Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Just Sophie my o/c.
A/N: Huge thank you to everyone who followed/favourited and reviewed last chapter. And of course, to Saberbladeprime for reading over a few scenes for me. I hope you all enjoy this conclusion to the first Christmas Special.
CHAPTER 2
The Christmas Invasion
Part 2
The tip of the sonic flashed and the tree exploded. The Doctor lowered his arm. "Remote control," he muttered as he threw the blankets off his legs and got to his feet, stumbling only slightly. "But who's controlling it?" he questioned as he grabbed up a dressing gown and practically swept from the room, shrugging it on as he walked. Sophie, Rose, Jackie and Mickey following him all the way out of the flat.
They looked down to see three Santa's gazing up in their general direction, one clasping a radio controller.
"That's them!" Mickey declared, "What are they?"
"Shush!" Rose hushed him tersely, not wanting to provoke the Santa's into attacking them with fire once again.
Sophie stared at them, "They're kinda creepy," she muttered quietly and Rose nodded her agreement. Mickey rolled his eyes, shooting Rose a slightly annoyed look for not sushing the brunette like she had him.
The Doctor raised his sonic once again, aiming it at the Santa's, only for the three Santa's to back away a bit, before they vanished with a flash.
"They've just gone. What kind of rubbish were they?" Mickey scoffed, "I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off."
"Don't knock the sonic screwdriver," Sophie told him, "It's saved our lives more than once," she stated seriously even as she eyed the Doctor with concern. He'd seemed to go from zero to sixty in a moment and his mind still felt rather wild as it continued to brush rather forcefully against her own.
"Pilot Fish," the Doctor muttered. A flicker of pain moving across his face and Sophie shifted a little closer in concern.
A flicker of pain shifting across her own face as the Doctor's mind continued to press against hers… the feeling… the pressure of it becoming a bit uncomfortable the longer it was pressing against her shields.
"What?" Rose asked.
"They were just Pilot Fish," The Doctor replied, before he coughed and was thrown back, colliding with the wall.
"Doctor!" Sophie cried alarmed as they hurried over to him.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
The Doctor grimaced panting heavily as he stared at them, "You woke me up too soon," he said pained his gaze flicking to Sophie, "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy," he grimaced in pain again as more regeneration energy escaped from his mouth, "You see? The Pilot Fish could smell it a million miles away. So, they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of years, ow!" he groaned as he lurched forward, hunching as hands came up to help support him.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Jackie fretted as she helped support him alongside Sophie, the brunette having taken a short step back as his body had lurched against them.
"My head!" the Doctor groaned through gritted teeth, "I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…" he trailed off a pained sound escaping him.
"What do you need?" Jackie urged.
"I need…"
"Say it. Tell me, tell me…"
"I need…" the Doctor tried again.
"Painkillers?" Jackie suggested.
"I need…" he panted, leaning a bit heavier against Sophie as he hunched again, pain shooting through his head. Sophie grimaced unseen as she began pressing back against the onslaught of the Doctor's flailing wild mind.
"Do you need aspirin?" Jackie suggested, trying to be helpful.
"I…"
"Codeine?" Jackie interrupted fretfully, "Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know… Pepto-Bismol?"
"I need…"
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?" Jackie rattled off.
"I need…" the Doctor tried again only for Jackie to interrupt his attempt to focus his spiralling mind once again.
"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"
The Doctor focused an irritated look on the woman, "I need you to shut up!" he snapped.
Jackie gave him an irritated look of her own as she shifted back from him in annoyance, "Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" she grumped.
"He's still the Doctor," Sophie muttered in response almost automatically as she attempted to focus on breathing and keeping the Doctor's mind buffered from hers.
The Doctor lurched forward again, before leaning back a bit, choosing to rest his back against the wall, "We haven't got much time," he warned them. His mind jumping tracks again, unable to focus. "If there's pilot fish, then…" he reached into his pocket and blinked as his hand closed around something unexpected. His mind losing its train of thought once again as he pulled the round object out and he stared at it. "Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?" he asked confused.
"It's not actually your dressing gown," Sophie reminded him earning a brief confused look as the Doctor momentarily pondered why he was wearing another person's dressing gown.
Jackie shrugged, "Oh, that's Howard. Sorry."
The Doctor looked at the older blond once again, still confused, "He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"
Jackie shrugged again, this time a little defensively, "He gets hungry."
The Doctor blinked a little incredulously, "What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"
"Sometimes," Jackie replied.
"Argh!" The Doctor cried out in pain and began to collapse to the floor only to fall against Sophie his hands grasping her arms tightly, "…brain collapsing…" he panted out, "The Pilot Fish mean…" he struggled to keep from passing out... "That something… something… something is coming…" he managed before he slumped passing out.
*O*O*O*
Sophie moved the stethoscope over the Doctor's chest, biting her lower lip harshly as one side came up quiet, whilst the other beat a bit erratically compared to before. She glanced over at Rose who was staring at her and shook her head. "He's worse," she murmured quietly, her hands tight around the stethoscope before she deposited it back on the nightstand.
Jackie walked in with a small bowl filled with cool water and a cloth, "Here," she said as she handed it to Sophie.
The curly haired brunette nodded. "Thanks," and turned back to the Doctor who was sweaty, burning up and yet shivering like he was cold. Jackie stepped out again, moving back into the kitchen, rather concerned for the Doctor, despite herself.
Rose watched anxiously as she watched Sophie carefully ringing out the cloth before she started mopping at his brow. "How much worse?" she asked glancing briefly out the doorway to see Mickey walking past his laptop in hand. Their eyes meeting very briefly, before she was turning back to the brunette.
Sophie set the damp cloth back into the bowl Jackie had provided. "His minds gone quiet again," she murmured, her mouth feeling thick and her tongue uncooperative.
"Again?" Rose questioned dubiously, her guilt over what was happening to the Doctor increasing as she stared at him... his discomfort obvious even as he lay still.
"Yeah," Sophie muttered, but didn't elaborate on it further, "And there's only one heart beating now," she glanced back to where Rose had been standing, only to see that the blond had turned and fled the room.
Sophie tugged at the ends of her hair and sighed out a breath as she turned her gaze back to the Doctor torn between staying with him and going after Rose. She hovered for a moment staring at the open doorway of the bedroom, before the sound of muffled voices reached her one of them unmistakably Rose's and she turned away from the door, sinking herself down into the chair that was still by the bed. Rose had her mum and Mickey, she didn't need her… maybe didn't even want her around, considering how fast she'd fled from the room – without a word.
Her gaze fell to the Doctor again… or it wasn't her the blond didn't want to be around. She tugged at her hair again, before she slumped forward in the chair another sigh escaping her, a dull throb at her temples.
Her gaze moved to his brow seeing the sweat gathered there again. She reached down for the cloth, ringing it out with one hand and moved closer again as she gingerly mopped at his brow again, eyes beginning to prick hotly.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I didn't mean to wake you too early…"
*O*O*O*
"Jackie, I'm using the phoneline. Is that alright?" Mickey asked as he set up his laptop.
Jackie whom was holding two cups of tea nodded as she set one down by his elbow, "Yeah. Keep a count of it. It's midnight. Christmas day," she turned as Rose walked over to them, her expression troubled and her arms crossed protectively, "Any change?"
Rose shook her head. "He's worse," she repeated what Sophie had told her, leaving out the part about the Doctor's mind… she didn't fancy trying to explain that to her mother. "Just one beating heart," she murmured hollowly as she sat herself down on the arm of the chair. She glanced away from the probing eyes of her mother, guilt still churning as despite having left the room, she could still see the Doctor on the bed… she swallowed thickly, "Sophie's with him," she muttered hoping that her mum would stop looking at her…
Jackie continued to eye her daughter with concern, her gaze briefly moving towards the general direction of the room Sophie and the Doctor where in, concerned for the brunette who was sitting alone.
"The Scientists in charge of Britain's mission to Mars have re-established contact with the Guinevere One Space Probe."
The voice of a reporter had their attention diverted to the screen.
"They're expecting the first transmission from the planet's surface in the next few minutes."
"Yes, we are," Llewellyn responded to the reporter, "We're, we're back on schedule. We've received the signal from the Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success."
"But is it true that you completely lost contact earlier tonight?" Another reporter asked.
"What's this?" a soft voice asked from behind them that had Rose and Jackie looking behind briefly.
Rose frowned lightly at the sight of the curly haired brunette, tensing as her stomach plummeted, "The Doct…"
"Oh no," Sophie cut her off as she moved to come stand beside where the blond was still sitting on the arm of the chair, "No change… I just needed a coffee," and Rose breathed out a low breath of relief slumping slightly.
Jackie frowned, "It's after midnight," she tutted.
Sophie glanced over at her, "I don't want to fall asleep… not now," she glanced back the way she'd come.
Jackie eyed her for a moment longer, before nodding reluctantly and getting up to head for the kitchen.
Rose leaned against the brunette, just slightly. It was all she could bring herself to offer… any words she thought to say chocked off by her guilt… by her lingering doubt. And a small part of her tension melted as Sophie leaned back ever so slightly accepting what the she had been able to offer and her eyes pricked hotly… tears welling that she forcefully blinked back as the broadcast continued as Llewellyn answered the question that had been put to him.
"Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it… it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds."
The faint sound of the kettle boiling came from the kitchen and a cupboard opening and closing and Mickey typing away as he focused on what he was doing.
"She is fine now, absolutely fine. We… We're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I'd better get back to it. Thanks."
"Here we go," Mickey spoke drawing their attention even as Jackie stepped back into the room a fresh mug in hand, one that Sophie gratefully accepted as Mickey continued, "Pilot Fish. Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless."
Sophie frowned lightly, "But who are they scavenging for? Themselves or…"
"Well that's just the point isn't it," Mickey cut her off with a nod, "The little Fish swim alongside the big fish."
"Do you mean like sharks?" Rose asked.
Mickey nodded again, "Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them… now we get that."
They watched as the animation of a shark snapped at them viciously from the screen.
"And they'll be what's coming," Sophie muttered, her hands tightening around her coffee mug, before she took a sip.
Rose nodded her agreement. "How close?" Rose asked Mickey.
"There's no way of telling," he admitted, "But the Pilot Fish don't swim far from their daddy."
"So, it's close?" Rose muttered her question.
"Probably very," Sophie replied, before she turned her gaze to Rose, "Let me know if you guys find out anything else?"
Rose nodded her agreement and Sophie had just turned away to head back to where she'd left the Doctor coffee still clutched in hand, when Jackie spoke drawing her up short.
"Funny sort of rocks."
She turned back around and shifted back to look at the TV once again to see what Jackie was talking about.
"The first photographs." The newsreader announced.
Rose crossed her arms again, "That's not rocks," she told her mum as they squinted at the blurry out of focus image on the telly.
"This image is being transmitted via mission control, coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning."
The image distorted and then became clear to reveal a red-eyed ugly alien with a head like a goat's skull as it growled and gurgled at them.
"Definitely not rocks," Sophie muttered as the image disappeared to go back to the newsreader.
"The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1."
*O*O*O*
"Rose, Sophie." Mickey called drawing the two's attention back to him, "Take a look," and they moved back over to him and his laptop. "I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way."
"Coming for what, though?" Rose questioned.
"The Doctor," Sophie responded.
Mickey glanced over at them, "Maybe, it's coming for all of us," he offered as a suggestion and Sophie gave a short nod of acknowledgement and agreement. As the Doctor had said before he'd passed out… they'd take them out to get to him… collateral damage…
Mickey moved his fingers over the keyboard and clicked the mouse a few times and managed to get a clear image of four of the aliens as the gurgled and snarled at each other.
"Have you seen them before?" Mickey asked, not sure if he hoped that they had or hadn't come across them before.
Sophie and Rose both shook their heads, "No."
Rose frowned at the screen, "I don't understand what they're saying." She muttered and glanced over at Sophie questioningly.
Sophie having heard the silence and feeling the blondes gaze she turned her gaze from the screen to look at her and saw the question in her eyes. "Me either."
Rose looked away again and saw the questioning look Mickey was giving them. "The Tardis translates alien languages inside our heads, all the time, wherever we are," she explained.
"So, why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey asked with confusion.
"I don't know," Rose admitted, "Must be the Doctor. Like he's part of the circuit, and he's… he's broken."
Sophie brushed her arm against the blondes drawing her gaze, "He's just needs to recover," she said, hoping that she sounded more certain than she felt.
Rose stared at her dubiously, "Will he?" she questioned, before she glanced away again, focusing on the laptop again, her hands clenched at her sides.
*O*O*O*
Sophie moved back towards the bedroom the words of Newsreader on the telly following her.
"Despite claims of an alien hoax, it's been reported that NATO forces are on red alert."
Sophie frowned, "It's mauve," she muttered as she moved down the hallway approaching the doorway of the bedroom.
"Oh, come on, sweetheart," she heard Jackie murmuring, "What do you need? What is it you need? Tell me," Jackie urged the still unconscious Doctor.
Sophie stepped through the doorway, "Thanks Jackie."
Jackie turned towards her, "It wasn't a problem," she stood from the chair, "Anything else you need? Another drink perhaps? Tea this time mind you, not coffee," she stated.
Sophie shook her head, "No. I'm ok…" she trailed and Jackie nodded as she stepped past her and out the door. Sophie snatched up the stethoscope from the nightstand once again and listened to his chest once again, guilt settling in a bit deeper at hearing the still quiet side of his chest.
She set the medical instrument down again and sank down into the chair Jackie had vacated, stubbornly ignoring the somewhat tired itch behind her eyes as she by him once again, keeping him company. Wishing, like Jackie, that she knew what he needed… and hoping that this sleep that he'd fallen into… this coma, was doing something to help.
"Speaking strictly off the record," Sophie heard a different Newsreader saying as the sound of the telly reached the bedroom, "Government sources are calling this our longest night." And Sophie sighed out a breath as she couldn't help but agree with the Newsreader as she sat in silence just watching over the Doctor… unable to do anything to alleviate his quiet suffering. Nothing, except trying to keep him comfortable.
"Here you go, love," Jackie said as she came back into the room fresh damp cloth and bowl in hand and Sophie accepted it with a nod of thanks.
*O*O*O*
At the Unit Base Harriet Jones walked over to Major Blake as he sat in a chair. "I don't suppose we've had a code 9?" she asked hopefully drawing his attention, "No sign of the Doctor?"
"Nothing yet," the Major replied, before giving her a curious look, "You've met him, haven't you?" And Harriet nodded. "More like the stuff of legend." He murmured.
"He is at that," Harriet agreed with a small smile, "Failing him…" she met his gaze unwaveringly. "What about Torchwood?"
"I…" the Major hedged rather surprised.
"I know I'm not supposed to know about it, I realize that. Not even the United Nations knows," Harriet responded to his surprise, hoping to quiet his doubts. "But if ever there was a need for Torchwood, it's now."
"I can't take responsibility."
"I can," Harriet rebutted, "See to it. Get them ready." Blake gazed at her a moment longer before he nodded and rose from his chair walking away to do as he'd been commanded.
"Prime Minister…" Alex called as he came towards her at a quick clip.
Harriet turned to him. "Has it worked?"
Alex nodded. "Just about," he replied as he set his laptop down on a desk to show her, Llewellyn and Jacobs coming up to them to watch.
"People…" Alex began to translate, "That could be 'cattle'..." he told them. "You belong to us. To the Sycorax… they seem to be called 'Sycorax', not Martians…" he explained, before going back to translating once more. "We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong. Sycorax mighty. Sycorax rock… as in the modern sense, they rock," he concluded.
"They will die?" Llewellyn muttered, "Not you will die, they will die? Who's they?"
Alex shook his head. "I don't know, but it is the right personal pronoun. It's 'they'," he told them confidently.
"Send them a reply," Harriet commanded, "Tell them… this is a day of peace on planet Earth…" Alex nodded as he hastily took notes. "Tell them… we extend that peace to the Sycorax. And then tell them… this planet it armed and we do not surrender."
Sally Jacobs nodded as Alex finished noting down what Harriet had said, "Come on," she murmured and the three left Harriet alone.
*O*O*O*
Rose leaned against the doorframe of the bedroom watching as Sophie dabbed at the Doctor's brow again. The man on the bed still showing no signs of waking… she'd intended to go in… she had, but… she hadn't been able to get herself to step into the room. So instead she hovered, only getting a brief look from the brunette, before she'd gone back to dabbing.
She let out a low shaky breath and hearing soft steps coming towards her she turned from the door and moved towards the advancing Mickey the two coming to stand by each other.
"The Doctor wouldn't do this," Rose muttered lowly, her voice as shaky as the breath she'd expelled a moment ago. "The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he'd wake up. He'd save us,"
Mickey gave her a look, "You really love him, don't you?"
Rose gave him an unimpressed look, before staring pointedly back towards the room where Sophie was now dropping the cloth back into the bowl.
Mickey followed her gaze staring himself for a moment, "Right," he agreed cautiously, "But that doesn't mean you can't…"
Rose shook her head, "I do… I thought I did… just not like that…" she swallowed thickly her head lowering as she bit her lip as she pondered how to put it. "He's family… they both are… I just… that man in there… he just doesn't… he's not… the Doctor would wake up for her!" she stated with more confidence than any of her previous words. Her gaze going again to Sophie as the brunette settled herself back into the chair, before she turned into Mickey wrapping her arms around him, leaning into his arms as she felt tears well again. She hadn't meant for any of this to happen! She really hadn't! She'd just wanted to save him… not this… never this…
She just wanted the Doctor back!
*O*O*O*
Sophie made a soft sound as her mind drifted groggily as she slowly came awake, blinking her eyes blearily, taking in the blankets she was resting her head against… her gloved hand curled around a bare masculine one… she blinked at her intertwined hand for a moment, processing trying to remember what she'd been doing… why she wasn't in bed…
She jerked up, "Bugger!" she cursed lowly as she realized that at some point during the night she'd accidentally fallen asleep. Something slid down her shoulders and she blinked down at the arms of the chair to see that it had been a blanket that had fallen off her shoulders. She blinked down at the prone form of the Doctor, who hadn't seemed to have moved at all from what she remembered until the point where she must have fallen asleep.
"I need coffee," she muttered, her hand coming up to rub tiredly at her face, but first… she reached for the stethoscope wanting to check his hearts again, before she got herself a coffee.
She froze however as a commotion sounded from outside that had her frowning and getting up to go check. She met with Rose and Mickey on the way to the door and the three made their way outside of the flat.
"Sandra?" Rose called to a woman questioningly, making her turn to her.
"He won't listen. He's just walking. He won't stop walking!" Sandra explained fretfully, "There's this sort of light thing. Jason? Stop it right now! Please, Jason, just stop!" she cried.
Sophie, Rose and Mickey moved a little further onto the balcony they were standing on and looked down at the ground below to see a lot of people walking in the same state as Jason. The three shared a look before they moved to follow the flow of seemingly hypnotized people, all of them seeming to be heading up…
*O*O*O*
On another residential street, a woman chased after her children as they walked down the street. "Alan, come on, now stop this. It's not funny anymore!" she cried, "Come on, Alan, come back inside the house. Katherine… Katherine, listen to me…" she tried to stop them without success. "You come back inside right now. And you, Jonathan, you come back inside with mummy. You're scaring me now! Come on!" she turned to her husband again, "Alan, help me out here, please!"
All around her others were doing much the same as her as they tried unsuccessfully to get any kind of response from their loved ones.
*O*O*O*
Sophie, Rose and Mickey made it up to the roof hearing Sandra continuing to call to Jason as he along with many others trooped towards the edge. "Jason, I'm talking to you! Just stop!" she pleaded.
The three looked about anxiously as all the people in the hypnotized daze made it to the edge, lining themselves up with it… and then stopped… stilling completely… as if just waiting to jump.
Mickey swallowed and broke the silence. "What do we do?" he asked.
Sophie shook her head, "We wait, the Doc…"
"Yeah well, he's not!" Rose cut her off, "He can't save us. Not anymore," she muttered tersely her eyes pricking hotly once again with tears that refused to be shed.
"Rose…" Sophie tried reaching for her.
"Don't!" Rose snapped cutting her off as she shrugged away from her reaching hand, not thinking that she could handle the contact in that moment and Sophie lowered her arm immediately. "Just don't Soph… I – this is…" Rose swallowed thickly meeting the brunette's eyes briefly, before she glanced away. She couldn't get herself to say it. Not again, and not to Sophie… she didn't want to see blame in the brunette's eyes. It was bad enough feeling her own as the Doctor continued to just sleep, with no sign of waking again. No sign of getting better…
Rose stalked towards the door they'd just come through and threw it open. Leaving Mickey and Sophie to stare after her for a moment before they too started from the roof. They made it onto the stairs to make their way back down to the Tyler flat, the sound of Rose's footsteps echoing up to them.
Mickey glanced over at Sophie and placed a hand on her shoulder drawing her worried gaze to him, "Don't take it too hard. Rose and her mum are a lot alike when they're feeling…"
"Worried, I am too," Sophie murmured.
Mickey squeezed her shoulder briefly before releasing it, "Guilty," he corrected, "She's blaming herself and the worse he gets the worse she feels. She'll probably apologize in some way in a few moments…" he trailed and paled drastically as he caught sight of Rose waiting for them outside the door to the Tyler flat, her gaze unimpressed as she eyed him through narrowed eyes. he swallowed and hurried towards the door, "I'm just gonna… yeah," he muttered and disappeared into the Tyler flat the door clicking quietly closed behind him.
Sophie blinked at Rose who was staring at her with troubled eyes and then the blondes' shoulders were shaking with suppressed tears, "This is all my fault!" she mumbled, her voice strained as her throat tightened, "He's not the Doctor anymore and it's my fault… I did this… I… and now he's dying… and he said I did something to you… and I don't know what. I can't remember!"
Sophie stepped closer a little cautiously and then the blond had practically thrown herself at her, almost making her stumble back.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Rose muttered, tears beginning to slip from her behind her eyes that she'd squeezed shut against the hot stinging prick of them.
Sophie patted her back, her own eyes beginning to tear over as she hugged the blond to her, her throat to constricted to be able to form words, and even if she could have spoken… her mind was just emotion… and words were lost.
*O*O*O*
Mickey blinked, his expression shifting between concerned and fearful as he spotted Sophie and Rose headed for the kitchen where he was currently standing with Jackie her back turned to him as she bustled about the kitchen. He hesitated for a barely a moment before he practically fled from the room, not wanting to be in the line of fire so soon after being overheard… he knew the Tyler temper and he'd rather avoid it until it had cooled down to a point where she wouldn't smack him one for talking behind her back even if it had been with the best of intentions.
Sophie blinked after him, momentarily surprised and confused by his reaction, but it seemed Rose got it because from behind her, she heard the blond mutter. "Yeah, he better run." But it sounded only half-hearted and watery.
The brunette shook her head and continued to lead Rose into the kitchen pushing her towards a chair, ignoring Jackie for a moment as she moved towards the fridge to open the freezer, searching its contents, before she pulled out a couple of icepacks for their somewhat puffy eyes and red splotchy faces. She turned and accepted the tea towels that Jackie was holding out to her, wrapping them up as she moved towards Rose, handing her one, before she moved to take a seat of her own beside the blond. Jackie once again puttering around, shooting the two concerned looks.
The two sat in silence, holding the icepacks to their eyes, the cool soothing the heated puffy skin. "I hate crying!" Rose muttered as she shifted the icepack.
Sophie nodded, "Yeah, it always makes me all splotchy, and it's worse if I'm wearing mascara, then my eyes really sting!" the brunette muttered.
"And it runs," Rose commented, both suddenly rather glad that they hadn't had much of a chance to freshen up yet and they chuckled a little half-heartedly, no real merriment to the sound. The sound of clattering crockery made Rose glance over at her mother and she scowled in renewed irritation at the older woman, "Seriously mum! Enough with the tea!" she grumbled only to wince slightly as Sophie gave her shin a kick under the table. She shot her an irritated look, before she wilted slightly at the pointed look she was being given by the brunette. Rose glanced at her mum again who was staring at her rather unhappily, "Sorry," she muttered.
Jackie nodded and set two mugs in front of each of them before moving back to make one for herself.
"You're not the only one feeling guilty," Sophie offered after another beat of silence drawing Rose's gaze to her, "I'm the one who woke him… I projected at him… didn't really mean to it just happened, and then he was up… and for a moment I thought maybe he was fine…" she trailed swallowing against the lump in her throat, "And now he's worse than before."
Rose shifted the pack again, leaning back against her chair as she sighed out a tired breath, "I don't suppose you've 'seen' anything?" she couldn't help but ask the brunette, eyeing her a little hopefully as her mum stepped out of the kitchen armed with two more mugs of tea.
Sophie stiffened slightly, her expression flickering between sad and closed off, "No," she muttered.
"Could you try?" Rose asked before she could stop herself, but didn't stop eyeing the brunette levelly.
Sophie's expression shifted completely as she closed herself off at the question, "I'm not a magic 8 ball!" she said coldly and Rose flinched a bit looking away shamefaced, "I don't want to see Rose. You have no idea what it's…" Sophie cut herself off, her lips pursing, she levelled a final glare at the blond, before she stood letting her icepack fall onto the table, "I should go check on the Doctor," she muttered before she walked from the room on leaden legs, walking past Jackie without a glance as the older woman moved back into the kitchen.
Jackie blinked after the brunette before settling her gaze on her daughter who was now slumped rather dejectedly in her seat and staring at her knees. "What's happened now?" she asked.
Rose shook her head, tears spilling quietly over her cheeks again. she wiped them away with jerky movements, "I'm an idiot!" she muttered under her breath, before she too got up and left the kitchen.
Jackie sighed and moved to put away the abandoned icepacks, "Some Christmas," she muttered.
*O*O*O*
Sophie sighed despondently as she set aside the stethoscope once again. There'd been no change… he still only had one heart beating, his mind still felt far away… but still present if only barely… she supposed no change was better than getting worse.
"I wish you could have said what you needed before passing out," she murmured softly, her hands clenching over her knees. The faint sound of Harriet Jones voice drifting down to the bedroom from the telly. She wished that she couldn't hear it. the pleading in the woman's voice as she tried to reach out to the Doctor for help… but right now he couldn't respond. Sophie reached out slowly with her gloved hand laying it over the Doctor's, her guilt settling deeper as the muscles didn't even twitch in reaction to the contact… just still.
"You'll get better. I know you will…" she murmured, "But if you could try and just let me know somehow what you need. That'd be super… no that'd be fantastic," there was still nothing and reluctantly she pulled back, her hand sliding away from his as she rested her back against the chair, the hand that had been resting over the Doctor's coming up to play with the ends of her hair anxiously.
A shadow moved in the doorway and Sophie glanced over and her gaze caught on Rose who looked miserable, but no longer puffy eyed, the icepack having done the trick as it had for her. She looked away again not breaking the silence between them, though her hands twitched a little at the feel of the blondes' heavy guilt ridden and hurting gaze.
"He's gone, isn't he?" Rose broke the silence, her voice shaky. "The Doctor's gone… really left us…"
Sophie glanced over at her, her hands tightening over her knees once again, "He's not gone Rose… it's faint," she admitted quietly as she looked back down at the Doctor's prone form, "But he's still in there."
Rose eyed the man on the bed a little dubiously still unable to help but recall the madness of their crash to Earth… that man hadn't been the Doctor and then he'd gone and collapsed not once but twice… the Doctor, the real one would be up by now… he'd have figured everything out and may have already saved the world…
Before she could voice any of that the glass shattered out of nowhere and she hit the floor in response as the ground shook rather violently.
Sophie sat up from where she'd thrown herself forward over the Doctor, casting a brief look over him only to see that he was fine.
"What was that?!" Rose asked as she clambered to her feet and followed Sophie as she moved towards the window.
Sophie peered out and up towards the sky, her eyes wide as her gaze landed on the large spaceship soaring through the sky. She gulped as Rose joined her in staring up at it, "I'd say that's the Big Fish," she muttered nervously and Rose nodded her agreement as her gaze followed the ship for a moment longer as it cast a wide shadow flying below the sun blotting it out for an extended moment as it flew.
Sophie ducked her head back into the bedroom, Rose following suit, the brunette turned to the blond, "Help me?" she asked with a gesture towards the Doctor.
Rose nodded, "Tardis?" and Sophie nodded and the two moved towards the bed throwing the duvet off him as the two shifted about to get him up and off the bed. Rose grunted a bit, "You weren't wrong… he is a bit on the heavy side," she huffed as she gripped his legs the two of them taking his weight and began shuffling towards the doorway.
Mickey blinked as he and Jackie came back inside to see the two carrying the Doctor towards the door.
"What are you doing?" Mickey asked confused.
"Taking the Doctor to the Tardis!" Sophie huffed a little out of breath.
"The Safest place on Earth," Rose added as the two continued to shuffle.
Mickey blinked at them a moment longer, before he stepped forward, "Here – I can…"
"No," Rose denied, "We've got him," she told him, her tone a little snappish and Mickey immediately back away, but shifted to open the door they were heading towards.
"Thanks, Mickey," Sophie murmured.
"What're you going to do in the Tardis?" Jackie asked.
"Hide," Rose grunted, "Grab your stuff, and some food mum, we're going!" she demanded.
Jackie blinked a bit nonplussed, "Is that all? Grab food and hide?"
Rose shot her an exasperated look, "Look at the sky mum. There's a great big alien invasion and unless you've got a better idea… then yes, we're going to hide in the Tardis… I'm sorry mum, but we don't have time to argue. Just please, grab your things and some food, now move," Rose turned her attention back to what she and Sophie were doing, "Oh, lift him up a bit more," she muttered and the two lifted him a bit higher awkwardly shifting their grip.
"Are you sure you don't want me too…" Mickey broke off as Rose shook her head stubbornly.
"But you can run ahead and open the Tardis…" Rose trailed, "I don't think we locked it…"
Sophie blinked and grimaced, "A bit too preoccupied," she muttered.
"Well, lucky no one notices a big old blue box then, ain't it," Mickey responded getting two small strained smiles from the two women, before he ducked around them and out the door heading towards the Tardis, that thankfully hadn't crashed to Earth to far away from the Tyler flat.
*O*O*O*
Rose and Sophie shuffled towards the Tardis, the Doctor between them still as they carried him towards the doors that Mickey had thrown open for them. Rose spied her mother as she struggled behind them her arms laden down with half a dozen carrier bags.
"Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?!" Rose demanded hotly, her irritation riding high again as her arms strained with the weight of the Doctor, even sharing it with Sophie, it was straining her arms to help carry him all the way to the Tardis.
Jackie shot her daughter a look, "It's food!" she protested, "You said we need food."
"You did," Sophie reminded.
Rose rolled her eyes, "Just leave it!" she snapped at her mother and then cringed internally at the look she knew her mother was giving her, one that promised a good talking to… really, she was only getting away with so much because her mum was sympathetic to what she was feeling with the Doctor… being… not the Doctor.
"Ooh, why didn't you just get Mickey to help when he offered?" Jackie grumped, coming to the end of her own rope in the leeway she was allowing her daughter.
"We're almost there," Sophie attempted to assure, the beautiful blue box getting closer with each and every step.
*O*O*O*
Alex listened nervously as the Sycorax leader addressed the small party, that had been transmatted onto the spaceship, in that strange alien language of theirs, "You will surrender," he read the words that were being translated by the software… forming the words carefully on his tongue not wanting to doom them all by misreading even a single word… and the pressure made a bead of sweat roll down his back. "Or I will release the final curse and your people will jump."
Llewellyn pushed his way to the front of their small group, "If I can speak…"
Blake grabbed his arm, "Mr. Llewellyn, you're a civilian."
"No," Llewellyn said pulling his arm from Blake's grasp. "I sent out the probe. I started it. I made contact with these people. This whole thing is my responsibility."
Llewellyn stepped forward as the Sycorax leader began to descend the stairs he was standing upon. "With respect… sir. The human race is taking its first step towards the stars… but we are like children compared to you. Children who need compassion. I beg of you now… show that compassion."
The Leader of the Sycorax who'd been staring as if bored whilst Llewellyn talked raised a glittering force-whip and with a powerful movement whipped it out at Llewellyn, it cracked around his neck. Llewellyn gave a cry of pain the whip glowed blue and in the next moment his flesh disintegrated, leaving what was left of his skeletal remains fell to the ground.
Blake took an angry step forward, glaring at the Sycorax leader heatedly. "That man was your prisoner! Even your species must have articles of war, forbidding…" Blake was cut off as the whip cam cracking through the air again and in the next moment, he was nothing more than a smouldering pile of bones next to what used to be Llewellyn.
Alex made to step forward, but Harriet placed a hand on his arm, before stepping forward herself, her ID card in hand. "Harriet Jones," she identified herself, "Prime Minister."
The Sycorax leader spoke again.
"Yes. We know who you are," Alex read the translated text, "Surrender or they will die."
Harriet eyed the alien leader cautiously. "If I do surrender, how would that be better?" she asked as the Sycorax leader held his hand over a big red button and spoke curtly once again.
Alex swallowed as the translated text appeared once again. "Half is sold into slavery or one third dies… your choice."
Harriet closed her eyes pained by the choice laid out before her… vehemently wishing, praying for the Doctor to arrive… to save them like he'd done last time.
*O*O*O*
"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked looking about the interior of the ship he'd only seen a couple of times as Sophie and Rose carefully set the Doctor down.
Rose shook her head as her mum bustled in still carrying her shopping bags, "Not anymore, no," she glanced over at Sophie a little curiously. The brunette noticed and shook her head in response to the silent question. She couldn't fly her either.
"Well, you did before," Mickey muttered.
"I know," Rose sighed glancing over at the Doctor as he lay still unmoving aside from the rise and fall of his chest, "But it's sort of been wiped out of my head, all of it, like it's forbidden," she murmured lowly, glancing once again at Sophie who didn't seem to be paying them any mind now as she stared at as spot on the ship quietly, wishing that she could at least remember what she'd done to the brunette. She focused her gaze on Mickey again, "Try that again and I think the Universe rips in half."
"Ah," Mickey murmured uncomfortably at the very idea, "Better not then,"
"Maybe not," Rose agreed.
"Definitely not," Sophie spoke revealing that she was listening… even if it was with just half an ear.
Mickey and Rose glanced over at her in response. The former blinking a little confused at the way she was standing, just staring at a seemingly random spot of the ship. He nudged Rose, who'd moved to sit beside him. "What's she doing? Is that what you mean when you call her 'Space-Cadet'?"
Rose shrugged. "Kind of." There were a few reasons to the nickname now. "But I've realized that she only really gets like that," she gestured with a nod at the brunette. "When she's trying to talk to the ship."
Mickey blinked confused, "…Right." he muttered after a moment deciding not to ask why she was trying to talk to a ship without saying anything at all… likely the answer would confuse him all the more… or be something he really didn't want to know anyway. He'd rather it just remain as one of Sophie Connolly's random quirks that didn't make much sense… to him at least, because Rose seemed to know.
"So, what do we do?" Mickey asked again after another moment, "Just sit here?"
Rose nodded. "That's as good as it gets," she mumbled, shoulders slumping, her gaze going to Sophie as the brunette let out a sigh and moved to sit on the other side of her. "Anything?" she asked.
Sophie shook her head. "Either she's being stubborn or…" she glanced with concern over at the Doctor again. "With him so out of sorts, she simply can't."
Rose glanced over at him again to and sighed out a breath that was sad, tired and hopeless all at once. It'd been hours and there was no sign of improvement. She didn't understand how Sophie could be so hopeful still…
"Right…" Jackie said thermos flask in hand. "Here we go. Nice cup of tea."
"Mmm, the solution to everything," Rose muttered.
Jackie sighed placing the filled flask down. "Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food," she told them before she turned and marched back out of the ship that she still wasn't all that comfortable being inside of.
Mickey picked up the flask. "Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British."
Sophie blinked at him for a moment before her gaze turned a little pensive. "I don't suppose your mum will think to bring coffee. Do you?" she asked and Rose shot her a look, that had Sophie shrugging a bit defensively, "I haven't had any this morning."
Rose rolled her eyes a little, lips twitching upwards, "Damned coffee addict," she teased, before sobering again. "She probably won't. Mum's a tea person."
Sophie nodded and lifted a gloved hand to rub at one of her eyes that were itching once again… though she was fairly certain that it was because of how little sleep she'd gotten. "Yeah, I kind of figured as much."
Mickey caught sight of the monitor and stood moving towards it. "How does this thing work?" he asked.
"It's Christmas, they won't have the sports on," Sophie replied getting up as Rose did and then blinked thoughtfully, "Well… I don't think they will…" she trailed off as she tried to remember, but watching the sports had never been something she'd focused on.
"That wasn't what I," Mickey began defensively taking note of how both women were looking at him. "Suddenly feeling sorry for the Doctor," he muttered and then grimaced, he'd never thought he'd feel that towards the man that seemed to live to aggravate him. He flinched a bit at the narrowed eyed look Rose was pinning him with and hurriedly cleared his throat and moved the conversation along, before she could lay into him with her temper that hadn't seemed to stop simmering beneath the surface since she'd come out of the Tardis.
"What I meant was. If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered." He pressed a few buttons on the monitor trying to get it work. "What do you do it?" he asked the two women.
"I don't know." Rose responded as she pressed a few buttons. "It sort of tunes itself." She glanced at Sophie. "Doesn't it?"
Sophie blinked wondering why the blond thought she'd know, before she shrugged, "No idea… the Doctor doesn't really explain it. He just does it…" then frowned at the weird pattern that had started displaying on the screen. "That's kinda odd," she muttered and Rose nodded her agreement.
*O*O*O*
Alex flinched as the Sycorax leader started speaking again, voice angry now as a bleeping noise sounded through the spaceship they were still trapped on.
"The noise. The bleeping," he read, "They say it's machinery. Foreign machinery. They're accusing us of hiding it. Conspiring. Bring it on board."
*O*O*O*
Jackie stepped back out of the flat carrying two more grocery bags, making her way back to the Tardis only to stop short as in a sudden flash of light the Tardis disappeared right before her eyes. "Rose? Sophie?" she called dropping the bags and took a couple of hurried steps further, before she turned her horrified gaze up to the spaceship that was still hovering in the sky, fear churning in her gut. "Rose!"
*O*O*O*
"Maybe it's a distress signal?" Mickey suggested.
"Fat lot of good that's going to do," Rose muttered.
Mickey eyed her. "Are you going to be a misery all the time?" he asked, her attitude starting to wear on him.
"Yes," Rose responded simply.
"You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your mum's cooking," Mickey attempted to lighten the mood.
Rose glanced about the Tardis console room realizing that her mum still hadn't come back. "Where is she? I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there." She started for the door before turning back to Sophie. "And I'll make sure she's grabbed the coffee – just for you."
"I'll help to…" the brunette began to offer
Rose shook her head cutting her off. "Nah, you stay and just…" she glanced down at the Doctor again with sad hopeless eyes. "Watch him."
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey called after her retreating back.
Rose continued on her way to the doors. "Why don't you tell her yourself?" she asked him.
Mickey levelled a serious look at the blond. "I'm not that brave,"
Rose had her hand on the door and she looked back so that she could smiled at him slightly. "Oh, I don't know…" she stepped out the door and screamed as rough hands grabbed her.
"Rose!" Mickey and Sophie shouted.
Mickey dropped the flask he'd still been holding as he raced for the door…
*O*O*O*
"Get off! Get off me!" Rose shouted at the aliens that had grabbed her, gaze turning to the Tardis as Mickey ran out. "The door!" she shouted at him, "Close the door!" he didn't have to though as the moment he turned to do as she'd said the Tardis door shut on its own, preventing a Sycorax from getting inside it…
*O*O*O*
Sophie rattled the Tardis doors, scowling as they refused to open for her, "Damn it Sexy! Rose is out there!" she yelled at the Tardis from between gritted teeth. She gave the doors a last rattle huffing indignantly when the ship ignored her. Behind her the tea dripped down through the grating of the console floor, the vapours rising up as the Doctor continued to breath in and out.
Sophie stilled as she felt the Doctor's mind getting stronger… but not wildly out of control like last time. She slowly turned around, eyes landing on the Doctor as he exhaled more of the golden regeneration energy.
She moved closer, heart pounding in her chest as she took in the thermos and spilled tea and then the vapours that the Doctor was inhaling. "You're kidding!" she breathed, not sure in that moment whether she wanted to laugh with joy or cry with exasperation as the Doctor's mind became a stronger and stronger presence and Tardis herself seemed to wake up, the comforting hum surrounding her again.
She was a couple of steps away from him when he shifted and Sophie froze, just watching and waiting to see if he'd do more… she beamed a wide grin as the Doctor blinked open his eyes for the first time in hours, despite her concern for Rose and Mickey.
The Doctor glanced about a bit groggily, his mind sorting itself out as the pain of before receded into nothingness. His gaze caught on the petite curly haired brunette that was grinning at him widely and he couldn't help but smile back as his hearts fluttered faster in his chest. "Hello."
"Hello," Sophie replied helping him to his feet and watching for a moment as he strode about the console, a hand coming down to fondly pat it, before his gaze landed on the monitor and frowned at what he saw, "Ooh, that's not good!" he muttered.
"No," Sophie agreed as she glanced anxiously towards the door, "And Sexy wouldn't let me out," she told him, her hands twisting together.
The Doctor moved back around the console, "Of course she wouldn't. She's a clever old ship. Best ship in the universe," he declared as he moved towards the doors.
Sophie eyed him a bit suspiciously as she fell into step with him. Something about the way he'd said that… "It was you… wasn't it?! You stopped her from opening the door!"
The Doctor gave her an innocent look and pointed at himself comically as they continued towards the doors, hoping to distract her, "Me? I was out of it until a moment ago…" he trailed and came to a stop as he looked down at himself, "I'm in my jim-jams… About to save the world and I'm in my jim-jams!" he muttered.
Sophie gave him a look, "So subtle!" she muttered as she continued to eye him, "And they're not your jim-jams." She grumped at him lightly striding past him.
"Right… Howard…" the Doctor grimaced a little, looking up to see Sophie trying the doors only for them to remain firmly shut still. He gave her another innocent 'who me' look as she glanced over her should at him.
He took a few more steps forward coming up behind her and raising his arms he pushed both doors open, the Tardis conceding to his will. He beamed a grin at Sophie as strode past her and out into the spaceship, hearing her huff under her breath a little as she followed him out.
"Did you miss me?" the Doctor asked with a grin and Rose smiled in relieved delight at finally seeing him up and about.
The Sycorax leader roared loudly and cracked his whip through the air, aiming it for the Doctor. The Doctor caught it easily and with a sharp yank pulled it out of the Sycorax leaders hand. "You could have someone's eye out with that!"
The Sycorax leader roared in fury and charged this time, staff swinging for him, "How dare…"
The Doctor snatched the club off him too and broke it over his knee before throwing the now useless pieces to the floor. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy!" he said as he walked over to Rose and Mickey. "Mickey, hello!" he greeted jovially, "And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North!" he said as he turned to the older woman, Sophie moving to stand next to Rose, their arms brushing. "Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life!" he exclaimed as Sophie moved to Rose's side grateful that the blond was alright.
"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." The Doctor explained.
Rose blinked at him then tor her eyes from him to glance at Sophie beside her, "Seriously? …Tea?"
The curly brunette nodded, still a little bemused at what she'd seen happen, "Yep… tea. He inhaled the vapour and poof," she gestured at him and the Doctor grinned at them.
"Huh," Rose murmured, before shrugging it off… it wasn't the oddest thing they'd heard of since travelling with the Doctor.
"Right, quit nattering on you two!" the Doctor told them his expression turning serious as he eyed them, "I have a very important question, and I need you to be completely honest with me, because as helpful as your description of my new look was," he told Sophie and the brunette's cheeks went pink with embarrassment, and ignored the amused look Rose was giving her. "You left out a very important detail…" the Doctor paused fixing his companions with another look, "Am I… ginger?"
Sophie and Rose looked at him taken slightly aback by the question having expected something more from how serious he looked…
"Oh, come on… Tell me!" the Doctor insisted.
"Not ginger," Sophie told him and the Doctor seemed to deflate before their eyes.
"More of a brown really," Rose told him, "Almost the same shade as Sophie's I'd say,"
Sophie blinked and eyed the Doctor mop of big rather sleep and hand dishevelled hair, "Really I think it's a bit lighter…" she commented and the trailed at the crestfallen look on the Doctor's face, "It's a very nice shade," she attempted to assure.
"Aww…" the Doctor whinged as he turned from them rather disappointed. "I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger."
He suddenly spun back around and pointed an accusatory finger at the blond. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me…" the Doctor trailed finger lowering eyes going a little questioningly to Sophie. "Oh, that's rude… That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude… rude and not ginger…"
"You were rude before," Sophie told him.
The Doctor blinked, "Yes, well and not ginger," he pointed out.
Sophie blinked mildly confused. "Are those two supposed to be linked?"
The Doctor shrugged, "I dunno… never been ginger," he pointed out again.
Harriet who'd been staring rather confused herself finally broke her silence. "I'm sorry. Who is this?"
The Doctor glanced over at her. "I'm the Doctor."
"He's the Doctor," Sophie and Rose repeated their voices overlapping each other.
"But what happened to my Doctor?" Harriet asked still confused. "Or is it a title that's just passed on?"
The Doctor moved towards her. "I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face… well, new everything."
Harriet frowned at him. "But you can't be…"
"Harriet Jones, 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," the Doctor recalled.
"Oh, my God," Harriet breathed, staring at him a little wide-eyed.
The Doctor leant down towards her slightly. "Did you win the election?"
"Landslide majority," Harriet replied with a pleased smile.
"If I might interrupt!" the Sycorax Leader shouted and the group spun around, almost having forgotten their situation completely.
"Yes, sorry! Hello, big fella!" The Doctor responded, a bit sheepish at having gotten so side tracked.
"Who exactly are you?" The Sycorax Leader asked.
"Well," the Doctor replied with a fixed grin, "That's the question."
"I demand to know who you are!" the Sycorax Leader shouted his demand.
"I DON'T KNOW!" the Doctor shouted back, copying the Sycorax Leader, before he relaxed his posture once more. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I… I just don't know. I literally don't know who I am. It's all untested."
He began to walk, addressing everyone present. "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" he glanced over at Sophie. "Sexy?" he winked at her and Sophie blinked her stomach doing an odd sort of flip that left her confused and that same weird feeling of being uncomfortable but comfortable all at the same time. Rose hid an amused grin behind her hand, not missing the brunette's confusion, as the Doctor carried on. "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? 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 mused.
"Another thing that hasn't changed," Sophie muttered to Rose, "In fact I think he's gotten worse."
Rose nodded, "Ruder too."
Sophie glanced at her. "We don't know that yet,"
Rose met the brunette's gaze. "Five quid says he ruder."
Sophie blinked at her pondering for a moment if this was really the right time to be making a bet of any sort, before she nodded slowly not seeing the harm, "Done." And the two did their handshake to seal the bet, both ignoring the look Harriet levelled on them.
The Doctor's gaze caught on the large red button. "And how am I going to react when I see this," he pointed up at the button a somewhat insane smile curving up his lips, "A Great Big Threatening Button That Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm?" he mused as he examined it, "Hold on, what's feeding it?" he bent down and pulled open the base of the pillar directly under the button, his eyes landing on the red liquid inside it, "And what have we got here? Blood?" he dipped a finger into it and brought it up to his lips.
Rose paled as he tasted it and crinkled her nose, "Urgh… he's gotten a bit gross…"
Sophie nodded, rather pale herself, her own nose scrunched in distaste, "The Doctor's version of a bit," she clarified and Rose nodded her agreement.
"Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron," he waggled his tongue around at the nasty taste and wiped his finger clean on his borrowed dressing gown, "Ah, but that… means blood control…" he beamed rather delighted at the discovery, despite the lingering bad taste in his mouth, "Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years," he exclaimed and the Sycorax Leaders malicious grin began to fade, "You're controlling all the A Positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. 'Cos… 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… then I just wanna do this…" he smacked his hand down onto the button and there was an immediate outcry of 'No!'.
*O*O*O*
On the rooftop of the Powell Estate everyone with the blue hazy light surrounding them took a step forward, only for the light to flicker out and the people looked around rather confused at their situation.
"What the hell am I doing up here?" Jason asked as he stared about confused along with the others that had been lost in the hypnotic trance of the blood control.
"Get away from the edge!" Sandra replied rather relieved that whatever it was that had been happening was over.
*O*O*O*
"You killed them!" Alex shouted horrified.
The Doctor turned to look at the Sycorax Leader unconcerned by Alex's accusation. "What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?"
The Sycorax Leader bared his teeth. "We allow them to live," he said tersely attempting to dismiss the issue.
"Allow? You've no choice!" the Doctor remarked, "I mean that's all blood control is. A cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis," he mused thoughtfully, "You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instincts too strong."
"Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force."
"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that, of course you could," the Doctor agreed with the Sycorax Leader, "But why? Look at these people," he gestured to the humans on board the ship as he spoke with rising passion, "These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun,"
Sophie blinked recognising the words, "Is he quoting…?"
Rose nodded, "…Yep,"
"There's more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than…" the Doctor trailed blinking, "No, hold on… sorry, that's the Lion King. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"
"Or what?" the Sycorax leader sneered the question.
"Or…" the Doctor glanced to the side before he snatched a sword from one of the Sycorax standing guard near him and ran down the steps and onto the empty floor space in front of the Tardis, "I challenge you!" he declared, holding the sword aloft and the Sycorax burst into a derisive laughter, "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"
The Sycorax Leader began down the steps, unsheathing his sword, "You stand as this world's champion?"
The Doctor shrugged out of his borrowed dressing gown, "Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up," he tossed the dressing gown at Sophie who caught it with a blink as the top of it obscured her vision for a moment before she pulled it back down over her head so that she could fold it over her arms.
"So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?" the Doctor asked and Rose and Sophie blinked a little surprised that the Doctor's words hadn't been translated by the ship, but the fact that they were an insult of some kind became clear as the Sycorax Leader hissed angrily. The two knelt down across from each other.
"For the planet?" the Sycorax Leader asked.
"For the planet," the Doctor agreed and in the next moment they were up and the clash of steel on steel sounded through the area of the spaceship as their blades clashed.
Sophie bit into her lower lip harshly as she watched as the two clashed again and again, swords swinging. Her heart hammering against her ribcage as worried clawed at her insides… the Doctor was practically thrown to the ground by the Sycorax Leader…
"Look out!" Rose shouted a warning as the Doctor got to his feet again.
"Oh, yeah that helps. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks," the Doctor shouted back, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm just as the fight resumed again, the Doctor backing up the stairs as he did his best to parry the blows being levelled at him.
Sophie rung her hands together anxiously, "He doesn't know what he's doing, does he?" she murmured helplessly, the Doctor's movements awkward and fumbling to her eyes, at least they were in comparison to the Sycorax Leader. Her question going unanswered as none felt the need to state what they felt was obvious. Rose however, did reach over and pulled one of Sophie's hands away from the other and clasped it firmly in one of her own, the brunette's hand holding hers tightly.
The Doctor retreated further up the stairs hitting a button on his way past, "A bit of fresh air," he commented as he stepped back into the hull of the spaceship, the Sycorax Leader following him closely. Sophie, Rose, Mickey, Harriet Jones and a few of Sycorax following them to keep the two in sight.
The two where bathed in sunlight as they continued to fight, their swords clashing. The Sycorax Leader drove the Doctor back to the edge and hit him on the nose causing him to groan in pain. Movement, he saw out of the corner of his eye drew his attention and immediately he held out a hand drawing Sophie and Rose to an immediate halt, the two staring at him with wide eyes, "Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet," he cautioned them, before he turned his full attention back to the Sycorax Leader the two charging at each other again, the two grunting with the effort as their swords connected before the Doctor was forced back and right off his feet once again.
The Sycorax Leader didn't let the opportunity go to waste as he slashed down and his sword met flesh instead of metal slicing the Doctor's arm off just below the elbow. The hand and sword falling over the side of the ship, plummeting to Earth.
The Doctor stared after his falling hand rather annoyed and irritated by the pain and the sight of his falling severed limb, "You cut my hand off."
"Ya! Sycorax!" the Leader yelled in triumph.
The Doctor clambered back onto his feet, "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. 'Cos 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 held up what was left of his arm and as all of them watched, his arm grew right back.
"Witchcraft!" the Sycorax Leader shouted.
"Time Lord," The Doctor corrected.
Sophie release Rose's hand, and turned to one of the Sycorax that was standing near her grabbing his sword from him.
Doctor!" Rose shouted, before Sophie could and the brunette tossed the sword to him as the Doctor turned to them.
The Doctor caught it easily and twirled it around his hand, suddenly more at ease with the weapon, "Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he called over to the blond.
"No arguments from me!" Rose replied with a smile.
"Want to know the best bit? This new hand…" the Doctor put on a Texan accent, "It's a fightin' hand!"
The Doctor ran at the Sycorax Leader again, sword raised and the fight between them resumed, the skill level between them evening out as their swords clashed again and again, until the Doctor managed to disarm the Sycorax Leader, taking hold of both swords he slammed the hilts into the other aliens stomach, once and then twice and the Sycorax Leader fell back, right on the edge, overlooking London. The Doctor levelled the tip of his sword at his defeated opponents throat, "I win."
"Then kill me," the Sycorax leader gritted out, his breaths coming laboured, his body pained from the blows he'd sustained.
The Doctor stared at him unwaveringly, "I'll spare your life, if you'll take this Champion's command. Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"
The Sycorax Leader stared up at him and nodded with reluctance, "Yes."
The Doctor jabbed the point of the sword closer, his face set in a grim angry line, "Swear on the blood of your species," he demanded.
The Sycorax Leader grimaced, but conceded, "I swear."
The Doctor's face lightened and he shifted the sword away, "There we are then. Thanks for that. Cheers, big fella," he said as he jabbed the point of his sword into the sandy type floor of the spaceship.
"Bravo!" Harriet Jones cheered as she clapped.
Sophie and Rose hurried over to him, the brunette helping him back into his dressing gown. "Kind of says it all, doesn't it?" Rose commented cheerily.
Sophie nodded, "Yep! Bravo indeed!"
The Doctor grinned at them, "Yeah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams."
Sophie shrugged a little, "Who says that you can't save the world in your jim-jams?"
"Might start off a new trend," Rose agreed with a light laugh and Sophie let out a small amused sound.
"Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man…" the Doctor trailed off as he stuck a hand into the pocket of his dressing gown and his hand closed about another strange object, "Hold on, what have I got in here?" he pulled it out and the three blinked at it, Rose letting out another light laugh at the sight of it, "A satsuma?" the Doctor muttered confused before it clicked, "Ah, that friend of your mothers Rose. He does like his snacks, doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?" he asked as they began to walk.
He threw the satsuma carelessly up into the air and caught it again, "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?" he asked.
"What? Not hungry after all that?" Sophie asked with light amusement, behind them the Sycorax Leader roared out another battle cry and raced for the Doctor's back sword in hand once again.
The Doctor without even bothering to look back lobbed the satsuma over his shoulder. The fruit hit a control on the spaceships hull, and the Sycorax Leader plummeted to the Earth with a bellowing scream as a piece of the wing opened up in response.
The smile slid from the Doctor's face, "No second chances. I'm that sort of man."
*O*O*O*
The Doctor stood in front of the Tardis with Sophie and Rose on either side of him and the other humans that'd been tranmatted onto the spaceship, "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time," he addressed the Sycorax, "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. It is defended."
They were transmatted away in the next moment and the small group along with the Tardis where on a street.
"Where are we?" Rose asked.
"We're just off Bloxom Road," Mickey replied, "We're just round the corner, we did it!" he cheered as he jumped up and down in glee.
The Doctor held up his hand as he watched the spaceship above them Sophie following his gaze as the engines started up, "Wait a minute… wait a minute…" he murmured before smiling brightly as the spaceship flew away.
"Go on, my son! Oh, yeah!" Mickey cheered.
Rose jumped onto his back, "Yeah! Don't come back!"
"It is defended!" Mickey hollered.
Rose jumped off his back again and turned to Sophie who'd been watching the two of them with amusement, the two hugging.
The Doctor smiled at them fondly, before his attention was drawn to Harriet Jones.
"My Doctor," Harriet beamed at him.
"Prime Minister," the Doctor returned and the two shared a brief hug.
"Absolutely the same man," Harriet decided as she pulled away, "Are there many more out there?" she asked as they turned their gazes up to the sky.
"Oh, not just Sycorax," the Doctor replied, "Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Everyday you're sending out probes and messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed… more and more," he turned his gaze back to her, "You better get used to it."
"Rose!"
The blond turned beaming, "Mum!" she shouted running over to her.
The Doctor grimaced as he caught sight of the woman, "Oh, talking of trouble," he muttered, though with very little heat.
Sophie nudged him, "She's not that bad," she insisted.
The Doctor glanced at her, smiling lightly, "I s'pose not," he admitted just loud enough for her to hear and Sophie smiled up at him.
"Oh, my God!" Jackie breathed as she hugged her daughter, "You did it, Rose! Oh!"
"You did it too! it was the tea. Fixed his head," Rose beamed brightly.
"That was all I needed, cup of tea," the Doctor agreed.
"I said so!" Jackie declared, before turning to her daughter who was closer than Sophie, "Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor?" she asked, before she caught sight of the Harriet Jones and she paled slightly, "Oh, my God, its' the bleedin' Prime Minister!"
The Doctor smiled and opened his arms, "Come here, you," and Jackie threw her arms around him.
Sophie couldn't help but chuckle at the turn of events, "Never thought I'd see the day," she murmured.
The Doctor shot her a look, before he reached across the small space between them tugged her into the hug, "You too!" he said jovially just as Mickey and Rose joined in, making it a group hug.
"Are you better?" Jackie asked.
"I am, yeah," The Doctor assured.
A short distance from them Alex stepped up to Harriet Jones and murmured lowly, "It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready,"
Jackie looked to Rose, Sophie and Mickey, her expression unimpressed, "You left me!" she accused.
"I'm sorry," Rose apologised looking to Mickey and Sophie for help, Mickey held his hands up in a count me out gesture that had Rose rolling her eyes.
"We didn't mean too… it was the aliens…" Sophie murmured fighting the urge to shift like a naughty child under the woman's stare, idly wondering if this was what it felt like to be held under the unimpressed eyes of a mother…
"Oh, of course. The old blame the alien stick," Jackie groused with a huff, "I had all the food,"
"Tell them to fire," Harriet ordered.
Alex spoke into his earpiece, "Fire at will," and barely a moment later five green beams of light streaked up into the sky, they met a and then fired a single beam out into space. The beam accurately hitting the Sycorax asteroid ship with a loud kaboom.
Sophie stared wide eyed, mouth agape at the horrifying sight.
"What is it? What's happening?" Rose asked as she stared with the same horror.
The Doctor turned from the sky, his expression cold and unyielding as he stared at Harriet Jones, slowly stalking towards her, "That was murder."
Harriet swallowed, "That was defence," she rebutted, "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago,"
"But they were leaving," the Doctor stated just as angry as before.
Harriet met his gaze head on, unflinchingly, standing by her decision, "You said it yourself, Doctor. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. 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 had to defend ourselves,"
"Britain's Golden Age," he sneered at her.
"It comes with a price," she insisted.
The Doctor glared at her coldly, "I gave them the wrong warning. I should've told them to run as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming. The human race."
"Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf," Harriet declared firmly.
Sophie lowered her gaze from the sky to look at Harriet Jones with sad eyes, "And to think I was excited to see what the Golden Age of Britain would be like," she murmured with disappointment.
"I should have stopped you," the Doctor remarked icily.
Harriet shot him a look, "What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?" she had to fight the urge to flinch as if possible the Doctor's gaze turned colder, simmering with an ice cold rage and he stalked another step closer to her.
"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, 'Cos I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word."
Harriet stared at him with a forced calm, "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that," she remarked with certainty.
"No, you're right," the Doctor agreed and watched her silently as she subtly relaxed at the assurance, "Not a single word, just six," he commented coolly.
"I don't think so," Harriet replied tensing again despite herself.
"Six words," the Doctor reiterated calmly meeting her gaze with that still cold fury.
"Stop it!" Harriet demanded unnerved despite herself.
"Six," the Doctor glared at her a moment longer, as Harriet stared back a silent battle of wills, before he stepped around her moving towards Alex, removing his earpiece so that he could whisper into his ear for a brief moment before he stepped away without another look at Harriet Jones.
"What did he say?" Harriet asked Alex urgently.
Alex shrugged a bit awkwardly, "Oh… well… nothing… really," he muttered doing nothing to calm the Prime Ministers fears.
The Doctor paused by Sophie and she lifted her eyes to meet his. He reached over slowly and took one of her gloved hands in one of his, "Come on Sparks, let's get out of here," he urged and began to walk.
Sophie nodded and fell into step, before her steps faltered and she slowed as his words completely registered, "Wait what did you just call me?" she asked staring up at him wide-eyed as the joined Rose, Jackie and Mickey, the five of them walking together.
"Sparks," the Doctor responded easily glad for the distraction, "Though, I'm still tossing up Sparkie, or Spark," he admitted, "Maybe I'll use all of them."
Sophie blinked her steps slowly a bit further as she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, "What happened to Annie? We agreed on Annie?!" she said waving her free arm about agitatedly.
The Doctor shrugged, "Annie-Girl just sounds wrong… see Annie-Girl…" he enunciated carefully and grimaced around the words, "It feels all wrong with this mouth," he explained with a mild pout, before he gave her a somewhat pleased look, "I always knew you actually liked Annie,"
"I got used to it…" Sophie replied indignantly.
"You liked it," the Doctor pressed.
Sophie stared at him mutinously, before breathing out a controlled breath and eyeing him dubiously, "Why Sparks of all things? I don't at all spark!"
The Doctor shrugged and met her gaze with a smile that had Sophie's stomach doing that odd flip-flop thing again and she blinked up at him confused, before she opened her mouth to ask again.
Rose nudged her from where she was walking on the brunette's other side having shifted closer again once the brunette's arm had stopped flailing, "Remember what happened last time?" she asked quietly.
Sophie felt her left eye twitch, "He's been unconscious! He can't have thought of that many…" she trailed as Rose raised her brows at her.
"Did you really wanna risk it?" the blond asked.
Sophie eyed the Doctor who was pretending like he hadn't heard the exchange as he stared ahead, before giving into the urge to look at her, a glint in his eyes that had Sophie blinking up at him in mild horror. 'Oh, bugger it all! He totally does! He's got others just lined up and each one'll be worse than the last…'
Sophie sighed in defeat, preferring to avoid the argument that had preceded her being dubbed with 'Annie', "Fine – Fine," she sighed and looked over at him again, "Just, honestly… Sparks?" she couldn't help but ask again, not seeing at all how he'd come up with that one… and silently wondering why she wasn't more irritated by it… in fact there was a tiny part of her that was… kind of… happy? Which made no sense to her, none whatsoever…
The Doctor beamed at her brightly rather thrilled at his success, "Yep!" he popped the 'p', his fingers shifting his grip on Sophie's so that he could interlace their fingers as the five of them continued to walk. All of them ignoring the shouts of Harriet Jones as she called after them desperately.
*O*O*O*
"Doctor?" Sophie called as she stepped into the Tardis, glancing about the console room only to see it empty and so she moved towards the stairs, "Doctor?!" she called again and could have sworn she heard the faint sound of his voice calling back, before she could call again a set of lights lit up illuminating a path for her. Sophie smiled gratefully, "Thanks Sexy," she murmured and moved to follow the path.
She found herself at the door to the large wardrobe, the ship swung it open for her prompting her to go inside. So, she stepped into the doorway, her gaze almost immediately landing on the Doctor as he examined his face in a full body length mirror. His gaze flicked to hers in the mirror and he turned with a smile, "What do you think?"
"I think…" Sophie murmured as she gazed at his new attire thoughtfully taking in the brown pinstripe suit he had on underneath the thick long brown coat, "That you look good," she decided.
The Doctor grinned rather pleased, before he turned and moved a little deeper into the wardrobe again.
Sophie blinked and stepped after him, "Doctor? Mickey's started to carve the turkey," she told him.
"Ah, so they sent you to come hurry me up, did they?" the Doctor called over his shoulder.
"To check on you," Sophie corrected as she glanced at a long scarf that she recognised from one of the pictures that Doctor had shown her, hanging from a coat rack, "You were in here a long while," she murmured as she reached out touching the material with gloved hands.
The Doctor shrugged as he came back towards her, eyes fond as he watched her look over his old scarf, "It's an important process, choosing a new outfit," he told her.
Sophie released the scarf and turned to look at him again, only to blink a little in surprise as a black leather jacket was draped over her shoulders. A jacket that she recognised, she stared down at it for a moment, before she turned slightly confused eyes up at the Doctor again.
The Doctor shrugged once again and offered her a small smile, "You said you'd miss my old face… so I kind of thought you'd like that,"
Sophie closed her fingers over the material of the leather, glancing down at it again, before back up at the Doctor, smiling as well, "I don't need a jacket to remember your old face," she murmured as she pulled it off her shoulders with a slow reluctance, "That fantastic old face of yours will always be up here," she gestured to her head.
She turned to the coat rack she was standing beside and hung it up, missing the slightly disappointed look that briefly moved across the Doctor's face. She turned back to him, "Sides, it's a bit big for me,"
The Doctor eyed the leather jacket he'd been so partial to in his previous body and nodded, "I suppose it is," he agreed, before turning his gaze back to Sophie eyeing her expression, "Was there anything else?" he asked.
Sophie shook her head, "Nothing that can't wait till after Christmas dinner,"
The two made their way towards the wardrobe door before the Doctor hesitated again and moved back into the wardrobe, Sophie staring after him curiously, "Can't forget these," the Doctor muttered as he came back with his borrowed jim-jams and dressing gown in his arms.
Sophie nodded, "No, I'm sure Howard would like to have them back," she agreed and the two started off again. Neither noticing as the black leather jacket shimmered briefly before disappearing off the coat rack entirely.
*O*O*O*
"Oh, it's about time!" Jackie called from the dinner table, getting up as she did so, "I almost thought that strange old ship of yours had swallowed you both whole," she exclaimed and the Doctor rolled his eyes in response.
Rose gave the Doctor a once over, with a slight frown, "Ooh, pinstripes," she murmured unsure what she thought of that particular style choice.
"What's wrong with pinstripes?" the Doctor asked a little indignantly.
Rose blinked glanced over at Sophie, then back at the Doctor, "Nothin'," she settled on. She supposed it suited the new man the Doctor had become.
"Wine, love?" Jackie offered Sophie.
"Please," Sophie murmured as she settled herself into her chair beside the Doctor and soon her plate was laden down with food, more than she thought that she could possibly eat, but she hadn't had the heart to tell Jackie no as she offered things that she had passed over as she filled her plate. The atmosphere was warm and merry and she laughed as Rose let out a startled sound at the loud bang the cracker she pulled with the Doctor made.
"Oh, that's yours," the Doctor insisted pushing the cracker towards the blond.
Rose pulled out a hat and grinned, "Oh, it's pink! Mum it should be yours," she exclaimed.
Sophie pulled one with the Doctor next and won again, but once again pushed the cracker towards her. Sophie smiled at the hat she pulled out, "Ah, red! I guess that means it should be yours then," she handed over to the Doctor, only to have another one to pull as Mickey turned to her, Jackie already breaking on Rose. There was another bang, this time she won and she pulled out another hat… another red one. She placed it on her head, her thick curly locks helping it to sit on her head without it falling into her eyes.
No sooner had Jackie and Mickey donned Christmas hats of their own Rose happened to glance over at the telly that had been left on and pointed at it, "Look, it's Harriet Jones," they all turned towards the telly, the Doctor reaching into his inside jacket pocket to pull out a pair of spectacles.
"Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?" A reporter questioned.
"No," Harriet replied firmly, "Now, can we talk about other things."
"Is it true you're unfit for office?" the same reporter asked as the Doctor fitted his spectacles over his nose, his expression grim as he listened to the interview.
"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?" the same reporter continued to question refusing to be dissuaded.
The phone rang and Jackie was immediately out of her seat to go answer it.
"On today of all day, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine," Harriet insisted.
Sophie eyed the image of the woman on the screen, "Honestly she looks kind of…" she trailed.
"Tired?" the Doctor suggested.
"Mmm, I was going to say harried, but tired works," Sophie murmured turning her gaze from the telly and blinked a little in surprise at the spectacles that the Doctor was wearing. She'd never seen those before… before she could ask about them Jackie came back in phone still in hand.
"It's Beth. She says go and look outside," Jackie told them and the Doctor pulled off his spectacles and tucked them back away in his inside jacket pocket.
"Why?" Rose asked confused.
"I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!" Jackie urged and the group made their way outside.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Rose breathed as she looked around at the white flakes that were falling from the sky and coating the ground, "What are they, meteors?" she asked the Doctor.
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash," the Doctor replied and the smiles fell from his companions faces.
"Ok, not so beautiful," Rose amended and Sophie nodded her agreement as she silently continued to watch the ash fall.
"This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."
Rose shifted a bit uncomfortably at his side, "And what about you? What are you going to do next?" she asked.
The Doctor shrugged, "Well, back to the Tardis. Same old life,"
Rose couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes as she asked tentatively, "Just you and Soph?"
The Doctor eyed her, "Did you not want to come?"
"No, I do!" Rose assured.
The Doctor gave her a look, "Do you, though?"
"Yeah!" Rose exclaimed with a grin, that faltered a little as the Doctor continued to stare at her sternly, "What?" she asked.
"If you do still want to come, you can't ask Sparks about," he glanced over at Mickey and Jackie, "About that,"
Sophie blinked, "You heard that too? We were in the kitchen," she exclaimed in surprise.
The Doctor glanced at her his expression lightening as he smiled at her, "I told ya, Sparks." He reached out and gently tugged at one of her ears, "I've got good hearing," he reminded her teasingly before releasing her ear and turned back to Rose his expression stern once again, needing to impart how serious he was.
Rose however, spoke before he could, "I wont!" she swore, "I didn't mean to ask then either. It just sort of came out…" she attempted to excuse a bit lamely, before she glanced around the Doctor to meet Sophie's gaze, "I know you're not a magic eight ball. And I won't ask again, not ever!" she promised her gaze shifting back to the Doctor and was relieved as his expression lightened.
The Doctor smiled rather relieved that he'd get to keep both of his companions, "Fantastic…" he trailed his tongue trailing over his teeth again.
Sophie stared at him, taking in his expression, "What?"
The Doctor shook his head, "Nothing Sparks," he assured and Sophie sighed as she grimaced a little. Yep, it was going to take her a bit to get used to 'Sparks'. It didn't help that she didn't understand why he'd chosen that of all things… and really was there something wrong with just calling her Sophie?
"Just getting used to these new teeth," the Doctor continued, "I bit my tongue earlier," he admitted sticking his tongue out a bit to show a small bite indentation on it.
Sophie blinked at it, "Ouch," she commented and the Doctor nodded his agreement.
Mickey moved closer to Rose who was watching the Doctor and Sophie with fond amusement, "You're never going to stay, are you?" Mickey asked drawing her attention, finding himself disappointed all over again, having allowed himself to hope that she'd choose to stay this time, after seeing her reaction to the Doctor's new face.
"There's just so much out there. So much to see… I've got to," Rose responded as she stared at him begging him to understand.
Mickey smiled at her sadly, but understanding all the same, "Yeah," he mumbled hands burying themselves in his pockets so that he could hide the tremble to them.
Jackie shook her head, "Well, I reckon you're mad, the three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble."
The Doctor rushed over to her throwing an arm around her shoulders, "Troubles just the bits in-between. It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and its brand new to me. All those planets… creatures and horizons… I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes…" he released Jackie to stand by Sophie and Rose again, "And it's going to be fantastic!" he grinned and Sophie and Rose grinned back at him. he held his hand out.
Rose eyed it, "That hand of yours still gives me the creeps," she murmured and the Doctor rolled his eyes at her in mild exasperation, before grinning again as Sophie got the hint and reached for his hand.
"I'm just glad it grew back," she murmured as she closed her fingers around his hand.
The Doctor nodded his agreement, "Yeah, that'd be a bit annoying, travelling about space and time one handed."
Rose crinkled her nose at that, "Yeah… creepy as it is. I'm glad it grew back too," she grinned at them and a moment of silence passed as they stared up at the still falling ash and the night sky, "So, where're we going to go first?" she asked breaking the silence.
"Er, that way!" the Doctor pointed up at the stars above them, "No… hold on…" he pointed again, this time a smidge more to the right of where he'd first pointed, "That way!"
Rose pointed with him, "That way?"
The Doctor nodded his agreement only for Sophie to shift a bit uncomfortably at his side, "Hmm?' he questioned as he lowered his hand.
"Um… actually," Sophie murmured feeling awkward, "Would you mind terribly if…"
The Doctor's face fell and his shoulders slumped, "You don't want to come?" he muttered, his hearts constricted as he wondered why he'd forgotten to ask her if she still wanted to… he'd just been so certain that she would… especially with Rose still travelling…
"What?! No!" Sophie spluttered drawing the Doctor's gloomy thoughts to a halt, "I still want to come," and the Doctor smiled in relief, "I was just…" she tucked a few unruly strands of curly hair back behind her ear, "I was just hoping we could stay here a bit longer… just until Christmas was really over…" she trailed her cheeks tinted pink as she stared at her feet. This was her first 'family' Christmas and… she wanted to savour it as long as she could.
"Oh! Course we can!" the Doctor assured, wanting to smack himself on the forehead for jumping to conclusions and not realizing earlier.
Rose nodded, "Yeah. It'd be nice to spend a bit more time with mum, and Mickey." she added glancing over at him.
Jackie grinned brightly, "Oh, wonderful! I've got pudding… store bought I'm afraid, I didn't have time to bake along with everything else…"
"All things considered that's probably for the best," the Doctor commented and leaned out of the way of the almost playful swat Jackie aimed at him.
"Oh, and I have rum custard in the fridge," Jackie added.
"And eggnog," Mickey spoke up brightening a bit at the prospect of them staying even just a bit longer.
Rose eyed him as the five of them began to make their way back inside of the Tyler flat, "Did you make it or mum?"
"I did!"
"More like he handed me the eggs," Jackie responded.
Rose grinned, "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Does that mean it'll be good eggnog?" Sophie enquired of Rose careful to keep her voice quiet not wanting to upset Jackie.
"Mum makes a fairly good eggnog," Rose told her truthfully, "Sometimes slips a bit with the rum though," she whispered as the five disappeared back into the Tyler flat.
*O*O*O*
Hours later, as the sun crept higher and higher in the sky, creeping towards noon the Doctor was waiting a bit impatiently for his companions to come inside so that they could get going… get back to travelling the stars. He glanced up and smiled as Sophie stepped into the Tardis the door quietly clicking closed behind her.
"Rose'll be a little longer," she told him as she moved towards the console.
The Doctor nodded and eyed her curiously, leaning his back against the console, "So, this'd be a good time to ask about the ID?" and Sophie blinked at him, "That is what you wanted to ask about right? the thing that could wait till after Christmas?"
Sophie nodded, "Was there anything you didn't hear?" she asked as she dug into her wool jackets inside pocket, pulling out the card Jackie had received in the mail for her.
The Doctor shrugged, "Probably, but not much," he replied as he took the card from her to look it over.
"So, what's the verdict? How do I have the card when the paper's are still sitting in my room somewhere?"
The Doctor rubbed his chin, as he eyed it for a moment longer, "Well, it's fairly obvious," he hummed, "But first things. First we need to fill out that paperwork."
Sophie blinked, "Now?"
"May as well," the Doctor agreed and Sophie nodded eyeing him for a moment longer before she moved to go to her room to collect it, "Where you going?"
"It's in my…" Sophie turned back to him to see him wagging the stack of papers at her, "Oh… thanks Sexy." She murmured to the ship as she moved back to the Doctor, who'd pulled his spectacles out again, "Do you even need glasses?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Hmm? Sorry, reading," the Doctor replied hardly looking up as he sorted through the stack and Sophie shook her head at him, lips twitching upwards despite the paperwork that was in front of her.
And that was how Rose found them, pen scratching over paper as Sophie filled it in, the Doctor helping her where needed as they worked through what she needed to do…
*O*O*O*
Sophie shifted a little nervously as the police officer shifted through the paperwork she'd just handed over. The Doctor having landed the Tardis weeks into the past so that she could submit the paperwork in time for the ID card to arrive when Jackie had said it had.
"So, your Sophie Connolly?" the officer asked.
"Yep," Sophie replied.
The officer eyed her for a minute before nodding and letting out a resigned breath and a mutter of something that may have been like 'Hallelujah that Tyler woman'll stop calling' but Sophie couldn't quite catch it all. "Alright come with me, we'll get this filed and your new ID picture taken and you can be on your way… try not to lose this one in a bombed building, yeah?"
Sophie nodded, hands twisting together, "It's not on my to do list," she assured as she followed him deeper into the building…
It was with relief that Sophie headed back into the Tardis a few spots still dancing in front of her eyes, smiling at the Doctor and Rose who'd been waiting for her in the console room and the engines came to life as the Doctor sent his ship back up into the vortex with a push of a few buttons.
