"It would have been nice if they'd given us a lift back to London. After they dragged us all the way out here to see about their crashed spaceship," Ace said grumpily, sitting down next to the Doctor in the empty train station. They had arrived in time to see the last train pulling away, and in this middle of nowhere town, there wasn't much else to do but wait.

"Well, they didn't realize they would have all those artifacts to take back to UNIT for study," the Doctor said reasonably, playing with a yo-yo he'd found in his pocket. "Besides, I don't think that army captain liked us very much," he added in a whisper.

"Well, we didn't exactly cooperate with her," Ace said with a smile, remembering how the Doctor had clashed with the soldiers. "They still could have made sure we got here on time though."

The Doctor abruptly put away the yo-yo. "At least it's not a bus station."

"Oooh, yeah," Ace agreed. "At least this is enclosed." She went over to the window and shivered. "It's too cold to be out there."

"What month is it?" the Doctor asked, suddenly interested.

Ace rolled her eyes, "How should I know, Professor? You don't exactly keep an accurate calendar around."

"I have no time for mundane things like keeping time," the Doctor said grandly, and Ace started to laugh at the irony. "What?" the Doctor asked, wide-eyed.

"Too busy saving the universe, are you? Time Lord?" Ace asked through her laughter.

"Well, yes," the Doctor answered with a grin as she sat back down next to him. "It's just a short detour, we'll get back to the TARDIS tomorrow and then we'll be off."

"I can't wait," Ace said through a yawn. She leaned against the Doctor's shoulder. "Can we go to see something cool this time, like Joan Jett before she was famous?"

"Oh, Ace," the Doctor said. "We'll go somewhere where there's music unlike anything you've ever heard, under a purple sky over a field of golden grass."

"Sounds nice," Ace said. "And something'll be wrong, and we'll fix it, won't we?"

"Absolutely," the Doctor said as she dropped off to sleep.

Ace jerked awake after what felt like only a few minutes, but blinking in the sunlight, she realized it had to be the next day. The Doctor was standing up next to her, looking rather rumpled. "It's a bit early for all these people to be here," he said mildly.

"Oh, now you know what time it is," Ace said, stifling a yawn.

Ignoring her, the Doctor went over to the ticket counter. "Excuse me, we need two tickets to London, please."

The ticket salesman looked the Doctor over derisively, taking in his rumpled jacket, question mark vest and hat. Ace glared at him until he cleared his throat irritably. "Yeah, you and everyone else on Christmas morning."

"It's Christmas morning?" Ace asked, her annoyance forgotten.

"Why do you think everyone's here at five in the morning? Get in the queue if you want a ticket," he told them.

"Spending Christmas on a train. Sounds fun," Ace grumbled as she and the Doctor went to the back of the queue.

"There are worse ways to spend Christmas," the Doctor said. "I once spent it running from a group of Cybermen who wanted to kill us."

"That's how you spend every day though. Besides, it's better than some Christmases I spent," Ace said bitterly before pulling some money out of her pocket. "I'll get the tickets, Professor, I know you never have any money."

The Doctor watched her go, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the spare TARDIS key, hiding it quickly when she came back. "Let's go, Professor. I've had enough of this little town."

"Yes, I thought you might have," the Doctor said as they climbed onto the train.

"All that stuff about Christmas is a lie anyway," Ace said as they took their seats. "Father Christmas, presents, Christmas pudding, families together."

"Oh, I don't know about that," the Doctor said. "I'm not entirely sure about Christmas pudding, but I can assure you Father Christmas is real."

"You're kidding me, right, Professor?"

The Doctor shrugged, "What do you think I do on Christmas Eve?"

Ace broke into a smile, "Of course! Time travel, that's how he does it!"

The Doctor smiled back, "Exactly. And speaking of presents…" he pulled the spare TARDIS key out of his pocket. "You've been traveling with me for a while. It's about time we made it official. If you want it, that is."

"You mean, forever?" Ace asked excitedly. "Of course I do!"

"Merry Christmas, Ace," he answered with a smile, giving her the key. Ace threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh, thank you, Professor! You won't regret it, I promise."

"I know," he said.

Ace was in a better mood after that, chatting about nothing in particular as the train sped toward London, until they arrived and found the TARDIS exactly where they'd left it.

"Doctor?" Ace said as they prepared to leave. "That was the best Christmas I've ever had." It hadn't been much, but the TARDIS key, like the TARDIS itself, was so much bigger on the inside. It represented a lifetime of exploring the universe and never being stuck in a tiny town on Earth ever again. Not bad as far as her Christmases went.

"Oh, that was nothing," the Doctor said. "Just wait until next Christmas, when I'll have something really special planned."

Ace mock-pouted. "Do I really have to wait?"

The Doctor considered. "Well, no. Next Christmas can be tomorrow, if you like. We are in a time machine, after all. But where's the fun in that? We'd skip Easter, and Guy Fawkes Day, and the Day of Rassilon."

"OK, you win, Professor," Ace said. "But someplace nice this time, all right?"

"It's always someplace nice!" he protested, and Ace shook her head laughingly as the TARDIS disappeared and they left London behind.


A/N I had such a hard time writing this, Seven and Ace are really tough to write!