Rose departed the TARDIS with both eagerness and trepidation. There was a crispness in the air that she always related to London Christmases, the strings of lights on balconies and hints of trees in the windows providing evidence they were right on schedule. There was no snow, of course, because she wouldn't have just left the perfect sort of winter wonderland Leatis provided and find London with flakes falling from the sky. But she could live without a white Christmas.
What made her dread being back deep in the pit of her stomach was the realization that she hadn't been back since the Fall. It didn't occur to her when she'd asked the Doctor to have her back for Christmas that she'd have left her mother and Mickey wondering if she was alive for all that time. They knew what might happen when she returned to the Doctor, and she wasn't looking forward to the high-pitched, tongue lashing she would endure when her mother got to her.
"London, Earth, December 24th, 2006." The Doctor said as he stepped out of the TARDIS, stepping aside and leaning against the closed second door with his hands in his pockets. He squinted up at the sky. "Weather's not very festive."
"Couldn't have made it snow, Doc?" Jack asked as he came out and looked around. He turned his head skyward, walking in a circle before looking expectantly at the Doctor.
"Not gonna use atmospheric excitation 'cause there's no flurries in the air. Most of you apes don't like the white stuff anyway, not much point in it really." He said with a shrug.
Rose shook her head, unable to stop herself from smiling even if he was insulting her species. A large part of her wanted to saunter over and kiss him until he was grinning like a loon. But despite the brief instance in Mayor Marron's office, and in the Medbay not twenty minutes ago, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"What did you say that I'd actually wanna forget?" He had said when Rose was ready to retract every word, every moment that may have been too much for the Time Lord at the end of their last adventure. "I mean, aside from you goin' on to the Seurs sisters about my not being interested in women. Would like to forget that, but it's not the first time ya hinted ya thought that so makes it kinda hard. What do I need to do or say to get it through that thick little human skull of yours that that ain't true."
"Only said that as a distraction. Know you have an interest in women, couldn't miss it with the way you smiled at Lynda."
"That the only hint you've picked up on?"
"Had a few others, yeah. Just don't know what to make of 'em."
"Suppose that depends on what you want to make of 'em." The Doctor had said after six breaths. "You want it to mean something, it can. Want it to be just a passing thing, can be that too."
"Well, what do you want?"
"Doesn't matter what I want. I have my rules, though never been much of a rule follower, me. And you, Rose Tyler, make me wanna break'em all. But that's not my call to make, not really."
She'd taken the leap and kissed him. It wasn't drawn out, nor was it overly quick. It wasn't chaste, but it wasn't sensual. It was perfection, a demonstration of deep love and utter devotion. Lips skimmed one another slowly, cheeks were cupped in palms, and they parted with a shuddering breath. But Rose had to get ready to return for a visit, and the Doctor had to get to the console room before Jack attempted to do anything that may upset the time ship.
Nothing seemed different when she entered. He didn't look at her, but he didn't avoid her either. He was his usual self, as if nothing had changed between them. Maybe it didn't.
"Rose!" Her mother's voice, shrieking like the end of the world was coming, echoed down the alley. "Rose!" Jackie called again, turning the corner and running as best she could toward the three of them.
A smile broke out over Rose's face whether she meant to or not, and she found her feet carrying her to her mother without conscious thought.
Jackie's arms came around her like a death grip, crushing Rose to her as if she meant to never let go. "Can't believe it took you so long to get back to me. You keep saying it's a time machine. You can be back in seconds, you say, but first you're gone a year, than months, and now months more. Thought you were dead, I did. Thought I'd be spending another Christmas without you."
"Sorry," She managed to get out just before Jackie squeezed her tighter.
Rose took a deep breath when Jackie finally released her, the cool air filling her lungs and nearly hurting. She took a slight step back, noting Mickey rounding the corner. The harsh light from the setting sun made it hard to see him, but Rose caught a glimpse of white teeth before he darted toward them.
"You ain't himself," She heard Jackie say behind her, and the smile Rose had for Mickey fell away. She turned back to her mother to watch her straighten her sweat shirt, fuss her hair a bit, and jut her hip a bit. Rose cringed, having seen the look Jackie was giving Jack a lot over the years. And it was always when she'd spotted a potential new boyfriend.
"Captain Jack Harkness. And you must be Jackie Tyler, I have been dying to meet you." Jack said as he came out of the TARDIS all charms and smiles, taking Jackie's hand and giving it a kiss.
"I remember that look," The Doctor said as he came up behind Rose. He placed his hand on the small of her back, appendage completely stiff and hardly making contact. But it was there, and anchor she didn't expect. "First time I met her. Went on about strange men in her bedroom and how anything could happen."
Rose whipped her head up and looked at him with a grimace. "Oi, now you tell me."
The Doctor, in turn, looked just as disgusted. "Was nothing to tell. Next she sees me, she …."
Smack!
The Doctor's head twisted uncomfortably as Jackie's palm made contact with his cheek. He glanced at Rose, appearing as stunned as he was the first time, before Jackie grabbed his jacket by the lapels and pulled him toward her. Before he could say a word, she pressed a hard, quick kiss on his lips.
"I love you for sending her back to me, but you deserved the slap for puttin' her in danger." Jackie said, shoving the Doctor back a little.
"Mum," Rose tried to chastise.
"Oh, Jackie, please." Jack got her attention, and the Doctor roughly ran the back of his hand over his mouth, then wiped it on his denim for good measure. "I swear to you, Rose, Doctor, and me were all pulled right out of the TARDIS. Kidnapped against our will."
"Not even the box is safe, then." Jackie noted, glancing at the TARDIS apprehensively.
"Mum, 's not like that." Rose rushed to smooth over, shooting Jack a glare before looking her mum in the eye and tried to reassure her. "Thing with the TARDIS? One off thing. Really. Just see lots of planets, stars, and try not to get ourselves into trouble."
"Just the bits in between, that." The Doctor grinned, rolling on the balls of his feet as he put his hands in his pockets. "And I sent Rose away to keep her away from it in the first place. My understanding is you had a hand in gettin' her back there. What's this I hear 'bout a big yellow truck?"
Jackie paled, eyes widening slightly at the mention of the wrecker, and Rose did her best to keep herself from grinning.
"Been standing here nearly ten minutes, not one of yous have said a word to me." Mickey piped up, hand on his hip while the other gestured at them.
"Ah, come 'ere, you." Rose said, turning to Mickey to give him a hug. She stepped back, allowing Jack to swoop in and give him one as well.
She looked to the Doctor who watched the whole thing with steeled eyes, closed off and giving nothing away as to what he was thinking or feeling. "You gonna come up?" Rose asked, and his eyes moved to hers in an instant.
"No." He said without pause. He hesitated, eyes shifting the trio conversing, a vague mention of cooking and Christmas that Rose couldn't latch on to. "Need to do some work on the TARDIS." He said finally. "But don't mind me, go have Christmas with your Mum and Rickey."
"Okay," She said, heart sinking. She looked down at her fingers, twisting them together.
"Be right here if you need me." He added, and she peeked up at him to see the hint of sincerity and a smile in his eyes.
Rose nodded, turning away with trepidation, wanting to stay with him even though she also wanted to see her mum. She glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor, catching his nod of encouragement as she made to follow Jackie, Mickey, and Jack as they headed back toward the flats.
She was loathed to admit it, but the second she turned the corner and he was out of sight, she missed him as much as she worried.
He's the Doctor, he doesn't do domestics, and here he was allowing her to kiss him in the medbay, spent the better part of a week opening up to her in different ways.
Rose was sure she'd hear the TARDIS engines grind as her home and her heart disappeared. When she didn't hear anything but Christmas music by the time they reached the flat, she let out the slightest sigh of relief.
~DWDWDW~
He watched her walk away until she wasn't visible anymore, then the Doctor returned to the TARDIS. He had to peel himself away from the blue box as it was, knowing he should have said "hi" to Jackie at the very least. But now that that was done, and regretting it more and more with each thought of that kiss, he wanted to go to his magnificent time ship and see why she had a slightly rougher landing than she'd typically have.
His first instinct was to blame Jack, the chaffing on his time senses fading off more and more the further away from him he got. He wanted to believe the TARDIS was having a moment, a spasm of discomfort, as they left the time vortex for London.
But they had already gone on a few trips without issue, and the TARDIS wouldn't be stubborn when he was already on board. And it was that secondary thought that made him scan the whole area before stepping inside.
Bad Wolf.
He was sure that the whole thing was done. When she returned to him in golden light with his beloved ship, declaring herself the Bad Wolf and that the words were there to lead her back to him, he was sure it was over. But when he saw those words in the Noel Theater, he nearly regenerated from shock. And since this was where Rose would have ended up before, where she would have seen "bad wolf" spray painted all over the playground nearby, the Doctor was on edge with the possibility of seeing it again. He was desperate for it to be a fluke of Leatis, marking it as a place they should have visited before, and hadn't. But that rough landing ….
The Doctor immediately began running scans, wanting to ensure there wasn't anything wrong with the blue and green planet while he worked on some wiring. Maybe the landing was rough now because of something Rose had done while ripping open the console, and it didn't become evident until now.
The tinkering soon distracted him, as it usually did. He began to hum to himself before that turned singing, his voice loud in the empty console room. The TARDIS changed her hum in tune with him, and he had to grin a bit at the impromptu duet he and the Old Girl were engaged in.
Lost in song and work as he was, he didn't hear the faint beep coming from the console.
~DWDWDW~
"I keep feeling like I'm walking in on you two in compromising situations." Jack teased as he, Rose, and Mickey walked through the streets of London with bags of groceries as well as a couple wrapped Christmas gifts they picked up last minute. "You're always curled up and around each other on the library sofa, peeking you two in the carriage, the horse back ride to and from the mayor's house on Leatis. Oh, and the whole hotel room thing where it looked like you to were doing something I would do on the couch before I walked in."
"You'd do just about anything or anyone, wouldn't you?" Mickey made it sound like it was meant to take a jab at Jack. He seemed to be in a good mood when they'd first arrived at the flat. When Jackie went on about not having anything but meat paste, and Rose offered to go and get a few things, he'd been quick to offer to come along. Even when Jack insisted he come along as well, Mickey didn't flinch. But somewhere between popping in and out of the shops to grab some gifts, and the stop to the market to get supplies for a Christmas dinner, Mickey's mood darkened.
"'S not like that, Jack. Really." Rose replied before he could elaborate on what exactly those compromising situations where in his eyes.
As soon as the Doctor was out of his healing coma and able to move around, they were nearly attached to the hip. The library wasn't anything new, but the carriage ride Jack had spoken of was. The carriage was teasing and flirting, but there was an intimacy between them that she couldn't deny. The sofa in their suite was just as weighted, having just discussed his regeneration cycle and how if he was going to regenerate into someone she liked, he wouldn't have changed his looks. The horse ride … well, they had just kissed before leaving the mayor's house. A quick one, nothing like the one in the medbay, but it was the start, the spark, the … something. Maybe the beginning, Rose wasn't sure.
But all that aside, Mickey was right there, to her left, gripping the groceries in his arms like a child held a lovie. She parted ways with him with cruel words, and she was aware of it. Desperate as she was to get back to her Doctor, she said there was nothing left for her in London any more. It wasn't true, not at its core, but it was long too late to explain them. He didn't need to hear false tellings of what he helped her return to.
"If you say so, Rosie." Jack said with a knowing smirk, shrugging it off.
The sounds of Christmas songs flowed around them as people weaved past them. Last minute shoppers, the lot of them, and Rose was right there with them. She'd had the intention of picking up her gifts on Leatis, but the clockwork droids sort of distracted her from shopping. They'd left pretty quickly after the theatre's destruction, and she wasn't about to request one more stop before heading back to see her Mum.
"They sent a probe out in space." Mickey said in way of conversation. "Called it Guinevere One. Supposed to be a symbol of Britain's limitless ambition, or something like that. I dunno, something Harriet Jones said."
"Harriet Jones?" Rose stopped short.
"Yeah," Mickey said with a shrug. "She's our new Prime Minister. Done great things, she has."
Rose smiled wide, shaking her head slightly. "Doctor said she would bring in 'Britain's Golden Age'." She said as they continued on down the road. "Stopped World War Three with her, that day with the Slitheen at 10 Downing."
"Right," Mickey said. "Had nothing to do with that."
"Oh, stop." Rose said, bumping his shoulder with her own. "Know you helped. You were the one who blew us up."
"You blew them up?" Jack asked, peeking around Rose. "Gotta hear this story."
Mickey smiled proudly, his chest puffing out a slight bit as he started the tale from the moment he was comforting Jackie in his flat.
He was blowing up Downing Street by the time they'd made it back to the estates. The TARDIS was there, right there. Rose was sorely tempted to poke her head in, ask once more if he'd be willing to come up. But that would be domestic, and she was fairly certain sharing a bed was as domestic as the Doctor would dare get at the moment.
She followed behind the boys as they crossed the empty lot and up the stairs to Tyler flat. They chatted about mechanical things, though she wasn't paying attention to what. Mickey had opened the door with a familiarity she'd have thought would have slackened since she'd been gone nearly two years for him, but she didn't question it.
Not with the Doctor sitting in an arm chair with a mug in hand, looking up at them like she was the strange sight.
"Where you lot been?" He asked, setting the mug down on the coffee table Jackie had picked up at some point during the time Rose had gone missing.
"Umm," Was her stellar response.
"Shopping," Jack declared, setting down the wrapped gifts he'd been carrying and plucked the grocery bag off Rose's hip.
"What'd ya need to do that for?" The Doctor asked, frowning more as he glanced at Jack and back at Rose while rubbing his palms on his jeans.
"Because you brought her back at Christmas, you plum." Jackie said as she came into the room from the kitchen. There's a mug of tea in her hand, a plate of biscuits in the other, and she moved between the two chairs to sit on the sofa. She reached across the space between she and the Doctor, offering the biscuits without setting them down. The Doctor took one up with a quick 'ta.' It was a bit unsettling to see the two of them in such a setting, seeming as though this was a completely normal affair. "Can't make a proper Christmas meal on meat paste." Jackie added as she set the biscuits on the table beside her.
"Needed the ingredients for a nut loaf, then?" The Doctor quipped around a mouthful of biscuit.
Jackie flashed him a glare, and Rose thought she noticed her mum's hand twitch as if she wanted to smack him.
Alright, so it wasn't quite as unsettling anymore.
"What ya doing up here anyway? Thought you were gonna tinker in the TARDIS or something?" Rose asked, moving to the Doctor's side and sitting on the arm rest.
He glanced at the kitchen with a bit of wince, then met her gaze before nodding toward the telly. "Picked something on the scanner while you were out." He started, his voice loud in the small flat. "Something floating just a few million miles outside Earth's atmosphere, and gettin' closer."
"Yeah, so?" Mickey asked from the kitchen. "Probe thing got sent out, yeah? Probably just that."
The Doctor looked over the back of the chair at Mickey in through the space in the wall like he just told the Doctor circles weren't round. "Know how many probes and satellites you lot send up into space? Thousands. TARDIS picked up each one of those, scanner'd never work." He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and returning his attention to the television. "No, something else is up there. Likely, anyway. And you lot lost contact with that probe earlier."
"Trouble?" Rose asked.
The Doctor peeked up at her. "Seems like."
"The pair of you." Jackie said, shaking her head, pulling Rose's attention. "Seems every time you're around, something happens. Shop dummies roaring to life, aliens that explode with vinegar, bloody Porcupines. I think, for once, it's just what it looks like." She finished with a definitive nod as if her word was absolute.
"Jacks, where do you keep the pots and pans?" Jack called from the kitchen.
The Doctor stiffened. "You know, on second thought, I can find the news reports back on the TARDIS. Might take a while, scanning all the channels, but sure I can find it." He said with a put on smile as he got to his feet. Jackie rolled her eyes as she stood, heading into the kitchen to help Jack.
"Hey," Rose said, grabbing the Doctor's hand. He stopped, but he didn't look at her. "I get it, yeah. You don't do this. You don't do families, or tea with my mum, or Christmas. But you came up here for a reason. Knew you could have watched the news in the console room, so what'd you come up here for?"
He didn't say anything, and for the longest time he didn't move. Then he turned his head ever so slightly, blue eyes finding hers. She could practically hear his thoughts, though she knew there was no way it could actually happen. The longing that sparkled back at her was enough to make her face heat up, and the willingness to suffer through Jack and Jackie made the corner of her mouth lift slightly.
It felt like the whole flat when silent, except for the telly.
"Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope. But it was just a blip." The man on the news said, the sound feeling deafening. A blink, and the Doctor turned to the television, letting his hand slip from hers and putting his in his pockets. He shifted slightly toward the television as the man on screen continued. "Only disappeared for a few seconds. She's fine now, absolutely fine. We … we're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now." He dismissed himself, and the report returned to the woman in the studio.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the screen, but she was pretty sure he wasn't paying attention to it at all. He seemed distant, sucked into his own thoughts.
"Hey, Rosie," Jack called from the kitchen, and she tilted her head toward him. "What was that thing we had on that planet?"
It was filler conversation, one Rose knew to ignore the second her mother started rambling on about travel giving her "airs and graces", and she focused on the television. Crossing her arms, shifting her weight to one leg, she watched as the reporter announced they were about to go to the live feed from the Guinevere one probe.
There was static on the screen, and something brownish red coming through the fuzz.
"Funny sort of rocks." Jackie commented as she came in from the kitchen.
"That's not rocks." The Doctor and Rose said in sync with one another, though Rose didn't peel her eyes away from the screen. Mickey snorted from somewhere behind her, but Rose ignored him as the brownish-red image became a figure came into focus on the screen.
It went fuzzy a few more times before the whole thing became startlingly clear, and what appeared was an alien in all its stereotypical glory, growling at the them through the screen.
Rose, Jackie, and Mickey all gasped, and Rose felt familiar hands grip her arms and steady her.
"Sycorax." Jack said from directly behind her.
"But what are they doing here?" The Doctor asked, voice gruff with thought. He turned to Rose, a spark of curiosity in his eye. "What are they doing all the way out here floating above this little planet? And only one ship? Well, only one ship that I noted."
"Maybe it's a fly by?" Jack suggested, giving Rose's arms a bit of a rub before letting go and stepping toward the Doctor. "Thousands of alien ships go by the planet all the time, hostile or otherwise. But it's a level five planet, they can't do anything to it."
"Says the man who sent a chula war ship to Earth and nearly had it taken over by zombies in the 1940s?" The Doctor quipped.
"Don't be daft." Jackie scoffed. "Zombies didn't happen in 1940."
"Was there, mum." Rose said, glancing at Jackie long enough to see her shift uncomfortably.
"So what do we do?" Jack asked, gesturing at the screen as the news reader tried their best to keep composure.
"We wait." The Doctor replied, turning completely toward them. "Not much else we can do, really. For all we know, the Sycorax are just passing through, as Jack said. Scooped up your little probe and thought to scare a few humans for a laugh. They're an aggressive lot, and provoking them when they had no intentions of coming down here won't do anyone any good."
~DWDWDW~
It had been an hour or two since the Sycorax appeared on the screen. The Doctor had returned to his spot in the arm chair, and Rose had found herself sitting on the sofa with Jack. He was tucked into the corner, and she was resting against him, accepting his arm partly around her.
Jackie, of course, kept giving her smiles and looks of approval. If she'd paid any amount of attention to how Rose and the Doctor were earlier, she promptly discarded what she saw the moment Rose and Jack curled up together. From her spot she couldn't see Mickey in the adjacent arm chair, but she was fairly certain she wouldn't want to know what he thought of the whole thing.
"We are finally receiving word from the Prime Minister on the situation involving the Guinevere One probe." The news reader announced. "While not available for comment herself, she has gone on to say that there is no cause for alarm. The transmission feed was hijacked by a group of students from a local university. It would seem the hoax was completed by a group of drama majors displaying their skills with prosthetics."
"Bull." Jack said firmly.
"Agreed," The Doctor replied, his focus still on the news. "Which means …."
"The government knows it's not a hoax." Jack added.
"And may have somehow already made first contact." The Doctor said, his tone becoming more thoughtful as his gaze shifted and he went inside his head.
Silence lingered heavy among the five of them as the news reader changed the story to something else for the mean time.
"Suppose this is when the bright lights and the UNIT task force come raining down." Rose mused.
At that, the Doctor shot up on his feet, looking down at her and Jack. "The TARDIS." He said before dashing out the flat.
Jack and Rose scrambled to get to their feet, moving as quick as they could to follow the Time Lord and ignoring the shouts and threats of Jackie.
They caught up to him just as he rounded the corner to the alley where he parked their beloved Time Ship, and just in time to see a small group of soldiers prepared to knock on the door.
"Looking for me?" The Doctor asked, startling each of the soldiers before they shifted to stand at attention. The Doctor slowed to a saunter. "Last time aliens were around London, you lot brought in bloody helicopters to find me. This go around you send a little welcome party to knock on the door."
"Sir!" One said, offering a salute as Jack and Rose slowed to a stop beside him.
She could hear the pounding of another set of feet trying to catch up to them.
"Please don't salute." The Doctor said with a quick, insincere grin.
The solider dropped his arm immediately, and just as Mickey slowed to a stop and bent over to catch his breath.
"Prime Minister Harriet Jones has inquired if your whereabouts were spotted. We noted your TARDIS, and …."
"Yes, well, here I am. You went out lookin' and I turned up. So, Harriet Jones, good to hear. Nice, friendly face we can deal with." The Doctor turned to Jack who stood to his left. "Met her when Rose and I stopped the Slitheen invasion." He then turned to the soldier. "Right, so, you lot prepared to escort all three of us?"
"Three?" Mickey wheezed, and the Doctor looked over at him with raised brows and a bit of surprise. "What about me?"
"What about you?" The Doctor asked, and Rose glared at him. He seemed to sense it, and after a fleeting glance her way, he rolled his eyes. "Alright, up ya get, Ricky."
"It's Mickey." He grumbled on a pant, though if the Doctor heard he didn't acknowledge it.
"Four of us, then." The Doctor said to the soldiers.
The one that seemed to be in charge nodded. "Follow me, Sir. Men, fall out." He ordered, waving everyone along.
Without thought, Rose slipped her hand into the Doctor's. It wasn't until he held it a little tighter that she even acknowledged the habitual gesture. She peeked up at him from the corner of her eye, finding him looking back with the slightest hint of a smile forming.
They piled into two cars, and because she was already connected to the Doctor, they were placed together. The doors were closed behind them, and it suddenly hit Rose that they were alone for the first time since leaving the medbay on the TARDIS hours ago.
She cleared her throat, tugged at her jumper with one hand as she tucked her hair behind her ear with the other.
"Took out your earrings." The Doctor noted as he looked out the window.
The car started pulling away.
"Never put them back in after Leatis." Rose replied. "Sorta forgot about them."
The Doctor nodded.
"Mum seems to like Jack." She offered in way of conversation.
The Doctor scoffed. "'Course she would. Jack's her type: willing male with a pulse."
"Oi," Rose smacked him on the arm, and the Doctor's face split into a wide grin. Rose could barely keep herself from mirroring it. "That's my Mum you're talking about, there."
"'There's a strange man in my room, and I'm in my dressing gown.'" The Doctor quoted, his voice high as he attempted to imitate Jackie and failed. "And let's not forget last I was here, someone named Billy. Earlier I heard her go on about some Howard from the Market. 'Magine we leave the two of them alone long enough …."
"Let's not think 'bout that, shall we?" Rose cut him off, making him chuckle. "Think of Jack like a brother, and the thought of him shagging my mum …."
"Wouldn't worry 'bout that. Jack knows better, really." The Doctor said, hand covering hers.
Rose's heart skipped a beat, despite the common gesture, and she shifted her fingers apart. The Doctor's fingers fell between them, curling into her palm, and hers curled around them.
He sighed, mumbled something about rules as he shifted and looked out the window.
Rose licked her lips, tugged at her jumper. "So tell me more 'bout UNIT. Said you worked for them before, or rather, Mickey did." She furrowed her brow. "Hold on a mo', would Mickey have known about regeneration? Working for UNIT, said you changed a lot since the old days, would that mean …."
"That was always kept quiet, off the record." The Doctor turned his head sharply toward her, meeting her eye and projecting reassurance so strongly, Rose felt it settle in her bones. "Some knew I changed, of course. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, head of UNIT, is one of a few that knew. Maybe we'll meet him today." He added thoughtfully.
"What did you do for them?" Rose asked. "UNIT. Can't quite picture you the soldier, not like them."
"But I am a soldier." He reminded her gently. "Old and broken one, me."
"Not broken." Rose said as she shifted toward him, placing her other hand between his hearts. "Did what you had to, yeah?"
His eyes darted about her face. "Not gonna say I'm not old?"
"Got nearly 900 years on me. Bit hard to counter that, yeah?" She retorted, smiling with her tongue between her teeth.
He glanced down at it before meeting her eye again. His fingers tightened against her hand.
"It's too much, isn't it?" Rose asked softly, barely having the courage to say it. "Everything that's happened since the Game Station, since I came back for you. You kissed me expecting to die, and didn't. I altered our best friend, and you can't stand to be around him. Feel obligated, too, don't ya? Know what you said, but seems like maybe you'd like me to take it back anyway. Can do, you know. If … if it makes this, us, easier, or whatever."
The Doctor frowned, mouth opening to say something before closing again as he looked more and more perplexed.
Before he could address Rose's concerns, the car stopped, and the soldiers in the front got out.
Rose blushed, suddenly not only mortified by the fact she'd forgotten entirely about them, but that they'd have heard the whole conversation. What must she look like to these people who saluted the Doctor? Simpering, fawning, hero-worshiping teenager who was being more than a tad foolish.
They said nothing as she climbed out of the car, keeping their faces devoid of any emotion as they shut the doors behind them. As she fell slightly behind the Doctor, Jack and Mickey came up beside her. The former was all business in expression but kept a hand on her back, the latter looked worried but kept his hands stuffed in his pockets.
They were led inside, and it was a blur of clearance and the likes until finally they were brought into a room that was filled with monitors charting various things, as well as more soldiers than Rose had ever properly seen at one time.
"Probably for the best Mum stayed in the flat." She said out loud without meaning to.
The Doctor looked at her over his shoulder. "You said it." He mused.
"I'm not complaining." Jack said as he put his hands on his hips and took in the sight around him.
Before anyone could say a thing to that, a familiar face came up to them with a wide, relieved smile. "Doctor." She said, arms out to the side as she gazed up at him.
"Harriet Jones." The Doctor replied, hugging the new prime minister. "Won the election, then?" He asked with a grin.
"Landslide majority." She replied as she stepped back, leaving it so one hand of his was still on her arm.
"And how's your mother?" He asked sincerely.
"She's well, thank you."
"You remember Rose?" The Doctor asked, reaching back and barely managing to get a grasp on Rose to bring her forward.
"Of course," Harriet smiled warmly, pulling Rose into as tight an embrace as Jackie would be known to give. "Could never forget a brave woman like you."
"'S good to see you," Rose smiled, returning the hug as much as she could before stepping out of the way.
"Captain Jack Harness," Jack stepped forward instantly, offering his hand.
"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister." She returned the introduction, a slight glint in her eye though still all business. "A friend of the Doctor's and Rose?"
"Tried for more, but they wouldn't let me." Jack countered with a wink.
"Oi, not the time, Harkness." The Doctor snapped. "That's Rickey…."
"Mickey." Mickey interjected.
"He's the one who helped us out with the missile launch back on Downing street. But enough of that, you lot were looking for me for a reason. Alistair send you?"
"The Brigadier is actually on vacation, as it were." A tall, imposing man said as he saluted the Doctor. "Major Blake, sir."
The Doctor frowned, gesturing for the major not to salute before rolling his eyes and looking around the room. "Right, so, Harriet, what was I sent for?"
"Alex, could you bring up the footage?" She asked a young man who seemed to be hovering just a few feet away. He was oddly handsome in a way that might have earned him the title of "pretty boy" from the Doctor. Jack made a noise, like a hum of approval, and Rose rolled her head around to see Jack give him more than one appreciative once over.
Alex stepped forward eagerly, tapping on a tablet, bringing up something on the large monitor above.
The aliens from before reappeared, though looking far more menacing than what was on the telly back at her Mum's flat. It looked almost like their faces were cattle skulls, with a dip down the center, and lacking horns. Their eyes were red, and sent a vibe of danger greater than any creature Rose had encountered thus far.
"Inhabitants," One hissed in a deep, rumbling voice. It was impossible to tell which alien on the screen it was as non of them had mouths that moved. "You belong to us, to the Sycorax. We own you. Your land, your minerals, you precious stones. You will surrender or they will die! Sycorax mighty, Sycorax rock!"
Rose peeked at the Doctor, trying to ignore the hammering on her heart and slow her breathing. The Oncoming Storm was there in his eyes while he remained stoic in appearance to anyone who didn't know him.
"Do you know what they're saying, Doctor?" Harriet asked.
"What, you mean you can't?" Jack asked, genuinely confused.
"TARDIS translation matrix only works for those who are passengers." The Doctor reminded. "You, me, Rose, we all heard the message. These lot can't."
"I heard it." Mickey said, voice thick with fear. "Been on that bloody ship of yours once already, remember?"
"Barely consider that being a passenger, but if the TARDIS likes you that much." The Doctor grumbled as he pulled his sonic out of his jacket and pointed it at the control deck they were standing in front of. The sonic whirred, and a tiny blonde yelped and slid back a bit as the monitor she was in front of sparked.
"Sorry 'bout that …." The Doctor asked, looking down at her.
"Sally," She replied.
"Right. Sorry 'bout that, Sally. Promise, no damage. In fact, mind bringing up that footage again, or does it need to be the pretty boy over there?" The Doctor asked, gesturing to Alex who frowned in confusion.
"Oi, Rude." Rose said.
The Doctor stiffened but said nothing, looking expectantly at Sally.
She cleared her throat. "Alex, could you bring it up again, please?" She asked without looking back at what seemed to be Harriet's assistant.
He tapped against his tablet again, and the video replayed again.
While Rose already knew what they were saying, it was clear by the looks from the rest of them that they had no inkling of what the Sycorax had threatened before. Rose stepped up to Harriet and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and her a kind, sympathetic smile as the prime minister heard the threats for the first time.
When the video ended, the entire room was silent for nearly a full minute.
"'They will die'." The balding man from before repeated. "Not 'you will die', 'they will day'. Who's they?"
"Anyone go missing?" The Doctor asked. "Political figures, royalty, anyone of significance that the world would notice? Have to be quite recently, the Sycorax were still a bit out when my ship detected theirs." The Doctor asked, turning on heel to look at both Harriet and Major Blake at once.
"Your … ship?" The balding man asked.
"Yes, my ship. Landed here bout four or five hours ago, now. Picked the ship up on my scanner, but didn't quite know what it was. Not 'til I saw the news." The Doctor replied in a blase sort of tone.
"You're … you're an alien." The balding man repeated with disbelief.
"Yeah, that's right," The Doctor frowned, looking to Major Blake. "Thought everyone with this sorta clearance at UNIT had been briefed about me?"
"Mister Danny Llewellyn is from the BRG, and was in charge of the Guinevere One Probe launch." Harriet explained, letting go of Rose's hand as she stepped forward. "He's still a bit new to the concept of alien life."
"Ah," The Doctor said, a nod of understanding paired with a grin that he flashed to the clearly overwhelmed Llewellyn.
"No one reported missing, Sir." Sally said from where she sat, pulling the Doctor's attention back to her. "No one taken off planet as far as we can tell. At least not within the last forty-eight hours."
"Thank you, Sally." The Doctor beamed.
Rose immediately hugged herself, though she forced the green eyed monster threatening to resurface to stay locked away. She was the one who had pushed the Doctor, and he seemed to have a thing for pretty women who weren't her. Especially blondes. At least that's what she'd gathered from watching him with Lynda, Suki, and now Sally.
"So who were they threatening?" Llewellyn asked, seeming to have gathered back some of his wits. "If no one has been taken, who is the 'they' they threatened?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't believe we should counter them with threats of our own." Harriet said thoughtfully, crossing the room in a one-way pace. When she turned on heel, she put her fist to her chin, and then gestured toward the Doctor. "What if we sent them a reply, telling them that this is a day of peace on Planet Earth, and we extend that peace to the Sycorax?"
"Could do." The Doctor started.
"Except the Sycorax aren't exactly a peaceful species." Jack added.
Harriet eyed him suspiciously. "You aren't from the CIA, are you? Sent here by the US President to try and persuade me into a war?"
"With all do respect, ma'am, I'm not even from this planet." Jack replied honestly. "But I have encountered the Sycorax before, and they are not a peaceful bunch. May I?" He asked Alex, gesturing to the tablet. Alex handed it over, and with a few quick flicks, Jack had the footage of the Sycorax back up on the screen, the image frozen. "See that sort of ring the one on the left has down by his hips? It's white, sorta looks like bone? That's because it is. The Sycorax are so violent a race that part of their marriage ceremony is to break off the bottom ribs of their mates and wear them as a symbol of their union." Jack explained, and Rose cringed and shuddered at the thought.
She hadn't expected to feel Mickey put his hand on her lower back, arm curling around her waist, but she didn't stop him either. It was a minor comfort, and with the Doctor over by Sally, she sure wasn't going to get it from him.
"So what do you propose we do, then, Captain?" Harriet asked.
Jack shared a nervous look with the Doctor. "I'd send that message. One ship, no others around, maybe this particular bunch were exiled for not being tyrant enough. But you make sure you tell them that this planet is armed, too. I know," He said, holding up a hand in the Doctor's direction as the Time Lord was about to say something. "I know it's not the way we should go about this, Doc. I get it. But hopefully it doesn't come down to their weapons versus ours."
The Doctor's jaw tightened as he stared down Jack like he could find an argument if he searched long enough. Eventually, his shoulders slacked, and he nodded. "Go on, Prime Minister. Send the message, just as the Captain suggested. But do it quick. 'Cording to Sally's screen, here, ship's about five hours out."
~DWDWDW~
"Where are you?" Jackie asked over the phone as Rose paced about the roof of the UNIT head quarters.
While waiting for word from the Sycorax, it was made clear none of them would be leaving anytime soon. Rose had eventually fallen asleep in a chair, and woke to find nothing had changed except for the hour.
Finding the whole room a touch too busy, Jack and the Doctor occupied with logistics, or whatever, with Harriet, Rose wanted to get some air. A UNIT soldier was standing by the door, Doctor's orders, though was keeping a respectable distance from where Rose chatted on the phone with her mother.
"Mum," Rose tried to interrupt to explain, but it was clear Jackie Tyler had built a rant up in her absence, and Rose was about to hear it. Stuffing her free hand in the pocket of Alex's wool pea coat, something both he and Harriet insisted she have, she settled in to listen to her mum's tyraid.
"Here you are, coming back here after months of not a word, not one word as to whether or not you're dead or alive, and what's the first thing you do? Run after himself in the dead of night, chasing after 'im 'cause, what? Afraid he'd leave you? 'Fraid he was taking off somewhere? Well guess what, miss, that's what you've been doing to me. Every time I think you're back, you go runnin' of with 'im."
"You know I'm not leavin' 'im." Rose replied, frustrated. She sighed, taking a second to collect herself. "Wanted to let you know we didn't go anywhere. Didn't leave the planet, I mean. Got called in to help with something, is all. Don't know how much longer we'll be, but I promise, we'll be there to have dinner, yeah? Just get some rest, 'kay?"
"Are you safe?" Jackie asked, and Rose couldn't help but glance at the solider guarding the door.
"Safe as houses." Rose replied as the door to the roof opened. Mickey stepped outside, though no soldier followed him. He slowed his steps toward her, hands in his pockets, looking up and around and giving Rose space. "Look, mum, I gotta go, okay? Love you."
"Love you, too, sweetheart." Jackie said before she rang off.
Putting her mobile in her back pocket, Rose shot Mickey a grin over her shoulder before looking over the London skyline.
"So how long has it actually been for you?" Mickey asked as he came up beside her. "Since the big yellow truck, and you saying there's nothing here for you anymore?"
"Didn't mean it like that. Know that, yeah?" She asked him, barely able to look at one of her oldest friends.
Mickey nodded, bowing his head. "But you're not stayin', are you? Never gonna stay?"
Rose shook her head, reaching out and giving his shoulder a squeeze. "There's just so much out there."
"Then why do you keep comin' back?" Mickey asked, turning toward her and shifting Rose to face him in the process. "You said there was nothin' left for you here, so why are you?"
Rose stared at him incredulously. "You daft? There's you, there's mum. Only meant that I couldn't live a life of work, and telly, and chips. Couldn't … sit back and know he was giving his life and I wasn't there."
"But he made it through alright, so …." Mickey started to say.
"He made it through 'cause of me." Rose's voice nearly broke with pitch as she slapped Mickey on the chest and gave him a gentle shove. "Jack, the Doctor, they're still here 'cause of me. Can't explain how, but I almost lost 'em both, and I saved 'em. We need each other, Mickey, the three of us. But the Doctor needs us most. And I'll tell you what, I'm never gonna leave 'im. Not for you, not for mum, not for anyone."
She was breathing hard, cheeks burning as she looked away.
"You really love him, don't you?" Mickey asked kindly, and it took a chunk of Rose's strength to finally look up at him.
Mickey was resigned, no fight left in him, complete understanding where Rose now realized there had been hope. From the moment she returned, she'd given him something to hold out for.
Knowing exactly how he felt, she pulled Mickey into a tight hug.
"'M sorry." She said in the spot between his shoulder and his neck. "Haven't been the best to you. Deserve better than me, you do."
Mickey didn't say anything as he hugged her back, and maybe it was for the best.
When they parted, and Rose looked out of London once more. The sky was starting to lighten, the hints of dawn tinting the horizon.
"Think they were about to receive a reply or something when I came up." Mickey informed her. "Wanna head back in, or …?"
"Yeah," Rose said, nodding before turning away from the sight and headed back inside.
The room was still a buzz when they entered, the Doctor, Jack, and Harriet heavily focused on something on Sally's screen. Alex was hovering just a few feet away from them, and gave her a gentle smile as she came toward him. She shrugged off his coat, handing it over to him. "Thanks." She said.
"You didn't steal the peppermints in the pocket, did you?" Alex asked with a hint of amusement.
Rose laughed, brushing back her hair. "No, all peppermints are accounted for." She could feel a familiar gaze on her, and her eyes met the icy blues of the Doctor. She wasn't sure if the storm brewing behind them was from the alien situation, Alex's gallantry, or both.
"Response is going up." Sally said, and everyone's focus was immediately brought to the big screen over head.
The Sycorax said nothing, but the one most front and center raised its hand toward them. The appendage glowed blue, and the Sycorax twisted it in a menacing way that sort of reminded Rose of someone using magic.
"What was that? Was that the reply?" Harriet asked as the footage ended.
"Looks like." The Doctor frowned, turning to Jack.
"Almost like someone casting a spell." Llewellyn observed.
"Superstitious lot, the Sycorax," The Doctor said, turning back to the balding man and away from the perplexed former time agent. "Looks like magic, but really technology."
A blue flicker caught Rose's attention, and she noticed something glowing around Sally's head, as well as a few others in the room. Her brows drew together as she watched them all stop what they were doing, rising to their feet if they were sitting, and moving toward the exit she and Mickey had come back in from.
"What the hell?" Llewellyn asked. "It's the light!" He added as another pulse went over the affected members.
The Doctor stepped in front of Sally, taking steps back in time with her forward movement. "Sally? Sally? Do you hear me? Sally, it's the Doctor, look at me." He tried to hold her back, but not with any great effort before pulling out his sonic. He gave her a scan, allowing her to pass with the others. He studied the readings, an unease affecting his posture.
"They're all heading in the same direction." Harriet noted as she started to follow them, stopping beside the Doctor.
"It's only certain people." Llewellyn noted. "Why isn't it affecting us?"
"They're in a hypnotic trance." The Doctor said. "There's something about them that's connecting them, a link of some form."
"It's not just here in UNIT," Alex noted. "It's happening all over the country."
"Likely the world." The Doctor countered. He then plucked a walkie talkie, or some form of communicator, off a passing soldier and tossed it to Mickey. "Follow them, tell us where they're going and what they're doing. They're hypnotized, but they shouldn't do anything to harm themselves. Though this ain't like other cases I've seen."
Mickey nodded, looking over his shoulder at Rose before disappearing.
"You've seen this before?" Llewellyn asked.
"All over the universe in one form or another. But this is new. Mass hypnosis, but on a specific scale …." The Doctor explained.
"I haven't seen this, but I heard of it." Jack volunteered some information. "It was biologically linked somehow."
"But 's not like they're all family." Rose noted. "Not that way."
"Hypnosis can be broken." Llewellyn said, determination and fear all in one as he charged toward the exit. "Maybe I can find the right words. Maybe if I say the right thing to Sally …." His voice trailed off as disappeared down the hall. A few of the soldiers followed him out of the room, maybe in an effort to help or perhaps to go after him, Rose wasn't sure.
"I'm getting an update, Prime Minister." Alex said, his voice a touch shaky. "It's … it's like the Doctor said. It's not just the whole country, it's the whole world."
Harriet went to her assistant, taking up the tablet, looking over it and quietly discussing something.
Rose could sense the Doctor coming up behind her, but she didn't expect to feel his hands on her arms, just below her shoulders. "Have you checked on your mother?" He asked in a low voice, breath against her cheek.
She ignored the thrill that went through her. "Not since I was on the roof." She replied, turning her head slightly toward him.
"Give her a ring, make sure she's alright." He said, giving her arms a squeeze before stepping around her and joining Harriet and Alex.
Rose took her phone out her back pocket, redialing her Mum's number.
She answered on the second ring. "Rose! Rose, is that you? Are you alright? Where's Mickey? He alright too?"
"We're all fine, mum." She replied. "But listen …."
"It's Jason, Sandra's Jason from next door, and both the kids. Near half the estate is heading up to the roof. So many people already up there, Rose. What's going on?"
"We're figuring that out, alright? Just … just stay safe." She rang off, moving to the others, Jack having joined the trio around the tablet while Rose was talking. "Mum's fine." She said, "But she says there're people …."
"On the roof?" The Doctor guessed. "Yeah."
"Mickey informed us while you were checking in on Jackie." Jack explained. "Said they all went right up to the edge and stopped."
"We need to figure out just how many people are under the Sycorax control." The Doctor stated, looking from Harriet to Alex. "Might give us an idea on how they're controlling them."
"Yes, sir." Alex replied, leaving the tablet in the Doctor's hand and moving for a computer. Jack joined him, and while Rose expected a light flirt, Jack was the picture of seriousness as he went to work.
Rose hung back, feeling rather useless with no knowledge she could offer, and no skills that could help.
She looked back at the screens behind as she chewed her thumb. Some had freeze frames of the Sycorax, others had last known whereabouts of the probe, the path it had taken. Rose narrowed her eyes at it, trying to remember what she could from school.
"What was on the probe?" She asked, looking to Harriet.
She shrugged. "Information, I suppose. I know that there were samples of various things sent up, though I wasn't sure it would really matter. I can't exactly reveal my experience with the Slitheen to anyone. As it is, there's an act of Parliament banning my autobiography." Rose chuckled with Harriet at the ridiculousness of it, the stress of the day and events ebbing slightly. "But that said, I didn't have the heart to tell Mister Llewellyn that sending samples of rocks and minerals, and the like to the stars was rather unnecessary."
"So he actually sent it up? Dirt, and rocks, and records with our languages, and the like?" Rose asked. Before Harriet could respond, something clicked. "Wait, samples? Would he have sent up, I dunno, human tissue or something?"
Harriet frowned before realization dawned on her. "Oh my God." She replied.
"Jack," The Doctor snapped, "Go find Danny Boy, and bring him back here. We need to know what that stupid ape sent out into the universe for any ol' creature to get their hands on. Alex," He said to the assistant. "What did you and Jack find out?"
"Well, sir, about a third of the world population is standing on the edge of any building high enough that a fall would be fatal." He replied from where he sat in front of the computers. "That said, Captain Harkness was trying to find a pattern among the affected. It seems as though there's a parent-child connection, some siblings. Family groups, but husbands and wives are not necessary."
"So that would mean …." The Doctor started to say as Llewellyn came rushing in with Jack right behind him.
"Blood." He panted and gasped. "I … I … I sent a sample of blood. From a willing volunteer, mind."
"Alex?" The Doctor turned back to the man in the suit.
"Bringing it up now, sir." He replied. Moments passed, and Rose was back to chewing her thumb as the tension in the air mounted. "According to the medical records, Sally Jacobs, Luke Parsons, and Jeffrey Baxter, three of those who walked out, are all blood type A positive."
"And I take it about a third of Earth's population at this time is A positive?" Jack asked.
"Looks like." The Doctor said. "Blood control, not something that the Sycorax should have. Old technology picked up on a scavenge, I'd say. But the odd thing is, it's all hypnosis. They have control of the A Positives, but only so much."
"Can't make them jump, then?" Rose asked.
The Doctor shook his head, "Urge to live is too strong, there's no way they could do it. But doesn't mean they didn't make them vulnerable." He turned to Harriet, "How quick can you get on the radio, telly, anything?"
"Quick as I need to be, why?" Harriet replied.
"Gonna have to convince the public to get to safety, make 'em understand that their family on the roof isn't gonna go anywhere, but for the time being they gotta get to safety." The Doctor reasoned. He opened his mouth as if to say more, but was interrupted by blaring alarms.
Alex instantly went looking for information within the computer system. "Prime Minister, I believe that's the Sycorax ship entering our atmosphere."
"Creating a sonic boom, shattering windows all over." The Doctor said, looking coldly at the ceiling as if it didn't hinder the view of the ship.
Rose moved around, the banks of computers to stand by the Doctor, wanting to comfort him but still not certain if she should. Jack came up beside her, and seemed to notice at the same time as she had that there was something blinking on a monitor next to Alex.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing it out.
"They're transmitting." Alex replied. "Brining them up on screen." He said, looking at the large one above them.
The Sycorax appeared above screen. "Will the leader of this world stand forward?" One asked, his voice gruff and demanding.
Harriet went to move, but the Doctor held out his hand to stop her. "I got this Harriet," He said with jovial tone as he stepped forward. "Not the leader, exactly, but I am the defender. What do the Sycorax want?" He asked the screen with an authority no one would dare question.
"Come aboard." The Sycorax replied.
The Doctor's hand wrapped tightly around Rose's. "Brace yourselves." He told the group as a blue light washed over them.
When the light faded, Rose's hand tightened around the Doctor's instinctively as she looked upon thousands of Sycorax. She looked about to see who was taken aboard, seeing Harriet and Alex on the other side of the Doctor, Jack at her right side.
One of the Sycorax moved forward, and the Doctor took a couple steps forward as well, letting go of her hand and giving Jack a look over his shoulder. Jack nodded, stepping just slightly ahead of her so she was somewhat shielded.
"What're you two up two?" She hissed out. "Not unable to take care of myself, you know."
Jack turned to meet her eye. "I'm in a unique position to make sure you stay safe." He reminded her.
"What about the Doctor?" She challenged.
"He can take care of himself." Jack said, turning just a bit more toward her. "Rose, he and I, we know how the Sycorax work. While you and Mickey were catching a few Zs, we discussed this, what would happen if it came to this sort of meeting. Like the Doctor said, the Sycorax are a suspicious bunch, and I …." His mouth moved around the word can't, and Rose nodded, understanding what he was getting at, but not liking it one bit.
"Suppose I know what's gonna happen next, then." She said, voice shaking as she watched the Doctor stand before the Sycorax leader with his head held high.
The leader reached for his face, and what Rose thought was part of his face came away with ease, revealing a slightly grotesque face underneath.
"You will surrender, or I will release the final curse, and your people will jump." The Sycorax threatened.
"That so?" The Doctor asked, lifting his chin. "Well, that would be an interesting thing to see, that. Mostly because these aren't my people. Well, I suppose at this point, might as well be. Though, if I'm gonna be honest, know a woman down there who'd give you lot a run for your money. Sorta looks like you, too, in the mornings."
"Are you talkin' 'bout my mother?" Rose asked without thinking, stepping out from behind Jack just a bit.
The Doctor looked guilty. "Might be. But that's not the point I was getting at, actually. Because you can't make 'em jumps. Humans are resilient, they are. And like so many other species out there, they can't be swayed so easily because of a little poking and prodding in their head. Now, you could make 'em cluck like a chicken, or sing like Elvis, but you can't make 'em jump. Not if they didn't want to. And now, let's see." The Doctor looked around the leader, spotted something, and dashed forward. "Oh would you look at that." He marveled, looking at a pedestal of some kind. Rose gave Jack a nudge, and the two of them advanced to have a better view of what the Doctor was doing.
The Doctor knelt down, leaned into something, and sniffed. "Found the source of your blood control. So, I suppose, if I wanted to release the humans from your control…." He said as he stood up.
The Sycorax leader roared up, pulling something that partly reminded Rose of a sonic screwdriver, and made to throw it at the Doctor. She half screamed with a surge of electricity came off the glowing end and made for the Doctor like a wipe.
Without hesitation, and with a stance of the Oncoming Storm facing down the Daleks, the Doctor raised his arm and allowed the electricity to coil around it. He pulled his arm down sharply, removing the weapon from the Sycorax's hand. He then slammed an open hand down on the big, red button on the pedestal.
"Enough of that." The Doctor said as he stalked toward the leader. "You're attempting to invade and enslave a level five planet, know what that means? Gonna have to have a nice lil' conversation with the Shadow Proclamation explainin' why you didn't just fly by this little rock. Gonna tell'em it was all a bit of fun? Look at the silly little humans and how easy we can make 'em puppets? 'Cause I don't think that's gonna fly when they get here."
"I can summon the armada and take this world by force before you could even contact the Shadow Proclamation." The leader retorted, practically spitting the last two words.
The Doctor tilted his head, looking down the nose at the leader, consideration there with his rage. "Good point." He admitted. "But if I remember correctly, you lot like to settle things in battle."
"Are you challenging me?" The Sycorax leader asked, amusement in the constant growl of his voice.
The Doctor squared his shoulders, meeting the leader's gaze with one that made Dalek's cower. "I am."
As the leader and the Sycorax assembly laughed, the Doctor turned with steady strides back toward them. He pulled a sword off a Sycorax along the way, holding it one handed as he shrugged off his jacket one arm at a time.
"Here," He handed it to Rose.
"What ya handin' me this for?" Rose asked as she took the jacket anyway, hugging it close.
"Don't wanna see it get cut up or anything." The Doctor replied with a shrug. "Love the jacket, me."
"Thought you weren't gonna go changing on me anytime soon?" Rose asked.
The Doctor cupped her cheek with his free hand, the sleeve of his red jumper just touching her skin. "Not gonna." He swore. "But I'd hate for it to get knicked. Took forever to repair the small tear on Leatis." He said, inserting the humor he always used to brush things off before stepping back and turning to face the Sycorax leader. "Sanctified rules of combat still apply?" he asked.
The leader stepped forward, kneeling with the sword point down and standing before him.
"For the planet?" He asked.
The Doctor got down on one knee and mimicked the leader's stance. "For the planet." He confirmed.
They stood up, the thousands of Sycorax suddenly in an uproar of excitement, chants of various tones filling the air as the leader and the Doctor partly circled one another.
There was a predatory nature in the way the Doctor moved. He was graceful, strong, at ease with the situation like a tiger knowing there was no escape for the unsuspecting animal before it. He twirled the sword around once in his hand with a flick of the wrist like the stripped animal would flick its tail, and when the Sycorax leader finally charged, he was battle ready.
The two fought wordlessly, only grunts, hisses, and pants punctuating clangs made by sword against sword. They moved around the room, up a small flight of stairs, out a door. Once they were out of view, Jack and Rose hurried after them, only noting a handful of Sycorax as well as Harriet and Alex joining them.
For a moment it looked as though the Sycorax leader was about to over power the Doctor. The Time Lord had his sword up, blade pressed against the palm of his other hand, keeping the blade of the Sycorax leader from coming down on him. His arms shook, their strength challenged by the brawnier alien baring down. His knees began to bend a touch in an effort to hold up, and Rose could hear the Sycorax leader chuckle smugly.
Rose partially hid her face in the leather of the Doctor's jacket, barely willing to watch as the Doctor pushed back against the blade. The leader stumbled, and the Doctor lunged, giving two hard jabs with the hilt of his blade into the abdomen of the Sycorax, before butting him hard on the head and causing him to stumble and fall back. With the Sycorax leader down, barely able to flinch without risking falling of the edge of the ship, the Doctor pointed his blade down at his throat.
"I win." He said simply.
"Then kill me." The Sycorax leader said.
"Not much of a killer, me. Not these days, anyway. So here's what I'll do. I'll spare your life, and you leave this planet." The Doctor offered.
"Doc," Jack said, and while the Doctor didn't turn away from the Sycorax leader, it was clear in the slight shift in his posture that he was listening. "This is a warrior race. Letting him live wouldn't be better."
"They wanna punish him for losing, that's their business. But as their rules of combat go, I've already won. I've declared it, he acknowledged it. Isn't that right?" He asked, turning his chin toward the Sycorax watching. They grunted and nodded in agreement. "See? Don't need to have anyone die today. Can't, 's Christmas after all. So," He sharpened his gaze on the Sycorax at his mercy. "Swear on the blood of your species, of what ever honor you have left, that you lot will leave."
"I swear," Came the gurgled response.
"Fantastic. Well then, job done." He said, turning away and rotating the sword as he gave a the observers a goofy grin. As soon as he was a few feet away, the Sycorax leader got to his feet, sword and hand, and made to charge.
"Doctor!" Rose called out, but she really didn't need to. The Doctor turned, driving his sword into the Sycorax leader, making the alien stumble back just as the floor beneath the leaders feet gave way, and he disappeared into clouds below. He watched, grumbling something that sounded like his own language before he shook his head and continued toward them.
None of the Sycorax said anything as the Doctor came toward them. He met the gaze of one, and they both nodded, a silent understanding that this was the end having been met. The Doctor then turned to Rose, and his smile was sincere. "I'd like my jacket back if you're all done crushing it. Gonna put some wrinkles in that, you keep it up."
Rose handed it over, unable to peel her eyes away from his as he took the jacket in one hand. He used the other to help guide it back on his arms, wincing at the effort. She looked down at his hands, seeing the gash caused by his sword digging into his palm.
"You're hurt." She noted.
"'S nothing. Get patched up when we get home." He reassured as he finished putting on his jacket. He walked past her, back inside, and everyone followed behind.
The Doctor looked at the silent assembly, his eyes stony and cold. "By the ancient rites of combat, I, the champion, forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. You are to leave this planet, these people, to go about their business, and not enter this solar system again. It is my will." He said, standing tall and proud, and then the blue light washed over them.
A breath later, Rose saw the familiar blue box peeking around the corner from where they stood in the court yard of Powell Estate. How they picked there instead of the UNIT headquarters, she wasn't sure. She also didn't really care.
She watched the sky with a pounding heart as the massive ship overhead slowly went higher into the sky, making to disappear.
"There they go," Jack said with a laugh, surprising Rose as he pulled her into a hug and spun her around. "Crisis adverted! It's a Christmas miracle!"
He set her down, and she turned to the Doctor to see him step back from a hug with Harriet.
"Come here, you." Rose heard Jack behind her as she headed toward the Doctor and the Prime Minister.
The Time Lord looked rather surprised to see her coming over, even glancing back at where Jack and Alex were as if to hint that she should have stayed there.
"Are there many more out there?" Harriet asked them both.
"There's tons of lifeforms out there." The Doctor replied. "Not all are a Sycorax or Slitheen, though. Lots of good, kind species who'll want to help you lot advance. Some already on the planet right now, you just don't know it yet."
"Like you?" Harriet quipped.
"Never stand still, me. Here for a visit and it's back out there, among the stars. Always a phone call away, though. You're Prime Minisiter, and you're involved with UNIT. That there is a pretty good combination, all things considering. Plus, you know Rose. And if you can't get a hold of us through UNIT, one Jackie Tyler will certainly make it known you need us."
"Rose!" Jackie's voice called from across the court yard, and Rose looked over her shoulder to see her Mum and Mickey both running toward them.
"Speaking of trouble." The Doctor mused, stepping aside and giving Jackie a little wave.
She stopped short, gripping on to Mickey. "It's the bleeding Prime Minister!" She gaped.
Harriet laughed, then spotted Mickey. "How did you get back?" She asked.
"Llewellyn ran up to get me when you lot disappeared. Wasn't long after that that the people on the roof were able to move again. Came back here 'cause I wanted to check on Jackie, figured you'd end up here eventually." He said, gesturing to Rose and the Doctor.
Just as Jackie finally worked up the nerve to come over, giving thanks to a grateful Harriet for the work she'd done so far, a high pitched nose broke the conversation. Looking to the sky with the rest of them, Rose noted the green ray beaming right at the Sycorax ship. Another four rays fired into the sky, and suddenly the Sycorax ship was no more.
Everyone stared in silence.
"What just happened?" Rose managed to get out.
"I'm .. I'm not sure." Harriet stuttered. "I never gave an order to do any such thing. UNIT wouldn't do such a thing. I … I don't understand."
Rose looked to the Doctor, hoping he had some sort of explanation, only to see him staring at something with worry. She followed his gaze to a dumpster, noting the 'Bad Wolf' spray painted on the side. Probably from months ago, back when she'd first returned and attempted to get back to him. They weren't far from where she'd seen it spray painted all over, and Mickey had pointed out to her that it was there for years.
"Prime Minister." Alex said evenly, with drawing something that looked like the smaller version of the tablet he had been carrying around. "It's Major Blake. It seems as though he was the one who gave the order to fire. But, not from any UNIT weapon."
Harriet went to her assistant, looking at the screen. A mix of worry and anger warred in her eyes as she frowned. A beat later, she looked up at the Doctor and offered him the best smile she could. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our reunion short. Duty calls." She apologized.
The Doctor grinned. "Britain's Golden Age needs their leader. But if you need anything, if anything happens, anything at all."
"Thank you, Doctor." She said as Alex tucked away the device and was on his ever present headset ordering a car. "And Merry Christmas." She said.
"Same to you." The Doctor nodded, and Alex and Harriet headed toward the main street.
"Come on, you lug." Jackie bustled, coming over and waving the rest of them along back toward the flat. "Your hand is a right mess, and there's a turkey with all the fixings waiting for the rest of you to show up."
~DWDWDW~
Rose peeked the Doctor through the boarded up window thanks to the uneven edge of the panel. He was leaning on the rail overlooking the courtyard, looking to the sky with the distant look he used to get in their early days of traveling. He'd been pretty fantastic, really. He'd let Jackie clean his hand and bandage him up with minimal moaning. He ate turkey and stuck around for most of the gift exchange before quietly stepping outside.
"You going to stick around here and let him mope, or are you going to go give him your Christmas present?" Jack asked her, leaning toward her and almost losing his green paper crown in the process. Rose looked from his blue eyes to Mickey and her Mum sitting at the table, carrying on and having a laugh. "I'll keep 'em inside as long as I can, go on out there."
Rose nodded, glancing one last time to make sure Jackie and Mickey didn't see her, and grabbed her jacket. She shrugged it on, then collected the only unwrapped gift and quietly left through the door.
The Doctor only turned his head toward her slightly, and just for a moment, before looking back up at the sky.
"All those planets out there, teaming with life, and it seems that as much as you lot wanna reach 'em, you don't. Not if it means there's trouble out there."
"Just the bits in between, innit?" Rose said as she leaned on the rail beside him, gift in hand. "'S what you said to Mum."
"It is, for the most part." He agreed.
She let the silence hang between them for a moment as she worked up the courage to say something.
"Thought things would be different." She said while focusing entirely on the package in her hands. "After Game Station, after … after Leatis. I thought that maybe … I dunno. I dunno what I thought."
"Nothing's changed, Rose." He said simply, and she nodded her head as her heart dropped into her stomach.
Tears prickled her eyes as she believed she'd gotten so much of what had happened wrong. Then his cool fingers pressed into her cheek, turning her head. She barely flickered her gaze up to him before her eyes closed with his proximity.
The Doctor's lips pressed against hers, gentle yet encouraging, leaving small but powerful kisses in their wake. Just as her head started to spin from it all, he pulled away enough to let her breathe.
"I thought … thought you said." She stammered.
"Nothing's changed. Think I've only been wantin' to kiss you since the Game Station? Try Cardiff, facing down the Gelth in the cellar, and I thought we were both gonna die. 'Cause at that point I didn't know I wanted to keep livin'."
"But we never … before." Rose tried again.
The Doctor laughed, and his smile made her breath catch once more. "Nothing's changed, just shifted." He said with a shrug. "'S not gonna be like a human courtship, this. There's no romantic dinners, no candlelight, nothing like that. 'S just you and me, being what we really are to each other." And then the smile faded, and genuine worry crept into his eyes. "That alright?"
"Yeah," She nodded against his touch, biting her lip to keep from smiling so wide as he chuckled with relief. "I, um, I got you a present. Hope that's alright." She said, handing him the package.
He took it from her, looking at it with curiosity as much as he did reverence. Carefully opening one taped end, he pulled the contents out of the packet formed by the wrapping. Stuffing the foiled paper inside his jacket pocket, he used both hands to unfold the garment, revealing the TARDIS blue jumper that looked exactly like all his others.
"I know you've a half dozen of 'em already, and I know it might be a bit bright for you, but …."
"'S perfect." The Doctor said sincerely. He let go of the jumper with one hand, cupping Rose's cheek once more.
In that moment, Rose remembered what it was like when he talked about the world spinning, and how he could feel it. She thought that maybe she had in that moment, but it was nothing like this. His eyes kept her grounded while the rest blurred away, and a beautiful harmony filled the back of her mind like a soundtrack for the duration of time stopping around them. Her soul warmed in a way she'd never experienced before, almost as if she were glowing with how much she loved the man, the alien, before her.
"Can't believe the pair of you've been out here, and I had to find out it was snowing from Bev." Jackie startled them apart as she threw open the door, either ignoring them or genuinely not seeing them.
Mickey gave a resigned smile, a slight nod, and followed her out and down the stairs to the courtyard below.
"Sorry," Jack said, leaning on the railing on the other side of Rose. "Tried to keep her away as long as I could, but …."
"It's fine, Jack. Mum's always loved the snow."
"'S not snow." The Doctor said. "It's ash from the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. Someone out there is working against your government, the people you lot put in power, to stop any alien, threat or not." The Doctor said.
"Think it's something we need to worry about?" Jack asked.
"No. Not yet anyway." The Doctor replied. "The right people know how to find us if or when the time comes. But for now …."
"It's off to the next adventure." Jack nodded. "So which way we going from here?"
The Doctor grinned, searching the sky. "Dunno, where ever we feel like."
"Oi! You three gonna stand around up there, or are you gonna come down and see this?" Jackie called up.
Jack was the first to turn away, not wanting to spoil Jackie's fun it would seem.
The Doctor looked to Rose, taking her hand, caressing her thumb with his. She grinned up at him, bumping his shoulder before resting her head against his arm. At that, they headed for the stairs, just how she knew they would do everything now: together.
A/N: Thank you for reading.
I wish this was the start of a S2 rewrite as I had originally intended. But sadly, I'm having an immense amount of difficult getting it written in such a way that I am happy with it. I may revisit it in the future, but for now, I hope this was a satisfying sequel to Never a Silent Night.