Doctor Who: The Time Child

"Dark night, very starry." The Doctor declared as they headed down a lane lined with small stone houses up to Vincent's home. Danni looked up at the sky with a smile; you could imagine the great painter staring up at a sky just like this as he painted.

"It's not much. I live on my own. But you should be OK for one night. One night." Vincent emphasised, rummaging through his pockets for his matches.

"We're going to stay with him?" Amy asked the Doctor excitedly as they followed Vincent at a more leisurely pace up to his house.

"Until he paints that church." The Doctor confirmed. Vincent lit a lamp outside his front door and removed his hat.

"Watch out. That one's wet." He called as he stepped inside.

"What?" Amy asked as the Doctor followed Vincent inside with a quick glance at the painting hanging at the door. Danni smiled and nudged Amy, who stared in awe at the 'Bedroom in Arles' dangling for all to see. Vincent lit another lamp, illuminating the room inside. The Doctor paused in the doorway, Danni next to him as they looked around at all the paintings stood on display as if they'd been discarded with no thought around the room. Vincent caught their stares and cleared his throat.

"Sorry about all the clutter."

"Some clutter." The Doctor breathed, moving himself and Danni out of the way to let Amy in.

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me." Vincent continued.

"Wow." Amy stated instantly, trying to look at every painting, "I mean, really. Wow." The Doctor walked over to the painting, pointing them out to Danni as if he couldn't believe they were there.

"Yeah, I know it's a mess. I'll have a proper clear-out. I must, I really must." Vincent left them in the room to go boil some hot water.

"Don't you dare." Danni replied firmly, motioning with her head towards the other room. The Doctor followed her into the kitchen, leaving Amy to study the paintings more closely.

"Coffee, anyone?" Vincent asked as looked for his kettle.

"Not for me, actually." The Doctor replied, "Or for Danni-Girl either. She doesn't need caffeine, she's energetic enough as it is." Danni blushed, embarrassed as he smirked at his words, obviously meaning it to sound exactly as it had come out. She hit him on the arm.

"And how do you know, Spaceman?" She replied but he just placed a kiss on her lips. Vincent placed the coffee down on one of his paintings and the Doctor groaned slightly.

"You know, you should be careful with these. They're..." He paused as Vincent wiped away the wet ring mark off the painting, "precious." He trailed off, sighing in defeat.

"Precious to me. Not precious to anyone else." Vincent replied as Amy appeared in the doorway.

"They're precious to me!" He looked up and smiled softly at her before turning back to his coffee.

"Well, you're very kind. And kindness is most welcome." He told her sincerely.

"Right, so, this church, then. Near here, is it?" the Doctor asked, clapping his hands together as he tried to get the conversation back on track. Danni and Amy may have forgotten about the monster in the painting, but he hadn't.

"What is it with you and the church?" Vincent asked with a laugh as he began grabbing pieces of wood out of the stack by the fire, chucking them in.

"Oh, just casually interested in it, you know." The Doctor replied with a shrug, after all he wasn't trying to alert the man.

"Far from casual. Seems to me. you never talk about anything else. He's a strange one." Vincent told Amy and Danni, who both nodded.

"That is very true." Danni agreed, pulling her tongue out playfully at his offended look.

"OK, so let's talk about you." The Doctor announced loudly, not liking Danni and Vincent bonding over making fun of him, "What are you interested in?"

"Look around." Vincent replied, stopping what he was doing to ponder on his thoughts, "Art. It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see." He looked over at the trio, who were stood together, riveted in spot at his words, "I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of."

"You don't have to tell me." The Doctor told him gently, pulling Danni closer as he did.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor sat in the wooden chair by the fire, one leg crossed over the other as he listened intently to Vincent as the painter paced around the room, explaining his views on the art he created.

"It's colour!" He exclaimed, "Colour that holds the key! I can hear the colours. Listen to them." He motioned to his ear as he whispered, the Doctor leaning in slightly as if he could also hear it, "Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me. 'Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on'" He grabbed the Doctor's lapels, bringing his face up to his, "'Capture my mystery!'" The Doctor looked over to Danni for help, but she was leaning against the wall, a huge grin on her face as she tried to suppress her laughter at the look on his face. He looked so lost, he obviously had no idea what to do and it was so adorable.

"Maybe you've had enough coffee now." He told Vincent gently, who let go of him in surprise at what he had done, smoothing the lapels back down on the Doctor's jacket, "How about some nice calming tea? Let's get you a cup of chamomile or something, shall we? Amy?"

"She went outside to look at some more paintings." Danni explained as the Doctor looked around for his companion, he hadn't noticed her leaving. Then again, it was hard to focus on anything else with Vincent van Gogh in the room. There was a scream from outside and the Doctor shot up, running past her.

"No, no. NO!" Both Danni and Vincent followed him outside to find her on her knees just outside the doorway.

"What happened?" The Doctor asked her, looking around looking for whatever had attacked her.

"I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind." Amy replied breathlessly, not hurt but still very scared. Danni helped her stand up, keeping an arm around her waist for comfort.

"It's OK." The Doctor told her, "He's gone now and we're here."

"I don't think he has." Danni replied, motioning to Vincent who had obviously spotted something, raising his hands up to protect himself.

"No!" Vincent screamed. The Doctor approached him slowly as Vincent began backing away from whatever he had seen.

"Take it easy. Take it easy!" The Doctor coaxed.

"What's happening? What's he doing?" Amy asked, frightened as she looked between the painter and the blank space he was staring at, terrified.

"There's an alien there." Danni told her loudly, hoping that the Doctor was listening, "One only Vincent can see." Vincent grabbed a large, wooden gardening force and brandished it in front of him like a weapon.

"What alien?" The Doctor shouted back as Vincent let out a shout, charging in what appeared to be their direction.

"Move!" Danni shouted in reply instead, it wasn't like she could remember the name of the alien anyway.

"Oh dear." The Doctor exclaimed as all three of them dodged out of the way. Vincent began waving his arm behind him.

"Run. Run!" He commanded and the Doctor nodded, grabbing Danni roughly by the arm and pushing her behind him and away from Vincent. He didn't want her anywhere near the man as he waved that stick around dangerously. He wasn't going to let her get hurt, not again.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not a bad idea. Amy, Danni-Girl get back. He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down." Amy moved to take cover in the doorway, while Danni stood where the Doctor had pushed her.

"He's not having a fit! It's an alien!" Danni replied in exasperation as the Doctor stepped towards Vincent.

"Easy, Vincent, easy. Look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me." He held his hands out, "It's the Doctor, look. No-one else is here. So, Vincent..." Danni gasped as she saw a flash of the creature, just black blur in the night behind the Doctor as it lost it's camouflage just for a moment.

"There it is!" Danni screamed, pointing at where she thought it was heading.

"Oh no, not you too Danni. Must be something in the air..." The Doctor mused, now very worried that it might start affecting everyone.

"There's an alien there, you moron!" Danni snapped, annoyed that she once again had to keep repeated herself. Wasn't this version of the Doctor supposed to listen to her?

Before the Doctor could reply, he was thrown to the ground as the creature lashed out at him, swiping him with it's tail. There was a loud roar as both Amy and Danni screamed, Danni dashing over to his side and kneeling down by him as he groaned.

"Are you okay?" She asked, panicking as a painting was slashed almost into pieces.

"I can't see anything. What is it?" Amy shrieked.

"I told you. It's an alien, pay attention Pond!" Danni shouted over as she helped the Doctor sit up.

"But what alien?" Amy shouted back, watching Vincent still trying to fight it off.

"That is a good question." The Doctor told her as he jumped up, grabbing a stick and running to help Vincent, "Let me help you."

"You can see him, too?" Vincent asked, surprised as the Doctor headed in the completely different direction to Vincent, waving the stick around manically.

"Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really." The Doctor told him before he was thrown over a table, skidding on the floor by Vincent's feet.

"You couldn't see him?"

"No. Oi!" The Doctor scrambled up again and began batting the stick around with a loud battle cry. Vincent, who could actually see the creature, headed straight towards it and stabbed at it, causing it roar and run away. The Doctor, not paying attention, continued to try and battle the creature as Amy stepped out from the doorway and over to the other two redheads, where they watched him fight with the air. Vincent opened his mouth to speak but Danni held up a finger, a huge amused smile on her face.

"Not yet, this is fantastic." She told him and they watched him flail for a moment longer.

"He's gone." Vincent stated and the Doctor stopped and turned to face them.

"Oh, right. Yes, of course." He threw the stick down in embarrassment and they all headed back inside.

"Right. So he's invisible? What did he look like?" He asked Vincent as he sat down in a chair, pulling Danni onto his lap. She let out a yell of surprise, having been heading towards a chair of her own. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, protectively if she had to have put a word to it. She smiled and placed her hand on top of his hand, threading her fingers through his and squeezing reassuringly. He kissed the side of her head, but didn't relax his grip.

"I'll show you." Vincent grabbed a painting of some irises and painted over it in white. The Doctor sat up straighter, leaning Danni over in his surprise.

"Oh, no, no, no!" He cried out as Amy gasped and covered her mouth.

"What?" He asked, looking between the three, confused.

"It's just..." The Doctor replied, "That was quite a good..."He sighed, "On you go." They all watched intently as Vincent quickly sketched the alien in charcoal, revealing the image of a birdlike creature that had a faint look of something also reptilian, appearing to be covered in scales rather than feathery.

"OK. OK." The Doctor nudged Danni off his knee and took the sketch, studying it closely, "Right." He stated authoritatively, "Amy, make Mr van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door." He turned to Danni, "Danni-Girl, where do you want to be?" She skipped over and took his hand.

"With you, obviously." She told him with a grin. He smiled back as Amy stalked over, still frightened.

"But it could be outside, waiting." She warned in a whisper, a wave of her hands to illustrate the danger.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll be fine." Danni replied confidently.

"What's the worst that can happen?" The Doctor added, nodding in agreement.

"You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see." Amy pointed out.

"And? What's life with a little danger?" Danni retorted with a shrug,

"Exactly. Don't worry. We'll be back before you can say, 'Where've they got to now?'" He pulled Danni out, Amy turning to face Vincent. The Doctor smiled conspiratorially at Danni then popped his head back into the room.

"Not that fast!" He shouted, causing Amy to jump in surprise, "But pretty fast. See you around." He left again, pulling Danni out into the night and down the streets towards the TARDIS.

"So, what do you think?" He asked uncertainly, "A famous painter, 19th Century France, invisible alien creeping around..." Danni shrugged.

"It's fun, never thought I'd meet Vincent van Gogh." Danni admitted, "Could have done without the alien, though. I don't like watching you get hurt, even if you weren't really hurt at all." This had always been true. When she used to settle down for the night, in her pyjamas, to watch either a new episode or a rerun of Doctor Who, she would always wince when he was thrown about. Now she was actually here, she just wanted to run under him and cushion his fall. He paused and turned to her with a soft smile.

"I'm okay." He reassured her gently. She nodded with a frown; she knew he was. Didn't mean she was any happier. He pulled her in for a hug, burying his face in her hair, "I promise."

"I just don't want you going anywhere." She admitted quietly. She knew, rationally, he was fine up to the end of the Ponds and that was another 300 years into his future, but she was always so scared something was going to happen to him and one day she would land somewhere he wasn't around anymore. She was terrified being alone, more than anything she could think of.

"I'm not leaving you." He promised before tilting her face up and placing a gentle kiss on her lips, his hands snaking their way into her hair as he deepened it quickly. She clung to his arms, using them for support as he took her breath away. When he let her go to grab her hand again, she had a goofy grin on her face.

"What I actually meant, though," He continued on from the beginning of their conversation, walking down the alleyway again, "Was would you mum have liked it?" Her brow furrowed.

"My mum?" She asked, confused. He nodded but didn't look back at her.

"It was your mums birthday, I thought we could do something to commemorate it." He replied lightly.

"I thought we were here because Amy can't remember Rory?" She asked him.

"Yes, that as well." He told her, "Rose mentioned you were upset about it, and when you said that's where you'd come from I thought you might want cheering up..." She laughed slightly in disbelief.

"Oh, you impossible man. You just can't help yourself, can you?" She breathed out and he shot her a triumphant smirk over his shoulder as they reached the TARDIS.

"Not when you're concerned." He countered as he let her in. He closed the door behind them and headed up the ramp, "So, would she?" Danni thought for a moment then nodded.

"She would have loved it." She replied, "But she wasn't much of an art fan, if I'm honest. She would have appreciated Vincent, though. Who wouldn't?" He looked back at her from where he was rummaging.

"What does she like?" He asked her, sounding genuinely interested. Danni bit her lip in thought; she liked a lot of things, really. She didn't know where to begin.

"She always liked history." She settled on, "She spent a good few years completing our family tree. She's always watching programs on medieval times. She finds the whole knights and fair maidens thing very appealing." She smiled sadly to herself, "She always said my dad saved her from her first marriage, even though she was divorced before she met him. She would never explain to me why." The Doctor paused and looked over at her.

"She must have thought you didn't need to know." Danni shrugged.

"Now I never will, will I?" The Doctor walked over to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to the pilot chair, where he sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

"The thing is," He started slowly, "If you were still there, you wouldn't be here, would you?" She nodded slowly.

"I suppose not." She mumbled.

"And if you weren't here, I'd be on my own. And, I don't want to be on my own. I want to be with you, so... that is to say, I'm glad you're here. Really glad." She smiled as him as he stumbled over his words. He was trying so hard, and he even though he thought he was useless, he had managed to cheer her up with that little muddle of words.

"I'm glad you're not alone either." She told him honestly, kissing him on the cheek before leaning against his shoulder, closing her eyes. He tightened his grip as he hugged her to him firmly, probably worried she was suddenly going to jump away again.

"So," The Doctor drawled, "Are you not into the whole damsel in distress thing?" She sat up straight and smirked slightly.

"It has it's advantages." She admitted as she shifted in his lap so she was sat facing him, one leg on either side of his, "I think I could get used to you saving me on occasion." She ran her hands over his shoulders, clasping them behind his neck and leaning in closer, a flash of a memory from Siluria giving her an idea, "Do you want to save me, Theta?" He eyes widened at the sound of his name and she bit her lip suggestively.

"Danni," he tutted mockingly, "We're here to save Vincent van Gogh, remember?" She moved so that her lips were barely grazing his.

"Time machine." She whispered, her voice slightly husky, "Let's make out." He met her in the middle, happily obliging. Their mouths moved together in harmony, the Doctor using his grip on her hips to pull Danni closer. Danni's hands grasped his hair, feeling it run through her fingers. She loved his hair so much. She moved from his mouth to his neck, suckling the skin there. His grip tightened and a low groan fell from his lips as her tongue darted out, soothing the skin she'd just been pulling tighter. A shiver ran down her spine and she sat up again, pressing against him as she kissed him deeply again.

"Danielle," He whispered, his voice setting her skin alight, "We have to help Vincent."

"Yes, later. First, more kissing." She demanded, not willing to let him get away. He chuckled as he dipped his head, claiming her lips once more.

~0~0~0~

Danni stood at the console as the Doctor pulled out a huge trunk on the floor below, chucking random items of clothing and other useless bits and bobs all over the TARDIS floor. She yelled in surprised and ducked as a book came flying at her, but the Doctor didn't notice.

"Right. You in here somewhere? I can't apologise enough. I thought you were just a useless gadget. I thought you were just an embarrassing present from a dull godmother with two heads and bad breath. Twice." He pulled out a device that seemed to be comprised of a large car side mirror joined to a plastic body by two tubes, a harness on it so it could be attached to the user, "How wrong can a man be?" He ran up the stairs and hooked it up to the TARDIS next to her. He pulled a face into the mirror and with a tap of the space bar on a typewriter that was built into the console, an image of the Doctor's first two incarnations printed out with his name and home planet on the top. He then moved Danni in front of the mirror and she smiled uncertainly. He pressed the space bar again and out came a picture of her, declaring her full name 'Danielle Fielding' and her planet of origin as Earth. He showed her the picture and she blushed in embarrassment, yanking it out of his hand and scrunching it up. She hated photos of herself.

"Aww, I wanted to keep that in my wallet." He teased her and she placed her hands on her hips as she turned to him.

"You don't have a wallet. You don't even carry any money." He winked at her and turned back to the machine.

"Good. OK, you're working. Now, see what you make of this." He picked up the sketch of the alien, holding it up to the mirror until it had scanned it before placing it back down again, "Who is that?" The mirror reflected an image of a parrot, "No, I know it's not that. There are thousands of them and you can see them plain as day." It scanned again, this time showing a polar bear, "No. Definitely not. This is the problem with the impressionists - not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough or one of those proper painters. Sorry, Vincent." He picked up the picture, studying it for a moment before chucking it over his head, "You'll just have to draw something better." Danni shot him a glare and picked up the sketch, balancing it on the console.

"That's an original van Gogh. No one is ever going to see it but us, be careful!" She scolded him lightly. He shot her an innocent smile as he unhooked the machine from the TARDIS.

"Sorry, dear." He replied as he slipped the harness on, the device now hanging against his chest. He grabbed her hand and they walked over to the door, the Doctor stepping out cautiously first. He aimed the mirror over his shoulder and Danni gasped in surprise as the creature suddenly appeared, reflected back at them.

"That's better, old girl. Time-delay, but you always get it right in the end." The Doctor crowed as his fiddled with the controls, "Good. Let's find out who this is, then." The mirror reflected a drawing of the creature and it's details, "Whoa, there you are, you poor thing. You brutal, murderous, abandoned thing. I hope we meet again soon so I can take you home." There was a roar from behind them and the creature reappeared on the mirror, "Maybe not that soon." Danni began pulling him away.

"Just run!" She shouted and he quickly overtook her, becoming the one who was doing the dragging. He had such lanky legs and she could never keep up with him. The Doctor kept glancing into the mirror, checking how close the creature was. He pulled her behind a wall and looked into the mirror again, seeing the creature charging at them. He pushed her forward.

"Run!" He shouted in panic, knocking tables and other items laying in the alley to the ground to try and slow it down. He pulled her behind another wall, watching in the mirror as it seemed to give up, running in another direction away from them.

"It can't see, can it?" Danni panted out, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. He looked down at her, his eyes widening a fraction as she licked her lips.

"What makes you say that?" He asked in reply, he voice slightly higher than normal as he continued to think about her lips.

"Because it was gaining on us, but then ran the wrong way." He looked around the corner, his brows now furrowed in thought. She had a point, why did it run away? He looked back around and screamed as Amy appeared from the side of the building. Danni jumped as the other ginger screamed as well, not expecting that kind of response.

"Never do that! You scared the living daylights out of me." He scolded Amy, who rolled her eyes and leant against the wall never to Danni.

"Sorry. I got bored. As much as you admire his command of colour and shape, it is hard to get fond of Vincent Van Gogh's snoring." Danni let out a snort.

"He snores?" She asked and Amy nodded, annoyed by the mere thought of it.

"Like a fog horn." Amy confirmed.

"Well, that's just not on." The Doctor stated, sounding irritated, "He's got a church to paint, he can't just sleep all day." He took Danni's hand, "Come along, Pond. Time to wake up Vincent van Gogh."

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