"Hurry up, Clara!" The Doctor called as if he could be heard through the doors of the TARDIS. He looked at himself in his reflection in the monitor, adjusting his bowler hat as he checked himself over again. It wasn't quite as grand as his normal Victorian get-up, but he still thought he looked rather dashing, "What's taking you so long?"
He had materialised outside her house almost 30 seconds ago now, and she had yet to appear. He knew she was waiting for him - or rather them but she didn't know that Danni wasn't in the TARDIS with him. She normally put on a bit of a show before entering, trying to seem like she hadn't been waiting for them all afternoon, but he knew she was pacing by the front door and it wasn't as if she didn't get any notice. He knew that she had no idea Danni was waiting for them, but Danni was waiting for them! What was taking her so long?
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were eager to see me." She replied as she entered the TARDIS, the picture of disinterest. He knew better though, he could almost feel her excitement, "Where's Danni?" That made him smile. She and Clara were getting on so much better now, and he adored the fact that his wife was opening up so readily for someone else.
"She is currently spending the night in Victorian London with some of our friends." He explained, "So we're heading there right now to pick her up." He started flying them away before she'd even made her way up to the console, "I've picked you out a dress, so hurry along." He shooed her away but her hands went on her hips.
"You expect me to wear whatever you tell me to?" She challenged, "I can dress myself quite well, thank you very much."
"Yes, yes I know." He replied, "But you always take so long. This way you won't have to worry about those silly things, like what shoes to where or if you need earrings." Clara smirked, her lips pulling up on one side and he suddenly felt like he'd revelled some big secret to her.
"You're trying to speed me up so you can get back to Danni, aren't you?" He scoffed, shaking his head before making the little noise of disbelief again just so she knew that she was talking nonsense.
"I can last five minutes without my wife." He replied, as if he wasn't trying to rush her at all. Which he wasn't. Okay, maybe he was but he was determined to be on time. His Danni-Girl didn't need to be kept waiting because Clara was indecisive.
Clara patted him on the arm as she walked off towards the hallway, "Okay, Spaceman." She didn't sound particularly convinced, but he didn't have time to worry about that. He'd said the next morning and he'd meant it, "If I don't like it, I'm choosing another one."
"No you're not." He called after her.
"Yes I am." She replied. He turned around to argue his case again, because she did take entirely too long getting changed into the period outfits, but she was already gone. He huffed slightly to himself. That was all well and good when Danni was there, he didn't mind then if they took hours to get changed because he knew that Danni was having a good time, but for all he knew she could be sat waiting for him at that very moment. Bag by her feet, looking out of the window, brown eyes filled with tears. He wasn't about to let Clara make him late.
"Hurry up!" He shouted over his shoulder impatiently. Honestly, humans.
~0~0~0~
He had tried so hard. Everything was set up perfectly for him to be on time for his Danielle. He'd be ready to scoop her back into his arms, ready for all the kissing that always came after they were reunited. He'd even been ready to not-explain Clara to the Paternoster gang when they asked him why they were travelling with a woman who was quite obviously the late Nanny Clara and yet not her in the slightest at the same time. He'd even managed to push the thoughts of her in that purple dress down so that when he saw her he would be able to keep some air of decorum as they showed Clara the sights.
So they'd landed in Victorian Yorkshire. It wasn't too far off, same day and everything that he was supposed to pick up Danni so relatively he was quite close. All he needed to do was jolt them a couple hundred miles south and he would be there exactly on time. He hadn't bargained for the scream that had echoed down the cobbled streets or for the body that had been floating in the canal. He certainly hadn't expected the gated community with the frozen people in glass containers, or the fact that he would be dipped in a vat of boiling red fluid and left for dead when whatever Mrs Gillyflower was trying to achieve failed to take hold.
If it hadn't been for Ada, he'd have become another floating body in the dank waters of the canal. Thankfully she had taken pity on him, keeping him as her secret pet and friend. She was a sweet woman, blinded by her father apparently, once again shocking him with the violence and ignorance of select humans. She was good hearted, and took care of him the best she could using the morals she can't have learnt from her mother.
But he was still late. And as a day turned to a week and then turned to three, all he could think about was how he was still late. He'd promised the next morning, and yet she was still waiting for him. This wasn't his own doing, he had done everything he could to be on time. He shouldn't have followed the scream, but he had thought that if something untoward was going on he could have taken her to investigate. If that's what she wanted with Vastra, then he could provide that.
This wasn't his fault, he hadn't asked to be frozen. All he wanted was to take her on a nice trip with their companion. He had no idea where Clara was, if she was dead Danni would never forgive him. She couldn't be dead, though. He was sure Ada would have mentioned the fate of who they'd told them was his sister if she hadn't been deemed 'worthy' of the paradise her mother had told her they were heading for.
When someone had tried to get into the little room in which he was chained he knew this was his chance. It wasn't Ada, it wasn't anyone who was supposed to be there at all and they could help him escape. He'd done the best he could in his frozen state, walking with stiff legs to the metal door that had him cut off from the rest of the world, falling to the floor in an incredibly awkward fashion. When the hatch on the bottom of the door had opened, he'd reached out, hoping the alert whoever it was to his presence. He'd only managed a brief brush of his fingers against the arm of the woman who had opened it, but he recognised both the fear that had been flowing through them at his touch and the scream he'd pulled from her lips. He struggled back up, hoping to be half decent even though his clothes were slightly beyond his capabilities at that particular moment. He replied to Jenny's soft cockney-tinted commands with the rattling of the chains that were keeping him in the room, and then there they both were. Jenny, the maid and wife of his Silurian friend and his Danielle. His Danni-Girl, who looked horrified at the sight of him but with his hardened red skin and long johns he probably didn't look his finest.
They'd helped him out of the room and down the hallway, each step agony but Danni tried to make him feel better, encouraging him gently while holding him up the best she could, arm around his waist while Jenny propped him up on the other side. They'd made it onto the factory floor just in time to see another batch of humans being dunked in the vats of liquid.
"Oh my god..." Danni breathed, eyes wide in horror as they were submerged, "What the hell is going on here?" She looked up at the Doctor, is this what had been done to him? He couldn't turn his head, but his eyes looked down at her and his skin creaked, a painful sound as he continued to look at her. His lip moved just slightly and she just couldn't believe it. He was trying to smile at her. He was trying to reassure her. Her Time Lord was unbelievable.
He waited until that smile that lit up her entire face appeared, then he turned. He struggled, but he lifted his arm up, pointing down the hallway with a grunt.
"You want to go that way?" Danni asked and he grunted again, "Okay, sweetie. We can do that." The next couple of hundred feet were just as, if not more, painful than what they had walked so far but they made it. A line of metal capsules lined the walls and he groaned again, stretching both arms as he turned on the spot, reaching for the first one.
"What is it? You want to go there?" Jenny asked, incredulous. He groaned louder, continuing to reach for the handle. She turned to Danni, as if she would know what he wanted and Danni shrugged. She let him go, opening the door and then helped the Doctor inside. It was full of pipes that hissed angrily and she wasn't entirely happy about leaving him inside with them.
"Should I stay?" She whispered and he groaned, telling her not to. She nodded and stepped away as Jenny handed him his clothes. He struggled to bend his arms, feeling around for his sonic screwdriver but Danni knew what he was looking for. She knew him so well, he would have smiled if he could. He set it off, looking for the right settings as they shut the door for him. Jenny quickly grabbed Danni, who had been more than happy to watch the door as the Doctor did whatever he wanted to do in there, pulling her behind the giant metal cabinet and out of view of some of Gillyflower's minions as they walked passed. The moment they were gone Danni was out again, watching the steam and green light stream from the small slits in the door. She reached out, taking Jenny's hand as strange noises continued to make her worry about the Doctor.
Then the door burst open, making her jump as he came sliding out, sonic pointing forward even though he was now fully dressed and pack to normal.
"Ah!" He cried, quickly pocketing his screwdriver, "Missed me?" He asked the pair, but his eyes were trained only on Danni. Her eyes were bright, mouth pulled into a happy smile as she looked him over.
"Doctor!" She cried, and he nodded.
"Danni." He declared, looking her up and down. She was in that purple dress again. She must have known she was going to see him again, "Danni, Danni, Danni." He turned on the spot, running down the hallway and jumping in the air, clicking his heels just to test everything was back in working order, "Just when you think your wife and your favourite lock-picking Victorian chambermaid will never turn up!" He rushed back over, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist, pulling her up against him, "Danni." He murmured lowly before dipping his head, pressing his lips against hers. She gasped and he used it to his advantage, deepening the kiss as he dipped her backwards. Oh, she felt so good. Her hands grabbed his biceps for fear of falling, but he wasn't about to let her go for a second. She slowly began to respond to his caresses and he kept it going for as long as he dared before righting her once again, pulling away to watch her pant. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes slightly dazed at the unexpected assault. He smirked, shifting slightly closer to her.
"You have no idea how good you feel." He murmured wickedly, "I tried to be on time, I really did..."
"Doctor?" Jenny called pointedly, knowing that they had to move and quickly otherwise they were going to get caught. However, anyone who knew the couple knew that once they fell into each other like that it took more than a gentle nudge to pull them back into the situation at hand, "We have to move before they get us!"
"There was this scream, I thought you'd be interested in looking into it." He continued, ignoring Jenny and anything that was happening around them. He cupped her face, making sure she was looking at him even though her gaze wasn't anywhere else, "Please, believe me."
"I do." She replied gently and he grinned, placing another quick kiss on her lips, "Where's Clara?" The grin fell slightly and he reluctantly let her go to look around.
"Ah, well," he started, "I'm not exactly sure."
"Clara?" Jenny asked, confused at the name of the deceased maid.
"We have find Clara!" Danni exclaimed, now worried about her friend. The moment she had known the Doctor was hurt, the thoughts of their friend had flown out of her mind and she felt incredibly guilty about it. Now, though, all that worry returned.
The Doctor took her hand, linking their fingers tightly in a way he never held anyone else's hand, loving the feel of her soft palm pressed against his, "We will." He promised, "Come along, Danni-Girl." He began walking them away towards the door at the end of the hallway.
"Doctor, wait!" Jenny cried, running to catch the couple up, "What do you mean, Clara?"
"It's complicated." Danni replied. She'd not told them about the companion, she couldn't work out where to begin with her because they still had no idea how she could exist in so many places and yet still be separate people. Clara, the current Clara, was just still a normal, ordinary girl. But she was worried that they'd try and convince her otherwise. So her plan had been to just spring her onto the trio and hope the Doctor could talk their way out of whatever situation arose from it, "Have you been in here this entire time?" She asked the Doctor, taking the conversation off Clara before Jenny asked anymore questions.
"Not by choice." He promised her, "It's been about three weeks, right?" It'd been three weeks, two days, sixteen hours and twelve minutes. Well, roughly that anyway, but he didn't want her to know he'd been counting down how late he was as he'd been sat there, waiting for rescue. He was her husband, but he didn't want to seem desperate.
"Something like that." Danni agreed, knowing it had been three weeks and two days since she'd last seen him, but she didn't want to seem desperate, "What happened to you?"
"It's a long story." He replied, "I'll keep it short."
~0~0~0~
And so he told them of his time in Yorkshire, from landing with Clara right up until the moment they'd found him. Apparently poor Edmund - Mr Thursday's brother - had been working with them. He'd put both the Doctor and Clara onto Sweetville, and that was how they ended up getting captured in the first place.
"I had wanted to come collect you first," The Doctor promised her yet again as they tried to find an exit into the main Sweetville town, "But once Edmund had shown me the scale of what was happening, I didn't want to leave."
"And you shouldn't have." Danni agreed, smiling up at him. He looked so guilty, but he didn't need to be at all. It was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him, he had such big hearts and he would never be able to leave people in need, "So you paired up with Edmund and his friend, going into Sweetville and got turned into Morph?" He smiled, eyes lightening up in recognition of the old British children's TV character. He was about to remind her about the time they'd gone to watch the 150 year celebration of the character. However, then he remembered himself and continued to lead them down the hall.
"Poor Edmund must have come looking for us. And then fallen into a vat of the pure venom." He walked up to a window, stretching slightly to keep hold of Danni. Outside was the small town. They were almost out, "Or was pushed. Didn't stand a chance."
"What is that stuff, though?" Jenny asked.
"Deadly poison." He replied, heading over to some pipes and scanning them with his screwdriver. Just as he thought, it was transporting the horrid stuff, "And Mrs Gillyflower's dipping her Pilgrims in a dilute form to protect them. Preserve them. Process didn't work on me. Maybe because I'm not human. I ended up on the reject pile." They continued down the hallway, the Doctor heading to another window in the hopes that another angle would mean he would be able to see their way out. No such look.
"Preserve them for what?" Danni asked.
"Well, according to her, the coming apocalypse!" He whistled as he spun his finger by his temple, the universal sign for 'crazy person'. Jenny paused as the other two walked on, her mind heading back to the church she and Danni were sat in the day before.
"You are not wrong there." Danni agreed as they headed towards the door, "Honestly, we had to sit through one of her sermons to be able to sign up and get in here. Some of the stuff she said was ludicrous at best." He paused, turning on the spot so he was facing her, smiling down at her in amusement.
"You went fully undercover for this, didn't you?" He asked and she nodded.
"You turned up in the eyes of a dead man." She replied, "It needed things to be done proper."
"My Danielle, private investigator." He declared fondly, hand trailing up her arm as he took another step closer, "So very clever..." He dipped his head as his hand met the top of her arm, pressing his lips against hers again. He couldn't get enough, especially after being cut off from her so abruptly.
"Doctor..." She started in protest, they were trying to escape after all, but he just shushed her firmly, kissing her again.
"'When the End of Days is come and judgement rains down upon us all...'" That caught his attention, and he broke the kiss, turning his head to look at Jenny as she recited part of the sermon from the night before.
"What?" He asked and she looked slightly startled, like she hadn't expected them to be listening at all. Understandably so, once they'd started kissing they barely listened to anyone else.
"Nothing." She replied but he shook his head, walking over to her. That sounded rather ominous, and she didn't just pluck it from thin air.
"No, what?"
"Something Mrs Gillyflower said." Jenny explained, looking over at Danni for confirmation. The blonde nodded, "In her sermon yesterday." The Doctor was staring at her intently, but didn't say a word so she nodded slightly, "Madame will come looking for me. We'd best get on." He jolted slightly, remembering why they were still in the building in the first place. He dashed back to Danni, taking her hand to pull her along with him.
"Yes! Clara, got to find Clara."
"She's definitely frozen, though?" Danni asked as opened the door for her, arm high so she could walk underneath it.
"But, Doctor..." Jenny called and the pair stopped in the doorway, "Clara's dead. Isn't she?"
The Doctor looked down at Danni, wondering what to say to the chambermaid, but she seemed just as at a loss as he was. So, he fell back on her excuse, "It's complicated." He told Jenny before he joined Danni, knowing Jenny would be right behind them.
"We're going to have to explain." Danni hissed up at him. The trio had been kind to them, had helped them through such a terrible time in their lives and they could never thank them enough. They deserved an explanation.
"Tell them what?" He replied just as quietly, "We don't know what Clara was."
"She wasn't anything." Danni snapped before she could stop herself, a flare of anger at his dismissal of her Clara. He paused slightly, letting Jenny catch up.
"I know." He promised gently in apology. He hadn't meant to anger her, he'd just meant they didn't know what any of it actually meant. How was she both their Clara and Danni's Clara and yet not at the same time? "We'll work it out."
Danni nodded as Jenny fell by their side, "Okay, then, Spaceman." And they were off again with Jenny having the distinct feeling she'd missed something very important.
~0~0~0~
The streets were rather eerie in the dusk, and the whole 'kidnapping people and freezing them for the oncoming apocalypse' thing wasn't exactly reassuring to begin with. They weren't paying much attention to the other houses, the Doctor having a rather good idea to which one housed their friend, or at least roughly where she would be.
"Are we talking about the same person? About that Clara?" Jenny persisted, determined to get her answers. They were both avoiding giving an answer, which was never a good sign in either of the Time Lords, especially Danni. The Doctor did look like he was going to give her an answer, but then changed his mind and darted to one of the houses, looking behind the fabric curtain that hid the door. She wasn't in there, just some other poor people who wouldn't have had a clue what they were signing up for.
"Who is Clara?" Jenny asked Danni instead, who just smiled apologetically at her as the Doctor returned to her side.
"It's complicated, sweetie." She explained, "If we knew, we'd tell you." The Doctor nodded in agreement, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. He held his finger to his lips, speedily moving them along.
"She has to be around here somewhere." He told them, deciding randomly to check another house.
"But Clara died!" Jenny whispered, "The Ice Lady..." Danni nodded.
"We know." She agreed, "You have to trust us though. It's..." She glanced up at the Doctor, who darted off to another house instead of offering her another answer to give Jenny, "It's complicated."
"In here!" He called over to the pair and the two women rushed over. Inside the house was a man and woman under a gigantic bell jar, posed as if they were getting their portrait painted. The man was stood, hands clasped in front of him but Jenny's attention was pulled to the woman. It was Clara, the poor nanny who'd fallen to her death. She had a fake smile plastered on her face, but it was most definitely her.
The Doctor banged on the glass before feeling his way down it as he fell to his knees, trying to find a weakness. He wasn't sure of the side effects of the diluted poison, it could still be killing her for all he knew and Clara did not deserve to die that way.
"Spaceman, duck!" Danni cried and he turned to see her wielding a chair. He had a flashback to the Great Intelligence, with her Clara, and Danni bringing a chair down onto Dr Simeon's back. She looked quite ferocious as he moved out of the way, watching her smash through the glass with a yell of effort. Determined and very- yowzah.
"What do we do now?" Danni asked, bringing him back as she brushed the shards of glass off Clara that had fallen onto her when she'd broken the jar, "Is she still alive?"
"I suspect so." He replied, scrambling up and scooping Clara up into his arms. They needed to get her to one of the chambers where he'd restored himself, "We have to be quick." He explained to her, "Otherwise..."
"Are you apologising to me for carrying a frozen Clara?" She asked as they headed out of the door, towards the factory once again.
"Well, I just thought..." He stuttered as he shifted the girl, "I didn't want you to be..."
"What, jealous?" She asked, "In this dress?"
~0~0~0~
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Danni asked the Doctor as he peeked into chamber where they'd placed the preserved Clara. She wasn't tall enough to see inside, but she could see the red glow that came from whatever was happening to her inside it. The Doctor looked down at his wife, who was stood on her tiptoes, both hands on his arm as she still tried to look in.
"She'll be fine." He promised her. Hopefully, anyway. There was no reason why it wouldn't work, and this was obviously what the chambers were for. Once Mrs Gillyflower had unleashed whatever she was planning to unleash, he suspected the rest of the frozen community were going to be decontaminated in the same manner.
Jenny, who was keeping a lookout while they waited for Clara, tapped the Doctor on the shoulder as a group of Mrs Gillyflowers minions came from around the corner, "Doctor..." She murmured. He turned his head, looking over Danni and rolling his eyes at the group that had appeared.
"Oh, great. Great. Attack of the supermodels." He grumbled. He took a step forward as the group pulled out an assortment of weapons to use if they should need it, his eyes narrowing in warning. He had been more than happy to reason with them if he could, but not while they had weapons whilst being near his wife.
"Time for a plan." He murmured to himself, making sure that he still stood in between the people and Danni. He was only one man, and this body wasn't exactly the strongest in the universe, but he'd take them all down if he had to.
"Nah, Doctor. This one's on me." Jenny declared, pulling off her bonnet. She quickly removed the heavy fabric of her dress, revealing her cat suit which she wore underneath for just this sort of occasion. This was her time to shine. People like Madame and the Doctor might have been smarter than she was, but when it came to fighting she knew there was very few better than herself. The numbers might have been difficult, but she liked her chances.
"Yowzah." The Doctor double-took, looking down at his wife in surprise as she stared at Jenny, absolutely drawn in by the chambermaid's change of clothes. What was it with her and Victorian young women? He tried to be inconspicuous as he looked down at himself; perhaps he should have warn his other outfit after all.
"Sorry, Miss, I'm taken." Jenny called over her shoulder and Danni flushed. She hadn't realised she'd said anything out loud, but even she could admit that Jenny looked bloody fantastic in that outfit. One of the men advanced on Jenny, obviously thinking her an easy target but before Danni could call out for her to be careful, Jenny had flipped him over her shoulder. She put a foot on his neck, not even looking as she punched both of the men who approached her to help their comrade.
"Now that is a plan." Danni commented and the Doctor crossed his arms over his chest. He had been going to protect her, if he'd just acted first then it would be him she was impressed with. Of course, his pouting didn't last for long as the rest of the group advanced on them and he grabbed Danni's hand.
"OK. Time for a better plan." He declared, reaching out to pull Jenny away from the oncoming mob. He may have been ever so slightly jealous of his wife's obvious and quite sudden attraction to the other woman, but he still wasn't going to let her get mobbed. He tried to drag the pair away, but Danni dug her heels into the floor, taking hold of the chamber they were stood by with her free hand.
"We can't leave Clara!" She exclaimed. He grimaced, looking at the cabinet then the mob. He had to get Danni out of there, but she wouldn't leave without Clara. He was more than willing to pick her up and chuck her over his shoulder if he needed to, but he'd rather she came willingly.
"Sontarah!" The cry rang out before the body that accompanied it appeared. Strax came barrelling in, literally all guns blazing as he shot at the group, sending them all running away in fear. The Doctor turned, letting go of Jenny to protect Danni from any rogue fire, even though he trust the Sontaran's shot. He crushed Danni up against the chamber as Vastra rushed in, right on Strax's tail with her weapon drawn, ready to fight anyone who decided to take a chance and fight back.
"Quickly! Let's go!" She commanded, glad to see her wife in one piece.
Danni struggled out from underneath the Doctor, "No, we can't leave her!" She exclaimed in slight panic.
"No, ma'am! We're not escaping!" Jenny added, "We've got to help the Doctor and Danni with Clara!" Madame Vastra turned to the two Time Lords, her face the picture of surprise and suspicion and while Danni hadn't taken her eyes off the chamber, the Doctor did have the decency to look slightly embarrassed.
"Long story." He replied, turning back and wrapping his arms around Danni from behind. Strax began making battle plans, but neither of them paid any attention as he placed a kiss in her hair, "Back away, Danni-Girl." He commanded gently, "She won't be able to get out with you at the door."
"Will she be much longer, do you think?" She asked lowly in reply. It had been such a horrible sight, Clara sat there with a fake, permanent smile on her face, no light in her eyes as the preservative took everything away. She just wanted her friend to be okay.
"We can't rush it." He replied, which meant he had no idea, "It needs to be done properly."
"I know." She sighed, she was just being impatient. She needed to see Clara was okay. She snuggled back into her husband's arms, "Do you think next time we can just go somewhere nice?" He chuckled, placing a kiss on her hair once again. He'd thought he'd never hold her again. It had been an extreme thought, but it had floated through his head on loop the entire time.
"Anywhere you wish." He promised, keeping one arm around her as he pulled out his screwdriver. A quick scan showed that she was ready and he pulled Danni just slightly further away.
"OK, I think she's about done." He declared, smiling at his wife. They opened the door together, revealing the unconscious but very much unfrozen Clara, "I know who you think she is, but she isn't." He told their two friends, who he knew must have been staring in disbelief. He didn't blame them, once again he was struck with just how much of a mystery she was, "She can't be." He whispered.
"I was right, then. You and Clara have unfinished business." Vastra retorted just as Clara fell forward. Danni jumped into action, grunting slightly as she caught her but managing to hold her upright as her eyelids fluttered. She awoke with a dazed look on her face, eyes looking around as they tried to focus and Danni smiled at her.
"Hello, sweetie." She whispered fondly as Clara's grip on her tightened slightly, "You're okay, I've got you."
"Danni." She declared happily, reaching up to tap her on the nose as she checked to see if she was there. Danni giggled, nodded and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You're okay." She repeated as Clara's gaze fell onto Vastra and Jenny. She was obviously quite surprised at their audience and offered them a small wave.
"Hi." She greeted before looking up at Danni, "What's going on?"
"Oh, you know, the world's in trouble, how could we resist?" She replied. The Doctor peeked over her shoulder and Clara smiled at him as well.
"She's a lizard." He declared and Danni rolled her eyes.
"She's a Silurian." She corrected firmly, helping Clara stand up straight, "Are you feeling okay? Do you need to sit down?" Clara shook her head, her strength returning rapidly.
"No, where are we?" She asked instead.
"Oh, 'aven't you 'eard, love?" The Doctor answered, putting on his best Yorkshire accent, Danni giggling in amusement, "There's trouble in't mill."