200 years had passed since they had foiled Pitch's bid for world domination with the help of Jamie Bennett. - the Boogeyman had still been there hovering around the edges ever since, after all you cannot kill fear.

Jack still missed his first believer, but with time he had moved on. Now, thanks to some expertly written children's books by said believer, Jack Frost was as believed in as the other Guardians. In the case of Sandman, even a little bit more.

But now it seemed that Pitch was making another attempt for total power, and actually doing a decent job of it - pissing Bunny off in the process.

They had gathered at the Pole. North and Bunny felt that traditions must be kept and had immediately embarked on their usual discussion (argument) on whose holiday was better. Tooth was rattling off instructions to the Baby Teeth at a rate that made Jack's head hurt and Sandy had retired to the drinks trolly early and was now floating in a pleasantly lucid, catatonic state.

Jack had remained perched on his staff, out of the way or the arguing legends and fables, in the corner away from the hectic fluttering of the supposed fairy tale. He watched with a smirk on his lips as the familiar scene unfolded. He would stop them eventually, but he enjoyed watching like this, they really were his family.

He would have stopped them eventually. If a certain blue box had not materialised out of thin air in the middle room.

The grumbled slightly. He hated going where other people told him too. Unfortunately the TARDIS had agreed with MiM that he needed to be here, at the North Pole, to help sort out...whatever it was that needed sorting out.

The TARDIS landed with it's usual self announcement (he didn't care what River said about the breaks, the noise was all important!).

Stepping from the familiar blue box, the Doctor looked around his immediate environment.

Okay...even he was impressed.

Noticing a few people (how much coffee had that bird been drinking?) in his immediate vicinity, the Doctor clapped his hands before announcing himself.

"Right then! I hope you guys are the Guardians, MiM pulled in a favour, said you could use a hand. And it would be just plain embarrassing if I got the address wrong...again." He had tried to find 'Santa's Workshop' a couple of years ago and you would be surprised at how easy it is to mistake the North Pole of Earth for the Western edge of the Metasegoya Gliptus-Striboidies*.

This he directed mainly to the Buzzing bird on a sugar high. Turning slightly he saw others, what looked like a small man with a serious bad hair day and dressed in a beach (yes, the actual beach.), a larger (well frankly HUGE) man in the red coat who the Doctor assumed was his host and...

"POOKA!" His shout echoed around the room (which is quite impressive considering the other sounds that were currently occurring within the bustling workshop)

Bunny stepped back, utter shock and trepidation etched all over his face as the Doctor descended on him.

"Oh this is brilliant! A Pooka! Oh this is Christmas!" The Doctor was running circles around Bunny like some sort of deranged folk dancer when the other occupants of the room burst into laughter.

Stopping his prancing around the now thoroughly pissed off rabbit, the Doctor looked around in confusion.

He had thought that he was the mad man, he hadn't met the Guardians.

Okay. Jack thought this was a very interesting day. A random blue box appears in the middle of North's workshop and then, what appears to be a mad man in a bow tie and...was that a fez? steps out of said box.

Jack was having serious issues keeping his face straight, especially at the look on Bunny's face when the befezzed man recognized him...or at least his race.

He gave up on tact and the attempts of a straight face when the prancing crazy man made the unintentional reference to the argument that had been occurring since Bunny and North met each other.

Jack was not the only one to lose it either. Tooth (who still looked like she was on a sugar high) was giggling uncontrollably and Sandy who had woken from his alcoholic stupor was doing a great job at miming hysteria. Even North was bellowing happily, though not, Jack noted, in the stereotypical 'ho ho ho', North's laugh was far louder and filled the whole workshop.

Meanwhile the mad-man from the box looked just as confused and pissed off as Bunny (okay that may be slight exaggeration, no one can be as pissed off as Bunny).

Laughing so hard, Jack even fell off his staff to landed nearer the middle of the room, in clear sight of the crazy, fez wearing man...thing.

Unfortunately for Jack, the guy's reaction to seeing him was even greater than the one Bunny had received.

The Doctor was confused. He didn't like being confused. Being confused made him irritable at best. Especially when no one would let him in on the joke.

The many gales of laughter bounced around the room and around the Doctor's head, giving him a slight headache.

He had thought there were only four occupants of the room. The hyperactive bird-lady, the little glowing man with the bad hair day, the jolly large giant who could only be Santa and of course the Pooka.

The Doctor was therefore surprised when a young man, only 17 or 18 in appearance, fell out of a corner of the room laughing as hard as the others.

Fortunately for the Doctor he knew this man.

"Jack!" This exclamation went a long way to stopping the laughter in the room.

"Good to see you again, how have you been?" The Doctor was babbling now, but he still registered the shocked and confused expression on the younger man's face. "Oh, yes you wouldn't remember me would you. Anyway, time for introductions. I'm the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you face to face at last!" grinning stupidly the Doctor gave Jack his customary kiss on each cheek.

At this point Bunny started a coughing fit as he tried not to laugh at the expression on Jack's face.

North was the first to react. He was good at introductions.

"I am North, though people tend to call me Santa for some reason; this is E. Aster Bunnymund, Bunny to his friends..."

"So I'll be Bunnymund to you mate." Bunny cut in, still looking at the Doctor suspiciously.

North coughed slightly before continuing.

"There is the Tooth Fairy, Toothiana or Tooth to her friends." Tooth smiled happily and nodded to the Doctor.

"And there is Sandyman, Sandy...Sandy...WAKE UP!" The little man had drifted off again in the lull between laughing fits. Snapping awake again he waved at the Doctor.

"And you seem to know Jack Frost..." North trailed off here, either hoping for more information or unsure as to what happens next.

"Oh yes! I know Jack! He doesn't know me though. It was a long time ago. I was there when he was born." This announcement was met with a silence louder than the laughter that had previously filled the workshop. Even the Yeti's and Elves had stopped moving for a second absorbing that new information.

It was nothing to how Jack was reacting. He sat down VERY quickly.

* Note: Kudos to anyone who knows what this is even though the spelling is a bit different (HINT: has nothing to do with space!)