A Christmas Carol
The Professor and the Doctor ran around the console, the Professor typing a quick note on the keyboard before sending it off to the crashing ship that Amy and Rory were trapped on, the one they were trying to track.
'Come Along Ponds.'
The Doctor pulled a lever and they went whizzing past the front of it, still unable to lock on enough to land inside.
"Can you find the source of the disturbance?" the Doctor called as they tried to make their own way through the treacherous clouds that surrounded them.
"Already on it!" she smiled back.
"Oh I bloody love you!" he laughed.
"Got it!" she shouted a moment later and they flew off to the roof of a very large Victorian style manor, a large spire on the top, shooting an energy beam into the clouds.
They looked around and the Doctor began to grin, spotting a chimney…and it was Christmas Eve…
~8~
Soot fell from the chimney of the manor, into the fireplace, noticed only by a small boy standing before his sister, father, and grandmother.
"I don't make the rules," an old man spat into a phone, "Oh, no, hang on...I do!" he hung up, "Right, you lot..." he eyed the family, "Poor, begging people, off home and pray for a miracle."
Just then a huge amount of soot fell into the fireplace, extinguishing the fire, sending ash and embers onto the floor, as the Professor fell through, ducking into a roll and jumping up, dusting herself off as though nothing had happened.
There was an 'oomph' behind her as the Doctor fell through, just missing the roll and landing on his back. She laughed, walking over to help him up, dusting him off a bit when he caught sight of the family, servants, and old man staring at them, "Ah! Yes, blimey. Sorry! Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, 'What the hell!'"
"And then he pushed me into it," the Professor mock glared at him, "Hate you."
"No you don't," he grinned smugly, taking her hand and tucking it under his arm as they walked over to the children, "Don't worry, fat fella will be doing the rounds later. We're just scoping out the general...chimney-ness. Yes," he moved back to the chimney and leaned on it, "Nice size, good traction..." and then yanked his hand back as it burned him, "Big tick!"
"There was just a fire roaring in it," the Professor took his hand and laid a kiss on his palm, "What did you think it would be? Cool?"
"Fat fella?" the father frowned.
"Father Christmas," the Doctor turned to them, "Santa Claus...or, as we've always known him, Jeff."
"There's no such person as Father Christmas," the boy shook his head.
"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor walked over and pulled out a black and white photo of them with Frank Sinatra, Jeff, and another man with large white hair, "Us and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952."
"You can see him at the back with the blonde...Albert Einstein," the Professor added.
"The five of us together...hrrroom!" the Doctor grinned, "Watch out! Ok? Keep the faith, stay off the naughty list. Ooh!" and then he caught sight of a large control panel in the back of the room, covered with knobs, buttons, and flashing lights, "Now, what's this? And I love this, a big flashy lighty thing…"
"That's what brought us here," the Professor nodded as they walked over to it.
"Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them," he looked back at the family, sitting down on the chair to swivel to the controls and back, "Not actually, but give me time and a crayon."
"Give him a crayon and I'll kill you," the Professor threatened in such a way that they weren't sure if she was joking or not.
"Now," the Doctor rolled around to look at it, "This big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah, and it controls the sky."
"Technically, it controls the clouds," the Professor stated, leaning against the wall beside the Doctor as he swiveled around to face them again, "Which technically aren't clouds at all. They're clouds of tiny particles of ice."
"Ice clouds, love that," he grinned at her before spotting a large metal box with a window in it, a blond woman standing there, seemingly frozen, "Who's she?" he pointed a the box.
The Professor pushed off the wall to go look inside.
"Nobody important," the old man waved them off.
"Nobody important?" the Professor scoffed.
"Blimey, that's amazing," the Doctor mockingly looked impressed as he sat back on the chair.
"Do you know," the Professor eyed the old man, "In 900 years of time and space, we've never met anyone who wasn't important before."
"Now," the Doctor turned back to the controls, "This console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat...if I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat. Not someone who's using their hat, I don't want to shock a nun, or something. Sorry, rambling, 'cos...'cos this isn't working!"
"The controls are isomorphic," the old man stated as the Professor walked over and touched the device, frowning as he was telling the truth, "One to one, they respond only to me."
"Oh, you fibber...isomorphic! There's no such thing."
"The Master shot me with an isomorphic laser screwdriver," she reminded him and he winced, reaching out to take her hand, kissing the back of it as he smiled at her apologetically. He still blamed himself for that whole fiasco, if he hadn't been so driven to save the man, he would have just let Jack shoot him, and then the Professor wouldn't have suffered at his hand and regenerated into the soldier. He'd let her get hurt...
'And then you saved me,' she told him, pulling her hand away to run it through his hair, smiling at him, 'You always save me.'
He smiled back at her when the old man moved, stepping over between them and flipped a switch, shutting the machine off before turning it back on. The Doctor tried the same switch but nothing happened. He flipped them a few more times before the Professor grabbed the sonic out of his jacket and soniced it, showing him the readings.
"These controls are isomorphic!" he exclaimed.
"The skies of this entire world are mine," the man stated, "My family tamed them, and now I own them."
"Tamed the sky? What does that mean?"
"It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?"
"Well, just easily bored, I suppose."
"So, we need your help, then," the Professor eyed him.
"Make an appointment," he waved her off.
She just raised an eyebrow at that, "There are 4,003 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt. Without your help, they're going to die."
"Yes."
"You don't have to let that happen," the Doctor told him.
"I know, but I'm going to. Bye bye. Bored now…Chuck!" one of the servants walked forwards and grabbed the Doctor's arm and the Professor's elbow, leading them out. They ducked out from under the grip and moved back to Kazran as he sat in a chair, "Ooh, look at you, looking all tough now."
"There are 4,003 people we won't allow to die tonight," the Professor told him.
"Do you know where that puts you?" the Doctor asked.
"Where?" he humored them.
"4,004."
"Was that a sort of threaty thing? Am I supposed to be scared?"
The Professor leaned in just a bit, putting each of her hands on the armrests of the chair, forcing him to sit back, "I've killed more than 4,000 creatures in less than an hour and you don't want to know how many by the end of a day," she looked him dead in the eye, "So yes, you should be."
The Doctor reached out and gently pulled her back, wrapping an arm around her in comfort, soothing her, he knew how worked up she could get when people she cared about were in trouble, "Whatever happens tonight, remember...you brought it on yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, right…" he cleared his throat, obviously affected by the young woman's words, "Get them out of here. And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."
The two were grabbed by a few more servants who led them towards the door with the family. The little boy, copying their moves, broke free and grabbed a lump of coal off the ground, chucking it at Kazran, hitting him on the head.
"Nice aim," the Professor remarked.
But Kazran stormed over, raising his hand to hit him.
"No, stop, don't!" the Doctor shouted.
The Professor frowned, it was taking too long. Kazran could have easily struck him before the Doctor could have yelled, but he was hesitating…he wouldn't do it.
"Don't you dare!" the father struggled, "You leave him!"
Kazran lowered his hand, "Get him out of here! Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!" the family was pushed out of the room as Kazran headed back to his chair, stopping when he spotted the Doctor and Professor still standing there, "What? What do you want?"
"A simple life," the Doctor remarked, taking the Professor's hand.
"But you didn't hit the boy," the Professor observed with a soft smile.
"Well, I will next time!" he threatened.
"No, you see, you won't."
"Now why?" the Doctor asked, "What am I missing?" he slowly walked past Kazran, tugging the Professor with him.
"Get out!" he bellowed, "Get out of this house!"
"The chairs," the Professor muttered.
"The chairs!" the Doctor shouted, spinning around, "Of course, the chairs! Stupid me, the chairs!"
"The chairs?" Kazran frowned.
"There's a portrait on the wall behind us," the Professor stated, the two of them looking right at him.
"Looks like you, but it's too old, so it's your father," the Doctor reasoned.
"All the chairs are angled away from it."
"Daddy's been dead for 20 years."
"But you still can't get comfortable where he can see you."
"There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve."
"You're scared of him and you're scared of being like him."
"And good for you, you're not like him, not really."
"Do you know why?"
Kazran just looked at them.
"And yes, we do do this a lot," the Doctor replied.
"Or so we're told," the Professor nodded.
Kazran shook his head, "Why?"
"Because you didn't hit the boy," the Doctor smiled, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Sardick."
"I despise Christmas!
"You shouldn't," the Professor remarked as they walked past him towards the door, "It's very you."
"It's what? What do you mean?"
"Halfway out of the dark," the Doctor considered him with a smile, the two of them leaving as the servants returned. They headed down the hall and towards the front doors when something beeped in the Doctor's pocket.
The Professor reached in and pulled out the comm. they'd connected to Amy, "Have you got a plan yet?" the girl in question asked as they walked out of the manor.
"Yes, we do," the Doctor said.
"Professor is he lying?"
"Yes, he is," she laughed.
"Don't treat me like an idiot Doctor!"
"Was he lying?" they heard Rory ask.
"No, no," Amy replied tensely.
"Ok, the good news," the Doctor began as they walked out onto the street, "We've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. We could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."
"Oh, hey, hey, that's great news!"
"But we can't control the machine," the Professor added.
"Less great."
"But we've met a man who can!" the Doctor added brightly.
"Ah, well, there you go!"
"And he hates us," the Professor sighed.
"Was it because the Doctor was being extra charming and you extra clever?"
They blinked and looked at each other, "Yeah, how did you know?" the Doctor asked.
"Lucky guess."
"Sir...ma'am!" they looked up to see the father of the small family rushing over to them.
"Hang on," the Doctor called into the comm. as they turned to the man.
"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr. Sardick like that," he grinned, shaking their hands, "Bless you, sir, ma'am, and Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," the Professor smiled.
"Lovely," the Doctor nodded, "Sorry, bit busy."
"You'd better get inside though," the man continued, "The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."
"Oh, right, yeah…"
"Sorry, fish?" the Professor frowned.
"Yeah," the man nodded, "You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."
"Yeah, fish, we know fish," the Doctor shook his head, "Fish?"
"It's all Mr. Sardick's fault, I reckon. He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood. Thank you. Bless you once again, sir, ma'am," and with that, he went back to his family.
"Fish?" the Doctor looked over at the Professor who could only shrug.
"The captain says we've got less than an hour..." Amy cut in, "What should we be doing?"
"Fish…" the Professor blinked, spotting a few small fishes actually swimming around a streetlamp a few feet away.
"Sorry, what?"
"Fish that can swim in fog," the Doctor grinned, "I love new planets."
"Doctor! Doctor, please don't get distracted! Professor, don't let him get distracted!"
"Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellas?" he held up his hand and the fish moved to investigate. The Professor held up hers as well but they didn't nibble at her fingers like the Doctor but just swam through them, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies."
"Fish in the fog, so the cloud cover has..." the Professor frowned, "Amy be careful up there."
"Oh, great, thanks, Professor, because there was a real danger we were all going to nod off!" Amy answered sarcastically, "We've got less than an hour!"
The Doctor glanced at a nearby clock just as it struck 11, "We know."
'Ding Dong Merrily on High' began to play over the loudspeakers.
"Doctor?" Amy called, "How are you getting us off here?"
"Oh, just give us a minute!" he started pacing, muttering to himself.
"We can't use the TARDIS," the Professor frowned, "Because it can't lock on."
He nodded, "So that ship needs to land, but it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice, just in time for Christmas Day!"
"Doctor, I can't hear you," Amy shouted, "What is that? Is that singing?"
"A Christmas carol," he muttered.
"A what?"
"A Christmas carol."
"A what?"
"A CHRISTMAS CAROL!"
"Doctor!"
The Doctor looked over at the Professor as cunning smiles spread across their faces, "Kazran Sardick!"
"Doctor!"
"Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick!" the Professor nodded.
~8~
A recording started to play on the wall of Kazran's sitting room as the old man slept on his chair, of a little boy speaking into the camera, "Hello. My name is Kazran Sardick. I'm twelve-and-a-half and this is my bedroom."
"Top secret special project…" Kazran mumbled in his sleep.
"This is my top secret special project. For my eyes only. Merry Christmas."
"Kazran, Kazran!" an older man shouted off screen. Kazran jumped awake with a start and watched the screen as his father burst into the room, "Kazran, what are you doing? What are you doing?" he peered into the camera causing the older Kazran to stand and back away in fear, "I've warned you before about this, you stupid, ignorant, ridiculous child!"
"I was just going to make a film of the fish," young Kazran replied.
"The fish are dangerous!"
"I just want to see them."
"Don't be stupid, you're far too young!"
"Everyone at school's seen the fish."
"That's enough! You'll be singing to them next, like gypsies."
"The singing works! I've seen it. The fish like the singing."
Kazran backed into the wall behind him as the scene continued.
"What does it matter what fish like?"
"People say we don't have to be afraid of the fish. They're not really interested in us."
"You don't listen to people! You listen to me!" and then he struck his son.
Kazran reached up to his cheek and rubbed it, remembering the sting.
"Ow!" young Kazran cried, "I'm sorry, father."
"This is my house!"
The Doctor and Professor slowly entered the room behind Kazran, having watched the video, seeing young Kazran with his head down on his desk, crying.
The Doctor stepped forward and put a hand on Kazran's shoulder, "It's ok. It's ok."
Kazran jerked away and rounded on them, "What have you done? What is this?"
"Found it on an old drive," the Professor replied, quietly, understanding, empathetic to the poor boy's pain.
~/~\~
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" an angry voice shouted.
She gasped and spun around, her grip on the three glass jars of food slipping as she saw her father standing in the doorway to their kitchen. She hadn't meant to sneak around so late, but…she'd been hungry, her father didn't tend to make much food for her and she was just so hungry. Unfortunately the jars fell to the ground, shattering all over the floor and her eyes widened more, staring at her father in horror as his nostrils flared, a vein beginning to form in his neck as he glared at her.
"I…" she tried to speak, but her father just stormed over to her, ignoring how she cowered back against the cabinet behind her.
"Do you see this?" he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her away from the door and over to the pile of glass, nearly shoving her at it as he forced her to look, "Do you see the mess you've made you stupid little..."
"I…I'm sorry…" she tried again but he shoved her back, making her stumble as her back hit the cabinet.
"Don't you dare talk back to me!" he roared, lifting his arm and striking her across the face with the back of his hand.
"I'm s-sorry daddy," she sobbed, curling in on herself as he reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck yanking her up only to half throw her to the side, onto her knees, "I'm sorry," she cried, trying to crawl away, "I'm sorry…" but she slipped on the spilled juices from the jar, sliding to the ground.
"What the bloody hell did you think you were doing?" he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up by it and turning so fast that she nearly swung into a chair by their table, her wrist twisting painfully, "Do you see this you little idiot!" he gestured to the floor once more, "Who's going to clean this up? Who?" he shook her fiercely, gripping her shoulders tightly, bruising her.
"P-please stop daddy," she cried, "You're hurting me…"
He shoved her to the floor again, "Clean that up! Now! You good for nothing…"
But she didn't. Instead she pushed herself to her feet, gripping her wrist that he'd been holding in his vice-like grip. She had to get out of there. He never followed her when she ran, but she had to get out. She could see, blurrily through her tears, the only way out was through the glass.
She took it. Running barefoot through the shattered pieces, wincing as the glass stuck her, dug into her feet, but she didn't dare stop. She stumbled up the stairs, scrambling to her room and shutting the door, locking it behind her before rushing to her bed. She curled up in a ball under her sheets, sobbing as she cradled her wrist to her chest, the side of her face, stinging from the hit, pressed into the cool sheets, her feet on fire with the glass shards she'd have to pull out soon…
~/~\~
She felt an arm wrap around her waist, pulling her from her thoughts. The Doctor nuzzled the side of her head, dropping a kiss to her temple in comfort. How any man could ever do what her father had, what Kazran's father had...how any man could strike their child...he just couldn't understand it. Children were so precious, they needed to be cared for, looked after, loved...
He swallowed hard, glancing back at the child sobbing on the projection as his hand rubbed the Professor's back, "Sorry about the picture quality. Had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip," he gave the Professor another quick kiss before leading her over to Kazran's chair, sitting her down in it and leaning against the side of it, picking up a newspaper.
"I wouldn't bother calling your servants," the Professor added, shaking her head from the last of her thoughts, seeing the man heading for a bell, "They quit."
"Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time, which is a bit lucky when you think about it."
"There isn't a lottery," Kazran glared.
"Yeah, as I said, lucky."
"There's a fog warning tonight," Kazran's father continued on screen, "You keep these windows closed, understand? Closed!"
"Who are you?" Kazran asked them.
"Tonight," the Professor began, as she crossed one leg over the other, sitting more casually, "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"Mrs. Mantovani will be looking after you tonight," his father said, "You stay here till she comes. Do you understand? Do you understand?"
"Did you ever get to see a fish back then, when you were a kid?" the Doctor asked.
"What does that matter to you?" Kazran glared.
"Look how it mattered to you."
"I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson."
"Which is?" the Professor asked.
"Nobody comes. Get out! Get out of my house!"
The Doctor quickly pulled the Professor up, "Ok. Ok. But we'll be back…" he backed away with the Professor, back towards the door where the video was playing in, the TARDIS behind them, "Way back. Way, way back…" they stepped into the room and the TARDIS disappeared…
~8~
Young Kazran lifted his head, hearing a strange wheezing noise, and looked back to see the Doctor and Professor standing in the window.
"See?" the Doctor grinned, "Back!" and pushed it open.
"Who are you?" Kazran asked.
"Hi. I'm the Doctor."
"And I'm the Professor," she added, "We're your new babysitters."
They jumped into the room.
"Where's Mrs. Mantovani?" Kazran frowned.
"Oh, you'll never guess!" the Doctor grinned, "Clever old Mrs. Manters, she only went and won the lottery!" he turned and jumped onto the bed, pulling the Professor up to bounce with him.
"There isn't any lottery…"
"We know. What a woman!"
The Professor jumped off the bed and tugged him down with her.
"If you're my babysitters, why are you climbing in the window?"
"Well, if we were climbing out the window, we'd be going in the wrong direction, wouldn't we?" the Professor reasoned, "You need to pay more attention."
"Mrs. Mantovani's always my babysitter. "
"Times change," the Doctor moved forward to peer into the still recording camera, "Wouldn't you say?"
"You see..." the Professor joined him, smiling as she pointed to herself, "Christmas Past."
"Who are you talking to?" Kazran eyed them oddly.
"You," the Doctor turned to him.
"Now, your past is going to change," the Professor warned the camera, "That means your memories will too."
"Scary, but you'll get the hang of it."
"I don't understand," Kazran shook his head.
"I'll bet you don't! I wish I could see your face," he pointed at Kazran and the camera before clapping his hands, "Right, then," he plopped down onto the bed as the Professor looked around, "Your bedroom. Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old…"
"So we'll stay away from under the bed," the Professor nodded.
"Cupboard!" he pointed, "Big cupboard, I love a cupboard…" he ran over and opened it, sticking his head in, "Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider. It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards..."
"Which you probably shouldn't have mentioned," the Professor mock glared at him as he winced and closed the doors.
"Right, so what are we going to do?" he turned around, "Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that…" he trailed off a moment and then blushed quite a bit.
"What?" the Professor eyed him.
"I, um…" he swallowed.
"Doctor?" she crossed her arms, eyeing him as Kazran watched, just a bit amused.
"I talked about you," he admitted, "Quite a bit actually…"
She frowned, "When? To who?"
"In the Academy," he shrugged, "Basically to anyone who'd listen. Trust me, by the end of the day the Master and the Corsair were ready to glue my mouth shut…" he laughed embarrassedly, his roommates had grown rather tired of his constant babble about her rather quickly over the decades, "Pretty much whenever you weren't there I gobbed on about you. Um…even AFTER the Academy."
The Professor's eyes widened at that but then she smiled and walked over to him, draping her arms around his neck, "Romana wanted to kill me too," she added, a faint blush on her cheeks as she recalled her own roommates, "The Rani nearly did a few times."
"Oh," he smiled widely, hearing she had done the same about him, and pulled her into a deep kiss.
Kazran, being twelve years old, grimaced at the sight and, when they hadn't parted for nearly a minute, cleared his throat, "Are you really babysitters?" they certainly didn't act like any he'd ever had.
The Doctor coughed, blushing, though his arm remained around the Professor's waist even as he pulled out the psychic paper and held it out to the boy, "I think you'll find we're universally recognized as mature and responsible adults."
"It's just a lot of wavy lines," Kazran frowned.
The Professor took the paper and looked at it, "Yeah, it's shorted out. Finally," she laughed, "A lie too big," and put it away in his coat.
"Ok, no, not really babysitters," the Doctor told the boy, "But it's Christmas Eve. You don't want real ones, you want us."
"Why?" he eyed them, "What's so special about you?"
"Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?" the Professor asked.
"No…"
"Good," she nodded, scrunching up her nose, "'Cos that comparison would've been rubbish."
The Doctor laughed and kissed her nose, "You really are too adorable when you do that you know," he scrunched up his nose as well, "Scrunching your nose."
She laughed a bit, putting a hand to his cheek, "Says the man red as a tomato," he grimaced at the fact he was still rather red, "Tell me, is this a shade reserved just for me?"
"Of course," he reached out and took her hand, kissing her palm, "I only blush about you dear."
Her grin turned more playful, nearly smirk-like, "I can't wait to see if there are any other shades of red I can get you to turn."
"Ok!" he pulled away a bit, needing to distance himself before she followed through on her threat right then and there. He cleared his throat and turned to Kazran, the boy eyeing them oddly, "Fish in the fog," he got back to the topic at hand, "Fish in the clouds. How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?" he walked over to stand at the open window, the Professor following him with a gentle laugh and a shake of her head.
"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt," Kazran remarked, "Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."
"Yeah," he turned around, "We've seen your dad's machine."
"What? You can't have."
"Tame the sky...human beings, you always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you?"
"Do you want to see one?" the Professor asked, "A fish?"
"We can do that. We can see a fish."
"Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?" Kazran frowned.
"Dangerous?" the Doctor laughed, stepping back into the room, "Come on, we're boys! And you know what boys say in the face of danger."
"What?"
"Mummy!" he laughed, "And besides, we've got the Professor, don't need anything more than that to be completely safe."
The Professor smiled at his praise, his faith in her.
~8~
The trio was sitting in the closet, a string tied to the Doctor's finger as it connected to a pulley that dangled the sonic outside as bait.
"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran looked around.
"Nah, not at this time of night," the Doctor replied, "They'll all be sleeping in your mattress."
"So…" the Professor cut in, "Why are you so interested in fish?"
"'Cos they're scary?" he shrugged.
"Good answer," the Doctor smiled.
"What kind of tie is that?"
"A cool one."
"Why is it cool?"
"Why are you REALLY interested in fish?" the Professor shot him a knowing smile, she knew distraction tactics when she saw them.
"My school," he sighed, "During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."
"Were you scared?" the Doctor asked.
"I wasn't there. I was off sick."
"Ooh, lucky you…" Kazran bowed his head, "Not lucky?"
"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."
"But you don't," the Professor nodded, glancing at the camera they'd set up across from them, "We see that now."
"Why are you recording this?"
"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor asked suddenly.
"Sorry, what?"
"'Cos you're not paying attention now," the string was tugging at his finger. He quickly stood with the Professor and made their way to the door, "Shh!"
"Doctor, are you sure?"
"Trust me."
"Ok," he sighed.
"Oi!" the Doctor turned to him, looking him in the eye, "Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"
"Yes," he nodded.
"That's why it's cool," he nodded as the Professor took the string from him and stepped out with a quick scan around the room. The Doctor followed and shut the door behind them. They spotted a small fish investigating the sonic as it dangled there.
"Hello, fishy," he smiled, "Let's see…"
The Professor squinted at the sonic as they walked close to the walls around the room, "Interesting. Crystalline fog. Possibly carrying a tiny electrical charge…" she glanced at the Doctor, "I'd need a heavier condensation of the fog to fully assess it.
He nodded and glanced at the fish, "Is that how you fly, little fishy?"
"What is it?" Kazran called from the cupboard, "What kind? Can I see?"
"Just stay there a moment."
"Is it big?"
"Nah, just a little one," he leaned in closer, "So, little fella, what do you eat?"
They both jumped back, the Doctor grabbing the Professor's arm to keep her from going for the blaster as a shark swam into the room and swallowed the fish and sonic in one bite.
"How little?" Kazran called.
"Er..." the Doctor swallowed as they started inching their way back around the room towards the cupboard.
"Can I come out?"
"No," the Professor called, "Just…wait there for a moment."
"What color is it?"
"Big," the Doctor gasped, "Big color..." and then they made a dash to the door and ran in, slamming it shut behind them, leaning against it as the shark butted it with its head.
"What's happening?"
"Well, concentrating on the plusses, you've definitely got a story of your own now."
"And we got a good look at the fish," the Professor added with a strained smile, not wanting to scare the boy, "And we understand the fog, which'll help us land a spaceship in the future and save a lot of lives."
"And I'll get some interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in your bedroom."
"There's a shark in my bedroom?" Kazran shouted.
"Oh, fine, focus on that part!"
The banging suddenly stopped.
"Has it gone?" Kazran breathed, "What's it doing?"
The Doctor looked at the Professor, "What do you call it if you don't have any feet and you're taking a run-up?"
Her eyes widened and she grabbed the Doctor and Kazran, pulling them back from the door just as the shark broke through it. They fell to the floor, pressing themselves into the far corner, out of reach from the shark for the moment. Its mouth was open, a green glow from inside it.
"It's going to eat us!" Kazran shouted, "It's going to eat us, it's going to eat us...is it going to eat us?"
"Maybe we're going to eat it?" the Doctor suggested, "But I don't like the odds. It's stuck, though. Let's see. Tiny brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably stun it…"
"Well, where's your screwdriver?"
"Well, concentrating on the plusses...within reach. There's a real chance, the way it's wedged in the doorway, of keeping its mouth open."
"There is?"
"Agree with me. 'Cos I've only got two goes and then it's the Professor's turn."
"Two goes?"
"Two arms. Right, then," he turned to the shark just as a blast of light shot past him and slammed into it. It wailed a moment before slumping and falling to the floor.
They turned in shock to see the Professor with her blaster out.
"Did you kill it?" Kazran frowned.
"No," she breathed, falling back against the wall a moment, before lifting her blaster, "Made a nifty little app," she smiled, "Set it to stun."
~8~
The three of them were on the patio outside Kazran's bedroom, the shark lying on the ground with Kazran kneeling beside it as the Doctor and Professor stood a few feet away, examining what remained of the Doctor's sonic.
"What's the big fishy done to you?" the Doctor lamented, "Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."
"You and your sonics," the Professor sighed, "This is what? The third sonic you've destroyed since you found me?"
He pointed at her like he was going to say something but then went back to his sonic.
"Doctor?" Kazran called, "I think she's dying."
"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so," he sighed.
The Professor moved over and crouched down, resting a hand on the shark, scanning it, "They can't survive long outside the cloud belt. Usually just long enough for a quick raiding trip on a foggy night."
"Can't we get it back up there?" the boy sniffled, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."
"She was trying to eat you," the Doctor reminded him.
"She was hungry."
"We're sorry, Kazran," the Professor sighed, "We can't save her, not down here."
"We could take her back up there," the Doctor offered, "But she'd never survive the trip."
"We'd need a fully functioning life support."
"You mean like an icebox?" he looked up, hopeful, "Ok!"
~8~
The Doctor and Professor ran down the stairs behind Kazran, into the sitting room where a large tree was set up…which, of course, distracted the Doctor quite a bit while Kazran moved to get a lamp.
"Ooh, a tree!" he grinned.
"Doctor!" the Professor shook he head, taking his hand and pulling him away from it to follow Kazran back down more stairs to a basement area where a large round door with a wheel and small window was.
The Doctor peered through the window to see a room lined with metal boxes and fog, "What is this?"
"The surplus population," Kazran sighed, "That's what my dad calls it," he moved to the wheel with the Doctor, trying to open it, "Oh, it's not turning! Oh, why won't it turn?"
The Professor cleared her throat and they looked to see her pointing at a security keypad, "We don't have the sonic, so we need the number."
The Doctor looked at Kazran, "What's the number?"
"I don't know," he shook his head.
"This place is probably rigged with alarms," the Professor glanced around at the different cables running along the ceiling and wall, "It's not just the door."
"We need the number!" the Doctor ran back to the wheel.
"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older," Kazran insisted.
The Doctor and Professor looked at each other and with a shout of, "I thought of it first!" they ran back up the stairs.
~8~
"7-2-5-8!" the older Kazran shouted as his memories played through that particular part as they changed.
"Just what we were after," the Doctor called from behind a door where the TARDIS was set up.
"Thank you!" the Professor added, closing the door.
~8~
"7-2-5-8!" the Doctor shouted as they ran down the stairs, "7-2-5-8."
Kazran ran to the keypad and hit in the number. The wheel spun on its own, unlocking the door and opening. They stepped in, seeing a thick fog up to their knees which the Professor ran a hand through before nodding at the Doctor, confirming the readings from the sonic.
"Ah, there's fish down here, too," the Doctor pointed at a few small fish as Kazran led them through the vault.
"Yeah, but only tiny ones," he replied, "The house is built on a fog lake. That's how dad freezes the people," he stopped in front of one of the boxes, "They're all full, but we could borrow one," he pointed at the one before him, "Yeah, this one."
The Professor held up the lamp in her hand to see the blonde woman from earlier, "Hello again."
"You know her?"
"Why her?" the Doctor asked, smirking, "Important, is she?"
"She won't mind. She loves the fish," he walked to the side of the box and tapped in some numbers on a keypad, a video hologram appeared in the window.
"My name is Abigail Pettigrew," the woman stated, "And I'm very grateful for Mr. Sardick's kindness. My father..."
"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute."
"…but I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr. Elliot Sardick, but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish..."
The Doctor and Professor wandered around the rows of containers, looking into some as Kazran stood there, watching the hologram play.
"Why are these people here?" the Professor asked, glancing back at him as the Doctor took the lamp to continue looking.
"…they catch the light as they dart through the fog..."
"What's all this for?"
"My dad lends money," Kazran said, "He always takes a family member as...he calls it security."
"Hard man to love, your dad," the Doctor commented, "But I suppose you know that."
Kazran looked down.
"Mine was too," the Professor added.
He looked up at her, startled, only for his gaze to fall to her wrist which she was absently rubbing. His hand went to his cheek where his father had struck him and she nodded, an understanding passing between them.
"…I am not alone, and I am at peace," Abigail's footage finished.
Kazran hit another button and the container lit up, starting the warming process just as a radar-like beeping sounded. He frowned and walked over to the Doctor and Professor as they looked around, "What's wrong?"
"His half of the screwdriver is trying to repair itself," the Professor mumbled, "It's signaling the other half."
"The other half's inside the...shark…" Kazran realized what they had.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, the Professor readying her blaster again, "Sounds like she's woken up. Ok. So it's homing on the screwdriver..."
Suddenly the shark loomed out of the fog, mouth wide and snapping. The Doctor grabbed the Professor's arm and pulled her away as it lunged at her, sending them toppling into a few boxes and to the floor as Kazran ran off through the fog and containers. They sprang up and ran after him, both trying to find the shark and the boy.
Suddenly…a soft singing echoed through the chamber. They followed it, seeing Kazran standing before Abigail's open box, watching as the woman knelt on the ground beside the shark, singing to it, calming it.
"It's not really the singing," the Professor assessed as she listened to the notes.
"Yes, it is," Kazran replied.
"Nah," the Doctor waved him off.
"The fish love the singing, it's true."
"The notes resonate in the ice," the Professor said, "Causing a delta wave pattern in the fog."
The Doctor slapped the back of his neck, "Ow! A fish bit me."
"Shush!" Kazran hissed. Abigail turned to them as she sang, smiling.
"That's also how the machine controls the cloud belt," the Professor added, "The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them to do as you please."
The Doctor slapped his neck again, "Ow! Why do they keep biting me?" he pointed at the Professor, "You're the one saying they don't like the singing!"
"Look," Kazran ignored him and looked at the Professor, "The fish like the singing, ok? Now both of you shut up!"
The Professor laughed a bit at his order and the Doctor made a face, "Ok."
"Oh come now," the Professor whispered to the Doctor, "The biting isn't that bad."
He pouted, "Biting's never good."
"Oh it's not is it?" she smirked and leaned forward, nibbling on his ear, making his breath hitch. She smiled, nuzzling his neck a moment as she saw a blush spreading up it, "I suppose that was equally as bad then?"
He swallowed hard, "Right. Bad, yes."
"I see," she nodded, before turning to Kazran, "We'll be just a moment," she told the boy who waved them off, wanting to hear the music uninterrupted, before she turned and grabbed the Doctor's hand, pulling him off to disappear between the iceboxes...
A few minutes later the two Time Lords reappeared, the Doctor with his bow tie undone along with the first few buttons of his shirt, his hair disheveled, face flushed red, rubbing the slight bruise that would undoubtedly appear on the junction of his neck and shoulder lightly, but with a large grin on his face.
The Professor nudged him with her hip, "Much better than chopping it, eh?"
"Oh yes," he breathed, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against his chest, "Tempting," he whispered in her ear, "You are far too tempting," and nuzzled his nose into her neck, making her shiver.
~8~
"It's bigger on the inside!" Kazran gaped as he and Abigail looked into the TARDIS from the doorway, the Doctor and Professor behind them, working on getting the shark in the icebox.
"Yeah, it's the color," the Doctor called, "Really knocks the walls back," he tapped on the container they'd just sealed, "Shark in a box, to go."
They hefted the box up between them and carried it into the TARDIS, setting it down on the floor as Kazran and Abigail stepped in after them, before heading to the controls.
"This is...amazing!" Abigail breathed as they got the TARDIS moving, with limited jolting as they didn't want to injure the shark any more than it was.
"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor waved her off, "We keep amazing..." he ran to the doors and opened them, "Out here!"
Abigail and Kazran ran to the doors, looking out as they floated in the sky, schools of fish swimming around the clouds.
"Come on, then," the Professor called to the Doctor as he moved to join her, "Let's get this shark out," she punched a few numbers to defrost it and, moments later, it burst through the box and flew out the door.
"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran cheered.
The Doctor closed the container and frowned, spotting a series of numbers, many 0s and one 8, on the front. He glanced over at Abigail, "Abigail, this number, what does it mean?"
"It pertains to me, sir, not the fish," she replied, walking over.
"Yeah, but how?"
"You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"
"Do you need a doctor?" the Professor asked her gently.
Before she could answer there was a chiming behind them.
"Ah!" the Doctor spun around, "Sorry!" they ran back to the console, "Time's up, kids!"
"Why?" Kazran wandered over.
The Professor smiled, "It's nearly Christmas Day!"
~8~
Kazran, the Doctor, and the Professor stood before the icebox, back in the vault, helping Abigail back in.
"If you should ever wish to visit again..." Abigail began.
"Well, you know," the Doctor shrugged jokingly, "If we're ever in the neighborhood..."
"They come every Christmas Eve," Kazran cut in, "Yeah, they do, every time. They promise!"
"No, we don't..." the Doctor tried to say but Kazran just closed the door.
~8~
The door opened to Abigail's box, the men wearing Father Christmas hats, while the Professor had a pair of antlers on her head, "Merry Christmas!" they cheered.
"Doctor!" Abigail gasped, "Professor!" the Professor took her hand and led her down the aisle towards the TARDIS as the Doctor carried a harness, "What are we going to do?"
"The Doctor's got a great plan!" Kazran beamed, "Wait till you hear!"
~8~
The Doctor stood before a two-wheeled open carriage, hooking up the harness, "You are out of your mind," Abigail told him.
"You know," the Professor commented, "You're not the first person to tell him that?"
"Oh ha ha," the Doctor rolled his eyes playfully at her, "Let's all poke fun at the madman with the box."
"Oh you know I prefer madmen to sane folk any day."
"So why'd you turn down the Master that one time he asked you…"
"Besides the fact the Corsair dared him?" she shook her head, "I said madmen, not psychopaths."
Abigail shook her head, eyeing the two of them, bantering and flirting, before the Doctor finished the harness, "This will never work!"
"Oh, don't think shark, think dolphin," the Doctor countered as he turned and lifted Kazran onto the seat.
"A shark isn't a dolphin!"
"It's nearly a dolphin."
"No, it isn't."
"That's where you're wrong, because...shut up," he turned around and held the sonic into the air, starting it up.
"It could be anywhere," Kazran hopped down, "Will it really come?"
"No chance. Completely impossible."
"Except," the Professor smiled, "At Christmas."
And then they heard the radar noise.
~8~
The Doctor was at the reins, flying the shark, through the clouds, pulling the carriage behind it. He whooped in delight as, after much prodding, pleading, and planting quite a few kisses, he had finally convinced the Professor to let him pilot this trip.
"How are we going to get back?" Kazran called above their laughs.
"Don't know!" the Doctor shouted.
"Do you have a plan?" Abigail asked.
"Him?" the Professor laughed, "Never!"
They laughed and cheered as they flew around the city.
~8~
"Best Christmas Eve ever!" Abigail exclaimed as she stepped back into her icebox.
"Till the next one!" Kazran promised, the three of them waving and closing the door.
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" the trio shouted as the door opened.
"Professor!" Abigail smiled, "Where to this time?"
"Did we mention, at any point, all of time and space?" the Professor asked.
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, now wearing fezzes.
"Doctor!" Abigail laughed.
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" the Doctor and Professor shouted as Kazran stood by, a bit sullen, not really wishing to speak for fear of his voice cracking, all three wearing scarves of varying lengths and colors and patterns.
"Doctor!" she grinned, "Professor!"
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted.
Abigail began to greet them when her gaze landed on an older, teenage Kazran, looking much taller, leaner, and dressed up, wearing a small black bow tie, "Kazran!"
~8~
"You've grown," Abigail remarked, her eyes still on Kazran as they walked into the TARDIS, the Doctor and Professor already at the controls, getting ready.
"Yeah," Kazran smiled.
"And now you're blushing."
"Sorry."
"That's ok."
"So, Doctor, Professor, where this time?"
"Pick a Christmas Eve," the Professor smiled.
"We've got them all right here," the Doctor tapped the console.
"Might I make a request?" Abigail asked.
"Of course."
"This one."
~8~
Abigail stood on the street, wearing a hooded cloak, as she looked through a window and watched her family, a young woman and her husband with a few children gathered around.
"Thank you, darling," the husband kissed his wife.
"Who are they?" Kazran asked as the three of them stood a little ways away, watching Abigail.
"Her family," the Professor said, "The lady's her sister."
"We met her once," the Doctor nodded, "When she was...older."
"Abigail's crying," he whispered.
"Yes."
"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"
"I have absolutely no idea…" he trailed, taking the Professor's hand. He'd never really seen her cry, only recounting a handful of situations and even those were the result of some colossal event that had shaken her to the core or touched her rather deeply, like regenerating into fear, offering to switch places with Rose, telling her about his love for her…he'd truly just been there, not even sure if he'd really said anything.
Kazran nodded and walked over to Abigail, leaving them to their own devices. They glanced at the window Abigail looked through before grinning and turning to each other, "I thought of it first!" they shouted quietly and laughed, rushing off.
~8~
The curtains to the window burst open and the Doctor and Professor stood there, waving Abigail and Kazran in, "Come in!" the Doctor shouted.
~8~
The Doctor sat before a small boy, one he and the Professor recognized as the father of the small family in the future, trying to show him a card trick. The Professor stood beside him, her hand on his shoulder as Kazran helped the husband with decorations, Abigail and her sister were sitting a few feet away, talking quietly.
"Pick a card, any card at all," the Doctor held out a fan of cards, "Memorize the card, put it back in the deck," he instructed the boy, "Don't let either of us see it."
The boy picked a card and looked at it, before carefully putting it back in the deck.
The Doctor shuffled it a moment before holding out a card, "The three of clubs!"
"No," the boy shook his head.
"You sure? I'm very good at card tricks."
"You're rubbish at card tricks!" the Professor laughed.
"It wasn't the three of clubs," the boy insisted.
"Well, of course it wasn't," the Doctor tossed the card away, "Because it was the seven of diamonds!" he pulled a card out from inside his pocket.
"No."
"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong."
"Yes," the Professor replied sarcastically, "HE'S the one doing it wrong."
"Oh hush," he tugged her down and gave her a peck, the kiss slowly growing deeper when...
"Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled!" Abigail's sister announced, standing up as everyone looked over, "As my sister refuses to attend."
"Isabella..." Abigail hissed.
"Instead...we'll have it tonight."
~8~
Everyone was sitting around the table, the Doctor and Professor at one end, everyone about to pull party crackers between them.
"Three, two, one!" the Doctor counted down, "Pull!"
Everyone cheered and laughed, the boy pulling out a playing card from his, "How did you do that?"
"Your card, I believe," he smirked.
"No!"
"Oh, shut up!"
The Professor shook her head and gave him a small kiss to cheer him up.
"Er, Merry Christmas!" Kazran toasted.
"Merry Christmas!" they all cheered.
~8~
"Best Christmas Eve ever," Abigail smiled as she hugged the Doctor, standing outside her icebox.
"Ah!" he grinned, pulling back, "Till the next one."
"I look forward to it," she hugged the Professor as well, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."
"Of course," the Doctor nodded, standing there, "Well, on you go," Kazran sent him a look, "Oh! Oh, yes, right! Sorry, we'll, um, we'll go, then."
The Professor laughed, looking at Abigail, "Good night."
The Doctor nodded and turned to Kazran, "Good luck...night! Good night!" he stumbled back into a container, "Sorry," and the two turned to walk away.
"Doctor!" Kazran rushed over, glancing at the Professor almost embarrassedly.
"I'll leave you two to talk," she assured him, walking back to the TARDIS.
Kazran smiled gratefully at her before turning to the Doctor, "I, er, I think she's going to kiss me."
"Yeah, I think you're right," he nodded, pushing him towards Abigail.
"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?"
The Doctor sighed and put his arm around Kazran's shoulders, "Well...try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."
"Why?"
"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan. Off you go, then!" he nudged him away again.
"What, now? I kiss her now?"
"Kazran, it's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now, go!"
He pushed Kazran back and walked to the TARDIS, shutting the door as Kazran stood awkwardly before Abigail.
"When did you design a new kind of screwdriver?" the Professor asked, amused, she wasn't really sure exactly when he'd started planning out his sonics.
"Probably right after I saw you playing in the music room and realized I loved you," he sighed, resting his forehead against hers, winding his arms around her waist, "Worst mistake ever. I should have just told you then and there that I loved you."
She smiled at him, "I'm almost glad you didn't," he looked at her sharply, "Your sonics have gotten us out of quite a few tricky situations."
He laughed and just kissed her deeply, not even knowing Abigail and Kazran were doing the same, "You know," he breathed, pulling away a bit, "We have a year before we need to pop in again..."
She looked up at him, seeing the pink tint to his cheeks at what he was suggesting, and smiled softly at him, "But we've only an hour to save Amy and Rory," she reminded him, reaching up to cup his cheek, a smirk on her face again, "And believe me, my love, you keep this up and we'll need more than an hour."
He groaned and dropped his head on her shoulder, "I take it back, you're not tempting," he looked at her, "You, my dear, are a terrible tease."
She laughed and took his hand, "We'll finish this later," and pulled him back to the console to hop a year ahead.
~8~
The Doctor popped out of the bushes behind the Hollywood mansion hosting the party they had crashed, his tie undone, a red smudge on his cheek, wearing a white evening jacket as he pulled the Professor, in black slacks and a light pink sweater, behind him, her blaster in his other hand, holding it as far away from her as her could.
"Guys!" he shouted, spotting Kazran and Abigail kissing by the pool, "We've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe, and I can't keep the Professor back forever!" he paused, looking at them, "How do you keep going like that?" he frowned, "Do you breathe out your ears? Hello?" he tapped Kazran on the head with the butt of the blaster, "Sorry, hello?" and then Abigail, "Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening now!"
"Yoo hoo!" Marilyn called in the distance.
The Professor grabbed his undone tie and pulled him towards her, "If you yoo hoo I swear you will be boo hooing very soon."
He swallowed hard, "Gotta go!" he shouted to the couple, pulling the Professor away, back through the gates he'd come from, "Meet at the TARDIS!"
~8~
"I'm sorry!" the Doctor flinched back as the Professor whacked him on the arm repeatedly, "I'm sorry. You're beautiful. You're brilliant. You're gorgeous. I love you. Please don't kill me! I'm sorry!"
"Can I toss her into a black hole?" the Professor glared at him.
"No…we can't go killing famous socialites."
"She kissed you!"
"Only on the cheek…"
"ONLY?"
And then the Doctor, seeing her growing more furious, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her as passionately as he could. He held on as long as he could before air became an issue and he pulled away, leaving them both breathless.
He gave her a small smirk, "I'd bet you're better than Marilyn."
Her jaw tensed a moment, but with his one hand stroking her arm and his other hand her cheek…she sighed, "I better be."
"You most certainly are," he reassured her. She raised an eyebrow and he floundered, "Not that I would know how Marilyn Monroe kisses!"
She just shook her head and laughed, resting it on his chest a moment, this body truly was VERY possessive. He smiled softly and put an arm around her, just holding her to him before dropping a kiss on her head.
"Good night, Abigail," Kazran said behind them as he quietly escorted Abigail to her icebox.
"Good night, Kazran," her voice broke as she turned and he closed the door behind him.
The Doctor's arm slid down to the Professor's hand and they walked over to the young man, "There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year."
"Doctor...listen, why don't we leave it?"
"Sorry, leave what?"
"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."
"Old?" the Professor frowned.
"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."
"Sorry…we didn't realize we were boring you."
"Not your fault," Kazran shrugged, walking away, "Times change."
"Not as much as we'd hoped. Kazran," the Doctor sighed, before rushing over to him, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell..." he handed him the sonic, "Merry Christmas."
"If you ever need us, just activate it," the Professor told him, "We'll hear you."
"I won't need you," he said harshly.
"What's happened Kazran?"
"What are you not telling us?" the Doctor eyed him but Kazran just walked off, "What about Abigail?"
"I know where to find her," he held out his hands before striding out of the vault.
~8~
The Doctor and Professor watched as Kazran walked into his room the next year, straight over to a desk drawer and pulled out the Doctor's sonic. A moment later he spun around to see them standing in the window. He walked over, the Doctor leaning down to smile at him but Kazran just closed the curtains in their faces.
The Professor sighed, "Plan B then."
~8~
"Hello!" a green hologram of Amy in her police uniform appeared in the older Kazran's sitting room.
He spun around with a gasp, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Didn't think this was over, did you? I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."
"A ghost? Dressed like that?"
Rory, dressed as a Roman, suddenly pushed her aside, "Eyes off the skirt," and Amy shoved him out of the way.
"You turned into a Roman," Kazran remarked.
"Yeah," she laughed tensely, "I do that. I also do this…"
She disappeared.
"Do what? What are you talking about?" he frowned, hearing 'Silent Night' being sung from a distance. He followed the sound till he entered the ice vault where a number of people, green holograms, stood singing.
"They're holograms," Amy appeared behind him, "Projections, like me."
"Who are they?"
"The people on the ship up there. The ones you're going to let die tonight."
"Why are they singing?"
"For their lives. Which one's Abigail?" Kazran looked at her sharply, "The Doctor and Professor told me."
"Did they now?"
"They don't hold back. You know them."
"How do I? I never met them before tonight. Now I seem to have known them all my life. How? Why?"
"You're the only person who can let that ship land. They were trying to turn you into a nicer person. And the Doctor was trying to do it nicely. Trust me, the Processor would have just as easily held you at gunpoint to save us."
"They've changed my past. My whole life!"
"Time can be rewritten."
"You tell the Doctor and Professor, tell them from me, people can't," he stormed past the holograms, breaking them up, till he stopped before Abigail's container.
"That's Abigail?" Amy asked, following.
"I would never have known her if the Doctor and Professor hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"No."
"Why is she still in there? You could let her out any time. "
"Oh, yes. Any time at all. Any time...I choose," he put his hand on the window.
"Then why don't you?"
"This is what they did to me. Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. On the point of death. I suppose the rest in the ice helped her, but she's used up her time. All those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want...and she would live a single day," he looked at Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"
"I'm sorry. I really am. I'm very, very sorry. But you know what? She's got more time left than I have. More than anyone on this ship."
"Good."
She sighed, "Rory, widen the beam."
The room flickered and Kazran was transported onto the flight deck of the ship as the captain and her pilots struggled for control.
"Update on engine one..." the captain called.
"How did I get here?" he looked around.
"You didn't," Amy replied, "It's your turn to be the hologram. Since you're going to let a lot of people die, I thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen."
"The singing...what is it? I don't understand."
"The Professor's idea," Rory called from a side panel on the wall, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals. The fish like it. She thought it might stabilize the ship. But it isn't working. It's not powerful enough."
"Why are they still singing, then?"
"Because we haven't told them," the captain turned around, "I understand you have a machine that controls this cloud layer. If you can release us from it, we still have time to make a landing. Nobody has to die."
"Everybody has to die," Kazran remarked.
"Not tonight," Amy countered.
"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?"
Amy sighed, "Doctor? Professor?"
"Yeah?" the Doctor called over a comm..
"Are you hearing this?"
"And seeing it," the Professor sighed, looking at the Doctor from where they had been watching it all through the monitor of the TARDIS.
"They're here?" Kazran looked around, "Where are they? Doctor? Professor?"
Rory turned off the hologram and Kazran disappeared.
~8~
"Doctor!" Kazran gasped, back in the ice vault, turning to see the Doctor and Professor leaning against an icebox, "Professor!"
"We're sorry," the Professor told him, "We didn't realize."
"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me."
"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor countered.
"Oh, try it. You try it. Why are you here?"
"'Cos we're not finished with you yet," he walked forward, "You've seen the past, the present...and now you need to see the future."
"Fine! Do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will, we all do! What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you! I don't and never, ever will care!"
"And we don't believe that."
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"We are showing it to you. We're showing it to you right now. So what do you think?" he looked over Kazran's shoulder. He turned to see his younger self standing there in pajamas and a robe, "Is this who you want to become Kazran?"
"Dad?" young Kazran breathed.
Kazran dropped his cane and lifted his hand, as though to strike the boy, before stopping suddenly and starting to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry…" he reached for himself but the boy took a step back, scared, "It's ok, don't be frightened," he put a hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled him into a hug, "I'm...I'm so, so, so..."
"Kazran," the Professor stepped forward, "We don't have much time."
~8~
"Hello, hello!" the Doctor called, bringing up an image of the flight deck on a small computer comm. in Kazran's sitting room, "Ah, hello, everyone. Prepare to lock on to my signal."
"Doctor, what's happening?" Amy asked.
"We just saved Christmas. Don't go away!" and he cut the connection, spinning around and walking over to the machine in the back where Kazran was working with the Professor, young Kazran standing off to the side, "We good to go, then?"
"The controls won't respond," the Professor shook her head.
"They're isomorphic," the Doctor frowned, "Tuned to his brainwaves," he looked at Kazran, "They'll only respond to you."
"They won't," he shrugged.
"That doesn't make sense, why wouldn't..."
"Oh!" the Professor's eyes widened and looked at the Doctor.
"Oh, of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor!"
"What's wrong?" Kazran frowned, "Tell me, what is it, what..."
"It's you," the Professor told him, "We've changed you too much, the machine doesn't recognize you."
"But my father programmed it..."
"He would never have programmed it for the man you are now," the Doctor sighed.
"Then what do we do?"
"Um...um...I don't know, I don't know."
"Give me a couple hours and I could override the isomorphic controls," the Professor remarked, "But we don't have the hours to spend."
"There must be something!" young Kazran tried.
Kazran quickly pulled out half the sonic from his pocket, "This! You can use this! I kept it, see? "
"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor shook his head, before a thought struck him, "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer…"
"We use your aerial to boost the signal!" the Professor realized, seeing what he had seen, "Set up a resonation pattern between the two halves...that would work! "
The Doctor grinned, "My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet. Could do it."
"Do what?" Kazran asked.
"My screwdriver is still trying to repair. It's signaling itself. We use the signal, but we send something else."
"Send what?" young Kazran asked.
The Doctor hesitated.
"Well?" Kazran looked at them, "What? What?"
The Doctor sighed, "We're sorry, Kazran. We truly are."
"I don't understand."
"We need to send something into the cloud belt, something we know works. We need her to sing."
~8~
"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Professor explained as they stood in the vault, Kazran starting the heating process on Abigail, "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."
"Could you do it?" Kazran looked at them, "Could you do this? Think about it. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"
"Christmas," Abigail stepped out before they could answer, "Christmas Day," she smiled at Kazran, "Look at you," she put a hand on his cheek, "So old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry."
"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."
"But...if you leave the ice now..."
"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."
~8~
"When you're alone…" Abigail sang into the sonic as she stood outside the manor, wires running from the house to it, making it like a microphone, connected to the spire, "Silence is all you know…"
"Well?" Kazran asked as the Doctor adjusted a few wires.
He shook his head frantically, "It's…not enough…the storm, it's too turbulent," he looked at the Professor, "It's not a powerful enough melody to resonate yet…"
"When you're alone…" Abigail started.
And then the Professor walked over to her, reaching out and lightly putting her hand on Abigail's, bringing the sonic between them, "Silence is all you know…" they sang, in perfect harmony.
The Doctor looked up as a flare went through the sky and laughed, just beaming at her, "The singing's resonating in the crystals," he explained quickly to the Kazrans, "Feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver."
"Let in the noise and let it grow," they sang.
"One song, filling the sky. The crystals will align, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."
"What does that mean?" young Kazran asked, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
"Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now," he grinned.
"When you're alone, silence is all you see…" they looked up as snow began to fall around them, making them all smile, "When you're alone, silence is all you'll be…give me your hand and come to me!"
The Kazrans looked around in wonder as families ran out to look at the snow.
The Professor looked up at the storm, seeing it calming quite a bit and turned to Abigail. The woman nodded holding the sonic towards her, "When you are here, music is all around," the Professor sang on her own.
She smiled at Abigail, squeezing her hand before letting go of the sonic, allowing the woman to finish the song, knowing her voice would be enough to keep the clouds calm.
Abigail watched as the Professor walked over to the Doctor and shared a deep, gentle kiss before she turned to the older Kazran, smiling warmly at him and singing, just to him, "When you are here, music is all around…"
Kazran smiled and walked over to her, allowing her to put a hand on his cheek as she sang.
The Professor put her arm around the Doctor's waist, his arm around her shoulder as they led the young Kazran back to the TARDIS.
"Open your eyes…don't make a sound!"
They looked back at Abigail and Kazran a moment before turning back to young Kazran, "Let's go," the Doctor smiled, ushering him into the TARDIS.
"Let in the shadow…let in the shadow, let in the light of your bright shadow…"
And as the song played on, they stepped into the TARDIS and disappeared, leaving behind the carriage and shark harness.
~8~
The Doctor rubbed noses with the carrot stick nose of a small snowman when something wet and cold smashed into the back of his head. He looked over to see the Professor preparing another snowball and it was war…
The Doctor spinning the Professor around by the waist with one arm while smashing a snowball into her hair with the other was the sight Amy and Rory found when they finally managed to track down the Time Lords after landing.
The Professor then managed to 'lose' her footing, taking the Doctor down with her into a pile of snow just beside the snowman.
"You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person," Amy laughed, walking over, "The snowman isn't bad, either."
The Doctor stopped laughing long enough to look over at Amy and Rory, both still in costume, "Ah, yes, you two! About time!" he got up and pulled the Professor up when he noticed something, "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Ah, kind of lost our luggage," Rory shrugged, "Kind of crash landed…"
"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?" the Professor tried her very best not to laugh.
"They really love their snowmen around here," Amy changed the subject, "I've counted about twenty."
"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor put has arm around the Professor's waist.
"Yeah, yeah, you have," Amy smiled and moved to hug them both tightly, "Thank you."
"It was our pleasure," the Professor pulled away and hugged Rory as well.
"Right, come on, then, let's go!" the Doctor clapped, turning to head for the TARDIS.
"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory joked.
"There's a moon that's made of actual honey!"
"Not actual honey," the Professor corrected.
"And it's not actually a moon…"
"And technically, it's alive…"
"And a bit carnivorous…"
"But there are some lovely views."
Amy laughed, "Only you two could find 'lovely views' on a carnivorous moon."
"Yeah, great, thanks," Rory rolled his eyes, entering the TARDIS.
Amy hesitated entering and looked at them, "Are you ok? "
"Course we're ok," the Professor nodded, "Are you?"
"Of course," she looked up at the sky, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
"Everything has to end some time, otherwise nothing would ever get started," the Professor replied wisely.
Rory opened the door and looked at the Doctor, "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."
"Doctor?" Amy turned to him.
"I'll take that one," the Professor smiled far too sweetly and moved to head in.
The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her waist as he held her back to his chest, "Tell her she's got the wrong number."
Rory eyed him a moment but headed in anyway.
"Where are they?" Amy asked after a moment, "Kazran and Abigail."
"Off on a little trip, I should think," he remarked.
"Where?"
"Christmas."
"Christmas?"
"Christmas," the Professor nodded.
Amy shook her head and walked in, leaving the two to look up at the sky.
"Halfway out of the dark," the Doctor breathed, taking the Professor's hand and entering the TARDIS, they had some unfinished business to attend to...
A/N: The next (and last!) chapter will be from the Sarah Jane Adventures, the Death of the Doctor episode featuring the 11th Doctor (and Professor). As I did with the Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, I'll try and explain what's happened off screen and before the Doctor and Professor arrive, but I'd also recommend watching the episode on youtube or somewhere, it's brilliant :)
I'm working on the covers for the Academic Series now, trying my hand at drawing them out, but if it turns out horribly, I'll probably go for image manipulation instead :)
Also, you guys have been so great, we've reached 100 reviews! I was going to wait till the beginning of the Series 6 story to say this, but as a treat for reaching it, I'll do it now :) So! I've gotten a few reviews mentioning little scenes you guys would like to see explained in more detail. As a result, when I've finished the next story I'm going to create a little spin-off series for the Academic Series (not sure what it'll be called yet) where I'll take requests of any scenes you guys wanted to see that I only mentioned in the whole series or that the show itself mentioned but didn't show on screen. So far, (the more recent ones I can think of) I've got mentions/requests for Space Florida, the Oriental Express in space, saving the world from the crawlspace under a house, and the Magmazard. If there's anything you want to see, just drop it in a review, I'll be collecting them through Series 6, and then posting a series where you can drop requests there too :)