A/N: I'm not a long time Doctor Who fan, but I have been wildly enthusiastic about it since 2007 and this is my first attempt writing for the fandom. This is going to be something of a reunion fic with almost all the more regular characters from the last five years appearing before its all over. Also there will probably be some people from Sarah Jane Adventures showing up. Enjoy!
Run! was all she could think. She leapt down a short span of steps, landed hard, and rolled before she got back to her feet. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she must have looked rather heroic. Her feet hitting the marble was all that mattered at the moment. She hide behind a pillar and held her breath, silently praying they would pass her by.
The figures loomed around the corner and floated down the steps. Her heart sank. Then her heart rose inexplicably. A breeze lifted the long strands of her hair. Then she heard a sound. It was a sound like no other. It was rasping, mechanical, organic, and comforting all at the same time. She dared to look behind her and a blue box, slightly larger than a telephone booth, appeared out of the ether.
"It is…The Doctor!" one of the metal figures warbled in his high tenor. She wasn't sure, but she thought it sounded scared.
"Engage the Dispersion Accelerator!"
She took their moment of distraction as they focused on the machine between them and ran for the blue box. If they were afraid of a box, it must be a relatively safe place. The door creaked open and she jumped inside.
He'd wondered how long it would take Amy and Rory to realize they hadn't had a proper honeymoon. They wanted a little time to themselves and the Doctor was pleased to oblige because, God, that girl could scream! With the newlyweds safely deposited at Disney World, he decided to treat himself to a museum. As Amy had recently given him an unwarranted lecture on humility, he thought he would try an option that had almost nothing to do with him: the British Museum. Of course, he knew the true story of almost every display in the place, but Amy didn't have to know about it.
He only just opened the TARDIS door when a body rammed into him forcefully. He fell to the floor and the other body was right on top of him. Why were they always falling on top of him? The body belonged to a pale girl with plump, pink lips, long brown hair that was falling into the Doctor's mouth, and terrified brown eyes.
Then he heard it: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
He kicked the door shut but not before a blue beam exited a vaguely Dalek-shaped machine. He pushed the girl off of his chest without ceremony and jumped up to the TARDIS controls. Then the place started to shake violently. The readings on the screens jumped back and forth without purpose or reason. The engine rasped more rapidly than necessary. The room started spinning and he suddenly remembered the frightened girl on the entry ramp. He pulled himself along the railing against the G-forces. He knelt down when he finally reached her and wrapped his hand around one of hers.
"Hello! I'm the Doctor. I usually get out of these things, so I'm fairly sure we're going to be all right…I hope."
As the room spun faster, the girl clutched his jacket and buried her face in the crook of his neck. He thought about trying to get back to the controls, but whoever this girl was, she had an iron grasp. He wasn't going anywhere…he hoped.
"Sarah Jane, I need you."
"Well, that's a change," she replied, standing up from her desk. "What's wrong?"
"I am detecting unusual temporal readings commensurate with the arrival of a TARDIS."
"What?"
"Look out the window."
Sarah Jane ran across the room in time to see a blue box appear just above her garden. It was spinning out of control. It lowered to scratch the top of her car and Luke had to duck to avoid losing his head. Then it disappeared with an uncharacteristic screech.
She bolted out of the attic, down the stairs, and out of the front door. "Luke, are you alright?" she asked as she helped him back to an upright position.
"I'm fine. Your car's not so good, though. Was that—"
"Yes, it was," she replied. "And something is very, very wrong.
"Mummy!"
"Jamie!" Rose replied, standing from her desk and scooping the three-year-old into her arms.
"Brought him as requested," her husband told her, looking at her over his glasses. "Is there a reason you needed him so urgently? We were having fun."
Rose glared at her husband. "You set something on fire, didn't you?"
"No."
"Yes," Jamie contradicted, giggling.
"Oi!"
"What was it?" Rose asked, putting on her sternest face.
"Weeellll…"
Rose decided to look toward the more reliable witness; the three-year-old in her arms. Jamie grinned and said, "Just half the Christmas tree."
"Half the Christmas tree!"
"Exactly half. The other half is still picture perfect," he assured her, nodding emphatically.
Rose glared in response.
"Oh, you look exactly like your mother when you look at me like that."
"Oi!"
"Sorry."
Jamie giggled appreciatively before resting his head on his mother's shoulder.
"Look," she began, "Jamie and I are going to follow our original plan and attempt to find you a Christmas present this afternoon. You are going to go get us a new Christmas tree and set it up before we get home."
"What? By myself?" he screeched.
"It's the least you could do," she admonished him.
"Love you, Daddy," Jamie said, smiling up at his father.
His face instantly fell into a smile as he kissed his son's ruddy curls. "Of course you had to go and be adorable. Love you, son, and you lot, love you too," he said, leaning over to place a light kiss on his wife's slightly protruding belly. "I'm on the fence about you."
"No, you're not," she told him.
"Yeah, you're right," he agreed before placing a quick kiss on her lips.
"Behave," she warned as her husband loped toward the main door.
He waved without looking behind and then grabbed a young man as he passed. "Ross! Rossety-Ross-Ross! Got any plans for the afternoon?"
"Uh, no, Mr. Smith," the young, blue-eyed man answered. "You need a hand with one of your projects?"
"I absolutely do."
Rose shook her head as she kneeled down to pick up her purse. As she stood back up a breeze blew through her hair, and a sound penetrated to her soul.
"Mummy, what's that?" Jamie asked gleefully.
"It can't be," she breathed.
Her eyes locked with her husband's across the room. His face was an odd mixture of anger and awe. Then the noise changed. It was high-pitched and quick and wrong. A blue box appeared, but then just as quickly dissipated, before repeating the process again.
"Doctor, what's happening?"
"Something very, very not good," he answered. "Ross, you've got Andrachi stabilization units in the basement. Go get them."
"That's classified. How do you—"
"Ross, just go!" Rose yelled at him.
The young man turned and grabbed another man to help him as he ran out the door. Rose sat her son down on her chair and said, "Be good for Mummy, okay, baby?"
She looked back around to find her husband jumping from computer station to computer station, shoving people out of the way.
"Doctor, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to save her!" he yelled, his teeth gritted in concentration.