The Christmas Invasion
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Willow Tyler just stared gob smacked at the man in front of her as he jumped up and ran to the console, flicking a few buttons and knobs. One minute the Doctor was there and was then replaced in a flash of golden light with this pretty boy and what she considered to be just fucked hair, complete with side burns.
"6 PM...Tuesday..." he said to himself and Willow just stared on in confusion. Where was the Doctor? How did this man get in? There was no way he was the Doctor, was he?
"October...5006...on the way to Barcelona!" the man said. He turned to face the girls, grinning. "Now then...what do I look like? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Don't tell me."
Willow looked at him with a deer-in-the-headlights look, while her cousin looked slightly bemused.
"Let's see...two legs, two arms, two hands...Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle. HAIR! I'm not bald!" he said, his hands going to his awesome (in Willow's opinion) hair. Willow was shocked by this. What was he doing? Why wouldn't he have hair? And better yet, who was this mysterious man before them? The man was positively gleeful.
"Oh—Oh! Big hair! Sideburns—I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin. Little bit thinner...That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it. I...have got...a mole. I can feel it," he said, wiggling around strangely, feeling for said mole.
Willow cautiously edged closer to Rose, grabbing her arm, terrified. She could hear Rose breathing heavily, but the man didn't seem to notice either of them.
"Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's all right. Love the mole," he said, grinning at Rose and Willow. "Go on then, tell me. What do you think?"
"Who are you?" Rose asked, trying to rub Willow's arm soothingly, but was too distracted by the man to do it.
"I'm the Doctor," he said, looking crestfallen that they didn't recognize him.
"No, you're not," Willow said faintly, shaking her head. "The Doctor didn't have that much hair and he had the…ears."
Rose shook her head. "No...where is he? Where's the Doctor? What have you done to him?"
"You both saw me, I—I changed...right in front of you," he said, indicating to the spot where he had regenerated.
"We saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a...a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something," Rose said and the man seemed to be at a loss for words, looking very sad.
"Rose, don't," Willow said, trying to grab Rose's arm as she slipped out of Willow's grasp and walked forward, poking the man in the chest.
"You're not fooling me," Rose said fiercely and the man rocked back on his heels, both from the force Rose had used and from his disbelief.
"Willow and I've seen all sorts of things: Nanogenes...Gelth...Slitheen..." Rose said the man raised his eyebrows at that last one.
"Oh, my gosh, are you a Slitheen?" Rose asked, panicking along with Willow, whom had tugged Rose back to stand behind her in protection.
"I'm not a Slitheen," the 'Doctor' said calmly.
"Send him back. I'm warning you, send the Doctor back right now!" Rose shouted, trying to step in front of Willow, but she wasn't having any of it.
"Rose, Willow, it's me," the man said. Willow stepped forward, eyes narrowed to examine the man closely. He was quite good-looking, that was one of the first things she noticed. The other thing were his eyes, which looked incredibly old. She opened her mouth and closed it again, just not sure.
"Honestly, it's me," the Doctor said, looking into Willow's eyes, his begging her to see him, the real him. Rose just stared at him, while Willow stood there, gaping like a fish, unable to form any words. She saw him, the Doctor, in his eyes. While everything about him had changed, his eyes had remained the same (despite the color change).
"I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but..it's still me," the Doctor said, giving them a puppy-dog look.
"You can't be," Rose said, still in denial.
The Doctor looked at Willow, knowing she had already accepted it was really him, and then stepped closer to Rose.
"Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies...oh...such a long time ago. I took your hand..." the Doctor said, taking Rose's hand to emphasize his point. Rose looked down at their hands, then at Willow, then back up at the Doctor's face.
"I said one word...just one word, I said...'run,'" he said.
"Doctor," Rose whispered, her eyes full of tears, at her best friend still standing in front of her, and not dead.
"Hello," he said gently, grinning, squeezing her hand.
Rose stumbled backwards, taking her hand from him, as everything hit her at once. The Doctor just smiled at her and went round the other side of the console, flipping buttons as he went.
"And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running...One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives," the Doctor said, hoping up and down on the spot.
Willow walked over to him and she gently put a hand on his cheek, looking deeply into his eyes.
"Is it really you?" she whispered stroking his cheek with her thumb.
"Yeah, it's really me," he whispered back. Rose had her back against a pillar, watching the two of them, feeling like she was intruding on a very intimate moment.
"Right, then. All that hopping? Remember hopping for your lives? Yeah? Hop? With the...no?" he asked at the lack of Rose's enthusiasm, pulling back from Willow's touch.
"Can you change back?" Rose asked faintly.
"Do you both want me to?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Rose said immediately.
"Oh," the Doctor said, looking brokenhearted before turning to Willow.
"I don't really care," Willow said breathlessly. "It's just a lot to take in."
"Can you? Change back?" Rose asked, sounding like she was pleading for him to.
"No," the Doctor said firmly. "Do either of you want to leave?"
"NO!" Willow shouted quickly, eyes wide, and then blushed at her outburst.
"Do you want us to leave?" Rose asked, scared.
"No! But...your choice...if either of you want to go home..." the Doctor said quickly.
Rose still looked upset so Willow gently put a hand on the Doctor's leather-clad arm to keep his spirits up. She knew that Rose would eventually come around, she just had to adjust.
"Cancel Barcelona. Change to...London...the Powell Estate...ah...let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present," he said, looking at the girls. Rose was slowly edging closer to Willow for comfort, still very freaked out. Willow was freaked out as well, but she was starting to accept it and adjust more quickly than Rose was.
"There," the Doctor said. He stepped back from the cousins, arms crossed under his armpits, waiting on them to say something. Rose and Willow looked at him before Rose looked away to the console, unable to keep eye contact.
"We're going home?" Rose asked, sounding almost scared of the answer.
"Up to both of you. Back to your mum, or well, aunt... and it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast—no, Christmas! Turkey! Although...having met your mother...nut loaf would be more appropriate," the Doctor said, smirking.
Rose looked down to hide her smile and Willow didn't bother to hide her chuckle; that sounded like her Aunt Jackie, all right.
"Was that a smile?" the Doctor asked, teasing Rose.
"No," Rose said stubbornly.
"That was a smile..." the Doctor said.
"No it wasn't," Rose said.
"You smiled..." the Doctor said.
"No, I didn't," Rose said, starting to get aggravated now.
"Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't-" the Doctor said, then gagged and stumbled as the Tardis shuddered. Willow looked at him, concerned that he was going to collapse or something.
"What?" Rose asked questioningly, confused.
"I said I didn't-" the Doctor said, but the same thing happened again but this time, he started retching. "Uh, oh," he said, looking very worried.
"Er...are you alright?" Rose asked.
"Of course he's not, Rose!" Willow snapped at her cousin, putting her arm around the Doctor, trying to support him. She gasped as a piece of golden time Vortex came out of the Doctor's mouth and floated away.
"What's that?" Rose asked, eyes wide.
"Oh...the change is going a bit wrong and all," the Doctor said casually as he gagged again and fell to his knees. Willow grunted as he dragged her down with him and she put a hand on his back to sooth him.
"Look...maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do," Rose said, scared and not sure what to do.
"Gah, he's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth!" the Doctor said, impatiently. "I haven't used this one in years." He flicked a switch and the Tardis shuddered violently and the Doctor and Rose nearly were nearly knocked to their feet. Willow, however, wasn't so lucky. Still crouching down from helping the Doctor, she fell straight on her arse.
"What're you doing?" Rose asked, hanging on for dear life.
"Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" the Doctor exclaimed in excitement. Willow grabbed onto the console and slowly pulled herself up, working against the gravity that had pushed her down in the first place.
"My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That's a girl!" the Doctor yelled manically. Willow looked at Rose, alarmed; the Doctor was looking and sounding quite crazy. Maybe something went wrong in his head, Willow summed up.
"Faster! Wanna break the time limit?" the Doctor was nearly screaming now, his eyes wild.
"Stop it!" Rose shouted, sounding angry and scared, trying not to let go.
"Ah, don't be so dull—let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!" the Doctor cried. He looked at both of them and his voice calmed for a moment: "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself. Ah, my head..." He jumped up again in a standing position and his voice was crazed again. "Faster! Let's open those engines!" the Doctor yelled, as a bell started gonging loudly throughout the Tardis.
"What's that?" Rose started, looking around, frightened. The Doctor appeared in between the girls and exclaimed, "We're going to crash!" He sounded delighted with that, laughing manically.
"Well, then, do something!" Rose shouted, as Willow was managing to maintain her hold on the console, but was losing that battle quickly.
"Too late! Out of control! Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!" the Doctor yelled, giggling and running around the console excitedly.
"You're gonna kill us!" Rose yelled to her cousin, her eyes filling with tears from fear.
"Doctor!" Willow shouted, trying to move her way towards him to stop him from killing the three of them.
"Hold on tight, here we go!" he yelled, as he looked at both the girls over the console. He was grinning madly, not really registering the frightened looks on both of their faces, or the tears that were appearing on Rose's face. "Christmas Eve...!" he yelled.
Willow screamed as the Tardis slammed to the ground, once again knocking her off of her feet. She grabbed onto the console as the Tardis finally landed and hauled herself to her feet before stumbling for the door. The Doctor was already gone from the Tardis by the time Rose stood up as well.
"What the hell was that?" Rose asked in a panicked voice.
"I don't know, but we'd better make sure he's okay," Willow said shakily. She left the Tardis with Rose right behind her and found Mickey and Jackie standing by the Doctor, who was slumped on the ground, unconscious.
"What happened? Is he all right?" Rose asked, concerned.
"I don't know, he just keeled over!" Mickey exclaimed, his eyes wide. "But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"
"That's him. Right in front of you. That's the Doctor," Rose said.
"What d'you mean, "that's the Doctor?" Doctor who?" Jackie asked.
"He's the Doctor. He changed," Willow said.
Mickey, Rose, and Willow all helped carry the Doctor back to their flat, with Jackie giving directions and putting in unnecessary comments here and there. Once he was settled in the spare room in the flat, Jackie ran off, yelling over her shoulder that she was getting something and that she'd be right back. She came back holding a pair of stripy pajamas. Willow felt quite warm as she helped Rose change the Doctor into them. Even though he was quite skinny now, the Doctor was very fit underneath the ill-fitting leather jacket and jumper.
After folding his clothes neatly and placing them at the foot of the bed, Willow sat on the edge of the bed, brushing the Doctor's hair back from his face, worried for him. She gave Rose a funny look (whom was sitting in the only chair in the room) when Jackie came into the room carrying a stethoscope.
Jackie handed the medical instrument to Willow and said, "Here we go. Tina the Cleaner's got this lodger medical student. And she was fast asleep, so I just took it."
Willow snorted in amusement and said, "You just took it, Aunt Jackie?" Jackie shushed her niece and sat on the bed beside Willow, looking between the red-head and her blonde daughter, waiting for some answers. Willow put the stethoscope in her ears, a child-like excitement, despite the situation, at getting to use one.
"Though, I still say we should take him to a hospital," Jackie said.
"We can't," Rose said. "They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race."
Jackie opened her mouth to say something, but Rose interrupted her as Willow was waving her hand around for silence.
"No! Shush!" Rose said. "Willow's trying to listen, mum!"
Jackie finally shut up and Willow placed the stethoscope first on one side of the Doctor's chest and sighed in relief as she heard a steady heartbeat there and then, she placed it on the other side of his chest and heard another steady heartbeat. She heaved another huge sigh of relief that the Doctor seemed to be alright, despite being in a come-like state.
"Both working?" Rose asked.
"Yup. Both're working just fine," Willow said, taking the stethoscope out of her ears before handing the instrument back to her aunt.
"What d'you mean, 'both'?" Jackie asked in disbelief.
"Well, he's got two hearts," Rose said.
"Oh, don't be stupid," Jackie said contemptuously.
"He has!" Rose said, getting out of the chair and went to the door.
"Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie asked. Willow scrunched up her face at that thought, though her face heated up.
"Leave him alone!" Rose said, before both women left the room, leaving Willow alone with the Doctor. Willow sat there, leaning back against the headboard, getting comfy, and watched as a golden wisp of the Time Vortex came out of his mouth and flew out the window.
Willow continued running her fingers through the Doctor's hair, talking to him. She had heard somewhere that coma patients could hear everything going on around them and she didn't want to leave the Doctor in a silent room.
"You've got hair, now, Doctor. Bet you're not used to that. I'm not used to that. And your ears are not so big. You look so different, but I know you're the same Doctor. You know how I knew? You're eyes. You look so young, but they look so old," Willow said, sighing.
Willow must have dozed off cos she jumped when Rose popped her head in and said, "Oi! Mickey and I are going out shopping. It is Christmas Eve, after all. Oh, and Harriet Jones is Prime Minister!"
"Alright, I'll see you later, then. I'm just gonna stay here with him," Willow said, indicated to the Doctor. She left the room for a minute to use the restroom and got a dish of water and a rag to wash the Doctor's face (he was starting to run a slight fever). On her way back to the room, she heard Jackie in the sitting room, gabbing on the phone, as per usual.
"They turn up—no warning. I've got nothing in. I said, 'Rose, Willow—if you want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it.'"
Willow gave a small chuckle at that and made herself at home on the bed again, gently wiping the Doctor's face. Jackie wandered into the room with two mugs of tea, one for her, one for Willow.
"Oh, no. Don't come round, darling. No, flat's all topsy-turvy," Jackie said. She set the other mug of tea down by the Doctor's bedside, smiling at Willow. "Yeah, they just barged in and littered the place. Yeah, no—I'll come round and see you on Boxing Day."
Willow snorted and gave her aunt a look and Jackie gave her a glare before she left the room.
"Poor Doctor," she whispered, stroking his hair again, as more of the golden stream escaped the Doctor's mouth. She jumped when a few moments later, Rose burst into the flat, slamming the door open quite loudly.
"Get off the phone!" Willow heard Rose say. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at what Rose had seen while she was out shopping.
"It's only Bev! She says hello," Jackie said.
Willow got up, her curiosity getting the best of her, and leaned against the doorway watching as Rose took the phone away from Jackie.
"Bev? Yeah—look, it'll have to wait," Rose said, then hung up the phone. "Right, it's not safe, we've gotta get out—where can we go?"
"My mate Stan, he'll put us up," Mickey suggested.
"That's only two streets away," Rose said. "What about Mo? Where's she living now?"
"I dunno! Peak District!" Jackie said, fed up with Rose's antics.
"Oh, we'll go to Cousin Mo's then," Rose decided.
"It's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?" Jackie asked.
"Mum..." Rose said, then stopped, noticing a tree in the corner of the living room.
"That wasn't there before," Willow said, frowning. The tree Jackie had put up had been a hideous white one. She had noticed it when she had taken a bathroom break and had wrinkled her nose at it.
"Where'd you get that tree?" Rose asked. "That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?"
"Well, I thought it was you!" Jackie said, exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"How can it be me?" Rose asked, confused.
"Well, you went shopping, there was a ring at the door, and there it was!" Jackie said.
"No, that wasn't me," Rose said, slowly.
"Then who was it...?" Jackie asked, looking at her niece in accusation.
"Wasn't me," Willow said, holding up her hands. "I never left the Doctor."
They all stared at the tree in confusion and then Willow helped Rose pull Jackie behind them as the tree suddenly lit up.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Rose said.
Each layer of the tree started to spin, starting out slow, then speeding up, each going in a different direction. Jackie screamed and the tree stared to play 'Jingle Bells,' as if to make the mood lighter or something. It hit the coffee table in living room and reduced it to splinters in a matter of seconds.
Rose and Jackie took off out of the room immediately, but Willow picked up a chair, same as Mickey, and held it out in front of herself as a form of protection.
"We've got to save the Doctor!" Rose yelled.
"What're you doing?" Jackie shrieked.
"We can't just leave him!" Rose said.
"Mickey! Willow!" Jackie yelled, wanting them in the spare room with them.
"Get the Doctor out!" Willow yelled, as the tree started to break the legs off of hers and Mickey's chairs. She wanted to give them as much time as she possibly could to save the Doctor, whom was far more important to the universe than she was.
"Leave it! Get out! Get out!" Jackie yelled. "Mickey! Willow! Get out of there!" Willow chucked her chair at the tree, hoping to slow it down, but it didn't help whatsoever. She gave Mickey a shove as they ran into the room where the Doctor was still comatose.
"Just leave him!" Jackie shouted, as Rose was still trying to prep the Doctor to leave. Willow tried to slow down the killer tree in any way she could, throwing down anything that was leaning up against walls onto the floor in the tree's pathway.
"Get in here!" Mickey said, grabbing Willow and yanking her in the room and slammed the door shut. She grunted as she helped Jackie and Mickey slide the wardrobe in front of the door, hoping that would stop the tree.
"Doctor, wake up!" Rose shouted in his unresponsive face.
"Give him his sonic screwdriver!" Willow shouted, throwing her weight against the wardrobe, trying to hold the door shut. Rose took the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's pocket and put it in his hand but nothing happened.
Willow lurched forward and nearly fell to the floor as the tree hit the door, as well as the wardrobe. She grit her teeth and threw her weight back against the wardrobe, determined to keep the damned tree out.
"Rose!" Willow yelled out. "The window! Get him out of the wind-" She broke off as the Christmas tree finally burst through into the room. Willow was thrown back into the room, along with Mickey and Jackie, covered in little cuts and splinters from the shattered door and wardrobe.
"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie shrieked, cowering against the wall. Willow rolled over to her aunt and covered her, trying to shield her from the killing tree and whispered, "Help us, Doctor," as if to herself.
She squeezed her eyes shut and blocked Jackie even more as the tree suddenly blew to pieces. A couple of pieces of hot metal hit her back, but not enough to injure her. She slowly sat up and saw the Doctor sitting up in bed, pointing his sonic at the tree. She helped her aunt to her feet and then dusted herself off, her hands shaking.
"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" the Doctor said.
Willow grabbed the Tardis blue dressing gown off of the back of a still perfectly fine armchair and handed it to the Doctor with a smile. He returned the smile and suddenly ran out of the room and out the front door, tying the dressing gown shut. Willow, after the sudden shock wore off, followed him onto the balcony as he looked for something. She immediately spotted what he was looking for: below them were three Santas. This wouldn't normally be out of place on Christmas, but they had a robotic look about them.
"That's them. What are they?" Mickey asked.
"Shush!" Rose said. Willow and Rose both looked at the Doctor, who raised his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the Santas in a threatening manner. They all backed away, standing closer to each other, then they teleported themselves away.
"They've just gone! What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offense, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's gonna scare them off," Mickey said and Willow was amazed he even knew what a sonic screwdriver was. To her, Mickey just seemed like the kind of person that didn't care to know what it was if it had anything to do with the Doctor. She was kind of impressed.
"Pilot Fish," the Doctor answered.
"What?" Rose asked. Willow looked at the Doctor, confused as to what he meant.
"They were just Pilot Fish," the Doctor said. He coughed and threw himself backwards against the wall, in pain. Willow knelt down first next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, wishing she knew what he needed to kick whatever was wrong with him.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, concerned for her best friend, and also kneeling down by the Doctor.
"Willow woke me up too soon. I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy," the Doctor said, panting heavily as more time vortex escaped through his mouth.
"It's been doing that all day," Willow noted with a frown, feeling guilty that she had caused his pain. The Doctor gave her a small smile, as if thanking her for staying by his side all day, then said, "You see? The Pilot Fish could smell it. A million miles away. So they eliminate the defense—that's you lot—and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of year-" He broke off as he lurched forward, groaning.
"Doctor!" Willow exclaimed, the guilt eating at her.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Jackie cried.
"My head!" the Doctor said through gritted teeth.
Jackie knelt in front of him, helping Willow hold him up. Willow held onto his shoulder, knowing it was the very least she could do. She bit her lip, her face screwed up in worry.
"I'm having a neuron implosion. I need-" the Doctor tried to say.
"What do you need?" Jackie asked frantically.
"I need-" the Doctor tried again.
"Say it, tell me, tell me-" Jackie interrupted again.
"I need-"
"Painkillers?" Jackie asked.
"I need-"
"Do you need aspirin?" Jackie asked.
"I-"
"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I dunno—Pepto-Bismol?" Jackie asked.
"Aunt Jackie!" Willow exclaimed, exasperated.
"I need-"
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?" Jackie asked.
"I need-"
"Is it food? Something simple? Uh—a bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?" Jackie said, her voice rising hysterically.
"I need you to shut up," the Doctor finally was able to force out.
"Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" Jackie asked, leaning back, not amused.
"He's right, though, Aunt Jackie," Willow sighed. She bit her lip again, wondering what the Doctor did need. She reached her hands forward to help catch the Doctor as he lurched forward again, falling towards the opposite wall.
"We haven't got much time. If there's Pilot Fish, then-" the Doctor said, breaking off as he randomly 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.
"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?" the Doctor asked, bemused.
"He gets hungry," Jackie said.
"What, he gets hungry in his sleep?" the Doctor asked, looking down at the apple.
"Sometimes," Jackie said.
Suddenly, the Doctor shouted with pain and sank to the floor, grimacing. "Brain—collapsing-" he said. He took one of Rose's arm and one of Willow's and pulled them closely, right in front of his face, speaking softly and with difficulty.
"P—the Pilot Fish. The Pilot Fish mean...that something—something—Something's coming," he said, before slumping his head onto Willow's lap. Willow grunted with effort as she, Rose, and Mickey carried him (with some difficulty) back into the flat and back into the bed in the spare room.
Willow rewet the rag and started mopping up the sweat from his forehead, tenderly. She didn't even notice Mickey walk by the room to check on her and Rose, whom was sitting in the armchair once more, she was so absorbed in her task. Without saying a word, she held out her hand and Rose handed her the stethoscope again, and Willow checked his heartbeats. She frowned, worrying her lip, as she could only find one. She checked, double checked, then triple checked.
"He's only got one heart working," Willow announced, quite worried.
"Are you sure?" Rose asked, frowning.
"Yes, I checked three times. It isn't working and I don't know what to do," Willow said, slumping her shoulders forward. "I mean, it's not like I can do CPR on him, he's an alien."
"Hey, it'll be okay," Rose said, rubbing her cousin's back, soothingly. "I'm just gonna pop out here for a moment."
As Willow was once more alone with the Doctor, she began to talk to him softly, not wanting to wake him again and make things even worse than they were. "I don't know what to do, Doctor. I feel so useless. I just—I just—" Willow broke off as tears started to quietly run down her cheeks. She almost could've sworn that she felt the Doctor grab her hand, but that was impossible.
A few moments later, Willow heard Rose call from the living room. "Willow, you've got to come see this!" she said. Willow got up from the bed, after making sure the Doctor was covered and comfortable, and walked to the living room. On the tellie, was the picture on an alien that appeared to be roaring at them.
"What the hell is that thing?" Willow asked, freaked out, taking a step back from the tellie.
"Dunno, but it sure is ugly," Mickey said.
After flipping through every channel, which had a repeat of the same video, Willow went back into the bedroom. Not knowing what else to do, she sat on the bed again, and started running her fingers through his hair, humming 'Hey, Jude', which her mum would sing to her just before bed. She didn't have many memories of her mum or dad, but she did remember little things like that. All she stroked his hair, the Doctor started to breathe heavily again.
She barely looked up as Jackie came into bedroom and turned the tellie on. On it, was an American new reporter: "Despite claims of an alien hoax, it's been reported that NATO forces are on red alert."
Jackie had sat down on the other side of the bed. "Come on, sweetheart. What do you need? What is it you need, tell me…" she asked the Doctor.
"It's no use. He won't answer," Willow said sadly, looking down at the Doctor's prone form.
Jackie could see tears in Willow's eyes. "You were in love with him, weren't you?" she asked her niece gently.
Willow shook her head; not in denial, just to try and clear all the confusing thoughts swirling around in it. "I honestly don't know. I didn't really get a chance to get to know him. I only traveled with him for about a year…" She trailed off as the news reported rambled on again.
"Speaking strictly off the record, government sources are calling this our longest night," the reporter on TV said.
Jackie fell silent after while, which was a miracle, so when Willow looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep next to the Doctor, she sighed as she grabbed a spare blanket and covered her aunt with it. Walking back round to the other side, she pulled the chair close to the bed and crossed her arms over it and lay down her head; she was so tired. She could sense, rather than see Rose at the doorway.
"The old Doctor wouldn't do this," she heard Rose say, voice shaking. "The old Doctor. The proper Doctor. He'd wake up. He'd save us."
"You really love him, don't you?" she heard Mickey ask.
"He's my best friend," Rose said sadly. "I can't know for sure, but I think Willow's in love with him, or the old him."
Willow heard Rose sigh, then the room fell silent. What seemed like minutes later, there was a ruckus outside. Willow jumped, her face feeling like it was stuck to her arm, having slept on it. After peeling her skin off, figuratively, she joined Mickey and Rose outside, where the action was happening. She poked her head out the front door, eyebrows furrowed and rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Whuz happenin'?" she asked after yawning. Their neighbor, Sandra Browning, was chasing after her husband, who seemed to be in a zombie-like state, complete with shuffling.
"Sandra?" Rose asked.
"He won't listen! He's just walking, he won't stop walking!" Sandra exclaimed, hysterical. "There's this sort of...light thing. Jason? Stop it! Right now!"
Just from the doorway, Willow could see the dozens of people who seemed to be hypnotized by the same blue light/zombie state. Rose and Mickey took off, following after Jason and Sandra, but Willow ran back into the flat to wake up Jackie and help save the Doctor, if she could.
"Aunt Jackie!" she yelled, causing Jackie fall off the bed with a yelp.
"What'd you do that for?" Jackie asked, groggy.
"Sorry, Aunt Jackie, but there's something going on. People seemed to be hypnotized or something," Willow said, desperately trying to stay calm. She grabbed a knapsack out of the closet and put the Doctor's clothes in it and was about to head for the kitchen when her mobile rang.
"Hello?" she asked, sticking her phone between her shoulder and ear, making a beeline for the kitchen, where Jackie was already moving canned goods into bags.
"Willow, we're on the roof," Rose said. "All the people are lined up her on the edge, just standing here!"
"What do we do, Rosie?" Willow asked. "What can we do without the Doctor?"
"I don't know Willie. I don't know," Rose answered. "There's nothing we can do."
Willow heard Mickey in the background, repeating the very question she had just asked.
"Nothing. There's no one to save us. Not anymore," Rose said.
"We just have to stay somewhere safe until the Doctor wakes up," Willow said firmly, forcing herself to stay calm for her family.
"I don't think he's gonna wake up, Willow," Rose said, losing hope.
"Yes, he will," Willow said, very determined. "Just wait and see. He's gonna save us all, you'll see. We need to get him to the Tardis, where it'll be safe."
After Rose and Mickey had returned to the flat, something caught Willow's attention and she turned up the volume on the tellie, as Harriet Jones was starting to make an announcement.
Everybody, shush!" she shouted, getting their attention. Rose, Mickey, and Jackie all gathered round the television, watching with her.
"Ladies and gentlemen...if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been canceled," she said. She turned her head to the side to speak to someone. "Did we ask about the royal family? Oh. They're on the roof. But—Ladies and gentlemen—this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor. If you're out there...we need you."
Willow's face fell; she bit her lip and closed her eyes, praying with everything she had that the Doctor would get better in time to save the world. She didn't need to though; she knew he would wake up. He was the Doctor, he always was there for Earth and humanity.
"I don't know what to do. But if you can hear me, Doctor...If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him...the situation has never been more desperate," Harriet said.
Willow suddenly stood up, panicking and not being able to breathe properly. With tears going down her cheeks, she nearly sprinted for the spare room. Rose, recognizing a panic attack, followed her cousin and took her through a breathing exercise that she had Googled when Willow had first had a panic attack. She didn't get them often, only when she was extremely stressed or freaked out, like she was now. Rose was softly crying, while hugging Willow, who was breathing normally again, when Jackie came in and found them. She hugged her girls tightly, wishing she could do something for them as they both cried.
"He's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's left us, mum. He's left me and Willow, mum..." Rose said.
Willow took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of herself. While it did indeed feel like the Doctor had left them, she knew she had to have hope; it not for herself, then for everyone she cared about around her.
"It's all right...I'm sorry..." Jackie said gently to both the girls, trying to sooth them. Willow gave a shriek and jumped as all the windows in the room, and the flat, suddenly shattered and the ground started to shake, as if a minor earthquake ripped through London.
Willow rushed outside with the rest of her family and immediately looked up at the sky with a cry of shock; there was a huge spaceship floating into view, blocking out the sun. "Holy shite," Willow whispered in shock and awe, before sprinting back into the flat, with Rose right behind her.
"Mickey, we're gonna carry him. Mum—get your stuff, and get some food. We're going," Rose said, taking charge.
"I'll finish getting the food," Willow announced, finishing packing up the canned food. She lugged the heavy bag over her shoulder with a slight grunt, then helped Mickey and Rose heave the Doctor to the Tardis. Jackie followed after them, carrying several bags of the rest of the food. She dropped one, then tried to pick it up again, only to fail at it.
"Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?" Rose shouted.
"It's food! You said we need f—" Jackie said.
"Just leave it!" Rose yelled.
"Never mind what she said, Auntie. Just get the food, I've got the Doctor," Willow said to Jackie. Willow grabbed one of the Doctor's legs from Mickey and helped shuffle him into the Tardis. While he looked very thin, he actually weighed quite a bit. Willow had to drop the Doctor's leg gently to the ground to quickly unlock the Tardis and opened both of the doors. She was starting to pant, after carrying the bag of heavy food on her back and the Doctor, sweat causing her t-shirt to stick to her back.
"No chance either of you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked, breathing heavily.
"Not anymore, no." Rose said.
"Well, you both did it before..." Mickey said.
"Yeah, and I can't remember it," Willow snapped.
"I know, but it's sort of been...wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden," Rose said as they set the Doctor down on the floor, trying to be as gentle as they could. "I don't even think I was awake for it, though. Try that again and I think the universe rips in half."
"Ah, better not, then," Mickey said.
"Maybe not," Rose said.
"I'm gonna see if I can figure out how to fly her," Willow said, walking over to the controls. "Which is gonna be not likely, but what's the harm in looking?" As she brushed her hands over the controls, she thought she heard a faint whispering/humming in her mind, and whipped around to see if anyone was there, but Rose and Mickey were still over by the Doctor, talking quietly. She heard the whispering again, as well as a gentle brushing against her mind. She was so focused on trying to find out what that presence in her mind was, she jumped when Mickey and Rose started talking loudly right by her.
"How does this thing work? It picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?" Mickey asked, pressing a few buttons.
"I dunno, it sort of tunes itself," Rose snapped, pressing a few buttons.
"What did you guys do?" Willow asked as the Tardis started to make a strange bleeping noise it never had before.
"I dunno," Rose said.
"Maybe it's a distress signal," Mickey said.
"Fat lot of good that's gonna do," Rose said.
"Are you gonna be a misery all the time?" Mickey asked.
"Yes," Rose said.
"Welcome to my world," Willow said sarcastically, all of their patience wearing very thin on lack of sleep and hunger.
"You should look at it from my point of view—stuck in here with your mum's cooking," Mickey said.
"Where is she?" Rose said, looking around the Tardis for Jackie.
"I think she went to get more food," Willow said, not really sure, as she had been focused on the whispering in her mind.
"I'd better go and give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there," Rose said.
"I'll give you a hand," Willow said, starting for the Tardis doors.
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey said.
"Why don't you tell her yourself?" Rose asked.
"I'm not that brave," Mickey said.
"Oh, I don't know..." Rose said, smiling at him. She opened the door Willow followed out behind her. As soon as they stepped foot out of the Tardis, they were both grabbed. Willow shrieked as her hair was painfully pulled and alien hands pawed at her.
"Get your damn hands off of me!" Willow yelled, struggling against her captors, but they were too strong.
"Get off! Get off me!" Rose yelled out. A moment later, Mickey ran out of the Tardis, looking around for his girlfriend and his closest friend.
"The door! Close the door!" Rose yelled.
"Hurry Mickey!" Willow yelled out as Mickey dashed back over to the blue and slammed the door shut, before he, too, was grabbed by an alien. Willow grit her teeth and tried to use what self-defense she knew to get away from the creepy aliens holding her but it wasn't any use.
"Rose! Willow!" Willow heard her name being called and turned (with her very limited range of motion, being captive and all) to see Harriet Jones stumble towards them. The three women hugged, terrified, but happy to see someone so familiar.
"Rose, Willow! I've got you both. My precious things. The Doctor...is he with you?" Harriet asked.
"No. We're all on our own," Rose said, her voice shaking. Willow felt her throat starting to close up in another panic attack, but tried to regulate her breathing to fight it off. The alien leader, or the Sycorax, as Willow found out they were called, pointed a big claw hand to Rose and Willow, grumbling angrily in its language.
"The yellow and the red girls. They have the clever blue box. Therefore, they speak for your planet," one of Harriet's people translated.
"But they can't," Harriet cried out, determined to keep the young girls safe.
"Yeah, we can," Rose said quietly.
"Don't you dare," Mickey snarled.
"Someone's gotta be the Doctor," Rose said.
"They'll kill you," Harriet said, grabbing both of their arms. Willow shook her off, wincing at the strength Harriet was using, knowing there would be a faint bruise later.
"We gotta try," Willow said, trying to be braver than she actually felt.
"Never stopped him," Rose said, shaking Harriet off. Willow followed Rose's lead and took a few cautious steps towards the Sycorax leader.
"I, um...I address the Sycorax according to..article fifteen of the, um..." Rose started.
"The Shadow Proclamation," Willow added, her voice shaky.
"We command you to leave this world with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of..." Rose said.
"Raxacoricofallapatorius," Willow said, as Rose still couldn't quite pronounce it correctly.
"...and, um...the Gelth Confederacy," Rose said as the Sycorax Leader started to walk towards them. "A—as us...sanctioned...by the Mighty Jagrafess...and...Oh, the Daleks!"
"Now, please leave this planet in peace!" Willow said, finally able to raise her voice slightly.
"In peace..." Rose echoed, then trailed off at how close the Sycorax leader was to them. There were a few moments of silence, before all the Sycorax started to burst out laughing. The Sycorax Leader started to speak again, Harriet's man still translating for them: "'You are both very, very funny'."
The Sycorax Leader started to speak more angrily, nearly spitting in Willow and Roses' faces. "'And now you're both going to die'," the man translated.
"Leave them alone!" Harriet Jones shouted, jumping forward.
"Don't touch them!" Mickey said, trying to protect the two closest women in his life.
"Leave them alone," Harriet said again.
Both Harriet and Mickey were again restrained by the Sycorax and moved back from sight. The Leader continued to speak, circling around Rose and Willow, causing Willow to turn in circles as well, keeping Rose behind her as much as she could.
"'Did you think you were both clever with your stolen words?'" the man translated. The Leader put his hands in the air and spoke passionately. "'We are the Sycorax. We stride the darkness'," was the translation. The Sycorax Leader hissed at both the girls, who whimpered and clutched each others hands. "'Next to us you are but wailing children. If you are the best your planet can offer as champions...'"
"Then your world will be gutted..." the Sycorax Leader said. Willow perked up at being able to understand what the alien was saying.
"'...then your world will be gutted...'" the man translated.
"...and your people enslaved," the Sycorax Leader said, clearly using English now.
"'...and your people enslaved,'" came the translation, before the man looked up. "Hold on, that's English."
"He's talking English," Harriet said, her eyes wide.
"You're talking English," Rose said to the Leader.
"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!" the Sycorax Leader spat out.
"That's English," Rose said, pointing at him.
"Can you hear English?" Rose asked Harriet, Willow, Mickey, and Alex (Harriet's aide or something, Willow thought), the man that was translating and they all nodded, astonished.
"Yeah, that's English," Mickey said.
"Definitely English," Alex said.
"I speak only Sycoraxic!" the Leader said angrily.
"Maybe it's not English," Willow said suddenly, having a thought pop into her head and gestured to the Tardis.
"If we can hear English...then it's being translated. Which means it's working. Which means..." Rose ranted on.
Willow turned her and Rose (Rose still kept protectively behind her) and looked to the Tardis just as the doors opened. There stood the Doctor, stripy pajamas, dressing gown, and fruit in his pockets, grinning out at them.
"Did you miss me?" the Doctor asked smugly as Willow beamed at him.
The Sycorax Leader roared in fury and lashed out his whip-like object at the Doctor. The Doctor just caught it and pulled it away from the Leader and threw it over his shoulder.
"You could have someone's eye out with that!" the Doctor said, scolding the large menacing alien.
The Sycorax Leader roared again and tried to attack the Doctor with his staff. Willow gasped, pushing Rose a step back, but the Doctor just snatched the staff and broke it in half over his knee. Willow gave a sigh of relief as he threw the broken pieces out of harms way.
"You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy," the Doctor said. They Sycorax Leader just stared at him and the Doctor pointed at him in warning. Then he walked over to Mickey and Harriet, greeting them with his new face first.
"Mickey! Hello! And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North! Blimey, it's like 'This Is Your Life'!" the Doctor said, then he turned to Rose and Willow and beamed, which Willow returned, happy to see the Doctor well and awake. "Tea! That's all I needed! A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free redicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing they synapses...Now...first thing's first...be honest. How do I look?"
"Um...different," Rose said, moving from behind her cousin to frown at the Doctor in confusion. She still didn't quite understand what had happened to the Doctor and why he was a pretty-boy now.
"Good different or bad different?" the Doctor asked.
"Just...different," Rose hedged.
"Am I...ginger like Willow?" he asked seriously.
"No, you're just sort of brown," Rose said and Willow giggled.
"Aww, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger," the Doctor whined like a five-year-old.
"Hey, that's what you said to me!" Willow said. "And I think you're a good different. And a good-looking one, too." She giggled again, flushing a dark red as she suddenly felt very warm.
The Doctor smirked at her, causing Willow to bite her lip, and then pointed at Rose again. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were—you gave up on me—oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."
"I'm sorry—who is this?" Harriet finally asked, totally confused by this strange man.
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said.
"He's the Doctor," Rose said.
"But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?" Harriet asked.
"That's him," Willow said, jerking her thumb at the Doctor, grinning at the older woman.
"I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face—well, new everything," the Doctor said, walking towards Harriet.
"But you can't be," Harriet said, looking confused.
"Harriet Jones. We were trapped in Downing Street, and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens...wasn't the war...it was the thought of your mother being on her own," the Doctor said.
"Oh, my gosh," Harriet said.
"Did you win the election?" the Doctor asked.
"Landslide majority," Harriet said, smiling and looking rather pleased.
"If I might interrupt!" the Sycorax Leader said and they all spun around, having forgotten about the fact that they were still in a spaceship full of aliens.
"Yes! Sorry! Hello, big fella!" the Doctor said.
"Who exactly are you?" the Leader asked.
"Well. That's the question," the Doctor said with a grin on his face.
"I demand to know who you are," the Sycorax Leader said.
"I DON'T KNOW!" the Doctor said, mimicking the Sycorax's rough voice. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I—I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested." He walked around the group of people. "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" he said. Then he looked at Willow and said, "Sexy?" He winked cheekily at her, remembering her comment about him being 'good-looking.' Willow blushed, a weird warmth pooling in her stomach, and smiled shyly at him.
"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 said. He noticed a large button. "And how am I gonna react when I see this? A great big threatening button." He laughed and ran up the stairs to the button and said, "A Great Big Threatening Button Which Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances. Am I right? Let me guess, it's some sort of control matrix? Hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?"
He bent down and pulled open a small compartment door to get to the controls. Inside, the Doctor noticed red liquid. "And what've we got here? Blood?" he asked. He dipped his finger inside it and tasted it. Willow made a gagging noise and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yeah, definitely. Blood. Human blood. A Positive. With just a dash of iron," he said. He waggled his tongue around to get rid of the gross taste, then wiped his finger on his dressing gown. "Ahh. But that means...blood control—Blood control! Oh! I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A Positives!"
Willow grinned as the Sycorax leader's cool and calm face fell, which meant that the Doctor was getting to him, which meant that the Doctor was right, as usual.
"Which leaves us with a great big sticking 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 Be Pressed...then I just wanna do this," the Doctor said, whacking on the button, hard.
NO!" Willow, Rose, and Harriet all yelled at the same time, Willow horrified that this new Doctor had just killed thousands of people.
"You killed them!" Alex yelled.
"What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?" the Doctor asked.
"We allow them to live," the Sycorax Leader said.
"Allow? You've no choice! I mean, that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis—you can hypnotize someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis, you can't hypnotize them to death. Survival instinct's too strong," the Doctor said.
"Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force," the Sycorax Leader said.
"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that—of course you could. But why? Look at these people. These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than—no, hold on...Sorry, that's 'The Lion King'. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!" the Doctor said fiercely.
"Or what?" the Sycorax Leader sneered.
"Or..." the Doctor said, grabbing one of the swords from a Sycorax guarding Rose and Willow. He ran down the steps into the empty space in front of the Tardis and raised the sword in the air, which was quite hot, in Willow's opinion.
"I challenge you," the Doctor said and the Sycorax Leader, as well as the other Sycorax, burst out laughing again. "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?" the Doctor asked.
"You stand as this world's champion?" the Sycorax Leader asked, coming down the stairs, pulling out his own sword.
"Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up," the Doctor said, taking off the dressing gown and he tossed it aside, Rose catching it for him.
"So—you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?" the Doctor asked and the Sycorax Leader hissed. Willow assumed that the Doctor had just insulted that very large alien, which sounded like something the now-rude Doctor would do.
"For the planet?" the Sycorax Leader asked.
"For the planet," the Doctor said.
They stood up and faced each other and suddenly started running at each other and began to parry and thrust. After a few seconds, the Doctor was thrown aside and Willow gasped in fear and put her hands over her mouth. The Sycorax Leader laughed, but the Doctor just picked himself up and lunged at the menacing giant. The Sycorax leader just retaliated and swung his sword out at the Doctor.
"Look out!" Rose yelled out in fear and worry.
"Oh, yeah, that helped. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks," the Doctor said sarcastically before ducking the alien's attack only to thrust his sword in advance.
"Ooh, he's sarcastic," Willow whispered to Rose, who just gave her a terrified look. Willow bit her lip, her plan to help keep Rose's spirits up clearly failed. The Doctor ran up the stairs and said, "Bit of fresh air?"
He hit a button and a door opened, which led to a very large platform outside, high above the Earth below. The Sycorax Leader and the Doctor continued their sword fight outside. Willow cautiously followed after them, still keeping Rose behind her, just in case a sword went stray. The Sycorax Leader managed to hit the Doctor in the nose and he groaned in pain.
Willow took a small step forward to try and help, but at the same time Rose grabbed her arm, she thought better of it and stayed put and the Doctor said, "Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet."
He wiped the small bit of blood off his nose and he and the Sycorax Leader ran towards each other and clashed swords. The Doctor was knocked backwards to the ground by the alien's sheer strength and the Sycorax Leader took advantage of that. He brought his massive sword down at the Doctor's wrist, which succeeded in cutting his hand off. It tumbled to the Earth far below them, twisting through the air, the sword following suite.
Willow let out a strangled, shocked noise, and turned her head towards Rose, unable to look at the stump that remained. The Doctor just watched his hand fall in stunned disbelief, then looked back at the Sycorax Leader, and in a surprised and annoyed tone, said, "You cut my hand off!"
"YAH! Sycorax!" the Leader called out triumphantly. Willow turned back towards the Doctor, tears gathering in her eyes, worrying her now sore lip.
"And not I know what sort of man I am," the Doctor said, standing up. "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 his arm, where his hand used to be, and it grew right back and Willow's eyes went wide, her jaw dropping.
"Witchcraft," the Sycorax Leader snarled.
"Time Lord," the Doctor corrected.
Rose took one of the Sycorax's swords out of its sheath right by them. "Doctor!" she called and she tossed the sword to him, which he caught and spun 'round in a very showing-off manner.
"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he asked, grinning.
"No arguments from me!" Rose said smiling.
"Willow?" he asked.
"Never doubted you!" she said, beaming at him, wiping what remained of her tears out of her eyes.
"Wanna know the best bit?" the Doctor asked the Sycorax Leader. "This new hand...It's a fightin' hand!" Willow giggled at the attempted Texan accent from the Doctor.
The Doctor ran at the Sycorax Leader and they started fighting again. They circled around each other, clashing swords, until the Doctor jabbed the Leader in the stomach with the handle of his sword. Willow winced as the Sycorax Leader groaned in pain; that really had to hurt. The Doctor did it two more times, causing the Sycorax Leader to fall to the ground. The Doctor pointed his sword at the Leader's throat and said, "I win."
"Then kill me," the Leader said with difficulty.
"I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command: leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?" the Doctor said.
"Yes," the Sycorax Leader said.
"Swear on the blood of your species," the Doctor said, angrily and seriously, as he jabbed the sword closer.
"I swear," the Leader said.
"There we are, then! Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!" the Doctor said, in a lighter, more cheerful tone. He stabbed the sword in the ground and walked back to everyone.
"Bravo!" Harriet said, clapping.
"That says it all. Bravo!" Rose said, rushing forward.
"Yeah! Not bad for a man in his jim-jams!" the Doctor said. Rose pulled the dressing gown back on the Doctor, and then Willow rushed up and hugged him tightly, her eyes closed. The Doctor seemed surprised at first, and then hugged her back just as tight. He even spun her around a few times, causing her to let out a small shriek of laughter. When he set her down, she beamed at him and he took her hand tenderly in his and said, "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here?"
He took a Satsuma out of his pocket with his unoccupied hand causing Rose and Willow to giggle at the silliness of it all.
"A Satsuma. Ah, that friend of your mothers—he does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?" the Doctor said as they walked back to the entrance of the spaceship, the Doctor swinging his and Willow's entangled hands. He tossed the Satsuma up in the air and caught it. "You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid Satsuma. Who wants a Satsuma?" the Doctor asked.
"I like Satsumas, I think," Willow said, scrunching up her face in thought, causing the Doctor to smile.
Behind them (and unseen to most besides the Doctor), the Sycorax Leader got to his feet and picked up his sword. He roared, ready to charge them and run the sword through the Doctor, but said Doctor threw the Satsuma at a large button on the side of the ship, without even turning around. The ground underneath the Sycorax Leader opened, causing the large alien to tumble down to Earth, much like the Doctor's hand had, screaming. The Doctor's smile had faded and he released Willow's hand to march forward.
"No second chances. I'm that sort of a man," the Doctor said sharply, making up his mind about who he was. Inside the ship, the Doctor stood in front of the Tardis to address the rest of the Sycorax: "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet...when you tell them of its riches—its people—its potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It—is—defended," the Doctor said with passion.
Willow happily climbed back into the Tardis, glad to be off of the spaceship and the violent aliens, as they were all teleported back down to Earth by the Sycorax.
"Where are we?" Rose asked, looking around in confusion.
"We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!" Mickey exclaimed. He laughed, jumping up and down in glee. The Doctor held up his hand for silence as, above them, the spaceship engines started up, causing the ground to rumble slightly.
"Wait a minute...wait a minute..." the Doctor said.
The ship took off, back to the skies and Willow let out the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Beside her, the Doctor grinned and Mickey started whooping loudly.
"Go on, my son! Oh, yeah!" Mickey yelled gleefully.
"Yeah! Don't some back!" Rose said, jumping onto Mickey's back.
Willow, not much one for jumping around like a lunatic (in her opinion), was standing there grinning her head off, when the Doctor suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into a rather unexpected hug from behind. She let out a squeak before turning and hugging the Doctor tightly.
"It is defended!" Mickey yelled, quoting the Doctor's earlier words.
The Doctor finally let Willow down and she slung an arm over Rose's shoulders in a side hug and then hugged Mickey when Rose went to hug Harriet's man, Alex.
"My Doctor," Harriet said, facing the Doctor.
"Prime Minister," the Doctor said, hugging her.
"Absolutely the same man," Harriet said. "And Willow! How are you, dear?"
"I'm very good, Ms. Prime Minister," Willow said, grinning, before she pulled Harriet into a hug. "Now I can tell everyone that I hugged the Prime Minister!"
"Are there many more out there?" Harriet asked, after smiling at the young woman.
"Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals—this planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed...more and more. You'd better get used to it," the Doctor said.
"Rose! Willow!" Jackie called, after finally being able to find them.
"Mum!" Rose yelled at the same time Willow cried out, "Aunt Jackie!" Both young woman ran up to embrace the older woman tightly; glad she had been safe on Earth.
"Oh! Talking of trouble...!" the Doctor said, eyeing Jackie.
"That's rude," Willow said, returning to his side and smacking his arm with a smirk.
"Oh, my gosh! You did it, girls! Oh!" Jackie said, causing everyone to smile.
"You did it, too! It was the tea! Fixed his head!" Rose said.
"That was all I needed—cup o' tea," the Doctor said.
"I said so!" Jackie said.
"Actually, you said soup, Aunt Jackie," Willow said, smiling.
"Oh, shush, you," Jackie mock-scolded her niece.
"Look at him!" Rose said happily.
"Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor?" Jackie asked and instead of answering verbally, Willow nodded, beaming in the Doctor's direction. "Oh, my gosh! It's the bleeding Prime Minister!"
"Come here, you," the Doctor said, holding his arms out to Jackie. She threw her arms around him and then glared at Rose, Mickey, and Willow until they joined for a group hug.
"Aww...! Are you better?" Jackie asked, after letting anyone go.
"I am, yeah!" the Doctor said.
"Told you he'd wake up," Willow teased Rose, poking her in the arm.
"Never doubted him," Rose said, scoffing.
"Yeah, right! I had to tell you so several times!" Willow said, laughing.
"You two left me!" Jackie accused Rose and Willow.
"I'm sorry!" Rose said.
"It wasn't exactly our fault we got teleported into an alien spaceship," Willow said. "We didn't even know until we left the Tardis to help you."
"I had all the food!" Jackie said.
"What the hell?!" Willow shouted and jumped as a green beam of light shot from the ground nearby. Four more shot up, meeting the first, until the five points met in the middle and the beam shot up and hit the spaceship, reducing it into little pieces of debris in the atmosphere.
"What is that?" Rose gasped. "What's happening?"
Willow clamped her hands over her mouth in horror. Sure, the Sycorax were horrible and violent, but that didn't mean she wanted them to all die like that. She looked over to the Prime Minister, the only person with the power to do that and watched as the Doctor stalked angrily towards her.
"That was murder," he said spat out.
"That was defense. It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago," Harriet said.
"But they were leaving," the Doctor said, still furious.
"You said 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 have to defend ourselves," Harriet said. Willow glared at the woman she had looked up to, but had now let her down. Harriet Jones had just murdered a ship full of aliens because she had thought it was the right thing to do, but murder was never right.
"Britain's Golden Age," the Doctor said disdainfully.
"It comes with a price," Harriet said.
"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," the Doctor said.
"Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf," Harriet said.
"Then I should've stopped you."
"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?"
"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones. 'Cos I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word," the Doctor said, stepping towards Harriet angrily.
"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met. But I don't think you're quite capable of that," Harriet scoffed
"No, you're right. Not a single word. Just six," the Doctor said, looking down at her.
"I don't think so," Harriet said.
"Six words," the Doctor said.
"Stop it!" Harriet yelled.
"Six," the Doctor said. They stared at each other or a few more seconds until the Doctor walked over to Alex and took off his earpiece. He then whispered in his ear, before walking off, leaving a confused Alex and a paranoid Harriet behind.
The Doctor took Willow's hand as he went by her before walking off down the street with her, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey. Willow didn't even spare Harriet another glance as she hugged the Doctor's arm, tired after all that had happened; she felt like she hadn't slept in years.
"Doctor! Doctor, what did you—what was—what did he say!" Harriet yelled after them. "What did you say, Doctor? Doctor?"
The Doctor completely ignored her as he went back to the Tardis, promising to be back at the flat for Christmas dinner; he said he just needed to find some suitable clothing first.
Willow went back to the flat with her family and she helped Rose to cook Christmas dinner. They absolutely forbade Jackie from entering the kitchen whatsoever, other than to get the necessary dishes to set the table. Willow finally started to relax, enjoying cooking, which was a passion of hers. She brought out the turkey and set it in front of Mickey, who carved it, and frowned at the door. The Doctor still hadn't returned and she was worried that he wouldn't even show up.
She brought out the remaining food and sat down at the table with her small family, each of them with a Christmas cracker. She beamed as the Doctor entered the flat, wearing a new brown suit and matching jacket. She looked him up and down, blushing at how tight his suit fit, before smiling shyly at him, which he returned.
Willow laughed at Rose as she let out a small shriek when she pulled a Christmas cracker with the Doctor.
"Oh, that's yours..." the Doctor said as Rose pulled a pink party hat out of the cracker.
"It's pink! Mum, it should be yours!" Rose said, laughing.
"Pink! Lovely!" the Doctor said. Willow offered a cracker to the Doctor, who pulled it with her and out popped a hat, just like Rose's, only purple. She giggled (from the champagne Jackie had brought out) and put the hat on her head, grinning at the Doctor, who smirked at her.
"Look, it's Harriet Jones!" Rose exclaimed, looking the tellie, which had been on the queen's Christmas program. Willow turned to the tellie, making a face as she saw Harriet. Her grimace turned into her biting her lip as the Doctor pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on, which was just hot, in her opinion.
"Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?" a man on the television asked.
"No. Now, can we talk about other things?" Harriet asked.
"Is it true you're unfit for office?" the man asked.
"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health! I don't know where these stories are coming from! And a vote of no confidence...is completely unjustified," Harriet said. Willow was so engrossed with sneering at the TV screen that she jumped when the phone rang in the flat.
"Are you going to resign?" the man asked.
"On today of all days, I'm fine," Harriet said, looking confused and frustrated. "Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."
"It's Beth," Jackie said, after answering the phone. "She says go and look outside."
The Doctor took the glasses off and Willow took them from him to put them in his jacket pocket and said, "I like the glasses." She couldn't exactly believe she had just done that, but then again, she had had the champagne, which gave her the courage to do so.
"Good," the Doctor said lowly to her, smirking. Willow felt that warmth pooling in her stomach again as she flushed. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something more, but the Doctor had already turned away with a smirk, as if knowing what he did to her.
"Why?" Rose asked.
"I dunno, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!" Jackie said.
Willow stepped outside to see it snowing in London and laughed as she looked up at the sky; there were streaks of light going across it, which looked beautiful. Willow slipped her hand into the Doctor's and hugged his arm, looking up at the night sky, marveling.
"Oh, that's beautiful. What are they, meteors?" Rose asked, standing beside her cousin.
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash," the Doctor said.
"Okay, not so beautiful," Rose said.
"Eww," Willow commented, scrunching up her nose at the ash of dead aliens floating through the air.
"This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now—everyone saw it. Everything's new," the Doctor said.
"And what about you? What are you gonna do next?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"Well...back to the Tardis...same old life," the Doctor said.
"On—on your own?" Rose asked, worried that her best friend didn't want her with him anymore.
"Why, don't you wanna come?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, yeah," Rose said.
"Do you, though?" the Doctor asked.
"Yeah!" Rose said.
"I just thought...'cos I changed.." the Doctor said.
"Yeah, I...I thought, 'cos you changed...you might not want me or Willow anymore," Rose said.
"Oh, I'd love you both to come!" the Doctor said.
"Okay!" Rose said, laughing and beaming at the Doctor.
"What about you, Willow?" the Doctor asked.
"You don't even have to ask, Doctor," she said, smirking at him and he gave her hand a squeeze.
"You're never gonna stay, are you?" Mickey asked Rose.
"There's just so much out there. So much to see...I've got to," Rose said. Mickey smiled.
"Yeah," he said, still not really happy about that.
"Well, I reckon you're mad. The three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble," Jackie said.
"Trouble's just the bits in between," the Doctor said, dropping Willow's hand to rush up to Jackie and embrace her. "It's all waiting out there, Jackie. It's brand new to me. All those planets...creatures and horizons...I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes...And it is gonna be...fantastic," the Doctor said, moving back to Willow and Rose. The cousins both smiled at the use of the word fantastic. He held out his hands for the girls to take and they both looked warily at the one that had been cut off only hours ago.
"That hand of yours still gives me the creeps," Rose said, pointing at it smiling.
"I know what you mean," Willow said. "It's just plain weird. But then, you're practically made of weird, Doctor."
The Doctor grinned at them and wiggled his fingers at them, as well as his eyebrows. Rose took one hand and Willow entwined her fingers through the other.
"So, where're we gonna go first?" Rose asked as the three of them looked up at the endless sky above them.
"Um...that way," the Doctor said, releasing Rose's hand to point at the night sky. "No, hold on...that way." He pointed just a bit off to where he had been pointing the first time. Rose pointed in the same direction.
"That way?" Rose asked.
"Hmm?" the Doctor said, looking between her and Willow, who nodded.
"Yeah. That way," Rose said.
"Sounds good to me, too," Willow said, smiling. She squeezed the Doctor's hand and looped her other arm through his. She hugged his arm to her chest, excited for all the adventures they were going to have together…