The Christmas Invasion
The TARDIS jolted around as it flew through the air, knocking into buildings until it came down, banging into dustbins on the way. Mickey and Jackie, who had gathered when they heard the wheezing noise, looked at each other, concerned, when the doors were suddenly thrown open and the Professor ran out, squealing, a man chasing her, laughing as he caught her around the middle and spun her around, pulling her in to kiss her.
"Rose!" Jackie gasped, seeing her daughter in the doorway and ran over to hug her, she'd been gone for months!
Her call seemed to snap the Time Lords out of their moment, the man turning around, but pulling the Professor into his arms, her back to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her, "Look at that. We made it."
"Barely," the Professor remarked, putting her arms over his. He'd gone a bit mad in the TARDIS, rushing around, grinning dangerously, wanting to really make the adventure daring by setting the TARDIS into overdrive…and proceeding to distract her whenever she tried to calm the box down. They had wanted to return to tell Mickey and Jackie that Rose was alright, well…she did. He was just eager to get out there, see the Universe once more.
He looked around a moment, feeling the cold air through his jacket, seeing the look of the land around them and realized, "It's Christmas!" nuzzled his head into her neck, "Merry Christmas sweetheart."
And then he promptly collapsed, nearly taking her down with him when she tried to grab him, Mickey running over to help her lie him down.
"What happened?" Rose asked, rushing over with her mother, "Is he alright?"
"I knew this would happen," the Professor sighed, the Doctor's head on her lap. She'd seen all the signs, his jitters in the TARDIS, the gleam in his eyes, the strain in him…he was basically exploding with regeneration energy, an aftereffect of taking in the Vortex, it would take his new body a short while to recover from that.
"But is he ok?"
"He'll be fine," she reassured them, "He just needs rest."
"Wait a minute," Mickey shook his head, looking at the man with black hair and stubble, "Who is he? Where's the Doctor?"
"That's him," the Professor told him, "This is the Doctor."
"What d'you mean, 'this is the Doctor?'" Jackie frowned, "Doctor who?"
~8~
The Doctor was lying tucked in bed, wearing a pair of stripy pajamas, Rose was standing at the foot of the bed, biting her nails as the Professor sat on the edge of the bed beside him, reaching out to gently stroke his face.
"Here we go!" Jackie called, rushing in with a stethoscope in her hand, "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student. And she was fast asleep, so I just took it."
"Thank you Jackie," the Professor looked up, "But we don't need that. I can scan him well enough."
"Scan?" Jackie frowned, "What d'you mean 'scan?'"
She held up her fingers, waving them a bit, "It's a skill I have, I can learn about things by touching them, the Doctor's fine, he's just got to rest for now.
Jackie shook her head, not following, "I still say we should take him to hospital…"
"We can't," Rose cut in, shifting from foot to foot, nervous. She'd experienced the Doctor when he'd thought the Professor was dead, she just had a feeling that it would be much worse for her if the Professor thought he was in danger because of something she had done, again, "They'd lock him up. The both of them. And dissect them. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race."
"Just give me a moment," the Professor murmured, leaning forward to place her head to the center of his chest, listening, smiling softly as she heard the four-beat rhythm, "Both working."
"What d'you mean 'both?'" Jackie asked, getting exasperated with so little answers.
"We've got two hearts," the Professor explained.
"You're joking aren't you?"
She laughed a bit, sitting up, "Go on, give it a listen Jackie."
Jackie hesitated before putting on the stethoscope and moving closer, listening to either side of the Professor's chest, gasping, "Oh that's just weird. Anything else you've got two of?"
"Mum just leave them alone," Rose murmured, turning to leave the room, feeling too jittery to just stand there and watch, not knowing if the Doctor would get better despite the Professor's assurances.
Jackie moved after her daughter as the Professor stood to follow…only to find that the Doctor refused to let go of her hand after she'd taken it sitting beside him. She smiled, leaning over, "It's alright love," she whispered in his ear, "I'll be back in a moment, you just rest."
She watched with a soft look in her eyes as he relaxed, releasing her, sighing out a wisp of orange-gold regeneration energy. She laughed as it floated around her, batting it away and towards the window before she stepped out of the room to follow Rose and Jackie into the kitchen.
"How can he go changing his face?" Jackie was asking as Rose looked in the refrigerator, "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"
"How should I know?" Rose snapped, frustrated, before sighing, "Sorry…"
"He's a different person," the Professor clarified, walking over, "Our people had a way of cheating death, healing ourselves by changing every cell in our bodies, making us into entirely new people."
Rose blinked, tears in her eyes, knowing the Doctor, the Doctor she had been trying to make up her mistakes to, was gone, dead, because of her, "I keep forgetting you're not human…" she murmured.
"He's still got the same memories Rose," the Professor told her, almost as though she knew where the girl's thoughts had gone, "He remembers everything, right up to the end."
Rose nodded, knowing she was talking about how he'd offered her to come with them before they'd headed back to Earth. She shook her head, looking at her mother, wanting a change of topic, "The big question is...where'd you get a pair of men's pajamas from?"
"Howard's been staying over," Jackie told her, moving away.
"What, Howard from the market? How long's that been going on?"
"A month or so," Jackie told her and she winced. It had only been a few minutes for her between getting them to help her open the TARDIS, looking for that light Mickey had told her about, and coming back to find months had past and it was Christmas, "First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, 'that's a bit odd.' Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges…"
"Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose gasped, turning to walk into the sitting room, hearing a TV playing in the background, a very familiar voice speaking.
"Oh, never mind me..." Jackie muttered, following her with the Professor.
"Why's she on the telly?"
"She's Prime Minister remember?" the Professor smiled and moved to stand beside Rose. She couldn't be as angry with her as the Doctor had been for saving her father. She had been the one displaced in time, but, she knew that Rose had gotten her miracle, gotten the Doctor to forgive her. She'd saved them both, even if the Doctor had regenerated because of it. But that had been his choice, and he was still there, alive, just different. So, for that reason, she could forgive Rose now, and right now the girl was terrified and confused.
"I'm eighteen quid a week better off," Jackie added.
"Britain's Golden Age," the Professor nudged Rose, making her smile a bit.
"Keep on saying 'my Rose has met her.'"
"Did more than that," Rose smiled more, "Stopped World War Three with her. Harriet Jones..."
"Harriet Jones," a reporter called on the screen, "What about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?"
"Now, that's where you're wrong," Harriet shook her head, "I completely disagree if you don't mind. The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars."
"This is the spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age," another man beside Harriet continued, "And that is what we're achieving fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle."
"The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent," a reporter described as a graphic of the probe came up on screen, "Photographs of the Martian Landscape should be received by midnight tonight."
The Professor smiled, "Earth ingenuity…" she shook her head, proud, there were those brilliant humans she knew them to be. And it would figure that the Doctor would sleep through it.
~8~
"What if…what if he doesn't forgive me?" Rose asked as she and the Professor walked arm-in-arm down a road with Mickey, crowded with shoppers.
"He invited you with us," the Professor reminded her.
"Yeah and then he went mad and nearly crashed the TARDIS, what if it's just a…heat of the moment thing and he doesn't really mean it?"
"Rose," the Professor stopped her, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, "If you can promise me that you will do everything we say from now on, I'll make sure you come."
Rose blinked, tears in her eyes, a small hopeful smile making its way onto her face, "I promise!"
"Then I promise too," she nodded, "Now, come on, I want to get the Doctor a gift for when he wakes up."
"God I still can't believe it's Christmas," Rose remarked, reaching out to take Mickey's hand, squeezing it, "It's only been a few minutes…"
"I'm just glad you're back," Mickey squeezed her hand back, "And safe."
"What if he's dying?" Rose frowned at Mickey's words.
"He's not Rose," the Professor reassured her, "He's in what we call a healing coma. He's focusing the rest of his regeneration energy towards healing himself of the damage the Vortex did to him. He just needs a few hours and he'll be fine."
"Yeah," Mickey swung her hand a bit, "He won't die on Christmas. But your mother might kill ya if you don't get her a gift. So what're you gonna get her? Even after you left I'm round all the time now, you know. She does my dinner on a Sunday...talks about you all afternoon, yap yap yap yap yap..."
Rose wasn't really listening, looking at the Professor as she stopped walking, her gaze locked on a band of masked Santas a few feet away playing 'Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy' on their brass instruments.
"What is it?" Rose asked, seeing her frown and tense.
"Don't panic Rose…" she warned, "But they're robots…and those instruments," her gaze flickered to the instruments as they lowered them, "Aren't instruments…down!" she turned, half throwing Mickey and Rose to the ground with her as the Santas turned their instruments into flame throwers, blue flames shooting out of them.
People started screaming and scattering, the Santas still blasting the fires around.
"It's us!" Rose gasped as they ducked behind a stall, "They're after us aren't they?" she looked at the Professor.
"On my signal, run," she told them, tensing more. The Santas turned and blasted the stall, "Run!" she shouted, dashing out from behind the stall towards the Santas.
"Professor!" Rose shouted, but Mickey pulled her away.
They watched as the Professor managed to grab one of the Santa's arms and twist it, disabling it enough to grab its weapon and fire at the large Christmas tree beside them, knocking it over and onto the other Santas, distracting them before she turned and ran back to them.
"What's going on?" Mickey asked, frantic, as they ran towards the streets, "What've we done? Why are they after us?"
"Taxi!" Rose shouted as one pulled up, the three of them clambering in, as she pulled out her phone.
"Who're you phoning?"
"My mum," Rose breathed, putting the phone to her ear only to hear a busy signal, "Mum, get off the phone!"
"Who were...those Santa things?" Mickey looked at the Professor.
"Pilot Fish," she remarked, "Hunters, scouts."
"Scouts?" Rose frowned, "So they're after the Doctor?"
"Not exactly," she looked out the window as they pulled up to the complex, "His regeneration energy…that!" she pointed and they ran out of the cab to see a wisp of orange-gold energy escape a window in Rose's flat, "Come on!"
They ran up the stairs and into the flat to see Jackie still on the phone, "So, save us a chipolata..."
"Get off the phone!" Rose shouted, running over to her.
"It's only Bev! She says hello."
Rose grabbed the phone, "Bev? Yeah, look, it'll have to wait," she hung up and looked at Mickey and Jackie, not even noticing the Professor tensing and looking around as though for something dangerous that she just couldn't see, "Right, the Professor says it's not safe, we've gotta get out, where can we go?"
"My mate Stan, he'll put us up," Mickey supplied.
"That's only two streets away. What about Mo? Where's she living now?"
"I dunno!" Jackie shook her head, "Peak District!"
"Oh, we'll go to Cousin Mo's then."
"It's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?"
"Jackie…" the Professor cut in, stepping past them towards a green tree set up in the back, where she was certain a white plastic tree had been before, "Where'd you get that tree?"
"That's a new tree," Rose realized as well, "Where'd you get it?"
"Well, I thought it was you!" Jackie turned to her daughter as the Professor slowly edged nearer to the tree.
"How can it be me?"
"Well, you went shopping, there was a ring at the door, and there it was!"
"No, that wasn't me."
"Then who was it..."
The Professor reached out and touched it a moment before jumping back, "Get back!" she shouted, pushing them towards the back of the room moments before the tree started to light up on its own.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Rose breathed, her eyes wide.
"Quick!" the Professor nudged them, "Move!"
Jackie and Rose turned, rushing back down the hall as the tree started to spin rapidly, 'Jingle Bells' starting to play at a fast speed, moving towards them, shattering the coffee table into firewood within seconds.
"Go! Move!" she pushed them more, but Mickey ran past her, grabbing a chair and holding it before him, trying to stop the tree or at least hold it back.
"Mickey!" Rose shouted.
"Leave it!" Jackie yelled as the tree started to chop the chair, "Get out! Get out!"
"Mickey move!" the Professor called, "Get out of there now!"
He threw down the chair and ran back to where she was ushering them into the Doctor's room. He turned and slammed the door shut behind him, trying to hold it closed as the tree grew closer. Jackie started to shove the wardrobe over, Mickey helping, the two of them pressing themselves against it and the door, trying to keep the tree back.
"Doctor!" Rose called, rushing over to his bedside.
"Rose no!" the Professor shouted, making Rose look up at her, alarmed, "Do NOT wake him up!" she shouted, rushing over to his leather jacket hanging on a small rack as Rose stepped back from the Doctor and pulled out the sonic.
"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie shrieked as the tree started to smash through the wardrobe.
"Jackie, Mickey, move!" the Professor called. They jumped to the side and she flashed the sonic on just as the tree burst through, making it explode a moment later.
"Nicely done," a voice said behind her.
She looked back to see the Doctor sitting up in bed, propping himself up on his right arm, grinning at her, "Go back to sleep," she told him, worried for him, to wake up in the middle of a healing coma wasn't a good thing.
"Not a chance," he smirked, getting out of bed. He'd heard the screaming and shouting, the smashing, and then her voice…she'd been in danger, of course he'd woken up, and of course he'd not go back to sleep now, not till he knew she was completely safe. She turned to face him completely as he stood, his gaze locked on her, "Remote control. But who's controlling it?"
"I'll find that out myself," she pointed at the bed, "You go back to bed."
"No," he said firmly, walking over to her, "It's dangerous. And you're not going anywhere without me."
She looked at him a moment as he opened his mind to her, letting her see the flash of terror he'd felt at hearing those sounds before, the painful clenching in his hearts at the thought of her being in danger and him not being there to help her…to protect her...
"Never again," he added, pulling her closer to him, his arms moving around her as he stared into her eyes.
"You've woken up too soon," she reminded him softly, staring into his brown eyes, there was just something about them that pulled her in.
He smiled and kissed her, entirely focused on her and reassuring her, barely even noticing the terrified humans scattered around the room, watching them, still panting from fear, "I'm fine," he promised, pulling away to rest his forehead to hers.
"You'd better be," she warned him, nudging him.
He winked at her, moving over to pull a dressing gown off a rack, putting it on before taking her hand and leading her to the torn apart door, the humans exchanging a look before rushing out after them.
They headed out of the flat, onto the small balcony walkway outside it, right up to the railing where they could see three of the Santas standing on the ground below.
"That's them," Mickey breathed.
The Professor just raised the sonic, pointing it threateningly at the Santas till they backed away, standing close before teleporting away.
The Doctor grinned darkly, watching the Santas flee from her before he put his arm around her waist, moving to nuzzle the side of her head a moment before whispering in her ear, "You've no idea how appealing you are when you do that…"
She swallowed hard, already knowing he'd felt her shiver, "Not the time," she had to remind him.
"They've just gone!" Mickey frowned, leaning over the railing to look down, "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."
"Pilot Fish," the Doctor and Professor said as one.
"What?" Rose blinked, the Professor had mentioned they were Pilot Fish before, but she didn't exactly know what that was.
"They were just Pilot Fish," the Doctor shrugged, as though it were no big deal, no real threat, before suddenly he coughed, throwing himself backwards against the wall, clearly in pain.
"What's wrong?" Rose shouted as the Professor moved to his side.
"Fine are you?" the woman glared at him, though he could see a fear and concern in her eyes.
He gave her a strained smile, reaching up to stroke her cheek a moment, "I'm just regenerating still," he told her, "Just bursting with energy me," he breathed out shakily, a stream of regeneration energy flowing out of him, moving right for her, circling her.
"This is getting a bit ridiculous," she told him, swatting the energy away for the second time.
He gave her a roguish grin, "Can't help it if every part of me is attracted to you."
"What's going on?" Rose asked.
The Doctor blinked and looked over, as though just noticing the humans were there, "The Pilot Fish can smell the energy," he explained.
"They're trying to eliminate the defense," the Professor added, though her gaze was on the Doctor, worried, even as he turned back to her, looking right at her, "So they can take him."
"They could run their batteries on me for a couple of year…" he grunted, lurching forward, groaning.
"Oh!" Jackie gasped, kneeling before him, "Oh! Oh!"
"My head!" the Doctor grit his teeth, pressing his hands to his head.
The Professor knelt down and touched his forehead, gently, the Doctor reaching out to grab one of her hands, "You're having a neuron implosion…"
"I need…"
"What do you need?" Jackie asked, frantic.
"I need…"
"Say it, tell me, tell me…" the Doctor moved to open his mouth but Jackie just kept going, "Painkillers? Do you need aspirin? Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I dunno…Pepto Bismol? Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E? 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?"
"I need you to shut up!" he snapped.
"Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" she remarked.
He lurched forward again and leaned against the opposite wall, "We haven't got much time," he turned around, pressing his back against the wall, panting for a few moments, trying to gather his strength before looking at the Professor, "If there's Pilot Fish, then…" he strained, "You need to get out of here."
"Not without you," she told him.
He groaned, sinking to the floor, grimacing, "Brain…collapsing…"
"You never ever listen to me do you?" the Professor said softly, kneeling before him, reaching up to his head and placing her hands on either side of his face, her fingertips just on his temples, "Sleep," she whispered, closing her eyes, using their mental connection to send him to sleep. He slumped forward, only her hands bracing him keeping him upright, "Sweet dreams," she kissed his forehead before looking at Mickey, "Can you help me?"
He nodded and, between the two of them, they were able to get the Doctor up and back into the flat, into his bed.
"Pilot Fish mean that something is coming," she told them quietly, lifting the duvet over him, tucking him in once more.
~8~
The Professor sat at the Doctor's bedside, mopping his forehead with a flannel in one hand, squeezing his hand in her other, a concerned look on her face as he was restless and sweaty, clearing not doing well. He'd been mumbling and calling out in his sleep, not always in English, though only she could understand his utterings in Gallifreyan, calling for her.
Rose stood in the doorway, watching, with tears in her eyes, as the Professor cared for him, so worried not only for him but for the Professor. The woman had known that waking him up early was bad for him, but to be confronted with just how bad had shaken her. She looked back when Mickey walked past, his laptop in his arm to follow him to the sitting room.
The Professor glanced over, seeing them leaving and leaned in, "I'll be back Theta," she whispered in their language, squeezing his hand in reassurance, before getting up and heading for the sitting room as well.
"Jackie, I'm using the phone line," Mickey was saying, "Is that alright?"
"Yeah," Jackie replied, "Keep a count of it. It's midnight. Christmas day," she looked over as the Professor entered the room, "Any change?"
"He's worse," she said, her voice cracking just a bit, "Just one heart beating."
Rose walked over and put a hand on the Professor's shoulder. She knew the woman was more upset at herself than at her, the Doctor was in such condition because he had woken, believing his Bonded to be in danger, not because of what had happened using the heart of the TARDIS. If he'd remained asleep he'd be fine.
"Scientists in charge of Britain's mission to Mars have reestablished contact with the Guinevere One Space Probe," a reporter announced as Jackie sat down in front of the telly, "They're expecting the first transmission from the planet's surface in the next few minutes."
"Yes, we are," the same man who had been beside Harriet before was speaking, "We're…we're back on schedule. We've received the signal from Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success."
The Professor frowned, stepping closer to the TV, watching the man, he was far too nervous and jittery to be speaking the truth, the situation was worse than he wanted to admit.
"But is it true that you completely lost contact earlier tonight?" a reporter asked.
"Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it…it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds. She's fine now, absolutely fine. We…we're getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I'd better get back to it, thanks," and with that, the man walked off.
"Here we go, Pilot Fish," Mickey called, getting the laptop up.
"You don't need to do that Mickey," the Professor called as he and Rose looked over, "Pilot Fish are scavengers, mostly harmless. But they're the tiny fish that swim alongside the larger fish. Usually they are either scouts or the fish that draw in food for the larger fish."
"Larger fish like sharks?" Rose asked, frowning.
"Great big sharks," Mickey nodded, looking at a small bit of information he'd already brought up on the fish, "So, what you mean is that we had them..." he pointed at the small fish, "And now we get that?" he pointed at the shark.
"I'm afraid so," the Professor nodded.
"How close are they?" Rose asked her.
She shook her head, "There's no way of telling right now, but the Pilot Fish are never too far away from the main fish."
"But it is close though?"
"Funny sort of rocks…" Jackie remarked behind them.
They turned around to see a distorted, static picture on the TV screen, what looked like rocks but were most certainly not.
"That's not rocks..." Rose breathed, the image clearing as they stepped closer.
"...coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning," a reporter called.
The image cleared more to reveal an alien roaring at them viciously, making the humans jump back.
The Professor, however, just rubbed her forehead, "Oh you're kidding me…"
"What?" Mickey looked over at her, "You recognize them?"
"She's an alien expert," Rose told him.
"They're called the Sycorax," she shook her head, not wanting to alarm them by explaining just what the species was like, "Mickey can you hack in? They're going to try and make verbal contact soon after establishing the visual," he nodded, turning back to the computer, "Call me as soon as you get anything."
Rose nodded, moving to Mickey's side as the Professor walked out of the room and back to the Doctor. She stood in the doorway, looking at him sadly, before she moved over to his bedside, taking his hand, "Don't worry," she whispered to him, "I'll protect you. They're not gonna get you," she smiled a bit, kissing his knuckles, "They'll have to get through me first, won't they?"
~8~
"Professor!" Rose called.
The Professor looked over and got up, squeezing the Doctor's hand reassuringly so he'd release her, to go into the sitting room where Mickey had apparently been able to hack into UNIT's system again.
"Take a look," Mickey called her over to where he and Rose were sitting before the laptop, "I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way."
An image of four Sycorax appeared, one of them speaking in an alien language.
"You said they were Sycorax?" Mickey looked over his shoulder at the Professor.
She nodded, frowning at the alien language, "The TARDIS should translate alien languages…but the Doctor's not the only one who's weak right now, using so much of the heart of the TARDIS's power against the Daleks weakened her too for now…"
"Can you translate it though?" Rose asked.
She nodded, listening to the transmission, "'People, you belong to us. To the Sycorax. We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax…rock…'" she blinked, "Well, that's one use of the word I suppose."
She sighed, rubbing her head, before heading back out of the room, to look over the Doctor once more, not comfortable leaving him for too long.
~8~
Rose and Mickey stood in the doorway of the Doctor's room, watching as the Professor knelt on the floor, gripping the Doctor's hand in hers, the man straining to breathe. They could see tears in her eyes as she looked at him, struggling. She knew he'd recover, he had to, he was the Doctor, he could do anything. She swallowed hard, if he didn't…
She closed her eyes and pressed his hand to her forehead.
He had to.
~8~
The sun had just started to rise when there was a commotion from outside the flat, "What is wrong with you?" a woman was shouting, "Jason? Jason?"
The Professor looked over as Rose and Mickey ran past the doorway towards the front and kissed the Doctor's forehead, getting up to follow.
"Sandra?" Rose called as the three of them stepped out.
"He won't listen!" Sandra gestured to the man before her, walking down the walkway in a daze, "He's just walking, he won't stop walking! There's this sort of...light, thing. Jason? Stop it! Right now!" Sandra turned and ran after him.
Rose and Mickey moved to the balcony, looking out at dozens of people walking, a blue light flashing around their heads periodically as they made their way to the stairs.
"It's a favored trick of the Sycorax," the Professor called as they watched the people starting to gather at the top of the roofs, "Blood control," she noticed the physical traits between the ones in the daze, how there seemed to be one member of a family unit unaffected, and older member and a child bound to the light, they'd probably shared the same blood type, and given the amount of people on the roofs, a third it appeared, it was probably A.
"They're controlling their blood?" Rose gaped, horrified.
"It's harmless enough," she continued, "They won't be able to hurt them, just scare them a bit."
And with that, she turned and walked back into the flat, leaving Rose and Mickey to watch, she was not about to leave the Doctor till she knew he was getting better. The Earth could wait, her world could not.
~8~
"Ladies and gentlemen..." the Professor heard from the Doctor's room, Harriet Jones speaking on the television. She sighed, listening, "If I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled. 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, Professor, if you're out there...we need you."
The Professor closed her eyes, the Doctor needed her more.
"I don't know what to do. But if you can hear me, Doctor, Professor...if anyone knows the Doctor or Professor, if anyone can find them...the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us Professor."
And then she heard crying, Rose crying, sobbing really, nearly choking on her tears, "He's gone," Rose sobbed, most likely to her mother, "The Doctor's gone. And it's all my fault!" she wept, "The Professor won't leave him. And he can't help…it's my fault…"
"It's alright..." Jackie tried to soothe her, "I'm sorry..."
A moment later the windows smashed, shattering, showering the floor with glass as the ground shook.
"We're under attack!" Mickey shouted.
The Professor took a breath, it was only a matter of time before the Sycorax came for the Doctor, she had to do something, stop them…take control.
She stood up and moved to the sitting room where the humans were picking themselves up, "No, it's a sonic wave," she corrected, "The spaceship's hit the atmosphere. They're here."
"Oh my God," Mickey's eyes widened.
"They've come to Earth, they're after him, we need to move."
"What are you gonna do?" Rose asked.
"Step one, get him safe, that means into the TARDIS. Step two, stop the aliens. They are NOT taking him from me or harming this planet if I have anything to say about it."
"And how're you gonna stop them?" Jackie eyed her a moment, a bit disbelieving.
The Professor's gaze just grew hard, "I have slaughtered millions of aliens in the past Jackie, and I'd kill billions more if it means keeping him safe," she took a breath, her voice dropping, "Their race doesn't stand a chance."
Rose swallowed hard, "What do we do?"
She nodded, "Mickey, you and I are going to carry the Doctor. Rose, you open the doors, clear the way. Jackie, you're in charge of bringing necessities, food, first aid, whatever you think we need. Understood?" they nodded, "Move out."
They separated, Jackie running into the kitchen for food, Rose moving to push some of the broken bits of wood out of the way as she and Mickey ran to the Doctor's room to get him out.
They made quick work of getting the Doctor out of the flat, Jackie lagging behind slightly, struggling with several shopping bags of food, dropping a few of them, "Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?" Rose called, stuck before the Professor and Mickey as they hauled the Doctor between them.
"It's food!" Jackie called.
"Just leave it!" she turned and rushed down the stairs, Mickey and the Professor following with him, the three of them managing to get him through the courtyard and into the TARDIS, lying him down on the floor as Jackie ran in with her bags.
"So, what do we do?" Mickey asked, "Just sit here?"
"I'll get to it in a moment," the Professor called to him, "I just want to make sure the Doctor's alright, that moving him didn't harm his recovery…"
"Right, here we go," Jackie grinned, pulling out a thermal flask, "Nice cup of tea!"
"The solution to everything," Rose gave her mother a little grin.
Jackie laughed, handing Rose the thremal flask, "You wait here, I'll get the rest of the food," she turned and rushed out, leaving Rose leaning against the console, watching the Professor check the Doctor over.
The Professor looked up a moment, "Tea?" her eyes widened as she turned to look at Rose, "Did she say tea?"
"Yeah…" Rose shook her head, not following as she held up the flask.
"Oh I am stupid!" she called, pushing herself up to grab the flask. She'd been so worried about the Doctor that she'd completely forgotten about the wonders of tea! She felt so foolish! All that time he'd been lying there and Jackie had been making tea! She could smack herself.
"What about tea?" Mickey frowned, confused.
"Tea is basically a superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin," she explained quickly, not bothering to try and simplify it in her rush of getting the cap undone and pour a bit of tea into it, "Just the thing for healing the synapses!" she leaned forward and gently lifted the Doctor's head, feeding him some of the tea.
"How does this thing work?" Mickey called, spotting the monitor, "It picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered…" he hit a few buttons, "What do you do to it?"
The Professor closed her eyes a moment, she wouldn't be able to pilot the TARDIS subtly enough for a surprise attack on the Sycorax without a second pilot…and the Doctor wasn't up to par just yet…
"I dunno, it sort of tunes itself," Rose moved over to help Mickey, pushing more buttons.
She swallowed hard, she couldn't stop them, she had to let them push whatever buttons they wanted. The Sycorax would pick up on the TARDIS responding to the buttons and teleport the box to them. Not quite a surprise attack, but it would get them there, right where she needed to be to start negotiations.
She heard a beeping on the console, a specific one, the TARDIS had been teleported. She shook her head, placing her ear against the Doctor's chest, listening intently...
"I don't know," Rose sighed, before looking up, concerned, "What's taking mum so long?" she wondered, heading for the door, "I'd better go and give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there."
"I'll help," Mickey added, getting up to go with her.
"No!" the Professor shouted, just noticing Rose by the door, she'd been trying to listen to the Doctor's heart, hearing the second one starting to beat again and hadn't noticed them, "Don't!"
But it was too late, the two had already stepped out of the box, Rose screaming as something growled.
"I'll be back soon," the Professor whispered, kissing him quickly, before she got up, knocking over the flask on her way, spilling the rest of the tea as she ran for the door.
"Get off!" she could hear Rose shout, "Get off me!"
She paused at the door, peeking through the window to see that Rose and Mickey, as well as Harriet Jones and another man in a suit, were surrounded by Sycorax, their main gathering room. She squinted, trying to get a sense of the situation, not even noticing the tea dripping onto machinery below the console, starting to steam.
The Sycorax leader yelled with glee, the crowd cheering, even as Harriet ran towards Rose, "Rose!" she hugged her tightly, but the Professor could see she was scared, "Rose! I've got you. My Lord. My precious thing. The Doctor, the Professor, are they with you?"
"The Doctor…" Rose swallowed hard, "It doesn't look good."
"And the Professor?"
The Professor looked back, hearing the hiss of the steam to see the Doctor take a deep breath, the regeneration energy escaping. She smiled, it would just take him a bit more time.
Her attention was pulled back as the Sycorax leader roared, cutting off Rose, pointing at her.
"The yellow girl," she heard the other man translate, reading off of a small device in his hand, "She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet."
"Oh no she doesn't," the Professor called, striding out of the TARDIS and shutting the door behind her, she was not about to let any of the humans have to face this.
"Oh my Lord!" Harriet gasped, smiling, "Professor!"
The Professor gave her a small nod before heading right over to the Sycorax leader, "I seek to address the leader of the Sycorax under peaceful contract as laid out in convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," the Sycorax leader looked at her, as though startled she had such knowledge, "You have come to Earth and hold one third the population hostage via an archaic means of control. Now, if you have any hope for surviving past this meeting, I suggest you release them."
The Sycorax leader and his men began to laugh before it strode towards her, roaring.
"You are very, very funny," the man by Harriet translated for the humans, "And now you're going to die."
"No!" Rose shouted, about to rush forward when Mickey and Harriet held her back, "Leave her alone!"
The Professor just stood firm even as the leader circled her, the man translating, "Did you think you were clever, threatening us?" the leader lifted his arms in the air, "We are the Sycorax. We astride the darkness. Next to us you are but a wailing child."
She raised an eyebrow, "I am nothing of the sort," she told it, "You have no idea who you are dealing with," she started to smile, she'd felt a tingling in her mind, the Doctor was stirring…and he'd caught that little threat the leader had given her before...
The leader seemed to snort at her, the man translating, "If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion..."
"Then your world will be gutted..." the leader spoke, in English.
"...then your world will be gutted..." the man translated.
"...and your people enslaved."
"...and your people enslaved…" the man looked up, hearing English as well.
"And you," the leader sneered, "We will take great pleasure in tearing you limb from limb."
The Professor shook her head, "I'd like to see you try."
"Hold on, that's English," the man whispered to Harriet, though the Sycorax didn't seem to notice, focused on the alien woman before them.
"Because I am the Professor," she continued, feeling just a shiver down her spin as the Doctor's presence grew stronger in her mind, "Bonded of the Doctor. The Last of the Time Lords."
"He's talking English," Harriet agreed, whispering to Rose, watching as the Sycorax actually started to tense and look nervous.
"And there's something else you don't know," she smirked, "You're speaking English."
"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!" the leader roared.
"And that means just one thing," she turned, looking back at the TARDIS with the others.
The doors opened and the Doctor stood there, grinning at her, his gaze focusing in on her, "Miss me?"
She laughed and ran over to him, hugging him tightly as he buried his face into her hair, before pulling away stroking her cheek with a finger, "Give me a mo?" he asked her. She nodded and he stepped past her, just as the leader roared and lashed a whip at him. The Doctor just grabbed it around his fist and pulled it away, discarding it, "I'd be very careful if I were you," he threatened, making his way towards the leader who tried to strike him with a cane instead. But he managed to grab it from him, snapping it over his knee and chucking the pieces away, "You've threatened my Bonded," he told the leader, staring it down a moment, "Which makes me infinitely less merciful," he warned.
The leader looked a bit startled at him, at the threat in his voice.
The Doctor just nodded and turned his back on the alien, walking back over to the Professor, "Mickey," he nodded at the man as he passed, "Prime Minister," and Harriet who just stared at him, confused, "Rose," he added as she beamed, and then he came to the woman who had captured his attention, "What do you think?" he asked her, holding out his arms for her to examine him.
She smiled and walked over to him, "Rather different," she kept it vague.
He smirked, "Good different or bad different?"
She laughed at the familiar words, "A good one," she reached out to touch his face lightly, just staring at his eyes as he looked back into hers.
"Ginger?" he asked after a moment.
"Black," she shook her head.
He sighed, "One day," before kissing the back of her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles as he looked upon her with new eyes, "You'd be a lovely ginger," he told her quietly.
"Rather suave this one is then?" she asked him, feeling her breath catch in her throat...the way he stared at her...
"Only with you," he winked at her.
"I'm sorry," Harriet called, disrupting their moment, "Who are you?"
"The Doctor," he replied, turning, his arm moving around the Professor's waist, gently stroking her side.
"But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?"
"I'm him," he nodded, "Same man, different face."
"But you can't be…" she shook her head.
"We were trapped in Downing Street Harriet Jones, you kept calling yourself a backbencher. I rather think you're more like Hannibal than anything, a fearless leader."
"Oh, my God," Harriet breathed, stunned, only the Doctor would know that.
"And look at you now, Prime Minister."
"If I might interrupt!" the leader shouted.
"Oh yes," the Doctor eyed the alien disdainfully, not at all happy with how it had threatened the Professor.
"Who exactly are you?"
He turned to the alien, a near feral grin on his face as he stepped closer, "I'll tell you exactly who I am. I am the Doctor. The Oncoming Storm. Destroyer of the Daleks. An adventurer, a traveler, an explorer. I'm also a man who loves his Bonded more than anything," he shot a wink at the Professor, making her blush, "And I don't take kindly to anyone threatening her. I also have an interest the Earth, which you are trying to invade, aren't you?" he glared at the leader before walking past him, up a few steps, towards a large button, "With this," he gestured at it, "The control matrix…controlling what?" he looked at the Professor.
"One third the human population," she called, "Via blood control, A if I had to guess. They're standing on the rooftops."
He nodded, eyeing the button before crouching down and opening a panel, seeing a red liquid in a bowl with wires on it, "There's the blood," he called, dipping a finger in and standing, dabbing it on his tongue, nodding again, "Human blood. A Positive," he wiped his finger off and turned to the leader who was glaring at him, "Another thing about who I am…I don't know when to stop," he started to grin and, before anyone realized what he was about to do, slammed his hand down on the button.
"No!" Rose and Harriet shouted at how careless he seemed to be with the lives of the humans on the planet below.
"You killed them!" the man beside Harriet yelled.
The Doctor's jaw tensed in irritation, as though he would just hit the button if he weren't entirely sure the humans would be safe, "Did I?" he looked at the leader.
"We allow them to live," the leader remarked, glaring.
"Allow?" he scoffed, making his way down the steps again to face it, "You talk as though you've got a choice."
"Blood control is like hypnosis," the Professor explained to the humans who still seemed a bit fearful that the humans had jumped, "You can hypnotize someone to do something daft, but you can't hypnotize them to their death."
The Doctor nodded, "The survival instinct is too strong."
"Blood control was just one form of conquest," the leader cut in, "I can summon the armada and take this world by force."
The Doctor eyed him, "You could do that," he nodded, "But I'm afraid my Bonded is rather fond of humans. If you upset her by attacking them, then you anger me," his gaze grew hard, "And you do not want me angry. I know that. So, this is your last chance to leave them be."
"Or what?"
"Or..."
"He challenges you!" the Professor called, stepping up to his side, grabbing a sword from a Sycorax standing nearby.
The Doctor looked over at her as the Sycorax started to laugh, "You love getting me into situations like this, don't you?"
She smiled at him, handing him the sword, knowing he could handle it, "Oh yes."
He started to grin, turning to the Sycorax, "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"
The leader started down the steps towards him, pulling out a sword of its own, "You stand as this world's champion?"
"Just about sums you up, doesn't it?" the Professor whispered, taking the dressing gown off him.
"I'd rather be your champion," he grabbed her hand a moment, pressing a kiss to the back of it, winking at her as she blushed.
"You never stopped," she told him, stepping back.
He turned to the leader, "Do you accept the challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"
The leader hissed and moved to a kneel, the Doctor doing the same, "For the planet?"
"For the planet," he agreed.
They both stood up and held their swords at the ready before running at each other, beginning the fight. The Professor held her breath watching, she'd never really seen the Doctor with a sword before, she knew he could handle one, but to see him fight with it…she felt a little shiver up her spine. He seemed to be holding his own rather well, even as he was thrown to the side as the leader laughed. But the Doctor just straightened up, his gaze turning hard as he began the fight again.
"Look out!" Rose shouted as the leader swung at him.
"Shh," the Professor moved over to the humans, "Don't distract him."
'If you don't want me distracted,' she heard him in her mind, 'You might want to wait in the TARDIS.'
She blushed just a bit at his hidden compliment, 'Not a chance. There's no way I'm missing this.'
She looked over, seeing him start to grin as he put more effort into the fight, shooting her a wink as he caught her own hidden compliment in her thoughts. She was enjoying the sight of his new physique fighting with a sword just as much as he'd enjoyed her keeping the Pilot Fish back with the sonic.
The Doctor turned his attention back to the fight, hitting a button with his elbow and leading the fight up a set of stairs, through a door, onto a platform outside the ship, the Professor, the humans, and a few Sycorax moving to follow, watching the fight.
The leader swung his elbow, hitting the Doctor in the nose, making him groan. The Professor tensed, wanting to help but knowing that if she interfered then the challenge would be invalidated, the Sycorax would win the planet. Besides…if the darkening of the Doctor's face was anything to go by, that hit had only served to fuel his desire to win.
He ran at the leader again, their swords clashing, both of them grimacing with effort, until the leader got a lucky swing in, slicing off the Doctor's hand and sword, making the humans gasp. The Professor just looked over at a Sycorax beside her, eyeing the sword on its belt.
"Sycorax!" the leader called, triumphant.
The Doctor just started laughing, "I'm a lucky man as well," he commented, holding up his arm, "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 looked at his stump as it regrew his hand.
"Witchcraft!"
"Time Lord," he smirked.
"Doctor!" the Professor called, grabbing the sword off the Sycorax beside her and tossing it to him.
He grabbed it midair and spun it around, testing its weight and his new wrist, before running at the Sycorax leader, fighting once more. They clashed swords a few more times before the Doctor jabbed the leader hard in the stomach with the handle of the sword, doing it again and again till the leader fell to his knees, the Doctor kicking him in the chest till he fell onto his back.
He pointed the sword at the leader's neck, "I win."
"Then kill me," it growled.
'No,' the Professor called and he glanced over at her, 'Give him a champion's command, make him swear on the blood of his species, not to return. They leave the Earth alone and tell other species not to try and attack or meet the same fate.'
He grinned, nodding, and turned back to the leader, "I shall spare your life if you take this champion's command: leave this planet and never return."
"Yes," it groaned out.
He jabbed the sword closer, angry and serious, "Swear on the blood of your species."
"I swear."
He nodded, stabbing the sword to the side of the leader's face, grabbing the leader's fallen sword for himself as a sign of his victory among the other Sycorax. He turned, about to head back, when he found himself stumbling back a few feet, his free arm winding around the Professor's waist as she threw herself at him, kissing him for his victory. He grinned into the kiss, so much so that he had to pull away, unable to continued he was grinning so widely.
"Bravo!" they heard Harriet clapping.
"That says it all," Rose agreed, "Bravo!"
"You did it!" Mickey cheered.
The Doctor took the Professor's hand and they turned to head back over to the humans. Behind them though, the leader pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the Doctor's sword and roaring, running at them.
The Doctor's expression darkened as he turned and stabbed the leader through the gut with its own sword, pulling it out as the leader fell back to the ground, glaring down at the alien. The creature had been about to attack them, attack the Professor, even after he'd spared its life on her request. He was not above killing the alien to keep the humans safe, but she had thought past that, to the message the Sycorax would carry to the stars. They were a fearsome race, the Sycorax, to be defeated in the name of humans would give the humans a legendary name, a reputation, a protection.
But the alien had gone too far. He would not stand for anyone threatening or harming the Professor.
"No second chances," he told it, before his glance turned to Rose, her and Harriet looking slightly alarmed at how brutal he had been, but both knowing that it was in defense, "I'm that sort of man."
Rose swallowed hard and nodded at his message to her. She could travel with them, but one single mistake on her part and she'd be lucky to be back on Earth. She didn't believe at all that he'd kill her like he had the Sycorax, but this would be her LAST chance to travel the stars with them. But she knew she could do it, she could prove she was capable of doing so. She'd promised the Professor to do exactly as they told her, if she did that, she would be fine. And she'd learned from her past mistake, she hadn't listened and too much had been lost because of it. Never again.
'Now who's distracting?' he heard the Professor call in his mind. He looked over, starting to grin, rather smugly, to see her getting a bit flustered, breathing a bit heavily at his actions. Taking charge, defending her, being the tall, dark, hero…it seemed the sort of man he was excited her just as much as, and perhaps even a bit more than, his last body had.
He reached out and kissed the back of her hand, "Always you," he whispered, making her blush.
"Here," she held up the dressing gown for him, helping him back into it as they walked back to the humans, heading into the ship to address the congregation of Sycorax still remaining.
They stopped before the TARDIS, but instead of addressing them himself, he gestured her forward, "You were the one in Intergalactic Relations," he remarked.
She took a breath and stepped up, "By the ancient rites of combat, we forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet, of its riches, its people, and its potential, make sure that you tell them this: It is defended!"
And with that, the TARDIS, the Time Lords, and the humans disappeared, teleported away, reappearing on a street.
"Where are we?" Rose looked around.
"We're just off Bloxom Road," Mickey grinned, "We're just round the corner, we did it!" he laughed and jumped up and down in glee.
"Wait a mo…" the Doctor called, holding his hand up to quiet him, waiting till the ship took flight, back to the sky before grinning, pulling the Professor back into his arms.
"Go on, my son!" Mickey shouted, "Oh, yeah!"
Rose jumped on his back, cheering as well, "Yeah! Don't come back!"
"It is defended!"
They laughed happily, Rose jumping off to hug him, while the Time Lords just smiled.
Harriet turned to the Doctor, holding out her arms, "My Doctor."
"Different Doctor," he corrected, reaching out to shake her hand, "Prime Minister."
'Not much of a hugger are you?' the Professor mused.
'Not with humans, no,' he agreed, his one arm squeezing her, letting her know there was one person he'd be hugging for certain.
"Still the same man though," Harriet smiled, before looking up at the sky, at the ship departing, "Are there many more out there?"
"Not just Sycorax," he told her.
"There are hundreds of species," the Professor added, smiling at the sky, "Thousands of them."
"And the human race is drawing attention to itself."
She nodded, proudly, "Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals…" Earth ingenuity at its best.
"This planet's so noisy," the Doctor added, sensing her thoughts, it seemed this one still wasn't the largest fan of humans, "But you are getting noticed...more and more," he glanced at Harriet who's expression had started to dim, "You'd best get used to it."
"Rose!" they heard Jackie shout.
"Mum!" Rose ran over as her mother appeared around the corner.
"Just what we need," the Doctor whispered to the Professor, "Domestics."
She just laughed and nudged him in the stomach, watching as the small family embraced, hugging each other.
"Oh, my God!" Jackie was saying, "You did it, Rose! Oh!"
The Professor glanced back as she heard something beep to see the man who'd been with Harriet walk off a few feet, listening to a message on a comm..
"You did it too!" Rose told her mother, "It was the tea! Fixed his head!"
"I said so!" Jackie smiled.
"Look at him!" Rose nodded back at the Doctor.
But Jackie's attention was caught by something just behind the Time Lords, "Oh, my God! It's the bleeding Prime Minister!"
Rose just laughed and hugged her mother, Mickey joining in as the Time Lords walked over, the Doctor not about to join in, but the Professor wanted to thank Jackie for the tea so they'd gone over.
"It's a message from Torchwood," the man approached Harriet quietly, "They say they're ready."
"You left me!" Jackie was saying, pulling away from Rose, Harriet watching the small family.
"I'm sorry!" Rose laughed.
"I had all the food!"
The Professor looked back to see Harriet closing her eyes a moment, "Tell them to fire."
"Fire at will," he called into the comm..
A moment later a beam of green light shot out from the ground nearby. They small group looked up, startled, as four more beams shot out, connecting in the middle before firing at the Sycorax ship, destroying it.
"What is that?" Rose gasped, "What's happening?"
Jackie just put her hand over her mouth, horrified, as Mickey looked disturbed.
The Professor's jaw tensed, tears in her eyes as she stormed away from the Doctor and over to Harriet, "That was murder!" she shouted at the woman, the Doctor and the humans following her.
"That was defense," Harriet countered, "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."
"But they were leaving!" she shook her head, the Doctor putting his arms around her from behind, trying to comfort her, hating seeing her getting so upset because of this human…
"You said yourself. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, but you're not here all the time. You two come and go. It happened today, Mr. Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you," she looked at the Doctor, "Were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."
"Britain's Golden Age," the Doctor glared at her, speaking disdainfully, tightening his hold on the Professor as he felt her shaking, from a combination of anger and sorrow and even a bit of fear. It was one thing for the humans, for anyone really, to attack in defense. It was quite another to attack when the enemy was down and defeated…there was no honor in that, and her sense of honor had remained intact from the war…it wasn't right. And if the humans were willing to do that to a species that had been leaving, that had been defeated…what would they do to others?
"It comes with a price," Harriet nodded.
"We gave them the wrong warning," he said darkly, "We should've told them to run, as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming: the human race."
He had been right, the humans were every bit the stupid apes he'd called them in his last body. The Sycorax would have gone out and spread the word that the Earth was off limits, but now, because these humans couldn't see past their noses, the Earth would be open to attack. They'd still be noticed, their signals were still calling out into space, but now they'd have no reputation for protection.
"Those are the people I represent," Harriet glared back, "I did it on their behalf."
"Then we should've stopped you instead."
"What does that make you then? Another alien threat?"
He stepped towards her angrily, his arms moving from the Professor to take her hand, "Do not challenge me, Harriet Jones. I am a completely different man. I could bring down your government with a single word."
"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met. But I don't think you're quite capable of that."
"You're right," he nodded, "I might not be, but the Professor is," he looked at her.
The Professor swallowed hard, pulling herself together, "She's right though, not a single word, just four."
"I don't think so," Harriet shook her head.
"Four words," she repeated.
"Stop it!"
"Four."
The Doctor let go of her hand, letting her step past Harriet and towards her assistant, he was not about to stop her, not after this human had upset her so.
The Professor reached out and tugged his earpiece from his ear, "Doesn't she look tired?" she whispered to him, sending a meaningful look at Harriet, before walking back to the Doctor who took her hand, the two of them walking back towards Rose, Jackie, and Mickey.
"What did she say?" Harriet ran to her assistant as the five walked off.
"Oh, uh…" he shook his head, "Nothing, really…"
"What did she say?"
"I…nothing! I don't know!"
"Professor!" Harriet shouted, but they didn't look back, "Doctor! Professor, what did you…what was…what did she say? What did you say, Professor? Professor! Doctor?"
The Doctor just squeezed her hand, the two of them following the humans around a corner, ignoring Harriet's 'I'm sorry' just before they turned it.
~8~
The Professor was standing beside the Doctor, laughing as she put a rather long, rather familiar looking, scarf around his neck, laughing even more as he took it off with a smile and draped it around her waist, pulling her in to kiss her before smiling as they got back to trying to find a new outfit for him to wear. He picked up something that looked like a soldier's uniform and held it up, turning to her.
She grimaced and shook her head so he turned and shuffled through the clothes again. They'd been at it for a while now, but nothing seemed to work. His gaze caught on a long brown jacket and a brown suit, "What about this?" he asked, holding up the pair.
The Professor eyed it a moment, "Not exactly…but I have an idea," she smiled and disappeared into the back.
He put the suit and jacket back, turning around to go find her when a hand reached through some clothes and pulled him through them, laughing as he wound his arm around her, kissing her, not even caring which outfit she'd picked out, this was a far better use of his time.
~8~
Eventually he'd tried on the outfit the Professor had picked, a white dress shirt with a buttoned up red suit vest, revealed by the open, almost victorian style, black frock coat, and black pants. It fit him rather nicely, he rather liked it. He grinned, the outfit made him look far more dashing than his old one did, if he was honest.
"Very much so," the Professor called, catching his thoughts.
He just winked and held out a hand to her. She smiled, taking it, him kissing the back of it as they headed for the door, they'd kept the Tylers and Mickey waiting long enough.
~8~
The Doctor sat at the side of the table in the Tyler flat, the Professor on his lap, a faint blush on her face as he'd pulled her there and refused to let her go, winding his arms around her to make sure she stayed put, not that she was complaining.
Rose screamed as the Christmas cracker she'd pulled with the woman banged, the Professor handing over the prize, a pink paper party hat, as she already had a blue crown of her own on her head. The Doctor had won it but given it to her to wear.
"It's pink!" Rose laughed, putting it on her head, "Mum, it should be yours!"
"I'm rather fond of you in blue," the Doctor whispered to the Professor, smiling up at her, eyeing the crown on her head, "My Queen," he kissed the back of her hand, "I'm yours to command."
She laughed and leaned over, "Then I command a kiss from thee."
He grinned widely, "Who am I to deny my lady?" he asked, reaching out to cup her cheek, pulling her in to kiss her gently. He could never get enough of her, this new body of his, it just pulled him to her, it was as natural for him to touch her as breathing was.
"Look, it's Harriet Jones!" Mickey pointed.
They turned to see Harriet on the TV, "Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?" a man was asking.
"No," Harriet stated, though they could see she was stressed, "Now, can we talk about other things?"
The Professor stood up, the Doctor moving with her to get closer to the TV, watching, "Is it true you're unfit for office?"
"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."
The phone rang behind them and Jackie went to answer it.
"Are you going to resign?"
"On today of all days, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."
"It's Beth," Jackie called, "She says go and look outside."
"Why?" Rose called, she and Mickey still sitting at the table.
"I dunno, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!"
They all headed for the door, stepping out to see it was snowing outside. The humans laughed in delight and ran for the stairs, the Time Lords following them into the courtyard with a few other families, watching as meteors flew across the sky.
"Oh, that's beautiful!" Rose gushed, "What are they, meteors?"
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere," the Professor shook her head, the Doctor putting his arms around her, holding her close as it was a bit nippy.
"This isn't snow, it's ash," he nodded.
"Okay, not so beautiful…" Rose grimaced.
"They can't say it's a hoax now," Mickey walked over, thinking back to the Slitheen and what happened then, "Everyone saw it."
"What about you?" Rose asked hesitantly after a moment, glancing at the Doctor, "What are you gonna do next?"
He hummed a bit, still looking up at the sky, his chin resting on the Professor's head, "Back to the TARDIS, same old life."
"Just you two?"
"The way it's always been," he looked down, smiling at the Professor, not even seeing Rose's expression fall. The Professor smiled at him, but nudged him, nodding at Rose, "Oh, right, yes," he nodded, "You are…welcome to come. If you'd like."
She grinned, "Really?" he nodded, "Oh thank you!" she cheered.
"You're never gonna stay, are you?" Mickey asked, smiling sadly.
He knew Rose had been wanting to get back out there and see the Universe again, how much she'd wanted to make it up to the Doctor what she'd done. He could understand it. The Professor had always been kinder to him than the Doctor and it always made him feel like he didn't want to let her down, even if he wasn't her Companion. To disappoint them…after having gotten to travel with the two of them, he knew Rose would do whatever she could to get back out there. And…he sort of wanted that for her, he wanted her to see the Universe, to experience it, even if he couldn't bring himself to do it himself, he wanted her happy.
"There's just so much out there," Rose smiled, "So much to see...I've got to."
He nodded, "I get it."
"Well, I reckon you're mad," Jackie cut in, "The three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble."
The Doctor started to grin, it seemed this version of him was just that, and he couldn't wait, "One of the things I live for," and then he gave the Professor a wink, hinting at another thing he lived for, her.
The Professor just blushed a bit, thinking she must be setting a record with blushing, before replying with, "Likewise," looking up at the stars, drawing his attention to them as well, along with the humans.
"So, where're we gonna go first?" Rose asked, excited and eager to be back with them, to prove herself.
The Doctor hummed, "That way," he pointed at the sky.
"No," the Professor corrected playfully, "That way," and reached out to nudge his hand just a smidge to the right.
Rose laughed, smiling widely as they looked up at the stars.
A/N: I thought that, since the Professor is also a pilot, the TARDIS should have been strong enough to translate the Sycorax too, but I loved that moment when the aliens started speaking English that I wanted to keep the need for translators in. So I thought that using the TARDIS power would weaken the TARDIS too, it must have taken a lot to be able to stop the Daleks.
According to Aliens in London, Rose had been missing since early March 2006, which means it was March 2007 when the episode happened. 6 months later, facing Margaret the Slitheen, makes it September. I'm taking Bad Wolf to have happened recently after that, so the TARDIS might have been sent to Earth only a few days later, still around September. If Rose got it open and went after them, a few months would have gone by to make it December when she returns with the Professor and the New 10th Doctor.
Speaking of the New 10th Doctor, I hope you like him so far. I know we don't really see much because he's sleeping most of this chapter, we'll see more in the next two chapters, but I hope from what you've seen so far that he's an ok 'original' 10th Doctor, I did still want to keep some things the same (some of his lines/things that happen to him). We'll also start to see a bit more of what this New Doctor is like when not in a life threatening situation, his personality and mannerisms. Just a little idea of what's coming, I sort of wanted to take the new 10 in a different direction than our 10, he won't be as over-excited as DT portrayed him, but more calm, gentleman-ish/polite-ish (the opposite of rude lol...well, until the Professor's in danger...), with a bit of the Professor's habits peeking in here and there, and a tiny little bit old-fashioned in terms of sweet things he'll say to the Professor :) I hope you'll like him.
And just a note on a review, that's a really interesting idea, to have Jenny continue on their travels with them. I'm not sure I could do that now, since I'm pretty set to start the new OC series in a few days, possibly a week, but I'm definitely going to keep that in the back of my mind. Just a treat, one of the one-shots I've written for Recollections does have a bit of Jenny in it :)
As for why I didn't have the Doctor send the Professor away, she's a pilot too, I figure she, of all people, would be able to get back right away no matter what protocols were in place. So it would have been a fairly short trip to Earth. And with her training, I don't think the Doctor would be able to knock her out for long, if at all, to give himself time. He also couldn't use the same trick as Rose to get her in the TARDIS, she'd see through that. And I sort of wanted her there with him to 'refine' the Wave more, playing on the whole 'one person or a planet' theme that's popped up in my Series 1. In the episode he doesn't use the Wave because Earth was in the range of it, here it's only him and the Professor who would be caught and he can't kill her :)