Thanks to WorldJumper0123 for following my story.
The group filed out of the flat, looking over the balcony. Down on the ground 3 Santas stared up at the 4 humans and the Time Lord. "That's them" Mickey said "What are they?"
"Shush!" Rose shushed him.
The Doctor aimed his sonic at the Santas in a threatening manner, his hand tightening on Alyssa's. They dared to attack his Alyssa and that was something he wasn't going to let pass. The trio of Santas backed away, standing closer together before vanishing in a flash.
"They've just gone!" Mickey laughed "What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off"
"Pilot fish", the Doctor said making them all look at him.
"What?" Rose asked.
"They were just pilot fish", the Doctor repeated before coughing and throwing himself back against the wall, clearly in pain. He reached out and grabbed Alyssa's hand when she knelt beside him.
"What's wrong?" she asked worried.
"I was woken too soon", he panted "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy". Vortex energy escaped from his mouth as he exhaled. "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 year… he lurched forward groaning, pulling Alyssa with him as he still had a tight grip on her hand. She winced at the flash of pain she felt from him and decided to try and block it out the best she could. She wasn't doing it to be heartless, she hated to see him in pain but she wasn't going to be any good to anyone, including the Doctor if she passed out due to what he's feeling. Plus it would make the Time Lord feel guilty and she couldn't have that.
"My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…"
"What do you need?" Jackie asked frantically going over to his other side to help Alyssa in supporting him.
"I need…"
"Say it, tell me, tell me, tell me…"
"I need…"
"Painkillers?" Jackie asked.
"I need…" the Doctor gasped noticing Alyssa cringe. He knew that she was feeling his pain and that made him feel awful but there was nothing he could do. He'd just have to make it up to her when his regeneration had settled.
"Do you need aspirin?"
"I…"
"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I dunno, Pepto-Bismol?"
"I need..."
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"
"I need…"
"Is it food?" Jackie asked, her voice rising hysterically which was not helping either the Doctor or Alyssa who was desperately trying to block out the Time Lord's pain but it was still getting through to her "Something simple? Uh…a bowl soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"
"Jackie shut up!" Alyssa snapped feeling like she'd gotten to the point where it was almost too much. That meant the Doctor was in a lot more pain.
The Time Lord lurches forward again, pulling his hand out of Alyssa's. The red head stayed where she was, trying to fight back the light headedness she was suddenly feeling.
"Haven't got much time" the Doctor panted, knowing he had to tell them…had to warn them of what was coming before he passed out. Especially Alyssa. He needed her to know of the danger. "If there's pilot fish, then…" he pulled an apple out of his dressing gown pocket "Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"
"Oh, that's Howard. Sorry", Jackie said apologetically.
"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?" the Doctor questioned.
"He gets hungry", Jackie replied.
"What, he gets hungry in his sleep?" the Doctor asked looking at the apple confused.
"Sometimes", Jackie replied.
The Doctor suddenly shouts with pain and sinks to the floor. Alyssa goes to his side, ignoring the wooziness she was feeling. "Brain…collapsing…" the Doctor grabs hold of Alyssa's upper arms tightly. Staring into her green eyes, he struggled to get out his next sentence "P…the Pilot Fish mean that something, something…" he took several deep breaths, his eyes never leaving Alyssa's "something is coming Ali" the Doctor then collapsed into the young woman's lap.
Rose and Mickey carried the Doctor back inside while Jackie helped Alyssa to her feet. They'd barely moved two steps before the red head suddenly passed out, scaring Jackie. "What happened?" Rose asked as she rushed out onto the balcony when her mother called her, sounding very worried.
"She just collapsed!" Jackie cried.
"The Doctor's pain must've been too much for her", Rose said kneeling down next to the unconscious red head as Mickey ran out, hearing Jackie's cry.
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked both worried for the red head but rather confused by what Rose meant.
"She's an empath mum. It means she can feel what we feel", Rose explained. She turned to Mickey "We need to move her to my room", she said. The black man nodded, went over and carefully gathered the young woman up in his arms. He carried Alyssa to Rose's room and gently laid her down on the bed.
Hours later…
"Any change?" Jackie asked Rose as she walked in.
"Ali hasn't woken", she replied "and the Doctor…he's worse. Just one heart beating". Rose sighed sitting down on the arm of the chair. She was at a loss as to what to do. In one room they had an unconscious Time Lord and in another, they had an unconscious empath.
Jackie and Rose watched the TV in silence before Mickey called for their attention. "I've just found out about Pilot fish" Rose got up to have a look at the laptop screen "Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish", Mickey explained.
"Do you mean like sharks?" Rose asked.
"Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them… now we get that" the animation of a shark on the screen snaps viciously.
"Something is coming…" unknown to everyone except Jackie, the TV screen goes slightly static "How close?" Rose questioned.
"There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy", Mickey explained.
Jackie watches as a distorted image appears of the television screen "So, it's close?" Rose asked Mickey.
"Funny sort of rocks", Jackie remarked.
Rose turned her attention to the screen "that's not rocks…" as the image becomes clearer, she edges closer to the TV.
"….coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning"
The image suddenly becomes clear revealing an alien. It roared at them making all three humans gasp and jump backwards. "The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1"
Mickey called Rose back over when he managed to access to the military "They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way", he told Rose as she came over to have a look.
"Coming for what, though? The Doctor?" Rose asked.
"I don't know" Mickey shrugged "Maybe it's coming for all of us". They watched as an image a four of the aliens popped up on the screen "Have you seen them before?"
Rose shook her head "No", she said.
The pair watched, listening to the aliens as they spoke, Rose surprised that she couldn't understand them at all. "Seriously? Sycorax Rock?" Alyssa's voice spoke quietly. Rose and Mickey looked over to see her standing there still looking rather pale, clutching a blanket around herself.
"You understand them?" Rose asked.
"Yeah", she replied walking towards them, still a little unsteady on her feet "don't know why though". Mickey stood up, allowing Alyssa to have his seat.
"Do you think you could tell us what they said?" Mickey asked.
"If you're feeling up to it", Rose added.
"I'm up to it Rose", Alyssa told her. She took a breath and repeated what the aliens had just said "People. You belong to us. To the Sycorax. 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"
"'They will die?' who's they?" Rose questioned.
"Don't know but it sounds like they're threatening us. Or at least some of us", Alyssa rubbed her head "but I haven't got a clue as to who they're talking about".
"Well it's a start at least", Rose said.
"How's the Doctor doing?" the red head asked looking at them. Mickey and Rose exchanged looks before the latter answered her question.
"He's not doing well, only 1 of his hearts is beating"
At that Alyssa got up and walked quickly over to the spare bedroom where Jackie was sitting at the bedside of a rather restless Time Lord. "How are you feeling?" Jackie asked when she noticed Alyssa in the doorway.
"So-so Jackie", Alyssa replied "but I'll live. Sorry for giving you a scare, that wasn't my intention"
"That's quite alright Ali. As long as you're ok now", Jackie said understandingly.
Alyssa looked at the Doctor "I'll feel better once he wakes up", she replied honestly.
Jackie nodded in understanding. "Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked standing up.
"That sounds nice. Thanks Jackie", Alyssa replied. Jackie nodded again and left the room. The red head entered the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She shrugged off the blanket, ignoring the shiver that ran through her as she did so. Alyssa took hold of the Time Lord's hand. She sat there for a moment in silence before she started to hum Hush-a-bye Mountain, running her other hand through the Doctor's hair. It seemed to work as it appeared to Alyssa as if he looked a little more relaxed.
She bit her lip in worry when she rested her head on his chest and heart only 1 heart still beating. "Come on Doctor, please pull through", Alyssa pleaded rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.
When Rose checked in on the Doctor, she found Alyssa still sitting in the chair holding on to his hand fast asleep. "The Doctor wouldn't do this", she said to Mickey "her voice shaking slightly "The old Doctor. The proper Doctor. He'd wake up. Not for us but for her" Rose nodded at Alyssa "he'd wake up to save her".
"He must care for her a lot", Mickey remarked remembering what Rose had told him.
"More than you and I could possibly imagine" Mickey took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
The sun had barely started to rise when there was a commotion from outside the flat. "What is wrong with you?" a woman shouted "Jason? Jason?"
Rose and Mickey hurried out the flat "Sandra?" Rose called.
"He won't listen" Sandra gestured to the man before her, walking in a daze "He's just walking. He won't stop walking! There's this sort of…light, thing. Jason? Stop it! Right now!" Sandra turned and chased after him.
Rose and Mickey looked over the balcony to see numerous people walking, a blue light flashing every so often around their heads as they made their way to the stairs. They followed the crowd of people up to the roof, their loved ones trying but failing to persuade them to get away from the edge. They all seemed like they were…hypnotised.
"What do we do?" Mickey asked eyeing all the people lined up along the roofs edge.
"Nothing. There's no one to save us. Not anymore", Rose replied sadly. With the Doctor currently out of commission and not looking like he was going to wake up any time soon, there was no hope for them now.
~bedroom~
Alyssa was jerked awake when the ground shook violently. She sat up, eyes widening at the shattered glass. "Rose what's going on?" Alyssa called reaching the door as Rose, Mickey and Jackie rushed past.
"I don't know!" Rose called back. Alyssa glanced back at the Doctor before deciding to go see what was going on. She, Rose, Mickey and Jackie looked up gaping at the huge ship that came into view, obscuring the sun. Rose and Alyssa stared up at the ship for a moment longer before darting back inside.
"TARDIS?" Rose asked as they hurried into the Doctor's room.
"TARDIS", Alyssa confirmed. The blonde nodded and got her mother to help her pack up some supplies while Alyssa and Mickey got the Doctor ready to move. Minutes later they were out of the door, Alyssa and Mickey carrying the Doctor between them while the Tyler women carried several plastic bags of shopping each.
Alyssa didn't even have to use her key to get into the box as the door opened all on its own as she and Mickey approached. "I suppose you don't know how the fly this thing?" Rose asked Alyssa hopefully as the red head and Mickey carefully set the Doctor down onto the grilled floor.
"I'm afraid not", Alyssa replied.
"So, what do we do? Just sit here?" Mickey asked hoping they had a better plan other than hiding out in the TARDIS.
"That's as good as it gets", Rose said clearly frustrated. Alyssa looked up from where she sat beside the Doctor, sensing her frustration. She wanted to assure her that it was going to be ok but even she didn't know what to do.
"How about a nice cup of tea?" Jackie suggested getting out a thermos flask.
"Mmm, the solution to everything", Rose said a little sarcastically.
"Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food", Jackie said setting the flask down before leaving.
"Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British" Rose doesn't answer Mickey, she just watched Alyssa sitting beside the Doctor, holding his hand "How does this thing work?" Mickey asked looking at the TARDIS's scanner "If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered" he pressed a few buttons "What do you do to it?"
"I don't know. It sort of tunes itself", Rose replied in a tone that made Alyssa look up at her concerned. But as the blonde had her back to her, she didn't see her look.
Outside Jackie was coming out of the block of flats with yet more bags, in time to see the TARDIS being teleported away in a flash of light "Rose!" she cried. She looked up at the spaceship hovering in the sky, scared.