Clara really wasn't very happy with having the Doctor around the school, investigating aliens without her prior consent or knowledge. She was fine with Danni being there. In fact, over the lunch period the day before she'd seen her friend getting along with the students like she had always been there. Sometimes Clara forgot how much Danni got along with people compared to her grumpy husband, but it had been on full view during lunch. Of course, she probably was making friends by giving the kids bigger portions than she should have, but she also knew that the kids wouldn't just pretend to like a grown up because of that. It was nice to see her mingling.
What wasn't so nice was seeing the Doctor in the courtyard the next day with Adrian and Danny as he fixed something in a junction cabinet. Or broke something in a junction cabinet, she was never sure when it came to his ability to fix anything. She had been looking for him to give him a proper telling off for all but jumping into the middle of her class and telling her that she was wrong. Clara never liked to be told she was wrong, even if she was, in fact, not quite correct on that occasion.
Of course, telling him off was the last thing on her mind when she saw him interacting with her boyfriend. Every single possible outcome flew straight to her mind and she knew none of them would be any good. She needed to stop it. Or, at least, find out what they were talking about so she could interrupt if necessary.
She practically marched through the hallways, getting stopped by anyone and everyone who thought their stopping her was more important than her stopping the Doctor screwing everything up. She agreed to Tobias leaving class early, and to some… tombola thing, before finally sending Courtney on her way to class.
She stole a watering can off Lucie, barely noticing the look that the girl gave her as she started watering the plants in the courtyard, spilling water all over the walkway as she made her way to the junction box for a bit of stealthy eavesdropping.
"Of course, Danny Pink here is your man, Mister Smith." Adrian explained to the new caretaker, "Five years' military experience, sergeant, here and Afghan, so electrics, boilers, if you need a hand, give him a shout." Clara winced slightly. That was what she wanted to avoid. She could almost hear the Doctor's mind deciding that Danny was useless purely because he was a soldier once. He didn't realise just what a great, kind, awkward, wonderful man Danny was. All he would have heard was the word 'sergeant' and now Clara nor Danni had a chance to convince him of anything else.
"I, I've helped Atif with a couple of things." Danny explained, ever modest and she smiled at the stutter in his voice. He was just too adorable at times.
"I'm sure I won't need you, Sergeant. Fully qualified." The Doctor dismissed before jabbing his screwdriver – an actual screwdriver Clara was pleased to note – into a bunch of wires, causing it to spark everywhere, "You best get back to your PE class."
"Oh, I teach maths." Danny corrected and the Doctor shot him another look at this information.
"Do you? What, in emergencies?" Danni frowned and Clara moved slightly closer, not paying attention to anything she was doing.
"No. I'm a maths teacher." Danny replied a bit confused at the insistence that he wasn't, whereas Adrian just assumed that the Doctor had heard differently.
"Yeah, he's a maths teacher…"
"Sweetie!" Clara jumped, not expecting the happy call, but the Doctor straightened in his crouch, his attention off the fake maths teacher and on his wife, who almost skidded to a halt in front of the men, "You won't believe what I did. I actually managed to cook an entire school's worth of crumble without burning a single bit!"
Both Clara and the Doctor were rather surprised in impressed, "Well, there's a first for everything." The Doctor praised cheekily and she nodded.
"It's for lunch, you can try some." She told him before turning to the two other men, "Hello, Mr Pink." She greeted before shooting Adrian a big smile, "Sir, nice to see you again." Adrian shot her a little nod of greeting, which the Doctor didn't like at all. She smirked slightly as he straightened up, standing up off the floor, "I hope you liked your toast this morning, I made it myself."
Anyone could tell that Danni was just proud of the fact that she had managed to make something, but not the Doctor. He reached out, taking hold of her hand and pulling her up close. No teacher was going to make googly eyes as his wife, when clearly all she was doing was being nice to him.
"Oh, yes, it was…" Adrian started only to be interrupted by the sound of smashing glass. Immediately the little group's attention was pulled to a student, who was now holding a ball in his hand and looking incredibly alarmed.
"Mohammed, put that down!" Adrian shouted, dashing off to deal with another unruly student.
Danni smiled up at the Doctor, "I see you've met Mr Pink." Danni told him, "I wasn't expecting that just yet."
"I was going to make it to the PE teacher eventually." He told her, bringing her hand up and placing a kiss on her palm, just in case Mr Pink got any ideas.
"I'm a maths teacher." Danny corrected yet again, wondering if there was something wrong with the new caretaker. He was quite old, maybe his memory was going? But even his wife seemed a little confused.
"He really is." Danni agreed, "A fine one, apparently." She turned her head, not moving from the Doctor's side but giving Clara a very obvious wink. Clara froze, water can still poised even though it was now empty – why was she bringing attention to her?!
The Doctor shook his head, "But he said he were a soldier." He said, like it explained his intentional misunderstanding.
"Yeah. I was a soldier, now I'm a maths teacher." Danny replied with a patience Clara wasn't sure she would have had with the Doctor, but then again she knew the man.
Danni, though, was better at handling the Doctor than anyone else. She took a step to her side, turning around so she was between the two men, a stern look on her face, "You're being rude." She told her husband firmly, "He's a maths teacher, not a PE teacher." The Doctor opened his mouth but Danni wasn't done, "I know that doesn't quite fit into your head but there's some of us who think rather highly…"
Clara panicked. Danni was about to out her relationship to Danny Pink before she'd had a chance to soften it for the Doctor. She dashed over, leaning against the junction box, "Er, excuse me. Mister Pink, I think class 9M4 are waiting."
Danny, quite frankly, looked thankful for the out as the Doctor nodded, "Yes, you better run along, Sergeant. That ball isn't going to kick itself, is it?"
"I, I'm not a PE teacher, I'm a maths teacher." Danny tried one more time. The Doctor looked ready to scoff – a soldier maths teacher? Not a chance – but one look at the annoyance on Danni's face had his words die away.
"Yeah, okay." He replied, thinking he sounded incredibly sincere but he didn't. Danni squeezed her eyes closed, taking a slow breath in to calm herself down before looking up at him.
"You need to stop treating people like you're better than them." She snapped before turning to Clara, "I'm sorry, I'll sort it." She promised before running off after Danny.
"Mr Pink!" She called as she deftly dodged all of the students and teachers that were still making their way to their next class, apologising to each other, "Mr Pink!"
Danny stopped, turning around as the blonde caught up with him, "I'm-I'm sorry about him." She said, lightly panting, "He doesn't mean to be so rude, he just can't help it sometimes."
"You apologise for him a lot, don't you?" He asked her and she nodded, "Why?"
"Because underneath it all, he's lovely." She replied with a shrug, "He makes me laugh, and he's clever, and he likes to try and keep me safe. He'll always fight the monsters." She shot him a smile, "Plus, he's very good looking."
Well, honestly, with them eyebrows he couldn't honestly say he agreed with her, but that wasn't what struck him the most about the man, "He's been to war, hasn't he?" He asked her and she nodded.
"More times than I like to count." She replied, "He's just had a bad experience with soldiers, he was a soldier and he hates it. Don't take it personally, he seems to have lost his patience with the universe in recent times." There was that smile again. He knew it was sincere, he could tell when people were lying to him, "You'll see, when you get to know him, he's not too bad. Just a little grumpy." Danny knew that wasn't it. If the caretaker had truly been into war, then Danny knew exactly why he struggled with soldiers. It was the same reason any person with military power struggled when not in combat – it was the guilt. And the man he saw mocking him for being a soldier was very guilty indeed.
"You can tell you apologise for him a lot." Was Danny's reply, "You're starting to believe your own excuses." Danni blinked in surprise as the teacher turned and headed to his class. What was that supposed to mean? She didn't make excuses, did she? She turned around, heading back to Clara and the Doctor, frowning as she thought about it. Well, maybe occasionally she made excuses for him. He had always been rather rude, she usually had to try and do damage control there. She picked up her pace slightly, head high as she nodded to herself. Danny just didn't know him yet, that was all.
The Doctor glanced backwards as his wife approached him and Clara, who was now talking to her boyfriend, the elusive man that both she and Danielle had been keeping from him. At first he had just assumed that he didn't exist, after all it was clear to everyone just how Clara felt about his wife. However, now he had met the man, he actually could see why Clara might have chosen him over Danielle after all. The residue of himself in her head would more than likely be rather confusing and… well, bow tie, stupid floppy hair, large chin? She probably couldn't see it herself but it was screaming out to him.
He followed both Adrian and Clara into the hallway as they discussed their work together. It was all very adorable until Danielle joined them. He watched her shoot a giant smile at Adrian, "Oh, sorry, I'm not interrupting…"
"Oh, no, of course not." Adrian was quick to reassure her, "We were just discussing some work, Shakespeare, actually."
"Oh, Danni is a big fan of Shakespeare." Clara told him, to which Adrian looked back at her, rather surprised.
"Really, well, maybe me and Miss Oswald could get your help. We have a lot of planning to do, it's always nice to get as many inputs as we can."
Danielle brushed her hair behind her ear, and the Doctor realised that she could see it too. That she'd seen a man who looked like his younger self and had instantly been drawn to him. That would not do, "Maybe not, you have a lot of food to cook, don't you Danielle?" He called over the couple's shoulders, but she just shot him a look.
"Not yet, I finished remember?" She replied slowly, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, "Anyway, I was going to sit in Clara's next class anyway, so I don't have anything else planned."
"Wait, what?" Clara asked, suddenly rather alarmed and Danni pushed her way between the two teachers, linking arms with Clara.
"You don't mind, do you?" She asked, "I didn't think so, and it's been so long since I've been in a class I've not been helping teach. You know how much I love English." How could Clara resist her happy, hopeful smile? She was just so adorable sometimes.
"Alright, but you have to sit at the back and not chirp in, even if you think I've got something wrong." Clara told her and Danni nodded eagerly.
"I can do that." She promised, taking a look at her husband, ready to gush about how she was being allowed back into a class. However, her happiness waivered at the stern, almost angry look on his. She turned back to Clara, "I'll catch up." She said softly, "Start without me and I'll jump in later, if that's okay with you, sir?"
Adrian agreed, walking off with Clara, who kept glancing backwards at Danni and the Doctor. The hallway was emptying now, so Danni took a step closer to him, "You were very rude to Mr Pink." She scolded lightly, "I've told you before, humans tend to try and get along with each other. You need to try if you want to act like one of them."
"He's a soldier, he'll get over it." The Doctor scoffed, "Probably forgot what I'd said after five seconds."
"That's what I mean." Danni retorted, "He's still a person Th…" She caught herself as someone walked past and she took another step closer to him, "Doctor. You have to be nice, even if you don't mean it."
He frowned, but he could see how much this meant to her, "I will try my best." He replied and she smiled at him.
"Thank you, sweetie." She replied sincerely, "Now, do you need my help? I guess you were trying to put another generator into the junction box."
Yes, he did want her help. He didn't want her out of his sight even for a moment. And not because of the threat, either. Now that they were starting to find their relationship again, it was like those early days. They couldn't stop touching each other, smiling at each other. A whole new honeymoon period, and he didn't want to waste one moment of it… that was an idea, actually…
"I'm sure I can manage." He drawled, reaching out to close that little gap between her. A couple of kids giggled on their way past, the last few walking slowly to class, but he ignored them, "We should go on another honeymoon." He replied, "Somewhere warm, with good food," he linked her fingers with his, arm around her waist, "dancing," he purred as they started swaying together, "what do you think, my Pet?"
"I think you're stalling." She replied with a cheeky grin, letting him turn her around, "I'm going to be late for class."
"I'll write you a note." He told her, leaning down to kiss her. He kept it quick, however, as they were in a school and even he knew that was inappropriate where they'd get caught, "Run along, my Pet." He told her, letting her go and watching her stumble at the loss of contact, "I'll come find you at lunch and tell you what I find out."
Danni nodded, "Of-Of course." She stuttered out before shaking her head, clearing it of the haze he put in it. She placed a quick peck on his cheek, "Be safe, Spaceman, or I'm coming for you."
"I shall look forward to it." He told her, keeping hold of her hand until the last possible moment, staying still as he watched her jog after the couple. A part of him was still very annoyed at the fact that she was attracted to the man who looked like his younger self, but seeing the dazed look in her eyes as he pulled back from the kiss settled his worries for now. She was his wife, no one else's.
He pulled out another of his generators, chucking it up into the air, catching it with one hand. Yep, he still had it.
~0~0~0~
The staff had really been so welcoming to them. She wasn't sure that they'd even pay attention to them, and she knew that the Doctor was counting on it, but she hadn't wanted to be ignored. She liked making new friends, getting to know the everyday people in their everyday lives. She'd always been fascinated by other people's stories, and this wasn't going to be the exception.
Currently in the staff room sat Mrs Kissinger, Mrs Jenson and Mr Chander. Mrs Kissinger was a bit of a flirt, according to Clara, and Danni had to agree considering how close she was sitting Mr Chander. Danni knew for a fact that Mr Chander had a wife and twin girls as he'd been so very proud when he'd shown her the pictures in his wallet, as he should have been because they were incredibly beautiful children. Mrs Jenson was keeping herself to herself, but she was just naturally a shy person. Danni just offered her a smile as she cleaned around her, asking if she wanted a cup of tea. Mrs Jenson had politely declined, but thanked her anyway.
Danni had decided that, because her lunch lady duties didn't actually take up more than half of her day, that she'd pick up the cleaning the Doctor was dropping due to his investigation. She had taken it a bit hard when he'd told her that he didn't need her help, she had more than proved herself over the Trenzalore war, but he had been right. She was better at covering their tracks. Any questions brought up about the strange new caretaker were quickly squashed by his young and friendly wife. Now most of the talk on him was on their apparent age gap. If only they knew.
"Apparently the man disappeared after shouting at some of our kids." Mrs Kissinger was telling Mr Chander, who was doing his best to look interested in her gossip. Danni, who was cleaning some of the tables, moved a little closer.
"Who did?" She asked and Mrs Kissinger spun on her seat, suddenly very happy to have an enthusiastic audience.
"This copper yesterday." She replied in a gushing voice, "He was in the middle of his shift down at the old abandoned church on Hall Street. He was seen telling some our kids to get back to school and then nothing. It's like he disappeared into thin air."
Danni moved the potted plant in the middle of the table to make it look like there was life in the room, giving its spot a quick wipe before placing it back, "What? Just like, you know, poof?" She asked. Mysterious disappearances and robot aliens tended to go hand in hand, after all.
"Well they think he went into the church," Mrs Kissinger continued as the door to the staffroom opened, "but no one seems to have seen that…" Whoever entered caught her eye and she trailed off. Danni looked up, wondering what stopped her mid-sentence, and smiled brightly at the sight of her husband in that brown coat, broom in his hand.
"Ah, Danielle, there you are." Was his greeting and she nodded, folding her cloth up as she stood up straight, "I thought you'd be back in the cupboard."
"Sorry, I was cleaning." She replied apologetically, "Do you need…" She trailed off as well as, quicker than she'd seen anyone move, Mrs Kissinger was stood in front of her husband.
"I don't believe we've met." The woman told her husband, holding her hand out, "Miss Rebecca Kissinger."
The Doctor stared at her for a moment, wondering why the human was looking at him with strange, almost predatory eyes. However, Danielle's words echoed in his head, so he smiled and shook her head.
"John Smith, but just call me the Doctor." He told her.
"Oh, a doctor, eh?" Mrs Kissinger asked, sounding incredibly interested all of a sudden. The Doctor, politely, started to explain his educational degree to her as Mr Chander leant forward in his seat, his movement catching Danni's attention.
"She's met my wife four times," he told her lowly, "and she still keeps trying to get me to ask her out." Danni's head snapped up again to look at the pair, suddenly noticing just how close Mrs Kissinger was to her husband, "You may want to get him away from her."
Danni agreed wholeheartedly. Not that she was worried about the Doctor being attracted to the other woman, but she didn't want to have to see another woman draping herself over her husband, "Sweetie?" She called over, her voice a bit more forceful than she'd been aiming for. The Doctor looked over at her with a grin on his face, "Did you want me for a reason?" She asked pointedly and he seemed to remember himself.
"I just needed your help on- in the cupboard." He stuttered out slightly, almost betraying his true reason for finding her. Clara had almost caught them last time, this time he had no intentions of that, "When you're done."
"Oh, I'm done." Danni replied, placing her cloth down on the table she'd been cleaning before skipping to his side, linking her arm through his and forgetting her mission to find out more about the disappearance of the police man, "Lead the way, sweetie."
The Doctor recognised the tone in her voice, and tried to hide his eagerness as he walked her out. Danni looked over her shoulder at Mrs Kissinger as the door closed, keeping the smug look on her face. Stupid woman should keep her hands of her husband.
~0~0~0~
This had gone on long enough. Clara stormed into the caretaker's shed, looking for the Doctor and Danni. She needed to know what was going on. Her school was in danger, her students were in danger, and even though Danni had promised to tell her what was going on, she still was none the wiser.
She faltered slightly at the sight of Courtney Woods in the room, the TARDIS on full view at the back, and Danni's arm around her shoulders, "Just ignore him," Danni was saying, obviously apologising about her husband again, "He's just grumpy and old…"
"Hey!" The Doctor snapped but Danni just continued to walk Courtney towards the door Clara was stood at.
"Deny it, Old Man." She retorted over her shoulder, "Just get back to class, it's home time soon."
"Alright." Courtney agreed, albeit sounding like she couldn't think of anything worse. She did smirk at Clara, though, as she walked past, "Hello, miss." She greeted in her normal cheeky way, "Love to the Squaddie."
"Courtney." Danni called, her tone low in warning and Courtney hesitated before turning around, "I've told you about that."
Clara was even more stunned to see Courtney nodding in agreement, "Sorry Danni." She said, actually sincere.
Danni smiled at her, "Go on, you'll be late." She told the girl gently and Courtney headed out. Clara watched her until the door closed then she quickly walked over to Danni.
"How did you do that?" She asked quickly, excited and confused, "She never does what I say. She's a…"
"A disruptive influence, I know." Danni replied, shooting Clara a look as she put the rest of the paper towels back on the shelf. It had taken her ages to organise the room for Asif – she still felt terrible about him being left in a hallucinative state – and she knew the Doctor wouldn't keep it that way, "Just because it's true doesn't mean you should say it in front of her, Clara. Kids pick these things up, you know?" Clara couldn't help but feel like she was being told off, and she dipped her head slightly, feeling chastised.
"Yeah, well…" She shook her head slightly, "That's not…" She placed her hands on her hips. She had come to them fully ready to be in teacher mode, demanding answers, and so she fell back into that, "What were they like?" Danni frowned, as did the Doctor, who didn't like the angry way that Clara was looking at his wife. He stepped closer, by Danni's side.
"What were who like?" The Doctor asked.
"The others before me." She clarified, "Did they let you get away with this kind of thing?"
"What kind of thing?" Danni asked.
"This school is in danger." She declared, daring them both to deny it.
"Well, it's lucky we're here, then." The Doctor retorted, recognising this for what it was. Clara was going to have a good rant at them until they told her what was going on. He'd not be able to get rid of her, and Danielle wouldn't want to. She'd been saying all along that they should have told Clara, all it would take was one look from Clara's big, puppy dog eyes and she would cave.
"From you." Clara corrected.
"No, it's not like that." Danni replied before the Doctor could get a word in. The panic rose in her chest slightly. Over her lifetime she had always been worried that she and the Doctor would be seen as the bad guys. It had happened more than once over his many lives – Torchwood existed for that very reason, after all. They made enemies. Stories became gossip, that became rumours, that became legends. She didn't want to think that on far away planets that she was feared, and she definitely never wanted any of their friends to think that.
"Then what's it like?" Clara counted.
"There's-There's this thing," Danni quickly rambled off, "A Blitzer, we're trying to contain it. Remove it before it becomes a danger."
"Your strategy for dealing with it involves endangering this school." Clara told her, "There are children here, you can't…"
"We're not." Danni insisted, "Nothing we're doing is going to hurt the children. It's dormant for now, just hiding away, working here is just a precaution, I promise."
Clara looked at her, still not convinced, "If it's a precaution why is he slinking around everywhere?" She asked, nodding at the Doctor, "I saw him peering into a drain before."
The Doctor knew Clara very well. He knew the look on her face, and she wasn't going to let this slide. Perhaps Danielle had been right and they should have let her in from the start. He had to admit, he had considered that maybe another set of eyes around the school could have been helped. He had, actually, been looking out for their friend though when he'd made the decision. He wasn't purposefully excluding her, in fact both he and Danni enjoyed having her there on their adventures, but he was already in danger of Danielle becoming too attached to the students. He couldn't risk Clara doing something stupid in an attempt to save her wards from a danger that shouldn't bother them, and he knew they would. It was one of the qualities that they liked so much about her, but it was unnecessary now.
He pulled out his screwdriver, pointing it to his side. A glowing green globe appeared in the air, the lights pulling together as it formed the picture of the creature they were trying to find.
"What's that?" Clara asked, looking at it with intrigue. The Doctor rolled his eyes, jabbing in it with his screwdriver.
"It's a scanner." He exclaimed, "We're scanning. Why do I keep you around?"
"Because Danni likes me and you'd never tell her no." She replied, stepping closer to the glowing ball, "Scanning for what?"
"Any alien technology in this vicinity should show up." He explained before glowering at her. She was barely paying him any attention, talking to him like a child and it was infuriating, "I used to have a teacher exactly like you once."
"You still do. Pay attention." Clara retorted and Danni giggled. The Doctor turned to her, shooting a glower her way as he pointed the screwdriver at her.
"Oi, watch it." He warned and she shook her head.
"Listen to your teacher." She told him cheekily as the scanner pulled the little points of light together, showing the image of the creature the Doctor had suspected had made a home in the area. It was a strange looking robot, with four spider-like legs with a body sat on top, guns for arms and spikey helmet.
"Is that the blitzer thing?" Clara asked.
"A Skovox Blitzer." The Doctor corrected, like she should have known better, "One of the deadliest killing machines ever created. Probably homed in here because of artron emissions. You've had enough of them in this area over the years."
"That's because of him and Susan." Danni chirped in, gaining her a raised eyebrow from her husband. She stuck her tongue out him in response.
"There's enough explosive in its armoury to take out the whole planet." The Doctor finished like she'd not said anything.
Clara turned to look at him with her sternest stare, "Then leave it alone."
"We can't." Danni replied apologetically, "If UNIT or anyone else finds it, they'll attack it and it'll retaliate. We need to find it before anything happens and remove the threat."
The Doctor turned the image off with a flick of his wrist, "The world is full of PE teachers." He declared scathingly, walking towards the TARDIS.
"Hey!" Danni scolded as she and Clara followed, "I've told you about that! He's a maths teacher, whether you like it or not."
"Or not." He snapped in reply, unsure why she kept defending the soldier. She knew what they were like, why did she keep insisting on correcting him?
Danni shot Clara an exasperated look, and Clara rubbed her arm in reply before they stepped in. She knew Danni was trying, and she was very grateful for it, but it was obvious that the best move at that moment would be to change the subject, "So, your insanely dangerous plan is?" She asked the pair.
"Trapping it." Danni replied, "We've got to lure it here, right?"
The Doctor nodded, heading over to one of the little tables that now seemed to occupy the console room. A quick glance at Danni, who just shrugged in confusion, before the Doctor picked up a metal digital watch, showing it to the pair like he was trying to sell it to them.
"A new watch. Tiny bit disappointed." Clara admitted.
"This is a very special watch." The Doctor replied teasingly, putting it on. He'd kept this part secret from Danielle so he could see the look on his face as he pressed the button on the side. He disappeared from view with the beep the watch let out and both Clara and Danni frowned in confusion.
"Doctor?" They both said at the same time, wondering where he had gone. Danni jumped as Clara started, hand flying to her nose.
"Ow! Did you just flick my nose?" She demanded before her face broke out into a grin.
"Oh, you're invisible!" Danni cried, amazed with the biggest smile. That was the look he adored. Her whole face lit up as she turned on the spot, "Where are you?" She laughed, taking a couple of slow steps forward, like she was scared she was going to step into him. She couldn't have been farther from the truth as he snuck up behind her, reaching out and pulling her close and she yelled in surprise. He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling against her neck and she started to giggle, "Theta, stop it!" She scolded lightly.
"Yes, stop it." Clara replied, but actually meaning it, even as she struggled to keep the smile off her face, "That is pretty incredible." She admitted,
"Correct. I am invisible and I am incredible." The Doctor agreed and Danni seemed to spasm under his teasing onslaught, "It's simply a matter of reversing light waves. Hang on, I'm coming back." With another beep of the watch, the Doctor came back into existence, his arms still around his wife.
"So we're luring it with a bit of tech?" She asked him but he shook his head.
"I shall lead it back here," He corrected lightly, "where you shall help me get it into position. I don't want it to scan me, hence invisible."
Clara frowned, "So you're, you're leading the thing here? To a school?" She asked, pointed to herself as the worry and concern took over the impressed feeling the watch had brought up, "My, my school?"
"'My school?'"The Doctor mimicked, "Oh, that is telling."
"Don't do that." Danni told him, once again wondering if Mr Pink was right. She'd been telling him off a lot lately, "We need an empty area in case it goes wrong." She explained to Clara, "The school will be empty at night, so if something does go wrong," she held her hand up as Clara opened her mouth to protest, "which it won't, the only thing that will be damaged are buildings."
Clara still wasn't too happy. This was her place of work, the epitome of her normal, human life. She didn't want that destroyed by some random robot the two Time Lords had found, "How, exactly, are you going to catch it?"
"While Danielle has been making friends and cleaning tables," the Doctor replied, turning to another of his random table, "I've set up a circle of time mines around the school. Chronodyne generators. Bit unstable." He picked up on the devices he'd been placing around the school and chucked it to their companion, "I switch them on, the Blitzer gets sucked into a big old time vortex, billions of years into the future. It's dead easy. Tiny bit boring."
"That's what I'm here for!" Danni added happily, "Much better with two!"
"Three." Clara corrected, chucking the gizmo back to the Doctor, "You're not doing this without me."
"You can't, sweetie." Danni told her, "If something goes wrong, or gets damaged, or whatever, you need an alibi. We can't have it getting back to you in case you lose your job." Clara grimaced; that was a good point. A very good point, damn it, "We'll sort this out, then go somewhere nice. Your pick."
Clara held her hands up, conceding to their wisdom, turning to head out of the TARDIS and leave them to their plans, "Go and canoodle with your boyfriend." The Doctor added, unable to not tease her slightly about her choice in men. Actually, he was rather flattered. It did wonders for his ego, and anyone who took her attention of his wife was a wonderful welcome.
Both Clara and Danni looked at him in shock, but he just stood their smugly, his hands in his trouser pockets holding his brown jacket open, "Come on. I wasn't born yesterday. Far from it." He offered them both. The two women shared a look. They had both thought he'd not worked it out, it seems.
"You did recognise him." Clara whispered, pointing at him in delight.
"Possibly reminded me of a certain dashing young time traveller." The Doctor replied coyly, still not willing to admit the uncanny resemblance to his past self in front of his wife.
"Oh, of course you recognised him. I. Sorry. Stupid. I, I underestimated you." Clara said apologetically. Danni just watched them finally bond over Clara's boyfriend, her hearts swelling in pride and happiness at her husband. She had been so certain that he'd rant and rave about Danny Pink because he was a soldier, especially since he'd treated him so poorly so far. But, like Clara, she had underestimated him. If he made Clara happy, of course her Theta was going to like the man. She was their friend first, and he'd just want Clara to be happy.
Clara, now happy that she had nothing to worry about concerning Mr Pink and the Doctor, followed her orders and went to spend some quality time with her boyfriend. The Doctor turned slowly on the spot to see Danielle smiling at him. Not a giant grin, but one she couldn't keep off her face, her eyes warm as she met his gaze.
"You've got that face on again." He told her, taking a step closer to her, "You're really happy. Not that I'm complaining, but what is it?" His mind raced over the last few minutes, but nothing stood out in his mind as particularly pleasing for her.
Danni did think about explaining to him it was because he'd offered Clara something wonderful in his acceptance, but she didn't say a word. Nor did she question that niggling feeling over the fact that he'd so readily forgiven Danny his soldier status despite the fact that he'd put him down continuously for it. She was just so happy that he'd done it, that his kind words had made her friend so relieved, that she decided that he deserved rewarding.
She shortened the gap between them even more, reaching out for the arm where the watch sat. She held it in both hands as she undid the watch's strap, "What are you doing?" He asked her, confused as she slipped it off.
"We're going to play hide and seek." She replied, slipping the watch on before pressing the button and making herself invisible, "Come find me, Spaceman. No scanners allowed."
He frowned. Sometimes she was so confusing. One minute she was looking at him like she loved him more than anything, next she was literally trying to play games with him, "How can I find you without a scanner?" He asked.
He blinked as suddenly her top appeared out of thin air, falling to the floor as she dropped it in front of him. His eyes lit up, suddenly understanding the game all the more, "Oh, I see." He purred, once again her desire for him fanning his ego.
"Come find me, Spaceman." Her disembodied voice called again.