The Thrasymachus shook as lightning sparked off it, electrical sparks falling from the ceiling.

El and Will hung onto the safety railing on the bridge, the two praying that the Doctor would be quick. See, the Time Lord had been on board when the ship hit the atmosphere and started going down, but his attempts to solve it by fixing the engines, modifying the deflector array, none of them had worked.

He finally had decided to jump in the TARDIS and try pulling the ship out with a tractor beam, but the clouds were too thick to get a lock. Now, the last option they had left was solving things on the ground level. He would've gone back for the two, but the ship was moving way, way too fast for even the TARDIS to materialize on board.

"Dad," El spoke into the comm the Doctor had given them before he popped off, "Do you have a plan yet?"

"Yes, I do."

El sighed, rubbing her face, trying to tune out the shouting of the Captain and the Pilots. "Are you lying again?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, you'd better think of one, fast." El replied, pacing around. "Trying to stop a crashing spaceship with my mind is a little bit beyond me."

"He doesn't have a plan!?" Will worriedly looked over.

El smiled, patting Will on the shoulders. "Yeah, he-" 'Friends don't lie!' "Oh, who am I kidding? No, he doesn't."

"Oh, brilliant!" Will huffed.

"But, there is good news! I've tracked the machine that controls the cloud belt, saving the ship should just be as simple as turning the machine off!"

"That's good!" El replied.

"No, that's bad. I can't control it."

"Oh. That's bad." El shook her head.

"No, that's good! I met a man who can!"

"That's good!"

"No, that's bad. He hates me."

"Oh, that's bad."

"Guys…" Will groaned, overhearing the whole thing. "Stop please. Now's not the time for a comedy routine."

"Impact in fifty minutes!" The Captain warned.

"Dad," El spoke back into the comm. "The Captain says we have less than an hour. What do we do?"

"…fish."

El spluttered, looking back to the comm. "Sorry, what?"

"Fish that can swim in the fog… I love new planets."

"Dad!" El shouted. "Crashing spaceship! How are you going to fix this!?"

"Give me a bloody second!" The Doctor replied. He started mumbling something, but he was drowned out by something in the background.

"Dad, I can't hear you." El frowned. "Is that… singing?"

"It's a Christmas carol."

"A what?"

"A Christmas carol."

"A what!?" El shouted back, unable to hear."

"A Christmas Carol! Oh… had a brainwave!"

The line went dead.

"Dad? Dad!?"


Kazran sat in the lone chair in his sitting room, the fire cracking and popping as the last embers of the blaze began to die out one by one. The man himself was long gone, nodded off into a deep sleep.

Free of Sardick's input, an image appeared on the wall across from him. Black and white (though the technology for color was ancient) showing a child, a boy, in his bedroom, facing the camera directly.

"Hello." The boy addressed the camera. "My name is Kazran Sardick. I'm twelve… and a half. This is my bedroom."

The older Kazran snorted in his deep sleep. "Top secret… special project."

The boy in the recording leaned on his desk, peering into the lens. "This is my top-secret special project. For my eyes only… Merry Christmas."

"Kazran!" The boy's father, Elliot, bellowed from out of frame. "Kazran! Kazran," The man kicked the door open, the present Kazran's eyes shooting open, as he looked to the screen in surprise. "What are you doing!?"

The man peered into the screen, as the present Kazran shot to his feet, recoiling back from the screen in fear.

"I've warned you before about this." Elliot hissed. "Stupid, ignorant, ridiculous child!"

"I was just going to make a film of the fish…" Young Kazran shrunk.

"Fish are dangerous!" Elliot replied, practically snarling.

"I just want to see them!"

"Don't be stupid! You're far too young."

"Everybody at school has seen the fish!"

"That's enough!" Elliot ordered. "You'll be singing to them next, like gypsies!"

"Singing works…" Young Kazran defended. "I've seen it. The fish like singing."

"What does it matter what fish like!?"

"People say we don't have to be scared of the fish. They're not really interested in us-"

"You don't listen to people! You listen to me!"

Elliot pulled his hand back, and swung, the film making a cracking sound as the skin on the back of the man's hand connected with the skin on his son's face.

Present Kazran flinched, numbly rubbing the area.

"Sorry, father…" Young Kazran cried.

"…It's okay." The Doctor quietly said, present Kazran jumping and whipping around as the Time Lord made contact with his shoulder. "It's okay."

"What have you done?" Kazran demanded, pointing to the projection. "What is this!?"

The Doctor glanced up at the picture, then back to Kazran. "Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality and the colour. Had to recover what I could with quantum enfolding and a paper clip." The Time Lord flopped down in the chair, grabbing the issue of the Sardicktown Gazette, as Kazran went over to the wall, pressing the buzzer for his servants. "I wouldn't bother. They quit. Apparently," The Doctor allowed himself a small smile, "They all won the lottery at the exact same time… which is a bit lucky, when you think about it."

"There isn't a lottery." Kazran scowled, stomping around to come face-to-face with the Doctor.

"Yeah, like I said, lucky."

"You keep these windows closed, understand!?" Elliot on the screen hissed, as Young Kazran sobbed uncontrollably. "Closed!"

Kazran looked to the Doctor. "Who are you?"

"Tonight…" The Doctor looked up from the paper. "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past…"

"Mrs. Mantovani will be looking after you tonight. You stay here 'til she comes." Elliot ordered, walking back out of the bedroom door.

"Did you ever get to see a fish?" The Doctor inquired, pushing himself up. "Back then, when you were a kid?"

Kazran frowned, looking at the screen. "What does it matter to you?"

"Look how it mattered to you." The Doctor replied.

Kazran stared at the screen, as the young reflection of himself lay with his head on his arms, crying non-stop. So many years ago… he'd been stupid, and naïve. "I cried all night… and I learnt life's most invaluable lesson."

The Doctor walked in front of the man. "Which is?"

"Nobody comes…" Kazran's face twisted in anger. "Get out! Get out of my house!"

"Okay." The Doctor took a step back to the door, the projection partially on the old planks of wood. "I'll go… but I'll be back." He turned, walking through the door. "Way back. Way, way back." He looked at Kazran as the door shut.

The man could hear a thump, like someone had struck a drum, before the metallic wheezing began.

Young Kazran on the film looked up, turning to his window as the grinding ceased with another thump.

"See?" The Doctor, now on the film and looking identical to how he had been, stood at the now-open window of Kazran's bedroom. "Way back."

The old man spluttered, as he watched the film.

"Who are you?" Young Kazran asked.

"I'm the Doctor. I'm your new babysitter!" The Time Lord hopped through the window, running in the room and jumping on the bed.

"Where's Mrs. Mantovani?"

"Ah, you'll never guess, she won the lottery!"

"There isn't any lottery!" Old Kazran snarled.

"There isn't any lottery." Young Kazran echoed.

"I know!" The Doctor jumped off. "What a woman!"

"If you're my babysitter, why are you climbing in through the window?"

"Cause if I was going out the window I'd be going in the wrong direction, pay attention!"

"But… Mrs. Mantovani's always my babysitter."

The Doctor retorted by pointing. "Times change." The Time Lord slammed his hands down on the desk, peering into the camera. "Wouldn't you say?"

Kazran stepped back from the projection in shock.

"See? Christmas past."

"…who are you talking to?" Young Kazran inquired, slightly put off.

"You." The Doctor answered. "Your past is going to change, which means your memories are going to change too. Bit scary, but you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand."

"I'll bet you don't!" The Doctor turned to the child, smiling. "If only I could see the look on your face."

"That never happened!" Kazran snarled to himself. His eyes widened, as he found the memories of the events filling his mind, as the Doctor ran over to jump on the bed again. "But it did…"


"Right!" The Doctor bounced on the bed. "Your bedroom! Right, okay, you're twelve years old so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard!" The Time Lord pointed, running over. "Love cupboards!" He slowly pulled the door open. "Did you know… there's a tiny little spider called a face spider. Just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scurry up the back of bedroom cupboards…" The Doctor blinked, suddenly slamming the door shut. "Which, yeah, I probably shouldn't have mentioned. Right so what are we going to do?" He rubbed his hands together. "Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that but I bet it's easy. Girls! Yeah?"

Kazran looked upon the Doctor warily. "Are you really a babysitter?"

"I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult." The Doctor replied, flashing the psychic paper.

Kazran frowned. "It's just a bunch of wiggly lines."

The Doctor looked at it. "Yeah, it shorted out, finally a lie too big. But listen, Christmas Eve night, you don't want a real one. You want me."

"Why?" Kazran asked. "What's so special about you?"

"You ever see Mary Poppins?"

"No."

"Good, cause that comparison would've been rubbish." The Doctor huffed. He shot to his feet, turning to the large, circular open window. "Fish in the fog. Fish in the clouds! How do people ever get bored? How did boredom," The Time Lord stood in the space inside the window, "even get invented?"

"My dad's invented a machine," Kazran explained, approaching. "To control the cloud belt. Tame the sky, he says. The fish will be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whenever we like."

The Doctor snorted, jumping down. "Yeah, I've seen your dad's machine."

"What?" Kazran replied. "You can't have."

The air rippled behind the Doctor, the Time Lord turning around, just barely catching a glimpse of something moving through the fog on the outside roof, past the TARDIS.

"Tame the sky…" The Doctor repeated, shaking his head. Humans had a habit of changing their environment to suit them, not the other way around, for better or worse. "Human beings. You always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you? You want to see one, fish?" The Doctor inquired. "We can see one. We can see a fish."

"Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous!?" The Doctor laughed. "We're boys! Everybody knows what we say in the face of danger!"

"What?"

"'Mummy.'"


The sonic screwdriver hung from a string in the ceiling, slowly spinning back and forth as the emitter pulsed green, the device making little radar-like pings every few seconds.

The lights in Kazran's room had been turned off, the boy and the Time Lord hiding in the cupboard, with the string running through the crack in the door.

"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran asked.

"No," The Doctor shook his head. "Not at this time of night… they'll all be sleeping in your mattress." The Time Lord looked to him. "So, why are you so interested in the fish?"

The boy shrugged. "Cause they're scary."

The Doctor blinked. "Good answered."

"…what kind of tie is that?" Kazran asked, looking at the accessory on the Doctor's neck.

"A cool one." The Doctor straightened it. "Not the usual ensemble, I'll admit, but it is Christmas, and everything 'round here looks Victorian. I figured period-dress would be appropriate."

The boy slowly nodded, not really getting what the Doctor was saying. "Why is it cool?"

"Why are you really interested in fish?"

"…My school." Kazran swallowed. "During the last fog belt the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them. A whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"Were you scared?" The Doctor inquired.

"I wasn't there." Kazran admitted. "I was off sick."

"Ooh, lucky you."

The boy put his head down.

"Not lucky, then."

"It's all anyone ever talks about now. The day the fish came."

"And you feel left out now." The Doctor guessed, quite correct. "Not easy being odd one out."

"You would know?" Kazran asked.

"Oh yeah." The Doctor admitted. To those of you who don't know, it may come as some of a surprise, but the Doctor was very, very, very atypical of Time Lords. Back on Gallifrey, he rose to a position of some prestige, dignity, and honor. A Councilor. He did have a bit of a reputation as an eccentric to be sure, but he was one of the few, the very few, to campaign against cruel conditions in the wider universe, and actually succeeded despite the Time Lords' non-intervention policy. He had it all. Family, power, prestige…

And then he threw it all away, stole the TARDIS, and started throwing the principal law of his entire species back in their faces so he could experience the universe, rather than watch it. The Doctor looked to the laptop recording. "I know what it's like… being the kid left out in the dark and cold. Oh…" The Time Lord looked to the string. "I think we've got one…" The Time Lord stood up, looking through the crack in the door.

"Doctor, you mustn't."

"Trust me?" The Doctor looked down at him.

"…okay." He answered, sounding not quite sure.

"Oi, eyes on the tie." The Doctor pointed at it. "Look at me. I wear it, people think it looks ridiculous, and I don't care. Trust me?"

Kazran nodded with a smile. "Yes."

"That's why it's cool." The Doctor turned back to the door. The Time Lord pushed it open, slowly stepping out.

A little pilot fish, just floating there in the air, poked and prodded the emitter of the sonic screwdriver.

"Hello, fishy…" The Doctor cooed. "Let's see…" He slowly moved around the outer rim of the room. "Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh? Maybe carrying a tiny electrical charge…" He suggested. "Is that how you fly, little fish?"

"What is it?" Kazran asked from behind the door of the cupboard. "What kind? Can I see?"

"Just stay there a moment." The Doctor advised.

"Is it big?"

"No." The Doctor whispered. "Just a little one… So, little fella, what do you eat?"

The window was suddenly pushed open as another one of the flying creatures swam in, its mouth clamping down on the small little fish.

It was a flying shark for God's sake!

The Doctor stepped back, as the screwdriver and the pilot fish vanished in the shark's maw. "Oh! Uh…"

"Can I come out?" Kazran called.

"No, no." The Doctor replied, slowly stepping in that direction while keeping his eyes locked on the shark. "Maybe just… wait there for a moment."

The shark growled, sniffing the air.

"What colour is it?"

"Big…" The Doctor gulped. "Big colour." The shark's eyes locked on the Time Lord and the Doctor sprinted into the cupboard, slamming the door, pressing his back to it.

"What's happening?" Kazran asked.

"Well, focusing on the plusses, you've definitely got a story of your own now!" The shark banged on the door, the Doctor jumping slightly. "Plus I got a good look at the fish and I think I understand how the fog works which will allow me to save a ship of four-thousand people including my daughter and her friend in the future! And, I bet I'll get some very interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver as soon as I fish it out of the shark's mouth!"

"There's a shark in my bedroom!?"

"Oh, fine!" The Doctor shot back. "Focus on that!" The door stopped banging, the Doctor looking to it.

"Has it gone?" Kazran whispered. "What's it doing?"

"What do you call it when you have no legs.. and you're taking a run-up?" The Doctor pushed off the door, running to the other side, pulling Kazran down next to him.

"It's going to eat us!" Kazran screamed, as he and the Doctor pushed into the back wall of the cupboard.

"Well, maybe we're going to eat it, but I don't like the odds!" The Doctor replied, looking at the enormous jowl of the shark, the inside of its mouth glowing green. "It's stuck! Let's see, tiny shark brain, if I had my screwdriver I could send a pulse and stun it!"

"Where's your screwdriver!?"

"Well, concentrating on the plusses… within reach!" The Doctor chuckled. "You know, there's a real chance being wedged in the doorway like that is forcing its mouth open!"

"There is!?"

"Just agree with me, cause I've only got two goes, then it's your turn!"

"Two goes!?"

The Doctor rolled up the sleeves on his frock coat. "Two arms!" He looked to the child, smiling. "Geronimo!"