Okay, I'm so sorry about the wait, I'm coming up to my final deadlines for college, infact I've already passed it for one class and I've still got stuff to do for it and for my other two classes I've still got work to do....I suppose that's what I get for taking last week of not well.

"I challenge you!"

The sycoraxans all started to laugh. The Doctor looked around him "Well, that struck a chord." he said "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?" He took the dressing gown off as the leader of the Sycorax walked towards him.

"You stand as this world's champion?"

"Thank you." he said as he finished taking the dressing gown off. "I've no idea who I am, but you've summed me up." he tossed the dressing gown to his wife, who looked terrified. "So, do you accept my challenge or are you just a krannal pel gassakree salvak."

They prepared to fight "For the planet?"

"For the planet." the Doctor answered.

The two of them began to fight. The Doctor stumbled backwards towards the Tardis, when he regained his balance they began again, this time the Doctor ended up on the floor and Rose shouted "Look out!" as the Leader took a swing at him

"Oh, yeah, that helps." he said "I wouldn't have thought of that otherwise. Thanks."

The leader attack him, so he headed outside "Bit of fresh air?" He pressed the button beside him that he knew opened the door, he just hoped that they weren't in space. He ran out onto the rocky surface outside the space ship. They began to fight again. The leader almost broke his nose with the but of his sword. Out of the corner of his eye the Doctor saw that his wife had stepped forwards "Stay back!" he told her "Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet."

The started again and this time the Doctor was knocked to the ground and the leader chopped of his right hand. "You cut my hand off." he said. He stood up "And now I know what sort of man I am." he told them "I'm lucky 'cause quite by chance, I'm still within the first 15 hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy to do this." and as if by magic a new hand formed to replace the one that had been chopped off.

"Witchcraft."

"Time Lord."

Rose grabbed another sword "Doctor!" He turned around and she tossed him the sword

"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he asked her, realising that she'd finally accepted that he was the same

"No arguments from me."

"You want to know the best bit?" the Doctor asked "This new hand..." he put on a very bad american accent here "It's a fighting hand!" And he began the fighting again.

In the end he knocked the leader off his feet and stood over him, with the sword at his throat "I win." he said

"Then kill me."

"I'll spare your life of you'll take this champion's command. Leave this planet and never return." he said "What do you say?"

"Yes."

"Swear of the blood of your species."

"I swear." said the leader (he sounded remarkably like Gollum from Lord of the Rings when he spoke)

"There we are, then." the DOctor said "Thanks for that. Cheers, big fella." he stuck the sword in the ground and walked away.

"Bravo." said Harriet Jones.

Rose ran over to him "That says it all." she said "Bravo." she held the dressing gown so that he could slip his arms in it

"Not bad for a man in his jimjams." he said as he put his arms in the dressing gown and pulled it on "Very Arthur Dent. Now there was a nice man." He put his hand in his pocket "Hold on, what have I got in here?" he asked as he pulled something small round and orange from it "A satsuma." Rose laughed "Ah, that friend of your mother's." he said "He does like his snacks, doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas? You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom,. there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma..." He tossed the satsuma at another button and the leader of the Sycorax fell to his death on the streets of London...

"No second chances, I'm that sort of a man"

He and Rose walked back into the space ship followed by the others. They stopped outside the Tardis. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential, when you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this. It is defended!"

The five people and the Tardis were transported back to Earth.

--

"Where are we?" Rose asked

"We're just off Bloxsome Road." Mickey answered. "We're just round the corner. We did it."

"Wait a minute." the Doctor said "Wait a minute."

They watched as the ship flew off. The Doctor smiled as his wife hugged her friend and then hugged the man who was with Harriet Jones.

"My Doctor." said Harriet

"Prime Minister."

They hugged. "Absolutely the same man." she said when she let him go "Are there many more out there?"

"Ooh, not just Sycorax." answered the Doctor "Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Everyday you're sending out probes, messages and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed, more and more. You better get used to it."

"Rose!"

"Mum."

"Talking of trouble." the Doctor said as Rose ran past him to greet her mother.

"Oh, my God!" Jackie shouted "Rose."

"He did it, Mum." she said as she hugged her "You did it, too! It was the tea. Fixed his head."

"That's all I needed." the Doctor told her "Cup of tea."

"I said so."

"And look at him." Rose said smiling.

"Is it him, though?" Jackie asked "Is it really the Doctor?"

Harriet turned to watch this scene "Oh, my God!" Jackie said "It's the bleeding Prime Minister!"

"Come here, you." the Doctor said

Jackie, Rose and Mickey all went over to him and hugged him "Are you better?" Jackie asked

--

Suddenly beams of light shot from all around them, heading up to the Sycorax ship.

--

"What is that?" Rose asked "What's happening?"

"That was murder." the Doctor told Harriet

"That was defence." Harriet replied "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."

"But they were leaving." the Doctor said.

"You said yourself, Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth." She said "I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and o. It happened today. Mr Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves."

"Britain's golden age."

"It comes with a price."

"I gave them the wrong warning." the Doctor said "I should have told them to run as fast as they can. Run and hide because the monsters are coming. The human race."

"Those are the people I represent." Harriet said "I did it on their behalf."

"And I should have stopped you."

"What does that make you, Doctor?" she asked "Another alien threat?"

"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, 'cause I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your government with a single word."

"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that."

"No." said the Doctor "You're right. Not a single word." he paused "Just six."

"I don't think so."

"Six words."

"Stop it."

"Six."

He walked over to Alex and took his bluetooth headset out of his ear and whispered "Don't you think she looks tired?" He walked away. He, Rose, Jackie and Mickey headed back to the flat.

--

The Doctor was in the wardrobe room in the Tardis trying to find his new look. He looked at lots of different things and eventually found exactly what he wanted. He changed quickly and then went to the mirror. He looked at his reflection and decided it would do. Gone was the leather Jacket and jumper, in its place he wore a suit, it was brown with pinstipes, over the top he wore a tan trench coat and on his feet he wore a pair of white converse trainers.

--

While the Doctor was choosing his clothes, Rose was up in her mother's flat helping with Christmas dinner, they were now lifting it and having a laugh. Soon the Doctor reappeared in the flat, he'd walked in just like he used to and when he did, Rose turned to look at him, she smiled, the smile that she reserved only for him and he smiled back.

--

They were sitting at the table and the Doctor and Rose were pulling a cracker "Oh, that's yours." the Doctor said as he handed her the cracker. Rose took the paper hat out of it "It's pink!" she said "Mum, it should be yours." she put the hat on her head and took a glance at the TV as she did so "Look, it's Harriet Jones."

The Doctor took out a pair of glasses and watched the report. While he was watching the phone went "It's Bev." Jackie said "SHe says to go and look outside."

"Why?" Rose asked, causing the Doctor to turn around and take off his glasses

"I don't know, just go outside and look." Jackie said as she put the phone down "Come on, shift."

They all put their coats on and headed outside.

--

They looked around them, everything was white. "That's beautiful." Rose said as she looked up. "What are they? Meteors?"

"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere." the Doctor said "This isn't snow. It's ash."

"Okay, not so beautiful." Rose said, taking a small step closer to him.

"And this is a brand-new planet Earth." the Doctor added. "No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."

"And what about you?" Rose asked "What are you gonna do next?"

"Well..." he said looking at the Tardis "Back to the Tardis, same old life."

"On your own?"

"Why, don't you want to come?"

"Well, yeah."

"Do you, though?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I just thought... 'cause I'd changed."

"Yeah, I thought 'cause you'd changed...you might not want me anymore."

"Oh, I'd love you to come."

"Okay."

"You're never gonna stay, are you?" asked Mickey

"There's just so much out there. So much to see." Rose told him "I've got to,"

"Yeah." said Mickey

"Well I reckon you're mad." Jackie said "The pair of you. It's like you go looking for trouble"

The Doctor walked over to her "Trouble's just the bits ib-between." he put his arm round her shoulder "It's all waiting out ther, Jackie. And it's brand-new to me. All those planets, creatures and horizons, haven't seen them yet. Not with these eyes." he walked back over to Rose "And it is gonna be...Fantastic." he held out his and for her to take

"That hand of yours still gives me the creeps."

He waggled his fingers and she finally took his hand and stepped closer to him "So, where are we gonna go first?"

"Umm..." he started as he looked up at the sky. "That way." he said pointing in the direction that he was meaning "No, hold on" he changed where he was pointing slightly "That way."

"That way."

"You think?"

"Yeah." Rose agreed "That way."

Well that is the end of The Christmas Invasion...sniffs... I love that episode, anyway, the next chapter will be picking up from there and will just be the Doctor and Rose, no Jackie or Mickey, well not until the end of the next chapter as it's gonna be the Doctor explaining to Rose what happened and going from there back to the flat and Jackie and Mickey. Then there will be another chapter or possibly two before New Earth.

TTFN

Julie