4

Danielle tried to keep a happy mood but the Doctor stayed serious, he was worried.
“Maybe you should tell me a bit more about yourself, so at least I know who died because of me.” The Doctor said suddenly.
“Stop being so negative! We aren’t going to die and even if I die it won’t be you fault. I chose to do this, all you did was agree.” Danielle answered him.
The Doctor looked down: “But I brought you here. What am I going to tell your parents when you die? Hello, I’m the Doctor I’m here to inform you that your daughter was killed on a different planet by a giant creature? I know I can never be sure that my companions will be survive their travel but this is so dangerous and the change you’ll survive is very small.”
Danielle looked at the Doctor: “Why are you being so negative? If I die you just go to my parents and pretend you’re that guy that tells people that their family died. And just tell Lucas everything, he’s always been interested in space and aliens and then he can hear how his best friend died trying to save an alien race, trust me he’ll believe it.
The Doctor didn’t say anything, he was still looking down, thinking probably.
“And I’m not going to die.” She added. “I’m going to beat that thing and save Vractica!”
“And how can you be certain of that? You don’t know this thing! It isn’t like an ant, you can’t just say you’re going to kill it and then do that. It’s much more complicated and you will get hurt.” The Doctor said, now looking directly at Danielle.
“Why are we even having this fight? You already agreed with me!” Danielle shouted.
The Doctor sighed: “Fine, let’s talk about something else, tell me more about Lucas, how does he look, when did you meet him?”
Danielle smiled: “Lucas is a great friend, he lives in London, in the same street as me, I’ve known him since we where kids. When we first met he was 6 and I was 5 years old. We just moved into the street, we moved because my dad divorced my mom. While my dad was unpacking boxes I was playing outside, there was a little playground not far from the house. Lucas was there too, he was on the swings, his mom was sitting behind him on a bench. I got on the other swing and started talking to him, it was summer and we where both going to primary school after it. I remember him getting sad when I told him my parents got divorced.
We talked until I saw my dad appear on the playground, he told me we where going to eat and that I should say goodbye to my little friend.
I saw him almost everyday after that and we grew very close.
That’s almost 20 years ago now, but it feels like yesterday.”
The Doctor smiled as well: “He sounds great, maybe he can come with us some time.”
“That would be great.” Danielle said. ”Don’t you have any friends?”
“I did, but I lost them, some got someone else, some left me, some forgot me and some died.” The Doctor replied.
“Is that why you’re so protective? Because you lost the others?” Danielle asked.
The Doctor nodded: “Yeah, I always try to protect them but I still lose them. But tell me more about Lucas, is he smart, what kind of job does he have, what are his interest?”
“You’re very interested, do you think he will make a good companion?” Danielle asked.
“I think so, tell me more about him, then I can be certain.” He said.
“He’s very smart, he knows a lot about space and is very good at biology. His history is pretty bad though. He works in a hotel as an entertainer. He’s very good at it and loves his job even though he would trade it for a job that has to do with space. As I said before he’s very interested in everything that has to do with the universe, he has a giant closed filled with books about it. He also likes drawing, he isn’t that good but he tries. He used to play in a band but they split up, he played the piano.” Danielle said smiling.
“You miss him, don’t you?” The Doctor asked.
Danielle looked up: I do actually, I see him everyday and not doing that is really weird.”
The Doctor smiled: “When this is over, when we beat the Frysaderux we can go visit him.”
Danielle wanted to say something but she was interrupted by a loud growl.
“Here it is, we’ve reached it. All that’s left is climb the mountain and destroy it.” The Doctor said.
Danielle looked up: “Isn’t that really far up?”
“Nonsense, it just looks really high but you’ll be at the top in about 10 minutes.” The Doctor replied.
“Let’s go then! No time to lose!” Danielle said self-conscious.
Danielle started climbing the mountain and the Doctor follow her.