Reflections In The Mirror

by recklessl0ve

Kat and The Doctor have survived the year that never was and now they are back. But the walls between universes are breaking, the stars are going out and two people who mean something to the duo are coming back for them. Kat may have just found her way back home, but will she want to go back? Will she be able to? Kat's life is about to change completely whether she likes it or not

2. Voyage of the Damned

Previously…

Suddenly we were both thrown to the floor as bits of debris fell onto the floor around us. There was a loud noise like a horn, which made me instantly cover my ears. Once everything had stopped falling to the floor, I looked up. A ship had crashed right into the side of the TARDIS.

"What?" The Doctor cried. "What?" Seeing a life ring he scrambled over and picked it up, moving over next to him we read the words written on it.Oh, no.

"What?" The two of us said in unison.

Written on the life ring were the words 'The Titanic'.

Well, this is going to be fun.

XOXO

The Doctor shot up from the floor in an instant and began dashing around the console. Slowly, I heaved myself off of the floor and stared at the ship in front of me. We had just crashed into The Titanic. Or The Titanic had crashed into us. Either way, I wasn't really seeing this as a good thing right now. The Doctor threw another life ring off of the console and wound a leaver. The hull of the ship moved out and the walls of the TARDIS quickly repaired itself. He then pulled another leaver, and I heard the familiar humming noise that signalled that we were materializing, probably onto the ship.

The two of us headed over to the door and stuck our heads out. It looked like we had landed in some sort of closet, which was good given that we did need to hide the ship somewhere. A closet seemed like a good place to hide it. The Doctor stepped out, me following behind him as he opened the door to the closet, peaking outside. A few seconds later he grabbed hold of my hand, dragging me out of the closet along with him. We were in a wood-panelled room that was decorated with all sorts of Christmas decorations. There were people dressed in in early 20th century clothing, walking around, talking, laughing as waiters and waitresses served them some nibbles and glasses of champagne. A band was playing a slow version of 'Jingle Bells' in the background.

We walked slowly around the room, trying to go unnoticed. The Doctor stopped as we came across to angels that looked like they had been dipped in gold, garbed in white. They jolted up to look at us, mechanically. Both me and The Doctor frowned. They were robots. They shouldn't be on The Titanic.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor continued walking away from the statues, turning around once to look at them again. There was the sound of a strange voice, and the two of us turned around to see a tiny, red man with spikes on his head, walking along, taking to two women who were walking either side of him. I frowned again. Aliens should definitely not be on The Titanic either. Again we carried on walking until we came across a window. It was when we turned around to look out of it that the realization struck.

"Oh." I said, my mouth forming an 'o' shape. Now it makes more sense.

"Right…" The Doctor said drawing it out.

"Attention all passengers." A voice said over the loudspeaker. "The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol 3, also known as Earth. Population, human. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."

XOXO

The two of us had returned to the TARDIS. While the ship looked fine, it still needed a little more time to repair, and the Doctor wanted to investigate. So we needed to blend it a little better. As I had already guessed the Doctor had changed into his normal black tuxedo, which made me even more worried about what was going to happen. The odds that something bad was going to happen were high with just him on his own. The suit had probably made those odds even higher.

After rummaging around in the TARDIS wardrobe again, I finally found a dress that I liked. It was a white lace dress that came down to just above the knee. I wore it along with a light brown belt, some nude heels, a white cardigan and a few bracelets. Not bothering to do anything with my hair, I left it down and slightly wavy.

We wondered around the ship a little more until we came across a screen with a video of a man playing. He was a bald, with bright blue eyes, and a rather weird looking moustache. He even had a gold tooth!

"Max Capricorn Cruise liners. The fastest, the furthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max." He smiled, his gold tooth glinting like some sort of cheesy cartoon before the screen faded back to the cruise line logo. I shook my head as the Doctor fiddled with his tie as we continued walking towards the reception.

"Merry Christmas, Sir, Ma'am." A steward greeted us.

"Merry Christmas." The both of us replied as we continued walking along. We stepped into the room that we had been in before. Everything was the same except for the band were now playing 'Winter Wonderland'. The two of us started to mingle, picking up nibbles as we walked past.

"It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my vone." A man spoke loudly as he spoke into a device which looked a lot like a mobile phone. "Now, do as I say and sell."

I raised my eyebrow at the man as he stalked off. Whoever he was, he was certainly being rude. I turned to the Doctor, who had spotted another one of those angels and walked towards it.

"Evening, passenger 57 and 58, terrible memory. Remind us, you would be?" He asked.

"Information: Heavenly Host supplying tourist information." It replied.

"Good. So, um, tell me, 'cause I'm an idiot." I couldn't help but smirk at that. He really was an idiot sometimes. "Where are we from?"

"Information: The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Casivanian Belt. The purpose of this cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

I scoffed. "I like that, 'primitive'." I mumbled under my breath. "I have a question." I said, as the angel turned to look at me. "Who thought of the name, Titanic?"

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

Both me and the Doctor turned to look at each other, frowning before looking back at the angel. "Have they told you why it was famous?" I asked.

"Information: All designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, President of Max… Max… Max… Max… Max." It kept repeating the name, its voice getting more high-pitched each time as its head started to jerk. I frowned slightly, turning to look at the Doctor.

"Ooh. A bit of a glitch." The Doctor commented, reaching into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver, but he was beaten to it by the Chief Steward as he caught site of the malfunctioning machine.

"Sorry, Sir, Ma'am, we can handle this." He said to us as he waved for assistance and two other stewards came over as they turned the angel off and hauled it away. "Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, Sir, Ma'am. Merry Christmas." He said with a smile as he walked off with the other two stewards, muttering something that we could only just make out. "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?"

XOXO

We continued to walk around a bit. I still wasn't able to shift the thoughts of the ship out of my mind. Everything was telling me that this really wasn't good. But sure enough, my thoughts were finally distracted as I heard the noise of glass smashing. The both of us turned around to see a blonde waitress who had dropped her tray of drinks, looking up wide-eyes at a very angry man. The same rude business man who I had seen earlier.

"For Tov's sake! Look where you're going." He shouted at her. "This jackets a genuine Earth antique."

"I'm sorry, sir." The waitress apologized politely as she bent down to pick up the broken glass.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart. Staffed by idiots." I went to go and storm over there and give him what was coming for him, a good old slap. But the Doctor grabbed hold of my arm to stop me. "No wonder Max Capricorn is going down the drain." And with that he stormed off.

The Doctor finally let go of my arm as we walked over towards the waitress bending down and helping her pick up the glass.

"Careful. There we go." The Doctor said as he picked up the glass carefully, placing it onto the tray.

"Thank you, Sir, Ma'am." The woman said looking up at us before beginning to pick up the glass again. "But I can manage."

"I never said you couldn't." The Doctor replied. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. And this is Katherine."

"Hey." I said, smiling at her.

"Astrid, Sir, Ma'am." She said, "Astrid Peth."

"Nice to meet you, Astrid. Merry Christmas." The Doctor said smiling at her.

"Oh, yeah. Merry Christmas." I repeated, smiling as well.

Astrid looked up, surprised at the two of us for saying that to her. "Merry Christmas, Sir. Merry Christmas, Ma'am."

"Just Doctor, not 'sir'." The Doctor told her.

"And you can just call me Katherine." I added.

Astrid nodded. "You enjoying the cruise?" She asked.

"Um, yeah. I suppose. I don't know." The Doctor said. "It is quite nice."

I shrugged. "I like it."

"What about you?" The Doctor asked as the three of us stood up. "Long way from home, planet Sto."

Astrid looking around slightly, "Doesn't feel that different." She shrugged. "Spent three years working at the Spaceport Diner. Travelled all the way here and I'm still waiting on tables." She said as she walked off.

Both me and the Doctor frowned as we followed Astrid who was cleaning a table by the window. "No shore leave?" The Doctor asked.

"We're not allowed. They can't afford the insurance." Astrid explained. "I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars. I always dreamt of… It sounds daft."

I shook my head. "It doesn't sound daft at all." I told her, because I knew exactly what she meant. Because I knew exactly what she had always dreamt of. It was similar to what I had always dreamt of when I was younger, travelling out through the stars, with the Doctor. I never knew my dreams would come true, even if there was a consequence.

"You dreamt of another sky." The Doctor said to her as both me and Astrid stared outside the window. I couldn't help but smile. "New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there's all that life out there?"

Astrid had become distant, like she was inside her head, picturing everything the Doctor has described. Eventually she shook herself out of it and turned to the both of us. "So, you two travel a lot?" she asked.

I nodded, "All the time. Just for fun. But with him, it doesn't always work out that way."

"Must be rich, though." Astrid commented.

"Haven't got a penny." The Doctor admitted to her. Astrid raised her eyebrows and he moved closer as he whispered to her. "Stowaways."

"Kidding?"

I shook my head, "Completely serious."

"No!"

The Doctor nodded, "Oh, yeah."

"How'd you get on board?" Astrid asked.

"Accident." I answered with a shrug.

"I've got this, sort of, ship thing, I was just rebuilding… Left the defences down." The Doctor explained. "Bumped into the Titanic, here we are. A bit of a party, I thought why not?"

"I should report you." Astrid told us seriously. But both me and the Doctor knew she wouldn't.

"Go for it." I said with a smirk.

Astrid looked over to where everyone else was partying and having fun before turning back to us. "I'll get you both a drink…On the house." She said whispering the last part before she walked away.

We watched Astrid walk of as my eyes caught a group of first class passengers who were pointing and laughing. I looked over in the direction they were pointing to see a rather large couple that were dressed in purple country western outfits who were sitting at a table, eating.

"What have they found so funny?" I asked frowning slightly, my body tensing up. I knew that the group were laughing at the couple, but I had no idea what for. They looked like lovely people. And the fact that they were picking on people like that just made me mad.

"Come on." The Doctor said quietly dragging me along before I could go over and punch every single one of those people in face. He dragged me along to the table that the couple were sitting at, and we both took a seat opposite them. "Something's tickled them." He said, gesturing to the rude group behind us.

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

"Well, you still look lovely." I gestured to the group again. "Better than them for sure."

"Thank you." The woman said, smiling.

"They're just picking on us because we haven't paid." The man continued. "We won our tickets in a competition." He explained, pointing proudly as the woman.

"I had to name the five husbands of Juthy Crystal in 'By the Light of the Asteroid.'" She said. "Do you ever watch 'By the Light of the Asteroid'?" She asked. I just stared at her blankly. I had never heard of the show until now. In fact, I hadn't even watched a single TV show since I had started travelling with the Doctor.

The Doctor thought for a moment. "Is that the one with the twins?" He asked, a bit unsure.

"That's it." The woman said, nodding. "Oh, it's marvellous."

"But we're not good enough for that lot." The man said pointing at the group again, who long ago had stopped laughing. But were still whispering, looking over at the couple now and then, and the want to punch him in the face came back again. "They think we should be in steerage."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" The Doctor said. With one hand he tried to stop me from standing up and going over to them. With the other hand he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He held it under his arm, aiming it at the group and flicked it on. Seconds later the champagne bottle on their table popped, spraying the whole lot of them with its contents. I smirked in satisfaction at the scene before turning back to the Doctor, smiling. They had so deserved it.

The couple, who had watched the whole scene in front of them with open mouths turned to look at the Doctor. "Did-did you do that?" She asked.

"Maybe." The Doctor shrugged, placing the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket.

The couple started to laugh, amusement clear on their faces. "We like you two." The woman said.

"We do." The man agreed, reaching over to shake our hands. "I'm Morvin Van Hoff." We both shook his hand. "This is my good woman, Foon."

"Foon." The Doctor grinned shaking her hand. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is Katherine."

"Pleased to meet you." I said, also shaking Foon's hand.

"Oh, I'll need a doctor by the time I finish with that buffet." Foon commented, gesturing to the pile before us. "Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous these buffalo. So many wings." Morvin just shrugged as the three of us all took a buffalo wing. I have to admit, they were pretty good.

"Attention, please." The voice said over the loudspeaker again. "Shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated. Red 6-7."

Morvin and Foon fumbled around in their pockets for a few seconds before they both pulled out a red ticket each. "Red 6-7. That's us." She said as the two of them stood up from the table. "Are you Red 6-7?" she asked us.

The Doctor looked turned to look at me, I just simply shrugged. "Might as well be." He said shrugging also as he pulled out the psychic paper.

"Come on, then." Morvin said dragging us away from the table as he put an arm around his wife. "We're going to Earth."

XOXO

Morvin and Foon rushed over two an elderly man, dressed in a tweed suit. Holding up a red card that had '6-7' written on it. "Red 6-7. Red 6-7, this way. Fast as you can." He called out. As me and the Doctor mad our way over two him, I saw Astrid approaching us.

"I got you those drinks." She said.

"And we've got to a treat." I said, grinning. The Doctor, who finally caught on, took the tray out of her hands and placed it on a table. Together, we both lead her over to the elderly man with the sign. The Doctor walked up towards him, holding out the psychic paper.

"Red 6-7, plus two."

"Uh, quickly sir, please, and take three teleport bracelets if you would." The man stuttered. Grinning, the Doctor grabbed three teleport bracelets. He handed one to me which I put on without a second though. And another one to Astrid before putting one on himself.

"I'll get the sack." Astrid hissed.

"Oh, come on, Astrid. You've always dreamt of seeing new worlds haven't you?" I asked, not even waiting for an answer. I knew it already. "Well this is your chance to see one."

The Doctor nodded, "Brand new sky." He whispered. Giving in, Astrid also put on her bracelet.

"To repeat. I am Mr Copper, the ships historian." The elder man said. "And I shall be taking you to old London Town in the country of UK, ruled over by the Good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner, like savages."

I turned to look at the Doctor as we both looked at each other with the same confused expression. "What?" I mouthed. The Doctor just shrugged. I rolled my eyes as I turned back around to the man. "Um, excuse me? Sorry, but where did you get this information?"

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonmoics." He told me. "Now, standby." I raised my eyebrow slightly, but just shook my head, giving up.

"And me! And me! Red 6-7." A high-pitched, squeaky voice shouted out. Soon the same small red man with spikes on his head that we had seen earlier pushed his way through to the front, holding a ticket.

"Take a bracelet, please, sir." The man said.

"But, um, hold on, hold on." The Doctor interrupted. "Um, what was your name?" He asked spiky.

"Bannakaffalatta." Spiky answered. I blinked. What?

"Okay, Bannakaffalatta. But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late-night shopping, tons of people. He's like a talking conker." Bannakaffalatta shot him a glare. "No offence, but you'll cause a riot, 'cause the streets are gonna be packed with shoppers and parties and—" The Doctor was cut off as the next second we knew we were standing in the middle of a street in London. "Oh."

Both of us looked around the street on concern. The street was empty. Completely empty. Deserted. There was no one there. All the shops were closed. It was Christmas eve! Even then, it's London! This place should be packed with people. But instead it was empty.

"Now, spending money." Mr Copper began. "I have a credit card in Earth currency. If you want to buy trinkets or stockings or the local delicacy, which is known as beef. But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous." He warned. "Any day now, they start boxing." And with that everyone headed off in their different directions, but me and the Doctor stayed still, continuing to look around.

"Doctor?" I whispered. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"It should be full." The Doctor said in a low voice. "It should be busy. Something's wrong."

"But it's beautiful." Astrid said in awe, the Doctor turned to look at her surprised. But I understood exactly how she felt. It didn't even matter where you were. If you were standing on an alien planet, it was all beautiful. So different and strange, but so beautiful at the same time.

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

"But it's a different planet." Astrid breathed. "I'm standing on a different planet! There's concrete! And shops, alien shops, real alien shops!" She stopped pointing up at the sky, "Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells." She inhaled deeply. "It stinks! Oh this is amazing! Thank you. Both of you." She said, giving both of us a hug each.

"Yeah? Come on, then, let's have a look." Astrid stopped hugging us as the three of us ran hand in hand across the street, towards a news agent booth, the only open place that we could see on the street. Inside the booth of an old man, bundled up in his winter clothes. "Hello, there. Sorry, obvious question. But where's everybody gone?"

"Oh-ho, scared." The man answered.

"Oh, right, yeah." I said as I frowned, "Scared of what?"

"Where have you been living?" Oh, just police box that is actually an alien spaceship that is bigger on the inside than the outside. Oh, and did I mention it also travels in time? I had the biggest impulse just to say that to him, but I managed to keep my mouth shut as the old man continued. "London, at Christmas. Not safe, is it?"

"Why?" The Doctor asked, not getting it either.

"Well, it's them, up above." The man said pointing up towards the sky. "Look, Christmas before last, we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on the roof." He said pointing to the tiny TV in his booth which was showing a clip of the Sycorax ship on BBC news. "And then last year, that Christmas star electrocuting all over the place. Draining the Thames."

"This place is amazing." Astrid breathed.

"And this year, God knows what." The man continued. "So, everybody's scarpered. Gone to the country. All except me, and Her Majesty."

He stood proudly as he looked at the TV screen, I turned to look at it again as it showed a news reporter standing outside Buckingham Palace. "Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she'll be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London and the world that there's nothing to fear."

"God bless her!" The man said as he saluted. "We stand vigil."

"Well, between you and me, I think Her Majesty's got it right. As far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about—" The Doctor looked like he was about to say something else, but before we knew it, we had been teleported back onto the ship again. "I was in mid-sentence!" He whined in annoyance.

And about jinx us probably. I thought to myself. Even if the Doctor said he thought there wasn't anything to worry about, I certainly did. But instead of telling him that I just said, "I hope that guys alright." It probably didn't make him feel too good. There he and the Doctor were, going on about nothing bad is going to happen, no aliens, and then we disappear right in front of him.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that." Mr Copper said. "Bit of a problem. If I can have your brace—" He was cut off as the Chief Stewart came along. Astrid quickly hid behind the two of us so that she couldn't be seen.

"Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta. We seem to have suffered a power fluctuation." He said. "If you'd like to return to the festivities, and on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruise liners, free drinks will be provided."

Everyone started to walk off slowly and Astrid turned around back to us again. "That was the best!" she said happily. "The best!" The two of us smiled at her, and she darted off back to work. The Doctor then raised his eyebrows as he walked up towards the Chief Steward, me following behind him.

"What sort of power fluctuation?"

XOXO

We eventually gave up on trying getting an answer out of the Chief Steward. They weren't going to tell us anything. We began walking around again for a while, but we soon got bored. So we grabbed a tray of nibbles as we sat down at one of the tables and started to stuff our faces with them. And when we got bored of that, we ended up playing that game were you throw food at each other and the other person has to catch it. Right now, the Doctor was winning. It was safe to say that I was awful at this game. Either that or the Doctor was terrible at throwing. Either way, I felt sorry for whoever was going to have to clean up after us, because hundreds of nibbles which had missed my mouth were now on the floor.

The Doctor another nibble of off the tray and threw it in my direction. To my surprise, I actually caught this one. As I normally do, I went over the top, jumping out my chair and doing a little 'victory dance'. I turned around to see Astrid watching from nearby, laughing. I smiled at her broadly as I turned back around to the Doctor, but he wasn't there. I looked around to see him standing by one of the many frames showing a talking picture of Max Capricorn.

"And I should know, because my name is Max." he said, giving the same grin that I had seen before. Sighing, I walked over to stand next to him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

The Doctor said nothing. He just pulled out his brainy specs, putting them on as the video repeated itself. "The fastest, the furthest, the best." Using his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor finally got the frame to open revealing a mass of wires and plugs behind it. The Doctor instantly began to fiddle around with them.

"Got anything?" The Doctor asked just as the screen changed to show a scan of the Titanic.

"Yeah." I told him. It was then that I noticed than the screen was saying that the shields were down. "Doctor? It says the shields are down." I said nervously.

The Doctor moved around to look at the screen, mirroring the worried look on my face. The Time Lord leaned over and look out of the window beside us. I followed his gaze, only to wish that I hadn't. There were three oncoming meteors heading straight for us.

"Doctor…" I said, my voice getting more high-pitched by the minute.

The Doctor grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed it gently before he rushed back over to the screen, fiddling about with the wires and pressing more buttons before he began speaking into it. I just instantly guessed that he had got into the comms. "Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the Captain. You got a meteoroid storm coming in. West 0 but north 2."

"Who is this?" A man's voice came over the comm, I guessed it was the Captain.

"Never mind that. You're shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding!"

"You have no authorisation." The Captain said flatly, obviously not even fussed about the situation. "You will clear the comms are once."

I let out a frustrated sigh as I moved towards the frame, "Oh my God, just listen to him will you! There are three meteoroids heading straight for us and the shields are down! Don't believe us? Look out the freaking window!"

"Come with me, Sir, Ma'am." A voice said from behind us. We turned around and the next thing we knew, The Chief Steward and another steward were leading us out. But that wasn't going to stop us.

"You've got a rock storm heading for the ship and the shields are down!" The Doctor argued with the Chief Steward.

"You better listen to him! Because he's right, and if you don't do something about it, we're all going to die!" I said as I tried to struggle free of the stewards grasp, the Doctor also doing the same. Eventually it worked and the two of us ran, heading straight for the stage the band were playing on. The Doctor got there first, taking the microphone away from the woman who had been singing.

"Listen to me. This is an emergency. Get to the life-" He was cut off as a Host grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. I ran over, going to warn them myself when another Host done the same thing to me. The two stewards came not long after and dragged us out again, but this time I wasn't able to struggle free, not with two of them, but I was still gonna try. "Look out the windows!" The Doctor shouted as the stewards continued to drag us out.

"If you don't believe me, check the shields yourself!" The Doctor said as I continued to try and struggle free. Astrid, Morvin, Foon and Bannakaffalatta running after us.

Astrid rushed after us both, "Sir, I can vouch for them."

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

"Sir, something seems to have gone wrong." Mr Copper said. "All the teleports have gone down."

"Not now!" The Chief Steward snapped.

XOXO

The stewards were taking us down the maintenance corridors, Astrid, Movin, Foon, Bannakaffalatta and Mr Copper had all followed. The Chief Steward still wasn't listening to our pleas for him to check the shields, but we still weren't going to give up. "The shields are down! We're going to get hit!" The Doctor insisted.

"For god sake just listen to him!" I shouted. After that, it seemed like everyone was talking at once, making it impossible to make out what any of them were saying.

It was then that I heard a voice I thought I'd never be thankful to hear. That rude man from earlier caught up with the rest of us as he shouted towards the Chief Steward. "Oi, Steward! I'm telling you the shields are down!"

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

Just seconds later the ship lurched as the first meteor out of the three hit it, throwing everyone around. Bit of metal from the ship fell to the floor, fire blew at them, and sparks flew everywhere.

Just as me and the Doctor had managed to get up off of the floor, the second and third meteors hit. The ship gave another huge lurch and the two of us fell to the floor again. Eventually, the ship became still, and the two of us were able to get back on our own two feet again.

The Doctor was the first to stand up while me and Astrid who had fallen beside us moved so that we were sat up. The three of us looked around at the little group, all of them on the floor, whimpering and breathing heavily. "Shhh." The Doctor urged, holding up a finger. Everyone complied. "It's stopping." He turned around to me and Astrid holding out both of his hands to help us up. "Are you all right?"

"I think so." Astrid replied.

"Kat?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just about." I said as I looked around. "Bad name for a ship."

"Either that or this suit is really unlucky." The Doctor added.

It was then that we both noticed that the steward was lying, trapped under a piece of metal. But he wasn't moving. He was giving no sign that he was conscious or even actually alive. The Doctor bent down and checked the man's pulse; he looked over at the Chief Steward and shook his head, sadly. He was dead.

"Everyone, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta. I must apologise on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruise liners. We seem to have had a small collision." Everyone was in a sudden uproar, except from me and the Doctor who had found another screen with Max Capricorn on it.

"If I could have silence, ladies and gentlemen." Still everyone continued to shout. "Quiet!" The Chief Steward shouted above then all, making them suddenly go quiet. "Thank you. I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruise liners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience. But first, I would point out, that we're very much alive."

I suddenly caught sight of Mr Copper, it looked like he had a cut on his head. I slowly walked over to him, Astrid doing the same as she dabbed the cut with a hanky. The Doctor followed along back over to the group as the Chief Steward carried on talking.

"It is, after all, a fine and sturdy ship." He said. "If you could all just stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the situation."

He walked over towards a hatch to open it. The Doctor turned around suddenly, wide eyed. "Don't open it!" He cried. But he was too late. The door to the hatch had already opened and the Chief Steward was sucked out into space by the vacuum. We all grabbed on to the closest thing possible to hold onto before we were all swept away as well. The Doctor managed to push his way over to the comm and grab his sonic screwdriver, using it on the computer. Within seconds the oxygen shield was fixed and everyone was able to let go.

"Oxygen Shield stabilized."

"Everyone all right?" The Doctor called out. "Kat?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Astrid?"

"Yeah."

"Foon? Morvin? Mr Copper? Bannakaffalatta?"

"Yes." The small man replied.

The Doctor looked up to the rude man from before. "You, what was your name?" he asked.

"Rickston Slade." He replied.

"You all right?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah. No thanks to that idiot." Rickston sneered. Both mine and Astrid's heads snapped to look over at the man.

"The Steward just died!" Both me and Astrid said at the exact same time. Although I sounded more angry than anything while Astrid just sounded distressed.

"Then he's a dead idiot." Rickston retorted.

It was then that my will snapped. I had completely had it was this man. I clenched my fists as I stalked over to him with a great intention to give him a broken nose. "What did you just say? Who the fu—" I was stopped as the Doctor dragged me away, covering my mouth with his hands before I could say anymore.

"All right, calm down." He said, probably more to me than anyone else. "Just stay still, all of you, hold on." The Doctor who still had a hold of me, and not wanting to let go of me just in case I done something like murdered that posh, rude snob, dragged me along with him towards the open hatch. Astrid followed close behind.

"What happened?" She asked. "How come the shields were down?"

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

I shook my head. "Definitely not. The Captain was being rude and arrogant. He wouldn't have been acting like that unless he already knew." I said as I looked outside at the flotsam, jetsam and the dead bodies of the staff and guests floating in space.

"How many dead?" Astrid asked.

"We're alive, just focus on that." The Doctor told her. "I will get you out of here." Astrid said nothing as she looked on at the horrific scene in front of her. It already looked like the she had given up hope, but the Doctor wasn't going to let that happen anytime soon. "Astrid, I promise. Look at me." Finally she done as he said and looked at him. "I promise." She nodded. "Good." He began looked around. "Now, if we can get to reception, we've got a spaceship tucked away. We can all get on board—"

I felt my heart drop as I continued to look out the open hatch. "Doctor." I interrupted him in a dejected tone. He turned to look at me, confused and I silently pointed to where the TARDIS was floating outside, among the debris.

"Oh…" he said in the exact same tone as mine.

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

The Doctor gestured outside towards the ship, "That's our ship over there."

"Where?" she asked.

"It's there." I said, pointing towards here. "It's that little blue box."

Astrid scoffed. "That's a spaceship?"

"Hey! Don't knock it." I told her. "It's a brilliant ship."

"Well, you got the right world earlier when you said 'little'." Astrid said. "It is a bit small."

"A bit distant," The Doctor said, sighing. "Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest centre of gravity and that would be—"

"The Earth." I finished for him. "Brilliant. Why did you come up with that idea?"

The Doctor just glared at me for a second before moving back over the comms. He mucked around with them for a while before speaking into it. "Deck 22 to the bridge. Deck 22 to the bridge. Is there anyone there?"

It was a few seconds before a voice responded. This one sounded a lot different to the Captain we had been speaking to before. A lot younger as well. "This is the bridge."

"Oh! Hello sailor, good to hear you." The Doctor said happily, relieved there was someone still alive up there. "What's the situation up there?" He asked.

"We've got air, the oxygen field is holding. But the Captain…" There was a short pause at the other end. "He's dead. He did it." The man's voice broke. "It wasn't my fault he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try."

I rushed over the comms next to the Doctor, making him move out of the way slightly. "It's all right, it wasn't you're fault, it's fine. Everything's going to be okay. Just try to stay calm. Deep breaths." I waited a couple of seconds for the man to calm down before speaking up again. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Midshipman Frame." The man replied.

I smiled, even though the man couldn't see it. "Nice to meet you, Mr Frame. I'm Katherine."

"What's the state of the engines?" The Doctor asked.

"They're…um…" He paused again for a short moment. "Hold on." Suddenly were a painful groan over the loud speaker.

"Are you all right?" I asked in concern. "You've been injured haven't you?"

"I'm all right." Frame replied. "Oh, my vot. They're cycling down."

By the look on the Doctor's face, that wasn't a good thing. And I felt my stomach clench slightly. "That's the nuclear storm drive, yes?" The Doctor asked, rubbing his eye.

"Yes."

"The moment they're gone, we lose orbit." The Doctor said. My eyes widened. Not good at all.

"The planet…"

"Oh, yes." The Doctor nodded. "If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm will explode and wipe out life on Earth." I turned to look out at the Earth outside again, starting to feel sick at even the thought of it. "Midshipman, I need you to fire up the containment field and feed it back into the core."

"This is never gonna work." Frame told him.

"Trust me. It'll keep the engines going 'till we can get to the bridge." The Doctor turned off the comm and back to the group of people, who were now going crazy.

"We're going to die." Foon said, close to tears.

"Are you saying someone did this on purpose?" Mr Copper asked.

"We're just a cruise ship!" Astrid argued.

"Okay! Okay!" The Doctor cut in, "Tch, tch. First things first. One: we're going to climb through this ship. B… No."

"Two." I corrected him.

"Oh, yeah. Two: we're going to reach the bridge. Three, or C: we're going to save the Titanic. And coming in a very low four, or D, or that little IV in brackets they use it foot notes… Why? Right then, follow me."

"Hang on a minute." Rickston spoke up. I couldn't help but let out an eye roll and an annoyed sigh. Of course this prat would have to have something to say, wouldn't he? "Who put you in charge? And who the hell are you anyway?"

The Doctor turned around. He had that fierce, Time Lord face on. The one where I didn't know whether I should smile, or run a mile away. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old, and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below." Okay so this time I chose to smile like an absolute idiot. "You have a problem with that?"

"No." Rickston said, almost defensively.

"In that case, allons-y!" He said as he took off again one more time dragging me along with him and leaving the rest of them to follow behind. I turned to look at him grinning, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"That speech, was epic."

XOXO

The Doctor slowly pushed open a large metal door that lead to a stairwell that was littered with debris and sparking cables. "Careful. Follow me." He said as he pushed his way through to the stairwell, clearing it for the rest of us.

"Rather ironic, but this is very much in the spirit of Christmas." Mr Copper commented as we all started climbing up the stairs, one by one. "It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric." I just shook my head. This guy really had no idea about Christmas on Earth. I was starting to wonder where he had actually got this degree he supposedly had in Earthonomics from.

"Actually, that's not true." The Doctor said to him. "Christmas is a time of peace and thanksgiving and…" He drifted as he shook his head slightly. "What am I on about? My Christmases are always like this." He grabbed another piece of metal, moving it out of the way to reveal a dormant host. "We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble."

"We can do robotics, both of us." Morvin offered pointing to him and his wife.

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

"See if you can get it working." The Doctor told them, nodding to the angel. He then turned back to me and Astrid. "Let's have a look." Everyone but Morvin and Foon who stayed to fix the Host climbed up the stairwell. Only to find out that it was blocked.

"It's blocked." Astrid pointed out.

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

I shrugged, "We shift it."

The Doctor turned to grin at me, "That's the attitude." He then turned to the rest of the group. "Rickston, Mr Copper and you, Bannakaffalatta…" The Doctor paused, "Look, can I just call you Banna? It's got to save a lot of time."

"No! Bannakaffalatta." The small man insisted.

The Doctor sighed, "All right then, Bannakaffalatta, there's a gap in the middle, see if you can get through." He said gesturing to the small gap.

"Easy. Good." Bannakaffalatta slipped through the small gap easily, making it to the other side. Suddenly the ship gave another lurch, sending loose debris crashing down onto the floor.

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Rickston shouted. I rolled my eyes. The man was really starting to get on my nerves. I would punch him in the face, if I could get down the stairs to him, and if the Doctor didn't stop pulling me away from him.

It had seemed like the Doctor had lost his patience with him too. "Oh, Rickston, I forgot. Did you get our message?" He asked innocently.

"No. What message?" Rickston frowned.

"Shut up!" We said in unison. We turned to grin at each other, while Rickston sent us daggers with his eyes.

"Bannakaffalatta made it!" The red man shouted down to us as he got through to the other side.

"I'm small enough. I can get through." Astrid said, as she pushed herself towards the gap, climbing through.

"Careful!" The Doctor warned her.

"I'm fine." Astrid called back.

"The thing is," Rickston began, "How are Mr and Mrs Fatso going to get through that gap."

"We make the gap bigger." The Doctor growled as he glared at the man. "So, start."

I looked down the stairs, knowing that both Morvin and Foon must have heard him. And it looked like Foon was getting rather upset about it as well. "Don't listen to him Foon." I shouted down to her. "He's a twat. And he's the only jealous because we actually like you two. And we don't like him."

I heard the Doctor smirk at that comment while Rickston just shot me even more daggers. I shot him a glare back as I moved my way up towards the gap as the Doctor turned to frown at me.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm small enough to fit through that gap." I told him as I began to slid through. "I'm gonna go help Astrid and Bannakaffalatta start to move stuff from the other side."

"Be careful." He said seriously.

"I always am." I replied as I carried on climbing through the hole.

XOXO

Eventually after a lot of climbing, I got through. I turned around slightly to shout down to the Doctor. "Doctor, we're going to start to clear it from this side." I told him. "Just tell us if it starts to move."

"Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?" I heard Astrid ask. Her voice was deeply concerned and I turned around to see what was going on. Only to see that Bannakaffalatta was lying on the ground, like he was sick in some sort of way.

"Shh." He told us.

"What is it?" I asked, also growing concerned now.

"Can't say."

The two of us stood up and went over to his side. "Are you hurt?" I asked as I knelt down by his side.

"Ashamed." He said to us. Both me and Astrid shared a look, wondering what the hell he meant.

"Of what?" Astrid asked.

"Poor Bannakaffalatta." He answered. He lifted up his shirt to reveal that his body was entirely made on metal with buttons and wires attached to it.

"You're a cyborg." Astrid gasped slightly.

"Had accident, long ago." Bannakaffalatta explained. "Secret."

"No, but everything's changed now." Astrid said. "Cyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married."

"Marry you two?" He said looking between the two of us.

I smirked. "Well, how about you buy us a drink first?"

"Come on. Let's recharge you." Astrid said as she pressed a button on this torso. "Just stay there for a bit." She told him as the two of us got up to go start shifting things again.

"Tell no one." He said.

I turned back to look at him. I smiled as I nodded. "We promise."

"What's going on up there?" The Doctor called up.

I rolled my eyes as I looked down at where the Time Lord was standing. "Not much. But I think me and Astrid just got engaged to Bannakaffalatta." I said with a slight laugh, as me and Astrid turned to look at the small man who was also laughing.

"Almost done!" I heard Morvin call up.

"Good, good, good." The Doctor said, turning to the comms. "Mr Frame, how's things?" he asked.

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship, but they're going out one by one." Frame said. I stopped still at that, my stomach turning again. Something wasn't right.

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

"No. Well, I'm not sure, but it's the Host." Frame said. "It's something to do with the Host."

"It's working!" Morvin called up. Oh shit. I ran over to the gap again, only to see that the Host had grabbed Morvin by the throat as it chanted the word Kill.

"Turn it off!" The Doctor ordered.

Foon tried to turn it off but it was no use. "I can't, Doctor!"

The Doctor finally got down to where Morvin, Foon and the Host where. "Go!" He ordered at Foon as he used his sonic screw driver to try and get the Host off of Morvin.

I rushed back over to the bits of metal that needed to be moved, and me and Astrid started moving them as quick as we could knowing that we needed to get the gap as big as we could, and as quick as we possibly could. I heard the Doctor shout at Rickston to help them, only for Rickston to selfishly refuse. The next second I saw him climbing up the gap towards us.

"Some help you are, you selfish dick!" I hissed at him. Only for him to shoot another glare at me, which I happily returned.

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

"Yes you can." Mr Copper told her. "Let me go clear it." I heard him start to climb up, clearing a few bits on his way up, allowing Foon to start climbing up it. She managed to reach the top, and I helped to try and pull her the rest of the way up along with Astrid and Mr Copper.

"No, I'm stuck!" She cried.

"Come on, you can do it." Astrid encouraged.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can." I told her. The top of the tunnel suddenly started to collapse. Mr Copper grabbed a metal poll that was stuck between the bits of rubble and used it to keep the gap up, making it even bigger at the same time. Finally we managed to get Foon through.

"It's going to collapse." Mr Copper said. "Rickston, vot damn it, help me!"

"No way." Rickston replied. I growled at him, shooting him another glare as I rushed over to help Mr Copper keep it up. Foon might have gotten through, but there were still two more people left.

"Morvin, get through!" The Doctor shouted from the other side. Soon we could see Morvin's head pop up as he was trying to get through. But he was finding it lot more difficult to get through that Foon. Astrid tried to pull him up, but it wasn't working.

"Doctor, he's stuck!" I shouted down to him.

"Mr Van Hoof, I know we've only just met, but you'll have to excuse me." Morvin then managed to squeeze through the gap, and I guessed the Doctor most have given him some help from the other side.

"That's it, we've got you." Astrid said.

"Doctor, hurry up!" I shouted as I continued to try and keep the beam up.

The Host was right behind him now. Suddenly the Time Lord turned to look at the Host. "Information override!" He suddenly shouted out. "You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure."

"Doctor, we can't hold it much longer." I shouted down to him in frustration.

"Information: Deck 31."

"Thank you." The Doctor said as he quickly turned and dashed though the gap. "Let's go." Me and Mr Copper let go of the poll just as the Host was coming up. The beam that we had been holding up quickly came crashing down onto the robots head, leaving it to a pile of wires and broken pieces.

XOXO

The Doctor, me, Astrid, Morvin, Foon, Mr Copper, Rickston walked into a room which looked like a kitchen. Everything had been relatively undisturbed. At least, the food was still on the plates.

"Morvin, look, food!" Cried in delight when she spotted it.

"Oh, great! Someone's happy." Rickston commented sarcastically. I found myself growling and glaring at him again, and the Doctor quickly moved over to the comms, herding me along with him.

"Don't have any then." Morvin shot back at him.

"Mr Frame, you still there?" The Doctor called into the comms.

"Yes, sir." Frame said. "But I've got Host outside. I've sealed the door."

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

"That's not the only problem, Doctor. I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means no one can get in. I'm sealed off." Frame told us. "Even if you can fix the Titanic, you can't get to the bridge."

The Doctor sighed, frustrated. "Yeah, right, fine. One problem at a time. What is on Deck 31?" he asked.

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

The Doctor looked at the image that had been brought up on the scanner as he put his glasses on. I peered over his shoulder to look at it. "What's that? You see that panel? Black. It's registering nothing, no power, no heat, no light."

"Never seen it before."

"100% shielded." The Doctor muttered. "What's down there?"

"I'll try intensifying the scanner." Frame told him.

"Let me know if you find anything." The Doctor said, taking off his glasses. "And keep those engines going."

"Stay safe, Mr Frame." I added as the Doctor turned to comm off.

"Saved you come." Astrid said as she bounced up to us with a plate of food in her hands. "You might be a Time King from Gannaby, but you still need to eat." I smirked at that. Astrid turned to look at me. "You need to eat as well. There's plenty there for the both of you."

"Thanks." I said smiling. The Doctor and I sat down next to each other, so I could take things from the plate whenever I wanted to and Astrid sat down opposite us.

"So, you look good for 903." Astrid stated.

"You should see me in the mornings." The Doctor said with his mouth full.

"Okay." Astrid said. The two of them suddenly looked up at each other realizing what they both had said, and I tried to stifle a laugh.

"Anyway, you do not want to see him in the mornings." I said taking a bite out of some bread.

The Doctor turned to look at me, a bit hurt. "What's that supposed to mean."

"It means. You, in the morning. Scary."

The Doctor pouted. "Am not."

"Oh, so me and Martha screamed for no reason at all when we saw you in the corridor that morning." The Doctor glared at me and I smirked. "You're really moody in the mornings too."

The Doctor looked like he was about to say something but was cut off as Mr Copper came to join us. "Doctor, it must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day."

"So it is! Merry Christmas!" The Doctor said again with his mouth full.

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

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

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

I raised my eyebrows at him. "They don't have spaceships." I told him.

"No, I've read about it. They have shuffles. Space shuffles."

The Doctor and I shared a look before he turned back to Mr Copper. "Mr Copper, this degree in Earthonomics, where is it from?" he asked hesitantly.

"Honestly?"

The two of us nodded. "Just between us." I said.

"Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners." Mr Copper said wiping his head with his hanky as he sat down, ashamed. I smiled at him sadly, at least I was understanding it now.

"You lied to the company? To get the job?" Astrid said.

"I wasted my life on Sto." He told us, tears in his eyes. "I was a travelling salesman, always on the road. And I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic.

Both me and the Doctor nodded. "I suppose it is, yeah."

"How come you both know it so well?" Astrid asked.

"I was sort of… A few years ago, I was sort of made… Well, sort of homeless and, um… There was the Earth." The Doctor said.

"And what about you?" Astrid asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm just from there. That's all."

Astrid's eyes widened. "You're from Earth?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yep."

"I thought you were like him." Astrid said gesturing to the Doctor. I simply shook my head.

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

Suddenly, there was a loud banging against the barricaded door. The Host were trying to get in. The Doctor quickly put down the plate of food we had been sharing as the two of us shot up from our seats. "The Host! Move! Come on!" He shouted out to everyone.

The pounding continued and eventually a dent was formed in the door. We all ran to a door on the opposite side and the Doctor sonic-ed it open to reavel a large space that had a large fire going at the bottom of it, or even a small sun. The only way to get to the other wide that could be seen was a long makeshift bridge, made up of bits of old, rickety metal.

"Is that the only way across?" Rickston asked as he looked down at the bridge.

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

"The engines are open." Astrid said, looking down at the ball of fire.

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

"But that thing," Morvin said pointing to the bridge. "It'll never take our weight."

"You're going last, mate." Rickston said snidely.

I turned and shot him a glare. "You really need to start thinking about watching what's coming out of your mouth." I hissed, warning him.

"It's nitrophine metal, it's stronger than it looks." The Doctor snapped at him.

"All the same," Morvin said loudly to be overhead by the sound on the engines. "Rickton's right. Me and Foon should—" He took a step right onto a weak piece of metal near the edge. It gave way and the rail snapped off, and he fell into the engines below, screaming.

"Morvin!" Foon cried.

"No!" I screamed, running towards the edge. Only for the Doctor to grab hold of me, stopping me from going any further.

"I told you." Rickston said. "I told you!" I really wanted to scream at him right then. But Mr Copper beat me to it.

"Just shut up! Shut up!"

Foon was hysterical, falling to her knees. "Bring him back!" She turned to the Doctor. "Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor!"

"I can't, I'm sorry. I can't." The Doctor told her sorrowfully.

"You promised me!"

"I know." His voice was heavy with guilt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." We were interrupted as we heard the sound of feet moving behind the door. The Host had already found us.

"Doctor, I rather think that those things have got our scent." Mr Copper said, jerking his thumb towards the door.

"I'm not waiting!" Rickston said as he ran onto the bridge.

"Careful!" The Doctor warned. "Take it slowly!" I took over hugging Foon, while Astrid also tried to comfort the woman who had now just become a widow.

There was another explosion nearby and Rickston was thrown down, nearly falling off the bridge, but he managed to keep himself on it. "Vot, help me!"

"You're okay." The Doctor encouraged him. "A step at a time. Come on, you can do it." As Rickston struggled to try and get himself back on his feet, the echoes of the Host chanting 'kill' could be heard from behind the door.

"They're getting nearer." Mr Copper warned.

"I'll seal us in." The Doctor said rushing over to the door, and using his sonic screw driver to lock it.

"Leaving us trapped wouldn't you say?"

"Never say 'trapped'," The Doctor told him. "Just inconveniently circumstanced."

"Oh!" Mr Copper scoffed. The Doctor then busted the lock, insuring that the Host wouldn't be able to get in.

Rickston was now halfway across the bridge. "I'm okay!" He called out. But everyone ignored him. To be honest I wouldn't even care if he fell into that engine right now. But I was hoping that wouldn't happen. As much was the guy was really getting on my nerves, and I hated him so much. I don't think I could ever really wish death upon someone.

"Maybe he's alright." Foon said, trying to convince herself, but there was something in her voice that told me it wasn't fully working. "Maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something, I don't know. But maybe he's just unconscious."

Astrid shook her head. "I'm sorry Foon." She told her.

I shook my head as well, feeling the tears coming to my eyes. "I'm so sorry, but he's gone."

It was then that Foon broke down. Both me and Astrid pulled her into a hug as she cried. "I can't live without him." She sobbed. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what she was feeling right now. I wouldn't even know what to do if I lost Ryan. Well, in a way, I had. But I still knew that he was alive, and that kept me sane. If I ever found out he had died, I really wouldn't like to think what I'd do.

"Yes!" The cry snapped me thought of my thoughts. I moved my head slightly to see that Rickston had finally gotten over to the other side. And he seemed rather proud about it too. "Oh, yes! Who's good!" I just rolled my eyes as I continued to comfort Foon.

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next." The Doctor ordered.

"Bannakaffalatta is small." He agreed as he hopped onto the bridge.

"Slowly!" The Doctor reminded and Bannakaffalatta complied. The Hosts suddenly started to pound against the door making a dent.

"They've found us." Mr Copper cried out.

"Kat, Astrid, get across right now." The Doctor ordered the two of us.

"What about you?" Astrid objected as she moved towards the bridge.

"Just do it, go on." Astrid complied as she too stepped onto the bridge, just behind Bannakaffalatta. The Doctor then turned to look down to me as I still sat down next to Foon. "Kat, you've got to get across as well."

I shook my head at him. "I'm not leaving her."

The Doctor let out a frustrated sigh. "Kat, do as I say and get on that bridge."

"Not without Foon." I snapped.

"Katherine." I turned to look at Foon who looked at me, trying to force out a week smile. "Do as he says, get on that bridge." I looked between her and the bridge in hesitation before looking up at the Doctor.

"I'll look after her. I promise." He told me. "Now go." Reluctantly I stood up and left Foon, moving onto the bridge behind Astrid. The Doctor then turned around to Mr Copper. "Mr Copper, we can't wait. Don't argue." He said moving him towards the bridge as well. Once he too was on there he went back over to Foon. "Foon, you've got to get across right now."

"What for?" Foon sobbed. "What am I going to do without him?"

"Doctor! The door is locked." Rickston called over.

The Doctor ignored him. "Just think, what would he want, eh?"

"He don't want nothing. He's dead." Foon sobbed again.

"Doctor, I can't open the door!" Rickston persisted. "We need the whirring key thing of yours." Sonic screwdriver. I corrected in my head.

"I can't leave her!" he shouted back over as he held onto the sobbing woman. Damn right he couldn't leave her. The only reason I had left is because he had promised me he would look after her.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!"

The Doctor groaned as he looked over at the rest of us who were slowly making our way across the bridge. To be fair, while Rickston was a complete and utter arsehole, he had a fair point. We were going to die if the Doctor didn't open the door now. But at the same time, I didn't want Foon to be left on her own. And it wasn't like I would be able to get back to her if the Doctor did get onto the bridge. It was a narrow bridge and I already had one person behind me. Making his decision, the Doctor turned to look at Foon.

"Mrs Van Hoff, I am coming back for you. All right?" he said in a firm but soft voice.

Foon nodded slightly and the Doctor had his way over to the rest of us on the bridge. He was only a couple of steps in when the metal started to creak at the weight of all of us on there. "Too many people." Bannakaffalatta objected, looking straight at the Doctor.

"Oi! Don't get spiky with me! Keep going!" The five of us slowly made our way across and eventually, we were all spread out, fairly evenly across the bridge, with Bannakaffalatta almost near the end. Suddenly there was another explosion and the bridge shook violently send the five of us to the ground.

"It's going to fall." Astrid said, worried.

"It's just settling." The Doctor reassured us. "Keep going." Suddenly, everything went quiet in a matter of a second. The pounding had stopped leaving the creaking of the bridge the only noise in the room.

"They've stopped." Astrid breathed.

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta asked.

"Why have they stopped?" I asked, my brows furrowed on confusion.

The Doctor nodded, "Why would they give up?"

"Never mind that, keep coming." Rickston called to us.

The Doctor just ignored him again. "Where have they gone?" he asked, mainly to himself. "Where are the host?"

"Well," Mr Copper said nervously. "I'm afraid, we've forgot the traditions of Christmas. That angels have wings!" He pointed to up above us as we all looked up to see five Host descending, surrounding us.

"Oh, fuck." I muttered to myself.

"Imformation: Kill."

"Arm yourself, all of you!" The Doctor cried out.

The Doctor grabbed a piece of piping from nearby. The rest of us followed suit ready to defend ourselves as the angels threw their halos at us. As a halo began hurtling towards me, I held my pipe like a baseball bat and slammed it away. I was slightly impressed at myself. For someone who studied physical education, I wasn't one who was good at playing games like baseball. I was more better at athletics, especially at track. Hence why I wasn't so bad with the running.

I was doing pretty well until I was distracted by someone yelping out in pain. I turned around to see that, that someone was the Doctor, whose arm had been grazed by a halo. Another one caught Mr Copper on the hip and another struck Astrid to the ground. Only me and Bannakaffalatta were the last ones standing. And that wasn't for a long as a halo that I hadn't seen hit me in the side, sending me to the floor.

"Ow. Shit." I gasped as I held onto my side in pain.

"I can't." Astrid sobbed, the pain becoming too much for her as well.

"Bannakaffalatta stop!" The small man cried, throwing down his metal pipe, surprising all of us. "Bannakaffalatta proud." He said looking down at me and Astrid. "Bannakaffalatta cyborg!" He ripped open his shirt, sending a huge wave to blue energy out. The Host began sparking and shaking as four of them fell into the engine. The last one falling behind the Doctor with a thump.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics." The Doctor said. "Oh! Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" But then with a loud beeping noise, Bannakaffalatta fell to the floor. With a gasp, both me and Astrid scrambled over to his side.

"He's used all his power! Astrid called out.

"Did good?" Bannakaffalatta asked.

I smiled sadly at him, "You saved our lives."

"Bannakaffalatta happy."

"We can recharge you, get you to the power point, just plug you in." Astrid said desperately. I nodded, going to press the button on his torso when he placed a hand on top of mine, stopped me.

"Too late." He told us.

"No, but… You've got to get us those drinks, remember?" I said, trying to force out a smile as my voice broke. I was barely holding it together.

Bannakaffalatta smiled at the two of us. "Pretty girls." He murmured before his eyes fluttered shut, never to open again. It was then I started to cry, sobs shaking my body. First Morvin and now Bannakaffalatta, it was all starting to become too much. I turned to the Doctor who said nothing, knowing that there was nothing to say. Instead he just gave me a sad smile. Through her tears Astrid began to button up his tiny little shirt when Mr Copper stopped her, reaching for the power source.

"I'm sorry," He apologized. "Forgive me."

"Don't touch him." I said through my sobs.

"Leave him alone." Astrid added as she tried to button up his shirt again.

"It's the EMP transmitter. He-he'd want us to use it." Mr Copper said as he removed the metal cylinder. "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can use it as a weapon against the rest of the Host." He told us. "Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."

"Do you think?" Rickston spoke up again. "Try telling him that." He pointed behind us. We all turned around to see the Host that had fallen behind of the Doctor, grabbing it's halo, trying to get up.

"Doctor…" I said nervously.

"Use the EMP!" Rickston shouted.

"It's dead." Mr Copper replied.

"It's got to have an emergency-"

"No, no. Hold on." The Doctor said, confronting the Host. "Hold the line. Loophole. Security protocol ten… Six, six, six… Twenty One. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight… Um, I don't know, forty two? Uh… One!" The Host who had been ready to strike the Doctor with its halo, suddenly stopped and stood there passively.

"Information: State request."

"Good…Right." The Doctor said in relief. "You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

"Information: No witnesses."

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

"Information: Incorrect."

The Doctor frowned. "But why do you want to destroy the Earth?"

"Information: It is the plan."

"What plan?" The Doctor asked.

"Information: The protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."

"Well, you could have warned me." The Doctor grumbled.

"Information: Now you will die."

The Host lifted its halo once again, getting ready to strike the Doctor. The Doctor picked up a bit of pipe again, ready to hit it back and defend himself when suddenly, a piece of rope was thrown around its head and tightened around is body by Foon herself.

"You're coming with me." She snarled as she finished tightening the rope. She then closed her eyes and jumped of off the side towards the engines, taking the Host down with her.

"No!" The Doctor shouted as he fell to his knees, reaching out for her. But it was too late.

"Foon!" I shrieked. Tears coming to my eyes again as I watched her fall to her death, helplessly.

Everything was quiet for a moment, except the gasps that were coming from Astrid's mouth and the sobs from mine. The Doctor stood up, back onto his feet with a determined scowl on his face. "No more." He growled as he turned over to look at me again, repeating it. But this time in a more softer tone. "No more."

XOXO

The Doctor kicked down some more debris that had been blocking our way and lead us into another maintenance corridor. "Right," he said as he turned around to the rest of us. "Get yourself over to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS. Kat, Astrid, you're both in charge of this." He handed over the EMP to us. "Once it's powered up, it'll take out Host within 50 yards, but then it needs 60 seconds to recharge. Got it? Rickston," He turned to the man, presenting him with his sonic screwdriver. "Take this. I've pre-set it; just hold down the button, it'll open the doors. If you still have a problem, get Kat to help you. Do not lose it! You got that?" Rickston nodded. "Now, go and open the next door. Go on! Go!"

"Alright!" Rickston said, running down the hall.

The Doctor grabbed a first aid kit from nearby. "Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit." He said, shoving it into his arms. "Astrid, where's the power point?" he asked her.

"Under the comms." She replied. The three of us rushed over to the power point as the Doctor showed us how to re-charge it.

"It'll beep when it's ready." He told us. "That blue light comes on there."

"You're talking as if you're not coming with us." Astrid said. I already knew for a fact that he wasn't coming with us. I could see it in his face. But he was stupid to think that he was going alone.

"There's something down of Deck 31. I'm going to find out what it is." The Doctor told her.

"We're." I corrected. "We're going to find out what it is. I'm coming with you."

The Doctor gave me a look as he shook his head. "Oh, no, you're not."

I nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Kat, it's not safe."

I scoffed. "What? And this is safe?" I sighed. "Doctor, I'm not leaving you I've already had to do that once already, for a whole year. I'm not doing it again. I'm coming with you." The Doctor went to say something back, put I put my hand up to stop him. "No arguments."

The Doctor let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Oh, all right, you can come." I flashed a grin at him. "But you going to be careful all right? You don't leave my side. You got that?"

"Understood."

The Doctor nodded. "Good."

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

"Well, then I'll—" I shot him a look. "We'll just… have some fun."

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

I shrugged. "We do, basically."

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

"I'm sort of… unemployed now. I was thinking that blue box is kind of small, but I could squeeze in." Astrid said. "Like a stowaway."

"It's not always safe." The Doctor told her, seriously.

"So you need someone to take care of you." she said looking between the two of us. "I've got no one back on Sto, no family. Just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?"

The Doctor paused for a moment as he considered it. His eyes then turned to me, giving me a look as if to ask what I thought about it. I smiled slightly, happy that he was even putting my opinion into consideration. I just nodded. I'd love for Astrid to come with us. Over the short period of time we had been together, I had grown quite a bond with her. I would even consider her to be one of my friends.

The Doctor's face broke into a smile. "Yeah, we'd like that Yeah." The ship lurched again and the Doctor managed to stand up and talked into the comms. "Mr Frame, you still with us?"

"It's the engines, sir. Final phase. There's nothing I can do." He told us. "We've only got eight minutes left!"

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

"But the bridge is sealed off." Frame protested.

"Yeah, yeah, working on it." The Doctor told him. "We'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow." The EMP bepped, signalling it was ready. "You charged up?" Astrid nodded and the Doctor turned to everyone else. "Mr Copper look after her." He said pointing to Astrid. "Astrid, look after him." He said pointing to Mr Copper. He then turned to Rickston, um… look after yourself. And we'll see you again, I promise."

We turned to leave when Astrid stopped us. "Hold on!" she called out. "There's an old tradition on planet Sto."

The Doctor turned around to her. "Yeah, we've really got to go."

"Just wait a minute." Astrid told him.

She grabbed the first aid kit box from Mr Copper, and set in down on the floor in front of the Doctor. He looked confused as to what was going on, but I was starting to get an idea. She stood on top of the box, making her near enough around the Doctor's height. She then grabbed the Doctor by his jacket, pulled him towards her and kissed him. I smirked slightly as she finally released the Doctor who looked rather bemused.

"Yeah, that's a… Very old tradition, yeah."

Astrid then hopped down the from the box and pulled me into a hug. "You be careful."

I returned the hug and nodded. "Always."

The Doctor then headed off again with me beside him. "See you later!" Astrid called out to both of us.

The Doctor turned around and grinned. "Oh, yes!"

XOXO

The two of us ran into the kitchen, only to come face to face with two Hosts. We both turned around, about to leave the way we had come in, when another two Hosts came through that way as well. We were surrounded. The Doctor grabbed a pot from nearby; ready to use is as a weapon as he pulled me over to the side of him. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Security protocol one! Do you hear me? One! One!" The Host stopped advancing and stood there passively. The two of us let out a sigh of relief as the Doctor put the pot down. "Okay. That gives me three questions. Three questions to save our lives, am I right?"

"Information: Correct."

"Doctor!" I hissed as the waste of a question.

"No, that wasn't one of them." The Doctor defended. "I didn't mean it. That's not fair! Can I start again?"

"Information: No."

I rolled my eyes as I moved my hand colliding it with the back of his head. "Ow!" He complained. "Did you just slap me?"

"Seems like it, yeah." I nodded.

"But, what for?" He whined.

"Because you wasted two out of three questions." I told him. "You idiot."

"But they weren't supposed to be questions!" He defended.

"Maybe so. But you still wasted them." I pointed out.

"So you slapped me?"

"Yes!"

The Doctor pouted as he turned back to the Host. "One question left. One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors, but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me or Kat. We're not passengers, we're not staff. Go on. Scan us. You must have bio records. No such people on board." The Host looked up as they finished their scan. "We don't exist, therefore, you can't kill us. Therefore, we're stowaways. And stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority." He chucked the pot down onto the floor. "And I reckon, the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question, am I right?"

"Information: Correct." I relaxed a bit. We had found a way to Deck 31 without getting killed. And now we also knew that there was someone down there.

"Brilliant." The Doctor stood up straight. "Take me to your leader." He turned to me and grinned. "I've always wanted to say that."

I just rolled my eyes at him. "You child."

XOXO

The Host led me and the Doctor into the storage facility on Deck 31. There was some structural damage, just like the rest of the ship, which surprised me a bit given the Doctor, had said that this place was 100% shielded. There were even some small fires.

"Wow. Now that is what you call a fixer-upper." The Doctor commented as he looked around "Come on, then. Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?" Just then two doors open and we spun around to look at it, the Doctor seeing something he recognised right away. "Ooh, that's clever. That's an Omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You could survive anything in there." A vehicle of some sort started to roll towards us, through all the steam and smoke. "You could sit through a supernova. Or a shipwreck. Only one person could have the power and the money to hide themselves on board like this. And I should know 'cause…" he drifted off, leaving whoever was in the vehicle to finished it.

"My name is Max." The one and only Max Capricorn finished off as he finally came out of all the smoke. It turned out that the vehicle seemed to be some sort of life support for him, with his head attacked to it. He smiled, and his golden tooth glinted.

"Oh my God." I said, looking at him, bewildered. "It really does that?" It was bad another on some cheesy little advert, but in real life? It was just ridiculous. The Doctor just frowned at the man as he looked at him. He was completely different from the man that we had seen in the advert. For one his body was now just some sort of metal box, the only thing left of his actual body being his head. And he was also now blind in one eye.

"Who the hell is this?" Max spat, looking at the two of us.

"Oh, I'm the Doctor." He said introducing himself. "And this is Katherine Stewart."

I waved at him, "Hey there."

"Information: Stowaways."

"Well…" The Doctor said.

"Kill them." Max ordered.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, wait!" The Doctor said, holding out his hands in attempt to stop the Host. "You can't, not now, come on, Max. You'll give me so much good material, like how to get ahead in business." He looked around only to see that no one was laughing at his joke. "See, head. Head. Head in the… No?" He turned to look at me, I just shook my head. "Not even a little bit funny?" I shrugged.

"Oh, ho, ho, the office joker." Max said preciously after a moment. "I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."

"And I wonder why." I replied, sarcastically, making the Doctor smirk a bit.

"176 years of running the company have taken their toll."

"Yeah, but nice wheels." The Doctor commented, scratching his neck.

"No! A life support system." Max told him. "In a society that despises cyborgs, I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram." He turned to the Host. "Host, situation report."

"Information: Titanic is still in orbit."

"Let me see." Max said suspiciously. He wheeled himself forward and the Doctor pulled me out of his way. "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong?" He stopped as he reached the edge and looked over at the engines. "The engines are still running! They should have stopped."

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

"This interview is terminated!" Max snapped as he wheeled away.

"No, no, no, no! Hold on! Hold on! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" The Doctor cried running in front of Max's retreating vehicle, holding his hands out to stop him. "I can work it out. It's a like a task. I'm your apprentice, just watch me. So… the business is failing and you wreck the ship, so that makes things even worse. Oh, yes! No… Yes." I frowned at him slightly. "The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."

"My own board voted me out." Max told us. "Stabbed me in the back!"

"If you had a back." I commented.

"So," The Doctor continued. "You scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors, just in case anyone's rumbled you, and the Board find their shares halved in value. Oh, but that's not enough." Max shook his head. "No. Because if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys the entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."

"And the whole Board thrown in jail for mass murder." Max continued, grinning.

"While you just sit there safe inside the impact chamber." I finished, my voice sounding disgusted.

"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins," Max said. "And enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches on Penhaxico II. Where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of metal."

"So that's the plan?" The Doctor said, his voice a low growl. "A retirement plan. 2,000 people on this ship, six billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered! And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser!"

"I never lose!" Max hissed, moving closer towards us. I clenched my fists in anger, wishing I could punch him, a small growl coming from my lips. The Doctor was just as bad.

"You can't even sink the Titanic." I spat at him.

"Oh, but I can, little girl." Max contradicted. "I can cancel the engines from here!" Suddenly, alarms began to blare through the room.

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

"Host, hold them!" Max ordered. Four Host came up from behind us and grabbed us by the arms, hauling us back.

"Not so clever now, Doctor." Max sneered. "It's a shame we couldn't work together. You're rather good. All that banter, yet not a word wasted. You're not bad either." He said turning to me. "But for a sweet looking girl you do seem to be rather angry and violent." He added looking down at my still clenched fists. "Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling, the sky will burn! Let the Christmas inferno commence! Oh! Oh, Host! Kill them." Two Host which didn't have a hold of us took of their halos ready to strike at us.

"Mr Capricorn!" Our heads snapped over to where we had heard Astrid's voice coming from. She was sitting up in a forklift, raring to go. "I resign." And with that she charged towards Max.

"No!" I cried.

"Astrid, don't!" The Doctor shouted at her.

Astrid simply ignored the both of us. She crashed into Max's life support system just with enough force, managing to get the front of the forklift under the life support unit. Max tried to move back, but found his tires had no purchase. Astrid then began trying to push him back, but she was having no such luck. The Hosts who were just about to use their halos to kill me and the Doctor, threw them towards Astrid. She cried out in alarm as they hurtled towards her. But thankfully they missed her… but they hit something else.

"He's cut the break line!" The Doctor cried.

It was then that everything seemed to happen in slow motion as everything went quiet. Astrid turned to look at the two of us, an understanding passing through all three of us. I shook my head; shouting 'no' and I could see in the corner of my eye that the Doctor was shouting the exact same thing. But I couldn't hear anything. It was all quiet. Astrid gave as a look which I knew meant 'sorry' as she turned back to face Max. She rose up the forklift, lifting up Max even higher. She then stomped hard on the accelerator. They broke through the gate and the two of them fell of the edge.

"Astrid!" The two of us screamed out. We both broke free of the grasps that the robots had on us. By the time we reached the edge it was too late. We watched in horror as Astrid fell down into the engines, all the while her hands reaching out to us.

I continued to stare down over the ledge in shock. I began shaking controllably as I sobbed, tears streaming down my face without care. I didn't even notice that the ship jolted violently. To be honest, I didn't even care anymore. I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder and I flinched. Turning around to look through my teary eyes I realized it was the Doctor. He said nothing. He just took hold of both of my hands, lifting me up off of the floor as he lead me away from the edge, letting me lean on him as I carried on shaking and crying.

Sparks fell behind us as we walked along. Eventually the Doctor stopped, moving me around so that I was facing him. He pulled me closer to him and hugged me as I continued crying into his jacket, soaking it with tears. He soon let go as two Host came over, but he made sure that my arms were still tightly wrapped around him. With a click of his fingers the Host linked arms with him. With a nod they flew upwards, carrying me and the Doctor with him, gaining speed. With their arms raised, hands shaped into fists, they broke through the floor of the bridge, causing Frame to scream. The Doctor climbed out of the hole in the floor dragging me alone with him. He gave me another quick hug, kidding me on the forehead before we both let go and he turned to Frame.

"Midshipman Frame, at last!"

"Uh, b-but the Host!" Frame stuttered, staring at the Host in fear.

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

"There's nothing we can do. There's no power. The ships gonna fall." Frame said. I wiped my eyes, trying to get it back together. There was no use in my crying, not when we were about to crash into the Earth. I needed to make myself useful.

"Titanic falling."

"What's your first name?" The Doctor asked as I walked over to join him.

"Alonzo." I stared at the man wide eyed. Was he being serious?

"You're kidding me?" The Doctor said with the same facial expression as mine.

"What?" Alonzo asked.

"There's something else I've always wanted to say." The Doctor grinned manically. "Allons-y Alonzo!"

He then threw the wheel, trying to steer it as best as he could. The ship lurched dramatically as it started falling straight into the Earth's atmosphere. Alarms started blaring and Alonzo screamed as the Doctor fought to control the steering. Another alarm sounded from the computer and I ran over to it, the computer showing where the impact zone was going to be. I stared it wide eyed. "You've got to be joking." I said more to myself. "Uh, Doctor…" The Doctor leaned over from the wheel to look and let out groaned when he too saw where it was.

Seeing a phone, he reached out to it and dialled. "Hello, yes, could you get me Buckingham Palace?" They quickly put him through. The Doctor didn't even give them time to speak. "Listen to me, security code 771. Now get out of there!" And with that he put the phone down.

"Engine active. Engine active." The computer announced. The Doctor pulled back the wheel as far as it would possibly go, sending me and Alonzo flying back against the wall. Slowly, we began to right ourselves as we barely just missed Buckingham Palace, sailing just above it. I sighed in relief and now out of danger, the Doctor began steering with ease.

I heard the ships bell ring and turned to see that it was Alonzo ringing it. "Whoo-hoo!"

Both me and the Doctor laughed as we joined in. "Whoo-hoo-hoo!"

XOXO

Once we were at a safe height, the Doctor came over and sat on the floor next to me and Alonzo. "Used the heat of re-entry to fire up the secondary storm drive." He said. "Unsinkable, that's me."

"We made it." Alonzo said smiling as he leaned up against the wall.

"Not all of us." I replied as I stared off into space. Trying to fight back to tears again.

"Teleport!" The Doctor suddenly cried out as he jumped up off of the floor. "She was wearing a teleport bracelet!" He ran out of the room before I could even get up to follow after him. Helping Alonzo up, we both ran out of the room as well, following him as quickly as we could. We followed him into Reception One where Mr Copper and Rickston were still waiting for us.

"Rickston!" The Doctor called out. "Sonic!" Rickston complied as he threw it over to him. "Mr Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?" he asked.

"I don't know," Mr Copper said as he joined the Doctor over and the teleport controls. "They should have."

"She fell, Mr Copper, she fell." the Doctor told him. "What's the emergency code?" he asked as he started fiddling around with the controls. I frowned slightly, wondering what he was doing.

"Let me see."

"Doctor?" I said walking over to him. "What are you doing?"

"We can bring her back." He told me simply. I looked at him wide-eyed grinning. There was something in my back of my head, telling me it wasn't going to work, but I ignored it. I wanted Astrid back, she was one of my friends now. And if there was a chance that we could get her back, I was going to take it.

"If a passenger has an accident on shore leave and they're still wearing their teleport, the molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis." Mr Copper explained to me and Alonzo, who was also wondering what, was going on. "So if we just trigger the ship's—"

"There!" The Doctor cried, flicking a leaver. He turned around and a glowing but transparent Astrid appeared a few feet away from us.

"I'm falling."

"Only halfway there. Come on!" The Doctor said moving back to the teleport controls to start working on them again. It was then that I realized that this wasn't really going to work and I felt my heart sink.

"Keep falling."

"Feedback the molecule grid. Boost it with the restoration matrix…" he sonic-ed the wires, but suddenly the controls sparked. "No, no, no, no, no! Need more phase containment."

"Doctor…" I said softly.

"No! If I can just link up the surface suspension."

"Doctor, she's gone." Mr Copper tried to tell him. But the Doctor just ignored him.

"I need to override the safety… I can do this. I can do it!"

I sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor." I said, almost in tears again. "Just let her go."

The Doctor looked at him, then to Astrid and then back to the controls. He stood up and kicked them in frustration. "I can do anything!"

"No." I said, choking on a sob. "You can't. You're a brilliant man, and you're capable of a lot of things. But this... this is one thing you can't do. You can't bring someone back to life." The Doctor looked down at me, about to say something, but I already knew what he was going to say. "I know. Trust me. I know. I want her back too. But we can't." I took a shaky breath, wiping a few tears away. "Just let her go."

The Doctor slowly walked away from me and towards Astrid. "Astrid Peth, citizen of Sto, the woman who looked at the stars and dreamt or travelling. There's an old tradition." He bent down so that he was at her level and he kissed her. He slowly let go and looked at her sadly. "Now you can travel forever." Using his sonic screwdriver, he opened one of the windows behind Astrid. She turned into specs on bright violet light and she flew out of the window. "You're not falling Astrid, you're flying."

It was then I started to lose it again. Shakily, I walked up to the Doctor. Trying my best to stop crying, not that it was any use. The Doctor turned to me and sighed, pulling me into another hug as I cried into his jacket yet again as few tears of his own fell onto my cardigan.

XOXO

Alonzo walked up to us a short while after. The Doctor was leaning against a table, staring straight ahead of him, his face completely blank. I was going pretty much the same thing, except I was staring at the floor. I had really only barely just noticed Alonzo. "The engines have stabilised." He told us. "We're holding steady until we get help, and I've sent the SOS. The recuse ship should be here in 20 minutes. And they're digging out the records on Max Capricorn. It should be quite a story."

"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose." Mr Copper said, dejectedly.

"I'd have thought so." Alonzo replied. Ignorant to what Mr Copper even meant. "Yeah."

Mr Copper walked over to the two of us, leaning against the reception desk nearby. "I think, uh, one or two inconvenient truths might come to light." He mumbled. "Still, it's my own fault. And ten years in jail is better than dying."

Just then, Rickston walked over to us. His eyes were red rimmed. Maybe everything that had happened today had finally caught up on him. I may have even started to feel some slight sympathy for him. "Doctor," he sobbed. "I never said… Thank you." Then, to my own surprise, he pulled the Doctor into a hug. The Doctor, however, did nothing in response. He just stood there, still blank. "The funny thing is, I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I sold all my shares. Transferred them to his rivals. It's made me rich. What do you think of that?"

It was then that I finally looked up from the floor. I looked up at him, any sympathy I had felt for him gone in a flash. Another glare was sent his way as another growl escaped from my lips. My fists clenched, and within seconds my fist swung around, hitting Rickston directly in the nose, sending the horrible man stumbling back. "That's what I think." I hissed at him.

Rickston turned to look at the Doctor, obviously expecting him to pull me away like he had done countless times today. But instead he just gave the man a chilling blank stare. Rickston hufffed, pulling out his vone as it started ringing. He sent me one last glare before he answered the phone and walked away, still slightly shocked. "Those shares, I want them triple bonded and locked."

"Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is he?" Mr Copper asked us as he watched Rickston walk away. "But if you could chose, if you could both decide who lives and who dies," The old man shrugged. "That would make you two monsters."

The Doctor looked at him, and sighed. "Mr Copper," he began, grabbing three teleport bracelets from behind him, holding one out to him. "I think you deserve one of these." Mr Copper smiled as us as he put his bracelet on. Alonzo saw this and mouthed 'hey' as he stood up. I just placed a finger on my lip as if to say 'sh' as I smirked.

"Take care." I told him. The Doctor turned and started the machine. Before the three of us disappeared, Alonzo saluted us and the Doctor saluted him back.

XOXO

"So Great Britain is part of, uh, 'Europee', and just across the British Channel you've got Great France and Great Germany." Mr Copper said, trying to recite some of the information that we had given him, as we walked towards the TARDIS with had landed in an open field near London, which covered in snowflakes which were still falling down to the floor.

"No, no, it's just France and Germany." The Doctor corrected him.

"Only Britain is great." I added, smugly.

"And they're all at war with the continent of Ham-erica?" Mr Copper asked.

"No." The Doctor said. "Well, not yet. Uh… You could argue that one." Finally we arrived at the TARIDS. I grinned as I leaned up against the doors. "There she is." The Doctor said patting his ship. "Survive anything."

"You know, between you and me, I don't even think this snow is real." Mr Copper said, looking up at the snow falling from the sky. "I think it's the ballast from the Titanic salvage entering the atmosphere."

The Doctor looked up at the sky and nodded lightly. "Yeah. One of these days it might snow for real."

"So, I suppose you'll be off." Mr Copper stated. I nodded at him.

"The open sky." The Doctor answered.

"And, uh, what about me?" The old man asked.

"We travel alone." The Doctor told him. I looked up at the Doctor and frowned slightly as his statement of 'we', but eventually I just smiled at him. The Doctor looked down at me and smile back before turning back to Mr Copper. "It's best that way."

"Uh, what am I supposed to do?" Mr Copper asked.

The Doctor held his hand out. "Give me that credit card." Mr Copper complied, handing it over to him.

"Well, it's just petty cash, spending money. It's all done by computer." He told the Doctor. "I didn't really know the currency, so I thought a million might cover it." My eyes nearly popped out of my head then. What?!

"A million? Pounds?" I almost choked.

"Is that enough for trinkets?" Mr Copper asked, worried.

"Mr Copper, a million pounds is worth 50 million credits." The Doctor told him.

Mr Copper frowned slightly. "How much?" He asked. Sure had heard wrong.

"50 million and 56." The Doctor calculated quickly.

"I-I've got money!" Mr Copper gasped.

"Yes, you have." I said, smirking as the Doctor handed Mr Copper back his credit card.

"Oh, my word." Mr Copper said, still slightly shocked. "Oh, my Vot! Oh, my goodness me! I… Ya-ha!" He laughed with joy.

"It's all yours, planet Earth." The Doctor said, gesturing to everything in front of us. "Now that's a retirement plan." He laughed slightly. But just you be careful, though."

"I will. I will, oh, I will!"

"No interfering." The Doctor continued. "I don't want any trouble, just… Just have a nice life."

"But I can have a house, a proper house, with a garden and a door!" He looked up at the two of us. "Oh, Doctor, Katherine, I will make you proud." He hugged the two of us. "And I can have a kitchen with chairs and windows and plates!" He carried on as he began skipped off, laughing.

The Doctor paused as he unlocked the TARDIS doors. "Um, where are you going?" he asked.

"I've no idea!" He called back.

"No. We don't either." The Doctor muttered as he finally unlocked the doors, ready to step inside when Mr Copper called out again.

"But, Doctor! Katherine!" The two of us turned around again. "I won't forget her." The two of us nodded. I looked up at the sky to see a purple streak, zigzagging across the sky. I looked up down to look at Mr Copper who was skipping away again.

"Merry Christmas, Mr Copper." The Doctor said softly as he stepped inside the TARDIS. I paused, looking up at the sky again to see the purple streak again and I smiled.

Astrid wasn't gone, not really. She was still out there. She could follow the two of us as we travelled across the stars, watching us run around, saving civilisations and just generally being idiots. And I knew there was one thing I was going to do for her.

I was going to make her proud.

In Memory of
VERITY LAMBERT OBE
1935-2007

XOXO

Authors Note: The end. Well, for now anyway. I can't believe I've got another chapter done. And you haven't even had to wait a month! *pats self on the back* But still, it feels like its taken ages to write this chapter. It would have been quicker if every time I came on my laptop to write, I'd end up going on tumblr for like 5 hours. I, my dear readers, am the Queen of procrastination.

Anyway, I have a question for you…

So I was thinking of doing a few Torchwood episodes from season 2, the ones that have Martha in. I just want Kat to meet the team before the Stolen Earth shenanigans. Especially Owen. Because he's my favourite.

So anyway, yes, or no? I want your opinions on it. Because I don't want to do it when everyone hates the idea. So please review, even if it's just to state your opinion, I don't care, I just need to know.

So anyway, see you next time whether it will be 'Reset' or 'Partners in Crime'… you'll have to wait and find out. ;)