The echoing of heels on stone floor is what woke Danni up from her sleep. Her eyes snapped open, a rush of old and familiar fear burning through her veins, before she slammed them shut again. She tried to calm her breathing, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good. She'd never been able to hide when she was awake.
The cover was pulled off her and she was left in the middle of the bed in just her nightie, and there was a tutting sound tinted with a Scottish accent.
"Up you get, my Pet," Missy purred, grabbing hold of her arm and pulling on it firmly. Danni quickly sat up, ripping her arm away from Missy.
Missy promptly slapped her on the back of the head, jolting her painfully. "Bad pet," she said with a smile on her face. "Come, up, up, up. You've been asleep for far too long."
Danni glared at her, but stood up, pulling the bottom of her nightie down. She knew that the short sleepwear was completely intentional to make her feel completely exposed, but she refused to give Missy the satisfaction of anything.
Missy left her to stand by the side of the bed, heading over to the wardrobe. Danni's eyes drifted down to her arm. She wasn't wearing her vortex manipulator, which made Danni's deep desire to whack her across the head with the bedside lamp unfortunately not something that she could do right now.
Still, that was in her arsenal for another day. Maybe when the Doctor turned up. She knew that the Doctor was coming for her. He was. He wouldn't leave her here.
Missy chucked a pair of jeans and a white vest onto the bed, along with a new set of underwear. "Get dressed, my Pet," she said. "We've got a busy day ahead. We're off to Paradise."
Danni grimaced slightly, but reached for the clothes thrown at her. Missy didn't leave, she never did, but Danni still tried to give herself some privacy by turning away and getting changed facing the other wall. Her skin crawled at the fact that Missy had seen so much of her, but the Doctor was still yet to see her. He'd love her red hair, wouldn't he? She knew he had missed it.
She didn't speak to tell Missy she was ready, she knew it was obvious and that every movement she made would have been watched. The room was extravagant, but it was still a prison and she was a prisoner. She was unlocked from the chain that held her to the bed, attached to Missy's arm, and then marched out of the room.
"Oh, do cheer up," Missy drawled as they headed through the dark corridor towards Missy's main office. She'd taken Danni there so many times before, day in and day out, year after year. Quite frankly Danni was getting sick of the same walls day after day. "I've been telling you, you're safe now. He's not going to get you now, one day you'll see that."
"I'm never going to believe you," Danni replied, her Scottish accent echoing the man they were talking about and not the woman she was currently chained to. "He's always coming for me, and when he's here, I'm going to kill you again and again."
"Why are you always so disagreeable?" Missy asked in a rather exasperated tone. "You really need to cheer up, my Pet. Life is so boring if you spend it pouting."
Danni stared incredulously at the back of her head. "Pouting?" she snarled. "You're keeping me here hostage! I think I'm entitled to hate your very existence."
"Hostage?" Missy replied as she opened the door to her office. Danni expected her to deny it, she genuinely seemed to believe that she was doing the red head a service by keeping her chained up in her bedroom. "Yes, maybe I little," Danni's eyebrows shot up. "But it's for your own good. You'll see that eventually. That silly, old, grumpy Doctor has wormed his way into your mind and pushed me out…"
"Pushed you out?" Danni snapped. "My last body was completely to do with you! The blonde hair, the brown eyes, that fact that I was always scared! You did that to me, and then you took it away!"
Missy turned and grabbed her face, squeezing her cheeks painfully. "And look at you now," she purred. "Red hair, like you should, a good height. You actually look like a woman instead of a teenage boy, all because you wanted to impress him. Even the accent is because of the Doctor. He's weaselled his way into your head and we need to get him out."
Danni yanked herself away. "Yes, but, unlike you I am happy of the changes I've made for him! I'm never going to let him go, I'm never going to stop waiting."
It was a regular declaration, one she knew she made every day, and one that Missy always rolled her eyes at like she didn't believe it.
"It's been over a decade, now," Missy replied. "Do give it up, it would make everything a lot less of a struggle," Danni watched her walk over to her little cabinet, pulling out the vortex manipulator that she kept locked in there. Every day Danni eyed it, wondering how she could get her hands on it. One day she would. One day she would get out of this hell hole.
Until then, all she could do was vainly resist as Missy chained her prisoner to herself and took her back to Earth with a press of a button.
~0~0~0~
Danni sighed in annoyance, keeping her eyes closed even though it was very obvious that she was waking up. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to leave the warm fuzziness of the dreams that she was already forgetting. She'd always loved her sleep, and this morning wasn't any different.
It didn't help that the TARDIS had the comfiest beds in the universe, with the softest covers and pillows. She felt cocooned, wrapped up in a hug that she never wanted to break out of.
She felt the bed dip next to her and a smile spread across her face at the slightly cool body that joined her underneath the covers. He was still fully dressed, but at least he'd remembered to take his shoes off. Honestly, it was a constant reminder when he climbed into bed dressed. Apparently, it ruined the overall look of his outfit. And he complained about Eleven and his bowties.
She opened her eyes to look at him. "It's not time to get up yet," she told him factually.
"Oh, it is my Pet," he replied in a purr. "You've been asleep far too long, and we have plenty to do. A whole universe to explore," she felt him shift closer, the smirk on his face not fading away. "A whole bed to explore."
"Not a chance," she told him with a laugh even as his skin warmed up just at the sound of his voice. "You can't just wake me up and expect sex. I've told you about that, Theta, and I'm not going to stand for it."
"Who said anything about standing?" he asked. He reached out, tucking her messy ginger hair behind her ear. "Tell me you love me, my Pet," he said and she frowned at his words.
"I'm sorry?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable as the way he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. It didn't feel right. He didn't outright ask her to say it, did he?
"Tell me you love me," he repeated patiently. "You do, don't you Pet?"
"Well, of course I do," she replied. Something didn't feel right, and she didn't know what. Telling each other what they meant to the other wasn't uncommon, neither was showing them. Eleven had been affectionate, but Twelve was passionate. And yet, she still felt like she was missing something. His behaviour felt off. Something was wrong, and he was trying to mask it by distracting her.
"What's happened?" she asked, shrinking away from his touch. Even that felt wrong, like he was trying to control her with it, which wasn't unlike him but not in the horrible way this seemed to be.
"Nothing, my Pet," he promised. "I just want you to say it, can't I ask that?"
She nodded slowly, and just for a moment the room flashed. Gone were their dark blue covers and grey walls, and for a moment everything was reds and browns. Then it was gone, and she was looking at her husband once again.
"That's not right," she whispered. The Doctor frowned, watching her eyes dart around the room, trying to spot the flash of somewhere else again. "Is the TARDIS glitching?"
"What makes you say that?" he asked, flattening his hand onto her face and forcing her to look at him and not the room. "Tell me something nice, Danielle. Tell me you love me."
Her brows were furrowed, and her hearts were racing painfully. He wasn't right, he would never force her to do anything. The flash, she recognised the flash…
She gasped, pulling away from him as his piercing eyes were replaced with ones that terrified her. "No, stay away from me!" she screamed at him. The room flickered again in her vision, her brain trying to focus on one while clinging to another.
The Doctor rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed. He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head, nails digging into her skin.
"Tell me!" he shouted as she tried to struggle.
"No, get off me!" she begged. "I don't understand, get off me!"
"Not until you say it. Tell me you love me, Danielle!"
"No!" She screamed, using all her strength just to get her arms off the bed. The room stopped flashing as she panted, eyes wide as she stared up at Missy, who was straddling her with a look of furious determination on her face.
"Tell me," she demanded and Danni shook her head. She had fallen for it again. Every time she always fell for it. She always thought she was back home, she always thought she was safe and with Theta, and every time she was with the evil bitch who held her down. Her hearts broke, tears and pure pain at the realisation filled her, but she only allowed her anger to rise to the surface. Anger at her own foolishness, anger at her situation. But, most of all, anger at the woman above her who was eyeing her like she was her prey.
"Never," she snarled. "I'm never going to tell you."
"You already have, my Pet," Missy sang happily, tauntingly. "'Of course I do', remember?"
"Not to you," Danni insisted. "Never to you."
Missy shrugged before pinning her hands back down on the bed. She leant forward and Danni grimaced, trying to turn her head out of the way as Missy trailed little kisses down her jawline. "No matter," she replied offhandedly. "I can make you love me again and again if I want to. You can pretend all you want, Danielle, but you're mine. Your silly little marriage was just an illusion, a delay. You're never getting away, so you might as well enjoy."
~0~0~0~
Danny Pink was woken up by his own face falling off his hand, which was rather embarrassing. He needed to try and get some better sleep, drifting off at work was becoming too commonplace for his liking. All it would take was one student finding him in his classroom, and he'd find himself decorated like a game of buckaroo every time he woke up.
He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and was immediately drawn to the neatly separated black and blue pens to his side, each set in individual plastic containers. A stapler sat perfectly between them and a plastic paper sorter, which again was just as neat as the pens. If the dark wood and shininess of the desk hadn't told him that he wasn't in his classroom, then the organisational skills of whoever's desk it actually was spoke volumes.
In front of him sat a little name plate with 'SEB' written on it, a symbol he didn't recognise and 'Nethersphere After Death Department' in the top corner. What did that even mean?
"I'm sorry," a soft female voice said, startling him. He looked up to see a rather thin woman, with pale skin and brown hair looking over at him from a chair by the door. She had one leg crossed over the other, and even though she didn't have much of an expression, he knew that she'd meant her apology.
"Where-Where am I?" he asked her.
"If I had known, I would have stopped it," she continued like she hadn't heard his question. "But now that I know because of here, I can't stop it. I am so sorry, and I'll make it up to her."
Danny's brows furrowed and he sat up straight. Something about that sentence made he very nervous, much more than waking up in a very uniform grey room. "Make it up to who?" he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.
"To Clara," she replied, like he had expected, but had hoped differently. It felt like a threat to Clara, and even though she'd lied to him again and again, they had worked past it. Even though the woman in the corner didn't look like she was going to harm his Clara, he wasn't going to take any chances.
"How do you know Clara?"
"She calls us soon," the woman told him. "She won't be alone, but I can't save you, I can't take you back," she glanced at the door, sighing like an exasperated teenager. "I'm guessing that is why I've been brought here. For this to be waved in my face. Just great."
"I'm sorry?" Danny snapped, feeling more and more unnerved. "I don't know where I am, and you're talking to me like we should know each other. Who are you?"
She turned to face him, her lips lifting for a moment before dropping. "I'm Danielle Fielding," she told him and his eyes narrowed.
"No, you're not," he replied confidently. "She's blonde, and with the Doctor and definitely not…" he waved his hand towards her. "She's definitely not you."
"I know Clara told you about regeneration," Danni replied, her face full of regret and pity that he didn't like being sent his way. "I've been her a very long time, Danny. I've regenerated, twice, and this is now me. It's not as pretty as the one you knew, but I like the height I was given."
Clara had told him about regeneration, but only in context of the Doctor. How he'd gone from looking like Adrian to the Scottish General who kept snogging his wife in front of everyone. He knew Danni could regenerate, but he'd just not expected to see it. But, he supposed, if she'd been here a long time…
"No, hang on," Danny started. "If you've really been here a long time, where's the Doctor? That man wouldn't let Danni out of his sight for even a moment in case something happened to her."
"He let me out of his sight," Danni replied. "And something happened to me," she glanced behind him. "I've been told I've been her almost a century, but I'm not sure anymore, I don't spend a lot of my time awake anymore. He was supposed to come save me, but it looks like that's not happening. He's left me here to rot."
He hated how he was starting to believe her. He knew heartbreak when he saw it, he'd seen it on too many faces and because of him. "Where is here, exactly?" he asked her slowly. Her eyes shot back to him and the sorrow and pity were back.
"I'm sorry," she told him. "There's no way back, and I can't take you there. I'm only connected, but you're fully immersed, which means…"
"Which means what?" he exclaimed, just wanting an answer.
"Which means you're dead," she broke to him bluntly. "You must have died, and now you're here," the door opened, and a very cheerful man in a suit stuck his head into the room.
"Ah, Danielle," he said in a voice that matched his disposition. "The boss is outside, apparently it's time for you to go home."
With a sigh, Danni stood up, much to Danny Pink's surprise. He knew an order even when it came from someone other than the person saying it. He glanced at her wrists, for the first time noticing the silver manacles that rested on them. With cold blood, he realised she was a prisoner.
"Be nice to him," she warned the other man before turning to Danny. He shrank under her gaze, feeling like she knew she was seeing him for the last time.
"Take care of yourself, Danny," she told him before heading to the door. She paused, then glanced back at him. "Oh, welcome to Paradise."
And she was gone. The other man watched her leave before turning to Danny, grinning like he did this all the time. "Has anyone offered you a coffee?"