name, only to be met with laughter.
"Danni, Danni, I'm right here," he reassured her as she cried his name in pure panic. It broke his hearts, it caused him to cry and he didn't really care. He cupped her face with shaking hands, making her look at him. He was terrified of what was coming next, but he knew it was nothing to what was going on in her head. He tilted her head, making her look at him. He began steady, deep, deliberate breaths until she followed him, calming her down, bringing her back. "There you go. Nice and steady. You're okay. We're okay. You're here."
"What's going on?" she whimpered. "I want it off."
"I know," he reassured her and it really helped, knowing he was listening. "I have one too. You're not alone, I have one too."
He let her turn her head to see it but she was immediately looking back at him with terrified eyes. "Why is yours silver?" she asked.
"I don't know," he apologised. "You're okay. It's okay."
It didn't feel okay. It felt anything but okay and Danni was going back to shaking her head again. He could feel her panic building back up. He kept hold of her tightly, he made sure she knew she was safe, even if he wasn't certain of that himself.
Rigsy had no idea what was happening, but knew it wasn't good to see something scream like that. Clara was also crying, desperate with the need to take the pain away and knowing that she couldn't.
"I do apologise. I didn't mean to cause any panic."
Ashildr stepped into the room and Danni spun around on the spot, almost falling in the Doctor, as if she was scrambling away. To her credit, she did look apologetic. Danni really didn't care.
"You," she snarled through her jagged breaths.
The Doctor helped her off the floor. "There are easier ways to steal a key, you know," he pointed out.
"I don't want your TARDIS. That's not what this is about," Ashildr replied, surprising everyone. "Rigsy, come here, I'll remove your chronolock."
He shook his head. "I-I think you should remove her bracelet, first," he offered. She shook her head.
"I can't," she replied.
"What are these, Ashildr?" the Doctor demanded. "You can't possibly think this is going to keep us here."
"They're not restraints. They're teleport bracelets."
Danni's hearts skipped a beat. "That's why they're different colours," she said. "We're going different places." She looked up at her husband and wondered how, yet again, she was being torn away from him. From everyone. Against her will. She was being kidnapped, again.
"No, no, take them off," she demanded, turning back to Ashildr. "Right now! Do as you are told!"
"I can't," she reiterated. "I'll give you time to say goodbye, don't worry. No one will be hurt."
Danni shook her head, grabbing her gun yet again and pointing it straight at her. "Now," she snarled. "Do it now."
Clara rushed over, pushing her arm down. Danni didn't take her eyes off Ashildr. The Doctor held his wife close. "Not now," he told her. "Where are you sending us?"
"I made a deal to protect the street. They take you, I take the key so you can't be traced. I do as they tell me, and the street is safe," Ashildr explained.
"They? Who are they?" the Doctor demanded.
Ashildr didn't want to give any more information. Probably part of the 'deal' she had made. "One more thing," she said instead. "Your confession dial. They have other means of procuring it, but I understand it's likely to be on your person. Please, no resistance. You've already lost."
The Doctor looked at Danni, who shook her head. But he knew. He knew that, if these mysterious people had gone after the pair of them, he knew what 'other means' they would use to get it. He knew it had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with her.
He reached into his pocket, pulling it out and handing it over. Ashildr turned it over in her hand, curious. "What is it?"
"In your terms, my last will and testament," the Doctor snapped back.
"How does it work?"
He shrugged, amazed at her distant tone. She wasn't even bragging. She just didn't care. "I've no idea."
She did look a little disappointed. "Well, thank you anyway." She walked over to the mantel, placing it in there like she didn't have to hide it. "Rigsy, your neck."
Ashildr walked over to him, but he backed up, looking over at Clara for help. "Clara, what are you playing at? The chronolock!"
Clara looked at Danni, who was still shaking slightly, even if her overwhelming panic seemed to be under control. She still had her ace card on the back of her neck, she still had the upper hand here. She always had the upper hand. She was always in charge, and she could save Danni. She could save both of them.
She turned back to Ashildr. "Take the teleport off them first," she demanded. Ashildr scoffed slightly, knowing that she didn't have to do anything. She reached up to Rigsy's neck but he batted her hand away.
"I don't have it, I'm telling you. Clara does," he told her, motioning to Clara. She turned around, lifting her hair up to show the numbers counting down on her neck. Ashildr looked horrified and Danni frowned.
"How did you get that?" she asked. "What does…" She looked up at the Doctor, her question dying on her lips. The Doctor did not like Clara anymore. He didn't trust her and he didn't like spending time with her. He found even the sound of her talking irritating and had complained about following her on this adventure.
He looked absolutely horrified.
"Go on, then. Take it off," Clara demanded, holding her hair up expectantly.
"Clara, you didn't!" the Doctor exclaimed. He grabbed her roughly and turned her around so the two Time Lords could see it. Zero-zero-eight. She had eight minutes.
Ashildr had turned her back, shaking her head like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I had no idea she'd do something so stupid," she told them. "I swear, I never meant for anyone to get hurt." She turned back around to look at Clara, who really didn't appreciate the devasted look on her face. "Look, what were you thinking? Sacrificing yourself?"
"What?" Danni exclaimed, her hearts going cold. She didn't understand the looks on their faces, but she understood that well. She stepped closer. "Clara, what have you done? What has she done?"
"I wasn't sacrificing anything," she promised Danni. "It was strategy. Backup plan, to buy us more time."
The Doctor turned around, running his hand through his hair, messing it up further. He had a feeling, a dark feeling he hoped was wrong, that Clara had done something incredibly stupid. The raven worked for Ashildr. It was very unlikely it would work for anyone else.
"Plan? What plan?" Danni asked her, stepping forward and away from the Doctor's side. "You've not said anything about a plan, Clara. Why would he give it to you unless you asked for it?" She motioned to Rigsy. "He's a good man, he'd never give up a death sentence to anyone, let alone someone he came to for help."
Clara held her hands up. "Look, it's fine," she insisted. "Rump said that you could pass on the sentence, and Ashildr said I was under her protection while we were here. It was a calculated risk, an ace card. Like I said, you hadn't seen anything yet because I still had this up my sleeve."
Danni blinked. "Did-Did you do this to show off?" she asked. "Why the hell would you do that?!"
"I wasn't showing off," Clara dismissed in a voice that suggested that was what she was doing. "Everything's fine."
"Do they look like people who think everything is fine?!" Danni exclaimed. "Do they look like they think what you've done is clever?!"
Clara looked at Ashildr and the Doctor. Ashildr looked like she was about to cry, like her plan had gone up in flames. The Doctor wouldn't even look at her, which made the pit in her stomach grow. "What I did was calculated," she insisted.
The Doctor turned around. "What did he say to you?" he asked. "Rump. What exactly did he say?"
"He said the death is locked in," she replied. "You can pass it on, but you—" She trailed off, suddenly realising why everyone looked so horrified. The words hit her in the chest, knocking the wind and the confidence out of her as she realised her very big, very grave mistake.
"But what?" Danni asked her.
"But…" Clara whispered, but didn't finish her sentence.
"But you can't cheat it altogether."
As if echoing the horrid development, the Raven cawed ominously. Danni shook her head, looking at Clara. "No, you-you can't. This can't be happening."
"Clara, you didn't tell me that," Rigsy exclaimed, as outraged as was to be expected. "Give it back to me, now."
"She can't," Ashildr said. "Clara, I made a contract with the Shade when I put the chronolock on Rigsy. I promised it a soul and only I can break that contract. When you took it from him, you changed the terms." She averted her eyes. "You cut me out of the deal."
Danni looked up at her husband, eyes shining. She could feel her whole world shattering, the one she had fought so hard to keep together. She was seeing Missy everywhere, about to be torn away from her husband and now… She couldn't lose Clara. She couldn't, she couldn't!
"Fix it," she said, voice shaking. "Now, Ashildr. Fix it now."
"I can't," she reiterated again. "It's not possible."
The Doctor could see it in his wife's eyes. The plead for help, the absolute desperation and devastation at the fact she was going to lose her best friend and he couldn't sit back. He couldn't ever see her feel that pain and sit back. He would do anything for her.
He started walking over to Ashildr, wringing his hands together as his anger flared. He wouldn't let Danni be hurt by his mistake. He wouldn't lose Clara. "Yes, it is, you can, and you will, or this street will be over," he warned with a large, scary grin. He took his anger, all of it, at Ashildr and Missy and even Clara, and he held it tight. "I'll show you and all your funny little friends to the whole laughing world. I'll bring UNIT, I'll bring the Zygons. Give me a minute, I'll bring the Daleks and the Cybermen." He grabbed Ashildr by the arm, dragging her over to his wife and to Clara. "You will save Clara, and you will do it now, or I will rain hell on you for the rest of time."
Clara had wanted the Doctor back on her side, but not like this. "Doctor, stop talking like that."
"You can't," Ashildr half-begged.
He leant in close. "I can do whatever the hell I like," he warned. "You've read the stories. You know who I am. And in all of that time, did you ever hear anything about anyone who stopped me?"
Ashildr glanced over his shoulder, very aware that his threat was real. "One," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "One person could always stop you."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, yes, you're right," he agreed. "But I never stop when it comes to her. I-I did, once, almost for one second stop and it almost cost me the universe. She wants Clara to live, so Clara will live. You will fix this or I will never stop."
"We will never stop," Danni added. She walked forward, gun in hand, eyes blazing and pointed straight at the woman's head. "Heal and heal again. Go on, I dare you," she snarled. "I dare you to survive. I dare you to take Clara from me. I. Dare. You."
And Clara didn't doubt it for one second. She could see how Ashildr was scared and she could see how everything kind she had ever known about Danni had vanished from her eyes. Even when she had woken up from that horrid dream, when she had pushed Danni over the volcano's edge, she'd woken up to kind eyes and a forgiving heart. That had all gone. All because of her.
"Danni!" she exclaimed. "For God's sake, will you stop?"
"No!" Danni snapped back. She took a step forward and Ashildr took a step back. "You know us. You've studied us. You know our stories. You know what we can do. Do you think I'm not afraid to use that? Take all that we are and ruin you with it?"
"Danni!" Clara begged. "I did this, do you hear me? I did this. This is my fault!"
"I don't care!" she shouted back.
"Liar! You always care. Always have." Danni took her eyes off Ashildr and turned to look at her husband first, then her best friend. Both of them were startled by the pure hate in her expression, the anger that raged inside of her spilling out, but both of them saw it for what it truly was; she was frightened.
"No," Danni said softly. "You're my friend. My best friend. Everyone else can burn for all I care. You, the Doctor, and me, that's all I want and it's all that matters."
Clara took a step forward. "I did this," she insisted. "I did. If this is the last I ever see of you, please, not like this." Danni didn't lower her gun, but she didn't turn away and Clara took that as a win. Probably her last win. She turned to Ashildr. "Is there anything you can do?"
"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, I…"
Clara cut in. "Time's short. Yes or no?"
"No."
A strange sense of calmness fell over Clara. Her panic, her horror, seemed to be hidden behind the peace the complete certainty of her imminent death gave her. It was going to happen, there was nothing that could be done. The crowing of the raven sounded closer and closer each time signalled her ever-shortening life but there was nothing she could do about it.
So she took hold of the things she could. She did what she did best; she took control.
Danni had whimpered at Ashildr's small word, but then her eyes had hardened and she looked ready to tear the world around her down. Clara knew she had to calm her down before she did so. She had one life, it was almost over, and she had to end it right. With her friends, with the woman she loved, making sure everyone was going to be alright.
Saving everyone. Just like Danny had done.
She took a deep breath, steadying herself for what was to come. "Well, if Danny Pink can do it, so can I."
"Do what?" the Doctor asked. He looked upset, which shouldn't have been surprising to her as it was. She knew, deep down, he cared. He always cared.
"Die right," she told him. "Die like I mean it. Face the Raven."
Danni stepped forward. "I'm not going to let this happen," she started firmly. "I-I can't lose you now, I refuse to lose anyone now!" She moved, to spin around and do… well, whatever she had to, to get what she wanted done, but Clara grabbed her arm. She kept her still, stopped her leaving.
"Danni, that's enough," she said firmly. "You cannot change this. This is my fault. I said you were running towards danger, but I was the same. I didn't think, I just acted. I-I was showing off and I am going to face the consequences of that."
"I won't let you," Danni replied.
Clara laughed. "Like you ever had a choice," she replied. "I'm the boss, remember? I decide where we go, I decide if I stay with you, and I decide when and how I die." She took the gun from her hand, holding it out to her side. As if out of reflex, the Doctor took it off her, proving her words. She took Danni's other hand in hers. "We don't have time. Let's not fight about what we both know is true."
Danni let out a sob. "I can't do this without you," she whispered.
"Yes, you can," Clara told her confidently. "You and the Doctor will be fine together. You'll just have to tell him what's bothering you instead of coming to me as the middle man."
"I never—"
"It's a joke," Clara interrupted. "The Doctor and Danni, in the TARDIS, 'til the end of time. I was just a stopgap in that goal. You're going to be fine."
Danni nodded slowly, although she couldn't help but feel Clara's words were wrong. "I never could save you," she said softly. "I tried to stop you falling off that cloud, and now I can't reach your hand again." She swallowed hard. "You're the boss," she said. "Tell me what to do."
"Live," Clara said simply. "And listen, because I don't have long and I refuse to have any regrets." She smiled, letting go of Danni's hand to cup her face. "I love you," she stated, much to the Doctor and Danni's surprise. "You're beautiful, and smart, and charming and stronger than anyone I have ever met. You swept me off my feet and it's time for me to finally land." She nodded. "And take it from the two people who love you most in the universe. Listen to me and the Doctor. You will be okay." She leant forward, placing a kiss on her lips, one chaste little kiss she allowed herself before she let go of Danni completely. "And stay in here," she instructed. "Do not follow me out."
"I can't—" Danni started, protesting loudly.
"You can and you will," Clara cut in. "Stay here." She looked at Rigsy. "And if you, for one minute, feel guilty about this I swear to God..."
The raven cawed again and she realised that was it. It was time. She was going to die. She took one last, long look at Danni then turned to the Doctor.
"I know you don't like me," she started. "Will you at least listen to me?"
He wanted to tell her that he never really hated her, that it was because he'd been so close to her that her actions had cut so deep. He never, for one moment, wished this on her and he felt like he was floundering watching his friend die so suddenly.
But he couldn't, he just nodded. She knew, though. She had always known.
"You're going to be furious and you're going to be sad, but don't let it change you," she instructed. "Don't let this change either of you. You're going to have to be the strong one here, Doctor, so help her so she can help you. You can't let this turn you into a monster." She stepped back, looking between the two. Would she have really had this any other way?
"So, I'm not asking you two for a promise, I'm giving you an order," she told them. "You will not insult my memory. There will be no revenge. I will die, and no one else, here or anywhere, will suffer."
The caw of the Raven caused Danni to step forward. "Clara, please," she begged. "Don't go out alone. Let me come, please."
"This is as brave as I know how to be," she told Danni, giving her a definite answer. "I know it's going to hurt you, but, please, be a little proud of me."
Danni smiled through her tears. "How could I be anything but?" she replied.
"Goodbye, my Danni-Girl," Clara said before she stepped out into the street.
The door shut behind her and Danni could only stare at the dark wood. It taunted her, like the noise outside, and she started shaking on the spot. Everything felt wrong, it felt not fair. It wasn't fair. Clara didn't deserve to die, and she certainly didn't deserve to die on her own.
Danni couldn't be on her own.
The Doctor cried her name but she shoved him out of the way, throwing the door open and running into the street outside in time to see the Raven fly straight at Clara, hitting her in the stomach. Her arms were wide, and she screamed. Then black smoke came out of her mouth and she dropped to the floor, dead.
Dead.
Gone.
Dead.
Danni staggered slightly on the spot, her heart breaking. Clara had been part of her life for almost as long as the Doctor had been. She'd met her when she was young, just after she had regenerated for the very first time and there hadn't been a time since when she hadn't had her there. Her best friend. Her family. Her Clara.
She wanted to sob. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run over and cry over her body, but that wasn't life and Danni knew how unfair it was first hand. She didn't have time to stop and grieve. She didn't have time for revenge.
She turned to look at the door. Well, not at the moment.
The rage was overwhelming, taking over the places the grief should have been. The room actually seemed to be tinged with a red hue, much like a cartoon. The noises fell away and the Earth became deathly silent. All except for the door closing behind her. It swung shut, smashing against the frame and the three people left in the room stared at her. One with worry, one with heartbreak, and one with fear.
Danni's lips pulled back, a snarl on her face as she met the eyes of Ashildr.
"I'm so sorry…"
"You," she snarled. "This is all on you. All of this. Everything. This is all on you."
"I never meant..."
With an inhuman amount of speed, Danni moved forward. She shoved Me against the wall, pressing her arm against her throat and pinned her tightly.
"You may never be able to die," she started with a snarl. "But I will kill you again and again for what you have done. I will burn you over and over until the end of the universe. You will not survive what you've done to Clara."
The Doctor moved over, pulling her off Me, who dropped down. He pulled her away, over to the other side of the room. "Danielle, I know, I know," he told her.
"She killed Clara!" she cried, shaking. He nodded.
"I know," he promised. "And it won't stand, I won't let it stand. We won't let it stand, but you can't lose yourself to it." He reached out, cupping her cheek, making sure to memorise her in case the worse happened yet again when they were split up.
"I lost myself a long time ago," she told her husband. "I don't know what I'll do next."
"We don't know what's happening next," he replied. "But you will be fine. We'll be fine."
She nodded, taking a deep breath. The teleport bracelets. They were being separated again. "Find me," she begged him. He smiled to reassure her, knowing that as scared as he was, she was going to be so much worse.
"Find me," he begged in return. She nodded in return. "Don't stop looking, Danni-Girl."
"We'll get back together," she declared. She looked over at Me. "The Doctor and Danni, in the TARDIS, 'til the end of time," she said deliberately. "Be afraid."
Me kept her eyes averted as she pressed the controls to start the teleport. The Doctor and Danni reached out at the same time, taking each other's hands tightly, as if that would keep them together.
"Here we go again," she said. "Let's win this one."
"They don't know what's about to hit them," he agreed.
The bracelets beeped in unison and the Doctor quickly turned on the spot. He didn't get to say it last time she was ripped from him and the guilt and regret had never left him.
"I love you," he told her. "No matter what."
She opened her mouth to reply just as earnestly, but the teleports activated and they were torn apart.
~0~0~0~
Danni blinked at the bright white room she landed in. It wasn't the first time she'd appeared in such an empty room, obviously meant to keep someone contained. It was actually so familiar she got a dark sense of reassuring familiarity from it.
She clasped her hands in front of her, twisting her torso to observe the room closely. Apart from the chair against the wall by the metal security door there wasn't much to see. She had definitely moved in time as well as space, years of time travel by less than ideal means had taught her the feeling well. She was somewhere very new indeed.
By the time she'd straightened back up, her resolve had set in. She needed to get out, she needed to get to the Doctor, and she needed to get home. It had taken her years last time, but now she knew what do to.
The door opened and in stepped two soldiers, both in red ornate armour. They flanked the doorway and a third, balder, paler old man stepped in after them. His armour was nicer, and bulkier and she let out a noise of comprehension.
"Ah, you must be the one in charge," she realised. "This must be your smashing abode. I have to say," she looked around again, "I'm not fond of the minimalistic look, but each to their own, I guess." She met his gaze, not intimidated in the slightest by his perceived status. "Where's the Doctor?" she asked simply.
He didn't say a word, instead stepping out of the way to let an even older man in. He had a large collar, with red robes and the air of someone with actual authority around him. His face was different, but she recognised his arrogance immediately.
She had many questions. But now was not the time for that.
"Oh," she stated. "It's you."
"Time Child," Rassilon greeted with a look of disgust. "The Doctor is currently on this planet. We believe you have the means to find him for us."
She nodded slowly. "Oh, yeah, pretty much instantly," she agreed. "If he's close then I could find him with just a thought. Tell me why I should."
Rassilon looked furious just at the idea that she wasn't obeying him instantly. "Because we answered your prayer," he snarled. "We gave the Doctor a new set of regenerations. You, in return, said you would do anything. So you will help us."
Danni nodded along. "That is true," she said, slowly walking over to him. "I guess, really, I kind of owe you one."
The guards moved to stop her, but Rassilon held up his hand to warn them away. "You owe us twelve," he retorted. "Where is the Doctor?"
Danni stopped in front of him, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, that's easy," she replied. "I can give you that right now."
And, before he could even ask, her lips pulled back into a snarl she headbutted him. She hissed as she stumbled back from the contact, Rassilon crying out in outrage and pain. She reached up to her forehead to see if she was bleeding.
The head guard ordered Rassilon out.
And, with an animalistic growl, Danni attacked.