Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and I never will unfortunately :(

Chapter One: The Christmas Invasion

Part 1

Clara was falling.

Falling… Falling… Falling…

It was like the kind of falling that you feel when you jump off a building or jump off a cliff to get into a lake.

But it didn't feel like that kind of falling.

The kind she felt was … falling into a new life. A kind of life that was going to be different from the one she lived in.

So different that it would be hard to believe.

Clara's eyes flew open and she found herself lying down on the cold, hard ground, staring up at the dark sky. From her spot on the ground, she could see unfamiliar people, looking down at her with worried looks on their faces.

She had no idea where she was, and she couldn't stop her bottom lip from trembling as tears filled her eyes.

"Where am I? Where am I?" she mumbled to herself frantically, hopping to her feet. She looked around with wild eyes, probably looking like crazy person to the people around her, which was likely true as the people who had been looking at her were backing away but she managed to grab some woman's arm before she backed away from her. "Where am I?" She asked, breathing heavily.

The woman looked nervous. "Um, London?"

"But where in London?"

"Queen Arcade's Mall."

The name was unfamiliar to her and Clara started to breathe again heavily, "I don't know where I am," she couldn't help but whimper as her body shook. "I don't know where I am." She kept on repeating this. Over and over, repeatedly.

In the back of her mind, she knew she sounded mad, but this was just so confusing. She went to her mother's grave, saw this angel statue, and now she was in this place… an unfamiliar place at that … and she didn't know how it happened. How did she get sent here from a grave yard? It made no sense.

Clara needed it to make sense. Or else she would go crazy.

She let go of the woman's arm and took off running as fast she could, her breathing getting heavier with every leap she took. She didn't know where she was going. How could she? She didn't even know where she was? But she didn't stop running. Until she bumped into someone causing their shopping bags to fall and spill all the contents out and Clara fell backwards on her butt, failing to catch herself with her hands.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "So sorry." Tears sprung to her eyes as she looked up at the blonde woman she bumped into, "I don't know where I am."

Not saying anything, the blonde woman held out a hand with a warm smile. Clara's hand was shaking as she reached up to grab the woman's hand and she let her help her to her feet. She tried to keep standing, but her legs were all wobbly. It was as if she was standing on jelly. Luckily the woman was able to grasp her shoulders and Clara kept a tight hold on the woman's forearms to keep herself steady.

"Why don't you calm down, and tell me what's wrong," she told her softly and in a way, that reminded Clara so much of her mother that it brought tears to her eyes and she fought the urge not to wipe them away because she didn't want to appear weak, but she had already seen the tears. "Or how about this? We talk over a cup of tea; would you like that?" She questioned gently.

Clara sucked in a breath and nodded shakily. "Okay," she whispered. Why was this woman being so kind to her? The woman picked up her things and smiled warmly.

"Come on then, love," she told her. They began to walk together with the woman's free arm around Clara's shoulders making the brunette feel all warm and Clara couldn't help but snuggle against the woman's side, taking in the warmth. This was such a motherly touch and she basked in it. "I'm Jackie Tyler, what's your name?"

"Clara," she muttered, leaning her head on Jackie's shoulder, "Clara Oswald."

It was little while later, and Clara found herself sitting down on the couch with a blanket over her and a cup of tea in her hand. She took a sip of it and sighed as it went down her throat. The taste of it reminded her of the many days her and her mother would share a cup of tea together, just laughing and having a good time. Clara felt sad all over again. She sighed to herself, taking another sip of tea while using her other hand to tug the blanket around her even tighter.

Jackie stepped out of the kitchen with her own cup and she smiled as she sat down next to Clara. "How are you feeling?" She asked kindly.

"Better," Clara lied. She couldn't help it. She didn't want to hurt Jackie's feelings. The woman was trying to help her. Clara had no idea why Jackie wanted to help her. She didn't know her. She was a stranger, yet here she was, wrapped up in a blanket and having a warm cup of tea. Clara smiled softly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled back before she turned serious, "Now, tell me what you were doing out there in the cold."

"I don't know," Clara whispered, tightening her grip on her tea to keep her hands from shaking. "I was… I was visiting my mum's grave." She avoided Jackie's sad, pity filled eyes. She got enough of those to last a lifetime. "And…" She trailed off, not knowing if she should tell Jackie the full story.

"And?" The older woman prompted.

"And I must have got lost in my thoughts and found myself at the mall," Clara finished, wincing to herself at the lie. Deciding that she had overstayed her welcome, she sat down her almost empty cup of tea and stood up, the blanket dropping from her shoulders and half on the floor and half on the couch. "Thank you for the tea, but I should be going. My dad's probably worried."

"Wait." Jackie grabbed Clara's hand, preventing her from going that far, "How about you stay the night? It's too late to go outside."

"Why are you being so kind to me?" Clara finally couldn't help but ask as the question had been on her mind ever since Jackie invited her over for tea.

"You remind me of my daughter." She admitted, looking sad.

"Oh." It felt awkward in the room until Clara cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence, "Where … where is she?"

"She's traveling. Been gone for a while now. It feels like I haven't seen her in ages, but she's safe. She's with a friend." Clara opened her mouth to say more, but Jackie spoke up before she could. "So, will you stay over here for the night? You can call your Dad in the morning to come get you."

Clara hesitated, not wanting to intrude, but she finally nodded. "Alright."

It was only when she was settled in Rose's, who Jackie told her that she was her daughter, bed that she remembered that she didn't know what day it was.

"Jackie." Clara called before the older woman left the room. "Would you tell me what day it is?"

"December 23rd."

If it wasn't the fact that she was still breathing, Clara would have thought her heart stopped right then and there. 'What? No, it can't be!' she thought to herself frantically. 'It's March! Not December!' Instantly, she told herself to calm down as she managed to ask without sounding freaked out as she felt, "And the year?"

Jackie looked at her oddly, but answered her anyway, "2006."

Clara paled.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," Clara answered quickly, faking a smile. "I'm fine. Goodnight." She slid down in the bed, resting her on the pillow, facing her body away from Jackie.

"Okay."

When she heard the door of the bedroom close, Clara slapped her hands over her mouth to cover the scream. How was this possible? It wasn't. This had to be a dream.

"That's it, yeah," Clara whispered into her hands. "It's just a dream." With that thought in mind, she removed her hands from her mouth and closed her eyes, still telling herself it was just a dream as she fell asleep.

But when she woke up and found herself in the same place she had fallen asleep at, she knew that it wasn't a dream. She really was one year in the future. She had missed an entire year, a year. How was that even possible? That was point though, wasn't it? It was impossible to go back or forward in time.

But here she was, one year in the future where she missed her sixteenth birthday and her father probably thought she was dead. This brought tears to Clara's eyes. How was she going to call her father to come get her if he thought that? Sitting up in the bed, Clara wrapped her arms around herself, but she let them wrap around her legs as she pulled them up to her chest and she buried her face into her knees, holding back tears.

She wished there was someone who could explain what had happened to her and what that angel was.

Too bad she didn't know that she was going to get her wish in the form of a doctor.

The Doctor that is.

Clara stepped out of the room tentatively, looking around for any sign of Jackie. She was trying to sneak out of here without the older woman seeing her. She felt bad that she was sneaking out on someone who had been the only one to help her when she needed it. She needed to go want, no she wanted to go home. Back to her life. Back to her father. He needed her.

She had no idea how she was going to explain what happened to her to her dad. If he thought she was dead, how would she explain how she was still alive and in the flesh? Clara would figure it later once she got home… but how would she get there? She had no money for a bus.

Tears filled her eyes and she cursed herself for it. She hated how emotional she was being. She wanted to stop feeling sad all the time, stop feeling as if the world was crashing down underneath her feet. She hastily wiped at her eyes to get rid of her tears before they could fall down her face. She headed towards the front door, passing the living room but she paused at the sight of Jackie sitting on the couch with an expression all too familiar to Clara these days. An expression of utter sadness. She was holding onto two presents, looking down at them sadly. Clara wanted to go over there and hug her, but she stayed in her spot. She did, however, call for her in a soft voice,

"Jackie?"

The older woman looked up and gave a small smile, "Good morning, Clara..."

"Morning…" Clara bit her bottom lip as she stepped closer, "Are … are you alright?"

"Of course, I'm just …" Jackie sighed, looking down at the presents in her lap.

"Are those presents for your daughter?" Clara made her way over to Jackie and sat down beside her, forcing herself not to grab her hand in comfort. Whenever her mother was sad, she would grab her hand and squeeze it tight, never letting go for a second. She would also do it when her mum was asleep in bed on the days where she was so sick that all she could do was sleep, sleep, and sleep. Clara was snapped out of her thoughts by Jackie's voice.

"Yes, they are, her name's Rose," she said softly. "Did I tell you that?"

Clara shook her head, "No." There was silence for a moment until she cleared her throat, "Is she coming for Christmas?" She asked softly.

Jackie sighed. "I don't know…"

"Don't give up hope, maybe she will," Clara tried to comfort her with words but could tell that they hadn't worked because she still had that sad look on her face.

"Maybe…" the older woman murmured. She stood up abruptly from the couch and sat the presents back down next to the Christmas tree. "So, Clara…" she started to say as she started hanging up Christmas cards on the wall, "Is your father coming to get you?"

After a pause, she nodded, lying through her teeth again, "Yeah…"

"Clara, I know that I just met you, but I can tell that you're lying." Jackie stopped what she was doing and looked over at the brunette, "Why don't you tell me what really happened?"

"I wish I could," Clara blurted out, "But I can't. I don't understand what happened myself. All I remember is being at my mum's grave and seeing this angel statue that looked like it was weeping. I walked up to it, then turned around to leave, but then I turned back around, and the angel is right there, looking as if it had come from a horror movie. I blinked and the next thing I remember is waking up at the mall. I don't know what's going on…" Tears filled her eyes and she looked down at her feet. She had no idea what made her want to tell Jackie. Somehow though, she knew that the blonde wouldn't think she was crazy. As if maybe she had seen strange things before. Jackie wasn't saying anything, and Clara stuck a look at her to find that she was staring at her. Both just stared at each other until Jackie opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by this sound of engines.

'The TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space.' A voice that she didn't recognize sounded in her head. Clara shook her head with a frown. Though she didn't recognize the voice, why did she feel like she did?

This was the first time that she had heard this voice, so she couldn't know who it was. She decided to just ignore it. It was probably nothing. Clara looked over at Jackie to see her eyes flash with recognition as the sound of engines continued.

"Rose," she breathed out before rushing off, so fast that Clara didn't have time to blink before she was gone.

First thought was to rush after her and that's what she did.

Clara ran out of the flat, her heart beating fast against her chest in an excitement that she hadn't felt in what seemed like ages. She felt like she was running to something, instead of away from it.

She caught up to Jackie to see her looking around frantically for something. Someone was there with her as well. An African American man, who looked to be around nineteen years old. They hadn't noticed her standing there and she didn't make herself known as she was too busy looking for the thing that had been making that sound.

The TARDIS. The voice said. Was that making the engines sound? What exactly was a TARDIS? And why did Clara feel as if she should know what it meant?

"Well, where is it, then?" Jackie sounded impatient as she continued to look around frantically.

Suddenly, Clara jumped when a blue box appeared out of thin air, about 20 feet above their heads. She gasped, getting the attention of Jackie and the man.

"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded.

There was no time to reply as the blue box flew and crashed into the buildings on either side, earning a scream from Jackie as she grabbed onto the first person she could which was Clara. Wide-eyed, she held onto Jackie tightly.

Finally, the blue box (the TARDIS, the voice corrected in her head which again she ignored) skidded to a halt, smashing into a post van and knocking some dustbins on the way. The doors were thrown open and a man peered outside with his mouth wide open.

"Here we are then!" he cheered. "London! Earth! The Solar System! We did it!" He stumbled out of the TARDIS, gazing up at the flats in an almost child-like wonder with his mouth still wide open.

Who is he? Clara thought curiously, staring at him along with Jackie and the boy.

'His name is the Doctor.' The voice sounded in her head again, 'Trust him. He can help you.'

'Who are you?' Clara demanded of the voice, instead of ignoring it this time, but she got no response. She went to try again. But before she could though the man finally noticed them staring at him.

"Jackie! Mickey!" he exclaimed to Jackie and the boy named Mickey. "Blimey!" Then his eyes flickered to Clara and he grinned at her widely, "Hello there! I don't think I've seen you before! What's your name?"

"Clara," she answered slowly.

"Clara!" he repeated, her name rolling off his tongue in a way that she rather liked.

'My Impossible Girl.' A man's voice said fondly in her head and her eyebrows furrowed together confused, wondering why she recognized the voice this time.

This was all very strange.

"No, no, no, hold on." The man, who was supposedly called the Doctor, held his arms up as he stumbled backwards a few steps. "Wait there, I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you. Something important, what was it? No, hold on, hold on…" He came over to them and put his hands-on Clara's shoulders, a move that felt oddly familiar. He peered at her face, a little too close for comfort but she didn't move back. "Hold on…" he said again, and she opened her mouth to say something. He shushed her though, "Shush, shush, shush, shush… OH!" He exclaimed loudly causing Jackie and Mickey to jump in alarm especially Clara. He practically yelled this in her face. "I know!" He let go of Clara and moved back, looking between the three, panting and beaming, "Merry Christmas!" Then all the sudden, he collapsed, falling to the ground unconscious.

A blonde came out of TARDIS. At first glance, you could that she was Jackie's daughter. This was Rose. She noticed the Doctor on the ground.

"What happened? Is he all right?"

"I don't know, he just kneeled over! But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"

"That's him." Rose nodded towards the Doctor, looking sad, "Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

Jackie looked confused, "What d'you mean, "that's the Doctor,'? Doctor who?"

Clara stared at the Doctor, worriedly. He looked like he was dead.

"We need to get him inside the flat," Rose said, beginning to walk over to him. She paused at the sight at the sight of Clara standing there. Her eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

"Clara, hello." Clara greeted, sheepishly.

They returned to the flat, and Clara sat on the couch with Mickey Smith (the young man who she learned was Rose's boyfriend) while Rose and Jackie brought the Doctor (the supposed man who could help her with her problem) to Rose's bedroom.

She didn't say anything to Mickey. She didn't know what to say. So, she sat there, thinking of who that voice could be. It wasn't anyone she knew, that was sure. But somehow, she recognized it. It was strange, but it couldn't get any stranger than that angel statue. If this Doctor could help her, maybe he knew what that stature and maybe he could take her back home.

She wished that she knew if he could help her or not. She couldn't now since he was out of it, so she was going to stay here until he woke up and get some answers.

Clara realized with a pang that this was the first time, since her mother's death, she was interested in something, other than wallowing in her grief. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped before turning her head towards Mickey, who was holding his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright," Clara reassured him, putting a smile on her face. "I was just lost in my thoughts."

"I could tell." Mickey laughed, "What were you thinking about?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing important really," she answered vaguely, not feeling comfortable exposing her thoughts. Mickey seemed like a nice guy, but she did just meet him.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me," Mickey said. "I was just wondering. You looked like you were thinking about something sad."

"Yeah…" Clara's eyes glazed over in sadness as the thought of her mother came back to her. She stood up from the couch quickly. "Excuse me," she muttered to Mickey before leaving the living room to go to the bathroom. She past Rose's room and saw the blonde sitting beside the Doctor, holding his hand. She looked at Rose for a moment then at the sleeping Doctor, who looked rather peaceful laying there.

He was rather handsome. Pretty even. Clara stepped into the room without thinking about it too much. The sound of her feet got Rose's attention and the blonde looked up at her, startled.

There was silence between the two with both just staring at each other. After a little while, Clara decided to break the silence, stepped further into the room.

"How is he?" she asked, nodding towards the Doctor.

"Don't know yet," Rose said, glancing back over at him, sadness in her eyes. "But he's still breathing."

"That's good." Clara stepped closer to the bed, Rose, and the Doctor, but kept her distance. Silence came over them again. However, it didn't last long this time and Rose was the one who broke it, this time.

"My mum told me what happened to you," she told her, meeting her eyes. When she didn't say anything, Rose went on, "The Doctor can help you."

"He can?" Clara blurted out hopefully.

The blonde nodded, "He can." Her eyes sparkled with slight humor, but that was gone, when she looked back at the Doctor, and she whispered, "If this was the other Doctor, he definitely would be able to…"

Clara looked at her confused by that statement. Before she could question her on it, Jackie came back into the room, holding a stethoscope. Giving a quick smile to Clara, she went over to the bed and gave the stethoscope to Rose as she sat down on the other side of Rose on the bed.

"Here we go," Jackie said. "Tina the Cleaner's got a lodger, medical student. And she was fast asleep, so I just took it." Rose started to put on the stethoscope while Jackie went on, "Though, I still say we should take him to a hospital."

Rose pulled out the stethoscope and turned to her mother with a somewhat exasperated look on her face, "We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race." Both seemed to forget Clara was even there. She felt awkward standing there, but what Rose was saying peaked her interest. Especially the human race bit.

Jackie opened her mouth to something, and Rose looked like she was about to snap at her mum, but Clara cut in.

"What do you mean?" she asked, getting Jackie and Rose's attention. The Tyler woman looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Clara, Rose speaking up,

"The Doctor…he's an alien."

If this was before everything happened, Clara would be bursting out laughing now. Aliens? There were no such things. Impossible. But since they did happen, Clara believed Rose.

"You must think I'm crazy," Rose went on. "But it's true, he's an alien."

"I believe you," Clara told her, and the blonde looked surprised. She didn't know why Rose was surprised that she believed her. After what happened, she would be crazy not to believe her. Besides that, she saw the way the Doctor acted when he stepped out the TARDIS. He was strange and not human. That wasn't a bad thing, though.

"You do?" When she nodded, Rose breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad. Anyone else would be." She turned back to the Doctor then, putting the stethoscope back in her ears. She began pressing it to the Doctor's chest, starting with the right side then the left, which Clara found strange. "Both working." She commented as she took the stethoscope out of her ears.

"Both," Clara repeated quietly. 'He had two hearts? What kind of alien was he?' she thought, staring at the Doctor.

"Both," Jackie repeated as well, but louder than Clara did. "What d'you mean by 'both.'?"

"Well, he's got two hearts.'

"Oh, don't be stupid," Jackie said in a contemptuous tone as she scoffed.

"He has!" Rose got up from the bed and headed towards the door.

Jackie stayed where he was, eyeing him up and down. "Anything else he got two of?"

Rose turned back around, giving a pointed look towards Jackie, "Leave him alone." She left the room and Jackie stared at the Doctor for a few more minutes before turning towards Clara.

"I'm sorry about my daughter," she apologized. "She's not normally like this. She's just worried about him." Jackie sounded bitter about this fact, "seems like all she cares about now is him." Then she realized how that sounded and she shook her head, "I'm sorry, I know how that sounds… I love my daughter but sometimes…" She trailed off and stood up from the bed, "Nevermind me." She told Clara with a fake smile.

Clara only nodded, looking concerned for the woman who helped when no one else would.

Jackie patted Clara on the shoulder before she left the room to follow Rose, leaving Clara alone with the Doctor. Though she knew that he probably did have two hearts, her curious mind wanted to check and make sure. She leaned forward and placed her warm hands on either side of his chest, ignoring the spark she felt go up her arms at the touch.

And there it was.

Two heart beats.

"Oh, my stars," Clara whispered in awe.

As if he heard her, one of his arms lifted, and his hand covered one of the hands resting on his chest. Clara sucked in a gasp at the sudden movement and she tensed up, expecting him to wake up, but he didn't stir. Clara let out a breath of relief. She went to try and get her hand free from the Doctor's surprisingly firm grip.

Then the strangest thing happened. Clara felt the Doctor's chest lift from underneath her hands as if he was sucking a breath. His mouth opened, and a wisp of golden energy came out.

Clara jumped back, startled, which got her hand free from his grip. Somehow not waking him up. The energy buzzed by her ear as it flew out the window in the room. The wind, which was made from when the energy flew away, blew through Clara's brown hair. The wind disappeared, and her hair fell back down to her shoulders. It wasn't straight anymore, but wild, sticking up everywhere.

"What the hell was that?" Clara breathed out as her hands tried to fix her hair as best as she could. She stared at the Doctor and waited for more golden energy to come out.

When nothing did, Clara sighed and decided to leave the room, so the Doctor could sleep in peace. She went back to the living room. Mickey wasn't the only one in the room anymore. Rose and Jackie were there, watching what looked to be a conference and a woman was speaking. Above reading the name below her, this woman's name was Harriet Jones.

Clara had never heard of her before.

"Who's that?" she asked as she sat down next to Mickey on couch.

"Harriet Jones," Jackie told Clara causing the young woman to look at her. "She's the Prime Minister now. I'm eighteen quid a week better off."

Rose smiled incredulously as she kept her gaze on Harriet Jones.

"They're calling it, 'Britain's Golden Age'. Keep on saying, 'my Rose met her.'" Jackie sounded proud of Rose, not bitter like she was before.

"Did more than that. Stopped War World Three with her." Rose shook her head as she crossed her arms, smiling to herself, "Harriet Jones…"

A little while later, Clara was back in the room with the Doctor, watching over him. Rose and Mickey had left to do last minute Christmas shopping. Clara would have gone, but she stayed here to help Jackie if she needed it.

The Doctor hadn't been at all since the last time Clara was in here. He was still alive and breathing. Clara would know. She kept on checking occasionally. The last thing she wanted was for him to die under her watch. That wasn't the only reason why she checked. She also checked because she really didn't want him to die. The thought of him dying sent a chill through her.

Staring at his face now, Clara wondered if he would ever wake up. Now, it looked like it was very unlikely. The sound of the bedroom door opening, and the sound of Jackie's voice made Clara look up. She had a phone pressed to her ear and there was a cup of tea in her other one.

"Oh, no," she chatted to whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Don't come around, darling. No, the flat's all topsy, turvy." She pulled the phone away from her ear to whisper to Clara, holding out the tea towards her, "Sit this beside his bed. I think all he needs is a good cup of tea to feel better, so, if he wakes up, give him some."

Clara nodded and took the tea from her, moving off the bed to put the tea on the table beside the Doctor's bedside.

Jackie gave her a smile before returning to her conversation as she made her way out of the room. "Yeah, she just barges in and litters the place. Yeah, no – I'll come around and see you on boxing-day." Jackie stepped out of the room.

Just as she disappeared, more of that golden energy escaped from the Doctor's mouth.

Clara watched as the energy disappeared through the window just like the first one did. She still hadn't figured out what this energy was, but after a while, she gave up on trying to figure it out. Clara sat back on the bed, beside the Doctor, staring at him silently, wishing she could do something to help him, instead of just sitting here, waiting for him to wake up.

Thinking of what Jackie said about the tea, she glanced over at it. Sure, he wasn't awake, but that didn't mean he couldn't drink it. That thought in mind, she stood up and grabbed the tea with one of her hands while using the other to open the Doctor's mouth. It had closed once it let out the golden energy. She carefully poured the tea into his mouth, titling his head back so he could swallow. He only had a little bit of it because there was a knock on the front door of the flat and Clara went to go get it.

This time, she was the one that missed more of that golden energy leaving the Doctor's mouth for a third time.

TBC...

In...

The Christmas Invasion, Part 2...