If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
As the Doctor explained to the two women, and rabbit, Agatha Christie's greatest mystery, her disappearance, Lady Eddison's Indian maid came running out of the house, terrified and panicked. She cried out the murder of a 'professor', and without pausing for a moment, the Doctor ran into the house, the rest of the guests following him up at a more respectable pace. The poor man was laid out on the floor, head bloody and Danni covered Sebastian's eyes with her hand so he couldn't see the corpse. The Doctor was immediately by his side as Donna and Agatha joined them in the room.
"Oh, my goodness." The butler cried as he also joined them
"Bashed on the back of the head. Blunt instrument." The Doctor declared lowly as he checked the body over. He tapped the watch on the man's wrist, "Watch broke as he fell, time of death was quarter past four." He jumped up and rushed over to the desk, rummaging through the papers on it as Donna knelt down by the man, much more respectably than the Doctor.
"Bit of pipe." She commented grimly, nodding towards the pipe lying by his head with blood on it, "Call me Hercule Poirot but I reckon that's blunt enough."
"Nothing worth killing for in that lot, dry as dust." He declared in reply, walking over to Danni who had been standing by the fire, watching the pair with Agatha. He'd noticed her bend down to pick something out of the ashes in there, but didn't mention it, "Are you okay?" He asked her, concerned because she didn't like to see dead bodies. She nodded slowly.
"I'm fine." She promised, lifting the rabbit in her arms slightly upwards, "I need to keep calm for Sebastian." He chuckled slightly as Donna joined them.
"Hold on, the body in the library?" She mused out loud, suspiciously, "I mean, Prof Peach, in the library, with a lead piping?" The Doctor was prevented from replying as the rest of the party joined them, Lady Eddison and her husband shocked and deeply upset by the sight of the professor in the floor.
"Someone should call the police." Agatha told them all and the Doctor reached into his pocket, pulling out his physic paper.
"You don't have to." He told them, showing them all his fake badge, "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. This is my wife, Danielle." Danni waved as he nodded to Donna, "Miss Noble is the plucky young girl who helps me out." Danni tried not to laugh at Donna's indigent look.
"I say." Lady Eddison breathed, taken aback by this development.
"Mrs Christie was right. Go into the sitting room. I will question each of you in turn." He directed and Agatha nodded, helping the Doctor ushering them out of the room.
"Come along. Do as the Doctor says. Keep the room undisturbed." She explained as the group left them trio to it. The Doctor dropped to the floor, lying on his stomach as he examined the floor.
"'The plucky young girl who helps me out?'" Donna snapped as she stomped over.
"There were no policewomen in 1926." He offered as a reason.
"I'll pluck you in a minute. Why don't we phone the real police?" She asked, confused. A man had been murdered, isn't that what you did?
"The last think we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in. Especially," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a old-fashioned nibbed pen from his impossibly big pockets and scraped something off the floor, "now I've found this." He jumped up and showed the pair a substance like honey, "Morphic residue."
"Morphic? Doesn't sound very 1926." Donna remarked.
"Gets left behind when certain species genetically re-encode." He explained and Donna shot him a look.
"The murderer's an alien?" She exclaimed, both Danni and the Doctor nodding. Why couldn't they just go somewhere nice? Where nothing bad is happening?
"Which means that one of that lot is an alien in human form." He finished.
"Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie." Donna pointed out slowly, pronouncing every word deliberately.
"So?" The Doctor replied, sniffing the residue before offering it to Donna to sniff, "Happens to me all the time." Donna wrinkled her nose at it, slightly disgusted so he offered it to Danni. She sniffed it, not really knowing what she was smelling but he grinned at her.
"She's right, though, Spaceman." Danni added, "I mean, it's all very 'Cluedo' isn't it?"
"Isn't that a bit weird?" Donna pressed him, "Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really. That's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts. At Christmas." The Doctor absentmindedly tasted the residue, pulling a face and shrugging slightly.
"Well-" He drawled out and her mouth dropped slightly.
"Oh come on." She exclaimed as Danni smiled.
"Our first date." She teased the Doctor, nudging him. She turned to Donna, "It was his other face. He's in a carriage with Charles Dickens, chasing Rose to a ghost-infected house and I appeared out of nowhere. He had no idea who I was, did you?" She looked up at him expectantly as he smiled at the memory. His first meeting with his Danni-Girl. She'd appeared on her wedding night, wearing nothing but a sheet. It had barely covered her, if he remembered correctly...
"Well," He coughed, trying to cover his blush, "That had been at Christmas."
"No, I'm sorry." Donna exclaimed, "It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy." She eyed him, suspicious, "Could we? Noddy's not real, is he? Tell me there's no Noddy." The Doctor reached out, taking her by both arms and looking her dead in the eye.
"There's no Noddy." He promised before letting her go and heading towards the door.
"Aww, I want to meet Noddy." Danni moaned jokingly, placing Sebastian back on the floor and letting him hop out of the room next to her.
"Next thing you'll be telling me it's like Murder on the Orient Express and they all did it." Donna accused as they headed down the hallway to the sitting room.
"Murder on the Orient Express?" Agatha appeared out of a little alcove in the wall, startling them all to a stop.
"Oh, yeah. One of your best." Donna praised.
"But not yet." The Doctor quickly interjected, snapping his jaw shut and Donna winced slightly at the mistake.
"Marvellous idea, though." Agatha praised, a glint in her eye as ideas flooded her mind.
"Yeah, tell you what," Donna poked her arm gently, "Copyright: Donna Noble, yeah?"
"Anyway!" The Doctor exclaimed loudly, "Agatha and I will question suspects. Donna, you search the bedrooms, look for clues." He leant in towards her slightly, "Any more residue." He whispered before pulling out a large magnifying glass from the same pocket as the pen before, "You'll need this." He held it out to her, a huge grin on his face, amused by her look of disbelief.
"Is that for real?" She demanded.
"Go on. You're ever so plucky." With a scowl, she snatched it off him.
"Right then, come on Danni-Girl." He held his hand out, wiggling his fingers temptingly.
"I think I'll go with Donna." She told him and his arm dropped to his side in disappointment.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because questioning sounds boring." She replied bluntly, "You two go have fun." She took a step up the stairs, tugging on the lead gently, "Come on Sebastian. Up you come." He hopped up the first step and she clapped, "Oh, well done!" Donna rolled her eyes in amusement and headed up the stairs, leaving Danni and Sebastian to it as the Doctor and Agatha headed off to question the rest of the party, the Doctor thoroughly chastised over his giddy attitude towards the mystery.
"Your wife." Agatha started, "She seems to really love that rabbit."
"Yeah." The Doctor replied, running his hand through his hair at the title that wasn't quite his yet, "I'm not entirely sure where that's come from, if I'm honest."
"It seems to me she's distracting herself." Agatha commented lightly and the Doctor frowned.
"From what, though?" He asked. This Danni wasn't ill, and she was older which meant she'd been and gone from the Master. He wasn't being his prattish self, so she can't be hurting from that, and Danni loved Donna. Agatha opened the door, obviously not wanting to discuss it further and even as the Doctor interrogated the party goers, his mind was on the red-head with the rabbit.
~0~0~0~
Donna placed the teddy bear back down on the bed. The strange room hadn't been touched in the 40 years it'd been locked, she could tell, and she felt rather sorry for the bear in that peculiar way you would, like a memory from a childhood that's been forgotten. The room filled with the sound of a bee buzzing, and as she was about to head to the window to free it, the door opened and Danni stepped in, cradling Sebastian against her again.
"He made it then?" Donna asked with a smile.
"Nah, got half way and fell asleep." Danni replied, "Isn't he adorable?"
"Okay, I have to ask, what's with the rabbit?" Danni looked down at the grey rabbit in a bow-tie, frowning thoughtfully.
"Honestly? I have no idea." She admitted, "I look at him, and I feel sad. Not like he's sad, but sad because he's going to be on his own soon." She looked up at Donna, eyes shining but not crying, "I think I'm going home soon." Donna's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Who's going to look after him when I'm not here?" Donna walked over and pulled her into a hug, being careful not to squish Sebastian.
"Hey, that's enough of that." She scolded lightly before holding her by both arms, "You're not going anywhere, do you hear me? I'm not letting you." Danni sniffed, placing a kiss on the rabbit's head, holding him close, "And don't you think, for one second, the Doctor will ever let you go." Danni giggled, nodding slightly because there was no way Eleven would let her go. It didn't matter neither of them might not have the choice, he'd hold her and never let go.
"Can I tell you something?" Danni asked her quietly and Donna nodded.
"Anything." She replied gently.
"On our wedding night, the Doctor broke my nose." Danni whispered. Donna blinked, not expecting that before the two women started giggling.
"How..." Donna shook her head, waving her hands, "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know." The buzzing was getting louder and she sighed, "1926, they've still got bees." She turned to head to the window again, like she had before Danni had arrived, but the other ginger grabbed her arm.
"Don't." She warned, "It's a huge wasp."
"I'm sure it's not that big." Donna brushed aside but Danni shook her head, passing her the rabbit.
"Hold Sebastian." She commanded, looking around for something to open the curtains with. Groaning when she didn't see anything, she tiptoed over and stood to the side, "Ready?" Donna nodded slowly, confused and Danni opened the curtain, revelling the giant wasp floating outside the window.
"What the..." Donna asked, backing up and the wasp flew backwards, before crashing through the window. Donna screamed and the pair ran out of the room before it could get to them, Danni slamming the door shut behind them.
"Doctor!" They both screamed at the same time as the stinger came though the bottom of the door, the pair screaming again. Danni reached out and snatched Sebastian off Donna, who was making an awful squeaking noise and trying to get away.
"It's okay, it's okay sweetie." She repeated, stroking his fur but the rabbit was terrified, "Oh, please don't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you." She didn't know what to do with him. Should she put him on the floor? But then he'd run away. But he wasn't very happy in her arms, either. God, she was an idiot.
"Danni!" The Doctor shouted, skidding around the corner with Agatha on his tail. He'd heard them scream above him while he was still in the sitting room and had taken off without a word of warning. She'd barely been able to keep up. He skidded to a halt in front of his time-jumping companion, seeing the state she was in, "What's wrong, what's happened?" He asked and she shook her head, sobbing.
"What do I do?" She begged, "He's so scared and it's all my fault!" In an unspoken agreement, Donna took back the rabbit and the Doctor pulled her in for a hug, shushing her gently.
"Hey, it's okay." He whispered into her ear, looking over her head at Donna, "What happened?"
"There is a giant…wasp!" She exclaimed, placing the rabbit on the floor. He immediately started hopping around and away from the door, though thankfully his squeaking had calmed down.
"What do you mean, giant wasp?" The Doctor snapped, annoyed because not only did it not make any sense, but it didn't help him calm Danni down.
"I mean a wasp that's giant!" Donna snapped in reply.
"It's only a silly little insect." Agatha brushed off with a laugh and Donna glared at her.
"When I say 'giant', I don't mean big," She ranted, "I mean flippin' enormous! Look at its sting!" She motioned down at the door where it's sting still sat in the door. To their credit, they both looked suitably taken aback for Donna to not be mad at them for not believing her.
"Danni?" The Doctor asked quietly and the red-head nodded into his chest, "I need to look, okay?" She nodded again and let him go. The moment she stepped out of his way he rushed to the door, pushing it open but the room was empty, the wasp long gone.
~0~0~0~
Agatha, even after her confidence knocked by the group trying to force her into a role she wasn't ready for, still had enough knowledge of detectives and criminal intent to spot the disturbed flowerbed with the tool case hidden within it. She and Donna had taken them to a small sitting room the Doctor and Danni had been in, Danni letting Sebastian hop around curiously as she sat on a sofa, the Doctor next to her, arm across the back, watching her closely but not saying a word. Agatha passed him the case and he placed it between them on the coffee table, opening it up to reveal small set of tools.
"Ooh…someone came tooled up…" He muttered, "the sort of stuff a thief would use."
"The Unicorn!" Agatha exclaimed in realisation, "he's here!"
"The Unicorn and the wasp." The Doctor agreed lowly as the door opened, the bulter bringing the four a set of drinks and a bowl of water for Sebastian.
"Your drinks, ladies, Doctor." He announced.
"Very good, Greeves." The Doctor replied in thanks as they took them off him. Danni placed the drink on the floor, just out of the way so Sebastian could get it when he was good and ready.
"What about the science stuff?" Donna asked when the butler had left, "What did you find?" The Doctor had taken a sample of the sting the wasp had left behind, quickly testing it using a method Danni had never seen him use before, but she was just glad he hadn't tried to eat it like he seemed to love to do.
"Hm, Vespiform sting." The Doctor explained, leaning back on the sofa, "Vespiforms have got hives in the Silifax Galaxy."
"Again you talk like Edward Lear." Agatha commented in disbelief and he nodded in agreement.
"For some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books." He replied, taking a sip of his drink.
"Come on, Agatha. What would Miss Marple do? She'd've overheard something vital by now because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady." Donna prompted gently, knowing that the woman was feeling slightly fragile but having witnessed her in action outside, knowing she could do it.
"Clever idea. Miss Marple." Agatha mused, "who writes those?"
"Um, copyright: Donna Noble. Add it to the list." She commanded slyly.
"Donna." The Doctor warned and she rolled her eyes, leaning over and placing her hand on the author's arm.
"OK, we could split the copyright." She conceded cheekily.
"No, something's inhibiting my enzymes." With a yell, he jerked forward. Danni cried out as he knocked her out of the way and onto the floor. Donna rushed to his side, now terribly concerned, "I've been poisoned!" He shouted, convulsing as it attacked his body.
"What do we do?" She asked him before turning to Danni, "What do we do?"
"We've got to get to the kitchens!" She replied as Agatha sniffed the drink, looking horrified as she did.
"Bitter almonds—it's cyanide. Sparkling cyanide!" The Doctor scrambled up and ran out of the room, the three women following. Danni stopped at the door and pointed at Sebastian, who was scratching at the rug in the middle like he was trying to make a bed, "Stay there." She warned before closing the door, making sure it was fully shut before following them.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor downed and drenched himself in ginger beer, gasping in short-lived relief as the kitchen staff stared at him, bewildered by the mad man and his three companions.
"I'm an expert in poisons, Doctor. It's fatal! There's no cure!" Agatha told him and he shook her head, spitting out the last of the ginger beer and falling against the table in the middle of the room.
"Not for me!" He countered, "I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein! I need protein!" With that, the three women began searching the cupboards, Danni glad that Donna found something first because she had no idea what was considered a 'protein'. She'd never paid too much attention to food, she just ate it.
"Walnuts!" Donna presented him with a jar full of walnuts, which he tipped into his mouth, filling it as much as he possibly could before trying to indicate what he needed next.
"I can''t understand you!" Donna cried in panic so the Doctor tried miming, "How many words?" He held up one finger, "One. One word. Shake? Milk? Shake? Milk? Milk! No, not milk. U, shake, shake, shake—cocktail shaker! What do you want, a Harvey Wallbanger?" The Doctor swallowed, looking at her in absolute disbelief.
"Harvey Wallbanger?!" He exclaimed.
"Well, I don't know!" Donna snapped in reply.
"How is Harvey Wallbanger one word?" He continued.
"Doctor!" Danni snapped, trying to get him back on track instead of focusing on Donna's atrocious charades skills.
"Salt! I was miming salt! Salt! I need something salty!" Turning back to the pantry, Donna grabbed a bag of salt and showed him it.
"What about this?" She asked.
"What is it?" He replied.
"It's salt." He shook his head, convulsing again and Danni rushed to his side, trying to hold him up.
"That's too salty!" He explained and she glared at him.
"Oh, that's too salty." Donna said sarcastically, slamming it down on the side in frustration. The way he was talking to her highly tempted her to leave him to it. Bloody aliens.
"What about this?" Agatha asked, handing him another jar. Without looking, he took another mouthful, chewing the slimy contents.
"What's that?" Donna asked.
"Anchovies." Agatha replied as the Doctor tried again, this time making jazz hands.
"What is it? What else? It's a song." Donna decided, "'Mammy'. I don't know, 'Camptown Races'?"
"'Camptown Races'?!" The Doctor shouted, absolutely appalled by this point.
"Well, all right then. 'Towering Inferno'." Donna tried and he shook his head.
"It's a shock! Look! Shock! I need a shock!" Both Donna and Agatha looked around each other, trying to find something to shock him with. What could shock a Time Lord? There was nothing electrical anywhere!
"I'm pregnant!" Danni shouted and they all turned to her, the Doctor straightening up in one last convulsion, throwing his head back as smoke billowed out of his mouth.
"What?!" He exclaimed, looking at her in deep-rooted shock. She was pregnant?! No, because even if they were to... they couldn't get pregnant. He felt jealousy flare up and he took what was supposed to be a threatening step towards her, "Who?" Her eyes narrowed angrily and she smacked him in the arm.
"'Who'?" She repeated angrily, "What the hell do you mean 'who'?"
"Well... You know..." He stuttered and she smacked him again.
"Of course I'm not bloody pregnant!" She shouted, "Time Lord and human doesn't mix, does it?" She turned and stormed out, "Bloody hell, you're a moron!" He watched her leave, a deep sense of relief filling him as the adrenaline from the ordeal began to peter out.
"Doctor you are impossible!" Agatha breathed, in awe and the Doctor nodded, winking, "Who are you?" He held a finger up.
"Very complicated, long story." He told her, "But I just need to... do a thing..." He turned and chased Danni out the kitchen.
~0~0~0~
Thunder rumbled outside as the night fell, rain pouring and lightning flashing to illuminate the dark mood. They'd adjured to the dining room for the main meal, soup being served first with red wine as, despite the horror of two murders and an attempted murder, never mind the giant wasp on the loose, they were British and they carried on despite their adversities. Danni sat in between the Doctor and Donna, Sebastian on her lap as she fed him little bits of her salad. The serving staff had been wonderful, catering to her and her pet. She knew they suspected something was wrong with her, but she was just happy to be distracted from the thoughts of her impending meeting with the end of the Ponds. She stroked the rabbit gently. He was so soft, like a stuffed animal.
"And then someone tried to poison me…" The Doctor was saying to her right, looking over the group to watch for reactions, "Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in my drink. But it rather gave me an idea."
"And what would that be?" The Reverend asked, sounding intrigued rather than worried.
"Well, poison." The Doctor replied simply and those who had started eating paused, suddenly very worried. The Doctor continued, though, unafraid, "Drink up." They didn't, just stared at him as he lightly slurped a spoonful of the soup. Even Donna had to resist the urge of spitting her mouthful out, "I've laced the soup with pepper." He told them all, as if he'd done something very clever, which he had. It was a great way of trying to narrow down the suspects without actually hurting anyone. That was her Doctor.
"Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy." Hugh declared with a laugh and the Doctor nodded in agreement.
"But he active ingredient of pepper is piperine. Traditionally used as an insecticide." Thunder cracked in the background, highlighting his ominous explanation, "Oh, anyone got the shivers?" He looked over them again, trying to see if they reacted but no one did, until another roll of thunder crashed and the lights went out. A few of the guests gasped in surprise as the window blew open and the candles were blown out, taking away the little light they'd had left.
"Doctor..." Danni whimpered, the darkness still getting to her after all this time and he reached out, taking hold of her hand. She guessed it was what made some fears irrational, the fact that they came out of nowhere and never left. She'd fought Daleks and seen Cybermen, there was a giant wasp sitting across from her disguised as a Reverend and she was scared of the dark.
"What the deuce is that?" Hugh exclaimed but the Doctor shushed him.
"Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen!" He commanded and they all fell silent as buzzing filled the room.
"No…no, it can't be!" The Lady whispered in horror. Lightning crashed, illuminating the room in a flash of light and Agatha stood up, ready to face the impossible creature she'd seen before.
"Show yourself, demon!" She shouted but the Doctor shook his head, motioning to her.
"Nobody move!" He told them all, but none of them listened, all of the guests scrambling and rushing around in the room out of fright, "No, don't! Stay where you are!"Another flash of lightning illuminated the Vespiform at the head of the table. Sebastian squeaked as the butler ushered Donna out and the Doctor followed.
"Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!" He cried, Agatha quick to follow but no one else did. Danni placed Sebastian down slowly, making sure he was nice and settled on the chair, before running over to the lovely footman who had brought Sebastian some lettuce in the garden. She reached out and took hold of the soup urn he was carrying.
"I need this to save Roger." She told him firmly and he let go hastily, having no idea what she meant but if Roger was in danger, she could have it. She rushed over to the head of the table.
"Yo, Fly-Boy!" She screamed, chucking the soup over it and it hissed in pain. Another flash of lightning, and the Vespiform flew around the room for a moment as the door burst open.
"Danni!" The Doctor cried in fright, and the Vespiform was gone. The lights came on and everyone looked around the room, trying to find the giant monster.
"Everyone okay?" The Doctor asked, Lady Eddison mourning the loss of her necklace.
"Yes, thanks to me." Danni replied, skipping to Sebastian and picking him up. She was sure he hadn't even noticed anything had happened.
~0~0~0~
Donna opened the door and slipped into the sitting room where Agatha, Danni and the Doctor were sitting, discussing the events in the dining room. Danni was feeling particularly proud of saving Roger, finally feeling like she was doing something worthwhile again was nice. The slightly relieved look on Davenport's face when he saw Roger was okay was worth slightly burning her hands on the urn.
"How's Roger?" Danni asked the other ginger as she walked over and sat across from her and the Doctor.
"A bit shaken, but none the wiser." She replied, "Poor Davenport wants to comfort him, but can't.1926. It's more like the dark ages." She grumbled, thinking about how cruel it was for the two men not to be together because of social graces.
"Did you enquire about the necklace?" Agatha asked her and she nodded.
"Lady Eddison brought it back from India. It's worth thousands." She replied, skimming away the details.
"This thing can sting, it can fly… It could wipe us all out in seconds." The Doctor listed, his arm around the back of the sofa he and Danni were sat on, "why is it playing this game?"
"Every murder is essentially the same." Agatha mused, "they are committed because somebody wants something."
"What does a Vespiform want?" The Doctor asked, his fingertips lightly tracing on Danni's arm, as if he didn't notice he was doing it. Donna did and didn't even try to suppress the grin that appeared on her face, "What?" He asked her, catching it.
"Nothing." She replied quickly, loving seeing the way he acted towards her friend, it was so cute. Like watching a romance play out on a soap. Then she was reminded of the titbit Danni had told her in the locked room and snorted in amusement. The Doctor looked bewildered but Danni lifted Sebastian and gave him an Eskimo kiss.
"It might be easier to narrow it down to the person." Danni suggested lightly, "I mean, it can't have any family. Otherwise there'd be more sightings, more gossip about it. There'd be a family of Vespiform buzzing around, but it's just the one."
"Now, stop it, the pair of you." Agatha scolded, "The murderer is as human as you or I."
"You're right." The Doctor agreed in realisation, sitting up straighter as he leant towards her, "I've been so caught up with giant wasps, I've forgotten. You're the expert." Another flash of lightning seemed to spark an emotional response in Agatha, who turned away from the couple on the sofa.
"Look, I told you." She snapped, "I'm just a…purveyor of nonsense."
"Oh, no, no, no, no, 'cause plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived…you've fought…you've had your heart broken." The Doctor insisted, the mention of heartbreak hitting something inside Agatha, who was now pulled into the way the Doctor could make you feel like you could do anything, "You know about people, their passions, their hope and despair and anger, all of those. Tiny huge things can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this, it's you." She stared into the distance, turning his words over in her head until another flash of lightning snapped her out of it.
"The Christian fathers." She whispered and Donna frowned.
"What?" She asked bluntly and Agatha turned to the group.
"The Reverend. He was raised by the Christian fathers." She elaborated and the Doctor jolted as he came to the same conclusion.
"Which means he was an orphan." He finished before looking down at Danni, who looked decisively smug. She leant on his chest and looked up at him, smirking.
"What would you do without me, Spaceman?" She asked.
~0~0~0~
Danni stepped out of the hallway into the console room. Agatha had done it, of course she had, but she had lost her memory of them all in the process. Well, maybe not all her memories, as the Doctor proved but it was still so sad to know she didn't have the memories of her being so amazing. It foreshadowed Donna's own ending, which had saddened her even more. But now she was nervous, so nervous that she twisted her hands together like Eleven did when he felt the same.
"Doctor?" She asked, looking around and he popped up from the other side of the console.
"Danni-Girl!" He replied happily, walking around with his hands in his pockets, "No rabbit?" She shook her head.
"No, I put him in the garden." She explained, "I didn't see any more rabbits in there, but I'm sure they're somewhere." He nodded, running his hand through his hair and ruffling it.
"Oh definitely." He replied, mentally making a note to add some rabbits to the garden before she headed there again. Danni reached out and took his hand, linking her fingers through his and while he loved the freedom of being able to hold her hand without feeling guilty over Rose, feeling a little like a teenager, he couldn't help notice how anxious she looked, "Are you okay?" He asked gently, "Because Agatha pointed out you may have been projecting onto Sebastian." She smiled slightly.
"You said his name." She pointed out quietly and he nodded.
"What's wrong?" He asked and she sighed.
"I have a request." She declared instead and he blinked, stunned slightly because that wasn't the reaction he was expecting.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you could, I dunno, drop me off somewhere." She stuttered out, shifting on the spot, "And pick me up after we've been to Space Vegas." He frowned in confusion for a moment, before realising what she was suggesting. He dropped her hand like it was hot, trying not to look hurt and tears sprung in her eyes.
"Okay." He muttered, turning away from the rejection he was feeling and towards the console.
"Wait." She cried, grabbing his arm as he rested it on a lever, "I love spending time with you, and Donna you know I do. It's just..." She growled in frustration, "Do you remember Gwyneth? The maid in Cardiff?" He nodded, again bewildered by the sudden change in direction.
"Of course." He told her, "She was so brave." Danni nodded her agreement.
"She was." She agreed, "Do you remember what she said to me? About the Stone Angels?" He nodded slowly, "She meant the Weeping Angels." That stunned him slightly, but not as much as the next sentence, "That's when I go home."
"Home?" He repeated, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut.
"She said I'd see my parents again. I don't know how else that's going to work unless I go back." He shook his head again, this time in protest of the very idea she was going home, "And the thing is, I'm running out of places to jump. It's happening, and it's happening soon. And while I'm here, I want to show you how much I love you." She reached out and took both his hands again, "And I do, Theta. So much. But I need to do it with a Doctor who can accept it." She smiled despite the tears and kissed the back of one of his hands, "Don't you want that too?" He stared at the hand, felt her lips burn the skin on the back of it then nodded.
He dropped her off in London, 2365. A small alley where he waved her off and she watched him fly away until the breeze disappeared and her hair fell still. A deep, shaky breath started off the count to '20' that she always did when waiting to be picked up, and her heart soared as the breeze picked up on '15'. He materialized behind her and she turned, standing still and waiting to see which one actually came for her. The door opened and Eleven stepped out, looking at her like he adored the mere sight of her, holding a rabbit in his arms.
She laughed wetly, the tears falling as she rushed over and kissed him briefly before turning to Sebastian and scratched behind his ears. The Doctor did the same, then lead her into the TARDIS and flew them away.