Chapter 14: Christmas Invasion
The Doctor was terrified.
It took quite a bit to terrify him, and most of it had to do with Freya anymore, but this terrified him. He should have explained what was happening more to her. He should have told her earlier. But he hadn't. And now he was paying for it.
She thought she'd killed him! Where had that come from? She always had this guilt, eating her alive, and he'd only added to it.
The worst part was, for a moment he thought she trusted him, believed him. For a moment, she had that look of recognition in her eyes and he was so sure she knew who he was.
Then it faded. And she'd tried to get away from him.
He quickly got the TARDIS on path, glancing around for any shiny surface he could find. He was dying to see what he looked like but he had a feeling if he did that he'd freak Freya out.
He didn't want to freak her out any more than what she was already freaking out. That stress couldn't be good on the baby. He knew it couldn't be. And he didn't want to cause her to miscarry. That would be the cherry on top of his metaphorically miserable ice cream sundae.
Not a banana split. Those could never be miserable.
No! He had to focus. He quickly sped up the TARDIS, feeling the regeneration energy bubbling inside of him, dying to get out. He could examine himself and eat a banana split later, after Freya was okay.
He sighed in relief when the TARDIS landed. Only to realize he hadn't landed where he wanted to. He'd hoped to land near her house. Her house would be good. Privacy would be ideal. She could call Rose and Marie and they could be with her.
No. He'd landed in London.
Right outside where Rose lived.
Well.
He guessed if he had to mess up, at least he messed up and got them to the second best place.
Freya was hyperventilating.
She knew she was. She could barely catch her breath. She couldn't breathe, and she couldn't see. Tears were obscuring her vision. And she was shaking. She was shaking violently.
Something tugged at her. IN her.
Her baby.
Freya did stop breathing at that. She slowly forced herself to start again. Her baby was scared.
She had scared her baby.
Freya focused intently on trying to push her feelings down. Her worry. Her anxiety. Her self-loathing. Because her baby didn't need to feel that. Even if the Doctor was sure he couldn't read her thoughts…yet…she didn't want to risk it. She didn't want her baby to have all of those feelings running through his tiny head.
He didn't deserve it.
"Are you okay?" the stranger asked her. Freya sucked in a sharp breath but managed to stifle her panic. She pressed a hand automatically to her lower stomach.
"Freya, please say something. Is the baby okay? Are you okay?" the man in front of her asked anxiously as he dropped to his feet in front of her. He winced in pain as he hit the ground, something that worried Freya without a cause.
"Are you okay?" Freya asked back. He was in pain. Whoever he was, he was in pain. His brown eyes shot up to meet hers, wide in…wonder? Confusion? Worry? She couldn't decipher what emotion was staring at her.
"Is the baby okay?" the man repeated. Freya nodded slowly.
"He's fine. He….he was anxious," Freya said cautiously. She knew she wasn't to tell people much about the baby. But the stranger reached out his hand to her stomach, somewhat tentatively.
"May I?" he asked, staring at her. Freya bit her lip. She didn't know him.
But he had given her the necklace when she was younger. Maybe he was a time traveler too? That had to be the only explanation. Who else could do it now? The Doctor was dead.
The words hit her hard once more, but she stifled the feelings. The baby was moving slightly. Not kicking, but Freya could feel the unsettling he was doing.
Freya slowly moved her hand off of her stomach and allowed the man to place his hand on her stomach. He closed his eyes and his other hand drifted up to her forehead.
And suddenly everything shifted.
That feeling, the feeling of the Doctor's mind was inside of her again. She could feel him wrapped around her very being mentally, gliding over every surface. Over all of the desperate feelings she was trying to shove down. And she could feel him pulling her with him to find the baby.
The baby's mind was still so small, but it was restless. Until it sensed Freya and the man – the Doctor. Then he calmed down.
The man pulled back and opened his eyes.
"Doctor?" Freya asked hesitantly.
The man's eyes filled with joy at her words and he threw himself at her in a tight hug.
Only to stiffen and throw himself back.
"I don't have time to explain anything. I'm…I'm gonna fall asleep. And release this gold energy. Just…keep me safe? Keep me safe," the Doctor murmured before exhaling a cloud of gold particles that floated upwards.
And then he collapsed.
Freya stifled her scream at the sight and moved towards him quickly. Only to be stopped by the sight of something on the console. She turned quickly, eyes widened when she noticed there were two rings there. Wedding bands, she realized. Freya slowly pulled her ring off and slipped it into her pocket before carefully sliding the smaller ring on her finger.
She clutched the other ring as she made her way to the Doctor. He was still breathing, she realized in relief. But he wasn't moving. She pulled his hand towards her and slid the ring on, holding her breath as she did.
It was a perfect fit.
Even the TARDIS was recognizing that he was in fact the Doctor.
Freya quickly pulled the Doctor's arm over her shoulder and, struggling, made her way to her feet. He was heavy. Heavier than she'd expected, anyways. She'd only just got him up when she fell backwards towards the console.
"Where are we? Can we go outside? Or should we stay in here?" Freya asked the TARDIS fretfully. She got an almost playful nudge towards the door and Freya took that as a good sign. She pulled the Doctor towards the door, feeling her breath already becoming labored at the short distance.
By the time she'd opened the door and got out, she knew there was no way she'd be able to drag him anywhere else.
"Freya!" a voice shouted. Freya jerked towards the voice, accidentally releasing the Doctor. He crumpled to the ground in front of her. Freya winced and lowered herself, attempting to get him back on his feet.
She glanced up at the sound of footsteps pounding on pavement. In front of her was Rose and Jackie, both with wide eyes.
"What's going on? Who's the bloke? Where's the Doctor?" Rose asked nervously, glancing around Freya towards the inside of the TARDIS.
"This is the Doctor. Can we get him inside? He's…he's sort of hurt I think," Freya murmured, unsure of what to say. Unsure of what was truly going on herself.
Rose and Jackie helped lift the Doctor, carrying him up to the apartment. Mickey ended up running out and joining them as Freya trailed behind, biting her nails worriedly. Mickey noticed and looped an arm around Freya's shoulders.
"Do you need me to call Marie and Masen? They were going to come up this evening for supper, but they'll come earlier if you need them to," Mickey offered. Freya summoned a smile and nodded, which gave Mickey enough of an answer. He released her and took a few steps from them, whipping out his cell phone.
The Doctor was placed in Jackie's room, since, according to Jackie, it was much cleaner than Rose's room.
"Freya dear, what's going on? How long's it been since you've been back?" Jackie asked her worriedly. Freya moved instinctively towards the Doctor, pressing both of her hands against his chest. Both hearts seemed to be beating. That was good. But his breathing seemed a bit off. She wished she was a doctor, a real proper doctor so she could make sure he was okay. But she wasn't.
"It's been…three, four months?" Freya said, trying to remember exactly how long it had been. She couldn't think of it at the moment.
"What happened to the Doctor?" Rose asked once more, staring at the Doctor with both intrigue and worry.
"He's…we got stuck. The TARDIS died and we were stuck for months. I found a way to bring the TARDIS back, but the Doctor came in and got scared. He…he died because I was trying to save his ship," Freya whispered guiltily, crawling onto the bed next to the Doctor.
"I'm sure it's not your fault," Jackie told her before moving towards her dresser. She pulled out a set of pajamas and placed them on the edge of the bed.
"Do you want to change him?" Jackie asked Freya.
"I'll go grab you some other clothes," Rose offered, quickly leaving the room. Jackie gave her a smile and did so as well. Rose returned quickly, handing Freya a set of clothes that were borderline pajamas as well.
Freya quickly changed before moving to change the Doctor.
It was painful to take the leather jacket off of him. His leather jacket. She didn't hesitate in pulling it over the thin sleeves of the shirt Rose had given her.
She'd planned on keeping her eyes off of him as she changed, but found she couldn't. He was completely different from the Doctor she knew. Nothing was the same. Every part of his body had changed. It unnerved Freya to see that her entire Doctor was gone. And this Doctor was here instead.
But he was the same person, inside. She knew that. Her baby recognized that as well. How had this happened?
She wished he was awake to explain everything to her. Nothing was making sense.
When she'd finished changing him, she climbed into bed next to him, curling up into his side. She needed comfort. Comfort and contact. And with her eyes closed, leather jacket wrapped around her, and his familiar scent, she was able to pretend everything was as it should be.
There was a knocking on the door, followed by it slowly opening. Freya forced her eyes open to see Jackie entering the room holding a stethoscope. Rose followed her in the room and Freya could see Mickey pacing in the background, on the phone.
"Here we go. Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it. Though I still say we should take him to the hospital," Jackie said as she handed the stethoscope to Freya.
"Mom! She doesn't know who Tina the lodger is! And we can't take him to a hospital. I told you that already. They'd lock him, dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the history of the human race!" Rose shot back quickly, looking quite alarmed at that. Freya moved to check his heartbeats once more. They sounded okay. She listened to his lungs as well. He sounded like he was laboring for breath.
"He sounds okay," Freya finally said, placing the stethoscope on the table next to the bed. The Doctor leaned back and his mouth fell open and a cloud of gold energy was exhaled. Most of it flew upward and dissipated, but some of it came at Freya. She held still but ended up breathing some of it in.
"Is that bad? What was that?" Jackie asked, her alarm rising. Freya didn't move for a moment, waiting to see if she felt any negative reactions. She didn't.
"I don't think so. I feel fine," Freya told them.
A door slammed.
"Looks like Marie's here. Let's leave the Doctor in peace so you can explain to us what's going on," Jackie suggested, ushering Rose out. Freya slowly got off the bed and didn't protest when Jackie wrapped her arms around the girl, dragging her into the living room.
As soon as they entered, Freya was nearly attacked as Marie pulled her into a tight hug.
"It's been awhile! How are you? What's going on? What's wrong with the Doctor?" Marie asked. Masen placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"Why don't you let her explain?" Masen asked her, motioning for the couch. Marie huffed but listened to him, falling onto the couch next to him. It took a bit of work for there to be room for everyone to sit comfortably in the living room, but they managed. And the first thing Freya noticed was that Marie had a ring on.
The second was that Mickey was not sitting anywhere near Rose.
"Are you engaged?" Freya asked Marie, only for Marie's face to light up.
"Yes! Masen asked a week after we saw you last! He said you gave him permission!" Marie all but squealed. Freya forced a smile onto her face, not wanting to disappoint Marie. A person only gets engaged once. Freya twisted her ring at the thought.
"And what's that? That's not the same ring you had on last time," Marie asked suspiciously.
"It looks like a wedding ring," Jackie supplied, looking quite eager for gossip.
"When did you get married? You didn't even invite any of us!" Marie huffed, looking quite put out at the fact. Freya remembered what Masen had said about what she'd told them.
"Technically we didn't have a ceremony. And I'd say we got married in 2013. Masen was there. Or, future Masen was," Freya couldn't help but say. He was there when Freya first said they were married.
"Is there anything else we missed knowing?" Marie asked irritably. Freya bit her lip. How did she tell them she was three and a half months pregnant, and still had at least two years to go?
"There is!" Rose exclaimed, staring at her. Freya wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to figure out how to explain.
"You've put on a bit of weight," Masen observed, staring at her face. Marie slapped his shoulder.
"That's very rude!" Marie shouted at him. But the others weren't paying attention.
"You have," Rose said, staring at her stomach. Jackie seemed to get it as well.
"How far along?" Jackie asked her kindly.
"Three and a half months. But he said it would probably take two to three years," Freya admitted quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Two to three years?! What kind of alien are you having?" Marie screeched, eyes wide.
"A mini him," Freya told them.
"Speaking of Big-Ears, what's going on? Where is he?" Marie demanded.
"He…sort of died," Freya whispered. She didn't know what else to say. She knew he'd technically died. He'd…sort of said that much.
"He's dead?" Marie asked in shock. Freya shook her head.
"I…I don't know much. I'm confused. He didn't explain anything. He…he sort of exploded into gold light. And then there was another man in his place, wearing his clothes. But the other man is him. He's the other man. His mind's the same. He's the same. But he's…different," Freya admitted.
"So he went and married you, got you pregnant, died and came back with a different face? That's rubbish," Marie declared.
"I doubt he can help it," Masen tried saying, only to be shot a glare.
"I bet he can," Marie shot back at him. Masen wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Can we see him now so I can slap some sense into him?" Marie asked Freya. Freya could only shake her head.
"He's…unconscious. He told me to take care of him. I don't know what's going on," Freya admitted, feeling everything seem to press down on her at the realization.
"Oh honey. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I'll go make you some tea," Jackie fussed, getting to her feet instantly. She clambered into the kitchen.
Freya glanced at the telly that was on mute. And her eyes widened.
"Is that Harriet Jones?" Freya asked. Rose nodded.
"She's the prime minister now," Rose said with a smile.
"The Doctor said she'd be," Freya reminisced with a smile.
"They're calling it Britain's Golden Age. I'm ten quid a week better off," Mickey bragged cheerfully. Freya reached for the remote and turned the volume up, curious as to what she was doing on the TV. Even if she was the prime minister, there had to be a reason behind her being there, right?
"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?" the reporter was asking her.
"Now, that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree if you don't mind. The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars," Harriet was explaining.
"What is this space probe?" Freya asked quietly. There had to be a reason the Doctor had chosen this moment to return them. No matter what, something always happened no matter where they were. She would bet money it had something to do with the space probe.
She didn't believe in coincidences.
Someone else continued talking on the telly.
"This is the spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age, and that is what we're achieving fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle," they said. Then the narrating voice started speaking.
"The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photographs of the Martian Landscape should be received by midnight tonight," the voice explained. That answered Freya's questions.
"Why? Is it important?" Rose asked, a light shining in her eyes. Freya glanced at her cousin and nodded.
"I'd say it is. But it's a bad time. What will we do? What if the Doctor doesn't wake up?" Freya worried. She offered them a smile and disappeared back into Jackie's room, curling up on the bed next to the Doctor.
And fell asleep.
She woke up to someone pounding on the door. A cup of tea was next to the bed, but it had gone cold. The Doctor hadn't moved. But he looked worse. Freya pressed her head against his chest, listening.
Only one heart was beating now.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jackie's voice shouted from outside the room. Freya pressed a kiss to the Doctor's cheek.
"I'll be right back. Please get better," Freya pleaded. When no response came, she crawled out of the bed and pulled his leather jacket closer to her frame before exiting the room.
Only to see someone she hadn't seen in three years.
Her father.
He looked none too happy either, arguing with Jackie while she blocked him from entering the apartment.
"After all these years, you never come by. How can you expect me to believe you just decided to drop by now all of a sudden for a visit?" Jackie demanded.
"I'm not here for a visit," her father told Jackie before glancing up at Freya. Jackie glanced behind her and sighed.
"Is he doing any better?" Jackie asked. Freya shook her head, wrapping her arms around the leather to provide more of a barrier between her and her father.
"No. Worse. He's getting worse," Freya mumbled, glancing straight at the ground.
"Oh honey. He'll be fine," Jackie fussed, quickly moving to her side and folded her into a hug.
She only broke apart when Freya's father cleared his throat.
"You've been ignoring our calls," her father said formally. Freya shook her head.
"I've been travelling. Out of range," Freya lied effortlessly.
"And when you come back, you don't even come home. You go straight to strangers' houses?" her father lectured her.
"Jackie's my aunt. I met Rose awhile back and we discovered that," Freya said, pulling up any bit of strength she could find.
"I see," her father said, a frown prominent on his face.
"How did you know where I was?" Freya asked him, not quite understanding what was going on.
"We've been tracking your cell phone. This is the first time it's came into signal in awhile. Every time it has, something bad has happened right around the signal. The destruction of 10 Downing Street, the earthquake in Cardiff…I don't know what you're playing at, but it's not funny," her father lectured her.
"I'm not playing at anything," Freya told him earnestly. She wasn't. She had nothing to do with the events. The Doctor might have, but not her. Freya's ears picked up a slight groan and her eyes widened. Not even saying a word to her father, she took off running for the bedroom. She burst in to see his eyes in thin slits, body still slumped over.
"'Freya?" the Doctor slurred. Freya wasted no time in climbing back into bed next to him, feeling his forehead as she did.
"Sh. I'm here. Do you need anything?" she asked him anxiously. The Doctor licked his lips and Freya's head shot up. Jackie was standing in the doorway, her father hovering behind her.
"Jackie, could you get a cup of water? I think he needs water," Freya begged. Jackie immediately scampered off to get the cup.
"Who's this?" her father asked, staring down at the man distastefully. He was still conscious, barely so, but still there.
"Jackie's getting you some water. It's okay," Freya told the Doctor soothingly before glancing up at her father.
"This is my husband. Doctor John Smith. And he's sick," Freya said, glancing back down as his hand weakly reached for hers. Jackie came barreling into the room, a cup of water in one hand and tea in the other. Freya instantly took the water and urged the Doctor into an upright position. He barely responded, but his eyes were still cracked.
She carefully tilted his head back and allowed some of the water to go into his mouth. She didn't want too much; she didn't want to choke him.
He swallowed the water before doubling over, spitting it back up.
"Oi! I'll make you clean that up, mister!" Jackie threatened him but her voice quivered.
"What is it? What do you need?" Freya asked desperately. But the Doctor's eyes slid back shut and he was unconscious once more.
Freya removed the now-wet blankets from him and took a blanket Jackie offered her, wrapping him up carefully.
"Husband? How long have you been married?" her father asked sharply as Freya reluctantly pulled away from the Doctor.
"A few months. We met while travelling," Freya stated offhandedly.
"Where's everyone else?" Freya asked Jackie, leaving the door open but leaving the room. She didn't know how conscious the Doctor was, but she had a feeling her father was going to say some not so nice things, and she didn't want the Doctor hearing any of it if she could help it.
"They went out. Christmas shopping. And Masen and Mickey needed to talk about Mickey's breakup with Rose," Jackie said sorrowfully. Freya's eyes widened at the words.
"What happened? They seemed happy last time I saw them!" Freya protested. Jackie offered her a small smile.
"I thought they were too. I guess we were both wrong," Jackie told the girl.
"So you knew where my daughter's been the entire time, that she's gotten married, everything, and no one thought to tell me?" her father asked angrily.
"We didn't think you'd care," Jackie said, spinning on him.
"Why wouldn't I care what happened to my daughter?" her father shot back angrily.
"You never have before!" Jackie shouted right back. Before either of them could utter another word, the doors flew open and Masen, Marie, Rose and Mickey ran into the room.
"Mum, we've got to get out of here. It's not safe!" Rose told them quickly, trying to grab Jackie's arm.
"My mate Stan should be able to put us up," Mickey offered.
"He's only two streets away. What about Mo? Where's she living now?" Masen asked anxiously as Marie all but barricaded the door with whatever was closest to her.
"Peak District?" Rose offered, unsure.
"Then we'll go to Mo's then," Marie said immediately.
"No! It's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere. What're you babbling about?" Jackie asked them angrily. But none of them were listening anymore.
They were staring at the Christmas tree.
Freya stared at it as well. It wasn't there when she'd entered the Doctor's room before. Where had it come from?
"Mum. Where'd you get that tree?" Rose asked anxiously. Jackie shrugged, looking confused for a moment.
"I thought it was you. You went shopping, and there was a ring at the door, and there it was!" Jackie defended herself.
"It wasn't us," Marie shouted from the door. She ran into the room as the tree started lighting up and playing music.
"Then who was it?" Jackie asked, her eyes going wide in panic.
"You've got to be kidding me. First the Santas, and now a bloody tree?" Marie asked in disbelief, swearing under her breath. Freya turned on her heel and ran for the Doctor's room, running right past her shell-shocked father.
Behind her, she could hear crashing and feel a wind picking up.
"Get out! Go! We've got to get out of here!" Mickey shouted.
"Where'd Freya go?" Masen shouted over the noise.
"The Doctor! We have to get him out of here!" Rose shouted as well. Freya already had one of his arms roped around her shoulders and was trying to tug him out of the bed.
"Just leave him!" Jackie shouted in a panic.
"Mum, get in here! Everyone get in here!" Rose shouted, pulling everyone into the room. Once they were all inside, Masen and Mickey managed to pull a wardrobe in front of the door. Rose ran straight for Freya and the Doctor. Freya's father just stared at all of them in shock.
"What's going on?" he roared, eyes almost livid and filled with fear.
"Doctor, wake up!" Rose shouted, shaking his shoulder. But the Doctor didn't move. The Christmas tree started destroying the door and Freya remembered the Doctor's screwdriver. She ripped her jacket open and started digging in the pockets, pulling the screwdriver out.
She pointed it at the door and started pressing buttons.
But she had no clue what button to push. There were too many settings. She place it in the Doctor's hand and prayed, urged him to wake up.
"I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie shouted in terror as the tree successfully burst through the door. Freya's terror levels spiked and she quick pressed her forehead against the Doctor's, hoping she could initiate whatever it was that he did whenever he entered her mind.
She sent out a simple cry. A cry for help.
And he jerked away from her, raising the sonic and aiming it at the tree.
The tree exploded, earning a yelp from Jackie and Marie.
"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" the Doctor asked rhetorically, stumbling to his feet. Freya followed him to his feet, quickly wrapping her arm around his waist to offer any support. Rose handed him a dressing gown which he, with great difficulty, shrugged on. He made his way out of the room, effectively leading everyone to the balcony. Outside, three Santas were gazing upward, a remote control in their hands.
"That's them. The Santas. What are they?" Mickey asked anxiously.
"Shush!" Marie ordered immediately, eyes glued to them. The Doctor aimed the screwdriver at them and they backed away before suddenly being beamed away.
"What the hell's going on? What are those things?" Freya's father shouted. The Doctor spun on him, swaying as he did.
"You, sir, are rubbish. Now shush," the Doctor ordered before glancing at the city once more.
"Pilot fish. They're pilot fish," the Doctor told them before doubling over in pain. Freya gripped him tightly, hoping to steady him.
"It's okay," Freya murmured, hoping that it truly was and that she wasn't lying to him.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked worriedly.
"You woke me up too soon. I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy," he told them before exhaling the familiar golden energy Freya had already seen before. Just as it had before, part of it dissipated into the air and the other part made its way into Freya. The Doctor looked slightly alarmed at that but didn't say anything.
"Is that bad? For the baby?" Freya asked quickly, not wanting to step away from him but needing to know if she ought to.
"No. Baby seems to like it. He would," the Doctor said with a chuckle before hissing once more.
"The pilot fish can smell the energy a million miles away. So they're trying to eliminate the defense. You guys. And then they want to carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of…ow!" the Doctor shouted, stumbling into Freya. The sudden shift nearly knocked Freya to the ground but she managed to straighten herself and him at the last minute.
"Oh! What's wrong?" Jackie asked anxiously.
"My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…" he drifted off, clenching his jaw.
"What do you need?" Jackie asked quickly.
"I need…" he started again, only for Jackie to cut him off.
"Say it. Tell me. Tell me!" Jackie begged.
"Painkillers?" Marie asked.
"Aspirin?" Masen supplied.
"Allergic to aspirin. No aspirin," Freya corrected quickly.
"I need…" the Doctor tried once more, but he didn't even have a chance to get the next word out.
"Codeine? Paracetamol?Pepto-Bismol?" Marie asked quickly.
"Liquid paraffin?" Mickey suggested as well, glancing at the others.
"Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?" Masen asked, jumping as well.
"A psychiatrist?" Freya's father suggested sarcastically.
"Is it food? Bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?" Jackie continued.
"I need you lot to shut up," the Doctor finally snapped.
"Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" Marie asked Freya sourly.
"We haven't got much time. I there's pilot fish, then….why's there an apple in my dressing gown?" the Doctor asked, fishing said apple from his pocket. Freya's eyes widened. Who kept apples in their dressing gowns?
"Focus! What does pilot fish mean?" Freya asked nervously.
"Oh, that's Howard. Sorry," Jackie said breezily.
"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?" Marie asked in disbelief.
"He gets hungry!" Jackie defended immediately.
"What, does he eat them in his sleep?" the Doctor asked sarcastically.
"Sometimes," Jackie admitted.
"Doctor!" Freya begged. The Doctor doubled over once more, this time bringing Freya to her knees alongside him.
"Argh! Brain collapsing. The pilot fish. The pilot fish mean that something, something, something is coming," the Doctor finally panted before his eyelids fluttered shut and his body went limp.
Mickey and Masen dragged the Doctor back to the bedroom. Freya had tried but had been stopped. She didn't know what she was doing. And she felt the familiar bubble of panic rising to the surface of her mind once more.
She didn't want to panic. No, she couldn't panic. Her baby didn't need to feel her panic.
"Jackie, could you make me some tea? I'm…I'm panicking, and I don't want to upset the baby," Freya murmured. Marie and Rose were instantly at her side, helping her to sit down on the couch. Her father sat down in the chair across from them, watching them carefully.
"The baby? So you're pregnant too," he mused, staring at her.
"Leave her alone," Rose shot at him, not even bothering to look in his direction.
"What do you mean, upset the baby? Does that happen?" Marie asked curiously. Freya shrugged.
"I don't know if it normally does, but it will for me. My baby's gonna be like the Doctor, so he can sense what I feel. I don't want to scare him. I scared him earlier when the Doctor…changed. He was terrified and he wouldn't stop moving. I was scared too," Freya admitted.
"So not only do you have to take care of the baby physically, but you have to mentally as well?" Marie asked in disbelief. Freya nodded as Jackie handed her the mug of tea. Freya wasted no time in inhaling the scent and slowly sipping it. She could feel herself relaxing. And that was good. The baby needed her relaxed.
"So tell me more about this husband of yours. What's going on?" her father inquired. Freya glanced at Rose, helpless. She had no idea what to tell her father. Part of her wanted to tell him nothing.
"You wouldn't believe us," Freya told him quietly, pulling her legs up to act almost as a shield. She couldn't pull them to her chest as she used to; the slight baby bump made that too uncomfortable.
"I just had a Christmas tree almost kill me. I might believe you," her father admitted. Freya still didn't know what to say. She glanced over at Marie, then at Rose, for help. Marie sucked in a deep breath.
"The Doctor's a time-travelling alien," Marie said bluntly. Masen, Mickey, and Rose glared at Marie while Freya could only stare at her friend in disbelief.
"That was quite possibly the worst way possible to explain," Masen told his fiancée, only for Marie to wave him off. They all glanced at Freya's father, whose eyes had gone wide.
"And you're going to have an alien baby?" her father asked, staring intently at Freya. Rose's arm quickly went around Freya's shoulders.
"Yes, she is. And he's gonna be fantastic, just like his father," Rose spat. Her father looked taken aback at Rose's outburst.
"Why do you hate me?" Freya's father asked, obviously not expecting the reaction he was getting from his niece.
"Because I know how you treated her. How she grew up. I met her and watched her learn what love was. At twenty years old. And because I was there that day you found out about her birth defects," Rose spat. Freya's eyes widened at her cousin's words. Her father's eyes widened as well.
"What?" he gasped. Rose nodded, glancing at Jackie.
"It was our very first trip with the Doctor. We saw you, Mum. You were all upset cause Freya's mom got pregnant before you and you said you'd never hear the end of it. Freya just wanted to see why her parents hated her, and the Doctor walked into the meeting and mucked it all up," Rose ranted.
"He didn't muck anything up. I told you it had to happen," Freya reminded her cousin.
"You were there that day?" her father asked, eyes wide. Freya nodded.
"We saw the ultrasounds. And the doctors not knowing what to tell you. So the Doctor walked in there and told them what to tell you," Freya explained quietly.
Jackie was paler than her father was.
"Cecilia….she said you would grow up to be a very lonely girl," Jackie realized. Freya didn't want to be out there. She needed to check on the Doctor. She stood and smiled before making her way to the Doctor's room.
He was sweating and looked even paler than before. Freya grabbed the stethoscope and checked his heartbeats once more. Still only one heart beating, and it was rather erratic. She thought he'd said this would save him?
"I wish you were awake. I'm so confused. But I can't be confused. I got to pretend I'm fine. For the baby. Please wake up soon," Freya begged, curling herself up in a ball next to the Doctor and allowing, for the first time since they'd arrived at Jackie's, to shed a few tears.
After a few tears, she decided she had to stop.
"You're not dead. You're alive. And you'll wake up," Freya murmured, more for her benefit than to him. Because that was what she needed to hear. She needed reassurance. Because she was downright terrified.
Still, she sucked in a deep breath and made her way back into the living room.
"Here we go," Mickey was saying, his laptop out and going.
"Pilot fish. Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish," Mickey explained.
"Like sharks?" Rose asked.
"Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we have them, now we get that," Mickey said, looking quite scared at that realization.
"Do you mean there's going to be real sharks flying around, or metaphorical sharks, or metal shark-like spaceships?" Marie asked them, only to earn a look of disbelief from Mickey. Masen merely waved her off.
"How long do we have?" Jackie asked, looking pale.
"There's no way of telling, but I doubt pilot fish swim far from their daddy," Masen said darkly.
"So it's close?" Rose asked, glancing out the window nervously.
"Funny sort of rocks," Freya's father observed, his eyes still glued to the telly.
"The first photographs," the voice from the telly was saying. Rose shook her head.
"Those aren't rocks," Rose said uncomfortably.
"This image is being transmitted via mission control, coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning," the reporter said, just as a red-eyed alien filled the screen. It liked like it had a goat's skull. It growled at the screen. Freya shook her head.
"I told you. I told you it would have something to do with that," Freya told Rose. Rose nodded.
"I was hoping you'd be wrong," Rose admitted.
"The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1," the telly continued.
"What do we do?" Rose asked Freya frantically. Freya's eyes widened as everyone in the room, save Masen, turned to her for the answer.
"Me? How should I know?" Freya asked them desperately.
"You're the Doctor's wife. You know him best. Shouldn't you know what to do in this situation? What would the Doctor's plan be?" Jackie asked logically. But Freya was already shaking her head.
"The Doctor never has a plan! He makes things up as he goes. Jack was the only one to make plans," Freya told them. And then her eyes widened.
"Mickey! Can you hack the military?" Freya asked, turning to him. Mickey's eyes lit up at her words and he nodded eagerly, throwing himself into the computer.
"Of course. Not a problem," Mickey boasted.
"Why does he need to hack into the military?" Freya's father asked in confusion.
"They'll be doing something. They won't be letting this go. We can see what or who we are up against," Freya told them, feeling her confidence grow. That was what they needed to do.
"Then what? What do we do then? What do the rest of us do?" Marie asked, staring at her friend. Freya rubbed her arm, thinking. Trying to come up with something Doctor-y to say.
"Jackie, you can make us some tea. Tea'll calm everyone down. We need to stay calm," Freya suggested. Jackie nodded, rushing into the kitchen to do just that.
"I can contact my…acquaintances and see what I can find out," Masen offered, pulling out his cell phone. He made his way into the hallway quickly, not even waiting for approval.
"Rose, can you and Marie take inventory? We need to know what all we have here, in case we have to do something to stun them, keep them back. Or, if worse comes to worse, kill them," Freya suggested, swallowing at the thought.
"What kind of things?" Marie asked.
"Everything. Remember the vinegar with the Slitheen? Get acquainted with where things are," Freya ordered.
"Freya, take a look. I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way," Mickey said grimly. Freya rushed to his side, examining the computer.
"It's probably here for the Doctor. He mentioned his regeneration energy, whatever that is," Freya mused.
"Or it could be coming for all of us," Mickey added grimly. Freya nodded. She couldn't' rule it out. Mickey started pulling up UNIT's page and a clearer image of the aliens appeared. Four of them showed up on the screen this time.
"Have you seen them before?" Freya's father asked, moving to stare at the computer screen as well.
"No," Freya said, wishing she could say yes.
The Doctor had probably seen them before.
Freya listened as Mickey played a recording. She couldn't understand it. Was it because it was a recording? No. It couldn't be. She always heard all English, everywhere.
"I can't understand it. The TARDIS translates alien languages in my head, no matter what, but it's not," Freya muttered angrily.
"Why not? Is something wrong with the TARDIS?" Mickey asked. Freya shrugged.
"Maybe it's connected with the Doctor. Because I could still understand other languages when the TARDIS was dead in the future. But I can't now. It had to be connected to the Doctor, like it goes through him first," Freya said, not liking that knowledge.
If the Doctor was that bad off, how would he get better?
Jackie made her way into the room and forced a mug into Freya's hands.
"You need to drink something. Then eat. You have to eat. It's bad for the baby for you to skip meals," Jackie told her, handing her a tiny plate with a sandwich on it. Freya took it graciously and forced herself to take a bite. The telly was still going, Freya noticed.
"Despite claims of an alien hoax, it's been reported that NATO forces are on red alert," the reporter was explaining on the TV. Freya left the room, food and tea in hands, and made it back to where the Doctor was asleep. No. Unconscious. Asleep was healthy. The Doctor wasn't.
She propped him up and tried to coax him into drinking some of the water once more. The water came right back up, as if he was unable to swallow it.
She forced herself to take a few bites of the sandwich before curling up into the Doctor's side. She was exhausted. It was four in the morning and she'd gotten so little sleep before. With that thought in her mind, she fell asleep curled into the strange new Doctor's side.
She didn't even realize the Doctor's arm curling around her ever so slightly in her sleep.
How do you like that? I want to apologize. When I wrote this and the second part of the Christmas invasion, I'd never seen the episode, only read transcripts, so I apologize for any discrepancies. I am slowing down on the writing, sadly. I have three research papers due in ten days, so I've been a bit busy. I have the next chapter written as well but don't have anything past that written, so please be patient with me
I hope the beginning was believable. I was certain that, if the Doctor had a different sort of situation surrounding his regeneration, he may be different acting. And Ten always seemed more panicky. ;) Haha.
What did you think of Freya's father? Yes, I added him in. I think it's a good addition, and fits into what I want to be doing.
I had someone be upset over the fact that I had Nine regenerate after keeping him alive. I'm sorry if that was upsetting. He had to turn into Ten for my story plot to work, but Nine needed to stay a bit longer. I like it, and from the feedback I've received, most of you like it. If you don't, I'm sorry you feel that way. But please know I do have plans for this story. I'm not just making every chapter up on the spur of the moment. I plan out almost the entire season at a time, moving on to plan out the next season near the end of the previous.
Please review and tell me what you think! I hope this chapter is good! Y'all are going to LOVE the next chapter!
Andi