To say Rose Tyler was having a bad day would have been the understatement of the millenium (And she should know; she'd seen a good amount of the next few). The day had started nice enough, waking up to a brilliant sunrise at Camp Willow Brook. But then it was all getting pulled onto the Game Station and nearly losing Katelyn and Daleks and being sent home and losing Jack and whatever had happened to the Doctor. She thought she would be entitled to a day off, ta very much. Then, this.
Katelyn had run off at some point in the night, and when she'd come back, she'd been so despondent it was like she'd completely regressed back to the person she had been four months ago, like she hadn't healed at all. On any other day, the sight would have and had broken her heart, but she was just so tired now.
For what felt like the millionth time in as many days, Rose went to check on the man who had replaced the Doctor. He was asleep now, at least, finally looking almost peaceful again. Her mum had fallen asleep at his bedside. Any other day, she would have smiled at that, teased her mum about actually caring about the Time Lord.
Rose felt more than heard someone walk up behind her. "The Doctor wouldn't do this," she said, thinking it was Katelyn. "The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he'd wake up. He'd save us." Her voice was shaking more than she wanted it to.
"You really love him, don't you?" Mickey said sadly. Oh, so it hadn't been Katelyn. Any other time, Rose would have flinched, apologized, and denied. She just didn't have the strength today.
She leaned her head on Mickey's shoulder for a moment, before turning to lean into him for a hug. Any other day, she would have cared how unfair this was to him. But then again, any other day, Mickey would have mentioned it.
Eventually, Rose broke away and went to shower and change her clothes. Then she found Katelyn, who was sitting on the same spot on the couch she'd been sitting on since they'd gotten here. If Rose had lost the Doctor and was separated from Jack, at least the two of them still had each other. "You could probably borrow some of mine or Mum's clothes, if you want to change," Rose offered. "Or I could go unlock the TARDIS for you."
Katelyn made no move to get up. "No, thanks." She sounded broken and, again, on any other day, Rose would want to and had helped her.
"What is wrong with you?" Rose suddenly heard from outside. "Jason?" She ran to the door and threw it open, Mickey close behind. "Jason?" Rose saw two of her Mum's neighbors, a nice couple, newly married when she'd met the Doctor, walking toward the stairs to the roof.
"Sandra?" she called. The woman turned around to Rose. She was still in her pajamas, her face a picture of distress.
"He won't listen. He's just walking," the woman explained. "He won't stop walking! There's this sort of light thing." She turned back around to follow her husband. "Jason? Stop it right now!" Rose looked around and down off the balcony and saw the entire estate flooded with people walking mindlessly around. No, not mindlessly. They were all walking toward- With a quick glance at Mickey, she took off toward the roof.
Rose stopped next to Sandra and Jason, right on the edge of the roof, and looked around quickly. There were tens, if not hundreds, of people just standing and staring off at nothing. Other people were begging their loved ones to step back, but no one was listening. They just kept staring.
"What do we do?" Mickey asked, desperate and sure Rose had an answer.
"Nothing," Rose said, completely defeated. "There's no one to save us. Not anymore."
The pair slunk back to the flat. Mum was awake now, fussing about the flat with nothing to do. The TV was on again, tuned to a news station. Rose briefly wondered if Katelyn had turned it on, and went to check.
In reality, Katelyn had not shifted an inch from where she'd been before. Rose needed to talk to her, she decided. Her mind was near as quick as the Doctor's. And sometimes she just knew things, knew things even the Doctor didn't. Katelyn Laurin must know something.
The signal on the TV cut off suddenly, before Rose could say anything, and there was Harriet Jones, sitting at a desk.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech. I'm afraid that's been cancelled." Harriet looked off screen. "Did we ask about the royal family?" Someone off to the side must have replied, because she glanced quickly up. "Oh. They're on the roof.
"But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request." Rose had a terrible feeling she knew what the Prime Minister was about to say. "Doctor, if you're out there, we need you. I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor." Rose had to turn away. "If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him," She walked in a sort of blank state to the bedroom. "The situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us."
When Rose saw him still unconscious on the bed, she burst into tears. She'd only been crying for a second when she felt someone hug her from behind. She turned immediately and nearly crushed Katelyn in her hug back.
"He's gone," she sobbed into her friend's shoulder. "The Doctor's gone."
"He's not," Katelyn said with more conviction than Rose thought the young woman could have in her today. "I promise you, Rose Tyler, no power in this universe could make him leave you." Rose wanted to believe her, she really did. Mum came up behind the two girls and wrapped them both in a hug.
"It's all right. I'm sorry." Without preamble, every window in the flat suddenly shattered. Mickey ran by and out the door. Katelyn pulled away from the hug and stood up tall and squared her shoulders, the determination Rose had always admired in her friend returning full force.
"That was the spaceship entering the atmosphere," she warned. Rose noticed that her eyes weren't red, that she hadn't been crying. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "You can go outside and check, or you can trust me, stay, and pack." Rose just nodded, understanding. Mickey came running back in a few minutes later, mouth open to probably tell them exactly what Katelyn just said.
"Mickey, we're going to carry him. Mum, get your stuff, and get some food," Rose ordered.
"Just pack your stuff, Jackie, I'll get the food." Then Katelyn was gone toward the kitchen.
"Are we leaving?" Mickey asked, already moving to help Rose. "Where to?"
"The TARDIS," Rose said immediately. "It's the only safe place on Earth."
"What're we going to do in there?" Mum demand, making no move to listen to her daughter. Rose grabbed the robe and threw the blankets off the man who had been the Doctor.
"Hide," she said simply, pulling the man's arm into one of the sleeves.
"Is that it?" Mum asked, incredulous. Rose stopped her movements.
"Mum, look in the sky. There's a great, big, alien invasion and I don't know what to do. Katelyn doesn't know what to do. We've travelled with him, and we've seen all that stuff, but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move!" No one could deny the conviction in her voice, so Mum made to move and pack.
...
While Rose and Mickey ran back and forth, bringing bag after unnecessary bag onto the TARDIS, I went to work making the Doctor about as comfortable as one could be on metal grating. I pulled out a few of the blankets I'd hidden in the console room, draped one across his body, and wedged another under his head. It was the least I could do since he'd carried me to my bed twice now.
"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked, dropping the last bag he carried.
"Not anymore, no," Rose snapped.
"I can take the handbrake off," I offered uselessly. "80% sure that lever takes off, but I can't program coordinates, so God only knows where we might end up." Rose snorted.
"Well, Rose did it before," Mickey said, ignoring us.
"I know, but it's sort of been wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden." She shot me a look, like she knew I knew why, but didn't ask. "Try that again and I think the Universe rips in half."
"Ah, better not, then," Mickey agreed lightly.
"Maybe not," Rose snapped again.
"So, what do we do? Just sit here?" Mickey argued.
"Well, it's here or wherever the hell the time vortex spits us. Your choice," I offered. Rose looked ready to add on to that, but Jackie interrupted.
"Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea." She opened a thermos she'd brought and poured into the lid.
"Mmm, the solution to everything," Rose complained.
"Now, stop your moaning." Jackie passed the thermos to Mickey. "I'll get the rest of the food." Then she left. I twisted the sonic around in my hands, trying to figure out what to do. Somehow, just being back on the TARDIS was making me feel better. Less pointless, less useless. Here, I could do something. Here, I was powerful.
"Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end," Mickey joked. "Very British." I pulled a an exaggerated face, scrunching my nose and fake gagging.
"That's disgusting. Get your constitutional monarchy away from me," I joked back. I backed toward the doors. Maybe, I could-
Mickey stopped pacing in front of the scanner. "How does this thing work? If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?" He started pushing random buttons on the scanner, which luckily did nothing.
"I don't know. It sort of tunes itself." Rose flipped a few nobs, which made the scanner beep, but that was about it.
"Maybe it's a distress signal," Mickey offered.
"A fat lot of good that's going to do," Rose gripped.
"Are you going to be a misery all the time?" Mickey teased.
"Yes," Rose said, like she'd just made the decision now. Mickey smiled.
"You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your mum's cooking."
"Hey!" I said, trying to hide how nervous I was right now. Rose would probably have noticed if she's been paying attention. I was tapping the sonic screwdriver incessantly against the palm of my hand. Never a good sign. "I made some of that."
"Where is she?" Rose suddenly realized. "I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there." She walked around the console toward me.
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey joked again.
"Why don't you tell her yourself?" Rose teased.
"I'm not that brave," Mickey answered honestly.
I didn't wait any longer, didn't wait for Rose to go first. I simply threw the door open and just stepped out into what I damn well knew to be an ambush. I didn't say anything as a Sycorax grabbed me roughly by the arm and started walking me forward. I heard Rose exit and yelp behind me, and Mickey come running out after her.
"The door, Mickey!" I shouted over my shoulder. "Close the door!" He scrambled and just managed to slam the TARDIS door shut before a Sycorax could get in. Said alien roared and yanked Mickey to join the rest of us. I glared at the two piles of bones that no one had had a chance to do anything about, hoping I looked a little like the Oncoming Storm.
"Rose," Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, called as soon as she saw us. She ran forward and pulled Rose into a hug. "Rose! I've got you. My Lord. Oh, my precious thing." She pulled back to look Rose in the eyes. "The Doctor, is he with you?" Rose backed away slowly.
"No. We're on our own," Rose said in defeat. The Sycorax leader growled and spit in his language. I glared harder.
"The yellow girl," Harriet's aide translated. "She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet." Before Rose could move, I pulled the sonic out of my pocket and pointed it at the leader's side. The whip on his belt sparked, and he ripped it off and threw it away. I smirked when he pointed at me and growled
"That child has a sonic stick. Therefore, the clever blue box is hers. She will speak for your planet," the man translated. Every other human on the ship screamed their protest, but I just made a show of cracking my knuckles and walked forward.
"They'll kill you!" Harriet yelled, distressed.
"Not if I'm clever," I dismissed. When I walked forward, the colosseum of Sycorax cheered. I swallowed the rest of my nervousness and checked the watch. I just had to stall probably only for a miute, but maybe if I talked some sense, I could avoid this ship being blown up.
I clapped my hands together than threw my arms wide in a gesture that would make the eleventh Doctor proud. "Hellooooo Sycorax!" I paused to let my voice echo around the room. When it faded, there was absolute silence. "I am here to address you on behalf of the human race according to Article 15 of the Shadow Proclamation. This Earth-" I started pacing in a move that would make Ten proud. "-is a level 5 planet, of which invading, annexing, or seeding is strictly forbidden." I counted the list off on my fingers. "Which leaves you with exactly three options.
"One!" I held my hand with one finger pointed in the air, a bit more dramatically then was, perhaps, necessary. "You release the humans on the surface from your control, allow me and my friends here to return to the blue box, put us back on Earth, and leave in peace." I paused, but that option got no reactions.
"Alright then, two!" I held up two fingers, because let it never be said I half-ass shenanigans. "I release the humans on the surface, step back into the blue box, call the Shadow Proclamation, and you are all arrested and likely sentenced to execution." More silence. I turned back to Rose and the others, who were all staring at me in shock. "Geez, tough crowd," I joked. "Alright." I looked at my new watch, Nine's watch.
"Oops, well, would you look at the time. Option three is the one your going with, sorry guys." I shrugged in mock disillusion, even though my stomach was about 75% excited butterflies at that point. "You seem confused," I said even though I couldn't really tell. "Allow me to explain." I stopped pacing. "First mistake: you let me talk." I stuck my hands in my pockets. "Second mistake: you didn't leave when I offered." I took a few steps backward, toward the TARDIS. "Third mistake, much as I would love her to be-" I heard the TARDIS doors creak open behind me, and I grinned. "-she's not really my box."
...
"Did you miss me?" the Doctor asked simply, lips quirking up into a smile with no real input from him. Everyone, Sycorax and humans alike, spun quickly to look at him. A grin slowly made its way onto Rose's face and grew until it matched the one on Katelyn's. The Doctor walked forward, and was immediately charged by the Sycorax that had taken his mask off earlier. The Doctor caught the club swung at him, tore it out of the alien's hand, and snapped it over his knee. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy." He pointed, then turned around. Katelyn was standing next to Rose and-.
"Mickey, hello!" The Doctor looked around and found- "And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life." He turned back to the people who'd been taking care of him. "Tea! That's all I needed, a good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses."
"You're so British," Katelyn teased. The Doctor beamed at her, feeling something like pride in his chest. She was such a quick thinker, and so very brave. He hadn't gotten to choose her as a companion, but he certainly should have. "Just once, would it kill you to be from the States?"
"Yes," he answered without hesitation. Katelyn scoffed and rolled her eyes, still smiling, but he ignored her and turned to Rose. "Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"
"Um-" Rose had clearly not been expecting that question. She really should have, since that was the first thing this body had ever asked her. "-different."
"Good different or bad different?" the Doctor pressed. This was absurdly important to him. Guess vanity was a thing this go-around. Or it was Rose-centric vanity. That was always a possibility.
"Just different," Rose insisted.
"Am I... ginger?" he asked. Katelyn snorted. He continued to ignore her.
Rose looked up at his hair. "No, you're just sort of brown."
"Oh, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger," he complained. He turned and walked away a few steps before he spun back around and pointed. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me. Oh, that's rude." He dropped his arm, forwning. "Is that the sort of man I am now. Am I rude? Rude and not ginger."
"In your defense it is great hair," Katelyn offered. The Doctor turned and beamed at her again.
"You, Katelyn Laurin, were brilliant, by the way." Did she just blush? No. Katelyn didn't blush. "Have you actually read Article 15 of the Shadow Proclamation?" Maybe she had blushed, because she wasn't looking at him anymore either.
"Well, I figured one of us should," she answered. Oo, good subtly there. To anyone else, that would mean exactly what she said. To him, it meant 'I knew this was coming and prepared more than a day in advance'. That little kernel of pride grew, just a little.
"I'm sorry. Who is this?" Harriet asked Rose, as if the Doctor weren't standing right there. Well, who was being rude now?
"I'm the Doctor," he informed her.
"He's the Doctor." Rose didn't sound as sure as her would have liked.
"W-what happened to my Doctor?" Harriet demanded with all the strength of a person used to power. Dangerous, that. He should know. "Or is it a title that's just passed on?"
"I'm him. I'm literally him." The Doctor was getting tired of explaining this. Maybe he should make pamphlets. Oh, some kind of video! "Same man, new face. Well, new everything." He felt himself smirking, without meaning to, again. Alright, two things to add to the list.
"But you can't be."
"Harriet Jones-" Oh, his voice echoed when he talked like that. "-we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens, it wasn't the war, it was the thought of your mother being on her own."
"Oh, my God." She looked him up and down.
"Did you win the election?" he asked, knowing the answer. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, smiled.
"Landslide majority."
"If I might interrupt," the Sycorax leader said. The Doctor turned, having actually forgotten for a moment they were all in danger.
"Yes, sorry." He couldn't seem to stop smiling. Not that that was really new. "Hello, big fella."
"Who exactly are you?" the leader tried again.
"Well, that's the question-" the Doctor started.
"I demand to know who you are!" the leader shouted.
"I don't know!" the Doctor shouted back, imitating the leader's tone. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy?" He winked at Rose, seemingly on instinct. She smiled; Katelyn gagged. "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed?"
"God, I hope so," Katelyn interrupted. The Doctor started pacing, looking like he was just wandering, but really aiming for some kind of control panel. There was always a control panel
"A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." The Doctor caught something out of the corner of his eye and knew exactly what he had to do. "And how am I going to react when I see this, a great big threatening button." He ran over to said button, and heard the crowd following him. "A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?"
The Doctor squatted down next to the pillar, but the sonic went off and the door swung open before he could reach for it. He had the distinct urge to turn and banter with the young woman currently holding said screwdriver, but he really was on a roll right now and didn't want to lose that momentum.
"And what've we got here?" He stuck his finger in it and licked his finger before he could really stop himself. "Blood? Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron. Ah." Even the Sycorax looked disgusted. Well, there were right there. That was gross. "But that means…blood control. Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years," he said, almost fondly. "You're controlling all the A Positives." The Sycorax leader growled, which let the Doctor know he was on the right track.
"Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem," the Doctor continued. "Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So, if I see a great big threatening button which should never, ever, ever be pressed-" He raised his arm in the air. "Then I just want to do this."
The Doctor reached over and slammed his hand down on the button, much to the dismay of all the humans. Well, all the humans bar one. Katelyn was grinning like a mad woman, having, maybe, too much fun. Well, she knew the outcome, same as him, and he was grinning too.
"You killed them!" the one human whose name the Doctor didn't know shouted.
"What do you think, big fella?" the Doctor taunted the Sycrorax. "Are they dead?"
"We allow them to live," the leader responded through gritted teeth.
"Allow?" The Doctor almost laughed. "You've no choice." He started pacing again. These new legs just did not want to stay still. "I mean, that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis." He found a ledge to lean on, and did. "You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct's too strong."
"Blood control was just one form of conquest," the leader announced. The Doctor had really been hoping he didn't say that. "I can summon the armada and take this world by force."
"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that, of course you could. But why?" the Doctor asked. "Look at these people. These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than-"
"Doc," Katelyn interrupted. He frowned at her.
"I was-"
"That's The Lion King," she informed him.
"Oh." Maybe his brain was still a bit scrambled. Really, an invasion was the last thing he needed right after a regeneration. "Yeah, right, sorry, but the point still stands." He pushed up off the wall and marched back over to the crowd. "Leave them alone!"
"Or what?" the Sycorax leader challenged.
"Or-" The Doctor looked around for a bit, before catching sight of the sword each Sycorax wore at their hip. Blimey, they were really very armed. He snagged the sword and ran back toward the TARDIS. "-I challenge you!" The Sycorax seemed to find this hilarious. "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"
"You stand as this world's champion?" The leader drew his sword and advanced.
"Thank you," the Doctor said genuinely. He shrugged off the dressing gown he was wearing and threw it in the general direction of the humans. Surely one of them would catch it. "I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up. So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?" That insult also struck a chord, and the leader hissed. Both combatants held their swords high, then dropped to their knees.
"For the planet?" the Sycorax asked.
"For the planet," the Time Lord answered.
The Doctor very nearly regretted his decision with the first swing. The sword wasn't all that heavy, but this body was new and wasn't responding as quickly as he needed. Well, and he hadn't dueled in quite some time. Probably not since before the war. He was almost disarmed by his opponent's first swing. He had to stumble away to keep his balance.
That move may have been a blessing in disguise, because the Doctor took one look at Rose's 'if you die, I will kill you' expression and Katelyn's determination and maybe even a little bit Mickey's fear, and he was reminded all over again what he was fighting for.
This time, he just raised the sword in defense, and waited. The Sycorax swung. His opponent was sloppy. There was little finesse to how he handled the weapon. It was all power. Maybe he didn't need to remember how to duel, so much as remember how to block to win this fight.
The Doctor managed to catch it and deflect, and then get a good swing at the humanoids ankles. He missed though, and through himself off balance in the process. Really, this body was rubbish right now. So much more lanky than he was used to.
"Look out!" Rose shouted just as the Doctor pulled his legs away from being cut off.
"Oh, yeah, that helps. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks," he snarked, trying not to think about all the wrong ways this could go.
The two combatants clashed evenly for a little while. Then, the Sycorax leader got a good hit from the hilt of his sword into the Doctor's stomach. Ow. He thanked the stars for his respiratory bypass, since it meant the wind wasn't knocked out of him by that move.
Still, the Doctor stumbled back a few steps and did what he always did when the going got tough. He picked a direction and ran. The tunnel he choose wasn't that long, but there was a door at the end, which meant- "Bit of fresh air?" He punched the button so hard it hurt and ran out into the atmosphere.
The Sycorax leader came running out after him, clashing blades again. To the Doctor's dismay, the humans had also followed.
The Sycorwas and the Time Lord kept clashing blade, the Doctor finally matching his opponent swing for swing. The Sycorax got a lucky hit right into the Doctor's face. He cried out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rose take a take a step forward. "Stay back!" He held his hand out as if to stop her himself. "Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet." Whether that was true or not was irrelevant. The further the people he cared about were from the swinging swords, the better.
A few more good swings and more hits from the Sycorax and the Doctor was on his back on the ground. His opponent swung before he could react, and the Doctor watched his hand, and the sword it'd been holding, fall to the Earth below.
"You cut my hand off," he said, almost in disbelief. The leader turned around and cheered, which was perhaps the last bit of motivation the Doctor needed. He stood back up. "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. Because quite by chance I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy to do this." He raised his arms and focused, using the last bit of regeneration energy buzzing in his veins to rebuild his hand.
"Witchcraft," the Sycorax hissed.
"Time Lord," the Doctor corrected. The Sycrax looked afraid suddenly. Interesting, what had they heard of his people?
"Doctor!" Rose shouted. He turned in time to catch the sword Rose had thrown to him, and for just the second when she smiled at him, the world felt right again. He spun the sword with his new wrist. Oh! His dorsal tubercle was perfectly normal now. This day just kept getting better.
"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he has to ask.
"No arguments from me!" Rose called.
"Never doubted it!" Katelyn agreed. But of course she hadn't. He hadn't been worried about her.
"Want to know the best bit? This new hand? It's a fighting hand!" the Doctor announced. Katelyn cheered.
He only had to fight a few more moments, when the Sycorax let down his guard just a bit. The Doctor hooked his arms around his opponent's sword and pulled. Now both swords were his. He thumped both hilts into his opponent's abdomen, twice. The Sycorax fell, right on the edge, overlooking London. He held his sword to the defeated humanoids neck.
"I win," the Doctor growled.
"Then kill me."
"I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command. Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?" He didn't have high hopes, given how they'd reacted to Katelyn's peace offering earlier, but he had to try.
"Yes," the Sycorax all but spit. The Doctor narrowed his eyes and pressed the blade down harder.
"Swear on the blood of your species," he growled.
"I swear," the defeated Sycorax said, like it physically pained him to say. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but he had to give them a chance.
"There we are, then. Thanks for that." He turned and stuck the sword into the ground, happy to be rid of the weapon. Always happy to unarmed, him. "Cheers, big fella."
"Bravo!" Harriet Jones cheered. He smiled at the humans. Rose and Katelyn ran toward him, both smiling just as wide as he was.
"That says it all. Bravo!" Rose agreed. He really, really wanted to hug her, now that she didn't seem to be afraid of him anymore. Rose held open the dressing gown like it was a coat, and helped him put it on.
"Ah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams," the Doctor joked. Katelyn snorted. He finally stopped ignoring her. "What?"
"S'just been a while since I heard you call them that." She held out the sonic screwdriver to him. "The tool of your trade, Champion Doctor. I'm keeping the watch." He took the sonic happily, flipped it in the air, and slipped it in his pocket.
"Fair enou- Hold on, what have I got in here?" The Doctor pulled another fruit from the dressing gown pocket. "A satsuma."
"They're called clementines, get it right," Katelyn snarked. Team TARDIS started walking away, back into the ship.
"A satsuma," the Doctor repeated, mostly to hear the exaggerated sigh he knew Katelyn would make. "Ah, that friend of Rose's mother's. He does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas? You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?"
The Doctor heard the defeated Sycorax get up, heard him charge, and made a decision. He launched the fruit at an exposed button on the ship, and heard the creature screaming as it fell. "No second chances. I'm that sort of a man."
...
"By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time," the Doctor boomed. His voice really carried well here. Made the whole scene much more dramatic. "And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of it's riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this." The Doctor turned in a circle while he spoke, just to make sure everyone heard him. "It is defended."
The Sycorax decided they'd had enough of us then, and in a flash of blue, we were back on the surface of the Earth.
"Where are we?" Rose asked as soon as our feet were back on solid ground.
"We're just off Bloxom Road," Mickey realized. "We're just round the corner, we did it!" He laughed and started jumping up and down, but the Doctor held up a hand.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." It was silent between us, as we watched the ship turn and start leaving. Then, the Doctor smiled, full and true, and we knew we really had won.
"Go on, my son!" Mickey shouted, for some reason. "Oh, yeah!" Rose ran and jumped on his back. They were both grinning like mad.
"Yeah! Don't come back!" she shouted at the sky. I laughed.
"It is defended!" Mickey added. Rose dropped off Mickey's back and nearly knocked me over with the force of her hug.
"You were right," she said as she pulled back, beaming.
"Usually am," I responded. I wondered how the rest of the world was reacting right now, if they even knew.
"Are there many more out there?" Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, asked the Doctor.
But they were leaving! My smile dropped right as Rose turned to go hug the rest of the group. Right, work to be done. No rest for the weary and all that.
"Oo, not just Sycorax," I heard the Doctor respond. "Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself." I could see the wheels already turning in Harriet's head, and damn it, I was too late again. Not that that meant I wouldn't try. Wasn't it worth the heartbreak? "Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed more and more. You'd better get used to it."
"Rose!" came Jackie's voice.
"Mum!" Rose ran over and hugged her mom too.
"Oh, talking of trouble," the Doctor mumbled walking over..
Someone's phone rang. For a moment, I prayed it was Rose's, but no such luck. Harriet's aid pressed a button on his headpiece.
"You did it too!" Rose said. I snapped my head back around to the main characters. Oh god. It had been a while since I'd thought that. "It was the tea. Fixed his head."
"That was all I needed," the Doctor agreed. "Cup of tea." I couldn't even find it in me to make a joke at that. Rose's smile faltered, so I plastered on a fake one. I'm only 50% sure it convinced her.
"Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor?" Jackie asked. Harriet Jones turned around. Jackie's smile was quickly replaced by amazement. "Oh, my God, it's the bleeding Prime Minister!" And wasn't that just Jackie Tyler for you. She was standing next to a Time Machine, talking to her daughter in no uncertain terms about an alien man that went around changing his body when he was dying, and she was still more astonished to see the Prime Minister.
The Doctor smiled fondly and held out his arms. "Come here, you." Rose, Jackie, and Mickey came forward for a group hug. I didn't move. This was their story, I was just a mistake, here by accident. This was their happy ending, not mine.
As if sensing my train of thought, the Doctor grabbed my arm before I could react, and pulled me into the hug too. Smug bastard knew exactly what I needed, because all my thoughts about not belonging disappeared.
When we all pulled back to talk, I ducked out of the circle and over to Hariet Jones and her aide.
"It's a message from Torchwood," the aide reported grimly. "They say they're ready." I walked over to the two, took a deep breath, and made a decision.
"Harriet Jones." Both the other humans turned to me, looking slightly shocked. "If you say what you're about to, you will regret it for the rest of your life." She looked me over, sized me up, trying to figure out exactly why I knew that.
"I don't believe we've been introduced." She reached for her ID. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not a child Prime Minister, and I know a diversion tactic when I see one-"
"You're American, aren't you?" she asked in a tone that was a little too condescending for my taste. "I don't believe I was elected to represent you."
"The decision to shoot that retreating ship down is a decision made for the entire human race, as well you know. In this moment, you represent all of humanity." She looked over me to where the others were talking, and I knew that look in her eyes. There was nothing I could have done to change her mind.
"Tell them to fire," she ordered.
The aide walked away and gave the command. It took almost 10 seconds for five green beams to streak up into the sky, meet and fire out into space. Even from the ground, we could hear the Sycorax ship explode.
"What is that? What's happening?" Rose asked innocently. The Doctor looked over at us slowly, the Oncoming Storm in full effect.
I almost tried to stop him. Let her make one mistake, I almost pleaded. You let me make one. But what would stopping him entail? If Harriet Jones didn't step down, what happened with the Daleks, and the stolen Earth? What happened with Harold Saxon, the Master? What happened with Torchwood?
Would it even matter? It's not like the Doctor had a tendency to listen to me, and I'd already failed once. I ducked my head and turned my back on it all. Just another failure to add to my ever growing list.
"That was murder," the Doctor nearly growled.
"That was defence," Harriet Jones, former prime minister, defended. "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."
"But they were leaving," the Doctor argued.
"You said yourself, Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth," Harriet Jones said, with the ease of someone who knew she was in the right. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mr. Llewellyn and the Major, they were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."
"Then defend yourself before your enemy is retreating!" I screamed, spinning back around. This had always, always, bothered me, and nearly a decade of holding it in was all coming out at once. All I could do was glare at Harriet Jones. "The Doctor gave those people the wrong warning. He should have told them to run, run and hide because this is a planet of people who will hunt you down and shoot you in the back and not care what that looks like. What you did was wrong!"
"And who are you to decide that?" Harriet asked.
"The person who knows exactly how long it will take you to regret the decision and how long you will live to it. I warned you, Harriet Jones, and I will not be held responsible for the future." I closed the distance keeping me from the group of people I actually liked, but refused to look at any of them. I didn't want to know what they'd think of that outburst.
"I should have stopped you," the Doctor said.
"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?" Harriet challenged.
That was definitely the wrong thing to say. "Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man." The Doctor advanced until he was standing toe to toe with the woman. "I could bring down your Government with a single word."
"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met," Harriet admitted. "But I don't think you're quite capable of that."
"No, you're right. Not a single word." The Doctor paused, probably to find the words. "Just six."
"I don't think so."
"Six words."
"Stop it!"
"Six."
The Doctor walked around Harriet and over to her aide. He whispered the six words, staring at Harriet the whole time. Then, without another word to either of them, walked back over to our group and started leading us down the street.
"What did he say?" she demanded of her aide.
"Oh, well, nothing, really," he didn't lie.
"What did he say?"
"Nothing. I don't know."
"Doctor!" she called at us. The Doctor didn't look back. I checked my watch. "Doctor, what did you? What was that? What did he say? What did you say, Doctor? Doctor!"
"Two minutes, 45 seconds," I whispered.
...
The Doctor had left the humans to go have some semblance of an actual Christmas, while he moved the TARDIS back into the general area of the Powell Estates and picked out a new outfit. That's why the Doctor was surprised to find Katelyn, not in the Tyler flat, but just outside the door, leaning on the railing and staring at the TARDIS below.
"How come you're not-"
"Jackie kicked me out of the kitchen," she said simply. "Said I was, quote 'too distracting, puttering about like that'." Katelyn shivered, and the Doctor was a little confused to find he had an instinct to shrug of the long trench coat he was wearing and drape it over her shoulders. Ok, he could definitely add 'protective' to the list of things he knew about this new regeneration. "Besides, they're doing presents right now."
"Ah," the Doctor agreed. "Actually, if it's time for presents…" He dug around in his pocket for the tiny box he'd wrapped with his last body's hands, and held it out to the young woman.
She gave him a quizzical look and took the box. "I didn't get you anything," she protested. He just shrugged. Neither of them had been expecting Christmas so soon.
She pulled the ribbon holding the lid to the box delicately, so as not to break it, and slid it over her hand to make a bracelet. The Doctor smiled fondly at the action, wishing he'd payed more attention to those little things before. Well, plenty of time now.
When Katelyn pulled the lid off, she gasped and nearly dropped the box. "Doctor," she breathed.
"Thought it was about time you had one," he said through a smile. Katelyn pulled the TARDIS key from the box with reverence. She ran her fingers over it, as if she really couldn't believe what she was holding.
"Really?" she whispered after a few moments. The Doctor reached over and closed her fingers tightly around the key.
"Really." Katelyn all but squealed and nearly tackled the Doctor in a hug. He laughed at her enthusiasm and hugged her back tightly. "You deserve it."
"This isn't just because I did a good stalling job today?" she asked. He was fairly sure she was just being cheeky, but he wanted to be honest anyway.
"Well, that certainly helped, but I meant to give it to you in Willow Brook," the Doctor admitted, backing off from the hug. "Then you said it was your birthday, and I know how humans can get about traditions, like wrapping presents and so I stalled and then… Well, you know."
The moment was interrupted, or perhaps, no definitely, enhanced by Rose Tyler bursting out of her flat.
"There you are, I was-" She stopped talking when she saw the Doctor, and for a very brief, hearts stopping moment, he thought she was going to say something about changing again, but she just gave him a once over, then she smiled a full Rose Tyler grin, and all was right with the world.
"Oh, Rose, look!" Katelyn skipped over to the door and showed Rose the TARDIS key in her hand. Rose barked a laugh of pure joy and shoved her own small box into Katelyn's hand.
"It's almost like we planned something," she teased the Doctor while Katelyn unwrapped her other gift.
He was ready to banter (flirt) back, but stopped, eyes wide, when he saw Rose's gift. "Can I?" he asked. Katelyn handed him the glittering chain. All it took was a long look and tug on the clasp to confirm his suspicions. "This is Andraxion steel. Just about the toughest material you can make a necklace out of." He undid the clasp so Katelyn could slide the TARDIS key on the chain. He dropped the chain back in Katelyn's hands, and she wasted no time in pulling the piece of jewelry over her head. "Nothing can break that."
...
"If you put any number of brussel sprouts on my plate, Rose Tyler, I will kill you," I warned through a smile. So jovial was the mood in the Tyler flat that not one person told me off for the threat to Rose's life, not even as a joke.
"First you only want the dark meat, now you're complaining about the vegetable!" Jackie griped, but she was smiling too.
"Hey, not my fault you managed to find two of the, like, seven foods I don't like," I defended, as Rose spooned brussel sprouts onto the Doctor's plate. "I'm not a picky eater, I swear."
"She's not," the Doctor agreed. "I've never traveled with anyone quite as willing to get food poisoning-" I threw a roll at him, which effectively shut him up.
"Right. Well, maybe I will let you cook next year!" Jackie had just meant to banter, but honestly the thought both warmed and broke my heart. I would love that, but next Christmas probably wouldn't involve any members of the Tyler family.
I shoved another whole roll in my mouth to hide my sudden frown.
Amazingly, I managed not to think about the daunting future for the rest of dinner. I spilt a Christmas cracker with Jackie, which she won. I pouted for a bit after that, so Mickey also split a cracker with me. I won that one, though I suspect Mickey let me win.
It wasn't until Rose and the Doctor had split a Christmas cracker and Rose was shoving the pink crown down on her head that the world's lack of perfection made itself known again.
"Look, it's Harriet Jones," Rose said, gesturing to the TV.
"Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?" a reporter asked.
"No," Harriet said, unconvincingly. "Now, can we talk about other things?" The Doctor stood up slowly, reaching in his pocket for something.
"Is it true you're unfit for office?" another reporter asked. The Doctor put on the goddamn glasses that I was 99% convinced he wore only because Rose had once said she liked a man in glasses. I pushed my own up my nose in solidarity.
"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health," Harriet insisted. "I don't know where these stories are coming from. And a vote of no confidence is completely unjustified."
"Are you going to resign?"
"On today of all days, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."
"It's Bev," Jackie said, breaking me out a trance I didn't realize I'd fallen into. "She says go and look outside."
"Why?" Rose asked, but she was already reaching for her jacket.
"I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!"
Outside only looked like a winter wonderland. What could easily pass for snow was falling, and had already settled in a thin layer on the ground. When I looked up, I could see streaking lights criss-crossing in the sky. My fault, kept playing on loop in my mind
The Doctor seemed to share my foul mood. "Stop that," he scolded as he passed me, but gave the statement no context at my confused expression.
Everyone else was laughing and throwing the not-snow around. I almost didn't want to say anything, didn't want to ruin their joyful Christmas night.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Rose breathed. "What are they, meteors?"
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere," the Doctor said bluntly.
"This isn't snow, it's ash," I added, despite my reservations. "Real snow's heavier."
"Okay, not so beautiful," Rose decided.
"This is a brand new planet Earth," the Doctor mused. "No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."
"And what about you? What are you going to do next?" Rose asked quietly. As if the answer to that question would ever not include her.
"Well, back to the TARDIS. Same old life," the Doctor said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"On your own?" I decided not to mention that we both still had our TARDIS keys, a sure sign he would not be leaving without us.
"Why, don't you want to come?" he asked Rose, sounding confused and worried.
"Well, yeah."
"Do you, though?"
"Yeah!" Rose answered with enthusiasm. I couldn't help but smile at them. Those dorks, honestly.
"I just thought, because I changed."
"Yeah, I thought, because you changed you might not want me anymore." I didn't need to be a telepath to know the next thought the Doctor had was 'I never want to be without you'.
"Oh, I'd love you to come."
"Okay."
"You're never going to stay, are you?" Mickey asked quietly. I could see Rose trying to come up with the gentlest way to put him down.
"There's just so much out there. So much to see. I've got to," Rose said.
"Yeah," Mickey conceded, not sounding one iota like he agreed with her.
"Well, I reckon you're mad, the pair of you," Jackie said, clearly sad to see her daughter leave her again. "It's like you go looking for trouble."
"Trouble's just the bits in-between!" the Doctor enthused, practically bouncing over to Jackie. He threw an arm quickly over her shoulders. "It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes." He strolled back over to where Rose was, nudging me with him when he passed. "New adventures for all three of us. And it is going to be-" He looked over at Rose, smiling like the smitten old man he was. "-fantastic."
The Doctor held his hands out to us to Rose and I. I took the Doctor's left hand and tried, I really did, to not feel the steady push of positive things he was feeling. Maybe it was a good thing I felt his emotions though, because they really helped soothe my own guilt ridden mind.
"That hand of yours still gives me the creeps," Rose admitted.
"Stand on his left side next time, then," I teased. Rose leaned forward to see around the Doctor and stuck her tongue out at me, like a toddler, which I of course mirrored. She took the Doctor's other hand. We all took a moment to just be like that.
Then, Rose stepped closer, essentially pressing herself against the Doctor's arm. "So, where're we going to go first?"
"Um-" The Doctor looked at both his hands, apparently unwilling to let go of either of us. Laughing, I pointed in a random direction, vaguely up, toward the stars. "Thank you," the Doctor said. "That way." His mouth twitched up into a cheeky smile. "No, hold on." I moved my arm, rolling my eyes. "That way."
"That way?" Rose clarified, pointing in generally the same direction as me.
"You think?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at Rose like she'd hung the stars.
"Yeah, that way," Rose decided, turning and giving him the same look back..
"Seems perfect," I agreed, looking at the night sky. "Allons-y."
(A/N: And the length of this chapter is why I cut "The Christmas Invasion"in half.
Hope you enjoyed. See you next week!)