The Doctor jumped up and grabbed my hand, running towards the doors. "Come on, I need to see Jackie!"

He pushed past Melody, who's eyes were wide, and opened the doors, poking his head out. "Here we are then! London, Earth, Solar System!" He walked out, pulling me along with him. He closed the door behind us and grinned at me, before noticing Jackie and Mickey, who looked like they were competing to win the 'who has the most confused expression' competition.

He let go of my hand and went to them. "Jackie! Mickey! Blimey!" He backed away and held up a finger. "No, no, no, no, hold on." He walked around the place, making Jackie and Mickey turn in their places. "There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it?" He placed a hand on both their shoulders, leaning towards them. "Doc-"

"No, no, hold on, wait. Hush." He looked at the two of them. "Oh!" He yelled into Mickey's ear, making poor Mickey recoil away from him. "I know!" He grinned at the two of them. "Merry Christmas!" And then he fainted into Mickey's arms. If we had been in literally any other situation, I would've made fun of the Doctor and Mickey being OTP goals, but since the Doctor was in extreme pain and since he was practically gonna be nonfunctional for a while, I went to them and helped Mickey lower the Doctor slowly.

The TARDIS doors opened, and Melody walked out, followed by Rose. Melody immediately kneeled down in front of the Doctor and took his temperature. "There's no use in doing that, he's been burning up ever since he regenerated." I said, and she nodded. "Must be an extreme case then."

"What happened? Who is he, where's the Doctor?!" Mickey exclaimed.

"This is the Doctor." Melody gestured to him. Mickey turned to her. "And who the hell are you?"

"Too much to explain, too many things going on at once right now, but you can call me Melody."

"But that's the Doctor?"

"Yes, Mickey, that's the Doctor!" Rose exclaimed, clearly exasperated. Jackie looked up. "What do you mean 'that's the Doctor'? Doctor Who?!"

"I really don't know the implications of your question, but that's the same Doctor you know- he just changed." Melody turned to Rose. "We need to get him inside your house- he's not really doing that great right now and I'll need a proper environment to see exactly what's wrong with him."

We carried the Doctor into the house and placed him on Jackie's bed (since Rose's room was a colossal mess, as Jackie put it), and Mickey changed him into a pair of pyjamas (when we were all outside the room, of course). I sat next to him on the bed while Rose brought in two chairs for her and Jackie to sit on. Melody had brought out something that looked like a scanner from her pocket and was holding it over the Doctor. Rose and Jackie had just sat down when the scanner started beeping. She lifted it up and checked the readings.

"Both hearts functional, but they're his old ones. He's not fully regenerated yet- most of his internal organs are still cooking- blimey!" She looked up at me. "The time particles inside him are going insane!"

"The what?" Rose frowned.

"They're the cells inside him which synthesise regeneration energy- you know, the gold light you saw back in the TARDIS." She turned to me again. "He's gonna be burning up for a while and he's gonna be a little unstable, but if he's undisturbed for the next few hours, he'll be alright."

"Good." I forced a smile towards her before turning back to the Doctor again. All I had to do now was prevent Rose from giving him the screwdriver when the psycho christmas tree comes to kill us.

Everyone left the room after that, leaving me alone with the Doctor. I placed my hand on his forehead. He really was burning up- worse than he was before. I took a deep breath and leaned against the headboard, before turning to the Doctor again. I slowly ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back so that it didn't cover his face completely. "Hang in there, Doc. You're gonna be okay soon."

Melody's POV:

I made everyone leave Beth alone with the Doctor, something both of them needed- also so that they could stay out of her way. Whenever something happens to the Doctor, she tends to get a little, er, unpleasant, if one could put it mildly. Although, the situation held true vice versa as well.

I went to the living room and turned on the TV, flipping through a bunch of channels as Rose and Jackie were talking about something in the kitchen. Cooking show- boring. Eastenders- nope. Soap operas- definitely not. The news- depressing and also boring. Why did TVs always show such nonsensical things that would bore literally everyone who watched them? I'd rather be sitting and watching paint dry- actually no. That was worse. At least the telly had background noise going on, n matter how pointless that was as well.

I wasn't supposed to be going back until Future Beth called me (she gave very strict instructions regarding that)- maybe I could kill some time by going on a side trip to Poosh- or maybe Salagrinea- River did say she had an expedition due there related to the origins of the Silence. Or I could just go and break out a younger version of River from Stormcage. But the Doctor seemed to have anticipated that, so he made sure that the only places I'd even be able to go were either back to their TARDIS or to the Game Station. Damn him and his similarities to me.

I flipped to another new channel, but this one caught my interest because of who was speaking. Harriet Jones! Beth and the Doctor did say that she was an extremely important person (although the Doctor had extremely mixed feelings towards her). I tuned in to listen to whatever she had to say.

Rose came into the living room and sat next to me. "Why is she on TV?"

"She's the Prime Minister now." I said, and Jackie said. "Yeah, I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They say it's Britain's Golden Age." Well, it's also the Age that doesn't age. Because, well, according to Beth, the Doctor deposed Harriet Jones at some point. Ugh, that was terrible- why do I even bother?

"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?" A random reporter asked Harriet.

"Now, that's where you're wrong. 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." Well, I'd probably say that it's ahead of its time, though, since humans started doing proper space related stuff only from the 2040s. Probably why Harriet got deposed, but who knew? Well, Beth did, although she never told me anything.

Another man, who was in front of Harriet, said, "This is the spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age, and that is what we're achieving fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle."

After a while, Rose decided to go Christmas shopping with Mickey, which left me alone with Jackie, as Beth hadn't come out of the room ever since we got here and the Doctor was still cooking from the inside.

Jackie brought out a flask and a couple of mugs and laid them on the table in front of the telly. I had changed the channel, and unfortunately, the only interesting thing on TV was Beauty and the Beast, so I was watching that.

"Tea?" I looked up and took the cup she was holding out. "Thank you."

She sat down on the chair next to the sofa, pouring some tea for herself. "Long day?"

I nodded, taking a sip of tea. "Extremely."

"What happened? Rose said that the Doctor was gonna die and that she had to help him, and then she sort of, er, opened up the TARDIS."

I nodded. "She absorbed the heart of the TARDIS and saved the day. But the problem was that it would've killed her. So the Doctor took it in himself."

"Wouldn't it kill him?"

"It did. But he's a Time Lord." I took another sip of the tea, smiling as it filled me up with warmth. "We have a way of cheating death, but that leads us to change completely. Except, he didn't change fully this time. He needs rest."

"Are you like him? Is that how you know him?"

I nodded. "I'm like him, but that's not how I know him. I'm a future companion of his."

"Future?"

I nodded. Uh oh- what if she was gonna ask me about the future?

"Does he change often?"

I shrugged. "Not really- it usually depends. Although, he's always borderline insane in every incarnation."

She laughed at that and took a sip of her tea. At that moment, the door to her room opened. She perked up and turned around, while I leaned upwards. Beth closed the door behind her as she walked towards the sofa. However, she noticed that the two of us were staring at her. "What?"

"How is he?" I asked her. She came to sit next to me and shrugged. "His temperature's gone down, but he's still feverish. And the nightmares seemed to have stopped, so that's good, I guess."

"Hang on- nightmares?" Jackie frowned. Beth turned to her. "He's been having them for a while now. He was muttering something about Daleks and Gallifrey and other stuff I didn't understand. He seemed distressed, and-"

I placed a hand on her arm. She turned to look at me, looking half distressed herself. "He'll be alright."

"I know. But he's not alright now. I don't even know why that bothers me as much as it does." She put her face in her hands and slid them down, sighing. I put an arm around her, trying to calm her down a bit, while Jackie poured some tea in another mug. She held it out. "Liza, love," Beth looked up, pushing her hands down her hair. "Have some tea."

She took the mug and blew on it, the steam hitting her face. She took a sip and leaned back. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. "When was the last time you ate anything?" Beth turned to Jackie and shrugged. "I remember having lunch in Kyoto."

"Beth, what the hell?!" I exclaimed, and she turned to me, giving me an annoyed look. I shook my head. "Wasn't Kyoto almost two days ago?!"

She shrugged. "I have no idea."

"You haven't eaten in two days? The hell is wrong with you, sweetheart?!" Jackie exclaimed. "You're worse than Rose!"

"I'm not hungry." She took another sip of her tea.

Jackie shook her head. "Doesn't matter, sweetheart, you'll have to eat. It's not healthy." She walked into the kitchen, muttering something about there being bread in the fridge. "Seriously Jackie, I'm fine!"

"Beth, we all know that's code for 'I'm totally not fine but we're in the middle of a crisis so I'm not going to throw my well being out of the window'."

She scowled at me. "Seriously, I'm fine. Anyway, the Doctor's the one who's not well right now, not me."

I sighed. "You straining yourself isn't gonna make him better. If anything, he'd want you to take care of yourself and not worry about him when he's gonna be alright in the end anyway."

"I'm not-"

"Beth-"

She turned to me, glaring. "For the last time, I'm perfectly alright, okay? Stop worrying about me and start worrying about what actually matters right now- the Doctor."

Liza's POV:

After both Melody and Jackie threatened to tell the Doctor that I had a so-called "death wish" right after he woke up, I'd finally given in and taken some of the bread, which I was having with my fifth cup of tea- I had to stay awake for as long as possible. They all had to be prepared to worry about the Doctor instead of me.

I'd been with him in that room for five hours before it almost drove me insane. He was having terrible nightmares, by the looks of it, and they all involved him being in pain. He'd murmur in his sleep once in a while, and every time he did, he sounded so scared, so much in pain- and there was nothing I could do about it. I'd try to calm him down by running a hand through his hair and trying to assure him that he was safe and was just having a nightmare, and that would work for some time- he'd calm down and relax for a while before going into his pained state again.

I hated every second of it- I hated that he had to go through so much pain and I was just sitting there. That I couldn't do anything about it. I hated myself for not being able to do anything- I was his best friend, there had to be something I could do. I should've known how to make him better, but I didn't.

Melody kept lecturing me about the importance of caring about myself and how the Doctor would not be impressed if he found out that I wasn't taking care of myself, while Jackie walked around the house, talking on the phone with Bev.

Rose came bursting in with Mickey. "Get off the phone!"

"It's only Bev, she says hello." Jackie handed the phone to Rose, who practically snatched it from her. "Bev? Yeah- look, it'll have to wait." She hung up the phone and put it on the table. "Right, it's not safe, we've gotta get out of here, where can we go?"

"My mate Stan's."

"That's only two streets away."

"And I don't think Mickey's friend will be okay with us arriving with an unconscious dude with us who keeps breathing out regeneration energy."

"And that, what about Mo? Where does she live now?"

Jackie frowned. "Oh, I dunn0. Peak District."

"We'll go to Cousin Mo's then."

"Ah, it's Christmas Eve, we're not going anywhere!" She walked around Rose, who turned around. "What are you babbling about?!"

"Mum," Rose turned to the tree in the living room. "Where did you get that tree? That's a new tree, where did you get it?"

"How could it be me?"

I stood up, "Everyone, into Jackie's room, now. And Rose, I'm gonna need the sonic, where is it?"

"I dunno, maybe in his jacket!"

I ran into their room. "Come quick, we have no time!"

At that moment, Rose muttered. "You've got to be kidding me."

The sound of Jingle Bells reached my ears and I turned around. The four of them were staring at the tree, which was spinning around towards them. "Will you all stop looking at the damn tree and get the hell in here?!"

They came running behind me as I ran into the room. I ran towards the hanger with the Doctor's coat on it and started rummaging through his coat pocket. Damn his stupid bigger on the inside pockets, why did have to have so much stuff in there?!

Rose ran towards the bed and yelled, "Doctor, wake up!"

I turned around for a moment, my hand still in his pocket. "No, Rose, don't wake him up!" Ah. Finally. I pulled the screwdriver out, just as the door gave out and the tree burst inside. Rose cowered beside me as Jackie leaned against the wall. "I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!"

I pointed the screwdriver at the tree, using setting 37- disabling objects. I flinched as the sonic caused the tree to burst into a spark and collapse. "It's being remote controlled!" Melody ran towards the front door, the others following behind. I quickly glanced at the Doctor, who was thankfully still asleep, and went outside as well.

I looked over the railing, as Melody stared at all the robot santas on the road. Melody pulled out a gun-like object from her pocket and pointed it at them. They teleported away and Mickey scoffed. "What, they were afraid of that small gun?"

Melody turned to him, scowling. "One, this is a sonic probe- it's used to disable machines, and two, they were just the minions, or the, er, pilot fish. They're like the previews to what's really coming."

"We've gotta go back inside." I said, and Rose nodded. "Yeah, I'm not comfortable leaving the Doctor alone in there, especially since the whole reason they're even here is because of him."

"More precisely, his regeneration energy."

The Sycorax had just made their first appearance on the news. After the whole Christmas tree incident, we'd gone back inside, checked the Doctor's vitals again (he was slowly stabilising, thank God), and Jackie turned on the news. I was having my tenth cup of tea that night, jiggling my leg up and down as Mickey brought out his laptop and started working on it.

Melody had gone to him and was looking at what he was doing. "Blimey, you're really good!" She exclaimed an hour later, and he looked up at her and smiled. "Right, I've got access to the military."

I went to see what he was doing, as did Rose. "They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and coming this way." He showed us the radio signals of the ship.

At that moment, we got video footage of the Sycorax, who started speaking in their own language. As they started speaking, Melody started translating them softly. "People. You belong to us. To the Sycorax. They seem to be called Sycorax, not Martians. 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."

"Rock?" Rose turned to Melody, who shrugged. "Yes, rock. As in, you know. They consider themselves cool."

Rose frowned at her. Melody turned to us. "Anyway, you all need to get some sleep. It's been what? Three days?"

I yawned. "I don't know- anyway, I'm good."

Melody raised an eyebrow. "You're clearly not, you need to go sleep." She pushed me towards the bedroom.

"But-"

"You look like someone trampled over you!"

"No, there's something I have to-"

"Sleep!"