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When Danni watched the Doctor drive the TARDIS, especially Ten who always seemed a little more aggressive, it had always been rather funny. He would run about and hit things, a serious grimace on his face as he attempted to pull the TARDIS under control. She always had a little giggle when she'd seen it on television. However, for some reason, in this dream it just made her wince.
"Maybe that's why she won't behave," she suggested as he spun a crank wheel around rapidly. "I wouldn't like being hit by a mallet either."
He pointed behind him to where she was standing, holding onto the railings, but he didn't look at her. "You're not ganging up on me again," he snapped and she frowned. Again? "We just need to... Ah ha!" He tied a piece a string around what appeared to be a random control then stumbled over to the door with the string between his teeth. He opened both the doors and used his gangly limbs to keep himself in place.
If it had been real life, Danni would have held onto the railing for dear life, cursing at his recklessness. As it was, a dream was just a dream and so she rolled her eyes before letting go. She stumbled towards him. She took hold of the left door, grateful that it seemed to hold in place as she watched the motorway outside speed by.
Outside was the taxi that had caught Donna, and inside the bride looked rather bewildered and terrified at everything was going on. "Open the door!" the Doctor yelled at her over the roaring noise of the cars driving behind and in front of the TARDIS.
"Do you what?" Donna replied through the window. Danni had to lean forward to actually hear her over the noise, so it was no wonder Donna couldn't hear the Doctor either.
"Open the door!"
"I can't, it's locked!" Donna shouted back. The Doctor reached into his top pocket, trying to keep his balance while pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He held it out and pointed it at the door, unlocking it. Donna immediately pushed the window down.
"Santa's a robot," she shouted, sounding incredibly annoyed as she assumed that neither of them had noticed.
"Donna, open the door," he told her again.
"What for?"
"You've got to jump!" he told her. She looked back at him, absolutely mortified.
"I'm not bleedin' flip jumping, I'm supposed to be getting married!" she exclaimed shrilly just as the driver decided to pull away from the TARDIS. The black cab spewed black smoke from the exhaust as it overtook the next couple of cars, the driver pushing it to its limits.
"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted at Danni before he pulled on the string, causing Danni to yell in surprise as the console seemed to explode in random places. She wasn't sure what he'd done – although he never really seemed to know what he was doing – but the TARDIS evidently didn't like it.
She then screamed again as the TARDIS bounced off the top of a car and she slipped on the metal floor, her legs heading straight out the door while she held on for her life. She turned her head, looking out to where she'd almost fallen out. How the hell did the companions put up with this?! She was less cut out for this life than she thought.
Well, at least she wouldn't die. She always woke up just before that point. Very luckily at this point.
The TARDIS righted herself and she tumbled back in, slamming against the wooden door. The wind was knocked out of her briefly but she wasn't hurt as she turned around. The Doctor was looking at her, concern written on his face yet again.
"Are you alright?!" he asked her and she nodded,
"I'm fine!" she promised, although she appreciated the attention all the same. At least that part was playing out like her normal dreams. "Can't get hurt, can I?"
His brows furrowed for a moment as they swerved around another car. "Danni, youknow you're not dreaming, don't you?" he called over the rush.
She shook her head. Of course she was dreaming. That is such a dream thing to say. Honestly, what was the point in lying?
"I thought Danielle Fielding knew everything!" he shouted over the noise, a little harshly in her opinion. Was that a subconscious fear of hers – that she really wasn't that smart and people knew – or was that the dream trying to turn sour again?
She smirked back at him. She wasn't going to let her own brain ruin the best dream she'd ever had. "Only about you, sweetie!"
The TARDIS caught up with the taxi again with two painful thuds against the road. They both lost their footing but were quick to get back up again. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the taxi again, this time trying to disable the robot instead of opening the door. It sparked but didn't seem to be dropping speed at all.
"Listen to me! You've got to jump!" he insisted.
"I'm not jumping on a motorway," Donna replied stubbornly.
"Donna, you have to jump!" Danni cried out to her. "You know nothing good is going to happen if you stay in there!"
"She's right!" the Doctor agreed, which contradicted what he'd just said. "Whatever that thing is, it needs you! And whatever it needs you for, it's not good. Now come on!"
"I'm in my wedding dress!" she shrieked.
"Yes! You look lovely!" he told her, exasperated. "Come on!"
Donna finally opened the door, yelling out in surprise as the door flung open and the car veered off course for a moment. The Doctor held his arms open for her, but she looked down the road instead, watching it zoom past.
"I can't do it," Donna finally said, scared.
"Trust me," he implored in that firm tone that made everyone he ever met trust him. At that moment Danni would have jumped over at him as well.
Donna didn't move, though. She just stared up at him, terrified. "Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?"
Danni watched the Doctor's demeanour changed as Donna questioned him, watched him think back onto Rose. She understood Donna's worries, but she hated to see the pain he was carrying.
She shifted on the spot, holding her hand out to the other red-head in support. "Yes, she did. With her entire life. And I do too," she promised before grinning. "And she is not dead. She's alive and she's fine and she still trusts him. Now, jump!"
Donna hesitated a moment longer as thought on their words, then with a scream jumped out of the taxi. She easily made the gap, landing on both of them and sending them all sprawling on the floor.
The TARDIS shut the doors behind them and the Doctor scrambled up and towards the sparking console, leaving Donna and Danni to sort themselves out. Donna was panting from her adrenaline at what she'd just done.
Danni started laughing and Donna looked down at her. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded.
Danni looked up at her. "Oh come on, admit it," she replied. "You and him? You're amazing!"
Donna glanced at the door, thinking on what she'd just done and straightened slightly. "Yeah, alright," she agreed. "It wasn't that bad."
The Doctor, on the other hand, didn't say a word as he struggled with keeping the TARDIS under control. As it sparked and protested and the room starting filling up with smoke, he couldn't help but be glad that, even at the start, Danni was having a good time.
~0~0~0~
Did she always dream in this much detail? Danni wasn't sure what it was but something felt rather off about the way she chocked on the smoke that was billowing from the TARDIS console. It wasn't the burning sensation that was making her uncomfortable, but rather the fact that she could feel it in the first place. It felt like real smoke. The heat felt like real heat. Remembering dreams had always been a mixed bag for her - sometimes she did, sometimes she didn't – but the dreams she did remember always were vivid. Maybe this was what it was like to dream them up.
They still hadn't deviated from the episode, though. She stepped out of the TARDIS onto the rooftop just like the Doctor and Donna would do after she was saved from the taxi. The skyline of London didn't look strange. The sky was blue behind white and grey clouds, the air was still rather cold. Then again, didn't everything strange feel real in a dream? Maybe the sky being blue wasn't right after all. She'd never know unless her subconscious told her so.
She felt like she was second guessing herself. Perhaps her best bet was just to let it run its course? Maybe the Christmas Spirit and her love for Doctor Who really had influenced her this much. Perhaps she should think about not watching quite so much of it when she woke up again.
But as she watched Donna walk out of the TARDIS, looking around and realising she wasn't at the church, she knew that wasn't ever going to happen. These moments of vulnerability in the companions were some of the best. You got to see them as they really were, especially Donna who kept her abrasive attitude on the surface so you couldn't see it. And then you saw them from within the Doctor… Well, those were her favourites. The Lonely God. She always just wanted to hug him and take it away.
As he put out the fire in the TARDIS, Donna checked her watch. Danni watched from the side line for a little bit longer before walking over.
"I'm sorry," she told the bride. She could have told her that not marrying Lance would be the making of her, but she just couldn't quite break it to her yet. No one wanted to hear that on their wedding day. And there was no way Donna would believe her about the giant spider before seeing it.
"Thanks," Donna replied softly. Danni rubbed her arm out of comfort. Maybe she could find a way to warn the Doctor. Then again, that might change the episode. If she really was unconscious maybe she'd only wake up once she got to the end.
"The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying," the Doctor commented as he closed the TARDIS doors and walked over to them. "We'd better give her a couple of hours." He glanced down at Donna, who was still staring out across the city. "You all right?"
She shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she replied, pretending that she didn't care at all. Danni looked up at the Doctor.
"We missed it," she explained gently and he looked down at his shoes, slightly ashamed that her big day had been messed up.
"Well, you can book another date..." he suggested after a small pause.
"Course we can," Donna agreed without much feeling.
"Still got the honeymoon..." he continued, trying to find her a silver lining to the mess. He felt awful about it. He'd tried so hard to get her back, and she really had just been scared of what was happening.
"It's just a holiday now."
"You've still got all the presents?" Danni offered her. Donna looked back out at the city, actually taking that into consideration. Danni smiled softly. She'd actually managed to cheer her up a little bit.
"Sorry," the Doctor said sincerely.
"It's not your fault," Donna told him and he looked down at her, slightly surprised.
"Oh! That's a change," he said with a little laugh in his voice. There it was again. One of those little moments when Danni knew all he needed was someone to hold his hand, and she was stood on the wrong side of Donna to take it.
Donna looked up at the Doctor. "Wish you had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right," she said like the idea had just come to her. The Doctor averted his gaze quickly.
"... Yeah, yeah," he agreed vaguely but he just couldn't let it go. "But even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline," he rambled off before catching himself. "Apparently."
Danni couldn't help but giggle as Donna looked at him, not quite sure where the explanation had come from. She obviously didn't quite believe he'd just plucked it from thin air, but then again time travel was a bit too much for her to believe existed at that moment.
So, instead of questioning him, she walked over to the edge of the building and sat down, dangling her feet over the edge. Danni sat next to her, her legs swinging slightly as they dangled over the edge. It was rare to get such a high view of a city and she'd only ever been to London a couple of times in her life. Even with the cranes dotting the skyline, it was pretty awesome to see.
The Doctor looked down at the pair of them. It was so strange. It was Danni's first time with him but she was still behaving like he'd expect her to. She still had that same 'passing through' attitude that she always had. Like she wasn't staying very long at all. She was also dressed much more appropriately for the season than Donna, so he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He hesitated for a moment, deciding who to sit next to but then sat down on the other side of Donna from Danni.
Donna pulled the jacket around her, shooting him a grateful smile before frowning. "God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat."
He could have sighed in exasperation as Danni giggled. "He doesn't change, you know?" the red-head commented happily. "Always skinny, with gangly limbs."
He shot her a look and she pulled her tongue out at him in reply. He couldn't help but grin. The teasing said that she approved of his actions, which was good. It was a shame that Donna couldn't take a nice gesture as it was. Poor Lance was going to have a hell of a time with her once they were married.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, remembering himself. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gold ring that he'd grabbed on his way out of the TARDIS. "And you'd better put this on."
Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh, do you have to rub it in?"
"Those creatures can trace you," he explained. "This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden." He took hold of her hand and slipped the gold band onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp," he said with a pop on the 'p'.
"For better or for worse," she replied cynically before leaning back on her hands. "So, come on then. Robot Santas - what are they for?"
"Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in."
Danni leant forward. "He met them last Christmas," she added. "They were just as friendly then as well."
"Why, what happened then?" Donna asked, looking between the two. She'd noticed the confused look the Doctor had shot Danni, but she hadn't been expecting the one he shot her.
"Great big spaceship? Hovering over London?" he prompted but she just looked back, oblivious. "You didn't notice?"
"I had a bit of a hangover," she dismissed like it didn't matter much. He just stared, incredulous, before deciding it wasn't worth his time to press further. She still thought he was a Martian, after all.
He looked back out over the city and found his eyes drawn to one particular part. He hadn't been seeking it out, but he smiled as he looked over it. "I spent Christmas Day just over there," he told her with a little nod so she knew where to look. "The Powell Estate. With this..." He trailed off as he tried to form the words to describe what Rose and her family had been to him. Even Jackie, towards the end, had accepted him into her home despite not particularly being fond of him.
"Family," he settled on. "My friend, she had this family. Well, they were..." He paused as he thought about them all; about Rose and Jackie and Mickey. They'd been his family too, really. The first one he'd had since the Time War. Well, apart from… He glanced at Danni out of the corner of her eye. Not yet, though, he guessed. "Still..." he said, forcing himself into the present. "Gone now."
"But very much not forgotten," Danni added onto the end. He looked at her and saw the sympathy on her face. For a moment he felt angry at it, then confused because how could she have possibly known about Rose? It wasn't the first time she'd mentioned the other woman. She was proving everything he'd thought up to this point wrong. She always did that.
But then he was suddenly glad that she was there so he turned back to look out at the skyline. He should have said a better goodbye to Rose. He was never going to see her again.
"Your friend... who was she?" Donna asked gently, trying to get him to open up.
"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you?" he replied instead and the moment was over. Danni sighed sadly as he looked Donna over. "And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know..." He sighed. "Maybe it was something to do with you," he continued, pulling out his screwdriver and pointing it at Danni. He gave her a quick scan, but it was just the same old stuff.
"Don't go blaming me," Danni retorted, feeling a little defensive. Something in his words felt like he was accusing her rather than musing out loud. "I'm just here for the ride."
"Sounds about right," he murmured before turning back to Donna. "What's your job?"
"I'm a secretary," Donna replied, unsure how it was relevant.
"It's weird, I mean – you're not special," Danni made a noise in protest at this, but he ignored her, "you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important..."
"Hang on a minute," Danni interrupted. "Just because you can't work out what's going on doesn't mean that you get to just insult her. There's no one in this universe who isn't important. In fact," she nodded towards Donna, "she might just be the most important woman in the universe and you're buzzing your screwdriver in her face." She crossed her arms. "I never did like this part," she murmured to herself.
He lowered the screwdriver, trying to work out what she even meant by that. She had been saying strange things since she'd appeared, and that was saying something because she had always been a bit cryptic with her comments.
But she wasn't offering anything else, and if he had to hear that word one more time…
"What kind of secretary?" he asked Donna, moving on for now. Perhaps after they sorted out whatever mess Donna had found herself in.
"I'm at H. C. Clements," she replied. He had no idea who they were, but she sounded like he should. A smile spread on her face. "It's where I met Lance. I was temping. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double-glazing firm," she explained. "Well, I thought 'I'm never gonna fit in here'. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me! But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him – one cup of coffee. That was it."
"When was this?"
"Six months ago."
He frowned slightly. "Bit quick, to get married..."
"Well... he insisted," she replied quickly with a shrug of her shoulders. Danni snorted, remembering the scene where Donna continuously asked him to marry her. If only she knew…
The Doctor and Donna both shot her a bewildered look but she just shrugged, leaning back on her hands. Poor Donna. She deserved so much better than she got. And not just with Lance.
"And he nagged... and he nagged me..." Donna continued anyway. "And he just wore me down and then finally, I just gave in."
Well, it was rather quick, but it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. Humans had such short lifespans that six months wasn't exactly something to be sniffed at. "What does H.C. Clements do?"
"Oh, security systems, you know... entry codes, ID cards – that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths'," she replied.
"Keys..." he muttered to himself, looking past the landscape as he mused over the company. That seemed important, but nothing in his big brain could put a finger on. It still felt like he was missing something.
Donna sighed. "Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be so shaming." She paused for a moment before turning to the Doctor. "You can do the explaining, Martian-boy."
"He's not from Mars," Danni interjected and even though Donna nodded, both of them knew that it didn't matter to her. The Doctor stood up and helped her up as Danni sighed, annoyed they had to stand up when she was just getting comfy. He helped her up too before chucking an arm around her shoulders and squeezing tightly.
She grinned up at him as they headed towards the stairs that led down from the roof. At least now he had some money to get them a taxi. It was just a shame that they couldn't take the TARDIS.
"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken," Donna groaned.
"I'm sure they're more worried about what happened to you," Danni told her. "It's just a party, I wouldn't waste another thought on it."
~0~0~0~
The strangest thing about the dream was the way time seemed to pass. No matter how many times she reminded herself that of course it would seem to go slower while she was living it, Danni was sure that dream time went a lot faster than real time. The ride over to the reception was as long as a car journey would have been, and the small talk they all shared in between silence also went as fast, or as slow, as it should have done. Didn't you just poof from one place to another in dreams? Again, if she remembered when Claire woke her up, Danni was going to have a rather in depth look into this kind of thing.
The hotel the reception was at seemed rather nice, and Donna took a moment to ready herself before they headed in. What they all noticed first, though, was Merry Christmas Everyone by Slade blaring out of the large function room. People were dancing, and drinking, including Lance who seemed to be getting rather close to one of Donna's friends.
Donna fell to a stop and one by one everyone in the room noticed that she'd walked in. Danni grimaced to herself slightly. It was such a horrid thing to do. They didn't even know where she was, why the hell weren't they looking for her? Especially her parents. Danni knew that if she'd disappeared, her mum and dad would never stop looking.
Eventually even Lance seemed to notice his bride-to-be had appeared and the music trailed off in a loud screech. Donna looked absolutely livid and folded her arms in front of her chest to make sure everyone knew that.
"You had the reception without me?" she asked them all angrily.
Lance took a step closer. "Donna... what happened to ya?" he asked. He sounded very convincing, which just made everything that was about to happen so much worse. Danni looked up at the Doctor, who looked decidedly uncomfortable about what they'd walked in on. Should she tell him? Would it actually mess up her dream and stop her waking up, or was she just making up excuses? She knew that messing with time was a dangerous business, this Doctor especially had taught her that. But it was just a dream, wasn't it?
"You had the reception without me?" Donna demanded again. At least a couple of people seemed to look a little sheepish.
Of course, this was the moment the Doctor decided to introduce himself. "Hello! I'm the Doctor."
Donna turned to him, angry and with wide eyes. "They had the reception without me."
"Yes, I gathered."
"Well, it was all paid for – why not?" the blonde Lance had been dancing with retorted.
"Thank you, Nerys," Donna bit out.
"Ahh, so that's Nerys," Danni whispered to the Doctor, who nodded. He had wondered if he'd ever get to see the woman he was supposedly working with.
Donna's mother walked forward, striding like she owned the spot. "Well, what were we supposed to do?" she demanded like she was telling Donna off.
Danni stepped forward. Oh, Donna's mother had always angered her. "You're supposed to look for your daughter," she retorted. "Not worry about a bloody party."
The woman looked positively offended. Good. She offended Danni. She might not be able to stop what was going to happen to Donna, but she could finally give this woman a piece of her mind. This was what dreams were for.
"And who the hell are you?"
"I'm one of the two people who actually give a shit about your daughter, it would seem," Danni snapped back. "Why the hell weren't you out looking for her? She leaves you a strange message on your voicemail and your response is to just dance the night away."
Sylvia's nostrils flared as she took in an angry breath. "How dare you..."
"No, how dare you," Danni interrupted. "What kind of mother does that?! You should be bloody ashamed of yourself! Do you not care about her at all?!"
To her side, Donna suddenly started crying and the impending argument was forgotten and everyone was fawning over the bride. Lance pulled her in for a hug and everyone started clapping at the show of affection. Danni stepped back towards the Doctor.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked her quietly.
"Yes," Danni replied shortly. "She needs to learn to be a better mother to her daughter."
As Donna sobbed into Lance's shoulder, she slowly turned him around until she met the Doctor's eye. She then grinned and winked, showing that she was very much alright.
The Doctor really tried not to smirk but Danni didn't hide it at all. "Because she's the most important woman in the universe," Danni continued lowly. "Maybe one day she'll see it."
~0~0~0~
Now that everyone had stopped bombarding her with questions, Donna had got stuck into the party atmosphere. It was nice to see her having a good time, dancing with her friends and family. For a woman who didn't like Christmas she really could dance to the music of the season.
It looked like a lot of fun, but Danni didn't want to leave the Doctor's side in case he disappeared in a poof of dream smoke and she forgot that he ever existed. So she grabbed herself a lemonade – with a straw, naturally – and spun around on one of the barstools next to him.
He was looking out at the dance floor, specially watching Donna just in case something happened and when they met eyes she shot him a cheeky smirk. He couldn't help but reply with his own but turned away so she didn't think it was because he was rather happy that she was having a good time.
He looked down at Danni, instead, and saw her bopping her head along with the music as she sipped her drink through her straw.
"Why don't you go dance?" he asked her over the music.
She shook her head. "Nah, I wanna watch you be all smart," she replied, boosting his ego a little bit. She leant forward slightly so she could nod at a man further down the bar. "That man there has a mobile phone you could borrow if you want to check up on H. C. Clements."
He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she'd just guessed what he wanted to do or if she'd already known the next part of this particular adventure. In the future she would just chuck that stupid word at him. Maybe now she'd actually give him a proper answer.
"How is it you always know what I'm about to do?" he asked. Danni's brows furrowed. Even in a dream it felt a bit mean to flaunt the fact his life was a TV show in front of his face. She didn't want to drive him away and, again, lose him in a poof a dream smoke.
"My dream ain't it?" she offered in reply. "Go on. We haven't got all day."
Well, it wasn't that blasted word, but it was still no better than he normally got from her. It was with a bit of a pout he walked over to the man and asked to borrow his phone. Rather generously he agreed, and the Doctor returned to her side with the old-fashioned flip phone. Danni reached down to feel her pocket. Her Samsung was a much better phone, but she didn't seem to have it on her. Damn. A dream phone might have been useful.
He turned his back to the man, pulling out his 'I'm Clever' glasses and Danni smiled in delight. Oh, he was being all clever. She loved Ten in a pair of glasses. You just knew something good was going to happen.
He opened the internet – again, an old fashioned WAP browser – and searched for H. C. Clements. Then, with a little discrete buzz of the sonic, he found the results he was actually looking for.
H. C. Clements. Sole Prop. Torchwood.
He flipped the phone closed as his anger burnt at the mere thought of Torchwood. He was on his own because of them. Rose was lost forever because of them.
Well, not exactly alone. Danni had stopped her bopping but she still looked rather happy. That was good. At least someone was. He returned the phone with a quick 'thanks', then took perch next to her again. He tried to keep his mind off Rose, which to be honest this whole Donna and Danni situation had been rather useful for so far, but now it was all he could think about. He even saw a man dip a blonde while dancing and he was reminded of his friend yet again.
"She's okay," Danni said softly and he looked down at her. She was looking at him with those kind eyes that used to really get on his nerves. Now he was just glad they were there at all. "She's not dead. She's fighting and she's living, and she knew what you were going to say."
That felt like a punch to the gut for him. Those words that he couldn't get out on that beach…
He quickly turned away, looking anywhere but at her so she couldn't see his guilt. His gaze fell on a cameraman who was set up filming the reception. An idea quickly sprung to him and, without even asking, he grabbed Danni's hand and dragged her over to the man.
Danni didn't mind. Why would she?
"Were you at the church?" the Doctor asked and the man nodded. Before the Doctor could ask to see the footage, he was changing the video inside the camera.
"I taped the whole thing," he explained. "They've all had a look. They said 'sell it to You've Been Framed'. I said 'more like the News'. Here we are..." He hit the play button and the picture zoomed into a blissful looking Donna walking down the aisle, before she suddenly disintegrated into golden particles, screaming.
The Doctor shook his head. He knew what he saw, but it couldn't actually be true. "Can't be! Play it again," he commanded.
The cameraman rewound the video. "Clever, mind!" he continued. "Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."
As it played the Doctor leant in closer, trying to see if he could see if it was something else. "But that looks like..." he paused. Nothing else fit. "Huon Particles!"
"What's that?" the cameraman asked.
"That's impossible," the Doctor replied, taking off his glasses. "That's... ancient!" He turned to look at the other man. "Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that..."
He trailed off, turning to look at Donna in horror. It meant that…
Danni grabbed his hands, pulling his attention to her. He looked suddenly terrified, and she knew exactly why. And while she didn't want to let him out of her sight, she also knew what came next.
"I've got Donna," she told him firmly. "Go check the windows."
With a nod he agreed and he ran off as Danni made her way through the dancing guests. She tried to be as polite as possible, but she also just nudged them out of the way. After she woke up they wouldn't even exist anymore.
"Donna, Do – excuse me – Donna!" she called out and the bride turned her head towards her. She smiled, now happy that she was back with her fiancé.
"Danni, you should have some of the wine..." Donna started but Danni reached out, placing a hand on her arm.
"Donna, I need you to stop dancing," she said firmly. "The bio-damper isn't working. There's Santas outside."
Her eyes widened and she stopped dancing. "Wait, what?" she asked. "He said I was safe!"
"I know, he thought you were," she replied. "Don't panic, but we need to get everyone out."
Donna nodded but Lance frowned. "What the hell is she on about?" he demanded of Donna, but Danni rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, we don't have time for being an idiot," she retorted. She looked over at the Doctor, who was running back into the room. "Come on, we need to get over there."
Danni grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the Doctor, who was heading straight towards them.
"Out the back door!" he exclaimed. Danni let go of Donna's hand and watched the pair run out together. Bloody tall people; how was she supposed to keep up with them?
She didn't particularly want to let the Doctor leave her sight, but this was a dream, wasn't it? If she woke up then she would have a brilliant story to tell, and if she didn't and the episode continued on its intended course then she would see them both in a moment anyway. The curious side of her just wanted to test the rules a little.
She headed over to the large Christmas tree where a few of the kids were playing. The episode said that this tree was about to come to life and she didn't exactly want the children to get hurt. She approached them then bent at the waist so she could meet their eyelines.
"Hey, there's cake over there," she told them all enticingly. "What are you doing over here?"
The children looked more than pleased at this development and rushed off and away from the tree. Danni stood up straight just in time for the Doctor and Donna to come running back into the room, just as she had expected. In fact, her presence didn't seem to be affecting the episode at all.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Surely she would have some impact, right? Then again, she'd seen enough time travel movies to know that, if she wanted to live the episode, she had to keep everything going as smoothly as possible. Nothing worse than blowing a hole in the timeline and being left with nothing at all.
The Doctor and Donna were quick to reappear, and Danni let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Obviously she wanted them both there. And, obviously, there was nothing better than watching the Doctor work. Her imagination could really conjure up an atmosphere.
She watched the Doctor and Donna look around, then the Doctor's gaze fell on her. She gave him a little wave and a smile. He was going to get it in a second, but for now she just enjoyed him looking at her. She felt her cheeks flush with her happiness. Was David Tennant this pretty in real life?
Danielle Fielding; always asking the important questions.
The Doctor suddenly looked horrified, saying something to Donna. "Christmas trees," Danni muttered along with him. "They kill."
The Time Lord and the bride suddenly ran into the dancing crowd, shouting at them all at the top of their voices. "Get away from the trees!"
"Lance! Lance!" Donna shouted angrily as she ushered some of the guests away from the large tree that sat on the edge of the dance floor. "Tell them!"
They managed to get the guests into a group but none of them would leave the dance floor, no matter what the Doctor or Donna said.
"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot!" Donna's mum declared. "What's a Christmas tree gonna..." She trailed off as the tree came to life behind the trio. "Oh!" She smiled in amusement as the baubles began to float off the tree and danced around in the air.
The Doctor reached forward, pulling Danni closer to him and further away from the tree. He'd seen this before, and so had Danni. Poor Jackie Tyler had almost been decapitated by a tree she'd brought into her home, and that was much smaller than the one they were stood against.
The Doctor and Danni both eyed the decorations distrustfully as they moved overhead of the crowd in formation. Even Donna didn't really seem to know what to think about it. Then, with almost no warning, the first bauble slammed into the floor and exploded. Chaos erupted as everyone scattered, screaming as they were attacked.
Danni didn't really know why she did it. After all, Donna wasn't even real and the Doctor was going to save the day in just a moment. Still, she acted on instinct, grabbing Donna's hand and dragging her over to one of the tables that had been overturned in the chaos.
"Stay here," she commanded. Donna just nodded, too scared to argue, but aware enough to grab Lance and drag him under the table with her as he ran past.
Danni dodged through all the panicking people and headed to the DJ table where the Doctor had hidden himself. She tumbled into him as another explosion shook the building but, as he wasn't completely stable himself, they both ended up slamming into each other on the floor.
He barely noticed, his eyes looking around for a solution to their current crisis. That was just like Ten, though, wasn't it? Too caught up being clever to worry about things like apologising.
He peeked over the top of the table and Danni joined him. The Santas were all lined up, musical instruments at the ready to attack. The Doctor grinned, reaching into his jacket pocket.
Danni grinned, stealing the sonic screwdriver straight from his hand before he could stand up. "No, you don't," she muttered before standing up. "Oi!" she cried, pulling the robots' attention. "Santa! Look at me! I'm stood here by a load of speakers. Do you know what that means?" She held up the sonic screwdriver, giving them a wave and a cheeky smile. She borrowed that from the Master, except she wasn't stealing the TARDIS, just the Doctor's moment. "Bye-bye!"
She shoved the sonic screwdriver into the hole just as she had seen him do a hundred times on the television and set it off – point and think. A loud, high-pitched, horrific noise came out of every speaker as the sound shook the floors and the walls. Danni pressed her free hand against one ear and bent her neck to try and press her ear against her shoulder to block the noise. The Santas began to shake and fall apart as the sonic vibrations ran through their mechanisms, and they landed on a heap on the floor.
She held the sonic screwdriver out to the Doctor. "I always wanted to do that," she confessed.
"How did you know to do that?" he asked her.
She did think about telling him that she'd seen him do it. She then decided that it was her dream and she could see whatever she liked. "Because I'm a genius, Spaceman," she retorted. "Come on!"
They both ran over to the pile of Santa parts. The Doctor immediately went through the robes to find the remote control whereas Danni grabbed him a head. She chucked it at him and he caught it like he was expecting her to do so.
"Look at that." The Doctor turned around, showing Donna the control in his hand. "Remote control for the decorations." He turned back to the head, looking into the broken casing where a light was beeping. "But there's a second remote control for the robots." He flipped it over and examined the bottom. "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."
"Never mind all that, you're a doctor - people have been hurt," Donna said, concerned about everyone around them. Once again showing that she really had a heart of gold behind her contrary attitude.
"Nah, they wanted you alive, look." The Doctor picked up a bauble and chucked it at Donna, who caught it. "They're not active now."
"All I'm saying - you could help," she insisted.
"Gotta think of the bigger picture..." he replied as he held the head to his ear.
"You know, she does have a point," Danni added.
In response the Doctor jumped to his feet. "There's still a signal!" He ran out of the room and Danni offered Donna a shrug before following him. Donna was going to follow in a moment, she wanted to keep up with the Doctor. At a guess they were half way through the episode. She actually might dream of it all.
Did that mean she was really badly injured in the real world?
Nah.
The Doctor came to a stop on the gravel outside the reception, putting his sonic screwdriver to the head. "Why do you think they're going after Donna?" Danni asked him to try and prod him along. Perhaps if she sped up the episode she could go to the next and meet Martha.
Donna appeared quickly on the other side of him as he sonicked the head. "There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force," he told them, effectively admitting that he didn't have any idea at all.
"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked.
"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Oh!" He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of the head as he followed the signal until he was pointing it up in the air. "It's up there. Something in the sky."
Danni nodded, not looking into the air and not looking surprised. His sonic continued to follow the signal until he started to shake his head. "No, no, no, no, no," he exclaimed, running off to the side. As Donna pulled up her skirt to follow Danni placed a hand on her arm.
"Give him a sec," she instructed.
"Shouldn't we follow him?" Donna asked her. Danni shook her head.
"Look, there's an awful lot of running. Whenever you can take a break, do."
Lance came storming out of the building as Donna just looked at Danni, bewildered. "Donna! What the hell is going on?"
"Just go back inside, Lance," Donna instructed firmly. "It's safer."
"Safer? What do you mean 'safer'? What's going on? Who are these people?!"
Danni rolled her eyes. He was such an arse. "We're saving Donna, that's who we are! I don't see you doing that!"
He looked offended but she didn't really care. The Doctor came back from around the corner just as an ambulance pulled up to help the people inside. "I've lost the signal!" he cried. He came to a stop in front of the pair, completely ignoring Lance. "Donna, we've got to get to your office, H.C. Clements. I think that's where it all started." He turned to Lance. "Lance - is it Lance? - Can you give us a lift?" He ran off in the direction he thought the car was without waiting for an answer. Danni turned to Lance.
"Well, come on then," she snapped, exasperated. She smiled at Donna. "Told ya; a lot of running." She turned and followed the Doctor.