Mickey went off to fetch a bowl of cold water and some cloths, seeing Rose feel the temperature of the man lying unconscious in her bed. Things hadn't improved between the two of them despite Rose saying it was her mother who'd had him hauled in first for Emily's kidnapping then with her murder. He and Jackie were just about on speaking terms even after all that time but he was never going to be Rose's boyfriend again, their whole relationship had been running hot and cold for a long time.

Rose was feeling the stranger's forehead again when Mickey got back, clearing a space on Rose's bedside table.

"So, do you think he's the same man then?" Mickey asked as Rose dipped a facecloth in the cool water.

"You saw him come out of the Tardis Mickey, I have to believe it's him unless Emm's right and he was just planted there but where did the other one go then? People don't just vanish and a new one appears in their place."

"She said something about him being alien, she said that before."

"Before? When?"

"When those shop dummies came to life."

"That was just a student trick gone wrong, I don't care what the other Doctor said and getting you to cover it up made you feel like you'd been part of it."

"I was part of it Rose, I never told you."

"Why not?" she asked, placing the damp cloth on the Doctor's forehead and feeling his left hand was all clammy.

Mickey's didn't want her laughing at him. "I think Emm just went out."

"Don't change the subject Mickey. I wonder where she's going?"

"Probably trying to find a shop still open to get some presents, not that she'll have any money. I'll be right back."

He dashed out and opened the front door to see Emily turn the corner and ran after her, seeing her going around the corner of the stairwell.

"Wait up Emm," he called after her.

Emily stopped and he caught up with her. "Where you going?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"Just out Mickey, go back. I can't stay in there, mum just interrogated me over what happened and I don't know how to explain it to her."

"Then tell me?" he asked, sitting on the step.

Emily sat down just below him and turned around.

"When I went back, well I don't remember much, it was like I wasn't in control of myself, you know? All I do remember is a bright light and the next thing, I woke up on the grating inside the Tardis."

"Is that all?" Mickey half joked.

Emily hit his leg. "No you plum. He started talking all weird, helped me up and when I asked if we'd got away and how, he said he sang a song and the Daleks ran away and with his singing, I can believe him but that's not what really happened. I think when I looked into the heart of the Tardis, it altered me and when I got back, I destroyed them all."

"Don't be so daft, how can you do that?"

"I don't know but it's gone now, I don't remember that much more. Then the Doctor had this strange golden glow about him and he said he was going to change."

"So he warned you? How come you don't believe it's him then?"

"Because he said he was the last of his kind and that Timelords have a trick to stop them dying. If that was true, then why is he the last one? He lied to me Mickey, I felt sorry for him so I went with him but he tricked me. I think another Timelord has taken his place, what else could it be?"

Mickey shook his head – it was plausible. "Let me get this right. He died and another Timelord took over his body?"

"No, now you're the one being daft. I meant he faded away and a new man took over, claiming to be the Doctor. Don't you agree it's a reasonable explanation?"

"So how come he knew us?"

"Some kind of mental transference during the process? How do I know? Want to know what I think?"

Mickey nodded and she continued, thinking if anyone overheard them, she would get carted off along with this new Doctor.

"That when the real Doctor faded away, he went back to his people and this new one got a turn at being him. He kept going on about the Daleks destroying his home world but what if most of them got away, the Daleks did, why not the Timelords? Maybe most of them weren't there that day when the planet was destroyed, maybe a lot of them were travelling in their own Tardis and they settled somewhere else when their planet was destroyed?"

Mickey was taking it all in. "So they settled some place else? How did another one know when to take his place then?"

"Easy, he said they were a telepathic race," Emily answered smugly, getting up. "Lend us twenty quid Mickey, I want to get mum and Rose a present, I'll just have time to get to the local shops."

Mickey was stunned yet her reason for the new man in Rose's bedroom seemed to have been answered. He went in his jacket and pulled out his wallet.

"Don't let the moths get away," Emily joked, holding out her hand.

"Very funny Emm, what's Rose been telling you?"

"That she pays when you drag her to the pub to watch the football. She also told me you dragged her along when the tennis was on so you could see all the female players' underwear when they reached for the tennis ball."

Mickey had a guilty look on his face – Rose wasn't so daft as to believe he was genuinely interested in watching tennis for only two weeks a year. He handed her a twenty pound note.

"Am I gonna get this back?" he asked hopefully as Emily walked down the steps.

"Ask Rose, then I'll owe her instead," Emily called behind her.

Mickey turned and headed back to Rose's flat, letting himself in and standing in her bedroom doorway, watching her mopping the Doctor's forehead.

"He's getting worse Mickey, he's all hot and feverish, he should see a real doctor."

"Emily told you what would happen if anyone examined him, we can't risk it. Just carry on with what you're doing but she said he may be a completely different man, he might not be the Doctor."

"So? He's ill, he needs taking care of."

"Your mum used to tell me of all the sickly cats you brought home when you were twelve," Mickey smiled.

Rose looked up. "It's not quite the same Mickey. What do ya mean anyway? Just because he changed his appearance?"

"Emily reckons another Timelord took his place."

"Then where did the other one get to? Emily's in denial, of course he's the same one, don't you watch Highlander or Deep Space Nine?"

"What has that got to do with him?"

"The Trill change hosts and Highlander lives for thousands of years, re-inventing himself, it's no different."

"So he's got a giant worm inside him?" Mickey laughed.

"No but maybe his mind, his consciousness remains intact, all his memories are the same, he remembered us."

"He had to think of your name."

"That's beside the point, he was on the verge of collapsing, he could have easily forgotten your name, or mum's. Where was Emily going then?"

"Shopping, to take her mind off things, like every woman does. I lent her twenty quid, she said you'd pay me back."

"Well it will have to be next week now. Why am I always the one to end up paying other people's debts? What's mum up to, she's gone really quiet."

The Doctor was muttering something in his sleep, tossing and turning and that was the only way Rose knew he was still alive. She looked at an old teddy bear lying in the corner and reached to pick it up, then smiling, she put it on top of him and got up to go make herself a drink. Just as she reached her room door, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it, Emm's not got her key I bet."

Rose opened the door to find a large Christmas tree, complete with decorations, standing on the walkway.

"Mickey, come and help me with this will ya? How much did you say you lent her?"

They dragged the tree inside, Jackie was reading a magazine, letting everyone get on with things, she was having nothing to do with any of it.

"Where did that thing come from? Did you order it Rose?"

"No Mum, Emily went out, it has to be her. So, move the other one Mickey, put it in the kitchen or something. This one looks lovely, I wonder how she got it here so fast?"

"She must have ordered it before she went away last time," Mickey suggested as he came back in the room. "Either that or they were going out on the last delivery but why isn't she back yet?"

"What did she say to you then?" Rose asked, moving some of the baubles around but some wouldn't budge, they were well attached to the branches of the tree.

"That she was going shopping."

"I don't mean that. I meant about that poor man lying in there and you Mum, I'm surprised at you, not helping."

"You used to bring in stray cats, Emily brings in strange men."

"He's not a strange man, he's the Doctor," Rose insisted.

"Well your sister has a theory about that, you should get her to tell you, you'd have me locked up if I told you," Mickey huffed, folding his arms.

Jackie reached for the portable phone or as Rose called it 'The brick'. "Best tell cousin Mo Emily's back from trekkin' around outer Mongolia then."

When Emily had escaped from the block of flats, she got the bus down to the local shops and wandered around the few places in the shopping precinct that were still open. She was confused and upset and she couldn't have stayed in there any longer, why had he deceived her? She thought they had a special kind of friendship, she didn't fancy him or anything, they were really proper mates, having a laugh while he dragged her into all kinds of things such as confronting gas-masked zombies and Slitheen chasing them.

As she was passing a few market stalls, she heard a band playing Christmas carols, the members all dressed in Santa suits but looking a bit odd wearing some kind of mask. She continued wandering around but the band seemed to be following her then suddenly as she stopped in front of a stall, the band stopped and aimed their musical instruments towards her.

The Doctor had taught her one thing – always be suspicious so she started to run just as the instruments turned into flame-throwers, destroying a market stall she'd just been looking at. She ran off toward the bus stop but instead, hailed a passing taxi, jumping into the back and telling the driver her destination. She looked back then got out her phone. Typical, her mother would be chatting to cousin Mo, wouldn't she? She tried Rose's number but Rose had left her phone on silent in her bedroom, not wanting to disturb their unexpected house guest.

Emily paid the driver then ran across the courtyard and bounded up the steps, rushing along the walkway and tapping furiously on the door, forgetting about the sleeping man.

"Well guess who that is," Jackie muttered, holding her hand over the phone.

Rose got up and rushed to the door.

"Where's the Doctor?" Emily managed, still out of breath and pushing past her.

"Where you deserted him sis, how could you?"

"Not now Rose, I think something's after him. Where did that tree come from? It wasn't here when I left. I tried to call you but you never answered."

"Mum's talking to cousin Mo and I left my phone in the bedroom. Why didn't you call Mickey?"

Mickey was the last person she would think of calling in an emergency. "I thought he might have gone home," she hinted, approaching the tree. "So, where did it come from?"

"Ask Rose, she brought it in," her mother replied, finally pressing the 'End call' button on the phone and folding the aerial.

Suddenly, Rose swore she saw a branch moving on its own. "We thought you'd had it delivered."

"Me? How would I have got a tree delivered? I've not even been out for an hour. Where did you find it?"

"Outside, the doorbell rang and there it was," Mickey replied, trying to be helpful.

"Christmas trees don't ring doorbells Mickey," Emily told him sarcastically. "Didn't that tree just move? I told ya something was going on."

Suddenly, the tree began to spin, slowly, then it gathered speed as it began to play music.

"Everyone out, now," Emily shouted, grabbing her mother's arm. "Get the Doctor, quick."

They all ran to Rose's room, seeing the prone figure, the teddy bear still tucked in with him.

"Ha, ha Rose, very funny," Emily quipped, throwing it back in the corner.

"I thought he might get lonely."

"Well you'd better wake him," Jackie called as the tree smashed through the living room doorway, leaving a tree shape hole in its wake.

They all crammed into the bedroom, Emily reaching for the Doctor's leather jacket and going through the pockets, finding the sonic device.

"What's that thing?" Jackie asked as the crashing outside became louder and Mickey was trying to move the wardrobe to block the doorway.

"A little help Rose?" he asked as he huffed.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry. Emily? What is that?"

Emily was perched on the side of the bed, the sonic screwdriver in her hand, trying to put it in the Doctor's hand.

"A sonic screwdriver."

"Don't be daft, how can a screwdriver be sonic? What else does he have, a laser spanner?" Jackie quipped, holding onto the wardrobe with Mickey and Rose.

"No, he said Amy Pankhurst stole it from him. Doctor, wake up."

She got nothing out of the still regenerating Doctor until she whispered in his ear. "Doctor, I need you."

He woke up with a start, Rose and the others turning around as the wardrobe gave way and the tree was facing them. The Doctor sat up in the bed, raised the screwdriver and the tree exploded, its branches splintering and covering the floor, Mickey and Jackie, who were the nearest, Rose having already had the sense to move away from their destroyer.

"I'm gonna be killed by a Christmas tree," Jackie cried out as the branches exploded around them. "It's destroyed half the flat, I want to know who had that thing delivered."

"Well I'd blame Rose, she told me to bring it in," Mickey replied, getting him a scowl from Rose.

The Doctor was getting out of bed, Emily passing him the dressing gown that had been laid on the bed.

"Remote control but who's controlling it?" he asked, getting up.

The Doctor put the dressing gown on and stepped into a pair of leather slippers Jackie had placed by the bed in their haste to get him settled. Rose had opened the front door, the Doctor giving her a smile. Gone was his northern accent and had been replaced by an Estuary English one which Rose thought suited him. He was very slim and a bit taller and she was already admiring his thick head of hair that was a bit messy, since he'd been laid in bed for a good while.

They looked down at the courtyard below, three robots dressed in Santa outfits watching them, one holding a remote. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver down at them and they vanished in a flash.

Mickey jeered after them. "What rubbish are they then?"

"Pilot fish," the Doctor groaned, clutching his stomach. "You woke me too soon, I'm still regenerating."

He staggered back toward the side of the flat, Rose grabbing his arm as he crouched down. Emily was still staring at him in disbelief, thinking he hadn't heard her asking to help them, like she wasn't sure he was the same man, as she'd told Mickey.

The Doctor felt something in the dressing gown pocket and brought out an apple.

"Oh, that's Howard's" Jackie admitted, blushing.

"He gets hungry in his sleep?" the Doctor asked, Rose thinking that would take some explaining to Emily.

"Sometimes."

The Doctor exhaled a kind of golden energy. "They're after me, they can smell me a million miles away so they come here, eliminate you lot and cart me off. They can run their batteries off me for years."

"Well we won't let them, will we Emm?" Rose asked, crouching down next to him and the Doctor gripping her hand for support.

The Doctor cried out, Rose looking at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm having a neuron implosion, I need…" He let out another groan, gripping tighter onto Rose's hand.

"What do you need?" Jackie asked him, concerned the neighbours were going to start getting nosy. "A cup of tea? Aspirin?"

"I need."

"Out with it then. Oh I don't know, a bowl of soup?"

"I need you to." He let out another breath of golden energy.

"Indigestion remedy?" Jackie asked hopefully, thinking it wasn't a good idea to come out with every single one she knew of, which was quite extensive, having two daughters who like to gulp their food down quickly and a part-time boyfriend.

"I need you to shut up."

"Oh, he's still rude then?" Jackie huffed back at him.

"There's no time for this, they'll be back and they won't be alone. It means…"

He exhaled more energy and Rose was getting more worried about him and about her sister, who appeared to be doing nothing useful to help her friend.

"Something is coming."

He collapsed onto Rose as everyone watched.

"Well help me get him back inside," Rose suggested.

"It's a mess in there you know," Emily finally spoke.

"Yeah and who's fault's that then?" Jackie asked as Mickey found he could actually move and went for the Doctor's arm as Rose tried to get up, the Doctor not obliging.

They got him back inside, Jackie going for a sweeping brush to try to clear some of the mess away from the doorway.

"How am I gonna explain this to the council when the rent office re-opens?" she wanted to know.

Rose got the Doctor's dressing gown off, catching a glimpse of his chest but saw Mickey watching her.

"What?" she asked innocently as she pulled the covers over the now sleeping Doctor, who seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

"I saw you looking at him earlier, downstairs."

"So what? We don't go out any more Mickey, so don't get jealous and besides, he's Emily's friend, not mine. He's hardly gonna want me tagging along, is he?"

"More like she won't want you tagging along but I don't know about that now, she's got her doubts about him."

"Well she won't just desert him, will she?"

"I dunno Rose, maybe it's time for her to come home?"