Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Doctor Who fanfiction – I've been a lifelong fan and I've wanted to do this for so long, and I figured it's finally time to do it. Before I go on – I'd just like to point out a few things:

I don't own Doctor Who – I don't claim to and probably never will (but it's a nice thought). I'm not profiting off of the show in any way and just trying to entertain fans!

This is an alternate Series Six – but there will be no real Series Six aspects here. No Astronaut, no Gangers, no Demon's Run, no timeline error that needs to be fixed. This is a completely different take on the Silence storyline. I wanted to point that out so people don't get confused – the Doctor Who story completely splits after Series Five.

Finally, the River Song story WON'T get explained here. It's just avoided and put off, like it was in Series Four and Five. So I hope that clears a few things up!

Without any further ado, I hope you enjoy the story!

Episode 0 – It's a Wonderful Life

Prologue

The Doctor danced around his beautiful time machine, while it whirred and hurtled itself through the vortex, playing a jazz instrumental of 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' over the speakers. The Doctor loved Christmas. It was his favourite time of the year (except for every Saturday and the occasional Tuesday), and this one was particularly special. It was the Pond's (his best friends – who he also loved more than Christmas) first married Christmas, and they'd invited him round for dinner. He was salivating at the idea of turkey, roast potatoes, assorted vegetables and pigs in blankets with a rich gravy drizzled on top of them. Amy was an amazing chef; he'd known that since she made him homemade fish fingers and custard. Rory was also making a Christmas pudding, which made the Doctor even more excited, as Rory was an exceptional baker. He couldn't believe that they didn't want to open a restaurant! He even offered them an empty premises on the commercial asteroid belt of Bankosarius-14, where some of the best restaurants in the Universe were. He understood though. They'd be with some tough competition. And they wouldn't be able to travel with him anymore! They'd be too busy! He couldn't allow that.

The Doctor sighed. He was aware that the time would come when they would grow beyond him and want their own lives. That made him sad, he loved the Ponds, probably more than they loved him. He needed them in his life, he had forgotten what it was like to travel alone. His mind fell back to his previous incarnation, and the torment he faced at the end… he couldn't let that happen to him again. He needed to hold onto the Ponds for as long as he could. Show them everything. Take them everywhere. Yeah, that was the plan.

But there was something else. The TARDIS exploded for a reason, and it had something to do with him. The 'silence', whatever it was, is still at large and waiting to pounce. There was something else as well – he could feel it. It wasn't just a hunch either. It wasn't something that just came to him every now and then. It haunted his dreams. He felt it in every waking moment. It terrified him… it reminded him of… he couldn't quite remember. Like some kind of perception filter. But if it was a perception filter, it was deliberate. The Doctor contemplated this for a long while, but he couldn't work it out. He didn't like that… when he couldn't work it out. The Doctor slumped down at the seat by the TARDIS console, head in hands. He was so worried about everything. He was worried about dragging Amy and Rory into a situation even he was scared of. He was worried about the 'silence', and what that might mean. He was worried about… worrying. Just as the Doctor began to be absorbed in his own thoughts for the rest of time, the phone rang.

As if nothing had happened at all, the Doctor jumped to his feet, twirled a few times and answered.

"Hello!" The Doctor said cheerily, "You've reached the TARDIS, how may I be of assistance?"

"Doctor?" A familiar Scottish accent answered, in a slightly passive aggressive tone, "Where are you?"

"I'm in the TARDIS? Amy is everything okay?" The Doctor asked, nervously.

"Well, no, actually." Amy replied.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, his nervousness intensifying, as he started to fiddle with the TARDIS controls, getting ready for potential danger.

"You're late!" Her voice bellowed down the phone, making the Doctor's ears ring. "Raggedy man, you get here now!"

Without hesitation, the Doctor dropped the phone and ran around the TARDIS console, hitting the whimsical controls, spinning on the spot.

"Christmas Dinner, here I come!" The Doctor said to himself, smiling.

Little did he know what would happen that Christmas Day.

TO BE CONTINUED