Real Love

The time travelers stared in shock because this was not a TARDIS before them, this was an air balloon. They'd figured out that the other Doctor wasn't actually a Time Lord, but this was something different. This was as strange as having a normal screwdriver you called sonic because when you hit it against something it made a noise.

"There she is!" the other Doctor said. "My transport through time and space. The TARDIS."

"You've got…a balloon."

The man nodded. "TARDIS. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style. Do you see?"

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Well, I do now. I like it. Good TARDIS. Brilliant. Nice one." He walked around it. "And it is inflated by gas, yeah?"

"We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks. I pay them a modest fee." He walked over to a young man waiting nearby. "Good work, Jed!" He pulled out a few bills and gave some to the boy, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Glad to be of service, sir."

The Doctor eyed the amount of cash in his hand. "You've got quite a bit of money."

He shrugged. "Oh, you get nothing for nothing. How's that ripped panel, Jed?"

"All repaired. Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor. Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above."

The other Doctor smiled sadly. "Not just yet, I think. One day, I will ascend. One day soon." With a nod, Jed left.

"You've never actually been up?"

Rosita shook her head. "He dreams of leaving, but never does."

"I can depart in the TARDIS once London is safe," the other Doctor said in a voice that sounded like he'd said this many times before. "And finally, when I'm up there." He looked up at the sky. "Think of it, John. The time and the space."

"The perfect escape." The Doctor put his hands in his pockets, bouncing on his feet. "Do you ever wonder what you're escaping from?"

"With every moment."

"Then do you want me to tell you?" the other Doctor and Rosita looked at him in shock. "Because I think I've worked it out now. How you became the Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?"

It took the other Doctor a long moment before nodding. The Doctor glanced at Caroline before gesturing for everyone to return to the stables. They all took seats on suitcases, the Doctor leaning forward on his knees, with Caroline beside him and the other pair across from them.

"The story begins with the Cybermen," the Doctor began. "A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten. And they were sent into a howling wilderness called the Void, locked inside forever more. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you."

The other Doctor nodded. "I found them, I know that. But what happened?"

"At the same time, another man came to London. Mr. Jackson Lake. Plenty of luggage, money in his pocket. Maybe coming to town for the winter season, I don't know. But he found the Cybermen too. And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an infostamp."

The man shook his head. "But he's dead. Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."

"You said no body was ever found," Caroline reminded him. "And you kept his suitcases, but you've never opened them."

"I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?" the Doctor held his hand out for it again, and the man handed it to him in shock. He flipped it over and held up the engraved side. "JL. This watch is Jackson Lake's."

Rosita looked at the man in shock. "Jackson Lake is you, sir?"

"But I'm the Doctor."

"You became the Doctor because the infostamp you picked up was a book about one particular man." He pressed the end of the infostamp, projecting it onto the wall, displaying various different men and, given that this was the Doctor's infostamp and what she knew about regenerations, Caroline could only guess they were all of his past faces. "The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor." The image paused on this current Doctor's face.

Jackson gasped. "That's you."

He nodded. "Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen. The one and the only. You see, the infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head."

Jackson looked down at the ground, shoulders falling. "I am nothing but a lie."

"No, no, no, no, no." The Doctor moved to crouch before Jackson again, making the man look at him. "Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery, saving Rosita, defending London town, hmm? And the invention. Building a TARDIS. That's all you."

"And what else?" Jackson looked up. "Tell me what else."

The Doctor frowned. "There's still something missing, isn't there?"

"I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took."

"Sorry. Really, I am so sorry, but that's an awful lot of luggage for one man. Because an infostamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much."

A church bell tolled in the distance, counting the hours.

"Midnight," Rosita said quietly. "Christmas Day."

Jackson looked past their shoulders into the distance, eyes wide. "I remember…Oh, my God…" his face fell into his hands. "Laura. They killed my wife. They killed her." He shook with sobs and Rosita reached over to comfort him, leaving the two time travelers to look away.

That is, until the infostamp in the Doctor's hand beeped. He turned and grabbed the one they'd brought along from the Reverend's house, that one beeping as well, before standing and turning in a small circle until the beeping got noticeably louder when directed at one of the trunks. The Doctor opened it. "Oh, you found a whole cache of infostamps."

Rosita looked up from comforting Jackson. "But what is it? What's that noise?"

"Activation. A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!" the Doctor turned and ran out of the stables, Caroline following a second later. They could only see the shadows of the Cybermen, but it was clear that they were all marching in their direction.

Rosita ran up just as a group of children walked past, ushered along by an older man with two earpieces clearly not from the nineteenth century. "What is it?" she asked them. "What's happening? That's Mr. Cole. He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers."

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, nothing as holy as that." He walked forward so that he was walking beside the man. "Can you hear me? Hello? No? Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just…" he reached for his sonic, but there was a growling nearby, the same type of creature that they had encountered earlier. "Ah. They're on guard. Can't risk a fight." He looked at the children. "Not with the children."

"Where are they going?" Caroline asked.

Jed walked up. "They all need a good whipping, if you ask me. There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane."

"Where's that?"

"This way!" Rosita said, turning and running down an alley, only to reach another group of children, the men leading them with the same earpieces in. "There's dozens of them."

"But what for?"

As they watched, the group stopped by a large set of wooden doors. Suddenly, they opened and two Cybermen stepped out, all of the children cowering. "You will continue," the old man leading them said, voice without emotion. "You will enter the Court of the Cyberking. March. That is an order. March!"

The children did. Any that tried to run were scared back by the creatures the Cybermen controlled.

"That's the door to the sluice," Rosita said, pointing. "All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames."

"Yeah, that's too well guarded. We'll have to find another way in." The group turned, only to find two Cybermen standing directly behind them. "Whoa!" the Doctor pushed both humans behind him. "That's cheating, sneaking up. Do you have your legs on silent?"

A woman walked between the Cybermen, standing before them and studying the trio. "So, what do we have here?"

"Listen. Just walk towards me slowly," the Doctor held up a hand for the woman. "Don't let them touch you."

The woman only smirked. "Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armor, quite literally."

"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, step away."

"There's been no conversion, sir. No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."

Rosita frowned at her, shaking her head in shock. "Who are you?"

The woman sneered. "You can be quiet. I doubt he paid you to talk. More importantly, who are you, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions."

"I'm the Doctor."

"Incorrect," one of the Cybermen said. "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."

He nodded. "Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look." He held up his infostamp. "Check this. The Doctor's infostamp." He tossed it to one of the Cybermen. "Plug it in. Go on. Download."

The Cyberman studied it. "The core has been damaged. This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, well. Nice try."

The infostamp beeped. "Core repaired. Download." It plugged the infostamp into its chest. "You are the Doctor."

The man grinned and waved. "Hello."

"You will be deleted."

The Doctor raised his arms. "No, no. Oh, but let me die happy. Tell me, what do you need those children for?"

The woman shrugged. "What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce."

"But for what?"

"Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship."

"And it's all been timed for Christmas Day. Was that your idea, Miss…?"

"Hartigan. Yes. The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The birth of what?"

"A birth, and a death. Namely, yours." She stepped back. "Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. "Now, delete them."

"Delete!" the Cybermen moved forward, but were all stopped when a beam of energy struck them from behind and Jackson ran up.

"At your service, Doctor," he grinned, wearing a series of infostamps as a belt.

"Shades!" Miss Hartigan called. "Shades!"

The Doctor grabbed Caroline's hand. "Run! Come on!"

"Shades!"

"One last thing." Rosita paused as they ran past Miss Hartigan, punching her squarely in the face.

The Doctor frowned. "Can I say, I completely disapprove." They started to run again. "Come on!"

They ran until the humans needed to stop for breath. Caroline, despite never really being a runner, had developed quite a skill at if after spending so long around the Doctor, but she still got tired after a long series of just straight running. The Doctor let her lean on his arm as they breathed.

"That stronghold down by the river," the Doctor told the two people who were actually from that time period. "I need to find a way in."

"I'm ahead of you," Jackson nodded. "My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage." He held up some legal documents. "The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then…"

"That might be our way in. Brilliant!"

"There's still more. I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders. So, onwards!" he turned and ran off.

The Doctor turned to Rosita. "Maybe you should go back…"

"Don't even try," Rosita said with a glare, and Caroline just raised her eyebrows. She knew it was because he wanted to keep them safe, but she was fairly certain that both of them had proved themselves just as adept as Jackson at dealing with alien threats.

They weren't going anywhere.

With a nod, the Doctor took Caroline's hand again and let Rosita led the way to the home in question, trusting her to know the way through the streets better than them. They reached Jackson just as he approached a Cyberman standing guard at the door to the cellar, though Jackson just hit it with another infostamp.

The Doctor moved into the cellar, and the high-tech device set up in the middle of the room. "It must've been guarding this. A Dimension Vault. Stolen from the Daleks again. That's how the Cybermen traveled through time. Jackson," he looked up at the man, "is this it? The thing you couldn't remember?"

But he shook his head. "I don't think so. I just can't see. It's like it's hidden."

The Doctor frowned at the device. "Not enough power. Come on!" he walked into the tunnel the Cyberman had been standing next to. "Avanti!"'

They continued a bit more cautiously, now in an enclosed area. "What do the Cybermen want?" Rosita asked as they walked.

"They want us. That's what Cybermen are. Human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them."

They paused when they reached the entrance of a workroom, looking down at the children busy working. "Upon my soul," Jackson breathed.

"What is it?"

"It's an engine," the Doctor said. "They're generating electricity, but what for?"

"We can set them free." Jackson moved forward, but the Doctor pulled him back, simultaneously running back to check a panel they'd passed.

"Power at ninety percent. If we stop the engine, the power dies down, the Cybermen'll come running." He frowned when the screen flickered, tapping it. "Ooo. Hold on. Power fluctuation. That's not meant to happen."

"It's going wrong?"

"No, it's weird. The software's rewriting itself. It's changing." The panel sparked and the Doctor stepped back. "Whoa! What the hell's happening? It's out of control."

Caroline's eyes widened. "It's accelerating."

"When it reaches a hundred, what about the children?" Rosita asked.

"They're disposable. Come on!" he led them back to the workroom just as an alarm sounded and every Cyberman in the room readied their blasters, preparing to murder all of the children.

Jackson and Rosita began to use the infostamps on the Cybermen, stopping them from harming anyone, while Caroline and the Doctor ran to guide the children to the tunnels. "Right. Now, all of you, out! Do you hear me? That's an order! Every single one of you, run!"

"Fast as you can," Caroline shouted, pushing a few along.

"There's a hot pie for everyone, if you leg it!"

"Go!" Jackson added.

"Rosita, get them out of the sluice gate. Once you're out, keep running! Far as you can! Come on, come on, come on!"

Rosita followed the children as they ran down the tunnels. "Turn right at the corner! Fast as you can. And don't stop! Keep running! Keep running!"

Once they were all gone, the Doctor ran to a gauge by one of the machines. "It's some sort of starter motor, but starting what?"

Caroline turned to check that all of the children were gone, but she found her attention distracted by Jackson, who was staring up. "That's my son," the man said. "My son."

"Doctor!" she called, drawing his attention.

"What?"

"They took my son! No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor. Frederick!"

The Doctor turned to look at the boy. "Come on!"

"No, he's too scared. Stay there! Don't move! I'm coming." Jackson turned and ran up the stairs that would have brought him up to his son, but he was thrown backward by an explosion that started a fire. "I can't get up there. Fred!"

"They've finished with the motor," the Doctor realized. "It's going to blow up."

"What are we going to do, Doctor? What are we going to do?"

The Doctor just grinned, drawing the sword he'd stolen from the Reverend's house. "Come on, Jackson. You know me." He grabbed a nearby rope and cut it from its tether, sending him straight into the air, thankfully landing on the platform Fredrick was standing on. "Oh, that's it. Hello. Now, hold on tight. Don't let go." Once he was certain the boy was secure, the Doctor used the rope to swing across the room, away from the fire, and back down the stairs to where the two humans waited. Jackson rushed towards his son, and the Doctor smiled. "Merry Christmas."

Caroline glanced at the room around them. "We should go!"

The Doctor nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her from the room, Jackson and his son running behind them. "Head for the street," he ordered.

"Come on, Doctor!" Jackson called when they felt an explosion. "Hurry up!"

The Doctor grabbed a bit of technology from the device before Caroline was able to pull him outside. "Gotcha!" They ran through the streets until they reached a river and watched the machine, a massive Cyberman, rise from the water. "It's a CyberKing!"

Jackson looked at him. And a CyberKing is what?"

"It's a ship. Dreadnought class, front line of an invasion. And inside the chest, a Cyberfactory, ready to convert millions." The Doctor stared up at it for a moment, listening to the screams of people as the machine began to walk through the streets, and squeezed Caroline's hand before stepping away. "Head south, all of you. Go to the parkland."

"But where are you going?"

"To stop that thing."

Jackson stepped forward. "But I should be with you!"

"Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live."

Jackson raised his eyebrows. "And you haven't?"

Caroline stepped forward. "You are going to survive this, Doctor." She knew there was no way she was going to be able to convince him to let her follow him, but that didn't mean she couldn't force him to be safe and return to her. "Don't give me another horrible Christmas."

The Doctor nodded, moving almost like he wanted to step forward, before just turning and running off.

Caroline watched him go for a moment before turning to Jackson and his son. "You heard the Doctor. We're going south." Her voice was surprisingly strong for being separated from the Doctor for the first time in a long while.

Jackson nodded and they all ran off through the streets until they managed to run directly into Rosita. "Oh, sir," Rosita grinned. "I thought I'd lost you."

He looked at his son in wonder. "My son, Rosita. This boy is my son."

Before Rosita could comment there was a nearby explosion and they ducked into a nearby doorway for safety. With wide eyes, they spotted a hot air balloon rising over the streets of London, a very specific balloon that Jackson recognized. "It's the TARDIS. She's flying."

Crowds, previously panicking, paused in shock. "Who the hell is that?" a young man asked.

Caroline smiled. "His name is the Doctor, and he's lovely."

They watched as the Doctor managed to hover in front of the CyberKing. Caroline couldn't take her arms off the sight, knowing the Doctor was up there, knowing he was in danger and she couldn't actually do anything about it. She did, however, notice when all of the Cybermen exploded. Whatever the Doctor had done, it had worked.

But then the CyberKing began to sway. "He's killed it!" Jackson cheered. "Whatever he did, he's killed it!"

"But it's going to fall!" Rosita cried, and everyone began to run again, trying to avoid the falling robot.

It was only a few more seconds before the robot vanished completely into a swirl of energy and Caroline cheered.

Jackson nodded. "Well, I'd say he used that Dimension Vault to transfer the wreckage of the CyberKing into the Time Vortex, there to be harmlessly disintegrated." He glanced at Caroline and chuckled at her expression. "Oh, I've picked up a lot. Ah, but here." He put down Fredrick and leapt onto a lamppost, addressing the gathered crowd of relieved and shocked civilians. "Ladies and gentlemen, I know that man, that Doctor on high. And I know that he has done this deed a thousand times. But not once. No, sir, not once, not ever, has he been thanked. But no more. For I say to you, on this Christmas morn, bravo, sir! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, sir!"

The entire crowd took up his chant. Caroline moved to stand closer to the wall, smiling, but unable to stand too close to the crowd.

And as she stared up at the Doctor, no doubt celebrating inside the air balloon, she pulled a fob watch from her pocket and slowly twisted it in her hands, not really looking at it, just looking for something to hold.

It didn't even occur to her to study the engravings and recognize them as the writing the Doctor had scattered about the TARDIS on sticky notes.

|C-S|

The moment the Doctor crash landed again, Caroline rushed up to him, breaking through the group of thankful people in order to hug him tightly. The Doctor grinned the moment he spotted her, practically lifting her into the air as he laughed, both thankful the other was safe.

Jackson, who'd left Frederick with Rosita, watched them fondly.

Eventually, once they'd finished embracing and the Doctor had managed to disperse the crowd, the pair walked up to him. Together, all three walked through the market that they'd first arrived in, though the Doctor and Caroline were walking arm in arm.

"The city will recover, as London always does," Jackson said, looking around at the people already rebuilding. "Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. Funny that."

"And a new history begins for me," Jackson sighed. "I find myself a widower, but with my son and a good friend."

The Doctor grinned. "Now, take care of that one. She's marvelous."

Jackson nodded. "Frederick will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better. But you're welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together at the Traveler's Halt." The Doctor looked away, but Jackson persisted. "A Christmas feast in celebration, and in memory of those we lost." The Doctor said nothing, and Caroline squeezed his arm. "You won't stay?"

"Like I said, you know me."

But Jackson shook his head. "No, I don't think anyone does."

By that point, they'd reached the TARDIS, safely right where the time travelers had left it.

"Oh!" Jackson's eyes widened. "And this is it. Oh! Oh, if I might, Doctor. One last adventure?"

The Time Lord grinned, unlocking the door. "Oh, be my guest."

Jackson stepped inside, stopping on the ramp and turning around in wonder. "Oh. Oh my word. Oh. Oh, goodness me." He walked up to the console. "But this is…but this is nonsense!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that's one word for it."

"Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense. How very, very silly. Oh, no," Jackson shook his head, rubbing it. "I can't bear it. Oh, it's causing my head to ache." He ran out of the TARDIS. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The time travelers followed him to where he stopped, a few steps away from the TARDIS, looking much better now that he'd stepped back outside. "Oh! Oh, gracious. That's quite enough. I take it this is goodbye."

The Doctor nodded. "Onwards and upwards."

"Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions! And now you have her?"

The Doctor looked down at Caroline. "Yes." He knew that, one day, Caroline Attwater would have to leave him, for some reason or another. And it was very likely it would be his fault, like it had for countless people before, like it had just been for Donna.

Then he'd be alone again.

And he knew that he really, really shouldn't have let her stay on the TARDIS. But he couldn't help himself. Because he was almost certain that he loved her.

It was a strange thought. He'd spent so long mourning Rose, so long loving her that he'd hurt Martha in the process. But once he'd met Donna he'd healed, gotten better, gotten to know Caroline. If he'd met Caroline with Martha, right after the loss of Rose, he wouldn't have been able to let himself love her.

But she'd come at the perfect point. He'd come just as he'd been daring to open his hearts again, and she'd slipped right in.

"But not forever." The Doctor looked up sharply at Jackson, frowning. "All of your companions, Doctor, as brilliant as they were, all of them left."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Because they should. Or they find someone else. And some of them…some of them forget me." He held on even tighter to Caroline then, if that was at all possible. "I suppose…in the end, they break my heart."

Jackson nodded firmly. "That offer of Christmas dinner. It's no longer a request, it's a demand. In memory of those we've lost."

The Doctor had to take a deep breath before he waved a hand. "Oh, go on then."

Jackson looked shocked. "Really?"

"Just this once. You've actually gone and changed my mind. Not many people can do that." He smiled. "Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you."

He laughed. "The feast awaits! Come with me. Walk this way."

"We certainly will. Merry Christmas to you, Jackson."

"Merry Christmas indeed, Doctor, Miss Attwater." With a final grin, Jackson turned and walked away, leaving the time travelers alone again.

They watched him for a moment before Caroline turned so that she could better look at him. "Thank you, Doctor."

He frowned. "For what?"

"Making this Christmas better than last year's."

They had never actually spoken about last year. He knew that she had seen him for the first time on Christmas Eve, when he'd teleported down onto earth from the Titanic, and then again a few days later when she'd spotted his TARDIS across a river. But they'd never talked about anything else.

His frown deepened when he saw the tears in her eyes. "What happened last year?" She didn't answer immediately. "Caroline?"

"My parents died." His eyes widened. "A car accident. Not at Christmas, a week before. But it was so close…"

She'd left the gifts out. He'd seen them, when they'd gone to her home so that she could pick up anything she wanted, he'd seen the boxes sitting out on a table. And he'd wondered why they were there, why anyone would bother leaving an empty gift box out on a table.

But if they had been her last presents from her parents, her last memories of them…she wouldn't have been able to just throw them away.

And she'd never mentioned it. Not in this entire year that she'd been traveling with him. She'd never mentioned that her parents were dead. He'd wondered, of course he'd wondered, because she'd never asked to return home and visit them, he'd never even heard her calling them. Part of him had wondered if they'd just had a falling out, but then he'd remember the gifts, then he'd remember seeing that, clearly, she didn't want to let them go.

But she'd never mentioned them. She'd never given him a hint that she had lost her parents so close to when she first met him.

He felt guilty that he hadn't noticed anything. Well, he did notice that there was something wrong, that something was bothering her, but he never pushed her when she told him that she was alright. He'd never bothered to ask about her family, not even noticing when she'd direct conversations away from the topic.

He hadn't noticed her the way he should have.

The Doctor pulled Caroline to him, hugging her tightly.

Now he never wanted to let her go.

She had no life to return to after he left her. Her parents were dead, he'd destroyed her job, her friends had all moved on, thinking she was off traveling the world. She'd return to a life of solitude if he left her behind.

A safe life, where she wouldn't have to run from murderous robots, but a lonely life.

He couldn't do that to her yet, he wouldn't. He wouldn't hurt her like that.

The Doctor would keep Caroline with him for as long as she let him.

Because he still had so many stars to show Caroline Alice Attwater, the orphaned girl at Christmas.

He wasn't alone, not anymore.

A/N: The Doctor finally admit his feelings for Caroline, which means that something very exciting is going to happen soon :)

Notes on reviews:

Hainako: Glad to know you're looking forward to the next story :)

WhiteWolfChick: Thank you so much! I hope this one will be just as good too.

time-twilight: I do have a fanfiction in mind with a Time Lady who's related to the Master, but I won't say if it's also true here. The pair do know each other, but I can't say how yet :)