Rose hadn't wanted to spend time with either of her friends. Partly out of guilt to the fate that she'd doomed them to, and partly out of the sadness of her father's death, she'd hid herself away in her bedroom with the excuse that she was too tired to stay in the console room with them for another adventure.

Danielle didn't really know what to do. On one hand, she hadn't wanted to leave Rose to grieve on her own, and on the other she didn't want to leave the Doctor on his own to overthink a situation. She knew that he blamed himself for what had happened with Pete as much as Rose did. So she played it safe, and sat on the pilot seat as the Doctor flew them away and to somewhere in space. He didn't say much, but neither did she, as much as she wanted to. He looked so troubled and she wanted to make him feel better. His face suited a smile a lot more than it suited a frown.

She blushed slightly at the thought. She barely knew him, and yet she seemed to have the thought that she did, that she knew enough to be able to tell what made him look better. He just seemed so… nice. So kind.

The Doctor leant against the railings watching her turn slightly pink before calming herself down again. She didn't look up at him, though, and he knew that was because he was staring down at her rather than looking over at her.

He crossed his arms in front of him. "You shouldn't have tried to push me out of the way," he told her. "You could have been wiped out time permanently."

"Yeah, but you were going being all 'self-sacrifising'," Danielle replied, looking up with a challenge in her eye. She had to admit, she hadn't expected him to tell her off for it. "You were the only one who could have gotten all those peope out safely, it was a stupid move."

"The creatures were in the building, I had no other choice," he replied. "I was the oldest thing there, I was their main target."

"And in that same instance, you chose to let Pete Tyler die," she pointed out, standing up. "When you - you - told Rose that with the TARDIS you could save everyone! She was nearly there, why the hell would you try to do anything but stall?"

His eyes flashed but she didn't back down. "Anyone, including me, who was eaten could have been brought back with Pete Tyler still alive as long as you didn't die! And-"

"I wasn't going to let anyone die in my place," he snapped. "I won't have that on my shoulders, not again.

Danielle's held her hand up, finger pointing in the air and her own anger flashed across her face. "I'm not finished," she snapped, voice raised. The Doctor actually paused, surprised by her annoyance at being interrupted, but considering how she'd treated the man on Satellite Five, he should have known better.

Danielle took a deep breath to calm herself down. "And," she repeated pointedly, and calmer. "And I was not about to stand there and watch my friend die. Not while I have a chance to stop it. I am always going to try and save you, so you're just going to have to deal with it."

He wasn't sure how to think. Part of him was elated that someone thought of him as worthy enough to save, a dark part of himself was happy that she thought as much. Her convinction in her words was evident by her bright eyes and her straight stance. Her chest was jutting out slightly, as if daring him to contradict him.

But he didn't deserve it. He'd done some terrible things. Things he knew she had no idea about and he once again felt like he'd tricked someone into being his friend. He'd done the same to Rose until he'd not been able to keep it in anymore and he'd told her some things. Not everything, but enough to make her understand that he had been to war and that he had a scar in his past that couldn't be healed.

But he didn't want Danielle to know that, not yet. He wanted her friendship to be untainted, he didn't want to look into her eyes one day and see the uncertainty that he saw in Rose's when something bad was happening. Rose trusted him, but she knew that his way meant that they might die. He didn't want Danielle to think like that. Not yet.

"Don't do it again," he told her firmly. "I won't have you die for me. That's not why I brought you onto the TARDIS."

"Why did you bring me, then?" she countered. "You've shown me things, you could just drop me off but you haven't. Why are you letting me stay?"

He wanted to shout at her for being such a stupid little human, but he knew he didn't have a defence. He would have jumped in front of either of them the same way that she jumped in front of him. She was right; he was self-sacrificing, especially now the two young women were the only thing he had to lose. How could he lecture her on being stupid when he was an idiot himself?

"Because I only let the best travel with me," he replied simply and her angry frown turn into a beaming grin. He couldn't help but smile back. "Go on, go see Rose."

~0~0~0~

Rose had opened the door when Danielle had knocked on it, which was further than she had expected to get that evening. However, it was obvious that while she didn't want to be alone, she didn't really want to talk either, so they both sat on her bed in silence.

Danielle knew she was feeling a lot at that moment. Happiness that she'd met her father, sadness that she'd not been able to save him. Guilt for all the damage she'd caused, and at how Pete had jumped in front of a car knowingly to save it. On some level it seemed better that he hadn't known that was his last moment. He was a good man, and she'd driven him to kill himself.

"When my mum told my dad that she was pregnant, he had been the happiest she had ever seen him," the redhead started, looking at her hands in her lap. "He'd taken her to the pub and they'd celebrated into the early hours of the morning. It was the early 80's, so my mum had a couple of drinks, no one seemed to mind."

Rose glanced at her, wondering why she was telling her this story. "When she woke up the next morning, he was gone. He hardly took a thing, just some money, a couple of changes of clothes and his passport. She never saw him again."

This surprised Rose. She had known that Danielle didn't live with her father, but she'd always assumed it was the product of divorce. It wasn't uncommon around her area, after all. "Really?" she asked.

Danielle nodded. "She only managed to stay in their flat until I was born. We moved to another one until I was two, then we came down to London. His parents have always been wonderful to me but I don't see them very often, and both my mum's parents are dead so I only really have her."

A little smile appeared on Danielle's face. "I know they don't see him anymore either. He wrote to them once, and told them that I was the worst thing that had ever happened to his life. That it was my fault that he'd had to move and get a new job. That I destroyed his life and that while they had contact with me, they weren't to contact him again," she looked up at a shocked, almost outraged Rose. "They don't know I know that," she explained. "I found the letter when I was trying on some jewellery. My nan had kept it because it was the last thing her son ever sent her but I still see them about once a year, so I was what they chose."

"Why are you telling me this?" Rose asked her and Danielle shrugged.

"Because you had a hard time," she replied. "Because you lost your dad, and it's hard, and I wanted to show that I really have no idea what you're going through. I never had a dad to lose, but I'm still here if you need anything."

Rose took a moment to think about what Danielle had told her. She couldn't imagine what being rejected so hard by her father would feel like, but she was still too deep in her own grief to be able to fully appreciate it.

Instead of focusing on either of their fathers, and to escape the pain, she leant back slightly, her hands on the bed behind her. "You know, I think this is the most you've ever spoken to me," she teased and Danielle ducked her head, flushing in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm just… you know, quiet," she offered as a reason and Rose shook her head.

"Not true," she replied before smirking in amusement. "You ripped Adam a new one, you were so angry. You definitely weren't quiet then."

"That's different," Danielle defended and Rose started laughing. "He deserved it. He traded in the whole human race for ideas he was probably going to sell!" Rose just shot her a look and she sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'm not quiet. I just… you know, I'm shy."

Rose nudged her. She still felt sad, she probably was going to for a little while now, but Danielle had actually managed to cheer her up. "We've known each other for years," Rose pointed out. "You've no need to by shy around me."

"We haven't, though, have we?" Danielle pointed out. "We've just walked past each other a lot. We've spoken to each other more since I came board than we have our entire lives."

Rose frowned. She was right, really. They'd hung around in different crowds at school, never really crossing paths. They'd not avoided each other, and it was true that Rose teased a few of the people around Danielle a little, but she'd not even ever turned her misguided meanness on the red-head. She'd pretty much slipped under Rose's radar.

And Danielle hadn't really tried to offer an olive branch, either. She had been a bit of a school snob in that regard. She'd always enjoyed learning and Rose and her mates were always the people stopping her getting on with her lessons. She enjoyed a joke and a mess about the same as everyone, she'd had a couple of detentions she'd always been proud to share, but they were the ones who took it too far and it just had become annoying.

She'd grown out of that, thankfully, but by that point it had been too late. They'd been divided up into strength sets, and Danielle had managed to get quite high in most of hers, whereas Rose had managed to get pretty average with very little effort. They'd not seen each other in class much after that, and that had been the end of it.

If she had imagined herself travelling in a spaceship - she hadn't, but looking back as if she might have - Danielle would never have imagined it to have been with Rose Tyler. Nor would she have imagined being the one to gate-crash her trip with the alien who flew it. But, there they were, and they were getting on and it was one of those wonderful surprises that life liked to throw at you.

"That doesn't explain one thing, though," Rose said thoughtfully and Danielle's brows furrowed. "You've been rather talkative with the Doctor, and you're quite happy to tell him what you think. You're not shy around him."

Danielle shrugged, blushing slightly. "He's different, isn't he?" she replied. "He's the Doctor, it's hard to be shy around him. He just- he brings it out of you."

Rose shook her head, another smirk appearing on her face. "That's not it, is it?" she teased. She could tell. She hadn't seen it until that point, but Danielle wouldn't look at her and she could see her flushing just at thought of him. "You fancy him."

"No I don't!" Danielle exclaimed back and Rose laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, you so fancy him!" she cried gleefully.

"I-" Danielle started, faltering as she glanced at the door. There was no sign of him coming into the room, and the TARDIS was big enough that he probably wouldn't come, right? "I don't know, alright?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course you know," she replied. "It's not like it's the first time you've fancied someone."

Danielle looked down at her feet, her face bright red. "I-I think I'm going to go make a cuppa, want one?" she asked. She knew Rose would have laughed. Everyone always laughed.

Rose seemed to sense that she'd said something wrong and as Danielle went to stand, Rose took hold of her arm. "Wait, what's wrong?" she asked and Danielle shrugged, not wanting to say. "You have fancied someone before, right? Like a boyfriend or sommat?"

Danielle shrugged again. Rose wasn't letting go of her arm, and she knew that the blonde wasn't going to let this drop, she could just tell. "I never really had time for it," she started, trying to come up with an excuse. "And- And boys were always great friends and all, but they all were a bit… you know, gross? I did think that maybe it was girls but…"

Rose let go of her arm. "I'm sorry," she apologised sincerely. "I didn't mean to make fun of you or anything. There's nothing wrong with that, you know?"

Danielle looked at her sceptically. "Are you sure?"

Rose nodded. "It happens differently for everyone," Rose replied. "And, quite frankly, the boys in our year were gross," she pulled her legs up onto the bed. "I mean, look at my mum. She had a few boyfriends before my dad, and has had quite a few after, but none of them have ever been around for more than a couple of weeks. She doesn't really fancy them, she just gets lonely. It was only ever my dad, really."

"I've read books about it and stuff," Danielle replied, shuffling on the spot. "I've just never, you know, felt it before."

"Well, what does it feel like?" Rose pressed and Danielle bit her lip as she thought about the alien who was probably oblivious to their conversation. About his geeky grin, and how he'd shown her so many things already. How he'd taken it upon himself to save the universe and was surprised that someone wanted to help, let alone wanted to save him. He made her laugh, and he'd seen her and decided to take her for a ride as well.

"He's caught my attention," she replied softly and Rose shrugged.

"Well, let's stick with that for now," the other woman replied. "I like a lot of sugar in my tea."

The comment took Danielle by surprise, but then she rolled her eyes. "That's gross," she told the blonde bluntly. "It'll just taste of sweetness."

Rose grinned. "Exactly. I'll wait here, shall I?"

Danielle shook her head with a grin. "Alright, Miss Tyler. Is there anything else?"

"Actually, there is," she replied cheekily. "Does that mean you've not kissed anyone either?"

Danielle flushed and turned on her heel. "I'm leaving," she declared as punishment for her question.

Rose laughed as she stormed out, knowing she wasn't really mad. "Danni, wait!" she called after her. "I was only joking."

"It's Danielle!" the red-head called back.

Rose continued to giggle as the door closed behind her. She had to admit, it was quite nice to have someone else on board. Someone she could talk to about normal, ordinary things like who they fancied. The Doctor was great, but it did feel like he was just a bit too big, and he was always open about his rejection of anything he deemed 'domestic'. And she'd found out more about Danni - Danielle - in the last five minutes that she could have ever hoped to, and it felt nice. It felt like she had another friend on the journey with her, and that was only ever going to be a good thing.

~0~0~0~

Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get it done and it wasn't working right. I hope this is alright :)

Reviews :)

TheSlayerOfGallifrey - Thanks sweetie! My aim is to have a Doctor who knows more than she does for once, so she'd going into every adventure with zero knowledge XD

Counting Sinful Stars - No, it'll be a theme for her XD

TwinTigerLover - Yeah, this is going to be a very long-running fanfic. The blurb will make more sense as the story progresses. But thanks :D

bored411 - Thanks, sweetie! We've got a little longer to wait for Jack ;)

Emzy2k11 - Thanks sweetie! Here you go :)

serenitysaiyan - Hehe a little bit of telling off in this one. Hehe, oh, God Complex would be good, wouldn't it? Nope, no death yet! This Danni might take a little longer than you think, but it's a-coming x

Seconds and Stars - I put kiss points everywhere, you know that :P