Doctor Who: The Time Child

"Autodestruct in two minutes." The computer declared as River completed the finishing touches on the set-up she had created. She sat in a metal chair connected to the data core as the Doctor stirred from his place on the floor. He blinked as he looked around, scrambling up as he realised what she was doing.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, come on, what are you doing? That's my job!" The Doctor exclaimed angrily, and a little bit terrified. He clawed his way forward, his arm jarring as it was met with resistance.

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?" River retorted with a laugh. He looked at his arm, connected to a metal column with a pair of handcuffs. Danni was leaning against the wall next to it, unconscious and attached the same way.

"Why am I handcuffed?" He asked, "Why do you even have handcuffs?"

"Spoilers!" She replied with a flirtatious smile, raising her eyebrows at him as she continued. Danni groaned slightly, coming around on the floor. She tugged her arm, rolling her eyes at the handcuffs.

"Handcuffs?" She turned to River, "Really, River?" River replied with the same smile, but didn't say a word. Danni laughed and pulled again. Yep, she was chained up with handcuffs. The Doctor looked between the two incredulously.

"This is not a joke!" He snapped as he turned to River, "Stop this now, this is gonna kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any."

"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I!" She shouted in returned and the Doctor's eyes widened as he realised she knew exactly what she was doing, "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown, there'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download."

"River! Please! No!" He begged.

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die, you both have." She started slowly, tears in her voice, "All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit, and in a beautiful dress. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was!" She sighed, smiling at the memories, "The towers sang, the pair of you danced and then you cried."

"Autodestuct in one minute." The computer declared.

"You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver - that should've been a clue." She laughed slightly as the Doctor spotted both sonic screwdrivers on the floor in front of them, on top of River's diary with her sonic blaster. He began scrambling for them, but they were just a bit too far away, "There's nothing you can do."

"You can let me do this!" He screamed, not wanting anyone else to die. Everyone always died, and it was always his fault!

"If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you." River explained, "And where does that leave Danni?" He turned to looked at the ginger girl, who he realised hadn't said a word, just sat back crying silently.

"Time can be rewritten." He stuttered out, for the first time unsure if switching places was a good idea. What would happen to Danni if he died?

"Not those times. Not one line! Don't you dare!" River snapped ferociously. There was a pause as she caught her breath, smiling weakly at them, "It's OK. It's OK, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come." She whispered reassuringly, "You and me and Danni, time and space. You watch us run!" She began to cry slightly, but her face showed her determination.

"River, I need to ask you something." Danni spoke up, watching the numbers count down on the screen before facing her, "I've still got everything to come, I haven't hit A Good Man Goes to War yet, and I can stop it." She explained, the Doctor frowning at her. She never talked about what she knew, and she never tried to change it.

"I know." River replied.

"Do you want me to save you?" Danni asked her. River shook her head.

"Not one line." River repeated and Danni leant back on the wall, tears streaming but with a smile. River had said that with such conviction she believed her. There was nothing she could do to save her here, and she would respect her wishes in the future. She had just needed to know. River looked at her softly, a look of pride in her eyes, "Love you sweetie." She told the ginger girl.

"Not as much as I love you." Danni replied and River laughed, shaking her head.

"I doubt that very much."

"River, you know my name!" The Doctor interupted their moment, seeing the countdown nearing the end.

"Autodestruct in ten..." The computer began counting down the last 10 seconds.

"You whispered my name in my ear." He told her, "There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could..." His lip quivered as he began crying for her. She smiled tenderly at him.

"Hush, now! Spoilers..." She whispered.

"...three, two, one..." She plugged two cables together and Danni and the Doctor flinched away as a bright white light filled the room.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor and Danni sat in silence, only broken by the occasional sob escaping from Danni lips. They will still attached to the metal beam, with Danni snuggled as best she could against the Doctor, his arm hanging on her shoulders as he tried to comfort her. They both stared, devastated, at where River should have been. Where she had been moments ago before her body was burnt up by the energy she had taken in. The Doctor turned to Danni after feeling her shift, lying down as much as she could and kicking the diary and screwdrivers closer to them. His blue screwdriver rolled off the book on up to them, and she picked it up.

"We should go find Donna." She told him quietly and he nodded, taking the screwdriver out of her hand before unlocking the handcuffs. He helped her stand, but not before she picked up the rest of River's belongings. They walked hand-in-hand out of the room.

~0~0~0~

Donna walked through the little shop at the exit of the library, studying everyone very closely as she tried to find her husband from the digital world. She spotted the Doctor and Danni leaning against the wall, looking out towards the crowd as she slowly walked over, leaning against the wall between them, causing them to let go of each others hands to let her in.

"Any luck?" The Doctor asked after a pause, turning to her.

"There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the Library that day. Suppose he could have had a different name out here, but let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?" Donna asked the Doctor, who turned to look out at the people again.

"Maybe not." He admitted.

"I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"

"Everything." The Doctor muttered. Donna turned to him, looking offended. Danni reached around and smacked him on the arm, jolting him out of his thoughts, "Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say 'nothing'. I was aiming for 'nothing', I accidentally said 'everything'." Danni giggled despite her sombre mood; sometimes he did say the darndest things.

"What about you?" Donna asked the pair, "Are you all right?"

"I will be." Danni replied with a shrug.

"I'm always all right." the Doctor added.

"Is 'all right' special Time Lord code for 'really not all right at all'?" Donna asked and he looked down at her, confused.

"Why?"

"Cause I'm 'all right', too." She told him and they shared a look, understanding each other perfectly. Danni then took Donna's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"You deserve a real man, not one made of pixels." She told Donna, "And he'll treasure you, I just know it." Donna smiled at her, believing her instantly. She always did, Danni said things with such confidence it was hard not to. The Doctor took Donna's other hand.

"Come on." He told them and they left, joined together in a chain. They headed down a large marble staircase, where the Doctor showed Donna River's diary. He placed it on a railing overlooking the complex.

"Your friend, Professor Song." Donna started, "She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me..." She trailed off, River had looked at her as if she was such a tragic story. She hoped that wasn't true, but she couldn't fight the sinking feeling she got when she thought back to it.

"Donna, this is her diary. My future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?" He asked as placed a hand on it firmly, almost temping her. They both stared at it until Donna shook her head with a smile.

"Spoilers, right?"

"Right." He placed River's screwdriver on the book and they started walking up the stairs, this time the Doctor holding Danni's hand tightly.

"Come on. The next chapter's this way." He told them.

"Strange you gave her your screwdriver, though." Danni pointed out knowingly, "All this time you had to think about it, and all you did was give her that? I wonder why?" The Doctor looked down at her and she winked, a small smile spreading on her lips. His eyes opened in realisation and he ran down the stairs again, picking it up to look at it.

"Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? You're right, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver! Why would I do that?" He took off a small panel to find a neural relay flashing, only a couple of bars away from shutting down completely, "Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that! I'm very good!"

"What have you done?" Donna asked, not quite understanding.

"Saved her!" The Doctor and Danni shouted. She nudged him forward.

"Go!" She told him, "One last time, you take her and you run, Spaceman!" He kissed the top of her head and dashed off through the library. Danni took Donna's hand and they began walking back into the library at a more leisurely pace.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Danni asked her friend, who looked at her with a frown.

"What is?"

"That not everyone always has to die all the time."

"Yeah, yeah it is." Donna replied slowly, a smile spreading on her face. Danni took a deep breath and then began swinging her arm.

"You know what I fancy?" She started, "A big bag of chips and a movie. You up for 'Back to the Future'?" Donna laughed as they headed towards the TARDIS.

"Haven't you had enough of time travel?" She asked and Danni shook her head.

"Have you?" Donna rolled her eyes goodnaturedly.

"No, no I haven't." She admitted as she pushed the door open, letting them both in.

~0~0~0~

Danni slowly approached the Doctor, acutely aware he was still very angry at her. She sighed slightly, great, she'd managed to annoy Ten again. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, surprised. He hadn't heard her coming.

"Donna's gone to bed, but I'm not tired." She told him lamely.

"You should have told me." He replied, cutting right to the heart of the matter, "You know I don't like it when you keep important things from me." She nodded.

"I know," She admitted, "but I stand by my decision. You needed to focus, I'd've been another distraction you didn't need." His eyes widened.

"A distraction?!" he exclaimed, running his hand through his hair, "Danni, when I realised, my hearts stopped." He blinked, obviously he hadn't meant to have said that out loud. She smiled gently, grabbing his other hand.

"But I'm okay now." She told him gently, but firmly, "That's what matters, right?" She lifted his hand up and placed a kiss on his knuckles. He regarded her then nodded, sighing in relief.

"Yes, you're right." He squeezed her hand and she took in a deep breath, steadying herself.

"Why did you get mad when River held my hand?" She asked him, biting her lip, worried about his reaction. It had been bugging her since she had stopped being so angry at River. He had been coming around, and then as soon as she had taken River's hand he'd become grumpy again. His eyes drifted to her mouth for a moment before he shook his head slightly and his eyes shot up.

"She's big in my future." He replied unsurely, "And when you touched, there was no temporal energy."

"'Temporal energy'?" She repeated, then gasped slightly in realisation, "You wanted her to be me?" He let go of her hand and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"I don't know." He admitted, "But she knew my name, and there's no one I trust more than you, it made the most sense." She studied him with a thoughtful pout; he looked so lost, so confused.

"In my universe," She started, "I was quite obsessed with you." He moved his hand, looking at her with furrowed brows, confused but intreged, "I spent a lot of my time searching the internet for you, and even though you didn't exist, there's a lot more information out there than anyone in this universe will ever know. Even River." She swallowed, licking her lips as her mouth went slightly dry, "Your name was something never ever revealed, but there was this... thing. This little glimmer of information we all clung to." She looked him square in the eyes, "And it was Theta Sigma." His mouth dropped.

"How do you know that?" He whispered and she smiled.

"You see? I know that, and you never told me." She explained, "I'm not saying the way she found out is bad, because it's not. You do tell her. But all that proves is that you trust her with your life. I trust her with mine too. And if I had some secret name, I'd probably tell her. And there's nothing..." She trailed off, looking for the right word, "... romantic between the pair of us. She's beautiful, but it's not like that." She blushed slightly, "There's only one person in that regard for me." He stared at her silently before pulling her in for a hug, squeezing her tightly as if he was afraid to let her go.

"Oh Danni-Girl." He whispered, "You're... fantastic." He decided. He then pulled back, holding her at arms length, a smirk on his face, one eyebrow raised, "Obsessed, eh?" She blushed deeper and smacked him on the arm.

"Watch it, Spaceman." She warned, but didn't deny it; there was a reason Claire had given her a Doctor Who themed present. The smile on her face dropped as she thought about Claire, realising she hadn't even thought about home in so long, only when she had been terrified. She was starting to forget already. The Doctor, sensing her change in mood, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and turned to the console.

"While Miss Noble is asleep, why don't we go somewhere amazing?" He almost challenged and she looked up at him, her heart swelling as he tried to make her feel better. She blinked, surprised by the rush of romantic feelings that washed over her. Shaking her head, she smiled again.

"Where?" He reached out and grabbed a lever.

"Let's find out." He flicked it up and the TARDIS jumped into action, "Allons-y!" Danni laughed, she'll deal with whatever that was later.

~0~0~0~

Donna held Danni's hand as they headed back to the TARDIS. Danni had tears running down her cheeks as she laughed, Donna trying to stop but every time she glanced back she would set off again. The Doctor walked behind the two, a scowl on his face as tried to, yet again, remove the slime from his hair.

"You know, you two could help instead of just laughing." He pointed out, annoyed.

"You're the one who thought going slime frog hunting would be a good idea." Donna replied over her shoulder.

"I think you might need to get your coat dry cleaned." Danni told him through her laughter and he glared at the back of her head before smirking.

"What about your dress?" He asked and she turned, seeing the glint in his eyes.

"Oh no, no you don't Spaceman..." She warned him but he ignored her, taking him off in a sprint towards her. She squealed and began running away, Donna laughing even harder as he caught up with her quickly, picking her up and squeezing her against him tightly. She groaned in disgust, trying to push him off.

"Eugh." She cried when he let her go, trying to get rid of the slime but failing, "I look like I've been gunged." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving her a little squeeze.

"Oh come it, it's lovely isn't it? Like a massive lump of hair gel." He rubbed some in her hair and her eyes narrowed.

"This better wash out, Doctor." She snapped, "I love this dress."

"You love all your dresses." He retorted and she nodded.

"Yes, I do. That's why I wear them." She replied, "Otherwise I'd just be wearing clothes I hate, and that would be stupid." He chuckled slightly and they stopped as he unlocked the TARDIS with a click of his finger, "You love that, don't you?" she asked him and he nodded.

"It's cool." He replied and Danni paused as he and Donna entered the TARDIS in front of him. She laughed to herself, that must be where Eleven got it from. The more time she spent with Ten, the more of Eleven she seemed to see. Or, maybe it was wishful thinking. Ever since the Library she had suddenly really wanted to be with Eleven, but she would never admit to herself that it was because River had scared her. If he still married River, then what was she in the future?

She shook her head as she stepped into the TARDIS and shook her head, why would it matter who River was? It's not like she loved him back or anything. It was way too early for nonsense like that.

"So, where are we off to now? Somewhere I hope there's no more slime-frogs, in any case." Donna asked as the Doctor began piloting the TARDIS away.

"Well there's this planet in the Xion system called Midnight. The planet is made of diamond; Diamond Waterfalls, Diamond Mountains you name it, it has it." Danni's eyes widened. Not Midnight...

"Yeah, but it's surface is completely unhabitable." She pointed it. The Doctor stared at her in slight surprise then smiled.

"You've heard of it? I haven't taken you there already, I have?" she shook her head and bounded over, taking his hand and swinging it.

"I'm not a fan of spa's..."

"Spa?" Donna interrupted, intrigued, "You mean, like massages and mud facials? Relaxation all the way?" The Doctor nodded, obviously not liking the idea as his face fell slightly.

"I suppose so, yes, but..."

"No buts Spaceman. I want to go to a spa. No more running for our lives. A nice, relaxing day, lovely." The other two stared at her, looking hesitant but she placed her hands on her hips, "I'm the companion, am I not? I want to go to this diamond planet." Danni sighed and nudged the Doctor.

"Go on, let's go. We'll just stay on the complex until she gets bored. We can go swimming or something." His eyes lit up at that and he nodded.

"Okay, okay. You've twisted my arm." Donna cheered and pulled them all into a hug, the trio laughing happily as Danni was squished between the other two painfully. In fact, that wasn't the hug.

"Oh no not..." she moaned as in a flash of light she reappeared in a pitch black room. "...again. What the...?" She finished. She stepped forward, arms raised in front of her, "Hello?" she called. No one replied and she continued forward, reaching a wall. She felt across it, trying to find a handle to some sort of door when one across the room opened, blinding her slightly. Two men with large guns burst in, pointing them at her and she raised her hands, smiling worried, "Hello, where am I?" Between them a slightly balding man in a suit flanked by a curly haired woman stepped in. The man was looking at her smugly, his gaze making her want to wrap her arms around herself as he leered over her.

"There's a girl in the same cage as my Metaltron." He stated, "Anyone want to tell me how that has happened?"

"She just appeared sir, in a flash of light." A man in a full body suit appeared behind them, "Teleport maybe?"

"Simmons, Simmons, Simmons." He tutted, "Have you asked her?" Simmons shook his head.

"She's only just appeared, sir." The man in the suit stepped forward and Danni stepped back. The way they were talking about her like she wasn't there scared her.

"What is your name?" The man demanded.

"Danielle Fielding." She stuttered out, "I don't really know where I am, can you tell me please?" He chuckled slightly.

"She's English, how quaint. Maybe we'll introduce Limey to her later, he might know her." She frowned, why wouldn't they answer her?

"Is the Doctor here?" She asked.

"I doubt it very much. You're 50 floors underneath Salt Lake City. That's in America, by the way sweetheart. You shouldn't be here, let alone any doctors." He told her with a smile, which fell very quickly as he turned angry, "So why are you? Are you here for the Metaltron?"

"I... I don't even know what that is." She replied, even though the name sounded familiar.

"I don't believe that for one second. You know what I think? I think you're an alien as well." She shook her head.

"No, I'm human, I swear." She told him but he shook his head.

"No human could just appear in my Cage. Take her next door, chain her up and examine her. See if she talks then." He walked out and the two men with guns grabbed her. She struggled, pleading with them to let her go as they dragged her out of the room. She looked around quickly, trying to see what this Metaltron was when her eyes fell upon the creature who had been chained behind her this entire time.

"No..." She breathed as she fell still. It was the Metaltron, also known as a Dalek.

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