Doctor Who: The Time Child

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Amy and Rory sat on opposite sofas, surrounded by maps and feeling a bit uncomfortable while the Doctor paced around them, looking at one of his own. The President was sat at his desk, Danni stood next to him as she searched a map resting on the surface, his agents stood to the sides but were all watching closely. The Doctor closed the map he was looking at and yanked one Amy was casually looking over out of her hands. She rolled her eyes at Rory, who just shrugged in reply.

"Why Florida?" Canton asked, following the Doctor over to Danni.

"That's where NASA is." He replied, "She mentioned a space man. NASA's where the space men live. Also... there's another lead I'm following." He looked up at Danni, "Anything?" She shook her head.

"Not yet, sweetie." She replied absent-mindedly, scanning her fingers across the map before discarding it, moving the one the Doctor was looking at over to her so she could get a better look. Amy pushed herself off the sofa and over to River who was crouched on the floor searching a map of her own.

"Space Man? Like the one we saw at the lake." She whispered. Danni glanced over as River stood up slowly, not taking her eyes off the Doctor.

"Maybe. Probably." Danni gasped slightly, her eyes catching the sight of a Silent in the doorway at the same time as Amy.

"I remember!" Amy whispered in realisation, the memory of the Silent at the lake appearing in her head. Rory moved forward and stood in between the two, breaking the connection and Danni saw Amy forget the creature.

"Amy? What do you remember?" Rory asked her as Danni frowned. She stood on her tiptoes and leant to the side to see around Rory, but the creature was gone. How come she could still remember it being there? She shook her head, maybe she just remembered the image of the Silent there on television. She had to focus on the matter at hand. She went back to searching the map, looking for the three joining streets.

"I don't know, I just..." Amy's hand flew up to her mouth as the other rested on her stomach, a wave of nausea rushing over her.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked, concerned for his wife as River sat up straight on the sofa.

"Amy?" She called over. The Doctor walked in front of her, still staring at a map as he sat down across from River.

"You all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm just...feeling a little sick." She told them all, heading over to the door and the agent stood there, "Excuse me, is there a toilet, or something?"

"Sorry, ma'am, during this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office." Peterson told her apologetically. Canton looked over with a roll of his eyes.

"Shut up and take her to the rest room." Peterson nodded and turned to his fellow agent, giving him a nod. The agent gently took Amy by the arm as the Doctor moved back over to the desk, looking over yet another map.

"This way, ma'am."

"Thanks." She replied gratefully as he lead her out. Rory walked over to follow but Peterson placed a hand firmly on his chest to stop him. Danni glanced up again at the door, expecting to see another creature, but didn't. She couldn't understand why she remembered seeing it standing over there, but just like Amy she had felt sick. Not as much as Amy, but her stomach was feeling a bit unsettled.

"Your five minutes are up." Canton told the Doctor, who looked up at him unamused.

"Yeah, and where's my fez?" He retorted. He glanced up at Danni, who was staring at the door with a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked her gently. She shook her head to clear her thoughts then smiled at him reassuringly.

"Yeah, just feeling a bit sick myself. But I'm fine now." She promised. He still looked concerned but moved back to the maps. Danni glanced at the door one last time then went back to the map, turning her thoughts back to Jefferson, Adams and Hamilton.

~0~0~0~

The phone rang on Nixon's desk, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and stare at the ringing device.

"The kid?" Canton asked the President.

"Should I answer it?" Nixon asked Canton, who seemed unsure himself.

"There." Danni spoke quietly. The Doctor looked over at the square she was pointing at and beamed proudly.

"You clever girl." He praised, kissing her on the side of the head. Canton looked at the square and smirked, "The only place in the United States that call could be coming from. See? Obvious when you think about it." The Doctor told him as Amy and the agent returned, Amy looking slightly unsettled.

"You, sir, are a genius." Canton told the Doctor, impressed.

"It's a hobby." The Doctor clapped his hands together, not at all acting modest.

"I found it." Danni grumbled but she was ignored, Canton turning to the President.

"Mr President, answer the phone." Canton instructed. Nixon picked up the handset apprehensively, pressing play and record at the same time on the recording device.

"Hello. This is President Nixon."

"It's here!" The child cried, terrified, over the phone, "The Space Man's here. It's gonna get me. It's gonna eat me!" The Doctor reached over and grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair, then Danni's hand. He pulled her towards the TARDIS, the other three closely behind them.

"There's no time for a SWAT team, let's go! Mr President, tell her help's on the way." He glanced over his shoulder at Canton, "Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you." They all entered, Canton eyeing them suspiciously.

"What the hell are you doing?" He snapped, following them inside. He froze in the doorway, staring at the huge interior in amazement, Rory next to him, waiting awkwardly for the questions to start spilling from his mouth. Amy, River and Danni stood around the console as the Doctor danced around, flying them down to save the little girl.

"Jefferson isn't a girl's name, or her name either. Jefferson Adams Hamilton... River?" He asked the woman.

"Surnames of three of America's founding fathers." She replied instantly.

"Lovely fellas, two of them fancied me." He boasted. Danni rolled her eyes, turning to Amy.

"I, on the other hand, got a proposal from Alex. What a lovely fellow he was." She told the other red-head, smiling at the memory. He had been trying to take her to Mount Rushmore and instead had ended up at a party for some government thing in the 1790's. He hadn't given her much details about it, really. She assumed it was because he had no idea when or where they were, but there were many people there who seemed to know who he was and she became quite chummy with Hamilton, who had proposed to her when he realised they were leaving.

"You turned him down." The Doctor pointed out, pouting slightly. Hamilton had been all over her, no matter how much he'd danced with her and how close he'd kept her to him. The thought, even now, annoyed him immensely. Only he could propose to Danni. He paused slightly as Danni shrugged in reply; not that he was going to or anything. Definitely not.

"It'd never have worked." Danni pointed out, "He was a Founding Father, I'm a girl from another universe. We're just too different." She smirked at Amy, who laughed slightly at the look on the Doctor's face. He wasn't happy with her talking about this Alex guy and it was adorable.

"Are you OK? Coping?" Rory asked Canton, who spun around on the spot, trying to form words to describe what he was experiencing.

"The President asked the child two questions." The Doctor continued, eager to change the subject, "Where and who are you? She was answering where."

"It's bigger on the inside." Canton concluded, Rory nodding.

"You get used to it." He replied lamely as Canton grinned.

"Now where would you find three big historical names in a row like that?" The Doctor asked his companions.

"Where?" Amy replied.

"Here! Come on!" The Doctor ran excitedly to the door, Amy and River following, Danni at the back going at a slower speed. Canton stopped the Doctor in his tracks with a hand on his chest.

"It's er..." The Doctor nodded, looking over at Rory.

"Are you taking care of this?" He asked, not waiting for a reply as he headed out of the door, River turning on her scanner as she followed him.

"Why's it always my turn?" Rory groaned to Amy, who stopped and smiled at him.

"Cos you're the newest." She pecked him on the cheek and followed the other two out. Danni patted him on the arm.

"Because you're the most capable." Danni corrected, also pecking him on the cheek before heading out into the large, dusty warehouse office outside. The Doctor had already sat down behind the desk waving a small American flag happily. She bounced over to him, taking the flag out of his hand. He pouted then pulled her onto his lap as she waved it happily.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. It's 1969, the year of the Moon. Interesting, don't you think?" The Doctor asked as Amy turned on a flash light to have a look around. River used her scanner to check out the area, the device beeping quietly in the background.

"Why would a girl be here?" Amy pointed out, the Doctor shrugging.

"I don't know. Lost, maybe." He suggested.

"A big abandoned warehouse, seems the perfect place to kidnap a little girl to." Danni told him as River picked up a phone, holding it to her ear. The Doctor nudged her off his knee gently.

"The President asked where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do." He stood up and walked over to the window, "She looked out the window." He peered out of the blinds, Danni standing on the tips of her toes to try and see out the gap he made. Outside the window was a signpost with three signs on it; Jefferson, Hamilton and Adams.

"Streets. Of course, street names!" Amy cried in realisation.

"The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction, and, Dr Song, you've got that face on again." The Doctor stated. River looked confused.

"What face?" She asked.

"The 'he's hot when he's clever' face." He clarified, turning to lean against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other.

"This is my normal face." She replied.

"It is." He smirked and she rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Oh, shut up." She mock-scolded, walking past him.

"Not a chance." He told her lowly. Danni glared at the pair, pushing herself off the wall.

"No, please, shut up." She snapped, storming over to the TARDIS as Canton and Rory came out of it.

"We've moved. How, how can we have moved?" Canton asked, stunned as Amy and River headed out into the next room.

"You haven't even got to space travel yet?" The Doctor asked, wondering just what Rory had gotten to.

"I was going to cover it with time travel." Rory replied, shutting the TARDIS door behind him.

"Don't worry Rory." Danni told him, "I'm sure you'll do a better job than him." She stormed out of the room, pushing past a stunned looking Doctor and over to Amy's side, grabbing her free hand.

"Just ignore him." Amy told her quietly, shining her flash light into the darker corners of the room.

"Do they have to do it right in front of me?" She asked, "Seriously, I get it. They get married, it's unnecessary for the man to rub my face in it. He's all lovey-dovey one minute, then flirting with her in another. I just wish I knew where I stood."

"It's a warehouse of some kind. Disused." River stated as she scanned the area. It didn't bring up anything extraordinary, it wasn't a famous warehouse or somewhere significant in this era.

"You realise this is almost certainly a trap, of course." The Doctor replied as he walked over to Danni's side, taking her other hand and squeezing it apologetically. He must have worked out what he had been doing with River.

"I noticed the phone, yes." River replied.

"What about it?" Amy asked, looking down at Danni. When they had last seen River, Danni had been very self-conscious around the woman and had acted so much sadder than she was this time. She wanted to cheer her up a bit, make her feel useful.

"It's been cut off." Danni told her with a grateful smile, "So the little girl couldn't have rung the President."

"So how did the child phone from here?" River added.

"OK." Amy agreed, "But why would anyone want to trap us?"

"Don't know. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and work backwards." The Doctor told her, Amy rolling her eyes in response. Of course he'd go straight for being killed, that was so his style. Her mood dropped as she remembered why they were there in the first place, feeling guilty at joking about it, even if it was in her own head. She looked down at Danni, who wasn't looking at the Doctor but was still holding his hand. There was no way the girl would just let the Doctor die. There had to be something more to it.

"Now why would a little girl be here?" River mused out loud as they entered an area covered in broken bits of machinery, crates dotted around abandoned.

"I don't know, let's find her and ask her." There was a tilted table in the middle of the room, a device hanging over it that had huge wires covered in a flesh-like substance. Danni grimaced as River scanned it over.

"It's non-terrestrial, definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone." She told them all as the Doctor walked over to some open crates, pulling out items as he did.

"Which is odd, because... look at this!"

"It's Earth tech, contemporary." River replied, confused as the Doctor picked up an Apollo helmet.

"Very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space programme!" He cried excitedly, showing it to Danni who rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Stolen?" River inquired.

"What, by aliens?" Amy scoffed in reply.

"Apparently." He spun the helmet around before putting it on, the visor hiding his face from view.

"Why? If you can make it to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?" She pressed. There was no way anyone who could make it to the Earth would want this, it was practically junk in comparison to most of the technology they had come across on their travels.

"Maybe cos it's cooler." The Doctor flicked up the visor, grinning widely, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

"Cool aliens?" Amy laughed.

"Well, what would you call me?" The Doctor replied, a smug smile on his face. Amy shared a look with Danni.

"An alien." They both replied at the same time. His grin fell and an offended look replaced it.

"Oi!" He scolded. Danni reached up and flicked the visor back down with a laugh. The Doctor took it off as Rory and Canton came in the join them, smiling again. He couldn't be annoyed at Danni, especially since she was smiling again. He didn't understand why she felt so threatened by River, after all she had nothing on the ginger girl. A woman that lived through his life in the wrong order wasn't anything new.

"I, er, I think he's OK now." Rory replied, shining his torch on Canton who was staring at the tilted table in the middle of the room.

"Ah, back with us, Canton?" The Doctor asked him. Canton shined his torch behind him, not looking at the Doctor.

"Like your wheels."

"That's my boy!" The Doctor praised, patting him on the shoulder as he walked past, "So come on - little girl, let's find her."

~0~0~0~

The Doctor dragged Danni around all of the discarded equipment, trying to work out exactly what the table was for from what was left behind while Amy and River examined the table further. Canton was still getting his bearings and Rory didn't really know what to do, so stayed with the ex-FBI agent. The Doctor picked up a a large circuit board before discarding it quickly. It was a couple of years early, but still nothing of any use.

"What's it for?" He mused quietly.

"It looks like an operating table." Danni pointed out, "Maybe they want to do something to the little girl." She wasn't sure if she should say outright what the table was for, or if she should just hint but keep quiet. If she gave away too much, they would want to know how she knew the information, and to tell them it was a little Melody Pond wasn't exactly going to be met with relief or even understanding. They didn't find out about Melody or River for a while, and if she was there to reassure them and help them through, then she couldn't speed it up.

"Maybe." The Doctor replied slowly, looking over at the table critically, "But what has the astronaut gear got to do with anything?" Danni shrugged.

"You'll work it out, Spaceman." She reassured him. He turned to look at her, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Space man?" He repeated slowly, his mind trying to make connections as River interrupted him, shining a light down a manhole with large cables running down it.

"Doctor!" She cried over, "Look at this." She knelt down next to it, pushing the cover aside with some effort, scraping it across the floor.

"So where does that go?" The Doctor asked. River held her scanned over the hole, it letting out a series of beeps as it scanned the area.

"There's a network of tunnels running under here." River explained.

"Life signs?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No, nothing that's showing up."

"Those are the worst kind." He mumbled as River climbed into the hole, "Be careful!" He warned her.

"Careful? Tried that once, ever so dull." She replied playfully.

"Shout if you get in trouble." He told her quietly.

"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer." She told him, heading down into the hole, "Now there's a spoiler for you!" Danni's face darkened and she walked away from the Doctor's side to Amy's, who smiled reassuringly at her. It didn't matter anyway, they were going to get married, she knew that. So, why did it always hurt?

"So what's going on here?" Canton asked. The Doctor spun around, his eyes wide at River's retort.

"Er, nothing..." He pointed over his shoulder, "She's just a friend." He defended quickly. Rory leant over to his ear.

"I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion." He pointed out quietly. The Doctor sighed in relief, because River was just a friend, before grinning at him.

"OK." He clapped his hands on both the men's shoulders before walking past, "Danni-Girl, this way." Danni sighed sadly and followed him, what else was there for her to do?

~0~0~0~

The Doctor leant over the table while Rory pointed his flash light in the areas he directed him to, Danni stood to one side with her arms clasped behind her back. She really didn't want to be there, not just because of the whole Melody/River situation but because of River in general. Maybe if she asked really nicely, the Doctor might let her go to the TARDIS and wait it out there. She was sure River would love her to disappear and get the Doctor all to herself. She frowned, maybe she should stay then. She moved closer to see what the Doctor was looking at, him shooting her a soft smile as River climbed up the manhole, panting as if she had been desperate to escape.

"All clear." She told them calmly, whatever had scared her forgotten. The rest of the group turned to face her, "Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes, I want to take another look round."

"Stupidly dangerous." The Doctor called over, slightly annoyed at the woman purposefully putting herself in potential peril. It meant he had to go save her.

"Yep, I like it too." River replied loudly before looking at Amy, "Amy, look after them." Amy winked at her, agreeing to do as River asked as the woman headed back down the hole. The Doctor turned to Danni, who had turned away and had gone back to looking at the table.

"Danni..." He started.

"I'm not going with her." She interrupted, knowing where his mind was heading.

"Please, I know you won't let anything happen."

"I'm not going down that hole." She told him firmly, "Ask Rory, I'm sure he won't mind."

"Actually, I would." Rory replied. The Doctor stared at Danni, at a loss before turning to Rory and clapping a hand on his back.

"Then I appreciate it all the more." Rory stared at him, incredulous then nodded.

"Hang on, River, I'm coming too." He called unenthusiastically, heading down the hole after her. The Doctor watched him before bending down to where Danni was knelt on the floor, checking underneath the table.

"You don't have anything to worry about, you know that don't you?" He asked her quietly. Danni sighed angrily, did they really have to do this now?

"Yes, I do." She told him sadly, placing a kiss on his cheek even though he turned to catch her lips with his own. She pushed off the floor and walked over to Amy and Canton, who were examining some equipment. The Doctor watched her force a smile on her face and ask Amy something, to which Amy replied by shining her torch on some of the items she had been looking at. He sighed then turned back to the table.

"What are you?" He whispered to himself.

~0~0~0~

Canton, Amy and Danni made their way over to the table as the Doctor headed to some other equipment. No one really knew what they were looking for, and Danni was really just wasting time. This was all just build-up, the whole original episode had been really. Soon she would be running around America, tallying the Silents all over her skin. She smiled to herself as she picked up one of the cables, looking down it to see if she could see anything; it was a good look. She used to do it at university to see if anyone would notice and get the reference.

"So, you were kicked out of the FBI because you had attitude problems." Amy asked the agent, who looked a bit surprised, placing the cable he was examining down and walking away.

"No. I just wanted to get married." He replied. Amy leant over the table, shining her torch on him.

"Is that a crime?" She asked him. He nodded with a smirk.

"Yes." Canton pointed over at the Doctor, "Doctor who, exactly?" Amy looked over at the alien who currently was buried up to his neck in a large crate.

"That's classified." She told him.

"Classified by who?" Amy looked down at Danni, who shrugged.

"God knows." Amy replied.

"But you work for him." Canton pressed as he walked around to the pair.

"He's my friend." Amy clarified, frowning in thought as she tried to figure out if there wasn't something else to add to that description.

"God knows what he is to me." Danni told Canton.

"I thought you to were, you know, together?" Danni shrugged, picking up a particularly nasty looking instrument, some sort of saw.

"So did I." Danni told him, "But you heard him with River." She nudged Amy, bringing her out of her out of her thoughts, "Neither of us have seen him in a while, have we?" Amy nodded, seeing Danni trying to bring her back on track.

"Well, I haven't seen him in a while. I had something I wanted to tell him, but stuff always gets in the way." Canton nodded, understanding that feeling completely.

"Stuff does that."

"Help me!" A child's voice rang through the warehouse and suddenly everyone was alert, grouping together as Canton pulled out his gun, "Help! Help me!"

"It's her!" Canton stated, running after the voice. Danni followed him as Amy doubled over in pain, holding her abdomen.

"Doctor!" Canton shouted behind his as the pair continued on, "What's going on back there?"

"Amy may or may not be pregnant." Danni panted out, "It's fine, it doesn't matter. We have to get to her." Canton nodded, looking over his shoulder.

"Doctor! Quickly!" He shouted again, looking over to see two Silents stood there. He skidded to a halt, staring at them in surprise and slight fear as one held it's hand out towards the pair. A shot of electricity had Canton laid out unconscious on the floor, then it held out it's hand towards her.

"Doctor!" She screamed, terrified as it shot at her. She fell to the floor, the world going black.