The Trip of a Lifetime V2

by The Time Lord Oracle

(Rewrite of my first story) Rose Tyler was just an ordinary shop girl until one day she meets a strange man and woman. After helping them to save the world, she joins them in traveling though time and space on the trip of a lifetime, but two words keep following the trio on their travels, and something is stirring in the darkness. First in the Themii series.

14. The Christmas Invasion

The Trip of a Lifetime

The Christmas Invasion

Thanks to AchilleasGOD for favouriting this story

The man turned to the console and started typing in commands. "6PM, Tuesday, October 5006... On our way to Barcelona." he muttered to himself, then turned to face the women.

Rose was staring at the man in shock, while Gazelle seemed completely unfazed by what had just happened.

"Now then... what do I look like?" the man asked. Gazelle opened her mouth to answer, but the man cut her off. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me. Let's see..." He examined himself. "Two legs, two arms, two hands... slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle." he observed as he rotated his wrist, then ran his hand through his hair. "Hair! I'm not bald! Oh, oh, big hair. Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin."

"Don't worry, they're sideburns." Gazelle assured him, joining him by the console.

The man then noticed just how baggy the Doctor's clothes were on him. "Little bit thinner..." he observed, patting his stomach, "Gimme time, I'll get used to it." Then he shifted slightly. "I... have got... a mole. I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole."

"Could be worse." Gazelle remarked, "My brother's second body had one on his face."

"That's alright, love the mole." the man grinned, "Go on then, tell me, what d'ya fink?"

"Not bad." Gazelle nodded her approval, "Ya might wanna get changed through, those clothes don't suit ya anymore."

The man turned to Rose, who hadn't moved from her spot by the Y-beams. "What do you fink?" he asked her

"Who are you?" Rose asked quietly

"I'm the Doctor." he answered as if it was obvious.

Rose shook her head. "No... where is 'e? Where's the Doctor? What've you done to 'im?!"

"You saw me, I... I changed... right in front of you." the man frowned, confused at Rose's behaviour.

"I saw 'im sort of explode, an' then you replaced 'im, like a... a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or somefink."

"Listen, Rose..." Gazelle began, but the Human ignored her and advanced on the man.

"Ya not foolin' me." she burst out, "I've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes... Gelth... Slitheen..." She gasped. "Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?!" she accused

"I'm not a Slitheen." the man replied flatly

"Send 'im back." Rose demanded, not convinced in the slightest. "I'm warnin' you; send the Doctor back right now!"

"Rose, this is the Doctor." Gazelle told her calmly, "He's regenerated. It's something we Time Lords do when we're dying. Every single cell in our bodies change, but we're still the same person we were before. I've done it too."

But Rose still wasn't convinced. "But 'e can't be." she shook her head.

"Then 'ow can I remember this?" the man asked, stepping forward, "Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop window dummies... ooh... such a long time ago." He took Rose's hand, reliving the moment. "I took your 'and... I said one word, just one word. I said 'run'." he said sincerely.

Rose stared. "Doctor." she breathed

"Hello." the Doctor grinned, and ran to the console. "And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe, running, running..." He turned to Gazelle. "An' dancing. Remember that?"

"How could I forget?" the Time Lady smiled, then the Doctor took her hand and pulled her into a twirl. They both broke apart laughing. "And that time you two had to hop for it." she reminded.

"Oh, yeah, 'opping for our lives." the Doctor laughed, hopping on the spot. "Yeah, alll that 'opping?" he asked Rose, who was just standing there sadly. "Remember 'opping for our lives?" the Doctor tried, but to no avail, "Yeah? Hop? Wiv the... no?" he gave up.

"Can ya change back?" Rose asked

"D'ya want me to?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Can you?"

"No." the Doctor answered seriously, "D'ya want to leave?"

"D'ya want me to leave?" Rose asked back

"No." Gazelle answered this time, "We want to stay, but if ya don't wanna be here anymore, then we can take ya home if ya want."

Rose was silent, so the Doctor turned to the console. "Cancel Barcelona." he said, resetting the coordinates, "Change to... London, the Powell Estate."

"Any particular date?" Gazelle asked, helping him.

"Er... let's say the 24th of December." the Doctor replied, glancing at Rose, "Consider it a Christmas present."

"Right, 24th of December 2006 it is." Gazelle said, imputing that date into the TARDIS' controls, then the Doctor pulled a lever and the box changed course.

"I'm going 'ome?" Rose asked, crestfallen.

"Up to you." the Doctor replied

"Like I said, we'd rather you stayed with us." Gazelle added, "But if home's what ya want..."

"It's all waitin'." the Doctor continued, "Fish an' chips, sausage an' mash, beans on toast... no, Christmas, turkey! Although... 'aving met ya mother... nutloaf would be more appropriate."

"Still rude, then." Gazelle remarked dryly

"Oh, yes." the Doctor grinned, then he noticed that a small smile had slipped onto Rose's face. "Was that a smile?" he asked her

"No." Rose muttered, the smile quickly dropping.

"That was a smile..." the Doctor insisted

"No it wasn't."

"You smiled."

"No I didn't."

"Oh, come on." the Doctor groaned, "All I did was change, I didn't..." He suddenly gagged, while the TARDIS jerked.

Gazelle quickly rushed over to him. "What is it?" she asked him.

All the Doctor could say was; "Uh-oh." before gagging again.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked, rushing over as the Doctor opened his mouth and a golden swirl of energy drifted out of it. "What's that?" she asked him

"Oh... the change is goin' a bit wrong, that's all." the Doctor waved her off, before dropping to his knees and clutching his stomach in pain.

"Look... maybe we should go back." Rose suggested, "Let's go an' find Captain Jack, maybe 'e can 'elp."

"Gah, he's busy." the Doctor waved her off again

"Earth took a pasting from the Daleks." Gazelle explained to Rose as she helped the Doctor to stand, "Jack stayed to help rebuild." Of course, that wasn't true. The Time Lords had left Jack behind on the Game Station for quite a different reason, but now wasn't the time for explanations.

"Haven't used this one for years." the Doctor muttered, eyeing one of the levers on the console.

"Don't you dare!" Gazelle warned, but the Doctor ignored her and pulled the lever anyway, causing the TARDIS to lurch violently.

"What're ya doin'?!" Rose demanded, grabbing onto the console to stop herself falling over.

"Putti' on a bit of speed!" the Doctor cheered, recklessly messing with the controls, "That's it! Oh, my beautiful ship!" Gazelle tried to undo his actions, but he was too fast. No sooner had she cancelled out what he'd pressed, he'd just press it again. "Come on, faster! That a girl!" he cheered, "Faster! Wanna break the time limit?!"

"No we don't, so pack it in!" Gazelle ordered him, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Ah, don't be so dull!" the Doctor scoffed manically, "Let's 'ave a bit of fun! Let's rip through that Vortex!" Then he became serious; "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself. Ah, my 'ead." He turned manic again; "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

A rather ominous-sounding bell began to toll. "What's that?" Rose asked, alarmed.

"Cloister bell." Gazelle replied, urgently trying to undo the Doctor's manic flying.

"We're gonna crash land!" the Doctor laughed

"Well then, do somefink!" Rose hollered

"I'm trying!" Gazelle shot back

"Too late, outta control!" the Doctor cackled, "Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!"

"Ya gonna kill us!" Rose screamed

"Hold on tight, here we go! Christmas Eve...!" the Doctor grinned.

"Ok, I've managed to even us out." Gazelle said, "Hang on, this is gonna be rough!"

~8~

On Christmas Eve 2006, Jackie Tyler finished hanging up baubles on the Christmas tree that stood in the corner of the living room of the Tyler flat. She then picked up two presents, ready to put them under the tree, when the label of one of them caught her eye. She sat down slowly, holding the present. The label said; 'To Rose. Merry Christmas. Lots of love, Mum XXXX'. Jackie sighed. It had been three months since Rose had left to help the Doctor and Gazelle, and since then, not a single word from her.

~8~

Round the corner from the Powell Estate, Mickey was busy working at a garage. Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody was blaring out of the radio. Mickey suddenly paused in his work, listening intently. "Hey, turn that down." he called to his colleagues, "Hey, Stevo, turn that off! Turn it off!"

The radio was turned off, and Mickey heard the distinctive sound of the TARDIS' engines. He promptly ran off.

~8~

In the Tyler flat, Jackie was hanging some Christmas cards on a string when she heard the distinctive sound too. "Rose!" she exclaimed and ran out of the flat.

Jackie ran out onto the plaza just as Mickey came sprinting round the corner. "Jackie, it's the TARDIS!" he exclaimed

"I know! I know, I 'ead it." Jackie answered rapidly, "She's alive, Mickey! I said so, didn't I? She's alive!"

"Shush! Shut up a minute!" Mickey urged and they both looked frantically around.

"Well, where is it then?" Jackie wandered

Suddenly, the TARDIS appeared out of thin air, about 20 feet their heads. The box crashed against buildings either side as she fell towards the ground. Jackie and Mickey were forced to hit the deck as the TARDIS flew above them, ricocheted off a post van and finally came to a stop by some bins.

Inside the box, the trio recovered from the rough landing. "Made it." Gazelle sighed in relief, running a hand through her hair. "Everyone ok?"

"Yeah." Rose answered, picking herself up.

"Doctor?" Gazelle asked, but received no reply for the Doctor had dashed to the doors.

He threw them open and peered out. "Here we are, then" he said, "London, Earth, the Solar System. We did it!" He stumbled out of the TARDIS, gazing up at the flats, then he noticed Jackie and Mickey staring at him. "Jackie! Mickey! Blimey! No, no, no, no, 'old on." He stumbled backwards a few steps just as Gazelle stepped out of the TARDIS. "Wait there. What was I gonna say? There was somefink I 'ad to tell you. Somefink important, what was it? No, 'old on, no, 'old on..." He put his hands on the two surprised Humans' shoulders, apparently thinking hard. "Hold on, shh, shh, shh. Oh!" he perked up suddenly, "I know! Merry Christmas!"

And then he collapsed, Gazelle managing to catch him before he hit the ground. Rose stepped out of the TARDIS at that moment. "What 'append? Is 'e alright?" she asked

"I dunno, 'e just keeled over." Mickey replied, "But who is 'e? Where's the Doctor?"

"This is the Doctor, right here." Gazelle told them, gesturing to the unconscious man in her arms.

"What d'ya mean, 'this is the Doctor'?" Jackie questioned, "Doctor who?"

"I'll explain later." Gazelle replied, "Get him inside, please. I'll just lock up the TARDIS."

Jackie and Mickey took the unconscious Doctor from her and began to carry him towards the flats, Rose following them while Gazelle locked up the TARDIS.

~8~

The Doctor was soon tucked up in bed in the Tyler's spare bedroom, with Gazelle and Rose sitting by him. They'd managed to get him out of his previous body's clothes and into a pair of pyjamas.

"So, 'ow many times 'as the Doctor changed like this?" Rose asked

"This is his tenth body." Gazelle replied. This technically wasn't true, but that was another story, one which wouldn't be told until it was absolutely necessary.

"And, 'ave you changed too?" Rose asked

"Yeah. This is my fourth body." Gazelle answered her

"So, 'ow come the Doctor's on 'is tenth an' you're only on ya fourth?" Rose questioned

"The Doctor's been travelling a lot longer than I have. I didn't start travelling until I met him at the end of the Time War."

"So what's wrong wiv 'im then?"

"Post-regenerative coma, I believe. It happened to me after I regenerated into this body. I slept for the whole 15 hours of the cycle."

"So is the Doctor gonna be alright after e's slept?"

"I hope so." Gazelle said, "Trouble is, he had to regenerate because he absorbed the Time Vortex. That's probably why he went into this coma. Absorbing the Vortex put his body through a lot of trauma."

Just then, Jackie entered the room holding a stethoscope. "Here we go." she said, handing it to Gazelle, "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student. An' she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take 'im to 'ospital."

"We can't. They'd lock 'im up." Rose told her, "They'd dissect 'im. One bottle of 'is blood could change the future of the Human race."

Jackie looked somewhat flabbergasted at Rose's ramble. Gazelle just smiled at it and put the stethoscope in her ears and placed it on one side of the Doctor's chest. She heard one of his hearts beating steadily, then placed the scope on the other side and heard the other heart. "Good, both working." she noted, removing the stethoscope.

"What d'ya mean, 'both'?" Jackie questioned

"Well, they've got two 'earts." Rose answered

"Oh, don't be stupid." Jackie scoffed

"We have." Gazelle told her, "Check for yourself." She offered Jackie the stethoscope, who placed it in her ears and ran it over Gazelle chest. Sure enough, two heartbeats.

"Anyfink else you've got two of?" a bemused Jackie asked, removing the scope and handing it back.

"Leave 'em alone." Rose grunted, leaving the room. Jackie peered at the Doctor before following her daughter.

Gazelle was left alone with the comatose Doctor. "Rest up, Theta." she said gently, running her hand through his hair. "Ya should've just let me pull the Vortex from Rose." she sighed regretfully. The Doctor opened his mouth suddenly. Gazelle felt her hopes rise, but all that happened was another wisp of energy escaped from his mouth. The Time Lady's hearts sank. "Hope no one picks that up." she muttered to herself as the energy drifted out of the window. She knew that if any passing aliens detected that energy, it could mean big trouble for Earth.

~8~

In the kitchen, Rose was rifling through the fridge for a snack. "How can 'e go changin' 'is face?" Jackie asked. Rose didn't answer, she just picked up a pork pie and shut the fridge door. "Is that a different face or is 'e a different person?" Jackie continued

"How should I know?" a frustrated Rose retorted, "Ask Gazelle. She seems to know everyfink about it." She took a calming breath. "Thing is... I fought I knew 'im, mum. An' then 'e goes an' does this. I keep forgettin' they're not Human." She decided to change the subject. "The big question is... where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?"

"Howard's been stayin' over." Jackie replied

"What, 'oward from the market? How long's that been goin' on?"

"A month or so. First of all, 'e starts deliverin' to the door an' I fought 'that's a bit odd'. Next thing ya know, there's a bag of oranges..."

Rose's attention was suddenly caught by a familiar voice coming from the telly in the living room. "Is that Harriet Jones?" she asked, going into the living room.

"Oh, never mind me..." Jackie grumbled, following her daughter.

"Why's she on telly?" Rose asked

"She's Prime Minister now." Jackie explained, "I'm 18 quid a week better off. They're callin' it Britain's golden age. I keep on sayin' 'my Rose 'as met 'er.'"

"Did more than that." Rose grinned, "Stopped world war three wiv 'er. Harriet Jones..." They settled down to watch the news.

"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One space probe a waste of money?" a journalist asked on the telly.

"Now, that's where you're wrong." Harriet answered, "I completely disagree if you don't mind. The Guinevere One space probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there against the stars." she said proudly

The footage changed to show a man, who according to the news was Guinevere One's project manager, Daniel Llewellyn. "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."

The footage then showed a computerised image of a probe orbiting Mars. "The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make it's final descent." a newsreader explained, "Photographs of the Martian surface should be received by midnight tonight."

Just then, Mickey came in, having been down the shop. "Here ya are." he said, handing Gazelle a sandwich, "How's the Doctor?"

"No change." the Time Lady replied, "What about you? How have you and Jackie been?"

"We've been alright." Mickey answered, appreciating the consideration, "I was finkin' of goin' out an' doin' some last minute Christmas shoppin'."

"Good idea." Gazelle nodded, "You should take Rose with ya. Take her mind off things."

~8~

So, that evening, Rose and Mickey were walking along a street in the city centre that was crowded with Christmas shoppers. "What d'ya need? 20 quid?" Mickey asked Rose.

"D'ya mind?" I'll pay ya back." she replied, taking the £20 note he'd held out.

"Call it a Christmas present." Mickey laughed

"God, I'm all out of sync." Rose remarked, "Ya forget about Christmas an' things in the TARDIS. They don't exist. Ya get sorta... timeless."

"Oh, yeah, that's fascinatin', cos' I love 'earing stories about the TARDIS." Mickey said dryly, "Ooh, go on, Rose, tell us another one, cos' I swear I could listen to it all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that..."

"Shut up!" Rose laughed

"Ooh, an' one time, the TARDIS landed in a biiiig yellow garden, full of balloons." Mickey continued

"I'm not like that."

"Oh, you so are."

"Hmm, must drive ya mad. Surprised ya don't give up on me."

"Oh, that's the thing, isn't it? You can rely on me. I don't go changin' my face."

"Yeah." Rose muttered, her thoughts going back to the comatose Doctor, "What if 'e's dyin'?"

"Ok." Mickey huffed and stopped

"Sorry!"

"Gazelle's lookin' after 'im, so just let it be Christmas." Mickey pleaded, taking Rose's hands, "Can ya do that? Just for a bit. You an' me, an' Christmas. No Doctor, no Gazelle, no... no bog monsters... no life an' death."

"Ok." Rose replied

"Promise?"

"Yes!"

"Right! What're ya gonna get for ya mum?" Mickey asked as they started walking again. Rose looked behind her, distracted as Mickey stared talking again; "I'm round there all the time now, ya know. She does my dinner on a Sunday... talks about you all afternoon, yap yap yap yap..."

Rose wasn't really listening. She was looking at a brass band that were all dressed as Father Christmas and playing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. She gazed at them for a long moment. Something about their faces seemed off, they looked more like metal masks. Then, the band lowered their instruments and began holding them like weapons.

Suddenly, a jet of flame shot out of the trumpet, revealing it to be a flamethrower, while the other instruments fired bullets. People screamed and ran for cover while Rose and Mickey took refuge behind a market stall as the Father Christmases blasted around, causing a lot of commotion.

"It's us!" Rose realised, "They're after us!"

The Father Christmases blasted the stall Rose and Mickey were hiding behind, so they ran off, avoiding the gunfire. One of the band rather foolishly fired at the giant Christmas tree, causing it to fall on top of it, buying the two Humans time to escape.

"What's goin' on? What've we done? Why're they after us?" Mickey asked frantically as they ran down the street.

"Taxi!" Rose yelled to a passing black cab, which stopped and they scrambled in. "They're after the Doctor." she told Mickey.

"I can't even go shopping wiv you! We get attacked by a brass band!" Mickey gasped. "Who're ya phonin'?" he asked as Rose pulled out her mobile.

"My mum." she replied, putting the phone to her ear.

~8~

At the Tyler flat, Jackie was talking for England on the phone to her friend Bev, while Gazelle was having a nap in the spare room. "She turns up, no warnin'." Jackie rambled, "I've got nothing in. I said, 'Rose, if ya want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it.'"

~8~

"Get off the phone!" Rose grumbled as she heard the engaged tone on her mobile.

"What were... those Santa things?" Mickey asked

"I dunno, but fink about it, they were after us. What's important us? Well, nothing, except the one thing we've got tucked up in bed wiv another watchin' im. The Doctor an' Gazelle."

~8~

In the flat, Jackie continued to jabber away on the phone, placing two cups of tea beside the sleeping Time Lords. She had to admit, was cute how Gazelle had fallen asleep holding the Doctor's hands. Although Jackie had distrusted the Doctor for months, she hadn't given much thought to Gazelle. Mickey had said that he had no quarrel with her, as she wasn't as rude and inconsiderate as the Doctor. And before her nap, Gazelle had politely explained what had happened on the Game Station. After Jackie left the room, the Doctor opened his mouth and let out another wisp of energy.

~8~

The taxi pulled up at the Powell Estate and Rose and Mickey jumped out and ran for the flats. They burst into the Tyler flat to see Jackie still yapping away on the phone. "Get off the phone!" Rose yelled

"It's only Bev. She says 'ello." Jackie rolled her eyes

Rose took the phone. "Bev? Yeah, look, it'll 'ave to wait." She hung up and turned back to her mother. "Right, it's not safe, we've gotta get out. Where can we go?"

"My mate Stan, 'e'll put us up." Mickey suggested

"That's only two streets away." Rose dismissed and turned to Jackie, "What about Mo, where's she livin' now?"

"I dunno, Peak District." Jackie replied

"Oh, we'll go to cousin Mo's, then." Rose decided

"It's Christmas Eve! We're not goin' anywhere! What're you babblin' about?"

"Mum..." an exasperated Rose began

"Jackie, why's that tree changed?" Gazelle's voice spoke up. She'd been woken up by Rose's frantic entrance and gone to see what the commotion was about. Her attention was caught by the Christmas tree. Before she'd gone for her nap, the tree had been silver, now it was green.

"That's a new tree." Rose agreed, "Where'd ya get it?"

"Well, I fought it was you!" Jackie replied

"How can it be me?"

"Well, you went shoppin', there was a ring at the door, an' there it was."

"No, that wasn't me." Rose said uneasily

"Then who was it?" Jackie asked

"Ya should've woken me." Gazelle said, "I could've checked it."

"Well, I didn't wanna disturb ya." Jackie answered weakly

They all stared at the tree as it lit up on it's own accord. "You're kiddin' me." Rose breathed

Then, the tree began to spin, slowly at first, then very fast, playing Jingle Bells in the process.

"Get back, now!" Gazelle warned, pulling Mickey back while Rose did the same to Jackie. Still spinning, the tree began to move towards them, it's sharp branches reducing the coffee table to matchwood within seconds. "Go, get out, all of you, now!" Gazelle urged, shooing Rose and Jackie out of the room, "You too, Mickey." But Mickey didn't move, he grabbed a chair and held it out in front of him, standing his ground.

Jackie ran to the front door, but Rose ran into the spare room. "We've gotta save the Doctor!" she cried

"What're ya doin?!" Jackie hissed

"We can't just leave 'im!" Rose shot back

"Mickey, come on, there's nothing you can do!" Gazelle hollered as the tree began to make short work of Mickey's chair

"Leave it! Get out!" Jackie agreed

Mickey saw sense and Gazelle hustled him out of the living room, then they both ran to join Rose in the spare room.

"No, leave 'im!" Jackie screeched, "Just leave 'im!"

"In here, now!" Gazelle called to her, and Jackie ran into the room, just as the tree began to spin through the hallway, shattering the glass partition in the process.

Mickey slammed the door shut, then he and Jackie pulled a wardrobe in front of it to try and block it.

"Doctor, wake up!" Rose cried, shaking the sleeping Doctor.

"Rose, no, leave him!" Gazelle warned, pulling out her sonic screwdriver.

"Can't you do somefink?" Rose shot back

"Working on it." the Time Lady answered, just as the wardrobe began to shake. "Get back!" she warned Jackie and Mickey, who both jumped back as the tree smashed through the wardrobe.

"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie whimpered as she cowered in the corner.

The tree continued to advance on them. Gazelle aimed her sonic at it and clicked it on, causing the tree to explode. "Everyone ok?" she asked the shaken Humans

"Yeah." they all answered

Gazelle answered the remains of the tree closely. "That was remote controlled." she observed, "But..."

"But who's controlling it?" a voice from behind her said, and she spun round to see the Doctor wide awake and beginning to get out of bed.

"Doctor, no. You should stay in bed." Gazelle warned, but the Doctor took no notice.

He threw on a dressing gown and strode grimly out onto the balcony, the others following him. Down below on the ground stood the three killer Father Christmases. "That's them." Mickey said, "What are they?"

The Doctor didn't answer, he just took Gazelle's sonic and pointed it at the band in a threatening way. They backed away, standing closer to each other. Then, they teleported themselves away.

"They've just gone!" Mickey breathed, "What kinda rubbish are they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's gonna scare 'em off."

"Pilot fish." the Doctor said darkly, handing Gazelle her sonic back.

"What?" Rose asked

"They were just pilot fish." the Doctor said, before suddenly coughing and throwing himself back against the wall, Gazelle managing to catch him before he could bang his head on the window sill.

"What's wrong?!" Rose asked worriedly

"He woke up too soon." Gazelle realised. "You're still brimming with regeneration energy." she said to the Doctor, who opened his mouth and another wisp of energy wafted out.

"The pilot fish could smell it." he panted, "A million miles away. So they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, an' they carry me off. They could run their batteries off me for a couple of years..." He lurched forward, groaning in pain. "Ah, my head! I'm 'aving a neuron implosion. I need..."

"What d'ya need?" Jackie asked frantically

"I need..."

"Say it, tell me, tell me..."

"I need..."

"Painkillers?"

"I need..."

"D'ya need aspirin?"

"I..."

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I dunno, pepto-bismol?"

"I need..."

"Liquid paraffin? Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"

"I need..."

"Is it food?" Jackie continued hysterically, "Somefink simple? Uh... a bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup an' a sandwich? Soup an' a little 'am sandwich?"

"I need you to shut up." the Doctor managed to get out.

"Oh, he 'asn't changed that much, 'as 'e?" Jackie rolled her eyes

The Doctor lurched forward again, leaning against the opposite wall. "We 'aven't got much time." he panted, "If there's pilot fish, then..." He reached into his dressing gown pocket and pulled out an apple. "Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?" he asked, momentarily forgetting the situation.

"Oh, that's Howard, sorry." Jackie replied

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

"What, 'e gets hungry in 'is sleep?"

"Sometime."

"Doctor." Gazelle cut in urgently, bringing them back on topic.

The Doctor groaned again and doubled over. "Brain... collapsing." he managed to get out, "But the pilot fish..." He grabbed onto Gazelle and leaned closer to her. "The pilot fish mean mean that somefink... somefink..."

"Something is what?" she urged

"Somefink is coming." the Doctor gasped out before he collapsed into unconsciousness again.

~8~

They soon had the Doctor back in bed. Rose was dabbing his forehead with a flannel, while Gazelle checked his heartrates again. "Only one heart beating now." she sighed, "Why couldn't he have listened to me? I was afraid this would happen."

Mickey entered the flat, his laptop tucked under his arm. He and Rose shared a concerned look, then he went into the living room. "Jackie, I'm usin' the phone line." he said as he set his laptop up, "Is that alright?"

"Yeah, keep a count of it." Jackie replied, cleaning up some of the mess the Christmas tree had made. "It's midnight." she realised, "Christmas day." Rose came in and plopped down on the settee. "Any change?" Jackie asked her.

"He's worse." Rose answered, "Gazelle said there's just one 'eart beatin'."

Jackie sighed and sat down in an armchair to watch the news on the telly, which was reporting on Guinevere One. "Scientists in charge of Britain's mission to Mars have re-established contact with the Guinevere One space probe." the newsreader announced, "They're expecting the first transmission from the planet's surface in the next few minutes."

The footage changed to show Daniel Llewellyn at a press conference; "Yes, we are. 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."

"But is it true you completely lost contact earlier tonight?" a reporter asked

"Yes, we had a bit of a scare." Llewellyn admitted, "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 any minute now. I'd better get back to it thanks."

"Here we go, pilot fish." Mickey called, and Rose came over to join him. "They're scavengers, like 'e said. Harmless, they're tiny, but the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish."

"D'ya mean like sharks?" Rose asked

"Great big sharks." Mickey confirmed, "So what the Doctor means is, we 'ad them... now we get that." His screen showed an animation of a shark snapping viciously

"Somefink is comin'..." Rose mused "How close?"

"There's no way of tellin', but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy." Mickey replied

"So it's close?"

"Funny sort of rocks." Jackie said, drawing their attention to the telly, which was showing a distorted image

"Those aren't rocks." Gazelle's voice said from behind them, and they turned to see her standing in the doorway before turning back to the telly.

The image steadily became clearer. "...coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning." the newsreader announced.

The image was thrown into clarity, revealing an alien with a skull-like face which roared viciously at the camera, causing the three Humans to jump back.

~8~

The news channels were soon talking about this revelation. "The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1." a BBC newsreader said

"On the 25th of December, the Human race has been shown absolute proof that alien life exists." Trinity Wells said on AMTV

"These remarkable images have been relayed right across the world." the newsreader on an Indian news channel finished.

Gazelle stopped flicking through the news channels and turned to Mickey. "Can you get us into the military?" she asked, "There's something coming and we need to know what and where it is."

"Sure, leave it to me." Mickey nodded and set to work, while Gazelle went to check up on the Doctor.

"Please come back to us soon, Theta." she said softly, stroking his face, "Aliens are coming and we don't know what their intentions are. We need you."

~8~

"I'm in." Mickey called after a few minutes, and Gazelle hurried back into the living room. "Rose, take a look. I've got access to the military." Rose got off the settee and rushed over to join them. "They're trackin' a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, an' it's comin' this way."

"Comin' for what?" Rose wandered "The Doctor?"

"Maybe." Gazelle replied thoughtfully, "Think about it: The Doctor's been spewing out regeneration energy and Earth sends out a probe. Those aliens would be interested and would want to see what was happening on this planet."

Just then, the image on the computer changed to a shot of four of the aliens. They all had skull-like heads and vicious red eyes. One of them began talking in their language, which wasn't translated by the TARDIS for some reason; "Gatz tak ka thaa! Ka zu me fedrok, ka zu me Sycorax!"

"Have you seen them before?" Mickey asked Gazelle

"I'm afraid not." she shook her head, "But I think those heads are just helmets."

"Adzeek. Kwadra fi peloodza." the alien continued, "Kwandra fi milzon bor. Zu pedra kayi. Zu bandak. Zu masak jal ban kulja kyyi sykora jak."

"Di-ga-gagh!" all four aliens chanted together.

"I don't know what they're sayin'." Rose frowned. "How come the TARDIS isn't translatin' it?" she asked Gazelle.

"The TARDIS is connected to the Doctor." the Time Lady replied, "Because he's out of it, some of the bond isn't working."

"Do you know what they're sayin'?" Mickey asked her

"No, but I can work it out." Gazelle replied and went back to the Doctor's room where Jackie was watching over him. "You should get some sleep, Jackie." Gazelle told her, "I'll keep an eye on him." So Jackie went off to bed, while Gazelle sat down beside the Doctor and took out a pen and notepad and began trying to work out what the aliens had said.

~8~

About an hour later, she called Rose and Mickey in. "I've worked out." she told them, "These aliens are called the Sycorax. They said '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.'"

"Sycorax rock?" Mickey raised a brow

"That's what they said." Gazelle answered, "I mean, I know I'm not as fluent in languages as the Doctor, but that's definitely what the Sycorax said."

"They will die." Rose frowned, "Who's they?"

"I don't know, but it's the right personal pronoun, it's they."

"So, what're we gonna do?" Rose asked

"We hope." Gazelle replied, "Mickey, how long til that ship gets here?"

Mickey ran back to check his computer then ran back. "About five hours." he said

"So, let's hope the Doctor wakes up in five hours." Gazelle sighed

"An' what if 'e doesn't?" Rose asked

"Then God help us all." Gazelle replied grimly.

~8~

The hours ticked away. Rose had gone to bed, while Gazelle sat by the Doctor's bedside keeping vigil and desperately trying to think of a plan, but she just didn't know what to do. She was out of her depth this time. "Please come back to us." she sighed to the comatose Doctor, "I don't know what to do. Earth needs you, I need you! I can't do this without your help."

"You love 'im, don't you?" Mickey said, leaning against the doorframe watching her.

Gazelle decided there was no point in denying it anymore. "Yes, I do." she replied earnestly, "He saved me. The last day of the Time War, I was lying in a barn, dying and cut off from the rest of my platoon. The Doctor found me, did what he had to do to end the war, then he took me into his TARDIS. We regenerated together and we've been travelling together for nearly 51 years." She leaned back in her chair, sighing heavily. "He's a wonderful man, Mickey. I know he's rude and somewhat arrogant, but that's just his way of coping everything he's lost, we've lost. Underneath all that are hearts of gold. He's always willing to help people and planets that are in trouble, even at risk to himself." Her voice started shaking and tears began to fall from her eyes. "Ya right, Mickey. I do love him. I've just never had the courage to tell him."

Mickey came over and hugged her, letting her cry into his shoulder. In that moment, he didn't see a time travelling alien with two hearts, he saw a young woman out of her depth, upset and in need of comforting.

~8~

Dawn began to rise over the United Kingdom. Everyone in the Tyler flat were now awake and just waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, they heard a neighbour shouting from outside; "What is wrong with you? Jason? Jason?"

Rose poked her head out of the front door. "Sandra?" she called to the neighbour

"He won't listen." Sandra replied, gesturing to her husband, who was walking the balcony with a blank look on his face and his eyes glazed and unfocused, as if he was in a trance. "There was this sort of... light thing. Jason, stop it!"

Gazelle, Rose and Mickey stepped out of the flat and looked around. Jason wasn't the only person affected. On the ground below there were dozens of people walking in a zombie-like fashion, their frantic loved ones pleading with them to stop.

The entranced people all marched upstairs to the roofs of the estate's high-rise buildings, then positioned themselves on the very edges of the rooftops, their loved ones trying to hold them back. "Jason, I'm talking to you!" Sandra pleaded in vain, "Just stop!"

Gazelle, Rose and Mickey hurried up to the roof of Bucknall House to see the entranced people all just standing and waiting and waiting, as if they were waiting.

Gazelle scanned some of them with her sonic. "It's the Sycorax." she realised, "They're controlling them by their blood somehow."

"Their blood?" Rose stared

"All these people are blood group A-positive." Gazelle explained, "The Sycorax must've somehow gotten their hands on some Human A-positive blood and are controlling it." Then she realised something else. "My God! About one third of Earth's population must be A-positive." she breathed in horror, "This is what the Sycorax meant when they said 'They will die.' These people, they're being used as a ransom."

"What do we do?" Mickey asked

"I don't know." Gazelle answered grimly, "The Doctor would probably think of something, but I'm not him. I haven't seen anything like this before. "

"So there's no one to save us." Rose sighed in defeat, "Not anymore."

~8~

The trio returned dejectedly to the Tyler Flat, where Harriet Jones was making an emergency broadcast on the telly; "Ladies and gentlemen... if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled." She turned to someone off-camera. "Did we ask about the royal family?" She received her answer and turned back to the camera. "They're on the roof. But, Ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor, if you're out there... we need you. I don't know what to do. But if you can hear me, Doctor... If anyone can find him... the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us."

Rose walked silently to the Doctor's room, hoping that somehow the appeal for help would cause him to wake up, but no luck. The Doctor just lay there, sleeping like a baby. "She's gone." Rose sobbed into her mother's shoulder, "The Doctor's gone. He's left us, mum. He's left us!"

"No, he's not." Gazelle tried to encourage, but it was a weak effort, "He'll be alright, he just needs time." But she knew that time was one thing that they didn't have.

Suddenly, all the windows in the flat shattered, showering the floor with glass, while the whole building shook. "What's 'appening'?!" Jackie cried

"Sonic wave." Gazelle realised, "It's the Sycorax, they've hit the atmosphere."

They all ran outside and looked up at the sky. A massive, island-shaped spaceship loomed over Central London, blocking out the sun. People could only stare up at it open-mouthed.

"We're out of time." Gazelle said gravely. She knew that there was only one thing she could do now.

~8~

Gazelle led Mickey and the Tylers back to the flat and into the Doctor's bedroom. "Right, Rose , Mickey, we're gonna carry him." she said, throwing the blanket off the Doctor, "Jackie, get ya stuff and some food, we're going."

"Where to?" Mickey asked

"The TARDIS." Gazelle told him, "We're gonna get help."

"Where from?" Rose asked

"The Shadow Proclamation." Gazelle replied, "They're an outer space police. If I tell 'em what's happening here, they'll intervene."

"Is that it?!" Rose asked incredulously

"I don't know what else to do." Gazelle told her, "The Doctor's not gonna wake up anytime soon and I can't stop the Sycorax by myself. We have to get outside help. Now, c'mon, help me!" She heaved the Doctor up and took his shoulders, Rose hurrying over and taking his legs. "Mickey, you get the doors." Gazelle instructed.

The trio carried the Doctor out of the front door. Jackie followed them, struggling with several shopping bags. She dropped one and tried to pick it up again. "Mum, will ya just leaved that stuff an' give us a 'and?!" Rose shouted.

"It's food!" Jackie shot back, "She need we need f..."

"Just leave it!" Rose snapped

Jackie put some of the bags down and helped them carry the Doctor down the stairs and across the estate to where the TARDIS was. They carried him through the doors and carefully put him down on the floor, then Gazelle went to the console to get the box warmed up.

"So, this Shadow police thing. How're they gonna help deal wiv these guys?" Mickey asked

"Well, they'll probably send a platoon of Judoon to deal with them." Gazelle replied, fiddling with the controls.

Jackie pulled a thermos out of her bag. "Right, 'ere we go. Nice cup of tea." she said

"Oh, the solution to everyfink." Rose grumbled

"Now, stop ya moanin'." Jackie shot back, giving Mickey the thermos, "I'll get the rest of the food."

"Alright, but be quick." Gazelle called as Jackie ran out

"Tea." Mickey remarked, pouring himself some, "Like we're 'aving a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British." He looked at the monitor. "How does this thing work?" he asked Gazelle, "If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's goin' on out there. Maybe we've surrendered."

"Hang on, I'll just tune it in." Gazelle replied, pressing a few buttons.

~8~

Outside, Jackie came out of Bucknall House carrying two shopping bags. She began to walk towards the TARDIS when the box was suddenly teleported away in a blue flash. "Rose!" Jackie shouted out to thin air.

~8~

Blissfully unaware of this, Gazelle, Rose and Mickey were listening to a bleeping sound coming out of the monitor. "What is that?" Mickey asked, "Is it a distress signal?"

"Fat lot of good that's gonna do." Rose muttered dejectedly

"Are you gonna be a misery all the time?" Mickey rounded on her

"Yes."

"You should look at it from my point of view." Mickey remarked, "Stuck in 'ere wiv ya mother's cookin'."

"Where is Jackie anyway?" Gazelle frowned, "She's been gone longer than she should've been."

"I'd better go an' give 'er a 'and." Rose said, moving to the doors, "It might start raining missiles out there."

"Tell 'er anyfink from a tin, that's fine." Mickey called after her

"Why don't ya tell 'er yourself?" Rose retorted as she began to step outside

"I'm not that brave." Mickey smirked, beginning to drink his tea

"Oh, I dunno. I think you're a brave man, Mickey." Gazelle assured him.

Suddenly, they heard Rose scream from outside. "ROSE!" they both yelled and ran to the doors, Mickey dropping his thermos in the process, which landed on the grilling next to the Doctor and tea began to dribble out.

Gazelle and Mickey rushed outside to see that the TARDIS had been transported to the Sycorax ship. The interior of the ship looked like an ancient coliseum-like arena, with thousands of Sycorax lining the rows, while Harriet Jones and a man who Gazelle guessed was her aide were standing in the centre in front of two more Sycorax. Rose was being dragged towards them by another Sycorax. Gazelle managed shut the TARDIS door before a Sycorax grabbed her, while another grabbed Mickey.

~8~

The Doctor was left alone in the TARDIS, still lifeless on the floor. Tea continued to dribble out of the thermos and through the grilling. It dripped onto the machinery, which began to heat it up.

~8~

Gazelle, Rose and Mickey were dragged over to the centre of the area, where the Sycorax leader was standing. He had removed his helmet, revealing a skeletal, red-skinned face made of bone and muscle. He yelled something with glee and the onlookers cheered.

"Rose!" Harriet cried, rushing forward and grabbing Rose, "I've got you! Oh, you precious thing." Then she noticed the Time Lady. "Gazelle! Is the Doctor with you?"

"He is, but he's in no fit state to help us." Gazelle replied grimly, noticing two charred skeletons on the floor, no doubt victims of the Sycorax. "We're on our own."

~8~

Inside the TARDIS, the vapours caused by the dripping tea rose from beneath the grilling and surrounded the Doctor's head, making it's way into his airways. He took a deep breath in his sleep, opened his mouth and another wisp of energy escaped.

~8~

The Sycorax leader stepped forward and pointed at Gazelle. "Vos koonok." he yelled, "Del panja zu krimit tak saya. Vol, kufa zu pendis."

Harriet's aide looked at a device in his hand. "'The warrior girl, she has the clever blue box.'" he translated, "'Therefore, she speaks for your planet.'"

"But she can't!" Harriet protested. She'd seen for herself that the Sycorax had no mercy. When they'd been teleported up to the ship, Daniel Llewellyn had given a passionate plea for compassion to the Sycorax and the leader had responded by simply reducing him to a skeleton with an energy whip.

"Well, it looks I've got no choice." Gazelle swallowed, stepping forward.

"Don't you dare!" Rose warned

"Rose, look around you." Gazelle told her seriously, "One third of the population is being held to ransom and the Doctor's still out of it. Someone's gotta step up and do something."

"But they'll kill you!" Harriet told her

"Yes, I don't doubt that, but it's never stopped the Doctor, so it won't stop me." Gazelle said determinedly and took a few steps towards the Sycorax leader. She took a deep death and spoke; "People of the Sycorax, this is a level 5 planet protected by article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. You have no right to invade this planet and hold it's population hostage. Now I am ordering you to cease your hostile actions and leave this planet immediately, or I will be forced to stop you."

There was a few seconds of stunned silence, then all the Sycorax burst out laughing raucously. The leader began yelling at Gazelle, which Harriet's aide translated; "'You are very, very funny. And you you're going to die.'"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Harried demanded, lurching forward.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Mickey roared, he and Rose also lurching forward.

"LEAVE 'ER ALONE!" Rose bellowed.

All three were restrained by the Sycorax. The leader continued to speak to Gazelle, circling her. "'Who are you to threaten us?'" Harriet's aide translated, "'We are the Sycorax. We stride the darkness. Next to us, you are but a wailing child. If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion...'"

"Ah, but I'm not from this planet." Gazelle replied coolly, but the leader just ignored her and monologued over her.

"Then your world will be gutted..." he sneered, suddenly switching to English.

"'... your world will be gutted.'" the aide translated

"... and your people enslaved." the leader continued

"'... and your people enslaved.'" the aide translated, then realised; "Hold on, that's English."

"He's talking English." Harriet blinked

"You're talkin' English." Rose said to the leader

"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!" he spat angrily

"That is definitely English." Gazelle said and turned to the others, "Can all of you hear English?"

"Yeah, that's English." Mickey agreed

"Definitely English." the aide added

"I speak only Sycoraxic!" the leader roared angrily

"If we can 'ear English..." Rose realised

"... then the translation matrix must be working again." Gazelle finished, "Which means..."

They all turned to face the TARDIS. The doors opened to reveal the Doctor standing there, wide awake and looking fit and healthy. "Did ya miss me?" he smiled. The Sycorax leader roared in fury and lashed his whip at the Doctor, who simply caught the end and yanked it out of the leader's grip. "You could 'ave someone's eye out with that." he remarked as he tossed it away.

"How dare you!" the leader roared and tried to attack the Doctor with a wooden staff, but the Doctor just snatched it from him and snapped it in two across his knee.

"You just can't get the staff." he joked, chucking the broken pieces away. "Now you, just wait. I'm busy." he told the leader sternly and turned to the prisoners. "Mickey! 'ello!" he greeted cheerfully, "An' Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This is your life." He turned to Rose. "Tea! That's all I needed. A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals an' tannin. Just the thing for 'ealing the synapses..." he turned to Gazelle "Now... first things first... be 'onest. How do I look?"

"Handsome." she smiled

"Am I... ginger?" the Doctor asked, deadly serious.

"No, you've got brown hair." she told him

"Aww, I wanted to be ginger." the Doctor moaned, "I've never been ginger." He turned back to Rose, pointing at her violently. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me! Oh, that's rude." he realised, "Is that the sort of man I am now? Rude an' not ginger."

"I'm sorry, who is this?" Harriet cut in

"I'm the Doctor." the Time Lord replied casually

"But what happened to my Doctor?" Harriet asked Gazelle, "Or is it a title that's just passed on?"

"No, he's him. Literally him." Gazelle told her, "New body, same person."

"But he can't be..." Harriet stared in disbelief

"Harriet Jones." the Doctor said to her, "We were trapped in Downing Street, an' the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens... wasn't the war... it was the fought of your mother being on her own."

"Oh, my God!" Harriet realised, accepting the truth.

"Did you win the election?" the Doctor asked

"Landside majority." she smiled

"Oh, fantas..." the Doctor began, but tailed off, realising that he couldn't say 'fantastic' anymore. "Hold on, fantas..." He tried a few more times then gave up. "I can't say it anymore." he sighed, "Must be the teeth. Aw, I liked that word. What am I gonna say now? Brilliant? Excellent? Nah. Superb. Marvellous? Molto bene? Oh, I dunno. Let's just settle for very, very good. Yes, that's very, very good." he said to Harriet.

"If I might interupt..." the Sycorax leader cut in, drawing everyone's attention back to him.

"Yes! Sorry! Hello, big fella." the Doctor said cheerfully

"Who exactly are you?"

"Well, that's the question." the Doctor shrugged

"I demand to know who you are!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" the Doctor mimicked the leader, then went back to a cheerful tone; "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I... I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested." he walked around, addressing everyone "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" He looked at Gazelle. "Sexy?" he winked cheerfully at her, causing her to turn her head away, blushing slightly. "Right old misery?" the Doctor continued, walking around the room, "Life an' soul? Right-handed, left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judgin' by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob. An' how am I gonna react when I see this?" He turned to a device nearby. "A great big threatenin' button." He ran up to it, laughing. "A Great Big Threatenin' Button Which Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances. Am I right? Let me guess, it's some sort of control matrix? Hmm? Hold on, what's feedin' it?" He bent down and opened a panel on the side. Behind the panel was a pot full of red liquid. "And what've we got 'ere? Blood?" He dipped his finger in it and tasted it. "Yep, definitely blood. Human blood. A-positive. Wiv a dash of iron." He waggled his tongue around at the nasty taste and wiped his finger on his dressing gown.

"So that's how they're doing it." Gazelle realised. "They're controlling everyone on Earth with A-positive blood." she explained to the Doctor.

"Blood control!" the Doctor grinned, "Oh, I 'aven't seen blood control for years." He turned to the Sycorax leader. "You're controllin' all the A-positives!" The leader's grimace faltered slightly. "Which leaves us wiv a great big, stinkin' problem." the Doctor continued, "Cos'... I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a Great Big Threatenin' Button Which Should Never Ever Be Pressed... then I just wanna do this!" And he whacked the button hard.

"NO!" the Humans yelled.

~8~

On the Powell Estate's rooftops, the transfixed A-positives took a step forward... and then they all snapped out of their trance and realised where they were.

"What the 'ell am I doing up 'ere?" Jason stared

"Get away from the edge!" a relieved Sandra said, and everyone hastily retreated from the edge, staring at the spaceship overhead.

~8~

"You killed them!" Harriet's aide cried

The Doctor seemed completely unfazed. "What do you fink, big fella?" he said to the Sycorax leader, "Are they dead?"

"We allow them to live." the leader grunted

"Allow?" the Doctor scoffed, "You've got no choice! I mean, that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis... you can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis, but ya can't hypnotise 'em to death. Survival instinct's too strong."

"Blood control was just one form of conquest." the leader growled, "I can summon the armada and take this world by force."

"Well, yeah, ya could, yeah, you could do that." the Doctor shrugged, "But why? Look at these people." He gestured to the Humans, speaking passionately. "These Human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet, an' blinkin' step into the sun. There is more to see than can every be seen. More to do than... no, 'old on." He paused, thinking. "Sorry, that's The Lion King. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"

"Or what?" the leader snarled

"Or... The Doctor grabbed a sword from the Sycorax guarding Gazelle and the others, then ran down the steps onto the empty floor space in front of the TARDIS and held the sword up in the air. "I challenge you." The Sycorax all burst out laughing again. "Ooh, that's struck a chord." the Doctor commented, "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"

The leader unsheathed his sword. "You stand as this world's champion."

"Thank you." the Doctor said, shrugging off his dressing gown, "I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." He tossed his dressing gown to Gazelle, who caught it. "So... d'y accept my challenge? Or are you a cranak pel casacree salvak?"

That seemed to anger the leader. He raised his sword in the air and the other Sycorax cheered, then the leader and the Doctor kneeled by their swords. "For the planet?" the leader growled

"For the planet." the Doctor replied

They stood up and faced each other, holding their swords at the ready. Then they ran at each other and the fight began. After a few seconds, the Doctor was thrown aside and the leader laughed. The Doctor, however, straightened himself up and they began to fight again, their blades clanging and crashing against each other furiously. The Doctor was trying hard, but the leader was more agile and began forcing the Doctor back across the room.

"Look out!" Rose warned as the leader took a swing at the Doctor's feet.

"Oh, yeah, that 'elped. Wouldn't 'ave fought of that, thanks." the Doctor retorted as he dodged the blow. He managed to get a blow at the leader, which enraged him further and retaliated, forcing the Doctor back against the wall "Bit of fresh air?" the Doctor said, hitting a button and an airlock opened, leading to a platform on the outside of the ship.

They continued the fight on the platform, Gazelle, Rose, Mickey, Harriet, her aide and a few of the Sycorax following them. The swash-buckling continued. The leader managed to catch the Doctor in the face with the hilt of his sword, causing him to fall to his knees. Rose began to run forward, but Gazelle held her back. "No! If we invalidate the challenge, the Sycorax win the planet." she told her.

The Doctor recovered and he and the leader charged at each other, clashing swords. They both grimaced with the effort, and the Doctor was knocked backwards to the ground. Taking advantage, the leader slashed at the Doctor's right wrist, slicing his hand clean off. It fell down towards London far below. The Doctor watched it drop, then looked back at the leader, looking rather stunned and annoyed. "You cut my 'and off."

"Jah! Sycorax!" the leader crowed, raising his sword in triumph.

The Doctor got to his feet, not bothered about his severed limb at all. "An' now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky, cos' quite by chance... I'm still within the first 15 hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy... to do this." He held up the stump of his arm, and right before everyone's eyes, his right hand grew right back.

"Witchcraft!" the leader spluttered

"Time Lord." the Doctor answered back

Rose took one of the Sycorax's swords. "Doctor!" she called and tossed it to him.

The Doctor caught it by the hilt and spun it round. "Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he remarked

"No arguments from me!" Rose smiled

"I never doubted it." Gazelle grinned

The Doctor turned back to the leader. "Wanna know the best bit? This new hand..." He put on a Texan accent. "Is a fightin' hand!"

And with that, the Doctor ran at the leader and the duel recommenced. They clashed swords for a few more moments, then the Doctor jabbed the leader hard in the stomach with the hilt of his sword. He repeated this action twice more, causing the leader to fall to the ground.

"I win." the Doctor said, pointing his sword at the leader's throat.

"Then kill me." the leader groaned

"I'll spare you life if you'll take this champion's command: leave this planet, an' never return. What d'ya say?"

"Yes."

"Swear on the blood of your species." the Doctor growled, jabbing the sword closer.

"I swear."

The Doctor pulled his sword away. "There we are, then!" he said lightly, "Thanks for that. Cheers, big fella!" He jabbed the sword into the deck.

"Bravo!" Harriet applauded

"That says it all. Bravo!" Rose beamed while Gazelle went over to the Doctor and handed him his dressing gown.

"Not bad for a man in 'is jim jams." the Doctor said, slipping it on.

"Very Arthur Dent." Gazelle smiled

"Now, there was a nice man." the Doctor remarked, "Hold on, what've I got in 'ere?" He reached into his pocket. "A satsuma." He pulled the said piece of fruit out of his pocket. "Ah, that friend of ya mother's." he said to Rose, "He does like 'is snacks, doesn't 'e? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?" They began to walk towards the airlock, the Doctor tossing the satsuma in the air and catching it. "You go through all those presents an' right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?"

Suddenly, the Sycorax leader got to his feet and picked up his sword, ready to charge. Without even turning around, the Doctor chucked the satsuma at a switch on the side of the ship, causing the section of deck beneath the leader to open, sending him plummeting to his death.

"No second chances." the Doctor said darkly, "I'm that sort of man." He led the way back inside the ship and addressed the remaining Sycorax; "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge 'ere for the rest of time. An' when you go back to the stars an' tell others of this planet... when you tell them of it's riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure you tell 'em this: it is defended."

~8~

The Sycorax took the hint and the Time Lords, Humans and TARDIS were all teleported back to the ground, appearing on a London street. "Where are we?" Rose asked

"We're just off Bloxom Road." Mickey answered. "We're just round the corner, we did it!" he cheered, jumping up and down with glee.

"Wait a minute..." the Doctor cautioned, looking at the sky, "Wait a minute."

They all watched as the Sycorax ship took flight back into space.

"Well, that's seen them off." Gazelle smiled

"Yeah! Don't come back!" Rose cheered, jumping onto Mickey's back.

"It is defended!" Mickey added and they laughed happily.

Rose jumped off Mickey's back and hugged him, then she ran over to Harriet's aide and hugged him, much to his bemusement. The Doctor and Harriet faced each other. Harriet raised her arms, grinning. "My Doctor." she beamed

"Prime Minister." the Doctor reciprocated and they both hugged

"Absolutely the same man." Harriet said, then they turned to look up at the sky. "Are there many more out there?" Harriet asked

"Oh, not just Sycorax." the Doctor replied casually, "Hundreds of species. Thousands of 'em. An' the Human race is drawin' attention to itself. Everyday you're sendin' out probes an' messages an' signals, this planet's so noisy. You're gettin' noticed... more an' more. Ya'd better get used to it." he finished.

At that moment, Jackie came round the corner. "ROSE!" she yelled

"MUM!" Rose yelled back, running over to her.

"Oh, talkin' of trouble." the Doctor muttered

"Oi, be nice." Gazelle playfully scolded

Rose and Jackie launched themselves at each other and shared a relieved hug. "Oh, my God! You did it, Rose!" Jackie breathed, "Oh!"

"You did too!" Rose told her, "It was the tea. Fixed 'is 'ead!"

"That was all I needed, good cuppa tea." the Doctor said as he and Gazelle joined them.

"I said so!" Jackie gloated to Rose

"Look at 'im!" Rose smiled happily, gesturing to the Doctor.

"Is it 'im, though?" Jackie asked, "Is 'e really the Doctor?" Then she noticed Harriet. "Oh, my God! It's the bleedin' Prime Minister!"

"Come 'ere, you." the Doctor grinned, throwing his arms out and he, Gazelle, Rose, Mickey and Jackie all shared a group hug.

"Aw...! Are ya better?" Jackie asked the Doctor as they broke apart.

"Well, yeah." the Doctor replied and they all chatted happily, none of them noticing Harriet's aide approach her.

"It's a message from Torchwood." he said, "They say they're ready."

Harriet closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, watching the happy group a short way away. The Doctor gave her a brief smile, which she feebly tried to return, then turned back to her aide; "Tell them to fire."

The aide spoke into his earpiece; "Fire at will."

Huge bolts of green energy shot out of five points on the ground and converged in mid-air to form one enormous bolt of energy, which shot out into space and hit the retreating Sycorax ship, destroying it.

"What is that?" Rose gasped, "What's 'appenin'?"

The Doctor didn't answer, he just walked over to Harriet, outraged. "That was murder." he growled.

"That was defence." Harriet argued, "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that crashed to Earth 10 years ago."

"But they were leaving!" Gazelle pointed out, "They're surrendered, they weren't a threat anymore."

"The Doctor said himself they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth." Harriet countered, "I'm sorry, but you two aren't here all the time. You come and go. It happened today, Mr Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping, Doctor. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."

"I'm sorry about those two deaths, Harriet." Gazelle said reasonably, "But that doesn't justify murdering over a thousand Sycorax. That wasn't defence, you just wanted revenge."

"I gave 'em the wrong warnin'." the Doctor scowled, "I should've told 'em to run, as fast as they can, run an' hide cos' the monsters are comin': the Human race."

"Those are the people I represent." Harriet said defiantly, "I did it on their behalf."

"Then we should've stopped you." the Doctor snarled

"And what does that make you two?" Harriet challenged, "Another alien threat?"

"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones." the Doctor spat, stepping angrily towards her, "Cos' I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your government wiv a single word."

"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met." Harriet said coolly, "But I don't think you're quite capable of that."

"No, ya right, not a single word." the Doctor said, looking down at her, "More like six."

"I don't think so."

"Six words."

"Stop it!"

"Six." the Doctor reinforced and they stared at each other for a few seconds, a battle of wills. Then the Doctor walked around her and approached the aide. "Don't you fink she looks tired?" he whispered in the aide's ear, then he took Gazelle's hand and they walked off, Mickey and the Tylers following, all ignoring Harriet's cries to tell her what the Doctor had said.

~8~

That evening, the Doctor was in the TARDIS wardrobe choosing a new outfit for himself. After rummaging through innumerable options, he eventually settled on a brown suit with blue pinstripes. For footwear, he chose a pair of white converse high tops, and finished his outfit off with a brown duster coat. Once dressed and happy with his new look, he headed back to the console room, where Gazelle was lounging in the jump seat listening to some Christmas songs. "What d'ya fink? he asked, gesturing to his outfit.

"Love it." Gazelle replied, "Very geek-chic."

The Doctor was happy at that, then he noticed in her eyes that something was troubling her. "What's wrong?" he asked

"Nothing." she waved him off

"Remii, I know when somefink's troubling you. Just tell me."

Gazelle sighed. "I was just thinking. How useless I was while you were out of things. Harriet had a point. The Sycorax tried to enslave the Earth and I did nothing to stop them."

"You weren't useless." the Doctor reassured her, "Don't forget, you were the one who stopped that tree, you never gave up, even when Rose did, an' you stood up to the Sycorax. I 'eard everyfink while I was sleepin'."

"Everything?"

"Yep."

"Even what I said to Mickey?"

"Every single word."

Gazelle shifted uncomfortably. "I was scared, Theta. I was beginning to think you'd never recover, but I had stay strong for Rose's benefit. I was afraid of being alone. I do love you, Theta. You're the most amazing, wonderful man, and I though I'd never get the chance to tell you."

The Doctor sat down beside her and took her hand, looking deep into her eyes, her confession giving him the courage to say what his previous body had never been brave enough to say. "I love you too, Remii. You're beautiful, kind an' caring, an' you've been my rock for the last 50 years. There's been times when the darkness 'as nearly consumed me, an' then you pull me back. I've felt somefink for ya for a while now. Just never could bring say so." He stood up and pressed a button on the console. Fairy-tale of New York by the Pogues & Kirsty MacColl began to play. "Fancy a dance?" he asked, offering her his hand.

Gazelle took it and the two Time Lords danced around the console room to the song. As the song reached it's rousing climax, they began to drift closer to each other, then their lips met and they kissed. Time stood still around them as they stood there in each other's arms, locked in a loving embrace.

~8~

In the Tyler flat, Rose, Jackie and Mickey fussed around preparing Christmas dinner. Rose looked round as the front door opened and the Doctor and Gazelle walked in, arms wrapped round each other and their faces glowing happily. Rose grinned, realising that the Time Lords had finally admitted their feelings for each other.

Christmas dinner turned out to be a happy occasion. Despite the Doctor and Mickey's scepticism, it turned out that Jackie could cook a fantastic turkey that went down well with everyone. As they were tucking in, Rose noticed something on the telly; "Look, it's Harriet Jones!"

They all turned to the telly, which was showing Harriet Jones being grilled by the media. "Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?" a journalist asked

"No." Harriet shot back, "Now, can we talk about other things?"

The Doctor slipped on a pair of thick-rimmed glasses and stared sternly at the telly

"Is it true you're unfit for office?" the journalist continued to probe.

"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health!" an exasperated Harriet shot back, "I don't know where these stories are coming from! And a vote of no confidence... is completely unjustified."

The phone rang and Jackie went into the kitchen to answer it.

"Are you going to resign?" the journalist continued to pester Harriet.

"On today of all days, I'm fine!" Harriet snapped, getting frustrated, "Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine..."

Jackie came back in. "It's Bev. She says go an' look outside." she said.

"Why?" Rose questioned

"I dunno, just go outside." Jackie shrugged, "Come on, shift!" And so they all got up.

~8~

They all went outside to find it snowing and shooting stars in the sky. The Humans all looked around in wonder and delight. "Oh, that's beautiful." Rose breathed, "What are they, meteors?"

"It's the spaceship breakin' up in the atmosphere." the Doctor replied, "This isn't snow, it's ash."

"Ok, not so beautiful." Rose mumbled lamely

"Had to take the fun out of it, didn't ya?" Gazelle remarked, nudging the Doctor playfully.

"An' this is a brand new planet Earth." the Doctor continued, "No denyin' the existence of aliens now, everyone saw it. Everyfink's new."

"An' what about you?" Rose asked, "What're you two gonna do?"

"Well... back to the TARDIS wiv this lovely lady here." the Doctor replied, slipping his left arm around Gazelle's waist, "Same old life."

"Just the two of ya?" Rose asked tentatively

"Why, don't ya wanna come?" the Doctor asked back

"Well, yeah."

"Do you, though?" Gazelle asked sincerely

"Yeah!"

"I just fought... cos' I changed..." the Doctor began

"Yeah, I... I fought, cos' ya changed, an' you two're together now, ya might not want me to come." Rose said

"Oh, we'd love ya to come." the Doctor said sincerely

"Yeah, you're our best friend, Rose." Gazelle added, "And the sister I never had."

"Ok!" Rose laughed, feeling much happier.

"Ya never gonna stay, are you?" Mickey said quietly, looking at the ground.

"There's jus' so much out there." Rose told him, "So much to see... I've got to..."

"Yeah." Mickey nodded, not happy, but accepting that his Rose was well and truly gone.

"Well, I reckon ya mad." Jackie commented to the three time travellers, "The three of ya. It's like ya go lookin' for trouble."

"Trouble's just the bits in-between." the Doctor said casually, "It's all waitin' out there, Jackie. Everyfink's brand new to me. All those planets... creatures an' horizons... I 'aven't seem 'em yet, not wiv these eyes. An it is gonna be... fantastic!" he said to Rose, offering her his right hand.

"That 'and of yours still gives me the creeps." Rose laughed, pointing at it as the Doctor wiggled his fingers. She took it and the trio stood close together. "So, where're we gonna go first?"

"Um... that way." the Doctor replied, pointing to a spot in the night sky.

"Nah, let's try that way." Gazelle countered, pointing to a spot to the right of where the Doctor had pointed.

"That way it is, then." the Doctor smiled and kissed her on the side of the head.

Rose watched them happily. Her two best friends were finally together as a couple. Just as it should be.

Author's notes: And that's V2 of The Christmas Invasion. And on this note, we've reached the end of this rewrite of A Trip of a Lifetime. I hope you've all enjoyed this rewrite. I certainly enjoyed writing it. After series 5, revisiting series 1 was the perfect rest cure. A point to note, I decided to have Gazelle be the one to address the Sycorax this time as I felt it made more sense for her than Rose. In regards to future plans, I'm gonna take a week off writing, and then I'm gonna do a rewrite of The Weary Travellers, as I feel that that story could be better in places, so I'm gonna work on that. I'd like to thank Maethorial Artemis for beta-reading this story and to everyone who's followed and favourited this story. Goodbye for now!