"Jackie?" the Emissary called as she walked into the Tyler flat. "I'm just heading down to the market, is there anything you need?" There was no answer. Frowning, the Emissary walked into the living room to see Jackie staring sadly at a present.
"Is that for Rose?" she asked. Jackie nodded. The Emissary didn't comment, but something on her face must have shown as Jackie looked at her.
"I'm telling you, she's alive," Jackie insisted. "You and Mickey, you can doubt it all you want but a mother knows. Rose is still alive."
"Alright," the Emissary sighed, letting it go. "Anything from the market?" Jackie shook her head and the Emissary left.
She just left the building when she paused, a familiar wheezing noise reaching her ears.
"No," she breathed. "Can't be."
She took off in the direction of the sound.
~~~
Mickey looked up from the car he was working on when he heard the wheezing of the TARDIS. "Hey, turn that down," he told his coworker. "Turn it off, Stevo. Turn that off! John, shut up!"
He grinned when the wheezing became clearer and ran out of the garage.
~~~
Jackie looked up as the wheezing seeped into the flat, her face breaking into a smile. Quickly, she ran downstairs.
"Mickey!" she called as she saw the man running in the same direction.
"Jackie, it's the Tardis!" he told her.
"I know, I know, I heard it," Jackie nodded. "She's alive, Mickey. I said so, didn't I? She's alive!"
"Just shut up a minute," he said as he looked around, listening.
They stopped walking as they reached the Emissary, who was staring up at the sky.
"Well, where is it then?" Jackie asked.
"There," the Emissary said after a moment, pointing up.
As the three of them watched, the TARDIS popped out of nowhere in midair. The Emissary cringed as it bounced off of three buildings and narrowly missed taking out a postal van.
"Oh no," the Emissary sighed. Jackie gave her a questioning look. She explained quickly. "He's not a great driver, but he's not that bad. Something's happened."
When the TARDIS finally landed, it knocked over a set of trash bins. The door swung open. The Emissary blinked when a skinny man with spiky hair leaned out.
Something happened, indeed.
"Here we are then," he said cheerfully. "London. Earth. The Solar System. We did it." He stumbled out of the TARDIS and grinned. "Jackie! Mickey! Emissary! Blimey!" He paused, frowning. "No, no, no, no, hold on. Wait there. I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it? No, hold on, hold on. Hold on, shush, shush, shush, shush." He swayed, smiling. "Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!"
He collapsed. The Emissary fell to her knees beside him, catching his head before it could hit the pavement. The TARDIS door opened again and Rose stepped out.
"What happened?" she asked when she saw the Doctor on the ground. "Is he all right?"
"He's fine," the Emissary assured her.
"I don't know," Mickey said at the same time. "He just keeled over." He looked away from the Doctor to Rose. "But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"
"That's him, right in front of you," Rose said, pointing. "That's the Doctor."
"What do you mean, that's the Doctor?" Jackie asked. "Doctor who?"
~~~
Between the four of them, they got the Doctor upstairs and tucked into the guest room of the Tyler flat. Jackie had found a pair of men's pajamas from... somewhere. The Emissary didn't really want to know.
"I see things on the Game Station went well, then," the Emissary quipped as she sat down on the side of the bed. Rose stared up at her in shock.
"How can you say it went well?" she demanded. "You can't have expected us to come back with him all... all changed!"
The Emissary pinned her with a flat stare. "Rose, I wasn't expecting you to come back at all."
Rose didn't have an answer for that. Luckily, she didn't have to answer as Jackie bustled into the room.
"Here we go," Jackie said, handing a stethoscope to the Emissary. "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 hospital."
The Emissary shook her head, smiling a little as she leaned over the Doctor.
"We can't," Rose told her mother. "They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race."
Jackie opened her mouth to answer when the Emissary interrupted. "Can I have a bit of hush, please?"
Jackie shut her mouth.
The Emissary listened to the Doctor's chest for a second before she sat back, sighing in relief.
"Both are working," she reported. "He's just got to sleep it off."
Jackie frowned. "What do you mean, both?"
"Well, he's got two hearts," Rose said.
Jackie scoffed. "Oh, don't be stupid."
"We both do," the Emissary confirmed.
Jackie eyed the Doctor appreciatively. "Anything else he's got two of?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Leave him alone."
The Emissary laughed as they left the room, none of them noticing a wisp of golden energy leave the Doctor's mouth.
~~~
The Emissary leaned against the counter, peeling an orange, as Rose inspected the fridge.
"How can he go changing his face?" Jackie asked. "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"
"Same person, different face," the Emissary answered. "When we die, we change our whole selves, kind of like we're reborn in a different body. He might be a bit different, but the core of his personality is the same."
Rose slammed the fridge shut and spun around. She winced at the raised eyebrows she got. "Sorry," she sighed. "It's just, I thought I knew him. I thought we were..." she trailed off. "And then he goes and does this." The Emissary frowned as Rose waved a hand at her. "I keep forgetting you two aren't human."
"How did this happen, exactly?" the Emissary asked. "Do you know?"
"Never mind that," Rose brushed off. "The bigger question is, where'd you get men's pajamas from, Mum?"
"Howard's been staying over," Jackie answered. The Emissary stopped listening, wandering into the living room where Mickey had the news on.
Rose watched her go before her mother's words registered. She blinked. "What, Howard from the market? How long's that been going on?"
"A month or so," Jackie said. "First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, that's odd." Rose furrowed her brow when she caught a familiar voice from the living room. Jackie didn't seem to notice. "Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges."
"Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose walked away to join the Emissary and Mickey.
"Oh, never mind me," Jackie muttered as she followed.
"Why's she on the telly?" Rose asked as she sat down next to Mickey.
"She's Prime Minister now," Jackie told her. "I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age. I keep on saying my Rose has met her."
Rose smiled. "Did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her." She shook her head. "Harriet Jones."
~~~
Rose walked with Mickey through town, hands shoved in her coat pockets against the cold. She smiled as they passed a brass band of Santas. That really made her feel like it was Christmas.
"So what do you need?" Mickey asked. "Twenty quid?"
"Do you mind?" Rose said. "I'll pay you back."
Mickey shook his head as he handed her the money. "Call it a Christmas present."
Rose huffed a laugh. "God, I'm all out of synch," she remarked. "You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They don't exist. You get sort of... timeless."
"Oh, yeah, that's fascinating, because I love hearing stories about the Tardis," Mickey snarked, rolling his eyes. "Oh, go on Rose, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to it all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that."
Rose laughed. "Shut up."
"Oh, and one time the Tardis landed in a big yellow garden full of balloons."
"I'm not like that!"
Mickey nodded. "Oh, you so are."
"Mmm, must drive you mad," Rose teased. "I'm surprised you don't give up on me."
"Well, that's the thing, isn't it?" Mickey said. "You can rely on me. I don't go changing my face."
"Yeah?" Rose snapped. "What if he's dying?"
"Okay," Mickey relented, holding his hands up. "Think the Emissary might have mentioned that, though."
"You're right," Rose sighed. "Sorry."
"Just let it be Christmas," Mickey told her. "Can you do that? Just for a bit. You and me and Christmas. No Doctor, no bog monsters, no life or death."
"Okay," Rose agreed.
"Promise?"
"Yes!"
"Right!" Mickey grinned, looking much happier than he had a few moments ago. "What're you going to get for your mum? I'm round there all the time now, you know. She does my dinner on a Sunday, talks about you all afternoon, yap yap yap."
Rose's attention was pulled away as she noticed the band of Santas still right behind them. She turned fully to look at them, only to shriek as one Santa fired a fireball at them through his instrument. Rose and Mickey dove behind a stall.
"It's us!" Rose cried. "They're after us!"
A tree crashed onto one of the Santas. Rose took the opportunity and pulled Mickey with her as she ran for a cab.
"What's going on?" Mickey asked. "What've we done? Why are they after us?"
"Taxi!" A cab stopped next to them and they climbed in. Rose pulled her phone out. "They're after the Doctor."
"I can't even go shopping with you," Mickey groaned. "We get attacked by a brass band. Who're you phoning?"
"My mum." There was no answer. Rose growled. "Get off the phone!"
"Who were those Santa things?"
"I don't know," Rose answered. "But think about it. They were after us. What's important about us? Well, nothing, except the one thing we've got tucked up in bed." Mickey's eyes lit with realization. "The Doctor."
~~~
The Emissary jumped as Rose and Mickey burst back into the flat.
"Get off the phone," Rose was saying when she came out of the Doctor's room.
Jackie blinked. "It's only Bev. She says hello."
Rose took the phone from her mother. "Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait." She hung up. "Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?"
"What's going on?" the Emissary asked. Rose ignored the question, pacing around.
"We were attacked by brass Santas," Mickey informed the Time Lady. She blinked. "My mate Stan, he'll put us up."
Rose shook her head. "That's only two streets away." She snapped her fingers, looking up at her mother. "What about Mo? Where's she living now?"
Jackie shrugged. "I don't know. Peak District?"
Rose nodded decisively. "Well, we'll go to cousin Mo's then."
"No, it's Christmas Eve!" Jackie protested. "We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?"
"You were attacked by Santas?" the Emissary asked. "What does that even mean?"
Rose wasn't listening, staring past them into the living room. "Mum," she said slowly. "Where'd you get that tree? That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?"
"I thought it was you," Jackie answered.
"How can it be me?"
"You went shopping," the Emissary shrugged. "About twenty minutes ago, that tree was delivered. We both figured you bought your mum a new tree." She smirked. "Don't blame you, really, the white one was not as good." Jackie rolled her eyes at that.
Rose was shaking her head. "No, that wasn't me."
"Then who was it?" Jackie asked as they all turned to stare at the tree. As if on cue, the tree lit up, playing Jingle Bells.
"Oh, you're kidding me," Rose complained.
The tree started to spin, fast enough to break the table into splinters. As it started to move across the room towards the group, the Emissary pushed Rose towards the door.
"Get out!" Mickey yelled, grabbing a chair to fend off the tree. "Go, go! Get out!"
"Come help me," the Emissary told Rose. She led the way into the Doctor's room.
"What're you doing?" Jackie cried.
"You've lost it if you think I'm leaving him," the Emissary snorted, digging through the Doctor's jacket for the sonic. Rose came over to help her search.
Jackie sighed and looked back out at Mickey. "Mickey! Get out of there!"
Mickey dropped the last splinters of the chair and sprinted into the room. Together, he and Jackie pushed the heavy dresser across the door.
The Emissary abandoned the search for the sonic as the tree reached the door. She stood protectively in front of the others, both hands lit up blue.
Rose made a triumphant noise as she found the sonic. She scrambled over to the other side of the bed. "Doctor, wake up!"
The Emissary glanced over her shoulder, eyes widening when she saw Rose. "No, Rose!" Rose ignored her, placing the sonic in the Doctor's hand. "Do not wake him up!"
"I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie winked as the tree broke through the door.
The Emissary turned away from Rose, sending two waves of Artron energy at the tree. The tree exploded right as Rose leaned over the Doctor's ear.
"Help her," she whispered.
The Emissary glared at Rose as the Doctor shot up in bed. He scanned the tree.
"Remote control," he mused. "But who's controlling it?" He swept past the group and out of the flat. The group followed him out. From the balcony, they could see three Santas staring up at them.
"That's them," Mickey said. "What are they—" Rose shushed him.
The Doctor leveled the sonic at them. The Santas backed away before teleporting out.
"They've just gone." Mickey blinked. "What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off."
"Pilot fish," the Doctor mused. The Emissary stepped closer, seeing his face start to twist in pain.
"What?" Rose asked.
"They were just... pilot fish!" The last words came out as a groan as the Doctor doubled over in pain. The Emissary caught him before he could fall, letting him lean on her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, a little panicked.
"He's not done regenerating," the Emissary told her.
"You woke me up too soon," he confirmed. "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy." He wheezed, a golden wisp of energy leaving his mouth. "You see?"
"Oh, I'm an idiot," the Emissary groaned. "The pilot fish could smell that from miles away."
"So they eliminate the defence," the Doctor continued, "that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of—" he broke off, shouting in pain.
Jackie panicked. "Oh! Oh! Oh!"
"My head!" he groaned. "I'm having a neuron implosion! I need-"
Jackie interrupted. "What do you need?"
"I need-"
"Say it," Jackie coaxed. "Tell me, tell me, tell me."
"I need-"
"Painkillers?"
"I need-"
"Do you need aspirin?"
The Emissary shook her head immediately. "That'll kill us."
"I need-"
"Codeine? Paracetamol?" Jackie rattled off. "Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?"
"I need-"
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"
"I need-"
"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"
"I need you to shut up!"
Jackie huffed. "Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?"
The Doctor ignored her, turning to the Emissary. "We haven't got much time," he said. "If there's pilot fish, then..." he trailed off, blinking, and pulled out an apple. "Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"
Jackie blushed. "Oh, that's Howard. Sorry."
"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"
"He gets hungry," Jackie defended.
"In his sleep?" the Emissary asked.
"Sometimes."
The Doctor cringed, face twisting again. "Argh! Brain collapsing," he gasped.
The Emissary lowered him to the ground and kneeled in front of him. She lifted both hands and hovered her fingers over his temples, looking him in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"Always," he gasped out. Her fingertips connected to his temples and he was out like a light.
"What did you do to him?" Rose just barely kept herself from shrieking.
"Healing coma," came the answer. The Emissary stood awkwardly, supporting the Doctor's dead weight on one shoulder. Mickey quickly went to the Doctor's other side. "Not our biggest problem, though."
"What is?" Rose asked.
"The pilot fish mean something is coming."
~~~
The Emissary bit her lip worriedly as she wiped the Doctor's brow with a cold cloth. Only one heart was beating now, and she didn't know when he'd wake again. She checked her watch. If what Rose had said was true, and he'd just regenerated before they landed, he still had about 10 hours left.
Rose hovered anxiously behind her.
"Sit down, will you?" the Emissary told her. "You're making me nervous."
"Is he okay?" Rose asked.
"He will be," the Emissary told her. "Eventually."
Jackie leaned in the doorway. "Christmas day," she said softly. "Any change?"
"One heart beating," the Emissary said shortly. Rose gasped, looking close to tears. "This is why I told you not to wake him."
"I'm sorry," Rose said meekly. The Emissary sighed.
"It's not entirely your fault," she allowed. "I should have explained the coma when he passed out the first time." She stood and left the room, Rose trailing behind her. "How did this happen, anyway?"
Rose shrugged. "Right before he... you know, he said he absorbed the Time Vortex."
The Emissary nodded, able to guess what had actually happened. "That would do it."
Mickey looked up as they entered the room. "Here we go," he said, "pilot fish. They're scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish."
"Do you mean like sharks?" Rose asked.
"Great big sharks," Mickey agreed. "So, what the Emissary means is, we had them, now we get that."
"Something is coming," Rose remembered. "How close?"
Mickey shrugged. "There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy."
"It's close, then," the Emissary said.
"Funny sort of rocks," Jackie remarked. They all turned to look at the tv.
"The first photographs.."
The Emissary took one look at the screen and groaned.
"Guessing that's not rocks?" Rose asked.
"Sycorax," the Emissary confirmed.
"This image is being transmitted via mission control, coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning." An ugly red face filled the screen, growling. "The face of an alien life form was transmitted live tonight on BBC1."
"Have you met them before?" Rose asked the Emissary.
"Not me, personally, but I've heard stories," she said.
"Rose, Emissary," Mickey caught their attention. "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."
"Coming for what, though?" Rose asked. "The Doctor?"
"Him, and likely the entire human race," the Emissary said.
Mickey typed for a moment before pulling up a clear picture of the Sycorax. "Have you seen them before?"
Rose shook her head. "No." The Sycorax on screen started to speak and Rose frowned. "I don't understand what they're saying. The Tardis translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am."
"So, why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey asked.
"TARDIS is sort of offline," the Emissary told them. "At least until the Doctor wakes up."
"Like he's part of the circuit," Rose whispered. "And he's, he's broken."
"Do you know what they're saying?" Mickey asked the Emissary.
"People," she said slowly. She made a face. "Well, technically, they said something closer to cattle." She shook her head and continued translating. "You belong to us. To the Sycorax. We own you." She rolled her eyes at that. "We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax..." she trailed off, blinking.
"What?" Rose asked. "What did they say?"
"Sycorax rock," the Emissary deadpanned.
Rose blinked. "Really?"
"Rassilon help us all if they decide to develop a sense of humor," the Emissary quipped. She and Rose went back to the Doctor, only to stop in the doorway. Jackie had fallen asleep sitting next to him.
Rose sighed as she looked at the two of them. "The Doctor wouldn't do this," she said. "The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he'd wake up. He'd save us."
"Rose, he's still the same man," the Emissary said gently. "He'll wake up, he's just got to finish his cycle. You'll see." She sent a smile to the girl. But Rose wasn't listening anymore. She'd moved past the Emissary and out of the flat. "Rose?"
When she caught up to Rose outside, she stopped, staring. The Tyler's neighbor, Sandra, was following her husband down the walkway. A blue light surrounded his head, and his face was completely blank.
"What is wrong with you?" Sandra was begging. "Jason? Jason?"
"Sandra?" Rose asked. "What's going on?"
"He won't listen," Sandra cried. "He's just walking. He won't stop walking! There's this sort of light thing. Jason? Stop it right now! Please, Jason, just stop."
The Emissary stepped up to the edge of the balcony and looked down. The courtyard was full of people, half of them blankly walking. Blue light surrounded their heads, just like Jason.
"What is that?" Mickey asked as he joined the Emissary and Rose. "What's that light?"
"The Sycorax have taken control," the Emissary answered.
"Can you stop it?" Rose asked. The Emissary shook her head.
"Not without knowing what kind of control," she said. "Breaking the control the wrong way could kill them." She pushed away from the balcony and headed after Sandra. Over her shoulder, she beckoned to Rose and Mickey. "Come on!"
They followed Jason and Sandra all the way to the roof. The Emissary held Rose and Mickey back as the controlled people shuffled to the edge.
"Oh my god, are they going to jump?" Rose gasped.
"No," the Emissary guessed. "It's very hard to make people kill themselves."
And indeed, the controlled people got to the edge and stopped. The Emissary watched for a second before she turned around and went back downstairs.
"What do we do?" Mickey asked as she left.
"Nothing," Rose choked out. "There's no one to save us. Not anymore."
~~~
Back in the Tyler flat, the group sat on the couch, watching Harriet Jones on the tv.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Harriet began. "If I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech. I'm afraid that's been cancelled." She looked off to the side. "Did we ask about the royal family? Oh." Her face fell. "They're on the roof." She took a deep breath. "But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request. Doctor, if you're out there, we need you." The Emissary closed her eyes, looking down at her hands. "I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor. If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us. God help us."
Rose burst into tears next to the Emissary. "He's gone," she cried. "The Doctor's gone. He's left us. He's left us!"
"Keep it together, Rose," the Emissary ordered. Rose sniffed, nodding and visibly trying to pull herself back together. "For the last time, the Doctor is not gone." She started to pace. "We'll figure this out, Rose—" She broke off, whirling around as the windows shattered. She ran over and poked her head out. A ship was lowering from the sky. She sighed. "Brilliant."
Rose and Mickey came back in from where they'd run out to see the ship.
"Mickey, we're going to carry him," Rose started ordering. "Mum, get your stuff, and get some food. We're going."
"Where to?"
"We'll have to go to the TARDIS," the Emissary said, heading into the bedroom to help Mickey. "Safest place on Earth at the moment."
"What're we going to do in there?" Jackie asked.
"Hide," Rose answered.
"Is that it?"
"Mum, look in the sky," Rose sighed. "There's a great, big, alien invasion and I don't know what to do, all right? I've travelled with him, and I've seen all that stuff, but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless." Jackie swallowed and nodded. "Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move."
~~~
It took a few minutes, but they got the Doctor back to the TARDIS. They laid him gently on the floor.
Mickey looked around the room. "No chance you could fly this thing?"
"Not anymore, no," Rose said.
"Well, you did it before," Mickey pointed out.
"And she won't be doing it again," the Emissary cut in. "More likely to rip the universe apart."
Mickey winced. "Ah, better not, then."
"Yeah." Rose's eyes were wide. "Maybe not."
Mickey looked at the Emissary. "Could you fly it?"
"No," the Emissary answered.
"That's right," Rose remembered. "The emergency hologram said that, too." She tilted her head curiously. "I never asked why."
"TARDISes only have one Pilot," the Emissary explained. "That's capital P Pilot, and then five normal pilots. The Pilot is like the captain, and is telepathically linked to the TARDIS." She shrugged. "Without the captain, the TARDIS won't fly. It's a security measure."
"So, what do we do?" Mickey asked. "Just sit here?"
"That's as good as it gets," Rose nodded.
Jackie came in with a bag and pulled out a thermos. "Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea."
"Mmm, the solution to everything," Rose quipped. The Emissary snickered.
"Now, stop your moaning," Jackie retorted. She headed for the door. "I'll get the rest of the food."
"Tea," Mickey snorted. "Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British."
The Emissary looked between the flask and the Doctor as something occurred to her. "Tea," she murmured quietly. "Couldn't be that simple."
She took the flask and kneeled next to the Doctor, carefully tilting his head back and pouring tea into his mouth. Rose gave her a weird look, but was distracted by Mickey before she could ask.
"How does this thing work?" Mickey was messing with the scanner. "If it picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?"
Rose looked to the Emissary for an answer, but the Time Lady wasn't paying any attention. Rose shrugged, fiddling with the controls. "I don't know," she said. "It sort of tunes itself."
Mickey blinked as a pattern started to repeat on the screen. He turned the screen so Rose could see it. "Look. Maybe it's a distress signal."
Rose snorted. "A fat lot of good that's going to do."
"Are you going to be a misery all the time?" Mickey sighed. Rose just nodded.
"Yes."
"You should look at it from my point of view," Mickey joked, "stuck in here with your mum's cooking."
Rose looked around, realizing suddenly that her mother hadn't ever come back in. "Where is she?" she asked. "I'd better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there."
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey called as Rose approached the door.
"Why don't you tell her yourself?"
"I'm not that brave," Mickey answered.
Rose opened the door. "Oh, I don't know—"
She cut off, screaming. Mickey ran towards the door. The Emissary looked at the flask of tea, then at the grating of the floor. With a quick apology to the TARDIS, she poured the rest of the tea into the grating and followed Mickey out. She blinked when she stepped out onto a Sycorax ship. Quickly, she turned and pulled the door shut, locking it.
"That wasn't a distress signal, I think," she said to Mickey. "We've been teleported."
"I got that, thanks," he sighed. The Emissary shrugged and looked around. Rose was being hugged tightly by Harriet Jones.
"Rose," Harriet was saying. "Rose! I've got you. My Lord. Oh, my precious thing. The Doctor and the Emissary, are they with you?"
"Hello, Harriet," the Emissary said cheerfully. Harriet hugged her as well. "Afraid the Doctor is out of commission at the moment."
One of the Sycorax stepped forward, growling something out. Harriet's secretary translated quickly. "The blue box belongs to that Emissary. She will speak for your planet."
"But she can't," Harriet protested.
"It's fine, Harriet," the Emissary said, stepping forward. "I'm technically still a diplomat."
Harriet frowned. "They'll kill you."
"They can try." The Emissary straightened to her full height, falling comfortably back into the persona of a Sentry. "I address you, the Sycorax, according to Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. Earth is a Level 5 planet, and therefore protected. It is my duty as a Sentry of Gallifrey to demand that you leave. If you do not vacate this galaxy, I will bring down the full force of the law onto your heads." She smiled pleasantly. Rose was almost alarmed to see her eyes glowing blue. "I will remind you that the punishment for breaking Article 57 is death. I suggest you leave, or I will burn you all."
The Sycorax visibly hesitated before they all burst into laughter.
"That is a pretty threat," the aide translated, swallowing. "And now you will die."
Rose watched as a Sycorax tried to grab the Emissary. It got one hand on her wrist before she let her hands light up, bright enough that Rose had to look away. The Sycorax stopped laughing. When Rose looked back, the Emissary was standing free. A pile of ash sat on the floor next to her.
The lead Sycorax recovered quickly. "Did you think that would frighten us into submission?" the aide translated. "We are the Sycorax, we stride the darkness. Next to us you are but a wailing child." The Emissary raised an amused eyebrow at that. "If you are the best this planet can offer as a champion..."
Rose blinked when the Sycorax started speaking English. "Then your world will be gutted.."
"Then your world will be gutted..." the aide copied, looking up in confusion.
"And your people enslaved."
"Hold on, that's English," Rose remarked.
"He's talking English," Harriet agreed.
The Emissary smirked. "You're speaking English."
"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile," the Sycorax spat.
"But that's English," Rose insisted. She turned to Mickey. "Can you hear English?"
Mickey nodded. "Yeah, that's English."
"I speak only Sycoraxic!" the Sycorax shouted.
"Well, they hear English," the Emissary retorted, smiling widely as she felt the Doctor's mind brush against hers. She turned around to look at the TARDIS. "It's being translated."
Rose started to grin. "Which means it's working, which means..."
Right on cue, the door opened. The Doctor smirked at them all. "Did you miss me?"
The lead Sycorax cracked his whip, just barely missing the Emissary as she stepped back. The Doctor grabbed the end and yanked it out of his hand.
"You could have someone's eye out with that," the Doctor scolded. Another Sycorax ran up on the Doctor, swinging a thick club. The Doctor took it and snapped it over his knee. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy." He stopped in front of Mickey, grinning. "Mickey, hello! And Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life." He pulled the Emissary into a hug, grinning when she hugged back. "Tea! That's all I needed, a good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses." He stopped in front of Rose. "Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"
Rose blinked, looking over to the Emissary for help. The Time Lady just shrugged. Rose looked back at the Doctor, struggling for what to say. "Er... different."
"Good different or bad different?" the Doctor asked immediately.
"Just... different." Rose shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.
"Am I ginger?" the Doctor asked seriously.
"No, you're just sort of..." Rose waved a hand at his hair. "...brown."
The Doctor turned away dramatically. "Aww, I wanted to be ginger!" he complained. "I've never been ginger."
"I've been ginger," the Emissary offered. He spun to stare at her.
"Really?" he asked. "When?"
"My last body," she answered.
"Shame I missed that," he quipped, watching her smile. He turned back to Rose, who was watching them amusedly. "And you, Rose Tyler!" She jumped when he pointed at her. "Fat lot of good you were! You gave up on me." He blinked, lowering his hand. "Oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude," he mused. "Rude and not ginger."
"I'm sorry," Harriet cut in. "Who is this?"
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor told her.
Harriet looked at Rose, who nodded. "He's the Doctor."
"But what happened to my Doctor?" Harriet asked. "Or is it a title that's just passed on?"
"I'm him," the Doctor answered. "I'm literally him. Same man, new face." He shrugged. "Well, new everything."
"But you can't be," Harriet denied.
The Doctor walked over to her. "Harriet Jones... we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens, it wasn't the war, it was the thought of your mother being on her own."
Harriet stared at him, shocked. "Oh, my God."
"Did you win the election?" the Doctor asked, smiling at her.
"Landslide majority," Harriet smiled.
The Sycorax leader had apparently decided that was enough chatting, because he interrupted. "If I might interrupt."
"Yes, sorry," the Doctor said, turning back to face him. "Hello, big fellow."
"Who exactly are you?"
"Well, that's the question."
"I demand to know who you are!" the Sycorax shouted.
"I don't know!" the Doctor roared back. The Emissary suppressed a laugh at the taken aback expression on the Sycorax's face. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy?" He winked at the Emissary, who looked away. She was smiling though, so he counted that as a win. "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck?"
"You can certainly talk," the Emissary teased. He grinned.
"Judging by the evidence, I've got a gob," he agreed. He laughed a bit and ran up the stairs. "And how am I going to react when I see this, a great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?" He crouched down and opened the little door. "And what've we got here? Blood?" He poked a finger in.
"Do not put that in your mouth," the Emissary said immediately.
He licked his finger and made a face. "Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron." The Emissary's hand hit her face. He ignored it, jumping up. "Ah, but that means... blood control. Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A Positives." The Sycorax didn't answer. "Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a great big threatening button which should never, ever, ever be pressed, then I just want to do this." He slammed a hand down on the button.
"No!" Rose and Harriet lunged forward at the same time.
"You killed them!" Harriet's aide accused.
"No, he didn't," the Emissary corrected. "Blood control's not that strong. It's like I told you, Rose, Mickey. It's very hard to force someone to kill themselves."
The Doctor nodded and looked at the lead Sycorax. "What do you think, big fellow? Is she right?"
The Sycorax looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. "We allow them to live."
"Allow?" the Doctor scoffed. "You've no choice. I mean, that's all blood control is. A cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis. You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct's too strong."
"Blood control was just one form of conquest," the Sycorax growled. "I can summon the armada and take this world by force."
"We've already covered what will happen if you do," the Emissary reminded him, gesturing back at the Sycorax she'd reduced to ash. "I'm happy to re-demonstrate."
The Doctor was curious to know why that seemed to make them so nervous, but it wasn't the time for that. "Look at these people," he told the leader. "These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than..." he trailed off, frowning.
The Emissary blinked at him. "Isn't that from The Lion King?"
"Yes," he admitted. "But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"
"Or what?" the Sycorax challenged.
"Or..." The Doctor ran down the stairs, taking a sword from a Sycorax warrior. He stopped by the TARDIS. "I challenge you." The Sycorax around the group laughed raucously. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"
"You stand as this world's champion."
The Doctor nodded. "Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." He shrugged off the dressing gown and tossed it to Rose. "So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"
Rose looked at the Emissary when the TARDIS didn't translate. The Time Lady's jaw had dropped at the words. "What did he say?"
"I... nothing nice," the Emissary answered, sounding like she was trying not to laugh.
The Sycorax leader roared angrily. "For the planet?"
"For the planet," the Doctor agreed.
The Sycorax swung his sword at the Doctor's head. The Doctor managed to swing his own sword up and block the strike, forcing the Sycorax's blade up and around to the floor. They broke away from each other, the Doctor stumbling slightly, but remaining on his feet. For a brief moment, the Doctor and Sycorax both just watched each other, before launching back into a series of blows. The Emissary winced when the Sycorax pushed and the Doctor fell to the ground.
"Look out!" Rose cried as the Sycorax swung at the Doctor.
He scrambled away and to his feet. "Oh, yeah, that helps," he called back sarcastically. "Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks."
The Sycorax and the Doctor traded a few more blows before the Sycorax got close enough to elbow the Doctor in the chest. Stumbling back, the Doctor dodged a slash and ran for the door. He slammed a hand on the button.
"Bit of fresh air?" he quipped as he ran outside.
When the Emissary, Rose and Mickey made it outside, the Doctor was already fighting again, close to the edge of the ship and being forced closer. As they watched, the Sycorax gained a clear upper hand and used the hilt of his sword to hit the Doctor square in the face. The Doctor reared back.
The Emissary reached out and pulled Rose back from going to him. "If you interfere, the challenge is void," she explained. "The Sycorax will win the planet."
Rose nodded her understanding. Unfortunately, the interaction had distracted the Doctor. The Sycorax swung at him and when their blades were locked together, the Sycorax jerked upwards, catching the Doctor on the chin and knocking him to the ground. The Emissary had to restrain herself from running over when she saw how far off the edge the Doctor was hanging. The Sycorax swung down and cut the Doctor's hand off. The Emissary checked her watch and grinned.
"You cut my hand off!" the Doctor said, his face surprised and just a bit offended. The Sycorax turned away, cheering. Behind him, the Doctor got to his feet. "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky." The Sycorax turned back around, looking a little confused. "Because quite by chance, I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy left to do this." He held up his wrist. Before their eyes, his wrist started to glow and his hand grew back.
"Witchcraft," the Sycorax hissed.
"Rude," the Emissary muttered, drawing a look from Rose. "And wrong."
"Time Lord," the Doctor corrected, voice dark.
Catch, the Emissary told him. She drew the nearest sword and tossed it hilt first to him.
"Doctor!" Rose called out as he caught the sword.
"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor then?" he asked her, swinging the sword in a circle. Rose grinned widely.
"No arguments from me!"
"Want to know the best bit?" the Doctor asked. "This new hand? It's a fighting hand!" He swung the sword and the fight commenced again. This time, it took the Doctor no time at all to gain the upper hand. He forced the Sycorax to the edge and knocked him down. The tip of his sword hovered over the Sycorax's neck. "I win."
"Then kill me," the Sycorax spat.
"I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command," the Doctor said. "Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"
"Yes."
The Doctor didn't let up. "Swear on the blood of your species."
The Sycorax growled. "I swear."
The Doctor stepped back cheerfully. "There we are, then. Thanks for that. Cheers, big fellow." He stabbed his sword into the ground and walked away.
"Bravo!" Harriet cheered.
"That says it all," Rose said as she ran over and hugged him. "Bravo!" She helped him pull on the dressing gown.
"Ah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams," the Doctor quipped. "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man." He paused and reached into the pocket. "Hold on, what have I got in here?" He pulled out a small orange. "A satsuma." He grinned at Rose as they reached the Emissary and Mickey. "Ah, that friend of your mother's. He does like his snacks, doesn't he?"
"It does seem rather appropriate," the Emissary mused. The Doctor smiled at her and grabbed her hand as the group walked towards the door.
"Sums up Christmas," he agreed. "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?"
"I think he might," the Emissary said, looking over her shoulder. The Sycorax leader had gotten up and was charging at the Doctor. Without missing a beat, the Doctor threw the satsuma at a control panel. The wing of the ship retracted from under the Sycorax leader, sending him plummeting towards the ground.
The Doctor's face was dark. "No second chances. I'm that sort of a man." He pulled the Emissary along to the center of the ship and stopped, looking up at the surrounding Sycorax. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of it's riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this." He glared around at the Sycorax. "It is defended."
They were teleported off the ship.
Rose looked around. "Where are we?"
"We're just off Bloxom Road!" Mickey laughed in relief. "We're just round the corner, we did it!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," the Doctor said, staring up at the ship. It flew away a few seconds later.
"There you go," the Emissary said, watching it go. "Now we did it."
"Go on, my son!" Mickey shouted. "Oh, yeah!"
"Yeah!" Rose cheered. "Don't come back!"
"It is defended!" Mickey and Rose hugged, laughing.
Harriet stood in front of the Time Lords, smiling at the Doctor. "My Doctor."
"Prime Minister," the Doctor returned, smiling. Harriet laughed and hugged him.
"Absolutely the same man," she said. "Are there many more out there?"
"Hundreds of species," the Emissary confirmed. "Well, thousands, more like. Not just the Sycorax. You're beginning to draw attention."
"Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals," the Doctor continued. "This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed more and more. You'd better get used to it."
Jackie came running around the corner. "Rose!"
Rose ran over to her. "Mum!"
"Oh, talking of trouble," the Doctor muttered.
"Be nice," the Emissary muttered back. "She helped us with you."
"Oh, my God!" Jackie was saying as they walked over. "You did it, Rose! Oh!"
"You did it too!" Rose told her. "It was the tea. Fixed his head."
The Doctor nodded, grinning. "That was all I needed, cup of tea."
"I said so," Jackie said. Rose just hugged her again. "Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor?"
"I told you, didn't I?" the Emissary laughed.
Jackie nodded, then looked past her. "Oh, my God, it's the bleeding Prime Minister!"
"Come here, you." The Doctor pulled them all into a hug.
"Are you better?" Jackie asked.
The Doctor nodded. "I am, yeah."
Jackie turned accusing eyes on Rose. "You left me!"
"I'm sorry," Rose said.
"I had all the food!"
Behind them, five bright green lasers shot up into the sky. The group whipped around just in time to see the Sycorax ship explode.
"What is that?" Rose gasped. "What's happening?"
"That was murder," the Emissary spat, glaring at Harriet.
"That was defense," Harriet corrected. "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."
"But they were leaving," the Doctor said angrily.
"You said yourselves, Doctor, Emissary, that they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth," Harriet said calmly. "I'm sorry, you two, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mister 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," the Doctor sneered.
Harriet glared. "It comes with a price."
"He gave them the wrong warning," the Emissary said darkly. "He should have told to run, fast as they can, and hide. Because the monsters are coming. The human race."
"Those are the people I represent," Harriet said angrily. "I did it on their behalf."
"Then we should have stopped you."
"What does that make you, Emissary?" Harriet scoffed. "Are you and the Doctor just another alien threat?"
"I can be," the Emissary snapped. "Would you like a demonstration?" The Doctor took her hand and squeezed.
"Like you demonstrated for the Sycorax?" Harriet snapped back. The Emissary glared at her.
"That was different, and you know it," she snarled. "They were leaving!"
What happened with the Sycorax? the Doctor asked silently. The Emissary glanced back at him, frowning.
I reminded them that breaking Article 57 is a death sentence, she replied. And then one of them tried to attack me, so I, uh, burned him to ashes. He looked down at her, blinking in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. She shrugged a little sheepishly. I might have overreacted, she admitted.
He turned back to Harriet, eyes narrowed. "Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man," he said flatly. "I could bring down your government with a single word."
Harriet shook her head, not believing him. "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that."
"No, you're right," the Doctor allowed. "Not a single word, just six."
Harriet shook her head. "I don't think so."
The Emissary tilted her head. "Could probably do it in four."
"Stop it!" Harriet ordered, looking a bit nervous now.
"Six and four," the Doctor said. He led the Emissary over to Harriet's secretary and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Don't you think she looks tired?"
On the other side, the Emissary whispered, "Doesn't she look ill?"
The Time Lords walked back to Rose, Mickey and Jackie, leaving Harriet to shout after them.
~~~
The Emissary leaned in the door of the TARDIS wardrobe, watching the Doctor browse. Without looking at her, he held up a brightly colored rainbow coat.
"No," she said instantly. "That coat was bad enough when you wore it in your sixth body."
That made him turn to her. "How do you know it was my sixth?"
"I saw it," she said. "You were put on trial, remember?" He nodded, making a face. "I was at that trial."
"I don't remember seeing you," he said.
She shrugged as she entered the room fully. "I was in... my third body?" She tilted her head. "Yeah, my third. You wouldn't have recognized me."
"Right," he nodded awkwardly. "Which one are you on now?"
"This body is my eighth," she answered. "I regenerated when I ran after I heard about the War ending."
The Doctor pulled out a maroon jacket and held it up. The Emissary took it and hung it back up.
"Speaking of regeneration," he said, changing the subject. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "You're taking this better than I thought." She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be... I don't know, angrier."
"I was, but it's been three months, Doctor," she replied. "It's hard to be mad at a dead man." She pulled out a long brown trench coat and turned to him. He was holding a brown pinstriped suit. She considered both for a moment before shoving the jacket at him. She turned and went back to the console room. The Doctor stared after her.
When he got to the console room, the Emissary was sitting cross legged on the captain's chair, a Gallifreyan book open on her lap. He stopped in the hallway entrance for a moment, just watching her.
"You're staring," she said after a minute. She closed her book and turned around to face him. "Are you going to stand there all day?"
"What do you think?" he asked, spreading his hands and turning slowly.
"It suits you," she smiled. "I like it."
"Good," he smiled back. He walked fully into the room and over to the console. "I have something for you." He handed her a box. "I thought it was about time you had your own."
She looked at him curiously, and opened the box. She gasped softly. A sonic screwdriver lay inside, and next to it, psychic paper. The screwdriver was the same model as the Doctor's, with bronze casing and a red tip.
He smiled softly as he looked down at the console. "Merry Christmas, Ali." When there was no answer, he looked up to see what was wrong. The Emissary was just staring at him, an odd look on her face. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You keep calling me that," she answered. "Ali."
"It is your name," he quipped. He looked at her uncertainly. "Do you not want me to call you Ali?"
"No, it's... it's fine," she said slowly, smiling slightly. "I like hearing it again."
He sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. I wasn't sure, you never call me Theta."
"You said you didn't want me to call you Theta," she reminded him.
He rolled his eyes. "That was almost 600 years ago."
"You told me not to call you Theta," she said, "because only friends and family can call you that. And then we didn't speak for 600 years."
"Do you... do you not consider us friends?" he asked, a little hurt by that. They'd fought and fallen out, sure, but he thought that things were better between them now.
She set the box down gently and retook her seat on the captain's chair. For a long moment, she didn't speak. "What do you want me to say?"
"Ali, you are my best friend," he insisted.
"Doctor, if we weren't the only ones left, would you have ever spoken to me again?" He didn't say anything. She nodded. "Exactly. I'm still not entirely sure where I stand with you. We don't talk about our history together, and we act like everything's fine but I still spent centuries thinking you hated me. I still mourned the loss of my best friend. I felt like part of me was missing, but everyone around me was telling me I was better off without you."
"Was that your father?" he asked knowingly.
"Him, and everybody else," she confirmed. "Father never liked you, he thought you were a bad influence." She eyed him. "He wasn't entirely wrong." She shook her head, getting back on topic. "You ran away and I couldn't stop replaying the last thing you said to me over and over."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The things you said, that argument, they hurt," she sighed, facing him. "And it got me killed."
His eyes widened. "Are you... blaming me for your first regeneration?"
"No! No," she answered quickly. Her hand came up to rub at her eyes. "I'm just, I'm just saying, what you said got to me, and I hesitated, and I got shot." She shrugged helplessly. "And when I got back to Gallifrey, I looked for you, because I wanted to fix things, and you were just gone. They told me you ran away. So I never got to talk to you again." She met his eyes. "That's why I only call you by your title. Calling you Theta just... feels like I haven't earned the right."
"You don't need to earn the right," he told her. "You have it." She gave him a small smile, but he could tell she didn't believe him. "You can call me Theta, because you are my best friend. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
At that, she did smile. "To be fair, your last body wasn't exactly what I would call talkative. It was like you were allergic to feelings."
"Still," he continued. "I should have never made you feel like we weren't friends." He looked away awkwardly. "Honestly, I shouldn't have started that fight to begin with. I was stupid and arrogant, and I should never have said any of the things I said." He met her shocked eyes. "I'm sorry."
"I... I, uh," she stammered. She huffed a laugh and smiled. "I forgive you."
"What, just like that?"
She nodded. "Just like that. You've always been my best friend, and life is too short to still be mad at you." She stood up and walked back over to him, poking him in the shoulder. "Although, next time you send me away while you're about to die, I will bring you back to kill you all over again." He raised an eyebrow. She crossed her arms. "You and me, we're in this together. If you're sacrificing yourself, I'm going to be there with you."
"I don't think I'll be keeping to that," he informed her seriously.
"I know," she said, rolling her eyes and smiling. "It's okay, I'd send you away, too." She checked her watch and blinked. "I almost forgot, Jackie and Rose invited us to Christmas dinner, I said we'd be there. We're late."
"Oh, not the domestics," he groaned as she rolled her eyes. She grabbed her sonic and psychic paper and put them in her pockets, then headed for the door. He followed her out.
"You know you secretly love it," she teased. He locked the doors and together, they walked up to the Tyler flat.
~~~
Rose couldn't help watching the door as her mother and Mickey set the table for dinner. The Emissary had promised her that the Time Lords would come, but they hadn't shown up yet.
"Oh Rose, come sit down," Jackie said. Rose sighed. "If the Emissary said they'd be here, they'll be here."
Rose glanced at the door one last time before she joined her mother and Mickey at the table.
"You'd think that Time Lords would be, you know, on time," Mickey joked as he started to carve the turkey. Rose laughed.
"Hello!" Rose turned in her seat as the Emissary walked in, followed by the Doctor. "Sorry we're late, lost track of time."
"Oh that's just fine," Jackie assured her. "Come on, sit, sit!"
The Emissary sat down next to Mickey, the Doctor in between her and Rose. Rose couldn't help the bright smile that took over her face as she stared around the dinner table. This was everything she could want, all the people she loved in one place, having fun together. She loved it.
The Doctor offered her the end of a Christmas cracker. She took off and pulled. A pink paper tiara fluttered out.
"Oh, that's yours," the Doctor remarked. Rose giggled.
"It's pink! Mum, it should be yours." She passed it to her mother.
"Look, it's Harriet Jones," the Emissary said suddenly. They all looked at the tv.
Harriet stood on screen, looking uneasy as flashes went off and reporters yelled questions. "Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?"
"No," Harriet said flatly and tried to change the subject. "Now, can we talk about other things?"
"Is it true you're unfit for office?"
Rose glanced at the two aliens, both of whom were watching the screen intently. The Doctor had even put on a pair of black glasses, that Rose was almost certain he didn't need. Both of their faces were stern.
"Look, there is nothing wrong with my health," Harriet insisted. "I don't know where these stories are coming from. And a vote of no confidence is completely unjustified."
"Are you going to resign?"
"On today of all days, I'm fine," Harriet was saying as the phone rang. Jackie stepped away to answer it. "Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."
"It's Beth," Jackie said as she rejoined them. "She says go and look outside."
Rose looked over at her mum. "Why?"
Jackie shrugged. "I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!"
Rose gasped as they reached the courtyard, staring up at the sky. Soft white flakes floated gently to the ground, coating everything in a layer of white. Above their heads, bright lights streaked across the night.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Rose breathed. "What are they, meteors?"
"It's the Sycorax ship," the Emissary corrected softly. "Breaking apart in the atmosphere. This isn't even snow, it's ash."
Rose made a face. "Okay, not so beautiful."
"This is a brand new planet Earth," the Doctor told her. "No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."
Rose looked between the two Time Lords. "And what about you two?" she asked hesitantly. "What are you going to do next?"
"Well, back to the Tardis," the Doctor answered. "Same old life."
"On your own?"
The Emissary looked startled by the question. "Do you not want to come with us?"
"Well, yeah," Rose replied quickly.
"Do you, though?" the Doctor asked.
"Yeah!"
"I just thought," he looked over at the Emissary and back to Rose. "Because I changed."
Rose shook her head. "Yeah, I thought, because you changed you might not want me anymore."
"Oh, I'd love you to come," the Doctor told her.
Rose nodded, grinning. "Okay."
"You're never going to stay, are you?" Mickey asked sadly. Rose smiled gently at him.
"There's just so much out there," she told him. "So much to see. I've got to."
Mickey nodded like he'd been expecting that answer. "Yeah."
Jackie sniffed, pulling her jacket tight. "Well, I reckon you're mad, the three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble."
"We don't have to look," the Emissary snorted. "Trouble finds him."
"Trouble's just the bits in-between," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes playfully at the Emissary. He turned to face Jackie. "It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets, and creatures and horizons. I haven't seem them yet! Not with these eyes." He went back to the Emissary and Rose, taking the Emissary's hand in his. He held the other hand out to Rose. "And it is going to be... fantastic."
Rose eyed his hand for a moment before she took it. "That hand of yours still gives me the creeps. So, where're we going to go first?"
"Er, that way," the Doctor answered, using the hand still holding the Emissary's to point upwards.
"Actually, how about that way?" the Emissary mused, adjusting the direction he was pointing slightly. She didn't drop his hand though, which made his face light up in a smile.
Rose smiled as she watched them. She raised a hand, pointing in the same direction. "That way?"
"What do you think?" the Emissary asked her.
Rose nodded. "Yeah, that way."