My Ghosts Come Back

by AuthorA97

Donna Blipping Noble. She can feel something coming. Bigger than any of them. The Doctor is more worried about the Time Lady than ever. There's River Song, and Jenny, and so many other people that when Rose shows up Terra isn't even surprised. (Part 5 of Fallen Star Series!)

2. Voyage of the Damned

He pushed a button...

...then immediately crashed the TARDIS again.

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed. A ship's horn went off. That didn't help anything. "What! What?"

"Does that floaty say Titanic?!" A beat. "I wanna see!"

"Wait!" The Doctor called out. He went up to the console. He pushed various levers and knobs. I went to pick up the floaty.

The floaty was so disgusting. It was awesome. This was definitely going up in my room. Right? Back in the TARDIS, I had my old room again. Well not Terra Two's old room, this was my old room on the TARDIS. I should have it back. In a minute, I was gonna go check.

The Doctor turned back time. The hole in the TARDIS patched herself up. She was giggling in my mind. The TARDIS, giggling again. It wasn't exactly giggling, more like what you expect giggling to sound like from fairies on a breeze. She laughed at his driving too.

Ah man, the floaty went away!

"Terra?" He prompted. I looked up. The Doctor flipped another switch, carefully moving himself so I couldn't see it. "Wanna take a look?"

"Always, Doctor!"

He wanted to go on an adventure. His best friend just died and my...our companion just left, he wanted to go on an adventure. Not that I didn't agree, I wanted an adventure like a fish needs water. Normal people might've said something about timing.

The Doctor held up his arm. Giddy, I wrapped mine in his. Together we stepped out from the TARDIS.

"We're in a broom cupboard again." I giggled.

"Oh have we? We certainly did." The Doctor replied. "That's still working then." He turned his head to me. Both of us breaking out into goggles.

We both stepped out from the broom closet onto the Titanic. People were milling about in their fanciest dress. I spotted Astrid serving drinks to Mr Slade, Bannakaffalatta walking and talking with two pretty girls. The Angels were also standing in place and ready. Everything was more than a little offsetting...unless you were me.

This was familiar.

This was good.

This was relaxing.

The Doctor guided me throughout the dining hall. We saw all the fancy people, ourselves walking about like we owned something. I certainly owned the floaty, hanging up on the wall like it hadn't been in my arms a minute ago. The Angels gave us a hard disquieting stare. Which we promptly ignored.

Instead the Doctor took me to look out a window.

"Right." The Doctor nodded to himself.

"Ooo! It's so pretty." I cheered. Earth and space itself did look beautiful from up here, much better view than the Valiant could've given.

"Attention all passengers. The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol Three, also known as Earth. Population, Human. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."

==MGCB==

After the Doctor found out what this ship actually was, he decided it was the right time for a wardrobe change. The fact that it was changed nothing. Even broken clocks are right twice a day.

He went off to the TARDIS closet, I wandered off to my room.

My old room.

My TARDIS room.

The room was still the same. Everything about it like my room in the Haven. Spacious living area connected to a queen sized bed, and a tiny little kitchen with a bar. There was a window that looked out into space, supernovas and constellations and so much more.

It was like home.

Thankfully the closet was in here too. My closet was intact of all the copies of my usual dress- my favorite dress. In addition it had the holiday dress.

Together we stepped out of the TARDIS as fancy as we wanted.

Him in his usual bad luck tux, me in a Christmas dress.

I was in a more Christmas version of my usual dress. The pink of the bodice was bright red, the blue of the skirt was dark green, and the sleeves were just brighter and lacey. My bowtie was dark green as well, and the boots were also bright red. The most Christmassy dress I could make.

The Doctor stared at my wildly colored dress in confusion. "Why are you wearing that?"

"You're right. I look ridiculous." Reaching into my Bag, I reached for the final accessory. When I found it I unveiled it with flourish. "This is a special occasion!"

With a flick of my fingers the hat popped up. This was a fairly modest top hat- not a High-Silk. Nah this was the hat a frog could wear to sing 'baby my honey'. Not only that, it was the same first-snow white as the sleeves.

"Tada!" I cheered. Dropping the hat on my hat, I adjusted it so it would stay on. Lucky me I'd searched so hard for this hat!

The Doctor laughed. "You actually have a top hat!"

"Of course I have a top hat! I'm not a hooligan!" I replied, scandalized. "Hats were for special occasions. We agreed."

The Doctor laughed again. "That we did, that we did." He held his arm up again. "Lady Terra?"

I took the arm. "Sir Doctor."

"Don't call me 'sir'. Shall we partake in the festivities?"

"Of course."

Together, we walked out into the party proper. Earth Christmas music was coming from the speakers. My red boots tapped at the ground to the beat.

The Doctor walked us to a podium. It started to play the commercial for the ship.

"Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. The fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max."

"I don't like him." I stated.

"Let's hold off on judgement." The Doctor advised.

"He used his golden tooth for a sparkle gag. How is that not suspicious?" I asked.

The Doctor made a face. His 'that's actually a good point I'll keep it in mind' face, the heavy pout with a nod of the head. The face was so familiar...I hadn't seen any of his 'faces' for almost three years. Would that anyone be excited to see them again?

The face was so funny too.

A steward bowed their head at us. "Merry Christmas, sir, miss."

"Merry Christmas." The Doctor cheered.

"Merry Christmas." I tipped my hat to them.

As we explored the party, the Christmas music was louder. I hummed a few bars, twirling the toe of my boot. The Doctor was smiling the whole time, silently giggling at my antics.

It felt good to make someone smile again.

Slade walked by us. He didn't notice us. "It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my vone. Now do as I say and sell."

'What a rude thing to do on vacation.'

'Agreed. We're not on vacation though, let's check it out.'

'Yeah. It's never something good when you wear that tux.'

'It was a coincidence, I swear.'

The Doctor walked us over to an Angel Host. I smiled, ignoring that they would try to kill me in an hour. "Evening. Passenger fifty seven and eight. Terrible memories. Remind me. You would be?"

"Information." The Host locked up, his jaw lowering and rising in a mockery of talking. "Heavenly Host supplying tourist information."

"Good, so, tell me, because I'm an idiot, where are we from?" The Doctor asked.

"Information. The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures." The Host answered.

"Titanic. Who thought of the name?" The Doctor asked it.

"Information. It was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth."

"They can play Earth Christmas tunes. They must have access to their stories." I reasoned. "Did no one tell you why it was famous?"

"Information." The Host replied. "All designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, president of Max, Max, Max-" It glitched out.

The repetition reminded me of Donna. I didn't like thinking about that.

The Chief Steward rushed over. He tended to the Host. Just in time, as the Doctor was about to bring out the sonic.

"Ooo, bit of a glitch." The Doctor noted.

"Is it alright?" I asked the Chief Steward.

"Yes it is, miss, sir, we can handle this." He assured us, lying through his teeth.

Two more Stewards came over. They took the Host with them, deactivating it as they left.

"Software problem, that's all." The Chief Steward continued.

'Bet it's not.'

'I'm never taking a bet with you again.'

'Ten bucks?'

'Not in this tux.'

'You admit it's cursed!'

"Leave it with us, sir, miss. Merry Christmas." He gave a parting smile, waking off with his coworkers. "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?"

The Doctor and I exchanged a look. "So no bet?"

"It's a suckers bet." The Doctor replied.

I pouted. "You're no fun."

"You mean I'm not a sucker." The Doctor countered.

"You're right, I don't like it." I replied, pouting harder.

The Doctor just chuckled. Our good feelings were shattered by the sounds of breaking glass.

(Hahaha...shattered, breaking glass, hahaha)

Slade was glaring at Astrid. He pulled his vone back to yell at her. The poor Stewardess was cleaning up the broken glass. "For Tov's sake, look where you're going. This jacket's a genuine Earth antique."

"I'm sorry, sir." She replied meekly.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart." Slade warned. "Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn's going down the drain." He stormed off in a huff.

"Disgusting." I huffed.

The Doctor gave me a small nod. "Yeah, let's not go after him."

"Nobody would even know it was me." I replied. I'm good like that.

"Later." The Doctor walked over to Astrid, kneeling down by her side.

I walked over to join.

"Careful. There we go." The Doctor picked up bits of broken glass.

The smaller shards were getting lost in the carpet. I took off my hat, scraping it along the carpet to pick them out.

"Thank you, sir, miss. I can manage." Astrid assured us.

"We never said you couldn't." The Doctor pointed out. "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"I'm Terra." I introduced, twirling my hat back on my head to tip.

"Astrid, sir. Astrid Peth." Astrid introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth. Merry Christmas." The Doctor cheered.

"Merry Christmas, Astrid!"

"Merry Christmas, sir, ma'am." Astrid replied.

"Just Doctor, not sir." The Doctor corrected.

"I will take Madame. It's fancy, like my hat." I supplied. The Doctor gleaned at me. "I mean no, it's just Terra."

Astrid smiled back, delighted. "You enjoying the cruise?"

"It's so pretty, and there is so much Christmas here." I explained, smiling wide. "It's fun to be on a cruise with a friend."

The Doctor beamed at me. "Yeah. It is." He turned to the Stewardess. "What about you? Long way from home, Planet Sto."

"Doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here and I'm still waiting on tables." Astrid explained.

"No shore leave?" The Doctor asked.

"We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance." Astrid admitted. We all stood up, disposing of the glass shards. After, we stopped to look out the window. "I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars and I always dreamt of. It sounds daft."

"You dreamt of another sky." The Doctor finished her thought. As he talked, Astrid's gaze turned vacant as she imagined the picture he was drawing. "New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life." We sat down on the window ledge, myself crossing my leg. "Why stand still when there's all that life out there?"

Astrid said nothing for a long moment. "So, you travel a lot?"

"All the time!" I answered, drumming my fingers on my boot. "I highly recommend it."

"Just for fun. Well, that's the plan. Never quite works." The Doctor admitted.

"Yeah, it tends to go wrong." I laughed with him.

"Must be rich, though." Astrid mused.

"Broke as hell." I replied. Which was true, the Doctor was broke as hell. My money was useless in this reality.

"Stowaways." The Doctor revealed.

Astrid's face broke out in a smile. "Kidding."

"Seriously."

"Serious."

"No." Astrid gasped, looking not at all offended.

"Oh, yeah."

"Yep." I popped the p.

"How did you get on board?" Astrid asked.

"Accident. I've got this, sort of, ship thing." The Doctor babbled.

"He crashed her into the ship." I teased. My elbow bumped his arm. "Terrible pilot over here. We saw where we landed, and just...well. It looked fun!"

"Hold on, hold on. It wasn't my piloting. I was just- I was working on something. Rebuilding her." The Doctor explained to Astrid.

"And what did you forget-"

"I left the defences down to fix it, that's all." The Doctor admitted. "Bumped into the Titanic. Here we are."

"I should report you." Astrid told herself.

"Go on then." The Doctor challenged.

"If you dare." I teased.

"I'll get you two drinks on the house." Astrid offered. She walked off.

The Doctor and I exchanged grins.

"Can we party now?" I asked, smiling wide.

He grinned back.

People were laughing. Normally this would be good for us. Except I could see the laughter was directed at a very nice couple. That wasn't good. Nobody insults Morvin and Foon then gets away from it!

We walked to their table.

"Just ignore them." Morvin was assuring Foon, who was in the middle of eating a Buffalo wing.

The Doctor took a seat by Morvin. I took the seat by Foon. "Something's tickled them."

They had little cakes on the table. I grabbed one, taking a bite. It was red velvet! Score: another good Three liked!

"They told us it was 'fancy dress'. Very funny, I'm sure." Foon explained.

"You are dressed fancy." I complimented. "Purple is a great color on you by the way."

Foon smiled a bit at the praise. "So are you. Loving that hat."

"Aww, thank you!"

"They're just picking on us because we haven't paid. We won our tickets in a competition." Morvin explained.

"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in By the Light of the Asteroid." Foon explained. "Did you ever watch By the Light of the Asteroid?"

"No, not recently. Doc?" I asked him, popping another cake bite in my mouth.

The Doctor twisted up his face in thought. "Is that the one with the twins?"

"That's it." Foon cheered. The Doctor grinned. "Oh, it's marvellous."

"But we're not good enough for that lot." Morvin nodded his head towards the laughing crowd. "They think we should be in steerage."

"Well, can't have that, can we?" The Doctor stated.

The Doctor brought out his sonic, sneakily aiming it behind him. I had the perfect vantage point to watch. Their champagne bottle popped open, the fizz going out. It sprayed various members of the giggling crowded table.

I giggled around another treat.

"Did you do that?" Foon asked, eyes wide.

"I didn't see anything." I replied.

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe."

Foon and Morvin kept laughing. "We like you." Foon praised.

"We do. I'm Morvin Van Hoff." He held his hand out to the Doctor. After giving it a firm shake, Morvin reached for my hand. "This is my good woman, Foon."

"Morvin and Foon, pleasure to meet ya!" I cheered while giving Foon a firm handshake. "I'm Terra, and this is the Doctor."

"Oh, I'm going to need a Doctor, time I've finished with that buffet." Foon joked. "Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo. So many wings."

The Doctor held one up to me. "Terra?"

"I'm good with cake." I replied.

"Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red Six Seven now activated. Red Six Seven."

"Red Six Seven." Foon pulled a red card from her shirt. Morvin pulled out a similarly colored card. "That's us. Are you Red Six Seven?"

"Might as well be." The Doctor replied, grinning.

"Come on, then. We're going to Earth." Morvin cheered.

==MGCB==

The four of us walked over to the tour guide.

"Red Six Seven. Red Six Seven." Mr Copper called out. "This way, fast as you can."

Astrid walked up to our side. She had two drinks on a tray. "I got you that drink."

I grabbed mine. The Doctor moved the tray to the side.

"And I got you a treat. Come on." The Doctor pushed Astrid ahead.

I tossed the drink back. She got me wine. Astrid was so nice. When was the last time I drank? Like, really drank? Was it my last birthday? No...no that one was too sad. Maybe I got drunk the week after?

Has it really been that long...wow I need to hit rock bottom. Fast. First chance after this, I'll get plastered. Maybe I can convince the Doctor to join. We could both use a non-emergency vacation.

"Red Six Seven departing shortly." Copper called out.

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. "Two for Red Six Seven, plus one."

"Quickly, sir, please, and take three teleport bracelets if you would." Copper instructed, checking to make sure everyone else was in the group.

The Doctor grabbed the teleport bracelets, handing them out. I grabbed one from him to slap on my wrist. The Doctor kept the third outstretched towards Astrid.

Astrid was staring at it like Aladdin stared at the lamp. "I'll get the sack."

"Brand new sky." The Doctor reminded her.

"Don't stand still." I added.

Astrid took the bracelet.

"To repeat, I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to Old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by good King Wenceslas." Copper began.

The Doctor and I blinked.

"Now, human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary." Copper continued.

'Did he watch Nightmare Before Christmas?'

'He might have done.'

"And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner like savages." Copper explained to the concerned passengers.

"Sorry, Mr Copper?" I stepped forward, holding up my hand.

"Yes miss?" He gave my top hat a glance before putting on a polite smile.

"Where did you get your information?" I asked him. "If you don't mind my asking?"

"It's quite alright, miss. Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics." Copper answered. "Now, stand by."

'Please tell me that's a real class in alien colleges.'

'It's not. Still, he was close.'

'Yeah, I'll give him that.'

"And me! And me! Red Six Seven." Bannakaffalatta called out. The tiny red cactus man- was that racist? The green cactus ones would probably say that was racist- rushed up to us.

"Well, take a bracelet, please, sir." Copper picked one up, holding it out to him.

"But, er, hold on, hold on. What was your name?" The Doctor asked him.

"Bannakaffalatta."

"Okay, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late night shopping, tons of people. He's like a talking conker."

"Come on. There's probably some kind of perception filter on the bracelet so he can stay hidden." I excused.

"No, there isn't actually." Copper admitted.

"Wait what?"

"Exactly! No offence, but you'll cause a riot because the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties and-" The Doctor was interrupted by the bracelets activating.

We were on an empty London street. This was the sort of quiet that only existed in the year, people too panicked to come out in the world. I instinctively checked the sky for Toclafane. My body tensed up, sliding beside the Doctor to hold his arm.

"Oh."

"Now, spending money." Copper announced. My hand grabbed the Doctor's arm, gripping it tight. He noticed the tight grip, looking down to me. "I have a credit card in Earth currency-"

'Terra, are you seeing this?' The Doctor was looking around the empty street. My eyes were still in the empty sky, my ears still perked for their sounds.

"-if you want to buy trinkets, or stockings-"

'Terra do you see anything? Are you seeing it now?'

"-or the local delicacy, which is known as beef."

'I can't find them.' I answered him. 'The Toclafane are really quiet tonight. They know Mummy is checking to see if they broke curfew.'

The Doctor looked down at me. 'Terra. The Year ended. It's done. All the Toclafane went back to the future. We're all fine now.'

"But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing." Copper finished.

'Do you believe me?'

The Doctor turned me towards him so I could look him in the eye. No, no I couldn't afford to look him in the eyes. What if they showed up at that time? I forced myself to look away.

Then I saw him.

The amazing, the wonderful, the stupendous, the unanimous bestest, Wilfred Mott.

I couldn't be in the Year with Wilfred Mott there. Everyone in their house died in the Decimation.

'Yeah, I believe you.'

"Very good." Bannakaffalatta cheered, walking off to explore.

"It should be full." The Doctor stated. "It should be busy. Something's wrong."

"That's just what our vacation needed." I mused. "Drama."

"But it's beautiful." Astrid praised, watching the street in awe.

"Really? Do you think so? It's just a street. The pyramids are beautiful, and New Zealand." The Doctor pointed out.

"I saw New Zealand. He's right." That was actually the calmest part of it-

Oh wait that was when I last got drunk!

"But it's a different planet." Astrid cheered, excitedly gesturing to all the things. "I'm standing on a different planet. There's concrete and shops. Alien shops. Real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky."

There were stars.

You haven't seen a world without stars

Not yet

"And it smells. It stinks! Oh, this is amazing. Thank you!"

She hugged us both.

Not gonna lie, it was setting off another panic attack.

Don't touch me don't touch me don't touch me nobody touch me!

"Yeah? Come on then, let's have a look." The Doctor ended the hug. It finally allowed me to breathe.

He walked towards Wilfred Mott. Ah, a saving grace.

"Hello, there." The Doctor greeted.

Wilf took one look at me, then blinked back in surprise. "Oh! Aren't you festive!"

I smiled widely. "I know! I'm so excited- it came out perfect."

"Sorry, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?" The Doctor asked Wilf.

"Oh ho, scared!" Wilf answered.

"Right. Yes. Scared of what?" The Doctor asked.

"Where've you been living? London at Christmas? Not safe, is it." Wilf informed him.

"Because of...?" I asked.

"Well, it's them, up above." Wilf pointed to the sky. "Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof. And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames."

"Oh I remember that." I recalled with a happy sigh. "Last year was so fun. I hope I see Donna again. Don't you, Doc?"

The Doctor made a face, looking up at the sky. "I could wait."

"This place is amazing." Astrid praised.

"And this year, Lord knows what." Wilf went on. "So, everybody's scarpered. Gone to the country. All except me and Her Majesty."

"You are an amazing human being." I praised Wilf. He and Donna deserved all the praise. "I tip my hat to you, sir."

"Thank you, miss. You lot are too! Out and about with me and Queen Liz!" Wilf turned up the TV. An announcer was talking about the Queen.

"Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she'll be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear."

"God bless her. We stand vigil." Wilf stood up to salute in the name of the Queen.

"Well, between you and me, I think her Majesty's got it right." The Doctor stated. "Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about."

We vanished in a flaring blue light. It was so sudden, and contrasted him so strongly, it made me giggle.

"I was in mid-sentence." The Doctor complained.

"That poor man...nah he'll be fine."

"Yes, I'm sorry about that." Copper explained, looking confused himself. He checked his podium. Nothing he saw made things easier for him. He walked over to us. "A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets."

The Chief Steward walked up to us, all polite smiles. Astrid hid behind the Doctor. "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, and Bannakaffalatta. We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."

"Ooh yay." I cheered. "Doctor let's get drunk."

"We can't." The Doctor told me.

"Wait like literally or because of an emergency, cause I've done both."

"Because of the- wait when were you drunk in an emergency?" The Doctor asked.

Astrid reached back around for a hug. I stepped back just in time to avoid it. "That was the best. The best!"

The Doctor smiled politely as she went back to work. He gave me a look that we'd talk about my work ethic later. I reached back, grabbing the drink he left behind earlier. The Doctor walked over to the Chief Steward.

"What sort of power fluctuation?"

==MGCB==

They never answered us.

Instead, the party started. The drinks didn't work on me as strong as for a human. This was easily solved by convincing the bartender to give me a whole bottle. Alcohol was how I unhealthily solved my internal problems as Three. Well Two did it too, Three's done it more often. She has more reasons.

This was a healing bottle of wine. I was free. The world was normal again, I'd met Wilfred Mott. The Master was dead. I got to kill him at long last. Martha left me. Why shouldn't I be drinking?

The music was good too. As I stood by the Doctor, sipping at a glass of wine, I was dancing to the music. The Doctor watched me with a fond smile.

'Wanna join, have a little fun?' I asked him. 'I only ask cause you've been staring for a bit.'

'Oh? No, no I'm fine. Just watching.'

'Okay. Are you just super jealous of the hat?'

'I'm happy to see you happy.'

That comment gave me pause. Had it really been so long for him? What was it for him, in terms of time? There was a year for him...did he know how long it was for me?

'You wanna ask me things.'

'I don't want to upset you.' The Doctor admitted.

That's new. Usually ticking me off was the least of his worries. 'Just ask. It's killing my weak buzz.'

'No, it's fine. I don't need to know.'

'You always want to know. Just ask.'

'I know what it's like. When they leave.' The Doctor told me. I stopped, leaning on the table beside me. 'You pulled me out of my grief. I'll be here for you, to help you through.'

'I don't need help. I need wine.' Lifting the wine glass, I gulped it down. 'Oh and to see why everything is glitching. You do too.'

'No. I'm genuinely worried about you-'

'That's why you really want to talk to me. You didn't care, you just want me to get over it so we can work.'

"What? No. Terra, I think you've had enough." He tried to take the wine bottle from the table.

"Nope!" I yanked it back from him, sneaking out the sonic too. "This is mine. No stealing. Stealing is bad."

The Doctor sighed. "Alright! Alright. We can do things your way. Let me get-" He reached in his coat pocket. He paused. "-where is-"

I held up the sonic. Turning tail, I skipped over to a nearby portrait of Max Capricorn. The Doctor could judge my hypocrisy later.

"And I should know because my name is Max. The fastest, the furthest, the best. My name is Max."

I used the sonic on the frame. It popped off. The Doctor showed up behind me.

"Clever. I knew you did that." The Doctor ruffled his hair.

"I know you know." I checked the ship's current layout. The shields being off stood out to me. My thoughts went to Alonso in navigation with the Captain.

The Doctor straightened up. The smarty pants glasses popped on. He leaned over, checking the window. I leaned the other ways to peak out the other window. The meteors were still coming straight for us.

The Doctor nabbed the sonic back. He pressed it against the screen. "Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the Captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in west zero by north two."

"Who is this?" The Captain asked.

"Never mind that, your shields are down." The Doctor warned. "Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and now shielding."

"You have no authorization. You will clear the comms at once." The Captain ordered.

"Yeah? Just look starboard!" The Doctor warned.

"We see three coming in hot!" I added in. "You need to activate shielding or this ship is gonna crash! Just like her namesake!"

That same fucking Chief Steward stopped us again. "Come with me, the both of you." He was quite rude. I did not like it.

Other Stewards grabbed the Doctor and myself. Yes this indeed sent me into another panic.

"You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down." The Doctor cried out.

The Stewards kept dragging us out. I was done with it.

"Let me go." I ordered.

The Steward holding my arm let go, freezing in place to the confusion of his fellows. They kept moving along with the Doctor. Without waiting for him, I booked it to the stage.

"Sorry I'm taking this!" I lifted the mic off it's stand, interrupting the music. Everyone turned to see what happened. "Attention everyone! We have an emergency! Shields are-"

A Host was coming up behind me. I was prepared, ducking to avoid it.

"-down, with three hostile coming from the starboard!" I announced. The Host ducked to grab me. I side stepped.

"Just listen to her!" The Doctor shouted. "Get to the lifeboats!" A Steward pressed their hand over the Doctor's mouth.

The Host tried a third time to get me. "Look out the windows!" I ordered.

It grabbed my neck. Tossing the mic back to the singer, I tried to flip the Host over. This thing hurt. It was squeezing at my throat, dragging me backwards.

"The shields are down. We are going to get hit!" The Doctor yelled. 'Terra are you alright?!'

'The ship is gonna crash! How am I alright?!'

'I'll get us out!'

The Host handed me off to a Steward. I was way more scared this time, hyperventilating.

"Them friends." Bannakaffalatta started chasing after us.

Distantly, I could spot the Van Hoffs and Astrid chasing us. My head hurt. Then I wanted to scream, to drink more, to get away. Why couldn't I get away?

Let me go

Please just let me go

"If you don't believe us, check the shields yourself." The Doctor yelled.

"Sir, I can vouch for them!" Astrid pleaded.

"Look, Steward, they've just had a bit too much to drink." Morvin pleaded.

Copper walked alongside us. "Sir, something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports have gone down."

"Not now!" The Chief Steward snapped.

My head hurt so bad. Maybe breathing would help. Why couldn't I breathe? Why wouldn't they let me go?

When I next looked, we were in the inner corridor. They were full of people. The last survivors.

The only ones that survived the devastation. They were the 10%. They were the last dying breath of humanity.

"Oi! Steward! I'm telling you, the shields are down!" Slade yelled.

"Listen to him. Listen to him!" The Doctor shouted.

"Put me down!" I yelled.

The Stewards never got the chance. The meteors hit the crash a moment later.

==MGCB==

Dying.

All of humanity, dying.

The smell of burning flesh.

Everyone was loud.

Someone was crying. Who was crying? Was it me- no it hurt too much to cry.

I could breath now. That helped.

Everything was on fire.

"Terra. Terra!" The Doctor took hold of my shoulders. He turned me to face him. "Terra, can you hear me?"

I nodded. Everything was on fire. I tried turning to it. The Doctor turned my head again to meet his eyes.

"You've here with me. We are in the Titanic. I crashed the TARDIS into it, remember?" The Doctor asked.

"...I got a floaty."

"Yes, you did." The Doctor smiled, praising me.

"I want it back."

"That was good- great! We're going to get you another."

"Good cause I want it back."

I couldn't pay attention to him anymore. There was suddenly so much screaming in my head. Was it everyone else screaming, or just in my head? Did my Grudge ghosts come back?

"Silence!" I ordered. That's what my sister did to my Grudge last time. It seemed to work on them just like it did now.

The Doctor helped me to my feet. My legs were weak, so I held his side. He helped keep me upright. "I'll tell you, Terra, this is either a bad name for a ship or my suit is cursed."

"The suckers bet." I recalled. That was recent. We did that less than an hour ago. "You wouldn't give me $10."

"I still won't." The Doctor answered. He held the sonic aloft. It turned off a nearby screen, recording Capricorn's phrase over and over.

"Er, everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta." The Chief Steward spoke, trying to assure the panicked group. "I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small collision."

"Small?" Morvin exclaimed.

It got the whole crowd of them shouting again. My head pounded at the noise.

"QUIET!" I screamed, my voice going shrill. My knees buckled.

The Doctor caught me. He ran his hand on my head, calmly shushing me. "It's alright. It's alright."

'My head hurts.'

"I know. It's bound to hurt, that kind of energy going through your mind."

"I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruiseliners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience, but first I would point out that we're very much alive." The Chief Steward continued.

"Doctor." Astrid started.

The Doctor and I looked over. Copper was bleeding from a cut on his head. It was a small cut. Astrid dabbed at it with her apron. The Doctor helped me up.

I pulled myself back.

"Terra-"

"I dropped my hat." I stumbled towards the hat. It was a smoky gray now, one part of the brim burnt. I blew on the fire, putting it out. Once clean I popped it back on my head.

"Terra, your nose is bleeding." The Doctor pointed out.

I reached a hand up. It came back red. "That's bad, yeah?"

"Yes." He walked over to me. He left Copper with Astrid. He brought out the sonic, scanning me.

"She is, after all, a fine, sturdy ship." The Chief Steward assured them. "If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the situation." He walked to the hatch door behind us.

"Wait!"

"Don't open it!"

Whoops

The Chief Steward opened the door. Problem was that there was no hatch or hallway on the other side. Just open space...no oxygen shield to keep us all inside. So when the Steward opened it, all the air wanted to go outside.

You see the problem now.

Yes it took my hat. I mean it tried taking me too, it's just that the hat is more important.

The Doctor already had out the sonic. He used it on a control panel. This was like the fourth dangerous situation in an hour, but I also found it the least life threatening.

Except for the hat.

Always for the hat.

"Oxygen shield stabilised."

"Everyone all right? Terra?" The Doctor asked.

"I lost my hat!"

"You're good. Astrid?"

"Yeah."

"Foon? Morvin? Mr Copper? Bannakaffalatta?" The Doctor checked with all the other survivors.

"Yes." Bannakaffalatta answered.

I sat upright, mourning the hat. Yeah it's sad for the Chief Steward but I'm convinced he was part of it all. He deserved it.

"You, what was your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Rickston Slade."

"You all right?"

"No thanks to that idiot." Slade sneered.

"Hey, only I can call people idiots!" I scolded him. "Even then, only to close friends or really stupid people."

"And he was really stupid, and now he's dead." Slade argued.

"You are named after a DC Villain and it shows!"

"All right, calm down." The Doctor stood between myself and Slade. "Just stay still, all of you. Hold on."

The two of us walked to the opened hatch. The oxygen shield was the only thing keeping us from being sucked out. I could see my hat floating among the corpses.

Astrid walked up behind us. "What happened? How come the shields were down?" She asked.

"I don't think it was an accident." The Doctor admitted.

"He tried covering up way too much. The Captain too." I added.

"How many dead?" Astrid asked, looking out at the floating corpses.

"We're alive. Just focus on that." The Doctor insisted.

"That's always a good starting place: being alive." I reminded them.

"We will get you out of here, Astrid, we promise." The Doctor assured. He turned over to Astrid, trying to pull her attention away from the door. "Look at me. We promise. Good. Now, if we can get to Reception, we've got a spaceship tucked away."

"No we don't." I nodded towards the TARDIS.

"We don't have to hide it cause- oh no we don't." The Doctor spotted the TARDIS.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Astrid asked.

"That's our ship over there." The Doctor admitted.

"Where?"

"That beautiful blue box." I explained.

"That's a spaceship?" Astrid asked.

"Oi, don't knock it."

"Her feelings do matter!"

"It's a bit small." Astrid commented.

"A bit distant." The Doctor corrected, blowing out a huff. "Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest centre of gravity, and that would be the Earth."

"It would be too much to ask for lifeboats, huh?" I asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "No. We need to connect with the bridge. Assess the damage."

"Right. This could just be the start of the bad stuff." I agreed.

The Doctor nodded to confirm. He walked over to a Comm panel. I followed him. The Doctor pulled a handkerchief out from his coat. "Here."

I tilted my head, ignoring the ache in my head.

"For your nose." The Doctor explained. "Don't want to ruin the sleeves."

"Oh! Gotcha." I took the offered hanky, wiping the blood from my nose. "Marvelous, a bloody nose and a headache in the Titanic. All we need is Jack and Rose to finally settle the door debate and my day will be perfect."

The Doctor eyed me oddly. "When would Jack and Rose have needed to fit on a door?"

"In Titanic." I knew this movie existed here, I checked. Was he being deliberately idiotic?

"Yeah we're in the Titanic, but Jack and Rose aren't." The Doctor explained, looking completely confused. "So what door debate?"

"...Doc Brown you know I'm talking about DiCaprio's Titanic, right?"

"...yes. Course I do. What else could you mean?" He lied, before pressing a button on the Comm unit. I laughed, my shoulders shaking. "Deck twenty two to the bridge. Deck twenty two to the bridge. Is there anyone there?" The Doctor called out.

"This is the bridge."

It hurt so badly, to hold back the urge to shout 'Allons-y Alonso!' This amount of restraint made a physical ache in my chest.

"Oh hello, sailor." The Doctor greeted. I leaned against the wall, brushing dirt and ash off my dress. "Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air. The oxygen field is holding, but the Captain, he's dead." Alonso reported, breathing heavy and panicked. "He did it. I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try."

"All right. Just stay calm." The Doctor assured him. He sounded so sure...it was easy to stay calm for him. "Tell me your name. What's your name?"

"Midshipman Frame."

"Nice to meet you, sir. What's the state of the engines?" The Doctor asked.

"They're er. Hold on." Alonso made a shout of pain. "Oh!"

"Have you been injured?" The Doctor asked, concerned.

"I'm all right." Alonso dismissed. "Oh, my Vot. They're cycling down."

The Doctor ran his hand down his face. "That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Oh crabapples." I huffed, wiping the hanky on my face again. "We'll start falling when that goes."

"The planet." Alonso realized.

"Oh, yes. If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth." The Doctor explained. 'Doc this can't be a coincidence. A Chief Steward covering up every issue, a Captain purposefully putting shields down, this ship was meant to go down.'

'I know.' The Doctor didn't sound at all happy about it. 'Which is why we need to be fast, and cautious. There's no telling what else here can kill us.'

'Understood.'

"Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core."

"This is never going to work."

"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until Terra and I can get to the bridge." The Doctor replied. He hung off the comms.

"We're going to die." Foon bemoaned.

"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Copper questioned.

Everyone else started up with questions. All of them talking at once. Over each other, their words just blended together.

I took a breath-

'Terra you can't.'

'Doctor it's fine. I've been doing it all day-'

'Yes I can tell, your nose is already bleeding.'

I brought the borrowed hanky back to my nose. When it came back, there was indeed a new spot of blood.

'Fine.'

"Okay, okay. Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush." The Doctor managed to get them quiet. I would've done it better, just saying. "First things first. One. We are going to climb through this ship. B. No. Two. We're going to reach the bridge. Three. Or C. We're going to save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low four, or D, or that little IV in brackets they use in footnotes. Right then, follow me."

"Hang on a minute. Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?" Slade demanded an answer.

Well since he was so nice about it...

The Doctor and I took dramatic stances in front of the group. Both of us framed by the fire behind us, the smell of smoke was heavy in the air.

"I'm the Doctor."

"I'm Terra. We're Time Lords."

"We're from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old-"

"I'm one hundred eighty-three-"

"We're the people who're going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" The Doctor challenged.

Slade gulped. "No."

"In that case, allons-y!"

==MGCB==

The Doctor pushed open the door. I followed behind, leading the crowd.

"Careful. Follow me." The Doctor cautioned.

Once we made it in, we saw the stairs. They were covered in debris. Heavy metal beams were blocking the path. The whole thing was a maze.

"Rather ironic, but this is very much in the spirit of Christmas." Copper told everyone. As we climbed the stairs, the Doctor and I cleared what we could without collapsing everything. "It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric."

"No, it's only barbaric if you have bad relatives!" I argued. "Christmas is a time of peace, love, and togetherness-"

"Oh come on, Terra, our Christmases are always like this." The Doctor pointed out.

He had a good point. My Christmasees were always like that too. Not usually aliens, sometimes it was murderers and stuff. My last Christmas before Doctor Who was in 1863, working to help Union soldiers in the Civil War. The Christmas before that I was visiting a house full of bugs.

But those were way less chaotic than alien filled Christmases.

"Yeah but like...non London Christmasses are like that." I countered.

The Doctor cleared away another metal board. It revealed a Host. I flinched back.

"We've got a Host. Strength of ten." The Doctor glanced up the stairs. They were even more cluttered than our path behind. "If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble."

"We can do robotics. Both of us." Morvin volunteered.

"We work on the milk market back on Sto. It's all robot staff." Foon added.

"Positivity! I love it!" I cheered. "Let's bring the Van Hoffs up here!"

"You heard the lady, let's clear the path!" The Doctor instructed.

Carefully as could be, everyone- minus Slade- helped clear enough metal for us to walk through. The Van Hoffs could reach the Host with ease.

I almost started to help repair it. I fixed up one kind of murder-bot, not looking to make another. Stopping it would be a delight, especially if we could clear the path enough for everyone to escape.

But if you could choose, Doctor, if you decide who lives and who dies, that would make you a monster.

Fuck that, I had three years of that. Not a chance I was losing anyone else today. No way, no how. People would be saved, Author-dammit!

"It's blocked." Astrid noted.

"So what do we do?" The Doctor quizzed.

"We shift it."

"That's the attitude." The Doctor cheered. He leaned back to look on the group. "Rickston, Mr Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta. Look, can I just call you Banna? It's going to save a lot of time."

"No. Bannakaffalatta." He insisted.

"It's his name. Show some respect for the man." I chided. "Bannakaffalatta would you like to go first?"

Bannakaffalatta agreed. He knelt down to crawl out "Easy. Good."

"Slowly!" I cautioned.

Bannakaffalatta nodded. He moved in between the gap in the hall. He made it halfway. The ship itself shifted again. Everything in the stairs shook, rattling our delicately balanced tunnel.

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute." Slade complained.

'I know you're gonna say no, but can I kill him?'

'No.'

'I expected it and I'm still disappointed.'

"Oh, Rickston, I forgot. Did you get that message?" The Doctor asked.

"No. What message?" Spade asked.

"Shut up!" The Doctor scolded.

And the world knew peace...

"Bannakaffalatta made it." Bannakaffalatta called back.

"I'm small enough, I can get through." Astrid volunteered.

"Careful." The Doctor cautioned.

Astrid crawled through. I held up a beam, giving her as much room as possible. "I'm fine."

"Thing is, how are Mr and Mrs Fatso going to get through that gap?" Slade asked.

I glared at him. "You've got arms, right? Start lifting!"

In a huff, Slade obeyed. Everyone besides the Van Hoffs worked happily.

'You didn't kill him!' The Doctor praised.

I was trying to listen in on the wholesome content of the Van Hoffs being happy and affirming to each other. Guess I had to talk with the Doctor while clearing debris. 'So you're proud now that I'm a pacifier?'

'Pacifist, and yes I am. We can deal with him later.'

'He was rude to Astrid.'

'Like I said, later. People change in life altering situations.'

I grumbled. Here I was, the poster child for that.

'They become better.'

'I didn't.' I argued before I could stop it.

The Doctor fumbled the beam in his hands. I had to move fast to catch it, move it back up to a safe position.

'You good?'

'Yes. I'm just curious-'

'That wasn't an invitation to talk about things. We gotta clear the path.'

'I'm worried about my friend. You were there for me when Rose was gone, I see now I should've been checking with you too.'

'It was fine, I was fine.'

'You were hurting just like I was. I want to be there for you this time.'

'You wanna be here for me? Then help me hold this thing up.'

'I am holding it. I just want to talk about what you said about Martha-'

My hands loosened there hold on the beam. One hand tightened, the other moving to grab the Doctor's arm.

'Okay- okay. No more talk of the companion. I get it.'

We heard laughter from down the hall. It broke up our serious conversation.

"What happened? Did they find a doughnut?" Slade mocked.

I glared over at him, not saying a word.

"I can clear it from this side. Just tell me if it starts moving." Astrid called down.

The Doctor started trying to lift up a different beam. I tried to help him ease it elsewhere, the weight too much. Copper helped me push it up the rest of the way.

'Are your Christmases ever normal?'

Last Christmas, I was trying to find survivors in an Australian city to save the Doctor's life. Martha was busy moping about...I think it was seasonal depression. Nobody expected to celebrate Christmas like that. Still people sang quiet carols, some cooked hearty meals for people. There was Christmas spirit there.

This place barely had any.

'Normal enough.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.' I didn't add anything.

'What were they like?' The Doctor prompted.

Yep. I was done with this. "Astrid! What's going on up there?"

"I think Bannakaffalatta and I just got engaged." Astrid called back.

"Huzzah! Good things are happening!" I cheered. "How's the moving of things?"

"Oh yes- I'm working on it!" Astrid replied.

'We'll talk later.'

We both knew we wouldn't. If avoiding emotional conversations was an olympic sport, we'd get the gold.

==MGCB==

The Doctor walked over to a poster of Max. A quick flick of the sonic had it working for him again.

"Almost done!" Morvin called out.

My hearts were thumping so fast in my chest.

"Good, good, good. Mr Frame, how's things?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one." Alonso warned.

I shot up, running to the Van Hoffs

"What is it? Are they losing air?" The Doctor asked.

"No. One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host."

"It's working!" Morvin cheered. "Terra, it's ready-"

The Host pulled it's head up. I put myself in front of the Van Hoffs, blocking them.

"Kill." The Host chanted.

The Host lashed out towards me. I grabbed the arms, trying to fight it back.

"Turn it off!" The Doctor shouted.

Foon reached for some wires. The Host tightened hold on my arms. "I can't, Doctor!"

"Kill. Kill. Kill." The Host chanted.

"Get a new chant!" I hissed.

The Host moved to grab my neck. It was hurting my bowtie- the bastard.

"Go!" The Doctor ran down. He pushed past the Van Hoffs to reach me. The Doctor hit the Host with the sonic. I was fruitlessly trying to pry it off my neck. It wasn't able to squeeze, at least. "Double deadlock!"

"Just what we need!" I pushed at the hands again. They were off the bowtie so I scrambled to get out. The Doctor held an arm, pulling one to the side so I could really back out.

"Quickly, go upstairs!" The Doctor shouted for everyone.

"Run, darling, run!" Foon encouraged.

"Information. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill." The Host chanted. It started marching towards us.

"Foon! Foon!" Morvin pleaded.

"Slade, let them pass!" I called up.

"No chance." Slade climbed through the gap, leaving everyone else behind.

"Rickston!" Copper exclaimed.

Foon whimpered. "I'll never get through there."

"Yes, you can. Let me go first." Copper began to climb.

The Host swung at me. It missed- thank the Author.

"Kill. Kill." The Host chanted.

"It's the Host, they've gone berserk." The Doctor warned Frame over comms. "Are you safe up there?"

Foon was the first in the makeshift tunnel. "Now I'm stuck!"

"Come on, you can do it!" Astrid encouraged. She and Copper helped to clear the path. Everything shifted again.

"It's going to collapse." Copper warned everyone. "Rickston, vot damn it, help me."

"No way."

Even without him, Foon was able to make it through. Morvin went next. There was some more trouble as things shifted again.

"Come on, Morvin, you can do it!" I cheered on.

"Kill. Kill. Kill."

"Doctor, Terra, he's stuck!" Astrid told us.

The Doctor and I exchanged a look before turning to the stuck Morvin. His butt was sticking out from the collapsing tunnel.

"Mr van Hoff, I know we've only just met, but you'll have to excuse us." The Doctor explained before pressing his hands on Morvin's backside. I helped, giving the large man a good push.

Morvin popped out, thankfully.

"That's it. We've got you." Astrid told Morvin. "Terra, Doctor, come on, get through."

I climbed through next. "I've got it." Copper held the beam until I could get a hold on it, raising it up for the Doctor. Copper to a step back, ringing his hands.

The Doctor made it halfway before stopping. "Information override! You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

"Information. Deck thirty one." The Host answered.

"Thank you." The Doctor climbed out the hole. I dropped the beam, blocking the Host's path.

We made it through. I let out a breath of relief, straightening out my bowtie from the Host's manhandling.

The Doctor came to me for a check-up. It was getting overbearing at this point.

"I'm fine." I told him.

The Doctor glanced at my neck. Did he think bruises were just going to be there already?

"Morvin, look. Food." Foon cheered. She and her husband rushed over to it.

Slade scoffed. "Oh great. Someone's happy."

"Don't have any then." Morvin snapped.

The Doctor walked me towards the comm. "Mr Frame, are you still there?"

Alonso made a grunt of pain as he answered. His gunshot wound ew "Yes, sir, but I've got Host outside. I've sealed the door."

"They've been programmed to kill. Why would anyone do that?" The Doctor asked.

"History says it's because a madman programmed them to do it, and got rid of anyone he didn't like."

The Doctor looked at me with a concerned glance.

"That's not the only problem, Doctor. I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means no one can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the Titanic you can't get to the bridge." Alonso revealed, like it was the biggest concern.

We could easily break in. That was the issue for later thought.

"Yeah, right, fine. One problem at a time. What's on deck thirty one?" The Doctor asked.

"Er, that's down below. It's nothing. It's just the Host storage deck. That's where we keep the robots."

'Hey the robots are programmed to kill. No reason to check their programming deck, nah none at all. Let's focus on the door we can't open-'

'Terra you're projecting.'

'...that was on purpose.'

'Your projection or the programming?'

'I plead the fifth.'

The Doctor checked the map of the ship. He brought out the glasses again. "Well, what's that? Do you see that panel? Black. It's registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light."

"I've never seen it before." Alonso admitted.

The Doctor "One hundred percent shielded. What's down there?" The Doctor asked.

"I'll try intensifying the scanner."

"Let me know if you find anything. And keep those engines going." The Doctor instructed. He ended the Comm line. He turned to me. "Any other paranoid ramblings?"

"Hey! My paranoid ramblings have saved our lives more than once!" I snapped, actually offended.

"Nor everything is as bad as you make it." The Doctor told me.

"Yeah! Sometimes it's worse!"

Three years, Doctor, I was trapped with your best friend for three years.

My paranoia has never been more active. Sure it may have gotten stuff wrong, caused more than a fair share of hallucinations and nightmares, is definitely turning me into an alcoholic, but it's saved my skin for a lot of it.

The Master never really let me have peace. There was always something new he wanted to do to me. Always a new game to fuck with my head, or ruin an already tense situation. When I relieved Doomsday, he 'helped' by strapping me to my bed. All the time. I lost track of how long I was like that, only really noticing it ended when I was back on the work line.

He was constantly psychological fucking with me. He reminded me that I could leave whenever, that I was known in that time as able to get out of most situations. Then he reminded everyone I lived under his thumb...that they wouldn't save me until Election Day. They didn't notice I was gone...

I understood it. It made sense. Their timeline was further ahead than my own. All of it was my fault anyway. If my lonely suffering kept everyone safe, then that's what I would do. It just never felt right, with the Master constantly exploiting it. It made protecting my friends feel wrong.

The Master was good like that. He made me doubt even basic facts about everything.

Astrid handed us plates of food. "Saved you some. You might be Time Kings from Gaddabee but you need to eat."

"Yeah, thanks." The Doctor replied. "Terra?"

I ignored him, looking around at the half destroyed corridor. Already I was thinking on how to fix things.

"So, you look good for nine hundred and three." Astrid complimented.

"You should see me in the mornings." The Doctor remarked, taking a bite.

Astrid shrugged. "Okay."

"Miss Astrid Peth, you are engaged." I reminded her, picking at my sleeve.

"Doctor, Terra, it must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day." Copper informed us.

"So it is. Merry Christmas." The Doctor cheered.

"Huzzah, Huzzah, welcome the Frabjous Day." I cheered. It did nothing to cheer me up, a heavy frown was trying to fit on my face.

"This Christmas thing, what's it all about?" Astrid asked.

"Long story. I should know, I was there. I got the last room." The Doctor admitted.

"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them? They could send up a rocket or something." Copper asked.

"They don't have spaceships." The Doctor told him.

"No, I read about it. They have shuffles. Space shuffles." Copper explained.

"No, I'm sorry but I'm done. I can't hear it anymore." Standing up, I stared down at the man. "Mr Copper, King Wenceslas is a Christmas song, he does not currently rule the UK. Nobody worships Santa Claus- Claus, like a legal clause, not claws the shark nails- except for kids who want presents. Parents tell them if they're good they get presents, bad they get coal. Nobody dies! They don't war with Turkey. They eat turkeys- turkeys are birds! And tangerines, it's weird. Beef is not the local delicacy-"

"Terra calm down-" The Doctor tried to interject.

"-I don't know what it is, but it's not beef. It's Boxing Day, they don't actually box they just- actually I don't know what but it's not fighting! Where did you even get that degree, it's useless!" I ranted, plopping down to push my hands in my face.

I was done. Just done. Things weren't making sense and everything hurt. He was wrong. He was always wrong with the facts.

I'm done with that. I knew what was real. Nobody would try to trick me like that again. I wouldn't let them.

"Sorry, Mr Copper. She's just stressed-" The Doctor excused. He tried to rub on my back to assure me. It freaked me out so I flinched from it. The Doctor stopped.

"No. She's right. My degree- it is useless. Between us, I didn't get it from a university." Copper admitted. "I got it from Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners."

"You, you lied to the company to get the job?" Astrid asked.

"I wasted my life on Sto." Copper explained. "I was a travelling salesman, always on the road, and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic."

"Hmm. I suppose it is, yeah." The Doctor conceded.

"How come you know it so well?" Astrid asked us. "You and her?"

"We were sort of, a few years ago, we were sort of made, well, sort of homeless, and, um, there was the Earth." The Doctor admitted.

"The thing is, if we survive this, there'll be police and all sorts of investigations." Copper reminded us. "Now the minimum penalty for space lane fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. I won't survive ten years."

There was a bang from overhead. I jumped to my feet, running.

"A Host! Move! Come on!" The Doctor warned everyone else.

We ran into the next room. The engine room. A great big ball of fire sat down below us, the heat rising up to meet us. That made it very warm, which was very unfestive of the engine.

"Is that the only way across?" Slade asked.

"On the other hand, it is a way across." The Doctor explained.

"The engines are open." Astrid realized.

The Doctor "Nuclear storm drive. As soon as it stops, the Titanic falls."

"Doc Brown I don't like agreeing with him, but that bridge isn't gonna hold all of us." I stated.

"Especially those two-"

"Doc Brown can I push him in?"

"Yeah, can she?" Morvin asked.

"You're going last, mate." Slade snarked.

"It's nitrofin metal. It's stronger than it looks." The Doctor explained.

"All the same, Rickston's right. Me and Foon should-" I grabbed his shoulder, pushing him back.

"It's special metal, the ground is not." I pointed to a piece of the floor that was bending down towards the engine. "The heat is melting all the other metal. We can't risk anything."

Morvin stared at the metal floor then glanced to the orange fireball below. He nodded, already starting to sweat. That was one life saved, I'm all the more relaxed for it. Now only to keep him alive, and everyone else. That would be a challenge.

"We still need to cross." The Doctor explained.

"Hold on- I've got something that'll speed things up!" I opened up the Bag. Setting it down in front of me, I searched it. "Is it that-no, maybe there? Also no. That's a lunchbox, that's a tire iron, that's a reactor! Gotta get that back to Tony."

"She's an idiot." Slade huffed. I pulled the reactor out, stuffing it in my pocket. "We don't have time for this!"

"Oi! Button it." The Doctor warned.

"Got it!" I pulled up the top of the ladder.

"Doctor, Terra, I rather think that those things have got our scent." Copper warned us.

Slade was bouncing in his step from fear. "I'm not waiting." He moved towards the beam, forcing everyone to step back so they wouldn't get bumped.

"Careful. Take it slowly!" The Doctor cautioned. "Terra you have a ladder in that?"

I pulled more of the ladder out. "Yeah. I used it to cross the Grand Canyon. This thing can handle a motorbike at top speed, but it was made to hold up a truck. It'll handle all of us."

The Doctor grinned. "You used a ladder to cross the Grand Canyon."

"I got pictures too!" I smiled fondly at the memory. Martha thought I was gonna crash and die at least twice. Pulling out more of the ladder, I dropped it so it would go alongside the metal beam. The top of the ladder landed on a post, keeping it locked in a sort of safe position. The rest of the ladder was still jutting out from my Bag. It was a very funny sight gag. "Alright- Van Hoffs, you get to go first."

Morvin nodded, thankful. As he placed a step down, the ship shook again. Slade fell from where he was, gripping tight to the beam to keep from dying.

"Oh, Vot help me." Slade pleaded.

"You're okay. A step at a time. Come on, you can do it." The Doctor cautioned him.

We could hear a hoard of Hosts chanting. Metal footsteps walked up from the hall. The clang of their feet not unlike Cybermen. "Kill. Kill. Kill."

"They're getting nearer." Copper warned.

The Doctor got the sonic. "Seal us in." He rushed to our entrance door.

Morvin was halfway across the ladder. Slade just over halfway.

"You're leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?" Copper noted.

"Never say 'trapped', just 'inconveniently circumstanced'." The Doctor replied.

"We could also say all those Hosts will be trapped with us, if that helps." I offered. "Or that's how it is in Mother Russia."

"Oh." Copper huffed, clearly not agreeing that any of our options made him feel less trapped.

The beam heaved again. "I'm okay." Slade called out.

"So am I!" Morvin called from the ladder. I kept the Bag still. The post on the other side kept it steady, but only if my Bag didn't fly off.

Slade finally made it across. "Yes. Oh. yes! Who's good!" Slade cheered for himself.

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next on the beam. Foon, you're on the ladder." The Doctor instructed.

"Bannakaffalatta small." Bannakaffalatta agreed. He started rushing over.

I helped Foon onto the ladder. The rungs were a mess on the feet unless you properly balanced yourself.

"Slowly!" The Doctor cautioned them both.

Morvin cheered on his wife. "That's it, love, that's it! Come on. You can do it." She smiled at him, careful making her way.

The Hosts began pounding on the door. Oh, they didn't much like that, did they?

"They've found us." Copper informed us.

"They already knew where we were." I corrected. "If they can monitor our life signals, they can find us no trouble."

"Really great, Terra, not what we need right now." The Doctor told me. Foon and Bannakaffalatta made it halfway across their respective beams. "Astrid, get across right now."

"What about you?" Astrid asked.

"Just do it." The Doctor guided Copper to the ladder. "Go on. Mr Copper, we can't wait."

"No, but we-" Copper tried to point to the doors.

"Don't argue." He moved him to the ladder.

"Watch your steps!" I cautioned Copper. "The rungs are weird on the feet!" Copper nodded, walking carefully.

Morvin greeted his wife with excited kisses, hugging her tight to him. Foon laughed in relief. Slade- disgusted- tried to leave.

"Doctor? The door's locked!" Slade yelled

"Terra, your turn." The Doctor instructed.

"I need to make sure the Bag is steady. If it moves, Copper dies." I told him.

"It'll be fine. Just move." The Doctor insisted.

"I'm not risking it." I argued.

"Doctor, I can't open the door. We need the whirling key thing of yours." Slade ordered.

"I can't leave her." The Doctor nodded his head at me.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out." Slade yelled.

The Doctor huffed in frustration. He looked at me, glaring. "Terra-"

"We saved the yelling for later. Just go!" I told him.

He gave me a long standing stare. He seemed to be fighting an internal desire to just pick me up, throw me over his shoulder, then drag me across the beam. He knew I was right about the Bag though. "Terra Johnson, I am coming back for you. Alright?"

I nodded at him.

The Doctor walked on the ladder, following after Copper. Two people per beam. Already this was going much smoother than in the show. That was good. This I could work with. This was the sort of thing that I flourished in. This was something the Master could never take from me.

Saving people, just by being me.

I saved Tom Milligan, just by walking out first, by using the Master's need for violence against him. I saved Lucy from being used in End of Time just by making the Haven possible. I saved the Van Hoffs by being willing to do deadly stunts over national treasures.

The ship shook again. The beam shook, creaking heavily. The floor around me shook. I gripped the Bag tightly to keep it still.

"It's going to fall." Astrid cautioned as she and Bannakaffalatta crossed the halfway point.

"It's just settling. Keep going." The Doctor cautioned.

The pounding on the door stopped. Everyone noticed.

"They've stopped." Astrid gasped in relief.

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta asked.

"Why would they give up?" The Doctor asked me.

"Never mind that. Keep coming." Slade ordered.

"When a door closes, a window opens!" I told him.

The Doctor shook his head. "Once again, not making sense."

"Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o'er the plains

"I think I get it." Copper pointed upwards. "I'm afraid we've forgotten the traditions of Christmas. That angels have wings!"

Up above it all, the Hosts began to descend. They had no wings. It looked like they were falling slowly, with style.

"Information. Kill." The Hosts all chanted. They lifted off their haloes. All of them began to glare brightly.

"Arm yourself, all of you." The Doctor yelled.

I would've grabbed something from the Bag, if it wasn't being used for the ladder. The Doctor and Copper were able to grab stuff from the beam, reaching over the short distance. Bannakaffalatta and Astrid strained for a moment, getting something. Still, I had very little. I sat down on the Bag, grabbing instead the loose fencing that was meant to kill Morvin.

The Angels kept throwing things at us. It annoyed me, really well and truly annoyed me. They had to know I was shite at baseball. And softball. And just about everything else. Dammit.

The Doctor cried out in pain. Copper did as well. My improvised bat flew off after a really strong hit.

"Bannakaffalatta stop."

Shit shit FUCK

"Bannakaffalatta proud. Bannakaffalatta cyborg!" Bannakaffalatta ripped off his shirt, a large EMP going off.

You know what? I hope I save him. I hope I do that so whatever fucking Author is writing this has to write Bannakaffalatta for the rest of this episode. I hope they don't even have autocorrect or copy/paste.

If I suffer, so must they.

The EMP reached the Hosts. They twitched, sparks flying. They fell towards the ground. Some landing on the engine core. One landed at my ladder, giving me a bumpy ride on the Bag.

I wasted no time. As Astrid crawled to Bannakaffalatta, I grabbed the Host and dragged it back. I tore off the back dress, reaching for the wires and such. The reactor was pulled out from my pocket, I tire into the thing.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics. Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" The Doctor praised.

"He's used all his power." Astrid fretted.

I twisted the wires about, reaching for a fallen Halo.

"Did good?" Bannakaffalatta asked.

"You saved our lives." Astrid praised, holding the small cyborg.

Almost there...

"Bannakaffalatta happy." Bannakaffalatta sighed.

Nearly done...

"We can recharge you. Get you to a power point and just plug you in." Astrid pleaded.

DONE!

"Astrid catch!" I attached the device to a halo, flinging it towards them.

Astrid caught it. "What is it-"

"ATTACH IT!" I yelled.

Astrid quickly pressed it to Bannakaffalatta's chest. He grabbed it, pressing to his EMP transmitter. I held my breath until Bannakaffalatta gasped.

Bannakaffalatta and Astrid laughed.

Fucking deal with it Author

The Doctor smiled at me. I smiled back.

"There. Now you can get me that drink, remember?" Astrid laughed in relief.

"Pretty girl." Bannakaffalatta agreed.

"What did you do?" Copper asked.

"That thing was a power core for a- well it was a cyborg thing. Full of gamma radiation- only toxic for humans. Tweaked it a bit to better suit him. There should be enough residual power in that to work for Bannakaffalatta until we get him to a power station." I explained.

Copper looked over. "That's perfect! If we can recharge his EMP transmitter, we can use it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta, sir, you might have saved us all."

Bannakaffalatta smiled, holding up a thumb at him.

"Do you think? Try telling him that." Spade pointed to the Host in front of me.

It lifted it's head. "Information. Reboot."

I tried to shift it off the side. It kicked the leg, sending me back.

"Terra!"

"I'm okie dokie!"

"Override loophole!" The Doctor yelled. The Host started to stand. It stomped on the rungs, moving forward. "Security protocol ten. Six six six. Er, twenty one, four, five, six, seven, eight. I don't know, forty two?"

"1!" I yelled.

The Host froze.

The Doctor pouted. "Really?" The Host moved so it was facing me.

"There weren't any left!" I excused.

"Information. State request." The Host requested.

"Good. Right." The Doctor eyed the Host with a healthy amount of caution. "You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

The Host was quiet.

"Terra, you ask it!" The Doctor ordered.

"Host. Why are you killing survivors?" I asked.

"Information. No witnesses." The Host answered.

"But this ship's going to fall on the Earth and kill everyone." The Doctor stated. "The human race have nothing to do with the Titanic, so that contravenes your orders, yes?"

Silence.

The Doctor huffed.

"The humans of Earth aren't witnesses, and if this ship fails it'll crush and burn, killing everyone in a fiery blaze of no glory. So that means it's against base programming, yeah?"

"Information. Incorrect."

'Ask him why they want to destroy the Earth.' The Doctor told me.

"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?" I asked.

"Information. It is the plan." The Host answered.

"Plans, why is it always plans?"

'Ask what plan?'

"Information." The Host began. "Protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."

"Well, you could have warned us." The Doctor pointed out.

"It'll be in the bug report." I gave the Doctor a thumb's up.

"Information. Now you will die." The Host raised it's hands. It started marching towards me.

I leapt back, grabbing the rope Foon would've used.

"Terra!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Tying the rope in a lasso, I held it tight. The Host grabbed me from behind. I pressed my weight against it, raising my legs up to kick the wall. The Host stumbled back on the exact thing that killed Morvin in the show.

The floor gave way.

"NO!" The Doctor cried out.

The Host considered its job complete. It let go of my arms. I threw the rope. The Doctor caught the other end. The Host was already too far to grab me back.

I could feel the heat from the engine on my feet.

The Doctor ushered everyone down their beams. Once there he pulled me up. I climbed the rope. It was giving my rope burn holding so tight.

Safely on the ground, the Doctor pulled me in for a hug. For his sake- and a tiny bit because I almost died- I let the hug go on.

"No more." The Doctor's voice sent chills down my spine. He was hugging me so tight. He wasn't loosening his hold, gave no impression he ever would loosen it.

The words themselves made me feel so cold. They were a discomforting kind of foreboding. They didn't encourage good things. It reminded me of Time Lord Victorious, of the fear I felt the first time watching it. Probably the same fear I would have in my next viewing.

He scared me.

He was scaring me.

But he was also the only thing helping me feel safe.

Time Lords, experts in paradoxes.

==MGCB==

Apparently nearly watching me die was enough to activate the Oncoming Storm. The Doctor was storming through the corridors, our group scrambling behind him to keep up. The Doctor made sure I followed by keeping a firm hold of my hand.

He hadn't let go since our hug.

"Right. Get yourself up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try to find a way of transmitting an SOS." The Doctor instructed. "Bannakaffalatta, Astrid, go charge that EMP. Once it's powered up, it'll take out a Host within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Morvin, take this." The Doctor passed him the sonic. "I've preset it. Just hold down that button, it'll open doors. Do not lose it! You got that? Now go and open the next door, take Foon and Rickston with you."

Morvin nodded. He took his wife by the hand, walking around us. Rickston followed, looking ever so petulant.

I pulled the first aid kit off the wall. Before I could hand it over, the Doctor grabbed it.

"Mr Copper, you're going to need this. I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power points?" The Doctor asked.

"Under the comms." Astrid explained.

The four of us ran over to it. Bannakaffalatta and Astrid knelt down. They popped out the old ARC reactor, connecting Bannakaffalatta to the power point. Astrid handed the reactor to me, I slipped it back in my Bag. Tony might actually want that back.

"See, when it's ready that blue light comes on there." The Doctor explained.

"Bannakaffalatta know how." He reminded the Doctor.

"It is his body after all." I agreed.

"Right yes, of course." The Doctor squeezed my hand. This was getting uncomfortable. His hand was squeezing so tight. It was grating. It was fine at first, now it was causing problems.

"You're talking as if you're not coming with us." Astrid noted.

"There's something down on deck thirty one. We're going to find out what it is." The Doctor stated.

"What if you meet a Host?" Astrid asked.

His hand tightened on mine. I put on my perfect American Girl doll smile.

"Well, then we'll just have some fun." The Doctor replied easily.

"Sounds like you do this kind of thing all the time." Astrid noted.

"Not by choice. All we do is travel. That's what we are. Just travellers." The Doctor explained. "Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss. Just the open sky."

"Bannakaffalatta says fun." Bannakaffalatta agreed.

"I'm sort of unemployed now." Astrid reminded us. "I was thinking the blue box is kind of small, but Bannakaffalatta and I could squeeze in it, like a stowaway."

"It's not always safe." The Doctor cautioned them both.

"This stuff really does happen all the time." I told her.

"So you need some company." Astrid explained. "It must be lonely with just the two of you."

"Bannakaffalatta want to come. Cyborgs not much loved here. No home too." Bannakaffalatta admitted.

"I've got no one back on Sto. No family, just me. So what do you think? Can we come with you?" Astrid asked.

The Doctor looked at me. 'Well?'

'I mean...they are tugging on my hearts strings something fierce.'

'So that's a yes?'

'I mean, if they really wanted it.'

"Yeah, we'd like that. Yes." The Doctor confirmed.

"Terra?" Astrid prompted.

My fake smile was still there. I wanted Donna to join next. Well, if Astrid and Bannakaffalatta stayed for a while that would be fine too. "It's fine, you can come."

The ship shifted again. The Doctor squeezed my hand again. We both got up to our feet. Lucky we were already at comms. The Doctor pushed a button.

"Mr Frame, you still with us?" The Doctor asked.

"It's the engines, sir." Alonso reported. "Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left."

"Don't worry, we'll get there." The Doctor promised.

"But the bridge is sealed off."

"Yeah, yeah, working on it." The Doctor replied. "We'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow. All charged up?"

Bannakaffalatta nodded.

"Good. Mr Copper! You and Bannakaffalatta look after Astrid. Astrid look after both of them. Van Hoff's look after each other. Rickston, er, look after yourself. And we'll see you again, we promise."

"Fingers crossed! Wait no...that means something different...uh...oh! Oh! Cross our hearts!" I encouraged.

As the Doctor and I left-him still keeping a too tight grip on my hand that I wasn't too excited about-

"Hold on! There's an old tradition on Planet Sto." Astrid began.

"We have really got to go." The Doctor explained.

"Just wait a minute." Astrid grabbed the first aid kit from Copper. She placed it on the ground in front of the Doctor.

Then kissed him.

Cause that's what everyone does apparently.

That's all everyone wants. To kiss the fucking Doctor. Never mind that there is someone perfectly capable of loving them standing right there by their side and is always willing to be there, they choose the Doctor.

Whatever.

I'm fine with it. It doesn't matter.

It got my hand free, so it's fine.

"Yeah, that's a, ahem, very old tradition, yeah." The Doctor swallowed.

"See you later." Astrid waved him off.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, yes!" He reached for my hand.

I just started running.

My Bag was still back there. I would get it back or burn this ship to its core.

==MGCB==

"Terra!"

"I'm right in front of you!"

I tossed the ladder back up. It slid down into the Bag. As I ran across the beam, it was easy work to get my Bag back.

The Doctor was giving me a disapproving stare when he made it across. "Come on!"

"Coming!"

As we ran back the way we came, we saw more and more Hosts popping up. They cornered us in the kitchen. I raised my Bag for attack, the Doctor grabbed a frying pan.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Security protocol one. Do you hear me? One. One!" The Doctor yelled.

The Hosts all stopped. They stood at 'prayer' positions.

'Okay. We gotta be smart about this.'

'We've got three questions. Three questions to save our lives.'

'Right...what do we ask?'

"Oh we should've thought of that."

"Yeah we should've." I huffed. "We're stowaways, can we work with that?"

"Oh yes! We can!" The Doctor turned to the Hosts. "So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not us. We're not passengers. We're not staff. Go on, scan us."

I held out my arms.

"You must have bio-records. No such people on board. We don't exist, therefore you can't kill us. Therefore, we're stowaways, and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority. And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on deck thirty one. First and final question. Am I right?"

"Information. Correct."

"Brilliant. Take me to your leader." The Doctor grinned at me. "I've always wanted to say that."

"Take me to your leader!" I copied.

==MGCB==

Deck 31 was not much better than rubble. I still managed to avoid tripping on debris.

"Wow. Now that is what you call a fixer upper." The Doctor joked. "Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours. Who is it?"

A set of doors opened ahead.

"Oh, that's clever." The Doctor praised. "Terra, that's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in there. Sit through a supernova. Or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves on board like this and I should know, because-"

"My name is Max." His gold tooth glinted. I'm standing here watching it with no idea how it did that.

The Doctor hummed. "It really does that."

"I was wrong about it being a gag. It's still weird though." I commented.

"Oh agreed."

"Who the hell are these?" Capricorn snapped at the Hosts.

"I'm the Doctor. Hello." The Doctor waved.

"Terra Johnson, aloha." I curtsied.

A Host stepped forward. "Information. Stowaways."

The Doctor clicked his tongue. "Well."

"Whoopsies!"

Capricorn rolled his eyes. "Kill them."

"Not it!" I moved my pointed finger to my nose, holding it there.

"Oh, no, no, no. Wait, but you can't. Not now." The Doctor cautioned. "Come on, Max. You've given us so much good material like, how to get ahead in business."

I giggled, moving my arm to clutch my stomach as I laughed.

"See? Head? Head in business? No?" The Doctor asked the silent Hosts and Capricorn.

"That joke is a real head scratcher." I giggled. "It was a head of its time."

The Doctor laughed with me.

"Oh, ho, ho, the office jokers. I like funny people." Capricorn remarked. "No one's been funny with me for years."

"I can't think why." The Doctor replied.

"You seem so delightful, and not a megalomaniac." I added. "Is it because you're the boss? I bet it's cause you're the boss."

"A hundred and seventy six years of running the company have taken their toll." Capricorn explained.

"Yeah but, nice wheels." The Doctor pointed out.

"Can it go zoom on the race track?!" I asked, excitedly bouncing up in the air.

"No, a life support system, in a society that despises cyborgs." Capricorn snapped at us. "I've had to hide away for years, running the company by hologram. Host, situation report."

"Information. Titanic is still in orbit." A Host reported.

"Let me see." Capricorn demanded. He drove the bright red square support system forward. The Doctor and I stepped to the side as he drove up to the railing. "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong? The engines are still running! They should have stopped!"

The body was mostly metal. That head was still human, still capable of thought. That was something I could work with.

'Don't notice me.' My head started whirling. A woozy feeling came over me like I drank too many bottles of wine. 'I'm not even here. It's just the Doctor.'

I could feel the blood from my nose this time. It didn't matter to me. Saving Astrid and the Doctor did.

That was how I could be useful. That was how I could be helpful. That was the only reason I was around, to help people, to save them. It could redeem me. This was my chance to make things right.

I was done being a screwup.

Let people like Copper call me a monster.

They didn't know what real monsters were like.

"When they do, the Earth gets roasted." The Doctor reminded Capricorn. "I don't understand. What's the Earth got to do with it?"

"This interview is terminated." Capricorn snapped.

As I snuck off, invisible to the Doctor and Capricorn, I searched the area. There was a clear path to the forklift. There wasn't any sign of Astrid. Maybe with me just being here, she thought the Doctor wasn't alone. Was my helping upstairs convince her we could handle it?

Donna had seen that same thing with the Doctor and I. She still told us to get a friend.

Fuck I can't wait for her.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I can work it out." The Doctor interrupted. I kept sneaking towards the forklift. "It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me. So, business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh, yes! No. Yes. The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."

"My own board voted me out. Stabbed me in the back." Capricorn admitted, sneering.

"If you had a back." The Doctor joked quickly before stumbling into the rest of his rant. I sent him a mental giggle, my nose dripping for it. "So, you scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors just in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value. Oh, but that's not enough. No. Because if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."

"And the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder." Capricorn confirmed.

"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber." The Doctor sneered at the cyborg, disgusted.

Capricorn "I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Penhaxico Two, where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of metal." Capricorn chuckled.

It made me shiver in disgust. Not to link shame cyborg fuckers- (we all had a crush on Cybirg from Teen Titans, don't deny it.)- but I will kink shame anyone that wants to fuck that.

Not even my sister would touch him. Author's Byline, I hope not. Her entire status as my sister would be under question.

"So that's the plan. A retirement plan. Two thousand people on this ship, six billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered, and why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser." The Doctor frowned on disgust.

Capricorn glared. "I never lose."

"You can't even sink the Titanic."

"Oh, but I can, Doctor. I can cancel the engines from here." Capricorn revealed.

On cue, the ship began to shake. I stumbled in my steps. There was a crate I grabbed onto, balancing myself.

I lifted the blood spotted hanky to my nose again.

"You can't do this!" The Doctor yelled.

'Terra. Terra where are you?!'

'Shh!'

"Host, hold him." Capricorn ordered.

'Terra what did you do!'

'I said SHH!'

"Not so clever now, Doctor." Capricorn taunted.

I climbed into the forklift.

"A shame we couldn't work together. You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire." Capricorn decided. "The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh. Oh, Host. Kill him."

'Lookie lookie, Maxie!'

Capricorn's head twitched. "What was that? Who spoke?"

"Hey!"

The Doctor and Capricorn turned towards me. The Doctor's eyes went wide in panic.

"You don't get to kill my friend!" I yelled, pressing down on the gas.

"Terra don't!" The Doctor yelled.

I collided with Capricorn's cyborg body. He glared up at me, trying to shake me. Not that I would give in, even for a second. A Host threw a halo at me, exactly what I was waiting for.

"He's cut the brake line!" The Doctor yelled in dismay.

I grinned. Capricorn's confidence shook. A hefty lever pull had the forklift rising. It lifted Capricorn up. He watched in panic. Without his body as a counter, the forklift was propelled forward.

"Terra!" The Doctor screamed.

As the forklift went over the edge, I climbed out from the seat. Using the Bag I flung it up. It wrung on a half collapsed pole, stuck on like the ladder had been on that post. It held me up.

The Doctor- leaning over the railing- followed the forklift. "No!"

'Alice fell down the rabbithole'

The Doctor looked towards me, dangling over the edge by my Bag. I smiled up at him.

"Mind helping Alice up?" I asked him.

He started laughing.

"That wasn't an answer."

The Doctor rushed over. He pulled up the Bag handle. I hung on tight, trying to climb up like Mulan did. As soon as I had solid footing, the Doctor pulled me into a hug.

This one felt earned, so it was better.

No- it was best.

"Titanic falling. Voyage terminated. Voyage terminated."

"Terra I think it's time we met the Midshipman." The Doctor suggested.

"Doctor let our Hosts lead the way." I agreed.

Four Hosts came over to us, each grabbing an arm. They lifted us up into the sky.

==MGCB==

We crashed into the bridge. It was the hottest entrance.

(Get it? Cause everything was on fire.)

"Deadlock broken." The computer helpfully reported.

"Ah, Midshipman Frame. At last." The Doctor cheered as the Hosts let him go.

I hopped down, watching over to the Midshipman. "That's the Doctor, he's useless with medicine. I'm Terra. I can give you a bandaid." I knelt by his side. Reaching into my Bag, I searched for the basic human repair kit. My sister and I used this a lot.

"Er, but, but the Host." Alonso pointed to the Hosts.

"Controller dead, they divert to the next highest authority, and that's me." The Doctor explained.

"He's very demanding. Shirt up." I instructed.

Alonso did as requested. "Umm...your nose is bleeding."

"Oh! Whoopsie." I grabbed another alcohol wipe, brushing off my blood lip.

"There's nothing we can do." Alonso told

"Mind the sting." I warned.

Alonso barely winced as I dabbed a new alcohol wipe on his gunshot wound..

"There's no power. The ship's going to fall." Alonso told the Doctor.

"Titanic falling."

"What's your first name?" The Doctor asked.

I slapped the bandage onto his side. It had a smiley face on it.

"Alonso."

"Oh it must be Christmas!" I cheered. "There's a new Floaty!"

"Titanic falling."

"You're kidding me." The Doctor continued to stare at Alonso in astonishment.

"What?" Alonso asked, lowering his shirt.

"No the floaty is right here." Standing up, I picked up the floaty. There was fire on it, so I put it out."

"That's something else I've always wanted to say." The Doctor grabbed the steering wheel. "Allons-y, Alonso. Whoa!"

I cheered with him, holding the floaty to my chest. The Doctor worked to keep the ship from crashing, trying to steer it away. I barely understood what was going on. My head was spinning from the past ten minutes.

The Doctor reached for the comm system. "Oh. Hello, yes. Could you get me Buckingham Palace?"

I stuffed the floaty into my Bag. Alonso eyed me in confusion. I smiled down at him- a genuine smile this time. "He's always wanted to meet someone named Alonso. You've made his whole Christmas!" I shouted.

"Listen to me. Security code seven seven one. Now get out of there!" The Doctor shouted at the comms.

As we got closer and closer, the Doctor was trying to steer us in a new direction. I stood up, grabbing the command system while hoping not to die.

Then we dodged Buckingham Palace.

All three of us cheered.

"Used the heat of reentry to fire up the secondary storm drive. Unsinkable, that's me." The Doctor explained cheerily.

"We made it."

"Hard to believe it, but we did!" I cheered, clapping Alonso on the shoulder. "All the ladies and giants and Bannakaffalatta!"

The Doctor pulled me in for another hug.

==MGCB==

"Morvin, sonic!" The Doctor called out.

The man threw the sonic over. The Doctor caught it.

"Ahh...I wanted to grab it." I pouted.

"I know you did." The Doctor replied. "Which is why I grabbed it first."

"Yeah but I wanted to grab it first."

"Why?"

"I thought we were playing catch. Is that not what's happening?"

Everyone laughed. Astrid standing closer to Bannakafalatta, while the Van Hoffs were smiling lovingly at each other.

Astrid said something to Bannakaffalatta. She walked over to us.

We smiled at her.

"So..." She glanced back to Bannakaffalatta.

"You talked about it, and decided it was worth a chance?" I reasoned.

She smiled. "Actually...you made Earth sound so amazing. I remember seeing that starless sky and...Bannakaffalatta liked it too. We decided to try out life on Earth."

"Yeah?" The Doctor asked.

Astrid nodded.

"Then we hope you two have a happy life." The Doctor praised.

Astrid smiled, thankful. She skipped back to her fiancé. Fiancé to be fiancé?

Alonso walked over to Copper. "The engines have stabilised. We're holding steady till we get help, and I've sent the SOS. A rescue ship should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records on Max Capricorn. It should be quite a story."

"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose." Copper mused.

"I'd have thought so, yeah." Alonso agreed.

"I think one or two inconvenient truths might come to light." Copper admitted. "Still, it's my own fault, and ten years in jail is better than dying."

The Doctor and I exchanged a glance.

'We're bringing him down too, yeah?'

'It goes against the spirit of Christmas, but I think we should.' The Doctor grinned. 'After- we'll talk about you becoming so jeopardy friendly.'

'Hello, I'm the Doctor and I like to jump off ledges! Hello I'm the Doctor and I don't like driving. Hello I'm the Doctor, why are you a murderer?'

'Okay but you're worse.'

'Hello I'm the Doctor and I like-'

"We are going to have that talk." The Doctor told me.

My smile was crooked, unable to hide my discomfort at being caught.

"Doctor, Terra, I never said thank you." Slade walked up to us both. I grimaced at him. "The funny thing is, I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I sold all my shares, transferred them to his rivals. It's made me rich. What do you think of that?"

'I never got to kick him.'

'You still have a chance.'

'Really?!'

Slade's vone buzzed. "Salvain. Those shares. I want them triple bonded and locked."

I kicked his shen.

"Ow! Hey!" Slade complained.

"My leg twitched by accident."

"Yep. It's a common thing for her." The Doctor excused, sticking by my side in solidarity.

Slade glared at us, disgusted. He stormed off, still happily chatting on the vone.

The Doctor walked over to the transporter podium. He picked up a handful of teleport bracelets. "Mr Copper, I think you deserve one of these."

==MGCB==

We got the three of them settled on Earth. Thanks to Copper having no concept of Earth funds, he gave himself a million pounds. We were even able to get Bannakaffalatta a filter so he could look normal around humans. He was adorable, Astrid was very lucky. All three of them were able to settle without conflict. Mr Copper was happy to have a family, and Astrid along with Bannakaffalatta were excited to have one too.

The Doctor connected with UNIT. They would make for certain that the newly named Copper family transitioned properly.

Now we were in the TARDIS. The blue box was off roaming in the Vortex. I was in the movie room, watching Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Doctor walked in, halfway through the film. He was in his normal brown suit by this point. I was in Christmas pajamas, happily lounging on a couch while eating popcorn.

"Everything alright?"

"My head stopped spinning, if that's what you mean." I replied.

"It was actually, yes." The Doctor walked in, poorly hiding something behind his back.

"If you're gonna get mad, I had everything completely under control with that bit at the end." I excused.

The Doctor shook his head. "You're half mad, which makes our friendship work." He danced on the balls of his feet. "And friends exchange gifts on Christmas."

Sitting up, I paused the movie. " good thing I found something for you!"

"You did?"

I reached into my Bag. A small pink gift box was tucked inside. The Doctor revealed the thing behind his back. There was a long boxed wrapped in blue wrapping paper.

We exchanged gifts before taking seats on the couch.

"You go first." I insisted.

"No you go first." The Doctor countered.

"You go! Please?"

The Doctor lifted the lid. His brown eyes widened. "Is this...?"

"The Master's fob watch." I told him. "You see, if someone really close to me died, I would want something more than memories to remember them by. Like, something with meaning to the both of us. That watch, no matter how it ended, brought you the Master. Yes, you had him for a short while, and he did kill millions of people, but you had him back. From what he said that sounded true, you meant a lot to each other." I explained to the Doctor. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Doc Brown, he was still your friend. This fob watch is a symbol. What is lost, can always come home."

The Doctor looked at the watch, then up at me. "How did you get this?" He asked. His voice was soft, in complete shock.

"The Master surprisingly didn't keep track of it." I admitted. The Doctor went back to staring at the watch. "Do you like it?"

The Last Time Lord smiled at me. "Thank you." The Doctor nodded to the thin box in my hands. "This is a long awaiting gift."

Once I opened it, I nearly dropped it.

A sonic screwdriver.

It had a ball top, encased in glass and metal workings. There was a raspberry pink light inside. It was connected to a golden part, with some giant honeycomb designs beneath the raspberry colored scanner, and a little spoon shaped button. There were some silver dials, which looked like they controlled some of the scanner stuff. Around the spoon button there were some silver clasps.

The hand grip was mostly black, with silver workings. It had bumps that looked like stereos. The bottom was a silver spade shape, with intricate patterns. All in all, pretty marvelous.

I looked at him, gaping. The shock would fade and then I would be squealing like a pig. "Screwdriver. Why do I have a sonic screwdriver? Why did you give me a sonic screwdriver?" I looked down at it, bringing it up from it's box. "I have a sonic screwdriver. This is mine. It's got a little pink light!"

Grabbing it, I got a feel for it in my hands. The box was still in my other hand. "Eek! My sonic screwdriver! I have a sonic screwdriver! Ahh!"

"I have been wanting to give you one for awhile." The Doctor said. "It's why I forgot to set up defenses. I was asking the TARDIS to make it for you. The TARDIS already had one made." He was starting to grin. "She wants you to have one too."

I squealed. About damn time that squeak showed up. "Christmas! Best Christmas Ever!" I pressed the button, making the pink tip glow. It made the noise. "Ahaha!"

I jumped up and down like a five year old. "Mine is bigger than your's!"

The Doctor shook his head. A proud smile on his face. "Oh don't you start."

"Already did!" I cheered.

==MGCB==

AN: There is something therapeutic about writing Terra telling me to fuck off. And yes, it was annoying writing Bannakaffalatta every time. I forgot copy/paste could help me until halfway through. By then I was just used to it.

She got her fucking vengeance.

Yes I was mean but this is healing-mean. Terra got to prove she wasn't beat down, that she'll continue to fight to save people.

Thanks to The Timeless Child, wolfgirl232323, SeleneAlice, HannahHPandDWfanJones, SpiderFlash 1273, xXKaitylynnXx, bored411, zoey-the-catgirl, Lynnecaya, Aurora the Void Dragon, djmegamouth, wtfstarftw, for favoriting

Thanks to The Timeless Child, wolfgirl232323, SeleneAlice, SpiderFlash 1273, xXKaitylynnXx, bored411, zoey-the-catgirl, Lynnecaya, Aurora the Void Dragon, djmegamouth, Alanur64, for following

If I missed your name, please complain. FFN is weird when telling me who adds to the story!